Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

O holy and eternal God, who hast commanded us to pray unto Thee in all our necessities, and to give thanks unto Thee for all our instances of joy and blessing, and to adore Thee in all thy attributes and communications, thy own glories, and thy eternal mercies; give unto me, thy servant, the spirit of prayer and supplication, that I may understand what is good for me, that I may uniformly desire, and wisely choose whatever will most conduce to my improvement and edification, and to thy honor and glory. Sanctify my heart and spirit, that I may sanctify thy name, and that I may be gracious and accepted in thine eyes. Give me the humility and obedience of a servant, that I may also have the hope and confidence of a son, making humble and confident addresses to the Throne of Grace; that in all my necessities I may come to Thee for aid, and may trust in Thee for a gracious answer, and nay receive satisfaction to all my doubts, and supply to all my wants.

Give me a sober, diligent, and recollected spirit In my prayers, neither choaked with cares, scattered by levity, discomposed by passion, nor estranged by inadvertence, but fixed fast on Thee, the objeet of my fear and hope, of my dread and confidence. And let the beams of thy holy Spirit descending

scending from above, enlighten and kindle it with devout fervor and holy importunity, and unwearied industry, that I may serve Thee, and obtain thy blessing, ever worshipping Thee with holy worship. Let my prayers come before thy presence, the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice, and let the fires of zeal not go out by night or day; but unite my prayers to the intercession of the holy Jesus, and to a communion of those offices which angels and beatified spirits pay before the Throne of the Lamb, and at the altar of heaven; that my prayers being hallowed by the merits of Christ, may ascend thither, where thy glory dwells, and from whence mercy and eternal benediction descends upon the Church.

Blessed Jesus, who wert pleased to join every holy soul to Thee with a holy union, and religious society and communications; O fill my soul with Religion, that I may love Thee with all my faculties, and all the degrees of every faculty. Let my heart be devoted to Thee in obedience and devotion endow me with purity and humility, with holiness and devotion, with charity and patience, and at last bring me to celebrate thy praises with cherubin and seraphim, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of Heaven, where I shall behold thy presence in righteousness throughout eternity.

O eternal Jesus, thou bright image of thy Father's glories, whose light shined to all the world, thy heart being filled with zeal and love of God, and of Religion, let a coal from thy altar, fanned with

the

the wings of the holy dove, enkindle in my soul such holy flames, that I may be zealous of thy honor and glory, forward in Christian duties, earnest in the pursuit, and prudent in the discharge, of them, rendering my Religion conducive to thy glory, and the obtaining of thy promises: and so sanctify my soul and my body, that I may be an holy temple, fit and prepared for the inhabitation of thy blessed Spirit, whom, grant, O God, that I may never grieve by admitting any impurity to pollute the place, and unhallow the courts, of his abode; but give me, I implore Thee, a pure soul in a chaste and healthful body, a spirit full of holy simplicity, that I that I may intend what Thou commandest, and prosecute what I so intend, and by thy aids may obtain the end of my labors, the rewards of obedience and holy living, even the society and inheritance of Jesus, in the participation of the joys of thy Temple, where Thou dwellest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, O eternal Jesus. Amen.

MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS

BEFORE THE

SACRAMENT.

MONDAY.

WHOSOEVER breaketh one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do, and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this

world:

world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, that acceptable, and perfect will of God.

HE will render to every man according to his deeds: To them, who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality eternal life. Put unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the Commandments of God.

For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new

creature.

For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowlege and in all judgment: that ye may approve things that are excellent, that