be preached, its ordinances may be administered, and thy people may offer to thee a reasonable and holy worship. Especially, we ask thy blessing on the society, for *** ** (whose directors are now assembled in thy name and presence,) that the hearts and the hands of thy people may be open for carrying the design of the institution into effect; that thy servants, its directors, may be endowed with wisdom, with fidelity, and with zeal, in the discharge of the trust committed to them; that all in their employ may be protected by thy providence, and guided by thy grace; and that thy holy word, whether distributed or preached agreeably to thy will, by their agency, and under the influences of thy Holy Spirit, may be "thy power unto the salvation" of the receivers of it. Finally, we pray that the Gospel of thy adorable Son may be faithfully preached, and truly received and followed, in all places, to the removal of all error in religion, and of all wickedness of life, to the honor and glory of thy name, and to be made acceptable to thee, through the merits of the same, thy Son, Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen. The grace of our Lord, &c.

* Here the title or object of the Society may be named: and the following words omitted, if the prayer be used in private.

AN OFFICE FOR

THE SICK AND AFFLICTED.

A PRAYER FOR A SICK PERSON.

O ALMIGHTY GOD, the father of the spirits of all flesh, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; I desire, with the profoundest humility and reverence, to prostrate both soul and body before thee, begging that thou wouldst give me grace to behold and admire thy doings in all thy dispensations towards myself and all mankind. I acknowledge it thy bounty that I ever was at all, and adore thy mercy and long-suffering for preserving me thus long in the land of the living. My many days and years of health and comfort were thy gift; and the recoveries from former sicknesses, as well as the prevention of those dangers and diseases I never felt, are owing to thee alone. Man doth not live by bread and care, nor is relieved by medicines only, but by the word and blessing which proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Grant me, I beseech thee, a strong and due sense of my entire

dependence upon thee, and grace to improve under, and behave myself in conformity to that persuasion. That if the means used for my ease and relief succeed, I may ascribe all the glory and thanks to thee alone or if thou thinkest fit to deny them their intended effects, 1 may humble myself under thy mighty hand, and remember that thou, Lord, hast done it. Inspire me, I beseech thee, with that true and heavenly wisdom, which may help me to discern aright the reasons, and enable me to answer the ends of this correction, and of all thy other dealings with me; and in all conditions to submit myself entirely to thy good pleasure, and glorify God in the day of visitation. So shall this weakness of my body tend to the strengthening of my virtues, and the health of my soul, through the merits of him who redeemed them both at the price of his own blood, even thy Son, and my ever blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SECOND PRAYER FOR A SICK PERSON.

O MOST merciful God, who according to the multitude of thy mercies dost so put away the sins of those who truly repent, that thou rememberest them no more; grant me, I beseech thee, true repentance and thy Holy Spirit; and then open thine eye of mercy upon my languishing condition, and give me comfort of pardon and forgiveness. Renew in me, most loving Father, whatsoever hath

been decayed by the fraud and malice of the devil, or by my own carnal will and frailness; preserve and continue me in the unity of thy Church; guard me by thy power from all the assaults of the tempter, and suffer him not to take advantage of my weakness; consider, I beseech thee, my contrition, accept my tears, hear my own prayers, and those of others, on my behalf, and assuage my pains, as shall seem to thee most expedient for me. In thy mercy, O Lord, I put my full trust; in thy mercy alone, through the merits and sufferings of my crucified Saviour. Impute not, O Lord, unto me my former sins, but strengthen me with thy blessed Spirit; and whenever thou art pleased to take me hence, take me unto thy favor, through the merits of thy dearly beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THIRD PRAYER FOR A SICK PERSON.

HEAR me, almighty and most merciful God and Saviour, and extend thy accustomed goodness to me thy poor servant, now cast upon this bed of languishing, and grieved with sickness. Sanctify, I beseech thee, this thy fatherly correction to me, and grant that I may receive it, with all the patience and submission of a dutiful child. I desire to acknowledge and adore thy divine wisdom and goodness in every dispensation of providence towards me; and only beg that thou wouldst keep

me safe under all, and then use what methods thou pleasest, of bringing me to thyself. Manifest thy strength in my weakness. Make even my feeble condition an instrument of thy glory; and the more my outward man decayeth, strengthen me, I beseech thee, so much the more continually, with thy grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man. Let the sense of my weakness add strength to my faith, and seriousness to my repentance. That if it be thy good pleasure to restore me to my former health, I may lead the residue of my life in thy fear, and to thy glory; or else grant me grace so to take thy visitation, that after this painful life is ended, I may dwell with thee in life everlasting. For this, O Lord, is the chief, the most earnest desire of my soul, that whether I live, I may live unto the Lord; or whether I die, I may die unto the Lord; so that living and dying I may be thine, through Jesus Christ, my dear and only Saviour. Amen.

A PRAYER FOR GRACE TO SANCTIFY AFFLICTIONS.

O ALMIGHTY GOD, merciful and gracious, who in thy justice didst send sorrow and tears, sickness and death, into the world, as a punishment for man's sins, making short afflictions to minister to an eternal weight of glory: thou hast called me to fellowship with thee in sufferings; Lord, by the instrument of religion, let my present condition be