holiness; send out thy spirit, and renew the face of the earth, and our weeds and, thorns shall be turned into a paradise, thro' Jesus Christ

IV. O Holy Ghost, fit and dispose me thy servant, first to entertain thee, and then graciously vonchsafe to descend into my heart; and make me, the more I receive of thee still desire to receive thee more; till I shall ascend to those satisfying joys above, where all my faculties shall be enlarged, where they shall all be filled with fulness

itself and overflow with a torrent of pleasure for evermore; where they shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house; and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures, as out of the river; for with thee is the well of life, and in thy light shall we see light. xxxvi. 8, &c.

Psalm

But, O ungrateful man! was it not enough to receive of our God all we have and are? was it not enough that the Son of God should come down, and live to teach thee, and die to redeem thee? Was not all this enough to make thee love him? And love is all he aimed at, and was all that man needed. I must

confess to thee, O merciful Lord: I will confess to thee our deplorable condition; Such was, alas! the corruption of human nature, and so many and strong the temptations round

about

about us that without this thy last miraculous favour of sending the Holy Ghost to guide and quicken us, we should still have remained in our old state; slow to understand, and slower to obey.

A prayer on Thursday

orning, for our Sanctification, preparatory to a worthy Receiving of the Holy Sacrament.

Whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Rom. viii 30.

ET

TERNALLY blessed and infinitely glori ous Lord God and Saviour, who hast mercy for thousands, and forgivest the iniquities of all truly penitent and returning sinners; I present myself this morning before thee, acknowledging my manifold sins, in hopes of obtaining thy gracious favour, and of becoming a partaker of the most holy Sacrament. But, O my God, I do not presume to come to that great feast of thy Body and Blood, upon the least opinion of my own worthiness; for when I reflect on my sinful life, I am even afraid to come, lest I should eat and drink my own damnation.

But when I consider thy infinite mercies unto mankind, and thy own words calling all men without exception; and knowing that thy crucified Body is not only food to nourish but physick to cure, I, that am but dust and

ashes

ashes, beg leave to come to thy Holy Table, and with my imperfect faith to feed upon some crumbs of the Bread of Life.

I confess, O Lord, my wedding garments are not without seam- but I come to repair them at thy Cross; from thy bitter sorrows, to derive into my Soul a godly sorrow, working repentance to Salvation; from thy broken body, a broken heart; from thy warm blood, flowing from thy wounded side, zeal and fervency; that I may adinire, love and serve thee, my God, as I ought to do.

O good God, to whom every thing is possible, sanctify my corrupt nature, and let thy gracious aids supply all my defects, and so help my infirmities, that I may live in thy love and fear, die in thy favour, and be prepared for receiving the great mystery next Sunday, and for the great account I am one day to give, and be received with thy faithful servants to the joy of thy kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Here observe the directions given in page 8.

The

THE MEDITATION FOR THURSDAY EVENING.

On Receiving the most Holy Sacrament.

I am the living bread, which came down from Hea ven if any man eat this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John vi. 51.

I. Will ascend with thee, O Lord Jesus, to Jerusalem, and there with thee will eat the paschal Lamb, prepared according to thy commands: I will intreat thee to cleanse my Soul, and to enable it to make preparation fitting for thee; raised above a sense of this empty world and all its vain delights.

II. O blessed Jesus inspire me with Faith, fill me with the love of thee, illuminate me with knowledge cleanse me by repentance, that I may receive thee in the Sacrament, the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, to the joy of my Soul, to the establishment of it in all good, and for a protection against all evil.

III. Let us admire, O my Soul, the constancy and obedience of the blessed Jesus, who with great desire did desire to eat his Passover. 1. Though he knew that after this feast his passion was nigh at hand, would nevertheless go up to Jerusalem to the same, as a faithful Son

to

to his Father's house, as a Priest to the sanctuary, and as a sacrifice to the altar

IV. Let us endeavour to practise according to his pattern, who after supper was ended, did shew a miracle of humility, washing the feet of his disciples with his own - sacred hands, to give us the most perfect example of humility, and to extinguish our pride.

For,

V. By these means I shall partake of his graces, and be filled with his abundant love; my thoughts shall be washed from error and idle imaginations, my hand from all impure actions, my heart from all vain affec-' tions, my senses from all sinful delights and desires: so that thou, my soul, being purged by repentance, I shall, both body and soul, be cleansed in his blood, and made partaker of all those glorious fruits, which Christ hath given me in this food of life.

VI. O blessed Jesus, what madness then is it to set my affections upan the perishable things of this world, who may attain the joys even of eternal life by knowing thee! the hour is come: O Lord, wean me from the world, and secure me wholly unto thyself, and give me this life eternal to know and glorify thee. Make me sensible that it is my interest as well as my duty to walk always

before thee, and be ever mindful of thy pre

PART I.