Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light
upon thy Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine of
thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John may so walk in the
light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of
everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. _Amen_.
THE EPISTLE. 1 St John i. 1.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled of the word of life; (for the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto
us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that
ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things
write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the
message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, That
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that
we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and
do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that
we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
THE GOSPEL. St John xxi. 19.
Jesus said unto Peter, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth
the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on
his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth
thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this
man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, That that disciple should not die: yet Jesus
said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which
testifieth of these things, and wrote these things, and we know
that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one,
I suppose, that even the world itself could not contain the books
that should be written.