ANTE-COMMUNION,

OR,

OFFICE OF THE COMMANDMENTS.

To be said on the Sundays immediately preceding those on which the Lord's Supper is to be administered.

Collect for Purity.

ALMIGHTY GOD, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Minister.

GOD spake these words and said, I am the

Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods but me.

Answer. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous

God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and show mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain.

Ans.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

· Ans.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and in

cline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt do no murder.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Ans.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and in

cline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not steal.

Ans.

Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Min. Hear also what our Saviour Christ saith:

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy

heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.

This is the first commandment.

And the

second is like, namely, this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Ans. Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these thy laws in our hearts, we beseech thee.

The Minister shall then announce the Communion in the following words:

On Sunday next will be administered unto all who are religiously and devoutly disposed, and who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, the holy ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

The foregoing Office may be used after the Morning or Evening Prayer, or introduced in the course of either, at such place as shall seem most proper and convenient.

THE

ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER

OR

HOLY COMMUNION.

The Minister, standing before the Lord's Table, shall begin the Service by reading the following Sentences, or such a portion of them as may be convenient, the Wardens meanwhile collecting the usual Alms for the Poor.

LET your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. St. Matt. v. 16.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust do corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. St. Matt. vi. 19, 20.

Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them; for this is the law and the prophets. St. Matt. vii. 12.

Not every one who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. St. Matt. vii. 21.