faith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he faith, Who maketh his angels fpirits, and his minifters 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 righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed 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 fhall 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 shall not fail.

The Gofpel. St John i. 1.

IN

'N the beginning was the Word, 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 men. And the light fhineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man fent from God, whofe name was John. The fame came for a witnefs, to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was fent to bear witnefs 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.

GR

RANT, O Lord, that in all our fufferings here upon earth for the teftimony of thy truth, we may ftedfaftly look up to Heaven, and by faith behold the glory that fhall be revealed; and being filled with the Holy Ghost, 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 ftandeft at the right hand of God, to fuccour all thofe that fuffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

Then fall follow the Collect of the Nativity, which shall be faid continually unto New-year's Eve.

For the Epiftle. Acts vii. 55.

Sept

Tephen being full of the Holy Ghoft, looked up stedfaftly into heaven, and faw the glory of God, and Jefus standing on the right hand of God, and faid, Behold, I fee the heavens opened, and the Son of man ftanding on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him and the witneffes laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. And they ftoned Stephen, calling upon

PARAPHRASE.

On the COLLECT for Saint Stephen's Day.

O Lord, we humbly pray thee that, in all our fufferings in this prefent world, (Rom. viii. 18.) in fupport of the teftimony of the gospel, we may, after the example of St Stephen, ftedfaftly look up to heaven, and by the ftrength of our faith, obtain a profpect of the glory which shall be revealed hereafter in us; (Rom. viii. 18.) and being filled with the Holy Ghoft, (As vii. 55.) in like manner as that bleffed faint, who was first honoured with a crown of martyrdom, may learn to bless them who perfecute us, (Rom. xii. 14. Matt. v. 44.) encouraged thereto by the example of this noble martyr, who prayed for his murderers, that thou, O bleffed Jefus, wouldft not lay their fin to their charge, (As vii. zo.) who standeft at the right hand of God, as St Stephen was then fupported by beholding thee; grant unto us all spiritual ftrength and fuccour, when we fuffer for thee our only mediator and advocate. Amen.

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 afleep.

The Gospel. St Matt. xxiii. 34.

Ehold, I fend unto you prophets, and wife men, and

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 killeft the prophets, and toneft 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 house is left unto you defolate. For I fay unto you, Ye fhall not fee me henceforth, till ye fhail 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 enlightenert by the doctrine of thy bleffed Apoftle and Evangeliit Saing John, may fo walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life, through Jelus Christ our Lord. Amen.

PARAPHRASE.

On the COLLECT for St John the Evangelift's Day.

Merciful Father, we entreat thee to enlighten the hearts of all chriftians, by that evangelical truth, revealed to us in the facred books of the New Teftament; particularly by thofe myfteries fet forth unto us in, the golpel of St John, that they may walk honeftly as in the day; (Rom xiii. 13.) not erring in the darkness of heathenifh fuperftition, but as children

The Epiftle: 1 St John i. 1.

THE

HAT which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have feen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life (for the life was manifefted, and we have seen it, and bear witnefs, and fhew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifefted unto us) that which we have feen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye alfo may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowhip 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 fay that we have fellowfhip with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowThip one with another, and the blood of Jefus Chrift his Son cleanf th 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 juft to forgive us our fins,' and to cleanse us from all unrighteoufnefs. If we fay that we have not finned, we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us.

The Gospel. St John xxi. 19.

ESUS faid unto Peter, Follow me. Then Peter turning about, feeth the difciple 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 difçiple fhould not die yet Jefus faid not unto him, He fhall not die; but,

PARAPHRASE.

of light, (Eph. v. 8.) who know the truth, (John viii. 32.) and after they have led a life conformable to the holy doctrines therein delivered, they may have the light of everlasting life; (John viii. 12.) and this we beg for the fake of Jefus Chrift. Amen.

O Thos

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 the fe things, and we know that his teftimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jefus did, the which, if they fhould be written every one, I fuppofe, that even the world itfelf could not contain the books that fhould be written.

The Innocents Day.
The Collect.

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 glorify thy holy Name, through Jefus Christ 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

PARA PHRASE.

On the COLLECT for Innocents Day.

O thou omnipotent Being, who out of the mouths of babes and fucklings, haft ordained ftrength, (Pfal. viii. 2.) and madeft the infants of Bethlehem, who were maffacred by Herod, to glorify thee by the martyrdom which they fuffered upon account of Chrift, we beseech thee fo to aid us by the affiftance of thy fpirit, that, by mortifying our members which are upon earth, fornication, uncleanness, &c. (Col. iii. 5.) thefe and all other vices may be as perfectly killed in us, as the children were by the Affaffins, and that by leading holy lives, and conftantly holding fat the faith, we my glorify thy holy Name; and this we beg for the fake of Jefus Chrift our Lord. Ámen.

O AL