felf? He faid, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as faid the prophet Efaias. And they which were fent were of the Pharifees. And they afked him, and faid unto him, Why baptizeft thou then, if thou be not that Chrift, nor Elias, neither that Prophet? John anfwered them, faying, I baptize with water: but there ftandeth one among you, whom ye know not: He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's İatchet I am not worthy to unloofe. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birth-day of CHRIST, commonly called Christmas-day.

The Collect.

in divers manners fpake in time paft unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days fpoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom alfo he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our fins, fat down on the right hand of the Majefty on high; being made fo much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels faid he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Fa

ther, and he fhall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world,

given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the fame our Lord Jefus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the fame Spirit,

God worship him. And of the angels he faith, Who maketh his angels fpirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he faith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a fceptre of righteoufnefs is the fceptre of thy kingdom: Thou haft loved righteoufnefs, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed

B

thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning haft laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they fhall perish, but thou remaineft; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vefture fhalt thou fold them up, and they fhall be changed; but thou art the fame, and thy years fhall not fail.

The Gospel. St. John i. 1.

IN the beginning was the Word,

men.

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The fame was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of And the light fhineth in darknefs, and the darknefs comprehended it not. not. There was a man fent from God, whofe name was John. The fame came for a witnefs, to bear witnefs of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was fent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light, which lighteth every man

that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become

the fons of God, even to them that believe on his Name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.

Saint Stephen's Day.

The Collect.

GRANT, O Lord, that, in all

our fufferings here upon for the teftimony of thy truth, we may stedfaftly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the holy Ghoft, may learn to love and bless our perfecutors by the example of thy firft Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O bleffed Jefus, who standeft at the right hand of God to fuccour all thofe that fuffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and caft him out of the city, and ftoned him: and the witneffes laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whofe name was Saul. And they

ftoned Stephen, calling upon God, and faying, Lord Jefus, receive my fpirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this fin to their charge. And when he had faid this, he fell asleep.

ye

The Gospel. St. Matth. xxiii. 34. BEHOLD, EHOLD, I fend unto you prophets, and wife men, and fcribes; and fome of them fhall kill and crucify; and fome of them fhall ye fcourge in your fynagogues, and perfecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood fhed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, fon of Barachias, whom ye flew between the temple and the altar. Verily I fay unto you, All these things fhall come upon this generation. O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are fent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your houfe is left unto you defolate. For I fay unto

you, Ye fhall not fee me henceforth, till ye fhall fay, Bleffed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.

Saint John the Evangelift's Day. The Collect.

ERCIFUL Lord, we beseech thee to caft thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine of thy bleffed Apostle and Evangelift Saint John may fo walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epiftle. 1 St. John i. 1. THAT which was from the be

ginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and ou our hands have handled of the word of life; (for the life was manifefted, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and fhew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifefted unto us ;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye alfo may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chrift. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the meffage which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, That God is

light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darknefs, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jefus Chrift his Son cleanfeth us from all fin. If we fay that we have no fin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confefs our fins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our fins, and to cleanfe us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not finned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The Gospel. St. John xxi. 19. JESUS faid unto Peter, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, feeth the disciple whom Jefus loved following; which alfo leaned on his breaft at fupper, and faid, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter feeing him faith to Jefus, Lord, and what fhall this man do? Jefus faith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this faying abroad among the brethren, That that difciple should not die: yet Jefus faid not unto him, He fhall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the difciple which teftifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know that his teftimony is

true.

And there are alfo many other things which Jefus did, the which if they fhould be written every one, I suppose, that even the world itfelf could not contain the books that should be written.

The Innocents' Day.

The Collect. Almighty God, who out of the mouths of babes and fucklings haft ordained ftrength, and madeft infants to glorify thee by their deaths; Mortify and kill all vices in us, and fo ftrengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and conftancy of our faith even unto death, we may glo

rify thy holy Name; through Je

fus Chrift our Lord. Amen. For the Epifle. Rev. xiv. 1.

Looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's Name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they fung as it were a new fong before the throne, and before the four beafts, and the elders; and no man could learn that fong, but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not

defiled with women, for they are virgins : these are they which follow the Lamb whitherfoever he goeth: these were redeemed from among men, being the firft-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb. And in

their mouth was found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne of God.

The Gospel. St. Matth. ii. 13. THE Angel of the Lord appeareth to Jofeph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child, and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will feek the young child to deftroy him. When he arofe, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, faying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wife men, was exceeding wroth; and fent forth, and flew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coafts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wife men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, faying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Ra

pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the fame our Lord Jefus Chrift, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the fame Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Now I fay, that

Even fo

The Epiftle. Gal. iv. 1. the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a fervant, though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and governours, until the time appointed of the father. we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: but when the fulness of the time was come, God fent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of fons. And because ye are fons, God hath fent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou