Prayers which may be said with the foregoing Service, or any part there. of, at t t the discretion of the Minister. A Prayer for a sick Child. ALMIGHTY God, and merciful Father, to whom alone belong the issues of life and death; Look down from heaven, we humbly beseech thee, with the eyes of mercy, upon this child now lying upon the bed of sickness: Visit him, O Lord, with thy salvation; deliver him in thy good appointed time from his bodily pain, and save his soul for thy mercies' sake: that, if it shall be thy pleasure to prolong his days here on earth, he may live to thee, and be an instrument of thy glory, by serving thee faithfully, and doing good in his generation; or else receive him into those heavenly habitations, where the souls of those who sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy perpetual rest and felicity. Grant this, O Lord, for thy mercies' sake in the same thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen. A Prayer for a sick Person, when there appeareth but small hope of recovery. FATHER of mercies, and God time of need: We fly unto thee for succour in behalf of this thy servant, here lying under thy hand in great weakness of body. Look graciously upon him, O Lord; and the more the outward man decayeth, strengthen him, we beseech thee, so much the more continually with thy grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man. Give him unfeigned repentance for all the errors of his life past, and stedfast faith in thy Son Jesus; that his sins may be done away by thy mercy, and his pardon sealed in heaven, before he go hence, and be no more seen. We know, O Lord, that there is no word impossible with thee; and that, if thou wilt, thou canst even yet raise him up, and grant him a longer continuance amongst us; yet, forasmuch as in all appearance the time of his dissolution draweth near, so fit and prepare him, we beseech thee. against the hour of death, that after his departure hence in peace, and in thy favour, his soul may be receiv ed into thine everlasting kingdom; through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thine only Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 0 A Commendatory Prayer for a sick Person at the point of departure. ALMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of just men made perfect, after they are delivered from their earthly prisons; We humbly commend the soul of this thy servant, our dear brother, into thy hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator, and most merciful Saviour; most humbly beseeching thee, that it may be precious in thy sight. Wash it, we pray thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lamb, that was slain to take away the sins of the world; that whatsoever defilements it may have contracted in the midst of this miserable and naughty world, through the lusts of the flesh, and done away, it may be presented or the wiles of Satan, being purged pure and without spot before thee; through the merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for Persons troubled in mind or in conscience. BLESSED Lord, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; We beseech thee, look down in pity and compassion upon this thy afflicted servant. Thou writest bitter things against lam, and makest him to possess his for mer iniquities; thy wrath lieth hard upon him, and his soul is full of trouble. But, O merciful God, who hast written thy holy Word for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of thy holy Scriptures, might have hope; give him a right understanding of himself, and of thy threats and promises; that he may neither cast away his confidence in thee, nor place it any where but in thee. Give him strength against all his temptations, and heal all his distempers. Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure; but make him to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Deliver him from fear of the enemy, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon him, and give him peace, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer which may be said by the this thy servant, here lying under the sudden visitation of thine hand. If it be thy will, preserve his life, that there may be place for repentance; but if thou hast otherwise appointed, let thy mercy supply to him the want of the usual opportunity for the trimming of his lamp. Stir up in him such sorrow for sin, and such fervent love to thee, as may in a short time do the work of many days: that among the praises which thy saints and holy angels shall sing to the honour of thy mercy through eternal ages, it may be to thy unspeakable glory, that thou hast redeemed the soul of this thy servant from eternal death, and made him partaker of the everlasting life, which is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Thanksgiving for the beginning of a Recovery. Minister in behalf of all present Gr bringest down to the grave, and at the Visitation. GOD, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered; Make us, we beseech thee, deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let thy Holy Spirit lead us through this vale of misery, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives that, when we shall have served thee in our generation, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of the catholic Church; in the confidence of a certain faith; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope; in favour with thee our God, and in perfect charity with the world. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer which may be said in case of sudden surprise and immediate danger. MOST gracious Father, we fly unto thee for mercy in behalf of bringest up again; We bless thy wonderful goodness, for having turned our heaviness into joy and our mourning into gladness, by restor ing this our brother to some degree of his former health. Blessed be thy Name that thou didst not forsake him in his sickness; but didst visit him with comforts from above; didst support him in patience and submission to thy will; and at last didst send him seasonable relief. Perfect, we beseech thee, this thy mercy towards him; and prosper the means which shall be made use of for his cure: that, being restored to health of body, vigour of mind, and cheerfulness of spirit, he may be able to go to thine house, to offer thee an oblation with great gladness, and to bless thy holy Name for all thy goodness towards him; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. Forasmuch as all mortal men are subject to many sudden peris, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life; therefore, to the intent they may be always in readiness to die, whensoever it shall please Almighty God to call them, the Ministers shall diligently from time to time (but especially in the time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness) exhort their parishioners to the often receiving of the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, when it shall be publicly administered in the Church; that so doing, they may, in case of sudden visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. if the sick person be not able to come to the Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Communion in his house; then he must give timely notice to the Minister, signifying also how many there are to communicate with him, (which shall be two at the least;) and all things necessary being prepared, the Minister shall there celebrate the Holy Communion, beginning with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, here following. The Collect. ALMIGHTY everliving kind, who dost correct those God, Maker of man whom thou dost love, and chastise every one whom thou dost receive; We beseech thee to have mercy upon this thy servant visited with thine hand, and to grant that he may take his sickness patiently, and recover his bodily health, if that, whensoever his soul shall depart from the body, it may be without spot presented unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. But The Epistle. Heb. xii. 5. MY son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. The Gospel. St. John v. 24. ERILY, verily, I say eth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. After which the Minister shall proceed according to the form before prescribed for the Holy Communion, beginning at these words, Ye who do truly, etc. At the time of the distribution of the holy Sacrament, the Minister shall first receive the Communion himself, and after minister unto those who are appointed to communicate with the sick, and last of all to the sick person. In the times of contagious sickness or disease, or when extreme weakness renders it expedient, the following form shall sufice: The Confession and the Absolution; Lift up your hearts, etc., through the Sanctus: The Prayer of Consecration, ending with these words, partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood; The Communion; The Lord's Prayer; The Blessing. But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in due time to the Minister, or for lack of company to receive with him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, the Minister shall instruct him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the Cross for him, and shed his Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefor, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth. When the sick person is visited, and receiveth the Holy Communion all at one time, then the Minister, for more expedition, shall cut off the form of the Visitation at the Psalm, and go straight to the Communion. In the times of contagious sickness or disease, when none of the Parish or neighbours can be gotten to communicate with the sick in their houses, for fear of the infection, upon special request of the diseased, the Minister alone may communicate with him. This Office may be used with aged and bed-ridden persons, or such as are not able to attend the public Ministration in Church, substituting the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Day, for those appointed above. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. I Here is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any unbaptized adults, any who die excommunicate, or who have laid violent hands upon themselves. The Minister, meeting the Corpse at the entrance of the Churchyard, and going before it, either into the Church or towards the Grave, shall say or sing, AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. St. John xi. 25, 26. Selections, taken from the 39th and 90th Psalms. nd, and the number of my days that I may be certified how long I have to live. let me know mine Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity. For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee. Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish. When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity. |