Page images
PDF
EPUB

life, thy fervant GEORGE, our most gracious King and Governor;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to rule his heart in thy faith, fear, and love; and that he may ever more have affiance in thee, and ever seek thy honour and glory;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to be his defender and keeper, giving him the victory over all his enemies;'

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to blefs and preferve our gracious Queen Charlotte, their Royal Highneffes George Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family; We befcech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priefts, and Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word; and that both by their preaching and living they may fet it forth and fhew it accordingly;

We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to enduethe Lords of the Council, and all the Nobility, with grace, wifdom, and understanding; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord] St. Chryfoftom informs us, that this refponfe is derived from the primitive age, while the priest was inpired with miraculous gifts: For he firft began and uttered by the fpirit fome things fit to be prayed for, and then the people, (who knew not what to pray for as they ought) having their infirmities thus helped by the spirit, joined, faying, "We befeech," &c.—Comber.

His defender and keeper] That the learned reader may perceive in what manner, and to what degree, our reformers availed themfelves of the ancient litanies in the completion of their own, I have fubjoined two or three examples of fupplication from the oriental ones:

0

Υπερ των ευσεβέςατών και θεωφυλακτων βασιλεων ήμων παντός το παλατικ και το τρατοπεδα αυτών το κύριο δεηθώμεν. Ο χορος. Κύριε, ελέησον. διακονός. Υπερ τε συμπολέμησαι και υποταξαι υπο της πόδας αυτών παντα Exteori TORELLOR, Te nugie dentoper. Divina Miffa. S. Joan Chrys.. Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, των ευσεβώς βασιλευσάντων. Μνήσθητι, Κύριε, τε αέρος και των καρπων της γης. Εύφρανον παλιν και ανακαίνισον το πρόσωπον της γης, τις αυλακάς αυτής μέθυσον, πληθυνον τα γεννήματα αυτής. - Χαρίσαι τω λαω σε την εμμονοιαν, τοις ορφανοις την βοηθειαν της χώρας την αντιλήψεν. Τις TEṭTWKOTAS Bycięαi.tes egnuotas asQuia Liturgia S. Greg. Alexandrina. Τως εν παση θλίψει και αναίκη οντως, σωσον.-Liturgia S. Baficii. Priefs and deacons] These words were fubftituted at Charles IId's review, inftead of "paltors and minifters."

That it may pleafe to blefs and keep the Magiftrates, giving them grace to execute juftice, and to maintain truth; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to blefs and keep all thy people; We befeech thee to bear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to give us an heart to love and dread thee, and diligently to live after thy commandments; We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

of

That it may pleafe thee to give to all thy people increafe grace, to hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit; We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to bring into the way of truth, all fuch as have erred, and are deceived;

1

We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to ftrengthen fuch as do ftand, and to comfort and help the weak-hearted, and to raise up them that fall, and finally to beat down Satan under our feet; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to fuccour, help, and comfort all that are in danger, neceffity, and tribulation;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to preferve all that travel by land or by water, all women labouring of child, all fick perfons, and young children, and to fliew thy pity upon all prifoners and captives;"

We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to defend and provide for the fatherless children, and widows, and all that are defolate and oppreffed;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may pleafe thee to have mercy upon all men; We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to forgive our enemies, perfecu tors, and flanderers, and to turn their hearts;

We befeech thee to hear us, good Lord.

[ocr errors]

That it may please thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, fo as in due time we may enjoy them;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to give us true repentance, to forgive us all our fins, negligences, and ignorances; and to endue us with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, to amend our lives according to thy holy Word;

We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

Son of God: we beseech thee to hear us.
Son of God: we beseech thee to hear us.

OLamb of God: that takeft away the fins of the world;
Grant us thy peace.

O Lamb of God: that takest away the fins of the world;
Have mercy upon us.

O

O Chrift, hear us.

O Chrift, hear us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Chrift, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Then fhall the Prieft, and the People with him, fay the Lord's Prayer.

UR Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trefpaffes, As we forgive them that trefpass against us; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer] Here the fupplications commence. The enfuing part of the Litany was framed for the most part about the 7th century; when the Northern barbarians began to overrun and defolate the Chriftian nations. It will be remarked, probably, that this is the third repetition of the Lord's-Prayer in the fervice of the morning; and that it occurs twice more before the conclufion of it; once in the communion office, and once after the prayer introductory to the fermon: a repetition which has been objected to us by the diffenters. "But this repetition (as Dr. Jortin ob ferves) was not the fault of the compilers of the Liturgy; it is to be af cribed to our joining together different fervices, which were originally intended to be used at different times or hours."

Prieft. O Lord, deal not with us after our fins.
Anfw. Neither reward us after our iniquities.

Let us pray.

God, merciful Father, that defpifeft not the fighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of fuch as be forrowful; Mercifully affift our prayers that we make before thee in all our troubles and adverfities, whenfoever they opprefs us; and graciously hear us, that thofe evils, which the craft and fubtilty of the devil or man worketh against us, be brought to nought, and by the providence of thy goodness they may be difperfed; that we thy fervants, being hurt by no perfecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jefus Christ our Lord. O Lord, arife, help us, and deliver us for thy Name's fake. God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didit in their days, and in the old time before them. O Lord, arife, help us, and deliver us for thine honour.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghoft;

Anfw. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever fhall be: world without end.

Amen.

From our enemies defend us, O Chrift.
Graciously look upon our afflictions.

Pitifully behold the forrows of our hearts.
Mercifully forgive the fins of thy people.

Let us pray In addition to what I have obferved before on these words I would remark, that the repetition of this form often denoted, in ancient liturgies, the tranfitions from one kind of prayer to another; from what the Latins call preces (or alternate petitions faid by the priest and people) to orationes, which were prayers faid by the minifter alone, to which the people luftened, and confirmed by saying Amen. I find also in ancient liturgies that the people themfelves frequently called upon each other to attend to the holy fervice in which they were engaged, by exclaiming Пgos, attendamus.

O God, merciful Father] This beautiful and fervent fupplication is collected partly from fcripture, and partly from ancient prayers; and was tranflated by our reformers, nearly verbatim, from a form found in the offices of the Romish church, with the title "for tribulation of heart."

Favourably with mercy hear our prayers.
O Son of David, have mercy upon us.

0

Both now and ever vouchfafe to hear us, O Christ. Graciously hear us, O Chrift; graciously hear us, O Lord Chrift.

Priest. O Lord, let thy mercy be fhewed upon us; Anf. As we do put our truit in thee.

WE

Let us pray.

E humbly befeech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities; and for the glory of thy Name, turn from us all thofe evils that we moft righte oufly have deferved; and grant, that in all our troubles we may put our whole truft and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore ferve thee in holinefs and purenefs of living, to thy honour and glory, through our only Mediator and Advocate Jefus Chrift our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer of St. Chryfoftom.

Almighty God, who haft given us grace at this time

with one accord to make our common fupplications unto thee; and doft promife, that when two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt grant their requefts; Fulfil now, O Lord, the defires and petitions of thy fervants, as may be molt expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

2 Cor. xiii. 14.

THE
HE grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and the love of
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghoft, be with
us all evermore.

Amen.

Here endeth the LITANY.

We humbly befeech thee In the Sacramentarium of St. Gregory we find a fupplication for the fanctifying of our troubles and afflictions to us, very fimilar to the above in form and fubftance. The Roman church ha ving corrupted this prayer, by introducing into it an interceflion of the faints, our reformers, expunging that part, made at the fame time fome little improvements and alterations in the original form, and incorporated it into the English litany.

« PreviousContinue »