for the healing my soul, for the blessing and preservation of my body, for the taking out the sting of temporal death, and for the assurance of a holy resurrection, for the ejection of all evil from within me, and the fulfilling all thy righteous commandments, and to procure for me a mercy and a fair reception at the day of judgment, through thy mercies, O holy and ever blessed Saviour Jesus. Amen. [Here also may be added the Prayer after receiving the cup, which begins "Dearest Jesu," &c.] Ejaculations to be said before or at the receiving the Holy Sacrament. "Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O God. My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God: when shall I come before the presence of God 1?" 66 "O Lord my God, great are the wondrous works which thou hast done, like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward: and yet there is no man that ordereth them unto thee 2." 66 "O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, and bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy dwelling; and that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness: and with my heart will I give thanks to thee, O God my God 3." "I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord; and so will I go to thine altar: that I may shew the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works." "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me, try thou my reins and my heart. For thy loving-kindness is now and ever before my eyes: and I will walk in thy truth 5." 1 Psalm 42. 1, 2. 3 Psalm 43. 3, 4. 2 Ibid. 40. 6. 4 Ibid. 26 6,7. 5 Ibid. 26. 2, 3. "Thou shalt prepare a table before me against them that trouble me : thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full. But thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever1." "This is the bread that cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die"." "Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him, and hath eternal life abiding in him, and I will raise him up at the last day 3. " 66 Lord, whither shall we go but to thee? thou hast the words of eternal life *." 4 "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink 5." "The bread which we break, is it not the communication of the body of Christ? and the cup which we drink, is it not the communication of the blood of Christ "?" "What are those wounds in thy hands? They are those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends". Immediately before the receiving, say, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof. But do thou speak the word only, and thy servant shall be healed 8." Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall shew thy praise. O God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. After receiving the consecrated and blessed bread, say, O taste and see how gracious the Lord is blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 1 Psalm 23. 5, 6. 2 John 6. 50. 3 Ibid. 6. 54, 56. 4 Ibid. 6. 68. The beasts do lack 5 John 7. 37. 7 Zech. 13. 6. and suffer hunger; but they which seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good. Lord, what am I, that my Saviour should become my food, that the Son of God should be the meat of worms, of dust and ashes, of a sinner, of him that was his enemy? But this thou hast done to me, because thou art infinitely good and wonderfully gracious, and lovest to bless every one of us, in turning us from the evil of our ways. Enter into me, blessed Jesus: let no root of bitterness spring up in my heart: but be thou Lord of all my faculties. O let me feed on thee by faith, and grow up by the increase of God to a perfect man in Christ Jesus. Amen. help mine unbelief. Glory be to the Father, Son, &c. Lord, I believe, After the receiving the Cup of Blessing. It is finished. Blessed be the mercies of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ. O blessed and eternal high priest, let the sacrifice of the cross, which thou didst once offer for the sins of the whole world, and which thou dost now and always represent in heaven to thy Father by thy never-ceasing intercession, and which this day hath been exhibited on thy holy table sacramentally, obtain mercy and peace, faith and charity, safety and establishment to thy holy Church, which thou hast founded upon a rock, the rock of a holy faith and let not the gates of hell prevail against her, nor the enemy of mankind take any soul out of thy hand, whom thou hast purchased with thy blood, and sanctified by thy Spirit. Preserve all thy people from heresy and division of spirit, from scandal and the spirit of delusion, from sacrilege and hurtful persecutions. Thou, O blessed Jesus, didst die for us: keep me for ever in holy living, from sin and sinful shame, in the communion of thy Church, and thy Church in safety and grace, in truth and peace, unto thy second coming. Amen. Y The Prayer. Dearest Jesu, since thou art pleased to enter into me, O be jealous of thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth : suffer no unclean spirit or unholy thought to come near thy dwelling, lest it defile the ground, where thy holy feet have trod. O teach me so to walk, that I may never disrepute the honour of my religion, nor stain the holy robe which thou hast now put upon my soul, nor break my holy vows which I have made, and thou hast sealed, nor lose my right of inheritance, my privilege of being co-heir with Jesus, into the hope of which I have now farther entered: but be thou pleased to love me with the love of a father, and a brother, and a husband, and a Lord; and make me to serve thee in the communion of saints, in receiving the sacrament, in the practice of all holy virtues, in the imitation of thy life, and conformity to thy sufferings: that I having now put on the Lord Jesus, may marry his loves and his enmities, may desire his glory, may obey his laws, and be united to his Spirit, and in the day of the Lord I may be found having on the wedding-garment; and bearing in my body and soul the marks of the Lord Jesus, that I may enter into the joy of my Lord, and partake of his glories for ever and ever. Amen. Ejaculations to be used any time that day, after Lord, if I had lived innocently, I could not have deserved to receive the crumbs that fall from thy table. How great is thy mercy, who hast feasted me with manna from heaven! O when shall I pass from this dark glass, from this veil of sacraments, to the vision of thy eternal charity from eating thy body, to beholding thy face in thy eternal kingdom? : Let not my sins crucify the Lord of life again: let it never be said concerning me, "The hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table." O that I might love thee as well as ever any creature loved thee! Let me think nothing but thee, desire nothing but thee, enjoy nothing but thee. O Jesus, be a Jesus unto me. Thou art all things unto me. Let nothing ever please me, but what savours of thee and thy miraculous sweetness. Blessed be the mercies of our Lord, who of God is made unto me wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Amen. THE END OF THE RULE OF HOLY LIVING. |