fatherless, the strangers and the friendless, the oppressed and the grieved, the decrepit and sickly, the young men and the tempted, the weak of heart and the weak in body, them that languish and them that are dying; relieve their necessities, comfort their sorrows, sanctify their calamities, strengthen their weaknesses, and suffer not the devil to prevail over them in the days of their sorrow and disadvantage: and, in thy due time, deliver them from their sad bondage into thy glorious liberty of the sons of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. VII. Be a guide to the travellers, a star and a port to mariners, the comfort and strength of miners and galley-slaves. Pity, good God, all gentlemen that are fallen into poverty and sad misfortunes; strengthen and deliver all women that are in sharp and dangerous labour; all them that roar and groan with intolerable pains and noisome diseases: have mercy and compassion upon all, that are afflicted with illusion of the night and frightful apparitions; that are haunted or possessed with evil spirits, or troubled with despairing or amazed consciences, with the stone and with the gout,—with violent cholics and grievous ulcers: give them pity and give them patience, a speedy deliverance from their calamity, and a sanctified use of the rod of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. VIII. We pray unto thee, O blessed Father, in behalf of all that are in banishment and captivity, in fetters or hard services, in want or extreme poverty, in great fear or in any great passion. Keep them from sinning against thee, and from being swallowed by too great a sorrow. Let the accidents of their lives be under the command of reason, and of thy Holy Spirit, and end in holiness and comfort, in peace and joys eternal; through the mercies of our God, in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. For Preservation from Danger and Evil. IX. Keep us, O God, from famine and pestilence, from earthquakes and inundations, from fire and sword, from invasion by foreign enemies and from civil wars, from false religion and from discountenancing the true : let every Christian soul find pity at the throne of grace: let all our errors and ignorances find pardon by Christ, and remedy by the Holy Spirit of Christ; hear all our prayers, relieve all our necessities, sanctify all the events of thy providence, and the changes of our life, that we may for ever love and for ever fear thee, and all things may work together for our good unto thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Blessing. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communication of the Holy Spirit of God, be with us, and with all our relatives, and with all the servants of God, this day, and for evermore. Amen. EVENING PRAYER, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. Say one or more of these Sentences. O LORD the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee, shall be ashamed, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us; have mercy upon us for thy name's sake; for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against thee. Seek the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, when he is near. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the remnant of the transgression of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon, Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy,-I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to renew the hearts of them that are contrite. After which add this short Exhortation. I beseech you that are present, to join with me in an humble confession of sins to Almighty God, casting yourselves down with all humility before the throne of grace. The Confession. I. ALMIGHTY GOD, powerful and merciful, thou art a jealous God against persevering sinners, but a gracious Father to the penitent let thy merciful ears be opened to the petitions of thy servants, who, with sorrow and shame, confess their sins unto thee. II. We have loved the world, not thee: we have obeyed the desires of our own hearts, not thy holy laws and commandments: we have often left our duty undone, but cease not to please our senses, and to feed greedily upon vanity: thou hast commanded us to love our brethren, and, instead of loving them, we have slandered and reproached, injured and tempted them, envied their good, and rejoiced in their calamity. III. O blessed God, we are ashamed when we remember our own follies, our violent passions, our peevishness and pride, our vain thoughts and unprofitable words, our uncharitable and useless conversation: we spend our days in idleness and folly, our nights in the images and causes of death; and though our sins are so many that we cannot number them, yet we so little apprehend our own dangers, that we neither leave them utterly nor heartily deplore them. IV. But, O God, thou God of pity and compassion, have mercy upon us for thou art our Father, merciful and gracious, and thou hast revealed to mankind an infinite mercy in Jesus Christ. For his sake be pleased to give us repentance, and to give us pardon, and grant that our souls being washed in the blood of the holy Lamb and the baptism of repentance, we may live a gracious, a holy, and a blessed life, in all godliness and honesty, and sobriety, and may die in the love of God, in the charity of our neighbours, in the communion of the church, and in a sure and certain hope of life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Prayer of Absolution, to be said by the Minister alone, according to his Piety and Discretion, when he sees cause. Our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, that Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, who promised Paradise to the repenting thief, and gave pardon to the woman taken in adultery,— pardon and forgive all your sins known and unknown. O blessed Jesus, in whatsoever thy servants as men bearing flesh about them, and inhabiting this world, or deceived by the devil, have sinned whether in word or deed, whether in thought or desire, whether by omission or commission, let it be forgiven unto them by thy word and by thy spirit; and for ever preserve thy servants from sinning against thee, and from suffering thine eternal anger, for thy promise' sake, and for thy glorious name's sake, O blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen. Then devoutly and distinctly say the Lord's Prayer. 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. The Doxology. Glory be to the Father of mercies, the Father of men and angels, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory be to the most holy and eternal Son of God, the blessed Saviour and Redeemer of the world, the Advocate of sinners, the Prince of peace, the Head of the church, and the mighty Deliverer of all them that call upon him. Glory be to the holy and eternal Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost the Comforter, the sanctifying and life-giving Spirit. All glory and thanks, all honour and power, all love and obedience, be to the blessed and undivided Trinity, one God eternal. The heavens declare thy glory: the earth confesses thy providence: the sea manifests thy power; and every spirit, and every understanding creature, celebrates thy greatness for ever and ever. All glory and majesty, all praises and dominion, be unto thee, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen. Then, arising from their knees, let the Psalms be said in order, unless Then read, upon all Sundays and Festivals of the year, a Chapter in the After the Lesson recite this Hymn. I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember the wonders of old: I will meditate of all thy works, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders, thou hast declared thy strength among the people. Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight, when thou art angry? For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red: it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them. But I will declare for ever: I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels, my praise shall be continually of thee. For the Lord is a sun and a shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: and no good thing will he withhold from them that live a godly life. |