able hopes of thy merciful acceptance thereof; | multitude of his thoughts within him, let thy through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. comforts delight his soul. If he still continues Amen. without any rest, grant that his mind may rest and repose itself in the bosom of thy dearest A Prayer for a sick Person who intends to re-love, and may feel the most sensible consolaceive the blessed Sacrament. tions from heaven, not only quieting, but of his understanding, and let the enemy have greatly rejoicing his heart. Preserve the use no advantage of him; but make him able to say, I will wait patiently for the Lord, till he inhear his prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto his cry: O, spare him, that he may recover strength before he go hence ;" for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. O THOU infinite and eternal Spirit, from whom every good motion of our hearts proceed eth! who both quickenest the dead, and after thou hast given life, givest the increase: in-cline his ear unto me, and hear my cry.—O, crease, we beseech thee, the good seeds of thy grace, which thou hast sown in the heart of thy servant, by inclining him to receive the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord, in which thou art more immediately present, to illuminate the faithful, and to comfort and refresh all that are 66 weary and heavy-laden with their sins." O, cause thy face thus comfortably to shine upon thy distressed servant, who now intends to draw near to thee in this sacrament, as thou hast commanded him. Help him, in the mean time, O Lord, to fit and prepare himself for this holy communion: fill his soul with reverence and godly fear; with earnest desires and longings after divine life; with serious repentance for all his past offences, and hearty resolutions of living for ever after unto Jesus, who died for him. O, let him meditate upon his bleeding Saviour with a "broken and a contrite heart," which thou hast promised not to despise :" forgive him all that is past, and give him grace for the future, to" live more soberly, righteously, and piously, in this present world," if it shall be thy good pleasure to continue him in it. 66 A prayer to be said when the sick Person grows light-headed. (From Bishop Patrick.) O Lord, look down from heaven, in pity and compassion, upon this thine afflicted servant, who is not able now to look up to thee: the more sorrowful his condition grows, the fitter object he is of thine infinite mercies; who acceptest, we humbly hope, of the submission he made of himself, in the beginning of his sickness, to thine almighty wisdom and goodness. And therefore, since it is thy pleasure to suffer his distemper to proceed to this dangerous extremity, do thou no less graciously love him, and delight in him, than if he could still give up himself to thy blessed will. And hear, O most merciful Father, our prayers in his behalf, when he can no longer commend himself to thy mercies. Pardon, good Lord, pardon all his sins; impute not to him any of his former follies; lay not to his charge A Prayer for a sick Person that wants Sleep. his not improving, or misusing, his reason and (From Bishop Patrick.) understanding, which we earnestly, but hum bly, entreat thee to restore to him, together ADORED be thy love, thy wonderful love, with such a measure of thy divine grace, as most Gracious God, who hast so many ways may quicken and assist him to employ his expressed thy bounty towards us. Thy mer- thoughts to the best purposes, especially in me. cies in Christ Jesus surpass all our thoughts; ditating on thy mercies, in studying thy praise, we are not able to number all the other bless-and in exhorting all others to love thee, to ings thou hast bestowed upon us. How much do we owe thee for the quiet sleep of but one night! We see, in this thy poor afflicted servant, how much we ought to thank thee for this single blessing, that our eyes, when we would close them, are not held waking. trust in thee, and sincerely obey thee. And while he remains thus deprived of his reason, be pleased to quiet and compose his spirits, or to prevent all furious motions there, or quickly to abate such violent passions, if any arise: for which end, be pleased to remove all frightful imaginations far from him, and suffer not the evil one to approach him; preserve him from doing any harm, either to him. self or to any others. Forsake him not, O Lord our God, be not far from him. Make haste to help him, O Lord our salvation+." Pardon, good Lord, our ingratitude for this and all the rest of thy undeserved mercies: and be pleased graciously also to visit him, who still languishes on his sick-bed, looking up to thee from whom cometh our help. Renew his wasted spirits with comfortable sleep; compose him to a sweet and undisturbed rest; refresh him thereby so sensibly, that he may be er." restored to such a degree of strength, as may "We will be still praising thee, and showmake him able, in some measure, affectionate-ing forth thy loving kindness to those who ly to ackowledge thy goodness, when thou hast dealt so bountifully with him: or if thou delayest to bestow that blessing on him, in the "So will we give thanks unto thee for ev succeed us :" Psalm xl. 1. and xxxix. 12, 13. + Psalm xxxviii, 21, 22, "That they may set their hope in thee our God, and not forget thy works, but keep thy commandments." Amen. thee, all his offences, and accept of the prepa ration and repentance that he was able to make before the distemper prevailed upon him, in so deadly a manner. Receive him, O Lord, in A Prayer for a Person, when Danger is ap- to the arms of thy mercy, and accept him, for prehended by excessive Sleep. (From Mr. Kettlewell. O MERCIFUL God, let not this deep sleep, which is fallen on thy servant, prove the sleep of death; make it the sleep of a recovering person, to relieve and revive him: and awake thy well-beloved Son's sake; that so this short Amen. him out of it in thy due time, to offer thee A Prayer for One who hath been a notoriously praise, and to labour still among us in doing thee honour and service. But if thou art pleased to take him to thyself, Lord, remember and accept of all his former prayers and repentance, faith and patience. Look not upon his sins, but to pardon them; nor on his weaknesses, but to pity them: and when he awakes in the next world, let him find himself surrounded with light and bliss, instead of gloominess and sorrow, and awake to eternal life. wicked Liver. O LORD God, of infinite goodness and compassion, whose mercies are over all thy works; who makest the sun to shine, and the rain to descend, upon the "unjust" as well as the "just," and art kind even to the most un thankful; we humbly beseech thee, to look down in mercy upon this thy unworthy servant, who hath so long "trampled upon the riches of thy goodness, not knowing that it should lead to repentance." Let thy rod, therefore, awaken him now to a sense of his condition, whom thy goodness hath not reclaimed, and let him still find mer. cy at thy hands, notwithstanding his continuabuse of it. Lord, hear us for this thy weak servant in distress. Hear our prayers for him, who seems not able now to offer up any prayers to thee for himself. And accept both him and us to the blessed enjoyment of thy love through Je-al sus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for a Person lying insensible on a Thou hast promised, O Lord, that, "when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." O make good this thy promise to thy servant here, who stands in so much need of it. O THOU PRESERVER of men, who knowest the frailty of our constitutions; how soon our senses may fail us, and our understanding depart from us; to what accidents, distempers, "Hide thy face from his sins, and blot out and decays, our weak nature is subject; even all his iniquities:" though they be “red as such as may make the most acute and judici-scarlet," yet do thou make them "white as ous quickly become as fools; and the ablest snow," by repentance, which we beg of thee and strongest, weak and insensible; O look to give him, and to accept, though late, through down, we beseech thee, upon thy servant, who thine infinite mercies. now lies in such a weak and insensible condition. The less able he is to assist himself, the more need hath he of our prayers, and of thy tender mercy to him. O thou great Creator of the world, who broughtest light out of darkness, and madest all things out of nothing, and canst restore our dead bodies again after they are mouldered into dust, be pleased to repel the clouds of darkness which now have taken away the light of our brother's understanding, and rendered him a companion for the dead. Quicken him again, O Lord, and restore him to his former senses, that his soul may bless and praise thy holy name. Simon Magus, though in the "gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity," was exhorted to repent, and to pray for pardon and therefore we hope the gate of life is still open for our brother, though he hath so long shut himself out of it, by going on in a course that leadeth to the "chambers of death." Blessed Lord, let thy terrors at length awaken him out of this lethargical condition, before he is overtaken by thy judgments. Afflict him here, that thou mayest spare him hereafter. Soften his heart, that he may bewail his ill-spent life, like Mary Magdalen, with tears of contrition. O quicken him to a sense of his duty, and of Hear our petitions, O Lord, and receive our his danger, before it be too late: and wher prayers for our brother, that this image of death thou hast brought him to his right mind, remay not be converted into death itself, but that ceive him, we beseech thee, as the compassionhe may live to proclaim thy power and to ce-ate father did his prodigal son, or the sheplebrate thy praises longer upon earth. herd his lost sheep. But if it be thy will to remove him hence in this insensible condition, O pardon, we beseech Thou, O Lord, who didst pardon the thief upon the cross, hear our prayers for our bro. ther, in these kis great, and, for any thing we know, his last agonies. Give us all (and particularly thy servant, for whom we are now interceding) a sense of our And as the fore-mentioned instances are own vileness; give us unfeigned repentance for lively significations of thine unbounded good-all the errors of our life past; that, being cast ness, and were written for our comfort and in-down, thou mayest raise us up, and become struction, that none should despair of pardon; merciful to us, miserable sinners. so with the greatest confidence we now recommend this our distressed brother to thy di-"we grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our vine protection, beseeching thee to forgive all that is past, and to receive him at last into thine "everlasting habitation." Amen. A Prayer for one who is hardened and impenitent. Let us all find, by blessed experience, that Lord Jesus Christ;" and that "his commandments" are not "grievous" to us, but rather the delight and desire of our souls; that so at last we may be presented to him "holy and unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight." Amen. A Prayer for a sick Woman that is with Child. LORD God Almighty, who art the "Father of our spirits," and who "turnest the hearts of men as thou pleasest; who hast mercy on O GOD, the help of all that put their trust whom thou wilt have mercy, and whom thou in thee, the support of the weak, and the relief wilt thou hardenest ;" let thy merciful ears be of the needy; look with pity upon this woman open, we pray thee, to the supplications which thy servant, who at best acknowledgeth herself we now offer to thy Divine Majesty, in the be- but a weak and helpless creature, but much half of this thy servant, who appears insensible more so now in her present condition, when of his sin and folly, and on whom all means to thou hast added weakness to weakness, and lead him to repentance have hitherto seemed made her to travail with much sickness, toge vain and ineffectual. Take from him, we hum-ther with the burden of child-bearing. bly entreat thee, all ignorance and hardness of heart: remove from him all prejudice against, and contempt of, thy sacred word and ministry: let him no longer "make a mock of sin," but be sensible that the wisdom he has hitherto gloried in, is the greatest and most dangerous folly. Open thou his eyes, that he may the wonderful things of thy law." Show thy mercy upon him, and grant him thy salvation. Convince him of the vanity and madness, as well as danger, of his past ways. "see O Lord, be thou graciously pleased to proportion thy strength to her weakness, and as pains and sorrow take hold upon her, inspire her with fresh vigour and courage to rely upon thee, her only support in time of need, and the rock of her salvation. A Prayer for a Woman in the Time of her Let her not be disquieted with the fear of any evil, since none can happen unto her without thy permission; but give her grace patiently to resign herself to thy blessed will in all things, who knowest what is best for her, and wilt lay His understanding, we fear, is now darken. no more upon her, we trust, than thou wilt en ed, and his heart hardened through the deceit-able her to bear. fulness of sin: O, do thou enlighten his dark Bring strength, O Lord, out of weakness, mind, and let him at last see the beauties of and health out of sickness; and make her, in holiness, which have so long been hidden from thy good time, a joyful mother of a hopeful his eyes. Take from him this " stony heart, child, which may do good in its generation, and give him a heart of flesh." Awaken his and be ar instrument of thy glory here, and a slumbering and inattentive soul, that it may blessed inhabitant of thy heavenly kingdom delight in things agreeable to its nature, and hereafter. Amen. be employed in things that make for its everlasting peace. O give him understanding, and he shall yet live. Thou that canst revive souls which are dead in sin and trespasses, and make even such as lie in the grave of corruption to become glorious saints and even martyrs for religion, hear our prayers for our brother, who seems to be on the brink of destruction; and pity poor sinners that have not pity on themselves. It is the unhappiness of being long accustom-bly commend thy servant, in this her extreed to sin, that we are not soon made sensible of our errors, nor easily made to know them. It is the pride of our nature to be unwilling to acknowledge our faults, and to confess our sins: but let thy grace, O God, teach us to deny this ungodly lust. Do thou humble in us all high and vain imaginations; suppress all proud thoughts and haughty opinions of ourselves. (From Bishop Patrick.) O MOST Mighty Lord, who hast given us innumerable pledges of thy love, and encou raged us to trust in thee for ever, and to expect with quiet and patient minds the issue of thy wise and good providence; we most hum mity, to thy care and blessing; beseeching thee to give her a gracious deliverance, and to ease her of the burden wherewith she labours We ourselves are monuments of that mercy which we beg of thee. Thou didst preserve our weak and imperfect frame, before we were born. Thou hast succoured and supported us ever since, many times beyond our hopes, and the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." "Restore unto her, O Lord, the joy of thy salvation, and uphold her with thy free Spirit; then shall she teach transgressors thy way, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver her" from this great affliction, " O God, thou God of her salvation, and her tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness." always beyond our deservings. We commit And forasmuch as she putteth her whole trust curselves, and every thing belonging unto us, in thee, give her strength and patience promost heartily unto thy hands; remembering portionable to all her pains and agonies. Supthat thou hast the same power and goodness port her spirits under them, and, if thou pleas still, by which we came into the light of the est, carry her safely through the same, and living. We cannot desire to be better pro-" make her to hear of joy and gladness, that vided for, than as thy infinite wisdom judgeth most convenient for us; unto that we refer ourselves, beseeching thee, if it be thy good pleasure, that her deliverance may be as speedy as her cries unto thee; or her patience as great and long as her pains. Thou who ripenest the fruits of the earth, and then givest us the gathering of them to our comfort, blast not, we beseech thee, the fruit of the womb; but bring it to maturity, and deliver it safe into thy servant's hand as a new pledge of thy goodness to her, to be an instrument of thy glory, and a future comfort and blessing to thy servant, who travails in so much pain with it now. Or if thou hast otherwise determined, Lord, give her grace to submit to thy holy will, and to rest satisfied in thy wise appointments, and never to distrust thy goodness and care over her. Hear us, O Father of mercies, and pardon hers and all our offences, and pity our infirmities: make us more thankful for what we have received, and more fit for the blessing which we now request; and prepare as for all thy future mercies, either in this life, or in the next, through thy infinite love and compassion declared to us, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for a Woman who cannot be delivered without Difficulty and Hazard. Thy mercies and power are still the same, and will be the same for ever. O let them now be shown in this thy servant's delivery, as they have been formerly on the like occa sion; that so, by having fresh instances of thy loving kindness, she may still praise the more and more. O perfect her repentance, and pardon her sins. Give her patience whilst she lives, and peace when she dies, and, after death, the happiness of a blessed eternity, which thou hast promised and prepared for all that love and fear thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen. A Prayer for Grace and Assistance for a Wo man after Delivery, but still in Danger. (From Mr. Kettlewell.) O FATHER of mercies, what thanks can we worthily give unto thee for thine unspeakable goodness to this thy servant, and her helpless infant, and for the wondrous things which thou hast done for her! The pangs of death compassed her, and she found trouble and sorrow. The mouth of the pit was opened, and ready to shut itself upon her: but thou hast graciously assuaged her pains, and turned her sorrows into joy. O LORD God of all comfort and consolation, who art the refuge of the distressed, and the help of all that depend upon thee; we thy unworthy servants do now offer up our supplications at the throne of thy majesty, in the behalf of this thy servant, who is in great pain and misery. Thou hast been pleased to bring Lord, we will ever adore and magnify thy the child to the birth, but there is not strength mercy, which has dealt so lovingly with her, to bring forth. On this account, thy servant and praise thy truth and faithfulness, which is in violent agonies, crying out in her pangs, have not suffered her hopes to fail. We will and pouring out her soul to thee in prayer. never forget how mindful thou hast been of grant that it may be in an acceptable time." the low estate of thy handmaid; for she has "Thou art our salvation; thou shalt pre-been supported by thy power, O blessed God, serve us from trouble; thou shalt compass us in her greatest weakness. She has tasted thy about with songs of deliverance." O let thy servant feel these blessed effects of thy good goodness in the midst of all her pangs and ness; and as thou hast brought to the birth, enable her, we beseech thee, to bring forth, that she may rejoice in the workmanship of thy hands, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Consider the low estate of thine handmaid, and deliver ner soul from death, her eyes from tears, and her feet from falling. Gracious art thou, O Lord, and righteous; thou preservest the simple, and helpest those that are in misery." Help thy servant therefore now, we humbly entreat thee, who stands in so much need of it. Accept her tears, and assuage her pain, as shall seem most expedient for her sorrows. Perfect, O Lord, that deliverance to her which thou hast most graciously begun, and let her not be lost, after the wonders which thou hast already done for her. Continue her patience, and her humble dependence on thee, under the pains and accidents to which she is still exposed. Support her spirits, and raise her up again in thy due time. Thy mercy and power are still the same, and will be the same for ever. O let them still be shown for her recovery, as they have This is to be omitted, if it be the first child. more and more. been already for her delivery; let them be knowest best what is fit, both for it and us, and shown upon her, that she may praise thee wilt do what is fit for both, and therefore we leave it to thee, to dispose of it as thou pleasBut if, in thy paternal providence, where-est. But whether it be to life or death, let it unto we pray she may willingly commit her- be thine in both, and either preserve it to be self, thou hast determined otherwise concern-thy true and faithful servant here on earth, or ing her, thy blessed will be done. Dispose her take it to the blessedness of thy children in the either to life or death, as thou pleasest, only kingdom of heaven; through our Lord and in both to thy mercy: and whether living or Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. dying, let her still please thee, and be thou her portion. O perfect her repentance, and give her patience whilst she lives, and peace when she dies, and after that, the happiness of a blessed eternity, which thou hast prepared for all that truly fear thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. If the Child be living, this may be added: PRESERVE likewise her tender infant, O Father of mercies, and let its own weakness, and our cries, commend it to thy care. Amen. A Prayer for a Person who, from a state of Health, is suddenly seized with the Symptoms of Death. servant. O MOST gracious Father, Lord of heaven and earth, Judge of the living and of the dead, behold thy servants turning to thee for pity and mercy, in behalf of ourselves and this thy in as promising a state of health and life, as It was but lately that we beheld him any one of us seems to be in at present, and therefore our concern is so much the greater Keep it also afterwards in health and safety, and as it increases in years and stature, leted for an instance of our mortality. to behold so sudden a change, and so unlookit increase in wisdom, and in thy fear. We beg not for it wealth or greatness, but wis- from the brink of the grave, and as suddenly We know, O Lord, thou canst bring back dom to know and to serve thee. For, O Lord, raise thy servant again as thou hast cast him we do not desire life, either for ourselves down, and therefore we think it not too late or it, but that we may live to thee, and to implore thymercy upon him for his recovery; grow daily in love and thankfulness for all thy mercies, and in faith and patience, and all that he may recover his strength, and have at least we beg of thee to spare him a little, holy obedience, which may fit us for the hap- time to make his peace with thee," before he piness which thou hast promised; through Jego hence, and be no more seen.' But if it be sus Christ our only Saviour and Redeemer. thy will to remove him at this time into an other world, O let the miracles of thy compassion, and thy wonderful mercy, supply to him the want of the usual measures of time, that he may fit himself for eternity. And let the greatO ALMIGHTY God and merciful Father, to ness of his calamity be a means to procure his whom alone belong the issues of life and death; pardon for those defects and degrees of unrealook down from heaven, we humbly beseech diness which this sudden stroke hath caused. thee, with the eyes of mercy upon this child, And teach us all, we beseech thee, from this unnow lying upon the bed of sickness: visit him, expected fate of our brother, to be continually O Lord, with thy salvation ; deliver him in thy upon our guard, and to watch and pray, since good appointed time from his bodily pain, and we know not the hour when the "Master of save his soul for thy mercy's sake; that if it the house cometh," whether " in the evening, shall be thy good pleasure to prolong his days or at midnight, or in the morning." here on earth, he may live to thee, and be an Lord, thou hast now called thy servant beinstrument of thy glory, by serving thee faith-fore he was aware of it; O, give him such a fully, and doing good in his generation; or great and effectual repentance in this exigence, else receive him into those heavenly habita- that in a short time it may be sufficient to do tions, where the souls of them that sleep in the Lord Jesus enjoy perpetual rest and felicity. Grant this, for thy mercy's sake; through Prayers for a sick Child. (Visitation Office.) Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (From Mr. Kettlewell.) LORD, pity the troubles and weakness of this infant, and pity our sorrows, who are afflicted with it, and for it. Ease it of its pains, and strengthen it when it lies struggling for life. Raise it up again, if it shall please thee, to grow in years and stature, in wisdom and virtue; and thereby to comfort us, and glorify thee. We believe, O Almighty Father, that thon the work of many days. Thou regardest, O Lord, the sincerity of our hearts more than the measures of time, in our conversion; accept therefore, we beseech thee, the few minutes of thy servant's unfeigned tears and humiliation for his sins, as if they were hours and days of a longer preparation; and let it be thy pleasure to rescue him from all the evils he deserves, and all the evils he fears, that in the songs eternity which angels and saints shall sing to the glory of thy name, this also may be reckoned amongst thine invaluable mercies, that thou hast redeemed his soul from death, and made him partaker of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. of |