married pairs, faith and holiness; to widows and fatherless, and all that are oppressed, thy patronage, comfort and defence; to all Christian women, simplicity and modesty, humility and chastity, patience and charity: give unto the poor, to all that are robbed and spoiled of their goods, a competent support and a contented spirit, and a treasure in heaven hereafter: give unto prisoners and captives, to them that toil in the mines and row in the galleys, strength of body and of spirit, liberty and redemption, comfort and restitution; to all that travel by land, thy angel for their guide, and a holy and prosperous return; to all that travel by sea, freedom from pirates and shipwreck, and bring them to the haven where they would be: to distressed and scrupulous consciences, to melancholick and disconsolate persons, to all that are afflicted with evil and unclean spirits, give a light from heaven, great grace and proportionable comforts, and timely deliverance; give them patience and resignation; let their sorrows be changed into grace and comfort, and let the storm waft them certainly to the regions of rest and glory.

Lord God of mercy, give to thy martyrs, confessors, and all thy persecuted, constancy and prudence, boldness and hope, a full faith and a never-failing charity. To all who are condemned to death do thou minister comfort, a strong, a quiet and a resigned spirit take from them the fear of death, and all remaining affections to sin, and all imperfections of duty, and cause them to die full of grace, full of hope. And give to all the faithful, and particularly to them who have recommended themselves to the prayers of thy unworthy servant, a supply of all their needs temporal and spiritual, and according to their several states and necessities, rest and peace, pardon and refreshment and shew us all a mercy in the day of judgAmen.

ment.

Give, O Lord, to the magistrates equity, sincerity, courage and prudence, that they may protect the

good, defend religion, and punish the wrong-doers. Give to the nobility wisdom, valour and loyalty; to merchants justice and faithfulness ; to all artificers and labourers, truth and honesty; to our enemies, forgiveness and brotherly kindness.

:

Preserve to us the heavens and the air in healthful influence and disposition, the earth in plenty, the kingdom in peace and good government, our marriages in peace and sweetness and innocence of society, thy people from famine and pestilence, our houses from burning and robbery, our persons from being burnt alive from banishment and prison, from widowhood and destitution, from violence of pains and passion, from tempests and earthquakes, from inundation of waters, from rebellion or invasion, from impatience and inordinate cares, from tediousness of spirit and despair, from murder and all violent, accursed and unusual deaths, from the surprise of sudden and violent accidents, from passionate and unreasonable fears, from all thy wrath, and from all our sins, good Lord, deliver and preserve thy servants for ever. Amen.

Repress the violence of all implacable, warring, and tyrant nations: bring home unto thy fold all that are gone astray call into the Church all strangers: increase the number and holiness of thine own people : bring infants to ripeness of age and reason: confirm all baptized people with thy grace and with thy Spirit instruct the novices and new Christians: let a great grace and merciful providence bring youthful persons safely and holily through the indiscretions and passions and temptations of their younger years: and to those whom thou hast or shalt permit to live to the age of a man, give competent strength and wisdom; take from them covetousness and churlishness, pride and impatience; fill them full of devotion and charity, repentance and sobriety, holy thoughts and longing desires after heaven and heavenly things; give them a holy and a blessed death, and to us all a joyful resurrection through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[AD SECT. 10.]

THE MANNER OF USING THESE DEVOTIONS BY WAY OF PREPARATION TO THE RECEIVING THE BLESSED SACRAMENT OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.

The just preparation to this holy Feast consisting principally in a holy life, and consequently in the repetition of the acts of all virtues, and especially of Faith, Repentance, Charity and Thanksgiving, to the exercise of these four graces; let the person that intends to communicate, in the time set apart for his preparation and devotion, for the exercise of his Faith, recite the prayer or Litany of the Passion ; for the exercise of Repentance, the form of confession of sins with the prayer annexed; and for the graces of Thanksgiving and Charity, let him use the special forms of prayer above described. Or if a less time can be allotted for preparatory devotion, the two first will be the more proper, as containing in them all the personal duty of the communicant. To which upon the morning of that holy solemnity let him add,

A Prayer of Preparation or address to the holy

Sacrament,

An Act of Love.

O MOST gracious and eternal God, the helper of the helpless, the comforter of the comfortless, the hope of the afflicted, the bread of the hungry, the drink of the thirsty, and the Saviour of all them that wait upon thee; I bless and glorify thy name, and adore thy goodness, and delight in thy love, that thou hast once more given me the opportunity of receiving the greatest favour which I can receive in this world, even the body and blood of my dearest Saviour. O take from me all affection to sin or vanity: let not my affections dwell below, but soar upwards to the

element of love, to the seat of God, to the regions of glory, and the inheritance of Jesus; that I may hunger and thirst for the bread of life, and the wine of elect souls, and may know no loves but the love of God, and the most merciful Jesus. Amen.

An Act of Desire.

O blessed Jesus, thou hast used many arts to save me, thou hast given thy life to redeem me, thy holy Spirit to sanctify me, thyself for my example, thy word for my rule, thy grace for my guide, the fruit of thy body hanging on the tree of the cross for the sin of my soul; and after all this thou hast sent thy Apostles and ministers of salvation to call me, to importune me, to constrain me to holiness and peace and felicity. O now come, Lord Jesus, come quickly : my heart is desirous of thy presence, and thirsty of thy grace, and would fain entertain thee, not as a guest, but as an inhabitant, as the Lord of all my faculties. Enter in and take possession, and dwell with me for ever; that I also may dwell in the heart of my dearest Lord, which was opened for me with a spear and love.

An Act of Contrition.

Lord, thou shalt find my heart full of cares and worldly desires, cheated with love of riches and neglect of holy things, proud and unmortified, false and crafty to deceive itself, intricated and entangled with difficult cases of conscience, with knots which my own wildness and inconsideration and impatience have tied and shuffled together. O my dearest Lord, if thou canst behold such an impure seat, behold the place to which thou art invited is full of passion and prejudice, evil principles and evil habits, peevish and disobedient, lustful and intemperate, and full of sad remembrances that I have often provoked to jealousy and to anger thee my God, my dearest Saviour, him that died for me, him that suffered torments for me, that is infi

nitely good to me, and infinitely good and perfect in himself. This, O dear Saviour, is a sad truth, and I am heartily ashamed and truly sorrowful for it, and do deeply hate all my sins, and am full of indignation against myself for so unworthy, so careless, so continued, so great a folly: and humbly beg of thee to increase my sorrow, and my care, and my hatred against sin; and make my love to thee swell up to a great grace, and then to glory and immensity.

An Act of Faith.

This indeed is my condition: but I know, O blessed Jesus, that thou didst take upon thee my nature, that thou mightest suffer for my sins, and thou didst suffer to deliver me from them and from thy Father's wrath: and I was delivered from this wrath that I might serve thee in holiness and righteousness all my days. Lord, I am as sure thou didst the great work of redemption for me and all mankind, as that I am alive. This is my hope, the strength of my spirit, my joy and my confidence: and do thou never let the spirit of unbelief enter into me, and take me from this rock. Here I will dwell, for I have a delight therein: here I will live, and here I desire to die.

The Petition.

Therefore, O blessed Jesu, who art my Saviour and my God, whose body is my food, and thy righteousness is my robe, thou art the priest and the sacrifice, the master of the feast and the feast itself, the physician of my soul, the light of mine eyes, the purifier of my stains: enter into my heart, and cast out from thence all impurities, all the remains of the old man ; and grant I may partake of this holy sacrament with much reverence, and holy relish and great effect, receiving hence the communication of thy holy body and blood, for the establishment of an unreprovable faith, of an unfeigned love, for the fulness of wisdom,