SECT. VII.-Offices to be said by the Minister in his Visitation of the Sick. N the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. IN Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. Let the Priest say this Prayer secretly. 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. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 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. Psalm xlix. 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the wickedness of my heels shall compass me about? 7. No man can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him; 8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth forever,) 9. That he should still live forever, and not see corruption. 10. But wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 15. But God will redeem my soul from the of the grave; for he shall receive me. power Psalm xvii. 15. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. Psalm xvi. 11. Thou shalt show me the path of life: in thy presence is the fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. A Glory be to the Father, &c. Let us pray. LMIGHTY 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 favors 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. GIV II. Amen. IVE 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. TH III. HOU, 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. ORD, 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. L V. ET 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 his soul be presented to thee blameless, and entirely pardoned, and throughly washed, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Here also may be inserted the Prayers set down after the holy Communion is administered. |