The Ambassador Between Heaven and Earth, Prayers · Prayer 22
A Prayer for a Woman with childe, or in trauaile, to bee ſaid by thoſe preſent with her.
O God moſt wiſe, moſt iuſt, the bleſſed Father of our bleſſed Lord and ſauiour Chriſt Ieſus, creator, preſeruer, and gouernor of all things, next vnderunder thee vnderunder the ſubiection of man, ſo largely intituled by thy louelove, extended by thy fauour, created with ſo goodly and beautifull a perfection in the eſtate of Innocency, that hee was ye modell, and figure, & liuely Image of thee, the fountaine of all perfection and happineſſe: but through ſinne is our image defaced, our beauty and perfection darkened our whole diſpoſition and purpoſe altered, the earth made barren, and curſed for our ſake, and we curſed in the curſe, by the ſterility, labour, and manuring thereof, that now denies the increaſe that before ſhee brought forth without ye ſweat and ſorrow of the heart and browes of man. And for y• woman, a party in the ſinne, a party in the curſe: In paine and ſorrow ſhalt thou bring forth. And to the Serpent, vponupon thy belly ſhalt thou creepe, and duſt ſhalt thou eate all the dayes of thy life. Yet to this woman, O Lord! as her preſent neceſſity requireth, bee propitious, & neere vntounto her, let thy birth ſweeten her ſorrow, that broke the head of the Serpent, that was the cauſe of the breach of thy Commandement, that hath ſweetened the ſorrowes of all mankinde. Heare her, O Lord, and anſwere her fauourably, and be not angry with thy ſeruant for preſuming to cry vntounto thee, for the vnceſſant beating thine eares with her clamou…s, for griefe compelleth her to ſpeake, and the miſery ſhee indureth inforceth her to cry vntounto thee: hauehave mercy vponupon her, O fountaine of mercy, and hearken to her agony, that cryeth for thy helpe. To her, and all women with childe, or in trauaile, bee mercifull, and giuegive them grace with patience to vndergoe and ſuffer the decree and pleaſure of thy holy will: let them neuer ſtriue againſt thee through impatience, but in true faith, and inuocation of thy name, ſuffer thy croſſe contentedly, which their owne originall ſinne and wickedneſſe drew frō thy hands vnwillingly. O Lord, if her heauineſſe induce for a night, let her comfort come in y• morning, for ioy that a child is borne into the world: and to that end, bleſſed God, bee thou preſent and powerfull in the exigent and ſtraite of her greateſt extremity (for as all thy works are wonderfull, and paſt finding out, as our ſoules know right well, ſo are they not manifeſted in a ſhallow meaſure) in the connexion, creation, and nouriſhment, and preſeruation of the infant in the wombe of the mother, in the birth and bringing forth of their little limbes into the world, all whole and perfect; to the which if thy ayd and hand bee abſent, though all helpe beſide in the world bee preſent, they periſh vndoubtedly, both the one and the other. Wherfore thou God of wonders, and Father Almighty of heauen and earth, as thou haſt by the death of thine onelyonly Sonne, taken away the ſinnes of the whole world, and condemned ſinne in the fleſh, ſo take away the anguiſh of Childe-birth, brought forth by ſin to all woman-kinde, eſpecially to this woman now in thy hands, that ſhee may ioyfully bring forth that which by thy bleſſing, ſhee hath happely conceiued, that ſhee may bee to her Huſbands and her owne comfort, as the fruitfull vi…e on the walles of his houſe, and his children like the Oliue branches round about his table. Thy bleſſing vponupon thoſe y• feare thy name, which bleſſing for thy bleſſed name ſake grant thou God of al power & goodnes.
Amē