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النشر الإلكتروني

Almighty and most merciful God, of thy bountiful goodness, keep us, we beseech thee, from all things that may hurt us; that we, being ready both in body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that thou wouldest have done, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord, our heavenly Father, by whose Almighty power we have been preserved this day; by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of thy only Son our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men, that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians, may be led into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity of Spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy Fatherly goodness, all those who are any ways 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.

We beseech thee also, so to direct and dispose the hearts of all Christian Rulers, that they may truly and impartially administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion and virtue. Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops and other Ministers; that they may, both by their life and doctrine, set forth thy true and lively word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments; and to all thy people give thy heavenly grace, that they may serve thee in pureness of living and truth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness to us, and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but, above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy

mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

GRANT, O Lord, that as we are baptized into the death of thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; so by continually mortifying our corrupt affections, we may be buried with him, and through the grave and gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection, for his merits, who died, and was buried, and rose again for us, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

OUR

UR Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into teinptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

UNTO thy gracious mercy and protection, O God, we commit ourselves, and all our friends and relations, this night and evermore. O Lord, bless and keep us. Lord, make thy face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. Lord, lift up thy countenance upon us, and give us peace both now and evermore. Amen.

DEVOTIONS

To be used on the Sundays in Advent.

BEHOLD, our Lord will appear; and will not fail to make good his promise. If he delay a while, patiently wait; for he surely will come, and visit us with his salvation. Alleluja.

Come, O thou Sun of Righteousness, and fountain of eternal light come, and illumine those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death; come, guide our feet in the ways of peace. Alleluja.

Come, O thou hope of the gentiles, and the desire of all nations! come, and redeem us from the vassalage of sin, into the only true liberty of serving thee. Alleluja.

PREPARE now thy ways, O my soul, before the Lord, make thy paths straight before the face of our God: for he will come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, and blessed are they who are ready to meet him. Our Lord is come to redeem the world. Our Lord will come finally to judge it.

God, by whose providence thy Church has appointed the solemn season of Advent, to forerun the commemoration of our Saviour's nativity, and prepare its way in our hearts; grant, we beseech thee, that we may devoutly employ this holy season in meditating upon the glorious predictions which announced the coming of the Messiah, and on the inestimable blessings of his gracious Advent in the flesh, that our souls may be excited to celebrate the great festival of his nativity with due joy and exultation, and that we may thereby be prepared to expect his second coming to judge the world, who, with thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen. [Add the Collects for Advent.]

Devotions for St. Andrew's Day.

As soon as St. Andrew saw afar off the cross prepared for his martyrdom, he was transported with joy, and triumphantly saluted it, as the happy instrument of his approaching glory. Alleluja.

O that we may be always ready to embrace the cross as

becomes the disciples of the crucified Jesus; even with joy to take up the cross by which we shall be conformed to our glorious Master. Alleluja.

O that we may never despise the doctrine of the cross, but in courage, and patience, and constancy, and forgiveness of enemies, follow the steps of this blessed Saint, as he followed the steps of Christ, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of God. Alleluja.

0 Most blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus! who out of thine infinite mercy and compassion, didst kindle in the blessed Apostle St. Andrew, so ardent a love for thee that he left all to be thy true and faithful follower; inspire our souls, we most humbly beseech thee, with a holy desire of thee; that we may so earnestly desire, as diligently to seek thee; so successfully seek, as to be happy in finding thee: make us so sensible of that happiness in finding, as most fervently to love thee; so effectually to express that love as to suffer any thing for thy sake with a joyful and triumphant spirit. O grant that all the miseries of this life may be rendered easy and supportable by thy divine assistance, by the contemplation of thy example, and by the many patterns of constancy and virtue which thy now glorified saints, but once afflicted servants, have in all ages set forth for our imitation and encouragement. Thus encouraged by the bright example of thy blessed Apostle, sustained by the assurance of eternal rewards, and directed in the right way by the light of thy doctrine, may we so pass through things temporal, as finally to lose not the things eternal; through thy merits and intercession, O most blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus! to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, might, majesty and dominion, henceforth and for

ever.

THE

Amen.

[Add the Collect for the Day.]

Devotions for St. Thomas' Day.

HE other disciples said to Thomas, We have seen the Lord; but he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hand the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

After eight days Jesus came in, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be with you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.

Thomas, now no longer able to resist so clear an evidence, cried out to Jesus, My Lord and my God.

O admirable sweetness of our Saviour's spirit! Thomas was incredulous, and peremptory; and yet our Lord forgives him all, and restores him to his favour with the easy penance of a gentle reproof.

Because thou hast seen, O Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are they which have not seen, and yet have be→ lieved.

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Eternal God! fountain of all truth and holiness, in whom to believe is life eternal: let thy grace, we most humbly beseech thee, descend into our souls, that the commemoration of this blessed Apostle's infidelity may make us take warning by his example, and that the revelations which thou hast been pleased to make of thyself, may cause us constantly to acknowledge thee as our Lord and our God, and profess ourselves the servants of the ever blessed Jesus. Thou, Lord! who hadst compassion on the ignorance and infirmity of St. Thomas, and by his frailties magnified thy mercy, in bringing him to a full assurance of thy Son's resurrection; give us grace likewise to improve all thy dispensations unto our spiritual advantage, that when we stand, we may take heed lest we fall; and that when we are fallen, we nay endeavour to rise. For, if we have any good disposi tion, we acknowledge that it springs from thy grace; if we have persevered in doing well, it is because thy strength enabled us. O God, keep us steadfast in the faith of thy holy name, and conform us to the faith of that Jesus in whom we believe; that so at the last, we may receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls, by the same Jesus Christ, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.

[Add the Collect for the Day.]

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