O if he languish on his couch A The Prayer, on Friday Evening. For love and charity to all men. Lmighty and everlasting God, the creator and governor of all things, who knoweft our neceffities before we afk, and our ignorance in afking; grant that all reasonable creatures who fear and obey thee, and are capable of understanding the greatness and glory of thy attributes, may unfeignedly admire and adore thee, and exprefs their veneration and praises of thee, in ways most fuitable to the condition of their nature, and the discoveries of thy divine will, revealed to us by Jefus Christ our Lord. O Lord, who haft taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; fend thy holy ghost, and into pour heart that my most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which, whofoever liveth is counted dead before thee; more efpecially, as I have prefumed to commemorate the unspeakable love of my bleffed Saviour in dying for me, let not my heart be destitute 4 of of love towards my brethren; extend thy merсу and forgiveness to all mine enemies, perfecutors and flanderers, and turn their hearts; which I as fincerely beg for them, as I hope for mercy and forgiveness at thy hands. Poffefs me with kindness and good-will for all mankind, that my faith may work by love, and difpofe my heart, according to my ability, to administer towards the wants and neceffities of those, who are any ways afflicted or diftreffed in mind, body, or estate, and do unto all men as I would they should do unto me; that by doing good for evil, all men may know that I am thy difciple. Oh! vouchfafe, I beseech thee, that all mankind may come to the knowledge and belief of thy true religion, that so the kingdom of Christ may be extended over all the earth; and the eternal laws of godliness, righteousness, charity, and fobriety, may be established throughout the whole world, to thy glory and the falvation of all mankind. For which end, grant that all who profess this thy true religion may live in perfect obedience to the laws thereof. And that men, as the infirmities of their nature will permit, may obey thee with proportionable fincerity and conftancy, as do the fpirits of the bleffed faints in heaven. Beftow on us, O gracious Lord! every day, thro' the remaining part of our lives, as many of the things of this prefent world, as are fufficient for our neceffary subfiftence, and for the useful and innocent conveniences of life, forgiving us our fins, and withholding the punishments we have thereby deferved; in like manner as we freely and heartily for thy fake forgive all those injuries and offences, which we have received by others. Let all the caufes and occafions of temptations cease from us, or elfe deliver us from the power of them; that we may not be moved either with the enticements of riches, honours or pleasures; or with the fear of want, difgrace, or pain, to do any thing knowingly contrary to thy will; and deliver us from all the evils and calamities which either the nralice of the devil, or the wickednefs or the misfortunes of the world might bring upon us, and set us at variance with thee, my God, or thy fervant, my fellowcreature: and I moft earnestly offer up thefe my petitions, because, O God, I know that thou canst and wilt do more for us than we can defire or deferve, who art infinite in power, glory, majefty, and bountiful mercy, from everlafting to everlasting. Amen. The The Meditation for Saturday Morning. Upon fafting before receiving the holy facrament. -Let every man be fully perfuaded in his own mind.-He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. Rom. xiv. 5, 6. I. My foul! thou knoweft that the flesh is weak and easily surprised; too often carried about with every wind of doctrine: *thou haft had many conflicts with me, but fince thou haft brought me into fubjection to the fpirit, I am always ready to follow the dictates thereof. But my foul! thou demandeft one thing of me which is not spiritual, it is altogether corporal. 2. Thou requireft me to come fafting to the holy table of the fupper of our Lord. If it be necessary to falvation, I will; but if you confider the inftitution, nothing of that kind is neceffary; for it was inftituted after fupper : nor has the church made any rule about it. Where therefore neither the laws of God nor thofe of our fuperiors have obliged us, we must ufe our prudence, and do what we find beft. 3. There are these things, O my foul! I Eph. iv. 14. you find that my fhall propofe in this cafe; if fafting makes you more devout and ferious, and ▾ that you are in a better frame of mind, you fhould certainly choose to go to the facrament fafting; or, if it be indifferent, and you are much the fame whether I fast or not, and find it makes no change at all in you, I would for decency and with regard to ancient practice accompany you to the facrament fafling. 4. But, as I have by custom contracted fuch a habit of eating or drinking fome light matter every morning, that you know I fhall be uneafy or difordered without it, fo I hope you will permit me to do as I used to do, and that allo for your own fake, and to ftrengthen devotion; because the purposes of fafting (which are to raise the mind to God, and to put it into a better frame) are better anfwered by moderate refreshment, than by wholly abftaining. Yet, I fay that as neither God, nor the church, has appointed the contrary, I would advise the morning abftinence on facrament days, where the inconveniency of doing it is none; but I must difapprove of it, if there be any inconveniency in abstaining. 5. And let us always remember, that whether we abstain, or not, we do it without fcru |