תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

réligiously and prudently in all godliness and honesty before thee our God, and before all the world; that at the end of our mortal life we may enter into the light and life of God, to sing praises and eternal hymns to the glory of thy name, in eternal ages, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In whose name let us pray in the words which himself commanded, saying,

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving after Sermon; if it be convenient by Reason of the Time or other Circumstances.

I.

Almighty God, our glory and our hope, our Lord and Master, the Father of mercy and the God of all comfort, we humbly present to thee the sacrifice of a thankful spirit in a joyful acknowledgment of those infinite favours, by which thou hast supported our state, enriched our spirits, comforted our sorrows, relieved our necessities, blessed and defended our persons, instructed our ignorances, and promoted our eternal interest. We praise thy name for that portion of thy holy word, of which thou hast made us partakers this day. Grant that it may bring forth fruit unto thee, and unto holiness in our whole life, to the glory of thy holy name, the edification of our brethren, and the eternal comfort of our souls in the day of our Lord Jesus.

IL.

Have mercy upon all that desire, and upon all that need, our prayers. Ease the pains of the sick, support the spirit of the disconsolate, hear the cries of orphans and widows in their calamity, and restore all that are oppressed, to their rights, and sanctify to them all their wrongs; pity the folly, and pity the calamities, of poor mankind; in mercy remember

[ocr errors]

those that are appointed to die, comfort and support their spirits, perfect and accept their repentance, and receive the souls returning unto thee, whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood.

III.

Lord, pity and pardon, direct and bless, sanctify and save us all. Give repentance to all that live in sin, and pèrseverance to all thy sons and servants for his sake, who is thy beloved, and the foundation of all our hopes, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, praise and adoration, love and obedience, now and for evermore. Amen.

If this whole Office be said at Morning or Evening Prayer respectively,
the Collect before Sermon here put down, may be used instead of
the usual Prayer before Sermon, ending with the Lord's Prayer;
and the Sermon to begin immediately before the Blessing.
The Sermon being ended, the Prayer of Thanksgiving may be said,
and the Congregation dismissed with the Blessing set down at
the end of Evening Prayer.

A Prayer when a sick Person desires to be publicly prayed for.

I.

O almighty and most gracious Father, who art the Fountain of life, and health, and pardon, hear the prayers of thy servants in behalf of our brother, the miserable for the afflicted, of sinners for him whom thou hast smitten. Lord, lay no more upon him than thou shalt enable him to bear, but give him patience; and do thou thyself open a door for his escape, even by a holy and a reformed life, and a speedy recovery, or else by a blessed death, as thou, in thy infinite loving-kindness, shalt choose for thy glory and his eternal interest.

II..

Lord, give unto thy servant a perfect repentance and a perfect pardon of all his sins. Remember not the errors of his youth, the weaknesses of his spirit, the surprises of his life, and the crimes of his choice: but join his present sufferings to the passion, his prayers to the intercession, and

his repentance, to the merits of our dearest Saviour Jesus; that he may be pardoned and pitied, comforted and supported, sanctified and saved in the day of recompenses.

III.

Blessed Jesus, who hast overcome all the powers of sin, hell, and the grave, take from thy servant all inordinate fear of death, give him a perfect resignation of his will and conformity to thine; restrain the power of the enemy, that he may not prevail against the soul which thou hast redeemed: if it be thy will, give him a speedy restitution of his health, and a holy use of the affliction: or if thou hast otherwise decreed, preserve him in thy fear and favour, and receive his soul to mercy, to pardon, and eternal life, through thy mercies and for thy compassion' sake, O blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.

I.

For seasonable Weather in Time of Drought, immoderate Rain, or Scarcity or Death of Cattle, &c.

O Lord God, whose providence is universal, and suffereth nothing to happen in vain, have mercy upon thy servants, who have deserved thy wrath, and to suffer thy indignation in every expression, by which thou art pleased to signify it. Thou, O God, coverest the heaven with clouds, and preparest rain for the earth; thou makest the grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men: thou givest fodder unto the cattle, and feedest the young ravens that call upon thee: hear us, O God, who are thy servants, and the sheep of thy pasture; we have indeed wandered and gone astray, but do thou be merciful unto us, and bring us home to thee: take away thine anger from us; bless the labours of the husbandman, and the fruits of the field; refresh the weary earth with seasonable showers [or, seasonable weather], for thou hast the key of rain, and the key of providence; thou didst bind up the heavens with ribs of iron, and thou didst open again the sluices of water, at the prayer of thy servant Elijah; and thy hand is not shortened, and thy mercies have no limit.

According to the present need of rain or fair weather respectively.

II.

Open thy hand, O God, and fill us with thy lovingkindness, that the mower may fill his hand, and he that bindeth up the sheaves, his bosom,-that our garners may be full with all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our oxen may be strong to labour, that there be no breaking in, or going out, that our hearts may be replenished with food and gladness, that there be no complaining in our streets. Give us sufficient for this life; food and raiment, the light of thy countenance, and contented spirits; and thy grace to seek the kingdom of heaven and the righteousness thereof in the first place, and then we are sure all these things shall be added unto us. Grant the desires and hear the prayer of thy servants, for Jesus Christ's sake, our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.

[ocr errors]

Or this, upon the same Occasion, or in the Time of any other Judgment.

Almighty Father, Lord of heaven and earth, we have sinned and thou hast smitten us; and all our evils that we suffer, are drawn upon our heads by our own impious hands; let thy threatenings and thy judgments, thy love and thy fear, thy promises and thy precepts, work in thy servants an excellent repentance, and our repentance obtain thy favour, and thy favour remove the present evil [of drought, of immoderate rain, of murrain, of plague, of war, of sickness], from us; sanctify unto us thy rod, and support us with thy staff, and restore us to those comforts which we need, and which thou hast promised to give to them that love and fear thee, that repent of their sins, and beg for pardon through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

According to the present occasion.

A SHORTER FORM OF MORNING PRAYER
FOR A FAMILY.

A more private Office for the Family, to be said betimes in the
morning on Sundays, or at any hour of the morning upon the
other days of the week.

IN THE NAME OF OUR BLESSED LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS, OUR FATHER, ETC.

The Morning Hymn.

HEARKEN unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning. O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look

up.

Great is our Lord, and greatly to be praised; his eyes are ever upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faith

fulness reacheth unto the clouds.

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains, thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preservest both man and beast.

How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O Lord; therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light we shall see light.

According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise to the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.

The Lord, the Lord God is merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.

What is man that thou shouldst magnify him, and that thou shouldst set thy heart upon him?

[ocr errors]

And that thou shouldst visit him every morning, and try him every

moment!

If thou wouldst seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty:

« הקודםהמשך »