The Worthy Communicant, by Jeremy Taylor

Project Canterbury

The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D.
Lord Bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore.

The Worthy Communicant;
Or, a Discourse of the Nature, Effects, and Blessings consequent to the Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper,
And of all the Duties required in Order to a Worthy Preparation:
Together with the Cases of Conscience occurring in the Duty of Him that Ministers, and of Him that Communicates;
As also Devotions Fitted to Every Part of the Ministration.

Edited by the Right. Rev. Reginald Heber, D.D.
Late Lord Bishop of Calcutta.

London: Printed for C. and J. Rivington, 1828.

Chapter I. Of the Nature, Excellencies, Uses and Intention of the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.

Section VI. Devotions preparatory to this Mystery.

Ejaculations.

1. I WILL praise thee with my whole heart: before the angels will I sing praise unto thee.

2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness, and for thy truth; for thou hast magnified, above all, thy name, the word of thy praise.

3. In the day when I call upon thee, thou shalt answer, and shalt multiply strength in my soul.

4. How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever.

5. I wait for the Lord: my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

6. My soul doth wait for the Lord more than they that keep the morning watches, that they may observe the time of offering the morning-sacrifices.

7. O let my soul hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption: he shall redeem his people from all iniquity.

II.

1. Our Lord is gentle and just: our God is merciful.

2. The Lord keepeth the simple: I was humbled, but the Lord looked after my redemption.

3. O my soul, return thou unto thy rest; because the Lord hath restored his good things unto thee.

4. He hath snatched my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling: I will, therefore, walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

5. I have believed; therefore will I speak: in the assemblies of just men, I will greatly praise the Lord.

6. What shall I return unto the Lord? all his retributions are repaid upon me.

7. I will bear the chalice of redemption in the kingdom of God: and in the name of the Lord I will call upon my God.

III.

1. I will pay my vows unto the Lord: I will then show forth his sacraments unto all the people.

2. Honourable before the Lord is the death of his holy one; and thereby thou hast broken all my chains.

3. I have sworn, and I will perform it; that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

4. I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

5. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor: to save him from them that condemn his soul.

6. His work is honourable and glorious, and his righteousness remaineth for ever: he hath made his wonderful works to be remembered.

7. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion: he hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will be ever mindful of his covenant: he hath showed his people the power of his works: blessed be God.

Prayers to be used in any Day or Time of Preparation to the Holy Sacrament.

O THOU Shepherd of Israel, thou that feedest us like sheep; thou makest us to lie down in pleasant pastures, and leadest us by the still waters, running from the clefts of the rock, from the wounds of our Lord, from the fountains of salvation; thou preparest a table for us, and anointest our heads with the unction from above, and our cup runneth over: let the blood of thy wounds, and the water of thy side, wash me clean, that I may, with a pure clean soul, come to eat of the purest sacrifice, the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world.

II.

Thou givest thyself to be the food of our souls in the wonders of the sacrament, in the faith of thy word, in the blessings and graces of thy Spirit. Perform that in thy servant, which thou hast prepared and effected in thy Son; strengthen my infirmities; heal my sicknesses; give me strength to subdue my passions, to mortify my inordinations, to kill all my sins: increase thy graces in my soul; enkindle a bright devotion; extinguish all the fires of hell, my lust and my pride, my envy, and all my spiritual wickednesses; pardon all my sins; and fill me with thy Spirit, that by thy Spirit thou mayest dwell in me, and, by obedience and love, I may dwell in thee, and live in the life of grace, till it pass on to glory and immensity, by the power and the blessings, by the passion and intercession of the word incarnate; whom I adore, and whom I love, and whom I will serve for ever and ever.

III.

O mysterious God, ineffable and glorious Majesty; what is this thou hast done to the sons of men? thou hast from thy bosom sent thy Son to take upon him our nature; in him thou hast opened the fountains of thy mercy, and hast invited all penitent sinners to come to be pardoned, all the oppressed to be eased, all the sorrowful to be comforted, all the sick to be cured, all the hungry to be filled; and the thirsty to be refreshed with the waters of life, and sustained with the wine of select souls. Admit me, O God, to this great effusion of loving-kindness, that I may partake of the Lord Jesus, that by him I may be comforted in all my griefs, satisfied in all my doubts; healed of all the wounds of my soul, and the bruises of my spirit; and being filled with the bread of heaven, and armed with the strength of the Spirit, I may begin, continue, and finish, my journey through this valley of tears, unto my portion of thy heavenly kingdom, whither our Lord is gone before to prepare a place for every loving and obedient soul. Grant this, O eternal God, for his sake, who died for us, and intercedes for us, and gives himself daily to us, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen.

Project Canterbury