members with the bands of faith, hope, and charity, and an external communion, when it shall seem

good in thine eyes. Let her daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, and of sacramental thanksgiving, never cease; but be for ever presented unto thee, and for ever united to the intercession of her dearest Lord, and for ever prevail for the obtaining for every one of her members grace and blessing, pardon and salvation. Amen.

Thanksgivings.

The Gloria in Excelsis, which may be used in private, or in the family, on the Evening after the administration of the holy Communion.

GLORY be to God on high, and in earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.

us.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesu Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. Or this.

(Bp. Andrewes.)

GLORY be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We worship thee, O

Lord, and we magnify thy Name for ever, who hast vouchsafed to fill our hearts with gladness, and to feed us with the heavenly mysteries of Christ's sacred Body and Blood: humbly beseeching thee, that from henceforth we may walk in all good works, and serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to the honour of thy Name. Amen.

Or this.

(Primitive Devotions and *Chr. Sutton.)

ALMIGHTY God our Heavenly Father, we most

heartily desire to bless thine Holy Name with Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven, for the inestimable gift of the Body and Blood of thy most dear Son, that we might thereby be members incorporated in his Body, and quickened by his Spirit. * We yield thee thanks also, O Christ Jesu, for thine ineffable love, that by thy death thou didst redeem mankind; We beseech thee suffer not thy Body to be broken, and thy holy Blood to be shed in vain for us, but with thy blessed Body feed my soul, with thy Blood quicken my spirit, that increasing by little and little, we may become fit members of thy Church, which is thy mystical Body, and grant that we may never depart from that holy league (company), but may continue therein, serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. Amen.

It cannot be borne too strongly in mind, that the reception of the Holy Eucharist is the great mode of our Lord's own appointment for witnessing that we are members of His Body by becoming partakers of that one Bread, which is His Body; of

shewing forth his death until his coming again, and our own Union and Communion with his Saints in Heaven and earth. Being, besides this, a most effectual bond between the Communicants themselves, if they realise to the full that holy mystery, it becomes the duty and privilege of every Master of a family, not only to take care that his household are all baptized members of Christ's Church, and to instruct them in the doctrines of his Holy Word, according to her teaching, but especially to prepare them for, and urge and encourage them to be partakers of that Holy Sacrament. The want of a more frequent celebration of it has been, probably, one great cause of disunion among Christians; and when it shall become no longer an occasional epoch, but a constant source of spiritual sustenance and thanksgiving; and when whole familes, and whole Churches shall kneel week by week around the Altar of their Lord, we may hope for unity and peace once more.

Hence, in this Book of Devotions, it is, on its proper day, made one of the subjects uppermost in the thoughts and prayers of a Christian family.

END OF PART I.

PART II.

SENTENCES AND PRAYERS

FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF

THE SEASONS OF THE CHURCH,

THE FASTS AND FESTIVALS,

AND SEVERAL DOMESTIC OCCASIONS.

U

In the following Part, the Sentences from Holy Scripture are intended to be substituted for those which are at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer. They are chiefly taken from the Epistles and Gospels or Lessons of the seasons to which they are appended.

66

The Invocations "O Thou who," &c., followed by the words Glory be to Thee, O Lord," are intended to be substituted for, or added to, the invocation which follows the Lord's Prayer in each of the Morning Services.

The Psalms referred to are selected from those appointed in the Common Prayer Book, or where none are appointed, reference is given to those which seem to have been so applied in earlier ages of the Church.

The Prayers are taken partly from the Common Prayer Book,

partly from the compilations of devotional writers. They are intended to be inserted amongst the latter prayers of the daily services.