Psalm LXIX
Incline unto my aid, O God: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul.
Let them forthwith be turned backward, and blush for shame, that desire evils to me.
Let them be turned backward, and blush, and be put to shame, who say to me, It is well! it is well!
Let all that seek thee be glad, and rejoice in thee: and let those who love thy salvation, say always, Our Lord be magnified.
But I am needy and poor! O God help me.
Thou art my helper and my deliverer! O Lord make no delay.
V. Glory be to the Father, &c.
R. As it was, &c.
V. Save thy servants:
R. Who put their trust in thee, my God.
V. Be to us, O Lord, a tower of strength:
R. Against the face of the enemy.
V. Let not the enemy prevail against us:
R. Nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt us.
V. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins:
R. Nor reward us according to our iniquities.
V. Let us pray for our chief Bishop [N.N.]
R. May the Lord preserve him, and prolong his life, and make him happy on earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.
V. Let us pray for our benefactors:
R. Vouchsafe, O Lord, for thy name’s sake, to render eternal life to all those who do us good.
V. Let us pray for the faithful departed:
R. Give them, O Lord, eternal rest: and let perpetual light shine unto them.
V. May they rest in peace. R. Amen.
V. For our absent brethren:
R. Save thy servants, O my God, who put their trust in thee.
V. Send them help, O Lord, from thy sanctuary;
R. And from Sion protect them.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer:
R. And let my supplication come unto thee.
V. May the Lord be with you:
R. And with thy spirit.
Let Us Pray
O God, whose property it is, always to have mercy and to spare, receive our petitions, that we and all thy servants, who are bound by the chain of sin, may, by the compassion of thy goodness, mercifully be absolved.
Hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy suppliants, and pardon our sins, who confess them to thee; that of thy bounty thou mayest grant us pardon and peace.
Out of thy clemency, O Lord, show us thy unspeakable mercy; that so thou mayest both acquit us of our sins, and deliver us from the punishment we deserve for them.
O God, who by sin art offended, and by repentance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of thy people who make supplication to thee, and turn away the scourges of thy anger, which we deserve for our sins.
O almighty and eternal God, have mercy on thy servant (N.) our chief Bishop, and direct him, according to thy clemency, in the way of everlasting salvation, that by thy grace he may desire the things that are agreeable to thy will, and perform them with all his strength.
O God, from whom are all holy desires, righteous counsels, and just works, give to thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts being disposed to keep thy commandments, and the fear of enemies taken away, the times, by thy protection, may be peaceable.
Inflame, O Lord, our reins and hearts with the fire of thy holy spirit, that we may serve thee with a chaste body, and please thee with a clean heart.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that by pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired.
Model, we beseech thee, O Lord, our actions by thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by thy gracious assistance; that every prayer and work of ours may always begin from thee, and by thee be happily ended.
O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over the living and the dead, and art merciful to all whom thou foreknowest shall be thine by faith and good works; we humbly beseech thee, that they for whom we have purposed to offer our prayers, whether this present world still detains them in the flesh, or the next world hath already received them, divested of their bodies, may, by the clemency of thine own goodness, and the intercession of thy saints, obtain pardon and full remission of all their sins; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
R. Amen.
V. May the Lord be with you:
R. And with thy spirit.
V. May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us:
R. Amen,
V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace:
R. Amen.
Motives
Which should excite us to support the Crosses of this Life with cheerfulness, and to persevere till death in the practice of Virtue.
Since all things co-operate for the good of those who love God, and as God knows how to produce good out of evil, for whom should he do it, if not for those who give themselves up to him without reserve? Nay, he even makes their past sins contribute towards their good, as is evident in the cases of David, St. Peter, and Mary Magdalen.
When God lays the filth and deformity of sin before our eyes, it is in order that we should be captivated with the beauty of virtue; if he cast us flat on the earth, as he did St. Paul, it is with a view to raise us up again to a higher pitch of glory.
If God were not actually our Father, he never would have commanded us to say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” What then have the children of such a father to fear? Without his permission not a single hair of our heads can fall to the ground? Since, therefore, we are the children of almighty God, is it not the most unaccountable folly in us, to be over solicitous about any other concern than that of persevering till death, in his love and service? The test of our love towards God, is the observance of his commandments; and its recompense, no less than the possession of himself. “If any one love me,” saith Jesus Christ, (John, xiv. 23.) “he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”
“When I sent you without scrip or staff,” saith Christ to his apostles, “did you want any thing?” They answered, “No.” Have we not suffered afflictions when as yet we had little or no confidence in God, and did we perish under these afflictions? No. How, then, can we entertain thoughts of despondency, or betray a want of courage in adversity? For if God hath hitherto protected us, notwithstanding the little or no reliance we had on his providence, can it be supposed that he will forsake us, when, placing our whole confidence in him, we put on the determined resolution of dedicating the remainder of our lives to his love and service? Ah! no, he assuredly will not. Why, then, should we perplex ourselves with apprehensions of future evils, which perhaps will never befall us? or on the supposition they did, will not God enable us by his grace to support them with Christian fortitude? He commanded St. Peter to walk to him on the water; Peter, terrified by the blustering of the wind and the turbulence of the waves, and under the dreadful apprehension of immediately sinking to the bottom, calls out to his divine Master for assistance. When God, in like manner, ordains that you should walk on the boisterous waves of adversity, take courage and fear not; for be assured, he is actually present, and will stretch forth his hand to your assistance, as he did to St. Peter.
Our condition in this short and fleeting life, is an object of little consequence, provided that in the end we are admitted to the eternal enjoyment of God and his glory. Do we not, at every step we tread, approach nearer and nearer to eternity? Nay, have we not our feet, for aught we know to the contrary, on the very brink of it this moment? What, therefore, doth it signify whether our pilgrimage through life be chequered with afflictions or not, provided it terminate in a happy eternity? Can we possibly repine under short-lived sufferings, whilst we await their recompence in never-ending consolations? Ah! whatever has not eternity for its object, is, in reality, nothing but fleeting vanity.
Awake, therefore, O my soul! “Let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light.” Let us humbly beseech the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who consoleth us in all our afflictions, to inspire us with the same sentiments as the Apostle had when he exclaimed, “Far be it from me, that I should glory in any thing but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ah! were the cross of our crucified Saviour but deeply implanted in our hearts, the most bitter crosses of this world would then appear as sweet as roses. The heart that is impressed with a lively sense of the crown of thorns which pierced the tender head of our suffering Redeemer, will feel but little or no pain from the trifling scratches of worldly afflictions.