A New Pathway Unto Prayer

The first Chapter.

P Rayer after the common diffinicion of the Doctors, is a lyftinge up of a pure mind to God, wherein we ask somewhat of him.

This diffiniciō of prayer seemeth unto me so godly & in every parte agreeable to the holy scriptures that I think it my bounden duty to search out every word of it in order, & to compare it with the most sacred Scriptures, & the sayenges of y ^• ancient Doctors.

Fyrste it teacheth us that prayer is a lyftynge up of a pure mind. Note first of all that he saith, a liftynge up, What other thing meaneth this word, lyftynge up, than to show that who soever intendeth to pray, must utterly seclude & put out of his heart all vain cogitaciō • & worldly thoughts, all carnal fantasies, all ungodly ymaginacions, to conclude all such things as might make the heart of him that prayeth to crepe upon the ground, to alienate & estraung his mind from the meditaciō of celestial & divine matters? And this is y ^• very same thing that Christ teacheth in y ^• Gospel of Matthew, where he saith: Whan y ^• prayest, thou shalt not be like to y ^• Hypocrites. For their manner is to stonde prayenge in y ^e Synagoges & in the corners of the stretes, that mē may se thē, Certes I say unto you they have their reward. But wha • thou prayest enter into thy closet, & when y ^• hast sparred thy door, pray to thy father which is in sect • e, & thy father which seeth ī secrete, shall • eward the openlie. In theyse words Christ doth not only rebuke y ^• false & • ayned manner of prayenge, which the Hypocrites use hunting only after vain glory, & seeking the praise of men more then the glory of God & the health of their own souls, but he also declarethe howe we shall prepare our selves for to pray, that we may be heard. He commandeth us to enter into our closet, & to sparre our door. What other thing meaneth Christ by this, but that, as I have said before, we should expulse all temporal things out of our hearts, whansoeuer we intend to pray, & have our minds altogether set upon celestial & heavenly things? Therefore ought so many as intend to pray with fruit to seek an occasion to be seguestred from all temporal affairs & from the troubles of wordely things, which might be an impediment to them in their holy meditacions, & so to be free from all external & mundane things, y ^• their prayer in deed may be a very lyftynge up, according to the beginning of our diffinicion.

The second Chapter.

ANd that this thing may the more conveniently be brought to pass, it shall be expedient for such as intend to exercise prayer to repose them selves and to set their hearts quiette from all the troubles of the world, yea & to subduce & conuaye thē selves from the company of the wordly people into some secrete & solitarye place for the time of their prayer, that they may the more freely give their minds to devout & holy meditacion, as the manner of many holy men was in times paste. Examples have we of divers in the holy Scripture, which used this trade. The gospel showeth how Christ was won • many times whē • e would pray to go into the feldes • nd there being alone upon a moun • ayne utterly secluded frō all other • ompany, to persevere & continue in • he prayer of God all y ^• whole night. Agayne a little before his passion we • ead that he entendynge to pray unto his celestial father forsook the cō • any of other, yea and although he • oke with him only three of his disciples at that instant. Peter, John, & James, yet notwithstanding whā • e was in the mount of Oliuete, y ^• accustomed place of his prayenge, he • ent away from thē also about a • ones cast, & he kneeling down, pray • d so hertely & so longe to God his father, that for very anguysh, pain & • orow the sweat of his most blessed • ody was evē as y ^• drops of blood • unnynge down upon the earth. Peter also being in the house of Simon the Tanner went up into y ^• upper parte of the house to pray, tha • he might not be troubled w ^t y ^• oath • company. Helyseus also, whā he shul • pray to God for a certain child • was dead, went alone into the chamber, where the child lay, & sperre • the door & so prayed. Agayne Sar • the daughter of Raguell, desyryng • to be delivered from thē improper • & imbraydyng, as it would appere, of a certain default, wherewith on • of her fathers hādmaydens did imbrayd & caste her in the teth, forsook all company, & went straight into an • upper chamber of her house, & there being alone, did nether eat nor drīke by y ^• space of three days & three nights, but continued in prayer, & beseched God even w ^t tears y ^e he would deliver her from this imbraydyng & rebuke. Judith ī like manner, whā she should put herself in ioperdy for the health of her people, went first in to her Oratory & secrete place, where • he was wont to pray, & so desired the help of God. At certain other times also before she slew Holofer • us she went forth ī the night time for to pray quietly by herself. Queen Hester also puttinge of her Pryncelike garments, prayed for her people to God secretly ī her chamber. Agayne Daniel, when certain Dukes & Earls for the hatred and evil will that they bare unto him, had caused king Darius to make an Acte that who soever asketh any Peticion of their God, yea or of ony man but of the Kynge alone for the space of thy • tie days, he should be cast into the den of Lions, ceased not to pray for all y ^e Acte of y ^• king, but still as he was wont to do, prayed boldly to his LORDE God, being in his chamber secretly by himself alone. Thus se we that both Christ • & other holy men also, sought evermore an occasion to be quiet & sollitary, that they might the more ••• lie talk with God in their prayer, & so came it to pass that their prayer was unfeignedly a lyftynge up.

The third Chapter.

IT is not without a cause y ^• Prayer in the holy scripture is compared to a sweat perfume, whose nature is alway, if it be once incēsed or set on fire, to lyft up it self & still to go upward so long as it lasteth I • like manner the true & christen prayer ought to lift up it self with deuynd cōtemplacion, & still to go up so longe as it lasteth with the medi • acion of celestial things, & not to • reap upon the ground with • am • thoughts & wordely ymaginaciōs. For so is that prayer no lyftyng up of mind or of him that prayeth, unto heaven, but rather a thrustynge 〈◊〉 to hell, yea & worketh s • nne • dam • nation to him that prayeth as the • salmograph • saith: Oratio 〈◊〉 fiat in peccatum. • f you be risen again with Christ saith S. Paul seek for those things y ^e are above, where Christ is sitting on the right hand of God. Set your minds upon the things above & not vpō y ^e things of the earth. For you are dead, & your life is hyd with Christ in God. Whā so ever Christ our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. So that not only prayer but also the whole life of a Christian man ought to be a lyftyng up, that is to say, a fervent desire & diligent seeking of supernal & heavenly things. But let us proceed with our diffinicion. Hytherto have we heard that Prayer is a lyftyng up. Wherof I pray you? of hands or eyes? Nay verily, but of a pure mind. For as touching the • yftyng up of hands & eyes, it may • lso be used so well of Hypocrites as • f true Christians. Therefore saith Chrysostom, thouhg thou doest not bow thy knees, nor knock thy breast, nor strecthe out thy hands unto heaven, yet if thou only show forth a ferue •• e mind, thou shalt make a perfect prayer. Not w ^t standing if such things be done ī time of prayer proceeding from y ^• fervent & inward affeccion of y ^e spirit, they are not to be discūmended. For David saith, I have lyfted up mine eyes unto the, which dwellest in heavē And S. Paul saith, I will y ^• men pray in every place, lifting up your hands w ^t out wrath & contencion. We read also y ^• Christ used to knele when he prayed. And the humble and poor Publican knocked his breste when he prayed, saying: O God be thou merciful to me a sinner. Therefore as touching y ^e external gesture & outward behavior, as y ^e lyftynge up of hands or eyes, the kneeling o • knockynge on the breast, in as much as they are mean & indifferent things, they are to be left to the judgment of devout & well disposed people, either to be done or to be left undone, as their minds shall serve thē. And for as much as they pertain nothing to our matter, I will le • thē pass & go forth w ^t our diffiniciō.

The fourth Chapter.

PRayer, say the holy Doctors, is a lyftynge up of a pure mind. Theise words are not to be gone over with a light foot, as they use to say, but depely to be weighed, & seriously to be pondered. For in them doth consist in a manner the whole efficacy, virtue, strength, power & pith of prayer. Fyrst we shall note y ^e prayer is not the work of y ^• mouth, but of the mind, yea & that not of a corrupt, flesshely, malicious & sinful, but of a pure, immaculate, clean, unspotted, faithful & charitable mind. But I will first show by the scriptures & holy fathers, y ^t prayer is the work of the mind according to our diffinicion, & afterward somewhat declare of y ^• purite of y ^• mind.

That prayer is the work of the mind, it is manifest by divers places of holy scripture. For whan • oses at the commandment of God led y ^• people of Israel out of Egypt, & Pharaoh with his cruel army followed, purposynge unmercifully to slay thē, he being in great thought & care howe he might safely cōdu ••• the Israelites, & yet still trustynge & having his whole affiaunce reposed in their LORDE God, prayed nothing at all with his mouth, but only uttered his cause secretly in his heart unto God, & he was heard. For the LORDE God said unto him▪ What criest y ^u unto me▪ His cryeng was not the voice of the mouth, but the affeccion of the heart. He cried w ^t a pure mind to God, & therefore was he heard, though the mouthe kept silence. In like manner Anne the wife of Helcana, when she had ben long barren & w ^t out fruit, prayed God, that he would take away from her opprobry and shame, and give her chyldrē, wich thing she obtained. And yet saith the scripture she spake in her heart. Her lips only moved, but her voice was heard nothing at all. Mary Magdalene also prayed, not with her lips & mouthe, when she wasshed Christ's fete w ^t y ^• tears of her eyes, & wiped them with the here of her head, kyssynge & annointed thē full tenderly in the house of Simon the Pharyse, she only lamented in her heart her sinful living & dissolute cōuersacion, desyryng in her mind to have remission of her sins, & she heard this sweet voice of Christ. Her sins are forgynē her, because she hath loved much. • ea & immediately after Christ said to her. Thy faith hath saved the, go thy way ī peace. Christ̄ also the self truth & wisdom of his father said to the woman of Samaria, whan they talked together of worshipping God. Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, whan neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, ye shall worship the father. • e worship that ye know not, we worship that we know. For health is of the Jews. But the hour cometh & now it is, whan the true worshyppers shall worship the father in spirit & truth. For the father sekethe such y ^t should worship him. God is a spirit, & they that worship him, must worship hī in spirit & truth. Here christ, which is y ^• very truth & cannot lie, showeth us two notable things. One that God his father is a spirit, another, that as he is a spirit, so will he be worshipped in the spirit, who perceyueth not thā that it is the Spirit, the heart, the mind, I mean the inward & spiritual man, that must worship God▪ It is a common saying among us, like will to like. And everyone desireth such as he is himselfe. Truth it is. Now is God a spirit, therefore requireth he a spiritual manner of worshipping, which doubtless proceedeth from the heart, & not from y ^• stētoreous voice of the mouth. The pure affeccion of the heart, & not the whysperynge noise of y ^• lips doth God require. God which is the searcher of the heart, seaketh to be worshipped in the heart, as he saith by Salomō, son give me thy heart. Moreover S. Paul saith, God is my witness, whom I worship in my spirit. In my spirit, saith he, and not in the vnfruytefull bablyng of my lips. Agayne, Speak among yourselves in Psalms, Hymns, & spiritual songs, syngyng and making melody in youre hearts to the LORDE. Lostyll he maketh mention of the heart, willing y ^• all praises, songs & melody be done in our hearts to y ^e LORD our God. As though he should say, all that ever is done w ^t out the heart, is vain, vnfruytefull, yea & plain abomination before God, rather working dānaciō then salvation to the doers of it, as Christ saith: This people honor me w ^t their lips, but their heart is far from me. Verily they worship me in vain. Thus se we proved by the scripture, that Prayer is the work of the heart, of the spirit of the mind, & not of mouth & lips. But let us hear what the Doctors say to this matter.

The fyfte Chapter.

SAynt Cipriane y ^• blessed martyre saith, which Fulgentius also recyteth, that God is not the hearer of the voice, but of the heart, neither is he to be admonysshed w ^t exclamacions & outecryes, which seeth the thoughts, as the LORDE proveth & saith, what do ye think wickedness in youre hearts▪ & in another place, All congregacions shall know, that I am the searcher of the reins and heart, that is to say, of the inward parte. Also S. Ambrose saith, take hede that thou dost not babble out rasshely the mysteries of the Crede, or of the LORDES prayer. Doste thou not know, howe grievous a thing it is to heap up sin in Prayer, where thou trusteste to have remedy▪ Certes y ^• LORDE taught by the Prophet y ^e this is a grievous curse, saying: His prayer is become evē very sin. Excepte peradventure thou recoūtest it but a tryfle to mistrust. It is surely a great incredulite and unfaithfulness to think thus of y ^• power of God, y ^• thou canst not be heard, except thou criest out. Let thy work cry, let thy faith cry, let thy mind cry, let thy passions and suffrynges cry, let thy blood, as the blood of holy Abel, cry, whereof god said to Caym, the voice of thy brothers blood cry unto me. For he heareth in secrete, which maketh clean in secrete. We cannot hear a mā except he speaketh unto us, but unto God, not words but thoughts do speak. Agayne, S. Gregory saith, undoubtedly true prayer consysteth not in the voice of the mouthe, but in the thoughts of the heart. For our words do not make the voices the more pythethy and valeaunt to come unto the most secrete ears of God, but our desire and affeccions. Therefore saith the LORDE in y ^• Gospel: Enter into thy closet & sparre thy door. He sparreth y ^• door, & prayeth in his closet, which holdeth his peace w ^t his mouth, & poureth out the affecciō of his mind in y ^• sight of God above. Moreover S. Austē • ayeth: Thou knowest, I am sure, y ^• • t is commanded us for none other thing that we should pray in our closettes▪ being sparred (whereby the secrete partes of the mind are signified) but that God seaketh not to be monyshed or taught by our speaking of that thing, which we co • uyt that he should give us. For he that speaketh giveth outwardely a sign or token of his will by some articulate, plain & euidente sound. But God is both to be sought & to be prayed unto, even in the very secrete partes of a reasonable soul, which is called the inward mā. For he willeth that these be his Temples. Wherefore we need no speaking whē •• e pray, that is to say, no words that shall make any sound, except peradventure as y ^• priests do, for to utter their mind, not y ^• God, but that man should hear thē, & with a certain consent be drawn to cōtēplacion by remembering thē. Here • to agreeth the saying of S. Jerome • we ought, saith he, to sing, to make melody, & to praise y ^e LORDE rather in mind then in voice. And this is it that is said, singing & making melody to the LORDE • your hearts. Let young men hear these thyr • ges, yea let them hear, whose office it is to sing in y ^• Chyrch, that they must singe to God not in the voice but in the heart, neither must their throat & chawes be annointed after y ^• manner of Gameplayers w ^t sweet oyntementes, that in the church syngyng more fytte for game places should be heard, but in fear, in work, in knowledge of the scriptures ought they to sing unto the • ORDE. Drigen also saith, God in prayer doth not so much weye & ponder our words, as he doth the heart & y ^e mind▪ For he it is, which searchethe th • hearts and the reins.

Although I could rehearse many no notable saȳges of these & other Doctors, which prove manifestly y ^e • rayer is not the work of y ^e mouth • ut of the heart, not of y ^e voice, but • f y ^e thought, not of y ^e lips but of • he mind, yet these at this present • aye seme abundantly to satisfy. • either do I recyte y ^e testymonies • f y ^e old fathers to confyrine & make • ur matter the more strong, which • ready is sufficiently establysshed by • he holy Scriptures, neither need • hey the confyrmacion of any man • es doctrine, which of them selves • ught to be believed without hesita • on or doubtynge of the faithful, • as much as they be y ^• Oracles & in • llible speech •• of God, in whom all • ecessary truth for our saluaciō is • prehended, & without the authori • whereof all that ever is taught or • ritten, be but mere fantasies & h • • ayne inuencions: but I have called the holy & catholic Doctors t • witness, because they reach the sam • thing y ^t the Scripture doth, & t • stop the mouths of certain wicked & ignorant persons, which thick • no truth to be truth except by m • nes authority it be establyshed, an • that men seeing & hearing the judge • meant of such as are learned, should • be the more ready to cast away they • Hypocrisye & accōmodate thē selves to the true manner of worshipping • and prayeng to our LORDE God.

The syxte Chapter.

VUell of these things thā • heretofore rehearsed is it easy to learn that such as will pray to God with fruit, must pray in heart, in spirit, in mind, in thought, in affeccion, in the soul, in the inward • man, or else the noise of the mouth, • mūblynge of the lips, the roryng • of the throat, the shakynge of y ^e head the knockynge on the breast, the kne • lynge on the ground, & whatsoever can be rekened more is vain, vn fruytful, & nothing to y ^• purpose, rather bringing damnation then saluaciō, as we have heard heretofore.

What is than to be thought of such persons, which whā they are in the temple or else where, never leave • ablynge, their minds being utterly drawn from their prayers, & altogether set upon transitory and wordely things▪ Some streatche • ut their prayers into an innumerable noneber of leaves, thinking so to do God an high sacrifice. Some also upon their bedes taly up, I cannot tell howe many Lady Psalters, • heynge persuaded y ^e by that menes they shall se our Lady corporally before they die, & that whan they are once dead, our lady & all the. xi. M virgins w ^t other saints mo, whose number is infinyte, shall mete with thē, everyone having in their hands a brennynge taper of wa • e, & so receive thē ito glory, putting vpō their heads a crown of gold garnysshed, I cannot tell you, w ^t howe many red Roses. Some again worship daily a great number of saints everyone hauige to their parte an hundred Pater nosters, with as many Aues, besides y ^e Credes, and that for diverse causes. These things be more openly known than y ^e they need here to be rehearsed, except we be so blind that we will se nothing, & so ignorant that we will nothing know. I fear greatly unless that may justly be spokē of such vain bablers, which is spoken by the Prophet Isaiah, & rehearsed of our savior Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew: This people, saith he, honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Uerelye they worship me in vain. Yea I fear unless that they thorough such unfaithful bablyng do acumulate & heap up to them selves the greater da • acion, as Christ witnesseth in the Gospel. Woe be to you Scribes & Pharisees Hypocrites, saith Christ, which eat the houses of widows, yea and y ^e under the pretext of longe Prayer. For this shall ye be punished y ^e more grievously. Again he saith: Beware of the Scribes, which have a pleasure to walk in longe roobes, & love to be saluted in the Markettes, & to have the chief preminence in the Synagoges, and the high seats at feasts, which devour y ^e houses of wydomes feigning outewardely longe Prayers. They shall receive the greater damnaciō. If we shall at the day of judgment render an accounts of every idle word y ^t we speak, as the holy scripture testifieth, what is then to be thought of those words, which we unfruitfully waste, whē we pretend outwardly to pray, & yet inwardly have our minds entāgled w ^t y ^e care of worldly things, or else entysed frō the affecciō of prayer with vain cogitacions of things carnal. It is to be feared unless we incur & run into greater damnation, then they which pray nothing at all. For is such prayer any other thing than plain mockynge of God▪ Our external pretext is as though we prayed and desired to have our prayers heard of God, but ī deed our manner of prayeng is nothing else I speak of the vnfruytfull bablers, but only a desyrynge of God that he should hear us & our prayers nothing at all, seeing we our selves do not hear them, nor yet mind them in our hearts, yea we desire hī that he will take vengeance on us for our mockyng & idle bablyng. And this is it that S. Ambrose saith, take hede y ^• thou dost not bable out rashly the mysteries of the Crede & of the LORDES prayer. Doste thou not know howe grievous a thing it is in prayer for to heap up sin, where thou trustest to have remedy▪ Certes y ^• LORD taught by y ^e Prophet, that it is a grievous curse, saying: His prayer is become to him even very syn. • . Gregory also saith. Simulata sanctitas est duplex iniquitas. Fayned holiness is double iniquity. To pray nothing at all is iniquity & plain sin, but to pretend outwardly an holy manner of prayenge, & yet not pray in deed in our hearts, is double iniquity, & increaseth much dānaciō unto us, as we have heard heretofore, in as much as we are dissemblers both before God & mā. But let us hear what S. John Chrysostom saith: Many coming into the church do extend & streytch out their prayer unto a thousand verses, as though the multitude of words were nedeful unto God as unto one that doth not know what y ^• arest, which knoweth the matter, before thou thynkest. For they thē selves also do not know what they say. Theyr lips are moved only, but their mide is without fruit, & therefore are y ^• ears of God deaf. Thou heareste not thine own prayer, & wilt thou that y ^• LORDE should hear thy prayer? I have bowed, y ^u sayst, my knees. Thou hast bowed in deed thy knees within, but thy mind wādreth abroad. Thy body is within, but thy thought is without. Thy mouth in deed spake, but thy mind did thike upon usuries. It did count the revenues of thy possessions. It did behold the descripcions & valowynges of houses. It remembered the words of thy friends. It looked upon y ^• negligenses of thy servants. It laughed at the pleasant iestyng of the Pharasites. It considered the beau • ty of women. Therefore know that these things are done. Follow thou being a man the womā of Canane, which very diligently and w ^t high wisdom prayed unto y ^c LORD & therefore deserved to obtain her requests. But thou wilt say peradventure, I have no daughter, which is replete with the devil, but y ^u hast a soul, which is stuffed full of sin. Agayne he saith, If whan y ^e body lyghtethe prostrate upon the ground, & the mouth bableth vainly, the mind goeth about the house and market, how may such one say that he hath prayed in the sight of God. For he prayeth in the sight of GOD, which gathereth altogether his mind quietly, & hath nothing to do w ^t the world, & lyfteth up himself even unto heaven, and putteth out of his mind all humayn thoughts. For he y ^t prayeth, must so pray, that he settethe his mind at quiet from worldly things, & calleth on God with a sorrowful and contryte heart. Neither may he use many words, nor draw out his prayer on a great length, but speak few words, yea & those simple, plain and homely. For not in the multitude of words, but in y ^e quycknes of mind doth the whole matter consyst, that we should be heard. Once again he saith: In prayer there is not so much need of the voice as of the thought, nor of the stretchyng out of y ^e hands as of the intencion of the mind.

Thus se we also proved by y ^e Doctors, that it is the mind, where w ^t a Christian man must pray. The mūblinge over multitude of prayers, y ^• cryenge out of the voice, y ^e yellynge of the throat, the lyftynge up of the hands, the knockynge of the breast, the shakyng of the head, the kneeling on the knees, & whatsoever can be in uēted or rehearsed besides these things, are i vain, if the mind be not present in the time of prayer. I will pray in spirit, saith Paul, and I will pray also in mind. I will sing in Spirit, and I will sing also in mind. Therefore y ^e it may be prayed aryght, let every mā say, farewell to all human affairs and wordly matters, and so quietly repose himself, while he prayeth, that according to our diffiniciō, his prayer in very deed may be a lystynge up of the mind.

The seventh Chapter.

BUt some man will say peradventure, is it enough, if I pray with my mind, the heart • eynge semoted from mundane affairs and worldly businesses? I aūswear: Our diffinicion teacheth us not only to pray with the mind, but also with a pure mind. For Prayer is y ^• lyftyng up of a pure mind. So few y ^t it is not enough to pray w ^e y ^e mind, except it be pure. It will be objected, than shall we never pray. For who can say, my heart is clean and I am pure from sin? I answer: If ye say, we have no sin, we deceive our selves, & the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful & righteous to forgive us our sins, and make us clean from all vnryghteousnes. The scripture saith, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, & whose sins are covered, blessed is that man to whom the LORDE hathiputed no sin. It saith not Blessed are they, which have no iniquities, or which have no sin. For S. James saith: In many things we sin all. So long as we are in this mortal flesh we can never be pure & clean from the dregs of sin, if from the sin it self. We can never in this life aspire unto so great perfeccion of innocence, that we may appear pure & gyltelesse in the sight of God, in whose eyes y ^e very sterres & Aūgels be not clean. Howe than may we pray with & pure mind? Verily if our mind be faithful to God, & charitable to our neighbor, God doth dissemble all our faults, & in as much as we are faithful unto him, & loving to our christen brothers, he counteth us all pure, as S. John saith: He y ^• is borne of God, sinneth not, that is to say, he that believeth in God, his sin is not imputed unto him, in as much as he consenteth not to the sin, but hongreth and thyrstethe after the perfeccion of true innocence. Our hearts be purified by faith saith the scripture, so that who so ever prayeth with a faithful & charitable mind, he is counted before God to pray with a pure mind. For God judgeth not as the world doth. The world thinketh him to be a good devout man that goethe up & down with a coggyrnge pair of Bedes in his hands, or knelethe down in his stole solēlie with a great Matters boke in his hand, making such a noise with his lips & tōge, that all the whole church ryngethe of it, although his heart be far frō God, & his mind occupied about wordly businesses. But God beholdeth the mind, the heart, y ^e inward man, & looketh whither he prayeth in purite & cleans or not. If the heart be stuffed with faith & charity, then is God well pleased, & accepteth the prayer for an high & pleasant Sacryfyce. Who being in the temple hearing the proud Pharisee, & the poor Publican prayeng together would not have esteemed the Pharisee to be more righteous & pure in y ^• sight of God, then y ^e wretched Publican▪ For the Pharisee confessed no syn, but virtues many. He gave god thanks y ^e he was not like other mē, which are extorcioners, vnryghteous, adulterers, & as the Publican was. He fasted twice in the week, & gave the tents of all things that he possessed. Dangelyke righteousness and seraphical perfeccion. Who would not have thought this holy religious father worthy to be canonysed & related into the number of Saints▪ • et saith Christ plainly that the poor Publycane, which brought forth no good deeds, but stood a far of & durst not lift up his eyes to heaven, but humbly knocked his breast, saȳge: O God be thou merciful unto me a sinner, went home more righteous i God's sight then the Pharisee. Whye so? For the Pharisee had no true Faith in him but an arrogant presumpcion, bostynge & cra • yng of his good deeds, as though God were in his det, and he not in God's. And that he had no christen charity in him, it is evident seeing y ^t he despised his neighboure. For Charite, saith the Scripture, covereth the multitude of sins.

That the Publicās prayer came from a pure mind, that is, from a mind faithful & charytable, it is manifest. Fyrste because that with an humble heart he came to God for remission of his sins, believing to obtain it. Secondely, seeing that he accused no mā but himself only. Therefore went he home more justified, saith the holy Scripture. Therefore to all such as outwardly pretend holiness, & yet are impure in their mind, Christ saith. The Harlottes & Publicans shall go before you into the kyngdō of heaven. Agayne, ye are they y ^• justify youre selves before mē, but God knoweth your hearts. For y ^t which is praise worthy before men, is plain abomination before God.

Abel also & Caym offered both sacrifices to god, & the scripture saith that God looked unto Abel & unto his gifts, but unto Caym and unto his gifts he looked not. It is here to be noted, that God not after the fasshyon of the world judgeth y ^e person of the act, but the act of y ^e person. He first looketh to the person, & afterward unto the act, as the holy scripture saith here. He looked unto Abel, & unto his gifts. Fyrst unto Abel, & afterward unto Abel's gifts. If the person be good, that is, faithful & charitable, thā doth God accept the gift, not for the dignity of the gift it self, but for y ^e faith of him that offereth. For as y ^e Psalmograph saith, God hath no need of our goods. The earth is y ^• LORDES, & all y ^t ever is contained in it.

As concerning that the Scripture saith, God looked unto Abel, it signifieth that God favored Abel, i as much as his heart was both • aithful & charitable. And y ^t God looked to y ^e gifts of Abel, it she wethe y ^e God was well pleased w ^t thē, seeing they proceeded frō the heart of such one as was enfarsed with faith & charity.

As touching that the scripture saith, God looked not unto Caym & unto his gifts, it sygnifyethe that God neither favored Caym, nor yet accepted his gifts, seeing that Caym had in him neither faith nor Charity. For his heart was stuffed full of ire & wrath toward his brother Abel, in so much that shortly after it came to pass according to his pretensed malice, that he slew his brother. And wherefor did he slay him▪ verily because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous. Thus sewe, that be our gifts never so precious in y ^e sight of men, yet if the gyuer be wicked, that is, vnfaythefull and vncharytable, God utterly contēneth & setteth thē at nought, as the wise mā saith: The gifts of the wicked, y ^• most high doth not alowe and approve. S. Iustē also saith, the prayer of an envious man is wont to be put a back from the ears of God. Hereto agreeth the saying of Chrysostom: Let us, sayethhe, in every place bring forth a pure mind. For that is the cause of all good things. The good LORDE is not wont to attend & give hede to those thing that are done of us, but unto the inward mind, whereof we are moved to do these things. And good looking to this mind, doth either approve or turn away those things that we do. Therefore whythe • we pray, or fast, or give alms (for those are our spiritual Sacrifyces) or whither we do ony other certain spiritual work, let us do that, beig moved thereunto with a good mind Therefore saith Christ, when thou • offrest a gift at the Aultare, & the • dost remē • er that thy brother hath • any thing against the, leave thy • gift there before the Aultare, & ga • thy way, be first reconciled to thy • brother, & thā come & offer thy gift. In like manner when we pray, we may not only provide y ^e we may pray w ^t the mind, all human thin • ges & worldly affairs semoted and laid a side, but also we must give • earneste diligence, that we pray w ^t a pure mind, that is, with a mind stuffed full • of faith & charity. For as David saith: I perceive ony unrighteousness, y ^e is to say, vnfaythfulnesse, in my heart, God will not hear me. Agayne: The LORD is ny • to all that call upon him, yea to all that call upon him in truth. And the wise man saith: Into a ma • lycious soul wisdom will not enter, nor into a body subject unto sin. S. Paul also saith, I will y ^e men pray in every place, lyftynge up pure hands without wrath and contencion. So that he which beareth a heart faithful toward God, and charity toward his neighbor is fytte to pray in y ^e sight of God. Therefore let us labor seryously, y ^e whan we intende to pray, we may exclude & put out of our hearts all infidelite wrath & cōtēciō, & be so plēteously enfarsed with Faith & Charite, that our prayer may justly seme to be a very lyftynge up of a pure mind. And that this may be done the more conveniently, it shall be necessary for us to pray with David. Create in me O God a pure & clean heart, & a right up spirit make thou a new in my inward partes. But • et us hear more of our diffinicion. It followeth.

The eyght Chapter.

VNto God. Note that he saith, unto God, not unto Jupiter, Apollo, Mercurius, Bacchus, Juno, Minerva, Pallas Uenus & such other God's & Godesses, yea rather dyuels, as the Psalmograph saith, the God's of the Neythen are dyuelles, unto whom the Ethuyckes and Gentyles did fly in their prayer for succoure, nor unto Baal, Astaroth, Moloch, the Queen of heaven, and such other Idolles, as the old Idolaters the Jews, worshipped & cried unto for help, no nor yet as our new Idolaters were wont to do, as unto Luke for y ^e Ox, unto Job for the poxe, unto Anthony for the pyg, unto Loye for the horse, unto Apoline for the to thake, unto Rooke for the pestilence, unto Syth for things lost, unto Gertrude for the ratonnes & myse, unto Blase for the Ague, unto Agues for the fire, unto Barbara for the the thonder, unto Christopher for continual health, unto Annes for a husband, unto Margarete for women with child, unto Kateryne for learning, unto Crispyne & Crispiniane for shoes makig unto Cosme and Damiane for Physic, unto Clement for bruing beer, and such other innumerable, but unto God. For Prayer is a lyftyng up of a pure mind unto God. Unto God ought we to lift up our hearts, when we pray, as y ^e Psal. saith, unto y ^e have I lyfted up mine eyes, which dwellest ī heuē Agein, I have lyfted up mine eyes into the Mountaynes, frō whence help may come unto me. My help cometh frō y ^e LORD which made heaven & earth. Also in another place, when I was in trouble, I cried unto the LORDE, & he favorably heard me. The eyes of the LORDE are vpō the righteous, and his ears are bent unto their prayers. Myne eyes, saith David, are cried Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Nohe, There, Abrahā, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaharon, Ietro, Eleazar, Phinehas, Joshua, Caleb Othoniel, Gideon, Helcana, Samuel, Nathan, David, Solomon, Helias, Micah, Elisha, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Josiah, Job, Mathatias, Thoby, w ^t all the other ancient fathers & holy Prophets of the old Testament, but unto GOD alone. Agayne unto whom prayed Joseph John̄ Baptist, Lazarus, Nicodemus, Gamaliel, Cornelius, Apollo, Dionisius, Aquilia, Stephen, Philip, Agabus, Ananias, Timothy, Titus, Ioses, Philemon, and all the Apostles, with many other, which are contained in y ^e volumes of both Testaments, but unto God alone? The prayed, and were heard. Shall our Prayers than be vain, if we pray with that same purite of mind that they did? The scripture saith: Who so ever beleuethe in God, shall not be confounded. For there is no difference between Jew & Gentyle. For one is LORDE of all, which is rich enough unto all that call on him. For whosoever shall call on the name of the LORDE, he shall be safe, Let us therefore trust in God, pour out our hearts before him, lament our cause to him, desyrynge to have his most gracious aid & help in all our trouble & adversity, and we may be sure to obtain whatsoever we ask according unto his will, & to seal remedy so present, that nothing can be wysshed nearer.

Thus se we that Prayer is a lyftyng up of a pure mind unto God. It followeth.

The nynthe Chapter.

VUherī we ask somewhat of hī He that entendethe to pray w ^t fruit, must before he begin to pray, consider w ^t himself for what thing he hath most need to pray. If thou be proud, than haste thou need to pray for humility. If thou be wrathful & enuyous, than haste thou need to pray for charity. If y ^u be a glotton or dronkarde, thē haste thou need to pray for sobrtete. If y ^u be fault in ony vice, than hast thou need to pray for y ^e virtue contrary to the vice. If thou be a magistrate & ruler of the people, than hast y ^u need to pray unto God for grace, that y ^u mayste govern his people committed unto thy charge according to equite & mercy. If thou be a Bishop or spiritual ouersear, thā hast thou a great occasion to fly unto God w ^t thy prayers, that thou mayst faith fully give attendaūce on the flock, over whom the holy Ghoste hath made the an ouersear to govern y ^e congregation of God, whom he hath purchased w ^t his blood. To be short in whatsoever state of living thou be, if y ^u cōsyderest & weyest depely w ^t thyself thy manner of living, y ^• shalt find sufficient occasions for to pray. They therefore which pray but for a customs, & because they will exercise their lips, unless they should seme to y ^e Cōgregaciō but a little devout & holy mē, not carīg what they pray so they pray, & do not before they pray determine w ^t thenselves wherefor they will pray, certes though they spend whole worlds in such kind of prayer, yet do they nothing less then pray. If we search y ^e holy volumes of the divine scriptures we shall easily perceive, that they which prayed, did never pray but for urgent and right necessary causes. As for an example: Whan Moses perceived the wrath of God to be whotte against the Israelites, because they had worshipped the golden calf, he streyghte ways for the health of his people prayed, saying: Either forgive thē this fault, or • thou do not, wype me out of y ^e boke of life, which thou haste written. Kynge David prayed many times for divers urgēt causes as we may se in the Psalms. Kynge Salomō his son prayed for wisdom, that he might govern the people a right Hezekiah hearing the blasphemies & proud crakes of Sennacherib, prayed to the LORDE for help. Judith & Hester prayed for the deliverance of their people.

Agayne in the new Testament, the blind prayed for their sight, y ^e lame for their going, the deaf for their hearing, the sick for their health. The poor Publican prayed for remission of sins. The womā of Canane prayed for the health of her daughter, as divers other did for their children and servants. Christ & Stephen prayed for their enemies. The church of Christ prayed for the deliverance of Peter. Paul & all the Apostles prayed for y ^e swifte & redye passage of the Gospel, & for the fortunate conversion of the unfaithful, unto the faith of Christ. Thus se we that all holy & devout persons did ever premeditate with them selves, wherefor they should pray before they prayed. And so sone as an occasion of prayenge was offered unto thē, they fell straightways unto prayer, & fled unto God w ^t most hearty supplication for y ^e purchasynge of their hearts desire. So ought we to do, & not rasshely to mūble over a great multitude of Psalms or other prayers after the manner of certain ydiots & unlearned priests, we care not how, nor cā not tell wherefor, but ponder, weye and consider depelye our cause, and se what a great occasion we have to pray, & than with an humble cōtryte & sorrowful heart lament our cause before God with most bitter & heuy tears, never leaving until we have obtained that for the which we pray. If we would do thus, thā should our prayers be modest, sober & decēt, & not temerarious, • asshe, & babled out of order, & by this means accepted of GOD, heard and granted.

Thus have I declared as I trust according unto the vain of y ^e holy scripture, & the mind of the ancient Doctors, what prayer is. Now I will haste to declare of what virtue & strength the true and Christian prayer is, y ^e men knowing y ^e efficacy & dignity, yea & the necessity thereof, may w ^e y ^e more plansible & joyful mī des delight in it, exercysynge them selves therein both day & night to the great glory of God, & the utter confusion of Satan, & the high consolacion of their own souls.

The. x. Chap.

I N declaring the efficacye, virtue, strength, & power of the true & chrishen Prayer, I would gladly wysshe unto me the pleasant speech & sugared utterance of the most famous & excellent Oratoure Pericles. whose eloquence was so great & wondrous, as it is reported, that even of very nature it seemed incomparable; and not of ī any part able of ony mortal man to be followed & practiced, of so great admyracion, yea & estimation in the sight of all men was it recoūted. But seeing that my wysshe in this behalf is vain, & that there is no man more barbarous and of less 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 eloquence then I am. Agayne, seeing that God hath ever chosen the fools & unwise of this world to set forth his glory & to confound the wisdom of the worldly wise, and the understanding of the flesshelye minded, seeing also that the truth of God's wisdom hath no need of or nate eloquence nor painted colors, which of the faithful for all the simplicite of it, is ever amplexed & received joyfully, I shall most instantly desire God, that he may so direct my pen & instyll on such manner into my breast the knowledge of the most holy Hystories of the sacred scriptures, which aboūdantly declare how mighty in operacion the true & christen prayer is, that I by rehearsyng them, & God's most holy Spiryte working therewith also may so accend, kyndle, inflame, & fette on fire Christian men's hearts with y ^e love of faithful prayer, that they may unfeignedly rejoice in the continual exercise & godly meditacion thereof.

By prayer Abraham delivered king Abimelech frō death, which god thretened hī, because he had takē to him Abraham's wife. And where as God had stryken the kings wife & handmaydens with the vice of sterilite and barennes for the aforesaid fault, at Abrahams prayer they were made whole. By prayer Moses ceased and turned away the plages of Egypt. By prayer Moses caused y ^e water to flowe out of y ^e hard rock. By prayer Moses obtained the victory for the Israelites against Ameliche, but whan he ceased to pray, than did their enemies prevail & get the victory. By prayer, whē god was full determined to slay the Israelites, because they worshipped the golden caulfe, Moses apeased y ^e divine wrath, & recōcyled the people to the favor of God. By prayer Moses caused the fire suddenly to be in allowed up, which devoured the tents of the murmurers. By prayer Miriā, which spake against Moses was delivered frō her leprosi. By prayer y ^e people which were grievously stryke & wounded of y ^e fyry serpētes for their disobedience, were delivered frō thē & made whole. By prayer Jesus caused the Sōne & y ^e Moon to stonde still by y ^e space of an whole day, until he was revenged of his enemies. By prayer Anne y ^e wife of Helcana being barren longe before was made as a fruytfull vine. By prayer the people of Israel did baleauntly overcome their enemies y ^• Philistines. By prayer David obtained the favor again of God, although he had committed y ^e most heinous sin both of man slaughter & whoredom. By prayer Helias raised from death to life the son of the widow of Sarepta. By prayer he in like manner caused y ^t great plente of rain came down from heaven upon the earth, where as before it had not rained by the space of three years & syxe months. By prayer Jehoshaphat obtained god merciful to him, so y ^e easily he had y ^e victory over his enemies By prayer Hezekiah overcame his proud adversary Sennacherib & all his army. By prayer the same Hezekiah did prolonge his life. xv. years, By prayer Manasseh was delivered out of captivity, & restored agen unto his kingdom. By prayer, Nehemiah's obtained of the Kynge all his desire. By prayer all good things chaunsed unto Thoby & Sara the daughter of Raguell. By prayer Judith overcame Holofernes & his army. By prayer queen Hester had her desire for y ^e Israelites of y ^e king Ahasuerus. By prayer Daniel was preserved from the cruel fearcenes of the Lions. By prayer Susāna was delivered from the most bitter death pretensed against her. By prayer Jonah was delivered out of the whales belly. By prayer Judas Maccabeus gatte the victory over his enemies, but in two battayles when he should fight w ^t Antiochus, & prayed not, he fled away. And when he did sight with Bachides & Alcimus, he was slain, because he did not pray, as before. By prayer Ionathas, whā all had forsaken hī except a few, obtained y ^e victory. By prayer y ^e Jews were delivered frō death & trouble, & y ^e goods of temple preserved. Divers histories there be more of y ^e old testament which declare of how great vertu & strength y ^e true & christen prayer is, but thes at this present may seme abūdātly to satisfy: I will therefore rehearse a few of the new testament, concerning this matter also, & than make an ende, that mē in few words may se of what efficacy & power faithful prayer is.

The. xi. Chapter.

BY prayer the Lepers were delivered from their leprosy. By prayer the blind were restored to their sight. By prayer they y ^t were sick of y ^e palseye, were made whole. By prayer the womā of Canane obtained health for her daughter. By Prayer divers men obtained health for their sons & servants By prayer the lame were restored to the right use of their lymmes. By prayer y ^e deaf were made to hear. By prayer the dumb recovered their speech. By prayer the dead were restored to life. By prayer sinners obtained remissiō of their sins. By prayer Mary Magdalene had seven dyuelles caste out of her. By prayer the Publycanne went home more justified then the Pharisee. By prayer the faith of Peter sailed not. By prayer the holy Ghoste was purchased for the Apostles and all the faithful. By prayer Christ & Stephen obtained remission for their enemies. By prayer Peter he led Aeneas of the palseye. By prayer he raised by Tabiths from death to life. By prayer also he learned y ^e all meats are pure, & none comone or unclean. By prayer Cornelius deserved to receive the holy Ghoste before he was baptized. By prayer Peter was delivered out of prysō. By prayer Paul saved so many as were with him in the shyp from the danger of drownynge. By prayer we live under the magistrates and head officers of the publigue weal peasably & quietly with all godliness & honesty. By prayer the Gospel of Christ hath ever had felyce & fortunate progress. By prayer we •• made safe in our syckenes. By 〈◊〉 ex the conuersyon of the Gentyles came fortunately to pass. By prayer the glory of God hath ever be promoted. By prayer y ^e church of Christ hath ever had the victory over Antechristes Sinagoge. To conclude, by prayer all good things chance unto us, & without prayer nothing prospereth with us fortunately. If I should go forth to recyte all y ^e Histories of the holy Bible, y ^e make to the auaūcement of prayer, I should contexe & make a work longer thā the Iliades of the Greke Poet Homere. But of these few Histories heretofore rehearsed, the faithful & Christian reader may right well deprehende & perceive, what efficacy, vertu, strength & power is in y ^e true & Christian prayer. Howe can prayer be onye otherwise then a thing of great excellency, seeing that the holy Ghost was the Author of it, seeing also that so many incōperable things by it haueben obtained & so many divine matters brought to pass? No man therefore ought to doubt of y ^e dignity of it, seeing y ^e Jesus Christ godsowne son did both very diligent lyat all times, & in all fortunes & chaūses, yea & y ^e both night & day exercise it, & also not only command other to pray, but likewise taught & prescribed the most godly way of praȳg. Christ's Apostles also with Mary the mother of Jesu, & other holy womē persevered together very much in fasting & prayeng after Christ's Ascencion, as we read in the Ac • es of the Apostles.

I could gather here many thiges out of y ^e old Histories, which should declare unto us howe greatly y ^e ancient fathers of Christ's church delighted i this godly exercise of prayer, as we read in S. James, whose knees thorough the continual use of knelynge in his prayers had great wrattes or wennes, call them what ye will for all me, growynge upon them after the manner as Camelles have, but my mind is not to set forth y ^e cōmendaciō, praise & auaūce ment of prayer by ony Histories, but only those, which are contained in y ^e holy scripture. Notwithstandynge seeing that hitherto I have fortressed this my treatise w ^t the sayenges of y ^e godly learned Doctors, I will therefore now rehearse a sentence or two of the golden mouthed Doctor S. John̄ Chrysostom, which shall not a little make to the auauncemēt of y ^e true and christen prayer.

The. xii. Chapter.

DErely beloved prayer undoubtedly, saith he, is an exceading good thing and great treasure. For if he that talketh with a virtuous man receiveth by that means no small profytte, howe many commodities then shall he enjoy, to whom it is given to talk w ^t GOD? It is impossible forsooth it is impossible for that mā which prayeth aryght and maketh continual supplication vn to God, for to sin at any time. For the fountains of water do not make gardyns so fertyle, and fruytfull, as the foūtaynes of tears wateringe the plant of prayer, make it to exercise & grow up unto a bery great heyght, & set him y ^e prayeth before the LORD. Hereof cometh it to pass y ^t he must needed 〈◊〉 heard.

Agayne he saith, as the Son is the light unto the body, so is prayer unto the soul. Prayer getteth an holy life, & the congrue, decente and semely worshipping of God, & after a meruaylous manner it layeth up treasure for our souls. For whither that a man will labor to keep virginite, or in marriage reuerentlye to maintain continencye, or to suppress wrath, & to live mekely, or to repurge envy, or to do any other decent & comely thing, prayer being his guide, & preparyng such a way to the life, he shall undoubtedly have a quiet & easy passage unto Godliness. For it is not possible, but that they which ask of God pureness of living, justice, mekenes & benignite, must needs obtain it by prayeng. For he saith, ask & it shall be given you. Seake and ye shall find. Knocke & it shall be opened to you. For eueryone y ^e asketh, receiveth, & he that seaketh fyndeth, & to him y ^e knocketh, it shall be opened.

Prayer receiveth us full of sins, and straightways maketh us clean. Prayer is the present remedy for y ^e souls of thē that are sick. Prayer doth not only make clean frō sin, but also put a back great perelles. Prayer is & is truly called a celestial panoply & heavenly armature, & that alone is able valeaūtely to preserve thē, which have consecrated them selves unto it. So that w ^t out prayer no good nor wholesome thing shall chance unto us.

Prayer is the head of all goodness & the conciliatryce and purchaser of health & everlasting life. Prayer is the cause of all virtue and justice. Prayer is the occasion of health, the purchaser of an immortal soul, the • ure bulwark of the Chyrche, the in concusse, vnshakē & puissaunt custody or watch of the faithful, terrible to the dyuelles, but healthful to the godly. Prayer hath waiting on her all virtues. To be breue, loke what the foundaciō is in an house, y ^e bery same is prayer in the soul.

Hytherto have I rehearsed y ^e words of the golden mouthed Doctor, which declare manifestly of howe great virtue and strength the true and Christian prayer is.

Of these things thē heretofore rehearsed, have we sufficiently learned what an exceeding and incōpa • able treasure prayer is to y ^e soul of • christen man. Certes whither we • aue respect to the commodity of • ur body or of our soul, prayer is • he only means, whereby it is obtained & brought to pass. Be God ne • ter so angry with us, prayer apea • ed his wrath, as the Poet saith. • lectitur ixatus, uoce rogante Deus. Et. Domi • um mundi flectere uota ualent. If we be si • ull, prayer purifyethe us. If we be • arrē, prayer maketh us fruytfull. • f we be sick, prayer maketh us whole. If we be ygnorāt, prayer engraffeth knowledge in us. If we be • lynd, prayer illumineth our senses. If we be cōfortles, prayer is ready to • ssyst & help us. If we be sorrowful, prayer cōforteth us. If we be poor, prayer entychethe us. If we be profane, prayer maketh us holy. If we be carnal, prayer maketh us spiritual. If we be captives of Satā, prayer maketh us the dearly beloved sonnes of god. If we wāte ony thing Prayer is ready to get it for us. To conclude, if we be evil, prayer maketh us good. If we be good, prayer maketh us better, & never forsaketh us until he hath brought us unto the presence of almighty God in his eternal glory. What would we have more? Seyng that so large commodities & great profittes come unto us by the true & christen prayer, let us cast away all sluggyshnes, and exercise our selves maynly in the most godly meditacion of virtuous prayer. By this means doubteles shall vice decrease & minish in us, & cōtrarywyse virtue shall augment & increase very much both in body & soul. And y ^e this thing may be done the more conueniētly, I will now by God's favor declare howe a christen man should prepare himself to pray, y ^e by no means he may abuse this great and syngulare treasure.

The. xiii. Chapter.

A Lthough there be so many things to be considered in the godly exercise of prayer, y ^e we may pray aryghte, yette me think that eyghte things chefely above all other must be considered • observed in it, without the which • o mā can prepare himself to pray according unto the will of God. Of theyse eyghte therefore will I now speak in order by the assistance and help of God's most holy Spiryte, whom I most instātly desire so to direct my pen, that I may write all thing unto the glory of God, & the profytte of his holy church. Fyrst it is requisyte, that he which intendeth to pray, consydereth deeply w ^t himself his state & case wherein he stōdeath. If he doth thus, thā shall • he find that to be true, which th • Psalmograph writeth: Every man that liveth is nothing out altogether very vanite. Agayne, the children of men are vain. They are liars & false, in as much that if y ^u puttest thē & vanite together in a ballaunce, vanite will surely wey them up. All flesh is grass, & all his glory is like a flour of the field.

Moreover he shall easily perceive that all his senses & thoughts are prone to evil, & that he is not able of him self to thike a good thought. Agayne, he shall shortly vnderstōde that his heart is wicked & inscrutable, & that there is no whole parte in him from the top of the head to y ^e soole of the foot, but that in all his thoughetes, words & deeds, he is a very sinner & grievous offender of the divine majesty. Thus must he first of all, whā he entēdeath to pray, consider with him self what he is, even a very sinner, a trangressoure of God's precept, a breker of the divine law, and a wicked doer in all his acts.

This consideracion first of all is very necessary. For it bringeth a mā to the knowledge of him self, & maketh him desirous for to pray, that he may be delivered frō this great enormite. Certes except a man doth first of all on this wise judge, vnderstōde & perceive of himself, he can never be truly bent for to pray. For who desyrethe the color & warmenes of clothe, that feleth no cold? Who longeth for meat & drink, that is not hungry & thyrsty. Who wyssheth health that is not sick? Who prayeth for remission of sins, that fealeth not himself to be a sinner? Woulde Hezekiah have prayed for health & longe life, if he had not felt himself sick & at the point of death? Woulde Solomon have desired wisdome for the right gouernaūce of his people, if he had not perceived, that he had had need of it? Woulde David when he had played the adulterer with Bethsabe y ^e wife of Urias, so greatly have lamented his sin, if he had not know̄ him self to be a grievous sinner? Would the poor Publican contrary to the manners of the proud Pharisee have stonde a far of, being afraid to lift up his eyes, and knockyng his breast, saying: O God be thou merciful unto me a sinner, if he had not known himself to be full of sin, misery & wretchedness? Would Mary magdalene have ben so desirous of Christ's company, if she had not known herself to be a miserable siner, and Christ a bounteous Sauyvor? Nay verily.

Therefore the next & most ready way for a man to prepare himself to pray aright, & with a fervent spirit & hungry mind, is to know & grant himself to be a sinner, and y ^e therefore he hath great need to pray.

The. xiiii. Chapter.

SEcōdly, whē he hath once thoroughly debated & beaten w ^e hiselfe his own misery, wretchedness, sin, & abhominaciō, & perceyuethe that to be delivered thereof, there is no other way, but only by the mercy of God thorough prayer, he must streyghte ways set before his eyes the Commandment of God, which after y ^e knowledge & confession of his sin commandeth him to pray. And here ought he not a little to rejoice. For who, whā he hath ones offended God, durst be so bold as once to desire pardon of his offense, & to pray unto God for mercy, if God himself had not commaundes him so to do? Verily no man. For the transgression of God's commandment doth so confound the consicience of y ^e trāsgressour, that it sooner dryueth him unto desperacion, than to any hope of help or favor. This is well proved by Adam, which, when he had once broken God's precept in Paradyse, fled straightways from y ^e face of God, hyd him, & sought all means possible no more to come into his sight. Howe was Caym also confounded in his conscience whē he had killed his brother Abel, though there was yet no law raygnynge? Was he not so consternate & stryken with such fear, that he said: Everyone that fyndeth me, will kill me? was he not ashamed so greatly of his mā slaughter, that he said, mine iniquity is greater thē I may deserve for gyuenes? Dyd he not fly frō y ^e face of the LORDE, so far as he might. Again, was not Judas so ashamed of his deed whan he had sold Christ to the Bishops & head priests, y ^e he brought the money again to thē, & said, I have sinned, betrayenge the innocent blood? Dyd not sin so cōfound & slay his conscience at y ^e last, that he went & hanged up himself, & when he was hanged, did not he brast a sūder in the mids, and all his bowels gusshed out? Who being a Traytoure dare come before the Kynges majesty to desire pardon of his offense? Yea who rather being fauty in that detestable sin, fieth not from his graces presence in to strange countries, that he may be free and without punyshment? For the reward of sin is death. Therefore I say ought he that knoweth & graūteth himself to be a sinner very much to rejoice that God for his offense hath commanded him to pray, which else durst nothing less than once to attēpte for to approach before the divine majesty w ^e onye kind of prayer, & when sin shall labor according unto y ^e nature thereof for to condemn the conscience, & to expel from the heart all saith, confidence, & trust in God, thā to erecte, eleuate & lift up himself by giving sure & undoubted faith to the commandment of God, which commandeth him to pray, w ^e this persuasion, that God hath not commanded him for to pray in vain. He must therefore put these & such like Comaundementes ever before his eyes, Ask, Seke, Knocke, watch pray. Agayne, call on me in the day of trouble. Come unto me all ye that labor & are ladē. All ye that thyrst come unto the waters. And ye that have no money make hast, by & eat. Come & bye without money, & without ony marchaundyse, wyne and milk. These most gentle & loving commandments of God comfort the sorowefull mind of the sinner greatly, & engraffe in him a certain gladness & hope for to obtain remissiō of his sins, seeing y ^e God so boūteonsly commandeth him to pray.

The. xv. Chapter.

THyrdely when he hath on this manner poudered the commandment of God, wherw ^t he is provoked to pray, than doth convenient time require that he also consydereth the most loving, gentle, & bounteous promises of God, in the which he promyseth for to hear us, & to grant us our petitions. For what doth it profit for to ask & not to obtain? If God had only commanded us to pray, and not also promised for to hear us, & gentelly to give us our desires, what great pleasure had he done for us? what had he done for the which we had need once to say, LORDE God a mercy? What syngulare benefit had we received of hi? But although y ^e Cōmaundement to pray putteth us i good confort, yet whā we are promised also graciously to be heard, this maketh us unfeignedly to rejoice & seriouslye to triumph. This maketh us to put our of our heart all doloure & sadness, & to be replete with all myrthe & gladness. The promises of God bring quietness to the conscience, huarite to the heart, tranquility & peace to the soul. No man is able to express howe much & howe great joy lieth buried up in the divine promises, & how fervent consolacion the sinner taketh by the hearing of thē. What joy think ye was this unto Adā for to hear after his offense, that y ^e son of GOD should be borne of a pure maid, & tread down the Serpētes head, that is, subdue Satā & deliver Adam w ^t all his posterite frō his tyranny, bring thē again into the favor of God, & make thē heirs of eternal glory? What comfort I pray you was this to faithful Abrahā for to hear that in his seed all nacious of the earth should be blessed? What a great pleasure was this to y ^e Israelites, whē they were grievously stynged & slain of the fyry serpentes for their disobedience, to hear this promise of God: make a brasē serpent, & set it up for a sign He that is stryken & looketh upon it, shall live? What exceadyng comfort received Joshua by this promise of God unto him: I will not leave the neither will I forsake the. Be therefore strōge & take a good heart unto the? As I may come nearer to our matter, howe much joy, consolaciō & pleasure have the faithful fealte of this one promise of God: Euerye one that callethe on the name of the LORDE, shall be saved?

Therefore in this behalf the promises of God must be earnestly weighed, pondered & considered. In them must we rest, & dailye as in a most pleasant Herboure. In thē must we repose our selves. In them must be all our delyghte, pleasure & felicite. The chief promises concerning Prayer are these. Delyghte thou in the LORDE, & he shall give the, the peticiōs of thy heart. Call on me saith God in the day of thy trouble, & I will deliver the, and thou shalt honor me. Agayne he saith: Seynge that he hath put his trust in me, I will deliver him, & I will defend him, in as much as he hath known my name. He cried unto me, and I will graciously hear him, I am w ^e him in tribulacion, I will deliver him & glorify him. With the length of days will I replenysh him, and show him my saving health. Christ also saith: Come unto me all ye that labor & are laden, & I shall refresh you. Everyone that is a thyrste, let him come to me & drink. Agayne, ask, & it shall be given you. Seke & ye shall find. Knocke & it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth, & he that seeketh, fyndeth, & to him y ^e knocketh, it shall be opened. If the sone asketh bread of ony of you, which is his father, will ye profer him a stone? or if he asketh fysh, will ye give him a Serpent? or if he ask an Egg, will ye profer him a Scorpion? If ye than which are evil, know howe to give good gifts to your children, howe much more shall your father celestial give the holy ghost to them that desire it of him? These & such like promises of God, must he that intendeth to pray set before his eyes, that he comforted with the remembrance of them, may with the more frācke courage give himself to godly and devout prayer at all times.

The .xvi. Chapter.

FOurthly when he hath on this manner confyrmed & establyshed his mind with the contēplacion & beholdynge of the divine promises, he may not dout any thing at all of them, but faithfully believe & undoubtedly persuade himself y ^e they are true, in as much as they are the promises not of man but of GOD, which cā not lie, which is true, yea which is the self truth, which is faithful in all his words, & holy in all his works, whose word & truth also abide forever and ever. For though God be never so merciful, & bounteous in gifts, yet if we do not believe that his mercy & bounte pertain also to us, we are never y ^e better. Let it so be, that whā a tray tour for his offense committed against the Kynges majesty, flieth beyond the sees into a strange country by cause he will eschew the danger of the law, & escape y ^e pain due for his offense, the Kynges grace hath pity on him, pardon his fault, and send over his letters unto him, wherī is declared the kings great mercy & gentleness toward him, and willeth him to return into his natyue countre, & there again to enjoy the benefits of the same, & of all other that he possessed before, yea & that with no less favor, than he did in times paste, whan he was most estranged from that fault of treason: if the Traytour not believing the words of the most gracious & free pardon, would contemn & despise it, recountyng it to be but a vain gloose, & of no truth, what should the kings gentleness in this behalf profytte him? The king is merciful, but the traytoure is unfaithful. Therefore receiveth he no commodity by the kings pardon. And yet is not the fault in y ^e king, but in the traitor, which believeth not that glad and merye tiding.

Agayne: Be it in case, that a cunning & learned Phisiciō come unto a sick man, promisynge him help & deliverance of his dysease, & yet if the sick parsō believeth him not, but setteth naught by him, & despyseth his medicines what doth it profytte him? What is he holpen by the presence of the Phisiciō, be he never so cūnynge? What doth the redines of help profit him, if he refuseth to take & enjoy it? Verily nothing at all. In like manner be God never so merciful & boūteous, & never so ready to help us, yet if we believe him not to be so, his mercy, bounty and assistēce profit us nothing at all. The Psalmograph saith not only, the LORDE is nygh to all that cal on him, but he addeth, to all that call on him in truth. What is it to call on God in truth, but to believe earnestly that he will truly perform his promises, & do in all things as he hath promised? Agayne, David saith: Mercy & truth have met together, righteousness & peace have kyssed one another. What is this, mercy & truth have met together but that as God is merciful in making his promises, so is he true in perfourmynge them? Agayne, what meaneth this, righteousness & peace have kyssed one another, but only to show, that the righteousness of god in fulfilling his promises, and the trāquilite of conscience have joined them selves together in the hearts of the faithful.

Therefore if we do not obtain y ^e high treasures & great pleasures y ^e God hath promised let us impute it to nothing else but only to our unfaithfulness. For S. Paul saith w ^e out faith it is not possible to please God. He that cometh to God, saith he, must believe that God is, & that he is a rewarder to thē that seek h • . Again, we being justified by faith have peace toward God thorough our LORDE Jesus Christ, by whom also it hath chaunsed unto us, that by faith we should be brought into this grace, wherein we stond, & praise under the hope of the glory of GOD. S. James also saith, If ony man wanteth wisdom let him ask of him that giveth it, I mean God, which giveth to all men w ^t out doublenes, & casteth no man into y ^e teth, & it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith & waver not. For he y ^e doubteth, is like the waves of y ^e see, tossed of the wind, & carried with violence. Neither let that mā think y ^t he shall receive ony thing of God Christ also saith, Who soever shall say to this mountain, take away thyself, & cast thyself into the see, & shall not waver in his heart, but shall believe that these things which he saith, shall come to pass, whatsoever he saith, shall be done unto him. Therefore I say unto you, whatsoever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye shall have it, & it shall be done to you. Agen he saith have ye y ^e faith of GOD, y ^e is to say, assure pswasiō & confydence of the promises of the grace & mercy of God, & learn ye to assent & agre to the divine promise which thing if ye shall do, verily I say unto you, all things that ye ask whan ye pray, believe y ^e ye shall receive them, & they shall chaūse to you, as he saith, all that ever ye ask whan ye pray, believe that ye shall have thē, & they shall chance unto you, We read that whan two blind men desired Christ to make thē for to se, he said unto thē, do ye believe y ^e I am able to do this thing? They aunswared, we believe LORDE. Thā said Christ unto thē, according to your faith, be it to you. And their eyes were opē. Agen whā a certain mā brought his sonne to Christ for to be healed, Christ said to him: If thou canst believe y ^t , all things are possible to hī y ^t believeth. In diverse other places we read, that Christ said to thē whome he heled. Be it unto the according to thy faith. And thy faith hath saved the. For by faith are we mary to God. By faith are we made the sons of God. By faith all good things chance unto us. Therefore that we may be partakers of the comfortable promises of God, let us ear nestly believe thē, being perfectly pswaded that whatsoever God hath promised, he will surely fulfill it. For he is that truth, which can neither lie nor deceive, but granteth all things abosidantely to thē that ask in faith. Theophilacte hath a very gold̄ & notable saying, which is this. The foundation & ground of all prayer is faith. For except a mā doth believe, that he shall receive that to his profit, which he asketh, the prayer that he maketh is vain.

But if it be so that we are yette weak, & have no sure trust of y ^e clemencye & great goodness of God toward us, nor cannot persuade ourselves that our prayer is heard, but double & waver peradventure of the divine promises, than after the example of y ^e Apostles let us pray, LORDE increase our faith. Yea let us with tears cry out & say with the father of a certain child. I believe LORDE, succor & help mine incredulite & unfaithfulness. And y ^e mighty ruler, which is a merciful & gentle God, patient, longe suffering & true, which keepeth mercy, which taketh away iniquity, wickedness and sin, will surely have mercy on us & increase faith in us. For the power of the LORDE shall be with thē, which seek him with all their affect, 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 heart and mind.

The. xvii. Chapter.

FYftely whan we ask ony thing of God, we may not ask it in our own name, in our own dignity & worthiness, in our own justice & righteousness, in our own good deeds & merits, in our own innocence and pureness, but in the name of Christ. What is it to ask in y ^t name of Christ, but only to confess that for our own dignity & worthiness, we are not worthy to be heard, & therefore desyrynge to obtain mercy, grace, favor, & remission of our sins, we approach unto the throne of GOD with our faithful prayers, not in our own name, but in the name of Christ, that is to say, in Christ's dignity, worthiness justice, righteousness, innocencye, pureness, good deeds & merits. And for his sake & for his goodness do we desire to be heard, and to have our Peticions granted:

This is a great comfort for them that shall pray, y ^t though they be imperfecte, yet is Christ perfect, & his perfecciō is their perfecciō, though they be unrighteous, yet is Christ righteous, & his righteousness is their righteousness, though they be unholy, yet is Christ holy, & his holiness is their holiness, though they be void of perfect good works, yet hath Christ perfect good works, and his good works are their good works, if they leave their ungodliness, turn from their wicked ways, & study to live innocently, & therefore need they not fear for to pray, but boldly to ask all things in the name of Christ.

Our righteous advocate, saith S. Gregory, shall defend us righteous in the judgment, because we do both knowledge & accuse our selves unrighteous. Therefore not in our own wepiges, not in our own acts but in the allegacion of our advocate let us trust. Hereto pertaineth the saying of S. Agustine, the prayer which is not made by Christ doth not only not put away sin, but also the prayer itself is made very sin. Christ saith, whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the father may be gloryfyed by y ^e sonne. If ye ask ony thing in my name, that shall I do. Agayne If ye abide in me, & my words abide ī you, ask whatsoever ye will, & it shall be done to you. In another place also he saith: Verily verily I say to you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he shall give it you. Nytherto ye have asked nothing in my name. Ask & ye shall receive, that your joy may be perfect. Thus so we y ^t in Christ's name we must ask all things. For there is none other name given unto mē under heuē, wherī we must be saved but only this name of iesus christ. Euerye one y ^t calleth on this name shall be saved. For the name of the LORDE is a strong tower & valeaūt Bulwark, unto that doth y ^e righteous, that is, the faithful man fly. Blessed is that man, which trusteth in the name of the LORDE, and hath no respect unto vanities and false mad fantasies.

Moreover David, although God praiseth him greatly, & saith, that he hath found David his seruaūte even after his own heart, yet did not he, whan he prayed, desire to be heard for his own name, & for his own righteousness & vertu, but he prayed on this manner, LORDE hear my prayer, hear my request for thy truths sake, yea fauourablye hear me for thy righteousness, Agayne, in the O LORDE have I trusted, let me never be cōfounded, but deliver me in thy righteousness. My strength and my refuge art thou, and for thy names sake shalt thou lede me forth & norish me. For thi names sake LORD shalt thou be merciful to my sin, for it is much. O god for thy names sake save thou me, & in thy vertu deliver me. Help us O God our savior, & for the glory of thy name O LORDE deliver us, & be merciful to our sins for thy names sake. Behold he desireth not the favor of God for his own sake, for his own name, righteousness, truth & vertu but for God's name, for God's righteousness, truth and virtue. Now who is the righteousness of God, but Jesus Christ the son of God, which alone is found righteous among men? As Paul witnesseth, he is made of God our wisdom righteousness, sanctificacion & redēcion, that as it is written, he that rejoiceth, may rejoice in y ^• LORDE Who is the truth of GOD, but he which saith of himself. I am y ^e way the truth & the life. No man cometh to the father but by me? Who is y ^e virtue of God, but he that hath done no sin, nor in whole mouth ony gile was found, which is Christ • . Austē writeth of Christ on this manner, I am, saith he, y ^e way, truth & life. No man cometh to the father but by me. As though he should say, wilt thou walk? I am the way. Wylte thou not be deceived? I am the truth. Wylt thou not dy? I am y ^e life. This doth thy Sauyour say to the, there is none other, to whom thou mayst go, but unto me. There is no way that thou canst go, but by me.

So that for Christ's sake & not for his own did David although both godly & virtuous, yea & dearly beloved of God, d ••• re to be heard, & to have the petitions of his heart granted. But it may be objected, David also prayeth on this manner. Hear O LORDE my righteousness, & give attendance unto my prayer. Let my judgment come forth from thy face, let thine eyes se equite. Thou hast proved my hert & visited it in the night, thou haste tried me w ^t fire, & yet hath there none iniquity be found in me. Agayne, I will be w ^t out spot w ^t him, I will keep me from iniquity, & the LORDE shall reward me according to my righteousness, & according to the purity of my hands in the sight of his eyes. Also in another place, Judge me O LORDE, for I have walked in my innocency. In these & such like David layeth out his own innocence, purite & righteousness, '& seemeth to desire to be heard for them. I answer if David desired to be heard for his own righteousness, than should he fight w ^t himself wherein many and diverse places he confesseth his sin, & cleueth only to the mercy of God, desireth to be heard for the righteousness, truth & virtue of God, and not for his own sake. Enter not in to judgment, O LORDE, saith he, with thy servant, for no man that liveth shall be justified in thy sight. Now thā could he set out his own righteousness before GOD, that he might be justified by it? What shall we then say to this matter? I answer, yea & that not without the authority of the holy scriptures & the mind of the ancient Doctors, that as in divers other places of the Psalms, so in these and such like he speakethe in the parsonne of Christ, and not in his own. He speaketh of Christ's innocence, puryte, righteousness & virtue, & not of his own. He representeth Christ's parson, & not his own. Whan he speaketh in his own parson, he granteth himself always a sinner, seeketh health of God, & desireth not to be heard for his own righteousness but for God's righteousness, which is Jesus Christ. So that ī Christ's name he offered up his prayers unto God the father, as all the faithful ought to do. For Christ is the lamb w ^t out spot. Christ is that lamb of God, which taketh away y ^e sin of the world. Christ is that dearly beloved son, for whose sake God the father is well pleased with men. Christ is that Bishop, which is godly, innocente, undefiled & segregate from sinners. Christ is the door, by whom alone we must come to the father. Christ is that savior which saveth his people frō their sins. Christ is he by whom grace & verytie is shown unto us. Christ is he, which by his most precious blood hath reconciled us to Gody ^e father. Christ therefore is he, in whose name that is, in whose dignity, righteous • nes, innocence, virtue, & purite, we must offer up our prayers to God y ^e father. For all our ryghteousnesses • ampared to the justice of God, are • yke a cloth polluted with menstrue. That we are not able to obtain any thing of God for our own righteousness, it is manifest by these words which God himself speaketh by his Prophet Isaiah, I am, I am he, which putteth away thine iniquities, yea & that for mine own sake. (Mark y ^e he saith, for mine own sake.) And will remember thy sins no more. Put me in remembrance, & let us be judged together. Tell me if thou hast ony thing whereby thou mayst be justified. Agayne: For my names sake, will I put away mine anger. For mine own sake, yea for mine own sake will I do this, that I may not be blasphemed & evil spoken of. In the name of Christ therefore let him ask, that entēdenth to obtain onye thing of God the father, as S. Paul saith, whatsoever ye shall do in word & deed, do an • things in the name of the LORDE Jesus, giving thanks to God the father by him. And so doing let him not doubt, but that he shall obtain all good things according • unto his hearts desire.

The .xviii. Chapter.

SYxtely, he that intendeth to pray, must earnestly provide that he asketh all things according unto the will of God. He may not ask af • ter his own fantasy, will & pleasure, but after the will of God. For our will in comparison of God's will, is never good, but evil or prone to evil. For we know not what we should pray, as it becometh us. Therefore what so ever we ask, we must refe • ce it unto y ^e will of God, and be contented to be ordered in all things according unto his most • olye will, as Christ taught us to • raye in the Pater noster. Let thy will be fulfilled as in heavē, so like wise in earth. Christ also himself for to give us an example, when the • our of his passion began to draw • igh, prayed unto his father on this manner: My father, if it be possible, • et this cup go away from me: Not withstandyng let not mine but thy will be fulfilled. The Leper also • aid to Christ, LORDE if thou wilt, • hou mayest make me whole Here the Leper desired to be cleansed of his le • rosye, yet he referred his requests unto Christ either to be granted or denied. So it becometh us ī like manner to ask all things according unto the will of God, & whatsoever we desire, ever to submyt & refer • t unto God's will, which knoweth • este, what we have need of, & what • s most necessary for us, before we pray. For we have not a greter war • re nor an harder fight ī this world than y ^e battle & strife of the Spi • ryte, & of y ^e flesh, which two are all • ways so at debate, y ^e the hatred be • twene thē can never be apeased. For as y ^e flessh lusteth against y ^e spirit so doth the spirit fight very valeāt lie against the wicked, fierce & cruel violence of the flesh, & are evermore as the Apostle witnesseth, one agēs • another, so that we cannot do those things y ^e we would, in as much that we are compelled to cry out w ^e the Apostle, o wretched & unhappy that I am, who shall deliver me frō this body bond unto death.

Howe evil it is to follow our own will, neglectynge in y ^e mean season the good pleasure of God, divers Histories of y ^e holy scriptures show. Kyng Saul thought that he had done well, when he perceyuyng the people to go away from him, offered burnt offrynges to y ^e LORDE in the absence of Samuel, saying, that he did it to pacifye the LORDE, & that he was compelled to do so. But Samuel said unto him, thou hast done folisbly, neither hast thou kept the commandments of the LORDE thy God which I commanded the.

Agayne God commanded Saul to stay Amelech, to destroy all that ever there was, not to spare one, not to couyt any thing of their goods, but to kill man, woman, child, sue king babe, ore, sheep, camel, asse, & whatsoever could there be sound besides. But Saul followīg his own will more than the will of God, spared Agag the king of Amelech alive with the best flocks of sheep, ores, cattle, & all that ever was fair he spared, & would not destroy them, but whatsoever was vile and of no price, that he destroyed. Whan Samuel came unto him & said, what of beasts do I hear here? He auswe • red, the people hath brought them from Amelech. They be the best and fattest of all the flocks, & they be reserved to be offered unto the LORDE. But Samuel said unto him. Bycause thou hast cast away the word of y ^e LORD, y ^u LORD hath cast away y ^e that thou be no more king. Wyll the LORD burnt offringes & sacrifices & not rather that it may be obeyed vn to his word? Obedience is better then Sacrifyces, & to give ear to y ^e LORDES commandment is more thā to offer the satte of wethers. What godly excuses had king Saul here to cover his fault, and to make his will unto carnal judgments to appear very virtuous & godly? For all that ever he did, was done to honor God, to sacrifice & offer oblacions to God. Yet God casteth away that will, which is contrary to his will, seme it never so godly, virtuous and good in the sight of fleshly wise mē. Yea cursed be all good wylles, all good zeeles, all good intētes, that fight w ^e the words of God.

Oza also thought he had done well when he seeing the ark of God in iopardy of falling out of the wayne, steyed it w ^e his hand, yet for all his good voyl, because he touched it, was he stryken of the LORDE, & streyghte way died.

Kynge Ozias in like manner of a good intent would have taken vpō him to burn incense unto y ^e LORDE but Azarias the priest said boldly unto him, it is not thine office Ozias to burn incēse unto the LORDE, but it pertaineth to priests the sons of Aaron, which are consecrated to such ministry & service. He come, maunded him also to go out of y ^e sanctuary, & told him y ^e that which he had done, should not turn unto his praise of the LORDE God. And immediately after for his disobedsente presumpciō, he was stryken w ^e leproly, & so being cast out of the house of the Lord, he contynued a Leper even unto his death.

The Jews did put Christ & his Apostles to death of a good zeal, will intent and purpose. The tyrants which did slay the holy martyrs thought they did well. The blood soupers also, which at this time persecute Christ's gospel under y ^e name of Heresye, & cruelly slay & shed the blood of the true Christians under the pretexte of persecutynge Heretics, persuade themselves that they do well, & think they meryte greatly in y ^e sight of God, as Christ saith the time shall come that they which kyl you, shall thike y ^e they do an high service unto God.

Whyle we follow our own will, we commyt many absurdities & vnsyttynge things. Therefore whatsoever we do we must have a respect to the will of God, & make ours conformable unto it, unless we hepe up dānation unto our selves in all our petitions, prayers & requests. We must ask according to the will of God. He that doth otherwise, doth evil, & therefore he obtayneth not y ^e which he desireth, as S. James say ethe: Ye ask, and have not, because ye ask amiss, for to consume it upon youre volupteousnes. If he doth obtain it, undoubtedly it is to his greater damnaciō. Therefore let us ask according to the will of God. So may we be sure to have our her tes desire, as S. John̄ saith, This is the truth that we have in God, that if we ask ony thing according unto his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he heareth us, what so ever we ask, we know that we shall have the Peticions that we desire of him. And that we may do it fruytfully, let us pray w ^t the Psalmograph, teach me O LORDE, to do thy myl, for y ^e art my God. So shall God work his good pleasure in us.

The nynetyne Chapter.

MOreouer although ī our prayers we ask all things according unto the will of God, yet may not we appoint God the time of obtaynynge these things. We must pray & ask, but our petitions we must refer & commyt to God for to be granted, whan it shall be his most godly pleasure. For he knoweth what is most fit for us better than we do our selves, & he will undoubtedly grant us those things that we ask, or elles much better, whā he seeth his time. Therefore let us lyft up our eyes unto him, which dwellethe in y ^e heavens. And as the eyes of servants are ever on the hands of their masters, & as y ^e eyes of the handemayde are all ways on the hands of her maystres, so let our eyes be bent ever unto y ^e LORD, until he hath mercy upon us. Let us ask, & patiently abide his divine will, & surely we shall not be deceived of our desires. But if we shall appoint him the time, & will that he be obedient to our will, rather thā we to his, than do we tempt him, & provoke his anger against us. Exāple have we in y ^e History of Judith, where we read that whan the Israelites had ben longe oppressed of Nolofernes & his army, & had contynued manny hours in their prayers, cryenge unto the LORDE for help, & yet perceived none at all at y ^e hand of God: They all consented that if God did not help thē within five days, they would give over both thenselves & their city unto Dolofernes & his people. But whan Judith that virtuous woman heard of it, she said: Why have ye consented to gyne over the city unto the Assyrianes, if help cometh not unto you from the LORDE within five days? What are you that thus tempt the LORD ? This is not a saying for to provoke mercy, but rather to store up ire, & to kyndle furor. Daue ye appointed y ^e time of the LORDES mercy? & have ye appointed him a day at youre pleasure? But seeing the LORDE is paciēt, let us repent, and be sory for this thing, and let us desire his savor w ^t wepynge tears.

Thus se we that it is no s • iale of fence, be our petitions never so righteous, for to appoint God y ^e time. For that appoyntement of time declareth us to be vnsaythfull. It showeth that we have no right persuasion of God. It is a manifest argument, that we depend & hange vpō God's goodness & mercy only for our carnail profytte & auaūtage. It maketh euydent, that we do no longer regard God, than he satisfieth and fulfylleth our lusts, pleasures, and desires. Therefore let us do, that we are commanded, that is, hūblye offer up our prayers to God, myth all submission of mind, pour out our hearts before him, & with unfeigned tears lament our cause unto him, nothing doubtynge, but that according to his most godly promise he will hear us, grant us those or else better things, when it shall be his pleasure. And if God seemeth to withdraw his help frō us at any time & not straightways to grant us our requests, let us not despair, nor fall from the true confidence, trust & hope in the most comfortable promises of god therefore, but rather be the more earnest & importune in askynge, being persuaded that God only differeth & prolongeth the accomplyshmēt of his most faithful promise, because he will try our faith, whither it be right constant, and steadfast or not. Dearly beloved, saith S. John̄ Chrysostom, whā I say, pray unto God, beseech him, & wait upon him, thou sayst: I have prayed once, twice, & thryse, yea and ten times & twenty times, & what have I received, sayst thou? Go not thy way, till thou receyuest, for the ende of the thing asked, is the receiving of him that prayethe. Than cease thou, whan thou hast received yea rather neither cease y ^u than, but still perceive & continue, giuig thankes for that which thou hast received, y ^e that which thou hast taken, may continually remain with the.

Let us follow the woman of Canane, which, as it would appear, being denied of her peticiō diverse times, at the leeste receiving but small comfort at Christ's hand, would not cease, but still continued in making suyte & supplicaciō for y ^e health of her daughter, till at the last she heard this sweet & comfortable voice, O woman great is thy faith. Be it unto the, as thou wilt.

The. xx. Chapter.

THe last of all, which is to be cōsythered in the preparacion of prayer, is so necessary, that without it, all the other are but vain, & nothing to the purpose: And it is this that whā soever we intend to pray, we do first forgive such as have offended us, or else by no means can we obtain remission of our sins & favor at the hand of God. Therefore do we on this manner pray in the Pater noster: Forgyue us our dettes, even as we forgive our detters. And Christ saith forgive, and it shall be forgiven you. Yea he giveth us a plain commandment y ^e we should forgive so many as have offended us, before we pray, or elles our prayer worketh us rather damnation than saluaciō. Whan ye prepare yourselves to pray, saith Christ, forgive if ye have ony thing against ony man, that your father, which is in heavē, may forgive you also your trespasses. Agayne he saith: if ye forgive men their faults, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if ye do not forgive men their faults, nether will your father forgive you your faults.

We read that Peter came unto Christ, & said, LORDE howe often shall my brother sin against me, and I shall forgive him? Untyll seven times? Christ answered, I say not unto the, until seven times, but until seventy times seuē times. And • Luke he saith: Take hede to yourselves. If thy brother sinneth agēst the, rebuke him, & if he repent, forgive him▪ And if he sinneth seven times in a day against the, & shall seven times in a day turn again unto the, saying: It repenteth me, forgive him. And in Matthew to make the matter more plain, that we shall not be forgiven of God, except we forgive thē y ^e offend us, he putteth for the a similitude or parable of a certain king, which when he called his servants to a countes, had one brought to him, which ought him ten thousand talentes. Whan he was not able to pay, his Lord commanded him to be fold, & his wife, & his Chyldren, & all that ever he had, & payment to be made. The servant fell down, & worshipped him, saying: LORDE be patient toward me, & I will pay the all together. The LORD had pity on that servant, losoned him, and forgave him all that he ought. But that servant going forth found one of his fellow servants, which ought him an hundred pence, and layenge hand on him, & tahīg him by y ^e throat he said, pay that thou • west. Hys fellow servant fell down, & desired him, saying. Be paciēt toward me, & I will pay the all together. He would not, but went his way, & cast him ito prison, until he should pay the dette. Dhan his fellow servants saw that which was done, they lamented very sore, & came, and openned unto their Lord all those things that were done. Than did their LORDE call him, & said unto him, thou ungracious servant, I forgave the all that dette, whē thou desyredst me, had it not ben convenient also, that y ^u shouldest have had pity on thy fellow servant? And his LORDE being angry, committed him to the Ialours, until he should pay all that was due unto him. Christ concludethe: So likewise shall my heavenly father do unto you, if everyone of you even from y ^• very hert doth not forgive his brother their offenses. Hereof doth it appere more clearly than the light, that except we forgive, we shall never be forgiven, neither can ony thing please God that we do, if it be done out of charity. For the word of God abideth fyrme, sure, & constant for evermore. And this saying of Christ cannot be mocked by onye means, nor made frustrate, so likewise shall my heavenly father do unto you, if everyone of you evē from y ^• very heart doth not forgive his brother their offenses. What S. Paul wrytethe of those works, which are done out of charity in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the thyrtene Chapter, it is not unknown to them y ^e read the holy scriptures. God louethe no uncharitable, malicious, wicked, envious, & bloody prayers. Everyone that hateth his brother, is a manslayer. And ye know saith S. John, y ^e every manslayer, hath not everlasting life abydyng in him. Agayne If ony man saith, I love God, and hatethe his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother, whō he hath ser • e, god, whom he hath not seen, how can he love? And this commaūdemēt have we of hī, y ^e he, which loveth God, do also love his brother. But let us hear what our golden mouthed Doctor saith to this matter.

The. xxi. Chapter.

IF that we be commanded not only to pray for the faithful but also for the unfaithful, consider thou how great & evil it is to desire evil against y ^e brothers. What dost thou o man • Commest thou to God for to make him merciful unto the, & dost thou wish evil to another? Excepte thou dost forgive, neither shall it be forgiven the. Thou dost not only not forgive, but thou also desirest God, that he will not forgive▪ If it shall not be forgiven the, which dost not forgive, dost thou not alonlye not forgive, but also desyrest GOD not to forgive? If it be not forgivē him, that doth not forgive, how shall it than be forgiven him, which prayeth the LORDE, that he may not forgive? If it be a shame to have enemies, consyther thou than, howe great a sin it is to desire evil to them, whan thou oughteste to pourge thyself, because thou hast enemies, dost thou also accuse thē? What forgyuenes shalt thou obtain, detracting & reportyng evil of thy neighbor, thefely at such time, when thou hast need of no mean mercy. For thou tāmest also to pray for thine own sins. Remeber not therefore other men's faults, unless thine own be reserved. Thou art a man, vomyte not out the poison of adders. Thou art a man, play not the cruel wild beast. Thou haste a mouth made unto the for this cause, not y ^e thou shouldest byte, but that y ^• shou • dest heal. Remēber what God manifestly hath monysshed the to do, even that y ^u shouldest spare & forgive.

Agayne in another place he saith as concerning that which is written: Forgyue us our dettes, as we forgive our detters, who is he among us all, that dare boldly say theyse things to God? For although we do no evil to our enemies & detters yet have we within us a wound of offense, that is incurable, and can not be made whole. But Christ will not only that we forgive them that offendethe us, but also that we love them & pray for them. For if only thou dost not hurt him, which hath hurt the, & yet turneste away thyself from him, & wouldest not gladly se him, without doubt there abideth a wound in thy breast, & sorrow increaseth still in thy heart. If it be so, certes that is not fulfilled, which Christ hath commanded. Wylte thou that God be merciful unto the o • such sort, that he should not hurt the, & yet turn him self away frō the, & remember thy sins, & have no mind to se the? Therefore even such one as thou wouldest that god should be unto the, whan thou desyrest forgyuenes of thy sins, such one oughtest thou to show thyself unto them, which have offended against the. As a certain wise man writeth, saying, he that seaketh ven geaunce, shall find vengeance of y ^• LORDE, which shall surely keep him his sins. Forgyue thy neighbor the hurt that he hath done the, & so shall thy sins be forgiven the also whan thou prayeste. A man that bereth hatred against another, how dare he desire forgyuenes of God▪ He that showeth no mercy to a man which is like himself, howe dare he ask forgyuenes of his sins? If he that is but flesh, beareth hatred, & keep it, who shall itrete for his • ines

Seynge therefore that except we do forgive our detters, our dettes shall not be forgiven of God, and in as much as we shall find God such one to us, as we are to our neighbors, let us follow Christ & Stephen, which prayed to God for their enemies in the mids of their torments, that they might be forgiven. For let us know this to be true and nothing more truer, that as a Surgeon cannot heal perfectely y ^• wound so long as any iron is in it, so likewise cannot prayer profit so longe as the mind is canchred, and defiled with gyle, fraud, deceyte, simulacion, rancoure, hatred, malice • emnite, & such other wyckednesses. There is nothing, layth Chrisosto • that maketh us more like unto God than if we be gentle & easy to be entreated of them that be evil, and d • hurt us. God is ready to forgive at all times, if we forgive. God maketh his son to shine both upon y ^e good & evil, & sendeth rain upon y ^e righteous & vnryghteous. Let us therefore after the example of our heavenly father love not only our friends, but also our enemies, yea & that frō the bottom of the heart. Let us forgive so many as offend us, & show our selves of such affeccion toward them that offend us, as we desire y ^• Christ should be toward us. Lette us be so feruentely given unto the preservation of fraternal concord & mutual charity, that if thorough human infirmite it chaunseth at ony time that cōtencion riseth up among us, we may notwithstanding so shortly put it away by reconcylynge one to another, that all displeasure taken away, the son may not fall down upon our anger. Let us ever set before our eyes this saying of S. Paul▪ As y ^• elect of God, holy & beloved, put on tender mercy, kyndenes, hūblenes of mind mekenes, longe suffering, forbearynge one another, and forgeuynge one another (if o •• e man have a quarrel to another) as Christ forgave you, so do ye. But above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfeccion. And the peace of God mought rule in your hearts, unto y ^• which peace ye are called in one body, and se that ye be thankful.

If we will do thus whan soever we pray, we may be sure to pray with fruit, we may be sure to obtain what so ever we ask of God the father thorough Jesus Christ, we may be sure to have forgyuenes of all our sins, & ever to have God the father a bounteous and gentle father unto us.

Hytherto have I declared, what prayer is, of what virtue & strength the true & christen prayer is, & howe we ought to prepare our selves for to pray.

Now it remaineth that I declare in what place a Christian man should pray, & after what manner. Agayne for what things, & at what time he ought to pray.

The. xxii. Chapter.

A Lthough God in y ^• old law was called upon, & prayed unto of y ^e Jews in the temple of Ierusalē, which Salomō builded, & although God had chosē that place, where • chefely they should call upon his name, offer Sacrifyce unto him, read & learn his most holy law, & do such things as he had appointed them in his word, yet both at that time, yea & also many years before, we read that divers holy mē prayed in other places besides that Temple, & were hard. Neither did God so institute that temple to be a house of prayer, as though it should only be there lawful to call on his divine name, but y ^t by that means he should keep the gross Jews in an order, which else would have invented new kinds of worshipping God after their own fantasy, & resorted to such places, where Idolles were worshipped, & by this means be provoked unto Idolatry, where unto they were very much bent, as we may se in the holy Scriptures. Therefore god appointed thē to pray in that temple of Solomon, not taking away yet for all that the lybertie of prayeng in every place frō the faithful. For we read y ^e Enos y ^• son of Seth did first begin to call on the name of the LORDE, before ony temple was builded. And it is to be thought, that Abel also prayed unto God, whan he offered in crisyce, Enoch, Nohe, There, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph with many other of the ancient Patriarchs worshipped & prayed unto God, one in this, another in that place, before ony one peculiar house was appointed & dedicated unto prayer, yea and God heard those prayers, accepted them, & granted the petitions asked in them. What other thing do the examples of all these holy men teach us, than that it is lawful for a faithful man to pray without ony differency in every place. Dyd not the children of Israel pray to God, whā they were oppressed with miserable captivity in Egypt a lond full of Idolatry, superstition, & all kind of wickedness? Dyd not Moses & Aaron many times pray unto y ^e LORDE in wilderness? Dyd not Joshua pray unto God in his watres before, we read that divers holy mē prayed in other places besides that Temple, & were hard. Neither did God so institute that temple to be a house of prayer, as though it should only be there lawful to call on his divine name, but y ^t by that means he should keep the gross Jews in an order, which else would have invented new kinds of worshipping God after their own fantasy, & resorted to such places, where Idolles were worshipped, & by this means be provoked unto Idolatry, where unto they were very much bent, as we may se in the holy Scriptures. Therefore god appointed thē to pray in that temple of Solomon, not taking away yet for all that the lybertie of prayeng in every place frō the faithful. For we read y ^t Enos y ^e son of Seth did first begin to call on the name of the LORDE, before ony temple was builded. And it is to be thought, that Abel also prayed unto God, whan he offered sacrifice, Enoch, Nohe, There, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph with many other of the ancient Patriarchs worshipped & prayed unto God, one in this, another in that place, before ony one peculiar house was appointed & dedicated unto prayer, yea and God heard those prayers, accepted them, & granted the petitions asked in them. What other thing do the examples of all these holy men teach us, than that it is lawful for a faithful man to pray without ony differency in every place. Dyd not the children of Israel pray to God, whā they were oppressed with miserable captivity in Egypt a londfull of Idolatry, superstition, & all kind of wickedness? Dyd not Moses & Aaron many times pray unto y ^e LORDE in wilderness? Dyd not Joshua pray unto God in his wars, whan he made the Son and Moon to stand still, until he had revenged himself of his enemies? Dyd not Helias pray in the house of the widow of Sarepra, whā he restored her sonne from death to syfe? Dyd not he again pray in y ^e top of the mount Carmelus, & obtained after long droute plēte of rayn? Dyd not Hezekiah the king whan he heard that he should die, pray to the LORDE in his bed, & obtained to live. xv. years longer? Dyd not Nehemiah's but lare unto king Artaxerzes both do service unto his Lord, & also pray unto God? Dyd not Toby & Sara his wife pray unto God in their houses? Dyd not Job pray upon y ^e dungehyll? Dyd not Judith pray unto the LORDE in her Oratory, & diverse other places? Dyd not Daniel, when he served the wicked king knele down & pray unto the LORDE thryse every day in his chamber? Dyd not he pray to God, whā he was cast into the den of Lyōs? Dyd not Jonah pray in the whales belly? Dyd not queen Hester pray secretly in her chamber? Dyd not Susanna pray in the streate, as she went for to be stoned unto death? Dyd not Ieremye pray unto God, when he was in prysonne? Dyd not Christ customably pray on y ^e mountains in the feld? Dyd he not pray in the gardyns? Dyd he not pray hanging upon the cross? Dyd not Stephen pray to God, whā ne was stoned unto death? Dyd not y ^e Apostles with certain women, & Mari the mother of Jesus & his brothers pray together after Christ's ascencion in a parloure? Dyd not Cornelius the Centurion pray at home in his house? Dyd not Peter pray in the over parte of the house of Simon the Cāner? Dyd not Paul w ^t his cōpanyons pray in divers places, as cities, towns, field s, see bāckes, shyppes, prysons. &c? Were not all these heard? yes verily, & their petitions granted them mercifully. What do we learn of all these Histories? Certes that a faithful Christian is bound to no place. Wher soever a faithful mā prayeth, he shall undoubtedly beheard. Christ said to the womā of Samaria: Womā believe me, y ^e hour cometh, whā neither in this mountain, nor at Ierusalē ye shall worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what. We worship that we know. For health is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, & now it is, whā true worshyppers shall worship the father in spirit & truth. For y ^e father also seeketh such y ^e may worship him. For God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit & truth. Saint Paul also saith, I will that men pray in every place, lyftynge vppepure hands without wrath & contēcion. But let us hear what Chrysostom saith.

The. xxiii. Chapter.

LEt us not excuse our selves saying, that it is no easy thing for a man being entāgled w ^t worldly businesses to pray, seeing that he hath no oratory nor house fytte for prayer nygh unto him. For where so ever thou be, thou mayst make and appoint thine altare. For the place hyndereth nothing, neither doth the time let, but though thou dost not bow thy knees, nor knock thy breast, nor stretch out thy hands to heaven, yet mayst thou pray aright & make thy prayer perfect, so that thou only showest & bryngest forth a fervent mind. For thou mayst whā thou goest unto markette, & walkest by thyself alone, make longe prayers. Thou mayst also sitting ī thy shoppe, & sowynge skynnes dedicate thy soul unto the LORDE. The servant also that byeth, or goeth up & down, & the Cook doing his office whan he cannot go to church, may make a prayer longe & discrete. For God disdaineth not the place, but requireth one thing, that is to say, a fervent mind, & a pure soul. For Paul also, not in an Oratory, but in the prison lying wyde open, nor stondynge right up, nor bowynge his knees, for the clog, wherewith his feet were bound, did not suffer him, yet seeing that he lying prayed fervently, he shaked the prysonne vnlosoned the foundacions, & did bind the keeper of the prison, & afterward brought him unto holy religion. And Hezekiah not stōding right up, nor bowynge his knees, but lyeng wyde open in his bed because of his syckenes, whā he turned himself unto the wall, in as much as he called upon God fervently & with a pure soul, he both called again the sentence pronounced, obtained much benevolence, & was restored to his old health. And the these being stretched out upon the cross, with few words purchased the heavenly kingdom. And Jeremiah in the mire and lake, & Daniel in the prysone and among the wild beasts. And Jonah in the belly of a whale, prayeng unto God, did both dissolve all manner of euels, wherewith they were beseged, compassed & set about, and also found favor at the hand of God, what than oughteste thou to say, when thou prayest? Verily even the same thing that the woman of Canane did. For evē as she said. Have meroye on me, my daughter is grievously vexed of a devil, so say thou likewise, have mercy upon me, my soul is very grievously vexed of a devil. For sin is a great devil, she y ^• had the devil did find mercy, & yet was she hated; whā she did syn? Have mercy on me, is but a short saienge, yet doth it contayns an whole see of mercy. For where soever mercy is, there are all good things. Though thou be without the church, cry, saying, have mercy on me though thou dost not move thy lips, but only cry in thy mind. For God also heareth them that hold their peace. Ther is no place to be sought, but a beginning of a place. Jeremiah was in the mire, & he made God bounteous unto him by prayer. Job was on y ^e dung hill, & he made God merciful unto him. Jonah was in the whales belly, & he had God gentle to him. Though thou be in a vain pray. Wher so ever thou be, pray. Thou art the temple, seek no place. The see was before the Jews, and the Egipcians behind at their backs, & Moses in the mids speking nothing, for he was greatly troubled in his prayer, yet said God unto him, what criest thou to me? In like manner thou therefore, whan soever temptation shall come upon the, fly unto God, & call on the LORDE. Is he a mā, that thou shouldest seek after a place? God is ever at hand. For thou yet spekynge, he will say: Behold here I am present. Thou hast not yet made thy prayer, and he bryngethe help. For if thou haste a mind pure from unclean mociōs, though thou be in the market, or in way, or in the consystory, or in y ^e see, or in the ynne, or in the shyppe, or in onye other place of the world, loke where so ever thou calleste on God, there mayest y ^u obtain thy peticiō.

Hytherto have I rehearsed y ^e words of S. John Chrysostom. Lyke unto this writeth Sayncte Austē, saying: Why dost y ^u seek for a fytte and holy place, whan thou shouldest make thy supplicaciō to God? make clean thy inward partes, & all eve • lusts expulsed from thence, prepare thyself a secrete place in the peace of thy heart. Thou willing to pray in the temple, pray in thyself, and so behave thyself always that thou mayste be the temple of God. For God heareth there, where he dwelleth.

Thus se • we both by the authority of the holy scriptures, & the ancient fathers, that a faithful & Chrysten man may pray lawfully in every place, in as much as he is the temple of God, as S. Paul saith: Do ye not know that ye are the Tēple of God, & the spirit of God dwelleth in you? The Temple of God is holy which you are. And this is it y ^e christ saith: Whan thou shalt pray, enter into thy closette, & the door sparred, pray to thy father, which is in secrete. Therefore let him y ^e shall pray, nothing fear to pray unto God in every place boldly, with this persuasion y ^• God will hear hī, & grafit hī his hearts desire i whatsoever place he be.

The xxiiii. Chapter.

I Have not spokē these things to make ony psō for to have y ^e less deuocion to go unto the Chyrche & accustomed place of prayer, when time requy • eth (which thing God forbid that any man contrary to my meaning should gather of these my words, or thereby be occasioned the less to observe and keep the commendable order of this Realm now a days used among us) but to show that a faithful Chrysten man may lawefullye by God's word pray in every place, w ^t this perswasiō y ^e God will also hear him in every place, yea & that whan soever he prayeth, so that his prayer be made according unto the will of god, & as I have taught heretofore. For we read that Christ at divers times did so approve & allow the temple of Jerusalem, that of the very same place he rehearsed this text of the holy scripture, my house shall be called the house of prayer. Again he drove out with whyppes such as did bye & sell in the temple, declaring thereby, that it was a place of more holiness, & of greater price in y ^e sight of God, than that ony profane businesses might lawfullye be in it exercysed. He also many times preached in the Temple, & it is not to be doubted but that he also used there to pray. Agayne, we read that the Apostles after Christ's ascension repared thither oftentimes both to preach & pray. Places therefore dedicated to prayer ought not to be despised nor abhorred, but used unto y ^e end for y ^e which they were instituted

Christ saith, where soever two or three shall be gathered together in my name, there am I in the mids of them. Now in Chyrches it is to be thought that many are gathered together in Christ's name, therefore is Christ there among them. Seyng that he is so, every man ought ioyefully to repare thither, whan they may conveniently, but chefely whē the time & publyque order doth require, & there both faithfully to pray devoutly to be present at y ^e ministraciō of the most blessed Sacrament of the altare Christ's very body and blood, & dilygently to read or hear the word of God, & furthermore to do such things, as the place & time shall than require. At all other times whan so ever a christen mā shall be desposed to pray, let him pray boldly, and although he be not in the church, yette let him nothing doubt, but that his prayer shall there also be heard and granted.

The .xxv. Chapter.

N Owe it remaynethe to declare after what manner a Christ̄ mā ought to pray. In the declara • ion hereof it shall be necessary, that he which will pray aryght, doth first cōsyder what he is to whom he must pray. Agayne, what he him self is that prayethe. It is no man nor Aungel, but God which is prayed unto, whom the angelike potestates do reverently fear, whom all the whole company of heaven do magnify, commend, praise, worship & honor, whom the devils do fear, tremble & shake for dread, in whose name every knee both of things in Heaven, of things in earth, & of things under the earth do bow, which is of puyssaunt power i holiness terrible, all praise worthy, & doing meruaylous things which is a consumynge fire, which is a great LORDE above all y ^e God's, which is the LORDE of all things, & no man can resyst his majesty, which is great in strength, judgment and righteousness, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam, & in whose sight no creature is innocent.

Whan he hath on this manner considered of God, than must he ponder what him self is, even a very miserable sīner, destitute of all goodness, void of all godliness, & unworthy to approach unto the throne of y ^e divine majesty. For this humiliacion of our selves helpeth greatly to the auaūcement of our prayer. For the more that ony man deiecteth & throweth down himself, the nearer is he made unto God. The Pharisee was far of from god, although he stood next unto the Propiciatory, remembering his good deeds, & despisynge other men in comparison of himself. The Publican, which stondynge a far of prayed, came nygher unto God. For the LORDE is high, & yet doth he behold humble things, he knoweth high things a far of, he despyseth the hawty, & looketh on the prayer of y ^e humble, & the prayer of thē doth not he despise. Wylte y ^• hear, howe high a thing the prayer of a man, which humbleth himself, is? The wise man teacheth this thing saying: The prayer of him that hūbleth himself, shall pearse & go thorough the clouds, & till it draweth nigh, it shall not be conforted, and it shall not comme down until the most highest doth look upon it.

This humility do we read to be much used among holy men, in times past. Daniel prayed on this manner, not in our own ryghteousnesses O LORDE do we pour out our prayers before the, but in thy great mercies. Hear us, O LORD, LORDE be merciful unto us. Hear us, and do these things that we ask, yea & that for thine own sake. Also Baruch, the soul, saith he, that is bered for the multitude of her sins, which goeth on heuely and wekely, whose eyes begin to fail, surely such a soul ascrybeth praise, glory & ryhhteousnes unto the O LORDE. Not for the righteousness of our fathers do we pour out our prayers in thy sight, & ask mercy before thy face, O LORDE our God, but because thou art merciful. Have therefore mercy on us, for we have sinned before the.

This cōsideracion once had both of god & of himself, whereby he hath learned God to be righteous, himself vnryghteous, God to be good, himself evil, God to be holy, himself profane. God to be honorable, him self miserable, God to be pure, him self impure, God to be immaculate himself spotted with all kind of sin, God to be high, & nothing more high, himself to be vile, & nothing more vile: than must he before his prayer use some menes whereby, he may excyte & stoore up the benevolence and good will of God toward him, & so adorn & garnysh himself with ghostly operacion, y ^e both he & his prayer may be y ^e more acceptable in the sight of God. For who dare come unto a Kynges or Emperors presence for to desire onye thing of them, except first of all he so composeth himself, y ^t nothing may offend their eyes? He putteth on clenly apparel, he kymbethe his head, he wassheth his body, yea & also perchaunse annoynteth it, and so appointeth himself in every condition, that nothing may displease them, but rather allure them to the sight of him, & the hearing of his petition. Semblablye it shall be convenient for him that will pray unto God with fruit, & hath truly w ^t him self considered the highness of god, & the humbleness of himself, to give diligence that he on such sort cōposeth himself, that there be nothing in him that may offend y ^e eyes of god but y ^e his prayer may be favorably accepted & graciously heard. And that this thing may come to pass, it shall be necessary that he followeth the ancient & holy fathers in times paste, which whan they offered their prayers unto god. Used continually both to fast & give alms. For as Thoby saith, prayer is good with fasting & alms, better than to hyde up treasures of gold. For alms doth deliver from death, & it is that which purgeth sins.

The .xxvi. Chapter.

FYrst as concerning fasting, we must know that it ought to proceed from a contryte, humble, & sorrowful heart, & from such a soul as taketh displesure with it self that she hath ben no more circūspecte in the accōplysshment of God's will, for y ^• which she being sory & dolorous, casteth away the delectation and pleasure of wordly things, as eating, drynkynge, banckettyng, wearynge of gorgeous apparel, with all other mundane vanities, & streyghtwaye with all humility of mind & submission of heart approchethe by syncer faith & true repentance unto the most glorious throne of almyghty God, & there lamenteth her miserable state, bewaileth her to much sinful condition, poureth out the secretes of her heart, desireth remission of her sins, hungre the & thyrstethe for strength to do the will of God. This kind of fasting accompanyeng prayer doth very much eleuate, extol, & lift up the prayer of the humble sinner unto the presence of GOD And this is it that Tobye saith, prayer is good with fasting.

We read that whan Jonah at the commandment of God came unto y ^• Ninevites, preached unto thē, rebuked their sinful living, threatened them subversion, destruction, & the utter decay both of themselves & of their city, they consternated w ^t the reuoluciō of their iniquity did streyghtewayes deteste & abhor so greatly their abhominable living, y ^• they utterly laid aside all their vain pleasures, wherein so much before they delighted, & fell immediately unto fasting & prayer with such other godly exercises of the spirit, so that by this means God beholdynge their true & unfeigned conversion had pytie on them, saved them, & received thē into the noneber of his well-beloved people. Esdras also at diverse times did both fast & pray seven days together, y ^t he might vnderstond the high mysteries of God. We have fasted, saith he, & prayed unto the LORDE for a fortunate and quiet journey, & it hath chafised unto us prosperously. Agayne David for the life of his child, which was sick, did both fast & pray a longe season, & would eat no meat nor drink. I have prayde saith Daniel, to the LORDE my God in fasting, sackeclothe, & asshes. Judith also fasted & prayed the most parte of her life in the vppermooste parte of her house, & before she slew Holofernes, she many times fasted and prayed. Moreover Queen Hester for the deliverance of her people did fast and pray three days & three nyghtes, before she went unto the king. Sara the daughter of Raguel did fast & pray three days & three nights, that she might be delivered from a certain impropery and rebuke. Paul before he was baptized did continue in prayer & fasting at the Cytie of Damascum three days & three nyghtes. Luke also in his gospel showeth howe that a certain woman called Anna the daughter of Phanuel being a Prophetysse went for y ^e most parte never out of the Temple, but gave her mind to fasting & prayer both night & day. Agayne Christ saith, this kind of dyuelles is not • aste out but by prayer & fasting. And it is not to be douted, but that Christ himself, whan he fasted the forty days & forty nyghtes, did also pray unto God his father, as at many other times. The same also is to be thought of the Apostles and other holy men.

Thus se we how necessary a thing • t is to join fasting w ^t prayer, Therefore saith Peter: Be ye sober, and watch in prayer. Also S. Paul, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in excess of eating & dronckennes, not in chambrynge & wantonness, not in strife & enuyenge, but put •• on the LORDE Jesus Christ, & make not prouysion for the flesh to fulfill the lusts of it. Hereto pertaineth • the saying of our golden mouthed Doctor S. John̄ Chrysostom, fastig • saith he, is an help to prayer. For prayer without fasting, is but gra •• cyle, slender & weak. The prayer is valeaunt & strong, which is made in an humble spirit and a troubled hert, as the Prophet saith, a Sacrifyce to God is a troubled spirit, a contryte & humbled heart God will not despise. But an humble spirit and contryte heart can he not have, which eateth & dryncketh, & setteth all his mind on delicious fare. For bread maketh strong the heart, and wyne maketh it merry. The strength that cometh of bread suffereth not the spirit of the flesh to be humble, & the merines that cometh of wyne, doth not suffer the heart to be con • rite. Therefore whē soever the holy men would pray to obtain ony thing of God whereof they had need, they ever joined fasting with prayer, as Daniel & other did. And in as much as fasting is y ^e virtue of prayer, therefore are they never separated a sunder, but are ever put together. Prayer is good with fasting. Agen, This kind of dyuels is not cast out but by prayer & fasting. Therefore as a Souldioure is nothing without armoures, nor armoures without a Souldioure, so is prayer nothing without fasting, nor fasting without prayer. Hyther to have I rehearsed y ^e words of S. John Chrysostom, whereof we may easily gather howe necessary fasting is unto the auauncemente of prayer before God. Here to pertaineth the saying of saint Cipriane, prayer is mighty in operacion, so that fasting goeth before. To be brief concerning this matter, fasting must needs make highly to the auaūcement of prayer seeing y ^t he which fasteth aright, cōt • meth worldly things, despiseth pleasure, hateth riches, abhorrethe th • works of the flesh, mortifyeth carnal affects, & is utterly given, fyxed & bent to the fruits of y ^e spirit. Therefore he that intendeth to pray with fruit, shall not a little ana • ice & set forward his prayer, if on this manner he applieth himself for to pray.

The .xxvii. Chapter.

MOreouer as this kind of fasting doth very much promoue a christen man's prayer, & maketh it greatly to be accepted in the sight of God, so doth alms and the glad distribucion of worldly goods upon the poor menbers of Christ in like manner garnysh, adorn, and make very pleasant the humble supcacion of a sinner in the eyes of the divine majesty, as we read of Cornelius, to whom the angel said, thy prayers & thine Almesses are come up into remembrance before God. Behold howe he joineth prayer and alms together. Toby in like manner saith, Prayer is good with fasting & alms. Lo, here is combyned & joined together prayer, fasting, & alms, as things necessary concurren. The wise man also saith, to pray and give alms, despise not. Blessed is he, saith David, that consydereth the needy & poor, the LORD shall deliver him in the day of his trouble. Christ also saith: Gyue ye alms, & behold all things are clean unto you. Nyther to pertaineth the • ayenge of Chrysostom, It is wryt • en, saith he, in the law: Enter not • nto the sight of y ^• LORDE thy God • oyd or empty. Verily he entereth in • mpty before God, which coming unto prayer, doth no alms. Agayne he saith, he prepareth his soul before prayer, which doing alms cometh unto prayer, For as oil doth kyndle the light of a lamp, so doth good works excite & store up y ^• faith of the heart, & give boldenes to pray unto God.

But it will perchance be objected, eueryeone cannot give alms, for they want substance, shall not they therefore pray & be heard? I answer, as by fasting, I do not only vnderstond the abstinence from meats & drynckes, but also the mortificacion of carnal affects, & the contempt of mundane pleasures (without the which the external and outward fasting is nothing else thi • diabolical Hypocrisye and wicked dissimulacion) so likewise by alms I mean not only the beneficence toward the indigent, poor and needy, which without doubt is a singular and much praise worthy work before God, but also the desire of heavenly things, & a will utterly estraūged from all carnal concupiscences & fleshly lusts. So that he which intendeth to pray with fruit, if he cannot do the one, yet ought he to do the other of necessity, & to be enflamed with the desire of things celestial, that he may say with y ^• Psalmograph, as the heart desireth to y ^• fountaynes of waters, so doth my soul desire unto the O God. My soul is a thyrst for God that living fountain, whā shall I come to appear before the face of God? Again O how amiable are thy dwellynges thou LORDE of hosts, my soul hath a desire and longyng for the court of the LORDE. My heart & my flesh rejoice in the living God. This heuenlye mind was in S. Paul living here in this world, whan he said, I desire to be losoned out of this mortal body, & to be w ^t Christ. Seynge therefore that fasting and alms are so necessary to the promocion and furtherance, to the eleuaciō and lyftynge up of prayer, & are called of certain holy Doctors y ^e two wings of prayer, in as much as • y them prayer flieth up unto y ^e throne of the divine majesty, & is the better accepted in God's presence, it shall be expedient for him that entēdeath to pray with fruit, to exercise h • self somewhat before in fasting and alms, on such manner as I have taught heretofore. So shall it come to pass, that God shall the more thanke fully accept his prayer, and grant him his hearts desire. Not only the exercise of these two virtues, but also of all o • her, shall be necessary for him that prayeth, that he may provoke GOD the more b • nygnely to hear him. These things once done than let him pray, but after what manner I will express ī few words.

The. xxviii. Chapter.

FYrste above all things, let him give earneste diligence y ^e while he prayeth, his heart may be seryously assyxed and set on his prayer, or else • he prayeth in vain, according to this old senience. Dum cor non orat, in uanum lingua laborat. That is to say, while the heart doth not pray, the tongue laboreth in vain. Christ also saith, this people honoreth me w ^e their lips, but their hert is far from me Verily they worship me in vain For what great absurdite is this, to desire god to hear our pray else, and we our selves do not hear thē: What a kind of prayeng is this to babble with our lips, to ropōt with our throats, piteously to shake our head, to sytte bare headed, to knele on the bare ground, to knock our breasts, & yet to have our mind troubled & occupied about fyithye & unclean things? Is this a manner of prayenge to make God the father merciful to us? Yea it rather excite the and storethe up his anger toward us. S. Agustine feareth not to write on this manner, as y ^e voice of a man w ^t out modulacion or sweet armony, is as the voice of s • yne or hogs, so is prayer without deuocion as the bellowynge of Oxes. There are two verses publysshed in the name S. Jerome, which seeing they are godly, and teache the true manner of prayenge, I think it convenient to allege thē in this place.

That is to say, not the voice but y ^e desire, not the musical instrument, but the heart, Not the crier but the lover sigeth ī y ^e ear of God. Chriso. also writeth on this manner: It is y ^e duty of a devout mind to pray to God, not with the voice or with the sound of the voice, but with the deuocion of the mind, & with y ^e saith of the heart, Agayne he saith, thecrienge of the voice is not the work in prayer unto God, whom we know y ^e he beholdeth the secretes of y ^e hert, but the cryeng of faith, & y ^e deuociō of a religious & godlymīd, therefore y ^e best way to pray is to pray w ^e y ^e hert mind, spirit, soul, & inward mā.

Now it will be demanded, whither a christen man ought to pray with an opē voice or not. Although I have spoken sufficiently concerning this matter in the diffiniciō of prayer, yet I will here add three words as they say, touching this thing also. Althoughe prayer be the work of the spirit, and not of the voice, of the heart and not of the lips, of the mind and not of the mouth, yet is not the external sound of the voice to be condemned, whither it be in reading or singing, so that it followeth the affeccion of y ^e mind, and doth service unto that. For seeing the glory of God ought to shine after a certain manner in all y ^e partes of our body, it is convenient that the tongue chefely be addicte & given to this ministry and service both in singing and speaking, which was chefely made to declare and preach the magnificence, laude & praise of God. Therefore so that the tongue and the heart do consent and agre together, being alike occupied in the effusiō of the prayer, it is not only tolerable, but also commendable to pray both with tongue and heart.

Now as concerning the external gesture in praȳge, as kneeling, knockyng on the breast, lyftynge up of the hands. &c. in as much as they be indifferent, & we read that they were used of Christ & many holy men in times past, they are not to be despised. Nothynge is vnsyttynge that proceedeth from the servant affeccion of the mind. But I have spokē of this thing also before in the diffinicion of prayer. Therefore will I haste to these things that remain, as more necessary to be entreated of.

The. xxix. Chapter.

F Or as much as we are so ignorant & blind of oureselues y ^e we know not what we should desire, as we ought, unless we should ask ony thing vnsyttynge, & otherwise than becometh us, or that should not be acceptable to God, our savior Christ wyilyng in this behalf to succor our necessity, & to help our ignorācy & blindness, hath appointed & set forth as it were in a certain table the true manner of prarenge in the Pater noster, where he hath cōpendiously declared for what things we ought to pray either pertaynynge to the glory of God, or to the profit of so many as profess his most holy name. And although every day and every hour doth offer to us occasions sufficiently for to pray unto God, yea & that for innumerable causes, yet it may seme that Christ i that prayer which he taught his disciples, hath in sewe words comprehended whatsoever we have need to pray for. Therefore who soever at any time shall be minded to pray, let him above all things seek the auauncement of God's glory in his prayer. For the first petition of the Pater noster, with the next two that follow, pertain only to the glory of GOD, wherein we ask that the name of God may be sanctified, y ^e his kingdome may reign among us, that his will may be done here in earth as it is in heavē. So likewise did Christ a little before his passion, pray, saying: O father glorify thy name. God's glory therefore ought we to seek above all things in our prayers at all times

After that we have sought y ^e glory of God, place requireth that then we should ask those things, which pertain unto the everlasting health & salvation of our souls. For the health of our souls ought to be desired before the wealth of our body, as Christ monyssheth, first seek y ^e kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof. And all these things (he speaketh of meat, drink & clothe) shall be caste unto you. David also saith one thing have I desired of y ^e LORD which I will require, namely that I may dwell in y ^e house of y ^e LORDE all the days of my life.

And in as much as the syncer prechynge of God's word helpeth much unto the salvation of our souls (for the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation for everyone y ^e believeth, & a mā shall not live with bre • d alone, but with every word y ^e cometh out of the mouth of God, for faith cometh by • earyng, and hearing by y ^• word of God) it shall be necessary for us to pray y ^e God's word may have free passage among us, & that all wicked doctrine, superstitious teaching, heresy, •• strall opinions, sictes & all that ever is contrary to wholesome doctrine, may be exiled & banisshed out of Christ's church. Praye for those things, sal • eth David, that make unto y ^e peace of Jerusalem, that is, unto the safe, quiet, lucky, & prosperous preservation of Christ's church, that the doctrine of the gospel, which bringeth peace & quietness to the hearts of the faithful, may triūphantly reign among us. But in as much as this Euangelion and glad tiding of christ cā never be ministered to y ^e christen congregation without syncer & true preachers of the word, therefore ought • e also pray, y ^e at Ante Christ's, Papists, Heretics, Schismatyckes, & seditious praters submoued & put aside, true Euangelystes, faithful Prophets, & sync • r Preachers, may reign among us vniuersallye. For howe shall they preach, except they be sent. Therefore saith Christ, pray unto the LORDE of y ^e Heruest, that he may shoreforth workmen into his Heruest.

Moreover seeing that we have • uot only a soul but also a body, and God hath appointed ministers for them hath, it shall alio be convenient according to the admonition of S. Paul, to pray for the magistrates of y ^e public weal, as for our most • edoubted & most excellent king, & for all other that are in authority, that we may lead a peasable & quiet life, under their dominion with all godliness and honestye. After these things it shall not be vnsyttynge to pray for things necessary for our body, as meat, drike cloth, freēdshyp, health, wisdom, knowledge, reason. &c. yet in the request of all these things aforesaid, we must refer the matter whollye unto the will of God, & be cōtēted to receive as it shall be his pleasure to give, either much, little, or nothing.

To be short, whatsoever we have need of, we must straight ways run unto God & ask it of him only, why there it pertaineth to the soul or to the body, which gyuethe to all men without doublenes, & casteth no mā into the tethe, as S. Agustine saith: We ought to ask of none but of the LORDE God, whatsoever we trust that we either should work well, or obtain for good works.

The. xxx. Chapter.

BUt this is to be noted in prayer that in as much as all that profess Christ unfeignedly, have one cōmō & heavenly father, & are brothers one to another ye brothers to christ & fellow heirs with him, & seeing that Christ also hath taught us in his most godly prayer, not only to pray for our selves, but also for all other in common, it shall be necessary that a christē man doth so direct his prayer unto God, that he may seme no less to seek in it the help of his Christian brothers, than of himself. For true & unfeigned Charite, which proceedeth from a pure heart & a good conscience, & a faith not feigned, seeketh not her own, but rather that which pertaynethe to other. She rejoiceth no less in the health of other than in her own. She taketh no less thought to profit other than her self. She rejoiceth with them that rejoice, & wepeth w ^t them that weep. Yea she many times forgetteth her self, & is wholly bent to seek the commodity of other, as S. Paul saith, Charite seeketh not her own. We read that such fervent charity was in Moses, which whan the people of Israel had grievously offended God by worshippynge the gold̄ Calf, perceyuynge y ^e wrath of God to be whotte against thē, prayed on this manner & said, oh this people have done a great sin, and have made them God's of gold. Now forgive thē their sin, or else wipe me out of this boke, that thou hasle wryttē. S. Paul also wyssted himself to be cursed from Christ for the Israelites. Christ commandeth to bless thē that curse us, to pray for thē that do us wrōge & persecute us howe much more than ought we, seeing there is one bo • y & one spirit, one LORDE, one saith, one baptism one God & father of us all, to pray one for another generally in the unite of the spirit thorough the bond of peace. If we search in the Histories of the most sacred Bible, we shall in manny places find and evidently perceive with howe greedy affeccion and fervent mind one prayed for another, so y ^e there was in their prayers a certain godly communion, & a l • ke thought or care for all mē. For as he that loveth y ^e father of y ^e house hold unfeignedly, doth also love her tely all his whole family, so in like manner they that love our celestial father with a true affecte & mind, can none otherwise do but love also his people, his household. his heritage, whom he hath so greatly honored y ^e he hath not disdained to call them the plenitude & fullness of his only begotten son. Therefore the prayer of a Christian man ought on such manner to be made, that it may be common & cōprehende in it all mē that are his brothers in Christ, and pertain to the household of faith. Yea he ought to pray for all men living in this world, be they Turks Saracēnes, Jews or ony other of the hethenysh & unfaithful sort, y ^e God may deliver them by this holy spirit out of the darkenesses of ygnorancy, & bring them into y ^e meruaylous light of his most blessed word, that in the unite of the Spirit they may also confess with us one LORDE, one God, one sauyoure, one faith, one Christian religion, & one truth.

But some men will say peradventure, is it not lawful for a man to pray severally for himself, & for his own private affairs? Yies verily, so that the mind be not utterly deflected & turned away from the cōtemplacion of this cōmunite, but referreth all things unto that. For Christ prayed perticularely for himself unto his Father a little before his passion. Hezekiah prayed for his own health. David prayed for the remission of his sin. The Publycane desired mercy & forgyuenes of his offense. The these desired Christ to remember him, whan he came in to his kingdom. All these prayed their own private affairs, & were heard. Semblably it is lawful for every Christian man to lamente his own cause before the merciful eyes of the divine majesty.

Art thou a magistrate & gouernoure of the common weal, perceyuynge that thou wanteste wisdom to govern the people of God aright & according to justice. Than mayst thou lawfully pray w ^t Solomon to God for the gift of wisdom.

Art thou a minister of God's word, so mayst thou after the example of the Apostles pray for the influence of the holy Ghost, that y ^e mayst be repleted with the knowledge of spiritual things, & so feed the flock of Christ, whom he hath purchased w ^e his most precious blood, that thou mayst receive y ^e inmarcessible crown of glory, whan that Prince of sheep heardes shall appear.

Art y ^• an householder? thā mayst thou lawefullye pray unto God for grace, that thou mayst govern and rule thy family according to God's most holy word.

Art thou a rytch man, thā oughtest thou for to pray unto God, that thou mayeste distribute his goods committed unto the according to his pleasure upon the poor people. Art thou poor? than pray to God that thou mayst patiently suffer the cross of pouerte, which he hath laid upon the. Felest thou ony vice to reign in the▪ So mayeste thou be • old to pray unto GOD for the suppression of that vice, and for the obtaynynge of y ^e virtue contrary to the vice.

To be short, art thou a Christ̄ man? So mayst thou at all times be bold to pray that God may so endewe the with strength from above, that thou mayst live in all points according to thy profession.

The. xxxi. Chapter.

BUt in thus prayenge for our selves we must take hede, that we desire not those things, which should turn to our own private auauntage, & to the hynderaunce or discōmoditie of other. For this is not acceptable in y ^e sight of God. The children of Zebedee desired Christ. y ^e one of them might sit on his right hand, & another on his lift hand. But Christ answered and said, ye know not what ye ask. They desired the primacy, & to be alofte in superioryte above a • y ^e disciples, which made the other to have indignation at them b • the. That Peticion therefore is not lawful nor righteous, which hath a respect more to private auauntage thē to public vt • lite. As if a Phisicion should pray that many might fall sick or that they that are sick, might so continue longe, that he might have the more auaūtage. Or if an heir did pray that his parents might die wortly, that y ^e heritage might quickly chance unto him. Or if a wicked Soldier did desire that many temples might be spoiled, and diverse honest men robbed, y ^e he might come home looden with proyes and robberies.

These & such like requests, in as much as they come for the from the flesh, and not frō the spirit, God, which is a spirit, doth not hear thē, as S. James saith, ye ask and receive not, because ye ask evil, y ^e ye may consume it on your pleasures. And if he heareth, certes he heareth unto the great evil & incōmoditie of them y ^e pray. For they store up & provoke the anger of God toward them. S. Agustine saith, think it no great thing to be herd at your own will, but rather think it a great thing to be heard unto your profytte. For the dyuels were heard at their own will, & were suffered to go into y ^e swine according to their desire. Theyr Prince also the devil was heard at his own will, which desired to have Job & to tempt him. The Israelites also were heard at their own will, & whan the meat was yet in their mouthe, ye know what things followed. Thyncke it therefore no great thing to be heard at youre own will & pleasure. For God sometime being angry giveth that, which thou askest, & God being merciful & well pleased, denieth that, which thou askest. But yet is their prayer much more wicked, which being enflamed with the fire of malicious fury, & furious malice, do desire evil to thē selves, that worse may chaūse unto their brother, whom they hate. Yea there want not, which not only could be content with all their hearts to lose one of their eyes, so that he, whom they hate, might lose both, but also, put their own lives in iopardy to bring death unto other. O cruel tyranny. Such petitions be detestable, & are to the desyrers thereof, not only much pernicious, but also very damnable, in as much as they stonde not with the order of Charite. This also is to be judged of them, which curse and banne such as they hate. Let us therefore ask nothing, but that maketh to the glory of God the auaūcemēt of his most holy word, the increase of virtue, the destruction of vice, y ^e health of our souls, the conseruacion of the publigue weal, & the profytte of our neighbor. In all our petitions let us submyt our selves to the will & pleasure of God nothing doubting but that he will grant us that we ask, or else things of more weyghtye importance & more profitable for our salvation. For it is not alway convenient that we should obtain whatsoever we ask of God. He knowethe much better what we have need of, then we our selves do. It is many times more expedient for us to have scasenes than aboūdaūce, to be vexed w ^t wars & persecucions thā to enjoy carnal securite & flesshely quietness, to be sick thā to be whole, to be tēted thā to be w ^t out tētaciō Paul at diverse times desired God y ^t he might be delivered frō y ^e prych of y ^e flesh, but it was answered my grace is sufficient for the, & he rejoiced in his in • yrmite & weakness. Therefore in all things let us pray for godly & honest things, being alway contented to receive, as it shall be God's most holy pleasure to give.

The. xxxii. Chapter.

I F we consider the inexplicable & manifold miseries, wherewith in this vale of calamite we are inuolued, wrapped and inclosed about on every side, we shall w ^t out ony great difficulte perceive y ^• we have need of nothing so much as of prayer, yea and that feruente, assiduous & continual. For the devil goeth about like a roaryng Lyon, seeking whom he may devour. The world also with his vain pleasures is redye at every hour to seduce & lede us away frō our professiō, if we take not hede. Agayne the flesh is so domestical and nygh enemy unto us, that we can never be w ^t out it. It ever assaylethe us. It allwaye fyghteth & lusteth contrary to the spirit. It turneth, as they say, every stonne to make us enemies w ^t God. The soldier of Christ, saith a certain Doctor, ought not to put away from him the shelde of prayer so longe as the battle endurethe. But the battle endureth, so longe as this present life endureth, as Job saith, the life of a man vpō y ^• earth is a warfare, & perels do never fail therefore have we need continually of God's help. Miserye doth never want in this life, therefore have we ever need of God's mercy & continual prayer. Wherof it followeth y ^t we have great need of prayer at all times, if we will be saved. For no man shall be crowned, except he warreth valeauntly. To him that overcometh, saith God, will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in • mids of the Paradyse of GOD. Our savior Christ therefore knowing our imbecillite & weakness to be no less than our misery & wretchedness, exortetth us principallye & above all things to pray. Watche & pray, saith he, that ye faul not in to tentaciō. And in as much as our enemies cease not to fight against us by their crafty & subtle assaults, therefore ought we not to cease for to fight against thē w ^t continual prayers. For the prayer of a righous man, saith S. James, availeth much. Christ in the Gospel of Luke proponeth a certain parable of an unrighteous Judge & of a widow, wherein he teachethe that we ought to pray alway and never to cease, nor once to be werye. Read the Chapter. A Christian man ought to pray at all times, & never to desyst and cease from prayenge. Therefore saith S. Paul: Cōtinue in prayer & wacth in it with thanks gi • yng. Agayne: Reioyse alway, pray without ceasyng, in all things give thankes. Hereto agreeth y ^e saying of S. Peter, be ye sober & watch unto prayer. For continual prayer causethe y ^t our enemies cannot have the upper hand over us. Yea continual prayer maketh that the love of celestial goods doth ever encrese ī us, which except it be oftentimes suscitated & stored up with ardent desires and fervent prayers, as fire is w ^t wind, it first abateth, & afterward by little & little it is utterly quenched and put clean out. For as he is unworthy to receive ony thing, which giveth not thanks for those things y ^• he hath already taken, y ^t is, which doth not knowledge & magnify the beneficence of God, so doth not he deserve to enjoy so great felicite, joy & pleasure, which either doth not desire it or else desireth it coldly. Who feruētly loveth a thing, & doth not continually wish y ^e y ^• thing which he loveth, may chaūse to hī. So y ^• it is manifest of these things aforsayde, y ^t we ought to pray at all times, & never cease, in as much as we have at all times most urgēt, weighty & necessary causes.

The. xxxiii. Chapter.

BUt it will be objected, howe is it possible for a man to pray at all times, & never to cease? This is a thing not only of impossibilite, but also contrary to the commandment of Christ, which saith, whan ye pray, speak not manny words. I answer, Christ in this aforsayde place doth not forbid the assiduite & continuance of prayer, but y ^e multiloquie & manner of bablyng in prayers, which the Ethnics & Infidels did use, trustyng by y ^• their to much bablynge they should the sooner be heard, as we read of those wicked Prophets, which cried on the name of Baal from morning till night, saying none other thing but this only, O Baal hear us, O Baal hear us. But the prophet Helias mocked them, saying, cry withe a loweder voice. For he is a God, but peradventure he talkethe with somebody, or is occupied in pursuynge his enemies, or is gone some journey, or happily he sleepeth, & would be waked & reysed up w ^t your cryinge. They cried therefore w ^t a great voice, & cut thenselves after the • r old manner w ^t sweardes and botkyns, until they were all on gore blood. But all in vain.

The words of Christ are these, whan ye pray, speak not many words as the Ethnyckes do. For they think it should come to pass, that thorough their bablynge they should be heard. Be not ye therefore like thē For youre father doth know, what things ye need, before ye ask o • him. These words show manifestly that Christ doth not condemn the assiduite & continuance of prayer, which both he hiselfe used, and also taught other y ^e same, but the vain loquasite & vnfruytfull bablyng annexed with this perswasiō, that our prayers cannot be heard, except we be ever inculkyng & beatynge thē into the ears of God after the manner of the Hethē, as though God did rather hear us for our loquasite and bablynges sake, than for his most loving and gentle promise, or as though God were not so ready to give, as we are to ask, if our petitions beaccordyng unto his will. The Ethnics mult • loquy & hethenysh bablynge doth Christ here not only forbid, but also condēn • . Therefore saith y ^e wise man, be not to rash in spekynge, neither let thy heart make hast to bring forth a word in y ^• sight of god. For god is in heuē, & y ^u art on the earth, & therefore let thy words be few. For as the dream cōmethe of manifold businesses, so is y ^• voice of a fool in y ^e multitude of words.

S. John golden mouth upon the aforsayd text writeth on this manner, he calleth here Bathologian, loquacite, that is, bablynge or much spekynge, which we than verily use, when we ask of God things y ^t are not profitable for us, as for an example, that we should obtain power & glory, & that we should overcome our enemies, & that we should abound with many riches, to conclude, whā we ask those things, y ^e should profit us nothing at all. For he knoweth what so ever we have need. Moreover he seemeth unto me to forbid longe prayers. Yea verily, long I say, not in time but in the multitude & prolixite or length of words. We must persevere in askynge those things that are profitable. Continue, saith he, ī prayer. For y ^• LORDE himself also sendeth us to the example of y ^t widow & of y ^e vnmercyfull & cruel Judge, that he should comēd the diligente continuaūce of prayer by the importunite of her interpellacion & hertye request. And whā he saith y ^• a certain man came unto his friend, whan it was very late in the night, & that he raised him being a sleep out of his bed, yea & that he deserved this thing not so much for familiarite & acquayntāce sake, as for sedulite & careful diligence: He willed none other thing, thā that he should be called upon continually. Yet he did not command that they should bring unto him a prayer of a thousand verses longe, & recyte y ^• unto him. For this hath he already reproved. For they think that in their much speaking they should be herd. But your father, saith he, knoweth, what ye have need, before ye ask. But thou wilt say, If he knoweth, wherefor than need we to pray? Verily not y ^e thou shouldeste teach God, but that thou shouldeste make him good unto the, that thou shouldest be acquainted with him, by reason of thy frequent & often̄ spekynge unto him, that y ^• shouldest h • ̄ble thyself in prayeng, & that thou shouldest oftentimes remember thy sins.

Hytherto have I recyted the words of S. John Chrysostom, which as they condemn the vnfruytefull bablynge & vain ianglynge of words vainly & causses prolated, so do they hyghlye cōmende & approve the fervent continuance of prayenge. So that hereof it is evident, that a thristē mā ought to pray at all times

The. xxxiiii. Chapter.

VUher as some mā will say per adventure that it is not possible for men to pray at all times, seeing that diverse other affairs and businesses must also be done of thē so longe as they live in this world, as eating, drynkynge, slepyng. &c. & men must also labor for their living, every man according to his vocation & calling, which things all must needs be an impedyment & let to the continual exercise of prayer: I will in few words declare how a christen man may pray without ceasynge at all times according to the precept of Christ and the Apostle Saint Paul.

Some expositoures of the holy Scrypture write that to pray all way & without ceasyng, is nothing else than to pray seriously, earnestly & diligently after the example of the widow, which would never leave cryenge & calling upon the unrighteous Judge, until he had heard her request, that she might be revenged of her adversary. They say it is a trope called Hyperbole, so that he is counted to pray always and w ^t out ceasyng, which pray usually, of tentymes, seriously & instantly, and doth not cease from prayers, until he hath obtained that, which he asketh. After that manner is this spokē: Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice as a Trompe.

Some say that to pray always & not to cease, is thorough out all our life, feruentely to desire that high goodness, which is promised us in y ^e world to come. After this sort, say, they, whatsoever mē do in this life, whether they eat, drink, sleape work, talk, bargayne, study, meditate. &c. so longe as this celestial desire remain in thē, all their whole life is a certain perpetual prayer. The perpetual study of living godly, saith Erasmus, is a continual prayer. And Beda saith, he prayeth alway, y ^• doth good things always neither doth he cease to pray, but 〈◊〉 he ceaseth to be righteous.

Other affirm that to pray without ceasyng, is fervently & with an ardent mind to pray at certain hours destinated & appointed unto prayer. Verily all these exposicions, in as much as they be godly, are not to be rejected nor caste away. Therefore seeing that we cannot for our imbecill •• e, weakness & imperfecciō alway & without ceasyng pray unto God, yet, besides the godly meditacion of celestial things in our mind, & the perpetual desire of living innocētly, which ought never to depart from a Christ̄ breast, that hath the fear of God before her eyes we ought to prescrybe & appoint unto our selves certain peculiare hours every day which should not pass away w ^t out prayer, & which should have the whole affects of the mind utterly occupied in this behalf. And whan those hours shall come, than ought we to lay aside all m • dane affairs & worldly businesses, & wholly to give our selves to devout meditacion, & divine contemplaciō of celestial things. Thā ought we feruentely to pray w ^t the heart and mind, & so w ^t all humility to behave our selves, as though god were there present, & we spake unto him face to face, ye than ought we to watch, as the Scripture admonysshe the, that is, so take hede & cast all pereis, that our adversary the devil, which goeth about like a rorynge Lyon, seakyng whom he may devour, do not once draw away our minds from talkynge with God, but that quietly and attentely we may be occupied in offering up our petitions unto GOD at that time of prayer.

The. xxxv. Chapter.

ANd because no man should be offended w ^t the obseruaunce & appoyntmēt of certain hours unto prayer, as a thing superstitious & repugnant to the christen liberty: I will show that divers holy men had their certain hours also, wherein they used custumably to pray. We read that David did pray & give thanks unto God seven times in a day. His words are these: Seven times in a day have I givē praise unto the for the judgments of thy righteousness. What seven times in a day these were, all are not manifest in the holy scripture, but some are, which I will here rehearse.

As touching the morning he saith, O LORDE early shalt y ^u hear my voice, betymes in the morning shall I make my prayer unto the, & I shall se that I have obtained my prayer. Now for the time of his repaste he saith, as asshes did I eat my bread & my drink did I myngle with wepynge. Thoughe here he make the none euydente mention of Prayer, yet it is not to be doubted, but y ^t in this his great sorrow, he also used at that present, prayers unto God. As for his prayer at night, we read on this manner, let my prayer, saith he, be directed unto the as frākensence in thy sight, the lyftynge up of my hands as an euenyng sacrifice. Agayne he saith, I shall wash every night my bed, yea even w ^t my tears will I water my bed. That he prayed to God at mydnyght also, it is manifest by theyse words, At myddenyght, saith he, did I rise to give praise unto the.

Of these Scriptures aforsayd it is evident that David prayed unto God customably these four times besides other, that is, in the morning, at his dynner, in the euenynge, and at mydnyght, which all be very convenient times for a christen man to pray. As he prayed at these times, so did he undoubtedly at other, though they be not expressed in y ^• scripture.

Moreover we read that Daniel used customably to pray every day three times unto his LORDE GOD. The Evangelists also declare, that Christ preaching & working miracles all the whole day, used often times to spend the whole night in prayenge unto his father. S. Luke also in the Acts of y ^e Apostles declareth that Peter & John went up into the Tēple at the nynthe hour of prayer. Wherof it doth evidently appear y ^• in the old law they had certain times appointed in y ^• which they should pray. Have not we also among us now a days certain times appointed for to come together & to pray in the temples? What do we learn of all these things▪ Verily that a Christian man may lawfully & without ony scripule of conscience appoint certain hours in the day, wherein he may exercise himself devoutly in godly prayer & spiritual meditacion. But I would he should not so supersticiously be addicte to those hours, that he should think it sin to break ony of thē, whan occasion of necessity is given (for that were a wicked thing) but to use those times as means for to bring him unto a more fervent manner of prayeng continually. For the Sabbath day was made for man, & not man for the Sabbath day. The kingdom of God shall not come w ^t obseruaciō & looking for, saith Christ neither shall they say, behold here, or behold there, for loo, the kingdom of god is w ^t in you. Ye observe days months, times and years, saith Paul, I am afearde of you, unless I have labored in vain for you. Again, let no mā judge you in meat or drink, or in parte of an holy day, or of the feast of the new Moon, or of the Sabbothes, which are the shadows of things to come, but the body of Christ.

The. xxxvi. Chapter.

SEynge than that the appoyntement of certain hours for prayer is very commendable, yea & necessary for the traynynge up of our selves in the godly exercise of prayer (so that superstitious obseruaunce be absent) it shall be much decēt and praise worthy for every man to appoint himself such certain hours every day for to pray, as wherein he shall perceive that he may be most quiet, & most apt to talk w ^e God in his prayers. And although every Christian man knowethe what time is best for him to pray (in as much as the vnccion of God techeth thē all things, & they have no need that any man should teach thē) yet I will here assign such hours to pray, as I may think to be most convenient & apt to prayer, & that not only because they seme fytte in my conceit, but rather in as much as I se those same hours approved of godly learned men, as most fyttyng and apt unto the true exercise of prayer.

David in his Psalms wrytethe on this manner, I will cry to God, & the LORDE shall save me. At night & in the morning & at middaye shall I pray hertelye, & he shall hear my voice. Here David prescribeth three solemn times, whan a man ought of duty every day to pray. At night when he goeth to bed, in y ^e morning whan he riseth, & at mydday whan he goeth to meat. He that leave the God vnsaluted with his prayers at these three times, verily he is much estraūged frō the manners of a true Christian man, as I may leave of to speak of his ingratitude & unkindness toward our LORDE GOD.

S. Ambrose appoint the mo times of prayenge: Solemn prayers saith he, ought to be made w ^t thanks giving whan we rise frō sleep, when we go forth to our business, whē we make ready to take our meat and whan we have taken our meat & when we go to bed. Would God y ^• all men would follow the doctrine of this most holy & catholic Doctor. Than should all things be replenyshed with the blessing of God more plenteously than they are now a days. S. John Chrysostom differeth not from this, where he saith, we must whā we rise out of our beds prevent the son with the worshipping of God, & whan we come to the table, & whan we should sleep. Yea at every hour ought we to offer a lyuysh prayer unto God, and to run an equal course withe the day, & in y ^e time of Wynter to spend also y ^• most part of y ^e night in prayers & bowīg our knees w ^t much fear to give attēdaūce to prayer, recounting our selves blessed, whā we thus worship God. Tel me how dareste y ^u loke vpō the Son, whā y ^u dost not worship him, that sent that most sweet & comfortable light? How shalt thou use y ^e table, & not worship y ^• gyuer & supeditatour of so great good thiges? With what hope goest thou to the time of the night, what manner of slepes dost thou loke for, whē thou dost not confyrme, make strong & defend thyself with prayers, but without ony watch comest to sleep like a miser & wretch, ready to fall into the captivity & bondage of the most ungracious devils, which continually go about waytyng y ^• time, that they may quickly catch any man that is bare, & not defensed w ^t prayer? which whan they se us enarmed w ^t prayers, run back straight ways as thieves & malefactoures, which se a sword hanged up at the hand of y ^• Soldiour. But if it chāseth that any man be bare & not weponed w ^t prayer, than is he straight way plucked & toste of the devils, he is moved unto sin, & brought into infinyte calamities & euelles. We therefore fearing all these things let us enarme our selves alway w ^t prayers & hymns, that god having pytie on us, may make us all worthy y ^e kingdom of heaven thorough his only begotten son, to whom be glory and rule, worlds without ende.

The. xxxvii. Chapter.

HItherto have I recyted y ^• words of the gold̄ mouthed Doctor, wherein we may learn not only whan we ought to pray, but also howe necessary a thing prayer is, & how that w ^t out prayer we can do nothing well, neither can any thing without that chance unto us prosperously. Would God therefore that whan we rise in the morning we would with hundle & faithful hearts give thanks to God, for y ^• sleep wherewith he hath refresshed one weary bodies that night, & 〈◊〉 lie desire him that his 〈…〉 may have the right gouernounce of us, all y ^e day following, that he defendynge us from all evil may only his • , couy •• e, aspire & go about those th • ges, which shall may turn to the glory of God, the salvation of our souls, & the profytte of y ^• Christian publyque wea • e, not once offendynge the eyes of the divine majesty neither in thought, word nor deed at ony time.

Agayne in as much as we are all • orne to labor, every man in his office, ever as the byrde is to fly, & seeing that we are commanded of God to eat the labors of our hands

The. xxxviii. Chapter.

MOreouer whan we shall take our meat before we sit down to taste ony of it, let us w ^t all humility & submission of mind desire God w ^t our prayers, that he will sanctifye those his gifts & benefits, that we may receive thē according to his will, & by no means abuse them, either to the distemperance of our bodies, or to the danger of our souls but only receive them unto y ^e ende, for the which they were created and prepared. Lette us not think it enough to have corporal food, except it be blessed of God. Neither ought we to think that our bodily suste 〈◊〉 cometh only of our own pol • cy but much more rather of gods blessing, which except he did fortune our trauayles, a • ou • e labors were but vain, 〈◊〉 y ^• Psalmograph saith, fear ye the LORDE all ye that be his Saints, for there is no searsenes to thē y ^e fear him. The rich have wanted & hungered, but they y ^• seek after y ^e LORDE, shall want no good thing. Agayne, caste thy care upon the LORDE, & he shall noryshe the. Also in another place, The eyes of all mē trust in the, O LORD, & thou gyuest them meat in convenient time. Thou openest thy hand, and fylleste every living creature with thy blessing.

Thus se we y ^• our corporal food is the gift of God, & he it is that fedethe so many, as repose their affyaunce in him. Therefore ought we before we taste any meat at y ^• time of our repaste to pray unto God, y ^• he may bless the meat that we sha • than receive, confessynge y ^e what so ever we have, we all together receive it of his bountyous hand. O merciful God, we come now a days unto the table, as though we ware Hethen, & knew no parte of God, at the of the Altare, his beri body & blood? 〈◊〉 did he this • a •• ely for our example, that we should knowledge & confess that what so ever we have, we receive it altogether at the 〈◊〉 teous & liberal hand of God. Doth not S. Paul say, that meats are sanctified by the word of God and prayer▪ We ought therefore surely whan we go to dynner, or take onye repast, to desire God for to bless our meat, & to make it helthfull & profitable to our bodies, & to believe that whatsoever is there present, we receive it altogether of the grand munificence & exceeding liberalytie of God, & so to behave our selves all y ^• time of our repast, not only ī enioyīg those gifts moderately & soberlye, but also in our cōmunicacion, & external gestures, that we may seme to sytte not at a profane, cōmme & unclean table, but at y ^• holy table of y ^e celestial and everlasting king.

The. xxxix. Chapter.

AGayne after we have thus godly & soberly takē our meat, let us not fail to give God hearty thanckes for his benefits, which so bounteously of his own mere lyberalitie & great goodness hath fed us at that present, let us also desire him that he will go forth to be a beneficial father unto us, & to give us meat, not only that meat which peryssheth, but much rather y ^t which abydethe into everlasting life, I mean the most sweet Gospel of his intierlye beloved sonne Jesus Christ our moste gentle LORDE & omnisufficient Savior, y ^• our bodies being fed w ^t corporal meat, & our souls sustained with the word of life, we may after this life be most happily fed with the aspecte, beholding, & fruicion of the most blessed deite. Amen.

These things once done, let be return to our labors, every m • n according to his vocation and calling, working that thing that is pleasant in the sight of God.

Whan the time cometh that we shall go to supper, let us w ^e the same reverence enjoy the good creatures of God, that we did at dynner, & as we behaved our selves at dīner both in prayer & thanks giving, let us so likewise do at supper. So shall it come to pass undoubtedly, that we shall want no good thing, but have plenty of all thiges according to onr hearts desire. We must, saith Chrysostom, both whan we go unto the table & come frō it, give thanckes to God. For that table, which be gynneth of prayer, & endethe also in prayer, shall never want, but shall bring to us all good things more largely & more plenteously than ony fountain. But I have spoken of this matter also in my Banckette.

The. xl. Chapter.

AT night whan we go to bed, we shall before we give our selves to sleep, knele down upon our knees secretly in our chamber, with all humility & reverent fear, calling unto our remembrance howe we have spent all the whole day past. If we shall than perceive that we have offended y ^e divine majesty in ony thing, either in thought, word or deed, thā let us not fail to confess our sin streyghtway to God w ^t a contryte & sorrowful heart, desyryng him most humbly for his great mercies sake to forgive us that our iniquity, & not to be angry with us, but so assyst us with the influence of his most holy Spirit, that we may in no point trāsgresse his most divine will, but work all things that may be pleasant unto him.

If we shall at that time perceive that we are at debate with ony mā, let us nonet go to bed, before we be reconciled one to another if it be possible according to the precept of y ^e Apostle, let not the Son fall down vpō your anger. If that may not cōueniētly be done y ^t night, let us not fail the next morning betymes, or so sone as we may, to go unto thē that are offended w ^t us, or we w ^e thē, & never cease till we have made an agreement between us, being perfectly persuaded, that we can by no menes please God so long as we be not in love and charity. For as S. John̄ saith he that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Everyone that hatethe his brother is a manslear, & ye know that every manslear hath not everlasting life abydynge in him.

Loke what we have offended god that day, let us so bewail our syn & take such thought for y ^e commission of it, y ^t we may have no more pleasure to do that offense again, but rather be made the more circumspecte • beware afterward y ^e we be no more oppressed with the subtle assaults of Satā. Let us every day die unto sin. Let us continually mortyfye the affects of the old Adā. The lenger we live, the lesser let sin remain in this our mortal body. Let all our meditaciō, study & endeavor be nothing else than a perpetual care to lead a pure and innocent life.

The. xli. Chapter.

BUt if it so chance, that whan we have cōsydered the spending of the day, we perceive no notable crime & heinous fault committed neither against God, nor our neighbor, than let us rejoice, give God thanks, & desire him so continually to aid us withe his divine help, y ^e we may not only continue in that purite of life, but also go forth from saith to saith, & from virtue to virtue, till we wax ancient in christ, & become perfette mē ī our professio •

Theise things once done, let us than fall to prayer, desyrynge God for his great mercies sake thorough Jesus Christ to give us a prosperous & quiet night, & that neither Sat • nor none of his Angels do trouble us, but that though the body take rest & sleep, yet the mind, the heart, the inward man, may always watch to him, & delight in hi perpetually.

After our prayers, let us cōmyt our selves to the tuicion of God, & so swetely give our selves to rest. And let this be our daily exercise. D LORDE God, if we would do this with a servēt heart & burning love toward God, it cannot be expressed that great & singular commodities would ensewe. To do thus, is y ^e duty of us all, but whither we have done it or not, let every man search his own conscience and amende.

Thus have I declared what times I think most convenient for prayer, & how we should behave ourselves in y ^e time of pray eng. I have not done this to bind & snarlethe conscience of ony christē man, which ought to be free to serve God at all hours, but to help the infyrme and weak Christians, that they first vsynge these times, & certain introduccions, may afterward come unto the perfeccion of worshipping God at all times. For a christen mā • hall have abundant occasions at all hours to call on y ^e name of y ^e LORD for help. Notwithstandynge if ony man shall loke upon these things, y ^e I have here written, with a single eye, he shall not find thē altogether superuncaneous & vain. God give us all grace to so follow thē, or better, if we may.

The. xlii. Chapter.

N Owe begin the our work to draw unto an ende. I have declared sufficiently heretofore, as I trust, all things that most principally pertain unto prayer, that is to say, unto asking ony thing of God. It remaynethe now therefore that I entreat somewhat of thanks giving to God. For it is convenient y ^e we also give thanks unto God for the gifts & benefits that we receive of him, or else we may iustely seme to be unworthy ony parte of God's kindness For what have we, y ^e we have not received? The wife mā ought not to •• oyse in his wisdom, nor the strong 〈◊〉 his strength, nor yet y ^e rytch 〈…〉 spiches, but only in our LORDE God, from whom every good & perfect gift descendeth and cometh down. What haste thou that y ^u haste not received, saith Paul? If thou haste received it, wherefor dost thou rejoice, as though y ^u haddest not received it? Let not y ^e wise man, saith God by his Prophet, rejoice in his wisdom, nor let not the strong man rejoice in his strength, nor let not the rytch man rejoice in his riches. But let him that rejoiceth, rejoice in this, if he vnderstōd & know me. For I am the LORDE, which doth mercy, judgment and righteousness in y ^e earth, & these are those things that I desire, saith the LORDE.

Seynge than y ^u all our glory and reioycyng ought to be in our LORDE God alone, as S. Paul saith, rejoice in the LORDE all way, & again I say rejoice feynge also y ^e what so ever goodness is in us, 〈◊〉 lie of him, • e • ely me oug •• at all hours to rejoice in him, as the 〈◊〉 blessed virgin Mary did, saying • my soul magnifyethe the LORDE ; & my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior, & to give to him thanks, & to sing to his name, so long as our life lasteth, perpetual encomies, laudes cōmendacion and praises.

If we will be moved to give god thanks at any time, as we ought to do alway, it shall be first convenient to perpende, weye, & consider his manifold goodness toward us. Fyrste howe at the beginning he made us not like unto brute bestes, but like unto his own symilytude & Image. And he made us not to be fire brondes of hell, but inheritors of everlasting glory. For he gave us a body much more beautiful and pleasant in aspecte, than any other lynynge creature hath. He gave us a mind ••• rendued with wit, reason, discre ••• , wisdom, vertu, knowledge, cunnynge, immortalite, godliness. &c He set us in Paradyse, and gave us rule, power, & dominiō ouerall the fysshes of the see, & the birds of the air, & over all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Agayne whan we in our parētes had transgressed his most godly precept, & thereby deserved eternal dānation, he did not streyghtwaye with the same rigoure & fearcenesse, wherewith he condemned the Angels for their disobedient arrogācy, caste us away into the fire of Hell, but full gentely sent us into this vale of misery for to reap̄t, that afterward he might save us, yet constitutyng & appoyntynge us still Lord's & rulers oueral living creatures.

The. xliii. Chapter.

MOreouer whā it was not possible because of the great enormite of our sin, that we could of our own power, strength, merits, deseruynges & good works save & wynne our selves again into y ^e favor of God, howe lovingly w ^t out ony deserts of our parte evē of his own mere goodness and free mercy did he promise to save us by his dearly beloved son our LORDE Jesus Christ, & at his time predefined and appointed from everlasting sent him down in • • his world? Which for our sake unfeignedly by the wonderful operacion of the holy Ghoste toke flessh of the most blessed, most pure, & undefiled virgyn Mary, & became very man like unto us in althynges, sin alone except. Which also after he had lived here certain years, evē of his own free will w ^t out any compulsion for the fervent & unspeakable love that he ever bare toward us, gave himself unto the very 〈◊〉 yea even the most spite full & 〈◊〉 death of the Cross. He offered 〈◊〉 • oost blessed body a sweet smellynge Sacrifyce to God the father for our wickedness. He suffered his most precious blood to be shed vpō the Altare of the Cross to pay the raūsome for our sins. He refused no kind of paynful grefe & grievous pain to apease God's wrath, & to reconcyle us unto his celestial father. O good Jesus, saith S. Bernard, howe greatly were we endetted to the, & yet dost thou pay our dette? We have sinned, & thou art punysshed. This is a work w ^t out example, a grace without meryte a charity without measure.

Verily verily not the prodiciō & betrayenge of Judas, not the fury & cruel malice of the Pharisees and Bysshops, not the wicked and false witnesses, not the vnryghteous accusers, not the cruel & vnmercyfull judges did put Christ to death, but we our selves, our sin, our iniquity, our ungodliness, our abomination, our corrupt manners did slay him, & put him to that most cruel death. We are they that did kyl him. We sought his death. We did betray him. We did falsely accuse him We nailed him upon the Cross. We scourged his most blessed body. We shed his most precious blood. We did cleue asunder his most blessed heart with a spear, out of y ^t which rāne both water & blood. We gave him Eysell & Gaull to drink. We scorned him, we mocked him, we did spit on his most sweet face. We buffeted him, we bruised him, we were the Authors of all y ^t tyranny, which was wrought against him. Yet for y ^• love that he bare toward us, did not he disdain to suffer all these in tolerable pains, by whose passions & suffrynges we are perfectly made whose, by whose most blessed blood all our sins are wasshed away, by whose death, everlasting life chaūseth abundantly unto us. O immeasurable kindness. What a love hath God to us, that he spared not his only son, but gave him for us all, y ^t so many as believe in him, may not perish, but have everlasting life.

And as God the father gave his son Christ unto death for our sins, so did he raise him up again by his most puissaunt power from death for our iustificaciō. He is our peace, howe than can we be sad & heuy? He is our Savior, howe thē can we despair? He is our way, howe than can we err? He is our truth, howe than can we be deceived? He is our life, howe thā can we die? He is our Resurreccion, howe thā can we sleep in sin? He is our Phisicion, how thā cā we be sick & diseased? He is our light, howe than cā we walk in darkness? He is our bread, howe thā can we be hungrye? He is our defender, howe than can we be afearde? He is our wisdom, howe than can we be ignorant? He is our righteousness, howe than can we be unrighteous? He is our sanctificacion, howe than can we be profane & unholy? He is our redēcion howe than can we be damned? He is our riches, howe than can we be pore? He is our beautye, howe than can we be deformed & ill favored? He is our mediator and advocate, howe than can our matters be vnhearde? He is our head, howe than can we his members perish? He is our Bishop & Curate of our souls howe than can we want spiritual doctrine? He is our door, how than can we but enter into the kingdom of heaven? To conclude, he is altogether ours, & all that ever he hath, how than can we but sail in a safe & quiette haven? Howe than can we but have all things prosperous & fortunate? Thus se we what an hye treasure Christ is to us. If any mā desireth to know more of Christ, & what benefits we have received by let him read my work of y ^e News out of heavē, where he shall se Christ truly & lyuyshly painted as alone & perfect redeemer, & a plenteous and an omnisufficient savior for all thē that faythfullye repent and lede a new life.

Would not all these so great commodities & large benefits, which we receive of God y ^t father thorough Jesus Christ, move ony christē hert in the world to be thankful, and to sing perpetual praises unto God? For we have learned here, that all our salvation cometh only from God y ^e father thorough Jesus Christ, & that he saved us mercifully whē we were lost miserablye. But let us behold more of God's kyndnesse, that we may learn that thanks ought to be given unto him seriously.

The. xliiii. Chapter.

ALthough by Christ we be set again at lybertye, & receive our manumissiō & freedom frō that captivity, whereunto we were made honde by the sin of Adam, so sone as we are regenerate & borne a new by y ^e honorable Sacrament of Bap • tisme, and the holy Ghost, yet in as much as afterward thorough our fragilite & weakness we fall again in to sin, & deserve thereby also to be • cast from the favor of God, & to be dampened perpetuallye, if God did not also help us in this behalf, O • LORDE God, in how miserable a cas • are we? What should it profytte us, by Christ to be delivered from that wretchedness, into the which Adam did caste us, if there were not also a remedy to expulse that danger, into the which we cast our selves thorough sin after Baptism? Therefore here also doth the goodness of God appere very large & bounteous toward us. For though we sin after baptisms never so grievously, ye • doth not he straight ways take vengeance on us, & caste us headlonge • nto he • fire, as he did y ^e aūgels, but he patiently abideth our cōuersiō, & looketh daily whan we will repent, and amend, as the Prophet saith, y ^• LORDE longe abideth us, y ^e he may have mercy on us. Also the Psalmogra\`ph, The LORDE is gentle & merciful, patient, & of great pity. The LORDE is good & gentle to all men, & his render mercies are stretched forth upon all his works. Jeremiah also saith, It are the mercies of the LORDE that we are not consumed. Yea he exciteth & storeth us up by his holy spirit, and giveth us grace to repent, turn, & amende, as he saith by his Prophet, I will give them an heart & a new spirit will I give in their in ward partes, & I will take away the stony heart from their flesh, and give them a fleshly heart, y ^e they may walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, & do them. And they shall be my people, & I sh • ll be their God. Agayne, I will pour out vpō you clean water, & ye shall be made clean from all youre uncleanness, & from all youre Idolles will I make you clean, & I will give you a new heart & a new spirit will I put in the mids of you, & I will take away the stony heart from the flesh, & give you a fleshly hert, and I will put my Spiryte in the mids of you, & I will make you to walk in my precepts, & keep and work my judgments, & ye shall dwell in y ^e land y ^e I gave to your fathers, & ye shall be my people, & I shall be your God, and I shall save you from all youre uncleanness.

Moreover he still calleth vpō v • to come unto him, saying: Turn & repent you of all youre iniquities. And youre iniquity shall work you •• spleasure.: Caste away from you • l your wickednesses, in the which • e have offended, & make you a new • erte & a new spirit. Wherefore wy • • e die O ye house of Israel? For I • ill not that any should die, saith • he LORDE GOD. Retourne and •• ue. Agayne, it is commonly said • f a man leave his wife, and she going away marrieth another husbod, • hal he return anymore again vn • o her? Shall not the woman be pol • ted & defiled? But thou hast play • d the whore with many lovers, yet • eturne again unto me, saith the • ORD, & I will receive the. O most • were & comfortable saying. O most • entle Sauyour, worthy all praise • lory and honor.

Here may ye se howe greatly we • re bound to God, and howe great • hanckes we ought to give him, se • ng that he so greatly desireth our • elth, life & salvation, & wyllethe by no means our decay, death & damnation. He is y ^e gentle father, which ioyefully receiveth again his lost son, & most louyuglye enbrase the • him. He is that shepehearde, which bringeth home again on his should • ders, that sheep that was wandered away. He is that Phisicion, y ^e healeth the sick & diseased. He is y ^e Savior, which came not to call y ^• righteous but sinners unto repentance He is that helper, which daily crieth, come unto me all ye that labor & are laden, and I shall refresh you. Seke therefore the LORDE, while he may be found. Call on him, while he is nygh. Let the ungodly forsake his way, and the wicked man his thoughts, & let him return to the LORDE, & he shall have mercy on him yea but let him not fail to turn unto our God. For he is bounteous & very ready to forgive.

The. xlv. Chapter.

FUrthermore who is able to express howe greatly we are bound unto God for his diligent conseruacion & keeping us? If we were not preserved & kept of him, into howe many euels should we fall? Howe were it possible for us to be free from the captivity of Satan, to be pure from the filthiness of the flesh, to be kept harmless from the tyranny of the world, if God did not defend us? Howe many kind of euelles do we se daily perpetrated & done before our eyes, as theft, murder, treason, adultrye, fornicacion, covetousness, glotony, drōckenshyp. &c. which all undoubtedly we should likewise do, if we were not preserved frō thē by the goodness of God. For the fragilite of nature & the pronyte unto evil is all one in them & in us, if we be left unto our selves. Our perdition cometh of our selves but our salvation cometh only of God, as the Prophet saith. Excepte y ^• LORD, saith Isaiah, had left unto us seed, we had ben as Sodom, & we might well have ben lykened unto Gomorre. Therefore seeing that God keepeth us from theyse great enormities, we are very much bound to give him right hearty thanks.

Agayne with howe many gifts doth he endu • e us daily? What have we, y ^t is not his gifts, if it be good & godly? He engraffeth in us by his most holy spirit, Faith, hope, charity, peace, joy, patience, longe suffering, mekenes, leuite, softenes, modesty, honest behavior. &c. He giveth us health for our body. He giveth us spiritual gladness for our soul. He prepareth all things necessary for this our need life. He getteth friends for us. He defēdeath us from our enemies. He preserveth us ī all goodness. To conclude, loke what a most natural father is unto his most entierlye beloved son, the very same is he unto us. So y ^e whatsoever we have being good either pertaining to the soul or to the body, we altogether receive it of this our celestial father. What great thanks therefore he is worthy to have, who perceiveth not? S. Bernard saith, let us give thanckes to our God for y ^e good things y ^e we do, & let us humbly say to hī w ^t Isaiah the Prophet. All our works haste y ^u wrought in us O LORDE our God. Herto pertaineth the saying of S. Gregory: It is convenient y ^t we give thanks always to God, which never ceseth to do well, except he be letted & hyndred thorough the noughtines of men. Therefore whatsoever work y ^u shalt begin, first call on God, & cease not to give thankes, whan thou hait fynysshed it.

The. xlvi. Chapter.

ALthough it be so, y ^t all nations of y ^e world, even from the Easte to the West, ought to praise y ^• name of the LORDE for his innumerable benefits, that they without deserts receive of him daily, yet I think there is no Realm thorough out Christendom, that hath so many urgent weighty & necessary causes to give God thanks, as we English men have at this present. To whom is it unknown with howe miserable captivity we have ben detained & suppressed theyse many hundred years thorough the usurped power and grievous tyranny of y ^c Bishop of Rome? Who knoweth not howe greatly the consciences of Christian men were snarled, yea & almoost slain thorough the decrees of that Bishop? Howe greatly was the Christian lybertye enclosed & stopped up, so that no mā could enjoy y ^e use of those things, which the word of God determined free, without his lycense & dispensacion? Howe were the singular merits of Christ's death, & the inestimable price of his most precious blood adnihilated & set at naught, and the Bishop of Roomes pardons trusted unto, & perfect affiaunce reposed in thē for remission of sins & eternal salvation? What a sort of Hypocritical & superstitious works creptin thorough out Christianstome almoost, which only were believed to be thealone good works, and the true good works, which are commanded of God in his holy scriptures, utterly neglected, despised & set at naught? Who thought it not a more meritorious act to gylde an Image, than to cloth a poor naked man? Who thought it not a better deed to run gaddynge a pylgrimage into diverse countrees for to seek dead Images, than to tarry at home, & to visyte the poor members of Christ, which lay bedrede, sick, lame, feeble & impotēt. O extreme blindness.

Agayne what an infinite mon ••• res, Monckes I would have said, & other religious parsons, and God will as they desire to be called, did there arise in his kingdom? Who thought it not a better deed to put his child into an Abbay, & there to live ydlely, swinyshly & irreligiously pampred up with all delicious fare, that should provoke unto Iewdnes, than to let him live abroad in the world, & there to practice some honest art & occupacion, that might turn to the commodite & mayntaynance of the common weal? What blyndenes had invaded this Realm? Dyd not we thynck it rather our duty to obey y ^• proud Bishop of Rome than our own natyue king? Dyd not we esteem his fātastica • decrees, above the edictes, laws, and acts of our own king? were we not more ready to follow his sensual lusts & beastlyke pleasures, than to obey y ^• cōma • dementes of our own king & ruler? Into what perels would not we caste our selves to do y ^t rammysh Bishop pleasure? Yea would God that certain of this Realm in times paste had not rather had a mind to die for the maintenance of the false usurped power of y ^t Bishop, than to live with obedient and faithful hearts to our most Christian king. O LORDE God, what a blindness was this? where was this doctrine of Christ & his Apostle become, that all men should be subject & obedient to the high powers? This sentence of S. Paul lay buried: Let every soul be subject to y ^• high powers. For there is no power, but of God. All powers are ordained of God He therefore y ^t resisteth, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they y ^t resist, shall take to thē selves damnation. Also S. Peter: Be subject to to every human creature for the LORDES sake, whither it be unto the king as supreme head, or to the rulers that are sent by him to the punyshment of the evil doers, but unto the praise of them that do well. The Christian princes were not had in reverence & honor as they ought. o miserable case, & detestable abusiō.

The. xlvii. Chapter.

FUrthermore what ygnorancy & blyndenes was in this Realm, concerning the true & christē knowledge? Howe many savored Christ aryght? Howe many walked in the straight pathe ways of God's ordinances? Howe many believed Christ to be the alone Savior? Howe many trusted to be saved only by y ^• merits of Christ's death, & y ^e effusion & sheddynge of his most precious & blessed blood? How many ran to God alone either in their prosperite or aduersite? Howe many amplered Christ for their sufficient medsa to • r & advocate unto God y ^e father? Howe many felt the efficacye & power of the true & christē faith whereby a christē mā is frelyiustified? How many could discern the feigned and the true works asunder? Howe many did know what they professed at Baptism? Howe many had knowledge what their Pater noster ment, & wherefor they prayed? Howe many did perfectly understand the articles of the Christian faith? Howe many did know what the ceremonies of the church mente, as holy bread & holy water and such other? Howe many heard the Euangicall doctrine ever preached purely and syncerly? O good Jesus, be merciful unto us. If I should go forth to rehearse all the abuses & all the ygnorācy & blyndenes, wherewith this now most free and florysshynge Realm hath ben oppressed this many hundred years thorough the tyranny of that Babilonicall strōpet, it would undoubtedly make a work much longer then the Iliades of Homere.

But now are these enormities yea & deformities of this Realm of England utterly exiled & banished. All false Religion is exterped & plucked up by the roots. The miserable captivity, wherewith we were oppressed in the Popes kingdom, is turned into delectable liberty. Dur conconsciēces are restored to their old freedom. Christ's death is believed to be a sufficient Sacrifyce for them y ^e are sanctified. All superstitious fantasies invented of idle brains are full godly put down. The famous Images, wherewith the simple people committed sornicacion, I mean, Idolatry, are justly plucked down, & conveyed out of the way. All the monastical sects have put of their cowles & monstrous garments. Our most Christian king is now according to y ^e verite of God's word & his just & right title, recognised to be supreme head of y ^e church of Englonde next unto Christ immediately here in earth. He is honored of us his subjects, as we ought by y ^e law of God & had in reverence above all creatures mortal. Not only his most noble grace, but also so many as he appoyntethe to rule over us, we obey w ^t all submissiō & humility of mind.

The. xlviii. Chapter.

MOreouer ygnorancy & blyndenes are exiled and banysshed. God's laws are manifestly declared unto us. So that we may, if we will, keep his most godly commandments. The most sacred Bible is freely permytted to be red of every man in the English tongue. Many savor Christ aright, & daily the noneber increaseth, thanks be to GOD. Christ is believed to be the alone Savior. We now faithfully trust to be saved by the death of Christ, & that the blood of Christ maketh us clean from all sin. Christ is believed to be our sufficient mediatoure & advocate. The true & christen faith, which worketh by charity & is plenteous in good works, is now received to justify. The good works that are appointed in y ^e holy scriptures, are now only used, & put in exercise among the faithful. What we professed, when we were baptized, many now know right well. The twelve Articles of the christē faith, the LORDES prayer, called y ^e Pater noster, & the tē cōmaūdementes are now rehearsed in y ^e English tongue both of young & old, so that now all vnderstonde thē. Many of the Ec ••••• asticall ceremonies are now ryg •• well taught & known. To conclude, all old things are paste, & new things entered into y ^• game place instead of them. And all these things hath God brought to pass by his dearly beloved seruaūte Henry our king. If his grace goeth forth, as he hath begun, he shall make such a florynshynge Realm both in spiritual & corporal goods, both for the glory of God, & for the maintenance of his Graces publyque meal, as none shall may be able to compare with this Realm of Englonde, thorough out Christendom. And as his most excellent majesty shall easily overcome & excel in the exercise of true godliness all his • re decessoures & leave a memorable act unto his successoures, most worthy to be followed, so likewise may his Grace be sure, that there is reposed & laid up ī store for hī in God's treasure house the imma • cessible crown of glory, which, whan his Grace shall give over to nature, that most glorious king of all kings shall give to him undoubtedly for his faithful walking in the divine precepts, & setting forth of God's glory.

This thing brought to pass by his Graces diligence, y ^e all abuses plucked away, the true godliness may reign, who shall not than iustelye think, y ^t the golden world is come again, whereof the aūciente learned mē disputed so much in their most eloquent monuments. Merely we shall than may well say, as the Poet writeth.

The. xlix. Chapter.

THus se we howe greatly we of the English nation are bound unto God for the restitucion & bringynge again of the knowledge of his most divine will, which so long hath ben hid under the busshell of men's traditions. What cōdigue thanks are we able to give unto him for this his inestimable goodness? Werelye if everyone of us, as Wergyle saith, had an hundred tōges, & an hundred mouths, yet were we not able sufficientelye to decantate, singe, & set forth his praises. GOD grant us once to be truly thankefull.

Now where are these parsons, which have so little pleasure in this regeneraciō & new birth, as I may so speak, of God's most blessed word & in this setting forth again of y ^e Evangelical berite, our only life, health & salvation? Where are these Dwles, which despisynge the most comfortable light of God's word, chose rather continually to walk in the darkness of men's traditions, than once to approach unto this celestial light? Where are these Antechristes, which will neither them selves read the Scriptures, nor yet suffer other, that would rede them, but to y ^e vttermoost of their power pluck men from redynge the most sacred Bible, the word of life, of all joy, and spiritual consolacion?

Agaynst these wicked Papists though̄d • eth Christ in the Gospel, saying: Do be to you ye Scribes & Pharisees Hypocrites, for ye spear up the kingdom of heaven before men, ye do neither enter in yourselves, nor yet suffer them that come to enter. Gerely if we do not shortly repent amende, & enhalse with enbrasynge arms this most sweet word of god we may be sure shortly to feale the most grievous plages of God's wrath fall upon us for our vnthancke fullness. And as Christ said to certain Cities for their ingratitude & vnthanckefulnes. Do be to the Chorazin, woe be to the Bethsadā, for if y ^e virtues y ^e have been done in you, had been done in y ^e city of Cyrus & Sydō, verily they would have reap̄ted them of their sins in times paste, yea & that even in sackeclothe & asshes. Notwithstandynge it shall be more tolerable & more easy at y ^e day of judgment to Cyrus & Sidon, than to you. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, thou shalt be plucked down even to y ^e veryhel. For if y ^e miracles which have been shown in the, had ben shown in Sodom, it had remained unto this day. Notwithstādynge I say to you, it shall be more tolerable to Sodom at the day of judgment than to the: So may it be said to Englonde: Do be to the Englonde, for if the light of God's word, had come into other nations so plenteously as it hath done in the verily they would have repented & received it joyfully. But thou dost neither repent nor amende thy lyse, nor take ony pleasure in the coming of it. uerely it shall be more easy at y ^e day of judgment to Sodom and Gomorre than to the.

Let us not therefore doubt, but if we do not shortly repent, amend our corrupt manners, & most joy fully enhalse with enbrasyng arms this most sweet & comfortable Gospel of our savior Jesus Christ, undoubtedly the fears plages of God's wrath will shortly fall upon us. The Scriptures show manifestly that the vengeance of God is not far from us. These benefits, that are shown unto us, declare evidently y ^e y ^e plages of god are at hand. This light of God's truth, which now shyneth to all mē, if they will receive it, proveth openly y ^e God's wrath is ready to fall upon us, if we shortly do not repent & amende. For this is the property of God, even to send before his most holy word, as a messanger & Ambassador to them that walk in darkness & live dissolutely. If they receive it, repent, & amende their lives, thā doth his grace and favor fall upon them, & they are God's well-beloved dearelynges, and shall want no good thing, as we read of the Diniuites. But if they obstinately resyst it, laugh the word of God to scorn, remain in their old infidilite & wickedness, thā doth God • yse v •• e like a fierce • yon, whette his sword, bend his bow, & make ready his shaftes, which shall pearse, the bodies of the wicked, as darts of iron fire whotte.

The. L. Chapter.

BUt come of I pray you hertely • tell me, did not God, whan he saw the world replenysshed so abūdantly w ^e sin, that it could be no more, send None to preach unto thē, & to exhort them unto reap̄tasies & amendment of life, or else synal destruction should chaūse unto them • yet for all this gentleness of God, which desired rather their saluaciō than damnaciō, if they would have converted, they despised the most loving admonition of God's messāger. They had the word of God in derisiō. They continued still in their brutall & beastelyke living. They gave them selves to eating, drynckynge, banckettynge, & all kind of carnal & volupteous living. They oppressed y ^e poor people, for y ^e maintenance of their fleshly & insaciable lusts. To be short, they walked as persons full of carnal securyte, and clean without all fear of GOD. But what followed this their wicked & dissolute living, & cōtempt of gods word▪ Verily utter destrucciō. For God saw that they would by no means amende, but still persyste in their abomination, he reap̄ted him, that ever he made mā, and shortly after sent such a flood vpō the earth, that it overflowed & drowned all the world, Nohe w ^t certain other only reserved thorough y ^e great goodness of god. D terrible History. Whose heart quakethe not for fear at the hearing of this Historys' Certes it is a terrible History for the adversaries of God's word, and for all wicked lyuers.

Whā the Sodomites lived so ab hominablye, that the very uoyce of their sin came up unto heaven, & pearsed the diuynerares, & cried for uengeaunce to fall upon them, not only Abraham increaced for thē, but also Lothe preached unto thē, exhortynge them to leave their to much detestable & abhominable unclēnes, & to take the fear of God unto thē, & the study of a pure & innocent life. But they would not. For the more that Loth rebuked thē sor their wickedness the more pleasure had they in it. They delighted in their nough tynes, & rejoiced whā they had done evil. They had no fear of God before their eyes. Yea they so lived, as though there were no God at all. Therefore God y ^e righteous LORDE, seeing their detestable purpose still to remain in their abhominable living, & no repentance, was of very justice compelled to destroy thē by sendynge fire & brimstone from heaven, so that both Sodom & Gomorre with all the inhabitātes there o •• & all that ever pertained to thē, were utterly cōslimed with fire and brimstone from heavē. O dolorous spectacle, & h •• y fight. This is an example, as S Peter saith, for all thē that do ungodly. Oh what it is to contemn the word of God and the true preachers thereof.

The. Li. Chapter.

AGayne whan Moses & Aaron at the commandment of God, preached to the Egipcians, & myssed them to let the people of Israel •• go out of captivity, that they might come & do Sacrifyce to their LORD God, how little was their preaching regarded▪ god plagued thē, yet would they not amende. At the last whan he saw none amendment in them, did not he by strong hand deliver thē out of captivity, & drowned all their adversaries▪ This came to pass undoubtedly if they would have ben or bediēts to his voice by y ^e mouthe of his Prophets, they had never been plagued nor yet so finallye destroyed▪ Let all •• y • sers & kickers therefore y ^e spurn against the truth, learn here what it is to despise the word of God and the faithful preachers thereof.

Moreover as often as the chyldrē of Israel did forsake their true god, which brought them out of y ^e lord of Egypt, & ra •• ne an whore hūtyng after strange gods, & followed their own fantasies contrary to the prescripte of God's word, God sent his Prophets unto them, for to admonysh them of their duty & to reduce & bring them again into the true way. But they would not hear them, but persecuted them, entreated them vngently, prisoned them, & never ceased frō their crudelite, until they had slain them. God therefore seeing howe stysseuecked & hard hearted they were, sent in their enemies on every side, which destroyed their Cyties, spoiled their goods, slew innumerable, & led the residue away captive for their disobedience and ingratitude.

At the last God sent unto y ^e Jews his own sonne, that they might repent, cōuerte & amend. But hewe thanckefully they received his coming, the Scriptures show more evidently than it need here to be rehearsed. What followed? Verily the utter destruction almoost of thē all, as the Histories make mencion. The ende of them was so lamentable, yea & miserable, that no man can read the History without tears and we pynge eyes. Are not all theyse terrible Histories for the despisers of gods word? Let us not flatter our selves nor make to much of our painted •• ethe, as they say. For surely y ^• God, which in times paste sent vengeance upon the earth for disobeyenge & contēnynge of his word, will now also pour out his fierce plages upon us, if we repent not shortly & amende. For after so great light of God's word, if it be not thanckefully received, obeyed & followed, cometh undoubtedly alway a great & grievous plage, which is inevitable and cannot be exchewed, except the amende. Let us therefore with fo • efull hearts receive the doctrine of God, fe • eah means possible to pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thereafter, practice it in 〈…〉 wyn other me to it by out godly conversation. Let us not only say •• 〈◊〉 we are favorers of God's wor •• crake much of faith, but let us 〈◊〉 soberly, righteously, & godly in this present world. For to read the Scriptures, to talk of thē to best our selves of faith is not • ig to the purpose, except we indicate our life daily according to God's word. He tha • hath my commandments, saith Christ, & • epeth them he it is that love the me. Not e • erye one that saith to me, LORDE, LORDE shall enter into the kinḡdome of heaven, but he that doth the will of my father, which is in heaven.

These things have I spoken to admonyshe men of their duty, that they may not abuse this singular benefyte of God's word, that is now come among us, but live worthy y ^e kyndenes of God, give him righte hearty thanks, & to be have them selves, that God may not take away this his inestimable benefyte frō us, but rather increase it unto the glory of his name, & the health of our souls. But it will return to our matter, and make an ende.

The. Lii. Chapter.

THus se we what great causes • e • aue to give thanks unto God, if foe consider his many sold benefits, where with he garnyssheth us daily. He made us first of all not only like unto his own image, but also, when thorough the sin of Adā we were lost and damned, he saved us ag •• yne freely of his great mercy by Jesus Christ. And though we sin sometime thorough the fragelite of human nature contrary to our promise at Baptism, yette ir • hath mercy for us, laid up in store, if we faithfully repent, & amende our lives. He preserveth us from many grievous enormities, into the which we should undoubtedly faul • headlonge, if we were not preserved by his goodness. He like a most gentle father sedeth us, & sendeth us all thiges necessary for this indygent and poor life. He appoyntethe his holy Jungell to wait upon us, that we may be oppressed with no evil. He gyuethe us favor in the sight of mē. He sendeth to us health both of hody & soul. He graūtethe us what so ever we ask in the name of his sonne Jesus Christ. What would we have more? Yea & that, which to a christē man would be most acceptable and thankful, he hath prepared for us an everlasting kingdom. full of all joy, pleasure, glory & selicite. Do heart can think, no tunge can express, no eye hath seen those treasures, that God hath prepared for so many as love him. Who hath ever had so bounteous a LORDE, & so gentle and loving a father? He loveth, where he was not loved. He enrycheth, where he was hated. He doth good to thē, that despised his most holy will. D burning charity. D in cōparable love. D kyndenes unspeakable. Do we will we now recōpēse this exceeding bentgnite of this our bounteous & celestial father? What doth he require of us again? Byldynge of monasteries? Gaddyng on pylgrimage? Offringe up of candels? Payntynge of Tabernacles? Gyldynge of Images? Prayeng of long Prayers without the affecte of the mind? May verily. For he hath no need of our goods, as the Psalmograph saith. What than? Forsothe thanks giving. He y ^e giveth hartye thanks to God for the benefits received, maketh God amends largely. He only desireth of his faith full people, laudes, praises & thankes giving. Only he desireth that we be not vnthanckefull, nor walk vn worthy his benignity & kyndenes. For as S. Bernard saith, there is nothing y ^e displeaseth God so much chefely in the Chyldren of grace, as ingratitude and vnthanckefulnes. That he delyghteth so much in praises & thanks giving it is evident, seeing that he distayneth not in his holy Scrypture to call at a S • cry ••• e, as though he should say, praise & thanckes giving is that, that pleseth me, & giveth the sweet favor before my presence. But let us hear the Scriptures. The Sacrifyce of praise, saith he, shall honor me. And a little before. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, & pay to y ^e most hygheste thy nowes. Caull on me in the day of thy trouble, & I will deliver the, & thou shalt honor me. Do not all these fayēges declare manifestly that the most acceptable sacrifice to God is the Sacryfyce of praise & thanks giving? Canue therbe a greater glory givē to god, than to confess that all goodness and vertu cometh only of him, & y ^e there fore all honor, laude, encomy, praise & glory ought to be given to him alone? Vndoubtedly the Sacrifyce of thanks giving please the God highly. Neither is their any work that we can do, that so highly exalteth the name of God, as this Sacrifyce of thanks giving, or wherein God delyghteth more. If there had, undoubtedly it had been prescribed & set forth in the most sacred Bible Dyd not all the holy Patriarchs & so many as were before Christ's coming offer this Sacrifyce of thanckes giving to God, as a thing to to him most welcome & acceptable? And although they also at diverse times offered external sacrifices, yet were these none other thing than a testimony & witness of their inward Sacrifice, which they offered in their heart, praysynge the name of our LORDE God. Dyd not Christ also & his Apostles, as we read in the holy Scriptures, offer this kind of sacrifices to our heavenly father? And as they did thus, so in like manner do they exhort us ever to be thankefull to God & to sing cōtynuall praises to his most blessed name. S. Paul saith, what so ever ye do in word & deed, do all things in the name of y ^e LORDE Jesus, giving thanks to God & the father by him. Again: Be ye thankful. Also in another place, give thanks alway for all things in the name of our LORDE Jesus Christ to God & the father. To the Hebrews also be writeth on this manner. By him, he meaneth Christ, do we offer the Sacryfyce of praise all way to God, that is to say, y ^e fruit of the lips, that give glory to his name. Thus se we how diligent the holy scripture is, for to move us unto this sacrifice of thanks giving, as a thing very pleasant, & much acceptable to the divine majesty. But let us hear, what S. Austē saith, y ^e we being instructed both with the holy scriptures, & also with authoryties of the ancient Doctors, may the sooner be moved for to give god hearty thankes at all times.

The. Liii. Chapter.

OFfer to God, saith he, the sacrifice of praise. I may come to myself, where I shall find that I may offer. I may come to myself, for in myself shall I find the immolaciō & offering of praise. Thy Altare is thy conscience. Offer therefore to God the Sacrifyce of praise. We need not take ony thought, there is no cause why we should go unto Arabia, to seek trākenfence, or to fetch the packes of y ^e covetous occupyer. For god seeketh of us the sacrifice of praise. This sacrifice of praise had Zacchaeus in his patrimony, had the widow in her closet, had a certain poor hosts. I knew not what she was, ī her tune. Offer thou therefore to God the sacrifice of praise. This is the offering, this is the sacrifice to give thanks unto him, of whom thou hast, what so ever good is, and thorough whose mercy is forgiven, whatsoever evil is thine. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the most highest thy prayers. For w ^e this savor is god delighted

Behold how this most holy Doctor inculketh & bete • h in still the sacrifice of praise & thanks giving we saith, y ^t we need seek none other gift or present to bring unto god but only y ^• sacrifice of praise of thanckes giving. For in that above all other hath God pleasure. The Psalmograph saith, thy vows, O God, are within me, which I shall pay unto the, I mean praises & thanks giving unto the. For y ^u hast delivered my soul from death, & my fete from slydynge. Agayne, I shall offer unto the, the Sacrifyce of praise, and caull on the name of the LORDE. Also in another place, I will magnify the LORDE at all times, & his praise shall ever be in my mouth as though he should say, there shall no time pass away, whither it be troublous or merye, wherein I shall not praise y ^e LORD. Both my youth & my age shall be bent to y ^e praise of him. Hereof may we learn to praise our LORDE God at every momente.

The. Liiii. Chapter.

THere ought no vice to be further from the breast of a Christ̄ man, then ingratitude & vnthanckefulnes. For as S. Bernard faith, ingratitude is the enemy of y ^e soul the utter putting away of merits, the dispersion of virtues, the perdition & loss of benefits, the fire y ^e burneth & drieth up the fountain of godliness, the dew of mercy, and the sloudes of grace.

If we give our servants ony thing, they render unto us right hearty thanks for it. Is it not therefore convenient, that we be thankful to him, that giveth all things & without whom we have nothing y ^t good is? With what forheade dare we behold to ask and receive ony thing of God, and afterward not once to thank him for it? O barbarous inhumanite. O ingratitude to much unkind. They that are of such churlysh nature, are of y ^e kind of them, which, as the Psalmograph say ^• the, did forgette the benefits of God, & the meruay • ous tokens that he shown. They were filled, yea the • were stuffed even full, saith God by his Prophet, & they than lyfted up their heart, waxed proud, & forgot me. And therefore I am become unto them as a Lyon, & as the Catte of y ^e mountain, that runneth so swyftely. I will mete with thē as a Bear that hath lost her young ones, & I will break asunder their obstinate heart. Yea I will devour them as a Lyon, and the beast of the field shall tear them on pieces. O terible thretenynge for the ingrate & vnthāckefull persons. This will surely come to pass, if we put not away our in gratitude & vnthanckefulnes. For y ^• LORDE is faithful in all his words, & cannot lie, in as much as he is the self truth.

The. Lv. Chapter.

THerfore if we entende to have God the father a beneficial fat •• r to us, & his son Jesus Christ •• rcifull Savior, let us in all things give thanks to God at all times, yea and that not only in prosperity but also in adversity, as the holy man Job did, saying: The LORDE gave it, & the LORDE hath taken it away, as it pleased y ^e LORDE so is it come to pass, blessed be the name of the LORDE. Let us watch & pray that we fall not into tentacion. Let us fly to God at all times with precordiall obsecracions & hearty requests. Let our prayers be continual. Let thē proceed frō a faithful & charitable heart. Let us ask all things according to the will of GOD, yea and that in the name of Christ. Lette us in all our prayers seek the glory of God, the auauncement of his most blessed word, and y ^e health of our own souls. Let us pray for y ^e preservation of y ^• kings most excellent majesty, & for the prosperous success of his intierly beloved son Edward our Prince. 〈◊〉 most angelyke Impe. Let us pray for all the Lord's spiritual & temporal, specially those that have the regiment of the publyque weal under the Kynges graces highness. Let us pray for the ministers of God's word, that they may freely speak the truth of Christ's Gospel, as it becometh them. Let us pray for all mē universally, chefely for the inhabitātes of this Realm of England, that they may all bear a faithful heart hothe toward God and our king. To conclude, let us pray that the will of God may be fulfilled in all things.

Whan we have thus prayed, let us all times give thanks to God for his benefits. So shall it come to pass, y ^e he shall not only not turn away his kyndenes from us, but also increase it daily unto the great consolacion and comfort of us all.

If this thing shall come to pass that we both pray fervently, and a • so give thanks to God her ••• ye, • shall not a little rejoice that I have taken the labor & pain in compylynge this pathewaye unto Prayer, yea it shall encourage me hereafter to attempt other enterpryses of no less importance and vtilite.

Which thing (most gentle Reader) that it may come to pass, pray for me unto our LORD God, that he may sing •• e that thing in me, which he hath begun, unto the glory of his most blessed name, • promocion of his most godly word, and the profit & edificacion of his most holy & catholic Chyrche. Amē.