A form of Prayer allowed to be used on Fast Days. of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live; look down, we beseech thee, in mercy upon us, thy unworthy creatures, who humbly confess before thee our trespasses and sins. Do thou, to whom alone it appertaineth to forgive sins, spare the people, whom, in thy mercy, thou hast redeemed with the Savior's blood. Enter not into judgment with thy servants, O Lord, nor visit us according to our iniquities. Help us truly to acknowledge our vileness, and give us that repentance which is not to be repented of. Turn us, O Lord our God, to thee; and we shall be turned. Be merciful, O be merciful, to those who humbly desire, with weeping, fasting and prayer, to turn to thee. Thou art a God full of compassion and longsuffering, and of great pity, sparing those who deserve punishment, and in thy righteous wrath remembering mercy. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, and after the multitude of thy mercies blot out our offences, and cleanse us from the defilement of sin; sanctify our hearts, and save our souls, we beseech thee, through the merits and mediation of thy only Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Almighty and everlasting God, whose wise and righteous providence governeth all things in heaven and on earth, look down, we humbly beseech thee, in mercy upon our country, and upon all the people of these United States. Restrain thine indignation against our multiplied sins, and turn thine anger from us. Remember not, Lord, our offences, but thy love to us in Jesus Christ: O call to mind thy mercies, which have ever been of old. From the judgments of thy hand may the people learn righteousness, and may thy patient goodness and longsuffering lead us to repentance. May peace, through thy merciful goodness, ever reign in our borders, and our land continue to bring forth its The Communion Service. increase. We beseech thee, O God, to bless the governor and other rulers of this state, and all those who are set in authority over us; and so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands, that vice may be suppressed and godliness abound. In all dangers and difficulties, may we ever look unto thee as our only helper and sure defence. We pray that thy watchful care, and holy, protecting providence, may be over us for good. Guide us continually with thy unerring counsel; direct and prosper us in all we do, and preserve us from desolating judgments and calamitous events. Grant, O God, to us and to all thy people, that we may so love the things which thou commandest, and desire those which thou dost promise, that, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found. These and all other necessaries for us, and for our rulers, and for all estates of thy people in this our favored country, we humbly beg in the name, and through the mediation, of Jesus Christ, most blessed Lord and Savior. Amen. THE COMMUNION SERVICE. The Collects. O blessed Lord, who didst direct that thy disciples should fast when the bridegroom should be taken from them, and who for our sakes and for our example didst thyself fast upon the earth, give us grace, we beseech thee, to use such abstinence and self-denial, that our flesh may be subdued to the spirit, and that we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness and true holiness, to thy honor and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. O holy, eternal and gracious God, whose ways The Communion Service. are all righteous, and whose mercies cannot be numbered, we, thy sinful people, this day assembled, in thy name and presence, to bow before thee with fasting, humiliation and prayer, do humbly confess our manifold sins, and acknowledge that it is of thy mercies that we are not consumed. Great and manifold have been, and still are, thy blessings bestowed upon us, and upon our country, whilst, by our sins and wickedness, we have provoked thy just wrath and indignation against us. O be thou merciful to us, thy unworthy creatures; enter not into judgment with those who, in thy sight, must be condemned. Make us deeply sensible of our evil hearts and sinful ways. Work in us a hearty contrition; give us that godly sorrow for sin which worketh true repentance. O take not thy Holy Spirit from us; work in us, we beseech thee, to will and to do what is pleasing in thy sight. Turn us from the error of our ways; renew us in the spirit of our minds, and create us again unto good works, that we may walk before thee in faith and righteousness, and finally be inheritors of thine everlasting kingdom. And grant, O Lord, that our land may still enjoy the light of thy truth, and the blessings of thy bountiful hand. Remove from us all spiritual ignorance, and preserve us from an evil heart of unbelief, that we may never depart from thee, the only living God. Be thou with us, as thou wast with our fathers; and bless us, our God, even as thou blessedst them, to thy honor and glory, and to our comfort and salvation in Jesus Christ. Amen. The Epistle. Ephesians iv. 17. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind; having the understanding darkened; being alienated from the life of God, through the The Communion Service. ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus; that ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him who needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. it The Gospel. St. Luke xiii. 1. There were present at that season some who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus, answering, said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that A Prayer to be used in Seasons of much Sickness. they were sinners above all men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay; but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. He spake also this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he, answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Churches who desire, in their public worship, to pray particularly for the Governor and Legislature of their State, may, in the Prayer for the President of the United States, and all in civil authority, after the words the President of the United States, add, the Governor of this State. When Congress and the Legislature of the State are in session at the same time, after the words in the Prayer for Congress, in Congress assembled, may be added, and for the Legislature of this State (or General Court of this Commonwealth) in their present session. When the Legislature of the State is in session, and the Congress not so, the prayer for Congress may be used; but instead of the words, as for the people of these United States in general, so especially for their Senate and Representatives in Congress assembled, may be substituted, as for the people of this State (or Commonwealth) in general, so especially for our Legislature (or General Court) in their present session. A Prayer to be used in Seasons of much Sickness, or Epidemic Diseases. O GOD and merciful Father, who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the humble supplications of those who fly to thee for succor and seek thy face in prayer, look down, we beseech thee, with pity upon us thy dependent, unworthy creatures. We acknowledge, O God, that we have sinned and done wickedly in departing from thy precepts and thy judgments, provoking thy just wrath and indignation against us. We would |