COLLECTS TO BE ADDED UPON VARIOUS OCCASIONS.

I.

For the Church.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast revealed thy glory to Jews and Gentiles in our Lord Jesus Christ, extend thy hand of mercy over all the world, that thy church may spread like a flourishing vine, and enlarge her borders to the uttermost parts of the earth; that all nations partaking of the sweet refreshings of thy Gospel, thy name may be glorified, the honour of our Lord Jesus advanced, his prophecies fulfilled, and his coming hastened. Bless, O Lord, thy holy church with all blessings of comfort, assistance, and preservation; extirpate heresies, unite her divisions, give her patience and perseverance in the faith, and confession of thy name in despite of all enmities, temptations, and disadvantages; destroy all wicked counsels intended against her or any of her children by the devil or any of his accursed instruments; let the hands of thy grace and mercy lead her from this vale of misery to the triumphant throne of her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

II.

For the King.

O Lord our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings, who in thy hands hast the hearts of kings, and canst turn them as the rivers of water, send the light of thy counte-` nance and abundance of blessings upon thy servant, our sovereign lord, king Charles: make him as holy, valiant, and prosperous as king David, wise and rich like Solomon, zealous for the honour of thy law and temple as Josiah; and give him all sorts of great assistances to enable him to serve thee, to glorify thy name, to protect thy church, to promote true religion, to overcome all his enemies, to make glad all his liege people: that he serving thee with all diligence, and the utmost of his possibility, his people may serve him with honour and obedience, in thee and for thee, according to thy blessed word and ordinance; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

III.

For the Queen.

O God of heaven, Father of mercies, have mercy upon our most gracious queen; unite her unto thee with the bands of faith and love, preserve her to her life's end in thy favour, and make her an instrument of glory to thy name, of refreshment to the church, of joy to all faithful people of this kingdom, and crown her with an eternal weight of glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV.

For the Bishops.

O thou great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, most glorious Jesu, bless all holy and religious prelates, especially the bishops of our church. O God, let abundance of thy grace and benediction descend upon their heads, that by a holy life, by a true and catholic belief, by a confident confession of thy name, and by a fatherly care, great sedulity and watchfulness over their flock, they may glorify thee our God, the great lover of souls, and set forward the salvation of their people, and of others by their example; and at last, after a plentiful conversion of souls, they may shine like the stars in glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

V.

For our Parents.

O Almighty God and merciful Father, who from the loins of our first parents, Adam and Eve, hast produced mankind, and hast commanded us to honour our parents; in pursuance of thy holy commandment, and of our duty to thee our God, and in thee to them, we do, with all humility, beg a blessing of thee for our parents, who from thy mercy and plenty have conveyed many to us: pardon and forgive all their sins and infirmities, increase in them all goodness, give them blessings of the right hand and blessings of the left: bless them in their persons, in their posterity, in the comforts of thy Holy Spirit, in a persevering goodness, and at last in an eternal weight of glory. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

VOL. XV.

VI.

For our Children.

O Father of heaven, God of all the creatures, by whose providence mankind is increased, I bless thy name for bestowing on me that blessing of the righteous man: the blessing of children. Lord bless them with health, with life, with good understanding, with fair opportunities and advantages of education, society, tutors, and governors; and, above all, with the graces of thy Holy Spirit, that they may live and be blessed under thy protection, grow in grace, and be in favour with God and man, and at last may make up the number of thine elect children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

VII.

For our Patron, our Friends, and Benefactors.

O Almighty God, thou fountain of all good, of all excellency both to men and angels, extend thine abundant favour and loving-kindnesses to my patron, to all my friends and benefactors; reward them, and make them plentiful compensation for all the good which, from thy merciful providence, they have conveyed unto me. Let the light of thy countenance shine upon them, and let them never come into any desertion, affliction, or sadness, but such as may be an instrument of thy glory and their eternal comfort, in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

VIII.

A Prayer of a Wife for her Husband.

O my God, who hast graciously pleased to call me to the holy state of matrimony, bless me in it with the grace of chastity, with loyalty, obedience, and complacency to my husband; and bless him with long life, with a healthful body, with an understanding soul, with abundance of thy graces, which may make him to be and continue thy servant, a true son of the church, a supporter and a guide to me his wife, a blessing and a comfort to his children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IX.

Of a Husband for his Wife.

O merciful God, who art a Father to us thy children, a Spouse to thy holy church, a Saviour and Redeemer to all mankind, have mercy upon thy handmaid my wife; endue her with all the ornaments of thy heavenly grace: make her to be holy and devout as Esther, loving and amiable as Rachel, fruitful as Leah, wise as Rebecca, faithful and obedient as Sarah; that being filled with grace and benediction here, she may be partaker of thy glory hereafter, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

X.

For a Curate to say in behalf of his Parish.

O blessed Jesu, thou that art an eternal Priest, a universal Bishop, and the fountain of all ghostly good, have mercy upon this parish which thou hast concredited to my charge. Lord, I am unfit for so great a burden, but by thy aid and gracious acceptation I hope for mercy, pardon, and assistance. O Lord, send thy Holy Spirit to dwell amongst us: let here be peace and charity, and true Catholic religion, and holy discipline. Comfort the comfortless, heal the sick, relieve the oppressed, instruct the ignorant, correct the refractory, keep us all from all deadly sin and make them obedient to their superiors, friendly to one another, and servants of thy divine majesty ; that so from thy favour they may obtain blessings in their bodies, in their souls, in their estates, and a supply to all their necessities, till at last they be freed from all dangers and necessities in the full fruition of thy everlasting glories, O blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesu. Amen.

XI.

For a Parishioner to say in behalf of his Curate.

O God Almighty, who art pleased to send thy blessings upon us by the ministration of the bishops and priests of thy holy church, have mercy upon thy servant, to whom is committed the care of my soul, that he, by whose means thou art graciously pleased to advance my spiritual good, may by thy grace and favour be protected, by thy

assisted, by thy great mercies comforted and relieved in all his necessities bodily and ghostly, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

XII.

For safe Childbirth.

O blessed Jesu, Son of the eternal God, who, according to thy humility, wert born of a holy maid, who conceived thee without sin, and brought thee forth without pain,-have mercy upon me thy humble servant, and as by thy blessing I have conceived, so grant that by thy favourable assistance I may be safely delivered: Lord, grant me patience, and strength, and confidence in thee, and send thy holy angel to be my guardian in the hour of my travail. O shut not up my soul with sinners, nor my life with them that go down into the pit. I humbly also beg mercy for my child; grant it may be born with its right shape, give it a comely body, and an understanding soul, life, and opportunity of baptism, and thy grace from the cradle to the grave, that it may increase the number of saints in that holy fellowship of saints and angels, where thou livest and reignest, eternal God, world without end, Amen.

XIII.

Before a Journey.

O God, who didst preserve thy servants Abraham and Jacob, thy people Israel, thy servant Tobias, and the wise men of the east in their several journeys, by thy providence, by a ministry of angels, by a pillar of fire, and by the guidance of a star; vouchsafe to preserve us thy servants in the way we are now to go. Be, O Lord, a guide unto us in our preparation, a shadow in the day, and a covering by night, a rest to our weariness, and a staff to our weakness, a patron in adversity, a protection from danger; that by thy assistance we may perform our journey safely to thy honour, to our own comfort, and at last bring us to the everlasting rest of our heavenly country, through him who is the way, the truth, and the life, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen.