Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy ; I will sing and speak praises unto the Lord. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Examine, O Lord, and prove me: try my reins and my heart. For thy loving-kindness is before my eyes and I will walk in thy truth. I have not sat with vain dissemblers. persons; neither will I go in with I will wash my hands in innocency: and so will I compass thine altar, O Lord, That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man, that trusteth in him. Look at the generations of old and see, did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did any abide in his fear, and was forsaken? or whom did he ever despise, that called upon him? For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy, longsuffering and very pitiful, and forgiveth sins, and saveth in time of affliction. Ye, therefore, that fear the Lord, believe him: and your reward shall not fail. They that fear the Lord, will seek that which is wellpleasing unto him: and they that love him, shall be filled with the law. They that fear the Lord, will prepare their hearts, and humble their souls in his sight. For as his majesty is, even so is his mercy. What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits, which he hath done unto me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Return unto thy rest, O my soul: for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the Lord. The Lord hath been mindful of us, and he will bless us; he will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. Blessed be the name of our God, from this time forth for evermore. Praise the Lord. Glory be to the Father, &c. As it was in the beginning, &c. Then shall the Minister, with a loud voice, pronounce this Commination. “Thus saith the Lord Jesus, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandment, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs and sorcerers, whoremongers, and murderers. The idolaters and the filthy, the fearful and the unbelieving, the hypocrite and the liars, the drunkards and the envious, the hinderers of God's word, and the slanderers of their neighbours, the swearers, and the covetous, the impenitent and the uncharitable, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. And behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star: and the Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come,' and let him that heareth, come: and let him that is athirst, come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely a." But first cleanse your hands and purify your hearts, repent you truly of all your sins past, retain no affection to any thing that displeases God: resolve against all sin, strive against all, pray against all, watch against all, and so shall ye be meet partakers of this holy table: but if any of you here present live in any known sin, of which ye have not truly repented, and which ye do not mean presently and utterly to forsake; in the name of Jesus Christ, I pronounce every such person to be unworthy of these holy mysteries, and that he cannot receive them but to his condemnation. Judge, therefore, yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord: for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; and who is able to dwell with the everlasting burning? But if any of you, after this severe admonition, shall presume to approach these sacred mysteries with an impure and disobedient heart,-let him know that he pollutes the blood of the everlasting covenant, he eats and drinks damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. I have given you warning; I have discharged my duty. All ye who truly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a holy life in all godliness, and sobriety, and honesty,—draw near and take these holy mysteries to your comfort; first make your humble confession of sins to God, and meekly beg his pardon for what is past, and his grace for the time to come. The Confession, to be said by all kneeling. Almighty God, we miserable sinners do humbly confess, and are truly sorrowful for our many and great, our innumerable and intolerable crimes, of which our consciences do accuse us by night and by day, and by which we have provoked thy severest wrath and indignation against us. We have broken all thy righteous laws and commandments, by word or by deed, by vain thoughts or sinful desires: we have sinned against thee in all our relations, in all places and at all times; we can neither reckon their number, nor bear their burden, nor suffer thine anger which we have deserved. But thou, O Lord God, art merciful and gracious: have mercy upon us: pardon us for all the evils we have done: judge us not for all the good we have omitted: take not thy favour from us, but delight thou to sanctify us and save us, and work in us to will and to do of thy good pleasure all our duty, that, being sanctified by thy Spirit, and delivered from our sins, we may serve thee in a religious and a holy conversation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Then the Minister, rising up, shall pronounce Absolution in the form prescribed at Morning Prayer. Our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, that Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, who promised paradise to the repenting thief, and gave pardon to the woman taken in adultery,-he pardon and forgive all your sins known and unknown. O blessed Jesus, in whatsoever thy servants,-as men bearing flesh about them, and inhabiting this world, or deceived by the devil,-have sinned, whether in word or deed, whether in thought or desire, whether by omission or commission, let it be forgiven unto them by thy word and by thy Spirit; and for ever preserve thy servants from sinning against thee, and from suffering thine eternal anger, for thy promise' sake, and for thy glorious name's sake, O blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen. Then, all rising up, there shall be made a Collection for the Poor, by the Deacon or Clerk, while the Minister reads some of these Sentences, or makes an exhortation to Charity and Alms. To do good and to distribute forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebr. xiii. 16. Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy: the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble: the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness. Psal. xli. 1, 2, 3. He which soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly,-and he which soweth bountifully, shall reap bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7. Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Luke, xvi. 9. Give alms of such things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you. Luke, xi. 41. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, 'Come, ye blessed children of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Matth. xxv. 34, 35. Let him that is taught in the word, communicate unto him that teacheth, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal. vi. 6, 7. If there be none fit to gather, the Minister himself shall gather it: and when he hath done, or received it from the hand of him that gathered it, let him in an humble manner present it to God, laying it on the Communion Table, secretly and devoutly saying: Lord, accept the oblation and alms of thy people: and remember thy servants for this thing, at the day of judgment. Then shall follow the Address to the Holy Mysteries; the people shall come up to the Holy Table where it is the custom, or near it, where it is most fit to communicate: and then, the Minister shall say, Let us pray. O God, who, by thy unspeakable mercy, hast sent thy only begotten Son into the world, that he might bring the wandering sheep into his fold, turn not away from us miserable sinners, who worship and invocate thee in these holy mysteries. For we do not approach to thee in our own righteousness, but in the hope and confidence of that glorious mercy, by which thou hast sent thy holy Son to redeem miserable and lost mankind. We humbly beseech thee to grant, that these mysteries, which thou hast ordained to be ministries of salvation to us, may not become an occasion of our condemnation, but of pardon of our sins, of the renovation of our souls, of the sanctification and preservation of our bodies, that we may become well pleasing to thee our God, in the obedience of our Lord Jesus, with whom, and with thy Holy Spirit, thou reignest over all, one God, blessed for evermore. Amen. Minister. Lift up your hearts. People. We lift them up unto the Lord. Minister. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. Minister. It is, indeed, truly just, righteous, and fitting, to praise and to glorify, to worship and adore, to give thanks and to magnify thee the great Maker of all creatures, visible and invisible,the treasure of all good, temporal and eternal: the fountain of all life, mortal and immortal: the Lord and God of all things |