A commendatory Prayer for a sick Person at the point of

departure.

ALMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of just men made perfect, after they are delivered from their earthly prisons; We humbly commend the soul of this thy servant, our dear brother, into thy hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator, and most merciful Saviour; most humbly beseeching thee, that it may be precious in thy sight. Wash it, we pray thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lamb, that was slain to take away the sins of the world; that whatsoever defilements it may have contracted in the midst of this miserable and naughty world, through the lusts of the flesh, or the wiles of Satan, being purged and done away, it may be presented pure and without spot before thee. And teach us who survive, in this, and other like daily spectacles of mortality, to see how frail and uncertain our own condition is; and so to number our days, that we may seriously apply our hearts to that holy and heavenly wisdom, whilst we live here, which may in the end bring us to life everlasting; through the merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for a Person troubled in mind or in conscience.

BLESSED Lord, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, We beseech thee, look down in pity and compassion upon this thy afflicted servant. Thou writest bitter things against him, and makest him to possess his former iniquities; thy wrath lieth hard upon him, and his soul is full of trouble. But, O merciful God, who hast written thy holy Word for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of thy holy Scriptures, might have hope; give him a right understanding of himself, and of thy threats and promises; that he may neither cast away his confidence in thee, nor place it any where but in thee. Give him strength against all his temptations, and heal all his distempers. Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure; but make him to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Deliver him from fear of the enemy,

and lift up the light of thy countenance upon him, and give him peace, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer which may be said by the Minister in behalf of all present at the visitation.

GOD, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered; Make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us through this vale of misery, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives: That, when we shall have served thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of the Catholic Church; in the confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favour with thee our God, and in perfect charity with the world. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer which may be said in case of sudden surprise and immediate danger.

MOST gracious Father, we fly unto thee for mercy in behalf of this thy servant, here lying under the sudden visitation of thy hand. If it be thy will, preserve his life, that there may be place for repentance; but if thou hast otherwise appointed, let thy mercy supply to him the want of the usual opportunity for the trimming of his lamp. Stir up in him such sorrow for sin, and such fervent love to thee, as may in a short time do the work of many days: That among the praises which thy saints and holy angels shall sing to the honour of thy mercy through eternal ages, it may be to thy unspeakable glory, that thou hast redeemed the soul of this thy servant from eternal death, and made him partaker of the everlasting life, which is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Thanksgiving for the beginning of a recovery. REAT and mighty God, who bringest down to the grave, and bringest up again; We bless thy wonderful goodness, for having turned our heaviness into joy and our mourn

ing into gladness, by restoring this our brother to some degree of his former health. Blessed be thy Name that thou didst not forsake him in his sickness; but didst visit him with comforts from above; didst support him in patience and submission to thy will; and, at last, didst send him seasonable relief. Perfect, we beseech thee, this thy mercy towards him; and prosper the means which shall be made use of for his cure That being restored to health of body, vigour of mind, and cheerfulness of spirit, he may be able to go to thy house to offer thee an oblation with great gladness; and to bless thy holy Name for all thy goodness towards him; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without

end. Amen.

THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK.

¶ Forasmuch as all mortal men are subject to many sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life; therefore, to the intent they may be always, in readiness to die, whensoever it shall please Almighty God to call them, the Ministers shall diligently from time to time (but especially in the time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness) exhort their parishioners to the often receiving of the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, when it shall be publicly administered in the Church; that so doing, they may, in case of sudden visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. But if the sick person be not able to come to the Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Communion in his house; then he must give timely notice to the Minister, signifying also how many there are to communicate with him, (which shall be one at the least;) and all things necessary being prepared, the Minister shall there celebrate the Holy Communion, beginning with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, here following, the Minister first pronouncing.

PRAISE the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

Praise

For his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. the LORD.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY, everliving God, Maker of mankind, who dost

correct those whom thou dost love, and chastise every one whom thou dost receive; We beseech thee to have mercy upon this thy servant visited with thine hand, and to grant that he may take his sickness patiently, and recover his bodily health, if it be thy gracious will; and that whensoever his soul shall depart from the body, it may be without spot presented unto thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. Heb. xii. 5.

My son, despisthou art rebuked of him.

Y son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

VER

The Gospel. St. John v. 24.

ERILY, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

After which the Minister shall proceed according to the form before prescribed for the Holy Communion, beginning at these words, Ye who do truly, &c.

In the times of contagious sickness or disease, or when extreme weakness renders it expedient, the following form shall suffice:

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel.

"Ye who do truly," etc.

The Confession and the Absolution.

The Prayer of Consecration, ending with these words,—

"partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood."

The Communion.

"Our Father," etc.

The Benediction.

At the time of the distribution of the Holy Sacrament, the Minister shall first receire the Communion himself, and after minister unto those who are appointed to com municate with the sick, and last of all to the sick person.

But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in due time to the Minister, or for lack of company to receive with him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, the Minister shall instruct him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and steadfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the Cross for him, and sheď k zs Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefor, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his Soul's health, although he do not receive th e Sacrament with his mouth.

When the sick person is visited, and receiveth the Holy Communion all at one time. then the Minister, for more expedition, shall cut off the form of the Visitation at the Psalm, and go straight to the Communion.

In the times of contagious sickness or disease, when none of the Parish or neighbouS can be gotten to communicate with the sick in their houses, for fear of the infection, upon special request of the diseased, the Minister alone may communicate with him. This Office may be used with aged and bed-ridden persons, or such as are not able attend the public Ministration in Church, substituting the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for the Day, for those appointed above.

to

THE ORDER FOR

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

Here it is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any unbaptized adults, any who die excommunicate, or who have laid violent hands on themselves. The Minister, meeting the Corpse at the entrance of the Churchyard, and goin g before it, either into the Church, or towards the Grave, shall say, or sing,

AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. St. John xi. 25, 26.

KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Job xix. 25, 26, 27.

JE brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the LORD. 1 Tim. vi. 7. Job i. 21.