Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 1.djvu/230

 petition, nor one expression in it, but what a whole congregation may jointly use. From whence St. Cyprian truly observed, that this is Publica et communis Oratio; a Public and Common Prayer. Not but it may, and ought to be used also privately by every single Christian apart by himself; because every Christian is a member of Catholic Church, and should pray as such in private as well as in public; and for all his fellow-members, as well as for himself, they being all but one body. But however, it must be acknowledged, that, it being so exactly fitted to a public congregation, it was primarily and chiefly intended for that purpose. And that our would have us say this Prayer every day, appears most plainly from that petition in it, "Give us this day our daily bread." For this shews, that as we depend upon every day for our necessary food, so we ought to pray unto Him every day for it. And if we must put up this petition every day, we must put up all the rest with it. For hath joined them together, and therefore we must not put them asunder. Neither is there any part of the Prayer but what is as necessary to be said every day as this.

Wherefore seeing our Blessed Himself was most graciously pleased to compose this Prayer so as to suit it to our daily public devotions, and hath plainly commanded us to use it, according as He had composed it; we may reasonably from thence infer, that it is His divine will and pleasure that we should publicly pray to our Heavenly  every day, as His Church had all along before done it, Morning and Evening. Be sure His Apostles thought so, when they had received His Holy Spirit, "to lead them," according to His promise, "into all truth," and to "bring into their remembrance all things that He had said unto them." For after the day of Pentecost, on which the came upon them, the next news that we hear of any of them is, that "Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of Prayer, being the ninth hour," or the hour of Evening Prayer; which they would not have done, if they had not believed it to be agreeable to the doctrine which He had taught them.

The more pleasing any duty is to, the more profitable it is to those who do it. And therefore He having so often, both by word and deed, manifested Himself well-pleased with the public or common Service which His people perform to Him, we