Imatges de pàgina
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of my blessed saviour, and let not mine iniquities work my everlasting ruin.

A Prayer on Saturday Evening, for a worthy receiving of the holy sacrament.

I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord, and so will I go to thine altar. Psalm xxvi. 6.

O Crucified Jesu! who at thy last supper didst ordain the holy eucharist, the sacrament and bond of christian love, for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of thy death; and hast commanded us to do this in remembrance of thee: let that propitiatory sacrifice of thy death, which thou didst offer upon the cross for the sins of the whole world, and particularly for my sins, be ever fresh in my remembrance.

O blessed saviour, let that mighty salvation thy love hath wrought for us, never slip out of my mind, but especially let my remembrance of thee in the holy sacrament be always most lively and affecting. So that if I love thee truly, I shall be sure to frequent thy altar, that I may often remember all the wonderful loves my crucified redeemer. Yet, forasmuch as I know, O my God, that a bare remembrance of thee is not enough; fix in me such a remembrance of thee, as is suitable to the infinite love

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I am to remember; work in me all those holy and heavenly affections, which become the remembrancer of a crucified saviour; and do thou so dispose my heart to be thy guest at thy holy table, that I may feel all the sweet influences of love crucified, the strengthening and refreshing of my soul by thy body and blood, as my body is by the bread and wine.

O merciful Jesu! let that immortal food,

which in the holy eucharist thou vouchsafest me, pour into my weak and languishing soul new supplies of grace, new life, new love, new vigour, and new resolutions, that I may never more faint or droop, or faulter in my duty. Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen.

See the concluding prayer and blessing on page 32 and 33.

Meditation for Sunday Morning.

On the love of God to mankind, particularly manifested in this sacrament.

Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. 1 John iii. 16.

BEHOLD, Lord, thus encouraged, thus invited, I come; yet I do not presume to do so, trusting in my own righteousness, but in thy * Here you may observe the directions given on page 3.

manifold and great mercies. I feel, alas! my weaknesses and wants, and betake myself to thee for relief; sick and diseased, I fly to the physician of souls; hungry and thirsty, to this fountain of living water, and bread of life; poor and needy, to the bountiful king of heaven; a servant to his kind master; a creature to his compassionate creator, who hateth nothing that he hath made; and a forlorn disconsolate wretch, to thee, the holy, the eternal, the only comforter. But,

Whence is this to me, that my God should vouchsafe to come unto me? or, who am I that thou shouldst communicate to me thy own self? how shall a wicked sinner dare to appear before thee? or how canst thou, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, endure to make such condescending approaches to a soul polluted with sin and with uncleanness? thou seest my very inward parts, and knowest I have nothing in me that is good; nothing to invite such mercy; nothing fit for the reception of so pure, so glorious a majesty.

I will, therefore, humbly confess my own vileness and thy unspeakable goodness; I will thankfully admire, praise, and adore thy marvellous love, and exceeding abundant grace. For this is purely thine own act. Nothing on

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my part could deserve, nothing could move thee to it. The more unworthy I am, am, the more conspicuous is thy goodness, the more amazing thy mercy and condescension.

Since therefore thou art pleased to stoop so low, be it unto me according to thy word. Since thou hast thought fit to command my approach, I will most gladly testify my ready obedience; and only beg that my own sinfulness may not render me odious in thy sight, nor frustrate these inestimable mercies to me. I will supply my want of ability by the earnestness of my zeal; and most humbly beseech thee to accept those hearty desires of the inestimable benefit, by which my soul and all its faculties thirst and pant most impatiently after thee and thy righteousness. I will turn my eyes into my own heart, and entertain myself with the mortifying prospect of my own unworthiness, laying my soul low before thee; and from the sense of my sin I will flee to thy mercy, that I may be made whole by the body and blood of my redeemer.

How wise, how saving, was thy design, in the first institution of this holy supper ! how rich, how delightful a banquet hast thou prepared for thy guests, by ordering thy own hody and blood for the mystical entertain

ment of the faithful! how astonishing are the operations of thy grace and power! how incomprehensible the methods of fulfilling thy most true promise! Thou spakest the word in the beginning, and all things were created! and by the same almighty word, thou commandest bread and wine, and they nourish souls to life eternal.

And thou, my soul, rejoice and be exceeding glad for so noble a favour, so heavenly a refreshment, so rich a consolation to support and sweeten thy passage through this vale of tears and misery. For every time thou attendest these holy mysteries, thou dost spiritually eat the flesh of Christ, and drink his blood; thou dost act, as it were, over again the work of thy redemption, and effectually partake of thy saviour's merits and sufferings. For, his love continues always the same,, and the excellence and worth of his propitiation is an inexhaustible spring of mercy. Come therefore hither with new exalted zeal, enlarge thy heart and its desires, and doubt not but thou shalt, at every approach, return with fresh and plentiful accessions of grace.

Let not the frequency abate thy devotion : for this favour should always seem great, this feast always honorable, and the delights of it

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