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Grant us, we beseech thee, a spirit like those holy men of old, that, like them, we may obey thy call, may lay before thee whatsoever we have, may offer thee the incense of our hearts in prayer, and receive with patience all the troubles of this life. And accept thou this our offering, and confirm us by thy grace, that we may abide faithful to thee all our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Septuagesima, or the Season before Lent. KNOW ye not, that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? 1 Cor. ix. So run that ye may obtain. Ib.

SEXAGESIMA.

Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things; now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. Ib.

QUINQUAGESIMA.

Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Cor. xiii.

For this season many of the Prayers for Fast-Days, Vigils, Ember-Days, and Rogation-Days are applicable, with slight alteration; this season not being one of actual fasting, but intended as a gradual preparation for the fast of Lent.

LENT.

The week following the first Sunday in Lent is an
Ember week.

TURN ye even to me, saith the Lord, with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. Joel ii.

Rend your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Ib.

Be ye sober, and watch unto prayer-and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves.

1 Pet. iv.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near. Is. lv.

When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. S. Matth. vi.

It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.-It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.-It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. S. Matth. iv.

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy bur

dens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Is. lviii.

Give alms of thy goods, and never turn thy face from any poor man; and then the face of the Lord shall not be turned away from thee. Tob. iv.

Be merciful after thy power. If thou hast much, give plenteously if thou hast little, do thy diligence gladly to give of that little for so gatherest thou thyself a good reward in the day of necessity. Tob. iv.

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord and look, what he layeth out, it shall be paid him again. Prov. xix.

Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick and needy: the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble. Psal. xli.

THE LENT INVOCATION.

O thou who for our sakes didst fast forty days and forty nights.

Glory be to thee, O Lord.

The Penitential Psalms may be read through during each week in Lent as follows: Monday, Ps. 6; Tuesday, Ps. 32; Wednesday, Ps. 38; Thursday, Ps. 102; Friday, Ps. 130; Saturday, Ps. 143. Ps. 51 may be used instead of the confession both on Wednesday and Friday. See page 198, as to the daily use of the Penitential Psalms.

For this Season, as well as in Holy Week, the Prayers for Fast-Days, Vigils, Ember-Days, and Rogation-Days, are in part applicable.

Palm-Sunday.

BEHOLD thy king cometh unto thee; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

ass,

Zech. ix.

This is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us. Is. XXV.

APPROPRIATE PSALMS.

8, 145.

THE INVOCATION.

To thee the King of Glory; the Just one, our Saviour.

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest.

THE PRAYER.

(Dean Hickes.)

GOD, who this day revivest to us the remembrance of our Saviour's triumph, ushering in his Passion; teach us, we beseech thee, the fickleness of this world's glories, mortify in us our esteem of all its applauses, and bring our hearts cheerfully to expect a cross after them as the highest way to our eternal glory with thee, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, henceforth and for evermore. Amen.

C C

LET

PASSION-TIDE.

ET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phil. ii.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Is. lxiii.

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Is. 1.

He was wounded for our transgressions-He was bruised for our iniquities-with His stripes we are healed. Is. liii.

Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb. ix.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Ib.

THE INVOCATION.

O Thou who for us sinners didst humble thyself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

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