Fear not then the power of the grace of God; but take heed of delaying to embrace it; take heed of refusing to obey it; take heed of relapsing into the sins from which by its power thou hast been delivered. O GOD, whose powerful call drew Matthew the publican from the receipt of custom to become an eminent Apostle and Evangelist in thy Church; grant, we beseech thee, that, celebrating the blessed memory of his life and death, which were worthy of his high and extraordinary vocation, we may advance thy praise for so glorious an example of thy grace; and, complying readily and faithfully with the calls of thy Holy Spirit, may we in like manner, forsake all to follow thee, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. [Add the Collect for the Day.] Devotions for the Festival of St. Michael and all Angels. PRAISE the Lord all ye his Angels; praise him all his hosts. Bless our Lord all ye Angels of his, powerful in strength, doing his will, fulfilling his word. O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye our Lord; praise him and magnify him, ye ministering spirits that do his will. Bless the Lord, O our souls; and forget not all his benefits. For he hath given his holy Angels charge over us, to keep us in all our ways. O BLESSED God, whose throne is encircled with myriads of glorious spirits who veil their faces, not being able to behold the brightness of thy Majesty, and who delight in dis charging the high and glorious offices which thou dost assign them; give us grace, we beseech thee, to do thy will on earth, with the same diligence and industry, with the same zeal and cheerfulness with which thy blessed Angels do thy will in heaven; that, imitating their exemplary obedience, constant devotion, profound humility, unspotted purity, and ex tensive charity, we may secure their defence and protection in our necessities, and particularly in our last conflict with death and the powers of darkness; and, being by thy holy Angels conducted to the mansions of glory, may we un te with their holy choir, in blessing and magnifying thy name Lord God of Hosts, for ever and ever. Amen. [Add the Collect for the Day.] Devotions for the Festival of St. Luke the Evangelist. WE commemorate this day the disciple of the great Apostle St. Paul, and the constant companion of all his travels. We celebrate his glory, who deserved to be divinely recorded, as "the most dear physician and brother, whose praise is in the Gospel, throughout all the Churches." Worthy is this blessed Evangelist of high honour, whom the Apostle of the Gentiles chose as one of his principal instruments in proclaiming the Gospel to the world. He is highly honoured before the throne of the Lamb; And, with the glorious messengers of peace, worships beforé it day and night. O GOD, whose special grace rendered Luke the physician, a glorious disciple and evangelist; grant, that we may faithfully receive those blessed truths of salvation which he promulgated; and may imitate his example in endeavouring to advance the spiritual welfare of our fellow men, and in comforting and succouring all those who suffer for righteousness' sake, through Jesus Christ thy Son, our only Saviour; who, with thee, and the Holy Ghost, liveth, and reigneth, in the unity of the eternal Majesty, world without end. Amen. [Add the Collect for the Day.] Devotions for the Festival of St. Simon and St. Jude. THESE are they who planted the Church of God by their preaching and miracles, and watered it by their blood." They rejected the flatteries of the world, and despised the menaces of their persecutors; and now for all they did, and all that they suffered, they enjoy an everlasting reward. Let us imitate their faith, their patience, and their zeal, that with them we may be for ever blest, in the fruition of the glorious presence of God. O GOD, who, by a glorious martyrdom, didst call the blessed Apostles, Simon and Jude, from their eminent labours in the vineyard, to a blissful rest in thy kingdom; grant us grace heartily to embrace that Gospel which thy holy Apostles promulgated, and, with an enlightened and mild, yet firm and persevering zeal, to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints; that thus we may finally attain to the end of our vocation, even the salvation of our souls, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Add the Collect for the Day.] Devotions for the Festival of All Saints. LET us behold and admire the conversation of the Saints and carefully strive to imitate their faith and patience. Let us joyfully celebrate their memories; and like them strive to enter in at the strait gate. Entered into the joy of their Lord, they magnify him for ever. Their spirits exceedingly rejoice in God their Saviour. Now they sing unto the Lord their Redeemer a new song. Excellent is his praise in the congregation of these his Saints. WE give thee thanks, O Lord, to the exalted virtues which thy grace inspired in thy Saints, and for the glorious rewards to which thou hast exalted them; for all the benefits which thou hast bestowed upon them in time; for all the blessings which thou hast reserved for them in eternity. We beseech thee so to join us in unity of spirit with them, that we, following their blessed steps in all virtuous and godly living, imitating their meekness and humility, their mortiication and self-denial, their submission to thy will, their charity to the souls and bodies of men, their patience under sufferings, and their readiness to take up the cross, may obtain that exalted happiness which they now possess, and inherit those glorious promises of which they are now made partakers, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Add the Collect for the Day.] 326 Devotions for the Ember Days. THE harvest truly is great; but the labourers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. How shall we hear without a preacher ? And how shall they preach unless they be sent ? But he that is called of God, as was Aaron. O GOD, by whose providence thy Church, from ancient times, has set apart four solemn seasons for conferring orders upon chosen persons to supply the faithful with a succession of Priests and Deacons, and enjoined us all to implore, by extraordinary devotions, thy special assistance to a work vhich so much concerns us all; grant, we beseech thee, to the Bishops of the Church, grace to choose and ordain fit persons for the sacred functions of the ministry; and grant us the grace of reverence and due submission to those so or dained, as truly sent by thee, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. [Add one of the prayers appointed by the Church to be used in the weeks preceding the stated times of ordination.] Prayer to be used before Self-Examination. ALMIGHTY GOD, the great Searcher of hearts, who knowest all our secret thoughts, nothing being hid from thine all-searching eye; dispose me frequently to examine my spiritual character and state, and to compare my actions with the rule of thy laws, that nothing contrary to thy holy will may ever find a settled abode in my soul. Teach me so to consider my ways, that I may turn my feet to thy testimo nies. Grant that I may so impartially judge and condemn myself, that I may not be condemned at thy awful tribunal. Let not self-love deter me from the faithful examination of my soul. But do thou, O Lord, discover to me my sins and guilt; humble me under a sense of them; and dispose me sincerely and heartily to renounce all the sins and follies whereby I have provoked thy wrath and indignation. May I earnestly solicit thy pardon and forgiveness, through the merits of Jesus Christ, the Son of thy love. And may I, ty prayer and watchfulness, stand on my guard against tempta tion, and secure the protection of thy grace, which only can keep me from falling, and present me faultless before the presence of thy glory, through Jesus Christ, my only Mediator and Advocate. Amen. Prayer for an effectual Belief of the MOST gracious God, with all joy and thankfulness I adore thy infinite goodness, manifested to the children of men in the revelation of thy Holy Gospel. Blessed be thy name, for thy great love and compassion, in sending thy only be gotten Son into the world, that we, miserable sinners, might live through him. I believe, O God, that the blessed Jesus condescended to take upon him human nature, with all the infirmities and frailties of it, sin only excepted. I believe, O God, that he was the great Prophet sent from thee to instruct us in all the particulars of our duty, to give us right apprehensions of thy Divine Majesty, and to improve our natures to the greatest perfection of which they are capable. I believe, O God, that he confirmed his divine mission by greater miracles than any other man ever did, and by prophecies, which lay beyond the reach of any created understanding, the fulfilling of which convinces me, beyond doubt, that he was sent by thee. I be lieve, O God, that thou didst, by a voice from Heaven, declare him to be thy beloved Son, in whom thou art well pleased; and that all the prophecies concerning the Messias were ful filled in him. I believe, O God, that he suffered death upon the cross for our redemption, and made there a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; that he has satisfied thy justice, and made reconciliation for us. I believe, O God, that he rose from the dead the third day, according to his own infallible prediction that he conversed forty days with his disciples; that in their sight he ascended up into Heaven, where he sits at thy right hand, interceding for sinners. I believe, O God, that he has fulfilled his promise to his disciples, of sending to them his Holy Spirit, and that the miraculous gifts bestowed upon them, proved his exaltation, at the same time that they enabled them to propagate his religion throughout the world. Lord, I believe increase my faith, and strengthen it |