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For the Beginning or Close of a Year.

Thou

us, good Lord; spare those for whose sins thou didst vouchsafe to bleed and die. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. By thine agony and bloody sweat; by thy cross and passion; by thy precious death and burial; by thy triumphant resurrection and gift of the Holy Ghost, deliver us, O Lord, from the guilt and the power of sin, and save our souls from eternal death.

O Lord, bless and keep us; make thy face to shine upon us; lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore. Amen.

For the Beginning or Close of a Year.

ADORABLE and ever gracious God, whose days are without end and whose mercies cannot be numbered, thou art from everlasting to everlasting; the same yesterday, to-day and forever. Thou hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish but thou remainest: they shall all wax old as doth a garment, and shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Though days, and months, and years do pass away, and time itself shall be no longer, thy kingdom shall endure forever and ever. Behold in mercy thy needy, dependent and perishing creatures, whose life is but a span, and whose age is even as nothing in respect of thee. It is of thy mercy that we are not consumed, and because thy compassions fail not. Thou holdest our souls in life, and to thee we lift our eyes as the only hope of all the ends of the

For a Family under Afflictive Visitation.

earth. We thank thee, O blessed Lord God, that while another year has [nearly] passed away, and thousands and tens of thousands of precious souls have departed to the eternal world, we yet survive; that we have been, by thy merciful providence, conducted through a thousand perils to this present time. Help us, O heavenly Father, so to number our days, and so duly to consider the shortness and uncertainty of human life, that we may apply our hearts to true wisdom. Shouldst thou, O Lord, in thy goodness, let us alone another year also, give us grace, we beseech thee, to serve thee better than in times past. Create us again unto good works, and renew us day by day. Our life and breath are thine; our times are in thy hand; and may our whole heart and soul be devoted unto thee, and we be ever prepared to say, To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Support us in all dangers, both of soul and body. Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. We ask it in the name, and through the mediation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

For a Family under Afflictive Visitation.

O FATHER of mercies and God of all comfort, who art our only hope in time of need, and who hast taught us in thy holy word that thou dost not, without wise and good intentions, afflict or grieve the children of men, mercifully behold us in this season of sorrow and distress. Lord, hear our supplications and prayers, and let thine ears consider well the voice of our complaint. Righteous art thou, O God, in all thy ways; just in all thy dealings with the sons of men. Sickness and pains and death are the dispensations of thy hand, and

A Prayer for Persons newly Married.

are less than our sins deserve. Wherefore should a living man complain!

Do thou, O God, who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as are sorrowful, mercifully assist us in the prayers which, in this time of trouble and adversity, we would make before thee. Turn from us, we beseech thee, the evils which we most justly have deserved; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our trust in thy mercy, and be submissive in heart and life to thy holy will. Sanctify to our spiritual and eternal good thy fatherly correction. Give us grace, O heavenly Father, to be patient under affliction, and resigned to thy holy will. May we see and know, to our comfort, that if God be for us, nothing can be against us; that neither tribulation or distress can separate us from the love of Christ. May such be our improvement under thy chastening hand, that we may find it good for us to have been afflicted.

And we commend to thy fatherly goodness all of our fellow-creatures who are in any way afflicted or distressed in mind, body or estate: that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them, according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. Hear us, O thou God of mercy, for the sake of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for Persons newly Married; which, with very little alteration, may be used by them.

O MERCIFUL Lord and heavenly Father, the Giver of all good things, and the Author of all blessedness, who, of thy bountiful goodness towards mankind, hast instituted the holy estate of matrimony, and

A Prayer for Persons newly Married.

by the union of husband and wife hast provided for the peace and order and happiness of society in this world, behold us, we beseech thee, with thy favor and blessing at this time, and on this occasion. Grant that these thy servants, who in thy fear and presence, and according to thy holy ordinance, have mutually pledged their love and fidelity, and have been united together in marriage, may enjoy the perpetual smiles of thy heavenly benediction. Bless them, O God, in their health and their friends; in their family and affections; in their goods, and in all the business of life. Guide and bless them in all that they design, and all they do. Defend and preserve them from sin, and from all the evils and calamities of life. May they ever live in perfect love and peace together, sympathizing in all the pains and all the endearments of life; and find their greatest earthly happiness in making_each other happy. In their fidelity, may they find perfect confidence; in temperance, health; in honest industry, riches; and in virtuous, godly living, may they find comfort in this life, and the sure hope of a better.

Wilt thou, O merciful God, enlighten their minds by the doctrines of eternal life, revealed in Jesus Christ, and make them happy subjects of thy saving grace; that, being married in the Lord, they may live to him. May they view the married state as a great mystery, symbolizing the union between Christ and his church. As Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, may the husband love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

May they love and cherish each other in all the cares and concerns of life; and counsel and strengthen each other in every duty of religion.

O God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, bless, preserve and keep them. Grant that

A Prayer suitable to be used by Parishioners for their Minister.

they may so live together in this world, that in the world to come they may enjoy life everlasting; through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer suitable to be used by Parishioners for their Minister.

O MERCIFUL God, Sanctifier of the faithful, the Giver of all good, whose ears are open to the prayers of those who ask in the name of Jesus Christ, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit. Mercifully assist us in these our supplications and prayers, and help us to ask for such things as shall please thee. Grant us true repentance, that we may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness. Give us hearts, O Lord, to be thankful for thy manifold goodness to us and to all men. Make us duly thankful that we live in a land where the gospel of our blessed Redeemer is faithfully preached, and taught from house to house; that thy holy word, written for our learning, is in our hands; and we have the inestimable privilege of searching for ourselves those Scriptures which will make us wise unto salvation, and help us to know the certainty of those things wherein we have been instructed. We thank thee, O God, for the means of grace, for the ordinances of religion, and for all the privileges of thy sanctuary. We bless thy holy name for the gift of thy only Son to be our Savior, and the author of everlasting life; who, after he had made perfect our redemption, sent his ministers into all the world to preach his gospel to every creature. We bless thee, that thou art still graciously pleased to call others to the same office and ministry, who are continually laboring in word and doctrine. Make us thankful that our teachers are not removed into

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