prudent shall know them: for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

A Prayer, to be said after the Communion, in behalf of our Souls and all Christian People.

1. O most merciful and gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory; thou art the great lover of souls, and thou hast given thy holy Son to die for our salvation, to redeem us from sin, to destroy the work of the devil, and to present a church to thee pure and spotless and undefiled; relying upon thy goodness, trusting in thy promises, and having received my dearest Lord into my soul, I humbly represent to thy divine majesty the glorious sacrifice, which our dearest Jesus made of himself upon the cross, and, by a never-ceasing intercession, now exhibits to thee in heaven in the office of an eternal priesthood; in behalf of all that have communicated this day in the divine mysteries in all the congregations of the Christian world; and in behalf of all them that desire to communicate, and are hindered by sickness or necessity, by fear or scruple, by censures ecclesiastical, or the sentence of their own consciences.

2. Give unto me, O God, and unto them a portion of all the good prayers, which are made in heaven and earth; the intercession of our Lord, and the supplications of all thy servants; and unite us in the bands of the common faith and a holy charity; that no interests or partialities, no sects or opinions, may keep us any longer in darkness and division.

3. Give thy blessing to all Christian kings and princes, all republics and Christian governments; grant to them the spirit of mercy and justice, prudence and diligence; the favour of God, and the love of their people; and grace and blessing, that they may live at peace with thee, and with one another; remembering the command of their Lord and King, the serene and reconciling Jesus.

4. Give an apostolical spirit to all ecclesiastical prelates and priests; grant to them zeal of souls, wisdom to conduct their charges, purity to become exemplar, that their labours

and their lives may greatly promote the honour of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. O grant unto thy flock to be fed with wise and holy shepherds, men fearing God and hating covetousness; free from envy, and full of charity; that being burning and shining lights, men, beholding their light, may rejoice in that light, and glorify thee, our Father which art in heaven.

5. Have mercy upon all states of men and women in the Christian church, the governors and the governed, the rich and the poor, high and low; grant to every of them, in their several station, to live with so much purity and faith, simplicity and charity, justice and perfection, that thy will may be done in earth as it is in heaven.

6. Relieve all oppressed princes, defend and restore their rights; suppress all violent and warring spirits, that unjustly disturb the peace of Christendom: relieve and comfort all gentlemen that are fallen into poverty, and sad misfortunes : comfort and support all that are sick, and deliver them from all their sorrows and all the powers of the enemy; and let the spirit of comfort and patience, of holiness and resignation, descend upon all Christian people, whom thou hast, in any instance, visited with thy rod. And be graciously pleased to pity poor mankind; shorten the days of our trouble, and put an end to the days of our sin; and let the kingdom of our dearest Lord be set up in every one of our hearts, and prevail mightily and for ever.

7. I humbly present to thy Divine Majesty this glorious sacrifice, which thy servants, this day, have represented upon earth in behalf of my dearest relations, wife, children, husband, parents, friends, &c. Grant unto them whatsoever they want, or wisely and holily desire; keep them for ever in thy fear and favour; grant that they may never sin against thee, never fall into thy displeasure, never be separated from thy love and from thy presence: but let their portion be in the blessing and in the service, in the love and in the kingdom of God, for ever and ever.

8. Have mercy upon all strangers and aliens from the kingdom of thy Son; let the sweet sound of the Gospel be heard in all the corners of the earth; let not any soul, the work of thy own hands, the price of thy Son's blood, be any

longer reckoned in the portions of the enemy; but let them all become Christians; and grant that all Christians may live according to the laws of the holy Jesus, without scandal and reproach, full of faith and full of charity.

9. Give thy grace speedily to all wicked persons, that they may repent and live well, and be saved: to all good people, give an increase of gifts and holiness, and the grace of perseverance and Christian perfection: to all heretics and schismatics grant the spirit of humility and truth, charity and obedience; and suffer none, upon whom the name of Christ is called, to throw themselves away, and fall into the portion of the intolerable burning.

10. For all mankind whom I have, and whom I have not, remembered, I humbly represent the sacrifice of thy eternal Son, his merits and obedience, his life and death, his resurrection and ascension, his charity and intercession; praying to thee, in virtue of our glorious Saviour, to grant unto us all the graces of an excellent and perfect repentance,—an irreconcileable hatred of all sin;-a great love of God,—an exact imitation of the holiness of the ever-blessed Jesus,-the spirit of devotion,-conformable will and religious affections,

-an angelical purity, and a seraphical love,- thankful hearts, and joy in God: and let all things happen to us all in that order and disposition, as may promote thy greatest glory and our duty, our likeness to Christ and the honour of his kingdom. Even so, Father, let it be, because it is best, and because thou lovest it should be so: bring it to a real and unalterable event by the miracles of grace and merey, and by the blood of the everlasting covenant poured forth in the day of the Lord's love,-whom I adore and whom I love, and desire that I may still more and more love, and love for ever. Amen, Amen.

SECTION III.

An Advice concerning him, who only communicates spiritually. THERE are many persons well disposed by the measures of a holy life to communicate frequently; but it may happen that

they are unavoidably hindered. Some have a timorous conscience, a fear, a pious fear,-which is indeed, sometimes, more pitiable than commendable. Others are advised by their spiritual guides to abstain for a time, that they may proceed in the virtue of repentance further yet, before they partake of the sacrament of love and yet if they should want the blessings and graces of the communion, the remedy which is intended them, would be a real impediment. Some are scandalized and offended at irremediable miscarriages in public doctrines or government, and cannot readily overcome their prejudices, nor reconcile their consciences to a present actual communion. Some dare not receive it at the hands of a wicked priest of notorious evil life. Some can have it from no priest at all, but are in a long journey, or under a persecution, or in a country of a differing persuasion. Some are sick; and some cannot have it every day, but every day desire it.

Such persons as these, if they prepare themselves with all the essential and ornamental measures of address, and earnestly desire that they could actually communicate, they may place themselves upon their knees,—and building an altar in their heart, celebrate the death of Christ, and, in holy desire, join with all the congregations of the Christian world, who that day celebrate the holy communion; and may serve their devotion by the former prayers and actions eucharistical, changing only such circumstantial words which relate to the actual participation: and then they may remember and make use of the comfortable doctrine of St. Austin; "It is one thing (saith that learned saint) to be born of the Spirit,-and another thing, to be fed of the Spirit: as it is one thing to be born of the flesh, which is when we are born of our mother; another thing, to be fed of the flesh,-which is done, when she suckles her infant by that nourishment, which is changed into food that he might eat and drink with pleasure, by which he was born to life; when this is done without the actual and sacramental participation, it is called spiritual manducation." Concerning which I only add the pious advice of a religious. person; "Let every faithful soul be ready and desirous often

to receive the holy eucharist to the glory of God: but if he cannot so often communicate sacramentally as he desires, let him not be afflicted, but remain in perfect resignation to the will of God, and dispose himself to a spiritual communion : for no man and no thing can hinder a well disposed soul, but that by holy desires she may, if she please, communicate every day."

To this nothing is necessary to be added, but that this way is to be used never but upon just necessity, and when it cannot be actual, not upon peevishness and spiritual pride; not in the spirit of schism and fond opinions; not in despite of our brother, and contempt or condemnation of the holy congregations of the Lord; but with a living faith, and an actual charity, and great humility, and with the spirit of de votion; and that so much the more intensely and fervently, by how much he is really troubled for the want of actual participation in the communion of saints; and then that is true, which St. Austin said, " Crede, et manducasti :” “Believe, and thou hast eaten."- Adora Jesum.

O ETERNAL GOD, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord and Sovereign of all the creatures, we, though most unworthy by reason of our great and innumerable transgressions, yet, invited by thy essential goodness and commandment, do, with all reverence and humble confidence, approach to the throne of grace, begging of thee, for the passion of our dearest Lord, to remove our sins, as far as the east from

Tract 25 & 26. in Johan.

⚫ These prayers, generally used by Bishop Taylor, are extracted from a scarce and curious little volume, entitled " Choice Forms of Prayer, by severall Reverend and Godly Divines, used by them both before and after Sermon."-London, 1659.