Certaine godly and deuout prayers. Made in latin by the Reuerend father in God, Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham, and translated into Englishe by Thomas Paynell, clerke

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O Creatour & gouernor of Heuen, and earth, of all the worlde, and of all thyn∣ges that are made: O holy, stronge, immortal, almighty, terrible, iust, mercifull Lord GOD. I a wretch, and vnfortu¦nate, ouerwhelmed w^t the greate burden and wayte of synne, ackno∣ledge, and confesse, my selfe to haue bene, and to be the mooste wycked synner of all other that euer lyued, and so grea••∣lye to haue offended the eyes of thy maiestie, that not onely I am not wor∣thy to be called thi ••onne

nor yet thy inferior and lest seruaunt, yea not to treade vpō the ground, howe much lesse to offer vnto the, any sacrifice of land or thankes geuing. For why. yf y^u haste not spa••yd the celestiall my∣nisters, thy moste cleare and noble spirites, that is Lucifer and hys com∣panions, but for the onely offence and synne of rebellion, and pryde, that they euen sodenlye and in a momēt thought agaynst the, hast delyue¦red them, cast downe frō the hyghe habytacle of heauen, to be tormentid with eternall paynes: What may I miserable wretch say, or what mai I laye for my selfe? the which hath offended the not with smale, but w^t

verye greate, not with a few, but with innume¦rable, not with secrete, but with manifest vices, and as yet, heping sinne vpon sin, doth not leue of nor cease to sin. But moste mercyfull father, inasmuche as thou arte the father of mercyes, and that thy mercyes ar aboue thy workes, nor wylte not the death of a synner, but that he shoulde rather conuerte and lyue: I trustynge gretly vnto thy mercy, and hauynge noo other hope lefte me, doo ap∣proche and flye vnto the clemencye of thy maie∣sty: And mekelye I doo aske and requyre the for¦geuenes and remissyon of all my synnes, wher∣with I at anye tyme frō

my tender age vnto this hower haue offēded thy goodnes wyttynglye or ignorantly: the whyche thinges, thou O GOD from whom nothinge is hydden, doest knowe a greate deale better▪ than I canne rehearse them. I haue offended greuou¦sly, and aboue the num∣ber of the sandes of the sea, in pryde and vayne glorye, in anger and ha∣tred, in enuy, ī couetuous¦nes, in slothefulnes, in glutteni, in lecheri, in ne¦gligēce of diuine honor, in vaine othes, in vnlaw¦ful lustes, in blasphemy, in slaunderyngs, in lies in idle wordes, in vnme∣surable laughyng, in ie∣stes, in vaine lookes, in hearyng, in tastynge, in thoughtes, and in wor∣des,

in dedes, and in all thynges, that the frayl∣tye of man at any tyme might haue offended in, the which thing, I con∣fesse to haue bene done through mi faute, yea I saye through my mooste greatest faute. For the which, O most meakest God, forgeue me a man that is vtterly loste and mooste vnhappy, for thy great and vnspeakeable merites sake. For whye thou art my maker, my father, my helper, & my protector, my lorde and my God, y^u art my hope, my trust, my strēgth, my defence, my consolatiō, my delyueraunce, my lyfe, my helth, and my re¦surrectiō. Thou art my stablyshment and my re∣fuge, my lyght, and my

desyre, my helpe and my succor. Wherefore I praye and besech the, the deliuerer of the misera∣ble, to helpe me, and I shalbe saued: to gouerne me and defende me, to visitte me, and comforte me, to illumine me, and reuiue me that am dead in synne. And foras∣much as I am O Lorde thy creature, and thy workemanshyppe, leue me not I praye the, for although I am euyll, & vnworthi of forgeuenes, yet for all that I am al∣wayes thyne. To whō then shall I flye O lord God, but vnto the? Yf thou despise me, whoo shall loke vpon me? yf thou cast me of, who shal receaue me? Therefore brynge me thy fugytyue

seruaunt out of the lur∣kynge places of vyces, and washe me defiled w^t innumerable spottes of synnes, in the fountein of thy pietie & mekenes. For howe fylthy soeuer I be, thou canste clense me. Howe blynde soeuer I be, thou canst geue me my syght. How sicke so∣euer I be, thou cāst hele me. Yea and yf I were deade and buryed, thou canst reuiue me. For thy pitie is farre greter, thā is my Impiete. Thou canst forgeue more, than I canne do, and pardon more, than I can tres∣passe. Therefore, O Lord, behold me not af∣ter my demerites: nor consyder not the multy∣tude of my iniquytyes: but after the multytude

of thi mercies, haue mer¦cy vpon me, and be mer∣cyful vnto me a misera∣ble synner. And mercy∣full god, be mercifull vn¦to them, vnto whome I haue at anye tyme, or they vnto me geuen any occasion to synne, and through thy infinit mer¦cy and the most worthy merytes of thy onelye sonne oure Lorde Iesu Chryst, and of hys most holy mother Marye, and of all Saintes, absolue vs from all our synnes, and iniquities. And in∣asmuche as we are not able to doo worthye pe∣naunce for oure sinnes, nor satisfye the: set the crosse and the death, the paynes and the anguy∣shes, whiche thy onelye and welbeloued sonne

our Lord Iesus Christ, an innocente, suffered mekely in this lyfe, for the abolyshment of our synnes. And geue vs that retourne vnto the, true contrition, pure cō∣fession, continual amēd¦ment of lyfe, facultye, & grace to deserue lyfe and glory euerlastynge. So be it.

Notes

• Psalme. C.xliiii.
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