A Prayer which may be said in case of sudden surprise and immediate danger. 0 MOST gracious Father, we fly unto thee for mercy in behalf of this thy servant, here lying under the sudden visitation of thine hand. If it be thy will, preserve his life, that there may be place for repentauce; but if thou hast other wise appointed, let thy mercy supply to him the want of the usual opportunity for the trim ming of his lamp. Stir up in him such sorrow for sin, and such fervent love to thee, as may in a short time do the work of many days: That among the praises which thy saints and holy angels shall sing to the honour of thy mercy through eternal ages, it may be to thy unspeakable glory, that thou has redeemed the soul of this thy servant from eternal death, and made him partaker of the everlasting life, which is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. G REAT and mighty God, who ☑ bringest down to the grave, and bringest up again; We bless thy wonderful goodness, for having turned our heaviness into joy and our mourning into gladness, by restoring this our brother to some degree of his former health. Blessed be thy Name that thou didst not forsake him in his sickness; but didst visit him with comforts from above; didst support him in patience and submission to thy will; and, at last, didst send him seasonable relief. Perfect, we beseech thee, this thy mercy towards him; and prosper the means which shall be made use of for his cure: That being restored to health of body, vigour of mind, and cheerfulness of spirit, he may be able to go to thine house, to offer thee an oblation with great gladness; and to bless thy holy Name for all thy goodness towards him; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit. be all honour A Thanksgiving for the beginning and glory, world without end. of a recovery. Amen. THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. Forasmuch as all mortal men are subject to many sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life; therefore, to the intent they may be always in readiness to die, whensoever it shall please Almighty God to call them, the Ministers shall diligently from time to time (but especially in the time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness) exhort their parishioners to the often receiving of the Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, when it shall be publicly administered in the Church; that so doing, they may, in case of sudden visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. But if the sick person be not able to come to the Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Communion in his house; then he must give timely notice to the Minister, signifying also how many there are to communicate with him, (which shall be two at the least;) and all things necessary being prepared, the Minister shall there celebrate the Holy Communion, beginning with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, here following. The Collect. ALMIGHTY everliving God, dost correct those whom thou dost love, and chastise every one whom thou dost receive; For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. We beseech thee to have mercy | nor faint when thou art rebuked upon this thy servant visited of him. with thine hand, and to grant that he may take his sickness patiently, and recover his bodily health, if it be thy gracious will; and that whensoever his soul shall depart from the body, it may be without spot presented unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Epistle Heb. xii. 5. Y My despise not thou the The Gospel. St. John v. 24. you, He that hearetn my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed chastening of the Lord, from death unto life. After which the Minister shall proceed according to the form before prescribed for the Holy Communior, beginning at these words, Ye who do truly, &c. At the time of the distribution of the holy Sacrament, the Minister shall first receive the Communion himself, and after minister unto those who are appointed to communicate with the sick, and last of all to the sick person. But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in due time to the Minister, or for lack of company to receive with him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, the Minister shall instruct him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and steadfastly believe that Jesus Christ hath suffered death upon the Cross for him, and shed his Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefor, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his Soul's health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth. When the sick Person is visited, and receiveth the Holy Communion all at one time, then the Minister, for more expedition, shall cut off the form of the Visitation at the Psalm, and go straight to the Communion. In the times of contagious sickness or disease, when none of the Parish or neighbours can be gotten to communicate with the sick in their houses, for fear of the infection, upon special request of the diseased, the Minister alone may communicate with him. THE ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD. Here is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is not to be used for any un baptized adults, any who die excommunicate, or who have laid violent hands upon themselves. The Minister, meeting the Corpse at the entrance of the Churchyard, and going before it, either into the Church, or towards the Grave, shall say, or sing. I AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die. St. John xi. 25, 26. KNOW that my Redeemer O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, before I go hence, and be no more seen. LORD, thou hast been our re fuge, from one generation to an I Liveth, that mat Redeemer uger stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. Job xix. 25, 26, 27. WEbrought E brought nothing into this it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord. 1 Tim. vi. 7. Job. i. 21. After they are come into the Church, shall be said or sung the following Anthem, taken from the 39th and 90th Psalms. LORD the men nor my end, and the number of my days; that I may be certified how long I have to live. Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity. For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what is my hope? Truly my hope is even in thee. Deliver me from all mine offences; and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish. When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: every man therefore is but vanity. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and with thine ears consider my calling; hold not thy peace at my tears: For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting, and world without end. Thou turnest man to destruction; again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday; seeing that is past as a watch in the night. As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep; and fade away suddenly like the grass. In the morning it is green, and groweth up; but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered. For we consume away in thy displeasure; and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation. Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee; and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance For when thou art angry, all our days are gone: we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told. The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is their strength then. but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Glory be to the Father, and vo the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Then shall follow the Lesson, taken out of the fifteenth Chapter of the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto Him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead? and why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise nott let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die. his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh; but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; itis raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the king Be not deceived: evil.communi-dom of God; neither doth cor cations corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not theknowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. But some man wilt say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fooll that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed ruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality; then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the Law But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for asmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. When they come to the Grave, while the Corpse is made ready to be laid into the earth, shall be sung or said, hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased? Yet, O Lord God most holy. O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death. Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merci ful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee. Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the Body by some stand ing by, the Minister shall say, UCH as it hath FORASMUHghty tohath his wise providence, to take out of this world the soul of our deceased brother, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; looking for the general Resurrection in the last day, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose second coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the cor ruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Then shall be said, or sung, HEARD a voice from heaven, I saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: even so from their labours. Rev. xiv. 13. Then the Minister shall say the Lord's Prayer. Ο for UR Father, whoartin 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 lend us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil. Amen. Then the Minister shall say one or both of the following Prayers, at his discretion. A LMIGHTY God, with whom do live the spirits of those who depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity; We give thee hearty thanks for the good examples of all those thy servants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labours. And we beseech thee, that we, with all those who are departed in the true faith of thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |