Page images
PDF
EPUB

¶ Receiving the Blood of our Saviour, he says, The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to everlasting life.† Amen.

If there be any among the People who wish to communicate, the Clerk says this general Confession ; viz. "I confess to Almighty God,” &c. and the Communicants approach to the Communion-Table, in the Front of the Altar; and there kneel, holding the Napkin with both hands, whilst the Priest, turning towards them, pronounces the Prayer of Absolution, saying:

May the Almighty God have mercy upon you, forgive you your sins, and bring you to life everlasting. Amen.-May the all-powerful and merciful God, grant you pardon, absolution, and remission of all your sins. Amen.

¶Then with the sacred Host in his Hand, he

says thrice,

Behold the Lamb of God; behold him that taketh away the sins of the world; Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof; say but the word and my soul shall be healed.

Then the priest distributes the consecrated Parti-
cles, saying to each one,

May the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul to everlasting life. Amen. ¶ Then the Priest returning to the Altar, and the People to their respective Places, he prays secretly as follows:

Grant, Lord, that what we have taken with our mouth, we may receive with a pure mind, that of a temporal gift, it may become to us an eternal remedy.

+ In the sacrifice of the Mass the Priest always communicates under both kinds, on other occasions he only receives under one kind; and nothing is hereby wanting to complete the Sacrament, since every particle is the essential substance and sign of the mystery.

Taking the second Ablution, he says,

May thy body, O Lord, which I have received, and thy blood which I have drank, cleave to my bowels: and grant that no stain of sin may remain in me, who have been fed with thy pure and holy sacrament. Who livest and reignest for ever and

[blocks in formation]

As the two following Prayers are different every Day, the following may be said as a Thanksgiving after Communion.

LET it be now, O Lord, the effect of thy mercy, that we, who have been present at this holy mystery, may find the benefit of it in our souls.

2

P. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Then may be said,

WE give thee thanks, O Lord, for thy mercy in admitting us to have a part in offering this sacrifice to thy holy name; accept it now to thy glory, and be ever mindful of our weakness, pardon all our defects, and grant our requests, Thro'. P. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

*Go, you are dismissed. (or) Let us bless the Lord.

[blocks in formation]

¶ Inclining before the Altar the Priest says, Let the performance of my homage be pleas ing to thee, O Holy Trinity: and grant, that the

Formerly the Mass ended here; the subsequent Prayer, the Blessing of the Priest, and St. John's Gospel, have heen since addest to the Liturgy.

sacrifice which I, though unworthy, have offered up in the sight of thy Majesty, may be acceptable to thee, and through thy mercy be a propitiation for me, and those for whom it has been offered. Thro'.

Turning himself towards the People, he gives
them the Blessing, saying,

May Almighty God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you. Amen.

P. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

P. The beginning of the Gospel according to St. John. R. Glory be to thee, O Lord.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God; and God was the word: it was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made: in him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended it. A man was sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a testimony, to give testimony of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but to give testimony of the light. It was the true light that enlightens every man coming into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made sons of God; those that believe in his name; who, not of blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God are born: AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us; and we saw his glory, (the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

¶ At the End of the Gospel is said,

R. Thanks be to God.

¶After solemn Mass, the following Versicles and Responses are sung for the King.

P. O Lord, save George our King.

R. And hear us in the day we call upon thee. P. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.

R. As it was in the beginning, &c.

The Prayer.

WE beseech thee, O Almighty God, that thy servant, George our King, who through thy mercy hath undertaken the government of these realms, may also receive an increase of all virtues, wherewith being adorned he may avoid every enormity of sin, vanquish his enemies*, and being rendered acceptable in thy sight, may, together with Charlotte our Queen, and the royal issue, come at length to thee, who art the way, the truth, and the life. Thro'.

AN

ACT OF ADORATION AND THANKSGIVING In honour of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, commonly called Benediction.

When the Sacrament is removed from the Tabernacle or Place where it is kept upon the Altar, and exposed to the People, then, where there is a Quire, the following Anthem and Hymn are sung:

O salutaris Hostia.

+ O SAVING Host! that Heaven's gate Laidst open at so dear a rate:

Intestine wars invade our breast;

Be thou our strength, support, and rest.

+ Incense is here burnt, in testimony that we render to Jesus Christ in the holy Sacrament the homage of a supreme adoration. The incensing of the altar, oblations, clergy, people, &c. in the particular ceremonies of the church, is to express that whatever is destined to the service of God should be purified from every defilement.

To God the Father, and the Son,
And holy Spirit, Three in One,
Be endless praise: may HE above,
With life eternal crown our love.

Pange lingua.

SING, O my tongue, adore and praise
The depth of God's mysterious ways:
How Christ, the world's great king, bestow'd
His flesh conceal'd in human food,
And left mankind the blood that paid
The ransom for the souls he made.

Giv'n from above, and born for man,
From Virgin's womb his life began:
He liv'd on earth, and preach'd to sow
The seeds of heav'nly truths below;
Then seal'd his mission from above
With strange effects of pow'r and love.
'Twas on the evening when the last
And most mysterious supper past;
When Christ with his disciples sat
To close the law with legal meat;
Then to the twelve himself bestow'd
With his own hands, to be their food.

The Word made flesh for love of man,
By's word turns bread to flesh again,
And wine to blood, unseen by sense,
By virtue of omnipotence.

And here the faithful rest secure,
Whilst God can vouch, and faith insure.

Tantum ergo.

To this mysterious table now

Our knees, and hearts, and sense we bow;
Let ancient rites resign their place

To nobler elements of grace;

And faith for all defects supply,
Whilst sense is lost in mystery.

To God the Father, born of none,
To Christ his co-eternal Son,

[ocr errors]
« PreviousContinue »