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glory of thy Name turn from us all those evils that we most righteously have deserved; and grant, that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to thy honour and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

¶ Then shall be sung or said the Service for the Communion, with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, as followeth.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, who by thy Divine Providence hast appointed divers Orders of Ministers in thy Church, and didst inspire thine Apostles to choose into the Order of Deacons the first Martyr Saint Stephen, with others; Mercifully behold these thy servants now called to the like Office and Administration; replenish them so with the truth of thy Doctrine, and adorn them with innocency of life, that, both by word and good example, they faithfully serve thee in this Office, to the glory of thy Name, and the edification of thy Church; through the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever. Amen.

may

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tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the Office of a Deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the Deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the Office of a Deacon well purchase to themselves a good

degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Or else this, out of the sixth of the Acts of the Apostles.

THE

Acts vi. 2.

HEN the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the Word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and of the holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of

Antioch; whom they set before | Holy Ghost to take upon you

the Apostles; and, when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the Priests were obedient to the faith.

¶ And before the Gospel, the Bishop, sitting in his chair, shall cause the Oath of the King's Supremacy, and against the power and authority of all foreign Potentates, to be ministered unto every one of them that are to be Ordered.

The Oath of the King's Sovereignty.

I A. B. do

A. B. do swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable Doctrine and Position, That Princes ex

this Office and Ministration, to serve God for the promoting of his glory, and the edifying of his people?

Answer. I trust so.

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WILL you diligently read

the same unto the people assembled in the Church where you shall be appointed to serve? Answer. I will.

The Bishop.

communicated or deprived by the Pope, or any Authority of the See of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their Subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I do declare, that no foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Poten-Tappertaineth to the Office tate, hath, or ought to have, any where he shall be appointed to of a Deacon, in the Church Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre-eminence, or Authority, Ec-serve, to assist the Priest in Diclesiastical or Spiritual, within this Realm. So help me God. ¶Then shall the Bishop examine every one of them that are to be Ordered, in the presence of the people, after this manner following.

Do you trust that you are

inwardly moved by the

vine Service, and specially when he ministereth the holy Communion, and to help him in the distribution thereof, and to read holy Scriptures and Homilies in the Church; and to instruct the

youth in the Catechism; in the absence of the Priest to baptize

infants, and to preach, if he be¶ Then the Bishop laying his Hands seve

rally upon the Head of every one of them, humbly kneeling before him, shall say,

AKE thou Authority to exe

TAKE

cute the Office of a Deacon in the Church of God committed unto thee; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

admitted thereto by the Bishop.
And furthermore, it is his Office,
where provision is so made, to
search for the sick, poor, and im-
potent people of the Parish, to
intimate their estates, names, and
places where they dwell, unto
the Curate, that by his exhorta-
tion they may be relieved with¶
the alms of the Parishioners, or
others. Will you do this gladly
and willingly?

Answer. I will so do, by the help of God.

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The Bishop.

ΤΑ

Then shall the Bishop deliver to every one of them the New Testament, saying, AKE thou Authority to read the Gospel in the Church of God, and to preach the same, if thou be thereto licensed by the Bishop himself.

Then one of them, appointed by the Bishop, shall read the Gospel.

St. Luke xii. 35.

ET your loins be girded a

bout, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching. Verily I say unto you,

WILL you reverently obey that he shall gird himself, and your Ordinary, and other make them to sit down to meat, chief Ministers of the Church, and will come forth and serve and them to whom the charge them. And if he shall come in and government over you is com- the second watch, or come in mitted, following with a glad the third watch, and find them mind and will their godly admo- so, blessed are those servants. nitions?

Answer. I will endeavour myself, the Lord being my helper.

Then shall the Bishop proceed in the Communion, and all that are Ordered shall tarry, and receive the holy Communion the same day with the Bishop.

¶ The Communion ended, after_the_last Collect, and immediately before the Benediction, shall be said these Collects following.

ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things, who of thy great goodness hast vouchsafed to accept and take these thy servants unto the Office of Deacons in thy Church; Make them, we beseech thee, O Lord, to be modest, humble, and constant in their Ministration, to have a ready will to observe all spiritual Discipline; that they having always the testimony of a good conscience, and continuing ever stable and strong in thy Son Christ, may so well behave themselves in this inferior Office, that they may be found worthy to be called unto the higher Ministries in thy Church; through the same thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,

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¶ And here it must be declared unto the Deacon, that he must continue in that Office of a Deacon the space of a whole year (except for reasonable causes it shall otherwise seem good unto the Bishop) to the intent he may be perfect, and well expert in the things appertaining to the Ecclesiastical Administration. In executing whereof if he be found faithful and diligent, he may be admitted by his Diocesan to the Order of Priesthood, at the times appointed in the Canon; or else, on urgent occasion, upon some other Sunday, or Holy-day, in the face of the Church, in such manner and form as hereafter followeth.

OF

ORDERING OF PRIESTS.

¶ When the day appointed by the Bishop is come, after Morning Prayer is ended, there shall be a Sermon or Exhortation, declaring the Duty and Office of such as come to be admitted Priests; how necessary that Order is in the Church of Christ, and also how the people ought to esteem them in their Office.

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For after due examination we find not to the contrary, but that they be lawfully called to their Function and Ministry, and that they be persons meet for the same. But yet if there be any of you, who knoweth any Impediment, or notable Crime, in any of them, for the which he ought not to be received into this holy Ministry, let him come forth in the Name of God, and shew what the Crime or Impediment is.

And if any great Crime or Impediment be objected, the Bishop shall surcease from Ordering that person, until such time as the party accused shall be found clear of that Crime.

Then the Bishop (commending such as shall be found meet to be Ordered to the Prayers of the congregation) shall, with the Clergy and people present, sing or say the Litany, with the Prayers, as is before appointed in the Form of Ordering Ďeacons; save only, that, in the proper Suf frage there added, the word [Deacons] shall be omitted, and the word [Priests] inserted instead of it.

Then shall be sung or said the Service for the Communion, with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, as followeth.

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