Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

A FORM OF

PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING

TO ALMIGHTY GOD,

For the fruits of the earth, and all the other blessings of his merciful Providence; to be used yearly on the FIRST THURSDAY IN NOVEMBER, or on such other day as shall be appointed by the Civil Authority.

The Service shall be as usual, except where it is hereby otherwise appointed.

Among the Sentences at the beginning of Morning Prayer shall be the following.

HONOUR the LORD with thy substance, Then shall be said or sung one of the

and with the first-fruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Prov. iii. 9, 10.

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens: by his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. Prov. iii. 19, 20.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deut. xxxiii. 27.

Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon the land of corn and of wine, also his heaven shall drop down dew. Deut. xxxiii. 28.

Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! Deut. xxxiii. 29.

Instead of, O come let us sing, &c., the

following shall be said or sung. PRAISE ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

Selections, or some other portion of the Psalms, at the discretion of the Minister The First Lesson shall be Deut. viii., and

the Second Lesson shall be 1 Thess. v. 12 to 24.

After the General Thanksgiving, shall be said this which followeth.

MOST gracious God, by whose knowledge

the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew; We yield thee unfeigned thanks and praise, as for all thy mercies, so especially for the returns of seed-time and harvest, and for crowning the year with thy goodness, in the increase of the ground, and the gathering in of the fruits thereof. And, we beseech thee, give us a just sense of this great mercy; such as may appear in our lives, by an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen.

The Collect to be used instead of that for the day.

He healeth those that are broken in MOST merciful Father, who hast heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

He covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; he maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains.

He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.

For he hath strengthened the bars of

blessed the labours of the husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth; We give thee humble and hearty thanks for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness to us; that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle. St. James i. 16.

thy gates; he hath blessed thy children Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every

within thee.

He maketh peace in thy borders, and alleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

good gift and every perfect gift is from above; and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness,

neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteous

ness of God. Wherefore lay apart all fil. thiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway for getteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's

religion is vain. Pure religion and unde filed before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

The Gospel. St. Matt. v. 43.

YE have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in hea ven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? Or if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

FORMS OF

PRAYER TO BE USED IN FAMILIES.

MORNING PRAYER.

The Master or Mistress having called together as many of the Family as can conveniently be present, let one of them, or any other whom they shall think proper, say as follows, all kneeling.

[blocks in formation]

• When disturb ances of any kind befall a family, in stead of this, say,

that notwithstand

owe it, [that no disturbance hath come nigh us or our dwelling; but that we are brought in safety to the beginning of this day.] ing our dangers, we are brought in safeFor these thy mercies, we bless and ty to the beginning of this day. magnify thy glorious Name; humbly beseeching thee to accept this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; for his sake who lay down in the grave, and rose again for us, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. AND, since it is of thy mercy, O gracious Father, that another day is added to our lives; We here dedicate both our

Dedication of soul and body to God's service, with a reso lution to be growing daily in goodness.

Bouls and our bodies to thee and thy service, in a sober, righteous, and godly life: in which resolution, do thou, O merciful God, confirm and strengthen us; that, as we grow in age, we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

BUT, O God, who

Prayer for grace to enable us to per form that resolu

knowest the weakness and corruption of our nature, and tion. the manifold temptations which we daily meet with; We humbly beseech thee to have compassion on our infirmities, and to give us the constant assistance of thy Holy Spirit; that we may be effectually restrained from sin, and excited to our duty. Imprint upon our hearts such a dread of thy judg. ments, and such a grateful sense of thy goodness to us, as may make us both afraid and ashamed to offend thee. And, above all, keep in our minds a lively remembrance of that great day, in which we must give a strict account of our thoughts, words, and actions; and according to the works done in the body, be eternally rewarded or punished, by him whom thou hast appointed the Judge of quick_and dead, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Lord and Saviour.
Amen.

• On Sunday morning, instead of this, say, and let thy Holy Spirit accompany us to the place of thy public worship, making us serious and attentive, and raising

our minds from the thoughts of this world to the consideration of the fervently join in next, that we may the prayers and praises of thy Church, and listen to our duty with honest hearts, in order to practise it.

[blocks in formation]

EVENING PRAYER.

The Family being together, a little before bed time, let the Master or Mistress, or any other whom they shall think proper, say as follows, all kneeling.

OUR

UR Father, who art in heaven, Hal-gressions of thy righlowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

[blocks in formation]

God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised for. giveness to all those who confess and for

Here let him who reads make a

short pause, that every one may se cretly confess the sins and failings of that day.

teous laws.* But,
O gracious Father,
who desirest not the
death of a sinner,
look upon us, we
beseech thee, in
mercy, and forgive
us all our transgressions. Make us deeply
sensible of the great evil of them; and
work in us an hearty contrition; that we
may obtain forgiveness at thy hands, who
art ever ready to receive humble and
penitent sinners; for the sake of thy Son
Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Re-
deemer. Amen.

AND lest, through sake their sins; We come before thee in A our own frailty, an humble sense of our own unworthi- or the temptations ness, acknowledging our manifold trans-which encompass us,

Prayer for grace to reform and grow better.

we be drawn again into sin, vouchsafe us, we beseech thee, the direction and assistance of thy Holy Spirit. Reform whatever is amiss in the temper and disposition of our souls; that no unclean thoughts, unlawful designs, or inordinate desires, may rest there. Purge our hearts from envy, hatred, and malice: that we may never suffer the sun to go down upon our wrath; but may always go to our rest in peace, charity, and good-will, with a conscience void of offence towards thee, and towards men: That so we may be preserved pure and blameless, unto the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

A

ND accept, O The Intercession. Lord, our intercessions for all mankind. Let the light of thy Gospel shine upon all nations; and may as many as have received it, live as becomes it. Be gracious unto thy Church; and grant that every member of the same, in his vocation and ministry, may serve thee faithfully. Bless all in authority over us; and so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands, that they may punish wickedness and vice, and maintain thy true religion and virtue. Send down thy blessings, temporal and spiritual, upon all our relations, friends, and neighbours. Reward all who have done us good, and pardon all those who have done or wish us evil, and give them repentance and better minds. Be merciful to all who are in any trouble; and do thou, the God of pity, administer to them according to their several necessities; for his sake who went about doing good, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

[blocks in formation]

We

dowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore thy mercy in sending thy only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards thee. bless thee for thy patience with us, notwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistances, and comforts of thy Holy Spirit; for thy continual care and watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives; and particularly for the mercies and benefits of the past day beseeching thee to continue these thy blessings to us; and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we receive them all, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

IN particular, we

Prayer for God's the night following. protection through

beseech thee to continue thy gra cious protection to us this night. Defend us from all dangers and mischiefs, and from the fear of them; that we may enjoy such refreshing sleep as may fit us for the duties of the following day. Make us ever mindful of the time when we shall lie down in the dust; and grant us grace always to live in such a state, that we may never be afraid to die: so that, living and dying, we may be thine, through the merits and satisfaction of thy Son Christ Jesus, in whose Name we offer up these our imperfect prayers. Amen.

THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore, Amen.

On Sundays and on other days, when it may be convenient, it will be proper to begin with a Chapter, or part of a Chapter, from the New Testament.

SELECTIONS OF PSALMS,

TO BE USED INSTEAD OF THE PSALMS FOR THE DAY, AT THE DISCRETION OF THE MINISTER.

THE

Selection First.

PSALM XIX. Coeli enarrant.

HE heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handy-work. One day telleth another; and one night certifieth another.

There is neither speech nor language; but their voices are heard among them.

Their sound is gone out into all lands; and their words into the ends of the world.

In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his

course.

It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD is an undefiled law, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.

The statutes of the LORD are right, and rejoice the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, and endureth

« ZurückWeiter »