[If the Holy Table be a Memorial, the following prayer may be added: Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity; We give Thee hearty thanks for our brother whom it hath pleased Thee to deliver out of the miseries of this sinful world; beseeching Thee that it may please Thee, of Thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of Thine elect, and to hasten Thy kingdom; that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of Thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] [If the Holy Table be the gift of a special Donor or Donors, the following may be said: Blessed be Thy Name, O Lord God, that it hath pleased Thee, by Thy good Spirit, to put into the hearts of Thy servants the desire to set up this Holy Table, to Thy honor and glory. Bless, O Lord, them, their families and substance, and accept the work of their hands; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.] O God, who through the ministry of Thy holy angel didst so marvellously refresh Elijah in the desert, that he went in the strength of that meat unto Horeb, the mount of God; Grant unto us whom Thou dost likewise refresh with the Body and Blood of Thy dear Son, that we may pass safely through the temptations and trials of this world, until we come to Thy holy hill and to Thy dwelling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Blessing. It is most desirable that there should be a Celebration of the Holy Communion. In this case the Lesson will be omitted, the Celebration following the Psalm or Hymn, the last prayers being said before the Blessing. The Collect. O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament hast left us a Memorial of Thy Passion; grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the sacred Mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within ourselves the fruit of Thy Holy Redemption; who livest and reignest, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, One God, world without end. Amen. The Epistle. 1 Cor. xi. 23-27. X. THE FORM FOR LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF When all have taken their appointed places, the Minister shall say: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. O Lord, who never failest to help and govern those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love; keep us, we beseech Thee, under the protection of Thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. V. Come, ye children, and hearken unto me: R. And I will teach you the fear of the Lord. V. What man is he that feareth the Lord: him shall He teach in the way that He shall choose. R. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. V. O ye that love the Lord: see that ye hate the thing which is evil. R. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost. R. Come, ye children, and hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Lord, have mercy upon us. Our Father. 1V. Behold I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: R. And he that believeth in Him shall not be confounded. V. The stone which the builders refused: R. Is become the headstone of the corner. V. This is the Lord's doing: R. And it is marvellous in our eyes. V. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid: R. Which is Jesus Christ. Then the Minister laying his hand upon the Stone shall say: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who art the brightness of the Father's Glory, and the express image of His Person, the one Foundation, and the chief cornerstone; Bless what we now do in [laying this Stone], in Thy name, and be Thou, we beseech Thee, the beginning, the increase, and the consummation of this our work, which is undertaken to the glory of Thy Name, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, livest and reignest one God, world without end. Amen. 1 The Versicles which follow may be omitted if it be the occasion of the Opening of a School Building, and for the words in brackets there will be substituted "dedicating this Building," "dedicate this Building." Then all things being made ready, the Stone shall be laid [or the Building shall be dedicated] by the person appointed thereto striking it three times with these words: In the Faith of Jesus Christ we [place this Foundation Stone], in the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then may be sung a Hymn, followed by Then shall the Minister say: V. Except the Lord build the house: Let us pray. O Holy Lord God, who art the giver of all wisdom, and dost will that children should be brought up in the fear and love of Thy Holy Name; Pour down, we beseech Thee, Thy mercy and Thy loving kindness upon this place, that all who shall be gathered together here may learn to love what Thou commandest, and to desire that which Thou dost promise, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. V. Them that are meek shall He guide in judgment: R. And such as are gentle, them shall He learn His way. O Lord Jesus Christ, who though Very God wast subject as man unto Thine earthly parents; Grant unto Thy children in this place to be gentle and teachable, that they may readily obey those set over them, and that as they grow in years, they may grow in grace and in Thy favor, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, reignest one God everlastingly. Amen. |