Min. Be unto him, O Lord, a strong tower, Answ. From the face of his enemy. Min. O Lord, hear our prayers; Answ. And let our cry come unto thee. Minister. O Lord, look down from heaven, behold, visit, and relieve this thy servant. Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy, give him comfort and sure confidence in thee, defend him from the danger of the enemy, and keep him in perpetual peace and safety; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Hear us, Almighty and most merciful God and Saviour; extend thy accustomed goodness to this thy servant who is grieved with sickness. Sanctify, we beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction to him; that the sense of his weakness may add strength to his faith, and seriousness to his repentance: that, if it shall be thy good pleasure to restore him to his former health, he may lead the residue of his life in thy fear, e Man. Sarisb. fol. 88. Vers. Esto ei, Domine, turris fortitudinis, Resp. A facie inimici. Vers. Domine, exaudi orationem meam; Resp. Et clamor meus ad te veniat c. Respice, Domine, de cœlo, et vide et visita hunc famulum tuum N. Et benedic eum sicut benedicere dignatus es Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob. Respice super eum, Domine, oculis misericordiæ tuæ, et reple eum omni gaudio et lætitia et timore tuo. Expelle ex eo omnes inimici insidias, et mitte Angelum pacis qui eum custodiat et domum istam in pace perpetua. Per Christum Dominum nostrum d. Exaudi nos, omnipotens et misericors Deus, et visitationem conferre digneris super hunc famulum tuum N. quem diversa vexat infirmitas; visita eum Domine sicut visitare dignatus es socrum Petri puerumque centurionis, et Tobiam et Saram per sanctum angelum tuum Raphaelem. Restitue in eo, Domine, pristinam sanitatem, ut mereatur in atrio domus tuæ dicere, castigans castigavit me Dominus, et morti d Ibid. fol. 89. Answ. That put their trust in thee. Min. Send unto them help from above. Answ. And evermore mightily defend them. Min. Help us, O God our Saviour. Answ. And for the glory of thy name deliver us; be merciful to us sinners, for thy name's sake. Min. O Lord, hear our prayer. Answ. And let our cry come unto thee. Deus meus, sperantes in te. Mitte eis, Domine, auxilium de sancto. Et de Syon tuere eos. Adjuva nos Deus salutaris noster. Et propter gloriam nominis tui, Domine, libera nos et propitius esto peccatis nostris propter nomen tuum. Domine, exaudi orationem meam. Et clamor meus ad te veniat i. The following prayers are derived from formularies of great antiquity, being very like prayers not only used on this occasion in the missals of Salisbury and York, but found in the sacramentary above alluded to, and in the sacramentary of Gelasius, A. D. 494. passion upon all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made; who wouldest not the death of a sinner, but that he should rather turn from his sin, and be saved; mercifully forgive us our trespasses; receive and comfort us, who are grieved and wearied with the burden of our sins. Thy property is always to have mercy; to thee only it appertaineth to forgive sins. Spare us therefore, good Lord, spare thy people, whom thou hast redeemed; enter not into judgment with thy servants, who are vile earth, and miserable sinners; but so turn thine anger from us, who meekly acknowledge our vileness, and truly repent us of our faults, and so make haste to help us in this world, that we may ever live with thee in the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. odisti eorum quæ fecistik.... Domine Deus noster, qui offensione nostra non vinceris sed satisfactione placaris, respice quæsumus super famulos tuos: qui se tibi graviter peccasse confitentur: tuum est enim absolutionem criminum dare, et veniam præstare pœnitentibus, qui dixisti pœnitentiam te malle peccatorum quam mortem. Concede ergo, Domine, his famulis tuis ut tibi pœnitentiæ excubias celebrent, ut correctis actibus suis, conferri sibi a te sempiterna gaudia gratulentur. Per &c.1 These prayers are followed by a supplication, which is said by the clergy and people, and a benediction. The former of these was originally entitled an anthem, and was to be sung. It seems to have been in part derived from the anthems which formerly concluded the office in the Salisbury missal. It is now appointed to be said by all, in imitation of the direction given in the second chapter of the prophet Joel. k Miss. Sar. fol. 30. 1 Ibid. Miss. Ebor. Sacr. Gelasii Murat. tom. i. p. 504. bonorum gratiæ, quæ fiunt in ecclesia, et omnes qui communicant cum justis hic in gratia communicaturos cum eis in The sick person shall answer, All this I steadfastly believe. Then shall the minister examine whether he repent him truly of his sins, and be in charity with all the world; exhorting him to forgive, from the bottom of his heart, all persons that have offended him; and if he hath offended any other, to ask them forgiveness; and where he hath done injury or wrong to any man, that he make amends to the uttermost of his power... The minister should not omit earnestly to move such sick persons as are of ability to be liberal to the poor. Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter. VOL. II. gloria. Deinde respondeat infirmus, Credo firmiter in omnibus .. Deinde dicat sacerdos, Charissime frater, quia sine charitate nihil tibi proderit fides, testante apostolo, qui dicit: Si habuero omnem fidem ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habuero, nihil sum; ideo oportet te diligere Dominum Deum tuum super omnia ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et proximum tuum propter Deum sicut teipsum. Nam sine hujusmodi charitate nulla fides valet. Exerce igitur charitatis opera dum vales et si multum tibi affuerit, abundanter tribue, si autem exiguum illud impartire stude. Et ante omnia si quem injuste læseris, satisfacias si valeas, si autem non valeas, expedit ut ab eo veniam humiliter postules. Dimitte debitoribus tuis et illis qui in te peccaverunt: ut Deus tibi dimittat. . . . Charissime frater, si velis ad visionem Dei pervenire, oportet omnino quod sis mundus in mente et purus in conscientia. Ait enim Christus in evangelio, Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Si ergo vis mundum Q After which confession the priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to his church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee thine offences: and by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. cor et conscientiam sanam habere, peccata tua universa confiteres.... Deinde absolvat sacerdos infirmum ab omnibus peccatis suis hoc modo dicens: Dominus noster Jesus Christus pro sua magna pietate te absolvat. Et ego auctoritate ejusdem Dei Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli: et auctoritate mihi tradita, absolvo te ab omnibus peccatis his de quibus corde contritus et ore mihi confessus es: et ab omnibus aliis peccatis tuis de quibus si tuæ occurrerent memoriæ libenter confiteri velles : et sacramentis ecclesiæ te restituo. In nomine Patris et Fi. lii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. The prayer which immediately follows the preceding form, is in fact the original absolution which has been given to dying penitents for more than thirteen hundred years in the western churches. This ancient absolution or reconciliation of a penitent near death is not only found in the old formularies of the English church, where it was used long before the preceding indicative form was introduced, but in the sacramentary of Gelasius, A. D. 494; and for many centuries was commonly used in the churches of the west. g Man. Sarisb. fol. 90, 91. h Ibid. fol. 91. |