earnestly to be desired that they were really 'familiar in our mouths as household words.' For use in families they would of course be shortened. This may be done in the following ways. (a) Begin with the Lord's Prayer, (except in the Evening, when the Confession may be said;) omit the Canticles and the first Lesson; after the Third Collect say, in the Morning, only the Prayers For the Clergy and People,' and For all Conditions,' and in the Evening, only the General Thanksgiving;' concluding with The grace of our Lord,' &c. This will not take more than a quarter of an hour. 6 (b) The Daily Services may be still further shortened by saying the Creed only once, either Morning or Evening, and concluding after the Third Collect. (c) On Wednesdays and Fridays, after the Psalms and Lessons, the Litany might be said instead of the Daily Prayers. II. On Sundays, and whensoever attendance at the public Service is possible, it is undesirable to have at home a form of Prayer involving repetition in the case of those members of the Household who may be able to go to Church. We may then adopt either of the two latter of the following forms of Daily Prayer for a Household, of which the first is abridged from the Offices prescribed in the ancient English Use of Salisbury for use at morning and night, and the second from those given in the American Book of Common Prayer. The Hymns, with the one exception of that for Whitsuntide, are taken, with the kind permission of the Editors, from "Hymns Ancient and Modern." They should, if possible, be sung; as they easily may be with the help of the edition of that excellent Hymnal which gives the simple melody for each Hymn in the Treble Part. Otherwise they may be recited in alternate verses by the Reader and those assembled. HYMNS FOR THE MORNING. On Sundays. On this day, the first of days, On this day th' Eternal SON Oh! that fervent love to-day FATHER, Who didst fashion me Fill me with Thy love divine, HOLY JESUS, may I be Dead and buried here with Thee; Unto Thee a sacrifice. Thou Who dost all gifts impart, GOD, the Blessed THREE in ONE, ¶ Or this. AGAIN the LORD's own day is here, For by His flock their LORD declared We, one and all, of Him possest, Eternal glory, rest on high, True peace and gladness, and a throne, And therefore unto Thee we sing, On Saints' Days. How bright those glorious spirits shine! How came they to the blissful seats Lo, these are they from sufferings great And in the Blood of CHRIST have washed Now with triumphal palms they stand Hunger and thirst are felt no more, GOD is their Sun, Whose cheering beams The LAMB, Who reigns upon the throne, Shall o'er them still preside, Feed them with nourishment divine, And all their footsteps guide. 'Mid pastures green He'll lead His flock, Where living streams appear; And GOD the LORD from every eye Shall wipe off every tear. TO FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST, The GOD Whom we adore, Be glory, as it was, is now, And shall be evermore. Amen. On Fridays. Now, my soul, thy voice upraising, Grief, and wounds, and dying pain, Scourged with unrelenting fury See! His Hands and Feet are fastened, Through His Heart the spear is piercing, Water from our guilt to cleanse us, JESU, may those precious Fountains So a ransomed world shall ever Praise Thee, its Redeeming LORD, Amen. |