The paradise of the Christian soul/Chap. IX. Seven Steps to a Happy Death; or, Daily Exercise on the Lord’s Prayer for a Happy Death.
CHAPTER IX.
Seven Steps to a Happy Death;
or,
A DAILY EXERCISE ON THE LORD’S PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH.
Our Father who art in heaven.
O eternal Father of thy Son Jesus Christ by nature, and of us by grace; for thou hast created us to thy own Image; and when become by sin children of wrath, hast adopted us for sons of grace and heirs of eternal life, by the Blood of thy Son; and although heaven is the seat of thy majesty and glory, yet thou continually regardest us upon earth, and rulest us with fatherly care, charity, and providence.
To thee, therefore, do I lift up my eyes, O merciful Father, who dwellest in heaven, from whence comes my help. My soul pants after thee, as the hart after the fountains of water. For thou hast created us for thyself, and our heart is disquieted until it return and rest in thee. For where my Father is, there is my country! there is my hope and my inheritance, and my portion in the land of the living. My heart sighs after thee; my soul has adhered to thee. Oh, that thy right hand would uphold me, for thy mercy is better than life! Oh, when shall I be delivered from this banishment? When shall I be taken out of this prison into which I was cast when stolen away from my country? When shall I go into my Father’s house where there are many mansions? When wilt thou bring me out of this pit of misery, and out of this filthy mire? When shall I come and appear before the face of God my Father? When wilt thou fill me with joy with thy countenance, that I may see thee, not as now, through a glass in a dark manner, but face to face? Blessed are they who dwell in thy House, O Lord; they shall praise thee for ever and ever! Behold, I have disposed my heart to ascend thither, in this valley of tears, the place in which the transgression of my first parent has set me. Aided by thy blessing, I shall go from virtue to virtue, till I see thee, the God of all gods, in Sion![1]
STEP I.
LIVELY FAITH.
Hallowed be thy name.
First, by true and lively Faith; for without Faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to thee, O God, must believe that thou art, and that thou art a Rewarder of them that seek thee. Now, what is our life upon the earth but a coming to, or a progress towards God by the two feet of Faith and Hope? For the rest and; repose in God, with that intimate union with and enjoyment of him, which are the fruit of perfect charity, are reserved for our heavenly Home. Then it is that thou wilt embrace thy son who returns to thee from a far country, and wilt put on him the first robe.
Meanwhile, I believe, O Lord, that thou art who art — that is, God supremely powerful, wise, and good over all things; and that thou wilt thyself be the reward and recompense exceeding great of them that love thee. I believe that my Redeemer lives, and that in the last day I shall rise out of the earth, and that in my flesh I shall see God my Saviour. In this Faith I desire to live and die. Supported by this Faith, I shall continue safe in every cross, tribulation, affliction, disease, and death itself; and alike in adversity and in prosperity, shall praise and sanctify thy Name, nothing doubting of the divine power and fatherly bounty with which thou art both able and willing to save me.
Strengthen and increase my Faith, O Lord, for the glory of Thy Name, which is hallowed by us best when we believe thee to be mighty in thy works, true in thy words, and most faithful to thy promises. It was because Moses and Aaron sanctified thee not in the sight of the people, by disbelieving thee when thou broughtest water out of the rock, that thou forbadest them to enter the promised land.[2]
But the ready Faith of Abraham is everywhere praised, because in thy promise he staggered not by mistrust, but was strengthened in Faith, giving glory to God. For he went forth immediately out of his country, and from his kindred, and came into the land which thou showedst him,[3] knowing that whatsoever God has promised, he is able also to perform.[4]
I believe, too, to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, after my departure out of this world. Call me hence whensoever thou wilt; but grant that, guided by Faith, I may cheerfully follow thee through firm belief in thy power and goodness. Then thy good Spirit shall lead me into the right land; and for thy Name’s sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy justice.
STEP II.
FIRM HOPE.
Thy kingdom, come.
The Kingdom that has been prepared for us from the beginning of the world; for thou hast delivered us from the power of darkness, and hast translated us into the Kingdom of thy beloved Son, that we may be co-heirs with him according to the hope of eternal Life. For if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men the most miserable. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my chalice; it is thou who wilt restore my inheritance to me. Oh, when will this be? for here we are but strangers and pilgrims, having no permanent city, but we seek one to come.
Meantime, we glory in the hope of the glory of the sons of God; and not only so, but we glory also in tribulations; knowing that tribulation works patience, and patience trial, and trial hope, and hope confounds not. For so it is, that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God; but the consolation of all labour is the hope of so great a reward. For the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.
Therefore will I set thee, O Lord, always in my sight, for thou art at my right hand, that I be not moved. Therefore shall my heart be glad; moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope.[5] In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will rest. For thou, O Lord, hast singularly settled me in hope. And now what is my hope? Is it not the Lord? and my substance is with thee. Uphold me according to thy word, and I shall live; and let me not be confounded in my expectation. In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded. Deliver me in thy justice, &c.
STEP III.
SINCERE CHARITY.
Thy will he done, as, &c.
And what is thy Will, O most loving Father, but that should love thee? Behold, thou commandest me to love thee with all my heart and with all my mind, &c.; but give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt. For thou seest how many are the hindrances which we suffer to thy Will, and obstacles to thy Love, while the corruptible body is a load upon the soul. I wish, indeed, so to love thee; and I am delighted with thy law according to the inward man; but I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind, so that I do not the good which I will.
Alas! unhappy man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Thy grace, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, therefore, that I may not lose my soul by loving it, but that, by a saving hate, I may keep it to life eternal.
But I hear too, that if any man love the world, or the things which are in the world, the charity of God is not in him. Therefore let love as strong, nay, stronger than death, drive out of my heart that wicked love, that there may be nothing, especially when I depart out of this world, able to separate me from the love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let the force of thy love swallow me up, that, for the love of thy love, I may die to the world, because thou, for the love of my love, hast vouchsafed to die upon the Cross.
STEP IV.
COMMUNICATION IN THE SACRAMENTS.
Our daily bread.
O God, who feedest me hitherto from my youth; oh, forsake me not even to old age, and when my strength fails me! For in journeying through this desert to the land of promise, we need food no less for the soul than for the body, that we faint not in the way. For not in bread alone does man live, but in every word that proceeds from thy mouth.[6] The food, therefore, of my soul is thy Word, and also thy Sacraments, but especially that Bread of Angels, that true Manna from Heaven, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he says himself: My flesh is meat indeed, and my Blood is drink indeed, of which if any man eat, he shall never die. Grant me, O my Lord, that when I go the way of all flesh, and pass from the desert of this world to the Land of the eternal Promise, I may not want a Viaticum; but especially that this divine Bread may strengthen my heart. With thy own Body and Blood refresh my soul, that in the strength of that food I may walk even to the high mountain of thy glory, where thou shalt feed with the fat of wheat thy Elect, whom thou hast fed here for a time with the bread of tears, and satisfy them with the plenty of thy house.
STEP V.
REMISSION OF SINS.
And forgive us our debts.
I know, O Lord, that not anything defiled can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven;[7] and that thou admittest no one there save him who is reconciled both to thee and to his neighbour. But ah! alas, I am wretched and poor, and the debts by which I am bound to thee are infinite; nor have I wherewith to pay them or make satisfaction. What shall I do? Behold, with thee, O Lord, there is mercy, and plentiful is the redemption of thy Son. He came to make good our defaults, and to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Oh, enter not, I beseech thee, into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight no man living shall be justified; but look on the face of thy Christ.
From the bottom of my heart I am sorry that I have ever offended thee, my God and my chief Good. And, therefore, I forgive from my heart my neighbours all their offences; lest perchance I look in vain to thee, my Lord, for mercy, if, servant as I am, I reserve anger for my fellow-servant. Forgive me, then, according to the promise of thy Son, who said, Forgive, and it shall be forgiven to you, especially at that last hour when I shall be summoned to appear before thee, my Judge! Alas for me! if, then, thou mark my iniquities! Oh, that the handwriting of the decree, that was against us, and of my debts, may be blotted out by the Blood of Jesus Christ, that was shed for us upon the Cross to the remission of sins!
STEP VI.
VICTORY OVER TEMPTATIONS.
And lead us not into temptation.
For what is this life of ours but a continual temptation and warfare upon earth? Hence comes that terrible struggle with our enemies, many and strong, whom we are not able to withstand, unless, thou, the Lord mighty in battle, fight for us and protect us.
Suffer me not, O God, who art faithful, to be tempted above that I am able; but make with the temptation issue, especially at the hour of my passage out of this world; for then commonly our enemy more violently besets us, in lying in wait for our heel.
Be with me in that doubtful struggle, and at the moment of my last agony, on which depends my whole eternity, and the fruit of all the labours which thy Son underwent for me, and of the Blood which he shed for me. Ah me! if his ransom for me be all in vain! Strengthen me, that I may not sink under temptation; enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death; lest at any time my enemy say, I have prevailed against him. Grant to me that, by taking to myself the armour of God, I may be able to resist in the evil day, and to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, that he snatch not away the crown of justice laid up for me. If thou art with us, who is against us? Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death. I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear, &c.
STEP VII.
DELIVERANCE PROM ETERNAL DEATH.
But deliver us from evil.
Here, indeed, we are afflicted with many evils, which force us to go to thee, O God, to pray for deliverance. There is the world, the whole of which is seated in wickedness; Satan too, who stands alone in malice; and other evils of pain without number. But there is no evil like the death of the soul, the unhappy offspring of sin. For sin, when it is completed, begets death. Therefore the death of sinners is very evil; for in the evil day to be separated from the Sovereign Good is assuredly the evil of all evils. Oh, that the Lord would deliver me from this evil! For the dead shall not praise thee, O Lord, nor any of them that go down to hell. The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee.
O Lord deliver my soul; for thou art a just and merciful Lord. Deliver my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling, that I may sing to thee a new canticle, and sacrifice to thee the Sacrifice of praise.
The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become my salvation.
The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength; the right hand of the Lord has exalted me, &c.
I shall not die, but live, and shall declare the works of the Lord.
The Lord chastising has chastised me; but he has not delivered me over to death.
Thou hast burst my bonds, and death is swallowed up in victory.
My soul has been delivered even as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowler. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.
I will give praise to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever. Amen. Amen.