Christmas is a festival celebrated on the 25th of December, in commemoration of the birth of Christ.

The Circumcision of Christ is a feast celebrated on the first of January, in commemoration of Christ's incorporation into the Jewish church, by the bloody rite of circumcision.

Epiphany is a feast celebrated the twelfth day after Christmas, or our Saviour's nativity, wherein he was manifested to the Gentiles, by the appearance of a miraculous blazing star conducting the wise men to the place of his abode.

Septuagesima is the third Sunday before Lent; so called because it was about seventy days before Easter.

Sexagesima is the second Sunday before Lent; so called from its being about the sixtieth day before Easter.

Quinquagesima is the next Sunday before Lent; so called from its being about the fiftieth day before Easter.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent; so called from a custom of the ancient church of fasting in sackcloth, with ashes upon their heads, in token of humiliation.

Lent is a time of fasting and abstinence for forty days before Easter, in memory of our Saviour's miraculous fasting for forty days and forty nights, in the wilderness.

The four Ember Weeks are fasts, like those of the Jews at the four seasons, Zech. viii. 19. These seasons are appointed for the ordination of priests and deacons, Acts xiii. 3. The first begins upon Wednesday next after Ash-Wednesday; the second upon Wednesday next after Whit-Sunday; the third upon Wednesday next after September 14. The last Ember week begins upon Wednesday next after December 13. The days of the week are Wednesday, on which Christ was betrayed by Judas; Friday, on which he was crucified; and Saturday, on which he lay in the grave. Good Friday is the day of our Saviour's suffering on the cross, when he was crucified between two thieves, for us men, and for our salvation.

Easter is a solemn festival appointed in commemoration of Christ's resurrection from the dead, the third day after his crucifixion.

Ascension Day is a festival of the Church in commemoration of the ascension of our Saviour, when he ascended up to heaven in the sight of his apostles, forty days after his resurrection.

Whit-Sunday, is a solemn festival instituted to comme

morate the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles, in the shape of fiery tongues. It was called Whit-Sunday, from the admission of the catechumens, clothed in white robes, to the sacrament of baptism, on the eve of this festival. It answers to the Pentecost of the Jews.

Trinity-Sunday, is the first sabbath after Whit-Sunday, sacred to the ever blessed Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

PRAYERS.

A PRAYER FOR À FAMILY.

To be used either Morning or Evening, with such variation as may easily be understood by any who are able to read it.

Adoration.] MOST great, eternal, and ever-blessed GOD! we thine unworthy creatures desire at this time with all humility to bow ourselves down in thine awful and majestic presence, acknowledging thine infinite perfections. and glories. [We adore thee, as the first and the last, the greatest and the best of beings; who art originally and necessarily possessed of knowledge and power, wisdom and righteousness, holiness and truth, mercy and goodness, in decrees which no other being can conceive!]-We pay thee our homage as the author and supporter of universal nature, the Lord and life of the creation. We acknowledge ourselves thy creatures, whose bodies and souls have been formed by thine hand, and continually maintained and defended by thy care and favour.

Confession. Most justly mightest thou therefore, O our heavenly Father, have expected from us the most constant gratitude, duty, and obedience: but we humbly confess before thee (and we desire to do it with the deepest humiliation and shame, remorse and sorrow) that we have been very much wanting in those returns; yea, that we have all most grievously offended thee.-[We confess, O thou Holy, Holy, Holy, LORD GOD, that we are polluted and guilty creatures, and so most unworthy and unfit to appear in thy presence.]-We acknowledge, O LORD, that we are shapen in iniquity, and in sin did our mothers conceive us; and that we have, from our very childhood, been renewing our provocations and transgressions in our thoughts, our words,

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and actions; and all these attended with circumstances of high aggravation.-[We own and lament, O thou most gracious Sovereign, that we have in numberless instances, negligently, yea, and presumptuously, broken those wise and holy laws, which thou gavest us for our good; and that by the breach of them we have deserved thy righteous displeasure:]-So that we might have been made examples of justice, and spectacles of misery, to all thy rational creation.-[We might long since have been cut off from this pleasant abode which thy goodness has assigned us, and been sent down to everlasting darkness, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.]

Petition for Pardon and Grace in Christ.]-But we humbly implore thy pardon and mercy in CHRIST JESUS our LORD, thine only begotten and well-beloved Son; who hath by thine appointment, O compassionate Father, visited this. world of ours, not only to give it the most excellent instructions, confirmed by the most astonishing miracles, and recommended by the most amiable example; but also to redeem us to God by His blood, and to offer up His own life a sacrifice for us. He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification: and as He is now ascended into heaven, there to make a prevailing intercession for all that come unto God through Him, we presume to approach thy sacred presence with all becoming regards to Him, humbly pleading that atoning blood which he shed on the cross, and that all-perfect merit and righteousness of his, by which alone sinners may draw near unto thee with acceptance. And we entreat thee for his sake, and in regard to our relation to him, fully and freely to forgive us all our numberless transgressions, and to be graciously reconciled to us; yea, to take us, unworthy as we are, into the number of thy dear children. For his sake we also humbly entreat thee, to free us froin the power of sin, as well as from its guilt. Shed down, O thou Gop of all grace, thine Holy Spirit upon our hearts in a rich abundance, to inspire us with a hatred of every thing that is displeasing to thee, and to form us to a love of universal goodness, and a desire of making continual improvements in it!

[Fill us, O LORD, we humbly beseech thee, with a fervent love to thy blessed self. In all things may we be obedient to thine holy precepts, and submissive to thy wise and gracious disposal! May we be united to Christ by a sincere faith, which shall work by love, and shew itself in keeping his commandments, as well as trusting his atone

ment, intercession, and grace! May we be always led by the Holy Spirit of God, and cherish his influence on our hearts as the Spirit of holiness and of love! To our brethren of mankind may we be strictly just, and affectionately kind, doing to others as we could reasonably desire they should do to us, and rejoicing in every opportunity of advancing their temporal or spiritual happiness!]

While we continue here in this uncertain world, give us, if it be thy blessed will, food to eat, and raiment to put on, health of body, and cheerfulness of mind, and whatever other enjoyments thou seest necessary to make our journey through life comfortable! But let us not have our portion on earth! May our hearts be more and more indifferent to it, and our views continually raised above it! [May we learn to govern with strict authority our appetites and passions, and to deny ourselves wherever the precepts of thy Gospel require it! On the whole, may every part of our conduct, in every relation and circumstance of life, adorn religion; and may the lustre of our good works engage many around us to glorify our Father in heaven!]-May we continually remember the shortness of time, and the importance of eternity; and behave in such a manner, that should we be summoned away ever so suddenly, death may not be a terrible, but a joyful surprise! Support us, O Lord, in our dying behaviour! Receive our departing spirits to the embraces of thy mercy, and give us a triumphant part in the resurrection of the just!

Intercession.]—We pray for the advancement of thy Gospel in the world, and for the conversion of Jews and Gentiles to the faith as it is in Jesus. We pray, O Lord, for the progress and improvement of the Reformation, abroad and at home. We affectionately recommend to thee our rightful Sovereign King George, and all the branches of his family; entreating thee to continue to us by their means the invaluable blessing of the Protestant succession. We entreat thee by thy grace to animate all who are distinguished by power, riches, or other advantages, that they may improve all their talents for the public good: and we earnestly pray, that the ministers of thy Gospel, of every denomination, may with united affection, ardent zeal, and eminent success, be carrying on the work of the Lord!

May it please thee, O thou God of mercy, to spread among Christians of every profession, a spirit of forbearance, candour, and love; and to visit all that are in any kind of affliction, whether personal or relative, of mind, body, or

estate! Graciously support them under their sorrows, and in thine own time send them deliverance!

We beseech thee to bless us as a family; whether we preside over it, or belong to it, as children, sojourners, or servants, may we all be found in a faithful discharge of our duty to thee, and to each other! May our united and retired devotions be so performed, as to have the happiest in-fluence on our temper and our conduct!

Thanksgiving.]-And now, O most gracious and merciful Father, we desire with all our hearts to bless and adore thine holy name, for all thy great and unmerited goodness to us, and to the whole human race. We praise thee for our creation and preservation, for health and ease, for food and raiment, for liberty and safety, for friends and success; and above all, for our redemption, for the inestimable privilege of approaching to thee through a Mediator, and for the rich and full provision thou hast made in him for the forgiveness of our daily sins, for our receiving all the supplies of grace we stand in need of here, and our enjoying everlasting happiness hereafter. And under a sense of thy mercies, we desire to devote ourselves to thee as the Lord our God, and renew our covenant with thee through our Lord Jesus Christ; humbly resolving by the assistance of thy Spirit and grace to serve thee with all good fidelity unto the end of our lives.

We particularly bless thee for the mercies of the day [or night] past, and we humbly commit ourselves to thy gracious protection and favour this night [or day,] entreating thee to guard us from all evil, and to grant that at our next assembling together we may have reason to unite our praises for the continuance of thy goodness: and may we be perpetually advancing in our preparation for that heavenly world, where we hope to worship thee without any of those imperfections which now attend us; which we ask and hope, through the merits of thy Son Christ Jesus, in whom we have righteousness and strength, and in whose name and words we conclude our addresses, calling on thee as Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come: thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen!

N. B. What appears within Crotchets [thus] may be omitted, or retained, as the Reader thinks proper.