SERVICES FOR EVERY DAY IN THE WEEK, AND OTHER PRAYERS, ARRANGED FOR THE USE OF THE FAMILIES RESIDING IN THE PARISH OF ST. PETER IN THE EAST, OXFORD, BY THEIR FORMER PASTOR, WALTER KERR HAMILTON. OXFORD, WILLIAM GRAHAM, J. H. PARKER; AND RIVINGTONS, LONDON. 1842. 420. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH IN THE PARISH OF ST. PETER IN THE EAST, OXFORD. MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN, As every Family within the Catholic Church is in a certain sense a Church of itself, it is natural that its members should seek to express their unity, as in other ways, so especially in the sacrifice of common prayer and praise. And further, as this blessed relation of the members of each Family to one another is a type or emblem of the higher relation existing between them as members of the CHURCH; So the devotions of the Family should sympathise with the Services of the Temple, and the forms into which their common prayers and praises are cast, should be such as are fitting, as it were, for the outer courts of the Sanctuary, and suited to hearts and minds which have learned to realize the calm and peaceful spirit which pervades the whole language of the Church. Such a form-one, namely, in harmony with the structure of the Book of Common Prayer-it has been my earnest wish to leave with you; and as a very considerable part of it is taken from ancient sources, I am hopeful I have not failed in attaining my object. I have preferred such a compilation to selections from the Book of Common Prayer; because such selections, as it appears to me, have a tendency both to confirm the neglect of the daily Services of the CHURCH; and also by disturbing long-cherished associations, to loosen the affections of its members from the Prayer Book itself. I will only add, that my bodily absence from you has strengthened my desire of realizing more truly our oneness with one another; and has made me wish the more earnestly, that, as many of us daily meet in God's House, so in our own houses we may each morning and evening be present with |