PREFACE
This
Book of Prayers is a token of the interest which the
Church of Scotland takes in the seafaring community.
Remembering that some of the dearest friends of our
Lord Jesus Christ when He was upon the earth were
fishermen, and knowing the Christian worth of many
of our toilers on the sea, and the hardships and
perils of their lot in life; and believing that the
spirit of devotion to God which is manifested in
worship and in prayer is of great importance to all
men, and specially to those whose calling is
arduous, perilous, and full of temptation, the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has
directed its Committee on Aids to Devotion to issue
this Prayer-book for Sailors and Fisher-folk.
It is well known that many of our sailors and
fisher-folk do not need a book to help them either
in their public or private prayers; but it is also
well known that many of them do need such help, and
that for want of it their prayers are hindered. This
book is intended to give such help.
There are many occasions when the Christian men in a
ship’s company or a boat’s crew might worship God
together, and do not, simply because none of their
number dare trust himself to lead the rest, and
there are many occasions on which prayers would be
most becoming; say at a burial at sea, when there is
a storm, when an accident has occurred to one of the
crew, or when there is serious sickness on board;
but from natural diffidence, or simply from not
knowing what to do or say, the duty and comfort and
sustaining power of prayer is wanting.
This book is intended for use on such occasions, and
any one who will take the trouble carefully to look
through it will find in it prayers suited to all
the' varying circumstances of seafaring life.
There are two services for the Lord’s Day which can
be used on board a ship of war, a liner, a merchant
ship, or a fishing-boat, with special prayers which
can be introduced into the services as occasion
demands.
There is a service for the sick in hospital, and a
short service which can be read to a sick shipmate,
with special prayers to suit the conditions of the
sick.
There is a Burial Service which can be used when no
clergyman is available.
There are prayers for the use of fishermen afloat
and in the fisherman’s home.
For the convenience of those who may not be able to
carry a Bible about with them, and in order that the
proper Scripture material for a service may always
be at hand in one volume, several appropriate
passages of Holy Scripture are printed at the end of
the book.
We invite those into whose hands this book may come
to look carefully through it, when we are sure that
they will find some prayers suitable to themselves
and their circumstances.
We commend the book to all who are interested in
sailors and fisher-folk, and specially to societies
which exist for the purpose of conducting missions
to seamen, in the hope that they will use it and
recommend it to those whom they seek to influence
for good.
We wish our sailors and fisher-folk Godspeed; and
our prayer is, that they may continue stedfast in
the faith of Christ, and may come at last into the
haven of eternal rest.
By authority of the Committee on Aids to Devotion,
JOHN PATON, D.D.,
Convener.
Prayers for Sailors and Fisher-Folk
Prepared and Published by instruction of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1901 (pdf)
