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THREE PRAYERS USED BY THE DEAN FOR STELLA IN HER LAST SICKNESS, 1727
I.
Almighty and most gracious Lord God, extend, we beseech Thee, Thy
pity and compassion toward this Thy languishing servant; teach her
to place her hope and confidence entirely in Thee; give her a true
sense of the emptiness and vanity of all earthly things; make her
truly sensible of all the infirmities of her life past, and grant to
her such a true sincere repentance as is not to be repented of.
Preserve her, O Lord, in a sound mind and understanding during this
Thy visitation; keep her from both the sad extremes of presumption
and despair. If Thou shalt please to restore her to her former
health, give her grace to be ever mindful of that mercy, and to keep
those good resolutions she now makes in her sickness, so that no
length of time nor prosperity may entice her to forget them. Let no
thought of her misfortunes distract her mind, and prevent the means
toward her recovery, or disturb her in her preparations for a better
life. We beseech thee also, O Lord, of Thy infinite goodness, to
remember the good actions of this Thy servant; that the naked she
hath clothed, the hungry she hath fed, the sick and the fatherless
whom she hath relieved, may be reckoned according to Thy gracious
promise, as if they had been done unto Thee. Hearken, O Lord, to
the prayers offered up by the friends of this Thy servant in her
behalf, and especially those now made by us unto thee. Give Thy
blessing to those endeavours used for her recovery; but take from
her all violent desire either of life or death, further than with
resignation to Thy holy will. And now, O Lord, we implore Thy
gracious favour toward us here met together. Grant that the sense
of this Thy servant's weakness may add strength to our faith; that
we, considering the infirmities of our nature and the uncertainty of
life, may by this example be drawn to repentance before it shall
please Thee to visit us in like manner. Accept these prayers, we
beseech Thee, for the sake of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who, with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, ever one
God, world without end. Amen.
II. Written October 17, 1727
Most merciful Father, accept our humblest prayers in behalf of this
Thy languishing servant; forgive the sins, the frailties, and
infirmities of her life past. Accept the good deeds she hath done
in such a manner that, at whatever time Thou shalt please to call
her, she may be received into everlasting habitations. Give her
grace to continue sincerely thankful to Thee for the many favours
Thou hast bestowed upon her, the ability and inclination and
practice to do good, and those virtues which have procured the
esteem and love of her friends and a most unspotted name in the
world. O God, Thou dispensest Thy blessings and Thy punishments as
it becometh infinite justice and mercy; and since it was Thy
pleasure to afflict her with a long, constant, weakly state of
health, make her truly sensible that it was for very wise ends, and
was largely made up to her in other blessings more valuable and less
common. Continue to her, O Lord, that firmness and constancy of
mind wherewith Thou hast most graciously endowed her, together with
that contempt of worldly things and vanities that she has shown in
the whole conduct of her life. O All-powerful Being, the least
motion of whose will can create or destroy a world, pity us, the
mournful friends of Thy distressed servant, who sink under the
weight of her present condition, and the fear of losing the most
valuable of our friends. Restore her to us, O Lord, if it be Thy
gracious will, or inspire us with constancy and resignation to
support ourselves under so heavy an affliction. Restore her, O
Lord, for the sake of those poor who, by losing her, will be
desolate, and those sick who will not only want her bounty, but her
care and tending; or else, in Thy mercy, raise up some other in her
place with equal disposition and better abilities. Lessen, O Lord,
we beseech Thee, her bodily pains, or give her a double strength of
mind to support them. And if Thou wilt soon take her to Thyself,
turn our thoughts rather upon that felicity which we hope she shall
enjoy, than upon that unspeakable loss we shall endure. Let her
memory be ever dear unto us, and the example of her many virtues, as
far as human infirmity will admit, our constant imitation. Accept,
O Lord, these prayers, poured from the very bottom of our hearts, in
Thy mercy, and for the merits of our blessed Saviour. Amen.
III. Written November 6, 1727
O merciful Father, who never afflictest Thy children but for their
own good, and with justice, over which Thy mercy always prevaileth,
either to turn them to repentance, or to punish them in the present
life in order to reward them in a better; take pity, we beseech
Thee, upon this Thy poor afflicted servant, languishing so long and
so grievously under the weight of Thy hand. Give her strength, O
Lord, to support her weakness, and patience to endure her pains
without repining at Thy correction. Forgive every rash and
inconsiderate expression which her anguish may at any time force
from her tongue, while her heart continueth in an entire submission
to Thy will. Suppress in her, O Lord, all eager desires of life,
and lessen her fears of death by inspiring into her an humble yet
assured hope of Thy mercy. Give her a sincere repentance for all
her transgressions and omissions, and a firm resolution to pass the
remainder of her life in endeavouring to her utmost to observe all
Thy precepts. We beseech Thee likewise to compose her thoughts, and
preserve to her the use of her memory and reason during the course
of her sickness. Give her a true conception of the vanity, folly,
and insignificance of all human things, and strengthen her so as to
beget in her a sincere love of Thee in the midst of her sufferings.
Accept and impute all her good deeds, and forgive her all those
offences against Thee which she hath sincerely repented of or
through the frailty of memory hath forgot. And now, O Lord, we turn
to Thee in behalf of ourselves and the rest of her sorrowful
friends. Let not our grief afflict her mind, and thereby have an
ill effect on her present distemper. Forgive the sorrow and
weakness of those among us who sink under the grief and terror of
losing so dear and useful a friend. Accept and pardon our most
earnest prayers and wishes for her longer continuance in this evil
world, to do what Thou art pleased to call Thy service, and is only
her bounden duty, that she may be still a comfort to us and to all
others who will want the benefit of her conversation, her advice,
her good offices, or her charity. And since Thou hast promised that
where two or three are gathered together in Thy name Thou wilt be in
the midst of them to grant their request, O gracious Lord, grant to
us who are here met in Thy name that those requests, which in the
utmost sincerity and earnestness of our hearts we have now made in
behalf of this Thy distressed servant and of ourselves, may
effectually be answered, through the merits of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Content of Prayers used by the Dean for Stella
-THE END-
Jonathan Swift's book: Three Sermons, Three Prayer
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