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FOURTH SERVICE

One or more of these sentences to be read by the minister

way

Prepare ye the of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Isaiah xl. 3.

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary: they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah xl. 31.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalm xxiv. 3, 4, 5.

Thoughts of peace, saith the Lord, do I think toward you; ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken to you; ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah xxix. 11, 12, 13.

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians iii. 16, 17.

¶ To be said by the minister

God, in whom we live and move and have our being, never leaves us day or night. But the very nearness and custom of his presence hide him from our infirm and sinful hearts, temptations

gain a shameful power, and the good
that is in us droops and fades. To clear
such blindness away and recover the
pure wisdom of a Christian mind, we are
called to this day of remembrance and
this house of prayer. Entering here,
therefore, we cross the threshold of
eternal things, and commune with the
Father who seeth in secret. Let us
shake off the dust of transitory care,
and every disguise that can come be-
tween us and God; and remembering
whose disciples we strive to be, come to
the simplicity, though it should be also
to the sorrows of the Christ.
Let us pray.

To be said by minister and people
together

O God, before whose face the generations rise and pass away: age after age the living seek thee, and find that of thy faithfulness there is no end. Our fathers in their pilgrimage walked by thy guidance, and rested on thy compassion; still to their children be thou the cloud by day, the fire by night.

Where but in thee have we a covert from the storm or shadow from the heat of life? In our manifold temptations, thou alone knowest and art ever nigh; in sorrow, thy pity revives the fainting soul; in our prosperity and ease, it is thy spirit only that can wean us from our pride, and keep us low. O thou sole source of peace and righteousness,

FOURTH SERVICE

take now the veil from every heart, and join us in one communion with thy prophets and saints who have trusted in thee, and were not ashamed. Not of our worthiness, but of thy tender mercy, hear our prayer. Amen.

To be said by minister and people
alternately

Almighty and everlasting God, in communion with thy saints in all ages, with patriarchs and prophets, apostles and martyrs, with our beloved dead who have fallen asleep in thy peace: we, who are still striving to do and bear thy blessed will on earth, adore thee, and offer thee our praises and supplications.

Hear our prayers, O Lord, we beseech thee.

We ask of thee that wisdom which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

Give us, we pray thee, wisdom from above.

Help us to walk with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

So may we fulfil the law of love.

Enable us, by thy grace, to dedicate ourselves anew to the work which thou layest on conscience and heart.

In all we do, be thou, O Lord, our strength and help.

Lead us by thy chosen paths, through the perils of this mortal life, to our eternal home in thy heavenly kingdom. Mercifully grant our prayers, O Lord.

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O God, make clean our hearts within us.

And take not thy holy spirit from us.

Eternal God, who dost commit to us the swift and solemn trust of life: waken us now, we pray thee, to the claims of thy holy will: lay to rest, by the persuasion of thy spirit, the resistance of our passion, indolence and fear. Consecrate with thy presence the way our feet must go; and the humblest work will shine, and the roughest places be made plain. Lift us above unrighteous anger and mistrust into faith and hope and charity, by a simple and steadfast reliance on thy sure will, that so we may be modest in our time of wealth, patient under disappointment, ready for danger, serene in death and confident of everlasting life. Amen.

Almighty Lord, of whose righteous will all things are, and were created; who liftest the islands out of the deep, and preparest not in vain the habitable world: thou hast gathered our people into a great nation, and sent them to sow beside all waters and multiply sure dwellings on the earth. Deepen the root of our life in everlasting righteousness. Make us equal to our high trusts, reverent in the use of freedom, just in the exercise of power, generous in the protection of weakness. With all thy blessings bless thy servant the President of the United States. Fill his heart with loyalty to thee. To our legislators and counsellors give insight and faithfulness, that our laws may clearly speak the right, and our judges purely interpret it. Let it be known among us how thou hatest robbery for burnt-offering;

that the gains of industry may be upright, and the use of wealth considerate. May wisdom and knowledge be the stability of our times and our deepest trust be in thee, the Lord of nations and the King of kings. Amen.

O God, who didst appoint thy church to be witness of divine things in all the world: revive the purity and deepen the power of its testimony: and through the din of earthly interests and the storm of human passions, let it make the still small voice of thy spirit inly felt. Nearer and nearer may thy kingdom come from age to age; meeting the face of the young as a rising dawn, and brightening the song of the old, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." Already let its light abash our guilty negligence, and touch with hope each secret sorrow of the earth. By thy cleansing spirit make this world a fitting fore-court to that sanctuary not made. with hands, where our life is hid with Christ in God. Amen.

Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee, and dost promise that, when two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt grant their requests; fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants as may be most expedient for them, granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

Then may be sung an anthem or a hymn, to be followed by the sermon, a congregational hymn, and the benediction

FIFTH SERVICE

One or more of these sentences to be read by

the minister

O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Psalm cxxxvi. 1.

Come, and let us return unto the Lord; and we shall live in his sight. Let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is as sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. Hosea vi. 1, 2.

It is of the Lord's loving-kindnesses that we are not cast down, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. Lamentations iii. 22, 23, 24.

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, long suffering and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. Psalm cxlv. 8, 9.

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm xxxvii. 7. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens. Lamentations iii. 40, 41.

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Revelation xxi. 3.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew v. 8.

To be said by the minister

The heavenly Father, in whose presence we now stand, is always more ready to hear than we to pray; nor does anything hide him from us but the veil of our impure and earthly mind. And since the preparations of even the willing heart are not without him, let us inwardly pray for the grace of a humble and contrite spirit, that for a little while we may rise above the haste and press of life, and commune with him in spirit and in truth.

Let us pray.

To be said by minister and people
together

Infinite and gracious Father, giver of all good, to know whom even but in part is to lay hold upon thine eternal life, grant unto us thy children the peace, joy, and courage which come to those whose lives are lived in the spirit of the Master of men, and centred and rooted in the thought of thee. Fix in us each noble hope, each worthy purpose; free our minds from needless fears and cares; confirm our faith in thine Eternal Righteousness that so, as worthy disciples of him whose example we would follow, we may go forward striving to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Amen.

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FIFTH SERVICE

To be said by minister and people
alternately

O God, our true life, in whom and by whom all things live, who by thy spirit dost command us to seek thee, and art ever ready to be found; to know thee is life, to serve thee is freedom, to praise thee is the joy and happiness of the soul.

To be said by minister and people
together

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temp

We praise, and bless thee, and give tation; but deliver us from evil: for

thanks for thy great glory.

For seasons of bounty and of beauty, for nights of quiet sleep, for days of health, for the glory of earth, and its ministry to our need,

We bless thy name, O Lord.

For all the generations before us who through effort and pain have wrought so that we might be heirs of liberty and truth and peace,

We thank thee, our Father, and pray that we may enter into this heritage.

For opportunities used and unused, for victories over besetting sins, for the gladness and courage abiding with loyalty,

We praise thee, O God.

For the discipline that enriches, for the burden that strengthens, for the failure that is true success, and for the sorrow that enlarges the heart,

For these also we rejoice and give thee thanks.

For the soul and its powers, for the impulse to share, to serve, and to save, We give thee thanks, O Lord.

Keep us, we pray thee, in thy love; and in and through the quickening of our spirits make us worthy of sonship with thee.

And to thee be the honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

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