St. Paul's Anglican of Moberly, MO

06/26/2025

"God Exercises His Body"

The title of this message may seem really odd, however it's true and more so, we do the same thing. God made our bodies and He designed them with muscles that are designed to be exercised through physical activities. Many might not enjoy this design too much though as physical activities can be exhausting and painful in terms of sore muscles after the fact. Even during certain activities, our muscles will burn when they get to their limit, and this pain caused from lactic acid build up, lets us know to stop and take a moment of rest.

An even more interesting fact is that when exercising, you're not building muscle during the process. You're actually tearing it down! The building up of strength and muscle comes afterwards, with rest and proper nutrition. So God designed our bodies in way that we have to put it through some straining exercise/activity to cause micro tears in the muscle fibers, breaking it down. Then afterwards care for it by giving it the materials (nutrients) it needs to grow and become stronger from the activity. Now how does this relate to God exercising His body, you might be thinking? Well, we being His body, which is what the word church means. It means "body of believers" with Christ being the head of the body.

So just as we train our body and break it down for a purpose, not to abuse it but strengthen it and bring growth. So too does God put us, His body of believers through straining and exhausting trials at times. Not to harm us but to break us down some, so we can grow stronger from it. And just as we provide nourishment and rest for our bodies, so they can grow from the physical exertment. So too does The Lord our God nourish and replenish us spiritually with what is needed to bring growth from the trials and tribulations. We also, when exercising push our bodies to their limit, but not too much to cause an injury or unessary damage. So too, does God only put us through what He intends to get us through, not giving us more than what He knows is necessary. We see this in the book of Job. God allowed Job to go through some extreme trials, but in the end satan was proven wrong and Job grew spiritually as well as was rewarded with more than what he had before.

So as we go through spiritual trials and feel ourselves being strained and exhausted. Let us turn to God, trusting in Him and His providence. Knowing that if we can know what is good and not good for our body's limits of exertion and only put it through what is necessary for growth, then how much more does God know this for us, His body.

06/11/2025

“Let us reverently hear and read Holy Scripture, which is the Food of the soul. Let us diligently search for the well of life in the books of the New and Old Testament.” - Thomas Cranmer

This is so very true a statement. Like the woman at the well, we too thirst and hunger spiritually, ever seeking. Only being able to be nourished by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Theopneustos (God-Breathed) word.

01/16/2025

Rev. Francisco Nieves, Austin TX area. Recently ordained deacon in the Anglican Orthodox Church. Sept 2024

01/16/2025

06/04/2023

Trinity Sunday 04 June anno domini 2023 Morning Prayer

First Lesson Genesis 1:1-2:3 Second lesson John. 3:1-15

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast given unto
us thy servants grace, by confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the
power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We
beseech thee that thou wouldst keep us steadfast in this
faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who
livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.

You Must Be Born Again
John 3:1-15
1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Even though Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, so others would not see such an important figure coming to visit this carpenter, Jesus still puts the truth to him. Nicodemus is crediting Jesus with being from God, by the signs and wonders, the miracles that Jesus had being doing with the people. Jesus turns this back on Nicodemus by saying that if he wasn’t born again, he would not see this God or his kingdom.

3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Nicodemus immediately questions Jesus, this is Nicodemus’ training.
He is seeing this purely from a physical way, even after having acknowledged that Jesus was from God, because of the miracles Jesus has been doing all over the region.
Jesus will clarify what he mean, even using a physical example to show Nicodemus why he shouldn’t be amazed.

5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

It appears that Nicodemus is being totally dense, but from the spiritual and historical aspect of this encounter, it is we who are being instructed. Nicodemus is taking the fall, but Jesus is pointing out to us, the sophisticated reader, that we don’t understand either. If you spend time in the Word of God you will see how what seems to be a mystery will slowly but surely become the truth.
Over and over again Jesus will explain to his followers that much of what they see can only be explained by the reality of the Divine. He patiently explains that what to us seems as a knowledge that is unattainable, can be understood with help from the Holy Spirit. The very Holy Spirit Jesus promised his disciples God the Father would send after Jesus ascending into Heaven.
That was the event that we studied last Sunday, Pentecost Sunday.

10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Jesus chides Nicodemus [and us] for his/our unbelief. Then he puts the last detail into focus, that he, Jesus, like the image of the serpent that Moses lifted in the wilderness to save those who had been bitten by serpents; would save those who believed when He was raised up on the cross when the time came. Jesus is foreshadowing his death, but also explaining why his death is necessary.

14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The very next verse encapsulates the whole Gospel, John 3:16.
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
.

Let us pray:

Father, we come to you with humble heart and a broken spirit, raise us up to salvation as you have shown us in your Word today. Give us that true sense of grace to accept what you did for us, because you loved us. You sent us your only Son, to die and to come back to life, so that we, following his perfect example, will also partake of that gift. These things we ask in the Name of the Father, and the Name of the Son, and the Name of the Holy Spirit. Amen

O God, who hast taught us that by loving thee and our neighbors we keep all thy holy
commandments: Grant unto us the spirit of grace and peace, that we may be devoted to thee with
our whole heart and united to each other with a pure will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

05/28/2023

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday
28 May anno domini 2023 Holy Communion

The Epistle. Acts 2:1-11 The Gospel. John 14:15-31

O GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

“I will send the Comforter”

What a busy time, those many centuries ago around Jerusalem. It was late Spring, most crops had been planted, all the fruit trees had bloomed and set fruit, the country-side was filled with an anticipated abundance.
The Festival of Weeks is also called the feast of Harvest in Exodus 23:16 and the day of first fruits in Numbers 28:26.[12] In Exodus 34:22 it is called the "firstfruits of the wheat harvest."[13] The date for the "Feast of Weeks" originally came the day after seven full weeks following the first harvest of grain.[14][15] In Jewish tradition the fiftieth day was known as the Festival of Weeks.[12][13] The actual mention of fifty days comes from Leviticus 23:16.[3][16]

The first grain harvest would have already taken place. All attention being on the promise of a good harvest. This “firstfruits of the wheat harvest” would remind the Hebrew people of the promises given to them during their wandering in the wilderness. The promise of abundant fields and vines when they came back to the land that was promised their father Abraham. All of this promise was fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus Christ during his three and a half years of teaching and preaching.
Remember, Jesus had just ascended into heaven, with a great host of witnesses who saw him leave into the clouds. This is what happened:. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Acts 1:10-11.
Now they go back to Jerusalem and continue in fellowship and worshiping God, as they await the Comforter.
The Comforter comes upon them, manifest by what appeared to be tongues of fire. The disciples speak in languages that they do not know, BUT those who have come to Jerusalem for the feast of first harvest do understand what the disciples are saying. The faithful, who were from many parts of the Mediterranean world, they spoke the languages of the areas where they had settled over the last number of centuries.
WHEN the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans?
“And how hear we every man in our own tongue, where in we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome. Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God”.
Meanwhile in Jerusalem, there was a similar buzz of activity going on around the temple and in the city. Hundreds of pilgrims had descended on the city to celebrate another holy feast, that commemorating Pentecost. None of this is unplanned.
God had his Son Jesus return to heaven, to sit at the right hand of God the Father. When we study the many illustrations of bread, bread of life, manna in the wilderness, the institution of Holy Communion, all encapsulating the idea of bread, not a single illustration is by happenstance. .
There are so many illustrations and parallels of celebration surrounding this time in Jewish tradition...all of which dovetails into the newly established Christian tradition.
First fruits = Christ being the First Fruit of Salvation. By his passion, death, and resurrection he would be the First fruit of life everlasting to all who believe in Him.

First grain harvest (bread, Bread of Life,) Think about all of the references to bread, to Christ using bread to illustrate his broken body, broken for us on that fateful Friday.
But the most important message that comes from this eventful day is the promise fulfilled, the giving of the Comforter to those who faithfully followed Jesus, and now were sometimes afraid.
The Comforter or the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Trinity, was now a full time reality for these early believers and for ALL believers down through history unto this day.
JESUS said unto his disciples, If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless:........ But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
This whole aspect of comfort that Jesus promised is not an empty one. It is the fulfilment of centuries of prophecy, centuries of anticipation by the faithful, (read the 11th and 12th chapters of the Letter to the Hebrews for context). And so we now see that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit is now poured upon the faithful believers, the most beautiful promise of peace is given. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
We should cling to this promise, especially in these days of chaos and confusion that seem to come at us constantly. It is time to pray for that Peace. Jesus said his peace was not what the world give...his peace will help you to not be trouble in your mind (heart) or be afraid.
What a wonderful promise.
Let us pray:

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Almighty God, who art afflicted in the afflictions of thy people: Regard with thy tender compassion those in anxiety and distress, bear their sorrows and their cares, supply all their manifold needs, and help both them and us to put our whole trust and confidence in thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

09/25/2022

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity 25 September A.D. 2022 Morning Prayer

Psalms 49 First lesson. Deuteronomy 7:6-13 Second lesson. Galatians 2:15-20

Keep, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy church with thy
perpetual mercy, and, because the frailty of man
without thee, cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help
from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable
to our salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“The Promise”

Promises. How often do we make a promise and then not honor it ? As humans we have a tendency to dole out promises to placate others, fully intending to keep them, but failing in the long run to hold to those promises. Human frailty ? A human inability to do good ?
The great thing about the promises that God gives us is that he keeps them.

When we look at the promises written in this passage from Deuteronomy we see a very strong parallel to today. Let me explain.
When one is chosen or set apart from a group, in this case from the human race, it was done as a message to the rest of mankind. The concept of being set aside or chosen can also be explained as ‘sanctified’. Let us look at a few ideas that are forming in this passage from Deuteronomy.

6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

1.) ‘...the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself...’
This same statement can be made of believers. We are a special people unto the God through the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse seven we read that we were chosen because we are few, not the greatest in number. Think of Gideon, think of David as he approaches Goliath, think of Jesus and the twelve in each case ‘small in number’ and yet great things would come from what each did over time.

8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

2.) What is the parallel here in verse eight ?
We are in bo***ge to sin, God brings us out of bo***ge, out of Egypt, redeems us by his Son Jesus Christ.
God is keeping his promise made to Adam and Eve after the Fall. Genesis chapter 3:14-15.
14And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
In spite of the Fall, God will eventually, in his time, provide a way of salvation.
That way will be foreshadowed all through out the Old Testament by signs and symbols. The blood sacrifices, the Passover Feast, the stories of Ruth, Esther; the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the minor prophets; all point to the coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ. In verse nine we see that those who love God and keep his commandments, he (God) will be faithful to a thousand generations. {think innumerable}.

10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:
13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

3.) What is implied by these last couple of verses ? IF YOU DO NOT KEEP the statutes, commandments and judgments....God will not bless them.
Strong stuff ? Yes. Are we as a nation at this point in our history. Quite possibly so.
As a nation we have abandoned the precepts and godly laws that produced a civic society.
As a nation we have turned to the SELF as the final arbiter of all that is good or evil. “...good becomes evil and evil becomes good...”
In our current society things that were once considered shameful are now considered normal. What at one time would have been considered a sin is now considered a choice.
Will we as a nation pay for turning our backs on God ? Yes we will. Read about the judgments that befell Israel and later Jerusalem when they turned their backs to God.
The Jewish people as a whole, turned their backs upon the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The holy city of Jerusalem would be destroyed before the generation that rejected Christ the Messiah and Redeemer. In the year A.D. 70 the Roman general Titus lay siege to Jerusalem. His army destroyed the city, all Jews were banned from living in the city while Rome was in control.
All things sacred to the Jewish people was destroyed in that horrible time. Many died in the rebellion and war that followed. Rome would be triumphant. Is the United States fated for the same ? Have we successfully scrubbed our heritage of any vestiges of Judeo-Christian roots?
Folks, we still have time.
As a group of believers we do have an opportunity to blunt the coming wrath of God. How ? We first off need to pray for the right direction of our leaders and nation. We next need to reach as many people as possible with the gospel of Jesus. The promise that God has given us by sending his Son to die in our stead, to die for us and to show us by rising again that we too will live. We know that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. We are dead to the law in order for us to live unto God.
“I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
See how the promise of God comes full circle. God promises to keep us. He promises to bless us. He promises to save us(from ourselves).
As a people of faith we need to seek a revival of those things which are good, faithful, just and in keeping with the Word of God. We need to seek a cleansing of the spirit of this nation. Will all be saved ? No. At any given time in the annals of the Old and New Testament, there was never a large number of truly saved, there was a faithful remnant. A people who prayed, who lived their lives according to their faith, a faith, “...once delivered from the Lord...”

Let us read again that portion of Paul’s letter to the Galatians: .
15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
May God give us the strength to keep the faith, the knowledge to share the faith, the promise to live by the faith of the Son of God.
“Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed, or God’s Word formed into an argument, and retorted by faith upon God again…Furnish thyself with arguments from the promises to enforce thy prayers.” ...... WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679)

Let us pray:
WE humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities; and, for the glory of thy Name, turn from us all those evils that we most justly have deserved; and grant, that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness and pureness of living, to thy honour and glory; through our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O GOD, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive; Receive our humble petitions; and though we be tied and bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose us; for the honour of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

THE Lord bless us, and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore. Amen.

09/04/2022

Twelfth Sunday after Trinity 04 September A.D. 2022 Holy Communion

The Epistle. 2 Corinthians 3:4-9 The Gospel. St. Mark 7:31-37

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more
ready to hear than we are to pray, and art wont to
give more than to either we desire or deserve: Pour down
upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those
things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us
those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but
through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy
Son, our Lord. Amen.



SUCH trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteous ness exceed in glory.

In this passage, St. Paul is explaining to the Corinthians the major difference between the Old and New Testament. The law is a condemnation of man, it kills. ‘...for the letter killeth...’
And yet even in this capacity to condemn, the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because he had beheld the glory of the Lord.
When Moses had received the law on Mt Sinai, he saw God, saw his hand as he scribed out the law on the tablets, that vision of God left a ‘shining’ on Moses face.
When he returned to the people, they could not look on his face because it was so shiny. It was reflecting the glory of God, his righteousness. They were afraid to look at Moses because the Glory of God was shining from Moses face.
Let us look at the commentary of Matthew Henry and see the compare and contrast of the Old and New Testament.

II. He shows the difference between the Old Testament and the New, and the excellency of the gospel above the law. For, 1. The Old-Testament dispensation was the ministration of death
(1. 2 Cor. 3:7), whereas that of the New Testament is the ministration of life. The law discovered sin, and the wrath and curse of God. This showed us a God above us and a God against us; but the gospel discovers grace, and Emmanuel, God with us. Upon this account the gospel is more glorious than the law; and yet that had a glory in it, witness the shining of Moses’s face (an indication thereof) when he came down from the mount with the tables in his hand, that reflected rays of brightness upon his countenance.

2. The law was the ministration of condemnation, for that condemned and cursed every one who continued not in all things written therein to do them; but the gospel is the ministration of righteousness: therein the righteousness of God by faith is revealed.

This shows us that the just shall live by his faith.
This reveals the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, for obtaining the remission of sins and eternal life.
The gospel therefore so much exceeds in glory that in a manner it eclipses the glory of the legal dispensation, 2 Cor. 3:10.

As the shining of a burning lamp is lost, or not regarded, when the sun arises and goes forth in his strength; so there was no glory in the Old Testament, in comparison with that of the New.

3. The law is done away, but the gospel does and shall remain, 2 Cor. 3:11. Not only did the glory of Moses’s face go away, but the glory of Moses’s law is done away also; yea, the law of Moses itself is now abolished.

That dispensation was only to continue for a time, and then to vanish away; whereas the gospel shall remain to the end of the world, and is always fresh and flourishing and remains glorious.

And so we see the gospel message come forth in the work of Jesus Christ. His gospel outshines all the foreshadowing of the Old Testament. His gospel continues to point the way to heaven.
We recite the ten commandments when we come to the Lord’s Table. In this time of remembrance we are reminded that we can not keep the Law. It is impossible for us to keep the Law, for if we break one commandment, we have broken them all. So in this monthly reminder we are pointed to the Savior, because it is only by him are we saved from our sin. The law discovers sin, the gospel discovers grace and Immanuel , God with us. Let us be ever mindful of the gift of God to us, his creation. He sent his only Son to save us from our sins.

Let us pray:
GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments; that, through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be pre served in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.