A History 
 
 of the 
 
 of Common Prayer 
 
 J. H. MAUDE 
 
 ifornia 
 
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 2
 
 Ctjurcl) <?tot Books 
 The History of the 
 
 Book of Common Prayer 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REV. J. H. MAUDE, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW, DEAN', AND LECTURER OF HERTFORD COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 F.XAMINJNG CHAPLAIN TO THE LORD BISHOP OF S. ALBANS 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 RIVINGTONS 
 
 34 KING STREET, CO VENT GARDEN 
 
 LONDON 
 
 1900
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PACK 
 
 i. The Book of Common Prayer, ... 1 
 
 ii. The Liturgy, 15 
 
 in. The Daily Office, 52 
 
 iv. The Occasional Offices, .... 81 
 
 v. The Ordinal, Ill 
 
 vi. The Scottish Liturgy, ..... 121 
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES 
 
 Note A. Extracts from Pliny and Justin Martyr, . . 128 
 
 B. The Sarum Cauon of the Mass, . . . 12? 
 
 C. The Doctrine of the Eucharist, . . . 129 
 
 D. Books recommended for further Study, . . 131 
 
 INDEX, , .... 133 
 
 2117181
 
 THE BOOK 
 OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 The Book of Common Prayer. To English churchmen of 
 the present day it appears a most natural arrangement 
 that all the public services of the Church should be 
 iijcluded in a single book. The addition of a Bible 
 supplies them with everything that forms part of the 
 authorised worship, and the only unauthorised supple- 
 ment in general use, a hymn book, is often bound up 
 with the other two within the compass of a tiny volume. 
 It was, however, only the invention of printing that 
 rendered such compression possible, and this is the only 
 branch of the Church that has effected it. In the 
 Churches of the West during the Middle Ages, a great 
 number of separate books were in use ; but before the 
 first English Prayer Book was put out in 1549, a process 
 of combination had reduced the most necessary books to 
 five, viz. the Missal (properly Missale Plenarium), which 
 contained all that was necessary for the Mass ; the 
 Breviary, which contained the daily offices now compressed 
 into the English Matins and Evensong; the Manual, a 
 collection of occasional offices for the use of a parish 
 priest ; the Pontifical, which contained those services in 
 which a bishop had to officiate ; and the Processional, con- 
 taining the Litanies. 
 
 A
 
 2 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 The Missal was formed from a combination of several separate 
 books. The Sacramentary contained the prayers of the Mass, that 
 is, the Canon, or prayer of Consecration, which was invariable, and 
 also the collects, secrets, prefaces, and post-communions. The 
 Lectionary (also called Epistolary, Apostolus, or Comes) con- 
 tained the Epistles, and the Evangelistarium the Gospels. The 
 Gradale contained the Graduals, or psalms sung between the 
 Epistle and Gospel, and often other sung parts of the service. 
 The Troper contained the Tropes, verses sung with the Introit, 
 and also the Sequences, hymns sung after the Gradual. 
 
 The Breviary was commonly called in England the Portif orium, 
 probably because it was originally portable. Earlier separate books 
 were the Psalter, the Antiphoner, which comprised not only anti- 
 phons, but also responds, hymns, capitula, etc., which again were 
 sometimes in separate books, the Legenda, which contained all the 
 passages read at Matins, these being again sometimes distributed 
 among several books, and the Ordinal or Pica de Sarum. This 
 last book, called the Pie because the initial letters were written in 
 red, and so presented a ' pied ' appearance, gave the rules for find- 
 ing the proper office for the day, as affected by the movable feasts. 
 The complete Breviary was arranged in four parts. First there was 
 the Kalendar, with rules for finding Easter ; secondly, the Psalter 
 and Common of Saints : the Psalter containing the psalms with 
 the antiphons, canticles, hymns, etc., used at ordinary times : the 
 Common of Saints containing common forms for Apostles, Con- 
 fessors, etc. ; thirdly, the Temporal, in which there were the vari- 
 able parts, such as antiphons, responds, etc., for Sundays arid 
 week-days, and the lessons for Matins ; and fourthly, the Proper 
 of Saints, which gave the variable parts for all Saints' Days. 
 
 The Manual contained the offices for Baptism, Matrimony, 
 the Churching of "Women, the Visitation of the Sick, Extreme 
 Unction, Burial, and a number of Benedictions. The Confirma- 
 tion office was also included, although this properly belonged to 
 the Pontifical. 
 
 The Pontifical had services for Ordination, Confirmation, 
 Coronation, the Dedication of Churches, the Profession of Monks, 
 etc., and many Benedictions. 
 
 Changes under Henry VIII. All the services contained 
 in the books which have been mentioned were still in 
 use, with very slight changes, at the end of the reign of 
 Henry VIII. The king was exceedingly cautious in 
 introducing changes which affected the religious faith 
 and practices of the people. In repudiating the authority 
 of the pope he had on the whole the sympathy of the 
 nation ; in destroying the monasteries he was aided by 
 the jealousy of the secular clergy and the greed of his
 
 THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII 3 
 
 courtiers, but he had no sympathy with Lutheranism or 
 Zwinglianism, and he either did not wish or did not 
 venture to tamper to any great extent with the religion 
 of daily life. Still some steps were taken which shew 
 that conservative and cautious reforms of the service 
 books were in contemplation, and particularly that 
 the use of the English language, the elimination of 
 abuses, and the application of the test of antiquity were 
 intended. Already in 1535 the name of the pope, and in 
 1538 that of S. Thomas of Canterbury, were erased from 
 the service books. Coverdale's English translation of 
 the Bible was allowed to be circulated in 1536, and the 
 Great Bible was authorised by the king in 1538, and 
 ordered to be placed in the churches. Manuals of 
 Christian doctrine, known as the Bishops' Book and the 
 King's Book, were authorised in 1537 and 1543. S. 
 Thomas's shrine was destroyed in 1538 and the super- 
 stitious use of images and lights forbidden. In 1542 
 Convocation made a step towards uniformity by prescrib- 
 ing the Sarum use for the whole province of Canterbury. 
 In the following year, 1543, it ordered lessons from the 
 English Bible to be read at Matins and Vespers, and 
 in the same Convocation the archbishop, Cranmer, 
 declared that the king would have all books purged of the 
 bishop of Rome's name, superstitious legends expunged, 
 and a service made out of Scripture and 'authentic 
 doctors.' A committee was to be appointed to do the 
 work, but probably Convocation was unwilling to act, 
 for nothing came of this ; and Cranmer probably went 
 on by himself, for two schemes of daily offices have been 
 discovered drawn up by him, which shew the process 
 by which the Sarum offices were condensed into the 
 Matins and Evensong of 1549. The only English service, 
 however, that was brought into use in Henry's reign was 
 the Litany, which was translated by Cranmer from the 
 Sarum ' Processions,' with omissions and additions, and 
 ordered by the king to be used in 1544. It has remained 
 almost unaltered to the present day. 
 
 The Reign of Edward VI. The accession of Edward VI. 
 opened the floodgates of change. The government fell 
 entirely into the hands of unprincipled men, who cared
 
 4 BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 nothing for religion themselves, but had grown rich 
 upon the plunder of the Church, and considered it their 
 hest policy to encourage the extreme Protestant party 
 as the best way of securing their ill-gotten gains. The 
 party of moderate reform, to which the best of the 
 bishops belonged, were driven into opposition by the 
 violence of the extremists, and were almost deprived of 
 influence. Before the end of the reign they were mostly 
 in prison. The reform of the services fell principally 
 into the hands of Cranmer. He possessed some notable 
 qualifications for the task. He was pious and learned, 
 and possessed the faculty of adapting and translating 
 ancient devotional language with exceptional felicity. 
 But his weakness of character made him throughout the 
 whole of his public life the tool of natures stronger than 
 his own, and he continually played the part of advocate 
 to measures of which his better reason and conscience 
 disapproved. However much we may deplore many of 
 the steps that were taken during this reign, it is still 
 a matter for profound thankfulness, when all the cir- 
 cumstances are considered, that the result was such as 
 it was. 
 
 Changes under Edward VL On Edward's accession a 
 book of Homilies was published and various injunctions 
 issued by the Council, the first of a series which restricted 
 to some extent the use of the old services, forbade many 
 ancient ceremonies, and set on foot the work of destruc- 
 tion of all that was beautiful in the churches, a work 
 which continued throughout the reign, and which was 
 only too completely carried out. In the first session of 
 Parliament, which met November 4, 1547, a bill 'for the 
 Sacrament of the Altar ' was passed. This had two parts, 
 one forbidding the insults to the Sacrament which were 
 now common, and the other ordering the communion of 
 the people in both kinds. About this time a number 
 of questions about the Eucharist were addressed to the 
 bishops, and their replies are extant. One of the ques- 
 tions was whether the Mass should be in English. In 
 March 1548 the Council issued an ' Order of Communion ' 
 in English to be used on Easter Day. This Order, 
 derived mainly from Lutheran sources, consisted of an
 
 THE REIGN OF EDWARD VI 5 
 
 Exhortation, Confession, Absolution, the Comfortable 
 Words, the Prayer of Humble Access, and the Thanks- 
 giving, which still remain, with slight alterations, in the 
 English Communion Service. It was to be interpolated 
 in the Latin Mass immediately before the communion 
 of the people. Nothing is really known about the author- 
 ship of this, though it has been assumed by later historians 
 to have been the work of a committee of bishops and 
 divines which is supposed to have drawn up the Prayer 
 Book of 1549. The existence of some such committee 
 seems to be proved by a passage in the king's diary, and 
 by a letter written by Cranmer to Mary in 1555, in which 
 he says that a good number of learned men of both 
 parties assembled at Windsor, and agreed that the 
 service should be in English. The list of six bishops 
 and six divines which is given in modern histories first 
 appears a hundred years later in Fuller's Church History, 
 and the source of his information cannot be certainly 
 ascertained. At all events, it seems clear that there was 
 a meeting at Windsor towards the end of September 
 1548, but how much was then done towards drawing up 
 the Prayer Book is quite uncertain. Probably the work 
 of translation and adaptation had already been sub- 
 stantially completed. Various incidental notices show 
 that English services had already been used. As early as 
 April 1547 Compline was sung in English in the king's 
 chapel. In September the Council ordered the Epistle 
 and Gospel to be read in English. When Parliament 
 met on November 4, the Gloria, Creed, and Agnus were 
 sung in English at Westminster. In May 1548 a con- 
 temporary letter states that ' Matins and Evensong ' 
 were sung in English at S. Paul's, and Mass before the 
 king at Westminster in English. On September 4, 1548, 
 Somerset wrote to the vice-chancellor at Cambridge, to 
 order him to use the Mass, Matins, and Evensong sung 
 in the king's chapel. 
 
 The Prayer Book of 1549. From these facts, and from 
 the schemes known to have been drawn up by Cranmer 
 before this time, it would seem probable that little was 
 left for the committee to do. In October 1548 the book 
 appears to have been submitted to the bishops. Some
 
 6 BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 objections were raised, but all signed it except Day of 
 Chichester. In December the book was introduced into 
 the House of Lords, and a debate of several days took 
 place on the subject of the Eucharist. An account of 
 this debate the first full report of a debate in Parlia- 
 ment is still extant, and is full of interest. The bill 
 enforcing the use of the book passed the Lords on 
 January 15, ten bishops voting for it and eight against. 
 It passed the Commons before January 22. The royal 
 assent was given on March 14. It may be noted, with 
 reference to the interpretation of the Ornaments rubric, 
 that the second year of Edward vi. ended on January 28, 
 but that the book was not to come into use until the 
 following Whitsunday, June 9, 1549. 
 
 Sanction of Convocation. The question arises whether 
 this book had been sanctioned by Convocation. The 
 records of Convocation were burnt in 1666, but there are 
 several contemporary letters from the king and Council 
 which state that the book did receive the sanction of the 
 clergy. These statements were made, no doubt, when 
 unexpected opposition to the new order had arisen, and 
 under these circumstances the Council would have had 
 no prejudices in favour of telling the truth, but it is 
 a strong point that one of the letters is to Bonner, who 
 must have known the facts. Still the language used is 
 too vague and inaccurate to count for much. On the 
 other side, it is urged that Heylyn, who was clerk to 
 Convocation, and who had carefully examined the records, 
 discusses the question whether the consent of Convocation 
 was necessary, and appears to assume that it was not 
 given. To this may be added the silence of the Act 
 of Uniformity and other contemporary documents where 
 the mention of the approval of Convocation, if it had been 
 given, would have been much to the point. On the whole, 
 therefore, this matter remains doubtful. 
 
 The new order was to come into use on Whitsunday, 
 June 9. On the whole it did not meet with much 
 resistance. There was a rising in Devonshire, which 
 was put down with great cruelty ; but, for the most part, 
 even those who were deeply attached to the old order 
 acquiesced in the change. In order to render a return
 
 OBJECTS OF THE FIRST REVISION 7 
 
 to the old services less easy, the Council, on December 5, 
 issued an order for the destruction of all the old service 
 books. This wicked and wanton measure was only too 
 completely carried out. The few that remain show what 
 treasures of art have been lost, and it was not only service 
 books that perished. Numberless other priceless manu- 
 scripts vanished with them in this act of vandalism, an 
 act to which the burning of the Alexandrian library 
 furnishes the only parallel. 
 
 Objects of the Revision. The main objects which the 
 revisers kept in view, as may be gathered from the preface 
 and contents of the new book, were the following : First, 
 a return to Scripture and Primitive usage. In the Mass 
 the order and contents of the Sarum service were adhered 
 to, but stress was laid upon the communion of the people 
 by the incorporation of the ' Order of Communion,' and 
 the Canon was practically rewritten, expressions being 
 omitted which might be thought to countenance the 
 doctrine of a repetition of the Sacrifice of the Cross, 
 and the then prevalent form of the doctrine of Transub- 
 stantiation. In the daily offices the continuous recitation 
 of the Psalter and reading of Scripture were restored, 
 and apocryphal legends omitted. The direct invocation 
 of saints and expressions connected with the mediaeval 
 doctrine of the state of the departed also disappeared. 
 Secondly, it was intended to make all the Church services 
 congregational. This was to be effected (a) by the use 
 of the English language throughout ; (6) by absolute 
 uniformity and the use of a single book ; (c) by great 
 simplification, especially in the daily offices, and the 
 discontinuance of all complicated ceremonies and de- 
 votions. 
 
 No exception can be taken to these principles, but 
 they were certainly carried out in a very sweeping 
 manner, and much that was beautiful and edifying 
 perished. Those who were attached to the old forms 
 of devotion could not but regret many of the changes, 
 and in some parts of the country they were deeply re- 
 sented. Still, drastic as the changes were, they were very 
 far from satisfying the extreme Protestant party, and an 
 agitation began at once for further measures. The fact
 
 8 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 is that the new book represents not so much the wishes 
 of the Council of Edward vr. as those of Henry vin. The 
 work was in the main carried out on lines that he had 
 laid down. Simplification was carried to almost its ex- 
 treme point, and excrescences were liberally pruned off, 
 but there was no interference with Catholic and primitive 
 doctrine or practice. Hence bishops whose catholicity 
 cannot be impeached, such as Tunstall and Gardiner, 
 were willing, although they disliked the change, to use 
 the book as it stood, while Cranmer, egged on by the 
 extremists, at once set to work to mutilate it. It may 
 also be noted here that the manner of conducting public 
 worship was hardly prescribed at all. The rubrics of the 
 present book of Common Prayer are not very full, but in 
 the first book even more scanty directions were given. 
 The book was to be used by men who were familiar with 
 an elaborate system of ritual, and it was clearly regarded 
 as a matter of course that they would supply the want of 
 express direction from their previous practice. The 
 revisers perhaps intended to leave it to some extent for 
 circumstances to determine how much of the old ritual 
 should be retained, but the fact that it was permissible 
 and natural to retain almost the whole of it must have 
 helped to reconcile moderate men to the change. 
 
 The Ordinal. The next service to be remodelled 
 was the Ordination Service. This may be considered the 
 completion of the book of 1549. On January 8, 1550, a 
 bill for a new Ordinal was brought into the House of 
 Lords, and it passed on January 25, five bishops voting 
 against it. By this bill a form was sanctioned before- 
 hand, which was to be drawn up by a commission of 
 twelve, six bishops and six others. This commission was 
 appointed on February 2, but only one name, that of 
 Heath of Worcester, is known. The form must have 
 been drawn up already, for on February 8, Heath, who 
 was a moderate man on the Catholic side, was brought 
 before the Council for refusing to sign it. He was 
 imprisoned for eighteen months and then deprived. The 
 book was in print before March 25. Cranmer and Ridley 
 are said to have used it in an Ordination at S. Paul's 
 in the previous year, and this is probable enough. It
 
 THE BOOK OF 1552 
 
 received no ecclesiastical sanction except from individual 
 bishops. 
 
 The Prayer Book of 1552. Little is known of the way in 
 which the Second Prayer Book of Edward vi.'s reign was 
 drawn up. An agitation for further changes began as 
 soon as the first book had been sanctioned. Vehement 
 controversies were held on the subject of the Eucharist, 
 and the influence of foreign reformers steadily increased. 
 Peter Martyr and Bucer were made Regius Professors 
 of Divinity at Oxford and Cambridge, and Calvinism 
 and Zwinglianism were making rapid progress. Cranmer, 
 who had once been under the influence of Lutheran 
 opinions, had before now embraced a receptionist view of 
 the Eucharist, and was even claimed by the Zwinglian 
 school as on their side. Ridley may have held more 
 closely to the doctrine of the Real Presence, but the work 
 of the destruction of altars, which he inaugurated on 
 his own authority, shows his attitude towards the sacri- 
 ficial aspect of the Eucharist. Hooper, who had much 
 influence, was a thoroughgoing Zwinglian. As the book 
 of 1549 unquestionably taught the Real Presence, and 
 was sufficiently explicit on the doctrine of the Eucharistic 
 Sacrifice, the main feature of the revision was certain to be 
 an attempt to modify this. Perhaps some of the changes 
 were suggested by Gardiner's defence when brought to 
 trial in December 1550, when he alleged that the old 
 doctrine was implied in a number of passages in the 
 Liturgy of 1549. In January 1551 Martyr writes from 
 Lambeth that a meeting of bishops had been held and 
 many changes agreed upon, and a little later he and 
 Bucer presented to Cranmer copious criticisms on the 
 first book. Then there was a long delay. Some foreign 
 reformers speak of discussions in ' convocatio,' but this 
 could not have been Convocation in its proper sense, 
 for Cranmer's Register shews that it did not meet at 
 all for business during this period. It was not until 
 March 9, 1552, that the Act of Uniformity was intro- 
 duced into the House of Lords, and it passed April 14. 
 Two bishops voted against it ; four others who un- 
 doubtedly would have done so had been deprived on 
 frivolous pretexts, and a fifth, Tunstall, was in prison.
 
 10 BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Then there were more delays. The book was to come 
 into use on November 1, but it was probably not through 
 the press. Only three days before, the Council added the 
 'Black Rubric on their own authority alone. Edward 
 died on July 6, 1553, so the book could not have been 
 used for more than a few months at the most. Two 
 points must be noted with regard to this Act of Unifor- 
 mity. It made non-attendance at public worship for the 
 first time a penal offence, and thus began the melancholy 
 history of the persecution of ' recusants.' The other 
 point is that the Act and other official utterances mini- 
 mise the very important alterations made, describing 
 them as called for by unnecessary scruples, and speak 
 of the first book in terms of the highest approval, and 
 even as having been drawn up with the inspiration of 
 the Holy Ghost. This suggests a view which is supported 
 by a great deal of internal evidence, namely, that the 
 people who actually drafted the changes, probably 
 Cranmer and Ridley, did the work more or less against 
 their inclinations, and that they would have preferred 
 to let the first book remain as it was. Some indications 
 of unwillingness and of yielding to pressure will be 
 noticed later on. 
 
 The Reign of Mary. Very soon after the accession of 
 Queen Mary, in the autumn of 1553, the ecclesiastical 
 legislation of Edward's reign was repealed, and the 
 ancient services restored. 
 
 The Reign of Elizabeth. On Elizabeth's accession in 
 1559 the position of parties had greatly altered. Many 
 of the extreme reformers had fled to the Continent, 
 and had there imbibed the sentiments of foreign Pro- 
 testants to such an extent that even the use of the book 
 of 1552 appeared to them scarcely tolerable. Events 
 in England also had widened the breach between the 
 supporters of the old religion and the reforming party. A 
 large part of the nation indeed appeared to acquiesce very 
 quietly in the changes made both under Mary and under 
 Elizabeth, but the party of moderate reform, which had 
 been in the ascendant at the end of Henry's reign, had 
 almost disappeared. Those leading members of it who 
 were still alive had made their submission to the pope,
 
 THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH 11 
 
 and could not be recalled. The nation was practically 
 divided into two great parties : the extreme reformers, 
 and those who wished to go back entirely to the old 
 state of things, including the recognition of papal 
 supremacy. Elizabeth, therefore, had a very difficult 
 task before her. She undoubtedly wished to return as 
 far as possible to the position of Henry's last years, and 
 if she had thought it practicable, she would have re- 
 stored the Prayer Book of 1549 ; but it is clear that in 
 such a course she would not have had the support of any 
 influential men. 
 
 Changes in the Prayer Book in 1559. The queen had to 
 content herself with making a few important changes in 
 the book of 1552. An informal committee was appointed 
 to report on the matter, and the result, after the queen 
 in council had made her alterations, was the Act of 
 Uniformity of 1559. This Act, which is distinguished 
 by the extreme severity of its penalties, restored the 
 book of 1552, with the addition of Sunday lessons, a few 
 alterations in the Litany, especially the omission of the 
 petition about the detestable enormities of the bishop of 
 Rome, the restoration of the old form in the administra- 
 tion of the elements, the restoration of Eucharistic vest- 
 ments, and the omission of the ' Black Rubric,' which had 
 been inserted by Edward's Council without the authority 
 of Parliament. No ecclesiastical sanction was asked or 
 given for this change, any more than for Edward's second 
 book ; but there was no strong opposition, almost all the 
 clergy except the bishops accepting it. 
 
 The Latin Prayer Book. In 1560 a Latin version of the 
 new book was sanctioned by royal letters patent for the 
 use of the Universities and the clergy. It is not always 
 an exact translation, and the most important point in it 
 is that it sanctions the reservation of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment for the Sick. This is an indication of the queen's 
 own wishes, but in practice even the directions of the 
 book of 1559 were very commonly disregarded. 
 
 Puritan Opposition. The Puritan party grew in influ- 
 ence, and expressed more and more openly their dislike 
 of anything in public worship that at all resembled the 
 traditional usage of the Church. One of the first points
 
 12 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 to be raised was that of vestments. The rubric of the 
 new book which enjoined the use of all ornaments exist- 
 ing in the second year of Edward, was not complied with 
 except perhaps in rare instances. It remained unaltered, 
 but became almost a dead letter. The queen had been 
 authorised to take further order in the matter. This 
 she never did, but in 1565, Parker, the archbishop, drew 
 up certain Advertisements intended to secure a minimum 
 of decency in public worship, and in particular requiring 
 the use of the surplice in parish churches, and of the 
 cope in cathedrals. Elizabeth twice refused to sign these 
 advertisements, and they were published by Parker in 
 1566 on his own authority. In her own chapel the queen 
 continued to have the crucifix and altar lights, wafer 
 bread, ( golden vestments/ and, apparently, incense. 
 But the Puritan party would not conform even to 
 Parker's modified demands, and a long struggle began 
 in which it became more and more apparent that the real 
 object of the attack was not to modify details, but to 
 bring the historical English Church to an end, and to 
 found an altogether new polity on the system of Calvin. 
 The struggle was carried on with varying success during 
 Elizabeth's reign, and its first great period was closed by 
 the Hampton Court Conference in 1604. On James i.'s 
 accession in 1603 the Puritans hoped to accomplish their 
 aims, and 800 of their ministers presented to him the 
 'Millenary Petition,' asking for relief from some of the 
 ceremonies which they disliked. In the Conference 
 which followed from this it became evident that the views 
 of the Puritans were quite incompatible with the main- 
 tenance of historical Christianity, and James threw his 
 influence on the side of the existing state of things. A 
 few alterations were made in the Prayer Book, and 
 authorised by royal proclamation, but there were no 
 substantial concessions. 
 
 The changes actually made in 1604 were these : The terms 
 'Absolution and 'Confirmation' were explained; Private Bap- 
 tism was directed to be done by a lawful minister ; a prayer for 
 the royal family, and occasional thanksgivings were added ; a 
 few changes were made in the lessons taken from the Apocrypha ; 
 and the part about the Sacraments was added to the Catechism.
 
 STRUGGLE AGAINST PURITANISM 13 
 
 Renewed Contest with Puritanism. After the Hampton 
 Court Conference the conflict between the Church and 
 Puritanism entered upon a new phase. The attempt to 
 revolutionise the Church from within had failed, and she 
 was driven to justify her position by a constructive policy. 
 This she did in the region of theory by the writings of 
 the long series of divines whose piety and learning are the 
 glory of the seventeenth century, and in practice by a 
 closer adherence to her own rules, and a gradual raising of 
 the standard of practice, life, and worship. But this process 
 became so inextricably mixed up with the political move- 
 ments of the time, that the Church became exposed to 
 the danger of forcible suppression from without, and this 
 was actually effected by the Long Parliament, which 
 deposed the Catholic Church from her position as the 
 Church of the State, and set up a Presbyterian system, 
 tempered by Independency, in her place. During the 
 period of the Commonwealth the Church was proscribed 
 and persecuted. At the Restoration of Charles u. she 
 naturally resumed at once her old position. It remained 
 to determine her relations to the Puritan bodies. One 
 more attempt was made to reconcile the opposing parties, 
 but the result was really a foregone conclusion. 
 
 The Savoy Conference. At the Savoy in 1661 twelve 
 divines on each side debated their differences for four 
 months, but no agreement could be arrived at. The 
 points at issue, such as the sign of the Cross, and kneeling 
 at the Eucharist, may appear at first sight to be matters 
 of detail, but they were symbols of radical differences of 
 principle. The real question at issue was the continuity 
 of the Church. The system of the Church and that of 
 the Puritans were and always had been irreconcilable, and 
 the fact was at last recognised. The Savoy Conference 
 was the completion of the Reformation. The Church 
 continued to assert her continuity and catholicity, and 
 modified her system in her own way, while the Puritans 
 made up their minds to remain outside, and formed 
 separate communities of their own. 
 
 The Prayer Book of 1661. The Convocation of 1661 
 therefore proceeded to revise the Prayer Book without 
 regard to the views of the Puritans. Much of the
 
 14 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 necessary material was already in existence, and the 
 work proceeded rapidly. When the Convocations of 
 the two provinces had agreed upon the revised book, it 
 was annexed to the Act of Uniformity, which was passed 
 in 1662. The changes made were numerous they have 
 been reckoned as above six hundred, but nothing was 
 done that changed the character of the hook. Some 
 mistakes were made, but the general intention and 
 tendency of the alterations was to approximate somewhat 
 more closely to Catholic practice. 
 
 The most important alterations were : The restoration of an 
 explicit oblation of the elements at the Offertory, and of a 
 direction for the Fraction, both of which had been unaccount- 
 ably omitted in 1549 ; the restoration of a Commemoration of the 
 departed, omitted in 1552 ; the restoration of the 'Black Rubric,' 
 omitted in 1559, but with an alteration of 'real and essential 
 presence ' into ' corporal presence,' which greatly alters its 
 doctrinal meaning ; the insertion of a large number of rubrical 
 directions ; and the use of the Authorised Version for most of the 
 extracts from the Bible, except the Psalter. 
 
 Another abortive attempt at comprehension was made 
 in the reign of William and Mary, but there has been no 
 other serious attempt at any extensive change in the 
 hook of 1662. In 1871 a new table of lessons was sub- 
 stituted, and in 1872 an Act was passed to allow greater 
 elasticity in the use of the existing services. This was 
 prompted by good intentions, but the deficiency of 
 liturgical knowledge of the framers of the scheme caused 
 the result to be unfortunate.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE LITURGY 
 
 The Devotions of the first Christians. When the Chris- 
 tian Church came into existence on the day of Pentecost, 
 and for a considerable number of years afterwards, all 
 her members were Jews. It might have been taken for 
 granted, even if we had no definite information on the 
 subject, that at first, at all events, they would continue 
 to practise the devotions of the Jewish religion. We are, 
 however, clearly informed that they frequented the 
 Temple services (Acts ii. 46 ; iii. 1), and much later 
 it was S. Paul's practice to worship in the Jewish 
 synagogues until he was driven out. To these Jewish 
 practices the* Christians added devotions of their own. 
 They still observed the Sabbath, but in addition to this 
 they commemorated the Resurrection on the first day of 
 the week. There was no idea of substituting the one for 
 the other. Both days were observed side by side, until 
 in the course of time the observance of the Sabbath grew 
 less and less, and finally disappeared. From the first 
 also they had separate meetings of their own, at which 
 there were added to the elements of worship inherited 
 from the Temple or the Synagogue Scripture readings, 
 psalms, homilies, and prayers two distinctively Christian 
 features, the exercise of the supernatural gifts of the 
 Spirit, and the celebration of the Eucharist. The former 
 were temporary, the latter permanent. Even in S. Paul's 
 time there were great difficulties connected with the 
 spiritual gifts, and their exercise soon ceased. The
 
 16 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Eucharist became at once, and has ever continued to be, 
 the great act of worship of the Church. 
 
 Frequency of the Eucharist. In the earliest times it 
 was celebrated either daily or weekly. A daily celebration 
 appears to be spoken of in Acts ii. 46, but at Troas it 
 seems from Acts xx. 7 to have been on the first day of 
 the week only. Pliny's letter to Trajan 1 implies that 
 this was the case in Bithynia about the year 112, and the 
 Didache and Justin Martyr give information to the same 
 effect. Other days, such as the anniversaries of martyrs, 
 and the 'station' days, Wednesday and Friday, were also 
 added. In Africa, however, by the beginning of the third 
 century, a daily celebration was the established custom. 
 At first the celebration took place in connection with the 
 Agape' or Love Feast. At Corinth this gave rise to 
 abuses about which S. Paul speaks in his first Epistle, 
 and we may conjecture that the Agape was separated 
 from the Eucharist in consequence of these. At all 
 events the separation had already been effected in 
 Bithynia when Pliny wrote in 112. This may not have 
 been the case everywhere, and the Agape itself lingered 
 for some time before it was entirely given up, but little 
 more is known about it. With regard to the time of 
 day at which the Eucharist was celebrated, the earliest 
 records speak of the early morning, before the eating of 
 any other food. 
 
 Names of the Eucharist. The names applied to the 
 sacrament are many. The earliest is the Breaking of 
 Bread, which is found in Acts ii. 42, 49, and xx. 7 ; and 
 also in an epistle of S. Ignatius, and other very early 
 writings. The title which was by far the most usual in 
 the Primitive Church was the Eucharist. This word is 
 used by S. Paul of the eucharistic prayer to which the 
 people respond Amen in 1 Cor. xiv. 16, and again in 
 1 Tim. ii. 1, but it had not as yet a technical or 
 exclusive significance. It occurs repeatedly as a title in 
 the writings of S. Ignatius, and after that constantly. 
 Another of the earliest titles was the Sacrifice, and some- 
 times epithets were added, as f the pure sacrifice,' or 
 
 > See Note A at the end of the volume.
 
 TITLES OF THE SERVICE 17 
 
 'the Lord's sacrifice.' The Oblation is also used by 
 Clement of Rome before the end of the first century. 
 The word Communion is used by S. Paul in 1 Cor. x. 16, 
 but not as a name for the sacrament. The word came 
 to be used of the act of participation, but it does not 
 appear to have become common until about the fourth 
 century. S. Paul also speaks, in 1. Cor. xi. 20, of the 
 Lord's Supper. There has been a difference of opinion 
 among commentators as to whether he meant the 
 actual Eucharist or the Agape, and in the Primitive 
 Church, when the term was used, it seems to have been 
 applied either to the Last Supper of our Lord or to the 
 Agape, but S. Augustine applies it to the Eucharist. 
 From the time of S. Ambrose onwards the name Mass 
 (Missa) came to be the title most commonly used in the 
 Western Church. The word is a form of Missio (dis- 
 missal) as Collecta = Collectio. In the early Church, as 
 will be shewn later on, the catechumens or converts 
 who were being prepared for baptism, and the penitents 
 who were being punished for sin, were dismissed after 
 the introductory part of the service. This part conse- 
 quently came to be called Missa Catechumenonun or 
 Service of the Catechumens, and the rest of the service 
 Missa Fidelium or Service of the Faithful, that is, 
 baptized believers. The congregation is still dismissed in 
 the Latin rite with the words, 'Ite, missa est.' As a 
 title of the whole service the plural was often used as 
 well as the singular, and 'missarum solemnia ' was also a 
 common term. In the Latin sacramentaries Missa was 
 applied to the variable parts of the Liturgy, the collects, 
 etc. The technical name for the service of the Eucharist 
 is the Liturgy. The original meaning of the word in- 
 cludes any public function or ministration, and it is used 
 in the New Testament and in the early Fathers without 
 any technical sense, though in Acts xiii. 2 the verb at 
 all events includes the celebration of the Eucharist. It 
 is not clear when the word came to be confined to its 
 technical meaning, and at the present day it is some- 
 times loosely used of other services, but this is generally 
 done through ignorance of its special signification. The 
 sacrament as administered to the dying was called by
 
 18 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 the council of Nicsea A.D. 325 $o8iov (Viaticum); and 
 other titles that may be just mentioned are Agenda, Mysta- 
 gogia, and Synaxis. The word Sacrament has, of course, 
 never been confined to the Eucharist, and in the early 
 Church it was very widely applied, but it is used by 
 Pliny in his letter to Trajan, A.D. 112. The word to 
 him would no doubt only convey its ordinary classical 
 meaning of an oath, but it is difficult to avoid the con- 
 clusion that Pliny had heard it applied to what the 
 Christians did, and that the Eucharist was therefore 
 already called a sacrament. 
 
 Manner of Celebration. There are no very early 
 accounts extant of the manner in which the Eucharist 
 was celebrated in the early Church. Nor is it to be 
 expected that such accounts should exist. Some liturgi- 
 cal formulas may have come into existence at a very 
 early date, and it has been thought that traces of them 
 are to be found in the New Testament, but the use of 
 extempore prayers probably prevailed to a great extent 
 for a considerable period, and even when formulas 
 became fixed they were not necessarily committed to 
 writing. At a much later period some of the most 
 important parts of the service were commonly recited 
 from memory. There are, in fact, no extant written 
 liturgies of the first three centuries, and perhaps they 
 hardly existed. It is true that liturgical works disappear 
 very easily : the great Gallican uses, for instance, which 
 once prevailed over Gaul, Spain, Britain, and a great 
 part of Italy, have left only scanty fragments behind ; 
 while of the original Roman Liturgy, untouched by 
 Gallican influence, no example exists : still, if written 
 liturgies had been used to any great extent in the ante- 
 Nicene period, some definite allusion, at all events, to 
 them might have been expected. We are not, however, 
 altogether without information as to the character of 
 the service in the Primitive Church. 
 
 Early Notices of the Service. In the New Testament 
 three elements of the Liturgy are definitely mentioned : 
 the Eucharistic prayer, apparently extempore, to which 
 the people responded Amen (1 Cor. xiv. 16) ; the Fraction 
 (Acts xx. 11; 1 Cor. x. 16); and the Distribution
 
 EUCHARIST IN THE EARLY CHURCH 19 
 
 (1 Cor. x. 17, xi. 26). Outside of the New Testa- 
 ment the recently discovered 'Teaching of the Twelve 
 Apostles' gives some formulas of a quite exceptional 
 type, in which the ' prophets ' take an important part, 
 and which belong to a time when the Eucharist was still 
 connected with the Agape. Clement of Rome (i. 59-61) 
 gives a specimen of a Eucharistic prayer. And in the 
 middle of the second century we find in Justin Martyr 
 (ApoL i. 65-67) l the first distinct description of the 
 service. He is defending the Christians against the 
 charges of immorality and disloyalty, and we should not 
 therefore expect more than a bare outline. He mentions, 
 however, seven parts of the service, in the same order 
 in which they occur in the earliest extant liturgies. 
 They are these : 
 
 1. Lections from the Apostles (i.e. the Gospels) and 
 
 Prophets. 
 
 2. A Homily. 
 
 3. Prayers for all estates of men. 
 
 These three are a continuation of the Synagogue 
 worship. 
 
 4. The kiss of peace. 
 
 5. The offering of bread and a cup of wine mixed 
 
 with water. 
 
 6. A long prayer of thanksgiving to which the 
 
 people respond Amen. 
 
 7. Distribution by the deacons to those present, and 
 
 reservation for the absent. 
 
 Several writers of the second and third centuries 
 mention the Eucharistic prayer, and we gather from 
 them that it contained the words of Institution and an 
 invocation of the Holy Spirit. S. Cyprian and the 
 Canons of Hippolytus also mention the Sursum Corda 
 (Lift up your hearts) which begins the Anaphora in all 
 existing liturgies, and the latter document also gives the 
 formula of administration : 'This is the Body of Christ' 
 R. ( Amen. ' ' This is the Blood of Christ ' R. ' Amen. ' 
 
 Liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions. The earliest 
 extant complete liturgy is that which is called the 
 Clementine. It is contained in the eighth book of the 
 1 See Note A at the end of the volume.
 
 20 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Apostolic Constitutions, a compilation made about the 
 middle of the fourth century by the editor and inter- 
 polator of the letters of S. Ignatius. In the second book 
 there is another description of the service. This liturgy 
 is not one that was ever in actual use. The prayers, 
 which are sometimes of very great length, are for the 
 most part the composition of the compiler. But it gives 
 the order and nature of the service as it existed in Syria 
 in the fourth century, and the information we derive 
 from it is confirmed by the ' Catecheses ' of S. Cyril of 
 Jerusalem, delivered in 347. All the parts of the 
 service mentioned by Justin Martyr are contained in 
 this liturgy in the same order, and although, as will 
 be seen later, different families of liturgies differ slightly 
 in the order of the parts, and although in the course of 
 ages there have been some modifications, all existing 
 liturgies nevertheless resemble each other very closely in 
 structure, and shew that in the most distant countries 
 the Eucharist must have been celebrated in the same man- 
 ner from a time far earlier than the existing documents. 
 It will be useful, therefore, to enumerate the parts of 
 which this earliest extant liturgy consists, and then to 
 compare it with later liturgies. 
 
 Divisions of the Service. In the first place it may be 
 noticed that it falls into two main divisions. The first 
 is preparatory. It is called Missa Catechumenorum, as 
 has been already explained, and it consists principally 
 of lections from Scripture, psalmody, homilies, and 
 prayers the elements, in fact, of the Synagogue worship. 
 The rest of the service is known as the Missa Fidelium, 
 and falls into three sections. The first section of the 
 Missa Fidelium is preparatory to the Consecration of the 
 Sacrament and the Communion. Its most important 
 feature is the Offertory, or oblation of the elements. The 
 second section is the Anaphora, or offering, the most 
 solemn part of the service. It opens with thanksgiving, 
 culminating in the Sanctus, and then follows the long 
 Eucharistic prayer. The third section is the actual 
 Communion of the priest and people, with the ceremonies 
 and prayers which accompany it. The whole service may 
 be subdivided thus :
 
 THE APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS 21 
 
 i. Missa Catechumenorum. 
 
 A. Approach to the Altar. Nothing is said about this 
 
 in the Clementine Liturgy. In later liturgies, 
 especially those of the East, it was much ex- 
 panded, as the private devotions of the priest 
 and people were taken up into the service. 
 Litanies are a special feature of the introduc- 
 tion in the East. 
 
 B. Instruction. There were originally at least three 
 
 lections, one from the Old Testament as well 
 as the Epistle and Gospel. An Old Testament 
 Lesson, lectio prophetica, is still read on certain 
 days in the Latin rite. Between the lessons 
 psalms were sung, and the Gospel was followed 
 by a homily. 
 
 C. Prayers for and dismissal of Catechumens, etc. 
 
 In the early liturgies these prayers were of 
 great length. This part of the service natur- 
 ally disappeared with the disappearance of the 
 Catechumens themselves. 
 
 ii. Miasa Fidelium Preparatory Section. 
 
 D. Prayers of the Faithful. These prayers, which 
 
 are very long in the Clementine Liturgy, also 
 diminished greatly. In the Roman Liturgy 
 they are represented by the single word 
 Oremus (let us pray) without any prayer 
 following. 
 
 E. The Creed. This was of comparatively late intro- 
 
 duction. It is said to have been introduced 
 by Peter the Fuller at Antioch (471) and by 
 Timothy at Constantinople (511), two bishops 
 of Monophysite tendencies, in order to prevent 
 any statement of the doctrine of the Council 
 of Chalcedon being added to it. 
 
 F. The Pax, or Kiss of Peace. Originally an actual 
 
 kiss, but this has been modified in various 
 ways from a comparatively early period. 
 
 G. The Lavabo, or washing of the priest's hands.
 
 22 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 H. The Offertory. This includes (a) the offering of 
 the elements by the people, (6) the prepara- 
 tion of the gifts by the deacons, (c) the setting 
 them forth on the altar. In most liturgies (a) 
 was discontinued, and in most Eastern litur- 
 gies (6) came to be done in a preparatory 
 service called the Prothesis, and then the gifts 
 were brought in a procession called the Great 
 Entrance. The Diptychs, or lists of the living 
 and the dead, in whose name the sacrifice is 
 offered, were originally read here in the East- 
 ern liturgies. The order of the Creed, Pax, 
 Lavabo, and Offertory differs in different 
 liturgies. 
 
 iii. The Anaphora. 
 I. Thanksgiving. 
 
 (a) 'The grace of our Lord," etc. This is 
 
 peculiar to the East. 
 ' Sursum Corda,' etc. This is universal. 
 The Preface. ' It is very meet, right,' 
 etc. This is of very great length in 
 the Clementine Liturgy, and in early 
 times was no doubt extempore. In 
 the early Middle Ages there were many 
 special prefaces in the West. The 
 modern Latin rite only retains ten. 
 (d) The Sanctus. ' Holy, holy, holy/ etc. 
 
 K. The Consecration. This may be further sub- 
 divided : 
 
 (a) Commemoration of the work of Redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 (6) Recital of the narrative of the Institution. 
 This is contained in all liturgies except 
 that of S. Addaeus and S. Maris, and 
 there it is only omitted because it is 
 recited by heart. The Gallican litur- 
 gies only write the first two words. 
 
 (c) The Great Oblation, or Anamnesis, ' the 
 Memorial which Thy Son hath com- 
 manded us to make.'
 
 THE EARLY SYRIAN LITURGY 23 
 
 (d) The Epiklesis, or Invocation of the Holy 
 Spirit^ to make the bread and wine the 
 Body and Blood of Christ. This is 
 regarded by the Eastern Churches as 
 an essential part of the consecration, 
 but express invocation has not existed in 
 the Roman Liturgy from an early date. 
 
 L. The Great Intercession, for the living and the 
 dead. The place of this varies in different 
 families of liturgies. 
 
 M. The Lord's Prayer. For some reason, which 
 has never been explained, this is absent from 
 the Clementine Liturgy, but otherwise it is 
 universal. It is preceded by a preface, and 
 followed by an expansion of the two last 
 clauses, called Embolismos. 
 
 iv. The Communion. 
 
 N. Prayer of Humble Access, a preparation of the 
 Communicants for receiving the Sacrament. 
 
 O. The Manual Acts, a ritual preparation for Com- 
 munion. 
 
 (a) Elevation. Perhaps originally the raising 
 and exhibition of the gifts as they were 
 brought out for the communion of the 
 people. Afterwards it is interpreted 
 as symbolic of the Crucifixion or the 
 Resurrection. The elevation in the 
 Latin rite, immediately after the words 
 of Institution, only dates from about 
 the twelfth century. The Elevation is 
 accompanied by the words, ra uyia rols 
 dyiois, holy things to holy persons. 
 (&) Fraction. A reproduction of our Lord's 
 act at the Institution, and a breaking 
 for distribution. The Fraction ((cXao-is) 
 as symbolic of the Passion came to be 
 distinguished from the /ufAioyids for 
 distribution.
 
 24 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 (c) Consignation. The sign of the Cross 
 
 made with the species of bread over the 
 species of wine. 
 
 (d) Commixture. The putting of a particle 
 
 of the Sacrament into the chalice. 
 Symbolical of the reunion of our Lord's 
 body and soul after the Resurrection. 
 The Clementine Liturgy gives no 
 directions for the manual acts, 
 but it contains the formula, ra 
 ftyia rots Ayiois, which accompanied 
 them. 
 
 P. The Communion. The actual distribution to the 
 people, with the words, ( The Body of Christ/ 
 "The Blood of Christ.' 
 Q. Thanksgiving after Communion. 
 R. Dismissal. 
 
 All these parts of the service are found in this order 
 in the Clementine Liturgy, except, as noted above, the 
 Introduction, the Creed, the Paternoster, and the Manual 
 Acts, and no other parts have been added which do not 
 fall under one of these heads. 
 
 Families of Liturgies. From the fifth century liturgies 
 may be classed under four great families, two Eastern 
 and two Western, following the great ecclesiastical 
 divisions, and especially the influence of the great centres 
 of Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and perhaps Milan, 
 i. The Syrian Liturgies. These may again be divided 
 into groups : 
 
 (1) The Liturgies of West Syria, i.e. the country 
 
 more immediately dependentupon Antioch 
 and Jerusalem. There was a Greek 
 Liturgy of S. James, still used once 
 a year in Zante, and Syriac liturgies 
 derived from it, used by the Jacobites 
 and Maronites. 
 
 (2) The Liturgies of East Syria, or Persia and 
 
 Mesopotamia. The Liturgy of S. Ad- 
 daeus and S. Maris is still used by the 
 Nestorians.
 
 FAMILIES OF LITURGIES 25 
 
 (3) Byzantine Liturgies (Caesarea and Constan- 
 
 tinople). Of these, that of S. Basil is 
 the most ancient, and it is still used on 
 certain days in the Orthodox Eastern 
 Churches. The usual liturgy in these 
 churches (i.e. in all the Greek patriarch- 
 ates of Constantinople, Antioch, Jeru- 
 salem, Alexandria, as well as in the 
 national churches of Greece, Russia, 
 Roumania, etc.) is that of S. Chryso- 
 stom, which has gradually supplanted all 
 others. 
 
 (4) The Armenian Liturgy, derived from the 
 
 Byzantine. 
 
 The original order and arrangement of the Syrian 
 Liturgy has been given above. The chief pecu- 
 liarity of the East Syrian liturgies is that the Great 
 Intercession is placed before the Epiklesis. As has 
 been mentioned above, the recital of the Institution 
 has dropped out of the Liturgy of S. Addieus and 
 S. Maris. The Byzantine liturgies have very much 
 developed the introductory part of the service, especially 
 the part called the Prothesis, in which the elements 
 are prepared before the liturgy proper begins. 
 
 ii. The Alexandrine Liturgies. 
 
 There was an original Greek Liturgy of S. Mark, 
 dating at least from the fifth century. It is no 
 longer used, the orthodox Greeks in Egypt having 
 gradually come to use the Liturgy of S. Chryso- 
 stom. There are also three Coptic liturgies, used 
 by the Monophysite churches, and Abyssinian 
 liturgies. The chief peculiarity of S. Mark's 
 Liturgy is that the Great Intercession comes 
 between the Preface and the Sanctus. 
 
 iii. The Galilean Liturgies. 
 
 These were once used throughout Gaul, Spain, 
 North Italy, and Britain. In the time of Charles 
 the Great they were superseded in Gaul by the
 
 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Roman rite. The documents containing their 
 remains are very fragmentary, except that the 
 Mozarahic Liturgy of Spain, which was supplanted 
 for the most part by the Roman Liturgy in the 
 eleventh century, still continued to be used, and 
 was printed with some modifications by Cardinal 
 Ximeues in the beginning of the sixteenth century. 
 The narrative of the Institution in the English 
 service resembles the Mozarabic form, but was 
 apparently derived from a German source. The 
 Ambrosian Liturgy, which is still used at Milan, 
 has been gradually assimilated to the Roman, 
 and is sometimes classed with the Roman family. 
 But originally it appears to have had all the 
 most important Gallican characteristics. 
 
 The Gallican liturgies strongly resemble those 
 of the East. They are very rich in variable parts. 
 The Great Intercession comes between the Offer- 
 tory and the Anaphora. The Epiklesis sometimes 
 disappears. One peculiarity, that the rubrics are 
 in the imperative instead of the indicative mood, 
 was continued in the Sarum Mass. 
 
 The early history of the Gallican use is not 
 certainly known. It is clearly of Eastern origin, 
 and it has often been thought to have been brought 
 from Ephesus to Gaul by the founders of the 
 Church of Lyons. M. Duchesne, however, points 
 out very forcibly that the Gallican rite is too com- 
 plicated and elaborate to belong to so early a 
 period, and at the time of its wide diffusion Lyons 
 no longer occupied a commanding position in Gaul. 
 He thinks that it was introduced at Milan by 
 Auxentius, a Cappadocian, who was bishop from 
 355-374, immediately before Ambrose. The next 
 half-century was a period of great development 
 and organisation for the churches beyond the Alps, 
 and it was exactly at this time that the influence 
 of Milan was paramount among them. 
 The Roman Liturgy. 
 
 The use of this liturgy appears to have been 
 confined in early times to Southern Italy, but
 
 THE SARUM MISSAL 27 
 
 ultimately it prevailed over the whole of the 
 Western Churches, as that of Constantinople 
 extended over the East, Many Galilean elements 
 were however incorporated in it. The most 
 important documents which describe the service 
 in its earlier form are the Sacramentaries, which 
 contain the variable prayers of the Mass for the 
 different seasons of the year, and the Ordines 
 Romani, of different dates, which describe the 
 service. The earliest Sacramentary is that known 
 as the Leonine. M. Duchesne fixes its date in the 
 middle of the sixth century. It contains a great 
 number of ancient forms, but it is merely a private 
 collection, badly arranged. The Gelasian Sacra- 
 mentary is a collection used in Gaul from the 
 seventh century. It contains the Roman prayers 
 of the Mass of that date, with a considerable ad- 
 mixture of Gallican forms. The Gregorian Sacra- 
 mentary is a book sent by Pope Hadrian to Charles 
 the Great at the end of the eighth century. It 
 gives the prayers of the Mass as they were used by 
 the pope at that date. From these documents, 
 and from the writings of mediaeval ritualists, it is 
 possible to form a pretty complete idea of the 
 Roman Mass, as it existed from the time of S. 
 Gregory onwards. 
 
 Liturgy of the Sarum Missal The Sarum Missal gives 
 the form of service used in England after the Conquest, 
 and as it is from this form that the ' Order of Holy 
 Communion' is immediately derived, it will be well to 
 describe here the contents of that service, noting addi- 
 tions to the earlier Roman form. It will be arranged 
 under the same headings as the Clementine Liturgy, 
 described above, so that the differences in order and con- 
 tents may be easily seen. 
 
 i. Hissa Catechumenorum. 
 A. Approach to the Altar. 
 
 Private prayers said by the celebrant are 
 probably universal, but they do not property
 
 28 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 belong to the service. They have a tendency, 
 however, to become included in it. In the 
 Sarum and modern Roman uses, Psalm xliii., 
 'Give sentence with me, O Lord,' and a mutual 
 confession of the priest and the assistant 
 ministers are said, and some prayers. In the 
 Sarum use (not the Roman) these include the 
 Lord's Prayer and the Collect for Purity, which 
 have been incorporated in the English service. 
 As the priest approached the altar the Introit, 
 or Psalmus ad Introitum (called Officium in the 
 Sarum use) is said or sung. Then follows the 
 Kyrie Eleison. This was introduced from the 
 East, and is really the end of a litany, still 
 said in the Roman use on Easter Eve. Then 
 follows the Gloria in Excelsis, also an Eastern 
 importation. In the East it is not used in the 
 Mass, but as a Matins hymn. It was intro- 
 duced at Rome first on Christmas Day, then on 
 all Sundays, then on other days. For a long 
 time it was only used by bishops. 
 
 The Collect is a feature peculiar to Western 
 liturgies. Different explanations have been 
 given of the meaning of the word, but in the 
 ancient Roman Sacramentaries it appears clearly 
 to mean the opening prayer when the people 
 are gathered together, ad Collectam (or Col- 
 lectionem) plebis, colligere plebem being a 
 common expression for meeting for public wor- 
 ship. The corresponding Greek words are 
 crvvdyfiv and (rvvai-is. In the Gallican uses, 
 however, Collectio seems to mean the ' collec- 
 tive prayer.' The priest invited the people to 
 pray for certain objects, and after a pause for 
 silent prayer rose and summed up their peti- 
 tions in the Collectio. In ancient books the 
 number of collects said is ordered to be uneven, 
 i.e. one, three, five, or seven, perhaps as a 
 symbol of unity. The additional collects at the 
 end of the English Liturgy may have been placed 
 there to allow 
 
 . V . 1 I I I, (Millll/MMKIl _ ( H ll_,V; Li" C*V 
 
 lish Liturgy may have been pta 
 of compliance with this rule.
 
 THE SARUM LITURGY 29 
 
 B. Instruction. 
 
 The Old Testament lesson, or lectio pro- 
 phetica, seems to have disappeared in the fifth 
 century at Rome, but it still survives in the 
 Roman missal on certain Lent and Ember 
 days, and also at Milan. Another trace of it is 
 to be found in the double psalmody between 
 the Epistle and GospeL The Gradual was a 
 psalm that followed the Epistle, and it was so 
 called because it was sung from the steps of the 
 ambo or pulpit from which the lessons were 
 read. It was sung not by the choir, but by a 
 single voice, and until the time of Gregory the 
 Great always by a deacon, but the rule was 
 then relaxed, as it led to deacons being chosen 
 for their voices. The psalm has now dwindled 
 down to one verse. The Gradual was followed 
 by Alleluia. This has been sung in the service 
 of the Mass from very ancient times, and in 
 nearly all liturgies was sung before the 
 GospeL In the Gallican uses it followed 
 the Gospel. In penitential seasons the Tract is 
 substituted for Alleluia. It is part of a psalm, 
 and derives its name from the manner in which 
 it was sung. The Alleluia was sometimes fol- 
 lowed by the Sequence or Prose, a sort of hymn 
 introduced about the tenth century. At one 
 time they were very numerous, but only four 
 are retained in the modern Roman missal. The 
 Gospel should be followed by the Homily, but 
 this seems to have been discontinued at Rome 
 at an early date. Priests were not allowed to 
 preach there, and the only two popes whose 
 homilies have been preserved are S. Leo and 
 S. Gregory. In old English canons preaching 
 is frequently ordered, and the sermon some- 
 times followed the Creed or the Offertory, in- 
 stead of the Gospel. It was not therefore an 
 innovation to put the sermon after the Creed, 
 as was done in the English Prayer Book.
 
 30 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 C. The Dismissal of Catechumens and Penitents. 
 
 This had entirely disappeared from the ordi- 
 nary Roman service before the eighth century. 
 But a form of dismissal still remained in the 
 service called In aurium apertione, part of the 
 preparation of candidates for Baptism. 
 
 E. The Creed. 
 ii. Missa Fidelium Preparatory section. 
 
 D. The Prayers of the Faithful. 
 
 Nothing, as has been said, remains of these in 
 the ordinary service except the word Oremus, 
 which follows the Creed. But the prayer itself, 
 or parts of it, still survives in the intercessions 
 for all estates of men used on Good Friday. 
 
 H. The Offertory. 
 
 The actual oblation of the elements by the 
 people was in use at Rome in the eighth 
 century and long after, and still continues at 
 Milan. During the oblation a psalm was sung, 
 and S. Augustine mentions the introduction of 
 this custom at Carthage in his time. In the 
 present Roman use only a single verse is sung, 
 without antiphon or response. The Sacra- 
 mentaries do not direct prayers to be said while 
 the elements are placed on the altar. Those 
 in the Sarum and Roman books correspond to 
 those used in the Eastern liturgies at the Pro- 
 thesis, before the service proper begins. 
 
 G. The Lavabo. 
 
 When the priest has placed the gifts on the 
 altar, he washes his hands, and then says some 
 more prayers, ending with the Secreta, a collect 
 varying with the day, and said in silence. 
 
 I. Thanksgiving. 
 
 (b) Dominus vobiscum, etc. Sursum Corda, etc. 
 (rt The Preface. 
 
 (d) The Sanctus and Benedictus. These parts 
 have been already explained.
 
 THE SARUM LITURGY 31 
 
 iii. The Eucharistic Prayer. 
 
 This is called in the Roman Liturgy the Canon, 
 and sometimes the name is applied to the whole 
 of the service after the Preface. The chief 
 peculiarities of the Roman Canon are two : 
 first, that an Intercession (L) comes twice over, 
 before the Institution, and after the Oblation ; 
 and secondly, that there is no direct Invocation 
 of the Holy Spirit, although there are two 
 clauses that resemble it, one before the Insti- 
 tution, and one in the usual place after the 
 Oblation. The different clauses are generally 
 referred to by their opening words. 1 They are 
 as follows : 
 L. a. Te igitur. 
 
 Memento Domine. 
 Communicantes. 
 
 These clauses enumerate those in whose name 
 the Oblation is made, the whole Church, the 
 Pope and Bishops, the congregation, the 
 Blessed Virgin and all the Saints. They are 
 thought to correspond rather to the reading of 
 The Diptychs in the Eastern liturgies than to 
 the Intercession proper. 
 
 Hanc igitur oblationem. A prayer for the 
 Church added by S. Gregory. 
 
 K. (d) ? Quam oblationem. A prayer that the obla- 
 tion l may become to us the Body and Blood of 
 Jesus Christ,' without mention of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 K. (6) Qui pridie. The narrative of the Institution. 
 After the words, ' Hoc est enim Corpus meum,' 
 and e Hie est enim Calix, . . .' the priest genu- 
 flects (or in the Sarum rite bows) and elevates 
 the Oblation. 
 
 K. (c) Unde et memores. 
 
 Supra quae propitio. The Great Oblation. 
 
 K. (d)? Supplices te rogamus. A prayer that the 
 
 1 A translation of the Sarum Canon is given in Note B at th 
 end of the volume.
 
 32 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Gifts may ' be borne by the hands of thy holy 
 Angel to thine altar on high.' M. Duchesne 
 points out that although the imagery is different 
 from that of the Eastern Epiklesis, the idea of 
 invoking the Divine intervention is the same. 
 L. )3. Memento etiam , Domine. 
 
 Nobis quoque peccatoribus. The Great Inter- 
 cession, in a short form, for the departed, and 
 for the living, with a commemoration of the 
 Saints. 
 
 Per quern haec omnia. A clause from which 
 a prayer for the fruits of the earth is said to 
 have dropped out. The Consignation, or 
 signing with one species over the other, takes 
 place during this clause. 
 
 M. The Lord's Prayer, with the usual preface and 
 Embolismus. Before the time of S. Gregory 
 the Lord's Prayer came later, probably just 
 before the Communion. 
 
 iv. The Communion. 
 
 O (6) (d) The Fraction takes place during the Em- 
 bolismus, or clause following the Lord's 
 Prayer. 
 
 A particle of the Sacrament is placed in the 
 chalice with the words ' Pax Domini sit semper 
 vobiscum.' This ceremony is called the Commix- 
 tio. The Agnus Dei, since about the seventh 
 century, is then sung. In the Sarum rite there 
 was no Commixture until after the Agnus. 
 
 F. The Pax. 
 
 In the eighth century the Pax was given 
 immediately after the words Pax Domini . . . 
 and the Fraction followed, with a complicated 
 ritual, intended to emphasise the unity of the 
 Sacrifice, as the same offering, the same com- 
 munion, at all places and at all times. For 
 the actual kiss there was substituted in later 
 times the handing round and kissing of a 
 plate, generally of metal, called the Pax, and 
 ornamented with some sacred subject.
 
 CHANGES IN 1549 33 
 
 N. The Preparation of the Communicants. 
 
 In the modern Roman use two prayers are 
 said here by the priest, and in the Sarum use 
 there are several. In the eighth century no 
 prayers are specified. Probably before S. 
 Gregory the Pater Noster came here. 
 
 P. The Communion. 
 
 Until the thirteenth century the people were 
 still communicated in both kinds, the deacons 
 ministering the chalice. The Roman rubric 
 directs the people to be communicated here, 
 before the ablutions. The method of taking 
 the ablutions is not specified in the eighth 
 century. During the Communion the anti- 
 phon and psalm called ad Communionem, or 
 Communio, was sung. Now there is only 
 the antiphon, which is sung afterwards. 
 
 Q. Thanksgiving. 
 
 This consists of a variable collect, called 
 Post Communio. 
 
 R. Dismissal. 
 
 The formula islte missa est, or Benedicamus 
 Domino. In masses for the dead, Requiescant 
 in pace. 
 
 Changes made in 1549. This was the service which the 
 revisers of 1549 had before them to translate and adapt. 
 No alterations were made in its general order and 
 arrangement, and the changes adopted may be arranged 
 under three heads, which may be considered separately. 
 
 Omissions. First, there were certain omissions. These 
 seem to have been made entirely with the view of 
 simplification. The preparatory section was shortened 
 by leaving out the psalm Judica, and the confession. 
 The Introit was retained in the form of a complete 
 psalm without an antiphon, as well as the Lord's Prayer, 
 Collect for purity, Kyrie, Gloria in Excelsis, and Collect. 
 In section B all the sung parts between the Epistle and 
 Gospel were omitted, and at the Offertory all the 
 prayers said privately by the priest. Otherwise no 
 change at all was made until after the Sanctus. After the 
 Consecration the directions about the Pax and the manual
 
 34 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 acts were omitted : the words, however, ' The Peace of 
 the Lord be always with you,' and the Agnus Dei, which 
 accompanied them, were retained. The prayers of pre- 
 paration, and the Post Communion collect, and the 
 formula of dismissal were omitted, longer forms being 
 substituted for them. The antiphon called the Com- 
 munion was retained in the form of a number of 
 sentences, one of which was to be said as a Post 
 Communion. 
 
 It is clear that no question of doctrine was involved in 
 these omissions. The psalmody between the Epistle and 
 Gospel was indeed very ancient, but it had been so 
 changed in the course of ages that the revisers probably 
 did not realise this, and the variations had become so 
 complicated that the service certainly gained in simpli- 
 city by the omission. The prayers at the Offertory were 
 said privately by the priest, and they do not appear in 
 the oldest books. The absence of directions for the 
 Fraction may be due to the general scantiness of rubrical 
 directions that has been noted above : and the Fraction 
 is actually implied in a rubric. 
 
 Additions. There was therefore no radical change in 
 the matter of omission, and the same may be said with 
 regard to the additions. The parts added were the 
 Exhortations and the preparation for and thanksgiving 
 after participation contained in the 'Order of Com- 
 munion ' of 1548. The first exhortation was that which 
 stands third in the present book, and it was ordered to 
 be said occasionally after the sermon; the second was 
 substantially the same as that which now stands first, . 
 the passage in it about Confession containing a warning 
 that none should be offended because others did or did 
 not make use of private confession to the priest. There 
 was nothing corresponding to these exhortations in the 
 old service, but they are merely additions to the 
 sermon, and introduce no new element. The preparation 
 and thanksgiving expanded parts of the service which 
 were scantily represented in the Latin rite, and which 
 are much fuller in the Eastern liturgies. The object of 
 all the additions was to promote the frequent communion 
 of the laity, a matter which the reformers rightly had 
 much at heart.
 
 THE CANON OF 1549 35 
 
 The Canon. The third change was the greatest. It 
 was the practical rewriting of the whole Eucharistic 
 
 Krayer. The Sarum canon, as has been pointed out, was 
 jss clear in its arrangement than the corresponding 
 prayer of other liturgies. The Intercession came twice 
 over, and there was no introductory Commemoration 
 of the work of Redemption and no explicit Invoca- 
 tion. Some of the expressions used, though ancient, 
 were obscure, and some might appear to countenance 
 a mediaeval view of the nature of the Eucharistic 
 Sacrifice which the reformers were anxious to repudiate. 
 (See Note C.) In the prayer put out in 1549, although 
 little of the exact wording of the Sarum canon was pre- 
 served, all the parts are clear and distinct, and the 
 omissions of the Sarum canon are made good. The 
 prayer begins with the Intercession, the prayer for the 
 living as it stands at present, followed by an intercession 
 for the departed and a commemoration of the Saints, 
 of great beauty, and fully in accordance with catholic 
 usage. It runs thus : ' Let us pray for the whole state 
 of Christ's Church Almighty and everliving God . . . 
 to receive these our prayers, which we offer . . . [then 
 as at present] or any other adversity. And especially 
 we commend unto thy merciful goodness this congrega- 
 tion, which is here assembled in thy Name, to celebrate 
 the commemoration of the most glorious death of thy 
 Son : And here we do give unto thee most high praise 
 and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue, 
 declared in all thy Saints, from the beginning of the 
 world : And chiefly in the glorious and most blessed 
 virgin Mary, mother of thy Son Jesu Christ our Lord 
 and God, and in the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, 
 and Martyrs, whose examples (O Lord) and stedfastness 
 in thy faith, and keeping thy holy commandments, grant 
 us to follow. We commend unto thy mercy (O Lord) 
 all other thy servants, which are departed hence from 
 us with the sign of faith, and now do rest in the sleep of 
 peace : Grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy mercy, 
 and everlasting peace, and that at the day of the general 
 resurrection, we and all they which be of the mystical 
 body of thy Son, may altogether be set on his right 
 hand, and hear that his most joyful voice : Come unto
 
 36 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 me, O ye that be blessed of my Father, and possess the 
 Kingdom, which is prepared for you, from the beginning 
 of the world : Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's 
 sake, our only mediator and advocate. O God, heavenly 
 Father, . . . until his coming again.' The reason for 
 placing the Intercession first is clearly because the open- 
 ing Intercession of the Sarum canon was regarded as the 
 principal and original Intercession. This may be a 
 wrong view, but as the place of the Intercession varies 
 greatly in different liturgies, it cannot be regarded as a 
 matter of great moment. After the Intercession followed 
 a short Commemoration of the work of Redemption, as 
 it stands now. 'O God, heavenly Father . . . until 
 his coming again ' : then, before the narrative of the 
 Institution, came the Invocation. ' Hear us (O merciful 
 Father) we beseech thee : and with thy holy Spirit and 
 word, vouchsafe to bl*ess and sanc*tify these thy 
 gifts, and creatures of bread and wine, that they may be 
 unto us the body and blood of thy most dearly beloved 
 Son Jesus Christ.' The reason why this is placed before 
 and not after the Institution, as in all other liturgies, 
 is clearly because of the clause in the Sarum canon 
 which came in this place, the wording of which is partly 
 adopted, and because of the view commonly taken in 
 the Western Church that the consecration is completed 
 by the words of Institution. The narrative of the 
 Institution which follows immediately is not that of 
 the Sarum Liturgy, but resembles the Mozarabic, which 
 was in print at the time, but whether it was taken 
 directly from this, or indirectly through a Lutheran 
 source, is uncertain. It was no doubt preferred as being 
 nearer to the accounts in the Gospels. Then without any 
 elevation, which at this point was only a late Western 
 custom, follows the Oblation : ' Wherefore, O Lord and 
 heavenly Father, according to the Institution of thy 
 dearly beloved Son, our Saviour Jesu Christ, we thy 
 humble servants do celebrate and make here before 
 thy divine Majesty, with these thy holy gifts, the 
 memorial which thy Son hath willed us to make, having 
 in remembrance his blessed passion, mighty resurrection, 
 and glorious ascension, rendering unto thee most hearty 
 thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us
 
 CHANGES IN 1552 37 
 
 by the same, entirely desiring thy fatherly goodness 
 mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of praise and 
 thanksgiving': and the rest of the present prayer of 
 Oblation, the whole concluding with the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 Changes of 1549 and 1552 compared. From this sum- 
 mary of the changes made in 1549 it will be seen that 
 the revision was thoroughly conservative. No primitive 
 or Catholic element was omitted, and the Catholic doc- 
 trines of the Real Presence and the Eucharistic Sacrifice 
 were unmistakably taught. (See Note C.) It was other- 
 wise with the revision of 1552. This, as has been pointed 
 out, was a practical compromise between the extreme 
 reformers and the conservatives who formed the bulk of 
 the Church. The former held Calvinistic or Zwinglian 
 views on the question of the Eucharist, and also disliked 
 Catholic tradition so much that they wished to make the 
 service as unlike the old service as possible. The latter 
 were satisfied with things as they were. Consequently 
 the alterations were of two kinds. Some expressions 
 were omitted or modified which were impossible or diffi- 
 cult to reconcile with Calvinistic or Zwinglian views ; 
 and moreover, sweeping changes were made in the 
 arrangement of the parts of the service, changes which 
 had indeed no particular doctrinal significance, but which 
 made the whole service wear a very different aspect. 
 This made it easier for the extremists to accept the book. 
 On the other hand, the conservatives might comfort 
 themselves with the reflection that nothing essential had 
 been omitted, and that nothing had been introduced 
 which was in any way inconsistent with catholic doctrine ; 
 and further, that the revisers emphatically disclaimed the 
 intention of making any important change, and spoke of 
 the earlier form in the highest possible terms. 
 
 Changes made in 1552. The principal omissions and 
 modifications were as follows: The word 'Mass' was 
 left out of the title; and the word 'altar' wherever it 
 occurred. The Introit was omitted, and the Kyrie trans- 
 formed into a response to the Commandments, which 
 were now introduced, in imitation perhaps of a reformed 
 service published in 1551 by the Calvinist Pullain. There 
 were no directions for placing the elements upon the 
 Table. In the Canon the mention of the saints and the
 
 38 BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 faithful departed and the holy angels was entirely 
 omitted, as well as the first part, given above, of the 
 prayer of Oblation, while the wording of the Invocation 
 was changed and the express mention of the Holy Spirit 
 left out. The Benedictus, the Agnus Dei, and the words 
 ' Christ our Paschal Lamb is offered up for us,' etc. , were 
 also omitted. What was perhaps most significant of all, 
 the ancient formula of administration was removed, and 
 the words 'Take and eat this,' etc., substituted. The 
 changes in the order of the service were not important 
 doctrinally, but they were more effective in giving a 
 novel aspect to the whole. Thus the Gloria in Excelsis 
 was put at the end of the service instead of at the begin- 
 ning. This was of no importance in itself, for, as has 
 been seen, this hymn was only a late importation for 
 occasional use, and the alteration seems to have been 
 due simply to a desire for change. In the dislocation of 
 the Canon, however, another motive may perhaps be 
 traced. There appears to have been a desire to lay stress 
 on the act of participation as an integral part of the 
 service, and hence the Communion of the priest and 
 people was placed immediately after the narrative of the 
 Institution. The preparation of the communicants thus 
 had to be placed before the Consecration ; the Exhorta- 
 tions, Confession, Absolution, and Comfortable Words 
 immediately before the Surstim Corda ; and the Prayer 
 of Humble Access after the Sanctus. The prayer for the 
 Church (now called l the Church militant here on earth ') 
 was put still earlier, after the Offertory, and the prayer 
 of Oblation and the Lord's Prayer, with their natural 
 order transposed, after the Communion. Important 
 changes were also made in the rubrics. The still existing 
 rubric about the position of the Table suggested at all 
 events that it should not stand ' altarwise.' Eucharistic 
 vestments, before enjoined, were expressly forbidden. 
 An archbishop or bishop was to wear a rochet, a priest or 
 deacon a surplice only. Ordinary bread was allowed to 
 be used instead of wafer bread, and it was to be delivered 
 into the hands of the communicants instead of into their 
 mouths. The minimum number of communicants was 
 fixed at three, and no directions were given for reserva- 
 tion. Finally, the 'Black Rubric,' or Declaration on
 
 CHANGES IN 1559 AND 1661 39 
 
 Kneeling, in a form which appeared to deny the doctrine 
 of the Real Presence, was inserted at the last moment 
 by the sole authority of the Council. 
 
 These alterations represent the extreme limit of the 
 concessions to Protestant feeling that have been made in 
 the formularies, and it may be a consolation to some to 
 remember that the book of 1552 never received any eccle- 
 siastical sanction whatever. There is no evidence as to 
 how far it was actually used, but it could not have been 
 in use for more than a few months at the most. 
 
 Changes made in 1559. Elizabeth made three important 
 changes in the service of 1552, which she was unwillingly 
 obliged to restore. In the book of 1559 the use of 
 Eucharistic vestments is again ordered, the Declaration 
 on Kneeling is omitted, and the ancient form of admini- 
 stration restored. The form of 1552 was left, but the 
 use of it after the other form could not be regarded as 
 heterodox. 
 
 Changes made in 1661. The alterations of 1604 did not 
 touch the Communion Service, but those of 1661 were 
 both numerous and important. The most important 
 were : the restoration of an explicit oblation of the 
 elements at the Offertory, and of directions for the Frac- 
 tion and other manual acts, which had been unaccount- 
 ably omitted in 1549 ; the restoration in a shorter form 
 of the commemoration of the departed, omitted in 1552 ; 
 and the restoration of the Declaration on Kneeling, 
 omitted in 1559, but with the alteration of the words 
 'real and essential presence' into 'corporal presence.' 
 This was done to sanction the doctrine of the Real 
 Presence. 
 
 Other alterations were : the use of the Authorised Version for 
 the Epistles and Gospels ; the insertion of a number of rubrical 
 directions the people are to stand for the Gospel and Creed ; 
 the Priest is to turn to the people for the Commandments and 
 then stand as before ; he is reverently to present the Alms ; he is 
 to return to the Table after the Sermon and the Communion, and 
 stand before the Table at the Consecration, etc. ; an important 
 rubric ordered the reverent consumption of the remaining elements 
 a direction which has sometimes been supposed to forbid any 
 reservation ; a doxology was added to the second Lord's Prayer ; 
 the exhortation to self-examination and Confession, which was 
 ordered before to be said 'sometime at the discretion of the 
 Curate,' was now to be read before everv Celebration.
 
 40 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 This concludes the history of the English Communion 
 Service to the present time, but a few notes may be 
 added here on some parts of it which have not yet been 
 dealt with. First, something should be said about the 
 Collects. The meaning of the word has been already 
 explained on page 28. The characteristics of a collect 
 are easily stated. In its simplest form it consists of an 
 invocation, a concise petition, and a conclusion. The 
 ancient collects conform with little variation to this 
 type, but in the last revision of the Book of Common 
 Prayer the term was more loosely used, and was applied 
 to several prayers which from their length and diffuse- 
 ness should be placed in a different category. Of the 
 collects now used in the English Communion Service the 
 greater number are translations of ancient collects which 
 are to be found in the Leonine, Gelasian, and Gregorian 
 Sacramentaries. Twenty-eight were added in 1549, 
 entirely, or almost entirely, new compositions : one was 
 rewritten in 1552, and three were added in 1661. The 
 new collects may in most cases be easily distinguished 
 from the old by the difference of style ; they are far less 
 simple and direct, and they contain more verbal quota- 
 tions from Scripture. But many of the old collects were 
 expanded and adorned with epithets in the process of 
 translation, so that they resemble closely the new work 
 of 1549. The difference between the old and new style 
 will be easily realised by comparing the collects for Advent 
 Sunday and Christmas Day, two of the finest and most 
 rhythmical of those composed in 1549, with some of the 
 old collects which have been translated literally, such as 
 those for the Fourteenth, Seventeenth, and Twenty-first 
 Sundays after Trinity. The collects written in 1661 are, 
 in accordance with the taste of the period, more florid 
 still, but they are extremely fine specimens of that kind 
 of writing. The manner in which the collect for St. 
 Stephen's Day was enlarged in 1661 may also be taken as 
 a good example of the style of that time. In 1549 the 
 translation of the old Gregorian collect ran thus : ' Grant 
 us, O Lord, to learn to love our enemies, by the example 
 of thy Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed to thee for 
 his persecutors ; which livest and reignest,' etc. 
 
 The collects added in 1549 were those for the following days :
 
 THE COLLECTS 41 
 
 i. and ii. Advent, Christmas, Circumcision, Quinquagesima, Ash 
 Wednesday, i. Lent, Good Friday iii., i. and ii. Easter, S. 
 Thomas, S. Matthias, S. Mark, S. Philip and S. James, S. 
 Barnabas, S. John Baptist, S. Peter, S. James, S. Matthew, 
 S. Luke, S. Simon and S. Jude, All Saints ; and also the third, 
 fifth, and sixth collects at the end of the Communion Service, 
 and the collect for the Communion of the Sick. The collects for 
 S. Paul and S. Bartholomew were practically new, and the 
 collect for the Sunday after Ascension was formed out of an old 
 antiphon, addressed to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. 
 The revisers must have mistaken the significance of O Rex gloriae. 
 The reason why there were so many new collects for Saints' days 
 was that the old prayers often contained references to the inter- 
 cessions of the Saints. In 1552 the present collect for S. Andrew's 
 Day was substituted for that written in 1549, and two collects, 
 for a first Communion on Christmas Day and for S. Mary Mag- 
 dalene, were omitted. In 1661 a new composition was provided 
 for the Third Sunday in Advent in the place of the old collect, 
 and the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany and Easter Eve, hitherto 
 without collects, were provided with them. Some other collects, 
 like that for S. Stephen's Day, were enlarged, and a number of 
 small alterations were made. One series of additions was un- 
 fortunate. The ancient collects had a certain number of fixed 
 endings, which were taken for granted and not usually written 
 down: 'Who livest and reignest,' etc., according to the form of 
 the collect. The same plan was pursued in the earlier English 
 books, but in 1661 'Amen' was printed at the end of all the 
 collects as they stood, so that the endings were lost except in 
 those cases where they had already been printed in full. All the 
 other collects are translations of Sarum forms which are to be 
 found in one of the Sacramentaries. The most literal transla- 
 tions are those for ii. Epiphany, xiv., xvii., xxi., xxiii. Trinity, 
 and the Annunciation. In most cases the translation is free, and 
 tends to enlarge the original. This is often judiciously done, for 
 a literal translation from the Latin is apt to sound bald in English, 
 but the force and simplicity of the original are not unfrequently 
 weakened, and there are some cases where the sense was mis- 
 understood. A few other ancient collects are to be found in 
 other parts of the Book of Common Prayer, the invariable collects 
 at Matius and Evensong, the prayer for Clergy and People, * We 
 humbly beseech Thee ' in the Litany, ' O Lord, we beseech Thee ' 
 in the Commination, and ' O Lord, Whose nature and property.' 
 
 History of the Litany. This appears to be also the 
 appropriate place for a short sketch of the history of 
 the Litany, which in its present English form must be 
 regarded as a preparation for the Eucharistic Service, and 
 which was certainly never intended to be a mere appendix 
 to Matins. The word Litany (\iraveia, letania) means 
 simply a supplication, but the word was early appropriated
 
 42 
 
 to those forms of prayer which consist of a series of short 
 supplications or biddings, with a response to each. 
 These became common at an early date. In the East 
 they commonly take the form of a bidding prayer, or 
 series of short exhortations to prayer recited usually by 
 the deacon, with the response Kyrie Eleison. In the 
 West the supplications are direct prayers. Such litanies 
 were commonly sung in procession, so commonly that in 
 the West Litany and Procession became convertible 
 terms. The first regular institution of such processions 
 has been ascribed to S. Chrysostom, at Constantinople, 
 at the end of the fourth century. He is said to have 
 introduced them in opposition to the Arians, who were 
 accustomed to sing in procession. In the Western 
 Church two annual processions of special importance 
 were instituted in the fifth and sixth centuries one in 
 the Gallican church, the other at Rome. In 470 Vienne 
 had been visited by earthquakes and other calamities, 
 and the Bishop Mamertus vowed that he would institute 
 processions on the three days before Ascension Day, 
 which thus became known as the Rogation Days. This 
 observance spread widely, and already existed as a custom 
 in England when it was ordered by the Council of Clovisho 
 in 747. At Rome in 590, during a visitation of the 
 plague, Gregory the Great ordered a solemn litany on S. 
 Mark's Day, and this also became an established institu- 
 tion, but litanies were probably already common at Rome. 
 In the Middle Ages processions or litanies were one of 
 the most conspicuous features of public devotion, and 
 the Sarum Processional contains minute directions for 
 the processions which preceded Mass on all Sundays 
 and many other days, and which were also used at Vespers 
 and on many special occasions, often with great pomp and 
 ceremony. The processions sometimes took place in 
 church, sometimes in the churchyards, and on certain 
 occasions even through the streets and fields. All these 
 processions were summarily prohibited by injunctions of 
 Edward vi. in 1547. Many things, such as antiphons 
 and psalms, were thus sung in procession, but the litany 
 was mainly composed of brief petitions. Its germ 
 was the Kyrie Eleison, which, as has been seen, was 
 imported from the East in the sixth century, or earlier,
 
 THE LITANY 43 
 
 and which was often repeated and varied with Christe 
 Eleison. To this a number of definite supplications were 
 added, and the most usual responses, according to the 
 form of the prayer, were Farce nobis Domine, Libera nos 
 Domiiie, and Te rogamus audi nos. 
 
 Invocation of Saints. Another and quite a different 
 element was the calling upon the Saints by name. It 
 was the natural and probably universal belief of the Early 
 Church that the departed Saints have at least as intimate 
 a communion with God as when they were upon earth, 
 and that they continue their intercessions on behalf of 
 the Church. Numerous early prayers desire God to hear 
 and answer these supplications. A further belief arose 
 that in some way the departed may become conscious of 
 the necessities of those on earth ; and this led to their 
 being addressed by name, with a petition for their prayers, 
 and these petitions found their special place in the litanies. 
 The Saints were asked simply for their prayers, not to do 
 anything themselves for the supplicants. They were 
 generally invoked in classes the Blessed Virgin, the 
 Angels, the Apostles, the Martyrs, etc. and a certain 
 number of names of each class was recited by the minister, 
 the people responding to each, 'Ora pro nobis.' 
 
 Structure of Litanies. The ordinary structure of a 
 mediaeval litany was as follows : First came Kyrie 
 Eleison, etc. Then the invocation of the Holy Trinity : 
 ' O God the Father of heaven,' etc. Then the invocations 
 of the Saints ; then short prayers for deliverance from 
 various sins and dangers, each with the response ' Libera 
 nos,' Good Lord, deliver us ; then similar prayers for various 
 blessings, with the response ' Te rogamus,' We beseech 
 Thee. Then the Agnus Dei, the Kyrie, the Lord's 
 Prayer, versicles and responses, and collects. 
 
 Litany of 1544. The putting forth of an English 
 Litany in 1544 was suggested by a failure of the 
 crops in the previous year, which caused a procession to 
 be ordered. From the sketch just given it will be seen 
 that Cranmer followed exactly the scheme of the existing 
 litanies, and the greater part of the English Litany is 
 simply a translation from the Sarum Processional. But 
 Cranmer also introduced a good deal from German 
 sources, and no doubt added something of his own.
 
 44 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 The Litany, as brought out in 1544, differed from the 
 present Litany principally in still retaining Invocations 
 of Saints, and in having different prayers at the end. 
 The Invocations were, however, reduced to three. The 
 Litany perhaps shows us Cranmer's literary style at its 
 best. It appears diffuse when compared with the sim- 
 plicity and transparent clearness of the Latin form 
 which he was translating ; but it is far less florid than 
 that of later additions to the Prayer Book. In the 
 Litany he has completely changed the whole rhythm 
 of the Latin by turning several clauses into one. For 
 instance, the first deprecations in the Sarum Litany are 
 
 From all evil : Deliver us, Lord. 
 
 From the crafts of the devil : Deliver us, Lord. 
 
 From everlasting damnation : Deliver us, Lord. 
 
 In Cranmer's version they become : 
 
 From all evil and mischief; from sin, from the crafts 
 
 and assaults of the devil ; from Thy wrath, and 
 
 from everlasting damnation, Good Lord, deliver 
 
 us. (Cf. Sarum litany for the dying.) 
 
 This clause also affords instances of a peculiar trick of 
 
 style of which Cranmer was evidently very fond, that 
 
 of doubling his words without adding anything to the 
 
 sense ; as again in the Confession and Absolution we find 
 
 ' erred and strayed,' ( devices and desires,' f declare and 
 
 pronounce,' 'pardoneth and absolveth,' etc. By such 
 
 methods he undoubtedly obtained more ornate and varied 
 
 rhythmical effects, but the nervous force of the Latin is 
 
 lost, and many find it difficult to fix the attention upon 
 
 the longer and more ornate periods of the English Litany. 
 
 On the whole, however, it is perhaps the most successful 
 
 piece of adaptation that Cranmer produced. 
 
 The changes made in the Litany since 1544 are not numerous 
 or interesting. In 1549 it was placed immediately after 'The 
 Supper of the Lord and the Holy Communion, commonly called 
 the Mass,' and directions are given that it shall be said everywhere 
 on "Wednesdays and Fridays (the old Station Days), and that 
 ' though there be none to communicate with the Priest, yet these 
 days (after the Litany ended) the Priest shall put upon him a plain 
 Albe or surplice, with & cope, and say all things at the Altar (ap- 
 pointed to be said at the celebration of the Lord's Supper), until 
 after the Offertory.' Then after one or two collects he was to
 
 THE LITANY 45 
 
 dismiss the people with the accustomed blessing. The same was 
 to be done on all other days when there were no communicants. 
 In the Litany itself the Invocations of Saints were omitted, and 
 instead of the six collects which formed the ending in 1544, the 
 service was the same as at present until the prayer of Chrysostom, 
 which was the end. In 1552 the Litany was transferred to its 
 present position, with the heading : ' Here followeth the Litany, 
 to be used upon Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and at other 
 times, when it shall be commanded by the Ordinary.' The special 
 prayers for rain, etc., were placed before the prayer of Chryso- 
 stom. The additions and variations in these prayers, as they now 
 belong to Matins rather than to the Litany, will be found noted at 
 the end of the chapter on the Daily Office. In 1559 the clause 
 about the Bishop of Rome was omitted. The petition had hitherto 
 run, ' From all sedition and privy conspiracy [from the tyranny 
 of the Bishop of Rome, and all his detestable enormities] ; from 
 all false doctrine and heresy ; from hardness of heart and con- 
 tempt of thy word and commandment.' The petition for the 
 Queen was adorned with its present embellishments : it had 
 previously run, ' That it may please thee to keep Edward the 
 Sixth, thy servant, our King and Governor.' The prayers for 
 the Queen and the Clergy were introduced before the prayer of 
 Chrysostom, and 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ after it ; 
 and the occasional prayers, with the addition of ' O God whose 
 nature and property,' followed. In 1604 the petition for the 
 Royal Family, 'That it may please thee to bless and preserve 
 our gracious Queen Anne, Prince Henry, and the rest of the 
 King and Queen's royal issue,' was added, as well as the prayer 
 for the Royal Family at the end. In 1661 the present heading 
 was prefixed, and the words, 'and rebellion,' 'and schism,' were 
 added to the petition printed above ; the words, ' Bishops, 
 Pastors, and Ministers of the Church,' were changed to ' Bishops, 
 Priests, and Deacons' ; the present rubric was prefixed to the 
 Lord's Prayer, and it was printed in full ; previously ' And 
 deliver us from evil, Amen ' only was said as a response by the 
 people ; ' Priest ' was twice put instead of ' the Versicle ' ; and the 
 prayers for the King and Royal Family and the Clergy were 
 removed to the end of Matins. 
 
 Special attention must be called to the table of Liturgies 
 which follows. It gives in parallel columns, first, the order 
 of the earliest extant Liturgy, that of the Apostolic Con- 
 stitutions; secondly, the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom, which 
 is used by all the Orthodox Eastern Churches ; thirdly, 
 the Roman Liturgy, which is used in almost all Churches 
 of the Roman obedience ; and fourthly, the first English 
 Liturgy. A careful comparison will show how closely all 
 these typical liturgies resemble each other in the spirit 
 and order of the service.
 
 46 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 THE 
 
 The Apostolic Constitutions. The Liturgy of S. Chrysostom. 
 
 MISSA CATECHUMENORUM 
 
 |L 
 
 A. [Approach to the Altar. This is A. [The service of the Prothesis takes 
 not described in the Ap. Const.] place before the service proper 
 
 begins.] 
 Litany, said by Deacon. 
 
 Introit, consisting of three anti- 
 phons, with a prayer after each. 
 
 B. Instruction. B. 'Little Entrance,' i.e. procession 
 Originally at least three lessons, with book of the Gospels. Choir 
 
 one from the Old Testament. sings Trisagion. Prayer. 
 
 Epistle. 
 
 Alleluia sung. Prayer. 
 Gospel. 
 
 C. Prayers for and Dismissal of C. Bidding Prayer. 
 
 Catechumens. Prayer for Catechumens and 
 
 Of great length in early Liturgies. Dismissal. 
 
 MISSA FIDELIUM 
 ii. Preparatory Prayers. 
 
 D. Prayers of the Faithful. D. Two prayers. 
 
 E. [Creed, not in Ap. Const. Intro- H. Offertory, i.e. 'Great Entrance': 
 
 duced towards end of fifth the gifts which have been pre- 
 
 century.] pared at the Prothesis are borne 
 
 F. The Pax. in procession to the altar, while 
 
 G. The Lavabo. the choir sing a hymn called 
 H. The Offertory. Cherubicum. Incense and 
 
 many prayers. 
 [G. The Lavabo has already 
 
 taken place at the Prothesis.] 
 F. The kiss of peace. 
 E. The Creed.
 
 COMPARISON OF LITURGIES 47 
 
 LITURGY. 
 
 The Roman Liturgy. 
 
 The English Liturgy of 1549. 
 
 A. PB. Judica. 
 
 Confiteor. Mutual confession of 
 
 priest and ministers. 
 Prayers, including in Sarum use 
 
 the Lord's Prayer and Collect 
 
 for purity. 
 The above are the private 
 
 devotions of the priest. 
 Introit. Psalm sung as the priest 
 
 approaches the altar. 
 Kyrie Eleison. Originally the 
 
 end of a Litany. 
 Gloria in Excelsis. 
 Dominus vobiscum. Oremus. 
 
 Collect. 
 
 B. Epistle. 
 
 Gradual and Alleluia (or Tract). 
 
 Sometimes Sequence. 
 Gospel. 
 
 [Homily.] 
 
 Lord's Prayer. 
 Collect for purity. 
 
 Introit. 
 
 Lord have mercy. 
 
 Gloria in Excelsis. 
 
 The Lord be with you. Let us 
 
 pray. 
 Collect. 
 
 B. Epistle. 
 
 Gospel. 
 
 E. Creed. 
 
 D. 'Oremus,' with no prayer fol 
 
 lowing. 
 H. Offertory. The gifts are placed H. Offertory. 
 
 on the altar, with several 
 
 prayers, said privately by the 
 
 priest, ending with the Secret. 
 
 The psalm called the 'Offer- 
 tory' has become a single 
 
 verse. 
 G. Lavabo takes place as soon as 
 
 the gifts have been presented. 
 
 E. Creed. 
 
 Homily or Sermon. 
 
 The elements and 
 alms are placed on the altar, 
 and a sentence is said, but no 
 prayers are specified.
 
 48 
 
 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 The Apostolic Constitutions. The Liturgy of S. Chrysostom. 
 
 iii. The Anaphora. 
 
 J. Thanksgiving. J. Thanksgiving. 
 
 (a) ' The grace of our Lord,' etc., (a) rj xdpis TOV Kvplov . . 
 
 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 
 
 (b) Sursum corda, etc. 
 
 (c) The Preface, ' It is very meet 
 
 and right, ' etc. Very long 
 in Ap. Const. Originally 
 extempore. 
 
 (d) The Sanctus. (d) 
 
 (b) &vu ffx&nev rots KapSlas . 
 
 (c) The Preface. &iov 
 
 Sluaiov . . , 
 
 uaavvd . . , 
 
 K. Tlie Consecration. 
 
 (a) Commemoration of the work 
 
 of Redemption. 
 
 (b) Narrative of the Institution. 
 
 (c) The Great Oblation. 
 
 (d) The Epiklesis, or Invocation 
 of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 L. The Great Intercession. 
 
 K. (a) fJifra TotlTUV Ka 
 
 (b) 6s eXQwv Kal irajav . . . 
 
 (c) M.e/j.vr)/ji{voiToivw . . . r4 <ra 
 
 K -runt a&v 
 
 (d) , . . Ko.TdTrefj.if/ov rb Hvevfia 
 <rov . . . Kal irolriffov TOV 
 
 /jv UpTOV . . . ffW/JLO, . . . 
 
 <rov . . . 
 
 L. i-rt irpoff<f>^po^v ffoi . . . (all 
 faithful departed, B.V.M. 
 [diptychs of dead read]. 
 Saints, Church, emperors, all 
 estates of men). 
 
 M. [The Lord's Prayer. For some M. ITdrep rifj-Qv . . ., with Preface 
 unknown reason not in Ap. and Embolismos. 
 
 Const. Otherwise universal.]
 
 COMPARISON OF LITURGIES 49 
 
 The Roman Liturgy. 
 
 J. Thanksgiving. 
 
 Dominus vobiscum, etc. 
 
 (b) Sursum corda, etc. 
 
 (c) The Preface. ' Vere dignum 
 
 et justum est .'. .' 
 
 The English Liturgy of 1549. 
 
 J. Thanksgiving. 
 
 The Lord be with you, etc. 
 
 (6) 'Lift up your hearts,' etc. 
 (c) The Preface. ' It is very 
 meet, right,' etc. 
 
 (d) Sanctus . . . Benedictus ... 
 Hosanna ... 
 
 (d) Holy, holy . . . Blessed be 
 he ... Hosanna . . . 
 
 Canon Missae. 
 
 L. Te igitur . . . , , 
 
 Memento . . . * 
 
 Communicantes . . . (the 
 
 Saints). 
 Hanc igitur oblationem . . . 
 
 K. (d) ? Quam oblationem . . . 
 
 K. (b) Quipridiequampateretur... 
 
 (c) Unde et memores . . . 
 Supra quae propitio . . . 
 
 (d) ? Supplices te rogamus . . . 
 
 jube haec perferri per 
 manus sancti Angeli 
 tui . . . 
 
 Memento etiam (the Dead) 
 Nobis quoque peccatori- 
 btis . . . (the Living and 
 the Saints). 
 
 0. (c) Per quern haec omnia (Con- 
 signation). 
 
 L. Let us pray . . . Christ's Church. 
 Almighty and everliving God ... 
 
 (the Living). 
 And here we do give unto thee 
 
 . . . (the Saints). 
 We commend unto thy mercy 
 
 . . . (the Dead). 
 
 K. (a) O God, heavenly Father . . . 
 (d) Hear us (O merciful Father)... 
 with thy Holy Spirit... 
 bless... these thy gifts... 
 
 (b) Who in the same night . . . 
 
 (c) Wherefore, O Lord ... we 
 
 ... do ... make . . . 
 the memorial which thy 
 Son . . . 
 
 M. Praeceptis salutaribus . . . Pater M. As our Saviour Christ . . . Our 
 noster . . . Father'. .
 
 50 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 The Apostolic Constitutions. The Liturgy of S. Chrysostom. 
 
 iv. The Communion. 
 
 N. Preparation of Communicants. N. Inclination and prayer. 
 
 O. [Ritual Preparation. Manual O. Manual acts. 
 
 acts. 
 (a) Elevation. (a) Elevation. TCI dyia TOIS 
 
 aylois . . . 
 
 (&) Fraction. (b) Fraction. 
 
 (c) Consignation. (c) Consignation. 
 
 (d) Commixture. (d) Commixture. 
 
 No directions in Ap. Const.] Infusion of Ztov. 
 
 P. Communion. P. Communion. r6 rlfuov . . 
 
 Q. Thanksgiving. Q. Benediction and short thanks- 
 
 giving. 
 
 K, Dismissal. E, tV flpfyy Trpo4\OufJ.ei> . . .
 
 COMPARISON OF LITURGIES 51 
 
 The Roman Liturgy. The English Litivrgy of 1549. 
 
 O. Manual acts. 
 
 No directions about the manual 
 acts. 
 
 (b) Fraction. 
 
 (c) Consignation with the last 
 
 words of embolismus. 
 Pax Domini sit semper 
 vobiseum. 
 
 (d) Commixture, followed by 
 
 Agnus Dei . . . 
 F. The Pax. Pax tecum. Et cum 
 
 spiritu tuo. 
 
 N. Domine Jesu Christe . . . 
 Perceptio Corporis tui . . . 
 
 P. Communion. Corpus Domini 
 nostri ... (If the people 
 communicate, Confiteor 
 and Absolution. ) Ablu- 
 tions with prayers. 'Com- 
 munio,' an antiphon. 
 
 Q. 'Postcommunio,' a variable 
 collect. (In Sarum a 
 thanksgiving before ablu- 
 tions.) 
 
 R. 'Ite missa est,' or 'Benedica- 
 mus Domino,' or ' Requi- 
 escant in pace.' 
 Placeat tibi Sancta Trinitas.' 
 Benediction. 
 In principio erat Verbum . . . 
 
 The peace of the Lord be alway 
 with you, etc. 
 
 N. You that do truly . . . 
 
 Confession, Absolution, Com- 
 fortable Words. 
 Prayer of Humble Access. 
 P. Communion. ' The Body of our 
 Lord.' ' O Lamb of God ' 
 sung. 
 
 Q. 'Postcommunion,' a sentence. 
 Almighty and everliviug 
 God . . . 
 
 R. The peace of God . . .
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE DAILY OFFICE 
 
 Daily Prayer. The custom of daily public prayer has 
 held so conspicuous a place in the history of the Church 
 that it has sometimes been supposed that it must date 
 from the very earliest times. No doubt the Christians of 
 the first age were instant in prayer ; and it may be taken 
 for granted that they often united, as occasion might 
 arise, in acts of common worship. But the only regular 
 and public meetings of the earliest days of which we have 
 any information were those connected with the celebra- 
 tion of the Eucharist. These meetings took place at least 
 on the first day of every week. They were preceded from 
 very early times by a long vigil service, which originally 
 perhaps lasted through the whole night, as it did when 
 S. Paul was at Troas (Acts xx. 7-11). 
 
 The Vigils. The origin of the vigil has been traced 
 with much probability to the belief current in the Early 
 Church that the second coming of our Lord would take 
 place in the night before Easter Day. Hence it was re- 
 garded as the duty of the faithful to watch through the 
 whole of that night ; and it is thought that the custom 
 was extended to the eves of all the Sundays in the year. 
 In the case of the ordinary Sundays, however, the vigil 
 soon assumed the form of a service beginning at cock- 
 crow. Thus in Pliny's letter the Christians are said to 
 meet before dawn on a stated day, and to sing alternately 
 a hymn to Christ as God. Perhaps it was to preserve the 
 primitive idea of a service lasting all night that the 
 faithful met on the evening before at the hour of 
 the lighting of the lamps. After their devotions they 
 62
 
 PRAYER IN THE EARLY CHURCH 53 
 
 separated, and met again at cockcrow. In Syria, at the 
 beginning of the fourth century, a further division of the 
 morning service took place, certain fixed psalms and 
 hymns being recited at sunrise. Thus the nocturnal 
 vigil came to approximate very closely to the Vespers, 
 Matins, and Lauds of the Mediaeval Church. These ser- 
 vices consisted, like those of the Jews, in psalms, lessons, 
 and prayers. In Egypt until the end of the fourth cen- 
 tury, at both the evening and morning service, twelve 
 psalms were recited by readers. Two lessons followed, 
 and then the assembly knelt for silent prayer. Then all 
 rose, and the presiding minister prayed aloud. This 
 appears to be the most primitive type of worship. 
 
 Other days besides Sunday soon came to have vigils. 
 Like the Jews, the Christians observed two fast days in 
 eacli week, Wednesday and Friday being substituted for 
 Monday and Thursday. These were called the station 
 days, and public services are mentioned as being held on 
 these days at an early date, sometimes, as in Africa and 
 at Jerusalem, as a preliminary to the celebration of the 
 Holy Eucharist, sometimes, as in Egypt, without a 
 Eucharist. To these days were added also the ' birth- 
 days' of the martyrs that is, the anniversaries of the days 
 on which they laid down their lives. It was usual to 
 celebrate the Eucharist on such days in the cemeteries 
 where the bodies of the martyrs were laid, and a vigil 
 preceded. 
 
 Such were the only public services other than the 
 Eucharist of which there is any evidence during the first 
 three centuries of Christianity the vigils of Sundays, 
 the station days, and the birthdays of martyrs these 
 vigils being, moreover, normally a preparation for a 
 Eucharist They comprised two or three offices prac- 
 tically distinct an evening, a nightly, and a morning 
 service but in idea and origin they were one. 
 
 Hours of Private Prayer. It was during the fourth 
 century that an elaborate scheme of daily service came 
 into existence, but to the formation of this scheme another 
 element the ordinary private devotions of the faithful 
 certainly contributed largely ; some think, indeed, that 
 the daily offices grew principally out of private devotions.
 
 54 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 It is necessary, therefore, to notice the habits of the Chris- 
 tians with regard to private prayer. It was the custom of 
 pious Jews to pray, like Daniel, three times a day, 
 and this custom was continued by the Christians. The 
 chief divisions of the day, sounded on the public clocks 
 (quae publice resonant), as Tertullian says, supplied 
 natural opportunities. It was the third hour of the day of 
 Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell upon the assembled 
 disciples ; Peter went up upon the housetop to pray 
 about the sixth hour ; Peter and John went up into the 
 temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 
 And the Didache, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, and 
 Tertullian all give evidence of the prevalence of this 
 custom. It was probably observed regularly only by the 
 devout, but there can be little doubt that all Christians 
 would consider it their duty to pray at least in the morn- 
 ing and evening. Prayer at midnight is also urged. The 
 Canons of Hippolytus, which probably represent the 
 customs of the Roman Church about the beginning of the 
 third century, prescribe prayers at Terce, Sext, None 
 (i.e. the third, sixth, and ninth hours), sunset, midnight, 
 and early morning. There can be no doubt that early 
 Christian practice was influenced by various passages in 
 the Old Testament, such as Ps. Iv. 18, ' In the evening, 
 and morning, and at noonday will I pray'; Ps. cxix. 
 62, ' At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee ' ; 
 Ps. cxix. 164, ' Seven times a day will I praise Thee.' A 
 Christian significance was also attached to the particular 
 hours : the third hour recalled the descent of the Holy 
 Spirit and the condemnation of our Lord, the sixth hour 
 His crucifixion, and the ninth hour His death. 
 
 The First Three Centuries. Thus during the first three 
 centuries there were established in the Church, on the 
 one hand, regular vigil services on certain days, in one, 
 two, or three parts, and almost always preparatory to the 
 celebration of the Eucharist; and, on the other hand, 
 a regular system of private prayer at stated hours. It 
 cannot be positively asserted that there was a nearer 
 approach than this to a system of daily public non- 
 Eucharistic services. There is, indeed, one piece of 
 evidence that indicates that such daily services did exist.
 
 DAILY SERVICES . 55 
 
 One of the Canons of Hippolytus, mentioned above, 
 orders presbyters, deacons, and readers, and all the 
 people, to assemble daily in the church at cockcrow, and 
 betake themselves to prayer, reading of the Scripture, 
 and psalms. But, on the other hand, another Canon 
 orders the people to attend the church on all days on 
 which there are prayers, which would imply that the 
 services in question were the vigils spoken of above, and 
 that they were not yet held every day. 
 
 The Fourth Century. In the fourth century the adoption 
 of Christianity as the religion of the Empire brought 
 
 ?reat changes to the Church in this as in other matters, 
 "here was an enormous influx of semi-heathen or indif- 
 ferent converts, who neglected, as S. Chrysostom com- 
 plains, even the Sunday Eucharist. At the same time 
 there was a growing tendency among the more devout to 
 separate themselves more decisively from the world, and 
 to embrace, some the solitary life, some the community 
 life, but at all events a more rigidly ascetic and devout 
 standard of practice. They observed, not only singly but 
 in common, the hours of prayer mentioned above. It 
 only remained that they should do this in the churches 
 and under the superintendence of the clergy. 
 
 Daily Public Services. It was no longer necessary for 
 the Christians to abstain from attracting public attention. 
 They were provided with suitable and even magnificent 
 buildings for the exercise of common worship. What 
 could be more natural than that the devout should be 
 encouraged to make use of these buildings as often as 
 possible. This step is first known to have been taken at 
 Antioch about the year 350. Not many years afterwards 
 we hear of the introduction of daily services at Caesarea 
 by S. Basil, at Milan by S. Ambrose, and at Jerusalem. 
 It is with regard to this last place that we possess the 
 most detailed information. A recently discovered docu- 
 ment, the Peregrinatio Silviae, describes a pilgrimage to 
 the holy places undertaken by a lady of southern Gaul, 
 and contains a minute account of the services at which 
 she was present at Jerusalem. There were four daily 
 services besides the Eucharist in the church of the 
 Anastasis, in the evening, at cockcrow, at Sext, and at
 
 56 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 None. They were frequented by the monazontes and 
 parthenae, that is by persons leading a religious life 
 in a more or less technical sense, and by a certain number 
 of the laity. Priests and deacons presided over the 
 psalmody, and the bishop came in before the end of each 
 service to dismiss the different classes of worshippers. 
 The writer describes a service on Saturday night in which 
 may be traced the blending of the ancient vigil with the 
 new daily office ; the former is attended by the faithful 
 in general, the latter by the religious only. 
 
 Methods of Chanting. Together with the introduction 
 of daily offices came a change in the character of the 
 chanting. In the earlier vigils, held probably in small 
 buildings, the psalms were recited by a single voice, and 
 with little or no modulation. It was nearer speaking 
 than singing, so Athanasius said, ' Tarn modico flexu vocis 
 faciebat sonare lectorem psalmi, ut pronuncianti similior 
 esset quam canenti.' But now, with large buildings and 
 congregations a single voice could no longer assert itself, 
 and the antiphonal method was adopted ; that is, the 
 psalms were recited by two choirs singing alternately, 
 and with more elaborate modulations. This method was 
 introduced at Antioch in the middle of the fourth century. 
 S. Basil at Caesarea and S. Chrysostom at Constanti- 
 nople followed the example, and the system was further 
 developed by S. Ambrose at Milan. 
 
 The Monastic System. It must not be supposed that 
 services so frequent as those described by Silvia at 
 Jerusalem were soon adopted in all parts of the Church. 
 From this time forward two separate lines of develop- 
 ment may be observed. The ' ascetics,' those who wished 
 to lead a life of special devotion, tended more and more 
 to form regular monastic communities, in which regular 
 and frequent hours of prayer were observed, until, in the 
 early part of the sixth century, S. Benedict of Nursia 
 founded his great Order, and the complete system of the 
 Canonical Hours, in all its essential features, was estab- 
 lished as a model for the whole Western Church. In 
 this system all the hours already mentioned, that is 
 Vespers, Matins, and Lauds, the three divisions of the 
 ancient vigil, as well as the three day hours Terce, Sext,
 
 THE CANONICAL HOURS 57 
 
 aud None were included, and two others were added, of 
 specially monastic origin Prime and Compline. The 
 former was instituted at Bethlehem, at the end of the 
 fourth century. It appears to have been the custom of 
 the monks to retire for a short period of rest after Matins 
 and Lauds were over, and in order that the day might 
 begin anew with prayer a supplementary Matins service 
 was held. Compline arose in a similar way. Vespers 
 had come to be said before the evening meal, and then, 
 that there might be prayer immediately before sleep, 
 Compline was said in the dormitory. It is first mentioned 
 in the Rule of S. Benedict. Prime and Compline, as 
 will be shown later on, have always retained certain 
 characteristic marks of their monastic origin. Thus the 
 cycle of the hours was complete. To conform to the 
 Psalmist's words, 'Seven times a day will I praise thee/ 
 Matins was now reckoned as a nocturnal service, and the 
 others formed the seven day hours. 
 
 Parish Churches. Meanwhile in the episcopal and 
 parish churches, under the superintendence of the 
 secular clergy, a system of daily services was more 
 gradually growing up. The final result was, except 
 in details, the same as that reached in the monasteries, 
 but the process was slower and to a great extent inde- 
 pendent. AVTien once daily services had been introduced 
 into the churches, the clergy would naturally be expected 
 to continue them, and not to fall behind the monks in the 
 matter of devotion. And so the daily office, like the 
 obligation to celibacy, was a sort of legacy to the clergy 
 from asceticism. We find this duty recognised both 
 in the East and the West. A decree of the Emperor 
 Justinian, in the year 529, orders that all the clergy 
 attached to each church shall sing Vespers, Matins, and 
 Lauds themselves, and not leave the duty to be fulfilled 
 by others. So in Gaul and Spain, various councils during 
 the sixth century order Vespers and Matins to be sung 
 daily, and to be followed by prayers to be said by the 
 bishop or priests. At Rome daily vigils were established 
 later than elsewhere. But in the sixth century there is 
 evidence that they were regarded as a duty binding on the 
 clergy, and in a form of oath taken by the f suburbicarian'
 
 68 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 bishops, that is the bishops of the districts in and about 
 Rome, and dating from the sixth or seventh century, 
 a promise is made by the bishop to say daily vigils in 
 church with all his clergy from cockcrow to daybreak. 
 The recitation of the day hours by the clergy is not yet 
 mentioned, nor at Rome is Vespers yet observed as a 
 public office. Still even the obligation to say daily Matins 
 from cockcrow to sunrise was found onerous by those 
 clergy who were engaged in full parish work. 
 
 Monasteries attached to Churches. A natural way of 
 lightening the burden was found in the establishment of 
 colleges of monks in connection with the great churches, 
 who should be responsible for the daily services. The 
 first of these monasteries was founded by S. Leo (440- 
 461). Others followed by slow degrees, for the secular 
 clergy in Rome were exceedingly jealous of monks, but 
 at the end of the eighth century we have a list of nine- 
 teen such monasteries attached to the great churches. 
 The monks in them were really canons rather than monks, 
 although the name 'canon' was not yet used. They 
 probably in all cases added the recitation of the three 
 day hours to that of the clerical Matins. In the first 
 half of the eighth century the addition of Vespers is 
 mentioned, and in the second half that of Prime. Com- 
 pline was still said as a purely monastic office in the 
 dormitory. 
 
 The Roman Chant. During the same period, from the 
 fifth to the eighth centuries, the arrangement of the 
 offices and the method of singing them underwent a 
 considerable and probably a gradual change, about which 
 no detailed information is extant. Tradition, indeed, 
 ascribes the foundation of the Roman manner of singing, 
 the ' cantilena Romana,' and of the ' scolae cantorum,' or 
 bodies of singers by whom the musical parts of the services 
 were sung, to Gregory the Great (595-610). But both 
 institutions appear to have been of gradual growth, and 
 in everything connected with the arrangement and per- 
 formance of the offices the great churches at Rome, with 
 the monasteries attached to them, and especially the 
 church of S. Peter, exercised a predominant influence. 
 Moreover, it was exactly at this period, when the Roman
 
 THE EIGHTH CENTURY 59 
 
 system was approaching its perfection, that the influence 
 of Rome, and above all of S. Peter's, was at its highest 
 in the West. It was an age of pilgrimage, and as 
 Jerusalem, under Mohammedan rule, was practically 
 inaccessible, the tombs of the Apostles at Rome were the 
 great object of this sort of devotion. The pilgrims who 
 thronged the basilica of S. Peter naturally carried home 
 with them the desire of introducing similar services at 
 their own homes. Nowhere was the influence of Rome 
 in this matter more felt than in England. No people 
 went on pilgrimage to the thresholds of the Apostles more 
 eagerly than the English. And among other things they 
 brought back the Roman chant. Benedict Biscop, in the 
 seventh century, made five journeys to Rome, and on 
 returning from one of them he brought back with him 
 no less a person than John, the arch-chanter of the 
 Church of S. Peter, and abbot of the monastery of 
 S. Martin, to teach in the newly founded monastery of 
 Wearmouth ' the yearly course of singing as it was per- 
 formed at S. Peter at Rome.' The numerous mentions 
 of church music in Bede show how attractive this cursus 
 cauendi was found. Nor can we be surprised at this. 
 The indefatigable labours of the Benedictines of Solesmes 
 have now taught us, after many centuries of decadence, 
 what the Plain Song at the height of its beauty and purity 
 was like, and there may now be heard again in English 
 churches the same exquisite strains that delighted the 
 ears of the Wearmouth monks when John the arch- 
 chanter taught them the course of singing of S. Peter 
 at Rome. 
 
 The Eoman Office of the Eighth Century. So it came 
 about that the office thus formed at Rome by the end 
 of the eighth century became with comparatively slight 
 variations the clerical office of the whole Western 
 Church. It was, moreover, now practically complete. 
 The changes made in later centuries were, as will be seen, 
 in the way of accretions, which on the whole greatly 
 diminished its beauty and usefulness. It will be well 
 therefore at this point, when we first have detailed infor- 
 mation, to describe at some length the contents and order 
 of the services. It will be seen later on that they
 
 60 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 constitute the sole source from which the first English 
 Matins and Evensong were derived. 
 
 Explanations. Before doing this, however, it may be useful 
 to explain a few technical terms. First, Antiphons must be 
 distinguished from antiphonal singing. This latter has been 
 already explained. It was simply the method, practised perhaps 
 in very early times, but at all events general from the fourth 
 century onwards, of singing the psalms in alternate choirs. It 
 was opposed to the ' responsary ' method, in which the psalm was 
 sung by a single voice, while the choir sang at intervals an 
 axpoffTtxiov or response. An antiphon is a sentence or sentences, 
 taken ordinarily from the psalm itself, and sung before and after 
 the psalm. Originally it was Bung more frequently, even between 
 each verse. It often had reference to the season of the church's 
 year, and gave the sense in which the psalm was to be understood. 
 Perhaps it was musical in its origin, and it was so at all events in 
 its use. The first notes of the antiphon indicate the musical mode 
 or key in which the psalm is to be sung, and at the end of the 
 psalm it forms the musical conclusion, more elaborate usually 
 than the tone of the psalm itself. It struck, in fact, the keynote 
 of the psalm, both devotionally and musically. As examples a 
 few of the antiphons to the three last psalms, which were said 
 every day of the year at Lauds, and gave its name to the service, 
 may be mentioned. On ordinary Sundays the antiphon was 
 simply two verses from the psalms themselves : ' Let everything 
 that hath breath praise the Lord : for he spake the word and 
 they were made ; he commanded and they were created.' On 
 Mondays : 'O praise the Lord of heaven.' On Tuesdays : ' Praise 
 him in the firmament of his power,' and so on. But on Christmas 
 Day the antiphon was : ' Unto us a child is born : this day : and his 
 name shall be called the Mighty God. Alleluia, Alleluia.' On 
 S. Stephen's Day : ' Behold, I see the heavens opened and the 
 Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.' On S. John's 
 Day : ' If I will that he tarry till I come : what is that to thce ? 
 follow thou me.' On Easter Day : ' And the angel answered and 
 said unto the woman, Fear not ye : for I know that ye seek Jesus. 
 Alleluia.' And so on. It will be easily seen how beautiful and 
 edifying a feature of the psalmody these varying antiphons formed. 
 The next term that requires explanation is the Respond or response 
 (responsorium). This is not the same as the responsory psalm 
 spoken of above, nor does it mean any answer made by the people. 
 It consists, in its simplest form, of the response proper, a versicle, 
 and a Gloria. The reader sings the response, and the choir repeat 
 it. The reader sings the versicle, and the choir repeat the second 
 half of the response. The reader sings the Gloria, and the choir 
 repeat the whole response. For instance, the Roman response at 
 Compline is as follows : 
 
 R. Into thy hands, O Lord : I commend my spirit. 
 Chorus. Into thy hands, O Lord : I commend my spirit.
 
 EXPLANATIONS 61 
 
 V. For thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of 
 
 truth. 
 
 Chorus. I commend my spirit. 
 Reader. Glory be to the Father, 'and to the Son, and to the 
 
 Holy Ghost. 
 Chorus. Into thy hands, O Lord : I commend my spirit. 
 
 Responses were often, however, especially at certain seasons, 
 longer and more elaborate than this. They were, as a rule, com- 
 posed with extraordinary skill, and formed one of the most 
 beautiful and devotional features of the service. If any one who 
 has access to a Sarum or Roman Breviary will examine the 
 Matins responses for Advent, he will soon convince himself of 
 this fact. There is now only one response left in the Book of 
 Common Prayer. It is, ' O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for 
 thy name's sake.' This was intended to be said first by the 
 reader, and then i>y the people. Then the reader says the 
 versicle, ' O God, we have heard,' and the people repeat the re- 
 sponse with a slight change. Then the Gloria, but with the usual 
 answer. This has sometimes been said to be an antiphon and 
 psalm, but it is really a response. In either case the way in which 
 the first ' O Lord, arise,' is now said by the people only, instead of 
 Amen, which a rubric in Matins orders to be said at the end of all 
 prayers, is absurdly wrong. The term Capitulum, or little chapter, 
 also requires a word of explanation. It was a very short lesson 
 from Scripture, and one was read eventually at each of the offices 
 except Matins, thus keeping up the principle of Scripture reading, 
 although the long lections were confined to Matins. The original 
 Capitulum of Prime was, however, quite a different thing. It 
 was a little office by itself, and of purely monastic use. It com- 
 prised the Creed, a mutual Confession, readings, prayers, a recita- 
 tion of the monastic rule, and a benediction by the abbot. It may 
 also be well to remark that several psalms were sometimes said 
 together under one Gloria and antiphon, and reckoned as one, 
 while the divisions of the cxix. psalm into sections of sixteen verses, 
 each counted as one psalm ; and that the Old Testament canticles, 
 namely the Benedicite, Isaiah xii., the song of Hezekiah, the song 
 of Hannah, the song of Moses in Exodus xv., the song of Habak- 
 kuk, and the song of Moses in Deut. xxxii., one of which was said 
 each day at Lauds, were also reckoned as psalms. Finally, it 
 may be mentioned here that the use of metrical hymns, which 
 were first introduced on any considerable scale by S. Ambrose, 
 formed part of the Benedictine offices from the first, and spread 
 widely in Gaul and Spain, but they were not introduced into the 
 Roman offices until the twelfth century. 
 
 Description of the Offices. The offices may now be 
 described. It will be remembered that they result from 
 the fusion of the Night Hours, Vespers, Matins, and
 
 62 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Lauds, the ancient Vigil, with the Day Hours, Terce, 
 Sext, and None, with the addition of the monastic offices 
 of Prime and Compline. Vespers therefore comes first. 
 It began, as did also Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, and 
 None, with the versicle, C O Lord, make speed to save 
 us,' etc., and the Gloria Patri. Then follow five psalms, 
 each with its antiphon, said in course like the Matins 
 psalms. That is, they were different on each day of the 
 week. The Vesper psalms were from Psalm ex. onwards, 
 omitting those which were appropriated to other hours. 
 After the psalms came the Capitulum, or short lesson, 
 and then, when it was introduced, the hymn, followed 
 by a versicle. Then the Magnificat, with its antiphon. 
 After the Magnificat all knelt and said, 'Lord have 
 mercy,' etc., and the Lord's Prayer. This was followed 
 by the Preces, or short intercessions, which follow the 
 Lord's Prayer in a shortened form in the present English 
 Prayer Book. They are of great antiquity, being found 
 in the Apostolic Constitutions and in another form at the 
 end of the Te Deum. They originally formed the con- 
 clusion of the service, but already by the eighth century 
 the custom had arisen of substituting for the Kyrie, the 
 Lord's Prayer, and Preces on Sundays and holy days 
 only the Collect for the day. This introduction of the 
 Collect, as a memorial of the Eucharist, was most edify- 
 ing, but it was a great pity that it was ever allowed to 
 displace the Lord's Prayer from the central point of the 
 service. Eventually the Collect was added to all the 
 week-day services, except Prime and Compline, after 
 the Preces, the Priest rising from his knees and saying 
 additional versicles and the Collect standing. Then the 
 services ended usually with ' The Lord be with you,' etc. 
 ' Bless we the Lord. R. Thanks be to God. ' ' May the 
 souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in 
 peace.' The English Prayer Book has improved upon 
 these arrangements by retaining both the Lord's Prayer 
 and the Collect upon all days of the year. 
 
 After Vespers came Compline. In its early form it was 
 a service of great simplicity. At Rome it began, as no 
 other office did, with a short lesson, no doubt the con- 
 clusion of the reading that had taken place during the
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE HOURS 63 
 
 evening meal. Then followed the four appropriate and 
 invariable psalms, which have never been changed the 
 iv., the xxxi., the xci., the cxxxiv. Then the Nunc 
 Dimittis and a prayer. This was all. Later on some 
 additions were made the Confession and Absolution, 
 the Lord's Prayer and Creed, and the Preces of Prime, 
 and also a Capitulum, Response, and Hymn. These 
 additional parts were not inserted in the same places in 
 the Roman and Sarum service books, and another differ- 
 ence is that the modern Roman Compline is the same for 
 every day in the year, while the Sarum has twenty-two 
 different forms for the various seasons. 
 
 Matins was the longest service, and consisted almost 
 entirely of psalms and lessons. It began with e O Lord, 
 open thou our lips,' etc., followed by 'O Lord, make 
 speed to save us,' etc., and a Gloria, as at the other 
 services. Then came the Venite. This was a psalmus 
 responsorius, that is, the psalm was recited by the reader, 
 and the choir sang an ' invitatory ' at the beginning and 
 end, and between each of the verses. After the Venite 
 a hymn was afterwards added. Then came twelve psalms, 
 with a Gloria, and eventually an antiphon also, after 
 each four. Then three Scripture lessons, each followed 
 by a ' response ' as described above. So far Matins was 
 the same for every day in the week. But on Sundays 
 there were added to this, which was called the first 
 Nocturn, two more Nocturns, each consisting of three 
 psalms, three lessons, and three responses. So that on 
 Sundays there were eighteen psalms, nine lessons, and 
 nine responses, on week-days twelve psalms, three lessons, 
 and three responses. The additional Sunday lessons 
 were not taken from Scripture, but from the writings of 
 the Fathers. The psalms were none of them fixed psalms, 
 but were said in course, from the i. to the cix., the 
 remainder being appropriated to Vespers. Those psalms 
 which were said as fixed psalms at the other hours were 
 omitted. According to the Benedictine rule, on Sundays, 
 instead of the ninth response the Te Deum was said, 
 except during penitential seasons. It formed a very 
 appropriate transition from Matins to Lauds, but it was 
 not introduced at Rome until after the eighth century.
 
 04 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 At daybreak Lauds began. It closely resembled 
 Vespers in structure. Only the Benedictus took the 
 place of the Magnificat, and the psalms were fixed 
 psalms. As at Vespers, they were five in number. The 
 first on Sunday was Ps. xciii., 'The Lord is King,' 
 on week days Ps. li., 'Have mercy on me.' The second 
 was different on each day of the week. The third was 
 Ps. Ixiii. and Ps. Ixvii., 'O God, thou art my God,' 
 and ' God be merciful unto us,' said as one psalm. The 
 fourth was one of the seven Old Testament canticles 
 mentioned above, the fifth, from which the service 
 had its name, was the three last psalms. Except the 
 psalms and the Benedictus, Lauds exactly resembled 
 Vespers. 
 
 Prime, like Compline, was in the eighth century still 
 said in the dormitory. It was concluded by the Capitulum 
 described above. It was assimilated afterwards to some 
 extent to the other day hours, but always retained 
 special characteristics. The psalms of Prime in the 
 Sarum use were xxii. to xxvi., liv., cxviii., and two sec- 
 tions of cxix., these last two being always said. The 
 Quicunque Vult was introduced into the Roman from the 
 Gallican use as an additional psalm, and in the Sarum 
 use it was said every day. The Apostles' Creed, a Con- 
 fession and Absolution, special Preces, and a special 
 Collect, not that of the day, remained from the monastic 
 Capitulum. 
 
 The three day hours, Terce, Sext, and None, had exactly 
 the same structure. They began, like Lauds and 
 Vespers, with ' O Lord, make speed to save us,' etc. 
 Then, when it was added, came the hymn. Then three 
 psalms, or rather three sections, each of sixteen verses, 
 of Ps. cxix. In the eighth century there were no anti- 
 phona ; afterwards there was one antiphon, which seldom 
 varied, for the three psalms. Then a Capitulum, a 
 response, the Kyrie, and the Lord's Prayer. The Collect 
 for the day was never used in the eighth century, but 
 afterwards the end of these offices was assimilated to 
 that of Vespers and Lauds. 
 
 Such were the ordinary Sunday and week-day offices 
 throughout the year. They provided for the complete
 
 THE EIGHTH CENTURY 65 
 
 recitation of the whole Psalter every week, while the 
 cxix. Psalm, the Compline psalms, and most of the 
 Lauds psalms were said every day. In the course of 
 the year a considerable part of the Bible was used at 
 Matins, and it was supplemented on Sundays by homilies 
 from the writings of the Fathers. This regular course 
 of psalmody and reading was but little interfered with 
 by the seasons of the Church's year, which were distin- 
 guished mainly by appropriate antiphons and responses. 
 The responses for the Advent season were pre-eminent 
 for their beauty, and those of Lent were not much 
 inferior. The antiphons to the Magnificat on the seven 
 days before Christmas Eve, called the great antiphons, 
 or the seven O's (0 Sapientia is still marked in the English 
 Kalendar), may serve as an example of the way in which 
 the ordinary Offices took the tone of the season. The 
 services for the last three days of Holy Week were 
 exceptional, and on the eves of Easter and Pentecost 
 vigil services of the ancient type were retained, consist- 
 ing of a long series of lections from Scripture, with 
 appropriate responses. The ordinary Matins were not 
 however omitted on these days, but were much shortened, 
 there being only three psalms, three lessons, and 
 three responses. On the other great Feasts, Christmas, 
 Epiphany, Ascension, the ordinary first Nocturn was 
 shortened by reducing the number of psalms to three, 
 so that there were altogether nine psalms, nine lessons, 
 and nine responses. 
 
 History of Saints' Days. But now a new element has 
 to be considered. Nothing has as yet been said about 
 the observance of Saints' Days. The system described 
 above makes no provision for any special observance of 
 such days, and when the commemoration of Saints was 
 introduced into the daily Offices, it formed an adventitious 
 element which interfered, ultimately to a most serious 
 extent, with the regular course of psalmody and reading 
 In order to make it clear how this came about, it will be 
 necessary to trace shortly the history of the manner in 
 which Saints were commemorated from the earliest 
 times. It is not necessary to enlarge upon the reverence 
 which was paid in the days of persecution to those who 
 
 K
 
 66 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 laid down their lives for the faith. Their birthdays, 
 natalicia, were celebrated, as has been mentioned above, 
 by a vigil and the holy sacrifice. Already in the year 
 155 the people of Smyrna, describing the martyrdom of 
 S. Polycarp, state that they had gathered his bones, and 
 laid them in a place e where the Lord will permit us to 
 gather ourselves together . . . and to celebrate the 
 birthday of his martyrdom.' There is abundance of 
 evidence of the prevalence of this custom. But it did 
 not for a long time affect the ordinary services of the 
 Church. The birthday of a martyr was not, like a modern 
 Saint's Day, celebrated everywhere, but only at the 
 actual place where his bones were laid. It was a purely 
 local observance. Consequently the monastic communi- 
 ties, until the time of S. Benedict, do not appear to have 
 kept Saints' Days at all, and in their system of daily 
 services no place was reserved for them. At Rome, 
 where the martyrs were buried in the cemeteries outside 
 the walls of the city, churches were built over the actual 
 tombs for the commemorative services. The ordinary 
 churches within the walls were not named after Saints, 
 but bore the names of their founders, and the Saints were 
 not commemorated in them. This state of things was 
 put an end to by external circumstances. During the 
 centuries of confusion which followed the capture of 
 Rome by Alaidc in 410, the churches and tombs of the 
 martyrs were often destroyed and often rendered inacces- 
 sible. It was a natural thing to transfer the observance 
 of the e birthday ' of a martyr to a church within the 
 walls, and equally natural that this church should in 
 the course of time take his name and receive his relics. 
 The commemorations remained, however, purely local, 
 that is, attached to particular churches, until the end of 
 the eighth century, when, just at the moment when the 
 services of S. Peter's were becoming the model for 
 Western Europe, the observance of all Saints' Days by 
 additional services became the practice of that church. 
 These additional services soon became fused with the 
 ordinary services of the day. The feasts were divided 
 into greater and lesser feasts. The lesser feasts, like 
 modern f simples,' were principally distinguished by
 
 SAINTS' DAYS 67 
 
 proper autiphous and verses, and did not interfere with 
 the regular course of psalmody. But on the greater feasts 
 the psalms of Sunday were always used at Lauds and 
 Vespers, and the psalms for the day omitted. At Matins 
 the fusion was not made so soon. At first the Matins of 
 the Saint was additional, then alternative, and finally it 
 displaced the Matins of the day. In the case of a few 
 chief feasts a double Matins lasts until the twelfth 
 century, but disappears in the thirteenth, leaving only 
 the name of ' Double ' as a title of the principal feasts. 
 The effect of these interruptions of the ordinary services 
 will be commented on later, but when the system began, 
 in the ninth century, the number of Saints' Days was 
 not very large. There were about ninety in the Roman 
 Calendar, and as some of these were ' minor ' feasts, the 
 interruption of the regular course was not very great. 
 Most of the Saints commemorated were actually buried 
 in the cemeteries around Rome, and the rest had in 
 almost all cases some special local connection. The 
 Offices of the Saints were after the model of Christmas. 
 At Matins there were nine psalms, lessons, and responses, 
 and special antiphons with the Sunday psalms at the 
 other Offices. In the case of a few of the principal days, 
 the lessons and other special parts were taken from 
 Scripture, but in other cases from the Acts of the Saint, 
 and in this way apocryphal legends found their way 
 into the Office and in later days brought it into much 
 discredit. In the eighth century they formed a very 
 small part of the whole. 
 
 The Divine Office changed. We have studied the 
 ' Divine Office ' as it was in its golden age. It appears 
 to have remained substantially the same at Rome from 
 the eighth to the twelfth centuries. It is true that a 
 great change has been traditionally ascribed to Pope 
 Gregory vn. (1073-1087), but this view is not supported 
 by evidence. The extant decrees seem to shew that he 
 merely confirmed the existing Office. Elsewhere, how- 
 ever, changes and additions were creeping in, to a great 
 extent from Gallican sources. The change becomes 
 visible in the twelfth century, when authorised 'Brevi- 
 aries ' first made their appearance. The great number of
 
 68 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 books required for the complete recitation of the daily 
 Office must have caused great inconvenience, and it ia 
 perhaps somewhat surprising that attempts were not made 
 at an earlier date to compress them into a single work. It 
 was not until the end of the eleventh century that the 
 first real Breviary is found to exist. During the twelfth 
 century Breviaries came into common use, but they 
 appear to have been intended for the private use of 
 priests or monks when travelling, and not for use in 
 choir. Hence their contents were abridged as far as 
 possible, but on the other hand they contained many 
 devotions hitherto unknown in public worship. The 
 friars in the thirteenth century, who were from the 
 nature of their lives unable to own or to carry about 
 many books, made special use of these compressed forms, 
 and the Franciscan Breviary was sanctioned by the 
 pope in 1241. Before very long its use became practi- 
 cally universal, and it displaced the older Office books 
 even from the choirs of churches. This was a most 
 momentous change. The new Office differed greatly 
 from the old, especially in the following points : 
 
 i. There was much abbreviation, especially in the 
 lessons. The amount of Scripture read was thus greatly 
 reduced. 
 
 ii. The Calendar was enlarged by the addition of a 
 great number of Saints' Days and other holy days. This, 
 as has been explained above, caused a continual interrup- 
 tion of the regular course of reading and psalmody. 
 Moreover, the new Saints' Day lessons were taken from 
 the Acts of the Saints, and they were often of an 
 apocryphal and unedifying character. 
 
 iii. Many additional devotions were introduced. The 
 Pater and Ave were said privately at the beginning of all 
 the Offices, and after Lauds and Vespers there were a 
 number of 'memorials.' The Penitential and Gradual 
 psalms were said in rotation at all the hours. An Office 
 of the Virgin was added, at first as a voluntary addition, 
 to the regular Office, and an Office of the Dead, originally 
 used at funerals and on special occasions, came to be said 
 daily. Metrical hymns, also, which were first introduced 
 by S. Ambrose, and which were always used by the
 
 MEDIEVAL CHANGES 69 
 
 Benedictines, now formed part of the Roman Office, to 
 which they had been hitherto unknown, and so became 
 universal in the West 
 
 Evil Effects of the Changes. The general effect of these 
 changes was to make the recital of the daily Office far 
 more burdensome and difficult. If all the additions 
 were used, the length of the services was so great as to 
 occupy an inordinate amount of time. The great multi- 
 plication of Saints' Days had three results. It inter- 
 rupted the regular course of reading and psalmody to 
 such an extent that ' commonly, when any Book of the 
 Bible was begun, after three or four chapters were 
 read out, all the rest were unread,' and a few psalms 
 'have been daily said (and oft repeated), and the rest 
 utterly omitted.' Secondly, it introduced from the 
 lives of the Saints 'many things, whereof some be 
 untrue, some uncertain, some vain and superstitious.' 
 Thirdly, it made the Office so complicated, that ' to turn 
 the book only was so hard and intricate a matter, that 
 many times there was more business to find out what 
 should be read, than to read it when it was found out' 
 It is not surprising that the Councils of the fifteenth 
 century protest against the hurry, the irreverence, the 
 negligence with which the Divine Office was treated. 
 
 Recapitulation. The changes which have been spoken 
 of were of such importance, and the interval which 
 separates the mediaeval Offices from those of the eighth 
 century is so great, that it will be well, even at the cost 
 of some repetition, to recapitulate the main stages of the 
 history that has been sketched. It has been seen that 
 the essential principle of the daily Offices was the con- 
 tinuous and frequent recitation of the Psalter and the 
 regular and continuous reading of Scripture. The 
 number and arrangement of the daily Offices was fixed 
 gradually in the course of centuries by the combination 
 of different systems of public and private worship, but 
 for a long time everything was made strictly subservient 
 to the principle just mentioned. All other elements 
 formed but the framework in which the Psalter and the 
 Scripture lessons were set. When the system was com- 
 pleted, the general result was that all the psalms were
 
 70 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 recited at least once every week, while some were 
 recited every day, and in the course of the year a very 
 large part of the' Scriptures was read through. The 
 antiphons, responds, and hymns formed a setting of the 
 greatest beauty, which served especially to adapt the 
 substance of the services to the seasons of the Church's 
 year, and the inculcation of the great doctrines of the 
 Christian religion. This system was broken up between 
 the eighth and twelfth centuries by two things, first, 
 the progressive multiplication of Saints' Days, which 
 continually interrupted the regular 'course/ and 
 secondly, by large additions, some good in themselves, 
 some less edifying, but all foreign to the main principle. 
 Thus in the Middle Ages the Offices in use laboured 
 under four great defects : first, they no longer provided 
 for the continuous recitation of the Psalter or reading 
 of Scripture ; secondly, they were far too long ; thirdly, 
 they were inordinately complex and difficult; and 
 fourthly, they contained many doubtful and apocry- 
 phal legends. Some trenchant reform was imperatively 
 required. 
 
 Attempts at Reform. The first attempt at reform came 
 with the opening years of the sixteenth century. At 
 that time the court of Rome was devoted before every- 
 thing else to the study of classical Latinity. The culti- 
 vated prelates who were the children of the Renaissance, 
 disliked, no doubt, both the length and the complexity 
 of the Breviary which they were supposed to recite, but 
 they were probably still more disturbed by the reflection 
 that it was bad for their Latin prose. It was determined 
 to produce a Breviary e far shorter and easier and purged 
 from every error.' The work was begun, but it was 
 stopped by the capture of Rome by Charles v. in 1527. 
 Perhaps it was quite as well. The only part accom- 
 plished was a Hymnary, severely classical in metre and 
 diction, and not without merit, but assigning too con- 
 spicuous a part to Olympus, Styx, Phoebus, and the like. 
 It is difficult to conjecture how the psalms might have 
 been dealt with on similar principles. The next attempt 
 at reform, however, took quite a different and a more 
 auspicious direction. It ultimately resulted in the
 
 REFORM OF BREVIARY 71 
 
 formation of the Offices of Matins and Evensong now 
 contained in the Book of Common Prayer. 
 
 Breviary of Quignonez. In 1529 Pope Clement vii. 
 intrusted the work of preparing a new Breviary to 
 Francis Quignonez, a Franciscan monk, created a 
 cardinal in the same year a Spaniard of austere culture, 
 and sympathetic with reform. In the year 1535, when 
 Paul in. had ascended the papal throne, he had with 
 the assistance of some other learned Spaniards, accom- 
 plished his task. His treatment of the Breviary was 
 certainly drastic. He expounds the principles on which 
 he worked in his preface, much of which still remains 
 incorporated in the preface to the Book of Common 
 Prayer. They were, first, to restore the weekly recita- 
 tion of the psalms, and the continuous reading of 
 Scripture ; secondly, to simplify the rubrics ; thirdly, 
 to eliminate what was legendary or unedifying. He 
 therefore swept away entirely all versicles, capitula, and 
 responds, a large number of hymns, and by far the 
 greater part of all the readings that were not taken 
 directly from the Bible. At first he intended to abolish 
 antiphons also, but some of these were restored. The 
 ancient hours were left unchanged, but the distribution 
 of the psalms was entirely altered. Instead of a large 
 number of psalms in course at Matins, and fixed psalms 
 recited every day at most of the other hours, three 
 psalms were allotted to each of the hours, so arranged as 
 to be as nearly as possible of the same aggregate length, 
 the necessary number being made up by dividing the longer 
 psalms. Every psalm was thus always said once and 
 only once in every week. There were three lessons read 
 every day ; one always from the Old Testament, and one 
 always from the New ; the third lesson on a Saints' Day 
 was still the 'legend' of the Saint, and on other days 
 which had a special Gospel, it was a homily on the 
 Gospel ; otherwise it was a chapter from the Acts or 
 Epistles. The Saints' Days, or those that were left, 
 for they were greatly diminished in number, were all 
 reduced to the same rank, and did not interfere with the 
 daily ' course,' being only marked by a special invitatory, 
 hymn, third lesson, and collect
 
 72 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Later History of the Roman Breviary. The principles of 
 the Breviary of Quignonez were adopted and carried even 
 further in detail by the English reformers, hut the maia 
 part of the work was already done. Before, however, 
 tracing the steps which came between this book and tne 
 English Matins and Evensong, a few words may be said 
 on the later history of the Roman Breviary. It does 
 not properly concern our subject, for the changes made 
 since the first half of the sixteenth century have had no 
 influence on the Book of Common Prayer, but it illus- 
 trates at all events a widespread recognition in the 
 Roman Church of the fact that the mediaeval Breviary 
 required modification. The book of Quignonez passed 
 through many editions, and was widely used, especially 
 in Spain. The sweeping character, however, of the 
 changes made by it provoked a reaction, and in 1558 
 its use was prohibited by Paul rv. This pope was 
 anxious, nevertheless, to effect a reform of the Breviary 
 on strictly conservative lines, and he impressed his views 
 on the Council of Trent, which intrusted the work to 
 his successor Pius iv. The revised book appeared under 
 Pius v. in 1568. The changes were of a very moderate 
 character. A third part of the lessons was always to 
 be taken from Scripture. Sundays were given greater 
 precedence over Saints' Days. The Penitential and 
 Gradual psalms were only to be said once a week in 
 Lent, instead of every day. The Office of the Virgin 
 was to be said only once a week, and the Office of the 
 Dead once a month. The 'legends' were somewhat 
 sparingly weeded, and the number of Saints' Days was 
 diminished. The Vulgate version was used in this 
 edition, but not for the first time. The addition of 
 the General Rubrics made the book more easy to use. 
 This Breviary of Pius v. is substantially that which is 
 still in use in the Roman Church, the alterations made 
 under Clement vm. in 1602 and Urban vin. in 1632 
 being of no very great importance. The desire for a 
 more sweeping reform had not, however, died out, 
 especially in France. A Breviary was published in 1680, 
 in which all the antiphons and responds were taken from 
 Scripture, and a great number of legends suppressed ;
 
 REFORM OF BREVIARY 73 
 
 and in 1736 Charles de Vintimille, the archbishop of 
 Paris, brought out a Breviary which reproduced the 
 most important features of that of Quignonez. This 
 book was condemned by Pope Benedict xiv., but it long 
 continued in use. It stimulated, apparently, Benedict 
 xiv. to attempt a reform on his own account, and a 
 committee sat for six years and prepared a scheme which 
 was however not sanctioned. The authorised Breviary 
 has remained as Urban vin. left it. 
 
 Cranmer's Schemes. We must now resume the history 
 of Quignonez' Breviary. This, as has been said, was 
 published in 1535. Eight years afterwards Cranmer 
 announced in Convocation that the king would have 
 a new service book, and either a committee was appointed 
 to prepare one, or Cranmer went to work on his own 
 account. Two schemes of daily service have lately been 
 discovered, which shew how he set about this portion 
 of his task. He would naturally have recourse to 
 Quignonez' book, which was inspired by exactly the 
 same principles as his own, and was authorised for use 
 in the Roman Church. The first scheme evidently dates 
 from Henry vni.'s reign, and it is, as might be expected, 
 a very close copy of Quignonez. No fresh alteration of 
 any importance is suggested. The ancient hours and 
 the Latin language are retained. The scheme of the 
 psalms is not given, but there are indications that three 
 were to be said at each hour. Special psalms are pro- 
 vided for the last three days of Holy Week. One 
 antiphon is allowed for each hour, and the Gloria Patri 
 is said after every psalm. Three lessons are assigned 
 to Matins, and in addition there is one from the Sapien- 
 tial books at Lauds before the Benedictus, and one at 
 Vespers after the Magnificat. On Saints' Days the legend 
 of the Saint was read after preces at Prime. So far 
 Cranmer had introduced no fresh idea. But in the 
 second scheme, drawn up probably very early in Edward 
 vi. 's reign, three most important novelties make their 
 appearance. The first is the reduction of the hours of 
 prayer to two, Matins and Evensong. The reasons given 
 for this change are that the complete scheme of hours 
 caused too much repetition, and that it had long become
 
 74 BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 
 
 customary to come together for prayer only twice a day. 
 The second change follows upon the first. With only 
 two services a day it would not be possible to recite the 
 Psalter in a week without making the services very long. 
 They are therefore to be said once a month. Exactly 
 three psalms are still assigned to each Office, the number 
 being made up by subdividing the cxix. and eight others. 
 The third change is the partial introduction of the 
 English language, the Lord's Prayer and the lessons 
 being in English, and the rest in Latin. At Matins 
 there were three lessons, and on Sundays and Saints' 
 Days a fourth, being a homily or legend. At Vespers 
 there were two. The Old Testament was to be read 
 through once a year, and the New Testament three 
 times, and in the arrangement of the lessons the calendar 
 year takes the place of the ecclesiastical. The reading 
 was quite continuous, the Sunday lessons not being 
 introduced until 1559. Besides these two schemes^ two 
 calendars and three tables of lessons have been found. 
 The special interest of these documents consists in the 
 fact that they shew how gradually and continuously the 
 Offices of Matins and Evensong were derived from the 
 ancient Offices, and that they also shew that the work 
 was practically completed in Henry vm.'s reign, before 
 the time when it is commonly supposed to have been 
 begun. 
 
 Daily Offices for the Laity. The most important steps 
 towards the restoration and simplification of the Offices 
 were taken by Quignonez, who, more than any other 
 single man, must be regarded as the father of our daily 
 Offices. But one very important idea seems to have 
 originated in the English Church, though we cannot 
 be sure to whose mind it first occurred. This was the 
 idea of making the daily Offices really available for the 
 mass of Christian people, and not for the clergy and 
 religious and a few pious laymen only. The attempt to 
 do this was a new thing in the history of the Church. 
 It will have been seen from the foregoing sketch that 
 probably at no time or place, except possibly in very 
 early days, had these offices been habitually attended by 
 large numbers of the laity. When the system reached
 
 BLIGATION OF DAILY OFFICE 75 
 
 Its complete form it was obviously impossible for men 
 engaged in the ordinary business of life to recite the 
 Offices habitually. In the Middle Ages many of the 
 clergy found or thought they found it impossible to do 
 so without hurry and irreverence. Quignonez, in his 
 reforms, had, it is stated, 'homines occupati' in view, 
 as well as the clergy and monks ; but although a pious 
 layman might have found Quignonez' offices possible as 
 private devotions, it was clearly impossible for him to 
 attend church seven times a day. But Cranmer and 
 those who acted with him did think that the laity as 
 well as the clergy might well recite two short offices 
 in church every day. The subsequent history of the 
 English Church affords a melancholy commentary on the 
 manner in which a religious community may neglect 
 and despise its own ideal, but it cannot be denied that 
 the thought was good and noble. 
 
 Obligation of the Daily Office. The idea of universal 
 daily Offices is dwelt upon in the Prayer Book in the 
 strongest manner. The words 'daily throughout the 
 year ' are conspicuous in every title of the Offices. In 
 the present book this is emphasised again and again. 
 The book of 1549 makes daily recitation obligatory in 
 all places of public worship, but does not impose any 
 rule for private recitation. It was clearly intended that 
 all to whom it was possible should attend church, and 
 it was probably thought that many of the clergy would 
 continue to recite in private the ancient forms. But 
 in the revision of 1552 the Offices are ordered to be said 
 in private by those of the clergy who cannot go to 
 church. It is true that a loophole of escape was allowed 
 to those clergy who were not parish priests by admitting 
 such excuses as preaching and study of divinity, but 
 this was taken away in the last revision, and now no 
 exception is permitted except in the case of 'sickness 
 or some other urgent cause.' But perhaps it is the 
 preface which speaks most strongly. Here the great 
 reason assigned for changing the ancient services is the 
 restoration of the continuous recitation of the psalms 
 and reading of the Scriptures, which had been liable to 
 great interruptions in the Middle Ages. To omit the
 
 76 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 week day services is therefore not only to interrupt, but 
 to destroy, that which it was the main purpose of the 
 Book of Common Prayer to restore. Finally it is 
 ordered in the most definite terms that 'the Psalter 
 shall be read through, once every month/ and that the 
 Old and New Testaments ' shall be read ' a certain 
 number of times in the course of every year. Those 
 who are bound to be loyal to the Book of Common 
 Prayer can hardly commit an act of greater unfaithful- 
 ness both to its letter and to its spirit than by the 
 omission of the daily Office. 
 
 Daily Offices of 1549. The Matins and Evensong of the 
 book of 1549 differ from the second of the two draft 
 schemes described above, and shew the influence of a 
 German form of Matins and Vespers. There was no 
 Ornaments' rubric. The first direction was, ' The priest 
 being in the quire shall begin with a loud voice the 
 Lord's Prayer, called the Paternoster.' Hitherto this 
 had been merely a private devotion before all the offices. 
 Then followed e O Lord, open thou,' etc., the beginning 
 of the old Matins, and ' O God, make speed,' etc., which 
 began the other Offices, then the Gloria Patri, and ' Praise 
 ye the Lord,' and from Easter to Trinity, 'Hallelujah.' 
 Then the Venite, without Invitatory, and the psalms and 
 lessons, almost exactly as at present. A rubric which 
 was omitted in 1661 directed that, 'to the end the people 
 may the better hear, in such places where they do sing, 
 there shall the lessons be sung to a plain tune after the 
 manner of distinct reading : and likewise the Epistle 
 and Gospel.' This is an excellent description of the 
 proper method of executing the old Plain Song intona- 
 tions. After the first lesson came the Te Deum, except 
 in Lent, when Benedicite was to be used. After the 
 second lesson Benedictus. Then followed 'Lord have 
 mercy,' etc., the Creed, as at Prime, and the Lord's 
 Prayer. This was said by the Minister in a loud voice, 
 the people responding with the last clause, ' But deliver 
 us from evil, Amen.' The priest then said the preces, 
 still kneeling, and then standing up he said, 'Let us 
 pray,' and the three collects, that for the day, the collect 
 for peace, which had been used at the end of Lauds, and
 
 THE ENGLISH OFFICE 77 
 
 the collect for grace, which had been used at Prime. 
 Nothing else followed, but the prayer of S. Chrysostom 
 without that title ended the Litany in 1549, and the 
 special prayers for rain and fair weather came at the end 
 of the Communion Service. The Athanasian Creed was 
 to be used on the six great feasts. Evensong exactly 
 resembled Matins, except that the first two opening 
 sentences, <Q Lord, open thou . . . And our mouth 
 . . .' were omitted, the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis 
 took the place of the morning canticles, and the two 
 final collects were different. 
 
 The changes which have been since made in these services 
 have been almost entirely by way of addition. Nothing 
 has been omitted, except unfortunately in 1552 the Easter 
 'Hallelujah,' and hardly anything has been altered. The 
 additions in 1552 were an Ornaments rubric, and the opening 
 sentences, exhortation, confession, and absolution. There had 
 been a confession and absolution at Prime and Compline, but 
 they were much shorter and simpler than these forms, which 
 seem from their style to have been composed by Cranmer. A 
 mistaken desire for uniformity caused 'O Lord, open thou our 
 lips,' etc., to be added to Evensong. The alternate psalms to 
 Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc Dimittis were added. Some 
 of the reformers appear to have had a great dislike to the Gospel 
 canticles, presumably because they had been used in the old 
 offices, for they could not be attacked as 'human inventions.' 
 The services still ended with the third collect, but the prayers 
 for rain and fair weather were now placed after the Litany, and 
 the prayers in time of dearth, war, and plague were added to 
 them. The titles of the Offices were changed from Matins and 
 Evensong to Morning and Evening Prayer, the Benedicite was 
 made simply alternative to the Te Deum, and a curious change 
 was made in the arrangement of the prayers. After the Bene- 
 dictus and Nunc Dimittis the Creed was said standing, then 
 followed 'The Lord be with you,' etc., and l Let us pray' then 
 the ' Lord have mercy,' etc., and the Lord's Prayer. Then the 
 minister stood for the preces and the collects. The revisers 
 evidently did not understand the history of the custom of saying 
 ' Let us pray' before the collects. Unfortunately at the last 
 revision the words ' all kneeling ' were added, as in other places, 
 at the end of the rubric about the collects ; and as this has some- 
 times been taken to include the priest, it has led to the absurd 
 practice of the priest standing up for the preces and kneeling for 
 the collect. Of course the priest stands for the collect, for it was 
 the ancient custom to rise for the collective prayer, which is a 
 little bit of the Eucharistic Service introduced as a memorial into
 
 78 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 the daily Offices. To stand only for the preces which preface it 
 is quite meaningless. 
 
 In 1559 Matins and Evensong were practically left untouched. 
 The Ornaments rubric, however, was altered, and instead of order- 
 ing a rochet for' bishops, and a surplice for priests and deacons, 
 ordered the minister to use 'such ornaments in the church, as 
 were in use by authority of Parliament, in the second year of the 
 reign of King Edward the Sixth, according to the Act of Parlia- 
 ment set in the beginning of this book.' To the prayers at the 
 end of the Litany were added the prayers for the Queen and for 
 the clergy, and 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,' etc., which 
 begins the Anaphora of Eastern liturgies. The occasional prayers 
 were placed after these, and the prayer ' O God whose nature and 
 property ' added. 
 
 In 1604 the words ' or Remission of Sins ' were added to the 
 rubric about the Absolution; the petition for the royal family 
 was inserted in the Litany, the prayer for the royal family inserted 
 at the end, the second prayer in time of dearth was omitted, and 
 the thanksgivings for rain, fair weather, peace, and deliverance 
 from the plague were added. 
 
 In 1661 many small changes were made in the rubrics, and 
 there was one important addition. The Ornaments rubric was 
 altered so as to include the ornaments of the church, as well 
 as those of the minister. It was also made somewhat more 
 emphatic by the words ' shall be retained and be in use ' ; and the 
 reference to the Act of Parliament set in the beginning of the 
 book was omitted. In its present form, therefore, the rubric 
 orders the retention and use of all ornaments of the church, and 
 of all vestments that existed in the Church of England, by 
 authority of Parliament, in the second year of Edward VT. So far 
 there is now no serious difference of opinion, but it is still a matter 
 of discussion whether the words ' the authority of Parliament ' 
 point specifically to the book of 1549, so as to enjoin only such 
 things as are mentioned or implied in that book, or whether they 
 include all things used between January 28, 1548 and January 28, 
 1549. In any case, it is hardly any longer seriously disputed that 
 the rubric enjoins the use of what are ordinarily called the 
 Eucharistic vestments. The next change of any consequence 
 was in the rubric before the Absolution, when 'Priest' was 
 substituted for 'Minister,' and the direction added that the priest 
 should stand and the people continue kneeling. In the next 
 rubric the words ' here, and at the end of all other prayers ' were 
 inserted. The rubric beginning ' Then the Minister shall kneel ' 
 is almost all of it an addition. It directs the people always to 
 Bay the Lord's Prayer with the minister, but it has never been 
 complied with in the case of the opening Lord's Prayer in the 
 Communion Service ; and from the way in which that is printed, 
 with Amen not in italics, it appears that the revisers did not intend 
 their direction to apply to this case. It has also been usual for
 
 CHANGES IN THE OFFICE 79 
 
 the preacher, when using the Bidding Prayer, to recite the Lord's 
 Prayer alone. At the end of the prayer the doxology ' For Thine 
 is the kingdom, 9 etc. , was now added. This was an ancient addition 
 or response to the Lord's Prayer used in the Eastern liturgies, 
 but not in those of the "West. From the liturgies it found its 
 way into some manuscripts of S. Matthew's GqspeL The revisers 
 added it here, either because they thought that it really formed 
 part of the prayer, or because they knew of its use in the East. 
 They also added it after the communion of the people in the 
 liturgy and in the office for the Churching of Women, in both of 
 which places they may have thought it specially appropriate, and 
 in the Form of Prayer to be used at Sea. The prayer is printed in 
 fourteen other places in the Prayer Book without the doxology, 
 BO it is clear that the addition was only intended for occasional 
 and not for normal use. In the opening versicles Alleluia had 
 been omitted in 1552. It was now restored in the English form, 
 'The Lord's name be praised, 'as an invariable response to 'Praise 
 ye the Lord.' In the rubrics before the Venite and the canticles 
 directions were in some cases inserted that they were not to be 
 used when they occurred in other parts of the service. These, un- 
 fortunately, make it necessary on two days in the year to use the 
 Jubilate instead of the Benedictus, but the Magnificat and Nunc 
 Dimittis need never be omitted. The other changes in the rubrics 
 are of very minor importance ; one of them, the insertion of 'all 
 kneeling' in the rubric about the collects, has already been 
 noticed. The important addition that was made comes at the 
 end of the service. Both Matins and Evensong had hitherto 
 ended with the third collect. Now there was added in both 
 places first the rubric, ' In Quires and places where they sing, here 
 followeth the Anthem.' Hymns had been entirely omitted from 
 all the English books, but some sort of metrical psalmody had 
 before this date been very commonly introduced. In some cases 
 this had taken a more elaborate form, that of the modern Anthem. 
 The word is simply a form of antiphon, but the revisers probably 
 intended by it the same sort of musical performance that is still 
 in use under that name. This was now legalised, and a definite 
 place assigned to it. The permission has opened the door to 
 a reintroduction of the ancient hymns, though this may not have 
 been thought of at the time. Then there follows, in the Order for 
 Morning Prayer, the rubric, ' Then these five prayers following are 
 to be read here, except when the Litany is read ; and then onlj 
 the two last are to be read, as they are there placed.' Then the 
 five prayers are printed which, as has beer, seen, had gradually 
 accumulated at the end of the Litany. There they were in an 
 appropriate place, at the end of a service of intercession. But at 
 the end of Matins they introduce an entirely new element, which 
 up to that time had never formed part of the daily Office ; but, 
 if the introduction of this element were desirable, two prayers 
 for the royal family and one for the clergy can hardly be regarded
 
 80 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 as an ideal scheme of intercession, even if the prayer for all sorts 
 and conditions of men be added to them. The rubrio does not 
 state whether the prayers are intended to be used where there is 
 no ' Anthem ' ; if not, the service should end with the third collect 
 as before. There is no authority for adding, as is sometimes 
 done, the two last prayers without the rest. In the Order 
 for Evening Prayer the rubric about the anthem is re- 
 tained, and the five prayers are printed afterwards with no 
 direction for their use; so they must be regarded as optional 
 whether there be an anthem or not. In the occasional 
 prayers and thanksgivings there were several additions in 16 61. 
 The second prayer in time of dearth was replaced. The two 
 prayers for Ember week were added, the second having been 
 already inserted in the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637. The 
 prayers for Parliament and for All Sorts and Conditions of Men, 
 the General Thanksgiving, and the Thanksgiving for Restoring 
 Publick Peace at Home were also new. Of these prayers one 
 of those for the Ember weeks is distinctly ordered to be said 
 daily in those weeks. The prayer for Parliament is ' to be read 
 during their Session,' and the prayer for ' all sorts and conditions ' 
 is to be used at such times when the Litany is not appointed to be 
 said ; but the use of neither appears to be of obligation. The use 
 of the other prayers and of all the thanksgivings is left entirely to 
 the discretion of the minister or the ordinary.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE OCCASIONAL OFFICES 
 
 1. Baptism and Confirmation. 
 
 Baptism in the New Testament. The rite by which men 
 become members of the Christian Church is naturally 
 more frequently mentioned in the New Testament than 
 the other great Sacrament of the Gospel. Its institution 
 is recorded in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20, and Mark xvi. 15, 16. 
 It is carefully distinguished from the Baptism of John, 
 Matt. iii. 11 ; Acts xix. 1-7. At least twelve distinct 
 instances of its administration are recorded, and it is 
 frequently referred to in other passages. But the circum- 
 stances of the Apostolic age were such as to preclude 
 any elaborate ceremony or any long period of proba- 
 tion. Under the conditions of the time a desire for 
 baptism could hardly fail to imply genuine repentance 
 and faith, and detailed instruction, as in the case of 
 the three thousand baptized on the day of Pentecost, 
 and the Ethiopian eunuch, may often have been given 
 afterwards. Still, the essential features of Baptism are 
 very clearly brought out, and some other points indicated. 
 First, the 'matter,' the 'form,' and the results of 
 Baptism are even more distinctly specified than in the 
 case of any other Christian mystery. The matter is 
 always and only water. This is sufficiently implied by 
 the word ' Baptism,' and is more distinctly stated in such 
 passages as John iii. 5 ; Acts viii. 38 ; Eph. T. 26 , 
 Heb. x. 22. Complete immersion or dipping was no 
 doubt ordinarily practised, and has always been recog- 
 nised by the Church as the more excellent way, but we 
 
 F
 
 82 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 may doubt whether it was always carried out even in the 
 instances recorded in the New Testament, and affusion, 
 or the pouring of water, is recognised as sufficient in so 
 early a document as the Didache. This document and 
 Tertullian (c. 200) speak of the immersion or affusion as 
 triple, and this has always been the ordinary practice 
 of the Church}; but some bodies of Celtic Christians 
 practised single immersion, and this has been regarded 
 as valid. The ' form ' of words accompanying the immer- 
 sion is denned by our Lord himself, and there is no 
 evidence that any other form has ever been used, for 
 although the Acts speak of baptism into the name of 
 the Lord Jesus, and S. Paul of baptism into the death 
 of Christ, these are general expressions which do not 
 imply an alternative formula. The effect of Baptism is 
 said to be Regeneration or a new birth, Tit. iii. 5 ; 
 and remission of sins, Acts ii. 38 ; xxii. 16. 
 
 Besides these points, there are traces of interrogations, 
 and a profession of faith following on instruction pre- 
 ceding baptism. Such a 'traditio seems implied in S. 
 Paul's words in 1 Cor. xv. 3-5, and it can hardly be 
 doubted that some profession of faith was always made. 
 Perhaps there is an allusion to this in 1 Tim. vi. 12, and 
 such a profession is explicitly recorded in the case of the 
 Ethiopian eunuch, Acts viii. 27. This verse, indeed, is 
 absent from the best MSS., and has probably been inserted 
 from an early service book. But even in this case it 
 affords evidence of the ordinary practice. Two ceremonies 
 that were very early, if not universally, attached both to 
 Baptism and Confirmation the sign of the Cross and 
 unction or anointing, seem to be alluded to in several 
 passages, the 'sealing' in 2 Cor. i. 22; Eph. i. 13; iv. 
 20 ; and unction in 2 Cor. i. 21 ; 1 John ii. 20-27. But it 
 cannot be positively affirmed that these are not meta- 
 phorical, and if so they would explain the very early and 
 general use of these practices. There is no explicit 
 mention in the New Testament of infant Baptism, though 
 many arguments in its favour may be drawn from it j but 
 Origen speaks of it as a tradition from the Apostles, and 
 although adult Baptism long continued to be common, 
 even in the case of the children of Christians, there ia
 
 BAPTISM IN THE EARLY CHURCH 83 
 
 abundant evidence of the baptism of infants in very early 
 times. 
 
 Confirmation in the New Testament. The evidence of 
 the New Testament with regard to Confirmation is per- 
 fectly clear. It is mentioned as being administered to 
 the converts in Samaria (Acts viii. 12-17), and to certain 
 converts at Ephesus (Acts six. ), as the natural sequence 
 and completion of Baptism. The outward sign is the 
 laying on of hands after prayer, and the grace is the 
 gift of the Holy Ghost. It is administered only by 
 Apostles. In Heb. vi. 1, 2, it is spoken of im- 
 mediately after Baptism as one of the principles of the 
 doctrine of Christ. 
 
 Baptism in the Early Church. As Christianity spread, 
 it was natural that both the preliminaries and the cere- 
 monial of Baptism should become more elaborate. We 
 possess much information in the writings of Tertullian 
 and Cyprian with regard to the customs of the African 
 Church at the end of the second century and later ; the 
 Canons of Hippolytus describe the ceremonies of the 
 Roman Church at an early period ; the Catecheses of 
 Cyril describe the preparation and ceremonies at Jeru- 
 salem in the middle of the fourth century ; and the 
 Peregrinatio Silviae also describes the preparation of 
 catechumens at Jerusalem somewhat later. There is 
 a close agreement in the leading features of all these 
 accounts. The period of instruction was called the 
 Catechumenate. It often lasted for years ; the emperors 
 Constantino and Constantius were catechumens almost 
 all their lives. When the candidates were thought fit 
 and desired to proceed to Baptism, they became com- 
 petentes (candidates) and went through a further course 
 of special instruction. This lasted at Jerusalem in the 
 fourth century through the forty days of Lent Fasting 
 is mentioned from the earliest times as an immediate 
 preparation for Baptism. When the candidate appeared 
 before the bishop .he made a solemn renunciation of 
 the devil, and a profession of faith, in answer to in- 
 terrogations. These professions of faith became the 
 creeds of the churches in which they were used. After 
 the actual baptism there was unction and the sign of the
 
 84 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Cross, and imposition of hands. The rites of Baptism 
 and Confirmation were so closely conjoined that it is 
 sometimes difficult to determine to which rite the 
 unction so often spoken of belongs. Perhaps at first 
 there was only one unction, but the ceremony was 
 often repeated. In the Canons of Hippolytus the can- 
 didate is anointed with the 'oil of exorcism' before 
 baptism, and with the oil of thanksgiving after it, with 
 the sign of the Cross. Then he receives the imposition 
 of hands, with prayer and the kiss of peace. He is 
 communicated with the reserved elements, and finally 
 partakes of milk and honey. The laying on of hands 
 in this account and elsewhere is spoken of as separate 
 from the unction. But often the two actions were com- 
 bined into one, and in both the Eastern and Western 
 Churches the imposition of hands, as a separate ceremony 
 from the unction, eventually disappeared. The time for 
 baptism was from an early date pre-eminently the eve 
 of Easter, and next to that the eve of Pentecost, as 
 the last day of the Easter season. In the East the 
 Epiphany, the festival of our Lord's baptism, was also so 
 observed. The minister of Baptism was the bishop, who 
 might be assisted or represented by his presbyters, but 
 in case of necessity it was determined that baptism by 
 any Christian, even a heretic, was valid and could not 
 be repeated. 
 
 Roman Baptism in the Eighth Century. We have more 
 detailed information about the order of Baptism at Rome 
 about the eighth century. The chief authorities are one 
 of the Ordines Romani of the time of Charles the Great, 
 and the Gelasian Sacramentary, which gives the prayers. 
 The days of Baptism were still the eves of Easter and 
 Pentecost, and the preparation took place during Lent. 
 The whole of the formularies assume that the candidates 
 are adults, but they must have been used also, with some 
 necessary omissions and changes, for infants, and indeed 
 some of the extant rubrics refer to infants. The cere- 
 monies of admission to the catechtimenate were the 
 following : First, exsufflation, or breathing upon the 
 face of the candidate ; secondly, signing his forehead 
 with the sign of the Cross ; and thirdly, putting a grain
 
 BAPTISM IN EIGHTH CENTURY 85 
 
 of salt, which had been previously exorcised or blessed, 
 into his mouth. This last was a custom peculiar to the 
 Roman Church. These ceremonies were accompanied by 
 appropriate prayers. Those catechumens who were to 
 be baptized on Easter Eve were called electi or com- 
 petentes, and instructed during Lent, especially on seven 
 days, called the dies scrutinii. On the Monday in the 
 third week of Lent notice was given of the first of these 
 days. When they came to the church for the first 
 * scrutiny,' the ' elect ' gave in their names, which were 
 taken down, and they were arranged in two groups, the 
 men on the right and the women on the left. The Mass 
 was then begun, and after the collect the first exorcism 
 took place. Three exorcists, or later acolytes, when the 
 office of exorcist fell into disuse, each one after the 
 other made the sign of the Cross and laid his hand on 
 the candidates, first the men, then the women, repeating 
 a prayer and form of exorcism. Lastly the priest said 
 a prayer over them, also signing them and laying on his 
 hands, and they were dismissed before the Gospel. 
 Special mention was made of the elect and their sponsors 
 in the intercessions of the Mass. These exorcisms were 
 repeated on each of the days of scrutiny except the last. 
 The third scrutiny was one of great importance, and 
 of a most impressive character. The candidates were 
 then formally instructed in the Gospels, the Creed, 
 and the Lord's Prayer. This was called f the Opening 
 of Ears,' or the 'Tradition of the Christian Law.' In 
 other Churches only the Creed was delivered, and the 
 ceremony was called Traditio Symbol!. The candidates 
 were not dismissed after the Gradual, but four deacons 
 carried the four Gospels in a solemn procession from 
 the sacristy, and laid them on the four corners of the 
 altar. The priest addressed the candidates, and then 
 the deacons read the beginnings of the four Gospels, 
 and the priest gave an exposition after each. Then 
 followed the delivery of the Creed. Before and after 
 it the priest gave an address. The Creed was that 
 which we call the Nicene Creed, which had been in- 
 troduced at Rome instead of the Apostles' Creed in 
 Byzantine times, when the population was bilingual.
 
 86 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Consequently the candidates were divided into two 
 groups, and the acolyte recited the Creed first in Greek, 
 then in Latin, on behalf of each group. Then the priest 
 himself delivered the Lord's Prayer. After an address 
 he recited each clause and explained it, and a last 
 address ended the ceremony. The last scrutiny took 
 place on Easter eve. On this occasion the priest him- 
 self signed the candidates, laid his hand upon them, 
 and pronounced the last exorcism. This was followed 
 by the Effeta (Ephphatha), a ceremony taken from the 
 healing of the deaf-mute, the priest touching the lips 
 and ears of the candidates with saliva. Then they were 
 anointed with oil, which had been consecrated at the 
 Maundy-Thursday Mass, on the breast and back. Both 
 these ceremonies were symbolical of the conflict with 
 evil, the critical moment of which had now arrived. 
 The priest asks each by name, 'Dost thou renounce 
 Satan?' Resp. 'I renounce.' 'And all his works?' 
 Resp. 'I renounce.' 'And all his pomps?' Resp. '1 
 renounce.' Then the candidates recite the Creed. This 
 was the Redditio Symbol!. Then they are dismissed. 
 
 In the afternoon the Paschal Vigil began, and the 
 candidates were present. At this vigil a series of 
 appropriate passages from the Old Testament was read, 
 with prayers between them, and canticles. When it 
 was finished, litanies were sung while the pope went in 
 procession to the baptistery with the elect. He first 
 consecrated the water with a long eucharistic prayer, 
 during the progress of which he signed it with the Cross, 
 and breathed upon it. At the words ' May the virtue 
 of the Spirit descend upon this water,' two tapers were 
 plunged into the laver, and finally the pope poured into 
 it the consecrated oil or chrism in the form of the Cross. 
 Then the candidates, who had laid aside their garments, 
 were presented by the archdeacon, and the questions as 
 to their faith were put. ' Dost thou believe in God the 
 Father Almighty?' 'I believe.' 'Dost thou believe 
 also in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was 
 born and suffered ? ' 'I believe.' ' Dost thou believe 
 also in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Church, remission of 
 sins, the resurrection of the flesh ? ' 'I believe.' Then
 
 BAPTISM IN EIGHTH CENTURY 87 
 
 they enter the water and are baptized with a triple 
 immersion, the pope being assisted by his clergy. On 
 coming out of the water they are anointed on the head by 
 a priest with chrism, with the words, 'Almighty God, 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath re- 
 generated thee with water and the Holy Ghost, and who 
 hath given thee remission of all thy sins, himself anoints 
 thee with the chrism of salvation to eternal life,' and 
 they put on their albes or chrisoms, the white garments 
 worn during the octave. They are led to the pope to 
 be confirmed. He lays his hands upon them with the 
 prayer, * Almighty and overliving God,' which im- 
 mediately precedes the laying on of hands in the present 
 English Office, and then makes the sign of the Cross on 
 their foreheads with chrism, saying, ' The sign of Christ 
 unto eternal life. Amen.' ' Peace be with thee. Amen.' 
 He then returns to the church, where the choir have 
 been singing litanies, and begins the first Easter Mass 
 with Gloria in Excelsis. During the Canon he blesses 
 the draught of milk and honey which is given to the 
 neophytes after their first communion, which they now 
 receive. 
 
 Simplicity of the Baptismal Service. A point which is 
 worthy of special notice in the ceremonies that have 
 just been described is the extreme shortness and sim- 
 plicity of the actual Baptismal service. Apart from the 
 blessing of the font, which might be, and in later times 
 usually was, a completely separate service, the ceremony 
 is almost as simple as the baptism of the Ethiopian 
 eunuch as recorded in the Acts. There are no prayers 
 except the short prayer given above which was pro- 
 nounced by the priest when anointing the newly baptized, 
 and this anointing, which, as has been seen, may date 
 from Apostolic times, is the sole ceremony added to the 
 actual washing. The pope only asks the questions as to 
 belief in the Trinity, which in some form must have been 
 practically universal. The Confirmation service consists 
 of the single prayer ' Almighty and everliving God,' still 
 in the English service, and the only actions are the 
 laying on of hands and the unction, accompanied by the 
 shortest possible formula. If an actual anointing at
 
 88 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Baptism and Confirmation is really implied in the 
 passages from the New Testament quoted above, the 
 service only includes, and that in the simplest possible 
 form, what is absolutely necessary in order to conform 
 to the commands of our Lord and the practice of the 
 Apostles. All the elaboration, all the non-Scriptural 
 ceremonies, such as the salt, the sign of the Cross, the 
 instructions, the exorcisms, belong to the previous pre- 
 paration of the candidates. Here there is a remarkable 
 contrast between Baptism and the Eucharistic Liturgy, 
 which from very early times was of a comparatively 
 elaborate character. It is of course right and natural 
 that the necessary ceremony by which admission to 
 Christian privileges is given should be as simple as 
 possible. It is no less right that adult candidates for 
 baptism should be prepared as carefully as possible. 
 But when infant Baptism became almost universal, a 
 great change took place in the service. Much indeed 
 of the preparation dropped out of use, but many of the 
 ceremonies and prayers constructed for adult catechu- 
 mens continued in use, and practically became part of 
 the actual Baptismal service, which thus became far 
 longer and more elaborate. This is seen when we come 
 to consider the Sarum Baptismal services from which the 
 English service was constructed. 
 
 Sarum Baptismal Offices. Even in the eighth century 
 books some of the rubrics refer to infants, but in the 
 Sarum services there is now no longer any allusion to 
 adults. All the rubrics speak of infants. There are 
 four services, the Ordo ad faciendum Catecmimenum, the 
 Benedictio Fontis, the Ritus Baptizandi, and the Conflrmatio 
 Puerorum. The Blessing of the Font took place as often 
 as it was necessary to change the water, which was to 
 be done frequently. It was performed by the priest, 
 and consisted of a litany, and practically -the same 
 Eucharistic prayer and ceremonies as are in the Gelasian 
 Sacramentary. The Ordo ad faciendum Catechu- 
 menum and the Ritus Baptizandi were in practice one 
 continuous service, and took place as often as children 
 were brought to be baptized, which was to be as soon 
 as possible after their birth. Only when they were born
 
 SARUM BAPTISMAL SERVICES 89 
 
 within eight days of Easter or Pentecost were they to 
 wait until the ancient baptismal seasons. In case of 
 necessity any man or woman was to baptize, and the 
 priest was to instruct his people how to do it, by sprink- 
 ling or dipping three times, or at least once, and using 
 the formula, ' I cristene the N. in the name of the Fadir, 
 and of the Sone, and of the Holy Cost. Amen.' In such 
 cases, if the child lived, it was to be brought to the 
 church, and all the service performed except the actual 
 baptism. In cases of doubt the rubric ordered con- 
 ditional baptism, as the present English rubric does. 
 When a child was brought to church in the ordinary 
 way, the priest met it at the door, and asked various 
 questions its sex, whether it had been baptized, its 
 name. A male infant was placed on his right, a female 
 on his left, a relic of the old arrangement of the cate- 
 chumens. Then followed the old prayers and ceremonies 
 for making a catechumen, the sign of the Cross, and salt, 
 but not exsufflation. Then the old exorcisms described 
 above as pronounced on the seven days of scrutiny, but 
 now only said once. Then a short Gospel from S. 
 Matthew, about Christ blessing the children, was read, 
 then the ceremony of the Effeta, then the Pater Noster, 
 Ave, and Credo, said by the priest and repeated by all 
 present. Then the priest made the sign of the Cross on 
 the child's right hand, and brought it into the church. 
 This is the end of the 'Ordo ad faciendum Catechu- 
 menum.' It represents in a very compressed form the 
 admission of catechumens and their preparation through- 
 out Lent. The old prayers and ceremonies are retained, 
 but the instruction is very much curtailed. It is now 
 only represented by a very short reading from the 
 Gospel, and the recitation of the Pater, Ave, and 
 Credo. 
 
 The actual Baptismal service which follows is almost 
 the same as in the eighth century. The priest asks the 
 child's name (as he has already done more than once), 
 and puts the questions of renunciation. Then he anoints 
 the child on the breast and the back. Then he puts the 
 questions as to belief, given above, and the additional 
 questions, 'What dost thou seek?' 'Baptism.' 'Wilt
 
 90 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 thou be baptized ?' ' I will.' Then he baptizes the child 
 with triple immersion, and anoints it with chrism, saying 
 the prayer given above, and the white garment is put 
 on. The last ceremony is to put a lighted taper in the 
 child's hand. 
 
 Confirmation. A rubric directs that the child is 
 immediately to be confirmed if the bishop is present, 
 which of course was very seldom the case, and communi- 
 cated, e if his age demands it, the priest saying, ft The 
 Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body and 
 soul unto eternal life."' This formula, it may be noted, 
 is different from that in the Missal, and is that which 
 was adopted for the English service. As a matter of 
 fact, the interval between Baptism and Confirmation seems 
 to have tended to increase daring the Middle Ages. There 
 is evidence that in the early days of the English Church, 
 when the ancient seasons of Baptism were observed, the 
 bishops were accustomed to go about their dioceses after- 
 wards to confirm those who had just been baptized. 
 Later on there were various rules published, directing 
 parents, if the bishop were in the neighbourhood, to 
 bring their children for confirmation within a certain 
 period, varying from one to seven years in different 
 constitutions. Confirmation was not always adminis- 
 tered in church, and the Pontifical of Archbishop Chichele 
 in the fifteenth century contains the suggestive note : 
 ' The bishop is not bound to begin again or repeat the 
 whole service for every boy coming to him on the road or 
 elsewhere ; but to bless each boy thus : The Holy Ghost 
 come upon thee, and the virtue of the Highest guard 
 thee from sins. Asking the name of the boy, let him say : 
 N. I sign thee, etc. If there has been a great interval 
 among the boys coming to him, he is bound to begin 
 again the whole service. 
 
 The whole service indeed is sufficiently short. It 
 begins with 'Our help is in the name of the Lord,' etc. 
 Then follows the prayer, e Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,' 
 which is in the Gelasian Sacramentary, and the present 
 English Office. The direction however for an imposition 
 of hands as a separate ceremony when this prayer is said, 
 which was still retained in some of the eighth century
 
 CONFIRMATION IN MIDDLE AGES 91 
 
 books, is not in the Sarum Office. Then the bishop dips 
 his thumb in chrism and makes the sign of the Cross on 
 the forehead of the confirmand, with the words : * I sign 
 thee with the sign of the Cross, and confirm thee with 
 the chrism of salvation. In the name,' etc. Then ' Pax 
 tibi,' and a prayer : ' God, who didst give the Holy Spirit 
 to thy Apostles, and didst will that he should be handed 
 on by them to their successors and the rest of the faithful, 
 . . . grant that the same Holy Spirit may come and 
 make the hearts of those whose foreheads we have 
 anointed with holy chrism and signed with the sign of 
 the holy Cross, a worthy temple for his habitation.' 
 Then the Benediction. 
 
 Baptismal Office of 1549. The service of 1549 intro- 
 duced a considerable amount of fresh material, chiefly 
 in the form of exhortations, with several prayers. Other- 
 wise there was no great change, except that the exor- 
 cisms were shortened, and several minor ceremonies 
 omitted. The sign of the Cross was made only once, 
 instead of repeatedly, and the giving of salt, the Effeta, 
 the unction before Baptism, and the lighted taper were 
 left out. The service still begins with inquiries at the 
 church door. Then come the exhortation and the prayer 
 * Almighty and everlasting God,' which were taken from 
 Hermann's c Consultatio," and are still found at the begin- 
 ning of the service. Then the priest asks the name of the 
 child, and makes the sign of the Cross on its forehead 
 and breast, with nearly the same formula which is used 
 at present. The prayer ' Almighty and immortal God ' 
 follows. It comes before the final exorcism in the Sarum 
 rite. Then follows a free translation of the last exorcism, 
 which the priest pronounced in the eighth century on 
 Easter eve. Then follows the Gospel about the children, 
 but from S. Mark instead of S. Matthew, and with the 
 addition of the exhortation, which is indeed only a 
 return to the earlier usage. Then the priest, with the 
 sponsors and congregation, recites the Lord's Prayer and 
 Creed. These are followed by the prayer ' Almighty and 
 everlasting God,' which is also taken from Hermann. 
 And then, with a short formula, the priest leads the 
 children into the church. This is the end of the part of
 
 92 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 the service by which the child is made a catechumen, 
 and prepared for baptism. It is merely a simplification 
 of the Sarum form, with the addition of exhortations and 
 prayers. 
 
 The actual Baptismal service now begins with a fresh 
 exhortation. Otherwise it is practically the same as the 
 Sarum form, with the omission of the first anointing and 
 the taper. There is the triple renunciation, somewhat 
 expanded ; then the triple profession of faith, expanded 
 so as to include the whole of the Apostles' Creed ; then 
 the Baptism with triple immersion ; then the putting on of 
 the clirisom, and unction on the head. Then the final 
 exhortation, as at present. The Benediction of the Font 
 was still a separate service, and consisted of a very much 
 shortened form of the old prayer, with the sign of the 
 Cross on the water as the only ceremony. A series of 
 petitions from the Mozarabic Rite, and the prayer 
 'Almighty, everliving God,' which now come immediately 
 before the baptism, followed the Benediction. This 
 service was to be used as often as the water was changed, 
 which was to be at least once a month. The service for 
 Confirmation was now definitely separated from that of 
 Baptism, and had better be considered separately. 
 
 Changes in Baptismal Offi.ce of 1552. In 1552 the Bap- 
 tismal service was greatly altered, by both omissions and 
 additions, and reduced very nearly to its present form. 
 The idea of the catechumenate was now altogether 
 dropped, except in so far as the Gospel represents the old 
 Traditio Legis. Consequently the service begins at the 
 font, not at the church door ; the sign of the Cross at 
 the beginning of the service disappears, and the name of 
 the child is not asked until just before his baptism ; the 
 exorcism, the repetition of the Pater and Credo, and the 
 leading to the font are all omitted. What is left is 
 simply a sort of introduction to the Baptismal service 
 itself. It may perhaps be urged as some justification 
 for this change that the catechumenate in the case of 
 infants has no very great meaning, and that its spirit is 
 better preserved in the preparation of the child after 
 Baptism for Confirmation. In the actual service the 
 renunciations and professions of faith are given each in a
 
 ENGLISH BAPTISMAL SERVICE 93 
 
 single question, and triple immersion is no longer 
 explicitly ordered. For the questions, ' What dost thou 
 desire?' 'Wilt thou be baptized?' are substituted one 
 question, ' Wilt thou be baptized in this faith ?' 'That 
 is my desire.' Then immediately before the baptism 
 are interpolated the prayers, ' O merciful God,' etc., and 
 ' Almighty, overliving God,' taken from the Benediction 
 of the Font, which is now omitted. After baptism the 
 giving of the chrisom and the unction are omitted, and in 
 their place is put the sign of the Cross, transferred from 
 the beginning of the service, with the formula 'We 
 receive this child,' etc. Then before the exhortation are 
 added the address ' Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren,' 
 etc., the Lord's Prayer, and f We yield thee hearty 
 thanks,' etc. This addition, made at such a time, is 
 noticeable, because it is the part of the present service 
 in which the doctrine of Baptismal regeneration is most 
 strongly emphasised, and which has therefore been most 
 attacked by Puritan objectors, and it shows that even the 
 reformers of 1552 had not the slightest intention of 
 allowing this doctrine to be surrendered. 
 
 Changes in Baptismal Office of 1661. At the last revision 
 in 1661 a few changes were made. The rubric at the 
 beginning of the Office was altered to its present form. 
 Before, it alluded to the old custom of confining public 
 Baptism to Easter and Pentecost, and expressed a wish 
 for its restoration. This was omitted. Before, public 
 Baptism might not take place at all except on a Sunday 
 or Holy Day. This was made less rigid. The provision 
 about the number of sponsors, which is the same as that 
 ordered by the Council of York in 1195, was added, and 
 also the direction that the font was to be filled with pure 
 water on each occasion of use. The people were directed 
 to stand at the Gospel, and sundry other small changes 
 in the rubrics were made. The question ' Wilt thou then 
 obediently keep,' etc., was added. The most important 
 thing done was the restoration of the Benediction of the Font, 
 by the insertion of the words ' Sanctify this water to the 
 mystical washing away of sin,' into the prayer 'Almighty, 
 overliving God. According to the present rule, there- 
 fore, the water is changed on each occasion, and blessed
 
 94 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 immediately before its use, and this seems to be the 
 course most in accordance both with decency and early 
 usage. The two notes at the end of the service were added. 
 
 Private Baptism. It is not necessary to say much 
 about the Office for Private Baptism and Reception. 
 The last rubric at the beginning of the Office was altered 
 in 1604. For some mysterious reason, the Puritans 
 objected to lay Baptism, and the words 'lawful minister' 
 were inserted to meet their objections. This makes no 
 difference to the doctrine of the Church, for all persons, 
 in case of necessity, are lawful ministers of Baptism ; 
 and the questions that are asked in case of doubt, and 
 the rubric before the formula for conditional Baptism, 
 which distinctly states that the essential parts of Baptism 
 are water and the invocation of the Holy Trinity, make 
 it quite clear that the English Church holds the Catholic 
 doctrine on the subject. The Thanksgiving ' We yield 
 thee hearty thanks,' etc., was inserted in 1661. The 
 questions asked in case of doubt were slightly altered, 
 and indeed improved, in 1604 and 1661. In 1549 the 
 Lord's Prayer and the Creed were ordered to be said 
 by the minister with the godfathers and godmothers. 
 The Creed was omitted in 1552, and in 1661 the rubric 
 was omitted, and the prayer ' Almighty and everlasting 
 God ' added after the Lord's Prayer instead of coming at 
 the end of the service. The questions as to renunciation, 
 etc., were altered as in the public Office. A direction 
 for putting on the chrisom was left out in 1552, and the 
 sign of the Cross, and the address and thanksgiving, 
 were added in 1661. 
 
 The Office for the Baptism of Adults was added in 1661. 
 It is merely an adaptation of that for the public Baptism 
 of Infants. 
 
 The Catechism until 1661 was contained in the Order 
 for Confirmation. It was then printed separately, and 
 the rubrics rearranged. The concluding part about the 
 Sacraments was added in 1604. 
 
 The Order of Confirmation, as translated into English 
 in 1549, contained two important changes. The laying 
 on of hands was explicitly restored, and made the central 
 act of the service, and chrism was discontinued, though the
 
 ENGLISH CONFIRMATION SERVICE 95 
 
 sign of the Cross was retained. The omission of so ancient 
 and universal a practice as the use of anointing in Con- 
 firmation, which, if not of Apostolic origin, certainly 
 dates from sub-Apostolic times, cannot but be regretted, 
 but perhaps the motive was to emphasise the importance 
 of the imposition of hands. Anointing was still retained 
 in the Baptismal service, . and therefore the revisers 
 cannot have objected to the ceremony itself. Otherwise 
 the Office was almost exactly the same as in the old service 
 books. It still began with ' Our help is in the name of 
 the Lord,' etc. Then followed the old prayer, 'Almighty, 
 overliving God/ and the prayer, also from the Sarum 
 rite, ' Sign them (O Lord) and mark them to be thine 
 for ever, by the virtue of thy holy Cross and passion. 
 Confirm and strength them with the inward unction of 
 thy Holy Ghost, mercifully unto everlasting life.' ' Then 
 the bishop shall cross them in the forehead, and lay 
 his hand upon their heads saying, N. I sign thee with 
 the sign of the Cross, and lay my hand upon thee. In 
 the name,' etc. Then, when every child has been con- 
 firmed, the bishop says, ' The peace of the Lord abide with 
 you. R. And with thy Spirit,' and instead of the Sarum 
 prayer, 'God, who didst give,' 1 the prayer 'Almighty, 
 ever-living God,' which is to the same purport, but taken 
 from a Lutheran source. Then the Benediction. In 
 1552 the prayer ' Sign them (O Lord) ' and the sign of 
 the Cross were omitted, and the formula changed to 
 that now in use. In 1661 the Office was considerably 
 enlarged. The opening rubric and address and the 
 question put to the candidates about their baptismal 
 vows were prefixed. This addition has unfortunately 
 led many uninstructed people to think that Confirma- 
 tion means confirming the baptismal vows. This is of 
 course a purely modern and a most erroneous idea. 
 Those who come to Confirmation come to ' be confirmed,' 
 by the gift of the Holy Ghost. After the Confirmation, 
 'The Lord be with you' and the Lord's Prayer were 
 added, and also the prayer ' O Almighty Lord.' It 
 has recently become usual to interpolate an address, 
 and even hymns, into the service. 
 1 See page 91.
 
 96 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 2. The Churching of Women. 
 
 The Levitical law provided for a solemn purification of 
 women after childbirth, and it was natural that the 
 idea should be continued in some shape in the Christian 
 Church. No early forms of service are extant, but it 
 would seem that in early days women were expected to 
 be absent from church for forty days, and then to be 
 solemnly readmitted. Gregory the Great, however, in 
 answer to a question of S. Augustine, says that women 
 may enter the church to return thanks at any time, and 
 protests against the idea than any fault had been in- 
 curred which should prevent them from doing so. A 
 rubric in the Sarum Manual indorses this view, and 
 says that entrance to the church is not to be refused to 
 them. The Manual contains a short office called Puri- 
 ficatio post Partum, and the form in the Book of Common 
 Prayer is a translation of this without any change of 
 importance. 
 
 In the Sarum Office the priest met the woman at the 
 church door, and said the psalms cxxi. and cxxviii. Then 
 followed Kyrie Eleison, the Paternoster, and the versicles 
 and prayer, just as in the present English Office. Then 
 the woman was sprinkled with holy water, and led into 
 the church with the words, 'Enter into the temple of God 
 that thou mayest have eternal life and live for ever.' 
 In the book of 1549 the woman was directed to come into 
 the church and kneel ' nigh unto the quire door.' The 
 short opening address was put in, and the second 
 psalm and the leading into the church omitted. In 
 1552 the title was changed to the present title, and the 
 place specified as being ' nigh unto the place where the 
 table standeth.' In 1661 the opening rubric was worded 
 as it now stands, and psalm cxvi. or cxxvii. substituted 
 for cxxi. Following the erroneous example of the 
 daily offices, ' Let us pray ' was also inserted before the 
 Kyrie. 
 
 3. Holy Matrimony. 
 
 Ancient Nuptial Ceremonies. Marriage stands alone 
 among the sacraments of the Church in not being of
 
 MATRIMONY 97 
 
 Christian origin, or confined to the Church. Its essence 
 is the consent of the parties to the union, and it has not 
 ' any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.' But 
 the Church, although her intervention is not necessary, 
 perhaps from the first gave her blessing to the union, 
 and in the course of time, when it could be done without 
 danger, adopted various significant ceremonies from 
 Jewish or Pagan custom. S. Ignatius, at the beginning 
 of the second century, says that it is fitting that the 
 bridegroom and bride seek the consent of the bishop. 
 We hear also that the bride was dressed in white and 
 that she was veiled, and the joining of hands, the kiss 
 of peace, and marriage gifts are also mentioned. The 
 Roman ceremony of giving a ring was early adopted, and 
 about the fourth century the crowning of the bridegroom 
 and bride, which had at first been condemned as pagan, 
 was permitted, and it now forms a conspicuous part of 
 the marriage ceremony in the East. There are, how- 
 ever, no early descriptions of the nuptial rites, and they 
 probably varied to a great extent. The Council of Trent, 
 while prescribing the usual Roman ritual, decreed the 
 maintenance of any praiseworthy local usages. The first 
 detailed description of a Christian marriage occurs in the 
 answer of Nicolas i. to the Bulgarians in 866. It is to 
 be noticed that, except for the fact that the Mass is sub- 
 stituted for the heathen sacrifice, the ceremonies are 
 precisely those of pagan Rome. They are divided into 
 two parts, the Espousals and the Nuptials proper. The 
 espousals comprehended, first, the mutual consent of the 
 parties and of their relations to the marriage ; secondly, 
 the giving of the ring ; thirdly, the giving of the dowry 
 by a written document. The actual marriage consisted 
 of a nuptial Mass, with appropriate prayers, a benediction 
 pronounced over the bridal pair, while a veil was held 
 over their heads, and their crowning on leaving the 
 church. The custom of veiling dropped gradually out of 
 use, though it lingered long in France, and is ordered 
 by the Sarum rubrics ; and the crowning also disappeared 
 in the West. All these features except the crowning 
 remained in the Sarum Office, and all except the crown- 
 ing and veiling were continued in the Book of Common 
 o
 
 98 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Prayer. The ancient Roman Sacramentaries contain a 
 nuptial Mass, with special collects, secrets, etc. The 
 Benediction took place after the Lord's Prayer which 
 closes the Canon, and before the Communion. It is a 
 long Eucharistic prayer, of which the last prayer in the 
 present English service is a shortened form. Then the 
 bridegroom and bride are communicated, and the priest 
 pronounces a benediction. 
 
 Service of 1549. It is not necessary to describe the 
 Sarum service in detail, for it is practically the same, 
 with no important omissions, as that which is used to- 
 day. It was not even necessary to translate the whole 
 office, for the formulas in which troth is plighted were 
 already used in English. In 1549 the opening exhorta- 
 tion was lengthened, but perhaps not improved, by an 
 excursus on the causes for which matrimony was ordained. 
 The betrothal remained almost exactly in the old English 
 words ; the man was still directed to lay ' other tokens 
 of spousage, as gold or silver' on the book, as well as 
 the ring; but this was omitted in 1552. The Sarum 
 rubric directed the man to put the ring on the first, 
 second, and third fingers at the mention of each Person 
 of the Holy Trinity, and then on the fourth, but this 
 was omitted. The prayer ' O Eternal God ' is compiled 
 from several short prayers in the Sarum service. Then 
 an additional ceremony, the joining of the hands, with the 
 following declaration, was added. The Benediction which 
 concludes the espousals, and the rest of the service, said 
 ' ad gradum altaris,' are practically unchanged, except 
 that, as mentioned before, the last English prayer is 
 introduced here from the nuptial Mass. In 1549 no 
 special Mass was provided, but the final rubric ran, ' The 
 new married persons (the same day of their marriage) 
 must receive the Holy Communion.' The rubric after 
 the Benediction in 1549 was this, 'Then shall be said 
 after the Gospel [in 1552 : ' Then shall begin the Com- 
 munion, and after the Gospel'] a sermon, wherein 
 ordinarily (so oft as there is any marriage) the office of 
 man and wife shall be declared, according to holy Scrip- 
 ture. Or if there be no sermon, the Minister shall read 
 this that followeth.' Then follows the present exhortation.
 
 VISITATION OF THE SICK 99 
 
 Thus, until the last revision, a celebration of the Eucha- 
 rist was a necessary part of the marriage ceremony. It 
 was probably from a not unfounded fear of irreverence 
 that the rubrics were then altered to their present form, 
 making a celebration less imperative. 
 
 4. Visitation, Unction, and Communion of the Sick. 
 
 Primitive Practice. The care of the sick must always 
 have formed an important part of the work of the ministers 
 of the Church, but no early forms for their ministrations 
 are extant. Our Lord had promised that his Apostles 
 should lay hands on the sick and they should recover, 
 but this ceremony appears to have been connected with 
 miraculous powers. S. James directed that the sick 
 should be anointed with oil by the presbyters, with 
 prayer, but this practice is seldom mentioned by early 
 writers. It was also the practice of the Church from the 
 earliest times to reserve the Blessed Sacrament for those 
 who could not come to church, but there are no special 
 forms for its administration. In the Gelasian Sacra- 
 mentary we find prayers for a sick man in his house, a 
 special ' Missa ' for a sick man, and a thanksgiving for 
 restored health. There is also a form for the consecra- 
 tion of the oil, but no forms for the actual anointing. 
 
 The Sarum Office. It is not until we come to the Sarum 
 Manual that we find the full ceremonies and prayers in 
 use in the Middle Ages. On his way to the sick person's 
 house, the priest, who was to wear surplice and stole, 
 said the seven penitential psalms, with the autiphon, 
 ' Remember not, O Lord, our iniquities,' etc. On entering 
 he said, 'Peace be to this house and to all who dwell in it; 
 peace to those who go in and go out.' Then followed the 
 Kyrie, Paternoster, and versicles, still retained in the 
 English service. Then nine prayers were said, two of 
 them being those retained in the English service. The 
 priest then said a short exhortation to patience and 
 faith, and examined the sick man in the Christian faith. 
 A shorter form of examination was provided for the 
 unlearned, consisting of a slightly expanded form of the 
 Apostles' Creed. Then there is an exhortation to charity
 
 100 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 and hope, and another to contrition and confession. The 
 confession and absolution follow ; no penance is to be 
 enjoined, but instead there is an exhortation to give 
 alms. Then there is a short collect and the Benediction. 
 The priest says some further prayers in a low voice, one 
 the prayer ' O most merciful God ' which follows the 
 Absolution in the English Office, while the sick person 
 kisses the Cross and the bystanders. When Extreme 
 Unction is administered, Psalm Ixxi., ' In thee, O Lord, 
 have I put my trust,' is said, with the antiphon ' O 
 Saviour of the world,' etc. This is followed by a prayer, 
 in which is incorporated the passage where S. James 
 speaks of unction, and the priest then anoints the organs 
 of sense of the sick man, with a short formula for each, 
 praying that the sins committed may be forgiven. Mean- 
 while the clerk recites psalms. The Communion of the 
 sick man follows, if it is possible. If not, the priest tells 
 him, as he is directed to do by the English rubric, that 
 faith is sufficient. ' Brother, in this case true faith 
 sufficeth for thee and a good will : only believe and thou 
 hast eaten.' It may be noted that the English rubric has 
 sometimes actually been quoted as shewing that the 
 English Church of the present day attaches little im- 
 portance to the reception of the Eucharist. If so, the 
 same would be true of the English Church of the Middle 
 Ages, for its teaching is precisely the same. The formula 
 used in communicating the sick man is, ' The Body of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body and soul unto eternal 
 life.' The words in italics are absent from the formula 
 prescribed in the Missal. After Communion there was a 
 psalm and a prayer, and several alternate forms of bene- 
 diction. The Sarum Manual also provides a Litany to 
 be said ' in Ai-ticulo Mortis,' and after death a e Commen- 
 datio Animarum,' consisting of a number of psalms, with 
 prayers. 
 
 Extreme Unction. It has been said that the sacrament 
 of Extreme Unction, as used in the Middle Ages, was 
 not the same ordinance as that prescribed by S. James, 
 inasmuch as it was not used with a view to the recovery 
 of the sick man, but only when recovery was despaired 
 of. Such a view receives no countenance whatever from
 
 VISITATION OF THE SICK 101 
 
 the prayers or rubrics of the Sarum Office. The prayers 
 are for forgiveness of sins and for recovery; and they 
 quote and strictly agree with the words of S. James. 
 The rubrics lay down most emphatically that unction 
 may be repeated, even in the course of the same illness, 
 whenever it assumes a dangerous character ; and that 
 those who recover after unction should resume their 
 ordinary life, and not imagine that any special consecra- 
 tion has been conferred upon them. The whole service 
 indeed is strictly scriptural. 
 
 The English Books. No important change was made in 
 translating the Office for the Visitation of the Sick in 
 1549, and it still remains substantially the same. Instead 
 of the recitation of all the penitential psalms on the way 
 to the sick man's house, the last only, Psalm cxliii., was 
 said on coming into the sick man's presence, with the 
 same antiphon, ' Remember not, Lord,' etc. In 1552 
 the psalm itself was omitted, and only the antiphon 
 retained. The Kyrie, Pater, and versicles have remained 
 the same throughout, the response ' Spare us, good Lord ' 
 and * Let us pray ' being added in 1661. Two only out 
 of the nine Sarum prayers were translated. The second 
 in 1549 ran thus : 
 
 ' Hear ns, Almighty and most merciful God and Saviour : 
 extend thy accustomed goodness to this thy servant, which is 
 grieved with sickness: Visit him, O Lord, as thou didst visit 
 Peter's wife's mother, and the captain's servant. And as thou 
 preservedst Thobie and Sara by thy angel from danger : So restore 
 unto this sick person his former health (if it be thy will), or else 
 give him grace so to take thy correction : that after this painful 
 life ended, he may dwell with thee in life everlasting. Amen.' 
 
 The reference to Thobie and Sara was omitted in 1552, 
 and the prayer changed to its present form in 1661. 
 
 The Sarum exhortations were expanded into the present 
 forms, and the examination in faith couched in the exact 
 words of the Apostles' Creed. The rubric before the 
 Absolution ended in 1549 with the words : ' and the same 
 form of absolution shall be used in all private confes- 
 sions.' These words were omitted in 1552. In the same 
 rubric the words ' be moved to ' and e if he humbly and 
 heartily desire it' were inserted in 1661. The practice
 
 102 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 of private confession was given a more voluntary character 
 in 1549, and the responsibility for neglecting to make 
 use of it is laid entirely on the individual Christians ; but 
 the fact that all English churchmen are to be ' moved ' 
 to confession on their death-beds, after having been 
 invited to it all their lives before every celebration of 
 the Eucharist, amounts to almost as strong a recommen- 
 dation of the practice as is possible without making it 
 compulsory. In the later Middle Ages it was compulsory 
 whenever a penitent was conscious of having committed 
 mortal sin and desired to receive Holy Communion. 
 After the Absolution only the prayer ' O most merciful 
 Lord ' was retained out of several Sarum prayers, and 
 then follows Psalm Ixxi. and the antiphon ' O Saviour of 
 the world ' out of the Office for Extreme Unction. This, 
 it may be noted, is the only antiphon now left in the 
 Book of Common Prayer in its proper place after a 
 psalm. The prrxyer 'The Almighty Lord,' etc., was not 
 in the Sarum Office, but it resembles a prayer in the 
 Gregorian Sacramentary. The Benediction ' Unto God's 
 gracious mercy,' etc., and the four following prayers, 
 were added in 1661. In the book of 1549 the following 
 directions for Unction concluded the service : 
 
 * If the sick person desire to be anointed, then shall the priest 
 anoint him upon the forehead or breast only, making the sign of 
 the Cross, saying thus 
 
 ' As with this visible oil thy body outwardly is anointed : so 
 our heavenly Father, Almighty God, grant of his infinite goodness 
 that thy soul inwardly may be anointed with the Holy Ghost, 
 who is the Spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, and gladness. 
 And vouchsafe for his great mercy (if it be his blessed will) to 
 restore unto thee thy bodily health, and strength, to serve him, 
 and send thee relief of all thy pains, troubles, and diseases, both 
 in body and mind. And howsoever his goodness (by his divine 
 and unsearchable providence) shall dispose of thee : we his un- 
 worthy ministers and servants, humbly beseech the eternal 
 majesty, to do with thee according to the multitude if his innumer- 
 able mercies, and to pardon thee all thy sins and offences, com- 
 mitted by all thy bodily senses, passions, and carnal affections : 
 who also vouchsafe mercifully to grant unto thee ghostly strength 
 by his holy Spirit, to withstand and overcome all temptations and 
 assaults of thine adversary, that in no wise he prevail against 
 thee, but that thou mayest have perfect victory and triumph 
 against the devil, sin, and death, through Christ our Lord : who
 
 COMMUNION OF THE SICK 103 
 
 by his death hath overcomed the Prince of death, and with the 
 Father and the Holy Ghost evermore liveth and reigneth, God, 
 world without end. Amen.' 
 
 Then follows Psalm xiii. These directions were omitted 
 in 1552. 
 
 Private Celebration and Reservation. The rubrics and 
 forms for a private Celebration for the Sick were a new 
 element in the English service books, introduced in 1549. 
 Such private celebrations were not unknown in early 
 times, but they were very rare, the rule being that the 
 sick should be communicated with the reserved Sacra- 
 ment. This use prevailed in England, as everywhere 
 else. We learn from Bede's account of the death of 
 Caedmon that in monasteries at that time the Eucharist 
 was reserved in or near the dormitory, for use in cases 
 of emergency only. The revisers of 1549 evidently 
 desired to limit Reservation to the case of the sick, and 
 they ordered that if there were a celebration in the 
 church on the same day, the Sacrament should be re- 
 served for the communion of the sick person. Otherwise 
 there was to be a special celebration, for which the exist- 
 ing collect, etc., was provided, and if there were more 
 sick persons to be communicated, the Sacrament was to 
 be reserved for them from that celebration. These 
 directions were omitted in 1552, but reinserted in the 
 Latin Prayer Book of 1560, which shows that reservation 
 was still regarded as lawful. It has been thought by 
 some that it was rendered unlawful by the rubric which 
 was inserted at the end of the Communion Service in 
 1661, which orders that what remains of the consecrated 
 elements shall not be carried out of the church, but be 
 reverently consumed. This rubric, however, was certainly 
 not intended to forbid reservation for the sick, which 
 was not a question before the revisers at all, but to pre- 
 vent the desecration of the Sacrament by being put to 
 common uses or thrown away, which was then unhappily 
 very common. It is strictly parallel to the correspond- 
 ing rubrics in the Sarum and Roman liturgies, which 
 order the reverent consumption of the elements after 
 every celebration, and it will hardly be contended that 
 these forbid reservation for the sick. In any case there
 
 104 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 is nothing in the present rubrics to forbid what was 
 ordered in 1549, the reservation of the Sacrament after 
 a private celebration for the communion of other sick 
 persons. One other objection that has been raised 
 should perhaps be noted. It has been said that the 
 xxviii. Article by implication condemns the practice, by 
 asserting that the Sacrament ' was not by Christ's ordin- 
 ance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.' 
 But here again the reservation spoken of is obviously 
 quite a different thing from reservation for the sick ; and 
 the language of the Article is most cautious, for even the 
 practices alluded to are not condemned or prohibited, 
 but it is merely stated that they do not form part of 
 Christ's ordinance ; which is certainly true. 
 
 The rubric about those sick people whom it is impossible to 
 communicate is taken, as mentioned above, from the Sarum rubric 
 in the Visitatio. The last rubric, allowing the priest only to com- 
 municate with the sick man in the case of contagious sickness, 
 was added in 1552. 
 
 5. The Burial of the Dead. 
 
 Christian Burial. It is hardly necessary to remark that 
 the care of the dead has always and everywhere been a 
 subject for great solicitude, and has generally been 
 accompanied by much pomp and ceremony. It was not 
 likely that the Christian Church would fall behind 
 heathen nations in the care bestowed upon the departed, 
 but the doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body natur- 
 ally gave to the Christian rites a hopeful and even 
 exultant character which could not attach to the most 
 elaborate ceremonies of the heathen. The Christian 
 rites centred as a matter of course around the Celebration 
 of the Holy Eucharist, which was offered for the departed 
 not only at their actual interment, but periodically after- 
 wards. The unity of the whole Church both living and 
 departed is a doctrine which is emphasised not only in 
 the Creeds but in every Liturgy. The holy Sacrifice is 
 always offered on behalf of the ' whole Church,' militant 
 upon earth and at rest in Paradise. 
 
 Early Ceremonies. No special ceremonies, beyond those 
 naturally connected with the actual interment, have been
 
 BURIAL OF THE DEAD 105 
 
 added to the funeral Eucharist. Psalms and prayers, 
 with the use of incense and of holy water, form the sub- 
 stance of the additional devotions. The Gelasian Sacra- 
 mentary contains a number of special ' Missae ' for the 
 departed, to suit different circumstances. One is noted 
 for use on the third, seventh, or thirtieth day, or annually. 
 There are also a number of prayers to be said after death, 
 others before the body is carried out for burial, others to 
 be used by the grave before and after the interment, and 
 forms of commendation of the departed soul. One of 
 them runs thus : ' We commend to thee, O Lord, the 
 soul of our brother N., and pray that thou wilt not refuse 
 to lay in the bosom of thy patriarchs the soul for whose 
 sake thou didst mercifully come down upon the earth : 
 to him who departs from this unstable and uncertain life 
 grant eternal life and joy in heavenly places, O Saviour 
 of the world, who livest,' etc. 
 
 The Sarum Use. The services in the Sarum Manual 
 began with a Commendatio Animarum, said on the day 
 of death or the eve of burial, while the body was prepared 
 for burial and carried to the church. This office consists 
 of psalms and prayers, and it appears to be peculiar to 
 English use. Afterwards Vespers, Compline, and Vigils 
 of the Dead were said, and on the morning of burial the 
 Funeral Mass. When this was ended, several prayers 
 with verses and Kyries were said in the church while the 
 bier was censed. Then the procession started for the 
 grave, the choir singing Psalm cxiv. and, if necessary, 
 Psalm xxv. While the grave was opened, blessed, and 
 censed, and the body laid in it, a great many prayers 
 were said, and between the prayers Psalms cxviii., xlii., 
 cxxxii., and cxxxix. were sung. The priest first threw 
 earth on the body in the form of the Cross, and when the 
 grave was filled, he used this form of commendation : * I 
 commend thy soul to God the Father Almighty, earth to 
 earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the name,' etc. 
 Then there were more prayers, the last three psalms, the 
 Benedictus, and the Miserere. Returning from the grave, 
 the seven penitential psalms, or at least the De Pro- 
 fundis, were sung, and the office ended with the prayer 
 ' May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed 
 through the mercy of God rest in peace.'
 
 106 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 Changes in 1549. The revisers of 1549 changed the 
 Burial Service more than any other. This was not be- 
 cause of any great complication in the old offices, for 
 they consisted almost entirely, as has been shewn, of 
 psalms and prayers. Nor was it because of mediaeval 
 accretions, for the prayers were for the most part ancient 
 and beautiful. But the services were extremely long, 
 and a reaction from the mediaeval developments of the 
 doctrine of Purgatory made the reformers willing to 
 abbreviate even primitive prayers for the departed. The 
 spirit of the new service was the same ; prayers were still 
 offered for the departed, and the service still consisted of 
 anthems, psalms, and prayers, no fresh element being 
 introduced unless the lesson be considered as such, but 
 even this had been used as the epistle in a Mass for the 
 dead. But the arrangement was changed, and the new 
 service is rather a compilation from the old services than 
 a direct translation or adaptation from any of them. The 
 service of 1549 began, as the present English service 
 begins, with thejthree anthems : ' I am the Resurrection,' 
 etc. The first had been the antiphon to Benedictus, 
 the second was from the Sarum Vigils of the Dead (called 
 the Dirge, from the first antiphon, which began with the 
 word Dirige), the third was added by the compilers. On 
 coming to the grave the two anthems ' Man that is born 
 of a woman ' and ' In the midst of life ' were said or sung. 
 The former was taken from the Vigils of the Dead, the 
 latter is a Prose or Sequence ascribed to Notker, a monk 
 of S. Gall in Switzerland in the ninth century. It was 
 used in the Sarum Breviary as an antiphon to Nunc 
 Dimittis in Lent. Then followed the commendation, 
 an expansion of that in the Sarum Office. The rubric 
 was: 'Then the priest casting earth upon the corpse 
 shall say, I commend thy soul to God the Father 
 Almighty, and thy body to the ground, earth to earth,' 
 etc. Then the anthem ' I heard a voice from heaven,' 
 the antiphon to Magnificat in the Vigils, and then 
 two prayers, which conclude the service at the grave. 
 These prayers are very beautiful adaptations from some 
 of those in the Sarum Office, and they may be given 
 here in full.
 
 BURIAL OF THE DEAD 107 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 We commend into thy hands of mercy (most merciful Father), 
 the soul of this our brother departed, N. And his body we 
 commit to the earth, beseeching thine infinite goodness, to give us 
 grace to live in thy fear and love, and to die in thy favour : that 
 when the judgment shall come, which thou hast committed to thy 
 well-beloved Son, both this our brother, and we may be found 
 acceptable in thy sight, and receive that blessing, which thy well- 
 beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear thee, 
 saying: Come, ye blessed Children of my Father: Receive the 
 kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world. 
 Grant this, merciful Father, for the honour of Jesus Christ, our 
 only Saviour, Mediator, and Advocate. 
 
 This prayer shall also be added. 
 
 Almighty God, we give thee hearty thanks for this thy servant, 
 whom thou hast delivered from the miseries of this wretched 
 world, from the body of death, and all temptation. And, as we 
 trust, hast brought his soul, which he committed into thy holy 
 hands, into sure consolation and rest. Grant, we beseech thee, 
 that at the day of judgment his soul and all the souls of thy 
 elect, departed out of this life, may with us and we with them, 
 fully receive thy promises, and be made perfect altogether 
 through the glorious resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. 
 
 Besides these anthems and prayers, which were said at 
 the grave, there was a service in the church which might 
 be said either before or after the burial of the corpse. It 
 began with Psalms cxvi., cxlvi., and cxxxix., followed by 
 the lesson, 1 Cor. xv. Then came ' Lord have mercy,' 
 etc., the Lord's Prayer, and the versicles which followed 
 it in the Sarum Office with a concluding prayer. 
 
 Priest. Enter not (0 Lord) into judgment with thy servant. 
 
 Answer. For in thy sight no living creature shall be justified. 
 Priest. From the gates of hell. 
 
 Answer. Deliver their souls, O Lord. 
 Priest. I believe to see the goodness of the Lord. 
 
 Answer. In the land of the living, 
 Priest. O Lord, graciously hear my prayer. 
 
 Answer. And let my cry come unto thee. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 O Lord, with whom do live the spirits of them that be dead : 
 and in whom the souls of them that be elected, after they be 
 delivered from the burden of the flesh, be in joy and felicity : 
 Grant unto this thy servant, that the sina which he committed in 
 this world be not imputed unto him, but that he, escaping the
 
 gates of hell, and pains of eternal darkness, may ever dwell in 
 the region of light, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the place 
 where is no weeping, sorrow, or heaviness : and when that dread- 
 ful day of the general resurrection shall come, make him to rise 
 also with the just and righteous, and receive this body again to 
 glory, then made pure and incorruptible, set him on the right 
 hand of thy Son Jesus Christ, among thy holy and elect, that he 
 may hear with them those most sweet and comfortable words : 
 Come to me ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom which 
 hath been prepared for you from the beginning of the world : 
 Grant this we beseech thee, O merciful Father : through Jesus 
 Christ our mediator and redeemer. 
 
 This was the end of the office. Immediately after it 
 came : 
 
 The Celebration of the Holy Communion when there 
 is a Burial of the Dead. 
 
 The Introit was Psalm xlii. The Collect was 'O 
 merciful God,' etc., but with a different ending from that 
 which it has now. The Epistle was 1 Thess. iv. 13, and 
 the Gospel, John vi. 35-41. 
 
 Changes in 1552. In the revision of 1552 nothing was 
 added to the service, but a good deal was omitted. This 
 is not surprising ; indeed, under the circumstances of the 
 time, it is a matter for more wonder that anything was 
 left. The extreme reformers objected to any burial 
 service at all ; they had a positive horror of prayers for 
 the departed ; and they had already developed that strong 
 dislike to the singing of psalms, which was afterwards a 
 mark of the Puritans, who, however, consented to waive 
 their objections when the Psalms were translated into 
 doggerel verse. The omissions and changes of 1552 shew 
 that pressure was put on by the extremists, and partially 
 yielded to, probably with reluctance, by Cranmer, or the 
 persons, whoever they were, who effected the revision. 
 The anthems were left unchanged ; the form of com- 
 mendation was altered to that which remains in the 
 present office ; in the rubric before it the earth is ordered 
 to be cast ' by some standing by,' which may include the 
 priest, but does not specify him. The two prayers given 
 above as following the commendation were omitted 
 entirely, and also the psalms and the rubric directing 
 the psalms and lessons to be said in the church. The 
 omission of this rubric made the introductory rubric 
 about going either into the church or to the grave, which
 
 BURIAL OF THE DEAD 109 
 
 has never been altered, somewhat absurd. In the 1549 
 office, if the procession went into the church first, the 
 psalms and lessons would be said then, and the celebra- 
 tion of the Holy Communion would take place. But in 
 the 1552 office, if the procession went into the church first, 
 it would have to come out again immediately for the in- 
 terment, unless indeed the celebration took place then. 
 After the Lord's Prayer the versicles were omitted, and 
 the following prayer, the only prayer retained, changed 
 into its present form, except that it contained a men- 
 tion of the departed by name. It is to be observed 
 that this prayer, which was entirely rewritten in 1552, 
 still contained a distinct intercession both for the person 
 just deceased, and for all the departed, though in a form 
 as little conspicuous as might be. The special Introit, 
 Epistle, and Gospel for the funeral Eucharist were 
 omitted, and only the Collect, with slight modification, 
 retained. 
 
 Significance of these changes. The changes made in the 
 Burial Service of 1552 are well worthy of close attention, . 
 for they strongly confirm the view put forward earlier in 
 this book, that the revision of 1552 was the result of 
 Puritan agitation and pressure brought to bear upon 
 revisers who did not themselves wish for change, and 
 who endeavoured to preserve the principles of the first 
 Prayer Book on disputed points, while presenting them 
 in a form as little conspicuous as possible, and giving way 
 upon minor points. The chief points objected to in the 
 Burial Service were the use of psalms, prayers for the 
 dead, and a special celebration of the Holy Communion. 
 Psalms were a primitive feature of the service, but no 
 principle was involved in their use, and they were given 
 up. Of the prayers for the departed in the office of 1549 
 two were expunged, and the third was rewritten. But 
 in rewriting it the revisers saved the principle of praying 
 for the departed in a clause which was calculated to 
 attract as little attention as possible. The words 
 'beseeching thee that it may please thee . . . shortly 
 to accomplish the number of thy elect, and to haste thy 
 kingdom ; that we, with this our brother, and all other 
 departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may have 
 our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and
 
 110 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory' are in the 
 spirit of the primitive prayers for the departed, and 
 preserve the English Church from the charge of having 
 ignored the doctrine of the Communion of Saints. 
 Similarly, while the special Introit, Epistle, and Gospel for 
 the celebration of the Holy Communion were omitted, the 
 Collect was retained, so as to preserve the principle that a 
 funeral ought to be accompanied by a celebration of the 
 Holy Mysteries. Unfortunately the revisers of 1661, by 
 placing 'The grace of our Lord/ etc., after the collect, 
 obscured the fact that it was intended to be used as a 
 collect, and not to be used as the concluding prayer of 
 the service at the grave. 
 
 The other changes made in 1661 were the restoration of the 
 psalms after the introductory anthems, and the transposition of 
 the lesson from its former position to its present place after the 
 psalms. It was also made clear that the psalms and lessons were 
 to be read in church, and the rest of the service at the grave. 
 The first rubric, about the cases in which the office is not to be 
 used, was also added. The prayer for the dead, quoted above, 
 was slightly altered, the words ' this our brother ' being omitted 
 before the mention of the other faithful departed. 
 
 6. The Commination. 
 
 This service was composed in 1549. The title then was 
 'The first day -of Lent, commonly called Ash- Wednes- 
 day.' In 1552 was substituted ' A Commination against 
 sinners, with certain prayers, to be used divers times in 
 the year.' This was changed to the present title in 1661. 
 The Benediction at the end was added in 1661, and a few 
 other slight changes made. In the ancient services there 
 was nothing that corresponded at all nearly to the first 
 part of this service, except the sentences of the greater 
 excommunication, which were commonly read in parish 
 churches three or four times a year. Some of the 
 reformers were very anxious to restore the primitive 
 practice of public penance in church, which was indeed 
 occasionally practised, at least until the latter part of the 
 eighteenth century, and they put forward this service as 
 a sort of substitute. The Miserere and most of what 
 follows was taken from the Sarum services for Ash- 
 Wednesday.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE ORDINAL 
 
 Holy Orders. ' It is evident unto all men diligently read- 
 ing Holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the 
 Apostles' time there have been these Orders of Ministers 
 in Christ's Church : Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.' This 
 admirable historical statement, which begins the preface 
 to the present English Ordinal, has received ample con- 
 firmation from recent research, but this is not the place 
 to discuss it. Like the other assumptions of the service, 
 it must be taken for granted. The Ordinal states or 
 implies throughout not only that Christ founded a 
 Church in the sense of a visible society, but that he also 
 provided it with a Ministry in the persons of the Apostles, 
 and that the existing Orders of Bishops, Priests, and 
 Deacons, which are to be ' continued ' in the Church of 
 England, have come down by an uninterrupted devolu- 
 tion from them, and with the sanction of a Divine com- 
 mission. The words and actions with which Orders are 
 conferred would be mere profanity unless it were believed 
 that a Divine and not a human commission was con- 
 veyed. And because they have this sanction, the rubrics 
 assume that Orders derived from the Apostles are not 
 convenient or expedient, but * necessary in the Church 
 of Christ.' All this is assumed here. 1 
 
 Minor Orders. It must be noted, however, that the 
 ( necessity ' of the three Apostolic Orders has never been 
 held to debar the Church from intrusting subordinate 
 
 1 On these questions see Gore's Church and, the Ministry and 
 The Mission of the Church, and Moberly's Ministerial Priesthood, 
 
 111
 
 112 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 functions to special classes of men, as occasion might 
 arise. Such ' Minor Orders ' may be instituted or discon- 
 tinued or revived as may be expedient. In the Eastern 
 Churches some of the functions of the diaconate have 
 been intrusted to subdeacons, and varying minor offices 
 exist. At Home the subordinate offices of acolytes, 
 readers, exorcists, and doorkeepers early made their 
 appearance. In the year 251 there were at Rome 
 under the pope forty-six priests, seven deacons, seven 
 subdeacons, forty-two acolytes, and fifty-two members 
 of the inferior orders of exorcists, readers, and porters. 
 The number of deacons, subdeacons, and acolytes clearly 
 has reference to the seven ecclesiastical 'regions' into 
 which Rome had been divided. The same minor Orders, 
 with the exception sometimes of that of acolyte, are found 
 in the Gallican Churches. 
 
 Primitive Ordinations. The Gospels tell us much of 
 the calling and training of the Apostles, and of the com- 
 missions given to them (Matt, x., etc.). But the chief 
 commission was given on the evening of the Resurrection, 
 when our Lord appeared in the midst of the disciples and 
 said : 
 
 ' Peace be unto you : as the Father hath sent me, even so send 
 I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and 
 saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose soever sins 
 ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye 
 retain, they are retained.' 
 
 Our Lord's action in breathing on his Apostles was 
 never repeated. We find in the Acts that the laying on 
 of hands had taken its place. The laying on of hands 
 with prayer is the only ceremony at Ordination that 
 we find mentioned in the New Testament, but no parti- 
 cular form of words is specified, and for a long period no 
 further ceremonies were introduced. Fasting is men- 
 tioned in the New Testament as an adjunct, but this in 
 primitive times was the habitual accompaniment of sacra- 
 mental or solemn actions. (See Acts vi. 6 ; xiii. 3 ; 
 xiv. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; v. 22 ; 2 Tim. i. 6. ) In the Apostolic 
 Constitutions there are forms of prayer to accompany 
 the imposition of hands in the Ordination of Readers, Sub- 
 deacons, Deacons, Deaconesses, Presbyters, and Bishops.
 
 EARLY ROMAN ORDINATIONS 113 
 
 In the case of bishops the hook of the Four Gospels was 
 held over the head of the Ordinand during the recitation 
 of the prayer. This rite, although it could not have 
 been practised in the earliest ordinations before the 
 Gospels were written, was certainly very early, and 
 became general. 1 A bishop after consecration received 
 the kiss of peace, was enthroned, and celebrated the 
 Eucharist. 
 
 Early Roman Forms. The Sacramentaries and other 
 documents of the seventh and eighth centuries contain a 
 number of forms for Ordinations, some apparently Roman 
 and others Gallican. Among the Roman forms there 
 are none relating to the three lowest Orders. If any 
 ceremony took place it was in private. The acolyte and 
 the subdeacon received a short benediction from the pope 
 or another bishop during the Mass, but even this formula 
 is not very ancient, and contains no allusion to their 
 special duties. Deacons and priests were ordained on 
 the Saturday of one of the four Ember seasons. Before 
 the Gospel the archdeacon presented the candidates for 
 the diaconate to the pope, who then rose and addressed 
 the people with an invitation to prayer. 
 
 'Dearly beloved, let us pray God the Father Almighty, that 
 on these his servants whom he vouchsafeth to call to the office of 
 the diaconate he may mercifully pour forth the benediction of 
 his grace, and preserve the gifts of the consecration bestowed.' 
 
 The litany was then sung, and then the pope rose, and, 
 laying his hands on the heads of each of the candidates, 
 said two prayers, the first a short prayer for a bless- 
 ing on those who were being ordained, the second a 
 eucharistic prayer, of parts of which the following is a 
 translation : 
 
 1 In the Apostolic Constitutions, and in the forms for conse- 
 crating the Bishops of Rome and Alexandria, only the Gospels 
 are mentioned, and not a separate imposition of hands. If the 
 latter were really omitted, it has been suggested that the reason 
 may have been that Christ himself, as represented by the 
 Gospels, was regarded as the consecrator. The suffragan bishops 
 in the provinces of Rome and Alexandria did not have the 
 Gospels held over them. 
 
 H
 
 114 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 ' Be present, we beseech thee, Almighty God. . . . Look, we 
 beseech thee, O Lord, on these thy servants, whom we dedicate 
 to serve at thy sacred (altars) in the office of the diaconate. . . . 
 Send upon them, we beseech thee, O Lord, the holy Spirit, by 
 whom they may be strengthened by the gift of thy sevenfold 
 grace for the work of faithfully fulfilling their ministry. May 
 all virtue abound in them . . . that . . . bearing the testimony 
 of a good conscience they may persevere firm and stedfast in 
 Christ, and by a worthy progress from this inferior office may by 
 thy grace obtain a higher ministry.' 
 
 The rites of ordination of priests and bishops were of 
 precisely the same type, but the prayers were different. 
 The prayer for the consecration of priests does not speak 
 in any detail of the duties of their office, and it regards 
 them as assistants to the bishop. The most definite 
 expressions are these : 
 
 ' Grant, we beseech thee, O Father, to these thy servants the 
 dignity of the presbyterate. . . . May they be good fellow- workers 
 with our order . . . that they may give a good account of the 
 stewardship committed to them, and obtain the rewards of eternal 
 blessedness.' 
 
 The prayer for the consecration of bishops is fuller : 
 
 ' ... to these thy servants whom thou hast chosen to the 
 ministry of the highest priesthood give thy grace. . . . May their 
 feet be beautiful to bring the good tidings of peace. ... Give 
 to them, Lord, the ministry of reconciliation in word and in 
 deeds. . . . Give them, Lord, the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; 
 may they use, not boast, the power which thou givest for edifica- 
 tion not for destruction. May whatsoever they have bound upon 
 earth, etc. . . . May they be faithful servants whom thou mayest 
 set over thy household. . . . Give them an episcopal seat to rule 
 thy Church and the whole people. . . .' 
 
 Galilean Forms. Such was the extreme simplicity of 
 the ancient Roman forms of ordination. The ceremony, 
 like the ordinations mentioned in the New Testament, 
 consisted entirely in the laying on of hands with prayer. 
 Nothing had been added. But these forms are not all 
 that are contained in the Gelasian Sacramentary. There 
 are also Gallican forms, which are somewhat more elabor- 
 ate. Here we find ceremonies for the minor orders, of 
 porter, reader, exorcist, and subdeacon ; the order of 
 acolytes does not appear to have existed everywhere. 
 These orders were conferred, not by the laying on of
 
 GALLICAN ORDINATIONS 115 
 
 hands, but by the traditio instrumentorum, the handing 
 to the ordinand of the object with which he would have 
 to do, a key to the porter, a book to the reader, 
 etc., with an appropriate formula, and a benediction. 
 The deacons and priests are presented by the bishop 
 to the people for their approval : ' Dearly beloved 
 brethren. ... I wish to advance our son N. to the office 
 of a deacon. ... I desire to know whether ye deem him 
 worthy of this office ; and if your election agree with 
 mine, approve your testimony with your voices.' The 
 people reply, ' He is worthy,' and the bishop, after an 
 invitation to prayer, pronounces the prayer of benedic- 
 tion, while he lays his hands on the candidates. In the 
 case of priests all the priests present join in the imposition 
 of hands. The prayer for the priests is shorter than the 
 Roman prayer, but to the same purport, and it contains 
 an explicit reference to the celebration of the Eucharist : 
 ' . . . that he may guard the gift of thy ministry pure 
 and immaculate, and transform the body and blood of 
 thy Son by an immaculate benediction. . . .' There does 
 not appear to be any Gallican prayer extant for the con- 
 secration of bishops ; the form given in the Gelasian 
 Sacramentary is thought to be entirely Roman. After 
 the ordination there was a ceremony specially charac- 
 teristic of the Gallican uses, the anointing of the hands 
 of the newly ordained bishops and priests, and in some 
 places of the deacons also. 
 
 Sarum Use. When we turn from the Gelasian Sacra- 
 mentary to the Sarum Pontifical, that is, from the Roman 
 usages of the eighth century to those of the fifteenth, 
 we pass from services of great simplicity to services of 
 great complexity, and in the case at least of the ordina- 
 tion of priests, of a confusing nature. Not only have 
 the independent but similar Roman and Gallican formu- 
 laries been combined in a single service, but fresh 
 ceremonies have been added. The traditio instrument- 
 orum, formerly used in conferring the minor orders in the 
 place of the imposition of hands, is now added to that 
 essential ceremony in the case of the higher orders. The 
 solemn vesting of the ministers in their appropriate 
 dress is also added, the Veni Creator is recited as a
 
 116 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 separate ceremony, and in the case of priests there is a 
 second imposition of hands at the very end of the 
 service with the recital of our Lord's own words, 
 'Receive the Holy Ghost,' etc. It is not surprising 
 that quite mistaken views ahout the essential features 
 of ordination should have arisen, and that it should have 
 been held for centuries that one of these ceremonies, 
 the traditio instrumentorum, was the ' form ' or essential 
 outward sign of ordination. 
 
 The mediaeval services must be briefly described. Ordi- 
 nations took place, in the case of all Orders except the 
 Episcopate, on the Saturday of one of the four Ember 
 seasons, and as had always been the case, in the course of 
 the Mass. The candidates for minor orders were presented 
 to the bishop by the archdeacon, in much the same form 
 as in the present English service, and ordained before 
 the Epistle, with the same ceremonies and prayers, 
 somewhat expanded, as are found in the Gelasian Sacra- 
 mentary. There was a lection from the Old Testa- 
 ment after the ordination to each of the orders of door- 
 keeper, reader, exorcist, and acolyte, and the Epistle 
 followed the ordination of the subdeacons. Then the 
 candidates for the diaconate and priesthood come forward 
 and the litany is sung, with special petitions for the. 
 ordinands. Then the bishop says to those who are to 
 be deacons, 'It is the duty of a deacon to minister at 
 the altar, to read the Gospel, to baptize, and to preach,' 
 and laying his hands on each says in a low voice, ' Re- 
 ceive the Holy Ghost.' Then he recites the Roman 
 prayer of consecration described above, he delivers the 
 stole and book of the Gospels, recites the Gallican prayer, 
 and delivers the dalmatic, and one of the newly ordained 
 reads the Gospel. The candidates for the priesthood then 
 come forward, and the bishop says, 'It is the duty of 
 a priest to offer, to bless, to preside, to preach, [to make, 
 conficere], and to baptize.' The bishop and the priests 
 present lay their hands on the candidates, and the bishop 
 recites the Roman prayer of consecration. Then the 
 priests are vested in stole and chasuble, and the Gallican 
 prayer follows. Then the Veni Creator is sung, all 
 kneeling. Then the bishop blesses and anoints the
 
 MEDIEVAL ORDINATIONS 117 
 
 hands of the priests. Then he delivers to them the 
 paten with the host and the chalice with wine, and 
 says, 'Take power to offer sacrifice to God, and to 
 celebrate Mass both for the living and for the dead. In 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' The service then 
 proceeds, and all the priests communicate after the bishop. 
 Before the post-communion, the bishop again lays his 
 hands on each, and says, * Receive the Holy Ghost : 
 whose sins thou shalt remit, they are remitted unto 
 them : and whose sins thou shalt retain, they shall be 
 retained.' 
 
 Bishops were consecrated always on a Sunday. Before 
 the Mass began the bishop-elect was presented to the 
 metropolitan, and examined at length, as in the present 
 English service. This ceremony appears to have been 
 introduced into the French and English Churches about 
 the eleventh century, and it was afterwards inserted in 
 the Roman Pontifical. AVTien all the questions had been 
 answered, the Mass began. After the Gradual the bishop- 
 elect is again led to the metropolitan, who says, ' It is 
 the duty of a bishop to judge, to interpret, to consecrate, 
 to confirm, to ordain, to offer, and to baptize.' Then 
 follows the litany. Then two bishops hold the book of 
 the Gospels over the head of the ordinand, and the others 
 lay their hands on his head ; Veni Creator is sung, and 
 the archbishop recites the Gelasian prayer. In the midst 
 of it he anoints the head of the elect with chrism. 
 Another prayer peculiar to the English use follows ; then 
 the head and hands are anointed, and the staff, ring, 
 mitre, and book of the Gospels are delivered, all with 
 appropriate formulas. The Sarum Pontifical does not 
 contain, as the modern Roman Pontifical does, the words 
 ' Receive the Holy Ghost' at the laying on of hands. 
 
 Ordinal of 1550. It will not be necessary to describe 
 the contents of the first English Ordination services in 
 detail, as they are practically the same as those now in 
 use. It will be sufficient to call attention to the principal 
 changes made by the first revisers, and to mention the 
 few modifications which have been made since. 
 
 It must be noted that the revisers had before them only 
 the Sarum services, and that they had no means of ascer-
 
 118 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 taining the exact history of the different forms contained 
 in them. Some simplification, especially in the service 
 for the Ordination of Priests, was urgently required, and 
 the revisers rightly made it their chief object to bring 
 into prominence the necessary and Scriptural ceremony 
 of imposition of hands with prayer. But the changes 
 made were certainly not revolutionary, and there was no 
 wholesale discontinuance even of the later mediaeval 
 additions. The chief changes may be summed up as 
 follows : 
 
 i. Nothing was said about the Minor Orders. These 
 had been much abused by the ordination of numbers of 
 unsuitable persons in the Middle Ages. Provision was 
 now made only for the ' necessary ' Orders, and the rest 
 were left to be revived, as is being done at the present 
 day, when occasion might arise. 
 
 ii. It was made quite clear that the ' matter,' or neces- 
 sary outward act of ordination, was the imposition of 
 hands. 
 
 iii. It was also made quite clear what ' form ' of words 
 was intended to convey Orders. In the case of the 
 priesthood the words of our Lord himself, ' Receive the 
 Holy Ghost,' etc., although introduced into the service 
 in the Middle Ages, were chosen as the most emphatic 
 and unmistakable form possible. In the case of bishops 
 the imposition of hands is immediately preceded by a 
 shortened translation of the old Roman prayer of con- 
 secration, and in the case of priests and deacons by 
 prayers which are not translations of, but which resemble, 
 the Roman forms. 
 
 iv. The examination of the candidate, confined in 
 the Sarum use to the case of bishops, was extended to 
 priests and deacons, and put in the service itself, and 
 not before it. 
 
 v. The traditio or porrectio instrumentorum the New 
 Testament for deacons, the Bible and the chalice with 
 bread for priests, and the Bible and pastoral staff for 
 bishops was retained, but not in such a way as to be 
 mistaken for the act of Ordination. The Veni Creator 
 was also retained, but the ceremonial vesting of the newly 
 ordained and the unction of hands were omitted.
 
 ENGLISH ORDINATION SERVICE 119 
 
 Objections. The English Ordination services have long 
 been the object of hostile criticism, but it is unnecessary 
 to enlarge upon this, for it is no longer seriously disputed 
 that the forms contained in them are adequate in them- 
 selves. It is still, however, maintained that the Ordina- 
 tion of Priests shows a defective intention, inasmuch as 
 it does not expressly confer the ' sacerdotium ' or power 
 of offering sacrifice. To this it may be replied, first, that 
 the old Roman rite and other ancient rites do not mention 
 sacrifice at all ; secondly, that Ordination is to an office 
 and not to any particular function of that office, and that 
 it is not necessary to specify every function ; 1 thirdly, that 
 in giving power to minister the sacraments, the Church 
 necessarily gives power to offer sacrifice ; and fourthly, 
 that even if the English Church took a wrong view of the 
 functions of the ministry, this would not invalidate her 
 orders if conferred by qualified persons with an adequate 
 rite. 
 
 Changes since 1550. It remains to notice the changes 
 made in the Ordinal since 1550. In 1552 there were 
 some characteristic omissions. The delivery of the 
 chalice and pastoral staff and the laying the Bible on 
 the neck of the bishop were omitted, and no mention 
 was made of vestments, which had been albes for priests 
 and deacons when first presented, a tunicle for the 
 deacon who read the Gospel, and copes for the bishops. 
 No further change was made until 1661. Then an im- 
 portant addition was made to the formulas used in 
 ordaining bishops and priests. In the case of bishops 
 it had been ' Take the Holy Ghost, and remember that 
 thou stir up the Grace of God, which is in thee, by 
 imposition of hands : for God hath not given,' etc. It 
 now became 'Receive the Holy Ghost, for the Office and 
 work of a Bishop in the Church of God, now committed unto 
 thee by the Imposition of our hands; In the Name . . . 
 Amen. And remember that thou stir up the grace of 
 God which is given thee by this Imposition of our hands : 
 
 1 It may be noted that the recently discovered Prayers of 
 Bishop Sarapion (about 350 A.D.) contain a form for the Ordina- 
 tion of Presbyters, in which there is neither a mention of the 
 office, nor of the power of offering sacrifice.
 
 120 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 For God hath not,' etc. The form for priests had been 
 f Receive the Holy Ghost; whose sins,' etc. It now 
 became ( Receive the Holy Ghost for the Office and work 
 of a Priest in the Church of God now committed unto thee by 
 the Imposition of our hands. Whose sins,' etc. These 
 additions make it as clear as human language can make 
 it what the English Church holds as to the nature of the 
 Divine gift conferred and the means by which it is con- 
 ferred, but they do not imply any acknowledgment that 
 the previous forms had been deficient. They were in- 
 tended to emphasise the doctrine of the English Church 
 against Presbyterian and Puritan views. 
 
 Other changes were as follows: The title was enlarged; the 
 conclusion of the first paragraph of the Preface was recast, so as 
 to make it more clear that the English Church recognises only 
 Episcopal Ordination ; the age for the diaconate was changed 
 from 21 to 23 ; the Ordination of Priests and Deacons is to be at 
 one of the four Ember seasons, and only on some urgent occasion 
 upon some other Sunday or Holy-day ; that of Bishops is always 
 to be on some Sunday or Holy-day ; the deacons and priests are to 
 be ' decently habited ' ; the bishop-elect is to wear first a rochet, 
 and to ' put on the rest of the Episcopal habit ' before his conse- 
 cration ; the bishop is set ' in his chair near to the Holy Table ' 
 when the candidates are presented to him ; the candidates for 
 priesthood are presented, like the deacons, before the Litany, 
 instead of after the Gospel ; in the fifth question to the deacons 
 ' in the absence of the priest to baptize infants ' is substituted for 
 ' to Baptize,' and in the same question, as also in the address to 
 the bishop-elect, 'congregation' is changed into 'Church'; in 
 the Ordination of Priests the shorter translation of the Veni 
 Creator was added, and instead of being sung immediately after 
 the Gospel, it was placed in the more suitable position which it 
 now occupies ; the seventh question in the examination of a 
 bishop-elect, about the work of Ordination, was added ; the 
 prayer ' Prevent us, O Lord ' and the Benediction were added at 
 the end of all three services ; changes were made in the Epistles 
 and Gospels, and various small verbal alterations were made. 
 
 NOTE. Further information about the question of the validity 
 of English Orders may be found in the tracts published by the 
 Church Historical Society.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE SCOTTISH LITURGY 
 
 AN account of the Book of Common Prayer would be 
 incomplete without some description of that beautiful 
 Liturgy, one of the most beautiful and complete in 
 existence, which is known as ' The Communion Office of 
 the Church of Scotland.' It is quite beyond the scope of 
 this work to describe the circumstances which caused the 
 Reformation movement to take in Scotland a course so 
 different from that which it assumed in England. It must 
 suffice to say that in the sixteenth century all ancient 
 forms of devotion were swept away together with the 
 historical continuity of the Church. Calvinism was 
 introduced and a Presbyterian form of government was 
 set up in 1592. Episcopacy was restored in 1610, but it 
 was not until after the accession of Charles i. in 1625 
 that final steps were taken to provide for Scotland a 
 liturgy both Catholic and reformed. It was at first pro- 
 posed to introduce the English Book of Common Prayer 
 without modification, and this was the wish of Archbishop 
 Laud ; but it was represented that this would be offensive 
 to Scottish national feeling, and a separate book was 
 drawn up. The work was mainly effected by two learned 
 Scottish bishops, Maxwell and Wedderburne, and it was 
 revised by Laud and Wren, bishop of Norwich. The 
 differences from the English book were in a few points, 
 such as the substitution of ' Presbyter' for 'Priest,' and the 
 omission of sentences taken from the Apocrypha, designed 
 to conciliate the prevailing tone of religious feeling in 
 Scotland, but in the main the book conforms more closely 
 to Catholic usage than the English book, and distinctly 
 
 121
 
 122 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 reverts to the book of 1549. The most important points 
 in the Liturgy are the restoration of the Invocation before 
 and the Oblation immediately after the words of Institu- 
 tion, a specific direction for the Offertory, a Commemoration 
 of the Departed, and the omission of the second clause in 
 the formula of delivery. The fate of this book is well 
 known. Its use in the cathedral of S. Giles in Edinburgh 
 on Sunday, July 23, 1637, led to a riot which set in 
 motion a train of events that culminated in the Great 
 Rebellion. After the Restoration, Episcopacy was again 
 reintroduced into Scotland, but no book was prescribed, 
 and the services were conducted with little ceremony or 
 even decency. In 1690 William in. made Presbyterianism 
 the established religion of Scotland, and it has remained 
 so to this day. In Anne's reign copies of the English 
 Book of Common Prayer were largely introduced into 
 Scotland for the use of the disestablished Episcopalians. 
 Many were presented by the liberality of English church- 
 men, the University of Oxford giving much assistance, 
 and these books came into general use. The Invocation 
 and Oblation were sometimes added to the English form 
 of consecration. The Scottish book of 1637 was also 
 reprinted in 1712, and occasionally used. Meanwhile the 
 more learned Non-jurors in England, being now free from 
 State control, were desirous of approximating more closely 
 in liturgical worship to primitive and catholic usage. 
 They laid special stress upon four points, called the Usages, 
 viz. : the Invocation, the Oblation, the Commemoration of 
 the Departed, and the Mixed Chalice. In 1718 a Liturgy 
 was produced which was principally the work of Bishops 
 Jeremy Collier and Thomas Brett. It embodied the 
 usages, and made the order of the canon conform to that 
 of the Syrian Liturgies. The wording of the prayers also 
 was taken from ancient Eastern services to a far greater 
 extent than in the earlier English books. It is a service 
 of extreme beauty, and worthy of the most attentive 
 study. Upon the Scottish service its influence was con- 
 siderable. Scottish bishops had probably assisted in its 
 preparation, and the question of the ' usages ' soon became 
 pressing in the Scottish Church. They appear to have 
 been upheld only by a minority, but by a minority whose
 
 THE SCOTTISH LITURGY 123 
 
 zeal aud learning tended to prevail. In 1724 and 1731 
 concordats were arrived at, the second of which formally 
 recognised the Liturgy of 1637. This had already been 
 printed in 1724 by Bishop James Gadderar, beginning 
 with the Offertory, and omitting the two exhortations 
 used in giving notice, and the concluding rubrics and 
 collects. Those who used this book were accustomed to 
 change the order of the parts, and to assimilate it to that 
 of the book of 1549. An edition was published as a 
 private venture in 1735, which arranged the parts in con- 
 formity to the ordinary practice, and had the note on the 
 title-page, ' All the parts of this Office are ranked in the 
 natural order. ' The words ' militant here on earth ' were 
 also omitted, and in the Oblation, after the words ' these 
 thy holy gifts' was added ' which we now offer unto thee.' 
 In 1744 a book by Bishop Rattray was published, called 
 The Ancient Liturgy of the Church of Jerusalem, a work 
 of remarkable learning and judgment, which greatly 
 influenced opinion, and was the chief cause of the im- 
 portant change of placing the Invocation after the Obla- 
 tion, and so conforming, as the Non-jurors' Liturgy had 
 done, to the order of the Eastern Liturgies. This change 
 was incorporated in an edition published in 1755. Finally 
 in 1764 the Primus, Falconar, and Bishop R. Forbes pub- 
 lished a book which was rapidly accepted, and has become 
 the authorised Liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church, 
 only trifling verbal alterations having been made in later 
 editions. This book was sanctioned by canons in 1811, 
 1828, 1838, and 1863. Unhappily on the last occasion its 
 use was considerably restricted in favour of the English 
 service. 
 
 The American Liturgy. The influence of this beautiful 
 Liturgy has spread far beyond the limits of Scotland. On 
 November 14, 1784, when the Scottish Episcopal Church 
 had been almost extinguished by persecution, Samuel 
 Seabury was consecrated by three Scottish bishops in an 
 upper room at Aberdeen to be the first bishop of the 
 American Church. The Scottish Liturgy came in conse- 
 quence to be much used in America. AVhen in 1789 the 
 American Church agreed on its Liturgy, the order and 
 contents of the English service were for the most part
 
 124 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 followed, but the most important features of the Scottish 
 Office the Oblation and Invocation immediately follow- 
 ing the Institution were happily preserved. 
 
 The following is a more detailed account of the books of 1637, 
 1718, and 1764. In 1637 the order of the English service was 
 generally retained. Presbyter was substituted for Priest. The 
 table was to stand at the east end (i.e. altar-wise), and the Pres- 
 byter at ' the north side or end.' The people were to stand for 
 the Gospel, and to say 'Glory be to thee, O Lord,' and 'Thanks 
 be to thee, O Lord.' There was a different selection of Offertory 
 sentences, taken from the Authorised Version, and none were 
 taken from the Apocrypha. The Presbyter was to ' offer up and 
 place the bread and wine . . . upon the Lord's Table,' but there was 
 no verbal oblation. The prayer for the Church still came before 
 the Anaphora, but a commemoration of the departed was placed 
 at the end of it, though the words ' militant here on earth were 
 retained. The end of the prayer ran thus : "... all the days of 
 their life. [And we commend especially to thy merciful good- 
 ness the congregation which is here assembled in thy name to 
 celebrate the commemoration of the most precious death and 
 sacrifice of thy Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ.] And we most 
 humbly . . . adversity. And we also bless thy holy name for all 
 those thy servants who, having finished their course in faith, do 
 now rest from their labours. And we yield unto thee most high 
 praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue de- 
 clared in all thy saints, who have been the choice vessels of thy 
 grace, and the lights of the world in their several generations: 
 most humbly beseeching thee, that we may have grace to follow 
 the example of their stedfastness in thy faith, and obedience to 
 thy holy commandments, that at the day of the general resur- 
 rection we, and all they which are of the mystical body of thy Son, 
 may be set on his right hand, and hear that his most joyful voice, 
 Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the foundation of the world. Grant this. . . . ' In the 
 Prayer of Consecration the Invocation of 1549, with the addition 
 of the words ' so that we receiving them according to thy Son 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution,' etc., preceded the 
 Institution. The Oblation followed, as in 1549, concluding with 
 the Lord's Prayer. The Prayer of Humble Access came imme- 
 diately before the Communion, and only the first clause in the 
 Administration was used. 
 
 In the Non-jurors' book of 1718 the words Priest and Altar 
 were restored. An Introit and the Kyrie preceded the Lord's 
 Prayer. A Summary of the Law with one response replaced the 
 Commandments. The directions for the Offertory, including the 
 mixture of the Chalice, were those of 1549, and an Offertory 
 prayer from Eastern sources was added. The Benedictus was 
 added to the Gloria. The Commemoration which began the
 
 THE SCOTTISH LITURGY 125 
 
 Canon, and the Oblation and Invocation which followed the 
 Institution, were different from those of 1549, and were taken 
 from Eastern sources. The prayer for the Church followed the 
 Invocation, and was that of 1549. ' The peace of the Lord . . .' 
 and 'Christ our Paschal Lamb . . .' followed the Lord's Prayer. 
 The whole of the ' Order of Communion ' of 1548 came immedi- 
 ately before reception. 
 
 The chief points in which the service of 1764 differed from that 
 of 1637 were the following : The Summary of the Law was made 
 alternative to the Commandments, and a collect might take the 
 place of the prayer for the king. ' The Lord be with you ' was 
 replaced before Sursum Corda. The Oblation contained the 
 words ' which we now offer unto thee ' in conspicuous type, and 
 the Invocation followed it, in these words: 'And we most 
 humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to hear us, and of thy 
 almighty goodness vouchsafe to bless and sanctify with thy "Word 
 and Holy Spirit these thy gifts and creatures of Bread and Wine, 
 that they may become the Body and Blood of thy most dearly 
 beloved Son. And we earnestly desire thy fatherly goodness,' etc. 
 The prayer for the Church ( ' militant here on earth ' being omitted) 
 followed, with the conclusion of 1637. The whole of the prepara- 
 tion comes immediately before the Communion. 
 
 NOTE. Detailed information on the subject of this chapter 
 can be obtained from towden's Annotated Scottish Communion 
 Office.
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTES 
 
 NOTE A 
 
 PLINY, when governor of Bithynia in 112 A.D., wrote to the 
 Emperor Trajan to ask how far ho was to act with severity 
 towards the Christians in his province ; and he gives the following 
 account of their practices from information obtained from those 
 who had submitted : 
 
 ' They stated that this was the sum of their fault or error : 
 namely, that they were accustomed to meet on a stated day 
 before dawn, and to sing alternately a hymn to Christ as to a 
 god, and they said that they bound themselves by a sacrament 
 not to the commission of any wicked deed, but to abstain from 
 theft, and robbery, and adultery, not tfl break their word, and 
 not to withhold a deposit when reclaimed. This done, it was 
 their practice, they said, to separate, and then to meet again for 
 a meal, which, however, was of the ordinary kind, and quite 
 harmless. But even from this they had desisted since my edict, 
 in which, according to your commands, I had forbidden the 
 existence of clubs.' 
 
 Justin Martyr wrote his first Apology probably in 152 A.D. to 
 the Emperor Antoninus Pius. It is intended to vindicate the 
 Christians from some of the many false charges of immorality 
 and disloyalty brought against them. He shortly describes the 
 Eucharistic service, but in general terms that would be intelligible 
 to a pagan, and without going into details. 
 
 4 After we have thus washed (baptized) him who has been con- 
 vinced, we lead him to the place where those who are called 
 brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty 
 prayers. . . . Having ended the prayers, we salute one another 
 with a kiss. Bread and a cup of wine mingled with water are 
 then brought to the president of the brethren, and he taking them 
 gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the 
 name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at 
 considerable length. . . . And when the president has given 
 thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those 
 who are called by us deacons give each of those present the bread 
 and wine mixed with water, over which the thanksgiving was 
 126
 
 CANON OF THE MASS 127 
 
 pronounced, and they carry away a portion to those who are not 
 present. 
 
 'And this food is called among us the Eucharist. . . . "We do 
 not receive these things as common bread and common drink, but 
 in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made 
 flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salva- 
 tion, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is 
 blessed by the prayer of the Word which comes from him, and 
 from which our blood and flesh are nourished by transmutation, 
 is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.' 
 
 Later on he describes the service again : 
 
 1 On the day called Sunday all who live in cities or in the 
 country come together to one place, and the memoirs of the 
 Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read as long as time 
 permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally 
 instructs and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then 
 all rise together and offer prayers. And, as we have said before, 
 when we have finished the prayer, bread and wine and water are 
 brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and 
 thanksgivings as he has power, and the people assent, saying 
 Amen, and there is a distribution to each, and a participation in 
 the Eucharistic elements, and portions are sent to those who are 
 not present by the deacons.' 
 
 The newly discovered Prayers of Bishop Sarapion (about 350 
 A.D.) confirm the account given above of the early- liturgies. A 
 point to be noticed in the Eucharistic prayer is that the Invoca- 
 tion is of the Logos and not of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 NOTE B 
 
 THE 3ABUM CANOJf OF THE MASS 
 
 L. Te igitur. Thee therefore, most merciful Father, we humbly 
 ask and beseech through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, that thou 
 wouldest accept and bless these gifts, these offerings, these holy 
 unimpaired sacrifices. "Which we offer to thee first for thy holy 
 catholic church, to which mayest thou vouchsafe to give peace, to 
 protect, unite, and rule it in all the world, together with thy 
 servant our pope N., and our bishop N., and our king N., and all 
 the orthodox and worshippers of the catholic and apostolic faith. 
 
 Memento Domine. Remember, Lord, thy servants and hand- 
 maidens N. and N., and all present, whose faith and devotion are 
 known to thee, for whom we offer to thee or who offer to thee this 
 sacrifice of praise for themselves and all theirs, for the redemption 
 of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and safety, and pay 
 their vows to thee the eternal living and true God. 
 
 Communicantes. Communicating with and venerating the 
 memory, first of the glorious, ever-virgin Mary, mother of our God
 
 128 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 and Lord Jesus Christ, and of thy blessed apostles and martyrs, 
 Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, 
 Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddseus ; Linus, Cletus, 
 Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Laurence, Grisogonus, John 
 and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and all thy Saints ; by whose 
 merits and prayers grant that in all things we may be fortified 
 by the help of thy protection. Through the same Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Hanc igitur oblationem. This oblation therefore of our service, 
 and also of thy whole family, we pray thee, Lord, graciously to 
 accept ; and to dispose our days in thy peace, and bid us be de- 
 livered from eternal condemnation and be numbered in the flock 
 of thine elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 K. (d)l Quam oblationem. Which oblation do thou, almighty 
 God, in all respects, we pray, vouchsafe to make blessed, approved, 
 ratified, reasonable, and acceptable, that it may become to us 
 the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 K. (e). Qui pridie. Who on the day before he suffered took 
 bread into his holy and venerable hands, and having lifted up his 
 eyes to heaven to thee God, his Father almighty, giving thanks 
 to thee bHessed, brake, and gave to his disciples, saying, Take 
 and eat ye all of this. For this is my body. 
 
 Simili modo. In like manner after supper, taking also this 
 excellent cup into his holy and venerable hands, likewise giving 
 thanks to thee, he bH-essed, and gave to his disciples, saying, 
 Take and drink ye all of it. For this is the cup of my blood of 
 the new and eternal testament, the mystery of faith, which shall 
 be poured out for you and for many for the remission of sins. As 
 often as ye shall do these things, ye shall do them in remembrance 
 of me. 
 
 K. (c). Untie et memorcs. Wherefore also, O Lord, we thy 
 servants, and thy holy people, mindful of the so blessed passion 
 of the same thy Son Christ our Lord God, and also of his resur- 
 rection from the dead, and glorious ascension into heaven, offer 
 to thine excellent majesty of thy gifts and bounties a pu4re host, 
 a ho-Hy host, a spot-Mess host, the holy bH-ead of eternal life, 
 and the c-Hip of everlasting salvation. 
 
 Supra quce propitio. On which vouchsafe to look with pro- 
 pitious and serene countenance, and to accept as thou didst vouch- 
 safe to accept the offerings of thy righteous servant Abel, and 
 the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham, and that which thy high 
 priest Melchisedech offered to thee, a holy sacrifice, a spotless 
 host. 
 
 K. (d)l Supplices te rogamus. We humbly beseech thee, 
 almighty God, bid these things to be borne by the hands of thy 
 holy Angel to thine altar on high, in the sight of thy divino 
 majesty, that as many of us as shall by this partaking of the 
 Altar have received the holy Bo4*dy and Bl-t-ood of thy Son, may
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST 129 
 
 be fulfilled with all heavenly bene-Hliction and grace, through 
 the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 L. Memento etiam. Remember also, O Lord, the souls of thy 
 servants and handmaidens N. and N. who have gone before us 
 with the sign of faith, and rest in the sleep of peace ; to them, 
 O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, we pray thee to grant a 
 place of refreshment, of light and of peace. Through the same 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Nobis quoquc peccatoribus. To us sinners also thy servants, 
 hoping in the multitude of thy mercies, vouchsafe to grant some 
 part and fellowship with thy holy apostles and martyrs, with John, 
 Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius. Alexander, Marcellinus, 
 Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anas- 
 tasia, and with all thy Saints, into whose company, we beseech 
 thee, admit us, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our 
 offences. Through Christ our Lord. [Amen.] 
 
 D. (c). Per quern haec omnia. By whom, O Lord, thou dost 
 always create, sancti-Hy, quick-Fen, bH-ess, and bestow upon us 
 all these good things. Through h-Hm and with h-Hm and in 
 h-Hm is to thee God the Father alm-Hghty in the unity of the 
 Holy Ghost all honour and glory. For ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 M. Let us pray. Admonished by salutary precepts and directed 
 by divine instruction, we dare to say : Our Father . . . 
 
 NOTE C 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST 
 
 It is impossible to discuss this subject fully within the limits of 
 a note, but a short explanation must be given of some of the tertns 
 used in the text. It must be remembered that opinions on a 
 subject such as this cannot be exactly classified and labelled, but 
 the following are in outline the chief views that have to be taken 
 into account : 
 
 i. The doctrine of the Real Presence. All Christians in the 
 Early Church believed that the bread and wine offered in the 
 Eucharist were made by consecration to be truly the Body and 
 Blood of Christ. The presence, in modern language, was believed 
 to be objective, i.e. not dependent on the minds of the receivers. 
 But no assertion was made as to the manner in which Christ came 
 to be present, except that it was through the operation of the 
 Holy Ghost and Christ himself. 
 
 ii. Transubstantiation and Consubstantiation. The philo- 
 sophers of the Middle Ages believed that things consisted of 
 substance and accidents. The accidents of a thing are what can 
 be apprehended by the senses (i.e. colour, shape, taste, chemical 
 properties, etc.); the substance is a mysterious something which 
 i
 
 130 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 is supposed to remain when all these are taken away, and which 
 yet makes the thing to be what it is. This theory came to be 
 applied to the Eucharist, and it was held that the substance 
 of the bread and wine was by consecration changed into the 
 substance of Christ's Body and Blood, the accidents of the 
 bread and wine (i.e. everything that in modern language 
 we should call material) remaining the same. The name of 
 transubstantiation was sanctioned by the Lateran Council of 
 1215, and the doctrine was further defined at the Council of 
 Trent, which ended in 1563. Meanwhile the word substance 
 had come to be equivalent in popular use to the substance com- 
 bined with the accidents, and at the time of the Reformation the 
 doctrine waa commonly supposed to imply a change in the 
 accidents as well as the substance, i.e. a material change. In 
 1413 Sir John Oldcastle was actually burned for denying that 
 'the material bread' was turned into Christ's Body. This 
 corrupted doctrine seems to overthrow the nature of a sacrament 
 by doing away with the outward sign. It is against such ' carnal ' 
 views that Article xxviii. and the Declaration on Kneeling pro- 
 test. Wiclif objected to the doctrine of Transubstantiation on 
 the purely philosophical ground that the accidents must have a 
 substance in which to inhere, and maintained that the substance 
 of the bread and wine co-existed with the substance of the Body 
 and Blood of Christ. The Lutheran doctrine is known as Con- 
 substantiation. In its better form it resembles the doctrine of 
 Wiclif, but there was a lower form which was very materialistic, 
 and taught that the substances of bread and of Christ's Body are 
 moulded up together. It must be noted, however, that neither 
 the doctrine of Consubstantiation nor that of Transubstantiation, 
 as now denned by the Roman Church, necessarily implies or even 
 suggests a material presence of our Lord's Body in the Eucharist. 
 The conception of substance may be antiquated, but it does not 
 mean anything material. 
 
 iii. The Receptionist doctrine. Calvin maintained that the 
 benefit of the Body and Blood of Christ was communicated to the 
 soul of the worthy receiver when he received the elements with 
 the mouth. The Presence was therefore subjective and the 
 elements were tokens, not channels, of a grace given. This view 
 appears incompatible with the statement of Article xxv. that the 
 sacraments are effectual signs (efficacia signa) of grace, the state- 
 ment of Article xxviii. that * the Body of Christ is given, taken, 
 and eaten,' and the statement of the Catechism that the Body 
 and Blood of Christ 'are verily and indeed taken and received.' 
 
 iv. The Zwinglian doctrine. The doctrine held by the more 
 extreme Swiss reformers that sacraments are mere signs, and the 
 Eucharist a mere commemoration, is emphatically repudiated by 
 Articles xxv., xxvii., and xxviii. 
 
 The doctrine of the Eucharistic Sacrifice has been much mis- 
 understood, chiefly through mistaken or contracted views as to
 
 BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR STUDY 131 
 
 the nature of sacrifice. It is a mistake to suppose that the true 
 nature of sacrifice can be learnt from a study of Jewish or heathen 
 systems, or that its essence consists in the destruction of life. It 
 has been said that there is no true sacrifice in the Christian 
 Church. In reality there is no true sacrifice anywhere else. To 
 a Christian the sacrifice of Christ is the only true sacrifice, and 
 Jewish and heathen sacrifices are only faint shadows of a reality. 
 The essence of sacrifice is Divine love, which, entering into a 
 world of sin, took a form subject to pain and death. The 
 Eucharist is a sacrifice because it is the means appointed by Christ 
 himself in order that the Church may plead the sacrifice of Christ 
 and offer itself with him to God. Christ offered his sacrifice 
 once, as far as death was concerned, upon earth, but he ever 
 presents it in heaven (see Hebrews viii. 3 ; vii. 25 ; cf. ix. 7 ; xiii. 
 10). The doctrine against which the reformers wished to protest 
 was the popular idea that sacrifice necessarily means a kind of 
 death or annihilation, and that the death of Christ is in some way 
 repeated in the Eucharist. 
 
 NOTE D 
 
 BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOB FURTHER STUDY 
 
 For a general introduction to English Church History at any 
 period, Wakeman's Introduction to the History of the Church of 
 England is of course unrivalled. The period of the Reformation 
 may be studied in detail in R. W. Dixon's History of the Church 
 of England. For the history of the two first Prayer Books, 
 Gasquet and Bishop's Edward VI. and the Book of Common 
 Prayer is valuable though written with a Roman bias. 
 
 For a simple introduction to the Prayer Book, Eland's Lay- 
 man's Book of Common Prayer, and Stephens' Helps to the 
 Study of the Book of Common Prayer may be recommended. 
 Procter's History of the Book of Common Prayer contains fuller 
 information about the history of the book since 1549. 
 
 For the Liturgy, Duchesne's Origines du Culte Chrdtien must 
 be read by every one who wishes to study the subject. It deals 
 with the first eight centuries. Warren s Liturgy of the Ante- 
 Niccne Church gives accurate information about the first three 
 centuries. These two books deal with the other public services 
 as well as the Liturgy. Luckock's Divine Liturgy treats the 
 subject devotionally. The Eastern Liturgies themselves are novr 
 easily accessible in Mr. Brightman's magnificent edition. There 
 are several good editions of the Sarum Missal, and Mr. Wilson's 
 edition of the Gelasian Sacramentary is admirable. 
 
 The history of the daily office is given in a most attractive form 
 in BatiffoFs Histoire du BrMaire Romain, of which there is an.
 
 132 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 English translation. Baumer's Geschichte des Breviers is a 
 longer book. The Sarum Breviary and Quignonez' Breviary are 
 published by the Cambridge Press. 
 
 For the early history of the occasional offices Duchesne and 
 Warren may be consulted. The Sarum offices are to be found in 
 MaskelPs Monumenta Ritualia. Blomfield Jackson's edition of 
 the Ordinal (S.P.C.K.) contains most valuable notes.
 
 INDEX 
 
 NOTE. It is hoped that this Index may serve to some extent as a Glossary. 
 Definitions will be found specially on pages marked hy thick type. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION, Formula of, n, 19, 
 
 38, 39. 5, 51- 
 
 Advertisements, Parker's, 12. 
 Agap6, 16, 17, 19. 
 Anaphora, 20, 22, 48, 78. 
 Anthem, 79, 106. 
 Antiphon, 60, 65, 71-73, 102. 
 Antiphonal Singing, 56, 60. 
 Antiphoner, 2. 
 Apostolic Constitutions, 19-24, 27, 
 
 45-Si- 
 Athanasian Creed, 77. 
 
 BAPTISM, 2, 81-94. 
 
 Black Rubric. See Declaration on 
 
 Kneeling. 
 
 Breviary, i, 2, 67-73. 
 Burial, 2, 104-110. 
 
 CANON OF THE MASS, 7, 31, 35-37, 
 
 127-129. 
 
 Capitulum, 61-64, 7 1 - 
 Catechumens, 17, 20, si, 30, 46, 83-87. 
 Chrism, 86, 87, 91, 94, 117. 
 Chrisom, 87, 92-94. 
 Churching of Women, 2, 79, 96. 
 Clementine Liturgy. See Apostolic 
 
 Constitutions. 
 
 Collects, 17, 28, 40, 41, 77, 78. 
 Commination, no. 
 Commixture, 24, 32, 50, 51. 
 
 Confession, 28, 34, 47, 51, 63, 64, 102. 
 Confirmation, 2, 83, 84, 87, 88, 90, 91, 
 
 94, 95- 
 
 Convocation, 3, 6, 9, 13, 14, 39. 
 Cranmer, 4, 5, 8-10, 43, 44, 73, 75, 
 
 108-110. 
 Cross in Baptism, 13, 84-87, 89, 91-95. 
 
 DAILY OFFICE, Obligation of, 75, 76. 
 Dead, Prayers for the, 7, 39, 104-110, 
 
 122. 
 
 Declaration on Kneeling, 10, n, 14, 
 
 38, 39, i3- 
 Diptych s, 22, 48. 
 Dirge, 106. 
 Double Feasts, 67. 
 
 Doxology after Lord's Prayer, 79. 
 
 EFFETA, 86, 89, 91. 
 
 Elevation, 23, 31, 50. 
 
 Embolismus, 23, 32, 48. 
 
 Epiklesis, 19, 23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 36, 38, 
 
 48, 122-125, I2 7- 
 Eucharist, Doctrine of the, 3, 7, 9, 37, 
 
 39, 129-131. 
 
 Extreme Unction, 2, 99-102. 
 
 FRACTION, 14, 18, 23, 32, 34, 39, 50, 51. 
 
 GLORIA IN EXCELSIS, 28, 33, 38, 87. 
 Gradual, 2, 29. 
 
 133
 
 134 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 
 
 HOMILIES, 4, 15, 19-21, 29, 47. 
 Hours of Prayer, 53-58, 61-65. 
 Hymns, i, 68, 71 79, 95. 
 
 IXTROIT, 28, 37, 46, 47. 
 Invocation. See Epiklesis. 
 Invocation of Saints, 7, 43, 44. 
 Justin Martyr, 16, 19, 126. 
 
 KVRIE, 28, 33, 37, 42, 43, 47, 105. 
 
 LAVABO, 21, 46, 47. 
 
 Legenda, 2. 
 
 Litany, 2, 3, 21, 28, 41-45, 86, 113. 
 
 Liturgies, Families of, 24-27. 
 
 MANUAL, i, 2. 
 
 Manual Acts, 14, 18, 23, 24, 31, 32, 34, 
 
 39, 50, 51. 
 
 Mass, 4, 5, 7, 17, 20, 21, 27, 30, 37. 
 Matrimony, 2, 96-99. 
 Memorials, 68. 
 Minor Orders, in-n6, ti8. 
 Missal, i, 2. 
 Mixed Chalice, 19, 122, 124, 126, 
 
 127. 
 
 NON-JURORS, 122, 124, 125. 
 
 OFFERTORY, 14, 19, 20, 22, 30, 33, 34, 
 
 37. 39i 46, 47. 122. "4. 
 Order of Communion, 4, 5, 34, 51, 
 
 US- 
 Orders, Validity of English, 119. 
 Ordinal, 2. 
 Ordinal (Ordination Service), 2, 8, 
 
 III-I2O. 
 
 Ornaments Rubric. See Vestments. 
 O Sapientia, 65. 
 
 PARKER'S ADVERTISEMENTS, u. 
 
 Pax, 19, 21, 32, 46, 51. 
 
 Plain Song, 56, 58-60, 76. 
 
 Pliny's Letter to Trajan, 16, 18, 126. 
 
 Pontifical, I, 2. 
 
 Porrectio Instrumentorum, 115, 117, 
 
 118. 
 
 Processional, i, 3, 42, 43. 
 Prose, 29. 
 
 Prothesis, 22, 25, 46. 
 Puritans, 11-14. 
 
 QUIGNONBZ, 71-75. 
 
 RECUSANTS, 10. 
 
 Reservation of the Sacrament, n, 19, 
 
 39, 103, 104, 127. 
 Respond, 60, 6r, 65, 71. 
 
 SACRAMENTARIES, 2, 27, 40, 84, 98, 
 
 99, 105, 113-116. 
 Sacrifice, 7, 9, 16, 17, 37, 119, 130, 
 
 131- 
 
 Saints' Days, 65-72. 
 Sarapion, Prayers of, 119, 127. 
 Sequence, a, 29. 
 Station Days, 16, 44, 53. 
 Sursum Corda, 19, 22, 30, 48, 49. 
 
 TRADITIO SYMBOLI, 85, 89, 91, 92. 
 Troper, Tropes, 3. 
 
 UNCTION, 82, 84, 86, 89, 91-95, 99-103, 
 115-118. 
 
 VENI CREATOR, 115-118, 120. 
 Vestments, 6, n, 12, 38, 39, 77, 78, 119, 
 
 1 20. 
 Visitation of the Sick, 2, 99-104.
 
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 CATHERINE M. WELBY. With a Preface by W. H. HUTTON , 
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 Daily Footsteps in the Church's Path ; being Daily Readings 
 in Prose and Verse arranged in the Order of the Church's 
 Year, from Advent to All Saints' Day. With a Preface by 
 the Rev. THOMAS B. DOVER, M.A., Vicar of Old Maiden, 
 Surrey. Fcap. 8vo. 35. 6d. 
 
 The Early History of the Hebrews. By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE. 
 Professor of Assyriology at Oxford. Author of 'The Egypt 
 of the Hebrews and Herodotos." Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 LONDON : RIVINGTONS, 34 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
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