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¶ To be used before the two final Prayers of the Litany, or of Morning and Evening Prayer.

John xvi. 23.

Matt. vi. 31-33. 1 Kings viii. 35, 36.

Job v. 8-10. Ps. lxv. 9, 10. civ. 13-15. 1 Cor. x. 31.

T For Rain.

PRAYERS.

GOD, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ hast promised to all them that seek thy Kingdom, and the righteousness thereof, all things necessary to their bodily sustenance; Send us, we beseech thee, in this our necessity, such moderate rain and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth to our comfort, and to thy honour; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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For fair Weather.

vii. 17. 19. 23. ix. 11. 15-17. 1 Pet. iii. 20. Isa. liv. 9.

Hag. ii. 17-19.

Ps. cxlv. 15.

. xxvi. 9.

xlix. 13.

ALMIGHTY Lord God, who Gen. vi. 5-7. 17. for the sin of man didst once drown all the world, except eight per- Jer. v. 24, 25. sons, and afterward of thy great mercy Joel ii. 12-14. didst promise never to destroy it so again; We humbly beseech thee, that, P. although we for our iniquities have worthily deserved a plague of rain and waters, yet upon our true repentance thou wilt send us such weather, as that we may receive the fruits of the

vii 31.

were inserted among the Collects at the end of the Communion Service. These were the same as those now placed here. Four more were added in 1552, the two "in time of Dearth," and those "in time of War," and of "Plague or Sickness ;" and the whole six were then placed at the end of the Litany. Thanksgivings corresponding to these were added in 1604: and the remainder, both of the prayers and thanksgivings, were added in 1661, when all were placed where they now stand. These occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings are almost entirely original compositions, though they were evidently composed by divines who were familiar with expressions used for the same objects in the old Services. With several a special interest is connected, but others may be passed over without further notice. What few changes were made in this collection of occasional prayers are traceable to Bishop Cosin, except the important insertion of the Prayer for the Parliament, that for all Conditions of Men, and the General Thanksgiving. The rubric standing at the head of the prayers is Cosin's; but he would have explained "occasional" by adding "if the time require," at the end of it; which words were not printed. His revised Prayer Book also contains a rubrical heading in the margin, "For the Parliament and Convocation during their sessions," but no prayer is annexed. Probably the Commissioners concluded that as Convocation is part of Parlia

Matt. vii. 11.

Jer. v. 24.

Gen. i. 22.
Joel i. 16-20.

Ps. cvii. 17. 33,

34.

2 Chron. xx. 9. Isa. xxx. 23, 24. Rom. viii. 32. Eph. iii. 20, 21.

2 Kings vi. 25.

2 Kings vi. 1. 16.

Ps. xxx. 10.

Jer. viii. 14.
Rom. xv. 4.
Ps. xlvi. 1.
Zech. viii. 12.

19.

Prov. iii. 9. James ii. 15, 16. Deut. xvi. 14.

earth in due season; and learn both by thy punishment to amend our lives, and for thy clemency to give thee praise and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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In the time of Dearth and Famine. GOD, heavenly Father, whose gift it is, that the rain doth fall, the earth is fruitful, beasts increase, and fishes do multiply; Behold, we beseech thee, the afflictions of thy people; and grant that the scarcity and dearth (which we do now most justly suffer for our iniquity), may through thy goodness be mercifully turned into cheapness and plenty, for the love of Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

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TOr this.

GOD, merciful Father, who, in the time of Elisha the prophet, didst suddenly in Samaria turn great

Ps. cxlv. 15, 16. scarcity and dearth into plenty and cheapness; Have mercy upon us, that we, who are now for our sins punished with like adversity, may likewise find a seasonable relief: Increase the fruits of the earth by thy heavenly benediction; and grant that we, receiving thy bountiful liberality, may use the same to thy glory, the relief of those that are needy, and our own comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

2 Kings xix. 5. Rev. xiv. 15.

Ps. xxii. 28.

Lam. iii. 39.

Ps. cxix. 137.

¶In the time of War and Tumults.

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In the time of any common Plague or Sickness.

Numb. xvi. 49.

XXV. 9.

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ALMIGHTY God, who in thy Ps. evi. 29. wrath didst send a plague upon thine own people in the wilderness for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and Aaron; and also, in the time of king David, didst slay with the plague of pestilence threescore and ten thousand, and yet remembering Ps. xxxix. 10. 12, thy mercy didst save the rest; Have Exod. xxiii. 25. pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are visited with great sickness and mortality; that like as thou didst then accept of an atonement, and didst command the destroying Angel to cease from punishing, so it may now please thee to withdraw from us this plague and grievous sickness; through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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O ALMIGHTY God, King of all time so guide and govern the minds For

kings, Governor of all things,

2 Chron. xx. 4. 6. whose power no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to punish sinners, and to be merciful to them that truly repent; Save and deliver us, we humbly beseech thee, from

1 Sam. vii. 8. xii. 10. Ps. xviii. 27. x. 17

Job v. 12. 13. Ps. xciv. 22. xviii. 2. 35.

ment by the constitution of the country, a separate prayer for the former was out of place.

§ In the time of Dearth and Famine.

The second of these prayers was-for what reason is not apparent-left out of the Prayer Book in several of the editions published during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I. Bishop Cosin wrote it in the margin of his revised Prayer Book, and it was re-inserted in 1661, with some slight alterations of his making.

§ In the time of any common Plague or Sickness. The collect form which is so strictly preserved in these prayers

Rom. x. 14. 15. 2 Cor. ii. 16. iii. 5, 6. Eph. vi. 18-20. 1 Tim. iv. 12. 16.

of thy servants the Bishops and Pastors of thy flock, that they may lay 2 Cor. v. 18-2. hands suddenly on no man, but faith- 1 Tim. ii. 3, 4. fully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred Ministry of thy Church. And to those which

was strengthened in this one by the addition of another Scriptural allusion in the invocation. This-from "didst send a plague" as far as "and also "-was inserted by Bishop Cosin, as were also the words relating to the atonement offered. The general tendency of such alterations by Bishop Cosin was to raise the objective tone of the prayers here and elsewhere; making our addresses to God of a more reverent and humble character.

§ The Ember Collects.

Every Day] The principle laid down in the rubric before the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, applies to the use of these Collects. One of them ought, therefore, to be said at Evensong of the

James i. 17.
Luke vi. 12, 13.
Eph. iv. 8. 11, 12.

1 Cor. xii. 8-10.

Heb. v. 4, 5.

Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7.

2 Chron. xxxiv. 27.

2 Pet. ii. 19.

James v. 11.

1 Tim. ii. 3. 1 John ii. 1.

Mal ii. 7

26. xvii. 17.

Tit. ii. 7.

v. 25-27.

shall be ordained to any holy function, | in thy Church; Give thy grace, we Deut. xxxiii. 8.
give thy grace and heavenly benedic- humbly beseech thee, to all those who John xiv. 16, 17.
tion; that both by their life and doc- are to be called to any office and ad- 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2.
trine they may set forth thy glory, ministration in the same; and so re- Eph. iv. 12—16.
and set forward the salvation of all plenish them with the truth of thy
men; through Jesus Christ our Lord. doctrine, and endue them with inno-
Amen.
cency of life, that they may faithfully
serve before thee, to the glory of thy
great Name, and the benefit of thy
holy Church, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.

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TOr this.

LMIGHTY God, the giver of all good gifts, who of thy divine providence hast appointed divers orders

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GOD, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and Rom. vii. 23, 24. to forgive, receive our humble petitions; and though we be tied and bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us, for the honour of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

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Saturday before Ember Week, and at Mattins and Evensong every day afterwards until the Ordination Sunday. The Evensong previous to the latter should be included as being the eve of the Sunday itself.

The first of these Ember Collects is to be found in Bishop Cosin's Collection of Private Devotions, which was first published in 16271. It is also found in the margin of the Durham Prayer Book, in his handwriting, with a slight alteration made by him at the end after it was written in. No trace of it has hitherto been discovered in any early collections of prayers or in the ancient Services, and therefore it may be concluded that it is an original composition of Bishop Cosin's, to whom we are thus indebted for one of the most beautiful and striking prayers in the Prayer Book, and one which is not surpassed by any thing in the ancient Sacramentaries or the Eastern Liturgies. The second Collect is taken from the Ordination Services, and is written into the margin of the Durham Prayer Book under the other in the nandwriting of Sancroft, having been already inserted at the end of the Litany in the Prayer Book for the Church of Scotland, printed in 1637.

Under the old system of the Church there were special masses for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, at all the four Ember Seasons; but the use of a special prayer every day during the Ember Weeks is peculiar to the modern Church of England. It may be added that the very pointed character of the words used is also modern, the older Ember-day Collects and Post-Communions making little direct reference to the ordainers or those to be ordained.

The Ember-day Collect is a continual witness before God and man of the interest which the whole body of the Church has in the ordination of the Clergy who are to minister in it. The entreaty of St. Paul, "Brethren, pray for us," is the entreaty that continually goes forth to the Church at large from its ministry; but never with greater necessity, or with greater force, than when the solemn act of Ordination is about to be performed by the Bishops, and a number of the future guides and leaders of

seen.

An earlier edition was privately printed, but this the writer has not

the Church are about to be empowered and authorized to undertake their office. This is, in fact, one of the most valuable of our Collects, wielding as it does the strong weapon of general prayer throughout the land on behalf of the Bishops, through whom all ministerial authority and power is conveyed from our Lord, and of the priests and deacons, to whom, from time to time, their ministry is delegated. A faithful reliance upon the promises of our Blessed Lord respecting prayer will give us an assurance that so general a supplication for a special object could not be without effect; and no age ever required that such a supplication should be offered more than the present, when the Clergy are growing more and more faithful, but when the necessities of some dioceses lead to a far too promiscuous admission of persons who are "fit," only by some stretch of language, “to serve in the sacred ministry of God's Church."

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It is worth noticing that "the Bishops and Pastors of Thy flock" does not refer to the Bishops and the Priests who with them lay their hands on the heads of those who are ordained Priests. Bishop and Pastor" is the expression used in all the documents connected with the election and confirmation of a Bishop; and no doubt it is here also used in the same sense, with reference to the Bishop as the earthly fountain of pastoral authority, ability [2 Cor. iii. 6], and responsibility.

The times for using one or other of these Collects are as follows:2nd Sunday in Lent to Saturday Trinity Sun

From Saturday
Evensong
before

1st Sunday

in Lent

Whitsunday
Sept. 18th
Dec. 17th

Evensong
before

day Sept. 25th Dec. 24th

§ A Prayer that may be said, &c.

inclusive.

This ancient prayer, which is one of the "Orationes pro Peccatis" in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, comes into our Prayer Book through the Litany of the Salisbury Use, and is found in all the Primers of the English Church. It occupied its ancient place in the Litany of 1544, but was omitted from later Litanies until 1559. In 1661 it was transferred to this place. The most ancient English version of it known is that of the

1 Tim. fi 1, 2. Prov. xi. 14.

xxix. 2. Deut. xvi. 18. 20. 1 Chron. xiii. 1-3.

1 Cor. x. 31. Neh. ii. 20. Prov. xx. 18. xiv. 34. Zech. viii. 16, 17. 19. Ps. cxxii. 6, 7. Isa xi. 8. Ps. cxliv. 12-15. Phil. iv. 6. 19. Rom. ix. 5.

all Sealed

Books.

A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament,

to be read during their Session.

OST gracious God, we humbly MOST gracious God, we humbly for the fast day

MOST

beseech thee, as for this Kingdom in general, so especially for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and gracious Queen at this time assembled: That thou wouldest be pleased to direct and pros

per

all their consultations to the advancement of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign, and her "Kingdoms" in Dominions; that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety may be established among us for all generations. These and all other necessaries for them, for us, and thy whole Church we humbly beg in the Name and mediation of Jesus Christ our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

fourteenth century, in Mr. Maskell's Prymer, which is as follows:

"God, to whom it is propre to be merciful and to spare euermore, undirfonge" (undertake, "take," in Hilsey's Prymer) "oure preieris; and the mercifulnesse of thi pitee asoile hem, that the chayne of trespas bindith. Bi crist oure Lord. So be it."

The proper times for the use of this prayer are seasons of penitence. All days in Lent, Fridays, the Rogation Days, and the days of Ember Weeks, are obviously occasions when it comes in with a marked appropriateness; its use "after any of the former" clearly supposing that "the former" collects are accompanied by fasting and humiliation.

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1644, and 1648.

Form Prayer beseech thee, as for this King- in 1625, 1643, dom in general, so especially for the High Court of Parliament, under our most religious and gracious King at this time assembled: That thou wouldest be pleased to bless and direct all their consultations to the preservation of thy glory, the good of thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign, and his Kingdoms. Look, O Lord, upon the humility and devotion with which they are come into thy courts. And they are come into thy house in assured confidence upon the merits and mercies of Christ our blessed Saviour, that thou wilt not deny them the grace and favour which they beg of thee. Therefore, O Lord, bless them with all that wisdom, which thou knowest necessary to make the maturity of his Majesty's and their counsels, the happiness and blessing of this commonwealth. These and all other necessaries for them, for us, and thy whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and mediation of Christ Jesus our most blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

by the influence of which he and the king suffered. It does not appear in a folio copy of "Prayers for the Parliament," which is bound up at the beginning of Bishop Cosin's Durham Prayer Book, but it was inserted in a Fast-day Service for the 12th of June, 1661, and afterwards in its present place. The word "Dominions" was substituted for "Kingdoms" by an Order in Council of January 1st, 1801. As, however, the ancient style of our kings was "Rex Angliæ, Dominus Hiberniæ," this seems to have been a constitutional mistake, as well as a questionable interference with the Prayer Book; but probably "dominions" was supposed to be the more comprehensive word, and one more suitable than "kingdoms" to an empire so extended and of so mixed a character as that of the English Sovereigns.

The phrase "High Court of Parliament" in this prayer includes the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the Upper and Lower Houses of Convocation; which, together, are the three estates of the realm (by representation) assembled under the Sovereign. The petition referring to "the advancement of God's glory, and the good of His Church," has a special reference to Convocation, which was no doubt evident enough at the time the prayer was composed, when Convocation was the primary assembly for the consideration of all religious questions having a national bearing.

This prayer may have been intended only for use before the several Houses of Parliament, when it was inserted here in 1661. Yet the remarks made on the Ember Collect apply to it in no small degree; and the general prayers of the Church may be expected to bring down a blessing upon the deliberations of the Parliament, in a higher degree than the local prayers daily used in each House.

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2 Cor. i. 3.

Gen. xxxii. 10. Isa. lxiii. 7.

Ps. cxlv. 7-9. 14. 21.

THANKSGIVINGS.

TA General Thanksgiving.

hearty thanks for all thy goodness and

ALMIGHTY God, Father of all loving kindness to us, and to all men;

mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and

It may be mentioned that the expression "most great, learned, and religious king," is contained in James the First's Act for a Thanksgiving on the Fifth of November.

§ Prayer for all Conditions of Men.

This prayer was composed by Dr. Peter Gunning, afterwards Bishop, successively, of Chichester and Ely, and one of the chief instruments, under God, in the restoration of the Prayer Book to national use in 1662. It has usually been supposed to be a condensed form of a longer prayer, in which he had endeavoured to satisfy the objections of the Puritans against the collect form of the Five Prayers, by amalgamating the substance of them into one. The first idea of it seems, however, to be taken from the nine ancient collects for Good Friday, of which we only retain three. Dr. Bisse states that when Gunning was Master of St. John's College, Cambridge, he would not allow this prayer to be used at Evensong, declaring that he had composed it only for Morning use, as a substitute for the Litany. And certainly, if it had been intended for constant use, it is strange that it was not placed before the Prayer of St. Chrysostom in Morning and Evening Prayer, but among the "Prayers for Several Occasions." The original intention must certainly have been to confine this general supplication to occasional use; and the meaning of "to be used" is probably identical with "that may be used." There are circumstances under which it may be desirable to shorten the Service, and if the omission of this prayer can thus be considered as permissible, it will offer one means of doing so.

The prayer is cast in the mould of that for the Church in the Communion Service. Bishop Cosin altered the preface of that prayer to, "Let us pray for the good estate of Christ's Catholick Church," and the title of the prayer in the Rubric at the end of the Communion Service was altered by him in the same way. The title was often so printed in the last century, and had appeared in the same form in a book of Hours printed in 1531. [See notes in Communion Service.]

The tone and the language of the prayer very successfully imitate those of the ancient collects, and the condensation of its petitions shows how thoroughly and spiritually the author of it entered into the worth of that ancient mode of prayer, as distinguished from the verbose meditations which were substituted for it in the Occasional Services of James I. The petition, "That

[* particularly to those who desire now to offer up their praises and thanks

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all who profess and call themselves Christians, may be led into the way of truth," was evidently framed with reference to the Puritan Nonconformists, who had sprung up in such large numbers during the great Rebellion; but it is equally applicable as a prayer of charity for Dissenters at all times; and no words could be more gentle or loving than these, when connected with the petitions for unity, peace, and righteousness which follow. The concluding petitions have an analogy with the Memoria Communes of the Salisbury Use, "Pro quacunque tribulatione,” and "Pro infirmo." In another Memoria, that "Pro amieo" which comes between these two, the name of the person prayed for was mentioned, which may have suggested the parenthetical reference to individuals in this prayer1.

There was, beside these Common Memorials, a Daily Prayer for the Sick in the Service at Prime, as follows:Omnipotens sempiterne Deus: Almighty and everlasting salus æterna credentium, exaudi God, the eternal salvation of nos pro famulis tuis pro quibus them that believe, hear us on misericordiæ tuæ imploramus behalf of those thy servants for auxilium; ut reddita sibi sani- whom we beseech the help of tate, gratiarum tibi in ecclesia thy mercy; that health being tua referant actiones. Per restored unto them, they may Christum. Amen. [Gelas.] render thanks to thee in thy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It is a very excellent practice, when any are known to be dying, to commend them to the prayers of the Church (by name, or otherwise) before the Prayer for all Conditions of Men is said. It is equally applicable to cases of mental or bodily distress, as well as to its more familiar use in the case of sick persons; and the afflictions or distresses of "mind, body, or estate," which are so tersely but comprehensively named, show clearly that the special clause of intercession was not by any means intended to be limited to sickness.

THE OCCASIONAL THANKSGIVINGS. These were all placed as they now stand in 1661; but they were, with two exceptions, printed at the end of the Litany (by

1 Bishop Cosin provided a short service to be used in this place for any persons desiring the prayers of the Church. See the note at the end of the Visitation Office.

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