of thy visitation: strengthen our faith in the day of our sicknesses and trial, when the cloud is thick and the storm is great: that we may rely upon thy grace, invocate thy mercies, hope in thy goodness, and receive the end of our hopes, the salvation of our souls. O let us never descend into the dwellings of the wicked, nor into the place of them that know not God; but be pleased here to guide us with thy counsel, and after that receive us with thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Or this. O eternal God, thou Fountain of life and pardon, there is no number of thy days nor of thy mercies; be merciful unto us now and at the hour of our death; let not thy servants be arrested with sudden death, that we be neither unready in our accounts, nor snatched hence with an imperfect duty, nor surprised in an act of sin, nor called upon when our lamps are untrimmed; let it be neither violent nor untimely, hasty, nor unblessed, but after the ordinary visitation of men, having in it an excellent patience and an exemplar piety, and the greatest senses and demonstrations of thy eternal mercies. Preserve, O God, our reason and religion, our faith and our hope, our sense and our speech, perfect and useful till the last of our days; and grant that we may die the death of the righteous, and let our last end be like to his, free from debt and deadly sin, having first discharged all our obligations of justice, and made competent provision for our relatives, that none of ours be left miserable and unprovided in our departure; but grant that being blessed by thy providence, and sanctified with thy Spirit, they may for ever be servants of the Lord Jesus. II. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts, shut not up thy merciful eyes and ears unto our prayers; but spare us, O Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee; but strengthen us with a mighty grace, and support us with an infinite mercy, giving us perfect measures of repentance and great treasures of charity, that at the general resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in thy sight, and receive that blessing which thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all them that love and fear thee, saying, Come, ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' This mercy, O most merciful Father, vouchsafe to give unto us and all thy servants, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. Here may be inserted any of the portions of the Prayer of Intercession, which is at the end of Morning Prayer. The Blessing. : The Lord bless you and keep you: the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace. The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be amongst you and abide with you, and be your portion for ever and ever. Amen. To be added to the foregoing Offices upon special Occasions, immediately before the Blessing at Morning or Evening Prayer. A Prayer before Sermon. O LORD GOD, Fountain of life, Giver of all good things, who givest to men the blessed hope of eternal life by our Lord Jesus Christ, and hast promised thy Holy Spirit to them that ask him; be present with us in the dispensation of thy holy word [and sacraments], grant that we, being preserved from all evil by thy power, and, among the diversities of opinions and judgments in this world, from all errors and false doctrines, and led into all truth by the conduct of thy Holy Spirit, may for ever obey thy heavenly calling: that we may not be only hearers of the word of life, but doers also of good works, keeping faith and a good conscience, living an unblamable life, usefully and charitably, : This clause is to be omitted, if there be no sacrament that day. religiously 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. II. 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 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. 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. |