not have; that they may be baptized with water and the Holy
Ghost, and received into Christ's holy Church, and be made lively
members of the same.

_Then shall the Priest say_,

Let us pray.

(_And here all the Congregation shall kneel_.)

Almighty and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save
Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water; and also
didst safely lead the children of Israel thy people through the
Red Sea, figuring thereby thy holy Baptism; and by the Baptism of
thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst
sanctify the element of water to the mystical washing away of
sin: We beseech thee, for thine infinite mercies, that thou wilt
mercifully look upon _these_ thy _servants_; wash _them_ and
sanctify _them_ with the Holy Ghost; that _they_, being delivered
from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ's Church;
and being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in
charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that
finally _they_ may come to the land of everlasting life, there to
reign with thee world without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord
_Amen_.

Almighty and immortal God, the aid of all that need, the helper of
all that flee to thee for succour, the life of them that believe,
and the resurrection of the dead: We call upon thee for _these
persons_, that _they_, coming to thy holy Baptism, may receive
remission of _their_ sins by spiritual regeneration. Receive _them_,
O Lord: and as thou hast promised by thy well-beloved Son, saying,
Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you: So give now unto us that ask; let us that
seek find; open the gate unto us that knock; that _these persons_
may enjoy the everlasting benediction of thy heavenly washing, and
may come to the eternal kingdom which thou hast promised by Christ
our Lord. _Amen_.

| _In the ministration of Baptism of such as be of riper years it
may suffice to say one or other of the two opening prayers_,
Almighty and everlasting God, _or_ Almighty and immortal God.

_Then shall the people stand up, and the Priest shall say_,

Hear the words of the Gospel, written by Saint John in the third
chapter, beginning at the first verse.

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. The 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
th