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 perseverance 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 indéed 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], a 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. a According to the present need of rain or fair weather respectively. a 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. 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. 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. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness 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? 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; If thou wert pure and upright,-surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. O Lord, be gracious unto us, we have waited for thee, be thou our arm every morning; our salvation also in the time of trouble. O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill, unto thy dwelling. O put your trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption: he shall redeem his people from their sins. Then shall their light break forth as the morning, and their health shall spring forth speedily; for the glory of the Lord shall be their rereward. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, If there be time and convenience, let a chapter be read out of the Sapiential books in order, viz. the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus. Then shall follow the Creed, to be said by all together. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;-And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Which was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right-hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.—I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy catholic Church: the communion of saints: The forgiveness of sins: The resurrection of the body: And the life everlasting. Amen. Minister. The Lord be with you. I. Let us pray. O eternal and most blessed Saviour Jesus, thou art the bright Morning-Star, and the Sun of Righteousness; thou |