a part of the same mystical body by the band of the same faith, and a holy hope, and a neverceasing charity. And may it please thee of thy gracious goodness shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom, that we with this thy servant, and all others departed in the true faith and fear of thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. OR THIS ON MARTYRS' DAYS ONLY. (Serv. for K. Charles the Martyr.) This only to be used when it accords with the actual record of the martyrdom. BLESSED Lord, in whose sight the death of thy saints is precious; We magnify thy Name for thine abundant grace bestowed upon thy servant; by which he was enabled to follow the steps of his blessed Master and Saviour, praying for his murderers. Let his memory, O Lord, be ever blessed among us; that we may follow the example of his courage and constancy, his meekness and patience, and great charity; and according to the example of this thy blessed Martyr, may press forward to the prize of the high calling that is before us, in faith and patience, humility and meekness, mortification and self-denial, charity and constant perseverance unto the end: And all this for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ his sake: to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Holy Innocents' Day. THESE are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; these were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Rev. xiv. THE INVOCATION. O Thou the Virgin-Born, APPROPRIATE PSALMS. 1, 4, 8, 15. (See Rev. vii. 14, &c.) THE PRAYER. (Dean Sparkes, M. Spinckes.) GOD, who by the death of the Holy Innocents hast taught thy Church that no age or occasion of suffering for our Saviour is without its reward; Grant, we beseech thee, that our celebration of this festival may make us adore the gracious dispensations of thy providence, that our hearts may be confirmed in an entire resignation to thy will, and assured that all our sufferings shall conduce to our eternal advantage. Make us, we beseech thee, [and the children of this family,] to be as becomes Christ's little ones, children in humility and teachableness, in cheer-fulness, in obedience, and in reverence, in gratitude for thy bounty, and in all dependance on thee, that so at last thou mayest embrace us in the arms of thy mercy, and invite us to the everlasting habitations of thy Father's house. Amen. THE Lord my All Saints' Day. God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Zech. xiv. And another angel came, and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne. Rev. viii. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of Saints. Rev. xv. THE INVOCATION. O Thou who art &c. (p. 187.) APPROPRIATE PSALMS. IN THE THANKSGIVINGS. Praise, glory, adoration, and thanksgiving be to thee, O Father of infinite mercies and goodness, for thine incomprehensible graces and mercies bestowed on all thy servants, whom thou hast chosen from every tribe and nation of the earth, and raised them from this vale of misery and banishment and sin, and fitted them for the life of the blessed in heaven. For all thy mercies to the Patriarchs and Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and Widows, whom thou madest faithful observers of thy laws, devoted to the preaching of thy faith, and conquerors even unto death, crucified to the world, and seeking above all things Ff thy kingdom. So also for thy mercies to all other thy servants of whatsoever state or age or condition, who have walked worthy of their vocation and calling, and being found watching at the coming of their Lord, have been fitted for the life of the blessed, through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. St. Michael and All Angels. THE chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, and the Lord is among them, as in the Holy Place of Sinai. Ps. lxviii. I say unto you, that in heaven their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. S. Matth. xviii. Are they not all ministering Spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. Heb. i. THE INVOCATION. O Thou who art &c. (p. 187.) APPROPRIATE PSALMS. THE PRAYER. For the Ministration of Angels. (Dean Hickes, M. Spinckes.) O ETERNAL God, who in thy wonderful providence hast made the angels ministering spirits, and sendest them forth to minister to them who are the heirs of salvation [and who this day callest us by the voice of thy Church to commemorate all the glorious host of heaven, who by thine appointment assist thine elect against the powers of darkness]; behold with pity the temptations and dangers to which the frailty of our nature is exposed; give thine angels charge to bear us in their hands, that we fall not, to succour and defend us in this our pilgrimage on earth, and to shield us from all the violence of the powers of darkness. Give us grace to adore and praise thee for their ministry and protection, that we may with firmer hope pursue the holy ways of increasing their joy by advancing our own bliss. Give us grace to endeavour to do thy will with the same diligence and industry, with the same zeal and cheerfulness as thy blessed angels do it in heaven, that imitating their exemplary obedience and unspotted purity in our life, we may enjoy the advantage of their assistance in the hour of death, in that dismal conflict with the powers of darkness; and being by them conducted to the mansions of glory, may be advanced to a more intimate society with them in the life to come, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, and there with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of Heaven, evermore bless and praise thy Holy Name. Amen. |