For Thursday. A Prayer against Envy.
I.
O Most gracious Father, thou Spring of an eternal Charity, who hast so loved mankind, that thou didst open thy bosom, and send thy holy Son to convey thy mercies to us: and thou didst create Angels and Men, that thou mightest have objects to whom thou mightest communicate thy goodness: Give me grace to follow so glorious a precedent, that I may never envy the prosperity of any one, but rejoyce to honor him whom thou honourest, to love him whom thou lovest, to commend the vertuous, to dis∣cern the precious from the vile, giving honour to whom honour belongs; that I may go to Heaven in the noblest way of rejoycing in the good of others.
II.
O Dear God, never suffer the Devil to rub his vilest Leprosie of Envy upon me; never let me have the affecti∣ons of the desperate and damned; let it not be ill with me, when it is well with others: but let thy holy Spirit so over∣rule me for ever, that I may pity the afflicted, and be compassionate, and have a fellow-feeling of my brother's sor∣rows, and that I may as much as I can, promote his good, and give thee thanks for it, and rejoice with them that do re∣joice; never censuring his actions curst∣ly, nor detracting from his praises spite∣fully, nor upbraiding his infelicities ma∣liciously, but pleased in all things, which thou doest or givest; that I may then triumph in spirit when thy Kingdom is advanced, when thy Spirit rules, when thy Church is profited, when thy Saiuts rejoice, when the Devil's interest is de∣stroyed, truly loving thee, and truly lo∣ving my brother; that we may all toge∣ther join in the holy Communion of Saints, both here and hereafter, in the measures of grace and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
