such things as are well-pleasing in Thy sight before she goeth hence and is no more seen.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, and grant me space for repentance, good Lord.

LORD God, who art a merciful God, bless all those endeavours of Thy servants, who wait on this Thy servant; grant unto her a submissive and teachable mind, that she may meekly receive the teaching of her guide in Thy Name, and strive to fulfil by Thy help all godly instructions that may be given her; enable · her to persevere unto her life's end, and send her always such spiritual guides as may help her in her endeavours and lead her on in Thy blessed with sincere love and desire for the salvation of her soul.

way

O Lord, have mercy on me and evermore help me, my Strength and my Redeemer.

Lord have mercy on us,

Christ have mercy on us,

Lord have mercy on us,

Christ have mercy on us.

O Son of God that didst redeem us with Thy

blood,

Hear us and have mercy on us.

OUR Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil : For Thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and Amen.

ever.

The Lord bless her, and keep her, the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon her, and give her peace, now and for evermore. Amen. Amen.

JOHN HENRY PARKER, OXFORD AND LONDON.

A PERSUASIVE TO FREQUENT COMMUNION,

You have reason to bless God, my friend, that He has put into your heart to draw near to the Supper of the Lord, that heavenly feast, so mercifully spread for the strengthening and refreshing of your souls. It is so fearful, so perilous a thing to live on from year to year without partaking of it, that I rejoice to think that you sometimes fulfil your Lord's command, and gain thereby that inward grace and strength by union with Him, which you so much require.

You remember those awful words which our Saviour spoke, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you;" no life, no true spiritual life. When we see so many professed members of Christ's Church, who habitually turn their backs on this blessed Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, who never come to it, it makes one tremble for

their state, and we do well to pray to God for all such, that He may draw them by His Holy Spirit to this great feast of love, and that they may eat and drink to the satisfying of their souls.

As regards yourself, as I have said, the case is different; you had the desire to receive the Holy Communion, and I trust that you both duly prepared yourself, and profitably received those holy mysteries. Two or three times in the year you have presented yourself at the altar. Blessed be God our Saviour, that He ordained that blessed Sacrament, that He called you to it, that you obeyed the call, for it is He who enables us both to will and to do what is good.

But as you have got so far in the fulfilment of Christ's will, I am anxious that you should go further still, that you should more completely give yourself up to God, and that the hunger and thirst of your soul for its spiritual food should be increased. In short, I am anxious that you should come oftener to the Commu

nion. You have got much good, I trust, from coming two or three times a year, why not try to get much more good by coming oftener? Are you always to remain at the same point? Are you always to stand still? Would it not be wise to increase in your service towards God, and in

your use of those means of grace which He has provided for us in His Church?

Bear in mind the practice of the first Christians, if you want safe, sure guidance on such a matter. In the midst of the great perils, the trials, the temptations which compassed them about they were wont to invigorate and sustain their souls by a frequent reception of the Lord's Supper.

Then we find it said in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that they "continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers,' as if this breaking of bread was with them as frequently done as the offering of prayer and when we read St. Paul's eleventh chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which he blames them for certain great sins which they committed in their mode of taking the Lord's Supper, he is evidently speaking of something which was done far oftener than two or three times in the year.

I can quite understand a sort of dread you may have in drawing near to the feast oftener than you have done; you may fear first of all, whether you might not be led to come with less preparation, with less previous self-examination