of thy own mercies, and in proportion to our necessities. We humbly come to thee in the name of Jesus, for the merit of our Saviour, and the mercies of our God, praying thee to pardon the sins of this thy servant, and to put them all upon the accounts of the cross, and to bury them in the grave of Jesus; that they may never rise up in judgment against thy servant, nor bring him to shame and confusion of face in the day of final inquiry and sentence. Amen.

II.

Give thy servant patience in his sorrows, comfort in this his sickness, and restore him to health, if it seem good to thee, in order to thy great ends, and his greatest interest. And however thou shalt determine concerning him in this affair, yet make his repentance perfect, and his passage safe, and his faith strong, and his hope modest and confident; that, when thou shalt call his soul from the prison of the body, it may enter into the securities and rest of the sons of God, in the bosom of blessedness, and the custodies of Jesus. Amen.

III.

Thou, O Lord, knowest all the necessities and all the infirmities of thy servant: fortify his spirit with spiritual joys and perfect resignation, and take from him all degrees of inordinate or insecure affections to this world, and enlarge his heart with desires of being with thee, and of freedom from sins, and fruition of God.

IV.

Lord, let not any pain or passion discompose the order and decency of his thoughts and duty; and lay no more upon thy servant, than thou wilt make him able to bear, and together with the temptation do thou provide a way to escape; even by the mercies of a longer and a more holy life, or by the mercies of a blessed death: even as it pleaseth thee, O Lord, so let it be.

V.

Let the tenderness of his conscience and the Spirit of God call to mind his sins, that they may be confessed and

repented of: because thou hast promised, that if we confess our sins, we shall have mercy. Let thy mighty grace draw out from his soul every root of bitterness, lest the remairs of the old man be accursed with the reserves of thy wrath: but in the union of the holy Jesus, and in the charities of God and of the world, and the communion of all the saints, let this soul be presented to thee blameless, and entirely pardoned, and thoroughly washed, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here also may be inserted the Prayers set down after the Holy Communion is administered.

The prayer of St. Eustatius the Martyr, to be used by the sick or dying man, or by the priests or assistants in his behalf, which he said, when he was going to martyrdom. I will praise thee, O Lord, that thou hast considered my low estate, and hast not shut me up in the hands of mine enemies, nor made my foes to rejoice over me: and now let thy right hand protect me, and let thy mercy come upon me; for my soul is in trouble and anguish because of its departure from the body. O let not the assemblies of its wicked and cruel enemies meet it in the passing forth, nor hinder me by reason of the sins of my past life. O Lord, be favourable unto me, that my soul may not behold the hellish countenance of the spirits of darkness, but let thy bright and joyful angels entertain it. Give glory to thy holy name and to thy majesty; place me by thy merciful arm before thy seat of judgment, and let not the hand of the prince of this world snatch me from thy presence, or bear me into hell. Mercy, sweet Jesu. Amen.

A prayer taken out of the Euchologion of the Greek church, to be said by, or in behalf of, people, in their danger, or near their death.

Βεβορβορωμένος ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, &c.
I.

Bemired with sins and naked of good deeds, I, that am the meat of worms, cry vehemently in spirit; cast not me a wretch away from thy face; place me not on the left hand, who with thy hands didst fashion me; but give rest unto my soul, for thy great mercy's sake, O Lord.

II.

Supplicate with tears unto Christ, who is to judge my poor soul, that he will deliver me from the fire that is unquenchable. I pray you all, my friends and acquaintance, make mention of me in your prayers, that in the day of judgment I may find mercy at that dreadful tribunal.

III.'

Then may the Standers-by pray.

When in unspeakable glory, thou dost come dreadfully to judge the whole world, vouchsafe, O gracious Redeemer, that this thy faithful servant may in the clouds meet thee cheerfully. They, who have been dead from the beginning, with terrible and fearful trembling stand at thy tribunal, waiting thy just sentence. O blessed Saviour Jesus. None shall there avoid thy formidable and most righteous judgment. All kings and princes with servants stand together, and hear the dreadful voice of the Judge condemning the people, which have sinned, into hell: from which sad sentence, O Christ, deliver thy servant. Amen.

Then let the sick man be called upon to rehearse the articles of his faith; or, if he be so weak he cannot, let him (if he have not before done it) be called to say, Amen, when they are recited, or to give some testimony of his faith and confident assent to them.

After which it is proper (if the person be in capacity) that the minister examine him, and invite him to confession, and all the parts of repentance, according to the foregoing rules after which, he may pray the prayer of absolution.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath given commission to his church, in his name to pronounce pardon to all, that are truly penitent, he, of his mercy, pardon and forgive thee all thy sins, deliver thee from all evils past, present, and future, preserve thee in the faith and fear of his holy name to thy life's end, and bring thee to his everlasting kingdom, to live with him for ever and ever. Amen.

Then let the sick man renounce all heresies, and whatsoever is against the truth of God or the peace of the church, and pray for pardon for all his ignorances and errors, known and unknown.

After which let him (if all other circumstances be fitted) be disposed to receive the blessed sacrament, in which the curate is to minister according to the form prescribed by the church.

When the rites are finished, let the sick man in the days of his sickness be employed with the former offices and exercises before described: and when the time draws near of his dissolution, the minister may assist by the following order of recommendation of the soul.

I.

O holy and most gracious Saviour Jesus, we humbly recommend the soul of thy servant into thy hands, thy mest merciful hands; let thy blessed angels stand in ministry about thy servant, and defend him from the violence and malice of all his ghostly enemies, and drive far from hence all the spirits of darkness. Amen.

II.

Lord, receive the soul of this thy servant: enter not into judgment with thy servant: spare him whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood: deliver him from all evil, for whose sake thou didst suffer all evil and mischief; from the crafts and assaults of the devil, from the fear of death, and from everlasting death, good Lord deliver him. Amen.

III.

Impute not unto him the follies of his youth, nor any of the errors and miscarriages of his life; but strengthen him in his agony, let not his faith waver, nor his hope fail, nor his charity be disordered: let none of his enemies imprint upon him any afflictive or evil fantasm; let him die in peace, and rest in hope, and rise in glory. Amen.

IV.

Lord, we know and believe assuredly, that whatsoever is

under thy custody cannot be taken out of thy hands, nor by all the violences of hell robbed of thy protection: preserve the work of thy hands, rescue him from all evil; take into the participation of thy glories him, to whom thou hast given the seal of adoption, the earnest of the inheritance of the saints. Amen.

ས.

Let his portion be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; with Job and David, with the prophets and apostles, with martyrs and all thy holy saints, in the arms of Christ, in the bosom of felicity, in the kingdom of God to eternal ages. Amen.

These following prayers are fit also to be added to the foregoing offices, in case there be no communion or intercourse, but prayer.

Let us pray.

O almighty and eternal God, there is no number of thy days or of thy mercies: thou hast sent us into this world to serve thee, and to live according to thy laws; but we by our sins have provoked thee to wrath, and we have planted thorns and sorrows round about our dwellings and our life is but a span long, and yet very tedious, because of the calamities that enclose us in on every side; the days of our pilgrimage are few and evil; we have frail and sickly bodies, violent and distempered passions, long designs and but a short stay, weak understandings and strong enemies, abused fancies, perverse wills. O dear God, look upon us in mercy and pity: let not our weaknesses make us to sin against thee, nor our fears cause us to betray our duty, nor our former follies provoke thy eternal anger, nor the calamities of this world vex us into tediousness of spirit and impatience but let thy Holy Spirit lead us through this valley of misery with safety and peace, with holiness and religion, with spiritual comforts and joy in the Holy Ghost: that, when we have served thee in our generations, we may be gathered unto our fathers, having the testimony of a holy conscience, in the communion of the catholic church, in the confidence of a certain faith, and the comforts of a reasonable, religious, and holy hope, and perfect charity with thee our God and