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Sono :: First Leffonas p

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OD from the Beginning made Man, and left him in the Hands of his own Coufel. He added his Commandments and Precepts; if thou wilt keep them, they will preferve thee. Fire and Water are fet before thee, ftretch forththy Hand to which thou wilt. Before Man is Life and Death, Good and Evil; that which he chufeth fhall be given him, for the Wisdom of God is great, and he is mighty in Power; his Eyes Tare towards them that fear him, and he knows every Work of Man! He has commanded none to do wickedly, neither has he given any a Licence to Sin, but the Penitent he restores to the Way of Juftice; and thofe that are failing in Perfeverance he confirms, and appoints them the Lot of Truth. Turn to the Lord, and forfake thy Sins; pray before his Face, and leffen thy Offences. be not rafh with thy Mouth, nor let thy Heart be hafty to utter any thing before God; for God is in Heaven and thou art on Earth, therefore let thy Words be few. Before Prayer prepare thy Soul, and be not as one that tempts God. Go not after thine own Lufts, but durn away from thine own WH. If thou giveft to thy Soul her Defires, it will make thee a Derifion to her Enemies. A wife Man will fear in every thing; and in the Occafion of Sin will take heed of being negligent. He that

loves Danger hall perish therein, and he that defpifes fmall Things, fhall fall by little and little. Better is he that hath less Knowledge, and fears, than he that aboundeth in Understanding, and tranfgreffes the Law of the Lord.

Ref] My Soul, what canft thou wish for more? Behold, thy gracious Lord offers thee to chufe what thou wilt, and promifes to give thee what thou chufeft! *0 infinite. Goodness! 'tis thy felf alone I chufe, for thou art my only Happiness for ever. I fee my Portion hereafter depends on my Choice here, but my Choice, O Lord, depends on thee. Guide me with thy holy Grace, that I withdraw my Affections from all vain and perifhable Creatures, and fix them intirely on thee, my Lord and my God, and my Eternal Felicity. *0 infinite *O Goodness! 'tis thy self

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Second Leffon.

HE Beginning of Wisdom is the true Defire of Difcipline; the Gare of Difcipline is Love, and Love is the Keeping of her Laws, and the Keeping of her Laws is the Accomplishment of Incorruption, and Incorruption makes us next to God; therefore the Defire of Wifdom leads to an everlasting Kingdom: If then you be delighted in Thrones and Scepters, feek Wif dom that you may reign for ever. Into a mali

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malicious Soul Wisdom will not enter, snor dwell in a Body fubject to Sin. For the Holy Spirit will fly from him that deffembles, and withdraw himself from Thoughts that are without Understanding, and be chafed away when Iniquity comes in. The Spirit of Wisdom is gentle, and will not deliver the Curfer from his own Lips; for God is Witness of his Reins, and Searcher of his Heart, and Hearer of his Tongue; therefore he that speaks unjust Things can not be hidden; nor fhall the chastizing Vengeance forbear him. If thou shalt call for Wifdom, and incline thine Heart to Pru dence; if tho fhalt feek her as Money, and dig her up as Treasure; then thou shalt understand the Fear of the Lord, and find the Knowledge of God; for our Lord gives Wisdom, from his Mouth is Prudence and Knowledge.

Ref] Send down, O God of our Fathers, and Lord of Mercy! fend down thy Wif dom from thy holy Heaven, and from the Seat of thy Great.efs, to be in us, and labour with us, and teach us what is acceptable unto thee; * That we may know our End, and wifely chufe our Way, and order our Actions to our true Felicity. Our Thoughts are fearful, and our Prudence uncer tain; we fcarce conjecture the Things that are on Earth, and find with Pains the Things that are in fight. Give us, O Lord, the Wifdom that affifts at thy Throne, and re

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ject us not from among thy Clildren. That we may know our End

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Third Leffon.

HE Spirit of those that fear God fhall live, and at his Sight fhall be blessed for their Hope is in him that faves them, and the Eyes of God are on them. that love him. He that fears the Lord fhall tremble at nothing, because he is his Hope; he raises up the Soul, and illuminates the Eyes, and gives Life, and Health, and Blefling. Our Lord is only theirs that expect him in the way of Truth and Juftice. The Highest allows not the Gifts of the Wicked, nor regards the Oblation of the Unjust, nor pardons their Offences for the Multitude of their Sacrifices. By Mercy and Faith Sins are purged, and by the Fear of the Lord every one declines from Evil. Defpife not a Man that turns himself from Sin,nor upbraid him therewith. Remember we are all in a State of Guilt. Forgive thy Neighbour that hurts thee, and when thou prayeft, thy Sins fhall be forgiven thee. One Man referves Anger against another, and does he feek Pardon of God? He has no Mercy on a Man like himself, and does he entreat for his own Sins; Remember the laft Things, and ceafe to be at Enmity. Remember the Fear of God, and be not an gry with thy Neighbour. Haft thou finned, do fo no more, but withal pray that forF 3

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mer Sins may be forgiven thee. Fly from Sin as from the Face of a Serpent; if thou approach, it will bite thee: The Teeth thereof are as the Teeth of Lions, killing the Souls of Men. He that is wash'd from the Dead, and touches him again, what does his washing profit him? So a Man that fafts for his Sins, and does the fame again, what avails it to have humbled himself? Who will hear his Prayer?

Ref] Deliver us, O Lord, from relap fing into the Sins we have repented of, the Sins we have fo often promised to amend: Deliver us from all Malice and Enmity with our Neighbours, and from oppreffing the Poor, who have none to defend them.

Then may we confidently expect thy Protection, if we ferve thee and love one another. Thou art our Strength, O Lord, whom fhall we fear? Thou art our Salvation, of what fhall we be afraid; Nothing can hurt us but our own vicious Defires; nothing can endanger us but Difobedience to our God. Then may we, &c. Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the Beginning, &c.

Antiphon.

Confider well your Steps, O'ye Children of Men, behold who regards you; walk fincerely, and walk confidently, for his Rod and Staff are ever at Hand to comfort you. V. Fear