THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the collection of Julius Doerner, Chicago Purchased, 1918. /O //. to C|)ri0tian l^notoIeDge 16mo, limp cloth, 50 cents each. A Key to the Knowledge and Use of the Holy Bible, By the Rev. John Henry Blunt, M.A., F.S.A., Editor of the Annotated Book of Common Prayer,” etc. etc. A Key to the Knowledge and Use of the Book of Common Prayer, By the Rev. John Henry Blunt, M.A., F.S.A. A Key to Christian Doctrine and Practice (Founded on the Church Catechism). By the Rev. John Henry Blunt, M. A., F.S.A. A Key to the Knowledge of Church History (Ancient). Edited by the Rev. John Henry Blunt, M. A. F.S.A. A Key to the Knowledge of Church History (Modern). Edited by the Rev. John Henry Blunt, M.A., F.S.A. E. & J. B. YOUNG & CO., NEW YORK A KEY ^0 tfje Itnobilelrge anH Wist of tfje BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER BY JOHN HENRY BLUNT, M.A. EDITOR OF “the DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY,” “ THE ANNOTATED BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER,” AUTHOR OF “household THEOLOGY,” ETC. ETC. { ‘ I will pray with the spirit ^ and I will pray with the understanding also 1 will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understandiag also^’ I CoR. xiv. gorfe E. & J. B. YOUNG & COMPANY COOPER UNION, FOURTH AVENUE MDCCCLXXXII [l/ew Edition] [K — 102] (jp il^o3 k dontents CHAPTER PAGE I. THE HISTORY OF THE PRAYER BOOK . 1 II. THE PRAYER BOOK SYSTEM OF DIVINE WOR- SHIP .... 17 III. MORNING PRAYER . 25 IV. THE LITANY . 44 V. EVENING PRAYER . 48 VI. HOLY COMMUNION . 52 VII. HOLY BAPTISM 69 VIII. CONFIRMATION 83 IX. HOLY MATRIMONY . 89 X. THE VISITATION AND COMMUNION OF THE SICK 98 XL THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD 106 XII. THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN 116 XIII. THE ORDINATION SERVICES 120 XIV. FESTIVALS 129 XV. FASTS .... 143 INDEX . • . . • • 0 151 CHAPTER I of tf)c ^raiKr Took Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good zvay, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls f — ^Jer. vi. T he English Book of Common Prayer is chiefly derived from the Latin Breviary,” “ Missal,” and ‘‘ Manual,” which were used in England for many centuries before the Reformation. The Pre-Reformation Breviary ” contained the Daily Services Service-books, (including the Lessons) ; the “ Missal ” contained the Service for the Holy Communion (including the Epistles and Gospels) ; and the “ Manual” contained the Offices for Baptism, the Visitation of the Sick, Burial, &c. These ancient Prayer Books of the Church of Eng- land had their origin in Apostolic times, xhelr Primitive having gradually grown up out of Services origin, which were brought to France by Apostolic mis- sionaries, who came from Ephesus and Smyrna. The Services thus transplanted from the East were used in common by the Churches of France, Spain, and England ; but additions peculiar to how differing each country gradually gathered around Liturgies arose. 2 Ef)e l^istorn of the original formularies, and in course of time the de- votional system of each became so far different from that of the others as to be a national rite, though bear- ing abundant marks of relationship to the rest. Just as Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Englishmen differ from each other in some respects, and yet have the common characteristics of the European family of nations : so their ancient devotional systems plainly come from the same original stock, though differing in many particu- lar features.^ But by far the greater proportion of the Services of the Church is (and always has been) taken from the Psalms and other portions of Holy Scripture. § I. The Latin originals of the Prayer Book. The Eastern missionaries, St. Pothinus and others, who brought over to France the devotional forms of the Eastern Church, brought them in the Greek lan- guage ; and Greek words (such as Kyrie Eleeson) were retained in the Latin services in reverent memory of the ancient liturgical language, as the Latin head- ings of the Psalms and Canticles are retained in our Greek super- English Prayer Book. But as Latin was seded by Latin, universal language of the Roman Em- pire in Europe, the services were soon translated out of Greek into Latin ; and they were used in the latter tongue in England as well as elsewhere until the ^ The Roman Breviary, &c., was not introduced into England until about a century and a half ago, when the priests of the Roman sect were chiefly Jesuits, and so bound to use it. It was never used therefore in the Church of England. Nor was it generally used in France until after the Revolution. t^)c grayer IBook 3 English language became compacted out of Saxon, French, and Latin into its modern form^ The Service Books which were in use sarum and before th«e Conquest were revised by St. other “Uses.” Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, and his revision, the ancient ‘‘Sarum Use’^ mentioned in the Preface to the Prayer Book, was adopted in the Diocese of Salisbury in the year 1085. Other dioceses had similar Service Books of their own, known as the “York Use/’ the “ Hereford Use,” the “ Lincoln Use,” &c. ; but the “Sarum Use” was extensively adopted throughout the South of England, in Durham, in some parts of Scotland, and even on the Continent ; and it was the principal source from which the Prayer Book “ according to the use of the Church of England ” was taken in the sixteenth century. § 2. Early English Prayers^ While the public Services of the Church of England were said chiefly in Latin, persons who could read had Prayer Books called “ Primers,” in which Primers what a large portion of the Psalms and the they were. Prayers were translated, and arranged in Services similar to those which were used in Latin at the Cathe- drals and large Monastic or Collegiate Churches. This 2 French, or “Norman French,” was the language used in this country by educated persons until the end of the four- teenth century. Latin was the official language, and was very generally understood. Saxon^ or “Anglo-Saxon,” was in a continual state of change until the time of Chaucer (A.D. 1328 — 1400), and about his time it began to be amalga- mated with French and Latin forms of words into our present national language. Mediaeval English is represented at the present day by what is called “ Broad Scotch.” 4 I|istort) of Primer’’ or Layman’s Prayer Book, is found in Anglo- Saxon of a very early period, and in English of the fourteenth century. It was revised and republished in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth : and is the basis of Cosin’s Devotions,” a book still used by many. Some portions Parts of Divine Sunday Services were also in Eng- Service in lisli, as the Exhortation and Confession English. Communion Service, and the Bid- ding of Bedes” (or prayers), the latter of which was the popular Sunday Service of mediaeval times. There were also interlined translations of the Litany and the Psalms, some of which still remain, nearly looo years old. The Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments were also very frequently recited in English, and expounded from the pulpit ; and portions of the Occasional Offices ” were used in the mother tongue. The following few specimens will illustrate this use of English in ancient days, but there is not room here to print any number of such illustrations : — Evening Frager. ‘‘Oure fadir, that art in heuenes, halewid be thi name : thy rewme come to thee : be thi wille do A^D^^r’oo heuene and in erthe : oure eche daies . 1400. Ereed gyue us to day: and forgyue us our dettise, as and we forgeuen to oure dettouris : and ne lede us into temptacioun : but delyuere us fro yuel. So be it. Lord, thou schalt opyne myii lippis. And my mouth schal schewe thi prisynge. God, take heede to myn helpe. Lord, hige thee to help me. “Glorie be to the fadir and to the sone and to the holy goost : ^rai)n ISooii 5 ‘‘ As it was in the begynnyng and now and euer and in to the worldis of worldis. So be it. God make us saaf. Alleluia. ^ jji ^ :|c :}: j|i “I bileue in god, fadir almygti, makere of heuene and of erthe : and in iesu crist the sone of him, oure lord, oon alone : which is conceyued of the hooli gost : born of marie maiden : suffride passioun undir pounce pilat : crucified, deed, and biried : he went doun to hellis : the thridde day he roos agen fro deede : he steig to heuenes : he sittith on the rigt syde of god the fadir almygti : thenns he is to come for to deme the quyke and deede. I beleue in the hooli goost ; feith of hooli chirche : communynge of seyntis : for- gyuenesse of synnes: agenrisyng of fleish, and euerlastynge lyf. So be it. “ Preie we. ‘‘ Lord, haue merci on us. Crist, haue merci on us. Lord, haue merci on us. ^ :{c ^ ^ “Lord, sheu to us thi merci. And gene to us thi saluacioun. * * * * 4 : “ Lord, gyue pees in oure daies, for ther is noon othir that shal fygte for us, but thou O lord oure god. Preie we. For the pees. ‘ ‘ God of whom ben hooli desiris, rigt councels and iust werkis : gyue to thi semantis pees that the world may not geue, that in our hertis gouun to thi commandementis, and the drede of enemys putt awei, oure tymes be pesible thurgh thi defendyng. Bi oure lord iesu crist, thi sone, that with thee lyueth and regneth in the unitie of the hooli goost god, bi all worldis of worldis. So be it. ‘ ‘ God, that taughtist the hertis of thi feithful seruantis bi the lightnynge of the hooli goost : graunte us to sauore rigtful thingis in the same goost, and to be ioiful euermore of his counfort. Bi crist our lorde. So be it. * >li * * “ Almyghti god, euerlastynge, that aloone doost many 6 ^f)C l^istorp of wondres, schewe the spirit of heelful grace upon bisschopes thi seruantis, and upon alle the congregacion betake to hem : and gheete in the dewe of thi blessynge that thei plese euermore to the in trouthe. Bi crist oure lord. So be it.” //6?/y Coinmunion. “Good men and women, y charge yow by the Auctoryte Missal about churche, that no man nother woman A.D. 1350—1400. pi*oposyth here to be comenyd \com 7 minicate(T\ that he go note to Godds bord, lase than he byleue stedfastlych, that the sacrament that he ys avysyd here to rescue, that yt ys Godds body flesche and blode, yn the forme of bred ; & that {which) he receyvythe afterward, ys no thyng ells but wyne & water, for to dense yowr mowthys of the holy sacrament. Furthermor, y charge yow that no man nother woman go to Godds bor 4 e lase than he be of ys synnys clen confessyd, & for hem contryte; that ys to sey hauyng sorow yn yowr herts, for yowre synnys. Furthermore, I charge yow yf ther be eny man or woman, that beryth yn his herte eny wrothe or rancor to eny of his evencristen that he be not ther howselyd, ther to the tyme that he be with hym yn perfyte love & cheryte, for ho so \zvhosd\ beryth wrethe or evyll wyll yn herte, to eny of hys evencristen, he ys note worthy hys God to receyue; and yf he do, he reseyvythe his dampnacyon, where he schiild recyue his saluacion. Furthermore, y charge yow that none of yow go to Godds horde to day, lasse than he be yn full wyll & purpose for to sese and to withstond the deds of syn. For who proposyth now to contynue yn syn ayene after hys holy tyme he is note worthy to receyue his God; & yf he do hyt ys to hym grete perell. Further- more I charge all strangers bothe men and women, that none of yow go to godds horde, yn to tyme that ye haue spoke with me, other \or'\ with myn asynys. Furthermore, y charge yow bothe men and women that havythe servants, that ye takythe hede that they be well y gouernyd yn takyng of mets & drynks, for the perell that may be fall, thorow forfeytyng of mets & drynks .... Also ye shall knell adown apon yowr kneys, seyying after me, y cry God mercy, and our lady seynt mary, & all the holy company of hevyn, & my gostelyche fadyr, of all the trespasse of syn that y have don, in thowte, word, other [07'] yn dede, from the tyme that y l!)C 7 was bore, yn to this tyme ; that ys to say in Pryde, Envy, Wrethe, Slowthe, Covetyse, Gloteny, & Lechery. The V. Commawndements, dyuerse tymys y broke. The werks of mercy note y fulfyllyd. My v. wytts mysse spend, etc.'' Holy Matriino7iy. “Lo breyren and sustren her we beon comyn to gedre in ye worsschip of god and his holy seintes in ye face of holy chirche to joynen to gedre Manual, yuse tweyne bodies yat heynforward yei beon body in ye beleve and in ye lawe of god for te deserven everlastynge lyf wat so yei hau don here byfore. Wherfore i charge you on holy chirche by half alle yt here bes yat gif eni mon or womman knowen eny obstacle prevei or apert why yt yey lawefully mowe nogt come to gedre in ye sacrament of holy churche sey ye now or neuer more. * Jk 5K ‘ ‘ Also I charge you both, and eyther be your selfe, as ye wyll answer before God at the Manual, about day of dome, that yf there be any thynge done ^350—1400- pryuely or openly, betwene your selfe : or that ye knowe any lawfull lettyng why that ye may not be wedded togyther at thys time : Say it no we, or we do any more to this mater. “ Wilt thou haue this woman to thy wyfe : and loue her and kepe her in syknes and in helthe, and in all other degrese be to her as a husbande sholde be to his wyfe, and all other forsake for her : and holde thee only to her, to thy lyues ende ? Respondeat vir hoc modo : I wyll. “ A^. Wylt thou have this man to thy husbande, and to be buxum to him, serue him and kepe him in sykenes and in helthe : And in all other degrese be vnto hym as a wyfe should be to hir husbande, and all other to forsake for hym : and holde thee only to hym to thy lyues ende ? Respondeat mulier hoc modo : I wyll. “ I A^ take the N. to my weddyd wyf to haue and to holde fro thys day wafor beter, for worse, for lycher, for porer : in sykenesse and in helthe, tyi deth us departe yf 2 This Manual (now in the British Museum) anciently belonged to the parish in which these pages are written. 8 ^f)e of holy chyrch wol it ordeyne and tlier to I plycht the my trouth. “ I iV; take the A^. to my weddyd husbonde to haue and to holde fro thys day for bether, for wurs, for richer, for porer, in sykenesse and hin elthe to be honour and buxum in bed and at bort : tyll deth us departe yf holy chyrche wol it ordeyne : and ther to I plyche te my throute. “With this rynge I wedde the, and with this gold and silver I honoure the, and with this gyft I honoure the. In nomine Patris : et Filii: et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.” T/u Visitation of the Sick. “Brother, be ye gladde y^ ye shall dye in Chrysten beleve ? Re. Ye, syr. ‘ ‘ Knowe ye well y^ ye have not so well ly ved as ye shulde ? Ye, syr. “ Haue ye wille to amende yow if ye had space to lyve? Ye, syr. “Beleve ye that o^ Lorde Christ Jhu goddys soon of heaven was born of the blessyd vyrgyne ou^ ladie saynt Mary ? Ye, syr. ‘ ‘ Beleve ye that our Lorde Christ Jhu dyed vpon the crosse to bye mans sowle upo the good ffrydaie ? Ye, syr. “ Thancke ye him entierly therof ? Ye, syr. “Beleve ye f ye may not be saved but by his precious death? Ye, syr. “ Tunc dicat sacerdos. “Theffor, Brother, while yo^ sowle is in yo^ bodye, thancke ye god of his death, and haue ye hole truste, to be saved, through his precyouse death, and thyncke ye on non other worldly goode, but onely in Christe Jhus deathe, and on his pytefull passyon, and saye after me. My swete Lorde Christ Jhu, I put thy precyous passion betwene the and my evill werke and betwene me and thy wrathe. ‘ ‘ Et dicat infirmus ter. “ In manus tuas Domine, etc. Vet sic : — “Lorde Christ Jhu, in to thy handes I betake my sowle and as thow boughtest me, bodye and soule I betake to the.” t\)C tracer 13 ook 9 § 3. — T/ie first cojnplete English Prayer Book for Public Use, After various reforms in the ancient Latin Service Books (between 1516 and 1541) it was at last deter- mined that no more of them should be printed, but that English Services should be formed from them which should represent all their essential features, but yet be cast in a form more intelligible to and more useable by the people at large. A Committee of Convocation was ap- ^.d. 1542. pointed in 1542 to undertake this work, steps, but their labours were not allowed fully to see the light until the death of Henry VIII. The old English Litany was, however, revised, and set forth for public use in its The oW English present form in 1544. Other Litanies or Litany revised. ‘‘ Processions were translated by Archbishop Cran- mer, or under his direction ; but the King would not permit them to be used, nor any thing further to be done in altering the Services, beyond the reading of the Lessons in English, a practice that had been adopted for some time past. Immediately after the death of Henry VIII. the Clergy, however, began to urge forward ^ ^ the completion of the Prayer Book. On English Com- March 8th, 1547-8, an English Commu- Service, nion Service was issued as a supplement to the Latin one, for the use of the Laity, for the purpose of draw- ing them to more frequent Communion, and of ad- ministering both elements to them. The Prayer Book itself was completed ^ A.D. 1549. by the Committee of Bishops and other Complete clergy about seven months afterwards, lO 3§istor^ of and was presented to Convocation by them at the end of November, 1548. The Convocation sent it to the King in Council, by whom it was laid before Parlia- ment to be incorporated into an Act of Parliament, the first Act of Uniformity [2nd & 3rd Edward VI. ch. i.]. This Act (including the Prayer Book, exactly as it was sent up by Convocation), was passed at the end of January, and enacted that the Prayer Book should be taken into general use on the following Whitsun Day, which was June 9th, 1549. It was printed immediately, and published on March 7th, 1548-9, to give the clergy time to become familiar with its contents. Many began to use it before Whit- sun Day arrived, and when that solemn day came, the English Order of Divine Service (which was declared in the Act to have been composed under the influence of the Holy Ghost) entirely superseded the ancient Latin Services from which it had been formed. What changes The principal changes which had been had been made, made (besides that of translation into English) were 1. The condensation of seven daily services into Mattins and Evensong. 2. The singing through of the Psalter every twenty- eight days, instead of every seven days. 3. The omission of all Lesson except those taken from Holy Scripture. 4. The omission of many Festival Services. c, , , The other changes which were made Substance of the . ° . ancient services were mostly with the object of condensing retained. lengthy offlces, or of abolishing extrava- gant modes of expression respecting the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. But most of what was thus put away had been introduced into the Service i\)c drawer I Books in comparatively recent times : and the claim of the Reformers that they had retained, m their sub- stance^ the ancient services of the Church of England, was in reality a just one. § 4. The alteration of the first Prayer Book in deference to the Puritans. The Book of Common Prayer thus completed was at first received by all except a few foreigners who had been too hospitably entertained by the English Bishops, and by the self-willed Puritans, who always did and always will object to Services which corre- spond to the principles of the Church. Archbishop Cranmer described these as ‘‘ glorious and ^ ° Cranmer s opin- unquiet spirits which can like nothing but ion of the that is after their own fancy ; and cease not to make trouble when things be most quiet and in good order. If such men,’^ he added, ‘‘ should be heard, although the Book were made ever>" year anew, yet it should not lack faults in their opinion.’^ These unquiet spirits had the ear, how- a.d. 1552. ever, of Edward VI. and his uncle, the i'nakesa^evi'sfon Duke of Somerset, the Protector (or Re- necessary, gent), neither of whom loved the Church or its prin- ciples : and the power of the Crown was so enormous during the rule of the Tudors, that the only way of saving the Prayer Book from tyrannical destruction was by the concession of some of the demands made by the Puritans, with a boy- King and a profligate Regent for their leaders. The Prayer Book of 1549 was therefore “revised” in 1552 ; but it had scarcely been printed for general 2 VLi)t l^istors of use before the death of Edward VI. and the accession Prayer Book of Queen Mary led to the restoration of kw^unde^r^Q?^ Church System and the Latin Mary, 1553—8, Services. The proper legal forms were used, in Parliament and elsewhere, for undoing the whole of the ten years’ proceedings connected with the Prayer Book, and thus it ceased to have any legal existence, (after having been used for four years and a half,) in October, 1553. and revised by Shortly after Queen Elizabeth came to EHzab^h',*^' the throne [Nov. 17, 1558], the English A.D. 1559, Services were revived ; but to re-establish them on a legal footing, new Acts of Convocation and of Parliament had become necessary. It also became a question whether the Prayer Book should be revived in its original form, that of 1549, or in its altered shape, that of 1552. The Queen, Lord Burleigh, and those who wished to make the English Services compre- hensive, and to connect them with the old Church of England, desired to restore the first ; but those of the Bishops and Clergy who had adopted Presbyterian customs and principles when abroad during the reign of Mary, considered the second Book more favourable to the novelties which they had learned. In the end, with some second Book was adopted, but with changes. some important changes, which made it more like the first one again : especially as to definite recognition of those sacramental principles which the Puritans endeavoured, but always without success, to drive out of the Church. The Book, thus re-published under the authority of Church and State as before, remained in use without any further changes until it was suppressed at the time of the great Rebellion. The Puritans were unceasingly ^Pra^tr 3Book 13 assailing it all that time; and when James I. came to the throne he summoned a Conference of A.D. 1604. Church Divines and Puritans, at Hamp- Hampton Court ton Court, with the view of discussing the differences between them, and coming to a better understanding. But the arrogant demands of the Puritans so disgusted the King that after three days he dissolved the Conference, and only a few small verbal alterations were made in the Prayer Book. The great Lord Bacon (himself almost a Puritan) painted the characteristics of these wrong-headed controver- sialists with a happy stroke of witty truth, when he said : “ They lacked but two things, the one being learnings and the other In the reign of Charles I. the Scottish . Bishops endeavoured to introduce the The Scottish English Prayer Book into Scotland, but without success. They, however, reviewed it very carefully, made many alterations, and submitted their revised Book to the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury. With their approval it was printed for the use of the Scottish Church in 1637 ; and, although it was never generally used, this “ Scottish Prayer Book’’ exercised considerable influence on the last revision, by which the Prayer Book was brought exactly to its present form in 1661. During the great Rebellion the Puritans gained the object which they had been pursuing for three genera- tions. The Church was persecuted with „ , , , . , J r /-r J Suppressed by unrelenting hatred for hfteen years, and Puritans from during all that time the use of the Prayer Book was made a crime. An Ordinance ” was passed on Jan. 3, 1643, which forbade its use in any Church or Chapel ; and one on the eve of St. Bartholomew, which H 1|iston) of forbade its use in private, and required all copies of it to be given up : heavy penalties being imposed on those who dared to disobey these tyrannical injunc- tions. There were some brave and good men, however, who preferred to ‘^obey God rather than man,” and continued to celebrate Divine Service in spite of this heathenish persecution. § The existing Book of Common Prayer. The Restoration of the Constitution of England brought about the Restoration of the Church of Eng- ^ ^ land as a necessary part of the Constitution. Savoy Con- ^ ference. Another attempt was now made to recon- A.D. 1661. Puritans to the Prayer Book, by means of an assembly similar to that held in the reign of J ames I . This met at the Savoy Palace in the Strand, and was hence called the Savoy Conference.” It was composed of twenty-one Divines on each side, its sittings lasting from April 15 to July 24, 1661. As usual, the Puritans showed themselves most provokingly ignorant and unreasonable. They intemperately re- quired all the distinctive principles of the Church to be sponged out of the Prayer Book, and would be content with no less sv/eeping concessions ; and thus they thoroughly defeated this last official attempt to draw them into unity with the Church. A.D. 1662. The Convocations of Canterbury and Prayer-Book York appointed Committees, however, to settled. review the Prayer Book as it had been used before the Rebellion. These Committees were also authorized by letters patent to act for the Crown ; and being thus turned into a Royal Commission, met at Ely House, in Holborn, and completed their work by tl;e grayer ^ook Dec. 20, i66i. The great and learned Cosin, Bishop of Durham, had marked a number of changes that he thought expedient in a folio Prayer Book of 1619, which is still preserved at Durham, and of which there is also a copy (in Archbishop SancrofPs handwriting) in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. This book was put into the hands of the Commissioners (of whom Cosin was one), and most of the suggestions were adopted. The revised Book having passed through the two Houses of Convocation, was then submitted to the King in Council, and by him was sent to Parliament, with a recommendation that it should be adopted in the Act of Uniformity then under the consideration of Parliament. No alterations were made in the Book after it left the Convocation ; but it was attached to, and made part of the Act of Uniformity, which was made and passed by the Houses of Lords and Com- mons, and which received the Royal Assent on May 19, 1662. Very great care was used that every step of the Book’s progress should be strictly constitutional ; and when it was finally authorized by law, exact folio copies of it were certified by having the Great Seal and copies of the Letters Patent attached to The Sealed them, one of which was sent to every Books. Cathedral, to the Law Courts at Westminster, and to the Tower of London. Several of these are still pre- served as perfect as they were on the day they were issued, and they are the legal authority to be referred to for the exact words of the Book of Common Prayer. Another attempt was made by the Puri- Attempted re- tan party to alter the Prayer Book to their vision of 1689. views in 1689. although a Commission was ap- pointed by William III., and an altered Book pro- duced, the attempt utterly failec^ No further alterations i6 Wf)t I^istorg of ^rager 13ook. were made after 1662 until 1871, when the Tables of Daily and Proper Lessons were reconstructed. Adopted and During that time it has been adopted translated for by the American Church, and in the Brit- other Churches, Colonies. It has also been translated into the following languages and dialects, forty-two in numher : — Latin Russian Amharic Greek Polish Telugoo Hebrew Modern Greek Chinese Welsh Persian Hawaiian Irish Turkish Kafir Gaelic Armenian Bullom Manx Armeno-Turkish Y oruban French Arabic Malay German Bengali Dyak Spanish Hindi Singhalese Portuguese Burmese Indo- Portuguese Italian Mahratta Cree Dutch Tamil Malagasy Danish Susu Maori One of the most interesting facts connected with these translations is, that the Hawaiian version was made (in 1863) by the native King, Kamehameha IV., who also annexed to it a Preface, which shows a tho- rough knowledge of the principles of the Prayer Book. This history of the Book of Common Prayer will show (i) how carefully it was originally constructed out of the ancient Service Books of the Church of Eng- land, which had their origin in Apostolic times : (2) that all changes in it have been made by the represen- tative body of the Church, and confirmed by the repre- sentative body of the nation : (3) that it has kept its ground in the face of greater opposition and danger than any which it has met with in recent times. CHAPTER II ®1)C ■^praBcr IBooU Sustcm of BiOinc (ffiovsljip “ Weknowwhatwewrship"--}ou^ iv. 23. npHE leading principle of the Prayer Book is, that the J- public devotions of the Church must Services consist chiefly of words and acts by which chiefly — God is adored. Every thing that is to be said or done looks towards this purpose : so that even when instruction is given, as in the reading o y Scripture, it is mingled with the adoration offered in he Canticles ; while the very sermon ends, lo - gins, with an ascription of praise to the Blessed Tri y. The great central act of adoration is the Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, which enables — Church on earth to hold communion witti the the One Mediator between God and man, Holy Euchanst. and thus to connect all parts of her devotions with the one prevailing intercession which He is continually making before the Throne of God. All the services are therefore, constructed with a view to the principle expressed by the words, “Through Jesus Christ our Lord ; ” and whether those words are used or not, it is to be’understood that Sacraments, Prayers, Psalms^ c 8 prayer JSook System Hymns, Benedictions, Absolutions, Confessions, and all other parts of Divine Service are coloured by this principle. Thus the one great purpose for which we build Churches and frequent them, is that we may offer ADORATION (or Divine Worship) to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This explains the very large space which is occupied Thus so much Services by Psalms and Hymns Praise in our and Spiritual Songs.” If we take, for an Services . example. Morning Prayer on the first day of the month, we have the Veniie Exulteinus and five other Psalms, the Te Deum and the Benedictus^ besides the short hymn called Gloria Patri^ the Apostles’ Creed, which is also a kind of hymn, the Versicles at the beginning and in the middle of the Service, and the Anthem, or else a metrical hymn, which may be taken from some other source than the Prayer Book. Supposing the whole of Morning Prayer to occupy three-quarters of an hour, these “ Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs,” will occupy at least two of those quarters : and thus two-thirds of the Ser- vice is direct adoration offered in words of praise. And because Adoration is the chief Avork of Divine so many Cere- Worship, a large amount of ceremonial monies, jg used, after the pattern which God Him- self revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai ; to Isaiah and to Ezekiel in their visions ; and, above all, to St. John in the Book of the Revelation. If we went to Church chiefly for the sake of being taught by the reading of Holy Scripture and the preaching of sermons, we need use little ceremony : but the Prayer Book prin- ciple is, that we go there to worship God ; and the worship of God must necessarily be of a highly cere- of I0ii)ine ®orsl^ip 19 monial character, whether offered by Angels and re- deemed saints in Heaven, or by ourselves on earth. All the ceremonies set down in the Prayer Book ought, therefore, to be devoutly used, and many more also which have come down to us by tradition from pre- ceding generations ; such as turning to the Altar at the Creed, saying “ Glory be to Thee, O Lord,’’ before the Gospel, using the sign of the cross, bowing at the name of the Holy Trinity and of Jesus, and others of a like character. Those which are officially used by the Clergy are, of course, used with the same object, and on the same principle — that of adoring, or wor- shipping, God. The same principle, likewise, explains why there is so much SINGING in Divine Worship. For singing is the highest and most beautiful use that can be made of the human voice ; so that, as an organ ^nd so much for singing, David calls the tongue the Singing, best member that I have,” and bids it to join with in- struments of music in the praise of God by such words as ‘‘Awake up, 7ny glory ^ awake, lute and harp.” No one would think that the glorious hymns which have been revealed to us as used by the heavenly host could be used by them in any other manner than by singing, whether the “Holy, Holy, Holy,” heard The songs of by Isaiah and St. John, or the “ Glory to heaven: God in the highest,” heard by the shepherds at Beth- lehem, or the “ Worthy is the Lamb of the whole communion of saints. We can scarcely even think of them ourselves without “ setting ” them to some kind of melody in our thoughts : the expression, “ songs of angels,” comes to us quite naturally whenever we speak of them as worship'bing : and the “new song,” and the “ Song of Moses and of the Lamb,” spoken of 20 ^pratjcr ISook System in the Revelation, quite justify such a tone of thought and expression. And if we come to historical facts, it will be found that to speak the praises of God in Divine Worship in any other manner than by singing them, is quite a recent invention, and an entire innovation upon the practice of God’s Church from the time of Moses to the rise of Puritan habits in the sixteenth century — a period of qooo years. As soon as the of the Temple : ^ .. ^ J i // rr^i Israelites were a free people, “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously : the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.” A similar national song of triumphant praise was sung by Deborah and Barak. And, though the psalmody of the Tabernacle is not directly spoken of until the time of David, it could not have been to unpractised choirs that he gave the com- mand that they should bring up the Ark from its captivity “ with instruments of music, psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, sounding by lifting up the voice with joy.” From his time, at least, and probably long before his time, “ the Levites, which were the singer.s, arrayed in white linen,” stood between the congrega- tion and the altar, and day by day sang appointed Psalms to God with accompaniments of “ cymbals, psalteries, harps, and trumpets.” This mode of service of the Primitive was Continued in the Churchy of Christ; Church: gQ singing of hymns was the feature of its worship which was most noticed by the heathen ; antiphonal chanting and responsive ver- sicles are known to have been used in the very earliest ages of Christianity; some of our Sacred Music is supposed to come down to us from the Primitive of Morsf;(p Church ; and from the Divine Worship of mediaeval times our own system is directly derived. The old words read,” “ say,” and “ sing,” are re- the pattern for tained from the ancient rubrics, meaning churcifof^ the same as they always did, the more or England, less elaborate kinds of musical recitation ; the Psalms are “ pointed as they are to be sung in Churches Canticles, Anthems, and Hymns intermingle with the Prayers and the Lessons from Holy Scripture ; and the voice of Prayer itself ascends to God on the wings of musical intonation and responsive harmony. The devotional system of the Prayer Book is, there- fore, a singing system ; and the Church of England is what the Mediaeval, the Primitive, and the Jewish Churches were, a Singing Church.” Psalms, Hymns, Prayers, Creeds, Litanies, and Responses are all offered to the praise and glory of God, ^‘with the voice of melody,” through Jesus Christ our Lord. And this leads us on to another principle, which is conspicuous in every page of the Prayer Book ; namely, that its system of Divine Worship is one , in which the people are intended to take of the Laity in a large share. Choirs, of many “ lay Services, clerks,” or their solitary representative, the Parish Clerk,” are simply the leaders of the congregation at large ; and neither are, nor ever were, intended to make their voices a substitute for the voices of the whole body. There is a priesthood which belongs to every Christian, as St. Peter tells us ; and this “ priesthood of the Laity” gives them the privilege, and imposes upon them the duty, of taking their part in Divine Service, not only in thought, but in act and word. The Prayer Book shows, in fact, that there is almost as much for the lay part of the congregation to say 22 '^i)t ^raj)cr ISooIi Siistcm and sing as there is for the Clergy ; and even when the Priest collects their suffrages into an offering made by his own voice alone, the continual Amen ” of the people ratifies his offering, and adopts it by an audible Silence of the assent. A Congregation which listens to Laity wrong. Service, but does not join in it, is, therefore, behaving in a very different manner from what it is intended to do ; and in one quite contrary to the spirit of the Prayer Book. There may be indi- vidual persons here and there who, from infirmity or some other cause, cannot join audibly in the chorus of Divine Worship ; but those who can do so and neglect to do so, are forfeiting a privilege and leaving a duty undone. These general principles being made clear, a few The regular words will sufhce to explain what are the fd^n^Prayer^' particular services ordained by the Church Book. of England for carrying them out in her continual practice. Weekly Com- I- The HOLY COMMUNION is intended mumon. Celebrated in every Church at least on all Sundays and other Holy Days : for which pur- pose special Collects, Epistles, and Gospels are ap- pointed, with Proper Prefaces on certain great Festi- vals. This celebration of the highest rite of Christian- ity strikes the key-note of the following week, and connects the other Services with the Intercession of our Lord by drawing down His Sacramental Presence, and making it a ladder between earth and Heaven. Daily Com- Cathedrals and Collegiate Churches munion. where there are many clergy, it is the in- tention of the Prayer Book that there should be a of IBfbUTC ®orsf;ti) 23 daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist ; the Sunday Collects, &c., being appointed for use on every day of the following week. 2. A Daily Service of Morning and Daily Mattins Evening Prayer, or ^‘Mattins” ^nd Evensong,'^ is intended to be offered up in every Church. This practice was adopted from the Temple Services, and has always been observed in times when the Church has been vigorous and active. 3. The Litany is to be sung on Sun- Litany three days, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and at ^ other times when it shall be commanded by the Ordi- nary ; that is, by the Bishop or his official representa- tive. Such continual public acts of Divine Reasons for Worship are expedient for various reasons. services, (i). It is due to the honour of Almighty God that the Church in every place consecrated to His service should begin and end the day by rendering to Him a service of praise. (2). Each Church and Parish being a corporate centre and corporate whole, prayer for God’s grace and His mercy should be offered morning and evening for the body which that Church, and such congregation as can assemble, represents. Thus the Divine Presence is drawn down to the Tabernacle, that it may thence sanctify the whole camp. (3). It is a great benefit to the Clergy to offer Divine Wor- ship, Prayer, and Intercession in the presence of, and in company with, some of their flock : and the Laity should never allow their Clergy to find the House of God empty when they go there to perform Divine Service. (4). There are spiritual advantages in such 24 ^Prawtr %00'k Si^stcm of ©ibmc Morsi^ip constant services which are found out by experience ; and when discovered are dearly cherished. (5). The Daily Mattins and Evensong in Church are the true and real form of Family Worship, for which the latter is but a very imperfect substitute. CHAPTER III J^ornmg ^^rancr My voice shall Thou hear betimes^ O Lord: early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee^ and will look upT — Psalm v. 3. T he Morning Prayer, or Mattins, of the modern Church of England was originally Origin of our formed out of the three very ancient Latin Morning Prayer. Services which were used between Midnight and 6 A.M. in monasteries, and which were called Mattins, Lauds, and Primed In practice these were very commonly made into one Service ; ai^d, as they were all three * The daily services of the Church before its reformation were nominally as follows : — Morning f Mattins, before daybreak. Pravfrc: 'i ^ctuds, at daybreak. I Prime, about six o’clock, ‘‘ the first hour.” Midday ( Tierce , at nine o’clock, “ the third hour. ” Prayers, j Evening Prayers. :{ ‘ the sixth hour. ” . Nones, at three o’clock, “the ninth hour.” Vespers, an early evening service. Compline, a late evening service at bedtime. As public services, these were scarcely known to any of the Laity, except those who were monks or nuns ; but they were in the Primers for private use, and translated into English. See p. 3. J^ornmg ^rai}cr almost exactly alike in the beginning, this caused some unmeaning repetition ; as, for instance, “ O God, make speed to save us,^^ in three places. When the services were properly remoulded into one, as in the Prayer Book, this repetition was avoided. In all these three services, as now in Morning How the Psalms Prayer, Psalms formed the principal por- wereused. 63rd, 148th, 149th, I50th, and 119th (verses i — 32)^ were used every day : the others, up to the 109th, being divided among the seven days of the week. Each of the services was thus longer than our present Morning Prayer; and when joined together, they would have been much too long for the use of the Laity in public worship. The present division of the Psalms was therefore substituted in 1549 ; and thus about one-fourth of the number ap- pointed by the ancient rule adopted for the modern. In the first Book of Common Prayer (1549), Mattins Short form of with the Lord’s Prayer, and ended Morning and with the third Collect ; and there are Evening Prayer. for thinking that this is still the form in which the Service is intended or permitted to be used in ordinary Churches on week days. All before the Lord’s Prayer was prefixed in 1552, and the intercessory prayers which follow the Anthem were added in 1661. The original intention was, therefore, to open Morn- ing Prayer with the words in which our Lord taught us to pray, as the Communion Service opens. But, in condensing the three ancient services, the reforming Divines of 1544-9 had unaccountably omitted the Con- 2 The rest of Ps. cxix. was said everyday at Tierce, Sexts, and Nones. J^orning ^raBtr 27 fession and Absolution, which had always been used towards the close of Prime.” To remedy this defect, our present Confession and omission of 1549 Absolution were composed and placed Remedied m at the beginning of the Service, and thus the character of its opening was much changed. As it now stands, Morning Prayer may be divided into five portions : (i). The Introduction, (2). The Praises, (3). The Lessons, (4). The Profession of Faith, (5). The Prayers. § I. The Introduction. The Sentences are short ‘Mnvitatories” to Divine Service, very appropriately sung as anthems in some churches. Some of them are of a much more peni- tential character than others, marking the tone of the season of Lent. One is especially adapted for Ad- vent ; and all may be so used as to distinguish parti- cular days or seasons, thus “ giving the key-note ” to the Service which follows, and inviting all to worship in the< spirit thus indicated. The Exhortation was prefixed to Morning Prayer at a time when daily public prayer was a novelty to the Laity, and when they were so ignorant of the true nature of Divine Worship that such a short homily on the subject had a practical use. The Confession is to be said by all kneeling. The proper way of saying it is to repeat each clause (indicated by a capital letter) as soon as the Minister ^ has said the last word of that clause. It should always 3 “Minister,” in Prayer Book language, means “the person ministering,” whether Bishop, Priest, Deacon, or (as in the Baptismal Service) Layman, 28 J^orning prai?cr be said in monotone"*, that is, on one uniform musical note, except in those churches (as Ely Cathedral) where it is the custom to sing some of the clauses to several notes, like a chant. Being a “ General Confession,” it is framed in lan- guage which avoids the mention of particular sins ; and this language is substantially taken from Holy Scrip- ture. The spirit in which it should be used is pointed out in a rubric which precedes the Confession to be used on board ship when there is danger of ship- wreck : — “When there shall be imminent danger, as many as can be spared from necessary service in the Ship shall be called together, and make an humble Confession of their sin to God: In which every one ought seriously to reflect upon those particular sins of which his conscience shall accuse him.” The Absolution is to be said only by a Priest (or by a Bishop, since his office includes that of a priest also), and is to be said by him sta^idmg^ as a cere- monial sign that he is speaking with authority in the name of God. The absolving words are, “He par- doneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel the meaning of the latter words being, “ those who unfeignedly be- lieve His Gospel promise respecting Absolution.” As it is impossible for each person in a congregation to confess his particular sins, it is impossible for the priest to give more than a general absolution, which looks neither to particular sins nor particular persons. It is sown broadcast by the merciful Sower in whose ^ “Monotone” is formed from two Greek words, monos, one, toms, sound. Jilornmg ^prapfr 29 name it is spoken. Some falls, in every large and mixed congregation, on stony ground, some by the way side, some among thorns ; but it is God’s Word of Absolution, and where there is good ground, there it falls with absolving power, bringing that which its rubrical title indicates, Remission of Sins.” The Lord’s Prayer is to be said ‘Gvith” the Minister, word by word, not “ after ” him, as the Con- fession is said. It also should be said in ‘‘monotone,” except where it is the practice to sing it as in chanting. This Divine prayer should often be used with a “ special intention,” in which its various petitions are directed in a particular manner towards particular objects, as for example, “ Thy Kingdom come^ in the conversion of the heathen, in the Second Advent, in our hearts. Thy will be do?ie^ in the Church, in the State, in the case in which I am in doubt, in resigna- tion to my affliction.” In this part of Divine Service it confirms and seals the Word of Absolution, and opens the door of Praise. But a Christian, who has learned how to apply the Lord’s Prayer in the manner indicated above, will often find other uses for it here and elsewhere in public worship, so that a momentary thought may give it a new and present application and power. § 2. The Praises, The great central work of the Daily Offices is that of singing praise to God ; and chiefly in the words of that sweet singer, who belongs equally to God’s ancient Israel and to His Christian Israel. To prepare our- selves for this work, we first sing “ O Lord, open Thou our lips, and our mouth shall show forth Thy praise 30 JHornmg and then the hymn to the Blessed Trinity, “ Glory be to the Father ’’ as a key to the meaning in which all such praises are sung. The Versicles, or little verses, are known with certainty to have been in use since the sixth century, and are probably part of the Apostolic Ritual. They are taken from Ps. li. 15, O Lord, open Thou my lips ; and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise,” and from Ps. Ixx. i, “ Make haste, O God, to deliver me ; make haste to help me, O Lord the ‘Gne” being changed into ‘^us^’ in 1552, to give a more congrega- tional tone to them. They form a most fitting prefix to what follows, since, except God open our lips, we cannot show forth His praise to His glory. It should be remembered that these and all such versicles are used in the name of the Church, and that the indi- vidital application of them is subordinate to this chief application of them in the name of the one mystical body. Even the original “ my ” and me ” had the latter meaning ; as it often has in Scripture. The Gloria Patri comes down to us from the Primitive Church, and is naturally traceable to the angelic hymns in Isaiah vi. 3 and Luke ii. 14, the Trinitarian form of it being equally traceable to our Lord^s words in Matthew xxviii. 19. It has been used in this part of Divine Service for at least 1300 years, and can be traced in such use for nearly as long a time in the Church of England. It also occurs in the same position in the daily offices of the Eastern and the Continental Churches ; so that, throughout the world, the Church Catholic opens its lips day by day with the same words of faith in the Blessed Trinity, praising and worshipping the Three in One and One in Three. JHorning ^rai}er 3 ^ It is a very ancient and a very proper ceremony, to incline the head at the first half of this hymn as a humble gesture which recognizes the glory of God in three Persons ; and which follows the example set by the holy Angels when they veil their faces with their wings as they sing to the glory of the Trinity in the vision of Isaiah. The Alleluia, that is, Praise ye the Lord,’^ re- minds us that we are joining in Divine Worship with the Church in heaven, which sings ever Praise our God, all ye His servants, both small and great Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.^’ (Rev. xix. 5, 6.) The Venite, so called from the Latin words Vejiite extdtemus with which the 95th Psalm opens, has been used as an “ invitatory,” or invitation to praise God in the Psalms, from the earliest days of Christianity, and was probably adopted from the Temple Service. In the ancient Church, it used to be interpolated with verses which adapted it to the various Christian seasons ; and these being dropped in 1549, the sentences at the beginning of Morning Prayer were introduced as a substitute for them (though rather a meagre one) in 1552. On Easter Day, certain verses from St. PauFs Epistles to the Romans and the Corinthians are used instead of the Venite ^ which are printed before the Collect for Easter Day. These verses are sung to the praise of Christ in respect to His Resurrection : and it is to the praise of Christ that the Venite is to be sung, showing forth the glory of Him who is our Saviour and our King, by Whom all things were made, Who is the Good Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. The Psalms are to be said (in monotone) by the 32 Jiflorning ^rager Minister and the congregation alternately, or sung (to chants) by the choir and congregation, verse by verse alternately, from the opposite sides of the Church^. The difference between the Prayer Book and the Bible English of the Psalms is explained by a notice at the beginning of the Prayer Book : — “ Note. That the Psalter followeth the Division of the Hebrews, and the Translation of the great English Bible, set fortji and used in the time of King Henry the Eighth, and Edward the Sixth.’’ The last revision of the Prayer Book was made more than half a century later than the last translation of the Bible ; but it was considered that the older version of the Psalms was better adapted for singing, and not less true to the original words of the inspired writers. In the ancient Church of England, when daily services were sung only in Cathedrals and monastic Churches, the Psalter was sung through (according to a parti- cular system) every week. But when the Book of Common Prayer was set forth, with a daily Service in which the Laity were intended to join, the present division was adopted, by which all the Psalms are sung through in the course of four weeks instead of seven days. Meaning of the Psalter is to be used in Divine Psalms in Service chiefly with reference to what is Divine Service, pg a Christology ; ” that is, its appli- cation to our Lord and His Mystical Body the Church. The Jewish sense of the Psalms has passed away; and they are now to be used in this Christian sense, of which every one of them is capable, and which is illustrated by the appropriation of some as Proper ® This is called antiphonal singing, from two Greek words, meaning, voice against voice. J^ornmg 33 Psalms on particular Holy Days. A careful study of these, of which the list is subjoined, will give a key to the proper use of the Psalms day by day in a Christian sense. MATTINS. EVENSONG. Christmas Day. . Psalm 19 Psalm 89 45 no . . . «... 85 132 Ash Wednesday . Psalm 6 Psalm IC2 32 130 38 143 Good Friday . Psalm 22 Psalm 69 40 54 88 Easter Day Psalm 2 Psalm 1 13 57 114 Ill 118 Ascension Day Psalm 8 Psalm 24 15 47 21 108 Whit Sunday . . Psalm 48 Psalm 104 68 145 This intelligent use of the Psalter will also be pro- moted by an investigation of the manner in which our Lord and His Apostles applied it in a mystical sense on many occasions, a few of which may be found by the following references : Luke xxiv. 44. Matt. xxi. 16, 42 ; xxii. 45. Luke xxiii. 46. John xiii. 18 ; xv. 25. Acts ii. 25, 31, 36. Rom. xv. 9, ii. Using the Psalms in this way, it will soon be under- stood and felt that many solemn words and expressions which we should shrink from using with reference to ourselves, may be sung without hesitation when they are recognized as the words of Christ and His Church. D 34 jj'^orning The sufferings, the condemnation of sinners, the triumphs, the exalted joys, spoken of in the Psalms, are Christ’s or those of His mystical Body ; and they are spoken by us, not as expressions of personal feel- ing, but that by the singing of these inspired words, given to us by God for the purpose, we may make the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise Him” day by day. It may also be remembered that the Gloria Patri sung after each Psa^pn seals this Christian sense of them, and connects them with that fuller knowledge of God which has been revealed in the coming and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. § 3. The Lessons. At Morning Prayer the two Lessons are taken from the books of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament. The system on which they are read is as follows : 1. The Old Testament is read through, in selected portions, at the ordinary daily services ; some few passages in several books being omitted, as unsuitable for public reading. The four books of Kings and Chronicles are read together in such a manner as best to illustrate Jewish history, and the prophecy of Isaiah is put off until the middle of November, that it may come in during the season of Advent, on account of its special teaching respecting our Lord. 2. After the Old Testament has been read through (except Isaiah), the more edifying books of the Apo- crypha are read for three weeks, from October 27th to November i8th. 3. The books of the New Testament are read over, chapter by chapter, at. Morning Prayer on week-days Jf^orning grayer ?.5 and Sundays : the only interruptions being a fev/ Proper Lessons on certain Holy Days. 4. Proper Lessons from the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament are appointed for Sundays and other Holy Days. These are selected with the view of illustrating (i) the general dealings of God with His ancient people, and (2) the particular circumstances which the Holy Days commemorate. The object of reading Holy Scripture Lessons as acts in Divine Service is not only to instruct the congregation, but also to set forth the glory of God. The Lessons are therefore to be regarded as acts of worship telling forth His marvellous works. His justice, and His love. And this is why they are followed by the Canticles, that the narration of God’s dealings with His people may run up into acts of praise, by means of which even His written Word becomes an offering of adoration made in the Presence of His Divine Majesty. In the ancient Church of England, from three to nine short Lessons were said at Mattins, and a Can- ticle or an Anthem was sung after each of them ; but in the Prayer Book two principal Canticles have been appointed for ordinary use, and two others which may be substituted under particular circumstances : all four having been taken from some part of the ancient Morning Services. The Te Deum has been sung at Mattins in the Church of England from time immemorial, probably for more than a thousand years. In its present form this glorious hymn comes down to us from the fourth century ; but a portion of it is quoted by St. Cyprian (a.d. 252), so that it represents a still more ancient hymn, and is thus traceable almost to Apostolic times. D 2 36 J^lorning It was anciently called the Hymn of St. Ambrose, or of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine ; but probably the former only composed music for it — that known as the Ambrosian chant. An ancient tradition also associates it with the baptism of St. Augustine by St. Ambrose, asserting that they sang it in alternate verses on that occasion ; but there is good reason to think it was a well-known hymn of the Church long before they thus used it. Explanation of The first ten verses of the Te Deum are xkx^TeDetim. offering of praise to the Father Almighty, with the Scriptural recognition of the Blessed Trinity implied in the words which Isaiah heard the Seraphim sing when he beheld the glory of Christ, and spake of Him. In the three following verses this angelic song is developed into an ascription of praise to each Person, — the Father, infinite in Majesty, the Son the only begotten, and the Holy Ghost the Comforter. Praising the Unity and Trinity of the Divine Nature, the whole Church joins together with the voices of Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, and the holy Church throughout the world ; adoring God in the Church Triumphant and in the Church Militant, and. acknow- ledging Him as the Divine Object of all Divine Wor- ship. Then begins (at the 14th verse) that part of the hymn in which God is praised for the work of the In- carnation, from ‘‘Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ,^’ being all addressed to our Blessed Lord. In the last verses, with a mixture of triumph and plain- tiveness, the Lord’s first Advent is treated as leading on to His Second, for v/hich our daily life is a prepara- tion ; and the “ let me never be confounded,” reminds us of the individual interest which each has in the JHorning l^raptr 37 work of Christ, and in the offering of praise and sup- plication by the body of the Church. Thus the structure of the Te Demn fits it for linking together the Lessons from the Old Testament and from the Gospels ; the vision of God in prophecy associating it with the one, and that of God Incarnate with the other. The Benedicite is the hymn that was sung by the three Jewish young men when they were walking in the furnace with One like unto the Son of God. It was used in Divine Service as early as the time of St. Chrysostom, and was sung every Sunday, with the Psalms, in the ancient Church of England. When this and the other Old Testament hymns (the songs of Isaiah, Hezekiah, Hannah, Habakkuk, and Moses) were struck out of the Psalter in 1549? this was placed here to be used in Lent instead of the Te Deuvi. But it is scarcely appropriate to that season, being of so joyous a character ; and, as the rubric now stands, it may be used at any fitting time in the place of the former Canticle. The Benedictus was a Sunday Canticle in the ancient Church of England, and appears to have been used in the same way from the time of the great St. Benedict in the sixth century. It is here used as a thanksgiving to Almighty God for His mercy shown to mankind in the Incarnation of our Lord, as told by the Gospel Lessons, and in the foundation of His Church, as told in the Acts. It is the last prophecy of the Old Dispensation and the first of the New, giving the key to an Evangelical interpretation of all prophecies under the one, by which they are connected with the other, and declaring the unity of the faithful under both in the One Lord. 38 Jiftornmg ^rai)er The Jubilate was also a Sunday Canticle in the ancient Church of England, and was placed here in 1552 to be used on Feb. i8th, June 17th, June 24th, and Oct. 15 th, when the Benedict us is read in the Second Lesson itself. § 4. The ProfessioJt of Faith. The recitation of a Creed in Divine Service is of very ancient origin, and has formed part of the daily Offices of the Church of England as long as they can be traced back, that is, to 300 years before the time of the Norman Conquest. The Athanasian Creed was used daily, as well as that of the Apostles, until 1549 ; but since that time it has been appointed to be used instead of it on thirteen festivals ; the intention being that it should be said once a month, and on Trinity Sunday. The Apostles’ Creed can be traced in its present form as far back as the ninth century in English, and as the year 390 in Latin. The substance of it is also found, in Greek, as early as the year 190, and in such a form as to lead to the belief that the writer who gives it — Ireuceus — was simply putting into his own words what was commonly recited in some part of Divine Service. Whether or not it was actually composed by the Apostles, is uncertain ; but the statement that it was so is 1300 years old at the least ; and some strong evi- dence in its favour is given by St. Paul’s references to a Form of sound words in passages like Rom. vi. 17 ; xvi. 17. Pleb. X. 23. Phil. iii. 16. 2 Tim. i. 13. There is, in fact, more reason for believing that it was com- posed by the Apostles under the inspiration of the J^orning grayer 39 Holy Ghost, at their last meeting, than for believing the contrary. The Athanasian Creed is also found in English as early as the ninth century, and in Latin as early as the year 570. It was composed in the first half of the fifth century, either by Victricius, Bishop of Rouen (a.d. 401), or by St. Hilary, Bishop of Arles, who died A.D. 449. It has been called the Creed of St. Athana- sius since the Council of Autun (a.d. 670), but most likely only because its statements are such as were made by that great theologian in maintaining the belief of the Church against the heretic Arius. The substance, and in many cases the very words of it, may be found in still earlier writers. Its language and statements have been very much objected to by those who could not understand it, or who sympa- thized with Anti-Christian heresies ; but it is an in- valuable treasury of sound doctrine respecting the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation ; and the more a person believes in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ, the more will he believe the Athanasian Creed. The central position of the Profession of Faith in Mattins and Evensong gives it a twofold meaning and aspect. First, the Creed sums up the Scriptures which have been said in the two Lessons, to the praise of God and for the edification of the Church ; and. Secondly, it forms an introduction to the Prayers, the language of true prayer being always founded on that of true belief. § 5. The Prayers. The concluding section of Morning Prayer consists of Prayers ; the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, the Col- 40 J^orning ^rai3er lects, and the Intercessions. These are preceded by the ancient mutual Benediction of the Priest and people, The Lord be with you. And with thy spirit.” The substance of this benediction is found in Ruth ii. 4 , Psalm cxxix. 8, and 2 Thess. hi. i6 ; and it is believed to have been handed down from the Apostles in its present form. It should be said while Priest and people are still standing. The Lord’s Prayer is here introduced by the Lesser Litany^ each of the three versicles of which was anciently said three times. This prefix is only omitted at the Holy Communion, in the Baptismal and Confir- mation Offices, and at the beginning of Morning ahd Evening Prayer. In the latter case the Confession is used instead, and in the former it is omitted because the Lord’s Prayer is there used as a Thanksgiving. As a rule, it should always be used before the Lord’s Prayer, this being a primitive custom, and also appeal- ing to the instinct of Christian humility, which shrinks from speaking to God in the words of our Lord with- out first asking His mercy even for our act of prayer, imperfect as it must be to His all-searching Eye. Our Lord’s Prayer is used in this part of the Service as the introduction to other prayers, as it- was previously used to introduce the Praises of the Service. The Suffrages are all taken from the ancient Morning Service of the Church of England ; but their original source is Holy Scripture, as follows : — Shew us Thy mercy ; O Lord : And grant us Thy salvation.” Ps. Ixxxv, 7. “ O Lord, save the King : Ps. xx. 9. And hear us in the day we call upon > Septuagint Thee.” J version. J^orning 41 ‘‘Let Thy priests be clothed righteousness : And let Thy saints shout for joy.” “Save Thy people : And bless Thine inheritance.” [“Give peace in our time,” &c., was substituted in 1549 for Ps. cxxii. 7, ‘ ‘ Peace be within Thy walls, ” &c. , or, “Grant us peace in Thy strength,” as in the older forms. The present words ai'e those of an ancient response or antiphon, attached to the Collect for Peace.] “ Create in me a clean heart, O God : And take not Thy Holy Spirit from > Ps. li. 10, ii. _me.” J In these Suffrages the people exercise their office as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of dark- ness into His marvellous light.” They are usually- sung to a very beautiful form of musical recitation, which has been thus used for many ages in the Church of England. The Collects at Morning Prayer are those for the Day, for Peace, and for Grace. Both the latter are exact translations from the ancient Latin ; and of the eighty-three Collects for the Day, only twenty-two were originally composed in^nglish. The Collect for the Day connects the Daily Office with the Holy Eucharist, from the celebration of which it is borrowed ; and thus it is a link between all the praises and prayers of Mattins and the great Sacrifice on whose wings they are carried up to Heaven. Its weekly or festival variation is also a constant memorial before God of the times and sea- sons which He Himself has ordained, both in the natural and the spiritual world. with^ Ps. cxxxii. 9. j- Ps. xxviii. 9, 42 J^ornmg drawer The Collect for Peace has been used at our Morning Service for 1,250 years. It is a prayer, first, for the peace of the Church Militant, bound to that service which is perfect freedom, and at war with spiritual foes against whose assaults God only can defend it ; and, secondly, for the peace of each Chris- tian Soldier in the army of Christ, that his own part of the work and Avarfare may be ordered to a peaceful and joyful end. The Collect for Grace is of equal antiquity with the preceding. It was originally intended to end the Morning Service, sending each worshipper forth from the Church to his daily occupation fresh from a prayer in which he had asked God to give him His grace that he might do his duty faithfully in that state of life to which he is called. But the intercessory prayers Avere subsequently inserted in the Prayer Book to be used in this place ; and then THE Anthem Avas interposed as the commencement of what is in fact a separate service, expanded from the ancient Bidding of the Bedes.’^ Where no Anthem is used, the Mat- tins should still end Avith the Collect for Grace. The Intercessions represent ancient prayers, but are most of them modern compositions. The Prayer for the Q^een is found in its earliest form in a book of Prayers compiled for the use of Catharine Parr, the wife of Henry VIII., but inserted as it now stands in 1661. That FOR THE Royal Family \A^as placed at the end of the Litany in James the F’irsPs reign, in the year 1604, and in Mattins in 1661. The Prayer for the Clergy and People is very ancient indeed, traceable in English for nearly 500, and in Latin for 1,400, years. J^ornmg 43 The Prayer of St. Chrysostom is translated from the Greek original in the Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom, and it is not found in any other Services than those of the Eastern Churches and the Church of England. The Benediction, or Grace,’’ is supposed to have been taken by St. Paul from the Liturgy used in Apostolic times. It was anciently used in the service of Tierce (the nine o’clock prayers) and was thence transferred to the end of Mattins in i66i. Of the Occasional Prayers nothing more need be said than that they are part of the Intercessions, to be used before the Prayer of St. Chrysostom when occasion requires. CHAPTER IV ICitann Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say. Spare Thy people, O Lord T — Joel ii. 17. L itanies were originally constructed to be sung in procession, and hence were commonly Processional Called “ Processions ’’ in England during use of Litany, the medioeval period. There is no doubt, however, that the whole of the Litany, as it is now used, was often sung at a faldstool in front of the Altar, as at present, and that the Procession itself usually ended with the singing of the latter part of the Litany in the same manner ; and this practice is so extremely similar in character to that referred to by the prophet, that it is difficult not to suppose it had its origin in the Temple Service. But the common account of Litanies is, that they Its or' *n were invented by Mamertus, Bishop of s origin. Vienne, during a terrible succession of earthquakes which devastated that city about the year 467. This supposed first use of the Litany procession was on the three days before Ascension Day; and the earliest name given to such processions was that of lEitanp 45 Rogations^ a name strikingly appropriate to the peti- tions of the Litany, but since retained only as the designation of the three days mentioned. The use of Litanies was gradually extended to many other occasions than those of the Rogation general Days’ processions, and they soon became, popularity, as they have ever since been, the most popular of all services. They were used before the general Easter Eve Baptisms, at Ordinations, at the Dedication of Churches, at Coronations, and before almost all ser- vices of an exceptional or occasional kind, just as, at the present day, before Confirmations ; and, in case of any public calamity, the ‘‘ Processions ” were imme- diately enjoined with special reference to it. The Litany now used in the Church of xhe English England is substantially derived fronx the Litany, ancient P'orm thus used in processions from about the 8th century. It had been translated into English for some centuries before the Reformation, but was only set forth in English for public use in the year 1544. In mediseval times a great number of Invocations of Angels, Apostles, and Saints were added after the four Invocations of the Divine Persons and the Holy Trinity, but these were now removed : a few clauses were taken away, and some new ones added, and in 1549 the Litany was brought into the Book of Common Prayer as it now stands. The first three clauses of the Litany are Explanation of prayers offered to each Person of the Litany. Blessed Trinity, and are called The Invocations. They are acts of adoration, ending with a general prayer for mercy ; thus following the example of one whose cry to our Lord forms part of this beautiful Form of prayer, “ Son of David, have mercy upon me.” *The fourth 46 W)t Xitani} clause is a similar act of adoration and prayer offered to the whole Blessed Trinity, ‘4hree Persons, and one God/' Then follows a long series of short prayers, which Its Prayers addressed to our Blessed Lord, to Christ. beginning with Remember not. Lord, our offences,” and ending at the Lord's Prayer. Those which begin with the word ‘‘From” are called frecations^^^ and relate to the sins or dangers of national or individual life, from which we pray Christ, as our Good Lord, that He will deliver us. The clauses beginning with the word “ By” are called secratioiis^^ and plead the acts and sufferings of our Redeemer as each having a delivering power. After these is a short summary of all the preceding prayers, containing a world of meaning in its few words, asking Christ to deliver us by the virtue of His sufferings and triumph, alike when we are in trouble or in prosperity, during life, and “ in the hour of death,” and in that which comes after death, “ the day of judgment.” Those clauses beginning “That it may please Thee,” are called Petitions or S2tpplicatio7is^ and are prefaced with the significant acknowledgment, “ We sinners do beseech Thee to hear us.” They first supplicate Christ, our “ Lord God,” and our “good Lord,” for the Church as a whole ; then fcr the Sovereign and the Royal Family, for the Clergy, and for the Sovereign's counsellors and deputies in the government of the kingdom and in the administration of justice. After these supplications, follow others for God’s Blessing upon all Christians in general, for all nations in general, for the increase of ourselves in love and obedience, for the advancement of all Christians in grace, and for the conversion of 47 those who arc not yet in the way of truth. Then follow touching supplications for persons in various troubles and dangers, for God’s mercy to all men, and for our enemies : the whole closing with a prayer for His blessing on the works of our hands, and for His for- giveness of all our sins, negligences, and ignorances. This short summary of the Invocations, Depreca- tions, Obsecrations, and Supplications of the Litany, will show how very comprehensive a Form of Prayer it is, and how large a field it opens for the Christian to carry out the Apostolic injunction, “ I exhort therefore that .... supplications, prayers, intercessions .... be made for all men.” With the LordV Prayer — preceded by the “ Kyrie Eleison ” or Lesser Litany — begins the second half of the Litany, in which the responsive form of prayer is still largely retained, but which, not being intended for processional use, but to be said before the altar, drops the regular beat of prayer and response which is so conspicuous in the former half. The whole of this is translated and condensed from the ancient Latin, ex- cept the Prayer of St. Chrysostom, which was first added in the English Litany of 1544. The Litany The beautiful music to which the chant. Litany is usually sung, was adapted for English words from the ancient service under the im- mediate supervision of Archbishop Cranmer. He also arranged other Processions ” for public use ; but Henry VIII. would not allow their publication, and they have now been lost. CHAPTER V CBi)enlng drawer /if shall come to /ass, that at evening time it shall he light Zech. xiv. 7. A S the Morning Service of the modern Church of England was formed out of its three ancient ^ . . Morning Services, so its Evensong was Its origin. Mir • -r- • compiled from the two ancient Evening Services of Vespers and Co 7 npline. Until 1661 it began with the Lord’s Prayer, and ended with the third Collect ; but the Sentences, &c., which had been prefixed to Mattins in 1552, were then prefixed to Evensong also, and the Intercessory Prayers were at the same time added at the end of both. In the ancient Services the thirty-eight Psalms — How the — were divided among the Ves- Psaims were pers of the Week, and the 4th, 31st (verses anciently sung. ^ 134th Were used every evening at Compline. But the present mode of using the Psalms was adopted for Evening as well as for Morning Prayer in 1549. The Venite has never been used before the Psalms of the Evening, the Invitation which it offers to praise God extending throughout the day. CBbtnmg 49 The First Lessons at Evening Prayer are ap- pointed in continuance of the system adopted at Morn- ing Prayer ; but the Canticles are different. The Magnificat was used in the Primitive Church at an early Morning Service, that of “ Lauds ; ’’ but, as early as A.D. 820, it had found a place in Vespers ; and the English Church has used it in her Evensong for at least 800 years. It fulfils the same office towards the Lessons that the Tc Dettin does at Morning Prayer, linking together the Old and the New Dispensations. But the Magnificat is more closely associated with our Blessed Lord than any other hymn of the Church, and so has been held in special honour out of love to Him. For it was spoken by the Blessed Virgin, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, during the very time when the Divine overshadowing was causing her to be the Mother of our Lord. She offered up her thanks- giving to God because He had remehibered His mercy and His ancient covenant by making His Son incar- nate through her ; and the Church offers up her thanks- giving to Him daily in the same words, because through her the mystical Body of Christ is being con- tinually brought forth to the promotion of His glory. As the other Canticles are, so also is this sung to the praise of the Personal WORD as revealed in the written Word — to the praise of God in Christ, revealed in the Old Testament as well as in the New. The Cantate Domino was not used in any other way than as a Saturday morning Psalm in the ancient Church of England ; but it was placed here in 1552 as an alternative Canticle, that might be used after the First Lesson. The only occasion on which it seems desirable to use it, is when Evensong is repeated ; in which case it might be used at the first Evening Ser- CHbenmg ^ra^tr. so vice, the Magnificat being always reserved for the latest. The Second Lessons are taken from the New Testament, which is thus read over in the course of every year, in the evening as well as in the morning. The course of reading is, for the Acts of the Apostles to be begun on January ist, the Gospels on July 6th, and the Revelation (taking up the chapters from Morning Prayer) in the last fortnight of the year. First Lessons are appointed for two Evensongs by the revision of 1871, and where there is only one Evensong, either of these may he used. Where no Proper Second Lessons are appointed, the Minister may select for the Second Evensong any chapter from the Gospels, or any of the Lessons appointed from them, setting aside the Lesson of the day. The Nunc Dimittis is their proper Canticle, having been so used from the earliest ages of the Church. It is so fitted for Evensong as to seem written for the purpose. Like the words of David, I will lay me down in peace and take my rest, for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me to dwell in safety,” it is the aspiration of that faith which can behold Christ lightening the darkness of all night, and ful- filling the words of the prophet, ^4t shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.” As the Gospels of the Morning Lessons reveal to us the Day Spring from on high visiting us, so the Epistles of the Even- ing Lesions reveal the Light of Chrisfis glory enlight- ening the Gentile as well as the Jewish world. The tone of the Canticle is singularly in agreement with that of the whole Evening Service ; the tone of those whose work for the day is done, and who look solemnly, yet not gloomily, to that night when ‘‘no man can 51 work,’’ but in which there remaineth a rest for the people of God,” through the salvation which Christ has prepared. The Deus Misereatur was the fourth Psalm in the Sunday Lauds of the ancient Church, but was placed here in 1552. The remarks made respecting the Cantata Domino apply to this Canticle also. The Collect for Peace comes from the same ancient source as that used in Morning Prayer. Placed here with the intention of making it nearly the last word of Evensong, it forms a sweet cadence of prayer leading on to the last notes of the third Collect. It follows very exactly the tone of the Nttnc Dimittis^ ringing with a gentle echo of the peace which lies beyond this world, as well as of the peace which the world cannot give, nor the soul entirely receive while it is in the world. In the Morning Collect the prayer is that of one who is asking God of His great mercy to bless and co-operate with His own in their strife against spiritual foes ; but in the evening the words are more those of one who is no longer able to struggle with his enemies, but looks to his Lord God alone to be his defence and his shield. The Collect for aid against all perils is equally ancient with the preceding, and has been used at Evening Prayer from the days of the Primitive Church. Here again the tone of the Nunc Dimittis is followed up ; and no words could be found which could be more appropriate for ending that service in which the Church and the individual Christian is committed to the care of a loving Father during the hours of darkness. The remaining portions of Evening Prayer are iden- tical with the corresponding parts of Morning Prayer, and do not^, therefore, call for further notice. E 2 u. OF ILL LIB. CHAPTER VI I^ol^ Communion This do in remenibrance of Me T — Luke xxii. 19. T he Service for the Celebration of the Holy Eucha- rist is derived from the ancient Missal of the Origin of Eng- Church of England, which was , also de- hsh Liturgy. rived from the ancient Liturgy of the Church of Ephesus, brought to France, Spain, and Britain soon after the death of St. John. It under- went little alteration in being translated for the first Book of Common Prayer, but was more changed in 1552. Some subsequent revision has all tended to- wards a restoration of the more ancient forms. This Service maybe best understood by considering , it as composed of six sections, — The In- Its structure. i • -A troduction, the Offertory, the Preparation of the Communicants, the Sacrifice, the Communion, and the Thanksgiving. § I. The Introdtiction. This portion of the Liturgy^ extends as far as the end of the Nicene Creed, including the Sermon. It ^ The word “Liturgy” properly belongs only to the Service for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. l|ol5 ©ommuniott S 3 lias been a too common practice to use no other part of the Communion Service except on the first Sunday of the month, or even more rarely ; but this is con- trary to the spirit of the Prayer Book, which provides for the whole of the Service being used whenever the Introduction is said, especially on all Sundays and other Holy Days, for which Collects, &c., are ap- pointed. The Lord’s Prayer is said here, as every where else in Divine Service, with a special object, and not as a pointless repetition. The Celebrant (that is, the Priest or Bishop who is to consecrate the elements) uses it for himself (and therefore it is not repeated by the people) as a prevailing intercession connected with his particular duty, that he may be found not unworthy to represent his Lord the Chief Priest of the Church in the offering of the Holy Eucharist. It should be heard, and mentally joined in by the people, with the same special object, since the offering to be made is made by them in conjunction with their leader who stands at their head in front of God’s Altar. The Amen ” is to be said only by the Priest, as the type in which it is printed is meant to show. The Collect for Purity is a prayer of the early Church, and has been used in its present place in the Church of England for at least 800 years ; but it has no place in the Roman Liturgy. Like the Lord’s Prayer preceding, it is a part of the Celebrant’s prepa- ration for his duty, and of fhe laity for theirs. Standing at the head of his flock, the Priest offers up this preli- minary prayer to God for himself and for them, that all may have their hearts cleansed from evil and wander- ing thoughts, and prepared for the solemn rite in which they are about to take their respective parts. 54 W)t 3^olt) CDommunion The Ten Commandments were read in English, and expounded to the people with great frequency in the ancient Church of England ; and this habit pro- bably led to their use in this introductory portion of the Communion Office. The Kyrie Eleisoft^ or Lesser Litany, was also said nine times (as at the end of the Litany) after the Collect for Purity. The change made was, therefore, to substitute the one response now used nine times, instead of the two Lord have mercy,’’ “ Christ have mercy,” to add the tenth, and to say the Commandments in a Liturgical or ritual manner, in- stead of as the text of a Sermon. The “ Kyrie Eleison ” here used is a Christian application of the Decalogue, in the words of Jeremiah xxxi. 33, and Psalm cxix. 36, and as already made by St. Paul in Hebrews viii. 10. It may be traced in Psalm cxix. 34, 36, and 112. The Commandments and the Response together form an Eucharistic Litany : such prayers for obe- dience to God’s law following the tone of the preceding Collect for purity of heart. The Collect for the Sovereign is given in two forms, both of which are believed to be derived from ancient Latin prayers, of which many similar to these two are extant. Its insertion in this part of the Com- munion Service, in addition to the intercession for the Sovereign in the Prayer for the Church Militant,” arose partly from temporary reasons connected with the great disloyalty of many persons at the time of the Reformation. But in the ancient Eucharistic Litany of the Eastern Church there is a similar prayer ‘‘For our most religious and God-protected Sovereigns, for all their Court and their Army, let us beseech the Lord. Lord have mercy upon us.” ^f)c '^ole Communion 55 The Collect of the Day is one of eighty-three which are prefixed to their respective Epistles and Gospels, and which are framed with especial reference to those Scriptures, as the latter are selected with reference (in general) to some person or event ccnn- memorated before God at that particular season. Of these Collects the greater number are known to have been in use in the Church of England for at least 800 years, that is, since St. Osmund revised our ser- vices in 1085. But they have probably been used by our Church much longer, as they are of much older date. Five of them are extant in the Sacramentary of St. Leo, A.D. 451 ; twenty-one in that of Gelasius, A.D. 492 ; twenty-eight in that of St. Gregory, A.D. 590 ; and seven are translations of other equally ancient prayers or Anthems. The remaining twenty-two were composed for the Book of Common Prayer, many ex- pressions being, however, borrowed from ancient sources. This concise and beautiful form of prayer was origi- nally called the “ Collect,” because it is a gathering together of the supplications of many into one by the voice of the Priest, while in prayers and versicles he and the people pray alternately. But we need not confine the meaning to this, for it is equally true of the Eucharistic Collects, that they gather together in one short prayer the leading ideas of the Epistle and Gospel ; and the Collect in the Litany condenses into a focus all the preceding supplications. It is a form of prayer founded on the model given to us by our Lord, and the only two Prayers of the Church in the New Testament (Acts i. 24, 25, and Acts iv. 24 — 30) are of this character. The petition itself is always very simple, is generally introduced by some reason ^f)C CTommmucin 56 why that special petition is offered, and is followed by an act of adoration, in which the Mediatorial office of our Lord is usually named. Such careful and me- thodical construction makes the Collects of the Com- munion Service more condensed and forcible in their language than any other forms of prayer ; and they dwell on the memory like effective strains of song. The Epistle and Gospel represent the oldest form in which Holy Scripture was read in the Christian Church. The Holy Eucharist was, indeed, celebrated for nearly twenty years before St. Paul wrote his first Epistle, and for nearly thirty years before the first Gospel was written by St. Matthew. But there can be little doubt that portions of the Old Testament were even then read ; and that the New Testament Scrip- tures were used in the same way as soon as they were completed and generally circulated. Our present arrangement of the Epistles and Gospels is (with a very few exceptions) that* of the ancient English Missal"; and was originally derived from a Lection- ary,^^ arranged by St. Jerome about A.D. 370. The principle of their selection is that of illustrating Arrangement the two great divisions of the Christian of Epistles and year, from Advent to Trinity, and from Gospels. Trinity to Advent. In the first, our Blessed Lord is set beforo^us in a life-like diorama of Gospels, which tell us about Him and His work, not as in a past history, but as if the events were now passing before us ; so that the Gospels are, as regards Lloly Scripture, what the Obsecrations of the Litany are as regards Prayer, a memorializing before God of 2 This differs in many cases from the arrangement of the Koman Missal, and, where it differs, agrees with St. Jerome. Ef)t CTommunion S7 the Acts of Christ. In the second half of the year, the long-drawn season of Trinity, we see illustrated the Faith and Practice of the Church : her continuance, by the power of the Pentecostal outpouring, in the true faith of the Blessed Trinity, her practical follow- ing of her Master and Head through a long proba- tionary career. It must be observed that the Epistles are arranged on a principle of consecutive reading similar to that of the daily Lessons, but that there are many striking harmonies between them and the Gospels. The reading of the Gospel has always ^ . Ceremonies at been treated with special reverence m the reading the Communion Service. All stand to hear it, and, before it is read, sing the versicle, Glory be to Thee, O Lord : ” both practices being handed down from the ancient Church. In many Churches it is also the custom to sing “Thanks be to Thee, O Lord’’ at the end of the Gospel. Such short hymns are similar in their application to the Canticles of Morning and Evening Prayer. The Nicene Creed follows the reading of the Gospel as the Apostles’ or Athanasian Creed follows the Second Lesson. It is an expanded form of the Apostles’ Creed, adopted by more than 300 Bishops at the Council of Nicaea in ttte year 325. This Council set it forth only as far as “ I believe in the Holy Ghost.” The remaining clauses being added by the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381. It is the most authoritative Profession of Faith possessed by the Christian Church, and is therefore placed here in its most solemn service. When a Sermon is preached at the time of the celebration of the Holy Communion, it is to be preached immediately after the Creed ; for 58 CDommunitm as the Creed declares the Faith contained in Holy Scripture, so ought the Sermon to be grounded on and regulated by the doctrine stated in the Creed. § 2. T/ie Offertory, After the Sermon the Celebrant again takes his place before the Table of the Lord, for the purpose of making a solemn offering of the Bread and Wine which are afterwards to be consecrated. If there are any alms for the poor, or other devout offerings of the people (such as money or goods for the service of God), they are also offered at the same time, that such gifts to Him from Whom all things come may be sanctified by the Altar on which they are placed, and by His Presence there. Until the time of the Offertory it is customary (the custom being significant but not essential) to' keep the Bread and Wine standing on a Crede^ice-table at the side of the Chancel, and not upon the Lord’s Table. This custom (or any other by which the “ Elements ” are brought to the Altar at the moment when they are to be offered) makes the “ Oblation of the Elements ” a plain and important ceremony, as it has always been from the time of the Primitive Church. The Bread is first placed upon the AltSr, then a little Water is added to the Wine (in accordance with a practice as old as the Church itself), to signify the union of the Divine and Human Natures in Christ, and as a lively memorial of Him Who ‘‘did shed out of His most precious side both water and blood ; ” and this “ mixed Cup ’’ is also placed on the Altar. The Prayer for the Church is then said by the Celebrant, this being in reality the beginning of the llolp CTommunion 59 Consecration, although the Preparation of the Com- municants^’ comes in afterwards between it and the Act of Consecration. The object of this Prayer is (i) to commend to God the gifts which are then lying upon His Table, both alms ” and oblations ; ” and also (2) to com- mend to Him the whole body of the Church, living and departed at a time when the offering up of the Eucharist makes intercession a special duty of love, and gives to it a special hope of prevailing power. Such intercessions at such a time have been used by the Church of Christ from the earliest ages to which we can trace Christian customs ; and they are one chief means towards drawing closer that Communion of Saints in which we so often profess our belief. § 3. The Preparation of the Communicants, The Confession'^ follows, after an Invitation to draw near with faith,” in which the principal words come from the primitive Liturgy of St. James. It is a ‘‘general” Confession, similar in character to that used at Morning and Evening Prayer, not mentioning particular sins, but which each person who uses it may ^ The Mediaeval heading of this prayer containing the phrase “ Church militant here on earth,” has been supposed to exclude the departed ; but the very prayer from which the heading (or “Oremus”) is taken, mentions “all the faithful, living and departed f just as the present prayer does. The Exhortations and Invitation to draw near do not require any special notice. The former are very instructive Homilies ; but the more they have been read, the less people have seemed to believe the statements which they contain. The Exhortation at the time of Communion is grounded on a Mediaeval form, which is printed in the “ Annotated Book of Common Prayer,” page 179. 6o CTommunion use as the expression of penitence for sins that have been thought of one by one beforehand with penitent sorrow. Its Mediaeval original (in English) stood after the Consecration, but of course before Communion: and the change of place is made that the whole Con- gregation, as well as the Celebrant and his Ministers, may humbly ask God’s pardon before approaching the last solemn Act which brings down Christ’s Sacra- mental Presence. The Absolution is also general in its form, the latter half being translated from the ancient Latin. It conveys what it professes to convey — pardon and deli- verance from sin to those whose Confession has been honest and true ; and the pardon so conveyed is con- firmed and sealed by the Sacred Communion after- wards effected between the Absolver Christ, and those who have been absolved. It is to quicken the faith of the latter in such an absolving Presence of Christ, that the Comfortable Words are introduced after the Absolution. They are not found in any other Liturgy, but are dear to the English ear, § 4. The Sacrifice, The first object for which the Holy Eucharist is cele- brated is, that a memorial of Christ’s Sacrifice may be made by means of it. This memorial is made to God : our Lord’s words, This do in remembrance of Me,” meaning ‘‘This offer for ‘a memorial’ of Me ‘before the Lord your God The Holy Eucharist is there- fore co7isecrated before it is partaken of ; and the Con- 5 See Numb. x. 10. The word here translated “do” is translated “offer” in more than fifty places in the Hol)> Bible \ and thus means “do sacrifice,” as in Jer. xxxiii. 18. I|ol8 CTommunion 6i secration is a memorial offering, or Sacrifice, of that which the Bread and Wine become by consecration — the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. This solemn Act of Consecration is preceded by an Act of Praise and Worship, and by a Prayer of Humble Access’^ which marks the approach of the most sacred portion of all Divine Service. The Act of Praise and Worship consists of four Yersicles, the Preface, and the Sanctus. All these are found almost word for word in every known Liturgy, in every part of the Catholic Church, from the earliest times ; and there can be no doubt that they come down from the Apostolic age. No better commentary has ever been written on this part of Divine Service than that which was made by St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem (a.d. 348), and de- livered in one of his Catechetical Homilies, near to the very spot where the Holy Eucharist was instituted. “ After this,^’ he says, “ the Priest cries aloud ‘ Lift up your heartsi For truly ought we in that most awful hour to have our heart on high with God, and not be- low, thinking of earth and earthly things. The Priest then, in effect, bids all in that hour abandon all worldly thoughts or household cares, and to have their heart in heaven with the merciful God. Then ye answer, ‘ We lift them tip unto the Lot'df assenting to him by your avowal . . . Then the Priest says, ‘‘Let us give thanks to the Lordi For in good sooth are we bound to give thanks, that He has called us, unworthy as we are, to so great grace ; that He has reconciled us who were His foes ; that He has vouchsafed to us the spirit of adoption. Then ye say, ‘It is meet and right d for in giving thanks we do a meet thing and a right ; but He did, not a right thing, but what was more than right, when He did us good, and counted us 62 ¥joIi) ([Dommuiuon meet for such great benefits.’^ In the same Homily, St. Cyril also speaks of the Sanctus, or Ter Sanc- TUS^: — ^‘We make mention also of the Seraphim, whom Isaiah, by the Holy Ghost, beheld encircling the throne of God, and with two of their wings veil- ing their countenances, and with two their feet, and with two flying, who cried, ‘ Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.’ [Isa. vi. i. Rev. iv. 8.] For this cause, therefore, we rehearse this confession of God, delivered down to us from the Seraphim, that we may join in hymns with the hosts of the world above.” The only part of It is very meet^ right &c., in Laity not to which the choir and congregation should wkh “ Sanctus” itself. It has &c. been the constant practice of the Church from the earliest times for the Priest alone to say the Preface, which in our Liturgy ends with the words “ everinore praising Thee and saying p and then for the people to take up the words Holy ^ holy, holy^^ with a solemn outburst of devout song, in which an Act of Divine Worship is performed by them as a part of the whole Communion of Saints. For “ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of the living God, the heavenly J erusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the First-Born, which are written in Heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.’^ [Heb. xii. 22, 23.] And in this Communion with God, the Holy Angels, the Saints departed, and the Church on earth, this great act of the Celebrant and all others then present is performed. There are “ Proper Prefaces^’ for the Priest to 6 That is, the hymn ‘‘ Thrice Holy, VL\)t ClDommunion 63 insert between the words Everlasting God and ‘•Therefore with angels,” at the four principal sea- sons, namely, Christmas^ Easter^ Asceiision^ and Whitsuntide. These Proper Prefaces are to be said on every day during the octave of the Festivals, and a fifth special one is appointed for Trinity Sunday, which is the last day of the Whitsun octave, and itself a Festival. The Prayer of Huj^ible Access follows this great Act of Praise. It used formerly to be said after the Prayer of Consecration, and before the Commu- nion, but has occupied its present position since 1552. It now forms a lowly approach of Priest and People to both the Act of Sacrifice and the Act of Communion ; and the name by which it is known in the Eastern Church, “ The Prayer of bowing down,” indicates the spirit with which that approach should be made. Tfie Consecration Prayer was formerly the central portion of one long prayer, the first part of which is represented by the Prayer for the Church now said at the Offertory, and the latter part by the first Thanksgiving used after Communion. The object of Consecration is, that the Bread and Wine which have been offered and dedi- The purpose of Gated to Almighty God in the Offertory Consecration, may become the “most blessed Body and Blood” of our Lord Jesus Christ, which being solemnly offered up to the Father as a sacrifice in memorial of ChrisPs Death and Passion, are then given to the communicants to be their “ spiritual Food and Sustenance.” The Consecration is effected by the Priest or Bishop reciting the words and using the actions enjoined, which are those used and instituted by our Blessed Lord. 64 ' was very probably intended originally to be used after Communion, because the Prayer of Oblation had been used before : such having been the habit of Bishop Overall and other great Divines. The restoration of this custom is very much to be desired, as the two prayers are plainly constructed for these two distinct objects. The Gloria in Excelsis (which title is the be- ginning of the hymn as it used to be sung in Latin) is one of the oldest hymns of the Church. The most ancient copy of it known is in a Greek Bible of the fourth century, called “ The Alexandrine Codex,” which is preserved in the British Museum. It was anciently used at the beginning of the Communion Service, and was placed here in 1552. This is a change which has added greatly to the beauty and the meaning of the Liturgy ; for the Gloria in Excelsis is thus associated with the Sacrifice as an act of Worship, and with the Communion as an act of Thanksgiving. The Benediction is a beautiful peculiarity of the English Office, though founded on two very ancient forms, the second of which, and probably the first also, was used in Anglo-Saxon times. It is a noble sequence F 2 68 3§olp €^ommunion to the doctrinal hymn just sung ; and sends forth those who have been brought so near to their Lord, with that peace of His Presence of which He said to His Church as His Steward, My Peace I leave with you.” CHAPTER VII l^oln ISaptism “ Go ye iJiej'efore^ and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Na?ne of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy G hosts — Matt, xxviii. 19. HE Baptismal Office of the Church of England was translated without much altera- History of the tion for the Prayer Book of 1549, but con- siderable changes were made in the revision of 1552. Before the Reformation, the Service was still substan- tially in the form in which it had been handed down from the Primitive Church, when it had consisted of three separate Offices — the Admission of Catechumens (that is, those who had been prepared for Holy Baptism), the Benediction of the Font, and the Baptism itself. These three Offices had originally been used at separate times ; and, when they were joined together, and said at one time, the Service became long and complicated. Much popular superstition had also grown up around some of the ancient ceremonies used in Baptism ; and it was found desirable to leave some of them out of the Rubrics ; retaining firmly, however, the signing of the baptized with the Sign of the Cross. But though these changes were made, the essential 70 ISnptism Form of Baptism remained exactly the same as it had come down from the Primitive Church ; and most of the prayers now used are taken from the ancient Service. As in the case of the Communion Service, this also , may be best understood by dividing it into Its structure. " jo the several sections of which it is made up ; these being (i) The Introduction, (2) The Bap- tismal Vows, (3) The Benediction of the Water, (4) The Baptism, (5) The Signing with the Cross, and (6) The Thanksgiving. § I. The Introduciion. The first portion of the Service, from its beginning to the end of the Collect, Almighty and everlasting God, heavenly Father,’’ answers to the ancient Service for the Admission of a Catechumen, which has been previously mentioned. The Rubrics which follow the Title of the Office Baptism to be the Public Baptism of Infants, are of public. much importance. The first relates to the expediency of administering Baptism zd public^ and its old form well explains why this is expedient. “It appearetli by ancient writers, that the Sacrament of Baptism in the old time was not commonly ministered but at two times in the year, at Easter and Whitsuntide ; at which times it was openly ministered in the presence of all the con- gregation : which custom (now being grown out of use), although it cannot for many considerations be well restored again, yet it is thought good to follow the same as near as conveniently may be. Wherefore the people are to be ad- monished, that it is most convenient that Baptism should not be ministered but upon Sundays and other holy-days, when the most number of people may come together ; as well for that the congregation there present may testify the receiving baptism 71 of them that be newly baptized into the number of Christ’s ■ Church ; as also because in the baptism of infants every man present may be put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his baptism. For which cause also it is expedient that baptism be ministered in the English tongue. Nevertheless (if necessity so require), children ought at all times to be baptized either at the Church or else at home. ” The necessity for Baptism is so great, that, in fact, no time can be improper for making a child the child of God ; but this rule of expediency respecting Public Baptism is one that dates from the earliest age of Christianity, and ought to be attended to by parents as well as by the Clergy. It is provided by the 68th Canon that ‘‘No Minister shall refuse or delay to christen any child according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer that is brought to the Church to him upon Sundays or Holy Days to be christened : convenient warning being given him thereof before.” The “ form of the Book of Common Prayer ” does not, however, allow of Baptisms in Church, except after the Second Lesson — that is, in public, when the congregation is present ; and (if necessity so require) they may be so administered on any day, provided they are administered at this part of Morning or Evening Prayer. The second of these introductory Rubrics Sponsors are relates to the Sponsors, ordering that required, every male child shall have two Godfathers and one Godmother, and every female child one Godfather and two Godmothers. In the Eastern and the Latin Churches only one sponsor is required, though two are permitted. In the Mediaeval English Church the number required was three, as by the present Rubric. The 29th Canon forbids the reception of the 72 ISaptism parents of the child as its sponsors, for they are in fact its sponsors by their natural relation to it, and that in the very highest degree; but an attempt has been made legally to repeal this restriction, and it has received so much ecclesiastical authority, (having been confirmed by the Convocations of Canterbury and York,) that the restriction may be considered as practi- cally removed. The third Rubric requires notice of Baptisms to be What notice to given to the Clergyman over-night, or in be given. inoming before the beginning of Morning Prayer. The particulars to be given may be shown by the ancient Rubric, which required that when the child was brought for Baptism, the Priest should ask the nurse three questions, (i) Whether the child were a boy or a girl ? (2) Whether it had been pri- vately baptized 1 (3) What was intended to be the child’s name ? Much confusion would be avoided if the notice was always given in writing, with answers to these three questions, as they are often answered in Church in so low a voice, that there is a probability of mistakes arising, especially when the Clergyman’s hearing is not quick. Re-baptism The question, Hath this Child been improper. already baptized V* is a very important one ; as it is the unvarying doctrine of the Church, that a person once baptized cannot be baptized again : so that the use of the Form of Baptism over a Christian child could be only a pretence, irreverent even when Conditional inadvertent, and sinful if intentional. Baptism. Should the child have been baptized by a Dissenting Preacher or any other Lay person, the Clergyman may consider it safest to use the Con- ditional Form, If thou art not already baptized, I l^oln IBaptism 73 baptize thee,” unless he can be dearly satisfied that the proper matter” or material, which is Water, was effectively used, and also the proper “Form,” as set down in the Prayer Book. Questions to be asked on this subject are printed at the beginning of the Office for the Private Baptism of Children. The Address, “ Dearly Beloved,” &c., is similar in character to one which was used in the primitive Churches of France, Spain, and England, but it does not appear that any such address was used in Me- diaeval times. It very distinctly sets forth the object for which children are baptized : that, being “ con- ceived and born in sin,” they require to be “ born anew of Water and the Holy Ghost” before they can be- come members of ChrisPs Holy Church ; that is, before they can become Christians. The two Collects which follow are both ancient. The first comes to us from an old German Baptismal Office, through the German translation set forth by Luther in 1523 : the second is from the ancient English Office, and was associated with a Form of Exorcism^ by which Satan was bidden to depart from the child to be baptized. This exorcism was adopted in the Baptismal Office of 1549, but dropped at its revision in 1552. While these Collects are being said, the people should kneel ; the Priest standing through- out the Service, as a sign of authority, and that he acts in the name of his Master. The Gospel ought to be preceded by the versicle “ Glory be to Thee, O Lord,” and followed by “Thanks be to Thee, O Lord,” if such is the custom at the Holy Communion. This Gospel was substituted for Matt. xix. 13 — ig, in 1549, as more distinctly showing the Divine witness against those Anabaptist errors which infected 74 ISaptism the Churches of Europe at that time, and which (as taught by the so-called ‘‘ Baptists still destroy thou- sands of souls for whom Christ died, and for whom, in His great love. He instituted Burial into His Death by Baptism, that they might be saved. The Exhortation is a short Homily on the Gos- pel. In its original form it ended with the saying of the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed by all present ; and the former is still enjoined in the Public Office which follows Private Baptism. The Collect following concludes the Introduction, and is substantially founded on the woVds of the Ex- hortation, praying God to grant that which it has just been declared that He is willing to give. There is no proper authority for the repetition of this Collect by the people ; but the custom has probably arisen from that just mentioned, of their repeating the Lord’s Prayer and Belief at this part of the Service. § 2. The Baptismal Vows, The earliest Christian writings, and even the Holy Baptismal Scriptures, show that some form of interro- interrogatories. gation always preceded Baptism. When the eunuch desired baptism from Philip the Deacon, the latter said, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (Acts viii. 37.) It has also been commonly believed by sound interpreters, that St. Paul’s words to Timothy, “ Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (i Tim. vi. 12), refer to this custom. There is abundant evidence that interroga- 3|oId ISaptism 75 tories similar to those now in use were used in the Pri- mitive Church ; and no doubt the custom is of Apostolic origin. Those of our Office relate to (i) the Vow of Renunciation, (2) the Vow of Belief, (3) the Vow of Obedience. The Vow of Renunciation is spoken of by the early Christian writers, and in the time of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (a.d. 315 — 386) it was made in the form ‘‘ I renounce thee, Satan, and all thy works, and all thy pomp, and all thy service,” the person making it turn- ing to the West, and stretching out the right arm, as though actually speaking to the Evil One. This vow shows how keen a sense the Christian should have (i) of the actual existence of the Evil One, (2) of his power over mankind, and (3) of the utter impossibility of serving both Christ and Christ’s Enemy. The Vow of Belief is a profession of faith made in the words of the Apostle’s Creed. In the Catechism, this Creed is spoken of as containing “ all the Articles of the Christian Faith,” which w^ords illustrate the meaning of the question, Wilt thou be baptized in this Faith?” The profession of faith is founded on our Lord’s words in Matt, xxviii. 19 ; and, from the case of the eunuch in Acts viii. 37, it appears to have been required from the very first. It seems also to be re- quired by our Lord’s words, “He that believeth and is baptized” (Mark xvi. 16) ; for as belief must neces- sarily, in adults, precede Baptism, so some confession of what is believed seems necessary as an outward evidence of belief. The object, however, is not that each person should declare his own private belief, but that he should assent to that of the Church. As re- gards the child, of course it is a promise in his name ; 76 J3aptism and the declaration All this I stedfastly believe,” is, as regards the person speaking, identical with the “ I believe” of the Creed which he is continually repeating in Divine Service. The Vow of Obedience was not represented in the ancient Office, but was inserted here in i66i, pro- bably because there were then many “ Antinomians,” who thought that a converted person was not bound to obey the law of God, being ever after conversion sure of salvation, come what might. For fear such a construction should be put by ignorant persons on the doctrine of new birth in Baptism, a declaration that constant obedience to the law of God is necessary for all Christians was embodied in this promise or vow. § 3. The Benediction of the Water. This was formerly a separate service, as in the Pri- mitive and Mediaeval Church; consisting, in 1549, Prin- cipally of the four short prayers and the Collect now in use (which come down to us from very ancient times), and used once a month. In 1552 the Benediction of the Water was directed to be used at every Baptism, and the Office for it was incorporated with that of the Baptism itself. This benediction of the water of Baptism is not essential to the regeneration of the baptized per- son, as the pouring of the water upon him is ; but it is a solemn recognition of the work of God in the Sacra- ment : a significant symbol of the Creator laying “ the beams of His chambers” — the Temple of ChrisPs mys- tical body — “ in the waters of the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters for the purpose of new creation ; of the Victor breaking in pieces the head of the dragon in those waters, by means of which 13apt{sm the power of the Evil One is counteracted and defeated. Being a rite of so solemn a kind, it should be performed with reverence and exactness ; and so the old custom of making the sign of the Cross in the water at the word ^‘sanc^J^tify,” is very generally adopted, though it is not now the practice to print the cross in the Prayer Book, as formerly, in the places where it is proper to use it. Care must also be taken that the benediction is not repeated ; and, to avoid this, the water should be let off from the font after the conclusion of the Baptis- mal Office. It must be understood that the Benediction of the Water sets it apart for a holy purpose, but does not effect any spiritual change whatever in the water itself. § 4. The Baptism. All that goes before is a preparation for the few words and the simple act by which the i^iportance of actual Baptism of the child is effected ; the act of and all that follows is either thanksgiving for its regeneration, or exhortation arising out of it. But those few Avords and that simple act are the means by which original sin is removed, spiritual life given, the foundation of holy living laid, and the capacity for eternal life bestowed. Their importance cannot, there- fore, be overrated ; too great exactness cannot be shown by the Clergy in using them ; nor can the Laity be too careful in all which depends upon them towards the same object. The Rubric directs the Priest to dip the infant in the water discreetly and warily if the span- Baptism by sors certify him that the child may endure immersion. it ..... but if they certify that the child is weak., it ISaptism 78 shall sttffice to pour water ttpon itP The sponsors rarely, if ever, certify that the child may endure dip- ping ; and the fact of their bringing it to the font fully clothed is, practically, certifying the contrary. Probably there are few infants, with our modern habits, who could be safely dipped in the water at any time of the year, and certainly not in the winter : so immer- sion has long ceased to be the ordinary method of baptizing, in the Churches of Northern Europe at leasts The practice substituted is shown by the words it Baptism by shall suffice to pour water ttpon it and affusion. ]3g done most effectually by the Priest pouring it from his hand or from a shell over the top of the child'’s head as it lies on his left arm. The infant’s cap should therefore be removed, the head fully exposed, and the infant so handed to the Priest that he may without difficulty take it on his left arm. Such care will prevent much confusion and embarras- ment on the part of the Priest and sponsors, and much crying on the part of the infants, who are rarely startled when the cold water is poured on their heads, but seldom otherwise when it is poured or sprinkled on their faces. The more water used, the better. § 5. The Signmg with the Cross. This is not an essential part of Holy Baptism, which would be complete without it ; but it is a very mean- ing ceremony, which has come down to us from The cross earliest ages of Christianity. In anciently signed ancient days, and until the revision of with oil 1552, the sign of the Cross was made with ^ The Council of Trent speaks of pouring, or ‘‘affusion,” as the “general practice” at that time, in the middle of the sixteenth century. IBaptism 79 unction, such as was used in Confirmation and Ordi- nation, and such as is still used for signing the Cross on our Sovereigns at their Coronation. The use of anoint- ing oil has been discontinued, but that of the Cross has been retained in the face of all the wicked opposi- tion that was raised against it by the Puritans ; and a long defence of the custom was drawn up in 1603, which forms Canon 30 of the Canons set forth for the Church of England in that year. The words used by the Priest while signing the child with the Cross are often misinterpreted, ^ . .r 1 .1 -I 1-11 • 1 • Declaration of as if by them the child was received into the child’s new the Church. It has been already received by the act of Baptism, which has made it a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the King- dom of Heaven. All that the Priest does by using these words, is to pronounce that the infant is now one of ChrisPs flock ; and, having done that, to make the sign of the Cross on its forehead, in token that he is enlisted under that Banner of Christ, manfully to fight a.gainst Christ’s enemies and to be His ‘Haithful soldier and servant unto his life’s end.” Some of the wise words of the long Canon referred to make this very clear. ‘Ht is apparent,” it says, that the infant baptized is, by virtue of Baptism, before it be signed with the Sign of the Cross, received into the con- gregation of Christ’s flock, as a perfect member thereof, and not by any power ascribed unto the Sign of the Cross. So that, for the very remembrance of the Cross, which is very precious to all them that rightly believe in Jesus Christ, and in the other respects mentioned, the Church of England hath retained still the Sign of it in Baptism ; following therein the Primitive and Aposto- lical Churches, and accounting it a lawful outward cere- 8o IBaptism mony and honourable badge, whereby the infant is dedicated to the service of Him that died upon the Cross, as by the words used in the Book of Common Prayer it may appear.” § 6. The Thanksgiving, The short Address which immediately follows the signing of the Cross, shows that the Lord’s Prayer and THE Collect are to be used (i) as an act of thanksgiving for the child’s regeneration, and (2) as an act of intercession for its final perseverance in the way of salvation : the use of the Lord’s Prayer in this place being similar to its use after the Communion in the Eucharistic Service. And when the Church bids us with one accord to make our prayers ” to God, in the very words of our Blessed Lord, it is with the obvious intention of making that prayer the central point of devotional expression and devotional unity ; a prayer as capable of expressing with one accord the highest praise and thanksgiving, as it is of expressing the deepest penitence and humiliation. Of the Collect which follows, it need only be re- marked that it shows an unhesitating faith in the effects of Holy Baptism ; and, also, an unhesitating conviction that, without final perseverance on the part of those who have been baptized and have afterwards come to years of discrimination between good and evil, there is no hope of the attainment of that everlasting kingdom of which their regeneration has made them heirs. At the revision of 1661 the Presbyterians objected to this Act of Thanksgiving after Baptism, — We cannot in faith say that every child that is baptized is ‘ rege- nerated by God’s Holy Spirit ;’ at least it is a disput- l|olg IBaptism 8i able point, and therefore we desire it to be otherwise expressed.’’ To this the Bishops replied as follows, — having previously referred to John iii. and Acts iii. 3, for proof that “ Baptism is our spiritual regeneration,” and that by it “ is received remission of sins “ See- ing that God’s Sacraments have their effects, where the receiver doth not ‘ ponere obicem,’ put any bar against them (which children cannot do) ; we may say in faith of every child that is baptized, that it is regenerated by God’s Holy Spirit ; and the denial of it tends to Ana- baptism, and the contempt of this holy Sacrament, as nothing worthy, nor material whether it be adminis- tered to children or not.” Although this objection and its answer are contained in few words, they re- present the substance of a long controversy, and the decision of the Church of England ; a decision delibe- rately expressed, and in the most solemn way, by words spoken to Almighty God, in this prayer. PRIVATE BAPTISM. The Sacrament of Baptism is so “generally neces- sary for salvation,” that a provision is made for christ- ening children at home if they are dangerously ill, rather than they should be suffered to die without being “ brought to Christ.” If a Priest or Deacon cannot possibly be procured for this purpose in time, some man*-^ (or, if a man cannot be procured, a woman) should carefully pour water on the child, so as to be sure that it actually - A lay Churchman should do this, rather than a Dissent- ing Preacher ; the former being a Layman in communion with the Church, the latter a Layman in schismatical separation from it. But either is a “lawful Minister” of Baptism in a case of such urgent necessity. P, 82 lloll) baptism touches its person, saying at the same time the words ‘‘ John” (or “ Mary/’ or whatever the name given may be) “ I baptize thee In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” But no Laypersons should administer Baptism, except in case of extreme necessity ; and when compelled to do it, to save the child from dying unregenerate, they should afterwards offer a prayer to God that their act may be pardoned if it has been done presump- tuously. Whether a child has been privately baptized by a Clergyman or by a Lay person, it should be taken to Church for the appointed Service as soon as possible, if it recovers. The object of that Service is (i) to make a solemn public recognition of the child’s regenerated condition ; and (2) that the child may, by its sureties, make those solemn engagements of the Baptismal Vow which were omitted when it was thought that it would never come of age to fulfil them. ADULT BAPTISM. This Service was introduced into the Prayer Book in 1661, partly because so many persons had grown up unbaptized in the profligate times of the Great Re- bellion and Persecution, and partly to provide for the baptism of converts from heathenism in our foreign dominions. It is substantially the same as the Service for baptizing Infants ; but the persons to be baptized are required to answer for themselves instead of by their Godfathers and Godmothers. They must be well instructed before being baptized. chaptp:r VIII CTonfirmation “ The God of all grace^ Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jestcs . . . make yotc pe7fect^ stablish^ sU'engthen^ settle youT — i Pet. v. io. T he notice which concludes the Service for the Baptism of Infants is as follows : — “Ye are to take care that this child be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed by him, so soon as he can say the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar tongue, and be further instmcted in the Church Catechism set forth for that purpose.” This shows the intention of the Church, as regards the spiritual progress of Christians in their c^teciuzing early days. It is, that as soon as they before Con^ come to an age when they are capable of learning, they shall be instructed in the principles of Faith, Prayer, and Obedience to God, according to the tenour of the Vows made in their name. For this purpose the Church Catechism is set forth as a concise and easily-learned system of Christian doctrine. When this has been well learned, both as to words and meaning, the child is to be brought to the Bishop for G 2 84 CTonfirmation Confirmation ; and no age is any where mentioned Age not laid the Prayer Book or other rules of the down. Church. According to the modern capa- city of children, they are able to learn what is required by the time they are from ten to twelve years old ; but if they are quick and intelligent children, they will probably be ready to be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed by him ” at an even earlier age. The object of Confinnation is well stated in the old Rubric out of which the modern “ Preface ’’ read at the beginning of the Service was formed. “ Confir- mation is ministered to them that be baptized, that, by imposition of hands and prayer, they may receive strength and defence against all temptations to sin, and the assaults of the world and the devil : it is most meet to be ministered when children come to that age, that, partly by the frailty of their own flesh, partly by the assaults of the world and the devil, they begin to be in danger to fall into sin.^^ The Catechizing at Confirmation formerly con- sisted in an actual repetition by the Candidates of the Church Catechism, or of so much of it as Baptf^m^pub^^ Bishop or his deputy might think fit licly accepted to ask. But in 1 66 1 the question, Do firmatioiu^' kere^^ &c., was substituted for the Catechism itself, each parish Clergyman being presumed to have previously instructed his Candidates in the latter. The short answer, “ I DO,” taken in connexion with the question to which it is a reply, contains, as has been already shown, an implicit renewal of the Baptismal Vows ; and is a repetition^ under more solemn circumstances, and to God^s chief Minister, of the answer in the Catechism, “Yes, verily;, and by God’s help so I will,” to the question. “ Dost CTonfirmation 85 thou not think that thou art bound to believe, and to do, as they have promised for thee The connexion of this latter solemn adjuration with the I do ” of the Confirmation Service is accidentally indicated by the first versicle, Our help is in the Name of the Lord.” Every time the answer in the Catechism has been re- peated by the children catechized, they have ratified and confirmed in their own persons, and acknowledged themselves bound to believe and to do, all those things which their Godfathers and Godmothers undertook for them, i. e. promised on their behalf, at their Bap- tism. They now ratify and confirm those Baptismal Vows in as solemn a manner as possible, not before their parish Priest only, but before the Bishop, who is the highest spiritual officer of Christ on earth, and His chief ministerial representative. This preliminary catechizing is therefore a formality of a very significant character, and, although no essential part of the rite of Confirmation, is a preparation for it which ought not to be passed over lightly. It marks the last step in the pathway of Christian childhood ; and, on the verge of Christian maturity, sounds the trumpet-call of Christian duty to those who have promised manfully to fight under Chrisfs banner against sin, the world, and the devil, and to continue His faithful soldiers and servants unto their lives’ end. The last stone in the foundation of the Christian life is about to be laid, and sealed with God’s signet in confirmation of His pro- mises. It is a time to remember, that although ‘‘the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are His,” there is a “reverse” as well as an “ obverse ” to the 'seal of Confirmation ; and that it has another inscription, “ Let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity ’’ 86 CTon^irmaition (2 Tim. ii. 19). The new blessing confirms the pro- mise of God made in Baptism ; it also enforces again that obligation of faithful service, from which the Christian can never become free. The Prayers consist of six short versicles and a Collect. Both of these* were used in the Primitive Church, and in the Medieval Church of England; but the versicles are all taken from the Psalms. The Collect is known to have been used in the Confirmation Office of the Church of England for at least 1150 years, or since A.D. 700, at which date it is found in an Office-book used by Egbert, Archbishop of York, as if it was the established form familiar to the Bishops of that early age. The sense and application of this Collect may be well shown by the objection raised against it by the Puritans in 1661, and the answer made by the Bishops. This supposeth,” said the former, “ that all the children who are brought to be confirmed have the Spirit of Christ, and the forgive- ness of all their sins ; whereas a great number of children at that age, having committed many sins since their baptism, do show no evidence of serious repentance, or of any special saving grace ; and there- fore this Confirmation (if administered to such) would be a perilous and gross abuse.’' This was a reverent objection, but showed considerable ignorance of the theological principles on which the Offices of the Church are framed, as well as of the manner in which they are intended to be administered. The reply of the Bishops was short, but pointed and consistent with the principles of the Prayer Book : It supposeth, and that truly, that all children were at their baptism rege- nerate by water and the Holy Ghost, and had given unto them the forgiveness of all their sins ; and it is CTonfirmaticin 87 charitably presumed that, notwithstanding the frailties and slips of their childhood, they have not totally lost what was in Baptism conferred upon them ; and there- fore adds, ^ Strengthen them, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost the Comforter, and daily increase in them Thy manifold gifts of grace,’ &c. None that lives in open sin ought to be confirmed.” The Act of Confirmation is performed by the Bishop laying his hand or hands on the Mode of head of each person to be confirmed. It Confirmation, was the ancient practice of the Church for the Bishop to make the Sign of the Cross, with unction, on the forehead of each person ; and the first Prayer Book, of 1549, directed this practice to be continued, the Bishop using the words, N. I sign thee with the Sign of the Cross, and lay my hand upon thee. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” The present Benediction was substi- tuted in 1552, and is founded on the words of the pre- ceding Collect. The act, that is, the Imposition of Hands, is the essential part of the rite of Confirmation, no words, and no other ceremony being absolutely ne- cessary for conveying the grace given. Unction, how- ever, had been used from the time of the Apostles, and probably it had always been used with the Sign of the Cross ; so that its disuse was a great innovation upon the custom of the Church. The Act of Confirmation is an outward sign of an inward grace, the latter being that gift of ^ , TT 1 r-. • • 1 1-1 1 • Sacramental the Holy Spirit by which the person is character of the established, or made Jlr?n in his position as a Christian, and strengthened for the duties of the Christian life. It is God’s own preparation of a bap- tized child for the still greater gift bestowed in Holy 88 CTonfirmation Communion ; and hence none are ordinarily to become communicants until they have been confirmed. The Lord’s Prayer is used here, as after Commu- nion and Baptism, in the sense of a thanksgiving for the great mercy vouchsafed by God in bestowing His grace. It was placed here in i66i, not being so used in the ancient Office. The Collect was composed for the first Prayer Book of 1549, but is similar to that of the ancient Office. The second Collect was inserted in 1661, being one of those printed at the end of the Commu- nion Service. The Benedictioit is that of the ancient Office ; but it was formerly preceded by the 5th and 6th verses of the 128th Psalm. The Final Rubric is founded on a Canon of the Church passed in the time of Archbishop Peckham, A.D. 1281, which ordered that “ None shall be admitted to the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ (except at the point of death) unless he has been con- firmed, or has been reasonably hindered from re- ceiving Confirmation.” There are sometimes cases in which a child or an adult, with the proper amount of knowledge respecting faith and duty, strongly desires Confirmation and the Holy Communion, but cannot obtain the former. The desire for Confirmation is then to be taken as satisfy- ing the rule -of the Church ; and the Holy Communion is not to be refused. CHAPTER IX licit} i^atrimon^ Whoso findeth a %uife findeth a good things and ohtaineth favour of the Lor dr — Prov. xviii. 22. T he object of the Marriage Service is to unite man and wife together in the Christian Lord,” and to make their union such that Marriage, they can be declared to be “joined together by God.” Those persons who desire to live together as man and wife, without public disgrace, but not Legalized to be joined together by God in Holy cohabitation. Matrimony, go to the Registrar of Marriages, who makes their cohabitation legal by entering it m his Register-book h “The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony” is derived from two ancient Offices of the origin of the Church of England, the one appointed ^^if^ce. for the celebration of Espousals, the other for that of ^ If persons so licensed to live together, afterwards desire to be “joined together by God,” the Marriage Service can still be performed ; but no entry is to be made in the Register of Marriages unless a separate one is kept exclusively belong- ing to the Church, in which case it is to be entered in that alone. 90 J^atrimono Marriage. The former Service was used some time previously as a solemn sanction of the engagement or contract to marry at a future day ; and it appears thaV. the former part of our present Service was used in the same manner up to the time when all things were unsettled by the approach of the great Rebellion. An engagement so contracted was considered almost as binding as marriage itself. § I. Banns of Marriage, Some public notice of marriage has always been required by the Church ; and the law of the Church of England strictly forbids any Clergyman to marry per- sons unless their “banns” have been asked in Church on three successive Sundays or Holy days, unless a licence (or dispensation from banns) has been procured from the Bishop, through his proper officer, the “ sur- rogate” of the district. No Clergyman can be required to publish banns of Seven days’ Marriage, unless a notice in writing is notice of banns, given to him seven days before the first publication, stating the names of the persons, their places of abode, and the time during which they have lived there. If the man and woman live in different parishes, the banns must be asked in both ; and, in whichever parish of the two the marriage takes place, a certificate of the due publication of banns must be obtained from the Clergyman of the other parish, and presented to the Clergyman of that in which the per- sons are to be married. These rules are intended to prevent secret mar- Hoiirsfor riages, which have always been held in Marriage. abhorreiice by the Church, as likely to J^atrimonQ 91 promote sin. For the same reason, no marriage may be solemnized before eight o’clock in the morning, or after twelve at noon, without a special licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Marriages have always been discouraged by the Church, and, indeed, forbidden, during the seasons of Advent and Lent, and from improper during Rogation Sunday to Trinity Sunday ; and all good Christians ought, at least, to avoid being married during the season of Lent. § 2. The Espousal, The first part of the Marriage Office, as far as the answers I will,” represents the ancient Espousal ; it and all up to the Psalm being Service in directed to be said in the body of the Church, that is, in some part of the nave. Anciently, this part of the Service was said near the Church door, but now the ordinary place is the entrance of the chancel. The Exhortation, setting forth the objects of Marriage, represents a very ancient form of a similar kind that was used in the Mediaeval Church of England, and probably in other Churches, and which is given at page 7. The solemn charge to make known any impediment is also of the same antiquity. The impediments of Marriage are chiefly con- sanguinity” (relationship in blood), and Forbidden “affinity” (relationship by Marriage). A degrees, table of such relationships or “forbidden degrees” is often printed with Prayer Books and Bibles, and may be made clearer still as follows : — 92 1§oIt) J^atrimonn I. Relatives whom a Man may not Marry. Mother, or Stepmother J Widow of < Aunt Sister [ Daughter, or ( Niece J Daughter, or 1 Step-daughter/ of his own or his wife’s parents. his father, or father-in-law. ,, uncle. ,, brother. ,, son, or step-son. ,, nephew. of himself or his wife. of his own or his wife’s children. 2. Relatives ivhom a Wo?nan may not Marry. Father, or Step-father Widower of Uncle Brother Son, or Nephew Son, or Step-son J>of her own, or of her husband’s, parents, { her mother, or mother-in-law. i ,, aunt. ,, sister. ,, daughter, or step-daughter, ,, niece. ; of herself or her husband. >of her own, or of her husband’s, children. These ^Torbidden degrees” are founded on an express law of God, laid down by Him in Lev. xviii. 6 — 1 8 ; and observation shows that when they are dis- regarded, childlessness, or the inborn seeds of disease in the offspring, are the result — most frequently in the second generation . The Mutual Consent of the persons afterwards to be married is then solemnly given, by each replying I will” to the question asked by the Priest. This is also given in its ancient form, at page 7. The mutual J^atrimony 93 consent is no mere formality, but a form of .open declaration before God and man, that the Marriage is willingly undertaken by each, and not forced upon either man or woman. It also constitutes a promise respecting the duties of Marriage ; and must be taken as being, in effect, a preliminary vow made before God. And it is to be observed that this vow is binding “ as long as ye both shall live.” § 3. The May'riage, Each being thus espoused to each other, the Minister asks, according to very ancient custom, Who giveth this woman to be married to this man , dependence Upon which the woman is delivered over of woman by her father or his representative, to the Church, and by the Church (represented by the Priest) delivered over to her future husband. The ‘‘ inde- pendence ” of woman is not recognized by the law of God, and therefore not by the Church of God. The father’s authority over her is delivered up to God Who gave it, and then transferred by God to the husband, who “ is the head of the wife,” and who, by Divine ordinance, is to rule over ” her. Such follies as are talked of under the name of “ woman’s rights,” are always associated with infidelity, and are contrary to the principles on which God has founded the relation of woman to man. The Betrothal, or “giving of troth” (that is, fidelity or allegiance) to each other, is what constitutes next ceremony. Each alternately taking the Marriage the right hand of the other says the^°^’ 2 There was a curious distinction in the ancient Rubric, that a maiden should give her right hand ungloved, but a widow with her glove on. 94 3§olj) jWatrimoni} words of the very ancient Marriage Vow. The quaint and touching words of this vow express again, and in a still more comprehensive form, the obligations of the marriage state, which were previously expressed in the mutual consent. Each promises an undivided allegiance to the other, until the death of one or the other shall part them asunder. That is, as God joins them together, so His Providential dispensation alone is able really to break the link which is forged by ^ Marriage. On both sides a promise is and wife to given of love and support under all the each other. circumstances of life, prosperous or ad- verse. The duties of support, shelter, and comfort, which ordinarily fall upon the husband chiefly, may, under some circumstances (though they rarely arise), fall chiefly upon the wife ; and if by sickness and in- firmity he is unable to fulfil them towards her, he has a claim upon her, by these words, that she shall fulfil them towards him. Under any circumstances each promises to be a stay to the other, according to their respective positions and capacities, on their way through life. In the marriage vow of the woman the modern phrase “ to obey is substituted for the obso- lete one ‘Ho be buxom,” or “boughsome” (that is pliant)^ which had the same meaning. It implies that although the v/oman’s dependence on and obedience to her father has been given up by him into God’s hands, it is only that it may be given over to her husband. Since it pleased our Blessed Lord to make woman the instrument of His Incarnation, her condition has been far more honourable than it was before ; but part of that honour is that “ the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church.” Natural instinct, good sense, mutual love, and, above J^atrimonp 95 all, religious feeling, will always enable the wife to dis- cern how far she is bound to obey, and the husband how far it is his duty to rule ; and, regulated by these, the yoke of obedience will never be one which the woman need regret to wear, or wish to cast aside. Jeremy Taylor has well pointed out that nothing is said in the husband^s part of the marriage vow about “ rule,” for this is included in the word love.” The dominion of a man over his wife is no other than as the soul rules the body ; for which it takes a mighty care, and uses it with a delicate tenderness, and cares for it in all contingencies, and watches to keep it from all evils, and studies to make for it fair provisions, and very often is led by its inclinations and desires, and does never contradict its appetites but when they are evil, and then also not without some trouble and sor- row ; and its government comes only to this — it fur- nishes the body with light and understanding, and the body furnishes the soul with hands and feet ; the soul governs because the body cannot else be happy.” So also he writes in respect to the obedience of the wife : “ When God commands us to love Him, He means we should obey Him: This is love, that ye keep My com- mandments and ^ if ye love Me, keep My command- ments.’ Now, as Christ is to the Church, so is the man to the wife, and therefore obedience is the best instance of her love, for it proclaims her submission^ her humility, her opinion of his wisdom, his pre-emi- nence in the family, the right of his privilege, and the injunction imposed by God upon her sex, that although ‘ in sorrow she bring forth children,’ yet with ‘ love and choice she should obey.’ The man’s authority is love, and the woman’s love is obedience.” The Wedding-ring has been used from the 96 1§oIp J^atrimong earliest ages in Christian marriages, but was prob^-bly adopted from the customs of the Jews and Heathens. Anciently, gold and silver were given with the ring, as symbols of the dowry with which the husband en- dowed his wife : and the whole custom seems like that of patriarchal days, when Abraham’s steward be- trothed Rebecca, on the part of Isaac, by putting ‘Hhe ear-rings upon her face, and the bracelets upon her Meaning of hands.” The ring may be considered to the ring. mean two things : (i) that the wife is thus linked to the husband, and hence both to each other : and (2) that eternity, constancy, and integrity, true as gold, and unending as a ring, are the characteristics of the marriage bond. The proper way for the man to give the ring to the How to put woman, is to place it lightly on the thumb it on. Qf hand at the words “of the Father,” on the next finger at the words “ of the Son,” on the third finger at the words “ of the Holy Ghost,” and on the fourth finger, so that it may permanently remain there, at the word “Amen.” Then he is to hold the ring in its final place, while the Priest says the following prayer, which represents the ancient benediction of the Ring. The joining of Hands and the accompanying Sentence of Solemn declaration completes the Mar- Marriage. j-iage so far, that it cannot henceforth be dissolved, except by Him who has (by His agent and deputy) effected it. The words, “ Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder,” are the Lord’s own words, and are here used distinctly and authoritatively in His name. No divorce, or “putting asunder by man,” can break the spiritual union that has now been accomplished and declared, by the JHatrimomj 97 authority of Christ, and in the name of the Holy Trinity. The Benediction in the same most holy Name completes that part of the Service which is to be said in the nave or body of the Church. It is translated from the ancient Latin form. § 4. The Holy Communion, The part of the Service which follows belongs pro- perly to the celebration of a Marriage Eucharist ; and it is begun by the Priest and Choir leading the way to the Altar, while they sing the INTROIT, or entrance to the Altar, Psalm. The first of the two appointed is the one ordinarily to be used ; the second being intended for the marriage of old people, when there is no ex- pectation of offspring. The Lord's Prayer, Versicles, Collects, and Benediction, which follow, are all taken from the ancient Latin Office. To combine them properly with the Communion Service, the latter should begin at the “Offertory" and “Prayer for the Church Militant," immediately after the Homily, “ All ye that are married," or the Sermon substituted for it. H CHAPTER X Visitation of ti^e Sick Despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: for He viaketh sore, and bindeth up : He %voiindeth, and His hands make zvhole.'^'' N. 17 , 1 8 . T his office provides a formal rite, to be once used over the sick person ; and not to be used, either Object of the wholly or piecemeal, as the ordinary Office. prayers of the Clergyman in his frequent pastoral visits. It is a solemn recognition of the person over whom it is used as one in the fellow- ship of the Church, and for whom the Church, by its authorized Minister, offers up prayer to God. It is also a solemn acknowledgment before God that the sicknesses and infirmities of life are the consequences of sin — a part of that inheritance which comes upon us from the Fall. It is strictly a Churchman’s Office, and would be very much out of place if used over one who was separated from the communion of the Church. Nearly all the Rubrics and Prayers of this Office are Origin of the be found in the ancient Service Books Office. Qf Church of England ; and some of the Prayers can be traced to the times of the Primitive Uisitation of Sick 99 Church. Where alterations or additions have been made (as in the Exhortations) the spirit of the original has been closely adhered to ; and the only great omis- sions are — (i) a procession of the Priest and Choir to the house of the sick person, singing the seven peni- tential Psalms ; and' (2) the Service for Extreme Unction. The latter was provided for by the First Prayer Book ; but since 1552 its use has been left (as are his other ministrations to the sick) to the dis- cretion of the Clergyman. The Office for the Visitation of the Sick is one in which there are many responses ; there should be said ought therefore to be some persons, as responsively, well as the sick person, present to say these responsive portions. § I. The Prayers. After the Salutation— which is that enjoined on the Apostles by our Lord (Luke x. 5) — the Priest is immediately to proceed to the Prayers. The first of these is an Antiphon to the Lord’s Prayer. The object of this Antiphon is to fix the sense in which the Prayer of our Lord is to be used, that sense being here a penitential one. Both the Antiphon and its Re- sponse, “ Spare us, good Lord,” are familiar to us in our present Litany. The Versicles which follow are taken from the 20th, the 6ist, the 86th, and the 89th Psalms, and represent a strain of responsive suppli- cation which has been ascending to the Throne of God for the sick during a long course of ages. The Col- lects are also translated from the ancient Latin. The first of them is directed towards seeking comfort and help for the sick man from God, and gathers up the H 2 lOO 'Fisitation petitions of the versicles which have gone before. The second sets forth sickness as an instrument in the hand of the Almighty for good, and prays that the present trial may be sanctified to the sufferer. The ‘‘accustomed goodness” of God is here invoked, not for the recovery of the patient, or even for support under trial, but that the Fatherly correction may work the end God has intended in sending it. If sickness is to answer any good end, it must be viewed as Fatherly correction ; and, if it comes from our Father, to Him we may go for help and comfort under it, and we may be persuaded that it comes for some good purpose. Looking to God as Father, our own weak- ness will lead us more to Him, will make us feel our dependence on Him more ; in short, will strengthen our faith. The sense of weakness will force on us the uncertainty of life, will make us remember how short our time is, and bring us to more earnest repentance for all we have done amiss, as remembering the account we may so soon have to give before our God. The prayer, too, reminds those who hear it, that the repentance and sorrow are not to be limited simply to a sick bed ; but that in case of recovery the good work begun in time of affliction must be carried out. How necessary to pray, “ If it shall be Thy good pleasure to restore him to his former health, he may lead the residue of his life in Thy fear ”! How many are there who promise well when God’s hand is upon them, who seem full of godly sorrow for sin, and Christian hatred of it, who yet on recovery forget all, and fall back into old sins, and form new evil habits ! And since the issues of life and death are with the Lord, and we know not what the event may be,— re- covery or death, — the Collect prays, not only that in of tf;c Sick lOI case of restoration the sick man may be enabled to live to God, but that in case his illness prove fatal, he may, through the grave and gate of death, pass to a joyful resurrection, and, this life ended, dwell for ever with God in life everlasting. § 2. The Exhortation, This is founded on a very ancient English exhorta- tion, entitled “ How thou shalt comfort a man that he grucche nought when he is seke.” It is, in fact, a short Homily on Hebrews xii. 6 — lo, and contains a valuable statement of the manner imwhich sickness ought to be regarded by a Christian. There are circumstances un- der which it may be very desirable, both for the sick per- son and for the Clergyman, that the words of exhorta- tion should be the authorized words of the Church, rather than those of an individual Priest. But pastors thoroughly trained to their duties will bring out of their treasuries things new and old, and cannot be re- stricted, with advantage, to the homiletic addresses of a former age. Whether, however, the authorized homily, or any other address be used, it is to conclude with a ' rehearsal of the Apostles’ Creed, that by the answer ‘‘ All this I stedfastly believe,” the sick person may make a Profession of Faith” in all the fun- damental truths which make for salvation. § 3. The Confession of Sms. Much of this Office is of an intercessory character, and the sick man himself may be supposed to join in it rather with the heart than with the voice. But the central portion of it is undoubtedly the special Con- 102 'Fisitation fession of his sins/’ and the following Absolution. The sick person will probably wish to make this special confession in private, and others should therefore with- draw out of hearing. Such a confession is the best proof that can be given of real sorrow for sin and de- sire for pardon; and it is so sad for a soul to leave this world with unrepented sin defiling it, that the Priest is required to urge it upon him : — Here shall the sick person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter and his conscience is sure to be troubled if there is such “ weighty matter” of sin upon it, unless it has become seared and deaden«d. The particular form in which Special Confessions” are to be made, is not laid down in the Prayer Book, but the following is commonly used : — In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. I confess to God the Father Almighty, to His only -begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to God the Holy Ghost, and to you, father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. [Here comes in statement of the sins troubling the person’s conscience.] For these and all my other sins which I cannot now remember, I humbly beg pardon of Almighty God, and grace to amend ; and of you, my father, I ask penance, counsel, and absolution. And therefore I beseech God the Father Almighty, His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Ghost, to have mercy upon me, and you, father, to pray for me.” The Absolution which follows is the most com- • plete and solemn form of Absolution enjoined by the Church, — the Priest declaring “ By His authprity com- of tf)C Sicfl 103 mitted to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’' If the Confession has been honest, true, and made with real penitence of heart, this Absolution conveys to the penitent the most entire pardon of sin that he can receive in this world. Whether it has been so made, God only can fully judge ; but the Priest must judge as well as he can, so as not to make a mockery of the Absolution by giving it to a person evidently impenitent \ The Absolution Collect, as that which follows the Absolution itself may very properly be called, is among the most ancient Forms of the Church of Christ, hav- ing been used for many ages in the Church of England, and being found in the Prayer Book of Gelasius, a.d. 494, where it is called “ The Reconciliation of a Peni- tent in the Hour of Death.” It seals with prayer the preceding word of Absolution, carrying it up with the penitent’s Confession to the throne of Almighty God, and beseeching Him to accept and to confirm what has been offered to Him, and done in His name. § 4. The Psalm, This Psalm, the 71st, is handed down from the an- cient Office ; in which, however, the whole of it was used. Christ Himself is here heard speaking, and thus put- ting words upon the lips of His sick servant. They ^ Where the time is short, and death imminent, as in the case of many modern accidents, cholera, or after a battle, the best thing the dying man can do, will be at once to make this special Confession, in however few words ; and his best passport to the other world will be the Absolution of the Priest attending upon him. 104 ^{)e 171511311011 are His words at the time when the voice of the Passion had not yet given place to the voice of the Resurrec- tion Victory ; and in them we hear the “ patient abid- ing alway’’ of the Holy Jesus, waiting God’s good pleasure, and never doubting the righteousness of the Divine Will. Thus the greatest of all sufferers offers to His suffering servants His own words, as well as His own example ; and with Him they may say, “ I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God.” The following Antiphon, Saviour of the world,” clearly points out the sense in which the Psalm to which it is appended should be used, pleading the suf- ferings there expressed as the cause of that human sympathy which is still, and ever will be, felt for His members by the Divine Saviour. It is an exact trans- lation of the Old Latin. § 5. The Benedictions. The first of these is formed from an ancient Collect in St. Gregory’s Visitation Office, A.D. 590. The second is the ancient Benediction which God ordained, saying, “ On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel.’ (Numb. vi. 23, 26.) It appears in ancient Irish and French Missals as far back as the seventh century, but was placed in the English Visitation Office in 1661. THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK. In the ancient Church of England, as in the modern Latin and Eastern Churches, it was the custom to re- serve a portion of the consecrated Bread in a receptacle near the Altar, that it might be taken, if necessary, to those who were unable from sickness to come to Church of t\)t Sick 105 and receive it. This practice was discontinued (as a rule) after 1552, and the present Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, with the accompanying Rubrics were provided, so that the Holy Communion might be celebrated, as well as administered, in the sick person’s presence. Reverent preparation should be made in the room of the sick person, that this may be done with proper so- lemnity. Every thing should be as clean and orderly as the circumstances of the case will permit ; and “ a convenient place,” — a small table as much apart from mere domestic furniture as can be arranged, — should be provided as a temporary Lord’s Table, where all things may be done decently and in order ; considering His honour, as well as the good of the sick person’s souL CHAPTEP. XI W)t IBurial of I9catr “/ ivill lay me doivn in peace^ and take my rest: for it is Thou^ Lord^ 07 tly^ that makest me dzvell in safety P — Psalm iv. 9. ^ I 'HE Office for the Burial of the Dead is a Form for commending to the care of Almighty God the Object of the bodies and souls of those who have died in Office. Communion of Saints ; and in the broad charity which runs through all the Offices of the Church of England, it is assumed that all have so died of whom the contrary is not clearly proved. But reverence towards God must be considered, as well as charity towards men ; and, accordingly, a rule is laid down forbidding the use of the office over those who have clearly ;^^?/died in the Communion of Saints, and these are mentioned in the opening Rubric. I. First of such unhappy persons, are the unbaptized, , There are many infants who are left un- Nottobeused . . i i 1 -i i over any but christened through the carelessness or Christians. irreligion of parents, and who die in their infancy. There are also not a few who grow up to more mature life without Baptism, among the sect mis- called “ Baptists,’^ and die before the adult age when 13urial of tf)t IDcaU 107 alone that sect permits persons to be baptized. All these are, of course, included in the terms of the Rubric, and the use of the Burial Service over them is strictly forbiddenh 2. Those who die excommunicate ” are the second class of persons excluded from the benefit - - 1 1 r Nor over ex- of the Office ; but the formal sentence of communicated excommunication is seldom given in the present day, and the Rubric does not refer to those upon whom it would be pronounced, if strict discipline exercised. It sometimes happens that persons have died in a state of notorious sin, when even the utmost charity cannot believe in their repentance. Clergymen will be found to run the risk of prosecution and loss by treating these as excommunicated persons, and will refuse to say the Burial Service over them. And in such very extreme cases, sensible and right-thinking relatives will feel that the omission is right, however painful to their feelings. 3. The Rubric also excludes those who “ have laid violent hands upon themselves.” Chris- Nor over self- tian charity has always made some dis- murderers, tinction between those who murder themselves, and those who have killed themselves while in a state of insanity ; but such a distinction is not made by the Rubric ; and it rests entirely on the judgment of the responsible Clergyman of the parish, whether the Ser- ^ The present Archbishop of Canterbury decided in a case of this kind (when some Unitarians complained to him of the Clergyman), “ That the Service of the Church of Eng- land for the Burial of the Dead is intended for those who have been made members of the Church of Christ by baptism ; and that to use that Service ever the unbaptized would be an anomalous and irregular proceeding on the part of a Minister of the Church of England.” io8 Ei)t ISurial vice shall be read over any suicide. He will always - give the verdict of the Coroner’s jury his Verdict of ° _ , . , . , , “Temporary respectful attention ; but it has become a always^rue°^ sort of fasMon for juries to find verdicts of “ Temporary Insanity,” without any proof whatever of the insanity ; and it would be con- trary to reason and common sense for him always to be guided by it^. It is his bounden duty to refuse to say the Burial Office over those who have clearly been murderers of themselves, (i) That he may not profane the sacred rite which he is entrusted to use, and (2) Because its omission may have some effect in preventing suicide. In such cases, as in those pre- viously mentioned, the Clergyman ought to receive the sorrowful support of the relatives in the course which he is bound to take. § I. The Service in Church, It is the solemn and beautiful habit of the Church of England for the “ Priest and Clerks ” (that is, the Choir, where there is one) to meet the funeral pro- cession at the Churchyard gate, and thence to lead it into the Church (or straight to the grave, when death has resulted from an infectious disease) saying or singing the PROCESSIONAL Anthem, I am the Re- surrection and the Life.” The first two clauses of this Anthem were used in the “ Dirge,” sung every evening while the corpse lay unburied in ancient times ; and 2 The “Coroner’s warrant” only releases the body from the custody of the Crown, and so permits the relatives to bury it. In ordinary cases it can impose no obligation as to interment ; but where the verdict is Felo de se” it orders the body to be buried in a churchyard or cemetery, without any religious rite, between nine and twelve o’clock at night. Df il)t Bcatr 109 the last was added for our English Service. When in the Church, the mourning yet hopeful strain is taken up in the PSALMS, one or both of which are to be sung or said, in accordance with a custom as old probably as Christianity. From 1552 to 1661 no Psalms were used in the Burial Service ; but they were happily restored at the latter date, and thus the Office regained its ancient and primitive character. The Lesson is one of the portions of Scripture which has been re- cognized in connexion with the Burial of the Dead since the time of St. Jerome, a.d. 345—420 ; and it is wisely chosen for the purpose, since it so clearly sets forth the doctrine of our Lord^s Incarnation as the source of all spiritual life in this world or the next. If the Holy Communion is celebrated at a Funeral, the proper time for it is immediately after the Lesson, while the body of the deceased is still in the Church. The custom, recently revived, is one of primitive anti- quity, and is provided for in the ‘‘ Sacramentaries,” or Prayer Books, of the early Church. The following are some reasons why a custom so primitive and so pious should be observed, (i) The Holy Eucharist is essentially a sacrificial act, offered up for the departed as well as ^ , . r 1 T • . • • 1 The Eucharist for the living. The petition m the Prayer an offering for of Oblation, “ humbly beseeching Thee to departed grant that by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ and through faith in His blood, we and all Thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins and all other benefits of His passion,” is one which includes the departed members of Christ’s whole Church, or it would be only a petition for a portion of the Church ; and “all other benefits of His passion” seems espe- cially to apply to the departed, as “ remission of our no 13urial sins ” applies to the living. So that the virtue,” says Bishop Cosin, “ of this Sacrifice (which is here in this Prayer of Oblation commemorated and represented) doth not only extend itself to the living and those that are present, but likewise to them that are absent, and them that be already departed, or shall in time to come live and die in the faith of Christ.” At no time could this benefit be so appropriately sought, as when for the last occasion the body of the deceased Christian lies in front of the Altar for association with Divine Service. (2) A Funeral Eucharist is also an act of communion an act of com- departed, by which we make an munionwith open recognition of our belief that he still continues to be one of God’s dear children ; that the soul in Paradise and the body in the grave are still the soul and body of one who is still a member of Christ, still a branch (as much as those who remain alive) of the true Vine. (3) The Holy Communion being the special means and a comfort by which the mCmbers of Christ are to the mourners, brought near to their Divine Head, it is to it that the surviving friends of the deceased may look for their chief comfort in bereavement. By it they may look to have their faith strengthened in Him who has proclaimed Himself to be “ The Resurrection and the Life and by the strengthening of their faith they may hope to see, even in the burial of their loved ones, the promise of a better resurrection, when that which has borne the image of the earthly shall also bear the image of the Heavenly, when death shall be swallowed up in victory, and when God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes in the joy of a re-union before His Presence. of tijc 111 ‘ The Epistle and Gospel said at Funeral Commu- nions are i Thess. iv. 13 — 18, and John vi. 37 — 40 : and Psalm xlii, Like as the hart desireth the water brooks/^ is a most appropriate Introit. § 2, The Service at the Grave. After the Lesson, or after the Holy Communion, if it is celebrated, the funeral procession is again formed, “ the Priest and Clerks leading it from the Church to the Grave, and there singing or saying the Anthem, Man that is born of a woman/^ The use of this soul- stirring Anthem is a noble peculiarity of the English Burial Service, though it was anciently used in the Church of England, and in some German Churches for a Compline Anthem on Saturday evenings. The original composition of it is traced back to Notker, a monk of St. Gall, in Switzer- History of the land, at the close of the ninth century. It Anthem, is said to have been suggested by some such circum- stances as those of the samphire gatherers on the cliff at Dover, which suggested a well-known passage in Shakspeare. As he watched men at some dangerous trade,’’ in which life hung on a thread, Notker sang, In the midst of life we are in death,” moulding his awful hymn to that familiar form of ancient days, Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy upon us,” which is found in the Primitive Liturgies. In the Middle Ages it was adopted as a Dirge on all melancholy occasions in Germany : armies used it as a battle song : and superstitious ideas of its miraculous power rose to such a height, that, in the year 1316, the Synod of Cologne forbad the people to sing it at all, except on such occasions as 112 ISurial were allowed by their Bishop. A version of it by Luther, “ Mitten wir im Leben sind,” is still very popular in Germany, as a hymn. When sung to such strains as befit its beautiful Meaning of the words, this Anthem has a solemn magni- Anthem. ficence, and at the same time a wailing prayerfulness, which makes it unsurpassable by any 'similar portion of any ritual whatever. It is the prayer of the living for themselves and for the de- parted, when both are in the Presence of God for the special object of a final separation (so far as this world and visible things are concerned), until the great Day. At such a season we do not argue about Prayers for the departed, but we pray them. For them and for ourselves we plead the mercies of the Saviour before the eternal Judge. Not as selfish men, to whom the brink of the grave brings thoughts of our own morta- lity, do we tremblingly cry out for fear ; but as stand- ing up before our dead who still live, as in anticipation of the Day when we shall again stand together, dying no more, before the Throne of the J udge, we acknow- ledge that Death is a mark of God^s displeasure ; that it is a result of sin, and that it ends in the bitter pains of an eternal death, unless the holy, mighty, and mer- ciful Saviour deliver us. Such deep words of penitent humiliation on our own behalf, and on that of the person whose body is now to be removed from our sight, are a fitting termination to the last hour which is spent in the actual presence of those with whom we have, perhaps, spent many hours which need the mercy of God. The Commendation of the deceased to the care of Almighty God, in whose consecrated ground the body is now laid, is a very ancient custom of the of t]^c iBcaU 1 13 Church ; and in the Eastern Church it is accompanied by the striking words, ‘‘ The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, the compass of the round world, and they that dwell therein,” which well illustrates the meaning of the ceremony. The words used in our own Service are founded on several texts of Scripture : Eccles. xii. 7: Gen. xviii. 27: Gen. hi. 19: Phil. hi. 21. Their ancient form was free from the objection which is often made to them in the present day, beginning, “ I commend thy soul to God the Father Almighty, and thy body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of resur- rection to eternal life through . . . .” In the Office for the Burial of the Dead at Sea another Form will be found, which has been substantially adopted by the American Church. What the words really express, is this : — That (i) The body of a Christian, our “ dear of brother ” in Christ (even if an erring committal to brother), is being committed to the ^ ^rave. ground. That (2) God has taken him to Himself in the sense that his spirit has returned to God who gave it.” That (3) while we thus commit the body of one to the ground (who, whatever he was, was yet a sinner), we do it with faith in a future Resurrection of all. That (4) without any expression of judgment as to our departed brother, we will yet call that hope a “ sure and certain hope,” since it is founded on the Word of God. There may be cases in which persons have died in the actual committal of some grievous sin, and in which these words might be manifestly unsuitable ; but in such cases the whole Office is out of place, and the Clergyman should decline to use it. And in almost I 114 ^\)t burial all others, if not in all, there is room for an expression of hope, in the spirit of charity in which the Church appoints the words to be used ; and, as the Bishops replied to the Puritans in i66i, ‘‘It is better to be charitable and hope the best, than rashly to con- demn/^ The Lord’s Prayer is preceded by the “lesser Litany,” and by an ANTIPHON (formerly used as an Antiphon to the Magnificat) taken from Rev. xiv. 13. The sense thus given to the prayer of our Lord is that of a thanksgiving for the rest which He has prepared for the people of God in His Kingdom unseen. Of the two beautiful prayers which follow, one is called the Collect, and properly belongs to the cele- bration of the Holy Communion, where it takes the place of the Collect for the day. Very little of the wording of these two prayers is ancient ; and their noble language shows that there was a strongly vital spirit of prayer in the Church of England at the time of its Reformation, whose tone could well bear com- parison with that of the ancient Church. The Grace was added to the Office in 1661. The “ us all ” is spoken with reference to the departed, as well as ourselves. [The following ancient Prayer is one which will meet the wants of mourners who desire to pray for their dear friends after their decease. Such Psalms as the 42nd, 1 21 St, and 130th are also appropriate for private or family prayers. “ O God, whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive, receive our humble petitions for the soul of Thy servant whom Thou hast [this day] called to depart out of this world : and because Thy servant hoped of tfjt IBfatf IIS and believed in Thee, we beseech Thee that Thou wilt neither suffer him to fall into the hand of the enemy, nor forget him for ever ; but wilt give Thine holy angels charge to receive his soul, and to transport it into the land of the living, there to be found worthy to rejoice in the fellowship of Thy saints ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who ever liveth and reigneth with Thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Ameny^ X 2 CHAPTER XII CI;urcI)ing of ®omcn ‘‘ JV/ia^ reward shall I give unto the Loj'd for all the benefits that He hath done unto me?''^ — Psalm cxvi. 1 1. Service has been used in its present form ^ for JL many ages in the Church of England, and per- Historyofthe haps is the Same that was referred to by St. Gregory in a letter of advice that he wrote to St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canter- bury, about the year of our Lord 6oi. It is, in fact, the Christian version of that ancient Jewish Service for the Purification of Women after Childbirth, which is ordained in the twelfth chapter of Leviticus ; and for which the Blessed Virgin Mary came up to Jerusalem (Luke ii. 22), to her Churching’^ in the Temple. This Christian custom of thanksgiving after child- birth is not, however, founded only on the Jewish custom, but on the first principles of religion. For the word of God to Eve was, In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” And as her first recorded words ^ Except that Psalms 121 and 128 were used before the Reformation , the latter being also used in the Marriage Service. Crf)urd;in5 of TOonun 17 after this sentence recognize the Providence of God in the matter of child-bearing, I have gotten a man from the Lord,’’ so the constant witness of religious parents has been, “ Lo, children, and the fruit of the womb, are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.” Thus two things make the association of a religious Service with child-bearing proper. First, principles of the the fact that the giving or the withholding of children is dependent on the Providence of God ; and, secondly, that the pain and sorrow which accom- pany it are a memorial of the transgression by which the mother of all living brought sin into the world. Every Christian mother is bound to acknowledge these facts by the act of worship which marks her return to the house of God. Nor is this Service the only such acknowledgment required of a Christian mother by the Church. The Rubric at the end of the Service says, If there be a Communion, it is convenient that she receive the Holy Communion 2.” For the Holy Communion carries up to God all other prayers and thanksgivings on the wings of sacrifice, and hence seals with a holy seal such a thanksgiving as this. It also strengthens every act of prayer and every good resolution ; and hence is especially fitting for those who come to thank God for a recovery out of the depths of a weakness and sorrow ’ mingled with ‘^joy, that one is born into the world,” that is sure to sober the heart, and make it dwell more than usual on the thoughts of God’s goodness and the nearness of the unseen world. Mothers should there- 2 “Convenient” meant “fitting,” or “right and proper,” in the time when it was thus used in the Rubric. ii8 CDf)urcI;m3 of raomtn fore make it a rule to receive the Holy Communion at the same time that they are Churched, or (if there is not a celebration on that day) as soon afterwards as is possible. There are two Psalms appointed in this Service, but only one of them is to be used. The ii6th is most appropriate when the woman is going to communicate after her Churching ; or where the death of the new- born infant has been added to the sorrows of child- bearing. The words, ‘‘ You shall therefore give hearty thanks unto God, and say^^ do not mean that the woman is to repeat the Psalm or any other part of the Service after the Priest ; but that the words to be used are her words, spoken on her behalf. The Psalm should be said by Priest and choir, as other Psalms are said ; and so also should the responses. It is undoubtedly intended that the Churching Time and place Service should be said in the face of for Churchings. whole Congregation ; and the most proper time for it is immediately before Divine Ser- vice, especially the Holy Communion. The ancient custom was, to say the Service near the Church door, where the woman was kneeling, and then to lead her by the hand into the Church (as a token of her return to the house of God), with the words, Enter thou into the temple of God, that thou mayest have eternal life, and live for ever.” The choir-door seems a very appropriate place for the ceremony; but the place is l^ft to custom and the discretion of the Clergyman. The offering” is a due to the Priest offered upon the altar ; but most Priests add it to the alms which are offered at the Holy Communion for the poor, and for other purposes connected with the Church. No unmarried mother ought to be Churched, until ^f)urcf)(ng of Momcn 119 she has given evidence that she has truly repented of her sin. This evidence will be most effectually given by such a humble and contrite confession of it as will enable the Priest to minister God’s Word of absolution after the example of our Lord, when, in a similar case, He said, “ Go, and sin no more.” CHAPTER XIII 0rtfination Scrbias A Jtd when they had ordained them elders in every churchy and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believedA — Acts xiv. 23. T he Church of England retained at the Reforma- tion, and still retains, the same general principles which it had previously held respecting the Ministry of the Church ; and the alterations made in the Ordina- tion Offices were made chiefly with the purpose of con- densing them, lessening the number of ceremonies, and bringing into greater prominence the central rite of Episcopal Imposition of Hands. Many alterations were made in the details of the Ordination Services between 1548 and 1661, but the substance of them is that which was used by the ancient Church. These Services are three in number, the first being for the O’rdering of Deacons ; the second for the Order- ing of Priests ; and the third for the Consecration of Bishops. They are preceded by a Preface, supposed to have been written by Archbishop Cranmer ; and in this Preface the general principles are stated on which the Services are founded. The statements there made are as follows : — OTe ©rtrination StriJiccs I2I 1. There is evidence in Holy Scripture, and in the writings of ancient authors, that there have been Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the Church of Christ from the time of the Apostles ; and this evidence is to be found by those who really study — “ all men dili- gently reading — the works in which it is contained. 2. None ever undertook these offices until (i) their qualifications for them had been proved to the satis- faction of lawful authority ; nor (2) until they had been properly ordained, with prayer and imposition of hands. 3. None shall be accounted a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in the Church of England, nor allowed to execute any of the functions belonging to those Orders, unless he has been ordained according to the forms of the Prayer Book. 4. Except when he has been previously consecrated or ordained by Bishops, or a Bishop, in some other Church. 5. Every man to be ordained Deacon must be twenty- three years of age ; every Deacon to be or- dained Priest must be full twenty-four years of age ; and every Priest to be consecrated Bishop must be full thirty years of age. 6. Those to be ordained must be persons of good character, “ learned in the Latin tongue, and suffi- ciently instructed in Holy Scripture.” 7. Ordinations are to take place at the Ember Sea- sons, or else, upon some urgent occasion, upon some other Sunday or Holy Day, and in the face of the Church. These general rules are in accordance with the an- cient rules of the Church of England, and of. the Catholic Church at large. 122 0rl?ination Snbiccs The actual Office for ordaining all three Orders, is made to form a portion of the Communion Service ; Deacons being ordained after the Epistle, Priests after the Gospel, and Bishops after the Nicene Creed. In each case, it is to be begun at some time after the ending of Morning Prayer ; and is preceded by the Litany, which is said as part of the office. § I. The Ordination of Deacons. Before the Litany is said, at the Ordination of Dea- cons, a formal declaration as to their fitness for the office is made in the face of the Church by the Arch- deacon, or by the person who has been made respon- sible for their due examination. Then the Bishop in person speaks to the congregation, and requires that if any persons know of any impediment for which the candidates should not be ordained Deacons, they are to come forth in the name of God, and declare it. A similar notice (called the Si quis,” from its first words, ‘‘If any”) has been read in the Parish Church of each Candidate on some previous Sunday; so that every opportunity is given to the Laity of stating cases of notorious unfitness to the Bishop. The Litany is then sung or said, with a special clause, praying for those now to be made Deacons ; and, after the Litany, the Communion Office is said with a Special Collect, Epistle, and Gospel ; the Dea- cons being ordained between the saying of the Epistle and the Gospel. The Candidates are first required by the Bishop to answer several very solemn questions, their answers being given in a form which makes them equivalent to vows or oaths ; and hence the name of Ordination Eljt 0rl?{nation Services J23 Vows, as in the case of Baptismal Vows. The Bishop in one of these states what are the duties of the Dea- con’s office, which may be thus summ.ed up : — (i) “To assist the Priest in Divine Service, and specially when he ministereth the Holy Communion ; and to help him in the distribution thereof.” (2) To take part in the other Services of the Church. (3) To instruct the youth of the parish in the Catechism. (4) In the ab- sence of the Priest, to baptize infants. (5) To take a subordinate share in the pastoral work of the parish. He is not qualified to pronounce Absolutions or Bene- dictions ; nor, of course, to celebrate the Holy Com- munion. He ought not, rightly, to take any part but that of assisting in Divine Service ; and it is very desir- able, especially, that he should not perform the Mar- riage Service, but that a Priest should always be required for the purpose by the Laity. As soon as these Vows have been taken, the Candi- dates kneel down before the Bishop to be changed from Laymen into Deacons. This is effected by the Bishop laying his hands separately on each of their heads, and saying these words : — “ Take thou authority to execute the office of a Dea- con in the Church of God committed unto thee ; in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” A New Testament is then put into the hands of each as he is ordained, with the words : — “ Take thou authority to read the Gospel in the Church of God, and to preach the same, if thou be thereto licensed by the Bishop himself.” And when all are ordained, one of the new-made Deacons reads the Gospel of the day as a proclamation of the new office committed to him and the rest. The 124 0itiination Scrrbiccs Holy Communion is celebrated and administered ; and, with another Special Collect before the Benediction, the Service concludes. § 2. The Ordination of Priests. Up to the end of the Gospel, the Service for ordain- ing Priests is similar to that used for ordaining Deacons, a different Collect, Epistle, and Gospel being, however, appointed. After this, it is of a much more solemn character. When the Gospel has been read, the Bishop reads an Address to the Deacons then to be ordained Priests, setting forth the responsibilities peculiar to the latter office ; and then follow the ORDINATION Vows of Priests. They consist, substantially, of oaths that they will be faithful to the Church of England system in administering (i) the doctrine, (2) the Sacraments, and (3) the discipline of Christ : not drawing out their own ideas of what their duty is from the Scriptures, each one for himself, but ministering these ‘^as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church and realm hath received the same., according to the commandments of God.” .They also vow that they will enforce these Church principles” upon others as far as lies in their power ; that they will “ teach the people committed to their cure and charge with all diligence to keep and observe the samed In addition to this solemn promise that they will be faithful to the Church’s principles and teach others to be so also, they vow they will do their best to put doAvn what the Church considers to be error — they will “be ready, the Lord being their helper, with all faithful diligence, to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God’s ZiriK (©rtimatioa Srrbiccs 125 Word.” The other Vows relate to the pastoral work of the Priest in admonishing those in sickness and those in health, and to his own personal life and conduct. The Vows are confirmed by a beautiful BENEDIC- TION given by the Bishop, and then a short space 01 time is given for those present to offer their private prayers for the Candidates ; after which the hymn Veni Creator, Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,” is sung, as it has been sung here for many centuries in English Ordinations. This is succeeded by a prayer, in which the Bishop prays for God’s Blessing on what he is going to do ; and then comes the act of Ordination. This act consists, as with Deacons, in the Imposition of the Bishop’s Hands upon the heads of the persons to be ordained. But in ordaining Priests, the Bishop does not act alone, some of the Clergy joining with him, and placing their hands with his on the heads of those who are thus to become their fellows. They do this as an act of assent, not as having the same power to give Orders which is possessed by the Bishop. The Bishop then says to each Candidate, as his hands and those of the assisting Priests rest on his head, the following awe-inspiring words : — “ Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work or a Priest in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God, and of His Holy Sacra- ments : in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” And he adds, delivering the Holy Bible to each one of them, — “ Take thou authority to preach the Word of God, 126 VLl)t 0rtfination Scrbkcs and to minister the Holy Sacraments in the congre- gation, where thou shalt be lawfully appointed there- unto.” The remaining portion of the Communion Office is then said ; and after all the newly ordained have communicated, a Special Collect and the Benediction close the Service. The Priests thus ordained are now qualified (i) to offer sacrifice to God, viz., the Eucharistic Sacrifice, alms, oblations, and public prayers ; and (2) to ad- minister grace to men, viz., the grace of the Sacra- ments, and all other ordinary supernatural gifts be- stowed by God through His ministers. § 3. The Consecration of Bishops. The Service for Consecrating Bishops begins with the Communion Office, which proceeds as far as the end of the Nicene Creed without any variation, except as to the Special Collect, Epistle, and Gospel. None but Bishops take part in it ; and it is not until after the Nicene Creed that they say the Litany. The Consecration part of the Service follows the litany, and is very similar in its character to the Or- dination of a Priest, the Vows made by the Bishop being, of course adapted to the higher spiritual position he is called to occupy. The essential part of the Ser- vice, — that which turns a Priest into a Bishop, — is the laying on of the hands of three or more Bishops upon the head of him who is to become by their act and word one of their own num.ber, while the following solemn words are spoken by one of them : — Receive the Holy Ghost, for the office and work of 0rUmation ^txhkcB 127 a Eisliop in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands : In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir up the grace of God which is given thee by this imposition of our hands : for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and soberness.^’ Then the Holy Bible is put into the new Bishop’s hands, with an exhortation on the duties of the pastoral office as enjoined therein. Formerly the pastoral staff, which is carried before a Bishop on ceremonial occa- sions, was presented to him while the words, Be to the flock of Christ a shepherd, and not a wolf,” were being spoken ; and a ring was placed on his finger, to signify his entire devotion to Christ and the Church, as if he were even wedded thereto. But these usages have been discontinued in recent times. • The Service concludes, as in the other cases, with the celebration and administration of the Holy Commu- nion, a Special Collect being said before the Benedic- tion. A Bishop has spiritual ability to do all that he could previously do as a Priest ; and also further (i), to con- tinue the succession of the ministry by ordaining Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and (2) to perfect the Christian condition of the Baptized by Confirmation. In addition to this, he is also the chief pastor and head of his diocese, both as regards the Laity and the Clergy. He is empowered to direct and to govern them in all spiritual concerns, and stands nearest to his Divine Master of all that Master’s earthly servants. For his responsible office he receives an additional gift of the Holy Spirit’s power ; and if, in devout reliance on his Master, he “ stirs up the gift that is bestowed on him, 128 0rtiinatiou Scrbict^:? a spiritual wisdom will be the result, such as cannot be looked for in the inferior orders of the Ministry. An assembly of Bishops solemnly gathered together with prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is thus the highest spiritual authority on earth to which the Church can appeal for guidance. In respect to all the orders of the Ministry, faithful Laymen will often carry out the Apostolic injunction, “Brethren, pray for us.” And on the Ember Days, especially, they will remember how great an interest they have in the work of Ordination, and beseech Al- mighty God that He will give His grace to the Clergy, that they may faithfully serve before Him to the glory of His great Name, and the benefit of His Holy Church. CHAPTER XIV jPestiijals Some of them hath He made High Days^ and hallowed themy — Ecclus. xxxiii. 9. T he principal events of our Blessed Lord’s life at once stamped themselves upon the Q^igi^ of memory of His disciples in so indelible a Christian manner, that, as the days came round on which they occurred, the religious celebration of the day by special acts of Divine Worship became a matter of course. Thus the first day of each week commemorated His Resurrection, and the sixth day His Death ; and the anniversaries of those events were days of strictest mourning or of highest joy. From the observance of these days in memory of our Lord, sprang that of others, commemorating those persons most nearly associated with Him in His work and holiness ; and eventually the martyrs who died for His Name’s sake, and whose memory was reve- renced by their brethren. Thus arose the Festival system of the Church, in which particular days are distinguished as “high days,” and “ hallowed ” more or less by additional religious observances. K JFcstibals 130 § I. Festivals of the Church of England, When the devotional system of the Church of England was re-formed, it was thought expedient to diminish the number of Festivals, some having been set apart in memory of persons whose existence was doubtful, and others in memory of those who had no particular claim to be classed among Saints, not being conspicuous for great holiness or great works of love. The number of Festivals was thus reduced to 149, including Sundays, which may be classified as follows : — In honour of our Blessed Lord (including 50 Lord’s Days) God the Holy Ghost the Holy Trinity the Holy Angels ....... the Blessed Virgin Mary .... St. John Baptist, the Apostles, and others associated with our Lord other Saints 63 3 I I 5 22 54 149 Of these Festivals, 82, including Sundays, are marked by “ Proper ” Prefaces, Collects, Epistles, Gospels, Psalms and Lessons ; some or all of these specialities distinguishing them from days of ordinary Dfvine Service ; while others are only noted in the Calendar which is printed at the beginning of the Prayer Book. They are also distinguished from ordi- nary days by Proper Hymns, and by changes in the colour of the Altar Coverings and the Sacerdotal Vest- ments : but these latter observances form part of an jpestibals 131 exact attention to the proprieties of Church customs, which is not at present universal in the Church of England. § 2. Festivals in Honour of ottr Lord, Sundays. Christmas Day Dec. 25. The Circumcision Jan. I. — Epiphany — 6. Easter Day 1 Monday and Tuesday .... / moveable. Ascension Day . ^ J ^Invention of the Cross May 3. * *Lammas Day *The Transfiguration — 6. *Name of Jesus — 7 - *Holy Cross Day Sept. 14. *0 Sapientia Dec. 16. SUNDAY has been universally observed by Chris- tians since our Lord’s Resurrection upon ‘‘the first day of the week.” By that Resurrection our Lord consecrated it for ever as “The Lord’s Day.” He made it the special Day on which to vouchsafe His visible Pre- sence to the Apostles and Disciples between His Resurrection and Ascension ; and the coming of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost still further dedi- cated it to most sacred memories. The principles of its observance are founded on the fact indicated by the name. It is the How to keep Lord^s Day, not our own ; the day dedi- Sunday, cated to the Sun of Righteousness, of which the first object is that it should be used for His worship. It is * Minor Festivals, or “ Black Letter” days. 132 jFestibals also a day of rest, not for man only, but ordinarily for all that is subject to man — a day when no hard service or labour, for man’s advantage, should be exacted of any living thing, and none but necessary work done. Divine worship, religious meditation and reading, with a cheerful and thankful repose, which is not idleness, are the proper objects which most persons should set before themselves on the Lord’s Day ; while active works of love are required from a few, and some necessary employments of all. The Prayer Book provides for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on every Lord’s Day ; and its omis- sion from the Services of the day is a grave departure from the spirit of Christianity, as well as from the rule of the Church. CHRISTMAS DAY is the day when God makes us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of His only Son Jesus Christ our Lord. It is most fit that the season marked out by angels with songs of joy, such as had not been heard on earth since the Creation, should also be observed as a time of festive gladness by the Church and in the social life of Chris- tians. Christ Himself instituted the festival for us when He sanctified the day by then first bringing His human nature into sight. The holy angels witnessed to its separation for ever as a day of days, when they proclaimed the Glory that was then offered to God in the highest by the salvation of man, and the peace that was brought among men on earth through their reconciliation to God. Even beyond the Church the Christmas gladness of the Church spreads itself abroad among men ; and a common Christian instinct teaches all to regard it as a season of unity, fellow- ship, good-will, happiness, and peace. jpestibals 133 The festival of Christmas is extended through the weehr by the festivals of St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents ; and the direc- tion for the Proper Preface in the Communion Service to be read “upon Christmas Day and seven days after,” shows that the whole octave (or eight days) is to be considered as part of the festival. THE CIRCUMCISION is in fact the octave day of Christmas, which has the incident of that day added to the Commemoration of Christmas to do the more honour to the festival of our Lord^s Nativity. Its ob- servance as New Year’s Day ought not to eclipse its religious observance as a Church festival in honour of our Divine Redeemer ^ THE EPIPHANY commemorates the revelation of our Lord’s Divine Glory to the Gentiles, as represented by the three Wise Men from the East. The Scrip- tures used on this day beautifully illustrate its object : “ Arise, shine ; for thy Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee And the Gentiles shall come to thy Light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising.” A memorial of the offerings made by the wise men is still retained in a custom of our English Sovereigns, who make an oblation of gold, frankin- cense, and myrrh at the altar of the Chapel Royal on this festival, either in person or by an officer of the household appointed to represent them. By the festival and season of Epiphany, the Church acknowledges the Holy Child to be her God ; and adores the Light of the World arising to shine upon her from the manger-cradle at Bethlehem. ^ The year began on March 25th until 1752, when an Act of Parliament changed New Year’s Day to January ist. 134 jFestitjals EASTER DAY. — They who went about “ preach- ing Jesus and the Resurrection,’^ must have remem- bered with joyous devotion every anniversary of their Lord’s restoration to them. A trace of their joy is still retained in the Eastern Church, where friends salute each other on Easter morning with the words, The Lord is risen.” Formerly, there was a procession in our churches before Divine Service on this day, with anthems ; but these are now used before the Proper Psalms, instead of the Venite. The name of the festival has, doubtless, been derived from the idea of sun-rising, the natural rising of the sun* being taken as a type of the rising of the Sun of Righteousness from the darkness of the grave. A similar feeling towards the East has led Christians to build their churches looking in that direction, to wor- ship towards the East, and to be laid in the grave as those who wish to rise with their faces towards the Sunrise of the Resurrection. Easter is extended through the week, like Christmas, by the Monday and Tuesday festivals ; and the follow- ing Sunday (“ Low Sunday”) closes the octave. Easter Day itself must occur on some day between March 22 and April 25, or on one of those days. ASCENSION DAY, or Holy Thursday (the 40th day after Easter Day), is one of the principal festivals, like Christmas and Easter, and has an octave as they have. For, as our Lord consecrated Christmas Day by being born, and Easter by rising from the dead, so He hallowed Ascension Day by carrying our human nature from earth and hell to heaven, and thus com- pleting His triumph over evil. The festival concludes the yearly commemoration of the great acts of our Lord’s life and work which thus leads upwards from JFcstibals 135 the cradle at Bethlehem, exhibiting before God and mam the various stages of His redeeming work, and following Him, step by step, until we stand with the disciples gazing up after Him, as He goes within the everlasting doors. There is no reason whatever why it should not be observed with the same solemnity as Christmas Day, the first of the series. The “ minor festivals ’’ associated with our Lord are not days of the same solemnity, and have not any special Services appointed for them. The Invention OF THE Cross is a perpetual memorial of the finding of our Lord’s Cross by the Empress Helena, about A.D. 326. Lammas Day has come down to us from Saxon times ; and is thought by some to have been instituted as a day of thanksgiving, when the first-fruits of the corn were offered on the altar. Others consider that the name is not Hlaf-mcssse^ or Loaf-mass, but Lamb-mass. The object of the festival is involved in obscurity, but we may reverently associate it with the “ Corn of Wheat,” whose dying produced the harvest that fills the heavenly garner, and with the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. The Transfiguration commemorates the mystery indi- cated by its name, and has been in the Calendar for about 1400 years ; but it was never observed as a principal festival of our Lord. The Nameof Jesus is a memorial of that Holy Name at which every knee should bow, and in which countless miracles have been wrought. Holy Cross Day was instituted as a me- morial of the day on which the Empress Helena caused a portion of Christ’s Cross to be set up in the great church which she had built at Jerusalem. It also commemorates the appearance of the “ Sign of the Son of Man ” in the heavens to Constantine, which 136 jFestibals was the great means of converting him, and so making Christianity the established religion of the Roman Empire. O Sapientia. are words that mark the first of six days on which the glory of Christ’s Advent was commemorated by anthems which began with some of the titles given Him in prophecy. This one was, “ O Wisdom, which cometh forth from the Most High, reaching from the one end of all things to the other, mighty and sweetly ordering all things ;• come, that thou mayest teach us the way of under- standing.” § 3. Festivals in honour of the Holy Ghost and the Blessed Trinity. WHITSUN DAY, or Peritecost (the seventh Sunday after Easter Day), commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, to abide with the Church for ever, according to the promise of our Lord ; and it has been observed from the very beginning. The Jewish festival of Pentecost is supposed to have been instituted by God as a memorial of the day on wEich He gave the Law to Moses, and declared the Israelites ‘‘ a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of Priests, and an holy nation ” (Exod. xix. 5, 6) : an object of the day which makes its connexion with Whitsun Day, the day when the Holy Ghost descended to sanctify a new Israel for “ a peculiar people and a royal Priesthood,” very significant. But the prominent character of the day was that of a solemn harvest festival. Fifty days previously, the first-cut sheaf of corn was offered to God for a blessing on the harvest then about to begin. On the Day of Pentecost two loaves of the first new bread were offered (with appointed burnt-offerings) in jptstibals 37 thanksgiving for the harvest then ended ; and this aspect of the feast has also a striking significance. For, as Christ was the “ Corn of Wheat which (having ‘‘ fallen into the ground and died on the day of the Passover) had borne much fruit when It sprung up a new and perpetual Sacrifice to God on Easter Day, so the 5000 baptized on the day of Pentecost were the first offering to God of the One Bread of the Lord’s 3 ody (i Cor. x. 17). The festival is extended through the week by Whitsun Monday and Whitsun Tuesday; but its octave day is a great festival of itself, viz. : — TRINITY SUNDAY.— This day (the eighth Sun- day after Easter Day) commemorates the consumma- tion of God’s saving work, and the perfect revelation to the Church of the Three Persons in One God as the sole objects of worship. The love of each Person is commemorated in the separate holy days which memo- rialize before God and man the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord ; and the sending forth of the Spirit by the Father and the Son, on Whitsun Day. In the festival of Trinity all these solemn subjects of belief are gathered into one act of worship, as the Church Militant looks upward through the door opened in heaven, and bows down in adora- tion with the Church Triumphant, saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come .... Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power ; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” § 4. Festival in honour of the Holy Angels, MICHAELMAS DAY is a memorial of the com- munion between the redeemed children of God and the JF^sUbals 138 holy Angels. “ Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels : to the company of those who sang anthems of joy at the birth of Jesus, who comforted Him in His agony, and who, on many occasions, have shown that they are minis- tering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” This association of these un- fallen beings with fallen but redeemed man, is a fact- which the festival of St. Michael and all Angels com- memorates yearly before God and man ; and every time the Holy Eucharist is celebrated, in the Preface to the Sanctus, which is, “ Therefore with angels and archangels, and all the company of Heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee, and saying Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory : Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High.” The Scriptures of the day very fully illustrate this festival. § 5. Festivals in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Purification — Annunciation ' — Visitation . * — Nativity * — Conception Feb. 2. March 25. July 2. Sept. 8. Dec. 8. The first two of these days have Special Services appointed : the other three are included among the minor holy days. THE PURIFICATION. This festival has a double * Minor Festivals, or “Black Letter” days. JF^gtibals *39 title, which is, in full, “ The Presentation of Christ in the^ Temple^ co 7 nmonly called The Purification of St, Mary the VirginP This connexion of the two events is, doubtless, to show the close relation which the acts of the Blessed Virgin bore to the Incarnation of our Lord ; and that she is most honoured by associating her with her Divine Son. The common name of this festival is Candleinas Day^ from a very ancient cere- mony of walking in procession with lighted candles, and singing hymns. It is the fortieth day after Christ- mas, that being the period at which the rites of Church- ing and Presentation were enjoined by the Law, to which our Lord thus showed His obedience, and the Blessed Virgin her humility. As the one had no ori- ginal sin, so the other needed no ceremonial purifica- tion after His holy conception and birth. But, as at Christ’s Baptism, so at His Presentation in the Temple, He says, “ Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” THE ANNUNCIATION, a very ancient festival of the Church, called in the Calendar of Proper Lessons the Annunciation of our LadyP and commonly, “ Lady DayT Being the 25th of March, it is exactly nine months before Christmas Day, and thus marks the fact of our Lord’s Incarnation at the very time when the words of the angel were fulfilled by the Holy Ghost overshadowing the Blessed Virgin. On this day the year began under the “ Old Style.” The other three days commemorate The Visita- tion of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, her Concep- tion, and her Nativity, and do not call for any remark. The holiness of the Blessed Virgin, through her association with her Divine Son, has always been kept jptstifaals 140 vividly in view by the Church ; but while excess of sentiment has led to the dishonour of her name by speaking of her as if she herself were Divine, so want of faith in the principle of the Incarnation has led to an irreverent depreciation of her holiness. Our two principal and three minor festivals show the true course to follow : to esteem her above all other Saints as the Mother of our Lord, but yet to honour her so that her honour may be to the glory of God. § 6. Festivals in honour of Saints associated with our Lord, Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle . . St. Matthias the Apostle St. Mark the Evangelist St. Philip and St. James the Apostles *St. John the Evangelist, before the Latin Gate St. Barnabas the Apostle Nativity of St. John the Baptist . . . . St. Peter the Apostle *St. Mary Magdalen St. James the Apostle *St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin . St. Bartholomew the Apostle *Beheading of St. John the Baptist .... St. Matthew the Apostle St. Luke the Evangelist St. Simon and St. Jude the Apostles . . . All Saints St. Andrew the Apostle St. Thomas the Apostle . St. Stephen, the first Martyr St. John the Evangelist The Holy Innocents Jan. 25. Feb. 24. April 25. May I. — 6 . June II. — 24. — 29. July 22. — 25. — 26. Aug. 24. — 29. Sept. 21. Oct. 18. — 28. Nov. I. — 30 - Dec. 21. — 26. — 27. — 28. * Minor Festivals, or “ Black Letter’’ days. JFcstitjals 141 § 7 . Minor Festivals in honour of other Saints, with the dates of their deaths. DIED. MARTYRS IN THE GREAT PERSECUTIONS. FESTIVAL. A. D. 90 St. Nicomede, Roman priest . . • June I. 100 St. Clement, Bishop of Rome . Nov. 23. 203 St. Perpetua, African lady .... Mar. 7. 230 St. Cecilia, Roman lady .... Nov. 22. 250 St. Fabian, Bishop of Rome . Jan. 20. 251 St. Agatha, Sicilian lady .... Feb. 5. 258 St. Lawrence, Archdeacon of Rome . Aug. 10. 258 St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage . Sept. 26. 270 St. Valentine, Bishop or Priest . . Feb. 14. 272 St. Denys, Archbishop of Paris Oct. 9. 275 St. Prisca, young Roman lady . . Jan. 18. 278 St. Margaret, of Antioch .... July 20. 290 St. Lucian, French Priest .... Jan. 8. 290 St. Faith, young French lady . . Oct. 6. .304 St. Agnes, young Roman lady . . Jan. 21. 304 St. Vincent, Spanish Deacon . . — 22. 305 St. Lucy, young lady of Syracuse . . Dec. 13. 307 St. Catharine, princess Nov. 25. 308 St. Crispin, Roman Missionary . . Oct. 25. 316 St. Blasius, Armenian Bishop . Feb. 3. MARTYRS AND OTHER SAINTS SPE- CIALLY CONNECTED WITH ENG- LAND. 290 St. George, Roman officer. Martyr . April 23. 303 St. Alban, English officer, Martyr June 17. 326 St. Nicolas, Bishop of Myra . . Dec. 6. 543 St. Benedict, Italian Abbot . . . Mar. 21. 544 St. David, Welsh Archbishop . . . — I. 560 St. Machutus, Welsh Bishop of St. Malo Nov. It;. 604 St. Gregory, Bishop of Rome . . Mar. 12. 604 St. Augustine, Archbishop of Canter- bury 42 jFtstibals MARTYRS AND OTHER SAINTS SPE- DIED. CIALLY CONNECTED WITH ENG- FESTIVAL. LAND. — ( Continued . ) A.D. 670 St. Etheldreda, English Queen . . Oct. 17. 673 St. Chad, Bishop of Lichfield . . . Mar. 2. 7*S St. Giles, French Abbot .... Sept. X. 735 Venerable Bede, Monk of Jarrow May 27. 755 St. Boniface, English Archbishop of Mentz June 5. 862 St. S within. Bishop of Winchester . 15- 870 St. Edmund, English King and Martyr Nov. 20. 978 St. Edward, English King 1 death . . Mar. 18. and Martyr . . J translation June 20. 988 St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canter- bury . May 19. 1012 St. Alphege, Archbishop of Canter- bury ......... April 19. 1066 St. Edward, King and Confessor . . Oct. 13. 1200 St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln , . . Nov. 17. 1253 St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester April 3. FRENCH AND OTHER SAINTS. 335 St. Silvester, Bishop of Rome . . . Dec. 31. 340 368 St. Enurchus, Bishop of Orleans . . St. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, Con- Sept. 7. fessor Jan. 13. 397 St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan . . April 4. 397 St. Martin, Bishop of Tours . . . July 4- 420 St. Jerome, Italian Priest .... Sept. 30. 430 St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo . . Aug. 28. 444 St. Britius, Bishop of Tours . . . Nov. 1^. 535 St. Remigius, Bishop of Rheims . . Oct. I. 559 St. Leonard, Confessor Nov. 6. 709 St. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht . Sept. 17. Some of these are the names of saints to whom the Church is only less indebted than to the Holy Apostles themselves ; and it is to be regretted that those of others, such as St. Ai- dan, St. Cuthbert, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and the great Eastern saints have been omitted. i CHAPTER XV JFaats Sanctify ye a fast^ call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God ^ — ^Joel i. 14. A S the Festivals of the Church originated in the joy of Easter, so the Fasts originated origin of in the sorrow of Good Friday. Christian Fasts. The institution of fasting, and the observance of Fast Days was, indeed, handed down to the Christian Church from the Old Dispensation our Lord adopted while He lived on earth ; and He told His disciples that they should fast (as they afterwards did) when the Bridegroom should be taken away from them. In the Primitive Church many Fast Days were observed, and with great strictness. “ There are those,” wrote St. Chrysostom (A.D. 347—407) “who rival Primitive modes one another in fasting, and show a mar- of fasting, vellous emulation in it. Some, indeed, who spend two whole days without food ; and others who reject from their tables the use of wine, oil, and every deli- cacy, and, taking only bread and water, persevere in this practice during the whole of Lent.” Many such testimonies to the habits of the early Church of Christ 144 JFasts show that the later habits of the Church are such as the Apostles are likely to have originated ; and that a Church without Fasts would be very unlike that which they established. The Church of England, therefore, continued the observance of them at the Reformation, set forth two instructive Homilies on the subject of fasting, and inserted in the Prayer Book a list of the days to be kept. This list comprises the following days : — 1. All Fridays. 2. The week-days of Lent. 3. The Ember days. 4. The Rogation days. 5. The Evens or Vigils. § I. Fridays. The Sundays being memorial days of our Lord’s Resurrection, the Fridays are, likewise, memorial days / of His Death ; and have been so observed from the earliest ages of Christianity. And as Easter Day is the crown of all Sundays, so Good Friday is the Great Friday of the year, the type of all the others. Ordi- nary Fridays are marked in the public Services of the Church by the use of the Litany, the penitential sense of which ought to be kept prominently in view then ; and if hymns are used at Morning and Evening Prayer, they are usually selected with reference to the Cross and Passion of our Lord, and the sin of man- kind, for which He suffered. But the Friday should Mode of 3,lso be distinguished from other days of keeping Friday, week in the private life of Christians, by abstinence from animal food, or, where that is not expedient, from delicacies. Such an observance of the JFasts 145 Fridays of our weeks gives a more festive character to our Sundays — “ sets them off/’ as we say — and is a great help towards the proper discipline of the soul. Good Friday should be observed with greater strictness than any other ; and its solemn observance ought to be considered as very binding. No* work should be done but what is of the most necessary kind : a reverent silence (at least, to the extent of abstinence from trivial conversation) should be kept : Divine Service should be attended : and only as much of the plainest food taken as is necessary to prevent illness ^ Opinions are much divided as to the pro- priety of celebrating and receiving the Holy Commu- nion on Good Friday. Until the Reformation, it was customary to reserve some portion of what had been consecrated on Maundy Thursday. But as nothing is said about such reservation in the Prayer . Book, it is to be concluded that the Collects, Epistle, and Gospel were intended to be used at a Celebration, as on all other occasions when these are appointed. The purpose of observing Good Friday is (i) to memorialize God of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and (2) to discipline the soul by the remem- brance of the same Passion. And as each Sunday is, in its degree, an Easter, so each Friday is a lesser memorial day of the Cross of Christ. § 2. Lent. The forty days’ fast before Easter, is an institution which has come down to us from the History of Primitive Church. In some countries the ^ The Cross-bun represents this small quantity of plain and necessary food. L 146 JFasts forty days were extended over eight or nine weeks, in- stead of six, by the omission of Sundays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, or Sundays and Saturdays, from the num.ber of fasting days — thus beginning it at Sexa- gesima or Septuagesima. But for many ages the practice of the Church has been to omit Sundays only, and so to extend Lent during the six weeks from Ash Wednesday to Easter Eve, including both days. The first object of the institution of Lent was doubt- Meaning and perpetuating in the hearts of purpose of every generation of Christians the sorrow and mourning which the Apostles and other Disciples felt during the time that the Bride- groom was taken away from them. This sorrow had, indeed, been turned into joy by the Resurrection ; yet. no Easter joys could ever erase from the mind of the ’ Church the memory of those awful forty hours of blank and desolation which followed the last sufferings of our Lord ; and she lives over year by year the time . from the morning of Good Friday to the morning of. Easter Day by a re-presentation of Christ evidently set forth, crucified among us. This probably was the earliest idea of a fast before Easter. But it almost necessarily followed that sorrow concerning the death of Christ should be accompanied by sorrow concerning the cause of that death ; and hence the Lenten fast became a season of spiritual discipline, and was so, probably, from Apostolic times. According also to the literal habit which the early Church had of looking up to the pattern set by our Divine Master, the forty days of His fasting in the wilderness, while He was undergoing temptation, became the rule of His ser- vants’ Lent, deriving still more force, as an example J^asts 147 from the typical prophecy of it which is evident in the case of Moses and Elijah. It is difficult to lay down rules respecting fasting that will be at all generally applicable. Mode of fasting The objects of it are well stated, however, present day. in the first Homily on the subject, (i) To chastise the flesh, that it be not too wanton, but tamed and brought in subjection to the spirit.’^ (2) “ That the spirit may be more fervent and earnest in prayer.’^ (3) That our fast be a testimony and witness with us before God, of our humble submission to His high Majesty.” Keeping these three objects in view, common sense and a real desire to make abstinence from food and luxuries answer a spiritual end, will lead any rational person to a judicious and pious rule of fasting appli- cable to their own case. Most persons may diminish the quantity of their food on fast days without any harm resulting ; many can eyen abstain safely fro77t a7ii77ial food altogether. All can deny themselves such delicacies as they may properly enjoy on other days, and can also abstain from mere amusements. § 3. The E77iber Days, There are four special Sundays appointed for Ordi- nations, and three days in each preceding week are to be observed as Days of Abstinence. These three days are called Ember Days, either from the old Saxon word ‘‘Ymbren,” to run a round, or from the Latin title, Quatuor Tempora,” corrupted into Qua- tember in German, and Ember in English. The Ordination Sundays are the Second Sunday in 48 jFasts Lent, Trinity Sunday, the Sunday after Holy Cross Day, and the Sunday after St. Lucy’s Day ; so that the Ember days are : — ( The First Sunday in Lent, The IVe’dnesday, Friday^ ) Whitsun Day, and Saturday after September 14th, f December 13th. A special Collect is appointed (one of two among the Occasional Prayers) to be used at Morning and Evening Prayer on the Ember Days; and it is a con- tinual witness before God and man of the interest which the whole body of the Church has in the ordi- nation of the Clergy who are to minister in it. The entreaty of St. Paul, Brethren, pray for us,” con- tinually goes forth to the Church at large from the Clergy ; but never with greater necessity, or with greater force, than when the solemn act of Ordination • is about to be performed by the Bishops, and a num- ber of the future guides and pastors of the Church are about to be empowered and authorized to undertake their office. Not only the Clergy, therefore, but the Laity also, should keep these days in mind, and pray for God’s blessing on the ministry of the Church. § 4. The Rogation Days. The Monday., Tttesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day are called by the name of Rogation Days, from the Latin word rogare, to ask, or pray. They are days on which to ask the blessing of God on the fruits of the earth, and were formerly, as still in some places, celebrated by processions with prayer around the boundaries of the parish. There is a Homily for special use on these days, showing the importance that was formerly attached to them ; and jpasts 149 the Litany should be used on each day. It is very desirable that a religious character should be given to the “ Beating of Bounds and this may be done by singing the 103rd Psalm at each halting-place, and offering up for a prayer the clause of the Litany, That it may please Thee to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in due time we may enjoy them : We beseech thee to hear us, good All festivals, including Sundays, are preceded by Eves, which are a religious anticipation of the days themselves. Some have also Vigils, which are fast days until Evensong. Some festivals have, however, no Vigil appointed, because they occur during seasons which are otherwise festive, or are preceded by one of the minor festivals or “ Black Letter Days.” The following is the Prayer Book list of the Vigils or Evens The Nativity of our Lord. The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. Easter Day. Ascension Day. Pentecost. St. Bartholomeiv. St. Mattheiv. St. Simon and St. Jude. St. Andreav. St. Thomas. I, All Saints. Note, — That if any of these Feast-Days fall upon a Mon- day., then the Vigil or Fast-Day shall be kept upon the Saturday., and not upon the Sunday next before it.” Lord.” § 5. The Evens or Vigils. ‘‘ The Evens St. Matthias. St. John Baptist. ' ’j, h^/S {ntier- A. Absolution, 102 , General, 28. 60 to be said only by Priest or Bishop, 28 Address, The, at Baptism, 73 Adoration in Divine Wor- ship, 17 of Christ when pre- sent in Eucharist, 64 Adult Baptism, 82 Age for Confirmation, 84 Alleluia, The, 31 Ambrosian Chant, 36 “ Amen,” after words of ad- ministration, 65 Ancient Services, Substance of, retained, 10 Angels and Saints, Commu- nion with, 62. 138 Annunciation, Feast of, 139 Anthem at Mattins and Even- song, 42 in Burial office, 1 1 1 Antiphons, 99. 104. 114 Apocrypha, Lessons from, 34 Apostles’ Creed, 38 Apostolio Salutation, 99 Ascension Day, 134 Athanasian Creed, 38, 39 Augustine, St., Baptism of, by St. Ambrose, 36 B. Banns of Marriage, 90 Baptism, Necessity for, 71 by immersion, 77 by affusion, 78 by lay persons, 8 1 to be public, 70 , Adult, 82 , Private, 81 , I low to hand infants to clergymen for, 78 Baptismal interrogatories, 74 regeneration, 81 vows, 70 • — - , Renewal of, 84 “Baptists,” their soul-de- stroying practice, 74 Benedicite, 37 Benediction, 43. 67. 97. 104 by Priest and people, 40 • of water, at Bap- tism, 70. 76, 77 Benedictus, The, 37 152 3£ntrcx Betrothal in Marriage Ser- vice, 93 “Bidding ofbedes,” 4. 42 Bishops, Qualifications and duties of, 127 Bounds, Beating of, 149 “Breviary,” ancient book of Daily Services, i Buns, Good Friday, 145 Burial of the Dead, 106 of notoriously impeni- tent sinners, 113 towards the East, 134 Communions, IC9 Office Epistle and Gos- pel, III “Buxom,” Meaning of, 94 C. Candlemas Day, 139 Cantate Domino, The, 49 Canticles, The, 35 Canterbury, Archbishop of, on, burial of unbaptized, 107 Catechizing before Confirma- tion, 83, 84 “Catechumens,” 69 Celebrant’s work in consecra- tion of Eucharist, 64 Ceremonial in Divine Wor- ship, 18 Charity of the Church of England, 106, 114 Choirs and Clerks, 2 1 Christ’s work at consecra- tion of Eucharist, 64 Christian burial for Chris- tians only, 106 Christmas Day, 132 “ Christology” of Psalms, 32 Church Festivals, 130 , Highest authority in, 128 , Persecution of, by Puritans, 13 Churching, Communion af- ter, 117 Churchings, 116 , Time and place of, 1 18 Circumcision, Feast of, 133 Cler^ to be prayed for by laity, 128, 148 Cohabitation legalized by Registrar, 89 Collects, 41, 42 Collects, Origin and struc- ture of, 53 for Grace and Peace, 41, 42. 50 — for Aid and for Pu- rity, 51-53 for Sovereign, 54 Comfortable Words, 60 Commandments, Why said in Liturgy, 54 Commendation of the de-- parted, 1 1 2 Committal to grave. Words of, explained, 1 1 3 Communicants, Preparation oti 52 ^ Communion Service, Struc- ture of, 52 , First English, 9 ■ , Daily, 22 , Weekly, 22 , Mode of receiv- ing, 65 on Good Friday, 145 Enljcx 153 Communion at Funerals, 109 of the Sick, 104 with Angels, 138 — with the de- parted, no Communicating unconfirmed, 88 Compline, 25. 48. Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 139 Conditional Baptism, 71 Confession to be said kneel- ing, 27 ■ by sick, 10 1 of persons dying from cholera, battle, &c., 103 Confessions, General, 28, 59 Confirmation, 83 Office, its an- tiquity, 86 , Sacramental character of, 87 , Object of, 84 , Age for, 84 Consecration of Eucharist, Object of, 63 “Convenient,” Meaning of, 1 18 Coroners’ Warrants permis- sive only, 1 08 Cosin’s, Bishop, Prayer Book, 15 Council of Bishops, its great authority, 128 Credence Table, 58 Creed, Apostles’, 38, 75, loi , Athanasian, 38, 39 , Nicene, 57 Cross, Sign of, 69, 70. 77. 87 Cross-bun, its purpose, 145 Cyril, St, of Jerusalem on Communion Service, 61 D. Daily Services, Reasons for, 23 Days hallowed by God, 129 Deacons, Ordination of, 122 , Qualifications and duties of, 123 Declaration of new birth at Baptism, 79. Deprecations of Litany, 46 Deus Misereatur, The, 50 Dissenting Baptisms, 81 Divine Worship by Saints and Angels, 36 “ Do,” Bible meaning of, 60 E. East, Christian feeling for the, 134 Easter Day, 134 Anthems, 31 Ember Days, 147 Ephesus, Church of, and Church of England, i. 53 Episcopal Ordination essen- tial, 1 21 Epiphany, Feast of, 133 Epistles and Gospels, Ar- rangement of, 56 Espousals, 91 Eucharist, Meaning of word, 66 , Celebrant of, re- presents the Chief Priest, 53 —, central act of Ado- ration, 17 , Consecration of. 60 ^54 In'titx Eucharistic Litany, Our, 54 Sacrifice, The, 60 carries up prayer to God, 17. 64. 1 1 7 for the departed, 67. no Evens or Vigils, 149 Evensong, compiled from Vespers and Compline, 25. 48 Excommunicated persons not to be buried with Service, 107 Exhortation in Morning Prayers, 27 Exorcism at Baptism, 73 Extreme Unction, 99 F. Faith, Profession of, by sick, lOI “ Fair” linen cloth, 66 Fasts, 143 of the Church of Eng- land, 144 Fasting, Pririiitive mode of, 143 , Modern mode of, H7 P'estivals, Origin of, 129 , Church of Eng- land, 130 in honour of our Lord, 13 1 of Saints associated with our Lord, 140 Forbidden Degrees of Mar- riage, 91 Form for Confessions, 102 French Saints in English Calendar, 142 Fridays, Observance of, 129. 144 G. Gelasius’ Prayer Book, 55 Gloria in Excelsis, 67 Patri in Divine Ser- vice, 30 “God’s Word” in Absolu- tion, 29. 119 Gold, &c., offered by Eng- lish Sovereigns at Epi- phany, 133 Good Friday, 144, 145 Gospel in Baptismal Service, 73 , Ceremonies at read- ing, 57 Gregory’s, St., Prayer Book, 55 H. Habakkuk, Song of, 37 Hampton Court Conference, 13 Hands, Joining of, in Mar- riage Service, 96 Hannah, Song of, 37 Hezekiah, Song of, 37 Holy Communion, Ancient exhortation at, 6 , Intro- duction of, 52 Iloly Cross Day, 135 Matrimony, Exhorta- tion at, 7 Thursday, T34 3£utrcx 155 Hours for Marriage, 90 , The “Seven,” 35 How to baptize, 81, 82 I. Immersion at Baptism, 77 Importance of the act of Bap- tism, 77 Intercession of Christ, All Divine Service offered through, 17 Intercessions of Daily Ser- vice, 40. 42 Intercessory Character of Li- tany, 46 “ Introits,” 97. in Invention of the Cross, 1 35 Innovations in Divine Wor- ship, 20. 77. 87 Invocations of Litany, 45 Isaiah, Song of, 37 J. Jerome’s, St, Lectionary, 56 Jubilate, The, 38 K. “ Kyrie Eleison,” 47. 54 L. Lady Day, 139 “Lady, Our,” Title of, 139 Laity, Share of, in our Ser- vices, 21 Lammas Day, 135 Latin, universal language of the Roman Empire, 2 headings in Prayer Book, 2 originals of the Prayer Book, 2 -“ Lawful Minister” of Bap- tism, 81 Lay Baptism, 81 Laymen’s Prayer Books, 4 Legalized cohabitation, 89 Lent, 145 , Meaning and purpose of, 146 Leo’s, St., Prayer Book, 55 Lessons, The, 34 as acts of worship, 35 Litany, Origin of, 44 , Processional use of, 44 three times a week, 33 , Explanation of, 45 , First English, re- vised, 9 Chant, 47 at Ordinations, 122. 126 , Lesser, 40 Liturgies, Origin of differing, 1 Liturgy, Origin of English, 53 Lord’s Prayer and Lesser Litany, 40 to be said “with” the Ministers, 29 in Communion Service, 53 ■ , Ancient ver- sion of, 4 , How to use, 29 Low Sunday, 134 HEntfcx 156 M. Magnificat, The, 49 Mamertus, alleged inventor of Litanies, 44 Man and wife. Relation of, to each other, 94 “Manual,” ancient book of “Occasional Offices,” i Marriage, Christian, 89 Office, Origin of, 88 improper during Lent, 91 vow, 93 “ Marriages,” Registrar’s, 89 Martyrs in great persecutions, 141 - — ■■ ■ connected with Eng- land, 142 Mary, The Blessed Virgin, her holiness, 139 , her Festivals, 138 , and the Church, 49 Mattins and Evensong, Daily, 23 Mediaeval Daily Offices, 25 English, 3 versions of prayers, &C., 4, s, 6, 7, 8 Michaelmas Day, 137 Missal and Prayer Book, Connexion of, i. 53 “Mixed Cup,” Meaning of, 58 Morning and Evening Prayer, Short form of, 26 Moses, Song of, 37 Mothers, Unmarried, not to be churched till penitent, •I 18 Mourners comforted by Fu- neral Communions, no “My” and “Me,” meaning of, 30 N. Name of Jesus, Feast of, 135 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 139 New Testament Collects, 35 Lessons 34. 50 New Year’s Day, Old, 133 Nicene Creed, 57 Notice of Baptism to be given, 72 Notker’s Burial Anthem, in Nunc Dimittis, The, 50 O. Oblation of the Elements, 58 , Prayer of, 66, 67 Obsecrations of Litany, 46 Occasional Prayers, 43 * Octaves, 133, 1,34. 137 Offertory, 52 Old Testament Lessons, 34 Ordination Seasons, 121 vServices, 120 Sundays, 147 Vows, 123, 124. 126 Origin of Fasts, 143 of Festivals, 129 of Morning Prayer, 25 “ O Sapientia” Day, 136 Osmund, St. , and the Prayer Book, 3. 55 3Intfex 157 P. Parr’s, Catharine, Book of Prayers, 42 Pentecost, Feast of, 136 People’s work at Consecra- tion of Eucharist, 64 Petitions or Supplications of Litany, 46 prayer Book, Primitive ori- gin of, I , Translation of, begun, 9 adopted for other Churches, 16 , First complete English, 9 incorporated in an Act of Parliament, i o Services, Sys- tem of, 22 revised under Queen Elizabeth, 12 — — suppressed un- der Mary, 1 2 suppressed by Puritans, 13 , Scottish, 13 settled in pre- sent form, 14 Prayer for Church Militant, 58 — to Christ when pre- sent in Eucharist, 64 for Clergy and Peo- ple, 42 of St. Chrysostom, 43 for the Dead, 59. 115 of Humble Access, 61 for the Queen, 42 • for Royal Family,’ 42 Prayers to Christ in Litany, 46 , Early English, 3 , Midday, 25 Praise in our Services, 18 Preface to Ordination Ser- vices, 1 21 Prefaces at Holy Commu- nion, 61 Pre- Reformation Service- books, I Presbyterians’ objection to Baptismal Service, 80 Presentation, Feast of, 139 Priest’s judgment of Confes- sions, 103 Priests, Qualifications and duties ofi 1 26 Priesthood of Laity, 21. 64 Primers, what they were, 3 Primitive modes of Fasting, 143 Private Baptism, 81 Communion, 105 Confession, 102 Processional Anthem in Bu- rial Office, 108 Psalm in Mar- riage Seiwice, 97 Processions, 45. 148 Profession of Faith, Daily, 38 Proper Lessons, 35 Prefaces, 63 Psalms, Meaning of, in Di- vine Service, 32 to be said in mono- tone, 31 , how formerly used, 26. 48 ■ , Proper, 33 , Intelligent use of, 33 Purification, Feast of, 138 of Women, 116 lEntrex 15^ Puritan pressure on Prayer Book, II objection to Confirma- tion, 86 Puritans, Lord Bacon’s opi- nion of, 13 , Cranmer’s opinion of, II Q- ‘‘ Quatuor Tempora,” 147 R. ‘‘Real Presence,” The, 64 Re-baptism improper, 71 Regeneration by Baptism, 8 1 Registrar’s “marriages,” 88 Relatives whom a man may not marry, 92 whom a woman may not marry, 92 Revising of Prayer Book, 9, 10, II, 12. 14, 15 Ring in marriage, 96 Rogation Days, 148 Rogations, 45 Roman Breviary never used in the Church of England, 2 S. Sacraments, how far effec- tive, 81 Sacrifice of Holy Eucharist, 60 Sanctus, The, 61 Sanctus, not Preface, to be said by people, 62 Sarum and other Uses, 3 Savoy Conference, 14 Sealed Books, 15 Seasons for Marriage, 91 Sentences, Use of, in Divine Service, 27 Sermon, The, 57 Signing with the Cross at Baptism, 70 Silence in Divine Service, 22 Singing in Divine Worship, 19 “ Singing Churches,” 21 Songs of Heaven, 19 of the Temple, 20 Soul-destroying practice of “Baptists,” 74 Special Confessions, 102 Sponsors, 71 Structure of Baptismal Ser- vice, 70 Style, Old and New, 133. 139 Suffrages, The, 40 Suicides, Burial of, 107 Sunday, its origin, 13 1 Eucharist, 132 , Plow to keep, 13 1 T. Table of Proper Psalms, 33 of Forbidden Degrees, 92 Tables of Festivals, 130, 131. 138. 140, 141, 142 Taylor, Bishop, on marriage state, 95 Te Deum, 35 — — , Explanation of, 36 “Temporary Insanity ’’ver- dicts, 108 3£utfi:x 159 “Ter Sanctus,” 62 Thanksgiving after Commu- nion, 67 after Child- birth, Why, 1 16 at Holy Bap- tism, 70 Tierce, 25. 43 Transfiguration, Feast of, 135 Translations of Prayer Book, 16 Trinity Sunday, 137 Troth, Giving of, 93 U. Uncatholic omission of 1549 remedied in 1552, 27 Unbaptized “Baptists” not to be buried with Service, 106 Unction at Baptism, 78 at Confirmation, 87 -t , Extreme, 99 V. Venite, The, 31 Versicles, Ancient, 5 Versicles at Matt ins and Evensong, 30 in Visitation Office, 99 Vespers, 23. 48 Vigils, 149 Visitation, Feast of, 139 of the Sick, 99 ^ Ancient exhortation at, 8 Vow, Marriage, 93 Vows, Baptismal, 75 , Ordination, 123, 124. 1 26 W. Wedding Ring, Meaning of, 96 Whitsun Day, 136 Why the Consecrated Ele- ments are covered, 66 Woman’s true dependence shown, 93 Words of Administration, 65 y. Year, Old beginning of, 133 “Ymbren,” 147 THE END. LONDON : VilLBEKT AND RIVINC/fON, PRINTERS, ST. John’s square. 7 ^- J •? ? / J^j 0 ^4T^'K.