public use and comfort of thy holy word and sacraments, a great love to all Christians, and obedience to our superiors, ecclesiastical and civil, all the days of our life. Hear our prayers, &c. Give us spiritual wisdom, that we may discern what is pleasing to thee, and follow what belongs unto our peace; and let the knowledge and love of God, and of Jesus Christ our Lord, be our guide and our portion all our days. Hear our prayers, &c. Give unto us holy dispositions, and an active industry in thy service, to redeem the time mispent in vanity; for thy pity sake take not vengeance of us for our sins, but sanctify our souls and bodies in this life, and glorify them hereafter. Hear our prayers, &c. IV. TO BE ADDED TO THE FORMER LITANIES, ACCORDING AS OUR DEVOTIONS AND TIME WILL SUFFER. For all States of Men and Women, especially in the Christian Church. O BLESSED God, in mercy remember thine inheritance, and forget not the congregation of the poor for ever; pity poor mankind, whose portion is misery and folly, shame and death but thou art our Redeemer, and the lifter up of our head, and under the shadow of thy wings shall be our help, until this tyranny be overpast. Have mercy upon us, O God, and hide not thyself from our petition. Preserve, O God, the catholic church in holiness and truth, in unity and peace, free from persecution, or glorious under it, that she may for ever advance the honour of her Lord Jesus, for ever represent his sacrifice, and glorify his person, and advance his religion, and be accepted of thee in her blessed Lord, that being filled with his Spirit, she may partake of his glory. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give the spirit of government and holiness to all Christian kings, princes, and governors; grant that their people may obey them, and they may obey thee, and live in honesty and peace, justice, and holy religion; being nursing fathers to the church, advocates for the oppressed, patrons for the widows, and a sanctuary for the miserable and the fatherless, that they may reign with thee for ever in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give to thy servants the bishops, and all the clergy, the spirit of holiness and courage, of patience and humility, of prudence and diligence, to preach and declare thy will by a holy life, and wise discourses, that they may minister to the good of souls, and find a glorious reward in the day of the Lord Jesus. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give to our relatives [our wives and children, our friends and benefactors, our charges, our family, &c.] pardon and support, comfort in all their sorrows, strength in all their temptations, the guard of angels to preserve them from evil, and the conduct of thy Holy Spirit to lead them into all good; that they, doing their duty, may feel thy mercies here, and partake of thy glories hereafter. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give to all Christian kingdoms and commonwealths peace and plenty, health and holy religion; to all families of religion, and nurseries of piety, zeal and holiness, prudence and unity, peace and contentedness; to all schools of learning, quietness, and industry, freedom from wars and violence, factions and envy. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give to all married pairs faith and love, charitable and wise compliances, sweetness of society, and innocence of conversation; to all virgins and widows, great love of religion, a sober and a contented spirit, an unwearied attendance to devotion, and the offices of holiness; protection to the fatherless, comfort to the disconsolate, patience and submission, health and spiritual advantages to the sick; that they may feel thy comforts for the days wherein they have suffered adversity. Have mercy upon us, &c. Be thou a star and a guide to them that travel by land or sea, the confidence and comfort of them that are in storms and shipwrecks, the strength of them that toil in the mines, and row in the galleys, an instructor to the ignorant; to them that are condemned to die, be thou a guide unto death; give cheerfulness to every sad heart, spiritual strength, and proportionable comfort, to them that are afflicted by evil spirits; pity the lunatics; give life and salvation to all to whom thou hast given no understanding; accept the stupid and the fools to mercy, give liberty to prisoners, redemption to captives, maintenance to the poor, patronage and defence to the oppressed; and put a period to the iniquity and to the miseries of all mankind. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give unto our enemies grace and pardon, charity to us, and love to thee; take away all anger from them, and all mistakes from us, all misinterpretations and jealousies; bring all sinners to repentance and holiness, and to all thy saints and servants give an increasing love, and a persevering duty; bring all Turks, Jews, and infidels, to the knowledge and confession of the Lord Jesus, and a participation of all the promises of the Gospel, all the benefits of his passion; to all heretics give humility and ingenuity, repentance of their errors, and grace and power to make amends to the church and truth, and a public acknowledgment of a holy faith, to the glory of the Lord Jesus. Have mercy upon us, &c. Give to all merchants faithfulness and truth; to the labouring husbandman health, and fair seasons of the year, and reward his toil with the dew of heaven, and the blessings of the earth; to all artizans give diligence in their callings, and a blessing on their labours, and on their families; to old men, piety and perfect repentance, a liberal heart, and an open hand, great religion, and desires after heaven; to young men give sobriety and chastity, health and usefulness, an early piety, and a persevering duty; to all families, visited with the rod of God, give consolation, and a holy use of the affliction, and a speedy deliverance; to us all pardon and holiness, and life eternal, through Jesus Christ. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communication of the Holy Spirit, be with us all for ever. Amen. A short Prayer to be said every Morning. O ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercy and comfort, with reverence and fear, with humble confidence and strong desires, I approach to the throne of grace, begging of thee mercy and protection, pardon and salvation. O my God, I am a sinner, but sorrowful and repenting: thou art justly offended at me, but yet thou art my Lord and my Father, merciful and gracious. Be pleased to blot all my sins out of thy remembrance, and heal my soul, that I may never any more sin against thee. Lord, open my eyes that I may see my own infirmities, and watch against them; and my own follies, that I may amend them: and be pleased to give me perfect understanding in the way of godliness, that I may walk in it all the days of my pilgrimage. Give me a spirit diligent in the works of my calling, cheerful and zealous in religion, fervent and frequent in my prayers, charitable and useful in my conversation; give me a healthful and a chaste body, a pure and a holy soul, a sanctified and an humble spirit; and let my body and soul and spirit be preserved unblameable to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Amen. II. Blessed be thy name, O God, and blessed be thy mercies, who hast preserved me this night from sin and sorrow, from sad chances, and a violent death, from the malice of the devil, and the evil effects of my own corrupted nature and infirmity. The outgoings of the morning and evening shall praise thee, and thy servants shall rejoice in giving thee praise for the operation of thy hands. Let thy providence and care watch over me this day, and all my whole life, that I may never be against thee by idleness or folly, by evil company or private sins, by word or deed, by thought or desire; and let the employment of my day leave no sorrow, or the remembrance of an evil conscience at night; but let it be holy and profitable, blessed, and always innocent; that when the days of my short abode are done, and the shadow is departed, I may die in thy fear and favour, and rest in a holy hope, and at last return to the joys of a blessed resur rection, through Jesus Christ: in whose name, and in whose words, in behalf of myself, and all my friends, and all thy servants, I humbly and heartily pray, Our Father, &c. A Prayer for the Evening. ETERNAL God, Almighty Father of men and angels, by whose care and providence I am preserved and blessed, comforted and assisted, I humbly beg of thee to pardon the sins and follies of this day, the weaknesses of my services, and the strength of my passions, the rashness of my words, and the vanity and evil of my actions. O just and dear God, how long shall I confess my sins, and pray against them, and yet fall under them! O let it be so no more; let me never return to the follies of which I am ashamed, which bring sorrow, and death, and thy displeasure, worse than death. Give me a command over my evil inclinations, and a perfect hatred of sin, and a love to thee above all the desires of this world. Be pleased to bless and preserve me, this night, from all sin, and all violence of chance, and the malice of the spirits of darkness: watch over me in my sleep; and, whether I sleep or wake, let me be thy servant. Be thou first and last in all my thoughts, and the guide and continual assistance of all my actions. Preserve my body, pardon the sin of my soul, and sanctify my spirit; let me always live holily, and justly, and soberly; and, when I die, receive my soul into thy hands, O holy and ever-blessed Jesus; that I may lie in thy bosom, and long for thy coming, and hear thy blessed sentence at doomsday, and behold thy face, and live in thy kingdom, singing praises to God for ever and ever. Amen. O ETERNAL God, merciful, and glorious, thou art exalted far above all heavens; thy throne, O God, is glory, and thy sceptre is righteousness, thy will is holiness, and thy wisdom |