M Let us pray. O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus, who wert born of a pure and a holy maid; who hast felt the calamities of mankind, and knowest how to pity our infirmities, and rejoicest in doing and showing mercy to all that need, and to all that call to thee for succour; we give thee thanks and praise, that thou hast heard the prayers, and considered the cries, and relieved the necessities, of this thy servant, and kept her life from the grave, still continuing to her a portion in the land of the living, and opportunities of serving thee. O be pleased to continue and increase, and to sanctify thy mercies to thy servant: pardon all her sins, pity her infirmities, enable her duty, keep her from all evil by thy blessed providence, let her portion be in the things of God and of religion, in the light of thy countenance, and the service of thy majesty; that she,-walking humbly and devoutly before thee, piously and dutifully to her relatives, doing justice, and giving good example to those with whom she shall converse,-may find the rewards, of holiness, and the eternal mercies of God, in the day of thy glorious appearing, O blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.. Then shall be added this form of Blessing. The Lord bless you, and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, and give you peace. The blessing of God Almighty, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and abide with you, and be your portion for ever and ever. Amen. A Prayer to be said immediately after the Woman's Delivery, either by the Priest, or any other in Attendance. O ALMIGHTY LORD and Father, who healest every sickness and every disease, and art ever gracious, and always present to the prayers of them who, in the day of trouble, call upon thy holy name; thou hast given delivery to this thy servant, [and made her the mother of a living child] still be pleased to continue and renew thy loving-kindness unto her; keep her from all violent accidents and intolerable pains, from colds and fevers; defend her by the custody of :: thy holy angels of light, from all impresses of the powers of darkness give her rest and sleep, a quiet spirit, and an easy body, confidence in thee, and a daily sense of thy mercies; a speedy restitution of health and strength, and a thankful heart to praise thee in the congregation of saints, and to serve thee with an increasing and a persevering duty all the days of her life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Then, if there be time and fitted circumstances, add this Prayer for the Child. O eternal God, who hast promised to be a Father to a thousand generations of them that love and fear thee; be pleased to bless this child, who is newly come into a sad and most sinful world. O God, preserve his life, and give him the grace and sacrament of baptismal regeneration: do thou receive him and enable him to receive thee, that he may have power to become the child of God; keep him from the spirits that walk at noon, and from the evil spirits of the night, from all charms and enchantments, from sudden death and violent accidents: give unto him a gracious heart and an excellent understanding, a ready and unloosed tongue, a healthful and a useful body and a wise soul, that he may serve thee and advance thy glory in this world, and may increase the number of thy saints and servants in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus. Amen. To God the Father of our Lord Jesus: to the eternal Son of God, the Son of man: to the Spirit of the Father and the Son: be all honour and glory, praise and thanksgiving, love and obedience, now and for evermore. Amen. A Prayer to be said by a new married Wife entering into a Family. O ETERNAL GOD, the Father of wisdom and mercy, thou hast been my guide and my defence all my days; thou didst take me from my mother's womb, and didst conduct me through the varieties of my life with much mercy, and the issues of a loving and wise providence; I bless thy name, O Lord, for all thy dispensations; thou hast done all things with infinite goodness and infinite wisdom: thou hast kept me from the effects of thy wrath, and the evils of my own infirmities; thou didst defend me from evils by the guard of angels, and didst lead me into good by the conduct of thy Holy Spirit thou hast always heard my prayer, ever being more ready to bless me than I to ask it: thou hast said unto me, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee;' be therefore graciously pleased to hear the prayer of thine handmaid, that may have the aids of an excellent providence and a mighty grace to do my duty in all my relations, in all varieties and changes of the world, until my great change shall come. II. Give thy blessing to thy servant, my dear husband, give him a long life and a confirmed health; encircle him with blessings, adorn him with thy grace, nourish him with content, refresh him with a perpetual succession of comforts, let the light of thy countenance be upon him in all his actions and the accidents of his life, and grant that he may still more and more increase in the love and fear of thy holy name; that, despising the things of this world, he may hunger and thirst after the things of God and of religion, and may have his portion in the gathering together of the saints in the kingdom of grace and glory. III. Bless me, even me, O my Father; and grant that I may, in all things, do my duty to thee, my God: give me a perfect command over all my passions and affections, that they being subject to my will, and my will guided by reason, and my reason by religion, I may never suffer any undecency or violent transport, but may pass through all the accidents of my life with meekness and a sober spirit, with patience and charity, with prudence and holiness. O be pleased to give thy servant a right judgment in all things, that I may not be amazed at trifles, nor discomposed by every contrariety of accidents, nor passionate for the things of the world, nor discontent if thou shouldst smite me: but that I may, with an even and a quiet spirit, do my duty, and comply with every variety of thy providence, and obey my husband, and be amiable in his eyes, and useful and careful for his children: ever desiring to approve myself to thee in a holy and hearty obedience, in piety and devotion, in patience and humility, in chastity and purity, in all holiness of conversation: and do thou give thy holy and blessed Spirit, to guide and teach me all my days, that I may overcome all my infirmities, and comply with and bear the infirmities of others, and charitably pardon their errors, and fairly expound their actions, and wisely perceive their intentions, and with a Christian ingenuity deport myself in all things, giving offence to none, but doing good to all I can; that I may receive pardon from thee for all my sins, and pity for all my infirmities, and thy blessing upon all my actions, and a sanctification of all my intentions, and when my life is done I may have the peace of God, and the testimony of a holy conscience, to accompany me to my grave, and to consign, me to a holy and a blessed resurrection, to partake of the inheritance which thou hast provided for thy saints and servants. Grant this for Jesus Christ's sake, our dearest Lord and Saviour. Amen: For a fruitful Womb. I. O MOST gracious and eternal God, Father and Lord of all the creatures, thou didst sanctify marriage in the state of innocence, in the dwellings of paradise, and didst design it for the production of mankind, and didst give it as one of the first blessings of mankind. O be pleased to look upon thy handmaid who waits for thy mercy, and humbly begs of thy infinite goodness to make me partaker of that blessing, which thou didst design to all the sons and daughters of Adam: thou, O God, hast the keys of heaven and hell, of rain and providence, of the womb and the grave: O let not thy servant feel the curse of dry breasts and a barren womb; but make me a joyful mother of children, that thy handmaid may serve thee in increasing the number of thy redeemed ones, and may minister blessings to this family into which thou hast adopted me, and may bring comfort to my dear husband, whom do thou bless, and love, and sanctify for ever. II. O God, I confess I am unworthy of this or any other favour; I am less than the least of thy mercies, yet our weakness and unworthiness cannot be the measures of thy mercy thou art good and gracious, infinitely gracious, essen tially good, and delightest in showing mercy to them that call upon thee, and put their trust in thee: O dear God, I remember that thou didst relieve the sorrows of thy servant Hannah, and gavest her the blessing of children; thou didst bless the womb of Elizabeth, who was barren; thou spakest the word, and the rocks did rend, and they sent forth a pleasant stream: thy hand is not shortened, and thy mercies are not less than ever, no less than infinite, and why should not thy servant hope that thou wilt hear my prayer, and grant the desire of my soul? Even so, O gracious Father, let it be as thou pleasest: thy wisdom is infinite, and thy counsels are secret, and the ways and lines of thy providence are like the path of a bird in the air, and are not to be discovered by our weak sight. III. I know, O God, that thou lovest to hear our prayers, and thou delightest in the humble, passionate, and resigned de-, sires of thy servants. Although, O God, I desire this blessing with an earnestness as great as any temporal favour, yet I humbly submit my desires, my interests, my content, and all that I am or have to thy holy will and pleasure, humbly begging of thee that I may cheerfully suffer, and obediently do thy will, and choose what thou choosest, and observe the ways of thy providence, and revere thy judgment, and wait for thy mercy, and delight in thy.dispensation, and expect that all things shall work together for good to them that fear thee. O let thy Holy Spirit for ever be present with me, and make me to fear thee and to love thee above all the things in the world for ever, and then no ill can come unto thy servant: for whosoever loves thee cannot perish. Hear the prayer of thy servant, and relieve, my sorrow, and sanctify my desires, and accept me in the Son of thy love and of thy desires, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer to be used by an afflicted Wife in behalf of a vicious Husband. I. O ETERNAL Father, thou Preserver of men, thou great Lover. of souls, who didst send thy holy Son to die, that mankind might be redeemed, and sin might be destroyed: thou |
