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Collection of offices
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Genre
Prayer
Date
1657
Full Title
A Collection of offices or forms of prayer in Cases Ordinary and Extraordinary. Taken out of the Scriptures and the ancient Liturgies of several Churches, especially the Greek.
Source
Wing T300
The original format is octavo.
The original contains new paragraphas are introduced by indentation, symbols and pilcrows,first paragraphas are introduced by decorated initial,contains empty page / empty pages,contains footnotes,contains elements such as italics,
MORNING PRAYER, Throughout the YEARE.
HE that covereth his sins shall notprosper: but he that confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Prov. 28. 13.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and
forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against
him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the
Lord our God to walke in his lawes which
he hath set before us by his servants the prophets.
Dan. 9. 10.
If we say that we have no sin we deceive
our selves, and the truth is not in us. But if we
confesse our sins, he is faithfull and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousnesse 1 John 1. 8, 9.
The sacrifices of God, are a broken spirit;
a broken and a contrite heart, O God thou
wilt not despise. Psal. 51. 17.
Cast away from you all your transgressions
whereby ye have transgressed, and make you
a new heart, and a new spirit. For why will ye
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die?I have no pleasure in the death of himthat dieth, faith the Lord God. Wherefore
turne your selves and live ye. EZek. 18. 31,32.
After wich say,
Draw nigh therefore unto God, and he willdraw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands and
purifie your hearts. Humble your selves in the
sight of the Lord, and make a confession of
your sins unto him, with a hearty sorrow and a
humble hope, begging for pardon at the throne
of Grace.
Let us pray.
The Confession.
I.
O Almighty God, Great Lord of Heavenand Earth, we miserable sinners with fear
and shame cast our selves downe before thee,
humbly confessing our manifold sins and unsufferable
wickednesses, by which we have deserved
thy wrath, and that we should be separated
from the sweetest comforts of thy presence
for ever.
II.
We confesse O Great God we have sinnedagainst thee by knowledge and by ignorance,
by folly and by surprize, by word and deed,
by anger and desires, by night and by day, in
private and in publick, by the lusts of the flesh,
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and the vanity and pride of our spirits: oursins of omission are infinite, and the sins of
our tongue cannot be numbred; O God thy
words and lawes are holy, and thy judgements
are terrible; but we have broken all thy righteous
lawes and commandements, and we have
great cause to be afraid of thy severest judgements,
and where shall we appeare, when thou
art angry with us?
III.
But thou shalt answer for us, O Lord ourGod: Thou art our Judge, but thou art our
Redeemer; we have sin'd, but thou O Blessed
Jesus art our Advocate. Have mercy upon us;
have mercy upon us most miserable sinners;
Enter not into judgement with us least we
die, let not thine anger arise least we be consumed;
but spare us gracious Lord, spare thy
servants whom thou hast redeem'd with thy
most precious blood; O reserve not evil in
store for us against the day of vengeance, but
shew thy goodnesse in us, and let thy mercies
be magnified upon us; deliver us O Lord from
the power of sin; and preserve us from the
punishments of it through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
The Deprecation to be used upon solemn daies or at the discretion of him that ministers.
B 2
3
I.
O Lord our God whose power is infinite,whose glory is supreme, whose mercie is
without measure, whose goodnesse is unspeakeable,
despise not thy returning servants
who earnestly beg for pardon and to be reconciled
to thee: sanctify O God our bodies and
soules, search out our spirits, and cast out all
iniquity from within us; all weak principles
and false arguings, every impure lust and filthy
desire, all pride and envie, all hypocrisie and
lying, all inordinate love of this world, and
base Covetousnesse; all hardnesse of heart,
and unrelenting dispositions, all peevishnesse
and hasty anger, all mindfulnesse of injuries
and revengfulnesse, all blasphemy and irreligion;
and every motion of soule and body
which can withdraw us from thee, and is
against thy will and commandement.
II.
Gracious Father give us perfect pardon forwhat is past, and a perfect repentance of all our
evills, that for the time to come we may with
pure spirits, with broken and contrite hearts,
with sanctified lips and holy desires serve thee
religiously, walke humbly with our God, converse
justly and charitably with men, and
possesse our soules in patience and holinesse,
and our bodies in sanctification and honour
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
4
The prayer of absolution to be said by the Minister alone according to his piety and discretion when he sees cause, not frequently.
OUr Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, thegreat shepheard and Bishop of our soules,
that lamb of God who taketh away the sins of
the world, who promised paradise to the repenting
theife, and gave pardon to the woman
taken in adultery, he pardon and forgive all
your sins knowne and unknowne.
O Blessed Jesus, in whatsoever thy
servants as men bearing flesh about them, and
inhabiting this world, or deceived by the Devil,
have sinn'd, 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
Names sake, O Blessed Lord and Saviour
Jesus. Amen.
Then devoutly and distinctly say the Lords Prayer.
Our Father which art in heaven Hallowedbe thy Name Thy Kingdome come
Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven
B 3
5
Give us this day our daily bread Andforgive us our trespasses as we forgive them
that trespas 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 Fatherof Men and Angels, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Glory be to the most holy and eternall sonne
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 Eternall spirit of
God, the Holy Ghost the comforter, the sanctifying
and life-giving Spirit.
All Glory and thankes, all honour and power,
all love and obedience, be to the Blessed
and undivided Trinity, one God Eternall.
The Heavens declare thy glory: the Earth
confesses thy providence: the sea manifests thy
power; and every spirit, and every understanding
creature celebrates thy greatnesse 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.
6
Then arising from their knees let the Psalter beread in order as shall be judged convenient:
that is to say : The ordinary portions for every
day, Morning and evening prayer and Psalmes
particularly chosen for speciall dayes of festity,
or fo Humiliation, respectively.
After the Psalmes, ending with, Glory be to the
Father &c. Read a chapter in the old Testament.
The chapter out of the old Testament is
to be read on Sundaies and Festivals, ans not
omitted without great occasion: but on ordinary
daies, it may suffice after the Psalmes immediately
to reade the lesson out of the new
Testament.
After which recite this Hymne to the honour of God; saying the verses interchangeably.
REjoyce in the Lord ye righteous: forpraise is comely for the Upright.
The word of the Lord is true, and all his
works are faithfull.
He loveth righteousnesse and judgement:
the earth is full of the goodnesse of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord were the Heavens
made, and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth.
He gathereth the waters of the Sea together
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as an heape: he layeth up the depth instorehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear him: upon them that hope in his
mercie.
To deliver their soules from death: and
to keep them alive in the time of famine.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous:
but the Lord delivereth him out of all.
Evill shall slay the wicked: and they that
hate the righteous shall be desolate.
Incline not my heart to any evill thing, to
practise wicked works with Men that work
iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties:
Cause me to heare thy loving kindenesse
in the morning: for in thee do I trust: cause
me to know the way wherein I should walke:
for I lift up my soule unto thee.
Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my
God; thy spirit is good: lead me into the
Land of uprightnesse.
Gather not my soule with sinners: nor
my life with bloody men.
The poor man cried, and the Lord heard
him; and saved him out of all his troubles.
O tast and see that the Lord is good:
blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
O how great is thy goodnesse which thou
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hast laid up for them that fear thee; whichthou hast wrought for them that trust in thee,
before the sons of Men.
Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy
presence from the pride of Man, Thou shalt
keep them secretly in a pavillion, from the
strife of tongues.
O love the Lord all ye his Saints: for the
Lord preserveth the faithfull, and plentifully
rewardeth the proud doer.
Be of good courage and he shall strengthen
your heart, all you that hope in the Lord.
Glory be to the Father &c.
Or this.
SIng praises unto God, sing praises: singpraises unto our King, sing praises. For
God is the King of all the Earth: sing ye praises
with understanding.
God reigneth over the Nations: God
sitteth upon the throne of his holinesse.
He is our refuge and strength: a very present
helpe in trouble.
Many O Lord our God are thy wonderfull
workes which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are towards us: They cannot
be reckon'd in order.
For God is my King of old, working
salvation in the midst of the Earth.
Thou didst cleave the fountaine and the
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floud; thou driest up mighty rivers.The daye is thine, the night also is thine:
thou hast prepared the light and the Sunne.
Thou hast set all the borders of the
Earth, thou hast made Summer and Winter.
Give unto the Lord the glorie due unto
his name: worship the Lord in the beautie of
Holinesse.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters:
the God of glory thundreth, the Lord
is upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerfull:
the voice of the Lord is full of Majesty.
The voice of the Lord maketh the
hindes to calve, and discovereth the forests:
and in his temple doth every man speake of
his glory.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoyce ye
righteous: and shout for joy all ye that are
upright in Heart.
For this God is our God for ever and
ever, he will be our guide unto death.
Glory be to the Father. &c.
Then read a lesson out of one of the four Gospells,
or the Acts of the Holy Apostles: in order, or
by choice uüon extraordinary occasions.
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After which recite one of these following Psalmes
THe mighty God even the Lord hathspoken, and called the earth from the rising
of the sun unto the going downe thereof.
Out of Sion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined.
Our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence: a fire shall devour before him, and
it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
He shall call to the heavens from above,
& to the Earth that he may Judge his people.
And the heavens shall declare his righteousnesse,
for God is Judge himselfe.
His Name shall endure for ever: his
name shall be continued as long as the Sun:
and men shall be blessed in him: all Nations
shall call him blessed.
Blessed be the Lord God the God of
Israel who onely doth wondrous things.
And blessed be his Glorious Name for
ever: and let the whole Earth be filled with
his glory. Amen. Amen. Glory be to the Father
&c. As it was in the beginning &c.
Or this, to be said especially on Communion daies. Psalme. 23.
THe Lord is my Shepherd, I shal not want.He maketh me to lie down in Green
pasture, he leadeth me beside the still waters.
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He restoreth my soule: he leadeth me inthe paths of righteousnesse, for his Names
sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evill, for
thou art with me; thy rod and thy staffe they
comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the
presence of mine enemies, thou anointest my
head with oyle, my cup runneth over.
Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow
me all the daies of my life, and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever. Glory be to
the Father &c.
Then say the Apostles Creed or the Nicene creed if it be a great festival of the Church
I Believe in God the Father Almighty makerof Heaven and earth And in Jesus
Christ his onely son our Lord which was
conceived by the holy Ghost, borne of the
Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead and buried He descended
into hell The third day he rose againe
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 quicke and the Dead.
I believe in the holy Ghost The holy
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Catholick Church the communion of Saintsthe forgivenesse of sins the resurrection of
the body and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Nicene Creed to be said upon the great Solemnities of the yeare.
I Beleive in one God the Father Almighty,maker of Heaven and earth, and of all
things visible and invisible: and in one Lord
Jesus Christ, the onely begotten Sonne of
God, begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of light, very God of very
God begotten, not made, being of one substance
with the Father, by whom al things were
made: who for us men & for our salvation came
downe from heaven, and was incarnate by the
holy Ghost of the virgin Mary, and was made
man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate. He suffered, and was buried, and
the third day he rose againe according to the
Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth
on the right hand of the Father. And he
shall come againe with the glory to judge both the
quick & the dead: whose kingdome shall have
no end. And I beleive in the holy Ghost, the
Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from
the Father and the Son, who with the Father
and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,
who spake by the Prophets. And I believe
one Catholique and Apostolique Church. I
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acknowledge one Baptisme for the remission ofsins. And I looke for the resurrection of the
Dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
After the Creed.
Minister.
The Lord will be with you.People.
And with thy Spirit.Let us Pray.
OUr Father which art in heaven hallowedbe thy Name Thy Kingdome 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 trespasse against us And lead us not into
temptation But deliver us from evill. For
thine is the Kingdome, the power and the
Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
I.
O Great King of heaven and earth, theLord and patron of all ages, receive thy
servants approaching to the throne of grace
in the Name of Jesus Christ; give unto every
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one of us what is best for us, cast out all evillfrom within us, work in us a fulnesse of holinesse,
of wisedome and spiritual understanding,
that we increasing in the knowledge of
God may be fruitfull in every Good worke
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The collect for the morning.
II.
O Almighty Father great God of all theworld, who dwellest in the light to which
no man can approach, in thy presence there is
no night, in the light of thy countenance there
is perpetuall day: We thy servants whom
thou hast preserved this night, who blesse
and glorifie thee this day, who live by
thy power, who desire to walk by thy lawes,
to be blessed by thy providence, to be defended
by thy Almighty hand, humbly pray unto
thee that this day, and all the daies of our
lives may be holy and peaceable; send thy holy
spirit the spirit of peace, to be the guide of
our waie, the guard of our soules and bodies.
Grant that all the chances and accidents of
this day may be healthfull to our bodies, and
profitable to our soules; and that we may
spend the remaining portion of our life in
blessing and peace and holinesse. Make thou
the latter end of our daies to be Christian,
without shame & without torment; and when
15
we shall appeare before thy dreadfull seat ofJudgement grant that we may not be confounded,
but may stand upright in the congregation
of the Saints, acquitted by the death
of Christ, justified by his resurrection, pardon'd
by his sentence, saved by his mercy,
that we may rejoyce in his salvation, and sing
thy praises for ever and ever. Amen.
A prayer against temptations
III.
O God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,thy Name is great, thy essence is infinite,
thy goodnesse is eternal, and thy power hath
no limit; thou art the God and Lord of all,
Blessed for evermore; Looke downe in mercie
and compassion from thy dwelling, heare our
prayers and supplications, and deliver us from
all temptations of the world, the flesh, and
the Devill. Take not thy grace from us, let
us never want thy helpe in our needs, nor thy
comfort in the day of our danger and calamity.
Never try us beyond our strengths, nor
afflict us beyond our Patience, nor smite us
but with a Fathers rod We have no strengths
of our owne, thou art our confidence, our
rock and our strong salvation. Save us O God,
from the miseries of this world, and never
let us suffer the intolerable calamities of
the next. Rescue us from the evils we have
16
done, and preserve us from the evils we havedeserved, that we living before thee with clean
hearts, and undefiled bodies, and sanctified
spirits, may at the day of Judgement be presented
pure and spotlesse by the blood of the
lamb, that we may sing eternall Allelujahs in
heavenly places to the honour of God our
Saviour who hath redeemed our soules from
death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from
falling. Grant this in the richnesse of thy
mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Then shall be added upon all Sundaies and Festivals
of the yeare this following prayer: and upon
other daies as opportunitie is to be had: all or
The prayer for kings &c. and the state Ecclesiastical
are never to be omitted: but on ordinary
daies it may suffice to recite them omitting
so much of either as is included in the Columnes.
The prayer of intercession, for all states of Men
and Women in the Catholick Church.
I.
SAve us defend and keep us in thy fear andlove O thou God of mercy and grace:
Give unto us the light of thy countenance,
pardon of our sins, health of our body, sanctification
of our spirits, peace from heaven, and
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salvation of our soules in the day of our LordJesus. Amen.
For the Catholick Church.
II.
HEar our praiers for thy holy Church Catholickwhich thou hast redeemed with
thy blood, sealed and sanctified with thy spirit:
Extirpate all heresies and false doctrines,
unite all her divisions, let her be prosperous
under thy favour, and the protection of Kings
and Princes and the whole secular arme: that
she may daily celebrate thy Name, with
strict obedience, and pure spiritual sacrifices,
that she may be accepted and prevaile in her
daily and nightly prayers, and that the gates
of hell may never prevaile against her: let her
live in the spirit, and reigne in thy glory
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the supreme power.
III.
WE pray unto thee O great King of Heavenand earth for all Christian Kings,
Princes, Governours and states: Crowne
them with justice and peace, and with the
love of God, and the love of their people
let holinesse be the ornament of their heads;
invest them with the armour or righteousnesse,
and let the anointing from above make
18
them Sacred and venerable, wise and holythat being servants of the King of Kings,
friends of religion, Ministers of justice, and
patrons of the poor, they may at last inherit a
portion in the Kingdome of our Lord Jesus.
For the state Ecclesiastical.
IV.
REmember all them that doe the Lordsworke in the ministery and conduct of
soules. Give them great gifts and great holinesse
that wisely and charitably, diligently
and zealously, prudently and acceptably,
they may be guides to the blind, comforters
to the sad and weary, that they may strengthen
the weake, and confirme the strong, separate
the vile from the precious, boldly rebuke
sinne, patiently suffer for the truth, and be exemplary
in their lives that in all their
actions and sermons, in their discipline and
ministrations, they may advance the good of
soules, and the honour of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.
For all orders and states of men, &c.
V.
O Blessed God who art rich in mercie andcompassion, take care of all states of Men
and Women in the Christian Church, the
Nobility and Gentry, Magistrates and Judges,
C 2
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Advocates and Physicians, Merchants andArtificers, Husbandmen and Tradesmen, the
Labourers and the Hirelings: give them grace
in their several callings to glorifie thee, and
to keep a good conscience both towards God
and towards Man, that they may find eternal
comfort in the glorious day of our Lord
Jesus.
For the miserable and afflicted.
VI.
In mercie remember the poor and needy, thewiddowes and the Fatherlesse, the strangers
and the friendlesse, the oppressed and the
greived, the Decrepit and the sickly, the yong
men and the tempted, the weake of heart and
the weake in body, them that languish and
them that are dying; Releive their necessities,
comfort their sorrowes, sanctifie their
calamities, strengthen their weaknesses, and
suffer not the Devil to prevaile over them in
the daies 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 aport to Mariners, the comfort and strength
of Miners and Gallislaves. Pity good God,
all Gentlemen that are fallen into poverty and
20
sad misfortunes, strengthen and deliver allwomen that are in sharp and dangerous labour,
all them that roar and groane with intolerable
paines and noisome diseases: Have
mercy and compassion upon all that are afflicted
with illusion of the night and frightfull
apparitions, that are haunted or possessed
with evill spirits, or troubled with despairing
or amazed consciences, with the stone
and with the gout, with violent colics and
greivous 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 inbehalfe of all that are in banishment &
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 holinesse and comfort,
in peace and joyes eternall, through the
mercies of our God in our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Amen.
C 3
21
For the preservation from danger and evill.
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 warres, from false religion
and from discountenancing the true: let
every Christian soule find pity at the throne
of grace: let all our errors and ignorances
find pardon by Christ, and remedie by the
holy spirit of Christ; hear all our praiers, releive
all our necessities, sanctifie 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 worke together for
our Good unto thy glory through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
The blessing.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, andthe 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.
The end of Morning Prayer.
EVENING PRAYER, Throughout the YEARE.
22
EVENING PRAYER, Throughout the YEARE.
Say one or more of these Sentences.
O Lord the hope of Israel, all that forsakethee shall be ashamed, because
they have forsaken the Lord, the
fountaine of living waters.
O Lord though our iniquities testifie against
us, have mercy upon us for thy names
sake; for our backslidings are many, we have
sinned against thee.
Seeke the Lord while he may be found:
call upon him when he is neer.
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 mercie.
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.
23
Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabitseternity, 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
heart of them that are contrite.
After which adde his short exhortation.
I Beseech you that are present to joyne withme in a humble confession of sins to Almighty
God, casting your selves downe with
all humility before the throne of Grace.
The Confession.
I.
ALmighty God powerfull and mercifull,thou art a jealous God against persevering
sinners, but a gracious father to the penitent,
let thy mercifull eares be opened to
the petitions of thy servants who with sorrow
and shame confesse their sins unto thee.
II.
We have loved the world, not thee: wehave obeyed the desires of our owne hearts,
not thy holy laws and Commandements: we
have often left our dutie 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
24
them, envied their good, and rejoyced intheir calamity.
III.
O Blessed God we are asham'd when we rememberdour owne follies, our violent passions,
our peevishnesse and pride, our vaine
thoughts and unprofitable words, our uncharitable
and uselesse conversation: we spend
our daies in idlenesse 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 owne
dangers that we neither leave them utterly
nor heartily deplore them.
IV.
But O God thou God of pity and compassionhave mercy upon us: For thou art our
Father, mercifully 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 soules being wash'd in the blood of
the holy Lambe and the Baptisme of repentance,
we may live a gracious, a holy and a
blessed life, in all godlinesse 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 certaine
hope of life eternal, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
25
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 thegreat Shepherd and Bishop of our soules,
that lambe of God that taketh away the sins
of the world, who promised Paradise to the
repenting theife, and gave pardon to the woman
taken in adultery, he pardon and forgive
all your sins knowne and unknowne. O
Blessed Jesus in whatsoever thy servants as
men bearing flesh about them, and inhabiting
this world, or deceived by the Devill, have
sinn'd 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 eternall anger, for
thy promise sake, and for thy glorious Names
sake, O Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus.
Amen.
Then devoutly and distinctly say the Lords Prayer.
OUr Father which art in heaven Hallowedbe thy Name Thy Kingdome 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
26
that trespasse against us And lead us not intotemptation But deliver us from evill. For
thine is the Kingdome, the power and the
Glory, for ever. Amen.
The Doxology.
GLory be to the Father of mercies, the Fatherof Men and Angels, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Glory be to the most holy and eternall sonne
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 Eternall spirit of
God, the Holy Ghost the comforter, the sanctifying
and life-giving Spirit.
All Glory and thankes, all honour and power,
all love and obedience, be to the Blessed
and undivided Trinity, one God Eternall.
The Heavens declare thy glory: the Earth
confesses thy providence: the sea manifests thy
power; and every spirit, and every understanding
creature celebrates thy greatnesse 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.
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THen arisiong from their knees let the Psalme's be said in order unlesse some extraordinary occasion doe intervene: in which case let Psalmes be selected according to the occasion, or as is afterwards described, concluding with, Glory be to the Father. &c.
Then read upon all Sundaies and Festivals of the yeare a chapter in the old Testament; either in order or by choice.
After the lesson recite this Hymne.
I Will remember the workes of the Lord:surely I will remember the wonders of
old: I will meditate of all thy workes, and
talke 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 powreth out of the same: but the dregs
thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring
them out and drink them.
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But I will declare for ever: I will singpraises 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
wombe: thou art he that tooke me out of my
Mothers bowels, my praise shall be continually
of thee.
For the Lord is a sun and a sheild: the
Lord will give grace and glory: and no good
thing will he withhold from them that live a
godly life.
O Lord of Hosts; Blessed is the Man
that putteth his trust in thee. Glory be to the
Father &c.
Or this.
GOd is greatly to be fear'd in the assemblyof the Saints: and to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him.
Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when
the waves thereof arise thou stillest them.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is
thine: as for the world, and the fulnesse thereof,
thou hast founded them.
Justice and judgement are the habitation
of thy throne, mercy and truth shall go before
thy face.
For loe thine enemies O Lord, loe thine
enemies shall perish: all the workers of iniquity
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shall be scattered.The righteous shall flourish like a Palme
tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the
Lord, shall flourish in the Courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in their
old age: they shall be fat and flourishing.
To shew that the Lord is upright: he is
our rock, and there is no unrighteousnesse in
him. Glory be to the Father. &c.
Then read a lesson out of the Epistle of S. Paul, or any of the Canonical Epistles; in order or selected upün special occasions.
After the lesson, say this Psalme.
GIve eare O Lord unto my prayer: andattend to the voice of my supplications.
Turne us O God of our salvation, and
cause thine anger towards us to cease.
For thou Lord art good and ready to forgive,
and plenteous in mercy to all them that
call upon thee.
O Remember not against us former iniquities,
let thy tender mercies speedily prevent
us.
Helpe us O God of our salvation, for the
glory of thy name: deliver us and purge away
our sins for thy names sake.
Teach us thy way O God, and we will
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walke in thy truth: unite our hearts to fearthy Name.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that
we may rejoyce and be glad all our daies.
So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture
will give thee thankes for ever: we will
shew forth thy praise from generation to generation.
Glory be to the Father, &c.
Or this
IN thee O Lord doe I put my trust, let menever be ashamed: deliver me in thy
righteousnesse.
Into thy hand I commend my spirit; thou
hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth.
Make thy face to shine upon thy servants:
save us for thy mercies sake.
For great is thy goodnesse which thou
hast laid up for them that fear thee: which
thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee
before the sons of men.
The Angel of the Lord encamped round
about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
Thou art my hiding place, thou shalt
preserve me from trouble: thou shalt compasse
me about with songs of deliverance.
Thou makest darknesse and it is night,
wherein all the beasts of the forest doe creep
forth.
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O Lord how manifold are thy workes!in wisdome hast thou made them all: the earth
is full of thy riches.
The Glory of the Lord shall endure for
ever: the Lord shall rejoyce in his workes.
He appointed the moone for certaine seasons;
and the sun knoweth his going downe.
I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praise unto my God while I have
my being: my meditation of him shall be
sweet, I will rejoyce in the Lord.
I will both lay me downe in peace and
sleep: for thou Lord makest me dwell in safety.
Glory be to the Father, &c.
Or else say 103. Psalme, or the 91. or the 121.
Then shall follow the Apostles Creed.
I Beleeve in God the Father Almighty makerof Heaven and earth And in Jesus
Christ his onely son our Lord which was
conceived by the holy Ghost, borne of the
Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried He descended
into hell The third day he rose againe
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 quicke and the Dead.
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I believe in the holy Ghost The holyCatholick Church, the communion of Saints
the forgivenesse of sins the resurrection of
the body and the life everlasting. Amen.
Minister
The Lord be with you.People
And with thy Spirit.Let us Pray.
Our Father which art in heaven Hallowedbe thy Name Thy Kingdome 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.
I.
O Great King of heaven and earth, the Lordand patron of all ages, receive thy servants
approaching to the throne of grace in
the Name of Jesus Christ. Give unto every
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one of us what is best for us, cast out all evilfrom whithin us, work in us a fulnesse of holinesse,
of wisedome and spiritual understanding,
that we increasing in the knowledge of
God may be fruitfull in every Good worke
through Jesus christ our Lord. Amen.
Or this
SAve us, defend and keep us in thy fear andlove O thou God of mercy and grace. Give
unto us the light of thy countenance; pardon
of our sins, health of body, sanctification of our
spirits, peace from heaven, and salvation of our
soules in the day of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I.
For repetance and a Holy life
ALmighty God the fountaine of holinesseand felicity who by thy word and by thy
spirit dost conduct all thy servants in the
waies of peace and sanctity, inviting them by
promises, and winning them by love, endearing
them by necessities, and obliging them by the
perpetual testimonies of thy loving kindnesse,
grant unto us so truly to repent us of our sins,
so carefully to reforme our errors, so diligently
to watch over all our actions, so industriously
to doe all our duty, that we may never transgresse
thy Holy lawes willingly; but that it
may be the worke of our lives to obey thee,
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the joy of our soules to please thee, the satisfactionof all our hopes, and the perfection of
our desires to live with thee in the holinesse
of thy Kingdome of grace and glory through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
II.
For Peace.
O Almighty and most gracious Father whoart the fountaine of peace, and the Father
of Unions, we pray unto thee for peace,
for love, and for thy salvation. Let a holy
peace for ever dwell in our consciences. Let
peace and holinesse, and Gods blessing for
ever adorne, support and enlarge
this family. Let there
be peace and Union of minds
in all Christian assemblies, one
heart, and one voice, the same faith and an
eternal charity. Make warrs to cease in all the
world, that the peace and the designe of the
Gospel may be advanced, the lawes of the holy
Jesus may be obeyed, and his Name be magnified
in all the world for ever and ever. Amen.
III.
For all Christian Princes and the Ecclesiastical state.
ALmighty God who rulest in the Kingdomesof men, and in all events of the
world, defend those with thy mercy whom
thou hast adorned with thy power, lift up the
horne, advance the just interest of all Chistian
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Kings, Princes, and states by the power ofthy venerable and lifegiving passion.
Give unto all them who serve thee in the
ministeries of religion wisedome and holinesse,
the blessings of peace, and great abilities to
minister prosperously to the good of soules
by the power and aides of thy holy Spirit of wisdome.
IV.
Pardon all our sins; take away our iniquitiesfrom us all, and preserve us from all danger
and trouble, from need and persecution,
from the temptations of the Devill, from the
violence and fraud of all our enemies. Keep us
O God from sinning against thee, and from
suffering thy wrath, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
V.
The collect for the Evening
O Almighty Father who givest the Sun fora light by day, and the ordinances of the
Moone and of the Stars for a light by night,
vouchsafe to receive us this night and ever into
thy favour and protection, defending us
from all sad casualties and evill accidents, ruling
and governing us with thy holy spirit,
that all darknesse and hurtfull ignorance, all
infidelity and weaknesse of heart, all inordinate
fear and carnall affections may be remooved
36
far from us, that we being justifiedby the mercies of God in our Lord Jesus, may
be sanctified by thy spirit, and glorified by
thy infinite mercies in the day of the glorious
appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
VI.
For a blessed death.
O Most gracious and most holy Redeemerwho by dying for us becamest the author
of life unto us, and hast subdued all the
powers of hell and the grave, taking away the
sting of death and breaking in peices the powers
of darknesse; have mercy upon us now
and at the hour of our Death: Let thy holy
Spirit governe all our words and actions, our
thoughts and designes, our civill entercourse,
and the duties of religion; and grant to us so
perfectly to obey his commandements, and attend
his motions all the daies of our life, that
we may by holy habits and a constant performance
of our dutie waite for the coming of
our Lord, and be ready to enter with him at
whatsoever hour he shall come.
VII.
O be mercifull unto us in the day of our calamity,and of thy visitation: strengthen our
faith in the day of our sicknesses & trial, when
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the Cloud is thicke & the storme is great: thatwe may rely upon thy grace, invocate thy mercies,
hope in thy goodnesse, and receive the end
of our hopes the salvation of our soules. O Let
us never descend into the dwellings of the
wicked, nor into the place of them that know
not God; but be pleas'd here to guide us with
thy councell, and after that receive us with thy
glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Or this.
O Eternall God thou fountaine of life andpardon, there is no number of thy daies
nor of thy mercies; be mercifull 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
lampes are untrimm'd; 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 eternall mercies. Preserve O God our
reason and religion, our faith and our hope,
our sense and our speech perfect and usefull
till the last of our daies, and grant that we
may die the death of the righteous, and let
our last end be like to his, free from debt and
38
deadly sin, having first discharg'd all our obligationsof 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 the providence,
and sanctified with thy spirit, they
may for ever be servants of the Lord Jesus.
II.
Thou knowest Lord the secrets of ourhearts, shut not up thy mercifull eyes and eares
unto our prayers, but spare us O Lord most
holy, O God most mighty, O holy and mercifull
Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternall,
suffer us not at our last hour for any paines
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 generall resurrection of the last day
we may be found acceptable in thy sight, and
receive that blessing which thy welbeloved
son shall then pronounce to all them that love
and feare thee, saying, Come ye Blessed children
of my Father, receive the kingdome prepared
for you from the beginning of the
world. This mercy O most mercifull Father
vouchsafe to give unto us and all thy servants
through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer.
Amen.
39
Here be inserted any of the portions of the prayer of intercession, which is at the en of Morning Prayer.
The Blessing.
The Blessing.
THe Lord blesse you and keep you: TheLord 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.
The end of Evening Prayer.
40
To be added to the foregoing Office upon speciall occasions immediately before the blessing at Morning or Evening Prayer.
A prayer before Sermon.
O Lord God fountaine of life, giverof all good things who givest to
men the blessed hope of eternall
life by our Lord Jesus Christ, and
hast promised thy holy Spirit to them that
aske 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 onely hearers of the word
of life, but doers also of good workes, keeping
faith and a good conscience, living an unblameable
life, usefully and charitably, religiously and
prudently in all godlinesse 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
41
eternall hymnes to the glory of thy name ineternal ages, though Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
In whose name let us pray in the words
which himselfe commanded. saying,
OUr Father which art in heaven Hallowed
be thy Name Thy Kingdome 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 trespasse against us And lead us not into
temptation But deliver us from evill. For
thine is the Kingdome, 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, ourLord and Master, the Father of mercy and
the God of all comfort, we humbly present to
thee the sacrifice of a thankfull spirit in a joyfull
acknowledgment of those infinite favours,
by which thou hast supported our state, enriched
our spirits, comforted our sorrowes,
releiv'd our necessities, blessed and defended
our persons, instructed our ignorances and
promoted our eternall interest. We praise
thy name for that portion of thy holy word
of which thou hast made us partakers this
42
day. Grant that it may bring forth fruit untothee, and unto holinesse in our whole life, to
the glory of thy holy name, the edification of
our Brethren, and the eternall comfort of our
soules in the day of our Lord Jesus.
II.
Have mercy upon all that desire, and uponall that need our praiers. Ease the paines of
the sick, support the spirit of the disconsolate,
heare the cries of Orphans and Widdowes 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 remembring
them that are appointed to die, comfort
and support their spirits, perfect and accept
their repentance, and receive the soules returning
unto thee, whom thou hast redeemed with
thy most precious blood.
III.
Lord pity and pardon, direct and blesse,sanctify and save us all. Give repentance to all
that live in sinne, 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.
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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 Lords prayer: and the Sermon to begin immediately before blessing.
The Sermon being ended; the prayer of thankesgiving may be said, and the congregation dismissed with the blessing set downe as the end of Evening Prayer
A prayer when a sick person desires to be publikely prayed for.
I.
O Almighty and most gracious Father whoart the fountaine of life and health and
pardon, hear the prayers of thy servants
in behalfe of our Brother or Sister the miserable
for the afflicted, of sinners for him or
her whom thou hast smitten. Lord lay no
more upon him then thou shalt enable him to
beare, but give him patience; and doe thou
thy selfe open a door for his escape, even by a
holy and reformed life, and a speedy recovery,
or else by a blessed death, as thou in thy
infinite loving kindnesse shalt choose for thy
glory and his eternall interest.
II.
Lord give unto thy servant a perfect repentance44
and a perfect pardon of all his sins. Remembernot the errors of his youth, the weaknesse
of his spirit, the surprises of his life, and
the crimes of his choice: but joyne 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 thepowers of sinne, 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; restraine the power of
the enemy, that he may not prevaile against
the soule 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 soule to
mercy, to pardon, and eternal life through
thy mercies and for thy compassion sake, O
Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.
45
For seasonable weather in time of drowth, immoderate raine, or scarcity, or death of Cattel, &c.
O Lord God whose providence is universaland sufferest nothing to happen in vaine,
have mercy upon thy servants who have deserved
thy wrath and to suffer thy indignation
in every expression by which thou art pleas'd
to signifie it. Thou O God coverest the Heaven
with clouds, and preparest raine for the
earth; thou makest the grasse to growe upon
the mountains, and herbe for the use of men:
Thou givest fodder unto the cattel, and feedest
the young ravens that call upon thee;
Heare us O God who are thy servants, and
the sheep of thy pasture; we have indeed
wandered and gone astray, but doe thou be
mercifull unto us and bring us home to thee:
Take away thine anger from us; Blesse the
labours of the husbandman, and the fruits of
the feild, refresh the weary earth with seasonable
showers or, seasonable
weather for thou hast the
key of raine, and the key of
providence, thou didst bind
up the heavens with ribs of
iron, and thou didst open againe the sluces of
water at the prayer of thy servant Elijah, and
46
thy hand is not shortned, and thy mercieshave no limit.
II.
Open thy hand O God and fill us with thyloving kindnesse, that the Mower may fill his
hand, and he that bindeth up the sheaves his
bosome, 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 replenish'd
with food and gladnesse, 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 seeke the Kingdom of heaven
and the righteousnesse thereof in the first
place, and then we are sure all these things
shall be added unto us. Grant the desires and
heare the prayer of thy servants for Jesus
Christ his sake our Lord and onely saviour.
Amen.
Or this upon the same occasion, or in the time of ano other judgement.
ALmighty Father, Lord of Heaven & Earth,we have sinned, and thou hast smitten us,
& al our evils that we suffer are drawne upon
our heads by our owne impious hands; let thy
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threatnings and thy judgments, thy love andthy feare, thy promises and thy precepts; worke
in thy servants an excellent repentance, and
let our repentance obtaine thy favour, and thy
favour remove the present evil of Drowth, of
immoderate raine, of Murren, of Plague, of Warre,
of Sicknesse from us according to the present
occasion; sanctify unto us thy rod, and support
us with thy staffe, and restore us to
those comforts which we need and which
thou hast promised to give to them that love
and feare thee, that repent of their sins, and
beg for pardon; through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen.
A shorter forme of Morning prayer for a Family.
A more private office for the family to be said betimes in the Morning on Sundaies, or at any houre of the morning upon the other daies of the weeke. In the name of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Our Father, &c.
The morning Hymne.
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 looke 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 faithfulnesse reacheth unto the clouds.
Thy righteousnesse is like the great
mountaines, thy judgements are a great deep:
O Lord thou preservest both man and beast.
How excellent is thy loving-kindnesse
O Lord, therefore the children of men put
their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
For with thee is the fountaine of life: in
thy light we shall see light.
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According to thy name O God, so isthy praise to the ends of the earth: thy right
hand is full of righteousnesse.
The Lord, the Lord God is mercifull
and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodnesse 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 shouldest magnifie
him, and that thou shouldest set thy
heart upon him?
And that thou shouldest visit him every
morning, and try him every moment!
If thou wouldest 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 righteousnesse prosperous.
O Lord be gracious unto us, we have
waited for thee, be thou our arme 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.
49
Then shall their light breake forth as themorning, and their health shall spring forth
speedily; for the glory of the Lord shall be
their reward.
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.
If there be time and conveniency, let a chapter be read out of the Sapiential bookes in order. viz. THe proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Wisedome of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus.
Then shall follow the Creed, To be said by all together.
I Beleeve in God the Father Almighty makerof Heaven and earth And in Jesus
Christ his onely son our Lord which was
conceived by the holy Ghost, borne of the
Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried He descended
into hell The third day he rose againe
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 quicke and the Dead.
I believe in the holy Ghost The holy
Catholick Church, the communion of Saints
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the forgivenesse of sins the resurrection ofthe body and the life everlasting. Amen.
Minister
The Lord be with youAnd with thy spirit.
I.
Let us pray.
O Eternall and most blessed Saviour Jesus,thou art the bright morning star, and the
sun of righteousnesse, thou dost enlighten our
eyes with thy beauties, and our hearts with
thy comfort and with the joyes of God, thou
art the fountaine of health and life, of peace
and truth, of rest and holinesse; thou givest to
them that want, thou comfortest them that
suffer, thou forgivest them that repent, and
hearest the prayers of all them that call upon
thee; we adore thee and praise thy glories,
and rejoyce in thy salvation, and give thee
thanks for thy blessing and defending us this
night, from all the evill which we have deserved
every day, and from all the violences and
snares by which the enemie of mankind would
51
have hurt us, or destroyed us, unlesse he hadbeen restrained by thy eternall goodnesse and
thy almighty power. Blessed be God.
II.
We acknowledge O God and Father of ourlife that we are lesse then the least of all thy
mercies, and our iniquity is greater then we
can bear: our thoughts are vaine, our words
are foolish and uselesse, injurious and uncharitable,
our actions criminall and hatefull; our
devotion cold, our passions violent and unreasonable;
our duties imperfect, our repentance
little, our holinesse none at all. O God our
Judge we confesse before thee that we neither
know thee as we ought, nor have taken care
that we might; we live in the world to our
selves, but without just regards of thee and of
religion; we daily receive thy blessings, and
yet we provoke thee every day; we tremble
not at thy judgements though we have deserved
them, nor fear till the evil day comes
upon us; we are greedy of doing evill, but
impatient of suffering any: in prosperity we
forget thy severity and justice: in afflictions
we are timorous and amazed, & dare not relie
upon thy goodnesse, nor with confidence and
love expect the effects of thy mercies and forgivenesse.
Every thing can tempt us to sin,
and we fall infallibly; but by all the arts of
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52
thy Spirit and the methods of thy mercy weare not brought to obey thee as we ought:
Our state is sad, our condition is sinfull, our
hopes are broken, and we often forget our
selves, and still neglect and despise our owne
danger.
III.
BUt O God our Father, mercifull, andgracious, have mercy upon us. Be pleased
to admit thy servants to a full pardon
of all our sins, let us not persevere in any
one sinne, nor passe from one sin to another.
Smite us not O God in thy anger, and
let not thy wrath descend upon our guilty
heads. Thy anger O God is insufferable, thy
vengeance is the portion of accursed soules,
and thou hast prepared the everlasting fire for
the Devill and his Angels for ever. O Lord
thou Father of our life and lover of soules,
let us never have our portion in the bottomlesse
pit, in the lake that burneth with fire
and brimstone for ever: but let our portion
be in the actions of repentance, in the service
of God, in the aids and comforts of thy Spirit,
in dutie and holinesse, in the light of thy
countenance, and in the likenesse and in the
inheritance of our Lord Jesus. O God let not
thy arrowes smite us, nor thy judgements consume
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us; keep us from all expressions of thywrath, and let us rejoice in thy mercies and
loving-kindnesses for ever and ever. Amen.
IV.
And that thy servants may reasonably andhumbly hope for thy final mercies and deliverance,
be pleased to give us all that we need
in order to the performance of our dutie, and
worke all that in us by which we may please
thee. Instruct us in thy truth, and prepare the
means of salvation for us, providing for the
necessities, and complying with the capacities
of every one of us. Take from us all blindnesse
of heart, and carelessenesse of spirit, all
irreligion, and wilful ignorance. Create in us
a love of holy things, and open our hearts that
we may perceive and love and retaine the
things of God with diligence, and humility
and industry. O God our Father, pity our
weaknesses & temptations, our avocations and
unavoidable divertisements, the prejudices
and evill contingencies happening in the state
of our lives: Enable us with sufficient and
active graces to doe whatsoever thou requirest
of us severally. Require no more of any
one of us then thou hast or shalt give unto us,
neither of us then thou hast or shalt give unto us,
neither doe thou exact all that; for we all
confesse our weaknesses and defects, our
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strange imperfections and inexcusable wandringsand omissions: but be pleased to cure
all our vitious inclinations; and take care to
remoove from us all those temptations which
without thy mighty grace are not to be avoided,
and if they come are by our weaknesses
not to be overcome. Keep us O God
from flattery and irreligion, from vicious complyances,
and evill customes, and let not the
reverence of any man cause us to sin against
thee; keep us upright in our religion and
worshippings of thee, and let no change of the
World engage us in a state of life against our
duty for Jesus Christ his sake our Dearest
Lord and Saviour.
V.
Keep us O God by thy holy Spririt of gracefrom all the sins of idlenesse and intemperance,
from injustice and sensuality, from the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, from
the pride of life and vanity of spirit, from
being carelesse of our dutie or false in our trust,
from breach of promise or reproachfull language,
from slandering or traducing any man,
from false accusation and false witnesse, from
faction and envie; Grant us thy grace that
we may be diligent in our businesse, just in
our charges, provident of our time, watchfull
in our dutie, carefull of every word we speak.
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O make us to be pleased in the offices of religion,usefull to those that imploy us, dutifull
to our superiors, loving to each other, conscientious
in private, humble in publick, patient
in adversity, religious and thankful in
prosperity.
VI.
O Blessed God take care of our soules, andof our bodies: keep us from sharp and tedious
sicknesses; let us never fall into want, or be
unprovided for in our age, and forsake us not
O God, when we are gray-headed; Grant
us great measures of thy Spirit, that we may
abstaine from all appearances of evill, and
from all occasions of it, and that we may take
care to doe whatsoever is honest and of good
report, that having laid up a treasure of good
workes against the day of thy visitation, we
may rejoyce in the day of our death, and find
mercy at the day of judgement, through the
goodnesse of our God, and by the grace of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
VII.
Blesse and sanctify, defend and save allChristian Kings, Princes, Governors and
States; Grant that all powers, Civil and Ecclesiasticall
may joyne together in the promoting
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the honour of God and the kingdome of theLord Jesus, and may find the blessings of God,
and the rewards of the Lord Jesus in this
world and in the world to come. Give health
and comfort, peace and holinesse, long life
and increase of grace to the cheifest of this
family his Wife and children
grant that their portion
may be in religion, and
the love of God, keep them from all evill by
the guard of Angels, and lead them into all
good by the conduct of thy good Spirit.
VIII.
In mercy and great compassion rememberall them that are miserable and afflicted, persecuted
or poore, that have lost their estates
or lost their liberty, their health or their peace,
their innocence or their hopes; restore them
O Lord to all good, and to all usefull comforts,
and let not the enemie of mankind invade thy
portion, or destroy any soule for whom thou
hast paid the price of thy most precious blood.
Hear us O God in mercy, and blesse all our
relations, and prosper all our labours, and
sanctify all our intentions, and forgive us all
our sins, and releive all our necessities, and
defend us from all dangers, and especially
from our own selves, form our evill habits,
57
and foolish customes, from our weake principlesand sad infirmities, from our evill concupiscence
and vitious inclinations, from the
power of the Devill, and from thy wrath, and
bring us in mercy and truth, in holinesse and
comfort, in labour and certainty to a fruition
of the glories of God, in the inheritance of
our blessed Saviour. Grant this O God our
Father, for the merits and by the redemption
and intercession of our Blessed Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Amen.
THe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the communication of
the holy Spirit of God be with us, defend and
guide, sanctify and save us, and al our relatives,
and all the servants of God this day and for
evermore. Amen.
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A short forme of Evening prayer for a family.
In the name of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus.
Our Father, &c.
The HYMNE.
O Lord our Lord how excellent isthy Name in all the Earth, thou
hast set thy glory above the Heavens.
When I consider thy heavens, the work
of thy fingers, the moone and the stars which
thou hast ordained.
What is man that thou art mindfull of
him, and the Son of man that thou visitest
him?
For thou hast made him little lower
then the Angels, and hast crowned him with
glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion
over the workes of thy hands: and hast put
all things under his feet.
All sheep and oxen, yea and the beasts
of the feild, the fowle of the aire, and the fishes
of the sea.
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O Lord our Governour how excellent isthy name in all the world!
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handy work.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night sheweth knowledge.
Their line is gone out through all the
earth, and their words to the end of the
world.
To the end that my glory may sing praise
to thee and not be silent: O Lord my God
I will give thankes unto thee for ever.
Shew me thy wayes O Lord, teach me
thy paths, lead me in thy truth and teach me;
for thou art the God of my salvation, on thee
doe I wait all the day.
Remember O Lord thy tender mercies
and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been
ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgression: according to thy mercy
remember thou me for thy goodnesse sake O
Lord.
For thy names sake O Lord pardon mine
iniquity, for it is very great: O keepe my soule
and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I
put my trust in thee.
That which I see not teach thou me:
I have done iniquity, but I will doe no more:
for there is no darknesse, nor shadow of
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death where the workers of iniquity mayhide themselves.
For his eyes are upon the wayes of man,
and he seeth all his goings: but none saith,
where is God my maker who giveth songs in
the night.
But I put my trust in thee O Lord; I
have said thou art my God?
Into thy hand I commend my spirit, thou
hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth.
I will lay me downe in peace: for thou
Lord only makest me dwell in safety.
Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
Or this,
PReserve me O God, for in thee doe I putmy trust: O my soule thou hast said unto
the Lord, thou art my Lord: my goodnesse
extendeth not to thee;
But to the Saints which are in the earth,
and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance
and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.
I will blesse the Lord who hath given
me counsell: my reines also instruct me in
the night seasons.
I have set the Lord alwaies before me:
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because he is at my right hand I shall not bemooved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my
glory rejoyceth: my flesh also shall rest in
hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soule in hell:
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy one to see
corruption.
Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in
thy presence is the fulnesse of joy, at thy
right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
As the heart panteth after the water
brookes, so panteth my soule after thee O
God.
My soule thirsteth for God, for the living
God; when shall I come and appeare in
the presence of God?
The Lord will command his loving-kindnesse
in the day time, and in the night
his song shall be with me; I will make my
prayer unto the God of my life.
For thou art the God that doest wonders;
thy way O God is in the sanctuary:
who is so great a God as our God?
Surely he shall deliver thee from the
snare of the Fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by
night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day.
For he shall give his Angels charge over
thee to keepe thee in all thy waies; they shall
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beare thee in their hands least thou dash thyfoot against a stone.
I will remember thee upon my bed, and
meditate on thee in the night-watch; for thou
hast been my health, therefore in the shadow
of thy wings will I rejoyce:
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth
us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.
He that is our God is the God of salvation:
and unto God the Lord belong the
issues of death.
Also unto thee O Lord belongeth mercy:
for thou rendrest to every man according
to his worke.
Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.
The Lesson.
1 Thessal. 5.2.YOur selves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so commeth as a theife in the
night. For when they shall say, peace and
safety, then sudden destruction commeth upon
them, as travail upon a woman with child:
and they shall not escape, But ye brethren
are not in darknesse, that that day should
overtake you as a theife; ye all are children
of the light and children of the day: we are
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63
not of the night or of darknesse? Thereforelet us not sleepe as doe others; but let
us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night. But let us who
are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for an helmet the
hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed
us to wrath; but to obtaine salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ: Who died for
us, that whether we wake or sleepe, we should
live together with him.
Or read a chapter in the Sapintiall bookes
in order.
After the lesson recite the Creed.
I beleive in God the Father Almighty, &c.
The Lord be with you.Ans.
And with thy Spirit.Let us Pray.
I.
The confession of sins taken out of the prayer of S. Ephraim the Syrian.
O Almighty God who dwellest in the inaccessiblelight, before whom the greatest
mountaines are like the dust of the ballance
64
and in whose sight the heavens are not pure,and the Angels tremble, and the Saints are
charg'd with folly, and all the world shall feare
in thy glorious presence; we confesse to thee
"O Lord, Father of heaven and earth, all
those sins which we have wrought in private
and in publick; for thou knowest all
things, and nothing is hid from thy righteous
eyes. Thou art the God of mercy and
pity, and thou wouldst have all, even strangers
to be sav'd; we fly therefore unto thee
who art the lover and Saviour of all the soules
of the faithfull. Have pity upon us who
have many times imbitterd and greiv'd thy
most holy spirit, to the joy of our enemies
and the sad ruine of our pitiable and wounded
soules. Behold O God we have been
dead in sins and trespasses, and servants to
thy enemy." There is no kind of sins but we
have committed, or would have committed;
If it were pleasant, we cared not for the
foulness, but if we were tempted we did fall;
and where we did fall, there we did love to
lie; we have sinn'd worse then the adulteresse
or the theife, more then the publican
or the prodigal, oftner then David or Manasses:
we have sinn'd against greater mercies,
a more determin'd conscience, a better law, a
clearer revelation, more terrible threatnings,
and better, much better promises.
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65
II.
"We know O God and tremble at the sadremembrance, that all our sins shall be plac'd
before our faces at the day of thy dreadfull
appearance; O looke upon us with a mighty
pity, let not the Angel of wrath snatch our
precious soules from thy beatifick presence;
Take not the sweet refreshments of thy
Spirit from us one houre. O Dearest Lord,
thou lover of soules, take not our lives from
us while our soules are unprepared and unready,
unexcus'd and unpardon'd; for thou
knowest the abysse of our sins, and thou
knowest what is that abysse of flames and
anger which is prepared for foolish and unwary
soules."
III.
Most Blessed Saviour Jesus thou gavest thylife to redeeme us from death; and thou art
the Judge of those actions for which thou
wert a sacrifice; and to give sentence upon
those men for whom thou art an advocate
and makest perpetuall intercession: O
suffer us not to fall under thine eternall anger;
destroy the whole body of sin in us; bring
our understandings into the obedience of God,
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our affections under the dominion of reason,our reason into a perfect subordination to thy
Holy Spirit; that we may love thee and feare
thee, and by repentance and charity may enter
into thy favour, and dwell there by a holy
perseverance all our daies, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
IV.
The Prayers.
DOe thou open our eyes that we may seeour own vilenesses and forsake them, and
our foolish errors that we may amend them,
and all our infirmities that we may watch against
them, and all our dutie that we may
pursue it earnestly and passionately, prudently
and intirely, presently and for ever. Cause
us to returne to our duty with greater fervor
and devotion then ever we have sinn'd against
thee with pleasure and delight, and as we have
dishonourd thee by our unworthinesse, so grant
that we may glorifie thee tentimes more, weeping
bitterly for our sins, watching against them
strictly, hating them infinitely, and forsaking
them utterly. O grant that we may
every day renew our repentances and vowes
of a better life, and make us to doe every day
what we promise, and what is our dutie; so imprinting
a holy religion and a severe repentance
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67
in our spirits, that we may confesse oursins with a reall and humble sorrow, and beg
for pardon because we desire it, and aske for
thy helpe because wee will make use of it, and
number our sins because wee will leave them,
not resting in formes of godlinesse, but living
in the power of it, in love and duty, in holinesse
and godly choice through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
V.
MOst Gracious God and Father imprint inour hearts great apprehensions of thy
power and thy glories, of thy judgement and
thy mercies; of our sins and of our change
approaching, of our fugitive life and the day
of our death, of our duty and our danger, and
the inexpressible terrors of the day of Judgement;
and in proportion to such apprehensions
teach us O God to walke in this world with
fear and caution, with hope and purity, with
diligence and devotion, religiously and usefully,
humbly and charitably, with love and
obedience to thee, with love and Justice to
our neighbours, with sober spirits and chast
bodies, with temperance and peace, with faith
and patience, with health and holinesse, in
the favour of God and the friendlinesse of our
neighbours, in the communion of the Church,
and in obedience to all good lawes; that we
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being blessed by thy providence, defended bythy ministring Angels, conducted by thy good
Spirit, instructed by thy word, nourished by
the body of Christ, cleansed by his blood,
and clothed with his righteousnesse, may
grow from grace to grace in the increase of
God to the fulnesse of Christ, being subjects
of thy Kingdome of grace in this world, and
heirs of the Kingdome of glory in the world
to come through Jesus Christ our Lord.
VI.
GIve us pardon, O thou God of mercy andpeace, for all the errors and follies, the
ignorances and omissions, the rash words and
imprudent actions of which any of us hath
been guilty this day or at any time before; we
confesse our sins every day, and yet every day
sin aginst thee; and we pray unto thee for all
the blessings that we neede, and thou givest us
all that we pray for and much more; but yet
we regard thee not, but every day have new
matter of shame and sorrow.
Lord have mercy upon us.
Christ have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.
FOr if thou Lord wilt be extreme to marke
what is done amisse, we shall not be able to
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abide or stand upright in judgement: Thymercy is great, and thou hast blessed us this
day, and kept us from the evils of our inclination,
and the evils of temptation: and
though in the things wherein our consciences
doe not accuse us we are not justified, but by
thy mercies & loving-kindnesse in Christ Jesus,
yet we rejoyce in thy goodnesse to us, and
praise thy bounties and thy love, and hope
in thy mercies, and beg of thee that thou wilt
pardon us and keepe us, this night and ever;
sanctify and save us, blesse us at home and
abroad, in the workes of our calling and the
duties of religion, in our persons and relations;
make us to doe what pleaseth thee, and to be
what thou hast designed us to be, and to receive
what thou hast promised, and to keepe
us from all the evill we have deserved, for
Jesus Christ his sake our dearest Lord and
Saviour. Amen.
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 for ever and ever. Amen.
An office for safe Childbirth.
I.
O Almighty Father of Men andAngels, in whose hands are
the keyes of life and death,
of the womb and of the grave,
look down at this time in great
mercy and gentlest compassion upon thy servant.
Thou hast O God upon the weakest
of mankind fixed the sharpest decree of painful
childbirth: but so thou lovest to magnifie
thy mercies and thy power, that thy
strength may be seen in our weakness: so let
it be O God unto thy handmaid, let thy loving
kindness be her confidence and her rest, her
hope and her security, now and in the hour of
her travail.
II.
LORD let thy holy Angels be presentwith thy servant in their holy and charitable
ministeries about her person; it is a
great thing that we require; but we beg it
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70
of the great King of Heaven and Earth, theLord of Angels, who hath promised that his
Angels shall stand in circuit round about them
that fear the Lord: Look O Lord upon her
fear, it is humble, but it is trembling: look
upon her love, and make it what it is not yet:
doe thou sanctifie her fear of thee, and change
it into obedience, and carefulness of duty; increase
her love of thee, and make it to be pure
and perfect, operative and buisie, zealous and
obedient: make it to grow up to the perfections
of a Christian, and pass unto the
beauties of holyness; so shall thy servant feel
thy daily mercies, and no evil shall come neer
to hurt her.
III.
GRacious Father give thy servant leave torely upon thy glorious promises: thou
hast commanded us to call upon thee in our
trouble, and hast promised to deliver us: O
look upon thy handmaid, leave her not nor
forsake her, for trouble is hard at hand, and
there is none that can help or deliver, but
onely thou O God. In thee O Lord doe we
trust, let thy servants never be confounded.
Be pleased O Lord to give thy servant patience,
and dereliction of her own desires, perfect
resignation of her own will, and a conformity
71
to thine; that she may with joy receivethe blessing which thou wilt choose for
her, and which we humbly beg of thee, even
that she may have a holy, a healthful, a joyful
and a safe deliverance of her burden: Lord
keep her from all sad accidents and evil contingencies,
from violent pains and passions,
from all undecency of Comportment and unquietness
of Spirit, from impatience and despair,
from doing any thing that is criminal,
or feeling any thing that is intolerable.
IV.
O Lord my God give thy servants leave topray to thee in behalf of this thy handmaid,
that thou wilt not cut her off in the
middest of her daies, nor forsake her when
her strength faileth: but spare her O God,
not for any purposes of vanity, or the satisfaction
of any impotent or secular desires, but
that she may live to serve thee, to redeem her
time mispent in folly, to get victory over
temptations, and perfect dominion over her
passions, to grow great in religion, and of an
excellent charity and devotion. O spare her
a little that she may recover her strength, before
she goes hence and be no more seen: so
shall thy servant rejoice in thy mercies, and
speak of thy loving kindness in the Church
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72
of thy redeemed ones; and will spend herdaies in holiness and zealous pursuances of religion.
Remove her sinnes far from her as
the East is from the west; for thou didst send
thy most holy Son to die for us, and redeem
us from all the powers of sin and hell: thou
knowest whereof we were made, and remembrest
that we are but dust: O doe not visit
her sins upon her by a hasty death, but manifest
thy mercies and thy pardon by giving her
a mighty grace, that she may live a holy life:
and be pleas'd to grant this also that those
impresses of pious resolutions and religious
purposes of fear and love, of hope and desire,
which thy grace in the circumstances of her
present condition makes upon her, may abide
in her soul for ever; and in the daies of ease
and safety may be as operative and productive
of holiness, as now they are of a hearty
prayer and passionate desires for thy
mercies upon her in a safe and blessed childbirth.
V.
LORD bless her child, grant it may be bornwith a right shape and a perfect body, with
a comely countenance and streight limbs, with
intire senses and expedite faculties, with an
excellent power of understanding and sweet
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dispositions, and let thy holy Spirit of graceconduct it to the Sacrament of Baptisme, and
in safety and holiness from the Cradle to
the grave. Grant his O Eternal God for
his sake who was born of a holy maid, and
suffered the infirmities of nature, and dyed
for our sins, and rose again for our Justification,
even our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. Amen.
An Office of Publick Thanks-giving for Women after their delivery from Child-birth; or any great sickness, or calamity, or fear.
At the end of the morning prayer immediately before the blessing, the woman presenting her self before God on her knees in some convenient place neer to him thet ministers, begin with this exhortation.
"FOrasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God whohath commanded us when we are afflicted to
pray, and hath promised to be with us in trouble,
and hath made good his truth and mercy unto you
in standing at your right hand in the day of your
sorrow and danger, giving you safe deliverance
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and a living and a hopefulchild you shall therefore
return to him the sacrifice
of a thankful and joyful
heart in an humble acknowledgement of the divine
mercies and goodness unto you in this great blessing
and deliverance from the pain and peril of
Childbirth. Or else name any other instance in
which the Minister is required to give thanks.
The Psalm or Hymn of Thanksgiving.
THE Lord is my Shepheard, I shall notwant; he maketh me lie down in green
pastures, he leadeth me besides the still waters.
He restoreth my Soul, he leadeth me in
the paths of righteousness for his names sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff
they comfort me.
I will declare thy name unto my Brethren:
in the midst of the Congregation will
I praise thee.
Ye that fear the Lord praise him,
for he
hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction
of the afflicted, neither hath he hid his face
from him, but when he cryed unto him he
heard.
O Lord my God I cryed unto thee and
thou hast healed me.
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O Lord thou hast brought up my Soulfrom the grave, thou hast kept me alive that
I should not go down to the pit.
Sing unto the Lord O ye Saints of his,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his
holiness.
For his anger endureth but for a moment;
in his favour is life: weeping may endure for
a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
I cryed unto thee O Lord: unto the
Lord I made my supplication.
What profit is there in my bloud, when
I goe down into the pit? shall the dust praise
thee? shall it declare thy truth?
Hear O Lord and have mercy upon me:
Lord be thou my helper.
Thou hast turned for me my mourning
into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth
and girded me with gladness.
To the end that my glory may sing
praise unto thee and not be silent: O Lord
my God I will give thanks to thee for ever. Glory be to the Father, &c.
As it was in the beginning &c.
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Or else say the Te Deum.
WE praise thee, O God, we knowledgethee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee: the Father
everlasting.
To thee all Angels cry aloud: the heavens
and all the powers therein.
To thee Cherubim, and Seraphim, continually
do cry,
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth,
Heaven and earth are full of the majesty
of thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles
praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets
praise thee.
The noble armie of Martyrs praise thee.
The holy Church thoroughout all the
world doth acknowledge thee:
The Father, of an infinite majesty.
Thy honourable, true and onely Son.
Also the holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Thou art the King of glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son, of the Father
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver
man: thou didst not abhorre the Virgins
womb.
When thou haddest overcome the sharpness
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of death: thou didst open the kingdomeof heaven to all beleevers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in
the glory of the Father.
We beleeve that thou shalt come to be
our judge.
We therefore pray thee help thy servants:
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious
bloud.
Make them to be numbred with thy
Saints in glory everlasting.
O Lord save thy people, and bless thine
heritage.
Govern them: and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnifie thee.
And we worship thy name: ever world
without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day
without sin.
O Lord have mercy upon us: have mercy
upon us.
O Lord let thy mercy lighten upon us: as
our trust is in thee.
O Lord in thee have I trusted: let me never
be confounded.
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Minister.
The Lord be with you.Answer.
And with thy Spirit.O Most merciful Saviour and Redeemer
Jesus, who wert born of a pure and a
holy maid, who hast felt the calamities of
Mankind, and knowest how to pity our infirmities,
and rejoicest in doing and shewing mercy
to all that need and to all that call to thee
for succour, we give thee thanks and praise
that thou hast heard the prayers and considered
the cries, and releeved the necessities of this
thy servant, and kept her life from the grave,
still continuing to her a portion in the land of
the living, and opportunities of serving thee.
O be pleased to continue and increase and to
sanctifie thy mercies to thy servant: pardon
all her sins, pity her infirmities, enable her
duty, keep her from all evil by thy blessed
providence, let her portion be in the things of
God and of Religion, in the light of thy countenance,
and the service of thy Majesty; that
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she walking humbly and devoutly before thee;piously and dutifully to her Relatives, doing
justice, and giving good example to those with
whom she shall converse, may find the rewards
of holiness, and the eternal mercies of God
in the day of thy glorious appearing, O
Blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.
Then shall be added this form of blessing.
THE Lord bless you and keep you: TheLord 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.
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A Prayer to be said immediately after the Womans delivery, either by the Priest or by any other in attendance.
O Almighty Lord and Father who healestevery sickness and every disease, and art
ever gracious and alwaies present to the prayers
of them who in the day of trouble call
upon thy holy Name, thou hast given delivery
to this thy servant and made her the mother
of a living child still be pleased to continue
and renew thy loving kindness unto her; keep
her from all violent accidents and intolerable
pains, from colds and feavers, defend her by
the custody of thy holy Angels of light, from
all impresses of the powers of darkness:
give her rest and sleep, a quiet spirit, and an
easie body, Confidence in thee and a daily
sense of thy mercies; a speedy restitution of
health and strength, and a thankful heart to
praise thee in the Congregation of Saints, and
to serve thee with an increasing and a persevering
duty all the daies of her life, thorough
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Then if there be time and fitted circumstances adde this prayer for the Child.
O Eternal God who hast promised to be aFather to a thousand generations of them
that love and fear thee; be pleased to bless
this child who is newly come into a sad and
most sinful world. O God preserve his life, and
give him the grace and Sacrament of Baptismal
regeneration: doe thou receive him and
enable him to receive thee, that he may have
power to become the child of God; keep him
or her from the spirits that walk at noon,
and from the evil Spirits of the night, from all
charms and inchantments, from suddain death
and violent accidents: give unto him a gracious
heart and an excellent understanding, a
ready and unloosed tongue, a healthful and a
useful body and a wise soul, that he may serve
thee and advance thy glory in this world,
and may increase the number of thy Saints and
servants in the kingdome of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.
To God the Father of our Lord Jesus:
To the eternal son of God, the son of man:
To the Spirit of the Father and the Son:
Be all honour and glory, praise and
thanksgiving, love and obedience,
now and for evermore. Amen.
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A prayer to be said by a new married wife entring into a family.
I.
O Eternal God the Father of wisedom andmercy, thou hast been my guide and my
defence all my daies, thou didst take me from
my mothers womb, and didst conduct me thorough
the varieties of my life with much mercy
and the issues of a loving and wise providence:
I bless thy name O Lord for all thy
dispensations; thou hast done all things with
infinite goodness and infinite wisedom: thou
hast kept me from the effects of thy wrath,
and the evils of my own infirmities: thou
didst defend me from evils by the guard of
Angels, and didst lead me into good by the
conduct of thy holy Spirit: Thou hast alwaies
heard my prayer, ever being more ready
to bless me then I to ask it: thou hast said unto
me, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee;
be therefore graciously pleased to hear the
prayer of thy hand-maid, that I may have the
aids of an excellent providence and a mighty
grace to doe my duty in all my relations, in
all varieties and changes of the world, until
my great change shall come.
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II.
GIve thy blessing to thy servant my dearhusband, give him a long life and a confirmed
health; encircle him with blessings,
adorne him with thy grace, nourish him with
content, refresh him with a perpetual succession
of comforts, let the light of thy Countenance
be upon him in all his actions and the accidents
of his life, and grant that he may still
more and more increase in the love and fear of
thy holy name, that despising the things of
this world he may hunger and thirst after the
things of God and of religion, and may have
his portion in the gathering together of the
Saints in the kingdome of grace and glory.
III.
BLess me, even me, O my Father, and grantthat I may in all things doe my duty to
thee my God: give me a perfect command
over all my passions and affections, that they
being subject to my will, and my will guided
by reason, and my reason by religion, I
may never suffer any undecency or violent
transport, but may pass thorough all the
accidents of my life with meekness and
a sober spirit, with patience and charity,
O
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with prudence and holiness. O be pleasedto give thy servant a right judgement
in all things, that I may not be amazed at
trifles nor discomposed by every contrariety of
accidents, nor passionate for the things of the
world, nor discontent if thou shouldest smite
me: but that I may with an even and a quiet
spirit doe my duty, and comply with every variety
of thy providence, and obey my husband,
and be amiable in his eyes, and useful and
careful for his children: ever desiring to approve
my self to thee in a holy and hearty
obedience, in piety and devotion, in patience
and humility, in chastity and purity,
in all holiness of conversation: and doe
thou give thy holy and blessed Spirit to
guide and teach me all my daies, that I may
overcome all my infirmities, and comply with
and bear the infirmities of others, and charitably
pardon their errors, and fairly expound
their actions, and wisely perceive their intentions,
and with a Christian ingenuity deport
my self in all things, giving offence to none
but doing good to all I can; that I may receive
pardon from thee for all my sins, and a
pity for all my infirmities, and thy blessing
upon all my actions, and a sanctification of all
my intentions, and when my life is done I
may have the peace of God, and the testimony
of a holy Conscience to accompany me to
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my grave, and to consign me to a holy and ablessed resurrection, to partake of the inheritance
which thou hast provided for thy saints
and servants. Grant this for Jesus Christ his
sake our dearest Lord and Saviour. Amen.
For a fruitful Womb.
I.
O Most gracious and eternal God, Fatherand Lord of all the creatures, thou didst
sanctifie marriage in the state of Innocence, in
the dwellings of paradise, & didst design it for
the production of mankind, and didst give it
as one of the first blessings of mankind. O
be pleased to look upon thy handmaid who
waits for thy mercy, and humbly begs of thy
infinite goodness to make me partaker of that
blessing which thou didst design to all the sons
and daughters of Adam: thou O God hast
the keyes of heaven and hell, of rain and providence,
of the womb and the grave: O let
not thy servant feel the curse of dry breasts
and a barren womb, but make me a joyful
Mother of children, that thy handmaid may
serve thee in increasing the number of thy
redeemed ones, and may minister blessings
to this family into which thou hast adopted
O 2
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me, and may bring comfort to my dearhusband, whom doe thou bless, and love, and
sanctifie for ever.
II.
O God I confess I am unworthy of this orany other favour; I am less then the
least of thy mercies, yet our weakness and
unworthiness cannot be the measures of thy
mercy: thou art good and gracious, infinitely
gracious, essentially good, and delightest in
shewing mercy to them that call upon thee, &
put their trust in thee: O dear God I remember
that thou didst releive the sorrows of thy
servant Hannah, and gavest her the blessing of
children; thou didst blesse the womb of Elizabeth
who was barren; thou spakest the word
and the rocks did rend, and they sent forth a
pleasant stream: Thy hand is not shortned and
thy mercies are not less then ever, no less then
infinite, and why should not thy servant hope
that thou wilt hear my prayer and grant the
desire of my soul: Even so O gracious father
let it be as thou pleasest: thy wisedom is infinite,
and thy counsels are secret, and the waies
and lines of thy providence are like the path
of a bird in the aire, not to be discovered by
our weak sight.
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III.
I Know O God that thou lovest to hear ourprayers, and thou delightest in the humble,
passionate and resigned desires of thy servants.
Although O God I desire this blessing with an
earnestness as great as any temporal favour,
yet I humbly submit my desires, my interests,
my content and all that I am or have to thy
holy will and pleasure, humbly begging of thee
that I may cheerfully suffer, and obediently
doe thy will, and choose what thou choosest,
and observe the waies of thy providence, and
revere thy judgement, and wait for thy mercy,
and delight in thy dispensation, and expect
that all things shall work together for good
to them that fear thee. O let thy holy Spirit
for ever be present with me, and make me
to fear thee and to love thee above all the
things in the world for ever, and then no ill
can come unto thy servant: for whosoever
loves thee cannot perish. Hear the prayer of
thy servant, and releive my sorrow, and
sanctify my desires and accept me in the Son
of thy love and of thy desires, our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
O 3
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A prayer to be used by an afflicted wife in behalf of a vitious Husband.
I.
O Eternal Father thou preserver of men,thou great lover of souls, who didst send
thy holy Son to die that mankind might be
redeemed, and sin might be destroyed: Thou
knowest how intolerable a thing it is that a
Soul should to eternal ages be incircled with
thy wrath, and the indignation of a mighty and
an angry God; and therefore dost love to doe
miracles of mercy, because thou lovest not
that a sinner should perish: Be pleased to give
thy handmaid leave to present her humble
desires in behalf of a sinner, one sinner for
another; the miserable for him that is ready
to perish. Lord look down in mercy upon
my Husband; snatch him from the jawes of
Hell, suffer him not to perish in his sin; but
open his eyes with the light of thy word and
of thy Spirit, that he may espy his danger,
that he may behold the deformity of his
sins. the injuriousness of his actions, the folly of
his pleasures the iniquity of his vowes.
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II.
CLeanse his hands and heart from all unrighteousnessfrom bloud-guiltiness, from
rapine, from violence, from cruelty O Lord, and
purifie his soul and body from all impurity,
from all intemperance, from the violence and fury
of passion giving him a perfect repentance,
and a perfect pardon: and if it be thy will,
let me also some way or other cooperate towards
the recovery of his precious soul; and
be pleased to remember the sufferings of thy
handmaid, not that he may receive evil, but
that I may find good from thy gracious hands
in the day of recompence, thorough Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
If she have escaped any violence intended against her by his malice or passion; then adde this prayer of thanksgiving.
O God my God and Father, thou haststrangely preserv'd and rescued me from
evil, thou hast made decrees in heaven for my
safety and preservation; and for the glory of
thy own name thou hast diverted the arrow
that was directed against me. What am I
O Lord, and what can I doe, or what have I
done that thou shouldest doe this for me? I
am O God a miserable sinner, and I can
O 4
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doe nothing without a mighty grace, and Ihave done nothing by my self but what I am
asham'd of, and yet I have received great mercies
and miracles of providence. I see, O
God, I see that thy goodness is the cause and
the measure of all my hopes and all my good:
and upon the confidence and greatness of that
goodness I humbly beg of thy sacred Majesty
to keep and defend me from all evil by thy
wise providence; to lead me into all good
by the conduct of thy divine Spirit; and
where I have done amiss give me pardon, and
where I have been mistaken give me pity, and
where I have been injured give me thy favour
and a gracious exchange; that I may serve
thee here with diligence and love, and hereafter
may rejoice with thee and love thee as I
desire to love thee, and as thou deservest to
be loved, even with all the powers and degrees
of passion and essence, to eternal ages, in the
inheritance of Jesus, whom I love, for whom
I will not refuse to die, in whom I desire to
live and die; to whom with thee O gracious
Father and the holy Spirit be all honour and
glory, love and obedience for ever and ever.
Amen.
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A Mothers prayer for her children.
I.
MOst Gracious and Eternal God, Father ofour Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Men
and Angels, Father of mercies, and God of
all comforts, thou hast promised to be a Father
to a thousand generations of them that
love and fear thee; be thou a God and a Father
to me and the children which thou hast
given me. Enable me O Lord to bring them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
and in the fear of God to the praise of thy
holy Name. O give me thy grace and favour
that I may instruct them with diligence and
meekness, govern them with prudence and
holiness, provide for them useful imployments
and competent provisions of life and comfort,
leading them in the paths of religion and justice,
by example and precepts of holiness;
never provoking them to wrath, never indulging
them in their follies, never conniving at
an unworthy action: and that all my children
may be thine, O preserve them in thy favour,
or take them away from hence while they are.
If thou pleasest, let them live to a full age,
but secure to them a full measure of piety and
holiness thorough Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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II.
TO this end give them grace to obey theirParents, that doing the duty, they may
receive the promise; preserve them from sin
and shame, from youthful follies and youthful
crimes. Sanctifie them thoroughout in
their bodies, and souls, and spirits; that their
thoughts may be pure and holy, not displeasing
or misbecomming the eye of him who is the
searcher of hearts; let their words be true,
prudent and ingenuous, seasoned with grace
and apt to minister grace unto the hearers:
let all their actions in their whole life be such
as becommeth the servants of Jesus, holy
and useful, that they may not be burdens to
the publick, or to their family, but pleasing
thee and doing good to others they may
increase in the love of God, and in favour
with men, and may have the portion of the
meek and humble in this world, and of the
pure and merciful in the world to come thorough
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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The Widdows Prayer.
I.
O Eternal God, most Gracious Lord andmy most merciful Father, thou art my
refuge and my hope, my sanctuary and my
rock, my guardian and protector all my daies.
I have offended thee and thou hast smitten me,
I have deserved very much evil, and thou hast
corrected me with the gentle visitation of a
Fathers rod: and though thy hand is heavy
and thy rod presseth me sore by reason of
my own weakness and infirmities, yet when I
consider how little I suffer in respect of what
I have deserved, I cannot but adore thy goodness,
and delight in thy mercies, and run for
help and comfort, support and conduct from
that hand which smites me. O my God give
me patience under thy afflicting hand; for my
impatience I feare hath provoked thee to
anger, and hath doubled my owne calamity;
and since my duty is my proper cure, and will
make thy hand easy, and thy anger little,
give thy servant a quiet and a resigned, a
humble and a meeke spirit, that I may not become
my owne tormenter, and my sin may
not be my owne punishment.
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II.
O My gracious Lord, doe to me what seemethgood in thy owne eyes; I am like
clay in the hands of the potter, and what am
I that I should repine against the acts of thy
providence and dispensation? Behold O God,
thy Hand-maid is but a worme before thee;
shall dust and ashes repine against God? Thou
art just and righteous in all thy wayes, and
though thou hast afflicted mee sore, yet blessed
be thy holy Name I have not lost my hope, and
I can yet pray, and I will trust in thee though
I die; onely be thou pleased to let this thy
heavy hand efforme in me the effects of grace,
and conforme me to the likeness of the holy
Jesus my dearest Saviour; that I may so beare
the Crosse that I may never displease him,
nor dishonour the excellent name of a Christian
by which I am called.
III.
I Am O my God by the meanes of thy heavyhand not onely under the discipline of
a Child, but have also obtained a new title
to thy especial providence and protection;
for thou art the patron of the poore, the
helper of the friendlesse, the father of the
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fatherlesse, and the defender of the widowes,and if these be the effects of thy anger, and
that when thou smitest us thy very strokes are
healing, and thy displeasure is medicinal, what
shall thy servant expect will be the effect of
thy pardon and loving kindnesse? but yet O
my Lord helpe me in my duty, and though
I have failed in all my relations hitherto, by
my impatience and murmure, by my carelesse
comportment and undutifull behaviour towards
thee; yet now let my sad state of
Widdowhood be a state of holiness and repentance,
of devotion and a severe religion. Let
me recollect my years in bitterness, and my
soule in sorrow for my sins; let me have no
affections for the things of this world; but let
my hope and all my joy, my desires and my
conversation be in heaven, and all my imployment
and care be how I may enjoy thee in
holy and spiritual unions and adherencies.
IV.
O Lord I know that the way of man is notin himself: it is not in man that walketh to
direct his steps: I have often resolved to live
innocently, and I have often broken all my
holy purposes; and I cannot of my self thinke
one good thought as of my self, but my sufficiency
is of thee; thou art my strength:
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O preserve thy servant in my single state ofWiddowhood, that I may never have any
thought of change till the day of my great
change shall come; be thou O God a covering
of the eyes unto thy hand-maid; let me have
no loves but thine, no affections but for thy
service; and since thou hast broken in pieces
that holy band of conjugal society which thy
holy ordinance did tye between my deare
Lord and Husband and thy handmaid, give
me thy grace dearly to preserve his memory,
to retaine the impresses and remembrances of
that affection, and to entertaine no new ones;
but wholly imploy my time, my estate, and all
my powers in bringing up
my children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, in
making fair and fitting provisions
for them, in giving them good example
in bearing the burthen of the Lord sweetly,
in prayers and fastings, in almes and piety, in
reading and meditating, in spirituall and Sacramental
Communions, that when the worke
of my life is done, I may find pardon and favour,
and acceptance at the hands of my Lord,
and a portion among thy saints and servants.
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V.
If there be children of both sexes let the following portion be added.
O My God now thy servant hath taken uponme to speake to my Lord, let not
my Lord be angry nor reject the prayer of
his servant, interceding and praying for
my children, the pledges of my deare Lord
and Husband: preserve them O God in the
strictest duty and services to thy self: O be
thou their God and father, let thy providence
be their portion, thy service their imployment,
thy Angels their guards; keepe them so by
thy preventing and restraining grace that they
may not by their owne sins provoke thee to
anger and jealousy; and let not the sins of their
forefathers be visited upon them in thy anger
and displeasure: thou lovest to shew mercy,
and thou delightest in the affections of thy
loving kindnesse, and thou art displeased
when our vilenesses constraine thee to powre
down thy judgements on us. O be pleased to
grant that they living in holy obedience to
thee, may feel a perpetuall streame of mercy,
refreshing and supporting them, and let them
not bear anothers burthen, for thou art just
and merciful, righteous and true, and hast sentenc'd
every one to bear their own iniquity.
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VI.
GReat God of mercy, heale all the breachesof this family, preserve and encrease the
remaining comforts and advantages of it, support
the estate, renew thy favour to it, and
perpetually poure down thy blessings upon it;
for the light of thy countenance and thy gracious
influence does preserve and blesse, support
and nourish, honour and advance persons,
and families, and kingdomes. Blesse my eldest
son; give him an obedient and a loving spirit,
a provident and a wise heart, a worthy and a
pious comportment, a blessed and an honourable
posterity: to my younger sons give
health and holinesse, wisdom and faire fortunes,
the love of God and good men: to my
daughters give thy perpetuall grace and favour,
that they may live in honour and a severe
chastity, free from sin and shame, from temptation
and a snare, and let their portion be
in the blessing, in the love and service of
God. Let them live in the favour of God and
man, usefull to others, an honour to their
family, a comfort to all their relatives and
friends, and servants to thy divine Majesty.
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VII.
PReserve my thy servant from all evil, leadme into all good; change my sorrowes into
comforts, my infirmity into spirituall strength;
take all iniquity from mee, and let thy servant
never depart from thee. I am thine, O
save mee; I am thine, sanctify me and preserve
me for ever; that neither life nor death,
health nor sicknesse, prosperity nor adversity,
weakness within nor crosse accidents without
may ever separate me from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen, Blessed Jesus, Amen.
I.
The Prayer for all Prisoners.
O Almighty God, the Merciful Father of allthat put their trust in thee, looke downe
from the beauteous throne of thy glory with
much mercy and compassion upon us thy servants,
who are children of misery, full of sin
and full of calamity, whose onely hope is in
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the mercies and loving kindnesse of the Lord.O doe thou pardon all our trespasses and
debts by which we are in arrears to thee; put
them upon the accounts of the Crosse; for
our Blessed and most gracious Lord hath paid
our price to redeeme us from the Eternal prisons:
and be thou pleased to enrich us with
thy holy Spirit; that we may be strong in
faith, abounding in hope, established in a holy
patience, and rich in charity; expecting with
meeknesse and submission when the times of
refreshment shall come from the presence of
the Lord, our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer
Jesus Amen.
II.
For Prisoners of Debt.
ENable us O God thou treasure of all goodnesseand all plenty and all justice, to doe
our dutie to those to whom we are obliged,
let not their kindnesse to us be injurious to
them, nor our poverty become their calamity,
but doe thou enable us by the miracles of thy
mercy to doe what we are bound to doe; or
incline our creditors to accept what we can,
and make us willing to doe according to the
utmost of our power; and doe thou make it
up in the blessings of plenty and mercy what
is diminished to them by our poverty and infelicity.
Restore us O God to the light of thy
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countenance, the sense of thy mercies andrefreshments: sanctify our present condition;
make us humble and obedient, quiet and
peaceable, temperate and patient: let not our
calamities exasperate our spirit; nor the present
affliction make us to seeke for comfort
in the creature, much lesse in vice and the stupors
of drunkennesse, in prophane noises and
evil company. O let our hopes be in thee, and
our joy in thee onely and in thy service
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
III.
For Prisoners of Crime.
O Eternal and most Holy Saviour Jesus,who wert brighter then an Angel, purer
then the morning starre, and yet wert pleas'd
for our redemption to take upon thee our
guilt, that suffering our punishment thou
mightest rescue us from an intolerable state of
evil: Thou didst for our sakes suffer thy selfe
to be imprison'd in the house of the Highpreist,
and have thy holy hands bound with
cords, that thou mightest procure to us the
liberty of the sons of God; O looke upon us
with a gracious eye. Thou didst suffer and
yet wert innocent, we suffer lesse then
we have deserved; and hope in thy goodnesse
that we never shall suffer so much.
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O heare our cries from the bottom of ourprisons, from the depths of our sorrowes; let
this affliction be thy discipline to worke contrition
and repentance in our hearts. Thou
art just O God in all that we suffer, and thou
art to be glorified; and shame and confusion
of face belongs unto us as it is this day: but
never let us suffer the confusion of a sad eternity:
Accept our sorrow and repentance, our
suffering and our shame; that in the blood
of the Lambe and in the teares of repentance
our sins being washed, our soules may be presented
pure and spotlesse before the throne of
grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.