Private Forms of Prayer, Litany 2 – Prayer 6
The Letany.
THat it may please thee to Bless the whole Catholick Church of thy Son Christ, as it hath been planted in his Death, and watered in his Blood, so it may be still nourished by his Sacraments, and governed by his Word; That the Uncharitablenesse of men may not make the Rents and Divisions of it wider, and that howsoever we may differ in the superstructions, the Foundations of Christian Faith may never be cast down.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to look compassionately on this persecuted part of thy Church, now driven from the Publike Altars into Corners and secret Closets, that thy Protection may be over us where ever we shall be scatteted, and a Remnant preservcd among us by whom thy Name may be Glorified, thy Sacraments Administred, and the souls of thy servants kept upright in the midst of a corrupting and of a corrupted Generation.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to be Gracious to Him, who was once designed by Thee to be the Nursing Father of this thy Church; But for the sins of both Priests and People is now cast out as an unprofitable Branch; And that in thy due time thou wouldst deal with him, according to the Innocency of his Person & the Justice of his Cause.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to comfort him in the sadnesse of his spirit, and Guide him in the Perplexities of his Mind, and support him in the straits and necessities of his Fortunes. To raise him Friends abroad, and to Convert or confound the hearts of his Enemies at Home; To do some mighty thing for him, which I in particular know not how to Pray for, and by the secret Working of thy Providence, to make the Stone which the foolish Builders among us have refused the Head-stone of the Corner.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to preserve him with an unspotted soul, and an unshaken Faith and that no splendor of any Earthly Crown may so dazle him, as to make him forget either himself or thee; or do any unworthy thing to lose that Heavenly Crown which thou hast prepared for him, and nothing but his own sins is able to keep from him.
O hear us for thy Son Jesu o sake.
That it may please thee to shew Mercy to the Queen his Mother, the Dukes his Brethren in Exile with him, and the rest of that scattered and oppressed Family; to guide them thy Counsels, to defend with them with thy Power, to provide for them in thy Mercy, and to make them in their severall ways, Instruments of thy Glory and our Happiness.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to deal Graciously with that Remnant left of the Loyall Nobility, and all others of that ruined side, who have chosen rather to suffer in thy Cause, then to participate with the sins of a more successefull Party.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to spread the wings of thy Protection over all those whom thou hast made near and dear unto me; to preserve them safe in body and soul from the snares of their enemies, and the iniquity of the times, that no sin may lay waste their Consciences, nor no evill come neer their dwellings.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to recompence all those whom thou hast raised to be Instruments of any good unto me; such as have taken care of my soul, and instructed me in the way to heaven; such as have counselled me, when I have gone astray, supplyed me in my wants, comforted me in my heaviness, and have had that high Charity for me, as to Reprove me when I have sinned.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake
That it may please thee to let the day-spring from on high, shine upon all those who sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death; who either do not know thy Name, or knowing it, are carried by strong delusions into the wayes of Error and false Perswasions.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to confirm those, who as yet stand fast on the foundations of thy Holy Truth; that neither the persecution of the Church in which they were Baptized, nor the temptations of the times, nor the snares of cunning men, who watch all advantages, may make them fall from their first Faith, and miserably wander after their own imaginations.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to comfort and raise up those weak and dejected spirits, which are ready to sink under the burthen of a troubled or Afflicted Conscience, that as thou hast shewed them their sins, and the punishments due for them, so thou wouldst shew them their Saviour; and, by directing them to lay hold on his Cross, keep them from a Finall and Everlasting shipwrack.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to hear the groans and cries of all those that are Afflicted, either outwardly or inwardly, in body or soul; Especially such, who being oppressed for Conscience sake, have no place to fly unto, nor no man careth for their souls.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to listen Compassionately to the deep sighing of the Prisoners, and by thy mighty Power to deliver such, who for obeying thee and a good Conscience, are or shall be designed to death or ruin
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to soften the hearts of all unrighteous Judges; who now have the Power over us, and to make them know with trembling that there is a Judge higher than they.
O hear us for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to forgive all who more particularly are Enemies to me & mine, all that way have any traduced or slandered me, even to turn their hearts and to extend their Charity to them, in all those degrees of mercy which I desire may be shewn to my own soul.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
That it may please thee to hear all those servants of thine, who either have the Charity to pray for me, or desire my Prayers for them: But above all, that it may please thee to hear the Prayers of thy Son Jesus Christ, who now sits gloriously on thy Right hand, to intercede both for me, and them.
O hear me for thy Son Jesus sake.
O Lord, hear my Prayers; and let my cry come unto thee. O Lord, pardon my prayers, and let not my sins and mine unworthinesse interpose between thy Mercy-seat and me, Amen.
A Prayer for the Church.
ALmighty and Everlasting God, who only workest great marvells, shew the express of thy Goodness to thy desolate and persecuted Church, that now sits mourning in her dust and Ruines, torn by Schism, and stripped and spoiled by Sacriledge.
And thou which after a long Captivity didst bring back thy People to re-build their Temple, Look upon us with the same eyes of Mercy: restore to us once again the Publike Worship of thy Name, the Reverend Administration of thy Sacraments; Raise up the former Government of Church and State. That we may no longer be without King, without …riest, without God in the World. But may once more enter thy Courts with Praise, and serve thee with that Reverence, that Unity and Order, as may be acceptable in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
A Prayer for the Queen Mother, and the Royall Progeny.
ALmighty God, the Fountain of all Goodnesse, we humbly beseech thee to be gracious to the Queen Mother, to comfort her in her Afflictions, and to direct her wayes and Counsells as may most conduce to the setling of her Posterity here in Peace.
Enlarge thy Blessings upon all the Royall Family, those that are driven to fly for Refuge into Forraign Lands. Take them all into thy care, cover them under thy wings, and in thy due time make them so many Instruments of thy Glory and our Happiness, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
A Prayer for the Afflicted.
O Lord God, Mercifull & gracious, the only Sanctuary and Refuge of all that are in Misery and Trouble; Hear I beseech thee the groans and cries of all that are Afflicted outwardly or Inwardly, either in body or Mind, Especially such who suffer in a Righteous Cause, whose Loyalty hath been more dear to them then their Fortunes, and a good Conscience more precious then their Lives: consider them, O God, in their severall Extremities, whether at home or abroad: comfort them in their Distresses, supply them in their Wants.
Let the sorrowfull sighing of all that are oppressed, come before thee, and by the Greatnesse of thy Power, preserve thou them that are appointed to die.
Convert and soften the hard hearts of their implacable Enemies and asswage their thirst of blood, which still cries more and more.
Or, if thou otherwise hast decreed to bring any more of us through this Red Sea into the Land of Promise, prepare us for this passage, and guide us by thy blessed Spirit through the shadows of death. Continue our Christian courage and constancy to the uttermost; strengthen our Faith, confirm our Hope, and let our Charity overflow, even to the forgiving of them, by whose unjust Sentence we perish. That so dying in thy Peace, we may enter into the Joyes prepared for us, through the Mediation of our Saviour, who hath gone the same way before us, even Jesus Christ the Righteous, Amen.