IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3} // y .its illustrent la mdthode. la ure. ] t 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 \ I .'.•^ lUBumoHtPMt'.iiwai . z ox TUENINft TO THE EAST iir SAYING THE GREEDS BT A CLXBOTMAN OF THE BIOGESS OV TORONTO. PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. KINGSTON: /.' H. PARNELL, PRISTEa AND PUBLWRBA. 1866. X y OS TURSISG TO THE EAST w SAYING tH. OBE£Di. I hate W «.n,.tiu«s .sW »l.y I tam my b»A *<> »««»»; tTto other, U- I put «» P»P« »» *»' ^ >"" '^'""'* "'^"'* tnm m to towatJi Ih. East, or to ttot part 'f ">« P^»™ ,"oU U commonly in the East, that U tl.c «'«■"«'•.,,*',"'" :„,V persons, in the p«t of E"gl-'' '" '''■■=\^ "^^.^ WauM «hon I went to the University, I found it the »«'«•»» L. o io U,e collco.-, because, »hen I .eot to other part..f the to 'don. 1 founa it generally done wherever I «eot be a»M runde^^tood it to prevail in all Cathedral.. « it certaml, d.d m Trilcf «hi 1. oannot bo slated ^ith eertain.y; ''1»=\«! «; U ned by our Rerorniers, .hen so n^y "'V';;:^::':,.^'^! „d „hich therefore ....t havoc '7^:^^tbeioV po"aT. for iiftme "ood effects arising from it, or Itnm ua oeiuo o«i i' ;::rt:: oe Apost„Ho 'i---; -— ^ir^ef^ Jt out interrupt en generally m the LUurcii irora «-uw * , r.:::^sf a„d .hleh aid oot be,!,. .0 be ^-PPe ™ul -» J* aan to "ivo up .11 old oostom.. and generally not until tse 1. ttioo had led moo .« de.rlH_.nd .egleot .1. tehfrO" •»>• •"rthiok it right .. k«P »P .« ««•»»»•. "» •"" '^ •»" .only eome down to as ftvm our poreiiU or croBifathen; bov inaeh more when tbey have come down ;o us from antiquity of wliich xfe cannot di^covf;r the le;:innin^ t And hi time I dbcovercd rcason.i fur eo-d'^in!:, aUbcup;h I pro- bably felt tlicm before I noticed them. The different cba'^^es of posture which ire make in divioe service serve to draw our attor:- tion to the pavt which follows the change of posture. \Vc thu9 renew our attention to tlie subject in hand r.nd enter upon it more thoughtfully. We were before standing: to praise God, or to bear His Gospel; and it is a change suitable to the proftssiou of out faith, that the minister phould thus visibly put liiniself in a man- ner at the hciul of tlie congregation in offerinfj this profession to the Lord. Different minds feel different reasons for this. Ono xi'iW nay that our standing, and turning all one waj*, with our min- ister at our head, fitly signifies our determination, our unanimc determination, to maintain the faith wo have received. Another will feel, as I do myself, that it fitly signifies our coming forward unanimously, priest and people, to offer our hoiuage to our cowmoti Lord, the Author and ground of our faith. The following views on this subject have long uppcarcd to me very appropriate. " With the heart man believes." In confes.*- in J our faith, we yield up our souls unto God. We not merely rehearse the outward standard of our faith, although that has jrrcat benc6t , but we give expression to the trust aud repose iu God, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost. True faith is the answer of man*;* spirit to God, when be wys, Give me thy heart ; it is the action by wliicli it enters into fellow- ship with Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The creed sets forth all the sources of faith, and hope, and joy in God; and in uttering; its words thus solemnly before God, this faith and these hopes and joys p.re revived, and ppecially offered before Him io one unani- mous act of worship and homage to Him. Taking the subject in this point of view, and at the same time knowing that it is a point of view which will not suggest itself spontaneously to most minds, I see a special propriety in having a special ceremony which will have a tendency to teach it. We do net so muoh need it in the case of prayer and praise, because tbe aaogunge used teaches it : but if we haie no ipfcial .eremo»y ft* the CrecdB, tlcn we sball naturally rest contented witb sttpposinjc that they are only a public prufesaion of our faiih, for our own mutual cncourntrcmrnt. and for a testimony to the world at large. It is true thnt they ore that ; but thoy arc something more than that; and tl»c cluni;o of postnra of the minister, and 08 many of the consrcfratior as arc not lookinj,- alrcaJy toward, the ehancel end of the Church, draws attention and loiuls to enquiry, and thO» leads to the cnrjuirci's bcin^ instructed in the full force otoar Creeds, OS recited in public worship. This in fact is one ihv.noly appointed use of ceremonies, viz., to cause enquiry and thus Icaa to inMruclion in truth. See Exod. 27, 20. These then have been the le min- roasous why, notwithstanding .that for so;i.e years 1 was almost solitary, and was hublo to bo misunderstood by uninstructed and nr.rrow-mindcd persons, and be culled a Puseyite. I have folt it my duty both in my own per- 6on and in training others to retain thi* ancient custom, and to ur-'e upon others in authority the propriety of sanctioning it by their example. There arc. however, other reasons. wIncU some may regard as fanciful, but which I think merit due consideration. It o^pears thnt in some parts of the world, the early ChnsUuns addressed all their worship towards the East; and that others prcbably uU others, addressed portions of their worship in that quarter. One reason given by them was that they cipcc ed Christ to come from the East, when he comes to judgment at the last day ; and that they used that posture to keep themselves m memory of the judgment, and their minds and hearts m a posture of readiness to meet hira. This reason appeals to our imagination, a faculty of tho mind i,hieh is weak an.ongst English people, and especially 10 men. 1 confess that I once thought it rather ninciful ; but as thero are many persons in every congregation whose imngiuutions arc a great help in their religious life, even if I eould never realize it myself, I ebould think it unreasonable that others should not be enabled to do BO. It is my case with some hymns. I cannot enter into them myself, but I see no impropriety in them, and do not with to discourage others in what Beams to be a help to their deirouon. and to I join in singing than. There ib another reasoD or two given by eorly Christiao writon why tbey vorabipp^d towards the Eflst : luch at that our Lord Jemia Christ U called *• the Sun of rijihteottaneas;' ood " the Day- tnrlnp," and " the Day-star from on h!«h." From this it is, perhaps, more thtin probable that it was in this way (that is, by worshipping towarUs the duwn and the aun-risinj?,) that they realized the trutljs that Jesus is the iMediator, through wliom all our worship must be ofTerctl ; that in him resides oil t!ie fulness of the Oodhoad, and thai ho is " God manifosted in the flesh." And in that view there would be a «pecial propriety in malting the confession of our faith to him, and in using an outward ceremony which is intended to remind us that this is what ^e may most fit* tinjily do. 1 besran with notin* the wide extent of this and its renerable •ntiquitr. On this part of the subject I have a word or two more to say, When I was in England, at a jubilee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, held in 1851, in St. Paul's Cathe* dral, I observed that the whole body of thn congregation turned to the chaneet at the Creed ; not only so, but the whole body of Bishops present, without distinction, used the same custom. Why is it so seldom used in Canada ? Again, did no one ever observe that Christians generally, with- out distinction, place their graves with the fe.et to the East. Why do they do this ? Simply because it is the old custom. How did this custom originate ? From the same idea from which worship- ping towards the East is said to have originated. They are so placed in order that, when the Lord comes to judgracat, and they rise on their feel out of their graves, that may meet immediately the sight of Him descending from heaven. Can any one give asother reason ? Still further, roost Christian churches, in most Christian lands, are placed -rrith their chancels to the cast. What cao have been the origin of that custom ? Clearly the ancient practice of wor- shipping towards the east. Can any one give another cause ? I have heard it objected that there is no rubrical or caoooiosl direction for that custom. But wiil any one point out to me a nibrte or a canon directinjj ns to stand at reciting the Psalms and Canticles ; or to diride tbeui rc8i)on6iTclj between minibter and people ; or for the whole congrcpration to bing the Gloria Patri, when chnntud, without any division ; or to say, " Glory be to ThcOy Got!/* ttfter the GoFptl has boca aunouoccJ ; or to join all together in snyin^ tbo hyiitu ** Tltcruforo with un<:cls and arch- angel^/' &c.? Tlie authority of thcKO >t»uils only upon custtooi, and that & i'n more modern and less general one than that of wor- shipping tovrard:i the enst. I fiod. from n remark once ninde to nic by an Orrnsreman, that some suppose that in so cloinpr, nud in bowin;; durlnj; tl * Creeds, we pay fiomo special reverence to th<; Communion Table, or to the cross sometimes embroidered on the tovcrin;;; of the table. Ha said that he had watched me and observed t!)»t I never did so. Id fact, those who observe the most ancient custom, still kept up in St. Paul's Cathedral jmd in many other plaoca, cannot do bo, at ioast in the Communion Service; for in reciting; the Go?pc\ the Priest conjcs forward from the sid« of the Aliar towards the Com. munion rails, or to the front of the Altar platform, and then, when he has to recite tlie Creed, he turns directly round, not towards the Table, but towards the wall whic*' -ioes behind it; and in a similar manner all tbc other ministers turn, who happen to be near the Table. This last matter is so trifling that I should not have alluded to it, but that I icarnt from this Orangeman that somi: of \iU fratcr- nity were oiiondcd by what was merely a mistake of their own. I trust that these esphmatious may lead to a revival of an old English custom which has so much good meaning in it. The circum^tances, under which these Colonies have been formed, have naturally hd to the dropping of many old customs; but love to our fatherland is gradually leading to their revival, why should this be left out ? Especially as, if intelligently used, it makes our use of the Creeds themselves more full of meanins and more impressive. m7 -'s^;?^* - S'.* *„:'„: /3' ^f|, •• ■ y^fsjiS f T^, * ' , '» J, ^ "' -;, ..^S'w, -^SBTfaT^lp; t.'","*^,???^*^- ■gpV/sfi#i .'" '