FORGIVENESS. WE beseech thee, O Lord, in thy forgiving love, turn away what we deserve for our sins, nor let our offences prevail before thee, but let thy mercy always rise up to overcome them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. GRA TIME, DEATH, AND ETERNITY. RANT, O Lord and Heavenly Father, that, as our days on earth are multiplied, our good resolutions may be strengthened, and our powers of resisting temptations increased. Relieve the infirmities of our minds and bodies; grant us such strength as our duties may require, and such diligence as may improve those opportunities of good that shall be afforded us. Deliver us from evil thoughts; give us true repentance for the sins of our past lives; and as we draw nearer and nearer to the grave, increase our faith, enliven our hope, extend our charity, and purify our desires; and so help us, by thy Holy Spirit, that, when it shall be thy pleasure to call us hence, we may be received to everlasting happiness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. WE humbly pray thee, O Father in heaven, to guide us through the darkness of this world, to guard us from its perils, to hold us up and strengthen us when we grow weary in our mortal way, and to lead us by thy chosen paths, through time and through death, to our eternal home in thy heavenly kingdom; which we ask in the name. of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. LORD of life and death, of all ages and all worlds, give us to know the value of our fleeting years. While we have time, let us improve it as we ought; let us not forsake thee in life, nor fall from thee in death; and O keep us, we entreat thee, from that second death, which must come upon the heedless and impenitent. Save us, and bring us to dwell with thee, where weakness, danger, and death shall find no room. Grant this, O Lord, for thine infinite mercy's sake, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. CLOSE OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. ALMIGHTY God, we humbly thank thee for the privileges of religious worship and instruction which we have at this time enjoyed. Forgive whatever thou hast seen amiss in us, and whatever may have been said contrary to the truth and to thy holy word. Accept the sincerity of our devotions, and cause the good seed of thy word to spring up, and bear a hundred-fold in our hearts and lives. Teach us to love thee more and serve thee better, day by day; that when our days on earth are ended, we may be received to thine eternal joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. END OF THE COLLECTS AND PRAYERS. To be said on the Sundays immediately preceding those on which the Lord's Supper is to be administered. COLLECT FOR PURITY. ALMIGHTY God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen. GOD me. Minister. OD spake these words and said, I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods but People. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water un der the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and show mercy unto thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt do no murder. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not steal. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. Min. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. Peo. Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee. Then shall the Minister say, HEAR also what our Saviour Christ saith: The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely, this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. |