29. PRAYER FOR THE FRUITS OF THE FIELD.

     Dear Lord God, graciously preserve the precious fruits of the field, purify the air, grant quickening rains and good weather, that our crops may mature and we and our stock may not, by eating them, take pestilence, fever, and other ills; for such plagues come when evil spirits poison the air and thereupon the fruits, wine, and grain, so that we by Thy visitation eat and drink sickness and death with the products of our fields.  Therefore, O Lord, bless unto us these Thy gifts that they may advance our health and well-being; and grant us grace not to misuse them to the injury of our soul and the multiplying of sins, such as intemperance and idleness, from which unchastity, adultery, cursing, swearing, murder, war, and all manner of ills come; on the contrary, grant that we may use Thy gifts to our soul's salvation and improvement of our lives and that the fruits of the land may be a means of sustaining and improving the health of body and soul.  Amen.