church or commonwealth. love, and for Thy salvation. Let a holy peace for ever dwell in our consciences. Let peace and holiness, and God's Or parish or blessing, for ever adorn, 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 wars to cease in all the world, that the peace and the design of the gospel may be advanced, the laws 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 kingdoms of men and in all the events of the world, defend those with Thy mercy whom Thou hast adorned with Thy power, lift up the horn, advance the just interests of all christian kings, princes and states, by the power of Thy venerable and life-giving passion. Give unto all them who serve Thee in the ministries of religion wisdom and holiness, the blessings of peace and great abilities to minister prosperously to the good of souls, by the power and aids of Thy holy spirit of wisdom. IV. PARDON all our sins; take away our iniquities from us all, and preserve us from all danger and trouble, from need and persecution, from the temptations of the devil, 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 for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon 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 evil accidents, ruling and governing us with Thy holy spirit, that all darkness and hurtful ignorance, all infidelity and weakness of heart, all inordinate fear and carnal affections may be removed far from us, that we, being justified by 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 Redeemer, who 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 pieces the powers of darkness; have mercy upon us now and at the hour of our death: let Thy holy spirit govern all our words and actions, our thoughts and designs, our civil entercourse, and the duties of religion; and grant to us so perfectly to obey His commandments and attend His motions all the days of our life, that we may by holy habits and a constant performance of our duty wait for the coming of our Lord, and be ready to enter with Him at whatsoever hour He shall come. VII. O BE merciful unto us in the day of our calamity, and of Thy visitation strengthen our faith in the day of our sicknesses and trial, when the cloud is thick and the storm is great: that we may rely upon Thy grace, invocate Thy mercies, hope in Thy goodness, and receive the end of our hopes, the salvation of our souls. O let us never descend into the dwellings of the wicked, nor into the place of them that know not God; but be pleased here to guide us with Thy counsel, and after that receive us with Thy glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Or this. O ETERNAL God, Thou fountain of life and pardon, there is no number of Thy days nor of Thy mercies; be merciful unto us now and at the hour of our death; let not Thy servants be arrested with sudden death, that we be neither unready in our accounts, nor snatched hence with an imperfect duty, nor surprised in an act of sin, nor called upon when our lamps are untrimmed; let it be neither violent nor untimely, hasty nor unblessed, but after the ordinary visitation of men, having in it an excellent patience and an exemplar piety, and the greatest senses and demonstrations of Thy eternal mercies. Preserve, O God, our reason and religion, our faith and our hope, our sense and our speech, perfect and useful till the last of our days, and grant that we may die the death of the righteous, and let our last end be like to his, free from debt and deadly sin, having first discharged all our obligations of justice, and made competent provision for our relatives, that none of ours be left miserable and unprovided in our departure; but grant that being blessed by Thy providence, and sanctified with Thy spirit, they may for ever be servants of the Lord Jesus. II. THOU knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts: shut not up Thy merciful eyes and ears unto our prayers, but spare us, O Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy judge eternal, suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of death to fall from Thee; but strengthen us with a mighty grace, and support us with an infinite mercy, giving us perfect measures of repentance and great treasures of charity, that at the general resurrection in the last day we may be found acceptable in Thy sight, and receive that blessing which Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all them that love and fear Thee, saying, Come ye blessed children of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. This mercy, O most merciful Father, vouchsafe to give unto us and all Thy servants, through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. Here may be inserted any of the portions of the prayer of THE BLESSING. THE Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you, and give you peace. The blessing of God almighty, the Father, Son, and holy Ghost, be amongst you and abide with you, and be your portion for ever and ever. Amen. THE END OF EVENING PRAYER. To be added to the foregoing offices upon special occasions immediately before the blessing at morning or evening prayer. A PRAYER BEFORE SERMON. O LORD God, fountain of life, giver of all good things, who givest to men the blessed hope of eternal life by our Lord Jesus Christ, and hast promised Thy holy spirit to them that ask Him; be present with us in the dispensation of Thy holy word [and sacraments *;] • This clause grant that we being preserved from all evil by Thy is to be omitted power, and among the diversities of opinions and if there be no judgments in this world from all errors and false sacrament that doctrines, and led into all truth by the conduct of day. Thy holy spirit, may for ever obey Thy heavenly calling: that we may not be only hearers of the word of life, but doers also of good works, keeping faith and a good conscience, living an unblamable life, usefully and charitably, religiously and prudently, in all godliness and honesty, before Thee our God, and before all the world, that at the end of our mortal life we may enter into the light and life of God, to sing praises and eternal hymns to the glory of Thy name in eternal ages, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. In whose name let us pray in the words which Himself commanded, saying, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. A prayer of thanksgiving after sermon, if it be convenient I. ALMIGHTY God, our glory and our hope, our Lord and Master, the Father of mercy and the God of all comfort, we humbly present to Thee the sacrifice of a thankful spirit, in a joyful acknowledgment of those infinite favours by which Thou hast supported our state, enriched our spirits, comforted our sorrows, relieved our necessities, blessed and defended our persons, instructed our ignorances, and promoted our eternal interest. We praise Thy name for that portion of Thy holy word of which Thou hast made us partakers this day; grant that it may bring forth fruit unto Thee and unto holiness in our whole life, to the glory of Thy holy name, the edification of our brethren, and the eternal comfort of our souls in the day of our Lord Jesus. II. HAVE mercy upon all that desire, and upon all that need our prayers. Ease the pains of the sick, support the spirit of the disconsolate, hear the cries of orphans and widows in their calamity, and restore all that are oppressed to their rights, and sanctify to them all their wrongs. Pity the folly, and pity the calamities of poor mankind in mercy remembering those that are appointed to die, comfort and support their spirits, perfect and accept their repentance, and receive the souls returning unto Thee, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood. : III. LORD, pity and pardon, direct and bless, sanctify and save us all. Give repentance to all that live in sin, and perseverance to all Thy sons and servants; for His sake who is Thy beloved, and the foundation of all our hopes, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit be all honour and glory, praise and adoration, love and obedience, now and for evermore. Amen. If this whole office be said at morning or evening prayer respectively, the collect before sermon here put down may be used instead of the usual prayer before sermon; ending with the Lord's prayer: and the sermon to begin immediately before the blessing. The sermon being ended; the prayer of thanksgiving may be said, and the congregation dismissed with the blessing set down at the end of evening prayer. A prayer when a sick person desires to be publicly prayed for. I. O ALMIGHTY and most gracious Father, who art the fountain of life and health and pardon, hear the prayers of Thy servants in behalf of our brother [or sister,] the miserable for the afflicted, of sinners for him [or her] whom Thou hast smitten. Lord, lay no more upon him than Thou shalt enable him to bear, but give him patience; and do Thou thyself open a door for his escape, even by a holy and a reformed life, and a speedy recovery, or else by a blessed death, as Thou in Thy infinite loving-kindness shalt choose for Thy glory and his eternal interest. II. LORD, give unto Thy servant a perfect repentance and a perfect pardon of all his sins. Remember not the errors of his youth, the weakness of his spirit, the surprises of his life, and the crimes of his choice but join his present sufferings to the passion, his prayers to the intercession, and his repentance to the merits of our dearest Saviour Jesus, that he may be pardoned and pitied, comforted and supported, sanctified and saved in the day of recompenses. III. BLESSED Jesus, who hast overcome all the powers of sin, hell and the grave, take from Thy servant all inordinate fear of death, give him a perfect resignation of his will and conformity to Thine; restrain the power of the enemy, that he may not prevail against the soul which Thou hast redeemed: if it be Thy will, give him a speedy restitution of his health, and a holy use of the affliction: or if Thou hast otherwise decreed, preserve him in Thy fear and favour, and receive his soul to mercy, to pardon, and eternal life, through Thy mercies and for Thy compassion sake, O blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen. For seasonable weather in time of drought, immoderate rain, or O LORD God, whose providence is universal and sufferest nothing to happen in vain, have mercy upon Thy servants who have de |