wonderful order, making day and night to succeed each other; I make my humble address to thy divine Majesty, begging of thee mercy and protection this night and ever. O Lord, pardon all my sins, my light and rash words, the vanity and impiety of my thoughts, my unjust and uncharitable actions, and whatsoever I have transgressed against thee this day, or at any time before. Behold, O God, my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins, in the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh exposed to every temptation, and of itself not able to resist any. Lord God of mercy I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy grace, such as may be sufficient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders: that as I have formerly served my lust and unworthy desires, so now I may give myself wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life, II. BLESSED Lord, teach me frequently and sadly to remember my sins; and be thou pleased to remember them no more let me never forget thy mercies, and do thou still remember to do me good. Teach me to walk always as in thy presence: enoble my soul with great degrees of love to thee, and confine my spirit with great fear, religion, and veneration of thy holy name and laws; that it may become the great employment of my whole life to serve thee, to advance thy glory, to root out all the accursed habits of sin, that in holiness of life, in humility, in charity, in chastity, and in all the ornaments of I grace, may by patience wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus, Amen. III. TEACH me, O Lord, to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom, ever to remember my last end, that I may not dare to sin against thee. Let thy holy angels be ever present with me to keep me in all my ways from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness, from evil company, and the oceasions and opportunities of evil, from perishing in popular judgments, from all the ways of sinful shame, from the hands of all mine enemies, from a sinful life, and from despair in the day of my death. Then, O brightest Jesu, shine gloriously upon me; let thy mercies and the light of thy countenance sustain me in all my agonies, weaknesses, and temptations. Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual guide, and of receiving the holy sacrament; and let thy loving Spirit so guide me in the ways of peace and safety, that with the testimony of a good conscience, and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment, I may depart this life in the unity of the church, in the love of God, and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Saviour. Amen. Our Father, &c. Another Form of Evening Prayer which may also be used at Bed-Time. Our Father, &c. I Will lift my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. (Psal. cxxi.) My help cometh of the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, neither the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth for evermore. Glory be to the Father, &c. I. VISIT, I beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation with thy mercy, and me with thy grace and salvation. Let thy holy angels pitch their tents round about and dwell here, that no illusion of the night may abuse me, the spirits of darkness may not come near to hurt me, no evil or sad accident oppress me; and let the eternal Spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body, filling every corner of my heart with light and grace. Let no deed of darkness overtake me; and let thy blessing, most blessed God, be upon me for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. II. INTO thy hands, most blessed Jesu, I commend my soul and body, for thou hast redeemed both with thy most precious blood. So bless and sanctify my sleep unto me, that it may be temperate, holy, and safe, a refreshment to my wearied body, to enable it so to serve my soul, that both may serve thee with a never-failing duty. O let me never sleep in sin or death eternal, but give me a watchful and a prudent spirit, that I may omit no opportunity of serving thee; that whether I sleep or wake, live or die, I may be thy servant and thy child: that when the work of my life is done, I may rest in the bosom of my Lord, till, by the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, I shall be awakened and called to sit down and feast in the eternal supper of the Lamb. Grant this, O Lamb of God, for the honour of thy mercies, and the glory of thy name, O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen. III. BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who hath sent his angels, and kept me this day from the destruction that walketh at noon, and the arrow that flieth by day; and hath given me his Spirit to restrain me from those evils to which my own weaknesses, and my evil habits, and my unquiet enemies would easily betray me. Blessed and for ever hallowed be thy name for that never-ceasing shower of blessing by which I live, and am content and blessed, and pro vided for in all necessities, and set forward in my duty and way to heaven. Blessing, honour, glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen. Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. Holy is the immortal. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbaoth, have mercy upon me. Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in the Night when we awake. Stand in awe and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. I will lay me down. in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety. (Psal. iv. 4, 8.) 4,8.) O Father of spirits and the God of all flesh, have mercy and pity upon all sick and dying Christians, and receive the souls which thou hast redeemed returning unto thee. Blessed are they that dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there is no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God does lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev. xx. 23. xxii. 5.) Meditate on Jacob's wrestling with the angel all night: be thou also importunate with God for a blessing, and give not over till he hath blessed thee. |