A LMIGHTY GOD, FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, Maker of all things, Judge of all men, we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against Thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly Thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful FATHER; for Thy SON our Lord Jesus CHRIST'S sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please Thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of Thy Name, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen. Now listen with humble thankfulness to the message of mercy God sends you through His Priest. A LMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly FATHER, Who of His great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all them that with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto Him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life, through JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen. The Comfortable Words follow, setting forth the love of your forgiving Lord. Listen with a thankful heart to these gracious words. Hear what comfortable words our Saviour CRIST saith unto all that truly turn to Him. C OME unto Me, all that travail and are heavy-laden, and I will refresh you. S. Matt. xi. 28. So GOD loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten SON, to the end that all that believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. S. John iii. 16. Hear also what Saint Paul saith. This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners. 1 Tim. i. 15. Hear also what Saint John saith. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the FATHER, JESUS CHRIST the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins. I S. John ii. I. The most solemn part of the Office now approaches, to which the Sursum Corda, Preface, and Sanctus have been prefixed from the earliest ages of faith. I Sursum Corda. V. Lift up your hearts. R. We lift them up unto the LORD. V. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God. R. It is meet and right so to do. The Preface. T is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O LORD [Holy FATHER], Almighty, Everlasting GOD. [Here, on certain great days, a proper Freface is inserted.] TH HEREFORE, with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of Heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee, and saying H The Sanctus. OLY, holy, holy, LORD GOD of hosts, Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Glory be to Thee, O LORD most high. Amen. B Proper Prefaces. Upon Christmas-day, and seven days after. ECAUSE Thou didst give JESUS CHRIST Thine only Son to be born as at this time for us, Who, by the operation of the Holy GHOST, was made very man of the ubstance of the Virgin Mary His mother, and that without spot of sin, to make us clean from all sin. Therefore with Angels, etc. B Upon Easter-day, and seven days after. UT chiefly are we bound to praise Thee for the glorious Resurrection of Thy SON JESUS CHRIST our LORD, for He is the very Paschal Lamb, Which was offered for us, and hath taken away the sins of the world, Who by His death hath destroyed death, and by His rising to life again hath restored to us everlasting life. Therefore with Angels, etc. T Upon Ascension-day, and seven days after. HROUGH Thy most dearly beloved SON JESUS CHRIST our LORD, Who-after His most glorious resurrection manifestly appeared to all His Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into Heaven to prepare a place for us, that where He is, thither we might also ascend, and reign with Him in glory. Therefore with Angels, etc. T Upon Whitsun-day, and six days after. HROUGH JESUS CHRIST our Lord, according to Whose most true promise the HOLY GHOST came down as at this time from Heaven with a sudden great sound, as it had been a mighty wind, in the likeness of fiery tongues, lighting upon the Apostles, to teach them, and to lead them to all truth, giving them both the gift of divers languages, and also boldness with fervent zeal constantly to preach the Gospel unto all nations, whereby we have been brought out of darkness and error into the clear light and true knowledge of Thee, and of Thy SON JESUS CHRIST. Therefore with Angels, etc. W Upon the Feast of Trinity only. HO art one GOD, one LORD, not one only Person, but three Persons in one Substance. For that which we believe of the glory of the FATHER, the same we believe of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST, without any difference or inequality. Therefore with Angels, etc. The Prayer of Humble Access is then said by the Priest in the name of all those about to communicate; if you do not intend to do so on this occasion, think of your next Communion. W E do not presume to come to this Thy Table, O merciful LORD, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy Table. But Thou art the same Lord, Whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of Thy dear SON JESUS CHRIST, and to drink His Blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His Body, and our souls washed through His most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us. Amen. The great act of the Service-the Prayer of Consecrationnow commences, wherein, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the bread and wine become, after a heavenly and spiritual manner, the Body and Blood of Christ, which are solemnly presented before God in memorial of His Death and Passion, that the fruits thereof may be applied to our souls in these holy Mysteries, wherein Christ is invisibly present as our Priest and our Victim once for all slain upon Calvary, and here pleaded before God. Think of the especial grace you desire from God, and beseech Him to grant it through the merits of that precious Death here pleaded before Him ; then pray in the words of the earliest liturgies, H GOD, after Thy great AVE mercy upon us, O LORD, our mercy, and send down upon us, and upon these gifts lying before Thee, Thy HOLY GHOST, that He may make this bread the Holy Body and this cup the Blood of Thy CHRIST, that it may be to us who partake of it for the remission of sins, and for the sanctification of soul and body unto life everlasting. Amen. B LESSED is He that cometh in the name of the LORD |