"Ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD. . . . And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish for a burnt offering... And the meat offering shall be fine flour mingled with oil, and the drink offering shall be wine."-Lev. xxiii. 9-14.

And when there is a Communion, the Priest shall then place upon the Table so much Bread and Wine, as he shall think sufficient.

9.

After which done, the Priest shall say,

Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church militant here in earth.

ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who by thy holy

Apostle hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks for all men; WE

HUMBLY BESEECH THEE MOST MERCI

Oblation

FULLY TO ACCEPT OUR ALMS AND OBLA- of the Elements and Alms.

TIONS, AND TO RECEIVE THESE OUR PRAYERS, WHICH WE OFFER UNTO THY DIVINE MAJESTY; Beseeching thee to inspire continually the universal CHURCH with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord: And grant, that all they that do confess thy Holy Name may

The Great Intercession.

1. For the Church.

agree in the truth of thy Holy Word, and live in unity, and godly love.

We beseech thee also to save and defend all CHRISTIAN KINGS, Princes, and Governours 2. For the Queen.

and specially thy Servant VICTORIA our Queen; that under her we may be godly and quietly governed.

And grant unto her whole COUNCIL, and to all that are put in authority under her, that they 3. For the Powers may truly and indifferently minister jus

that be.

all BISHOPS

tice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion, and virtue. Give grace, O heavenly Father, to AND CURATES, that they may both by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word, and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments.

4. For the

Ministry of the

Church.

D

ciples from this duty, but gives us special direction on the subject. (See S. Matt. vi. 1-5.) He chiefly bids us give without ostentation, and the Offertory bag gives us the opportunity of so doing.

¶ The Weekly Offertory is founded on S. Paul's direction to the Corinthians: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as GOD hath prospered him." S. Paul here gives two good rules for Almsgiving: (1) It should be regular, and (2) it should be in proportion to our means.

¶ In expending what we give to God, it may be well to follow the directions to the Jews, distributing it between :

1. The Tribe of Levi; i.e. for the support of the Clergy. 2. Religious necessities; i.e. for Church Expenses, Churchbuildings, etc., and Missionary Work at home and abroad.

3. The Poor; i.e. for support of sick and needy, and for educational and other charities.

¶ Almsgiving is a privilege. The Doctrine of Worship has been the great treasure which the Church of England has recovered during the past half-century. We have learned again the glorious truth that as the adopted Sons of GOD we may— and we must-offer to GOD the sacrifice of JESUS CHRIST, the gifts of our own prayers, and praises, and bodily reverence, of our whole life's service and our alms, with which sacrifices GOD is well pleased.

When you give your alms, say: "Blessed be Thou, O LORD GOD of Israel, our Father; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. All things come of Thee, and of Thine own do we give Thee."

9. The Oblation and Intercession.

You will have noticed that after the collection of the Alms, the Priest received and placed on the Altar "so much Bread and Wine as he thought sufficient."

And to all thy PEOPLE give thy heavenly grace; and especially to this congregation here pre5. For the People. sent; that, with meek heart and due

reverence, they may hear, and receive thy Holy Word; truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life.

and others.

And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour all 6. For the Sick, them, who in this transitory life are IN TROUBLE, SORROW, NEED, SICKNESS, or adversity.

any other

7. Remembrance of the faithful departed.

And we also bless thy Holy Name for all thy servants DEPARTED this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom: Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

¶ The first part of this prayer is the Solemn Presentation or Oblation to GOD of the Alms; and of the Bread and Wine, which are to be returned to us by GOD as "the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of CHRIST." [Notice the Illustration to this prayer, and the explanation on page 86. At the time of the Wave-offering, the Jewish Priest presented corn (the money of the period), and bread and wine, and both were offered at the time of the sacrifice of the lamb-just as we now make our oblations at the time of the pleading of the Sacrifice of the "Lamb of God."]

The second part of the prayer is a further "Act of Charity," the offering of a great Intercession for all the Church. Notice the order of the Intercessions, and compare them with the Intercessions in the Litany.

SECOND DIVISION OF THE SERVICE.

[Between the first and second portions of this Service will be found in the Prayer Book two Warnings of Holy Communion. As these are no part of the Office, one is printed on page 13, and the other on page 75. There is also printed in this place in the Prayer Book a longer Invitation. This will be found on page 76.]

The Second Division of the Service is again of a distinctly Preparatory character; but it leads us onward and upward to a higher stage of heavenly vision than the former part.

1. The Shorter Invitation again reminds us that the three requisites for a worthy Communion are Repentance, Faith, and Charity, and bids us, "meekly kneeling," make:

2. A General Confession of our sins, as the Church, as a Congregation, and above all as individuals, who have so recently examined ourselves by the rule of GOD's Commandments. GOD. grant us indeed to feel the burden of our sins as we make our Confession; so alone can we hope to be justified by the coming Absolution.