The Lord be with you. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. ¶Then the Minister, Clerks, and people, shall say the Lord's Prayer with a loud voice. "The Lord's Prayer "-At whatever period we are called upon to unite in offering up this prayer, its fulness and simplicity teach us to feel that it is adapted, above all others, to the expression of spiritual sentiment. What can be more comforting to the heart, in the service of the evening, than the assurance of God's fatherly love? Or what more becoming the soul than an exalted desire that the discovered vanities and corruption of the world may speedily give way to the glory of his kingdom, and the peace and happiness consequent on the establishment of his laws? Our trespasses have been multiplied; we feel our sinfulness and our danger. What can we desire more than forgiveness; or how can we look for pardon if we let the sun go down upon wrath cherished in our hearts against our fellow-men? The night is not without its dangers for the soul. Let no thought or spirit of evil come near us, is a petition then well fitted to the hour; and we again sum up our supplications by an acknowledgment, that whatever good has been already enjoyed, or can now be looked for, must be regarded as the gift of Him who ruleth over all, and whose glory is without end or limit. The words, 'For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,' are not repeated at the end of the Lord's Prayer as given in the Gospel of St. Luke. This may be accounted for on the supposition, that the heavenly Author intended the prayer to be used on occasions when the addition of the glory would not be equally appropriate. But whatever be the decision of Commentators on this point, the Fathers of our Church have followed the guidance of the written word. Adopting the prayer, in its complete form, at the commencement of the service, they have inserted it, without the doxology, in those places where it succeeds many parts of the service which ascribe glory to the eternal Father. , save the Queen. d mercifully hear us when we call upon thec. ue thy Ministers with righteousness. And make thy chosen people joyful. Lord, save thy people. ..... And bless thine inheritance. Give peace in our time, O Lord. at. Because there is none other that fighteth for but only thou, O God. Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us. In shall follow three Collects; the first of the Day; the second for Peace; the third Aid against all Perils, as hereafter followeth which two last Collects shall be dady said at Evening Prayer without alteration. The second Collect at Evening Prayer. GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. "Second Collect."-This collect, like that in the corresponding part of the morning service, is also a prayer for peace, and was taken out of the Sacramentary of Gregory. In that for the morning, the chief object of desire is protection through those struggles which await us from enemies without. We pray that He who is the author of peace and lover of concord may so order the affairs of the world, and temper the power of all our adversaries therein, that the events of our lives may leave us uninjured and uncorrupted. Now we pray that the enemy of souls may be kept from us; that our inward thoughts and purposes and counsels may be infected with no taint of evil. "I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law." "Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word," and "Great peace have they which love thy law; and nothing shall offend them." This is the language of God's people. They rest in the conviction that holiness of heart and spirit is the best and surest of all the sources of tranquillity. The third Collect, for Aid against all Perils. A Prayer for the Queen's Majesty. LORD our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings, Lord of lords, the only Ruler of princes, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen VICTORIA; and so replenish her with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that she "Third Collect."-Having besought the blessing of peace, as resulting from inward purity, we ask in this collect for protection against the ordinary dangers of the night season. A spiritual mind will naturally blend the thoughts of temporal perils with those of the soul, and the enlightening of the darkness of the night will excite profounder anxieties for the illumination of the divine presence. But the collect is, strictly considered, a prayer for defence and safety, and when used with faith, expresses very beautifully our filial recognition of God's constant care for his children, and ability to protect them. Like the third collect in the morning service, it is taken from one of the ancient Greek Liturgies, and originally formed the conclusion of the service, the other prayers, in both instances, having been subsequently added. "Prayer for the Queen," &c. &c.-The following prayers are the same as those in the morning service, and are rightly introduced on the noble and evangelical principle, that" love is the ful may alway incline to thy will, and walk in thy way: Endue her plenteously with heavenly gifts; grant her in health and wealth long to live; strengthen her that she may vanquish and overcome all her enemies; and finally, after this life, she may attain everlasting joy and felicity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for the Royal Family. LMIGHTY God, the fountain of all goodness, we humbly beseech thee to bless Adelaide the Queen Dowager, and all the Royal Family: Endue them with thy holy Spirit; enrich them with thy heavenly grace; prosper them with all happiness; and bring them to thine everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer for the Clergy and people. LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who alone workest great marvels; Send down upon our Bishops, and Curates, and all Congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen. filling of the law," and that "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, should be made for all men." We conclude, therefore, the public devotions of the day with sentiments in the highest degree acceptable to God, and useful to the world. Our prayers for others accepted at the throne of grace, and with the fulness of divine peace in our hearts, we may well rejoice in having been admitted to the courts of the Lord's house, there to join our prayers with those of the faithful upon whom his grace and blessing shall rest for evermore. A Prayer of St. Chrysostom. LMIGHTY God, who has given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise, that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen. 2 Cor. xiii. THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen. Here endeth the Order of Evening Prayer throughout the Year. |