written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT. The Collect. O LORD, raise up, we pray then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us : What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the LORD, thee, thy power, and come as said the prophet Esaias. among us, and with great might And they which were sent were succour us; that whereas, of the Pharisees. And they through our sins and wicked- asked him, and said unto him, ness, we are sore let and hin- why baptizest thou then, if dered in running the race that thou be not that Christ, nor is set before us, thy bountiful Elias, neither that prophet? grace and mercy may speedily John answered them, saying, help and deliver us, through the I baptize with water; but there satisfaction of thy Son our standeth one among you, whom LORD to whom, with thee and ye know not; he it is, who, the HOLY GHOST, be honour coming after me, is preferred and glory, world without end. before me, whose shoe's latchet Amen. I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The Epistle. Phil. iv. 4. THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, OR COMMONLY REJOICE in the LORD alway; and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The LORD is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto GOD. And the peace of GoD, which passeth all understand-to take our nature upon him, ing, shall keep your hearts and minds through CHRIST JESUS. The Collect. ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast given us thy only begotten Son and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; grant that The Gospel. St. John i. 19. thy children by adoption and we, being regenerate and made THIS is the record of John grace, may daily be renewed when the Jews sent Priests and by thy HOLY SPIRIT, through Levites from Jerusalem to ask the same our Lord JESUS him, Who art thou? And he CHRIST, who liveth and reignconfessed, and denied not; but eth with thee and the same confessed, I am not the Christ. SPIRIT, ever one God, world And they asked him, What without end. Amen. The Epistle. Heb. i. 1. The Gospel. St. John i. 1. IN the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GoD, and the WORD was God. The same was in the beginning with GOD. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made, that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was mainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and GOD, who, at sundry times, as a vesture shalt thou fold and in divers manners, spake them up, and they shall be in time past unto the fathers changed; but thou art the by the prophets, hath in these same, and thy years shall not last days spoken unto us by fail. his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who, being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which a man sent from GOD, whose of the angels said he at any name was John: the same time, Thou art my Son, this came for a witness, to bear witday have I begotten thee? And ness of the light, that all men again, I will be to him a Father, through him might believe. He and he shall be to me a Son? was not that light, but was sent And again, when he bringeth to bear witness of that light. in the first-begotten into the That was the true light, which world, he saith, And let all the lighteth every man that cometh angels of GOD worship him. into the world. He was in the And of the angels he saith, world, and the world was made Who maketh his angels spirits, by him, and the world knew and his ministers a flame of fire. him not. He came unto his But unto the Son he saith, Thy own, and his own received him throne, O GOD, is for ever and not. But as many as received ever; a sceptre of righteous- him, to them gave he power to ness is the sceptre of thy king- become the sons of GoD, even dom. Thou hast loved right to them that believe on his eousness, and hated iniquity; | name : which were born, not therefore GoD, even thy God, of blood, nor of the will of the hath anointed thee with the oil flesh, nor of the will of man, of gladness above thy fellows. but of GOD. And the WORD And, Thou, LORD, in the be- was made flesh, and dwelt ginning hast laid the foundation among us, (and we beheld his of the earth; and the heavens glory, the glory as of the only are the works of thine hands: begotten of the Father) full of they shall perish, but thou re-grace and truth. THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS gether, she was found with DAY. The Collect. child of the HOLY GHOST. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the of a pure virgin; grant that angel of the LORD appeared we, being regenerate and made unto him in a dream, saying, thy children by adoption and Joseph, thou son of David, fear grace, may daily be renewed not to take unto thee Mary thy by thy HOLY SPIRIT, through wife; for that which is conthe same our Lord JESUS ceived in her is of the HOLY CHRIST, who liveth and reign- GHOST: and she shall bring eth with thee and the same forth a son, and thou shalt call SPIRIT, ever one GoD, world his name JESUS; for he shall without end. ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast given us thy only begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born Amen. save his people from their sins. The Epistle. Gal. iv. 1. Now all this was done, that it NOW I say, that the heir, might be fulfilled which was as long as he is a child, differeth spoken of the LORD by the nothing from a servant, though prophet, saying, Behold, a virhe be lord of all; but is under gin shall be with child, and tutors and governors, until the shall bring forth a son, and time appointed of the father. they shall call his name Em Even so we, when we were manuel, which being interpretchildren, were in bondage un-ed, is, GoD with us. der the elements of the world; Joseph, being raised from sleep, but when the fulness of the time did as the angel of the LORD was come, GoD sent forth his had bidden him, and took unto Son, made of a woman, made him his wife; and knew her not under the law, to redeem them till she had brought forth her that were under the law, that first-born son; and he called we might receive the adoption his name JESUS. of sons. And, because ye are The Collect. Then sons, God hath sent forth the THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of GOD, through CHRIST. The Gospel. St. Matt. i. 18. THE birth of JESUS CHRIST was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came to ALMIGHTY GOD, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; grant us the true circumcision of the SPIRIT, that, our hearts and all our members being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will, through the same thy Son JESUS CHRIST Lord. Amen. The Epistle. Rom. iv. 8. our hath made known unto us. And BLESSED is the man to they had seen it, they made whom the LORD will not impute known abroad the saying which sin. Cometh this blessedness was told them concerning this then upon the circumcision child. And all they that heard only, or upon the uncircumci- it wondered at those things sion also? For we say, that which were told them by the faith was reckoned to Abraham shepherds. But Mary kept all for righteousness. How was it these things, and pondered them then reckoned? when he was in her heart. Ând the shepin circumcision or in uncircum- herds returned, glorifying and cision? Not in circumcision, praising God for all the things but in uncircumcision. And he that they had heard and seen, received the sign of circumci- as it was told unto them. And sion, a seal of the righteousness when eight days were accomof the faith which he had, yet plished for the circumcising of being uncircumcised; that he the child, his name was called might be the father of all them JESUS, which was so named that believe, though they be not of the angel before he was concircumcised; that righteousness ceived in the womb. might be imputed unto them also: and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but also The same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve for every day after, unto the Epiphany. walk in the steps of that faith THE EPIPHANY, OR THE MANI of our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. The Gospel. St. Luke ii. 15. AND it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD for thus you-ward: how that by reve-Jews? for we have seen his star lation he made known unto me in the east, and are come to the mystery (as I wrote afore worship him. When Herod the in few words, whereby, when king had heard these things, he ye read, ye may understand my was troubled, and all Jerusalem knowledge in the mystery of with him. And when he had CHRIST) which in other ages gathered all the chief priests was not made known unto the and scribes of the people togesons of men, as it is now re- ther, he demanded of them vealed unto his holy Apostles where CHRIST should be born. and Prophets by the SPIRIT; And they said unto him, in that the Gentiles should be Bethlehem of Judea fellow-heirs, and of the same it is written by the prophet, body, and partakers of his promise in CHRIST, by the Gospel : whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of GoD, given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of CHRIST; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in GoD, who created all things by JESUS CHRIST to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, by the Church, the manifold wisdom of GoD, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in CHRIST JESUS Our Lord; in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. And thou Bethlehem in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda ; for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go, and search diligently for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, The Gospel. St. Matt. ii. 1. they presented unto him gifts; WHEN JESUS was born in gold, and frankincense, and Bethlehem of Judea, in the days myrrh. And being warned of of Herod the king, behold, there GOD in a dream, that they came wise men from the east should not return to Herod, to Jerusalem, saying, Where they departed into their own is he that is born king of the country another way. |