Almighty and eternal God, there is no number of Thy days or of Thy mercies: Thou hast sent us into this world to serve Thee, and to live according to Thy laws. O dear Lord, look upon us in mercy and pity: let Thy Holy Spirit lead us through this world with safety and peace, with holiness and religion, with spiritual comforts and joy in the Holy Ghost; that when we have served Thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a holy conscience, in the confidence of a certain faith, and the comforts of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope, and perfect charity with Thee our God and all the world; that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, may be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord—Amen.

Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667).