^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ >^ ^4i 1.0 I.I 11.25 14 li^ c Sciences Coiporalion 23 WIST MAIN STRUT WIUTIR.N.Y. I4SM (716) t7a^S03 ^^ ^\ ^cC^ •^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical IVIicroraproducticns / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notos/Notat tachniquas at bibliographiquas T ti The instituta ha* attamptad to obtain the beat original copy avaiiabla for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliograr Really uniqua, which may altar any of tha ii laa in tha raproduction, or which may stgnificantly changa tha usual method of filming, are checked below. 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Laa cartas, pianchas. tablaaux. ate. pauvant Atra fllmAs A daa taux da rAduction diff Arants. Loraqua la document ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul cllchA. il ast fllmA A partir da I'angia supAriaur gaucha. da gaucha A droita. at da haut an baa, an pranant la nombra d'Imagaa nAcassaira. Las diagrammsrs suivants illuatrant la mAthoda. rata alura. A 3 i2X 1 2 3 4 S 6 ii n iu.,HLWMii . V..I ■lailNl «qp|pq^P^M«««viM|||gPPPI|g|HB RITUALISM. "LET THERE BE LIGHT." A SERMON BY Rev. C. E. Whitcombe, PREACHED IN I Church of $ Matthew, T3Lj£^:^/LX'T^TO'X^. 4tb Sunday after Epiphany. 0. B. 1889. Times Printing Company, Hamilton. 'H ill N "'»■■■■■ ■•J-i ■IV>>I nmiLTOM PUBLIC LIBRARY •^ I, M ' ' • I ■ ^^'""■WiBBP wmn^^ IPBPP ^^ i^et tAere 6e b^t^At ft Psalm xxix., 2. — " Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Wherever we have instructions in detail in the Bible of the form and manner of public worship acceptable to God, we find that which men now nickname Ritualism. Ritual, as found in Holy Scriptures or in the formularies of the Church anywhere, means the rules and ceremonies which have been thought fit to form the environments of public worship. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Ritual has ever been a safeguard against presumptuous approach to and flippant use of the sacred Name of God and of the sacred things which have been set apart and devoted to the public worship of God. Ritualism is a new term invented in this century for the purpose of stigmatizing that which God in His word and in His Church has expressly declared to be a proper accessory to divine worship and so far pleasing to Him. Therefore, first, my brethren, do not be led away from what is good and true and scriptural by the mere name of a party shibboleth. In the Old Testament we learn that God saw fit to reveal a particular mode of worship and to give details of the form and rites and ritual which should set forth publicly His worship in His then Church. This we shall readily see by careful perusal of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezekiel and the Psalms, In the New Testament nowhere is it declared that God has changed His mind and has told us that the principle of Divine worship surrounded by ornate Ritual which was once well pleasing to Him has now become obnoxious to His will. The New Testament does not go over the ground of the forms and rites of Divine worship again, for the simple reason that it was not necessary to repeat that which had already been •fl placed in Holy S. S. ; nor does the New Testament ever con- template the rendering null and void of the Old Testament. On the contrary our blessed Lord declares that He came " to fulfil the laiv and not to destroy the laiv" Also observe the example of our Lord. We may be sure He would not encourage evil, nor endorse superstition ; yet He is, whenever he had an opportunity, found in the Temple. " / ivas ever ivitli you in the Temple!' There He is present at the gorgeous services then in use in His Father's House. He condemned the hypocri.sy of the professors of religion who made for a pretence long prayers standing at the corners of the streets, for to be seen of men ; who profaned the Temple by carrying through it vessels ; who turned the House of Prayer into a bazaar ; but never one word of condemnation has He for the worship in which He so constantly took part. He called the Pharisees hypocrites, but he never called them Ritualists. In the Book of Revelation we have a glimpse behind the veil into the temple of the Redeemed in Heaven. There we find what men now call " Ritualism," constantly set forth to illustrate the worship among the Angels and Spirits of the faithful departed. If Ritualism be bad, then the illustration used in the Book of Revelation is an exceedingly inapt and deceiving illustration. In the history of the church since the Canon of Holy S. S. was closed, what is now called Ritualism has always been the way of the church, and was never called in question — except by a small and narrow party who came to the surface about 2(X) years ago. We who 'relieve in Ornate services and worship have on our side : — 1. God's revelation of His mind and Will in the Old Testa- ment. 2. The endorsation of it by our Lord Jesus Christ when on earth. 3. The revelation of the worship of saints and angels. Those who call in question the matter of Ritualism have on their side : — I. A declaration, made by irresponsible men, that God has changed His mind. 5 2. A few texts of the Bible, which, when fairly read iti their context have no reference whatever to the Ritual of the worship of God's people, Our authorities are : — 1. God in the Bible. 2. The Church's plan for 4000 years. 3. The example of our Blessed Lord. 4. The saints in Paradise, The authorities of those who attack us arc : — Certain men who rose up in the i6th and 17th centuries after Christ, and turned the church upside down with their new ways and private opinions, and their successors in thought in this 19th century. For bear in mind that the Reformers did not decry Ritual of the Church of England, such as wc practice here. It was the Puritans who came from abroad and agitated the church with their foreign innovations 100 years after the Reformation had been completed. These men shewed their animus to the church when they, getting a temporary power, turned 8,000 clergy out of house and home, destroyed the ancient churches of England through- out the land, and murdered the king for political reasons thinly disguised under the veil of religion. The Reformation of the Church of England was not done in a corner nor brought about in a day. From, we will .say, about the time of Magna Charta (13th century), the Church of England was constantly striving to free herself from the burden o^ a foreign yoke thrown about her in common with all the national churches of Europe by the power- ful Bishops of Rome. The struggle, which showed itself in statute after statute, culminated when the quarrel occurred between Henry VIII. and the then Pope. The Church of England then shook off, at the expense of an imme. se poition of her property, the foreign yoke of the Papacy, never to return, but for a few years in Mary's reign, to her position of partial servitude. The actual work of the Reformation began in the reign of Edward VI. and, interrupted for twenty years by the Crom- wellian Revolution, was completed in the reign of Elizabeth. Since that time there has been a constant endeavor on the part of a party, the Puritans, to subvert the work of the Reform- ation and to destroy the distinctive Doctrines, Discipline and Ritual of the Church of England. . I now come to the Ritual of the Church of England as practiced here : — 1st — It is in harmony with all Scripture revelation of Public Divine Worship. 2nd. — It is the Ritual of the Reform- ers of Edward the VI.'s time — of Elizabeth's time and of 1 66 1, at which date our Book of Common Prayer took its pres- ent form, and since which time it has remained unaltered. I grant you it is not in harmony with the minds of the Puritans or the Sectaries of the Commonwealth, nor with the ultra Protestants to-day. If it were it would not be the Reformed Church of Eng- land, but merely one more among the many denominations and divisions of nineteenth century Protestantism. I do not know that I dare take time enough in one evening to shew the lawfulness and faithfulness of our Ritual in all points. I shall therefore glance at some points and p?.ss as quickly as I can to the question of Altar Lights. THE EASTWARD POSITION. I do not mean only that position as assumed at the Altar during the celebration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Eastward position in public prayer is : — I, The custom of all the eaiiy Christians. ■ 2. In accord with the very position in which our Churches are built. 3. Agreeable to common sense. 4. The position of humility on the part of the Officiant. I. So universal was the custom that the Pagans accused the Christians of worshipping the sun. The Devil worship of some Pagans was towards the west. In Holy S. S. Christ, who is the tn.e Sun of Righteousness, is often styled The East as : " Whereby the Day Spring (anatole=^ east) from on High hath visited us" So many early Christian writers say such as this: "Our prayers are directec. towards the morning dawn ;" and " We turn to the erst in prayer." 'T 2. The position of all ancient English Churches is towards the east, and all Christians bury their dead with face to the East. Orientation is the universal rule all over the Eastern Church. The Roman Church is the only one which does not practice this custom. 3. It is agreeable to common sense. There are two ways of putting anything, the disagreeable and the kindly. It is the disagreeable way to say, " The priest turns his back to the people." The charitable. Christian way to put it is " He turns with the people." When we read thfe Bible or preach to the people, we turn to the people ; when we pray or offer praise with the people, we turn with the people. 4. It is the position of proper humility. When I preach to you I am occupying for the time a position of superiority over you. I am then your teacher, and you are occupying the place of the taught. I am " lording it " over God's heritage, for Lord is Dominus and that equals master or teacher. When I pray with you or lead in prayer I am no longer in the position of Domine but 1 am one of you, one with you exercising the office of a suppliant at the Throne of Grace. So also in the Celebration, I am a priest, so are you in virtue of your union and communion in the Church of God. 5. Peter calls you a Royal priesthood. As a priest taken out of a company of priests, I offer the Holy Sacrament not for you nor as your .substitute, but with you. Therefore the Eastward position is one of proper humility on the part of the officiant or celebrant. The custom of all worshipping toward the east has sur- vived the innovations of Puritanism, in the eastward position at The Creed, The Glorias and the Holy Communion. The custom of saying prayers at a desk placed facing the people is a modern innovation unheard of among the Primitive Christians, and utterly contrary to common sense, which teaches that prayers are not said at or to a congrega- tion, but ivith God's people to the Throne of Grace. After a very excellently composed prayer at a large music meeting in Boston some years ago, the newspaper reported that " it was the finest prayer ever offered to a Boston audi- ence." The Eastward position is the Law, and custom of the Church of England. THE MIXED C HALICE. The Mixed Chalice, i. e., to u.se the words of the Reformers' Prayer Book, to which our present Prayer Book refers in all matters not explicitly stated therein : — " Putting the wine into the Chalice * * * putting thereto a little pure and clean water." This was the "Cup" used by our Lord as all authorities on Jewish customs, bear witness. It has been the universal custom of the church. It symbolizes the "Blood and Water" which flowed from the wounded side of the pierced Saviour. It is never forbidden, and h'ince allowed by the Church of England. VESTMENTS. Vestments, i. c., special robes for the Holy Eucharist. Their use is scriptural, being first appointed by the Almighty Himself, as for example in Exodus XXIX., 5,-9. The priests in the temple at the time of the great sac- rifice, at which our Lord was present, used the Vestments and He did not protest. The Vestments are the Law of the church. There are no directions whatsoever as to any robes or vestments at all in your Book of Common Prayer, — and for this reason — it was determined not to scatter unnecessary rubrics or directions here and there through the book ; so all directions as to vestments, etc., were gathered up into one rubric which you will find in your Prayer Book just before the beginning of Morning Prayer. It thus reads : — '^ And here it is to be noted, that such ornaments of tfte " Church, and of the Ministers thereof, at all times of their minis- 9 " tratiott, shall he retained, ami he in nse^ as ivere in this Church '* of England, hy the authority of Parliament, in the second year " of the reign of King Edivard the Sixth." Wc have only thus to enquire for the law of the Church what were the ornaments of the Church and the Ministers thereof at the date specified. I hold the Hook of Common Prayer of the 2nd year of Kdward VI. in my hand and I read the rubric in front of the Communion Office. " Upon the day and at the time appointed for the ministration " of the Holy Communion, the Priest that shall execute the holy " ministry, shall put upon him the vesture appointed for that min- " istration, that is to say, a white alh, plain, with a vestment or '"cope. And zvhere there he many Priests or Deacons, there so " many shall he ready to help the Priest in the ministration as " shall he requisite ; and shall have upon them likewise the " vestures appointed for their ministry, that is to say, alhs with *' tunicles." It is true that another book was put forth in 1552, when the foreign Puritans had influenced the young king, forbidding the vestments. But in 166 1 when our present book was put forth and authorized, the book of 1552, which was never in general use, was utterly ignored and reference for the lawful vestments deliberately made to the first book, from which I have just quoted. Again in our present book nothing is said about Bishop's robes of any kind, but the ornaments rubric settles the question by referring to the 2nd year of Edward VI. I will read there some d' ions at the consecration of a Bishop : — " After the Creed and Gospel ended, first the elected Bishop, " having upon him a surplice and cope, shall he presented hy tivo " Bishops (heing also in surplices and copes, and having their " pastoral staves in their hands), unto the Archbishop, etc." It would be profitable if our Church people, instead of finding fault with those who fulfil the law of the Church, would band themselves together and provide for their Bishop a Cope, so that he C( Id do what he does not at present — fulfil the law by u? ng the 'obe reqL red by the Church. The Cope .nd Vestment) was used all through Elizabeth's reign ; has been used at the Coronation of every Sovereign since, was used a' tbe Coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, lb also at her Jubilee in 1888, and will be again used, when in due course Albert Edward shall be crowned as Edward VII. of England. The legality of the Eucharistic Vestments was never questioned till within the last few years. The Puritans said they were Popish, but never that they were illegal. ALTAR LIGHTS. The use of lights in Divine Worship was first ordained by God Himself Any one who reads the whole of his Bible knows this, > For example, read Exod. XXVI., 35 ; also, read Rev. I., 12, 13, and Rev. IV., 5. What is good in Heaven is surely neither sinful nor super- stitious on Earth, Altar lights are the Law of the Church. The Ornaments Rubric again shows us the law. The ornaments that were in use in the second year of Edward VI, were to be retained, Edward VI. in 1547 issued an Injunction, and this is it : — " All Vicars, Ecclesiastical persons, &c., &c„ shall suffer " henceforth no torches, nor candles, tapers or images of wax to " be set afore any image or picture, but only two Lights upon " the high altar, before the Sacrament, which for the signification " that Christ is the true Light of the World, they shall suffer " to remain still." They have been used in many places since the Refor- mation. In other Cathedrals and Churches the candlesticks have remained and unlighted candles, surely a most unmeaning and .senseless thing. I cannot quote the dozens of witnesses to the use of Altar Lights from the Reformation to the present day, I must content myself with a few of the most striking examples : — Bell's Life, a sporting chronicle well known to Englishmen, contains in its issue of July iSth, 1830, a representation of His Majesty King George IV., lying in state in Windsor Castle. About the coffin are 9 large candlesticks with candles burning, A print representing the Coronation of King William ■■V ^^ 11 Paul's Cathedral, than some small (Prince of Orange) "of glorious and immortal memory," was on exhibition at the South Kensington Museum in the Grace collection in 1880. It shows 28 tapers burning on the Altar, and 8 upon the Re-table. Engravings of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1719 show the candles on the Altar. And the candles are there still in this year 1889, and are lighted at every celebration of the Holy Communion. We are quite content to follow St. London, as our model of Ritual, rather parish Church in .some small city or town. The two altar candles are yet in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, as also in Westminster Abbey. In London alone there were in 1884, 91 Churches in which the altar lights were used. We can go a little further. At the funeral of the aged Emperor of Germany lately, who.se Protestantism no one doubts, under the ceremonial of the church established by Martin Luther, candles, I believe several hundred, were burned as the body lay in state. What is good and lawful for a Protestant Emperor can hardly be considered superstitious about an ordinary churchman. The Eastward Position ; the Mixed Chalice, Vestments and Altar Lights are the Law of the Church of England, and the distinct direction of our Prayer Books. 1. Does the Law become null and void because at any one period all (though such a case has not occurred) the churches of a communion should in practice fall short of the Law ? 2. Are those who do things which are the Law to be con- demned because certain other individuals fail to fulfil the Law ? Let me give you an example of how this would work. In your Prayer Books, the last clause of the article, "concerning the service of the church," you will read thus : — " T/ic Curate that ministereth in every Parish Church or " Chapel, being at home, and not being otherivise reasonably hindered, " shall say the same (Morning and Evening Prayer) in the Parish " Church or Chapel, where he ministereth, and shall cause a bell to " be tolled thereto, a convenient time before he begin, that the people " may come to hear Gods ivord, and to pray with him" Are those who do not obey this Law of the Church to find fault with others who do fulfil it ? The fact that Rubrics are not obeyed is not strange when ■■':>■ ■ ' . ■ 7"=^ ■W W- 12 we know the lawlessness and world Hniess of the Church dti^g the Hanoverian Dynasty, the age of irreverence arid slovenliness and dirt in the sanctuaries of the Lord. Lastly, people cry Popery. , It is the ready cry of men against ever/thing that either they do not understand or the doing of whicP convicts them of nqglect. What Rome does has nothing to do with the matter. We are not Rome, and thank God we are not subject to the supremacy/ of any foreign Bishop. She is not our mistress — she is not the standard of right and wrong for us. The man who objects to a thing because Rome does it, is giving away his independence. He thus proclaims that for him Rome is the arbiter of what is right and what is wrong. My Brethren, we the Clergy here, rejoice that our people have followed us and have given us their confidence in our endeavors to present the Church of England in this part of the Lord s vineyard, as she is by her own law. Let us together be glad of this ; let us determine by God's help to let no cry or shibboleth of any party turn us from our course, which is to build up here a congregation as a congrega- tion of the Church of England. Let us use all the law which the Church of England allows, in the gathering of souls beneath this roof and at this altar. Let us thank God for the success He has so far been pleased to grant us, ascribe all the glory to His Holy Name, and as faithful members of that branch of the Catholic Church known as the Church of England, continue to uplift her standard to the glory of God and the welfare of souls. m ,y^. V^j, •-*S' m.