For particular Hours of the Night, and
of the Day.
O THOU, who inspirest thy saints
with songs in the night; and givest whole-
some sleep to thy beloved; whose name
I will think of in the night season, and
will keep thy law; let thy protection and
mercy be upon me, and let the prayers
and thanksgivings come up to thee,
which my soul poureth out when it
fleeth unto the Lord before the morning
watch.
O thou, who for us men, and for our
salvation, didst vouchsafe to be born,
while shepherds were watching their
flocks by night; grant me to be born a-
gain, by the daily renewing of the Holy
Ghost, till Christ be formed in me unto
a perfect man; and save me.
About Sun-Rising.
O THOU, who, very early in the morn-
ing, about the rising of the sun, wast
pleased to leave thy empty tomb, and re-
turn again from the dead; raise me, I
pray thee, to walk in newness of Life,
by such daily exercises of repentance
and virtue, as may keep me dead indeed
unto sin, but alive unto God, through
thee, and save me.
Nine in the Morning.
O THOU, who at the third hour of the
day, didst pour out from heaven upon
thy apostles the miraculous gifts of the
Holy Ghost, take not away from us the
comforts of that Spirit, but fill our hearts
with the riches of his grace, and save
us.
O thou, who, about this hour, didst,
with invincible meekness and patience,
stand before Pilate’s bar, and suffer a
robber and murderer to be released be-
fore thee; grant us, in all our sufferings
for the testimony of thy truth, and of a
good conscience, to consider and imitate
thee, who didst endure such contradic-
tion of sinners against thyself, and save
us.
Twelve at Noon.
O THOU who at the sixth hour of
the sixth day of the week, didst nail the
sins of the world with thy body to the
cross, blot out the hand-writing of our
sins, which is against us, and take it out
of the way, and save us.
O thou, who at the same hour of the
day, didst let down a great sheet from
heaven, filled with all sorts of living crea-
tures, figuring thereby to Peter thy uni-
versal church; grant, that we sinners of
the Gentiles, who have been received in-
to that mystical sheet, may with it at
length be taken up into heaven, and
save us.
One at Noon.
O THOU, who at the seventh hour,
didst command the fever to leave the
nobleman’s son, allay all the distemper-
ed heats of our appetites and passions,
and heal every sickness of our spuls,
and save us.
Three after Noon.
O THOU, who didst vouchsafe, about
the ninth hour of the day, to taste death
for the sins of every man, mortify in us
our members which are upon the earth,
even all things contrary to thy holy will,
that we also may be crucified unto the
world, and save us.
O thou, who, at this solemn time of
prayer, didst magnify the power of thine
apostles, by the cure of the impotent
man at the gate of the temple; who
didst also, at this hour, manifest thyself
to Cornelius praying in his own house:
Hear us, O Lord, in this and every hour,
whether of public or of private prayer,
and grant the desires and petitions of thy
servants, as thou knowest to be most ex-
pedient for us, and save us.
Four after Noon.
O THOU, who about the tenth hour of
the day, didst fill thy apostle Andrew
with joy, for having found the Messias:
Discover thyself to us who seek thee;
fill us with the same holy joy for finding
thee; and admit us to come and abide
with thee, the whole remainder of this
day, and of our life, and save us.
Five after Noon.
O THOU, who didst not disdain, even
at the eleventh hour, to send labourers
into thy vineyard, and agree with them
for their hire, after they had stood all the
day idle: Be likewise gracious unto all
that turn to thee, though they come late,
though at the eleventh hour of life; and
give us all grace, to make up the time
which we have already misspent or lost,
and save us.
Six after Noon.
O THOU, who at the hour of eating
the Passover, didst institute the sacra-
ment of thy Supper, a holy and perpetu-
al memorial of thy precious body and
blood: Make us thankful and diligent
partakers of the same; that we may eat
and drink thereof, never to condemna-
tion, but always to the obtaining remis-
sion of our sins, and all other benefits of
thy passion, and save us.
O thou, who also wast, about this
hour, taken down from the cross, and
laid into the sepulchre, kill in us, we be-
seech thee, the body of sin, and bury in
thy grave, all our corrupt affections, hid-
ing and covering up our evil, with thy
good works, and save us.
From Six to Nine in the Evening.
O THOU, who when supper was end-
ed, and night drew on, didst permit thy
own disciple to betray thee to thy ene-
mies, and was content to be apprehend-
ed by them: Enable us to imitate, un-
der all injuries and oppressions, that
meekness, which admitted the traitor’s
kiss, and surrendered thy person to those,
whom thy word struck down to the
ground, and save us.
O thou, who didst visit thy apostles as-
sembled in the evening, when the doors
were shut; and, by breathing on them,
didst impart the Holy Ghost, and a pow-
er of remitting and retaining sins: Grant
us the benefit and comfort of that pow-
er, to be used for the loosing and remit-
ting, never for the binding and retaining
of our offences, and save us.
Midnight.
O THOU; who didst,at midnight, raise
the prophet David, and Paul, and Silas,
to sing praises to thee, because of thy
righteous judgments: Make us to think
upon thee with gladness in our beds,
whose presence makes our darkness to
be light, and save us.
O thou, Who hast compared thy se-
cond coming to that of a bridegroom at
midnight; let this cry, “Behold the
bridegroom cometh,” be constantly
sounded in our ears; and grant, that we
may always be in readiness, with oil in
our lamps, to go out and meet him, and
save us.
Between Midnight and Morning.
O thou; who by the crowing of the
cock, didst call back thy fallen apostle
to a sense of his sin and infirmity: Grant
us, like him, to take warning, by the
same signal, to retire into ourselves, and
weep bitterly for our offences, & then do
thou accept our repentance, and save us.
O thou, who hast foretold, that thou
wilt return to judgment, in an hour that
we are not aware of: Grant us grace to
watch and pray always, that whether
thou shalt come at even, or at midnight,
or at the cock-crowing, or in the morn-
ing, thou mayest find us in the number
of those servants, who shall be blessed,
for watching for their Lord, and save us.
Towards Break of Day.
O THOU, who formest the light, and
bringest back the morning, causing thy
sun to rise on the evil and on the good:
Scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
by the knowledge of thy truth; that in
thy light we may see light; and lift up
the light of thy countenance upon us,
the light of grace here, and the light of
glory hereafter.
FINIS.