THE OFFERING OF THE ALMS, AND OF THE BREAD AND WINE. You must not pass on without noticing two things which take place here. First, the Priest humbly presents the Alms before God, placing them upon the Holy Table. So you should feel that what you have given you have given to God Himself, and this will make the Offering a much more solemn act, and a much more serious duty. Secondly, the Priest now places upon the Holy Table so much Bread and Wine as he thinks sufficient. This in old times was always made a very solemn act. The Bread and the Wine, God's good gifts to us, are offered to Him to be blest by Him, and given back to us as the signs and sacrament of better gifts still. When the Bread and the Wine are placed on the Holy Table, you may say: O GOD, all things are Thine, and from Thine hand have we received these fruits of the earth which we now offer to Thee. Accept them, O LORD, and bless them to us in this Holy Sacrament, that through them we may by faith receive the Body and Blood of Christ. Amen. THE PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH MILITANT. Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth. ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who by Thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks for all men ; We humbly beseech Thee most mercifully to accept our alms and oblaand of the tions, and to Bread and receive these Offering of the Alms, Wine. our prayers, which we offer unto Thy Divine Majesty; Beseeching Thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with and peace of the spirit of truth, unity, For the truth,unity, the Church. and concord: And grant that all they that do confess Thy holy Name may agree in the truth of Thy holy Word, and live in unity and godly love. We beseech Thee also We begin this prayer by humbly beseeching God to accept our offerings, whether of money or of bread and wine, and to receive our prayers. Does it not sometimes put us to shame to ask God to accept the scanty offering we have perhaps grudgingly given ? If you have given what you honestly think right, you can without fear ask God to accept it. The rest of this prayer is full of intercession for the Church and all its members. It has always been the custom of the Church to use much intercession at the Holy Communion, from the feeling that we can best plead for others when we are setting forth that One Great Sacrifice which wins acceptance for all our prayers. We end this prayer with a thanksgiving for all God's servants who have died in His faith and fear; praying that we may follow their good examples, and with them be partakers of His heavenly kingdom. under her we may be godly and quietly governed: And grant unto her whole And surely it is a good and blessed thing, and full of comfort to many a mourning heart, thus to remember the holy ones at rest, for we are one with them in the blessed "Communion of Saints" now, and hope to be one with them in the glory of the "Life everlasting" hereafter. Council, and to all that are put in authority under her, that they may truly and indifferently minister justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of Thy true religion and virtue. For the Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops and Curates, that they may both by Bishops and their life and doctrine set forth Thy Clergy. true and lively Word, and rightly and duly administer Thy holy Sacraments: For all And to all Thy people give Thy heavenly grace; and especially to this congregation here present; that, with meek heart and due reverence they may hear, and receive Thy holy Word; truly serving Thee present. in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. God's people, especsally the Congregation And we most humbly beseech Thee of Thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour For the all them, who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity. afflicted. And we also bless Thy holy Name for all Thy Thanks servants departed this life in Thy faith and fear; beseeching Thee to give us grace giving for So to follow their good examples, that the depart with them we may be partakers of Thy heavenly kingdom: ed. Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen. THE EXHORTATION. DEARLY beloved in the Lord, ye that mind to come to the When this Exhortation is read attend to it very carefully, for it is full of instruction. You will notice that the first part is taken chiefly from St. Paul's warnings to the Corinthians (1 Cor. xi. 27-31), and some of his words sound so terrible that we must take care that we understand them aright. It must be a very dreadful thing to be "guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord," that is, to be guilty of profaning and making light of these holy Gifts. This was what the Corinthians did when they made the Lord's Supper a time of feasting and excess, and of wicked pride and party spirit. Also it must be a very dreadful thing to "eat and drink our own damnation," but the word had not always in old times the terrible sense it now Christ with us ;) so is the danger great, if we receive the same unworthily. For then we are guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour; we eat and drink our own damnation, not considering the Lord's Body; we kindle God's wrath against us; we provoke Him to plague us with divers diseases, and sundry kinds of death. Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord; repent you truly for your sins past; have a lively and steadfast faith in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, and be in perfect charity with all men; so shall ye be meet partakers of those holy mysteries. And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks to God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for has, and in this place St. Paul certainly meant by it, not everlasting destruction, but simply guilt or condemnation. So that the mere word ought not to frighten us away from the Holy Table, though it ought to make us very anxious not to eat and drink unworthily. But again, we must not make a mistake about this word "unworthily," for there is a most true sense in which all of us eat and drink unworthily, as we ourselves say in the "Prayer of Humble Approach" farther on. It is not sinners who are in danger of coming unworthily, but impenitent sinners. The sinner who is fleeing from his sins will not be cast out as unworthy. The rest of this Exhortation you will more easily understand. While you listen to it, you can often turn the words into little secret prayers, such as these: O GOD, save me from the guilt of eating and drinking unworthily: O GOD, make me to consider the Lord's Body, and to remember what holy things I am seeking. |