That it may please thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word; and that both by their preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly, We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord. In this Advent Ember Week, with Christmas close, this petition from the Litany has a particular relevance, bringing us to pray for bishops, priests, and deacons who will preaching on the feast of the Nativity. In his ' Rules and Advices ' to his clergy, Jeremy Taylor emphasised the importance of preaching at the principal feasts: Let every Preacher in his Parish take care to explicate to the people the Mysteries of the great Festivals, as of Christmas, Easter, Ascension-day, Whitsunday, Trinity Sunday, the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin Mary; because these Feasts containing in them the great Fundamentals of our Faith, will with most advantage convey the mysteries to the people, and fix them in their memories, by the solemni...
Old High - Burkean - clerk in holy orders