Page:Bruton parish church restored and its historic environments (1907 V2).djvu/197

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  • mation at this altar rail; that those who come there to find forgiveness

and power from Christ, through the Holy Communion; that those who stand there to pledge their troth in holy matrimony; that those who come to hear God's word read and his truth proclaimed, and kneel here to invoke upon others and upon themselves the blessings of Heaven, may find grace and power to witness to the word of the love and mercy of Christ for Whom the Church stands and to Whom, in the service of Consecration, it is to be dedicated anew.

And may God grant that the stranger who passes into these sacred courts may feel a presence which will inspire reverence, and that in the silence of the sanctuary voices may be heard speaking from out of the past and out of the deep of the present which may lead to an abiding love for Christ and His Church.

May He "who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy," bless, preserve and keep us faithful in His Church during the days of the years of our pilgrimage, and at the last bring us home to the "Temple not made with hands eternal in the Heavens" upon whose gates "are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel" and in whose foundation stones are "the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb."