To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
O God, who by thy mighty power hast made all things of nothing, who also (after other things set in order) didst ap∣point, that out of Man (created after thine own image and similitude) Woman should take her beginning; and knitting them toge∣ther, didst teach, that it should never be law∣ful
to put asunder those whom thou by Ma∣trimony hast made One: O God, who hast consecrated the state of Matrimony to such an excellent Mystery, that in it is signified and represented the spiritual Marriage and Unity between Christ and his Church, look merci∣fully upon us thy servants [* 1.1 Me and my- Wife; and grant, that I may love her accord∣ing to thy Word, (as Christ did love his Spouse the Church, who gave himself for it, loving and cherish∣ing it even as his own flesh;) and also, that she may be loving and amiable, faithful and obedient to me, and in all quietness, sobriety, and peace, be a follower of holy and godly Matrons.] O Lord, bless us both; and grant us to inherit thy everlasting Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, O Lord, that as Isaac and Rebecca lived faithfully together, so we may surely perform and keep the Vow and Covenant betwixt us made, and may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy
laws, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Look, O Lord, mercifully upon us from Hea∣ven, and bless us: And as thou didst send thy blessing upon Abraham and Sarah, to their great comfort,; so vouchsafe to send thy blessing upon us, that we obeying thy will, and always being in safety under thy prote∣ction, may abide in thy love unto our lives end. O God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep us: O Lord, mercifully with thy favour look upon us; and so fill us with all spiritual benediction and grace, that we may so live together in this life, that in the world to come we may have life everlasting. Amen.
Furthermore I most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Lord and heavenly Father, by whose gracious gift Mankind is increased, that thou wouldst be pleased (if thou shalt think fit) to assist us with thy blessing, that we may both be fruitful in procreation of Children, and also live together so long in godly love and honesty, that we may see our Children Christianly and vertuously brought up, to thy praise and honour through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Here the Woman may alter it thus, * Me and my husband; and grant, that he may love me according to thy word (as Christ did love his spouse the Church, who gave himself for it, loving and cherish∣ing it even as his own flesh;) and also that I may be loving and amiable, faithful and obedient to him; and in all quietness, &c.