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"Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls," St. Matt. xi. 29. O heavenly master and pattern, how am I astonished, when I consider thy humility, thy poverty, thy meekness, thy resignation, in the midst of injuries, oppressions and wrongs! It must be thy almighty grace which must enable me to follow thy example, and tread in thy steps, to which our nature is so averse: For this grace I now pray, through thy merits and mediation, O Jesus. Amen.

Blessed God, how great was our misery? how great was thy mercy? when nothing could save us from ruin but the death of thy son! I see by this how hateful sin is to thee; make it so to me I beseech thee.--May I never flatter myself that thy mercy will save me, if I continue in sin, when thou sparedst not thine own son, when he put himself in the place of sinners! May I never provoke thy justice; may I never forget thy mercies, and what thy son has done for me!

ed down his head to save me: He stretched forth his arm to preserve me: He shed his most precious blood for my redemption: He is lifted up from the earth, that he may draw all men unto him. O my Lord, draw me to thy table, that I may admire and love thee, let me go with the devoutest affection to testify how much I value thy kindness, to profess the sincerity of my faith to thee; and my most dutiful love unto thee; and I will render unto thee, O Lord, my most hearty thanks, that thou wilt admit me to that honour; I will hope in God and praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God; Blessed be God, who hath not cast out my prayer, nor turned his mercy from me.

A Prayer, on Saturday Morning, to Jesus Christ, for our due receiving of the Holy Sacrament.

Blessed art thou, O my most merciful and All-sufficient Saviour, teach me by thy

loving Lord; all the angels praise thee, O God, for evermore.

Now, when the solemnity of the holy eucharist is celebrated, it is a day when the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord, and we may be sure satan will also come among them, not only to accuse every unworthy receiver, but even to tempt the worthiest that receive; tempt him with wandering and worldly thoughts, with flat and dull affections; yea, it may be, with spiritual pride, with formal hypocrisy, or impure imaginations: Now that we be not ensnared by satan's devices, we must strive to keep our souls fixed and intent upon Christ in the sufferings of his passion; we must contemplate the power of his resurrection, and the glory of his ascension, and the benefits of his intercession: For as often as I think of the Lord's passion, I perceive the love of God in the forgiveness of my sins. Christ bowNo. 27.

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great and good example, to practise obedience and submission to thy divine will and pleasure: I humbly beseech thee, so to prepare my soul for the due receiving of the holy sacrament, that I may thereby obtain remission of my sins, and all other benefits of thy passion. Pardon, O Lord, pardon my unpreparedness to come to SO holy and divine an ordinance. O may thy word and sacrament always so influence and dispose my heart, that I may thereby be sanctified and renewed unto all holy obedience to thy will, mortifying my sinful corruptions, and being renewed in thy image, in holiness, righteousness, sobriety, trub, knowledge, faith, and temperance. blessed Jesus, by thee let me have access to thy heavenly father: Let thy innocence and purity procure pardon for my uncleanness and disobedience: Let thy humility extinguish my pride and vanity; thy meekness sof ten and correct my anger, and thy charity cover the multitude of my sins; and do thou, of

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thine infinite mercy, immediately after this life, receive my soul into everlasting joy and felicity, there to reign with thee for ever.

Amen.

Saturday's Meditations in the Evening.

Upon the most Holy Sacrament.

Have confessed, this week, my sins to thee, O God; and I hope thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sins; do not

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ORD, remember me in thy kingdom:"

contend in judgment with thy servant: "For "Lord, lay not the sins of mine enemies

if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who shall abide it? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 32. This is, indeed, O God, a sure pledge of thine infinite love for thy poor creatures.--Upon this I depend when my heart is in heaviness for my sins:- This my refuge when I remember my sins, and thy divine justice.——O make me truly sensible of this thy great love; and give me the graces which that love sees needful for me, for Jesus Christ's sake, the son of thy love. Amen.

How greatly hast thou loved us, O thou good father, who sparedst not thy only son, but deliveredst him up for the ungodly! How greatly hast thou loved us, seeing he, who thought it no robbery to be equal with thee, was made subject unto death, even the death of the cross and therefore do I justly repose and I trust thou wilt heal my hope in thee; all my diseases, else should I despair, for many and great are the diseases of my soul; but greater is the cure which thou hast provided for them. Behold, O Lord, I cast all my care upon thee; let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, and I will consider the wonderful things of thy law. Thou knowest

to their charge; Lord, lay not my own sins to my charge; but by thine agony and bloody sweat, by thy head crowned with thorns, and smitten with fists and staves, by thine eyes full of tears, and thine ears pierced with slanders and revilings, by thy face miserably defiled with spittle, by thy mouth moistened with vinegar and gall, by thy neck bending under the weight of the cross, by thy back torn and furrowed with scourges, by thy loud and bitter cry, "my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" by thy heart wounded with a soldier's spear, by the water and blood streaming from that wound; by thy body broken and thy blood shed for me; by the saving and significant memorials of thy love and sufferings, "forgive, O Lord, the offences of thy servant, and cover all my sins. Take away all thy displeasure, and turn thyself from thy wrathful indignation. Turn me, O God, my Saviour, and let thine anger cease from me." Grant me, dearest Lord, such a sense of thy sufferings, as may fill my soul with love and gratitude towards thee, for those inestimable blessings thou hast purchased for me: and give such a sight of my sins, which occasioned all thy sorrows, as heartily to bewail and detest them, and such a faith in that full,

perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction which thou hast made for the sins of the world, that I may so importunately plead the merit of it, in this commemoration of that sacrifice, as to render thee gracious and propitious to me a miserable sinner. O Lord hear my prayers, and let my cry come. unto thee. Amen.

Sunday's Meditations in the Morning.

Upon the most Holy Sacrament.

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OST thou rightly understand, O my DOST soul, the unspeakably great dignity of this blessed ordinance? Behold thou art going to feast with the king of kings! What an honour, what felicity is this? How happy mayest thou be, if this sacrament kindles in thee a fervent love to thy dear Redeemer ? and can it do less? Behold here is represented the greatest love that ever was vouchsafed to men: Here Christ entertains the devout soul with his choicest blessings, and opens the windows of heaven to rain down this celestial manna for us to eat. To thy holy temple, O my God, I am now going, to renew my baptismal vow, and to enter into a solemn covenant with thee, and do faithfully promise to resign myself entirely to thee, to be faithful to thee, and to live up to those laws which my Saviour hath established with his own blood.

Draw near with faith, ye contrite souls, and take this holy sacrament to your comfort; let your sorrow be turned into joy, and your fear into faith and hope! go and offer up your best praises to the Father, who contrived this glorious redemption; to the Son who effected it; and to the Holy Ghost, who gives us the benefit thereof. O! the height and length, depth and

breadth of the love of Christ! Who can sufficiently admire it, that so great a majesty should stoop so low, and suffer so much, for his lost and miserably undone creatures, on purpose to advance us to so blessed a condition?

O ye blessed host of heaven, who rejoice at the conversion of one single sinner, adore and praise my crucified Saviour, who died for the sins of the world, adore and praise that unknown sorrow, that wonderful love, which you yourselves must needs admire.

O my gracious Lord, my heart is now full of the sense of thy love; and what have I to return to thee, but love again? 'Tis all I have to offer thee; accept it, O merciful Lord, imperfect as it is. And do thou daily heighten my sense of thy love to me, that I may daily heighten my love to thee.

O thou infinite lover of souls, with all my heart I love, I praise, I adore thy love to me; but, alas! I can never do it enough. O do thou at last, gracious Lord, translate me to thy kingdom of glory, that there I may love thee to the utmost capacity of a creature, and praise thee to all eternity. Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen, Amen.

O Lord, make me earnest and zealous in thy service; and as thou hast sent thy son to bring us to thyself, do thou likewise send thy holy spirit to sanctify me for thyself; and then I, who of myself am naturally prone to evil, shall, by the assistance. of thy grace, run the way of thy commandments.

Let neither the flesh, the world, nor the devil, prevail with thee, O christian, to neglect this dying command of Christ, Do this in remembrance of me: Is this remembering thy dearest friend, to think of him solemnly but once or twice a year? Shouldest thou not remember him as often as thou hast an hast an opportunity? Should thy Saviour remember thee no oftener than thou dost his

death and passion, how fearful would thy condition be? Canst thou represent his love too often to thy mind and affections? Art thou afraid of thinking too much of his love? Art thou afraid of being too much devoted to his service? Considering how dull, how dead thou often art, thou hadst need come frequently to the sacrament, to have thy heart made tender, broken, and contrite for thy sins. Art thou afraid of renewing thy repentance, thy faith, thy hope, thy charity too often? The oftener thou dost resort to this blessed communion, the greater will be thy acquaintance with the best of friends; no person is more welcome at this table, than the humble and broken-hearted; and none meet with more favourable reception than the poor in spirit; these our crucified Jesus will most graciously receive. O come then, let us go into the house of the Lord, and our most merciful Redeemer will say unto us, Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.

A Prayer on Sunday Morning before the Communion at home.

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Blessed and eternal Jesus, thou true lover of our souls, who art ever pleased with our love and hearty affection to thee, and wouldst have us delight ourselves in the thoughts of thee; who gavest thyself a sacrifice for our sins, and thy most precious body and blood for our spiritual food in this holy sacrament; who didst so love us who were thine enemies, that thou desiredst to reconcile us to thy offended father, and becamest man for our sakes, that we might endeavour to live in holiness before thee all the days of our life: O give me grace to imitate thy divine virtues. But, O Lord, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face towards thee, for mine iniquities. are increased over mine bead, and my tres

passes are grown up even unto heaven. I have wrought all these great provocations, which I have confessed this week, and hating to be reformed, have cast thy words behind me, and quenched thy spirit within

me.

O Lord, I am become out of measure sinful: And since I have thus chosen death, I am most worthy to take part of it. This, this, O Lord, ought in justice to be the portion of my cup; To me belongs nothing but shame and confusion of face: But to thee, O Lord God, belongeth mercy and forgiveness, though I have rebelled against thee. O remember not my sins and offences, but according to thy mercy think upon me. And now that I am this day to receive the blessed sacrament of thy precious body and blood, O Lord, I beseech thee, let thy holy spirit seal unto my soul all the blessings contained in the sacrament, that by the merits of thy death and passion, all my sins may be fully remitted and forgiven, that the curse and judgment which they have deserved may never overtake me in this life, or condemn me in the world which is to come. My steadfast faith is, that thou hast died for my sins, and risen again for my justification. This I believe, O Lord, help thou mine unbelief.

Work in me, I beseech thee, an unfeigned repentance, that I may heartily bewail my former sins, and loath them, and serve thee henceforth in newness of life; and let my soul never forget the infinite love of so sweet a Saviour, that hath laid down his life to redeem so vile a sinner. And grant, Lord, that having received the seals and pledges of my communion with thee, thou mayest henceforth so dwell by thy spirit in me and I so live by faith in thee, that I may carefully walk all the days of my life in godliness and piety towards thee, and in christian love and charity towards my neighbours; that living in thy fear, I may die in thy favour, and, after death, be made partaker of eternal life, through thy merits, O

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Jesu, my only Lord, my Saviour and
Redeemer, to whom be glory for ever.
Amen.

Having entered into the Church with due
Reverence, we may, at our first kneeling
down, present ourselves to Almighty
God, in one of these or the like short
Ejaculations.

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ET the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be now and ever acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer." xix. 14.

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I remember, O gracious Lord, how thou, who thoughtest it no robbery to be equal with God, wast made in the fashion of frail man, of the vilest and most contemptible of men; for thou tookest on thee the form of a very servant; I remember how many reproaches, and contradictions, and blasphemies, and persecutions, thou didst endure Or, O Lord prepare my unprepared from a wicked and perverse generation; heart for prayer !" and all this to save us sinful men.

Psal.

"O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come."

"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God."

Lord, I am now in thy house: Accept, I pray thee, of me and my services; and dispose my heart to seriousness, attention and devotion, and grant that I may receive the Holy Sacrament with faith, thanksgiving and charity. Be pleased to assist, with thy holy spirit, both minister and people; and bless us in the use of thy holy ordinances for Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.

No. 27.

"O Lord Jesus, was ever sorrow like unto thy sorrow? worthy art thou, O Lamb, that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Rev. vii. 12.

I remember, O gracious Lord, how thou didst endure a most bitter agony, and didst sweat great drops of blood falling to the ground; how thou, who art God above all, blessed for ever, wast treacherously betrayed, apprehended, and bound as a malefactor; how thou wast set at nought by Herod, and his men of war, and forsaken of all thy disciples, and denied by Peter; and all this to save us sinful men.

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