ON THE SERVICES OF THE CHURCH.

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No. XIII.

THE Litany was a service intended for days of special humiliation it well expresses the feelings of a penitent Church seeking divine mercy: its broken and repeated ejaculations are not vain repetitions, but the earnest cry of those who will take no denial, whose desires (like those of their Redeemer at Gethsemane,) are too fervent to study any change of expression. Have we anything of this deep earnestness of heart, as our voice swells that repeated cry for mercy that fills the courts of our God? The following Collect is especially the prayer of the sorrowful:

'O God, merciful Father, that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as be sorrowful, mercifully assist our prayers that we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us; and graciously hear us, that those evils which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man worketh against us may be brought to nought, and by the providence of thy goodness they may be dispersed ; that we, thy servants, being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy church, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

How soothing to the weary heart the name here given to our God, Merciful Father, that despisest not the sighing of the contrite heart,' &c. The soul, in times

of sorrow, is brought very low, sometimes fancies itself despised of all around: how sweet, then, to rest on that fatherly heart, which never yet repulsed a mourning child, nor despised the desire of the sorrowful. It is oppressed, and has hardly power to cry; therefore, its first petition is, 'Assist our prayers that we make before thee.' What thus oppresses it? the evils which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man work against it. Our foe is very mighty; he has an archangel's strength, and he is very malignant, hating us with a demon's hatred he is crafty and subtle too, for the old serpent is his name. He has watched us from our birth, and knows all our weakness: his temptations come just when we are least able to resist them, and they assume such various forms, that we are weary and perplexed, and know not how to distinguish them. The world too is crafty and subtle, and lays hidden snares for the feet of the Christian. No wonder his spirit is oppressed: how shall he bear the heavy burden, or loose himself from the entangling chain? Faith rises, looks upon the difficulties, shrinks not; but, bold in prayer, can believe they shall be brought to nought. To noughtdwell upon the words, sorrowing Christian; those temptations, perplexities, snares, which overwhelm thee, all vanished, and as nothing. "What art thou, O-great

mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." Other words of believing prayer follow: 'And by the providence of thy goodness they may be dispersed.' Goodness is a precious word, but the providence of goodness, a goodness that looks around on every side, that provides beforehand for every emergency; this, indeed, meets all our wants, if the sunshine of such goodness breaks through the dark clouds that surround us, they shall be dispersed. We might see no opening-we might

be surrounded with difficulties, from which there seemed no escape fear not, they shall be dispersed, and we shall be enabled evermore to give thanks unto God in his holy church.

'O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for thy Name's sake.

'O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them.

'O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for thine honour.'

Israel could well use pleas like these; in times of danger she called not on an unknown God, but on Him who had divided the Red Sea, and overthrown the kingdoms of Canaan.. Has not Britain too experienced mercies enough to awaken a holy confidence? have we not been rescued from idolatry, delivered again and again from the grasp of Popery have not winds and waves been our protection, and our island been a sanctuary of peace amidst the desolations of war? When we plead for England, we plead for a land which the Lord has loved and we should treasure up the remembrance of these, his noble works, to give courage to our prayer, as we plead with him, for his honour and for his Name's sake, not to forsake the people he has chosen. These are high and holy pleas; let us beware that we do not make them void by our want of sincerity. If, in our daily course, the honour and the name of God are matters of perfect indifference to us, will he regard us when we urge our zeal for them as a plea for deliverance from danger? Will He not rather send us, as he did Israel of old, to the idols whom they had chosen, saying, "Let them deliver you now?"

"We humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to

look upon our infirmities, and for the glory of thy name turn from us all those evils that we most righteously have deserved; and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living to thy honour and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.'

Well might we shrink from bearing the evils, which we must own, were we ourselves the judges, that we righteously deserve, much more from those which the just judgment of an all-seeing God would bring upon us. Our national sins deserve national evils; our personal sins deserve personal evils; we run into temptation, and deserve to be led captive by the enemy at his will. We have sullied every gift of God with sin and ingratitude, and deserve to lose it. But, for the glory of his name, he deals not with us as we deserve, but according to his infinite mercy. Do we glorify the forbearance of our God? do we consider every forfeited gift still enjoyed a proof of his mercy, and do we show our confidence in that mercy by trusting to it, when an all-wise Father sees that the hour of trouble is needful for our souls ?

At this part of the Litany the occasional prayers are introduced which give such fulness to our Church services. How gratefully are those showers or that sunshine received which have followed the united prayers of the Lord's people in his temple! They are no longer mere natural gifts, but a pledge of his continual presence. How gracious an answer have we this month to record to the prayer so often repeated during the spring! 'Increase the fruits of the earth by thy heavenly benediction, and grant that we, receiving thy bountiful libe

rality, may use the same to thy glory, the relief of those that are needy, and our own comfort.' May He who has given the temporal blessing we sought, pour largely on the people of this land the spiritual grace to use it aright, that our own comfort, placed last by the Church on the list of objects to be sought, may not be the only one which engrosses our attention.

When we consider how solemn is the responsibility attached to the Bishop's right of ordination, we should with special earnestness offer the beautiful prayers provided for Ember weeks. The right of patronage is so widely diffused, and so often rests with those who are indifferent to the true interests of the Church, that the unfaithful shepherd once admitted through the door of ordination, may, if he keep within the bounds of decency and orthodoxy, be appointed to the most important cure of souls. It is then of the most vital importance to our Church, that her bishops should lay hands suddenly on no man; but faithfully and wisely make choice of fit persons to serve in the sacred ministry of God's Church. The difficulty of their task is very great, and they may justly claim to be strengthened by the prayers of all their brethren.

The prayer for the Parliament was not framed by men who thought that the province of the magistrate in religion is to "have no province at all," but by those who considered it his first duty, as a magistrate, to promote the advancement of God's glory and the good of his Church. How blessed is the consummation at which it aims, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations. All statesmen are ready to acknowledge the peace and happiness of the nation as the object of their legislation; but few comparatively are convinced