The Practice of Piety

Now of the third sort of duties after the holy Assembly.

AS thou returnest home, or when thou art entered into thy house, meditate a little while upon those things, which thou hast heard. And as the clean beasts which chew the cud:¹ so must thou bring again to thy remembrance, that which thou hast heard in the Church. And then kneeling down, turn all to a prayer, beseeching GOD to give such a blessing to those things, which thou hast heard: that they may be a direction to thy life; and a consolation unto thy Soul:² for till the Word be made thus ⟨p. 605⟩our own; and as it were close hidden in our hearts, we are in danger,³ least Satan steal it away, and we shall receive no profit thereby. And when thou goest to dinner, in that reverend and thankful manner before prescribed; remember according to thine ability to have one or more poor Christians, whose hungry bowels may be refreshed with thy meat: imitating holy Job, who protested that he did never eat his morsels alone, ⁴without the good company of the poor and fatherless: this is the Commandment of Christ our Master, Luke 14.13. Or at least-wise, send some part of thy dinner to the poor,⁵ who lies sick in the back-lane without any ⟨p. 606⟩