entertained false principles in the estimate and measures of virtues; and, contrary to the steward in that gospel, we write down fourscore, when we should set down but fifty. 15. That it is better to trust the goodness and justice of God with our accounts, than to offer him large bills. 16. That we are commanded by Christ to sit down in the lowest place, till the master of the house bids us sit up higher. 17. That when we have done all that we can, we are unprofitable servants:" and yet no man does all that he can do; and therefore is more to be despised and undervalued. 18. That the self-accusing publican was justified rather than the thanksgiving and confident Pharisee. 19. That if Adam in paradise, and David in his house, and Solomon in the temple, and Peter in Christ's family, and Judas in the college of apostles, and Nicolas among the deacons, and the angels in heaven itself, did fall so foully and dishonestly; then it is prudent advice, that we be not high-minded, but fear; and, when we stand most confidently, take heed lest we fall and yet there is nothing so likely to make us fall as pride and great opinions, which ruined the angels, which God resists, which all men despise, and which betrays us into carelessness, and a reckless, undiscerning, and an unwary spirit.

4. Now the main parts of the ecclesiastical ministry are done; and that which remains is, that the minister pray over him, and remind him to do good actions as he is capable; to call upon God for pardon; to put his whole trust in him; to resign himself to God's disposing; to be patient and even; to renounce every ill word, or thought, or indecent action, which the violence of his sickness may cause in him; to beg of God to give him his Holy Spirit to guide him in his agony; and his holy angels to guard him in his passage.

5. Whatsoever is besides this, concerns the standers-by: that they do all their ministries diligently and temperately; that they join with much charity and devotion in the prayer of the minister; that they make no outcries or exclamations in the departure of the soul; and that they make no judgment concerning the dying person, by his dying quietly or violently, with comfort or without, with great fears or a cheerful confidence, with sense or without, like a lamb or like a lion, with convulsions or semblances of great pain, or

like an expiring and a spent candle: for these happen to all men, without rule, without any known reason, but according as God pleases to dispense the grace or the punishment, for reasons only known to himself. Let us lay our hands upon our mouth, and adore the mysteries of the Divine wisdom and providence, and pray to God to give the dying man rest and pardon, and to ourselves grace to live well, and the blessing of a holy and a happy death.

SECTION VII.

Offices to be said by the Minister, in his Visitation of the Sick. IN the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

66

Our Father, which art in heaven," &c.

Let the Priest say this Prayer secretly.

O eternal Jesus, thou great lover of souls, who hast constituted a ministry in the church to glorify thy name, and to serve in the assistance of those, that come to thee, professing thy discipline and service, give grace to me, the unworthiest of thy servants, that I, in this my ministry, may purely and zealously intend thy glory, and effectually may minister comfort and advantages to this sick person (whom God assoil from all his offences); and grant that nothing of thy grace may perish to him by the unworthiness of the minister; but let thy Spirit speak by me, and give me prudence and charity, wisdom and diligence, good observation and apt discourses, a certain judgment and merciful dispensation, that the soul of thy servant may pass from this state of imperfection to the perfections of the state of glory, through thy mercies, O eternal Jesus. Amen.

The Psalm.

Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Psal. cxxx.

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait; and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem his servants from all their iniquities. Psal. cxxx.

Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the wickedness of my heels shall compass me about? Psal. xlix. 5.

No man can, by any means, redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. ver. 7.

For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever. ver. 8.

That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. ver. 9.

But wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. ver. 10.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. ver. 15.

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake in thy likeness. Psal. xvii. 15.

:

Thou shalt shew me the path of life in thy presence is the fulness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psal. xvi. 11.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, Father of mercies, the God of peace and comfort, of rest and pardon, we, thy servants, though unworthy to pray to thee, yet, in duty to thee and charity to our brother, humbly beg mercy of thee for him to descend upon his body and his soul; one sinner, O Lord, for another, the miserable for the afflicted, the poor for him that is in need: but thou givest thy graces and thy favours by the measures

of thy own mercies, and in proportion to our necessities. We humbly come to thee in the name of Jesus, for the merit of our Saviour, and the mercies of our God, praying thee to pardon the sins of this thy servant, and to put them all upon the accounts of the cross, and to bury them in the grave of Jesus; that they may never rise up in judgment against thy servant, nor bring him to shame and confusion of face in the day of final inquiry and sentence. Amen.

II.

Give thy servant patience in his sorrows, comfort in this his sickness, and restore him to health, if it seem good to thee, in order to thy great ends, and his greatest interest. And however thou shalt determine concerning him in this affair, yet make his repentance perfect, and his passage safe, and his faith strong, and his hope modest and confident; that, when thou shalt call his soul from the prison of the body, it may enter into the securities and rest of the sons of God, in the bosom of blessedness, and the custodies of Jesus. Amen.

III.

Thou, O Lord, knowest all the necessities and all the infirmities of thy servant: fortify his spirit with spiritual joys and perfect resignation, and take from him all degrees of inordinate or insecure affections to this world, and enlarge his heart with desires of being with thee, and of freedom from sins, and fruition of God.

IV.

Lord, let not any pain or passion discompose the order and decency of his thoughts and duty; and lay no more upon thy servant, than thou wilt make him able to bear, and together with the temptation do thou provide a way to escape; even by the mercies of a longer and a more holy life, or by the mercies of a blessed death: even as it pleaseth thee, O Lord, so let it be.

V.

Let the tenderness of his conscience and the Spirit of God call to mind his sins, that they may be confessed and

repented of: because thou hast promised, that if we confess our sins, we shall have mercy. Let thy mighty grace draw out from his soul every root of bitterness, lest the remains of the old man be accursed with the reserves of thy wrath: but in the union of the holy Jesus, and in the charities of God and of the world, and the communion of all the saints, let this soul be presented to thee blameless, and entirely pardoned, and thoroughly washed, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here also may be inserted the Prayers set down after the Holy Communion is administered.

The prayer of St. Eustatius the Martyr, to be used by the sick or dying man, or by the priests or assistants in his behalf, which he said, when he was going to martyrdom. I will praise thee, O Lord, that thou hast considered my low estate, and hast not shut me up in the hands of mine enemies, nor made my foes to rejoice over me; and now let thy right hand protect me, and let thy mercy come upon me; for my soul is in trouble and anguish because of its departure from the body. O let not the assemblies of its wicked and cruel enemies meet it in the passing forth, nor hinder me by reason of the sins of my past life. O Lord, be favourable unto me, that my soul may not behold the hellish countenance of the spirits of darkness, but let thy bright and joyful angels entertain it. Give glory to thy holy name and to thy majesty; place me by thy merciful arm before thy seat of judgment, and let not the hand of the prince of this world snatch me from thy presence, or bear me into hell. Mercy, sweet Jesu. Amen.

A prayer taken out of the Euchologion of the Greek church, to be said by, or in behalf of, people, in their danger, or near their death.

Βεβορβορωμένος ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, &c.
I.

Bemired with sins and naked of good deeds, I, that am the meat of worms, cry vehemently in spirit; cast not me a wretch away from thy face; place me not on the left hand, who with thy hands didst fashion me; but give rest unto my soul, for thy great mercy's sake, O Lord.