%
cm
_~\-
viOSANff:
,•,,;_' K.m-o/:^
% i
^ Uj
! 3WV '^0
:.V^
'V3J
:,0FCA1IF0
.c.noDiov^,. -(Vlf ll'.IVFpr-, ^.iri^vAwrFifr
^\1F:
■nUNCEL
1"% r. r ^ 1 i c n n .
<tlE.r'HI\ TDC/..
.i\V
.^
in\ UTFifr
riF r'A'iFnp/
._r<^ ■^/m\,....
^v\F.I'K,'IVfDr/v
imAivT.Fl
^(9Aavaan#
#
^lOSANCElfjv, ,^^l
"^/iaJAlNliak^v"
''JaOJIlVJJO'^^
,V>'
''■■ri)33NV'-S0\^
.V10SANCEI%
ir '^
1 1
^OFCA1IFO)?>^
,^W[UNlVERy>{
%aiAINIl-3WV^
^<?Aavaaiv#
.nM-IIBRARYO/
-V^X^F-ll'.IVFRO/
1)
■.\^
^tfOjnvDjo^
%;...,
.(^
,nF r.MiFne..
<viFiiv.'i\'rDr/,
vin^: AurFifc,
. rvC.rAitcnn
*
IIFO
£5 ^
A^ >&Aavaaii-
.\!l"FI
. ;.v>
>JI MIMI J
^lOvANf.fl<J>
^^^l■llBRARYftf
§ 1 i< — ■ ^
si
^,^^l•llBRARYa<^
^^W[■UNIV[
"«^/Sa3AINn-3WV^
^aojiivjjo>^
'■''.KOdllVJ-JO^'
'<fJlJDNV-S(
^lOSANCElfj^^
^OFCAllFOff^
<V;OFCA1IFO%
.^WEUNIVf
'\NCflfj> <AlllBRARYQf^
'J-^ ^OFCAIIFO% ^
^
#
■J
O li.
>J|)f
%
iJV^''^ 'V/^a3MNil3rtV"
a>' '''^aO:
o
"%83MNn3WV
^;^l■llBRARY(9/^
^.JOJIIVDJO^-
^ ,^?'^iH!£%
^ "^(JAavaaiii^
,^V\FHN1V!
i>^^ '':
ir ■■""'-
t c niiiv rrnr
"v/sajAiNn-^wv
CO
5^
:^ ':;^
^ ^/ia3AiNn-3ftv^
r vAtllBRARYGc^
^ ^tfOJIIVJJO't^
%«iAiNnmv
.^
,.^^
'/ o>cOfCAllFO%
'"^omwi.^
% A>;lOSANCElfj>.
■^/saiAiNnjwv^
AINHBV
.•^
i^Jll Jr^
"z
Or
1#
X'
%
11-
'l,.'3l|VJ-3W ■
(^^^-^^ '^ yrf^^
THE ANNOTATED
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
THE ANNOTATED
Book of Common Prayer
BEING AN
HISTORICAL, RITUAL, AND THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
ON THE DEVOTIONAL SYSTEM
OF
Cl)e Cl)urcl) of Cnglant)
EDITED BY THE REV.
JOHN HENRY BLUNT, D.D.
AUTHOR OF " THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION "
EDITOR OF " THE DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY "
ETC.
' S^us Saitl^ t))t Horn, ©tant je in tlje iuaga, ann itt, anti ash for t\t oln paffca, toTjcre ig t\t goon toap,
ann toalfe tjcrcin, ann je Sljall finn rest for jour souls." — Jeremiah vi. i6
NKW EDITION
RIVINGTONS
WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON
MDCCCXC
stack
Annex
5
TO HIS GRACE
THE MOST REVEREND AND RIGHT HONOURABLE FATHER IN GOD
EDWARD WHITE
BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE
LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
PRIMATE OF ALL ENGLAND
AND METROPOLITAN
REGARDED ALSO AS
PATRIARCH
OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND HER DAUGHTER CHURCHES
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
THIS NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION OF
Cf)C annotatctJ TBook of Common Iprayer
IS
BY PERMISSION
lljlc0pcctfiillp tictiicatcti
WITH THE SINCERE AND HUMBLE PRAYER
THAT IT MAY HAVE THE DIVINE BLESSING
FOR THE PROMOTION OF
GODLY UNITY AND EXPEDIENT UNIFORMITY
THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNION OVER WHICH
HIS GRACE IS CALLED TO PRESIDE
b
1^30735
PREFACE.
ri 1HE present edition of the Annotated Prayer Book has been carefully revised in
-L every part, many additions have been made, and the form of the page has been
so altered as to bring the references conveniently together, with letters of reference
carried across the page through both cokimns in regular succession.
[1] The Historical Introduction has been entirely rewritten, and much
additional matter has been included. This is especially the case in the account of the
Revision of 1661, where the constitutional manner in which the Ecclesiastical work of
revision was ratified by the Civil authorities is now much more fully illustrated from
the Journals of the Houses of Lords and Commons.
[2] The Notes on the Minor Festivals have also been entirely rewritten by
their author, the Rev. Joseph Thomas Fowler of Durham, who has spared no pains in
the endeavour to give them a critical value as trustworthy, though necessarily very
condensed, accounts of the Saints commemorated on those days.
[.3] The Gospels and Epistles have been printed at length, with some critical
improvements which appear in the Manuscript of the Prayer Book, but which were
unaccountably neglected in the Sealed Books and in subsequent editions. These
improvements are more particularly referred to below.
[4] The Psalms have been revised m the same manner from the Manuscript of
the Prayer Book and from the Great Bible. Brief historical notices of the Psalms
have also been added to the Liturgical references given in former editions.
[o] The Introduction to the Ordinal has been much enlarged by the addition
of Tables shewing, in as much detail as space ^^^ll allow, the course of INIinisterial
descent and succession from our Lord and His Apostles to the Uving Clergy of the
Church of England.
The Text of the Prayer Book in former editions was that of the Sealed
Books, but care has been taken m this edition to bring it into exact agreement with
that of the Manuscript svibscribed by the Convocations of Canterbury and York, and
viii Preface to tbc rc^jiscD
annexed by Parliament to the Act of Uniformity. The Editor has made repeated
applications for pemiission to collate tliis Manuscript ; and, after much correspondence,
the following final reply was received by him : —
" House of Lords, August 23r(l, ISSO.
Sir, — I am directed by the Clerk of the Parliaments to inform you that the Parliament OflSce
Committee have had under consideration your request of the 8th of June last, for permission to correct the
text of the forthcoming edition of your Annotated Prayer Book with the MS. Book formerly attached to
the Act of Uniformity, and that the Committee are of opinion that your application should not be acceded
to. I have fiu'ther to inform you that the Report of the Committee has been agreed to by the House.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
ED. M. PARRATT.
The Editor had, however, by the khid permission of Lord Caii-ns, been permitted
to make use of the Manuscript to some extent ; and he is now able to say that the
Text of the Annotated Book of Common Prayer, as printed in the following pages,
faithfully represents that of the Manuscript except in respect to the conventional
spelling and punctuation of the seventeenth century : and that where any important
meaning depended on either spelling or punctuation they also have been faithfully
reproduced.
Among the corrections of the Text which have been introduced into the present
edition in consequence of this examination of the Manuscript, two are especially to be
noticed; namely, the accurate reproduction of the Authorized Version of 1611 in the
Gospels and Epistles ; and of the "Great Bible " in the Psahns. For the Gospels and
Epistles the Text of the Annotated Bible has been used, that Text being formed from
a comparison of an Oxford Standard Text [minion, small 8vo, marg. ref] mtli the Cam-
bridge Authorized Version edited by Dr. Scrivener. The Itahcs have been carefully
inserted as they appear in the same Text ; and mterpolated words, such as " Jesus
said," are distinguished from the actual Text by being printed within brackets. For the
Psalms the Bible of 1539 has been used. The Italics of this (which are printed in Roman
type in the original black-letter Bible) differ slightly here and there from those marked
as such in the Manuscript of the Prayer Book ; but as the intention of the Revisers of
16G1 was to reproduce accurately the Psalter as it appears in "The Translation of the
Great English Bible set forth and used in the time of King Henry the Eighth and
Edwai-d the Sixth," it has been thought best to take Cranmer's Bible, the Authorized
Version of 1539, as the standard.
Since the original publication of the Annotated Prayer Book in 18G6, many works
have been published which help to throw light on the ancient devotional usages of the
Church of England ; and the Editor has made free use of these for the further improve-
ment of this eighth edition. All these are included in the " List of Liturgical and
Historical Authorities " printed at page xv, l)iit particular mention should be made
here of Messrs. Procter and Wordsworth's edition of llie Sarum Breviary ; of Dr.
anD enlargcD CDitton. ix
Henderson's editions of the Yorh Missal, Matmal, and Pontifical, and of the Hereford
Missal ; of Mr. Simmons' admirably edited Lay Folk's Mass Book ; of Mr. Chambers'
Worshij) of the Church of England in the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; and of
the late Mr. Scudamore's Notitia Eucharistica.
During these seventeen years the Editor has also received many kind communica-
tions in which criticisms have been offered, corrections made, or improvements suggested.
It would be impossible to refer to these in detail, but he desires to mention particularly
the names of thi'ee special contributors to the original work, Professor Bright, the Rev.
J. T. Fowler, and the Rev. T. W. Perry, as having rendered invaluable assistance
towards weeding out errors and making the work generally more perfect. The Litur-
gical references to the Psalms were also revised with great care for a former edition
by the Rev. C. F. S. Warren ; and the enlarged Table of Ecclesiastical Colours has
been contributed for this edition by the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth, Rector of
Glaston. To other correspondents, both m England and America, the Editor begs to
offer his sincere thanks for their communications, and to add that they have aill received
careful consideration, often with advantage to the work.
In conclusion, the Editor desires to say, that although he and his coadjutors have
felt it to be their duty to go into much detail I'especting ancient ritual, that the liistory
of ritual might be the more effectually illustrated, it must not be supjoosed that the
revived use of all such details is advocated in tliis work. So far as the Annotated
Prayer Book may be supposed to exercise influence in any degree on a revival of
ritual, the Editor's one great object has been that of assisting the Clergy and Laity of
the Church of England in the estabhshment of a godly, manly, and rational system, by
which He Who originally ordained and instituted ritual observances may be honoured,
and by which they who ofter them may be built up in faith and reverence.
October 1883.
PREFACE TO FORMER EDITIONS.
nnmS work is an attempt to gather into one concise view all the most important
-*- information that is extant respecting the devotional system of the Church of
England as founded on the Book of Common Prayer.
Much research and study have been expended upon this subject during the last
quarter of a century ; and the Prayer Book has been largely illustrated by the works of
Sir William Palmer, Mr. Maskell, and Archdeacon Freeman. Many smaller books than
these have also been published with the object of bringing into a compact form the
results of wide and learned investigations : the most trustworthy and comjilete of
all such books being Mr. Procter's excellent History of the Book of Common Prayer,
ivith a Rationale of its Offices. But it has long seemed to the Editor of the present
volume that a work of another kind was wanted, which (without superseding any pre-
vious one of established merit) should exhibit more concisely and perspicuously the
connection between the ancient and the modern devotional system of the Church
of England by placing the two side by side, as far as the former is represented in the
latter : and which should also give a general condensed illustration of our present Prayer
Book from all those several points of view from which it must be regarded if it is to
be properly understood and appreciated.
Perhaps there is no one book, except the Holy Bible, which has been so much
written about as the Prayer Book since the Reformation, and perhaps so much was
never written about any one book which left so much still unsaid. The earliest class of
commentators is represented by John Boys, who died Dean of Canterbury in 1619, and
who had in earlier life published a Volume of Postils which were preceded by a diffuse
comment on the principal parts of the Prayer Book. In these there is much ponderous
learning, but a total absence of any Liturgical knowledge. Bishop Andrewes and Arch-
bishop Laud began to open out the real meaning and the true bearing of our Offices,
being well acquainted with the Greek Liturgies, and having some knowledge, at least, of
the Breviaries and the Missals of the Church of England. L'Estrange, Sparrow, Cosin,
and Elborow represent a still further advance towards a true comprehension of the
Prayer Book ; Bishop Cosin especially being thoroughly familiar with the Sarum Missal,
and perhaps with the Breviary and other Office-books of the old Church of England.
In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Liturgical studies seem, indeed, to have been
taken up by many of the Clergy, especially by the Nonjurors, and interleaved Prayer
Books are preserved in the Bodleian and other libraries wliich testify to the industry
that was shewn in illustrating its text, especially from the Greek Liturgies. None seem
so thoroughly to have qualified themselves for the task of illustrating and interpreting
the Book of Common Prayer as Fothergill, a nonjuror, whose interleaved Prayer Book
in eleven large volumes, together with his unmatched collection of old English Service-
preface to former (ZBDitions. xi
books, is now in the Chapter Library at York.' But his notes and quotations were not
digested into order : and although a work founded upon tliem would have been invalu-
able in days when there was no better authority than the superficial Wheatley, they have
since been superseded by the publications of Palmer and Maskell.
The works of Comber, Wheatley, and Shepherd, were doubtless of great value in
their way ; but it is melancholy to observe that they tended in reality to alienate the
minds of their readers from all thought of Unity and Fellowship with the Church of our
Fathers, and set up two idols of the imagination, a Church originated in the sixteenth
century, and a Liturgy " compiled," and in the main invented, by the Reformers. There
is not a single published work on the Prayer Book previous to the publication of
Palmer's Origines LiturgiccB in 1832, which makes the least attempt to give a truthful
view of it, so thoroughly was this shallow conceit of a newly-invented Liturgy ingrained
in the minds of even our best writers.
Notwithstanding, therefore, the great abundance of works on the Book of Common
Prayer, there seems to be still ample room for one like the present, in which the spirit
of our Offices is illustrated from their origin and history as well as from their existing
form ; and in which a large body of material is placed before the reader by means whereof
he may himself trace out that history, and interpret that spirit.
Tlie object of the present work may be stated, then, to be that of illustrating and
explaining the Devotional system of the Church of England by (1) a careful comparison
of tlie Prayer Book with the original sources from which it is derived, (2) a critical
examination of all the details of its history, and (3) a full consideration of the aspect in
which it appears when viewed by the light of those Scriptural and primitive principles
on which the Theology of the Church of England is founded.
For the plan of the work, the general substance of it, and for all those portions the
authorship of which is not otherwise indicated, the Editor must be held responsible.
For the details of the text and notes in those parts which have been contributed by
others (excepting the Marginal Refei'ences), the authors must, of course, be considered
individually responsible. Circumstances have arisen which threw into the Editoi-'s hands
a larger proportion of the work than he originally intended to undertake, especially in
connection with the Communion and the Occasional Offices ; but he does not wish to
claim any indulgence on this account, being fully assured that a commentary of the kind
here offered ought to be judged solely by its merits as an authentic interpreter and
guide. The Introduction to the Communion Service and the earlier portion of the
Notes upon it are by the Editor.
In the Offices for the Visitation and Communion of the Sick, the Editor has to
acknowledge valuable assistance from a friend who does not permit his name to be used.
Those Offices have been treated in a rather more homiletic method than most of the
' Marmaduke Fothergill was born at York in 1652, took j collection of ancient Service-books, which, with the rest of liis
his degree at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and became j Library, he left to Skipwith parish, on condition of a room
Rector of Skipwith. In 16S8 he was oH'ered the Rectory of ; being built to receive them. This not being done, the widow
Lancaster, but not being able to talve the oatlis to William j applied to Chancery, and by a decree of that court the books
and Mary, he could neither accept preferment nor receive ' were all handed over to York Minster. Mr. Fothergill
the degree of D.D., for which he had qualified. He lived at also left .an endowment of £50 a year for a catechist at
Pontefract, till driven thence by a Whig J. P., but died in Pontefract. Hia volumes shew that he was a most induB-
Westminster, on Sept. 7, 1731. Mr. Fothergill made a noble trious reader.
xii IPrcface to former coitions.
others, in the hope that the Notes may assist in persuading both Lay and Clerical
readers to desire a more pointed and systematic application of the Church's gifts in time
of Sickness than that which is offered by the prayers ordinarily used.
The text is, of course, that of the Sealed Books ; but some liberty has occasionally
been taken with the punctuation, which, whether in the Sealed Books, or in the copies
sent out by the Universities and the Queen's Printers, is in a most unsatisfactory
condition. In the Psalms and Canticles, a diamond-shaped " point " has been used for
the purpose of more plainly marking the musical division of verses, as distinguished from
the grammatical punctuation. The spelling is also modernized throughout.
In conclusion, the Editor begs to tender his grateful thanks to many friends who
have assisted him with their suggestions and advice. Those thanks are also especially
due to the Rev. T. W. Perry, and to the Pi.ev. W. D. Macray of the Bodleian Library,
who have gone through all the proof-sheets, and have been largely instrumental in
securing to the reader accuracy in respect to historical statements.
The Editor is indebted to the Eev. John Bacchus Dykes, M.A., and Doctor of
Music, Vicar of St. Oswald's, Durham, and late Precentor of Durham Cathedral, for
the Second Section of the Ritual Introduction, on The Manner of performing Divine
Service.
The Third Section of the Ritual Introduction, on The Accessories of Divine
Service, is by the Rev. Thomas Walter Perry, Vicar of Ardleigh, Essex, author of
Lawful Church Ornaments, etc. etc.
The Rev. Joseph Thomas Fowler, M.A., F.S.A., Hebrew Lecturer, and Vice-
Principal of Bishop Hatfield Hall, Durham, is the writer of the Notes on the Minor
HoLTDAYS of the Calendar.
The Rev. William Bright, D.D., Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History,
Oxford, and author of A History of the Church from a.d. 313 to a.d. ibl, Ancient
Collects, etc. etc., is the writer of the Introduction to, and Notes on, the Litany.
Also of the Essay on the Scottish Liturgy in the Appendix.
The Rev. Peter Goldsmith Medd, M. A., Rector of North Cerney, Gloucestershire,
Canon of St. Albans, and late Fellow of University College, Oxford, co-Editor with
Dr. Bright of the Latin Prayer Book, and author of Household Prayer, etc., is the
principal writer of the Notes on the Communion Office from the Church Militant
Prayer to the end ; and the compiler of the Appendix to that Office, Mr. Medd has
also contributed the references to the hymns of the seasons.
The Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott, B.D., F.R.S.L., F.S.A., of Exeter College,
Oxford, Precentor and Prebendary of Chichester Cathedral, and author of The English
Ordinal, etc. etc., has contributed the Introduction to, and Notes on, the Ordinal.
The Editor also desires to acknowledge his obligations to the valuable libraries of
the Cathedrals of Durham and York ; to Bishop Cosin's Library, and the Routli
Library, at Durham ; and to the Hon. and Rev. Stephen Willougliby Lawley, M.A.,
formerly Rector of Escrick, and Sub-Dean of Yoik, to whom the reader is indebted for
some rare mediaeval illustrations of the Occasional Offices, and whose courtesy has
otherwise facilitated that portion of the work.
[1866-1882.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Preface .....
Preface to former Editions
List of Authorities ....
Chronological Table ....
An Historical Introduction to the Prayer Book
A Kitual Introduction to the Prayer Book —
Section I. The Principles of Ceremonial Worship .
Section II. The Musical Perfomiance of Divine Service
Section III. The Accessories of Divine Service. By Eev. T,
Title, etc., of the Sealed Prayer Books
Acts of Uniformity .
Preface, etc., to the Prayer Book
Tables and Kules
An Introduction to the Calendar
The Calendar, with Comparative View
Notes on the Minor Holydays. By Eev. J. T. Fowler
An Introduction to Morning and Evening Prayer .
Morning Prayer .....
Evening Prayer .....
Athanasian Creed .....
An Introduction to the Litany. By Rev. W. Bright
The Litany, with Notes. By Eev. W. Bright
Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings
An Introduction to the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels .
An Introduction to the Liturgy
The Order for the Holy Communion, with Notes. By Rev.
An Introduction to the Offices for Holy Baptism
The Ministration of Publick Baptism of Infants, with Note;
The Ministration of Private Baptism of Children in Houses, with Notes
The Ministration of Baptism to such as are of Riper Years, with Notes
An Introduction to the Catechism .
The Catechism, with Notes ....
An Introduction to the Confirmation Office .
The Order of Confirmation, with Notes
An Introduction to the Marriage Service
The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony, with Notes
An Introduction to the Office for the Visitation of the Sick
The Order for the Visitation of the Sick, with Notes
The Communion of the Sick, with Notes
An Introduction to the Burial Service
The Order for the Burial of the Dead, with Notes .
An Appendix to the Burial Office . . . ,
By Rev. J. B.
W. Perry
Dykes, Mus. D.
P. G. Medd, and the Editor
Pac;k
vii
X
XV
xix
1
44
50
63
81
84
9fi
11(5
127
130
132
177
179
206
216
221
225
235
241
245
344
369
401
407
420
424
428
431
437
440
446
449
460
461
472
475
478
483
XIV
Contents.
An Introduction to the Churching Service
The Churching of Women, with Notes
The Comniination, with Notes
An Introduction to the Psalter
The Psalms, with Notes
Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, with Notes
An Introduction to the Ordinal. By Rev. Mackenzie E. C. Walcott
The Form and Manner of Making Deacons, with Notes. Ditto .
The Form and Manner of Ordering of Priests, with Notes. Ditto .
The Fonu of Ordaining or Consecrating of an Archbishop or Bishop, with Notes.
General Appendix —
I. The State Sei-vices. By Rev. W. D. Macray .
II. The Scottish Prayer Book of 1637. By Eev. W. Bright
III. The Irish Prayer Book. By Rev. W. D. JMacray
Index and Glossary ,.....••
Ditto
PAGE
486
487
490
496
501
650
655
674
683
693
703
705
709
713
ILLUSTEATIONS.
A Horn Book ........
Ecclesiastical Vestments (two Plates). By G. E. Street, Esq., R.A., F.S.A.
Catechism Tablets from the Bishop's Palace at Ely ....
To /ace page 80
429
A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL
LITURGICAL AND HISTORICAL AUTHORITIES
USED, QUOTED, OE REFERRED TO, I^ THIS WORK.
The Manuscript Praj'er Book, subscribed by tlie Convocations of Canterbury and York, accepted by the Crown in Council,
annexed by Parliament to the Act of Uniformity, and preserved among the Acts of Parliament as an original Record.
A printed Prayer Book of 1G36, into which the alterations to be made were written for the information of the Crown, the
Privy Council, and the two Houses of Parliament ; and which is preserved witli the Manuscript.
A facsimile of the preceding volume, photozincographed by the Ordnance Office.
A printed Prayer Book of 1619, containing alterations proposed by Bishop Cosin, most of which were adopted in 1661.
[D. iii. 5, Cosiu's Library, Durham.]
A printed Prayer Book, containing Sancroft's transcript of the notes in the preceding volume. [Bodl. Lib. Arch.
BodL D. 28.]
The Sealed Prayer Books.
Masters' Reprint. 1848.
/S'cc Pickering, Stephens, infra.
Acta Sanctorum, 1643 — still in course of publication.
Amalarius Symphosius [circ. a.d. 820-827], De Divin. Ofi'. Cologne, 1568. [Blbl. Max. Lugd. xiv. 934-1060.]
Andrewes, Bishop. Note.s on Prayer Book. Misc. Works, Ang. Cath. Lib. 1854.
Anglican Church Calendar. 1851.
Assemanus, Jos. Codex Liturgicus Eccl. Universte. 1749-63.
Baker, Sir Richard. On the Lord's Prayer. 1638.
Baring-Gould, S. Lives of the Saints. 1872-77.
Baruifaldus, Hier. Comment, ad Rituale Romanum. 1731.
Beleth [thirteenth century]. Rationale Divin. Oil'. Lyons, 1612.
Bingham, Jos. Antiquities of the Christian Church. 1710-22. Last edit. 1843-5.
Blunt, J. H. Directorium Pastorale. 1864.
Annotated Bible. 1878-82.
History of the Reformation. 1868-82.
Bona, Cardmal. De Rebus Liturg. Paris, 1676. Sala's ed., 1747-55.
De Divina Psalmodia. Antwerp, 1677.
Brady, J. Clavis Calendaria. 1812.
Brett, Tho. Ancient Liturgies. 1720.
Breviary, Mozarabic. Brev. Gothicum. 1775.
Roman. [And see Quignonez, infra.]
Salisbury. 1495-1541.
fascc. i., ii. 1843-5.
• York. 1493-1526.
Bright, Will. Ancient Collects and other Prayers. 1857.
Brogden, Jas. Hlustrations of the Liturgy. 1842. *
BuUey, Fred. Variations of the Communion and Baptismal Offices. 1842.
Burn, R. Ecclesiastical Law. Phillimore's ed., 1842.
Burnet, Bishop. History of the Reformation. Pocock's ed., 1865.
Vindication of English Ordinations. 1677.
Calendars of State Papers. Domestic. 1547-80.
1660-2.
Cardwell, Edw. Documentary Annals of the Reformed Church of England. 1839, 1844.
History of Conferences on the Prayer Book. 1840.
Synodalia. 1842.
xvi a List of autboritics.
Cardwell, Edw. Two Liturgies of Edward VI. 1838.
Catalanus, J. C. Pontif. Roman., commentariis illustratiim. 1738.
Chambers, J. D. Divine Worship in England in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries. 1877.
Churton, Archd. E. Life of Dean NoweU. 1809.
Collier, Jer. Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain. 1708-14 and 1845-6.
Comber, Thos. [On the Common Prayer.]
Cosin, Bishop. Collection of Private Devotions. 1627.
. Notes and Collections on the Prayer Book. Works, Vol. V. Ang. Cath. Lib. 1855.
Cranmer, Archbp. Eemains, edited by Jenkyns. 1833.
Daniel, H. A. Codex Liturgicus. 1847-54.
Thesaurus Hymnologicus. 1855-6.
Denzinger, H. Eitus Orientalium. 1863-4.
Durandus [a.d. 1216]. Rationale Divin. Off. Lyons, 1612.
Durantus, D. De Ritibus Eccl. Cath. 1675.
Dyce, W. Book of Common Prayer with Plain Tune. 1843-4.
Elborow, Thos. Exposition of the Book of Common Prayer. 1663.
English Church Union lialendars. 1863-4.
Fallow, T. M. The Order of Baptism illustrated. 1838.
Field, J. E. Apostolic Liturgy and Epistle to the Hebrews. 1882.
Fleury, CI. Ecclesiastical History. Newman's translation. 1842-4.
Forbes, Bishop Alex. P. E.xplanation of the Nicene Creed. 1852.
Commentary on the Litany. 1855.
Freeman, Archd. Ph. Principles of Divine Service. 1863.
Rites and Ritual. 1866.
Gallican Liturgies, Neale and Forbes's. Burntisland, 1855-67.
Gavantus, Barth. Thesaurus Sacrorum Rituum. 1762.
Gelasius's Sacramentary [a.d. 492]. In Muratori's Liturgia Romana.
Gerbertus, Mart. Vetus Liturgia Alemannica. 1776.
Gibson, Bishop Edm. Synodus Anglicana. 1702 and 1854.
Goar, J. Rituale Gracorum. 1647.
Goulburn, Dean E. M. The CoUects of the Day. 1880.
Grancolas, J. Commentarius historicus in Breviarium Romanum. Venice, 1734.
Grand Debate between the Bishops and Presbyterian Divines for review of the Book of Common Prayer. 1661.
Gregory, St. Sacramentary [a.d. 590]. Menard's ed.
Greswell, Edw. Fasti Temp. Cathol. 1852.
Origines Kalendarife Italicse. 1854.
W. P. Commentary on the Burial Service. 1836.
Gu^ranger, Prosp. Institutions Liturgiques. 1840-51.
Guericke, H. G. F. Manual of the Antiquities of the Church. Morrison's translation. 1851.
Hale, Archd. W. W. Precedents, 1475-1640. 1847.
Hallier, Fr. de. De Sacris Ordinationibus. 1636.
Hammond, C. E. Liturgies, Eastern and Western. 1878.
Harvey, W. W. History and Theology of the Three Creeds. 1854.
Hermannus, Archiep. Colon. Simplex.ac Pia Deliberatio. 1545.
Daye's translation [edd. 1547, 1548].
Heurtley, C. A. Harmonia Symbolica ; a Collection of Creeds. 1858.
Heylin, P. History of the Reformation. Ecc. Hist. Soc. 1849.
Hey wood, J. •» Documents relating to the Act of Uniformity. 1862.
Hickes, G. Letters between him and a Popish Priest [Lib. Ecc. Cath. Dunclm. ex dono Auctoris]. 1705.
Hierurgia Anglicana. 1848.
Hittorpius, M. De Divinis Officiis. Cologne, 1568.
Hope, A. J. B. Worship of tlie Cluncli of England. 1875.
Jacobson, Bishop. Illustrations of the History of the Prayer Book. 1874.
Jcbb, J. Choral Service. 1843.
Ritual Law and Custom of the Church Universal ; a Sermon. 1866.
Jerome, St. Comes seu Lectiouariuiii. Paiiiclius's ed. Cologne, 1571.
Kalendar of the EnglLsh Church. 1865-6.
9 list of authorities. xvii
Keble, J. Eucharistical Adoration. 1857.
Keeling, W. Liturgite Britannicoe. 1851.
Kennett, Bishop. A Register, Ecclesiastical and Civil, from the Kestoratiou. 1728.
Landon, E. H. Manual of Councils. 1846.
Ecclesiastical Dictionary. 1849.
Lathbury, T. History of the Convocation. 1853.
Prayer Book. 1859.
Lay Folks' Mass Book. Edited by T. F. Simmons for Early Eng. Text Soc. 1879.
Leo, St. Sacramentary [a.d. 451]. Muratori's ed. 1748.
L'Estrange, H. Alliance of Divine Offices [a.d. 1690]. Ang. Cath. Lib. 1846.
Lingard, J. History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church. 1845.
Littledale, E. F. North-side of the Altar. 1863.
On the Mixed Chalice. 1863.
Liturgies, etc., of King Edward VL Parker Soc. 1844.
etc., of Queen Elizabeth. Parker Soc. 1847.
Mabillon, J. Museum Italicum. 1687-9.
De Liturgia Gallicana. Paris, 1685.
Manuale Sarisburiense. 1498.
et Processionale Eboracense. Surtees Soc. ed. Edited by Dr. Henderson. 1875.
Martene, E. De Antiquis Ecclesife Eitibus. Antwerp, 1763-4.
Vet. Script. Collect. Vol. VI.
Maskell, W. Ancient Liturgy of the Church of England. 1846.
Dissertation on Holy Baptism. 1848.
Monumenta Eitualia Ecc. Ang. 1846-7.
Enquiry into the Doctrine of the Church of England on Absolution. 1849.
Mason, F. Vindiciie Ecc. Anglic, sive de legitimo ejusdem Ministerio. 1625. '
Massingberd, F. C. Lectures on the Prayer Book. 1864.
Meibomius, M. Antiquas Musicse Auctores Septem. 1652.
Merbecke, J. Common Prayer Noted. 1550.
Micrologus [Johannis, Episcopi, thirteenth century. MaskeU's date, 1080]. Pamelius's ed. Antwerp, 1565. [Bibl.
Max. Lugd. xviii. 469.]
Mirroure of our Ladye. 1530. [Cosin's copy, Cosin's Lib. Duiham, H. ii. 24.]
Edited by J. H. Blunt for Early Eng. Text Soc. 1873.
Missal, Salisbury. Paris, 1514. [Cosin's copy, Cosin's Lib. Durham, D. iii. 12.]
Burntisland, 1861-74.
York. Edited by Dr. Henderson for Surtees Soc. 1874.
Hereford. Edited by Dr. Henderson. 1874.
Irish. Edited by F. E. Warren. 1879.
Morinus, J. De Sacris Ecclesios Ordinationibus. 1655.
Muratori, L. A. Liturgia Eomana Vetus. 1748.
Neale, J. M., and Littledale, R. F. Commentary on the Psalms. 1860-71.
Primitive Liturgies. 1859.
Neale, J. M. Essays on Liturgiology and Church Hist. 2nd ed., 1867.
Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern Church. 1850.
Tetralogia Liturgica. 1849.
Nichols, W. Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer. 1710.
Nicolas, Sir N. H. Chronology of History. 1833.
Palmer, W. Origines LiturgictS. 1832.
Pamelius, J. [a.d. 1536-87]. Liturgica Latinorum. Cologne, 1571.
Parker, Archbishop. Correspondence. Parker Soc. 1853.
James. Introd. to History of Prayer Book Eevisions. 1877.
First Prayer Book of Edward VI. compared with successive Eevisions. 1877.
Perry, T. W. Historical Considerations relating to the Declaration on Kneeling. 1863.
PhiUimore, R. J. Ecclesiastical Law. 1873.
Pickering's Reprints of the Books of Common Prayer. 7 Vols.
Pinnock, W. H. Laws and Usages of the Church and Clergy. 1855-63.
Pontifical, Exeter [Lacy's]. Edited by Ralph Barnes. 1847.
xviii a Hist of autfjorities.
Pontifical, York [Egbert's]. Edited by W. Greenwell for Surtees Soc. 1853.
York [Bainbridge's]. Edited by Dr. Henderson for Surtees Soc. 1875.
Pontificals of Salisbury and Bangor.
Pontificale Komanum. See Catalanus.
Position of the Priest at the Altar. [By J. H. Blunt.] 1858.
PouUain, V. L'Ordre des Priferes, etc. London, 1552.
Prideaux, H. Validity of the Orders of the Church of England. 1688.
Primers, Three, of 1535, 1539, 1545. 1848.
Private Prayers of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. Parker Soc. 1851.
Procter, F. History and Rationale of the Prayer Book. 1857. 15th ed., 1880.
Psalter, Anglo-Saxon and Early English. Surtees Soc. 1843-7.
Translation of Sarum, with Explanatory Notes and Comments. [.J. D. Chambers.] 1852.
Purchas, J. Directorium Anglicanum. 1858.
2nd ed., edited by F. G. Lee. 1865.
Pusey, E. B. The Real Presence the Doctrine of the English Church. 1857.
Scriptural Views of Holy Baptism. 1836.
Quignonez, Cardinal. Brev. Rom. [Reformed Roman Breviary]. Lyons, 1543. [Edd. 1535-6 to 1568.]
Renaudot, E. Liturg. Orient. Colleotio. 1716.
Rock, D. Hierurgia. 1851.
Church of our Fathers. 1849-53.
Soudamore, W. E. Notitia Eucharistica. 2nd ed., 1876.
The Communion of the Laity. 1855.
Sparrow, Bishop. Collection of Ai-ticles, Injunctions, etc. 1671.
Rationale of the Prayer Book.
Stephens, A. J. Edition of Sealed Book of Common Prayer. Ecc. Hist. Soc. 1849-54.
Book of Common Pr.iyer, from the Irish MS. in the Rolls Office, Dublin. Ecc. Hist. Soc. 1849-.'50.
Strype, J. Memorials of Cranmer. Ecc. Hist. Soc.'« edit., 1848-54.
' Taylor, Bishop. Collection of Offices. 1658.
Thomasius, J. M. Opera. 1747-69.
Thomassin, L. Discipline de I'Eglise, etc. 1679-81.
Thomson, Eb. Vindication of the Hymn Te Deum Laudamus. 1858.
Thrupp, J. F. Introduction to the Psalms. 1860.
Trombellus, J. C. Tractatus de Sacramentis. 1769-83.
Tyler, J. E. Meditations from the Fathers illustrating the Prayer Book. 1849.
Walafridus Strabo [a.d. 830]. De Rebus Ecc. Cologne, 1568. [Bibl. Patr. ISIax. lAigd. xv. 181.]
Warren, C. The Ministry of the Word for Absolution, in answer to Maskell. 1849.
The Lord's Table the Christian Altar. 1843.
Wheatley, C. Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer. Corrie's ed., 1858.
Wilberforce, R. I. The Doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. 1853.
Wilkins, D. Concilia. 1737.
Williams, Isaac. The Psalms interpreted of Christ. 1864.
Zaccaria, F. A. Bibliotheca Ritualis. 1776-81.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
Liturgy of Cassian and Leo ........
Sacramentary of St. Leo ........
Qelasius ........
Gregory ........
St. Augustine'.s revised Liturgy of Britain ......
Salisbmy Use of St. Osmund ........
English Prymer. [Maskell's Mon. Kit. Aug. ii.] .....
Liber Festivalis. [A book of mediaeval English Homilies, printed by Caxton.]
Salisbury Breviary " reformed." [l.st ed.] ......
Mirror of our Lady. [A translation of and commentary on the Daily Offices of Syon and the Mass.]
Salisbury Breviary " reformed." [2nd ed.] ......
Missal " reformed " .
English Psalters printed ........
Marshall's Prymer .........
English Epistles and Gospels printed ......
Hilsey's Prymer .........
The " Great Bible " set up in Churches as the " Authorized Version "
Salisbury Use further reformed, and adopted (by order of the Convocation) throughout the Province of
bury ..........
Committee of Convocation commissioned to revise Service-books
English Litany ordered for use in Churches ......
King Henry VIII.'s Prymer ........
Archbishop Hermann's Consultation [German, 1543; Latin, 1545], printed in English, 1547 ; reprinted
Edward VI.'s First Year ........ Jan. 28, 1547,
Second Year ....... Jan. 28, 1548,
English Order of Communion added to Latin Mass .......
Book of Common Prayer. [First Book of Edward VI.] —
Submitted to Convocation (by Committee of 1542-49) ....
Laid before Parliament as part of Act of Uniformity [2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1]
Passed by the House of Lords ditto ditto
Commons ditto ditto
Printed ready for circulation . .......
Received Royal Assent as part of Act of Uniformity [2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1]. [Probably at proro|
Parliament on . . . ......
Taken into general use ........
English Ordinal ..........
Book of Common Prayer. [Second Book of Edward VI.] —
[Committee of Convocation commissioned, probably .....
Passed through Parliament as part of Act of Uniformity [5 and 6 Edw. VI. c. 1] .
Ordered to be taken into use from .......
Edward VI. died ..........
Acts of Uniformity (including Prayer Books) repealed by 1 Mary, sess. ii. c. 2 .
A.D.
circ. 420
451
492
590
circ. 600
. 1085
circ. 1390
. 1483
. 1516
. 1530
. 1531
. 1533
1534-40
. 1535
1538-48
1539
. 1540
Canter-
. 1541
1542-49
.hms 11, 1544
1545
1548
to Jan. 27, 1548
to Jan. 27, 1549
. March 8, 1548
. Nov. 24, 1548
. Dec. 9, 1548
. Jan. 15, 1549
. Jan. 21, 1549
. March 7, 1549
igation of
March 14, 1549]
. June 9, 1549
March 1550
. 1551]
. April 6, 1552
. Nov. 1, 1552
. July 6, 1553
Oct. 1553
XX
Cf)ronological Catilc.
Queen Elizabeth's Accession .....■■
Edward YI.'s Second Book restored (with some alterations) by 1 Eliz. c. 2
Queen Elizabeth's Latin Book of Common Prayer ....
Commission to revise Calendar and Lessons .....
Hampton Court Conference .......
Scottish Book of Common Prayer ......
Prayer Book suppressed by " ordinance " of Parliament
Use of Prayer Book began to be revived .....
Savoy Conference ....•••■
of Common Prayer [that now in use] —
Commission to the Convocations to revise it .
Kevision completed by Convocations .....
Approved by King in Council .....
Passed House of Lords as part of Act of Uniformity [14 Car. 11. c. 4J
Commons ditto ditto
Received Royal Assent ditto ditto
Taken into general use
Adopted by Irish Convocation
Standard copies certified under Great iSeal
Embodied in Irish Act of Uniformity [IV and 18 Car. ii. c. Gj
William the Third's Commission to review Prayer Book
Revised Calendar authorized by 24 Geo. II. c. 23
American Book of Common Prayer .
Revised Tables of Lessons authorized by 34 and 35 Vicl. c. 37 .
Shortened Order for Morning and Evening Prayer authorized by 35 ;md 3(3 Vict. c. 35
A.D.
. Nov. 17, 1558
. June 24, 1559
1560
. Jan. 22, 1561
Jan. 14-18, 1604
1637
. Jan. 3, 1645
April 1660
April 15 to July 24, 1661
June 10, 1661
Dec. 20, 1661
Feb. 24, 1662
April 9, 1662
May 8, 1662
May 19, 1662
Aug. 24, 1662
Nov. 11, 1662
Jan. 5, 1663
June 18, 1666
1C89
1752
1785-89
. 1871
. 1872
AN
HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTION
TO THE
PRAYER BOOI
V.
n~^HE Book of Common Prayer romaiued altogether unaltered for more than two centuries, the new
Tables of Lessons of 1871 being the first change made since it was revised, after the great
persecution of the Church by the Puritans, in IGGl. But the various stages of its developement from
the ancient formularies of the Church of England extended through a period of one hundred and fifty
years ; and the history of that developement is of the highest importance to those who wish to under-
stand and use the Prayer Book, as well as of considerable interest to all from the fact of its being an
integral part of our national history.
The Church of England has had distinctive torundaries of its own as I'ar back as the details of its
customs in respect to Divine Worship can be traced. The earliest history of these formularies is
obscure, but there is good reason to believe that they were derived, through Lyons, from the great
patriarchate of Ephesus, in which St. John sj)ent the latter half of his life. There was an intimate
connection between the Churches of France and England in the early ages of Christianity, of which we
still have a memorial in the ancient French saints of our Calendar ; and wlien St. Augustine came to
England, he found the same rites used as he had observed in France, remarking upon them that they
differed in many particulars from those of Eomc. It is now a well-established opinion that this ancient
Gallican Liturgy came from Ephesus.' But there can be no doubt that several waves of Christianity,
perhaps of Af)ostolic Christianity, passed across our island ; and the Ephesine or Johannine element in
the ancient Prayer Books of the Church of England probably represents but the strongest of those
waves, and the predominating influence which mingled with itself others of a less powerful character.
It was in the sixth century [A.D. 596] that the great and good St. Augustine undertook his
missionary work among the West Saxons. The mission seems to have been sent from g^ j^^-ustjjjg ^^^
Rome by Gregory the Great under the impression that the inhabitants of England the old English
were altogether heathen ; and if he or Augustine were not unacquainted with what ' ^^■
St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, and others had said respecting the early evangelization of Britain, they
had evidently concluded that the Church founded in Apostolic times was extinct. When Augustine
arrived in England, he found that, although the West Saxons were heathen, and had di-iven the
Church into the highlands of Wales by their persecution, yet seven bishops remained alive, and a large
number of clergy, who had very strong views about the independence of the Church of England, and
were imprepared to receive the Roman missionary except on terms of equality. The chief difficulty
felt by St. Augustine arose from the difference just referred to between the religious system of Italy, the
Church of which was the only one the missionary priests were at that time acquainted with, and the
systems of France and England. This difficulty, a great one to a man so conscientious and simple-minded,
he submitted to Gregory in the form of questions, and among them was the following one on the
subject of Divine Worship : " Whereas the Faith is one, why are the customs of Churches various ?
and why is one manner of celebrating the Holy Communion used in the holy Roman Church, and
^ Sec Pai,mkr"s Orirfinrs Lihirg. i. l.'il-!. NF..Ai.T:aiKl Fokbe.s' GrilHran Liturgies. Feeem.^n's Prineipks of Pii-iiie Service, ii. 399.
A
9n l^lstorical JntroDuction
another in that of the Gauls ? " This diversity becomes even more prominent in the words which
Augustine addressed to the seven Bishops of the ancient Church of England, when they met in
conference at the place afterwards called St. Augustine's Oak. "You act," said he, "in many
particulars contrary to our customs, or rather, to the customs of the universal Church, and yet, if you
will comply with me in these three points, viz. to keep Easter at the due time; to perform the
administration of baptism, by which we are born again to God, according to the custom of the holy
Roman and Apostolic Church ; and jointly with us to preach the Word of God to the English nation,
we will readily tolerate all your other customs, though contrary to our own." The answer of St.
Gregory contained wise and Catholic advice ; and to it we owe, under Providence, the continued use
of an independent form of Divine Worship in the Church of England from that day to the present.
" You, my brother," said Gregory, " are acquainted with the customs of the Roman Church in which
you were brought up. But it is my pleasure that if you have found anything either in the Roman
or the Galilean or any other Church which may be more acceptable to Almighty God, you carefully
make choice of the same ; and sedulously teach the Church of the English, which is at present new in
the Faith, whatsoever you can gather from the several Churches. For things are not to be loved for
the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things. Select, thei'efore, from each Church those
things that are pious, religious, and correct ; and when you have made these up into one body, instil
this into the minds of the English for their Use." [Greg. O-pera, ii. 11.51, Bened. ed. ; Bede's Eccl.
Hist. i. 27.] The Liturgy of the Roman Church spoken of in this reply is represented by the ancient
Sacramentary of St. Gregory, to which such frequent references are given in the following pages : that
of the Galilean Church is also partly extant,^ and has been shewn (as was mentioned before) to be
derived from the Liturgy of the Chui-ch of Ephesus. The words " any other Church " might be
supposed to refer to an independent English Liturgy, but there is no reference to any in the question
to which Gregory is replying, and he evidently knew nothing of' England except through Augustine.
From other writers it seems that the Liturgy of England or Britain before this time had been the
same with that of France ; but the native Clergy always alleged that their distinctive customs were
derived from St. John.
Being thus advised by St. Gregory, the holy missionary endeavoured to deal as gently as possible
with those whose customs of Divine Worship differed from his own ; but his prepossessions in favour
of the Roman .system were very strong, and he used all his influence to get it universally adopted
throughout the country.
Uniformity in all details was not, however, attainable. The national feeling of the ancient Church
steadily adhered to the ancient rite for many years ; while the feeling of the Church founded by St.
Augjustine was in favour of a rite more closely in agreement with that of Rome. As collision was the
first natural consequence of this state of things, so some degi'ee of amalgamation as naturally followed
in course of time ; that which was local, or national, mingling with that which was foreign in the
English devotional system, as it did in the English race itself Some attempts were made, as in the
Council of Cloveshoo [a.d. 747], to enforce the Roman Liturgy upon all the dioceses of the country,
but it is certain that the previous devotional customs of the land had an exceedingly tenacious hold
upon the Clergy and the people, and that no efforts could ever wholly extirpate them."
At the time of the Conquest another vigorous attempt was made to secure uniformity of Divine
Service throughout the country, and with the most pious intentions. St. Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury,
The ■•Use" of Balls- ^"^ Chancellor of England,'' collecting together a large body of .skilled clergy,
*">rT. remodelled the Offices of the Church, and left behind him the famous Portiforium
or Breviary of Sanim, containing the Daily Services; together with the Sanim Mis.sal, containing
the Communion Service ; and, jjrobably, the Sarum Manual, containing the Baptismal and other
" occasional " Offices. These, and some other Service-books, constituted the " Sarum Use," that
is, the Prayer Book of the diocese of Salisbury. It was first adopted for that diocese in A.D. 1085, and
' Sec the n.imPH Menard, Muratori, ami M.ahillon, in t}ie
List of Authorities. The (jreKorian and Gallican Liturgies
arc also printed in Hammond's LitnrijicK, Eastern and Western,
Oxford, 1878.
' Sco Maskeli,'3 Ancient Liturgy of the. Church of England,
Preface, p. liv.
' St. ()»miind, who w.is canonized in A.n. 14.5fi, was a
nejilicw of William the Conqueror, being the son of the king's
sister Isabella and licury, Count of Seez. lie was the second
Bishop of Salisbury [a. T>. 1078-1009] after the foundation of
that diocese by the consolidation of the Sees of Kanisbury
aud Sherliornt^ in A.i>. 10.")8 .and 107.'). St. O.sniund was the
principal buihlor of tlic Cathedral of Old Sarum, a small
lortiticd hill a few miles distant from the present city. This
catlicdr.al w.as t,akcn down, and that of New Sarum, or
S.alisbury, the existing cathedral, built in the place of it, in
A.n. 1225: the remains of St. Osmund being removed
thither.
to the Pragcr H5ook
was introduced into other parts of Enffluiid so generally tluit it became the principal devotional Rule
of the Church of England, and continued so for more than four centuries and a half: " the Church of
Salisbury," says a writer of the year 1250, " being conspicuous above all other Churches like the sun
in the heavens, diffusing its light everywhere, and supplying their defects." ' Other Uses continued to
hold their place in the dioceses of Lincoln, Hereford, and Bangor, and through the greater part of the
Province of York ; though in the diocese of Durham the Salisbury system was followed. At St. Paul'.s
Cathedral, and pcrhaj^s throughout the diocese of London, there was an independent Use until A.D.
1414. For about a hundred and fifty years before the Prayer Book era there was some displacement
of the Sarum Use by Roman customs in Monasteries, Monastic Churches (though not at Durham), and
perhaps in Parish Churches served by Monastic clergy : but the " Use " itself was not superseded to
any gi'cat extent even in these. The Salisbury Use, that of York, and that of Hereford, are well
known to modern ritualists.- They appear to be traceable to a common origin ; but they differ in so
many respects from the Roman Breviary, and even from the Missal (with which a closer agreement
might have been expected), that they clearly derive their common origin from a source independent of
the Roman Church. And, whatever quarter they may have been derived from in the first instance, it
is equally clear that the forms of Divine Service now known to us under these names represent a
system which was naturalized so many ages ago, that it had been entitled to the name of an indepen-
dent English rite for at least a thousand years.
During all this time the public Services of the Church were said in Latin, for Latin had been
auring some ages the most generally understood language in the world, and was spoken vernacularly
in France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy (the modern languages of all which countries were formed irom
it) do%vn to a comparatively late time, as it is now spoken in Hungary. In England the Latin
language was almost as familiar to educated persons as it was upon the Continent ; but the poor and
uneducated knew no other tongue than their native English, and for these the Church did the best that
could be done to provide some means by which they might make an intelligent use of Divine Service.
From the earliest periods we find injunctions imposed upon the Clergy that they should be
careful to teach the people the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments in their own
tongue. Thus, in A.D. 740 there was a canon of Egbert, Archbishop of York, to the effect, " that every
priest do with great exactness instil the Lord's Prayer and Creed into the peojjle committed to him,
and shew them to endeavour after the knowledge of the whole of religion, and the practice of
Christianity." '' About the same time, in the Southern Province, it is ordered " that they instil the
Creed into them, that they may know what to believe, and what to hope for." * Two centuries later
there is a canon of .^Ifric, Ai'chbishojj of Canterbury, enjoining the clergy to " speak the sense of the
Gospel to the people in English, and of the Pater noster, and the Creed, as often as he can, for the
inciting of the people to know their belief, and retaining their Christianity." ^ Similar injunctions are
to be found in the laws of Canute in the eleventh century, the constitutions of Archbishop Peckham
in the thirteenth, and in the canons of many diocesan synods, of various dates in the mediaeval period.
Many expositions of the Creed, Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, and other principal formulae, are
also to be found in English, and these give testimony to the same anxious desire of the Church to
make the most use possible of the language spoken by the poor of the day."* Interlinear translations
of some, at least, of the Offices were also provided, especially of the Litany, just as the English and
Welsh Prayer Book, or the Latin and English Missal of the Roman Catholics, are printed in parallel
columns in modern times.
But in days when books were scarce, and when few could read, little could be done towards giving
to the people at large this intelligent acquaintance with the Services except by oral instruction of the
kind indicated. Yet the writing-rooms of the Monasteries did what they could towards multiplying
books for the purpose ; and some provision was made, even for the poorest, by means of honi-books,
on which the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Angelic Salutation were written. The following is an
' At an even earlier (late [xV. D. 1"200] the chronicler Brompton
says that the Custom-book of Salisbury wi^s u sed almost all over
England, Wales, and Ireland. [Brompton's Ckroii. 977.]
- These three Knglisli Uses alone were of sufficient import-
ance to ensure the dignity of appearing in print while they
^ Johnson's Eiit/. Canoiis, i. 186.
* Ibid. 248.
5 Ibid. 398.
" It must be remembered that English was not spoken
universally by the upper classes for some centuries after the
were living rites. Hereford Viarely secured that honour, while i Conquest. In 1362 an Act of Parliament was passed enjoin-
Salisbury is represented by at least a hundred editions ; the ing all schoolmasters to teach their scholars to translate into
Sanim Breviarv alone having been printed some forty or fifty Knglish instead of Prench.
times between 1483 aud 1557. i
an lt)i0tortcal Jntrotiuction
engraving made from one of two which were found by the present writer under the floor of Over
Church, near Cambridge, in 1857. It is of a late date, and has had " In the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.'" in the place of the Angelic Salutation; but it is given as an
illustration of the traditional practice, and because it is of special interest from being found in a
church.
r
'■'^■r.:
\:'.J \-l£i-ci's\-
mew Uamrt lic^
\ (]C()'onfii)rarina$ Uis
: bcn<5UMastlu«0ai>oQ
I, -iSTOffoi-oiiif tlic;«-(
While these horn-books were thus provided for the poor, the Scriptorium of the Monastery also
i)r(3vided Prymers in English and Latin for those who could afford the expensive luxury of a book.
The Latin Prymers are well known under the name of" Books of Hours." Vernacular Prymers exist
which were written as early as the fourteenth century, and many relics of old English de\otion of that
date still remain.^ These English Prymers contained about one-third of the Psalms, the Canticles, the
Apostles' Creed, with a large number of the prayers, anthems, and jierhaps hynnis. 'J'hey continued
to be published up to the end of Henry VIII.'s rcign,^ and, in a modified fonn, even at a later date :
and they must have familiarized those who used them with a largo portion of the Services, even when
they did not understand the Latin in which those Services were said by the clergy and choirs.
The style of the language in which these early English Prayer Books were written varies with
the a^^e, and the following specimens will show how much change our native tongue has undergone in
the course of the thirteen hundred years during which we can trace it.
' A still earlier Prvincr in T..atin and "Anglo-Saxon" ia
printed at the end of HirKE-s' LHlcm, etc. It probably dates
from the tenth or eleventh centuriea.
' Coverdale and Or.ifton the printer wrote to Cromwell on
September I'i, l.^'JS, in favour of Regnanlt, tlic r.irisi.in
])rintcr, at whose press n)any of the Brevi,-irics and Mifisals
uscmI in Kngl.ind were printed. They say that, among other
books, he had printed English Prymers for forty years, that
is, from the end of the fifteentli centnry. [State Papers. Dom.
Hen. VIII. i. 589.1
to tf)c IPrager TBook.
THK LOKDS I'liAYKit
IN ENGLISH
CENTURY.
OF THK THIRTEKNTH
THK LORDS PRAYER I.V EMiLISH OK I'HK SEVENTH
CENTUItY.
Fader usajr tlm artli in Heofnas sic gehalgad noiua
thin to cymeth ric thin, sie wiHo thin su:e is in Heofnc
and in Enrtho. Hlaf viserne oferwistlic sel us to da-g,
and forgef us scyltha usra sum use forgefun scylguni
usum. And ne inlead usith in costnungo. Ah gefrig
usich from yfle.
THE CREED IN ENGLISH OF THE NINTH CENTURY.
Ic gelyfe on God Fader ailmihtigne, Scyppend heo-
fonan and eortlian ; And on Hwlaiid Crist, Sunu his
anlicau, Drihten urne ; Se the wajs geacnod of thani
Halgan Gaste, Acwnned of Jlarian tham masdene ;
Gethrowad under tham Pontiscan Pilate, Gerod faistnad,
Dead and hebyrged ; He nither astah to hel warum ;
Tham thriddaii daige he aras fram deadum ; He astah
to lieofonuni ; He sit to swythran hand God Fseder
wass ielmihtigan ; Thonan toweard denian tha cucan
and tha deadan. Ic gelyfe Tha lialgau gelatliunge riht
gelyfdan; Halgana geniienysse ; And f orgyf nysse .synna ;
Flsesces £eriste ; And thajt ece life. Si hit swa.
To these early specimeus of devotional English may be added a lew taken out of a volume of
considerable size, the Primer which was in common use about a hundred years before the present
English Prayer Book was constructed.^
Fader cure that art in heve, i-halgced bee thi noma,
i-cume thi kinereiche, y-worthe thi wylle also is in
hevene so be on erthe, oure iche-dayes bred jif us to day,
and forjif us oure gultes, also we forjifet oure gultare,
and ne led ows nowth into foiidingge, auth ales ows of
harme. So be it.
THE CREED IN ENGLISH OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
Hi true in God, Fader Hal-michttende, That makede
heven and herdeth ; And in Jhesu Krist, is ane lepi
Sime, Hure Laverd; That was bigotin of the Hali Gast,
And born of the maindeu Marie ; Pinid under Punce
Pilate, festened to the rode, Ded, and dulvun ; Licht
in til helle ; The thride dai up ras fra dede to live ;
Steg intil hevenne; Sitis on his Fadir richt hand, Fadir
ahvaldand ; He then sal cunie to deme the quike and
the dede. Hy troue hy theli Gast; And hely * *
kirke ; The samninge of halges ; Forgifnes of sinnes ;
Uprisigen of fleyes : And life withuten ende. Amen.
Pater Nostet:
OUPiE fadir, that art in heuenes, halewid be thi
name : thy rewme come to thee ; be thi wille do
as in lieuene and in erthe : oure eche dales breed 5yue
us to day : and forsyue us oure dettis, as and we forjeuen
to oure dettiiuris : and ne lede us into temptacioun : but
delyuere us fm yuel. So be it.
Domine, Laliia.
Lord, thou schalt opyne myn lippis.
And my mouth schal schewe thi prisyng.
God, take heede to myn help :
Lord, hije thee to helpe me.
Glorie be to the fadir and to the sone and to the
holy goost :
As it was in the bygynnyng and now aiul ener and
in to the worldis of worldis. So be it.
frcdo ill.
JBILEUE in god, fadir alniysti, makere of heuene
and of erthe : and in iesu crist the sone of him,
oure lord, oou aloone : which is conceyued of the hooli
gost : born of marie maiden : suii'ride passioun undir
pounce pilat: crucified, deed, and biried: he wente doun
to hellis : the thridde day he roos ajen fro deede : he
stei? to heuenes : he sittith on the rijt syde of god the
fadir almy5ti : thenus he is to come for to deme the
<iuyke and deede. I beleue in the hooli goost : feith
of hooli chirche : communynge of seyntis : forjyuenesse
of synnes : ajenrisyng of fleish, and euerlastynge lyf.
So lie it.
Preie we. For the pees.
Deiis a quo.
God, of whom ben hooli desiris, rijt councels and
iust werkis : 5yue to thi seruantis pees that the world
may not 5eue, that in our heartis jouun to thi com-
manderaentis, and the drede of enemyes putt awei, owre
tymes be pesible thur? thi defendyng. Bi oure lord
iesu crist, thi sone, that with thee lyueth and regneth
in the unitie of the hooli goost god, bi all worldis of
worldis. So lie it.
[F^'ciyer fo)' the Clerr/;/.]
ALMYGHTI god, euerlastynge, that aloone doost
^* many wondres, schewe the spirit of heelful grace
upon bisschopes thi seruantis, and vpon alle the con-
gregacion betake to hem : and jeete in the dewe of thi
blessynge that thei plese euermore to the in trouthe.
Bi crist oure lord. S" be it.
[Collect fur the Annnnciation.'\
LORD, we bisechen helde yn thi grace to oure
inwittis, that bi the message of the aungel we
knowe the incarnacioun of thi sone iesu crist, and by
his passioun and cross be ledde to the glorie of his
resurreccioun. Bi the same iesu crist oure lord, that
with thee lyueth and regneth in oonhede of the hooly
goost, god, bi alle worldis of worldis. So be it.
[Collect fur Whitsun Day.]
(~1 OD, that taujtist the hertis of thi feithful seruantis
^ bi the lijtnynge of the hooli goo.st : graunte us
to sauore rijtful thingis in the same goost, and to be
ioiful euermore of his counfort. Bi crist our lorde. So
be it.
[Collect for Trinity Sunday.'\
EUERLASTYNGE almyjti god that ?ave us thi
seruantis in knowlechynge of verrei feith to
' It will be observed that Latin titles are prefixed to these,
as is still done with the Psalms in the Prayev Book. These
titles were a guide to the ear when the prayers and psalms
were being said or sun" in Latin.
9n i^i0toncal 31ntroriuction
knowe the glorie of the endeles trinite, and iii the | [Colled /or St. Michael and all Angels.]
mijt of mageste to worchipe thee in oonhede : we i /^ OD, that in a merueilous ordre ordejTiedist seruisys
bisechen that bi the sadness of the same feith we be VX of aungels and of men, graunte thou mercifuUi
kept and defendid euermore fro alle aduersitiees. Bi that cure liif be defendid in erthe bi hem that stondcn
crist. I nyj euermore seruynge to thee in heuvene. Bi crist.
The aucient formularies had, however, by change of circumstances, become unsuitable in several
respects for the Church of England. They had gi-own into a form in which they were extremely well
adapted (from a ritual point of view) for the use of religious communities, but were far too complex
for that of parochial congregations. When monasteries were abolished it was found that the devotional
system of the Church must be condensed if it was to be used by mixed congregations, and by those
who were not specially set apai-t for that life of rule and continual worship for which monastic com-
munities were intended. The Latin Services had, indeed, never been familiar to the people of England,
any more than they are to the Continental laity at the present day. In the place of Service-books the
laity were provided with devotional expositions of the Services ; sometimes in English rhyme, like
the "Lay Folk's Mass Book,"i and sometimes in prose, like " Our Lady's Mirror."- When manuscript
English Bibles became common in the fourteenth century, they usually contained a list of the Epistles
and Gospels, and similar lists are also found in a separate form.^ Such helps and guides would go far
to remedy the inconvenience of a Latin Service to those who could or would use them : but probably
the number of such persons was never very large.
There was, indeed, a popular service which was held about nine o'clock in the morning on Sundays
and Festivals, consisting of the Aspersion with blessed, or holy, water, followed by the Bidding of
Bedes, and a Sermon or Homily ; and in this service the vernacular was used long before the disuse of
Latin. The Aspersion Service, as given, with the musical notation, in a Breviary * belonging to the
Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, is as follows : —
" Remember your promys made in baptym.
And chrystys mercyfull bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Oif all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
Haue mercy uppon me oo god.
AfFter thy grat mercy.
Remember your promys made in baptym.
Aid chrystys mercyfull bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Oif all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
And acordyng to the nniltytude of thy mercys.
Do awey my wyckydnes.
Remember your promys made in baptym.
And chrystys mercyfull bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Off all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
Glory lie to the father, and to the sun, and to the holy goost.
As hyt was yn the begynyng so now and euer and j-n the world off worlds. So be hytt.
By the wyche most lioly sprynklyng.
Off all youre sj'ns youe haue fre perdun."^
' This commentary on the Mass was published by the Karly ■' Tlie following is the title of one of these books, and a
English Text Society in 1879 under the following title : "The sjjecinien of the references is annexed :—
Lav Folk's Mass Book : or, The Manner of hearing Mass, with 1 " Hero l..-jiineth a rule that tellith in wlnolm rlmpitrls of tlie biWe yo
„•; ■ 1 II I- f »l,„ !>„„„!„ " Tt ;- ,,l..,f,.,l 1,. <„Iif„,l may fynile the lessouns, iMStlis and t'osiwls, tluit litii red 111 tlie chuiihe
Rubrics and Devotions for the I eople. It is admiriibly edited 1 ^f^?^ (,,^ ,,^^ ^f sahsbiiri: marki.l with Icttris of the a. b. c. at the
by the Rev. T. F. .Simmons, Canon of lork and Rector of bcK,iiiiyiigc of tlie chaiiitris toward the myddil or ccnde: aftir the oixire as
Daltoii Holme. The book is a mediseval " Companion to the thelcttris stonden in the a. b. c. first ben sett sundaics and ferials togldere :
Altnr •' infl w-ia written in the twelfth centurv »'"' ■''''"'' »•"■» the s.inctoriim, the proiire an.l coniyn tORider of al the yccr :
Altar ana w as wrilien in tne iw tiiin ceniury. ,„„, t,,„„„p ,„st the conimemoraoiouns : that is clcpid the temporal of
' This was wntten about A.D. 14.50, anil printeil m A.I>. nl the yere. First is written a clause of the begynnyngc of the jiistlc and
1530. It was reprinted by the Early English Text Society , gosi"!, and a clause of the endynse themf "
in 1S7.3, with the title, "The Myriiure of oure Ladye, con- , "Thclirst)''"
taining a devotioiLil treatise on Divine Service, with a tr.aiis-
lation of the Offices used by the Sisters of the lirigittine
Rom. xiii. c.
ti. we Kiiowpii thi.s
ende. in tlio lord Ihs
tviiic.
Ct.
Mfttthni xxi. c.
". wlinimo ilis cam
endf. nsaiutn in hi^h
iiy;;'''
thiuK'is.-
soni'ii'lay V,
..fii.ha'nt. 1 '
Monastery of Sion at Isleworth, during the tiftccuth and ' This Rrcviary, perhaps the liiiest which h.is been pre-
sixteciith centuries. Edited from the black-letter text of l.'iSO, served, belonged to the Parish Church of Arlinghani in
with Introduction and Notes, by .Tohn Henry Blunt," ; (Uoucestersliire, then in the Diocese of Worcester, and was
etc. It is a commentary upon the Hours, or Services written in the early p.art of the fifteenth century. The
for every day of the Week, and upon the Mass : the whole Aspersion Service w.is inseited at a later time, the writing
of the f<irmer, and the laymen's jiart of the l.ttter, being being dated by experts of the highest authority as belonging
translated. to the middle of the century, from A. I>. 1440 to 1460. Tlieie
In the library of St. .John's College, Oxford, there is also a l is a critical ji.apcr on this .Xspeision by Mr., now Biahop.Kiiig-
Trocessionale fMS. IfiT] with English rubrics, which onco don, in the Willsliirt .l/r/((ifi/o;/iVii/ .l/ii;/<(:i«'' for 187SI, p.iges
belonged to .Sjon, and was written in the middle of the ()2-7<i, witli a ]ihotogr:iph of the words and music.
fifteenth century, ( .Virrnr, Iiitrod. p. xliv. ] '• At a later date the .\spcrsiim was followed l>y the dio-
to tbe iprajjcc TBoofe.
While this anthem was being sung the priest, with the aqufe-bajulus, or holy water-bearer, and
the choir walked in procession down the nave of the church, the former sprinkling the congregation
with the water ; and it is probable that the whole of the fifty-first Psalm was sung. After this followed
the Bidding Prayer in English, several Collects in Latin, and then the Sermon.
But although this English Service was evidently in very general use, it does not seem as if the
idea of entirely Vernacular Services spread very widely among the clergy and people of England until
after the dissolution of the monasteries. Then the gradual but slow approximation to such a system
received a great impetus, and Latimer found a very hearty response in the minds of the clergy when,
speaking of baptism in his sermon before the Convocation of A.D. 15.3G, he exclaimed, " Shall we ever-
more in ministering it speak Latin, and not English rather, that the people may know what is said
and done ?" [Latimer's Servians, i. 52, ed. 1824.] The assent to this change was in fact so unanimous
among the clergy that Archbishop Cranmer wrote to Queen Maiy respecting the Committee appointed
for the revision of the Services by Henry VIII., that although it was composed of men who held
different opinions, they " agreed without controversy (not one saying contraiy) that the Service of the
Church ought to be in the mother tongue." [Jenkyns' Cranmer s Rem. i. 375.] Ridley also writes
to his chaplain that he had confeiTed with many on the subject, and " never found man (so far as I do
remember), neither old nor new, gospeller nor papist, of what judgment soever he was, in this thing
to be of a contrary opinion." [Ridley's Worhs, p. 340.]
With this general inclination of the national mind towards the use of the national language alone
in Divine Service there arose also that necessity for condensed services which has previously been
referred to. There are no means of deciding how far the original Use of Salisbury differed from that
which is known to us. The copies remaining belong to a much later period than the eleventh century,
and there is reason to think that some accretions gathered around the ancient devotions of the Church
of England from the prevalence of Continental influences during the reigns of the Norman and
Angevin kings, and from the great increase of monastic establishments : the .shorter and more primi-
tive form of responsive public service being found insufficient, especially for those who formed them-
selves into societies for the purpose of carrying on an unceasing round of pi'ayer and praise in the
numerous Minsters which then covered the face of our land. But now that the " religious " of the
Church were to be a separate body no longer. Divine Providence led her to feel the way gradually
towards a return to the earlier practice of Christianity ; the idea of a popular and mixed congregation
superseded that of a special monastic one ; and the daily worship being transferred from the Cloister
to the Parish Church, its normal form of Common Prayer was revived in the place of the Prayers of
a class or the solitary recitation of the Parish Priest. No blame was cast upon the former system for
its complexity ; but the times were changed, a new order of things was becoming established, and,
although the principles of the Church are unchangeable, so entire a remoulding of society entailed of
necessity a corresponding adaptation of her devotional practice, both for the honour of God and the
good of souls, to the wants that had come to light.
Some slight attempts were made at a reformation of the Sarum Offices in editions of the Breviary
which were printed in lolG and 1531, and a Missal of 1509 is even described as "amended." There
was little variation, indeed, from the old forms ; but there was a distinct initiation of the principles
which were afterwards carried out more fully in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549. The rubrics
were somewhat simplified ; Holy Scripture was directed to be read in order without omission ; and in
carrying out the latter direction the Lessons, which had been much shortened in actual use {see note
to Table of Lessons], were restored to their ancient length.
tribution of the eulogia or blessed bre.xtl. The two are orders both rites to be used every Sunday, with the words
explained in the ninth of the Ten Articles of a.d. 153() in the given above. "And in like manner before the dealing of the
following words : "As concerning the rites and ceremonie.? holy bread these words :
of Christ's Church ; ... as sprinkling of lioly water to put
us in remembrance of our Baptism, .and the blood of Christ
sprinkled for our redemption upon the cross ; giving of holy
bread, to put us in remembrance of the Sacrament of the
altar, that .all Christian men be one body mystical of Christ
as the bread is made of many grains, and yet but one loaf :
and to put us in remembrance of the receiving the holy sacra-
ment and body of Christ, the whicli we ought to receive in
right cliarity ; which in the beginning of Christ's Church,
men did more often receive than they use nowadays to do."
[Lloyd's Formul. of Faith, p. 15.] The fourtli of some
injunctions issued by the King's Visitors in a.d. 1548, also
' Of Christ's liody this is a token.
Which ou the cross for our sins was broken ;
Wherefore of his death if you will be partakei-s,
Of "Vice and sin you must be forsakers."
And the clerk in the like manner shall bring down the Pax,
and standing without the church door shall say boldly to the
people these words ; ' This is a token of joyful peace, which
is betwixt God and men's conscience : Christ alone is the
Peacemaker, 'Which straitly commands peace between
brother and brother. ' And so long as ye use these ceremonies,
so long shall ye use these significations." [Burnet's Reform,
V. 186, Pocock's ed.]
8 an l^istocical IntroDuctioii
In 1531 this revised edition of the Salisbiiiv Poitiforium or Breviary was reprinted, and two
years later a revised Missal was published ; iu the latter spuL-ial care being taken to provide an
apparatus for enabling the people to find out the places of the Epistles and Gospels. And though no
authorized translation of the Bible had yet been allowed by Henry VIII., Craumer and the other
Bishops began to revise Tyndale's translation iu 1534, and encouraged the issue of books containing
the Epistles and Gospels in English, of which many editions were published between 1538 and the
printing of the Prayer Book.^ A fresh impulse seems thus to have been given to the use of the old
English Prymers, in which a large portion of the Services (including the Litany) was translated into
the vulgar tongue, and also a third of the Psalms, and to which in later times the Epistles and Gospels
were added.
In 1540 the Psalter was printed by Grafton in Latin and English [Bodleian Lib., Douce BB. 71],
and there seems to have been an earlier edition of a larger size about the year 1534. The Psalter had
long been rearranged, so that the Psalms were said in consecutive order, in some chiu-ches at least,
according to our modern practice, instead of in the ancient but comple.x order of the Brevia-y. [See
Introd. to Psalter.]
In 1541 and 1544 other amended editions of the Salisbury Breviary were published in the title-
pages of which it is said to be purged from many errors. By order of Convocation [March 3, 1541]
the Salisbury Use was now also adopted throughout the whole Province of Canterbury, and an uniformity
secured which had not existed since the days of Augustine. Nor is it an insignificant circumstance
that the book was now printed b}' Whitchurch (from whose press issued the Book of Common Prayer),
instead of being printed in Paris as formerly.
That these revisions of the ancient Service-books were steps towards a Reformed English Breviary
or Portiforium is confirmed by the course of events. Something in the nature of a confirmation is
also aSbrded by a comparison of these attempts with others of a similar kind Avhich were made abroad
towards obtaining a Reformed Roman Breviary. Some years after the Convocation of the Church of
England had issued the 151G edition of the Salisbury L^^se, Leo X. gave directions to Zaccharia Ferreri
de Vicence, Bishop of Guarda, in Portugal, to prepare a new version of the Breviaiy Hymns. This
was done, and the volume published under the authority of Clement VII. in 1525, with this prominent
announcement of a Reformed Breviary on the title-page: " Breviarium Ecclesiasticiun ah eodeni
Zach. Pont, longe brevms et faciliiis redditum et ab omni eii'oi'c piirgatum propediem exibit."
The promised reform was actually effected by Cardinal Quignonez, a Spanish Bishop, and was published
under the same authority as the Hymnal, in 1535-3G. But this Reformed Roman Breviary was intended
chiefly, if not entirely, for the use of the clergy and monks in their private recitations ; and its intro-
duction in some places for choir and public use eventually led to its suppression in 1568. No provision
whatever was made (as there had been iu connection with the English reform) for adapting it to the
use of the laity. During the whole forty years of its use there is no trace of any attempt to connect
the Breviary of Quignonez with vernacular translations of Prayers or Scriptures. And, although it was
undoubtedly an initiatory step in the same direction as that taken by our own Reformers (who indeed
used the Breviaiy of Quignonez in their subsequent proceedings), yet it was never followed up, nor
intended to be followed up ; and the object of the Roman reform throws out in stronger light that of
the English.'-
A very decided advance towards the Prayer Book system had been made in 153(5, when in
the Province of York, and almost certaiidy in that of Canterbury also, an Archicpiscopai order was
issued that " all curates and heads of congregations, religious and other, privileged ami other, shall
every holy-day read the Gospel and the Epistle of that day out of the English Bible, plainly and
distinctly ; and they that have such grace shall make some declaration either of the one or of both (if
' See the List of Printeil Service-Books accorilins to tlie
ancient Uses of tlic Knclish Cliurcli, compiled by .\lr. F. II.
Dickin-son, and reprinted from tlic ICrclr.iioloyixl of Feb. 18r)0.
- The Reformed I'reviary of Cardinal Quignonc/ was begun
latest edition was printed in 1.5GC, and tlic Breviary w.os
suppressed in I.'iCiS. 'J'he title-pages vary, and so do the pre-
faces, and if there are not two recensions of the Breviary,
there certainly are two of the jireface to it ; which, as is
under Clement Vll— "cju3(|ue Iwjrtatu et jussu "—who ex-- shewn further on, w.os Largely used by the writer of the Pre-
communicated Henry VIII. It was afterwards .approved and j face to the Prayer Book of I.IW.
recommended to the clergy by Paul HI. in a Bull d.atcd in a ! ForafuUaccountofQuignonez's Breviary, sfe Claude Jolt's
Paris edition of 153(5 as issued on Febru.ary ■'{, ir>.'t."i, but in an
Antwcrj) bl.ack-Iettcr edition in the Bodleian Library as issued
on July .3, l.")li(>. It appears to have gone through at least
seventeen editions, being printe<l at Paris, Lyons, .\ntwcr|),
and Piome, in folio, i|uarto, octavo, and duodecimo. The
De verhix I'suanli Dhxerlalio, Scnonis, KlliO, pp. fl3-10.'! ;
/ACC.Mi. Bibt. Jill. i. 110, IBS, 114; Ci.audii KsrKNr.ci 0pp.,
Paris, l(il9, Dif/rr.HM. I. xi. l.'ih"; CucoNMI I'll. I'ontif. lioman.
III. 49S, Rome, 1(177: Oikh.vnckus hiKlit. f.iliirij. i. ,37(),
:!8:i. ,ind note B; Clirisl. Hcmemh. Ixx. •-WJ.
to tfje IPraget iBooh.
the time may serve) every holy-day."' In 1542 a further advance was made by the Convocation,
which ordered that tlie Salisbury Breviary should be used all over England, a canon being passed
which enacted " that every Sunday and Holy-day throughout the year, the curate of every parish
church, after the Te Deum and Magnificat, shall openly read unto the people one chapter of the
New Testament in English without ex2Josition ; and when the New Testament is read over then to
begin the Old." ^
But all the measures which had been hitherto taken by the ecclesiastical authorities of England
were plainly regarded as being only of a temporary nature. No more Service-books were allowed to
be printed than were absolutely necessary for the performance of Divine Worship, as it was seen that
a much more thorough alteration of them must take place, and in this session of 1542-43
Convocation entered upon that course of Liturgical revision which resulted in the Book of Common
Prayer.
At one of its early meetings the president read Letters of Business from the Crown, in which His
Majesty directed " that all Mass-books, Antiphoners, Portuises, in the Church of England should be
newly examined, corrected, reformed, and castigated from all manner of mention of the Bishop of
Rome's name, from all apocryphas, feigned legends, superstitious orations, collects, versicles, and
responses ; that the names and memories of all saints which be not mentioned in the Scripture or
authentical doctors should be abolished and put out of the same books and calendars, and that the
service should be made out of the Scripture and other authentic doctors?." [WiLKlNs' Concil. iii. 8G3.]
The Convocation at once set to work on the business thus formally placed before them by the Crown ;
and so important was it considered, that no member was allowed to absent himself from their meetings
without special leave of absence. A Committee was then appointed for carrying out the details of
this work, the original members of it being Shaxton, Bishop of Salisbury, ex officio Precentor of the
Province of Salisbury ; Goodrich, Bishop of Ely ; and six proctors of the Lower House. This Com-
mittee continued in existence for seven years, and its last work was the Book of Common Prayer
published in 1549. But for part of the seven yeai-s its public action was restrained by the "Statute
of Six Articles,^ which, in point of fact, made such labours highly penal. There is good reason to
think that Henry VIIL was himself the author of this statute, and it was certainly passed by his
influence. The Bishops had vigorously opposed it in the House of Lords with an eleven days' debate,
and their experience shewed them that any reformation of the ancient services must be carried on
with extreme caution while this law was in operation under so despotic a monarch.* But as soon as
Convocation met, after the death of Henry, a resolution was passed, " That the works of the Bishops
' Abp. Lee's Injunctions in BurneCs Hist, of Reform, vi. 199,
Pocock's ed.
- WiLKiNs' Concil. iii. 863. It is most likely that the
Gospels and Epistles were read in Latin first and then in
English. Tliere is an interesting anonymous letter to tlie
Duke of Norfolk, wliich shews that Cranmer had become
acquainted with this plan in Germany ; " Althougli I had a
chaplain yet could I not be suffered to have him sing Mass,
but was constrained to liear their Mass which is but one in a
Church, and that is celebrated in form following. The Priest,
in vestments after our manner, singetli everything in Latin, as
we use, omitting suffrages. The Epistle he readeth in Latin.
In the mean time the sub-deacon goeth into the pulpit and
readeth to the people the Epistle in their vulgar ; after they
peruse other things as our priests do. Tlien the Priest readeth
softly the Gospel in Latin. In the mean space tlie Deacon
goeth into the pulj)it anil readeth aloud the Gospel in tlic
Almaigne tongue, ilr. Cranmer saitli it was sliewed to him
that in the Epistles and Gospels tliey kept not the order tliat
we do, but do peruse every day one chapter of the New
Testament. Afterwards the Priest and the quire do sing the
Credo as we do ; the secret and preface tliey omit, and the
Priest singeth witli a higli voice tlie words of tlie Consecration.
And after the Levation the Deacon turneth to the people,
telling to them in Almaigne tongue a long process how they
should prepare themselves to the Communion of the Flesh
and Blood of Christ. And then may every man come that
listeth, without going to Confession. " This letter was written
from Nuremberg about 1530. [Ellis' Oriij. Lett. III. ii. 192.]
^ The Statute of Six Articles was an Act of Parliament
passed under the personal iiiHuence of Henry VIII., anil
against the persevering efforts of the Bishops in the House of
Lords, in the year 1.^39. It made highly penal any denial of
either of six short statements which embodied the chief points
of doctrine then brought into controversy. It formed the
key of the position for the time ; and, knowing this, Cranmer
and other Bishops maintained the debate for eleven days in
tlie hope of preventing the bill from passing, he himself argu-
ing against it for three days. The penalties aimexed to this
Act were, for preaching or writing against the first article,
burning (witliout pardon on recantation); imprisonment for
life, with forfeiture, for preaching or writing against any of
the others, with deatli for the second oifence. In his reply
to the Devonshire rebels, Archbishop Cranmer writes respect-
ing this statute {which they wished to have restored), "If
the King's Majesty himself had not come into the parliament
house, those laws had never passed. " [Strype's Cranmer, ii.
515, Eccl. Hist. Soc]
■* V'et Cranmer made a vigorous effort to persuade the King
into authorizing the publication of their revision. On January
24, 1540, he sent Henry a draft of a letter to be addressed
to himself by the King, in which it is referred to, and by
wliich it was intended to put it in force. But the King would
not adopt the suggestion. The Archbisliop wisely pressed on
these proposed reforms in the hope that they would be firmly
rooted, if established by so vigorous a hand as that of Henry
VIII. "It was better," he said to his Secretary in 1547, "to
attempt such reformation in King Heniy the Eight his days
tliaii at this time, the King being in his infancy. For if the
King's father had set forth any thing for the reformation of
abuses, who was he that durst gainsay it?" He probably
foresaw that there would be Roman and Puritan schisms,
and thouglit that they might have been prevented by the
Church, wlien backed by the concentrated power of Henry,
while there was little hope of stemming their force under his
successors.
lO
an i^istorical IntroDuction
and others, who by the command of the Convocation have laboured in examining, reforming, and
publishing the Divine Service, may be produced, and laid before the examination of this house."
This resolution was passed on November 22, 1547, and as some of the Clergy complained
that it was not safe to do this while the Statute of Six Articles remained in force, Cranmer
exerted himself, and successfully, to get it repealed, and so to set the Committee and the Convocation
free.
The first efforts of the Committee had been to prune down the complexity and superabundance
Reform of tiie '^^ ^^^ existing Rubrics. This was so great that some pages of the Service-books
Rubrics. contained many more words of direction in red letters than of prayers in black. The
whole ceremonial of Divine Service was involved in this inquiry, including the ancient and venerable
practices of the Church, as well as numberless recent and often superstitious ones. In 1543 they
prepared a long Canon on " The Ceremonies to be used in the Church of England, together with an
explanation of the meaning and significancy of them.''^ How far this was published at the time is
not clear ; but it is highly probable that the investigation which resulted in this document was also
the foundation on which the Rubrics of 1549 were constructed.
The reconstructors of our devotional offices acted wisely in reducing the number of Rubrics, and
generally moderating the ceremonial system of the Church of England. They said that " the great
excess and multitude of them hath so increased in these latter days, that the burthen of them was
intolerable," and they spoke with the experience of practical men, who were familiarly acquainted all
their lives with that about which they wrote. But one inconvenience has arisen out of the manner in
which they did their work, from which later generations have sufifered more than they could foresee.
They went upon the principle of expressing only the most essential things in the Rubric, and left many
others to tradition. As Bishop Cosin states it,^ " The book does not every where enjoin and prescribe
every little order, what should be said or done, but takes it for granted that people are acquainted with
such common, and things always used already." Many of these usages are referred to in the subsequent
pages of this volume, and need not be mentioned now. It is sufficient to say that some of them dropped
out of memory altogether during the persecution of the Church and the suppression of the Establish-
ment under the rule of the Commonwealth ; that others, from want of written authority, have become
the subject of controversy; and that the ritual tradition, to which the Reformers trusted so much
when they put forth their condensed form of Rubric, has only been partially recovered even in our
own time
The next point to which Convocation turned its attention was the revision of the old English
Litany, which had long been known in the Prymers, having been in use among the laity for about
a hundred and fifty years. The Processional, which contained other Litanies, was also translated, and
there exists an interesting letter from Cranmer to Henry VIII. respecting it which throws much light
on the manner in which the work of translation and revision was carried on. The date of this letter
is October 7, 1544. [Jenkyns' Cranmer's Remains, i. 315.]
" It may please your Majesty to be advertised, that, according to your Highness' commandment, sent unto
me by your Grace's Secretary, Mr. Pagett, 1 have translated into the Engli.sli tongue, so well a.s I could in so
short a time, certain processions, to be used upon festival days, if after due correction and amendment of the
same, your Highness shall think it so convenient. In which translation, forasmucli as many of the processions,
in the Latin, were but barren, as me seemed, and little fruitful, I wiis constrained to use more than the liberty
of a translator : for in some processions I have altered divers words ; in some I have added part ; in some taken
part away ; some I have left out whole, either for bycausc the matter appeared to me to be little to purpose, or
bycauso the days be not with us festival days" [having been abrogated in 1537] ; "and some prutcssions I have
added whole, because I thought I liad better matter for tlio purpose than was the procession in Latin ; the
judgement ^vhereof I leave wholly unto your Majesty : and after your Highness liath coirected it, if your Grace
command sonic devout and solcnni note to be made thereunto (a.s is to the procession which ycnn- Majesty hath
already set forth in English), I trust it will much excitatu and stir the hearts of all men unto devotion and
godliness. I5ut in mine opinion, the song that shall be made thereunto slmuld not bo full of notes, but as near
aa may be for every syllable a note ; so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly, as be the JIatins and
Evensong, Venile, the Hynuis Te Deum, Benedichis, Magnificat, Nunc Ditnittis, and all the Tsalms and Versicles ;
and in the Mass, Gloria in Exceldn, Gloria Palri, the Creed, the Preface, the Pater Nostrr, and some of the
iSaiictus and Agnus,^ As concerning the Salve fista dies, the Latin note, as I think, is sober and distinct enough;
' The oriKiiiftl M^. '•'* pregcrstd in the British Museum
[Cleoi'. E. v. 2o9]; ami it ia printeil in Coli.iek's Keel. J/isl.
V. 104-122, 0(1. 1852; au'l in .STiivrK'a Jicd. Mem. I. ii. 411,
cd. 1S22.
' Cosin'h h'orln, veil. V. ]). Grt.
' The order in \\ liioli tlie t'lmticles arc hero mentioned
suggesta that tlie Knglisli Mattins and Kvensong had already
been put togctlier.
to tfje IPrapec TBook.
II
wherefore I have travailed to make the verses in English, and have put the Latin note unto the same. Never-
theless, they that be cunning in singing, can make a much more solemn note thereto. I made them only for a
proof, to see how English would do in song. But by cause mine English verses lack the grace and facility
that I would wish they had, your Majesty may cause some other to make them again, that can do the same in
more pleasant English and phrase. As for the sentence " [the English sense], " 1 suppose it will serve well
enough. Thus Almighty God preserve your Majesty in long and prosperou.s health and felicity. From Bekia-
bourne, the 7th of October.
" Your Grace's most bounden
" Chaplain and Beadsman,
" T. Cantuabien.
" To the King's most excellent Majesty."
From other transactions between the Ai'chbishop and the King it may be inferred that the sugges-
tion was first sent by the former, perhaps at the request of Convocation, to the latter, then returned
in the form of an order from the Crown to the Archbishop as head of the Convocation ; and that the
above letter is the official reply to that order. It does not appear that the King permitted this English
Processional to be published, and the MS. has not been discovered. The 'previous Procession alluded
to by Cranmer in this letter was the English Litany nearly as it is now used, which received the
final sanction of Convocation in March 1.544, and was promulgated by a mandate of the Crown, dated
June 11, 1544.1
But the sanction and promulgation of the English Litany for public use was the utmost that
Henry VIII. could be prevailed upon to undertake in the direction of a vernacular Prayer Book. For
the last three years of his reign the work ceased ; and at the time of his death, on January 28, 1547,
the Services of the Church of England were still the Latin Services of the Salisbury Breviary, Missal,
and Manual, with the exception that the Litany was said in English, that Lessons in English were
read after the Latin Lessons, that the Gospels and Epistles were read in English after they
had been read in Latin, and that the popular services of the Aspersion with Holy Water, the
distribution of Holy Bread, and the Bidding of the Bedes, were entirely or almost entirely, said in
English.
After the death of Henry VIII. and the accession of Edward VI. [January 28, 1547] much
caution was observed by the authorities in Church and State on account of the King's extreme youth,
and for eleven months no changes whatever were made in the devotional system of the Church of
England as it was left by Henry VIII. His young son was crowned with the Sarum rite on February
13, 1547, and on the 24th of that month the Privy Council, Archbishop Cranmer being present,
resolved that the Masses which the late King had ordered in his will to be offered up for the good of
his soul should be duly said in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. On June 20, 1547, Archbishop Cranmer,
assisted by eight other Bishops, offered a requiem Mass for Francis I., King of France, all the Bishops
being in their full pontifical attire, and Bishop Ridley preaching the sermon. A set of thirty-seven
Royal Injunctions respecting the Church and Clergy was promulgated on July 31, 1547, but only
three alterations were made by them in the Services of the Church ; the first in respect to Altar
Lights, the second in respect to the Lessons at Mattins and Evensong, and the third as regards the
Litany. The slight character of the first two of these changes may be best seen by placing side by
side the respective customs as authorized in the two reigns.
1. Altar Lights.
From the Itk of Henri/ VII Vs Injunctimis of
A.D. 1538.
"Ye . . . shall suffer from henceforth no candles,
tapers, or images of wax, to be set before any images
or picture, but only the light that commonly goeth
about the cross of the Church by the rood-loft, the light
before the sacrament of the altar, and the light about
the sepulchre : which for the adorning of the Church
and Divine Service, ye shall suffer to remain still."
From the itk of Edward VI.' s Injunctions of
A.D. 1547.
"They . . . shall suffer from henceforth no torches
nor candles, tapers, or images of wax to be set before
any image or picture, but only tu<o lights upon the high
altar, before the sacrament, which for the signification
that Christ is the very true Light of the world, they
shall suffer to remain still."
' The Salisbury Processional was republished in Latin
sometime in 1.^44. probably because the Kins would
not consent to have it used in English as proposed by
( 'r.inmer.
12 an rpistorical 31ntroDuction
2. The Latin and English Lessons at Mattins and Evensong.
Canon of Canterbury Convocation, February 21, 1543. Fromthe 22,nd of Edward VI.'s Injttnctionsof a.d. 1547.
" Every Sunday and Holy Day throughout the year " Every Sunday and Holy Day they shall plainly
the Curate of every Parish Church, after the Te Deum and distinctly read, or cause to be read, one chapter of
and Magnificat, shall openly read unto the people one the New Testament in English, in tlie same place at
chapter of the New Testament in English without JIattins, immediately after tlie Lessons : and at Even-
exposition, and when the New Testament is read over song after Magnificat one chapter of the Old Testament,
then to begin the Old." And to the intent the premisses may be more con-
veniently done, the King's Majesty's pleasure is, that
when ix lessons should be read in the Church, three of
them shall be omitted and left out, with the responds :
and at Evensong time the responds with all the
memories shall be left off for that purpose."
3. Processional Litanies.
From Hie 24?A of Edward VI.'s Injunctions of 1547.
" Also to avoid all contention and strife which heretofore hath arisen among the King's jMajesty's subjects in
sundry places of his realms and dominions, by reason of fond courtesy, and challenging of places in procession,
and also that they may the more quietly hear that which is said or sung to their edifying, they shall not from
henceforth, in any parish church at any time, use any procession about the church or churchyard or other place,
but immediately before the High J^lass the priests with other of the quire shall kneel in the midst of the church
and sing or say plainly and distinctly the Litany which is set forth in English, with all the suffrages following.
. . . And in the time of the Litany, of the ilass, of the Sermon, and when the priest readeth the Scripture to the
parishioners, no manner of pereons without a just and urgent cause shall depart out of the church."
The 20th of the same Injunctions directs that no person shall " alter or change the order and
manner ... of Common Prayer or Divine Service, otherwise than is specified in these Injunctions,"
until such changes shall be sanctioned by the authority of the CrowTi : and this was further enforced
by a Proclamation of February 6, 1 548, ordering the imprisonment and punishment of any person who
should " change, alter, or innovate any Order, Rite, or Ceremony, commonly used and frequented in
the Church of England, and not commanded to be left done at any time " in the reign of Henry VIII.,
or by Injunctions, Statutes, or Proclamations of his successor. [WiLKiNs' Concil. iv. 21.]
It was the second of these changes, that directed by the 22nd Injunction, which chiefly affected
the Services of the Church : and its practical operation may be seen by the manner in which it was
expanded by those to whom the Visitation of the various Dioceses was intrusted. The following
directions, given by the Visitors of the Diocese of York, will illustrate this point. They appear never
to have been printed, and are here copied (with the exception of the three last, which have no bearing
on the subject) from Fothergill's MS. Collections in the Library of York Minster :—
"Injunctions given by the King's Majestie's Visitors in his Highness' Visitation to Robt. Holdgate Ld. A. B.
the Dn. Chapter, and all other the Ecclesiastical ministers of and in tlie Cathedral Church of York, 26 8bris
An. 1547.
[1] "Ye shall at all days and times when nine lessons ought or were accustomed to be sung, sing Mattins
only of six Lessons and si.x Psalms with the song of Te Deum Laudamus or ]\Iisercro, as the time rcquireth.
after the six Lessons : and that dayly from the Annunciation of our Lady to the first day of October ye shall
begin Mattins at six of the clock in the morning, and residue of the year at seven of the clock.
[2] "Item. Ye .shall sing and celebrate in note or song within the said Church but only one Mass, that is
to say, High Mass only, and none other, and daily begin the same at nine of the clock before noon.
[3] " Item. Ye shall daily from the said feast of the Annunciation to the said lirst day of October, sing the
Eveasong and Complin without any responds : and begin the same at three of the clock in the afternoon. The
residue of the year to begin at two of the clock, or half an liour after.
[4] "Item. Yo .shall hereafter omit, and not use the singing of any hours, jjrimc, dirigc, or commendations;
but every man to say the same as him sufliceth or he is disposed.
[5] " Item. Yo sliall sing, say, use, or suflftr none other Anthems in the Church but these liercafter follow-
ing, and such as by the King's Majesty and his most lioiiourablc Council hereafter shall ho set forth.
Anthem.
" Like as Mosca lift up the serpent in the wilderness, even so was our Saviour .Jesus Christ lift upon th^•
Cross, that whosoever beliuveth in Him should not perish, but have joy for ever. For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only-begotten Son, that such as believe in Him should not iicrish, but have life everlasting.
" y. Increase, O Lord, our faith in Thoc.
"K/. Tli.at we nmy work His pleasure only.
to tf)C llf)raj^cr Idook. 13
(.'uUecl.
]jct us i)i'ay.
" Most bountiful ami Liunigu Lord God, wc, Thy humble seivauts, freely redeemed and justified by the
passion, death, and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ, in full trust of salvation therein, most humbly
desire Thee so to strengthen our faith and illuminate us with Thy grace, that we may walk and live in Thy favour,
and after this life to be jiartakers of Thy glory in the everlasting kingdom of Heaven, through our Lord Jesus
Christ. So be it.
Another Anthem.
'■ Be it evident and known unto all Christians that through our Lord Jesus Christ forgiveness of .sins is
preached unto you, and that by Him all that believe are justified from all things from the which we could not be
justified by the law of Moses. So be it.
" y. O Lord, for Christ's sake our Savioui-.
" ^. AcceiJt and hear (Uir humble jirayer.
Ijet us pray.
" We sinners do beseech Thee, O Lord, to keep Edward the si.xth, Thy Servant, our King and Governor ;
that it may please Thee to rule his heart in Thy faith, fear, and love ; that he may ever have affiance in Thee,
and ever seek Thy honour and glory. That it may please Thee to be his defender and keeper, givin" him the
victory over all his enemies, through our Lord Jesus Christ. So be it.
" The residue of the day ye shall bestow in virtuous and godly exercises, as in study and contemplation of
God His most holy word.
" All which and singular Injunctions before mentioned the Lord j\.rcliLishop of this Church, his Chancellor,
Archdeacons, or Official, shall publish and send, or cause to be published and sent and observed in to every
Church, College, Hospital, and other ecclesiastical jilaces witliin his Diocese.
[fi] " Item. All Sermons, Collations,^ and Lectures of Divinity liereafter to be had or made in visitations.
Synods, Chapters, or at any other time or place, shall n(jt be used in the Latin Tongue, but in the English, to
the intent that every man having recourse thereunto may well perceive the same."
These remarkable Injunctions shew that the authorities were taking up the reform of the Liturgy
exactly wliere it had been laid down through the refusal of Henry VIII. to sanction the EnHish
Processional : for what are here called " Anthems " are exactly similar in character to those parts of the
Service which were printed for each Festival in the Latin Processional of Salisbury, the variable part
of the Litany, by which it was adajrted to the different seasons of the Christian year. They were also
used in the " Hours," and seem to shew the original form of the " Anthem. "-
When the Convocation of Canterbury met on November .5, 1547, it was well known that the
Statute of Six Articles (grimly called "The Whip with Six Cords") would be rejDealed by Parliament,
as it was, in fiict, repealed by 1 Edw. VI. c. 12. Freedom of action being thus secured, Convocation at
once began advancing towards the practical end of the Revision which had been in view for so many
years. After two formal sessions on the day of meeting and on November ISth, the two Houses met for
business on November 22nd, and the Clergy of the Lower House immediately sent up a petition to the
Bishops requesting, among other things, the revival of the work of 154.3. The words of the petition
so far as they concern this subject, are, " That whereas by the commandment of King Henry VIII.
certain prelates and other learned men were appointed to alter the Service in the Church, and to
devise other convenient and uniform order therein, who according to the same appointment did make
certain books as they be informed ; their request is, that the said books may be seen and perused by
them, fur a better expedition of Divine Service to be set forth accordingly."^
THE ORDER OF COMMUNION OF A.D. 1548.
It was more than a year before the " perusal," or revision, of these " books " ended in the publication
of the Book of Common Prayer ; but the Clergy had so far made up their minds about one oreat prin-
ciple of that Book, the restoration of Communion in both kinds to the Laity, that the authorities
were able to complete this act of reformation with great promptitude. Shortly before his death Henry
' These were devotional readings in the Chapter House, ^ The Acts of Convocation have been lost, but these are the
before Compline. words as given in Archbishop Cranmer's handwriting, and
- .S'ee also the form of Aspersion given on an earlier page, i they are confirmed by a short Latin entry contained in his
and the Easter processional Anthem printed in tlie Notes on i Register. [Wilkins' Concil. iv. 15 ; Stillingfleet's Irenicon,
Easter Day. p. 387; Cakdwell's iS'ynorfaZm, p. 420]
14 3n l^istorica! ^ntroDiiction
VIII. had desired Archbishop Craumer " to peu a Form for the alteration of the Mass into a Com-
munion" [Strype's llevi. ofCranmer, i. 311, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.], and the subject had therefore been
under consideration for some time. Accordingly, on November 30, 1547, in its fifth session, "The
Prolocutor of the Lower House of Convocation exhibited, and caused to be read publicly, a form of a
certain ordinance delivered by the Most Reverend the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the receiving of
the Body of our Lord under both kinds, viz. of bread and wine. To which ho himself subscribed and
some others." This does not appear to have been the Order of Conimuuion itself, but simply a
Resolution that the Cup should be restored to the Laity. Its final adoption was postponed until the
next session, December 2nd, when the whole of those who were present, "in number sixty-four, by their
mouths did approve the proposition made in the last session, of taking the Lord's Body in both kinds,
mdlo o-eclavutnte." [Wilkins' Concil. iv. 16; Strype's Mem. of Cranmer, ii. 87.] This Act of
Convocation was ratified by an Act of Parliament on December 24, 1.'547 [1 Edw. VI. c. i. § 7], and
for a time the Clergy were left to use their own form of words for the administration of the Cup, the
Sacrament being still celebrated according to the Sarum Missal. But it was soon found expedient
that the principle of a Vernacular Service should be at once applied to the Communion of the Laity,
and an " Order of Communion " was prepared in such a form that it could be used in combination with
the otherwise unaltered Latin Service after the Communion of the priest. This " Order " — which is
printed in the " Appendix to the Liturgy " further on in this volume — did not, of course, contain any
form of consecration, but it anticipated some of the rubrical and hortatory parts of the English Com-
munion Service ; and there is reason to think that it was constructed by the Bishops and Clergy who
were selected from among the members of Convocation for the full review and reconstruction of the
Service-books. The new Service thus taking the form of a Canon of Coun ocation was (according to
the settlement of 1.534) promulgated by the Crown, this being done by a Proclamation dated March
8, 1548, soon after the rising of Parliament. Until the use of the Prayer Book itself was enforced by
law on June 9, 1549, or permitted by law \see page 18] three weeks after its publication, the Holy
Eucharist was still celebrated according to the ancient Use of Salisbury, but alter May 8, 1548, with
the English Form of Administration to the Laity superadded : this period comprehending the whole
of the first and second years of Edward VI. 's reign, and four months of his third year ; and thus for
more than two years and four months the reforming Bishops and Clergy continued to use the ancient
words, rites, and ceremonies of the unreformed Missal. [For further particulars, see the "Introduction
to the Liturgy."] i
THE PRAYER BOOK UF A.D. 1549.
The Committee of Revision had now been considerably enlarged, and since it occupies so important
a position in respect to the subsequent history of England, it will be well to give the names of its
members as they stood in 1547-48, and in 1549.^
From the Upper House of Convocation.
Thomas Cranmer . . . Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thomas Goodrich . . . Bishop of Ely [afterwards Lord Chancellor].
Henry Holbech (or Ranties) . Bishop of Lincoln.
' There is a curious .and unique volume in tlie Library of may have been prepared for the Duke of Souicrset ajul liis
the British Museum [Bible, 0. T. Pss. C. 25 b.] which was army, to be used during their invasion of Sootlaml.
printed about ciglit months before tlie Prayer Book of 1,')4!), - This list of names is taken from a contemporary entry of a
and which appears to have been intended as a temporary sub- "Parson of Petworth" in a Prayer Book of Ui.'i'J wliich is full of
stitute for the Sarum Psalter or Daily OHices. The title of manuscript notes by Bishops Audrewes and Gandy [Bodl. Lib.
the book is "Tlie Psalter or Hoke of the Psalmes, where vnto I'.awl. 241]. Ileylin makes a <|uotation from "The Kecistcr
is aililed the Litany and cert.ayne other deuout prayers. Book of the Parish of Petworth " which be.ars upon the siiijject
Set forth wytli tlie Kynf;e's moste gracious lyceiice. Anno of the change of service |1Ikvi.in's y/;V. t\f lirjurm. ji. M, fol.
Do. M.D. XLViii. Mensis Juiii. " The Colophon is "Imprinteil.it cd., i. \'A~, Kccl. Hist. Soc. ed.], but no information can now be
London by me Roger Car for Anthonc Smyth dwelling in Paul's i obtained respecting this register. 'I'lie same list, omitting the
church y.ardc." The contents of this volume arc— [1] The name of May, occurs on a jirinted bro.adside within the cover of
Psalm.'i, in Coverd.ale's version : [2] The seven Canticles of
the Sarum Ps.iltcr, with the M.agnificat, Te Dcum, and Quicun-
gue Vult, i\u: .Magnificat and Te Dcum being in the version of
Marshall's Prymer, and the (^uicun(|ue Vult in th.it of Hilaey's
Prymer : [3] The Lit.any of l.'>14 : [4] The Prayer of St. Chryfios-
tfim ; [5] A jiraycr for men to s.-iy entering into battle : [(il A
MS. 44 in Cosin's Libr.ary, Durham. It is corrected in the li.ind-
writing of Bisho]) Cosin, who adds against Redmaync's name
"dubito," and before th.at of Cox "Dcest Decanus Sti I'auli
(juisquis cr.at ma.x. o])inor. "
The lives of these and other "compilers" of the Prayer
Book were written at sonic length liy Samuel Downes, Fellow
prayer for the king, the older and longer form of that now in ^ of St. John's College, Oxford, and were published by an
nsc. ancestor of the publishers of the present work, Charles
The special prayer relating to war suggests that the volume Rivington, in 1722.
to tbe Praj>er l^oofe.
15
George Day .
John Skip
Thomas Thirlby
Nicholas Ridley
William May
Richard Cox ,
John Taylor .
Simon Heyues
Thomas Robertson
John Redmayne .
Bishop of Chichester.
Bishop of Hereford.
Bishop of Westminster.
Bishop of Rochester [afterwards of London].
From the Lower House of Convocation.
Dean of St. Paul's.
Dean of Ch. Ch. and Chanc. of Oxford Univ. [afterwards
Bishop of Ely].
Dean of Lincoln [afterwards Bishop of Lincoln], Prolocutor.
Dean of Exeter.
Archdeacon of Leicester [afterwards Deau of Durham].
Master of Trin. Coll., Camb.
In what manner the Convocation of the Province of York was represented is not on record ; but
from the proceedings of 1661 (which would be founded on strict precedent) there can be no doubt that
its co-operation was obtained in some way ; and the names of the Archbishop of York and his Suffragans
are indeed contained in a list of Bishops who were indirectly or directly mixed uj) with those above
recorded. There can be no doubt also that they acted under a Royal Commission. No records of
their meetings are known, but they are found together on one occasion during the progress of their
work, namely, on Sunday, September 9, 1548, when Farrar was consecrated Bishop of St. David's by
Cranmer, Holbech, and Ridley, in the Chapel of the Archbishop's house at Chertsey. On that day
the Archbishop celebrated Mass by the old Office, and used English words of administration : and the
Archiepiscopal Register records that " there communicated the Reverend Fathers, Thomas [Goodrich],
Bishop of Ely ; Thomas [Thirlby], Bishop of Westminster ; Henry [Holbech], Bishop of Lincoln ;
Nicholas [Ridley], Bishop of Rochester ; and Farrar, the new Bishop ; together with William May,
Dean of St. Paul's ; Simon Hains, Dean of Exon ; Thomas Robertson and John Redman, Professors
of Divinity, and others."^ Beyond this hai)py glimpse of these Divines we know nothing of their move-
ments ; nor have any records been discovered which throw any light upon the details of their work.
It appears, however, to have occupied them for several months, notwithstanding their previous labours ;
and there is every mark of deliberation and reverence in the result. The foundation of their work, or
rather the quarry out of which they extracted their chief materials, was the Reformed Salisbury Use of
1516 and 1541 : but some other books were evidently used by them, and it may be safely concluded
that they did not end their labours before they had gone through a large amount of liturgical research.
The following list may be taken as fairly representing the principal books which the Committee of
Convocation had before them as the materials for their work of revision : —
The Salisbury Portiforium,^ Missal, Manual, and Pontifical.
The York and other Uses.^
The Mozarabic Missal and Breviary.^
The Reformed Breviary of Cardinal Quiguonez. 1.535-36.^
Simplex ac Pia Deliberatio of Hermann, Archbishoj) of Cologne. 1545.*
The same in English. 1548.'^ (A previous edition also in 1547.)
' Strype's Cranmer, ii. 105, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed. In his
Memorials Strype says that they met at Windsor in May.
[Strype's Mem. Eccl. II. i. 133.] Heylin says tliey met at
Windsor on September Ist. [Heylin's Hist. Reform, i. 132,
Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.]
' "Breviarium seu Portiforium secundum Morem et Con-
suetudinera Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis Anglicans." It is called
" Salisbury Use " in the Preface of our Prayer Book : and
that term, or Sarum Use, is adopted generally for the
Breviary, Missal, and other Service-books of the same origin.
' Referred to in the Prayer Book Preface, as "Hereford
Use, the Use of Bmi'jor, York Use, and Lincoln Use."
* " Missale Mixtum secundum regulam beati Isidori, dictum
Mozarabes . . . impressum Toleti iussu P. Francisci Ximenes.
1500."
"Breviarium secundum regulam beati Isidori . . . impressum
Toleti jussu D. Francisci Ximenes. 1502."
^ "Breviarium Komanum, ex sacra potissimum Scriptura,
et probiitis Sanctorum historiis nuper confectum, ac deuuo
per eundem Authorem accuratius recognitum, eaque diligentia
lioc in anno a mendis ita purgatum, ut Momi judicium non
pertimescat. Lugduni. 1543.
^ " Simplex ac pia deliberatio de Reformatione Ecclesiarum
Electoratus Coloniensis. "
' " A simple and religious consultation of us Hermann by
the grace of God Archbishop of Colone and Prince Elector,
etc., by -what meanes a Christian reformation, and founded in
God's worde. Of doctrine. Administration of Divine Sacra-
ments, Of Ceremonies, and the whole cure of soules, and other
ecclesiastical ministries, may be begun among men until the
lord graunte a better to be appoynted, either by a free and
christian counsaile, generall or national, or else by the states
I'f the Empire of the nation of Germany, gathered together
in the Holy Ghost, Perused by the translator thereof and
amended in many places. 1548. Imprinted at London by Jhon
Daye and William Seres dwellynge in Sepulchre's paryshe
i6 an !t)istoricaI Jntrotiuction
The Prjauer in English of vai'ious dates.*
The" Great "Bible.2
How far the Book of Cuuiiiiou Prayer was influenced by these works will be shewn in the niargin
and the footnotes of the following pages. But even a superficial glance at the latter will make it
apparent that the new book was, substantially, as it still remains, a condensed reproduction, in English, of
those Service-books which had been used in Latin by the Church of England for many centuries before.
The Reformation in Gennany was in active progress at this time (not having yet lost the impetus
given to it by the strong-handed leadership of Luther),and Cranmer had been much in coiTespondence with
Melanchthon and some other German divines during the reign of Henry VIII. But these foreign reformers
had scarcely any influence upon the Prayer Book of l.")49 ; and were probably not even consulted during
its progi-ess towards completion Melanchthon and Bucer assisted the Archbishop of Cologne in preparing
his "Consultation" (one of the books refened to), and they probably used Luther's version of the ancient
Nuremberg offices. But this volume contributed little to our Prayer Book beyond a few clauses in the
Litany, and some portions of the Baptismal Service; and it is somewhat doubtful whether in the case of the
Litany our English form was not in reality the original of that in Hermann's book. Most likely the latter
was translated and brought before Convocation with the hope that it would have much influence; but the
Committee of Revision were too wise and too learned in Liturgical matters toattach much importance to it.^
It i.s, in some respects, unfortunate that we cannot trace the book of 1549 into any further detail
during the time when it was in the hands of the Committee. We cannot even form any definite con-
jecture as to the parts respectively taken by its members in the work before them ; nor can one of the
original collects which they inserted be traced back to its author. And yet there is some satisfaction in
this. The book is not identified with any one name, but is the work of the Church of England by its
authorized agents and representatives ; and as we reverence the architects of some great cathedral for
their work's sake, without perhaps knowing the name of any one of them, or the portions which each
one designed, so we look upon the work of those who gave us our first English Book of Common Prayer,
admiring its fair proportions, and the skill which put it together; and caring but little to inquire whose
was the hand that traced this or that particular compartment of the whole.
Although thus unable to trace out the work of each hand in this gi-eat undertaking, we can,
however, by means of internal evidence, and a comparison with the older formularies, find out the
nature of their labours, and something of the manner in which they went about them,
changes made in It was made a first principle that everything in the new Prayer Book was to be in
the Services. English ; a principle respecting which, as has been shewn before, there seems to have
been not the slighte.st doubt or hesitation. Their first labour was, then, that of condensing the old
services into a form suitable for the object in view, and yet keeping up the spuit and general purpose
of the original and ancient worship of the Church.
[1] A great step was made in this direction by substituting a Calendar of Lessons referring to the
Holy Bible for the Lessons at length as they had been hitherto printed in the Breviary. This made it
possible to combine the Breviary [daily services], the Missal [Holy Communion], Epistles and Gospels
(etc.), and the ^[auual [Occasional Offices], in one volume. A precedent for this was offered by a
practice which had been adopted in the fifteenth century of printing the Communion Service (thougli
not the Epistles and Gospels) as part of the Breviary.'* The Marriage Service was also printeil in
the Missal, which was a precedent for introducing the other services of the Manual into the Prayer Book.
[2] The next step towards condensation was the adoption of a less variable system in the daily
services, so that the Collect of the day, the Lessons, and the Psalms should be almost the only portions
of Mattins and Evensong which needed to be changed from day to day, or week to week.
,-it the signc of the Resurrection, alytle aboue Holbourne ninlaries for Lutlior, and who -nag also the original compiler
Conduit Cum gratia et privilegio imprimendum solum." of a Catechism for Nuremberg and Urandenbcrg, of «hicli
This translation was probably the work of Coverdale. , that of Justus Jonas is a Latin translation. John ii La.sco is
1 ,SVe Maskell'.s Monumenta Ritualia Ecdesife Anglicana; Raid to have had some intiuence with Cranmer, and he cer-
vol. ii ; and Bikton'h Three Primers of Henri/ Vlff. tainly lived with the Archbishop at Lambeth from September
-' "The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye, the content of to February in tlie year 1.548-49. But the Prayer Book was
all the holy scripture bothe of y« olde and newe testament, before Parliament on December!), 1,")48, and w.as before the
truly translated after the vcrytc of the Hebrue and Creke King in Council previously. It passed tlie Lords on January
textes, by y<^ dylygcnt studye of diverse excellent learned men, l.")th, and tlie ComnKuis on the IJlst, l.")49. Foreigners were
expert in the forsaydc tonges. Printed by Rychard Grafton very forwanl in interfering, but their suggestions were civilly
and Kdward Whitchurch. Cum privilegio ail imprimendum put aside .at this time,
solum. l.i.SO." ■* I'l'cy are so jirinted, for example, in Snnim Breviaries of
' It m.ay be added that Cranmer had married a niece of 1409, l.W, \mO, l.|)14, l.")3."), I.'VII ; in tlie British Museum
Osiander, who is said to have prepared the Nuremberg for- and Bodleian Libraries.
to the Pcagcr 113ook.
17
[3] Lastly, the several hours of Prayer were condensed into two, Mattins and Evensong, with a
third added on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in the form of the Litany. The ancient arrange-
ment of the day for Divine Service was as follows : —
Nocturns or Mattins ; a service before daybreak.
Lauds ; a service at daybreak, quickly following, or even joined on to, Mattins.
Prime ; a later morning service, about six o'clock.
Tierce ; a service at nine o'clock.
Sexts ; a service at noon.
Nones ; a service at three o'clock in the afternoon.
Vespers ; an evening service.
Compline ; a late evening service, at bedtime.
These services were often, if not generally, " accumulated " in the Mediaeval Church as they are
at the present day on the Continent; several being said in succession, just as Mattins, Litany, and the
Communion Service have been " accumulated," in modern times, in the Church of England. But the
different offices had many parts in common, and this way of using them led to unmeaning repetitions
of Versicles and Prayers. This evil was avoided by condensing and amalgamating them, so that repe-
titions took place only at the distant hours of Morning and Evening. The services of Mattins, Lauds,
and Prime, were thus condensed into Mattins ; those for Vespers and Compline into Evensong. The
three other hours appear (from a table of Psalms given in the Litroduction to the Psalter) to have
ftxlleu out of public use long before the reformation of our offices ; and they were probably regarded as
services for monastic and private use only.^ The general result of this process of condensation will be
best seen by the following table, in which the course of the ancient Mattins, Lauds, and Prime, is
indicated side by side with that of the Mattins of 1549 ; and in the same manner, Vespers and Com-
pline are set parallel with Evensong. From this comparison it will be clearly seen that the Book of
Common Prayer was framed out of the ancient Offices of the Church of England, by consolidation and
translation of the latter, the same principles which have been above indicated being also extended to
the Communion Service and the Occasional Offices. The details of the changes that were made will
be found in the notes under each portion of the Prayer Book in the following pages.
The Ancient Daily Services and those of 1549.
Salisbury Use.
Prayer Book of 1549.
Mattins.
Lamls.
Prime.
Jl/aWms.
Invocation.
y. and RT.
Invocation.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Lord, open Thou.
Lord, open Thou,
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
Glory be.
Glory Ije.
Glory be.
Glory be.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Venite, exultemus.
Venite, exultemua.
Hymn.
Hymn.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Lessons.
1st Lesson.
Te Deum
Te Deum or Benedicite.
Canticle.
Athauasian Creed.
Short chapter.
Short cliapter.
2nd Lesson.
Hymn.
Benedictus.
Benedictus.
Creed.
Lesser Litany.
Lesser Litany.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Suffrages.
[Creed,] Suffrages, Con-
fession and Absolution.
Suffrages.
1st Collect.
1st Collect.
2nd CoUect.
2nd Collect.
3rd Collect.
,Srd Collect.
Intercessory Prayers.
See also No. 4 of the Injunctions which are printed on p. 12.
p.
i8
an Ipistorical JntroDuction
The Anciest Daily Services and those of lb49— continued.
Salisbury Use.
Prayer Book of 1549.
Vespers.
Compline.
Evensong.
Invocation.
Invocation.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Our Father.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
Glory be.
Psalm3.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Short chapter,
1st Lesson.
Hymn.
Magnificat.
Magnificat.
Short chapter.
2nd Lesson.
Hymn.
Nunc Dimitti.'.
Nunc Dimittis.
Creed.
Lesser Litany.
Lesser Litany.
Lesser Litany.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Suffrages.
Suffrages, [Creed,] Con-
fession and Absolution.
Suffrages.
1st Collect.
1st Collect.
2nd Collect.
2nd Collect.
.3rd Collect.
.Srd Collect.
Intercessory Prayers.
When these learned Divines had completed their work, the Prayer Book ^vas submitted to Con-
vocation (which met on November 24, 1548), that it might go forth with the full authority of the
Church. 1 It was then communicated to the King in Council, and afterwards laid before Parliament
on December 9, 1.548, that it might be incorporated into an Act of Parliament [2nd and 3rd Edw.
VI. cap. 1]. This Act (including the Prayer Book) j^assed the House of Lords on January 15, and
the House of Commons on January 21, 1549. It was the first Act of Uniformity, and it enacted
that the Prayer Book should come into use in all churches on the Feast of Whitsunday following,
which was June 9, 1549. The Book itself was published on March 7, 1549, thus allowing three
months' interval, during which the Clergy and Laity might become acquainted with the new Order of
Divine Service. But where it could be procured earlier it was permitted to take it into use three
weeks afterwards, and thus, in London churches, it was generally used on Easter-Day, April 21, 1549.
The Book of Common Prayer thus set forth with the full authority of Church and State may very
fairly be called an expurgated and condensed English Version of the ancient Missal which was used
for the celebration of the Holy Communion, the ancient Portiforium or Breviary which was used for
the Daily Prayers, and the ancient Manual which was used for the Occasional Services, such as
Baptism and Marriage : these ancient or Mediaeval Services being themselves elaborated forms of much
more primitive ones. The Committee of Revision having followed the directions given to them in
1542 the Mediaeval books had been "castigated from all . . . feigned legends, superstitious
orations, collects, versicles, and responses," the services provided for " all saints which be not mentioned
in the Scripture or authentical doctors " were " abolished and put out of the same books," and what
was retained was " the Service . . . made out of the Scripture and other authentic doctors."
The Seven Daily Offices were condensed into two, the system for the use of Psalms and Lessons was
' Archbishop Bancroft, who was for many years Chaplain
to Cox, Bishop of Ely, one of the Committee of Revision,
writes that "the first Liturgy set forth in King Edward's reign
was carefully compiled, and confirmed by a Synod. "
[CoLLlEF.'.s Kcd. Hid. vi. 277.] Archbishop Abbot say.s
that "the more material parts were disputed and debated in
the Convocation House by men of both parties." [Abhot
aijninat llill, p 104.] Contemporary evidence respecting tlie
confirmation of the Book by Convocation is also found in
letters of the King and of tlie Privy Council.
[1] The I'rivy Council instructed Dr. Ho]iton, the Princess
Mary's Cliapl.iin, to .s,iy to her respeotinj,' the Prayer Book,
"The fault is great in any suhjcit to disallow a law of the
King ; a law of the realm by long study free disputation,
and nnijortn determiiialion of the trhole C'l/'n/!/, consulted,
debated, concluded." (Koxe's Actx nmi Mon. vi. 8, ed. 1838]
[2] In the reply of Edward \'I. to the demands of the
Devonshire rebels the King is made to say, "Whatsoever is
contained in our book, either for Baptism, Sacr.ament, Mass,
Confirmation, and serx^ice in the Church, is by our Parlia-
ment established, by the whole Cleriji/ ai/ireil, yea, by tlie
Bishops of the realm devised, by (iod's Word confirmed."
[Foxe'.s Act.'i and Mon. v. "34 ed. 1838.]
[3] The King and Council, writing to Bishop Bcmner on
July 23, 1549, say, "One uniform Order for ComnMn IVayers
and Administration of the .Sacraments hath been and is most
godly .set forth, not only by the common agreement and
full assent of the Nobility and Commons <if the late session
of our late Parliament, but also by the like as ent of the
Bishops in the same Parliament, and of all otlier the learned
men of this our realm in their Synods anil Convocations
provincial " |Fo.\k's .Irt.i anil .Mon. v. 72(>, ed. 18.'{8. ]
No doubt the Convocation of York co-operated in Bonie
way, as on subsequent occasiims, with that of Canterbury.
to tftc Praper IBock.
19
greatly simplified ; and although the ritual system in general was retained, the rubrics were condensed
throughout, and many details of ritual omitted. When all the changes are taken into account it may
still be said that about nine-tenths of what is contained in the Prayer Book of 1549 came from the
old Latin Service-books of the Church of England : and that the principal alteration after the excision
of Mediaeval novelties was that of adapting the Services to general use by the Clergy and Laity
together, instead of leaving them in the complex form which was only suitable for the use of the
Clergy and of Monastic communities. If it was in one sense new, they who had been engaged upon it
felt so strong a conviction that it was substantially identical with the old, that in after days Cranmer
offered to prove that " the order of the Church of England, set out by authority of Edward the Sixth,
was the same that had been used in the Church for fifteen hundred years past."'
In the Act of Parliament which enacted the Book of Common Prayer, it was said to have been
composed under the influence of the Holy Ghost ; and there is, doubtless, an indication of this belief
in the choice of the day on which it was enjoined to be used. So solemn were the views which those
who arranged and set forth the Prayer Book took of their work, so anxious was their desire that it
should be sealed with the blessing of God.
THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK OF A.D. L552.
It was unfortunate for the peace of the Church of England that those who were in authority at
this period were disposed to yield too much to the influence of foreigners whose principles were totally
alien from those on which the English Reformation was based. That Reformation had been strictly
Catholic in its origin and in its official progress, and the repudiation of foreign interference with the
Church of England had been one of its main features. But foreign interference now arose from a
different quarter, Calvin and his associates endeavouring, with characteristic self-assurance, to bias the
mind of England towards Genevan Presbyterianism rather than Anglican Catholicity. Calvin himself
thrust a correspondence upon the Protector Somerset, upon the young King, and upon Archbishoi)
Cranmer.^ A letter of his still exists in the State Paper Office, which was written to the Duke of
Somerset on October 22, 1548, and in which he urges the Protector to push the Reformation further
than it had hitherto gone. Others to the same purpose may be found in Strype's Memorials of
Cranmer [iii. 25]. Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer (neither of whom could understand the English
language) were placed in the most important positions at Oxford and Cambridge by Somerset ; John
a Lasco, a Polish refugee, was quartered upon Cranmer for six months, and afterwards established
in a schismatic position in London ; and Poullain [Valerandus Pollanus] was, in a similar manner,
established at Glastonbury.^ These aj^pointments shew the manner in which the Church of England
was sagaciously leavened with foreign Protestantism by those who wished to reduce its principles and
practices to their own low ritual and doctrinal level ; and they are but a few of the many indications
which exist that the Puritanism by which the Church was so imperilled during the succeeding hundred
and twenty years arose out of foreign influences thus brought to bear upon the young Clergy and the
Laity of that generation.
These influences soon began to affect the Book of Common Prayer, which had been, with so much
forethought, learning, and pious deliberation, prepared by the Bishops and other Divines who composed
the Committee to which reference has so often been made. It had been accepted with satisfaction by
most of the Clergy and the Laity ; * and had even been taken into use by many at Easter, although not
enjoined to be used until Whitsunday, so desirous were they of adopting the vernacular service. It
was, probably, the quiet acceptance of the Prayer Book by the Clergy which raised hopes in the foreign
party of moulding it to their own standard of Protestantism. It is certain that an agitation had been
^ Bp. Jereiiy T.4ylor's Work.f, vii. 292.
2 Heylin's Reforviation, i. 227, Eccl. Hist. Soc.
' The same hospitable but unwise cliarity towards religious
refugees was shewn by James I. in the case of Antonio do
Domiuis, Archbishop of Spalatro, and with most unfortunate
results.
* Even Bishop Gardiner's ollicial reply to the Privy Council
on the subject was favourable to the Prayer book. "Heliad
deliberately considered of all the Offices contained in the
Common Prayer Book, and all the several branches of it :
that though he could not h.ive made it in that manner, had
the matter been referred unto him, yet that he found such
things therein as did very well satisfj' his conscience ; and
therefore, that he would not only execute it in his own person,
but cause the same to be officiated l)y all those of his diocese."
[Heylin's Reformation, i. 209, Eccl. Hist. Soc] Somerset,
writing to Cardinal Pole, June 4, 1549, and sending him a
Prayer Book, says that there was "a common agreement of
all the chief learned men in the Realm " in favour of the new
"form and rite of service." [State Papers, Dom. Edu: VI.
vol. vii.] Edward VI. '.s reply to the Devonshire rebels
asserts the same thing.
20 an IDistorical Jntrctiuction
going ou, among the latter, from the very time wheu the Book of 1549 had beeu first brought into use.
A Lasco, Peter Martyr, and Martin Bucer appear to have been continually corresponding about the
Prayer Book, and plotting for its alteration, although they knew it only through imperfect translations
hastily provided by a Scotchman named Aless, living at Leipsic, and by Sir John Cheke. Hooper,
also, Chaplain first to the Duke of Somerset, then to the King, and afterwards Bishop of Gloucester,
carried on a bitter opposition to it, having returned from Zurich, where he had been living for some years,
just at the time that it came into use. Writing to Bullinger on December 27, 1549, he says: "The
public celebration of the Lord's Supper is very far from the order and institution of our Lord.
Although it is administered in both kinds, yet in some places the Supper is celebrated three times a
day. . . . They still retain their vestments ^ and the candles before the altars ; in the churches
they always chant the hours and the hymns relating to the Lord's Supper, but in our own language.
And that Popery may not be lo.st, the Mass priests, although they are compelled to discontinue the
use of the Latin language, yet most carefully observe the same tone and manner of chanting to which
they were heretofore accustomed in the Papacy." [Parker Soc. Orig. Lett. p. 72.] Preaching before
Edward YI. in the following Lent, Hooper spoke of the Prayer Book as containing " tolerable things
to be borne with for the weak's sake awhile," - and urged immediate revision. He also told the King
and Council that it was " great shame for a noble King, Emperor, or Magistrate, contrary unto God's
word to detain and keep from the devil or his minister any of their goods or treasure, as the candles,
vestments, crosses, altars." He also urged the young King to do away with kneeling at the Holy
Communion, " sitting were in my opinion best for many considerations." [Hooper's Works, i. 534, 530,
554 ; Orig. Lett. p. 81.] Bucer was perhaps the most violent of all opponents of the Pra3'er Book,
publishing a " Censure " of it in twenty-eight chapters just before his death in 1551, in which he
condemns all ceremonies and customs derived from the ancient Services of the Church of England,
from the Consecration of the Holy Eucharist to the ringing of church bells, of which, with the want
of imagination and musical ear so common among his class of Reformers, he had a great abhorrence.
Meanwhile the Prayer Book had been brought under discilssion in Convocation towards the end
of the year 1550. The question was sent down to the Lower House by the Bishops, but was postponed
until the next session. What was done further at that time does not appear, though it is probable
that the consideration of the Thirty-nine Articles absorbed the whole attention of Convocation for
several sessions, and that the proposition for a revised Prayer Book was set aside, as far as the official
assembly of the Church was concerned. The young King had now, however, been aroused by the
meddlesome letters of Calvin, by Hooper's preaching, and perhaps by some of the Puritan courtiers, to
entertain a strong personal desire for certain changes in Divine Service ; and not being able to prevail
on the BishojJS to accede to his wishes, he declared to Sir John Cheke — with true Tudor feeling, being
then only a little over twelve years of age — that he should cause the Prayer Book to be altered on his
own authority. [Strype's Cranmer, ii. G63, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.]
No records remain to shew us in what manner or by whom this revision was ultimately made.
It has been suggested by Dr. Card well [Tivo Liturgies of Edw. VL xvii. n.] that the Convocation
delegated its authority to a Commission appointed by the King, and that this Commission was the
same with that which had set forth the Ordinal of 1550, consisting of " six Prelates, and six other men
of this Realm, learned in God's law, by the King's Majesty to be appointed and assigned ; " but of
which only the name of Bishop Heath of Worcester is recorded. \_See Introd. to Ordin. Services.]
Archdeacon Freeman considers it to be " all but certain that it was the Ordinal Commission which
conducted the Revision of 1552," especially because the Ordinal was affixed to the Act of Parliament
by which the revised Book was legalized.^ There is no certain proof that the Prayer Book of 1552,
commonly called the Second Book of Edward VI., ever received the sanction of Convocation ; yet it is
highly improbable that Cranmer would have allowed it to get into Parliament without it.* Edward's
of England by the King's autlioritj' and tlio Parliament, con-
cerning the manner and form of praying and ministering the
Sacrament in the Church of England, likewise also the liook
of Ordering Mini.sters of the Church set forth by the foresaid
authority, are godly and in no point repugnant to the ■whole-
some doctrine of the Gospel, lint agreeable thereunto, further-
ing and beautifying the same not a little : and therefore of
all faithful ministers of the Church of England, and chiclly
of the ministers of the Word, they ouglit to be received and
allowed with all rea<lincss of mind and thanksgiving, and to
be commended to the people of God."
' So also on February 16, ir).")0, .John Butler wrote to Thomas
Blaurer that some blemishes in the Church of England, "such,
for instance, as the splendour of the vestments, have not yet
been done aw.ay with. " [I'arkrr .Soc. Ori;i. I.fll. p. (;.3.j.]
' This was Calvin's plnase, "In Anglicana Liturgia,
qualem describitis, multas video fuisse tolerabiles ineptias."
[Calvi.n, E]ip. )). 98.]
' Site also Heyi.in'.s Beformntion, i. 228, 229.
* It was sanctioned by Convocation fx post fnrto in the
thirty-fifth of the forty-two Articles of \!Mi^, which says :
" The Book which of very late time was given to the Church
to tbt Jprapcr 15oofe. 21
second Act of Uiiifonnity [5 and G Edw. VI. ch. i.], with the revised Prayer Book attached, was passed
on April G, 1552, with a proviso that the book was to come into use on the Feast of All Saints
following. Almost at the last moment, however, an attempt was made to carry the revision much
further. Three editions of the book had been printed when, on Sei>tembcr 27, 1552, an Order in
Council ^ was passed forbidding any further issue of the book, ostensibly on the ground that many
printer's errors had crept in. But the real reason is shewn by the Register of the Privy Council : for on
the same day a letter was written to the Archbishop requesting him to correct the printer's eiTors, and
directing him to call in several Divines for the pui-pose of perusing or revising the book once more, his
attention being specially drawn to the rubric on kneeling at the Holy Communion. The letter itself
is not preserved, but only the order directing the Secretary what to write : Cranmer's indignant reply
is however among the State Papers [Dom. Edtv. VI. xv. 15], and throws so much light on the
circumstances under which the revised Prayer Book was issued that it is here printed at length, the
italics, however, not being in the original, and the spelling being modernized : —
" After my right liumble commendations unto yuur good Lord.sliip.s.
" Where I understand by your Lordships' letters that the King's majesty bis pleasure is that the Book of
Common Service sliould be diligently perused,- and therein the printer's errors to be amended. I shall travaile
therein to the uttermost of my power — albeit I had need first to have had tlie book written which was past by
Act of Parliament, and sealed with the great seal, which remaineth in the hands of Mr. Spilman, clerk of the
Parliament, who is not in London, nor I cannot learn where he is. Nevertheless, I have gotten the copy which
Mr. Spilman delivered to the printers to print by, which I think shall serve well enough. And where I under-
stand further by your Lordships' letters that some be offended with kneeling at the time of the receiving of the
sacrament, and would that I (calling to me the Bishop of London, and some other learned men as ]\Ir. Peter
Martyr or such like) should with them expend, and weigh tlie said prescription of kneeling, whether it he fit to
remain as a commandment, or to be left out of the book. I shall accomplish the King's Majesty his command-
ment herein : — albeit I trust that we with just balance loeighed this at the malcing of tlie book, and not only we, but
a great many Bishops and otln-rs of the best learned within this realm ajjpointed for that purpose. And now the
book being read and approved by the whole State of the Realm, in the High Court of Parliament, with the
King's majesty his royal assent — that this should be now altered again without Parliament — of what importance
this matter is, I refer to your Lordships' wisdom to consider. I know your Lordships' wisdom to be such, that
I trust ye will not be moved with these glorious and -unquiet spirits^ which can like nothing but that is after their
own fancy ; and cease not to make trouble when things be most quiet and in good order. If suck men should be
heard — (dthough the book were made every year anew, yet it should not lack faults in their opinion. 'But,' say
they, ' it is not commanded in the Scripture to kneel, and whatsoever is not connnanded in the Scripture is against
the Scripture, and utterly unlawful and ungodly.' But this saying is the chief foundation of the Anabaptists and
of divers other sects. This saying is a subversion of all order as well in religion as in common policy. If this
saying be true, take away the whole Book of Service ; for what should men travell to set in order in the form of
service, if no order can be got but that is already prescribed by Scripture ? And because I will not trouble your
Lordships with reciting of many Scriptures or proof in this matter, whosoever teacheth any such doctrine (if your
Lordships will give me leave) I ivill set my foot by his, to be tried by fire, that his doctrine is untrue; and not
only untrue, but also seditious and perilous to be heard of any subjects, as a thing breaking their bridle of
obedience and losing from the bonds of all Princes' laws.
" My good Lordships, I pray you to consider that there be two prayers which go before the receiving of the
Sacrament, and two immediately follow — all which time the people praying and giving thanks do kneel. And
what inconvenience there is that it may not be thus ordered, I know not. If the kneeling of the people should
be discontinued for the time of the receiving of the Sacrament, so that at the receipt thereof they should rise up
and stand or sit, and then immediately kneel down again — it should rather import a conteinptuous than a reverent
receiving of the Sacrament. 'But it is not expressly contained in the Scripture' (say they) 'that Christ ministered
the sacrament to his apostles kneeling.' Nor they find it not expressly in Scripture that he ministered it standing
or sitting. But if we will follow the plain words of the Scripture ive should rather receive it lying down on the
ground — as the custom of the world at that time almost everywhere, and as the Tartars and Turks use yet
at this day, to eat their meat lying upon the ground. And the words of the Evangelist import the same, which
be avaKeiiiai and ava-KlirTia, which signify, properly, to lie down upon the floor or ground, and not to sit upon a
form or stool. And the same speech use the Evangelists where they sh(ew) that Christ fed five thousand with
five loaves, where it is plainly expressed that they sat down upon the ground and not upon stools.
"I beseech your Lordships take in good part this my long babbling, which I icrite as of myself only. The
Bishop of London is not yet come, and your Lordships rec^uired answer with speed, and therefore am I constrained
' "A letter to Grafton the printer to stay in any wise from ; in which it is said that the King had caused the former Book
uttering any of the books of the new Service, and if he have I of 1549 to be "perused, expIaiuL-d, and made fully perfect."
distributed any of them amongst his company, that then he
give strait commandment to every of tliem not to put any
of them abroad until certain faults therein be corrected,
It thus meant more than the correction of clerical errors.
^ This seems to refer to Bishop Hooper. In the order for
his execution at Gloucester a similar expression is useil,
[Frivy Council Bei/.] ; "forasmuch as the said Hooper is, as heretics be, a rain
'-The word "perused" has a technical sense, the force (jf | ylorious person, and delighteth in his tongue." [Hooper's
which is shewn by the Act which authorized the ]')0ok of li55"2. ' IVorls, II. xxvii.].
22 an IDistorical JintroDiiction
to make some answer to your Lordships afore his coming. And thus I pray God long to preserve your Lordships
and to increase the same in all prosperity and godliness.
"At Lambeth, this 7th of October, 1552,
" Your Lordships to command,
"T. Cante."
What course Cranmer eventually took is not knowii, but the ultimate result is shewn by an entry
in the Privy Council Eegister, dated October 27, 1552, which orders " a letter to the Lord Chancellor
to cause to be signed unto the Book of Common Prayer, lately set forth, a certain Declaration signed
by the King's Majesty, and sent unto his Lordship, touching the kneeling at the receiving of the
Communion." [Buenet's i?e/o)-jn. iii. 368, Pocock's Note 76.] The " Declaration " which has been
commonly known as " the Black Rubric " was then inserted in some of the already printed copies on a
fly-leaf, and the printing was again proceeded with. But this delay must have prevented the book
from being circulated through the country for use at the time appointed, and as Edward died only
eight months later, on July 6, 1553, it may be doubted whether the earlier Prayer Book, that of 1549,
was ever superseded to any great extent except in London. The chief importance of the Book of 1552
is derived from the circumstance that it was made the basis of tbose further revisions which resulted
in the Prayer Book of ICG 1.
THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK OF A.D. 1559.
The Acts of Uniformity passed in the reign of Edward were legally repealed by 1 Mary, sess. ii. c. 2,
which was passed in October 1553. By this Act the Services of the Church of England were restored
The Prayer Book ^'^ ^^^ condition in which they were in the last year of Hemy VIIL A proclamation
made imiawfui by was also issued, enjoining that no person should use " any book or books concerning
the common service and administration set forth in Eno-lish to be used in the churches
o
of this realm, in the time of King Edward the Vlth, commonly called the Communion Book, or Book
of Common Service and Ordering of Ministers, otherwise called the Book set forth by the authority
of Parliament, for Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments ; but shall, within fifteen
days bring or deliver the said books to the Ordinary, where such books remain, at the said Ordinary's
will and disposition to be burnt." This Act and Proclamation were preceded, apparently, by an Act of
Convocation of the same tenor ; for the Upper House had been requested by the Lower (both being
beyond doubt " packed " assemblies at the time) to suppress the " schismatical book called the Communion
Book, and the Book of Ordering Ecclesiastical Ministers." Thus the w'ork which had been done with
so much care and deliberation was, for a time, set aside ; Divine Service was again said in Latin, and
the customs of it reverted, to a great extent, to their mediceval form. As, however, the monasteries
were not revived, the devotional system of Queen Mary's reign must, in reality, have been considerably
influenced in the direction of reformation. We have already seen that " the last year of the reign of
Henry VIIL" (which was the standard professedly adopted) was a period when much progress had been
made towards establishing the devotional system afterwards embodied in the Book of Common Prayer ;
and it seems likely that the services of the Church in the reign of Queen Mary were a modified form
of, rather than an actual return to, the mediasval system which existed before the sixteenth century.
Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the throne on November 17, 1558, and for a month permitted no
change to be made in the customs of Divine Service.
On December 27th of that year, a Proclamation was issued condemning unfruitful disputes in
matters of religion, and enjoining all men " not to give audience to any manner of doctrine or preach-
ing other than to the Gospels and Epistles, commonly called the Gospel and Epistle of the daj', and to
the ten commandments, in the vulgar tongue, without exposition or addition of any manner, sense, or
meaning to be applied or added ; or to use any other manner of publick prayer, rite, or ceremony in
the Church, but that which is already used and by law received ; or the common Litany used at this
present in her Majesty's own chapel ;^ and the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed, in English, until con-
sultation may be had by Parliament, by her Majesty and her tln'ce estates of this realni,-' for the better
' TIio English Litany o! Henry VIII. See Stale Papers,
Dora. Eliz. i. G8.
' Tliat is tlin TiOrds, the Commons, ami the Clergy. But
see next note, wliicli elie\v.i that this intention, as regards
Convocation, cmiM not have l)ccn carried imt.
to ti)c ll^caj^er Xook. 23
conciliation and accord of such causes as at this present are moved in matters and ceremonies of
religion."
The first Act of Parliament in the reign of Queen Elizabeth restored to the Crown the supremacy
over persons and in causes ecclesiastical, which had been taken away from it in the previous reign. But
this does not seem to have been considered sufficient authority for dealing with the
subject of Divine Service ; nor does it seem to have been possible, at first, to place it in £^abetii°a rei^gn"^
the hands of Convocation. An irregular kind of Committee was therefore appointed at
the suggestion of Sir Thomas Smith, the Queen's Secretary, who were to meet at his house in Canon
Row, Westminster, and who were " to draw in other men of learning and gravity, and apt men for that
purpose and credit, to have their assents." This Committee consisted of the following persons : * —
Matthew Parker, subsequently Abp. of Canterbury.
Edmund Grindal, „ Bp. of London, Abp. of York, and Abp. of Canterbury.
James Pilkington, „ Bp. of Durham.
Richard Cox, ,, Bp. of Ely.
William May, appointed Abp. of York, but died before consecration.
William Bill, subsequently Dean of Westminster.
Sir Thomas Smith, ,, Dean of Carlisle.
David Whitehead, ,, [Declined the Archbishopric of Canterbury.]
Edwin Sandys, ., Bp. of Worcester, and Abp. of York.
Edmund Guest, „ Bp. of Rochester, and of Salisbury.
The last two were summoned to attend upon the Committee after its first appointment. It has
been supposed, from a vindication of the changes made which was sent by him to Cecil,^ that Guest
was the person chiefly concerned in the revision, and that he acted for Parker, who was absent through
illness. Cox and May were on the Committee of 1542-49.
While this Committee was engaged on its labours, an attempt was made to reconcile the extreme
Romanist party by a Conference of Divines held before the Privy Council and others in Westminster
Abbey ; but the attempt failed through the impracticable temper of the leading men on the Romanist
side : and thus the way was made clear for a new Act of Uniformity on the basis of those passed in
Edward's reign.
The Queen and Cecil both appear to have desired that the original Prayer Book, that of 1549,
should be adopted as far as possible ; but the second Book, that of 1552, was taken by the Committee
of Divines, and with a few alterations of some importance, submitted to the Queen to be set before
Parliament.
[1] A Table of Proper Lessons for Sundays was prefixed.
[2] The " accustomed place " or Chancel, instead of " in such place as the people may best hear,"
was again appointed for the celebration of Divine Service.
[3] The ancient " Ornaments of the Church and the Ministers which had been in use under the
first Book of Edward, but had been reduced to a 'minimum by the second, were directed again to be
taken into use.
[4] The present form for administering the consecrated Elements to the Communicants was
substituted for that ordered by the Book of 1552, which was the latter half only of that now used.
As the first half of the words is the form that was used in the Book of 1549, the new form was thus
a combination of the two.
[5] The declaration respecting kneeling, which had been inserted on a fly-leaf at the end of the
Communion Service in the Book of 1552, was now omitted altogether.
Thus altered, the Book was laid before Parliament, which (without any discussion) annexed it
to a new Act of Uniformity [1 Eliz. c. 2]. This Act was passed on April 28, 1559, and it enacted
that the revised Prayer Book should be taken into use on St. John the Baptist's day following. It
' None of these were Bishops at this time. Parker, i to May S, 1559, was presided over by Bishop Bonner, with
Grindal, Cox, and Sandys were consecrated in December 1559, ; Nicholas Harpsfield, Dean of Canterbury, for Prolocutor.
Guestin March 15G0, and Pilkington in March 1561. Thereisa At the end of February 15.59 they presented five Articles of
letter of Sir T. Wilson's, written in 1559 [Slatr Papers, Dom. ! the most Ultramontane character to the House of Lords, one
Eliz. vii. 46], which states that the alterations were made
"by the Convocation consisting of the same Bishops" who
had returned after Queen Mary's death "and the rest of the
of the Articles asserting Transubstantiation and another the
Supremacy of the Pope : and such a Convocation would be too
hostile to the Praver Book to be intrusted with its revision.
Clergy." But the Convocation which sat from January 24th - Stbype's Anil. i. 120 : ii. 459. C.^kdweli.'s CoiiJ. p. 48
24 3n J^istorical 31ntroDuction
was used, however, in the Queen's chapel on Sunday, May 12th, and at St. Paul's Cathedral on Wednes-
day, May loth. After the appointed day had passed, a Commission was issued [July 19, 1559] to
Parker, Griudal, and others for carr^dng into execution the Acts for Uniformity of Common Prayer, and
for restoring to the Crown its jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical matters. [State Papers, Doin. Eliz. v. 18.] A
Royal Visitation was also held in the Province of York, under a Commission dated July 25th. [Ibid. iv.
62.] It then appeared that the Prayer Book was so generally accepted by the Clergy, that out of 9400
only 189 refused to adopt it; this number including those Bishops and others of the most extreme
Romanist party who had been appointed in Queen Mary's reign on account of what in modem times
would be called their Ultramontane principles.
It is worth notice, however, that the Book of Common Prayer as thus revised in 1559 was quietly
accepted by the great body of Romanist laity ; and also that the Pope himself saw so little to object to
in it that he offered to give the book his full sanction if his authority were recognized by the Queen
and kingdom. " As well those restrained," said Sir Edward Coke, " as generally all the papists in this
kingdom, not any of them did refuse to come to our church, and j'ield their formal obedience to the
laws established. And thus they all continued, not any one refusing to come to our churches, during
the first ten years of her Majesty's government. And in the beginning of the eleventh year of her
I'eign, Cornwallis, Bedingfield, and Silyarde, were the first recusants ; they absolutely refusing to come
to our churches. And until they in that sort began, the name of recusant was never heard of amongst
us." In the same Charge, Coke also states as follows : That the Pope [Pius IV.] " before the time of
his excommunication against Queen Elizabeth denounced, sent his letter unto her Majesty, in which he
did allow the Bible, and Book oi Divine Service, as it is now used among us, to be authentick, and not
repugnant to truth. But that therein was contained enough necessary to salvation, though there was
not in it so much as might conveniently be, and that he would also allow it unto us, without changing
any part : so as her Majesty would acknowledge to receive it from the Pope, and by his allowance ;
which her Majesty denj^ing to do, she was then presently by the same Pope excommunicated. And
this is the truth concerning Pope Pius Quartus as I have faith to God and men. I have oftentimes
heard avowed by the late Queen her own words; and I have conferred with some Lords that were of
greatest reckoning in the State, who had seen and read the Letter, which the Pope sent to that effect ;
as have been by me specified. And this upon my credit, as I am an honest man, is most true." ^ It
may have been with the object of making the Pope acquainted with the real character of the Prayer
Book that it was translated into Latin in the same year ; and it is, possibly, to the work of translation
that a document in the State Paper Office [Dom. Eliz. vii. 4G] refers which, on November SO, 15.")9,
mentions the pi'ogress made by the Convocation in the Book of Common Prayer.- The Latin Version
(differing in no small degree from the English) was set forth on April G, 15G0, under the authority of
the Queen's Letters Patent.
The only other change that was made in the Prayer Book during the reign of Elizabeth was in
the Calendar. On January 22, 15G1, the Queen is-sued a Commission to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, the Bishop of London, Dr. Bill, and Walter Haddon, directing them "to pemse the order of
the said Lessons throughout the whole year, and to cause some new calendars to be imprinted, whereby
such chapters or parcels of less edification may be removed, and other more profitable may supply
their rooms." ^ This commission was i-ssued by the authority given in the ISth clause of Elizabeth's
Act of Unifonnity, which is cited in its opening paragi-aph ; and iu the end of it there is a significant
direction, " that the alteration of any thing hereby ensuing be quietly done, without show of anj'
innovation in the Church." In the Calendar revised by these Commissioners the names of most of those
Saints were inserted which are to be found in that of our present Prayer Book.
But although no further changes were made in the authorized devotional system of the Church
during the remainder of the centurj-, continual assaults were being made upon it by the Puritan party,
extreme laxity wa.s tolerated, and even sanctioned, by some of the Bishops (as, ft)r example, at North-
ampton, by Bishop Scambler of Peterborough), and the people were gradually being weaned from their
' The IjOKD Coke, hia Speech and Chanje, London, 1607.
See also Ca.mue.s, Ann. Eliz. p. .59, ed. 161.'). Twyspf.n's
Ilislorkal Vimlication of the Church of Emjlaml, ji. 17">.
Validity of the (Jrdersof the Church of Kmjland, by Hc.mpuhky
Enijlish Ordinations, ii. 360, 378. Harrington's Pius 1 1'.
and Ihr Hook of Common Prayer, ISfiG.
- Sir Jolin M.a.son, however, writes to Cecil, on August i 1,
1.5-)9, that tliu HiMik nf ( oninion Service in Latin is ready to
Prikkaix, D. D., 1688. Biumuai.i.'s JVorks, ii. S'l, cd. 184.-). ; jirint: and al.sothc little book of Private Tniyers for children
Bp. Babinoton'h Nole« on the Pintateuch ; on Aumhcra vii. j and servants. [Stale Papers, Dom.. Eliz. vi.'ll.]
Courayer'8 Defence of the Dissertation on the Validity of \ ^ Parker Coirespoiulence, p. 132. [Stale Papern, xvi. 7.
to tf)e IPraj^er IBook. 25
love for a Catholic ritual : while, in the meantime, a gi-cat number of the new generation were being
trained, by continual controversy and by enforced habit, into a belief that preaching, either in the
pulpit or under the disguise of extemporaneous prayer, was the one end and aim of Divine Service.^ In
1592 the Puritans had grown so rancorous that they presented a petition to the Privy Council in which
the Church of England is plainly said to be derived from Antichrist; the press swarmed with
scurrilous and untruthful pamphlets against the Church system ; and the more sober strength of this
opposition may be measured very fairly by the statements and arguments of Hooker in his noble work,
the Ecclesiastical Polity.
§ Some slight Changes made in the Prayer Book of 1550 by James I.
On the accession of James I. [May 7, 1603] the hopes of those Avho wished to get rid of the
Prayer Book were strengthened by the knowledge that the King had been brought up by Presby-
terians. A petition was presented to him, called the " Millenary Petition," from the number of signa-
tures attached to it, in which it was represented that " more than a thousand " of his Majesty's subjects
were " groaning as under a common burden of human rites and ceremonies," from which they prayed to
be relieved by a reduction of the Prayer Book system to their own standard. The result of this petition
was the " Hampton Court Conference," an assembly of orthodox and nonconforming Clergy, summoned
by the King to meet in his presence at the Palace of Hampton Court, and discuss the grievances com-
plained of This Conference met on the 14th, IGth, and 18th of January, 1G03-4, in
the presence of the King and the Privy Council ; but the former was so disgusted with ^^^^ of James I.
the unreasonableness of the Puritan opponents of the Prayer Book, that he broke up
the meeting abruptly on the third day, without committing the Church to any concessions in the
direction they required. Under the same clause of the Act of Uniformity by which Queen Elizabeth
had directed a revision of the Calendar, the King did, however, with the advice of a Commission of
Bishops and Privy Councillors, cause a few changes to be made in the Prayer Book.^
[1] The words " or remission of sins " were added to the title of the Absolution.
[2] The " Prayer for the Royal Family " was placed at the end of the Litany ; and also some
Occasional Thanksgivings.
[3] Two slight verbal changes were made at the beginning of the Gospels for the Second Sunday
after Easter and the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.
[4] An alteration was made in one of the Rubrics for Private Baptism. [See the Office.]
[5] The title of the Confii'mation Service was enlarged.
[G] The latter part of the Catechism, respecting the Sacraments, was added.
[7] Some slight changes were made in the Calendar.
The book, as thus altered, was authorized by a Royal Proclamation dated March 5, 1604, and it
was afterwards sanctioned by Convocation in the SOth of the Canons passed in the same year [a.d.
1604], which ordered that " the churchwardens or questmen of every Church and Chapel shall, at the
charge of the parish, provide the Book of Common Prayer, lately explained in some few points by his
Majesty's authority, according to the laws and his Highness' prerogative in that behalf, and that with all
convenient speed, but at the furthest within two mouths after the publishing of these our Constitutions."
In the following year a petition was presented to the King from ministers in the Diocese of
Lincoln, in which fifty " gross coiTuptions " in the Prayer Book were enumerated : and they demanded
its total abolition as the only means by which the land could be rid of the idolatry and superstition
which it enjoined. But although the Puritans continued to oppose the devotional system of the
Church of England in this spirit during the whole of the reigns of James I. and Charles I., it was forty
years before they succeeded in bringing about, and then for a few years only, that total abolition of
the Prayer Book which they so ardently desired
§ The Suppression of the Prayer Book by the Puritans.
The temporary overthrow of the Church of England was effected by the Long Parliament,
which met on November 3, 1640, and lasted until April 20, 1653; and the successive steps by which
' These foreign fashions and principles were pertinaciously
maintained by those who had fled the country in Queen
Mary's days, and returned with what Parker called "Ger-
nianical natures'' in Queen Elizabeth's. [Steype's ParVer, i.
1.56. Sae also Cap.dwell's Conf. 117-120, for a strong illus-
tration of this iu Convocation.]
" The Letters Patent rehearsing the authority and enumerat-
ing the alterations are printed in C.\rdw ell's Conf. p. 217-225.
26 an l^istorical 3lntrotiuction
this was accomplished are clearly stated by the Spei.ker of the House of Commons in the address
which he made to the King from the bar of the House of Lords on May 19, 1602. " In order to
this work," he said, " Church ornaments were first taken away ; then the means whereby distinc-
tion or inequality might be upheld amongst ecclesiastical governors; then the forms of common
prayer, which as members of the public body of Christ's Church were enjoined us, were decried as
superstitious, and in lieu thereof nothing, or worse than nothing, introduced." [Journ. House of
Lords, xi. 471.]
The first movements towards this end were taken in December 1640, when " a petition
was brought complaining of the Church discipline in having Archbishops, Bishops, etc., using
the cross in Baptism, kneeling at the Communion, as unuseful in the Protestant Church " [Perfect
Diurnal, p. 12] ; and when the House of Commons went to St. Margaret's Church as usual to
receive the Holy Communion, they directed that the Communion Table should be brought down
from the east end of the chancel and placed in the midst of them in the Presbyterian manner
customary in Scotland. The House of Lords appointed a large Committee, consisting of ten
Bishops and twenty lay peers, with power to add to their number, to consult respecting such
alterations in the Prayer Book as would conciliate the Puritan ministers, who were persevering
in their petitions for its abolition ; but although this Committee held many sittings between March
1st and May 1641, their efforts at conciliation were soon found to be useless, a motion " to agree
upon some alterations and new additions to be inserted in the Book of Common Prayer" being
made and lost in September of the same year, and the opponents of the Church going steadily on
^\^th their measures for its destruction.^ Shortly afterwards the House of Commons ordered that the
Communion Table should everywhere be removed into the body of the church, that the rails should
be taken away, and the raised east end of the chancel brought down to the same level as the rest
of the church; and this was soon followed by "ordinances" against "innovations," as all the
distinctive customs of the Church of England were called, which led to the removal of fonts from
the churches, and to the wholesale destruction of Prayer Books, surplices, copes, organs, and all other
"monuments of superstition," as these were called by the prevailing party in Parliament. Soon
also, on December 29, 1041, most of the Bishops were thrown into prison, and in a few months
the Puritans boasted that 8000 Clergy had already been turned out of their parishes. [Pierce's New
Discoverer, p. 140.]
On July 1, 1643, the "Westminster Assembly of Divines" was convened by the Parliament, and
after some negotiation with the General Assembly of the Scottish Kirk, it accepted from the latter
the " Solemn League and Covenant," which was subscribed by the House of Commons in St. Margaret's
Church on September 2.5th, and was afterwards sent to every parish in England and Wales to be used
as a Test during the Reign of Terror which followed. This document, which was signed with the
solemnities of an oath, pledged those who signed it to substitute Presbyteriauism and the Scottish
" Directory for Worship " for the Church of England and the Book of Common Prayer, in its first two
Articles, which were as follows : —
" I. That wc shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through the grace of God, endeavour, in our several
places and calliiig.s, the preservation of the reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worehip,
discipline, and govcrniueiit, against our common enemies; the reformation of religion in the kingdoms of England
and Ireland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, according to the Word of God, and the example
of the best reformed Churches; and shall endeavour to bring the Churches of God in the three kingdoms to tlie
nearest conjunction and uniformity in religion, confession of faith, form of church government, directory for
worship and catechizing ; that we and our posterity after us may as brethren live in faith and love, and the
Lord may delight to dwell in tlie midst of us.
" II. That we shall in Uke manner, without respect of persons, endeavour the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy
' Izaak 'Walton, in his Life of Bishop Sanderson, having ' and abate some of the Ceremonies that were least material,
spoken of the discontent respecting the Prayer Hook which for satisfying their consciences. And to this end they did
had been excited in England by the Scotch Covenanters, I meet together privately twice a week at the I lean of West-
writes that "their party in Parliament ma<le many exceptions \ minster's house for the space of three months or more. Put
against the Common Prayer and Ceremonies of the Church, ' not long after that time, when Dr. S.inderson had ii.adc the
.ind seemed restless for a Reformation : and altliough their i Reformation for a view, the Church .ind State were both
desires seemed not reasonable to the King and the learned fallen into such a confusion that Pr. Sanderson's Model for
Dr. Laud, then Archbishop of Canterbury, yet to quiet their Reformation became then useless " [Walton's I.iff of
consciences and prevent future confusion, they dill in the year Sunder/ion. sign, c .'t. ] Hut this statement must be looked
1641, desire Dr. Sanderson to call two more of the Convoca- upon with some suspicion, for it appears as if Walton were
tion to advise with him, and th.at he would then draw up erroneously attributing to Sanderson the work of the T/ords'
iJome such safe alterations as thought tit in the Serviccliook, I 'ommittec.
to tlje iprapcr ISoofe.
27
(that is, Church government by Archbishdps, Bishops, their Chancellors and Commissaries, Deans, Deans and
Chapters, Archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical officers depending on that hierarchy), superstition, heresy,
schism, profancness, and whatever shall be found to be contrary to sound doctrine and the power of godliness,
lest we partake in other men's sins, and thereby be in danger to receive of their jilagues, and that the Lord may
be one, and His Name one, in the three kingdoms."
This pledge was not carried out by Parliament for more than a year, the House of Lords proving
for some time an obstacle in the way of the House of Commons, and there being some difficulty in agree-
ing upon the form which the Directory was to take. At length, on January 3, 1()45, the Directory passed
through the two Houses of Parliament, and was issued under the title of "A Directory for the Public
Worship of God throughout the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Together with
an Ordinance of Parliament for the taking away of the Book of Common Prayer, and for establishing
and observing of this j)resent Directory throughout the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales."'
This Ordinance repealed the Acts of Uniformity, and enacted that the Book of Common Prayer
should bo " abolished " and the Directory " established and ob.served in all the Churches within this
kingdom." But as this was not so generally obeyed as was intended, another Ordinance " for the
more effectual putting in execution of the Directory" was passed on August 23, 1645, which forbade
the use of the Prayer Book in any " Church, Chapel, or public place of worship, or in any private
place or family within the Kingdom of England," and required all copies of the book to be given up.
This Ordinance also imposed some severe penalties, enacting that any person who used the Book
of Common Prayer in public or private should, for the first offence, pay a fine of £5, for the second
offence a fine of £10, and for the third offence "suffer one whole year's imprisonment without
bail or mainprize." The refusal to adopt the rules of the Directory was visited with a fine of £2 for
each offence, and those who did or said anything against it were to be punished with a fine of not
less than £5, and not exceeding £50. These penalties, which are similar in character to those
imposed by the Tudor Acts of Uniformity, were rigorously exacted, as is shewn by the Records
of the period and by non-official histories.- For fifteen years the prayers of the Church of
England could only be said in extreme privacy, and even then with danger of persecution to those
who used them.'
^ The Directory was a book of Rubrics and Canons and not
of prayers, the very few forms that are given being only
given as examples of the kind of prayer to be used by the
minister. In the place of the Burial Service of the Prayer
Book appears the following direction: "When any person
(leparteth this life let the dead body, upon the day of burial,
be decently attended from the house to the place appointed
for public burial, and there immediately interred without any
ceremony." Tliis is still the custom of the Scottish Presby-
terian Kirk.
^ Instances will be found in the Calendars of State Papers,
Bishop Ken'NETt's Bcr/isle); and W.\lkeii's Siijferiiigs of the
Clergi/.
^ It was the custom of some of those few Clergy who were
permitted to retain their benefices to use the Prayer Book as
their "Directory, " introducing as much of its actual language
as could \>e used with safety. This custom was vindicated
by Bishop Sanderson in a letter to a friend in 1652, and
entitled "Judgement concerning submission to Usurpers,"
in which he also explains that he only ceased to use the
Prayer Book itself when he was deprived of it by a troop of
soldiers who, "immediately after Morning Service ended,"
on a Sunday in November 1644, "seized upon the book and
tore it all in pieces." [\\'.\L'roN's Life of Sandeison, 1678.
Sanderson's Cases of Conscience, 1685, p. 157.] Bishop
Jeremy Taylor pubUshed a "Collection of Offices" for the
same purpose. The following narrative respecting Bishop
Bull gives us a graphic picture of the course adoptecf by these
good men ; —
"The iniquity of the times would not bear the constant
and regular use of the Liturgy ; to supply, therefore, that mis-
fortune, Mr. Bull formed all the devotions he offered up in
public, while he continued minister of this place, out of the
Book of Common Prayer, which did not fail to supply him
with lit matter and proper words upon all those occasions
that required him to apply to the throne of grace with the
wants of his people. He had the example of one of the
brightest lights of that age, the judicious Dr. Sanderson, to
justify him in this practice : and his manner of performing
the public service was with so much fervour and ardency of
aifection, and with so powerful an emphasis in every part,
that they who were most prejudiced against the Liturgy did
not scruple to commend Mr. Bull as a person that prayed
by the Spirit, though at the same time they railed at the
Common Prayer as a beggarly element, and as a carnal per-
formance.
' ' A particular instance of this happened to him while he
was minister of St. George's, which, because it sheweth how
valuable the Liturgy is in itself, and what unreasonable pre-
judices are sometimes taken up against it, the reader will not,
I believe, think it imworthy to be related. He was sent for
to baptize the child of a Dissenter in his parish, upon which
occasion he made use of the otiice of Baptism, as prescribed
by the Church of England, which he had got entirely by
heart ; and he went through it with so much readiness and
freedom, and yet with so much gravity and devotion, and
gave that bfe and spirit to all that he delivered, that the
whole audience was extremely afJ'ected with his performance ;
and notwithstanding that he used the sign of the cross, yet
they were so ignorant of the offices of the Church that they
did not thereby discover that it was the Common Prayer.
But after that he liad concluded that holy action, the father
of the child returned him a great many thanks, intimating at
the same time with how much greater edification they prayed,
who entirely depended upon the Spirit of God for His assist-
ance in tlieir extempore effusions, than those did who tied
themselves up to premeditated forms ; and that if he had not
made the sign of the cross, that badge of Popery, as he called
it, nobody could have formed the least objection against his
excellent prayers. Upon which Mr. Bull, hoping to recover
him from his ill-grounded prejudices, shewed him the office of
Baptism in the I^iturgy, wherein was contained every pra3'er
which he had offered up to God on that occasion ; which,
with farther arguments that he then urged, so effectually
wrought upon the good man and his whole family, that they
always after that time frequented the parish church, and
never more absented themselves from Mr. Bull's communion."
[Nelson's Life of BvU, p. 31.]
28 an ipistorical :jiucoDuction
THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK OF A.D. 16(32.
It was quaintly said by Jeremy Taylor, comparing the fate of the Book of Common Prayer to
that of the roll sent by Jeremiah to Jehoiakim, " This excellent Book hath had the fate to be cut in
pieces with a penknife and thrown into the fire, but it is not consumed " [Taylor's Coll. of Offices,
Pref.], and his faith and foresight were rewarded by seeing its full and complete resuscitation. When
the Republican form of government collapsed upon the death of Cromwell, the restoration of the ancient
Constitution of the country involved the restoration of its ancient Church, and consequently its ancient
system of devotion as represented by the English Offices that had been in use for nearly a century
before the Revolution. When the time drew near for the return of Charles II. to the throne of his
fathers. Prayer Books were brought from their hiding-places, printers began to prepare a fresh supply,
and its offices began to be openly used, as in the case of the good and gxeat Dr. Hammond, who was
interred with the proper Burial Service on April 2G, 16G0. Before the end of IGGO the demand for
Prayer Books had been so great, notwithstanding the number of old ones which had been preserved,
that five several editions in folio, quarto, octavo, and a smaller size are known to have been printed.^
Charles II. landed in Eugland on May 2G, 1G60, the Holy Communion having been celebrated
on board the " Naseby " at a very early hour in the morning ; probably by Cosin, the King's
Chaplain, whose influence was afterwards so great in the revision of the Prayer Book. As soon as the
Court was settled at Whitehall, Divine Service was restored in the Chapel Royal. On July 8th,
Evelyn records in his Diary [ii. 152] that " from henceforth was the Liturgy publicly used in our
Churches." Patrick is known to have used it in his church on July 2nd ; and Cosin, who reassumed
liis position as Dean of Peterborough at the end of that month, immediately began to use it in his
Cathedral. From Oxford, Lamplugh (subsequently Archbishop of York) ^vrites on August 23, 16G0,
that the Common Prayer was then used everywhere but in three colleges,^ shewing how general had
been its restoration in the University Chapels, and perhaps also in the City Churches. B}^ October
1G61, Dean Barwick had restored the Choral Service first at Durham, and then at St. Paul's. The
feeling of the people is indicated by several petitions which Avere sent to the King, praying that their
ministers might be compelled to use the Prayer Book in Divine Service, the Mayor and Jurats of
Faversham (for example) complaining that their Vicar, by refusing to give them the Common Prayer,
is " thus denying them their mother's milk."^ The nonconforming ministers at first allowed that
they could use the greatest part of the Prayer Book ; yet when requested by the King to do so,
with the concession that they should omit such portions as offended their consciences, they declined ;*
but on the part of the Laity in general the desire for its restoration seems to have been much greater
than could be supposed, considering how many had never (as adults) even heard a word of it used in
church ; and probably had never even seen a Prayer Book.
Before the King had left the Hague, a deputation of Presbyterian ministers, including Reynolds,
'Calamy, Case, and Manton, had gone over to him to use their influence in persuading him that the use
of the Prayer Book having been so long discontinued, it would be most agreeable to the English people
if it were not restored ; and especially to dissuade him from using it and the surplice, in the Chapel
Royal. The subsequent conduct of the House of Commons ■"' shewed that this was a very daring
misrepresentation of the state of the public mind on the subject ; but the King appears to have been
aware that it was so, for he declined, with much warmth, to agree to the impertinent and unconstitu-
tional request, telling them in the end of his reply, that " though he was bound for the present to
' The writer has examined eiglit copies of l(i(iO and one of | seized by mistake, supposing tlicm to be falsely printed.
IGGl in tlie Library of thu British Museum, and also one of a | [Stnte i'apii:i, JJom. Chiirlcs II. xxxix. 87 ; xlvii. 07.]
very rare edition, similar to a copy which formerly belonged I - Slate Vopr.rs, JJom. Churks 11. xi. 'SI.
to .Mr. .M.i,skell [B. iM. 3407, 'J, which was discovered at the I » /jy, jj^xii. 97, 109 ; 1. 22.
bottom of the I'arish Cheat of Grasmere in the year 1878. j ■* Kennett's Ke'jlMt.r, j). (i29.
The .Museum Library posscsBes copies of all the sizes men- '■ The House of Lords proposed to insert a proviso in the
tioned above. I Act of Uniformity m.aUing the use of the .Surplice and yigu of
Among the State Papers there is a record tlunt .Tohn the Cross optional as "things indilTerent,"J)ut the House of
AVilliams an<l Francis Kgleslield jirinted an edition against , Commons emiihatically refusinl, onJIay 7, H)()2, to accept
the King's return, and what copies remained in tlieir ware- this proviso, defending the use of it, and drel.aring that it
bouse were seized by agents of I'.ill the King's printer on
Novemlier 7, I'i'iO. There is extant also a royal mandate to
liill, dated .July 2."), lG(il, commanding him tn restore to I{.
Jioyston, of Oxford, a (juantity of Prayer Books which he had
was "better to impose no ceremonies tlian to dispense with
any," and th.at it was very incongruous while settling
uniformity to establish schism." [House of Lords' Journ. xi.
44().]
to tbe Iprai^ei- IBook.
29
tolerate much disorder and indecency in the exercise of God's worship, he would never in the least
degree, by his own practice, discountenance the good old order of the Church in which he had been
bred." ' As we have already seen, the Prayer Book was restored to use in the Chapel Royal
immediately after the King's return.
On July G, 1G60, five weeks afterwards, there was a debate in Parliament respecting the
settlement of religion. Some suggested that the restoration of the "old religion" was the only
settlement required ; but in the end it was agreed to pray the King that he would call an assembly of
Divines for the purpose of considering the subject. The King, however, issued a " Declaration " on
October 25, 16G0, in which he refers to his letter from Breda, promising toleration to all opinions,
and to the visit of the Presbyterian preachers ; and complains of the intolerant spirit which is shewn
towards himself by the Presbyterians in wishing to deprive him of the services in the Chapel Royal,
and in much misrepresenting his words, acts, and motives. He states that it had been his intention to
call a Synod at once to consider the affairs of the Church, but that personal feeling is so strong as to
make such a step unwise for the present. Throughout tliis Declaration the King assumes that the
Church is restored in its integrity ; but promises that he will call an assembly of " learned Divines,
of both 2")ersuasions," to review the " Liturgy of the Church of England, contained in the Book of
Common Prayer, and by law established ; " again exhorting those who cannot con.scientiously use the
whole of it, to use such portions as they do not object to.-
It was in fulfilment of this promise that a Royal Commission was addressed on March 25, 1661,
to the following Divines, who constituted what is known as the " Savoy Conference," from its place of
meeting, in the Master's lodgings at the Savoy Palace or Hospital in the Strand, the Master at that
time being the Bishop of London : —
Oil the Church nld't
Accepted Frewen, Aichbishop of York.
Gilbert Sheldon, Bishop of London, afterwards
Archbishop of Canterbury.
John Cosin, Bishop of Durham.
John Warner, Bishop of Rochester.
Henry King, Bishop of Chichester.
Humphry Henchman, Bishop of Salisbury, after-
wards of London.
George Morley, Bishop of Worcester, afterwards
of Winchester.
Robert Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln.
Benjamin Laney, Bishop of Peterborough, after-
wards of Lincoln and Ely.
Brian Walton, Bi.shop of Chester.
Richard Sterne, Bishop of Carlisle, afterwards
Archbishop of York.
John Gauden, Bishop of Exeter, afterwards of
Worcester.
On the Presbyterian side.
Edward Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich.
Anthony Tuckney, D.D , Master of St. John's,
Cambridge.
John Conant, D.D , Reg. Prof Div., Oxford.
William Spurstow, D.D.
John Wallis, D.D., Sav. Prof Geom., Oxford
Thomas Manton, D.D. [offered Deanery of l^o-
chester.]
Edmund Calamy [offered Bishopric of Lichfield].
Richard Baxter [offered Bishopric of Hereford].
Arthur Jackson.
Thomas Case.
Samuel Clarke.
Matthew Newcomen.
Coadjutors.
John Earle, Dean of Westminster, afterwards
Bishop of Worcester and Salisbury.
Peter Heylin, D.D., Subdean of Westminster.
John Hacket, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Lichfield.
John Barwick, D.D., afterwards Dean of St. Paul's.
Peter Gunning, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Chi-
chester and Ely.
John Pearson, D.D.,' afterwards Bishop of Chester.
Thomas Horton, D.D.
Thomas Jacomb, D.D.
William Bate.
John Rawliuson.
William Cooper.
John Lightfoot, D.D.
' Clarendon, History of the Great Rebellion, iii. 990. | Common Prayer Book" [Fothergill's MS York Minit-pr
2 Cardwell's Co?)/ p. 286. Lib.]. xuiiv .luibier
' "And was after by Synod commissioned to review the I
30 an Ipigtorical ^Jntrotiuction
Thomas Pierce, D.D. John Collings, D.D.
Anthony Sparrow, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Benjamin Woodbridge, D.D.
Exeter and Norwich.
Herbert Thorndike, D.D. William Drake.
As this Conference was the last official attempt to reconcile what was afterwards called the " Low
Church party " and Dissenters to the cordial use of the Catholic offices of the Church, it will be
desirable to give a short account of its proceedings. The Letters Patent authorized the Commissioners
" to advise upon and review the said Book of Common Prayer, comparing the same with the most
ancient liturgies which have been used in the Church in the primitive and purest times ; and to that
end to assemble and meet together from time to time, and at such times within the space of four
calendar months now next ensuing, in the Master's lodgings in the Savoy in the Strand, in the county
of Middlesex, or in such other place or places as to you shall be thought fit and convenient ; to take
into your serious and grave considerations the several directions, rules, and forms of prayer, and things in
the said Book of Common Prayer contained, and to advise and consult upon and about the same, and the
several objections and exceptions which shall now be raised against the same. And if occasion be, to
make such reasonable and necessary alterations, corrections, and amendments therein, as by and between
you the said Archbishop, Bishops, Doctors, and persons hereby required and authorized to meet and
advise as aforesaid, shall be agreed upon to be needful or expedient for the giving satisfaction unto
tender consciences, and the restoring and continuance of peace and unity in the Churches under our
protection aud government ; but avoiding, as much as may be, all unnecessarj' alterations of the forms
and liturgy where\vith the people are already acquainted, and have so long received in the Church of
England." '
This Commission met at the Savoy in the Strand on April 15th, and its sittings ended on July 24,
1661 : the Session of Parliament and Convocation commencing on May Sth of the same year. " The
points debated," writes Izaak Walton, " were, I think, many ; some affinned to be truth and reason,
some denied to be either ; aud these debates being then in words, jiroved to be so loose aud perplexed
as satisfied neither party. For some time that which had been affirmed was immediately forgot or
denied, and so no satisfaction given to either party. But that the Debate might become more useful,
it was therefore resolved that the day following the desires and reasons of the Nonconformists should
be given in writing, and they in writing receive answers from the conforming party." [Walton's Life
of Sanderson, sign. 1.] The " several objections aud exceptions" raised against the Prayer Book were
thus presented to the Bishops iu writing, aud they are all on record in two or three contemporary
reports of the Conference, of which one is referred to iu the footnote, being also printed at length in
Caedwell's Conferences on the Book of Common Prayer. Some of these "exceptions" were of
importance, one requiring that the whole of the responsive system of the Prayer Book should be abolished,
even the Litany being to be made into one long prayer, and nothing said in Divine Ser^'ice by any one
except the Minister, luiless it were Amen. Another required the abolition of Lent and Saints' Days.
But most of the exceptions were of a frivolous kind, and the remarks which accompanied them were
singularly bitter and uncharitable, as well as diffuse aud unbusiness-like. It seems almost incredible
that grave Divines should make a great point of " The Epistle is written in " being an untrue
statement of the case when a portion of a projjhecy was read and technically called an " Epistle;" or
that they should still look upon it as a serious grievance when the alteration conceded went no further
than " For the Epistle :" or again, that they should spend their time in writing a long complaint about
the possibility of their taking cold by saying the Burial Service at the grave. Yet sheets after sheets
of their papers were filled with objections of this kind, and with long bitter criticisms of the principles
of the Prayer Book. The Bishops replied to them in the tone in which Sanderson's Preface to the
Prayer Book is written, but they seem to have keenly felt what Sanderson himself expressed — mild
and gentle as he was — when he long afterwards said of his chief opponent at the Savoy, " that he
had never met with a man of more jwatinacious confidence, and less abilities, iu all his conversation." -
' CAKiiWF.t.i.'s Con/. 2.">7-3(>8. "Gr.-iml Debate between
the most Reverend the I'ishops and the Presbyterian Divines.
. . . The most perfect copy." l(jCI. See ,ilso Heywooi/.s
Docnmfnts relnthnj to the Settlement of the Church 0/ Enijland
by the Act of Cni/ormiti/ of l()(i'2, published in 1862.
" Walton writes. Hishop Pearson "told me very lately that
one of the Dissente^^ (uliich I could, but forbear to, name)
appeared to Dr. .Sanderson to be so bold, so troublesome, and
so illdfjical iu the dispute as forced patient Dr. .Sanderson,
who W.1S then Bishop of Lincoln .and a Moderator with othir
liishops, to s.ay with an unusual e.irnestness, that he hiid
never met with a man of more pertinacious contiilcnce, aud
less abilities, in all his couviisation." [W.m.ton'.s Life of
Sntiileymn, sign. 1 3.]
to tf)c Iprajjcr IBook.
Perhaps too they were reminded of Lord Bacon's saying respecting his friends, the Nonconformists of
an earlier day, that they lacked two principal tilings, the one learning, and tlie other love.
The Conference was limited by the Letters Patent to four months' duration, but when that time
had drawn to an end little had been done towards a reconciliation of the objectors to the use of the
Prayer Book. Baxter had composed a substitute for it, occupying, as ho states in his Life and Times,
" a fortnight's time " in its composition ; but even his friends would not accept it as such, and probably
Baxter's Prayer Book never won its way into any congregation of Dissenters in his lifetime or after-
wards. In Queen Elizabeth's time Lord Burleigh had challenged the Dissenters to bring him a
Prayer Book made to fit in with their own principles ; but when this had been done by one party of
Dissenters, another party of them offered six hundred objections to it, which were more than they
offered to the old Prayer Book. The same spirit appears to have been shewn at the Savoy Conference;
and the princijjle of unity was so entirely confined to unity in opposition, that it was impossible for
any solid reconciliation of the Dissenters to the Church to have been made by any concessions that
could have been offered. After all the "exceptions" had been considered and replied to by the
Bishops' side (replies again replied to by the untiring controversial pens of the opposite party), the
result of the Commission was exhibited in the following list of changes to which the Bishops were
willing to assent : —
The Concessions offered by the Bishoi^s at the Savoy Conference.
§ 1. We are willing that all the epistles and gospels be used according to the last translation.
§ 2. That when any thing is read for an epistle which is not in the epistles, the superscriBtion
shall be " For the epistle."
§ 3. That the Psalms be collated with the former translation, mentioned in rubr., and printed
according to it.
§ 4. That the words " this day," both in the collects and prefaces, be used only upon the day
itself; and for the following days it be said, "as about this time."
§ 5. That a longer time be required for signification of the names of the communicants ; and the
words of the rubric be changed into these, " at least some time the day before."
§ G. That the power of keeping scandalous sinners from the communion may be expressed in the
rubr. according to the xxvith and xxviith canons ; so the minister be obliged to give an account of the
same immediately after to the ordinary.
§ 7. That the whole preface be prefixed to the commandments.
§ 8. That the second exhortation be read some Sunday or Holy Day before the celebration of
the communion, at the discretion of the minister.
§ 9. That the general confession at the communion be pronounced by one of the ministers, the
people saying after him, all kneeling humbly upon their knees.
§ 10. That the manner of consecrating the elements be made more explicit and express, and to
that purpose these words be put into the rubr., " Then shall he put his hand upon the bread and
break it," " then shall he put his hand unto the cupi."
§ IL That if the font be so placed as the congregation cannot hear, it may be refen-ed to the
ordinary to place it more conveniently.
§ 12. That these words, "yes, they do perform these," etc., may be altered thus: "Because thev
promise them both by their sureties," etc.
§ 13. That the words of the last rubr. before the Catechism may be thus altered, "that children
being baptized have all things necessary for their salvation, and dying before they commit any actual
sins, be undoubtedly saved, though they be not confirmed."
§ 14. That to the rubr. after confirmation these words may be added, " or be read}' and desirous
to be confirmed."
§ 15. That these words, " with my body I thee worship," may be altered thus, " with my body I
thee honour."
§ 16. That these words, "till death us depart," be thus altered, "till death us do part."
§ 17. That the words " sure and certain " may be left out.
The Conference being ended, and with so little practical result, the work of Revision was com-
mitted to the Convocations of the two Provinces of Canterbury and York. On June 10, IflCl, a Licence
from the Crown had been issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury [Juxon], empowering the Convoca-
32 ^n it)i8toncal Jntrooiiction
tion of his Province to " debate aud agree ujjou such |Xiiiits as were committed to their charge." '
Another was issued to the Ai'chbishojD of York [Frewen], of a similar tenor, on July 10th [or 23rd].
But little was likely to be done while the Savoy Conference was sitting, beyond preparation for future
action. A fresh Licence was issued on October 10th, by which the Convocation of Canterbury was
definitely directed to review the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal," under the authority of the
Commission sent to them on the 10th of June:^ and on November 22nd a similar letter was sent to
the Archbishop of York. This letter enjoined the Convocations to review the Prayer Book, and then
to present it to " us for our further consideration, allowance, or confirmation."
It is probable that much consideration had been given to the subject during the five months that
elapsed between the issue of the first Licence and that of the second, as a Form for the 29th of May
had been agreed upon, and also the Oifice for Adult Baptism. When, however, the Convocation of
Canterbury met on November 21, 1661, "the King's letters were read," and the revision of the Prayer
Book was immediately entered upon with vigour and decision."' The LTpper House appointed a Com-
mittee, consisting of the following
Matthew Wren, Bishop of Ely.
Robert Skinner, „ Oxford.
John Warner, „ Rochester.
Humphry Henchman, ,, Salisbury.
George Morley, ., Worcester.
Robert Sanderson, ,. Lincoln.
William Nicholson, ,, Gloucester.
John Cosin, „ Durham.
The last named had been invited (with ttie Archbishop of York, aud the Bishops of Carlisle and
Chester) to be present and assist at the jDrevious session of the ■ SoiTthern Convocation ; and was now
appointed on the Committee as the most learned ritualist among the Bishops. Wren, Warner, and
Skinner had been Bishops in the Convocation of 1640.'^
It was necessary that the co-operation of the York Lower House of Convocation should be secured :
the Archbishop and three Bishops of that Province, the Bishops of Durham, Carhsle, and Chester,
therefore wrote to Dr. Neile, the Prolocixtor of York Convocation, saying that they sat in consultation
with the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury, and adding that as the time was very short for the
work in hand, it would much facilitate its progress if some Clergy were appointed to act in the
Southern Convocation as Proxies for the Northern. Eight such proxies were appointed, three of whom
were members of the Lower House of Canterbury Province, the Prolocutor and the Deans of St. Paul's
and Westminster, and five of the Lower House of York."
The Committee of Bishops met at Ely House ; and Bancroft, at this time Rector of Houghton-le-
Spring, Prebendary of Durham, aud Chajilain to Cosin, acted as their Secretary. Bishop Cosin had
prepared a folio Prayer Book of 1619, in which he had written down in the margin such alterations as
he considered desirable : and this volume, wliich is preserved in the Cosin Library, Durham [D. III. 5],
has been thoroughly examined for the present work, all the alterations so made being either referred
to or printed in the Notes.^ This volume was evidently used as the basis of their work by the Bishops,
although (as will be seen) they did not adopt all the changes proposed by Cosin, and introduced others
which are not found in his Prayer Book. They were thus enabled to proceed rapidly with the work
of revision, and on November 2.'3rd sent a portion of their labours down to the Lower House, which
returned it on the 27th. The whole Prayer Book was completed by December 20, 1661, and a fonn
1 State. Papers, Dom. Charles IT. xliii. October 10.
' Kennett's Jiegisler, p. 503.
' State Papers, Dom. VliarUs II. xliii. October 10.
* KENNEn'.S Ileijinter, p. 564.
' The Ijisho]).s returncu to their scats in the House of Ijords
on November 20tli, and from that time the junior liishop said
Eraycra daily as formerly. The Presbyterian minister had
een "excused from attendance" on the House of Commons
on October 7, IfiflO.
' Archbishop .luxon, P.isbops Duppa, Piers, and Roberts,
had also been Bishops in 1640. Four other Pishops in
the Upper House of Ififil, Sheldon, Floyd, ririlTitli, and
Ironside, had been in the Lower House in 1G40, and
so had about twenty members of the Lower House of
1661.
" Kennett's Pei/lnter, pp. 563-56
* A fair copy of this volume, written by Sancroft in a
Prayer Book of 1634, is preserved in the Bodleian Library
[Arch. Bodl. D. 28], and has been collated with the original
for the present work. Cosin had also written three sets of
Notes on the Prayer Book ; aud had prepared a fourth,
suggesting amendments which be considered to lie necessary,
several years before. These are collected in the fifth volume
of his Works, ])ublished in the Library of Anglo-Catholic
Theology. Some MS. Notes on the Prayer Book, Harl. MS.
7311, arc also said to be his. [See p. 36, note.]
to tf)c prajjcr IBook. 33
of Subscription was then agreed upon, of which a copy in Bishop Cosin's handwriting is inserted in his
Durham Book, and which is also to be found, with all the names attached, in the Manuscript volume
originally annexed to the Act of Uniformity.
Meanwhile Parliament was busily engaged in elaborating a new " Act for the Unifonnity of
Publick Prayers and Administration of Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies : and for
establishing the Form of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the
Church of England" [1-1 Car. II. c. 4], to which it was necessary to annex a Prayer Book, as in the case
of preceding Acts of Uniformity, as the Book to which the Act referred and which was incorporated
with it. There is thus not only an Ecclesiastical but a Parliamentary histor}^ of the Prayer Book,
extending from June 25, IGGI, to May 19, l(jG2; and it is very worthy of remark that the desire for
the statutory restoration of the Church system of Divine Service was so great as to cause considerable
impatience on the part of the Commons at the delay which occurred through the Savoy Conference
and through the careful deliberation with which Convocation carried on the work of revision. This
Parliamentary history of the Prayer Book is, however, of so much interest and importance that the
details of it, as they appear on the Journals of the two Houses, must be referred to at some length.
On June 25, 1661, the House of Commons ordered, " That a Committee be appointed to view the
several laws for confirming the Litiu'gy of the Church of England ; and to make search, whetlier the
original book of the Liturgy, annexed to the Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of
King Edward the Sixth, be yet extant ; and to bring in a compendious Bill to supply any defect in
the fonner laws ; and to provide for an effectual conformity to the Liturgy of the Church, for the time
to come." The Bill was brought in on June 29th, and read a second time on July 3rd, a Prayer Book
of 1004 being temporarily annexed to it. When the Bill was committed on the latter day an instruction
was given to the Committee, a very large one, that " if the original Book of Common Prayer cannot be
found, then to report the said printed book, and their opinion touching the same ; and to send for
persons, papers, and records." The search for the original Prayer Book proved fruitless, and when the
Bill was read a third time on July 9th, " a Book of Common Prayer, intituled ' The Book of Common
Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church of
England,' which was imprinted at London in the year 1604, was, at the clerk's table, annexed to the
said Bill, part of the two prayers, inserted therein before the reading psalms being first taken out, and
the other part thereof obliterated." On the following day the Bill with the Book annexed w^as sent up
to the House of Lords, and was not again sent back to the House of Commons until April 10, 1GG2,
the delay being caused by the proceedings of the Savoy Conference and of the Convocation.
The Bill was read a first time in the House of Lords as long afterwards as January 14, 1662 ; and on
the I7th it was read a second time and committed. A message was brought from the House of Commons
on the 28th urging the Lords to expedition, but on February IS, 1662, the Earl of Dorset reported, " That
the Committee for the Bill for Uniformity of Worship have met oftentimes, and expected a book of
Uniformity to be brought in ; but, that not being done, their Lordships have made no progress therein ;
therefore the Committee desires to know the pleasure of the House, whether they shall proceed upon
the Book brought from the House of Commons, or stay until the other Book be brought in. LTpon
this, the Bishop of London signified to the House, ' That the Book will very shortly be brought in.' "
In the Letters Patent, under the authority of which the Convocations were acting, the latter M'ere
directed, when they had revised the Prayer Book, to present it to the King " for our further considera-
tion, allowance, or confirmation." The revision had been completed on December 20, 1661, and the
direction given in the Letters Patent was complied with by sending to the King the fairly written
Manuscript copy of the new Prayer Book as it had been subscribed bj' the two Houses of Convocation
on that day. It was not to be expected, however, that the King and his Council should collate every
l)age of this volume with the Prayer Book formerly in use, and therefore a folio black-letter Prayer
Book of 1636 was also sent, in which the changes were carefully entered by Sancroft.' Two tables had
also been made, on a separate paper, the one of " Alterations " and the other of " Additions," in which the
" Old " text and the " New " text were pvit in parallel columns : at the end of the first table this note
being added, " These are all y^ materiall Alterations, y^ rest are onely verball or ye changeing of some
Rubricks for ye better performing of ye Service or ye new moulding some of ye Collects." - A Privy
Council was then summoned, at which four Bishops were ordered to be present. This met on
' A photozincographed facsimile of tliis volume was "pub- I the Lord CommiBsioners of Her M.ajesty's Treasury," in the
lislied for the Royal Commission on Ritual, by .authority of | year 1S71. - Ap p. 3S.
C
34 3n !0istorical JntroDuction
Febraary 24, 1CC2, the Bishops of London, Durham, Salisbury, Worcester, and Chester being
present : " at which time the Book of Common Prayer, with the Amendments and Additions, as it was
prepared by the Lords Bishops, was read and approved, and ordered to be transmitted to the House of
Peers, with this following recommendation, signed by His Majesty:" —
" Charles E.
"His majesty having, according to his Declaration of the 25tli of October, 1660, granted his commission
under the great seal, to several bishops and other divines, to review the Book of Common Prayer, and to prepare
such alterations and additions as they thought fit to offer : afterwards the convocations of the clergy of both the
provinces of Canterbury and York were by his majesty called and assembled, and are now sitting. And his
Majesty hath been pleased to authorize and require the presidents of the said convocations, and other the bishops
and clergy of the same, to review the said Book of Common Prayer, and the book of the form and manner of
makin'T and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons ; and that, after mature consideration, they should make
such additions or alterations in the said books respectively as to them should seem meet and convenient ; and
should exhibit and present the same to his majesty in writing, for his majesty's further consideration, allowance,
or confirmation. Since which time, upon full and mature dehberation, they the said presidents, bishops, and
clerg)- of both provinces, have accordingly reviewed the said books, and have made, exhibited, and presented to
his majesty in writing, some alterations, which they think fit to be inserted in the same, and some additional
prayers to the said Book of Common Prayer, to be used upon proper and emergent occasions.
" All which his majesty having duly considered, doth, with the advice of his council, fully approve and allow
the same ; and doth recommend it to the House of Peers, that the said Book of Common Prayer, and of the form
of ordination and consecration of bishops, priests, and deacons, with those alterations and additions, be the book
which, in and by the intended Act of Uniformity, shall be appointed to be used, by all that ofliciate in all
cathedral and collegiate churches and chapels, and in all chapels of colleges and halls in both the universities, and
the colleges of Eton and Winchester, and in all parish churches and chapels within the kingdom of England,
Dominion of Wales, and town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and by all that make or consecrate bishops, priests, or
deacons, in any of the said places, under such sanctions and penalties as the parliament shall think fit.
" Given at our court, at Whitehall, the 24th day of February, 1G61 " [New Style 166'2].
The Journals add, " The book mentioned in his majesty's message was brought into this House ;
which is ordered to be referred to the committee for the Act of Unifonuity." Lord Clarendon mentions
that the Revised Book, that is, the MS. which the members of Convocation had subscribed, was
"confirmed by his Majesty under the Great Seal of England;" and as, being Chancellor at the time,
the Seal would have been affixed by his direction, it seems impossible that he should have been
mistaken, though no trace of the Great Seal is now to be found in connection with the volume.
A few days afterwards, on March 3, 1662, a conciliatory explanation of the delay was given by the
King himself to the House of Commons, as is shewn by the following entry in its Journals : —
" [The king having commanded the Commons to attend him in the banqueting-house, Whitehall, on Saturday,
1st March, they did so; and the speaker read his majesty's speech to the house, on the following Monday. In
the course of it his majesty said : — ]
"' Gentlemen, I hear you are very zealous for the church, and very solicitous, and even jealous, that there is
not expedition enough used in that affair. I thank you for it, since, I presume, it proceeds from a good root of
piety and devotion : but I must tell you I have the worst luck in the world, if, after all the reproaches of being a
papist, whilst I was abroad, I am suspected of being a presbyterian now I am come home. I know you will not
take it unkindly, if I tell you, that I am as zealous for the church of England, as any of you can be ; and am
enough acquainted with the enennes of it, on all sides ; that I am as much in love with the Book of Common
Prayer, as you can wish, and have prejudice enough to those that do not love it ; who, I hope, in time will be
better informed, and change their nnnds : and you may be confident, I do as much desire to see a unifonuity
settled, as any amongst you : I pray, trust me, in that" affair; I promise you to liasten the despatch of it, with all
convenient speed ; you may rely up(m me in it.
"' I have transmitted the Pjook of Common Prayer, with those alterations and additions which have been pre-
sented to me by the Convocation, to the House of Peers with my approbation, that the Act of Uniformity may
relate to it : so that I presume it will be shortly despatched there ; and when we liave done all we can, the well
settling that affair will require great prudence and discretion, and the absence of all passion and precipitation.' "
Parliament now proceeded to the completion of the Act of Unifonnity without any further delay.
The Lords' Committee reported to the House on March 13, 1662, and on that and th(> following two
days the " alterations and additions " were read ;^ " which being ended, the Lord Chancellor, in the
name, and by the directions of the House, gave the Lords and Bishops thanks, for tlicir care in this
' In the original rough Minutes of proceedings taken by
the Clerks it is stated that "after debate it was resolved that
the amendments and alter.itions in the printed book should
be read, which was this day begun accordingly, and so the
Preface was read." This shews the purpose for which the
"printed book" sent with the "fairly written" MS. was
)U'i'parod. Both books arc mentioned subsequeutly as being
sent down to the House of Commons.
to tf)C Ipraycc IBook.
JO
business ; and dusired their Lordships to give the like thanks, from this House, to the other House of
Convocation, for their pains herein." On the 17th the " House took into consideration the Bill
concerning XTniformity iu Public Worship, formerly reported from the committee. And, upon the
second reading of the alterations and provisos, and considerations thereof, it is ordered, that this House
agrees to the preamble, as it is now brought in by the committee. And the question being put,
' Whether this book that hath been transmitted to this House from the King shall be the book to
which the Act of Uniformity shall relate ? ' it was resolved in the affirmative."
After the Act had been carefully considered clause by clause, it was read a third time and passed
on April 9, 1062, and before holding a conference with the Commons on the following day "the
House directed that the Book of Common Prayers, recommended from the King, shall be delivered to
the House of Commons, as that being the Book to which the Act of Uniformity is to relate ; and also
to deliver the book wherein the alterations are made, out of which the other Book was fairly written ;
and likewise to communicate to them the King's message, recommending the said book ; and lastly, to
let the Commons know, ' That the Lords, upon consideration had of the Act of Uniformity, have thought
fit to make some alterations, and add certain provisos, to which the concui-rence of the House of
Commons is desired.' "
The "book wherein the alterations are made "was the black-letter Prayer Book of 1536, which
has already been mentioned ; " the other book " which had been " fairly written " out of it was the
Manuscript \olume to which the members of Convocation had appended their subscriptions, and which
was afterwards "joined and annexed" to the Act of Uniformity: both volumes being still preserved in
the House of Lords.^
On April 11, 1662, the Act of Unitormity was again in the House of Commons, and on the 14th
" the amendments in ' The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments and other
Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England,' sent from the Lords ; the transcript of which Book, so
amended, therewith sent, they desire to be added to the Bill of Uniformity, instead of the book sent up
therewith, was, in part, read."
The reading was finished the same afternoon, and on the following day a Committee was appointed
" to compare the Books ^ of Common Prayer, sent down from the Lords, with the book sent up from this
House ; and to see whether they differ in anything besides the amendments, sent from the Lords, and
already read in this House, and wherein ; and to make their report therein, with all the speed they can.
And, for that purpose, they are to meet this afternoon, at two of the clock, in the Speaker's chamber."
The Committee sat late and early, and reported to the House on the afternoon of the 16th.
receiving the special thanks of the House for their exijedition. The question was then put, " Whether
debate shall be admitted to the amendments made by the Convocation in the Book of Common Prayer,
and sent down by the Lords to this House ? " when ninety members voted for and ninety-six against
a debate. Afterwards the question was put, " That the amendments made by the Convocation, and
sent down by the Lords to this House, might, by the order of this House, have been debated, and it
was resolved in the affirmative." ^
Much further debate took place on the many clauses of the Act of Uniformity, and on the various
amendments made or proposed, but the only other incident specially connected with the Prayer Book
itself was the formal correction of a clerical error, which is thus recorded in the Journals of the House
of Lords on May 8, 1662 :—
" Whereas it was signified by the House of Commons, at the conference yesterday, ' That they
found one mistake in the rubric of baptism, which they conceivefl was a mistake of the writer, " persons "
being put instead of " children :'"
' Both these vohimes were practically lost sight of for i for the Convocation, " it was ordered that those members who
forty or fifty years, but were discovered iu 1867 to have been I managed the Conference with the Lords should intimate the
all the while iu safe custody, first on a shelf in the chamber ! desire of the House. This was done, and the following entry
where the original Acts of Parliament were preserved, aud ' appears in the .Journals of tlie House of Lords on May 8th : —
afterwards iu the Library of the House of Lords. ! " Whereas it was intimated at the conference yesterdaj',
- That is, the black-letter folio with M.S. corrections and i as the desire of the House of Commons, ' That it be recom-
the fairly written MS.
* Tlie constitutional respect of the two Houses for Convo-
cation is strongly illustrated by an incident which occurred
on one of these days. A strong desire had been expressed in
the House of Commons that a proviso should be introduced
into the Act of Uniformity " for beini; uncovered and for
using reverent gestures at the time of iUvme Service. " This
proviso was twice read, "but the matter being held proper
mended to the Convocation, to take order for reverend and
uniform gestures and demeanors to be enjoined at the time of
divine service and preaching : '
" It is ordered liy this House, aud hereby recommended to
the Lords, the Bishops, and the rest of the Convocation of
the Clergy, to prepare some canon or rule for that pur-
pose, to be humbly presented unto his majesty for his
assent."
36 an l^istorical ^ntroDiiction
" The Lord Bishop of Durham acquaintud the House, that himself, and the Lord Bishop of St.
Asaph, aud the Lord Bishop of Carlile, had authority from the Convocation to mend the said word,
averring it was only a mistake of the scribe. And accordingly they came to the clerk's table, and
amended the same."*
The amendments proposed by the House of Commons in the Act of Uniformity all tended to raise
the tone in which the Prayer Book was to be used, and to make the provisions of the Act more strict.
They especially required, as has already been mentioned, that the Surplice, and the Sign of the Cross
in Baptism, should continue to be used. These amendments were all agreed to by the Lords on May
10th ; and thus the Prayer Book, as amended by Convocation, and the Act of Uniformity, as amended
by Parliament, both received the Royal Assent on May 19, 1(J(J2.
In answer to inquiries from the House of Lords, the Bishops had guaranteed (on April 21stj that
the Book should be in print and ready for use on August 24th, the Feast of St. Bartholomew, which was
the day fixed by Parliament for the Act to come into operation. The printing was done in London by
Bill and Barker, the King's Printers, and under the superintendence of Convocation, which, as early as
March 8th, had appointed Dr. Sancroft to be Supervisor, and Messrs. Scattergood and Dillingham,
Correctors of the press.- The following MS. entry on the fly-leaf of Bishop Cosin's Durham Book, in
the Bishop's own hand, will shew how much anxious thought lie had taken for this and all other
matters connected with the Revision of the Prayer Book :^ —
" Directions to be given to the printer.
" Set a fair Fronti.spiece at the beginning of the Book, and another before the Psalter, to be designed as the
Archbishop shall direct, and after to be cut in Brass." [A proof copy of this is preserved in the same volume.]
" Page the whole Book.
" Add nothing. Leave out nothing. Alter nothing, in what Volume soever it be printed. Particularly ;
never cut off the Lord's Prayer, Creed, or any Collect with an etc. ; but wheresoever tliey are to he used, print
them out at hirge, and add [Amen] to the end of every prayer.
"Never print the Lord's Prayer beyond — 'deliver us from evil. Amen.'
" Print the Creed.s always in three paragraphs, relating to the three Persons, etc.
•■ Print nut Capital letters witli profane pictures in tliem.
"In all the Epistles and Gospels follow the new translation." [They are so written in the JIS. annexed to
the Act of Uniformity.]
" Aa much as may be, compose so that the leaf be not to be turned over in any Collect, Creed, Verse of a
Psalm, Middle of a sentence, etc.
" Set not your own Names in the Title-page nor elsewhere in the Book, but only ' Printed at London by the
printers to the King's most excellent Majesty. Such a year.'" [These names were erased from the Sealed Books.]
" Print [Glory be to the Father, etc.] at the end of every Psalm, and of every part of cxix. Psalm.
" In this Book :—
" Where a line is drawn through the words, that is all to be left out.
" Where a line is drawn under the words, it is to be printed in the Roman letter.
" Where a jirickt line is drawn under the words, it is not part of the hook, but only a direction to the printer
or reader.
' This correction was made both iu the black-letter copy
and in tlie manuscript, where it is still to be seen. An
order for making it had passed Convocation on April 24th.
[KEXN'ETT's Reiji.iter, p. 6fa'G. ]
A more curious slip of the pen is said to have been corrected
with a bold readiness by Lord Clarendon. "Archbishop
Tenison told me by his bedside on Monday, Feb. 12, 1710,
manuscript. If it ever existed it was probably in the
copy prepared for the printers, of which nothing is now
known.
- Among Archbishop Sancroft's MSS. in the Bodleian,
there is a letter from one of Bishop Cosin's chaplains, written
from Bishop Auckland on June 16, 1G(>2, in which he says,
"My lonl desires at all times to know particularly what pro-
that the Couvocation book intended to be the copy conlirmed gress )ou make in the Common I'rayer. " There is also
by the Act of Unifnrmity had a rash blunder in the rubrick ' mandate from Charles II. to the Dean and Chapter of Durham
after Baptism, which should h.avc run [It is Cfrliiiii hi/ dndx | among the State P.apers, dated .Tune Ki, 1()62, likewise, and
word, that chiUh'pn iDltieJi are bnpihi'd (/f/iii'j before they commit I ordering them tu dispense with l*rebendary .Sancroft's
artual sin are toiiloubtedli/ tinved]. But tlio wunls [which are residence, as he "has been for some months, and still is
baptized] were left out, till .Sir Cyril Wyche coming to see attending the impression of tlie Liturgy;" aiul adding that
the Lord Chancellor Hydo found the book brought Imme by , " it is not the moaning of the statutes to require the residence
his lordship, and lying in his parlour window, even after it ' of members of tlie Chapter when service of greater use to the
had p,as.sed the two houses, and happening to cast his eye i Church requires them." [.S'/<i^' Papers, Ivi. til.]
upon that place, told the Lord Chancellor of that gross
omission, who supplied it witli Iiis own hand." [//)((/. p. (i43. ]
This story was fifty years old when it reaihcd Bisliop Koimett,
but it has an air of probability : and sudi strange accidents
in the most important matters have not unfrequently occurred.
So the word "not" was once oiuitted from the seventh com-
mandment in a whole eilition [\\>. Iti.ll] of the Holy Bible ;
the printers being heavily fined for the mistake. But there
It is very singular that Burton had alleged, in his Tryall
of I'riralc Devotions, tliat there was "in tlu! great printing
house .at Lond<ui a Common T'r.ayer Book," altered witli
Cosin's liand, to show "how he would have it altered."
Prynne .asserts something similar in his criticism of Cosin's
Dei'Otiona, printed in 1(!2C and 1(!27. [Brief Censure of Mr.
Co-.en.i find hin Cozening Derotiotis, pp. 9'2, 104.] These
antici])ation3 of f!osin's induence shew that he was marked
is no trare of the error in either the black-letter copy or the out for a leader in the work of revision
to ti)C Iprayer Ti5oo{i. 37
" Where this note [ is set, a break is to be made, or a new line begun.
"Where a double line is drawn under any words, they are to bo printed in Capitals."
J^'roni thi.s memorandum, and from evidence supplied by the character of the printed copies used
for the " Sealed Books " hereafter mentioned, it may be concluded that the " copy " sent to the printing
office was a printed Prayer Book with the corrections written in, as in the volume which had been
sent with the manuscrijjt to the King and the Houses of Parliament : and it is to be observed that the
" prickt " or dotted " line," as well as the other marks spoken of above, all occur both in that volume
and in the copy revised by Cosin's own hand.
But although great care was used to print the supply of books required for present use according
to the Text which had been prepared by Convocation, still greater care was necessary for the production
of a printed Text that would so exactly correspond with the Manuscript volume which had been
annexed to the Act of Uniformity as to be an accurate representative of the actual Record. While,
therefore, the Act of Unifoniiity was passing through Parliament, the House of Commons inserted a
clause which provided that " a true and perfect copy of this Act, and of the said Book annexed here-
unto," should be provided by the Deans and Chapters of every Cathedral or Collegiate Church before
Christmas Day, obtained " under the Great Seal of England," and also that similar copies should be
delivered into the respective Courts of Westminster, and into the Tower of London, to be kept and
preserved as records. It was also ^orovided that these books should " be examined by such persons as
the King's Majesty shall appoint under the Great Seal of England for that purpose, and shall be
compared with the original Book hereunto annexed." These Commissioners were to have power " to
coiTect, and amend in writing, any erj'or committed by the Printer in the printing of the same book, or
of any thing therein contained, and shall certify under their hands and seals . . . that they have
examined and compared the said Book, and find it to be a true and perfect Copy." The Prayer Books
so certified and sealed with the Great Seal were then to be as good Records a.s the MS. itself.
These Commissioners were appointed by Letters Patent, which were issued on November 1, 1662,
and were twenty-five in number, although seven or eight of them only signed the books when their
work was completed. A special edition of the Prayer Book was printed for their use in a large folio
size with wide margins, and in preparing this some oversights occurred, such as the old page headings
instead of those in the Manuscript, together with some printer's errors. Corrections were duly made
by the Commissioners, but not with so minute an accuracy as was to be desired,^ in every copy which
was to receive the Great Seal, and a Certificate was appended to each volume, which was signed by the
Commissioners on December 13, 1G62. The Books so certified were afterwards ordered by the Crown
to be passed under the Great Seal ; and Letters Patent carrying the Seal were affixed to each of them
by the Lord Chancellor on January 5, 1663.- One of the volumes was then sent to every Dean and
Chapter throughout the country, one to each of the Courts at Westminster, and one to the Tower, to be
preserved among the Records. Thus the Book of Common Prayer was carefully guarded through every
stage of its preparation, that it might go forth to the people of England with all the authority that law
can give, and that a perfect Record might never be wanting of the true document by which the system
of Divine Service is regulated in the Church of England. Many of the Cathedral copies, probably all,
are still in existence, that of Durham being as perfect as when first received, but the five which were
formerly preserved in the Tower, the Courts of Chancery, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, and
Exchequer, have been transferred to the custody of the Master of the Rolls and are now in the
Public Record Office.
The alterations and additions which were with so great care, exactness, and deliberation, made in
the Prayer Book at this last Revision were too numerous to be mentioned in detail, but the more
important of them were collected into two Tables, which were sent to the King and Privy Council,
and, as has been shewn at p. 34, these Tables were read for the information of the two Houses of
' Every endeavour has been used to obtain permissiun from
the House of Lords to make an exact collation of the Manu-
script volume, but without success. .Sufficient examination
of it has however been allowed to shew that no important
variations occur between the Text of the original Record and
the Text of the present volume. [January 1881.]
Until this was done no copies were allowed to bo put into
published the University of Cambridge began to print from
it : but a sharp Mandate was sent to the Vice-Chancellor by
the King on August 26, 1(!62, expressing his displeasure at
tlie contempt of authority thus shewn, and directing him
"to order" the University Printers "to forbear, to secure
the sheets of the said Books, that none may be disposed of,
and to inquire why former orders were not obeyed."
circulation but those which were sent out from the office of ; [Sicifi: Paper.^. Dom. Chnrlm If. h-iii. 42: Ixi. 144; Ixiii,
the King's Printers. As soon as the first impression had been 42.]
38 9n ^iflftorical 3lntroDuction
Parliameut. They are here printed at length, both for the sake of their historical interest and also as
giving a convenient view of the changes that were made.
" ALTERATIONS.
OLD. NEW.
LiTAXV.
Bishops, Pastors, and Ministers. Bishops. Priests, and Deacons.
Collect.
Tlie 3^' Sunday in Advent. A larger and more proper inserted.
For Cheistmas Day.
this day. as at this time [as also in y<= Preface at y^ Communion],
for Easter Tuesday. is put for Low Easter.
For Whitsunday.
upon this day. as at this time.
y'= Epistle. For y'^ Epistle [as often as it is not taken out of an
Epistle].
Communion.
RiihricJc.
Overnight or else in y'' Morning, before y^ beginning of at least sometime y^ day before.
Morning prayer or immediately after.
in y<' body of y<^ Church or in y'' Chancel, in y"^ most convenient place in y'' upper end of y^ Chancel,
or of yc body of y^ Church where there is no Chancel.
northside. north part.
Bishops, Pastors, and Curates. Bishops and Curates.
The l"*' and 2'^'' Exhortations are altered and fitted for timely notice and preparation
to y'' Communion.
In y^ 3'' E.xhortation this clause [If any of you be a
blasphemer of God, an hinderer, etc.] is left out.
These words [before this Congregation] omitted.
Before y"" Confession, for these words [either by one of by one of y*^ Jilinisters.
them, or else by y* Minister].
In y'= 2"^ Prayer after Receiving, for [in tliy mystical! in y" mysticall body of thy Son.
body].
In y"^ last Rubrick but one these words [And y'^ Parish
shall be discharged of such sums of money or other
dutyes w'' hitherto they have payed for y'^ same by
order of their houses every Sunday] omitted as ueedlesse now.
Baptisme.
didst sanctify y' flood Jordan and all other waters, in y'= river Jordan didst sanctify water.
dost thou forsake ? Ans. I forsake, doest thou in the name oi this childe renounce I Ans.
I renounce.
Peivate Baptisme.
Tliis Demand [whether thinke you y' childe to be law-
fully and perfectly baptized I] omitted.
Confirmation.
set before y"^ Catechism.
In y'= Rubrick for these words [untill .such time as he untill such time a.s he be confirmed, or be ready and
can say y" Catechism and be confirmed] these. desirous to be confirmed.
to tU Iprapec 15ook. 39
Catechisme.
y' King and his Ministers. y<= King and all that arc put iii authority under him.
Water ; wherein y*' person baptized is dipped or sprinkled Water, wherein y* Person is baptized in y" Name, etc.
in it, In y* Name, etc.
V'ea they doe performe them botli by their sureties, who Because they promise them both by their sureties, which
promise and vow them both in their names. promise.
Matkimony.
These words [In Paradise] omitted.
depart. do part.
children's children unto y"" 3'' and i"' generation. children christianly and virtuously brought up.
loving and amiable to lier husband as Rachel, wise as amiable, faithfuU and obedient to her husband.
Rebecca, faithfull and obedient as Sara.
The new married persons, the same day of their JIarriage, It is convenient y' y" new married persons should receive
must receive y*^ Communion. y' Communion at y<' time of y"" marriage or at y"^ first
opportunity after y'' marriage.
Visitation of y" Sick.
In y"^ Psakne y'' 5 last verses omitted.
BUEIALL.
y^ Lesson read before they goe to y" grave.
eyes, eares.
of resurrection. of y Resurrection,
this our brother omitted,
them that be elected. y<= faithfull.
Chukching.
For Psalme 121, 116 or 127.
w*;'' hast delivered. wee give thee hearty thanks for that thou hast vouch-
safed to deliver,
in her vocation omitted.
Note y* All y^ Epistles and Gospels and most of the Sentences of Scripture are put in y' last Translation of y^
Bible.
These are all y" materiall Alterations. Y" rest are onely verball, or y"= changeing of some Rubricks for y" better
performing of y^ Service, or y"' new moulding some of y'' Collects.
ADDITIONS.
OLD, NEW.
deliver us from evil. For thine is y<^ kingdome, y"^ power and y" glory, for
ever and ever [here and in some other places].
Praise ye the Lord. Ans. The Lord's name be praised.
Litany.
privy conspiracy and rebellion.
heresy and schisme.
To y* Prayer in time of dearth another prayer added.
in y' of plague.
Almighty God w^'' in thy wrath didst send a plague upon thine owne people in y" wilder-
nesse for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and
Aaron, and also.
didst then accept of an atonement and.
Two Prayers for y^ Ember weekes.
A Thanksgiving for restoring publique peace.
A Prayer for y'^ Parliament.
40
an Ipistoncal :jntroDuction
Collects.
A Collect for y"^ 6 Sunday after y*" Epiphany.
Epistle, 1 S. John 3. 1.
Gospel, S. Matt. 24. 23.
A Collect for Easter Eve.
An Antheme on Easter daj-, 1 Cor. .). 7.
Communion.
In y<^ 3'' Kubrick added, Provided y' every Minister .so repelling any a.s is speci-
fied, in this or in y^^ next preceding Paragraph of this
Piubrick, shall be obliged to give an account of y"
same to y^ Ordinary within 14 dayes after at y"^ fur-
thest, and y'^ Ordinaiy shall proceede against y*' offend-
ing person according to y*^ Canon.
who brought thee out of y^ Land of Egypt, out of y^
house of bondage.
the Lord thy God,
In y<' prayer for y"= whole state of Christ's Church.
to accept our almes
adversity.
draw neere
At y^ Prayer of Consecration
and oblations.
And wee also blesse thy holy name for all thy servants
departed this life in thy faith and fear : beseeching
thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples
that w"' them wee may be partakers of thy heavenly
kingdome.
in full assurance of faith.
Marginall Notes directing y^ Action of y*^ Priest.
B.VPTISME.
A fourth demand added here, and in Private Baptisme. Wilt thou then obediently keepe God's holy wiU and
commandements, and walke in y'^ same all y'= dayes of
thy life? Ans. I will.
In y"^ prayer after y'' Demands, after these words [y^
supplications of thy Congregation] added, Sanctify this water to y'^ mysticall washing away of sin.
A Marginall note added. Here shall y'' Priest make a crosse upon y"= childe's fore-
head.
At y'= end of y'^ Kubrick is added this Declaration. It is certaine by God's word that persons w'^'' are
baptized, dying before they committ actuall sin, are
undoubtedly saved.
An Office for baptizing such as are of riper yeeres added.
Confirmation.
Then shall y"" Bishop say, Doe you here, in y" presence
of God and of this Congregation, etc., and every one
shall audibly answer, I doe.
After y'" words of Confirmation added, ¥<■ L'' be w"' you. Ans. And w^'' thy spirit.
Y'' Lord's Prayer.
After y'' Collect Another Prayer added.
Visitation of y'^ Sick.
for ever. Atis. Spare us, good Lord,
yc 2<i Prayer enlarged.
A Commendatory I'rayer.
A Prayer for a sick childe.
A Prayer when there appeares small hope of recovery.
A Commendatory at y'" point of death.
A Prayer for persons troubled in niiude.
to ti)t Ipraj^ec T5oofe.
41
BUEIALL.
everlasting glory,
at y' end.
After they are come into y" Church shall be read one or
both these Psalms, 39. 90.
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
yc grace of our L'' -Jesus Christ, etc.
Commutation.
In y^ last prayer, after [looke upon us
in y" merits and mediation of thy blessed Son Jesus
Christ our L''- Amen.
Then shall y'" Minister alone say,
Y<^ Lord blesse us, and keepe us, y"^ L'' lift up y" light
of his countenance upon us, and give us peace, now
and for evermore. Amen."
§ Subsequent Dealings tuith the Prayer Bool:
An attempt was made in the reign of William III. to remodel the Prayer Book on principles
much less Catholic than those which had been adopted in 1.549 and IGGl ; the two objects being to
satisfy the Latitudinarians by watering down its Theology, and to bring the language of it into agree-
ment with the so-called " elegant " English of the period ; but happily the attempt was unsuccessful.'
In the year 1751 an Act of Parliament was passed " for regulating the commencement of the
year, and for correcting the Calendar now in use " [24 Geo. II. c. 28], and the effect of this on the
Calendar of the Prayer Book is shewn in the Introduction to the Calendar. In 1871 a new Table of
Daily and Proper Lessons was compiled by a Royal Commission, approved by Convocation, and
authorized by 34 and 35 Vict. c. 87. In 1872 an "Act for the Amendment of the Act of Uniformity "
[35 and 36 Vict. c. 35] was also passed, sanctioning the use of a shorter form of Mattins and Evensong
which had been prepared in a similar manner.
§ National Versions of the Pra.yer Book.
The English system of Divine Service was adopted by the Church of Scotland in the seventeenth
century, and by that of the United States of America in the eighteenth : and although the Churches of
both countries are but small bodies, when compared with the numbers of the population, the versions
of the Book of Common Prayer adopted by them have an historical claim to be called national
versions, — that of Scotland having been adopted imder royal and ecclesiastical authority, while that of
America was adopted imder the most authoritative sanction of the ecclesiastical body to which the
original English colonists of the continent belonged.
The Reformation was not carried forward in Scotland with the same calm, dispassionate, ami
humble reverence for the old foundations which was so conspicuous in that of the Church of England.
For many years no uniform system of devotion took the place of the ancient ofiices, T^e scottisii
and it was not until .the reign of James I. that any endeavour was made to put an Prayer Book,
end to that ecclesiastical anarchy which was thinly veiled by Knox's miserable Book of Common
Order. The General Assembly of 1616 agreed to the proposal that a national Liturgy should be
framed: but King James wished to introduce the English Prayer Book, and it was used in his
presence at Holyrood on May 17, 1617. Three years afterwards an Ordinal was published for the
use of the Scottish Church ; and the draft of a Liturgy was submitted to the King by Archbishop
Spottiswoodc. This was revived on the accession of Charles I., and in 1629 official measures were
taken for obtaining its reconsideration and adoption by the Church of Scotland ; although both the King
and Laud were anxious to have the English Prayer Book introduced without alteration. Eventually
the King gave way to the wish of the Scottish Bishops that a national form of Divine Service should
' The whole of this proposed Revision of 1689 was printed
in a Blue Book by order of the House of Commons, dated
June 2, 1854; and this was reprinted in a very convenient
form under the title of "The Revised Liturgy of 1 689," by
Bagster, in 1855. Some account of the progress of the revi-
sion will be found in Bishop Patrick's Aulohiograpin/, pp.
149-153, ed. 1839. As the Revision never had any authority
or influence, it has been considered unnecessary to give any
further particulars respecting it here.
42
3n Jpistorical ^ntroouction
be adopted : an episcopal committee was appointed (of whom Maxwell, Bishop of Ross, and Wedder-
bum, Bishop of Dunblane, appear to have been the most acti\e), and they were engaged on the work
for many months, some delay being caused, apparently', by the necessity of communicating with the
King and the Archbishop of Canterbury, which had arisen from the altered relations of the two
countries. The Scottish Prayer Book of 1637 was the result of these labours. It has been popularly
connected with the name of Archbishop Laud, but it was the compilation of Scottish Bishops ; and all
the English Archbishop did was (as one of a commission of which Wren and Juxon were the other two
members) to offer suggestions, prevent rash changes, communicate between the Crown and the Scottish
Bishops respecting alterations, and facilitate the progress of the book through the press.
The Book of Common Prayer so prepared was not submitted to the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland. As the preceding pages have she%vn, the English Book was, from first to last, the
work of Convocation ; and no doubt the Scottish book ought also to have had the sanction at least of
the whole Scottish Church by representation, and not only of the Crown and the Bishops. In the
year 1G37 it was imposed upon the Church of Scotland by letters patent and the authority of the
Bishoj)S : but, as is well known, its introduction was vigorously opposed by a fanatical faction, which in
the end became supreme, and both the Church and the Prayer Book of Scotland were suppressed.
That now in use in the Scottish Church was introduced in later times ; but the book of 1637 is so
much connected with the history of the period, and has, besides, so much liturgical interest, that a
fuller notice of it has been inserted in the Appendix at the end of this work.
Until the separation of the North American colonies from England, the English Book of Common
Pra3^er was used without any alteration in the American Church. After they became independent, as
The American the United States, it was thought expedient for the Church to make some changes.
Prayer Book. especially as alterations were being introduced without authority, and there seemed
danger of much disorder in Divine worship if a form were not adopted which could have some claim to
be called national. The first stejj towards this was taken at the General Convention of the American
Church held at Philadelphia in 1785 : during the next four years the various Ofifices were gradually
remodelled until they took the form in which they are now used, and which was authorized by the
General Convention of 1789. Committees had been appointed to prepare an entirely new book : but
in the end the English Prayer Book was taken as the basis to be adopted. The language was in
many parts modernized, the Communion Office was restored to a foi-m similar to that of 1549, a
selection of Psalms was appointed as well as our daily order, the use of the Athanasian Creed was
discontinued, and some other less important alterations were made. But the Preface declares that the
American Church " is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point
of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or farther than local circumstances require." A further account of
this also will be found in the Appendix.
§ Translations of the Prayer Book.
The Book of Common Prayer arose, in no small degree, fVom a conviction, on the part of the Clergy
and Laity of England, that Divine Service should be offered to God in the vernacular tongue of those
on whose behalf and by whom it is being offered. The principle thus adopted in respect to themselves
has been carried out as far as possible in all the missionary operations of the Church of England ; and
the establishment of her forms of Divine Service in countries where the English language is not freely
spoken, has generally been accompanied by the translation of the Book of Common Prayer into the
language of those who are being won over to the Church of Christ. A necessity has also arisen for
translations into some European languages : while provision was made for rendering it into Welsh and
Irish at the time of its first issue. An account of the Latin translation will be found under the rubric
relating to the use of Divine Service in other languages than the English.
The following list contains the names of fifty-seven languages and dialects into which the Book of
Common Prayer has been translated, but the number is constantly increasing as the missionary work of
the Church is developed : —
Latin.
Greek.
Hebrew.
Welsh.
Irish.
Gaelic.
Manks.
French.
German.
Dutch.
Spanish.
Portuguese
Italian.
Danish.
Russian.
Polish.
to tbt Ipraper TBoofe.
43
Modem Greek.
Su.su.
Persian.
Amharic.
Turkish.
Telugoo.
Armenian.
Chinese.
Armeno-Turkish.
Hawaiian
Arabic.
Kafir.
Bengali.
Bullom.
Hindi.
Yorubau.
Burmese.
Malay.
Mahratta.
Dyak.
Tamil.
Singhalese.
Assamese.
Indo-Portuguese.
Cree.
Mandarin, Colloquial.
Swahili.
Malagasy.
Maori.
Hangchow.
Sesuto.
Maltese.
Mota.
Ojibbeway.
Muncey.
Marathu.
Punjabi.
Sindhi.
Bechuana.
Zulu.
Esquimaux.
Most of these translations have been produced under the auspices of the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and of the Prayer Book and Homily Society ; and some guarantee is thus given
for accuracy. It should also be mentioned as a fact of interest and importance that the Hawaiian
version was made in 1863 by the native king, Kamehameha IV., who annexed to it a Preface which
shews a thorough knowledge of the principles of the Prayer Book
EITUAL INTEODUCTION
TO THE
PRAYER BOOK.
SECTION I.
THE PRINCIPLES OF CEREMONIAL WORSHIP.
"ppORMS and ceremonies in Divine Service are bodily manifestations of spiritual worship, and the
ordinary means b}' which that worship is expressed before' God.
The whole scheme of Redemption is based on a principle which shews that God establishes com-
munion between Himself and mankind to a great extent through the body and bodily acts, and not
solely through purely mental ones, as the exercise of thought or will. For when a perfect and unim-
peded spiritual intercourse was to be renewed between the Creator and His fallen creatures, God, Who
" is a Spirit," took upon Him a bodily nature, " of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting," and
b}' means of it became a Mediator, through Whom that intercourse could be originated and maintained.
For the particular application, also, of the benefits of His mediation, Christ ordained Sacraments, which
are outward and visible signs endowed with the capacity of conveying inward and spiritual grace to the
soul through the organs of the body. " Hadst thou been incorporeal," says St. Chrysostom, " Christ
would have given thee His incorporeal gifts pure and simple : but as the soul is bound up with a
body, He gives thee spiritual things in sensible forms." [Chrysost. on Matt, xxvi.]
In analogy with this principle, Ceremonial worship, or Ritual, may be defined as the external body
of words and actions by which worship is expressed and exhibited before God and man. As it is
ordained that men shall tell their wants to God in prayer, although He knows better than they know
themselves what each one's necessities are, so it is also ordained that spiritual worship shall be com-
municated to Him by words and actions, although His Omniscience would he jjcrfcctly cognizant of it
without their intervention.
The Divine Will on this subject has been revealed very clearly and fully in the Holy Bible ; from
its earliest pages, which record the sacrifices of Cain, Abel, and Noah, to its latest, in which the worship
of Heaven is set forth as it will be offered by the saints of God when the worship of Earth will have
passed away.
Before the origination of the Jewish system of ceremonial, we find customs which indicate the use
of certain definite fonns in acts of Divine worship. The chief of these is Sacrifice, in which the fruits
of the earth were offered to God, or the body of some slain animal consumed by fire on His altar. Such
acts of sacrifice were purely ceremonial, whether or not they were accompanicxl by any words ; and the
account of Abraham's sacrifice, in Genesis xv. 9-17, illustrates very remarkably the minute character
of the ritual injunctions given by God oven before the time of the Mosaic system. The Divine
institution of the outward ceremony of Circ\uncision is another instance of the same kind, and one of
even greater force, from the general and husting nature of the rite as at first ordained ; a rite binding
on the Jewi.sh nation for nearly two thousand years. Another ceremonial custom to bo ob.scr\ed in the
3 IRitual 3Intror)uction to tftc Prapcr TBoofe. 45
Patriarchal times, is that of " bowing down the head " when worshipping the Lord [Gen. xxiv.
2G, 48] ; another, that of giving solemn benedictions, accompanied by laying on of hands [Gen.
xxvii. 27-29; xxviii. 1-4; xlvii. 10; xlviii. 9-20]; another, that of setting up a pillar, and pour-
ing oil upon it [Gen. xxviii. 18 ; xxxv. 14] ; another, purification before sacrifice [Gen. xxxv. 2] :
and, to name no more, one other, the reverent burial of the dead [Gen. xxiii. 19; xxxv. 19; 1. 10],
which even then was an act of reverence towards God, as well as of respect and affection towards the
departed.
The introduction of a higher form of corporate worship than that of Patriarchal times was accom-
panied by a great developeinent of ceremony or ritual. Of what was jjreviously in use, we can only
infer that it was divinely instituted ; but the Divine institution of the Jewish .system of ritual is told us
in the most unmistakeable' terms in the Holy Bible, and the narration of it occupies more than eight
long chapters of the Book of Exodus [xxiv-xxxi.], together with the greater part of the twenty-seven
chapters of Lcviticu
This system of ritual (sometimes called " Mosaic," but in reality Divine) was revealed with cir-
cumstances of the utmost solemnity. After a preparation of sacrifices, Moses, Aaron, Nadab and
Abihu, and the seventy elders, went up into the lower part of Mount Sinai, and from thence " they saw
the God of Israel : and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as
it were the body of Heaven in clearness." Moses was then commanded to go up to the summit of the
mountain, " and a cloud covered the mount. And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and
the cloud covered it six days : and the seventh day He called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes
of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him into the mount :
and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights " [ExoD. xxiv. 9-18]. During this awful
time of converse between God and His servant Moses, it appears that the one subject of revelation
and command was that of ceremonial worship : the revelation of the moral law being recorded
in the single verse, "And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with
him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God"
[ExoD. xxxi. IS].
The revelation of God's will respecting forms and ceremonies thus awfully given to Moses, went
into very minute particulars, which were chiefly respecting the construction of the Tabernacle, the
dress of those who were to minister in it, the Instritmenfa of Divine Service, and the ceremonies with
which that service was to be carried on. The architecture of the structure itself, the design of
its utensils, and of the priestly vestments, and that kind of laws for the regulation of Divine Service
which we now know as rubrics, were thus communicated to Moses by God Himself, and in the most
solemn manner in which any revelation was ever given from Heaven. And when the revelation was
completed, " the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the
son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah : and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. . . . And I, behold, I have
given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan : and in the hearts of all that are
wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee " [ExoD. xxxi.
1-G]. Thus Divine Inspiration was given to the principal architects and superintendents of the
external fabric by means of which Divine Service was to be carried on, as well as a Revelation of its
structure, and of the ceremonial itself; and no words can heighten the importance and value which
Almighty God thus indicated as belonging to ceremonial worship.
Nor did this importance and value belong to ceremonial worship only in the early period of the
Jewish nation's life. It was not given to them as a means of spiritual education, by which they should
be gradually trained to a kind of worship in which externals should hold a less conspicuous position.
Nothing whatever apj^ears, in the revelation itself, of such an idea as this ; but the ceremonial is
throughout regarded as having reference to Him in Whose service it was used, looking to the Object
of worship, and not to the worshipper.*. And accordingly, when the Jewish nation attained its highest
pitch of prosperity, and probably of intellectual as well as spiritual progress, in the latter years of
David and in the reign of Solomon, this elaborate .system of ceremonial worship was developed instead
of being narrowed. The magnificent preparations which David made for building the Temple are
recorded in 1 Chron. xxii., xxviii., and xxix.; and those which he made for establishing the ser\-ice
there, in 1 Chron. xvi., xxiii-xxvi.; the descriptions of the structure and of the utensils being almost
46 9 iRitual 31ntromiction
as minute and detailed as in the commandments of God "on Sinai respecting the Tabernacle. In this
more intellectual age of the Jewish nation, and for this developement of ceremonial worship, God
vouchsafed to give inspiration to His servants for their work, as He had done to Bezaleel and Aholiab.
When the Holy Bible gives the account of David furnishing Solomon with the designs for the Temple
and its furniture, these significant words are added, " And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit."
Even more striking are David's own words : " All this the Lord made mo understand in writing by His
hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. . . . The Lord God, even my God, will be with
thee ; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the
house of the Lord" [1 Chrox. xxviii. 12, 19]. The fulfilment of this prophetic promise is indicated in
a subsequent place by the words, " Now these are the things wherein Solomon was instructed for the
building of the house of God " [2 Chron. iii. 3] : and the Divine approval of all that was done is
strikingly shewn in 1 Kings ix. 3; 2 Chron. v. 11-14; and vii. 1, 2. Nor should the fact be over-
looked that the most costly and beautiful house of God which the world ever saw was built, the most
elaborate and gorgeous form of Divine Service established, by one who was no imaginative enthusiast,
but by one whose comprehensive knowledge and astute wisdiini exceeded those of any man who had
ever before existed, and were perhaps greater than any learning or wisdom, merely human, which have
since been known. Solomon was a man of science, an ethical philosopher, and a statesman, and with
all these great gifts and acquirements he was also a ritualist.
Thus the use of Ceremonial Worship in some form is shewn to have existed even in the simple
Patriarchal ages ; and to have been ordained in its most extreme form by God Himself in the times of
Moses, David, and Solomon. Let it be reverently added, that it was this extreme form of Ceremonial
Worship which our Lord recognized and took part in when He went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the
great Festivals, and the restoration of which in its purity He enforced both at the beginning and end of
His ministry bv His " cleansing the Temple " from the presence of those who bought and sold there.
The vain and empty private ceremonies which the Pharisees had invented met with the severe con-
demnation of our Lord ; but there is not one act or word of His recorded which tends in the least
towards de^ireciation of the Temple service ; or which can lead to the supposition that the worship of
God " in spirit and in truth " is to be less associated with forms and ceremonies when carried on by
Christians, than when it was offered by Moses, David, Solomon, and the Old Testament saints of many
centuries who looked forward to Christ.
The ritual 2:)ractices of the Apostolic age are to some extent indicated in the New Testament, but
as the Temple service was still carried on, and Jerusalem fonned the religious centre of the Apostolic
Church, it is clear tliat an elaborate ceremonial was not likely to be established during the first quarter
of a century of the Church's existence. Yet this earliest age of the Church witnesses to the 'princvple
of ceremonial worship, as the Patriarchal age had done ; and each foreshadowed a higher developement
of it. A learned German ritualist has written thus on this subject : " On mature reflection, I am
satisfied that the Apostles by no means performed the Di\inc Liturgy with such brevity, at least as a
general rule, as some have confidently asserted. The faithful, whether converts among the Jews or
Gentiles, were accustomed to ceremonies and prayers in their sacrifices ; and can we suppose that the
Apostles would neglect to employ the like, tending so greatly as these must do to the dignity of the
service, and to promote the reverence and fervour of the worshipper ? Who can believe that the
Apostles were content to use the bare words of consecration and no more ? Is it not reasonable to
suppose that they would also pour forth some prayers to God, especially the most perfect of all prayers
which they had learned from the mouth of their Divine Master, for grace to perform that mystery
aright; others pnqjaratory to communion, and again, others of thanksgiving for so inestimable a
benefit ?" [Krazer, dn Lititrgi.is, i. 1-3.]
But there are distinct traces of actual forms of service in the Acts of the Apostles, and in some of
the Epi-stles. In the second chapter of the former, at the forty-second verse, it is said of the first
Christians that they continued stedfastly in the doctrine [rfi StSuxfl] "'i"^! "^ '^<c fellowship [t;; Kotvamn]
of the Apostles ; and in the breaking of the Bread [rfi K\da€i tov aprov], and in the prayers [raiv
■Trpoa-eux'ih] ', the two latter expressions clearly indicating settled and definite ceremonial and devotional
usages with which the writer knew his readers to be acquainted. St. Paul's reference to a Sunday ofil'er-
tory [1 CoR. xvi. 1] ; to the observance of decency and order in the celebration of Divine Service [1 CoR.
xiv. 40] ; to the ordinances, or traditions, which he had delivered to the Corinthians, and which he had
received from the Lord, JIinLself[\ Cor. xi. 2] ; and to the Divisions of Divine Service in his words, " I
to tbc Prapcc iPoofe.
47
exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications [oej/o-eiy], prayers [7r/3oa-ei/xa?]> intercessions [eVret'^eiy],
and Eucharists [evxa-pia-Tiai], be made for all men " [1 TiM. ii. 1], — these shew that an orderly and formal
system was already in existence ; while his allusion to " the traditions " [tu9 -TrapaooTei^], seems to
point to a system derived from some source the authority of which was binding upon the Church.
[See also Introd. to Liturgy.] Such an authority would attach to every word of our Blessed Lord ;
and when we know that He remained on earth for forty days after His Resun-ection, and that during
that period He was instructing His Apostles in " the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God "
[Acts i. .3], it is most natural to suppose that the main points of Christian ritual were ordained by
Him, as those of the Jewish ritual had been ordained during the forty days' sojourn of Moses on Sinai.
It is to be remembered also that there are forms and ceremonies in use by the Church which were
undoubtedly ordained by Christ, such as the laying on of hands in Ordination, the use of water and
certain words in Holy Baptism, and the manual ceremonies at the Holy Communion.
At a later period, when the Temple service had nearly or quite come to an end, when the tem-
porary dispensation of a miraculous Apostolate was drawing to a close, and when the Church was
settling into its permanent form and habits, St. John (the last and most comprehensive of the
Apostolic guides of the Church) wrote the Book of the Revelation ; and several portions of it seem
intended to set forth in mystical language the principles of such ceremonial worship as was to be used
in the Divine Service of Christian churches. In the fourth chapter, the Apostle is taken up to be
shewn, as Moses had been shown, a " pattern in the Mount ; " and as that revelation to Moses began
to be made on the Sabbath of the Old Dispensation, so it was " the Lord's Day " on which St. John
was " in the Spirit," that ho might have this new revelation made to him. As, moreover, the revela-
tion made to Moses was one respecting the ritual of the Jewish system, so there is an unmistakeable
ritual character about the vision first seen by St. John ; the whole of the fourth and fifth chapters
describing a scene which bears a close resemblance to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, as it was
celebrated in the early ages of the Church, and as it is still celebrated in the East.
The form and arrangement of churches in primitixe times was derived, in its main features, from
the Temple at Jerusalem. Beyond the porch was the narthex, answering to the court of the Gentiles,
and api^ropriated to the unbaptized and to penitents. Beyond the narthex was the nave, answering to
the court of the Jews, and appropriated to the body of worshippers. At the upper end of the nave was
the choir, answering to the Holy Place, for all who were ministerially engaged in Divine Service.
Beyond the choir was the Bema or Chancel, answering to the Holy of Holies, used only for the
celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and separated from the choir by a closed screen, resembling the
organ screen of our cathedrals, which was called the Iconostasis. As early as the time of Gregory
Nazianzen, in the fourth century, this screen is compared to the division between the present and the
eternal world [Carra. xi.], and the sanctuary behind it was ever regarded with the greatest reverence as
the most sacred place to which mortal man could have access. " When," said St. Chrysostom in one of
his sermons, " thou beholdest the curtains drawn up, then imagine that the heavens are let down from
above, and that the Angels are descending." [Chrys. in E^ih. Hom. iii.] The veiled door which formed
the only direct exit from it into the choir and nave was only opened at the time when the Blessed
Sacrament was administered to the people there assembled, and thus the opening of this door brought
into view the Altar and the Divine mysteries which were being celebrated there. And when St. John
looked through the door that had been opened in Heaven, what he saw is thus described : " And behold
a Throne was set in Heaven, . . . and round about the throne were four and twenty seats ; and upon
the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment ; and they had on their heads
crowns of gold : . . . and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne, . . . and before
the Throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal." Here is exactly represented an arrangement of
the altar familiar to the whole Eastern Church, to the early Church of England, and to the Churches of
Italy, France, and Germany at the present day, in which it occupies the centre of an apse in front of the
seats of the Bishop and Clergy, the latter being placed in the curved part of the wall. And, although
there is no reason to think that the font ever stood near the altar, yet nothing apjjears more likely than
that the " sea of glass like unto crystal " mystically represents that laver of regeneration through which
alone the altar can be spiritually approached.^ Another striking characteristic of the ancient Church
' Neale says that reservoirs to supply water for use in
Divine Service are sometimes found in the eastern part of
Oriental churches. [Neale's Introd. to Holy East. Cli. p. ISO.]
In his Additions and Corrections he also says, "There is a
veil open rather in front of the place where the altar once
stood in tlie Cluirch of St. Irene in the Seraglio at C'onstan-
48 a Eitual 3lntroDuction
was the extreme reverence which was shewn to the book of the Gospels, which was always placed upon
the altar and surmounted by a cross. So " in the midst of the Throne, and round about the Throne," St-
John saw those four living creatures which have been universally interpreted to represent the four
Evangelists or the four Gospels ; their position seeming to signify that the Gospel is ever attendant upon
the altar, penetrating, pervading, and embracing the highest mystery of Divine Worship, giving " glory
and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, Who liveth for ever and ever." In the succeed-
ing chapter St. John beholds Him for Whom this altar is prepared. " I beheld, and lo, in the midst of
the Throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as It had
been slain, having se^en horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all
the earth." It cannot be doubted that this is our Blessed Lord in that Human Nature on which the
septifoi^nis gratia was jjoured without measure ; and that His appearance in the form of " the Lamb
that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
blessing," represents the mystery of His prevailing Sacrifice and continual Intercession. But around
this living Sacrifice there is gathered all the homage of an elaborate ritual. They who worship Him
have " every one of them haips," to offer Him the praise of instntmental music ; they have " golden
vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints," even as the angel afterwards had " given unto
him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar which
was before the Throne: "^ they sing a new song, mingling the praises of " the best member that they
have " with that of their instrumental music ; and they fall down before the Lamb with the lowliest
gesture of their bodies in humble adoration. Let it also be remembered that one of the Anthems here
sung by the choirs of Heaven is that sacred song, " Holy, Holy, Hoi}', Lord God Almighty, Which was,
and is, and is to come," the Eucharistic use of which is traceable in every age of the Church.
These striking coincidences between the worship of Heaven revealed to St. John and that which
was and is offered at the altars of the Church on earth, warrant us in considering this portion of the
Revelation as a Di\ine treasury wherefrom we may draw the principles upon which the worship of
earth ought to be organized and conducted. And the central point of the principles thus revealed is
that there is a Person to be adored in every act of Di-\dne Worship now, as there was a Person to be
adored in the system which culminated in the Temple Ser\ice. This Person is moreover revealed
to us as present before the worshippers. And He is ftirther represented as our Redeeming Lord, the
" Lamb that was slain," He Who said respecting Himself to St. John at the opening of the Apocalj-ptic
Vision, " I am He that liveth and was dead, and am alive for evermore."
This Presence was promised by our Blessed Lord in words which the daily prayer of the Church
interprets to have been spoken with reference not only to Apostolic or Episcopal councils, but also to
Di\-ine Service : " Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of
them " [Matt, xviii. 20]. It is quite impossible to view this promise in the light of Holy Scripture,
and especially of that part of the Revelation which has been referred to above, without seeing that its
fullest and most essential meaning connects it with the Eucharistic Presence of Christ, the "Lamb as
it had been slain." This truth so pervaded the mind of the ancient Church that in its primitive ages
Divine Service consisted of the Holy Eucharist only ; - and the early Liturgies speak to Christ in such
terms as indicate the most simple and untroubled Faith in the actual Presence of our " Master " and
Lord.'* Hence the Ceremonial Worship of the early Church was essentially connected with this Divine
Service ; and to those who were so imbued with a belief in the Eucharistic Presence of their Lord the
object of such ceremonial was self-evident. The idea of reflex action tipon the worshipper probably
never occurred to Christians in those times. Their one idea was that of doing honour to Christ, after
the pattern of the four living creatures, the four and twenty ciders, the angels, and the ten thousand
times ten thousand and thousands of thousands who said " Worthy is the Lamb : " after the pattern of
those who, even in Heaven, accompanied their anthems with the music of harps, and their prayers with
the .sweet odour of incense.
The mystery of our Lord's Presence as the Object of Divine Worship lies at the root of all the
tinople. This church," he addfi, "is a splendid specimen of I part of Christian worship. The "hours of pr.-iyer," now
Byzantine architecture, and contains three or four rows in the ! represented by our Mattins and Evensong, were derived
synthronus of the magniticent apse." ' from tlie .lewish ritual; and the Christians of Jerusalem
' It is ohaervahle that the incense is not a symbolical evidently " went up tu " those of the Temple Service while it
figure for prayer, but is said to be offered in combination lasted,
with prayer. [Rev. viii. .3, 4.] 1 " >SVc a prayer "for the King, "from the Liturgy of St. Marie,
- The Holy Kucharist was the only distinctively Christian I but addresaed to the First Terson of tlie Hlesscd Trinity.
to tbt Prater iBook.
49
ceremonial practices of the Church : and a conviction that this Presence is vouchsafed chiefly through
the Holy Eucharist causes the latter to become the visible centre from which all ritual forms and cere-
monies radiate. It is true that there are some ceremonies which may be said to belong to the organiza-
tion of Divine Service ; but even that organization is linked on to acts of worship, since it is in the
service of God, Who enjoins order, and exhibits it in all His works. But this latter class of ceremonies
is not large, and scarcely affects the general principle which has been previously stated. There are,
again, some ceremonies which may be called educational or emotional in their purpose, but they are so
only in a secondary degree ; and such a character may be considered as accidentally rather than essen-
tially belonging to them.
The principles of Ceremonial Worship thus deduced from Holy Scripture may be shortly applied
to some of the more prominent particulars of the ritual of the Church of England, leaving exact details
for the two subsequent sections of this Introduction, and the Notes throughout the work.
1. The local habitation provided for the welcome of our Lord's mystical Presence is provided of a
character becoming the great honour and blessing which is to be vouchsafed. It is the House of God,
not man's house ; a place wherein to meet Him with the closest approach which can be made in this
life. Hence, if Jacob consecrated with the ceremony of vmction the place where God made His cove-
nant with him, and said of it, " This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of
heaven ; " so should our churches be set apart and consecrated with sacred ceremonies making them
holy to the Lord. So also, because they are to be in reality, and not by a mere stretch of language,
the Presence chambers of our Lord, we must regard them as the nearest to heaven in holiness of all
places on earth by the virtue of that Presence. And, lavishing all costly material, and all earnest skill
upon their first erection and decoration, we shall ever after frequent them with a consciousness that
" the Lord is in His holy Temple," and that all which is done there should be done under a sense of the
greatest reverence towards Him.
2. Hence too, the furniture of the House of God, the utensils or instrumenta necessary for Divine
Service, should all be constructed with a reverent regard to the Person in Whose service they are to be
used. Costly wood or marble, precious metals and jewels, used for such an object, do not minister to
luxury, and have no direct and primary reference at all to those who will use them or look ujDon them.
But as ministering to the honour of Christ our Lord they cannot be too freely used : nor need we ever
fear of expending wealth or skill too abundantly when we read of the manner in which God accepted
all that Solomon had done for His holy Temple at Jerusalem, and all the beauty and splendour with
which He is worshipped in Heaven. The same principle applies with equal force to the apparel in
which the ministers of God carry on His Divine Worship ; surplice and albe, cope and vestment, all
being used in His honour, and for no other primary object whatever. If they are not necessary for the
honour of God, the greater part of them are not needed at all.
3. The use of instrumental music, of singing, and of musical intonation, instead of colloquial modes
of speech, are all to be explained on the same ground. Universal instinct teaches that the praises of
God ought to be sung, and that singing is the highest mode of using in His service the organs of speech
which He has given us. An oi-derly musical intonation is used by priest and people in their prayers,
that they may speak to their Maker otherwise than they would speak to their fellow-men, acknowledging
even by their tone of voice that He is to be served with reverence, ceremony, and awe.
4. And, lastly, the gestures used in Divine Service are used on similar principles. Kneeling in
prayer, standing to sing praise, turning towards the East or the Altar when saying the Creeds, using
the Sign of the Cross, humbly bowing the head at the Name of Jesus or of the Blessed Trinity,' — these
are all significant gestures of reverence towards One Who is really and truly present to accept the
' "When I enter a place of common prayer, as y^ choir of
a collegiate church or the body of a parisli church or chapel,
I worship God by humbly bowing of my body towards His
holy altar, where I have often expei"ienced His most gracious
and glorious presence, beseeching Him to bless and succeed
me and my brethren in our joint and faithful devotion. In
like manner, prayers being ended, I again worship in mind
and body His eternal and only adorable Majesty, and render
Him humble and cordial th.inks for the assistance of His
Holy Spirit in all bounden and public service througli Jesus
Christ our Lord. Hallelujah. I likewise lo«ly adore as
often as I approach the board of our Lord beseeching His
special aid, and grace on my self and whole congregation for
the worthy and profitable performance of the Communion
Office, the most solemn service of the Church. This humilia-
tion of my body and mind is due in public and in private
for me a vile and miserable sinner to tlie Eternal, most
holy, most worthy, and most glorious and most merciful
Maker and Preserver of me and all mankind : Whom I
can never too much, never enough adore, magnify, praise,
serve, and honour. God accept me and my brethren.
God forgive us our irreligion, our hasty, careless, cheap,
indecent, and imperfect devotion." [Dr. Bernard's MS.
Annotat. on Common Prayer, Bodl. Lib. D. 24.] Fuller
notices that although Foxe was "no friend to the cere-
monies," yet "he never entered any church without ex-
pressing solemn reverence therein." [Fuller's Ch. Hist. ii.
475, ed. 1837.]
50 3 IRitual 3lntronuction
■worship which they offer ; One Who accepts such rcveience from the holy Angels and the glorified
Saints, and Who ^vill not be otherwise than willing to receive it from His ministers and members in
the Church on earth.
These, then, are the principles of Ceremonial Worship which pervade the Book of Common
Prayer ; and for the practical expression of which provision is made in the rubrics and in the ritual
tradition to which the rabrics directly or indirectly point. They are principles which were originally
laid down with the most awftil solemnity by God Himself; which were not abrogated by any act or
word of our Lord when He was upon earth ; which were illustrated afresh on the first formation of the
Christian Church in as solemn a manner as that in which they were originally enunciated ; which were
practically adopted by those Christians who lived nearest to the time of our Lord's ministry and
teaching ; and which have been followed out in our own Church from the most ancient days. The
particular manner iu which these Divinely revealed principles of Ceremonial Worship are practically
applied to Divine Service as regulated by the present rules of the Church of England will be shewn in
the following sections.
SECTION II.
THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE OF DIVINE SERVICE.
The performance of Divine Service may be regarded in a twofold relation ; as it affects the eye,
and as it affects the ear. In other words, it may be considered as coming within the province, and
under the superintendence of, one or other of the two representative Church officers, the Sacrist, who
has charge of the Altar, Vestments, and other " Ornaments " of the Church and Ministers ; and the
Precentor, who is the " Chief Singer " of the Church, and whose duty it is to regulate and conduct
Divine Service iu its musical aspect. It is with the latter that this Section will deal : and in doing so
it must be observed by way of introduction that although the directions of the Prayer Book respecting
the musical performance of Divine Service are but few, they imply much more than they express ;
such a word as Eyensovg, or such brief injunctions as " here foUoweth the anthem ;" " then shall be
said, or sung;" "here shall follow;" "then shall be read;" "here the Priest and Clerks shall say;"
" these Anthems shall be sung or said ;" with many others, containing references to established practices,
and requiring to be elucidated by historical explanations.
Before commenting upon the musical directions of the Prayer Book, it will be desirable, however,
to say a few words respecting the ultimate foundation on which they rest ; that is, respecting the
Divine authority for the employment of instrumental and vocal music in the worship of God. For this
we must go to Sacred History.
The earlier portions of that History may be passed over, as the notices of any definite and settled
Ritual in Patriarchal times are but slight. We may pass over also the sojourn of the Chosen People
in Egypt, their wanderings in the desert, and the unsettled period of their history in the Promised
Land. " In Egypt," writes Hooker, " it may be God's people were right glad to take some comer of a
poor cottage, and there serve God upon their knees ; peradventure, covered with dust and straw some-
times. ... In the Desert, they are no sooner possessed of some little thing of their own, but a
Tabernacle is required at their hands. Being planted in the laud of Canaan, and having David to be
their King, when the Lord had given him rest, it grieved liis righteous mind to consider the growth of
his own estate and dignity, the affairs of Religion continuing still in the former manner. What he did
propose it was the pleasure of God that Solomon his son should perform ; and perform in a manner
suitable to their i^resent, not to their ancient state and condition," etc. [Eccl. Pol. IV. ii. 4.] We
must, therefore, look to the Davidic period of Sacred History as the cariiest age in which the Church
wa-s able, through its outward circumstances, to give that full ritualistic form and expression to its
worship which has ever since been so conspicuous a feature of it whether in the Temple or the Church.
The first great religious celebrations in David's reign took place in connection with the removal
of the Ark from its place of banishment (after it had been ca]>turod by the Philistines in the time
of Eli) to its resting-place on Mount Sion. There were two grand Choral Processional Services in
connection with this removal. The former of these, in consequence of certain ritual irregularities
to tfje prapet TBook. 51
which displeased God, came to a sad and untimely close [1 Chron. xiii. S-12 ; xv. 11-10]. The latter
is the one which, as meeting with God's express approbation, especially demands our notice. It is iu
reference, then, to this second and successful ceremonial, that we read of David, by God's appointment,
" speaking to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of
musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy." " Thus all
Israel " — the narrative proceeds — " brought up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord with shouting, and
with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and
harps " [1 Chron. xv. 28]. Nor was the work of Praise at an end. So soon as the solemn business of
translating the Ark was over there was a special festival of Thanksgiving in commemoration of the
auspicious event, and provision was also made for a continuous service of Praise. Hence David
" appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank
and praise the Lord God of Israel;" some "with psalteries and haqK;" some to make "a sound with
cymbals ;" besides " the priests with tnimpets continually before the Ark of the Covenant of God."
Then it was that " David delivered first this Psalm to thank the Lord [Ps. cv.] into the hand of
Asaph and his brethren : ' Give thanks unto the Lord ; call upon His Name. . . . Sing unto Him, sing
Psalms unto Him. . . . Sing unto the Lord, all the earth : shew forth from day to day His Salva-
tion.'" And that the words of this Song should be jjractically realized, and the offering of Praise not
cease with the festive occasion which had drawn forth the Psalm, we read of " Asaph and his brethren "
being " left before the Ark of the Covenant to minister continually ;" of " Heman and Jeduthun," and
others, " who were expressed by name," " being chosen to give thanks to the Lord, with trumpets and
cjTubals, . . . and with inusical instruments of God" [1 Chron. xvi. 37, 41, 42] ; of a great company
of Levites being set by David " over the Service of Song in the House of the Lord, after the Ark had
rest," who " ministered before the dwelling-place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation with singuig "
[1 Chron. vi. 31, 32] ; and of "the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, . . . who were employed in
that work day and night " [1 Chron. ix. 33]. So highly develoj^ed, indeed, did the musical department
of the Divine Service become, that we find David, later in life, enumerating no fewer than " four thousand,
who praised the Lord with the instruments which I made to praise therewith " [1 Chron. xxiii. 5]. And
lest we should deem these and kindred ritual arrangements of " the man after God's own heart," " the
sweet Psalmist of Israel," to be mere private unauthorized exhibitions of strong musical and aesthetic
taste on the part of an individual monarch, we are expressly told in one place, that " all these things
were done according to . . . the commandment of The Lord by His Prophets " [2 Chron. xxix. 25].
Solomon carefully perpetuated all the musical arrangements of his father, and after the completion
of his glorious Temple, according to the pattern shewn him by God Himself, he transferred thither all
the " instruments " which David had made for God's service ; and there is abundant evidence in the
magnificent ceremonial of the Temple Dedication, as well as in the account of his regulations for the
subsequent maintenance of its Services, that he firmly established there an elaborate system of instru-
mental and vocal ritual. As to subsequent monarchs, in proportion as they neglected God, in that
proportion did they cease to care for the Ritual of His House, and suffered the music of His Sanctuary
to decline. And conversely, as any monarch was mindftil of the Lord of Hosts, and zealous for His
honour, so do we ever see one token of his zeal and devotion in his reverent attention to the Ritual and
the Music of God's Holy Temjile- Of Joash, of Hezekiah, of Josiah, the Holy Ghost recounts with
special approbation their efforts for the restoration and encouragement of Church Music. When times
grew darker, and when God's people fell away from Him, then they forgat that " God was their
Strength, and the High God their Redeemer." Then followed the sad era of the Captivity when the
harjjs of Sion were hung on Babel's willows. On the return from the Captivity we read of laudable
and energetic attempts on the part of Ezra and Nchemiah to restore the ancient choral worship, and
with a certain amount of success : but it may be doubted whether the services of the later Temple
ever reached so high a standard as that which characterized them in the Temple of Solomon.
From this brief survey we learn that God's Church is emphatically " a singing Church ;" that
music, vocal and instrumental, is designed, by His express appointment, to constitute one essential
element, one necessary feature, one integral part, of His public Ritual ; that the absence of music and
suitable ceremonial in the history of His ancient Church, is, in every case, not the result of His Will,
but of man's sinful disregard of that Will ; an infallible sign, not of the faithfulness, but of the unfaith-
fulness of His people.
Nor has Christianity introduced any change in this respect. At no time and in no manner has
52
a IRitual JntroDuction
God ever given any word or sign to shew that He lias altered His Will on this subject. Our Blessed
Lord is not recorded to have said a word in disparagement of the general principle of Ceremonial Wor-
ship, or of the ancient Ritual, or Music, of God's Church. It was one of His chief earthly delights to
take part in that worship Himself: and an elaborately Ceremonial Worship was the only public w^orship
which He attended while sojourning here below. He was first discovered in His youth in His
Father's Temple. His first-recorded words are, " W^ist ye not that I must be ev roli rod Uar/ao? yuoi/ ;"
words which " remind the earthly mother that it was in the courts of His Heavenly Father's House
that the Son must needs be found ; that His tnie home was in the Temple of Him Whose glories still
lingered round the heights of Moriah."^ Do we not see Him here and elsewhere expressing in deed
that which of old He expressed in v:ord by the mouth of His " Sweet Singer," — " Lord, I have loved
the Habitation of Thy House. . . . My soul hath a desire and longing to outer into the Courts
of my God"?
And even after the Ascension, while we read of our Lord's chosen ones meeting together for their
private celebrations of the Blessed Eucharist in their own consecrated Oi-atory,^ " the large Upper
Room " (that sacred spot, hallowed first by the visible Presence of Christ, and then by the descent of
the Holy Ghost), we find them exhibiting the effect of their Master's reverent example and teaching, by
"continuing," none the less, "daily, vith one accord, in the Temple" for t\\e inihlic worship of God.
Our Lord came, not to abolish, but to transfigure the old Ritual ; not to diminish, but to increase
its glory ; to breathe into its dead forms a Divine and Life-gi^^ng Energy. Christian worship, at its
first introduction, was not designed to supplant, but to supplement, the ancient Ritual. It was pro-
bably simple in outward character, as being only 'private ; God's public worship being still intrusted
to, and conducted b}^ the Ministers of the Old Dispensation. For a whole generation, the two went
on simultaneously ; the public worshij) of the Old, the jDrivate worship of the New Dispensation. The
two were ultimately to be fused together : the outward and expressive forms of the Old, adapted, under
the guidance of the Holy Ghost, to clothe the august realities of the New.
It is plainly recorded when and ivhere the first Christian Service took place ; viz. on the eve of our
Lord's Passion, and in " the large Upper Room " — hereafter to become the first Oratory of the Chris-
tian Church. Though outwardly, it may be, without pomp and show, as bearing on it the shadow of the
great Humiliation to be consummated on the morrow, yet has the world never beheld, before or since,
a Service of such surpassing dignity, sacredness, and significance. Here we witness the meeting-point
of two Dispensations ; the virtual passing away of the Law, and its transfiguration into the Gospel ;
the solemn Paschal close of the Old Economy, the Holy Eucharistic Inauguration of the New. Here
we see the whole Representative Church assembled together with its Divine Head. And here we find
every essential element of Christian Worship introduced and blessed by Incarnate God Himself. The
grand central feature of the Service is the Holy Eucharist. Clustering round, and subsidiary to it, we
find supplication, intercession, exhortation, benediction, excommunication, and Holy Psalmody : " after
they had sung (v/xvi'ia-avTe^), they went out to the Mount of Olives." Here, in the solemn Eucharistic
Anthem which accompanied the first Celebration ; — the Celebrant, God Incarnate, " giving Himself
with His own Hands ;" and the Leader of the Holy Choir, God Incarnate, fulfilling His own gracious
prediction, " In the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee " {vfivi'iaco ae) — do we behold the
Divine Source of that bright and ever-flowing stream of " Psalms and Hymns, and Spiritual Songs,"
which was to " make glad the City of God."
In this august and archetypal Service, then, we sec all those venerable essentials of Christian
Worship which it would afterwards devolve upon the Church, under the guidance of the indwelling
Spirit, to embody and express in her solemn Liturgies ; and lor the clothing and reverent performance
and administration of which it would be needful for her, under the same Holy Teaching, to borrow and
adapt from that Divine Storehouse of Ritual which God had provided in the ancient Ceremonial.
' Ellicott's Historical Lectures on the Life of our Lord, p.
03, Ist ed.
' The English version, "breaking bread from house to house"
[Acts ii. 40], would load us to imagine, if it suggested the
Kuc'harist at all, that this solemn lircaking of the Bread of
Life — that "Bread which is the Communion of the Body of
Christ " — took place irregularly, now in one private house,
now in another. This is not, however, the meaning. Kot'
bIkov is not .it (tiiy house, but "at home," at one particuhir
house, or home. And the then Home of the Infant Church
was that Sacred Place whore the Ifoly Ghost hail descended.
"filling the whole House where they were sitting;" — the
"Large Upper Room," where the first Kucharist had been
celebrated, where our Lonl had appeared on two consecutive
Sundays — " l!ic Ujipcr Kooni " (t6 vvfpifov, AcT.s i. 13], to
which our Lord's chosen servants resorted after the Ascension
in obedience to His command tliat they should not depart
from .lerusalom, but wait there for His Promised (iift, and
"where .abode Peter, and .lames, and John, and Anitrew,
Philip," with the rest, who "all continued with one accord
in prayer and supplication, with the ^^()men, and Mary the
Mother of .Tesus, and with His brethren."
to t()c ipraper T5oofe.
53
But the chief point for us, at present, is this ; that in the "Hymn" of our Ever- Blessed Redeemer
we meet with a neiv, and, if possible, more constraining warrant for the use of Music in Divine Worship.
We learn that the " Service of Song," ordained of old by God for His Church, and commended by so
many marks of His approval, so far from being discountenanced by our Lord, was deliberately sanctioned,
appropriated, perpetuated, re-consecrated, by His own most blessed practice and example. Music was
henceforth, no less than of old, to form one essential element in Divine Worship. Nor must we fail to
notice that, as music was doubtless intended to find its approjjriate place throughout the entire offices
of the Christian Church, even as the threefold division of Church Music into " Psalms, and Hymns, and
Spiritual Songs," ' twice emphatically repeated by the Holy Ghost, would seem to indicate, so its apecial
home is the Liturgy. Wherever absent, it should not be absent there : and the iraniediate juxta-
position of the Words of Institution, in both Gospels, with the mention of the Hymns, may be reve-
rently conceived to teach this. So also does the Church seem instinctively to have felt : regarding the
Holy Eucharist as the great centre round which her songs of praise should cluster and revolve ; the
great source from which they should take their rise, and flow forth. Pliny's mention of the early
morning meetings of the first Christians to offer Divine Worship and sing hymns to Christ, probably
refers to their Eucharistic assemblies. And Justin Martyr's expression must have a similar allusion,
when he speaks of their otTering up " solemn rites and hymns," Ho/xttgi? kcu v/mvovi, — where the word
Ho/xTraj is interpreted by Grabius to denote the solemn prayers "in Mysteriorum Celebratione."
[Apol. i. 13.]
With regard to the nature of the music used in God's Church in early times, we are utterly in
the dark. Over the grand old Temple Music, in fact over the whole of the ancient Jewish Ritual Song,
there is an impenetrable veil hanging.. There are doubtless natural reasons which may, in a measure,
account for the fact ; especially this, that the ancient Jews seem to have possessed no musical characters ;
so that the melodies used in their services have been traditional, and as an inevitable consequence,
more or less at the mercy of the singers. And we must further bear in mind that, ever since the
woful time of the Cajitivity, the Holy Nation, instead of maintaining its ancient grand Theocratic
independence, has been in subjection successively to all the great powers of the world ; to the Baby-
lonian, Medo-Persian, Grsco-Macedonian dynasties ; then, in turn, to Egypt and Syria ; then to the
mighty power of Rome. When we consider this, and take into account also their intestine factions,
their constant unfaithfulness to God, the gradual loss therefore of their inward strength and glory, and,
with these, of the beauty and completeness of that perfect Ritual which at once clothed, exi3ressed,
enshrined, and preserved their Holy Faith ; it is no matter for wonder that, even before their dispersion
into all lands, the memory of much of their own ancient music had faded away, and their Church song
had lost its character, under the ever-varying heathen influences to which it had so long been inciden-
tally subjected.
From the modern Jewish music we can learn nothing. Music, we are told, has been authoritatively
banished from the Synagogue ever since the destruction of Jeitisalem ; the nation deeming its duty to
be rather to mourn over its misfortunes in penitential silence, until the Coming of Messiah, than to
exult in songs of praise. Hence the music which still practically exists in so many Jewish congregations
throughout the world is more or less arbitrary, and destitute of traditional authority.-
We are in equal doubt as to the nature of the ancient Christian music. All we know is, that anti-
1 Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16.
In this threefold division it is scarcely possible to miss
some special secret relation witli the three several Persons of
the Ever- Blessed Trinity. (1) The "/'sa/j?!s," flowing to us
from, and uniting us to, the Old Dispensation, primarily lead
us up to, and reveal to us, "the Father of an infinite
Majesty." (2) The "Hymns," originating, as we have seen,
from tiie Eucharistic Hymn in the Upper Room, bring us
into special connection with our Lord Jesus Christ. (3) The
" S/>iritual Songs," as their very name indicates, rather
represent the free, unrestrained outbreathings in Holy Song
of that Divine Spirit which animates and inspires tlie Body of
Christ.
So that we find the first in our Psalters ; the second chiefly
in our Liturgical Hymns, "Gloria in Excelsis," "Ter
Sanctus," and the like; the third in our metrical songs, or
odes, — those songs in which Christian feeling has ever
delighted to find expression.
The first class is rather occupied with God Himself ; the
second, with God in His dealings with man through the One
Mediator ; the third, with man in his dealings with God,
through the Spirit of God quickening him. Reverence and
devotion speak in the first ; dogma finds utterance in the
second ; Christian emotion in the third.
- Dr. Burney saj'S that "the only .Tews now on the globe
who have a regular musical establishment in their Synagogue
are the Germans, who sing in parts ; and these preserve some
old melodies or chants which are thought to be very ancient."
Padre Martini collected a great number of the Hebrew
chants, which are simg in the different synagogues through-
out Europe. Dr. Burney has inserted several of these in his
History of Music. But, with a single exception, they shew
not even tlie remotest affinity to the Gregorian system of
melody ; nor, in the sequence of their notes, any possible
observance of the ecclesiastical modes or scales.
There is, however, one exception. One single melody
bears so strange a resemblance (probably purely accidental)
to a Church Chant, that it is worth preserving. Transcribed
into modern notation, and written in a chant form, with
simple harmony, it is as follows : —
54 3 Bitual IntcoDuction
phonal singing was at a very early period introduced : in fact, there can be no reasonable doubt that it
was a heritage bequeathed to the Christian Church from her elder Jewish sister, and that the Author of
it was none other than the " Chief Musician " Himself It was at Antioch, however, that the practice
seems first to have systematically established itself, and from thence it ultimately spread over Chris-
tendom. Antioch was a city of great importance in the history of Church Music, for the Church there
was the one which, next in order after that of Jerusalem, rose to pre-eminence, and it was in a special
way the mother and metropolis of Gentile Christendom. The account which Socrates gives of the
beginning of antiphonal singing in this city is too interesting to be passed over.
" Now let us record whence the liymnes that are song interchangeably in the Church, commonly called
Antemes, had their originall. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch in Syria, the third Bishop in succession from Peter the
Apostle, who was conversant, and had great familiarity with the Apostles, saw a vision of Angels which extolled
the Blessed Trinity with Hj-mnes that were sung interchangeably : and delivered unto the Church of Antioch the
order and manner of singing expressed in the Vision. Thereof, it came to passe, that every Church received the
same tradition. So much of Antemes." [Soceat. Hcd. Hist. vi. 12, Haumer's transl., 1636.]
Antioch, as capital of Syria, capital also of Roman Asia in the East, became a great intellectual as
well as theological centre, and it appears to have been the city in which Church Song first worked
itself into shape ; where Jewish tradition and Gentile intelligence met and blended ; where the ancient
Hebrew antiphonal system of Psalm recitation, and the shattered fragments of the old Ritual Song,
allied themselves with, and were subjected to the laws of, modem Grecian musical science. It seems
almost certain that Church music is rather Greek than Hebrew in origin. Hellenism had long been
doing a Providential though subsidiary work in prepariug the world for Christianity. And though
Greece had fallen under the iron grasp of the power of Rome, she had, in turn, subdued her conquerors
to her literature, her language, and her arts. In the department of Christian Song, then, in the
Church's first essays at giving musical expression to her sacred services, no doubt she would be mainly
indebted to the science and skill of that nation which had already furnished her with a language, and
which yet ruled the intellect of the world. The very names of the (so-called) ecclesiastical modes, or
scales, — Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixo-Lydian, etc., — bear incidental testimony to this fact, but perhaps
the Church's metrical hymn-music is that branch of her song which is most directly and immediately
borrowed from ancient Greece. We find the old Greek and Roman metres freely employed in the
ancient Christian hymns ; and doubtless the music to which they were first allied bore no very remote
resemblance to that used in the heathen temples.
Metrical hymns appear to have been first used (to any extent) by heretics, for the promulgation
of their tenets ; and then by the Church, with the view of counteracting heretical teaching, and popu-
larizing the true faith. St. Chrysostom's attempts to overcome attractive Arian hjann-singing at
Constantinople with more attractive orthodox hymn-singing, are well known. Socrates tells us of " the
melodious concert and sweet harmony in the night season ;" of the " silver candlesticks, after the
manner of crosses, devised for the bearing of the tapers and wax candles," presented to the good Bishop
by " Eudoxia the Empress," and used by him to add beauty to his choral processions.
It was shortly before this period that St. Ambrose had introduced into the West the system of
Hymn-singing and Antiphonal Psalm-chanting. He is said to have learned it at Antioch, and to have
brought his melodies thence. Responsive singing seems never to have been practised in the West till
his time, and the circumstances attendant upon its introduction — for the purpose of relieving his
people in their nightly services during the Arian Persecution — form an interesting episode in Church
History. St. Augustine's touching account of the effect produced upon himself by the psalms and
hymns in St. Ambrose's Church in Milan has often been quoted, and is well known. And it is
in reference to the period just referred to that he informs us that " it was then ordained that
Melody to the Title of the LI. and othur Psalms, or Lamnatzeach, i.e. "To the Chief Musician," as sung by tlie Spanish Jews.
(Original Key,
F.)
^-S-' 1
■ - 1
1
/ t' ' —
] 1
— 1
r ,) " rzi '^
^A
rj
— ^
■ — '^
l^\
G
<rj '^ —
o ^1 <v
1
ptl^t-
iC
-Sl-
HSH- r
IJSi'
& .§. 25
23
— /r3 —
-^- C- II
ei-^tr
1"-^
— iS>
— o &—
?^
. (TJ 1
J~1h=lr
r:i
'^-T'l
to tfje Iprapcr T6oofe.
55
the Psalms and Hymns should be sung 'secundum morem Orieutalium partium;'" and that from
Milan this Eastern autiphonal system spread throughout all parts of Western Christendom. [Aug.
Conf. ix. 7.]
It is very difficult to ascertain accurately (and this is not the j^lace to discuss) the exact nature
and extent of the influence exerted by St. Ambrose over the Music of the Church in the West. That
his influence was very considerable is shewn by the fact of the extended use of the term " Cantus
Ambrosianus " for Church song generally. Possibly this wide use of the term may account for the
title given to the old melody of the " Te Deum," which — certainly, at least, in the fonn in which it has
come down to us — cannot be of the extremely early date which its name, " The Ambrosian Te Deum,"
would api^ear to imply.
But the name of St. Ambrose as a musical reformer was eclipsed by that of his illustrious
successor St. Gregory, who flourished about 200 years after. As Church Song was all " Ambrosian "
before his time, so lias it, since, been all " Gregorian." The ecclesiastical modes, or scales, were finally
settled by him ; until the time when Church Music broke through its trammels, rejected the confined
use of modes and systems essentially imperfect, and, under the fostering influence of a truer science,
develojied its hidden and exhaustless resources.
Without entering into any detail respecting the ancient Church scales, it may not lie out of place
to state thus much : —
I. The four scales admitted by St. Ambrose, called the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixo-Lydian
(modifications of the ancient Greek scales so named), were simply, in modem language, our respective
scales of D, E, F, G, without any accidentals ; the melodies written in each ranging only from the
keynote to its octave, and ending properly on the keynote, thence called the " final." '^
Now each particular scale had its own reciting note (or "dominant"), generally & fifth above the
final.
Thus (had there been no exception) we should have had : —
The respective
"finals " of the
4 scales
D
E
F
G
and their corresponding
" domitumts," or notes
for recitation
A
B
C
D
i/?/jJO-Phrygian.
Hy2J0-Ijjdia.n.
HyjM-^lixo-Lydian.
But there was one exception. For some reason or other, B was not apjjroved of as a recitation note ;
and hence, in the second scale, C was substituted for it.
II. To each of these four scales St. Gregory added a subordinate, or attendant scale — ^just as, in
the ancient Greek system, each " jjiincipal " mode had two subsidiary, or " plagal," modes ; the one
below (inro) it, and the other above (inrep) it — beginning four notes below it, and therefore characterized
by the prefix viro {hypo, or under).
Thus, to St. Ambrose's 1st (or Dorian) mode, St. Gregory added a iJ^/^JO-Doriau.
To his 2nd (or Phrygian) ,,
„ 3rd (or Lydiau)
„ 4th (or Mixo-Lydian) „ „
So that the number of the scales, instead of four, became eight.
Each added scale is essentially the same as its corresponding " principal " scale ; the " final " (or
keynote, so to speak) of each being the same. Thus, D, for instance, is the jDroper final note for
melodies, whether in the Dorian or Hypo-Dorian mode.
The only points of difference between St. Gregory's added, and St. Ambrose's original, scales are
these : —
1. That each added scale lies & fourth helow its original.
Thus, while the melodies in the four primary scales lie respectively between D, E, F, G, and
their octaves ; the melodies in the " plagal," or secondary, scales lie between A, B, C, D, and their
octaves.
2. And next, that the recitation notes (or dominants) of the two sets of scales are different ; those
of the added scales being respectively F, A, A, C.
' It is not meant that all the chants or melodies in each
mode do really end on the "final ; " but that this is the note.
in the scale, on wliich a melody, which came to a full close,
icoald naturally terminate.
56
a JRitual 3!ntroDuction
Thus the eight scales as finally settled by St. Gregory are as follows
Name.
1st. Dorian
2nd. H}-po-Doriau
3rd. Phrygian
4th. Hj-po-Phrygian
5th. Lydian
6th. Hyjio-Lydian
7th. Mixo-Lydian
8th. H}i3o-Mixo-Lydian
Range of 8 notes,
beginninrj from
"Final" {at
Keynote),
D
D
A
D
E
E
B
E
F
F
C
F
G
G
D
G
"Dominant" (or
Reciting note).
A
F
C
A
C
A
D
C
In strict Gregorian song the notes were all of uniform length ; and the only accidental ever
allowed was the B flat.
It was necessarily by slow degrees that Ritual song assumed its full proportions, and the Divine
Service clothed itself, in all its parts, with suitable musical dress.
Monotonic Recitative forms the basis of "plain song." In fact, in early times it would appear
that, except in the Hymns, Church Music was exceedingly simple in character. St. Augustine tells us
that St. Athanasius strongly discouraged the use of much inflexion of voice and change of note in the
saying of the Divine OflSce. He would even have the Psalms sung almost in monotone : a practice,
however, with which St. Augiistine's keen musical susceptibilities could not bring him wholly to
sympathize.
From the simple monotone, the other portions of the plain song little by little develope themselves.
The bare musical stem becomes ever and anon foliate: its monotony is relieved with inflexions
recurring according to fixed rule. Then it buds and blossoms, and flowers into melodies of endless
shape.
When the musical service of the Western Church became m a measure fixed, it consisted mainly
of the four following di\'isions :
1. There was, first, the song for the prayers, the " Cantus OoUectanuu," which was plain
monotone.^
2. Secondly, there was the song for the Scripture Lections, the " Cantus Prophetarum," " Episto-
larum," " Evangelii," which admitted certain inflexions. These inflexions were for the most part of a
fixed character, and consisted (ordinarily) in dropping the voice, — a. at each comma or colon, a minor
third ("accentus medius"); y8. at each full-stop, & perfect fifth ("accentus gravis ")."
The same rule was followed in intonating the versicles and responses, the versicle and response
together being regarded as a complete sentence ; the close of the f^irmer requiring the " mediate," the
close of the latter the " grave " accent.^
3. The third division embraces the Psalm-chants. These seem originally to have followed the
rule of the " Cantus Prophetarum ;" to have consisted of plain monotone, relieved only by one of the
" accents " at the close of each verse. In course of time the middle, as well as the end of the verse,
came to be inflected. The inflexions became more varied and elaborate ; the result being a whole suc-
cession of distinct melodies, or chants, following the laws of the several ecclesiastical modes.
4. As the third division admitted of far greater licence than either of the two former (ultimately,
of very considerable melodic latitude), so was the fourth division more free and inirestrained than all.
' In the Roman use the monotone was unbroken ; but in the
Sarum use there was generally the fall of a perfect fifth (entitled
the " grave accent ") on the last syllable before the Amen.
m
A - men.
- But in case the clause ended with a monosyllable, the fol-
lowing variations took place : —
/S. And the " accentus gi-avis
■I
3:2"
:sz:
to the
" accentus acutus,'
—Z2Z
rz2i
The " accentus medius
ii^
Z2I
IZ2I
gave way to
the
' accentus moderatus," or " interrogati vus, '
W.
It is noticeable that while the Church of England (following
the lead of Mcrbecke) has retained the use of the " mediate
and " moderate " accents, she seems practically to ha\e parted
with the "grave" and the "acute;" but the acute is still
used for the I'reccs in Lincoln Cathedral.
a Or their substitutes, in case of a monosyllabic termination.
See the preceding note.
to tbe Prapcr IBooh. 57
This embraces the music for the Hymns, metrical or prose ; for Prefaces, Autijihons, and the like.
From these any continuous recitation note disappears altogether, and an unrestricted melody is the
result.
Church Song has passed through many vicissitudes ; becoming at times viciously ornate, debased,
and emasculate. So long as the people took part in the service, the music was necessarily kept very
simple. When they ceased to participate, and the service was performed for them, the once simple
inflexions and melodies became expanded and developed, — ten, twenty, or more notes being constantly
given to a syllable ; and the plain song became the very reverse of plain, and for purposes of edifica-
tion wellnigh useless.
Many protests were from time to time issued ; but it was not until the jjeriod of the Council of
Trent, in the sixteenth century, that really effectual and energetic measures were taken to arrest the
growing evil. At that time the laborious task of examining and revising the Plain Song of the
Western Church was intrusted, by the musical commissioners appointed by the Council of Trent (one
of them the great St. Carlo Borromeo), to Palestrina, who chose for his principal coadjutor the pains-
taking Guidetti.
But twenty years before Palestrina had set about his toilsome work a similar movement had
been initiated in this country, in connection with our revised Office-books. When the great
remodelling of our English Services took place, earlier in the same century ; when the ^^^^.^ ^
energetic and successful attempt was made to render them once more suitable, not lish service-
only for private and claustral, but for public congregational use, and at the same time °° ^'
to disencumber them of any novelties in doctrine or practice which in the course of ages had fastened
round them ; when the old Mattins, Lauds, and Prime of the Sai-um Breviary were translated into the
vernacular, compressed, and recast into the now familiar form of our English " Mattins," or " Morning
Prayer," and the Vespers and Compline into that of our " Evening Prayer," or " Evensong ; " the
question of the music for these rearranged Offices forced itself ujaon the notice of our Church rulers.
And it is most interesting to note how the same wise conservative spirit, which had guided the changes
in the luords, manifested itself in the corresponding changes in the viusic with which those words were
to be allied.
Radical alteration in either department there was none, simplification being the main object.
And thus, in the province of Church Music, the great aim was not to discard, but to utilize the ancient
plain song, to adapt it to the ti'anslated Offices, to restore it to something more of its primitive " plain-
ness," to rid it of its modern corruptions, its wearisome " newnas " and ornaments and flourishes ; so
that the Priest's part, on the one hand, might be intelligible and distinct, and not veiled in a dense
cloud of unmeaning notes, and the people's part, on the other, so easy and straightforward as to render
their restored participation in the public worship of the Sanctuary at once practicable and pleasurable.
It has been hastily imagined by some in modern days that our great liturgical revisionists of the
sixteenth century designed to abolish the immemorial custom of the Church of God, alike in Jewish
and Christian times, of saying the Divine Service in some form of solemn musical recitative, and to
introduce the unheard-of custom of adopting the ordinary colloquial tone of voice. But such a serious
and uncatholic innovation never appears to have entered into their heads. The most that can be
said of our English Post-Reformation rule on this subject is, that in case of real incapacity on the part
of the priest, or other sufficient cause, the oi'dinary tone of voice may be employed ; but this only as an
exceptional alternative. The ride itself remains unchanged, the same as of old.
The Rubrical directions, " read," " say," " sing," expressed in the old technical language, are sub-
stantially what they were before. The first of these words, " legere," was the most general and com-
prehensive; merely expressing recitation from a book, without defining the "modus legendi," or
stating whether the recitation was to be plain or inflected. The usual modes of recitation are expressed
in the words " say " and " sing ; " the former (" dicere ") pointing to the simpler, the latter (" cantare ")
to the more ornate mode. Thus the old " legere " might signify (and often did) ornate singing ; and it
might signify (and often did) plain monotone ; and it is observable that the words " say " and " sing "
are often employed interchangeably in the old rubrics, when their specific distinctions do not come into
prominence. ^
The same holds good as to our present Book; For instance, in one place we find a rubric ordering
' "How depe and inwarde comforte shoulde yt be to you to synge and rede and say thys holy seruyce." \0u7- Ladu's
Mirrc; E. E. T. Soc. ed. p. 19.] :> y y y i
58
a iRitual JntroDuction
that the Athanasian Creed shall be " read here." Now, the pohit of this rubric being the particular
position in which the Creed shall be recited, and not the particular onode of its recitation, the general
term " legere" is employed. The "modus legeudi" is determined by other rubrics, which prescribe that
it may be " either said, or sung ; " which allow (that is) of both modes of choral recitation, either the
plain or the ornate ; either the simple monotone, or the regular chant.
The same thing occurs in another rubric, which (like the former), dealing with the position, not
the mode, orders the " Venite " to be " read " in a certain place. Now the general term " read " in this
instance is obviously equivalent with the word " sing ; " the Church of England always contemplating
that the Psalms shall be not said on the monotone, but sung to regular chants.i
The two works which dii-ectly illustrate the mind of the English Church as to the musical render-
ing of her reformed Service are, 1st, the Litany published by Cranmer with its musical notation (the
first instalment of our Book of Common Prayer) ; and, 2ndly, the more important work containing the
musical notation of all the remcdnder of that Book, edited (plainly under the Archbishop's supervision)
by John Merbecke, and published " cum privilegio " in the same year with the first Prayer Book of
Edward YI.
A word or two may be said respecting both these ijublications.
1. The Litany was published in 1544 in a work entitled "An exhortation unto praier thought
mete by the King's Majestie and his clergie, to be read &c. Also a Litany with suffrages to be said or
sung." Now this Litany was set to the beautiful and simple old Litany chant still used in most of our
Cathedrals and Parish Churches where the service is chorally rendered. It was republished by Grafton,
with harmonies in five parts, a month after its first appearance. Some twenty years afterwards it was
again harmonized by Tallis ; and it has been harmonized and set in different foi'ms by many of our
English Church musicians.
2. The other publication was entitled " The Booke of Common Praier noted," wherein " is con-
teyned so much of the Order of Common Praier as is to be song in Churches." Like the Prayer Book
itself, it contains nothing absolutely neiu: the old English Service Music being simplified, and adapted
to our revised and translated Offices. The adjustment of the musical notation is as follows : —
i. For the Prayers, the old " Cantus CoUectarum," or simple monotone, is used.^
ii. For the Versicles and Responses, the old inflected " Cantus Prophetarum." ^
iii. In the Scripture Lections, however, it seems manifest that it was not in contemplation to retain
the use of this last-mentioned inflected song, which of old appertained to them. In the Pre-Refomia-
tion Service-books the " Capitula " and the Lections were generally very shoi-t ; the latter being
moreover broken and interrupted by Antiphons. Here, inflected musical recitative might not be
inappropriate. But to sing through a long lesson from the English Bible in the same artificial method
would be plainly wearisome, if not somewhat grotesque.-" Hence our rubric ordered that " in such
places where they do sing, then shall the lesson be sung in a plain tune, after the manner of distinct
reading ; and likewise the Epistle and Gospel."
Now here the emphatic word appears to be "plain" as opposed to " inflected ; " and the object of
the rubric, to recommend the substitution of the " Cantus CoUectarum," or monotone, for the Lessons,
Epistle, and Gospel, in place of the ancient " Cantus Prophetarum." It is needless to point out, by the
way, in the face of a rubric which defines the mode in which even the lessons are to be " sung," how
little idea there was on the part of our Liturgical Revisers of interfering generally with the ancient
musical performance of Divine Service.
It may not be out of place here to remark, that the above rubric which ordered the "plain tune"
for the lessons, was, after the lapse of above a century, ultimately withdrawn. The Puritans strongly
urged its withdrawal at the Savoy Conference, prior to the last Re\dew in 1661. Our Divines at first
refused to yield, alleging that the objections urged against the use of monotone for Holy Scripture were
groundless. However, they gave way at last : and it is, perhaps, happy that they did. For, while in
the case of solemn public addresses to Almighty God, the grave, devout, unsccular, ecclesiastical recita-
tive is alone appropriate ; in the case of addresses to iivan, even though they are lessons of Holy Scrip-
' " The Psalter, or Psalma of David, pointed as they arc to
be mwi (or B.iid) in Churches." The Ps,-»lter, wo see, is speci-
ally pointed for singing : the pointing itself plainly expressing
the mind and wish of the Church. The "a.iy " only gives a
pcrmisaible alternative where there is no choir.
' In two instances (but only two) Merbecke has adopted a
special peculiarity of the Sarum (as distinguished from the
Koman) ilite, in the employment of the grave accent (see p.
56) on the last syllable of the collect preceding the " Amen."
' .SVc also ]). ."if!.
* Sec, however, an instance of this method described in a
note on Palm Sunday.
to tijc Ptaj>ct IBook. 59
ture, which are read for purposes of instruction, a freer and less formal mode of utterance seems
alike suitable and desirable.
iv. The Te Deum is sot to the aucicut Ainbn^siau melody, simplified and adapted to the English
words from the version given in the Sarum Breviary.
V. The other Canticles and the Psalms are assigned to the old Gregorian chants. The Book does
not actually contain the Psalter with its chants (just as it does not contain the Litany with its music,
which had been already published). A simple Gregorian melody (8th tone, 1st ending) is given for the
"Venite;" after which is added, "and so forth with the rest of the Psalms as they are appointed."
The primary object of this was, probably, to keep the Book in a reasonably small compass, and avoid
the great additional expense of printing a musical notation for each verse of the entire Psalter. But
partly, no doubt, it was the uncertainty then felt (and even to the present day, to some extent experi-
enced) as to the best mode of selecting and adapting the old chants to English words, which caused
the editors instinctively to shrink from the responsibility of so soon determining these delicate points,
and to prefer leaving it to the different Choirs and Precentors to make experiments, and adapt and
select according to their own judgement. There is no proof that it was intended to fasten this par-
ticular book upon the English Church. It was jarobably of a tentative and experimental character.
It was put forth as a companion to our Revised Service-book, as a practical exi:)lauation of its musical
rubrics, and as also furnishing examples and specimens of the ^uay in which the framers of our
vernacular Offices originally contemplated that they should be allied with the old Latin Ritual Song.
vi. In the music for the Hallelujah (" The Lord's Name be praised "), for the Lord's Prayer in the
Post-Communion, and for the Kyrie (the melody of the latter borrowed from the Sarum " Missa pro
Defuuctis "), we find merely the old Sarum plain song reproduced in simplified form.
vii. The Nicene Creed, the Olm'ia in Excdsis, and the Offertory Sentences appear to be all original
settings, although they are, as is sufficiently evident, founded, to a considerable extent, on the old
Church plain song.
From what has been said it will incidentally appear, 1st, how fully determined were our sixteenth-
century Revisionists that the Offices in their new form should not lose their old choral and musical
character ; and thus that Divine Service should still continue what it had ever theoretically been, a
"Service of Song;" and, 2nd, how earnestly anxious they were that the music should be of a plain
and simple character, so that it might bo a real aid in the great object they had before them, that of
restoring to the people their long-suspended right of due and intelligent participation in the public
worship of the Sanctuary.
In illustration of these points, Cranmer's letter to Henry VIII., dated Oct. 7, 1544, is interesting;
and although it is printed entire at p. 21, it is necessary again to refer to it in connection with our
present subject. After speaking of the English Litany already published with musical notation ; and
of certain other Litanies, or " Processions," which he had been preparing, and which he requests the
King to cause to be set to music, on the ground that " if some devout and solemn note be made there-
unto," " it will much stir the hearts of all men to devotion ;" he proceeds to offer his opinion as to the
kind of music suitable for these Litanies, as also for other parts of the Service : —
" In mine opinion the Song that shall be made thereunto would not be full of notes, but as near as may be
for every syllable a note ; as be, in the Matitis ami Evensong, ' Venite,' the Hymns ' Te Deum,' ' Benedictus,'
' Magnificat,' ' Nunc Dimittis,' and all the Psalms and Versicles ; and, in the 3Iass, ' Gloria in Excelsis,' ' Gloria
Patri,' the Creed, the Preface, the ' Pater noster,' and some of the ' Sanctus ' and ' Agnus.' As conceri;ing the
' Salve, festa dies,' the Latin note, as I think, is sober and distinct enough ; wherefore I have travailed to make
the verses in English, and have put the Latin note unto the same. Nevertheless, they that be cunning in singing
can make a much more solemn note thereto. I made them only for a proof, to see how EngUsh would do in
song." 1
The last portion of this letter introduces a subject on which it is necessary to add a few word^
viz. the use of Metrical Hymns in public worship.
Cranmer himself was most anxious to have retained the use of them, and with that view set about
translating the Breviary Hymns. But he was so dissatisfied with his attempts, that eventually he
gave up the idea. This loss was a serious one, and soon made itself experienced. Fervent Christian
feeling must find means of expression ; and if not provided with a legitimate outlet, such as the Hymns
• For the Melody o£ the Hymn "Salve, festa dies," see the "Hymual Noted," No. 62.
6o a iaitual IntroDuction
of the Church were intended to furnish, will vent itself in ways irregular, and, perhaps, in unortliodox
language.
It is difficult to ascertain the exact time when the practice of popular Hymn and metrical Psalm
singing established itself in connection with our revised Ritual, though independently of its direct
authority. Such singing was in use very early in Elizabeth's reign, having doubtless been borrowed
from the Protestants abroad. For the purpose of giving a quasi-official sanction to a custom which it
would have been very unwise to repress (and thus, through a sort of bye-law, to supply a practical
want in our authorized public Ritual), it was ordained, by a Royal Injunction in the year 1559, that,
while there was to be " a modest and distinct song so used in all parts of the Common Prayers in the
Church that the same might be understanded as if it were read without singing ; " (in other words,
while the old traditional plain song, in its simplified form, is to be employed throughout the whole of
the service ; yet,) " for the comforting of such as delight in nnisick it may be permitted, that in the
beginning or at the end of the Common Prayer, either at morning or evening, there may be sung an
hymn or such like song to the praise of Almighty God, in the best sort of melody and musick that may
be conveniently devised ; having resnect that the sentence [i.e. sense] of the hymn may be under-
standed and perceived."
To this Injunction of Queen Elizabeth we owe our modem Anthem ; on winch it is necessary to
add a few words.
The tenn itself is merely an Anglicized synonym of the word Autiphou. Its old spelling was
Antem, Anteme, or Antemj^ne.^ Its origin is the Greek word avrlfpwvov, or rather uvTi<j>u>va (anti-
phona : neut. plur.), which is the old ecclesiastical term. From antlphona comes the Italian and
Spanish antifona, as well as the old English form antcplme, and the Anglo-Saxon antcfn. Now, just
a.s the Anglo-Sax;on word ste/n (the end, or prow, of a ship) became ste^i, in English, so did Ante/>i
become Ante??i. The fiirther change of the initial ant into unth is merely parallel with the coiTespond-
ing change of the old English te and to into thcc and that.'
From the fact of Barrow in one of his sermons spelling the word " AntJajmn," Dr. Johnson and
others have hastily inferred that its tnie origin is to be traced in avrl vjulvo^ or avOvfivof (anti-hymnus,
or anthymnus), which would give it the meaning of a responsive hymn. And it is by no means
improbable that the accidental similarity in sound between the final syllable of " Anthem " and the
word "hj-mn," coupled with the fact of the intelligible, and in a measure correct, meaning which
this plausible derivation would seem to afford, has not been without its influence in determining the
popular sense of the word itself But there is not a vestige of authority for this latter derivation,
and it is certain that ^wi/j;, not y/xi'o?, is the root out of which " Anthem " grows.
In its earliest form, the Anthem, or Antiphon, seems to have been a single verse out of any Psalm
repeated after the recitation of the Psalm (and, in later times, before its recitation also) with a view of
fixing the keynote, so to speak, of the Psalm ; of bringing into prominence, and fastening attention
upon, some special idea contained \\4thin it. In course of time the Antiphons came to be selected from
other Psalms than the particular ones to which they were affixed ; and appropriate passages of Scrip-
ture from any book, and even short uninspired sentences in prose or verse, came to be similarly
applied.'
When the use of a " Hymn, or such like song," was authoritatively permitted at the beginning or
end of Common Prayer — not only with a view of adding dignity and interest to the worship of Almighty
God, and rendering the Service of Praise more worthy of Him to Whom it was offered, but with the
twofold secondary end also (1) of "comforting" musical people by allowing the strains of the Sanctuary
a greater freedom of developement than the mere chant and plain-song intonations admitted, and thus
(2) of encouraging amongst all classes the study and practice of nnisic — our Church conijwsers, in casting
about for suitable words, seem first to have had recourse to the old Antiphons, many of which they set
to music. Other similar brief and characteristic passages of Holy Scripture, Prayers, Hynuis, and the
» See Our Lady's Mirror, p. 163, E. E. T. Soc. ed. at the bottom of Antiphon, or Anthem (nheuce wc find old
' For a discussion on the derivation and use of the word writers speaking of tlie I'sahns as sung Anthem-visc, i.e. rc-
Antliem, tie Nolm anil (Queries, '2nd Series, xi. 457, 491 ; xii. ' sponsively), so, in the actual and varied use of the word we
90, l.')l. Also Skeat'.s Kttjm. Dirt. s. r. \ find sometimes the responsive and sometimes the musical
' From the fact of the Antiphon giving tlie keynote or ■ clement coming into prominence : occasionally, one or the
leading idea of the Psalm to which it was attached, wc find I other clement entirely disappearing. In the text of a sermon,
the word Anthem frccpicntly used for the text of a sermon. for instance, tlicre is nothing nn/.iiVn/. In a modern Anthem
It may be remarked, that as the idea of responsive music lies I there is notliing necessarily renponsife.
to tbc IPrapcr T5oofe.
6i
like, were speedily selected for the same purpose ; but the name " Anthems," whether they happened to
have been used as Antiphons or not, equally attached itself to all.
Many have endeavoured to discover some definite ritual significance in the word itself, and in the
position occupied by the Anthem in our Service, to account for its name. It has been regarded as
the intentional "residuum" of the Antiphons of the old Service-books. But such theories, though
interesting, are unsubstantial. It is all but certain that it was through a loose, accidental, popular
application of an old term, the strict meaning of which was not a matter of much concern, rather than
through any deliberate conviction of the modern Anthem being, practically or theoretically, identical
with, or a legitimate successor and representative of the old Antiphon, that the name Anthem finally
allied itself with that class of musical compositions or Sacred Motets which now form a recognized
adjunct to our English Service.' It may be added that, in country parishes, where a trained choir
could not be obtained, a metrical Psalm would be sung in the place of the Anthem, and fall under the
same general designation.
The actual period of the introduction of the term in its familiar modern and popular sense, to
denote a piece of sacred music for the use of the Church, may perhaps be ap|H-oximately illustrated by
a comparison of the titles of two successive editions of a very imiDortant musical work. Within the
year after the publication of Queen Elizabeth's Injunction giving permission for the use of a "Hymn,
or such like song," John Day printed his great choral work entitled, " Certain notes set forthe in 4 &
5 parts, to be sung at the Morning, Communion, & Evening Prayer, very necessary for the Church
of Xt to be frequented & used. And unto them be added divers godly Prayers & Psalmes in the
like form to the Honour and Praise of God." Five years later, this fine work, to which Tallis with
other famous Church writers contributed, was reprinted, though with a somewhat different title :
" Morning & Evening Prayer & Conimunion set forth in 4 parts, to be sung in Churches, both for
men & children, with divers other godly Prayers & Anthems of sundry men's doyings." In the
second edition we thus have the word "^');/'/ie?ns" used, where in the first edition "Psalmes" had
been employed.
An illustration of the early actual use of the Anthem in its modern English sense is afforded by
Strype, in his description of the Lent Services which took place in the Chapel Royal, within a year of
the time when the permissive Injunction for the use of "a Hymn, or such like song," was published, at
the beginning of Elizabeth's reign.
•■'The same day" (he writes, i.e. Midlent Sunday, March 24, 1560), "in the afternoon, Bp. Barlow, one of
King Edward's Bishops, now Bishop of Chichester, preached in his Habit before the Queen. His sermon ended
at five of the clock : and, presently after, her Chapel went to Evening Song. The Cross as before standing on
the Altar ; and two Candlesticks, and two Tapers burning in them. And, Service concluded, a good AiUheni was
sung." [See also Machyn's Diary, 1560.]
Thus the place of the Anthem became practically settled after the third Collect, with which
Morning and Evening Prayer at that time concluded ; although it was not till above a hundred years
after this period that there was any rubrical recognition of the Anthem, or direction concerning the
time of its performance. When, however, at the last Review, in 1661, the concluding prayers were
added, the Anthem was not removed to the end of the Service, as before, but was still allowed to retain
its old traditional place after the third Collect. And it was with a view of fixing this position that the
Rubric was inserted, " In Choirs and places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem."
But although this is the only place where the introduction of a " Hymn, or such like song," or
" Anthem," is definitely authorized, yet custom has sanctioned a much freer interpretation of the
Rubric than its words actually convey. Practical need has asserted and substantiated its claim. The
Rubric, or rather the original Injunction on which the Rubric was based, has shewn itself conveniently
expansive and elastic, and the word " Anthem " proved a pregnant and germinant one, coverincr at
once the Hymn, the Introit, and the Anthem proper. The truth is, however, that it is to custom and
necessity, not to Rubrics or Injunctions, that we owe the general introduction of Music, as distinct
from Plain song, into our Revised Offices. Custom drew forth the Injunction of Queen Elizabeth ; the
Injunction subsequently gave rise to the Rubric. But as Music originally found its way into our
' It will also be observed that the two English words —
really identical, and coming from the same root — Antiphon
and Anthem, have finally parted company ; the former
retaining its ancient ritual, the latter actiuiring a modern
musical meaning. ' ' Antem y s as moche to say as a sowny nge
before. For yt ys begonne before the Psalmes yt is as moche
to saye as a sownynge ageynste. " [Our Lady's Mirror, p. 94.
E E. T. Soc. ed.i
62
3 iRitual 3lntroDuction
Reformed Service independently of written authority, so, independently of written authority, does it
continue. For the very necessity which received formal recognition in the Anthem-Rubric, refuses to
be satisfied with or limited by the strict terms of that Rubric. The Anthem, in some shape or other,
was a fact before ever any written authority called it into legal existence ; and in like manner, Hymn-
singing, over and above the Anthem, has been, and is, and will be, an actual fact, notwithstanding its
apparent want of fonnal rubrical sanction.
The result of all is, that while " the Anthem " still retains its place, as a special offering to God of
the firstfraits of sacred musical skill and science, " in choirs and places " where such an offering is
possible, the additional introduction elsewhere of suitable Hymns, whether in the Eucharistic or other
Offices, as aids and reliefs to the Services, is not only not thereby excluded, but practically and
subordinately and implicitly sanctioned.
This Section may be concluded with some practical rules on the subject of which it has treated.
1. Although, as we have seen, there was no deliberate intention, on the part of our Liturgical
Revisers, that the old Antiphon should be reproduced, or find an exact counterpart in the modem
Anthem ; still, on the other hand, it is most desirable that the Anthem should practically — by its
appropriate character, by its responding accordantly to the Service of the day, bringing out and
emphasizing its special theme — vindicate its right to the title it has obtained, and prove itself a
legitimate successor and representative of the Antiphon. ^ Anthems or Hymns may thus become
invaluable auxiliaries ; imparting a freedom and variety to our Service which it would not otherwise
possess, and rendering it susceptible of easy adaptation to the ever-changing phases of the Church's
year. If the " Hj^uu, or such like song," does not jjossess any of this " Antiphonal " character, if it is
regarded merely in the light of so much music interjjolated into the Office by way of relief, it becomes
simply an element of disintegration, splitting up the Service into several isolated fragments, instead of
imparting a unity and consistency and character to the whole. Hence the need of due and reverent
care in the selection of the Anthems and Hymns. Judiciously. chosen, they may not only give new
beauty and meaning to our Services, but may also prove most useful and delightful means of propa-
gating and popularizing Church doctrine, and promoting the growth of genuine and healthy Church
feeling.
2. As regards the position of the Hymns. The Elizabethan Injunction specifies the " beginning
or end of Common Prayer ;" and the Rubric says, " after the third Collect." So that we have three
available places for " Hymns, or such like songs." The Hymn at the beginning of Common Prayer,
although desirable on great Festivals, as a kind of Antiphon fixing the keynote of the whole succeed-
ing Service, is somewhat inconsistent with the general penitential character of the Introduction to our
Mattins and Evensong, and should not, therefore, be ordinarily employed.- During the Eucharistic
Office, the singing of Hymns, independently of the Nicene Creed, and the great Eucharistic Hymn
" Gloria in Excdsis," is most desirable. There may be (1) an introductory " Introit ;" (2) a Hymn,
or (as the alternative provided in Edward's first Prayer Book) the "Agnus Dei,"^ after the Prayer of
Consecration ; and (3) a Hymn, or (as a very suitable alternative) the " Nunc Bimittis," when the
Service is over, and the remains of the Consecrated Elements are being reverently consumed. In the
Office for Holy Matrimony, the Order for the Burial of the Dead, and other occasional Offices, Hymns
may be often most appropriately and happily introduced.
3. With regard to the exact nature of the music to be employed in the Psalms, Hymns, Canticles,
Anthems, etc., it would be most vmwise, even if possible, to lay down any strict nilcs. While it would
be a great error to discard many of the ancient Hymn-tunes and Psalm-chants of the Church, it would
be a no less serious error to keep exclusively to them. The Church must bring forth from her treasure-
house "things new and old;" not only the severe (and to some ears uncouth) unisonous strains
of bygone times, but also the rich, full harmonics of modem days. All must be freely, fearlessly
' It should, perhaps, bo remarked, that there still remain
in the Prayer I'ook a few instances of the word Anthem
retaining its old meaning. For example, tlic Invitatory
I'H.alm, " Vcnit/' fxtiltr7iiuH," is regarded iu some sort as a
fixed AntijAon before the I'salms for the day, and is in tliis
sense called an Anthem ; the Rubric enjoining its constant
use, "except on E.aster-d.ay, upon which unnther Anthem is
aijpointed. " The word is also uscil in its old sense in the
following pa.ssago from the Introduction, "Concerning the
.-^en'iee of the Church:" "For this cause bo cut oil'
Anthems, Responds, Invitatories, and such like things as did
break the continual course of the reading of the Scripture. "
The "O Saviour of the world," after the Vsalm in the
" Visitation of tlie .Sick," is strictly an Antiphon.
- See, however, a note on the invitatory character of tho
Sentences in a note upon them.
' "In tho Communion time tho Clerks shall sing —
" ' () Lamb of (!od, th.at takcst away tho sins of tho world,
have mercy upon us.
" '0 Lamb of (lod, etc., grant us Thy peace,' "
to t&e IPraper TBoofe. 63
employed, according as taste, or special circumstances, or choral capability may dictate. Experiments
must be made, mistakes perhaps braved; for many questions as to the best practical methods of
linking together the " sphere-born, harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse " in the Service of the Sanctuary
remain as yet undecided. Hasty dogmatism, and intolerant exclusivencss, in reference to the
accessories of Divine Worship, are much to be deprecated, for in all matters of external apparatus the
Church of England has yet much to learn. In putting forth the full strength of the Prayer Book, and
developing its inward powers and energies, there will be also gradually disclosed outward features and
graces which seem new and strange from their having been so long latent. But it is certain that all
the resources of the Church, external as well as internal, arc needed for modern times ; and that all
appliances, musical, ritual, aesthetic, should bo brought to bear on the Services rendered to God by so
cultivated an age, and set forth before men to win and helj) their souls. God having given all these
outward aids — music, ritual, art — He means them to be employed for His gl<jry, and in order to
influence, and subdue, and attract mankind. As churclies should be beautiful, and ritual beautiful, so
music also should be beautiful ; that it may be a more fitting offering to Him, and better calculated to
imjDress, soften, humanize, and win. None of these Divinely-granted helps may be contemptuously
laid aside. All should be reverently, humbly, piously used ; used for God, not for self; used in full
and fearless confidence that it is His own blessed Will that they should be used ; used with the single
eye to the glory of God, and the spiritual welfare of His people.
SECTION III.
THE ACCESSORIES OF DIVINE SERVICE.
Divine Service being, as the term implies, the act of Worship rendered to God, it follows from the
consideration of His Majesty that the place where it is offered, and the persons engaged in conducting
it, should be furnished with whatever is suitable to denote its reverent dignity. The f)ractice of the
Jewish Church in this respect, based as it was on a Divine command which prescribed even its
minutest details, proves that such accessories are not in their own nature unacceptable to God, or
inconsistent with the claims of a Spiritual Being to the homage of His rational creatures. Further,
the sanction given by our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles to the Services of the Temple and the
Synagogue, and the application made of the Jewish Ritual by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews,
furnish indisputable authority for incoriDorating similar symbolic uses with Christianity, in order that
it may present itself to mankind in a not less attractive fonn than the Religious System which it was
designed to complete, but did in the end supersede. That such a Christian adaptation of other existing
Religious Ritual Customs was considered to be right and desirable, is evidenced by the fact that the
Christian Church, from its earliest days downwards, has everywhere exhibited, though in varying
degrees, this combination of Symbolical Ritualism with the highest spiritual worship ; and thus has
practically enunciated a law — that Divine Service is to be accompanied with external accessories.
The Rule given by the Church of England in applying this principle is contained in the following
general Rubric, which is placed in a j)rominent position at the beginning of the Prayer Book : " And
here is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Church, and of the Ministers thereof, at all Times of
their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by the Autho-
rity of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth."
A Rubric substantially, though not quite verbally, identical with this, first appeared in the Eliza-
bethan Prayer Book of 1-5.59: the necessity for which arose out of the determination, on Queen Eliza-
beth's accession, to abandon the Latin Service-books, which had been restored in Queen Marj's reign,
and to revert to the form of Divine Worship arranged in the Second Prayer Book of Iving Edward VI.
[a.d. 15.52], though with some revisions which made it more conformable to the First Reformed
Prayer Book [a.d. 1549]. This change in the Services necessarily required some adaptation in the
Accessories of Divine Worship ; and as these had also undergone alterations during the period in which
the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552 were employed, it was requisite to adopt some standard by which
to regulate them. The standard chosen was the use which prevailed " by the Authority of Parliament,
in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth." The Rubric which declared this decision
64
a Eitual 3lntroDuction
was also incorporated with the Elizabethan Act of Un'foimity ; it was retained in the very slightly
revised Prayer Book of James I., and was re-enacted at the last revision in 1G61. It will facilitate the
comjmrison of these four directions, to place them in parallel columns, thus : —
Prayer Bool; 1559.
"And here is to be
noted, that the Minister
at the time of the Com-
munion, and at all other
times in his Ministration,
shall use such Ornaments
in the Church as were in
use by authority of ParHa-
nient in the second year of
the reign of King Edward
the Sixth, according to the
Act of Parhament set in
the beginning of this
Book."
[The Act of Parhament
here referred to is that from
which the clause in the
nest column is taken.]
Statute I Ehz. c. 2, § 25,
1558-59.
" Provided always, and
be it enacted, that such
Ornaments of the Church,
and of the Ministers there-
of, shall be retained and
be in use, as was in this
Church of England by au-
thority of Parliament, in
the second year of the
reign of King Edward the
Sixth, until other order
shall be therein taken by
the authority of the Queen's
Majesty, with the advice
of her Commissioners ap-
pointed and authorized
under the Great Seal of
England, for Causes Eccle-
siastical, or of the Metro-
politan of this Reahn."
Prayer Book, 1603-4.
" And here is to be
noted, that the Minister
at the time of the Com-
munion, and at all other
times in his j\Iinistration,
shall use such Ornaments
in the Church, as were in
use by authority of Parlia-
ment, in the second year of
the reign of King Edward
the Sixth, according to the
Act of Parhament set in
the beginning of this
Book."
[The Act of Parliament
here referred to is that from
which the clause in the
preceding column is taken.]
Prayer Book, 1662.
" And here is to be
noted, that such Orna-
ments of the Church, and
of the Ministers thereof at
all times of their Ministra-
tion, shall be retained and
be in use as were in this
Church of England by the
Authority of Parliament,
in the second year of the
reign of King Edward the
Sixth."!
But it should be noticed that, though the first three of these directions furnished the primary and
general Rule during the period from 1559 to 1G62, there were issued contemporaneously other orders
relating to the same subject: these occur (1) in the Elizabethan Injunctions of 1559; (2) in the
Elizabethan Advertisements of 1564-65 ; (3) in the Jacobean Canons of 1603-4 ; (4) in the Caroline
Canons of 1640. Of all these, however, it must be remembered that they were not designed to
supersede the fuller direction given in the two Rubrics and in the Statute : but that the First were
explanatory of the Rubric and Statute of 1559; the Second, Third, and Fourth were drawn out by
the laxity of the times, which necessitated endeavours to secure something like a general and uniform
decency in the conduct of Divine Worship, and in order to effect this, insisted only upon the fewest
and simplest of the Accessories which were prescribed under the fuller Rule. But these four series of
special orders being sometimes cited as Directions advisedly contrariant to the general RULES, it is
desirable to state somewhat more particularly their precise character and object.
1. The Injunctions of 1559. Such of these as related to the Accessories of the Services and
Offices appointed in the Prayer Book of 1559 were demanded by the then existing condition of things.
The Statute 1 Mary, Sess. 2, c. 2, A.D. 1553, had abolished the alterations made in the reign of
Edward VI., and legally restored the Services (together with their Accessories) to the condition in
which they were left " in the last year of Henry Eighth." The consequence of this was, that the
' In Bishop Cosin's Durham Prayer Book [Cosin's Lib.
Durham, D. III. 5] the Rubric is altered from its previous
to its present form in his liaudwritiug. At the end of tlic
alteration is a note (nut intended for printing, hut under-
scored with a dotted line), "'J'hese are the words of the Act
itself, V. .Supra." He also began to write a list, but gave over
the task after writing the words ' ' .Suqilice &o. " Probably
he thought tliat to specify tliem might peril tlic Rubric
itself ; though it is clear that his wish was to name them,
for, in his " I'articulars to lie considered, explained, and cor-
rected, in tho 13ook of Common Prayer," he apjjends this note
to the Rubric; " l!ut what those ornaments of the Church
and of tlie minister were, is not here specified, and they are
so unknown to many, tliat by most they are neglected.
VVlierefore it were requisite tliat those ornaments, used in the
second year of King Kilwanl, sliould be here particularly
named ami set forth, tliat there might be no difference .about
them." In another I'r.ayer Hook, which is interleaved .and
contains copious annotations by Cosin, tliere is also the follow-
ing fuller note on this Rubric : and for the sake of exactness
it IS hero printed with the original spelling : —
" And there were in vse not a Surplice and hood as we now
vse, but a playne white Albe w"' a Vestment or Cope ou'
it : and therefore accoi'ding to this rubrick are wee all still
bound to weare Albes and Vestin'", as have beene so long
time worne in the Church of (iod, liowsoeuer it is neglected.
For tlie disuse of these ornam'^ we may thank them y' came
from Geneua, and in the beginning of Q. Eliz. reigne beyng
set in places of gou'nment, suffred cu'y negligent priest to
doe what liim listed, so ho wold but professe a difference and
an opposition in all things (though iiuu' so lawfuU otlierwise)
ag' the Cluirch of Rome, and tlie Ceremonies therein vsed.
If any iii;ui shall answere that now the 58 Canon hath .ap-
pointed it otherwise, and y' these tilings are .alterable by the
discretion of tlie Church wherein we line, I answere, y' such
matters are to be altered by the same autcu'ity wherew"'
they were established : and y' if y' autority be y« Convoca-
tion of the Clergy, .as I think it is, (only that,) th,at the 14
Canon coinands vs to' observe all y^' Ceremonies ji'scribcd in this
book, I wold faino know how we shold obserue both Canons. "
[Interleaved Pr.ayer IJouk of 1G19, Cosin's Lib. Durham,
C. I. 2.1
to tfje Iprapcr TSoofe. 65
Injunctions of 1547 (whether then or 'previowslij having the force of an Act of Parliament or not is here
immaterial) ceased to be of any authority, at least so far as they at all affected the character of the
Services : nor do they seem to have subsequently regained their authority ; for the reviving Statute,
1 Eliz. c. 1, A.D. 1558, does not touch them, and the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity could, at most, only
very indirectly refer to them when restoring the book of 1552, " with the order of service," subject,
however, to "the alterations and additions" made by the Statute of 1559. Probably indeed it was
intended not to continue the Injunctions of 1547, whether they had lapsed or not, since the issuing of
new Injunctions would furnish a more convenient method of altering the former ones, if requisite, than
the mere publication of amendments. But however this may have been, the Marian period having
legally reintroduced some of those pi-actices which the Injunctions of 1547 had regarded as abuses, they
could not be forbidden on the ground of being unlawful. The obvious plan therefore was to repeat the
process of 1547, and thus define legally how much of the existing general custom was designed to be
preserved, by distinctly specifying such particular items of it as were thought desirable to be abolished.
This was done by the Elizabethan Injunctions, which were founded upon those of 1547, and were fol-
lowed by certain "Interpretations and further Considerations : " and thus (except such of them as did
not deal at all with any old, or authorized some new, practice in regard to Ritual and Ceremonial
matters) they simply subtracted certain portions from the existing whole, and so enabled the Clergy and
Laity of that day to know exactly which and how many of the Accessories of Divine Service then
employed were to be regarded as coming within the terms of the Rul)ric and Statute — " in the Second
Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth." Rather less was, however, abolished by the Injunc-
tions of 1559 than by those of 1547 — e.g. nothing was said about the removal of Images, though the
second Injunction forbade to " set forth or extol the dignity of any images, robes, or miracles."
2. The Advertisements of 15(34-05. The necessity for these sprang from the great and growing
negligence of the anti-ritual party, and their opposition to the then existing law which regulated the
Ritual and Ceremonial. To so great a height had this attained, that it provoked a letter of complaint
from the Queen to Archbishop Parker, dated January 25, 1564-65, wherein Her Majesty said that —
" We, to our no small grief and discomfort, do hear that ... for lack of regard given thereto in due
time, by such superior and principal officers as you are, being the Primate, and other the Bishops of
your province, . . . there is crept and brought into the Church ... an open and manifest disorder and
offence to the godly wise and obedient persons, by diversity of opinions, and specially in the external,
decent and lawful rites and ceremonies to be used in the Churches . . . : " and the Queen further
declared that " We . . . have certainly determined to have all such diversities, varieties, and novelties
... as breed nothing but contention, offence, and breach ot common charity, and are also against the
laws, good usages, and ordinances of our realm, to be reformed and repressed and brought to one manner
of uniformity through our whole realm and dominions. ..." [Parl;er Correspondence, p. 224.]
In consequence of this Royal Letter the Archbishop directed the Bishop of London (Grindal), as
Dean of the Province, to inform the other Bishops of the Queen's commands, and also to direct them
" that they inviolably see the laws and ordinances already established to be without delay and colour exe-
cuted in their particular jurisdictions." [^Parker Correspondence, p. 229.] Moreover, the varieties com-
plained of were to be stated in returns which were to be sent to the Archbishop by the end of February.
But it was no easy task to deal with the prevalent disorder, encouraged as it was by a not incon-
siderable body of persons (including many Clergy and some Bishops) who had a violent dislike of the
prescribed Ritual and Ceremonial. Nor is it surprising to find that the Bishops, in order to promote
uniformity, contented themselves with insisting upon the observance of only such of the existing
requirements as they thought necessary for the decent conduct of Divine Worship. This minimibin
requirement was embodied in the Advertisements which, about a month later, were submitted to the
Queen for her approval, that so they might be issued with the full force of Ecclesiastical Law. Yet,
anxious as Her Majesty was to stop irregularities, the i-equisito authorization was absolutely refused;
and when, after some delay, they were set forth by the Archbishop as a rule for the Province of
Canterbury, they were enforced, so far as they could bo enforced, solely by his authority and that of his
suffragans, no sanction being ever given to them by the Crown or by Convocation. There does not
appear to be any very precise infonnation on the matter, but the little which is available seems to
imply that the Queen (if not also some of her Council) was dissatisfied with so low a standard of
conformity as the Bishops had set up : and also that there was an unwillingness to appear to supersede
the Rubric on Ornaments, and its corresponding clause in the Act of Uniformity, by legaliziTig what
E
66 a iRitual JntroDiicticn
probably it was then hoped would be no more than z, temporary step towards attaining a further
compliance with the Ecclesiastical Law under more favourable circumstances.^
3. The Canons of 1603-4. The history of the thirty-eight years between the publication of the
Elizabethan Advertisements and the accession of James I., is that of a continuous strife between the
Ecclesiastical Authorities and the nonconforming party in the Church of England ; the efforts of the
latter being encouraged by the hope, or persuasion, that the new King's familiarity with Scottish
practices might favourably incline him towards their Presb\i;erian prepossessions. The Hampton Court
Conference, which was held within the first year of King James's reign, was an effort to convince them,
and to remove, if possible, any reasonable ground of complaint; but its proceedings revealed the
weakness of the objections, and terminated in a resolution that any changes ought to be in the
direction, not of laxity, but of strictness ; and so the few alterations which were made in the Book of
Common Praj'er were of the latter character, and served to bring out more distinctly some points of its
Doctrine, — points, however, which were clearly implied in the Ser\aces.
But it was easier to make Doctrine more objective in the Formularies than to enforce Discipline,
especially in Ritual and Ceremonial matters, which were peculiarly obnoxious to those of Presbyterian
inclinations. The long acquiescence in a low standard of practice in these respects could hardly
be other than fatal to any attempt to impose obedience to the larger legal requirements which still
subsisted. So, while it was necessary, in the loose and fragmentary condition of many of the then
existing Ecclesiastical Ordinances, to provide some complete code of discipline, it was nevertheless
impossible to do more than re-enforce those more limited Orders which could not be dispensed with,
unless the Clergy and Churches in England were to assume a garb little, if at all, distinguishable
from the Ministers and Temples of the foreign Reformed bodies or of the Presbyterian Community
in Scotland.
Accordingly, in the Book of Canons " collected by Bishop Bancroft out of the Articles, Injunctions,
and Sjmodical Acts passed and published in the reigns of King Edward the Sixth and Queen Eliza-
beth," and passed by " both Houses " of Convocation [CoLLiEH's Eccl. Hist. ii. p. 687], all that was
deemed indispensable was embodied, and in virtue of the King's Letters Patent, which ratified these
Canons, became Statutably binding upon the Clergy, and Ecclesiastically obligatory upon the Laity.
4. The Canons of 1640. During the last twenty years of King James's reign, and the first
fourteen years of his successor. King Charles I., there was a gradual improvement in the externals of
Divine Service, due in part to the Canons of 1603, but more, probably, to greater vigilance among
the Ecclesiastical Authorities, and to an increasing desire for the restoration of what had fallen into
desuetude, though it was still upheld by Ecclesiastical enactments. But the Puritan lea\en was still
working in the Church of England, and its fermenting power was increased by Civil proceedings with
which it came in contact. The effect of this was that accusations, vaguer or more specific, became
current, and presented serious obstacles to those loyal and well-affected Churchmen who were doing
what they could to rescue the worship of the Church from the ill condition to which a long period of
negligence had reduced it.
It was for the jriurpose of defending generally this reformation, and of sanctioning particularly
some of its more prominent features, that the Convocation of 1640 agreed to a small code of seventeen
new Canons : their design being thus distinctly proclaimed in the Letters Patent which were prefixed
to them : —
" Forasmuch as We are given to understand, that many of Our subjects being mislead against the Rites and
Ceremonies now used in the Church of England, liave lately taken offence at the same, upon an unjust supposal,
that they are not only contraiy to Our Laws, but also introductive unto Popish superstitions, whereas it well
app^reth unto Us, upon mature consideration, that the said Rites and Ceremonies, which are now so much quarreled
at, were not onely apjiroved of, and used by these learned and godly Divines, to whom, at the time of Reformation
under King Edward the Sixth, the compiling of the Book of Conunon Prayer was connnitted (divers of whom
' That the ancient Ornaments were still in use is shewn
by a letter writlen by lieza to BuUinger on .Sept. 3, 1.506.
"Some," he saya, writing in Latin, "are even cast into
prison unless they will swear that they will so inviolably ap-
prove all these things as neither by word nor writing to op-
pose them, and will conform themselves to the priests of Baal
so far as even to wear sqiiare caps, stoles [coUlpcndiw], sur-
plices, chasubles [canuHi], and other things of a similar kind. "
[Zurich Lett. II. ii. 77.]
It is remarkable that at a much later date, early in tlie
eighteenth century, the Roman Tatholic Kitual commentator
Grancolas writes in a chapter on the t'luneh of England of
that day, "All these things the priests sing in the regular
course of the seasons, vested in surplice, cope, and chasuble,
in the Cathedrals. They have also a choir of boys, singers,
and organs." [Grancolas, Comm. Hint, in Brev. Rom. i.
12.]
to tf)c lPrai)cr ''^oofe.
67
suffered Martyrdom in Queen Maries days), but also again taken up by tliis whole Church under Queen Elizabeth
and so duly and ordinarily practised for a great part of her Reign, (within the memory of divers yet living) as it
could not then be imagined that there would need any Itule or Law fur the observation of the same, or that they
could be thought to savour of Popery.
"And albeit since those times, for want of an express rule therein, and by subtile practices, the said liites
and Ceremonies began to fall into disuse, and in place thereof other foreign and unfitting usages by little and
little to creep in ; Yet, forasmuch as in our Royal Chapels, and in many other Churches, most of them have
been ever constantly used and observed. We cannot now but be very sensible of this matter, and have cause to
conceive that the authors and fomenters of these jealousies, though they colour the same with a pretence of zeal,
and would seem to strike only at some supposed iniquity in the said Ceremonies : Yet, as we have cause to fear,
aim at Our own Royal Person, and would fain have Our good subjects imagine that we Our Self are perverted,
and doe worship God in a Superstitious way, and that we intend to bring in some alteration of the Religion here
established. . . .
" But forasmuch as we well perceive that the misleaders of Our well-minded people do make the more
advantage for the nourishing of this distemper among them from hence, that the foresaid Rites and Ceremonies,
or some of them, are now insisted upon, but only in some Diocesses, and are not generally revived in all places,
nor constantly and uniformly practised thorowout all the Churches of Our Realm, and thereupon have been liable
to be cjuarreled and opposed by them who use them not. ..."
Therefore the King had " thought good to give them free leave to treat in Convocation : and
agree upon certain other Canons necessary for the advancement of God's glory, the edifying of His
holy Church, and the due reverence of His blessed Mysteries and Sacraments : " and further " to ratifie
by Our Letters Patent under Our Great Seal of England, and to confinn the same. . . ." '
From what has now been said with reference to these four Series of Ecclesiastical Ordinances, it
will be seen that only the two latter have anything more than Historical authority : it is only to the
Canons of 1003-4 and 1040 that any' legal obligation still attaches: but even these no longer retain
the force which they once possessed in limiting or defining or dispensing with in practice the larger
and more general Rule prescribed in the Prayer Book ; for the revision of that Book in 1061, sanctioned
as it was by the Convocations of the two Provinces and legalized by the Act of Uniformity 13 and 14
Charles II. c. 4, provided the latest and most authoritative law for regulating the Services of the
Church of England : so that if in any instance a direction of these Canons and a direction of the
Prayer Book are found to be conflicting, the Canon must yield to the Rubric, the latter being of supreme
authority.
The Rubric relating to the Ornaments of the Church and of tlie Ministers, which stood in the
Books of Elizabeth and James I., is retained, then, with certain verbal changes (not, however, affecting
its former sense) in the Prayer Book of 1602, that at present in use. And, by travelling back to
" the Second Year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth," and fixing upon the Ornaments then in
use " in this Church of England, by the authority of Parliament," this Rubric passes over all changes
and varieties subsequent to that year, and sets up a standard by which it is easy to decide what are
now the pro|)er Accessories of Divine Worship. It has been called " The Interpretation Clause " of
the Prayer Book, and with much appropriateness ; for it not only furnishes an exact mode of solving
doubts which may arise as to the precise meaning of the directions which [jrescribe things to be used
in Divine Service, but also it is a trustworthy guide in ascertaining whether anything not prescribed is
needful or suitable in executing the Offices which the Prayer Book provides.
But though the ^jcese-ni authority of this Rubric could not be disputed, the meaning of those
words of it, " by the Authority of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the
Sixth," had in recent times often been a subject of controversy j^rior to the year 1857. Then, however,
the celebrated Ecclesiastical suits arising out of the opposition to certain Ornaments introduced into
' It h.as l)eeu thought that these Canons have ceased to
possess autliority, owing to the language of the 13 Charles
II. c. 12, § 5, A. D. 16(11, where it is stated that this Act is
not "to abridge or diminish the King's Majesty's Supremacy
in Ecclesiastical matters and aft'airs, nor to confirm the
Canons made in the year One thousand six hundred and
forty, nor any of them, nor any otlier Ecclesiastical Laws
or Canons not formerly confirmed, allowed, or enacted by
Parliament, or by the Established Laws of tlie land, as they
stood in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred and
thirty-nine."
r>ut, on consideration, it will be seen that the words are
cautionary, and were intended to prevent any misconception
as to the force of this Act, which was passed "for explana-
tion of a Clause contained in" 17 Charles I. c. 2. The Act
merely excludes these Canons from any Parliamentary
autliority which it might be supposed to confer on them ;
but then it does precisely the same with "any other Eccle-
siastical Laws or Canons not formerly confirmed, allowed, or
enacted by Parliament :" this necessarily includes the Canons
of 160.3-4, yet their authority is admitted The Act in no
way affects the recognized authority derived b}^ tlie Canons
of 1640, or by any otliers, from Royal Letters Patent: on
tlie contrary, it helps to confirm such authority by declaring
that it was not meant "to abridge or diminish the King's
Majesty's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical m.atters and affairs;"
and of this the confirmation of Canons was made an im-
portant p.art by the Act of .Submission 25 Henry VIII. c. 19.
68 a Bitual 3IntroOuction
the Churches of St. Paul, Knightsbridge, and St. Barnabas, Pimlico, led to a definitive judgement on
this point by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
In interpreting this Rubric, the Judges determined that " the term ' ornaments ' in Ecclesiastical
Law is not confined, as by modern usage, to articles of decoration or embellishment, but it is used in
the larger sense of the word ' ornamentum,' which, according to the interpretation of Forcellini's
Dictionary, is used ' pro quocumque apparatu, seu instrumento.' All the several articles used in the
performance of the Services and Rites of the Church are 'ornaments.' Vestments, Books, Cloths,
Chalices, and Patens, are amongst Church Ornaments ; a long list of them will be found extracted from
Lyndwood, in Dr. Phillimore's Edition of BuRx's Ecclesiastical Laiv (vol. i. pp. 375-377). In modern
times Organs and Bells are held to fall under this denomination."
Ha\"ing thus defined the term " Ornaments," the Court of Appeal then interpreted the expressions
"Authority of Parliament" and "Second Year" as connected with the reign of Edward VI.: their
conclusion being arrived at thus : —
After noticing the alterations in King Edward's Second Prayer Book (which diminished the
number of the Ornaments prescribed in his First Book), and referring to the abolition of the Reformed
Services by Queen Mary, they state that " on the Accession of Queen Elizabeth, a great controversy
arose between the more violent and the more moderate Reformers as to the Church Service which should
be re-established, whether it should be according to the First, or according to the Second Prayer Book
of Edward the Sixth. The Queen was in favour of the First, but she was obliged to give waj', and a
compromise was made, by which the Ser\aces were to be in conformity with the Second Prayer Book,
with certain alterations ; but the Ornaments of the Church, whether those woni or those otherwise used
bj' the Minister, were to be according to the First Prayer Book."
Then they compare the four Directions, as to the Ornaments, which occur in the Elizabethan Act
of Uniformity and the Prayer Books of 1559, 1603-4, 1662 (given already at p. 64), declaring of them
that " they all obviously mean the same thing, that the same dresses and the same utensils, or articles,
which were used under the First Prayer Book of Edward the Sixth may still be used."
Further, they discuss an important question which was raised as to the date of the Royal Assent
to the Act of Uniformity which legalized the Prayer Book of 1549, and they resolve that the " use " of
the Book " and the Injunctions contained in it, were established by authority of Parliament in the
Second Year of Edward the Sixth, and this is the plain meaning of the Rubric." It may indeed be
questioned whether what can be gathered from the records of the time warrants this decision as to the
date in question ;i but if it be an error, it is practically unimportant in connection with their entire
interpretation of the Rubric ; for, whether 1547— the date of King Edward's Injimctions, or 1549 — the
date of the First Prayer Book, be the " Second Year " mentioned in the Rubric, the result is the same,
because no change was made in the Ornaments between those years. Moreover, the Rubric has now
been judicially interpreted by a court from Avhich there lies no appeal, and therefore that interpreta-
tion, and that only, is the sole ground upon which the members of the Church of England can legally
stand in endeavouring to carry out the requirements of the Rubric on Ornaments.
One thing more the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council shewed in reference to the meaning
of this Rubric, viz. that though it is prescriptive, it is not exhaustive : this opinion was arrived at from
their consideration of the fact, that the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI. (like the First Book, and
indeed the previous Service-books) " does not expressly mention " everything which, nevertheless, it
is certain was used under it, e.g. the Paten (just as the First Book does not mention, e.g., the Linen
Cloth) ; and also from the circumstance that they had to decide whether the Credence-tnhle (which is
not prescribed noDiinatini) could be regarded as a Legal Ornament. The opinion of the Court is thus
stated : " Here the Rubrics of the Prayer Book become important. Their Lordships entirely agreed
with the opinions expressed by the learned Judges [i.e. of the Consistory and Arches Courts] in these
cases, and in ' Faulkner v. Lichfield,' that in the performance of the services, rites, and ceremonies
' The First Year of Edward VI. was from Jan. 28, 1647, to
Jan. 27, 1548.
The Second Year of Edward VI. waa from Jan. 28, 1548, to
Jan. 27, 1549.
Tlie I'liird Yrnr of Edward VI. was from Jan. 28, 1549, to
Jan. 27, 15.50.
both kinds. A Fonu for carrying out this Act was issued by
Proclamation on May 8, 1548, and thenceforward until June
9, 1549, the ancient Salisbury Use with a supplementary
Englisli service for communicating the Laity [.see p. 13]
was the only form .sanctioned l)y law for tlic celebration and
iidministration of the Holy Communion. Thus during the
Up to Dec. 24, 1547, the ancient Salisbury Use waa alone \ whole of lOilward VI. 's Si-roitd Year, the ancient Latin Service
sanctioned by law. On Dec. 24, l.W, the Act of Parliament I was retained, and until half of his Third Year li.ad expired
was liasacd which gave legal force to the resolution of Con- I and witli tlie ancient Service the ancient
vocation that the Holy Kuohariat shouM he administered in also retained.
to tbe Iprapcr IBook. 69
ordered by the Prayer Book, the directions contained in it must be strictly observed ; that no omission
and no addition can be permitted ; but they are not prepared to hold that the use of all articles not
expressly mentioned in the Rubric, although quite consistent with, and even subsidiary to the Service,
is forbidden. Organs are not mentioned ; yet because they are auxiliary to the singing they are
allovired. Pews, cushions to kneel upon, pulpit-cloths, hassocks, seats by the Communion Table, are in
constant use, yet they are not mentioned in the Rubric." So, as their Lordships further argued, there
being a Rubric which " directs that at a certain point in the course of the Communion Service (for this
is, no doubt, the true meaning of the Rubric) the Minister shall place the bread and wine on the
Communion Table," in their judgement, " nothing seems to be less objectionable than a small side-table,
from which they may be conveniently reached by the officiating Minister, and at the proper time
transferred to the Communion Table."
One remark, however, may be made before quitting the consideration of this judicial rendering of
the Rubric ; and it is this — that although it so completely covered the whole debateable ground by
deciding that " the same " things " which ivere used under the First Prayer Book of Edward the Sixth
may still be used," it does not follow that all such things can be legally restored now quite iiTespective
of any differences in the Prayer Book of 1549 as compared with that of 1662, — the one at present in
use. It may not be useless to say, that before any Edwardian Ornament is reintroduced, under the
terms of this decision, it must first be inquired whether the particular Ministration in which it is pro-
posed to employ it is now so essentially the same as it was in 1549 that the Ornament has the like
symbolical or practical use which it had then. It will probably be found that very few indeed of those
Ornaments are inapplicable at this time ; but to determine this it is important to proceed now to
ascertain —
First, What were the customary' Ornaments of that period.
There are four sources from which it may be ascertained with considerable accuracy what " Orna-
ments were in the Church of England, by the authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign
of King Edward the Sixth." These are —
I. The ancient Canon Law, which is held to have been then (as now) statutably binding upon the
Church by the 25th Henry VIII. c. 19, in all points where it is not repugnant to or inconsistent with
later Ecclesiastical Law.
II. The Salisbury Missal, which was the Liturgy chiefly ^ used, and of which a new edition was
published by authority in 1541 : the Bangor, Hereford, and York books (especially the latter) may
also be appealed to as illustrative of or supplementary to the Salisbur}' book, for they had long been
more or less in use. "The Order of the Communion" of 1548 — which was an English supplement to
the Latin Mass, to come in after the Communion of the Priest for the purpose of communicating the
Laity in both kinds — expressly directed in its first Rubric that " until other order shall be provided,'
there should be no " varying of any other rite or ceremony in the Mass." Hence the ancient Service-
books continued to be used during the whole of " the second year of Edward the Sixth," and until the
First English Prayer Book was published in 1549. [See p. 13, and App. to the Liturgy.]
III. The directions, explicit or implicit, in the Prayer Book of 1549.
IV. The Inventories of Ornaments which were made in pursuance of Edward VI. 's Instructions to
the Commissioners appointed in 1552 to survey the Church goods throughout the kingdom. These
Inventories are very numerous, and for the most part are preserved in the Public Record Office : they
do not indeed exhibit such full catalogues as would have been found in 1549, for many things had been
sold (especially where they were duplicates) to meet Church expenses of various kinds ; and some too
had been embezzled. But they are thus the more trustworthy, as being likely to shew what Articles
it was deemed needful to retain for the Services then authorized. Three of these Inventories (and
they are by no means the richest which might have been chosen) are here selected for comparison, as
affording a probably fair specimen of the rest, viz. a Cathedral, a London Parish Church, and a Country
Parish Church.
Secondly, It must be determined what Ornaments, whether by express j)i'escri'ption or by jylain
implicatiov , are now pointed out for use in the Ministrations of the Church of England.
' The preference wliieh seems to have been given to the I served by all and singular clerics throughout the Province of
Rites of Sarum is illustrated by the circumstance that the Canterbury, in saying their canonical hours." [Wilkins'
Convocation of Canterbury decreed, March 3, 1541, that the Concilia, iii. 861, 862.]
"use and custom of the Church of Salisbury should bo ob- '
70
3 Eitual JntroDuction
V. These Ornaments are to be sought in the Canons of 1G03-4 and of 1640 ; also in the directions,
explicit or implicit, of the present Book of Common Prayer.
"ORNAMENTS OF THE CHURCH."
English Canons
A.D. 740 to 1463.
Altars of Stone.
A Table.
Frontal for the High
Altar.
A clean white large
linen cloth for the
Altar.
C'orporas (and Case).
" A veiy clean cloth "
for "the Priest to
wipe his fingers and
lips after receiving
the Sacrament. "
Paten.
Chalice.
Wine and Water to be
used, — implying ves-
sels for them.
Bread to be offered
by the faithful —
implying some pre-
sentation of it at
the time.
Bells, with
ropes.
their
Cross, for processions
and for the dead.
" Two Candles, or one
at the least, at the
tiiiieof High Mass. "
A Cense pot.
Font of stone, with a
lock and key.
II.
The Old E.nolish
Liturgies.
1. Sarum.
2. Bangor.
3. York.
4. Hereford.
1, 2, 3, 4. Altar.
1. Linen Cloth.
1, 2, 3, 4. Coi-poral.
2. Sudarium.
1, 2, 3, 4. Paten.
1, 2, 3, 4. Chalice.
1, 2, 3, 4. Wine and
Water brought to
the Priests, — imply-
ing vessels in which
to bring them.
1, 2, 3, 4. Bread,
AVine, and Water,
brought to the
Priest, — implying
some place from
which they were
brought.
1. Cross, Crucifi.x.
i. Two AVax Candles
in Candlesticks to
be carried to the
Altar steps.
1, 2, 3. Thurible.
1. Font.
III.
The Prayer Book
4.D. 1549.
The Altar, the Lord's
Table, God's board.
"laying the bread
upon the Corporas."
' 'Paten or some other
comely thing. "
Chalice or Cup.
Cruets — implied in
"putting the Wine
into the Clialice . . .
puttiug thereto a
little pure andcle.an
water. ''
Credence — implied
in "then shall the
Minister take so
much Bread and
Wine as shall suf-
fice, . . . and set-
ting both the Bread
and Wine upon the
Altar. "
Poor men's Box.
Font.
I\'.
Inventories.
1. Winchester Cathedral,
Oct. 3, 1552.
2. St. Martin, Outwich,
London, Sept. 16, 1552,
3. Stanford - in - the -Vale,
Berks, May 11, 1553.
1. The High Altar.
2. A Communion Table.
3. A Table with a frame.
1, 2. Cushions.
1,3. Fronts for the Altar.
2. Altar Cloth.
1. Altar Cloths, white, co-
loured, plain, and diaper.
2. Table Cloths, plain and
diaper.
3. Altar Cloths.
1, 3. Corporas Cloths.
1, 2, 3. Paten.
1, 2, 3. Chalice.
1, 2, 3. Cruets.
Credence — unlikely to be
mentioned, being com-
monly structural.
3. Poor men's Box.
2, 3. Bells, in the steeple.
1 , 2, 3. Cross for the Altar.
1, 2, 3. Two Candlesticks
for the Altar.
1,3. Large Candlesticks —
Standards.
], 3. Censers.
1. Ship — for Incense.
1,2. Spoon — for Incense.
Font — unlikely to be nien-
tioued, not being move-
able.
More recent Authorities.
1. Canons, 1603-4.
2. Canons, 1640.
3. The Prayer Book, 1662.
1. A Communion Table.
2. An Altar.
3. The Lord's Table.
[Desk or Cushion — needed
for the Altar Book.]
I. A carpet of silk or other
decent stuff.
1. A fair Linen Cloth.
3. Fair white Linen Cloth.
3. A fair Linen Cloth for
covering what remaineth
of the Consecrated Ele-
ments.
[Mundatory — needed to
wipe Chalice, etc.
3. Paten.
3. Cup or Chalice.
1. Pot or Stoup in which
to bring the Wine to the
Communion Table.
3. Flagon.
3. Credence — mplied in
' ' when there is a Com-
munion the Priest shall
then place upon the Table
so much Bread and Wine
as he shall think suffi-
cient."
3. Bason for Alms.
1. Chest for Alms.
1, 3. Bell for the Services
of the Church, and for any
passing out of this hie.
Cross — lawful as a decora-
tive Ornament.
Two Lights — the old direc-
tions for them not re-
pealed.
Standard Candlesticks —
consistent with the Ser-
vices.
Censer — Use of Incense
never legally abolished.
1, 3. Font.
3. Vessel for Water — im-
plied in " tlicn to be filled
witli pure water."
3. Shell — consistent with
"pour water."
1,3. Litany Desk — implied
in "some convenient
place" and "the place
where they are accustomed
to say the Litany."
1. Stall 0)- Reading-pew, to
read Service in.
to tbe Iprapcr IBook,
71
" Ornaments op the Church " — contimied.
Images, especially of
the Saint to whieli
the Church is dedi-
cated.
Banners for Rogation
Days.
A Bier for the dead.
II.
1, 2. Pulpit (or Am-
bo) for the Epistle
and Gospel.
1. Seats.
1 . Images.
1. Banners.
III.
Pulpit.
Chair for Archbishop
or Bishop.
IV.
2. Cloth for the Pulpit.
2. Organs.
1 , 3. Banners.
2. HerseCIoth for burying.
1, 3. Cloths to cover and
keep clean the Linen
Altar Cloth.
1. .3. Pulpit.
3. Kneeling- desk — for
Churohings
3. Chair for the Archbishop
or Bishop.
Organ — desirable.
I. The Ten Command-
ments. " Other chosen
sentences upon thcwalls."
{Dccoratii'e Ornaments.)
3. Rogation Days recog-
nized.
Bier — requisite.
Pall — requisite.
Covering for Linen Cloth —
desirable.
Besides the " Ornaments " contained in this List, there are many others mentioned in the Inven-
tories, which are merely Ornaments " in the sense of Decorations." Such are the following : Curtains
for the sides of Altars ; Hangings for the wall behind the Altar and of the Chancel ; Carjjets for the
Altar steps ; Cloths and Veils for Lent.
There were also " Ornaments," i.e. Articles '• used in the Services," which, tjn various grounds, are
barely, or not at all, consistent with the character of the present Prayer Book Services, or with some of
its directions. Thus we find : the Pyx, or Monstrance, with its covering and canopy for the Reserved
Sacrament (the former of which could only be used in circumstances which really necessitated
Reservation for the Sick) ; Bason and Towel for the Priest to wash his hands before Consecrating ;
Sanctus, Sacring, and other Bells ; Light and Covering for the Easter Sepulchre ; Vessels for Holy
Water ; the Chrismatory for the oil of Unction in Baptism and Visitation of the Sick ; the Pax for the
Kiss of Peace ; the Reliquary.
"ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.'
Cope.
Principal Mass Vest-
ment.
Chesible.
Dalmatic (for Deacon).
Tunic(for Sub-deacon).
Albe.
Girdle.
Stole.
Maniple.
Amice.
Surplices.
II.
1, 2. Cope.
1, 2, 4. Vestment.
1, 2. Chasuble.
1 . Dalmatic.
1. Tunicle.
1, 4. Albe.
1, 2, 4. Amice.
1. Gremial(oj- Apron).
1, 2. Surplices.
III.
Cope.
Vestment.
Tunicles.
Albes.
Pastoral Stafr(Bp.)
Rochette (Bp. ).
Surplice.
Hood.
IV.
1, 2, 3. Cope.
2, 3. Vestment.
1, 3. Chasuble.
1, 3. Deacon((.e. Dalmatic).
1. 3. Sub-deacon [i.e. Tu-
nicle).
1, 2, 3. Albes.
1, 3. Stole.
2. Auuce.
1, 3. Mitre.
1. Crosier Staff (Bp.).
1. Gloves (Bp. ).
L Ring(Bp.).
2 3. Surplices.
V.
1 . Cope.
3. General Rubric.
"And here is to be noted,
that such Ornaments of the
Church, and of the Minis-
ters thereof at all times of
their Ministration, shall be
retained and be in use as
werein this Church of Eng-
land by the Authority of
ParUament. in the second
year of the Reign of King
Edward the Sixth."
3. ' ' Rochet " and the rest
of the "Episcopal Habit."
1. Surplice.
1. Hood.
1. Tippet.
It will be seen, by an examination of these comparative Tables of Ornaments, that very few
indeed of those which are mentioned in the Inventories, the old English Canons, and the Sarum
and other books, are not distinctly and by name shewn to be legally useable now if the combined
authority of the Prayer Books of 1549 and 1662, together with that of the Canons of 1603 and 1640,
is, as it must be, taken into account. Moreover, of those excepted, there is not one of which it can be
fairly alleged that it is wholly incongruous with the letter and the spirit of those Services which, in
the present Prayer Book, occupy the place of the older Services in connection with which these
Ornaments were employed.
If it were necessary here to resort to a further mode of jjroviug what Ornaments are now lawful
72 a IRitual JntroDiiction
in the Church of England, it would be desirable to adopt the test indicated by the Judicial Committee
of the Privy Council as noticed at p. 68. The Judges referred to a List of Church Ornaments
extracted from LjTidwood, in Bukn's Ecclesiastical Law : all which occur in one or other of three
series of those old English Canons already summarized in the foregoing tables, viz. [1] Archbishop
Grey's Constitutions, A.d. 1250; [2] Archbishop Pcckham's Constitutions at Lambeth, A.D. 1281;
and [3] Ai-chbishop Winchelsy's Constitutions at Merton, A.D. 1305. These laws define what
Ornaments the Parishioners were required to provide at those periods, and are really the basis of
those Rules which professedly guide the Ecclesiastical Courts now in deciding the similar liability of
Parishioners in the present day. These Constitutions are contained in Johnson'.s English Canons :
and a comparison of them would shew what was considered to be generally necessary for Divine
Service under the old English Rituals, and so would materially aid in determining what is legally
requisite now, so far as the present Services are in unison with the ancient ones.
In considering the legal requirements of the general Rubric on the Ornaments of the Church and
of the Ministers, it is very important to recollect that its retention in the present Book of Common
Prayer was not the mere tacit permission for an existing direction to remain ; for not only (as has been
already shewn at p. 64) were certain verbal changes made in the Rubric, as it had been printed in the
Books of 1559 and 1604, but the question of its retention or rejection was pointedly raised by the
Presb}terian party at the Savoy Conference, and was then deliberately answered by the Bishops. The
Presbyterians said, " Forasmuch as this Rubric seemeth to bring back the Cope, Albe, etc., and other
Vestments forbidden by the Common Prayer Book, 5 and 6 Edw. VI., and for the' reasons alleged against
ceremonies imder our eighteenth general exception, we desire that it may be wholly left out." [Card-
well's Conf. p. 314.] The Bishops replied, " § 2. rub. 2. For the reasons given in our answer to the
eighteenth general, whither you refer us, we think it fit that the Rubric continue as it is." {Ihid. p.
351.] The " reasons " here referred to are as follows : " Prop. 18, § 1. We are now come to the main
and principal demand as is pretended, viz. the abolishing the laws which impose any ceremonies,
especially three, the surplice, the sign of the cross, and kneeling. These are the yoke which, if
removed, there might be peace. It is to be suspected, and there is reason for it from their own words,
that somewhat else pinches, and that if these ceremonies were laid aside, and these or any other
prayers strictly enjoined without them, it would be deemed a burden intolerable : it seems so by No. 7,
where they desire that when the Liturgy is altered, according to the rest of their proposals, the
minister may have liberty to add and leave out what he pleases." [Ibid. p. 345.] In what light the
excepting Ministers viewed this answer of the Bishops may be gathered irom their "Rejoinder"
(London, 16G1), where, in noticing it, they reply, "We have given you reason enough against the
imposition of the usual ceremonies ; and would you draw forth those absolute ones to increase the
burden ?" [Documents relating to the Act of Uniformity, 1862. Grand Debate, etc., p. 118.]
It is plain, therefore, that, in the judgement of the Episcopal authorities at that time, it was con-
sidered desirable to legalize a provision for Ornaments which, if acted upon, would conform the appear-
ance of the Churches and Services to those general features which they presented in the second year
of the reign of Edward VI., i.e. as the Judicial Committee has decided, to that condition in which the
first Prayer Book of Edward VI. designed to leave them. Indeed it seems highly probable that had
Bishop Cosin, the chief reviser in 1661, been allowed entirely to guide his Episcopal brethren on this
matter, he would have made the Rubric so detailed and explicit as to place it beyond the reach of
controversy ; for, as already noticed at p. 64," in his " Particulars to he considered, explained, and
corrected in the Book of Common Prayer" he says, with almost a prophetic instinct of subsequent and
present controversies, " But what these Ornaments of the Church and of the Minister were, is not here
specified, and they are so unknown to many, that by most they arc neglected. Wherefore it were
requisite that those Ornaments, used in the second year of King Edward, should be here particularly
named and set forth, that there might be no difference about them." [Cosin's ^Yorl•s, v. p. 507.] More-
over, as is also mentioned in the same note, he had begun to write a List of the Ornaments, but got no
further than the word " Surplice."
There does not appear to be any explanation on record to shew why this suggestion, apparently so
' Cardwell prints "so our reaBons," liiit the corrected | he has written the exact words of Elizabeth's Act of Unifor-
reading inserted above is that of the report entitled "The ( mity except in the slight variation "at all tinie.s of their Minis-
• irand Debate," etc., p. 12. i tration," thii.s putting tlie Rubric into its jiresent form.
' Where it will be seen also th;it in his I >urli.un Pr.iyer TiooU
to tf)C prapcr Vook.
73
valuable, was not acted upon. Probably the ground -which had to be recovered after fifteen years'
banishment of the Prayer Book from Churches which had also been more or less despoiled of their
Ornaments, combined with the extensively adverse temper of the time and its special manifestation in
the Savoy Conference, warned the Bishops that an authorized catalogue (whether in the Prayer Book
or elsewhere) of all the Legal Ornaments of King Edward's Second Year might raise a too formidable
barrier against endeavours to restore the use of any of them at that time. And so it may have been
regarded as the more prudent course only to re-establish the general rule as to the Ornaments, trusting
to an improved ecclesiastical tone to develope in time its actual details.
The Church Revival of the Nineteenth Century has been gradually realizing this probable expec-
tation of a future developement m a way and to an extent with which no j^revious period since 1G62 can
be at all compared : for, indeed, through a variety of causes, there had been a more or less continuous
declension from even that standard of Ritual and Ceremonial which the Restoration 2)'>'ttctically raiaeil,
though in fact it was considerably lower than the one legally prescribed. The renewed understanding
and appreciation of Doctrine — especially of Sacramental Doctrine — as embodied in the Formularies and
taught by old and great Divines of the Church of England ; the improved taste for Ecclesiastical Art ;
the deeper sense of the reverential proprieties with which the acts of Public Worship should be sur-
rounded : these and other favourable circumstances have combined, notwithstanding much indifference
and opposition, to produce a reaction in favour of Ceremonial and its corresponding Accessories more
extensive probably than that which arose in the time of King Charles I., and, as it may reasonably be
believed, of a far more stable character.
The present time, then, would seem to be a not unfavourable one for endeavouring to act upon
Bishop Cosin's suggestion by specifying in this Annotated Prayer Book (though of course in a wholly
unauthoritative way, except so far as the law itself is therein correctly represented), "what these
Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers were " at the period referred to in the Rubric which
orders that they " shall be retained, and be in use." The account already given in this Section will, it
is believed, have described them with sufficient clearness and exactness : the three following Tables are
designed to shew more explicitly the prescribed use or the inherent fitness of the several Ornaments
in connection with those " all times of their Ministration " at which the Rubric directs the Clergy to
employ them. Those which may be said to be Rubrically essential are distinguished from those which
may be accounted as Rubrically suppletnental by the latter being printed in Italics.
ORNAMENTS OF THE CHURCH.
To be used at
Mattins,
Evensong,
Litany, Com-
mination.
Holy Com-
munion,
Baptism,
Public and
Private ;
Catecliizing.
Matrimony.
Visitation and
Communion
of the Sick.
Churching of
Women.
Burial of the
Dead.
Altar or Lord's Table.
To present
her Offerings.
If a Celebra-
tion.
Cross or Picture.
To be always there, being a permanent Ornament, i.e. ]
Decoration.
Frontal and Super-frontal.
To be always there, being the ordinary Furniture.
The Two Lights.
Evensong
When a Cele-
bration
When a Cele-
bration.
Tlie Linen Cloth.
do.
Com. of Sick.
do.
Book lle.st or Cushion.
Corporal and Case.
When a Cele-
bration.
Com. of Sick.
When a Cele-
bration.
Fair Linen Cloth or Veil.
do.
do.
do.
Bason for Alms, etc.
do.
Staiulard Candlesticks.
Paten and Chalice.
When a Cele-
bration.
Com. of Sick.
When a Cele-
bration.
Paten for Bread to be
offered.
do.
do.
do.
Flagon for Wine and
Water.
do.
do.
do.
Veil (Silk) to cover Vessels.
do.
do.
do.
Linen Palls to cover Chalice.
do.
do.
do.
Mandatory.
do.
do.
do.
Censer, etc.
do.
Font and Vessel for Water.
For Public Baptisms — some convenient vessel for Private Baptism.
Bier and Pall.
Processional Cross.
Still retained in some Cathedrals, e.g. Chichester.
Banners.
For Rogation Days and special occasions.
Chair
For the Arch
bishop or Bisl
lop at Ordiuat
ions and Confi
miatious.
74
a IRituat JntrotJuction
ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.
To be used at
Martins,
Evensong,
Litany, Corn-
mi nation.
Holy Com-
mnnioQ.
Baptism,
Public and
Private;
Catechizing.
Matrimony.
Visitation and
Communion
of the Sick.
Churching of
Women.
Burial of the
Dead.
Cope oi- Vestment
Dalmatic (for Gospeller or
Deacon).
Tunicle (for Epistoler or
Sub-deacon).
Albe and Girdle.
Stole.
Maniple and Amice.
Surplice (with Sleeves).
Hood or Tippet.
When a Cele-
bration.
do.
do.
do.
When a Cele-
bration.
When a Cele-
bration.
do.
do.
do.
WhenaCele
bration.
Rochette.
Surplice or Albe.
Cope or Vestment.
Pastoral Staff.
Gremial or Apron.
Mitre and Ring.
EPISCOPAL ORNAMENTS.
Public Bap-
tism and
Catechizing.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
*,* The Episcopal Ornaments are the same for Confirmation, Ordination. Consecration of Churches and Burial Grounds :
perhaps the Rubric at the end of the First Prayer Book, in directing ' ' a Surplice or Albe, and a Cope or Vestment, " may have
intended the use of the Albe and Vestment when the whole Communion Service was used.
In any consideration of the Ornaments to be used in Divine Service, it is not only unavoidable but
important to consider such points as [1] their material, [2] their colour, [3] their form, particularly in
reference to such of them as, by reason of long disuse, are but little known. The fact that those Orna-
ments which have been retained in use among us do exhibit mostly their ancient material, colour, and
form, except as altered, for the better or the worse, by any subsequent fashions, may fairly be taken to
indicate what would have been the case with those Ornaments which have fallen into disuse : and
this view is strongly confirmed by the very general preservation of these ancient characteristics in the
Royal, Noble, Civic, Legislative, Judicial, Military, and Naval Ornaments which (unlike so many of
the Ecclesiastical) have never ceased to be employed among us. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that, in
the very extensive modem restorations which have been accomjDlished, the permanent Decorations of
Churches, the Altar-plate, and Altar-coverings have decidedly followed, for the most part, the ancient
patterns and models which were familiar at the period selected as the Standard in the Rubric on
Ornaments.
The English Church, while presenting in her Ornaments the same ordinary features which were
common to the rest of Christendom, always had her own special usages, and those, too, somewhat diver-
sified in details by several local varieties ; as, indeed, was and is also the case in Kingdoms or Dioceses
coimected with other Branches of the Catholic Church. Though most has perished, enough remains in
England of actual ancient specimens (besides the more abundant illustrations in old Illuminations) of
Windows, Carvings, Monuments, Brasses, Seals, and the like, to furnish authoritative guidance, especi-
ally in regard to the Form of ancient Ornaments.
Moreover, in the Inventories of Church Goods, the descriptions of Material and Colour are so
numerous and detailed as to supply what is, to a great extent, unavoidably lacking in these respects in
the illustrations just named, owing either to the nature of them, e.g. Carvings which rarely exhibit
Colours, or to errors which may be due, for instance, to the glass-painter or the illuminator who,
perhaps, was at times less careful to give the actual colour of a Vestment in an Ecclesiastical Function
than to furnish a picture in accordance with his own taste. The following Tables contain a summarized
analysis of such contents of five Inventories as relate to the Vestments of the Ministers and the Choir,
and also to the various Hangings or Articles employed in furnishing and decorating the Altars and
Chancels : they are all of the date of 1552 and 1553, and so they exhibit accurately Ornaments which
to tbc Iprapcr IBook.
75
were preserved in the Claivrches at the very period to whicli the Rubric on Ornaments directs atten-
tion, when prescribing the general Rule as to the things which "shall be retained, and be in use" now
in the Church of England. Three of these Inventories, viz. Holy Trinity Cathedral, Winchester, 1.5.52 ;
St. Martin, Outwich, London, 1552-53 ; and Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berks, 1553, have been used already
to illustrate other points : the two additional ones now cited are St. Paul's Cathedral, 1552, and St.
Nicolas, Cole Abbey, London. 1552.
[L] MATERIAL OF VESTMENTS.
Cloth of Gold .
30
Sarsnett .
Cloth of Silver
6
Bawdkyn
Velvet
137
Damask .
Satin
30
Tissue
Silk .
134
Chamlett .
337
16
226
146
54
9
451
Fustian
6
Buckram .
2
Dorny.x .
8
Serge
1
Various .
. 48
65
Total
853
A cursory inspection of these Lists of Ornaments shews at once that, as respects Material, the
choice, while amply varied, ran very much upon the richer fabrics, whether of Home or Foreign Manu-
facture ; Cloth of Gold, and Satin of Bruges, being the more costly, were, as might be expected, the
most rare ; but Velvet, Satin, Silk, Bawdkyn, and the like, were not uncommonly used ; though such
inferior stuffs as Taffeta, Chamlett, and Fustian often occur. The nature or quality of what was to be
employed seems not to have been prescribed ; indeed, had there been a desire to do so (which is very
improbable) the varying pecuniary abilities of Parishes would have made it needful to avoid any rule
on the subject, except requiring them to provide according to their means the essential (and if they
could any supplementary) things appeitaining to the Services of the Church.
The same principle is acted upon now in the Holy Eastern Church. A Priest of that Communion
informs the ^vriter that " there are no strict rules for the Material : when possible, silken and brocaded
Vestments are to be preferred. Where the means are circumscribed, plain linen ones are worn, or of
whatever Material, so long as it is clean, and made in the proper shape." With them doubtless it is,
as the foregoing catalogue proves it to have been with us, that the instinct of natural piety, viz. the
devotion of the best to God's service, is not relied upon in vain. Nor was the care and cost bestowed
upon the Material limited to the foundation of the Vestments or Hangings ; embroidery of all kinds
was abundantly displayed in pattern or powdering, whether in Silk or Gold (not seldom in the much-
valued Gold of Venice), so that the Sacred Name, the Crucifix, the Cross, Crowns, Angels, Imagery,
Eagles, Herons, Lions, Dolphins, Swans, the Sun and Moon, Stars, Wheat-sheaves, Grapes, Flowers,
and the like, adorned the Fabrics of which the Vestures were made ; or composed the rich Orphreys,
which were rendered all the more beautiful and costly by Pearls and Precious Stones ; as though the
donors desired to attain in the adornments of the Sanctuary to somewhat of the fiilness of meaning
contained in the Psalmist's words, " The king's daughter is all glorious within : her clothing is of
wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework " [Ps. xlv. 13, 14].
[II.] So, again, as to Colour: the Inventories now under examination shew it to have been
chiefly of six kinds, viz. White, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Black ; besides various combinations of
all these. The proportions in which they existed are shewn in the following Table of Vestments which
were in the five Churches at the date of the Inventories : —
COLOURS OF VESTMENTS.
Wliite.
Hed.
Blue.
Green.
Yellow.
Black.
Variorts.
Totals.
Cope3 ....
121
107
83
40
20
13
75
459
Chasubles
28
34
24
10
7
15
37
155
Dalmatics
oo
33
23
6
6
13
13
116
Tunicles ....
22
24
27
6
6
12
26
123
Totals
193
198
157
62
39
53
151
853
It may be as well to remark here that all the Green Vestments in this list belonged to the two
Cathedral Churches, except one Chasuble, Dalmatic, and Tunicle, which were in St. Martin, Outwich.
Green occurs much less frequently than other colours : it was an Exeter colour, and is also found
1^
a iaitual IntroDuction
in Lists of Vestments belonging to the Northern Province ; but there seems very little to indicate with any
certainty when it was used, though perhaps it served for ordinary week-days, especially in Trinity-tide.
So, acrain, with regard to Blue: while it appears to have been a much more usual colour, it is often
very uncertain what kind of Blue is meant, whether Cerulean or some darker shade ; frequently indeed
the latter is indicated by the words " blodium " and " iudicus," which mean a sort of hyacinthine and
darker blue ; but these must not be confounded with Purple, which is also found in the same or other
Lists. The occasions, however, on which Blue or Purple was employed are somewhat conjectural,
though there is more to guide : light Blue seems sometimes to have been used in Commemorations of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a somewhat darker shade is to be seen in Illuminations of about the
Fifteenth Centurj', in Copes used at Funerals.
A similar variety is found, both as to material and colour, in the Coverings and Hangings used for
the Altars and Chancels : the annexed list exhibits their Colours : —
GoW.
Blue.
Green.
White.
Bed.
Slack.
Various.
Altar Coverings
Altar Hangings
Altar Curtains .
Chancel Hangings
3
3
11
1
6
2
6
6
s
18
S
4
2
6
I
5
2
2
4
22
9
10
Totals
6
20
■20
32
15
S
41
Besides the colours already enumerated, others are sometimes mentioned, such as Brown, TaA\Tiey,
Murrey, Pink, and Cheyney — perhaps Chestnut; also combinations of colours, viz. Red and Green,
Paly of White and Green, Red and White, Blue and White, Blue and Yellow, White and Red
chequered. These different colours, or mixtures of colours, are to be found alike in Vestments of the
Ministers, or of the Altars, no less than in the Hangings of the Churches.
It is worth noticing that the more usual Ecclesiastical colours are those which may be especially
accounted the Colours of England — Red, White, and Blue — being combined in the National Flag, and
designating the Admirals of this Country's Fleets : possibly the close, though curious and apparently
untraceable, relations which for several centuries subsisted between the Church and the Navy,^ in the
Admiralty and Ecclesiastical Courts, may have tended to perpetuate this correspondence. It may also
be mentioned, as probably indicating the effect which Ecclesiastical customs produced or helped to per-
petuate, that Red, Violet, and Black are mentioned as colours worn on the Judicial Bench, according
to the Term, in some Regulations made by the Judges in 1635. [Gent. Mag. Oct. 1768.] Green, also,
appears to have been at one time a favourite colour with them. Moreover, the retention of Red,
PurjDle, and Green — and especially the prevalence of Red — in the rich and decent, no less than (as was
once too common) in the miserable and dirty coverings of handsome or unsightly Altar-tables in the
churches, are in all likelihood the traditional use of these same colours which formerly were more com-
monly and more variously employed in the Services of the Church of England, and that, too, not without
regard to some written or unwritten rale as to the Services and Seasons at which they should be used.
That a desire has long existed, and increases, again to adopt a greater variety of colour in the
Ornaments of the Church, and especially in the coverings of the Altar, is plain from what has been
accomplished and is still doing: one object of this wished-for variety is the very useful one of dis-
tinguishing, and so teaching, by outward tokens, the changes of the Church Seasons and the occurrence
of Ecclesiastical Holydays. For lack of any existing rule on this subject in the Church of England,
the rule of the rest of the Western Church has not unnaturally been followed in many cases, especially
as the ancient English rule or practice was either not at all known, or not easily to be collected, even by
those who were aware that some leading points of it were to be found without much difficulty. As the
need of some guide in this matter is becoming more general, it may not be without a really practical use
to compare the old English rules with those of the Roman and the Eastern Churches : by doing this a
somewhat uniform principle will probably be found, sufficient also to furnish a general rule for those
who, while rightly wishing to be not out of harmony with the rest of Christendom, would with equal
propriety prefer to follow any older practice of the Church of England which would afford a satisfactory
direction in the absence of any definite rule authorized by living Ecclesiastical Authority.
The Roman rule is laid down with precision : the old English rule can be ascertained with a near
' Dyer mentions that in Spain Philip II. brought naval
matters before tlic Inqninitinn, ami that Don IVilro, Arch-
bishop of Toltilo, was High Admiral c 'f Tastilo " by a then not
uncommon union of offices." [Dyer'.s Moilerii Eurojir, p. ISO]
to tfje lpmj)ci- 15oob.
//
approach to accuracy, from the ancient Service-books, St. Osmund's Register, and the Inventories of
Church goods. The Eastern Church, as a learned Priest of it states, does not give " in her Ritual
books " any such " minute rules with regard to the colours of the Vestments, as are to be found in the
Western Ritual. The Church enjoins her ministers to care more for the simple purity and propriety
of the vestments than for their richness. In those cases where means are at hand, she bids the
ministers to wear richer vestments of any colour for the joyful seasons of the year, and Black or Red
ones for the times of fasting and sorrow. Thus, in Passion Week, and Great Lent, at Burials, etc.. Black
or Purple Vestments are worn. It is customary to wear White Silk Vestments (if possible) at Epiphany
and Easter." In this description of the general and unspecific character of the Eastern rule, there is a
considerable correspondence with the features of the Sarum rule just noticed.
The following Table may be considered as furnishing a fairly trustworthy view of these three Rules : —
COMPARATIVE TABLE OF COLOURS ACCORDING TO THE ENGLISH, ROMAN
AND EASTERN USE.
Seasons.
Advent — Sundays
,, Ferial . . . .
Christmas Eve .
,, Octave
St. Stephen
St. John Evangelist
Innocents
,, Octave . . . .
VI. dies Natalis . . . .
The rest of Christmas-tide .
Circumcision . . . .
Epiphany Octave . . . .
The rest of the Season .
Septuagesima to Easter — Sundays
„ „ Ferial
Ash Wednesday .
Midlent ("Laeban ")
Maundy Thur.sday
Good Friday
Easter Eve .
Easter .
Low Sunday
Invention of the Cross
Martyrs in Paschal-tide
Rogation Days
Vigil of Ascension
Ascension Octave .
The rest of the Season
Vigil of Pentecost
Whitsuntide
Vigil of Holy Trinity
i
13
ENGLISH.
EOlV
Salisbury.
g
London,
Innocent
<
Earlv,
Late,
York.
Wf.lls.
1406-20.
III ,
a
Uth-12th
century.
15Ui-16th
century.
d. 1216.
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Red.'
"Omnia
media. "
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Red.
Purple (?).
White.
White. 3
"Omnia
media."
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
White.
Red.
White.
Red.*'
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Red.
White.
White.
Red.i
"Media
et alba."
White.
Red.
Red.
Red.'
Red.
Violet or
Purple.
Red.
Red.
Red.
White.
Red.
White.
Red.
White (?).
White. 3
White.
Red.
White (?).
Red.'
Red and
White.
White.
White.
Red.
White (?).
White.
Red.'
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Green or
Green.
Yellow.
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Blue. 2
Red.
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Red.
Red or
Purple.
White. 3
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Red.*
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Blue.
Red.
Violet or
Purple.
Violet.
Black.
Red.
Red.
Red. 3
Red
(a white
banner).
White.
Black.
Black.
Red.«
Red.
Red.
Red and
Purple.
Red or
Black.
Black.
Black or
Red.
Red.
Red.**
Red.
White.
White.
Red.
White.
White.
White.
Red.'
Red.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Red.
Red.'
Red.
Red.
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Red.
White.
Purple or
Violet.
White.
White.
Red.'
White.
White.
White.
White.
White (?).
White.'
White.
White or
Red.
4
Red
Red.
Red.
White or
Red.+
Red.
Red'
Red.
Red.
Red.
Green.
1
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Modern.
Violet.
Violet.
White.
White.
Red.
White.
Violet
(Red if
Sunday).
White.
White.
White.
White.
Green.
Violet.
Violet.
Violet.
Rose or
Violet.
Violet.
Black.
Violet
(W.Mass).
White.
White
Red.
Red.
Violet.
Wliite.
White.
Violet
(Red at
Mass).
Red.
Red.
* White was prescribed at York for the Christmas Mhsn in
aurora, and for offices of Palm Simday and Easter F,ve.
+ Symbolical of the Pentecostal fire.
' For numbered footnotes, fee p. 73.
78
a Jaitual :jntroDuction
Comparative Table of Coloors according to the English, Roman, and Eastern Use — continited.
Seasons.
Trinity Sunday ....
Corpus Christi ....
After Trinity — Sundays
,, Ferial .
Transfiguration and M. Holy Name
Holy Cross
Feasts of Blessed Virgin ilary
Michaelmas
Apostles — out of Easter
St. John, Port Latin .
Conversion of St. Paul .
St. Peter ad Vincula .
St. John Baptist — Nativitj' .
,, Decollation
Evangelist — out of Easter .
Martyrs ....
Confessors ....
Bishops
Doctors
Virgin not Martyr — Matron
AH Saints
All Souls
Ember Days (out of Whitsuntide)
VigU . . .
Dedication Octave
Relics
Marriage
Funeral of an Innocent
Mass of Dead
Office of Dead
Processions
2;
ENGLISH.
S.lLISBUKy.
<
Early,
Late,
&
llth-]2tU
loth-llitli
century.
century.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Green (?).
Red.
White (?).
Red.
Red.
No pre-
White.
White or
cise prac-
Blue(?).
tical rule
White.
White.
can be
given for
Red.
Red.
these: the
White.
Red.
general
Red.
White (?)
principle
Red.
Red.
which
regulates
Red.
Red.'
the col-
Red.
Red.
our for
Red.
Red.
seasons
Red.
Red.
applies to
Yellow.
Yellow.
Festivals
which
Yellow(?).
are ob-
served
Yellow(?).
by the
Eastern
White.
White.
Church.
Red.
Red (?).
Purple (?).
Black.
Red [so in
Chichele's
Pontif.]
AVhite.
White.
White (?).
White (?).
Black(?).
Purple.
Blue.
Black.
Red.
York.
Red.i
Red.'
Red.'
Green. ^
R«d.'
Blue(?).=
White.=
Eed.i
Red.1
Blue(?).>
Blue. 2
Red.
Red.1
Blue. 2
Red.i
Blue.
Blue.
Red.
Blue.^
Red.1
Black.
Red(?).
Red.'
Green. ^
Purple.
Blue or
Purple.
Blue.
Wells.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.'«
Red.
White.
Blue and
White.
Red.
White.
Red.
Green and
Yellow.
Blue.
Red.
Red."
Red.'-^
Blue and
Green.
Green and
Yellow.
Green and
Yellow.
White.
Red and
White.
Black.
I "Media
et alba. "
Red and
White.
Black.
Black.
IvOSDON,
1406-21).
ROMAN.
Innocent
III.,
d. 1216.
White.
White.
Green or
YeUow.
Green or
Yellow.
Red.
White.
White.
Red.
Red(?).
Red(?).
■UTiite.
not Red.
Red.
Red.
Yellow.
White.
White. ■■>,
Black.
Black.
Purple or
Violet.
White.'
Black.
Black.
Black.
Green(?)
Green.
Modern.
Wliite.
White.
Green.
Green.
White.
Red.
White.
White.
Red.
Red.
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Red.
Red.
White.
White.'
White
White.
White.
Violet.
Violet.
Violet.
White.
White.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Violet.
III. Having thus given some description of the Material and Colour of the "Ornaments of the
Ministers," their Form may be understood by means of the accompanying descriptions and illustra-
tions. The symbolical meanings which are added to the former are taken from the " Book of
Ceremonies" or "Rationale," drawn up under the direction of Archbishop Cranmer in the year 1.542.
The original manuscript of this " Rationale," occasionally corrected by Cranmer's own hand, is preserved
in the British Museum [Cleop. E. 5, fol. 259 sqq.], and it may also be found in print in (Collier's
' It appears from inventories, etc. (noted by Canon Sim-
mons and Dr. Henderson), that in tlioso instances at Yorh Blue
was used for lieil at some altars in the fourteenth nnd fif-
teenth centuries.
2 White for P.luc at some ill-furnished altars in York:
^ Green, ihtd.
* White or (!reen. ihiil.
' Red or Blue, iliid.
« At IIiTcfnril, as in other Englisli uses, the Hed Chasuble
w,a9 changed for tlie Black Co|)e for the latter part of Good
Friday Service. At I'nrh Brown, or Bl.ack with Red
Orphroya, w.is used in I'.issiontide. The; WiV.< Ordinal
I)rescril)e3 a Black (^'ope for the impersonator of Caiaphas as
the one exception to the rule fur Red.
' At Lhirnln, which otherwi.io followed Sarum, White was
used on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. This was also
the Piirisian colour, and it appears in Archbishop Chichele's
Pontifical in the Libraiy of Trin. Coll. Camb. Purple M'as
used at Lincoln by tlie celebrant in solemn obsequies about
1.3.)0.
^ .Some OalUcan uses have Green for Bishops and Violet
for Abbats.
" At Exeter (where Bishop Oraudisson in 1.340 adopted the
London, Canterbury, or Mediaeval Roman sequence) any colour
ml libitum was admitted on All Saints, Feast of Relics, and
Dedication of a Church.
'" But these are described as the days of Sixtus and
Donatus.
" Unfortunately a blank is left in the Wells Ordinal against
St. Luke's Day.
'= The Wel'ln rule (printed by Mr. H. E. Reynolds, 1881)
gives for a Virgin not Martyr \Vhiti' and l!ed.
to tlje ll^rapec IBook. 79
Ecclesiastical History, v. 104, ed. 1852, and in Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, I. ii. 411, ed. 1822.
The full title of the work is " Ceremonies to be used in the Church of England, together with an
Explanation of the Meaning and Significancy of them."
The Ornaments mentioned in the " Rationale " are those only which are worn by the Celebrant at the
Altar, and are as follows : [1] The Amice ; [2] the Albc ; [3] the Girdle ; [4] the Stole ; [5] the Phanon,
i.e. the Maniple or Sudarium as it was also called ; [G] the Chasuble. The Rubric in the Prayer
Book of 1549 specifies only — [1] the Albe ; [2] the Vestment or Cope ; [3] the Tunicle ; but, of course,
it does not exclude the others named in the " Rationale," and, in fact, the whole were in use under the
First Prayer Book. These two lists, then, comprise eight Ornaments which are now to be described.
1. The Amice, Amictus (the Armenian VaJcass and, perhaps, the Eastern Omophdrion seem to
correspond to this, especially the former). — This is a broad and oblong piece of Linen with two strings
to fasten it ; in its more ornate form it is embroidered on the outer edge with a rich fillet or otherwise
adorned. When used it is first placed on the head, then slipped down to and worn on the shoulders
beneath the Albe ; so that, when left somewhat loose, it has the appearance of an ornamental collar as
shewn in the drawing, Plate II.
The " Rationale " says : " He putteth on the Amice, which, as touching the Mystery, signifies the
veil with the which the Jews covered the face of Christ, when they buffeted Him in the time of His
Passion. And as touching the Minister, it signifies faith, which is the head, ground, and foundation of
all virtues ; and therefore, he puts that upon his head first."
2. The Albe, Alba (the Eastern StoicJiarion and the Russian Podriznik). — This is a loose
and long garment coming down to the feet and having close-fitting sleeves reaching to the hands.
Anciently it appears to have been made usually of Linen, though in later times rich Silks of different
colours were frequently used, while in the Russian Church Velvet is often employed. It was very
commonly ornamented with square or oblong pieces of Embroidery called Apparels ; these were stitched
on or otherwise fastened to various parts of it, especially just above the feet and near the hands, where
they had somewhat the appearance of cuffs. The Rubric of 1549 directs the use of "a white Albe
plain ; " this may have meant a Linen Albe without Apparels, yet Silk or similar material seems not
to be forbidden provided it be white : Embroidery, such as shewn in the sketch, Plate I., appears
sufficiently " plain " to be consistent with the language and intention of the Rubric. Old-fashioned
Surplices are always thus ornamented about the .shoulders, a tradition of ancient custom.
The " Rationale " says of the Minister that " he puts upon him the Albe, which, as touching the
Mystery, signifieth the white garment wherewith Herod clothed Christ in mockery when he sent Him
to Pilate. And as touching the Minister, it signifieth the pui'eness of conscience, and innocency he
ought to have, especially when he sings the J\lass."
The Surplice, Superpelliceutn, Plate II. (whether with or without Sleeves;, and the Rochet,
Rochdum, being both of them only modifications of the Albe, this language of the " Rationale " respecting
it appears to apply equally to them.
3. The Girdle, Cingidum (the Eastern Poi/ass). — This is a Cord or narrow band of Silk or other
material (usually white) with Tassels attached ; or, as in the Eastern Church, a broad Belt (often of
rich material) with a clasp, hooks, or strings. It is used for fastening the Albe round the waist.
The " Rationale " thus explains it : " The Girdle, as touching the Mystery, signifies the scourge
with which Christ was scourged. And as touching the Minister, it signifies the continent and chaste
living, or else the close mind which he ought to have at prayers, when he celebrates."
4. The Stole, Stola (the Eastern Ppitrachelion of the Priest, the Orarion of the Deacon, the
Lention of the Sub-deacon). — This is a strip of Silk about three inches wide, and about eight and a
half feet long ; it may be plain or richly ornamented ; especially at the ends, of which examples are
given in Plate II. The Priest wears it hanging over his neck, and when he celebrates it is usuallv
crossed on the breast and passed under the Girdle : the Deacon wears it suspended over the left
shoulder ; but, when assisting at the Celebration, he often has it brought across his back and breast
and fastened at his right side. As used by the Greek Priest it has the appearance of two Stoles joined
together, the upper end having a hole through which the head is put, and thus it hangs down in front.
The " Rationale " says thus of it : " The Stole, as touching the Mystery, signifieth the ropes or
bands that Christ was bound with to the pillar, when He was scourged. And as touching the Minister,
it signifieth the yoke of patience, which he must bear as the servant of God."
5. The ^r.wiPLE, ]\[fnripvh(f:. sometiinos called Fanon or Phanon and Svdariuw (the Easteni
8o a iaitual JntroDuction to tf)e Iprapcr 15oofe
Epimanikia aud the Russian Pdrutchi; each of these are, however, a kind of Cuffs worn on both
hands). — Originally it appears to have been a narrow strip of Linen, usually as wide as a Stole and
about two and a half feet long [sec Plate II.], and seems to have been employed as a kind of Sudarium
for wiping the hands and for other cleanly purposes, whence it probably took one of its names. Sub-
sequently, however, it became a mere ornament, being made of rich materials and often embroidered,
or even enriched with jewels. It hangs over the left arm of the Celebrant and his assistants ; it should
be fastened near the wrist, in a loop, to prevent its falling off
The " Rationale " describes its meaning together with the Stole in these words : " In token whereof "
{i/e,. of patience), "he puts also the Phanon on his arm, which admonisheth him of ghostly strength
and godly patience that he ought to have, to vanquish and overcome all carnal infirmity.
6. The Chasuble or Vestment, Casnhc (the Eastern Pkelonion and the Russian Phclonc or
Phcelonion). — This vesture is worn over the Albe : originally it was nearly or entirely a circular gar-
ment, ha%'ing an opening in the centre through which the head of the wearer passed ; and thus it fell
gracefull}' over the shoulders and arms, covering the entire person in its ample folds and reaching nearly
to the feet both before and behind : at a later period it was made narrower at the back and front
by reducing its circular fonn, and so it frequently terminated like a reversed pointed arch ; the sleeve
part also became shorter, reaching only to the hands, and thus avoiding the need of gathering it up
on the arms. Ultimately, whether from economy, or bad taste, or supposed convenience, the sleeve parts
were cut away to the shoulders in the Latin Communion ; and even the Russian vestment has been
so much reduced in the front that it covers little more than the chest : however, the older form has
been for the most part retained in the rest of the Eastern Communion. The dra%ving on Plate I.
shews the form which prevailed in the Church of England prior to the Reformation ; it has the merit
of being both elegant and convenient. The same picture shews the mode of ornamenting it, namely,
by embroidering the collar and outer edge, and by attaching to it what is called the Y Orphrey ;
though very commonly the Latin Cross, and sometimes the Crucifixion, was variously embroidered on
the back, only the perpendicular Orphrey (or Pillar, as it is tenned) being affixed in the front.
The " Rationale " is thus given : " The overvesture, or Chesible, as touching the Myster}', signifieth
the purple mantle that Pilate's soldiers put upon Christ after that they had scourged Him. Aud as
touching the Minister, it signifies charity, a virtue excellent above all other."
7. The Cope, Cappa (the Armenian Phelonion is a similar Vestment, and is used instead of the
Chasuble). — It is a kind of full, long Cloke, of a semicircular shape, reaching to the heels, and open in
front, thus leaving the arms free below the elbows. Most commonly it has a Hood, as shewn in the
drawing, Plate II. ; where also is represented the Orphrey and an illustration of the mode of enriching
the material by embroidery. The mode of fastening it by a Band, to which is often attached a rich
ornament, called the Morse, is there also exhibited. It is worn over either the Albe or the Surplice.
The " Rationale " does not mention it ; probably because it was not one of the Eucharistic Vestments
then or previously in use. But that it might be used at the Altar (though probably not by the Cele-
brant when consecrating the Oblations) is plain from the fact that the Rubric of 1549 in naming
" Vestment or Cope," apparently allows a choice between it and the Chasuble ; but it may only have
been intended that, in a place where both are provided, the Chasuble alone should be worn where the
whole Eucharistic Service was used ; for a Rubric at the end of the Service specifies the Cope as the
Vestment to be employed at those times when only the earlier portion of the Service is intended to be
said, no Consecration being designed because of its being known that there would " be none to com-
municate with the Priest." The 24th Canon of 1G03 does indeed recognize the Cope as the Celebrant's
Vestment to be used in Cathedrals ; but the Rubric of 1662, having later and larger authority, seems
to point to the Chasuble of the Book of 1 549 as the Vestment in which to consecrate.
8. The TuNiCLE, Tunica; also called, as worn by the Deacon or Gospeller, Dalmatic, Dahnatica
Cthe Eastern Stoicharion or Saectts of the Deacon). — This is a kind of loose coat or frock, reaching
below the knees, open partially at the lower part of the sides; it has full, though not largo, sleeves; in
material and colour it should correspond with the Chasuble. Examples of its Orphreys and of the
mode of embroidering it are shewn in the two illustrations on Plate I. The Deacon's Dalmatic was
usually .somewhat more ornamented in the Western Church than was the Tunicle worn by the Sub-
deacon or Ejiistoler.
This ornament, like the Cope, is not mentioned in the " Rationale " probably because, as was
observed above, only the Vestments of the Celebrant are there .specified.
THE BOOK
OF
And Administration
Of the
SACRAMENTS,
AND OTHER
RITES AND CEREMONIES
Of the CHURCH,
According to the Use
Of the
CHURCH of ENGLAND;
Together with the
PSALTER or PSALM 8
OP
DAVID,
Pointed as they are to he Sung or Said in CHURCHES;
AND THE
FORM OR MANNER
OP
Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating
OF
BISHOPS, PRIESTS,
AND
DEACONS.
Cbc Citic anD tbc
THE TITLE OF THE PKAYER BOOK.
Common Prayer] This familiar term seems first to have
been used authoritatively in a rubric to the English Litany of
1544: " It is thought convenient in this Common Prayer of
Procession to have it set forth and used in the Vulgar Tongue,
for stirring the people to more devotion." It is again found
in the Injunctions of Edward VI., issued in 1546-7. But it
is a very ancient term, being found in use as far back as a.d.
252, in St. Cyprian's Treatise on the Lord's Prayer ; of which
he writes, " Piihlica i'st nobis et Conwiunis Oratio."
Common Prayer and Ptthlic Prayer are not theologically
identical, although the terms are used in the same legal sense
in the respective titles of the two Acts of L'niforniity. In an
exact sense. Common Prayer is defined by the authoritative
words of our Lord, " Where two or three are gathered together
in My Name, there am I in the midst of theia." [Matt, xviii.
20.] The Name of God is an expression used witli great
frequency in Holy Scripture to denote the aulhorily of God ;
in the same manner as we saj", that the oflicial agents of the
Sovereign act in the Xame of the Sovereign, when they
engage in the duties of their office. To be met together in the
Name of Christ is to be met together under His authority,
not as an accidental or promiscuous assembly ; and officially,
that is, in the presence and with the aid of His autliorized
agents.
Thus, true Common Prayer is that which is offered in
Divine Service in the Church, by a Bishoj) or Priest (or a
Deacon as locum tenens in some cases), in the presence and
with the aid of three, or at least two other Christian persons.
Such prayer presujjposes a reverent assent to our Lord's appli-
cation of the words, "My House ^ shall be called the house
of prayer," and to those already quoted. To it also may be
applied the words of St. Cj^jrian :- "They continued with
one accord in prayer, manifesting at the same time the
instancy of their praying, and the agreement. Because God,
who ' maketh men to be of one mind in an house, ' admits into
the house divine and eternal those only among whom is
unanimous praj'er. "
This kind of prayer is therefore the highest kind of all.
Other prayer is exalted in kind, and probablj' in efficacy, in
proportion as it connects itself with that which is Common ;
as it is offered in that sense in which we are taught to say
Our Father ; as it is offered under the conviction that
Christian individuals stand not alone, each one for himself
before God, but are parts of one Body whereof all the mem-
bers are in comnmnion one with another through the One
Intercessor of Whom the ministers of the Church are the
earthly representatives.
and administration of the Sacraments'] This does not exclude
the Sacraments from Common Praijer. The corporate work
of the Church is distinctly recognized in the administration
of Baptism, and the Holy Communiou is the root and apex of
Common Prayer. But it puts forward prominently the idea
of a never-ceasing round of Divine Service as distinguished
from the occasional (however frequent) offering of the Holy
Eucharist.
otlier rites and ceremonies of the Church] These words claim,
as a matter of course, that tlie substance of the Prayer Book
is in accordance with tlie theological and devotional system
of the Catholic Church : and, in connection with those which
immediately follow, they plainly enunciate the principle set
forth more at large in the Thirty-fourth Article of Religion,
that while that system is binding on tlie whole Church, yet
particular Churches have a right to carry it out in their
own way, according to their own "use" as to detail and
ceremonial.'
> T» Kupiicxit, Kyrkc, Churcli, tho House of the Lord.
2 On the. Lord's Prayer, iv.
3 Thft i>liraac " Rites nnd Cereinnnios" is not at all ctmlvalciit to our
modern words Ritual and Ceremonial: but refers to the minor services of
the Clinrch, such as the Commin.i*) jii. ortne Churching of Women. Arch-
liishop Cranmer's fourth article of 1536 is ;t ;;ood illustration of the meaning
IntcndfMl : " IV. Of Rites and Cereinoin'es. i\s vestments in God's service :
sprinkling holy water; giving holy bread; bearing candles on Candlemas
Uay: giving of nshc.s on Ash Wednesday: bearing of palms on Palm
Kunday ; creeping to the Cross, and kissing it. and offering unto Christ
before the same on Good Friday ; setting up the sejiulehre of Christ; h.al-
Jowing the font, and other like exorcisms, and benedictions, and laudable
euHtoins : that these arc not to be cond«mned and cist away, but continued,
according to the use of tlie Church of Emjland] This right
v.'as actrd iij'.on so freely in ancient days that there was a con-
siderable variation in the details and ceremonial of Divine
Service as it was celebrated in dill'crent parts of England.
Each Prayer Book took its name from the place of its origin,
and was thus called the " York use," the " Bangor use," the
"Hereford use," the "Salisbury use," and so forth: but
when uniformity of Common Prayer was established upon the
basis of these old service-books, one "itse" Only retained its
authority, that of the Church of England.
In modern Prayer Books the words "the United Church of
England and Ireland " were, during about seventy years,
substituted for tlie words "the Church of England,"
under an Order of Council, dated January 1, 1801 ; but
such an exercise of the Koyal authority goes beyond that
permitted by the Act of Uniformity ; and the change was
very misleading. ■* The two Churches are, and always
have been, in communion with each other, the interchange
of friendly relations has always been very free, and they
have been united in a comnum political bond since 1801.
The formularies of the Church of England have also been
adopted in the Church of Ireland, but a false gloss was put
upon the real title of the Prayer Book when it was printed in
the unjustifiable form referred to. The Church of England
can alter its own "use," and so can the Church of Ireland,
but neither can control the customs of tlie other : and, in
fact, there are some important variations in the Praj'er Books
of the two countries which make the expression "the use
of the United Church of England and Ireland" a misnomer.
The Prayer Book as it now exists is an adaptation of ancient
formularies made by the Church of England alone. Its adop-
tion by other Churches cannot alter the fact, and therefore
cannot justly influence the title. However much it may be
adopted therefore in Ireland, .Scotland, and other possessions
of the English crown, America, the Book of Common Praj'er
is still " according to tlie use of the Church of England."^
But it is also to be observed that the Irish Act of Uni-
formitj' is entitled ' ' An Act for the Uniformity of . . . in the
Church of Ireland :^' the declaration of assent and consent is
to "The Book entitled. The Book of Common Praj'er . . .
according to the Use of the Church of Ireland ; " and so the
title is recited throughout the Act.
together with the Psalter] In the earlier Prayer Books the
Psalter was printed with a separate Title-page, as distinct
from the Services. The first of Bishop Cosin's "Directions
to be given to the Printer," is also, "Set a fair Frontispiece
at the beginning of the Book, and another before the Psalter ;
to be designed as the Archbishop shall direct, and after ,to be
cut in brass." Such an engraved Title-page is affixed to the
Sealed Books, and a proof copy is bound up \iith Cosin's
own volume : but that to the Psalter was not provided. The
Ordinal was bound up with the Praj'er Book for the first time
in l(i61.
The following Tables will illustrate some of the preceding
remarks, and shew at a glance what changes have been
authorized.
The Table of the Contents of the Prayer Book is not in
itself of much interest, but it has been so freelj' handled by
modern printers th;it a \\ ork like the present cannot go forth
without an accurate cojjj' of the authorized form. The
successive changes made in it have a certain interest, and
they are therefore arranged in parallel columns on the oppo-
site page. There is thus given also a sort of l>ird's-ej'e view
of the Historj' of the Prayer Book.
to put us in remembrance of spiritual things. But that none of these cere-
monies have power to remit sin." [Strvpk s Memorials of Craiimerj i, Sli,
Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.)
A rubric at the end of the Elizabethan Prayer Books enjoins also that
" every jtarishioncr .',hall communicate at the least three times in the year,
of which Easter to be one, and shall also receive the Sacraments and other
Rites according to the order in this book api>ointed."
* The Act of Uniformity empowers the Sovereign to alter the names of
the King, Queen, and Royal Family, as occasion shall require; but to alter
the name of the Church itself was a very different thing. In Marriage
Licences, and in Letters of Orders, the old form was used: but in many docu-
ments the alteration had been adoi)ted. 11 is right to a<ld that in the title-
imge of Edward VI. 's Injunctions he is called "in earth under Christ, of
the Church of England and of Ireland the supreme head," and that Henry
VIII. had been iiaincil by the same title in the Bidding of the Bedea, used
in Irelaml about the year IS.'iS. [Slate I'up. Dovi. lien. VIII. ii. 604.]
6 The distinctive title, " Church of England," is very ancient, being found
in Magna Charta. where it ajipears to be used ng a familiar phrase.
Cable of Contents.
§ Successive Titles of the Prayer Book.
1549.
1532.
1662.
The Book of the Common Prayer
aud Admiuiatration of the Sacraments,
and otiier Ritea aud Ceremonies of the
Church : after tlie use of the Church
of England.
Londini in Officiua Richardi Graftoni
Regii impressoris. Cum privilegio ad
iniprimendum solum. Anuo Domini
jiDXLix. Mense Martii.
[Colophon. ] Imprinted at London in
Fleet-street, at the sign of the Sun over
against the Conduit, by Edward Whit-
church. The seventh day of March,
the year of our Lord 1.549.
The Book of Common Prayer, and
Administration of the Sacraments and
other Rites and Ceremonies in the
Church of England.
IT Londini, in OfBcina Edwardi
Whytchurche.
U Cum Privilegio ad Imprimendum
Solum. Anno 1552.
The Book of Common-Prayer and
Administration of the Sacraments, and
other Rites and Ceremonies of the
Church, according to the use of the
Clmrcli of England ; together with the
Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed
as they are to be Sung or Said in
Churches ; and the Form or Manner
of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrat-
ing of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
§ Successive Tables of Contents.
1549.
The Contents of thin Book.
1. A Preface.
2. A Table and Kalendar for Psalms
and Lessons, with necessary rules per-
taining to the same.
3. The Order for Matins and Even-
song, throughout the year.
4. The Introits, Collects, Epistles,
and Gospels, to be used at the celebra-
tion of the Lord's Supper and holy
Communion through the year, with
proper Psalms and Lessons, for divers
feasts and days,
5. The Supper of the Lord and holy
Communion, commonly called the Mass.
6. The Litany and Suffrages.
7. Of Baptism, both public and
private.
8. Of Confirmation, where also is a
Catechism for children.
9. Of Matrimony.
10. Of Visitation of the Sick, aud
Communion of the same.
11. Of Burial.
12. The purification of women.
13. A declaration of Scripture, with
certain prayers to be used the first day
of Lent, commonly called Ashwednes-
day.
14. Of Ceremonies omitted or re-
tained.
15. Certain notes for the more plain
explication and decent ministration of
things contained in this book.
1552.
1G62.
The Contents of this Book.
1. A Preface.
2. Of Ceremonies, why some be abol-
ished and some retained.
3. The order how the Psalter is ap-
pointed to be read.
4. The Table for the order of the
Psalms to be said at Morning and
Evening Prayer.
5. The order how the rest of holy
Scripture is appointed to be read.
6. Proper Psalms and Lessons at
Morning and Evening Prayer, for cer-
tain feasts aud days.
7. An Almanack.
S. Tlie Table and Kalendar for Psalms
and Lessons, with necessary rules apper-
taining to the same.
9. The order for Morning Prayer and
Evening Prayer, throughout tlie year.
10. The Litany.
11. The Collects, Epistles, and Gos-
pels, to be used at the ministration of
the holy Communion, throughout the
year.
12. The order of the ministration of
the holy Commimion.
13. Baptism, both public and private.
14. Confirmation, where also is a
Catechism for Children.
15. Matrimony.
16. Visitation of the Sick.
17. The Communion of the Sick.
IS. Burial.
19. The Thanksgiving of Women
after childbirth.
20. A Commination against sinners,
with certain Prayers to be used divers
times in the year.
21. The form and manner of making
and consecrating nf Bishops, Priests,
and Deacons.
The Contents of this Book.
1. An Act for the Uniformity of
Common Prayer.
2. The Preface.
3. Concerning the Service of the
Church.
4. Concerning Ceremonies.
5. The Order how the Psalter ia ap-
pointed to be read.
G. The Order how the rest of the
holy Scripture is appointed to be read.
7. A Table of proper Lessons and
Psalms.
8. Tables and Rules for the Feasts
and Fasts through the whole year.
9. The Kalendar, with the Table of
Lessons.
10. The Order for Morning Prayer.
11. Tlie Order for Evening Prayer.
12. The Creed of <S'. Athanasim.
13. The Litany.
14. Prayers and Thanksgivings upon
several occasions.
15. The Collects, Epistles, and Gos-
pels, to be used at the Ministration of the
holy Communion throughout the year.
16. The Order of the Ministration of
the holy Communion.
17. The Order of Baptism, both pub-
lick and private.
18. The Order of Baptism for those
of riper years.
19. The Catechism, with the Order
for Confirmation of children.
20. Matrimony.
21. Visitation of the Sick, and Com-
munion of the Sick.
22. Burial.
23. Thanksgiving for Women after
child-bearing.
24. A Commination or Denouncing
of God's anger .ind judgments against
sinners.
25. The Psalter.
26. The Order of Prayers to be used
at Sea.
27. A Form and Manner of Ordain-
ing Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
AN ACT
FOR THE
UNIFORMITY OF COMMON PRAYER/
and Service in the Church, and Administration of the Sacraments,
Primo Elizabethcc. [1 Eliz. c. 2, a.d. 1559.]
"WHERE at the death of our late Soveraign Lord King Edioard
the Sixth, there remained one uniform order of Common Ser-
vice, and Prayer, and of the administration of Sacraments,
Rites and Ceremonies in the Church of England, which was
set forth in one Book, intituled, The Booh of Common Prayery
and Administration of Sacraments, ami other Rites and Cere-
monies in the Church of England, Authorized by Act of
ParUament holden in the fifth and sixth years of our said
late Soveraign Lord King Edward the Sixth, intituled, An
Act for the Uniformity of Common Prayer, and Administration
of the Sacraments; The which was repealed, and taken away
by Act of Parliament, in the first year of the Reign of our
late Soveraign Lady Queen Mary, to the great decay of the
due honour of God, and discomfort to the professors of the
truth of Christs Religion :
Be it therefore enacted by the Authority of this present
Parliament, That the said Statute of Repeal, and every thing
therein contained, only concerning the said Book, and the
Service, Administration of Sacraments, Rites, and Ceremonies
contained or appointed in, or by the said Book, shall be void
and of none etfect, from and after the Feast of the Nativity
of Saint John Baptist next coming : and That the said Book,
with the order of Service, and of the Administration of
Sacraments, Rites and Ceremonies, with the alteration
and additions therein added and appointed by this Sta-
tute, shall stand, and be, from, and after the said Feast of
the Nativity of Saint John Baptist, in full force and effect,
according to the tenour and effect of this Statute : Any
thing in the foresaid Statute of Repeal to the contrarj*
notwithstanding.
1 This is the third Act of Uniformity which was passed by Parliament.
The first was that which passed tlie House of Lords on January 15, and
the House of Commons on January 21, 1549, and to which the "First
Prayer Book of Edward VI." was annexed. Tlie original statute is called
of the second and tliird year of that king, Edward's second year ending on
January 27, 1540, and tlie royal assent not being given until tlie third
year. It was repealed, among other Acte, by 1 Mar. sess. 2, c. 2, in which
it is called a statute of Edward's second year, and it is also said to have
been "made in the second year of the King's Majesty's reign" in the fifth
clause of Edward's second Act of Uniformity. The following i.s a summary
of this Act :—
§ 2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1. [a.d. 1549.]
I. For a long time there have been "divers forms of Common Prayer"
used in England, that is to say, "the use of Sarum, of York, of Bangor,
and of Lincoln ; and besides the same, now of late much more divers and
sundry forms and fashions have been used in the Cathedral and parish
churches of England and Wales, as well concerning the Mattins or Morn-
ing Prayer and the Evensong, as also concerning the Holy Communion,
commonly called the filass, with divers and sundry rites and ceremonies
concerning the same, and in the administration of other Sacraments of the
Church." Some have been pleased with the use of "rites and ceremonies
in other form than of late years they have been used," and others greatly
offended. The King, Protector, and Council have tried to stay such inno-
vations, but without success; wherefore to the intent that a uniform,
quiet, and goiily urder should be adopted, his Highness has appointed the
Archbishop of Canterbury, with other bisliops and learned divines, to
arrange audi an order, "having as well eye and respect to the most sincere
and pure Christian religion taught by the Scripture, as to the usages in the
Primitive Churcli." This " rite and fashion of Common and open Prayer
and administration of the Sacraments, has been, bv the aid of the Holy
Ghost, with one uniform aqrehmknt, concluded by them, and is set
forth in the Book of Common Prayer." This form of " Mattins, Evensong,
celebration of tho Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and adminis-
tration of each of the Sacraments, and all their common and open prayer,"
ia therefore to bo said and used from and after the Feast of Pentecost next
ensuing, "and none other or otherwise."
II. Any clergyman refusing to use the Book of Common Prayer, or using
any other forms than those st-t forth theri-in, shall, on conviction by vurdit^t
of a jury, forfeit one of his benefices, and suifer six months' imprisonment
for the first offence; for the second oltence be imprisoned for twdvo
months, and forft;it all "his Bpiritual jiromotions; " and for the third
olfencc suffer imprisonment for life. Unbonedeed clergy to bo imprisoned
six months for the llmt otfence, and perpetually for the second.
III. No "interludes, plays, songs, rhymes," or any other open words,
are to be allowed Uj bo spoken "in the derog.itlon, depraving, or despimng
of tho same Book, or of any thing therein contained, or any part thereof."
No one Bhall forcibly compel a clergyman to use other fonns than those of
the Prayer Book, under penalties similar in character to those enacted in
the Becond clause.
IV. Gives power to the Judges to inquire, hear, and determine all
olTeDCCS committed contrary to this Aet.
V. Provides that any Archbishop or Bishop may associate himself with
the Judge in the trial of such ofl.'ences as have been committed within liis
own diocese.
VI. The Prayer Book may bo used in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew, by such
as understand those languages, with the exception of the Holy Communion.
VII. In "Churches, Chapels, Oratories, or other places," any Psalm or
Prayer taken out of the Bible may be used, provided the proper t-ervice
has been previously said.
VIII. That the books shall be bought at the charges of the parishioners,
and where they have been obtained before Pentecost shall be put in use
within three weeks afterwards.
The five following clauses are of a technical kind, and need not be
noticed.
The following is also a summary of the second Act of Unifomuty, to
which the "Second Prayer Book of Edward VI." was annexed :—
§ 5 and 6 Edw. VI. c. 1. [a.p. 1552.]
T. The Book of Common Prayer, " a very godly order, agreeable to the
Word of God and the primitive Church, very comfortable to all Christian
people desiring to live in Christian conversation, and most profitable to
the state of this realm," having been set forth by authority of Parliament,
yet a great number of persons "following their own sensuality, and living
either without knowledge or due fear of God," neglect to come to cliurch
on Sundays and Holy-days.
II. For reformation thereof, it is enacted that every person shall duly
attend church, unless they have some reasonable liindrance. The two
following clauses give authority to punish those who disobey the Act.
V. Doubts about the manner of using the Prayer Book having arisen,
"rather by the curiosity of the minister and mistakers, than of any other
worthy cause," the said book has, by command of the King, and with the
authority of Parliament, been "faithfully and godly perused, explained,
and made fully perfect," and a form for the consecration of bishops, and
ordination of priests and deacons, has been annexed to it. The revised
book is to be in f<jrce under the provisions of the former Act; and sliall
be put in use by all persons after the Feast of All Saints, under penalties
such as those i>reviously enacted : every Curate reading this Act on one
Sunday in every quarter of a year; and enforcing the duty of Common
I'rayer in an exhortation to his people.
Both these Acts of Uniformity were repealed in 1553, and the authority
of Parliament consequently withdrawn from both tho Prayer Books, by
the third Act of ParliamtMit jiassed after Queen Mary's aceession (1 Mar.
sess. 2, c. 2J. Jiut this " htatuto of Repeal, and every thing therein con-
tained, only concerning the said Book," was made "void and of none effect"
by the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity: the second book (subjeet to the
nltenitions made in it by Elizabeth's Commissioners) being thus revived,
but not eitlnr of the sl.itntcs themselves. Tho Act of Mary's reign was,
liowfver, entirely repeated by 1 James I. c. 'J.'i, ami thus tho two Acts of
Edward were revived. They are also said to be made periietual by 5 Anne,
c. 5, and in the authoritative list of the statutes published in the year 1870
they arc set down as still in force.
acts of Qniformitg.
85
[2] And further be it Enacted by the Queens Highness,
Mrith the assent of the Lords and Commons of this present
Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same,
That all, and singular Ministers in any Cathedral, or Parish-
Church, or other place within this Realm of Emjland, Wahs,
and the Marclies of the same, or other tlie Queens Dominions,
shall from and after the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John
Baptist next coming, be bounden to say and use the Matteus,
Evensong, celebration of the Lords Supper, and administra-
tion of each of tlie Sacraments, and all other Common and
open Prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the
said Book, so Authorized by Parliament in the said fifth and
sixth year of the Reign of King Eihoard the Sixth ; with one
alteration, or addition of certain Lessons to be used on every
Sunday in the year, and the form of the Letauy altered, and
corrected, and two sentences only added in the delivery of
the Sacrament to the Communicants, and none other, or
otherwise : and. That if any manner of Parson, Vicar, or other
whatsoever Minister, that ought or should sing, or say Com-
mon Prayer mentioned in the said Book, or minister the
Sacraments, from, and after the Feast of the Nativity of Saint
John Baptist next coming, refuse to use the said Common
Prayers, or to minister the Sacraments in such Cathedral, or
Parish-Church, or other places, as he should use to minister
the same, in such order and form, as they be mentioned, and
set forth in the said Book, or shall wilfully, or obstinately
standing in the same, use any other Rite, Ceremony, Order,
Form, or manner of celebrating of the Lords Supper openly,
or privily, or Mattens, Even song, administration of the Sacra-
ments, or other open Prayers, than is mentioned, and set
forth in the said Book, [Ojien Prayer in, and throwjh this Act,
is meant that Prayer, lohich is for other to come unto, or hear,
either in Common Churches, or private Cliajypels, or Oratories,
commonly called the Service of the Church] or shall preach,
declare, or speak any thing in the derogation, or depraving
of the said Book, or any thing therein contained, or of any
part thereof, and shall be thereof lawfully convicted, according
to the Laws of this Realm, by verdict of twelve men, or by
his own confession, or by the notorious evidence of the fact ;
shall lose, and forfeit to the Qiieens Highness, Her Heirs, and
Successors, for his first offence, the profit of all his Spiritual
Benefices, or Promotions, coming, or arising in one whole
year next after his conviction : And also tliat the person so
convicted shall for the same offence suffer imprisomnent by
the space of six moneths, without Bail, or Mainprise : And if
any such person, once convict of any offence concerning the
premisses, shall after his first conviction, eftsoons offend, and
be thereof in form aforesaid lawfully convict ; That then the
same person shall for his second offence suffer imprisonment
by the space of one whole year, and also shall therefore be
deprived ipso facto of all his Spiritual Promotions ; and. That
it shall be lawful to all Patrons, or Donors of all and
singular the same Spiritual Promotions, or any of them, to
present, or collate to the same, as though the person or per-
sons so offending were dead : and That, if any such person,
or persons, after he shall be twice convicted in form aforesaid,
shall offend against any of the premisses the third time, and
shall be thereof, in form aforesaid, lawfully convicted ; That
then the person so offending, and convicted the third time
shall be deprived ijKO facto of all his Spiritual Promotions,
and also shall suffer imprisonment during his life : And if the
person, that shall offend, and be convict in form aforesaid,
concerning any of the premisses, shall not be Beneficed, nor
have any Spiritual Promotion ; That then the same Person,
so offending, and convict, shall for the first offence suffer
imprisonment during one whole year next after his said con-
viction, without Bail or Mainprise : And if any such person
not having any Spiritual Promotion, after his first convic-
tion, shall eftsoons offend in any thing concerning the
premisses, and shall in form aforesaid be thereof lawfully
convicted ; That then the same person sliall for liia second
offence suffer imprisonment during his life.
[3] And it is Ordained, and Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, Tliat if any person, or persons whatsoever, after
the said Feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist next
coming, shall in any Enterludes, Playes, Songs, Rimes, or by
other open words declare, or sjjeak any tiling in the deroga-
tion, depraving, or despising of the same Book, or of any
thing therein contained, or any part tliereof, or shall by open
fact, deed, or by open threatnings compel, or cause, or other-
wise procure, or maintain any Parson, Vicar, or other Minister
in any Cathedral, or Parish-Church, or in Chappel, or in any
other Place, to sing, or say any Common, or open Prayer, or
to miuister any Sacrament otherwise, or in any other manner,
and form, than is mentioned in the said Book ; or that by
any of the said means shall unlawfully interrupt, or let any
Parson, Vicar, or other Minister in any Catliedral, or Parish-
Church, Chappel, or any other place to sing or say Common
and open Prayer, or to minister the Sacraments, or any of
them, in such manner, and form, as is mentioned in the said
Book ; That then every such person, being thereof lawfully
convicted in form abovesaid, shall forfeit to the Queen our
Soveraign Lady, Her Heirs, and Successors for the first
offence an hundred marks : And if any person, or persons,
being once convict of any such offence, eftsoons offend against
any of the last recited offences, and shall in form aforesaid
be thereof lawfully convict ; That then the same person, so
offending and convict, shall for the second offence forfeit to
the Queen our Soveraign Lady, Her Heirs, and Successors
Four hundred marks : And if any person, after he in form
aforesaid shall have been twice convict of any offence con-
cerning any of the last recited offences, shall offend the third
time, and be thereof in form abovesaid lawfully convict ;
That then every person, so offending and convict, shall for
his third offence forfeit to our Soveraign Lady the Queen all
his Goods and Chattels, and shall suffer imprisonment during
his life : And if any person or persons, that for his first
offence concerning the premisses, shall be convict in form
aforesaid, do not pay the sum to be paid by vertue of his
conviction, in such manner and form, as the same ought to
be paid, within six weeks next after his conviction ; That
then every person so convict, and so not paying the same,
shall for the same first offence, in stead of the said sum, suffer
imprisonment by the space of six moneths without Bail or
Mainprise : And if any person, or persons, that for his second
offence concerning the premisses shall be convict in form afore-
said, do not pay the said sum to be paid by vertue of his con-
viction, and this estatute, in such manner and form, as the
same ought to be paid, within six weeks next after this said
second conviction ; That then every person so convicted, and
not paying the same, shall for the same second offence, in the
stead of the said sum, suffer imprisonment during twelve
moneths without Bail or Mainprise : and. That from and
after the said Feast of the Nativity of Saint John Baptist next
coming, all, and every person and persons, inhabiting within
this Realm, or any other the Queens Majesties Dominions,
shall diligently and faithfully, having no lawful, or reasonable
excuse to be absent, indeavour themselves to resort to their
Parish -Church, or Chappel accustomed, or upon reasonable
let thereof, to some usual place, where Common Prayer, and
such service of God shall be used in such time of let, upon
every Sunday, and other dayes ordained and used to be kept
as holy days, and tlien, and there to abide orderly and
soberly, during the time of Common Prayer, Preachings, or
other Service of GoD there to be used and ministred, upon
pain of punishment by the censures of the Church ; and
also upon pain, that every person so offending shall for-
feit for every such offence twelve pence, to be levied by
the Churchwardens of the Parish, where such offence shall
be done, to the use of the poor of the same Parish, of the
86
acts Of Oniformitj^.
goods, lauds, and teuemects of such offeuder, by way of
distress.
[i] And for due execution hereof, tlie Queens most excel-
lent Majesty, the Lords Temporal, and all the Commons in
this present Parliament assembled, doth in Gods Name
earnestly require, and charge all tlie Archbishops, Bishops,
and other Ordinaries, that they shall endeavour themselves
to the uttermost of their knowledges, that the due aud tiiie
execution hereof may be had throughout their Diocesse and
Charges, as they -Hill auswer before God for such evils and
plagues, wherewith Almighty God may justly punish His
people for neglecting His good and wholsom law. And for
their .Authority in this behalf. Be it further Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid. That all aud singular the same Arch-
bishops, Bishops, and all other their officers, exercising
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, aswel in place exempt, as not
exempt, within their Diocesse shall have full power and
Authority by this Act to reform, correct and punish by
censures of the Church, all, and singular persons, which shall
offend within any of their jurisdictions, or Diocesse, after the
said Feast of the Nativity of Saint John Baptist next coming,
against this Act aud Statute : Any other Law, Statute,
Priviledge, Liberty, or Provision heretofore made, had, or
suffered to the contrary notwithstauding.
[5] And it is Ordaiued and Enacted by the Authority afore-
said. That all and every Justice of Oyer and Determiner, or
Justices of Assize shall have full power and Authority in
every of their open and general Sessions to enquire, hear and
determine all and all manner of offences, that shall be com-
mitted, or done contrary to any Article contained in this
present Act, within the limits of the Commission to them
directed, and to make process for the execution of the same,
as they may do against any person being indicted before them
of trespass, or lawfully convicted thereof.
[6] ProWded always, and be it Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That all and every Archbishop and Bishop shall
and may at all time and times at his liberty and pleasure,
joyn and associate himself by vertue of this Act to the said
Justices of Oyer and Determiner, or to the said Justices of
Assise, at every of the said opeu and general Sessions, to be
holden in any place within his Diocess for and to the inquiry,
hearing, and determining of the offences aforesaid.
[7] Provided also, and be it Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid. That the Books concerning the said Service shall
at the costs and charges of the Parishioners of every Parish,
and Cathedral Church be attained, and gotten before the said
Feast of the Nativity of Saint John Baptist next following,
and that all such Parishes and Cathedral Churches, or other
places, where the said Books shall be attained and gotten
liefore the said Feast of the Nativity of Saint Joltn Baptist,
sliall within three weeks next after the said books so attained
and gotten, use the said Service, and put the same in use
according to this Act.
[8] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That no person or jiersons shall bo at any time hereafter
impeached, or otherwise molested of or for any of the offences
above mentioned, hereafter to be committed, or done con-
trary to this Act, unless he or they so offending be thereof
indicted at the next general sessions to be holden before any
ouch Justices of Oyer aud Determiner, or Justices of Assise,
next after any offence committed or done, contrary to the
tcnour of tliia Act.
[9] Provided always, and be it Ordained, and Enacted by
the Authority afore said. That all aud singular Lords of the
Parliament, for the third offence above mentioned, shall be
tried by their Peers.
[10] Provided also, and be it Ordained, and Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid. That the JIayor of London, aud all other
^Mayors, Baylifts, and other Head-officers of all, and singular
Cities, Boroughs, and Towns-corporate within this Realm,
Wales and the Marches of the same, to tlie which Justices of
Assise do not commonly repair, shall have full power and
Authority by vertue of this Act, to enquire, hear, and deter-
mine the offences abovesaid, and every of them yearly, within
fifteen days after the Feasts of Easter, and saint Michael the
Archangel, in like manner and form, as Justices of Assise,
and 0}'er, and Determiner may do.
[11] Provided always, and be it Ordained and Enacted by
the Authority aforesaid, That all and singular Archbishops,
and Bishops, and every of their Chancellors, Commissaries,
Archdeacons, and other Ordinaries, having any peculiar
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction shall have full jjower and Authority
by vertue of this Act, aswel to enquire in their A'isitation,
Synods, or elsewhere within their jurisdiction, at any other
time, and place, to take accusations, and infonnations of all,
and every tlie things above mentioned, done, committed, or
pei-jjetrated within the limits of their jurisdiction and Autho-
rity, aud to punish the same by admonition, excommunication,
sequestration, or deprivation, or other censures, and processes,
in Hke form, as heretofore hath been used in like cases by the
(Jueens Ecclesiastical Laws.
[12] Provided alwaies, and be it Enacted, That whatsoever
person offending in the premisses shall for the first offence
receive punishment of the Ordinary, having a testimonial
thereof under the said Ordinaries seal, shall not for the same
offence eftsoons be convicted before the Justices ; and like-
wise receiving for the said first offence punishment by the
Justices, he shall not for the same first offence eftsoons receive
punishment of the Ordinary : Any thing contained in this
Act to the contrary notwithstanding.
[13] Provided always, and be it Enacted, That such
ornaments of the Church and of the ministers thereof shall
be retained, and be in use, as was in this Church of England
by the Authority of Parliament in the second year of the
reign of King Edward ihc Sixth, until other order shall be
therein taken by Authority of the Queens Majesty, with the
advice of Her Commissioners, appointed aud Authorized
under the great seal of Emjland for causes Ecclesiastical, or
of the Metropolitan of this Realm ; And also. That if there
shall happen any contempt, or irreverence to be used in the
Ceremonies, or Rites of the Church, by the misusing of the
Orders appointed in this Book ; the Queens Majesty may by
the like advice of the said Commissioners, or Metropolitan,
ordain and publish such further Ceremonies, or Rites, as may
be most for the advancement of Gods glory, the edifying of
His Church, and the due reverence of Cheists holy Mysteries
and Sacraments.
[14] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That all Laws, vStatutes, and Ordinances, wherein, or whereby
any other Service, Administration of Sacraments, or Common
Prayer is limited, established, or set forth to bo used within
this Realm, or any other the Queens Dominions, and Coun-
tries, shall from henceforth utterly be void, and of none
effect.
acts of OniforinitjD.
!7
[A few alterations being made iu the Prayer Book after the
Hampton Court Conference [sec. p. 25], a Royal Proclamation
was issued, on March 5, 1604, in which the reasons for making
these alterations were stated, and the use of the new book en-
joined. This Proclamation was printed after tlie Elizabethan
Act of Uniformity in all I'rayer Books of the reigns of James
I. and Charles I., but was omitted by the Revisers of l(i(jl, the
Caroline Act of Uniformity being substituted for it in tlie
printed Prayer Books of 1662 and all subsequent dates.' For
tlie sake of historical completeness, and to illustrate the atti-
tude of the Crown towards the Prayer Book on the accession
of James I. , the Proclamation is here printed entire. ]
By the KiNfi.
IT A Proclamation for the authorizing of an uniformity of the
Book of Common Prayer to be used thorowout the Realm.
ALTHOUGH it cannot be unknown to Our iSubjects by tlie
former Declarations wee have published, what our purposes
and proceedings have been in matters of Religion since Our
coming to this Crown : Yet tlie same being now by Us re-
duced to a settled f\irm, wee have occasion to repeat somewhat
of that which hath passed : And now at Our very first entry
into the Realm, being entertained and importuned with infor-
mations of sundry Ministers, complaining of the errours and
imperfections of the Church here aswel iu matter of Doctrine,
as of Discipline : Although wee liad no reason to presume
that things were so farre amisse as was pretended, because
wee had seen the Kingdom under that form of Religion which
by Law was established in the dayes of the late Queen of
famous memorie, blessed with a Peace and Prosperity, both
extraordinary and of many yeers continuance (a strong
evidence that God was therewith well jileased,) yet because
the importunitie of the Complainers was great, their affirma-
tions vehement, and the zeal wherewith tlie same did seem to
l>e accompanied, very specious : wee were moved thereby t"
make it Our occasion to discharge tliat duety which is the
chiefest of all Kingly dueties. That is, to settle the afl'airs of
Religion, and the Service of God before their own, which
while wee were in hand to do, as the contagion of the sick-
uesse reigning in Our Citie of London and other places, would
permit an assembly of persons meet for that purpose ; some
of those who inisliked the state of Religion here established,
2)resuming more of Our intents than ever wee gave them cause
to do, and transported with luimour, liegan such proceedings,
as did rather raise a scandall in the Church, then take offence
away. For lioth they used Forms of publike serving of God
not here allowed, held Assemblies without authority, and did
other things carying a very apparent shew of Sedition, more
then of Zeal : whom wee restrained by a former Proclamation
in the monetli of October last, and gave intimation of the
Conference wee intended to be had with as much speed as
conveniently could bee, for the ordering of those things of tlie
Ohurch, which accordingly followed in the moneth of January
last at Our Honour of Hampton Court, where before Our Self,
and Our Privie Councell, were assembled many of the gravest
Bishops and Prelates of the Realm, and many other learned
men, aswell of those that are conformable to tlie State of the
Church established, as of those that dissented. Among whom,
what Our Pains were, what Our patience in hearing and reply,
ing, and what the indifl'erence and uprightnesse of Our
Judgement in determining, wee leave to the report of those
who heard tlie same, contenting Our Self with the Sincerity of
Our own heart therein. But \'\'ee cannot conceal that the
successe of that Conference was such as happeneth to many
other things, which moving great expectation before they be
entred into, in their issue produce small effects. For Wee
1 Tlic only record of this omission is a MS. note iu the margin of the
Prayer Book of 1639, which contained the "Additions and Alterations " as
submitted to the Crown by Convocation. [See p. 38.] The note is as follows :
" This Proclamatiou is left out : ami licerc foUoweth Tnr. Preface \\ch you
hauc at ye beginning of this book."
found many and vehement Informations supported with so
weak and slender proofs, as it appeareth unto Us and Our
Counsell, that there was no cause wliy any change should
have been at all in that which was most impugned, the Book
of Common prayer, containing thefomi of the publike Service of
(iod here established, neither in the doctrine, which appeared
to bee sincere, nor in the Forms and Rites, wliieh were justified
out of the practice of the Primitive Church. Notwithstand-
ing, We thought meet, with consent of the Bishops, and other
learned men there present, Tliat some small things might
rather be explained then changed, not that the same might not
very well have been born with by men who would have made
a reasonable construction of them : but for that in a matter
concerning the Service of God We were nice, or rather jealous,
that the publique form thereof should be free, not onely from
blame, but from suspicion, so as neither the comnidn Adversary
should have advantage to wrest ought therein contained, to
other sense then the Church of Emjland intendeth, nor any
troublesome or ignorant person of this Church be able to take
the least occasion of cavill against it : And for that purpose
gave forth Our Commission under Our great Seal of England
to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, according to the
Form which the Lawes of this Realm in like case prescribe
to bee used, to make the said Explanation, and to cause the
whole Book of Common prayer with the same Explanations,
to be newly printed. Which being now done, and established
anew after so serious a deliberation, altliough we doubt not,
but all Our Subjects, both Ministers and others, wiU receive
the same with such reverence as appertaineth, and conform
themselves thereunto, every man in that which him concern-
eth : Yet have wee thouglit it necessary to make known by
Proclamation Our authorizing of the same. And to require and
eiijoyn all men, aswell Ecclesiasticall as Teniporall, to con-
form themselves unto it, and to the practice thereof, as the
onely publique form of serving God established and allowed to
be in this Realm. And the ratlier, for that all the learned men
who were there present, as well of yc Bishops as others, pro-
mised their conformity in the practice of it, onely making suit
to Us, that, some few might be born with for a time. Where-
fore Wee require all Archbishops, Bishops, and all other pub-
like Ministers, as well Ecclesiasticall as Civill, to do their
duties in causing the same to be obeyed, in punishing the
offenders according to the Lawes of the Realm heretofore
established, for the authorizing of the said Book of Common
praj'er. And wee tliink it also necessary, that the said Arch-
bisliops, and Bishops, do each of them in his Province and
Diocesse take order : That every Parish do procure to them-
selves, within such time as they shall think good to limit,
one of the said Books so explained. And last of all, wee
doe admonish all men, that hereafter they shall not expect,
nor attempt any further alteration in the Common Publique
form of Gods service, from this which is now established, for
that neither will we give way to any to presume, that Our own
Judgement having determined in a matter of this weight, shall
be swayed to alteration by the frivolous suggestions of any
liglit spirit : neither are wee ignorant of the inconveniences
that do arise in government, by admitting innovation in things
once setled by mature deliberation : And how necessary it is
to use constancie in the upholding of the publique determina-
tions of States, for that such is the unquietnesse and unsted-
fastnesse of some dispositions, affecting every yeer new forms
of tilings, as if they should bee followed in their uncon-
stancie, would make all actions of States ridiculous and con-
temptible : Whereas the stedfast maintaining of things by
good advice established, is the weal of all Commonwealths.
Given at Our Palace of Westminster, the fifth day of
March, in the first year of Our Reign of England,
France, and Ireland, and of Scotland the seven and
thirtieth.
God s.vve tuk Kim.;.
AN ACT
UNIFORMITY OF PUBLICK PRAYERS,
And Administration of Sacraments, and other Rites and Ceremonies : And for establishing the Form
of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the Church of England.
XIV. Carol. II. [14 Charles II. c. 4, A.D. 1662.]
WHEREAS in the first year of the late Queen Elizabeth there
was one Uniform Order of Common Service and Prayer, and
of the Administration of Sacraments, Rites and Ceremonies
in the Church of England (agreeable to the Word of God, and
usage of the Primitive Church) compiled by the Reverend
Bishops and Clergy, set forth in one Book, Entituled, 2'Ae
Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of Sacraments,
and other Rites and Ceremonies in the Church of England, and
enjoyned to be used by Act of Parliament, holden in the said
First year of the said late Queen, Entituled, An Act for the
Uniformity of Common Prayer, and Service in the Church, and
Administration of the Sacraments, very comfortable to all good
people desirous to live in Christian conversation, and most
profitable to the Estate of this Realm, upon the which the
Mercy, Favour and Blessing of Almighty God is in no wise so
readily and plentifully poured, as by Common Prayers, due
using of the Sacraments, and often Preaching of the Gospel,
with devotion of the hearers : And yet this notwithstanding,
a great number of people in divers parts of this Realm, follow-
ing their own sensuality, and living without knowledge and
due fear of God, do wilfully and Schismatically abstain, and
refuse to come to their Parish Churches and other Publick
places where Common Prayer, Administration of the Sacra-
ments, and Preaching of the Word of God is used upon the
Sundays and other days ordained and appointed to be kept
and observed as Holy days : And whereas by the great and
scandalous neglect of Ministers in using the said Order, or
Liturgy so set forth and enjoyned as aforesaid, great mischiefs
and inconveniences, during the times of the late unhappy
troubles, have arisen and grown ; and many people have been
led into Factions and Schisms, to the great decay and scandal
of the Reformed Religion of the Church of England, and to
the hazard of many souls : for prevention M-hereof in time to
come, for setling the Peace of the Church, and for allaying
the present distempers, which the indisposition of the time
hath contracted, The Kings Majesty (according to His Decla-
ration of the Five and twentieth of October, One thousand six
hundred and sixty) granted His Commission under the great
Seal of England to several Bishops and other Divines to review
the Book of Common Prayer, and to prepare such Alterations
and Additions, as they thought fit to offer ; And afterwards
the Convocations of both tlie Provinces of Canterbury and
York, being by hia Majesty called and assembled (and now
sitting) His Majesty hath ))cen pleased to Authorize and
require the Presidents of the said Convocations, and other the
Bishops and Clergy of the same, to review the said Book of
Common Prayer, and the Book of the Form and manner of the
Making and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ;
And that after mature consideration, they shouhl make such
Additions and Alterations in the said Books respectively, as
to them should seem moot and convenient ; And should
exhibit and present the same to Hia Majesty in writing, for
his further allowance or confirmation ; since which time, upon
full and mature deliberation, they the said Presidents,
Bishops, and Clergy of both Provinces have accordingly
reviewed the said Books, and have made some Alterations
which they think fit to be inserted to the same ; and some
Additional Prayers to the said Book of Common-Prayer, to
be used upon proper and emergent occasions ; and have
exhibited and presented the same unto his Majesty in writing,
in one Book, Entituled, The Book of Common Prayer, and
Administration of the Sacraments, anil other Bites and Cere-
monies of the Church, according to the use of the Church of
England, together with the Psalter, or Psalms 0/ David, Pointed
as they are to be sung or said in Churches ; and the Form and
Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons: All which His Majesty having duely
considered hath fully approved and allowed the same, and
recommended to this present Parliament, that the said Books
of Common Prayer, and of the Form of Ordination and Con-
secration of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with the Altera-
tions and Additions, which have been so made and presented
to His Majesty by the said Convocations, be the Book, which
shall be appointed to be used by all that OflSciate in all
Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and Chappels, and in all
Chappels of Colledges and Halls in both the Universities, and
the Colledges of Eaton and Winchester, and in all Parish-
Churches and Chappels within the Kingdom of England,
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick upon Tweed, and
by all that Make, or Consecrate Bishops, Priests or Deacons
in any of the said Places, under such Sanctions and Penalties
as the Houses of Parliament shall think fit : Now in regard
that nothing conduceth more to the setling of the Peace of
this Nation (which is desired of all good men) nor to the
honour of our Religion, and the propagation thereof, than
an Universal agreement in the Public Worship of Almighty
God ; and to the intent that every person within this Realm,
may certainly know the rule, to which he is to conform in
Public Worship, and Administration of Sacraments, and other
Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England, and the
manner how, and by whom Bishops, Priests, and Deacons
are, and ought to be made. Ordained and Consecrated ;
[2] Be it Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty, by
the advice, and with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and of the Commons in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the Authority of the same. That all and
singular Ministers, in any Cathedral, Collegiate, or Parish-
Church or Chappel, or other place of Publick Worship within
this Realm of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Bn-wick upon Tii'ped, .shall be bound to say and use the Morn-
ing Prayer, Evening Prayer, Celebration and Administration
' of both the Sacraments, and all other the Publick, and Common
acts of anifovmltg.
89
Prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the said
Book, annexed and joyned to this pi'esent Act, and Entituled,
The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of (he Sacra-
mcnts, and other Riles and Ceremonies of the Church, according
to the u.ie of the Church of England : together with t/ie Psalter
or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to he sung or said in
Churches; and the form or manner of Making, Ordaining, and
Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ; and Tliat the
Morning and Evening Prayers, therein contained, shall upon
every Lords day, and upon all other days and occasions, and
at the times therein appointed, be openly and solemnly read
by all and every Minister or Curate in every Church, Chappel,
or other place of Publick Worship within this Realm of
England, and places aforesaid.
[3] And to the end that Uniformity in tlie Publick Worship
of God (wliich is so much desired) may be speedily effected,
Be it furtlier Enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That every
Parson, Vicar, or other Minister whatsoever, who now hath,
and enjoyeth any Ecclesiastical Benefice, or Promotion within
this Realm of England, or places aforesaid, shall in the Church,
Chappel, or place of Publick Worship belonging to his said
Benefice or Promotion, upon some Lords day before the Feast
of Saint Bartholomevi, which shall bo in the year of our Lord
God, One thousand six hundred sixty and two, openly,
publickly, and solemnly read the Morning and Evening Prayer
appointed to be read by, and according to the said Book of
Common Prayer at the times thereby appointed, and after
such reading thereof shall openly and publickly, before the
Congregation there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent,
and consent to the use of all things in the said Book contained
and prescribed, in these words, and no other ;
[4] / A. B. Do here declare my unfeigned assent, and consent
to all, and every thing contained, and prescribed in, and by the
Book intituled. The Book of Common Prayer and Administra-
tion of the Sacraments, and other Kites, and Ceremonies of
the Church, according to the use of the Church of England ;
together with the Psalter, or Psalms of David, Pointed as they
are to be sung or said in Churches, and the form, or manner
of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests,
and Deacons.
[5] And, That all and every such person, who shall (without
some lawful Impediment, to bo allowed and approved of by
the Ordinary of the place) neglect or refuse to do the same
within the time aforesaid, or (in case of such Impediment)
within one Moneth after such Impediment removed, shall ipso
facto be deprived of all his Spiritual Promotions ; And that
from thenceforth it shall be lawful to, and for all Patrons,
and Donors of all and singular the said Spiritual Promotions,
or of any of them, according to their respective Rights, and
Titles, to present, or collate to the same ; as though the
person, or persons, so ofTeudiug or neglecting were dead.
[6] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That every person, who shall hereafter be presented, or
collated, or put into any Ecclesiastical Benefice, or Promotion
within this Realm of England and places aforesaid, shall in
the Church, Chajipel, or place of Publick Worship, belonging
to his said Benefice or Promotion, within two Moneths next
after that he shall be in the actual possession of the said
Ecclesiastical Benefice or Promotion, upon some Lords day
openly, publickly and solemnly Read the Morning and Even-
ing Prayers, appointed to be Read by, and according to the
said Book of Common Prayer, at the times thereby appointed,
and after such Reading thereof, shall openly, and publickly
before the Congregation there assembled, declare his unfeigned
assent, and consent to the use of all things therein contained
and prescribed, according to the form before appointed : and
That all and every such person, who shall (without some
lawful Impediment, to be allowed and approved by the
Ordinary of the place) neglect or refuse to do the same within
the time aforesaid, or (in case of such Impediment) within one
month after such Impediment removed, shall ipso facto be
deprived of all his said Ecclesiastical Benefices and Promotions ;
and That from thenceforth, it shall and may be lawful to, and
for all Patrons, and Donors of all and singular the said
Ecclesiastical Benefices and Promotions, or any of them
(according to their respective Rights and Titles) to present,
or collate to the same, as though the person or persons so
offending, or neglecting, were dead.
[7] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That in all places, where the proper Incumbent of any
Parsonage, or Vicarage, or Benefice with Cure doth reside on
his Living, and keep a Curate, the Incumbent himself in
person (not having some lawful Impediment, to be allowed by
the Ordinary of the place) sliall once (at the least) in every
month openly and puMickly Read the Common Prayers and
Service, in, and by the said Book prescribed, and (if there be
occasion) Administer each of the Sacraments and other Rites
of tlie Church, in the Parisli Church or Chappel, of, or belong-
ing to the same Parsonage, Vicarage, or Benefice, in such
order, manner and form, as in, and by the said Book is
appointed, upon pain to forfeit the sum of Five pounds to the
use of the poor of the Parish for every offence, upon conviction
by confession, or proof of two credible Witnesses upon Oath,
before two Justices of the Peace of the County, City, or Town-
Corporate where the offence shall be committed, (which Oath
the said .Justices are hereby Impowred to Administer) and in
default of payment within ten days, to be levied by distress,
and sale of the goods and chattels of the Offender, by the
Warrant of the said Justices, by the Church -wardens, or
Over-seers of the Poor of the said Parish, rendring the sur-
plusage to the party.
[8] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That every Dean, Canon, and Prebendary of every Cathedral,
or Collegiate Church, and all Masters, and other Heads,
Fellows, Chaplains, and Tutors of, or in any Colledge, Hall,
House of Learning, or Hospital, and every Publick Professor,
and Reader in either of the Universities, and in every Col-
ledge elsewhere, and every Parson, Vicar, Curate, Lecturer,
and every other person in holy Orders, and every School-
master keeping any publick, or private School, and every
person Instructing, or Teaching any Youth in any House or
private Family as a Tutor, or School-master, who upon the
first day of May, which shall be in the year of our Lord God,
One thousand six hundred sixty two, or at any time thereafter
shall be Incumbent, or have possession of any Deanry,
Canonry, Prebend, Mastership, Headship, Fellow-ship, Pro-
fessors-place, or Readers place. Parsonage, Vicarage, or any
other Ecclesiastical Dignity or Promotion, or of any Curates
place. Lecture, or School ; or shall instruct or teach any
Youth as Tutor, or School-master, shall before the Feast-d.ay
of Saint Bartholomew, which shall be in the year of our Lord
One thousand six hundred sixty two, or at or before his, or
their respective admission to be Incumbent, or have posses-
sion aforesaid, subscribe the Declaration or Acknowledgement
following. Scilicet :
[9] / A. B. Do declare that it is not lauful upon any pre-
tence whatsoever to take Arms against the King; and that I do
ahhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by His Authority
against His Person, or against those that are Commissionated
by him ; and that I will conform to the Liturgy of the Church
of England, as it is now by Laiv established. And I do declare
that I do hold, there lies no Obligation upon me, or on any other
person from the Oath, commonly called the Solemn League and
Covenant, to endeathnr any change, or alteration of Govern-
ment, either in Church, or State ; and that the same was in
it self an unlawful Oath, and imposed ujjon the Subjects of
this Realm against the known Laws and Liberties of this
Kingdom.
90
3cts of On!formit|).
[10] Wliich said Declaration and Acknowledgement shall
be subscribed by every of the said ^Masters and other Heads,
Fellows, Chaplains, and Tutors of, or in any CoUedge, Hall,
or House of Learning, and by every pul)lick Professor and
Reader in either of the Universities, before the Vice-Chan-
cellor of the respective Universities for the time being, or his
Deputy ; And the said Declaration or Acknowledgement shall
be subscribed before the respective Arch-bishop, Bishop or
Ordinary of the Diocess, by every other person hereby in-
joyned to subscribe the same, upon pain, that all and every
of the persons aforesaid, failing in such subscription, sliall
lose and forfeit such respective Deani-y, Canonry, Prebend,
Mastership, Headship, Fellowship, Professors place, Headers
place. Parsonage, Vicarage, Ecclesiastical Dignity, or Promo-
tion, Curates place. Lecture, and School, and shall be utterly
disabled, and ijiso facto deprived of the same ; and that eveiy
such respective Deanry, Canoniy, Prebend, llastership.
Headship, Fellowship, Professors place. Readers place, Par-
sonage, Vicarage, Ecclesiastical Dignity, or Promotion,
Curates place, Lecture and School shall be void, as if such
person so failing were naturally dead.
[11] .And if any Schoolmaster or other jiersou, Instructing
or teaching Youth in any private House or Family, as a Tutor
or Schoolmaster, shall Instruct or Teach an3' Youth as a Tutor
or Schoolmaster, before License obtained from his respective
Archbishop, Bishop, or Ordinary of the Diocess, according to
the Laws and Statutes of this Realm, (for which he shall pay
twelvepence onely) and before such subscription and acknow-
ledgement made as aforesaid ; Then every such School-master
and other, Instructing and Teaching as aforesaid, shall for the
first oflfence sufter three months Imprisonment ^^■ithout bail
or mainprise ; and for eveiy second and other such offence
shall suffer three months Imprisonment without bail or main-
prise, and also forfeit to His Majesty the sura of five pounds.
And after such subscription made, every sxich Parson, Vicar,
Curate, and Lecturer shall procure a certificate under the
Hand and Seal of the respective Archbishop, Bishop, or
Ordinary of the Diocess, (who are hereby enjoyued and re-
quired upon demand to make and deliver the same) and shall
publickly and openly read the same, together with the
Declaration, or Acknowledgement aforesaid, upon some Lords
day within three months then next following, in his Parish
Church where he is to ofiiciate, in the presence of the Con-
gregation there assembled, in the time of Divine Service ; upon
pain that every person failing therein shall lose sucli Parson-
age, Vicarage, or Benefice, Curates place, or Lecturers place
respectively, and shall be utterly disabled, and ipso farlo
deprived of the same ; And that the said Parsonage, Vicarage,
or Benefice, Curates place or Lecturers place shall be void, as
if he was naturally dead.
[12] Provided always, tliat from and after the Twenty fifth
day of March, which shall be in tlie year of our Lord God,
One thousand six hundred eighty two, there shall be omitted
in the said Declaration or Acknowledgement so to be sub-
scribed and read, these words following, scilicet,
And J do declare thai I do hold there /»'■■* no ohliyation on me,
or on any other person from the Oath, commonly called The
solemn League and Covenant, to endeavour any change, or
alteration of Government cither in Church or State; And tltat
tlie same was in it self an unlawful Oath, and imposed upon the
Sulrjecls of this Realm against the hnoion Laws and Liberties of
this Kingdom ;
So as none of the persons aforesaid shall from tlienceforth
be at all obliged to subscribe or read that part of the said
Declaration or Acknowledgement.
[13] Provided always, and be it Enacted, That from and
after the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, wliich shall be in the
year of our Lord, One thousand six liundred sixty and two,
no person, who now is Incumbent, and in possession of any
Parsonage, Vicarage, or Benefice, and who is not already in
holy Orders by Episcopal Ordination, or shall not before the
Feast-day of Saint Bartholomew be ordained Priest or Deacon,
according to the form of Episcopal Ordination, shall have,
hold, or enjoy the said Parsonage, Vicarage, Benefice with
Cure or other Ecclesiastical Promotion within this Kingdom
of England, or the Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick
iq)on Tweed ; but shall be utterly disabled, and i]}so facto
deprived of tlie same ; and all his Ecclesiastical Promotions
sliall be void, as if he was naturally dead.
[14] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That no person wliatsoever shall thenceforth be capable to
be admitted to any Parsonage, Vicarage, Benefice, or other
Ecclesiastical Promotion or Dignity wliatsoever, nor shall
presume to Consecrate and Administer the holy Sacrament of
the Lords Supper, before such time as he shall be Ordained
Priest, according to the form and maimer in, and by the said
IJook prescribed, unless he have formerly been made Priest
l>y Episcoj)al Ordination, upon pain to forfeit for every offence
tlie sum of One hundred pounds ; (one moyety thereof to the
Kings ilajesty, the other moyety thereof to be equally divided
between the poor of the Parish where the offence shall be
committed, and such person, or persons as shall sue for the
same by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint, or Information in any
of his Majesties Courts of Record ; wherein no Essoign, Pro-
tection, or Wager of Law shall be allowed) And to be disabled
from taking, or being admitted into the Order of Priest, by
the space of one whole year then next following.
[15] Provided that the Penalties in this Act shall not extend
to the Foreiners or Aliens of the Forein Reformed Churches
allowed, or to be allowed by the Kings Majesty, His Heirs
and Successors, in England.
[16] Provided always. That no title to confer, or present
by lapse shall accrue by any avoidance, or deprivation ipso
facto by vertue of this Statute, but after six months after
notice of such voidance, or deprivation given by the Ordinary
to the Patron, or such sentence of deprivation openly and
publickly read in the Parisli Church of the Benefice, Parson-
age, or Vicarage becoming void, or whereof the Incumbent
shall be deprived by vertue of this Act.
[17] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That no Form, or Order of Common Prayers, Administration
of Sacraments, Kites or Ceremonies shall be openly used in
any Church, Chappel, or other Publick place of or in any
CoUedge, or Hall in either of the Lfniversities, the Colledges
of Westminster, Winchester, or Eaton, or any of them, other
than what is prescribed and appointed to be used in and by
the said Book ; and That the present Governour, or Head of
every CoUedge and Hall in the said Universities, and of the
said Colledges of Westminster, Winchester, and Eaton, within
one month after tlie Feast of Saint Bartholomew, wliich shall
be in the year of our Lord, One thousand six hundred sixty
and two : And every Governour or Head of any of tlie said
Colledges, or Halls, hereafter to be elected, or appointed,
witliin one month next after his Election, or Collation, and
Admission into the same Government, or Headship, shall
openly and publickly in the Cluirch, Chappel, or other
Publick jilacc of tlie same Colledgc, or Hall, and in the pre-
sence of the Fellows and Scholars of tlie same, or the greater
part of them then resident. Subscribe unto the Nine and
thirty Articles of Religion, mentioned in the Statute made in
the thirteenth year of tlic Reign of tlie late Queen Elizabeth,
and unto the said Book, and declare his unfeigned assent and
consent unto, and approljation of the said Articles, and of the
same Book, ami to tlie use of all tlie Prayers, Rites, and
Ceremonies, Forms, and Orders in the said Book prescribed,
and contained according to the form aforesaid ; and that all
sucli Governours, or Heads of the said Colledges and Halls,
or any of them as are, or sliall be in holy Orders, shall once
at least in every Quarter of the year (not having a lawful
acts of Oniformltj).
91
Impediment) opeuly and publickly Read the Morning Prayer,
and Service in and by the said Book appointed to be Read in
the Church, Chappel, or other Publick place of the same Col-
ledge or Hall, upon pain to lose, and be suspended of, and
from all tlie iienetits and Profits belonging to the same
Government or Headship, by the space of Six months, by the
Visitor or Visitors of the same CoUedge or Hall ; And if any
Governour or Head of any CoUedge or Hall, Suspended for
not Subscriliing unto the said Articles and Book, or for not
Reading of the Morning Prayer and Service as aforesaid, shall
not at, or before the end of Six months next after such sus-
pension, Subscribe unto the said Articles and Book, and
declare his consent thereunto as aforesaid, or read the Morn-
ing Prayer and Service as aforesaid, then aueh Government or
Headship shall be ipso facto void.
[18] Provided always. That it shall and nuiy be lawful to
use the Morning and Evening Prayer, and all other Prayei's
and Service prescribed in and by the said Book, in the Chappels
or other Publick places of the respective Colledges and Halls
in both the Universities, in the Colledges of Westminster,
Winchester, and Eaton, and in the Convocations of the Clergies
of either Pro\-ince in Latine ; Any thing in this Act contained
to the contrary notwithstanding.
[19] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That no person shall be, or be received as a Lecturer, or
permitted, suffered, or allowed to Preach as a Lecturer, or
to Preach, or Read any Sermon or Lecture in any Church,
Chappel, or other place of Publick worship, within this Realm
of England, or the Dominion of Wafes, and Town of Bcrioick
upon Ttoeed, unless he be tirst approved and thereunto
Licensed by the Archbishop of tlie Province, or Bishop of the
Diocess, or (in case the See be void) by the Ciuardian of the
Spiritualties, under his Seal, and shall in the presence of the
same Archbishop, or Bishop, or Guardian Read the Nine and
thirty Articles of Religion, mentioned in the Statute of the
Thirteenth year of the late Queen Elizabeth, with Declaration
of his unfeigned assent to the same ; and That every person,
and persons who now is, or liereafter shall be Licensed, As-
signed, Appointed, or Received as a Lecturer, to preach upon
any day of the week in any Church, Chappel, or place of
Publick worsliip within this Realm of England, or places
aforesaid, the first time he Preacheth (before his Sermon)
shall openly, publickly, and solemnly Read the Common
Prayers and Service in and by the said Book appointed to be
Read for that time of tlie day, and then and there publickly
and openly declare his assent unto, and approbation of the
said Book, and to the use of all the Prayers, Rites and Cere-
monies, Forms and Orders therein contained and prescribed,
according to the Form before appointed in this Act ; And
also shall upon the first Lecture-day of every month after-
wards, so long as he continues Lecturer, or Preacher there,
at the place appointed for his said Lecture or Sermon, liefore
his said Lecture or Sermon, openly, jiublickly, and solemnly
Read the Common Prayers and Service in and by the said
Book appointed to be read for that time of the day, at which
the said Lecture or Sermon is to be Preached, and after such
Reading thereof, shall openly and publickly, before the Con-
gregation there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent and
consent unto, and approbation of the said Book, and to the
use of all the Prayers, Rites and Ceremonies, Forms and
Orders therein contained and prescribed, according to the
form aforesaid ; and, That all and every such person and per-
sons who shall neglect or refuse to do the same, shall from
thenceforth be disabled to Preach the said, or any other
Lecture or Sermon in the said, or any other Church, Chappel,
or place of PubUck'worship, until such time as he and they
shall openly, publickly, and solemnly Read the Common-
Prayers and Service appointed by the said Book, and Conform
in all points to the things therein appointed and prescribed,
according to the purport, tnie intent, and meaning of this Act.
[20] Provided alwaies, that if the said Sermon or Lecture
be to be Preached or Read in any Cathedral, or Collegiate
Church or Cliappel, it shall be sufficient for tlie said Lecturer
openly at tlie time aforesaid, to declare his assent and consent
to all tilings contained in the said Book, acconling to the
form aforesaid.
[21] And be it further Enacted Ijy the Authority aforesaid,
That if any person who is by this Act disabled to Preach any
Lecture or Sermon, shall during tlic time that he shall con-
tinue and remain so disabled. Preach any Sermon or Lecture ;
That then for every such offence the person and persons so
offending shall suffer Three months Imprisonment in tlie
Common Ciaol without Bail or mainprise, and that any two
Justices of the Peace of any County of this Kingdom and
places aforesaid, and the Mayor or other chief Magistrate of
any City, or Town-Corporate, within the same, upon Certifi-
cate from the Ordinary of the place made to him or them of
the offence committed, shall, and are hereby required to com-
mit tlie person or persons so offending to the Gaol of the same
County, Cit}', or Town Corporate accordingly.
[22] Provided alwaies, and be it further Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid, That at all and every time and times,
when any Sermon or Lecture is to be Preached, the Common
Prayers and Service in and by the said Book appointed to be
Read for that time of the day, shall be openly, publickly, and
solemnly Read by some Priest, or Deacon, in the Church,
Chappel, or place of Publick worship, where tlie said Sermon
or Lecture is to be preached, before such Sermon or Lecture '
be Preached ; And tliat the Lecturer then to Preach shall be
present at the Reading thereof.
[23] Provided nevertheless. That this Act shall not extend
to tlie University-C'luirches in the Universities of this Realm,
or either of them, wdien or at such times as any Sermon or
Lecture is Preached or Read in the same Churches, or any of
them, for, or as the publick University-Sermon or Lecture ;
but that the same Sermons and Lectures may be Preached or
Read in such sort and manner as the same have been hereto-
fore Preached or Read ; This Act, or any thing herein con-
tained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
[24] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That the several good Laws, and Statutes of this Realm,
which have been formerly made, and are now in force for the
Uniformity of Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments,
within this Realm of Enijhuul, and places aforesaid, shall
stand in full force and strength to all intents and puqjoses
whatsoever, for the establishing and confirming of the said
Book ; Entituled, The Book of Common Prai/er, and Aclmi-
nistration of the Sacraments, and other Riles and Ceremonies of
the Church, according to the vse of the Cliurch 0/ England ;
together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, Pointed as they
are to he sung or said in Churches ; and the form or manner of
Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons ; herein before mentioned to be joyned and annexed
to this Act ; and shall be applied, practised, and put in use
for the punishing of aU offences contrary to the said Laws,
with relation to the Book aforesaid, and no other.
[25] Provided alwaies, and be it further Enacted by the
Authority aforesaid, That in all those Prayers, Litanies, and
Collects, which do any way relate to the King, Queen, or
Royal Progeny, the Names be altered and changed from time
to time, and fitted to the present occasion, according to the
direction of laM'ful Authority.
[26] Provided also, and be it Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid. That a true Printed Copy of the said Book,
Entituled, The Booh of Common Prayer and Administration
of the Sacraments, and other Piles and Ceremonies of the
Church, according to the tise of the Church o/England ; together
loith the Psalter, or Psalms of David, Pointed as they arc to
be sung or said in Churches; and the form and manner of
Malcing, Ordaining, aiul Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and
92
acts of Qniformitp.
Beacons, shall at the costs and charges of the Parishioners of
every Parish-Church, and Chappelry, Cathedral Church, Col-
ledge, and Hall, be attained and gotten before the Feast-day
of Saint Bartholomew, in the year of our Lord, One thousand
six hundred sixty and two, upon pain of forfeiture of Three
pounds by the month, for so long time as they shall then after
be unprovided thereof, by every Parish, or Chappelry, Cathe-
dral Church, CoUedge, and HaU, making default therein.
[27] Provided alwaies, and be it Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That the Bishops of Hereford, Saint Davids, Asaph,
Bangor, and Landaff, and their Successors shall take such
order among themselves, for the souls health of the Flocks
committed to their Charge within Wales, That the Book here-
unto annexed be tnily and exactly Translated into the Bril-
tish or Welsh Tongue, and that the same so Translated and
being by them, or any three of them at the least viewed,
perused, and allowed, be Imprinted to such number at least,
so that one of the said Books so Translated and Imprinted,
may be had for every Cathedral, Collegiate, and Parish-
Church, and Chappel of Ease in the said respective Diocesses,
and places in Wales, where the Welsh is commonly spoken or
used before the First day of May, One thousand six hundred
sixty five ; and, That from and after the Imprinting and
publishing of the said Book so Translated, the whole Divine
Service shall be used and said by the Ministers and Curates
throughout all Wales within the said Diocesses, where the
Welsh Tongue is commonly used, in the Brittish or Welsh
Tongue, in such manner and form as is prescribed according
to the Book hereunto annexed to be used in the English
Tongue, differing nothing in any Order or Form from the said
English Book ; for which Book, so Translated and Imprinted,
the Church-wardens of every of the said Parishes shaU pay
out of the Parish-money in their hands for the use of the
respective Churches, and be allowed the same on their
Accompt ; and, That the said Bishops and their Successors,
or any Three of them, at the least, shall set and appoint the
price, for which the said Book shall be sold ; And one other
Book of Common Prayer in the English Tongue shall be
bought and had in every Church throughout Wales, in which
the Book of Common Prayer in Welsh is to be had, by force
of this Act, before the First day of May, One thousand six
hundred sixty and four, and the same Book to remain in such
convenient places, within the said Churches, that such as
understand them may resort at all convenient times to read
and peruse the same, and also such as do not understand the
said Language, may by conferring both Tongues together, the
sooner attain to the knowledge of the English. Tongoie ; Any
thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding ; And until
Printed Copies of the said Book so to be Translated may be
had and provided, the Form of Common Prayer, established
by Parliament before the making of this Act, shall be used as
formerly in such parts of Wcdes, where the English Tongue
is not commonly understood.
[28] And tc the end that the true and perfect Copies
of this Act, and tlie said Book hereunto annexed may be
safely kept, and perpetually preserved, and for the avoiding
of all disputes for the time to come ; Be it therefore Enacted
by the Authority aforesaid, Tliat the respective Deans and
Chapters of every Cathedral, or Collegiate Church, within
England and Widcs shall at their proper costs and charges,
before the twenty fifth day of Deceniher, One thousand six
hundred sixty and two, obtain under the Great Seal of
England a true and perfect printed Copy of this Act, and of
the said Book annexed hereunto, to be by the said Deans and
Chapters, and their Successors kept and preserved in safety
for ever, and to be also produced, and shewed forth in any
Court of Record, as often as they shall be thereunto lawfully
required ; And also there shall be delivered tnie and perfect
Copies of this Act, and of the same Book into the respective
Courts at Wcslminster, and into the Tower of London, to be
kept and preserved for ever among the Records of the said
Courts, and the Records of the Tower, to be also produced
and shewed forth in any Court as need shall require ; which
said Books so to be exemplified under the Great Seal of
England, shall be examined by such persons as the Kings
Majesty shall appoint under the Great Seal of England for
that purpose, and shall be compared with the Original Book
hereimto aimexed, and shall have power to correct, and
amend in writing any Error committed by the Printer in the
printing of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained,
and shall certifie in writing under their Hands and Seals, or
the Hands and Seals of any Three of them at the end of the
same Book, that they have examined and compared the same
Book, and find it to be a true and perfect Copy ; which said
Books, and every one of them so exemplified under the Great
Seal of England, as aforesaid, shall be deemed, taken, ad-
judged, and expounded to be good, and available in the Law
to all intents and puii^oses whatsoever, and shall be accounted
as good Records as this Book it self hereunto annexed ; Any
Law or Custom to the conti'ary in any wise notivithstanding.
[29] Provided also. That this Act or any thing therein con-
tained shall not be prejudicial or hurtful unto the Kings
Professor of the Law within the University of Oxford, for, or
concerning the Prebend of Shipton, within the Cathedral Church
of Sarmn, united and annexed unto the place of the same
Kings Professor for the time being, by the late King James
of blessed memory.
[30] Provided always. That whereas the Six and thirtieth
Article of the Nine and thirty Articles agreed upon by the
Arch-bishops, and Bishops of both Provinces, and the whole
Clergy in the Convocation holden at London, in the year of
our Lord, One thousand five hundred si .cty two, for the avoid-
ing of diversities of Opinions, and for establishing of consent,
touching true Religion, is in these words following, viz.
That the Boole of Consecration of Archbishops, and Bishops,
and Ordaining of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth in the
time of King Edward the Sixth, and confirmed at the same time
by Authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to
such Consecration and Ordaining, neither hath it any thing that
of itself is superstitious, and nngodly ; And therefore whosoever
are Consecrated or Ordered according to the Rites of that Book,
since the second year of the aforenamed King Edward unto this
time, or hereafter shall be Consecrated or Ordered according to
the same Rites ; We decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and
lavfully Consecrated and Ordered ;
[31] It be Enacted, and be it therefore enacted by the
Authority aforesaid. That all Subscriptions hereafter to be
had or made unto the said Articles, by any Deacon, Priest,
or Ecclesiastical person, or other person whatsoever, who by
this Act or any other Law now in force is required to Subscribe
unto the said Articles, shall be construed and taken to extend,
and shall be applied (for and touching the said Six and
thirtieth Article) unto the Book containing the form and
manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons in this Act mentioned, in such sort and
manner as the same did heretofore extend unto the Book set
forth in the time of King Edv'ard the Sixth, mentioned in the
said Six and thirtieth Article ; Any thing in the said Article,
or in any Statute, Act, or Canon heretofore had or made, to
the contrary thereof in .any wise notwithstanding.
[32] Provided also, That the Book of Common Prayer, and
Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Cere-
monies of tliis Cluirch of England, together with the form and
manner of Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons heretofore in use, and respectively established bj' Act
of P.arliament in tlie First and Eighth ytuirs of Queen Elizabeth,
sliall be still used .and observed in the Cluirch of England,
until tlie Feast of Saint Bartholomew, which shall bo in the
year of our Lord God, One thousand six hundred sixty and
two.
AJ^ ACT
FOR THE
AMENDMENT OF THE ACT OF UNIFORMITY
35 cand 36 Victoria, c. 35. [A.D. 1872.]
WHEEEAS by the Act of Uniformity it is enacted that all
and singular ministers in any cathedral, collegiate, or parish
church or chapel, or other place of public worship in England,
shall be bound to say and use the Morning Prayer, Evening
Prayer, celebration and administration of both the Sacra-
ments, and all other the public and common prayer, in such
order and form as is mentioned in the Book of Common
Prayer annexed to the said Act :
And whereas in the year one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine Commissioners were appointed by Her Majesty to
inquire and consider, amongst other matters, the differences
of practice which have arisen from varying 'interpretations
put upon the rubrics, orders, and directions for regulating the
course and conduct of public worship, the administration of
the sacraments, and the other services contained in the Book
of Common Prayer, with a view of explaining or amending
the said rubrics, orders, and directions so as to secure general
uniformity of practice in such matters as may be deemed
essential, and to report thereon from time to time, having
regard not only to the said rubrics, orders, and directions,
but also to any other laws or customs relating to the matters
aforesaid, with power to suggest any alterations, improve-
ments, or amendments with respect to such matters or any of
them :
And whereas the said Commissioners have by their Rejjort
dated the thirty-first day of August one thousand eight
hundred and seventy recommended in manner therein
mentioned :
And whereas Her Majesty was pleased to authorize the
Convocations of Canterbury and York to consider the said
Report of the said Commissioners, and to report to Her
Majesty thereon, and the said Convocations have accordingly
made tlieir first reports to Her Majesty :
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows :
1. In this Act,—
The term " Act of Uniformity " means the Act of the four-
teenth year of the reign of King Charles the
Definitions. ^ i ,, ^ t • ^.-^ i i .. a , x
becond, chapter four, mtituled An Act
for the Uniformity of Public Prayers and Administration
of Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies, and for
establishing the Form of Making, Ordaining, and Conse-
crating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the Church of
England," and includes the enactments confirmed and
applied by that Act to the Book of Common Prayer :
The term "Book of Common Prayer" means the book
aimexed to the said Act of the reign of King Charles the
Second, and intituled " The Book of Common Prayer and
Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and
Ceremonies of the Church according to the Use of the
Church of England, together with the Psalter or Psalms
of David pointed as they are to be sung or said in
Churches, and the Form or Manner of Making, Ordain-
ing, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons :"'
The term "cathedral" means a cathedral or collegiate
church in which the Book of Common Prayer is required
by the Act of Uniformity to be used :
The term "church" means any parish church, chapel, or
other place of public worship which is not a cathedral as
before defined, and in which the Book of Common Prayer
is required by the Act of Uniformity to be used.
2. The shortened Order for Morning Prayer or for
Evening Prayer, specified in the schedule to use of ahortencd
this Act, may, on any day except Sunday, '^^^il.^T^
Christmas Day, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Prayer.
and Ascension Day, be used, if in a cathedral in addition to,
and if in a church in lieu of, the Order for Morning Prayer
or for Evening Prayer respectively prescribed by the Book of
Common Prayer.
3. Upon any special occasion approved by the ordinary,
there may be used in any cathedral or church a _ , , _,
*' •' Special service
special form of service approved by the ordinary, for special
so that there be not introduced into such °''"*"""'
service anything, except anthems or hymns, which does not
form part of the Holy Scriptures or Book of Common Prayer.
4. An additional form of service varying from any form pre-
scribed by the Book of Common Prayer may Ijc Additional
used at any hour on any Sunday or holy-day in |^||jy,°^4
any cathedral or church in which there are duly holy-days,
read, said, or sung as required by law on such Sunday or holy-
day at some other hour or hours the Order for Morning
Prayer, the Litany, such part of the Order for the Admini-
stration of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion as is
required to be read on Sundays and holy-days if there be no
Communion, and the Order for Evening Prayer, so that there
be not introduced into such additional service any portion
of the Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or
Holy Communion, or anything, except antliems or hymns,
which does not form part of the Holy Scriptures or Book of
Common Prayer, and so that such form of service and the
mode in which it is used is for the time being approved by
the ordinary ; provided that nothing in this section shall
affect the use of any portion of the Book of Common Prayer
as otherwise authorized by the Act of Uniformity or this Act.
5. Whereas doubts have arisen as to whether the following
forms of service, that is to say, the Order separation of
for Morning Prayer, the Litany and the services.
Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper or Holy
1 This definition is of considerable importance as regards the Text of the
Prayer Book, since it makes tlie M.S. volume formerly annexed to the Act
of Uniformity the ultimate authority for that Text. If, therefore, there
should be any divergency between the text of the MS. and that of the
Sealed Books, the latter nmst, it seems, give way to the former, notwith-
standing the liSth cl.ause in tlie Act of Uniformity itself.
94
^cts Of Oniformitp.
Communion, may be used as separate services, and it is
expedient to remove such doubts : Be it therefore enacted
and declared that any such forms of service may be used to-
gether or in varying order as separate services, or that the
Litany may be said after the third collect in the Order for
Evening Prayer, either in lieu of or in addition to the use of
the Litany in the Order for IMorning Prayer, without preju-
dice uevertlieless to any legal powers vested in the ordinary ;
and any of the said forms of service may be used with or
■\vithout the preaching of a sermon or lecture, or the reading
of a homilj'.
6. Whereas doubts have arisen as to whether a sermon or
lecture may be preached without the common
sermon witiioui prayers and services appointed by the Book
previous service, ^f Common Prayer for the time of day being
previously read, and it is expedient to remove such doubts ;
Be it therefore enacted and declared, that a sermon or lecture
may be preached without the common praj-ers or services
appointed by the Book of Common Prayer being read before
it is preached, so that such sermon or lecture be preceded by
any ser\-ice autliorized by this Act, or by the Bidding Prayer,
or by a collect taken from the Book of Common Prayer, with
or without the Lord's Prayer.
7. Nothing in this Act shall affect the provi-sion with respect
Saving of 34 and '^ *'^^ chapels of Colleges in the universities of
35 Vict. c. 26. O.^ford, Cambridge, and Durham, which is con-
° tained in section six of the Universities Tests
Act, 1S71.
8. The schedule to this Act, and the notes thereto and
Effect of directions therein, shall be construed and have
sciiednie. effect as part of this Act.
9. This Act may be cited as " The Act of Uniformity
Short title. Amendment Act, 1872."
SCHEDULE.
Note. — The Minister using the Shortened Order for ilorn-
ing Prayer or for Evening Prayer in this schedule, may in
his discretion add in its proper place any exliortation, prayer,
canticle, hymn, psabn, or lesson contained in the Order for
Morning Prayer or for Evening Prayer in the Book of Common
Prayer and omitted or authorized to be omitted from such
shortened order.
Each of the twenty-two portions into which the one
hundred and nineteenth psalm is di\'ided in the Book of
Common Prayer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this
schedule, to be a separate psalm.
Shortened Forms of Service.
The Shortened Order for Morning Prayer daily
THBOUGHOrT THE YeAR, EXCEPT ON SUNDAY, ChRKTMAS
Day, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Ascension
Day.
Al the beginning of Morning Prayer the Minister shall read
v>ith a loud voice some one or more of these sentences of the
Scriptures that follow.
When the wicked man, etc.
A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after
tlic Minister, all kneeling.
Almighty and most merciful Father, etc.
Tlie Absolution, or Remission of sins, to be 2>ronounced by the
Priest alone, standing ; the 2)eople still kneeling.
Almighty (ioA, the Father, etc.
The people shall an/nver here, and at tlie end of oil other prayers,
Amen.
T/ien the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer with
an aiuliblc voice ; the people also kneeling, and repeating it
with him.
Our Father, Which art in heaven, etc.
Then likewise he slmll say,
Lord, open Thou our lips,
etc. etc. etc.
Here all standing up, the Priest shall say.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Tlicn slutll follow one or more of the Psalms appointed. And
at the end of every Psalm throughout tlw year, arid likewise at
the end of Benedieite, Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc
dimittis, shall be repeated.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
IVicn shall be read distinctly, with an audible voice, eitlur the
First Lesson taken out of the Old Testament as is apipointed in
the Calendar, or the Second Lesson taken out of the Kcu- Tes-
tament, except there be a Proper Lesson assigned for that day,
in iL'hich case tlie Proper Lesson shall be read, and if there are
two Proper Lessons each shall be read in its proper place ; he
that readeth so standing and turning himself as he may best
be heard of all such as arc present.
Note, that before every Lesson the Minister shall say, Here
beginneth such a Chapter, or Verse of such a Chapter, of
such a Book. And after every Lesson, Here endeth the
Lesson, or the First or the Second Lesson.
And after the Lesson, or between the First and Second Lessons,
shall be said or sung in English one of the folloioing :
Either the Hymn called, Te Deum Laudamus.
We praise Thee, God, etc.
Or this Canticle, Benedieite, omnia opera.
all ye works of the Lord, etc.
Or the Hymn following (except when that shall happen to be read
in the Lesson for the day, or for the Gospel on Saint John
Baptist's Day) :
Benedictus. St. Luke i. 68.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, etc.
Or this Psalm.
Jubilate Deo.
be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands, etc.
Then shall be sung or said the Apostles' Creed by the Minister
and the people standing.
1 believe in God the Father Almighty, etc.
And after that, the people all devoutly kneeling, the Minister
sliall pronounce with a loud voice,
The Lord be with you.
Answer. .And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Then tlie Prir.it shall say,
O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us,
etc. etc. etc.
Then shall follow three Collects. The first of the day, which
shall be the same that is appointed at the Communion ; the
second for Peace ; the third for grace to lire well ; and the
two last Collects shall never alter, but daily be said at Morn-
ing Prayer throughout all the year, asfoUoveth, nil kneeling.
The second Collect for Peace.
O God, Who art the Author of peace, etc.
The third Collect for Grace.
O Lord, our heavenly Father, etc.
Here may follow an Anthem or Hymn:
acts of 93niformit]|^.
95
Then tlicse two Prayers following :
A Prayer of Saint Chrysostome.
Almighty God, Who hast given us grace, etc.
2 Corinthians xiii.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Clirist, etc.
Here emleth the Shortened Order of Morning Prayer.
The Shortened Ohder for Eveninu Prayer daily
THROUGHOUT THE YeAR, EXCEPT ON SUNDAY, ChRISTMA.S
Day, Ash Wednesday Good Friday, and Ascension
Day.
At the beginning of Evening Prayer the Minister shall read
with' a loud voice some one or more of these sentences of the
Scriptures that follow :
When the wicked man, etc.
A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after
the Minister, all kneeling.
Almighty and most merciful Father, etc.
The Absolution, or Remission of sins, to be pronounced by the
Priest alone, standing ; the people still kneeling.
Almighty God, the Father, etc.
Then the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer ; the
people also kneeling, and repeating it with him.
Our Father, Whicli art in heaven, e'tc.
Then likewise he shall say,
Lord, open Thou our lips.
Here all standing u}), the Priest shall say,
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Then shall be said or sung one or more of the Psalms in order
as they be appointed. Then either a Lesson of the Old Testa-
ment as is appointed, or a Lesson of the New Testament as it
is appointed, excepit there be a Proper Lesson assigned for that
day, in tohich case the Proper Lesson shall be read, and if
there are two Proper Lessons each shall be read in its proper
place ; and after the Lesson, or bettiieen the First and Second
Lessons, shall be said or sung in English one of the
following :
Eitlier Magnificat, or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in
English, as follows:
Magnificat. St. Luke i.
My soul doth magnify the Lord, etc.
Or this Psalm [except it be on the nineteeyith day of the month.
lohen it is read in the ordinary course of the Psalms):
Cantate Domino. Psalm xcviii.
sing unto the Lord a new song, etc.
Or Nunc dimittis {or the Song of Simeon , asfollowelh :
Nunc dimittis. St. Luke ii. 29.
Lord, uow lettest Thou Thy servant, etc.
Or else this Psalm (except it be on the twelfth day of the month) :
Deus misereatur. Psalm Ixvii.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us, etc.
Then shall be said or sung the Apostles' Creed by the Minister
and the 'people, standing :
I believe in God the Father Almighty, etc.
.-Ind after that, the iicople all devoutly kneeling, the Minister
shall jironounce vnth a loud voice.
The Lord be with you.
Answer. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Then the Priest shall say,
() Lord, sliew Thy mercy upon us,
etc. etc. etc.
Then shall follow three Collects. The first of the day ; the second
for Peace ; the third fur aid against all perils, as hereafter
followeth; lohich two last Collects shall be daily said at Even-
ing Prayer without alteration.
The second Collect at Evening Prayer.
O God, from Whom all holy desires, etc.
Tlie third Collect for Aid against all Perils.
Lighten our darkness, etc.
Here may follow an Anthem or Hymn.
A Prayer of Saint Chrysostome.
Almighty God, Who hast given us grace, etc.
2 Corinthians xiii.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, etc.
Here cndcth the Shortened Order of Evening Prayer.
THE PEEFACE.
"TT hath been the wisdom of the Church of England, ever since the first compiling of her Publick
Liturgy, to keep the mean between the two extremes, of too much stiffness in refusing, and of too
much easiness in admitting any variation from it. For, as on the one side common experience sheweth,
that where a change hath been made of things advisedly established (no evident necessity so requiring)
sundry inconveniences have thereupon ensued; and those many times more, and greater than the
evils that were intended to be remedied by such change : So on the other side, the particular Forms
of Divine worship, and the Eites, and Ceremonies appointed to be used therein, being things in their
own nature indifferent, and alterable, and so acknowledged ; it is but reasonable, that upon weighty
and important considerations, according to the various exigency of times and occasions, such changes
and alterations should be made therein as to those that are in place of Authority should from
time to time seem either necessary or expedient. Accordingly we find, that in the Reigns of several
Princes of blessed memory since the Reformation, the Church, upon just and weighty considerations
her thereunto moving, hath yielded to make such alterations in some particulars, as in their respective
times were thought convenient : Yet so as that the main Body and Essentials of it (as well in the
THE PREFACE, [a.d. 1G62.]
This was placed before the Book of Common Prayer, with a
special regard to the circumstances of the times, the country
having just emerged from the Great Kebellion, and the
Church of England from a very great persecution. Under
such circumstances it is impossible not to admire the tem-
perate and just tone which characterizes it throughout.
Tlie writer of this Preface was Sanderson, Bishop of Lin-
coln, who was probably chosen on account of qualifications
such as would fit him for composing in this tone an explana-
tion of the course which it had been necessary to take, and
which had been taken, with reference to the Book of Com-
mon Prayer. He is, and was then, well known for his works
on Conscience, and on the Obligation of an Oath : and he was
looked up to with great respect by all parties in those days of
religious division.
" For the satisfying all the dissenting brethren and other,"
says Walton, in his Life of Bishop fiatidcrson, "the Con-
vocation's reasons for the alterations and additions to tlie
Liturgy were by them desired to be drawn up by Dr.
Sanderson, which being done by him, and approved by
them, was appointed to be printed before the Liturgy, and
may be now known by tliis Title, The Pre/ace, and begins
thus, It hath been the wisdom of the Clttirch, itc" In the
Acts of the Upper House of Convocation it is recorded that
" on Monday the 2nd of December, the Preface or Introduction
to tlie Common Prayer Book was brought in and read." It
was referred to a Committee composed of Wren, Bishop of
Ely; Skinner, Bishop of O.xford ; Henchman, Bishop of Salis-
bury; and (jriffith. Bishop of St. Asaph, and some amend-
ments were made in it as it passed through their liands.
Jirsl compilinij] This is a phrase which could hardly have
dropped from Sanderson's exact pen. No doubt tlie period
referred to is that of the Reformation ; but as every page of
the following work will shew, the change wliich then took
place in the Divine Worship of the Church of England was
founded on offices which were re-formed out of the old ones,
not "compiled" in any true sense ; and that the addition of
"first" to the word adopted is calculated to misrepresent the
true origin of our "publick Liturgy."
in their own natun: indifferent] This and other apologetic
expressions of the Preface must be read by the light of con-
temporary history. But it is undoubtedly true that in. their
oum nature, Rites and Ceremonies are " indill'crent. " Their
importanc'C arises from the relation in which they are placed
with reference to God as the Object of worship, and man as
the worshipper of God. That relation being established,
what was indift'erent in its own nature becomes of high import
through the new character wliich is thus given to it,
alterable] In the 34th Article of Religion this statement is
more elaborately set forth : "Of the Traditions of the Church.
— It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all
places one, and utterly like ; for at all times they have been
divers, and may be changed according to the diversities of
countries, times, and men's maimers, so that nothing be
ordained against God's Word. Whosoever through his private
judgment, willingly and purposely, doth openly break the
traditions and ceremonies of the Church, which be not repug-
nant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by
common authority, ought to be rebuked openly, (that others
may fear to do the like, ) as he that offendeth against the com-
monorderof theChurch, andhurteththe authority of the Magis-
trate, and woundeth the consciences of the weak brethren.
"Every particular or national Church hath authority to
ordain, change, and abolish, ceremonies or rites of the Church
ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done
to edifying."
those that arc in place of Authority] Who are the properly
authorized persons may also be known from the 20th Article
of Religion : "Of the Authority of the Church. — The Church
hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in
Controversies of Faith : And yet it is not lawful for the Church
to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written,
neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, tliat it bo
repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a
witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to
decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought
it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of
Salvation. "
As will be seen from the Historical Introduction to tliis
volume, this principle ^^■as carried out liy throwing the whole
responsibility of revising the older Prayer Book on the Con-
vocations of Canterbury and York, which oliioially represented
the Church of England. Statutable authority was given to
the work of the C^iurch by the Crown in Parliament, in 14
Carol. II. c. 4. The jirinciplo is further enunciated in the
succeeding words of the Preface, where the "Princes" or
reigning Sovereigns are named, but the whole work of revision
during their respective reigns is attributed to the Church,
which "upon just and weighty considerations her thereunto
moving, hath yielded to make such alterations in some par-
ticulars, as in the respective times of those sovereigns wore
thought convenient."
Cbe Preface.
97
chiefest materials, as in the frame and order thereof) have still continued the same unto this day, and
do yet stand firm and unshaken, notwithstanding all the vain attempts and impetuous assaults made
against it by such men as are given to change, and liave always discovered a greater regard to their
own private fancies and interests, than to that duty they owe to the publick.
By what undue means, and for what mischievous purposes the use of the Liturgy (though enjoined
by the Laws of the Land, and those Laws never yet repealed) came, during the late unhappy confusions,
to be discontinued, is too well known to the world, and we are not willing here to remember. But
when, upon His Majesty's happy Restoration, it seemed probable, that, amongst other things, the use
of the Liturgy also would return of course (the same having never been legally abolished) unless some
timely means were used to prevent it ; those men who under the late usurped powers had made it a
great part of their business to render the people disaffected thereunto, saw themselves in point of
reputation and interest concerned (unless they would freely acknowledge themselves to have cn-ed,
which such men are very hardly brought to do) with their utmost endeavours to hinder the restitution
thereof. In order whereunto divers Pamijhlets were published against the Book of Common Prayer,
the old Objections mustered up, with the addition of some new ones more than formerly had been
made, to make the number swell. In fine great importunities were used to His Sacred Majesty, that
the said Book might be Revised, and such Alterations therein, and Additions thereunto made, as should
be thought requisite for the ease of tender Consciences: whereunto His Majesty, out of his pious
inclination to give satisfaction (so far as could be reasonably expected) to all his subjects of what
persuasion soever, did graciously condescend.
vain attempts and impettions assaults] The unreasonable
conduct of those who opposed the restoration o£ the Church
and her devotional system was scarcely more conspicuous
than the fierce energy by which it was characterized. For
four months these "impetuous assaults " were carried on iu
the Savoy Conference ; and abundant evidence was given
that "private fancies and interests" had much stronger in-
fluence than the public good. Baxter, the chief leader of the
opposition, composed a substitute for the Prayer Book wliich
dissenting congregations could not be got to use, any more
than the Churcli of England could be prevailed on to adopt
it ; and yet on such a private fancy as this most of tliat bitter
opposition centred. Nor must it be forgotten tliat "private
interest " was deeply concerned, since the constitutional
restoration of the Cliurch and the Prayer Book necessarily
involved the restoration of the surviving clergy to the bene-
fices which men who were not priests of tlie Church of
England had wreuclied out of their hands. These facts are
referred to simply to shew that the expressions here used in
the Preface are not those of bitterness or controversy, but
plain liistorical statements of what actually occurred ; and
which it was necessary to mention for the sake of explana-
tion, as ordered by Convocation.
Tlie general attitude of the Puritans towards the Prayer
Book is indicated by such words as these: "By daily
familiarity and reading of this Book of Common Prayer, so
corrupted and transformed by Bishops, we abate and cool iu
our devotion, cast water upon our zeal, quench the Spirit,
practise a standard temptation, prove a sad occasion to tlie
godly, build uj) that we have destroyed, and entangle our-
selves agiiin in the yoke of bondage. " [Search of God's Wrath
on Cathedrals, 1644.]
divers Pamphlets '] The most important reply to these
1 It may be interesting and nseful to api»end the titles of some of these
pamplilets that were published before December, l*3(tO : —
The Old Noncon/onnist, touching the Book of Common Prayer and Cere-
monies. 4to. 40 pp. 1660.
Presbyterial Ordination vindicated ...» with a brief discourse concern-
ing imposed Forms of Prayer and Ceremonies. 4to. 48 pp. 16(30.
Eiusttts Junior, by Josiah Webb, Gent., a serious detester of the dregs of
the Anti-c.hristian Hierarchy yet remaining among us. 4to. 1660. [The
autlior was supposed to be a Romanist.]
The Jud'pnent of Foreign divines, as well from Geneva as other parts,
touching the Discipline, Liturgy, and Ceremonies of the Church of England.
With a letter from Calvin to Knox on the same subject. 4to. 1660.
Reasons showing the necessity of Refcmntition of the public doctrine.
Offered to the consideration of Parliament by divers Ministers of sundry
Counties of England, 4to. 1660.
The Common Prayer unmarked, 4to. 1660.
Tlie Common Prayer Book no Divine Service; or, a small Curb to the
Bishops' Career, etc. By Vavasour Powell. 4to. 1660.
Beams of former Light, discovering how evil it is to impose doubtful and
disputable Forms and Practices upon Ministei-s. 4to. 1660.
Reasons shovnng the Necessity of the Reformation of the Public Doctrine,
Worship, Rites and Ceremonies. Church government and discipline. Re-
puted to be (but indeed are not) established by Law. By Cornidius Burges.
4to. 1660.
pamphlets, next to the Prayer Book itself, was "A Collection
of Articles, Injunctions, Canons, Orders, Ordinances, and
Constitutions Ecclesiastical, witli other Public Records of
the Church of England ; chiefly in the times of K. Edward
Vlth, Q. Elizabeth, and K. James. Published to ^-indicate
the Church of England, and to promote Uniformity and
Peace in the same. And liumbly presented to the Convoca-
tion." This collection was made by Dr. Sparrow, afterwards
Bishop successively of Exeter and Norwich. It was pub-
lished in 1661, and was a kind of legal or constitutional
sequel to a well-known work which he had printed in De-
cember, 1660, "A Rationale upon the Book of Common
Prayer, wherein that Service is vindicated from the grand
accusation of Superstition, by showing that it is a Reasonable
Service, and so not Superstitious."
(jreat importunities] This refers to tlie deputations sent to
the King before and after he came into England, by the
Presbyterians ; which led to the Savoy Conference. The
word " persuasion " was introduced at this time to indicate
one or tlie other side of those who supjiorted and those who
opposed the Prayer Book.
for the ease of tender Consciences] It was the practice of the
Puritans to represent that they had tender consciences, but
that Cliurclinien had no consciences worth considering. The
Bishops at the Savoy Conference took an opportunity of
vindicating the supporters of the Prayer Book iu the follow-
ing plain-spoken language, which is a rejily to the Exceptions
of the Puritans against it : —
"It is no argument to say that multitudes of sober pious
persons scruple the use of it, unless it be made to appear by
evident reasons that the Liturgy gave the just grounds to make
such scruples. For if the bare i^retence of scruples be suffi-
cient to exempt us from obedience, all law and order is gone.
"On the contrary, we judge that if the Liturgy should be
altered, as is there required, not only a multitude, but the
generality of the soberest and most loyal children of the
Churcli of England would justly be offended, since such an
alteration would be a virtual confession that this Liturgy were
an intolerable burden to tender consciences, a direct cause of
schism, a superstitious usage {upon which pretences it is liere
desired to be altered) ; which would at once botli justify all
those which liave so obstinately separated from it, as tlie only
pious teuder-conscienced men, and condemn all those that
have adhered to that, in conscience of their duty and loyalty,
with their loss or hazard of estates, lives, and fortunes, as
Smectyltimins Rediviviis. 4to. 1660.
A Treatise of DiviTie Worship. Tending to prove that the Ceremonies
imposed upon the Ministers of the Gospel iu England in present Contro-
versy, are in their present use unlawful. Printed" 1604. 4to. 1660.
[" Excei»tions against the Common Prayer" was not printed until 1601,
after the King had yielded to the "importunities" referred to; and was
not therefore one of these pamphlets.]
98
Cf)C Preface.
In which review we have endeavoured to observe the like Moderation as we find to have been
used in the like case in former times. And therefore of the sundry Alterations proposed unto us, we
have rejected all such as were either of dangerous consequence (as secretly striking at some established
Doctrine, or laudable Practice of the Church of England, or indeed of the whole Catholick
Church of Christ) or else of no consequence at all, but utterly frivolous and vain. But such
alterations as were tendered to us (by what persons, under what pretences, or to what purpose
soever so tendered) as seemed to us in any degree requisite or expedient, we have willingly, and of our
own accord assented unto : Not enforced so to do by any strength of Argument, convincmg us of the
necessity of making the said Alterations : For we are fully persuaded in our judgements (and we here
profess it to the world) that the Book, as it stood before established by Law, doth not contain in it any
thing contrary to the Word of God, or to sound Doctrine, or which a godly man may not with a good
Conscience use and submit unto, or which is not fairly defensible against any that shall oppose the
same ; if it shall be allowed such just and favourable construction as in Common Equity ought to be
allowed to all Human Writings, especially such as are set forth by Authorit3^ and even to the very
best Translations of the holy Scripture itself
Our general aim therefore in this undertaking was, not to gratify this or that party in any their
unreasonable demands ; but to do that, which to our best understandings we conceived might most tend
to the preservation of Peace and Unity in the Church ; the procuring of Reverence, and exciting of
Piety, and Devotion in the publick Worship of God ; and the cutting off occasion from them that seek
occasion of ca%al or quarrel against the Liturgy of the Church. And as to the several variations from the
former Book, whether by Alteration, Addition, or otherwise, it shall suffice to give this general account.
That most of the Alterations were made, either first, for the better direction of them that are to officiate
in any part of Divine Service ; which is chiefly done in the Kalendars and Kubricks : Or secondly, for the
more proper expressing of some words or phrases of ancient usage in terms more suitable to the language
of the present times, and the clearer explanation of some other words and phrases, that were either of
doubtful signification, or otherwise liable to misconstruction : Or thirdly, for a more perfect rendering
of such portions of holy Scripture, as are inserted into the Liturgy ; which, in the Epistles and Gospels
especially, and in sundry other places, are now ordered to be read according to the last Translation :
and that it was thought convenient, that some Prayers and Thanksgivings, fitted to special occasions,
should be added in their due places ; particularly for those at Sea, together with an office for the
Baptism of such as are of riper years : which, although not so necessary when the former Book was
compiled, yet by the growth of Anabaptism, through the licentiousness of the late times crept in
men superstitious, schismatical, and void of religion and con-
science. " [Cardwell's Coti/ p. 336.]
In which revieio WE have endeavoured] This is the language
of men who were sure of the ground, constitutional and eccle-
siastical, upon which they were treading. Tliey could speak
as the Church of England, because the Convocations of Canter-
bury and York faithfully represented her.
Cal/wlick Church of Chrift] This is one of many places in
which the position of the Church of England towards the
Catholic Church is taken for granted as sound and firm.
Another such has been pointed out already in the Title-page
of the Prayer Book.
frivolous and vain] It is very remarkable to see how
trifling these objections, officially made at the Savoy Confer-
ence, often were. One of them was to the reading of any part
of the liurial Service at the grave, as the minister was sure to
catch cold by doing so. The Bishops replied that a cap would
remedy this inconvenience ; and this was the reply given by
the Di.ssenting Ministers : which, though long, is inserted as
being very characteristic of the tone of the whole objections
that were offered : "We marvel that you say nothing at all
to our desire (that it be expressed in a Kubrick, that prayers
and exhortations there used, be not for tlie benefit of the dead,
but only for the instruction and comfort of the living). You
intend to have a very indiscreet Ministry, if such a needlesso
Circumstance may not be left to their discretion. The con-
trivance of a Cap instead of a Ruhr, sheweth that you are all
unacquainted with the subject, of which you speak : and if
you speak for want of experience of the case of souls, as you
now do about the case of men's bodies, wo could wish you
some of our experience of one sort (by more converse witli all
the members of the flock) though not of the other. But we
would here put these three or four Questions to you.
"1. Whether such of ourselves as cannot stand still in tlu^
cold winter at the grave, half so long as the Office of Burial
requireth, without the certain hazard of our lives (though
while we are in motion we can stay out longer), are bound to
believe your Lordships, that a Cap wiU cure this better than
a Ruhr., though we liave proved the contrary to our cost?
and know it as well as we know that cold is cold. Do you
think no jilace but that which a cap or clothes do cover, is
capable of letting in the excessively refrigerating air ?
"2. Whether a man that hath the most rational probability,
if not a moral certainty, that it would be his death, or
dangerous sickness (though he wore 20 caps) is bound to obSy
you in this case ?
" 3. Whether usually the most studious, laborious ministers,
be not the most invaletudinary and infirm ? and
"4. Whether the health of sucli should be made a jest of,
by tlie more healthful ; and be ma<le so light of, as to be east
away, rather than a ceremony sometime be left to their dis-
cretion ? And whether it be a sign of the right and genuine
spirit ui lieligion, to subject to sucli a ceremony, both the life
of godliness, and the lives of ministers, and tlie people's souls ?
Much of this concerneth the people also, as well as the
ministers." [Grand Debate, p. 14,5.]
It is to be hoped the time can never return when such
trifling .and selfish .arguments can be used on such a question.
the r/roiiih of Anahap'.im)] The effect of this upon the
generation in which this Preface was written must have been
very awful : and the necessity for the Service spoken of was
strongly felt by the Convocaticm. In a work on the Bills of
Mortality, written in Ififio, there .are some incidental remarks
which strikingly corroliorate those of this Preface: "The
keeping of Parish Registers having been taken out of tlie hands
of every Parish Minister, and committed to some inferior
fellow elected by the people, and coiilirnieil by the .lustices of
Peace, h.id been much neglected, .and w.as again reduced into
^U preface.
99
amongst us, is now become necessary, and may bo always useful for the baptizing of Natives in our
Plantations, and others converted to the Faith.
If any man, who shall desire a more particular account of the several Alterations in any part of
the Liturgy, shall take the pains to compare the j^resent Book with the former ; we doubt not but the
reason of the change may easily appear.
And having thus endeavoured to discharge our duties in this weighty affair, as in the sight of God,
and to approve our sincerity therein (so far as lay in us) to the consciences of all men ; although
we know it impossible (in such variety of apprehensions, humours, and interests, as arc in the world)
to please all ; nor can expect that men of factious, peevish, and perverse spirits should be satisfied with
any thing that can be done in this kind by any other than themselves : Yet we have good hope, that
what is here presented, and hath been by the Convocations of both Provinces with great diligence
examined and approved, will be also well accepted and approved by all sober, peaceable, and truly
conscientious sons of the Church of England.
better order. And till this year the account of Christenings
had been neglected more than that of Burials ; one and the
chief cause whereof was a religious opinion against the baptiz-
ing of Infants, either as unlawful or unnecessary. If this
were the only reason, we might, by our defects of this kind,
conclude the growth of this opinion, and pronounce that not
half the people of England between the years 1650 and 1660
were convinced of the need of baptizing. . . . Upon the whole
matter it is most certain that the number of heterodox
believers was very great between the said year 1650 and 1660,
and so peevish were they as not to have the births of their
children registered . . . " ^ It may well be believed that this
privation of the grace of Baptism was one of the causes which
led to such fearful profligacy and infidelity in the time of
Charles II. and his immediate successors.
' Gnnt's Obstructions nn the Bills of Mortality. 8vo. 1635.
Convocations of both I'rovhiCfs] For greater expedition in
the work of revision certain Commissioners were appointed by
the Convocation of York to sit in the Convocation of Canter-
bury as their representatives ; and thus was accomplished a
selection of representatives from the whole body of the Church
of England clergy.
sober, j^eaeeahle, and truly conscientious sons] The last
words of this Preface contain an appeal to other times than
those in and for which they were written. The safe path
which was marked out so wisely by the Reformers has proved
to be one which has approved itself to all subsequent genera-
tions, and it was the effort of the 1661 Revisers to walk in it
faithfully, by returning, wherever they could, to the original
English Prayer Book of 1549. Had they attempted to do this
to a greater extent, there might have been danger of their whole
work being set aside. Sobriety in wild and fanatical times,
peace in a controversial age, and conscientiousness when so
many were unscrupulous, were wise watchwords.
CONCERNING THE SERVICE OF THE CHURCH.
T^HERE was never any thing by the wit of man
so well de\'ised, or so sure established, which,
in contiauance of time hath not been corrupted :
As, among other things, it may plainly appear by
the Common Prayers in the Church, commonly
called Divine Service. The first original and
ground whereof if a man would search out by the
ancient Fathers, he shall find, that the same was
not ordained but of a good puqDose, and for a great
advancement of godliness. For they so ordered
the matter, that all the whole Bible (or the great-
est part thereof), should be read over once every
year; intending thereby, that the Clergy, and
especially such as were Ministers in the congi'ega-
tion, should (by often reading, and meditation in
God's word) be stirred up to godliness themselves,
and be more able to exhort others by wholesome
doctrine, and to confute them that were Adver-
saries to the Truth ; and further, that the people
(by daily hearing of holy Scripture read in the
Church) might continually profit more and more
in the knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed
with the love of his true Religion.
But these many years passed, this godly and
decent Order of the ancient Fathers hath been so
altered, broken, and neglected, by planting in un-
certain Stories, and Legends, with multitude of
"^TIHIL enim humane elaboratum ingenio, tam
exactum initio unquam fuit, quin postea,
multorum accedente judicio, perfectius reddi pos-
sit, ut in ipsis etiam ecclesiasticis institutis circa
primitivam praesertim ecclesiam contigisse vide-
mus.
Et profecto si quis modum precandi olim a
majoribus traditum diligenter consideret, plane
intelligat horum omnium prtecipuam ab ipsis
habitam esse rationem.
Tertia, ut religionis quoque futuri magistri
quotidiana sacra3 scripture et ecclesiasticarum
historiaruni lectioue erudiantur, complectanturque
(ut Paulus ait) eum, qui secundum doctrinam est,
fidelem sermonem, et potentes sint exhortari in
doctrina sana, et eos, qui contradicunt, arguere.
Sed factum est nescio quo pacto precantium
negligentia, ut paullatim a sanctissimis illis
veterum patrum institutis discederetur. Nam
libri ScripturiB sacrse, qui statis annis temporibus
THE ORIGINAL PREFACE OF a.d. 1549.
This explanatory introduction is supposed to have been
written by Cranmor. It was moved to this place when the
present Preface was inserted in 1661. Two short sentences
were also erased.
By whomsoever it was written, there can be no doubt that
it was composed with tlie Ri-formed Roman Breviary of Quig-
nonez lying open before the WTiter. The passages in the
right-hand column are, with two exceptions, taken from an
edition of 1.5.'i7, belonging to Queen's College, Oxford, and the
preface to tliis edition agrees with all the later copies. But
the Paris edition of 1. ■).'{() (probably following the Roman one
of 153.5) dilfers considerably.' Our English Preface is most
like the later edition of (,|uignonez ; but the paragraph en-
closed in brackets appears to shew that the earlier one was
also known to the reformers of our Services, There are six
copies of this lireviary in the Bodleian Library, one at the
British Museum, one at the Routli Library of Durham
University, one in the Public Library at Cambridge, and one
in Queen's College, Oxford ; but none of these are earlier than
1.537. Others arc in ])rivate hands.
It has already been mentioned, in the Historical Intro-
• The \vrit«r linn not hev.n .iMc to meet Willi this, but copies from Oi'r.-
nAS'iF.n's Tnntitiilln»s Liturfji'piffi, y .'tds.
ductiou [p. 8], that this Reformed Roman Breviary exercised
some influence upon the reformed English offices. It set us
the example of compression in the serWces, and also of method.
Quignonez removed the ancient Confession and Absolution to
the licginning of the daily services, and in this too he was
followed by our Reformers. His Breviary, again, established
a system of two lessons on ordinary, or ferial days ; the first
of wliich was taken from the Old 'rcstanicnt, and tlie second
from tlie New Testament. On festivals, a tliird lesson was
added, which was generally a short passage from a homily of
St. Gregory or some other patristic author. The two former
were seldom entire chapters, but were taken in a regular
succession, like our own daily lessons. In some respects the
changes made by Cardinal (Juignonez, and sanctioned by
Paul in. in a I'aiial bull, were more sweeping in their ch.aracter
than those of our own reform. It is evident from liis preface
that others, beside himself, were eng.aged on the work of
revision ; and this, as well as the long time occupied over it,
offers another point of comparison between the two reformed
service-books, tliose of Rome and England.
Ilie andnit J'allicrs] This designation is used in its ordinary
sense for the ancient writers of the Cluireh antecedent to the
Middle Ages. So the great coUecticni of their minor writings
in thirty folio volumes is entitled liililwllivi-n Maxima Vc
I lenim I'atrum, ed. l(i'77.
Concerning tbc ^cruicc of tfjc Cburcf).
lOI
Responds, Verses, vain Repetitions, Commemora-
tions, and Sj'nodals ; that commonly when any
Book of the Bible was begun, after three or four
Chapters were read out, all the rest were unread.
And in this sort the Book of Isaiah was begun in
Advent, and the Book of Genesis in Septuagesima;
but they were only begun, and never read through:
After like sort were other Books of holy Scrip-
ture used.
And moreover, whereas St. FaiU would have
such language spoken to the people in the Church
as they might understand, and have profit by hear-
ing the same ; The Service in this Church of Eng-
land these many years hath been read in Latin
to the people, which they understand not ; so that
they have heard with their cars only, and their
heart, spirit, and mind have not been edified
thereby.
And furthermore, notwithstanding that the
ancient Fathers have divided the Psalms into
seven Portions, whereof every one was called a
Noctwrn: Now of late time a few of them have
been daily said, and the rest utterly omitted.
Moreover, the number and hardness of the Rules
called the Pie, and the manifold changings of the
Service was the cause, 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.
These inconveniences therefore considered, hero
is set forth such an Order, whereby the same shall
legendi erant more raajorum . . . \ ix dum incepti
omittuntur in alio breviario. Tum historiaj sancto-
rum qua'dam tam incultse, et tam sine delectu
scripts habentur in eodem, ut ncc authoritatem
habere videantur nee gravitatem. [Ut exemplo
esse possunt liber Genesis, qui inci])itur in Septua-
gesima, liber Isaia', qui in Adventu, ijuorum vix
singula capitula perlegimus : ac eodem modo
cetera Veteris Tcstamenti volumina degustamus
magis quam legimus. Nee secus accidit in Evan-
gelia, et reliquam Scripturam Novi Testamenti,
quorum in loco successerunt alia, nee utilitate cum
his, nee gravitate comj^aranda, qu« quotidie agita-
tione linguaj magis quam intentione mentis incul-
cantur.]
. . . ct psalmorum plerisque omissis, pauci singulis
fere diebus repeterentur.
Accedit tam perplexus ordo, tamque diflScilis pre-
candi ratio, ut interdum paulo minor opera in
requirendo ponatur, quam, cum inveneris, in
legendo.
Twn-e majorum] Later on occur also the following words :
"Ac illuil ante omnia visum nobis est in consuetudinem revo-
oare, ut Scriptura Sacra maxime omnium toto anno, et omnes
psalmi singulis septimanis perlegerentur. " Instead of ' ' legendi
erant," some copies read "erant perlegendi. "
Ut exemplo] This passage is in the earlier edition of 1536,
but not in that from which the rest is quoted. Tlie writer
has been obliged to quote it from Gueranger, not being able to
meet with this edition in England.
Sesponds] These were short anthems, similar to that which
is ten times sung during the reading of the passage of Scripture
which contains the Ten Commandments. Theoretically they
gave the keynote of the Lection ; but this principle was often
deviated from, and the sense was frequently broken up rather
than illustrated. The jiractice, in moderation, is a very
excellent one.'
I'cr.i-cs] Versicles following the Responds.
vain Hcpelitions] The same words being said over and over
again ; first, perhaps, in the Lesson, then in tlie Respond, and
again in the Verse. A similar form of repetition may be seen
in the Aspersio printed at p. 6.
C'ommemoral ions] Collects, or Collects and Versicles, com-
nxemorative of Saints or of Festivals.
Si/nodals] The provincial constitutions or canons which were
read in parish churches after the conclusion of synods. The
reading of them after the k'ssons was probably the origin of
the corresponding custom of giving out notices after the Second
Lesson.
the Pie] The following is exactly one-third of the Pica or
Pie for a single Sunday, the first of Advent. RIaskell observes
that it was not possible for the same service to occur on the
same Sunday of the year twee running ; and it will be seen
that Quignonez and our Reformers did not overstate the case
1 See notes on the " Te Deura," where the 9tU Kesjionrl fur Festivals in
.\dvent is given.
in respect to the complexity of this ancient rule. In the
Bodleian, York Minster, and Ripon Minster Libraries there
are volumes containing the Pie only.
"Pica do Dominica Prima Ad ventus.
"LITERA DOMINICALIS A.— Tertia Decembris tota
cantetur Historia Asjnciens. Secundi-e Vesperaj enint de
Sancto Osmundo, cum pleno servitio in crastino ; et soleunis
memnria de octava, et de Dominica, et de Sancta Maria cum
antiphona ^re Maria. — Feria 2 de S. Osmundo : ix. lectiones :
omnia de Commuui unius Confessoris et Pontificis. Sec. vesp.
erunt de commemoratione, et mem. de Sancto, de octava, de
Adventu, et de S. Maria, cum ant. Ave Maria. — Feria 3, 5,
et sabbato, de commemorationibus, et Responsoria ferialia
prfeterraittantur ; et Missa de oct. S. Andrese dicitur in
capitulo.
"LIT. DOM. B.— Quinto Cal. Dec. tota cantetur hist.
Aspicic7i.-<, et mem. de S. Maria. — Fer. 2, 6, et saljb. de com-
mem. — -Fer. 3 de feria, et nihil de martyribus nisi mem. ad
vesp. et ad matutinas de S. Maria. Missa de vigilia. — Fer. 4
de Apostolo, et solen. mem. de Adv. et de S. Maria. — Fer. 5
de fer. cum Resp. ferialibus, et mem. de oct. et Missa de 4
fer." And so on, through the seven Sunday Lettei's.
It was, perhaps, from the confused appearance which a page
of Pica presents that printers came to call any portion of type
which is in utter disorder through accident or otherwise by
the name of "pie." The ecclesiastical use of the word is
tliought to have been derived from jriVaJ, an index, or table,
from the wooden boards on which the dii'ections for service
were written out in primitive days. It is identical with
"ordinale" and with "Directorium sacerdotum. ' The "Pica"
type of later days is generally said to have taken its name
from the large letters in which the pica of the Anglican Porti-
foria was printed : but no such large type was used for print-
ing the Pie in the books which are now extant.
lo:
Concerning tf)c ©cttJicc of tbc Cijurcf).
be redressed. And for a readiness in this matter
here is drawn out a Kalendar for that purpose,
which is plain and easy to be understood ; wherein
(so much as may be) the reading of holy Scripture
is so set forth that all things shall be done in order
without breaking one piece from another. For
this cause be cut off Anthems, Responds, In^nta-
tories, and such like things as did break the con-
tinual course of the reading of the Scripture.
Yet, because there is no remedy, but that of
necessity there must be some Rules ; therefore
certain Rules ai'e here set forth ; which, as they
are few in number, so they are plain and easy to
be understood. So that here you have an Order
for Prayer, and for the reading of the holy Scrip-
ture, much agreeable to the mind and purpose of
the old Fathers, and a great deal more profitable
and commodious than that which of late was used.
It is more profitable, because here are left out
many things, whereof some are untrue, some un-
certain, some vain and superstitious ; and nothing
is ordained to be read but the very pure Word of
God, the holy Scriptures, or that which is agree-
able to the same ; and that in such a language
and order as is most easy and plain for the under-
standing both of the readers and hearers. It is
also more commodious, both for the shortness
thereof, and for the plainness of the Order, and for
that the Rules be few and easy.
And whereas heretofore there hath been great
diversity in saying and singing in Churches within
this Realm ; some following Salisbury Use, some
Hereford Use, and some the Use of Bangor, some
of York, some of Lincoln; now from henceforth
all the whole Realm shall have but one Use.
And forasmuch as nothing can be so plainly set
forth but doubts may arise in the use and practice
of the same ; to appease all such diversity (if any
arise), and for the resolution of all doubts concern-
ing the manner how to understand, do, and execute
the things contained in this Book ; the parties
Versiculos, responsoria, et capitula omittere
idcirco visum est . . . et legentes sjepe morentur
cum molestia quseritandi, locum relinqui voluimus
continenti lectioni Scripturse Sacrje . . .
Habet igitur hsec precandi ratio tres maximas
commoditates. Primara, quod precantibus simul
acquiritur utriusque Testamenti peritia. Secun-
dum, quod res est cxpeditissima propter summam
ordinis simplicitatem et nonnullam brevitatem.
Tertiam, quod historic sanctorum nihil habeant,
ut prius quod graves, et doctas aures offendat.
quasdam omisimus illis nee probabilitate nee
gravitate pares . . .
[Rectum quoque duximus utvel intra proviuciam
[Lyons] nostram sacrorum ordo et psallendi una
sit consuetude : et sicut unam cum Trinitatis con-
fessione fidem tenemus, unam et officionim regulam
teneamus, ne variata observatione in aliquo devotio
nostra discrepare credatur.
Cone. Vannes, A.D. 4G1, Canon xv.]
few and easy] The following passage was omitted from the
Preface at the last revision: "Furthermore, by this order
the Curates shall need none other 'books for their public
service but this book and the Bible. By the means whereof
the people sliall not be at so great charges for books as in
times past they have been." It was crossed out first by
Bishop Cosin, and afterwards by the Committee of Revision ;
not, probably, fi-om any idea that the passage was an unworthy
one, Dut because it was .so entirely out of date when the press
had made the advance it had in 16G1. Although, moreover,
the passage wa-s applicable to the case of poor jjarish churches,
it was not so in that of richer ones and cathedrals, where as
many books as formerly are required for the use of the choirs.
There are practically in use liy most of the clergj' and choirs
in one or other class of Churches, separate Breviaries, Missals,
Manuals, Antiphonaries, "Service" Books, Psalters, and
Lectionaries ; the whole volume of the Holy Bible being now
used for the latter, instead nf those parts only which are
needed for the daily and proper T^essons.
hut one Use] Another pjirt of the Preface erased at the
suggestion of Cosin was this ; which seems to have been
copied from a passage in that of Quignonez : —
And if any will judge this
w.ay more painful, because
that all things must be read
upon the Book, whereas be-
fore, by the reason of so often
repetition they could say many
things by heart : if those men
Vf\\\ weigh their labour, with
the profit and knowledge
which daily they shall obtain
by reading upon llic l)Ook, they
will not refuse the pain, in con-
sideration of the great profit
that shall ensue thereof.
Si cui autem in hoc Breviario
laboriosum videbitur pleraque
omnia e,\ libro legi, cum multa
in alio qu;e propter frequentem
reijctitionem ediseuntur nic-
moriter pronuntientur, com-
jienset cum hoc labore cog-
nitionem Scripture Sacr.-p,
c|uru sic indiea augeseit; etin-
tentionem anim;e, quam Deus
ante omnia in precantibus re-
quiret : hane enim majorem
Icgentibus, quam memoritcr
prosef|uentibus adesse necesse
est : ct hujusmodi laborcm non
modo fructuosum, sed etiain
salutarem iiulicabit.
Concerning tbc ^ertiicc of tf)c Cburct).
103
that so doubt, or diversely take any thing, shall
alway resort to the Bishop of the Diocess, who by
his discretion shall take order for the quieting and
appeasing of the same ; so that the same order be
not contrary to any thing contained in this Book.
And if the Bishop of the Diocess be in doubt, then
he may send for the resolution thereof to the
Archbishop.
the parties that so doubt] In the Act of Uniformity of the
same year as that in which this Preface was written, tlie
words corresponding to "the parties" are "the doers and
executors of the same rites and ceremonies." [2 and H Edw.
VI. sec. 1.] In the Elizabethan Latin Prayer Book [.\.d. 1560]
the passage is translated, " constitutum eat, ut quoties dubia
occurrunt aut incidunt inter ministros, deferatur res ad Epis-
copum Diceceseos." From this it appears that these words
give no authority for reference to the Bishop in case of
"doubts "or "diversely taking of any thing" on the part of the
laity : " the parties " being the " ministers, ' ' or officiating clergy.
This provision is illustrated by one of the Canons of A. 11.
1604.
53. 2^0 public Opposition between Preachers.
If any Preacher shall in the Pulpit particularly, or namely
of purpose, impugn or confute any doctrine delivered by any
other Preacher in the same Church, or in any Church near
adjoining, before he hath acquainted the Bishop of the dio-
cese therewith, and received order from him what to do in
that case, because upon such public dissenting and contradict-
ing there may grow much offence and disquietness unto the
people ; the Churchwardens, or party grieved, shall forth-
\vith signify the same to the said Bishop, and not suffer the
said Preacher any more to occupy tliat place which he hath
once abused, except he faithfully promise to forbear all such
matter of contention in the Cluirch, until the liishop hath
taken further order therein ; who shall with all convenient
speed so proceed therein, that public satisfaction may be
made in the congregation where the offence was given. Pro-
vided, tliat if either of tlie parties ollending do appeal, he
shall not be suffered to preach pendente lite.
shall alway resort to the Bishop] This does not relieve those
who thus resort from their obligation to obey the rules laid
down in the Prayer Book, as if the Bishop could relieve them
of their responsibilities in that respect.
((7(0 by his discretion shall take ordej-] That is if he is re-
sorted to liy the Clergy. But nothing is here said which
imposes upon the Bishop the duty of intervening when he is
not thus resorted to for the resolution of doubts or diversities
among " the doers and executors of the same rites and
ceremonies."
so that the same order be not contrary] The Bishop is thus
kept as strictly within the four corners of the Prayer Book as
the Priest. He has no authority to relax rubrics or to dis-
pense with them ; and is expressly forbidden to order any-
thing which is contrary to them. He is the administrator,
not the maker, of the ritual law of the Church.
Aiid if the Bishop of the Diocess be in doubt] This provision
for a rare emergency was added in 1552.
104
Cl)C iLatin prajjcc ISoofe.
'T^HOUGH it be appointed, That all things shall be read and sung in the Church ia the English
-^ Tongue, to the end that the congregation may be thereby edified ; yet it is not meant but that
when men say Morning and Evening Prayer privately, they may say the same in any language that
they themselves do understand.
THE LATIN PRAYER BOOK.'
In the first Act of Uniformity [2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1] the
fifth clause was as follows: "Provided always that it shall
be lawful to any man that understandeth the Greek, Latin,
and Hebrew tongue, or other strange tongue, to say and have
the said prayers heretofore specified of Matins and Evensong
in Latin or any such other tongue, saying the same privately
as they do understand. And for the further encouraging of
learning in tlie tongues in tlie Universities of Cambridge and
Oxford, to use and e.xercise in their common and open prayer
in their Chapels, being no Churches or other places of Prayer,
the Matins, Evensong, Litany, and all other prayers, tlie
Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass, excepted, in
the said book prescribed in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew ; any
thing in this present Act to the contrary notwithstanding. "
In the Act of Uniformity at present in force [14 Car. II. c.
4] this clause is also enacted : "Provided always, That it shall
and may be lawful to use the Morning and Evening Prayer,
and all other Prayers and Service prescribed in and by the
said book, in the Chapels or other Publick Places of the
respective Colleges and Halls in both the Universities, in the
CoUedges of Westminster, Winchester, and Eaton, and in the
Convocations of the Clergies of either Province in Latine ;
Any thing in this Act contained to the contrary notwithstand-
ing."
Letters Patent were issued by Queen Elizabeth to the same
effect, and printed at the beginning of the Latin Prayer Book
issued by her authority in 1560 ; there being no limitation (as
there is not in the present Act of Uniformity) with respect to
the Communion Ser\'ice.° Bishop Cosin added to the exist-
ing rule the words "especially in the Colleges and Halls of
either University, and in the Schools of Westminster, Eaton,
and Winchester," but the alteration was not printed.
The first Latin Aversion of tlie Book of Common Prayer was
made in 1551 by a former Canon of St. Andrew's, Edinburgh,
named Alexander Aless, and under the direction of Arch-
bishop Cranmer.^ As some provision would certainly be made
by authority for carrying out the proviso of the Act of Unifor-
mity, it is probable that the translation of Aless was made for
this purpose ; although, liecause Cranmer used it for giving
Martin Bucer a knowledge of the English formularies, it is
commonly said that he had it done expressly for that object.
Bucer in his Censiira distinctly says "librum istum Sacrorum,
per interpretem, quantum potui, cognovi diligenter;" and a
comparison of dates makes it almost certain that he gained
what little knowledge he there liad of our English sen'ices
through an oral interpretation before he received the copy of
Aless' version from Cranmer. But Aless was now a professor
in a Lutheran, that is, a Presbyterian, university ; and his
Latin version is very far from being rendered with that bona
Jides so ostentatiously put forth on the title-page.
This version was, however, the foundation of that issued
by Queen Elizabeth in 1560, having been re\'ised by Walter
Haddon.* But Queen Elizabeth's Latin Prayer Book differs
considerably from her English one ; and although in many
respects it better represents the original Prayer Book of 1549,
it can hardly be taken as having authority under our present
Act of Uniformity. In addition to the ordinary services,
there were also added to tliis Latin version an OflSce, "In
com.meml(itionihiis Benefactortim," and another, " Celebraiio
1 Whitakcr's Grfick version waa printed in 1509 ; Durel'-s in 1()G4.
2 An autiiorized i'rencli translation was printed by Arcliljisliop Cran-
mcr's order in 1552. In a letter to Wne.ret^iry Ceeil [Stiivpk'.s Memorials,
iii. GOS, Eecl. Hist. Soe.] the .\rclibishop says that this was first done by
iilr Hn(;h Paulet's conuiiandnieTit (wlio was Governor of Calais), and over-
seen by the Lord Channell(»r (Ooodrieh, i3ishop of Ely) and otliers, being
afterwards revised by a learned I-Yenchnian who was a Doctor of Divinity.
This revision was for the second book of Edward VI., and was printed in
1553.
3 "Ordlnatio Eeclesise, sen Ministerii Ecclesiastici, in florentissinio Regno
Anglise, conseripta semione jiatrio, et in Latinani lingnaiti bona tide con-
vcrsa. ct ad consolationein Ecelesiaruiri Cliristi, nbicunqnc loconnn ac
gcntinni, hJs tristissiinis teniporibus, edita ab Alexandro Alesio, bcoto,
Sacne Tbeologipe Doct/ire. IJpslie. MDLI."
* " Liber I'recnm Publicaruin, sen Ministerii Ecclesiasticeadniinistrationis
Sacramentoruin, alionim^jiie rituuin & ceremoniarum in Ecclesia Anglicana.
Cunj privileglo Hcgiie Mojcstatis."
cmnee Domini, in funebrihus, si amiri ct vicini de/uncti com-
mimicare relint." These two offices were specially mentioned
as "peculiaria qua;dani " in the Letters Patent. The book
was reprinted in 1574 and in 1596, and is to be found in a
modern reprint among the Parker Society's publications ; and
no doubt it was adopted for the private recitation of the Daily
Offices in days when Latin was more freely used than it has
been in later times. These words are to be found at the close of
the Letters Patent : " Eadem etiam formula Latina yrecandi
privatim nti )iortainur omnes reliquos Ecclesiie noslne Arirjiicance
ministros, ciijiiscunque gradus fuerint, iis diebus, qiiibus aut nan
solent, aut nan t-enentur parochianis svis, ad adem sacram.pro
more accedentibus, jmblice preces vernacida Ungua, secundum,for-
mam dicti Statuti, recitare. " Which exhortation may be taken
as a contemporary interpretation of tlie clause to which this
note refers.
The Daily Services, the Psalter, and some additional
Collects and Prayers were translated into Latin for the use of
Christ Church, Oxford, in 1660.'* But this is not a complete
version of the Book of Common Prayer.
There are more than twenty editions of various Latin ver-
sions of the Prayer Book, but that most used until recently
was one by the learned and orthodox Dean Durel, wliicli was
made shortly after its settlement at the Restoration.^
There is some reason for supposing that this version was
intended to be authorized as the standard Latin Book of Com-
mon Prayer, although no record remains of its being placed
before the Convocation. Durel was Canon of Durham when
he published it, having been appointed to his stall by Cosin,
the principal Reviser of the Prayer Book, who had probably
made his acquaintance during their exile when both were
living at Paris. But for some years after the Restoration,
Durel was Chaplain of the Savoy " and Dean of Windsor, the
one post seeming to associate him officially with the proceed-
ings connected with the Restoration of the Church, and the
other (as Confessor to the Sovereign) with King Charles II.
Among Archbishop Sancroft's papers in the Bodleian Library
there is also a letter from Durel submitting a specimen of his
Latin version to the Primate for approval, and it is dedicated
to the King in a very similar tone to that adopted by the
last translators of the Holy Bible in their dedication of it to
James I. These circumstances do not prove that Durel'a
Version had any actual authority giveo to it, but they seem
to indicate that it was undertaken at the suggestion of men
in high office and having great influence in ecclesiastical
aft'airs ; and it is not unlikely that furtlier evidence may be
discovered on the subject.
Dean Durel's Latin Version is a most excellent one, whether
it is viewed as to scholarship, theology, or loyalty to the
Cluirch of England. Tlie Psalms, Canticles, Epistles, and
Gospels are all printed from the ancient Salisbury Use ; and
the expressions of the latter are often followed, and even
retained, in the Prayers, although most of these have been
retranslated from the English.
A new Latin version was made by two of the contributors
to this work in 1865.*
•'* " Liber Preeuin rublicarnm in Usum Ecclesire Cathedralis Christi. Oxon,
Oxoniic. l(i«0."
6 " Litnrgia, sen Liber rrccnni Coninmnimn, ct administrationis Sacra-
nientoruni, aliomnique Ritunni atqne Ceremoniarnni Ecelesiai, juxtA
Usum Ecclcsiiu Aiiglicajue : un4 cum Psalterio sen Psalmis Davidis. ea
punctatione distinetis, qua C.intari aut Kecitari debent in Ecelesiis.
Itenique Forma et Modus Faciendi, Ordinandi et Consecnmdi Episcopos,
Presbyteros, Diaconos. Londini, excudit Rogerns Nortnnus, Kegins in
Latinis, Giwcis et IIebi"aieis typographns ; va'neuntque apud Sam. Mearue,
Rcginm IJibliopolavutn in vico vnlgariter dicto Little-UritJiine, 1070."
7 It was probably his coiniection with the French chapel of the Savoy
which led Durel to translate the Prayer IJook into French. This version
lias been used ever since in the Channel Islands, though others of a Pro-
testant character liave also been introduced in nu)dern times. The follow-
ing is its title : '* I.ia Liturgie, c'est A dire, Lc Fonnulaire des Priercs
Publiques, de I'Adnpnistration des Sacrcments,, et des autres (^er^-monies
et Coutunu'H de I'Eglise, selon I'nsnge dc I'Egliso Anglicane, avec lo
i'seautier on le-s Psaumcs dv DavitI, Ponctuez selon qu'ils doivent estre on
chantcz on lerts dans les Eglises. A Londrcs : Ponr .Iran Dunmore ct
OetJivien Pulleyn lc Jeunc ["l i'Enseigne du Hoy en la petite Bretagne, 1607."
Durel wrote several learned works, explaining the position, doctrines, and
wonihip of the Church of England.
8 Lihcr I'rccmti I'uhlkuntm Ecdesim Anglicanrr. A. Oulielmo Bnioirr,
Pritiate anD public taping of tbe ^crtjiccs Dailj^.
105
And all Priests and Deacons are to say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer, either privately or
openly, not being let by sickness or some other urgent cause.
And the Curate that miuistereth in every Parish Church or Chapel, being at home, and not being
otherwise reasonably hindered, shall say the same in the Parish Church or Chapel where he ministereth,
and shall cause a Bell to be tolled thereunto a convenient time before he begin, that the people may
come to hear God's Word, and to pray with him.
A Greek version of the Prayer Book was made in 1569 by-
William Wliitaker, afterwards Professor of Divinity at Cam-
bridge, who was a nepliew of Dean Nowell, to whom the
work is dedicated. This was printed by Wolf, and is dated
"23 Maii 15(>9." Bnt it contains only the Morning and
Evening Prayer, the Litany, the Collects, and the Catechism.
A complete Greek version was made by Dean Diirel in 1G64,
and dedicated to Archbishop Sheldon. It was printed in very
small-sized type and volume by Field, the University printer.
PRIVATE SAYING OF THE SERVICES DAILY BY
THE CLERGY.
The second paragraph of the above Appendix to the Preface
of 1549 enjoins tlie Clergy to say the Daily Offices constantly
either privately or openly, unless hindered by some urgent
cause. This direction has undergone the following changes : —
1549.
Neither that any
man shall be bound
to the saying of
them, but such as
from time to time, in
Cathedral and Col-
legiate churches, pa-
rish churches, and
chapels to the same
annexed, shall senx'
the congregation.
1.5o'2.
And all priests
and deacons shall be
bound to say daily
the Morning and
Evening Prayer,
either privately or
openly, except they
be letted by px'each-
ing, studying of di-
vinity, or by some
other urgent cause.
166-2,
And all priests
and deacons are to
say daily the Morn-
ing and Evening
Prayer, either pri-
vately or openly,
not being let by
sickness, or some
other urgent cause.
In the Scotch Prayer Book of 1637 the words were added,
"of which cause, if it be frequently pretended, they are to
make tlie bisliop of the diocese, or the archbishop of the pro-
vince, the judge and allower." Bishop Cosin also added to
"ui'gent cause," "which the Bishop of the Diocese shall
approve." But the present fonn appears to be that which
he ultimately adopted, and that which was accepted by the
Committee of Revision. There were, however, in the original
MS. of the Prayer Book, after "privately or openly," tlie
words "when conveniently they may," and these words have
been crossed out with tlie pen, on what authority, or by wliom,
is not known.
This rule was regarded by Bishop Cosin, as he tells us in
his notes to the Prayer Book [Works, vol. v. p. 9], as a con-
tinuation of the ancient rule of the unreformed Church ; and
such has been the opinion of most sound writers since his
time. The Letters Patent attached to the Latin Prayer Book
of Queen Elizabeth confirm this \-iew ; and so also does tlie
practice of many holy clergymen at every period since the
Reformation. The principle of it is that the Clergy are bound
to offer the prayers of the Church daily to the glory of God,
and as intercessors for their flocks, whether any come to join
them in the offering or not. Such private recitation of the
daily offices is, however, only to be used when the better way
of " open prayer " with a congregation cannot be adopted.
PUBLIC SAYING OF THE SERVICES DAILY.
The third paragraph of the above rule very clearly enjoins
the use of Daily Service. Bishop Cosin wished to define the
hours at which it was to be said within certain limits, by add-
A.M., et Petro Goldsmith Medd. A.M. Presbyteris, Collegii UiiiversiUtis
in Ac-ad. Oxon. Sooiis, Latine Redditus. Rivington, Loudini, Oxonii, Can-
tabiigiae. 1869. Editio Altera.
ing to "a convenient time before he begin," — " which may
be any hour between six and ten of tlie clock in the morning,
or between two and six of the clock in the evening:" and
although liis alteration was not adopted, it serves to shew us
wliat were tlien considered the canonical limits of the times
for Mattins and Evensong.
The Laity should never allow their Clergy to find the House
of (iod empty when they go tliere to carry out tliis most
excellent rule of the Church. In the fifteenth Canon, which
directs "the Litany to be read on Wednesdays and I'riday s, "
there is an injunction which shews in what manner the
practice of Daily Service ought to be kept up by tlie Laity as
well as the Clergy: "The minister, at the accustomed hours
of service, shall resort to the Church and Chapel, and,
warning being given to the people by tolling of a bell, shall
say the Litany prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer;
wlureunto we wish every kouseliohler (hoelliny tril/iin half a mile
of the Chureh to come, or send one at the least of Ids limifcliohl,
fit to join with the Minister in prayers. " It was undoubtedly
tlie intention of the first Reformers, and of all wlio at any
time revised our Services, to have them useil daily, Morning
and Evening, openly in the Church, by the Clergy and as many
of the Laity as may be alile to attend. Many endowments
have been left for assisting to caiTy out this intention of the
Church ; and tlie jiractice has been kept up in some parish
Churches (as well as in the Cathedrals) without any break,
except during the persecution of the seventeenth century. In
1724, when the population of London was only one-sixtli of wliat
it is at the present time, there were seventy-five Churches open
daily for Divine Service ; and there are many proofs that the
same diligence in prayer was used in the country as well as
in large cities.
Such continual public acts of Divine Worship are expedient
for various reasons. [1] It is due to the honour of Almighty
God that the Church in every place consecrated to His service
should begin and end the day by rendering Him a service of
praise. [2] Each Church and parish being a corporate centre
and corporate whole, prayer for God's grace and His mercy
should be offered morning and evening, for the body which the
Church and such congregation as can assemble represents.
Thus the Divine Presence is drawn down to the Tabernacle
tliat It may thence sanctify the whole Camp. [3] The bene-
fit to the Clergy is very great, of offering Divine Worship,
prayer, and intercession, in the presence of, and in company
with, some of their flock. [4] There are advantages to those
\\'\\n frequently join in Divine Service which can only be fully
known by experience, but which will then be appreciated as
blessings not othenvise to be obtained. [5] The service of
the Sanctuary is the most real and true form of that daily
ilorning and Evening worsliip for which Family Prayer has
been originated as an imperfect substitute ; for it is the tnie
Common Prayer [see p. 82] of the Church offered in the Name
of Christ by two or three gathered together under His
authority, and according to His ordinance.
It may be noticed that the Act of Uniformity enjoins that
the Common Prayer shall be said on Sundays and Holy Days,
and on all other Days ; and that the title of our Morning and
Evening Ser-vice is, "The Order for Morning or Evening
Prayer daily throughout the year. " In the beginning of the
" Form of Prayer to be used at Sea " there is also this rubric,
"IT The Morning and Evening Service to be used daily at
Sea, shall be the same which is appointed in the Book of
Common Prayer." And the next rubric is, "These two fol-
lowing Prayers are to be also said in Her Majesty's Navy every
day."
OF CEREMONIES,
WHY SOME BE ABOLISHED, AND SOME RETAINED.
/^F such Ceremonies as be used in the Church,
^^ and have had their beginning by the insti-
tution of man, some at the first were of godly-
intent and purpose devised, and yet at length
turned to vanity and superstition : Some entered
into the Church by undiscreet devotion, and such
a zeal as was without knowledge ; and for because
they were winked at in the beginning, they grew
daily to more and more abuses, which not only for
their unprofitableness, but also because they have
much bhuded the people, and obscured the glory
of God, are worthy to be cut away and clean
rejected: Other there be, which although they
have been devised by man, yet it is thought good
to reserve them still, as well for a decent order in
the Church (for the which they were first devised)
as because they pertain to edification, whereunto
all things done in the Church (as the Apostle
teacheth) ought to be refeiTed. And although
the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony, in itself
considered, is but a small thmg, yet the wilful
and contemptuous transgression and breaking of
a common order and discipline is no small offence
before God. Let all things be done among you,
saith S. Paul, in a seemly and due order : The
appointment of the which order ijertaineth not to
private men ; therefore no man ought to take in
hand, or presume to appoint or alter any publick
or common order in Christ's Church, except he be
lawfully called and authorized thereunto.
OF CEREMONIES.
This justification of tlie course taken at tlie Reformation
with respect to the Ceremonial part of Divine Worship was
probably written by Archbishop C'ranmer, being included in
some early lists of his works. It was originally inserted at
the end of the Prayer Book, and was followed by some ritual
directions reprinted below. In 1552 the part "Of Cere-
monies " was placed after the Preface, and these ritual direc-
tions were omitted.
"Certain Notes for l/w more plain Explication and decent
Ministration of Tkinrjs contained in this Bool:
"In the saying or singing of Matins and Evensong, baptiz-
ing and burj'ing, the Minister, in parish churches and chapels
annexed to the same, shall use a surplice. And in all catlie-
dral churches and colleges, the Archdeacons, Deans, Provosts,
Masters, Prebendaries, and Fellows, being Graduates, may
use in the quire, beside their surplices, such hood as pertaineth
to their several degrees which they have taken in any univer-
sity within this realm. But in all other j^laces, every minister
shall be at liberty to use any surplice or no. It is also seemly,
that Graduates, when they do preach, should use such hoods
as pertaineth to their several degrees.
"U And whensoever the Bishop sliall celebrate the holy
Communion in the church, or execute any other public minis-
tration, he shall have upon him, beside his rochette, a surplice
or albe, and a cope or vestment ; and also his pastoral staff in
his hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain.
"H As touching kneeling, crossing, holding up of h.ands,
knocking upon the breast, and other gestures, they may be
used or left, as every man's devotion scrvcth, without blame.
"% Also upon Chri-stmas D.ay, Easter D.ay, the Ascension
Day, Whit-Sunday, and the feast of the Trinity, may be used
any part of Holy Scripture hereafter to be certainly limited
and appointed, in the stead of tlie Litany.
"^ If there be a sermon, or for other great cause, the Cur-
ate, by his discretion, may leave out the T,itany, Gloria in
Excclsis,' the Creed, the Homily, and the Exhortation to the
Communion."
1 Tlic oniisMinn of this is not quite ho Btranf;c as it seems nt flrnt ; *' Ab
A'lvcntn Domini usque nd Nativitfltem ejus [ab Septna^'csima u.sqtle in
Canam Domini, cap. xlvii.], Te Dcum IjitidauinK, Gtnria in KxreUia Deo,
He missa est, dimittiinus, quia major gloria Novi Te.st.'>ini;uti, <|uani Vetcris,
There was a rubric printed at the beginning of the Com-
munion Service relating to the same subject : and as all three
documents are of the same date [.4.D. 1549], it also is here
reprinted, so as to bring them under one view : —
" H Upon the day, and at tlie time appointed for the minis-
tration of the holy Communion, the Priest that shall execute
the lioly ministry, shall put upon him the vesture appointed
for that ministration, that is to say, a white albe plain, with
a vestment or cope. And where there be many Priests or
Deacons, there so many shall be ready to help the Priest in
the ministration, as shall be requisite ; and shall have upon
them likewise the vestures appointed for their ministry, that
is to say, albes with tunicles. "
The subject of Ceremonies being dealt with at large in the
Ritual Introduction, it is not necessary to go into much detail
respecting this document ; but a few notes are annexed point-
ing out the principles which actuated the Reformers of 1549
as they are indicated in tlieir explanation or apology.
institution of 7nai>] The distinction implied in these words
shews that Arclibishop Cranmer and his associates did not
consider themselves at liberty to alter any ceremonies of
Divine institution, such as the Laying on of Hands, or the
breaking of the Bread in the Consecration of the Holy Eucha-
rist.
turned to vanity and superstition} The primitive love-feasts
and the kiss of peace are illustrations of this assertion ; so also
is the excessive use of the sign of the Cross, which provoked
a recoil equally superstitious, leading to the too general disuse
of it.
Some entered . . . by undiscreet devotion] Of such a kind
were the ceremonies connected with images, and even with
relics. These ceremonies were prompted, in tlic first instances,
liy the best of feelings ; but, in the course of time, acts and
words of veneration towards the saints of God became per-
verted into usages which can hardly be distinguished from
idol.atry, .and thus "obscured the glory of God"- instead of
presenting it more clearly to the eyes of His worshippers.
cnjiLs typvnn infra Advcntuni Domini observainua." fSIirnoLoous tk Kcc.
Ohscrt'at. cap. xxx.] It was 1il;ewise omitted in Septuapesima and on
Innocents' Day. Tliere was also a limitation of its use on Palm Sunday,
"in Kcclcsiis in qiiibns chri.sma conficitur, et non in aliis" [DrBANP.
linlion. div. off. vi. 7.5. 2) ; and one of the (Irst rubrics in the Sacramentar>-
of St. Gregory is, " Qnnnflo vero Litania agitur, ncque Gloria in Excelsis
Dro, neqne Allolnia eanitnr."
' Afu. Ep. 00 ad Januariunj, c. six. § 3.1 (.'il. Ep. 119).
SDf Ceremonies.
107
And whereas in this our time, the minds of men
are so divers that some think it a great matter of
conscience to depart from a piece of the least of
their Ceremonies, they be so addicted to their old
customs ; and again on the other side, some be so
new-fangled that they would innovate all things,
and so despise the old that nothing can like them
but that is new : It was thought expedient, not so
much to have respect how to please and satisfy
either of these parties, as how to please God, and
profit them both. And yet lest any man should
be offended, whom good reason might satisfy, here
be certain causes rendered why some of the
accustomed Ceremonies be put away, and some
retained and kept still.
Some are put away because the great excess
and multitude of them hath so increased in these
latter days that the burden of them was intoler-
able ; whereof S. Augustine in his time com-
plained that they were grown to such a number
that the estate of Christian people was in worse
case concerning that matter than were the Jews.
And he counselled that such yoke and burden
should be taken away as time would serve quietly
to do it.
But what would S. Augustine have said if he
had seen the Ceremonies of late days used among
us, whereunto the multitude used in his time was
not to be compared ? This our excessive multi-
tude of Ceremonies was so great, and many of
them so dark, that they did more confound and
darken, than declare and set forth Christ's benefits
unto us.
And besides this, Christ's Gospel is not a Cere-
monial Law (as much of Moses Law was), but it
is a Religion to serve God, not in bondage of the
figure or shadow, but in the freedom of the spirit ;
being content only with those Ceremonies which
do serve to a decent Order and godly Discipline,
and such as be apt to stir up the dull mind of man
to the remembrance of his duty to God by some
notable and special signification whereby he might
be edified.
Furthermore, the most weighty cause of the
abolishment of certain Ceremonies was. That they
were so far abused, partly by the superstitious
blindness of the rude and unlearned, and partly
by the unsatiable avarice of such as sought more
their own lucre than the glory of God, that the
abuses could not well be taken away, the thing
remaining still. But now as concerning those
persons which peradventure will be offended for
that some of the old Ceremonies are retained still.
If they consider that without some Ceremonies it
is not possible to keep any Order, or quiet Disci-
pline in the Church, they shall easily perceive just
cause to reform their judgements. And if they
think much that any of the old do remain, and
would rather have all devised anew : Then such
men granting some Ceremonies convenient to be
had, surely where the old may bo well used, there
they cannot reasonably reprove the old only for
their age, without bewraying of their own folly.
For in such a case they ought rather to have
reverence unto them for their antiquity, if they
will declare themselves to be more studious of
unity and concord than of innovations and new-
fangleness, which (as much as may be with true
Some are put aivay because the great exces/i] Tlie minute
directions given in the rubrics of the old Service-books often
occupy page after page, while the prayers to whicli they are
annexed occupy only a few lines ; and it must be a matter of
grave doubt, wliether any more than a small fraction of the
ceremonies latterly used in the celebration of the Holy Eucha-
rist were intelligible to any but experienced priests. Their
excess had become insupportable both to the Clergy and tlie
people, and the meaning of many had quite passed away.
Nor is there any reason to doubt the assertion that many
ceremonies were so abused through ignorance on the one hand,
.and corniption on the other, ' ' that the abuses could not well
be taken away, the thing remaining still ;" a state of things
had in fact grown up which reciuired strong measures for its
reformation.
lohereof S. Augustine in his time complained] St. Augustine's
words are as follows : "I cannot, however, sanction with my
approbation those ceremonies which are departures from the
custom of the Church, and are instituted on the pretext of
being symbolical of some holy mystery ; although, for the sake
of avoiding offence to the piety of some and tlie pugnacity of
others, I do not venture to condemn severely many things of
this kind. But this I deplore, and have too much occasion
to do so, that comparatively little attention is paid to many
of the most wholesome rites which Scripture has enjoined ;
and that so many false notions everywhere prevail, that more
severe rebuke would be administered to a man who should
touch the ground with his feet bare during the octaves (before
his baptism), than to one who drowned his mtellect in drunken-
ness. My opiition therefore is that wherever it is possible, all
tliose things should be abolished without hesitation which
neither have warrant in Holy Scripture, nor are found to have
been appointed by councils of bishops, nor are confirmed by
the practice of the universal Church, but are so infinitely
various, according to the different customs of different
places, that it is with difficulty, if at all, that the reasons
which guided men in appointing them can be discovered. For
even although nothing be found, perliaps, in which they arc
against the true faith ; yet the Christian religion, which God
in His mercy made free, appointing to her sacraments very
few in number, and very easily observed, is by these burden-
some ceremonies so oppressed that the condition of the
Jewish Church itself is preferable : for although they
have not known tlie time of their freedom, they are
subjected to burdens imposed by the law of God, not by
the vain conceits of men. The Church of God, however,
being meanwhile so constituted as to enclose much chaff and
many tares, bears with many things; yet if anything be con-
trary to the faith or to holy life, she does not approve of it
either by silence or by practice." [Aug. Ep. Iv. 35.]
But noto as concerning those perso7is] Extreme and super
stitious opinions against ceremonies were beginning to be as
great a trouble to the Church as the extravagant and super-
stitious use of them had been. The principles here enunciated
against the enthusiasts who held them are: [1] That some
ceremonies are absolutely essential to the order and decency
of Divine Service. [2] That to invent new ones altogether
would be as presumptuous as unnecessary. [3] That the old
ones which were retained under the new system of the Church
of England were of an edifying kind. [4] That the cere-
monies retained were never likely to be abused as those which
were set aside liad been.
io8
HDf Ceremonies.
setting forth of Christ's Religion) is always to be
eschewed. Fui-thermore, such shall have no just
cause with the Ceremonies reserved to be offended.
For as those be taken away which were most
abused, and did burden men's consciences without
any cause ; so the other that remain are retained
for a Discipline and Order, which (upon just
causes) may be altered and changed, and therefore
are not to be esteemed equal with God's Law.
And moreover, they be neither dark nor dumb
Ceremonies, but are so set forth that every man
may understand what they do mean, and to what
use they do serve. So that it is not like that they
in time to come should be abused as other have
been. And in these our doings we condemn no
other Nations, nor prescribe any thing but to our
own people only : For we think it convenient that
every Country should use such Ceremonies as they
shall think best to the setting forth of God's
honour and glory, and to the reducing of the
people to a most perfect and godly living, with-
out error or superstition ; and that they should
l>ut away other things which from time to time
they perceive to be most abused, as in men's
ordinances it often chanceth diversely in divers
countries.
we condemn no other Nations] This excellent sentence
strongly illustrates the temperate spirit in whicli the official
work of the Reformation of the Church of England was con-
ducted. Recognizing tlie right which a national Church
possessed to make such changes as may be expedient (subject
to the retention of Catholic essentials), the Reformers acted
upon it; but they also recognized it for other Churches as
well as for that of England, and claimed to be tlie advocates
of change and reconstruction only within the bounds of their
legitimate jurisdiction. 80 sound a principle deserves the
highest respect, and should be acted upon at all times. Had
it been adliered to by the foreign party as well as by the
official guides of the Reformation, a great schism would have
been prevented.
diversely in diirrs rountries] No doubt there are many
Ceremonies used in the Eastern Church, and in southern
countries of Europe, which seem unprofitable, and even worse,
to persons brought up under a different system, and under
different circumstances : but to those who use them they may
be a true vehicle of adoration as regards Him Whom they
worship, and of wholesome religious emotion as respects them-
selves. St. Augustine's words on this point also might well
have been quoted. "I am surprised, " he wrote to Januarius,
"at your expressing a desire that I should write anything
in regard to those ceremonies which are found dififerent in
different countries, because there is no necessity for my doing
this; and moreover, one most excellent rule must be observed
in regard to these customs, when they do not in any way
oppose either true doctrine or sound morality, but contain
some incentives to the better life, viz. that wherever we
see them observed or know them to be established, we
should not only refrain from finding fault with them, but
even recommend them by our iipproval and imitation, un-
less restrained by fear of doing greater harm than good
by this course, through the infirmity of others. " [Adg. Ep.
Iv. 34.]
THE ORDER
HOW THE PSALTER IS APPOINTED TO BE READ.
T^HE Psalter shall be read through once every
Month, as it is there appointed, both for
Morning and Evening Prayer. But in February
it shall be read only to the Twenty-eighth or
Twenty -ninth day of the Month.
And whereas Jammry, March, May, July,
August, October, and December have One-and-
thirty days apiece; It is ordered that the same
Psalms shall be read the last day of the said
months which were read the day before : So that
the Psalter may begin again the first day of the
next month ensuing.
And whereas the cxixth Psalm is divided
into xxii. Portions, and is overlong to be read
at one time; It is so ordered that at one time
shall not be read above four or five of the said
Portions.
And at the end of every Psalm, and of every
such part of the cxixth Psalm, shall be repeated
this Hymn,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son ; and to
the Holy Ghost ;
As it ivas in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world ^vithout end. Amen.
Note, that the Psalter followeth the Division of the Hebrews, and the Translation of the Great
English Bible set forth and used in the time of King Henry the Eighth, and Edward the Sixth.
THE PSALTER.
Full notes on the Psalter will be found in the Introdnction to the Paalms.
[a.d. 1871.] I [A.D. 1662.]
THE ORDER
HOW THE REST OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IS APPOINTED TO BE READ.
'T^HE Old Testament is appointed for the First Lessons at Morning and Evening Prayer, so as the
most part thereof will be read every year once, as in the Calendar is appointed.
The New Testament is appointed for the Second Lessons at Morning and Evening Prayer, and
shall be read over orderly every year
thrice, besides the Epistles and Gospels ; except
the Apocalypse, out of which there are only
twice, once in the morning and once in the even-
ing, besides the Epistles and Gospels, except the
Apocalypse, out of which there are only certain
Lessons appointed at the end of the year, and
certain proper Lessons appointed upon divers Feasts.
And to know what Lessons shall be read every day, look for the day of the Month in the Calendar
following, and there ye shall find the Chapters and portions of Chapters that shall be read for the
Lessons, both at Morning and Evening Prayer, except only the moveable Feasts, which are not in the
Calendar, and the immoveable, where there is a blank left in the column of Lessons, the Proper
Lessons for all which days are to be found in the Table of Proper Lessons.
If Evening Prayer is said at two different times
in the same place of worship on any Sunday
(except a Sunday for which alternative Second
Lessons are specially appointed in the table), the
Second Lesson at the second time may, at the
discretion of the minister, be any chapter from
the four Gospels, or any Lesson appointed in the
Table of Lessons from the four Gospels.
Upon occasions, to be approved by the Ordinary,
other Lessons may, with his consent, be substituted
for those which are appointed in the Calendar.
And note. That whensoever Proper Psalms or Lessons are appointed, then the Psalms and Lessons
of ordinary course appointed in the Psalter and Calendar (if they be different) shall be omitted for
that time.
Note also, That upon occasions to be appointed
by the Ordinary, other Psalms may, with his con-
sent, be substituted for those appointed in the
Psalter.
If any of the Holy-days for which Proper Lessons
are appointed in the table fall upon a Sunday
which is the first Sunday in Advent, Easter Day,
Whitsunday, or Trinity Sunday, the Lessons
appointed for such Sunday shall be read, but if it
fall upon any other Sunday, the Lessons appointed
either for the Sunday or for the Holy-day may be
read at the discretion of the minister.
THE SYSTEM OF THE LESSONS.
There are many iiiflicatioim in the ivritinga of the Tnthera,
in the Apostolical Canons and Constitutions, anil in othu"-
Christian writings, that Scripture Lections or "Lessons" were
in use in another form tlian in tliat of Eucharistic Gospels and
Epistles, fiom the earliest .ages of the Christian Church. It
may almost bo said to bo inevitable that the possession of so
Cf)c System of tbc lessons.
1 1 1
Note also, That the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel ajjpointcd for the Suuday shall serve all
week after where it is not in this book otherwise ordered.
the
rich a treasure as the Holy Scriptures of the Old au<l New
Testament should lead to its free use in public reading during
Divine Service : but it would also be a custom derived from the
Jewish Church, in which the Law and the Prophets were read
every Sabbath Day, probably from the time of the Captivity.'
The general system now used in the Western Church is sub-
stantially that which was reconstnicted in the fifth anil sixth
centuries under the direction of Gelasius and St. Gregory the
Great, by whom the Offices of the Church and its liturgical
customs were brought into an uniform order. It may be
traced in the ancient Breviaries, and in the works of liturgical
writers, such as Rupertus Tuitensis [a.d. 1100] and AmalariuB
[a.d. 820-27], and is shewn in the following Table aide by
side with the Prayer Book system :—
§ Table slie^idng Ancient and Modern Systems of Lessons.
Seasons.
Possible Limits
OF Seasons.
Ancient System.
Modern English Systesi.
Sundays.
Daily.
A.D. 1662.
A.D. 1871.
A.D. 1602.
A.D. 1871.
Advent.
November 27th.
December 24th.
Isaiah. '
Isaiah.
Isaiah [4tli
Sunday, Job ;
5th and 6th
Sund.ays, Pro-
verbs].
Isaiah
[Nov. 23rd -
Dec. :Ust].
Isaiah
[Nov. 19th—
Dec. 31st].
Christmas
and
Epiphany.
December 25th.
January.
Febniary 16th.
St. Paul's Epistles.
Pentateuch
[Jan. 1st—
March lotlij
Pentateuch
[Jan. 1st—
March 31st].
Septuagesima
to
Passion Sunday.
January ISth. : Genesis
February. 1 °ZT
"*'"?,•,.,- 1 V.vndns.
Pentateuf'li.
Pentateuch.
April nth.
Joshua —
Esther
[March lltli—
June 3rd].
Passion Sunday
to
Easter.
March Stii
April 25th.
Jerenii.ih.
Lamentations
[Holy Week].
Joshua-
Esther
[April 1st—
June 28th).
Easter
Week.
March 22ud.
April.
May l.st.
Gospels.
Octave of
Easter
to Pentecost.
March 20th.
April.
May.
June 13th.
Revelation,
Acts,
Catholic
Epistles.
Job—
Ecclesiastes
[June 4th—
July 16th].
Pentecost
to
Advent.
May 10th.
June.
July.
Kings
and
Chronicles.
Joshua-
Kings,
Jeremiah—
Habakkuk,
Proverbs.
Joshua-
Chronicles,
Jeremi.ah —
Malachi.
Job — Eocles.
[June 30th-
Ang. 8th.]
August.
5 Books of Solomon.
Jeremiah—
Malachi
[July 17th—
Sept. 27th].
Jeremiah—
Malachi
[Aug. 9th-
Oct. 27th].
September.
Job, Tobit,
Ezra, Estlier.
Tobit—
Bel and Dragon
[Sept. 28th—
Nov. 23rd].
October.
Maccabees.
Wisdom—
Baruch
[Oct. 29th—
Nov. 18th].
November.
December 2nd.
Ezekiel. Daniel.
and Twelve
Minor Prophets.
As regards the more particular details of this arrangement,
it may be said that the Breviary system of reading Holy
Scripture was very similar in principle to that which tlie
Prayer Book retains in the Communion Service. Short
selections were made from different books of the Holy Bible,
and these were read successively (sometimes three, and at
others nine), "responds," or sliort anthems (intended to
answer in character to the Lesson read), being sung after each.
But the whole of the Lessons of the day were rarely taken
from Holy Scripture, some being usually extracts from
Patristic writings, or the Lives of Saints. Nor, probiibly,
were the Scripture Lections often read to the end, for there
was a rubric to the following effect: "Then let the same
clerk who pronounces the benediction " before the Lesson.
" when enough at his discretion has been read, say. But Thou,
I On the Jewish system of Lessons, sec the Annotated Bible, Ixxiii, Ixxiv,
from whence also the above Table is taken.
and let the clerk-reader respond, Lord, have mercy upon
us; which shall be observed throughout the year." [Cuam-
BEUs' Sm: Psalt. p. 48, from the Arlinyham Breviary in Salisb.
Cath.] The principal officiating minister thus used his dis-
cretion as to the length of the Lesson, stopping the reader as
soon as he thought lit.
The responsory system of reading Holy Scripture is still
retained in its old form in the case of the Ten Commandments
when said at the Communion Service ; but one of the principal
changes made in 1549 was the substitution for it of longer
and continuous Lessons, — generally whole chapters, — with
responsory Canticles, sung at the end only. No doubt this was
a return to ancient practice, as it is said to be in the original
preface to the Prayer Book. The Breviary system in use in
the fifteenth century appears to have been the result of
attempts to refine the use of Scripture in the Offices of the
Church to a degree of pointedness wdiich it never really
attained, and which perhaps it was almost beyond human
I 12
proper Lessons.
1 PROPER LESSONS
TO BE READ AT MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER ON THE SUNDAYS AND OTHER HOLY-DAYS
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
H LESSONS
PEOPER FOR SUNDAYS.
[1871.]
[1662.]
Matt his.
Evoisong.
Mattins.
Evmsmg.
Su)uiays of Advent.
The first.
Isaiah i.
Isaiah
ii. or Isaiah
iv. V. 2.
Isaiah i.
Isaiah ii.
ii.
V.
xi. to V. 11
xxiv.
V.
xxiv.
iii.
XXV.
xxvi. „ xxvili. t>. 5 to v. 19.
XXV.
xxvi.
iv.
rxx. to u. 27.
xxxii. „ xxxiii. »>. 2 to 11. 23.
XXX.
xxxii.
Sundays after Christvias.
The first.
XXXV,
xxx-viii. „
xl.
xxxvii.
xxxviii.
ii.
xlii.
xliii.
xliv.
xii.
xlul
Sundays after the Epiphany.
Tlic first.
Ii.
Iii. f. 13 and liii. „
liv.
xliv.
xlri.
ii
Iv.
Ivii. ,,
Ixi.
Ii.
liii.
iii.
Ixii.
Ixv. „
Ixvi.
Iv.
Ivi.
iv.
Job xxvii.
Job
xxviii. „ Job
xxix.
hii.
Iviil.
V.
Prov. i.
Prov.
iii. „ Prov.
viii.
lix.
Ixiv.
vi.
ix.
xi.
XV.
Ixv.
Ixvi.
Septuagesima.
1 Lesson.
Gen. i. and ii. to v. 4.
Gen.
ii. V. 4 ,, Job
xxxviii.
Gen. i.
Gen. ii.
2 Lesson.
Rev. x\i. to f. 9.
Rev.
xsi. V. 9 to xxii. v. 6.
Sexagesi-nio.
1 Lesson.
Gen. iii.
Gen.
vi. „ Gen.
viii.
iii.
vi.
QuinguageMma.
1 Lesson.
ix. to V. 20.
xii. „
xiii.
ix. to V. 20.
xii.
Sundays in Lent,
Tlie first. 1 Lesson.
xix. V. 12 to I'. 30.
xxii. to V. 20 „
xxiii.
xix. to 1'. SO.
xxii.
ii.
xxvii. to i'. 41.
xxviii. ,,
xxxii.
xxvii.
xxxiv.
iii.
xxxvii.
xxxix. „
xl.
xxxix.
xWi.
iv. ,,
xlii.
xliii. ,,
xiv.
xliii.
xiv.
V. ,1
Exod. iii.
Exodus
v. „ Exodus
vi. to V. 14.
Exod. iii.
Exod. V.
vi. „
ix.
X. „
xi.
ix.
X.
2 Lesson.
Easter Day.
1 Lesson.
Matt. xxvi.
Luke
xix. v.iS „ Luke .
XX. V. 9 to 1'. 21.
Matt. xxvi.
Heb. v. to V. 11.
Exod. xii. to V. 29.
Exodus
xii. V. 29 „ Exodus
xiv.
Exod. xii.
Exod. xiv.
2 Lesson.
Rev. i. V. 10 to V. 19.
John
XX. II. 11 totJ. 19 ,. Rev.
V.
Rom. vi.
Acts ii. I'. 22.
Sundays after Eastei:
The first. 1 Lesson.
Num. xvi. to V. 36.
Num.
xvi. V. 35 ,, Num.
xvii, to V. 12.
Num. xvi.
Num. xxii.
2 Lesson.
1 Cor. XV. to V. 29.
Jolm
XX. V. 24 to 1'. 30.
ii. 1 Lesson.
Num. XX. to V. 14.
Num.
XX. 1'. 14toxxi. 1'. 10,,
xxi. I'. 10.
xxiii. xxiv.
XXV.
iii. 1,
xxii.
xxiii. ,.
xxiv.
Dent. iv.
Deut. V.
iv.
Deut. iv. to V. 23.
Deut.
iv. V. 23 to V. 41 „ Deut.
V.
vi.
vii.
V. n
vi.
ix. ,,
x.
viii.
ix.
Sunday after Ascension Day.
1 Lesson.
XXX.
xxxiv. ,, Joshua
i.
xii.
xiii.
Whitsunday.
1 Lesson.
xvi. to V. 18.
Isaiah
xi. „ Ezekiel
xxx\-i. V. 25.
xvi.tor.l8.
Isaiah xi.
2 Lesson.
Rom. viii. to i'. 18.
Gal.
V. i'. lij ,, Acts
xviii. V. 24 to xix.
Acts X. V. 34.
Acts xix. to V. 21.
Trinity Sutiday.
[V. 21.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah vi. to v. 11.
Gen.
xviii. ,, Gen.
i. and ii. to v. 4.
Gen. i.
Gen. x^•iii.
2 Lesson.
Rev. i. to V. 9.
Eph.
iv. to V. 17 ,, Matt.
iii.
Matt. iii.
1 John V.
Sundays after Trinity.
The first.
Josh. iii. V. 7 to iv. v. 15.
Joshua
V. 11. 13 to vi. V. 21 ,, Joshua
xxiv.
Josh. X.
Josh, xxiii.
ii.
Judges iv.
Judges
V. ,, Judges
Vi. V. 11.
Judg. iv.
Judg. V.
iiL
1 Sam. ii. to v. 27.
1 Sam.
iii. „ 1 Sam.
iv. to f. 19.
1 Sam. ii.
1 Sam. iii.
iv.
xii.
xiii. „ Ruth
i.
xii.
xiii.
V.
XV. to V. 24.
xvi. ,, 1 Sam.
xvii.
XV.
xvii.
vi.
2 Sam. i.
2 Sam.
xii. to 1'. 24 ,,2 Sam.
xviii.
2 Sam. xii.
2 Sam. xix.
vii.
1 Cliron. xxi.
1 Chron
xxii. ,, 1 Chron
. xxviii. to V. 21.
xxi.
Xliv.
viii.
xxix. V. 9 to V. 29.
2 Chron
i. ,,1 Kings
iii.
1 Kings xiii.
1 Kings xvii.
ix.
1 Kings x. to V. 25.
1 Kings
xi. tor. 13
xi. V. 26.
xviii.
xix.
X.
xii.
xiii. ,,
xvii.
xxi.
xxii.
xi.
xviii.
xix. ,,
xxi.
2 Kings V.
2 Kings ix.
xii.
xxii. to 11, 41.
2 Kings
ii. to V. 16 „ 2 Kings
iv. r. 8 to V. 38.
X.
xviii.
xiii.
2 Kings V.
vi. to V. 24 „
vii.
xix.
xxiii.
xiv.
ix.
X. to V. 32 ,,
xiii.
Jer. V.
Jer. xxii.
XV.
xviii.
xix. ,,
xxiii. to V. 31.
XXXV.
xxxvi.
xvi.
2 Chron. xxxvi.
Nehem.
i. and ii. to v. 9 ,, Nehem.
viii.
Ezek. ii.
Ezek. xiii.
xvil.
Jerem. v.
Jerem.
xxii. ,, Jerem.
XXXV.
xiv.
xviii.
XV iii.
xxxvl.
Ezekiel
ii. „ Ezekiel
xiii. to V. 17.
XX.
xxiv.
xix.
Ezekiel xiv.
xviii. ,,
xxiv. V. 15.
Dan. iii.
Dan. vi.
XX.
xxxiv.
xxxvii. „ Daniel
i.
Joel ii.
Micah vi.
xxi.
Daniel iii.
Daniel
iv. ,,
v.
Bab. ii.
Prov. i.
xxii.
vi.
vii. r. 9 ,,
xii.
Prov. ii.
iii.
xxiii.
Hosea xiv.
Joel
ii. r. 21 ,, Joel
iii. V. 9.
xi.
xii.
xxiv.
Amos iii.
Amos
V. ,, Amos
ix.
xiii.
xiv.
XXV.
Micah Iv. andv.toii. 8.
Mieah
vi. ,, Micah
vii.
XV.
xvi.
xxvi.
Habak. ii.
Habak.
iii. ,, Zeph.
iii.
xvii.
xix.
XXV ii.
Eccles. xi. and xii.
Haggai
ii. to V. 10 „ Malachi iii. and iv.
Note.— That the Lesson
s appointed in the above Table for the Twenty-seventh Sunday after Trinity shall
always be read on the Sunday next before" Advent.
skill to give to it. And although such a pointedness is well
adapted for educated and dovotioiially trained minds, it would
not produce the effect desired upon mixed congregations, and
was bettor fitted for monastic thau for popular use.
Some changes in the direction of our present Lcctionary
were made in the new and reformed editions of the Salisbury
Portiforium, which were printed iu 1516 .and lijSI : and more
extensively by Cardinal Quignonez in his Pefornied Roman
Breviary (if 1,'),36. In tliis latter, lwi> Lessons were appointed
for ordinary d.ays, one from tlie Old and another from the
proper iLcssons
113
IT LESSONS PROPER FOR HOLYDAYS.
1871.
1662.
1871.
1662.
Mnttins. Evemong.
Uatiinta. | vemong.
Matting.
Evensong,
Maltins.
Evensong.
V/ 4 lulivu)
1
Easier Evn.
1 Lesyon.
Isa. liv. rsa. Ixv. to v. 17.
Proverbs xx.
Proverbs xxi.
1 Lesson,
Zechariah ix.
Hosea V. y. 8 to
Zech. ix.
Exodus xiii.
John i, V. 35 to 1'. Johnxii. y. 20toi'.
[vi. w. 4.
St. Thomas.
l-i;j.
[42.
2 Lesson.
Luke xxiii. y. 50.
Rom. vi. to y. 14.
Luke xxiii. v. 60.
Hebrews iv.
1 Lessou.
Job slii. tt> V. 1.
Istiiah XXXV.
xxiii.
xxiv.
Monday in
Juhn XX. V. 19 to
John xiv. to i;. 8.
Easter Week.
A'ativiti/ of
Christ.
[y. 24.
1 Lesson.
Exod. XV. to 11.22,
Cant. ii. v. 10.
Exodus xvi.
Exodus xvii.
[u. 17.
\v. 17.
2 Lesson,
iyukcxxiv.toy.l3.
Matt, xxviii. toy.
Matt, xxviii.
Acts iii.
1 Lusson.
Isaiah ix. to v. 6.
leaiah vii. w, lOto
Isaiah ix. to v. 8,
Isaiah vii. y. 10 to
Tuesday in
Easter Week.
[10.
'Z Lesson.
Luke ii. to v. 15.
Tit. iii. i>, 4toy.y.
Luke ii. to v. 15.
Tit. iii. y. 4 toy. y.
St. Stephen.
[15 to U. liM.
. 1 Lesson.
2 Kings xiii. y. 14
Ezek.xxxvii.toy.
Exodus XX.
Exodus xxxii.
1 Lesson.
Gen. iv. to u. U.
2 Chron. xxiv. v.
Proverbs xxviii.
Ecclea iv. [y. B5.
(to V. 21;,
[IS.
'2 Lesson.
Acts vi.
Acts viii. to V. 9,
Acts vi. V. 8 and
Acts Wi. V. 30 to
3 Lesson.
John xxi. to v. 15.
John xxi. V. 15.
Lukexxiv.toy.13.
I Cor. XV.
St John Evan-
1 [vii. to V. 30.
St. Mark.
gelist.
I Lesson.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah Ixii. v. S.
Ezek. i. to v. 15.
Ecclus. iv.
Ecchie. V.
ExoJ. xxxiii. V. B.
Isaiah vi.
Eccles. V.
Eccles. vi.
55. Philii) and
'J Lenson.
John xiii. u. 23 to
Rev. i.
Apoc. i.
Apoc. xxii.
James.
Innocentx' J^uy.
[v. .S6.
[y. 31.
1
1 Lesson
Isaiah Ixi.
Zech. iv.
vii.
ix.
1 Lesson.
Jcr. XKxi. to V. 18.
Baruch iv. v. 21 to
Jer. xxxi. toy. 18.
Wisd i.
2 Lesson.
John i. V. 43.
John i. V. 43.
Ci''ft(»icisiort.
■
Ascension Day.
[v. 15.
[16.
1 Lesson.
CJon xvii. V. St.
Dent, X. u. 12.
Gen. xvii.
Ueut. X. V. 12.
1 Lesson.
Dan. vii. y. 9 to
2 Kings 11. to V.
Deut. X.
2 Kings ii.
'1 Lesson.
Kom. ii. V. 11.
Col. ii. y. 8 to V.
Rom. ii
Coloss. ii.
2 Lesson.
Luke xxiv. v. 44.
Hebrews iv.
Luke xxiv. v. 44.
Eph. IV. to V. 17.
Kpiphany.
(18.
Monday in
1 Lesson.
Isaiah Ix.
Isaiah xlix. v. 1.1
Isaiah Ix.
Isaiah xlix.
WhUsiin Wttik.
[v. 31.
[u. 30.
[to V. 24.
1 Lesson.
Gen. xi. toy. 10.
Num. xi. y. Itf to
Gen. xi. to v. 10.
Slum. xi. y. 16 to
2 Lesson.
Luke ill. y. 15 to
John ii. to v. 12.
Luke iii. to y. 23.
John ii, to y. 12.
2 Lesson.
1 Cor. xii. to v. 14.
1 Cor. xii. y. 27 &
1 Cor. xii.
1 Cor. xiv. to V.
Conversion of
[u. 23.
Tuesday in
[xiii.
(26.
St. Paul.
[13.
Whitsun ^Vetk.
.
1 Lesson.
Tsaiah xlix. to v.
Jerem. i, to v. 11.
Wisd. V.
Wisd. vi.
1 Lesson.
Joel ii. V. 21.
Micah iv. to y. 8.
1 Sam. xix. v. 18.
Deut. XXX.
2 Lesaon.
GaL i. I'. U.
Actsx.vvi. Ujv.21.
Acts xxii. to V. 22.
Acta xxvi.
2 Lesson.
1 Tliess. V. u. 12
1 John iv. to y. 14.
1 Thess. V. y. 12
1 John iv. to y, 14.
Purification
ofVus V. Mary.
St- Barnabas.
[to V. 24.
[to y. 24.
[17,
1 Lesson.
Dent, xxxiii. tov.
Nahum i.
Ecclus. X.
Ecclus. xii.
1 Lesson.
Exod. xiii. to v.
Haggaiii. toy. 10.
Wisd. ix.
Wisd. xii.
(12.
St MatthioM.
til. :«.
2 Lesson.
Acta IV. y. .-^1.
Acts xiv. V. 8.
Acts xiv.
Acts XV. to V. 36.
I LL'sson,
1 Sam. ii. V. 27 to
Isaiah xxii. v. 15.
x.i.t.
EccluB. i.
St. John Baptist.
.\imwudation
1 Lesson.
Mai. iii. to y. 7.
Malachi iv.
Malachi iii.
Malachi iv.
of our Ladij.
2 LessoD.
Matt. iii.
Matt. xiv. toy. 13.
Matt. iu.
Matt. xiv. toy. 13.
1 Lesson.
Gou. iii. toy. 16.
Isaiah Hi. v. 7 to
Ecclus. ii.
iii.
St. Peter.
[15.
Ash Wednesday,
(13.
[u. 13.
1 Lesson.
Ezck. iii. y. 4toy.
Zech. iii.
Ecclus. XV,
Ecclus. xix.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah Iviii. to v.
Jonah iii.
^
2 Lesson.
John xxi. y. 15 to
Acts iv. V. 8 to V.
Acts iii.
Acta iv.
2 Lesson.
Mark ii. 0. la to
Heb. sii,i'. 3 toy.
St. James.
[y. 23.
t^;'-
Monday bcfon
(v. 23.
{18.
1 Lesson.
2 Kings i. to, y. 16.
Jer. sxvi. V. 8 to
Ecclus. xxi.
Ecclus. xxii.
Easter.
[v. 16.
I Lesson.
Lam. i. to v. 15.
Lament, ii. v. 13.
2 Lesson.
Luke ix. y. 51 to
2 Lesson.
John xiv. to V. 15.
John xiv. V. 15.
St. Bartholomew.
, [y. 57.
T'lesday before
1 Lesson.
Gen. sxvni. v 10
Deut. xviii. v. 15.
xxiv.
xxix.
Easter.
St. Matthetc.
[to y. 18,
1 Les»ou.
Lam. iii. to v. 34,
Lament, iii. y.34.
1 Lesson.
1 Kings xix. v. 15.
1 Chron. xxix. to
XXXV.
xxxviii.
2 Lesson.
John XV. to V. 14.
John XV. V. 14.
St. Micliael.
[v. 20.
Wednesday
1 Lesson.
Gen. xxxii.
Dan. X. V. 4.
Gen. xxxii.
Dan. X. y. 5.
before Eaater.
3 Lesson.
Acts xii. V. 5 to V.
Rev. .\iv. y. 14.
Acts xii. to y. 20.
Jude y. 6 to y. 16.
\ Lesson.
Lam. jv. to v. 21.
Dan. ix. v. 20.
Uosea xiii.
Iloseaxiv.
St. Luke.
[18.
2 Lesson.
John xvi. to v. 16.
John xvi. V. 16.
John xi. V. 45.
1 Lesson,
Isaiah Iv.
Ecclus.sxxviii.to
Ecclus. Ii.
Jobi.
Thursday
SS. Simon and
[V. 15.
before EoAter.
Jtide.
[to y. 17.
1 Lesson.
Hose.lxiii.toy.lS.
Hosea xiv.
iDiiuiel ix.
Jercni xxxi
1 Lesson,
Isaiah xxviii. y. 9 Jerem. iii. v. 12
Job xxiv. & XXV.
xiii.
2 Lesson.
John xvii.
John xiii, toy, 36.
'Jolin xiii.
All Saints.
1 [to y. 19.
Good Friday.
[liii.
1 Lesson.
Wisd. iii. to V. lo.Wisd. v. to y. 17.
Wisd. iii. toy. 10.
Wisd. V. to V. 17.
1 Lesson.
Gen. xxii.toy.20.
Isaiah Iii. v. 13 &
Geu. xxii. toy. 20.
Isaiah liii.
2 Lesson.
Heb. xi. V. 33 & Rev. six. to v. 17.
Heb. xi. y. 33 4
Apoc. xix. to V.
2 Lesson.
John xviii.
1 Peter ii.
John xviii.
1 Peter ii.
[xii. toy. 7.1
[xii. to V. 7.
(17.
New Testament ; and a third, generally from a Patristic
Homily, for festivals. Tliese were about the length of
our Epistles and Gospels, or somewhat longer than most of
them.
In the Prayer Book of 1549 our present system of Daily and
Proper Lessons was established, both being indicated in the
Calendar, except iu the case of the moveable festivals, wlien
tlie chapter and verse for Mattins were referred to before the
Introit (wliich preceded the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel iif
the day), and for Evensong after the Gospel. There were no
Proper Lessons for ordinary .Sundays, tlie books of Holy
Scripture being read continuously on those as well as on
week-days : ' nor were there so many Proper Lessons for festi-
vals as there now are.
When Queen Elizabeth restored the use of the Prayer Book
1 It is observable that tlie Sunday Proper Lessons again break up that
orderly system of reading the books of Holy Scripture through which is
spoken of in the Preface. More than a hundred chapters of the Old Testa-
ment are thus displaced and omitted every year.
in 1559, the Tables of Proper Lessons were introduced, which
were nearly identical witli those now in the Prayer Book ; and
tliey were settled in the form in whicli they remained for two
centuries in 10'61, all tlie changes being written in the margin
of Bishop Cosin's Durham Prayer Book.
The cycle of the Sunday Proper Lessons appears to have
been formed in illustration of God'.s dealings with tlie Church
of the Old Testament, though this idea is sometimes subordi-
nated to the season, as in tlie Lessons for some of the Sundays
in Lent. That for the other Holydays (with a few exceptions)
is made up out of the didactic books of the Old Testament
and the Apocryplia, and is not connecteil in any way with the
Sunday cycle. The accidental combination of the fixed cycle
of Proper Lessons with the variable one of the Second Lessons
sometimes throws a wonderful flood of light upon both the
Old and New Testament Scriptui'es : and it may be doubted
wliether any equal advantage would be gained by the substi-
tution of Proper Lessons from the latter for tlie present system
of reading it in order.
114
Proper Psalms.
IT PROPER PSALMS ON CERTAIN DAYS
Mattbis.
Psalm xix.
xlv.
Ixxxv.
Psalm vi.
xxxii.
xxxviii.
Psalm xxii.
xl.
liv.
Evensong
Psalm Ixxxix.
ex.
cxxxii.
Psalm cii.
cxxx.
cxliii.
Psalm Ixix.
Ixxxviii.
Easter Day
Mattuis,
Psalm ii.
Ivii.
cxi.
Psalm viii.
XV.
xxi.
Psalm xlviii.
Ixviii.
Evensong.
Psalm cxiii.
cxiv.
cxviii.
Psalm xxiv.
xlvii.
cviii.
Psalm civ.
cxlv.
Asli Wednesday . ..
Ascotsion Day
Whitsunday
PROPER PSALMS.
The only days for wliich Proper Psalms were ajipoiiited
previously to 16(31, were Cliristmas Day, Easter Day, Ascen-
sion Day, and \\'liitsuu Day. Those for Ash Wednesday and
Good Friday were then added ; and they appear, with the
following other important additions to the Table, in the
margin of the Durliam Prayer Book of Bishop Cosin.
Additional Proper Psalms projiosed hy Bishop Cos
Mattins.
Evensong.
Psalm ii. Ixvii.
xii. xiii. cvii.
xxviii. xlii.
viii. xix. xxxiii.
xxxiv. Ixxx. xci.
i, XV. Ixxxiv.
xci.
Psalm Ixxii. xcvii.
Ixxxvi. xc.
xlvi. Ixx.
ciii. civ. cxliv.
ciii. civ. cxlviii.
cxii. cxiii. cxix.
1st part, cxlv. cxlix.
Rogation Monday ^
Rogation Tuesday
Rogation Wednesday
St. Michael and All Angels
All Saints" Day
The following Table is also included among the alterations
proposed to be made in the Prayer Book by the Convocation
of Canterbury of 1879 : —
Proper Psalms on certain Days.
Advent Sunday
Christmas Day
Circumcision
Epiphany
Purijication
Ash Wednesday
Annunciation
Thursday he/ore Easter
Good Friday
Easter Even
Easter Day
Ascension Day
Whitsun Day
Trinity Sunday
St. Micliael and Atl Angels
All Saints
Psalm viii. I.
xix. xlv. Ixxxv.
viii. xl. xc.
xlvi. xlvii. Ixvii.
xx.xlviii. Ixxxiv.
vi. xxxii. xxxviii.
Ixxxix.
xxiii. xxvi. xlii.
xliii.
xxii. xl. liv.
iv. xvi. xvii.
ii. Ivii. cxi.
viii. XV. xxi.
xlviii. Ixviii.
xxix. xxxiii. xlvi.
xxxiv. xci.
i. xxxiii. xxxiv.
EvnNSONG.
ex.
Psalm xcvi xcvii.
Ixxxix.
cxxxii.
xcii. ciii.
Ixxii. cxvii.
cxxxv.
Ixxxvii. xciii.
cxxxiv.cxxxviii.
. ■ cii. cxxx. cxliii.
cxiii. cxxxi.
cxxxii.
cxli. cxiii. cxliii.
— Ixix. Ixxxviii.
— xxxi. xlix.
— cxiii. cxiv.
cxviii.
— xxiv. xlvii. cviii,
— civ. cxlv.
— xciii xcvii. xcix.
— ciii. cxlviii.
— cxlvi. cxhii.
cxlix.
Note.— The Psalms for Christmas Day may he used on the Sunday after
Christmas, unless it be the Feast of the Circumcision ; and the Psalms for
Easter Day and .Vscension Day may be used on the Sunday next following
those Festivals respectively.
A very full list of Proper Psalms and Lessons for special
occasions was put fortli by Bishop Wordsworth at tlffe Diocesan
Synod held in Lincoln in tlie year 1871, and as the Tables
contain suggestions tliat may be useful to many readers of this
work they are here, by permission, printed entire.
Proper P.salm.s axd Proper TjEssons for Special Occasions.
As put forth by the Ordinari/ in the Synod held at Lincoln,
on Se],ter,iber 20, 1871.
Table /.—Proper P.^jai.m.s for Special Occasions.
For Advent Sunday.
All or any of the following may be used : —
Mattins — P».alm xviii. Ixxxii. xcvi.
Evensong — Psiilm xcvii. xcviii. ex. cxliii.
1 In Bislinp Coain'fl M.S. note the Pofration Psalnig arc all included under
Mattins. From a dilt'crencc in the appearance of the numeral.^ wliieh arc
See also below, in Table II. , Psalms for the Third Service
on Sundays in Advent. These may be used also at Morning
Prayer, or Evensong, on tliose Sundays.
For the Festival of Circumcision, or New Year's Day.
Mattins — Psalm i. xx. ciii.
Evensong — Psalm xL cxiii. cxliv.
Any of these Psalms may be used on Neiv Yea7-'s Eve, and
Psalm xc.
For the Festival of the Epiphany.
Mattins — Psalm ii. xix. or xxix. xlv.
Evensong — Psalm Ixxii. Ixxxvii. xcvi.
For the Purijication of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the
Presentation of Christ in the Temple.
Mattins — Psabu xv. xxiv. xl.
Evensong — Psalm xlviii. cxxxi. cxxxiv.
For the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mattins — Psalm viii. xix. Ixxxix.
Evensong — Psalm ex. cxxxi. cxxxii. cxxxviii.
For Palm Sunday, or Sunday before Easter.
Any of the following may be used : —
Mattins — Psalm v. xx. xxi. cxviii.
Evensong — Psalm xl. ex. cxii. cxiii. cdv.
For Thursday before Easter.
Mattins — Psalm xxiii. xxvi. xli.
Evensong — Psalm xlii. xliii. cxvi.
For Easter Even.
Mattins — Psalm iv. xvi. xxxi. xlix. cxiii.
Evensong — Psalm xvii. xxx. ixxvi. xci.
For Ilonday after Easter.
Mattins — Psalm liv. Ixxii. Ixxxi.
Evensong — Psalm xcviii. xcix. c.
For Tuesday after Easter.
Mattins — Psalm ciii. cviii. cxi.
Evensong — Psalm cxiv. cxv. cxvi. cxvii.
For Monday in ]\'liitsun Week.
Mattins — Psalm viii. xix. xxvii. xxix.
Evensong— Psalm xxxiii. xlvi. xlvii. xlviii.
For Tuesday in Whitsun Week.
Mattins — Psalm Ixv. Ixxvi. Ixxvii.
Evensong — Psalm xcvi. xcvii. xcviii. ciii.
For Trinity Sunday.
Mattins — Psalm viii. xxix. xxxiii. Ixvii.
Evensong — Psalm xciii. xcvi. xcvii. xcix.
For the Festival of St. Michael and All Angels, September 29.
Mattins— Psalm viii. xxiv. xxxiv. xci.
Evensong — Psalm xcvii. ciii. xlviii.
hero placed under F.vensouK, it is evident they were written in afterwards,
iiiid in till' wrnni,' column, hy mistake. The others are all written as they
are printed above.
Proper psalms.
115
All Saints' Day, November 1.
Any of the following may be used : —
Mattius— Psalm i. xi. xv. xvi. xx. xxx. xxxiii. xxxiv. Ixi.
Ixxix. Ixxxiv.
Evensong— Psalm xcii. xcvii. cxii. cxxxviii. cxli. cxlvii. cxlviii.
oxlix.
On Days of Apostles and other Festivals.
When the Psalms in the Daily Order are less appropriate,
any of the following may be used, at the discretion of the
Minister : —
Psalm xix. xxxiv. xlv. xlvi. Ixi. Ixiv. Ixviii. Ixxv. xcvii. xcviii.
xcix. ex. cxiii. cxvi. cxxvi.
For the Consecration of Churches ; or Anniversaries of their
Consecration, and for the Reopening of Churches after
Restoration.
Any of the following may be used ; —
Psalm xxiv. xxvii. xlv. xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. Ixxxiv. Ixxxvii. c.
cxviii. cxxii. cxxxii. cxxxiii. cxxxiv. cl.
For the Consecration of Churchyards.
Psalm xxxix. xc.
For Harvest Festivals.
Ally of the following may be used : —
Psalm Ixv. Ixvii. Ixxxi. ciii. civ. cxxvi, cxxvii. cxxviii. cxliv.
cxlv. cxlvii.
For School Festivals.
Psalm viii. xxiii. xxxiv. cxix. {?>. 1 to 17), cxlviii.
For Choral Festivals.
Psalm xxxiii. xlvii. Ixxxi. xcii. xcvi. xcviii. cviii. cxlii.
cxlvii. cl.
For Ember Days.
Psalm cxxi. cxxii. cxxiii. cxxv. cxxvi. cxxx. cxxxi. cxxxii.
cxxxiii. cxxxiv.
For Rogation Days.
Psalm Ixi. Ixii. Ixiii. Ixiv. Ixv. Ixvi. Ixvii. ciii. civ. cxxvi.
cxlvii.
For Missionary Services.
Psalm xix. Ixxii. cxvii.
Also any of the Psalms appointed above for the Festival of
the Epiphany.
For Diocesan Synods, Visitations, or Ruridecanal ChajJtei'S.
Psalm Ixviii. Ixxxiv. Ixxxvii. cxxii. cxxxiii.
For Annual Festivals of Benefit Societies.
Psalm cxii. cxxxiii. cxlv.
At Confirmation.
Psalm XV. xix. xx. xxiii. xxiv. xxvi. xxvii. xxxiv. Ixxxiv. cxvi.
cxix. cxlviii.
Table //.—Psalms which may be used at a Thikd Service
ON Sundays and some Holydays.
Sundays in Advent.
I. Psalm xlv. xlvi. I III. Psalm xlix. I.
II. ,, ix. X. xi. I IV. ,, xcvi. xcvii. xcviii.
Christmas Day.
Psabn ii. viii. Ixxxiv.
Sundays after Christmas,
Psalm Ixxxvii. xcvi. xcviii.
Sundays after Epiphany.
I. Psabn xlvi. xlvii. xlviii. I IV. Psalm xci. xcii. xciii.
II. ,, Ixv. Ixvi. Ixvii. I V. ,, xcv. xcvi. xcvii.
III. ,, Ixxxiii. Ixxxiv. | VI. ,, xcviii. xcix. c.
Ixxxv.
Septuagesima.
Psalm civ.
Sexagesima.
Psalm xlix. xc.
Qninqnagesima.
Psalm xxviii. Ixxvii.
Sundays in Lent.
I.
Psalm vi. xxv. xxxii.
II.
,, xxxviii. li.
III.
,, en. cxxx.
IV. Psalm cxli. cxlii. cxliii.
V. ,, xxii.
VI. „ xl. xlv.
Easter Day.
Psalm iii. xxx. Ixxvi. xciii.
Sundays after Easter.
I.
II.
III.
Psalm cxvii. cxviii.
,, xix. XX. xxi.
,, xcviii. xcix. c.
IV. Psalm c.xi. cxii. cxiii.
V. ,, Ixxx. Ixxxi.
Ascension Day.
Psalm ii. Ivii. ex.
Sunday after Ascension.
Psalm xciii. cxxxii.
Whitsun Day.
Psalm Ixxxiv. Ixxxv. cxxxiii.
Trinity Sunday.
Psalm xxxiii. xcvii. or cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
Sundays after Trinity.
I. Psalm i. ii. iii.
XVII. Psalm
xcii. xciii.
11. ,
IV. VI. Vll.
xciv.
III. ,
, xi. xii. xiii.
XVIII. „
cv.
xiv.
XIX. „
cvii.
IV. ,
xxv. xxvi.
XX. „
cix.
V. ,
, xxxiii. xxxiv.
XXI. ,,
cxiv. exv.
VI. ,
, xxxvii.
cxvi.
VII. ,
, xliv.
XXII. „
cxx. cxxi.
VIII. ,
, bi. bii. liv.
cxxiii.
IX. ,
, Ivi. Ivii. Iviii.
cxxiv.
X. ,
, Hx. Ix. Ixi.
XXIII. „
cxxv. cxx
XI. ,
, Ixii. Ixiii. Ixiv.
cxxvii.
XII. ,
, Ixxi.
cxxviii.
XIII. ,
, 1 xxiii.
cxxix.
XIV. ,
Ixxiv. Ixxv.
XXIV. „
cxxxiii.
XV. ,
, Ixxix. Ixxx.
cxxxiv.
Ixxxi.
cxxxv.
XVI. ,
, Ixxxii.
xxv. „
cxxxvi.
Ixxxiii.
cxxxvii.
Ixxxiv.
XXVI. „
exliv. cxlv
XXVII. Psali
11 cxlvi. cxlvii.
Table III. — Proper Lessons for Special Occasions.
For Consecration of Churches.
First Lesson — 1 Chron. xxix. , or 1 Kings viii. 22-62.
Second Lesson — Heb. x. 19-26, or Mark vi. 11.
For Reopening of Churches after Restoredion.
First Lesson — 2 Chron. xxxiv. S-29, or Ezra iii., or Isa. Iviii.,
or Haggai ii.
Second Lesson — Luke ii. 25-39, xix. 37; John ii. 13; Eph.
ii., or Rev. xxi.
For the Consecration of Churchyards.
First Lesson — Gen. xxiii., or Job xix., or Isa. xxvi.
Second Lesson — John v. 21, or 1 Cor. xv. 35; 2 Cor. iv. 8
to V. 11 ; 1 Thess. iv. 13 ; Rev. xx.
For Rogation Days.
First Lesson — Deut. viii., xxviii. 1-15; 1 Kings viii. 22-53;
Prov. iii. ; Joel ii. 15.
Second Le.sson — Matt. vi. 24, vii. 1-13; Luke xviii. 1-15; 2
Cor. V. 1-10; 2 Cor. ix.
Ii6
^oticablc JFcasts anU IDofpDaps.
TABLES AND RULES
FOR THE MOVEABLE AND IMMOVEABLE FEASTS,
TOGETHER WITH
THE DAYS OF FASTING AND ABSTINENCE
THROUGH THE WHOLE YEAR.
RULES TO KNOW WHEN THE MOVEABLE FEASTS AND HOLYDAYS BEGIN.
EASTER DAY, on which the rest depend, is always the First Sunday after the Full Moon
which happens upon or next after the Twenty-first Day of March ; and if the Full Moon happens
upon a Sunday, Easier Day is the Sunday after.
Advent Sunday is always the nearest Sunday to the Feast of <S'. Andrew, whether before or after.
Septuagesima ^ /• Nine
„ , . J Eight
Sundays < g^^^^^
I Six
Sexaycsima
Quinquayesima
Quadragesima
Weeks before Easter.
Rogation Sunday
Ascension Day
Whitsunday
Trinity Sunday
IS
Five Weeks
Forty Days
Seven Weeks
Eight Weeks
after Easter.
For Thanhgivinij after Harvest.
First Lesson — Cant. ii. 8; Deut. viii. 7, xxvi. 1-12, xxviii.
1-15, or Deut. xxxii. 7-20, xxxiii. 7; or Isa. xxviii. 23;
Hosea ii. 14 to end.
Second Lesson— Matt. \-ii. 1-13, xiii. 24-31 ; John iv. 31-39,
vi. 26-36; 2 Cor. ix. 6; James v. 7-19; Rev. xiv. 14-19.
For Missionary Sert'ices.
First Lesson — Isa. xlix. , or Ix. Ixi. Ixiii. Ixvi. 5, or Zeph.
iii., or Zech. viii. 20 to end of ix.
Second Lesson— Eph. iii., Rev. v., or xiv.
For Benefit Societies.
First Lesson — Deut. xxviii.
Second Lesson — Rom. xiii.
1-15.
For School Festivals.
First Lesson— Job xxviii., Prov. iii. or iv., or Eccles. xii.
Second Lesson — Luke ii. 40, or Epli. v. 15 to vi. 21, or 2 Tim.
iii.
For Visitations, Synods, JRuridecayial Chapters,
First Lesson — Isa. Ixi., Ezek. iii. 10, or xxxiv. 7; Zech. ix. 9 to
end of X. ; Mai. ii. 1, 2, iii., iv.
Second Lesson — Acts xx. 17, or John x. 1-17, xx. 19 24, xxi.
15-23, or 1 Cor. iii. : 2 Cor. iv. or vi. ; Eph. iv. 1-17 ; 2
Tim. i., or ii., or iii., or iv., to 19; 1 Peter iv. 7 to v.
12, or Rev. ii. or iii.
For Choral Festivals.
First Lesson — 1 Chron, xvi. or part of it, 2 Chrou. xxix. 20.
Second Lesson — Eph. v. 1-22, or Col. iii. to v. 18.
THE TABLES AND RULES.
These were nearly all of them new insertions at the last
revision of the Prayer Book in 1B62, and a large jjortion of
them were taken out of Bishop Cosiu's CoUectiou of Private
Devotions. Previous editions of the Prayer Book contained
"an Almanack for thirty-nine years," which was the same as
our "Table of Moveable Feasts;" a "Table to find Kastcr for
ever;" the list of days beginning "Septuagesima," but with-
out Ascension Day, and without anj' prefix whatever; and a
short list of Holydays. The genor.al title, " Tables and Rules,
etc.," is in the Durham Book in Bishop Cosin's handwriting:
and all tlie ecclesiastical alterations and insertions appear to
have been made by him. The chronological apparatus of the
Calendar was, however, revised by Dr. John Pell (a very
learned man. and a friend of Vossius '), in conjunction with
Sancroft as secretary to the Committee of Revision. Of this
chronological apparatus there is no trace whatever in Bishop
Cosin's Prayer Book. In 1752 {24 Geo. II.) "an Act for
regulating the commencement of the year, and for correcting
the Calendar," was passed, and from this the present tables
of the Prayer Book are printed, not from the Sealed Books.
§ Rules to hiov! xvhen the Moveable Feasts and Holydays
begin.
These rules stand exactly as they do in Cosin's Devotions,
as published in 1627 : except that the day of the month is
substituted for the words "Equinoctial of the Spring in
March." The rule for finding Easter (founded on a decree of
the Council of Nica?a) is not quite exactly stated. Instead of
" Full Moon " it ought to say, "the 14th day of the Calendar
Moon, whether that day be the actual Full Moon or not." In
some years (as in ISIS and 1845) the Full Moon and Easter
coincide, and this rule then contradicts the Tables.
There is a curious old rough and ready rule for finding
Easter contained in a rhyme found in some old Sarum
Missals : —
" la Marche after the first C [I or new moon]
The next prime tell to me.
The thridde Sunday ful I wis
Paske dai sikir [surely] hit is."
This seems as correct as it is easy to use, e.g. : —
New Moon in March.
1st .Sunday.
2ud Sunday.
Easter Day.
1786
18G0
1862
1865
1882
Monday, 27.
Tlmrsday. 22.
Sunday, 30.
Monday, 27.
Sunday, 10.
April 2.
March 25.
April 6.
April 2.
March 26.
April <1.
April 1.
Ajiril 13.
• April 9.
April 2.
April 16.
April 8.
April 20.
April 16.
April 9.
Advent Sunday] To this rule should be added, " or on that
feast itself," as Advent Sunday occurs on November 30th
about once in every seven years on the average.
1 It was the strange fate of this leann'd man to be so poor that lie eonld
not pet even pens, ink, and paper, and the necessaries of life : and he waa
liuricd hy the charity of Pr. Busby in the Hector's vault at St. Giles's In
the Field.s.
JmmotieatJlc Jcasts anD ^olyDaj^s.
117
A TABLE OF ALL THE FEASTS
THAT ARE TO BE
OBSERVED IN
THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
All Sundays in the Year,
1 The Circumcision of our Lord JESUS
/ S. Peter the Apostle.
CHRIST.
S. James the Apostle.
The Epiphany.
S. Bartholomew the Apostle.
The Conversion of S. Paul. '
S. Matthew the Apostle.
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin.
S. Michael and All Angels.
The
Saint Matthias the Apostle.
The
S. Luke the Evangelist.
Days
of the (
Feasts
The Annunciation of the Blessed
Virgin.
Days ,
of the (
Feasts
S. Simon and S. Jitde, Apostles.
All Saints.
of
S. Mark the Evangelist.
of
S. Andrew the Apostle.
S. Philip and <S. Jacob the Apostles.
S. Thomas the Apostle.
The Ascension of our Lord JESUS
The Nativity of our Lord.
CHRIST.
S. Stephen the Martyr.
S. Barnalas.
S. John the Evangelist.
\ The Nativity of ^S*. John Baptist.
^ The Holy Innocents.
Monday \
Monday \
and >- in Easter Week.
and r in Whitsun Week.
Tuesday )
Tuesday '
§ The Table of Feasts.
Tliis Table is not in Cosin's Devotions, thougli the days are
all marked in the Calendar of the volume ; but it is iu MS.
in the margin of his Durham Prayer Book. The remarks
made by him in the Notes on the Prayer Book published in
the fifth volume of his works shew that he had long wished
to see a more complete list of the Holydays of the Churcli
printed in the Calendar ; and that he thought the abbreviated
list of former Prayer Books was the fault of the printer.
But the same list that is now in the Prayer Book is found
in an Act of Parliament of 1.552-53 [5 and 6 Edw. VI. ch. .3,
sec. 1] with the exception of the Conversion of St. Paul, St.
Barnabas, and "All Angels" in association with St. Michael.
The omission of these was probably accidental.
All the Feasts iu this Table have their own Collects,
Epistles, and Gospels, and notices of the days wOl be
found in the footnotes appended to these in their jiroper
places.
ii8
CJigils, jTasts, anD Dai^s of abstinence.
A TABLE
OF THE
VIGILS, FASTS, AND DAYS OF ABSTINENCE,
TO BE OBSERVED IN THE YEAK.
The
Eves
or
Vigils
before
The Nativitj' of our Lord.
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin
Mary.
The Annunciation of the Blessed
Virgin.
Easter Day.
Ascension Day.
Pentecost.
S. Matthias.
The
Eves
or
Vigils
before
<S'. John Baptist.
S. Peter.
S. James.
S. Bartholomew.
S. Matthew.
S. Simon and S.
S. Andreiv.
S. Thomas.
All Saints.
Judc.
Note, that if any of these Feast Days fall upon a Monday, then the Vigil or Fast Day shall be kept
upon the Saturday, and not ujDon the Sunday next before it.
DAYS OF FASTING, OR ABSTINENCE.
I. The Forty Days of Lent.
A / The First Sunday in Lent.
II. The Ember Days at (being the Wednesday, Friday,) The Feast oi Pentecost.
the Four Seasons, T and Saturday after J Septenibcr 14.
J \ December 13.
III. The Three Rogation Days, being the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Holy Thursday,
or the Ascension of our Lord.
IV. All the Fridays in the Year, excejDt Christmas Day.
[A SOLEMN DAY,
FOR WHICH A P.ARTICULAR SERVICE IS APPOINTED.
The Twentieth Day of June, being the Day on which Her Majesty began her happy Eeign.]
§ The Table of Viijils, Fasts, awl Days of Abstinence.
This, together with the "certain Solemn Days" (now re-
duced to one), originally appeared in Cosin's Devotions, and
is also written in the margin of the Durliam Prayer Book.
At the end of the MS. note is written an addition taken from
the Devotions, but not eventually printed in tlie Prayer Book : —
"By the ecclesiastical laws of this Realm, there be some
times in the year wherein Marriages are not usually soleui-
nized ; ' viz.
[ Advent 1 gu^j^^^y ( eightdaysatter the Epiphany,
from -J Septu.-igesima > until ) '^'S''* <l^vs after Easter.
Rogation )
( Trinity .Sunday.
Cosin also wrote, ".Ml the Fridays in the year except the
twelve days of Christmas."
But the first portion of it is to he found in 5 and (! Edw. VI.
c. 3, sees. 2, .5, and the second portion in 2 and 3 Edw. VI. c.
19, and 5 and G Edw. VI. c. 3.
Some notes on the subject of Fasting will be found under
the head of Lent ; the Ember Days are noticed in connection
with Ordination Services, and tlie Rogation D.ays in the notes
to the Fifth Sunday after Easter.
* See notes on the MaiTingc Service.
All Festivals have Eves, including Sundays, but only some
have Vigils. The Festivals that fall during the seasons of
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide liave no Vigils, Frid.ays
being the only days of Abstinence in those joyous periods.
St. Luke's d,ay is without a Vigil, either because the Evan-
gelist is thought to have died in peace without martyrdom, or
because the minor festival of St. Etheldrtda occupies the 17th
of October. Michaelmas D.ay is without a Vigil, because the
Holy Angels liad no day of trial like the Saints before enter-
ing into Heaven : and of this tlie Vigil is a symbolical observ-
,ance. The use of tlie words Vigil and Even at tlie time when
the Prayer Book was first translated is illustrated by the
following pass.age from Craiimer's answer to tlie Devonshire
rebels: "For as Vi;/ils, otherwise called Watchings, re-
mained in the calendars upon certain sahils' cve7is, because in
old times the people watched all those nights ; . . . but now
these many years those vigils remained in vain in the books,
for no man did watch." [Stuyi'k's Craiimer, ii. .'i.'i.T l
The Vigil was origin.ally tluat which its n.ame indicates, a
night spent in watching and pr.ayor. The scandals which
arose out of these micturiial Services, however, made it
necessary to .abolish them [DriiAND. vi. 7] ; and a fast on the
day before was substituted which still rit.'iius the name of
Vigil. The Vigil is not therefore coMuected with tlie Evening
Service, but is the day before the i''estival to which it belongs ;
a Ca&lc to fitiD OBastcv.
119
A TABLE TO FIND EASTER DAY, FROM THE PRESENT TIME TILL THE YEAR
1899 INCLUSIVE, ACCORDING TO THE FOREGOING CALENDAR.
Golden Number.
D.iy of the Montli.
Sunday Lttter.
XIV
March 21
c
III
22
D
23
E
XI
24
P
25
G
XIX
26
A
VIII
27
B
28
C
XVI
29
D
V
30
E
31
F
XIII
April 1
G
II
A
3
B
X
4
C
5
D
XVIII
6
E
VII
• 7
F
8
G
XV
9
A
IV
10
B
11
C
XII
12
D
I
13
E
14
F
IX
15
G
16
A
XVII
17
B
VI
18
C
19
D
20
E
21
F
22
G
23
A
24
B
25
C
This Table coutaius so much of the Calendar as is necessary
for the determining of Easter ; To find which, look for the
Golden Numlier of the year in the first Column of tlie Table,
again.st which stands the Day of the Paschal Full Moon ;
then look in tlie third Column for the Sunday Letter, next
after tlio day of the Full Moon, and the day of the Month
standing against that Sunday Letter is Easter Day. If the
Full Moon happens upon a Sunday, tlien (according to the
first rule) tlie next Sund.ay after is Easter Day.
To find the Golden Number, or Prime, add one to the
Year of our Lord, and then divide by 19 ; the remainder, if
any, is the Golden Number ; but if nothing remaineth, then
19 is the Golden Number.
To find the Dominical or Sunday Letter, according to the
Calendar, until the year 1799 inclusive, add to the
Year of our Lord its fourth part, omitting frac-
tious ; and also the number 1 : Divide the sum by
7 ; and if there is no remainder, then A is the
Sunday Letter : But if any uumber remainetli,
then the Letter standing against that numljcr in
the small annexed Table is the Sunday Letter.
For the next Century, that is, from the year 1800
till the year 1899 inclusive, add to the current
year only its fourth part, and then divide by 7, and pro-
ceed as in the last Rule.
Note, That in all Bissextile or Leap Years, the Letter
found as above will be the Sunday Letter, from the inter-
calated day exclusive to the end of the year.
A
1
G
2
P
3
E
4
D
6
6
B
and since (according to the accustomed habit of the Church)
the Festival itself begins on the evening previous, the A^igil
ends before that Evening Service (if there is more than one)
which is observed as the first Vespers of the feast. That, in
medieval times, the whole of the day before the Festival was
observed as the Vigil may be seen by the following Rubric for
the first Sunday in Advent : " Non dicatur etiam per totum
annum Te Deum laudamus in Vigiliis, nee in quatuor tem-
poribus, nisi in Vigilia Epiphania; quando in Dominica conti-
gerit, et prajterquam in quatuor temporibus hebdomadat
Penteoostes. " The Te Deum was used at Mattins : the use
of it here referred to must therefore be at the Mattins of the
Vigil. Some remarks on the observance of Vigils may be
found in Tracts for the Times, No. 66, pp. 11, 12.
The following Table will shew in what years festivals which
are not moveable ones occur on Sundays : —
Sunday
Letter.
Festivals.
Aniumciation, Nat. St. John B., SS. Simon and Jude.
Epiphany, St. Matthias, St. Michael.
( Purification, St. Peter, St. Bartholomew, St. Mattlicw.
^ St. Andrew. St. Tliomas, Innocents.
Conv. St. Paul, St. Luke, All Saints, St. John Evan.
St. Mark, St. James, St. Stephen.
SS. Philip and James, Christmas.
Civeumcision, St. Barnabas.
Dny.'i 0/ Fastinrj] These are the forty days of Lent and
the Ember Days. Strictly regarded, these days are to be kept
by refraining from food during the whole day or up to a
certain hour, as noon.
or Abstinence] That is, "or days of Abstinence." These
are the Rogation Days and all Fridays except a Friday on
which Christmas Day occurs. Strictly regarded, these days
are to be kept by abstinence from animal food : eggs, cheese,
and l)utter not being included under that designation.
The accession of the Sovereign was first observed as a
" Solemn Day " in the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; but no
mention of such a day was made in the Prayer Book until
late in the last century. The above notice of the day has
not therefore the authoritj' of the Sealed Books, nor of the
Act of 1752, but is printed in deference to Royal Proclama-
tions dated June 21, 1837, and January 17, 1859.
§ The Table to find Easter till 1899.
This Table is an extract from the first three columns of the
Calendar during the Paschal limits, or the period during
which Easter Day must always fall. It was substituted in
1752 (with the succeeding one) for "a Table to find Easter
for ever " whicli had been printed in previous Prayer Books,
but which had been framed on a mistaken suj^position respect-
ing the perpetual application of the cycle of Golden Numbers
to fixed days of the months. A change in the application of
the cycle will be necessary in the year 1900 (provided for by
another Table further on), when the above will be superseded
for all future calculations.
The CJolden Numliers and the Sunday Letters are explained
in the notes to the Cleneral Tables for finding them.
These Tables are a solution of a difficulty about the deter-
mination of Easter Day, which caused considerable trouble to
the Church wdien astronomy, and consequently chronology,
was imperfectly understood. The Nicenc Council [a. D. 325J
endeavoured to settle this difficulty and the Quartodeciman
I20
a Cable to finD OBastcr.
ANOTHER TABLE TO FIND EASTER TILL THE YEAR 1899 INCLUSIVE.
SUNDAY LETTERS.
GOLDEN
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
NTTMBER.
I
April
16
17
18
19
20
14
15
II
April
9
3
4
5
• 6
7
8
III
March
26
27
28
29
23
24
25
IV
April
16
17
11
12
13
14
15
V
April
•1
3
■ 4
o
6
March 31
April 1
VI
Aijril
23
2i
25
19
20
21
oo
VII
April
9
10
11
12
13
14
8
VIII
April
2
3
March 28
29
30
31
April 1
IX
April
16
• 17
18
19
20
21
O.T
X
April
9
10
. 11
5
6
7
8
XI
March
26
27
28
29
30
31
25
XII
April
16
17
■ IS
19
13
14
15
XIII
April
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
XIV
March
26
27
28
22
23
24
25
XV
April
16
10
11
12 •
13
14
15
XVI
April
2
3
4
5
March 30
31
April 1
XVII
April
23
24
18
19
20
21
oo
XVIII
April
9
10
11
12
13
■ 7
8
XIX
April
2
March 27
• • 28
29
30
31
April 1
To make use of the preceding Table, find the Sunday Letter for the Year in the uppermost Line, and the Golden
Number, or Prime, in the Column of Golden Numbers, and against the Prime, in the same Line under the Sunday
Letter, you have the Day of the Month on which E.isrER falletli that year. But Note, tliat the Name of the Month
is set on tlie Left Hand, or just with the Figure, and foUoweth not, as in other Tables, by Descent, but Collateral.
controversy [see notes on Easter Day] by the following
epistolary decrees : —
1. That the twenty-first day of March is to be taken as the
vernal equinox.
2. That the full moon happening upon or next after the
twenty-first day of March is to be taken for the full moon of
the mtmth Nisan.
3. That the next Lord's Day after tliat full moon is to be
observed as Easter Day.
4. Unless the full moon happens upon a Sunday, wlien
Easter Day is to be llie next Sunday.
But to observe these rules it was necessary to ascertain the
age of tlie moon : and although this could be done correctly
for a period by means of a cycle of the moon discovered by
Mcton, an Atlienian philosopher, which set forth the change
of the moon for nineteen years, and wliicli was supposed to
repeat itself O'l injuilliun, yet a more accurate knowledge of
astronomy sliewed that this rule was subject to error, and
that Easter Day was sometimes too early and sometimes
too late to commemorate our Lord's Resurrection with the
accuracy which was intended by the Nicene Council. Tliis
erroneous system was not corrected, however, until the intro-
duction of the "New Style" by Pope Gregorj" XIII. in 1,')S2;
and the New Style was not introduced into England until
1752, when tlie Act of Parliament was passed from which the
present Calendar is printed.
These Tables for rinding Easter, together with those which
follow, are part of the Act of Parliament referred to [24 Geo.
II. c. 23], and have not received the same authority as the
Prayer Book itself. Nor does there seem to be any practical
necessity for binding then> up with every edition of tlie
Prayer Book as is the present custom, since they are of far
too recondite a character to be of any use except to highly
scientific students ; and for ordinary use the Table of Move-
able Feasts is amply sufficient.
agoocafalc jFcast0
I 21
A TABLE OF THE MOVEABLE FEASTS
FOR THE REST OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,
ACCORDING TO THE FOREGOING CALENDAR
Year
The
The
Sun-
day
Let-
ter.
A
Sundays
after
Septua-
The Fir.st
Easter
Rog.ation
Ascension
WTiitsiin
Sundays afttr
Advent
of our
Lord.
Golden
Number.
Epact.
Kpi-
phany.
Sunday.
Lent.
Day.
Sunday.
Day.
Day.
Trinity.
Sunday.
1882
II
11
Four
Feb. 5
Feb. 22
Apr. 9
May 14
May 18
May 28
Twenty-five
Dec. 3
1883
III
22
a
Two
.Jau. 21
7
Mar. 25
Apr. 29
3
13
Twenty-seven
2
1884
IV
3
FE
Four
Feb. 10
27
Apr. 13
May 18
22
June 1
Twenty-four
Nov. 30
1885
V
14
T>
Three
• 1
18
5
10
■ 14
May 24
Twenty-live
29
1886
VI
25
Six
21
Mar. 10
25
30
June 3
June 13
Twenty-two
28
1887
VII
6
B
Four
• 6
Feb. 23
■ -10
15
May 19
May 29
Twenty-four
27
1888
VIII
17
Aa
Three
Jau. 29
15
1
6
10
20
Twenty six
Dec. 2
1889
IX
28
F
Five
Feb. 17
Mar. 6
-21
26
30
June 9
Twenty-three
1
1890
X
9
E
Three
n
Feb. 19
• 6
11
• 15
May 25
Twenty-live
Nov. SO
1891
XI
20
D
Two
Jan. 25
U
Mar. 29
3
7
17
Twenty-six
29
1892
XII
1
CB
Five
Feb. 14
Mar. 2
Apr. 17
22
26
June 5
Twenty-tliree
27
1893
XIII
12
A
Three
Jan. 29
Feb. 15
2
7
11
May 21
Twenty-six
Dec. 3
1894
XIV
23
G
Two
21'
7
Mar. 25
Apr. 29
3
13
Twenty-seven
2
1895
XV
4
F
Four
Feb. 10
27
Apr. 14
May 19
23
June 2
Twenty-four
1
189G
XVI
15
ED
Three
2
19
■ 5
10
14
May 24
Twenty-five
Nov. 29
1897
XVII
26
C
Five
• 14
Mar. 3
18
23
27
June 6
Twenty-three
28
1898
xvm
7
B
Four
6
Feb. 23
10
15
19
May 29
Twenty-four
27
1899
XIX
18
A
Three
Jan. 29
15
2
7
11
21
Twenty-six
Dec. 3
1900
I
G
Five
Feb. 11
28 ■ 15
20
24
June 3
Twenty -four
2
THE EPACT.
The difference between the lengtli of the solar year and that
of the lunar year is eleven days ; the solar year being made
up of 365 days, and the lunar year of twelve months or moons,
of twenty-nine and a half days each, or 354 days in all. The
last day of the lunar year being the last day of the twelfth moon,
and the last day of tlie solar year being the 31st of December,
the difference between these constitutes the Epact.' In the
first year of the present cycle the lunar year and the solar year
both connnenced on tlie 1st of January ; the Epact for the
second year was therefore 11, for the third 22, for the fourth
33, and so forth in a regular succession. Tlie n/iole months
are not reclioned, however, and instead of 33, tlie Epact is
taken as 3, instead of 36 as 6, and so fortli.
A cycle of nineteen Epacts is thus formed which always
runs parallel to the nineteen Golden Numbers in the follow-
ing order:-
Golden Numbers
1
2
3 1
4
5 1
6 1
7
8 1
9
10
11 1
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Epacts
1
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
V
18
The Epact is used for calculating the age of the moon on
any day in any year. To do this, [1] Add together the day
of the month and the Epact : [2] If the month is one later on
in the year than March, add also the number of months in-
cluding Marcli and the one for wliich the calculation is re-
quired. The result will give the moon's age within a fraction
of a day. Tlius : —
1865. October lOtli.
3 The Epact.
13
8 months from March to October, inclusive.
Days 21 = approximate age of the raoou.
1 'E.TXXT3CI ruipitt. Iiitei'calavy day.s.
The true age of the moon on October 10, 1865, at noon,
being 20 days and 14 hours.
Tlie use of the Epacts (in connection with the Sunday letters),
for finding out Easter Day, may be thus illustrated for the
year 1887. Find out the moon's age for some day on which
Easter can fall, say April 1st.
1887. April 1
6 Epact.
2 March and April inclusive.
Days 9 = age of the moon on April 1.
The Paschal Full Moon is the 14tli day of the moon's age,
and tliis will be April 6th. [2] Easter Day being the Sunday
after the Paschal Full Moon, and B being the Sunday Letter for
1887, the first B after April 6tli will shew that April 10th is
Easter Daj' in that year.
1 22
9@oi) cable jTcasts.
A TABLE
OF THE
MOVEABLE FEASTS
ACCORDING TO THE SEVERAL DAYS
THAT EASTER
-
CAN POSSIBLY FALL UPON.
Easter Day.
Sundays after
Sei>tuagesima
The First Day
Rogation
Ascension
Wliitsuii D.iy.
Sundays after
Advent
Ejiiphauy.
Sunday.
of Lent.
Sunday.
Day.
Trinity.
Sunday.
Mar. 22
Oue
Jan. 18
Feb. 4
Apr. 26
Apr. 30
May 10
Twenty-seven
Nov. 29
23
One
19
5
27
May 1
11
Twenty-seven
30
24
One
20
6
28
• 2
12
Twenty-seven
Dec. 1
25
Two
21
7
29
3
13
Twenty-seven
2
26
Two
22
8
30
4
14
Twenty-seven
3
27
Two
23
9
May 1
5
15
Twenty-six
Nov. 27
28
Two
24
10
o
■ 6
16
Twentj'-six
28
29
Two
25
11
3
7
17
Twenty-six
29
30
Two
26
12
4
8
IS
Twenty-six
30
31
Two
27
13
5
9
19
Twenty-six
Dee. 1
Apr. 1
Three
28
14
6
10
20
Twenty-six
2
2
Three
29
15
7
11
21
Twenty-six
3
3
Three
30
16
8
12
oo
Twenty-five
Nov. 27
4
Three
31
17
9
13
23
Twenty-five
28
5
Three
Feb. 1
18
10
14
24
Twenty-five
29
6
Three
2
19
11
15
25
Twenty-five
30
7
Three
3
20
12
16
26
Twenty-five
Dec. 1
8
Four
4
21
13
17
27
Twenty-five
2
9
Four
5
22
14
18
28
Twenty-five
3
10
Four
6
23
15
19
29
Twenty -four
Nov. 27
11
Four
7
24
16
20
30
Twenty-four
28
12
Four
8
25
17
21
31
Twenty-four
29
13
Four
9
26
18
oo
Juno 1
Twenty-four
30
14
Four
10
27
19
23
o
Twenty-four
Dec. 1
15
Five
11
28
20
24
3
Twenty-four
o
16
Five
12
Mar. 1
21
25
4
Twenty-four
3
17
Five
13
o
22
26
5
Twenty-three
Nov. 27
IS
Five
14
3
23
27
6
Twenty-three
28
19
Five
15
4
24
28
7
Twenty-three
29
20
Five
16
5
25
29
8
Twenty-three
30
21
Five
17
6
26
30
9
Twenty-three
Dec. 1
22
Six
18
7
27
31
10
Twenty-three
o
23
Six
19
■ 8
28
June 1
11
Twenty-three
3
24
Six
20
9
29
• 2
12
Twenty-two
Nov. 27
25
Six
• 21
10
30
3
13
Twenty-two
• 28
Note, tl
at in a Bisse
<itile or Leap
Year, tlie Number of Sundays after E]
lipliany will 1
)C the s.ame, as if Eas
ter D.ay
had fa
Hen One Da
r later tlian i
t really does. And for the same reasr
n. One Day i
nust, in every Leap ^
I'ear, be
added
to the Day o
f tlie Month ;
iiven by the Table for Septuagesima Si
mday : And 1
he like must be done
for the
First 1
3ay of Lent (
comnuinly ca
led Ash ^Vedllesday), unless the Tabl
3 gives some
Day in the Month o
f March
for it ;
for in tliat c
ase the Day £
'iveu by the Table is the right Day.
The order in which this Table follows the others makes its
nso sufficiently evident. The two first Tables being given for
the purpose of finding the date of the Festival by which all
the moveable Holydays are regulated, and a third added which
sets forth all the moveable Holydays for many years to come,
this Table is given as a means of finding out for any year,
past or future, the respective dates of these days, according
to that of E.aster. The Note respecting Leap Year nnist not
be overlooked when this Table is used.
9 Cable to finD €aotcc C^ay.
123
TABLE TO FIND EASTER DAY
FROM
THE YEAR 1900 TO THE YEAR 2199 INCLUSIVE.
Golden Number.
Day of tli«
Month.
.Sunday Letters.
XIV
March
22
D
in
23
E
24
P
XI
25
G
26
A
XIX
27
. B
VIII
28
C
29
D
XVI
30
E
V
31
F
April
1
G
XIII
•:>
A
II
3
B
4
C
X
5
D
6
E
VIII
7
F
VII
8
G
9
A
XV
10
B
IV
11
C
12
D
XII
13
E
I
14
F
15
G
IX
16
A
XVII
17
B
VI
IS
19
D
20
E
21
F
22
G
23
A
24
B
25
C
The Golden Numbers iu the foregoing Calendar will
point out the Day.s of the Paschal Full j\Ioons till the
Year of our Lord 1900; at which Time, in order tli.at the
Ecclesiastical Full Moons may fall nearly on the s.ame
Days with tlie real Full Moons, tlie Golden Numbers
must be removed to diiierent Days of the Calendar, as is
done in the annexed Table, whicli contains so much of
the Calendar then to be used as is necessary for finding
the Paschal Full Moons, and the Feast of EaxUr, from
the Year 1900 to the Year 2199 inclusive. This Table
is to be made use of, in all respects, as the first Table
before inserted, for finding Easier till tlie Year 1899.
This Table is simply for reusing the first and third
columns of that portion of the Calendar whicli extends over
the Paschal limits, i.e. those days in March and April that
Easter can possibly fall on. It will not come into use before
tlie year 1900, and is then applicable for three hundred
years.
124
©cncral Cables.
GENERAL TABLES
FOR FINDING THE DOMINICAL OR SUNDAY LETTER,
AND THE PLACES OF THE GOLDEN NUMBERS IN THE CALENDAR.
TABLE I.
6
5
B
C
1900
•2000
2100
2900
3000
3800
3900
4000
4700
4800
5700
6600
4900
5800
6700
6800
7500
7600
7700
etc.
8500
2200
3100
3200
2300
2400
3300
4100
5000
5900
GOOO
6900
4200
5100
5200
7800
6100
7000
7900
8000
o
1
¥
G
1600
1700
2600
2500
3400
3500
3600
4300
4400
4500
5300
■ 5400
6200
6300
6400
7100
7200
7300
8100
8200
A
1800
2700
2800
3700
4600
5500
5600
6500
7400
8300
8400
To find the Dominical or Sunday Letter for any given Year of
our Lord, add to the year its fourth part, omitting fractions, and
also the number, which in Table I. standeth at the top of the
column, wherein t)ie number of liundreds contained in that given
year is found ; Divide the sum by 7, and if there is no remainder,
then A is the Sunday Letter; but if any number remaineth, then
the Letter, which standeth under that number at the top of tlie
Table, is the Sunday Letter.
TABLE II.
II.
III.
Years of our Lord.
-1 B
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
2500
2600
2700
2800
2900
3000
3100
3200
3300
.3400
3500
3600
3700
3800
3900
4000
4100
4200
4300
4400
4500
4600
4700
4800
4900
5000
5100
9
10
10
10
11
12
12
12
13
13
14
14
14
15
16
II.
IIL
Years of our Lord.
5200
5300
5400
5500
5600
5700
5800
5900
6000
6100
6200
6300
6400
6500
6600
6700
6800
6900
7000
7100
7200
7300
7400
7500
7600
7700
7800
7900
8000
8100
8200
8300
8400
8500
etc.
15
16
17
17
17
18
18
19
19
19
20
21
20
21
22
23
22
23
24
24
24
25
25
26
26
26
27
28
27
28
29
29
29
To find the Month and Days of the Month to which
the Golden Numbers ought to be prefixed in the Calen-
dar, in any given Year of our Lord consisting of entire
hundred years, and in all the intermediate years betwixt
that and tlie next hundredth year following, look iu the
secon<l ccjlunni of Table II. for the given year consist-
ing of entire luindreds, and note the number or cipher
which stands against it in the third column ; then, in
Table III. look for tlie same number in the column
under any given Golden Number, whicli when you liave
found, guide your eye sidew.ays to tlie left hand, and in
the first column you will find the Month and Day to
which that Golden Number ouglit to be prefixed in the
Calendar, during that period fif one liuiidred years.
The letter B prefixed to certain hundredth years in
Table II. denotes those years which are still to be ac-
counted Bissextile or Leap Years in the New Calendar;
whereas all the other hundredth years are to be ac-
counted only common years.
§ Tli)t Dominicftl or Suwhiy Lrtlrra.
The second column of the. Calendar is occupied by the first
seven letters of the alphabet, which arc repeated throughout
the ye.ar, beginning with A on tlie first of .January. If the
first of January is on a Sunday, A is the Sunday Letter for
(J5cncral Cables.
12 =
TABLE
III.
THE GOLDEN NUMBERS.
Paschal
Sunday-
Full Moon.
Letter.
1
2
19
3
4
11
5
22
3
7
14
8
25
9
6
10
17
11
28
12
9
13
20
14
1
15
12
16
23
17
4
18
15
19
26
March 21
C
8
March 22
D
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
March 23
E
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
March 24
F
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
/
18
29
March 25
March 26
G
12
13
23
24
4
5
15
16
26
27
7
8
18
19
29
10
11
21
22
2
3
13
14
24
25
5
6
16
17
27
28
8
9
19
20
1
A
March 2"
B
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
March 28
C
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
March 29
D
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
March 30
E
17
28
29
9
10
20
21
1
2
12
13
23
24
4
5
15
16
26
27
7
8
18
19
29
10
11
21
22
2
3
13
14
24
25
5
6
March 31
F
18
April 1
G
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
April 2
A
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
April 3
B
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
April 4
C
22
3
14
25
26
6
7
17
18
28
29
9
10
20
21
1
2
12
13
23
24
4
5
15
16
26
27
7
8
18
19
29
10
11
April 5
D
23
4
15
April 6
E
24
5
16
27
3
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
April 7
F
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
o
13
April 8
G
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
April 9
A
27
8
19
20
1
11
12
22
23
3
4
14
15
25
26
6
7
17
18
28
29
9
10
20
21
1
2
12
13
23
24
4
5
15
16
April 10
B
28
9
April 11
C
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
April 12
D
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
April 13
E
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
April 14
F
2
13
14
24
25
5
6
16
17
27
28
8
9
19
20
1
11
12
22
23
3
4
14
15
25
26
6
7
17
18
28
29
9
10
20
21
April 15
G
3
April 16
A
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
April 17
B
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
April 17
B
7
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
April IS
C
6
7
17
18
28
29
9
10
20
21
1
2
12
13
23
24
4
5
15
16
26
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
April 18
C
that year ; if im a Saturday, B is the Sunday Letter, and so
on in a retrograde order ; the letter which indicates the first
Sunday in the year indicating it throughout, except in Leap
Year. In Leap Year the letter wliicli indicates tlie first
Sunday of the year indicates it up to the end of February
only ; ami from March onward to the end of the year the
next letter baclcward is taken, so that if B is the Sunday
Letter for January and February in Leap Year, A is that for
the succeeding niontlis ; and G for the year following, Tlie
days of the year recur on the same days of the week through-
out only after the lapse of twenty-eight years. The cycle of
Sunday Letters extends therefore over this period, as may be
seen in "the Table of Moveable Feasts for tlie remainder of the
nineteenth century." It is sometimes, but erroneously, called
the "Siilar Cycle," the name having doubtless arisen from
"DiesSolis,"as the cycle has no relation to the course of the Sun.
§ The. Golden Numbers.
This title was given to the Lunar Cycle invented by Meton
the Athenian [b.c. 432], which was called after liim the Me-
tonic Cycle, and was anciently written in letters of gold, and
hence received its name. It extends over nineteen years,
which are numbered respectively from 1 to 19. These were
formerly marked throughout the year in the first column of
the Calendar; but since 1752 tliey have been inserted only
beside those days which are included within the Paschal Full
Moon limits, i.e. between March 21st and April 25th. At the
end of the cycle the phases of the moon begin to recur upon
the same days of the montli, in the same succession, with a
difference of one hour and a half. Tliis difference so far dis-
turbs tlie application of the cycle of Golden Numbers that it
will have to be readjusted in tlie year 1900, and one of the
foregoing Tables is already provided for the purpose of making
tlie necessary alteration.
The Golden Numbers in the Calendar indicate the day on
whicli the Ecclesiastical Pasclial Full Moon occurs ; the Sun-
day Letter next after indicating (as has been already shewn)
the Festival of Easter itself.
The three "General Tables" are only of use to those who
have to make historical calculations, and all might well be left
to the Act of Parliament, and to works on Chronology, but
they have been printed here in deference to the custom which
has placed them in all our Prayer Books for some time past.
APPENDIX.
The two following Tables are among the alterations of the
Prayer Book suggested by the Convocation of Canterbury in
1879. It was proposed that they should be substituted for the
"Tables to find Easter," and they are inserted here as a very
useful apparatus for ascertaining tlie dates of Festival."! for a
long series of years.
126
appcnUir.
Tables sheioing the daijsvpon which the Moveable Feasts have been obsenzd or are to be observed from the Year 1500 to the Year 2000.
TABLE I.
ISOO"
29
1542
19
1584*
29
1626
19
166S*
1
1710
19
1752*
8
1794
30
1836*
13
1877
11
1918
10
1959
8
1501
21
1543
4
1585
21
1627
4
1669
21
1711
11
1753
32
1795
15
1837
6
1878
31
1919
30
I960'
27
1502
6
1544*
23
1586
13
1628*
23
1670
13
1712*
30
1754
24
1796*
6
1838
25
1879
23
1920*
14
1901
12
1503
26
1545
15
1587
20
1629
15
1671
S3
1713
15
1756
9
1797
26
1839
10
1880*
7
W21
6
1962
32
1504«
17
1546
35
1588*
17
1030
7
1672*
17
1714
7
1766*
28
1798
18
1840*
29
1881
27
1922
26
1963
24
1505
2
1547
20
1589
9
1631
20
1673
9
1716
27
1757
20
1799
3
1841
21
1882
19
1923
11
1964*
8
1506
22
1548*
11
1590
29
1632*
11
1674
29
1716*
11
1758
5
1800*
23
1842
6
1883
4
1924*
30
1965
28
1507
14
1549
31
1591
14
1633
31
1675
14
1717
31
1759
25
1801
15
1843
26
1884*
23
1925
22
1966
20
1608*
83
1550
16
1592*
5
1634
16
1676*
5
1718
23
1760*
16
1802
28
1844*
17
1885
15
1926
14
1967
5
1509
18
1551
8
1593
25
1635
8
1677
25
1719
S
1761
1
1803
20
1845
2
1886
35
1927
27
1968*
24
1510
10
1552*
27
1594
10
1636*
27
1678
10
1720*
27
1762
21
1S04*
11
1846
22
1887
20
1928*
18
1909
16
1511
80
1553
12
1595
30
1637
19
3679
30
1721
19
1763
13
1B06
24
1847
14
1888*
11
1929
10
1970
8
1512*
21
1554
4
1596'
21
1638
4
1680*
21
1722
4
1764*
32
1806
16
1848*
33
1889
31
1930
30
1971
21
1513
6
1655
24
1597
6
1639
24
1681
13
1723
24
1765
17
1807
8
1849
18
1890
16
1931
15
1972'
12
1514
26
1556*
15
1598
26
1640*
16
1682
26
1724*
15
1766
9
1808*
27
1850
10
1891
8
1932*
6
1973
32
1515
18
1557
28
1599
18
1641
35
1683
18
1725
7
1767
29
1809
12
1851
30
1892*
27
1933
26
1974
24
1516*
2
155S
20
1600*
2
1642
20
1684*
9
1726
20
1768'
13
1810
32
1852*
21
1893
12
1934
11
1976
9
1517
22
1559
5
1601
22
1643
12
1085
29
1727
12
1769
5
ISll
24
1853
6
1894
4
1936
81
1976*
28
1518
14
1560*
24
1602
14
1644*
31
1686
14
1728*
31
1770
25
1812*
8
1864
26
1895
24
1936*
22
1977
20
1519
34
1561
16
1603
34
1645
16
1687
6
1729
16
1771
10
1813
28
1855
18
1896*
15
1937
7
1978
5
1520*
18
1662
8
1604*
18
1046
8
1688*
25
1730
8
1772*
29
1814
20
1856*
2
1897
28
1938
27
1979
25
1521
10
1563
21
1605
10
1647
28
1689
10
1731
28
1773
21
1816
5
1867
22
1898
20
1939
19
1980*
16
1522
30
1564*
12
1606
30
1648*
12
1690
30
1732*
19
1774
13
1816*
24
1858
14
1899
12
1940*
3
1981
29
1523
15
1665
32
1607
15
1649
4
1691
22
1733
4
1775
26
1817
16
1859
34
1900*
25
1941
23
1982
21
1524*
6
1566
24
1608*
6
1650
24
1692*
6
1734
24
1776'
17
1818
1
1860*
18
1901
17
1942
15
1983
13
1525
26
1667
9
1609
26
1661
9
1693
26
1735
16
1777
9
1819
21
1861
10
1902
9
1943
35
1984*
32
1526
11
1568*
28
1610
IS
1652*
28
1694
IS
1736*
35
1778
29
1820*
12
1862
30
1903
22
1944*
19
1986
17
1527
31
1569
20
1611
3
1653
20
1695
3
1737
20
1779
14
1821
32
1863
15
1904*
13
1945
11
1986
9
1528"
22
1570
6
1612*
22
1664
5
1696*
22
1738
12
1780*
6
1822
17
1864*
6
1905
33
1946
31
1987
29
1529
7
1571
25
1613
14
1655
25
1607
14
1739
32
1781
26
1823
9
1865
26
1906
25
1947
16
1988*
13
1530
27
1572*
16
1614
34
1656*
16
1698
34
1740*
16
1782
10
1824*
28
1866
11
1907
10
1948*
7
1989
5
1531
19
1573
1
1615
19
1657
8
1699
19
1741
8
1783
30
1825
13
1867
81
1908*
29
1949
27
1990
25
1532*
10
1574
21
1616*
10
1668
21
1700*
10
1742
28
1784*
21
1826
5
1868*
22
1909
21
1950
19
1991
10
1533
23
1575
13
1617
30
1659
13
1701
30
1743
13
1785
6
1827
25
1869
7
1910
6
1951
4
1992*
29
1534
15
1576*
32
1618
15
1660*
32
1702
15
1744*
4
1786
26
1828*
16
1870
27
1911
26
1952*
23
1993
21
1535
7
1577
17
1619
7
1661
24
1703
7
1746
24
1787
18
1829
29
1871
19
1912*
17
1953
15
1994
13
1536*
26
1578
9
1620*
26
1662
9
1704*
26
1746
9
1788*
2
1830
21
1872*
10
1913
2
1954
28
1995
26
1537
11
1579
29
1621
11
1663
29
1705
18
1747
29
1789
22
1831
13
1873
23
1914
22
1955
20
1996*
17
1538
31
1680*
13
1622
31
1664*
20
1706
3
1748*
20
1790
14
1832*
32
1874
15
1915
14
1956*
11
1997
9
1539
16
1581
6
1623
23
1665
5
1707
23
1749
5
1791
34
1833
17
1875
7
1916*
33
1957
31
1998
22
1540*
7
1582
25
1624*
7
1666
25
1708*
14
1750
25
1792*
18
1834
9
1876*
26
1917
18
1958
16
1999
14
1541
27
1583
10
1025
27
1067
17
1709
34
1751
17
1793
10
1835
29
TABLE II.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
S3
34
85
Common Years.
leap Tear.'
'
Easter
Day.
Rogation
Sunday.
Ascension
Day.
"Whit-
sund.ay.
Sundays
after
Trinity.
Sunday
Letter.
D
.Sua(la.v8
after
Epiphany.
Septua-
gesima
.Sunday.
First Day
of Lent.
Sunday
Letters.
Sundays
after
Epiphany.
Septua-
gesima
Sunday.
Jan. 19*
First Day
of Lent.
One
Jan, 18
Fell. 4
ED*
One*
Feb. 5*
Mar. 22
Apr. 20
Apr. 30
May 10
27
E
One
19
6
F E»
One*
20*
6*
23
27
May 1
11
27
F
One
20
6
G F*
Two*
21*
7*
24
28
*i
12
27
G
Two
21
7
AG*
Two*
22*
8*
25
*><)
■ 3
13
27
A
Two
oo
8
B A*
Two*
. 23*
9*
26
30
4
14
27
B
Two
23
9
C B*
Two*
24*
10*
27
May 1
5
16
26
C
Two
24
10
DC*
Two*
25*
• 11*
28
6
16
26
D
Two
25
11
ED*
Two*
26*
■ 12«
. 29
3
7
17
26
E
Two
26
12
F E*
Two*
27*
IS'
30
4
8
IS
26
r
Two
27
13
G F*
Three*
28*
14*
. 31
5
9
19
26
G
Three
28
14
AG*
Three*
29*
16*
Apr. 1
6
10
20
26
A
Three
29
15
B A *
Three*
SO*
16'
2
• 7
11
21
26
B
Three
30
16
C B*
Three*
31*
17*
S
. 8
12
22
25
C
Three
31
17
D C*
Three-
Feb. 1'
18*
4
9
. 13
23
25
D
Three
Feb. 1
18
E D*
Three*
2'
. 19*
6
10
14
24
25
E
Three
2
19
F E*
Three*
3*
20*
. 6
11
16
25
25
F
Three
3
■ 20
G F<
Four*
4'
21*
7
12
16
26
25
G
Four
^— 4
21
A G*
Four*
5*
22*
8
13
17
27
25
A
Four
6
22
B A»
Four*
0*
23*
9
14
18
■ • 28
25
B
Four
6
23
C B«
Four*
7*
24*
10
15
19
29
24
C
Four
. 7
24
D C«
Four*
8*
26*
11
16
20
30
24
D
Four
8
25
E D *
Four*
9*
26*
12
. 17
21
31
24
E
Four
. 9
26
F E*
Four*
10*
27*
13
18
22
June 1
24
F
Four
10
27
G P*
Five*
11'
. • 28*
14
19
23
2
24
G
Five
11
28
AG*
Five*
12*
29*
15
20
24
8
24
A
Five
12
Mar. 1
B A*
Five*
13'
Mar. 1*
16
21
26
4
24
B
Five
13
2
C B*
Five*
14*
2*
17
22
26
5
23
C
Five
14
3
D C*
Five*
15*
3*
18
23
27
6
23
D
Five
15
4
E D*
Five*
16*
19
24
28
7
23
E
Five
16
5
F E«
Five*
17*
6*
20
25
29
8
23
F
Five
17
6
G F*
Six*
18*
B*
21
26
30
9
23
G
Six
18
7
A G*
Six*
19*
7*
22
27
31
10
23
A
Six
19
8
B A*
Six*
20*
8"
23
28
June 1
11
23
B
Six
20
9
C B*
Six*
21*
9*
24
29
2
12
22
C
Six
21
10
D C*
Six*
22*
lU-
25
SO
3
13
22
Advent
Sunday.
To find tlio (lays uiif)n wliidi the moveable Ilolytlays have heQw observed or are to be observed in any year, look for the year in the First Table and
observe the number set beside it. Then look for the same number in the Ilrst eolunni of the Set^ond Table, against whieh you will lind a letter
called the Sunday Letter, the number of Sundays after Epi]>hany and after Trinity, and the days of tho Calendar upon wliich the Ilrst day of
Lent and the i)rincipal moveable Festivals fall. All the days in the Calendar to which the Kunday luctter is atllxed will be Wunduys.
But note, that if the nuniber of the year in the First Table hnth a * set against it, that year is Bissextile or Leap Year, in wliieh ca.sc the month of
February hath 29 days, and the Sunday Letters, the number of Sundays after Epiphany, the day upon which Seiituagesima Sunday is observed,
and the day upon which the Ilrst day of Lent falleth, are all to br looked for in the Leap Year columns, wliich are likewise marked with a star *.
In Lean Year there arc always two Sunday Letters, whereof the former is used in January and Febrnnry, and the latter for the rest of the year.
Note also th'it in the year 1752, in wliich the Calendar was reformed and tho New Style be^'an, the day foUowiiiK Wednesday, September 2, was (-ailed
Thursday, Scptemher 14, and therefore after September 2 the Sunday Letter was A instead of I>, and there wore only"25 Sundays after Trinity,
and Advent Sunday was December 3.
Note also that until 1752 tho year was reckoned in the Church of England as beginning Morcli 25, all days before March 25 being considered as part
of the year prccedinK.
AN
INTRODUCTION TO THE CALENDAR.
The Ecclesiastical Calendar comprises two things : first, a
table of the order of days in the year ; and, secondly, a cata-
logue of the saints commemorated in the Church. To this, in
the Book of Connnon I'rayer, tliere is also annexed a table of
the daily lessons throughout the year.
Calendars are known to liave been in use at a very early
date in the Church. One of the Church of Kome was printed
by Bouchier in his Connneiitari/ on the Paschal Cycle [Ant-
werp, 1634], which was formed about the middle of the fourth
century, or perhaps as early as A, D. 33{> ; and another is givuu
by Maliillon in his Analecta, which was drawn up for tlie
Cluirch of Carthage a.d. 483, and which is preserved in
the Abbey of St. Germaiue de Pros, at Paris. Many
others of early times are extant, and a number are printed
by Martens in the si.xth volume of his Collection of Ancient
Writer.^.
The origin of Christian Calendars is clearly coeval with the
commemoration of martyrs, which began at least as early as
the martyrdom of Polycarp, a.d. 168. [Eu.seb. Eccl. Hist. iv.
15.] The names of these, and their acts, were carefully
recorded by the Church in Martyrologies ; and Diptychs —
tablets of wood or ivory — were inscribed with their names, to
be read at the time when the memorial of the departed was
made at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. From one or
both of these, lists of names would naturally be transcribed
for use at other times, and as a memorial in the hands of
private Christians, the names being placed against'the day on
which the martyrs suffered, or that (generaUy the same) on
which they were annually commemorated. To these two
columns of the days of tho year and the names of the martyrs
were afterwards added two others of Golden Numbers and
Sunday Letters, the use of which has been explained in the
notes to the Tables.
Several very ancient English Calendars exist in our public
libraries ; but the earliest known is one printed by Martene
[Vet. Scrip, vi. 635], under tlie title "Calendarium Floria-
cense," and attributed by him (with apparently good reason)
to the Venerable Bede, with whose works it was found in a
very old MS. at Fleury. Bede died at Jarrow, a.d. 735, so
that this Calendar must date from the earlier half of the eighth
century. There is a general agreement between this Calendar
and the Martyrology of Bede which seems to shew that it is
rightly attributed to him, and we may therefore venture to
take it as the earliest extant Calendar of the Church of
England, dating it from the latest year of Bede's life. It is
printed month by month in the first column of the Compara-
tive View of the Calendar in the following pages.
In the course of ages the number of names recorded in the
Martyrologies of the Church increased to a great multitude,
as may be seen in the vast folio Acta Sanctorum, printed
for every day of the year by the BoUandists, which was
commenced more than two centuries ago, and is not yet
nearly complete, thougli it extends to sixty large volumes.
The Calendars of the Church also began to be crowded,
although there was always a local character about them which
did not belong to the Martyrologies. In the twelfth century
the original method of recording the names of saints (which
was by the Bishop of each Diocese in some cases, and in
others by a Diocesan Council) was superseded by a formal
rite of Canonization, which was performed only by the Popes ;
and from this time the names inserted in tlie Calendar ceased
to be those of Martyrs or Confessors only.
The Calendar of the Church of England was always local in
its character, and one of the eleventh or twelfth century,
which is preserved in the Durham Chapter Lil)rary, seems to
diifer but little from anotlier of the fifteenth century, which
is contained in an ancient Missal of tliat Church, or from that
which has been reprinted from a Missal of 1514, belonging
to Bishop Cosin's Librarj', in the following pages. Com-
paratively few names were added to the English Calendars
during the mediceval period, though many were added to the
Roman.
Some changes were made in the Calendar by the "Abro-
gation of certain Holydays" in the reign of Henry VIIL,
great inconvenience being found to arise from the number of
days which were observed with a cessation from labour ; and
tho two days dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury being
especially obnoxious to the King were altogether expunged,
though l)y very questionable autliority.
When the Englisli Prayer Book was set forth in 1549, it
was thought expedient to insert only the chief of the names
which had been contained in the Calendar of the Salisbury
Use. Two of these were taken away (though the erasure of
St. Barnabas was probably a printer's error), and four others
added in 1552. In the following year, 1553, the old Salis-
bury Calendar was reprinted (with three or four omissions) in
the Primer of Edward VI., and in the "Private Prayers " of
Queen Elizabeth's reign, printed in 1584 ; but not in any Book
of Common Prayer. In 1559 the Calendar of 1552 was
reprinted with one omission. These successive changes (as
far as is necessary to illustrate the transition from the ancient
to the modem Calendar) are represented in the following
Table :—
§ Transition of the English Calendar from 1549 to 1559.
Circumcision. \
Epiphany.
Conversion of St. Paul.
Purification of the Blessea Virgm Mary.
St. Matthias.
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Mark.
— Philip and St. James.
— John Baptist.
— Peter.
— James.
— Bartholomew.
— Matthew.
— Michael.
— Luke.
— Simon and St. Jude.
All Saints.
St. Andrew.
— Thomas.
Christmas.
St. Stephen.
— John Evangelist.
Innocents. ;
St. Mary Magdalen. In Calendar of 1549 only.
In Calendars
of
1549,1552,11559.
— Clement.
— Barnabas.
— George.
— Laurence.
Lammas.
1552 only.
1549 and 1559.
1552 and 1559.
1 In 1552 an Act of Tarliaraent was passed " for the keeping Holydays .and
Fasting-days " [5 and 6 Edw. 'VI. c, 3]. Tliepre.imble runs : " Forasnmih as
at all times men be not so mindful to laud and piaise God, so ready to resort
and hear God's Holy Word, and to come to the Holy Communion and other
laudable rites which are to be observed in every congregation as their
bounden duty doth require, therefore, to call men to remembrance of their
duty, and to help their infirmity, it liath been wholesomely provided that
tliere should be some certain times and days appointed, wherein Christians
should cease from all other kind of labours, and should apply themselves
only and wholly unto tlie aforesaid holy works properly pertaining unto true
religion ; . . . therefore as these works are most commonly, and a!so may
weU be called God's service, so the times appointed specially for the same
are called Holydays."
The first clause then enacts "that all the days hereafter mentioned shall
be kept and commanded to be kept Iloljdays, and none other ; that is to
say, all Sundays in the year, tlie dajs of the feast of the Circumcision of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Epiphany, of the Purification of the Blessed
Virgin, of Saint JIatthie the Apostle, of .Saint Mark the Evangelist, of Saint
Philip and Jacob the Apostles, of tlie Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist" [with all other Holydays as in
the bracketed li.st above, until Innocents], " Monday and 'Tuesday in
Easter Week, and Monday and Tuesday in 'Wniitsun Week, and that none
other day shall be kept and conmianded to be kept Holyday, or to abstain
from lawful bodily labour.
" II. And it is also enacted by the .authority aforesaid that every even or
day next going before any of the aforesaid days of tlie feasts of the
Nativity of our Lord, of Easter, of the Ascension of our Lord, Pentecost,
and the Purification and the Annunciation of the aforesaid Blessed Virgin,
of ^Vll Saints, and of all tlie .said feasts of the Apostles (other than of Saint
John the Evangelist, and Philip and Jacob) shall be fasted, and com-
manded to be ke]it and observed, and that none other even or day shall be
coiiimaiuled to be fasted."
Tlie fifth clause provides for the observ.ince of Saturday as a fasted even
when tlie feast falls on a Monday ; and tlie seventli for the observance of
the usual solemnities on St. George's Feast.
128
an 3lntromiction to tt)c Calcnuar.
It seems now to have been felt by persons in authority
that greater reverence ougjit to be shewn for the names of
those who had gloritied God in a special manner by their
deaths or their lives, and in the Latin Prayer Book of 1560
nearly every day of the year was marked by the name of
a saint, the list being compiled from the old Salisbury
Calendar and the Roman. This appears to liave led, to the
appointment of a Commission, consisting of the Arcli-
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, Dr. Bill,
and Walter Haddon, the compiler of the Latin Calendar
just referred to. This Commission met in 1561, and, with a
few changes in the Tables and Rules, made also a revision of
the list of Saints. • , ,
In making this revision the compilers evidently took the
same course which had been taken with respect to the Prayer
Book itself, going back to tlie Sarum Missal and selecting from
the old Calendar such names of Festivals as they tliought
proper to be inserted in tlie new one.
As regards the days dedicated to our Lord, the Blessed
Yircin ilary, and theHoly Apostles, little change was made.
The°only Festival of our Lord which they omitted was "The
Feast of the Holy Saviour " [May 24th], a day which does
not always occur in Sanim Calendars. Among the Festivals
of the Blessed Virgin only that of the Assumption [August
loth] was left out. Of the days on which the Apostles
and other Saints of the New Testament were com-
memorated before tlie Reformation there were omitted,
St. Paul [June SOth], the Commemoration of St. Paul
[June 30th], St. Peter's Chair [February 2i2nd], the Inven-
tion of St. Stephen [August 3rd], and St. Michael of the
Mount [October ICth].
The Minor Holydays were, however, greatly diminished in
number, for out of one hundred and fifty-one which occur
in the Sarum Calendars of Henry VIII. 's reign only forty-
eight were restored by the revisers of 1561. On what prin-
ciple they went can onlj' lie judged by the result, which the
following Table of our existing Calendar (which contains fifty-
one Minor Holydays), will shew. It seems a singular omis-
sion that the names of two of our greatest national saints,
St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert, should liave been overlooked
both in 1561 and in 1661. The omission of St. Patrick is
almost as extraordinary ; and it might have been expected
that St. Thomas of Canterbury's name would have been
restored when the bitterness of the Tudor times had passed
away. The latter two names were always inserted in ordi-
nary Almanacs which were not bound up with the Prayer
§ Saints commemorated by the Church of Enrjland.
Tlie Holy Apostles, etc.
The Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Michael and All Angels.
All Saints.
St. John the Baptist.
St. Peter.
St. James the Great.
St. John the Evangelist.
St. Andrew.
St. Philip.
St. Thomas.
St. Bartholomew.
St. Matthew.
St. James the Less.
St. Simon Zelotes.
St. Jude.
St. Matthias.
St. Paul.
St. Barnabas.
St. Mark.
St. Luke.
St. Stephen.
The Holy Innocents.
St. Mary Magdalen.
.St. Anne.
JIartjTs ill the Age of Persecutions.
St. TTicomede
St. Dionysius the I
Areopagite (
St. Clement ...
St. Perpetua . .
St. Cecilia
St. Fabian
St. Agatha
St. Lawrence..
St. Cyprian ...
St. Valentine .
St. Prisca
St. Margaret. .
St. Lucian
St. Faith
St. Agnes
St. Vincent....
St. Lucy
St. Catharine .
St. Crispin
St. Blasius
90
96
100
203
2.'!0
250
251
258
258
270
275
278
290
290
304
304
305
307
308
316
Mai-tyrs .ind other Saints specially
connected with England.
St. George, M
St. Alban, M
St. Nicolas
St. Benedict.:
St. David
St. Machutus
St. Gregory
St. Augustine of )
Canterbury (
St. Etheldreda
St. Chad
St. Giles
Venerable Bede
St. Boniface
St. S within
St. Edmund, K. & M...
St. Edward, K. & M....
St. Dunstan
St. Alphege, M
St. Edward, K. & Conf,
St. Hugh
St. Richard
290
303
326
543
544
560
604
604
670
673
725
735
755
862
870
978
988
1012
1163
1200
12.-)3
French and other Saints not included
among the preceding.
St. Silvester
St. Enurcluis
St. Hilary of Poictiers,
Confessor
St. Ambrose
St. Martin
St. Jerome
St. Augustine
St. Britius
St. Remigius
St. Leonard, Confessor
St. Lambert
335
340
368
397
397
420
430
444
535
559
709
Book, and are also found in some Calendars of Queen Eliza-
beth's time.
At the revision of 1661 the only change made was the inser-
tion of the names of St. Alban, the Venerable Bede, and St.
EnurchuH. These three names, together with the particular
designations by which most of the Saints in the Calendar
are now distinguished, are to be found in the Calendar pre-
fixed to Bishop Cosin's Devotions : and as the first published
edition of that work was printed in 1627, we may conclude
that they were taken thence into the Rook of fnnimon Prayer
at the Revision of 1661, as some of the Tables and Rules
were
In Calendars of the Church of England not printed in the
Prayer Book, but publislicd by the Stationers' Company
under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury,' the
following names are also to be found : St. Patrick, St.
Thomas of Canterbury, and All Souls. King Charles the
First was likewise included among the Martyrs in all English
Calendars until the special Form of Prayer for the 30th of
January was given up in 1859.
It will be seen that the whole number of individual Saints
commemorated is seventy three. Of these, twenty-one are
especially connected with our Blessed Lord ; twenty arc
Martyrs in tlie age of jiersecutions ; twenty-one are specially
connected with our own Church ; and eleven are either great
1 This nnthnrity onntimicd to \w pivrn :is Into fis 1S^2.
an 31ntroDuctlon to tf)C CnfcnDar.
1 29
and learned defenders of tlie Faith, like St. Hilary and St.
Angiistitie, or Saints of France, wliose names were proliably
retained as a nieiiiorial of the ancient close connection between
the Churches of I'' ranee and England.
The (Calendar itself was not in any w.iy altered by the Act
of Parliament of IT-Vi for tlie alteration of the style, tlie
pri^sont tables of tlie months being a fairly exact reprint of
tlioso in the .Sealed liooks. 'J'hey are here given from the
Act, but are inserted after the Tables and Rules as in the
Scaled Books. Tliis order was evidently adopted with tlie
object of making a definite Festiv.al and I''erial division of this
part of the Prayer P)Ook, instead of confusing tlie two divisions
together as in tlie Act ; and wliile tlie iniprovcil text of the
latter luas been adopted, it h.as been tliouglit better to t.akc
the more convenient and more ecclesiastical arrangement (in
this respect) of the former.
in the " Comparative View " of each of the months, all the
names in the Calendar of Bede, the Salisbury Use of ISU,
and the Modern Roman, are represented ; but a selection only
has been made from the Oriental Calendar, as the great
majority of Eastern Saints are unknown to English readers,
and their names would convey no information whatever.
Those selected are chosen for the object of illustrating the
points of similarity between the Calendars of East and West ;
and they are taken from tlie Byzantine Calendar printed in
Nk.\lk's ] nlroduflion lu llw llhlorij of the, Iltjhj Entlirn
Church, vol. ii. p. 768. Some remarkable coincidences may
be observed between it and the ('aleiidar of Bede, which help
to confirm the tlieory of a direct connection between Englaml
and the Oriental Church.
In the Notes on the " Minor Holydays " great care has been
taken to make them as complete as possible without oeeupy-
ing too mucli space, and the reader's attention has been drawn
to liistory r.ather tlian legend, except where the latter is neces-
sary in order to understaml the special popularity or icono-
graphy of any saint. The authority for dedications of eluirches
has been The Calendar of the Aiujlkim Church Illuslrated, J.
H. PAr.KEi;, IS'il, and nothing more than some approximation
to the true numbers has been attempted. Those given will
afford some idea as to the honour paid in England tu different
saints, especially in the middle ages, dedications since I8.1I
not being included. Eight Calend.ars have been selected fur
comparison: Snriim, l.')!4, 1.521, 15.56: York and Hereford.
Surtees Soc. edd. : Aherdeen. 1510; liomnn, 1582, collated
with a MS. r'irc. 1400; PnriK, 1.543, printed by Grancolas ;
Monastic, 1738 ; Austin Canons', 1546.
Cf)c CalenDar toitb tbe Cable of lessons.
s
a
o
.«•
1
s
:3;5
.£ >■■?■?■> .2 P.'P.'P'P,
X X x^:S:3.- > ;» >
's.d
x'x
X
.
.^
Of
g
i
09
—
:s :=.2 s- > K >! X X X
.:=.-:■?. 2 . ._■ .
X X X X X --S .j-r X
xxxxx;5;SX,i ;3
-d
<D
s
;3
s
.S'?
X :-
. '2
X
CD
o
> X«!-JX«««WK
XXXKXXXXX X
t» >
tt
s
.,i
.
• ri
<
Ed
1
.^ >'>'>"> .^ x'x'x 'x
'x X
> >
X X
>
X
&
s
— ■-"
xxxxxxxxx X
X X
X X
X
Pi
s
C3
.-• .:a J.jiS >"■>
;s i;:3 > >.s X X X X
> .Sxxxxxxxx
.S X X X X .- >-c -c
xxxxx— ;;i3;:3.:C ,J-
xxxxxxxxx X
r3
-1-
^
"^
.-H
IS
r^
O
:S >
"H
.2 >
^
Ei "S-^
•r ^
X ^
a
o
s
ci
CO _o " o 4a to c5
o ■ ■ "^ 3 _. «■ s o
.£ X x'x'x'x 'x'x X X
> >
> >
<
o
:= .£.S: > > > > ^ >.;5
X X
X X
X
&4
>
<!
o
S^2 .
s
aj
s"
s2
■2 ^. o2^ ~
CO S. -MO
:d J :a .£'?'> .2 'xx
> P.3XXXXXXX
^^-^oB _oB __^.
.
CI
^
c?
e
:S_>
X y, y. X X y. y, X X x
"^ "1
^
O
xxxxxxxxx X
X X
X X
X
n
pH
CO
1
0.
«
i
CI
CO
4^'
CO . t-
CO "^i 0^? 2 .06
.2 X x"x'x X x'xx 'x
ci
Sri "
>H
■g
. .^
.i .S !>■ >■■>■?■>■>■> .2
> >
> >
>
<
^" -—
X X
X X
X
P5
Ch
s
<j
o
?^ <o :3 o
fC
>" ■^' 1
^
55
o
> •-
1 XOl . . .
^ X _■ Ci — r: .
-•
<1
a
o
o
o
.£ .S > > ;».E X X X X
1^
!-■ ir^
CI CI
si
1-5
1-1
-^'^'.
5:
a
.^ ;3 .-; := > :> > X X
xxxxxxxxx X
o
> >>xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx X
X X
X X
X
O
;.-* tJ
C >> t,- >.
^ ■e>.-K
s
=3 S jSS
a
e t 1
g i a 8 a
1
o
° ^ &
& ° -g
"n
.3
a
S
g) Cm pp
•s •§ ^
■5. § 3
c 5 = S ■=•
1
1
i
© >j W
(S: feo y
j»
,Q
•^5
§
Fi^
Bki
t^ CO i-i -o L-:) -*' cc Am^ ^ rt
•313
I9
03
H
QOOOOOOOQOO
00
5s in
00
6
0-*
mPh
p^
O-a
o-e
Q) MH bo-^ ^ w '^3 Q) '*-' bO<
.a -d » •« M.4; ^ ■« »
— M
<J^
<-<lN
IfiCDl^ODCSO'-^WCO-^ift
ot^cooso — (Ncc^irats
1-00
00
^
rt r^ -H rt C-KN »< (N CKM (N
C4(N
(NCO
eo
Comparison of CalenDars.
131
C3
I Hi'
« M a
ace rt "1
.S *j J5-a
a a
12; *^
tw o
o a
5H
>.2-
4J 43 CO .*j
a,
<1
a
^■
^-a
0.5
!/3
^ 5
ii)^ "
o^ " to .
*4-l -^ CJ S
o o
CQ
r5 .— r7^ >>
CO N^ CO t.*
a '^ «-a
=2
IS
O
03
-P
o
(D
-P
a
o
Q
a -a
«■£
is
o
04 M-
o
o
JS
00 ^
^ s
'S'^ a^ SCO
. a a
a -a <«
to
_ *; 4^ cB "^ 03
CC' M M OJ CO
"a .""
. a '^^Sjs c
a ■-,
^ 1 > «*H
a °
.j'-j S o •)?
coccH coO
E'-a
So
pifS;
4^ 4J C/^ 4J 4i
!Kco ajxcc
(I4
cc
s
9
■a
■§
M
a
C8
>)
CC -4^ -4^ +3 -fj -+3 +i
r.- . a ^ a" «■ 5
S X b "^ O c> to
03
a
2 m 1*
S to- 3
y} 4J +i
MO! CO
-3
O '-^
a
<5
o
tJl
^cico'^io^i-'COOio^c^cO'^io^t-^ooas
»
O
a" i.
Hh
§ -2
3 :i:
y: p_j
Hilary
Felix.
Maurus
Marcell
Antony
Prisca.
German
Fabian
Agnes.
Vincent
Emeren
PhI-5
CO 43 43 4^ 4J 43 4J
CO 'X' »: CO t» 'V; CO
CO 43 43 43
CCOJCCOO
j:;
*:4i
02 1»
< pa
a
o
O
.3
■a
a
4^ &i
<
U
rt
>,
s
d)
j3
X
;2
c:
3
p-(
.5 s a c3
s S
.^;^ s s-^^-s.o ^ t-^
S S^ f* ^ y. P^ 1>
43 43 43 43 CO 43 43
X 73 73 03 tZ; CO IT)
fe<5t
C/! 43 43
CO CO CO
a
P5
O
CO to CO
ti5
■*5
Ph
m
d
1
c
Marcellu
Antony.
Prisca.
Sebastia
Agnes.
Vincent.
■*3
43
43
43 43 43
02
CO .35
03 CO CO
MCOCO
g,
132
Cf)c 0@mor JJ)ol5tiap5 of 3lanuarp.
1] Circumcision of our Loku.— [See notes on Gosp. Ep.
and Coll.]
Bepresented— By a circle, or a dove holding a ring in its
mouth.
6] EpiPH.iNV OF OUK LoKD.— [.See notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Represented— By a star of Bethlehem ; by the three kings,
or by three crowns.
S] LuciAN, Priest and Maetyk.— This St. Lucian "of
Beau vais " is not to be confounded with St. Luciau "of
Antioch," priest and martyr, born, like the Roman satirist of
the same name, at Samosata, a forerunner of St. Jerome in
Biblical criticism, and occurring in the Roman JIartyrology
on January 7th. The Sarum Calendar is the only medieval
English one which contains either of them ; there we find St.
Lucian and his companions on January 8th, as in the Parisian.
The Roman Calendar contains neither Lucian. The Roman
Martyrology says that at Beauvais, in Gaul, the Sth is the day
of the holy martyrs Lucian, a presbyter, Maximian, and Julian,
of whom the two last were slain with the sword of the per-
secutors ; but blessed Lucian, who had come into Gaul witli
St. Deuys, not fearing openly to confess Christ, after mucli
slaughter was beheaded. Tliis was under Julian, the per-
secuting Roman governor in Gaul, about A.D. 290. Little
else is known of St. Lucian. It is said that he, St. Denys,
and St. Quintin were tliree Roman missionaries who weut to
Beauvais, Paris, and Amiens respectively. [Fabian, January
20th.] For the legend which would take St. Lucian back to sub-
apostolic times, see St. Denys, October 9th. In a calendar of tlie
ninth century he is called " Bishop," in accordance with which
is the present tradition at Beauvais. Vincent of Beauvais, how-
ever [a.d. 1244], speaks of him as priest and martyr. His ap-
pearance in the Sarum Calendar has, perhaps, arisen out of the
connection between the ancient British and Galilean Churclie-:.
Calendars— Sa.ram, Paris.
Churches dedicated in his name — None.
Representnl—Coasecrciting on his own breast ; lying on
potsherds in prison ; carrying his head in his hand. [.See
October 9th.]
13] Hilary, Bishop and Confessor.— Another French
Saint, styled "of Poictiers," and not to be confounded with
Hilary "of Aries," who has been thought by some to have
drawn up the " Athanasian " Creed, and who died a.d. 449.
He occurs iu Sarum, Vork, and Hereford, as well as in the
Roman Martyrology, on January 13tli, but in the Roman
Calendar on the 14tli, having been transferred on account of
the Octave of the Epiphany. Quignonez places him on tlie
31st; and some calendars, probably in reference to translations
of his relics, on June 26th and November 1st. The particulars
of his life are mostly to be gathered from his own writings.
He was born at Poictiers, of heathen parents, and was con-
verted and baptized in full age ; after which, about a.d. 353,
he was chosen Bisliop of his native city. From the time of
his ordination lie lived apart from liis wife. After tlie Arian
Council at Milan [a.d. 3.55], which had condemned St.
Athanasius, he wrote to the Emperor Constantius to remon-
strate with Iiim for liis encouragement of heresy, but without
success. Most of the (Jallican Bishops, however, remained
faithful. The rest lield an Arian synod in Languedoc, wliere
St. Hilary opposed tliem, refuting the Arian here.sj'. There-
upon the Emperor baiiislied him to Phrygia in AD. 356, and
cruelly persecuted the Gallican clergy, but in a.d. 357 the
I'.ishops wrote to assure St. Hilary of tlieir fidelity. He also
received a letter from Ids d.aughter Apra, whose touching story
13 related by Bisliop Taylor in his IIoli/ Dying. In a.d.
358 he wrote his work On Sipiods, in which he commends
the orthodo.xy of the I'.ritish as well as of the (Jallican Bishops.
Then also he wrote On the Trinity, against the Ariana, as well
as some hymns. In a.d. 360 he was allowed to return to
Ilia diocese, where he was received by the faithful with
great joy. After a journey into Italy, where he held a public
disputation coni;crning the Faith, to which he had been in-
vited by the Emperor Valentinian, he returned to Poictiers,
and there died [a.d. .368]. The British Bishops had been, in
common with their Gallic neighbours, his devoted admirers,
and had looked to him for guidance against the Ai-ians. The
Sarum Breviary says he so abhorred the enemies of the
Catholic Faith that he would not even salute them, but he did,
iu fact, speak gently of them, hoping to win them back.
" Hilary term " in the law courts used to begin on the 13th,
after the Cliriatma,s v.-icatioii, but it now extends from .l.-inuary
11th to .lanuary 3)st. De.an Hoys ijuaintly remarks th.at "how-
soever in the court of conscience there be some ])leading every
day, yet the godly make it Hilary term all the year round."
Calendars — All except Aberdeen.
Dedications of Churches — Three.
Represented — On an island among'serpents ; with three books,
or a triangle, pen, staff, or trumpet ; with a child, sometimes
in a cradle, at his feet.
18] Pri.sca, Roman Virgin and Martyr. — Prisca was a
young Roman lady who suffered either under Claudius I. in
the first century, or, more probably, under Claudius II. about
A. D. 270. Her ' ' Acts " are not genuine, but there seems to be
ground for believing that she suffered cruel tortures rather
than sacrifice to idols, and that she was finally beheaded. It
is said that an eagle defended her body from dogs until the
Christians came and buried it. .Some true tale of Christian
faith and fortitude no doubt underlies the uncertain accounts
that have come down to us respecting those details of her
suii'erings which are commemorated in works of art. [Sar.
Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 9-12, St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Clinrches — None.
Represented — With an eagle near her dead body ; with one
or more lions near her, a sword, or a palm, in her hand ; an
idol falling.
20] Fabian, Bi.shop of Rome and Martyr. — In most
calendars St. Fabian occurs together with St. Sebastian the
martyr, but they have no connection with each other beyond
having the same "birthday." Eusebius says that Fabian was
made Bishop of Rome in consequence of a dove alighting on
his head while the election was going on ; and that although
he was then comparatively little known, the supposed sign
from heaven determined the unanimous choice of both
clergy and people [a.d. 236]. The incident of the dove is
related of .St. Gregory the Great and of other saints, and is
perhaps a symbohcal expression of belief in the presence of
the Holy Ghost. Having governed the Church fourteen years,
during which he sent SS. Deuys, Lucian, and Quintin into
Gaul [see January Sth], St. r.abian suffered martyrdom under
Decius A.D. 250, and according to an ancient Latin register
was buried ".in Callisti," i.e. in the Catacomb of Callistus,
where his name is still to be seen with those of other early
Bishops of Rome, thus : *ABIANOC Eni MP, Fabian,
Bishop. Martin: [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Heb. xi. 33-39. St.
Luke vi. 17-23.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — One (with St. .Seb.astianl.
Represented — As a pope, with a dove, sword, or club ; kneel-
ing at a block.
21] AuNEs, RoM.«i Virgin and Martyr. — All calendars
have also " S. Agnetis ii." on the 28th, which, though called
"Octa. Agnetis" in the Austin Canons' Calendar, is not,
according to Baronius, an ordinary octave, but rather relates
to an apparition of St. Agnes to her parents. She was born
of Christian parents, and while yet at school was seen by a
Roman youth, -nho sought her love. His pleadings and his
ofi'ers of costly presents were alike unavailing, and he fell
sick. The physicians finding that his disappointment was
the cause of his sickness, the case ^^•as reported to .Sym-
]ihronius tlie Prefect. He having tried in vain to induce
Agnes to listen to the suit of the young man, s;iid she should
be a Vestal virgin, and had her dragged to the altar of Vesta,
where instead of throwing on incense she made the sign of
the Cross. Then she was exposed to public infamy, which,
however, she escaped, only to be first put on a fire, and then
beheaded. Such are tlie main points in her story as comnuiidy
accepted in very early times. St. Ambrose says that she
preferred chastity to life ; St, Jerome that she overcame both
the cruelty of the tyr.ant and the tenderness of her age, and
crowned the glory of chastity with tliat of martyrdom ; St.
Augustine that her name nie.ans chaste in (Ireik and Iamb in
Latin. As in the case of St. Prisca and of many others, it is
imjiossible to know how much of truth underlies the mass
of legend that has grown around her story. It is said
that while lier parents were praying at her tomb, probably
in the Catacombs, she a]ipearcd to them with a choir of
holy virgins to comfort them, hence her "second feast"
referred to .above. A church in Rome, built over her sup-
posed resting-place, has acquired a kind of distinction from
the Pope's going there each year on St. Agnes' Day to bless
the lambs whose fleeces are to be m.ade into the palls sent
to Archbishojis, one of which appears in the arms of the
.See of Canterbury lying upon the arehi.c|iiacopal cross.
St, Agnes is mentioned in the A'ohi.'! (jiiO(/>ir in the Canon of
the Mass. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. 1-8, St. Matt,
xiii. 44-.')2.]
Co/eH'/(()'S— All.
Cf)C a9mor IDolpDays of January.
Dedications of CImrches — Three (one with St. Anne).
RepreneMcd — With a lamb or an angel by her ; with a lamb
on a book ; in a lire ; angela covi-ring her with tlieir hair, or
a garment ; a sword in her hand or m her tliroat ; a dagger ;
a palm ; a short cross ; a dove bringing a ring to her as a
"bride of Christ."
22] Vincent, Spanisu Deacon and Maiityi!. — St. Vincent
was Ijorn at Saragossa, trained in the faitli liy Valerius, Bishop
of tliat see, and by him, too, ordained deacon. The Bishop,
having an imi)ediinent in his speech, gave himself to prayer
and meditation, while Vincent under liis direction undertook
public teaching. Uatian, governor under Diocletian and
Maximian, was a fierce persecutor, and only too zealous in
carrying out the imperial edict for the "Diocletian persecu-
tion." Valerius and Vincent being l>rought before Datian
in chains, he first tried tlie usual May of persuasion in
order to induce them to sacrifice to the gods. They both
stood firm ; and Valerius being unable to deliver a public
address, Vincent made a noble profession of the faith in the
name of both. Valerius was banished, but Vincent was put
to the most horrible tortures. He was stretched on a rack,
torn with hooks, bc.iten. put on ,in iron frame with sharp
bars and a fire under, and laid on broken pots in a dungeon,
while his feet were made fast in the stocks. Here he sang
praises to God, and his jailer was converted. Datian chafed
with rage, but now ordered him to be put to bed, either to
recruit his strength for more tortures or to prevent his
dying a martyr. But God took him. He departed in peace
January 22, a.d. 304. The rage of the persecutor followed
his dead body, which though thrown into the sea was at
last obtained and privately buried by the Christians. When
the persecutions were over, it was removed and laid with great
honour under the altar of the principal eluirch in Valencia.
The "Acts" of ,St. Vincent are at least older tlian the time
of St. Augustine, when they were read in the church of
Hippo. His "passion" fonns the subject of a hymn by
Prudentius, and of sermons, etc., liy St. Augustine, St. Leo,
and other early fathers. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xiv.
20, and xv. 4-6. St. John .\ii. 24-26.]
C'ale7idars — All.
DediaUions of C/ntrches — Four.
Hcprcscnlcd — As a deacon holding an iron hook, or a boat,
or a palm ; his bowels toni by a hook ; burnt on a gridiron ;
angels breaking his chains ; a wolf ; a erow or raven, some-
times on a millstone.
2.')] Conversion of St. Paul. — [.SVr notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Dcdirnfionn ofCInirrhcs — Seventy-two to St. Paul alone; \\M\
St. Peter, two hundred and thirty ; with the Blessed Virgin, (me.
Reprenentrd — St. Paul is represented with a sword and book,
or with the three springs supposed to have gushed out at
three places where his head fell upon the earth after decapi-
tation.
.SO] Kino Ch.4rles's Martyrdom. — See "State Services '
in Appendix.
Dedicatiom of Churches — Six.
134
Cfjc Calcnoar toitl) tijc Cable of lessons.
d
._.
•^
ii.
Id
>•
i
^2.
1— 1
X X
5
:s
.£ >■>
'>'>
.2 x'x 'x'x
1 •
> ^ -p
'H— :
:;^ .^
X
S
c
5
X
:3
._.
§
(d
o
3
:a >
'p. 2
"x
;5-x-R
XXX
"x .^
'x _ .
i.£'s''p:'s
> x'x
XXX
X s >
:2
.- >'
CD
i-l
n
X X
X X
X
XXX
^x
1^ X X X X
XXX
Xf^.;:
-^
'? X
'x'x
q
.p^
oJoJ
:a
«
o
•'-'
mco
>■
<
<
p;
o
«
:a
:3 >
>">^
'>
1.2 X
'x'x
XXX X 5
.S: >'S'
■5I
.2 X
43-
'x-J
K
1
.:a
:=.>x
•5
X
'x
§:5'> x'x
.>'S'S
X -e
1
^
o
El;
■> "?
x"
XXX
>■ X
« X M
X S--
■?.d
X X
X X
X
XXX
tJ X
ji X X X X
XXX
Xq.„
>
'x'x
^:S
■0:3 IN
a
CI
[.:
1-^
CO Pi
.• X
1^
^x"
ri X s
-0-
Vi
CO
1-^
y>
OS
m
?-
• _.
r^t^
CO
>—*
43
.. . "
,- cc
^^
S
jj
,_^ ^
^cc
(M
j_- 43 c- .r4
l~c
C«- I—I
.•03
>^
^. .« -fJ "^ ^"
..
:d
<N
60
5
^ 43
5j s^
..J
■s.i >
'> 'p
:s:3:S S o
> > > S 43
z
-M ;-
.
43 ;-
-*3
X
X 'x
'x
XXX
X X
X X X c .
.2 .2'
i
^
X
X X
X f-;
X
XXX
X X
xxx^:a
> v>
?» >
x'x
^•
0" < -rl
CO >C5 :s
d g^
i-I ^
X .^3
7i X 03
2
§
s
'x
^x-
—i ^* -*J 1 —
CO
Lt" sj i
" --o
^ .
fi
<N
X
-" X .
X .0
Y hath 28 Days.
Leap Year 29 Da;
S
Pi
^
2
X '5
;:3
00
= 7:01
^ ".
v. to «'.
vi. r. 1
viii.
x. to V.
xii. ?■. 2
4J ^_
XXX
'x 'x'x
XXX
X
X
X ^-.2"
— '
■*^43
^'>
— ' ;- cc
•?.2
^H
'>
'> .2 X
'x'x
X X X X X
XXX
XXX
X
X
X X
— :=c'
<i^
t-i ^it-^
CO
^ 1—^
X M (.^ X t-
fN
CM X —
^ "rl r-
.
<i
3^
'>
X
n
X -
t-^
:3
■J & ^
?5
. X
10 ~ X s.
'x 'x *x
:a >
'x'x
§1.-^C0
X X X X X
XXX X X b
,* 43
*/
.^ CO
CO ^
c» ^■
•^4i
3b
5 >
X
*X*P
X X
X
XXX
X X
X X X X X
XXX
X XJ2
— '•-
•-■-
2
43 c;
^* ^
c«5
•.3 1- -■ ■^
^' oi
s
d
CO
01
pq s
§
??1;
.^I^ ?^^
'x ^
>
c^-2^
CI
« d
H -^
s
o
J'
X
'c ^
-: L.
(M ■*-'
..CO
Ij X CO
. c '^
43
" (M
2!-
..• « s
^
5J
p ^
K s
fc' ci
<5
\
J
X ^~
:s
^ ~
s -~
^•!l . s
~3.3
X
X ..
.>
X *^
'>
'^ ^
..J +3
.S t^'S.^'x
:3 >■>
'x'x 'x
^ *x
'x ■"
>.2
3
Si
rf X
XXX
XXX
X
X— •
0}
C5
'>< ^
>
X X
X X X X X
XXX
XXX
X
X X
.X
^•
_jj
•
>i
^
+3
»-•
-^
rt
s
O)
1
1
i
c3
KJ
i
1
>
1
g-
B
'0
•s
J*
i
.1
■5
a
i
1
»
S
<i
>
««
J
1
a
d
1^
k5
^
•rt'-S
1=
'Aai
.■a
rf ea rt rt
ti eS ti
e3 c5 cj
rt 15
rt
t— 1
•cat!
3"
a . . . .
ocijo
OOO
00
00
ccA
eoPM
'^i to Ift Tfi CO
oi-^o
ci CO t^
iD la
■^co
^i
-*
t'^
50 10-*
t—i .-1 1— 1 1— 1 1— 1
h
t3
v-i 60
<iXi
u
'd ©»M
SIX)
,0 O'd 0)>M
Mi<J.a
otS
•« do
<1^
l-^
i-H
e^
OT-*
\ato
t*
CO 030
-H IN
COT)! ustoi^
00 030
^(MCO
~sa~
.—1
^H P— '
-<-<IN
CI w w
INIM
(ZEomparison of CalcnDars.
135
Ph
Ph
M
Pj<3
2.3.2
"1 S 5
O^ o
SI.
<!
Pi
p.
■3
d
1-5
t3
■a >>
Co
s
o
o
>
w
M
•p
s
• <-i
t-s
.s =«
T!
m -C
a
«2 ri
._;S«.S
S§
Blase.
Andrew
Agatha.
Dorothy
Romualc
John of
ApoUoni
Scholast
.9 §
C3 rf
>fe
4^434^+34343+^43
43'!/J
M 02 CO M 02 02 M m
02 02
<!
■^
rt .
.^ ifl
-S's
«
tn
mfi
t4 ^
-P
fcP-l
4i 43-
43
wca
y.>
c2
a
a;
. — I
O
rd
-P
CH
O
>
•IH
I
I
O
O
s
o ^
a °
43 a
<D o
^^
02 3 43
S .S
60®
<i>
43 02
-
m to
+3
5^
0) r;i
n^'::
o
FH^iw-^irscot^oooso F-HC-icc-T+JiooD
43 3 +; 43 43 1/3
cc P^ CO ■:© M cc
3
ID
ca
•c
Cm
C8
o
CQ
u o S
bo-s.2
tH
. «
rH 03
43 <3
MB
CO S
eS O
o
>■
m
O
o
!3
<1
136
Ct)C 99inor JDolgnaps of jFcbruarp.
2] PUKIFICATIOX OF MaKY THE BLESSED ViEGlX. — [See
notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll. ]
Represented — At her purification, with a pair of turtle-doves.
.See March 25th.
3] 13l.\sh:s, Bishop and Martyr. — St. Blaise was Bishop
of Sebaste in Armenia, and suffered martyrdom in the persecu-
tion of Liciuius [a.d. 316], but we know scarcely anything
about his life or death, his "Acts" being of late date and
small authority. Some say he suffered in the Diocletian per-
secution. The Roman iMartyrology states that he was
scourged, hanged on a post or tree, and torn with iron combs,
then cast into a most foul prison, then into a lake, and finally
beheaded in company with two boys and seven women. One
of the alleged instruments of his martyrdom has led to his
being esteemed as the patron of wool-combers, and as such he
is still remembered at Norwich, at Bradford in Yorkshire,
and other places where hand-combing is or has been practised.
The Council of Oxford [a.d. 1222] prohibited servile work on
this day. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Heb. v. 1-6. St. Matt. .\.
26-32.]
Calendars — All.
Dedieation.'s of Clmrclies — Three, and one with St. Mary.
Represented— As a Bishop, with crosier and book, with
wool-comb, or torch or taper ; a pig's head near him, allud-
ing to a legend of his restoring a dead pig ; birds bringing
him food.
5] Agatha, Sicilian Virgin and Martyr. — The story of
St. Agatha or Agace is very like that of St. Agnes [January
21st]. She was a native of either Palermo or Catania, of a
noble family, and consecrated to God from her earliest years.
In the Decian persecution [a.d. 251], Quintianus the consul
availed himself of the imperial edict to seize both her person
and her estate. Being in the hands of her persecutors, she
prayed, saying, "0 Jesu Christ, Lord of all. Thou seest my
heart, Thou knowest all my desire, do Thou alone possess all
that I am. I am Thy sheep, make me worthy to overcome
the Evil One." After the most infamous assaults on her
chastity, and the usual horrible tortures, she sweetly slept in
Jesus. Her name occurs in the Nobis qiioque. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp.; Ecclus. li. 1-S. St. Matt. xiii. -14-52.]
C'ale7idars— AW.
Dfdkations of Churches — Three.
Represented — Holding a breast cut off, in pincers ; a knife at
her breast ; breasts in a dish, or on a book ; an e3e in pincers ;
a knife, or pincers, or hook in her hand ; on a funeral pile, or
with a chating-dish of burning coals near her.
14] St. Valentine, Bishop and Martyr. — We find a St.
Vali'iitine on this day in the Sarum, and hence in the
Aberdeen and Reformed English Calendars, styled bishop and
martyr ; iu those of York, Hereford, and the Austin Canons,
martyr only ; in the Roman and Monastic, presbyter and
martyr. The Roman Martyrology mentions two Valentines
on February 14th — a presbyter of Rome and a bishop of Teramo,
both martyrs. The former assisted other martyrs, and was
condemned by Claudius II. to be beaten with clubs and
beheaded about a.d. 270. His name is celebrated in the
Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and he is doubtless the person
meant in all the calendars, " Bishop " in Sarum, etc., being a
clerical error. The name was so common in the later days of
tlie empire that there were at least eight martyrs of the same
name, as well as three found in the Catacombs with the palm
branch and bottle of blood. The sending of "Valentines"
is supposed to be a survival of a heathen custom observed on
or about this day. [Sar. Ejj. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xxxi. 8-11.
St. Matt. xvi. 24-2S.]
Cale7idars — All.
Dedieations of Churches — None.
Represented — As a priest with a sword.
24] St. Matthias, Apostle and Martye. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — One only until modern times,
Thorpe by Hadiscoe, Norfolk.
Represerdcd, — With halbert, sword, or axe ; witli a stone in
his hand.
138
Cf)c CalcnDar tuitfj tf)C Cable of JLessong.
tH
CO
w
o
(D
CO
P
<
H Ph""
•^S=-
.a
ffi'
X X X X
X J=
x'S.
X S
1-5
.2 X t:
XX(^.
= XX
■>.2
X X
> > ;*
X X ^
X
X
^
. .-J
.5 >>
•>->.d X
.^
XXX
X
XXX
X
X
1-5
•"•"
X
. .-4
:3
'S'?'?
X
'x'x -:
,^
>
ab
:= .„• >■
XXX
X
X X m
>
. X
13 .-.-
>
XXX
X
X x.o
>
>
X X
P.S >
>■ X X X
X
1-^
1-5
X X X X X
■5
> X-S-;
aj:s
n
•4
00 C
■s
tf
^ CI ^
S c =." -
C3 " '^
i ><■-•-■
.-4 C<5
X X X X X
X X X x'-'.,
5--
. . >«
5i
S> S. -H
<d
" fO
o
oi^
. o .— < -.•
T+.
CI CI
X . .
\<Jil
Si ?^
rtl^"^
^ ^
X 5> X
s.
o o
vit.
xvi
m.
6.i'i
.^
>
'> 4^
,^
>
y. y. X
X
X s
<0 X i-
X
y, X. X
X
XXX
X
X 1»
^j !z;
w
i~- o.
5 iSS
;:d .._;"? 'x
• > X X X X
^eJ
^ X
X.
.2 X X
: X X X
1 X X X
! C3
— t c^ . ^
^- s; o ^. 3 rf
e*5 if^
?i3
'x'x'x'
3 ■*
o
. . o
• >^
! X 3.
i-:i
CO CO
; ;::»■»• S
» i?
y >
. t^tc
32
. 0)
-^^t'-
^ .-.s >
X X X X
-t ^ CI
X X X X X 3
X X X X X a;
CO
--^ c
o =
. -*^ :
i.« t-"i
■XXI
■P ■§
m
o
■a
&
lU
O
CL,
Bj
P5
a
O
a — .
H
M
£
c
SI
8 . .
•d a a
a o o
« . .
Q CO ic
. . a
a o .
° o fe5 8
S?!<5 .a
. to 1.C -f M e-i
33
t^
<:d »rj -fl M ci — < o oi GO i-^ <D ui rj<
"(5
tJ}<J -3 O 't; O *« bD<J ^ O 'O 0) ««-« WMj ^ O -^ O *»-< tiO<l] ^ O '^ Q) «w
.— — . r-^ ^ ^ ^ ^ --^ ^ ■— C-I C-l fN CI G^ C-l iri C» W OI CO M
[•JUoquniM uopioo]
"^ CO ^ CI CO CD
Co
^
^
[S
>»
r:
p
t^
3
£
H
2
§
to
a
.«
&
o
o
fc
S
&«=;
Q
>»
o
c3
^v,
r
Ss
c
o o
.1=
1-
■!^
Cl
'r:
n
ii,n
<QQ
c:
Cl
O
^
>i
s
':3
^
<
3
s
^
^'
,0
tD
Ft
fc
^
0)
5
;?;
.=>
-d
q
^
o
®
«
*o
x"
U
u
>
a;
S c «
£ 5g
K cj 9
Us
152
Comparison of CalcnOars.
139
^
"S •"
r^ .
J 1
. t. <a
2 02
•J,
+3 a
a
t«-[
2
rt
^>. _|.2
.
1 ^
a^
»
W
■3
Pnt^ <y ^ r?
^
>.
'■i^
Theo
Fo:
ebast
Quai
ompa
(L>
--2 f-
." (H
a
1
*!
si
*>
■|J
OD
K'H IB
M
tc H
•0
a
a
^
i
g
■4^
a
&
"§>
.a
^
P-t
l>
s
•0
3
m
tf
es -J^
OQ
.3 (0 ^
60
a
s
M
^
S. Thomas A
Felicitas.
t. FeUx.
t. Frances.
he Forty Mart
t. John of God
t. Gregory the
1
§
a
t. David.
t. Chad.
t. Casimir.
t. Patrick,
t. Gabriel,
t. Joseph,
t. Cuthber
t. Benedic
XIX K
M XX H !XX
XX -XX X
<!
^
=2
'0
S
tn
=§
>■
c3
fe
Ti
•tf
ri
d
Q
§
■s
c3
<
e
Pieranus.
Perpetua
as.
Gregory.
t-
a
•43
> c3
^r3
.a ^
-*j a
2
'3
,d
-p
m
rt .a
a <u
s
3
c
+i *>
*i aj ■" jj
-tJ -t!
d
32 CC
CO i» 02
XX
<i
tw
%
■-HfNCOTHinOt^ XCt -HC'IM-'+L'JCOl-COClO^'T'
I fC -f Lt to t-
coc; O-H
-H ^H — 1 —
H i-H .-H
-• -■ -^ -H 04 ?1 7
l (N C-I Cl C-I C-I C-J C-I CC W 1
^
g
>►
>
ffl
f>
"S
•P-(
d
4^
<
-*^ -*.i
n
b
1^
c«
^ rt
S"
Is
■3
ft
^a
0(S
a
3
a
*!«
4J
-ti -u'
a
02 02
M
XX
<
,
'0
t^
S
^
>J
;^'
>■
•-'
•a
S
cq
Q
a
(4-1
<
C8
(U
n
1
Perpetua
as.
Gregory.
Patrick.
Edward t
Cuthbert.
Benedict.
§
a
a
a
a
■•f ■*^
ai*' *i
43 43 4J 4J
COM
X X
02aj MM
<^
£
S
1"
>
CO
1
«4-l
Q*
p^
<
a
1 i
.2
'-3
w
1 1
3 CI
MM
1
a
a
a
<!
140
C&c ^inor JDoIj^Daps of ^arcf).
1] David, AiscuBisHor of Menevia. — St. Dewi or David,
patron of AVales, is styled Archbishop of ilenevia from
legendary accounts of liini which were current in the earlier
middle ages. The 'Welsh church of his time had no Arch-
bishops. Very little is i-eally known about his life, and his
time has been put in the days of King Artliur. He appears
to have taken part in the Synod of Llanddewi, and to have
established a see at Mynyw or Menevia, now St. David's,
which in its remote, barren, and rocky seclusion bears
witness to the fact that the Celtic Bishops thought more of
the eremitical than of the missionary life. He is said to have
had, when dj-ing, a visinu of Christ, and to have expired witli
the prayer, " Lord, take me up after Thee ! " The tnie date
of his death is probably a.d. 601. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
Ecclus. xliv. 17, 20, 21-23; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St. Matt.
XXV. 14-23.]
Calendars — Sanim, Hereford, Aberdeen. In York and
Paris his place is occupied by St. Albinus or Auliin.
Dedkations of Churches — Nine, and one with St. JIary. In
Wales about tliirty -three, chiefly in the diocese of St. David's.
Represented — Preaching on a hill, a dove on his shoulder.
2] Cedde or Chad, Bishop of Lichfield. — St. Ceadda or
Chad was one of four brothers — Cedd, Bishop of the East
Saxons, himself, and two priests. They were probalily
Anglians by birth, and were certainly trained under St.
Aidan at Lindisfarne, in the Celtic traditions. Chad became
Abbot of Lastingham in Yorkshire ; and during the long
absence of Wilfrid, when he went into France to be conse-
crated for the Bishopric of Nortluimbria, was elected Bishop
in his place, and consecrated by Willi, Bishop of A\'inchester,
and two British, probably Cornish, Bishops, about a.d. 66.')
or 666. As Bishop of York he was most exemplary. 'V\'ill'rid
returning and finding the see occupied, retired and acted as
Bishop in Mercia and in Kent. 'When Theodore, Archbi.shop
of Canterbuiy and Primate of all England, visited Nor-
timmbria, he found that for tliree years Chad had been
ruling the Church of York in a way which Bede calls
"sublime," but from his strictly Roman point of view he
noted flaws in Chad's position. He had been "irregularly "
consecrated to a see which was not vacant. Chad at once
retired in the most meek and humble manner to his seclusion
at Lastingham. But, a Bishop being wanted for Mercia,
Theodore asked King Oswy to give them Cliad, supplied
what was supposed to be wanting in his consecration, and
sent him to resume episcopal work as fifth Bishop of Lichfield.
Here he fulfilled the duties of his office no less faithfuUj' than
he had done in Nortluimbria. Bede tells us much of that
profound religions awe which in Chad, as in Bede himself and
other early Teutonic Christians, was so characteristic of their
peculiar type of piety. He had ever been meek, humble, and
obedient ; he lived also in constant dread of the Divine judge-
ments, though at the same time in " continual love and desire
of the heavenly rewards." When his last illness came he
foresaw his death seven days beforehand, and sent for the
brethren who were in the minster to exhort them and ask
their prayers. Having received his last Communion, he died
March 2, a.d. 67'2, and was buried at Lichfield. [Sar. Ep.
and Gosp. : Ecclus. xlv. 1 .5. St. JIark xiii. 33-37.]
Caletulars — Sarum, York, Hereford, Aberdeen.
Dedications ofCliurches — Thirty -one, all in the ilidlands.
Represented — As a Bishop ; sometimes with a church in his
liand.
7] Perpetc.4, Macritani.-ix ALartyr. — St. Perpetua and St.
Felicitas, the first a well-born lady, the second a slave, and both
married, suffered with three men in the persecution by Severus,
and, according to St. Prosper Aquitanus, at Carthage. The
mention of Mauritania in the Roman Martyrology and in our
Calendar is in tliat case inaccurate, unless the martyrs had
come from that district. Their most valuable and genuine
"Acts " are quoted by Tertullian and St. Augustine, and were
read in the churches of Africa. If compared with the rela-
tions concerning some otlier early martyrs which may be seen
at length in detailed " Lives," they strike the reader as con-
sisting mainly of natural and unadorned statements. St.
Pen)etua had an infant at her breast when she and her com-
panions were apprehended, and had to bear the further trial
of repeated piteous appeals from her aged father tliat slie
Bhould sacrifice for the prosperity of the emperors and escape
martyrdom. She and Felicitas, the latter being pregnant,
were tossed by a wild cow, and then Perpetua was slowly
butchered by a timid and unskilful executioner [March 7, a.d.
203]. Their names occur in a Roman calendar of A.D. 3.'j4,
and in the Nol)ii r/uo/iue of the Liturgy. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
1 Cor. vii. 25-34. St. Matt. xxv. M3.]
Calendars— AW except York and Aberdeen.
Dedications 0/ Clinrches — None.
Represented — With the wild cow.
12] Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome and Confes-
sor. — St. Gregorj', sumamed the Great, \^as born at Rome,
of noble, wealthy, and religious parents, about a.d. 540. His
early training is spoken of by John the Deacon, his biographer,
as having been that of a saint among saints ; and that he had
a liberal as well as a reUgious education appears from the
statement of Gregory of Tours, his contemporary, that in
grammar, rhetoric, and logic he was considered second to
none in Rome, while, as befitted his high rank, he studied
both civil and canon law. When a little over thirty years of
age he was appointed prastor of the city, and paced its streets
in silk attire, sparkling gems, and the purple-striped trabea ;
he was of ordinary stature and good figure, his face being
"most becomingly prolonged, with a certain rotundity. '
But his heart was in the religious life, and after his father's
death he founded and endowed six monasteries in Sicily, and
one, dedicated to St. Andrew, on the site of his own house at
Rome, where he himself became a monk at the age of thirty-
five. Soon, however, he was obliged to reside at Constanti-
nople as representative of the Pope, being first ordained one
of the seven deacons of Rome. After some years he was
able to return to his monastery, where he threw himself with
great zeal into the religious life, con'ected many real or sup-
posed abuses, %\'rote theological treatises, and carried on
coiTespondence with all parts of the Christian world. The
well-known stoiy of the Yorkshire boys in the slave-market
belongs to this period, and he actually set off on a mission
to England, but was recalled by the Pope, and chosen
to be abbot of his own monastei-y. In a.d. 590 he was
elected Pope, and during his Pontificate he did much to-
wards consolidating the patriarclial supremacy of Rome
over all the Latin Churches ; carrying on the traditions
which were ultimately made the basis of a still wider
claim. In July A.D. 596 he resumed his plans for the con-
version of England, sending St. Augustine [see May 26th]
with forty companions, to whom, under God, we owe the
conversion of our fathers in the southern parts of our land.
During the rest of his life Gregory gave himself much to
study, and revised the Divine Offices, paying much attention
to their music, whence we have the terms Greyorian sacra-
nientai'y and chants. He also wrote many of the Church's
hymns. In these latter days of his life he suffered much
from gout, but retained liis remarkable energy and mental
power, personally superintending choir-practices in his song-
school, writing important letters, etc., even during his last
illness, from which he was released March 12, a.d. 604. His
body was buried in St. Peter's Church, where it still rests
under St. Andrew's altar. He is esteemed as one of the Four
Doctors of the Western Church. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Matt. xxiv. 42-47.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications o/Chiirches — Twenty-five, and one with St. ^Liry.
Represented — As a Pope, with double or triple crown and
book ; a dove at his ear ; an eagle before him ; chained to a
rock ; Christ appearing to him as he says mass ; Christ and
the Blessed Virgin appearing to him.
18] Edward, Kixg of the West Saxons. — This Edward was
chosen, being only thirteen years old, to succeed his father
Edgar A.D. 975, before which time the West Saxon kingdom
had grown into that of the English generally. He appears to
have been a good young king, and beloved by his people.
After a four years' reign he was cruelly murdered, probably
by the contrivance of his stepmother >-Elfthrytli [Elfrida],
whose son Ethelred was then elected king at the age of ten.
The English Chronicles under the year 978 lament the crime
without naming the criminal. "Here was Eadweard king
slain at eventide at Corfes-gate, on xv. kal. Apr., and men
buried him at Wierham without any kingly worship. Never
was done worse deed among Englishmen than this since first
they sought Britain. Men murdered him, but (!od honoured
him. He was in life an earthly king, he is now after death
a heavenly saint," etc. Florence of Worcester charges
Elfrida with the crime, and the story gathers fresli details
in the hands of each succeeding chronicler. Among other
things we are told that Elfrida beat the child Ethelred
with wax candles because he wept for his lirothcr, wherefore
he hated tlic sight of wax candles for the rest of his life. The
popular legend of Edward's being st.abbed in the back is not
found in tlie earliest accounts. The Sarum Breviary dwells
much on his goodness, and he was popularly considered to
have died a martyr. It may be noted that he is so called in
Cbc a^inor n^olpDaps of a^arcb
141
the Saruni, but not in the Reformed Calendar. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp. : Ecelus. xxxi. 811. St. Luke xiv. 26-33.]
Calendars — Sarum only.
Dedications 0/ C/nirdies— Twenty -one, either to him or to
St. Edward the Confessor ; that at Corfe Castle certainly to
the "Martyr."
lfepj-ese»ted—Aa a king, with dagger, falcon, or cup.
21] Benedict, Ap.iior. — St. Benedict, who restored monastic
discipline in the West, and founded the great Benedictine
Order, was born of a good family at Norcia, in Umbi'ia, about
A. u. 480. He was educated in the great jmblic schools in
Rome, but was so slioclced at tlie licentiousness of his fellow-
students that he secretly betook himself to a cavern at
Subiaco at the age of fifteen, and lived tliere as a hermit for
three years, being supplied with food by Romanus, a monk.
When distracted by temptations he used to roll liimself in
the briers, to which Bishop Taylor refers in his IIol;/
Living. Some of the shepherds of the wild district round
about were induced by him to become monks, and he was
himself persuaded to become Abbot of Vicobarro, near
.Subiaco, where, as a reformer of abuses, he became so
unpopular with some of the inmates that they tried to poison
him. After praying to God to forgive them, he returned to
liis cave, where he liad many disciples. He organized twelve
religious houses, each with a superior and twelve monks, a
number having reference to Christ and His twelve disciples.
These were united in the Monastery of St. Scholastica,
supposed to be the most ancient of the order. Benedict, h.av-
iug still many enemies, and being a man of peace, retired to
Mount Cassino, where idolatrous rites still prevailed, and
where stood an old temple of Apollo and a grove. He over-
threw the temple and cut down the grove, foundeil two
oratories on the site, and bi-ought many to the faith of Christ.
This was the beginning of the famous Monastery of Monte
Cassino, where the present monastic system was organized,
and wlienoe proceeded the Benedictine Rule. Towards the
close of Benedict's life his sister Scholastica came to reside
near him, with a small community of religious women, and he
used to vi.sit her once a year. Ife died of a fever caught iu
visiting the poor. Feeling tliat his end was drawing near,
he oidercd his grave to bo dug, and, sujiported by the
brethren, contemplated it in silence for some time. Being
then carried into the ch,apel, he there ex])ired on the eve of
Passion Sunday, March 21, a.d. 543. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
Ecelus. xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke xi. 33-.'!G.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Sixteen, unless any be dedicated
to St. Benedict Biscop.
Represented — As a Benedictine monk ; with devils ; roll-
ing in thorns ; thorns near him ; in a cave, food let down
to him by a monk ; a cup on a book ; a cup breaking
and spilling liquor ; a cup with serpents on a book ; a
raven at his feet, or with a loaf in its bill ; a stick in his
hand, the raven on it ; a sprinkler ; a pitcher ; a ball fif
fire ; a book with the beginning of his Rule, Avscvlta Fii.i
Veub.\ Magistri.
2.5] Annunciation of Bi-essku Virgin MAEy.—[,S'(!e notes
on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About two tliousand one hundred
and twenty, and one hundred and two with other saints.
Bepresented — At her annunciation, jiraying or reading, the
angel appearing to her with A ve Maria, etc. , on a scroll, and
between or near them a lily in a pot, generally with three
flowers, to remind us that before, in. and after her motherhood
she remained a pure virgin. This is her chief emblem. Often
she is represented as a queen, with the Infant Christ in her
arms ; sometimes as "Our Lady of Pity," a sorrowing mother,
with the dead Christ on her knees : sometimes as the " Mater
Dolorosa," weeping, and witli a sword passing through her
heart [St. Luke ii. 35]. She is generally represented willi a
blue outer robe over a red under garment. The conventional
lleur-de-lys is sacred to her.
142
Cf)C CalcnDar toitb tf)C Cable of Lessons.
,
n
§
c
:S
"^ IH
S a
>
)^
1 |.s->v-P
'> .- >i
'x 'x
.
> j; Oh .-: := i-s
.«:2
,^
>
CC
i
w
'-3 ^
IM"""-H
<m"
d
*>
. •"
«}
«
1
i'= • >"
••3'
.-• >
'?'> X 1
;3 >'5.'d'?;
:3 °
«D
w
J
=3 :s . :3 .«
'> '> k'
'x'x
X X X rg .-• . :3 J —•
X K X .3 > > -2 X
x;3
CD
CC >. K « >«
XXX
X X
X X X X X
x-<
>■
'>
l-H
3
*■•
^H
e-i
1
i
_. ._•
:a >
>■
■5
.J
'>
<
C4
^ « M *^ .
;5.^ >
iS J .._::3:5.i: >'?
^.^xxxxxxx
'> '> .- X 'x 'x
'x'x
X
X
X
a
5
^««^:=
t- >
X X X X X X
X X
X
X
X
^
>■
:3
&>:
5
O
5
>■•>.•;■
'x'x
X X X X ,5 >• •- :3 .
xxxx^-^.^-^f-x
:s.£''-:l X
'x 'x
c-
i2
t>'
S
XXX
X X
X M X X X
X X
'>
^
^-c
<N
p-i
t-H
s-^
x
re
?|2
s'oo
a
-■
x
• >■
in ^ ■>
?1
c
1
n S
^•^
■=^-2 .
4J
CO
5
M
■x"S
ii.
iii.
iv. to
iv. »■.
vi.
Iph. i.
11.
iii.
iv. to
iv. V. '.
V. r. 2
vi. t\
hil, i.
ii.
:5.5
'0
c>
H
Pi
fi
lO
^
s
s
■<«i
■0
»■
H
>
^
»
s
ti
E£)
s
1
^ ^
.5 »•
5
e5
CO
X
X
m
i
""
i .12
1 >■> -A y.
X S i>
'> x'
xi. i'.
xiv.
xvi.
Ruth i
iv.
1 Sam.
iii.
v.
vii.
."^ X X X X
X X
X
X
'x
X
J;
'x
X
b
1-5
1-5
o3
O
CO
d
o
-§ .^■.•
(M CO
^ ?;' t-^ . >' —
>o .;;;, X —
o5 J? 2 .S^^
-S ?)."..•.- 00 . «
. V. Jl.
ii. to r. 20.
ii. V. 20.
iii. to r. 31.
iii. r. 31 to xix
r.. 1 1
— CC
■^•u-5
X J.-
>•
1
J<! .J ._; :s :3
K IM .
,- "-
. . .**
II. s
.2.d
X X
><
Sj
'x
. .^ .M "3 rs >• r*
>>>;>>>
s > >■ > >.
x'x 'x'x 'x 'x'x 'x'x
X X X X X y.
'x'x
X
X
X
<1
1-9
g
1
1^
o
■♦a
CO
i
■
:3t^
*> ^
• X E
•-*
-t"^
^
•^
==i
— g .
-*3
£
.^
§.&■•? .2'^
•x.g' .
. :s
'x'x X 3:3^:3 .>•>
13 .:=.&■ t;
'>'>
X
'K
'x
X 3 >
> *?
>■ X X X X
X X
X
X
X
■-5
t-J
EJ
:3
^
11
J3^
1
1
§
D.
o<
«
•" s
S*
i> #
cvJ
■S
■e g
oM
ts .0
en
•g
s g)
«|
<
c -g
^
.
p.
ss
5
S ^
'3
ai . . d
r^
Calendi
4. Non,
3. Non,
Pr. No
Nona;.
.T3 15 'rt 'rt "rt 15 'rt
"rt *« *« 'rt 'rt 'rt
"rt"!?
^
"rt
'rt
hH HH H-H
1— ( 1— (
^■-1 »oooooo
C-' ^ C-)
o-j
U
.>'^Q6t^<»»0'*CC
(N ^ a: 06 l-^
CD in
■^
CO
t^
oor^eD
10 ■*
e.5Ci<M_._«^ _«
Ph
iu)<!.a o-s
o<» bo
-tj-fl
'^3 « •*- bO«JJ .0 '^
<4^ U}<] ^
"tf
«4-t
CO
«<1
pH N eo ■* lo
toi-co
oso
-.-'MCC'.tlOWt^OOOS
gs^^sss
"g"?r
a
s
g
C'Risquinu nopioo]
00 l~
10 ■*
l-H
fM ^ cs r^ CD
Comparison of CalcnOars.
143
ao
!^
9 " 3
2 » §
Mm- o
w
2 o
S cs
M »-■
•« a
O a)
oPh
P-i .
^3 <«
'^ to
3 o.
= i
.0
c a
'
OJ rt
H 3
c
cc'.a
1^
.a
rfi
M
w
X 3^
rri CJ to
M S^ S
(T, -r _
<
d
1—1
O
A
-p
o
«!T!
6
<i>
S-^
'rt
d
fe«
1— (
>
43'
■M
^fl^u'2^
g's"
OT
t g
11
■4J
11
■3
™ 0) CO tn
S3£
a
^
cj 2 ™ "^
►i
WH
<J
<!
ccOfe^tJ
+;fo
-4^
^ ^ A^ ^^
(»
mii
02
m
mm^i .yj 03
C8
>
,2 fc- rt
^
O
>
rt ei « ■* >o w
c: o M ci CO -1^
l>
■pH
-P
U
'A
a
o
O
a
,
a
a
q
■43
M
p^
H
13
a
r/)
OJ
CO
M-4
O
£?-|^
O c3 J2
OSS
TO
rt
tn
7;
^
■43
X
u
cS
%
S
H
•a
a
r/j
C/J
o
H
is
m
o S
144
Cbe 00inor IjDolpDaps of 3pril.
3] RiCHAKD, Bishop of Chichester. — Eichard de la Wyoh,
of the icyche or salt spring, is said to have l)een born at Droit-
wich, where his parents had an estate to which he was heir.
Early in his life, and intbeformer half of the thirteenth century,
he joined the new Order of the Dominicans, wliich was then
attracting the most ardent and energetic minds in Western
Europe. Having been educated at Oxford, Paris, and
Bologna, he became public reader in Canon Law at the last
place, and on his return Chancellor first of Edmund, Arch-
bishop of Canterlniry [St. Edmund], and then of the Uni-
versity of Oxford. The see of Chichester falling vacant, the
canons, in order to curry favour Mitli Henry III. , as was said,
elected a chaplain of his, K(jbert Passelewe. But the Pope
set aside this election ostensibly on account of Passelewe's
want of learning, and himself consecrated Richard to the see
during the Council of Lyons in 1245. Henry seized the
leveuues, and for two years the Bishop had to depend on other
sources of maintenance ; but at last the King restored them,
having been threatened with excommunication by the Pope
When" Richard was established in his see he amply justified
the papal choice, affording in his life and conversation a
pattern of episcopal virtues. In preaching, the strong point of
the Dominican Order, and in visiting, he was indefatigable.
He died April 3, 1253, at Dover, where he had rested while
preaching the Crusade along the coast. His canonization was
procured by the Dominicans in 1261, and in 1276 his relics
were translated from their first resting-place in Chichester
Cathedral to the shrine in which they remained until tlie
Reformation. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17, 20-23,
and xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St. John xv. 1-7.]
Cale7>t!ars — Sarum, Hereford.
VaUcations of Churches—One only, Aberford, in Yorkshire.
Represented— With, a chalice at his feet, or kneeling with
chalice before him, alluding to a legend that he fell with the
chalice without spilling its contents.
4] St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. — He was born about a.d.
340, in Gaul, where his father held the office of Pra'torian
Prefect. It is saiil that while he was a child a swarm of bees
flew about his cradle, some settling on his mouth, which, as
in the case of Plato, was thought to be a sign of future
eloquence. He was educated at Rome, where he excelled in
Greek and Civil Law, and was appointed Governor of Liguria.
He also practised as an advocate ; and displayed so much
wisdom and judgement in this capacity during a contest
between the orthodox and the Arians, relative to an appoint-
ment to tlie see of Milan, that although not yet baptized, he
was strongly pressed and urged by general acclamation to
take the office himself. He reluctantly consented, and, after
baptism, was ordained and consecrated, December 7, A.I).
374. Having now embraced Christianity with his whole
heart, and made over to the Church of Milan all his estates,
he thoroughly devoted hiiriself to his new duties. He had
constant difficulties from the prevalence of the Arian and
Apollinarian heresies, and wrote many theological treatises,
both controversial and devotional. He is spoken of by St.
Augustine in his Confessions with the most afiectionate
reverence, as having been greatly instrumental in his con-
version. For the tradition about the Te Deum, see under
Aug. 28. The saying, "When lam at Rome, I do as they do at
Rome," is attributed to St. Ambrose, who thus replied to St.
Augustine about the diU'erent modes of observing Saturday at
Rome and Milan, it being then customary to fast on Saturday
at the former lint not at the latter place. On all matters
of principle, however, he was immoveable. ^Vhen the Arian
Empress Justina sent to ask him for the use of a church out-
side the city for herself and the Arians [A.n. 385], Ambrose
replied that he conld never give up the temple of fiod. After
some days' struggle he carried his point, and the following
year the same contention was renewed, with the same result.
It is well known too how he excommunicated the Emperor
Theodosius for a cruel abuse of power, and shut the C'hurch
of Milan against him, exhorting him with such effect tliat ho
became a true penitent. Like St. Gregory, he composed
some beautiful hymns, and, like him also, paid great attention
to church music and to the construction of the Liturgy and
Offices. Hence the "Ambrosian rite," not yet wholly
abolished at Milan, has a very distinct character of its own.
lie is reckoned as one of the four doctors of the Western
(-'hurch. A few days before his last sickness he dictated an
exposition of the 43rd [our 41th] Psalm, which he had to
leave untinished, as it has come down to us, nnthing being
said on the last two verses. After a long illness he died
about midnight before Easter Eve, April 4, A.\>. 397, aged
about (ifty-seveu years, and his body still rests at Milan
un.ler the high altar of the church dedicated to him. [Sar.
Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Matt. xxiv. 42-47.]
Calendars — All. In the Roman and Monastic Calendars,
however, as in the Eastern Church, his feast is on December
7th, the day of liis ordination.
Dedknllons of Churches — One, Ombersley, in Worcestershire.
Sepresented — ^Vith scourge, or beehive ; repelling the
Emperor.
19] Alphege, Ap.chbishop of Canteeeury. — .^Ifheah, or
Alphege, was a West Saxon of noble birth, who early in life
left his paternal estate and his widowed mother to become a
monk. Like many persons of high lineage, he was soon placed
at the head of a monastery, and it is supposed that he was
Abbot of Bath. By special favour of Dunstan he was made
Bishop of Winchester a.d. 984, being only just thirty years
old ; and after presiding over that see for twenty-two years,
he was translated to Canterbury. Soon after this he was taken
captive by the Danes, and at first promised them a ransom,
being kept in their ships in the Thames, near Greenwich, until
it should be i)aid. On the Saturday after Easter, April 19,
A. 11. 1012, the Danes were holding drunken festival, and
called on Alphege for the ransom ; but he refused to have
anything given for his life, and told them as he had sinned
in promising, they might deal with him as they would. So
they dragged him to their busting or assembly. Earl Tliurkill,
a Christian Dane, offered gold and silver, all that he had,
save only his ship, to save the good man's life. But they
pelted the Archbishop with stones, logs of ■\\'ood, and the
bones left from their feast, until one Thrini, a recent convert,
clave his head with his axe out of sheer pity. And, says the
chronicle, "his holy blood on the earth fell, his holy soul he
to God's kingdom sent." The body, probably through Thur-
kill's influence, was allowed to be taken to London with all
honour ; it was Ijuried in St. Paul's Jlinster, and afterwards
translated to Canterliury by King Canute. Lanfrauc disputed
the claim made for Alphege to the title of martyr, but Auselm
defended it on the ground that he died for Christian justice
and charity, refusing to sanction the plundering of his jjeople
to save his' own life. In the Sarum Calendar he is called
martyr, but not in ours, as in the case of St. Edward, March
ISth. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Heb. xiii. 9-16. St. John xv.
1-T]
Calendars — Sarum, Aberdeen.
Dedications of Churches — Five, one being the parish church
of Greenwich, on the supposed site of the murder ; another is
in London.
Bi'presentcd — With stones in his chasuble ; a battle-axe in
his band.
23] St. Geoeoe, Martyr. — His name is in the Saerameutary
of St. Gregory, with Collects for his daj-. But his "Acts"
are certainly apocryphal, as is the story of "St. George and
the Dragon," contained in the Golden Legend, accepted by
the uncritical clerks of the middle ages, and inserted in
Breviaries, from which it was removed by Clement VII.,
1523-34, when St. George was simply acknowledged as a
martyr, reigning with Christ. Indeed, a MS. Roman Breviary
of much earlier date contains a single lection, apparently from
a martyrology, in which it is said that if his " Acts " be apoc-
ryphal, yet "he was an illustrious martyr. It is impossible
here even to refer to the various versions of his storj% which
may be seen in Baring-Gould's Life. Suffice it to say that the
St. George who was recognized by St. Gregory was probably
a martyr mentioned by Eusebius, without giving his name, as
having piillcd down and torn into shreds a decree of Diocletian
against the Cburcli in Kicomedia ; and that he is by no means
to be identified, as he is by Gibbon and Dean Stanley, with
tlio Arian prelate George of Cappadocia, who died some forty-
two years after a church had been dedicated to " St. George the
Martyr," by Constantino the Great, in Constantinople. The
Sarum Breviary of 1556 says he ^^•a3 of Cappadocia (as was
generally supposed), and that ho was martyred under Datian,
but does" not mentinn the Dragon story, on which St. (ieorge's
great popularity in the middle ages mainly depended, though
it doubtless arose out of some allegorical or syndjolical i-epre-
sentation. He was also honoured as having appeared against
the Saracens at tlie head of a numerous army, carrying a red
cross banner, whence he was regarded as the champion of
Cliristendom, Our Lady's Knight, and the J'atron of England.
He is sometimes called "St. George of Lydda," from the
place of his liurial, according to some accounts. The Greek
Church hononr.s him with the titles of "Great Martyr" and
"Trophy-bearer." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: St. James i. 2-12.
St. John XV. 1-7.]
Calendars — All.
Cfje S0inor J^olgDags of 9pril.
145
Dedications of ChurcJies— One hundred and sixty-two, and
four with other saints.
Represented— As an armed knight, standing or on horseback
fighting a dragon with a spear ; a cross on liia armour and
shield.
25] St. Maek, Evangelist and Martyr. — [See notes en
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedication!! nf Churches — Thirteen.
Repre/iPvted—\K Evangelist, with a winged lion ; as a
JIartyr, strangled with cords.
K
146
C&e CalcnDar toitb tbe Cable of lessons.
CO
CO
(£>
P
c
• •H
a
V
■^
c
.-•
«
>'
-iA ■ ■
.._:
..-•
j;
tJ
:s >
•>.2
x";s":S.S
>"'?■>■? .2
a
3
rt -
>
X
J-:
X
>^
X
X
« X M X
X
H.
1-1
^^
§
c
&«■
;^
K
« bUj
to
.^
:^ •"
OJ
>
5
'p
>
«
x
'x
i5 "^
CI'"
•-■
'?
><
'^
'P.
«
'?.2 P, 'S S
H M K M X
Ezra
V.
vii.
Neh.
iv.
vi.
ix.
xiii
Esth
tj
00
ce
Q
1-4
CO
CO
n
"^^■-■■^ >
.5 >■■>'>■>. 2
X X X X X X
.s > > > >
X X X X X
.s->
^SW
K'
X a)
'H
t~
06
t,-*
00
^
^ =: ^
>
S'^
5;-s
n
_••- ' 3
OS
1^
01
s
00
m
■- CO
.s »■
05
01 S
"<:
'0
:7i
.^H
.-•
^
>
>■
H:s
'l'^
H.^
:id
t
>
>•
P :a :3 .E;
+3
^
■ H
.-^:S >
>
p-
PM
u
^
(M
■-^
<N
H
K
ci
:=■
c/5
c
ci
CO
1
X
06
—I
s'
CD
>
X
iC
Si
t,
in
CO
?j
IJ
h^^
r-^
-*
a
%
3
^
5
0^
.43
. >
to
to
ji
to
CO ^*
co
i-H
X
^.
^.>
S-;
!>
> >
X X
w
>
>
>
X ►>
x>^*
.>•>■?
X
7j
>
M
X
X X
X
X X
;_;
>
^
;> X h; X
X
X
X
X
'-'
CM
^
Cl
« « S -p S3
3- & ^o s: X .
X o e-i o o £,
'x ^- i: -^ ;J ^ »
X . ,.^.r^.^
j£ *x "x 'x "x x "x
3 X X X X X X
Cl «
S-C-l ~
<N O
.-;«-
. ^ X
ei ri^^
C .. « ;i s ■
>>>>>>
S£- o£,..
cc'O
?> CO o
I^ P-J
El-
C)
X
■A o^
> > X X X
.S > >.2 X
X X X X X
IN
^
Rl
;5 a
o
•43
a
>
a
H
3
o
O
^
a
R
•^ !=
m
3 CJ -i^
< > a
a a a § .
'^^Jq'^ a
in '
< «
Ph^ 06 t-^O) lOTjJri&H
„-(3w^^oo 00000 0000 O
'5 1- 'JJ iri -*' cc ci ^ o oj 00 t-i tc in ■* CO >
J3 O
^ CI
'^ 0) »4-4 bo<iJ ,a o '^ G) »*^ 60-1^ ^ o 'd c) *«H tJD<i3 X cj 'd a> «** bD<j -O o
_ ^4,_,-i^H p^pHr-Hi-11— iClCI CICICICICI CICiClCQ n
Comparison of dalcnOars.
147
p-
Pm
m
<D
-3
pC
ja
a
1)
<
t-sOJ
'su
= rt §
•" bo a,
d PmT3
V3 l-iOJ
o
o
•e.g
a
s
1^
a
s "■ S
3 d o
Sod
o-c p
J3 °^
Sj:3 d
.*i 4J CC
w
"w
a
f^
Q a
ilO
Ph
00
.W
a,
t3
C5
«
s
tM
QJ
h- (
H
«■
-4^
tcos
a
1—1
o
+3
s
o
•■ S
.1-5
M r^-S
I ^
1-5
d.
C3
3
1 a>H
CO 4^
tOd
d V
aw
TO !_ ^ ^H
§1-2 3
(/3
a,
<1
a
s ^
S °
io
d m
^ d
t?'d kJ
o o >>
tJO-e . m
f) r to s
O .aCM
. o
4iX' •-
cc'oo
cc
0^ o
>^ s
o rt .^
d~ g
OfS
CCOQ MM
O 3
Pip
6-g
-a W .i-i
•3 g" a 1^
S ^ • 1 P.
- • 1—'
3 cc *> *> *■
Ph
02
tC d
o
4^ d
° S 2
d<!-2
o a>
Cm >
d'lS
03 O
d d
.a ,3
o o
1-5 1-5
43 4J
p<
u
a
w
3
^
ri
M
<
is
MH
%
i
1
a
3
J2
S
43
1
a
W
tn
t
J
Ph
■T3
f/>
QJ
!!•'
CO
(A
<J2
13
g
M
a eg
CO =u >^
3 4^ *-<
o«
CQ
>
-P
O
O
Q d
3 C8
o
rt
OJ OJ
1-,
jais
-«
d
>" X
P.
a<3.3
jd
■■§ g
^
iTr:^
M
d
p3
Ph >
d c«-.
c3 O
a,
o
5; S
u _«
»Ph
.1
CO
3
n
3 -J
-fi
d
1
W3
CO
cc
9 3
2 ^
P^
11
J-^
*Sr3
^ d
Ph >
CO a
on of
Alexa
tius.
.2P5
d
.il
vent
SS.
Eve
1-5 ^^
§0
4J 4J
rri-/i
eH::C
^
f)
«<
fr>
^
a;-
d
OS
Oi
1h
^
-rt
d
111
CAi
-y.i
s
3
Q
CO
CO
S
43 ja
11
<5,a
3
a
cS
o
(-1
Ah
O-g
'*-' a d
o a o
x'a t:
a oj 13 s
=3 S.S
■■S*^ S.2
a 4^
i-i 02
P^ hH
(Sm
§
PhPh
148
C!)e s©inor I^oIj)Daps of a^ap.
1] SS. Philip and Jaimes, Apostles and ItlAETTKS. — [See
notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications 0/ Churches — Four ancient ones with tlie joint
dedication ; one to St. Philip and All Saints ; about three
hundred and fifty to one or other St. James, most of these, how-
ever, are probablj' to St. James the Greater ; not one is known
to be to St. James the Less alone.
Represented — St. Philip, holding a basket with or without
bread visible ; two or three loaves ; a tall cross. .SY. James
the Less, with a fuller's club.
3] Invention" of the Cross. — This day, sometimes called St.
Helen's or EUinmas Day, commemorates tlie supposed finding
of tlie Cross on which our Lord suft'ered by the Empress
Helena, about a.d. 326. But the date and details are involved
in great obscurity. St. Cj'ril of Jerusalem speaks of the true
wood being seen in his time [circa 350]. In 351 be speaks of
its having been found in Jerusalem in the time of Constantino
the Great. St. Ambrose [a.d. 395] relates its discovery by
Helena, the mother of Constantine, while digging on Golgotha,
and says that it was known from the thieves' crosses by the
title. St. Chrysostom about the same time gives similar
testimony, but does not mention Helena. Paifinus, however,
also about the same time, says that Helena had to dig among
the ruins of a temple of A'enus, and that the title being
separate, the true cross was identified by the miraculous
healing of a sick person who was laid on it. As we get later
the story runs into more and more minuteness of detail, and
at last developes into a romance. Euseliius mentions Helena's
journey into Palestine, but says not a word about the cross.
According, however, to the generally received account, the
Empress lodged the main part of the cross in the church
which she and her son built in Jerusalem, sending otlier
portions to Constantinople and Rome. To Rome also she
sent the title, where part of it is still preserred. About
twenty-five nails are shewn in diii'erent places. The Eastern
commemoration is that of "the appearance of the Sign of the
Cross" [the Labarum] to Constantine. [Sar. Ep. aud Gosp.:
Gal. V. 10-12, and vi. 12-14. St. John iii. 1-15.] [.S'.e Sep-
tember 14th.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Possibly one, Balling, in Norfolk.
6] St. John Evangelist ante Port. Lat. — This festival
commemorates the miraculous deliverance of St. John when,
having been apprehended at Ephesus, he was carried to
Piome and placed in a caldron of boiling oil before the Latin
Gate after previous scourging. His remaining safe and sound
was attributed to magic. TertuUian is the first to mention
this miracle, and it rests mainly on his authority. St. John
was afterwards banished to Patmos, where lie had the
visions recorded in the Apocalypse. The legend of the
poisoned cup, of which he is said to have drunk unhurt,
rests on no good authority, and lias probably arisen out of
representations of the Apostle holding a symbolical cup of
sufi'ering, in allusion to our Lord's words, "Can ye drink of
the cup that I drink of ? " etc. In St. Augustine's time there
was a tradition that St. John was not dead, but sleeping alive
in his grave at Ephesus, and would so remain till Christ came.
[.S'cc St. John xxi. 23.] There has been a church at Rome ou
tlie spot where tlie miracle of the boiling oil is believed to
have occurred ever since the time of the first Christian
emperors. The day is kept as a great festival at St. John's
College, Cambridge, and at St. John's, Hurstpierpoint. [Sar.
Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xv. 1-6. St. John xxi. 19-24.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — About two hundred and forty.
19] Dun.stan, ARcnnisnop of Canterbury. — "Of whom,"
says Bishop Godwyn, " I know not how to write, that which
is delivered of him is so infinite." He was born in Somerset,
of nol)le parents, and was educated in Glastonbury Abbey.
Thence, through the introduction of his uncle Athelm, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, he passed into the household of King
Athelstan, aud thence into tliat of Alphego the I'ald, l?ishop
of Winchester, who persuaded him during an illness to take
monastic vows. He accordingly became a monk at (Uaston-
bury, the great Benedictine house in which he liad been
educated, and which now obtained with him all his paternal
estate. Soon he became Abbot, and through tlie reigns of
Edmund and Edred was a leading man in Church and
.State. At the coronation of Edwy in 955 he boldly rebuked
the King for alleged profligacy ; and jiartly this, partly his
f.avouriiig the cause of the monks ag.iinst the secular clergy,
led to his being banished in 95G, when he retired to the Abbey
of St. Peter in Ghent, while in England monks were per-
secuted and abbevs devastated in all directions. In 95"
Edg^i- was chosen by the Mercians as their Under-king, and
Dunstan was recalled. Edwy dying in 958, Edgar held the
sceptre of the whole kingdom, and about that time Dunstan
M'as made Bishop of Worcester and of London together, from
which sees he was translated to the primacy in 9G0. As
Archbishop, his great object was to promote monasticism, and
to compel the married secular clergy to put away their wives
and live as cehbates, believing as he did that thus he should
best raise their spiritual tone and general character, which no
doubt were often lamentably low. In short, he was an earnest
and severe reformeraccording to the light that lie had. He went
about preaching and instructing the people in the cliurches of
his diocese, and sometimes retired to Glastonbury for rest and
spiritual recreation. He had early become an able craftsman
iu various ecclesiastical arts as well as a .skilful musician.
When Edgar died in 975 he favoured the election of Edward
["St. Edward," March ISth], and during the reign of the
cliild-king Etlielred, which followed the murder of Edward,
he was as Jelioiada the high priest who watched over King
Joash. He was indeed, though not strictly speaking a saint,
yet a truly great and good man ; and his name, though known
to too many only in connection with a grotesque legend,
ought rather to be had in remembrance as that of one of our
noblest English prelates. Having preached thrice at Canter-
bury on Ascension Day, a.d. 988, he died on the Saturday
following, and was buried iu his o«n Cathedral. [Sar. Ep.
aud Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17-20, 21-23; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St.
Matt. xxv. 14-23. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 1-7.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford.
Dedications of Churches — Eighteen.
Represented — Seizing the devil with pincers ; a dove, or
angels, near him ; playing on a harp.
26] ArC.rsTINE, first ArCHELSHOP of CANTERBtTRY. —
Nothing is known of him until we find him " Pr;epositus " of
St. Gregory's Monastery of St. Andrew in Rome [ilarcli 12th],
when in a.d. 596 he was selected by Gregory to conduct the
mission to England. The way had been prepared by the
marriage of Ethelbert King of Kent with the Prankish
princess Bertha, and by the supremacy of Kent among
English kingdoms at that time. At the bidding of Gregory,
who had long watched for and now saw his opportunity,
Augustine set oft' from Rome with several others of his house,
obedient and hopeful. But having travelled as far as into
Provence, they became faint-hearted, and would have returned.
So, staying probably in the ilonastery of Lerins, they sent
back Augustine to ask that they might be excused from so
perilous, toilsome, and uncertain an enterprise. Gregory,
however, \\ell knew how best to "uphold the feeble knees ;"
and on July 23, 596, sent Augustine back to them with a
kind and encouraging letter, writing also letters on their
behalf to bishops and kings whom they might see on their
way. They wintered in Ciaul, and, soon after Easter iu 597,
crossed the Channel and landed at Ebbsfleet, in Kent.
Augustine and Etlielbert, after interchanging messages, had
a meeting in the open air. The King and his tlianes took
their seats, and saw some forty men approaching, with a
silver cross upborne before them, and a painted and gilt
representation of our Lord, such as might have been seen
before in the household of Bertha. They also chanted
litanies as they walked, which, though in an unknown tongue,
may well have had a striking effect. The King bade the
strangers sit down, and a conference was carried ou through
a Gallic interpreter. He then not only allowed them freely
to preach among his people, but invited them to follow him
to Canterbury, where he assigned to them a dwelling. There
they taught both by precept and by example ; they sang tlie
Psalms, prayed, celebrated, preached, baptized, and in the
course of the summer Ethelbert himself believed and was
baptized. His example told upon his subjects, and though
none were compelled, many became Christians. The next
stop for Augustine w:is to obtain episcopal consecration, and
for this purpose he went to Aries, and was consecrate<l by the
Archbishop Virgilius and other l''rankisli prelates, November
16, A.I). 597. I'll his return he found a multitude of new
converts ; and, being established as Bishop, he received from
the King a grant of his own palace and a general licence to
restore paganized British churches. The following year he
sent to have the mission recruited from Rome, and addressed
a number of questions to Gregory ; but for some reason
firegory did not liml the men or answer the questions till
June, A.I). 001, when ho sent four imii, full answers to the
questions, sacred vessels, churcli furniture, and vestments,
including the pall for the new Archbishop. By Gregory's
.advice Augustine imw sought to form relations with the
Cfjc s^inoc !t)olgDaj)s of 00ay.
149
British Bishops yet remaining in the West, and they were
induced to meet him at a trysting-tree near the Severn, called
in Bede's time "Augustine's Oak." The Taschal question,
the mode of baptism, and the form of tlie tonsure were dis-
cussed at great length, and a second conference was held, but
both failed utterly in their object. Augustine returned in
bitter disappoiutment and, in seeming despair of working with
the British Bisliops, established the Roman liturgy with com-
paratively little alteration, tliough (iregory had advised him
to be eclectic as to liturgical practices and forms. Mellitus
and Justus, two of the four missionaries who had last come
from Rome, were his suffragans at London and Rochester.
The date of his death is somewhat uncertain ; it was in G04
or 605. Shortly before he died he consecrated his fellow-
labourer Laurence to be his successor, an unusual step, for
which he doulitlcss had good reason. His body received
temporary burial, aud eight years later was deposited in the
north transept of the now destroyed Abbey Churcli of SS.
Peter aud Paul, which he had founded, which is generally
known by his name, and where now " St. Augustine's College "
trains missionaries, wlio carry to heathen lands that same
Gospel which Augustine brought to us. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.:
Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Luke x. 1-7. During Kaster-tide,
St. John XV. 1-7.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford, Aberdeen, Monastic.
Dedications 0/ Churches — Twenty-nine, unless some of them
be dedicated to St. Augustine of Hippo [August 2Sth].
Represented — As an Archbishop.
27] VBNBU.iBLE Bede, Piuest. — In the earliest known
Calendars of the Church of England Bede is connnemorated
on May 26tli, witli St. Augustine. lu a calendar in the
Chapter Library at Durham, belonging to the early part of
the twelfth century, the memorial of May 26th is, " Sci
Augustini Archiepi & Bede eo." So also in a' Saxon codex
[circa 1031] in the British Museum [Vitell. E. xviij,] and in an
Exeter calendar, temp. Hen. IL [Harl. MS. 843.] In tiie
Kal. Salamense, written about 1000, there is "vij. kal. .Tunii,
Depositio Augustini Confessoris, Bedaa Presbyteri." Mal>ilIon
notices at the end of an ancient hymn, "vj. id. Mali natalis S'ci
Bedfe Presbyteri," which he supposes to be the day of his trans-
lation. In a Durham calendar of the fourteentli century [Harl.
MS. 1804], May 27th, is entered " Comm. Bede." Although
not in the ordinary Salisbury Calendars, the Saint is commemo-
rated on this day in tlie " Enchiridion ad Usum Sarum, 1530."
We know very little of the quiet and uneventful life of the
Venerable Bieda or Bede except from the brief autobiography
at the end of his Ecclesiastical History. He was born a.m.
672 or 673 on the domain given by Eegfrith for Wearmouth
Abbey [begun a.d. 674]. At seven years old he was put
under the care of Benedict Biscop, the Abliot of Wearmouth.
He goes on to say : " I have passed all my life since then in the
same monastery, and have given my whole attention to study-
ing of tlie Scriptures, and in the intervals of my observance
of the monastic discipline and of the daily occupation of
chanting in the Church, I have always found interest in
cither learning, teaching, or writing." He was taught by
Trumberht, and probably also by John the Archchauter,
whom Benedict brought from Rome about A.D. 677. "In my
19th year," he says, "I was ordained deacon, and priest in
my 30th, both at the hands of the most reverend Bishop
Joliu ['St. John of Beverley'], and at the bidding of Abbot
Ceolfrith. From the time tliat I was ordained priest till
now, when I am 58 years old, I have occupied myself with
wi'iting commentaries on the Holy Scriptures to suit my own
needs and those of my brethren, gathered from the works of
the venerable fathers, and eitlier briefly given or as a para-
phrastic interpretation of the sense. " But lie also wrote
treatises on astronomy, meteorology, physics, music, philoso-
phy, grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, and medicine, as well as
the Lives of iSt. C'uthbert and otiiers. His most important
work, however, was his Ecclesiastical History. Nearly all
that we really know of the century aud a half of English liistory
which dates from the landing of iSt. Augustine, we know from
him. He was the first English scholar, theologian, and
historian, and, moreover, a statesman, as a letter written by
him to Archbishop, then Bishop, Egbert clearly proves. At
some time after the foundation of Jarrow in a.d. 682 he went
thither, aud there be died on tlie Eve of the Ascension, May
25, A.D. 735, and was buried in the Abbey Churcli of SS. Peter
and Paul. A letter from one Cuthbert to Cuthwin, a brother
monk, gives an aS'ecting account, which cannot be abridged,
and is too long to be inserted here, of the last hours of their
old master. [.S't'c Sunday after Ascen.sion.] Alcuin relates a
beautiful anecdote of him in a letter to the monks of Jarrow.
" There can be no doubt," he says, " that the holy places are
frequented by the visits of angels. It is related that Bsda,
our master and your blessed patron, used to say, 'I well
know that angels visit the congregations of lirethren at the
canonical hours. What if they should not find nie there
among my brethren ? Will they not say. Where is Ba-da ?
Why comes he not with bis brethren to the prescribed
prayers ? ' " His bones were said to have been removed to
Durham Cathedral in a.d. 1020 ; and a plain tomb in the
Galilee, where the shrine formerly stood, bears the well-known
leonine verse, " Hac sunt in fossa Baedaj Venerabilis ossa," in
modern letters. There are three different legends professing
to account for the title of " Venerable," which seems to have
been assigned to B.i'da about the ninth century.
Calendars — York on 26th ; Monastic, 27th ; Roman Martyro-
logy, 27th, as his " depositio " or burial.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Eepresented — As a monk.
29] See "State Services " in Appendix.
30] This day is often mentioned as "St. Andrew's Day in
May," and " The Day of the Translation of St. Andrew ; " and
is so called in several places in the churchwardens' account-
book of St. Andrew Hubbard. Eastcheap, London, which
were written about a.d. 1465.
150
Cf)C CalcnDat luttf) tfjc Cable of Ics.sonief.
d
d
>
-•
'
+3
oi
<
a
C4
c
Ij,
12 .£ >•?•?
■?
X
x'x
'x
'S
>■ 'si "^ •=■ '5
.^ > i
d
■?
.'>
. X
:S
.:=.&■'?
'>
O
:a X
>
X X X X
X •- !>
s
►:]
53
>."?.S'x'i<
>
> ' — '
X X
X
X
X X X X
x-:;3 o ^•
> o :S
X
X
X X
X
X
X X X X
XXX jJJ.S
o;
§
;^
.^
<i
P.
o
^
Cl
:5.j^ >
■>■?'?.!:; X
"x
x
'x'x
X
X
>■■?■> 'S.b
X *x 'p.
o
>
-
z
o
::d J '^
. :=" .-:
>'
'>
.'d 'S
X
'?
X ,
> -..jiH ;>•
d .2 'x 'x X
2j X X X X
XX. >
X X ;s c ■-■
«
^.So
.S; > S X X
X
X
X X
X
X
X X X X
XXX -.=
SJ
-;
QOr^
t^
CI
^ ?i
Si
s
■^
•s >■
>
5
g
C-1
.2 X X
1^
"x'x'x'x a
_> ^
o
4J
Pi
o
-2-S .
l--l 00 1-;
_• s ;i
2 =
L-S s to
*"
o
>
M
^^
—
CI —
2^
J .-J
O CI X
*>'-' X
/5
3
l>
1^
i
3
'>
X
to
SO
a
3
Chron. xii.
xiv.
xvi. and xv
XX. to r. 31
xxii.
xxiv.
xxvi. and x
Kings xviii
X .„■
X X
X X
. X
r
1
X
X
X
i
go
*x
X
S)
a
.Ei
CO
>
'x
*x
zra i. and ii
v.
viii. V. 15.
X. to V. 20.
eheniiali ii.
V.
vii. J'. 73 an
xiii, V. 15.
sther ii. v. ]
.••r -2
m
a
2
n
CI
CI
CI
CI
CI
CI
CI
&::!
^ W
"-5
s
?. 1). 32tov.iJ. 17.
. 1). 17.
i.
ii. to V. 35.
ii. V. 35 to viii.
^■t
o
CO
1
<
1^
'R
c
O
CI
vi. to V. IG.
vi. V. 16.
vii.
viii. to V. 28
viii. i;. 28.
CI
o
X
CI
X
ci
'x
i
ii. to V. 22.
ii. V. 22.
iii.
iv. to V. 32.
^'to CI
oci ^.
;; »
. . .**
rCl
P4
XXX
X X X X X
X
X
K X
X
<
.„ > > !> >
> > ."
H
s
,^
^•
CO
in
^
5
^
d
71
X
^
Hi
g
d
'«
S'x
1
o
CO
X
^1
X
X
o
CO
o
4i in
•i 1 o ■
iJ
a
;^ a
:=| .
£U X
;; . :a t> >
.2 X X X X
X X X X X
X
'x
X
»• ^
X'rt
■x'3
SO
a
X g :3 j;
X N ;» .«
•a "2 S
"3 > ■> 'S I5
.£•?■ i
c>
CI
(>)
HH
CI
-<
!z; w
1-5
S
C3J
a CO
m -a.
1 S
IS
i
1
1
1
a
o
w
1
1
C3
o
a.
E3 ^
1
^
•s
in
rj
J3
M ^
^ H
l-t
T3
0)
c
rt o
^
1
n
^ 3
»
n
IB
3
rj
aaS
^^
—• — • — ■ — ■
a
^'A.
S TJ -s" -t; -r
9 HH hH M I.H
-3
to CJi
O
O
dooo
000000
odoo
r'5
Lt
..K
'^ 00
J-.^
o
l.C t CO CI
^ C5 00 t..CO
icJTiImjJj
O
■*«A<
^cot^tdio
■*
eoB<
h-t r^
f-i
o
MH 60<J
^ OT3 »""
to
<J.a
o-rf
«
»*-i
uxj-a o
■a 0) UH 6o<] .a
Cjr^ «<«
^H
cjeo<*
«5«0 t^GOCl
o
^ CI
CO rP
O
CO
1-..CO O) o
cJSSSiISS
S§5§58
Comparison of Calcnnars.
151
.0
c
>>§
-HO
<
..3 .CO
J
OJ
C14
(U
0)
-4->
•4->
,:3
^
c
04
«<i1
oT
jis
cj
-c
CU
^
V -*-^
t^
1^
>-5
-^
^i
4i
Oi
m
OJ
3 ^^
'SI"'
r: g !•
E S <»
. . ^
o
1-3
c2
C3
•^
d
(D
1—1
c«
O
(D
rd
■P
C4-I
o
CD
•r-i
>
t>
c3
a
o
Q
a:
^
Oh
c
fi
S
to
??
n1
a
fo
^
GOO]
-- ©■
;^
-e
C3
M to ■
indo,
azari
Padu
3
tA
s^-s
•73
i? cert B
J5 rt
S pq
CO
o .a H ci ;r
1-5 rt<i W
•Szi . . ■
X' '^ 4i .li c/:'
O ,
•a
;3 >>
S 2
Si
rt Oj
1 g » 3
C3
■'A
03
6043
-*2 fS h^
CO ns ^^
o-^ 3
S g
OJ
(-•
r!
r^
'w
^
a
f^l-3 moj
COtZ! "
Qj r;i ^
2 rt
Nf^
1-5
O-ti
-*:>
S^
t*-(
'S a
OS
>
^
it
^ S
^P-i 5
MCKO
O C3 ■« n
2 2
rtii,
'2^ 'i
c5 p 'o,
^^ g
mm
'm.
mi
50
>mm
imm
S ^ 3 -r .
i-l<lH-=t
CO
. ■ c t
mmu
M ■* O CO t- CO
;i3 += -iiJ o
P S -3
CJ C8
!3S
g S
CtiPQ
03
g-l 2
■/^ C«;/j
m
A c3
.2 cs
-= ;3 C3
=3 -a .-
m
m
c t- r^
S S .-S S .i; -g ^ 53
M
:i ^ ^ -^
Q) f— ' -fJ •'- jj
3 ^
1=1 -e
13 ..u
to
o
03
ce 3
pq>
M
03
S3h
S.2 2 S
■73 CO H
mm
coco
3
eg
o a
w
a
■3
1-5
c3 ^•
mm^
Ph
CO
Ph
- w £
<;,CC o
mmO
-
rt
pL a
.2
"g '-^
a rt
c? t.
>■ §
• _S a
*:co o"
mmO
■rt
a
Tl
»
ert
Cl
'^
S
Ct,
^
rr
A
0.
P3
03 ■— ; .r"
a 22
aS-^
c5 ,_^ a
CO rt c4
2 i "^
a " m
60-2 >
O rf ^
mmm
mmm
rt
00
a<
1-
a
r3
a
u
a
3
J^
m
*:o3
CO
m
mm
152
Cfje a^inor IDoIj)Daj)s of 3iune.
I] NicoMEDE, Roman Priest [?] and Martyr. — His name is
found in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory on September 15th,
and in the most ancient Calendars. But no reliance can be
placed on the contradictory accounts of the particulars of his
martyrdom. According to one of these, found only in the
fabulous "Acts" of SS. Nereus and Achilles, he was flogged to
death with leaded whips A.D. 81, his body being thrown into
the Tiber, rescued by his deacon, and buried in the catacomb
that bears his name. According to another account, equally
nntrustworth}-, he was drawn over iron spikes, flung into a
furnace, and flogged as above described, about A.D. 285.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xiv. 20, and xv. 3-6. St.
Matt. xvi. 2-t-28. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 1-7.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Aberdeen, Paris, and Austin
Canons. On September 15th, the supposed day of his martyr-
dom, Roman, ^Monastic, and Hereford.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Bepreseyited — With spiked club or leaded whip.
5] BoNTFACE, Bishop of Mentz and Martyr. — "Winfrith,
afterwards named Boniface, was born about A.D. 680, at
Crediton, in Devonshire. He early shewed great promise, and
was intended by his parents for a secular career. But a visit
of some monks to his father's house set him longing to em-
brace tlie religious life ; and his father, though much opposed
to such a step, sent liira at seven years old to a monastic
school at Exeter, whence he proceeded to Nutescelle, in
Hampsliire. Here he made such progress that he was
appointed to teach others, and was ordained priest at thirty
years of age. The adventurous mission of the Englishman
Willibrord among the heatlien Frisians was then much
talked of in English monasteries, and Winfrith longed to join
the noble band beyond the sea. In a.d. 716 he crossed over
for that purpose, but he met witli such opposition that he
was obliged to return, whereupon he was made Abbot of
Nutescelle much against liis will. In two years' time he
obtained a release, and in a.d. 719 went to Rome, whence he
was sent by Gregory II. into German}', where he had great
success, as also in Friesland, Hesse, and Saxony, after which
the Pope consecrated him missionary Bishop. Returning to
liis mission, he had to encounter not ouly utter Paganism,
but a wild mixture of Paganism and Christianity. There vas
a venerable oak at Fritzlar, hallowed for ages to Thor the
Thunderer ; and Boniface, attended by his clergy, went forth
and felled this tree, building out of its wood a chapel to St.
Peter. He also founded many churches and a monastery,
visited Rome twice again, and procured many missionaries from
England. Having long laboured with great zeal and success,
and obtained the titles of Archbishop and Primate of all
Germany, he was at last attacked by a party of heathen
ruffians, who fell upon him and several of his converts. The
Archbishop, seeing that his hour was come, took a book of the
Gospels and made it a pillow for his head, stretching forth his
neck to receive the blow of one who beheaded him with a
sword [June 5, a.d. 755]. Several of his letters and sermons
are extant. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : 1 Cor. iv. 9-14. St. Matt.
X. 23-26. During Easter-tide, St. John xv. 5-7.]
Calendars — All except Roman, Paris, and Hereford.
Dedirnlions of Churches — Two.
Represented — With book pierced with sword ; a club ; a
scourge.
II] St. Barnaba-s, Apostle and Marttr. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Clturchcs — Six.
Represented — With St. Matthew's Gospel in his hand, aa it
was a tradition (most improbable) that lie carried about with
him one written by the Evangelist's own hand ; with a staff,
or a stone, or stones.
17] St. Alean, Martyr. — During the persecution of Dio-
cletian and Maximian, which began A.D. 303, according to
Gildas and Ba;da, though the Englisli Chronicles date the
martyi-dom in A.D. 283, Alban, a Romano-British Pagan,
sheltered a Christian cleric fleeing from persecution, and by
him was instructed in the faith, converted, and doubtless
baptized. After some days soldiers were sent to arrest the
fugitive. Alban put on his teacher's cloak (amphibalus) and
gave himself up in his place. The magistrate, indignant at
his having shielded a ' ' sacrilegious rebel, " gave him the usual
choice between sacrificing to idols and speedy death. Con-
fessing himself a Christian, and refusing to sacrifice, he was
beheaded outside the gate of tlie great Roman city Verula-
mium, on the rising ground wliere the Abbey and English
town of St. Alban's afterwards arose. Many legendary
additions gi-ew up around this simple story ; and the priest,
whose name does not occur in the earliest accounts, nor in
the latest Sarum Breviaries, was afterwards called "Amphi-
balus " from his cloak, figuring under that name in some
martyrologies and in the York Breviary, and having a shrine
at St. Alban's. The shriues of both St. Alban and St. Amphi-
balus were recovered in the year 1872; each being recon-
structed out of fragments that had been used as walling
material. St. Alban is honoured as the protoniartyr of
Britain, and in the later middle ages he was hailed in a
hymn as " prothomartyr Anglorum, miles Regis Augelorum."
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Wisd. iv. 7-11, 13-15. St. Matt. xiv.
24-28.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford, and Aberdeen on the
22nd, 17th in ours being a mistake.
Dedications of Churches — Eight.
Rejyresented — As a layman, with a tall cross ; with a sword.
20] Tr.an,slation of Edward, King of the West Saxons. —
It is mentioned above [March 18th] that men buried St. Edward
at Wareham without any kingly worship. Under the year
980 the Chronicles say, " Here in this year S. Dunstanus and
.^Ifere ealdorman fetched the holy king S. Eadward's body
at Wajrham, and carried it with mickle worship to Scajftes-
byrig " [Shaftesbury]. Florence of Worcester [anno 979] saj's
tliat the body was uncorrupt. This translation is com-
memorated on the 20th of June. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus.
xxxi. 8 11. St. Luke xiv. 26-33.]
Calendar — Sarum only.
Dedications of Churches — See March ISth.
24] Nativity of St. John Baptist. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep, and Coll.]
Dedications of Churchi,^— Three hundred and ninety.
Represented — Witli raiment of camel's hair, carrying the
Agnus Dei standing on a book, or painted on a round disk, or
with the Lamb near him.
29] St. Peter, Apostle and Martyr. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep and CoU.]
Dedications of Churches— 'Eight hundred and thirty, two hun-
dred and thirty with St. Paul, and ten with some other saint.
Represented — With a key or keys, rarely one, generally two,
sometimes three ; sometimes as a Pope : sometimes with an
inverted cross.
154
Ctjc CalcnDar toitb tfjc Cable of Lc0sons.
1 ci
1
■- w
IC
.«•
.„■
w
^-
OJ
~ :::::
a
tn : —
- 4) .„■ :::
;?
1^
s
.„•:= >• -3.^:3 i>-H
._;
:^
._;
:= P ._;
> ■ "-
H
. .^
>' -iJ ^
i
M
pj
■"'"•"o "-
■"
CI
■"
CI
"~ ■'"'
•"H""
SW--
:=
■,~
i
Si:
Cd
g
5
>■
o
:;.„-:3 .:=■.>■•?■§
.:^>->xxxxx
■><
M^
.:3
_> -r;
'> X
;a .« ■> '>
X X X X
n
1-*
f^
w
.£ > i>
X
> > y,
X
X X
X X
X X X X
E^
O
3
«"i
>•
A
C
z
o
J
■"■.c: t-'^^'S'P.S ><■■><
'x
'><
■- 9
•? >.2
. .rH
la.S >•
■?"=?■? .id
CI
X
^■^
■-
.C > >
X
X X
XXX
X X X X
1
>
:3 > > .5 X X X X
X
■x
X
•-
>'>.2
:5 >
v:i
.„-:S >"■>
X X X X
Oh
H
:c > >
X aj;3
1-5
X
X X
X X
X X X X
~2«
o ^
R
^
c:
>
a
■- S
3 S "" O
>
t~:
« . CO
3^~
'^^ o ^•
^S2
-•?iS
O . ,'
CO . ^ -:
'-' feci ;;
o
■-5
V.
2 Jol
3 .Jul
Jude
Matt
ii.
iii.
iv.
>'
.•
>'> T
?*
'5 >.d
.2 X X
'x
x "x
'x'x'3
.>>■>•■?
X X X X
^^
C5
,
^,'-', o
5S la
> lO
>
d
s
X "
'■^ cc =
>■'— '
X •■
^ So
. to V. 23.
ii. to V. 17.
iv. u. 21.
vi, to w. 21.
CI
. rH
^
>
■>
X
X X
B .Z
o
CI
:3 >■
00
q
^
s:5.>
■?■> X
> >
X X X X
X X X X
M
X
XXX
X
X
X X
X X
•>'2
X ^
■p M .
" X CI X -H
<i
•^
•*•
?i X
. X
1-1
CO
g
^ - . i
.w t
^ 1-
i^oo.
^ O L
■"■ci
_• I^
A
^
A
^
^
w
&
o
i:f
CI
c5 cji
-•!:;&
CI
. -<
o _■ .
c-i
■^ ^ .^■-— ■ >■ •
^i*
-
:3
=i o .
.♦J ^
.2 ii x'
O , .
.s
:s >'
>■■>
■?■>■? 5
ci
Oh
1
"S
>
> > >
>
XXX
X
X X
X X
X X X C
<
><
X
XXX
X
XXX
XXX
X
X X
X X
X X X o
^ 1.
X
§
=?"2
P
O
S g5
X
«" .s
?i
O L
21j i^ .
1-3
c
1
^
.::;' .:3.£^?^S'S
X
XXX
XXX
t ^\
o
. +3
+3
i-H ^
-■ si
>•■?■
. — o
X •- -5 >
.5 X X X
<^
>>xxxxxx
X
X
XXX
X
Cm
X
X X
X X X X
>> d
a
.
>.
(3 -a
S §
■a M
o
1
1
CO
> !-
>Q O
1
CJ=
s
s
^5
1 g
pq
a
>■
1
•s -^
1
§
t3
t2 ^
^5
« a
1
a:
M
n
.... a
<
1
-a
O
cacao
OOOO'ZS-:
HH
. .-a
•a-ci-'
HHHH
:3
rt c3 rt
Tf'cC CI
"3
66
OOJ
rt rt c3
»
I.O
■*■ «Ph
1— (
-^
'Ph
CO
<J^ 013 OMH UK]
^
O
-a o«-c
bo
<!,Q o
•a oMi
bo
0.fl
OTJ «
<« bC<!^
1— (
M « -^i in <D t~ CO OS
o
1— «
C-) cc ■>*
ift
to t^eo
2SS
?i
S5S
SSR
Sci coco
Comparison of CalenDars.
'55
c2
-^
-^
o
0:1
o
>
•H
ft
a
o
O
d.t:
B^
OJ
■s
fi s
a
-=1^
r,;'-'
Bpq
f3 **:;
Cosmas
tment of
n Mary.
W<5
./ 8 M
-4J -4J
cot'
rjim
aj
CO
= .5 '-c ^
° jt "S °
o a °--
S gp^^
PhCl, r"
"^■^ "^ 2 Si^ a
CO 4J .ii CO .*i .*j +3
'X .X x M CO CO CO
-a
Ph
W
MS
bi o " 1;
.0 . . .
CO cocoto
tj in
=1 13
M _
4) S
la
S o
t^ O «) '^
CO CO
!»
■|.i
M
I^P-i
o
J3.
60
3
O
P4
H
CO
a
3
CO
CO
a
t^ .ti
fe
Ti
O
•i
|2|
S 1 « =
^ ':;^ a •— I r» o
OT
o
3
.g
COX
• 3 a
' S-3l" a
i a-"T3 E
■ O [S OJ m
Wx go
0)
nC^
S g s
^H
OJ
^ rt
+3 4J '— +3 J
■X 'Ji PQ c/:. ,^
a >>
o a &■
E c3
£-1 a
J. 2 =3
" E! .
'^ .a aJ
a033
c3 M
.2 "a &
;3 3 m-
g 3j a
m
.5 OJ ,^
o ^
C; X
^ HH k-^ -^"^ rt
X
XX -t>
XXX
XXX
X xco
IP
rt 4j
"^ s
X "
X
Pi^.a a
- fc- rt
.a rt -H
3 cu o
rt'^^
■* a '
X •'x
X X
rt
a
to
s;
W^
- £?rt a
J a g-'g
'm 'Sb w X
X
a -g rt
•2^-2
rt .e?5.:3
H CO
'o
w .
X rt
O
W
rt
e
"rt
tD-i
«'S
5 QJ
« 60
►> rt
S^ rt
P<
o
tH w
02
a
X"
X
fe
S s 0)
BOB
rt a ^
i-j-g-S X
• § . 2
X BS H
X
« rt X
X
■3 2 J
o
<»o o -<
J4 '^
^■^
3 X
c»
CO Ti
o rt
Sh -
Ph 2
x«
X
a
'S _:
^ a
aS
J2
'm a
a. 2
^ m
X ^
° >>2 rt'til
a -p rt-T;^:
o >3^-a a
■434 a -a g
J3 S •.- se S
xxH
J3 ^ rt _
4J 4a X
XXX
•r- . R
S S '^
o"r; c
Ph^ rt
^ ^ rz;
ft .
P^
rt -x CO
^ t-. Oj
•*^ OJ ^
^- P< «
rt Qj rt d
Sii^' O
4S X
X X
§ »5
X !- O)
^"Sx
a ^ a
'^^ S a
<D 3 *-;
O
•-< 0) a
a
P5
•n' r/i .2
O >, t-t .
•Sg^.a
rt „ -^
.-S.3 2 &
.2 M)Sx
r— rt
o 2
rt-J3
•2J3
Eh H
3-3
3 a
fe CO
xO
o o . ,4
o O ^ ,1^
•4343 S a
g aW<l
rt rt . .
HHxx
J3
P<
6bS >.
tH 2 t*
rt J^ rt
rt a ' 3
~ .2 a -^ ■»'
o g |0 a
M .^ ^ '^ J2
<3o"^'
4J 43 X
XXX
=« a
X o
feS2
<o rt X
•-'-! rt
^g a
^ 3 ^
■"co
X
X
O
<U 09
X'
X
n
li
fags
aj rtX
■^ a a
^ 3 5
fe a<5
X "^x
X X
156
Cfje Q9inor fr)oi^Daj;,s of 31ul|?.
2] Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Maky. — This festival
originated in France in the miilJle of the thirteenth century,
and commemorates the visit of the Blessed Virgin to her
cousin Elisabeth, as recorded in the Gosjiel for the day.
The Council of Basle decided that it should be celebrated
throughout the Western Church in 14il, but it was
added to the Vork Calendar by the Convocation of that
province as late as 15"2(), and then placed at April 2nd.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Cant. ii. 1-4 and 10-14. St. Luke i.
39 and foil.]
Calendars— AW. [York, April 2nd. Paris, June 27th.]
Represented — The two meeting and about to kiss or embrace
one another. Elisabeth older than Mai-y.
4] Translation of .St. Martin, Bishop and Confessor. —
St. Brice, the successor of St. Martin, built a chapel over his
tomb mthin the present walls of Tours, but at that time five
hundred and thirty paces from the city. St. Perpetuus, the
sixth Bishop, about A. D. 470 founded a great basilica and
monastery on the spot, and on July 4tli translated St. Martin's
remains to a sumptuous tomb behind the high altar. It is
said that tlie body had lieeu carried into Burgundy, as in
England St. Cuthbert'a body was borne from place to place,
for fear of the Danes. The care of the tomb was committed
to a fraternity which developed into the famous Chapter of St.
Jlartin, of which the King of France was ex officio head under
the title of Abbot. The Huguenots violated the tomb and
burned the relics, with the exception of some portions which
were recovered. The Sarum Calendar names also his consecra-
tion or "ordination " on this day, which is referred to in one of
the lections as "natalis episcopatus ejus." [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17, 20, 21-2.3; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St.
Luke xii. 32-34.]
Calendars — All except Roman and Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — Sec November 11th.
15] St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, Translation. —
St. Swithun or Swithin was born in the kingdom of the West
Saxons, and educated in the monastery attached to Win-
chester Cathedral, of i^hich he became prior. Early in the
ninth century he was ordained priest, and in a.d. 838 was
consecrated to the See of Winchester. He devoted himself
with great zeal to the work of his diocese, and was celebrated
for his humility, austerity, and works of charity. He took
great part in inducing King Ethelwult to assign to the
Church the perpetual donation of tithes. He died July 2,
a.d. 862, and was buried at his own request on the north side
of the church, in a mean place, where men might walk over
him, and the rain water his grave. In A.D. 971 his bones
were translated to a rich shrine within the church ; but it is
said that a most violent rain fell on the appointed day, and
continued for thirty-nine days, wlience St. Swithin, like St.
Gervais in France [June 19th] and otlier saints in Belgium and
other parts of Europe whose days fall in June and July, was
supposed in some way to influence the weather. The Roman
Martyrology mentions St. Swithin only on July 2nd, the day
of his death ; the Sarum Calendar only on the 15th, in honour
of his translation. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Heb. vii. 23-27.
St. Luke xii. 35-40.]
Cnlemlar — Sarum only.
Dedications of Churches— Viity -one, and one with St. Nicolas.
Jicpresented — As a Bishop.
20] St. Margaret, Virgin and Martyr, Antioch. —
According to the ancient martyrologies, she suffered at Antioch
in Pisidia in the last general persecution ; but, like St. George,
she is one of those samta who have been universally honoured,
while of their history we know very little. It is certain that
from early ages her feast has been observed with singular
honour alike in F.ast and West, and this must point to some
true story now lust. Her "Acts " were generally accepted in
later times, but are manifestly fabulous. The Greeks com-
memorate her on tlie 17th under the name of Marina. The
legend of her being swallowed by a dragon and bursting
through his body may have arisen out of allusions to her
victory over Satan, or to symbolical representations of the
same, possibly Iiel])cd by pagan representations of Aphrodite
rising out of a fish, mistaken in later times for the Christian
sainu [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii.
44-52.]
Calendars^ All.
Dedications of Cliurches — Two hundred and thirty-eight ;
six with other Saints. Some may be dedicated to St. Margaret
of Scotland.
Represented — Crowned, piercing a dragon with a long cross
or spear ; with dragon and lamb ; angel protecting her from
dragon ; with dragon chained ; bursting through body of
dragon, end of her robe in its mouth ; trampling on dragon ;
grasping its head.
22] St. !M.ary Magdalen. — The Western Church has
generally assumed that Mary Magdalen, JIary of Bethany,
and "the woman that was a sinner" were one and the same
person, wliile the Eastern Church has held the three to be
distinct. In the I'oman Breviary the Office distinctly refers
to all three. .Sarum commemorates the penitent sinner as
Mary JIagdalen, using the text, "Mary hath chosen that
good part," etc., perhaps only by way of adaptation. The
Eastern view may have led to the removal of the Collect, with
the Sarum Epistle and Gospel, from the First Book of Edward
VI., and to the festival's ceasing to be one of the higher class.
The Collect was, " Mercy full father, geue vs grace, that we
neuer presume to synne thorough the example of any creature,
but if it shall chaunce vs at any tyme to offende thy diuync
maiestie : that then we may truely repent, and lament the
same, after the example of Mary Slagdalen, and by a lyuely
faithe obtaine remission of all our synnes, throughe the onely
merites of thy sonne our Sauiour Christ." In a Litany of
Dunkeld [a.d. 873-893] "St. Mary Magdalen" comes at the
head of the virgins and widows, and St. JIartha next, as if
they were the sisters of Bethany. In the Greek Church St.
Mary Magdalen is esteemed as the equal of the Apostles, as
having been the first witness of the Eesurrection. She is
supposed to have retired to Ephesus with the Blessed Virgin
and St. John, and to have been buried there. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp. : Prov. xxxi. 10-31. St. Luke vii. 36-50.]
Calendars^AVi except Paris.
Dedications of Churches — About one hundred and fifty.
Rep^'esented — With box of ointment ; with boat and open
book ; with a skull ; young, and with long hair.
25] St. James, Apcstle and Martyr. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About three hundred and fifty.
Represented — In a rough pilgrim's tunic, with staff, shell,
hat, baldric, and wallet, sometimes with shells on his tunic,
baldric, and wallet, in allusion to the pilgrimages made to
his shriue at Compostella.
26] St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. —
Holy Scripture gives us no information respecting the parentage
of the Blessed Virgin, except that she was "of the house and
lineage of David. " The first mention of St. Anne is in the
Apocryphal Gospel of St. James, which states that St. Anne
and St. Joachim were both well stricken in years, \vith no
hope of children, when Mary was given to them. Procopius
of CiBSarea, who lived in the early part of the sixth century,
mentions a church dedicated to St. Anne, " whom some
believe to be tlie mother of the Virgin, and the grandmother
of Christ," at Constantinople. The Greeks have three days
of St. Anne in the year : On September 4tli, with Joachim ;
December 9tli, her conception ; July 26th, her death. The
first mention of her " cultus " in the West is in a letter of
Urban VI. to the English prelates in 1378 ; the Feast of St.
Joachim was appointed by Julius II. [1503-13], but expunged
by Pius V. [l,')GG-72]. The Feast of St. Joseph was appointed
by Sixtus IV. [1471-84], but does not appear in English
Calendars. It is quite reasonable to suppose that the names
at least of Joachim and Anne were traditionally known to the
writer of the Apocryphal Gospel. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
Prov. xxxi. 10-31. St. Matt. i. 1-16.]
Calendars — All except Roman of 1582, added about
1584, but found in some earlier Roman Calendars. [Paris
on 28th.]
Dedications of Churches — Twenty-three, one with St. Agnes.
Represented — Teaching the Blessed Virgin to read.
•58
Cf)C CalcnDar toitf) tbc Cable of Lessons.
w
« X X « s:
•Ph.
M 2 o
IMI-sM
CD
to
K
•r^
g
:a.5-?
>
K X X
>^
t^
X^'
<u
XXX
X X
X X X x;s hJ
K
ROi
<a.s
> .a X X
x-g .
.-::n >
X X
X X
X X
X X "x X — • ;
:-
^
>
;> > >
i X
X X
X
X
X
X
XXX
X X
X X
X
.
""
. t-':3
^
xvii
XXX
Dan.
N
;>
X
>■?
">
x'
X X ^
»^K
(M j; ^'
X«
'x _-
Ol X '
I ^" o
:sr); .--H o
T* :3 CO
,^ ~ X ,. o
. CO CO -H -< 5. ci
-■ o „■
; —I ■*
no i^' b .
CO " o <N .
>n <N
XXX XX
> >
> >
X X
X X
> >
X X
X X
; .„• ;i3 •"" IN
X X
^ '■ " "
X X X Xl2.-::
02
CO
-p
00
n
w
..•2?3
= 0.8""
.« ^ ..,; :s 'S
"x o >'?'>'x
n ^ o
:3 .j:=:3 >
> .S X X X
X X X X X
> X X X X X X
X X X X X X X
X X X X X X x;
j'-o..^
tj
P^
1— 1 05
irf
>■
o'S
00 a
,. CO ^ .
c)
. ca
^ ci
^ ^ ^. Oi
.• "5
•n
QO
_•<»
a
.SP
4^ - O .
o .•
«
R
t^CI
O .
^j :j
'S ■"
^
;j3
t«
>
5
U ^
•S'P.S.-i
>_>
X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
rH .^*
Ui*
C3 "
S.S.S > > >
^^
(N s
X.2
X o:
ii. t
. to-
5
..A
R
>■
'p
X
Hi
X
X
XVI.
xWii
o
fi
1— t
X
>
>
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
3 > >
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X
^
w
o
•A
•s 1
o
^
C^J^l C!
■6
.-§1;=
a
MP .
<
a
.a§-s
a
g O 60
i
1
X
!«
t» «
3
60
. . a
n a o
-a
'O 'CT3 "w 'w I""
c3ff3ciS<4cdc3cSc3c3c3
oooooooooo
^coPM
(z;ot
t~ «: 115 -* CO &H
r^ O X t^o
W^-^COtNf-iOCSODt^O
LO
^"&
u
'w O <.-4
110<J
.a OT3 »•« M
<J^ O-C u
•« tio«s)^ otJ a-" taxi
^
o-O o
^ wet"* la^D t^COOSO^OI C0-«#»OCOt-* OOCSOr^OJCO
(M i>) IN IN IN c5 CT o« fS 5i«e<j
Comparison of Calcntiars
159
.ij
is.
a 2
a
f-.
t- J3
bO
a) ca
<u &
CC!
=" S
ccw
a
<y
■0,^
c
^-t!
M
|i
P
a
n
2
^ ID
ij
aj
H 1
4J +3
tn
£^
■tit/2
a; v:
w
H
XX
MCC
!>.
ea
s
c
-*i
CO a
rt ^
3 3
o 3 rt ^^
n3 o c
rt +s ^ ^-< S2 Q>
<1
M a,
.31:3
is
tD 'In
O ;S.H-
s ».
3
-^ >>
r-l
0)
g^
J CC'
rt
-p M
a;
-S E
urch
'es.
rLo
gapi
3
^.=. s<^
.73
^^■^-^
&0
I'iSi
.« >> ,„-
on
Mar
urati
simu
iri
-^ a oooi
[h
ica
rgi
lici
"■i^
3> scS
4i
rr
fi B
02 -J2
rt i-i
§ Q ^
p:i
rt ^
•si
q 5
HqW W§
S
00
X <!
Pi
a 'J, ^
5;fe o . Q,
a <u a B;^
fc- c ;--• .5 ■-•
W>-5 opH
-*j -*i tZ} &4J
ct X c/j •/:
^ W
c3
a
0^
p-
c3
c!
w
:-<
"o
fi:
1"^
•-5
»J§
-l-s
r/^
= cj ^
s -S
*o
H-1
"? - "m
a
rt
N^<1
s
fd
-w 4-3fy}
^
r/j
^iji-ri
p
C/J
a
C4
CIQ
_« '^ c^
O
A
-p
o
c«
a"
coco HH
5
03
«
t/J
t-l
<1
yj
Tl
V)
VJ
a %*
00
W
^53 s a =4
.^■k <s. P-.3
-*3 MH -ta Bj ^
aj a
o, a
p<
-3
Eh » pq
• 'C .
03 CC
Pt ^ w
.- CD O
03 =; t- ^
P^
<5
. a
"3 Wan
C5 O --H OI CO ^ lO O t^ c
-OD
0)
•H
t>
•rH
ft
o
O
.3 a
j5 _
O a
CC02 1-1
2
.-/"'
m
r/'
S
C
»!
60tx<
=3
^- I
2 g S' „• a; 2
. '-' ci H l3 O 3
2 2 i S g a -^
5>^'e; f= S £ s
<r1 S - '^ ■ • •
^-Ji WX-J2
a
C8
• Pi
M
OJ
s
CO
° S3 -T^-
a -a
a
■ 1=1 s
' o s
^ Pi ti ?
■*J -*J £?!-, o
P-i la p P
43 -ti ^ a ^
2 2;a§S.2|3
= 01
o
PiOQ g o rt:2
73
a
7h^
P5
5 >- .-s >>
— ^ a a Ja
Oia^-SS
W o^ S'Sb
^- ^ ^ ^ »^
.^y} co<l
Agap
Magn
Oswir
4^ 4^
X x
4i
X
p,a
rt to
Pi
<1
a
<
H.2pq JA
• *-■ . C
O; X ^
e; ^ o "^
»|£ sp .^
a Eo ^ .3 "*^ -^
X x P5 X
4^ .
H.2PP
O CO
*^ ^- t^-l
13
to
■B £Pm J » ;3
a 5 2 '-4^ '^
Ph<-2 a P-a^
-sec S'Sfflx
SCO) CQ X
to
X
'-+3
ojPm
Hx
I
ll
Xt3
§
■e
s
.s
1-IH
-ti
4i
XX
012
Pi
a
bo
a
.» 4^
a a
X Ol
i6o
Cf)e 00inor l])oIj)Daps of August.
1] Lammas Day [St. Peter ad Vincula]. — Tlie English
name of this day is undoubtedly a later form of "Loaf-mass,"
from its being a feast of thanksgiving for the firstfruits of the
har\-est, -when bread made of the new wheat was offered at tlie
Mass. The blessing of new fruits took place in both Eastern
and Western Churches on tlie 1st or the 6th of August,
and probably took tlie place of a heathen custom of a similar |
kind. Such explanations as Vincula-mass, Lamb-mass, etc.,
cannot stand against the form of the ivord iii the oldest
English, viz. Hlaf-m«sse, i.e. "Loaf-mass," especially when
it is taken in connection with the blessing of firstfruits. The
old saying "At latter Lammas," i.e. never, is supposed to
refer to the absence of an octave as compared with St. Peter's
Day [June 29th]. The Western Church has long kept this
day also in memory of the dedication of the famous Church
of St. Peter ad Vincula in P>ome, in which one of the chains
which fell off St. Peter is said to be kept. St. Peter /«
Carcere is the dedication of another church in Rome over
the Mamertine prison, where St. Peter is believed to have
been confined.
Calendars — All have St. Peter ad Vincula with the Seven
Maccabees, whose bodies are supposed to rest under the high
altar of the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula in Rome.
Dedications of Churches — One, within the precincts of the
Tower of London, to St. Peter ad Vincula.
6] TE-isSFiGUHATiON' OF OUR LoRD. — This festival has long
been kept in East and West, though not always on this day,
in memory of the Transfiguration, and in the Greek Church
it is called the Feast of Tabor, while our forefathers called
it ' ' The Overforniing of our Lord on the Mount Tabor. "
Pope C'alixtus III. issued a bull for its general observance on
this d.iy [a.d. 1457]. This festival has never ranked with
the others of our Lord, being of much later institution, and
its theological significance being less evident than that of the
rest. The Transfiguration was, however, a type and earnest
of our Lord's second coming in glory, and of the future
glory of the risen bodies of His members. In the Sarum
ilissal the mass of the day is preceded by the blessing of the
new grapes. There was a custom for the deacon to press a
small quantity of fresh grape-juice into the chalice for Mass,
probably a survival of an offering corresponding with that of
Lammas Day [August 1st]. The Emperors of Constantinojile,
the Patriarch, aud the members of the Court used to have a
ceremonial presentation of grapes to one another in a vine-
yard. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : 2 St. Pet. i. 16-19. St. Matt.
x^'ii. 1-9.]
Calendar.i — All except Hereford. [Cologne, ninth centurj',
July 27th.]
7] Name of Je.sus. — This festival does not appear to liave
been generally observed until the beginning of the sixteenth
century. In 1-19S it was kept with the Transfiguration on
August 6tli. Portions of St. Bernard's well-known hymn,
" Jesu, dulcis memoria," were sung in the Sarum Offices aud
Mass. The special point which this day sets before us is,
the peculiar sanctity of that Name at which every knee should
bow, a sanctity in some respects analogous to that of the
Sacred Name liy which God was known to His people of old,
but representing to us the love of the Saviour rather than the
self-existence of the Godhead. On the "Seven Names," see
December 17th. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Acts iv. 8-12. St.
Matt. i. 20-23.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Aberdeen.
Represented — By the monogram it): or tlis, Latin forms of
IHC, the beginning of the old Greek IHCOTC,
10] St. Laurence, Archdeacon of Rome and Martyr.—
Nothing is certainly known of St. Laurence's early years, but
the Spaniards claim liim as their countryman. He was
ordained deacon by Sixtus or Xystus II., and soon afterwards
appointed chief of the seven deacons who served in the
Roman Cliurch. The Christians were at this time under-
going the eiglith general persecution, that of Valerian, and
Sixtus w.a9 led to martyrdom a.d. S.IS. Laurence, his deacon,
made a most affecting appeal to be allowed to sufl'cr with his
"father," whom he had so often assisted in offering the Holy
Sacrifice. This did not come to pass; but within a week he
drew on himself the fury of his persecutors by distributing
the property of the Church among the poor Christians, and
when asked to deliver it up, sliewiug Christ's poor instead as
the true treasure. He was then laid on an iron frame like a
gridiron, and slowly burned to death over live coals. He
suffered with marvellous fortitude, praying for the conversion
of Rome. Prudentius in a beautiful hymn ascribes the con-
version of that city to the martyr's intercession. Ho is
named in the earliest known Roman Calendar, a.d. ^'A, and
in the Communicantes in the Canon of the Mass. [Sar. Ep.
and Gosp. : 2 Cor. ix. 6-10. St. John xii. 24-26.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — About two hundred and fifty, and
three with other Saints.
Eepi-e.tented — As a deacon, with gridiron, and with thurible,
church and book, long cross-staff, or money-bag.
24] St. Bartholomew, Apostle and Martye. — [See notes
on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About one hundred and fifty.
Eejn-esented— With, a flaying-knife in his hand ; sometimes
a human skin on his arm.
28] ST.Auau.sTiNE, Blshop of Hippo, Confessor and Doctor.
— This great confessor and doctor of the Western Church was
born at Tagaste, in Numidia, November 13,a.d.354. Hisfather
was one Patricius, a pagan, and his mother the holy Christian
Monica, commemorated as a saint in the Latin Church on
May 4th. Augustine apjiears to have had a liberal educa-
tion, but to have been early corrupted by theatres and other
immoral influences in Carthage, whither he had been sent to
learn rhetoric, etc. Here, at the age of eighteen, he became
the father of a son named Adeodatus. Cicero's writings
excited the philosophic spirit in his mind, and he at first
thought he saw in ManicliKism a solution of all difficulties.
But it could afford him no lasting satisfaction. His discovery
of the superficiality of Faustus the Manichaean prevented him
from committing himself to Manich.-eanism, and while in an
unsettled state, he wrote, at the age of twenty-six, on "The
Beautiful and the Fitting." In a.d. 383 he went to Rome
to teach rhetoric, and there lived much among the Manichees,
whose heresy he at length quite abandoned, and joined the
Academicians, only to find in the conflict of philosophies as
much bewilderment as ever, and, on the whole, inclining to
general scepticism. In a.d. 384 he removed to Milan, where
he gradually feU under the influence of St. Ambrose, as also
of his mother, who now came to live with him, with his
friend Alypius, his brother Navigius, and his son Adeodatus.
Her influence told for good on the young men in many ways.
The mother of Adeodatus, with whom Augustine had so long
lived, was cruelly sent back to Africa without her son at
Monica's entreaty. Augustine had not yet found rest and
strength in Christ, nor could he find them in Plato, whose
works he read in a Latin translation. He could not long
deny the existence of evil ; the sins of which his own con-
science was full cried out against such teaching. He con-
sulted Simplician of Milan, listened to the discourses of St.
Ambrose, conversed with Pontitian, an African Christian,
studied St. Paul's Epistles, and went to church with Alypius.
The story of St. Anthony went to the depths fif his inmost
soul. He felt that Christ and His Gospel were living powers.
He longed for the pure and blessed life of those holy ones
who followed Christ. But he liad to struggle with his love
of pleasure, liis passions, his earthly ties. And as he lay
down and wept, he heard a child's voice singing ToUe, Leije.
The words went to his heart ; he opened the roll of St. Paul's
Epistles and read, "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But
put ye on tlie Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" [Rom. xiii. 13, 14]. This
was the turning-point. On Easter Eve, April 2'), a.d. 387,
he was baptized Viy St. Ambrose at Milan, together with
Alypius and Adeodatus, and on the following day they were
admitted to their first Communion. The legend that St.
Ambrose and St. Augustine together composed the Tc Demn
on this occasion may have some foundation in fact. How-
ever this may be, Augustine was now happy. As he says
himself, the notes of the hymns .and canticles of the Church
flowed in at his ears, and God's truth revealed itself in his
heart, and he wept for joy ; it w.as well for him to be there.
But soon probably he would be involved in the conflict
between Ambrose and Justina [.April 4th]. Monica died too
about this time, aiul the loud weeping of Adeodatus was
checked by Augustine, who thought such a display of sorrow
inconsistent with Christian hope. At length, however,
nature prevailed, and Augustine also wept. They found com-
fort in praying for Monica, and "the sacrifice of our ransom
was offered for her. " So f.ar we are mainly indebted to St.
Augustine's own Confessions for the particulars of his life ;
the rest is g.athereil from a life of him liy his friend Possidius.
and from scattered allusions in his epistles, etc. Want of
space forbids more than a very hasty glance at the remainder
of his history. He was at Komc a.d. 388, and in 'A'M was
ordained priest by Valerius, Bishop of Hippo, the city of the
Nmuidi.an kings, but now more famcuisas the See of Augustine.
C{)C 0©inor IDolpDap0 of august.
i6i
Here he preiichod a great deal for Valerius, and corrected an
abuse of the mjapif, a custom of which we perhaps have a sur-
vival iu the panU hcne.dlclus distributed in France. In A.D.
395 he was consecrated Bishop, and soon was much occupied
in the famous ecclesiastical controversy with the Donatists,
and had a literary correspondence with St. Jerome. From 412
to 418 he had to combat the heresy of Pelagius, and was him-
self led into exaggerated statements of doctrine, and into a
persecuting policy. He seems to have forgotten how by an
exercise of his own freewill he had himself cast off the ohl
man and his deeds, and was disposed to attribute to Divine
(irace a constraining power destructive of human freedom,
and to have laid down maxims most dangerous to morality.
He wrote a letter to Sixtas, priest of Rome, which gave rise
to much controversy, the Galilean Church especially combat-
ing liis views. In A. D. 427 he published "Retractations," —
not a recantation, but a survey and revision, — the result of
a calmer consideration of former statements. In .Tune A. D.
430, Hippo was besieged by the Arian Vandals, but Augustine
ceased not to preach and to worU till in August he was pro-
strated by fever, and on August 30th he died in his seventy-
seventh year. In his last hours he repeated tlie Penitential
Psalms with many tears, and had them fixed on the wall
opposite to his bed. His body was buried .at Hippo, removed
to Sardinia fifty-six years after by exiled African Bishops,
and A. P. 710 redeemed from the Saracens by Luitpraiid, King
of the Lombards, Since then it has been at Pavia, Init in
1837 some portions were sent to a church in Algeria, on the
ruined site of Hippo. [Sar. Ep. and Goap. ; Kcclus. xlvii.
8-11. St. Matt. V. 13-19.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churehes — Twenty-nine, except any ■which
may be to St. Augustine of Canterbury [May 2(ith].
liepresented — With a burning heart, or a heart with one or
two arrows ; with an eagle.
29] Beheading of St. Joun Bapti.st. — This minor festival
of St. John Baptist commemorates his death as related in St.
Matt. xiv. 1-12. It probably took place sliortly before the
Passover. The 29th of August is the day of the dedication of
a basilica at Alexandria on the site of a temple of Serapis,
in which basilica reputed relics of St. John B.aptist were
kept. Portions are shewn at Amiens, Home, and elsewhere.
One of the explanations of the name of " Halifax," the church
of which parish is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is that
the halig feax, or holy hair, of the Baptist was shewn at a
hermitage there : a tradition embodied in the present arms of
the town, though there are, perhaps, other explanations at
least as probable. The nativity of .St. John the Baptist [.Tune
24th] is observed as his greater festival, because of its
miraculous character and its connection with that of our
Blessed Lord. [Prov. x. 28-32, and xi. 3, G, 8-1 1. St.
Mark vi. 17-29.]
Calendars — All.
Represented — The headless body prostrate, the daughter of
Herodias holding a charger with the head in it, and the
executioner looking on.
102
Ctjc CalenDar toitlj tU Cable of Lessons.
.
.„.
o
iH
1
1
w
1
ls.& >-p:>"
•>
X
X x *x "xx
X X
2:..= .^
>'
•5-?I.H X
._• :a:3.>t.-
X X X X X
d
►J
O
o
.«■ ._
■^■:a
ffi-
>
.2'j-s|
:= 1= -^
a
o
>-5
s
fl
:3
.J.«*
«>1
<
n
43
:5.£ >•■>•?
:d
X
. .-■ :2 (>•
>••?■
'>'>.b X
■^
:a:S.> >■•>
X X X X X
X X S ..-•
1
<N
s
>
X X X X X
X X
X X X X
X
X X X X X
X xg:=:=
fl'
>
'x
• 5 £o
•-
=^
:a
-■ := •- :
=
^
o
^ o
X
a
o
1-5
:=•§
">
■3 -2 £
'> x'x'x
1 -^1 •^
o :3 o X (M
•
-■«^:=^- S?
'>
;>
O tS
ix. V. 30.
x. to V. 32.
X. D. 32.
xi. to V. 27.
xi. V. 27 to xii
r
■^ s ^- .
. s
^s-^
s
>•
1
i. to V. 1 4.
i. D. 14 to
i. V. 30.
ii. to V. 24.
ii. w. 24 to
o
S
s
»•
X
:n >" > >
o
>
-■ .„■ <N lo r
"- » ^ s." -S
CO CD
. . CO
R- 52 s
._: :z: > >"
•<
«
Ph
o
i
> > > > >
>
X X
X X X X
X
x^
g
o <—
>
^•2-«
:5
. .SI
■2 -s " =■; .
OS
:• -§
5 "^ »■
a iv. to w. 13.
V. 8.
and xii. to v.
[7.
ii. to V. 15.
. 28 to iii. if. 9.
3 i. and ii. to
[i>. 4.
O
CO
s
X X X X X
X
X
X
X
X X X X fl
X X X X ^
Q
.-; >
>■ >> .b
"x
g.„.
> ^ ^
X g:= 1
•-5 <
« ^ .«■
^
?^' ■*' :=
^c6
^
g
C4 5,-:3
.«' « ^
5-'
o
CO
V.
o
-*3
■*3
c3
d
t4*
CO
i
^
>
<
a
Ph
o
X X X X X
>
X
OS.
!^ .„•:=.£ >
'>'>
'?.5 x'x
*x
V.-i:s\i.i
.£ >••? ;a
f-H
IN
C
td
O
X
a
o
i
CO
5
is
.S > X X X
X X X X X
5
o
'5
xxxii. to V. 17.
xxxiii. r. 21.
xxxiv. (I. 17.
xxxvii. to V. 15.
xlvii. to V. 13.
o
'a;
2
^ o
■S 00
§s.„-
OS
<N
in s
^
.^ -■ s »"
S
X
X
X
X
i:«
> >-■•>. 2
X
ffi^"^^'
X o:a :3
a
« "
It.
_^
i^
>i
52
d >> "
o
2
(^
m
21 «
a
3
QJ
o
>
i
<4
S
.2 a> S" a
J3 60 —
.art oso
13
M
p<
n-
h 43 A ..
o
.a
1
0)
o
!
St
rt M 2"
■E .S. S
a
S
>
o
>>
(-1
a, .a p
3
^
&
W
^
^
1
a a o .
"rt"!?
"13 rt e3 13
•^
"rt "d *« 'd '5
"^ '«'rt "rt I«4
3
.*■ « Oh 1^ 00
M
-a
oo
oocj:j
u
00:^0^
000^
. . . J- -5
ITS -^ CCPh HH
ai I-
5D »0 ■* CO
(N
<-• oi cdt-i
CD irj-^ cOjjJ
t-^
!C
^H
M-t
t«D<l.o wa
u
^
6o<i).a o-d
O «M
WWJrO O
"O
M-. bD<J-Q
'C « •*- W)
1— 1
(N tc-* into
t^
00
CSO — IN CO
•0< 1!5
CO r^x o>
§
sgsssss
f, ssss
Comparison of CalcnDars.
163
Ph
02
c2
d
-^
PI
O
,^
-p
Cm
O
0)
•r-l
ft
a
o
O
*"= to "^
a)
M
-tJ -ts ^H
*^ ft.
- (3
.a o
mS n
-r g
.■ss g
.£ ai-5
"S'Sb •
« 03
W
50
H
2 »<
bD
■d<l
a ra-
ta -43
91
C3
rts;
Si
.Si ^
ii^W
.i1
+3 .tJ
Mo:
03
O
J3 rt
c3
a>a
ceptio
aptist.
Thecla
la
C?Ph
U
uo
gM .
,° -^
.u
-t> .t.
CCM
w
M
UJX
■n
a
C8
m
M
»r
3
a
9
a
ab
^
J3
.tJ
«
§
^
a
&
<l)
M
>-,
P^
OJ
«
M
C/J
O.'
s
a
a
■fcb
Sjd
3 -e
>
a.S
a «
<u
t>.
m
oW
■u
H-^
w
" 't? a
a 2 OT
^i
j2 a
L- p
^■J
OKf^
■S<5
..J 4i C/2
l<^
rJlVlVl
o
W
>, a
O =3
CJ
r3 ^^
aS2
^■^ a a
a a ■* °.;
CP O >^ « E
a t^ I
•*^'^ s
m a
a o
.2 '3
a rt
. e-s
a a o
3 °0
a'-" »i
'^■%^
Bad
1+.1 to a . •
S a 2-g
e3
o-a-a a
O O 3
•aO S
■a
W
m
i-j
3
fi
1^
FT-
,
.
«
c3
a
^
r^
•a
H
E>>0
00
X 7!; +3 4:J .«
Cl,
o
pq
02
>.
0)
m
W
s
a
°^1
91
a
>>w3 &D
*'
.15'* g
a
.2 a c5
fM
1^^
^
CO a
a; .3
. >>
a to -
So s'S S
^ a.iS'
■30 . .
e3 to
MM 02
.2 <5
11
.all 1
.2 2
43 GO CO +3 43
cococo ccco
1
-H
(NM^
10
^ t^CO
00-1
CI m
tX
r-H r-l
1>»
1— 1
22asgj
s
s
»« to r^ 00 ci
Ol IM C-J (N C-J CO
3
O to-
3
4i a
•SM
.2^ a
a feM
H CO
.b a
t.« 3
.3-3 >.|
to
OS
w
a
cj
to
3
O
to
%
43
M a'
. >>
3
a 4J S ^
H.£ SO
o .
k. CO
S a
:S a S 2 S
Q
3
3-34^
(u .a t-
■ru
o a ^
a rt5 S
CO rt 43
^ (U ,>*
1^
.3i
■*» '2
=3 rt
'^Q
ei a
nin.
iriau
mas
5 3
E >:§
gQO
^►^
43 CO CO
muirXi
Wro
3
C3
w
t3
a
O
M
M
«
a Sf
"o b'a
a
le
,a
S'^a^
.
.£ rtO
^Si
3 ""«
co-*^
cc a
05 2
«2
t-H g tn
^^
to to^
to S ^
g;§ S.a
W 43 4^
ojco
(8
to ■
eg 'r-l
I-JJ3
a a .
ea e3 2
^ O) >>
ta 3 a «
I3 =a 7 2
■^ 1^.
CO 43 43
mui CO
a S
to S
3 S
3 p<g
43 CO CO
CO CO CO
ca a
.3 a
a
o
1-5
T3
3
CL| 3
J3
>)
o
3
o
O
CO
13
a
^ Q> >i
§S|
i^
a
m
a
s
"cj c5
4i
■^ to
<^-5
■si
rt
^^
E W
CO
-4^ -ta
r.
-y::/:
164
CDe 8@mor i^olgoays of ^eptcmftec.
1] Giles, Abbot axd Confessor. — The earlier part of tlie
legend of St. Giles, or /Egidius, according to which he was an
Athenian who came to Marseilles and became acquainted
with St. C-esarius of Aries, is given up by JIabillon and the
BoUaudists as fabulous. His " Lives" are all later than the
eighth century, and are full of anachronisms and marvels.
They contain a beautiful story which may be founded on fact,
relating how one day ChilJebert III., King of the Franks [cir.
A.D. 695-711]. according to some, or Waraba, King of the
Goths, according to others, was hunting in a forest, when the
hunted doe fled for refuge into the cave of a hermit who had
been nourished by her milk. They shot an arrow after the
doe, and on entering the cave found Giles sheltering the poor
beast, with the arrow in his own shoulder. Touclied at the
sight, the King had the wound dressed, became the hermit's
friend, built a monastery on the site of the care, and made
Giles the Abbot. Afterwards the famous Charles Martel sent
for him to Orleans to take refuge from the Saracens. In a.d.
721 thej' were driven back, and he returned to Iiis abbey,
where he died before A.D. 725. A considerable town called
"St. Giles's " arose about the abbey, which was a great resort
for pilgrims. The story of the hunted doe is given with the
incident of the arrow in the Sarum, York, and Aberdeen
Breviaries, without it in the Koman. St. Ciiles is esteemed
as the patron of cripples from his alleged refusal to be cured
of a lameness, hence churches dedicated to him are often at
the original entrances to cities, where cripples were accustomed
to gather together and beg. He was also the patron of Edin-
burgh, where a great image of him that had been carried in
processions was destroyed by John Knox. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp. : Ecclus. xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke xi. 33-36.]
Calendars— AM.
Dedications of Churches — One hundred and forty-six, and
one with St. Martin.
Jlepresenled — With the hind and the arrow in various ways ;
with a milk-cup in his hand.
7] En'URCHUS, Bi.'shop of Orleans.. — The name of this
Bishop as we have it is an erroneous reading of "Evurtius,"
found in the Calendar of 1604, and repeated in all subsequent
editions. He is variously described as a martyr and as a
confessor, and by Tillemont identified with Eortius, who
subscribed the acts of the Council of Valence A. D. 074. In
the Acta Satictortim he is placed under Constantine, but there
are no trustworthy accouuts of him, and it is impossible to
say how he found a place in our Calendar. The York Breviary
has three lections to this effect — that he was a subdeacon of
the Roman Church who came to Orleans at the time of a con-
tested election to the see, and was designated as Bishop by
a dove lighting on his head, the power of working miracles
following on his consecration. When he perceived his end to
be drawing near, he feared that the former dissension would
be renewed after his departure, and so chose one Anianus as
his successor.
Calendai — York.
Dedications of Chnrches — None.
JReprese.nted — ^With the dove.
8] Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. — This festival,
called "St. Mary's Mass in Harvest" [Laws of Alfred the
Great, xx.], has a special Preface in the Sacrameutary of St.
Gregory, and was very generally celebrated in the middle
ages witli octave and vigil. As to the parentage of the
Blessed Virgin, see July 26th. Nicephorus gives a descrip-
tion of her personal appearance and character, purporting to
come from St. Epiphanius, who in the fourth century derived
it from a still more ancient source. See B.aring-Gould's
Lives of the Saints. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xxiv. 17-22,
and Wisd. iv. 1-7, alternately through the Octave, the latter
being always read on Sunday and the Octave Day. St. Matt,
i. 1-lG through the week, and on the Octave Day St.
Luke xi. 27, 28.]
Calendars — All.
14] Holy Cross Day. — This festival originally commemor-
ated, as it has continued to do in the Eastern Church, that
famous appearance of the "sign of the Son of Man in the
heavens," which is said to have decided the conversion of the
Emperor Constantine. But in Breviaries of the West the lec-
tions relate mainly to the recovery by the Emperor Heracliua
[a.d. 629] of that supposed portion of the Cross which had
been preserved in a richly-jewelled case at Jerusalem [see
May 3rd], and carried away by Chosroes, King of the Persians.
Heraclius entered Jerusalem barefoot and meanly clad, hold-
ing the {(recious reliquary in his arms. This being opened,
the sacred wood was lifted up before the people, liencc pro-
bably the fea.it is called the " Exaltation " of the Holy Cross,
though some attribute both the name and the observance of
the day to the original exposition of the wood in Constantine's
new basilica, A.D. 335. In A.D. 635 Heraclius had to retreat
before the Mohammedans ; and he then, foreseeing the speedy
ruin of Jerusalem, carried the sacred treasure to Constanti-
nople, after which its history becomes obscure. In the days
when relics were multipbed, supposed particles of it were
attached to other pieces of wood to preserve tliem, and these
pieces in time came to be venerated as portions of the true
Cross. The English name of this day was "Holy Rood
Day in September," to distinguish it from "Holy Rood Daj'
in May." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Gal. v. 10-12, and vi. 1214-
St. Johnxii. 31-36.]
Calenda rs — All.
Dedications of Chnrches — One hundred and six, two with St.
Mary and one with St. Faith. Holyrood Abbey and Palace in
Edinburgh are named from the famous " Black Rood of Scot-
land," fabulously reported to have come down from heaven.
17] Lambeut, Bishop and Martyr. — St. Landebert or
Lambert was born of Christian parents of rank and wealth
at Maestricht, where, after a careful education, lie was com-
mitted to the charge of St. Theodard, the Bishop, at whose
death he succeeded to the see. When Childeric II., King of
France, w-as dethroned and murdered, A.D. 673, Lambert,
who was known to be his friend, was driven from his see by
Ebroin, "Mayor " of JIaestricht, and retired to the Monastery
of Stavelot, wliere he spent seven years in strict monastic
obedience, while Faramoud, a Canon of Cologne, was put in
his place as Bishop. In A.D. 6S1, however, Ebroin was
murdered, the intruding Bishop expelled, and Lambert
restored to his see. Here he laboured in converting the
barbarous heathen inhabitants of that land of marshes, peat-
mosses, and willow-holts, and multitudes came to his baptism.
A hillock near the Meuse was long pointed out as a place
where he used to sit and teach. About A.D. 709 Lambert's
relations took it upon themselves to resent some invasion
of the lands belonging to his see, and two members of a
powerful family were put to death. Their relations in turn,
resolving on revenge, and hearing that Lambert was at Liege,
tlien a small place, fell uj5on him there and put him to death
with a spear, as also his nephews Peter and Andeloc, who
were trying to defend him. His sanctity of life led to his
violent death being considered as a sort of martyrdom, as
in the case of St. Edward the King [March 18th]. His
body was sent in a boat to Maestricht, and buried in the
Church of St. Peter. A church was built at Lifege on the
place of martyrdom, and thitlier his remains were translated
A.D. 721 by his successor in the See of Maestricht, which
see was now removed to Liige. Thus the village became a
great city, as it is at this day. But the Cathedral Church of
St. Lambert was utterly destroyed at the Revolution, and
its site is now a market-place. In the present cathedral,
formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Paul, part of the
Saint's relics are preserved. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Heb. v.
1-6. St. Matt. ix. 35-38, and x. 7, 8, 16.]
Calendars — All except Roman.
Dedications of Chmxhes — Two.
Represented — With spear or dart in his hand or at his feet ;
sometimes a palm-branch ; stabbed with javelins ; beaten
with a club.
21] St. Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist, and Martyr. —
[See notes on Gosp.- Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Twenty-five.
Represented — AVith a money-box or purse ; with a spear,
axe, or carpenter's square. As Evangelist, with a winged
man.
26] St. Cyprian, Archbishop of Carthage and Martyr.
— This festival was originally kept, together with tliat of St.
Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, on September 14th, but on account
of Holy Cross Day was transferred to the 16th both in East
and West. In our reformed Calendar the great St. Cyprian
occupies the place of another of the same name, a converted
magician of Antioch. Thascius Cypriamis was born at Car-
thage about the beginning of the third century. His father
was in a position to give him a liberal education, and he
became a professor of rhetoric. At the persuasion of Ca;cilius,
a presbyter, lie became a Christian, though not without a
struggle that reminds us of St. Augustine. Like that dis-
tinguished convert, lie finally embraced the Faith with all his
heart, and was baptized. He sold his goods to feed the poor,
and applied himself to the study of Holy Scripture and other
sacred writings, particularly those of Tertullian. Assuming
the name of his spiritual fatlicr, he was styled Thascius
Creoilius Cyprianus. Not long after liis baptism lie was
Cbe 0@moi- JjDolpDaps of %cpteml)cv.
165
ordaiued priest [a.d. 247], and soon after that was made
Bisliop of Carthage, not without the strenuous opposition of
a small party headed by Novatus and Felicisaimua. In the
Uecian persecution, a.d. 250, he used tlie liberty which our
Lord had given [St. Matt. x. 23], and fled for the sake of his
flock, in obedience, as he says, to a Divine intimation that he
miglit thus at that time best glorify Ciod. Tlie licathen had
furiously raged together, crying, "Ci/prUwiis ail /eo/^c.v, Ci/pri-
anus ad icsd/tts, " also calling him Copn'aiiiis, from the (ii'eck
word for dung, thus fultilling literally the words of St. Paul[l
Cor. iv. 13]. From his retirement he wrote many letters to liis
clergy and took a most active interest in the welfare of his
people ; and between the importunity of the lapsed to be at once
restored to Church privileges, and the extreme doctrine of
Novatian, that the lapsed could never be restored, he took so
wise a course tliat many councils afterwards adopted it. He
returned to Carthago after the Easter of A.D. 251, and held
a synod, in which his own view was confirmed. During a
dreadful pestilence which prevailed in A.D. 252 many blamed
the Christians, and thought they could appease tlie gods by
persecuting those who turned the people from them. But
Cyprian won general goodwill and admiration by going about
and doing works of charity among heathens as well as
Christians. The African Church now had rest from without ;
but the endless question as to the lapsed was revived under
countless perplexing forms ; there was a dispute as to the age
for infant baptism ; and lastly, the important controversy as to
the validity of baptism by heretics and schismatics. Cyprian
held, and his doctrines were confirmed by a numerous
council held at Carthage A.D. 255, that such baptisms were in
all cases null and \'oid, and hence his famous controversy ^vitll
Stephen, Bishop of Rome, who held them to be valid if admin-
istered with the right words and matter. In all this we hear
nothing of Pa[]al Infallibility, or even Supremacy, nor of the
Roman doctrine of "Intention." In a.d. 257' Cyprian was
banished to Curubis, where he remained till the following
year, when he was arrested in Carthage and commanded to
sacrifice to the gods. On his refusal, the decree was read out
that Cyprian should be slain with the sword, whereupon he
responded, ' ' Deo gratias. " Wliile he was led out to execution
the people wept, and said they would be beheaded with him.
Being brought into a field outside the city, he took off his
outer garments, knelt down at the appointed place, and
prayed. Soon his head was struck off by the sword, and the
faithful took the clothes stained with his blood, and buried
his body on the Mappnlian Way. Two churches were after-
wards built, one on the place of his burial, called Mappalia,
the other on the place of his martyrdom, called Mensa
Cypriana, because there, as in sacrifice, he had offered his
life to God. In later times [a.d. 806] the body was removed
to Aries, and later still to Compiegne, where it rested with
that of St. Cornelius. The name of St. Cyprian is mentioned
in the Commnnicanles in the Canon of the Mass. [.Sar. Ep.
andGosp.: Wisd. v. 15-19. St. Matt. x. 23-25.]
Calendars — All except the Austin Canons', with St.
Cornelius, on the 14th. In Hereford and Paris a commemora-
tion only, with St. Cornelius, on the 14th. [See above.]
Dedications of Churches — One, Chaddesley, in Worcestershire.
Represented — With a gridiron and a sword.
29] St. Michael and all Angels. ^[iSee notes on Gosp.
Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About six hundred.
Represented. — St. Michael .is an angelic warrior, often in
armour, contending with the dragon ; weighing souls in
scales ; with scales simply. The nine orders of angels have
various characteristic attributes, for which we must refer to
special works on Iconography. They generally, however,
have the names of their orders on labels or otherwise. Those
of greatest dignity have fully-developed crowns ; while, to mark
supposed degrees in rank, others have crowns less ornamented,
or mere circlets with a single cross, or crosses over their fore-
heads only, or plain caps or wreaths on their heads.
30] St. Jerome, Priest, CoNFEissoR, and Doctor. — St.
Jerome was born in the earlier part of the fourtli century, of
Christian parents, somewhere on the confines of Dalmatia and
Pannonia. He received a liberal education, and was designed
for the legal profession. At Rome he was instructed by
Donatus the famous grammarian, as well as by one Victorinus,
whose conversion is related in ,St. Augustine's Confessions.
At this time he was in the habit of attending the courts to
hear the lawyers plead, and he also used to explore the cata-
combs. Strange to say, his baptism was deferred till he was
quite a young man. Having been baptized, he made a journey
into Gaul with his friend and fellow-student Bonosus, and
passed some time at Treves, where he wrote his earliest
works, and became impressed with deep religious feeling and
earnest Christian zeal. From about A.D. 370 to 372 he was at
Aquileia with his friend Rufinus. In A.D. 373 he suddenly
set out for the East witli three friends, jiassing through
Thrace, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, and C'ilicia.
At C:esarea tlicy saw the great St. Basil, and tlien journeyed to
Antioch, wliere Joronio had a serious illness ; and he was still
sull'ering from ill-iieallli tliere in tlie Lent of A.D. 374, when
he did not consider himself exempted from the observation of
tlie fast. He now abandoned the reading of profane authors,
and gave himself to the study of divinity and the practice
of asceticism, retiring with his books to a desert in Chalcis,
where he severely chastised his body, and laboured hard to
learn Hebrew. While he was yet in the desert the Meletiaii
schism broke out. Jerome espoused the side of Paulinus, the
Bishop recognized by Rome at Antioch, against that of
Meletius recognized by tlie East. The East was distracted
with controversy too as to the hypostasis ; and being urged
to accept the phrase, Jerome applied to Damasus, Bishop
of Rome, early in a.d. 377, who in the following year sent
an answer to Paulinus. The same year he came to Antioch,
and was ordained priest by Paulinus on the strange condition
that he should not be expected to act as such. In a.d. 380
he went to Constantinople, where he remained two or three
years, pursuing his own studies, and hearing the eloquent
instructions of Gregory Nazianzen. In A. D. 381 Meletius died,
but his partisans carried on the old contention ; and in a.d.
382 Damasus called Paulinus, with his followers and
opponents, to Rome, wliere a council was held, and Jerome
acted as secretary to Damasus. And now began that close
friendship between the two which lasted till the death of the
latter, at whose earnest request Jerome undertook that
famous revision of the then received Latin versions of the
Scriptures, which resulted in the Vulgate, as it afterwards
came to be called, when some centuries after its author's
death it had driven its elder rivals out of the field, and be-
come the one recognized versicm of the Bible in the Latin
churches. His growing fame drew around him a crowd of
enthusiastic admirers, many of them noble ladies, to whom he
represented as strongly as he could the heavenly graces of a
single life. But he had so many enemies that he felt obliged
to quit Rome after the death of Damasus in A.D. 384. He
sailed in August A.D. 385 with several friends, and came
to Antioch, having been hospitably received on the %vay
by Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis. He was now joined by
Paula, a wealthy Roman widow, who came with a number of
religious maidens. The whole party made a tour of the Holy
Land, visited Egypt, returned to Palestine in A.D. 386, and
settled at Bethleliem. Here Paula founded four monasteries,
three for women and one for men, over which last Jerome
presided. Here he passed the remainder of his life, engrossed
in his pursuits ; while, unhappily, his declining years were, as
his earlier years had been, embittered by fierce controversies.
One serious dispute he had was with St. Augustine ; and but
for the gentleness and forbearance of the holy Bishop, it must
have led to a breach between them. He was also engaged in
a long war against Origenism, involving a quarrel between
himself and his old friend Rufinus, who would not condemn
the eri'ors of Origen. We are sometimes repelled by faults of
temper and other defects in St. Jerome's character ; while yet
in his lifelong devotion to great objects, and especially that of
giving to the Western Church the best possible version of the
Bible, his character rises to true sublimity. But his life's work
was comparatively little thought of in his own day. An armed
band of Pelagian heretics attacked his monastery at Bethlehem;
he escaped with difficulty, and remained in hiding over two
years. He returned a.d. 418 ; but, broken in body and mind,
gradually failed in both, and died September 30, a.d. 420. He
was buried at Bethlehem, and his body is said to have been
translated to Rome in the thirteenth century. He has always
been esteemed as the most learned and eloquent of the Latin
Fathers ; and his familiarity with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew,
with ancient history and philosophy, and witli the manners
and scenery of the East, were invaluable to him as a translator
and an expositor of Holy Scripture. His one hundred and
forty-seven extant and genuine epistles, his treatises and com-
mentaries, and his translations, have indeed well earned for
him his title of one of the four doctors of the Western Church.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Eeclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Matt. v. 13-19.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — With red hat and robe, later as a cardinal ;
with lion, ink-bottle, wallet and scroll, church, liOur-glass,
skull, stone ; beating his breast with a stone, luiteling on
thorns, or wearing a garment interwoven with thorn:.
1 66
Cf)c CalcnDac toitb r()e Cable of Lcssoivs.
„■ .
. .J
.»-
.r!
i
i
o
6
>■•> •> ■> .1:5 x^x ■p
•x
4^
.- > '?
|:d:=.> .-^
j?:s':3 .i
'0
-! .J
.-
.-
§
O
3
. ".s
.- >
'^'^li-d ••^^
._•
CO
iH
-<
H
X X X 3
•~3
t- ^ X
X X
X Xjg:= > >
.2 XX
X
«
c
>
«4
<
S
• .p^ ;3
.SXXXXXXX
R_ s _.
.fe >■■?
.^;d . ..«
13 .S' >••>■
:s
fi
(N
s
> ? ? >
.3
;- >.2 K X X
X
„■
— •
— •
.
:=
Z
43
.:3
•
.- . 3
o
i
.2 X X 3
.«• . . :— j^^ «
•3 ^^S.S^x^x xg
:S
>''i.i
■p^x
X X x^.S >
■> x^x
>
'x
ci
i
1'
>■
§5 ^
vii. 1;. 24.
viii. to V. 26.
viii. V. 26.
ix. to r. 28.
ix. V. 28 to V. 51.
ix. r. 51 tox. »\ 17.
X. V. 17.
xi. to V. 29.
._: .^ :3
>■-
X -
,-• s
2^S
V. 11.
i. to V. 20.
i. )'. 20.
ii. to V. 31. _
ii. V. 31 to xix.
s 55 ° ^
.S3.- x' x'
'x
>>>>>>
^
> > > >
X
X >< X
XXX
X X X X X X
X X X X
X
C
Oi
s ■*
co.^
»L-5
s
c
.•t:
m
c:
>•
g
S
■?
00 -._■
iv.
Micah ii.
iv.
vi.
Nahum i.
iii.
Habakkuk ii.
Zephaniali i. t
•^
5;
.^1
viii. to r. 14.
ix. V. 9.
.xi.
xiii.
Malachi i.
iii. to V. 13.
c:
c
4i
fi
iH
§3 5:0 «
>
06
CO
<l
^•>" -"
~:s
-P
c
Sc5
2 IZ ■
" „• ■'^ 5^ »
^.:. . .■^ ^ ^
cc
c
00 ■-
.. 11
. rd
:=
5
&
t
:=.>.> >
•P :S:s 12 .S-o .-•:=•
■=
;3Eh:3
iS.S >
H:d:3E-i.„-:5
IN rH
;^
§
:3 oi
■>*
•*■ » a
o
&
o
I— 1
•^ . ^
J
t;
O
O
s
D
1
1
06
-.„• .-a
•-5
iii.
Micah i. to u.
iii.
v.
vii.
Nahum ii.
Habakkuk i.
iii.
N
[to 11.
iii.
Haggai ii. to v
Zeonariali i. t
':= >■
'> '> X •p ^x ^
:3 ^■?
R
>
? 1
i
CO
1^
fa
S
ra '^ ?*-*.
S
h
C • ?
•a
ss
(4
m
S
a.
o
^ 0. ;t
d
>
1
(3
09
.5
2
3
d
s
0)
■S .^ 2
i^
■c
«i
fc;
fa 00 H
H
>«
<«
1
s a d d
0000
d
2
b
1
3
'rf'rt "rt
13 T3 13 73
13
g
3
000
IC -^^ cc
ooouou
ei -^ 0; X I-
0000
U
«oio ■* «
.-. — . — 1
P^
<
^ o*^
•« iaw!^ o"^ *""
bO
<j.a
13 ©••-i
tiD<J .a '^ 0)
•« 6o<;^
^
CI :'. — 1-
•.C l^ 00 — W <<5
■>1<
ira?D t*
00 050
?1 S (M IN CI CI
t^oOOSO
,_
^ — ^
-. — M
CI CI (M «
«
Compatison of CalcnDar.s.
167
a
<! rt
-3 -S
a
CO
a
es
a -S
OJ
bo 0)
,? '^ ■
■&
S
rt - .r^
■3.5.-9
s
« 2 =^
S - 3
c t. >-
P4^0
rt Cu •- 'rr,:3
f5
T3 =
m
X
X
i-J S
<! *i =H
xxn X 1-5
S 1«r-; H
p. O o "
^ <; "^ 2
S "- . o » S
2 c » t, « .2
J^ 0) 1^ S -^ o .
rt > S .£; -*^ t- tn
d S « ^ g « 3
J-> ;H .« -^ X
xi^x X X
p.
3
<
93 0)
X
fq
O
O
O
u
0)
i-H
O
-p
•iH
n
o
O
s
fl) 2 n
S
■c
1^
a
3
'Sb
S
60
o
X
H
o 3 c
2 »"
^ -i^ X -i^
xxxx
m .2
. 3 -S S
oj cow
M
3 3 :73
-a
BO H
■rt
3
<il
ou
s;
■*3
a
i
i
13
>1
<a
•A
ti)>.
5,
+3
rt
11
't
m
■a
a
<
<4 « ■= ■^.'
<80
u ^ °
g 3^ ■^,
O H W
lS -i^
xxxxxxxxx
xf^
tA->,
■i^X
XX
3 rtfS
W
r^
!=
C/J
0)
c
X
OJ
X
f
gM
W
3 3
3-73
&- » £ S
S.2
to r^
3 3
SI
3
Tl
CU
3
?^5
(4
to
m
>.
6-^
. 3
'^ .0 *^
ea;:5
ft" 3 cS
■5 « iS 3 ~-
«
a
^g
iC
-(.3
aj .
>
w
U
&s
OJ
00
o
'S .a'O
rt
>0 d
3
3
'5.
3
a
t4
©■
X
X
X
X
^ ^i ^^X
XX XX
S
.^
w
+3
X
4J
t/3
X
X
+> p^ 4i
M H CO
^
X ^
X X!
Q
^
a\
«T)< in totr-
00 «
p-H
(M
cc
•*
10 to t^
CO
OS ^ (M CC
^ <N <N (?) IN
(M <M
CC t^ CO CS 'H
01 C-l C-l (M CC M
s °
o
£
W .
O CiO
£ 0)
2i-J
ri
s
r^ to -
c IS ■-
3 . i*~,
° r^ y r2
w
■2 .S a a^
a „- bo o >. g
o -S
3 a g<
B a M 2^
X
X
m
cc
. 3
2 «
2 i 3
« 2 fe c'SS^ ^
fe'^.rtPH -0^1.2 -3
yj
s
ion
Con
tus
Transla
ward
St. Cali
.
H
X i;
3
X
-^ o
4iX
o
P>5
s
O
X
U-. a
■s S"
1 5^ a
■a
3
3
3 a
X OO"
CO *i *>■
CO XX
OM
.2 OS
b0.t>
'? "^ .
c_g io
«t3 3
l>,2
X
CO
73
a
.2 ^
^ ;3
a
S
.9
bO
t3
a
=■ C:
.tiCO
XX
a H ca .
.20-
go
a
JiS
s:
S2
^ OJ
3
a j:
^
iS
4^
43 +3
'r^m'Xi
3
f-1
C3
O
PS
a o
'S-a
0(-5
a -*^
o a o
..2W
X
X
S
03
3
u
o
o
la
C5
t3
a
s
-a
a
ea
a
o
e
X
X
X
'a
-a
§
es
o
a
c
X
i68
Cfje s^inor !t>oij>Daps of Dctobcr.
1] Remigius, Bishop of Rhemes. — This saint, often called
St. Remi, "Apostle and Patron of France," was born about
A.D. 439, of noble parents, long after their, other children,
his birth having been foretold by one Wontanus, a hermit.
He received a suitable education, and was remarkable for
holiness of life, so that he was made Bishop of Rheims in the
twenty-third year of his age, and afterwards Primate of
Gaul, wlience Rlieims became tlie Metropolitical See of
France. He is chiefly knonn as having baptized Clovis, or
Hlodwig, the first orthodox Christian King of the Franks, with
such solemnity that tlie convert asked, "Patron, is tliis the
kingdom of God ?" At the font tlie holy bishop said, " Bend
thy liead gently, Sicambrian, burn what thou hast worshipped,
worship what thou hast burned. " Hence subsequent French
kings were styled "Eldest Son of the Church" and "Most
Christian King." Clovis had been, previous to embracing
the Faith, under the influence of his Christian Queen Clothild,
as Ethelbert of Kent had been under that of Queen Bertha ;
and his conversion, as in the case of our own first Christian
King, was speedily followed by that of great numbers
of his subjects. [See Jlay 2Gth.] Remigius proved a help-
ful counsellor to Clovis, and together they founded three
French sees. He died a natural death, January 13, A. D. 533,
having administered the Holy Eucharist to liis people but a
few days before. His body was laid in the little Church of
St. Christopher, in a place corresponding to the entrance to
the choir of the present great basilica wliich bears his name,
and which was consecrated by Pope Leo the Great October
2, A.D. 1049, the body of St. Eemi liaving been solemnly
translated on the previous day, which thencefortli superseded
January 13th as his festival. The legend of the sacred ampul
of chrism brought down from heaven by a white dove for the
baptism of Clovis, and used for the anointing of the French
kings until it was destroyed at the Revolution, is not heard of
till nearly four hundred years after the death of St. Remi. This
venerable relic was publicly broken in 1793, but a particle of
the glass and some of the chrism are believed to have been
preserved, and are still shewn in the treasury at the Cathedi'al
Church of Notre Dame in Rheims, together with a new ampul
made in imitatiou of the old one. The body of the saint is
still enshrined at the Church of St. Remi. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp. : Heb. vii. 23-27. St. Luke xii. 35-40.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Seven, unless any be to St. Re-
migius of Lincoln.
Represented — With the ampul, or a dove bringing it to him.
6] Faith, Virgin and Martyr. — The story of St. Faith, or
Fides, is very like that of other early virgin martyrs. She
was born of Christian parents, and while still very young
brought to her trial. She suflfered under the cruel Datian
[see January 22nd] in the latter part of the third century at
Agen, in Aquitaiue. Refusing to sacrifice to Diana, she boldly
confessed Christ notwitlistanding the most horrible tortures,
endeavouring, as she said, to shew herself worlhy of her name.
Having been beaten witli rods, and bound to a brazen bed
over burning coals, she was at last beheaded. Several spec-
tators, rebuking the tyrant, and refusing to sacrifice, suffered
with her. The JLirtyrologies mention another St. Faith under
.Tune 23rd as a martyr with her mother Sophia and lier sisters
.Spes and Caritas. The three sisters were invoked in some
York litanies. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. Ecclus. li. 9-12. St.
Matt. xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford, Aberdeen, and Paris.
Dedications o/ Churches — Sixteen, and one with All Saints ;
.•dso the crypt of old St. Paul's.
Represented — The three sisters as children holding swords.
9] St. Denys, Areof.\gite, Bishop, and Martyii. — All we
know from Scripture of Dionysius the Areopagite is that he
was a certain man of Athens, converted by the preaching of
St. Paul [Acts xvii. 34]. Eusebius makes him to have been
first Bisliop of Athens, and according to a later tradition lie
suffered martyrdom tliere. Tlie remarkable philosopliical
works long supposed to liave been written by him arc now
feuerally considered to be tlie productions of some Neo-
'latonists of tlie sixth century. His place in our Calendar is
the result of what was a popular lichef for many centuries,
that the Areopagite and St. l)enys of France were the same
person, formerly Bishop of Athens, who liaving come to Rome
was sent by St. Clement to preach in Gaul. This is the
tradition of the Greek as well as of the Western Church, and
was embodied in the Otiicca of the Medi-ioval Churches
generally. According to this legend, St. Dionysius liad as
companions in work and in martyrdom Rusticus, a presbyter,
and EleutheriuR, a deacon. It first appears in the middle of
the fifth century. According to another version, the Dionysius
sent by Clement, or the successors of the Apostles, was not the
Areopagite ; and according to Gregory of Tours, a. D. 570, he
was sent to Paris under the consulship of Decius circa A.D.
253, and was slain with the sword, being Bishop of the
Parisians circa A.D. 272, so that he was in that case a totally
different jjerson. The Augsburg Missal of 1555, the Paris
Breviary of 1836, and probably other service-books, adopt
this last account ; while the present Roman Missal, Breviary,
and Martyrology identify .St. Denys of France with the
Areopagite, the Breviary also attributing to him the Celes-
tial Hierarchy and other works referred to above. The
Eastern Church commemorates the Areopagite on October
3rd, on which day the Roman Martyrology mentions a
Dionysius and his companions, who are identified with the
Areopagite and his companions by B»da and others dnwn to
Alban Butler, who adopts the account which places SS. Denys,
Lucian, Quintin, Crispin, and others with them, in the third
century [see January 8tli], without any reference to the
Breviary. St. Denys was one of the most popular saints of
the Middle Ages, particularly in France, in which country lie
was venerated as one of its greatest apostles. According to
the "Acts," he was exposed to wild beasts at Paris, cast into
a fiery furnace, crucified, and finally with Rusticus and Eleu-
therius beheaded on the "Martyrs' Mount," Montniartre.
The later story that St. Denys carried his head in his hands
from Montniartre to the site of the Abbey of St. Denys doubt-
less arose out of' symbolical representations originally in-
tended to convey uotliing more tlian that he was beheaded.
[Sar. Ejj. and Gosp. : Acts xvii. 10-34. St. Luke vi. 17-23.J
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Forty-three.
Represented — Headless, and carrying the bare or mitred
head in his hand ; sometimes not decapitated, bare or mitred,
but still carrying a head in his hand.
13] Transl.\tion of King Edward, Confessor. — Eadward,
or Edward, called "The Confessor," was elected to the English
throne A. d. 1042, and died a natural death, January 5, 1066.
The popular reverence for him, which culminated in his being
regarded as the patron saint of England, was a matter of
gradual growth, and arose in a great measure out of the mass
of legend that gathered around his true history. At the same
time he must have shewn personal qualities which won the
affection of his people while he lived, and were remembered
with reverence after his death. This popular esteem is the
more noteworthy when we reflect that there 'vas no one
remarkable thing either in his life or in his death to account
for it. Rather, in some respects, as, for example, in his strange
love of hunting, he was not very saint-like. He was, however,
devoted to religious exercises and to the founding of monas-
teries and churches. The great Abbey Church of St. Peter
at Westminster was through him completed, and solemnly
dedicated on the Feast of the Holj' Innocents, A.D. 1065, but
he was too sick to be present, and on the Eve of tlie Epiphany
he died. On the following festival he was buried before the
high altar in the new church, a gre.at concourse of nobles and
ecclesiastics being present, William I. adorned his tomb
with silver and gold, and Archbishop Becket removed his
body to a richer shrine, October 13, A.D. 1163. After the
rebuilding of the church by Henry III. a sumptuous shrine
was constructed ; and the wreck of this, with later additions,
still remains. The translation by St. Thomas is the one
commemorated in the Calendar. The shrine was demolished
by order of Heury VIII., and the body buried in the Abbey,
but in 1557 it was replaced in the restored shrine with great
pomp. The restoration of the festival of his former transla-
tion to our Calendar in 1561 shews the vener.ation in which
his memory continued to be held, a veneration which was
scarcely extinct even in 1700, wlieii lying eulogists compared
the devotion of George II. to that of St. Edward ! Touching
for the " Idng's evil " arose out of the belief that St. Edward
could cure disease by his toucli, and that the power remained
with }us posterity. It was List performed by Queen Anne,
and a speci.al Office for it is found in m.any Books of Common
Prayer. The same power was attiilnitcd to the kings of
France. A ring given by St. Edward in his last illness to
the Abbot of Westminster was long preserved as a relic
which could cure nervous diseases ; a legend being attached
to it. Succeeding kings blessed "cramp-rings" on Good
Friday. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. ; Ecclus. xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke
xi. ,33-36.] [See General Appendix.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Ilerefor<l, Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — Twenty-one, either to him or to St.
Edward the M.Trtyi' : one at Cambridge is to the Confessor.
Clje ^inor lt)oIpDaj?s of ©cto&er.
169
Keprasotled — With the ring, sometimes with a purse.
17] Etheldkeda, Vikgin. — ^'Ethelthryth, Ethehlreila, or
Audrey, was one of four daugliters of Anna, King of the East
Angles, wiio were all esteemed to be saints, the others being
Sexburga, Ethelburga, and Withburga. Of these Etheldreda
was ajiparently the tliird. She was married against her will
to Tnuljert, an East Anglian prinee, who bestowed on her
the Isle of Ely as a dowry. The marriage remained merely
nominal, and Tunbert soon died. His widow tlien retired
to Ely in order to devote herself to the religious life. But in
A.D. (iOO she was obliged to become the wife of Prinee Eg-
frid, son of Oswy, King of Northunibria. Nothing, however,
would induce her to break her resolution of perpetual virginity ;
and when Egfrid came to the throne of his father, A.n. 670,
he sought tlie help of the famous ^\'ilf rid, or Wilfrith, to bring
her over to his views. Wilfrid, however, appears to have
secretly confirmed her in her own, and at last a divorce was
effected. In a.d. 671 they parted, Egfrid to seek a more
suitable wife, Etheldreda to take the veil at the hands of
Wilfrid. Having continued for a year in the Monastery of
Coldingham, she made her way to lier best-loved Ely. She
crossed the Humber at the Brough and Winteringham ferry,
and stayed some little time at the adjacent village of West
Halton, where her staff, as was believed, grew into the largest
ash-tree in the neighbourhood, and where her memory is still
preserved in the dedication of the church. Arriving at Ely,
she established a religious house, over which Wilfrid made
her Abbess. She now practised asceticism, as we learn from
Bede, of the most rigid type, and at the same time made Ely
a great religious centre for East Anglia. " She was t;il;en to
our Lord," savs Bede, "in the midst of her flock, seven years
after she had been made Abbess, " A. D, 679, and she was buried,
with those who had gone before, in a wooden cofiHu. In
A.D. 695 her sister and successor St. Sexburga translated her
body, placing it, entire and uncorrupt. in a Rrtman stone or
marble coffin brought from Grantchester [Cambridge]. The
body was afterwards enshrined ill the existing cathedral : and
on the 17th of October, the feast of her translation, pilgrims
fared to her shi'ine from all quarters. Our word "tawdry"
is said to be derived from pilgrims' " signs" or other objects
Ixiught at " St. Audrey's Fair." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : 2 Cor.
X. 17— xi. 2. St. Matt. xxv. 1-13.]
Calendars — Sarum, Hereford.
Dedications of Churches — Six, one destroyed. Ely Cathe-
dral to her with St. Peter.
Represented — In monastic habit, but crowned, and with
crosier, book, or budding staff.
18] St. Like, Evaxuelist. — [See notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Dedications 0/ Chtirches— Seventeen, and one with All Saints.
Represented — With picture of Blessed Virgin Mary ; as
Evangelist, with winged ox.
25] Crispin, Makiyr. — Crispin and his brotlier Crispinian
are celebrated among the band of missionaries who came from
Rome with St. Denys, January Stli, 'iOth, and October 9tb.
Fixing their abode at Soissons, they preached and instiucted
the people by day, and when not so engaged exercised the
trade of slioemaking for a maijiteuance. Hence they have
been considered the tutelar saints or patrons of that craft,
and of two famous societies in France called Frires Cordon-
niers. The two brothers were beheaded, October 25, A.D.
288, after severe tortures, under Kiccius Varus, the Eoman
Governor of Soissons, during the progress of the Emperor
Maximian through Gaul. In the sixth century a basilica was
built and dedicated to them at Soissons, their probable place
of interment, though there is a curious tradition in Kent that
they were buried at Stones End, in that county. [Sar. Ep.
and Gosp. : 1 Cor. iv. 9-U. St. Matt. x. 16-22.]
Cnhndiirs~A\\ but Roman and Monastic.
Dedications of C/iurches — None.
Represented— f^hoemaking ; v ith shoemakers' tools, or strips
of hide, or with a cornucopia full of boots and shoes.
28] SS. Simon and .Tt-PE. Apo.'itles and Martyrs. — [See
notes on Gosp. Ep. ,^nd Coll.]
Dedications of ChiircI,cs~T\\o in their joint names.
Represented— St. Simon with a fish or two, an oar, a fuller's
bat. usually a saw. St. Jiide with a boat, ship, club, bat,
inverted cross, halbert, or carpenter's square.
170
Cbe CalcnDac toitb tbe Cable of Lessons.
ri
:a
■^
.-,• •-
a
ai
S BiS S
•u
>
. J3
-S . iS — . . -S
. s •"'r^^
iJ
;jH
>>i.-:s
-F^ t"
> tf ■-■ -C I* .^
:3 i* .--T
ei
'A
>
C4
6
.PH
• « 'l-l
-S-f^w-
d
3 K
X
X X X X X —•>■■? 'S
X X X X x_-;3;a^«
xxxxx>?xxxx^
1
3.«
CD
J
X X X X
13 :=
«■"
. -g s — • . :a
.K'x'R
s
P4
X
X X X X
> s S:a > >
I
.a Li
M
X x x x
'x ^ ■•-■-; ..-tsiH J .
is'.fe >•■?■?■?
.2x-x'|
X X X 2
M
J
M
X X X X
X ;s :3 .:; ^ !» > f- .S X
X X
X X X X X X
1
1
.^
.:=.&■==
. . :3 ^- • J X
.2'x'x X x'x .:3 kt'-s x"
X X X X X x;3;3^.i;q
C3
■^-i
J
X X X X
H
t-i
X X X X
xxxxxxxxxxx
"m
> X X
»-H
^
(5 > zr
^" o
.
uS
■■l-x-
•<*
IM
'^
C-.
X
_■
^
.^^S"-
CO ..■ oi — 1 _^ oi
o
t-i o
1
01
0)
CO
10 ij 0) in
2 - 01 .CO 3 ?"
. ri ^ ■ .
..-• '^ .,• . „
4J
^
X
X
X X X X
X X X X
x-§.j:al3l2.£.i >■ >•?
•>•?
■>-?->-s.><.2
x' 'x 'x
s
t-1
1-5
»o
•* 0; ~i
00-
0) — w .
'^ o
XlN
?.
;-• ~ ;-" <^
»
-•
•4^
?>
.o3^2£2 . .S ^
s
S
• M
.M •.-> -^ 'f-i « X X •<-■ +3 3 rt
>>.XKMMx;:3E'3
•« o"
02
CO
r-i
P
^
1
X
2 :;- ^
»i
H
f^HH
t^Tf*
^00
«<i
'^ It -^
<N ?^ ":
r^
^
5.-3 .. ^
+3
3
s
H
0)
,
d
Hebrews i.
ii. and iii.
iii. V. 7 to i
iv. r. 14 a
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x. to V. 19
X. V. 19.
xi. to V. 1
1-^
'x x
.„-'s
■x 1 :d :3 .^ >•
o o o
-M -JS -*^
.« CN ^
<M ^
<? ^ .
w
g
H
k
d
'x »• »
5 3-S
v. V. 9.
viii. to iJ. 15.
ix. V. 13.
xiv. to V. 24.
xxiii. r. 7 to r. 23.
XXV.
xxix. to r. 13.
li. to r. 14.
liv. to V. 16.
. »'. 10.
ruchiv. V. 36 and
Ol CD
aj So
CD
i
tn
\a
-^ . .
3 .J »■ s 5>'
2.
is
o:a ^ X
xxxxxxxxx;at3
g:=
XXX
C
•p.
1 ^
>2f
5'S
to
•is S
11
§
« d
i .s
" ti 1 °
^H j3 P9 o
1
a
.o
<« W bo
3 ,- •«
1
to
o
n.
•js
*s
ii
- .2 *^ ja
rt 2 3 -
S •= -2 -gj
a
3
t. 3 QJ
81
s
S M 1 W
§
c3^ W
^
8 .
a
0^
i
^133
• . . . 'C "rt e« rt rt rt
S3
<365c3c3(3
"rt 13 "rt <5
oooo
CO
CMlZlco.^
»«-,-co&:32i^222:
cow
l-H f-l
^o o>cc t^te
inTj-cOjJ;
»^ 0)
M-l
!M)<Jja
*« «»« tsO<t3^ O'd ©M-. 60
<JJ3
Olj «iw tio<]
.MW
CO
•>i<io<et-
COOSO^C'ICO'^iOCOt^W
2S
5;?j??sss
SjSS^
Compatisou of CalcnDacs.
1.71
i
and Damian.
cus, Nicander,
meias.
atr. of Const,
yrs of Melitene.
1, Gabriel, and
all Angels.
Onesiphorus.
Olympas, Rhodion,
Sosipater, etc.
Meuas, Victor, and
Vincentius.
1^'
OT
w
1
1
s
2
p4
■2
m
3
lary.
on and Cecilia.
i of Rome and
Alexandria
le.
lie Persian.
1
5
i
1
<
1 II
cj CI *3
c;a
II
i'^
S a <u
^ So
J5
gj-en
|o 4
CO u
c4 C
^ m
4iJ3t»
*;t/2 m
+:> -W
4i
J3
£
m m
^j -iJ
43
cc cc
CBHtK
mm M
;/: cc
m
M
(ti
m m
M Oi
00
05
"^
'p<
A
§
S
F?
§
?„
i
s
1 1
S >
-a
>>
^
3
f J
&
Ph
it
t
CO
3
CO
pq
1^
a) S
■a s
■^ 2
"0 g
g "^
Hi
1)
° - s
Ills
s 2^.E
"2 o<
3 °
a .2
2 M
aii
u
Si
"o
a
11
il
It
13
m
a
« s °
1
■fl
'a
i
>
Sir}
0)
.2'^.SS
1^ rt
^ra 2
^1
OH
-a
a
.2 « 3
.1 1 S H
■d Ph
5
83i-g
e« a> b<
2
1
^
!^ 4iai
j3
.SCO y}
^■*i«
4i4J
4i
?»
M «
t-i
-*i .w a:
<JOcct«
H
fiOJ !X!
ceo; 00
WK
CC
I-I
mm
Ph
mmm
mmm
cc
02
eg
2
1-
C8
J3
.1
03
C-1
s
s
43 ID ^
•Ss.g
-SI
-a
a
1 «
'C a
mo
5
5-2
11
2'
a
■a
1
a
a t-
J-
.-gSi
■2|S
000
.g
■g a
w;3
CO
s
m
2
^
.w .tJ -2
.a cc
■*^ +3
4^ 4J
-^
-»3
+3 CO +3
*;.ti
WJXH
0? M
Xfirn
mm
m
j: X X
mm
m^
m
Cw
"-H G^ CO ■* ift'X't-.OO
Ci ^
CI CO Tt^
10 CO
t^
in
05
,
(M « -(1
ift CO 1^ 00 05
■
CI CI CI CI CI
m
CD
a;
•iH
?-i
c3
ft
■-6
P
III
c3 3
f
1 ^^
^ -to
.2 -" .9 "
tJ .a . -S a; 0!
Q) t; t3 a t
+3
1
1
II
1
3 i:
1
3
•« 9
~ a >->
a; t-
OOO
a!
a
s »•
rt g
m
3
a
3
a
<3
B
^^x
■*^ jS ^
.*j .*a .*j
+a
4^ 4^
.^j
+3
-t>cc jJ
Hi*;
43
n rxj H
cccc oj
«3
ODOD
OJ
a:
mmmi
mm
CG
!»
^
CD
t3
t
CI
1
CS
2
•1
1
S3
S
tJ
g
3
TO
1
m
mod!*-
. &
■S 2
,2 1
2
1 1
§1§ 11
"m
3
3 b
.sir
000
6
a
li
H a
3
.s
'2
3
cc H
02 tK
a3!»P
a?cw
Oi
m
mmm
mm
a;
m
-2
•a
s
a
re
<
c5
u
1
all
" a3 b
a>^ ja
000
H^ .»i 4i
mmm
'I
1
0!
<
m
172
Cije ^inor ii)olpDap5 of JSooemfaer.
I] All Saints' Day. — [See notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Eleven hundred and forty-eight,
also twenty-four with St. Mary, and eleven to other saints
with All Saints.
5] See "State Services."
6] Leonard, Confessor. — This saint was born of noble
Frankish parents in the court of Clovis, wlio stood sponsor
for him at the font to do honour to his father. Having
become a disciple of St. Reniigius [Octobei' 1st], he resolved
to embrace the religious life, notwithstanding the earnest
dissuasion of the King. After remaining some time in the
Monastery of Micy, near Orleans, he retired to a hermitage
in a forest near Limoges, converting many on his way. He
was not allowed to remain here alone, for many flocked to
liim, and a monastery arose on the spot, which was endowed
by a successor of Clovis with as much of the forest as Leonard
could ride round in a night on liis ass. Here Leonard ruled
at the head of a flourishing commuuitj' till his death, about
A.D. 559. He is said to have taken great interest in prisoners,
and to have obtained leave from Clovis to release many ;
hence he is regarded as the patron of prisoners. He is also
reputed to have been a deacon. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. ; Ecclus.
xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke xi. 33-36.]
Calendars — All except Roman and Paris.
Dedications of Churches — About one hundred and flfty, one
■\vith St. John, and one with St. Mary.
Represented — As a monk or abbot, with chains, fetters, etc.
II] St. Martin, Bishop and Confessor. — This famous
saint was born early in the fourth century at Sabaria, in
Pannonia [Hungary], but brought up at Pavia. Botli liis
parents were Pagans, but Martin at ten years old used to
frequent the Christian churclies and ask to be made a
catechumen. His father, a military tribune, enrolled him in
the army at fifteen, and lie remained in this condition of life
nearly three years before his baptism, free from the common
vices of soldiers, and full of good works. Once in winter he
met a poor man begging outside the gate of Amiens, and see-
ing him barely clad, cut oft' half of his own military cloak with
his sword, aud gave it to the beggar. The next night he saw
a vision of Jesus clad in the same portion of his cloak, saying
to angels standing by, ' ' Martin, yet a catechumen, hath
covered Me with tliis garment. " \^'llen he had been baptized,
and had served in the army about five years, he sought liis
discharge, saying, " I am Christ's soldier ;" but being taunted
with cowardice, he offered to stand before the line unarmed,
and to march into the ranks of the enemy in the Name of the
Lord Jesus and protected by the sign of the Cross. Tlie next
day the enemy sued for peace and surrendered, whereupon
Martin got liis discharge. On leaving the army, he sojourned
with Hilary of Poictiers [January 13th], who ordained him
exorcist ; but being warned in a dream, he went to visit his
parents, and converted his mother to the Faith. Here lie
was publicly flogged by Arian heretics, and had to retire to
an island, where he lived on roots ; here he took hellebore
by mistake, and narrowly escaped being poisoned. On St.
Hilary's return from exile [January 13th], Martin followed
him to Gaul, and established a monastery near Poictiers. In
A.D. 371 he was much sought after to be first Bishop of Tours.
The neiglibouring Bishops objected, but had to give way to
the voice of the people. Martin lived as a monastic Bishop
in a secluded spot two miles from Tours, with eighty dis-
ciples, who were cave-dwellers, while he himself lived in a
wooden hut. As Bishop lie shewed great zeal in demolishing
temples and trees consecrated to Pagan worsliip ; and, like St.
Boniface [Juue 5th], he cut down a sacred tree in order to
satisfy the rustics as to the truth of his religion. He also
boldly rebuked and withstood the usurping Emperor Maximus,
who condemned to death the heretic Priscillian and his imme-
diate followers on the ground that it was a new and unheard-of
iniquity for a secular judge to decide an ecclesiastical cause.
During the last sixteen years of liis life lie lived in close retire-
ment, where he had many supernatural visions ; and on
November 9, A.D. 401, he died .at Candes, near Tours. On
November 11th he was liuried in a cemetery just outside Tours
as it then was, and eleven years afterwards St. Bricc, bis
.successor, built a cliapel over the tomb. [See July 4th.] St.
Martin's cope [cappa] used to be carried into battle and kept
in a tent where Mass was said, hence the term capella. cliapel.
In time a blue banner, divided to represent St. Martin's cloak,
was carried instead, until it was superseded by the famous OW-
flamme, the banner of St. Denys. [.Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus.
xUv. 17, 20, 21-23 ; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23 ]
Calendars — All.
Dcdicalioiin of Churches— One hundred and sixty.
Represented — On horseback, dividing his cloak for the
beggar ; as a Bishop ; a Martinmas goose by his side.
13] Britius, Bishop.— St. Britius, or Brice, was brought
up in St. Martin's Monastery near Tours, and was ordained
deacon and priest by St. Martin. He had given much trouble
by his disorderly conduct while young, aud even after his
ordination .St. JIartin had a mind to depose him ; but he
said, " If Christ endured Judas, wliy not I Brice?" and pre-
dicted that Brice would succeed him in the Bishopric, which
came to pass. Even when he had become a Bishop grave
charges were brought against him, and he either fled from
Tours or was deposed for many years. The Sarum Breviary
contaius the legend that on his being accused of being the
father of an infant, he adjured it by Clirist to say if be were
its father, and it replied, "Thou art not my father." And
when the people ascribed this to magic he took burning coals
in his birrus to St. Martin's tomb, saying, " As this vestment
is unhurt by the fire, so is my body unpolluted." But the
people of Tours would not believe him, and drove him from
the Bishopric. He then went to Rome and related all to the
Pope, was acquitted of tlie gravest charges, and returned to
his see in the seventli year armed with Papal authority. In
liis latter d.ays he acquired the reputation of a saint, and
dying a.d. 444, was buried near St. Martin in the chapel hi-
had himself built. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Wisd. x. 10-14.
St. Luke xix. 12-28.] [July 4th, October 11th.]
Calendars — All except Roman and Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — One in England, viz. Brize Norton,
and that of Llanverres in North Wales.
Represented — Carrying burniug coals in his vestment ; an
infant on tlie ground near him.
15] Machi-tus, Bishop.— Maelog, Malo, Mawes, Maclon.
ilaclovius, or Machutus, was a native of Wales, but trained
in a monastery at Aleth [now .St. Malo], in Brittany, under
St. Brendan, from wliom, when he grew up, he received the
habit. Afterwards he became Bishop of Aleth, and converted
the neiglibouring islet of Aaron into a monastery. But the
opposition of the local chiefs obliged him to leave his see, and
he went to .Saintes, where Leontius, tlie Bishop, gave him a
cell at Brie, and liere he remained till recalled to Aleth.
Soon he had to flee again, and this time he settled with some
monks from Brittany at Archambray, where he died Novem-
ber 15, A.D. 564, His relics were acquired by the Church of
Aleth in the seventh century in a discreditable manner, and
in A.D. 975 were taken to Paris, where they were lost at the
Revolution. Many wonderful legends were related of him.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xliv. 17, 20-23 ; xlv. 6, 7, 15,
16. St. Luke xix. 12-28.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford, Aberdeen.
Dedications of Churches — St. Mawes, in Cornwall.
Represented — As a Bishop.
17] Hugh, Bishop op Lincoln. — Hugh of Avalon, or de
Grenoble, was born of a noble Burgundian family, a.d. 1140.
His mother died when lie was eight years old ; and his father
then entering a monastery of regular canons near his castle,
dedicated tlie child Hugh in the same place, committing him
to the care of an aged brother of the house, who instructed
him in sacred and secular learning. Having been ordained
deacon at the age of nineteen, he resolved to join the then
new order of Carthusiaus, one of the reformed Benedictine
orders. His brother canons having in vain tried to keep him
back, he escaped, and was admitted into the Grande Char-
treuse, the first house of the order. In process of time he
was ordained priest, made procurator of tlie monastery, and
sent to England to govern the first Carthusian house in this
country, which had been founded A.D. 1181 by Henry II. at
Witham, in Somerset, but unsuccessfully managed by two
previous priors. Under the care of Hugli the monastery
became very prosi)crous. "The King, who for the opinion
he had of his holinesse, vsed often," says Godwin, " priuately
to conferre with liim, remembering how great wrong ho had
done the Church of Lincolne in so long keeping it without a
Bishop, determined to make amends by giuing them "a good
one at last, and jirocured this Hugh before he vnderstood of
any such thing toward, to be elected Bishop of that see. He
gouerned very stoutly and with great seuerity, yet so, as he
was more reuerenced and loued then feared. His excom-
munications were very terrible vnto all men, and the rather,
for tliat it was noted, as I find deliuercd, some notable
calamity otherwise did lightly follow them. His Cliui-oh of
Lincolne he caused to be all new built from the found.ation, a
great and memorable worke, and not possible to be ])ei-fornicd
by him without infinite liclpe." Indeed, as lias been well
K.aid by another, "a more zealous and indofatigablo prelnf'-
Cfje ^inor I^olpDaps of Bowmbcx.
173
than was Bishop Hugh of Lincoln seldom, if ever, presided
over a sec of our own or any other Christian land." He
yearly visited Withani for devout retirement, living as a
brother, with no mark of distinction but the Bishop's ring.
He was overtaken by his last sickness on his way back from
one of these sojininiiugs, and died in London, November 17,
A. D. 11200, as they were singing in his hearing the Nioir
illmiUis in the Office of Compline. He was solemnly buried in
Lincoln Minster, the journey from London having taken six
days. King John of England and King William of Scotland
met at Lincoln and helped to carry the bier, three archbishops
and nine bishops being also present, with a multitude of abbots
and priors. Eighty years afterwards his body was solemnly
deposited within its golden shrine in the "angel choir"
behind the high altar, Edward I. ami his Queen, the Arch-
bishops of Canterbury and Edessa, many bishops, and two
hundred and thirty knights being present. St. Hugh was
one of the most popular English saints, and the day of tlie
accession of Queen Elizabeth [November 17th] was commonly
called " St. Hutrh's Day." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xlv.
1-5. St. Mark^xiii. 33-37.]
Calendars— Harnm, Aberdeen.
Dedications of C/uirches — Quethiock, in Cornwall, unless it
be to some local saint.
Represented — Witli a tame swan which he had ; holding
three flowers.
20] Edmund, Kino and Martyr. — This Eadmund, or
Edmund, the last of the native under-kings of East Auglia,
was placed on the throne at the age of fifteen years, in 855 ;
and when the Danes invaded that province in 870, he fought
against them, but was beaten and taken prisoner. They
then offered him his life and his kingdom if he would for-
sake Christianity and reign under them. When he refused,
they tied him to a tree and shot him with many arrows, and
at last cut off his head, which they flung into a' thicket. The
following year, when the Danes had retired, the body was
recovered, and tlie head found among the brambles, guarded,
it was said, by a great grey wolf. Over his relics rose the
famous Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds ; and no figure was
more common in the painted glass and on the rood-screens
of East Anglia than that of this martyred King. He could
scarcely have died the death of a martyr unless his life had
been that of a confessor for Christ ; and what we are told is
that though he was very young, he was distinguished as a
model prince by his religion and piety, his restoration of
ruined churches, his good government, and his determined
hostility to everything mean and bad. He was never married,
and, like many monks and other devout persons, he learned
the psalter by heart, and the book which he was said to have
used was shewn at Bury. His name is connected with much
that is legendary, and the Sarum Breviary lias a grotesque
account of the finding of the head, etc. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. ;
Ecclus. xxxi. 8-11. St. Luke xiv. 26-33.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford.
Dedications of Churches — Fifty-five (fifteen being in East
Anglia), unless any be to St. Edmund the Archbishop.
Represented — Crowned and pierced by many arrows ; bound
to a tree as above ; a wolf guarding his body or crowned head;
an arrow in his hand.
22] Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. — Ctecilia, a Roman lady,
was venerated as a virgin martyr at a very early period, and
the martyrdom of her and of her three companions is referred
to in the Martyrology attributed to St. Jerome, and in the
earliest Missals and Breviaries. Yet it is very difficult to
find her true date and place, so conflicting are the accounts.
According to the earliest, she suffered in Sicily A. D. 176-180;
according to another, in Rome a.d. 230; while the Greek
Menologies say at Rome, in the time of Diocletian, a.d. 284-
305. Nor have we any authentic accounts of her life and
history. There was a church dedicated to her at Rome,
where Pope Paschal I. placed her supposed body, removed
from the Catacombs, in 821, and provided that the praises of
God should be sung around her tomb day and night. Hence
probably arose the legends that connect her name with sacred
music, there being nothing of the kind in the earliest accounts
of her. One circumstance related in the legendary ' ' Acts "
is that by her prayers she brought an angel down to convince
her newly-married husband that she ought to lead a life of
perpetual virginity. The Acts of St. Cecilia, though not
genuine, have been remarkably confirmed as to substance by
discoveries in the Catacombs, including that of her original
tomb, probably, in a cemetery with many epitaphs of mem-
bers of the Ca?cili.an family. [vSar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li.
9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-.')2. ] Her name occurs in the A'obls
nuoqne in the Canon of the Mass.
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Clmrches — Two.
Represented — Crowned ; bearing wreaths of roses or other
flowers ; a palm ; a sword ; an almond branch ; a sprig of
flowers ; in later representations slio is holding a portable
organ or harp, or playing on an organ.
23] St. CleiMent I., Bishop or Rome and Martyr. — Ac-
cording to common tradition, the "fellow-labourer" men-
tioned by St. Paul [Phil. iv. 3] as having his name written
in the Book of Life, is to be identified with the third of the
Bishops of Rome, whose name is mentioned in the Communi-
canles in the Canon of the Mass. But so mucli legend has grown
up around tlie name of Clement, and so little trustworthy in-
formation has come down to us, that we hardly know anytliing
about him. From Rome the Roman Clement wrote his "First
Epistle " to the Corinthians on the occasion of a schism towards
the end of the first century, and is hence regarded as one of the
"Apostolical Fathers." The second epistle ascribed to him
is rather a homily, and must have been written at least a
generation later than his time. Other epistles, and a mass of
"Clementine literature," undoubtedly spurious, have been
attributed to him. An account of his martyrdom, probably
no earlier than the ninth century, tells how he was banished
to the Crimea ; and having converted the whole district by
his miracles, was by Trajan's order cast into the sea with an
anchor round his neck, an event pictured in frescoes of the
tenth or eleventh century in the Church of St. Clement at
Rome. So, too, the Sarum and Roman Breviaries. But no
writer wlio speaks of the Bishop Clement describes him as a
martyr until we come to Rufinus and Zosimus, about A.D.
400, and they do not mention the anchor story. [Sar. Ep.
and Gosp. : Phil. iv. 1-3. St. Luke xix. 12-28.]
Calendars — All except the Parisian.
Dedications of Churches — Forty -seven, and one with St.
Mary.
Represented — As Bishop or Pope, with double or triple
cross; an anchor in his hand, to his neck, or at his feet;
leaning on an anchor ; a fountain springing up by him.
25] Catharine, Virgin and Martyr. — It would be hard
to find a saint more generally reverenced than St. Catharine,
or one of whom so little is really known, not one single fact
related about her being reasonably certain. She has usually
been identified with a nameless lady of Alexandria, of whom
Eusebius [H. E. viii. 14] says that when she resisted the
unhallowed advances of the Emperor Maximiuus he punished
her with banishment and deprivation of goods. With refer-
ence to the once popular legends of St. Catharine, Baronius
himself says that silence is better than falsehood mixed with
truth. The Sarum Breviary contains many more marvels
than does the modern Roman, but the Parisian of 183G con-
tains none. In the Sarum and Roman Breviaries we are told
that Catharine combined the study of the liberal arts with
fervent faith, and prevailed in argument over the most
learned philosophers, kindling in them the love of Christ so
that they were content to die for His sake. Then Maximin
caused her to be scourged and bruised with leaded whips
and kept in prison for eleven days without food. Next she
was put on a wheel with sharp blades, but at her prayers the
wheel was broken, and then she was beheaded on the 25th
of November. Her body was marvellously borne by angels
to Mount Sinai, in Arabia. The Sarum Breviary tells of a
river of oil that was seen to flow from her tomb, etc. The
angels are now explained by Alban Butler and otlier Roman
Catholic writers to have been monks. Her extraordinary
popularity in France and England d.ates from the bringing of
alleged relics of her from Jlount Sinai to Rouen by one
Simeon, a monk, who died a.d. 1035. She is accounted the
patron of secular, as St. Jerome is of theological learn-
ing. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. 1-8. St. Matt. xiii.
44-52.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Fifty-one.
Represented — With a wheel or wheels, often spiked ; with
a sword, a book, a lamb, or a palm ; carried by angels to
Mount Sinai.
30] St. Andrew, Apostle and Martyr.— [^ce notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Nearly six hundred, and three
with other Saints.
Represented — With .t cross saltire, or sometimes an ordinary
cross in his hand.
174
€\)C CalenDar \uitb tbe Cable of ile.s.son0
1
^
.„•
.«
^
.-J . .
tf
S^
>
-»i
■S -S-S
.
>-
^
> .2 X
■x'S
'U
:-=i>^
.^
:=i >^:=;5^:=;F;i >^::
'H
(Si
o
«
_•
. .:=
«'
Z
;-!
.^ . .^'
>■>
x X X ;-:
.^
£"■>■> ^- .'•- •=.£
(0
CO
E^
IJ
S.2 S
K H M
X X
X X
X X
X X
K t< « X ^■
y. y. X. ys X
"x
'xx'x-.-aa i.>^ ^i2
^
rH
o o
o
P
d
.«
■Sc^
. .-;
*s
<
>-
iSi >•
"?'?
.£2 X ^ P K
'x
>>>^.2M>:Xt^X XXX
XXXXXMX;-!XX XKX
X
X
S
>
'x
X X X X X
X X X X X
X X X X X
o
I
'x X
X X
■>.2
X X
X X
"x
'x'x'x'>3u3— — — — Ji —
>
X
■So
od
oo
g"
■^ Si
5^ .
CO
05
1
^.■^
V- -S s
5:S
o .- » c.
-t^ - o ..
s
o
2 -S^ -^'
CD
,3
o
1-5
.*^ >
!> >
•?•>•> .2 .2
X
X 'x >■ .-; . :s . :d > '> .2 'x
X
><><!-!
X X
X X
X X X X X
X
xx^:;:!>^ XXX xxx
X
si lo
'^.-:
>oo
Sod
02
>>
iH
>
J
CI
X X
x'x
X X
x^ ;^ ;^ ;^
X s
CI
s
>"
«=5-^ -
a
I>
^ J-! X
X X
X X
X X X X X
X
ft
•iH
CO
2
•-I
3ri
t-^
t-^
:s 5D
X .
rd
<i
00 s
>
ia nj
5
1
S o
o .
:2 is :« .^ >
o
3
.„■ " ■«
|^'^-^(;.„- :l„-i •>■.«■ X
'^3'5:s.S!> >xx xxx
in
si
'x
X
Ph
5
^H
?>
.—
C)
cc^f^
pq
M
"*
:d =»
13
O
o
5^
O
GO
o
x"x
3
CI
CO "r «
CO
>
_x
XXX
X X
X X
'x'x'x^-;d';3 ^^;3 iS^
XXX
X X
X X
X X X X X
X
c3
>>
.s >>
4^ u -1^ •
.s
13
§ ^1
1
o
s
S"
€ ii
3
o
2 5s
1 to „
■i^
o
.3
.2 S ® S*^^
s
1
t
s
>
1 i Itil
u
y: • ^ . . c
6»
O «^ ^^»«t§
;zi
u
3
03
i
1-5
1
. . c
p a =
"rt
a
§3
hH 1— t
S2S". s
o
ooQOuoooooooacjoo
O
-t foftn
L-J ■*■ m Ch HH
05
CO t^ ^ »ri 'J' cc c i — o oi CO 1^ CO »o --jl w
„^
o
1— (
P-l
—
'.t -^ J
OT3
©«*-.
WKjrO o-d
0)
HH WMj ^ O 13 « *w bo<ij ^ « •^ 0) M-i bo
<)
CI CO -*
IC «
mo-<*<M
■*
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ C^l C^ 6l C-I <N CI CI 'N W ^J CO
^
1— t
CO
Comparison of Calcnoars.
175
o
=2
d
I— (
O
rd
-P
0)
t>
-P
ft
o
O
(1> QJ O
- £ S-^
^
t^ a> oj
■S-^-5.5
+^ 3 rt
s^ gpQ S-S
rt J5 " o) '^ 4J
"o-Q
II
ccco
O
S °
^ s Pa
J3 -^ J^
aj -3 ^ -*^ .r: .
*^ tjoa— -'^
«(.
r/j -J3 02 W Q
o
1 " o
MO
g 'c >, a
. o a ■ ■*^ oj
« ^-< rt G ^3
■go oj <5 o
•i5 kJ J^ -*^ o " ,2
!/3 i^ CC 'X CI P5
m
3
60
> g>
rt p <u
MX X
13
'Sb
m
"S aj o
= s o g
CO 4J 43 o
X X X) O
C3
a
3
n
P3
C3
o °a
o
O Q>
O
H
. £ X ►, >.
(ZixxH
3 I
rt
u
IH
P«
•E
>
^
2
T3
g
3
J3
Q
XJ
53
r Lord,
roto-nia
ngelist.
ts.
3
<
1
:si
wo
J
4i
S a
in
g
a
5
4J
4^
1
+3
Nativity of 01
St. Stephen, P
St. John, Eva
Holy Innocen
3
il
V
i
4i
w
XM
!C
M
W2
M
X
X
rHC^W^ W^Ot^OO 050MC-lCO-<*<lrt:Dt^
18
o
X
X
a 's
>
m
M-i
o .
a t
" a
a-Eb
O
X
g
J 6 13
•^ -*^ hr -
■^ a'W o
o g o
>>-a a S
4?&S a
•.Bx*^.2>
<5 h
£6 ^
73
a
M
"o
.Is
US
".a
g Sb
o
X
o
'TIS 2 4:>
ii a M
t- S a s
ScC S a
"« a W "
o 53 o
•.ex^,S>
Kxxm
,0
.a
o .
la
EO 3
t; -M
s
;J3
^ a,
Q
§ i
. >
3
1
i
s
.a
!3
g
ivity of
Stephen
John, E
ocents.
>
4i
4^
■M
-tJ
X
X
X
Oi
iX
176
Cf)C ^inor !t)olptiaps of OecemtJcr.
6] Nicolas, Bishop of Mtea, in Ltcia. — The great fame of
St. Nicolas, like that of St. Catharine, is founded on a vast
mass of picturesque legend rather than on anything ve now
really know about him. The earliest accounts of him which we
have were written about five hundred years after his death, if,
as is stated, it is to be placed a.d. 342. But the great venera-
tion in which he was undoubtedly held in the Greek and Latin
Churches in early times points to something extraordinary
in his life and character. The Liturgy of St. Chrysostom con-
tains a prayer in which his name is mentioned with that of
other famous Eastern Saints, shewing in what honour he has
long been held in the East, and he is still venerated in Russia
next after the Holy Mother of God. Justinian built a church
in his honour at Constantinople about a.d. 430, indeed he was
titular saint of four churches there. The most remarkable
legends concerning him are that when a new-born babe he
stood up for two hours in an ecstasy, and on Wednesdays and
Fridays refused to suck. Being left as a young man with a
considerable fortune, he flung a bag of gold successively to
each of three daughters, that they might marry honourably.
When ordained priest he sailed for the Holy Land, and
averted ship^vreck by his prayers in a storm. About a.d.
325 he was elected Bishop of Myra, and by the sign of the
Cross restored to health a burned child. He is traditionally
reported to have been present at the great Council of Nic«a,
and is so represented in Eastern pictures of the Council.
Here losing all patience with Arius, he dealt a violent blow
at the jaw of that heretic, for which he had to undergo tem-
porary deprivation and imprisonment. He is said to have
obtained from the governor of Myra the release of three men
imprisoned in a tower, the picture of which may have given
rise to that of three children in a tub. The legend of his
raising these children to life may be thus accounted for. He
was much invoked by sailors, and accounted the patron of
children. His tomb at Myra was much resorted to for a
miraculous oil which flowed from it. In A.D. 10S7 some
merchants of Bari in southern Italy carried off the relics to
their own city. The " Boy -bishop" pageants of the middle
ages began on St. Nicolas' Day, and lasted till Childermas or
Holy Innocents' Day. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xliv.
17-23 ; xlv. 6, 7. 15, 16. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Three hundred and seventy-two,
and seven with St. Mary, one with St. Swithun.
Represented — With three children in a tub, or kneeling
before him ; with three golden balls in various ways, some-
times on a book with three loaves ; with an anchor, or a ship
in the background.
8] CoN'CEPTiox OF THE Ble.s.sedViegin M.iP.Y. — The obser-
vation of this festival began in the East in early times, but
did not become general in the West till the fifteenth century.
As the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception became more
developed in the Roman Communion, the festival was from
time to time elevated in rank. The term "Immaculate,"
liowever, was not used in the Missal or Breviary till 1854,
when Pius IX. made the doctrine of the " Immaculate Con-
ception" an article of faith. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus.
xxiv. 17-22. St. Matt. i. 1-16.]
Calendars — All.
13] LccT, Virgin and M.iktye. — We know nothing of St.
Lucy, as the sole authority for her story is her fabulous
"Acts," a Christian romance similar to the "Acts" of some
other virgin martyrs, though probably based on facts. She
was highly honoured at Rome in the sixth century, as appears
from the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and her name occurs
in the Nobis qnoi/ne of the Mass. St. Aldhelm wrote much
about her, not only in prose, but in his poem De lande
Virginitatix. The legendary account of her is that she was the
daughter of a Christian lady in Syracuse, named Eutychia,
and born in the latter part of the third century. Being
asked in marriage by a young nobleman of Syracuse who was
a Pagan, she declined his suit, having fully resolved to con-
secrate her virginity to God. Her mother was not aware of
tliis, and wished her to marry the youth ; but being restored
from dangerous sickness after the prayers of her daughter at
the tomb of St. Agatha at Catania [February 5th], she no
longer advocated the marriage. Lucy then sold all lier goods
to feed the poor, and openly professed her dedication to
Christ. Her former lover now nated her, and accused her
to the Governor Paschasius in the Diocletian persecution.
Boldly confessing Christ, she was condemned to infamy worse
than death, but was delivered miraculously. Then they
tried to burn her with the aid of pitch, oil, and fagots, but
this attempt also failed. At last Iier throat was cut with a
sword, and she died A.D. 30.3, predicting the peace of the
Church, and announcing that Syracuse as well as Catania
should have a virgin martyr. St. Lucy's Day regulates the
Ember Days in December. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. !^-
12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Two.
Represented — With eyes in a dish, or on a book ; holding a
dagger, pincers, or lamp ; with a sword through her neck ;
in a caldron over a fire ; oxen unable to drag her along ; tor-
mented by devils.
16] S.\PiENTiA. — The first of the seven antiphons of the
Magnificat sir.-.g in preparation for Christmas. [See notes on
Fourtli Suudiiy in Advent.] The others were, on the 17th,
Adonai; 18th, O Radix Jesse; 19th, O Ola vis David; 20th,
Oriens; 22nd, Rex Gentium; 23rd, O Emmanuel (St.
Thomas's Daj' having its own antiphon, Tlioma Didyme).
These titles of Christ were sometimes called the " Seven
Names." It has been maintained, with "much ingenuity,"
and more ignorance, that "0 Sapientia" was a saint, one of
tlie eleven thousand virgins alleged to have suflered with St.
Ursula. [Brady's Claris Calcndaria, ii. 323.]
21] St. Thomas, Apostle and Maettk. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Ch^irches. — Forty-five.
Represented — With a carpenter's square ; with a spear or
arrow. The square is associated with a legend of St. Thomas
building a palace for an Eastern king.
25] Christmas Day. — [See notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Represented — The Nativity is pictured as having taken
place in a stable ; the ox and ass are invariably introduced
[Isa. i. 3], also the ".Star of Bethlehem" [St. Matt. ii. 9].
26] St. Stephen, the First iLARXYTi. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep. and CoU.]
Dedication's of Churches — Forty, and one with St. Mary.
Represented — As a deacon, holding one or more stones in
various ways.
27] St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About two hundred and forty.
Represented — With a cup, out of which issue one or more
serpents ; with a palm branch ; writing ; as Evangelist, with
an eagle ; sometimes it holds his inkhorn in its beak as he
writes.
28] Innocents' Day. — [See notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Four.
Represented — Being slain by Herod's executioners with
swords or daggers, Herod seated in a throne looking on.
31] Silvester, Bishop of Rome. — Silvester succeeded
Melchiades as Bishop of Rome, January 31, a.d. 314. Con-
stantine having defeated JIaxentius two years before, and so
gained political ascendancy for the Church. At his exhorta-
tion Constantine built many basilicas, and ornamented them
in a splendid manner. The Roman Martyrology and Bre\nary
say tliat Silvester baptized Constantine, whicli is an historical
error not found in the Parisian or in the Sarum Breviary ;
the latter, however, does contain a curious legend of the
Pagans making Silvester descend into a dragon's den in the
Tarpeian rock, where St. Peter and other saints appeared to
him, and he delivered Rome from the malignity of the dragon.
There is no doubt that Silvester issued several regulations
with regard to ritual, etc., but the famous "Donation of
Constantine," which pretended to give the temporal sove-
reignty to Silvester and liis successors, is well known to be a
gross forgery of the eighth century. Silvester died December
31, A.D. 335, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on
tlie Salarian Way, whence his body was removed to a church
dedicated to him in tlie seventh century. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp.: Ecclus. 1. 1, 4, 5-12, 15, 21-23. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]
Calendars— All
Dedications of Churches — One, that of Cbevelstone, Devon.
Represented — As a Pope, baptizing Constantine ; an ox by
his side, referring to a story of liis bringing to life an ox that
had been killed by magic.
AN INTRODUCTION
MORNING AND EVENING- PPxAYER.
The ordinary daily Offices of the Christian C'hurcli were de-
rived from the Jewish economy ; the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist being the distinctive devotional characteristic of
Christianity. As David sang, ''Seven times a day do I praise
Thee" [Ps. cxix. 104]; and as Daniel "kneeled upon his
knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before
his Ood" [Dan. vi. 10], so down to that period during which
the old and the new economy overlapped each other, a con-
stant habit of praise and prayer in comiection with the morn-
ing and evening sacrifice, and at other hours of the day, was
maintained in the Temple at Jerusalem, and in the Syna-
gogues elsewhere. The Apostles continued the practice of
devout Jews, and are spoken of in the book of their Acts as
being in the Temple at the hour of prayer, or as oflering their
prayers elsewhere at tlie same hour. It was while "they
were all with one accord in one place " at " th§ third hour of
the day " [Acts ii. 1, 15] that the Holy Ghost descended upon
them : " Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the
sixth hour" [Ibid. x. 9] : "Peter and John went up together
into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour"
[Ibid. iii. 1]: " at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang
praises unto God " [Jbid. xvi. 25] : and in the early zeal of
their first love all the believers "continued stedfastly . . .
in the prayers " [rars Trpoaevxa'!] " daily with one accord in
the temple " [Ibid. ii. 4'2, 46], as a regular part of the system
of that fellowship into which they had been baptized.
Wlien the habits of the Church began to be settled, it
appears that the opening and the close of each day were
.appointed as the principal Iiours of prayer ; and tliat the
three intermediate times, the third, sixth, and ninth hours,
were still recognized, and marked by public worship. Ter-
tullian, after giving the Scriptural examples cited above,
goes on to say that though these "stand simply without any
precept for their observance, yet let it be thought good to
establish any sort of presumption which may both render
more strict the admonition to pray, and, as it were by a law,
force us away sometimes from our business to this service,
(even as was the custom of Daniel also, according no doubt
to the rule of Israel,) that so we should pray at least not
seldomer than three times a day, we who are debtors to the
Three, the Father, and the Sou, and the Holy CThost, exclusive,
that is, of the reijular prayers whieh are due, without any ad-
monition, at the beginnimj of day and night." [Tert. de Orat.
ix. 26.] In his treatise on fasting he also calls the third,
sixth, and ninth hours "Apostolic hours of prayer." St.
Cyprian refers to the habits of Old Testament saints, and
draws the r.ational conclusion that the events of the Gospel
gave proof that there was a "sacrament," or mystery, in the
ancient practice of righteous men offering prayers at these
seasons, as if the spiritual instincts of good men were already
moving in the light of the Cross. "But to us, dearest
brethren," he says, "besides the hours of ancient time
observed, both seasons and sacraments of prayer are increased
in number. In the morning we must pray," not waiting,
that is, for the third hour, "that the Kesurrection of the
Lord may be commemorated with an early worship. This of
old the Holy Spirit set forth in the Psalms, saying, ' My
King and my Oiod, unto Thee will I cry : my voice shalt
Thou hear in the morning ; in the morning will I stand before
Thee, and will look up.' [Ps. v. 2.] And again, by the
prophet the Lord saith, ' Early in the morning shall they
seek Me, saying, Come and let us return unto tlie Lord our
God.' [Hosea vi. 1] At sunsetting likewise, and the close
of day, needful is it that we should again pray. For as
Christ is the true Sun and the true Day, when at the going
down of this world's sun and light we make prayer and peti-
tion that the day may again return unto us, we are petition-
ing for that commg of Christ, which will give to us the grace
of the Light eternal." [Cypkian, de Orat. Dom. xxii.] In
the Apostolical Constitutions the same habit of the Church
is referred to in very lUstinct terms : "Ye shall make prayers.
... In the morning giving thanks, because the Lord hath
enlightened you, removing the night, and bringing the day :
at the third hour, because the i.tird at that time received
sentence from Pilate ; at the sixth hour, because in it He was
crucified ; at the ninth honr, because all' things were shaken
when the Lord was crucified, trembling at the audacity of
the impious Jews, not enduring tliat their Lord shoulcl be
insulted ; at evening giving thanks, because He hath given
the night for rest from our daily labours ; at cock-crowing,
because that hour gives the glad tidings that the day is
dawning in which to work the works of light." [Apostol.
Coustit. viii. 34.]
No account has come down to us «hich tells exactly of
what these Primitive daily Offices consisted ; but St. Basil
in the fourth century speaks of them as being made up of
psalmody mingled with prayers, and specifies tlie nineteenth
Psalm as one which was invariably used at the sixth hour.
The fifty-first Psalm is also sheA\n, from him and other
writers, to have been constantly used in the night service ;
and the sixty-third was called the "Morning Psalm," being
used at the beginning of the early service. The "Gloria in
Excelsis " is also spoken of by St. Chrysostom as "the Morn-
ing Hymn " [xee note in Communion Service], and the repeti-
tion of the Kyrie Eleison many times seems to have formed
another part of these ancient services.
The daily Offices of the Eastern Church are of greater anti-
quity than those of the AVestern, and there is little doubt
that they represent, substantially, the form into which the
Primitive Offices for the hours of Prayer eventually settled
down.' Sufficient points of resemblance have been traced
between these and the daily prayers used under the Jewish
economy, to make it almost certain that the former vere
originally derived from the latter.- But there are also many
particulars in which the AA'estern daily Offices, and especially
those of the English Church,-' are analogous to those of the
East ; and although they cannot be traced higher, in their
familiar form, tlian the rule of St. Benedict [a. D. S.^O], it
can hardly be doubted that men like SS. Benedict and
Gregory would build upon the old foundations of Primitive
Services, such as those now represented by the hours of the
Eastern Church. In the Ancient Sacramentaries there are
several series of Collects for daily use : one set of twenty-
three in that of St. Gregory being entitled "Orationes de
Adventu Domini quotidianis diebus:" another, of twenty,
apparently for Lent, being headed "Orationes pro peccatis :"
a third of many more in number being called ' ' Orationes
quotidianaj. " There are also other sets in the same Sacra-
mentary, "ad Matutinos lucescente die," "Orationes Matu-
tinales," " Vespertinales, " and "ad Completorium." What
place such Collects occupied in the dailj' Offices is not quite
clear, but they plainly shew that the Primitive habit of the
Church was kept up, and that daily prayers were con-
tinually being oft'ered in the Western as well as in the
Eastern Church. Lessons from Holy Scripture were only
read in the Synagogue on the Sabbath Day ; in the Temple
none at all (except the Decalogue) were ever read. This
custom was continued throughout the Church even until the
* They are given at length in Neale's Inttvd. Hist, of Eoitern Chun-h,
\o\. ii. cli. iv.
- Fbeejian's Princ. Div. Serv. i. 65. *' Ihid. lOfi.
178
3n JntroDiiction to Scorning anD (JEticning; IPrapcr.
time of St. Gregory : Epistles and Gospels being read at tlie
Holy Communion, but no Lessons at the hours of Prayer.
St. Gregory established a system which afterwards devel-
oped into that of the Breviary Lessons, but in the Eastern
Church the Primitive practice of reading Holy Scripture at
the celebration of the Eucharist, and ou Sunday only at other
offices, is still maintained.
In Mediaaval times the daily Offices were developed into
a very beautiful, but a very complex form ; being moulded
exclusively to the capacities of Clergy and Laity living in com-
munities, separated from the world especially for a work of
prayer and praise, which was seldom interrupted by the calls of
other avocations. Those used in England diflered in several im-
portant respects from the Roman Breviary,' and are supposed
to have had the same origin as the Communion Office, the line-
age of which is traced in the Introduction to the Communion
Service to the Church of Ephesus. Like those of the Eastern
and Roman Churolies, they consisted nominally of seven separ-
ate services or hours [see p. 17] ; but as in those churches at tlie
present day these seven hours are aggregated into three, or
even two services, so it is probable was the case, to a great ex-
tent, in the Mediaeval Church of England, and the whole seven
were only kept by a small number of the most strict among
the Clergy and religions. The Reformers condensed the seven
hours instead of agrjrer/ating them, and thus gave us Mattins
and Evensong, as in the manner shewn by the Table at p.
17. At the same time, the publication of Edward VI. 's and
Queen Elizabeth's Primers shewed that they by no means
intended to hinder, but rather to encourage those who still
wished to observe the ancient hours of Prayer ; and the
Devotions of Bishop Cosiu, with other iLanuals framed on the
same model, Iiave given many devout souls the opportunity
of supplementing the public Mattins and Evensong with
prayers at other hours that equally breathed the spirit of the
ancient Church.
1 Freeman's Priiic. Div. Serv. i. 246.
In making this change the Reformers were doubtless
endeavouring to secui"e by a modification of the Services what
the theory of the Churcli had always required, the attend-
ance of tlie Laity as well as tlie Clergy at the Daily Offices
of Praise and Prayer. From very early days tlie Church of
England had enjoined the Laity to be present at tliem, as
may be seen in the collection of Decrees and Canons on the
subject printed by Maskell [Mon. Hit. Ang. III. xxv-xxxiv.] ;
but these injunctions appear to have been little obeyed,
and their constant absence led the Clergy to deal with the
Breviary as if it was intended for tlieir own use alone, its
structure becoming so complex that none but those who had
been long used to handle it could possibly f i >llow the course
of the services day by day. In forming out of tliese complex
services sucli simple and intelligible ones as our present
Morning and Evening Prayer, a new opportunity was
ofifered to the Laity of uniting their hearts and voices with
those of the Clergy in a constant service of daily praise and
prayer.
Churches without such an offering of Morning and Evening
Prayer are clearly alien to the sj'stem and principles of the
Book of Common Prayer, if taken in their strict sense ; and
to make the ofiering in the total absence of worshippers seems
scarcely less so. But as eveiy Church receives blessing from
God in proportion as it renders to Him the honour due unto
His Name, so it is much to be wished that increased know-
ledge of devotional principles may lead on to such increase of
devotional practice as ma}' make the omission of the daily
Offices rare in the Churches of our land. Then indeed miglit
the time come when the Cliurch of England could say, " Thou,
O God, sentest a gracious rain upon Thine inheritance ; and
refreshedst it wlien it w-as weary." It might look for the
developement of a perennial vigour springing from that "third
hour of the day " when the Apostles first went forth in the
might of their supernatural endowments ; and it might hope
to meet with answers from on high, as sure as that which was
given to Elijah "about the time of the Evening Sacrifice."
JratgfB lie tfje ILotD nailp: cbcit t\\e (Son EJljo liefpctli iis, ano poiitctl) iy\e icntfits uijon iis.
3)aj bp Bap toe magnifii tETjce,
ann toe toorsliip STjj JSamc : cuct tootiD toitljout cnn.
THE ORDER FOR
MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER
DAILY TO BE SAID AND USED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
rpHE Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in the accustomed place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel ;
except it shall be otherwise determined by the Ordinary of the place. And the Chancels shall remain as
they have done in times past.
And here is to be noted, That such Ornaments of the Church, and of the j\Iinisters thereof at all times of their
the accustomed place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel] The
rubric determining the place in which Mattins and Evensong
(aa distinct from the Litany and tlie Holy Communion) are to
ho said or sung has remained unaltered since tliS revision of
Queen Elizabeth's reign, a.d. 1559.
In the first English Prayer Book, that of 1549, the germ of
this rubric stood at the head of Morning Prayer in the words,
" The Priest being in the Quire, shall begin with a loud voice
the Lord's Prayer, called the Puter iioster ,-" the Quire being
thus taken for granted as the place where Divine Service was
to be said or sung.
In the second Prayer Book, that of 1552, the rubric was
enlarged in this form : "IT The Morning and Evening Prayer
shall be used in such place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel,
and the Minister shall so turn him, as the people may best
hear. And if there be any controversy therein, the matter
shall be referred to the Ordinary, and he or his deputy shall
appoint the place, and the chancels shall remain as they have
done in times past. "
At this time many Puritans, such as Bishop Hooper, desired
to have the ancient custom altered, and the service said in the
nave of the Church. "I could wish," said Hooper, "that
the magistrates should put both the preacher, minister, and
the people into one place, and shut up the partition called the
chancel which separates the congregation of Christ one from
the other." [Hooper's Serm. iv. on Jonah.] The practice of
saying the service in the chancel was also declared to be
" Antichristian " by Martin Bucer : and on this plea it was
forbidden in Queen Elizabeth's reign by a few lawless Bishops,
such as Scambler of Peterborough.
And the Chancels shall remain as they hare done in times past]
This does not mean that the chancels are not to be destroyed,
but that their interior arrangement shall continue as " in
times past, " that is, in times before 1552, when the words were
introduced into the rubric. A century later Archbishop
Juxon's Visitation Articles inquire, "Do the chancels remain
as they have done in times past, that is to sa}', in the con-
venient situation of tlie seats, and in tlie ascent or steps
appointed anciently for tlio standing of the Holy Table?"
To meet the growing disposition to disuse and dismantle
the chancels, some special directions were given among
"Orders" issued in the latter part of 1561.' It was there
ordered that Rood lofts which remained " untransposed shall
be so altered, that the upper part of the same, with the SoUer,
be quite taken down, unto the upper parts of the vaults and
beam running in length over the said vaults, by putting some
convenient crest upon the said beam towards the Church,
1 "Orders taken the x day of Octuliei-, iu the third year of the reign of
our Sovereign Lady, Elizabeth, Queen of En^dand, France, and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, etc. By virtue of her Majesty'.s Letters acklressed to
her Hij^hness' Connnissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical as followeth." (Brit.
Mas. 5155 aa. They are printed iu IIeylin's Hist, lieform. Eecl. Hist. Soc.
ed. 1849, ii. 360 ; aurl also in Pebry's lawful CImrch Oiniamcnts, p. 276.]
with leaving the situation of the seats (as well in the Quire
as in the C^iurch) as heretofore hath been used. Provided
yet that where any parisli of their own costs and charges by
common consent will pull down tlie wliole frame, and re-edify-
ing tlie same in joiners' work (as in divers churches within
the city of London doth appear), that they may do as they
think agreeable, so it be to the height of the upper beam
aforesaid. Provided also that where in any parish church the
said Rood loftes be already transposed, so that there remain
a comely partition betwixt the Chancel and the Church that
no alteration be otlier%vise attempted in them, but be sutfered
in quiet. And where no partition is standing, there to be one
appointed."
Up to a still later date there was, in fact, no other place
provided for the Clergy to say the service from than the
ancient seats in the chancel, and the "accustomed place " was
the " pue " (beginning then to be so called) in which the Clergy
and singers sat, and of which one was ordinarily situated on
each side of the chancel.
In the Advertisements of 1565, to which the authority of
the Crown could not be obtained, and which were is.sued by
Archbishop Parker on his own responsibility for the Province
of Canterbury only, it was directed "that the Common
Prayer be said or sung decently and distinctly, in such place
as the Ordinary shall think meet for the largeness and strait-
ncss of the church and choir, so that the people may be most
edified." [Cardw. Dociim. Ann. i. 291.] This shews the
origin of the "reading-desk" in the nave of the church,
which eventually became so common. Such a disuse of the
chancel led to an important change in the character of Divine
Service by the abolition of choral service, the "clerks" who
were accustomed to sit in the chancel seats and sing the
respon.sive parts of the service being reduced to one "clerk,"
who sat in a seat in front of the "reading-desk," and said
them in a manner that was seldom befitting the dignity of
Divine Service. Instead, moreover, of the chancels remaining
as they had done in times past, they were too often looked
on either as a kind of lumlier-room, to be cleared out once
a quarter fur the administration of the Holy Communion ;
or as a part of the church where the most comfortable and
honourable seats were provided for the richer laity. Such
customs have tended to obscure the sense of the rubric, and
are recalled to memory only for the purpose of explaining
how it came to be so disregarded in modern times.
In Griffin r. Dightou, Chief-Justice Erie decided (on appeal
in ISG-t) that the chancel is, by the existing law, the place
appointed for the Clergyman and for those who assist him in
the performance of Divine Service ; and that it is entirely
under his control as to access and use, subject to the juris-
diction of the Ordinary.
And here is to be noted. That siie!i Ornaments of the Church]
This has been popularly called " The Ornaments Rubric," and
may also he fittingly regarded as the Interpretation Clause to
i8o
Cfjc SDrDcr for Scorning aiiD (JB\)cnin5 Prapcr.
Jlinistration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Churcli of England by the authority of Parliament,
in the second Year of the reign of King Echo. VI.
the Ritual Law of the Church of England. It is commented
upon at length in the third section of the Ritual Introduction,
pages 63-80.
in the second Year of the reiijn of Kimj Edu'. VI.] Tlie
year thus indicated extended from January 28, 1548, to
January 27, 1549. [Nicolas' Chron. Hist. 330, ed. 1833.]
As the first Prayer Book of Edward VI. 's reign, with the
rest of the Act of Uniformity, passed the House of Lords on
January 15th, and the House of Commons on .January 21,
1549, it is posf-ih/p that it had received the Royal Assent, and
had thus "the authority of Parliament " before the expiration
of this "second year" of Edward VI. on the 27th ; but there
is no evidence known to shew that such was the case, and all
the evidence which is known is to the contrary : moreover,
the book was not published until March 7th, and its use was
ordered to begin only on June 9, 1549, more than four months
after that "second year" of Edward's reign had ended.
The "Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers there-
of," which were in vse in the Clmrch of England by authority
of Parliament from January 28, 1548, to January 27, 1549,
the second year of Edward VI,, must therefore be understood
as meaning those which had been used before the publication
of the Prayer Book in the third year of Edward VI., and
these were such Ornaments as had been in use previously to
that King's reign, subject to such omissions as were made
necessary by changes effected under .Statutory authority.
THE ORDER FOR
-MOENING- PKAYEE
DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
H At the beginning of 'Morning Prayer the 'Minister
shall read with a loud voice some one "'or more
of these sentences of the .Scriptures that follow.
And then he shall say that which is written after
the said sentences.
WHEN the wicked man turnetli away from
his wickedness that he hath committed,
II Matins [15J9
only).
b From here to tlie
cii.l or the Rubric
fuUowint,' the Ab-
solution'! 1552!.
^itit li/ztrwise of
I-l renin f^ Prayer
(■5521
(- " hxecittor offi-
cii" of Saruni riil».
rics.
d or 7itOie [1662J.
and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall
save his soul alive. Ezek. xviii. 27.
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin
is ever before me. Ps. \\. 3.
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all
mine iniquities. rs. li. 9.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit : a
The Order for Horning Prayer] The word "Order" in the
sense here intended has almost passed out of use. It simply
means regulation or ordinance, according to its derivation
from the Latin word crdo. Morning Praj'er was called by
the ancient popular name of "Mattins" (.abbreviated from
ilatutincv), in the original English Praj'er Book of 1549 ; and
that convenient name is still retained in tlie three Tables of
Proper Lessons and Proper Psalms, and also in the Eliza-
betlian Act of Uniformity.
llie Minister'] Th.it is, the person who ministers, whether
Bishop, Priest, or, perliaps. Deacon. In the Latin Rubrics
the corresponding term is " Executor officii. " In the Rubric's
of the Confirmation Office of 1549 the Bishop is called
"Minister." In the fourth Rubric .at the beginning of the
Communion Service of the same date the Celebrant is calleil
" the Priest that shall execute the holy Ministry. " In Queen
Elizabeth's time the old Latin word was still in use, e.g.
"Item. That the Ministers receiving the Communion at the
h,ands of the Executor be placed kneeling next to tlie Table. "
[Bishops' Interpr. of Queen EUzabith's Injunctions ; C.^i;dweli.,
Doc. Ann. i. 206.] Other examples might be given.
In Bishop Cosin's revision he appended to the word
"Minister" the following note: "Th.at is, he who at that
time niinistereth or celebrateth Divine Service ; " and although
it was not deemed necessary at the time to print this note,
it is valu.able to us now as shewing the technical meaning
which was attached to the wortl Minister when usetl in the
Rubric.
THE .SENTENCES.
The ancient Mattins of the Church of England began with,
" In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost" (and the sign of the Cross), followed by an inaudible
recitation of the Lord's Prayer by the Priest who officiated.
Then was said, "O Lord, open Thou my lips : And my mouth
shall shew forth Thy praise. " This opening of the service was
retained in the 1549 Prayer Book, but the Lord's Prayer was
directed to be said "with a loud voice, " instead oi seC7-eto.
In the 1532 Prayer Book, these Sentences, with the Exhorta-
tion, Confession, ami Absolution, were prefixed to Morning
Prayer, but not to Evening Prayer. Tliia addition was
suggested, probably, by the second reformed Breviary of
Cardinal Quignonez, in which the ancient Confession and
Absolution, hereafter given, were placed at the beginning of
Mattins. But other reasons are also apparent for the change.
In the first place, the full effect of the dissolution of Monas-
teries was making itself felt by ritualists, and a penitential
prefix to the service was considereil moi'e appropriate for a,
mixed congreg,ation than the previous mode of opening it,
which was suitable for communities professedly spending
nearly their whole time in the religious portion of a Christian's
duty. And, in the second place, a relaxation of the ride
about private Confession made it expetlient to place a public
Confession and Absolution within the reach of all, day by day.
The Sentences themselves (which had nearly all been pre-
viously in use as Capitnia, during Lent) are a reproduction at
the beginning of Divine Service of the Invitatories which were
prefixed to the Venite in tlie ancient Mattins. In both cases
the object is to give the keynote to the service which is to
follow. In the Salisbury use two such Sentences, with a
Versicle and Collect, were prefixed to i\Lattins on Easter Day.
These were still ordered to be "solemnly sung or said " in the
same phace in the 1549 Pnayer Book ; but on the appointment
of the Sentences now in use, the former were directed to be
used instead of Venite, and are printed before the Easter
Collect. It was in this light that the Sentences were viewed
by Bishop Amlrewes, who suggested some others in the follow-
ing note : "Adde hue, quod ad invitandam pcenitentiam
egregia sunt misericordi.-e et longanimitatis encomia ; Ps.
Ixxviii. 38 ; Jer. iii. 7, 12 ; Heb. iv."
As Invitatories intended to gnve the keynote to the Service,
they may be advantageously used in the follow ing, or some
similar, order, appropriate to the various days and seasons : —
Advent; "Repentye." "Enternot." "0 Lord, correct me."
Lent: " The sacrifices." "Rend your heart. "
Friilays and Vigils : "I acknowdedge."
Wednesdays : "Hide thy face."
Ordinary d.ays : " When the wicked man." " I will arise."
"If we s.ay. "
Sundays, other holydays, and Eves : "To the LordourGod."
There is a well-known traditional practice of singing one of
these Sentences as an anthem ; "I will arise " being very fre-
quently so used. Such a practice seems to be in strict keep-
ing with their character as Invitatories, and in analogy with
the use of the ICaster Sentences referred to ; as also w ith
such a use of the Offertory Sentences in the Communion
Service.
read n:ilh a loud voice] This i.s an ecclesiastical or
technical phr.ase, the explanation of which is to be found in a
Rubric before the 7't" Denm in the previous editions of the
Prayer Book : "Then shall be read two Lessons distinctly with
a loud voice." "Then shall the Lessons be sung in a plain
tune, after the manner of distinct reading ; and likewise the
Epistle and (iospel." It is the clara vox of older ritualists,
and presupposes a musical intonation, with or without inflec-
tion, to be the customary way of reciting Divine Service.
The old use of the word is illustrated by two passages iu
.an ancient treatise on Divine Service. "And this solemp-
nyte asketh both inwarde besynes to haue deuocyon in harte,
and also in syngyng and redyng zoith tongue." The writer,
a little further on, censures those who use their o%vn private
devotions while Divine Service is going on, or " whjde other
syng yt or rede yt by note." [.l/(>ro)- of our Lady, Blunt's
ed. pp. 22, 23.]
Some may consider that the terms of the Rubric, both here
and before the Offertory Sentences, strictly limit the recitation
of them to tlie clergyman officiating. There is, however, no
ritual principle by which they are so limited.
l82
corning Iprapcr.
broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt
not despise. I's- li- 17.
Eeud j-our heart, and not j'our garments, and
turn unto the Lord your God : for He is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kind-
ness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Joel n. 13.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and for-
givenesses, though we have rebelled against Him :
neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our
God, to walk in His laws which He set before us.
Dan. ix. S, 10.
Lord, correct me, but with judgement ; not
in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing.
Jek. X. 21. Ps. vi. 1.
Repent ye ; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand. S. Matt. iii. 3.
1 will arise, and go to my father, and will say
unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven,
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be
called thy sou. s. Luke xv. is, 19.
Enter not into judgement with Thy servant, O
Lord ; for in Thy sight shall no man living be
ju-stified. Ps. cxiiii. 2.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us : but, if we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteous-
ness. 1 .S. John i. 8, 9.
DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture
moveth us in sundry places to acknow-
ledge and confess our manifold sins and wicked-
ness ; and that we should not dissemble nor
cloke them before the face of Almighty God our
heavenly F.\ther ; but confess them with an
humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart ; to
the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the
same, by His infinite goodness and mercy. And
although we ought at all times humbly to ac-
knowledge our sins before God ; yet ought we
most chieflj' so to do when we assemble and
meet together, to render thanks for the great
benefits that we have received at His hands, to
set forth His most worthy praise, to hear His
most holy Word, and to ask those things which
are requisite and necessary, as well for the body
as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech yon,
as many as are here present, to accompany me
with a pure heart and humble voice, unto the
throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me ;
IT A general Confession to be said of the whole con-
gregation after the Minister, " all kneehng.
ALillGHTY and most merciful Father ; We
^* have erred, and strayed from Thy ways
like lost sheep. We have followed too much the
devices and desires of our own hearts. We have
THE EXHORTATION.
There is an analogy between this E.xliortation and some
which were used, at the Holy Conmiunion and in Lent, in tlie
ancient services of the Church of England. Tliere is also a
trace of similarity between it and tlie opening of Poull.^in's
L'Ordre ties Pricres Ecclesiasliqiies, printed for the use of the
German refugees at Glastonbury, in ISoi. Tlie words of the
latter are, " JIe3 Frires, qu'un chascun de vous se jiresente
devant la face du Seigneur, aveo confession de ses {antes et
pd'chez, suyvant de tout son cueur mes [paJroUes. " ' But there
is too little resemblance between our Exhortation and these
to give any critical ground for supposing that it was founded
upon any of them ; and it must be concluded that those who
revised the Praj'er Book in 1552 were entirely resjjonsible for
its composition.
It has been called a short homily on Divine worship ; and
may also be taken as following up the general Invitatory, as
it was followed formerly by the Venite. It was probably
inserted here under the impression that the people at large
were e.xtremely ignorant of the true nature of Divine worship
at the time. Five jjrincipal parts of worship are mentioned
in it : [I] Confession of sin ; [2] Absolution ; [;J] Thanksgiv-
ing and Praise ; [4] The hearing of God's Word ; [5] Prayer
for spiritual and bodily benefits. In this structure also it
bears some analogy to the Venite.
The Minister celebr.xting Divine Service is directed to
"say" tliia Exhortation, "saying" being the ritual term for
reciting on one musical note, or "monotoning," as distin-
guished from "singing," wliich is reciting with musical inflec-
tions, and from "reading," wliich isageuer.al term, including
both methods. If the Exhortation is said from memory, and
with the face turned towards the congregation, it becomes
much more expressive of the intention with which it was
placed here, than when said as a mere form for passing away
a few seconds, while tlie congregation is settUug into a
devotional frame of mind.
humble roiri] 'I'liis ri'iiresents the suhinUm vox of old Rubrics.
It indicates a low pitcli of voice within the reach of all ; anil
where the service is musical tlie Confession is best said ou E.
a/ler me] Sec the next note.
THE GENERAL CONFESSION.
u/ler the Minialer] Bishop Cosin erased tlic word "after"
' Thin hook vrm also printed In Lntin, perhaps boforo it came out i
Frtneh. Tlic Frcncli cUiUuu Bccins to be virv rare.
in this Rubric, and substituted "with;" but the original
word was carefully restored, shewing tliat a distinction was
intended between the two words in their ritual use. "After
the Jlinister " means, that each clause is to be said first by
the Minister alone, and then repeated by " the whole congre-
gation" alone — i.e. while the Minister remains silent, as in
the case of a response after a versicle. " With" tlie Minister
me.ans simultaneous recitation by him and the congregation
together, and is ordered in the Rubric before the Lord's Prayer.
Perhaps this was for no other reason than that tlie formulary
was a new one, and tliat the people, not commonly using
Prayer Books, required to be "taught by the Priest" in. this
manner, according to the expression used in the Rubric pre-
fixed to the giving of the ring in the Marriage Service.
all kjieeling] The word "all" w.as also one of Bishop
Cosin's additions, and is illustrated by liis note in another
volume: "Kneeling is the most lit gesture for humble
penitents ; and being so, it is strange to see how in most
places men are sutt'ered to sit rudely and carelessly on their
seats all the ivliile this Confession is read ; and others that
be in church are nothing ail'ected with it. They think it a
thing of iudifferency forsooth, if the heart be riglit." This
sitting posture during public confessions was one of the
abuses tliat scandalized the Puritans ; .and they sought to
have a Canon p.assed, enjoining .all to kiiccl. The eighteenth
Canon does indeed direct that "all maimer of persons then
present shall reverently kneel upon their knees when the
general Confession, Litany, and other prayers are read . . .
testifying by these outward ceremonies and gestures their
inward humility. ..."
The gesture of kneeling here and elsewhere is not only a
mark ofjierson.al humility and reverenro, Imt also one of those
acts reipiiri'd of every one as an individual coinponcnt part of
the body which forms the congregation ; .and to neglect it is
to neglect a duty which is owing to God and man in this
respect, as well as the othei'. We have no riglit to con-
spicuous jirivate gestures in a public devoticuial assembly;
nor are the gestures which we there use (in conformity to the
rules of the Church) to be neccss.arily interpreted as hypo-
critical because our personal habits or feelings may not be
entirely consistent with them. As the Clergy h.ave an official
duty in church, irrespective i^f their personal ch.ar.acters, so
also have the Laity. It m.-iy be added, that a respectful con-
formity to rules enjoining such oflicial duties may often lead
onward to true personal reverence and holiness.
As far as present researches shew, the general Confession
appears to be an origin.al composition of some of the revisers
of 1552 ; but its priucip.al features .are, of course, represented
aborning Prayer.
183
offended against Thy holy laws. We have left
undone those things winch wo ought to have
done ; And we have done those things which we
ought not to have done ; And there is no ''health
in us. IJut Thou, O Lokd, have mercy upon us,
nuserable offenders. Spare Thou them, O God,
which confess their faults. Restore Thou them
that are penitent ; According to Thy promises
declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Loed.
And grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake;
Tliat we may hereafter live a godly, righteous,
and sober life, To the glory of Thy holy Name.
Amen.
IT The Absolution, 'or Remission of sins, to be jiro-
iiounceil by the Priest iiloue, ''staudiug : the people
still kueeling.
ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord
-lJl_ Jesus Christ, Who desireth not tlie death
of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his
11 1'.^.spiritual sound-
ness, the SDUntliicss
nf a perfect heart.
[Comfi, I's. iiq. 80.
Si 101. 2, 6. & 41.
4. & 147. 3.]
« Moz. lirev. Wed.
Matt. alt. Advent.
cor . . . Ji'«j[i662l.
d stnndiU)^ . . ,
/■««/:»£■ [1662].
e Ordo Poenitentis,
A.D. 900.
MART1-.N1-, de An-
iitj. l=td. Ril. i.
803, 8i4-
*rac nos, DoMiNE, juste, ct sobrie. ct pie, in
hoc sseculo vivere.
'T^OMINE Deus omnipotens, Qui non vis
i-J mortem peccatorum, sed ut convertantur
et vivant . . .
in confessional formularies of the Ancient Church, the ideas
being a common heritage of every age antl country. It has
not undergone any alteration since its first introduction into
ilorning I'rayer.
It has been observed ^ that this general Confession appears
to be founded on Romans vii. 8-25.
We have followed too much Sin . . . wrought in me all
the devices and desires of our conoupisceuce."
own hearts.
We have offended against The law is holy . . . but
Thy holy laws. I am carnal, sold under sin.
We have left undone those The good that I would, I do
things which we ought to not.
have done.
We have done tliose things But the evil which I would
which we ought not to have not, that I do
done.
And there is no health in us. In me dwelleth no good
thing. . . . the body of
this death.
But Thou, Lord, have wretched man that I am,
mercy upon us, miserable who shall deliver mo?
offenders.
According to Thy promises, I thank God, through Jesus
declared unto mankind in Christ our Lord.
Christ Jesu our Lord.
All the plirases of the Confession have, however, a Scrip-
tural ring ; and it was very likely compiled almost verbalim
from some old English version of the Bible, or else freely
rendered (according to the habit of the day in sermons) from
the Vulgate Psalms and other Scriptures.
The manner and siiirit in whicli a general confession of
sins may be made personally and particularly applicable, is
pointedly set forth in a Rubric which precedes tlie Confession
to be used on board sliip when there is danger of shipwreck ;
"When there is imminent d.anger, as many as can be spared
from necessary service in the ship, shall be called together,
and make an humble Confession of their sin to God, in which
everyone ought seriously to reflect upon tliose particular sins
of which his conscience sh.all accuse him, saying as foUoweth."
That a confession so made can be otherwise than acceptable
to the Good Shepherd .and Physician of our souls it is impos-
sible to doubt. That further and more detailed confession is
also sometimes necessary, the jirovisions made by the Church
for her penitents, and the private habits of all piuus Christians,
make equally certain.
Tlie " Amen " is part of the Confession, and is to be said by
the Minister as well as the people, as is indicated by the type
in which it is printed.
THE ABSOLUTION.
to be pronounced] This is an authoritative and magisterial
term, as is shewn by its use in the Mai-riage Service, where
1 Freeman's rrincipks 0/ Divine Service, i. 320.
the Priest is directed to say, "Forasmuch as ... I pro-
nounce that they be Man and Wife, in the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." So also in the
Commination Service we find the expression used respecting
the final condemnation of sinners, "0 terrible voice of most
just judgement, which shall be pronounced upon them. " In
Scotch sentences of death the judge uses the words, " This I
pronounce for doom. ''
hi/ the Priest alone, stdndinf/l This Rubric stood in the
form "by the Minister alone'' until 16G1. Bishop Cosiu
altered it to "by tlie Minister alone, standing, and all the
people still kneeling," and his alteration suljsequently de-
veloped into the e.xisting words before the revision was
completed. The reason for inserting the word "standing"
was that some of the Clergy had been accustomed to read it
on tlieir knees ; although, as Bishop .Andrewes wrote, " because
he speaks it antlwritalive, in the Name of Clu-ist and His
Church, the Minister must not kneel, but stand up, " and this
posture was observed by the majority. The other three
words, "the Priest alone," have a history which fixes their
meaning. At the Savoy Conference of 16G1 the Presby-
terians' eleventh "exception " to tiie Prayer Book was to the
effect that as the word ' ' Minister " was used in the Rubric
before the Absolution, and not " Priest," or " Curate," there-
fore it shoulil be used instead of those %\ords throughout the
book. To this it was replied by the Church of England
Commissioners that it would be unreasonable to use the
word Minister alone ; for "since some parts of the Liturgy may
be performed by a Deacon, others by none under the order
of a Priest, viz. Absolution, Consecr.ation, it is fit that some
such word as Priest should be used for those officers, and not
Minister, which signifies at large every one that ministers
in that holy office, of what Order soever he be." The word
"Minister" had formerly been used as identical with "Priest,"
as may be seen by the 32nd Canon, which forbids Bishops to
"make any person, of what qualities or gifts soever, a Deacon
and a Minister both together upon one day." This distinc-
tive meaning hatl now jiassed away, and "Ministers" was
colloquially the name for Dissenting preachers, and for
Clergymen of every Order. By the insertion of the new
word, therefore, the whole Rubric was intended to enjoin,
not only that the congregation are not to repeat the Aljsolution,
as they have repeated the Confession, but also th.at it must
not be said by a Deacon. If a Deacon says Morning or
Evening Prayer in the presence of a Priest, the latter must
say the Absolution ; and if no Priest is present, the Deacon
may make a pause, to give opportunity for the ofi'ering up of
a short secret prayer by himself and the congregation, and
then pass on to the Loi'd's Prayer.
The Absolution -nas composed by the Revisers of 1552,
evidently with the old form of Absolution, which was used iu
the Prime and Compline Services, before them. There is also
some similarity between the opening words and those of a
prayer which was placed at the end of the Litany in the
Primer of 1535; and which again, from the prayer, "Forgive
us now while we have time and space," seems to have been
founded on the ancient Absolution, with its " spatium vera;
1 84
Scorning lpraj)cr.
wickedness, and live ; and liatli given power, and
commandment, to His Ministers, to declare and
pronounce to His people, being penitent, the
Absolution and Kemission of their sins : *He par-
doneth and absolveth all them that truly repent,
and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel.
Wherefore "let us beseech Him to grant us true
repentance, and His Holy Spirit, that those
things may please Him, which we do at this
present ; and that the rest of our life hereafter
may lie pure, and holy ; so that at the last we
a Manciiu, i. ;qo. , "Deus omnipotcns Salvator et Redemptor
' generis humani, Qui apostolis 8uis dedit po-
j testatem ligandi atque solvendi Ipse te absol-
i s« note on ii,e vere dlguetur . . . 'Misereatur vestri omnipo-
tens Deus, et dimittat vobis omnia peccata
conservet et
Comforuble Words
in the Communion i
/sTr"'coTO/. All. ' '^©st'""' • liberet vos ab omni malo ;
coramllnion. ""'*' I confimiet in bono ; et ad vitam perducat reter-
rf In orig. MS. ■• l.e- ! t^o^.,, A nipn
us " inserted by
later hand.
Absolutionem et remissionem omnium' pecca-
torain vestroruni, spatium ver« pcBnitentis, em-
endationem vitas, gratiam et consolationem Sancti
pcenilentiw," though the first part is identical with a Lenten
Collect of St. Gregory's Saorameutary.
Some phrases, a good deal like t)iose of our Absolution, are
also fouud in the form of prayer got up by John a Lasco, . or
Laski, a Polish refugee, for the Germau congregation which
he was allowed to gather together at Austin-friars in London ;
but the likeness is not such as to make it probable that tlie
English form was derived fx-om hi.s Latin one, though it does
rather indicate that both were in part derived from some such
originals as those printed in the te.xt above.
Two questions have been raised with respect to this form
of Absolution. First, whether those who composed it, and
placed it where it is, intended it for an Absolution of penitent
sinners, or merely for a declaration of God's mercy. Secondlj',
whether, irrespective of their intention, it is so constructed
as to be effective for the remission of sins.
[1] The first question is all but decided by the title. Here,
in the Communion SerWce, and in the Prayers to be used at
Sea, the same word, "Absolution." is used for designating
two different forms ; and in the Visitation of the Sick, the
third form in use by the Church of England is spoken of in
the direction "the Priest shall absolve him." It seems
beyond all probability that this designation could have been
used of all three forms without any verbal distinction, and
yet that a real difference of meaning lay hidden under the
use of it, and that to such an extent as to make it in one
place contradictory of itself in another place. What the
word "Absolution" in the rubrical title so far proves, is
confirmed by the addition made to it at the Hampton Court
Conference of 1604, when it was altered to the "Absolution,
or yemiifsion of sins," clearly shewing what opinion the
Divines there assembled held respecting the intention with
which the form was inserted fifty-one years before. It is
still further confirmed by a note of Bishop Andrewes (one
already quoted), in which, after saying that the Absolution is
pronounced aiithoritatiri, he adds, "For authority of Abso-
lution, see Ezek. xxxiii. 12 ; Job xxxiii. 2,3 ; Numb. vi. 24 ;
2 Sam. xii. 13; John xx. 2,3." An examination of these
passages of Scripture will shew that Bishop Andrewes (one of
the most learned theologians and Scriptural scholars that the
Church of England has ever had) must certainly have supposed
that this was intended for an actual Absolution ; and that, in
his opinion, it was such.
["2] The Absolution itself is constructed on a similar principle
to that on which Collects are formed ; and as the precatory
part of a Collect is sometimes veiy short and condensed,' so
here the actual words of Absolution are only "He pardoneth
and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly
believe His holy Gospel." The preceding portion is a state-
ment of the antecedent reasons — tiod's mercy, and the
delegation of His authority — for pronouncing Absolution ;
and what follows is an authoritative exhortation to follow up
the words of temporary confession and absolution with prayer
for perseverance and final pardon. The words which thus
form the essence of the Absolution are of a declaratory kind,
while those in the old Morning and Evening Services of the
Church were precatory, as may be seen from the original
Latin form printed above, and its Kngli.sh tr.anslation in the
note below ; but the change has rather strengthened than
weakened the force of the form adopted. Nor nmst we be
led away by the word "declaratory," so often used to
ilistinguish this from the other two forms of Absolution used
in the Prayer Book; for to "declare" God's pardon of
sinners is to give effect to that pardon, as when the authorized
subordinate of an earthly sovereign declares pardon in that
> Ste IntroductiiiD to llic ColkcU, Epistles, and Oospclii.
sovereign's name. This form is, in fact, closely analogous
to the formulary of Baptism used in the Eastern Church :
"The servant of God (N. ) is baptized in the Name of the
Father, Amen, and of the Son, Amen, and of the Holy
Ghost, Amen." Andas these words are undoubtedly sufficient
for fulfilling our Lord's words, "Baptizing them in the Name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, ' so are
the absolving words of our Absolution sufficient to fulfil His
other words, " ^YllOse soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
luito them."
The special form in which the Absolution is moulded was
probably adopted from a careful consideration of the use
which was to be made of it. It is an Absolution uttered, as
Benedictions are uttered, over a mixed congregation, and yet
it can only be efticacious towards those who have honestly
said the Confession as it is intended to be said. The condi-
tions of pardon are therefore distinctly expressed, that the
impenitent may not be misled, and take to themselves
a forgiveness to which they have no claim. Anil as it
is a public Absolution, "He pardoneth and absolveth" is
adopted in analogy with the "tribiiat I'ohis omnipotens
et 7niserico7's Dojn/iiv-^," YAther than the positive form, "by
His authority I absolve," as used in absolving individual
penitents. -
The effect of this Absolution in the daily services of the
Church is [1] to reconcile the Church, as a community, daily
to her God, through the mercies of Christ ; [2] to prepare
each person present for the work of ottering praise to Him ;
[.3] to convey pardon of sin to an extent correlative with true
contrition in those over whom it is uttered. As was said in
the case of the general Confession, that it does not supersede
a particular confession ; so it must be remembered that the
general Absolution does not supei'sede a particidar one. But
tlie necessity for absolution is so great, that the Church has
provided against any one being without it by this daily utter-
ance of it, in which it is cast abroad as the Sower sowed his
seed, on the stony as well as the good ground, or as God sends
His rain upon the just and the unjust. It is a ministration
in close analogy with the continual superabundance of the
mercies of God in Christ, which flow down even to the skirts
of our High Piiest's clothing. According to the ^^■ords,
"freely ye have received, freely give," the Church casts
her lireail upon the waters in faith, believing that God's
word of absolution will not return unto Him void. And
for its efficiency, in the words of a recent writer, "all
that is needed is that there be fit, i.e. truly rej)cntaut
recipients of it ; that secured, wheresoever it touches, it
blesses and heals. " ■'
Nevertheless it is pi-obable, for reasons given on the next
page, that the Absolution was not intended to be invariably
used at all week-day Services.
" The ftiicicnt form of Confession, Misereatur, nnd Absolution, Wds as
followfi, bt'iiig used in tlie midst of the preecs at Prime mid Compline : —
The Priest, looking towanls the Altar,
I confess to God, the Blessed Mary, and all the Saints [tttrning to
the Choir], and to you, that 1 have sinned exceedingly in thought,
word, and deed, of my own fault [looking Imck to the Altar], I iteseeeh
Holy Mary, all the Saints of God, and [looking hack to the Choir] you to pr.ny
for me.
The Choir replies, turning to the Priest,
Almighty God have merey uiion you, and forgive you all your sins,
deliver you from all evil, preserve and strengthen you in all goodness, and
bring you to everlasting life. Amen.
Then the Choir, turning to the Altar,
I confess to God ... to pray for mc.
Then let the Priest say to the l^hoir, in the first jrerson, if necessary,
Almighty God have mercy upon yon . . . everlasting life. Amen.
The Almighty and merciful Lord grant yon Ah.solution and Tleniission of
all your sins, space for true re)K'nt.Tnce, amendment of life, and the grace
and consolation of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
3 Vnf.Kyws'n Principles of liivinc ."Service, i. 317.
a9orninD Prapct.
185
may come to His eternal joy ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
IT The people sliall answer "here, and at tlie end of all
other prayers, Aiikii.
II 'Then the Minister shall kneel and say the Lord's
Prayer with an auilible voiee ; the people also
kneeling and repeating it with him, botli here,
and wheresoever else it is nscd in Divine Service.
UR Father, Which art iu heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Tliy
o
a /leif . . . prayers
[1663J.
■ Sar. Adv. Siuiii.
d M,l». 6. c,, n
Spiritus, tribuat vohis omnipotens et misericors
DoMiNUS. Amen.]
■Ad iMatutinas
Ave Maria.
diad sacerilos I'ater Noster cl
[''IIATKP y/xCJv I) (V TO(S ovpai'oii, ay laa 6 1'lr 10 to
oi'O/xa (70V. 'EAOerw -i) jSaaikeia crov y(Vi]d-i]T(o
The people shall ansjoer] The words "here and at the end
of all other prayers " were added by Bishop C'osin.
The rules respecting the use of "Amen" in the Prayer
Book appear to be these : [1] When it is used after acts of
worship in whicli the Minister alone has spoken, as in Absolu-
tions, Benedictions, and " other prayers," it is to be taken as
a ratification by tlie people of wliat the Minister h.as said,
and is to be said by the people only, in which cases the word
is printed in italics. [2] When it is used at the end of for-
mularies which the people say with the Minister, as in Con-
fessions, the Lord's Prayer, Doxologies, and Creeds, it is to
be said by botli as part of the formularies, and is then printed
in Roman type. [3] In tlie Lord's Prayer at the beginning of
the Communion Service, in the formula of Baptism, and in
the reception of tlie baptized into Christian fellowship, it is a
ratification by the speaker himself, and is not tQ be said by
the people.
At the end of this Rubric, in the Manuscript Prayer Book
annexed to the Act of Uniformity, there are two thick lines
drawn, with a considerable space above and below them, as
here printed.' In the Black Letter Book of 1637 and in the
Sealed Books these two lines also appear at tlie bottom of
the p.ige, and at the top of the next page the headline
" Morning," or " Evening, Prayer," followed by an elaborate
floriated ornament extending across the page. It is evident
that the Revisers intended a distinct break to be made
between the Absolution and the Lord's Prayer ; but this has
been neglected by subsequent printers of the Prayer Book.
It may be added that the lines are carefully reproduced in
the copy of the Rubrics which was printed from the MS. in
the Fourth Report of the Ritual Commission, 1870, pp. 10, 12.
In Bishop Cosin's Durham Book he wrote after the
"Amen," "Place here afleuron," and at the head of the
Lord's Prayer, over leaf, he has made a note, " Set here a
faire compartment " [ornamental page-heading] "before this
title." And although he has not erased the previous title
before the Sentences, he has here repeated it, "An Order
for Morning Prayer." He and the other Revisers probably
contemplated the occasional use of a short service, from
which all before the Lord's Prayer was to be omitted. In
the first series of his notes on the Prayer Book [Cosin's
irorfo, V. 47] he has also written on the Lord's Prayer, "Here
begins the service ; for tliat which goes before is but a pre-
paration to it, and is newly added in King Edward's Second
Book, iu imitation of the Liturgy and Mass of tlie Church
of Rome. But as their hours begin with the Lord's
Prayer, so begins our Mattins and the high service of the
altar. And they begin as they should do, for this was the
ancient custom of the Christians when they were met together
to pray ; they said that prayer for a foundation and a begin-
ning of all the rest which Christ Himself had taught them. "
[Comp. Works, ii. 9.]
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Then the Minister'] From 15.52 to 1661 the Rubric stood,
' ' Then shall the Minister begin the Lord's Prayer with a loud
voice." Before 1552 it had been "The Priest being in the
quire, shall begin with a loud voice the Lord's Prayer, called
the Paternoster. " It was altered to its present form by Bishop
Cosin. The Mattins began here in the Prayer Book of 1549 ;
and before that time the Lord's Prayer was said secretly by
the Priest, the public part of the service beginning with the
1 Similar lines are drawn in the saiiif place of Evening Prayer, but tliere
are no lines of the same kind anywhere else tlirougliout the mauuscript.
" Domine, labia mea aperies," as is shewn in the Latin liubrio
printed before that versicle.
with liim] That is, simultaneously, clause by clause.
wheresoever else it is vscil in Divine ^Service] Bishop Cosin
overlooked the Rubric immediately before the Lord's Prayer
in the Communion Service, which directs the Priest to say it,
without any direction as to the people. It is not likely that
there was any intention of overriding that Rubric by tliis.
The Doxology was added here in 1G61, but not by Bishop
Cosin, who wrote among some " Directions to be given to the
printer," "Never print the Lord's Prayer beyond — deliver us
from evil. Amen." The Doxology is supposed not to have
been in the original of St. Matthew, as it is not in St. Luke.
In the ancient Liturgies of the East, after "deliver us from
evil " (said, with the rest of the prayer, by the people), the
Priest offers a prayer against the evil and the Evil One, called
the Embolismus ; and the Doxology is then sung by the people.
Probably this is a primitive usage ; and the antiplion so sung
has crept into the text of the Gospel.
The paraphrase of Bishop Andrewes, in his note on the
Lord's Prayer here, is very concise and instructive.
Our Father. Etsi Issus est, Pater est.
Which art iu heaven. Eminenter, noii inclusive.
Hallowed lie Thy Name. In me, per me, super me.
Thy kingdom come. Ut destruatur regnum peccati, per
quod regnavit mors et diabolus.
In earth. In me, qui sum terra.
In heaven. A Sanctis angelis.
Give us this day our daily. Pro necessitate.
Bread. Proprium, licite acquisitum, superccelestera et
corporeum.
Forgive us our trespasses. Talenta dimitte.
Lead us not. Nee sinas intrare ductos pronosque.
I gxtra i ''■''^'-'"'o-
From evil. Ab authore mali < ' \ niundo.
( intra, nobismetipsis.
1 culps; per gratiam.
A malo < pceniB per misericordiain.
f omni per pacem.
Its fitness for use in the manner here directed by the
Church is also beautifully brought out by Sir Richard Baker :
"Though this prayer is the supplication of the whole body of
the Church, and of every member thereof ; yet each petition
seems to have some special relation to some peculiar member.
For the first petition may not unfitly be thought the prayer
of angels ; the second, the prayer of the saints departed ;
the third, the jjrayer of the faithful living ; the fourth, the
prayer of all creatures ; the fifth, the prayer of penitent sin-
ners ; the sixth, the prayer of infants. "-
The various modes iu which saints have used this Divine
prayer with a special intention are almost infinite ; and it
would be well for every one to follow their example, by hav-
ing such a special intention in view wdienever it is said in the
Services of the Sanctuary. In this pl.ioe, at any rate, it
should be ofTered up as the complement and crown of the
Absolution and Confession, on the one hand ; and laid hold
of, on the other hand, as a mediatorial key, by wliich the
door of heaven is to be opened for the ascent of the Church's
praises to the Throne of God. It is a prayer, saj's the old
Mirror of our Lady, that said in the Unity of the Church, is
never unsped.
Some ancient English versions of the Lord's Prayer will be
found in the notes to Evening Prayer ; "where also will be
found an exposition and a paraplirase ; the one, an ancient
- Baker, On Vic Lord's Prayer, p. 51, ed. IGUS
iS6
aborning; Ipraycr.
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil : "For Thine is the king-
dom, The power, and the glory, For ever and
ever. Amen.
IT Then likewise lie shall say,
'0 LoED, open Thou "'our lips.
Answer.
'And ''our mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
Priest.
^0 God, make speed to save ■''us.
Answer.
''0 Lord, make haste to help 'us.
IT 'Here all standing up the Priest shall say,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holt Ghost ;
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
(1 Doxolojjy added
[■664
«Sar.
c Ps. SI. 15-
d 'fiy [1549 only].
<■ Ts. ss. 19.
/Ps. 70. 1.
^' r/te [tsig oa\y].
h Ps. 33. =2.
i Here
[l66i].
TO Oi\-qy.a, (Tov, ws kv ovpavif Koi ewl t^s 7"yS.
Toi/ apToi' ■i)fxwi> Tov eTTLOvcriov 5ds 'fj/iiv ari'niepov.
Kat cii/jcs I'j/J.iv TO, otjieiXrjiiaTa y/J-dv, oil Kal ■iyul<;
a<jiUjxtv TOii otjieiXeTaLS 'ij/J-wi'. Kai /xt) ilcreveyKij's
ly/iSs els TTiipaiTjxov dAAci pvo-ai ■tj/ias (xtto tov
TToVTjpov. On aov ecrru' rj fSacriXeia, Kal i) Si;i'a-
/its, Kat 1] So^a €6S Toi'S tttwi'as. 'A/irJr.l
* Postea sacerdos incipiat servitium hoc modo :
DoMiNE, labia mea aperies.
Chorus respondeat. Et os meum annuntiabit
laudem Tuam.
Sacerdos staiim. Deus in adjutorium meum
intende.
H. DoMiNE, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patei, et Filio, et Spikitui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula sseculorum. Amen.
one, illustrating the general meaning of the Lord's Prayer ;
the other, modern, drawing out its fulness as a prayer for the
Unity of the Church, according to the method of special
intention above suggested.
THE VEESICLES.
Lord, open ThoxC\ These versicles and responses have
been used time immemorial as the opening of the daily ser-
vice of praise wliich the Church continually offers to God.
They are mentioned in the rule of St. Benedict (the great
foimder of the Benedictine order, which guarded and expressed
the devotional system of the Church for so many ages, and
who died in a.d. 543), as the prefatory part of the service ;
and he proljably adopted them from the previous custom
of the Church ; the two Psalms from which they are taken
having been used at the beginning of tlie daily Offices in
the East from the earliest ages. Taken from such a source,
with only the change from the singular to the plural
number in the pronouns,' they form a most fitting preli.K
to the Psalmody which is so integral a portion of Divine
Service. Except the Lord open our lips, we cannot shew
forth His praise with the heart. They are the " Sur.iinn
Corda " of the Daily Service, nml yet have a tone of humilitj',
and even penitence, given to tliem by their derivation from
the fifty-hrst and seventieth Psalms. It is probably to
express this penitential tone that the musical note to which
the first of thein is said by the Priest is always a low one,
being depressed as much as a fifth from the pitch in which
the Lord's Prayer has been recited ; and also tliat we continue
kneeling till the Gloria Patri. The second vcrsicle is a jiara-
phrase of the "Hosauua," — Save, Lord, we beseech Thee, —
with which our Loi-d was led in triumph to the Temple.
GLORIA PATEI AND ALLELUIA
The beautiful dogmatic anthem which is here used for the
first time in the service is of primitive origin ; and, if not an
1 Tliia change of pronouim was ninde in 1552. A reason for rctiiininp tlic
Bingulur is given in an old exjiosition of tlic Hours. "And talve liced
tliat all tbis ver.se, both that part that is said of one alone, and that that is
answered of all together, are sairl in the singular inunber; as when yc say
' mine,' or ' nie,' and not ' our,* or ' ns,' in token that ye begin your praising
and prayerin the person of holy Church, wliich is one, and not many. l''or
though there be many members of holy Chureh, as there are many Christian
men and women, yet they make one body, that is lioly Church, whereof
Christ is the Head." The same coinincntary explains tliiit " O Ijord,
oi)cn Thou niy lips," and it.s resiionse, were used only at JIattins, because
all the day after the lips should rcmaiu ready for God's praises. [Minor
o/our iMdy, p. 81, lilunt's ed.)
independently inspired form, is naturally traceable to tlie
angelic hymns in Isa. vi. 3 and Luke ii. 13, the Trinitarian
form of it being equally traceable to that of the baptismal
formula ordained by our Lord in Matt, xxviii. 19. Clement
of Alexandria, wlio wrote before the end of tlie second cen-
tury, refers to the use of this hymn under the form, Aivouvm
Tw p.bvi^ irarpl Kal vl(2 Kal Tui aytoj Trvev^art, " giving glory to
tlie one Father, and to the Son, and to tlie Holy Ghost," and
a hymn of about tlie same date is printed by Dr. Eouth, in
which there is an evident trace of the same custom : i/jLVov/jLev
Trar^pa Kai vlov, Kal dyiof ■jrv^u/j.a Qeou, " Praise we the Father
and Son, and Holy Spirit of God." It is also referred to even
earlier by Justin Martyr. The Arian heretics made a great
point of using Church phraseology in tlieir ow-n novel and
heretical sense ; and they adopted the custom of singing their
hymn in the form, "Glory be to the Father, by the Son, and
in the Holy Ghost," by which they intended to evade the
recognition of each Person as God. It thus became necessary
for the Church to adopt a form less capable of such perversion ;
and in ancient liturgies it is found as it is still used in the
Eastern Church, " Glory be to tlio Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, world without end."
In the Western Church, the second part, "As it was in tlio
beginning, is now, and ever sliall be, world without end," has
been used for nearly as long a period, being found ordered iu
the fifth Canon of the Council of Vaison, presided over by
Cjesarius of Aries, in A,n. 529. The use of the hymn in this
j)lace, after the JJomiiie ad adjuvandum, is .also recognized by
the rule of St. Benedict a few years further on in the sixth
century ; and it is found so placed in tlie earliest English ser-
vices, those which arc usually called " Anglo-Saxon." It also
occurs in the same position in the daily offices of tlie Eastern
and the Roman Cliurches at the present day : so that the
Church throughout the world opens its lips day by day with
the same words of faith in the Blessed Trinit}', and of devout
jjraise to each Person ; worshipping One God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity. The .addition of the succeeding vcrsicle and
response gives to this unity of praise on eartli a further like-
ness to the unity of praise which was revealed to St. John ;
"And a voice came out of the throne, .saying. Praise our God,
all ye His serv.ants, and ye that fear Him, both small and
great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thundcrings, saying. Alleluia ; f(u- the Lord God omnipotent
reignetli." [Kcv. xix. G.]
In the Prayer Book of 1.">I9 tlic old usage of B,aying the
' ' Hallelujah " from Easter to Trinity Sund.ay in this jilace was
continued. It was expunged altogether in 15.")2 ; restored in
the English form, " Praise ye the Lord," and for constant use,
in the Elizabethan revision. The response to it, " The Lord's
scorning: jprager.
187
Priest.
Praise ye tlic Lord.
"Answer.
The Lord's Name be praised.
H Then shall be said or sung ''this Psalm following ;
■^except on Easter Day, upon which another
Anthem is ap[)iiinted ; and on the Nineteentli Day
of every Month it is not to be read here, but in
the ordinary eourse of the Psalms.
/~\ COME, let ii.s siii.sj; unto the
Vcnite. exultc
mus Doinino.
P.s. ,\cv.
ct ll.S
Lord : let u.s heartily rejoice
in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanks-
giving : and shew ourselves glad in Him with
Psalms.
For the Lord is a great God : and a great
King above all gods.
In His -^hand are all the corners of the earth ;
and the strength of the hills is His also.
The sea is His, and He made it : and His
Lands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship, and fall down : and
kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is the Lord our God : and we are the
people of His pasture, and the sheep of His
•^hand.
To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not
a Atis. . . . fifttiseii
ti662]. And from
i.istcr to Trinity
SiiikI.1v Untie-
iiijah [1549 only].
ti ivitltoiit any iiivi-
tatory [1549 only],
c fxetM . . . Psalms
[166=).
rf Tile version is tlial
of tlie Old Italic.
e qnonmm . . . suam,
nut in V'ulg.
/ \\. hanits.
g niont. Ipsius sitnt.
Vulg.
Vlilfi,
/ Vuly, as Eni,r
Alleluia \yel Laus Tibi, Domink, Kex seternse
gloriie].
Sequatur invitatorium hoc modo. Psaljuum Vcnile .
[Invitatory entire. ]
''VENITE, esultemus Domino, jubilemus Deo
salutari nostro : prwoccupcmus facioni Ejus in
confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus Ei.
[Invitatory entii'e.]
Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et Eex
magniis super oiunes deos : 'quoniam non repellet
Dominus plebein Suam, quia in mauu Ejus sunt
omnes fines terras, et altitudines •^montium Ipse
conspicit.
[Invitatory, latter half. ]
Quoniam Ipsius est mare, et Ipse fecit illud ;
et ''aridam fuudaverunt manus Ejus : venite, adci-
remus et procidamus ante Deum, ploremus coraix.
Domino Qui fecit nos ; Quia Ipse est Dominus
Deus noster, nos autem ijopulus Ejus, et eves
pascua; Ejus.'
[Invitatory entire. ]
Hodie, si vocem Ejus audieritis, nolite obdu-
Name be praised, " is first found in the Scottish Prayer Book
of 1637, and was inserted herein 1661. The latter represents
in an unvarying form the variable invitatories which used to
precede the Venite in the old Latin services.
There are two ancient customs still kept up with respect to
the Gloria Fatri. The one is that of turning to the Kast, as
in the recitation of a Creed, whenever it is said or sung in
Divine Service ; an usage enjoined in the ancient Psalter of
the Church of England, and still observed in many Churches,
as, for example, at Manchester Cathedral. The other custom
is a more genera! one, that of reverently inclining the head
during the first half of the hynm, as a humble gesture recog-
nizing the Divine glory of each of the Three Persons, and in
imitation of the gesture of the angels, who veil their faces
with their wings when singing to the glory of the Trinity in
the vision of Isaiah. An old Canon of the Church of Englaml
enjoins ; " Qtiotiesque dicitur Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui
Saneto, ad eadem verba Deo humiliter se inclinent. " [Wilkins'
Cone. iii. 20.] And in the Mirror there is the direction,
"Ye incline at Gloria Patri."
Bishop Cosin wished to revive the use of Invitatories on
Sundays, having inserted this Rubric in the Prayer Book
which was laid before the Revisers of 1601, immedi.ately after
"Praise ye the Lord :" "And upon any .Sunday, or Lord's
Day, this commemoration of His rising from the dead shall be
said or sung, ' Priest, Christ is risen againe,' etc. And upon
the Feast of Easter, Christ, our Passover, is offered up for us.
Therefore, let us keep the feast, etc., jit in die Pasck. Then
shall be said or sung," the ]'cnitc as we now have it.
Then shall be said or sung] This Rubric, as altered by
Bishop Cosin, has great historical value, for the illustration
that it gives of the mode in which the Psalms were intended
to be said or sung. It is as follows : "Then shall be said
or sung this Psalme following (except on Easter Day, when
another Anthem is appointed), one verse by the priest, and
another by the people ; and the same order shall lie observed
in all psalmes and hymns throughout this Book. But in
coUedges, and where there is a Quire, the same shall be sung
by sides, as hath bin accustomed." In the third series of his
notes on the Prayer Book there are also these remarks on the
response, "And our mouth shall shew forth Thy praise:"
"This is the answer of all the people. In the second book of
Edward VI. the word 'Choir' is everywhere put for our
word ' Answer ; ' and by making this answer, they promise
for themselves that they will not sit still to hear the psalms
and hymns read only to them, as m.atter of their instruction ;
but that they will bear a part in them with the priest, and
keep up the old custom still of singing, and answering verse
by vei'se, as being specially appointed for the setting forth of
God's praise ; whereunto they are presently invited again by
the minister in these words, 'Praise ye the Lord.' So that
our manner of singing by sides, or all together, or in several
parts, or in the people's answering the priest in repeating the
psalms anil hymns, is here grounded ; but if the minister say
all alone, in vain was it for God's people to promise God, and
to say that their mouth also should shew forth His praise."
[Cosm's Works, v. 445.]
VENITE EXULTEMUS.
This Psalm has been used from time immemorial as an intro-
duction to the praises of Divine Service ; and was probably
adopted by the Church from the services of the Temple.' It
was perhaps such a familiar use of it in both the Jewish and
the Christian system of Divine Service which led to the
exposition of it given in the third chapter of the Epistle to
the Hebrews, where the Apostle is shewing the connection
between the two dispensations, and the way in which all
belief and worship centres in our Divine High Priest and
perpetual Sacrifice.
In one of St. Augustine's sermons he plainly refers thus to
the ritual use of the Venite; "This we have g.athered from
the Apostolic lesson. Then we chanted the Psalm, exhorting
one another, with one voice, with one heart, saying, ' come,
let us adore, and fall down before Him, and weep before the
Lord Who made us. ' In the same Psalm too, ' Let us prevent
His face with confession, and make a joyful noise unto Him
with psalms.' After these the lesson of the Gospel shewed us
the ten lepers cleansed, and one of them, a stranger, giving
thanks to his cleanser." [St. Aug. Serm. Ben. ed. 176, Oxf.
trans. 126.] Durandus, in his Jlationale of Divine Offices,
1 In tlio Eftstent Clmrch an epitome of tlic first tliree verses is used, but
in tlic Latin aud English Cluu-elies it has always beeu used entire.
i88
aborning; Iprapcr.
; iyyitatiotte. Vl
b ojftttxtis, V'ulg.
c L'c juravi. V'ulg.
your hearts ; as in the provocation, and as in the
day of temptation in the wilderness ;
When your fathers tempted !Me : proved !Me,
and saw My works.
Forty years long was I grieved with this gene-
ration, and said : It is a people that do err in
their hearts, for they have not known J[y ways.
Unto whom I sware in Jly wrath : that they
should not enter into !My rest.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. "'Amen.
IT Then shall follow ''the Psalms in ortler as they be
appointed. And at tlie end of every Psalm
throughont the Year, and likewise in the end of
Bcncdkite, Benedktus, ilagnificat, and Nunc dimil-
tis, shall be repeated,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sox : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever j
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT Then shall be read distinctly with an andible voice ^ Sar. (Advent
the First Lesson, taken out of the Old Testament, ^''" "■ '■'■■■'
</ Italic in MS.
e cerlitin Psijlms in
order, as (hey be
appointed in a
laffte made /or
that purpose, ex-
cept there be proper
Psaitns appointed
for tliat dav [1549-
1662]. This Table
sets forth tlie same
arrani^ement as
that now in use.
/ Cha,mbers" Tr.
0/ Sarum Psalter,
P- 34-
as is appointed in the Calendar, except there be
proper Lessons assigned for that day : He that
readeth so standintr and turning himself, as he
h Transl. o/Sarunt
Psalter, p. 323.
rare corda vestra, sicut in "exacerbatione, secun-
dum diem tentationis in deserto : ubi tentaver-
unt Me patres vestri, probaverunt, et viderunt
opera ISIea.
[Invitatory, latter half]
Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi
'huic, et dixi, Semper hi errant corde : ipsi vcro
non cognoverunt vias !Meas : 'quibus juravi in ira
Mea, Si introibunt in requiem ileara.
[Invitatory entire.]
Gloria Patei, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula sseculorum. Amen.
[Invitatory, (1) latter half, (2) entire.]
['And all the Clerks who have sung the Psalms stand-
ing up, turning to the Altar, shall each of tliem
say the Gloria, in his station, which shall be
observed throughout the whole year. ]
•fClericus primam lectionem legat hoc mode. Lectio
prima. Esaioc i. Visio Emite filii Amos, etc,
etc.
['' The Chapter is said in the midst of the Choir by the
Priest, without changing his place or vestment,
says that this psalm was sung at the beginning of the service
to call tlie congregation out of tlie churchyard into the
church ; and that it was hence called the Invitatory Psalm ;
but probably this was a local or temporary use of it, and
does not represent the true spirit of its introduction into the
Morning Service. It is far more likely that its comprehensive
character, as an adoration of Christ, was that which moved
the Divine Instinct wherewith the Church is endowed to
place this psalm in the forefront of her Service of Praise.'
Until the translation of our Offices into English it was the
custom to sing the Venite in a different manner from that
now used ; with the addition, that is, of Invitatories. These
were short sentences (varied according to the ecclesiastical
season) which were sung before the first verse, after each of
the five verses into which it was then divided, and also after
the Gloria Patri at the end. Thus in Trinity Season, " Laiidc-
vius Jesuni Christum ; quia Ipse est Redemptor omnium sirculo-
rum," would be sung before and after the first, and also after
the third and fifth of the divisions indicated in the Latin version
above. After the second, fourth, and Gloria Patri, would be
sung "Quia Ipse est Hedemptor omnium scrculorum" only;
and at the conclusion the whole of the Response, as at the
beginning. These Invitatories were altogether set aside, as
regards tlie Venite, in L549 ; and, as has been already shewn,
the "Sentences " were substituted for them at the commence-
ment of Divine Service in l.xri. Thus reduced to its psalter
simplicity, the Venite Exultomus is used before the Psalms
every morning, except upon Easter D.ay, when a special
Invitatory Anthem is substituted, which is printed before the
Collect for the day. On the nineteenth d.ay of every month
it is sung in its plnce as one of the Mattins psalms, so as not
to bo twice used at the same service, which is a continuation
of the old English us.age.
An old custom lingers (especially in the North of England)
of making a gesture of reverence at the words, " conic, let us
* There is said, however, to liavo been an ancient twelve o'clock bell nt
StrastiurR Cathedral, down to the time of the French Revolution, which
bore the inscriijtion —
" Vox ego 8UTI1 vitic
Voco vo8—or.ite— venite."
(Hawkis' Mvsicand Monils, p. 411.]
Tiiis seems rattier to corroborate the Ktatement of Durandiis.
worship and fall down ; " which is a relic of the custom of actual
prostration as it was once made in many churches at these words.
The Kubrics between the Venite and the Te Deuni were all
rearranged in l(i6I ; and the new arrangement, as we now
have it, appears in MS. in Bishop Cosin's Prayer Book. The
only changes of importance were these. [1] "He that read-
eth," and ■' He shall say," were substituted for " t/ie minister
that readeth," and " the minister shall say," in the direction
about the Lessons. [2] This Rubric of the preceding books
was erased, "And to the end the people may the better hear
in such places where they do sing, there shall the lessons be
sung in a plain tune, after the manner of distinct reading,
and likewise the epistle and gospel."
An English version of the A'enite about a century older
than that of the Prayer Book will be found in the Mirror of our
Lady. [Mirror, Bluut's ed. p. xli. ]
THE PSALMS.
For notes relating to the ritual use of the Psalms, the
reader is referred to the Introduction to the Psalter.
After the Psalms liave been suug it is customary in many
churches to play a short voluntary on the organ : this is men-
tioned by Archbishop Seeker as having "long been custom-
ary " in his day ; and in a letter from Oxford in No. 030
of the Sj'ectator. Perhaps it may be accounted for by a
Salisljuiy Ivubrio between the Ps.ilms and Lessons, " Deiyule
ilirilur Paternoster el Credo in X)c\\m a tolo choro privatim."
So at Durham a voluntary has also been substituted for the
"Agnus Dei," which was once sung during the Communion of
the Laity.
A nd at the end of every r.<ialm] Where the Psalms are said
in alternate verses by tlio Minister and the people it is obvi-
ously proper that the first part of the tiloria Patri should
always be said by the Minister.
THE LESSONS.
For notes relating to the ritual use of Lessons in Divine
Service, the reader is referred to a mitc on "The Order liow
the rest of Holy Scripture is appointed to be read " in the
Calendar.
On the mode of reading them " in a plain tunc," see p. 58.
scorning prager.
189
Te Deum
Laudaiuus.
may best be licard of all such as arc present."
And after that, shall be said or sung, in English,
the Hymn called 7V Deum LaudamitSj daily
throughout the Year. *
IF "Note that before every Lesson the Minister shall
say, /fere he<jinnefh such a Chapter^ or I'crse of
such a Chapter, of such a Book : And after every
Lesson, Here endeth the First, or the Second
Lesson.
WE praise Thee, God : we
acknowledge Thee to be the
Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee : the Father
everlasting.
To Thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens,
and all the Powers therein.
To Thee Cherubin and '^Seraphin : continually
do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth ;
Heaven and earth are ^fuU of the Majesty :
of Thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles : praise
Thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise
Thee.
^'The noble army o^ Martyrs : praise Thee.
The holy Church throughout all the world :
doth acknowledge Thee ;
The Father : of an Infinite Majesty ,
* Thine honourable, true : and only Son ;
''Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory : Christ.
a These two rubrics
were verbally al-
tered from tlicir
oritjinal form in
1663, but remain
substantially tlic
same as in 1552.
After them had
followed tliis other:
W ;(((', /o Ihrend the
people }>iay (he bet-
ter hear, in such
places -where they
dosing, there shall
the Lessons be sung
ill a plain time
after the nuxmter
0/ distinct r cad ill f^:
and li/ieivise the
lipistle and Gos-
/c/iiS49->664
b except in Lent,
all the which time,
in (he place 0/ Te
Deum shall be used
Benedicite omnia
opera Domini Do-
luino [1540 only],
<^ x>ar. Comp. Aiiti-
phon to Atliaii.
Creed. "Te Deum
Patrem coiilite>
d An Aramaic or
SjTiac plural.
e Clierubini et Sera-
IjUim. MSS.
f replenished ivith
[1549 only].
g- ST. CYPRTAN, de
Mortalilate,
h The fair host of
Martyrs that are
washed white and
fair in tlieir own
blood praise Thee.
IMirror.l
t Lamp. Alnan.
Creed. " Iniinensus
Pater," etc.
.t Thy very and ivor-
shipful. IMirror.l
/ Th! Holy Ghost
also I'fi'tg t'549
only].
but turned to the Altar, not chanting, but reading
as in the tone of a reader . . . ]
^npE
Deum laudamus : Te Dominum confitc-
iiiur.
Te seternum Pateem : omnis terra veneratnr.
Tibi omnes Angeli : Tibi cceli et universas po-
testates.
Tibi 'Cherubin et Seraphin : iucessabili voce
proclamant,
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus : Dominus Deus
Sabaoth ;
Pleni sunt cojli et terra : maje.statis gloriai
Tu£e.
^Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus.
Te Prophetanim laudabilis niunerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus : laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum : sancta confitetur
ecclesia.
'Patrem immensaj majestatis ;
Venerandum Tuuni veruiu : et uuicum Filium;
Sanctum quoqne Paracletuni Spiritum.
Tu Hex glorias : Christe.
THE CANTICLES.
The ritual use of Holy Scripture in Divine Service has
always been connected with praise and thanksgiving. The
short responds wliicli were intermingled with the Les.son3 in
the pre-Reformation Services were very ancient in their origin,
although, no doubt, they had increased in number during tljo
developement of the Services for monastic use. Of a like
antiquity is the "Glory be to Thee, Lord," before, and the
"Thanks be to Thee, O Lord," after the reading of the (iospcl
in the Communion Service. As will be seen in the account
given of the Te Deum, the use of responsory hymns after the
Lessons is also very ancient ; and it probably arose out of the
pious instinct whicli lluis connected the idea of thanksgiving
with the hearing of (.iod's revelations to man. The Council
of Laodicea [a. D. 3lJ7] ordered, in its seventeenth Canon, that
Psalms and Lessons should be used alternately ; and this
Canon doubtless refers to a custom similar to ours.
A leading principle of all the Canticles ajjpears to be that of
connecting the written with the personal Word of God ; and
that as much in respect to the Old Testament Lessons as to
those taken out of the Gospel or other parts of the New Tes-
tament. This is more especially true of those Canticles
which are placed first of the two in each case, the Te Deum,
the Benedictus, the JLagnificat, and the Nunc Dimittis. The
three latter of these were inspired hymns spoken at the
time when the Eternal Word was in the act of taking our
nature to redeem and glorify it ; and the first is, if not inspired,
the most wonderful expression of praise for the abiding Incar-
nation of our Lord that uninspired lips have ever uttered.
It may also be observed that the Canticles are set where they
are, not that they may apply to any particular cliapters of the
Holy Bible, though they often do so in a striking manner,
but with reference to Divine revelation as a whole, given to
mankind by God in His mercy and love, and therefore a mat-
ter for deepest thankfulness and most exalted praise.
The three New Testament Canticles are all taken from the
Gospel of St. Luke ; tlie sacrificial and sacerdotal gospel, the
symbol of which is the "living creature like unto a calf" or
"an ox ; " and in which is chieiiy set forth our Blessed Lord's
relation to the Church as her High Priest offering Himself for
sin, and originating from His own Person all subordinate
mini.-jtrations of gr.ace.
TE DEUM LAUDAMUS.
This most venerable hymn has been sung by the whole
Western Church "day by day" on all her feasts from time
immemorial. It is found in our own Jlorning Service as far
back as the Conquest ; and its insertion in tlie Salisbury
riu'tiforium by St, Osmund was doubtless a continuation of
the old custom of the Church of England.
Very ancient ecclesiastical traditions represent the Tt Deum
as a hymn antiphonally extemporized by St. Ambrose and
St. Augustine at the baptism of the latter, A.D. 386. The
written authority for this tradition is traceable to an alleged
work of St. Datius, a successor of St. Ambrose in the See of
Milan, a.d. 552. But this work has been proved by Menard,
Jluratori, and Mabillon to be of much later date. There is
also a Psalter in the Vienna Library, which was given by the
Emperor Charlemagne to Pope Adrian I., a.d. 772, in the
Appendi.K of which the Te Deum is found with the title
" Hymuus quem Sanctus Ambrosius et Sanctus Augustinus
invicem condiderunt : " and a similar title is found in other
ancient copies. The title anciently given to it in the Psalter ef
our own Church was, "Canticum Ambrosii et Augustini,"
and in 1661 Bishop Cosin wished so far to restore this title
as to call it "The Hymn of St. Andjrose;" but the ancient
rubrical title was as it is at present. In the earliest mention
tliat we have of it {i.e. in the rule of St. Benedict, framed in
the beginning of the sixth century), it has the same title as in
our present Prayer Book, the W(jrds of St. Benedict being "Post
quartum Responsoriura ineipit Abbas Te Deum Laudamus,
quo prajdicto legat Abbas lectionem de Evangelio ..." It
is also named in the rule of St. Cssarius of Aries about the
same date ; being ordered to be sung at Mattins every
Sunday in both systems. There is no reason to think that it
was then new to the Church ; but we may rather conclude
that it was a 'well-known hymn which the great founder of
the Benedictines adopted for the iise of his order from the
ordinary use of the Cliurch at large.
But the authorship of this Divine hymn has been assigned
to several saints both by ancient and modern authors, the
earliest being St. Hilary of Poictiers, a.d. 355, and the latest,
Nicetius, Bishop of Treves, A.D. 535. Some ancient copies, in
the Vatican and elsewhere, give it the titles of IJi/miius S.
Abunilii. and Ilijmmis Siscbuti monachi. It has also been
igo
aborning; IPraj^er.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver
man : Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of
death : Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven
to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the
Glory of the Father.
*We believe that Thou shalt come : to be our
Jud^e.
a suscef^sti homi-
nein : I'el, ad liber-
andum tnnttcinm,
suscepisli homi-
neiii. When Thou
shouldest take up-
on Thee mankiucl
for the deliverance
of man. Thou
liorridest not the
Virgin's womb.
[Mirror.]
b We believe that
Thou art the Judge
that shatt conie.
[Mirror.]
Tu Patris sempitemus es Filius.
Tu, ad liberandum, "suscepturua hominem :
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu devicto mortis aculeo : apcruisti credenti-
bus regna ccelorum.
Tu ad desteram Dei sedes : in gloria Patris.
Judex crederis esse venturus.
attributed to St. Hilary of Aries, and to a monk of Lerins,
wliose name is not known ; the number of persons named shew-
ing how much uncertainty has always surrounded the matter.
It is scarcely i»ssible that so remarkable a hymn should have
originated in so remarkable a manner as that first referred
to without some trace of it being found in the works of St.
Ambrose or St. Augustine, especially the Confessions of the
latter.^ It may be that their names were connected with
it because the one introduced it into the Church of Milan,
and the other (taught by St. Ambrose) into the Churches of
Africa.
For there is reason to think that the Te Deum Laudamus
is much older than the time of St. Ambrose. So early as a.d.
2.52 we find the following words in St. Cyprian's Treatise
" Ou the Mortality " that was then afflicting Carthage : "Ah,
perfect and perpetual bliss ! There is the glorious company of
the Apostles ; there is the fellowship of the prophets exulting ;
there is the innumerable multitude of martyrs, crowned after
their victory of strife and passion ;" and the striking parallel
between them and the seventh, eightli, and ninth verses of
the Te Deum seems certainly more than accidental. There
are several coincidences also between words in the Baptismal
and other offices of the Eastern Church and particular verses
of the Te Deum, and the former are supposed to be of
extremely ancient date. In the Alexandrine MS. of the
Scriptures, a work of the fourth or fifth century, preserved
in tlie British Museum, there is moreover a Morning Hymn
which is written at the end of the Psalter, and which is still
used in the daily services of the Greek Church. [.SVe also
Grabe's LXX. 1709, p. 40S.] The following is a transla-
tion : — ■
Glory to Thee, the Giver of light.
Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards
men.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we
glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory.
O Lord, heavenly King, God, Father Ahnighty : Lord,
only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit.
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest
away the sin of the world ; have mercy upon us, Thou
that takest away the sin of the world.
Accept our prayer : Thou that sittest at the right hand of
the Father, have mercy upon us.
For Thou only art holy ; Thou only Lord Jesus Christ art
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Day by day I bless Thee, and praise Thy Name for ever,
and for ever and ever.
Vouchsafe, Lord, to keep me this day without sin.
Blessed art Thou, Lord God of our fathers ; and praised
and glorified be Thy Name tor ever. Amen.
Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust
is in Thee. P.-i. xxxiii. 22.
Blessed art Thou, Lord : teach me Thy
statutes. Ts. cxix. 12.
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, from one
generation to another. r.s. xc l.
1 said, Lonl, be merciful to me, heal my
soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Ps. xli. 4.
Lord, I lly to Thee ; teach me to do Thy
will, for Thou art my God. Ps. cxliii. 0, 10.
For with Thee is tlic well of life ; in Tliy
light shall we see light. iv. xxxvi. 9.
1 In the latter wc <lo indeed read ". . . we were b.iptizcd, and anxiety
for our past life vanifthed from us. Nor was I sated in tliose dayswitli tlie
wondrous sweetness of considerinK tlie dejitli of Tliy coiniKels concerning
tlic salvation of manldnd. How did I wee)), in Tliy Hymns and Cantieles,
touched to the quielt hv the voices of Tliy sweet-attuned Church I" (St.
Aio. Con/. IX. vl. p. loii. Oxf trans.) Hut tills jiassage seems rather to
indicate the use of CaDticles already well known than the invention of any
new one.
Shew forth Thy mercy to them that know
Thee. Ps. xxxvi. 10.
holy God, holy Might, holy Immortal,
have mercy upon us. Amen.
The first division of tliis hymn is identical with the
Eucharistio Gloria iu Excelsis, and the last verse is the
Trisagion of the ancient Eastern Liturgies ; the remaining
portion has clearly a common origin with the Te Deum.
Verses 8 and 9 are the same as the 24th and 26th verses of the
latter. The 11th is also identical with the last of tlie Te
Deum, but it is taken from Psalm xxxiii. 22. Like the Te
Deum, this ancient Morning Hymn of the Greek Church
borrows largely from the Psalms in its concluding portion,
and the verses chosen are of a supplicatory character in both,
though otherwise they do not correspond.
The most probable conclusion to arrive at is, that this noble
Canticle, iu its present form, is a composition of the fourth
or fifth century ; and that it represents a still more ancient
hymn, of which traces ars to be found in St. Cyprian and
the Morning Hymn of the Alexandrine Manuscript.
The Te Deum is only known as connected with the ritual
of the Church. It seems also from the first to have been
connected with the reading of the Morning Lessons, the
expression "Keep us this day without sin" being some
evidence of this, though not convincing, as an analogous form
is used in "Give us this day our daily bread.'' In the
Salisbury Use, which probably represents the more ancient
use of the Church of England, it was directed to be sung
after the last lesson on Sundays and other Festivals, except
during Advent and the Lenten season from Septuagesima to
Easter. Quignonez, in his Beformed lioman Breviary, directed
it to be used every day even in Lent and Advent. The
Prayer Book of 1549 ordered it to be used "daily throughout
the year, except iu Lent;" and as Festivals were previously
almost of daily occurrence, this was practically a continuance
of the old rule. In 1552 the exception was erased, and has
not since been restored ; but as the alternative Canticle,
Benedicite, remains, some ritualists conclude that it is to be
used in Lent, as originally directed by the First Book of
Edw'ard VI. , and not tlie Te Deum.'-' Of ritual customs
anciently connected with the singing of this hymn, one still
retains a strong hold upon English people, viz. that of bow-
ing .at the words "Holy, Holy, Holy," with the same reve-
rent gesture that is used in the Creed : a custom derived
from the angelic reverence spoken of in Isaiah in connection
with the same words. " Antl for bycause Angels praise God
witli great reverence, therefore ye incline when ye sing their
song," says the Mirror. The same work also says, "And
therefore, according to the angels, ye sing quire to quire, one
Sanctus on the one side, and another on the other side, and so
'^ This is not the ancient practice of the Churcli, it must be remembered.
Diniii[; Advent the following was sung instead of To Ileum on all Festivals
wlirii the latter would otherwise have been used. It is the last of nine
Ui's]).iiids [Kcsponsoria] \ised after the nine Lessons res]ieetively.
"y;. 9. Lu-teutur creli, et cxultet teria ; jubilate montes laudem : quia
Doniinus noster venitt Kt ['auperum suoruin miserebitur.
V. Orietur iu diebus ejus justitia et abundantia pacis. Et paupcrum
suorniu miscrebitur.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto :
Et iiauiteniiu suorum miscrebitur."
The ancient ritual use of the Ueiicdicite was entirely festive; thouph it
was not indeed set .iside from its ])Iaee in Lauds during Lent and Advent.
In Monasteries the To Deum was sung all the year rnuiul [Grancolas, cap.
33] ; and in Quignonez' lii/ormal Jlretnary it was ordered for Festivals even
in Advent and Lent. But admirable substitutes for it at these seasons
might be found in two otlier of the discontinued Lauds Canticles, the Song
of Hezelciali (Isa. xxxviii 1 being exactly ada[ited for Lent, and that of
Hab.akkilk (Halt, iii.) being e(|uaUy suitable for Advent. 'The f<alisliury
version (if the hitler [from tin; Vulgate] had two beautiful renderings of the
13tii nnrl istli verses : "Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy jieople:
even for salvation with Thy Christ;" and "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will joy in God my Jesus."
£!@orning UPraper.
191
We therefore pray Tlieo, help Thy servants :
whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious
blood.
"Make them to be numbered with Thy Saints :
in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save Thy people : and bless Thine
heritage.
Govern them : and lift tliem up for ever.
Day by day : we magnify Thee ;
And we worship Thy Name : ever world with-
out end.
a Make Thy scr-
vniits to be re-
warded in endless
bliss. (Mirror.]
6 modern reading;,
" i't irtoria iiiit/ie-
Vulgatc. »'<f*.
To ergo quaisumus, famulis Tuis subvcni :
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.
jEterna fac cum .Sanctis Tuis : *gloria munerari.
Salvum fac populum Tuum, Domine : et beno-
dic hffireditati Tuw.
Et 'rege eos, et extolle illos usque in setemum.
Per singulos dies, benedicimus To.
Et laudamus nomen Tuum : in sseculum et in
siECulum saeculi.
forth of other verses." The custom seems to have been to
sing each Sauctus on one side of the quire only, the remainder
of the verse on both sides, and tlien to proceed with the succeed-
ing verses in regular antiphonal order.
Besides the use of the To Duum in the Morning Service,
there is a well-known custom of singing this triumphal hymn,
by itself, arranged to elaborate music, as a special service of
thanksgiving. It is directed to l)e used in this manner in
" Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea, after Victory, or deliver-
ance from an Enemy ; " and at tlie conchision of coronations
it is always so used, as it has been, time immemorial, in
England, and over the whole of Europe : —
" Wliicli performed, the choir,
Witll all the choicest music of tlie Kingdom,
Together sing Te Deum."
[Henry VIII. Act iv. sc. 1.]
The Sovereigns of England liave been accustomed to go in state
to the singing of tlie Te Deum after great victories, and
Handel's " Dettingen Te Deum " was composed for one of these
occasions. Custom has also established this separate use of
the Te Deum on other important occasions of thanksgiving.
The most ancient Christian music known has come down to
us in coimection with this Canticle ; being tliat known as
the " Ambrosian Te Deum," which is found in a work on
Music written by Boethius, a Roman Consul, in A. D. 487.
This is, however, thought to be an adaptation of tlie Temple
psalmody of the Jews, lilce the other ancient Church tones.
A very striking characteristic of this heavenly hymn is the
strictly doctrinal form in which it is composed, which makes
it a literal illustration of St. Paul's words, "I will sing with
tlie spirit, and I will simj with the undirstamVnirj also." [1 Cor.
xiv. 15.] It has been thought by some, from the singularity
of the opening words, Te Deum, that it is tliroughout a hymn
to Clirist as God, representing, or analogous tn, tliat spoken
of by Pliny in liis letter to Trajan. But the English version
truly rejiresents the Latin form, in wliich a double accusative
is joined to the verb laudamvs that could not be otlierwise
rhythmically translated. Tliat tlie English Cliurch has always
considered tlie earlier verses of it to be addressed to the First
Person of the Blessed Trinity is evidenced by the ancient
Salisbury Antiphou to the Athanasian Creed, which is "Te
Deum Patrem ingenitum, te Filium unigenitum, te Spirituiii
Sanctum Paracletum, sanctam et individuam Trinitatem toto
corde et ore confitemur. " It has also been conjectured that the
11th, liith, and LSth verses have been interpolated, but there
is not the slightest ground for this conjcetiire, all ancient
MSS- in Latin, Teutonic of the ninth century, and English
from the ninth to the fourteenth, reading precisely the .same :
and the hymn being rendered imperfect by their omission.
The first ten verses are an offering of praise to tlie Father
Almighty, with the Scriptural recognition of the Blessed
Trinity implied in the Ter Sanctus which Isaiah heard the
Seraphim sing when he beheld the glory of Christ, and spake
of Him. In the tliree following verses this implied recogni-
tion of the Three in One is developed into an actual ascription
of praise to each, the Pater immensee Majestatis, the Unicus
Filiiis, and the k'anctiis Paraelelns Spiritus. In these thirteen
verses the Unity and Trinity of the Divine Nature is celebrated
in the name of the whole Church of God. The Militant
Church, the various orders of holy Angels with wliicli it has
fellowship in the New Jerusalem, the Apostles, Pro]3hets,
and JIartyrs of the Old and New Dispensation now gathered
into the Church Triumphant, all thus adore God the Lord,
the Lord (!od of Sabaoth, the Father Everlasting : and the
holy Oiureli gathers up its praises in a devout acknowledge-
ment of each Person of the Blessed Trinity as the Object of
Divine worship. Then begins th.it part of the hymn which
glorifies God for the lilessing of the Incarnation : the latter
sixteen verses addressing themselves to our Lord and Saviour ;
commemorating His Divine Nature and Eternal Existence,
His Incarnation, Sacrifice, Ascension, and Session at the
right hand of the Father- In the last verses, with a mixture
of plaintiveness and triumph, the hymn follows the line
marked out by tlie angels at the Ascension, looking to our
Lord's Second Advent as the true complement of His I^irst.
This concluding portion is as well fitted to express the tone
of a Church Militant as the initial portion is to express that
of a Church Triumphant : and the personal form of the last
verse is a touching reminder of the individual interest that each
of us has in the corporate work of praise and prayer of which
Divine Service is constituted. Few uninspired compositions
give so clear an echo of the spirit and depth of Holy Scripture.
There are three verses of the Te Deum which require special
notice, with reference to the modern Latin and English in
which they are given to us at the present d.ay.
[1] The ninth verse, "To Martynim candidatus, laudat
exercitus," is very insufficiently rendered by "The nohlc
army of Martyrs praise Thee. " In pre-Reformation versions
it stood, "The, preiseth the white cost of martiris ; " and
considering the distinct connection between this verse and
Kev. vii. 9, 14, it is strange that the Scriptural idea of "white
robes " which have been "made white in the blood of the
Lamb," should have been superseded by the word "noble."
It is possible that the idea of something lustrous and pure
was more expressed by " noble " in the early part of the six-
teenth century than is conveyed by it to modern ears ; '
liut the change of the word from the old English "white,"
and Anglo-Saxon "shining," has gone far to obliterate the
true sense of tlie original in our present version.
[2] In the sixteenth verse the ancient and modern English
versions alike fail to give the full sense of the Latin. The
former usually give, "Thou wert nojt skoymes [squeamish] to
take the m.aydenes wonibe, to delyver mankynde," which is
little diftereiit in sense from our present version. But it is
clear that "Tu, ad liberandum, suscejittn-ushominem" includes
a reference to the Incarnation, as much as "nou horruisti
"^Irginis uterum : " and if the ordinary text of the Latin were
received as correct, the verse would be more literally rendered,
"Thou, being about to takemanhood upon Thee, to deliver it."
But it is nearly certain that the received reading is a cor-
rupt one. In the Utrecht Psalter, which is thought by some
cxjjerts to have been written in the sixth century, the reading
is "Tu ad liberandum suscepisti hominem : " and in the
Bangor .Antiphonary, written aljout the end of the eighth
century, it is, "Tu ad liberandum raundum suscepisti homi-
nem." The author of the Mirror of our Lady gets very
near to the first of these two readings in the version which is
given above in the margin. The second might be given with
a slight alteration of our present English version in the form,
"When Thou tookest upon Thee manhood to deliver the world."
It is not improbable that some early copyist having written
the last letters of "hherandiim," took them, as he turned
his eyes to his work after a pause, for the last letters of niUH-
du7n, and went on at once to " suscepisti." Afterw.ards, not
earlier than the twelfth century, the verb may have been
altered to " suscepturus " for the purpose of connecting
"liberandum " with "hominem."
[3] The twenty-first verse has been altered both in Roman
Breviaries and in the English Prayer Book. All Latin MS.'^.
previously to 1492 read " ^Eterua fac cum s.anctis Tuis gloria
munerari: " and the equivalent of munerari is found in every
known version of the Te Deum up to that time ; our ovru in
the fourteenth century being, "Make hem to be rewarded
with thi seyntes, in endles blisse." The " jiumerari "reading
1 So gold .and silver were (\iUed '* noble metils " by the c.irly chymists.
192
horning IPrapcr.
Youclisafe, O Lord : to keep us this day
without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy
upon us.
O Lord, let Thy mercy lighten upon us : as
our trust is in Thee.
Lord, in Thee have I trusted : let me
never be confounded.
IT Or this Canticle, Beiiedicite, omnia Ojiera.
OALL ye Works of the Lord, bless ye
the Lord ; praise Him, and magnify Him
for ever.
O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord : praLse Him,
and magnify Him for ever.
O ye AYaters that be above the Firmament,
bless ye the Lord : praise Him, and magnify
Him for ever.
all ye Powers of the Lord, bless ye the
Lord : praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Sun, and Jloon, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Stars of Heaven, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O }'e Showers, and Dew, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Winds of God, bless ye the Lord : praise
Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Fire, and Heat, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Winter, and Summer, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Dews, and Frosts, bless j-e the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Frost, and Cold, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Ice, and Snow, bless ye the Lord ; jiraise
Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Nights, and Days, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
ye Light, and Darkness, ble.'fs ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Lightnings, and Clouds, bless ye the
Lord : praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O let the Earth bless the Lord : yea, let it
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
a The Lyons Ere-
\-iary added Gioria
Palri.
* Siir.
Dignare, Domine, die isto : sine peccato nos
castodire.
Miserere nostri, Domixe : miserere nostri.
Fiat misericordia Tua, Domine, super nos :
quemadmodum speravimus in Te.
In Te, Domine, .speravi : non confundar in
oeternum.'
Cauticuin triuin puerorum. Dan. Hi.
*T)ENEDICITE omnia opera Domini Domino :
-J--' laudate et superexaltate Eum in ssecula.
Benedicite Angeli Domini Domino : benedicite
coeli Domino.
Benedicite aquns omnes quje super coelos sunt
Domino : benedicite omnes virtutes Domini
Domino.
Benedicite sol et luna Domino : benedicite
stellse cceli Domino
Benedicite imber et ros Domino : benedicite
omnes spiritus Dei Domino.
Beiiedicite ignis et a3stus Domino : benedicite
fricrus et ajstas Domino.
Benedicite rores et pruina Domino : benedicite
gelu et frigus Domino.
Benedicite glacies et nives Domino : benedicite
noctes et dies Domino.
Benedicite lux et tenebrse Domino : benedicite
fulgura et nubes Domino.
Benedicat terra Dominum : laudet et super-
exaltet Eum in saecula.
appears to be an error of the early printers, arising out of the
very slight difference presented by inun and lutin in black
letter ; and the easy occurrence of such au error is illustrated
by a story which De Thou telLs respecting the imprisonment
of a Landgrave of Hesse by tlie Emperor. In the Landgrave's
treaty of submission there was a condition that he should
not suffer any imprisonment. "Nicht cin rinijj tag gefangen
sein : " tliis the Kmperor'a minister read, " Niclit ein ctoigtag
gefangen sein," tliat he should not suffer perpetual imprison-
ment. On tliis pretence they sent the Landgrave to prison
directly on his arrival at the Emperor's court. [T)e Thou,
iv. 13.] The word "in" is a modern insertion of the same
date, and probaldy arose from confusion between the twenty-
first and tlie eighteenth verses, in tlie latter of which occurs
"in rjloria Patris." .Since our Lord said, "Great is your
reward in Heaven," and "Himself sliall reward you openly,"
the old English rendering of munnrari is quite Scriptural;
but it may be pointed ont that tho sense of the Latin is rather
that of free gift than reward, munrrari, not rc-mnnerari.
Perha])9 tlio original may bo rendered, "Make them to bo
awarded with Tliy saints : Thy glory everlasting," without
departing from the sense of tho original, or the familiar
rhythm of our Prayer Book version. The received version.
altliough not faithful to the original, is happily comprehen-
sive ; for, to be "numbered witli tlie children of God," and
to liave a "lot among the saints," is to receive the "great
recompense of reward," the heavenly heritage of those who
are joint heirs with Christ of His triumphant kingdom.'
THE BENEDICITE.
There is no doubt that tliis Canticle is of Jewish origin,
although its claim to be part of the Canonical Book of Daniel
is not recognized by the modern Church of England, which has
placed it among tlie books of the Apocrypha. It has a great
resemblance to the 148th Psalm, and is generally considered
to be a paraphrase of it.
Several of tho Fathers speak of the Benedicite as being used
in tho Services of tho Church. [Cvri!. dp Lajis., di.' Oral.
Dom. ; Auo. dc Civ. Dei, xi. 9; Cone. Tolet. iv. can. xiii.]
St. Chrysostom especially refers to it as " that admirable and
1 It Hlumld 1)0 fvdded, liowcvm-, tliat tlio Venciultlo IJcde, who w.is jilinost
coiiteiniiomry witli Gregory tlio Groat, vccortls some words of his which
contain soinuthiMK very lilto this reading: *' Sod ct in ipsa missarnni cele-
brationo tria verba inaxiniiu porfectlonis plona snpcradjecit, ' Diesqne
nostroa in tua pace disponas, ntque ab ii'terna daninatione uo.s eripi, et in
dectomm tuonun j\ihca$ grtgc mimcruri.'" [ItF.DK, Uist. Eccl. lib. V, c. i.]
s©orning H^raper.
193
O ye Mountains, and Hills, bless yo the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless
ye the Loed : praise Him, and magnify Him for
ever.
ye Wells, bless ye the Lord : praise Him,
and magnify Him for ever.
ye Seas, and Floods, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters,
bless ye the Lord : praise Him, and magnify
Him for ever.
O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O all ye Beasts, and Cattle, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O let Israel bless the Lord : praise Him, and
magnify Him for ever.
O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord :
praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
O ye Spirits and Souls of the righteous, bless
ye the Lord : praise Him, and magnify Him for
ever.
ye holy and humble Men of lieart, bless ye
the Lord : praise Him, and magnify Him for
ever.
O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the
Lord : praise Him, and magnify Him for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son :
and to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
H Then shall be read in like manner the Second
Lesson, taken out of the New Testament. And
after that, the Hymn following ; 'except when tliat
shall happen to be read in the Chapter for the
Day, or for the Gospel ou Saint John. Baptist's
Day.
Benedictus. TI) LESSEE) be the Lord God of
s. Luke i. 6S. JD Israel : for He hath visited and
redeemed His people ;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us ;
in the house of His servant David ;
Benedicite montes et colles Domino : benedi-
cite universa germinantia in terra Domino.
Benedicite fontes DoMiNO
et flumina Domino.
benedicite maria
a Conif. Dan.
56. Vulg.
* except .
[1662].
<■ S.lt
Day
Benedicite cete et omnia quaj moventur in
aquis Domino : benedicite omnes volucres coeli
Domino.
Benedicite omnes bestiae et pecora Domino
benedicite filii hominum Domino.
Benedicat Israel Domintjm ; laudet et super-
exaltet Eum in sajcula.
Benedicite Sacerdotes Domini Domino : bene-
dicite servi Domini Domino.
Benedicite spiritusetanimtejustorum Domino :
benedicite sancti et humiles corde Domino.
Benedicite Anania, Azaria, Misael Domino :
laudate et superexaltate Eum in sajcula.
"Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto
Spiritu : landemus et superexaltemus Eum in
ssecula.
Benedictus es Domine in firmamento ca'li : et
laudabilis, et gloriosus, et superexaltatus in sscula.
Canticum Zachari* prophetse Luck i.
'T3ENEDICTUS Dominus Deus Israel : quia
J— ' visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis
Suaj.
Et erexit cornu salutis nobis : in domo David
pueri Sui.
marvellous song, wliich from that day to this hath been sung
everywhere throughout the world, and shall yet be sung in
future generations." [Chkysost. Horn, de Stat, iv.] Eufinus
speaks of it in the same manner (in defending its Canonical
authority against .Terome),' as having been sung by holy con-
fessors and martyrs, who would not have been permitted to
aing that as Holy Scripture which is not so. It was used as
one of the Psalms at Lauds as early as the time of St. Athan-
asius, and occupied the same position on Sundays in the
ancient services of the Church of England. When the
Psalter was restricted, in 1.549, to the hundred and fifty
psalms which go by the general name of the Psalms of David,
the Song of the Three Children was placed after the Te Deum,
to be used as a responsory canticle to the first Lesson, under
the title "Benedicite, Omnia Opera Domini Domino." This
use of it was not by .any means novel, as it was said between
the Lessons (according to Mabillon), in the old Gallican ritual
which was once common to France and England.
When first inserted in its present place, this Canticle was
ruled by the following Rubric prefixed to the Te Deum :
* It is inserted in the Comes of St. Jerome among the Lections on the
Festival called Statio ad .3. Petnm under the title " Hymnus Trium
Puerorum."
" H After the first Lesson sh,all follow throughout the year
(except in Lent, all the which time, in tlie place of Te Deum,
shall be used Benedicite Omnia Opera Domini Domino) in
English, as followeth. " This Rubric was altered to its present
form in 1552, the object of the alteration being probably to
allow greater freedom in the substitution of Benedicite for
Te Deum. It was an ancient rule to use the former when
■any portion of the Prophet Daniel was read. In more recent
times it has been customary to sing it when Genesis i., or
when Daniel iii., is the first Lesson ; and ou week-d.ays dur-
ing Lent and Advent." The ordinary Doxology was sub-
stituted for tlie one ):iroper to the psalm in 1549. The latter
is, " let us bless the Father, and the Son, with the Koly
( Jhost : let us pr.aise Him, and m.agnify Him for ever. Blessed
art Thou, Lord, in the firmament of Heaven ; worthy to
be praised, and glorious, and to be magnified for ever." Pope
Damasus [a.d. 366] is said to have been its author ; but it
is founded on the verse which precedes the words "Benedicite
Omnia Opera. ''
THE BENEDICTUS.
This prophetic hymn of Zacharias has been used as a re-
- See, however, uote on .p 190.
194
aborning lIS>raper.
As He spake by the mouth of His holy
Prophets : ■which have been since the world
began ;
That we should be saved from our enemies :
and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our fore-
fathers : and to remember His holy Covenant;
To perform the oath which He sware to
our forefather Abraham : that He would give
us ;
That we being delivered out of the hand of
our enemies : might serve Him without fear ;
In holiness and righteousness before Him : all
the days of our life.
And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet
of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the
face of the Lord to prepare His ways ;
To give knowledge of salvation unto His
people : for the remission of their sins.
Through the tender mercy of our God :
whereby the Day-spring from on higli hath
visited us ;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and
in the shadow of death : and to guide our feet
into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT "Or this Psalm.
JabilateDeo. Q ^,^ t^^""^ "' ^\l ^T""' '^^ -^u
v^ lands : serve the Lord with
gladness, and come before His presence with a
song.
Be ye sure that the Loed He is God : it is He
that hath made us, and not we ourselves ; we are
His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
go your way into His gates with thanks-
giving, and into His courts with praise : be
thankful unto Him, and .speak good of His
Name.
a Or this Psalm,
to end of Gloria
[.55=1-
*Sar
Sicut locutus est per os sanctorum : qui a
sseculo sunt, prophetarum Ejus.
Salutem ex inimicis nostris : et de manu
omnium qui oderunt nos.
Ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus
nostris : et memorari testament! Sui sancti.
Jusjurandum quod juravit ad Abraham patrem
nostrum : daturum Se nobis.
Ut sine timore, de manu inimicorum nostroram
liberati : serviamus lUi.
In sanctitate et justitia coram Ipso : omnibus
diebus nostris.
Et tu, puer, Propheta Altissimi vocaberis :
prseibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias
Ejus.
Ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi Ejus : in
remissionem peccatorum eorum.
Per viscera misericordiaB Dei nostri : in quibus
visitavit nos oriens ex alto.
Illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra
mortis sedent : ad dirigendos pedes nostros in
viam pacis.
Gloria Patri, et Filio : et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula saeculorum. Amen.
Psalmus xeix. [English Version, c]
* "TUBILATE Deo omnis terra : servite Domino
^ in laetitia.
Introite in conspectu Ejus : in exultatione.
Scitote quoniam Dominus Ipse est Deus :
Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos.
Populus Ejus et oves pascuae Ejus, introite
portas Ejus in confessione : atria Ejus in hymnis,
confitemini lUi.
sponsory canticle to the Gospel Lessons from very ancient
times, being spoken of as so used by Am.alarius [a.d. 8'20];
and perliapa Ijy St. Benedict, nearly three centuries earlier,
since he speaks of a Canlician de Kvanijdio occurring here in
Mattins. In tlie Salisbury Use it occupied a similar position,
but was not so definitely connected with the Lessons them-
selves as it now is, being used after the Capituluni, at Lauds,
on Sun(l.ay3. It was tlie only Canticle appointed for use after
the second Morning Lesson in 1549, and tlie Rubric by which
it is preceded shews very clearly thnt it is intended to be
the ordinary Canticle, tlie Jubilate being an exceptional one,
inserted to avoid repetition on St. .John Baptist's Day, or
whenever the Benedictus occurs in the second Lesson itself.
That it was the Canticle most used in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries is shewn by the Service-books of
Cathedral choirs, in which it is much more frequently set to
music than the Juliilate.
The position of tliia Canticle makes its ritual meaning self-
evident. It is a tliaiiksgiving to Alriiiglity (iod for His mcn^y
as exhibited towards mankind in the Incarnation of our Lord,
whereof the Gospel speaks, and in the found.ation of the
Church in His bhiod, as recorded in the Acts of the Holy
Apostles. It is the Last prophecy of the Old Di3pens.ation,
anil the first of the New, and furnishes a kind of key to the
Evangelical inter])retation of .all propliccics under tlic one by
which they are connected with the other. Tlie I'.encdictus
is a continu.al acknowledgement also of tlie Communion of
Saints under tlio two iJispens.ations ; for it prjiises God for
the salvation which has been raised up for all ages out of the
house of His servant David, and according to the ancient
covenant which He made with Abraham, "tlie father of them
that believe, though they be not circumcised " [Rom. iv. 11];
whose seed all are if they are Christ's, and heirs according to
the promise. [Gal. iii. 29.] The use of the Benedictus by the
Church indicates to us where we are to find true synijiathy
and communion with God's ancient people ; not in their out-
ward relationship to Abrah.am, "for God can of these stones
raise up children unto Abraham," but in their faithful
acknowledgement of the Lord Jesus, as the Christ Whom the
Old Testament Scriptures predicted.
THE JUBILATE.
This was the second of the fixed Psalms at I^auds on Sunday,
and was adopted as a responsory Canticle in 15.52. The
object of its insertion here was to provide a substitute for the
Benedictus on d.ays wlieu tlie latter occurs in the Lesson or
Gospel, on the same priiuiple whicli rules the Olllis^icln of the
Venite when it occurs in the Psalms of the day. The days
on which it should be used are therefore March 25th, Lady
Day, and June 24th, St. .lohn Baptist's D.ay.
The general substitution of the Jubilate for the Benedictus
is very much to be deprecated. There is, however, a pro-
phetic reference to the Chief .Shepherd of the Church, and to
the service of praise ottered to llim, which makes it well fitted
for occasional use, as, for example, at Easter ; and Dean
Comber says that it seems to have been used after the reading
of the Gospel as early as A i>. 4!>0.
scorning IPrapet.
195
For the Lord is gracious, His mercy is ever-
lasting : and His trutli endureth from generation
to generation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
U "Then shall be sung or said the Apostles' Creed by
the Minister and the people standing: * Except only
such d.ays as the Creed of Saint Alhanasius is
appointed to be read.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of
the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended
into hell ; The third day He rose again from the
dead. He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty ;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost ; The holy
Catholic Church ; The Communion of Saints ;
The Forgiveness of sins ; The Eesurrection of
the body, And the Life everlasting. 'Ameii.
a The Creed was
preceiled by the
Doiitttiiis vobts-
ni'it, and followed
by Ilie Lord's
Prayer in 1549.
b Except , . . read
[1662I.
c Tile Apostles'
Creed is here writ-
ten as one para-
graph in the Mb.,
But divided into
three paragraphs
in the Sealed
Books
<< Sor.
e Italic in MS.
Laudato
DOMINUS,
usque in
Ejus.
Gloria Patri, et Filio : et Spiritui Sancto
nomen Ejus, quoniam suavis est
in seternum misericordia Ejus : et
generationem et generationem Veritas
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et
in ssBcula SKCuloruni. Amen.
Symbohim Apostolicum.
"'/^REDO in Deum Pateem Omnipotentem,
v-^ Creatorem ccsli et terrie. Et in Jesum
Christum Filium Ejus unicum, Dominum nos-
trum : Qui conceptus est de Spikitu Sancto,
natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontic Pilato,
crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus : descendit ad
inferna : tertia die resurrexit a mortuis : ascendit
ad coelos : sedet ad dexteram Dei Patkis Omni-
potentis : inde venturus est judicare vivos et
mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum : sanctam
Ecclesiam Catholicam : Sanctorum
nem, remissionem peccatorum
communio-
carnis resurrec-
tionem, et vitam teternam. Amen.
THE APOSTLES' CEEED.
The use of a Creed in Divine Service is of very ancient
origin, dating at least from the time of Peter the Fuller,
about a. D. 470, and the Apostles' Creed has been used in the
Daily Offices of the Church of England as far back as they can
be traced. Under the old system it folio-wed the Lord's Prayer
(instead of preceding it) at Prime and Compline, and was
recited in the same manner, the people joining in only at a
repetition of the last two clauses. In the Reformed Breviary
of Cardinal Quignonez an open recitation of the Apostles'
Creed was directed on all days except Sunday : and this
direction probably suggested our present custom.
The earliest occurrence of the Apostles' Creed exactly in the
form ill which we now use it at Morning and Evening Prayer,
is in a treatise published by Mabillou, from an ancient MS.,
entitled " Libellus Pirmiiiii de singulis libris canonicis
scarapsus," or "scriptus. " Pirminius died about a. D. 758,
and appears to have lived some time in France, though he
died in Germany. Hence it is extremely probable that the
Creed contained in two several places of his treatise, and in
both places in the same words, is the old Gallican form of the
Apostles' Creed, identical with that afterwards adopted by
St. Osmund into the Salisbury Use, from the more ancient
services of the Church of England. How much older than
the eighth century this exact form of the Apostles' Creed may
be is not kuuwu ; but it has been so used, without variation,
in the whole Latin Church, as well as in the Church of Eng-
land, from that time until the present.
The substance of the Apostles' Creed is, however, very
much older. It is extant, very nearly as we now use it, as it
was used by the Churches (if Aquileia and Rome at the end of
the fourth century, when it was commented upon, and botli
forms indicated, by Rufinus, who was a priest of the former
diocese. The two forms are here shewn side by side, the
authority for each being Heurtley's Harmonia Symbollca,
pp. 26, 30 :—
Tke Creed of the C'lnirrh of The Creed of the CImrch of
Aquileia, circ. a.d. 390. Home, circ. a.d. 390.
Pilato, et sepultus ; Descendit
in inferna; Tertia die resur-
rexit a mortuis ; Ascendit in
c^los ; Sedet ad dexteram Pa-
tris. Inde venturus est judi-
care vivos et mortuos; Et
in Spiritu Sancto;' Sanctam
Ecclesiam ; Remissionem pec-
catorum; Hujus carnis resur-
rectionem.
resurrexit a mortuis. Ascendit
in caelos ; Sedet ad dexteram
Patris ; Inde venturus est judi-
care vivos et mortuos ; Et in
Spiritu Sancto ; Sanctam Ec-
clesiam ; Remissionem peccato-
rum ; Carnis resurrectionem.
Credo in Deum Patrem om-
nipotentem, invisibilem et im-
passibilem : Et in Jesum Chris-
tum, unicum Filium ejus, Do-
minum nostrum : Qui natus est
de Spiritu Sancto Ex Maria
Virgine ; Cruciiixus sub Pontio
Credo in Deum Patrem om-
nipotentem. Et in Jesum
Christum, unicum Filium ejus,
Dominuu) nostrum ; Qui natus
est de Spiritu Sancto Ex Maria
Virgine ; Crucifixus sub Pontio
Pilato, et sepultus ; Tertia die
At a still earlier period, a.d. ISO, Irenjeus wrote his great
work against heresies ; for, even at that early date, these began
to fulfil the prophecy of our Lord that the Enemy should sow
tares among the wheat. In this book Ireuteus gives the sub-
stance of Christian doctrine under the name of the ' ' Rule of
Truth," which every Christian acknowledged at his Baptism.
This undoubtedly represents the Apostles' Creed, though
probabljr not the exact words in which it was recited.
The Creed as stated by Irenaxis, Bishop of Lyons, a.d. 180.
The Church throughout the world, spread out as she is to
the ends of the earth, carefully preserves the faith that she
received from the Apostles and from their disciples : —
Believing in one God the Father Almighty, Who made
Heaven and Earth, the seas, and all that in them is ; and in
one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, Who was incarnate for our
salvation ; and in the Holy Ghost, Who by the prophets pro-
claimed the dispensations and the advents of our dear Lord,
Christ Jesus ; and His birth of a Virgin, and His suffering,
and His Resurrection from the dead ; and the Ascension in the
flesh into Heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and
His coming from Heaven in the glory of the Father, to sum
up all things, and to raise up all flesh of the whole human
race.
That to Christ Jesus our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and
King, according to the good pleasure of the invisible Father,
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the e.arth ; and that every tongue
should confess Him, and that He should pass righteous judge-
ment upon all. That He may send spiritual wickednesses,
and the angels who transgressed, and fell into apostasy, and
the ungodly, and the unjust, and the lawless, and the blas-
1 This is the reading in most MS. .luthorities. It is retained in the Bene-
dictine edition of St, Jerome's works, by Erasmus, and by Routh. It
apiiears also iu other Latin Creeds,
196
Qgorning Iprager.
pliemers among men, into eternal fire : but that on the right-
eous, and the holy, and those wlio have kept His command-
ments and persevered in His love, some from the beginning
and some from the time of their repentance, granting the
grace of life He may grant immortality, and surround them
with eternal glory. [Iren. agt. Hens. i. 10.]
In two otlier parts of the samework there are othersummaries
of the Creed which are plainly based on tlie same formula as
that of which the above contains a parajihrastic statement.
[Iren\ aijt. Heres. iii. i, iv. 33.]
Traces of tlie Creed are also to be found in the writings of
Justin Martyr, Polycarp, Clemens Romamis, and Ignatius :
and these approach so near to Apostolic times as to give
good reason to think that the name by wliich the Apostles'
Creed has been known for many centuries is one which
belongs to it not merely because it accurately states the
faith held by the Apostles, but also because it originated
from them.
A very ancient tradition of the Church, as old as the time
of Rufinus [.i.D. 369-410], describes the Apostles as meeting
together to consider about a common statement of doctrine
before they parted for their several labours. A later tradition
(attributed to St. Augustine, but probably of more recent
date> adds to this statement that each Apostle in succession
recited one Article of the Creed, implying that it was thus
delivered by Inspiration. The first of these traditions, writ-
ten down so near to the time of the Apostles, is worthy
of great respect : and no objections liave been made to it
which liave not been rationally answered. The second is not
of higli authenticity, but tlie objections brought against it
are chiefly founded on the improbabiUty of such a state-
ment being true : yet if the inspiration of the Apostles for
the purpose of writing special official letters is granted, it is
difficult to see what there is improbable in a statement that
implies their collective inspiration for the pui-pose of origin-
ating so important a document as tlie Creed, at a time
when the New Testament Scriptures had not yet come into
existence.
But, apart from these traditions, there is much evidence in
the early Christian writings that there was a common and
well-known formula containing the chief articles of Christian
faith There are also frequent statements that the tradition
of the Faith came direct from the Apostles. Combining these
facts with the supposition that the Apostles would almost
certainly provide some such formula for the guidance of con-
verts, we may conclude that it is far more reasonable to
believe the Creed going under their name to be substantially
of their composition than to believe the contrary. In fact, the
Creed appears to be an absolute necessity, springing out of
the circumstances in which the early Christians were placed :
when, as regarded themselves, their brethren, and the Heathen,
such an answer to the question, " What is Christianity ? "
resolving itself into a few short replies embodying the chief
facts of our Lord's life and work, was imperatively required.
That the Apostles would methodize an authoritative form of
this reply can hardly be doubted ; and that they did so is
more than suggested by what St. Paul says of a Form of
sound words in passages like Rom. i. 3, vi. 1", x. 9, xii. 6.
xvi. 17 ; Heb. x. 23; Phil. iii. 16; 2 Tim. i. 13, the original
Greek of which almost necessitates such an interpretation as
that here indicated.
Although, however, the cumulative force of these arguments
is so great as to leave scarcely any rational ground for contra-
dicting the old belief of the Church that the Creed came from
the Apostles substaiitiallj' as it was handed down to the
eighth century, it is not sufficient to warrant us in declaring
it to be inspired. All that we may dare to sa}' on this point
is, that the Apostles were under a very special guidance of
the Holy Ghost, were "filled with the Spirit " for the official
purposes of their work ; and, consequently, that very little of
the human element is likely to have mingled itself with any
of the official words which they spoke to the Church. If
it could be certainly proved that the Creed came from the
Apostles as we now have it, sound reason would require us
to believe that the Holy Ghost moved them to compose it,
and hence that it was inspired. In the absence of such evi-
dence it is our dutj' to compare the doctrines handed down to
us in the Creed as those of the Apostles, with the doctrines
contained in the great storehouse of God's Truth. In the
following Table it will be seen how near an agreement
there is between the statements contained in the Creed
and those made by the Apostles in their early missionary
work : ' —
Statements of Apostles, 1 „„. 4v„
'•'-h-i^nf- i -hi"
God the
Son.
God
the Holy
Ghost.
Our Lord's
Sufferings
Our Lord's
Resurrec-
tion.
0«rLord'slO"s^^^>;-f
Ascension, comtog.
Repent-
ance.
Forgive-
ness of
Sins.
The
Church.
19, 20
49
Acts i. 8
St. Matthew xxviii. 19
19
19
10
St. Luke xxiv.
49
49
49
Acts i.4,8
46
46
51
Acts i. 9
Acts i. 11
47
47
St. John XX.
17
17
22
9, 20,
28
17 xxi. 22
XX. 23
21,23
St. Peter,
Acts ii.
17
22, 23,
24
17, 33,
38
23
24, 31,
32
[Mark
xvi. 19.]
33
38
38
32
Acts iii.
13
13, 15
15
15
21
19-21
19,26
19
15
Acts iv.
24
12, 27,
30
10, 27
10
Acts V.
30
31
32
30
30
31
31 31
32
Acts X.
34-36
38
38
39
40, 41
42
43
41, 42
31
St. Stephen,
Acts vii.
2, 32, 37,
55
52, 55
51
52
55, 56
55, 56
St. Paul,
Acts xiii.
17, 23
23, 33,
35
28
30, 33,
34, 37
38
Ileb. vi.
1
1,6
4
6
2
1, 6
Such a coincidence coes far towards shewing that the
Apostles' Creed is a "rorm of sound words" handed down
to U8 on the very highest authority. It may also convince >is
that it would be an irreverent and uncritical error to speak of
it positively as a human composition.
The central position of the Creed in our Morning and Kven-
ing Service gives it a twofold ritual aspect. Praise lias
formed the distinctive feature of what has gone before, prayer
1 TIarvev oi\ thr Crfnh. i. 20.
^ocniiiB Iprayer.
197
forms that of what is to follow. The cimfossiou of our
Christian faith in the Creed is tlierefore [1] like a summing
up of the Scriptures that have been used for the praise of Goil
and the editieation of His Church : and by its recitation we
acknowledge that it is
"Him first, Him last, Him mitlst, aiKl without eii'l,"
Whom we find in Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, the
Gospels, and the Epistles. Not only in respect to ourselves,
as a tit reminder of this great truth, do we tlius confess our
faith, but also to the praise of God ; and hence the Rubric
directs the Creed to be "sung" (the word was inserted by
Bishop Cosin), if circumstances will permit, as the Nicene
Creed and the Athanasian Creed always have been. And [2]
the recitation of the Creed is a confession of that objective
faith which alone can give full reality to prayer ; hence it
is a foundation of, and introduction to, the Preces and the
Collects with which the .Service concludes. "For this
reason it is, probably, that baptisms were ordered to take
place after the second lesson ; that so the admission of tlio
newly liaptized might be followed by litiinjictd avowal, so to
speak, of that Creed, and saying of that Prayer, whicli, as a
part of the rite, have already been avowed and used. " '
There are two customs connected with the recitation of the
Creed which require notice ; the one, that of turning to the
East, or towards the Altar, as representing the East, in say-
ing it ; the other, that of bowing at the holy Name of Jesus.
Both of these customs are relics of habits which have only
ceased to be universal (in the English Church, at leasts in
very modern times.
Clergy and people used formerly to look one way througli-
out the Prayers and Creeds, that is, towards the Altar. " In
some churches," writes Thorndike,- "the desk for the
Prayer Book looks towards the Chancel ; anj for reading of
Lessons we are directed to look towards the people. As the
■lews in their jn-ayers looked towards the Mercy-seat or prin-
cipal part of the Temple [Ps. xxviii. 2], so Christians looked
towards the Altar or chief part of the church, whereof their
Mercy-seat was but a type. Christ in His prayer directs us
to Heaven, though God be everywhere ; for Heaven is His
throne, and we look toward that part of the church which most
resembles it. Herein we correspond to the Jewish practice. '
Before reading-desks were erected in the naves of churches,
the prayers were said in front of the Altar itself, as may be
seen in old prints ; while tlie Psalms were sung in the choir
stalls ; and this was a continuation of the ancient practice,^
the officiating clergyman always standing or kneeling in
the former place to say Creeds and Pi'ayers. When pews as
well as reading-desks sprang up in churches, both congrega-
tion and clergy were often placed in any position that suited the
convenience of the carpenter ; but reverence still impelled all to
turn towards the Altar during the solemn Confession of their
Faith. Hence this habit became exceptional and prominent
instead of habitual ; and exceptional reasons were alleged in
support of it, wlien in fact they applied, with more or less
force, to the general posture of the worshipper in God's
House, as expressed in the preceding extract. Apart, also,
from symbolical explanations of this custom, it appeals to
both the reason and the feelings, by forming the congrega-
tion into a body of which the clergyman is the leader, as
when a regiment marches into battle, or parades before its
Sovereign headed by its officers : and there is no part of
Divine Service where this relation of priest and people is more
appropriate than in the open Confession of Christian Faith
before God and man.
Bowing at the holy Name of out Lord's Human Nature is
also an usage of general application, and was never intended
to be restricted to the Creed, although its omission there
would certainly be a more special dishonour to Him than
elsewhere. When Puritan superstition sprang up in the six-
teenth century, the usage began to be dropped by many who
were seduced by controversy into greater respect for doctrines
of slighter importance than for that of our Lord's Divinity.
The Church then made a law on the subject of reverent
gestures in Divine Service, in the ISth Canon of 1603 ; in
which (after ordering that all shall stand at the Creed) is the
following clause, founded on the 52nd of Queen Elizabeth's
1 Freeman's Pihiciples of Divine Service, i. 301.
- Thorndike's Religiouti Assemblies, p. 231.
3 The exact routine of the ancient practice may be seen in "^ Of the
turning of the Choir to the Altar," one among sevei-al extract* from tlie
Consuetudinary of Sarum, printed at tlie end of Chambers' I'mnslalion 0/
the Samm Fsoltcr, ]i. i?A.
Injunctions, issued in ISiJO : "And likewise, when in time
of Divine Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and
lowly reverence shall be done ]>y all jiersons present, as hath
been accustomed : testifying by these outward ceremonies
and gestures tlieir . . . due acknowledgement that the
Lord .lesus Christ, tlie true and eternal .Son of God, is the
only Saviour of the world, in Whom all the mercies, graces,
and promises of God to mankind, for this life, and the life to
come, are fully and wholly comprised." This general rule of
the Church, and the explanation thus authoritatively given,
apply with .such special force to the use of this gesture in the
(,'reed that nothing further need be added on the subject. ■*
§ A /I Expositor ij Parap/iirme nf the Apostles' Creed.
Ifor myself, as personally responsible for my faith to God
J and His Church, openly profess, to His glory, tliat I
believe, from my heart, with the assent of my reason and the
submission of my will.
In God the Father, by a mysterious, unintelligible manner of
paternity. Father of the uncreated, co-equal, and co-
eternal Son : Father also of all the regenerated, by their
adoption through His tlius only-begotten Son :
Almighty, so that notliing is beyond His power which is con-
sistent with goodness ; knowing all things p.ist, present,
and to come ; exercising authority over all things and
persons, and upholding all things by His universal and
omnipresent Providence ; I believe that He was and is
the
Maker, that is, the original Creator of the original matter,
and the Disposer of that material in lit order,
of heaven, wliich comprehends all that has originally occu-
pied space beyond this world,
and earth, which comprehends all organic and inorganic
beings and substances within the compass of this world.
And I equally believe
In Jesus, perfect Man, in all tlie qualities of human nature,
Christ, anointed to be the Saviour of the world, the High
Priest of a new order of priesthood, the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords,
Hia only Son, etern.ally begotten, and therefore having such
a Sonship as none others who call God Father can possess,
our Lord, being God, the Second Person in the Blessed
Trinity, as well as Man ; Lord of all by His Divine
Nature, Lord of the Church by His work of Redemption.
Thus I believe in the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father,
in a Saviour Divine and Human,
■Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, through a mysterious
and unintelligible operation, which miraculously super-
seded the ordinary law of nature, so that the Holy Child
Jesus was
Born of the 'Virgin Mary, a holy maiden, who thus miracu-
lously became His mother that He, being born of a
Virgin and not of a wife, might be free from the sin of
our common origin, which is conveyed from parent to
child by natural conception. Being thus born in our
nature, but without our sin. He bore it as His own
through infancy, childhood, and mature manhood ; and
when the time M'as fully come. He offered it as a sacrifice
for our sins when He
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judsea
and Jerusalem, and
■Was crucified, by being nailed alive to a cross of wood, set
upright in the ground. Being thus crucified. His suffer-
ings were the greatest that had ever befallen any man,
being aggravated by the burden of sin which He, though
innocent, was bearing for our sakes. Not through the
intensity of His sufferings, but of His own will. He gave
up His life when all -was accomplished that could be by
His pains, and then became
dead, through the separation of His Soul from His Body, in
the same manner as human beings ordinarily become so.
Being dead. His holy Body, still the Body of the Son of
God, was taken down from the cross,
* On April 2S, 1662, "A proviso for bein^ uncovered and for using
reverent gestures at tlie time of Divine Service was twice read.
"But the matter being held proper for the Convocation,
" Ordered— That such persons as shall be employed to ntanage the Confer-
ence with the Lords, do intimate the desire of tliis House that it be recom-
mended to the Convocation to take order for reverent and uniform gestures
<ind demeanours to be enjoined at the time of Di\'iiie Service and preaching."
[Journ. House 0/ CoDLmons.}
Bishop Kennett says that some additions to the Cauon were proposed in
Convocation on May 12, 1662, in coneequence of this recommendation
[KEXNETT'siiV<)f. pp, 671, 680, 684], but no record of the Acts of Convocation
remain to shew what these were.
198
aborning; Praj^er
II And after that, these Prayers following, all devoutly
kneeling ; "the Minister first pronouncing with a
loud voice,
The Lord be with you.
Answer.
And with thy spirit.
Minister.
f Let lis pray.
Lord, have mercy upon ns.
Christ, have mercy xipon its.
Lord, have mercy upon us.*
IT Then the Minister, Clerks, and people, shall say the
Lord's Prayer with a loud voice.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
a tht Minister , . .
t/iy s/'irit. Tr.ins-
ferred to tliis place
from theendofthe
Suffrages in 1553.
* The Creed, the
Lord's Prayer, and
the Suffrages fol-
lowed these versi-
des tn 1549.
c Luke I
''Sar.
Deinde dicantur Preces Feriales hoc mode.
[DoMiNUs vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.]
Kyrie eleison. iii.
Christe eleison. iii.
Kyrie eleison. iii.
■^ TDATER noster. Qui es in coelis ; sanctiiicetur
-L nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum : fiat
voluntas Tua, sicut in ccelo, et in terra. Panem
The
He
and burled, with reverence and lionour, but as the dead
bodies of other men are. And, while the dead Body of
the Son of God was in the tomb, with His living Soul
He descended Into hell, that He might there triumph over
Satan ; proclaim the glad tidings of salvation to all who
had ever died ; entirely release the souls of the righteous
dead from the power of Satan ; and prepare a paradise
of rest in which they and all other righteous souls may
dwell until the Day of Judgement.
third day, after the evening of Friday, the whole of
Saturday, and a part of Sunday had passed,
rose again from the dead, reuniting His Soul to His
uncorrupted Bod}', so as to be again " perfect Man " in
respect to all the quaUties that belong to sinless and
unsuffering human nature. Then
He ascended into heaven, after forty days, not as God only,
but as God and Man,
And Bitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
receiving in His Human Nature, as well as in His Divine
Nature, the adoration of angels and men ; and by His
presence there making a continual intercession for us, and
being a Mediator between Divine and human nature for
ever.
From thence He shall come, the same holy Jesus Who suffered
and died,
to Judge, with a just, irreversible, and yet merciful judgement,
the quick, who shall be alive at His coming,
and the dead, who shall have died at any time from the
foundation of the world.
I believe, also, with equal faith, and equal assent of my
reason,
in the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the
Strengthener and Consoler of the Church, Who ministers
in it the grace which the Saviour has gained for it.
The holy Catholic Church, which is the whole number of the
baptized, the mystical Body of Clirist ; which was
founded by the twelve Apostles, and is continued in
existence by the perpetuation of an Episcopal ministry ;
which, by the merciful Providence of the Lord, holds the
true Faith ; which is divided into many separate bodies,
all having their own bishops, and is yet one by being
united to Chri.st, our Spiritual and Ministerial Head. I
likewise believe in
The Communion of Saints, that is, the Union in Christ of all
wlio are one with Him, whether they are among the
living in the Cliurch on earth, the departed in jmradise,
or the risen saints in heaven. I also believe in
The Forgiveness of sins, by tlic ministration of Christ's Church
in Jiapti.sm and in Absulution,
The Resurrection of the body, when it shall be, as now, my
own very body, and reunited to my soul.
And the Life everlasting, v lierein the bodies and souls of all
who liavc ever lived will live for ever, they that have
done gui)d in never-ending liappiness, and they that have
done evil in never-ending misery.
And, lastly, I reiterate my assent to all these truths, in the
presence of God and man, by solemnly adding
Amen.
[For notes relating to the use of the Creed at Baptism, and
to the Forms of it so used, see the Baptismal Service.]
THE SUFFRAGES OR PRECES.
Tlie portion of the daily Service which conies between the
Creed and the first Collect was translated, with some altera-
tions, from the Preces Feriales inserted among the Preces el
Memorm Communes of the Salisbury Portiforium. In 1552
the Dominus vobiscum and Oremus were prefixed : and the
"Clerks aud people" (meaning, of course, the quire singers
or " lay Clerks " and people) were directed to say the Lord's
Prayer as well as the Slinister.
In the ancient form of the Service the Kyrie Eleison
was left untranslated in the Greek, like the Alleluia, from a
special reverence for the original words, and also as a sign of
the universahty of the Church's prayers. They are still said
in Greek in the Litany used in Convocation. Each Kyrie and
Christe was also repeated three times. The Lord's Prayer
was said privately by the Priest as far as the last clause,
which was long the custom of the Church, the Et ne nos, etc.,
being repeated aloud, that the people might then join. This
custom was abolished in 1552. In some cases it appears that
the whole was said privately by Clergy and people ; and then
the last two clauses were said again aloud. [See Transl. Sar.
Psalter, 14, n.]
The six versicles and their responses are modified from the
ancient form ; of which the following is a translation, as far
as the Miserere : ' —
I said, Lord, be merciful unto me :
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee.
Turn us then, O God our Saviour :
And let Thine anger cease from us.
Let Thy merciful kindness, Lord, be upon ua :
Like as we do put our trust in Thee,
Let Thy priests be clothed with rigliteousness :
And let Tliy saints sing with joyfulness.
O Lord, save the King :
And hear us in the day when we call upon Thee.
Save Thy servants and Thy handmaidens :
Trusting, my God, in Thee.
Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance •
Hule tlieni, and set them up for ever.
O Lord, grant us peace in Thy strength :
And abundance in Thy towers.
Let us pray for the faithful departed,
(irant them, O Lord, eternal rest ;
And let pcrpetu.al light shine upon them.
Hear my voice, O Lord, wlieii I cry unto Thee :
Have mercy upon me, and hear me.
After whicli preces, the fifty-first Psalm was said from
beginning to end, and tliree more versicles, which are given
at p. 200.
It will bo observed that the first of our versicles with its
1 There Is cnongli nnalogy ln'twcon tho Kuirragcs of the Western Church
.iiid the Ecf«iio or Great Collect of tlio Ensterii to lead to the conviction
that both have a common origin.
aborning Prapcr.
199
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amer
nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie : et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus
debitoribus nostris : et no nos inducas in tcnta-
tionem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
H Then the Prieat standing up shall say,
"0 Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us.
Answer.
a Ps. 85. 7.
if (From Fcstiv.il
ana Litany Freccs. j
*[Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam Tuam.
And grant us Thy salvation.
Et salutare Tuum da nobis.]
Priest.
1
'0 LoKD, save the Queen.
.: Ps. 20. 0- tLXX.]
Domine, salvum fac regem.
Answer.
And mercifully hear us when we call upon
Thee
Priest.
Et exaudi nos in die qua invocaverimus Te.
''Endue Thy ministers with righteousness.
if Ps. 132. 9, 16.
Sacerdotes Tui induantur justitiam.
response is not fcinnd among the above ferial Suffrages. It
was taken from aiiotlier set wliich were used on festivals, and
is also found at the beginning of a somewhat similar set used
every Sunday at the Bidding of Prayers. The Latin form of
these latter is as follows : —
Ostende nobi.s, Domine, misericordiam tuam.
Sacerdotes tui induantur justitiam.
Domine, salvum fac regem.
Salvos fac servos tuos, et ancillas tuas.
Salvum fac populum, Domine, et benedic hsereditati tuse.
Domine, fiat pax in virtute tua.
Domine, exaudi orationem meam.^
The fifth versicle and its response are also different in the
existing form. In the ancient Prymer this appears in the
following shape, before the Evening Collect for Peace : —
Ant. Lord, jyue pees in oure dales, for there is noon othir
that shal fyite for us, but thou lord oure god.''
Vers. Lord, pees be maad in tlii vertu.
Heap. And plenteousness in thi toures.
The Latin is : —
Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris.
Quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis
nisi tu Deus noster.
The sixth versicle and its response are taken from the fifty
first Psalm, which followed the Ferial Preces at Mattins and
Vespers.
It will also be observed that the petition for the Sovereign
and that for the Ministers of the Church have exchanged
places in the course of their adaptation to modern use. This
change first appears at the end of the Litany in Hilsey's
Primer of 1539. The reason why the Prayer for the Sovereign
is put before that for the Clergy is, not that the secular
power may be honoured above the Church, but that the
supreme sovereign authority of the realm may be recognized
before the clerical part of the Church.'
The mutual salutation with which this portion of the daily
Office begins is to be said wliile the people are yet standing,
as they were during the recitation of the Creed; "the
Minister first pronouncing "it " with a loud voice " (and turn-
ing to the people), before "all devoutly kneeling," join in the
lesser Litany. It is of very ancient ritual use [see Cone. Vas.
c. V. A. D. 440], and is believed by the Eastern Church to have
been handed down from the Apostles. Its office is to make
a transition, in connection with the lesser Litany, from the
service of praise to that of supphcation : and also to give
1 These are given from Maskell's MotLuuienta Ilitualia, iii. 403, but the
people's responses are omitted. In Chambers' Traiialation o/the Saruni
Psalter the complete form has been compiled.
3 Bishop Cosin altered this versicle to a form which was intended to con-
ciliate Puritan objectors, >vriting, " Because there is none other that saveth
us from our enemies, but only Thou, O God." The alteration was not
approved by the Revision Committee, and was erased.
* The same order is to be founil in old formularies : f.;/. in the Sacra-
raentary of Grimoldtis, printed by Pamelius in his Litnnjiam, i. 511, where
there is a Benedictio super Regem tempore ^ynodi, followed by one for the
Clergy and people.
devotional recognition to the common work in which Priest
and Laity are engaged, and tlie common fellowship in which it
is being done. The same salutation is used in the Confirma-
tion Service, after the Act of Confirmation, and before the
Lord's Prayer : but in this case the lesser Litany is not
connected with it. The constant use of this mutual Bene-
diction or Salutation should be a continual reminder to the
laity of the position which they occupy in respect to Divine
Service : and that, although a separate order of priesthood is
essential for the ministration of God's worship, yet there is
a priesthood of the Laity by right of which they take part
in that worship, assuming their full Christian privilege, and
making it a full corporate offering of the whole Christian
body. Nor should we forget, in connection with it, the pro-
mise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."
The lesser Litany is au ancient and Catholic prefix to the
Lord's Prayer, which is only used without it in the celebra-
tion of the Holy Communion, the Administration of Baptism,
and in Confirmation, and at the beginning of Morning and
Evening Prayer. In the latter case its omission is supplied
by the Confession : in the others the use of the Lord's Prayer
is Euch.aristic, as will be shewn in the notes appended to it in
the Communion Service. In this part of his Prayer Book
Bishop Cosin added the second recitation of each versicle as
an "Ansiver,' so as to make the lesser Litany here identical
with that in the Litany itself. This probably represents the
proper way of using it in Divine Service, as it was thus
repeated three times in the Salisbury Use. In its original
form this lesser Litany consisted of Kyrie Eleison nine times
repeated : but the Western Church has alwaj's used Christe
Eleison as tlie second versicle. Its threefold form is analogous
to that of the Litany, which opens with separate prayers to
each Person of the Blessed Trinity. ■* This form renders it
a most fitting introduction to the Lord's Prayer : and the
Clmrch has so distinctly adopted the lesser Litany for that
purpose, that we may well feel a reverent obligation to use
it on all occasions when the Lord's Pr.ayer is said. Such
an usage appeals, too, to the instinct of Christian humility,
which shrinks from speaking to God even in the words t.aught
us by our Lord, without asking His mercy on our act of
prayer, influenced, as it must needs be, by the infirmities of
our nature, and imperfect as it must appear to the aU-pene-
trating Eye.
The Lord's Prayer, as used in this place, has a different
intention from that with which it was used at the opening
of the Service, and is by no means to be looked upon as an
accidental repetition arising from the condensation of several
shorter services into one longer. In the former place it was
used with reference to the Service of Praise ami Prayer in
which the Church is engaged. Here it is used with reference
to the necessities of the Church for the coming day ; preceding
the detailed prayers of the versicles which follow, and of the
Collects which make up the remainder of the Service.
Then the Priest standing up shall sa;/] This Rubric con-
tinues the ancient practice, applying it to the whole of the
* The Mir>-or also explains the triple repetition of each Kyrie as a
prayer in each case against sins of thought, word, ancl deed.
200
QgorninQ ll^tager.
Answer.
And make Tliy chosen people joyful.
Et saucti Tui exulteut.
Priest.
" Lord, save Thy people.
a Pi. aS. 9,
Salvum fac populum Tuum, Dojiine.
Answer.
And bless Thine Inheritance.
Et benedic hasreditati Tuse.
Priest.
*Give peace in our time, Lord.
* 2 Kings 20. 19. Ps.
[Da pacem, Domine, in diebus uostris.
Answer.
^[Antiph. to Collect
for Peace.]
Because there is none other that fighteth for us,
Quia non est alius qui pugiiet pro nobis nisi
but only Thou, God."
(/Ps. 29. 11.&60. 11.
2 Chron. 32. 8.
Tu, Belts noster.]
Priest.
' God, make clean our hearts within us.
e P->. 51. 10, 11.
/(Ps. Miserere itiei
Deus.J
^ [Cor mundum crea in me, Domine.
Answer.
'And take not Thy Holy Spirit from us.
g Gen. 6, 3. Rom.
8.9.
Et Spieitdm Sanctum Tuum ne auferaa a me.]
versicles, instead of only to a portion. ' The old Rubric after
the Miserere, which followed the versicles above given, was
" Finito Psalrao solus sacerdos erigat se, et ad gradum chori
accedat ad JIatutinas et ad Vesperas, tunc dicendo hos ver-
sus : —
Exurge, Domine, adjuva uos
Et libera nos propter nomen tuum.
Domine Deus virtu turn, converte nos.
Et ostende faciem tuam, et salvi erimus.
Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
Et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Dominus vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.
[Dcindc dkUur Oratlo 2>roprio.. . . .]"
From this it appears that the collect, as well as the versicles,
were to be said standing. In the ilS. of the Prayer Book the
Rubric was originally written, " Tlicn the Priest standing up,
and 80 continuinrj to the end of the Service;" but the latter
words were erased by a later liand, and are not in the Sealed
Books. The intentiou of the Refomiers seems indeed to have
been that, throughout the Prayer Book, the Priest should
kneel with the people in confessions and penitential prayers,
but stand, as in the Communion Office, while ofl'eriug all
other prayers. That the practice of standing continued to
be observed in the middle of the seventeenth century is shewn
by the question which Baxter asked in 1660, " Why doth the
Minister stand in prayer, even in the Sacrament prayer,
while the people kneel ? " [B.iXTEit's Defence of the Proposed.-i,
etc., § .30.] But this posture has been almost universally
set aside in Morning and Evening Prayer, except during the
recitation of these vei'sicles ; and its revival M'ould be repug-
nant to natural feelings of liumility. It was originally ordered
as a sign of the autlioritative position which the Priest occupied
as the representative of the Cliurch ; and official gestures
ought not to be ruled by personal feeling. But at the same
time the established usage makes a good ritual distinction
between the prayers of the ordinary offices and those of the
Eucliaristic Service.
The same great truth as to the priesthood of the Laity,
which has already been referred to, is again brought out
strongly in the versicle and response, " Endue Thy ministers
with righteousness : And make Thy chonen pieople joyful."
It is impossible not to identify the latter words, in their
Christian sense, with the words of St. Peter, "But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priestliood, an holy nation, a pecu-
liar people, UuU ye Khould shoe forth the praises of Him Wliii
hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light ; "
and in a preceding verse of the same chapter, " Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priest-
hood, to otler up spiritual .sacrihces acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ." [1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.] This subject is treated of at greater
I But, as a gciiernl nilc, " Preces*' were HAid kneeling (cxccjit at Clirittt-
inas, anil from Easter to Trinity), anil "Onitloncn" were said staniling.
I length in the notes on the Confirmation Service ; but the doc-
trine, or rather the practice of the doctrine, pervades the
Prayer Book ; the whole system of responsi\e worship being
founded upon it. .SVe also a note on the "Amen" of the
Laity at the consecration of the Blessed Sacrament.
It is a happy ritual accident that the Suffrages give the key-
notes of the Collects and Prayers which follow. The fast
couplet indicating the Collect of the Day, always a general
prayer for mercy and salvation ; the second the Prayer for the
Queen ; the tJiird and fourth couplets the Prayer for the
Clergy and People ; thejifth the Morning and Evening Collects
for Peace and Against all perils ; and the sixth couplet the
Collect for Grace to live well.
THE THREE COLLECTS.
All kneelintj] See the preceding remarks on this posture in
the Preces. It is only necessaiy here to add that the words,
" The Priest standing up, and sailing. Let us pray. IT Then
the Collect of the Day," followed'those of the present Rubric
until 1552, representing the old usage of the Church. As this
direction was thromi further back, and no direction for the
Priest to kneel inserted in its place here, the Eubric appears
to order the same posture at the versicles and the collects, as
has been already shewn.
§ The First Collect, of the Day.
The central point of all Divine Worship, towards which
all otlier services gravitate, and around which they revolve,
like planets round a sun, is the great sacrificial act of the
Church, the offering of the Holy Sacrament. The ordinary
services of Mattins and Evensong are therefore connected ^\ith
it rituaUy l)y the use of the collect " tliat is appointed at the
Communion," to which precedence is given over all other
prayers except the Lord's Prayer, and the versicles from Holy
Scripture. This collect is the oidy variable prayer of the Coni-
iiuiniou Office, and it is almost always built up out of the ideas
contained in the Epistle and Gospel appi'inted for the Sunday
or other Holyday to which it specially belongs ; these latter,
again [see Introduction to Collects, etc.], being selections of
most venerable antiquity, intended to set a definite and dis-
tinctive mark on the <lay with which they are associated.
Thus the first Collect of Morning and Evening Prayer fulfils
a twofold office. First, it connects those services with the
great act of .sacrificial worship wliich the Church intends to be
offereil on every Sunday and Holyday (at least) to her Lord ;
and, secondly', it strikt.'s the nieniurial keynote of the season,
linking on the daily services to tliat particular phase of our
Blessed Lord's Person or Work ^^•hich has been ofi'ered to our
devotion in the Gospel and Epistle. And as all Divine Wor-
ship looks first ami principally towards Him to Whom it is
olVercd, so it must be considered that these orderly variations
of the collect arc not onlained chiefly as a means of directing
the tone of tbouuht and meditation willi wliich the worship-
pers approach Him, but as a devotional recognition and
aborning Iprajjcr.
20I
IT Then sliiiU follow tlireo Collects : The first of 'I'lic
Day, which shall be the same that is aii))oiMte(l at
the Communion ; The second for Peace ; 1'hc third
for Grace to live well. And the two last Collects
shall never alter, but daily be said at Morning
Prayer throughout all the Year, as foUoweth ; "AH
kneeling.
IT The Second Collect, for Peace.
OGOD, Who art the Author of peace and
Lover of concord, in knowledge of Whom
standeth our eternal life, Wlio.se service is perfect
freedom ; Defend u.s Thy humble .servants in all
assault.s of our enemies ; that we, surely tru.sting
in Thy defence, may not fear the power of any
adversaries ; through the might of Jesus Cheist
our Lord. Amen.
O
IT The Third Collect, for Grace.
LORD, our heavenly Fathee, Almighty and
everlasting God, Who hast safely brought
1^ .f// tneelin^'
|i66-'|. After its
fotlou'ctli in 1549
only was, 'Ihe
rfiest standing
lip, and stiyiiti^,
I -ct us pray. I'lieii
the Cottect of the
Dili:
* Sbm. Mall. Crc
i:nr. ami Cclas.
Si issa pro pari;,
Miir, i. 727. ii. 203.
c Comp. HENIiLA
de Vita beata, c.
XV,, "Deo parere,
liberlas est,"
<■ Sar. Prime.
Gre^j. Orationes
ad M a t u t i 11 a s.
Men. p. 2i=-
''TP\EUS Auctor pacis et Amator, Quern nosse
J-^ vivere : Cui servire, regnare est ; protege
ab omnibus impugnationibus supplices Tuos ; ''ut
qui in defensione Tua confidimu.s, nullius hostili-
tatis arma timeamus. Per Jesum Cueistum
DoMiNUM nostrum. Amen.
''T^OMINEsancte, Pater Omnipotens, seteme
-Ly Deus, Qui nos ad principium hujus diei
memorial before God of the change of times and seasons which
He Himself has ordained both in the natural and the spiritual
world. "He hath appointed the moon for certain seasons,
and the sun knoweth his going down," So the division of
our time from week to week has been marked out by the
Divine Hand in the i-est of the Creation Sabbath and the
triumph of the Resurrection Sunday ; and each week of the
year is also distinguished by the Church with some special
reference to acts or teachings of her Divine JIaster, which she
commemorates day by day at Mattins and Evenscaig, as well
as at her chief service of the week.
The following rules will be found practically useful as
regards the use of the first Collect, and for convenience those
relating to Evensong are included, as well as those more pro-
perly belonging to this page : —
1. The Sunday Collect is to be said from the Saturday
evening before to the Saturday morning after, inclusive.
2. Festival Collects are invariably to be used on the evening
before the festival, whether it is kept as a vigil or not. Wlien
the vigil is kept on a Saturday, the festival being on the
Monday following, the Collect of the latter is not to be said on
Saturday evening ; but on Sunday evening it should be said
before the Sunday Collect.
3. The Sunday Collect ordinarily gives way to the Collect of
any festival which occurs on the Sunday, that for the festival
being said first, that for the Sunday second.
4. But if any festival occurs on any of the following Sundays,
the Festival Collect is said second, that for the Sunday being
said first.
Advent Sunday. Sundays in Lent.
4th Sunday in Advent. Easter Day.
Septuagesima Sunday. Sunday after Easter.
Sexagesima Sunday. Whitsun Day
Quiuquagesiina Sunday. Trinity Sunday.
The same rule is applicable to Ash-Wednesday, Maundj'
Thursday, (iood Friday, Easter Even, and Ascension Day.
But on other week-days following the above Sundays, a
Festival Collect should take precedence of the Sunday Collect,
as the Collects of the threedays after Christmas take precedence
of that of Christmas Day. {See further the Table in the In-
troduction to the Coll. Ep. and Gosp. ]
5. The following are special usages connected witli several
days and seasons : —
/Advent Sunday is to be used until, and including, the
morning of December 24.
Christmas Day is to be used until, and including, tlic
morning of December 31.
t, Circumcision is to be used until, and including, the morning
•S, of January 5.
"S Epiphany is to be used until, and including, the morning
.S ; of the Saturday following
o^- . _ ■ ■ ■ -
J, ing oflhe Tuesday following.
g Ash- Wednesday [alone] is to be used until, and includ-
ing, the morning of the Saturday following.
Ash- Wednesday is to be used after all others until, and
including, the morning of the Saturday before Easter Day.
Ascension Day is to be used until, and including, the
morning of the Saturday following.
iQuinquagesima is to be used until, and including, the even-
§ The Second Collect, for Peace.
This beautiful prayer is translated from one which was
used at Lauds in the ancient services, and was also the Post-
Communion of a special Eucharistic Office on the subject of
peace. It appears in the Sacramentaries of Gelasius and
Gregory the Great, and has probably been in use among us at
Mattins ever since the time of the latter, nearly thirteen
centuries.
It must be taken as a prayer for the peace of the Church
Militant, even more than as one for that of the Christian
warrior : a devout acknowledgement in the case of both that
the events of every day are ruled by the Providence of
Almighty Ciod, Who doeth according to His will in the aniiy
of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none
can stay His hand, or say unto Hiin, " What doest Thou?"
The expression, "In knowledge of Whom standeth our eter-
nal life, " is founded on our Lord's words, "And this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee the only time God, and
Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent. " [John xvii. 3.] The
following beautiful and terse phrase, "Whose service is
perfect freedom " (though inferior to the "Whom to serve is
to reign" of the Latin'), is a daily reminder to us of our
position as soldiers of Christ, bound to Him as those who have
vowed to " continue His faithful soldiers and servants unto
their lives' end," but yet bound by the yoke of a loving Cap-
tain, ^^'llose object is to save us from the slavery of sin and
carry us on to tlie eternal freedom of Heaven. There is a
mixture of humility and confidence in this Collect, which fits
it well for the lips of those who are faithfully endeavouring to
do their duty day by day. They "seek peace and pursue it,"
yet know that spiritual enemies are ever on the watch to
assault them : they know their danger, yet have no fear for
the end while the might of Him Who "goes forth conquering
and to conquer " is given for their defence : of Him AVho can
say to the troubled waves around the ark of His Church,
" Peace, be still."
§ The Third Collect, for Grace.
This Collect occupied a similar position in the Prime Office
of the ancient use of the Church of England as it does in our
present jSlorning Prayer. It is found in Menard's edition of
(Gregory the Great's Sacranientary, among the "Orationes ad
Matutinas lucescente die ; " and is of almost as venerable an
antiquity as the preceding one. It will be interesting to
notice the difference between the old English use given above,
the Roman use, and the ancient fonn in which the Collect
appears in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory.
1 Tlicre is a toudiin^ memorial nf the comfort givt-ii by tlie.se words in
an inscription wliicli remains in the Beauchamp tower of the Tower of
London ; —
DEO SERVIRE
I'ENITENTIAM INIRE
FATO OBEDIRE
REGNARE EST
A POOLE
1564
I H S
Arthur Poole was claimant of the royal dukedom of Clarence, and, with
his brother Edmund, died a prisoner in the Tower.
302
aborning prayer.
us to the beginning of this day ; Defend us in
the same with Thy mighty power; and grant that
this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any
kind of danger ; but that all our doings may be
ordered by Thy governance, to do always that is
righteous in Thy sight; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Ameii.
n IT In Quires and places where they sing, here followeth
the Anthem.
Then these five Prayers following are to be read here,
Except when the Litany is read ; and then only
the two last are to be read, as they are there
placed.
H A Prayer for the Queen's Majesty.
'/"N LOED our heavenly Father, high and
y^ mighty. King of kings, Lord of lords, the
only Euler of princes. Who dost from Thy throne
behold all the dwellers upon earth ; ilost heartily
we beseech Thee with Thy favour to behold our
most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen VICTORIA;
and so replenish her with the grace of Thy Holy
Spirit, that she may alway incline to Thy will.
ti From this Rubric
to the end of tile
Service wns all
added in 1661.
b " Domiiie, Deus
Omiiipotens, Rex
regum. et Domi-
nus tiominantiuiii.
/Eteme fontifex."
etc. [Circa A.u,
50a Martene, i.
8.J.!
c Book 0/ Prfvale
Prayers, 1545-48,
and'Prymer, 1553.
pervenire fecisti ; Tua nos hodie salva virtute ; et
concede ut in hac die ad nullum declinemus
peccatum ; nee ullum incurramus periculum, sed
semper ad Tuam justitiam faciendara omnis
nostra actio Tuo moderamine dirigatur. Per
Jesum Christum Dojiinum nostrum. Amen.
' (~\ LORDE Jesu Christe, moste high, most
Vy mightie kyng of kynges, lorde of lordes,
the onely rular of princes, the very sonne of
god, on whose ryghte hande syttyng, dooest
from thy throne beholde all the dwellers upon
earth : with mooste lowly hertes we beseche the,
vouchesafe with fauourable regard to behold our
most gracious soueraigne lorde Kyng Edwarde
Grerjorian.
Deus, qui nos ad principium
hujus diei pervenire fecisti, da
nobis hunc diem sine peccato
transire ; ut in nullo a tuis
semitis declinemus ; sed ad
tuam justitiam faciendam nos-
tra semper procedaut eloquia.
Per.
Homan.
Domine Deus omnipotens,
qui ad principium hujus diei
nos pervenire fecisti ; tua nos
hodie salva virtute, ut in hac
die ad nullum declinemus pec-
catum, sed semper ad tuam
justitiam faciendam nostra
procedant eloquia, dirigautur
cogitationes et opera. Per
Dominum.
The Eoman was the same both before and after the reform
of the Breviary : and tlie difference between it and our own
shews the independent character of the English rite ; furnish-
ing evidence also that our own reformers used the Salisbury,
and not the Roman Breviary, for their translations.
One of the prayers in the Morning Office of St. Basil
also bears considerable resemblance to the Collect for
Grace, sufiicient to indicate a common origin. It is thus
given by Freeman in his Frinciples of Divine Service, i.
222 ;
'0 0e6s 6 aluiPLOi, to dt'apxoi' fiat dtdtov . . . [Ps. xc. 1.]
Xdptaai Tjfiiv ^v t§ wapova-r] ijp.^p^ evapetrreTi' (Fol, dia(pv\(iTTuv
TlfjLcis dirb irdaTjs dfiaprta^ Kal Trdarj^ TrofTpds Trpd^eo)?, pvb/jLevoi
^/xaj dn6 /3Aous TrtTOpLivou ijpL^pas Kal irdaijs dvTLKiip.ivr]^
6vvd^€0Ji.
[From Second Prayer] : —
Ta TLOV ;^€ipuii/ TipLuv ipya, . . . TrpdrreLV ijfxds to. ffol evdp^ffTa
Kal <pCKa, €v65wJov.
This Collect was placed here as the end of Mattins in 1549,
a most appropriate jirayer with which to go forth to the
work that each one lias to do. In the Rubric it is called a
prayer "for grace to live well," and Bishop Cosin wished to
insert this full title above the Collect as a sign of the object
for whicli it is oli'orod. In a few terse words it recognizes
the dependence of all for spiritual strength on the grace of
God, our position in the midst of temptations to sin, and the
power to do good works well pleasing to God when our doings
are under His governance. As a prayer bearing on the daily
Ufe of the Christian, it may be taken as a devotional parallel
to the well-known axiomatic definition of Christian practice,
that it is "to do my duty in that state of life unto which it
shall please God to call me. "
The Pkubrirs which follow the three Collects are of more
importance than they have usually been considered. The first
directs that " H In C^uires and places where they sing, hero
followeth the Anthem." The Anthem itself is spoken of at
length in another place. All that is necessary to mention
here in connection with it is, that [I] although this Rubric
was not in the Prayer Book in the time of Queen Elizabeth,
there is historical evidence of an Anthem being sung at the
conclusion of the Service, of which our modern organ voluntary
is probably a survival : and [2] that Anthems were clearly
not contemplated, except in " Quires and places where
they sing," Cathedrals, Royal Chapels, Collegiate Churches,
etc.
This gives considerable force to the word "Then "in the
following Rubric; " 1i Then these five Prayers following are
to be used," etc.; for it is clear that, the two Rubrics
being placed where they are at the same time, the "Then"
of the second derives its meaning entirely from the words
which immediately precede it in the first Rubric.
From this the conclusion may be drawn that where an
Anthem does not follow the third Collect, the five remaining
prayers are not to be said, but the Morning Prayer terminated
(as it was for a hundred years after the Reformation, by
express rule) at the third Collect. This view of the second
Rubric is confirmed by the " as they are there placed " which
concludes it.
An explanation of such an usage may be found in the
difference of position between ordinary parish churches and
the churches defined by the expression, "Quires and places
where they sing." The latter are of a more represtntativc
character than the former, and usually iu a more public
situation ; and iu these the daily commemoration of the
Sovereign, the Royal Family, and the Clergy becomes a
public duty in a higher degree than in village or other
churches where the service is usually of a more humble
character.
Where the length of Morning .and Evening Prayer is there-
fore an obstacle to the use of Daily Service, this Rubric pro-
Nndes (accidentally, perhaps, yet effectually) for the ditEculty ;
and shews that there is an elasticity about the Prayer Book
here, as elsewhere, which makes it capable of meeting the
varied requirements of social life. Perhaps the idea of an
universal Daily Mattins and Evensong was dying out when
the additions wore made to the beginning and the eiul of the
Services, or a more distinct Rubrical provision woulil have
been made, limiting their general use to particular churches
on week-days, and ordering it for all on Sumlays.
This subject is further illustrated by some Visitation
Articles in which "Short Morning Prayers " are mentioned.
"Appended to the Gloucester Articles for 1('>3-1 is the follow-
ing advertisement: 'That every Incumbent or Curate
endeavour (.as far forth as he can), especially in market towns,
to read short Morning Prayers at six o'clock before men go
to their labours.' In 1640 it is rather varied: 'That short
Morning Prayers be read in market towns, and in all other
places where conveniently it may be.'" [Latubuuy's hist.
/'. Book, p. 16,T]
THE FIVE PRAYERS,
These prayers were inserted in this place in 1001, apparently
at the suggestion of Bishop Cosin made in his Amended
Prayer Book. Some of them had been previously in use in
Q^omintj Prayer.
203
and walk in Thy way : Endue her plenteously
with heavenly gifts ; grant her in health and
wealth lung to live ; strengthen her that she may
vanquish and overcome all her enemies ; and
finally, after this life, she may attain everlasting
joy and felicity ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
the Litany or in Occasional Offices. To a certain extent they
represent some private prayers used by the Clergy, after the
public Office was over in tlie ancient system of tlie Cliurch
[Freeman, i. 371]; but this parallel is accidental, as an
interval of more than a century had elapsed between the
cessation of the old custom, and its revival in the present
form. There are, however, several pages of Mi-moricc
ComniHiH'S in the Salisbury Missals, and among these may
be found the original idea, though not the ipsistiima rerha,
of the four intercessory prayers here used, and also of several
of those called ' ' Occasional. " The Memorhe Commimes were,
in fact, ' ' Prayers and Thanksgivings upon Several Occasions ; "
and the four intercessory prayers now used daily seem to have
been originally considered as belonging to this class. It is
noticeable that the ancient structural form of the Collect
[seK Introduction to Collects, etc.] has been carefully
adopted in these prayers, as it was in the case of the daily
Absolution.
§ The rraijcr for the Queen.
This occurs fiist in two books of Private Prayers, the one
entitled Psalmes or Prayers taki'ii out of Holye Scripture
[1545-48], the other, Prayers or Meditations . . . collected
out of holy works by the most rirluous and gracious Prijtcess
Kiitheriiie, Queen of Emjland, France, and Ireland. Anno
ilni 1547. It was also inserted in the Morning Prayer,
])rinted in the Prymer of 153.'?, as the "Fourth Collect." In
Queen Elizabeth's reign [155'J] it was placed with other
prayers and in its present shape before tlie Prayer of St.
Chrysiistom at the end of the Litany. Our present usage
was first adopted in the Form of Prayer for March 24, 1G04,
commemorating the entry of James I. into England. It was
inserted in the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637, and finally
settled as we now have it in 16G1.
It is not known who was the author of this fine composition,
the opening of which is equal in grandeur to anything of the
kind in the ancient Liturgies ; breathing indeed the spirit of
the Tersanctus and Trisagion.
A prayer for tlie Sovereign is a very ancient part of Divine
Service, the Apostolic use of it being evidenced beyond doubt
by the words of St. Paul in the opening of the second chapter
of his First Epistle to Timothy, "I exhort therefore, that,
first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks, be made for all men ; for kings, and for all that are
in authority ; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and honesty." The "giving of thanks " being
an expression for the offering of the Holy Eucharist, this
injunction ought to be taken as containing a reference to tlie
use of such an intercession at the ordinary prayers of the
Church, as well as at the Holy Communion. A Missa pro
Reije is contained in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory [see foot-
note beyond] as early as the sixth century. In the ecclesiasti-
cal laws of King Ethelred, a.d. lOl'i, the third chapter con-
tains express directions that a certain prayer should be said
daily for the King and his people ; and the practice of the
Church of England before the Reformation has already been
mentioned.
It may be useful to place in connection with our now
familiar Prayer for the Sovereign, one from an Eastern
Liturgy, and the Memorial of the Salisbury Breviary,
the syxte, and so replenysshe hym with the grace
of thy holy sjiirite, that he alway incline to thy
wil, and walke in thy ■way. Kepe hym farre of
from ignoraunce, but through thy gifto, leat
prudence and knowlage alwaio abound in his
royall hert. So instructe hym (o Lord iesv),
reygnyng upon us in erth, that his humaino
majestee, alway obey thy divine majestee in
feare and drede. Indue him plentifully ■with
heauenly geftes. Grant him in health and welth
long to liue. Heape glorie and honourc upon
liym. Glad hym ■with the joye of thy counten-
ance. So strengthe liym, that he male vanquish
and ouercome all his and our foes, and lie dread
and feared of al the ennemies of his realme.
[And finally, after this life that he may attain
everlasting joy and felicity. Prymer Version.^
Amen.^
From the Liturgy of St. Mark.
"0 Lord, Master and God, the Father of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ ; we beseech Thee to preserve our king in
peace, might, and rigliteousness. Subdue under him, G(id,
his foes and all that hate him. Lay hold upon the shield and
buckler, and stand up tn help him. Grant victories unto him,
God, and that he may be peaceably disposed both towards
us and towards Thy holy Name ; and tliat we also, in the
peace of his days, may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all
godliness and honesty, through the grace, mercy, and loving-
kindness of Thine only-begotten Son ; through Whom, and
with AVhom, be glory and power unto Thee, ^\ith Thine all-
holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and for ever, and unto
all eternity. Amen."
"memori.b pro rege et reoina.
[From the Salishury Missal.]
Oratio.
" Deus in cujus manu sunt corda regum : qui es humilium
Consolator, et fidelium Fortitude, et Protector omnium in Te
sperantium : da regi nostro fi. et reginse nostra; fl. populoque
C'hristiano triumphum virtutis tuje scienter excolere : ut per
Te semper repareutur ad veniam. Per Domiuum.
Secreta.
Suscipe, quipsumus, Domine, preces et hostias ecclesite
Tuie, quas pro salute famuli Tui regis nostri et regiuie et pro-
tectione fidelium jiopulorum Tua> Majestati ofi'erimus : suppli-
cantes ut antiqua brachii tui Te operante miracula, superatis
inimicis, secura tibi serviat Christianoruin libertas. Per
Dominum.
Post-Cornmunio.
" Pra;sta, quffisumus, Omnipotens Deus : ut per hsec
niysteria sancta quaj sumpsimus, rex noster et regiua, popu-
hisque Christianus semper rationabilia meditantes qUi-e Tibi
placita sunt, et dictis exequantur et factis. Per Dominum.''
These are taken from a Missal of 1514 ; another set, men-
tioning the name of Henry VII., are given by Mr. Maskell
in his Ancient Liturgy, p. 278. The Post-Communion of the
latter ends with the words "et post hujus vita; decursum ad
seternam beatitudinem, tua gratia cooperante, perveniat ; "
■which are evidently the original of "And finally after this
life, she may attain everlasting joy and felicity." See also
the note below.
I The final claii.se nf this prayer is t-iken from tlie Post-Commiiiiion of a
Misaa Quotidialia pro Rege in the Sacraineutary of St. Gregory, which is
as follows : —
"Ila'C, Dnniine, oratio saUitiris faniuhiin tuuin, IIl[um = fl. or Cl.], ah
omnibus tueatur adversis, quateiuis et tcclesiastic;e pacts obtineat tran-
quillitatem, et post istius teniporis decursum ad leteruani perveuiat hare-
ditatem. Per." [Greg. Miss. Quotid. pro Rege. Ad Complefuivm.}
The earlier part of it bears some resemblance to the beginning of the
Consecratio Regis, printed at p. 279 in the Appendix to Menard's -Soci-a-
vtentary of .St. Gregoi-tj. *' Omnipotens sempitenie Deus, Creator et
Gubernator coeli et terrte, Conditor et Dispositor Angelonun et liomiuum.
Rex regum et Doininius dominorum, qui," etc.
204
^ocnincj ipraj)er.
T A Prayer for the Royal Family.
ALMIGHTY God, the Fountain of all good-
-^^J^ uess, we humbly beseech Thee to bless
Albert Edivard Prince of Wales, the Princess of
Wales, and all the Eoyal Family ; Endue them
with Thy Holy Spikit ; enrich them with Thy
heavenly grace ; prosper them with all happiness ;
and bring them to Thine everlasting kingdom^;
through Jesus Cheist our Lokd. Amen.
IT A Prayer for the Clergy and People
AL^MIGHTY and everlasting God, Who alone
-^^^ workest great marvels ; Send down upon
our Bishops, and Curates, and all Congregations
committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of
Thy grace ; and that they may truly please Thee,
pour upon them the continual dew of Thy bless-
ing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our
Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.
•^ A Prayer of .St. Chrysontom.
ALMIGHTY God, Who ha.st given us grace at
^» this time with one accord to make our
common supplications unto Thee ; and dost pro- 1
mise, that when two or three are gathered j
, ciminon Prayer " ALMIGHTY God, which host promissd to bee
Book of ,604. J^ ^ p^jjjgj. p^ ^Jjjjjg Tgjg^.^^ ^^^ ^^ ^Jjgjj.
, seed : We humbly beseech thee to blesse our
Noble Prince Charles, Fredericke the Prince
I Elector Palatine, and the lady Elisabeth his
wife : endue them with thy holy Spirit, enrich
them with thy heavenly grace, prosper them
with all happinesse, and bring them to thine
everlasting kingdome, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
* Sar. Greg. Missa "/^MNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui facis
coSgT^pS. g|! j ^~-^ mirabilia magna solus: prstende super
7^7. " "'■ '■ '"'' famulos Tuos Pontifiees et super cunctas congre-
gationes illis commissasSpiritumgratiaesalutaris;
et ut in veritate Tibi complaceant, perpetuum eis
rorem Tuae benedictionis infunde.
c Liturgy of Con- I TttS KOtl'tt^ Tttl'TaS Kat (TVlXihhiVOVi Vl^-^i' VttPtO"-
stant Prayer of 1 , , , x r, v v . '^ "^i
third Anthem. ' autl'OS TTpoCTeVYaS, O Kat Ol'0"t Kat, TpLtTl <TVU.<p(0-
I'ovcrtv «7ri to) ovofiarL (rov ras aiTijcras Trapi^eiv
(Trayyukdnivo'i' airos koi vvv tojv SovXihv crov ra
§ The Praijer for the Itoyal Family.
This was placed among the prayers at the end of the Litany
in 1604 by James I. ; but the practice of praying for the
Royal Family ^yas no new one, the English Litany of 1541
containing a supplication for "our noble Prince Edward and
all the King's Majesty's children." The e.xpression "the
Fountain of all goodness " was substituted, in 1625 (in the first
Form of Occasional Prayers issued xiuder Charles I.), for the
strong expression used in the opening of it under James.
The following letter, copied from Bishop Cosin's MSS., led to
the final adoption of the prayer in its present form, and serves
to illustrate its introduction into the Daily Service ; —
"Charles R.
"Our will and pleasure is that you forthwith cause this
ensuing Collect for our Royall Consort to be used in all
churches and chappels within your province, instead of that
which is now used for the Royall Progeny. For which this
shall be your warrant. Given at our Court at Whitehall
this Sth day of November, 16()1.
[Then follows the Collect.]
' ' To our right trusty and right well
beloved, the Most Reverend Father in
God Acceptus, Lord Archbishop of
York.
"By His Majestie'a Command,
" Edw.\rd Nicuolas."
Another warrant was issued on May 30, 1662. [Stale
Papers, Doni. Charle.'i II. Iv. 11.]
In this and other prayers for the Sovereign and the Royal
Family, the necessary changes are made by Royal Proclama-
tion, under the twenty-fifth clause in the Act of Uniformity :
"Provided always, and be it further enacted by the authority
aforesaid, that in all those Prayers, Litanies, and Collects
which do any way relate to the King, Queen, or Roy.al Pro-
geny, the Names be altered and changed from time to time,
and fitted to the present occasion, according to the direction
of lawful authority." What the Lawful authority is does not
clearly appear ; but against the clause in the Litany, and also
against this Prayer, there is a marginal note in Cosin'a book,
"Such only are to be named as the King sh.iU appoint."
Until the time of .Limes IL it was customary for these alter-
ations to be made by the King on his own authority. But on
February 10, 1684, .James IL made them in Council, and this
has always been the custom since tliat time
§ The Prayer for the Chrgy and Peoj'le.
This Collect is very ancient, being found in the Sacramen-
tary of Gelasius. It is also in all the English Prymers, and
a version of it, as it stood in the fourteenth century, is given
in Evening Prayer. It was placed at the end of the first
authorized English Litany in 1544, and where it now is in
1661. Bishop Cosin wished to meet Puritan objectors by
altering it as follows : —
''A Prayer for the Clenjy and their Charge.
"Almighty and Everlasting God, Who didst pour out
upon Thy Apostles the great and marvellous gift of the
Holy Ghost, send down upon our Bishops, the Pastors of
Thy Church, and such others as have cure of souls under
them, together with all congregations committed to their
charge ..."
It was also suggested by him to use the phrase "from
Whom all spiritual graces do proceed," which is nearly that
adopted in the American Prayer Book ; but both changes
were rejected by the Revision Committee. "People" was
also substituted for "their charge," perhaps to make the title
more comprehensive.
The word "Curates" was objected to at the Savoy
Conference, when the Bishops and other Clergy replied,
"The word Curate sigoiifying properly all those who are
trusted by the Bishops with Cure of souls, as aucientlj' it
signified, is a very fit word to be used, and can offend no
soDer persons." '
§ .1 Prayer of til. ChrysoKtotn.
The introduction of this beautiful Collect into the Prayer
Book by the Reformers shews that they were not unacquainted
with the Greek Liturgies, if they had thought it expedient
to draw upon them more freely than they did. It never had
a place in any European Ritual until 1544, when it w as placed
at the end of the English Litany which had been revised and
set forth by Archbishoj) Cranmer and his coadjutors as a first-
fruits of their work.
The prayer is found as the prayer of the third Antiphon in
the Liturgies of St. Pvosil and St. Chrysostom, and is thus
used in the Churches of the E.ast whenever the Holy Com-
munion is celebrated. Its present position at the end of a
Service is a novelty, but a very happy one. It was ordered
to be so used in the Scotch Prayer Book of 1637, and inserted
in the English Rcvisal of 1661.
i (Jraiid Debate bitirecK the Bishops uml the Presbyterian Divines, 1661, p. 70.
Cardwell's Con/, p. 342.
horning: Ipraycr.
205
together in Thy Name Thou wilt grant their
requests : Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and
petitions of Thy servants, as may bo most ex-
pedient for them ; granting us in this world
knowledge of Thy truth, and in the world to
come life everlasting. Amen.
2 Cor. xiii.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
aiTrjfiaTa Trpos to crvntftepov wk^'jpijiiTov, ■xoprjywv
rjiiiv ev T<jJ irapovri, alwvi, t^jv (Triyvoxriv ti;s cr»/s
dXrjOela^, Kal Iv tm /xcAAoi'ti fo«yi< alon'coi'
Capitulum ; ii. Cor. ultimo.
GRATIA Domini nostri Je.su Ciiristi, et
charitas Dei, et communicatio Sancti
Spieitus sit semper cum omnibus nobis.
Here enileth the Order of Morning Prayer throughout the Year.
§ Tlie Benediction.
This benediction of priest and people by the former is
translated from the Capitulum which was used at Tierce (the
nine o'clock Morning .Service) in the ancient Church of Eng-
land, and wivs first inserted after the Litany in 1559. It also
begins the Anaphora of the tliree great Oriental Liturgies of
St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, and St. James, being followed by
the versicle, " And with thy spirit, " and the Sursiim Corda.
In the two former, the benedictory form appears as it is in
2 Cor. xiii. 14, " be with ijoii all," but in that of St. .Tames it
is iu the form "be with us all," as in our own and in tlie
ancient Tierce Service. As tlie Vulgate also lias ' ' sit cum
omnibus vobis," it is improbable that the ancient Capitulum
was taken from it, especially since the word "semper" is no
more represented there than it is in the Greek of the New
Testament ; the two being as follows : —
'H x<^P" ■'■0" Kvplov 'I))ffoD Gratia Domini nostri Jesu
XptcTov, Kal 71 aydtn) toO OeoO, Ciiristi, et charitas Dei, et com-
Kai i) KOivoivl<i Tou aylov ttvcv- municatio Sancti Spiritus sit
^aros /uexo iravTuiti iifiuv, 'A/i-^f. cum omnibus vobis. Amen.
There is some probability, from these peculiarities, that
this benediction gives us a lingering trace of prayers more
anciently used in England than the time of St. Osmund. In
St. James's Liturgy the benediction is, "The love of the
Lord and Father, the grace of the Lord and Son, the com-
munion and gift of the Holy Ghost, be with us all;" and
although this is still more different from our form than the
Bible version, the "us" instead of "you" is (under the cir-
cumstances) so very distinctive, as to lead to the impression
that it represents a Liturgy not now extant, which was
analogous to that of St. James. It has also been suggested
that this was originally a Liturgical benediction, and was
adopted, as many other Liturgical expressions were, by St.
Paul. No doubt its use as a Blessing in Divine Service is of
primitive antiquity.
There is also a medi;eval form of it in verse in Eolle of
Hampote's Prick of Conscience : —
" The myjt off ye fadur almyjti
The wisdom off ye sone al witty
The grace and ye goodnesse of ye holi gost
O god and O lord off myites most
Be wyp ous at jiis biginning
And loving us alle to good ending. Amen."
THE ORDER FOR
EVENING PEAYER
DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
T At the beginning of Evening Prayer the Minister
shall read with a loud voice some one or more of
these Sentences of the Scriptures that follow. And
then he shall say that which is written after the
said Sentences.
W'HEN the wicked man turneth away from
his wickednes.s that he hath committed,
and doeth that which is lawfu] and right, he shall
save his soul alive. ezek. xriii 27.
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin
is ever before me. rs. li. 3.
Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out
all mine iniquities. Ps. ii. 9.
The sacritices of God are a broken spirit : a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt
not despise. rs. li. 17.
Rend your heart, and not your garments, and
turn unto the Loed your God : for He is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kind-
ness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Joel u. 13.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and for-
givenesses, though we have rebelled again-st Him :
neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord
our God, to walk in His laws which He set
before us. Dax. ix. 9, 10.
Lord, correct me, but with judgement ;
not in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to
nothing. Jer. x. 24. Ps. vi. 1.
Repent ye ; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at
hand. S. Matt. iii. 2.
1 will arise, and go to my father, and will
say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy
to be called thy son. s. Luke xv. is, 19.
Enter not into judgement with Thy servant,
O Lord ; for in Thy sight shall no man living
be justified. Ps. cxliii. 2.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us : but, if we
confess our sins. He is faithful and just to for-
II Fvemojig [1549
only].
give us our sins,
unrighteousness.
and to cleanse
us from all
1 S. JOHM i. 8, 9.
DEARLY beloved brethren, the Scripture
moveth us in sundry places to acknow-
ledge and confess our manifold sins and wicked-
ness ; and that we should not dissemble nor cloke
them before the face of Almighty God our
heavenly Father ; but confess them with an
humble, lowlj', penitent, and obedient heart ; to
the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the
same, by His infinite goodness and mercy. And
although we ought at all times humbly to ac-
knowledge our sins before God ; yet ought we
most chiefly so to do when we assemble and
meet together, to render thanks for the great
benefits that we have received at His hands, to
set forth His most worthy praise, to hear His
most holy Word, and to ask those things which
are requisite and necessary, as well for the body
as the soul. WTierefore I pray and beseech you,
as many as are here present, to accompany me
with a pure heart and humble voice, unto the
throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me ;
IT A general Confession to be said of the whole Con-
gregation after the Minister, all kneeling.
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father ; We
-iLA- have erred, and strayed from Thy ways
like lost sheep. We have followed too much the
devices and desires of our own hearts. We have
offended against Thy holy laws. We have left
undone those things which we ought to have
done ; And we have done those things which we
ought not to have done ; And there is no health
in us. But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
miserable offenders. Spare Thou them, O God,
which confess their faults. Restore Thou them
that are penitent ; According to Thy promises
declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord.
The Order for Evrnijiii Praycrl The Evening Service of the
Book of Common Pr.ayer was formed out of the two Eveniiit;
Services, Vespers and Compline, of the ancient Order ; a fi.\cd
form being, however, substituted for variable ones, and tho
hymns being left to the discretion of the Clergy.
Nothing uirther need be said here respecting those parts
of the daily Olfices which have been already commented upcm
under Morning Prayer, but some additional illustrations arc
given in the sliape of ancient English versions of various parts
of the services. These are inserted within br.acketa wlicn
they .are placed beside the text of the Prayer lUiok : and it
must be uiKlcrstood that they are verb.al illustrations only,
not always coming from an Olhco similar to that in which
they are now ])rinted. The opening versieles of the Service,
for ex,ample, are taken from the M.attins of the Ancient
Prymer : at the later services of the d:iy the two first do not
appear ; and at Compline tlicy are repl.iced by " Turn us, O
(iod of our .s.alvation. And let Thine anger cease from us. "
These in the Prymer are " Cod our salvacion converte us to
Thee. .And turne fro us Thy wrathe."
Evening Prayer began ^^ ith the Lord's Prayer and ended
with the tliird Collect, from its first translation in I.'J40 until
I(i(il. In tlie Rubric before the Sentences at Morning Prayer,
the Minister w.as directed (from 15.')2 onwards) to s.iy them
and that which follows "at the beginning both of Morning
and Evening I'rayer :" but tho Puritan criticisms of the
(£t)ening IPraper.
207
And grant, O most merciful Father, for His
sake ; That we may hereafter live a godly,
righteous, and sober life. To the glory of Thy holy
Name. Amen.
IT The Absolution, or Eemission of sins, to be pro-
nounced by the Priest alone, standing ; the people
still kneeling.
ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord
-^-J- Jesus Christ, Who desireth not the death
of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his
wickedness, and live ; and hath given power, and
commandment, to His Ministers, to declare and
pronounce to His people, being penitent, the
Absolution and Remission of their sins : Ho par-
doneth and absolvetli all them that truly repent,
and unfcignedly believe His holy Gospel. Where-
fore beseech we Him to grant us true repent-
ance, and His Holy Spirit, that those things
may please Him, wliich wo do at this present ;
and that the rest of our life hereafter may be
pure, and holy ; so tliat at the last we may come
to His eternal joy ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Anipn.
^ "Then the Minister shall kneel and say the Lord's
Prayer ; the people also kneeling and repeating it
with him.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will bo done in earth, As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our trespasses. As we forgive thert that tres-
pass against us. And lead us not into tempta-
tion ; But deliver us from evil : For Thine is the
kingdom. The power, and the glory, For ever and
ever. Ameu.
IT Tlien likewise he shall say,
O Lord, open Thou our lips.
Answer.
'And our mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
Priest.
God, make speed to save us.
Answer.
O Lord, make haste to help us.
IT Here all standing up the Priest shall say,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
a All that precedes
W.1S inlrotluccd in
1662. Until then
the hrst Rubric w.is.
The Priest shaU
say. Our Father,
Which, etc.
b Prymer Version of
fourteentli century.
{^f. R. iii. 180, 1
[This reference, M,
R , is always to
Ma.skell's Moft.
utnenta RtCitalia
Eccl. A>t(^. ed
tSS:.]
c Prymer Version of
fourteenth century,
[jl/. R. iii, 3.J
ft The first two ver-
sicles were inserted
here in 1552.
''[Here bygynuetli the pater noster.
OURE fadir, that art in heuenes, halewid be
thi name : thy rowme come to thee : be
thi wille do as in heuene and in erthe : oure eche
dales breed jyue us to day : and forjyue us oure
dettis, as and we for3euen to oure dettouris : and
ne lede us into temptacioun ; but delyuere us fro
yuel. So be it.]
'■[Domine, Labia.
Lord, thou schalt opyne myn lippis.
And my mouth schal schewe thi prisynof.
God, take heede to myn help
Lord, 'hije thee to helpe me.
Glorie be to the fadir and to tne sone and to
the holy goost :
Prayer Book and the Clergy shew that this was rarely, if
ever, the practice until the last Revision, when the two
Services were made alike in this respect,
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Tlie above is a version of the Lord's Prayer as it was used
by tlie people in their daily services, when the prayers of the
Church were still said in Latin, about the end of the fourteenth
century. Some earlier versions are here given, whicli may be
taken as representatives of those tran-shations into tlie vuh'ar
tongue which were so frequently directed in jiroviuci.il .-uid
diocesan constitutions. There cannot be a donlit th.at the
Lord's Prayer was as familiar to the people of England in
ancient days as it is at [jresent.
The first among the following ancient forms of it is taken
from a gloss on tlie Evangelists, written by Eadfrid, Bishop
of Lindisfarne, about A d, 700. [Cotton MS, Nero D, iv.]
Fader us:er tliu arth in Heofn.as sie gehalgad noma thin to
cymeth ric tliin, sie willo thin sua; is in Heofne and in Eortho.
Hlaf userne oferwistlic sel us to da>g, and forgef us scyltha
usra su.Ti use forgefon scylgum usum. And ne iulead usith in
costnunge. Ah gefrig usicli from yfle.
The ne.xt is from Saxon homilies of about the same date :—
Fader ure thu the in heofnum earth, beo gehalgud tliin
noma. Cume to thin rice, weorthe thin willa swa°swa on
Heofune swile on eorthe, Hlaf userne dceghwamlican sel ua
to daeg, and forlete us ure scylde, swa swa we ac foHeten
thaem the scyldigat with us, ne geleade in costnunge. Ah
gelefe us of yfle. .^
The next is from a MS. in the Library of Caius College,
Cambridge, belonging to the thirteenth century, and printed
by Mr. iLiskell in the Appendix to hia fourteenth-century
Prymer, ilonumenta Jiitualia, iii. 248 : —
Fader oure that art in heve, i-halgeed bee thi nome, i-cunie
tlii kiuereiche, y-worthe thi wylle also is in hevene so be on
crthe, oure iche-dayes bred jif us to day, and iornl us oure
gultes, also we forpfet oure gultare, aud ne led ows nowth
into foudingge, auth ales ows of harine. So be it.
The next is from a MS., No. 142, ia St. John's College
Library, Cambridge, of the fourteenth century, and ia also
from Mr. Ma.skell's 3foniimenla BitKalia, iii, 249 :
Fader oure that art in heuene, halwed be thi name : come
thi kyngdom : fullild be thi wil in heuene as in erthe : oure
ech day bred ?ef vs to day, and forieue vs oure dettes as w^e
for!eueth to oure detoures : and ne led vs nouj in temptacion,
bote deliuere vs of euel. So be it.
_This is from a MS. in the Bodleian Library [Donee, 246, f.
15] of the fifteenth century. It also is reprinted from
ilonumetita Ritualia, iii, 249 : —
Pater ?ios<er. —Fader oure that art in heuenes, halwed be
208
OBticning Ipragcr.
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Priest.
Praise ye the Loed.
Answer.
'The Lord's Name be praised.
tt In later Pr>'mers,
Alleluia,
b Afterwards fol-
lowed, in 1549 only,
Attii ffofri faster
to Trinity Sun-
day, Hallelujah.
As be/ore is af-
feinted at Matins.
As it was in the bygynnyng and now and euer
and in to the worldis of worldis. So be it.
" God make us saaf .
thy name : thy kyngedom come to thee : thy wille be do in
erthe as in heuen : onre eche dayes brede jeue us to daye :
and forjeue us cure dettes as we forjeue to oure dettoures :
and lede us nojte into temptacion : bot delyver us from yvel.
Amen.
The last is from the Prymer of 1538. Momimenta Ritualia,
iii. 249 :—
Our father whiohe art in lieuen, halowed be thy name. Let
thy kyngdome cum vnto vs. Thy wyll be fulfylled as well in
erthe, as it is in heuen. Gyue vs this daye our daylye breade.
And forgyue vs our trespasses, as we forgyue them that tres-
paa agaynst vs. And lede vs nat in to temptacyon. But
delyuer vs from euyll. So be it.
Many more such ancient English versions are extant, and
the above are only given as specimens which shew distinct
transitions of language from one age to another. [For others,
see Rdiqu'm Antupuc, vol. i. ; Lisgard's Amjlo-Saxon Church,
vol. ii.; Maskell's il/onwrafjito Ritualia, vol. iii.; Chamber-
LAYJfE's Oratio Dominica.]
§ Exposition of the Lord's Prayer bi/ St. Cyril of Jerusalem,
A.D. 347.
[It may give an additional interest to this to mention the
historical fact, that it was part of a lecture delivered in the
Church which had been recently erected over the Holy
Sepulchre ; and to remind the reader that the interval of time
between the original delivery of the Divine Prayer to the
Apostles and this exposition of it by a Bishop of the Holy
City was less than that which has elapsed since the first
publication of the Prayer Book in 1549.]
Then, after these things, we say that Prayer which the
Saviour delivered to His own disciples, with a pure conscience
styling God our Father, and saying. Our Father, Which art in
heaven. O most surpassing loving-kindness of God ! On
them who revolted from Him and were in the very extreme
of misery, has He bestowed such complete forgiveness of tlieir
evil deeds, and so great participation of grace, as that they
should even call Him Father.
Our Father, Which art In heaven ; they also are a heaven
who bear the image of the heavenly, in whom God is, dwell-
ing and walking in them.
Hallowed be Thy Name. The Name of God is in its own
nature holy, whether we say so or not ; but since it is some-
times profaned among sinners, according to the words,
Througli yo'u My Name is continually blasphemed among the
Gentiles, we pray that in us God's Name may be hallowed ; not
that it becomes holy from not being holy, but because it
becomes holy in us, when we become holy, and do things
M'orthy of holiness.
Thy kingdom come. The clean soul can say with boldness,
Thy kingdom come ; for he who has heard Paul saying, Let
not sin reign in your mortal body, but has cleansed himself
in deed, thought, and word, will say to God, Thy kingdom
fiome.
Thy will be done as In heaven, bo In earth. The Divine
and blessed Angels do the will of (Jod, as David in a Pa.ilm
has said. Bless the Lord, ye His Angels, that excel in strengtli,
that do Hia Comm.andmcntH. So, then, thou meanest by thy
prayer, " As Thy will is done by the Angels, so be it done on
eartli also by me, Lord."
Give UB thla day our super-BUbstantial bread. This common
bread is not sujier-subatantial bread, but this Holy ISread is
super-substantial, that is, appointed for the substance of the
soul. For this Bread gocth nut into the belly and is cast out
into the dr.atight, but is diffused through all thou art, for tlie
benefit of body and soul. But by thia d.ay He means "eacli
d.T.y," as also Paul has said, \Vhile it is called to-day.
And forgive ua our debts as we forgive our debtors. For
we have many sins. For we offend both in word and in
thought, and very many things do we worthy of condemna-
tion ; and if we say that we have no sin, we lie, as John says.
And we enter into a covenant with God, entreating Him to
pardon our sins, as we also forgive our neighbours their debts.
Considering then what we receive, and for what, let us not
jiut off, nor delay to forgive one another. The offences com-
mitted against us are slight and trivial, and easily settled ;
but those which we have committed against God are great, and
call for mercy such as His only is. Take heed, therefore,
lest for these small and inconsiderable sins against tliyself,
thou bar against thyself forgiveness from God for thy most
grievous sins.
And lead us not into temptation, Lord. Does, then, the
Lortl teach to pray thus, viz. that we may not be tempted at
all? And how is it said elsewhere, "The man who is not
tempted is unproved;" and again, My brethren, count it all
joy when ye fall into divers temptations ; or rather, does not
the entering into temptation mean the being whelmed under
the temptation ? For the temptation is like a winter-torrent,
difficult to cross. Some, then, being most skilful swimmers,
pass over, not being whelmed beneatTi temptations, nor swept
down by them at all ; wliile others who are not such, enter-
ing into them sink in them. As, for example, Judas entering
into the temptation of covetousness, swam not through it,
but sinking beneath it, was choked both in body and spirit.
Peter entered into the temptation of the denial ; but having
entered it, he was not overwhelmed by it, but manfully
swimming through it, he was delivered from the temptation.
Listen again in another place, to the company of unscathed
saints, giving thanks for deliverance from temptation. For
Thou, O God, hast proved us ; Thou hast tried us like as
silver is tried. Thou hroughtest ns into the net ; Thou laidest
affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over
our heads ; we went through fire and water ; but Thou
broughtest us out into a wealthy ])lace ; now their coming into
a wealthy place is their being delivered from temptation.
But deliver us from the evil. If Lead us not into tempta-
tion had implied the not being tempted at all. He would not
have said. But deliver us from the evil. Now the evil is the
Wicked Spirit who is our adversary, from whom iie pray
to be delivered. Then after completing the prayer, Thou
sayest. Amen; by this Amen, which means, "So be it,"
setting thy seal to the petitions of this divinely-taught prayer.
[St. Cvkil's Catech. Led. xxiii. 11-18.]
§ Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, hi the. Author of
" The Christian Year."
[The following paraphrase is reprinted ' to illustrate the
devotional use of the Lord's Prayer in private, on Liturgical
principles. The "special intention" here shewn is also one
which bears closely upon two objects of this work, that of
promoting the present unity of the Church of Christ, and that
of shewing the unity of the Church of England with the
Catholic Church of old.]
Our Father, Which art in heaven: One (Joil, the Father
Almighty, One Lord Jtsus Clirist, One Holy (Jhost, pro-
ceeding "from tlie Father and tlie Son ; have mercy upon
us, Thy cliildrcn, and make us all One in Thee.
Hallowed be Thy Name: Tliou Wlio art One Lord, and Thy
Name One ; have mercy upon us all, who arc called by
Thy Name, and make us more and more One in I'liee.
Thy kingdom come : King of llighteousncss and Peace,
g.ither us more and more into Thy kingdom, and make
ns botli visiltly and invisilily One in Thee.
Thy will be done in earth, as it Is In heaven : Thou, Who hast
1 From the Prpfnce to .Scntioii.i, AcaiUmical and Occasional, by the
Rev. Jolin Keblt^, MA., 1848.
OEtJening jprapcr.
209
IT Then sliall be said or sung tlie Psalms in order as
they be appointed. Tlicn a Lesson of tliu Ohl
Testament as is appointed. And after that, Mmj-
nifical (or the Song of the blessed Virgin Mary) in
EngUsli, as foUoweth.
~\ yr Y soul dotli magnify tlie Lord :
the Idwlines.s of His
Magnificat.
s. Lukei. _LV_L and my .spirit hath rejoiced
in God my Saviour.
For He hath regarded
handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth : all generation.^
shall call me blessed.
For Ho that is mighty hath magnified me :
and holy is His Name.
And His mercy is on them that fear Him :
throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with His arm : He
hath scattered the proud in the imagination of
their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat :
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things :
and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He remembering His mercy hath holpen His
servant Israel : as He promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed, for ever.
Psalmus. Lucie i.
"~]y /TAONIFICAT : anima mea Dominum.
-LVJL Et exultavit .spiritus mens : in Deo sal-
utari meo
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillce Sua3 : ecce
enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes genera-
tiones.
Quia fecit mihi magna Qui potens est : et
sanctum Nomen Eju.s.
Et misericordia Ejus a progenie in progenies :
timentibus Eum.
Fecit poteutiam in brachio Suo ; di.sper.sit su-
perbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede ; et exaltavit
humiles
Esurientes iraplevit bonis : et divites dimisit
inanes.
Suscepit Israi^l puerum Suum : recordatus
misericordia Suas ;
Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros ; Abraham,
et seniini ejus in sKcula.
declared unto us the mystery of Thy will,, to " gather
together in One all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven and which are on earth ; " conform us, Lord,
to that holy will of Thine, and make us all One in Thee.
Give us this day our dally bread : Thou in Whom we being
many are One Bread and One Body ; grant that we, being
all partakers of that One Bread, may day by day be more
and more One in Thee.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that tres-
pass against us : Thou, Who didst say, Fatlnr, fon/ire
them, for those who were rending Thy blessed Body, for-
give us the many things we have done to mar the unity
of Thy mystical Body, and make us, forgiving and loving
one another, to be more and more One in Thee.
And lead us not into temptation : As Tliou didst enable Thine
Apostles to continue with Thee in Thy temptations ; so
enable us, by Thy grace, to abide with Thee in Thy true
Church, luider all trials, visible and invisible, nor ever
to cease from being One in Tliee.
But deliver us from evil : from the enemy and false accuser ;
from envy and grudging ; from an unquiet and discon-
tented spirit ; from heresy and schism ; from strife and
debate ; from a scornful temper, and reliance on our own
understanding ; from ofTence given or taken ; and from
whatever might disturb Thy Church, and cause it to be
less One in Thee.
CoOD LORn, DELIVER AND PRESERVE ThY SERV.VNTS FOR
EVER.
THE MAGNIFICAT.
The Hymn of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be traced in use
in the Daily Serrice of the Cliurch as far back as the begin-
ning of the sixth century. At that time [a.d. 507] it appears
iu the rule of St. C'aesarius of Aries, in tlie early morning
Oiiice of Lauds. In the Eastern Church it is also a Lauds
(Janticle. But Amalarius [a.d. 820] speaks of its use in his
time as a Canticle at Vespers ; and in the Armeni.au Church
it is used at Compline as well as at Lauds. Tlie English
Church has used it at Vespers for at least eight hiuidred
years : and its present position is analogous to that which it
occupied in the ancient Service. There are English versions
of it from as early a date as the fourteenth century.
[Maskell's Momimenta Rititalia, iii. 245, 246. Mirror of our
Ladtj, xliii, Blunt's ed. ] Several attempts were made by the
Puritans to banish it from the Prayer Book, but hajipily with-
out success. On the other hand, especial reverence was shewn
towards this Canticle and the Benedictus in the ceremonial of
the ancient Church of England, by the use of incense while
they were being sung. [See the ceremony in full in Traiisl.
of Urn: rmlt. p. 327.]
Of all hymns known to the Church this is the most closely
connected with our Blessed Lord, having been spoken by His
Virgin Mother, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, at
the very season when the Divine overshadowing had brought
about the Incarnation of the Word. She began to be, in tliat
season, the "tabernacle for the Sun" of Righteousness,
"Which Cometh forth as a Bridegroom out of His chamber,
and rejoiceth as a giant to run His course. " The appearance
and ■i\ord3 of tlie Archangel had revealed to her the exalted
office to which God had chosen her, and she knew that from
that hour .she would carry iu her bosom for nine months the
Saviour of the world. But though so "higlily favoured,"
and "full of grace," and conscious of being, as .Jeremy Taylor
says, " superexalted by .an honour greater than the world
ever saw," all her words are uttered in a spirit of pro-
found humility as regards herself, even when she declares
that "all generations shall call me Blessed," and of the
most heavenly adoration as regards Him Who had magnified
her.
The Mother of our Lord, and the Church, "which is the
Mother of us .all, " have alwa3's been closely linked together
in the mind of Christianity. The "Elect Lady," and the
Woman " clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars," who, "being
with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered," and who "brought forth a man child, who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron : and her child was caught
up unto God, and to His throne," have seemed, from the
different points of view taken by different .ages, to represent
now one and then the other, the Mother of our Lord, and the
Mother of us all. This community of characteristics is in
accordance with the general teaching of the New Testament
respecting the mystery of the communion between our Lord
Himself and those who are made members of His Body by
new birth. And for tliis reason, " The Song of the Blessed
Virgin Mary " has a peculiar fitness as the daily song of the
Church of Christ, since God has honoured it with so great
honour, in having made it the means by wliich the work of
the Incarnation is made effectual to the salvation of souls.
The Blessed Virgin Mother offered up her thanksgiving to
God because He had remembered His mercy .and His ancient
covenant, by making His Son incarnate through her ; and the
Church offers up her thauksgiving to Him, because, through
her, the mystical Body of Christ is being continually brought
forth to His greater glory.
It is also to be observed of this, as of the other Canticles,
that it is sung to the pr.aise of the Personal AVord, as revealed
in the Written Word ; to the praise of God in Christ, re-
vealed in the Old Testament Scrijjtures as well as in the
New.
2IO
OBticning Ipraper.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy CtHOST ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Or else tliis " Psalm ; except it be on the Nineteentli
Day of the Month, wlien it is read in the ordinary
course of the Psalms.
Cantate Domino,
Ps. xcviii.
o
SING unto the Lord a new
song : for He hath done mar-
vellous things.
With His own right hand, and with Hi.-j holy
arm : hath He gotten Himself the victory.
The Lord declared His salvation : His righteous-
ness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the
heathen.
He hath remembered His mercy and truth to-
ward the house of Israel ; and all the ends of the
world have seen the salvation of our God.
Shew yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye
lands : sing, rejoice, and give thanks.
Praise the Lord upon the harp : sing to the
harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.
With trumpets also and shawms : O .shew your-
selves joyful before the Lord the King.
Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein
is : the round world, and they that dwell therein.
Let the floods clap their hands, and let the
hills be joyful together before the Lord : for He
Cometh to judge the earth.
With righteousness shall He judge the world :
and the people with equity.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
T Then a Lesson of the New Testament, as it is
appointed. And after that, Nunc dimittis (or the
Song of Simeon) in English, as followeth.
Nunc dimittis. TORD, now lettest Thou Thy ser-
s. Luke ii. 29. _Li vaut depart in peace : accord-
ing to Thy word.
(I This Canticle w3s
introduced in 1552.
« Sar
f Sar.
Gloria Patri, et Filio : et Spiritpi Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in saecula sreculorum. Amen.
Psalmus xcvii.
*/^ANTATE Domino canticum novum : quia
^—^ mirabilia fecit.
Salvavit Sibi dextera Ejus : et brachium
sanctum Ejus.
Notum fecit Dominus salutare Suum : in con-
.spectu gentium revelavit justitiam Suam.
Kecordatus est misericordias Su;k : et veritatis
Sure Domui Israel.
Viderunt omnes termini terrse salutare Dei
nostri : jubilate Deo omnis terra : cantate et
exultate et psallite.
Psallite Domino in cithara, in cithara et voce
psalmi : in tubis ductilibus, et voce tubse cornese.
Jubilate in conspectu Piegis Domini : move-
atur mare et plenitudo ejus : orbis terrarum et
c[ui habitant in eo.
Flumina plaudent manu, simul montes exulta-
bunt a conspectu Domini : quoniam venit judi-
care terram.
Judicabit orbem terrarum in justitia : et populos
in sequitate.
'N
Canticum Simeonis. Luca; ii.
LTNC dimittis servum Tuum, Domine :
secundum verbum Tuum in pace.
CANTATE DOMINO.
Tliis Psalm was not used in any otlier waj' than in its place
in the Psalter (Mattins, on Saturdays) until 1552, when it
was inserted here as an alternative responsory to the first
Lesson, probably for the purpose of meeting the objections to
the Magnificat which had lieeu raised by the Puritans. It
bears some resemblance, in its latter verses, to the Benedicite
Omnia Opera, tlie works of God by land and sea being called
upim to join in His praise.
It lias also been suggested that there are parallel expres-
sions in the Cantate and tlie Magnificat, which seem to indi-
cate tliat the latter is in some degree founded on the former.
These are the following : —
Marjnifieat. C'anlate Domino.
Hethat is mighty hatli mag- He hath done marvellous
nified me [or "done to me great things,
things "].
He liath shewed strength With His own riglit liand
with His arm : He hath scat- and Mith His lioly arm : hath
tered the proud . . . He hath He gotten Himself the victory,
put down the miglity.
His mercy is on tliem that The Lord declared His sal-
fear Him throughout all gene- vation : His righteousness
rations. liath He openly shewed in the
sight of the heathen.
He remembering His mercy He hatli remembered His
hath holpeu His servant Israel, mercy and truth toward the
house of Israel.
Whether this parallel is accidental or nut, it may serve to
shew the Evangelical character of the I'sahn which is per-
mitted to be used as a substitute for the Song of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. Yet it does not seem as if tliere was ever any
necessity for superseding the latter ; and, where choice is
given, the Magnificat may well be preferred as being offered
up daily to Cod's praise by the wliole Catholic Ciiurch.
When Evensong is repeated, it may bo considered advisable
to use the alternative Canticle at one of the Services ; but, in
that case, the Magnificat sliould always be said at the later
Evensong.
NUNC DIMITTIS.
The "Song of Simeon " is another Canticle in praise of the
manifestation of the Incarnate AVord. It has been used at
Compline or at Vespers throughout the Church from very
early times, being mentioned in the Apostolical I'onstitutions
(written at the end of the third century, at tlie latest) as an
Evening Canticle. There are English versions of it as early
as the fourteenth century.
The Nunc Dimittis is singularly fitted for Evensong. Like
the words of D.avid, "I will lay nie down in peace and take
my rest, for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me to dwell
(ZBticning Iprai'er.
2 I I
For mine eyes have seen : Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared : before the face of
all people ;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to
be the glory of Thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Fathee, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT Or else this " Psalm ; except it be on the Twelfth
Day of the Month.
Deus miserea- (^ OD be merciful unto us, and
tur, Ps. ixvii. VX biesg „s . and shew us the
light of His countenance, and be merciful unto
us :
That Thy way may be known upon earth :
Thy saving health among all nations.
Let the people praise Thee, O God : yea, let
all the people praise Thee.
O let the nations rejoice and be glad : for Thou
shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the
nations upon earth.
Let the people praise Thee, God : yea, let
all the people praise Thee.
Then shall the earth bring forth her increase :
and God, even our own God, shall give us His
blessing.
God shall bless us : and all the ends of the
world shall fear Him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
H Then shall be said or sung the Apostles' Creed by
the Minister and the people standing.
T BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty,
-J- Maker of heaven and earth :
And in Jesus Christ His only Sox our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of
IT This Canticle w.is
introduced in 1552.
c Prymer Version of
fourteenth century.
IM. K. iii. iSs.J
Quia viderunt oculi mei : salutare Tuum.
Quod parasti : ante faciem omnium jjopulorum ;
Lumen ad revelationem gentium : et gloriam
plebis Tua; Israel.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principin, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula soeculorum. Amen.
Psalmus Ixvi.
*T~^EUS misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis:
-L^ illuminet vultum Suum super nos, et
misereatur nostri.
Ut cognoscamus in terra viam Tuam ; in
omnibus gentibus salutare Tuum.
Confiteantur Tibi populi Decs : confiteantur
Tibi populi omnes.
La;tentur et exultent gentes, c|uoniam judicas
populos in requitate, et gentes in terra dirigis.
Confiteantur Tibi populi Deus, confiteantur
Tibi populi omnes, terra dedit fructum suum.
Benedicat nos Deus, Deus noster ; benedicat
nos Deus : et metuant Eum omnes fines terroe.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in soecula SKculorum. Amen.
[Credo in.
'~r BILEUE in god, fadir almyjti, makere of
-L heuene and of erthe : and in iesu crist the
sone of him, oure lord, oon aloone : which is con-
ceyued of the hooli gost : born of marie maiden :
in safety," it is the aspiration of that faith which can behold
Christ lightening the darkness of all night, and fulfilling the
words of the prophet, "It shall come to pass, that at evening
time it shall be light." As the Gospels of the Moi'ning Les-
sons reveal to us the " Day-spring " from on high "visiting
us," so tlie Epistles of the Evening Lessons reveal the Light
of Christ's glory enlightening tlie Gentile as well as the
Jewish world.
In the old Evening Services of the Church of England
there were touching references to death, and the rest of the
departed ; and immediately after Nunc Dimittis, in Passion
and Holy Week, was sung the glorious anthem "Media vita
in morte sumus," which is now used only in the Burial Service.
This close connection between the Song of Simeon and the
iilea of our Blessed Lord's Passion arises out of the occasion
on which it was first uttered, tlie Presentation, which was in
effect a Sacrifice ; and of the words of Simeon which imme-
diately followed, "Behold, this Child is set for the fall and
rising again of many in Israel ; and for a sign whicli shall be
spoken against ; yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own
soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. "
[Luke ii. 34, 35.] And such a connection of ideas cannot fail
to remind us also of our Lord's own departing words,
"Father, into Thy hands I commend Jly Spirit," when "He
saw of the ti-avail of His soul," as the eyes of Simeon saw the
salvation of the Lord, "and was satisfied," This calm repose
of faith on God, — looking for a present rest on the bosom of
Jesus, and a future rest in His Paradisal Presence, — has
always been the tone of Evensong in the Church ; and is one
that will always be in harmony with the feelings of those
whose day has been a day of work : who look solemnly, yet
not gloomily, tow-ards that coming night when no man can
■vvork ; and whose eyes are fixed with hope on that "rest
which remaineth for the people of God," through tlie salvation
which Christ has prepared.
Early English versions of the Nunc Dimittis may be found
in Maskell's Monnmcnia Ritiialia, iii. 246, and ilirror of our
Lady, xliii, Blunt's ed.
DEUS MISEREATUR.
This Psalm was inserted, like the Cantate Domino, in 1552,
but was familiar in the older services, being the fourth fixed
Psalm at Lauds on Sundays and other Festivals. It was also
part of the Office of Bidding Prayers which was used every
Sunday. A fourteenth-century version of it is printed in
Maskell's Monumenta Rilualia, iii. 20. Although of a more
jubilant character than the Nunc Dimittis, it has several
features in common with it, besides this connection with an
Office in which the departed were commemorated. Like that,
it praises God tor the extension of the Gospel : and as Simeon
offers thanksgiving that his eyes have seen the salvation of
God, so David in this Psalm prays that the Light of His
countenance may be shewn to us, and His saving health
known among all nations.
Occasions may arise when this Canticle is peculiarly appro-
priate : but for ordinary Evensong (and especially fc.r the
later of two services) it is better always to keep to the ancient
spirit and practice of the Church and use the Nunc Dimittis.
THE APOSTLES' CREED.
A large number of earlv English versions of the Creed are
212
OEocnms Prajjcc.
the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried, He descended
into liell ; Tlie third day He rose again from the
dead, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost ; The holy Catho-
lick Church ; The Communion of Saints ; The
Forgiveness of sins ; The Resurrection of tlie
body, And the Life everlasting. Amen.
IT And after that, the.'se Prayers following, all devoutly
kneeling ; the ilinister first pronouncing with a
loud voice,
The Lord be with you.
Answer.
And with tliy spirit.
Minister.
IT Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon iia.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
*I Then the ilinister. Clerks, and people, shall say the
Lord's Prayer with a loud voice.
OUR F.\THER, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth. As it is in heavea Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses. As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
IT Then tlie Priest standing up, ''shall say,
O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us.
a Prymer Version of
fourteenth century.
[^f. R. ill. 122. etc.]
c Orieiually the MS.
read, and so con-
tinuing lo the end
of tlie Ser-L'tce, but
tliese words were
erased. \See note
at p. 200.]
rf Prymer Version of
fourteenth century,
[vl/. R. iii. no.)
suffride passioun undir pounce pilat : crucified,
deed, and biried : he wente doun to hellis : the
thridde day he roos a3en fro deede : he .steij to
heuenes : he sittith on the rijt syde of god the
fadir almyjti : thenus he is to come for to deme
the quyke and deede. I beleue in the hooli
goost : feith of hooli chirche : comunynge of
seyntis : forjyuenesse of synnes : ajenrisyng of
fleish, and euerlastynge lyf. So be it.]
Preie we.
Lord, haue merci on us.
Crist, haue merci on us.
Lord, haue merci on us.]
piIATEP qiiQiv 6 €V Toii oi'pavoli, ayiacrOyTii} to
ovo/JLci crov eXderiD ij /iacriAcia (tov yevrjdrjTia to
6eXrj/j.d crov, ws tv ovpavM, Kal lirl ttJ? y'j'i. Tuv
aprov i)ixh>v tov iTTiovcriov SiSov rip.lv to kolO'
■i^fxepav Kal oi^es ^jp-tv Tas apapTiai ypwv, Kal yap
avTol dcjiUpiv TvavTi d^ct'Aoi'Tt ijpiv Kal pi]
ficrevtyKyi »}yMas €19 Treipaapiiv, iWXa pva-ai ijpa'i
OTTO TOV TTOVI^pOr.^
''Lord, shewe us thi merci :
extant. The one in the right-hand column above is taken
from the ancient Prymer contained in M.\skell's Monnmenta
Ritualia, some others being printed in the Appendix to the
volume. The otliers which follow this note are copied from
Heurtlet's Harmonia Stjmbolka, where several others, of
various dates, from the ninth to the sixteenth century, are
to be found.'
Ninth Century. From MS. 427 in the Lambeth Library.
Ic gelyfe on God Fieder oelmihtigne, Scyppend heofonan
and eorthan ; And on Hielend Crist, Sunu his anlican, Drihten
urne ; Se the wa^ geacnod of tham Halgan Gaste, Acaenned of
Marian tham msdene ; Gethrowad under tham Pontiacan
Pilate, Gerod f;estnad. Dead and bebyrged ; He nither astah
to hel wanim ; Tham thriddan drege he aras fram deadum ;
He astah to heofonum ; He sit to swythran hand God Faeder
wiea a;lmihtigan ; Thonan toweard dcni.an tha cucan and tha
deadan. Ic gelyfe Tha halgan gelathiinge riht gelyfdan ;
Halgana gema>nysse ; And forgyfnysse synna ; Fl.'Bsces »riste ;
And tha,'t ece lif. Si hit swa.
[Tlie next is of great interest from the illu.stration it affords
of the necessity thrust on the Church of England during a
part of the middle ages, of teaching her people in three dif-
ferent languages. It also represents the three principal ele-
ments of modern English.]
tJirca A.D. 1125. From MS. R. 17 i« the Library of Trinity
Colletje, Cambridge.
Ic gelefe on Code Fa;dera felwealdend,
Jco crci en Deu 1e Perre tut pu.ant,
Credo in Deiim Patrcm omnipotentem,
' The student sliouM compare Profi nsor Ilcui tley'n hool< with WAi.rnin9'
KhUolhtca .SymioHca for the earliest fonna of the Crcetl.
Sceppend heofones and eorthan ;
Le criatur de ciel e de terre ;
Creatorem cceli et terrae ;
And on Helende Crist, Suna his aniicli,
E en Jesu Crist, sun Fil uniel,
Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum.
Drihten ure ;
Nostre Seinur ;
Dominum nostrum ;
Syo the akynned is of tham Halig Gaste,
Ki concevz est del Seint Esprit,
Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto,
Boran of M[.arian tham maxlen :]
Ncz de Marie la
Natus ex Maria Virgine :
[Gethrowode under tham Pontiscam] Pilate,
and on rode ahangen,
,.,.». „jig„ pjj^tg crucifiez,
Passus sub Poutio Pilato, crucifixus.
Dead and beberiged ;
Morz, e seveliz ;
Mortuus, et eepultua ;
Ho adun ast;ih to hellre
Descedied as enfcrs ;
Descendit ad inferna :
OEticning pragcr.
21
Answer.
Aud grant us Thy salvation.
Priest.
O Lord, save the Queen.
Answer.
And mercifully hear us when we call upun
Thee.
Priest.
Endue Thy Ministers with righteousness.
Answer.
And make Thy chosen people joyful.
Priest.
O Lord, save Thy people.
Answer.
And Viless Thine inheritance.
Priest.
Give peace in our time, Loud.
Answer.
Because there is none other that tighteth for
us, but only Thou, O God.
Priest.
O God, make clean our hearts within us.
Answer.
And take not Thy Holy Spieit from us.
a Pryiiier Version of
foiiTteentli century.
[.)/. R.A\. 38. )
And 3yue to us thi saluacioun.
Lord, make saaf the King ;
And ful out heerc thou us in tlie dai that we
shulen inclepe thee.
Thi prostis be clotliid rijtwisnesse :
And thine halewis ful out glade thei.
Lord, make saaf thi peple :
And blesse to thin eritase.
["Lord, 3yue pees in oure dales, for ther is
noon othir that shal fy3te for us, but thou lord
oure god.]
Thriddau degge he aras fram deatha ;
Et tierz jurn relevad de morz ;
Tertia die reaurrexit a mortuis ;
He astah to heofone ;
Muntad as ciels ;
Ascendit ad celos ;
Sit on switi-an healfe Godes Faederes eahnihtig ;
Siet a la destre de Deu Perre tres tut puant ;
Sedet ad dexteram Dei Patria omnipotentis ;
Thanen he is to cumene, aud to denienua quiche
aud deade.
Dihic est avenir jugier lea via e lea morz.
lude venturus judicare vivos et mortuos.
Ic gelefe on Halig Gast ;
Jeo crei el Seint Espirit ;
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum ;
And on halig gesomnunge fulfremede ;
Seinte Eglise Catholica ;
Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam :
Halegan hiniennesse ;
La communiun dea aeintes choses ;
Sanctorum communionem ;
Forgyfenysse synna ;
Remissium des pecchiez ;
Remissionem peccatorum ;
Flesces up arisnesse ;
Resurrectiun de charn ;
Carnis resurrectiouem ;
Lif echo
Vie pardurable
Vitam ffiternam
Beo hit swa.
Seit feit.
Amen.
Thirleentli Centunj. From a MS. in the British Museum,
Cleopatra, B. vi. fol. 201.
Hi true in God, Fader Hal-michttende, Tha makede heven
and herdeth ; And in Jhesu Krist, is ane lepi Sone, Hure
Laverd ; That was bigotin of the Hali Gast, Aud boru of the
maiden Marie ; Pinid under Punce Pilate, festened to the
rode, Ded, and dulvun ; Licht in til helle ; The thride dai up
ras fra dede to live ; Steg intil hevenne ; Sitis on his Fadir
richt hand, Fadir alwaldand ; He then sal curae to deme the
quike an the dede. Hy troue hy theli Gast ; And hely * *
kirke ; The samninge of halgea ; Forgifnes of sinnes ; Uprisigen
of fleyes ; And life withuten ende. Amen.
From the Prymer of 1538. Maskell's Monumenla Eilitalia,
iii. 251.
I beleue in god the father almyghty, maker of heuen and
earthe ; And in Jesu Chryst hys onely sonne, our Lorde ;
whiche was conceyued by the holy ghoste, And borne of the
virgyn Mary ; which suffred deathe under Pons Pylate, and
was crucifyed, deade, and buryed ; which de.scendyd to hell ;
The thyrde day rose from de.ath to lyfe ; whiche ascendyd
into heuen; and syttheth at the ry?t hande of God the Father
almyghtye ; And from thens shall come for to judge both the
quycke and the deade. I beleue in the holy Ghoste ; The
holy churche catholike ; The communyon of sayntes ; The
reniyssyon of synnes ; The resuiTectyon of the flesshe ; And
the lyfe euerlastynge. So be it.
214
OEDcnmB ipiaycr.
•^ Then shall follow three Collects : The first of The
Day ; The second for Peace ; The third for Aid
against all Perils, as hereafter followeth ; which
two last Collects shall be daily said at "Evening
Prayer without alteration.
1i The Second Collect at "Evening Prayer.
OGOD, from "Whom all lioly desires, all good *^5;ir.
counsels, and all just works do proceed ;
Give unto Thy servants that peace which the
world cannot give ; that both our hearts may
be set to obey Thy commandments, and also that
by Thee we being defended from the fear of our
enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness;
through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Allien.
only].
GcUs.
pace.
\ The Third Collect, for Aid against all Perils.
IIGHTEX our darkness, we beseech Thee, O
■^ LoED ; and by Thy great mercy defend us
from all perils and dangers of this night ; for the
love of Thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus
Christ. A vim.
'' ^ In Quires and places where they sing, here
followeth the Anthem.
II A Prayer for the Queen's JIajesty.
OLOPiD our heavenly Fathee, high and
mighty. King of kings, Lord of lords, the
only Euler of princes. Who dost irom Thy throne
behold all the dwellers upon earth ; Most heartily
we beseech Thee with Thy favour to behold our
most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen VIC-
TORIA ; and so replenish her with the grace of
Thy Holy Spirit, that she may alway incline
to Thy will, and walk in Thy way : Endue her
plenteously with heavenly gifts ; grant her in
health and wealth long to live ; strengthen her
that she may vanquish and overcome all her
enemies ; and finally, after this life, she may
\
sotts
'349
Grcij.
mid
Missa
pro
Mur. i
1-1-
f 5av. Greg, aiul
Gelas. Oral, atl
Completorium.
Mur. i. 745-
rfFroni tliis Rubric
to the end of the
Service was all in.
troduced in 166:;.
e Pryraer of 1553.
*~r\EUS, a Quo sancta desideria, recta consilia,
-L^ et justa sunt opera : da servis Tuis iUam
quam mundus dare non potest pacem : ut et
corda nostra mandatis Tuis dedita, et, hostium
sublata forniidiue, tempora sint Tua protectione
tranquilla.
'TLLUMINA, qu;t.-3umus, Dojiine Deus, tene-
J- bras nostras : et totius hujus noctis insidias
Tu a nobis repelle propitius. Per Dominum
nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui
Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spieitus Sancti
Deus, per omnia sascula saeculorum. Amen.
' r A Prayer for the Kynge.
MOST merciful father, at we thy seruauutes
by dutie, and children by grace, do
beseche thee mooste humbly, to preserue Edwarde
the Syst thy sonne and seruaunte, and cure
Kynge and gouernour: Sowe in hym good Lorde
suche seede of vertue now in hys yonge age, that
many yeares this Eealme maye enioye much fruite
of this thy blessynge in hym, throughe Jesus
Christe our Lorde. Amen.
THE SECOND COLLECT.
[Prymer Version of Fourteenth Centurtj. .1/. i?. iii. 38;
comp. 112.
Preie we. For the pees. Deus a quo.
God, of whom ben hooli desiris, rijt councels and iust
werkis : jyue to tlii seruantis pees that the world may not
leue, that in our hertis jouun to thi ciimmaudemeutis, and the
drede of enemyes putt awei, owre tyines be pesible thur? thi
defendyng. Bi oure lnrd iesii crist, tlii sone, that with thee
lyueth and regiieth in the unitie of the hooli goost god, bi all
worldis of worldis. So be it.]
This prayer is tlie Collect of the same ^[i.ssa pro pace, of
which the Morning Collect for Peace is the "Post-Communion. "
It also was used at Lauds, at Vespers, and in the Litany, in
the ancient Services : and dates from the Sacrameutary of
Gelasius, a.d. 494.
Coming as it originally did at the close of Evensong, it
formed a sweet cadence of prayer, fitly concluding with tlie
following short but toucliing Collect. It follows up very
exactly the tone of tlie Nunc Diinittis, and rings with a gentle
echo of the peace tliat lies beyond this world, as well as of
the peace which the world cannot give, nor the soul entirely
receive wliile it is in the world. In the Morning Collect the
tone of the prayer w'as that i.f one who asks Ciod of His mercy
to bless and co-operate witli flis own in their strife against
spiritual foes : but in tlio Evening the words are more those
of one who is no longer .able to strive against his enemies, but
looks to his Lord God alone to be his defence and his shield.
[Between the sccoml and third Collect at Evening Prayer
Bishop Cosin wished to insert the second of the Collects
appended to the Communion Service, "0 Almighty Lord, and
everlasting C4od," under the title of "The Collect for grace
and protection," but the alteration was rejected. The idea
teems to have been taken from the York Litany.]
THE THIRD COLLECT.
This prayer is of equal antiquity with tlie preceding : and
is e-xpressly appointed to be used at Evening Prayer in the
Sacramentary of Cielasius. It :\as taken into our Evensong
from the Compline of tlie Salisbury Use. Here again the
Nunc Dimittis is followed up in its tone : but the words are
taken almost literally from the Psalms, wliich liave been the
great storehouse of Praj'cr as well as Praise to the Church of
all ages. "Consider and hear mc, Lord my God : lighten
mine eyes that I sleep not in ileatli. 'I'liou .also shalt light my
candle : the Lord my Ciod shall make my darkness to be
light. Yea, tlie darkness is no darkness with Thee, but the
night is as clear as the day : tlie darkness and light to Thee
are both .alike. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: and
He that keepeth thee will not sleep. Behold, He that keepeth
Isnael : shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord Himself
is thy keeper : the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand.
So that the sun shall not burn thee by day : neither the moon
by night. He shall deliver thee from the snare of tlic hunter :
and from the noisome pestilence. He shall defend thee under
His wings, .and thou shalt be safe uniler His feathers : His
failhfuliic;'3 and truth shall be thy shield .and buckler. Thou
sh.alt not be afraid for any terror by night : nor for the aiTOVV
that flieth by d.ay : for the pestilence that walketh in dark-
ness : nor for the sickness that dcstroyeth in tlio noonday.
(iBuening IpraiJCu.
215
attain everlasting joy and felicity ;
Jes0s Cheist our Lord. Amen.
through
IT A Prayer for the Royal Family.
ALMIGHTY God, the Fountain of all goodness,
-L\- we luimbly beseech Thee to bless Albert
Edward Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales,
and all the Royal Family : Endue them with Thy
Holy Spirit ; enrich them with Thy heavenly
grace ; prosper them with all happiness ; and
bring them to Thine everlasting kingdom ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT A Prayer fur the Clergy and People.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, AVlio alone
-^-J^ workest great marvels ; Send down upon
our Bishops, and Curates, and all Congregations
committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of
Thy grace ; and that they may truly please Thee,
pour upon them the continual dew of Thy bless-
ing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our
Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.
IT A Prayer of St. Chnjsoslom.
ALMIGHTY God, Who hast given us grace at
~L\. this time with one accord to make our
common supplications unto Thee ; and dost pro-
mise, that when two or three are gat*hered
together in Thy Name Thou wilt grant their
requests : Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and
petitions of Thy servants, as may be most ex-
pedient for them ; granting us in this world
knowledge of Thy truth, and in the world to
come life everlasting. Amen.
Ti 2 Cor. xiii.
^T^HE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
-J- the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
.1 Prymcr Version of
foiinceiitli century.
[.!/. A', ill. I. -I
* Matitis and 1-ve
""£■ [1549 only).
" ALMYGHTI god, euerlastynge, that aloune
-^^ dust many wondres, schewe the spirit of
heelful grace upon bisschopes thi seruauntis, and
vpon alie the congregacion betake to hem : and
jeete in the dewe of thi blessynge that thei plese
euermore to the in trouthe. Bi crist oure
lord. So be it.
Here endeth the Order of * Evening Prayer throughout the Year.
For Thou art my strong rock, and my castle : be Thou also
my guide, and lead me for Thy Name's sake. Into Thy hands
I commend my spirit : for Tliou hast redeemed me, Lord,
Thou God of truth. I will lay me down in peace, and take
my rest : for it is Thou, Lord, only that make.st me dwell in
safety. "
Such are words from the Psalms of David whioli may be
taken as a Scriptural comment upon this short but condensed
Collect. They shew us how literally the latter must be
taken if we are to enter into its true spirit : how much solemn
reference to the present and the future may be drawn into the
compass of a few words of prayer : and what a fulness of
devotion is contained in even the shortest of those forms
which have come down to us as tlie day-by-day utterances of
the Church of God for so many ages.
To meet objections which were made to the words of this
prayer, Bishop Cosin has altered it in his Durham Book to
"Lighten the darkness of our hearts, we beseech Tiiee, O
Lord, by Thy gracious visitation, and of Thy great mercy
. . . from all terrors and dangers of the night ..." Bishop
Wren proposed, "Lighten the darkness, we beseech Thee,
Lord, that the night will bring upon us, and by Thy great
mercy defend us from all dangers of the same, for the love of
Thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Clirist. " Happily the
ancient words were retained.
The peculiar fitness of these words to end a Service which
is really offered in the Evening is so great, that one cannot
wonder at the reluctance shewn by the Clergy and People to
add on the Intercessory Prayers which now follow. And
although the Rubric directing these prayers to be used after
the Anthem is not inserted in the Evening Service, its omis-
sion by no means weakens the force of what has been said in
the Notes on Morning Prayer as to such a termination of the
Daily Service.
AT MORNING PRAYER
^ " Upon these Feasts ; Christmas Day, the Epijjhani/,
Saint Matthias, Easter Day, Ascension Day, Whit-
sun Day, Saint John Baptist, Saiut James, Saint
Bartholomeu; .Saint ilalthen:. Saint Simon and Saint
/ifrfc. Saint Andrew, and upon Trinity Sunday,
shall be sung or said *at Jlorning Prayer, instead
of the Apostles' Creed, this Confession of our Chris-
tian Faith, commonly called The Creed of Saint
Athanasius, by the ilinister and people standing.
"Y^THOSOEVER will be saved:
«i™™°l'^"'^"- VV before all things it is neces-
sary that he hold the Catholick Faith.
I 5« note below.
J immediately after
Beiiedictus, this
Confessiou. etc.
[1549-1662!.
<- Said
(Inily.
Prime
'Symbolum Athanasii.
QUICUNQUE vult salvus esse : ante omnia
opus est ut teneat catholicam fidem.
THE ATHANASIAX CREED.
Upon these Feasts] It was the ancient usage of the Church
of England to sing the " Symbolum Athanasii," or "Psalm
Quicnnqiie," every day after the Psalms at Prime.
It was sung autiphonally, as a dogmatic Christian Psalm
or Canticle, and not in the manner of a Creed, the Apostles'
Creed being used at the same service as the actual Confession
of Faith. In tlie first English Prayer Book, that of 1549, it
was directed to be said ou si.K Festivals, those of Christmas,
Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity : and
seven Saints' days were added in 155'2, so as to make thirteen
days altogether.
In the Bejormed Breviary of Quignonez, and in the JloJern
Roman Breriary, it is appointed for use on Sundays ; the
recitation of it being thus a weekly instead of a monthly one.
In the Eastern Cliurch the Athanasian Creed is not recited
in any of the Services, but is placed at tlie end of the Office
Book much in the same manner as the "Thirty-nine Articles
of Religion " used to be printed at the end of the Book of
Common Prayer. The Creed does not appear iu the earlier
English Prymers, but vernacular translations of it are extant
of as ancient a date as the tenth centurj'. [Lambeth Lib. 427 :
Bodl. Lib. Douce, 258.] The English of the version in the
Prayer Book is substantially the same as that of Bishop Hil-
scy, which was printed in the Prymer of 1539.
rnmmonbj called The Creed 0/ Saint Athanasius] This popular
title is used in the medic-cval Breviaries, but the most ancient
forms in which the title is found are "Hymnus Athanasii de
Fide Trinit.atis," as in the Utrecht Psalter, or "Fides Catho-
lica Sancti Athanasii, " as in many ancient Psalters. Although
the name of St. Athanasius has been associated with it for
twelve hundred years, it cannot be certainly traced back to
him as its author : and there is little probability that it was
origin.ally written iu Greek, the language in which all the
known works of St. Athanasius were written, since no extant
Greek MS. of it is more than four hundred years old, and
none is mentioned by any writer before A.D. 1200, while there
are Latin MSS. of it that date through every age as far back
as the fifth century, or to within a century of the time of St.
Athanasius himself. It is probalile that it was called "Fides
Sancti Athanasii Pr.Tsulis,"as it w.is by the Council of Autun
about A.D. C70, because it expresses the doctrines for which
St. Athanasius contended so learnedly and energetically against
Arius and the Arians, for whicli he suffered so much, and of
which he was the greatest defender. The real autlior appears
to have been some theologian of the Western Church, the
Bishop of a diocese in France, in the early part of the fifth
century.
This beautiful and exact dogmatic Canticle is found in all
such early Psalters as contain any Canticles beside the Psalms
of David. Among these are the Vienna Psalter, which is
said to have been presented by the Emperor Charlemagne to
t'.ie CJhurch of Bremen, and which is believed to have been
written in tlio latter part of tho eighth century ; and the
Utrecht Psalter, once the treasure of an English Church
Library, which is of an even earlier date, and is assigned by
some high palajographical authorities to the sixth century.'
There exist also numerous early commentaries upon it, in
some of which the whole of the Creed is extant in substantially
the same Latin text as that printed above, various readings
being few and of little importance. Of such commentaries
there are known to be forty which were written before A.D.
1215, and sixteen of these were written before A.D. 800.
Among them m.-iy be mentioned anonymous commentaries
which are preserved in the Library of Troyes [804 (a), 804 (;3),
1979], in the British Museum Library [Add. MSS. 24,902],
in the National Library at Paris [Bibl. Nat. 1012], and
in the Vatican. [Mai's Script. Vet. Xora. Collect, ix. 396.]
These MSS. were all written in the ninth or tenth centuries,
but there is strong reason to believe th.at they are transcripts
of still earlier MSS., just as the earliest Bibles, those of the
fourth and fifth centuries, were also transcribed from older
MSS. There is, however, a commentary wdiich can be assigned
to a particidar autlior, and thus to a particular date, the Com-
mentary of Venantius Fortunatus, which he wrote about A.D.
570, previously to his consecration as Bishop of Poictiers.
Of this eight JIS. copies are known ; and as the author com-
ments upon the Creed verse by verse, they ofler very valuable
evidence as to the text of it at that early date.
The preseuce of this Canticle among the other Canticles
and the Psalms in all tlie ancient Psalters indicates that it
was used in Divine Service at the time v\hen these Psalters
were written : and as the Utrecht Psalter which was written
for use in the Church of England contains the Quicunque Vult
and all the Canticles of the Old and New Testament which
were so used, it maybe concluded that this " Confession of
Faith'' was as certainly used as the Te Deum in the English
Church of those early days. A Canon of the C4allican Cliurcli,
passed at Autun [A.D. 661-673], enjoined ou the Clergy the
recitation of the " Fides Sancti Athanasii ; " and it is thought
by some critics that an earlier Canon, possibly of the sixth
century, found in two MSS. at the Vatican, which contains an
injunction as to learning by heart the " Prides Catholica," refers
under that title to the Quicunque: the inference being that
this was for tlie purpose of its recitation in Divine Service.
There is also extant at the end of tlie Venerable licde's
abbreviated Psalter a prayer which ho composed for the monks
of Jarrow to use after the recitation of the Athanasian Creed
in Divine Service ; and as Bcde died in A.D. 735, this shews
that its use had been adopted at least in the eiglith century
iu the Cluireli of England. At a rather later date the Clergy
were directed to explain the Creed to the L.-iity, and inter-
linear Anglo-Saxon versions and glosses of it arc found which
were olniuusly intended, like the vernacnl.ar versions of tlie
Apostles' Creed, for laymen's use. It may therefore be con-
eluded that the Athanasian Creed has been used in Divine
Service by the Cliurch of England for considerably more than
a thousand years, and probably since the sixth century.
' .SVe the " Report" of Sir Tlinnms nurTua Ilavly, Deputy KucpLi- of tbo
I'tiblic HccordB, on " tlie Atli.iiia.sian Crenl in conneetioii with tlic Utrecht
I'snlter," inesciitcd to tho Master of the Kolls, iiml imblislied in 1873.
3t joining lptaj)er.
2 17
" Which Faith except every one do keep * whole
and undcfiled : without doubt he shall perish
everlastingly.
'And the Catholick Faith is this : That we
worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in
Unity ;
''Neither confounding the Persons : nor dividing
the Substance.
'For there is one Person of the Father,
another of the Son : and another of the Holy
Ghost.
■' But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, is all one : the Glory
equal, the Majesty co-eteruaL
Such as the Father is, such is the Son : and
such is the Holy Ghost.
^ The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate : and
the Holy Ghost uncreate.
'' The Father incomprehensible, the Son incom-
prehensible : and the Holy Ghost incompre-
hensible.
' The Father eternal, the Son eternal : and the
Holy Ghost eternal.
And yet they are not three eternals : but one
eternal.
a Deut. 4. 3. Rev.
22. 18, 19. Acts IV
46. 2 Julm 9.
b holy [1549-1663].
f Mark 12. 32. Matt.
28. 19.
d I Pet. I. 2. 2 Cor.
13. 14. I John 5.
e Matt. 3. 16, 17.
/John I. I. 14. & 10.
30. & 16. 13-15.
Comf. Isa. 6. 1-3,
with John 12. 40.
41. & Acts 28. 25,
26.
g Acts 17. 24. 20.
Jolm I. I, 3. Job
33. 4-
A Job
139 7- Im.
a(>U. [HILSKY'S
Prifner, 1539.)
i Isa. 63. 16. Heb.
I. 8- & 9. 14- Ps.
90.2.
Quam nisi qui.sque integram, inviolalamque
servaverit : absque dubio in asternum peribit.
Fides autem catliolica hajc est, ut unum Dei.m
in Trinitate : ct Trinitatem in Unitate venere-
mur.
Neque confundentes personas : neque substan-
tiam separantes.
Alia est enim persona Patris, alia FiLii : alia
Spiritus Sanctl
Sed Patris, et Filii, et Spiritu.s Sancti, una
est Divinitas : Bequalis gloria, coffitema majestas.
Qualis Pater, talis Filius : talis Spiritus
Sanctus.
Increatus Pater, increatus Filius : increatus
Spiritus Sanctus.
Immensus Pater, immensus Filius : immensus
Spiritus Sanctus.
.^ternus P^vter, seternus Filius : aeternus
Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen non tres seterni : sed unus aeternus.
By whom this formulary was actually composed is still, and
perliaps always will be, a matter of conj'ecture. In ^VATER-
LANc's History of llie AUianasian Creed he maintains the
opinion that its author was St. Hilary of Aries, who died A. D.
449. Harvey, in his History and Tlieoloyy of llie Tliree
Creeds, gives his reasons for supposing that it was written by
Victricius, Bishop of Rouen, about A.D. 401. Ommaney
comes to the conclusion that "of all persons to whom the
Quicunque has been assigned, St. Vincent of Lerins "
[d. A.D. 450] "is tlie only one to whom it can be assigned
witli any degree of probability."
But at present there is no sufficient evidence to enable any
writer to deal in a satisfactory manner witli the question of
its authorship, and all that can be said is that it was jirobably
composed by some Gallican theologian iu the first half of the
fifth century.'
by the Minister and people standing] In his revised Prayer
Boolt Bishop Cosin lias substituted for these wtu-ds ' ' one verse
by the priest, and another by the people ; or in Colleges, and
where there is a Quire, by sides." This was the ancient mode
of saying or singing it.
Whosoever will be suvedl St. Augustine, in liis Treatise on
Faith and Works, says, "Not only is a good life inseparable
from Faith, but Faith itself is a good life." Tliis illustrates
the assertion of the Creed that "before all things it is
necessary to hold the Catholic Faith.'' For faith necessarily
precedes practice : "Without faith it is impossible to please
God : for he that cometh to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a Kewarder of them that diligently seek
Him." [Heb. xi. 6.] Now, the belief that " God is" includes
far more than a mere assent to the fact of His existence. To
a mind capable of logical reflection, many corollaries must
necessarily hang on to this fundamental axiom ; the state-
ment of such corollaries forms a more or less developed
Creed ; and thus belief in a Creed as the logical extension of
the most primary truth becomes necessary to salvation, or
" coming to God," here and hereafter.
wliole and undejiled] The sin of not keeping the Catholic
Faith whole and undefiled can only be committed by those
who know what it is iu its integrity, and wilfully reject some
portion of it : "every one" must therefore nie.an every one
who has come to such a knowledge of the Faith, without
asserting anything respecting those who are ignorant of it.
This is simply, therefore, a declaration that heresy, or a wil-
ful rejection of any part of the CathoHo Faith, comes within
' The fuUest historical accomit of this formulary is to be foiiml in
Ommaxey's Atlmnasiaii Ciceil, an Exavliuation of Reccvt Theories respecthot
Its Dale and Origin, 1875 : and tlie same author's Earhi History of tlii:
Athanasian Creed, 1880. A large nnd valu.ablo collection of Scriiitnr.-il and
Patristic quotations in illustratiun of it will be found set out verse by verse
in Radoliffe's Athanasian Creed llhistrated by Parallel Passages, 1844.
the condemnation declared by our Lord, "He that believeth
not shall be damned." [Mark xvi. 16.] Those are in danger
of this condemnation who have learned that there is a Trinity
in Unity, Three I'ersons in One God, and yet wilfully reject
the doctrine : but many believe this faithfully who have not
sufficient education to follow out the doctrine into its con-
sequences and necessary corollaries, as afterwards stated. Ou
the other hand, those who understand these corollaries and
reject them run into practical heresy.
That ive loorsJiijj] The actual sense of this verse may be
stated in other words as being, "The Catholic Faith is this,
that the God Whom we worship is One God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity." Yet it is also true that as the end of all
right Belief is right Worship, so the worship which alone can
be right is that which is founded on the Catholic Faith as here
stated.
Persons, . , Substanee] "Person "isawordwhichmarksthe
individual Unity of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost; "Substance" a word which marks their collective
Unity. The latter word, which is synonymous with
"Essence," or "Nature," comprehends all the essential
qualities of Deity, or that which God is ; Eternity, Un-
createdness, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, are some of these
essential qualities belonging to Deity, and not belonging to
any other kind of being. To "divide the Substance " is to
assert that these essential qualities, or any of them, belong to
either Person of the Godhead separately from, or in a different
degree from, the other Persons.
Sabellius [a.d. 250] originated, in its most definite form,
the heresy of "confounding the Persons," by declaring that
Father, Sou, and Holy Ghost were but three names, aspects,
or manifestations of one God. Arius [a.d. 320] "divided the
Substance " by alleging th.at the First Person existed before
the other two Persons of the Blessed Trinity ; thus attribut-
ing the essential quality of Eternity to One, and denying that
it belonged to the others. These two errors lie at the root
of all others ; and the following twenty verses of the Creed
are an elaboration of the true doctrine, in a strict form of
language, as a fence against them.
incomprehensible'] This word is represented in modern
English by the word Omnipresent. In Bishop Hilsey's
translation of the Creed he uses the word "immeasurable,"
which better answers to the Latin immensus. The word
"incomprehensible" has now the disadvantage of a meta-
physical as well as a phj'sical sense ; but when the Prayer
Book was translated, it probably had only the latter meaning,
expressing " that which cannot be gi-asped by, or contained
within, any space." It is only a strict form of stating the
primary notion that " God is everywhere." "If I climb up
into heaven, Thou art there : if I go down to hell. Thou
art there also. If I take the wings of the morning : and
remain in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there also
2l8
at horning )[i?caj)Ct.
" As also there are not three iucompreheusibles,
nor three uncreated : but one uncreated, and one
incomprehensible.
* So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son
Almighty : and the Holy Ghost Almighty.
And yet they are not three Almighties : but
one Almighty.
' So the Father is God, the Son is God : and
the Holy Ghost Is God.
And yet they are not three Gods : but one
God.
"■So likewise the Father is Lord, the Sox
Lord : and the Holy Ghost Lord.
And yet not three Lords : but one Lord.
For like as we are compelled by the Christian
verity ; to acknowledge every Person by Himself
to be God and Lord ;
' So are we forbidden by the Catholick Religion :
to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.
-^ The Father is made of none : neither created,
nor begotten.
*' The Sox is of the Father alone : not made,
nor created, but begotten.
* The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the
Son : neither made, nor created, nor begotten,
but proceeding.
So there is one Father, not three Fathers ;
one Son, not three Sons : one Holy Ghost, not
three Holy Ghosts.
'And in this Trinity none is afore, or after
other : none is greater, or less than another ;
* But the whole three Persons are co-etenial
together : and co-equal.
' So that in all things, as is aforesaid : the
Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Lenity is to
be worshipped.
'" He therefore that will be saved : must thus
think of the Trinity.
J Jer. 23. 24-
6. 3. Exod. 3.
* Job 33. 4. Rev. I.
8, & 15. 3. & 19. 6.
Matt. 12. 31, 32.
Geii. 17. I.
c Exod. 20. 2. 3.
Eph. I. 3. I Tim.
3. 16. Acts 5. 3, 4.
rf Matt. 11.25. Acts
10. 36. 2 Cor. 3.
17. Zecb. 14. 9.
t IJeut. 6. 4.
4. 5. <>■
Lph.
/].Am 5. 26.
g JollH 5. 26,
1.5-
Heb.
h Jolm 14. 26
ii5.
t I Cor. 12. 6, II
Col. 3. II.
t John S. 53.
/Matt. 4. 10. 2
Tliess. 3- 5. Rev.
4-8.
Sicut non tres increati, nee tres immensi : sed
unus increatus, et unus immensus.
Similiter omnipotens Pater, omuipotens
Filius : omnipotens Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen non tres omnipotentes : sed unus
omnipotens.
Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius : Deus Spiritus
Sanctus.
Et tamen non tres Dii : sed unus est Deus.
Ita DoMiNus Pater, Dominus Filius : Domi-
Nus Spiritus Sanctus.
Et tamen non tres Domini : sed unus est
Dominus.
Quia sicut singillatim unamquamque Personam
Deuji et DojiiNUM confiteri Christiana veritate
compellimur :
Ita tres Deos aut Dominos dicere, catholica
religione prohibemur.
Pater a nullo est factus : nee creatus, nee
genitus.
Filius a Patre solo est : non factus, nee
creatus, sed genitus.
Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio : non
factus, nee creatus, nee genitus, sed procedens.
Unus ergo Pater, non tres Patres ; unus
Filius, non tres Filii : imus Spiritus Sanctus,
non tres Spiritus Sancti.
Et in hac Trinitate nihil prius aut posterius :
nihil majus aut minus.
Sed tota3 tres personce : coaeternse sibi sunt et
coaequales.
Ita ut per omnia, sicut jam supra dictum est,
et Unitas in Trinitate : et Trinitas in Unitate
veneranda sit.
Qui vult ergo salvus esse : ita de Trinitate
sentiat.
shall Thy hand lead me : and Thy right hand shall hold me."
[Ps. cxxxix. 7-9.] Yet it is true that a meaning not intended
in the Creed has developed itself through this change of
language, for the Nature of God is as far beyond the grasp
of the niind as it is beyond the possibility of being contained
\vithin local bounds.
For like as v;e are compelled'] The Creed here declares
the Divinity of each several Person of the Blessed Trinity to
be so clearly set fortli in "the Christian Verity," that is, in
the Canon of Holy Scripture as received by tlie Church, that
there is no escape for tlie reason from such a conclusion ; —
we are compelled to believe, by the force of the evidence
which God has vouchsafed us in the Holy Bible. It would
l)e easy to she«-, at length, how literally true this is ; but the
marginal references appended to the text arc intended to
direct the reader to such evidence, and to supersede, by his
private study, the necessity for occupyiug space here with the
details of the Scriptural argument.
80 are we forbkldcn hij the Catholic!: Religion] [1] Tlic
evidence of doctrine is contained in the Holy Scriptures ; tlie
consequences, deductions, and inferences, which may be made
from the contents of Holy Scripture, must be under the con-
trol of the Church. The one teaching us clearly th.at each
Person of the Blessed Trinity possesses in Himself the in-
herent essential qualities of the Divine Nature, the other for-
bids us to draw any false conclusions from the truth thus
revealed. [2] The final interpretation of Holy Scripture rests
not witli the individual Christian, but with tlie collective
Christian body ; and where that collective Christian body has
set forth an interpret.ation, the individual Christian will be,
to s.ay the lea-st, unsafe in adopting, or wishing to adopt, any
other. [.3] The "Catholic Religion" respecting the Unity of
the Trinity liad been clearly decided and set fortli at the
General Councils held before this Creed was written.
The Holy Ghoft is of the Father, and of the Son] The intro-
duction of the words et Filio into this Creed shews that the
doctrine of the Double Procession of the Holy Ghost was
received at a very early date, although "Filioque" was not
added to the Nicene Creed until the sixth century. The
statement of it in this place is of a more general character
than in the Nicene Creed [(/. v.], but it is rejected by the
Eastern Church.
He therefore that vill he saved : must thus think of the Trinity]
This practical or saving importance of a right Faith in the
Holy Trinity, may be seen [I] from the manner in which
the doctrine lies at the foundation of all otlier doctrine ;
[2] by the fact tliat our Lord made it the very fountain of
spiritual life, when He connected the invocation of the
Holy Trinity essentially with Holy Baptism ; and [3] by
the place which it occupies in moulding all the forms of
Christian worship.
Nevertheless, this verse of the Creed must not be taken as
meaning that no person can be saved except he lias an
intellectual apprehension of the doctrines liero set forth about
the Blessed Trinity. Intellectual apprehension of doctrine is
confined to educated minds, which liavo the faculty of form-
ing opinions about trutli, as well as of believing it. In what-
ever degree, then, opinions accompany Faith, they must be
consistent with the statements here made respecting God, in
each several Person, and in one Indivisible Trinity. It is one
of the responsibilities attached to the possession of intellect,
and its developement by education, that it bo not suffered to
go out of its province, professing to diseorer where it cannot
even ohservr, or to reason where it lias no premisses. The
highest intellect cannot form any opinion about God that can
possibly bo true, if it is not consistent with what He Himself
has told us ; and the highest operation of intellect is to train
itself into consistency with the Supreme Mind.
at e^omiuQ li?raj)er.
219
" Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting sal-
vation : that he also believe rightly the Incarna-
tion of our LoKD Jesus Christ.
* For the right Faith is, that we believe and
confess : that our Lord Jesus Ciikist, the Son
of God, is God and Man ;
■■ God, of the Substance of the 1'^ather, begotten
before the worlds ; and Man, of the Substance of
His Mother, born in the world ;
''Perfect God, and perfect Man : of a reasonable
soul and human flesh subsisting ;
'Equal to the Father, as touching His God-
head : and inferior to the Father, as touching
His Manhood.
■^ Who although He be God and Man : yet He is
not two, but one Christ ;
^One ; not by conversion of the Godhead into
llcsh : but by taking of the Manhood into God ;
''One altogether; not by confusion of Substance :
but by unity of Person.
'For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one
man : so God and Man Ls one Christ ;
*Who sufl'ered for our salvation : descended into
hell, rose again the third day from the dead.
'He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the
right hand of the Father, God Almighty : from
whence He shall come to judge the quick and the
dead.
"At Whose coming all men shall rise again with
their bodies : and shall give account for their own
works.
"And they that have done good shall go into
life everlasting : and they that have done evil
into everlasting fire.
■'This is the Catholick Faith : which except a
man believe faithfully, «■ he cannot be saved.
ii Hub. 2. 3, Ronl.
I. 3-4. 1 Jolin 4.
i 1 Jolm s. =■!. & ;.
3). I Tiiii. 3. 16.
fG.lI. 4. 4. Col. t.
17. & 3. 9. Luke
3. 6, 7, II.
ri lahii I. 1. 14.
Mil). I. 8. & 3. 14,
Luke 3. 53. &
34. 30.
f Zech. 13. 7.
10. 30. &
Phil. 3. s-7.
John
14. 38.
/Mall. 16. 16.
i' riiil. 2. ;. Heb,
< John 1
A Isa. 53. 4. 3. 10
Luke 33. 42, 43. I
Cor. 15. 3, 4.
/ Luke 34. 51.
Pet. 3. 21. 23. ;
Tliess. 4. 16. ;
Thcss. I, 7-10.
wAl. .irfrffr;*:/. Patris
« Job 19. 35-37.
Isa, 26. 19. 3 Cor.
S. 10.
o Malt. 16. 27. & 23.
34-46. Dan. 13. 3.
fi 3 Thess. 3. 15.
Jude 3. I John 5.
12. & 2. 23. Mark
16. 16.
7 a'lri stead/itstly.
[Hilsey.]
Sed necessarium est ad setemam salutem : ut
incarnationem quoquo Domini iiostri Je.su
Christi fidelitor crcdat.
Est ergo fides recta, ut credanms et confitea-
niur : quia Dominus noster Jesu.s Christus,
Dei Filius, Deus et Homo est.
Deus est ex substantia Patris ante sajoula
genitus : et homo est ex substantia inatris in
siBculo natus.
Perfectus Deus, perfectus homo : ex anima
rationali et huraana carne subsistens.
iEqualis Patei secundum Divinitatem : minor
Patre .secundum Humanitatem.
Qui licet Deus sit et Homo : non duo tamen,
sed unus est Christus.
Unus autem, non conversione Divinitatis in
carnem : sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum.
Unus oinnino, non confusione substantioe : sed
imitate personiB.
Nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est
homo : ita Deus et Homo unus est Christus,
Qui passus est pro salute nostra, descendit ad
inferos : tertia die resurrexit a mortuis.
Ascendit ad coelos, sedet '"ad dexteram Dei
Patris omnipotentis : inde venturus est judicare
vivos et mortuos.
Ad Cujus adventum omnes homines resurgere
habent cum corporibus suis : et reddituri sunt dc
factis propriis rationem.
Et qui bona egerunt ibunt in vitam ;eternam :
qui vero mala in ignem Eeternuni.
Hajc est fides catholica : quam nisi quisque fide-
liter firmiterque crediderit, salvus esse non poterit.
Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation] The
latter part of the Atlianasian Creed may be said to be a
logical exposition of the second member of tlie Apostles'
Creed, and especially with reference to the two Natures of
our Blessed Lord, the union of which is called the " Incarna-
tion."
God, of the Substance of the Father] The many heresies
respecting the Nature of our Blessed Lord entailed on the
Church a necessity for the greatest strictness of expression ;
and whether God the Son was of the same Substance with the
Father, eternally begotten, or whether He was of a similar
Substance, and a created being, was the great question which
had to be decided by the Cluircli, time after time, as one form
and another of the latter opinion arose, throughout the first
ages. The voice of the Church never faltered, but always
declared that the belief here expressed was the Faith once for
all delivered to the Saints, and handed down from the Apostles
to later times. It was this contest of heresy with the ortho-
dox Faith that originated the minute definition into which the
Athanasian Creed runs ; and however unnecessary it m.ay
seem to those who willingly receive the true doctrine, yet it
must be remembered that heresy never dies ; and that hence
this minute accuracy is a necessary bulwark of the truth.
Also, th.-it we m.ay be very thankful "the right Faith" has
not now to be built up. but only to be defended.
Perfect God, and perfect Ma n] Our Lord Jesus, in both of His
two Natures, has all the essential qualities which belong to
each : Eternity, Uncreatedness, Omnipresence, Almightiness,
Divine Will, and all other attributes of the Divine Nature ;
Body, Soul, Human Will, and all other attributes belong-
ing to the Human Nature. These two Natures are as entirely
united in the One Being, Christ, as the body and the soul are
united in the one being, man. This Union was first effected
when the Son of God beg.au to be the Son of Man in the womb
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it has never been broken
since. When the Body of the Crucified Saviour was laid in
the tomb, it was kept from corruption by the continuance
of its Union with the Divine Nature : and when His Soul
descended into hell, the Divine Nature was still united to it
also, enabling it to triumph over Satan and Death ; when the
Soul and Body of Christ were united together again, and
ascended into Heaven, it was in conjunction with the Divine
Nature that they ascended, to sit as Perfect God and Perfect
Man at tlie right hand of the Father. And in the same two,
but united Natures, Christ our Lord w-ill come to judge the
quick and the dead.
life everlasting . . . aw?arf(Hf7/!-f] These words, awful as the
latter part of them is, are the words of our Lord, "The King
shall s.ay unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of
My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world . . . also unto them on the left
hand. Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre-
pared for the devil and Iiis angels. . . . And these shall go
away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life
eternal." [Matt. xxv. 34, 41, 46.]
This is the Catholick Faith : which except a man believe
faithfullij, lie cannot be sored] This verse also is founded on
words of our Lord, "He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned. '
[Mark xvi. 16.] And these severe words of His are the more
striking from the fact of their utterance immediately before
His Ascension to Heaven, lifting up His hands and blessing
His disciples.
It will be observed that the word _^nH(Ver in tliis clause is
not representee! in our translation. Waterland sa3-s [Critic.
Hist. V. X.] that our translators followed a Greek cojjy of the
Creed, printed at Basle by Nicholas Bryliug. As this was
reprinted by Stephens in 1565, it probably had some weight
at the time. These words of the clause in this Greek copy
are given as XIictt-us iriaTeiiari. Other Greek copies follow the
Latin.
It does not become the writer to say anything that may
in the least lessen the force of such awful words. In the
Creed which has been under notice, they are applied in close
consistency with our Lord's first use of them, and they must
be taken for all that they fairly mean. A word of caution
220
at horning H^caper.
Glory be to the Fathee, and to the Son : and
to tlie Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Gloria Patri, et FiLio : et Spieitui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper : et
in ssecula saeculorum.
may, however, be expedient ; reminding the reader of what
has been before said about opinion and belief. A willing
assent may be given to the more obvious statements of this
Creed by many who are quite unable to enter upon the
collateral and inferential statements deduced from them ; and
"a man" may thus "believe faithfully" in the substantial
truths of the Catholic Faith. With an expanded knowledge,
an expanded faith is necessary : and all the statements of the
Creed are so bound together, that they whose expanded
knowledge of it is not thus accompanied, are in fact rejecting
the fundamental Articles of the Faith, as well as those that
seem subordinate only. It will be better in the next life for
the ignorant, if they have believed according to the measure
of their knowledge, than for those who have known much,
but have believed little.
It may be added that the last two verses, popularly called
the "Damnatory Clauses," are found in every known manu-
script of the Creed.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITANY
The Greek word Litaneia, meaning Prayer or Supplication,
appears to have been used in the fourth century for devotions
public or private ; but it soon came to have a narrower and
more technical sense as applied to solemn acts of processional
prayer. Whether St. Basil uses it in this sense, when in his
107th epistle he reminds the clergy of NeocKSarca that " the
Litanies which they now practise " were unknown iu the
time of their great apostle Gregory, and therefore might form
a precedent for other salutary innovations, is a matter of
opinion, on which Bingham and Palmer (the latter more
expressly than the former) take tlie affirmative side, the
Benedictine Editor and Keble [note to Hooker's Ecd. rol. v.
41, 2] taking the negative. But when we are told [Man.si,
Goncil. iv. 1428] that the aged abbat Dalmatius had for many
years never left his monastery, though repeatedly requested
by Theodosius II. when Constantinople was visited by earth-
quakes " to go forth and perform a Litany," there can be no
doubt as to the meaning of the statement.
The history, however, of Litanies, in the proper sense of
the term, is rather Western than Eastern. \Ve find, indeed,
in the Eastern Liturgy and Offices some four or five specimens
of a kindred form of prayer, called Ertene, Stjnajile, etc., in
which the Deacon bids prayer for several objects, sometimes
beginning with " In peace let us beseech the Lord," and the
people respond with " Kyric eleison," or with "Vouchsafe,
Lord." The reader of Bishop Andrewes' Dei-ofioiis will
be familiar with this type of prayers. [,SVe Oxford edition, pp.
5, 92.] And we have it represented iu the Western Church
by two sets of " Preees " in the Ambrosian Missal, one used
on the first, third, and fifth Sundays iu Lent, the other on the
second and fourth. One of these begins, " Beseeching the
gifts of Divine peace and pardon . . . we pray Thee, "etc., pro-
ceeding to specify various topics of intercession with the
response, "Lord, have mercy." The other is shorter, but in
its imploring earnestness ("Deliver us. Thou Who deliver-
edst the children of Israel . . . with a strong arm and a high
hand. . . . O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thy Name's
sake ") is even more interesting as a link between the Ectene
and the Litanies of the West, an essential characteristic of
which is their deprecatory and more or less penitential tone.
Somewhat similar are the Mozarabic "Preees" for Lenten
Sundays, with their burdens of "Have mercy," "We have
sinned," etc. It may also be observed that " Preees," like the
"Pacifieoe" of the Ambrosian rite, were anciently sung at
Mass in Rome (at first only on days when the Gloria in
Excelsis and Alleluia were omitted) until the ninth century.
They formed an Eastern feature iu the service, and may be
compared with the Preees of the Abbey of Fulda, which, like
a Greek Ectene, intercede for various persons and classes,
supplicate for a Christian and peaceful end, and have for their
I'esponses, " We pray Thee, Lord, hear and have mercy,"
"Grant it, Lord, grant it ;" also with a series of Invocations,
followed by "Tu ilium adjuva," occurring in an old form for
an Emperor's coronation in Ml'RATORl, Lit. Horn. ii. 463.
But to confine ourselves to the Western Litany. It became
common among the Clallic churches in the fifth century, as it
was in the East, to invoke the Divine mercy in time of exces-
sive rain or drought by means of Rogations or processional
supplications. But these, according to the testimony of
Sidonius Apollinaris [v. 14], were often carelessly performed,
with lukewarmness, irregularity, and infrequency — devotion,
as he expresses it, being often dulled by the inter\'ention of
meals. The shock of a great calamity wrought a change and
formed an epoch. The illustrious city of Vienne, already
famous in Christian history for the persecution under M.
Aurelius [ErsEB. Eccl. Hist. v. 1], was troubled for about a
year — probably the year 467-68 [Fleury, Eccl. Hist. xxix. c.
38] — with earthquakes. In the touching language of Gregory
of Tours [Hint. Francor. ii. 34] the people had hoped that
the Easter festival would bring a cessation of their dis-
tress. "But during the very vigil of the glorious night, while
Mass was being celebrated," the palace took fire, the people
rushed wildly out of the church, and the Bishop Mamertus
was left alone before the altar, entreating the mercy of God.
He formed then a resolution, which he carried out in the three
days before the Ascension festival, of celebrating a Rogation
^vitll special solemnity and earnestness. A fast was observed,
and with prayers, psalmody, and Scripture lessons the people
went forth in procession to the nearest church outside tlie
city. Mamertus, says Fleury, had so appointed, "voulant
(jprouver la fervour du peuple . . . mais le chemin parut trop
court pour la d(5votion des fideles. " Sidonius imitated this
"most useful example" in Auvergne at the approach of the
Goths. He tells Mamertus [vi. ep. i. ] tliat the Heart-searcher
caused the entreaties made at Vienne to be a model fcir
imitation and a means of deliverance. Gregory of Tours
writes that these Rogations were "even now celebrated
throughout all churches with compunction of heart and con-
trition of spirit ; " and tells how St. Quintianus in Auvergne,
celebr.iting one in a drought, caused the words "If the
heaven be shut up," etc. [2 Chron. vi. 26], to be sung as an
anthem, whereupon at once rain fell ; how King Guntrani
ordered a Rogation, with fasting on barley-bread and water,
during a pestilence [Hist. Francor. ix. 21] ; how St. Gall insti-
tuted Rogations in the middle of Lent [ibid. iv. 5]; how the
Bishop of Paris performed them before Ascension, "going tlie
round of the holy places" [ix. 5]. St. Cresarius of Aries [a.d.
501-542] in his Homily "de Letania" (it became usual so to
spell the word) calls the Rogation days "holy and spiritual,
full of healing virtue to our souls," and "regularly observed
by the Church throughout the world ; " and bids his hearers
come to church and stay through the whole Rogation service,
so as to gain the full benefit of this "three days' healing
process." The Second Council of Lyons [a.d. 567] ordered
also in its sixth Canon that Litanies should be said in every
church in the week before the first Sunday in November in
the same manner as before Ascension Day.
In order to estimate the comfort which these services then
gave, one must take into account not only such afflictions as
drought or pestilence, but the painful sense of confusion and
iusecurity which in those days broi-uled over W^estern Europe,
and which still speaks in some of our own Collects, imploring
the boon of peace and safety. We cannot wonder that, while
the Rogation Mass iu the Old Ciallican Missal speaks of
" sowing in tears, to reap in joys," a Collect in the GalUcan
Sacrameutary " iu Letanias " dwells on "the crash of a
falling world." So it was that, as Hooker expresses it,
"Rogations or Litanies were then the very strength, stay,
and comfort of Ciod's Church." Council after Council — as of
Orleans in 511, Tours in 567 — decreed Rogation observances
in connection with a strict fast. But the Spanish Church,
not liking to fast in the Paschal time, placed its Litanies
in Lent, in Whitsun week, and in tlie autumn, while the
Milanese Rogations were in the week after Ascension. We
learn from the Council of Cloveshoo [a.d. 747] that the Eng-
lish Church had observed the Rogations before Ascension ever
since the coming of St. Augustine : and the anthem with
which he and his companions approached Canterbury, ' ' We
beseech Thee " (dt'precamiir te), "0 Lord, in Thy great mercy,
to remove Thy wrath and anger from this city, and from Thy
holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia," was simply part
of the Rogation Tuesday service in the Church of Lyons.
[Martene, rfe ./!?(<. Ecd. Bit. iii. 520,] This urgent depre-
catory tone, this strong "crying out of the deep," which
expresses so marked a characteristic of the Litanies, appears
again in another Lyons anthem for Rogations, "I have seen,
I have seen the affliction of My people;" in the York
suffrage, which might seem to be as old as the days of the
dreaded heathen King Penda, " From the persecution by the
Pagans and all our enemies, deliver us ; " and yet more strik-
ingly in the Ambrosian, " Deliver us not into the hand of the
he.ithen : Thou art kind. O Lord, have pity upon us ; encom-
222
an 3jntroDuction to tfjc ILitanj).
jjass Thou this city, and let Angels guard its walls ; merci-
fully accept our repentance, and save us, Saviour of tlie
world ; In the midst of life we are in death : " although this
latter antliem, so familiar to us, was composed on a different
occasion by Kotker of St. Gall. [See Notes to Burial Office.]
The strict rule which forbade in Rogation time all costly
garments, and all riding on liorseback, may be illustrated by
tlie decree of the Council of Mayence in 813, that all should
"go barefoot and in sackcloth in the procession of the Great
Litany of three days, as our holy fathers appointed."
Tliis name, "Litania Jlajoi-," was thus applied in Gaul to
the Rogations, but in Rome it has always been used (as it
now is tliroughout the Roman Church) for the Litany of St.
JIark's Day, which traces itself to St. Gregory the Great, and
of which the Ordo Romanus says that it is not "in jejunio."
In order to avert a pestilence, Gregory appointed a "seven-
fold Litany," using the term for the actual processional com-
pany, as the Litany of clergy, the Litany of laymen, that of
monks, of virgins, of married women, of widows, of tlie poor
and children ; and, in fact, tlie Roman Bishops did not adopt
the Rogation Litany, properly so called, until the pontificate
of Leo III., which began in 705. This was some fifty years
after England, on the other hand, had adopted the Litany
of St. Mark's Day as that which at Home was called the
Greater.
But although in strictness, as Hugh Menard says, "Litania
ad luctuni pertinet," the Litany was not always confined to
occasions of distress or of special humiliation. As early as
the close of the fifth century the Gelasian Sacramentary, in
its directions for Holy Saturday, had the following [Muratori,
i. 546, 568] : "They enter the Sacristy, and vest themselves
as usual. And tlie Clergy begin the Litany, and the Priest
goes in procession, with those in holy orders, out of the
Sacristy. Thej' come before the altar, and stand witli bowed
Iieads until they say, ' Lamb of God, Who takest away the
sins of the world.' " Then comes the blessing of the Paschal
taper ; and after the series of lessons and prayers which
follows it, tliey go in procession with a Litany to the fonts, for
the baptisms : after which they return to the Sacristy, "and in
a little while begin the third Litany, and enter the church for
the Vigil Mass, as soon as a star lias appeared in the sky."
And"so it became natural to adopt a form of prayer which
took so firm a hold of men's afl'ections on various occasions
when processions were not used. At ordinations, or at con-
secrations, at the conferring of monastic habits, at coronations
of Emperors, at dedications of churches, etc. , it became com-
mon for the "school," or choir, to begin, or as it was techui-
cally called, to "set on" (imponere) the Litany, — for the
Subdeacon to "make the Litanies," — for the first of tlie
Deacons to "make the Litany," that is, to precent its
suffrages [Muratori, ii. 423, 426, 439, 450, 452, 458, 467], begin-
ning with " Kyrie eleison," or with "O Christ, hear us."
A Litany never came amiss : it was particularly welcome as
an element of offices for tlie sick and dying : its terseness,
energy, pathos, seemed to gather up all that was meant by
" being instant in prayer."
For some time tlie Litanies were devoid of all Invocations
of Angels and Saints. Tlie Preces of Fulda simply asked
God that the Apostles and Martyrs might "pray for us." But
about the eighth century Invocations came in. A few Saints
are invoked in an old Litany which Mabillon calls Anglo-
Saxon [Maeillox's Vet. Anal. p. 168; comp. H.\ddan anil
.Stcee.s' Councils, etc. ii. 81], and Lingard Armorican
[Lino arc's .^nj/. Sax. Ch. ii. 386]. Names of Angels, with
St. Peter or any other Saint, occur in another, which Mabil-
lon ascribes to the reign of Charlemagne. Tlie Litany in the
Ordo Romanus [/J/ft. ]'et. Pair. viii. 451] has a string of saintly
names. As the custom grew, more or fewer Saints were some-
timesinvoked according to the lengtliof the proces.siou ; "quan-
tum sufficititer," says the Sarum Processional ; and the York,
"secundum exigentiam itincris." The number was often
very considerable : a Litany said after Prime at the venerable
Abbey of St. Gcrniaiii des Pres liad, Marteue says [iv. 49],
ninety-four .Saints originally: an old Tours form for visitation
of the sick lias a list of Saints occupying more than four
columns [ihhi. i. 859] : and a Litany of tlie iiintli century which
Muratori prints, as "accommodated to tlic use of tlie Church
of Paris, "has one hundred and twosnch Invocations. [Muratori,
i. 74] The Invocations generally came between the Kyrie,
etc., at the beginning, and the Deprecations which, in someform
or other, constituted the most essential element of the Litany.
I'.ilmcr thinks that the .space thus occuiiied had originally
been filled by many repetitions of the Kyrie, such as the
Eastern Church l.ivcd, ami the Council of Vaison in 529 had
recommended ; and in consequence of which St. Benedict had
applied the name of Litany to the Kyrie, just as, when
Invocations had become abundant, the same name was
popularly applied to them, which explains the plural form,
" Litanise Sanctorum," in Roman books. Sometimes we find
frequent Kyrics combined with still more frequent Invocations,
as in a Litania Septena for seven subdeacons on Holy Saturday,
followed by a Litania Quina and Terna. [Martene, i. 216.]
A Litania Septena was used on this day at Paris, Lyons,
and Soissons.
The general divisions of Medifeval Litanies were — 1. Kyrie,
and "Christ, hearus," etc. 2. Entreaties to each of the Divine
Persons, and to the whole Trinity. 3. Invocationsof Saints. 4.
Deprecations. 5. Obsecrations, "by the mystery," etc. 6.
Petitions, 7. Agnus Dei, Kyrie, Lord's Prayer. 8. Collects.
The present Roman Litany should be studied as it occurs
in the jlissal, on Holy Saturday; in the Breviary, just before
the Ordo Commendationis Animie ; and in the Ritual, just
before the Penitential Psalms ; besides the special Litany
which forms part of the Commendatio. The Litany of Holy
Saturday is slioi't, having three deprecations and no Lord's
Prayer. The ordinary Roman Litany, as fixed in the sixteenth
century, names only fifty-two individual Saints and Angels.
It is said on St. Mark's Day, and during Lent, in choir, and
"extra chorum pro opportunitate temporis."
The Litanies of the Mediajval English Church are a truly
interesting subject. Procter, in his History of the. Common
Prayer, p. 254, has printed an early Litany much akin to
the Litany of York, and considered by him to be of Anglo-
Saxon date. The Breviaries and Processionals exhibit their
respective Litanies : and the ordinary Sarum Litany used on
Easter Eve, St. Mark's Day, the Rogations, and every week-
day in Lent (with certain variations as to the Saints invoked),
occurs in the Sarum Breviary just after the Penitential
Psalms. It is easy, by help of the Processionals, to picture
to oneself the grandeur of the Litany as solemnly performed
in one of the great churches which followed the Sarum or
Y'ork rites. Take, for instance. Holy Saturday. The old
Gelasian rula of three Litanies on that day was still retained.
In Sarum a "Septiform Litany " was sung in the midst of
the choir by seven boys in surplices (compare the present
Roman Rubric, that the Litany on that day is to be sung by
two chanters "in medio chori"); the Y'ork Rubric says, seven
boys, or three where more cannot be liad, are to sing the
Litany. It was called septiform, because in each order of
saints, as apostles, martyrs, etc., seven were invoked by
name. After "All ye Saints, pray for us," five deacons
began the "Quinta-partitaLetania" intliesaineplaceftheY'^ork
says, "Letaniam puerorum seqnatur Letania diaconorum"):
but after " St. Mary, pray for us, "the rest was said in solemn
procession to the font, starting, "ex australi parte ecclesice."
First came an acolyte as cross-bearer, then two taper-bearers,
the censer-bearer, two boys in siirplices with book and taper,
two deacons with oil and chrism, two subdeacons, a priest in
red cope, and the five chanters of the Litany. In these two
Litanies the four addresses to the Holy Trinity were omitted.
After the blessiug of the font, three clerks of liigher degree
in red copes began a third Litanj', the metiical one m liich,
Cassander says, was called Litania Norica, " Rex sanctorum
Angelorum, totum mundum adjuva" (with which may be
compared, as being also metrical, \\iiat Gibbon, vol. vii. p.
76, calls the "fearful Litany" for deliverance from the arrows
of Hungarians): after the first verse was sung, the procession
set forth on its return. In Y'ork the third Litany was sung
Ijy three priests, and was not metrical. There were procca-
sicuis every AVednesday and Friday in Lent (on other Lenten
week-days the Lit.any was non-processional), the first words
of the Litany being sung " before the altar, before the pro-
cession started " {I'roeess. Sar.\ and the last Invocation lieing
sung at the steps of the choir as it rctuiiied. In York, on
Rogation Tuesday, tlic choir repeated after the chanter, pro-
ccssionally, the Kyrie and Christe eleison with the Latin
equivalents, " Doniine, miserere; Christe, mi.<ci ere ; " then,
"Miserere nobis, pie Rex, Domine, Jesu Christe." The
responses in this Litany were curiously varied. The chanter
said, for instance, "St. Mary, pray for us;" and the choir
responded, "Kyrie eleison." Again, "St. Michael, pr.ay for
us ; " the response w.as, " Christ, hear us." Tlic Y'ork Litany
of Ascension Eve has, "Take away from us, Lord, our
iniquities," etc., the response being a repetition of the first
words. Then. "H.ave mercy, have mercy, liave mercy. Lord,
on Thy people," etc., the response being "Have mercy;"
then "Hear, hear, hear our prayers, O Lord:" response,
"Hear." The Rubric adds, " I'^t dicatur Lrtania per oir-
an 3IntroDuction to tfjc iLitany.
22 '
cuitnm ad introitum chori. " On tlie same Eve, in Sanim, a
metrical invocation to St. Marywas chanted, "iSancta JIaria,
Quseaumus, alnium Poscere Regem Jure memento ; Salvut ut
omnes Nos jubilantes. " On St. Jlark's Day, iu Sariim, aa in
the Rogation Litany of York above quoted, tlie sufirage in-
cluded "pray for us," and the response was Kyrie. The
.Sarum rule was, "AVhatevcr part of tlie Litany is said by the
priest must be fully and entirely repeated by tlio choir, as
far as the utterance of 'AVo sinners beseech Thee to hear us.'
For then after 'Tliat Thou give us peace,' the choir is to
respond, ' We beseech Thee, hear us ; ' and after each verse,
down to ' Son of God.' " So the Processional ; the same rule
is given, in somewhat difTerent form, by the Breviary.
The Litany was nearly always sung in procession in the
Mediteval Church of England, the singers sometimes singing
tlio whole witliin the cluirch, and at others going into the
churchyard, or on particular occasions, as on the Rogations,
into the streets, roads, and fields around. The supplications
whicli preceded the Invocations of the Saints were said in
front of the Altar, before the procession started ; and the rule
was that the procession should return to the same place to
sing all that followed the last of those Invocations. All that
is now said in tlie church, according to our modern use, was
therefore said in the church in mediieval times, and was said
kneeling as at present. '
Besides the Latin Litanies for church use, the Primer con-
tained one (in Knglish) which may be seen in Mr. Jlaskell's
.Sarum Primer of about a.d. 1400; with two other English
Litanies from JISS. in the Bodleian. [Ma.sikell's Moiimnenia
Hitualia, iii. 99, 227, 233.] A MS. English Litany of tlie
lifteenth century, somewhat different from these, is in the
Library of University College, Oxford.
Coining down to the sixteenth century, we find the first form
of cur present Litany in that of 1544, probably composed
by Cranmer, who would liave before him the Litany in the
Goodly Primer of 1535, and perhaps the Cologne Litany pub-
lished in German 1543, or Luther's of 1543 : and it was
imposed on the Church by Henry VIII., to be used "in the
tiniie of processions." It contains only three Invocations of
created beings, as follows : —
"Saint Mary, Mother of God our Lord Jesu Christ, pray
for us.
All holy angels and archangels, and all holy orders of
blessed spirits, pray for us.
All holy patriarchs and prophets, apostles, martyrs, con-
fessors and virgins, and all the blessed company of
Heaven, pray for us. "
These were dropped in 1548. In Henry's reign there was
also a Litany published in the King's Primer of 1545. It is
curious that "procession," in Cranmer's language [see a pas-
sage in Private Prayers, Parker Soe. pref. p. 25], meant
the actual supplication.- In 1547 the Injunctions of
Edward VI. forbade processions about the Church or
Churchyard ; and, borrowing part of the Sarum rule above
mentioned as to the Easter Eve Litania Septiformis, ordered
the priests, with other of the choir, to kneel in the midst
of the church immediately before High Mass, and sing
or say the Litany, etc., which Injunction was repeated by
Queen Elizabeth in 1559, with the alteration of "before Com-
munion," etc.' In the Prayer Book of 1549 the Litany was
ordered to be said or sumj on Wednesdays and Fridays, and
was printed after the Communion ; but in the Book of 1552
it was printed in its present place, "to be nxed on Snndays,
Wednesdays, Fridays, and at other times," etc. About
Christmas, 1558, Elizabeth sanctioned tlie English Litany
nearly as before, for her own Chapel [see C.\kdweIjL, Docum.
Ann. i. 209, and Lit. Serrices, Parker Soe. ji. xii] ; it soon
came into more general use, and was inserted in the Prayer
Book of 1559, the Rubric of 1552 being repeated. The
Injunctions of Elizabeth iu 1559 ordered the Curate to "say
^ '* Seynte Marke fallyng in Ester w-j'ke, or up on any Sunday, he sclial
neyther haue fastc nor procession that yere." [Rule of yt. Saviour, ch. xl. ;
AUNOlER's Hist. Syon, p. 303.]
2 So also " Proressioners " was the name given to copies of the English
Litany wliich were sold iu Cambridge for twopence each in 1558. [Carter's
King's Coil. Chap.]
3 The Euglisli Litany was nevevlheless used in procession at tlie Queen's
conrt '"in copes to tlie noinbur of xxx," on Irft. George's Day, April 23,
1560 and ISlil. Again at 'Windsor on May 2S, 1561, " After matens done,
they wlient a prosessyon rond about the cherche, so done the mydes and
so ront a-bo\vt . . . the clavkes and prestes a xxiiii syngyng the Englys
prossessyun in chopes xxxiiii. and sum of them in gray amcs and in cala-
bar." The same is narrated of the years 15(32 and 15()3. [Machyn's Z>iflri/,
•J32, 257, 258, 280, 800.) There is .ilso an engraving by Hollar of a similar
procession, ten or twelve years later, in Ash.mole's Order of the Garter, v.
515.
the Litany and prayers" in church every Wednesday and
l''riday ; but the Litany of the procession, in Rogation week,
was to be continued also, and the custom of "Beating the
Bounds " of parishes on Ascension Day still in some sort
represents it. [See Note on Rogation Days. ]
The lifteentli canon of 1004 provides for the saying of the
Litany in eluirch after tolling of a bell, on Wednesdays an-d
Fridays. In the last re\'icw of the Prayer Book the words
"to be sung or said" were substituted for "used" (both
phrases having occurred in the Scotch Prayer Bookj, and are
very carefully added — an erasure being made to give preced-
ence to the word "sung"^in Cosin's Durham Book. The
Litany was stimj by two Bishops at the coronation of George I.
With regard to the place for saying or singing the Litany,
the present Prayer liook in its rubric before the 51.st Psalm
in tlie Commination, appears implicitly to recognize a peculiar
one, distinct from that in which the ordinary offices are per-
formed. As we have seen, the Injunctions of Edward,
followed herein by those of Elizabeth, specified the midst of
the Church : and Bishop Andrewes hacl in his chapel a/aldis-
tory (folding-stool) for this purpose, between the western
stalls and the lectern. So Cosin, as archdeacon of the East
Riding in 1C27, inquired whether the church had "a little
faldstool or desk, with some decent carpet over it, in the
middle alley of the church, whereat the Litany may be said
after the manner prescribed by the Injunctions ;" and in his
first series of Notes on the Common Prayer he says, "The
priest goetli from out his seat into the body of the church,
and at a low desk before the cliancel door, called the faldstool,
kneels, and says or sings the Litany. Vide Propli. Joel de
medio loco inter jiortieiim et «//<(?-e," etc* Compare also the
frontispiece to Bishop Spaekow's Ealionale, and to the Litany
in Prayer Books of 1062, etc. Cosin gave such a faldstool to
Durham Cathedral, which is constantly used by two priests ;
and the Rubric of the present Coronation office speaks of two
Bishops kneeling in the same manner at a faldstool to say the
Litany. The custom doubtless signified the deeply supjjlica-
tory character of this service. Finally, in the Durham Book
the Rubric before the Litany ends with these words : "The
Priest (or Clerks) kneeling in the midst of the Quire, and all
the people kneeling, and answering as followeth. "
In the present day there is a disposition to make the
Litany available as a separate service. Archbishop Cirindall's
order in 1571, forbidding any interval between Morning
Prayer, Litany, and the Communion Service, w-as far from
generally observed.^ At Winchester and AA'orcester
Cathedrals the custom of saying the Litany some hours after
Mattins has prevailed ; and we learn from Peck's Desiderata
C'liriosa [lib. xii. no. 21] that in 1730 the members of Ch.
Ch. Oxford, on Wednesdays and Fridays, went to Mattins at
six, and to Litany at nine. The 15th Canon, above referred
to, recognizes the Litany as a sejiarate office. Freedom of
arrangement in tliis matter is highly desirable : and if it be
said that the Litany ought to}irecede theCommunion, according
to ancient precedent, instead of being transferred, as it some-
times now is, to the afternoon, it may be replied that the
Eucharistic Ectene of the East is not only much shorter than
our Litany, but tar less plaintive, so to speak, in tone, and
therefore more e^-idently congruous ■s\itli Eucharistic joy.
The like may be said, on the whole, of the " Preces Pacificie "
once used at Rome (as we have seen) in the early part of the
Mass, and at Milan on Lenten Sundays : although indeed a
Lenten Sunday observance could be no real precedent for all
the Sundays in the year.^ Of the Puritan cavils at the Litan}',
some will be dealt with in the Notes. One, which accuses it
of perpetuating prayers which had but a temporary purpose,
is rebuked by Hooker [Hooker's LWL Pol. v. 41, 4], and is
not likely to be revived. He -takes occasion to speak of the
"absolute " (i.e. finished) " perfection " of our present Litany •.
Bishop Cosin, in his l)evotions, uses the same phrase, and
calls it "this principal, and excellent prayer" (excellent
being, in the English of his day, equivalent to matchless) ;
and Dr. Jebb describes it as "a most careful, luminous, and
comprehensive collection of the scattered treasures of the
Universal Church." [Jebb's C/ioral Serrice, p. 423.]
It may also be regarded as a comprehensive form of prayer
* This note is found also in a Prayer Book in the Bodleian Library, which
contains many annotations written about 1*355 by Bishop Duppa; and he
.adds, " So ordered by the composers of this Book in imitation of the
Lutheran Churches."
6 In fact, there is a direction exactly opposite in an Occasional Service of
Queen Elizabeth's reign, exhorting the people to spend a quarter of an hour
or more in private devotion lietween Morning Prayer and the Communion.
^ Sec also a note on the expanded KjTie eleison in the Communion
Service.
!24
an 3lntroDuction to tfjc Litany.
which especially carries into practice the Apostolic injunction,
"I exhort therefore that . . . supplications, prayers, inter-
cessions ... be made for aU men." After the Acts of
Adoration with which it opens, there foUow a number of
" Deprecations," relating to the sins or dangers of national or
individual life, from which we pray Christ, as our "Good
Lord," to deliver us. After these the " Obsecrations " plead
the acts and sufferings of our Redeemer, as each having an
efficacious power of its own. Then come the " Petitions " or
"Supplications," which are full of intercessory prayer, for
the Sovereign and the Eoyal Family, for the Clergy, for
the Sovereign's counsellors and agents in the government of
the Kingdom and in the administration of justice, for all
Cliristians, for all nations, for the increase of ourselves in love
and obedience, for the advancement of all Christians in grace,
for the conversion of those who are not yet in the way of
truth, for persons in various troubles and dangers, for God's
mercy to all men, and for our enemies ; the whole closing
with a prayer for the Divine Blessing on all the labours of
our hands, and for His forgiveness of our sins, negligences,
and ignorances. Such a fulness of supplications, combined
with the comparative familiarity and homeliness of its sub-
jects, makes the Litany welcome to the lips of every age ; and
it is none the less so in that it speaks a language of prayer
which has been substantially that of our forefathers for twelve
centuries.
THE LITANY.
IT *Here foUoweth the LITANY, or General Suppli-
cation, to be sung or said after Morning Prayer
upon '^Sundays, iVedttesdays, and Fridays, and at
other times when it shall be eommanded by the
Ordinary.
OGOD the Father, of heaven : have mercy
upon us miserable sinners.
God the Father, of heaven : have mercy upon
us miserable sinners.
O God the Son, Redeemer of the world : have
mercy upon us miserable sinners.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world : have
mercy upon us miserable sinners.
O God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
Father and the Son : have mercy upon u.s miser-
able sinners.
God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
Father and the Son : have mercy upon us miser-
able sinners.
O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three
Persons and one God : have mercy upon us
miserable sinners.
holy, blessed, and. glorious Trinity, three
Persons and one God : have mercy upon us miser-
able sinners.
Remember not. Lord, our offences, nor the
offences of our forefathers ; neither take Thou
vengeance of our sins : spare us, good Lord, spare
Thy people, vs'hom Thou hast redeemed with Thy
most precious blood, and be not angry with us
for ever.
SjMre us, good Lorik
From all evil and mischief ; from sin, from
(I Thf I.itittty and
Siifrr<ti:es [1549
rinlyl. It was
litiiitcd. preceded
by this title only,
after the Coiii-
iiiunion Service.
b Tlie first Rubric
at ttic eiid of the
Coininunioii Ser.
vice began thus, in
1549 only ; Vj*ott
It'e.ittfsdays iitiii
fri<iays lltt Eng-
lish Ltlaity shall
I'e saitt or siiu^ in
alt places, afltr
such fortn as is
appoiitUd l>y the
JCtiig's Majesty's
liijitncticjts : eras
is or shall leather,
wise appointed by
his IIij;hiiess. The
Coniniimion Ser-
vice was then to
be begun on these
days, after the
Litany ended.
c Sundays . . . by
the Ordinary
[■55=1.
e Here followed the
Invocations of
Saints, which
sometiines num-
bered as many as
two hundred; each
Invocation. as
"Sancte Paule,"
being followed by
the Response,
"Ora pro nobis,"
•P
ATER de coelis Deus : miserere nobis.
FiLi Redeniptor mundi Deus : miserere nobis.
Spiritus Sancte Deus : miserere nobis.
Sancta Trinitas, unus Deus : miserere nobis.'
Ne reminiscaris, Domine, delicta nostra, vel
parentum nostrorum : neque vindictam sumas de
peccatis nostris. Parce, Domine, parce populo
Tuo, quem redemisti pretioso sanguine Tuo : ne
in seternum irascaris nobis.
Ab omni malo : Libera nos, Domine.
THE INVOCATIONS.
hij the Ordinary] In the MS. of the Prayer Book the final
words of the Rubric were originally written "by the Ordiii-
arie: the Minister and People allkneelimj." The last six words
are crossed out with a pen, perhaps with the idea that they
excluded the use of the Litany in procession.
O Ood the Father] The old Sarum Litany prefixes to this,
"Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison : " then, "Christe, audi nos."
The Roman has a complete Kyrie, with " Christe, audi nos ;
Christe, exaudi nos." The Litany of Ordo Eonianus, and the
Utrecht Litany, have also "Salvator mundi, adjuvanos. "
The sense of the original Latin would be best brought out
by, e.rj. "Son, Redeemer . . . Who .art God," etc.
The four Invocations oflfer a very striking application of the
statement with which the Athanasiau Creed opens, "And
the Catholick Faith is this : That we worship one God in
Trinity, and Trinity in Unity." Each of them is an act of
solemn adoration passing into an act of prayer.
0/ heaven] i.e. from heaven, " de ccelis." The phrase
comes from S. Luke xi. 13, 6 Harrip ^? oipavov, your Father
Who heareth from heaven. [Comjh 2 Chron. vi. 21.] "Ex-
audi . . . de ca'lis, " Vulg.
miserahh' sinners] Added in 1544.
proceedinfifrom'] Added in 1544. The Utrecht has "Spiritus
Sancte, benit/ne Deus."
holy, blessed] The fourth Invocation was thus ampli-
fied in 1544. partly from the old Sarum antiphon after the
Athanasian Creed, for Trinity week : " () beata et benedicta
et gloriosa Trinitas, Pater et Filius et Spiritus ,^anctus. " It
must be Ijorne in mind tliat the term Person, in reeard to the
Holy Trinity, is not equivalent to "individual," as when it is
applied to three men. When we say, "three Persons and
one God," we mean, as the original Invocation shows, that
the three are severally distinct, yet are one God.
Remember not] Before 1544 these words formed part of the
antiphon which was added to the Penitential Psalms as pre-
fixed to the Litany. In the original, after "ne in sternum,"
etc., came, " et ne des hajreditatem tuam in jjerditionem : ne in
setemum obliviscaris nobis." But there was also, just before
the speci.al Deprecations, and after the Invocations of Saints,
" Propitius esto : Parce nobis, Domine. ' The word "good"
was inserted in 1544. The sins of fathers may be visited on
children in temporal judgements.
ijood Lord] It is much to be observed that this supplication
and the whole of what follows down to the Kyrie is one con-
tinuous act of worship offered to our Blessed Lord ; and it is
this which gives the Litany such peculiar value in days when
His Divinity is too often but faintly realized.
THE DEPRECATIONS.
From] These Deprecations, which in the old Litanies, as in
the present Roman, were broken up into separate forms, each
relating to one topic, were in 1544 combined in groups, as at pre-
sent ; probably in order to give more intensity and energy to
the " Deliver us." The like was done with the Obsecrations.
nil evil] Sarum, York, Hereford, Carthusian, Dominican,
and the old Ordo Romanus ; Litania Latina in Luther's
Enchiridion, 1543.
mischief] Added to the old form in 1544.
sin] Added in 1544 from the Lit.any in the Primer of 1535.
The Roman has it. and it is in Hermann of Cologne's Simplex
226
^ht JLitanp.
the crafts and assaults of the devil ; from Thy
wrath, and from everlasting damnation,
Good Lord, deliver its.
« tSotli.j
Ab insidiis diaboli : Libera . . .
Ab infestationibus djemonuni : Libera . . .
["A Ventura ira : Libera . . .]
A damnatione peri^etua ; Libera . . .
From *all blindness of heart; from pride,
vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred,
and malice, and all uncharitableness,
Good Lord, deliver us.
<-Sar.
■'[Sorft.l
'Sat.
-
'A ctecitate cordis : Libera . . .
[''A peste superbias : Libera • . . ]
'Ab appetitu inanis glorias : Libera . . .
Ab ira, et odio, et omni mala voluntate :
Libera . . .
From fornication, and all other deadly sin ; and
from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and
A spiritu f ornicationis : Libera . . .
the devil,
Good Lord, deliver ns.
From lightning and tempest; from plague,
pestilence, and famine ; from battle and murder,
and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver 2cs.
/ [gotii.l
A fulgure et tempestate : Libera . . .
A subitanea et improvisa morte : Libera . . .
[•^A subita et aeterna morte : Libera . . . ]
ac Pia Delibeyatio, translated from German into Latin in 1545 ;
liis Litany is nearly identical with that of Luther named above.
crafts and assaults] Two distinct modes of diabolic attack,
secret and open. So a Jewisli evening prayer, "Keep Satan
from before and from behind ns. [Bible Educator, iv. 239.]
Sarum Primer has, "from the awaitings of the fiend."
[Comp. 2 Cor. ii. 11.]
assaults] Not in York uor in Koiimn, but in Dominican.
[Brev. Ord. Prredic]
Thij wrath] Roman has this ; and so the Ordo Eomanus.
York has "from the wrath to come." So it is in the Lyons
Rogations, and in Carthusian. In Litanies for the Sick it \\'as
common to deprecate "Thy wrath." [Martene, i. 858, etc.]
The Narboune had " from Thy wrath greatly to be feared. "
everlasfiiuj damnation] Sarum, Hereford, Utrecht, Cister-
cian, Dominican, have "perpetual." [Comp. Roman, "a
morte perpetua. "] If tlie force of this Deprecation can be
evaded in the interests of Universalism, no words can retain
any meaning. York combines "sudden and eternal death."
blindness of heart] This, whicli is in Sarum and LUrecht,
not in York nor Roman, was derived from the Vulgate of
Eph. iv. 18, " propter ca^citatem cordis sui : " but the word
IT (ipwffij' should rather be rendered " hardness " or " callousness."
pride] York and Utrcclit more emphatically, "the plague
of pride." Not in P^oman. The Carthusian has "the spirit
of pride."
rain-ylori/] Compare Sarum, "the desire of vain-glory."
Not in Roman.
hypocrisy] Added in 1544.
envy] Added in 1544. We do not specif}' anger, as Sarum
and York do.
hatred] Here Sarum, York, Roman agree.
malice] Sarum, York, Roman, Utrecht, Dominican, "all
ill-will."
fornication] Sarum, Roman, Carthusian have " the spirit
of fornication. " The Sarum addition, "from all uncleanness
of mind and body," is in Hereford, Utrecht, Carthusian,
Dominican ; so York, "from all uncleannesses . . ." Sarum
further adds "from unclean thoughts ; " so Dominican.
deadly sin] In 1514 "all deadly sin." " Other " added in
1549. This plirase lias been more than ' once objected to.
The Committee of the House of Lords in lfi41 suggested
"grir.vous sin," doubtless from dislike of the Roman distinc-
tion of mortal and venial sins, Tlie Puritan divines, at the
Savoy Conference, made a similar suggestion, observing that
the wages of sin, as such, were death. Tlie Bishops answered,
" For that very reason, 'deadly ' is the better word." They
therefore nmst liave understood the phrase to refer to all
wilful .and deliberate sin. At tlic same time it must be
remembered that among wilful sina there are degrees of
hcinousness. " It would be introducing Stoicism into the
(Jospel to contend that all sins were equal." [Dr. Pusey's
Letter to Bishop of Oxford, p. liii.j
deceits of the ivorbl, the flesh] Added in 1544 ; but York
has " from fleshly desires." So Utrecht, Carthusian, "from
wicked concupiHcence." " Deceits of the devil," in fact, is a
repetition of "crafts of the devil " above. The deceits of the
world, of course, mean "the vain pomp and glory" of it, the
liollow splendour, the false attractiveness, the promises of
satisfaction and of permanence, etc., which as the Apostle
reminds us, have no reality. [1 .S. John ii. 17 ; coinp. 1 Cor.
vii. 31.]
liyhtninej and temjiest] Not in York nor Hereford. Roman has
it ; and a Poictiers Litany [Martene, iii, 438] has, " That it may
please Thee to turn a.wa.y malignitatem tempcstatum." Thunder-
storms impelled St. Chad to repair to churcli, and omploj' him-
self in prayer and psalmody ; being asked why he did so, he
cited Psalm xviii. 13. [Bede'h Eccl. Hist. iv. 3.] There are two
Oi'atioues "contra fulgura, "and one "ad repellendam tempes-
tatem, " in Menard's edition of the Gregorian Sacramentary.
plague, pestilence'] Sarum, York, Hereford, have not this
Deprecation, which is in Roman. The Litany of 1535 had
" from all pestilence. " So also a Tours Litany, "to remove
pestilence or mortality from us ; " and St. Dunstan's Litany for
Dedication of a Church has " from pestilence."
famine] Not in Sarum, York, Hereford, but in Roman. In
1535 "from pestilence and famine." Dunstan's also "et
fame." The I'leury Litany in Martene has "from all want
and famine. "
battle] York has "from persecution by Pagans, and all
our enemies," like the Anglo-Saxon Litany. The Roman and
Dominican deprecate "war." So Primer of 1535, and Her-
mann. Dunstan's and Fleury mention slaughter. Laud says
that the Puritans' olijection to the deprecation of famine and
battle "is as ignorant as themselves." [ ICoci's, i. 12.]
murder] Added 1544. Hermann has it. The Latin Book
of 1560 has " latrocinio. "
sudden death] So Sarum Primer has "sudden death and
unadvised." The Roman agrees with the Sarum. So Her-
mann, adding "evil." The same Deprecation is in the Roga-
tions of Lyons. The Puritans objected that " the godly should
always be prepared to die. " Hooker replies, in one of his most
beautiful and thoughtful chapters [Eccl. I'ol. v. 4li], that it is
lawful to "prefer one way of death before another ; ' that it
is religion which makes men wish for a "leisurable ' departure ;
that our pr.aj^er "importeth a twofold desire " — [1] For some
"convenient I'cspite;" [2] If that be denied, tlien, at least,
"that althougli death uncvpected bo sudden in itself, never-
theless, in rcg.ird of our prepared miiuls, it, may not be .sudden."
Archbishop iluttou, of York, liefure the Hampton Court
Cnuferenec was held, explained this as implying a condition,
"if it be Thy will," sujiposiiig "sudden " were taken simply ;
but "sudden" might be taken as equivalent to "giving no
time for repentance." The aversion of Lord Brook to this
Deprecation, and his own terrilic instantaneous death by a shot
from the great spire of Lichlield Cathedral, are w ell known.
In a J'rayer Book in the Bodleian, "worn by the daily use"
of Bishop Duppa, of Salisbury (whilo residing at Richmond,
between the overthrow of K])i.sco]iacy and the Restoration),
and containing marginal notes in his own hand, this comment
occurs, " Vainly excepted against, because wo should always
bo prepared for it : for by the same reason, wo should not
pr.ay against any temptations." At the Savoy Conference
the I'uritaus again raised tho old objection, and proposed to
Cf)e litanp.
227
From all sedition, privy conspiracy and
rebellion ; from all false doctrine, heresy, and
schism ; from hardness of heart, and contempt of
Thy Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation ; by
Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision ; by Thy
Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver w.
By Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat ; by Thy
Cross and Passion ; by Tliy precious Death and
Per
sanctse Incamationis Tuk ;
mystcrium
Libera . . .
["Per sanctamNativitatemTuam: Libera . . .]
'Per sanctam Circumcisionem Tuam : Libera
Per Baptismum Tuum : Libera . . .
Per Jejunium Tuum : Libera . . .
Per Crucem et Passionem Tuam : Libera . . .
Per pretiosam Mortem Tuam : Libera . . .
read, " from dying suddenly and unprepared. " The Bishops
replied, " From sudden death, la as good as from dying
suddenly ; which we therefore pray against, that we may not
be unprepared." [Cardwell, Cun/ereiices, pp. 316, 352.]
"A person," says Bishop Wilson, Sacra Privala, p. 358,
"whose heart is devoted to God, will never be surprised by
death."
sedition] In 1544, from Primer of 1535. Hermann, "a
seditione et simultate. "
priey conspiracy] In 1544. After this, in 1549 and 1552,
came, "from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome, and all his
detestable enormities," which was omitted under Elizabeth ;
and Cosin, in his First Series of Notes, says tliat the Puritans
(of James I. 's time) wished to have it restored. It had been
in the Primer of 1545, with "abominable" for "detestable."
rebellion] Added, for obvious reasons, in 1661, by Cosin.
His proposed version of the whole clause was, " From all open
rebellion and sedition ; from all conspiracy and treason ; from
all false doctrine, heresy, and schism ; f.-^om ..."
false doctrine, heresy] In 1544. Hermann, "ab onmi
errore. "
schism] In 1661. The Primer of 1535 had had " schismies."
hardness of heart, and contempt] In 1544. [Com;), the
Third Collect for Good Friday. See Prov. i. 25.] The force
of tliis Deprecation is best seen by remembering that a final
hai-deuing of tlie heart is a penal infliction, provoked by
habitual indiiference to Divine love. We may well entreat our
Lord to save us from repaying His love by coldness, lest the
capacity of loving Him be justly taken away. We may well
implore Him, also, to keep us from the terrible possibility of
ignoring, and practically despising. His revelation and His
commands. Compare the beautiful Parisian Litany of tlie
Holy Name of Jesus, "from neglect of Thy inspirations,
Jesus, deliver us."
THE OBSECRATIONS.
By the mystery] Here begin the Obsecrations, as they are
called. They go on the principle that every several act of
our Lord's Mediatorial life has its appropriate saving energy ;
that virtue goes out of each, because each is the act of a
Divine Person, and has a Divine preciousness. When, there-
fore, we say, " Deliver us by Thy Nativity, by Thy Tempta-
tion," etc., we do not merely ask Him to remember those
events of His human life, but we plead them before Him as
mystically efl'ective, as instinct with life-giving grace, as parts
of a Mediatorial whole. Doubtless, the Death of our Lord is
the meritorious cause of our salvation ; we are redeemed by it,
not by His Circumcision, or His Fasting ; and to efface the
distinction between it and all other parts of the "Q5conomy,"
in regard to His office as the Lamb of God, would be an
indication of theological unsoundness. At the same time it is
also true that, in St. Leo's language, all our Lord's acts, as
being related to His atoning Passion, are " sacramental " as
well as "exemplary;" His Nativity is our spiritual birth.
His liesurrection our revival. His Ascension our advancement.
They are not only incentives and patterns, but efficient causes
in the order of grace. So St. Bernard, in his second Pente-
cost Sermon, says that His Conception is to cleanse ours, His
Resurrection to prepare ours, etc. More vividly, St. Anselm,
in his fifteenth Prayer, " O most sweet Lord Jesus, by Thy
holy Annunciation, Incarnation . . . Infancy, Youth, Baptism,
Fasting . . . scourges, buffets, thorny crown," etc. But tlie
deepest and tenderest expression of this principle (surpassing
even Bishop Andrewes' Obsecrations, "by Gethsemane, Gabba-
tha, Golgotha,'' etc.) is in the mediajval Golden Litany, printed
by Maskell, Momuncnta Rituulia, iii. 267, 272, "By Tliy
great meekness, that Thou wouldst be comforted by an angel,
so comfort me in every time. . . . For that piteous cry, in the
which Thou commendedst Thy soul to Thy Fatlier, our souls
be commended to Thee," etc. The coarse and heartless
fanaticism wliich could cavil at these Obsecrations as "a
certain conjuring of God," was characteristic of John Knox
and his friends. They so expressed themselves when criticiz-
ing the Litany ("certain suffrages devised of Pope Gregory ")
in a letter to Calvin against tlie Prayer Book of 1552. Tliis
cavil is alluded to by Bishop Pearson, {ilinor ]Yorks, ii. 99. J
Bishop Duppa writes, "No oath, nor no exorcism."
of Tliy holy Incarnation] So Sarum, York, Hereford,
Roman, Cistercian, Dominican. "The mystery " is doubtless
an allusion to 1 Tim. iii. 16. The thought which it suggests
is that which of old made men bow down in adoration at the
words in the Creed, "et Homo factus est." "By all the
stupendous truths involved in Thine assumption of our
humanity, wherein Thou, being true God, becamest true Man,
combining two Natures in Thy single Divine Person, without
confusion, and without severance ; so that, in the Virgin's
womb. Thou didst bring God and man together, undergoing
all the conditions of infant life, Thyself unchangeably the
Creator and Life-giver." The Roman adds, "By Thine
Advent." Utrecht has " By Thine Annunciation, by Thine
Ath'ent and Nativity."
Thy hoi II Nativity] After Hereford. So the Sarum Primer.
[Maskell, iii. 106.] The Latin Book of 1560 made "Nativity,
Circumcision," etc., dependent on "mysterium. " York has
no mention of the Nativity.
Circumcision] This is not in the present Roman, but in two
old Roman forms in Menard's notes to the Gregorian Sacramen-
tary [741 and 923]. The Parisian of the Holy Name places
after "Nativity," "Thine infancy. Thy most Divine life. Thy
labours." Sarum Litany for the Dying adds " apparitionem
tuam ; " and Utrecht has "circumcisionem et oblationen> tuam. "
Baptism, Fastin;/] Roman combines "Baptism and holy
Fasting." Utrecht, "Baptism and Fasting." Maskell's Sarum
Primer, " Thy Fasting and much other penance doing."
Temptation] 1544. Primer of 1535, and Hermann, "tempta-
tions." Golden Litany, in Maskell, "The tempting of the
fiend in the desert."
Aijony and Bloody S%veat] 1544. So Hermann. Golden
Litany, "For that agony in which Thou offeredst Thee wil-
fully to death, obeying Thy Almighty Father; and Thy
bloody sweat." Primer of 1535, "Thy painful agony, in
sweating blood and water. "
Cross and Passion] So Roman, York for Easter Eve, and
Anglo-Saxon (probably an old York form), in Procter, p.
255, and Hermann. Mabillon's Anglican, or Armorican,
Hereford, Utrecht, Carthusian, Cistercian, Dominican, have
"Passion and Cross ;" so Sarum for the Dying. This is the
more natural order. Sarum Primer, "Thy holy Passion."
The Tours omits "Thy Cross," which forms the only Obsecra-
tion in the Corbey MS. Litany [Menard, note 380], and in
the Litany of the ninth century, in Muratori, i. 76. The
Golden Litany dwells with intense tenderness on all the
details of the Crucifixion, and on some points which are
traditional or legendary. Parisian of the Holy Name,
"Tliine Agony and Passion, Thy Cross and forsaking, —
lanijuores tiios."
jirecious Death] Sarum. So in Sarum Litany for the Dying,
228
Cbc ititani?.
Burial ; by Thy glorious Resurrection and Asce7i-
sion ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good LoiiiK deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation ; in all time of
our wealth ; in the hour of death, and in the day
of judgement,
Good Lord, deliver us.
We sinners do beseech Thee to hear us, O
Lord God ; and that it may please Thee to rule
and govern Thy holy Church universal in the
right way ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
' [»ar. Celebr-
Ord.)
Per gloriosam Resurrectionem Tuam : Libera
Per (admirabilem) Ascensionem Tuam : Libera
Per adventum Sancti Spieitus (Paracliti) :
Libera . . .
Li hora mortis : (Succurre nobis), Domine.
In die judicii : Libera nos, Domine.
"Peccatores : Te rogamiis, audi nos.
Ut [*sanctam] Ecclesiam Tuam ['Catholicam]
regere (et defensare) digneris : Te rogamus, audi
Anglo-Saxon, York, Stras-
ordinary Parisian, ' ' holy
"piissiraam mortem tuam." Sarura Primer, "most piteous
death." Ordo Romanus mentions the Cross, Passion, Death.
Burial] Not in Sarum ; but in Sarum Primer, " Thy blessed
burying." "Thy De.ath and Burial" in Roman, Utrcclit,
Strasburg, for Easter Eve, Primer of 1535, Hermann, Parisian.
Thy glorious liesurrection] So Sarum, Hereford, Narbonne,
Moisac, Cistercian, Carthusian, Dominican, Sarum and
Parisian Litanies for the Dying,
burg, Utrecht, Roman, and
Resurrection."
Ascension] Anglo-Saxon, Sarum, York, Hereford, Roman,
Moisac, Narbonne, Cistercian, Carthusian, Dominican,
Parisian, prefix "admirabilem" to "Ascensionem;" Stras-
burg and Utrecht liave " glorious." Remiremont, "radiant."
Golden Litau}', "wonderful and glorious." Parisian of the
Holy Name has after "Ascension," "by Thy joys, by Thy
glory. "
the coming of tlic Holy Ghost] Sarum, for the Dying, "The
coming of tlie Holy Ghost, the Paraclete : " so Ordo Romanus,
present Roman, and Hermann. "The Paraclete " was omitted
in 1544, as in Primer of 1535. Sarum, York, Hereford,
Anglo-Saxon, Sarum Primer, Cistercian, Dominican, and
Benedictine of M. Cassino, have "grace" instead of "coming."
Armorican, "by the descent of the Holy Ghost." Tours and
Utrecht simply, " by the .Spirit, the Paraclete." Utrecht and
others add an Obsecration by the Second Advent, e.g. "by
Thy future Advent," " by the majesty of Thine Advent."
In all time of our tribulation . . . wealth] 1544. After
Primer of 1535, "in time of our tribulations, in the time of
our felicity ; " Hermann, "in all time," etc. The Scottish and
American Books have "prosperity" for "wealth." Tlie
suffrage seems to refer not only to deliverance out of afflictions,
but to deliverance from the special moral dangers which
attend them. [Exod. vi. 9 ; Jer. v. 3 ; Hos. vii. 14 ; Amos
iv. 6. See too the remarkable case of Ahaz, '2 Chron. xxviii.
'22, and the awful picture in Rev. xvi. 11.] SuiJ'ering often
liardens instead of softening the heart ; and therefore " not
witliout reason has the Church taught all her faithful children
to say, ' Suffer us not . . . for any pains of death to fall from
Thee!'" [Mill, Univ. Sermons, p. 332.] The trials of pro-
sperity [Deut. viii. 14 ; Jer. v. 24 ; and Uzziah's case, 2 Chron.
xxvi. 16, etc.] are more commonly recognized. Even the
Greeks knew, as an etliic.al commonplace, that it was hard to
bear success without insolence and moral depravation. [Arist.
Eth. iv. 8.] It is tlie Christian's wisdom and happiness to
learn the secret of strength against both these forms of trial,
.13 St. Paul learned it. [Phil. iv. 12 ]
in the hoar of ileath] So Sarum and Hereford, adding, as
the response, "Succour us, Lord." This suffrage, for which
York substitutes " from the pains of hell," comes before the
Obsecrations in Benedictine of M. Cassino.
in the day nf judgement] Sarum, York, Hereford, Roman,
Ordo Romanus, Utrecht, Dominican, etc. The vernacular
Litanies in Maskell liave "in tlie day of doom." Golden
Litany, " Succour us, most sweet .Tesn, in that fearful day of
the strict judgement." [Cornj^. tlie Dies Ira;.]
The following is a tabular view of the Deprecations and
Obsecrations of the .Sarum and Roman Litanies : —
Sarum.
From perpetual damnation
(H.).
From perils imminent for our
sins.
From assaults of demons.
From the spirit of fornication.
From the desire of vain-glory.
From rdl uncleanness of mind
and body (Y. H. ).
From anger and hatred, and
r.ll ill-will (Y.).
From unclean thoughts.
From blindness of heart.
From lightning and tempest.
From sudden and unforeseen
death (Y, sudden).
By the mystery of Thy holy
Incarnation (Y. H.).
By Thy Nativity (H. holy).
By Tliy holy Circumcision.
By Thy Baptism.
By Thy Fasting.
By Tliy Cross and Passion (H.
Passion and Cross).
By Thy precious Death.
B}' Thy glorious Resurrection
(H. Y. holy).
By Thy wonderful Ascension
(Y. H.).
By the grace of the Holy Ghost
the Paraclete (Y. H.).
In the hour of death, succour
us, O Lord (H. ).
In the day of judgement, de-
liver us, Lord (Y. H. ).
lloTiian.
From Thy wrath.
From sudden and unforeseen
death.
From the snares of the devil.
From the scourge of earth-
quake.
From anger and hatred, and
all ill-will.
From the spirit of fornication.
From lightning and tempest.
From everlasting death.
From pestilence, famine, and
war.
By the mystery of Thy holy
Incarnation.
By Thine Advent.
By Thy Nativity.
By Thy Baptism and holy
Fasting .
By Thy Cross and Passion.
By Thy Death and Burial.
By Thy holy Resurrection.
By Thy wonderful Ascension.
By the coming of the Holy
Ghost the Paraclete.
In the day of judgement.
I
Sarum.
From all evil (also in York
and Hereford).
P'rom the snares of the devil
(Y. H.).
Itoman.
From all evil.
From .all sin.
THE SUPPLICATIONS.
Il'e sinners] Here begin the Petitions, or Supplications ;
introduced by a confession of our oinfulness. So in Sarum,
York, Hereford, Roman, Cistercian, Cartluisian, Dominican,
etc., "We sinners beseech Tliec to hear us." In some the
suffrage is, "We sinners," and the response, "Beseech Thee,
hear us." But the Dominican makes the reader s.ay the
whole, and the choir repeat the whole. As we have seen, tlie
Sarum use was for the clioir to repeat all after tlie reader,
until after this petition. The Litany of 1544, which joined
this with the suffrage for tlie Church, added the word "God."
And this may be s^-t .igainst tlie substitution of "Lord," for
thcoriginal "ourGod," in "0 Saviour of the world." After-
wards, in Sarum, Hereford, Dominican, come two suffrages,
which reniind us of the older "Pacifiea>," "That Thou
wouldst give us peace . . . That Thy mercy and pity may
])reserve us." York places the first of these here, the
.second further on. The Roman has three suffrages, "That
Thou spare us . . . That Thou forgive us . . . That it may
please Thcc to bring us to true repentance." Utrecht has
two, for peace and pardon ; Cistercian, for peace, only.
Thy Italy Church unircrsal] The Preces of Fiilda pray for
"deepest peace and tranquillity," and then for "the Holy
Ct)c iLitanj).
229
That it may please Thee to keep "and strengthen
in the true worshipping of Thee, in righteous-
ness and holiness of life, Thy Servant VIC-
TORIA, our most gracious Queen and Governor;
We beseech Thee to hear ns, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to rule her heart in
Thy faith, fear, and love, and that she may ever-
more have affiance in Thee, and ever seek Thy
honour and glory ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to be her defender and
keeper, giving her the victory over all her enemies ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless and pre-
serve Albert Ediuard Prince of Wales, the Prin-
cess of Wales, and all the 'Royal Family ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to illuminate all
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true know-
ledge and understanding of Thy Word ; and that
both by their preaching and living they may set
it forth, and shew it accordingly ;
We beseech Thee to hear 11$, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to endue the Lords of
the Council, and all the Nobility, with grace,
wisdom, and understanding ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
a ati.i strtiifthtn
■ ■ ■ '•/C[ISS')\-
* Sav.
c See note below.
e [Liber Festivalis.
Bidding of Bedes.]
*Ut Regi nostro et principibus nostris paceni
et veram concordiam atquc victoriam douare
digneris ; Te rogamus. audi nos.
Ut Episcopos — nostros ["'et Praelatos nostros],
in sancta religione [''in Tuo sancto servitio], con-
servare digneris : Te rogamus, audi nos.
[ '. . . and for all the Lords of the Councel,
and all other of the Nobilitie which dwell in the
countrayes having protection and government of
the same, that Almightie God may send grace so
to governe and ride the land . . .]
Catholic Church, which is from cue end of the earth to the
other." Sariim simply, "Thy Church." So Hereford, Cis-
tercian, Dominican. Procter's, York, and Roman, "Thy holy
Church." Saruni at Ordination, "Thy Catholic Church."
Sarum reads, "to govern and defend;" so Cistercian.
Roman, "to govern and preserve." The Ordo Romanus,
"to exalt Thy Church." The Primer of 1535, "to govern
and lead Thy holy Catholic Church." The Book of 15.59 has
"universally." The Latin Book of ]. 560, "Catholicam." The
Scottish Book, "Thy holy Catholic Church universally."
ill the rirjht way] This expresses generally what in the
Sarum had a special reference to the ecclesiastical state and
religious orders, — " in holy religion . . . That it may please
Thee to preserve the congregations of all holy persons in Thy
service," or, as Hereford, in "Thy holy service."
That it may please Thee to keep] To pray for the
Sovereign before the Bishops was not absolutely a novelty
at the time when our Litany was drawn up. Tlie Sarum,
indeed, before the separation from Rome, liad prayed first
for " Domnum Apostolicum " (the Pope), "and all degrees of
the Church," then for "our Bishops and Abbats, " then for
"our King and Princes." York and Hereford had a like
order (Hermann's Litany places " Sovereign " after "Clergy,"
and indeed after other classes). But the three vernacular
Litanies printed by Maskell all place "our Kings . . .
and Princes" before "Prelates" or "Bishops," although one
of them prays first for the Pope and for ' ' each degi-ee of
holy Church." [Maskell, iii. 107.] The words "and
strengthen ... of life " were first added in the Litany of
1558. Prayers for the spiritual good of the Sovereign had
not been usual in old Litanies ; that of 15-44 prayed that
Queen Catherine might be kept in the Lord's fear and
love, with increase of godliness, etc. The present Roman
prays generally that Christian kings and princes niay
have peace and true concord. The Ambrosian Preces for
First Sunday in Lent have, "for Thy servants, the Emperor
N., and the King N. , our Duke, and all their army."
Fulda, "for the most pious Emperor, and the whole Roman
army."
may evermore have affiance] In 1549 and 1552 the reading
was "always." AffianC'',, in the sense of trust, is found in
Shakespeare. [Henry V. ii. 2 ; 2nd Part of Henry VS. iii. 1.]
It is also used in a letter addressed to Suffolk by Wolsey, who
writes, "Having also such an assured affiance in your truth
that . , . ye would not have broken your promise. " [Henry
VIII. State Papers, Dam. and For. 224.]
girinrj her the victory] So Sarum, York, Hereford. [See
above.] The thought probably came from Ps. cxliv. 10. The
Lyons has " to preserve our King . . . That Thou grant him
life and victory. " Hermann has a suffrage, "to give to our
lOmperor perpetual victory against the enemies of God " (i.e.
the Turks) : Luther's, "his enemies."
Royal Family] In our Medieval Litanies "our Princes" are
mentioned. In 1544, beside the suffrage for Queen Catherine,
there is one for "our noble Prince Edward, and all the King's
M.ijesty's children." The Primer of 1535 prayed for Queen
Anne and the King's posterity. Under Edward and Eliza-
beth there was no suffrage of this kind. James I. inserted
the present suffrage in this form, "... and preserve our
gracious Queen Anne, Prince Henry, and the rest of the
King and Queen's royal issue. "
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons] Sanim (after a suffrage for
the Pope, see above) prays for "our Bishops and Abbats."
York, "our Archbishop, and every congregation committed
to him " (as in the Y'ork form of our Collect for Clergy and
People). See Hereford above, where "Prelates" would
include Abbats and Priors, Deans and Archdeacons. Utrecht,
"to preserve our Prelate in Thy holy service." Compare
the Lyons, "to preserve our Pontilf . . , That Thou
wouldest grant him life and health ; " and it proceeds to pray
for the Clergy and People. So the Ambrosian Preces, "for
all their Clergy . . . and all Priests and Ministers ; " and
Fulda, "our father the Bishop, all Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons, and the whole Clergy." The whole body of the
Clergy were not definitely prayed for in our Church Litanies
until 1.544, when tlie form ran, " Bishops, Pastors, and Minis-
ters of Thy Church " (after the pattern of the Primer of
1535), and so continued until the last review, when the pre-
sent form was adopted by way of more expressly negativing
the ministerial claims of persons not in Holy Orders. Her-
mann's has " pastors and ministers," and also, like the Primer
of 1535, prays for the sending of "faithful labourers into
the harvest."
Lords 0/ the Council . . . Nohility . . . Mlagistrates] 1544.
The Primer of 1535 has, "That our ministers and governors
may virtuously rule Thy people ; " and Hermann's praj-s for
" principem nostrum cum prcesidibus suis," and for " magis-
tratus. " Palmer compares an ancient Soissons formula,
" Life and victory to the Jiidr/es, and the whole army of the
Franks." The Preces of Fulda apparently refer to Magis-
trates in the words, " For all who are set in high place."
Our present form certainly points to the Tudor government
1)1/ the Sovereign in his Privv Council. "Truth" means the
Faith held bv the Ciiurch.
230
^bt litanp.
That it may please Tliee to bless and keep the
Magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice,
and to maintai)! truth ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless and keep all
Thy people ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Loud.
That it may please Thee to give to all nations
unity, peace, and concord ;
We beseech Tliee to hear its, good Lueii.
That it may please Thee to give us an heart to
love and dread Thee, and diligently to live after
Thy commandments ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give to all Thy
people increase of grace, to hear meekly Thy
Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and
to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bring into the
way of truth all such as have erred, and are
deceived ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to strengthen such
as do stand ; and to comfort and help the
weak-hearted ; and to raise up them that
fall ; and finally to beat down Satan under our
feet ;
We beseech Thee to hear its, good Lord.
Vt cunctum populum Christianuni (pretioso
sanguine Tuo redemptum) conservare digneris :
Te rogamus . . .
["Ut pacem et concordiani nobis dones.]
the Marjistrales] Cosin wished to substitute for "the
Magistrates " "all the subordinate Magistrates."
till Thy people] Compare Saruni, York, Hereford. So a
Litany of the ninth century in Muratori, i. 77, Carthusian,
and Dominican, Tours is nearer to our form, "to preserve
the whole Christian people." The Corbey MS. , " to remove
Thy wrath from the whole Christian people."
to gii-e to all nations nnilij, peace, and concord] This comes
partly from the old suffrage, " peace and true concord to our
King and Princes," and partly from the York. [See above.]
Mabillon's Anglican or Armorican prays for peace and unity
to be given to the whole Christian people ; as does the Roman.
In our present suffrage "unity" may be understood in a
religious or spiritual sense, while "peace" would mean
freedom from external foes, and "concord" freedom from
internal dissension.
to give us an heart to love] 1544. Similar prayers e.xist iu
ancient Litanies ; thus, the Corbey MS. , ' ' right faitli, and a
sure hope in Thy goodness, Lord Jesus." The Fleury, "to
give us holy love . . . right faith . . . firm hope." So the
Chigi MS., in three suH'ragea for faith, hope, and love.
Parisian, for the same, in one sulTrage. Compare also the
Sarum, "That Thou wouldest make the obedience of our
service reasonable . . . That Thou wouldest lift up our minds
to heavenly desires." So the Dominican. TheSarnm Primer,
"ord.ain in Thy holy will our days .and works." lioman has
also, "to strengthen and keep us in Thy holy service." The
Anglican or Armorican, "Grant us perseverance in good works
. . . keep us in true faith and religion." " Dread," in the
sense of holy and reverent fear ; which can never be dis-
pensed with by faithful worshippers of the God-Man, Who
will come to be their Judge. Here again is a thought much
needeil iu times when there is a tendency to dwell on our
Lord's human character without due regard to the Divinity
of His Person.
to r/ive to all Thy people increase of grace] A beautiful com-
bination of the passage about the good ground in the par.able
of the Sower, with James i. 21 and Gal. v. 22. Its date is
L544 ; but the Sarum Primer has something like it, " Vouch-
safe to inform ua with right-ruled under.standings," from " Ut
rogularibus dieciplinis nns inatrucre digneris." [MS. Lit. of
fifteenth century, Univ. Coll.j The same form is in Cister-
cian and Dominican, and h.as a monastic import. And the
Primer of 15,3.5 has the first form of it, "to give the hearers
of Thy Word lively grace to understand it, and to work there-
after, by the virtue of the Holy Ghost." So Hermann, "to
give the hearers increase of Thy Word, and the fruit of the
Spirit." Litanies for the Sick have similar topics, " to pour
into his heart the grace of the Holy Spirit ... to bestow on
him grace ;" and the Ordo Romanus, Utrecht, Carthusian,
and Eucharistic Litany in Chigi's MS., have "to pour into
our hearts," etc. An exquisite Litany in the Breviary of the
Congregation of St. Maur prays, "That Thou wouldest write
Thy law in our hearts . . . wouldest give Thy servants a
teachable heart . . . That we may do Thy will with all our
heart and mind . . . That we may gladly take on us Thy
sweet yoke," etc.
(0 bring into the ^my of truth] In 1544. After 15.'55, "That
all which do err and be deceived may be reduced into the
way of verity." Hermann, "err.antes et seductos reducere
in viam veritatis. " The Church has always prayed for this.
So St. Clement of Rome, " Convert those of Thy people who
are gone astray." [Ep. Cor. c. 59.] "It becomes us to pray
for all who are gone astray." [St. ATHAN.-isir.s, rfe Sent. Dion.
27.] St. Chrysostom's Liturgy prays for those who are wan-
dering in error. "Thou hearest God's Priest at the altar,
exhorting God's people to pray for the unbelievers, that
God would convert them to the faith. " [St. Aug. Ep. 217.]
Compare the old Gelasian intercession on Good Friday, for all
heretics and all in error ; the Mozarabio I'rcces for the same
day, " May forgiveness set riglit those who err from the
faith;" and, still more like our suttrage, the Lyons form,
"That Thou wouldest bring back the erring into the way
of salvation."
to strengthen such as do stand] 1544. Hermann, "stantes
confortare."
the n-eak-hearled] 1544. Primer of 15,35 prays for those
who are "weak in virtue, and soon overcome in tempta-
tion." Hermann, " pusillanimes et tent.atos consolari et
adjuvare." So St. Clement of Rome, " Comfort the faint-
hearted."
that fall] 1544. Compare the old G«lasian prayer at
Absolution of Penitents, "succurre lapsis." Hermann,
" l.apsos erigere." St. Clement of Rome, "Raise up the
fallen."
heat down Satan] 1544. From Rom. xvi. 20 ; a text quoted
in the Intercessory Prayer of St. Mark's Litnrg}-. Compare
the Greek OlHce for making a Catechumen. I'mucr of 151)5,
" That we may the devil, with all his pomps, crush and tread
under foot." Hermann, " Ut Satanam eul) pedibua nostris
conterere digneris." Strasburg, "That Thou wouldest grant
us heavenly armour .against the devil."
€\)t Litani).
2X1
That it may please Thee to succour, help, and
comfort, all that are in danger, necessity, and
tribulation ;
We beseech Thee to hear ns, yuod Loud.
That it may please Thee to preserve all that
travel by land or by ■water, all women labouring
of child, all sick persons, and young children ; and
to shew Thy pity upon all prisoners and captives;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to defend, and provide
for, the fatherless children, and widows, and all
that are desolate and oppressed ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lonn.
That it may please Thee to have mercy upon
all men ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to forgive our ene-
mies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn
their hearts ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give and preserve
to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as
in due time we may enjoy them ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
i' [Borli. niiiciii.g
f)f Itedes. A.u.
1403.J
•^ Igorli.l
" Ut mLserias pauperum
Te rogamus, audi nos.
relevarc digneris ;
[''... for all parishiors whereso they be on land
or on water . . . and for all women that are with
child in this parish . . . for all them that are
sick . . .]
[' Ut fratribus nostris et omnibus fidelibus
infinnis sanitatem mentis et cori)oris donare dig-
neris : Te rogamus, audi nos.]
Ut miserias . . . captivorum intueri et rele-
vare digneris : Te rogamus, audi nos.
Ut fructus terras dare et conservare digneris :
Te rogamus, audi nos.
to succour, help, and comfort] 1544. Primer of 1535 prays
for "all extreme poverty," "Thy people in affliction or
in peril, and danger by fire, water, or land." Hermann,
" afilictos et periclitantes. " Sarum and York have "to
look upon and relieve the miseries of the poor." So
Dominican.
all that travel] 1544. Compare Hereford, "Tliat Thou
wouldest dispose the journey of Thy servants iti salutis tnn-
prosperitate" (as in the Collect, "Assist us mercifully,"
originally a prayer for one about to travel) ; and Dominican,
"to bring to a harbour of safety all faithful persons, iiarii/autcn
et ittneranles."
all women labonriii;/ of child] So Primer of 1535, "that
teeming women may have joyful speed iu their labour. " So
Hermann, for " pregnant women. "
all skk j^f^rsoiis, and younrj children] So Primer of 1535,
for "sick people." So Hermauii, for "infants, and the
sick."
cdl prisoners and captiivs] So Hermann. Compare tlie
Sarum and Primer for "thralls." This intercession of the
English Lit.any had also probably a special reference to
Christians in captivity among the Mahometans in Algiers,
etc. Many legacies were left for the redemption of such
captives, and briefs were sometimes issued for the same
purpose.
the fatherless children, and widotcK] One of the teuderest
jjetitions in the Prayer Book, and full of touching significance,
as offered to Him Who intrusted His Mother to His Apostle.
It was placed here in 1544 (tlie words being clearly suggested
by such passages as Ps. c.\lvi. 9; Jer. .\lix. 11), but, like other
passages of that date, is true to the old spirit of Church
prayer. St. Mark's Liturgy prays for the widow and tlio
orphan. Hermann, ' ' Ut pupillos et viduas protegere et pro-
videre digneris."
all that are desolate and oppressed] In these words the
Church seems to sweep the wliole field of the sorrow whicli
comes from "man's inhumanity to man," and which no
civilization can alxilish ; and invokes fur every such sufferer
the lielp of Him Whose sympathy is for all at once, and for
each as if tliere were none beside. This indeed is one of the
most stupendous results of the Incarnation, although perhaps
but seldom faced in thought : that our Lord's sacred Heart is,
so to speak, really accessible at once to all who need its inex-
liaustible compassion : He cares for each, not only as God,
but as Man, with a special, personal, human tenderness, to
wliich His Godlicad gives a marvellous capacity of extension.
Compare also this and the preceding suffrages of our Litany,
with intercessions in St. Clement of Rome's Epistle, "Shew
Tliyself to those who are in need . . . feed tlio liungry . . .
ransom those of us who are in bonds ; " in St. Chrysostom's
Liturgy, "for the young, for those that travel by land or by
water ;" in St. Basil's, "Sail Thou with the voyagers, travel
with the travellers, stand forth for the widows, shield the
orpliaus, deliver the captives, heal the sick, remember all wlio
are in affliction or necessity . . .be all things to all men ;"
with the Gelasian prayer on Good Friday, that God would
"open prisons, loosen chains, grant a return to travellers,
health to the sick, a safe harbour to those at sea ;" and witli
tlie Ambrosian Preces for first Sunday in Lent, "for orphans,
captives . . . voyagers, travellers, those placed in prisons,
in mines " (at forced Labour there), " in exile. "
mcrci/ npon all nun] Tliis also is of 1544 : the Primer of
1535 had expressed the same all-comprehending charity :
" Tliat unto all people Tliou wilt shew Thy inestimable mercy."
The Church has ever pr.iyed for all men. That her prayers
do not avail for all, is not from any defect in her charity, or
in the Divine benignity, but from tlie bar which a rebellious
will can oppose to the powers of the kingdom of grace.
Bishop Duppa's note is, "The objection against this is
answered by what St. Paul saith, 1 Tim. ii. 4 : tlie prayer
being made in the same sense as God is said to will that all
men sliould be saved." [Com}). Hooker, v. 49.]
foiyire our enemie.i] 1544; Primer of 1535, "forgive all
warriors, persecutors, and oppressors of Thy people, and con-
vert them to grace." Our present form (wliich is the same as
Hermann's) is certainly preferable, and more like the Anglo-
Saxon, "to bestow on our enemies peace and love." Com-
pare St. Chrysostom's Liturgy: "For those Miio liate and
persecute us for Thy Name's sake, tliat Tiiou wouldest
convert tlieni to what is good, and ajipease tlieir Mratli
against us."
to (jive and preserve to our nse the kindl;/ fruits] " Kindly "
means natural, produced after their kind. [See Archbishop
Teexch, English I'ast and Present, p. 167.] So Wj-clifl'e
and Purvey, Rom. xi. 21, " the kyiidli br.anches ; " and Much
Ailo about Nothing, iv. 1, " that natural and kindly power,"
etc. This suffrage may represent to us the oldest AVestern
use of Litanies, to avert excessive drouglits or rains, and
to secure a good harvest. Tlie substance of it is in Sarum,
York, aud Hereford, as in Anglo-Saxon, Lyons, Roman,
Cistercian, Dominican. Y'^ork adds, " Ut aeris temperiem
bonam nobis dones. " So Ordo Romanus and Utrecht.
So Tours, "give us the fruit of the earth . . . serenity of
sky . . . good temperature of we.ather. " So the Fleury:
for "abundance of fruits, serenity of sky, seasonable rain."
So in Ambrosi.au Preces: "Pro aeris temperie, ac fructu, et
fecunditate terrarum, precamur te. " The Sarum Primer asks
for "wholesome and reasonable air. " Compare the anthems
2^2
Clje iLitanj).
That it ma}- please Tliee to give us true repent-
ance ; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and
ignorances ; and to endue us ■with the grace of
Thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to
Thy holy "\Vord ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Son of God : ^-e beseech Thee to hear us.
Sox of God : we beseech Thee to hear us.
O Lamb of God : that takest away the sins of
the world ;
Grant us Thy peace.
Lamb of Goo : that takest away the sius of
the world ;
Have mercy upon us.
O Cheist, hear us.
Christ, hear us.
IT [111 elevatione cor-
poris Christi. Horae
B. \". M. A.D.
1530.]
t> Cami. Ps. 25. 6.
\'ulB.
rf [Lyons.)
/Wer.l
sun" proce3sioiially iu Sarum for rain or fair weather. "0
Lord, King, God of Abraham, give us rain over the face of
the earth, that this people may learn that Thou art the Lord
our God, Alleluia." Jer. xiv. 22 is then quoted. Then, " The
waters are come in like a flood, God, over our heads :"
then Ps. Ixix. 1.
Iu the Prayer Book as used iu the Isle of Man there is
added "and to restore and continue to us the blessings of
the seas," a petition which has reference to the herring
fisliery. These words were inserted in 1705 by Bishop
Wilson with the approval of the insular government ; and
lie was enabled to do so witliout contravening the Act
of Uniformity, as that Act does not extend to the Isle of
Man.
so as in due time] Was added 1544. The whole suf-
frage was never more valuable than at a time like the present,
when there is a tendency to substitute " laws of nature " for
a Living God, and to ignore the fact that behind, above,
beneath, around all "laws " is the absolute sovereign Person-
ality of Him Who "is ever present with His works, one by
one, and confronts everything which He has made by His
particular and most loving Providence," at once the Lord of
life and death, of health and sickness, of rain and drought,
of plenty and famine. If men will not pray for seasonable
weather, they cannot logically pray for recovery from sick-
ness, for escape from sliipwreck, or any temporal good
whatever. Such prayer leaves it to God to employ what
means He will.
to give us true repentance; to fort/ ire ns] This suffrage, as
it stands, was framed in 1544. Sarum, York, and Hereford
have not this petition for repentance, but Roman has it, with
prayers for pardon, before the suffrage for tha Church. [See
above.] York has, "That it may please Thee to give us
remission of all our sins : " so the Ordo Romanus, which also
asks for "spatium pitnitentise ; " and Sarum has "to bring
again upon us the eyes of Thy mercy." Carthusian, "spatium
pienitenti* et emeudationem vita- : " so the Chigi M.S., "That
Thou wouldest grant us a place of repentance ; " and Utrecht
asks for " compunction of heart and a fountain of tears ;" so
Tours; so Fleury, "to give us forgiveness of all our sins,
Lord Jesus, we beseech Thee . . . That Thou wouldest grant
us veram pcenitentiam ar/ere." Tlie ordinary Parisian has
suffrages for true repentance, for remission of all sins, for
compunction of heart and a fountain of tears. Litanies for
the Sick have several suffrages of this kind. Eatold's MS.
[in Menanl, note 92.3], "That Thou wouldest grant him com-
punction of lieart ... a fountain of tears . . . space of repent-
.ince, if possible." Moisac, "to bestow on him fruitful and
saving repentance ... a contrite and humbled heart ... a
fountain of tears." Salzburg, "compunction of heart. . . a
fountain of tears." Narbonne, "That Tliou wouldest give
him remission of all sins." Remiremont, " pardon, remission,
forgiveness of all liis sins," etc. So in the .Sarum Litany of
Commendation of the Soul, and the Jumii'ges Litany : "Cuncta
ejus peccata oblivioni perpetu;e traderc . . . remember not
the sins and iijnoranci'S of liia youth." This, from the Vulgate
of our Ps. XXV. 7, has supplied our present "sins . . . and
ignorances." "Negligentiam" occurs in the Vulgate of Numb.
V. 6. "Xegligenccs" mean careless omissions (compare Ham-
mond's prayer, " Lord, forgive my sins, especially my sins of
omi.ssion "). "Ignorances, ' faults done in ignorance of our
duty, eucli ignorance being itself a fault, because tlie result of
carelessness.
[" Sanguis Tuus, Domine Jesu Chkisti, pro
nobis effusus, sit luihi in remissionem omnium
peccatorum, negligentiarum, et ignorantiarum
mearum.*]
' FiLi Dei : Te rogamus, audi nos.
Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi : [' dona
nobis pacem.]
' Agnus Dei, Qui tollis peccata mundi : miserere
nobis.
[^Christe, audi nos.]
Among the medieval suffrages omitted in our present
Litany are, "That Thou wouldest repay everlasting good to
our benefactors . . . that Thou wouldest give eternal rest to all
the faithful departed . . . that it may please Thee to visit and
comfort this place ; " and last of all the petitions came, "That
it may please Thee to hear us ; " as now in the Roman. This
was omitted in 1544 as superfluous.
Son of God} The Sarum rule, in the procession after the
Mass "for brethren and sisters," was that the choir sliould
repeat in full "Son of God," etc., with the Agnus and the
Kyrie. Tallis' Litany shews that this practice was continued
by our Choirs.
Lamb of God] The custom of saying Agnus Dei here is
referred to in the Gelasian Rubric for Easter Eve. In Sarum,
York, Hereford, as now in Roman and Parisian, Carthusian,
Dominican, the Agnus is thrice said. Tlie Sanim responses
are, " Hear us, O Lord, Spare us, O Lord, Have mercy upon
us : " the first a"nd second of these are transposed in Roman
and Parisian, as in York, Hereford, Dominican. The responses
in Tours were, " Spare us. Give us pardon, Hear us." The
Ordo Romanus has a twofold Agnus. Lyons a fourfold, with
"Spare us. Deliver us, Grant us peace. Have mercy upon
us : " so that our present form is just the second half of Lyons.
The Agnus conies but once in the Cistercian. " Grant us
peace " is the third response in Utrecht, Carthusian, Hermann.
The Sarum Litany for the Dying had also, "Grant him peace:"
the ordinary Sarum Litany had a special suffrage for peace,
and "Grant us peace " was familiar as the response to the
third Agnus said at Mass, immediately after the breaking of
the Blessed Sacrament ; the Primer of 1535 has "Have mercy,
Have mercy, Give us peace and rest."
tliat takest away the sins] The great value of this sup-
plication consists in its recognition of our Blessed Lord as
the Victim that was once indeed slain, but is of perpetual
efficacy. He took away our sins, in one sense, by His aton-
ing Passion : and the Atonement can never be repeated.
In another sense. He continually lakes away our sins, by
appearing for us as " the Lamb that was slain," presenting
Himself as such to the Father, and pleading the virtue of His
death. In this sense, as Bishop Phillpotts says [Pastoral of
1851, p. 54], " though once for all ofl'ered, that Sacrifice is ever
living and continuous . . . ToHini His Churcli . . . continufiUy
cries, ' Lamb of God' . . . not, ' that tookest away,' but still
'takest.^" With regard to the petition to the Prince of
Peace, Who "is our Peace," for peace, compare the second
Collect at Evensong. It is Christ's peace, not the world's :
and this is brought out by the addition of " 7'/i;/ " in our
form. Very touching are the entreaties in the Litany of
the Abbey of St. Denis for St. Mark's Day [Martenc, iv.
353], "0 Bestower of peace, vouchsafe us perpetual peace,
Have mercy . . . O benignant Jesus, receive our souls in
peace," etc.
Christ, hear «.5] Hereford : so too in Sarum Primer and
Roman. Tlie Supplication also occurs in Mabillon's Caroline
Litany; after " Agnus ... mundi, Christ, hear ns ; three
Kyries ; Christ reigns, Christ commands, ( hrist conquers
(thrice), Christ, hearns." It also occurs in liis Anj;lican, or
Armorican. Lyons, Corbey, Tours, have it tluicc, Stras-
burg once. The ordinary Ambrosian Litany has thrice,
"0 Christ, hear our voices:" tlien thrice, "Hear, God,
and have mercy upon us." Such "repetitions" are not
"vain," unless those in Ps. cxxxvi. are so ; and compare St.
Matt. xxvi. 44.
Ct)e ititanp.
233
Lord, Lave mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upion us.
IT Then shall the Priest, and the People with him,
say the Lord's Prayer.
OUK Father, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
H * Priest.
O Lord, deal not with us after our .sins.
■"Answer.
Neither reward us after our iniquities.
II Let us pray.
OGOD, merciful Father, that despisest not
the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the
desire of such as be sorrowful ; MercifuHy assist
our prayers that we make before Thee in all our
troul)les and adversities, whensoever they oppress
us ; and graciously hear us, that those evils
which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man
worketli against us, be brought to nought ; and
by the providence of Thy goodness they may be
dispersed ; that we Thy servants, being hurt by
no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto
Thee in Thy holy Church ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thy
Name's sake.
"Sar.
I* The Vet-sicU [1549-
1662).
I66aj.
" Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
PATER nostcr, Qui es in coelis ; sanctificetur
nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum :
fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in ccelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodic : et
dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimitti-
mus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in
tentationem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
DoMiNE, non secundum peccata nostra facias
nobi.s.
Neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuas
nobis.
DEUiS, Qui contritorum non despicis gemi-
tum, et mcerentium non spernis affectum ;
adesto precibus nostris, quas pietati Tuse pro
tribulatioue nostra offerimus : implorantes ut nos
clementer respicias, et solito pietatis Tuse intuitu
tribuas, ut quicquid contra nos diabolicoe fraudes
atque humanfe moliuntur adversitates ad nihi-
lum redigas, et consilio misericordiaj Tuse allidas :
quatenus nullis adversitatibus laesi, sed ab omni
tribulatione et angustia liberati, gratias Tibi in
ecclesia Tua referamus consolati. Per.
Exurge, Domine, adjuva
propter nomen Tuum.
nos, et libera nos
Lord, have merri/] Sarum, York, etc. This is the only occa-
sion on which, with us, the people repeat every one of the
three sentences of the Kyrie after the Minister. Such was
the old Sarum rule as to this Kyrie. [See also p. 199.]
THE SUFFRAGES.
Our Father] Here begins the Second Part of the Litany. At
some few Cathedrals two Lay Clerks sing the Litany at the
faldstool to Tallis' music as far as this, that music extending
no further, and the rest is said by one of the Priests.
Lord, deal not with ws] In Sarum this verse and response,
adapted from Ps. ciii. 10, were separated from the Lord's
Prayer by " O Lord, shew Thy mercy — And grant — Let Thy
mercy come also upon us, Lord, Even Thy salvation, accord-
ing to Thy word : We have sinned with our fathers, We have
done amiss and dealt wickedly. " In York only this last verse
and response intervene. In Roman, "0 Lord, deal not,"
comes later. In the ordinary Parisian it comes, as with us,
immediately after the Lord's Prayer.
after onr sins] That is, " according to our sins." So Ham-
let says, "Use every man after his desert, and who shall
'scape whipping ? " [Hamlet, ii. 2].
God, merciful Father] This is very slightly altered from
the Collect in the Sarum Mass, "pro tribulatione cordis :" the
Epistle being 2 Cor. i. .3-5 ; the Gospel, S. John xvi. 20-22.
There is something pathetically significant in this adoption
(1544) into the ordinary Litany of a prayer composed for
"cloudy and dark days." It may remind us of the selection
of part of this same passage from 2 Cor. i., as the capitulum
of the ordinary Sunday Vespers in Roman, and Saturday
Vespers in Sarum. The lesson is obvious — that God is always
needed as a Comforter. It may bo added that a somewhat
different version of this Sarum prayer occurs in the Missal
published in 1552 by Flacius Illyricus, and supposed to repre-
sent the use of Salzburg in the tenth or eleventh century. By
comparing our English with the Sarum form, it will be seen
that we have added "merciful Father," "Thy servants,"
" evermore," and made a general reference to "all " troubles,
"whensoever they oppress us : " omitting a reference to God's
"accustomed " loving-kindness, — the clause, "but delivered
from all tribulation and distress," — and "being comforted"
in the final clause. Hermann's and Luther's form is very like
ours, but somewhat stronger, "in the afflictions which con-
tinually oppress us."
Lord, arise] This, the last verse of our Psalm xliv.,
slightly altered, occurs, after several Preces. in the York
Litany. It also occurs in the Sarum and York rites for
Rogation Monday. In Sarum the whole choir in their stalls
repeated this "0 Lord, arise," with Alleluia. Then was
said, ' ' God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have
told us," that being the whole of the first verse of the psalm
according to the Vulgate : and then "immediately follows,
Gloria." Then again, " Lord, arise : " after which the pro-
cession set forth, the chanter commencing the Antiphon,
"Arise, ye saints, from your abodes," etc. Another Anti-
phon began, "We and all the people will walk in the Name
of the Lord our God." In York the first "Exurge" was an
anthem, "in eundo cantanda ; '' then came the first verse of
the psalm, then a second "Exurge," after which the next
words of the psalm were recited, "The work which Thou
didst," etc., and so on through the whole psalm : "Exurge"
being again said at the end. Among the processional Anti-
phons was, "Kyrie eleison, Thou Who by Thy precious
blood hast rescued the world from the jaws of the accursed
serpent." It may be observed that in "Exurge" the
"redime " of the Vulgate was altered into "libera : " and in
234
Cbe iLitanp.
OGOD, we have heard with our ears, and
our fathers have declared unto us, the
uoble works that Thou didst in their days, and
in the old time before them.
Lord, arise, helj) ns, and deliver us for Thine
Iwnour.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sox : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
Answer.
As it wa^ in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
From our enemies defend us, Cheist.
Graciously look upon our afflictions.
Pitifully behold the ''sorrows of our hearts.
Mercifully forr/ive lite sins of Thy i^eople.
Favourably with mercy hear our prayers.
Son of David, have mercy upon us.
Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us, O
Christ.
Graciously hear us, Christ ; (jraciously hear
lis, Lord Christ.
T "Triest.
O Lord, let Thy mercy be shewed upon us ;
' Answer.
As we do put our trust in Thee.
IT Let us pray.
TTTE humbly beseech Thee, O Father, mer-
V V cifully to look upon our infirmities ; and
o[gorl;.]
* Sar.
r (/y.Vr [1544I-
rf T/tf Versicle [1545-
I66=].
1662].
DEUS, auribus nostris audivimus, patresque
nostri annuntiaverunt nobis,
[■'Opus quod operatus es in diebus eorum, et in
diebus antiquis.]
'^Exurge, DoMiNE, adjuva nos, et libera nos
propter nomen Tuum.
Gloria Patei, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula sjeculorum. Amen.
Ab inimicis nostris defende nos, Cheistk.
Afflictionem nostram benignus vide.
Dolorem cordis nostri respice clemens.
Peccata populi Tui plus indulge.
Orationes nostras pius exaudi.
Fili (Dei vivi), miserere nobis.
Hie et in perpetuum nos custodire digueris,
Christe.
Exaudi nos, Cheiste ; exaudi, exaudi nos,
Cheiste.
Fiat misericordia Tua, Domine, super nos.
Quemadmodum speravimus in Te.
INFIEMITATEM nostram.qusesumus, Domine,
propitius respice, et mala omnia qufe juste
the second repetitioa of "0 Lord, arise," we have altered
"Name's sake " into " honour."
God, v:e have heard] An appropriate representative of
the Psalmody which followed tlie Litanies. [Jeee's Choral
Service, p. 426. ] In the ordinary Saruin Litaii}', as used out
of Rogation-tide, there is no psalm : our Litany, as we have
seen, here represents the old Kogation use. It also resembles
the present Roman Litany, inasmuch as the latter has a
psalm (our 70th) with a Gloria, after tlie Lord's Prayer :
after tlie psalm come certain Preces, partly intercessory, then
ten Collects, and a Conclusion. The ordinary Parisian has
Preces before the psalm, and twelve Collects after it. Tlie
order in Sarum, York, Hereford, is. Lord's Prayer, Preces,
and Collects : — seven in Sarum, ten in York (the York Use
has various minute resemblances to the Pionian), and nine in
Hereford. Among the York Collects are ours for the first
and fourth .Sundays after Trinity, — the Collect for Clergy
and People, — for Purity, — " God, Whose nature ; " "Assist
us;" "0 God, from Whom." With respect to the forty-
fourth Psalm, this fr.agment of it is specially apposite, as
suggesting the true comfort amid despondency. [Ooinp. Ps.
Ixxvii. 10; Isa. li. 9, etc. ] The history of God's p.ast mercies
is a fountain of hope for those who own Him as the Rock of
Ages, the " I AM" to all ages of His Church.
O Lord, arisf] In this repetition we have a relic of the
old use of Antiphons to intensify the leading idea of the
psalm as used at the time, [flee Keai,e's Commentary mi the
I'salnui, p. 40.]
Clorij] This Gloria is an appendage to "0 God, we have
heard." Coming as it does amid supplications for help, it
witnesses to the duty and the happiness of glorifying (!od
at all times and umler all circumstances, [t'omp. tlie end
of Ps. Ixxxix. ] " Deo gr.atias " w.is iu the fourth century a
perpetual watchword; .and the " Yero dignum " testifies to
the duty of "giving th.anks always." [Comp. Acts xvi. 25.]
From our enemies] These Preces, to the end of "Graciously
hear us," were sung in procession, according to the use of
Sarum, on St. Mark's D.ay, "if it was necessary, in time of
war." The choir repeated every verse. They were also in
a Litany for the Dedication of a Church in the pontificals of
St. Dunstan, and of Egbert of York [a.d. 732-766]. In the
St. Denis Litauy [Martene, iv. 353] we have a touching series
of entreaties to Christ, "0 good Jesu, protect us everywhere
and always. Have mercy ... our Redeemer, let not Thy
Redemption be lost in us. Have mercy . . . Lord God our
King, pardon the guilt of us all. Have mercy," etc.
O Son of David] This is substituted for the " Fili Dei vivi"
of the Latin Litany, and it is not known why the variation
was introduced. The form "Jesu, Fili David, miserere
. . ." was, however, not an uucommon one in the popular
devotions of medi.-eval times. In the Book of Records of
University College, Oxford, there is an entry to the following
effect; " A composition twixt K. Henry Yll. and y<^ College
concerning Dame Anne late Countess of Warwick, 8 H. 7 . . .
and that the said JIaster, or any otlier Fellows of the said
place that so shall sing the said high Masse in his stede that
daye, sh.all devoutly remcmbre in his M.asse these words in his
second Memento : ' Jesu, Fili David, miserere anima; Famu-
I.ne tu;E Aline nuper Countesse Warwick ..." and that every
poure scholcr of the ten poure scholers founded by the cliarit-
a1)le alms of the Founders of the said College shall say
devoutly kneeling on their knees, betweene the Levation and
the Reception of the most glorious and blessed Body of Criste,
'Jesu, Fili D.avid, miserere f.amuUc tua; ... '"
Similar words are also found in a Composition of a Bene-
factor to M,agdalen College, Oxford, in the time of Henry
VIII., "Jesu Fili David, miserere famuli tui Roberti. " [Stat,
JUa'/d. Coll. Oxford, ii. 121.]
The words were in use even at a much earlier date ; —
" Voce lamentnljili ct quivrula olnniavit,
Creaturani respice Tuum, l-'ili David."
These verses occurring in the Dialoi/ue between Body and
Soul, a poem known in almost every European language, and
translated into Latin by Walter Mapes about tlie end of the
twelfth century. [J'oons of Ji/apv.f, Cnmd. Soo. ed. p. 105.]
O Lord, lei Thy mercy] This verse and response, Ps.
xxxiii. 21, are part of the Sarum Preces of Prime. In several
editions of our Litany they were called the Versicle and the
Aniuxr.
Il'c humbly beseech Thee] This is an enlarged and improved
ipragcrs anD Cbanksgitiings.
235
for the glory (if Thy "Name turn from us all
those evil-s that we most righteously have deserved ;
and grant, that in all our troubles we may put
our whole trust and confidence in Thy mercy,
and evermore serve Thee in holiness and pureness
of living, to Thy honour and glory, through our
only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.''
IT A Prayer of St. Chrysostorn.
■ALMIGHTY God, Who hast given us grace at
--LA- this time with one accord to make our
common supplications unto Thee ; and dost pro-
mise, that when two or three are gathered to-
gether in Thy iS^'ame Thou wilt grant their
requests ; Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and
petitions of Thy servants, as may be most ex-
pedient for them ; granting us in this world
knowledge of Thy truth, and in the world to come
life everlasting. Amen.
IT '2 Cor. xiii.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
i06.;J.
b Tlic Prayer for the
Sovcrciilii .Tlul tli.ll
for the Clergy fol
lowed here in 1559 ;
and Ihe Prayers for
the Koyal Family
and for Einbcr
Weeks were placed
after that for the
Sovereign in 1604.
c This Benedictinn
was inserted in
meremur (omnium
cessionibus) avertc.
Sanctorum
Per.
Tuorum inter-
Here endeth tlie Litany.
PRAYERS.
IT Prayers and Thanksgivings upon several occasions, to lie used before tli(
and Evening Prayer.
two final Prayers of tlie Litany, or of Morning
"PRAYERS.
O
H For Rain.
GOD, heavenly Father, Who by Thy Son
Jesus Christ hast promised to all them
a See notes below
that seek Thy Kingdom, and the righteousness
thereof, all things necessary to their bodily sus-
tenance ; Send us, we beseech Thee, in this our
form of the Sarum Collect in the Memorial of All Saints
(among the Memorite Coinmunes at the end of Lauds, fcria 2).
In 1544 it ran simply, "We humbly . . . and for the glory
of Thy Name salce, turn from us all tliose evils that we most
righteously have deserved. Grant this, O Lord God, for our
Mediator and Advocate, Jesu Christ's sake ; " and was fol-
lowed by four otlier Collects and the Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
In 1549 it took its present form, save tliat ' ' Name sake " was
still read, and that "holiness " was not prefixed to " pureness "
until 1552.
A Prayer of St. Chrysostom] This was added to the end
of the Litany on its first introduction in its present form, in
1544.
The (/race of our Lord] Was placed at the end of the Litany,
after tlie Prayer of St. Chrysostom, in the Queen's Chai^el
Litany of 155S. [i'ee note to it, p. 205.]
THE OCCASIONAL PRAYERS.
This collection of prayers and thanksgivings for special
occasions was appended to Morning and Evening Prayer in
1661, but some of the prayers liad been in use at an earlier
date. Such a collection had occupied a place at the end of
the ancient Service-books of the Church : and the use of
prayers similar to these is very ancient.
In a printed Missal of 1514 (wliich formerly belonged to
Bishop Cosin, and is now in his Library at Durham) tliere
are Missc-e and Memoriae Communes (among others) witli tlie
followincr titles : —
Memoriae Commxmes.
Contra aereas tempestates.
invasores ecclesis.
adversantes.
paganos.
Miss(c.
Missa pro serenitate ac;ris.
• — pluvia.
tempore belli.
contra mortalitatem Ik
niiuum.
pro peste animalium.
But such occasional prayers were not uniformly the same
in the ancient Service-books ; varj'ing at different times
according to the necessities of the period and of the locality.
In the first edition of the English Prayer Book two
occasional prayers, the one "for Rain," and the other "for
fair Weather," were inserted among the Collects at the end of
the Communion Service. These were the same as those now
placed here. Four more were added in 1552, the two "in
time of Dearth," and those " in time of War," and of " Plague
or Sickness ; " and the whole six were then placed at the end
of the Litany. Thanksgivings corresiJunding to these were
added in 1604 : and the remainder, both of the pra3'ers and
thanksgivings, were added in 1(;61, when all were placed
where they now stand. These occasional Pr.ayers and Thanks-
givings are almost entirelj' original compositions, tliough they
were evidently composed by divines who were familiar with
expressions used for the same objects in the old Services.
With several a special interest is connectcil. but others may
be passed over without further notice. What few clianges
were made in this collection of occasional prayers are trace-
able to Bishop Cosin, except the important insertion of the
236
iprapcrs anD CbanfeiSfgitimp.
necessity, such moderate rain and sliowers, that
we may receive the fruits of the earth to our com-
fort, and to Thy honour ; through Jesus Chkist
our Lord. Amen.
Xl For fair Weather.
O ALMIGHTY Lord God, Who for the sin of
man didst once drown all the world, except
eight persons, and afterward of Thy great mercy
didst promise never to destroy it so again ; We
humbly beseech Thee, that although we for our
iniquities have worthily deserved a plague of
rain and waters, yet upon our true repentance
Thou wilt send us such weather, as that we may
receive the fruits of the earth in due season ; and
learn both by Thy punishment to amend our
lives, and for Thy clemency to give Thee praise
and glory ; through Jesus Chrlst our Lord.
Ameyi.
T lu tlie time of Dearth and Famine.
OGOD, heavenly Father, Whose gift it is,
that the rain doth fall, the earth is fruit-
ful, bea.sts increase, and fishes do multiply;
Behold, we beseech Thee, the afflictions of Thy
people ; and grant that the scarcity and dearth
(which we do now most justly suffer for our
iniquity), may through Thy goodness be merci-
fully turned into cheapness and plenty, for the
love of Jesus Christ our Lord ; to Whom with
Thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and
glory, now and for ever. Amen.
II Or this.
OGOD, merciful Father, Who, in the time
of Elisha the prophet, didst suddenly in
Samaria turn great scarcity and dearth into
plenty and cheapness ; Have mercy upon us, that
we, who are now for our sins punished with like
adversity, may likewise find a seasonable relief :
Increase the fruits of the eartli by Thy heavenly
benediction ; and grant that we, receiving Thy
bountiful liberality, may use the same to Thy
glory, the relief of those that are needy, and our
own comfort, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ameti.
IT In the time of War and Tumults.
O ALMIGHTY God, King of all kings, and
Governor of all things, Whose power no
creature is able to resist, to Whom it belongeth
justly to punish sinners, and to be merciful to
them that truly repent ; Save and deliver us, we
humbly beseech Thee, from the hands of our
enemies ; abate their pride, assuage their malice,
and confound their devices ; that we, being
armed with Thy defence, may be preserved ever-
more from all perils, to glorify Thee, Who art the
only Giver of all victory; through the merits
of Thy only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
II In the time of any common Plague or Sickness.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who in Thy wrath didst
send a plague upon Thine own people in
the wilderness for their obstinate rebellion against
Moses and Aaron ; and also, in the time of
king David, didst slay with the plague of pesti-
lence threescore and ten thousand, and yet re-
membering Thy mercy didst save the rest; Have
pity upon us miserable sinners, who now are
visited with great sickness and mortality ; that
like as Thou didst then accept of an atonement,
and didst command the destroying Angel to
cease from punishing, so it may now please Thee
to withdraw from us this plague and grievous
sickness ; through Jesus Christ our Loed.
Amen.
II In the Ember Weeks to be said every day, for those
that are to be admitted into Holy Orders.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, Who
-lA. hast purchased to Thyself an universal
Prayer for the Parliament, that for all Conditions of Men,
and the General Thanksgiving. The Rubric standing at the
head of the prayers is Cosin's ; but he would have explained
"occasional" by adding "if the time require" at the end of
it ; which words were not printed. His revised Prayer Book
also contains a rubrical heading in the margin, "For the Par-
liament and Convocation durinrj their sessions," but no prayer
is annexed. [See further, notes on the Prayer for the Parlia-
ment. ]
§ In the time of Dearth and Famine.
The second of these prayers was — for what reason is not
apparent— left out of the Prayer Book in several of the
editions published during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and
James I. Bishop Cosin wrote it in the margin of his revised
Prayer Book, and it was reinserted in IGG), with some slight
alterations of his making.
§ In the time of any common Plague or Sickness.
The Collect form which is so strictly preserved in these
prayers was strengthened in this one by the addition of
another Scriptural allusion in the Invocation. This— from
"didst send a plague" as far ,%3 "and also" — was inserted
by Bishop Cosin. as were also the words relating to the
Atonement ofTered. The general tendency of such alterations
by Bishop Cosin was to raise the objective tone of the prayers
here and elsewhere, making our addresses to Ciod of a more
reverent and humble character.
§ The Ember Collects.
ererij da;/] The principle laid down in the Rubric before
the Collects, Epistles, and Ciospels applies to the use of these
Collects. One of them ought, therefore, to be said at Even-
song of the Saturday before Ember \\'eek, and at Mattins
and Evensong every day afterwards until the Ordination
Suiulay. The Evensong previous to the latter should be in-
cluded as being the eve of the Sund.ay itself.
The first of these Ember Collects is to be found in Bishop
Cosin's Collection of Private Derations, which was first
published in 1627.^ It is also found in the margin of the
Durham Prayer Book in his handwriting, with a slight
alteration made by him at the end after it was ^^Titten in.
No trace of it has hitherto been discovered in any early
collections of prayers or in the ancient Services ; and therefore
it may be concluded th,at it is an original composition of
Bishop Cosin's, to whom we are thus indebted for one of the
most beautiful and striking pr,ayers in the Prayer Book, and
one which is not surpassed by anything in the ancient Sacra-
mentarics or the Eastern Liturgies. Tlie second Collect is
taken from the Ordination Services, and is written into the
margin of the Durham Prayer Book under the other in the
handwriting of Sancroft, having been already inserted at the
1 An earlier odilion was privately printftl, but iliis tli*' writer hns not
Rflcn. .Sec llip addreSH of the printer to tlie rea-lcr in a lieauliful copy of
Uic lf'27 edition wliich i» preserved in the Briti.sli Museum Library
Iprapcts ano Cbanfesgitiings.
237
Church by the precious blood of Thy dear Son ;
Mercifully look upon the same, and at this time
so guide and govern the minds of Thy servants
the Bishops and Pastors of Thy flock, that they
may lay hands suddenly on no man, but faith-
fully and wisely make choice of fit persons to
serve in the sacred Ministry of Thy Church.
And to those which shall be ordained to any
holy function, give Thy grace and heavenly bene-
diction ; that both by their life and doctrine they
may set forth Thy glory, and set forward the sal-
vation of all men ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
H Or this.
ALMIGHTY God, the Giver of all good gifts,
-^^A_ "Who of Thy divine providence hast
appointed divers orders in Thy Church ; Give
Thy grace, we humbly beseech Thee, to all those
who are to be called to any oflice and adminis-
tration in the same ; and so replenish them with
the truth of Thy doctrine, and endue them with
innocency of life, that they may faithfully serve
before Thee, to the glory of Thy great is'ame, and
the benefit of Thy holy Church, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Ameti.
IT A Prayer that may be said after any of the former.
OGOD, Whose nature and property is ever
to have mercy and to forgive, receive our
humble petitions ; and though we be tied and
bound with the chain of our sins, yet let the piti-
fulness of Thy great mercy loose us, for the
honour of Jesus Christ, our Mediator and
Advocate. Amen.
IT A Prayer for the High Court of Parliament to be
read during their Session.
MOST gracious God, we humbly beseech
Thee, as for this Kingdom in general, so
especially for the High Court of Parliament,
under our most religious and gracious Queen at
^ &nr. Greg. Sacr.
Oraltones pro pec.
catis. Mur. ii. 300.
b Form of Prayer
for the fast day in
1625, 1643, i644i and
1648.
"T^EUS, Cui proprium est misereri semper et
-L^ parcere, suscipe deprecationem nostram :
ut quos delictorum catena constringit, miseratio
Tua2 pietatis absolvat. Per Christum Dominum
nostrum.
'~\ /TOST gracious God, we humbly beseech
J-V-L Thee, as for this Kingdom in general,
so especially for the High Court of Parliament,
under our most religious and gracious King at
end of tlie Litany in the Prayer Book for the Church of
Scotland, printed in 16.37.
Under the old system of the Church there were special
masses for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at all the
four Ember Seasons ; but the use of a special prayer every
day daring the Ember Weeks is peculiar to the modern Church
of England. It may be added that the very pointed character
of the words used is also modern, the older Ember-day
Collects and Post-Communions making little direct reference
to the ordainers or those to be ordained.
The Ember-day Collect is a continual witness before God
■and man of the interest which the whole body of the Church
has in the ordination of the Clergy who are to minister in it.
The entreaty of St. Paul, "Brethren, pray for us," is the
entreaty that continually goes forth to the Church at large
from its ministry ; but never with greater necessity, or with
greater force, than when the solemn act of Ordination is about
to be performed by the Bishops, and a number of the future
guides and leaders of the Cliurch are about to be empowered
and authorized to undertake their office. This is, in fact, one
of the most valuable of our Collects, wielding as it does the
strong weapon of general prayer throughout the land on
behalf of the Bishops, through whom all ministerial authority
and power is conveyed from our Lord, and of the priests and
deacons, to whom, from time to time, their ministry is dele-
gated. A faithful reliance upon the promises of our Blessed
Lord respecting prayer will give us an assurance that so
general a supplication for a special object could not be with-
out effect ; and no age ever required that such a supplication
should be offered more than the present, when the Clergy are
growing more and more faithful, but when the necessities of
some dioceses lead to a far too promiscuous admission of per-
sons who .ire "fit," only by some stretch of language, "to
serve in the sacred ministry of God's Church. "
It is worth noticing that "the Bishops and Pastors of Thy
flock " does not refer to the Bishops and the Priests who with
them lay their hands on the heads of those who are ordained
Priests. "Bishoi) and Pastor" is the expression used in all
the documents connected with the election and confirmation
of a Bishop ; and "all Bishops, the Pastors of Thy Church,"
are prayed for in the first Collect in the Office for Consecration
of a Bishop. No doubt the expression is here also used in
tlie same sense, with reference to the Bishop as the earthly
fountain of pastoral authority, ability [2 Cor. iii. 6], and
responsibility.
The times for using one or other of these Collects are as
follows : —
/ 1st Sunday
From Saturday ;
Evensong < Whitsunday)
'^«f"''« I Sept. ISth
\Dec. 17 th
to Saturday
Evensong
before
/'2nd Sunday
I in Lent
) Trinity S
1 d^y
Sept. 25th
'Dec. 24th
lay \
t u-
un-\-3
§ A Praijer that may be said, etc.
This ancient prayer, which is one of the " Orationes pro
Peccatis " in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, comes into our
Prayer Book through the Litany of the Salisbury Use, and is
found in all the Primers of the English Churcli. It occupied
its ancient place in the Litany of 1544, but was omitted from
later Litanies until 1559. In KiGl it was transferred to this
place, where it stands in the MS. The most ancient Eng-
lish version of it known is that of the fourteenth-century
Prymer [Maskell's Mommienfa Eitunlin, iii. 110], which is
as follows ; —
"Ciod, to whom it is propre to be merciful and to spare
euermore, undirfonge " (undertake, "take," in Hilsey's Pry-
mer) "oure preieris ; and the mercifuluesse of thi pitee asoile
hem, that the chayne of trespas bindith. Bi crist oure Lord.
So be it."
The proper times for the use of this prayer are seasons of
penitence. All days in Lent, Fridays, the Rogation Days,
and the days of Ember Weeks, are obviously occasions when
it comes in with a marked appropriateness ; its use "after any
of the former" clearly supposing that "the former" Collects
are accompanied by fasting and humiliation.
It may also be pointed out as a most suitable prayer for use
by Clergy and Laity alike after any confession of sins in
private prayer ; or in praying with sick persons, in cases
when an authoritative absolution is not to be used.
§ The Prayer for the Parliament.
There is every reason to think that this praj-er, so consonant
with the constitutional principles of modern times, was com-
posed by Archbishop Laud when Bishop of St. David's. The
238
Jpragcrs anD Cfjanfesgiuings.
this time assembled ; That Tlion wouldest be
pleased to direct and prosper all their consulta-
tions to the advancement of Thj' glory, the good
of Thy Church, the safety, honour, and welfare
of our Sovereign, and her " Dominions ; that all
things may be so ordered and settled by their
endeavours upon the best and surest foundations,
that peace and happiness, truth and justice,
religion and piety may be established among us
for all generations. These and all other neces-
saries for them, for us, and Thy whole Church
■we humbly beg in the Name and mediation of
Jesus Christ our most blessed Loed and
Savioue. Ameti.
a Ki>t^do*ni\n MS.
and Scaled Books.
this time assembled : That Thou ■nouldest be
pleased to bles.s and direct all their con.sultations
to the preservation of Thy glory, the good of Thy
Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our
Sovereign, and his Kingdoms. Look, Lord,
upon the humility and devotion with which tliey
are come into Thy courts. And they are come
into Thy house in assured confidence upon the
merits and mercies of Christ our blessed Saviour,
that Thou wilt not deny them the grace and
favour which they beg of Thee. Tlierefore, O
Lord, bless them with all that wisdom, which
Thou knowest necessary to make the maturity of
his Majesty's and their counsels, the happiness
and blessing of this commonwealth. These and
all other necessaries for them, for us, and Thy
whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and
mediation of Christ Jesus our most blessed
Lord and Saviour. Amen.
II A Collect or Prayer for all conditions of men, to be
used at such times when the Litan}' is not appointed
to be said.
OGOD, the Creator and Preserver of all man-
kind, we humbly beseech Thee for all sorts
and conditions of men ; that Thou wouldest be
pleased to make Thy ways known luito them.
Thy saving health unto all nations. Jlore
especially', we pray for the good estate of the
Catholick Church ; that it may be so guided and
governed by Thy good Spirit, that all who pro-
fess and call themselves Christians, may be led
b Corruption of
the old genitive
" Christes."
into the way of truth, and hold the faith in unity
of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in righteous-
ness of life. Finally, we commend to Thy
fatherly goodness all those, who are any ways
afflicted, or distressed, in mind, body, or estate ;
\*especiaUy those for whom o?«- » ^his to be ..aid
2}rayers are desired,^ that it may wiien any desire
please Thee to comfort and relieve tile coi"'rega-
them, according to their several ''°"-
necessities, giving them patience under their
sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their
afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ
*His sake. Amen.
earliest form in which it is known is that above given, from a
Fast-day Service printed in 1625.' It also appears in at least
two Forms of Prayer which were issued by Laud after he
became Archbishop of Canterbury, and during tlie rule of that
'•Long" Parliament by tlie influence of which he and the
King suffered. It does not appear in a folio copy of "Prayers
for the Parliament," wliioh is bound up at tlie beginning of
Bishop Cosin's Durham Prayer Book, but it was inserted in a
Fast-day Service for the 12th of June IGGl, and afterwards
in its present place. The word ' ' Dominions " was substituted
for " Kingdoms " by an Order in Council of January 1, 1801.
As, however, tlie ancient style of our kings was " Ilex Anglian,
Donihius Hiberniie," tliis seems to have been a constitutional
mistake, as well as a questionable interference with the Prayer
Book; but probably "dominions" was supposed to be the
more compreheusive word, and one more suitable than "king-
doms " to an empire so extended and of so mixed a character
as that of the English Sovereigns.
Tliere is some reason to think that this is not the prayer
which it was originally intended to insert here ; the follow-
ing entries appearing in tlic Journal of the Lower House of
Convocation for IGOl : "May 24. A prayer or collect to be
made for the parliament sitting, and one for tlie synod :
referred to Dr. Pory and tlie Arohliisliop's other chaplains to
draw up and present the same to tliis House the next session."
"May 31. Dr. Pory introduxit forniam precationum pro
parliamento et synodo. The approbation of them referred to
the Dean of ^Ve]I3 (Dr. Creightoii), Dr. Creed, Dr. Pearson,
Dr. Crowther, and tlie Archbishop's two chajilains. " [Cahd-
WELi.'.s (Jonf. p. 374.] But a general fast was ordered for
June 12th, and in the Fonn of Pr.ayer printed for use on tliat
occasion the Prayer for the Parliament ajipcai's in its present
form. This looks as if the modification of the pr.ayer of 1625
had been adopted as having already had Koyal sanction ; and
' 1 " A Forme of Common Pmycr , , . to be rend every Wcdncsdiiy during
the present viHititlon, Ket fortli by Ills MiiJoHtie's Autliority. Reprinted
at London by IJonliajn Xorf:on nnd'Jolin Hill, rrinters to tlie King's most
exccllout Majcatic. Anuo \ii'X>."
as if it was afterwards substituted for Dr. Pory's proposed
prayers for the Parliament and tlie Convocation.
This prayer may have been intended only for use before the
several Houses of Parliament, wlieu it was inserted here in
16G1. Yet the remarks made on the Ember Collect apply to
it in no small degree ; and the general prayers of the Church
may be expected to bring down a blessing upon the delibera-
tions of the Parliament in a higher degree than the local
prayers daily used in eacli House.
It may be mentioned that the expression "inost great,
learned, and rdUjious king, " is contained in James I. 's Act
for a Thanksgiving on the Fifth of November.
§ Prayer for all Conditions of Men.
This prayer was composed by Dr. Peter Gunning, after-
wards Bishop, successively, of Chichester and Ely, and one of
tlie chief instruments, under God, in the restoration of the
I'rayer Book to national use in 1662. It has usually been
suiiposed to be a condensed form of a longer prayer, in which
he had endeavoured to satisfy the objections of the Puritans
against the collect form of the F'ive Prayers, by amalgamating
the substance of them into one. The lirst idea of it seems,
however, to be taken from the nine ancient Collects for Good
Friday, of which we only retain tln'ee. Dr. Bisse states that
when (iunning was Master of St. John's College, Cambridge,
he would not allow this prayer to bo used at Evensong,
declaring lliat he liad composed it only for Morning use, as a
substitute for the Litany. And certainly, if it liad been in-
tended for constant use, it is strange that it was not placed
before the Prayer of St. Chrysostom in Morning ami Evening
Pr.ayer, but among the "Prayers upon Several Occasions."
Tlio original intention must certainly liave been to confine
this general supplication to occasional use ; and the meaning
of "to be used" is probably identical with "that may be
used." There arc circumstances under wliich it m.ay be desir-
alilc to sliorten tlio Service ; and if the omission of tliis prayer
can thus be considered as permissible, it will offer one means
of doing so.
Ptayccs auD Cljank.sgitimgs.
239
'THANKSGIVINGS.
IT A General Thanksgiving.
ALMIGHTY God, Father of all mercies, we
/» Thine unworthy servants do give Thee
most humble and hearty thanks for all Thy good-
ness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men ;
• Thi3 to be said [* pM'ticidcirly to (hose who desire
when any that now to offer up their praises and
loTdeafre'l'o^i-o- thanhsyiviiigs for Thy late mercies
turn praise. vouchsafed wito them.] We bless
Thee for our creation, preservation, and all the
blessings of this life ; but above all, for Thine
inestimable love in the redemption of the world
by our Lord Jesus Christ ; for the means of
grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we
beseech Thee, give us that due sense of all Thy
mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly
thankful, and that we '''shew forth Thy praise, not
only with our lips, but in our lives ; by giving
up our .selves to Thy service, and by walking
before Thee in holiness and righteousness all our
days ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to
Whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost be all
honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
IT For Rain.
OGOD our heavenly F.\ther, Wlio by Thy
gracious providence dost cause the former
and the latter rain to descend upon the earth,
that it may bring forth fruit for the use of man ;
We give Thee humble thanks that it hath pleased
Thee, in our great necessity, to .send us at the
n 5« notes below.
i Al.
may
slieiv
forth.
as m
Irish
MS.
last a joyful rain upon Thine inlieritance, and to
refresh it when it was dry, to the gi'eat comfort
of us Thy unworthy servants, and to the glory of
Tliy holy Name ; through Thy mercies in Je.sus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
U For fair weather.
OLUltD God, Who hast justly humbled us by
Thy late plague of immoderate rain and
waters, and in Thy mercy hast relieved and com-
forted our souls by this seasonable and blessed
change of weather ; We praise and glorify Thy
holy Name for this Thy mercy, and will always
declare Thy loving-kindness from generation to
generation ; through Jesus Christ oui- Lord.
Ame7i.
IT For Plenty.
OMOST merciful Father, Who of Thy
gracious goodness hast heard the devout
prayers of Thy Church, and turned our dearth
and scarcity into cheapness and plenty ; We give
Thee humble thanks for this Thy special bounty;
beseeching Thee to continue Thy loving-kindness
unto us, that our land may yield us her fruits of
increase, to Thy glory and our comfort ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT For peace and deliverance from our enemies.
OALJIIGHTY God, Who art a strong
tower of defence unto Thy servants
against the face of their enemies ; W^e yield Thee
praise and thanksgiving for our deliverance from
Tlie prayer is cast in the mould of tliat for tlie Church in
the Commuuion Service. Bishop Cosin altered the preface of
that prayer to "Let us pray for the good estate of Christ's
Catholicic Cliurcli," and the title of the prayer in tlie Rubric
at the end of the Comnumion Service was altered by him in
the same way. Tlie title was often so printed in the last
century, and had ajipeared in the same ftjnii in a book of
Hours printed in 1531. [See notes on Prayer for Church in
Communion Service.]
The tone and the language of the prayer very successfully
imitate those of the ancient collects, and the condensation of
its petitions shews how thoroughly and spiritually the author
of it entered into the worth of that ancient mode of prayer,
as distinguished from the verbose meditations wliich were
substituted for it in the Occasional Services of James I. The
petition, " That all who profess and call themselves Christians,
may be led into the way of trutli, " was evidently framed with
reference to the Puritan Nonconformists, who had sprung up
in such large numbers during the great Rebellion ; but it is
equally applicable as a prayer of charity for Dissenters at all
times ; and no words could be more gentle or loving than
these, when connected with the petitions for unity, peace, and
rigliteousness whicli follow. The concluding petitions have
an analogy with the Jlemoriai Communes of the Salisbury Use,
' ' Pro quacunque tribulatioue, " and ' ' Pro infirmo. " In another
Memoria, that " Pro aniico" which comes between these two,
the name of the person prayed for was mentioned, which may
have suggested the parenthetical reference to individuals in
this prayer.^
There was, beside these Common ^Memorials, a Daily Prayer
for the Sick in the Service at Prime, as follows : —
Omnipotens sempiterne Almighty and everlasting
Deus : salus sterna creden- God, tlie eternal salvation of
tiuni, exaudi nos pro famulis them that believe, hear us on
1 Bishop Cosin proviiled a short service to be used in tliis place for any
persons desiring tlie piayeis of tlie Church. [.See the note at tlie end of the
Visitation Office, p. 47(i.]
tuis pro quibus misericordiaj
tu;e imploramus auxilium ; ut
reddita sibi sanitate, gratiarum
tibi in ecclesia tua referant
actiones. Per Christum.
Amen. [Gelas.]
behalf of those Thy servants
for wliom we beseech the help
of Tliy mercy ; that health be-
ing restored unto them, they
may render thanks to Thee in
Thy Church ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
It is a very excellent practice, when any are known to be
dying, to commend them to the prayers of the Church (by
name or otherwise) before the Pnayer for all Conditions of
Men is said. It is equally applicable to cases of mental or
bodily distress, as well as to its more familiar use in the case
of sick persons; and the afflictions or distresses of "mind,
body, or estate," which are so tersely but comprehensively
named, shew clearly tliat the special clause of intercession was
not by any means intended to be limited to sickness.
THE OCCASIONAL THANKSGIVINGS.
These were all placed as they now stand in 1661 ; but they
were, with two exceptions, printed at the end of the Litany
(by Royal autliority only), after tlie Hampton Court Confer-
ence in 1604. The particular circumstances under wliich tliis
liberty was taken witli the Prayer Book by James I. are men-
tioned in the Historical Introduction. It is unnecessary to
add anything further hero than that tlie Occasional Thanks-
givings are now as entirely a jiart of tlie Prayer Book sanc-
tioned by the Church as any other prayers.
§ The General Tlianhsgiving.
This is called "General " because it is a Thanksgiving on
behalf of "all men," as the preceding collect or praj'cr is
" for .all conditions of men."
It was composed or compiled by Reynolds, Bishop of Nor-
■wich, for the revision of 1661. The first portion of it appears
to be borrowed from the following opening of a Thanksgiving
composed by Queen Elizabeth after one of lier progresses, and
which is printed (from a copy in tlie State Paper Office) in the
240
lPraper.8 anD Cfjanfesgiuings.
those great and apparent dangers -wherewith we
were compassed : We acknowledge it Thy good-
ness that we were not delivered over as a prey
unto them ; beseeching Thee still to continue such
Thy mercies towards us, that all the world may
know that Thou art our Saviour and mighty
Deliverer; through Jesus Chkist our Lord.
Anie7i.
IT For restoring publick peace at home.
O ETERNAL God, our heavenly Father,
Who alone makest men to be of one mind
in a house, and stillest the outrage of a violent
and unruly people; We bless Thy holy Name,
that it hath pleased Thee to appease the seditious
tumults which have been latelj- raised up amongst
us ; most humbly beseeching Thee to grant to all
of us grace, that we may henceforth obediently
walk in Thy holy commandments ; and, leading
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
honesty, may continually offer \mto Thee our
sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for these Thy
mercies towards us ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
IT For deliverance from the Plague, or other common
sickness.
LOED God, Who hast wounded us for our
sins, and consumed us for our transgres-
o
sions, by Thy late heavy and dreadful visitation ;
and now, in the midst of judgement remember-
ing mercy, hast redeemed our souls from the
jaws of death ; We offer unto Thy fatherly
goodness our selves, our souls and bodies,
which Thou hast delivered, to be a living
sacrifice unto Thee, always praising and mag-
nifying Thy mercies in the midst of Thy
Church ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
H Or this.
\ \ 7"E humbly acknowledge before Thee, O
VV most merciful Father, that all the
punishments which are threatened in Thy law
might justly have fallen upon us, by reason of
our manifold transgressions and hardness of
heart ; Yet seeing it hath pleased Thee of Thy
tender mercy, upon our weak and unworthy
humiliation, to assuage the contagious sickness
wherewith we lately have been sore afflicted,
and to restore the voice of joy and health
into our dwellings ; W'e offer unto Thy Divine
Majesty the sacrifice of praise and thanks-
giving, lauding and magnifying Thy glorious
Name for such Thy preservation and providence
over us ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Attien.
" Liturgies of Queen Elizabeth" of the Parker Society, p. 667 :
"I render unto Thee, Merciful and Heavenly Father, most
humble and hearty tlianks for Thy manifold mercies so abun-
dantly bestowed upon me, as ■\\e\l for my creation, preserva-
tion, regeneration, and all other Tliy benefits and great mercies
exhibited in Christ Jesus ..." But it is possible that there
is some older prayer, as yet unnoticed, which was the original
of both Queen Elizabeth's and Bishop Eeynolds'.
The remarks whicli have been made respecting the special
clause in the " Prayer for all Conditions of Men," apply also
to the special clause in the General Thanksgiving.
There is no authority whatever for the congregation say-
ing the General Tlianksgiving with or after the Minister.
Wherever this is intended the several clauses of the formulary
are printed with capital initials.
§ For restoring puhliclc peace at home.
This is to be found in the margin of Cosin's Durham Prayer
Rook in his handwriting, but the original draft of it is due to
Bishop Wren, who wrote it in the following form : —
" A Tlumksijifinij for the Restoring of Public Peace.
" Eternal God, our Heavenly Father, Who alone makest
men to be of one mind in an house, and art the God of peace
and unity in every nation, we bless Thy Holy Name for this
gracious change among us, and that it hath pleased Thee with
so high a hand to appease these seditions and tumults which
by the subtlety of the Devil were raised up and long fomented
among us, and so to subdue the oppositions of men of evil
minds as that, through Thy grace, we may now assemble in
peace and safety to offer up unto Thee this our sacrifice of
jjraise and thanksgiving through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen." '
There were two other changes made in the course of writ-
ing it, with the evident object of moulding it in as charitable
a form as possible. " Madness of a raging and unreasonable
people" was one of the original phrases ; and, "Grant that
we may henceforth live in peace and unity," was another;
and both are altered in Cosin's own writing. This Thanks-
giving offers another illustration of the restrained and tem-
perate spirit in which the restoration of the Prayer Book and
its revision were undertaken by men who had suffered so
much from the "outrage of a violent and unruly people," as
Wren, Cosin, and their coadjutors had suffered for many
years.
Except the General Thanksgiving, none of these Occasional
Thanksgivings are well adapted to the necessities of present
times ; and the introduction of several new " MemoriK Com-
^ munes " would be a good work of revision, provided they
I were worded in language whose suitableness and dignity
I made them fit to be placed beside more ancient parts of the
1 Prayer Book.
I 1 Bishop Jacobson'e Fragmentary Illustrations of Prayer Book, p. 64.
AN INTRODUCTION
COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS.
The Liturgy consists of a fixed and unvarying portion, and
of a portion wliich varies at least once a week ; the fixed part
is printed by itself in a later division of the Prayer Book, and
the variable part is that included under the title of "The
Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, to be used throughout the
year," and now coming under notice.
In the early ages of the Church the Office of the Holy Com-
munion was contained in several separate voUunes, one for the
Epistles, called the Comes, Lectionarius, or Epistolarium ;
another for the Gospels, called the Evangelistarium ; a third
for the Anthems, called the Antiphonarius, or Gradual ; and
a fourth for the fixed part of the Service and the Collects,
which went by the name of the Liber Sacramentorum, or
Sacramentary. Tliese four separate volumes were eventually
united into one,' under the name of the Missal ; and the two
portions of the Prayer Book in which the varying and unvary-
ing parts of the Communion Service are contained constitute,
in fact, the Missal of the CImrch of England, wliich is almost
universally bound in a separate form for use at the Altar.
The modern arrangement of these variable parts of the
Liturgy is derived directly from the ancient Missals of the
Church of England, of which the principal one was that of
Salisbury. Like the rest of the Prayer Book, it has under-
gone some condensation. Oflertory sentences were formerly
placed in this part of the Liturgy, but are now collected into
the unvarying portion. There was also a short Anthem, or
Gradual (with its response), jjlaced after every Epistle, and
a Collect called " Post-Communio, " but both of these have
been discontinued. The Introit, or Officium,- was likewise
appointed for every celebration of the Holy Communion, and
a short Anthem, the "Conimunio, " to be sung during the
Administration. In the first Prayer Book the Introits were
taken from the Psalms,^ and each one was printed before its
1 The tendency to condense all the Office.? of Divine Services into one
volume is shewn in the fact that printed Breviaries often contained the
Preparation, the Ordinary, the Canon, a Mass for the Dead, and several
votive Masses. The following are examples : Brit. Mus. Lib. Saruni,
1499 [C. 41 a], 1510 [C. 35 d]. Bodl. Lib. Sarum, 1507 [Gough Miss. 73], 1514
[Id. 9|, 1.535 [Id. 192, 103], 1541 [Id. 38].
2 See the notes for the First Sunday in Advent [p. 247] for the mode in
which the Office or Introit was anciently sung.
3 It may be useful to annex a list of the Introits as arranged in the First
English Prayer Boolv. as many Ritualists think tliem better adapted fur
their purpose than hymns ;—
INTROITS.
Psalm
1st Sunday in Advent i.
2nd ,, ., cxx.
3rd „ ,, iv.
«h „ ,, V.
Christ. Day, 1st Communion xcviii.
,, 2nd ,, viii.
F. of St. Stephen lii.
,, St. John, Evangelist. .. xi.
,, the Holy Innocents Ixxix.
Sunday after Christmas cxxi.
Circumcision cxxii.
Epiphany xcvi.
IstSundayaftertheEpiphany xiii.
2nd ,, ,, ,, xiv.
3rd „ ,, „ XV.
4th , ii.
5th ,, „ ,, XX.
6th „ . „ „ XX.
Septuagesima xxiii.
Sexagesima xxiv.
Quinquagesima xxvi.
Aslv Wednesday vi.
1st Sunday in Lent xxxii.
2nd ,, cxxx.
3rd ,, , xliii.
4th xlvi.
6th ,, ,, liv.
Sunday next before Easter . . Ixi.
Good Friday.
Easter Even .
Psalm
xxii.
Ixxxviii.
Easter Day, 1st Coraniuuion
I, 2nd
Monday in Easter Week . . .
Tuesday ,
1st Sunday after Easter . . .
2nd .,'
3rd
4th „
6th
Ascension Day
Sunday after Ascension Day
Whitsunday
Monday in Whitsuu Week
Tuesday ,, ,,
Trinity Sunday
1st Sun. after |_ -. ■ I Beati imma-
~ ■ ■■ I • "( nilati.
\ lii quo cor-
\ riget?
t Retribne
" \ servo tuo.
1 Adhcssit pa-
'- \ vim^nto.
5th ,, ,, ..I^genipone.
6th ,, ,, ..Etvenlat,
7th ,, ,, , .Meinor esto.
Ixii.
cxiii.
cxii.
Ixx.
Ixxv.
Ixxxii.
Ixxxiv.
xtvii.
xciii.
xxxiii.
Ixvii.
Trinity
2nd
3rd
4th
Collect ; but hymns have been generally substituted since
their omission. The "Communio " was also fixed in the first
Prayer Book, being the Anthem, " Lamb of God, Which
takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us ; " and
fur this, a soft and solemn organ voluntary seems to have
been afterwards substituted, such as is still to be heard at
Durham Cathedral and elsewhere during the Administration.
Twenty-two Post - Communions were also provided and
printed after the Agnus Dei. These were sentences from the
Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament : and the Rubric
preceding them ordered that one should be sung by the
Clerks when the Communion was ended.
This arrangement of the variable parts of the Communion
Service is, however, much more ancient than the Salisbury
Missal. The selection of the Epistles and Gospels for the
Sundays and some of the otlier Holydays is attributed to
St. Jerome in the fourth century ; and most of the Collects
come to us originally from the Sacramentaries of .St. Leo, St.
Gelasius, and St. C^regory ; the last of v/hom died a.d. 604.
§ Collects.
The Collects which are now used iii the Communion Service
appear to be the growth of the fifth and sixth centuries, as is
stated above ; though it is far from being improbable that
the Sacramentaries of that date were, to a large extent, com-
pilations of previously existing forms, rather than original
compositions of those whose names they bear. These Sacra-
mentaries have the appearance of methodizing and rearrang-
ing established customs and formularies ; and there is an
antecedent improbability in tlie statement that SS. Leo,
Gregory, or any other single individual, invented so large a
body of public devotions, and wrought so great a revolution
in the habits of tlie Church, as to bring it suddenly into use.
Cardinal Bona [Rer. Litunj. ii. 5; iv.] gives some evidence
in support of the supposed Apostolic origin of the form of
prayer known by the name of Collect, though he thinks the
general tradition of the Christian world a sufficient proof that
St. Gelasius and St. Gregor}' composed tliose now in use.
It niay be considered an argument against this theory of
Apostolic origin that the Collect is a form of prayer unknown
in the Eastern Church, which lias always been so conserva-
tive with regard to its ancient customs and formularies. But
Freeman has shewn that there is a distinct likeness between
certain kinds of hymns (called "Exaposteilaria") of the Eastern
Church, and the Collects of the Western, by which a common
Psalm
cxxiv.
rsalm
'"Stf"l«--^<"-'"""-
9tli
10th
11th
12th
13th
17th
ISth
19th
20th
( Bonitafem.
\ fecisti.
.Manifs tncc.
jDefccit aiii-
l ma.
i In (eter-
\ num.
I Qnomodo di-
( Iczi.
1 Luceriia pe-
\ thhus.
\ Iniqnos
\ odio.
I Fecijjidi-
\ civm.
. .Mirabilia.
. .Justus e$.
J Clamavi in
i toto.
( Vide hvmi-
\ lilatcm.
j Priticipes
( persecuti.
22nd Sun. after )
Trinity i
23rd
24th „ cxiv.
2oth ,, cxxvii.
St. Andrew, Apostle cxxix.
St. Tiiomas, Apcistle exxviii.
Conversion of tit. Paul .... exxxviii.
Purification of St. Mary, V. cxxxiv.
St. Mattliias, Apostle
Annunciation of the Yir- >
gin Mary >
St. Mark. Evang
St. Pltilip and St. James. . .
St. Barnabas, Apostle
St. Joliii Baptist
St. Peter, Apostle cxliv.
St. James. Apostle cxlviii.
St. Bartholomew. Apostle.. c-xv.
St. Matthew, Apostle cxvii.
St. Michael and all Angels. cxiii.
St. Luke. Evangelist cxxxvii.
St. Simon and St. Jude,
Apostles cl.
All Saints cxlix
cxl.
cxli.
cxxx iii.
cxiii.
cxliii.
242
an 3lntroDuction to tfjc Collects, Cpistles, ano Gospels.
origin seems to be indicated ; and he gives the following
hymns at Lauds on Easter Day as an example [Fkebmak's
Principles of Divine Service, i. 142]: —
"Thou, O Lord, that didst endure the cross, and didst
abolish death, and didst rise again from the dead, give peace
in our life, as only Almiglity. "
"Thou, Christ, Who didst raise man by Thy resurrection,
vouchsafe that we may with pure hearts hymn and glorify
Thee. "
Although the variable Exaposteilaria in actual use are
attributed to a Ritualist of the tenth centurj', Freeman con-
siders that tliey represent a much older system of precatory
hymns, and quotes from Neale that the aim of them "seems
originally to have been a kind of invocation 0/ the grace of
God," which is a special feature of Collects.
It is not quite correct, therefore, to say that such a form of
prayer is wholly unknown in the Eastern Church ; and this
argument against the primitive antiquity of it cannot be con-
sidered to have much force.
There are two, and only two, prayers of the Church given
in the New Testament. Both of these are in the Acts of the
Apostles, and both of them have a striking similarity to the
prayers we now know as Collects. The first is, " Thou, Lord,
Which knowest the hearts of aU men, sliew whether of these
two Thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry
and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that
he might go to his own place." [Acts i. 24, 25.] Tlie second
is, ' ' Lord, Thou art God, Which hast made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all that in tliera is : Who by the
mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen
rage, and the people imagine vain things ? The kings of the
earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against Thy
holy Child Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod,
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of
Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever Thy hand
and Thy counsel determined before to be done. And now.
Lord, behold their threatenings ; and grant unto Thj' servants,
that with all boldness they maj' speak Tliy word, by stretch-
ing forth Thine hand to heal ; and that signs and wonders
may be done by the Name of Thy holy Cliild Jesus." [Acts
iv. 24-30.] In both of these prayers, the address, or invoca-
tion, is a prominent feature ; and in the latter it occupies
more than two-thirds of the whole prayer ; while the actual
supplication itself, though in both cases of the highest impor-
tance possible, is condensed into a few simple words. These
Apostolic prayers, therefore, bear a great resemblance to Col-
lects, and might not unreasonably be spoken of as the earliest
on record.
But the real model of this form of prayer is to be found in
a still higher quarter, the Lord's Prayer itself. If we com-
pare some of the best of our ancient or modern Collects (as,
for instance, the Collect for Whitsunday, which has been
familiarly known to the Church in her daily Service for at
least twelve centuries and a half, or that for the Sunday after
Ascension, which is partly of Reformation date) with the
Prayer of Prayers, we shall find in both that the tone is
chiefly that of adoration, and subordinately tljat of supplica-
tion ; and, also, tliat the human prayer follows the Divine
pattern in the adoption of a condensed form of expression,
which is in strict accordance with the injunction, "God is
in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be
few." Such a comparison will bring home a conviction to the
mind, that when we use tliis terse form of mixed adoration
and prayer we are not far from carrying out, with literal
exactness, the still more authoritative injunction of Him Who
gave us His own prayer as the type of all others, "After this
manner, therefore, pray ye."'
The origin of tlie name "Collect " is uncertain ; and various
meanings liave been given to it. Some Ritualists have con-
nected it with the collected assembly- of the people ; others
have inter|>reted the name as indicating that the prayer so
called collects together the topics of previous prayers, or else
1 It is ail ancient rule of tlie Church to Iiavc an uneven number of Col-
lecU. MicroloKus [iv.J says tliat eitlicr one, tliree, five, or seven are used :
one from traditiun ; three, Ijecause our Lord jtrayed thrice in His Agony;
Uve, because of Ilis fivefold Passion ; seven, because there are seven peti-
tions in the Lord's Prayer. A general Rubric of the Saruin Missal says,
'* More than seven Collects are never to be said, for Christ in the Lord's
Prayer did not exceed seven jictitions. An uneven number of Collects is
always to bo preserved, except in Christmas We<!k, both at Mass and at
Mattins, If the number of Collects is naturally even, it is made uneven by
adding the Memorial of AU Saints." [Har. Miat. Ui ling, xxxi.]
2 'The Holy Communion was once known by the name Collecta. [Hona,
Rer. L<t'(rg. I. 3. ii.)
those of the Epistle and Gospel for the day. But the most
reasonable interpretation seems to be tliat which distinguishes
the Collect as the prayer offered by the priest alone on behalf
of the people, while in Litanies and Versicles the priest and
the people pray alternately. This interpretation is found in
BoN.\, Ikr. Liturg. ii. 5. iii. ; Durand. iii. \'A ; and llicrologus,
iii. ; the words of the latter being, " Oratio quam Collectam
dicunt, eo quod sacerdos, qui legatione fungitur pro populo
ad Dominum omnium petitiones ea oratione colligit atque
concludit. " So in the commentai-y on the Divine Offices of
Syon, the explanation of the word is given thus : " Yt is as
moche as to saye a gatherynge togyther, for before thys prayer
ye dresse you to god, and gather you in onhed to pray in the
person of holy c hirche, that ye sholde be the soncr harde."
And with respect to tlie ending the explanation is very pro-
perly given : " Ye ende all youre orysons by oure lorde Jesu
cryste, and in hys blyssed name, by cause he sayde in his
gospel, that wliat euer ye aske the father in my name, he
shall gyue yt you." {Mirror of our Lady, p. 134, Blunts
ed.] As of Common Prayer in general, therefore, so we
may conclude especially of the Collect in particular, that it is
the supplication of many gathered into one by the voice of
the priest, and offered up by him to the Father, througli our
Lord and only ilediator.
There is a very exact and definite character in the structure
of Collects ; so exact, that certain rules have been deduced
from these prayers of the Saints for the construction of others,
as rules of grammar are deduced from classic writers.
First, may be mentioned the characteristics which dis-
tinguish this special form of prayer, and which have been
loosely mentioned above : —
1. A Collect consists of a single period, seldom a long
one.
2. A single petition only is offered in it.
3. Mention is made of our Lord's Mediation ; or else
4. It ends with an inscription of praise to God.
These features of the Collect at once distinguish it from the
long and often involved forms of Eastern prayers, and also
from the precatory meditations which became so familiar to
English people in the seventeenth century ; and tlie chas-
tened yet comprehensive character of Collects is owing, in no
small degree, to the necessities imposed upon the writers of
them by this structure.
This general outline of the Collect developes itself in detail
on a plan of which the most perfect form may be represented
by two of our finest specimens, the one as old as the Sacra-
mentary of St. Gregory, in the sixth century, tlie other com-
posed by Bishop Cosin, more than a tliousand years later.
1. Invocation.
2. Reason on
which the Peti-
tion is to be
founded.
4. Benefit hoped
for.
5. Mention of
Christ's Media-
tion, or Ascrip-
tion of praise :
or both.
Whitsunday.
GOD,
"Who as at this time didst
teuch the hearts of Thy
faithful jicople bv sending
to tliem the light of Thy
Holy >>pirit;
grant us by the same Spirit
to have a right judgement
in all things,
and evermore to rejoice in
His holy comfort ;
through the merits of
Christ Jesus our Saviour,
Who liveth and reigneth
with Thee, in the unity of
the same Spirit, one God,
world without end.
6th Sunday after Epiphany.
O GOD,
Whose blessed Son was
manifested that He might
destroy the works of the
devil, and make us the
sons of God, and heirs of
eternal life ;
grant us, we beseech Thee,
that having Jhis hope, we
may pnrify oui-selves, even
as lie is pure ;
that when He shall appear
again witli power and great
glory, we may be made like
unto Him in His eternal
and glorious Kingdom,
where with Thee, O Father,
and Thee, O Holy Ghost,
lie liveth and n-ignetb,
ever one God, world with-
out end.
Thus it will be observed that, "after the Invocation, a
foundation is laid for the petition by tlio recital of some
doctrine, or of some fact of Gospel history, wliicli is to bo
commemorated. Upcui this foundation so laid down rises
the petition or body of the prayer. Then, in a perfect speci-
men . . . the ])otitioii has the wings of a holy aspiration given
to it, wiicrL'upon it may soar to heaven. Then fnllows the
conclusion, whicli, in tlie case of prayers not addressed to the
an 3lntroDuction to tH Collects, Cpistlcs, anD (Sospc(0.
243
Mediator, is always through the Mediator, ami which some-
times involves a Doxology, or Ascription of praise. " ' This
last member of the Collect has, indeed, always been con-
structed witli great care, and according to rules which were
put into the form of memorial verses, at a period when it was
the custom to write the Collect in a sliort form, and only to
indicate the ending by "per," "Quivivis," "pereundem,"
or wliatever else were its first word or words. One of these
aids to memory is as follows ; —
" ' Per Dominum,' dicas si Patrem Presbyter oras.
Si Christum nieniores 'per Euudem,' dicere debes.
Ri loqueris Christo 'Qui vivis,' scire memento;
'Qui Tecum,' si sit collecta- linis in Ipso ;
Si memores Flamen ; 'Ejusdem, ' die propc fmem. "
Illustrations of these several endings will be found in the
Collects for the Epiphany, the Nativity, Easter Day, and
Whitsun Ray.
The number of the variable Collects in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer is eighty-three. They are all traced to their
original sources, so far as these have been discovered, in the
following pages ; and the annexed Table gives a compendious
view of the origin and dates of the whole number.
§ Table of Collects.
Translated from Collects of the Early Church which h.id been in the English Service-
books from at least a,d. 1085
Translated or adapted from
very ancient Prayers, An-
thems, etc.
Composed expressly for the
Book of Common Prayer.
First found in the Sacramen-
First found in the Sacramen-
First found in tlie Sacramcn-
tary of St. Leo, Bishop of
taryof St. Gelasius, Bishop
tary of St. Gregory, Bishop
Rome, A.D. 440-461.
of Rome, a.d. 492-496.
of Rome, a.d. 690-604.
3rd Sunday after Easter.
4th Sunday in Advent.
St, Stephen.
1st Sunday in Advent.
A.D. 1549.
5th Sunday after Trinity.
Iloly Innocents.
St. Jolin the Evangelist.
Christma.s Day.
2nd Sunday in Advent.
'Jth
Sunday before Easter.
CircuuKtision.
Ash-Wednesday.
Quinquagesima.
10th
Good Friday [2nd and 3rd
Epiphany.
1st Sunday after Easter.
1st Sunday in Lent.
12th
Collects].
1st Sunday after Epiphan^■.
2ud Sunday after Easter.
13th
Easter Day.
2nd
St. Thomas.
14th ,, ,,
4th Sunday after Easter.
3rd ,,
St. Matthias.
6th
-llli
SS. Philip and James.
Sunday after Ascension.
6th
St. Barnabas.
1st Sunday after Trinity.
Septuagesinia.
St. John Baptist,
2nd
Sexagesinia.
St. Peter.
6th
2nd Sunday in Lent.
St. James.
7th
3rd „
St. Matthew.
8th
4th
St. Luke.
11th
6th
SS. Simon and Jude.
15th
Good Friday [1st Collect].
All Saints.
16th
Ascension I>ay.
A D. 1552.
18th „ ,,
Whilsun Day.
St. Andrew.
19th
Trinity Sunday.
A.D. ICOl.
20th
3rd Sunday after Trinity.
3rd Sunday in Advent.
21st ,, ,,
4th
nth
22nd
23rd
24th
26th
Conversion of St. Paid.
Purification.
Annunciation.
St. Mark.
St. Bai-tholomew.
St. Michael and all Angels.
6th Sunday after Epiphany.
Easter Even.
The primary use of the Collect is to give a distinctive tone
to the Eucharistic Service, striking the keynote of prayer for
the particular occasion on which the Sacrifice is offered. But
by the constant use of it in its appointed place in the Dailj'
Mattins and Evensong, it also extends this Eucliaristie
speciality into the other public Services of the Church, and
carries it forward from one celebration to another, linking
these Offices on to the chief Service and Offering which the
Church has to render to Almighty God. " Used after such
celebration, the Collect is endued witli a wonderful power
for carrying on through the week the peculiar Eucharistic
memories and work of the preceding Sunday, or of a Festival.
Under whatsoever engaging or aweing aspect our Lord has
more especially come to us then in virtue of the appointed
Scriptures, the gracious and healthful visitation lives on in
memory, nay, is prolonged in fact. Or in whatever special
respect, again, suggested by these same Scriptures, and em-
bodied for us in the Collect, we ha\'e desired to present our-
selves ' a holy and lively sacrifice ' in that high ordinance, the
same oblation of ourselves do we carry on and perpetuate by
it. Tlirough the Collect, in a word, we lay continually upon
the altar our present sacrifice and service, and receive, in a
manner, from the altar, a continuation of the heavenly gift. " ^
Tlius it is a constant memorial before God of the great
Memorial which joins on the work of the Church on earth to
the intercession of our Mediator in heaven ; and it is also a
1 GouLBURN on the Commuuwn Office, ]t. 37. Dean Goulliurn's later
work. The Collects of the Day, in 2 vols., 1880, is a treasury of learned and
devotional comments uxion tliem.
3 A mucli longer form may be found at p. 73 of Chambers' Sarum Psalter,
with an elaborate note on the subject. The following rules may prove
sufticient fiu* practical purposes at the present day :—
[1] Collects addressed to God the Father should end : "Through Jesus
Christ our Lord [or if our Lord has been prcviouslymentioiwd : 'Through
the same Jesus Christ our Lord'], Who liveth and reigneth with Tliee and
the [nr if the Holy Ghost has been previously Dientioncd : 'The same'] Holy
Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen."
[2l Collects addressed to Go.l the Son should end : " Who livest and
memorial to the mind of every worshipper of the sanctification
which is brought upon all our days and all our prayers by the
Sacramental Presence of our Blessed Lord. [.S'ce also p, 200. ]
§ The Epistles ami Gospels.
Tlie Holy Communion was celebrated and received bj' the
faitliful for nearlj' twenty years before St. Paul wrote his
first Epistle, and for nearly thirty years before the first
Gospel was written by ,St. Matthew ; and none of the Gospels
or Epistles are likely to have been generally known in the
Church until even a much later time. The Scriptures of the
New Testament did not, therefore, form any part of the
original Liturgies.^ It has been supposed by many Ritualists
that portions of the Old Testament were read at the time of
the celeljration : and the gradual introduction of our present
system is indicated by the usage shewn in an Irish Communion
Book of the sixth century, which has one unvarj'ing Epistle
and Gospel, 1 Cor. xi., and S. John vi. This system is
attributed to St. Jerome by the almost unanimous voice of
ancient writers on the Divine Service of the Church ; and a
very ancient Book of Epistles and Gospels exists, called the
Comes, which has gone by the name of St. Jerome at least
since the time of Amalarius and Micrologus, in the ninth and
eleventh centuries.
The antiquity of the Comes Hieronymi has been disputed,
reignest with the Father and the [or 'the same'] Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end. Amen,"
[3] Collects addressed to the Blessed Trinity should end : " Wlio livest
and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen."
Some other variations, as " Where with Thee," after the mention of
Heaven, will suggest themselves. Tlie beautiful doxological ending which
is found in many of the English Collects does not appear in the Latin
originals.
^ Freeman's Principles of Divine Service, i. 369.
^ On the other hand, there are those who believe that several exjTessions
in the New Testament Scrijitures are derived from Liturgies known to and
used by the Apostles, [,Sfc an Essay on Liturgical Quotations in N'eale's
Liturfjioloay . pp, 411-474,]
244
an 3lntrorJuction to tbc Collects, (2Bpistles, anD (Sospcls.
chiefly because the system of Epistles and Gospels which it
contains differs from that of the Roman rite ; but there seem
to be several good reasons for supposing that it really belongs
to as early a time as that of St. Jerome ; and as its system
agrees with the old and modern English one, where it differs
from tlie Roman, the question has a special interest in con-
nection with the Book of Common Prayer.
This ancient Lectionary, or Comes, was published by
Pamelius in the second volume of his I.Uunjkon Eccleskt:
Lalince, under the title, Divi Hieronymi j^resbyteri Comes siri'
Lectionarius, and is also to be found in the eleventh volume
of St. Jerome's Works, p. 526. It contains Epistles and
Gospels for all the Sundays of tlie year, the Festivals of our
Lord, some other Festivals, and many Ferial days. It is
some evidence in favour of its great antiquity that no saints
are commemorated in it of a later date than tlie time of St.
Jerome ; and that the Epiphany is called ))y the name of the
Theophany, a name which was discontinued not long after in
the Western Church. The Conies is mentioned in the Charta
Cornutiana, a foundation deed belonging to a church in
France, and printed by Mabillon [Lit. Gall. Pref. vii], and
this charter is as early as a.d. 471. It is mentioned by
Amalarius [iii. 40], who wrote a.d. 820; and in Micrologus
[xxv.], a liturgical treatise of about a.d. 1080, it is spoken of
as "Liber Comitis sive Lectionarius, quem Sanctus Hierony-
mus compagiiiavit :" while about the same time Beleth [Ivii.]
writes that Pope Damasus requested St. Jerome to make a
selection of Scriptures from the Old and New Testament to
be read in the Church. Tlie latter statement derives con-
firmation from the fact that before the time of Damasus
[a.d. 366-384] the Fathers cite Scripture witliout giving any
indications of such a selection being in use : while after that
time there are such indications in the writings of SS. Ambrose,
Augustine, Leo, Salvian, and Cfesarius ; tlie three latter of
whom were accustomed to use St. Jerome's version of the
Scriptures, and not the Septuagint. All this seems to shew
that there is much to be said for the ancient statement that
St. Jerome first arranged the Epistles and Gospels, and that
his arrangement is extant in this Lectionary.
In the Comes there are Scriptures for twenty-five Sundays
after the Octave of Pentecost, as in our Prayer Book and in
the ancient Salisbury Use (though in both the latter they are
numbered as after Trinity), but the Roman rite has them only
as far as the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. The
Epistles and Gospels for these twenty-five Sundays and those
for Advent exactly agree with the ancient and modern
English, which (as will be seen in the references annexed to
every Sunday in the following pages) are quite different in
arrangement from the Roman. The Comes also contains
Epistles and Gospels for Wednesdays and Fridays in Epiphany,
Easter, and Trinity seasons, which were in tlie Salisbury
Missal, but are not in the Roman. It has also five Sundays
before Christmas (that is, in Advent), instead of four, a
peculiarity of notation which indicates very early origin, and
which is reproduced in the "Sunday next before Advent " and
four Sundays in Advent, of the English Use. These parallel
peculiarities between the Comes and the English arrangement,
differing as they do from the Roman, form a strong proof that
our Eucharistic system of ScrijitureB had an origin quite
independent of the Roman Liturgy ; or, at least, that it be-
longs to a system which is much older than that now in use
in the latter. It may be remarked, in conclusion (and per-
haps this is the most important fact in connection with this
diversity), that the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for Trinity
Season are all in harmony in the English Missal, while that
harmony is entirely dislocated in the Roman.
The principle on which portions of Holy Scripture are
selected for the Epistles and Gospels is that of illustrating the
two great divisions of the Christian year, from Advent to
Trinity, and from Trinity to Advent. In the one, and more
emphatic division, our Blessed Lord is set before us in a life-
like diorama of Gospels, which tell us about Him and His
work, not as in a past history, but with that present force,
wherewith the events of His life and suffering are pleaded in
the Litany. In nothing is the grapliic action of the Church
(sometimes very truly called "histrionic'') shewn more strongly
than in the way by which the (iospcls of the season are made
the meams of our living over again, year b\' year, the time of
the Incarnation, from Bethlehem to Bethany ; wliile in the
long-drawn season of Trinity, we see the Church's continuance
by the power of the I'enteco.stal outpouring in the true faith
of the Blessed Trinity, and in the faithful foUmving of licr
Master and Head through a long probation.Try career.
The Bpecial bearing of each ( losjiel and Epistle on the day
for which it is appointed will be shewn in the Notes that
follow. It is sufficient here to say, in conclusion, that tlie
existing arrangement of tliem appears to be founded on some
more ancient system of consecutive reading similar to that in
use for our daily Lessons, a system still followed out in the
East : that the Epistles have continued to be used in a con-
secutive order, but that the Gospels have been chosen with
the special object of illustrating tlie season ; or, where there
is nothing particular to illustrate, of harmonizing with their
respective Epistles. Whatever changes were made at the
Reformation may be seen by the marginal notes in the middle
column. In 1661 the only changes made were in the Gospels
for the Holy Week, some of which were shortened by Bishop
Cosin ; in the insertion of those for a Sixth Sunday
after Epiphany ; and in printing all Gospels and Epistles
from the Authorized Version of 1611. instead of from that of
154n.
§ The Coincidence of Holydays.
The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels give the kejniote to
the whole of the Services for Holydays ; Lessons, Hymns,
and Ritual Colours, all following their lead. There are, how-
ever, several days in every year in which two sets of these
will offer themselves for use, as, for example, when a Saint's
Day falls on a Sunday, and it then becomes necessary to have
some rule for determining wliich of the two is to be used, and
to what extent the other is to be set aside.
As regards the latter point, it may be observed that in the
ancient Cliurch of England it was the usual custom to pass
over the inferior festival altogether on the day of the superior
one, transferring its observance to the next day, or to the
next day which was not a festival. It does not appear as if
this custom had been continued in modern times ; and if it
is not adopted, then tlie Epistle, Gospel, and Lessons for the
inferior Holyday are necessarily dropped for that occasion.
But tlie day should be ritually noticed by the use of its Collect
as a "Memorial" after the Collect of the Holyday whose
services are used.
In the following Table the principles of the ancient Church
of England are so far applied to the Holydays for which
Collects, Epistles, and Gospels are provided in the Prayer
Book, as to shew which is to be regarded as the superior and
which the inferior day when there is such a coincidence or
"occurrence" between any two of them ;' —
Holyday of which the whole
Holyday of wliich the Collect is
Service is to be used.
to be used as a Memorial.
1st Sunday in Advent.
St. Andrew.
4th
St. Thomas.
St. Stephen. \
Ht. John the Evangelist. f_
Holy Innocents. i
Circumcision. J
1st Sunday after Christmas.
Epiphany,
2nd Sunday after Christmas.
Conversion of St. Paul.
;ird Sunday after Epiphany.
/ 4lh Sunday aft<.-r Epiphany.
Purification.
J Septnagesima.
j Sexagesinia.
\ Quinquagesima.
Septungesima. \
Sexagesima, >
\ Conversion of St. Paul.
(St. Matthias.
Quinquagesima. }
Ash-Wcdnesday.
St. Matthias.
:ird, 4th, Dtli, and (Jth Sundays';
in Lent ; Wednesday in Holy (
Week — Saturday in Eastur [
Annunciation.
Week, inclusive. ;
j 1st Suuday after Easter.
( St. Mark.
'( ss. Philip and James.
St. Mark. )
1 lind, 3rd, 4th. and 5th Sundays
SS. Philip and James. \
\ after Easter.
Ascension Day.
ss. Pliilip and James.
Whitsun Eve— Trinity Sun- \
day. inclusive. ' )
St. Baniabas.
St. Uai-naKis.
St. John Baptist. ]
St. Peter.
St. James. 1
St. Bartholomew. I
St. Matthew. >
Sundays after Trinity.
St. Michael and all Angels.
Sr. Luke.
SS. Mmon and Jude.
All Saints. }
1 Tliia collision of one Holyday with another is known by tlio technical
term of an •'Occurrence; " but when the vigil of a festival falls upon a day
which is a Holyday,— as, for instance, if the vigil of St. Mark were to fall
on ICaster Day,— the term " Concurrence" is used. An elaborate disserta-
tion on the suliject may be found in Oavanti Thcs ^icr. Hit. ii. 21-00,
Mrrati's ed. Ven. 1"<'2.
THE
COLLECTS EPISTLES AND GOSPELS
TO BE USED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
M Note, that the Collect appointed fur every .Siiuday, or for any Holiday tliat hath a Vigil or Eve, shall be said at the
Evening Service next before.
THE First Sunday in Advent.
« ^. 13. Dom. I.in
Adv^itu. Jj.
» A.Ti. 1549.
c IGrep. Hebd. ii.
ante Nat. Domini.]
'•Dominica I. Adventus
*THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may
-^^^ ca.st away the works of darkness, and put
upon us the armour of light, now in tlie time of
this mortal life (in which Thy Son Jesus Christ
came to visit us in great humility) ; that 'in the
last day, when He shall come again in His
glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and
dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through
Him Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the
Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
IT This Collect is to be repeated every day with the
other Collects in Advent, until Chri.stmas Eve.
Domini.
['BENEDICTIO.
OMNIPOTENS Deus vos placato vuitu respi-
ciat, et in vos donum Suae benedictionis
infundat. Amen. Et qui hos dies incarnatione
Unigeniti Sui fecit solemnes a cunctis prjesentis
et futurse vitse adversitatibus reddat indemnes.
Amen. Ut qui de adventu Eedemptoris nostri
secundum carnem devota mente Icetamini, in
secundo, cum in maj estate venerit, praemiis
Eeternse vitoe ditemini. Amen.]
Collects . . . throughout the year] The Rubric at p. Ill may
here be repeated, namely, "Note also, Tliat the Collect,
Epistle, and Gospel appointed for tlie Sunday sliall serve all
tlie week after wliere it is not in this book otherwise ordered. "
On tlie custom of daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, see
the Introduction to tlio Liturgy, beyond.
aui/ Holidatj that hnth a Vi'jil or Ere] This applies to all
Festivals, since all Festivals liave Eves, tliough some have
not Vigils.
the Evening Service next be/ore] If the Vigil is kept on Satur-
day [p. 118], the Collect is to be said on the Sunday Evening,
not on the Saturday Evening, and before the Sunday Collect.
u-ilh the other CoUeclft] That is, after them.
ADVENT.
From the first institution oE the great Festivals of the
Church each of them occupied a centra! position in a series of
days ; partly for the greater lionour of tlie Festival itself, and
partly for the sake of Christian discii)Une. Thus Christmas
is preceded by the Sundays and Season of Advent, and fol-
lowed by twelve days of continued Christian joy which end
with Epiphany.
Under its present name the season of Advent is not to be
traced further back than the seventh century ; but Collects,
Epistles, and Gospels for five Sundays before the Nativity of
cur Lord, and for the Wednesdays and Fridays also, are to
be found in the ancient Sacramentaries, and in the Comes of
St. Jerome. These offer good evidence that the observance
of the season was introduced into the C'liurcli at tlie same
time with the observance of Christmas : yet there is not, pro-
perly speaking, any season of Advent in the Eastern Church,
which has always carefully preserved ancient customs intact ;
though it observes a Lent before Christmas as well as before
Easter.
Durandus (a laborious and painstaking writer, always to be
respected, tliough not to be implicitly relied upon) writes
that St. Peter instituted three w hole weeks to be observed as
a special season before Christmas, and so much of the fourth
as extended to the Vigil of Christinas, whicli is not part of
Advent. [Duraud. vi. 2. ] This was probably a very ancient
opinion, but the earliest extant historical evidence respecting
Advent is that mentioned above, as contained in the Lection-
ary of St. Jerome. Next come two homilies of Maximus,
Bisliop of Turin, a.d. 450, which are headed Z)e Adrentu
Domini. In the following century are two otlier Sermons of
Ca?sarius, Bishop of Aries [501-542] (formerly attributed to
St. Augustine, and printed among his works), and in these
there are full details respecting the season and its observance.
In the latter part of the same century St. Gregory of Tours
writes that Perpetuus, one of his predecessors, had ordered
tlie observance of three days as fasts in every week, from the
Feast of St. Martin to that of Christmas ; and this direction
was enforced on the Clergy of France by the Council of Mai;on,
held A.D. 581. In the Ambrosian and Mozarabic liturgies
Advent Season commences at the same time : and it has also
been sometimes known by the name Quadragesima Sancti
Martini: from wliich it seems probable that the Western
Churches of Europe originally kept six Advent Sundays, as
the Eastern still keeps a forty days' fast, beginning on the
same day. But the English Church, since the Conquest, at
least, has observed four only, although the title of the Sunday
preceding the first seems to offer an indication of a fifth in
more ancient days.
The rule by which Advent is determined defines the first
Sunday as that which comes nearest, whether before or after,
to St. Andrew's Day ; which is equivalent to saying that it is
the first Sunday after November 2Gth. December 3rd is con-
sequently the latest day on wliich it can occur.
In the Latin and English Churches the Cliristian year com-
mences witli the First Sunday in Advent. Such, at least, has
been the arrangement of the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
for many centuries, although the ancient Sacramentaries began
the year with Christmas Da}', and although the Prayer Book
(until the change of stj-le in 1752) contained an express "Note,
that the Supputatiou of the year of our Lord in the Church of
England beginneth the Five and Twentieth day of March."
By either reckoning it is intended to number the times and
seasons of the Church by tlie Incarnation : and while the
computation from the Annunciation is more correct from a
theological and a chronological point of view, that from Advent
246
Cbc first ^unDay in 3Dt)cnt.
"THE EPISTLE. *r.om. xiii. 11-U.
OWE no man anj- thing, but to love one anotlier :
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled
the law. For this. Thou shalt not commit
adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not
steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou
shalt not covet ; and if there he any other com-
mandment, it is briefly comprehended in this
saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neigh-
bour : therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
Ri^m-
" 5. g. IS-
an as p. B.
l-tisUrn. I^gth
Sunday from AVhit-
smi Day.l Col. 3.
4-11.
fr Iiv these refer-
ences tlie verse
"Inch ends the
Epistle or Gospel
has been added :
only that which
bejpns it bein;4
given in the MS.
and the Sealed
Books.
time to awake out of sleep : for now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed. The
night is far spent, the day is at hand ; let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let
us put on the armour of light. Let us walk
honestly as in the day ; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness,
not in strife and envying. But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xxi. 1-9.
WHEN they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and
were come to Bethphage, unto the
mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
saying unto them, Go into the village over against
you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied,
and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them
mito Me. And if any man say ought unto you,
ye shall say. The Lord hath need of them ; and
straightway he will send them. All this wa.s
done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the Prophet, saying. Tell ye the daughter of
Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,
and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an
ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus
commanded them ; and brought the ass, and the
colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set
Him thereon. And a very great multitude spread
f 5. g. as p. E.
?!). Mark i. 1-8.
Re7/t/tn. Luke2t.
=5-38. , ,
liastern, Luke
14. i-it.
] their garments in the way ; others cut down
branches from the trees, and strawed them in the
I way. And the midtitudes that went before, and
that followed, cried, saying, Husauna to the son
of David ; Blessed is He that cometh in the
Name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest.
And when He was come into Jei'usalem all the
city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the
multitude said, This is Jksus the Prophet of
Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the
temple of God, and cast out all them that sold
and bought in the temple ; and overthrew the
tables of the money-changers, and the seats of
them that sold doves ; and said unto them, It is
written. My house shall be called the house of
prayer ; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
and Christmas fits in far better with the vivid system of tlio
Church by which she represents to us the life of our Lord
year by year. Beginning the year with the Annunciation, we
should be reminded by the new birth of Nature of the regene-
ration of Human Nature ; beginning it with Advent and
Christmas, we have a more keen reminder of that humiliation
of God the Son, by wliich the new birth of the world was
accomplished. And .is we number our years, not by the .ige
of the world, nor by the time during which any earthly sove-
reignty has lasted, but by the age of tlie Christian Cluirch
and the time during which the Kingdom of Clirist has been
established upon earth, calling each " the Year of our Lord,''
or "the Year of Grace ;" so we begin every year with the
season when grace first came by our Lord and King, through
His Advent in the humility of His Incarnation.
In very ancient times the season of Advent was observed
as one of special prayer and discipline. As already stated,
the Council of Ma9on in its ninth Canon directs the general
observance by the Clergy of the Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday fast-days, of which traces are found at an earlier
period : and tlie Capitulars of Cliarlemagno also speak of a
forty days' fast before Christmas. The strict Lenten observ-
ance of the season was not, however, general. Amalarius,
writing in the ninth century, speaks of it as being kept in
that way only by tlie religious, that is, by those who liad
adopted an ascetic life in monasteries, or elsewhere : and the
principle gener.ally carried out appears to have been that of
multiplying solemn services,' and of adopting a greater reserve
in the use of lawful indulgences. Such an observance of the
season still commends itself to us as one that will form .a fit-
tine prefix to the joyous time of Christmas : and one that
will also be consistent with that contemplation of our Lord's
Second Advent which it is impossible to dissoci.ate from
thoughts of His First. In the system of the Church the
Advent Season is to the Christmas Season what St. John the
Baptist was to the First, and the Christian Ministry is to the
Second, Coming of our Lord.
§ 77ie First Sunday in Advent.
Tho four Sundays in Advent set forth, by the Holy
1 Our own Church hnd ftppcial Kptsttcs nnrt Goffpcls for tho TVednesdnys
and Frid.iyn in A<lvcnt until tlic Reformation, Tliey were not always the
same in the three national Missals.
Scriptures appointed for them, the Majesty of our .Lord's
Person and Kingdom. Christmas is to represent before us
the lowliness to which the Eternal God condescended to stoop
in becoming Man : and we begin on that day the detailed
oliservance of each great Act in the ni}'stery of the Incarna-
tion. Before coming to Bethlehem and seeing the Holy
Child in the manger, we are bidden to look on the glory
M hich belongs to Him ; and, ere wc look upon the Babe of
the humble Virgin, to prepare our hearts and minds for the
sight by dwelling on the keynote which sounds in our ears
tlirough Advent, " Behold, thy King cometh :'"' a meek and
lowly Babe, but yet Divine.
In this spirit the old lutroit for the First Sunday was
chosen, " Unto Tliee lift I up mine eyes : O my God, I have
put my trust in Thee ..." though not without reference
also to the humble dependence upon His Father with which
the Son of God took human nature, and all its woes, upon
Him. Lifting up our eyes to the Holy Child, we behold Him
from afar, and "knowing the time, that no%v it is high time
to awake out of sleep," we hear the cry, "Behold, the Bride-
groom cometh," to His Church in a first Advent of Humilia-
tion and Grace, and a second -Idveiit of Glory and Judgement.
For each Advent the Church has one song of welcome,
" Hosanna to the Son of David ; Illessed is He that cometh
in the Name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest. Even so
come, Lord Jesus. "
The Christian year opens, then, on tliis Sunday with a
direct re-presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ tn us in His
JIum.an Nature, coming to visit us in gre.at humility in "this
mortal life," as well as in His Divine Nature, to be the Object
of our Adoration. We cannot do otherwise than love the
Tabe of Bethlehem, the Child of the Temple, the Son of the
Virgin, the Comp.anion of the Apostles, the Healer of the Sick,
the Friend of Bcth.any, the Man of Sorrows, the Dying
Crucified One : but we must adore as well as love ; and
recognize in all tliese the triumphant King of Glory Who
reigns over tho earthly Sion. and over the heavenly Jerusalem.
No contemplation of the Humility of the Son of Man must
divert our eyes from the coiitem]ilation of His Infinite
Majesty of Whom the Father saith when He bringeth in the
First-Begotten into tho world, "]>et all the angels of God
worship Him."
Introit. — Unto Thee, Lord, will I lift up my soul ; my
^i)t ^cconD anD CijirD ^unDays in aoucnt.
247
Thk Second Sunday in Advknt.
I A.V. 1549-
"Dominica II. Advenlus Domini.
*THE COLLECT.
BLESSED Lord, Who hast caused all holy
Scri[)ture3 to be written for our learning ;
Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by
patience, and comfort of Thy holy AVord, we
may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope
of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in
our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
' THE EPISTLE. Rom. xv. 4-18.
W
HATSOEVER things were written afore-
time, were written for our learning ; that
we through patience, and comfort of the Scrip-
tures, might have hope. Now the God of
patience and consolation grant you to be like
minded one towards another, according to Christ
Jesus : that ye may with one mind, and one
mouth, glorify God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one
another, as Christ also received us, to the glory
of God. Now I say, that Jesus Christ was a
minister of the circumcision for the truth of God,
to confirm the promises made unto the fathers :
<• S. Jff. ffi. Kom.
ail .IS 1*. B.
Jiitslern. Col. 3.
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for Ilis
mercy ; as it is written, For this cause I will
confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing
unto Thy Name. And again ho saith, llejoice,
ye Gentiles, with His people. And again, Praise
the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud Him, all ye
people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be
a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign
over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles trust.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost.
THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xxi. 25-33.
AND there shall be signs in the sun, and in
-^-J- the moon, and in the stars ; and ui)on the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea
and the waves roaring ; men's hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth : for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see
the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power
and great glory. And when these things begin
to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
■<S.S.M
as P. B.
Reman.
Halt. II.
2.10.
Eastertt.
Luke
13. 10-17.
heads ; for your redemption draweth nigh. And
He spake to them a parable, Behold the fig-tree,
and all the trees ; when they now shoot forth,
ye see and know of your own selves that summer
is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye
see these things come to pass, know ye that the
Kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say
unto you. This generation shall not pass away,
till all be fulfilled : heaven and earth shall pass
away ; but ]\Iy words shall not pass away.
o
The Third Sunday in Advent.
'Dominica III. Advenlus Domini.
/THE COLLECT.
LORD Jesu Christ, Who at Thy first
coming didst send Thy messenger to pre-
' Sar.
/A.D. 16G1.
God, I have put my trust in Thee : let me not be con-
founded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me. Ps.
Shew me Thy ways, O Lord, and teach me Thy paths. Glory be.
[The Introits licre given throughout are translated from
those of the Salisbury Missal, the name "Office" being used
instead of " Introit " in all Anglican Missals. The mode in
which it was sung was to sing first the Office, e.g. "Unto
Thee . . . over me," then the Psalm, e.g. " Sliew me . . .
Thy paths," tlien the Gloria, and then the Office again. In
Churclies where there were Rulers of the Choir, and the Ser-
vice was of a more elaborate character, the Office was i"epeated
three times, instead of twice, on Sundays and Festivals.]
§ The Second Sunday in Advent.
The note sounded by the Gospel of this Second Sunday is,
"The Kingdom of God is nigh at liaud. " As the Kingdom
of Grace it is in the midst of us, so that the signs of its sum-
mer beauty and strength are visible to every eye that will
look for them ; as the Kingdom of the Second Coming, it is
nigli at hand to all, for all nuist soon pass out of the one into
the other. And what though the latter be terrible to con-
template, "men's hearts fading them for fear"? One has
arisen to reign even over the Gentiles, and in Him shall the
Gentiles trust. The patience and comfort of God's Holy
AVord, the Personal and the written Word, give the Church
sure faith to look up and lift up its head, knowing that its
redemption draweth nigh. ' ' Because thou hast kept the word
of My patience, I also ■will keep thee from the hour of tempta-
tion which shall come upon all the world to try them that
dwell upon the earth. " [Rev. iii. 10.]
The continuity of the L'hurch under the Old and New Dis-
pensation is strongly shewn in both the Epistle and the
Gospel for this Sunday. In the first, the Monarchy of Christ
over eacli Dispensation is set forth : in the second, the Parable
of our Lord points to the Summer, which was to begin at His
passing away. "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and
gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the sing-
ing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in
our land ; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs. Arise,
my love, my f.air one, and come away." [Cant.ii. 11-13.]
It looks, also, beyond to that time when the Tree of Life will
give its fulness of fruit, and the Kingdom of God lie known in
that phase of its continuous existence in which His servants
shall serve Him, and shall see His face Who has been their
Redemption.
Introit. — Behold, people of Sion, the Lord wiU come to
save the nations : and the Lord shall cause His glorious voice
to be heard, and gladness shall be in your hearts. Ps. Hear,
Thou Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a
sheep. Glory be.
§ The Third Sunday in Advent.
The Signs of Christ's Presence with His Church are shewn
248
Cf)e CbirD %unDay m aoucnt.
pare Thy way before Thee ; Grant that the
ministers and stewards of Thy mysteries may
likewise so prepare and make ready Thy way, by
turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wis-
dom of the just, that at Thy second coming to
judge the world we may be found an acceptable
people in Thy sight, AVho livest and reignest with
the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God,
world without end. Amen.
■THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. iv. 1-5.
IET a man so account of us, as of the ministers
-i of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries
of God. jMoreover, it is required in stewards,
that a man be found faithful. But with me it
is a very small thing that I should be judged of
you, or of man's judgement : yea, I judge not
mine own self. For I know nothing *by myself,
"S. g.g. .IsP. B.
Roman. Phil. 4
■•■'■ ....
Hasteni. i Tun,
I. 15.17.
b i.g. " .n^ainsl my
self."
' yet am I not hereby justified ; but He that
judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge
nothing before the time, until the Lord come,
I Who both will bring to light the hidden things
of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels
of the hearts ; and then shall every man have
I praise of God.
^THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xi. 2-10.
~^rOW when John had heard in the prison the
-LN works of Christ, he sent two of his
disciples, and said unto Him, Art Thou He that
should come, or do we look for another ? Jesus
answered and said nnto them, Go and shew John
again those things which ye do hear and see : The
blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead
are raised np, and the poor have the Gospel
preached to them : And blessed is he whosoever
shall not be offended in Me. And as they
f S. H.3g.,-isP. B.
Rijinati. John 1.
19.=S.
EasUrn. Luke
14- l6-:;4.
departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes
concerning John, What went ye out into the wil-
derness to see 1 a reed shaken with the wind ?
But what went ye out for to see ? a man clothed
in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft
clothin<j are in kings' houses. But what went ye
out for to see 1 a prophet 1 yea, I say unto you,
and more than a prophet. For this is he of
whom it is written, Behold, I send jMy mes-
senger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy
way before Thee.
by the Scriptures of to-day as a continuation of tlie truth
enunciated on the Second Sunday, that the Kingdom of God
is nigh at hand. Whether or not tlie faith of John the
Baptist in the Lamb of God was imperfect, there were reasons
why the faith of others should be made more perfect by means
of the message which he sent to Jesus, "Art Thou He that
should come, or do we look for another?" There was no out-
ward show to signify the Infinite Glory tliat was dwelling in
the lowly-born and lowly-liring Man Wlio was in the midst
of them. If indeed this was He tliat was to come, where
was the fulfilment of all the well-known prophecies about the
Majesty of tlie Messiah ? For evidence, Christ did not tr.ans-
figure His human Person before the multitude, and exhibit to
them an unbearable glory, that would be as convincing as the
burning bush, or the fire of Sinai : but "in the same hour He
cured many of their iufii"mities and pl.-xgucs, and of evil spirits ;
and unto many that were blind He gave sight" [St. Luke vii. 21]:
£ind when He had done tliis His answer to tlie messengers was,
"Go and shew John again tliose things which ye do hear and
see." It was thus tlie King's Presence was to be manifested
among that gener.atiou. ' ' .Say to them tliat are of a fearful
heart, Be strong, fear not : behold, your God w ill come with
vengeance, even God with a reconipence : He will come and
save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and
the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped ; then shall the lame
man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing ; for
in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the
desert." [Isa. xxxv. 4-6.] It is also in Hia work of healing
that the same .Saviour manifests His continued Presence with
His Church. As He sent forth His agents then to carry on
His work, in the person of Apostles, so docs He send forth
the ministers and stewards of His my.steries now. The one
and the other both act by His authority, are endowed with
His power, and do His work. As His ministers they have
in past generations opened the eyes of the spiritually blind,
healed spiritual infirmities by the ministration of their
Master's grace, and made life-giving streams of Sacramental
power to spring up in the wildernesses and deserts of the
world. As, therefore, the Divine power gave evidence of the
Divine Presence to those who were sent to ask, "Art Thou
He that should come?" so the Divine power sliU gives
evidence that the promise is fuHilled, " Lo, I am with you
alway, even to the end of the world. " The hearts of the dis-
obedient are turned to the wisdom of the just, the ehildron of
men are made the children of God, souls are absolved by the
Word of our God and .Saviour pronounced at His bidding and
by His agents, lively stones are being continually built up
into the Temple of the Holy Ghost, which is the Mystical
Body of Christ ; and in all these ways the perpetual Presence
of "Him that should come " is manifested, with as convincing
an evidence as if our eyes beheld Him reigning on a visible
Tlirone of Glory.
This view of these Scriptures shews their connection with
the Advent Ordination : and it was this view, doubtless,
which led Bishop Cosin to compose the Collect that we now
use in the place of a short one which stood here until 1661, in
these words : " Lord, we beseech Thee give ear to our prayers,
and by Thy gracious visitation lighten the d.arkness of our
hearts, by our Lord Jesus Christ." This ancient Collect is
erased in the Durham Book, and our present one written
against it in the margin.'
The Advent Ember Days are the Wednesday, Friday, and
Saturday after St. Lucy's D.ay, which is December 13th.
They always occur, therefore, in the third week of Advent,
and their relative position in regard to Advent Sunday is
shewn by the following Table :—
Advent Sunday.
Ember Wediiesd.iy.
November 27.
December 14.
„ 23.
„ 15.
„ 29.
IG.
SO.
ir-
December 1.
is.
2.
19.
3.
20.
As December 17th must thus always come iu Ember Week,
the Ember Collect should always be used from the Saturday
Evensong preceding tlic 17th, .iccordintr to the rule shewn at
page 237, on whatever day of the week the 17tli may happen
to fall.
Introit. — Rejoice iu the Lord alw.ay : and again I say,
Ucjoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The
Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing : but in every thing
I Tlic llrst Ember Collect wa.s also cumposed by lii.sbop Cosin.
Cfje jTouctlj ^unDay m aotient.
249
The Fourth Sunday in Advent.
THE COLLECT.
OLORD, raise up (we pray Thee) Thy power,
and come anioiig us, and with great might
succour us ; that wliereas, through our sins and
wickedness, we are sore lot and hindered in run-
ning the race tliat is set before us, Thy bountiful
grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver
us ; through the satisfaction of Thy Son our Loed,
to AVhoni with Thee and the Holt Ghost be
honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
Dominica IV. Adienlus Domini, ad ilissam.
"ORATIO.
EXCITA, quajsumus, Domine, potentiam Tuam
et veni, et magna nobis virtute succurre ;
ut per auxilium gratiae Tuse (piod nostra peccata
pr<Bpediunt, indulgentia Tu.-e propitiationls accel-
eret. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre.
« S. IS. S- Greg.
Doiii. i. .-intc Nat.
Doiii. Gclas. 80
Or.it. ii. dc Adv.
Doiii. Mur, i. 6S0.
''THE EPISTLE. Phil. iv. 4-7.
TDEJOICE in the Lord ahvay, anda.ga.\n I say,
-Ll) Rejoice. Let your moderation be known
uuto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be care-
ful for nothing : but in every thing, by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God. And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
*S.1.3ti.asP. E.
Ka'nau. i Cor.
if^'T/o. 3=."q!''' j shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus.
•THE GOSPEL. S. John i. 10-28.
THI.S is the record of John, when the Jews
sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him. Who art thou ? And he confessed, and
denied not ; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then % Art thou Elias?
And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet?
And he answered, No. Then said they unto him,
Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to
them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I um the voice of one crying in the wil-
derness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as
' S. g. la-asP. B.
Kctficin. Luke
said the prophet Esaias. And they which were
sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked
him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then,
if thou be not f/iat Christ, nor Elias, neither
that Prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water : but there standeth One
among you. Whom ye know not : He it is Who
coming after me is preferred before me. Whose
shoe's latcliet I am not worthy to unloose. These
things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known
unto God. Ps. And the jjeace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds. Glory be.
§ 7'he Fourth Sinidaij in Advent.
On this Sunday, the close approach of the King of Glory to
His kingdom of grace is heralded by Scriptures of which the
pointed words are, "The Lord is at hand, " " JLake straight the
way of the Lord." The Collect h.is lost its Gregorian pointed-
ness by a return to its Gelasian form, which makes tlie wliole
a prayer for the Presence of (iod the Father, instead of what
it was iu the Pre-Reformation liooks, one for the Coming
among us of the Incarnate vSon. The alteration was pro-
bably made under a strong impression of the truth tliat all
prayer should be addressed to the Father through the Son ;
and also with reference to the words spoken by our Lord
immediately after He had given the command respecting
prayer, and had promised a return of His own Presence, " If
a man love Me, he will keep My words, and Jly Father will
love him, and We will conie unto Him, and make Our abode
with him." [S. John xiv. 23.] In Collect and Scriptures the
Church sounds her l.ast herald-notes of tlie season which pre-
cedes Cliristnias ; and we seem to hear the cry of the pro-
cession as it draws nearer and nearer, "The Bridegroom
Cometh ; go ye forth to meet Him." It is a cry that should
bring peace and joy to her children. "Rejoice in the Loril
alway," for "One standeth among you," even now. Who
brings down from on high "the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding."
A very striking accidental coincidence with this joyous
tone of the Fourth Sunday in Advent occurs in the First
Lesson for Christm.as Eve, "Arise, shine, for tliy Light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For,
behold, darkness shall cover tlie eartli, and gross d.arkness
the people : but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His gloiy
shall be seen upon thee." Tlie words sound like an answer
from heaven to tlie prayers of Advent, tliat the Liglit would
vouchsafe to come, and illumin:ite the Church with His Pre-
sence. Other words which follow are equally striking, and
offer themselves as a benediction of the Christmas decorations
which have just been completed: "The gloiy of Lebanon
shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box
together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary ; and I will
make the place of My feet glorious."
Intkoit.— Remember me, Lord, according to the favour
that Thou bearest unto Thy people : O visit me with Thy
salvation : that I may see the felicity of Thy chosen ; and
rejoice in the gladness of Thy people, and give thanks with
Thine inheritance. Ps. We have sinned with our fathers ; we
have done amiss, and dealt wickedly. Glory be.
[The following Antiphons to the Magnificat were formerly
sung during the third and fourth weeks of Advent. In later
times two others wei-e added, one for the Festival of St.
Thomas, and another in which the name of the Blessed Virgin
was used as we are not now accustomed to use it. But the
original set of Antiphons appears to have consisted of these
seven, the first being sung on December ICth, which is still
marked "0 Sapientia " in the Caleudar, and none being used
on the Festival of St. Tliomas, or on Christmas Eve, the latter
not being part of the Advent season. The dates on which
they would thus fall are affixed to each Antiphon. References
are also appended to the passages of Holy Scripture that con-
tain or illustrate tlie respective titles of our Lord on which
each Antiphon is founded, as these Antiphons are excellent
examples of the manner in which Scriptural ideas and words
may be used in direct acts of Adoration.
December l&h. [Ecclus. xxiv. 3 ; Wisd. viii. 1. Coinp. 1
Cor. i. 24 ; Prov. i-ix.]
Wisdom, which didst
come forth from the mouth of
the Most Higli, reaching from
the one end of all things to
tlie other, and ordering tliem
with sweetness and might :
Come, that Tliou niayest teach
us the way of understanding.
Sapientia qua ex ore
Altissimi prodisti, attingens a
fine usque ad finem, fortitcr
suaviterque disponens omnia :
veni ad docendum nos viam
prudeutise.
250
Cfjristnms Day.
THE NATIVITY OF OUK LORD, OR THE BIRTH-DAY OF CHRIST.
COMMONLY CALLED
CHRISTMAS DAY.
"Dies Naticitatis Domini.
*THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, \rho hast given us Thy only-
-^-^ begotten Son to take our nature upon
Him, and as at this time to be bom of a pure
Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and
made Thy children by adoption and grace,
may daily be renewed by Tliy Holy Spirit;
through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
liveth" and reigneth with Thee and the same
Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
* A.D. 1549.
c Mcizarabic Bre-
viary at Lauds.
T'T^OMINE jESuCuEiSTE,QuiexPATRE Deus
I Ly magnus, pro nobis dignatus es nasci ex
homine parvus, ut per Te factus, per Te salvaretur
sine dubio mundus; propitius esto et miserere
nobis ; nosque a mundanis contagiis munda, et in
hoc mundo mundos nos esse constitue. Qui non ju-
dicare, sed salvare venisti, ut nobis parvulus natus,
nobisque filius datus, in Te et regenerationis
ortum et adoptionis mereamur consequi donuiu.
Amen. Per misericordiam Tuam Deus noster.]
"J THE EPISTLE. Heb. i. 11 2.
GOD, Who at sundry times and in divers man-
ners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto
us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir
of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds ;
'S. 53
^. Rom.
Midn ight
.lAiJf ;
Titus 2.
Daybreak
M.U!:
Titus 3. 4-7-
s. a
Mass of
Day: Heb. i. 1-13.
m-
Roman.
Mass
0/ Day :
Heb. I
1-12.
Who being the brightness of His glory, and the
express image of His Person, and upholding all
things by the word of His power, when He had
by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high ; being made
December Yith. [Exod. iii. 14 ; John viii. 58.]
Lord of lords, and Leader O Adonai, et dux domus
of the house of Israel, Who Israel, qui Moysi in igne flam-
didst appear unto iloses in a ma; rubi apparuisti, et in Sina
flame of fire in the busli, and legem dedisti ; veni ad redi-
gavest Thy law in Sinai : mendum nos in brachio ex-
Come, that Thou mayest re- tento.
deem us with Thy stretched-
out arm.
December ISth. [Isa. xi. 10; Rev. xxii. lb'.]
Root of Jesse, -nhich Radix Jesse, qui stas in
standest for an ensign of the signum populorum ; super
people, before whom kings quem contiuebunt reges os
shall shut their mouths, suum, quem gentes depreca-
and to whom the Gentiles buntur ; veni ad liberandum
shall seek : Come, that Thou nos : jam noli tardare.
mayest deliver us ; tarry not,
we beseech Thee.
December 19M. [Isa. xxii. 22; Rev. iii. 7 ; Isa. xlii. 7.]
Key of David, and Sceptre O Clavis David, et Scep-
of the lioHse of Israel : Thou trum domus Israel ; qui aperis
Who openest and no man shut- et nemo claudit, claudis et
tetli, AVho shuttest and no man nemo aperit ; veni et educ
openeth : Come, that Thou vinctum de domo carceris,
mayest bring fortli from the sedentem in tenebris et umbra
prison-house himthatisbound, mortis,
sitting in darkness and in the
shadow of death.
December 20th. [Wisd. vii. 26 ; Hel). i. 3 ; ilal. iv. 2.]
dawning Brightness of the oriens Splendor lucis ajter-
everlasting Light, and Sun of nx et Sol justitia; ; veni et
Righteousness : Come, tliat illumiiia sedentes in tenebris
Thou mayest enligliten those et umbra mortis.
who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death.
December 22ml. [Ilag. ii. 7-]
King and Desire of all Rex gentium et Desidcra-
nations, the Comer-Stone unit- tus earum, lapisque angularis
iiif all in one : Come, that qui facis utraquc unum ; veni,
'I'hou mayest save man, whom salva hominem quem do limo
Thou liast formed out of tlie formasti.
ground by Thy hand.
December 2:iril. [Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23]
O Emmanuel, our King and O Emmanuel, Rex et Legifer
our Lawgiver, the P^xpeetation noster, expcctatio gentium et
and the Saviour of the Gen- salvator earum ; veni ad sal-
tiles : Come, that Thou may- vandum nos, Domine Deus
cat save us, Lord our God. noster.]
CHRISTMAS DAY.
The Festival of Cliristmas was observed at a very early
period in tlie Churcli, as indeed it could liardly but be ; for
that which brought the joy of angels within reach of men's
ears, could not but have been devoutly and joyously remem-
bered by Cliristians, year by year, wlien they came fully to
understand the greatness of the event. St. Chrj-sostom, in a
Christmas homily, speaks of the festival as being even then,
in the fourth century, one of great antiquity ; and, in an
Epistle, mentions that Julius I. [a.d. 337-352] had caused
strict inquiry to be made, and had confirmed the observance
of it on December 25th. Tliere are sermons extant which
were preached upon this day by Gregory Nazianzen and St.
Basil, in the same century. It is spoken of by Clemens
Alexaudrinus, who died in the beginning of the third centui-y,
a little more tlian a hundred years after the death of St. John ;
and it was on a Christmas Day, we are told, tliat a whole
church full of martyrs was burnt by Maximin in Nicomedia.
In the primitive age of tlie Church this Festival was more
closely associated with the Epiphany than it has been in later
times. The actual Nativity of Christ was considered as His
first Manifestation, and the name "Theophania" w.as sometimes
given to the day on which it was commemorated, as well as
to the t^.'elfth day afterwards, when the end of the Christmas
Festival is celebrated with other memorials of the appearance
of Clod among men. Most of the fathers have left sermons
which were preached on Christmas Day, or during the con-
tinuance of the festival ; and secular decrees of the Chris-
tian Emperors, as well as Canons of the Church, shew that it
was very strictly observed as a time of rest from labour, of
Divine woi-ship, and of Christian hilarity.
The ancient Church of England welcomed Christmas Day
with a special service on the Vigil, a celebration of the Holy
Communion soon after midnight, another at early (L'u\'n, and
a third at the usual hour of the midd.ay mass. The first two
of these services were omitted from the Prayer Book of 1549,
and the third from that of 1552. But an early Communion,
as well as the usual midday one, has always been celebrated
iu some of the greater churches on Christmas Day, and custom
has revived the midnight celebration also, in adilition to the
ordinary lOvensong of Christmas Eve. The midnight celebra-
tion commemorates the actual Birth of our Lord ; the early
morning one its revelation to mankind in the persons of the
shepherds ; that at midday the Eternal Sonship of the Holy
Child Jesus.
The Collect at the Early Connnunion in the first Prayer
Book was that of Christmas Eve in tlic Salisbury Missal : the
ICpistle and Gospel being the first of the ancient three.
Kcirh/ Commxtnion. First Cliristmas hir. Salisbury
J'i-ai/rr Jiook- of 1549. Use.
OGod, Whichmakestusglad Deus, qui nos redemptionis
with the yearly remembrance nostroc annua cxpcctationo
Cbtistmas Day.
251
so much better than the angels, as He hatli by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than
they. For unto which of the angels said lie at
any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I
begotten Thee 1 And again, I will be to Him a
Father, and He shall be to Me a Son? And
again, when Ho bringeth in the first-begotten
into the world. He saith. And let all the
angels of God worship Him. And of the
angels He .saith, Who maketh His angels
spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire. But
unto The Son He saith, Thy throne, O God,
is for ever and ever ; a sceptre of righteousness
ii the scejitre of Thy kingdom : Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated ini(iuity ; therefore God,
even Thy God, hath anointed Thee wilh the oil of
gladness above Tliy fellows. And, Thou, Lord,
in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the
earth ; and the heavens are the works of Thine
hands : they shall perish, but Tliou rcniainest ;
and they all shall wax old as dol/i a garment ; and
as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they
shall be changed ; but Thou art the same, and
Thy years shall not fail.
•THE GOSPEL. S. John i. 1-14.
IN the beginning was the Word, and the Wokd
was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by Him ; and without Him
was not any thing made that was made. In Him
was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.
And the Light shinoth in darkness, and the
darkness comprehended it not. There was a man
sent from God, whose name tvas John. The
same came for a witness, to bear witness of
the Light, that all 7>ien through Him might
believe. He was not that Light, but tvas sent to
bear witness of that Light. 17iat was the true
" 5. g. 3D. K„„,.
an. Midtti^hC
Mass : Luke 2.
1-14. Dayl'yeak
Mass : Luke 2.
i!-=o. J/.ilj !!/■
Day: Jolin i. 1-14.
Eastern, M.nlL
I. 18-25.
Light, Wliich lighloth every man that cometli
into the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew
Him not. He came unto His own, and His own
received Him not. But as many as received
Him, to them gave He jiower to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His Name :
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us (and we behold His glory, the glory as of the
Only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and
truth.
of the birth of Thy only Son Iretificas : prsesta : ut Unigeni-
Jesus Christ ; grant that as we turn tuiim cjuem redemptorein
joyfully receive Him for our ht'ti .susoipiniua ; venientem
Redeemer, so we may with quoque judiccm sccuri videa-
sure confidence behold Him nius Dominuni nostrum .Jesum
when He sliall come to be our Christum Filium tuum. Qui
Judge, Who liveth and tecum. [Oreg. In Vig. Nat.
reigneth. Dom. ad Nonam. Gelas. ]
The ancient association of Christmas and Epiiihany was
maintained in the Collect of the Salisbury Use, Ad Missmii
ill f/alli caiilit.
Deus, qui banc sacratissi- OGod, Whomadestthismost
mam noctem veri luminis holy night to shine with the
fecisti illustratione clarescere : brightness of the true Light ;
da, qussumus, ut cujus lucis Grant, we beseech Thee, that
mysteria in terra cognovimns, as we have known the myste-
ejus quoque gaudiia in cado ries of that Light on earth, so
perfruaniur. Qui tecum, we may have the fruition of
[Greg. In Vig. Dom. in His joys in heaven. Who
Nocte. Gelas.] liveth.
It is most fit that the season so marked out by Angels by
songs of joy, such as had not been heard on earth since the
Creation, should also bo observed as a time of festive gladness
by the Chui'ch, ami in the social life of Christians. Christ
Himself instituted this festival when He sanctified tlie day
by then first revealing His Human Nature to the eyes of man-
kind. The holy Angels witnessed to its separation fur e\ or
as a day of days, when they proclaimed the Glory that was
then offered to God in tlie Highest by the restoration of per-
fect Manhood in tlie Virgin-born Jesus ; and the peace that
was brought among men on earth through the reunion of their
nature to God. The whole world has since recognized it as
the single point of history in which every age, every country,
every living man has an interest. It i.s to the Nativity of our
Lord that all the pages of the lUlile point as tlie centre on
which evcrytliing there recorded turns. Kings have lived and
died ; empires have arisen and crumbled away ; great cities
have been built and destroyed ; countries peopled and again
laid desert : and all this is to us almost as if it liad never been.
Great as past events of history were to the generations in
which they occurred, to us they are of less practical imjior-
tancc than the everyday circumstances of our common life.
But the event which gives us the festival of Christmas was
one whose interest is universal and unfading : one with which
we are as much concerned as were the shejiherds of Bethle-
hem : and which will be of no less importance to the last
generation of men tlian it is to ns. For it was in the Birth of
Christ that Earth was reunited to Heaven, and both made one
Kingdom of God above and below, as they were at the first
Creation. In it, separation of man from God was done away,
for One appeared Who in His own single Person was God,
belonging to Heaven, and Man, belonging to earth. It was
not only the beginning of a new era, but it was the Centre of
all human history, tlie point of time to whicli the ages that
were gone had looked forward, and to which the ages that
were to come after must all look back ; the one day of days
which gathered all other times into itself, and stretching its
infiuence through every hour of human existence from the
Fall to the Judgement, makes for itself a history by connection
witli which onlj' can other histories have an eternal interest.
And so, even beyond the immediate influence of the Church, it
i.^ fouud that the Christmas gladness of the Church is reflected
in the world around : and a common instinct of regenerated
human nature teaches that world to recognize in Christmas
a season of unity and fellowship and goodwill, of happiness
and peace.
IxTROlT. — Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulder ; and His
name shall be called Wonderful. I's. Sing unto the Lord a
new song, for He hath done marvellous things. Glory be.
THE THREE DAYS AFTER CHRISTMAS.
The position of the three days after Christmas Day is a
very remarkable one. Easter and Pentecost each have two
festive days following their principal day, the Sunday : and
in this respect Christmas, with its three festive days, is
placed on a similar though a more honoured footing. But at
Easter and Pentecost the days are connected by name with
the festival itself, whereas, at Christmas, they are associated
with tlie names of Saints, in addition to that continued com-
memoration of the Nativity which belongs to them as to the
other days of the Octave.
Some explanation of this may be found in the vivid convic-
tions of the early Church respecting the close union between
Christ and His people, especially His martyrs, through the
virtue of the Incarnation. Ensebius [viii. 10] speaks of the
martyrs of Alexandria as Xpi<7To<p6poi, a name otherwise
familiar to us in the story of St. Christopher, and in the appel-
lation of Tlieophorus which was given by himself or others to
Ignatius ; and St. Augustine, in one of his Sermons on St.
Stephen's Day, seems to adopt a strain of thought in accord-
ance with these names, when he says, "As C^irist by being
born was brought into union with Stephen, so Stephen by
dying was brought into union with Christ. " There was,
moreover, in the early Cliurch (itself so familiar with a life
of suffering) a profound sense of the continuous martyrdom
252
^aint ^tepf)en'0 ©ag.
Saint Stephen's Day.
In Die Sancli Slephani.
THE COLLECT.
GKANT, O Lord, that, in all
here upon earth for
our sufferings
the testimony of Thy
truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and
by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed ;
and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may
learn to love and bless our persecutors by the
example of Thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who
prayed for his murderers to Thee, O blessed
Jesus, Who standest at the right hand of God to
succour all those that suffer for Thee, our only
Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
IT Then shall follow the Collect of the Nativity, which
shall be said continually unto New year's Eve.
Nat. St. Steph.
"ORATIO.
DA nobis, qusEsumus, Domine, imitari quod
colimus, ut discamus et inimicos diligere,
quia ejus natalitia celebramus, qui novit etiam
pro persecutoribus esorare Domikum nostrum
Jesum Christum Filium Tuum Qui Tecum vivit
et regnat.
IT Alia de Nativitate.
'FOR THE EPISTLE. Acts vii. 55-60.
r-" QTEPHEX,] being full of the Holy Ghost,
L O looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the
right hand of God, and said. Behold, I see the
heavens opened, and the Son of i\Ian standing on
the right hand of God. Then they cried out
with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and
ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out
* S. g. g. Kom-
nil. Acts 6- 8-10.
& 7- 54-60.
liastertt. Meb.
i Square brackets
are used here and
elsewhere in the
Gospels and
Epistles to siijnify
that the worcis so
enclosed are not
in the Authorized
\*ersion.
of the city, and .stoned him: and the witnesses
laid down their clothes at a young man's feet,
whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen,
calling upon God, and saying. Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and
cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleeji.
which was involved in the earthly life of our Lord, both from
the intensity of the humiliation which He underwent in
Ijecomiug Man [non horruisti virginis uteruin. Tc JJetini],
and also from the sorrows which were inherent in His human
nature as the bearer of all human woes. Hence they could
not lose sight, in those days, of the fact that the Holy Cliild
of Bethlelieni was also tlie Man of Sorrows ; and it is very
probable that this view of our Lord's Incarnation led to the
commemoration of the first Martyr who suffered on the day
succeeding that on whicli his Master had entered on a life of
Buffering, rather than on the anniversary of his martyrdom.
In connection with this view it is very observable, th.at at
the first taste of martyrdom, even before tlie suttering of St.
Stephen, the Church pleaded the Divine Sonship and human
Infancy of our Lord : and although few of the Apostles are
likely to have known their Loi-d in His childhood (while His
mature years and His final work \\ere familiar to all, anil
His Ascent out of their sight as Man vividly fresh in their
memory), yet they speak of Him to the Father in their hour
of trouble as "Thy holy Child Jesus," and seem thus to fall
back, so to speak, on the first days of the Incarnation more
than a third of a century before, r.ather than on their recent
knowledge of Him through Whom they prayed for strength to
do and bear all that was set before them. It may well have
been that St. Stephen was among them when the words of
that prayer were used.
Another explanation i.s to be found in the Ralioiwli' of J>u-
r.andus [vii. 42]. The substance of this is, that Clirist being
the Heail to which all the members are joined, three kinds
of members are joined to Him by martyrilom : as mystically
signified in the Song of Songs [v. 10] \>y the words, "My
Beloved is white and ruddy, and the chiefest among ten
thousand." The first and chief order of martyrs he thus
considers to be those who, being baptized in blood, suffered
both in will and deed : the second, those who gave their will
up entirely to suffer, but yet escaped with life, and so accom-
plished a white martyrdom : the third, those who suffered but
had no wills of their own to sacrilico to God, as was the case
with the Holy Innocents.
One other view may bo named ; which i.s, that as the second
half of the Christian year represents the Christian life founded
on the life of Christ, so the three d.ays .after Christmas repre-
sent the tliree w.ays of suffering, love, and purity, by which
the Inciniatiou bears fruit in the saints of (Iiid. St. Stephen
was the nearest to the King of Saints in His life of suffering,
.St. .lohn in His life of love, tlie Holy Innocents in His life of
purity. The first trod innnediatcly in his M-aster's footstep.s
of a martyr death in its most perfect form ; the second, lying
on Jesus' bosom in close communion with Him to the end of
His earthly life, followed Him closely ever after in His
heavenly example ; the third were the firstfruits of that holy
train whose innocence and purity admits them nearest to the
Person of their glorified liedeemer, so that "they follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth. "
§ St. Stephen.
Nothing is known of St. Stephen before his martyrdom be-
yond the solitary fact that he was one of the seven deacons
ordained by the Apostles when tliey began to divide ofi' the
lower portions of their ministerial functions, duties, and
cares. His eloquence, ready knowledge, heroic cour.age, are
strikingly exhibited in the account given of his hast houis in
the seventh chapter of the Acts. It may be that he is only
a fair and average example of those wonderfully endowed men
who carried on Christ's work in the Apostolic age ; and that
the peculiarity of his martyrdom as being the first, and as
occurring while the Church w-as still confined almost within
the walls of Jerus.aleni, has given it the prominence of a
Scriptural narrative. Tlicre were, doubtless, many others in
that holy band of Apostolic men, of whom it miglit have been
recorded that, "full of faith and power, they did great wonders
and miracles among the people ; " and many w ho suffered as
l)oI(ily and as meekly as St. Stephen. Yet it is around the
head of the Proto-martyr alone that Holy Scripture places
the uimbus of glory ; and however truly it may be tlie due of
others also, it is of St. Stephen only that the words are writ-
ten, "And .all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on
him, saw his face .as it hail been the fiacc of .an angel. " Hence
St. Chrysostom calls him the ZW^axos or crown of the Church,
in respect to her martyrdoms.
The dying words of St. Stephen arc also of a most s>aint-like
char.acter, whether that character was common to the saintly
martyrs or not. The last words of his Master's P.assion,
" F,ather, forgive them, for they know not what they do,"
h.ave a p.ar.allel in tlic servant's, " Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge ;" ami the eommend.atory pnayev, "Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit," is the saint's version of the Son's cry,
" Fatlier, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."
Such circumstances as these seem as if tlicy were provlden-
ti.ally ordered, in part, .as a monition to the Cliurcli of the
himonr in whicli the marlyrsof Christ wcrecvcrafterto beheld;
to slicw her that Christ w.as to ))c glorified in His saints,
tlimugh wliom tlie lustre of His own Light was shed around
.as pl.anets disperse the light of the sun when it is beyond our
horizon. Nor must it bo forgotten that the narrative of St.
Stephen's miirtyrdom is given ns in that book which is princi-
^airit 3iof)n tfjc €uangcUst's Dap.
253
ait as r. B.
liastern.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Matt.
BEHOLD, I send unto you prophets, and wLse ^ ^ s. jg. jj
men, and scribes ; and mme of them ye
shall kill and crucify ; and some of thorn shall ye
scourge in your synagogues, and persecute tlum
from city to city; that upon you may come all
the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew
between the temple and the altar. Verily I say
unto you. All these things shall come upon this
xxiii. Sl-.TO.
generation. O Jerusalem, .Jerusalem, ihou that
killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee ; how often would I have gathered
thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wing.s, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For
I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth,
till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the
Name of the Loed.
Saint John the Evangelist's Day.
In Die. Sanctl Johannls Evatirjelistu:.
THE COLLECT.
MERCIFUL Lord, we beseech Thee to ca.st
Thy bright beams of light upon Thy
Church, that it being enlightened by the doctrine
of Thy ble.ssed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John
may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that it
may at length attain to the light of everlasting
life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
!• S. W. Ji- CrsR.
N.it. St. Joan.
I'.v.Tii. Mur. ii. 13.
c Comp. Aug.
Joan. li. 7.
*ORATIO.
ECCLESIAM Tuam quoesumus, Domine,
benignus illustra ; ut beati Joannis apos-
toli Tui et evangelistaj illuminata doctrinis, ad
dona perveniat sempiterna. Tor Dominum.
Memoria de Nntirilate. Alia de Sancto
Stephana.
pally made up of the Acts of St. Paul, the account of the
missionary life ami sufferings — and how small a part ! — of that
"young man whose name was Saul," at whose feet the oilicial
"witnesses " of the cruel and sudden death " laid down their
clothes." Were all tiiese official ^dprvpes won over to be
martyrs in life aiul death as that young man was? Wliether
or not such fruit was borne by the first martyr's blood, it is
certain that all the members of the then existing Cliurch must
have had his death keenly engraved ou tlieir memory ; and
that, as Christ ordained Christmas Day by the very fact of
His Nativity, so His holy Martyr must have been privileged
to originate tlie observance of Saints' Days by the very cir-
cumstances of that Martyrdom whereof the Church, and the
Apostle of the Gentiles above all, must have said year by
year, This was the day on which Stephen fell asleep.
The Collect for St. Stephen's Day, as it now stands, is first
found, in Bishop Cosin's handwriting, in the margin of the
Durliam Prayer Book. Until 16(il it was used in this much
shorter and less beautiful form : "Gi'ant us, O Lord, to learn
to love our enemies, by the example of Thy martyr, Saint
Stephen, who prayed for his pei-secutors to Tliee ; Which
livest. " It is observable that in both forms of this Collect it
follows the example given by St. .Stephen, of prayer to the
second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Tiie following passage
from the Contestatio Missis of the Gallican Mass for St.
Stephen's Day, printed by Cardinal Bona [Re>: Lilurg. i. 12],
is very like the newer portion of our Collect : " Illi pro nobis
oculi snblimentur, qui adhuc iu hi>e mortis corpore constituti
stantem ad dexteram Patris Filium Dei, in ijisa passionis hora
viderunt. Hie pro nobis obtiueat, qui pro persecutoribus
suis, dum lapidaretur, orabat ad Te S.ancte Deus, Pater
omnipotens. " This was not printed by Bona until 1676, but
it is an interesting illustration of the unity which pervades
the tone of ancient and sound modern forms of prayer ; but
the Prayer Book form is addressed to our Lord Jesus,
while tlie Gallicau and Mozarabic are both addressed to
the Father.
Intkoit. — Princes also did sit and speak against me. They
persecute me falsely ; be Thou my help, Lord my God :
because Thy servant is occupied in Thy statutes. Ps. Blessed
are those that are undefiled in the way, and walk in the law
of the Lord. Glory be.
§ fit. John the Eccnxjelist.
The beloved disciple of the Holy Child Jesus is known to
the affection of the Church as the Apostle of Love, to her
intellect as the Qcohiyoi, or Divine. Tliere is little recordeil
of him in Holy Scripture, but a large part of the New Testa-
ment was revealed by God to His servant Jolin ; and none of
the Apostles, so far as we know, except St. Paul, exercised
so extensive an influence over the subsequent ages of the
Cliurch. It is not known how soon a festival was instituted
in honour of this Apostle, but it is placed in the ancient
Sacramentaries and Lectionary, and is therefore of primitive
origin.
St. John the Evangelist was one of the sons of Zebedee and
Salome, a fisherman like his father, and early called by our
Blessed Lord to be a fisher of men. With three other of the
Apostles he appears to have stood in a near relationshi]) to
the Blessed Virgin, which may be best represented by the
following Table ; —
St. Matthew's
legal
genealogy.
Jacob.
I
[St. Joachim=.St. Anne.]
I
I
St. Luke's
naUiral
genealogy.
Heli.
I
I
Zebedee=Salome.
I
I
I
B.V.M.= Joseph. CIeophas=Maiy.
St. J,ames Gt.
St. John Ev.
JESUS. St. James Less.
I
Joses.
The intimate relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary
and her ctnisin Elisabeth seems to make it probable that the
son of her sister .Salome would become an early discijile of St.
John the Baptist ; and as his follower he was in company
with St. Andrew when the BaiJtist bore official witness to the
Mission of our Lord as "the Lamb of God Which taketh away
the sin of the world." The Evangelist, therefore, was one of
tlie first pair of disciples who were called from following the
Law to follow the Gospel : sharing indeed with St. Andrew
in the honour of the title IIpwri/cXT/roy. It ^^■ould appear to
have been some little time afterward that St. John was
required to give up his ordinary occupation that he might be
trained to the office of a fisher of men, and become a constant
attendant on our Lord : still longer before that training had
been so far carried on as to qualify him in outward knowledge
for receiving the commission and power of an Apostle. In
the appointment of the Apostles, St. John was one of the
three whom our Lord distinguished by new names : he and
his brother St. James being then called Boanerges, a title
which ancient writers connect with the great eloquence of
these two Apostles, as Demosthenes and Plato were called
"tonantes" by old Roman writers. This does not seem
quite to explain the title : yet in the case of St. John it is easy
to see that it might have such a prophetic application to him
as the last writer of the New Testament, who was to pro-
claim resounding theological truths to the world as from a
Gospel Sinai after historical narratives had done their work
in preparing the minds of men for their reception.
The next time St. John's name occurs in the Gospels is as
one of the three "elect of the elect " who were chosen by our
Lord to witness the manifestation of His Divine power in the
254
^aint lobn m evangelist's Dap.
"THE EPISTLE. 1
THAT Which was from the beginning, Which
we have heard, Which we have seen with
our eyes. Which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled ; of the Word of Life (for
the Life was manifested, and we have seen It,
and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal
Life, Which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us ;) That Which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may
have fellowship with us ; and truly our fellow-
ship is with the Father, and with His Son
Jesus Christ. And these thinr/s write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. This then is
the message which we have heard of Him, and
Rom
IS. !■
an. I£cclu5.
6.
Eastern. I John
4- la-ig-
S. John i. 1-10.
declare unto you, That God is Light, and in Him
is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not the truth : but if we walk in the
light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and
the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say
that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar,
and His Word is not in us.
r "TESUS said unto Peter,] Follow Me. Then
V.*J Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple
whom Jesus loved following ; which also leaned
on His breast at supper, and said. Lord,
which is he that betrayeth Thee % Peter seeing
him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this
man do 1 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee 1 Fol-
low thou Me. Then went this saying abroad
among the brethren, That that disciple should
* S. g. S. Rom-
an. John 21. 19-
24-
Eastern. Johni9.
25.39. Si 21. 24, 35.
*THE GOSPEL. S. John xxi. 19-25.
not die : 5-et Jesus said not unto him, He shall
not die ; but. If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee ? This is the disciple which
testifieth of these things, and wrote these things,
and we know that his testimony is true. And
there are also many other things which Jesus
did, the which if they should be written every
one, I suppose, that even the world itself could
not contain the books that should be written.
chamber of J.-iirus's daughter, and of His Divine glory on the
Mount of Transfiguration. The same three were also present
at the Agony. They seem to have been chosen, not for any
purpose of sympathy needed by Christ, but as a part of their
own training. All three were afterwards distinguished by
special services for their M.aster, and these visions of His
Power, His Glory, and His Suffering were preparing them for
their work. Of tlie two sons of Zebedee, St. James was the
first martyred Apostle, St. John the latest living Apostle.
The first miracle of the Church was wrought by St. Peter
and St. .John ; they, too, were the first sufferers after the
Ascension ; they were the first Apostles who went beyond
Judiea ; and they were the "pillars" of the Church in its
early days. If we reckon up the extent of their work in tlie
education of the Church, it will be found that far the greatest
proportion of the New Testament has come from the pens of
St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. John ; the second great Apostle
appearing to have tilled up the vacancy caused by the martyr-
dom of St. James. And as St. Peter exercised a vast extemiil
influence over tlie Church of the Future, while St. Paul was
its great moral teacher, so St. John the Theologian was the
Apostle by wliom tlie world was to learn, more than by any
other, those truths whicli lie at the very root of orthodox and
true conceptions respecting the Blessed Trinity, our Redeemer,
and the work of the Incarnati(m in making God and man at
one. The Church of England traced up its usages in primitive
days to the teaching of St. John, and there is good reason
to think that the influence of this Apostle has moulded her
Liturgy and her spirit very extensively ; preparing her, per-
haps, for the great struggle against unbelief in which she
aecins destined to bear a prominent part.
The Blessed Virgin having been committed to the care of
St. John the Evangelist at the Cross, his oflice towards her
appears to have terminated about the year 48, but between
th.at time and the later part of the century his history is in
obscurity. Possibly it was part of the fulfilment of the Lord's
words, "If I will that he tarry till I come," that St. John
should really see Jerusalem encompassoil with armies, and
that he did not leave for Ephesus until so Late .as the ye.ar
CO, when the siege began : which w.as only two years before
the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul. It was about this
time, certainly, tliat the Ev.angelist and Theologi.an began to
bo the sole remaining Apostolic centre of the Church, as ho
continued to be for about a third of a century. This isolatinii
of St. John sets him in a position of ]).atriarcli.al proniineiKi',
greater even than that of St. Paul liad been : and be w.is
doubtless directed to Ephesus, the Metropolis of Asia, the
great centre of nature-worship, and the commercial port of the
one great sea of the then known world, as the place where his
influence would extend farthest and widest during those event-
ful years in which the Church was breaking free from Juda-
ism, and settling into definite forms of doctrine and worship.
The latter part of .St. John's life is said to have lieen marked
by two acts which fulfilled our Lord's words, that he
should tarry until His Coming. A poisoned cup of wine
(symbolized in art by a serpent or dragon issuing from it) was
given to him at Ejihesus, but the Apostle made over it the
sign of the Cross, and partook of it without harm ; according
to the promise, that if the Apostles drank of any deadly thing
it should not hurt them. He was also summoned to Rome,
and there cast into a caldron of boiling oil [see notes on Calen-
dar, May 6th], but escaped unharmed. Banished to Patmos,
the visions of the Apocalypse were revealed to him ; and w hen
his work was done there, his Masters Providence led him
lack to Ephesus, to contend against the rising heresies of the
d,ay, to sjjeak loving words about the love of God, and to
breathe out his spirit in peace at the age of an hundred,
in the midst of his "little children" — those whom he had
begotten in Christ.
Lying on the bosom of his Master, not only in those few
minutes in the upper chamber of the Institution of the Holy
Eucharist, but ever after by contact of his spiritual senses
with the Word of God, this holy Apostle learned things from
the Divine lips and heart which had been kept secret from
the foundatiim of the world ; which the angels desired to look
into, but could not uutil they were revealed to manliind. As
St. John the Baptist, the hast Projihet of the Old Dispensa-
tion, w.as the Korerunucr of Christ, so it m.ay be s.aid that St.
.lohn the Evangelist, the Prophet of the New Dispensation,
occupies a similar position as the Herald of the Second Advent;
and for this reason, as well as others that have Ijeen stated,
his Festival is connected so closely with Christm.as. Vhcn
He that enlighteneth every m.an came into the world. He cast
some of the bright beams of His Light upon St. John, that by
him the illumination of the world might l)e more perfect, and
that the Sun of Rigliteon.sness Which had arisen with healing
ill His beams might shine more gloriously over the understand-
ings and the love of His Church.
I.N'TRorr.— In the midst of the Church did he open his
mouth ; and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and
understanding. He endued him with a robe of glory. Ps.
He poured out upon him His treasures of joy and gladness.
Glurv be.
innocents' Dap.
255
Thk Innocents' Day.
"In Die Sanctorum Innocentium Martyr Km.
THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who out of the mouths
of babes and sucklings liast ordained
strength, and madest infants to glorify Thee by
their deaths ; Mortify and kill all vices in us,
and so strengthen us l)y Thy grace, that by the
innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith
even unto death, we may glorify Thy holy Name ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
" S. ffi. g. omits
" Martyriiin."
* ^- S- ^'
c &. ID. ^. Grei:.,
Gclas. Nat. Imio-
cetit, Mur. i. 499.
%l
' 5. ^. ^. Jiom-
an -IS I*. B.
Eastern. Heb. 2.
'FOR THE EPISTLE.
I LOOKED, and lo, a Lamb stood on the
mount Sion, and with Him an hundred forty
and four thousand, having His Father's Name
written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice
from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as
the voice of a great thunder : and I heard the
voice of harpers harping with their harps : and
they sung as it ivere a new song before the throne,
and before the four beasts, and the elders ; and
*OFFICIUM.
Ex ore infantium Deus et lactentium perfecisti
laudcm : propter inimicos Tuos.
'OKATIO.
DEUS Cujus hodierna die proeconium inno-
centes martyres, non loquendo sed mori-
endo, confessi sunt, omnia in nobLs vitiorum mala
mortifica, ut fideni Tuam, quam lingua nostra
loquitur, etiam moribus vita fateatur. ''Qui cum
Deo Patee.
Memoria de Nativitate. Alia memoria de
Sanclo Stephana. Item edict de Sanclo Johaime.
Rev. xiv. 1-5.
no man could learn tliat song, but the hundred
and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins : these
are they which follow the Lamb wliithersoever
He goeth : these were redeemed from among men,
beine/ the first-fruits unto God, and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no guile ; for
they are without fault before the throne of God.
/•^HE GOSPEL. S. Matt. ii. 13-18.
n^IIE Angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph
-*■ in a dream, saying. Arise, and take the
young Child, and His mother, and flee into
Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word ;
for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy
Him. When he arose, he took the young Child
and His mother by night, and departed into
Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod ;
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of
the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt
have I called jNIy Son. Then Herod, when he
<ttt as P. H.
Basterti. Malt
saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was
exceeding wroth ; and sent forth, and slew all
the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all
the coasts thereof, from two years old and under,
according to the time which he had diligently
enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamen-
tation, and weeping, and great mourning, Eachel
weeping for her children, and would not be com-
forted, because they are not.
§ The Holy Innocents.
The festival of the Innocents is alludeil to by St. Irenfeus
[Adv. Hieri's. iii. 16], who was himself a martyr, A.D. 202;
and by St. Cyprian, who went to his Saviour by the same
path, A.D. 2.58. In an Epistle [Iviii.] which tlie latter wrote to
a'conimunity of Christians iu anticipation of a fearful perse-
cution which he fores.aw, he says, "The Nativity of Christ
commenced torthwitli with the martyrdom of infants, so that
they wlio were two years old and under, were put to deatli
for His Name's sake. An age not yet capaljle of conHict,
proved fit for a crown. Tliat it miglit appear that they are
innocent who are put to death for the sake of Christ, innocent
infancy was slain for His Name's sake. It was shewn that
no one is free from the perils of persecution, when even such
accomplished martyrdom."
Tliese words of tlie third century plainly shew how early
the memorial day of the Holy Innocents was associated with
Christmas : and allusicms of the same kind are to be found in
tlio Sermons of Origen, St. Augustine, and otliers.
The Gospel of this day gives the actual narrative of the
slaughter of the chiklren of Bethlehem by Herod, an event
spoken of in Roman history as well as in the Holy Bible.
The Epistle sets fortli tlie heavenly sequel of that event as
told in the mystical language of the Apocalypse. In tlie
joining together of these two portions of Holy Scripture we
have an exact representation of the light in whicli the martyr-
dom of the Innocents lias always been regarded by the
Church ; and the tender feeling with wliicli these first wit-
nesses for the Holy L'hild Jesus were kept in memory, is
illustrated by the well-known hymn of Prudentius, written
in tlie fourth century, and familiar in the Englisli version,
" All hail ! ye Infant Martyr flowers."
"Not in speaking but in dying," says the ancient Collect,'
"have they confessed Christ." "Stephen," says St. Ber-
nard, "was a martyr among men; Jolin maybe considered
so in the siglit of Angels, to whom by spiritual signs liis
devotion was known : but these are martyrs with God ; for
neither to men nor angels is their merit known, but com-
mended to God alone iu the prerogative of His singular grace. "
" Before the use of the tongue, " writes St. Leo, "in silence
He put fortli tlie power of the Word, as if He were saying
already, ' Sutfer little children to come unto Me, for of such
is tlie Kingdom of Heaven.' With a new glory He crowned
infants, and in His own beginnings consecrated the firstfruits
of little cliildren ; tliat hence we miglit learn that no one
among mankind is incapable of a Divine Sacrament, since
even that age was fit for the glory of martyrdom .... Christ
loves infancy, whicli He took on Himself both in mind and
body : He loves infancy as the mistress of humility, the type
of innocence, the form of meekness. To infancy He directs
tlie manners of elders, and brings back the old. It is to this,
the similituile of little children, that you, most beloved, are
invited by the mystery of this day's festival."
In connection with these Holy Innocents, it is impossible
not to remember tlie words at tlie end of the Service for the
I'aptism of Infants, "It is certain by God's M'ord, that
cliildren which are baptized, dying before they commit actual
sin, are undoubtedly s.aved." The writer once met with a
strong illustration of the comfort wrought by faith iu this
truth, when looking over a country churchyard. A mother
hail laid underneath two Christian babes, and she had written
on the stone over them, "They are without fault before the
throne of God." Doubtless, many such have been added to
1 Used in that form until 1C61.
256
Cf)C ^unDap after Cbristmas— Cf)C Circumcision of Cbrist.
The Sunday after Christmas Day.
"'' Sexta Dies a Xativitate Domini sive Dominica fuerit sire tion.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who bast given us Thy only
-^^ begotten Son to take our nature upon /Ictt^'i^U n,
Him, and as at this time to be born of a pure '^°"''
Virgin ; Grant that we being regenerate, and
made Tliy children by adoption and grace, may
daily be renewed by Thy Holy Spirit ; through
the same our Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth
and reigneth with Thee and the same Spirit, ever
one God, world without end. Amen.
^ sat.
(\'tiivas A'alii't.'ii'
rfSar.
roMNIPOTENS sempiteme Deus, Qui hunc
diem per incarnationem Verbi Tui et
partum beatoe Marise Virginia consecrasti, da
populis Tuis in hac celebritate consortium ut qui
Tua gratia sunt redempti, Tua sint adoptions
securi. Pereundem.]
''llemoria de Nativitate : de Sando Stephana :
de Sancto Johanne : de Innoeentibus : et de iSancto
Thoma.
'THE EPISTLE.
~^rOW I say, that the heir, as long as he is a
-LN child, diifereth nothing from a servant,
though he be lord of all ; but is under tutors
and governoure, until the time appointed of the
father. Even so we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the
world : but when the fulness of the time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
■ s. g. %
.... .IS p. B.
llas.'crt:.
1115.
Gal. iv. 1-7.
^«,... made under the law, to redeem them that were
ai. 5, under the law, that we might receive the adop-
tion of sons. And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou
art no more a servant, but a son ; and if a son,
then an heir of God throue;h Christ.
^THE GOSPEL. S. Matt, i, 18-25.
THE birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise :
When as His mother Mary was espoused to
Joseph, before they came together she was found
with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph
her husband, being a just man, and not willing
to make her a publick example, was minded to
put her away privily. But while he thought on
these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph
thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife ; for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost ; And she shall bring
/S. 5. K. Rom-
rt... Luke -. 33-
/uister'i. Malt. 2.
■3-=3
forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name
JESUS ; for He shall save His people from
their sins. Now all this was done, that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken of the Loud by the
pruphet, saying, Behold, a Virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall
call His name Emmanuel, which being inter-
preted is, God with us. Then Joseph, being
raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord
had bidden him, and took unto him his wife ; and
knew her not till she had brought forth her First-
born Son : and he called His name JESUS.
The Circumcision of Christ.
Dies Circumcisionis.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who madest Thy blessed
-L\- Son to be circumcised, and obedient to
i- S. g. 53.
A tGref . Sacr. Bene-
dict, m Oct. Doni,
Men. p. 13.]
PY^MNIPOTENS
Deus, Cujus U^nigenitus
hodierna die, ne legem solveret quam
the mystical number since St. John wrote down his Vision,
"firstfruits unto Goil and to tlie Lamb," taken away from
the evil to come, and gaining the fullest benefit of tlie Holy
Child's Nativity by the way of Innocence in which tliey have
been privileged to follow Him on Earth, that they may
"follow Him wliithersoever He goeth" in Heaven. "So He
giveth His beloved sleep."
The mournful character of this day was anciently kept up
in England by tlie use of bUaek vestments and muHled peals.
Introit. — Out of the mouths of very babes and sucklings
hast Thou ordained strength because of Tliine enemies. Ps.
Lord our Governor, how excellent is Thy Name in all the
worlil, Thou that hast set Thy glory above the licavens.
Glory be.
THE SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.
The Lord's Day within the Octave of Christmas carries on,
of necessity, the idea of the preceding festival, forming a
kind of "Low Sunilay " to Christmas 0.-iy itself. There is
no change of Collect, but the Epi.stle and Gospel strike a new
chord in tlie harmony of the Eucharistic ,Scriptures. OnChrist-
raas Day they memorializeil the condescension of the Word of
(iod in becoming Son of M.in : on this day they set forth the
exalt ition of human Nature by that condescension. On the
one day, the Son of <iod is shewn to us becoming tlie Son of
Man : on the other, the sons of men arc shewn to us becoming
the sons of God, tlirough the Adoption won for them by the
Holy Child .Jesus. We are "heirs of God through Christ, "
because of the fulfilment of the promise conveyed by His
Name, " He shall save His people from their sins."
The genealogies were struck out of the Gospel of the Day
by I'.ishop Cosin in lUGl: and lie proposed to insert a note
at the end of the Gospel. "This Collect, Epistle, and Gospel
are to be used only till the Circumcision."
Introit. — For while all things were in quiet silence, and
th.xt night was in the midst of her swift course, Tliinc Almighty
^\'ord leaped down from Heaven out of Thy royal throne.
I's. The Lord is King, and hath put on glorious ajjparel : tliu
Lord hath put on His apparel, and girded Himself \\nth
strength. Glory be.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
This day has been observed from the earliest ages of the
Church as the Octave of the Nativity, and from about the
sixth century as both the Octave of the Nativity .and the
Feast of the Circumcision. From its coinciilcnco with the
Kalends of January, on wliich tlic riotous .and inimor,al festiv.al
of the Saturnalia was kept by the Koni.aiis, it oft'ercd a great
dilliculty to the Church for some centuries, and there were
places and periods in which the Saturnalia were so mixcil up
with the Cliristi.an feast tli.at the observ.ance of the latter was
altogether forbidden.
Of tlic f'ircumcision there is no notice whatever in the
Conies of St. .loromc, the d.ay being called 0(^tava Domini,
the Epistle being Gal. iii. '2'^, and the Gospel the same as ours.
Cf)C OEpipDang.
257
the law for man ; Grant us tho tnio Circumcision
of the Spirit ; that, our hearts, and all our mem-
bers, being mortified from all worldly and carnal
lusts, we may in all things obey Thy blessed
will ; through the same Thy Son Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
adimplere venerat, corporalem suscepit circum-
cisionem ; spiritual! circuracisione mentes vestrus
ab omnibus vitiorum incentivis expurget ; et
Suam in vos infundet benedictionem. Amen.]
"THE EPISTLE. Rom. iv. 8-14.
BLESSED is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness
then upon the circumcision 07ily, or upon the
uncircuracision also 1 For we say, that faith was
reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How
was it then reckoned? when he was in circum-
cision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign
of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had yet being uncircumcised ;
that he might be the father of all them that
believe, though they be not circumcised ; that
■> s. ©. IB.
nil. Tit. 2.
litisttrH.
righteousness might be imijuted unto them also :
And the father of circumcision to them who are
not of the circumcision only, but who also walk
in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had being yet imcircumcised. For
the promise, that he should be the heir of the
world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed,
through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. For if they which are of the law he
heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Luke ii. 15-21.
AND it came to pass, as the angels were gone
-^-J- away from them into heaven, the shepherds
said one to another. Let us now go even unto
Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to
pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary and
Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. And
when they had seen if, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this
Child. And all they that heard it wondered at
those things which were told them by the shep-
» S-. g. m. R«»-
an. Luke ?. 21.
r.asterii. Luke
2. 20, 21, 40-52.
herds. But Jlary kept all these things, and pon-
dered them in her heart. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the
things that they had heard and seen, as it was
told unto them. And when eight days were
accomplished for the circumcising of the Child,
His name was called JESUS, which was so
named of the angel before He was conceived in
the womb.
IT The same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve
fur every day after uuto the Epipliauy.
THE Epiphany,
Or the manifestation OF CHRIST TO THE GENTILES.
In Die Epiphanice.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, Who by the leading of a star didst
manifest Thy only-begotten Son to
the
in Epipl).
16.
Mur. li.
'ORATIO.
DEUS, Qui hodierna die Unigenitum Tuum
gentibus, stella duce, revelasti ; concede
In St. Gregory's Sacramentary the name of the day is still
the Octave of the Lord, and the Circiuncisiou is not noticed
in the Collect; but in the proper Preface are the words, "per
Christum Doininum nostrum ; cujus hodie Circumcisionis diem,
et Nativitatis octavum celebrantes ; " and the words of tlie
Benediction, as printed above, are equally explicit. In the
Salisbury Missal the day is named as it now is in the Prayer
Book, but except in the Gospel there is not the slightest allu-
sion to the festival as being connected with the Circumcision.
In modern times the tendency has been to observe the day as
New Year's Day, overlooking, as far as possible, its connection
with the Nativity, as well as with the Circumcision.
The true idea of the day seems to be that it belongs to
Christmas as its Octave : but that as the three days after
Christmas are specially honoured by the Commemoration of
Saints, so the Octave is supplemented with the Commemoration
of our Lord's Circumcision, to do still greater honour to the
day of His Nativity. The two are pleaded conjointly in the
Litany, " By Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision."
The Rubric at the end of the Clospel was inserted by Bishop
Cosiu. It varies in a very important particular from the
previous Rubric of 1552.
1552. 1662.
If there be a Sunday be- The same Collect, Epistle,
tween the Epiphany and the and Gospel, shall serve for
Circumcision ; then shall be
used the same Collect, Epistle,
and Gospel, at the Communion,
which was used upon the day
of Circumcision.
every day after unto the Epi-
phany,
In the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637 the Rubric stood as in
that of 1552, with the addition, "So likewise, upon every
other day from the time of the Circumcision to the Epiphany."
Eitlier daily celebration of the Holy Communion was not
contemplated in 1552, or the omission of any mention of it in
this Rubric was an oversight. In 1637 and 1662 it was clearly
provided for.
January 1st was never in any way connected with the open-
ing of the Christian year; and the religious observance of this
day has never received any sanction from the Church, except
as the Octave of Christmas and the Feast of the C'ircumcision.
The sjjiritual "point" of the season all gathers about Christ-
mas : and as the modern New Year's Day is merely conven-
tionally so (New Year's Day being on March 25th until the
middle of the eighteenth century), there is no reason why it
should be allowed at all to dim the lustre of a day so im-
portant to all persons and all ages as Christmas Day. We
ought also to guard against a Judaical tendency even in the
observance of the Festival itself.
Introit. — Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Sou is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulder ; and His
name shall be called Wonderful. Fs. Sing unto the Lord a
new song, for He hath done marvellous things. Glory be.
THE EPIPHANY.
In its earliest origin the Epiphany was observed as a phase
of Christmas in the same way as the C'ircumcision is now to
be so regarded : and the intimate association of the two is
still marked by the custom of the Armenian Christians, who
258
Cfjc (JEpipbanp.
Gentiles ; Mercifully grant, that we, wbicli know
Thee now by faith, may after this life have the
fruition of Thy glorious Godhead ; through Jesus
Christ our Loed. Amen.
"THE EPISTLE.
FOK this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus
Christ for you Gentiles ; if ye have heard
of the dispensation of the grace of God, whipi is
given me to you-ward : How that by revelation
He made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote
afore in few ivorck, whereby, when ye read, ye
may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ) which in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto His holy Apostles and Prophets by the
Spirit ; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs,
and of the same body, and partakers of His pro-
mise in Christ, by the Gospel : whereof I was
made a minister, according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effectual
»S. g. S. Isa.fo.
liasterti.
11-14. & 3-
Tit.
4-7-
propitius, ut qui jam Te ex fide cognovimua,
usque ad contemplandum speciem Tuae celsitu-
dinis perducamur. Per eundem.
Ephes. iii. 1-12.
working of His power. Unto me, ivho am less
than the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make all
men see what is the fellowship of the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God, Who created all things by
Jesus Christ : to the intent, that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might
be known by the Church the manifold wisdom
of God, according to the eternal purpose which
He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord : In
Whom we have boldness and access with con-
fidence by the faith of Him.
*THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. ii. 1-12.
"TTTHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
VV Judaea, in the days of Herod the king,
behold, there came wise men from the east to
Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born
King of the Jews ? for we have seen His star in
the east, and are come to worship Him. When
* *. g. s.
Rem-
an as P. B.
Eastern.
Matt.
3. I3-'7-
Herod the king had heard these things, he was
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And
when he had gathered all the chief priests and
scribes of the people together, he demanded of
them, where Christ should be born. And they
said unto him. In Bethlehem of Judaea : for thus
ahvaj-3 keep their Christmas ou the Gth of January instead
of the 2oth of December. Tlie idea on which tlie whole cycle
of the Festivals of our Lord is founded is that of memorializ-
ing before God the successive leading points of our Lord's
life and acts : and the order in which the Holydays have
been observed is also that in which these leading points are
pleaded in two clauses of the Litany : "By the mystery of
Thy holy Incarnation ; by Thy holy Nativity and Circum-
cision ; by Thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation. By Thine
Agony and bloody .Sweat ; by Thy Cross and Passion ; l)y Thy
precious Death and Burial ; by Thy glorious Kesurrection and
Ascension ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, Good Lord,
deliver us." Hence the Epiphany was originally regarded as
that part of tlie Christmas Festival on wliich was commemo-
rated the Baptism of the Lord Jesus by St. John the Baptist.
It seems to liave acquired a more independent position, and
to have begun to be observed in memory of our Lord's Mani-
festation to the Gentile Magi, about the fourth century, and
in the Western Church : but probably this was never more
than a developement of the original idea ; and although it
may have become the most prominent feature of tlie Festival
at particular periods, it never superseded the original one
altogether. The primitive name of the day was Theophany,
and tliis is still retained in the Oriental Church. Both Tlieo-
phania and Eplpliatiia are used in the Comes of .St. Jerome,
and as late as the Sacramentary of .St. Gregory : but the
former name seems to have dropped out of use about the same
time that the festival began to be connected with the Adora-
tion of the Magi. Even St. Jerome himself calls it "Epi-
phaniorum dies "in his Commentary on Ezekiel, and speaks
of it as " vcuerabilis. " Durandus says that "in codicibus
anticjuis hoec dies Epiphaniarum pluraliter intitulatur, et ideo
tripliciter nominatur, scilicet Epiphania, Tlieophania, et
Bethphania :" the third n.ame being associ.ated with our Lord's
Manifestation hi the hoiiae at the Marriage in C'ana. The
latter name appears to liave been little used, but the idea it
represents is illustr.ated by the Gospel for the Second .Sunday
after Epiphany, and by the Second Lesson at Evensong on
the Festival itself. In the Eastern Church the Theophany is
also called The IJrjhtu, "from the arr.iy, " Dr. Ne.ale says,
" of torches and tapers with which the Benediction of the
Waters is performed on this day, as tliey syndiolize that
spiritual illumin.ation to which our Lord, by His Baptism in
Jord.an, consecr.atedw.iter." If this name of tlic Fustiv.al is
ancient (and it seems to be as old as Gregory Is'azianzen's time),
one might expect to find that it originated in the illumination
of the world by tliat "true Light, Which, coming into the
world, enlighteneth every man," and to Which the Slagi were
led by the light of the .Star.
There is a beautiful and very instructive unity about the
Scriptures used on the Epiphany. The first morning Lesson
is the 60th chapter of Isaiah, the same whicli accidentally
occurs on Chiistmas Eve: "Arise, shine; for thy Light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. . . . The
Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light, and thy God
thy glory. . . . The Lord shall be thine everlasting Light, and
tlie d.ays of thy mourning sliall be ended." The same chapter
also contains the prophecy which began to be fulfilled by the
adoration of the Magi as told in the Gospel of the Day, "And
the Gentiles shall come to thy Light, and kings to the bright-
ness of thy rising : " and the f^pistle reads like .an expansion
of this verse, shewing how the Light of Christ is manifested
to the world at large, in and by tlie Cliurcli. Tlie first
Lesson is the ancient Epistle of the Church, as is shewn
by St. Jerome's Lectionary, but the Gospel was tlie same as
our own.
In tlie second morning Lesson (a weekday Gospel of the
season, in the Comes) we have the original idea of the Festi-
val, the Theophany or Manifestation of our Lord's Divine
Sonship at His Baptism by tlie A'oice from Heaven and tlie
visible descent of the Holy Ghost. The First Lesson at Even-
song sets forth the joy of the Cliurcli and the glory that was
to come upon it through the coming of her Light ; " Sing,
heavens ; and be joyful, earth ; and break fortli into
singing, mountains ; for tlie Lord hath comforted His people,
and will have mercy upon His afflicted. ... I will lift up
Mine hand to the (i entiles, and set up My standard to the
people, and they .shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy
daughters sliall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings
shall bo thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing
mothers. . . ." Tiio Buthphany, or Manifest.ation of our
Lord's Divine power at the marriage by turning water into
wine [wr Gospel for .Second Sund.ay], is illustrated by the
Second Lesson at I'^vensong.
Tlius each ph.ase of tliis great festiv.al is presented to us on
the d.ay itself ; and, as will afterwards be shewn, (he subse-
quent Sundays li.ave a definite and systematic relation to the
festival after which they arc named.
Some authors have suggested, .and it seems not improbable,
tliat the ".star" which appeared to the Wise Men in the East
might )>e that glorious light which shone upon tlie shepherds
of Bethleliem when the .angel came to give them the glad
^\)t JTirst ©unDap after Cpipfjanj?.
259
it is -written by the prophet, And thou, Bethlehem,
in the land of Juda, art not the least among the
jirinces of Juda : for out of thee shall come a
Governour that sliall rule Jly people Israel.
Then Herod, when ho had privily called the
wise men, enquired of them diligently what time
the star appeared. And he sent them to Beth-
lehem, and said, Go, and search diligently fur
the young Child, and when ye have found Ilim,
bring me word again, that I may come and
worship Him also. When they had heard the
king, they departed ; and lo, the star which they
saw in tlie east went before them, till it came
and stood over where the young Child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced wiifi
exceeding great joy. And when they were come
into the house, they saw the young Child with
Mary His mother, and fell down and \\(irshipped
Him : and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto Him gifts ; gold, and frank-
incense, and myrrh. And being warned of GoD
in a dream that t/ie?/ should not return to Herod,
they departed into their own countiy another
way.
Thk First Sunday after the Epiphany.
Dominica I. post Octav. Epiphanice, ad Missam.
THE COLLECT.
OLOIvD, we beseech Thee mercifully to
receive the prayers of Thy people which
call upon Thee ; and grant that they may both
perceive and know what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to
fulfil the same ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A men.
« S. g. ffi. Crei;.
i, post Tlieophaii.
Mur. li. 16, 159.
"ORATIO.
VOTA, quajsumus, Domine, supplicantis
populi ccelesti pietate prosequere ; ut et
quae agenda sunt, videant ; et ad implenda qua
viderint, convalescant. Per.
S. S. M.
r« as P. B.
Eastern.
'THE EPISTLE.
I BESEECH ynu tlierefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service. And be not
conformed to this world ; but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is (hat good, and accejitable, and perfect
will of God. For I say, through the gi-ace given
Rom. xii. 1-5.
unto me, to every man that is among you, not
Eph. 4. to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think, but to think soberly, according as God
hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
For as we have many members in one body, and
all members have not the same office ; so we,
being many, are one body in Christ, and every
one members one of another.
tidiuga of our Saviour's birth. At a distance this might
appear like a star ; or, at least, after it had thus shone
upon tlie sheplierds, might be lifted up on high, and then
formed into the likeness of a star. According to an ancient
commentary on St. Matthew, tliis star, on its first appear-
ance to the Magi, had the form of a radiant child bearing a
sceptre or cross ; and in some early Italian frescoes it is so
depicted.
It has always been the tradition that the Magi were three
in number, and tliat the remainder of their lives after the
events recorded in the Gospel was spent in the service of
God. They are said to have been baptized by St. Thomas,
to have tliemselves preached the Gospel, and to have been
crowned with martyrdom in confirmation of its truth. Their
relics are believed to be preserved at Cologne, and three skulls
are exhibited in the Cathedral there, in a costly shrine of
silver-gilt, enriched with gems of great value ; the rest of
tlieir reputed bones being preserved in a marble shrine at
the east end of the Church. Their names are there given as
Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, and these names are ascribed
to tlie Magi in medin?val art and literature.
In England a striking memorial of their ofTering is kept
up by our Sovereigns, ^^■ho make an oblation of gold, frank-
incense, and myrrh at the altar of the Chapel Eoyal in the
Palace of St. James on this festival. Until recently the cere-
mony was performed in person. The king coming from his
closet, attended as usual, proceeded to the Altar at the time
of the Offertory, and knelt down there, when the Dean or
Sub-dean of the Chapels Royal received into a golden basin
the offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the king's
hands, and offered them upon the altar. The offering is now
made by an officer of the royal household ; but we may venture
to hope that the striking significance and humiUty by which
it is characterized will cause it to be revived in the original
form at some future day.^
1 In the Annual Register for 1701 it is recorded tl1.1t *' His Mnjesty"
George III. "went to tlie Chapel Royal and ofi'eicd gold, ni.vnii, and
frankincense as usual." So also in 1762, 1763, and 1705, In 1772 occurs
the first notice of the offering being made by the Lord Chamberlain.
The Epiphany is a festival which has always been celebrated
with great ceremony throughout the whole Church : its three-
fold meaning, and its close association with the Nativity as
the end of Christmas-tide, making it a kind of accumulative
festival. And such a celebration of it is to be desired : for it
will help to give us true reverence for the Babe of Bethlehem
by eucharistic, ritual, homiletic, and mental recognition of
His Divine Glory. When we are entering with our Lord on
the course of His earthly humiliation, it is fitting that we
should make such a recognition of His Divinity : and as the
Transfiguration trained the three chosen apostles for the sight
of the Agony and the Crucifixion, so the Epiphany will set
the Church forward in a true spirit towards the observance of
Lent and Good Friday.
It is to be regretted that the point of the Latin Collect was
not preserved by some such rendering as "that we which
know Thee now by faith may after this life behold the beauty
of Thy heavenly glory." [Comp. 2 Cor. v. 7; Rev.
xxii. 3.]
[Bishop Cosin proposed the insertion of a Rubric: "And
the same Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve till the Sun-
day next following. " He also erased "to the Gentiles" in
the title of the day. ]
IXTROIT. — Behold, the Lord our Ruler is come [Doniinator
Dominus. Cowp. Mai. iii. 1], and His kingdom is in His
hand, and power and dominion are His. Ps. Give the king
Thy judgements, O Lord, and Thy righteousness unto the
king's son. Glory be.
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
This Sunday commemorates the manifestation of our Lord's
glory for the second time in tlie Temple. In His infancy that
glory had been revealed to the faithful souls who waited for
the loving-kindness of the Lord in the midst of His Temple,
and they had seen the Epiphany of that Sun of Righteousness
whose Light was to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory
of God's people Israel. Twelve years afterwards the child-
hood of the Holy Child Jesus was to reveal the same glory
26o
C&e ©cconD ^unDay aftct €pipf)anp.
«THE GOSPEL. S. Lukc ii. 41-52.
~^rOW His parents went to Jerusalem every
-L^ year at the feast of the passover. And
when He was twelve years old, they went up to
Jerusalem, after the custom of the feast. And
when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned,
the Child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem ; and
Joseph and His mother knew not of it. But
they, supposing Him to have teen in the com-
pany, went a day's journey, and they sought Him
among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And
when they found Him not, they turned back
again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came
to pass, that after three days they found Him in
the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,
both hearing them, and asking them questions.
■• 5. g. Ig. Rem-
<7«, Luke 2. 42-52.
Haster?:. Matt. 4.
.8-23.
And all that heard Him were astonished at His
understanding and answers. And when they saw
Him, they were amazed : and His mother said
unto Him, Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with
us 1 behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee
sorrowing. And He said unto them, How is it
that ye sought Jle ? wist ye not that I must be
about Jly Father's business ? And they under-
stood not the saying which He spake unto them.
And He went down with them, and came to
Nazareth, and was subject unto them : but His
mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And
Jesus increased in wisdom, and stature, and in
favour with God and man.
The Second Sunday after the epiphany.
Dominica II. post Oclai: Epijjhaniir.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who dost
iV govern all things in heaven and earth ;
Mercifully hear the supplications of Thy people,
and grant us Thy peace all the days of our life ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
* S. S «. Greg.
Dom. ii. post
Theoph. Mur. ii.
'59-
'THE EPISTLE.
HAVING then gifts diflfering according to
the grace that is given to us, whether
prophecy, let us jn'cphesy according to the pro-
portion of faith ; or ministry, let us irait on our
ministering ; or he that teacheth,
on teaching ; or
he that exhorteth, on exhortation : he that giveth,
let him do it with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with
diligence ; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerful-
ness. Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor
that tvkich is evil, cleave to that which is good.
Be kindly aflfectioned one to another with brotherly
• 5. a. m-
<jfi as P. B.
'ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS sempitenie Deus, Qui coelestia
simul et terrena moderaris, supplicationes
populi Tui clementer exaudi, et pacem Tuam
nostris concede teniporibus. Per Dominum.
Rom. xii. 6-16.
/!«„i. ; love, in honour preferring one another : not sloth-
ful in business ; fervent in spirit ; serving the
Lord'; rejoicing in hope ; patient in tribulation ;
continuing instant in prayer ; distributing to the
necessity of saints ; given to hospitality. Bless
them which persecute you ; bless, and curse not.
Eejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with
them that weep. Be of tlie same mind one to-
wards another. Mind not high things, but con-
descend to ineii of low e.state.
an as'P. B.
"■THE GOSPEL
AND the third day there was a marriage in
-^TjL Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus
was there. And both Jesus was called, and His
disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted
wine, the mother of Jesus saitli unto Him, They
S. Jolmii. 1-11.
t;„„. have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee ? Mine hour is not
yet come. His mother saith unto the servants,
Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it. And there
were set there six water-pots of stone, after the
to all who had faith to behold it, during that visit to the
Temple when He sat among the doctors and fulfilled the
words, "I have more understanding than My teachers."
Among those teachers may have been Nicodemus and
Gamaliel, and the rays which were shed from the Light of
the Divine understanding at which they marvelled, may have
fallen on their minds with a vivifying power which afterwards
made the one fit to receive the first full revelation of the truth
respecting new birth into Chi-ist, and the other to be the
teacher of St. T'aul, by whom the Light of Christ was so
marvellously spread abroad among the (ientiles.
Introit. — I Ijeheld the Son of Man sitting upon a throne
high and lifteil up, and a multitude of the lieavenly ho.st
worshipped Him, singing with one voice, Behold Him, the
Majesty [" numen ; " the Roman Use has " nomen "] of Whose
dominion is for ever and ever. /V. O be joyful in the Lord,
all ye lands : serve the Lord with gladness. Cilory be.
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
On this day is commemorated that beginning of Miracles
by which ".Ic.ius manifested forth His glory," so that "His
disciples believed on Him." The transmutation of water into
wine revealed our Lord as possessing the power of a Creator ;
and shewed that it was He Who had once taken of the dust
of the earth and elevated it in the order of existence, so that
by His breathing it became a living man. This, therefore, is
the Epiphany of Jesus as the Lord of a New Creation, by
which His former work is to be exalted to a much higher place
and function in the dispensation of His Providence : and in
the act which is recorded He prefigured that Mork of re-crea-
tion which He now causes to be wrought in His Kingdom for
the salvation of souls and bodies. Simple elements pass
silently bene.ath the power of His blessing : His servants l)e,ar
forth : water beciunes generous wine. So Baptism exalts the
souls and bodies of men from the Kingdom of Natiu'o to the
Kingdom of Grace, and the Holy Eucharist is the means by
which our whole nature is built up into the nature of Christ,
elevated from one step to another, "changed from glory to
glory."
Thus at a marriage supper was revealed the great truth
of that Union between the Lamb of God and the Bride
by which the virtue of the Incarnatiim of the Word is
extended to f.allen human n.ature. And tlni.s also are we
taught, that in the Mir.icle which is being continually wrought
by the elevation of lowly elements into saorament.al substances,
ami by the regeneration and edification of souls through their
^l)C Cf)irr) <g)unDay after OBpipbanp.
261
maiinor of the purifying of the Jews, containing
two or tliree firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto
them, Fill the water-pots with water. And they
filled them up to the hrim. And He saith unto
them, Draw out now, and bear unto the gover-
nour of the feast. And they bare it. When the
ruler of the feast liad tasted the water that was
made w-ine, and knew not whence it was, (but
the servants which drew the water knew,) the
governour of the feast called the bridegroom, and
saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth
set forth good wine, and when men have well
drunk, then that whieii is worse : l/ul thou liast
kept the good wine until now. This beginning
of miracles did Jesu.s in Cana of Galilee, and
manife.sted forth Hi.9 glory, and His disciples
believed on Him.
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany.
Dominica III. jiosl Uctav. MlpijJiania:
THE COLLECT. . « m jb ,,.„„ "ORATIO.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully
i » look upon our infirmities, and in all our
dangers and necessities stretch forth Thy right
hand to help and defend us ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
t S. 19. ?B. GrcB.
Dom. iii. post
Tlicopli. Miir. ii.
160.
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, infirmitatem
nostram propitius respice, atque ad pro-
tegendum nos dexteram Tu;e majestatis extende.
Per DoMiNUM.
»THE EPLSTLE. Kom. xii. 16-21.
"• S. g. 18. as P. B.
Rom.itt. Matt. 8.
I-IS.
BE not wise in ymu' own conceits. Kecom-
pense to no man evil for evil. Provide
things honest in the sight of all men. If it he
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably
with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not your-
selves, but rathe?' give place unto wrath ; for it is
'THE GOSPEL. S,
\ 11 THEN He was come down from the moun-
VV tain, great multitudes followed Him.
And behold, there came a leper and worshipped
Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wit, Thou canst
make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand,
and touched him, saying, I will ; be thou clean.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And
Jesus saith unto him. See thou tell no man, but
go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and oft'er
the gift that ]\Ioses commanded, for a testimony
unto them. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion
beseeching Him, and saying. Lord, my servant
lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tor-
mented. And Jesus saitli imto him, I will come
and heal him. The centurion answered and said.
Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest
5. V). p,. Koin-
an as'l'. 1!.
written. Vengeance is Mine ; I will repay, saith
the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger,
feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink : for in
so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome
evil with good.
Matt. viii. 1-13.
come under my roof; but speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under
authority, having soldiers under me : and I say
to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another,
Come, and ho couieth ; and to my servant, Do
this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, He
marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith,
no not in Israel. And I say unto you, That
many shall come from the east and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in
the Kingdom of Heaven. But the children of the
kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness :
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way,
and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.
operation, Christ is still "manifesting forth His glory" iu
every generation, and giving cause for His disciples to believe
in Him.
Introit. — For all the world shall worship Thee, sing of
Thee, and praise Thy Name, Thou ilost Highest. Ps. be
joyful in God, all ye lands ; sing praises unto the honour of
His Name, make His praise to be glorious. Glory be.
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
The Epiphany of Christ as the Divine Healer of human
infirmities is commemorated on this Sunday. His all-embrac-
ing sympathy could take in even the leper and the stranger ;
and would manifest itself to overflowing liy touching the one,
whom no one else would come near, and by healing the
servant of the other, though he was the CJentile slave of a
Gentile centurion. Tlie glory of the Good Physician was
thus manifested forth, immediately after He had made His
Mission openly known to the people, in two remarkable
instances. Leprosy was a disease for which no human
physician could find a cure : yet Christ put forth His hand
and touched the leper, and at once a regeneration of the
diseaseil nature took jilace, so that he became a new man.
Palsy or paralysis, again, is a loss of all muscular energy and
power, so that tlie afflicted person becomes, in a greater or less
tlegree, incapable of moving ; and his body, in severe cases,
is, in one sense, dead. Very rarely indeed is paralysis cured ;
and never, in the case of one "grievously tormented " with
it, as this slave was. Yet the will of the Good Physician
effected the cure in a moment, either by the ministration of
one to whom He coiild say, "Go, and he goeth," on his
Master's errand of mere}', or else by the immediate operation
of His Divine Ouniijiotence.
As Jesus manifested forth His glory by displaying His
Power over the inanimate Creation when He transubstantiated
the water into wine, so now He shewed it by changing a leper
and a paralytic into sound and whole men by His touch and
His will.
The ancient Offertory sentence brought out this doctrine
very beautifully. It was, " The riglit hand of the Lord
hath the pre-eminence ; the right hand of the Lord bringeth
mighty things to pass. I shall not die but live, and declare
the works of the Lord." The same idea forms the basis of
the Collect.
In'troit. — Worship the Lord, all ye His angels. Sion heard
of it and rejoiced ; the daughters of Judah were glad. Ps.
The Lord is King, the earth may be glad thereof, yea, the
multitude of the isles may be glad thereof. Glory he.
262
Cljc JTourtf) anD jFiftfj ©unDaps after €pipfjan|).
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
Dominica I]', jmd Octav. Epiphanicc.
o
THE COLLECT.
GOD, Who knowest us to be set in the
midst of so many and great dangers, that
by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot
always stand upright ; Grant to us such strength
and protection, as may support us in all dangers,
and carry us through all temptations ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
" S. g. g. CreR.
Ooni. iv. post
Tlieoph. Mur. ii.
"ORATIO.
DEUS Qui nos in tantis periculis constitutes,
pro liumana scis fragilitate non posse sub-
sistere : da nobis salutem mentis et corporis, ut
ea quae pro peccatis nostris patimur, Te adjuvants
vincamus. Per Dominum nostrum.
»THE EPISTLE. Eom. xiii. 1-7.
IET every soul be subject unto the higher
■^ powers; for there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God. Who-
soever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the
ordinance of God : and they that resist shall
receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are
not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt
thou then not be afraid of the power ! do that
whirh is good, and thou shalt have praise of the
same : for he is the minister of God to thee for
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid;
* S. g. IB. Rem.
an. Rom. 13. 8-10.
for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is
the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath
upon him that doeth evil Wherefore ye must
needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for
conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute
also ; for they are God's ministers, attending
continually upon this very thing. Render there-
fore to all their dues ; tribute to whom tribute is
due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear,
honour to whom honour.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. viii. 23-31.
AND when He was entered into a ship, His
-LX. disciples followed Him. And behold,
there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch
that the ship was covered with the waves : but
He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him,
and awoke Him, .saying, Lord, save us, we perish.
And He saith unto them, AVhy are ye fearful,
ye of little faith 1 Then He arose, and rebuked
the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm. But the men marvelled, saying, AMiat
manner of man is this, that even the winds and
the sea obey Him ! And when He was come to
the other side into the country of the Gergesenes,
there met Him two possessed with devils, coming
out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man
might pass by that way. And behold, they cried
out, saying, What have we to do with Thee,
. Matt.(
Rom-
Jesus, Thou Sox of God ? art Thou come hither
to torment us before the time 1 And there was
a good way off from them an herd of manj- swine,
feeding. So the devils besought Him, saying. If
Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the
herd of swine. And He said unto them, Go.
And when they were come out, they went into
the herd of swine : and behold, the whole herd
of swine ran violently down a steep place into the
sea, and perished in the waters. And they that
kept tliem fled, and went their ways into the city,
and told every thing, and what was befallen to
the possessed of the devils. And behold, the
whole city came out to meet Jesus : and when
they saw Him, they besought Ilim, that He
would depart out of their coasts.
The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany.
Dominica V. post Octav. Epiphanice.
o
THE COLLECT.
LORD, we beseech Thee to keep Thy
Church and household continually in Thy
"S^.-Q.^. ccc I ''OEATIO.
Theo'ph. "'MJi."!.! \ "TT^AMILIAM Tuam, qu«sumus, Domine, con-
-•- tinua pietate custodi ; ut quK in sola spe
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
Our Lord Jesus is on this Sunday commemorated as the
Saviour of all from cvei-y danger, as well as the Saviour
of the diseased and infirm from the bodily afflictions which
happen to human nature. It is not now a leper or a
paralytic, but strong and hale men who are in need of His
help. And yet, though no horrible or painful disease afflicts
them, they could not be in any more hopeless or helpless con-
dition than when at sea in an open boat at the mercy of
a tempest. He wa-s, doubtless, revealing to them the true
source of their safety, — His Presence, which makes an Ark
of the Church. He was asleep, and they had little faith, ami
the storm was violent ; and the ship being " covered with the
waves," we may well suppose that the danger was, from a
human point of view, extreme. Christ reveals to the Apostles
that the human point of view takes in a very small part of
the whole prospect by manifesting forth His authority over
the winds and the waves, and shewing them that His Pre-
sence could preserve them, because it is the Presence of Cod.
The miracle of casting out the devils from the two possessed
Gergesenes, carries on the parabolical teaching of the storm
and its subjugation, liy shewing that the power of Christ
extends not only over natural elements and forces, but over
supernatural being.«i. And hence the Lord of the Church is con-
tinually declaring to us, that though it may be tempest-tossed
on the waves of the world. He can ensure its safety ; and that
though evil spirits oppose it with all tlie array of their power,
yet " the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it."
The Epistle for tliia Sunday was altered in 1549, because it
coincided with that for the first Sunday in Advent. In the
Mozarabic rite it is taken from Rom. vii. , which, as it is
respecting the struggle of our two natures, seems once to have
been coexistent witli our Collect.
I.N'TKOIT. — Worship the Lord, all ye His angels. Sion
heard of it and rejoiced ; the daughters of Judah were glad.
Ps. The Jjord is King, the earth may bo glad thereof, yea,
the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof. Glory be,
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
The connection of this Sunday with the ICpiphany season
Cf)C ^irtf) ^unDap aftct ^pipfjanp.
263
" S- B- ?U.
iiji as I'. U.
true religion ; that they who do lean only upon
the hope of Thy heavenly grace may evermore
be defended by Thy mighty power ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
- THE EPISTLE.
PUT on therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering ; for-
bearing one another, and forgiving one another,
if any man have a quarrel against any ; even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above
all these things put on charity, which is the bond
of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in
your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one
gratiai coelestis innititur, Tua semper protectione
muniatur. Per Dominum.
Col. iii. 1217.
body ; and bo ye thankful. Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teach-
ing and admonLshing one anotlier in psalms, and
hymns, and ."spiritual songs, singing with grace in
your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do,
in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by
Him.
i: B.
'THE GOSPEL
fT^HE Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a
-L man which sowed good seed in his field.
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed
tares among the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth
fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the ser-
vants of the houshulder came, and said unto him.
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field ?
from whence then hath it tares 1 He said unto
S. Matt. xiii. 'il-ao.
a:».«,7.,.-,s them, An enemy hath done this. The servants
uke 4. 14- ^^^'^ 'iiito him, Wilt thou then that we go and
gather them up ? But he said. Nay ; lest while
ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat
with them. Let both grow together until the
harvest ; and in the time of harvest I will say
to the reapers. Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them : but
gather the wheat into my barn.
THE Sixth' SUNDAY after the Epiphany.
c IGteg. Sacr.]
rf[Greg. "Ali.-e Ora-
liones Paschales,"
ix.)
['Dominica Sexta post Theoplianiam.']
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, Whose blessed Son was manifested
that He might destroy the works of the
devil, and make us the sons of God, and heirs
of eternal life ; Grant us, we beseech Thee, that,
having this hope, we may purify ourselves, even
as He is jjure ; that, when He shall appear again
with power and great glory, we may be made
like unto Him in His eternal and glorious king-
dom ; where with Thee, Father, and Thee,
Holy Ghost, He liveth and reigueth, ever one
God, world without end. Amen.
[''T^EUS, Qui ad sternam vitam in Christi
-L^ Eesurrectione nos reparas, imple pietatis
Ture ineffabile sacramentum, ut, cum in Majestate
sua Salvator noster advenerit, quos fecisti bap-
tismo regenerari, facias beata immortalitate vestiri.
Per eundem.]
is not made so clear in the Gospel of the Tares and the AVheat,
as iu that of those the Gospels of which record the Manifesta-
tion of the glory of Christ in His acts. Yet it reveals Him
as the Lord of the Church for its government as well as for
its preservation ; and shews that even when He seems to be
suffering evil that might be prevented, His purpose is still
full of love for His own, lest the wlieat should be injured by
the destruction of tlie tares. And as, moreover, our Lord
Himself has explained that the seed is the Word of God, that
is. His own Person, this Gospel and Sunday must be regarded
as settiug forth the glory of Christ in tlie increase of His
Church, and the developement of tliat Kingdom on earth
wliicli is to form so large a portion of tlie eternal dominion
of the King of kings. It shews also the ultimate triumph of
the WoKD in the face of all opposition. Men may sleep who
should have guarded the field, aud the enemy may seem to
have gained an advantage by which the gloiy of the Word is
dimmed ; but God waits His time, and when that is fulfilled
sends fortli His servants to undo the work of the Evil One ;
so that the glory of the Redeemer is manifested by tlie gather-
ing in of a large harvest of the redeemed into His heavenly
garner.
Tlie Epistle for this Sunday takes up the course of St.
Paul's Epistles from the Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity,
and both Gospel and Epistle have a relation to the season of
Advent, because they used frequently to be required to com-
plete that of Trinity.
Introit. — Worship the Lord, all ye His angels. Sion
heard of it and rejoiced ; the daughters of Judah were glad.
Ps. The Lord is King, the earth may be glad thereof, yea,
the multitude of the isles ni.ay be glad thereof. Glory be.
THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.
From 1549 until 1661 the Church of England reckoned
only five Sundays after Epiphany, aud if a sixth occurred
before Septuagesima, the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of the
Fifth were repeated. The old Rubric was, "The sixth Sun-
day (if there be so many) shall liave tlie Collect, Epistle, and
Gospel tliat was upon the Fifth Sunday." To this it was at
first proposed to add, "And if there be fewer Sundays tlian
six, yet this Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of the Fifth Sunday
shall be last ;" but this new Rubric (inserted in the Durham
book) was erased, and a sixth Sunday added without it.'
The Collect is written in the margin of the Durham book,
aud appears to be an original composition of Bisliop Cosin's ;
though there is some similarity of expression between it and
the above Easter Collect of St. Gregory's Sacramentaiy, w hich
seems to indicate that the one was in part suggested by the
other. ^
The Epistle is most aptly chosen as a link between tlie
Epiphany Sundays and tliose near Advent, the whole Service
of this day being often required for the Twenty-fifth or
Twenty-sixth Sunday after Trinity. The Collect is founded
on the Epistle, and the Gospel displays tlie final Manifesta-
1 The ancient English use was to reckon one Sunday witliin tlie Octavo
of Epiphany, and five Sundays "after the Octave."
8 The Collect of St. Gregory is copie<l from Bishop Cosin's own copy of
the Sacramentary, Menard's edition of 1042.
264
^eptuagcsinm ^untiaj?.
a £.
1^. H?
none.
RoMtan. I
Thess.
1. 2
EaiUm.
1 Tiin.
3- »
^15-
"THE EPISTLE. 1 S. J.
BEHOLD, Tvliat manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sous of God : therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Be-
loved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be : but we know,
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like
Him ; for we shall see Him as He is. And
every man that hath this hope in him jjurifieth him-
self, even as He is pure. Whosoever committeth
sin transgresseth also the law : for sin is the trans-
*THE GOSPEL. S. Matt.
THEN if any man shall say unto you, Lo,
here is Christ, or there ; believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs and won-
ders ; insomuch that (if it were possible) they
shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have
told you before. Wherefore, if they shall say
unto you, Behold, He is in the desert ; go not
forth : behold, He is in the secret chambers ;
believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east, and sliineth even unto the west ; so
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the
* S. ^. ^. none.
KoinctH. Matt. i.^.
3'-3S- . ,
Fnstetni, Luke
18. 10-14.
hn iii. 1-8.
gression of the law. And ye know that He was
manifested to take away our sins ; and in Him is
no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not :
whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither
known Him. Little children, let no man deceive
you : he that doeth righteousness is righteous,
even as He is righteous. He that committeth
sin is of the devil : for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this jjurpose the Sox of God
was manifested, that He might destroy the works
of the devih
xxiv. 23-31.
eagles be gathered together. Immediately after
the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man
in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and
great glory. And He shall send His angels with
a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together His elect from the four winds, from one
end of heaven to the other.
Thk Sunday called Septuagesima,
Or the third SUNDAY BEFOKE LENT.
Donii
THE COLLECT.
OLORD, we beseech Thee favourably to hear
the prayers of Thy people ; that we, who
are justly punished for our offences, may be
mercifully delivered by Thy goodness, for the
glory of Thy Name ; through Jesus Christ our
Saviour, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee
and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world with-
out end. Amen.
c S. g. g. Greg,
in LXX. Super
populum. Mur. ii.
26.
nka in Septuaijesima,
'OEATIO.
PRECES populi Tui, quresumus, Domine,
clementer exaudi, ut qui juste pro peccatis
nostris affligimur, pro Tui uoininis gloria miseri-
corditer liberemur. Per Dominum nostrum
Jesum Christum Filium Tuum. Qui Tecum
vivit et regnat.
tion of the glory of Christ iu the triiimpli of His Second
Coming. Thus this day falls in witli tlie old system of
Epiphany Sundays, and forms an admiralile climax to the
whole series ; while, at the same time, it is strikingly adapted
for transfer to the end of the Trinity Season (if required),
according to the anciently received practice of our own and
other branches of the Western Church.
[There is of course no Introit for this day in the Salisbuiy
Use. In the Roman it is the same as on the preceding Sun-
day ; and tlie words are appropriate whether for Epiphany or
before Advent.]
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
After the conclusion of the season of Epiphany the Sundays
are reckoned with reference to Easter ami its preceding fast.
The origin of the n.ames which distinguisli the three Sundays
before Lent cannot be historically accounted for, and has
received various explanations iu ancient and modern times.
Pamelius considers that Septuagesima was so called iu
commemoration of the seventy years' captivity of Israel in
Babylon, and that the other two Sundays following were
named from it by analogy. As it was so much tlic hal)it of
early Christian writers to compare the forty days' fast of Lent
with the forty years' Bojouni in the wilderness, this derivation
seems a probable one. But the more generally received one
in modern times is, that the fast of Lent being called Quadra-
gesima, and th.at name being especially applied to the first
•Sunday in Lent, these three preceding Sundays were named
from analogy, and as representing in round numbers the days
which occur between each and ICaster. Spptuagesima is,
indeed, only sixty-three days distant from Easter, l.nit
Quinquagesima is forty -nine ; and the nearly correct character
of the appellation in the latter case seems to support this
theory. The second and more exact titles which were added
to the old names of these Sundays in 1G61 a]>pear for the first
time in Bishop Cosin's corrected Prayer Book. The ancient
titles themselves are all three found in the Lectionary of St.
tferome, and in the Sacramontaries ; but there are not any
analogous ones in use in tlie Eastern Cliui'h.
The time and manner of observing Lent varied very much
in the early Church, and these Sund.ays are a monument of
this variation. Each of them marked the beginning of Lent
in communities which extended it beyond forty d.ays ; and
Durandus states that monastic persons were accustomed to
begin tlio fast at Septuagesima, the (Jrecks at Sexagesima,
■and the secular clergy at (Juinquagesinia. It is very pro-
bable tli.at the names themselves were adopted to mark
another variation in the mode of keeping Lent. For in some
parts of tlie Church fasting was not permitted on Sundays,
Thnrsilays, or Saturdays, and yet the Lenten fast was to
extend to forty days. The beginning of it was therefore
tlirown back to Septuagosima, the weeks from i\ hich day to
Easter would include forty fasting-d.ay.'<. Other churches
omitted only Thursdays and Sund.ays, and began tlie fast on
Sexagesima. A third class made no omissions except of Sun-
day, and cimimcnced their season of penitence two days
before Ash-Wednesd.ay, at Quiuiju.-igesima; while a fourth,
jierhaps the largest, limited ].,ent to thirty-six days, beginning
it on Quadragesima Sunday.'
1 Ro It Blill is in (lie AiMbrnsinn rito; and so It wns in tho Mozarabic
until tho time of Cardinal Xilneuea.
%erag;csima ^unDa??.
265
"THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. ix. 24-27.
a ,5
s. 1U
add
10.
A-
man
add
Id.
I' astern.
I r
or.
6. 1
2-30.
» S. ffi- W.
<i;i as P. B.
Haslern.
■ S. II-35-
KNOW ye not, that they which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the prize? So
run that ye may obtain. And every man that
striveth for the mastery is temperate in all
things : now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so
*THE GOSPEL. S,
THE Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man
that is an householder, which went out
early in the morning to hire labourers into his
vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
labourers for a peny a day, he sent them into
his vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, and saw others standing idle in the market-
place, and said unto them. Go ye also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way. Again he went out
about the sixth and ninth hour, and did like-
wise. And about the eleventh hour he went
out, and found others standing idle, and saith
unto them. Why stand ye here all the day idle?
They say unto him, Because no man hath hired
us. He saith unto them. Go ye also into the
vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye
receive. So when even was come, the lord of
the vineyard saith unto his steward. Call the
labourers, and give them their hire, beginning
run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not a.s one
that beateth the air : but I keep under my body,
and bring it into subjection, lest that by any
means, when I liave preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway.
Matt. XX. 1-16.
Rom-
Luke
from the last unto the first. And when they
came that ivere hired about the eleventh hour,
they received every man a peny. But wlicn
the first came, they supposed that they should
have received more ; and they likewise received
every man a peny. And when they had re-
ceived it, they murmured against the good-man
of the house, saying, These last have wrought
h2it one hour, and thou hast made them equal
unto us, which have borne the burden and heat
of the day. But he answered one of them, and
said. Friend, I do thee no wrong ; didst not
thou agree with me for a peny? Take that
thine is, and go thy way ; I will give unto this
last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me
to do what I will with mine own ? Is thine eye
evil, beeau.se I am good? So the last shall be
first, and the first last : for many be called, but
few chosen.
The SUNDAY CALLED SEXAGESIMA
Or the second SUNDAY BEFORE LENT.
Dominica in Sexagesima.
THE COLLECT.
OLORD God, Who seest that we put not our
trust in any thing that we do ; Mercifully
grant that by Thy power we may be defended
against all adversity ; through Jesus Chkist our
LoKD. Amen.
<■ Sar. Creff. in
LX. Mur. ii, =;,
tf I Till]. 2. 7.
^ORATIO.
DEUS Qui conspicis quia ex nulla nostra
actione confidimus ; concede propitius, ut
contra omnia adversa Doctoris gentium protec-
tione muniamur. Per.''
YE suflfer fools gladly, seeing ye t/ourselves
are wise. For ye suffer if a man bring
you into bondage, if a man devour i/ou, if a man
'THE EPISTLE. 2 Cor. xi. 19-33.
take of 1/ou, if a man exalt himself, if a man
smite you on the face. I speak as concerning
reproach, as though we had been weak : howbeit.
add 12. 1-9.
Eastern, i Cor,
8. 8—9. 2.
When these varioua modes of keeping Lent had been all
superseded under the reforming hand of St. Gregory the
Great by our present custom, the Church still retained the
penitential tone of the services for these three Sundays, and
they thus form a link between the joyous seasons of Christmas
and Epiphany, and the deeply sorrowful one which begins with
Asli-Wednesday and reaches its climax in the Holy Week.
Altliough some customs which were retained with this view
in the ancient Church of England have been dropped in the
modern, — such as the omission of the Alleluia at the begin-
ning of Mattins, — the Scriptures of the season still mark it
as one that leads up to Lent.
The Gospels and Epistles for the three Sundays are clearly
appointed with a reference to Christian self-discipline ; and
they seem to have been chosen with the well-known ancient
classification of virtues in view, as if to sliew the Christian
application of the truths of heathen philosophy. Thus on
Septuagesima the Epistle of the Christian strife for the
mastery represents Tcmperantia, the Gospel of the labourers,
and the penny a day, Justitia. On Sexagesima, Fortitmlo is
illustrated by St. Paul's account of his sutferings for Christ's
sake, and Nonestas by the parable of the Sower, some of
Whose good seed falls on honest and good hearts [if Kapdig,
Ka\rj Kal 070917]. Quinquagesima illustrates by the Epistle
the Christian complement of all natural virtue in Charity;
the climax of which was reached in the submission of the Son
of Man to that contumely and persecution which He predicts
in the Gospel of the day.
Introit. — The pains of hell came about me, and the snares
of death overtook me. In my trouble, I called upon the Lord,
and He heard me out of His holy temple. Ps. I will love
Thee, Lord my strength. The Lord is my strong rock,
and my defence, and my Saviour. Glory be.
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
On all three of the Sundays before Lent the Apostle St.
Paul is set forth as an illustrious example of self-denial, zeal,
and suffering for Christ's sake ; and on Quinquagesima his
noble words as to the valuelessness of all such discipline and
zeal without love, set the true Christian seal upon asceticism
in every degree. It is with reference, no doubt, to this appli-
cation of his example, tliat an allusion was made to the great
Apostle of the Gentiles in the Collect ; but the manner in
which it was made led to its expulsion altogether in 15-19,
and to the insertion of the more trustworthy expression of
being defended by the jiower of God. This day is marked
" ad Sanctum Paulum " in the Comes.
Introit. — Up, Lord, why sleepest Thou : awake, and be
not absent from us for ever. Wherefore hidest Thou Thy
face : and forgettest our misery and trouble ? For our soul
266
Ciuinquagcsima ^unDay.
whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I
am bold also. Are they Hebrews ? so am I. Are
they Israelites ? so am I. Are they tlie seed of
Abraham ? so am I. Are they ministers of
Christ ? (I speak as a fool,) I am more : in
labours more abundant; in stripes above measure;
in prisons more frequent ; in deaths oft. Of the
Jews five times received I forty stripes save one ;
thrice was I beaten with rods ; once was I stoned ;
thrice I suffered shipwreck ; a night and a day
I have been iu the deep ; in journeying often ;
in perils of waters ; in perils of robbers ; in perils
by mine own countrymen ; in perils by the
heathen ; in perils in the city ; in perils in the
wilderness ; in perils in the sea ; in perils among
false brethren ; in weariness and painfulness ; in
watchings often ; iu hunger and thirst ; iu fast-
ings often ; in cold and nakedness ; beside those
things that are without, that which cometh upon
me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is
weak, and I am not weak ? who is offended, and
I burn not 1 If I must needs glory, I will glory
of the things which concern mine infirmities.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I
lie not.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Luke viii. 4-15.
\ \ THEN much people were gathered together,
V V and were come to Him out of every city,
He spake by a parable : A sower went out to sow
his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way-
side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of
the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock,
and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered
aw.ay, because it lacked moisture. And some
fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up
with it, and choked it. And other fell on good
ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hun-
dred-fold. And when He had said these things.
He cried. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And His disciples asked Him, saying. What might
this parable be ? And He said, Unto you it is
given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God : but to others in parables ; that seeing they
" 5. ffi. ffi.
ati as P. B.
liasttrit,
=5- 3'-46.
Ram.
Matt.
might not see, and hearing they might not under-
stand. Now the parable is this : The seed is
the Word of God. Those by the way-side are
they that hear ; then cometh the devil, and
taketh away the Word out of their hearts, lest
they should believe, and be saved. They on the
rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the
word with joy ; and these have no root, which
for a while believe, and in time of temptation
fall away. And that which fell among thorns,
are they, which, when thej' have heard, go forth,
and are choked with cares, and riches, and plea-
sures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground, are they, which in
an honest and good heart, having heard the Word,
keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
The Sunday callkd Quinquagesima,
Oh the next SUNDAY BEFORE LENT.
Dominica in Quinquagesima.
o
■THE COLLECT.
LORD, "Who hast taught us that all our
doings without charity are nothing worth ;
* Sar.
CA.D. 1549
d Greg. Feria vi.
intra L. guos uno
<ctlesti pane sati-
[«AD COMPLETORIUM IN DIE PASCH^.
ORATIO.
SPIRITUM nobis, Domine, Tuse charitatis in
funde, ut ''quos sacranientis paschalibus sati-
ia brought low, even unto tlie dust : our belly cleavetli unto
the ground. Arise and help us : and deliver us for Thy
Name's sake. Ps. We have heard with our ears, God, our
fathers have told us. Glory be.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
The ancient Collect for this day had a speci.al reference to
the practice of Confession on the Tuesday following, which
was hence called Shrove Tuesday. It was as follows : "Preces
nostras, qu;esuiiius, Doiniue, clementer exaudi : attjue a pec-
catorum vinculis absolutoa ab omni nos adversitate custodi.
Per Dominum nostrum. " Our present very beautiful Collect
was substituted in ],')49 ; it is formed on the basis of the
Epistle, and is evidently constructed also as a prayer for that
Love without which the discipline of Lent would be unavailing.
At the end of tlie Gospel for Quinipiagesima Sunday the
following Itubric is inserted in MS. in Cosin's Durham Prayer
Book: "Tliis Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve only
till the Wednesday following. "
Introit. — Be Thou my strong rock, aiul house of defence ;
that Thou mayest save me. For Tliou .irt my strong rock
and my castle ; be Thou also my guide, and lead me for Tliy
Name's sake. Pa. In Thee, Ijord, liavo I put my trust :
lot me never be put to confusion ; deliver me in Thy right-
eousnesB. Glory be.
LENT."
A fast before Easter has been observed from the earliest
I Tho English name of tlic season Is derived from the Old English word
for spring, " Icncten," meaning, perhaps, the time when the days lengthen.
Christian times ; but the period of its duration varied in dif-
ferent countries and ages down to the seventh century. Of
these variations Iren.-tus wrote in his Epistle to Victor, 15ishop
of Rome, about the close of the second century, when (speak-
ing of the varying rules about Easter) he says, "For the
difi'erence of opinion is not about the day alone, but about
the manner of fasting ; for some tliink they are to fast one
day, some two, some more : some measure their day as forty
hours of the day and night." [Iren. in Eusch. v. 24.]
It is left uncei'tain, by the words of Irenieus, >\ hetlier this
universal primitive Lent of which he writes ever extended
to forty days ; and his words read differently in the several
ancient texts of Eusebius. In some copies they are, as above,
qI 5^ T€(7(7apd/co»'ra il>po.% ■q/xepii'as Kal vvKTfpivas av^xfxirpQvai rrjv
Tjix^pav avrCiv : but in others, and in ItuSinus, they read, "For
some think they are to fast one day, some two, some more,
some forty d.ay.s ; and they measure tlieir day by the liours of
the day and night," Tcrtullian, a few years later, speaks of
tlie pr.actice of tho Cliurih a.s Ijulieved witli certainty to be
founded on tliat passage of the Gospel in which those days
were appointed for hasting, during which tlic Hridegroom was
taken away. This li.is been thouglit by .some to point to the
jieriod of forty d.ays during which our Ijord was going through
Ilis Tem]>tation in the wilderness ; but it is far more probable
tliat it refers to the time during wliich Ilis Soul was separated
from His IJody. Sonic few years later still, however, towards
the miihlle of the third century, Origeu sjieaks of forty days
being consecrated to fasting before Easter. |lloui x. in Lcvit.]
And at the Council of Nic;ea this period w.as taken for granted,
as if long in use.
But, however early tho extension of the Lenten fast to forty
days m;iy have been, it is certain tliat they were rcckoneil in
Ciuinquagcsima ^unDap.
267
» s- s. n
an as P. B.
Izaslem.
Send Thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts
that most excellent gift of charity, tlie very bond
of peace and of all virtues, without which who-
soever liveth is counted dead before Thee : Grant
this for Thine only Son Jesus Cueist's sake.
Amen.
"THE EPISTLE.
THOUGH I speak with the tongues of men
and of angels, and have not ciiarity, I am
become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and
understand all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and
though I have all faith, so that I could remove
mountains, and have no charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed tlie
poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity
envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked,
thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth
asti, Tua facias pietate Concordes.
NUM. In unitate.]
Per DoMi-
1 Cor. xiii. 1-13.
Rem-
Rom.
all things, hopeth all tilings, eiidureth all things.
Charity never faileth : but whether there be pro-
phecies, they shall fail ; whether there he tongues,
they shall cease ; whether there he knowledge, it
shall vanish away. For we know in part, and
we prophesy in part. But when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall
be done away. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child ; but when I became a man, I put away
childish things. For now we see through a glass
darkly ; but then face to face : now I know in
part ; but then shall I know even as also I am
known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity,
these three ; but the greatest of these is charitv.
>THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xviii. 31-43.
THEN Jesus took unto Iliw the twelve, and
said unto them. Behold, we go up, to Jeru-
salem, and all things that are written by the pro-
phets concerning the Son of Man shall be accom-
plished. For He shall be delivered unto the
Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on : and they shall scourge
Him, and put Him to death ; and the third day
He shall rise again. And the}' understood none
of these things : and this saying was hid from
them, neither knew they the things which were
spoken. And it came to pass, tJiat as Ho was
come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat
by the way-side begging : and hearing the multi-
tude pass by, he asked what it meant. And
'' S. B. 5J.
n„ a5 P. B.
Has/trli.
6. 14-21.
they told liini, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth hy.
And he cried, .saying, Jesus, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on me. And they which went before
rebuked him, that he should hold his peace : but
he cried so much the more, I'hou Son of David,
have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and com-
manded hiru to be brought unto Him : and when
he was come near. He asked him, saying. What
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And he
said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And
Jesus said unto him. Receive thy sight ; thy
faith hath saved thee. And immediately he
received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying
God : and all the people, when they saw it, gave
praise unto God.
several different waya, though always immediately preceding
Easter. By various Churches the forty days were distributed
over periods o£ nine, eight, and seven weeks (that is, from
Septuagesima, Sexagesima, or Quinquagesima to Easter), by
the omission of Sundays, Tlmrsdays, and Saturdays, of Sun-
days and Saturdays, or of Sundays alone, from the number of
fasting-days [see Notes on Septuagesima] ; and it would appear
that Lent was sometimes called by tlie three names now con-
fined to the three Sundays preceding it as well as by the
name of Quadragesima, or Tftrtrapafcoo-TiJ. St. Gregory the
Great introduced our present mode of observance, or sanctioned
it with his authority, at the end of the sixth century ; exclud-
ing Sundays from the number of fasting-days, and making the
thirty-six days thus left of the forty-two immediately i>reced-
ing Easter into an exact forty by beginning the Fast on the
Wednesday before Quadragesima Sunday instead of on the
Monday following it. This rule seems to have been very
readily accepted in the Western Church ; but the Eastern
Lent {iieydXi) Ni/tn-e/a] begins on the Monday after the day
which we call Quinquagesima ; and the rule of fasting is so
strict, that although some slight relaxation of its rigour is
allowed on Sundays and Saturdays, not even the former are
wholly excluded from the number of fasting-days.
The primary object of the institution of a fast before Easter
was doubtless that of perpetuating in the hearts of every
generation of Cliristians the sorrow and mourning which the
Apostles and Disciples felt during the time tliat the Bride-
groom was taken away from them. This sorrow had, indeed,
been turned into joy by the Resurrection, yet no Easter joys
could ever erase from the mind of the Cluirch the memory of
those awful forty hours of blank and desolation which followed
the last sufferings of her Lord ; and she lives over year by
year the time from the morning of Good Friday to the morn-
ing of Easter Day by a re-presentation of Christ evidently set
forth, crucified among us. [Gal. iii. 1.] This probably was the
earliest idea of a fast before Easter. But it almost necessarily
followed that sorrow concerning the death of Christ should be
accompanied by sorrow concerning the cause of that Death ;
and hence the Lenten fast became a period of self-discipline ;
and was so, probably, from its first institution in Apostolic
times. And, according to the literal habit which the early
Church had of looking up to the Pattern of her Divine Master,
the forty days of His fasting in the wilderness while He was
undergoing Temptation became the gauge of the servants'
Lent, deriving still more force as an Example from the typical
prophecy of it which was so evident in the case of Moses and
Elijah.
St. Chrysostom speaks of great strictness in fasting on the
part of many in his day, such as is still found in the Eastern
Church. "There are those," he says, "who rival one another
in fasting, and shew a marvellous emulation in it ; some,
indeed, who spend two whole days without food ; and others
who, rejecting from their tables not only the use of wine, and
of oil, but of every dish, and taking only broad and water,
persevere in this practice during the whole of Lent." [Horn,
iv. on Stat.] He also speaks in another homily of men being
purified, in the days of Lent, by prayer and almsdceds, by
fasting, watching, tears, and confession of sins, shewing that
the severe Leuts of later ages were only such as had been ob-
served in the time of that great Father of the Church. The
general mode of fasting seems to have been to abstain from
food until after six o'clock in the afternoon, and even then
not to partake of animal food or wine. Yet it may be doubted
whether such a mode of life could have been continued
268
Cbe JFir0t Dap of Lent.
the first day of lent, commonly called
Ash-Wkdnesday.
Feria IV.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who Latest
-^^ nothing that Thou hast made, and dost
forgive the sins of all them that are penitent ;
* Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we worthily lamenting our sins, and acknow-
ledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee,
the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ameii
IT This Collect is to be read every day in Lent, after
the Collect appointed for the Day.
b A.IJ. 1549.
in Capite Jejnnii.
"BENEDICTIO CINERUM.
MNIPOTENS sempiterneDEUS Qui misereris
omnium et nihil odisti eorum quae fecisti
dissimulans peccata hominum propter poeniten-
tiam ....
O^
■FOR THE EPISTLE. Joel ii. 12.17.
TURN ye even to Me, .saith the Loud, with
all your heart, and with fasting, and with
weeping, and with mourning. And rend your
heart, and not your garments, and turn unto
the Lord your God : for He is gracious and mer-
ciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repeuteth Him of the evil. Who knoweth if
He will return, and repent, and leave a blessing
behind Him, even a meat-offering and a drink-
offering unto the Lord your God? Blow the
trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fa.st, call a solemn
ail. Joel s. 12-19.
assembly, gather the people, sanctify the con-
gregation, assemble the elders, gather the chil-
dren, and those that suck the breasts ; let the
bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the
bride out of her closet ; let the priests, the min-
isters of the Lord, weep between the porch and
the altar, and let them say. Spare Thy people, O
Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach,
that the heathen should rule over them : where-
fore should they say among the people, Where
is their God ?
day after day for six weeks by those whose duties called upon
them for mucli physical exertion ; and it is possible that we
ought not to interpret so literally as this such allusions to
the fasting of ordinary Christians as we meet with in early
writings.
Lent was the principal time, in the early Church, for pre-
paring the Catechumens tor Baptism, and a large portion of
St. Cyril's Catechetical Lectures were delivered at this season.
There were also constant daily sermons at the services, as we
see from expressions used by St. Chrysostom and other fathers.
Public shows were more or less strictly forbidden ; and works
of charity were engaged in by all who could undertake them.
It was a time when sinners were called upon to do outward
penance as a sign of inward penitence, tliat they might be
received back to Communion at Easter. Lent was, in fact,
a season of humiliation, abstinence from pleasure, fasting,
prayer, penitence, and general depression of tone on account
of sin ; and was marked, on every side, with the sombre
tokens of mourning.
From this sliort account of the Lenten fast of primitive
days, we may go on to consider briefly what should be the
mode of observing it in modern times, so that the ancient and
unchanging principles of the Catholic Church may be applied
to the ever-varying habits of the world whicli tliose principles
are intended to leaven. The Church of England has not
expressly defined any rule on the subject of fasting, but in
the Homilies on the subject has urged the example of the
Early Church, as if intending it to be followed with a con-
siderable amount of strictness. The work tliat is set before
most persons, in the Providence of Cod, at the present day,
makes it (juitc impossible, however, for those who Iiave to do
it to fast every day for six weeks until evening, or even to
take one meal only in the day. And the ordinary mode of
living is so restrained among religious persons, that such a
custom would soon reduce them to an invalid condition, in
which tliey could not do their duty properly in the station of
life to which God has called them, whether in the world or in
the sanctuary. And although it may seem, at first, tli.at men
ouglit to be able to fast in tlie nineteenth century as strictly
as they did in the sixteenth, the twelfth, or tlie third, yet it
should be remembered that tlie continuous Labour of life w.as
unknown to the great majority of perstjns iji ancient days, as
it is at the present time in tlie Eastern Church and in Southern
Europe ; and th.at the (ju.antity and fjuality of the food which
now forms a full meal m only equivalent to what would have
been an extremely spare one until comparatively modem days.
The problem which the modern Christian has to solve, then,
in tliis matter, is that of so reconciling the duty of fasting in
Lent, and at otlier times ordered by the Church, with the
dut}' of properly accomplishing the work wliich God lias set
him to do, that he may fulfil both duties as a faithful servant
of tiod.
It is impossible to lay down any general law as to the
amount of abstinence from food wliich is tlius compatible with
modern duties ; nor can any one, except a person possessed of
much pliysiological acumen, determine what is to be the rule
for another. But the general rules may be laid down, [1]
that it is possible for all to diniinisli in some degree the quan-
tity of tlieir food on fasting-days without liarm resulting ; [2]
that many can safely abstain altogether from animal food for
some days in the week ; [.S] tliat food should be taken on
fasting-days as a necessity, and its quality so regulated that
it shall not be a luxury ; [4] tliat all can deny themselves
delicaciss on fast-days which may be very properly used at
other times.
In the First Homily on Fasting the objects of this discipline
of the body are well stated thus : [1] "To chastise the flesh
tliat it be not too wanton, but tamed and brought in subjec-
tion to tlie spirit." [2] "That the spirit may be more fervent
and earnest in prayer." [3] "That our fast be a testimony
and witness with ns before Cod, of our humble submission to
His high Majesty."
Finally, it may be remarked, that as the changed habits of
life have diminished our capacity for abstaining from food for
long periods, so they liave increased our opportunities of sac-
rificing our pleasures liy abstinence from luxuries. "Tlieatres,
balls, private parties, novel-reading, mere ornamental pursuits,
unuecess.ary delicacies, sumptuous costume, — these are things
which may well be selected as the subjects of our abstinence,
if, in Lent, or in our general life, we desire to adopt a stricter
Christian habit tli.an is commonly necessary." [Blunt'.s
Dirrdorlinn /'n.iloriilc, p. 18(3.] From time so s.aved many
an hour can be gained in which to attend the Divine Service
of the Cliurch day by d.ay, to use extra private devotions, and
to engage in works of charity.
§ An/i WeJiiesdaij.
The ancient ecclesiastical name given to the first day of
Lent is C'ipiil Jrjmiii, and the popular name of Ash-Wcilnes-
day has been .acquired by it from the custom of blessing aslies
made from the palms distributed on the Palm Sund;iv of the
preceding year, and signing the cross witli them on tlie heads
Cfjc jFirst @)unDaj? in Lent.
269
- S. 1. 18.
an as P. B.
-THE GOSPEL.
"TTTHEN ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a
V V sad countenance ; for tliey disfigure their
faces, tliat tliey may apijcar unto men to fa.st.
Verily I say unto you, They Iiavc their reward.
But thou, wlien tliou fa.stest, anoint thine head,
and wasli tliy face, tliat tliou appear not unto
men to fast, but unto thy Father Wliich is in
secret ; and tliy Father, Which seetli in secret.
S. Matt. vi. 16-21.
shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for your-
selves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through
and steal : but lay up for yourselves trea.sures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor-
rupt, and where thieves do not break througli
nor steal : for where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also.
«THE COLLECT.
The First Sunday in Lent.
Dominica /., Qiiadragtsimce, [Invocavit.l
b A.D. 1549.
OLOKD, Who for our sake didst fast forty
days and forty nights ; Give lis grace to
use such abstinence, that our flesh being
subdued to the spirit, we may ever obey Thy
godly motions in righteousness and true holiness,
to Thy honour and glory. Who livest and reignest
with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God,
world without end. Amen.
^THE EPISTLE. 2 Cor. vi. 1-10.
■s.l.fi.
„ii as P. B.
11. 24.26. 32-
Rom'
Heb.
"VrTE then, as workers together with Ilim,
VV beseech yov, also, that ye receive not the
grace of God in vain ; (for He saith, I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the da^ of sal-
vation have I succoured thee : behold, now is
the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of
salvation ;) giving no offence in any thing, that
the ministry be not blamed; but in all things
approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in
much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in dis-
tresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults,
in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; by pure-
''THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. iv. 1-11
THEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And
when He had fasted forty days and forty nights.
He was afterward an-hungred. And when the
tempter came to Him, he said. If Thou be the
Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. But He answered and said, It is written,
Man sliall not live by bread alone, but by every
ness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kind-
ness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
by the word of truth, by the power of God, by
the armour of righteousness on the right hand
and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by
evil report and good report ; as deceivers, and
yet true ; as unknown, and yet well known ; as
dying, and behold, we live ; as chastened, and
not killed ; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as
poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing,
and yet possessing all things.
nfS. 19. 18- Rom-
.in as P. B.
£astern. John i.
44-52.
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city,
and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and
saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast
Thyself down ; for it is written. He shall give His
angels charge concerning Thee, and in their hands
they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou
dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto
of tliose who knelt before the officiating minister for the pur-
pose, while he said, "Remember, man, that thou art dust,
and unto dust shalt thou return. " The Commination Service
is an adaptation of this rite, as is further shewn in the notes
to that Office.
The Penitential Psalms are all used in the services of Ash-
Wednesday, as they have been time immemorial, the 6th,
32ad, and 38th at Mattin.s, the 51st at the Comminiition, the
102ud, 130th, and U3rd at Evensong. The Collect is partly
a translation of one used at the Benediction of the Ashes, and
partly a composition of 1549 on tlie basis of other Collects of
the Day. The Epistle and Gospel are those of the ancient
Lectionary of St. Jereme. In tlie Durham book a rubric is
inserted ordering that the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of this
day "are to serve until the Sunday following."
Introit. — Thou, Lord, bast mercy upon all men, and
hatest nothing that Thou hast made : hiding Thy face from
their sins because of their penitence, and sparing them because
Thou art the Lord our God. Ps. Be merciful unto me,
(Jod, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in Thee.
Glory be.
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.
Although the Sundays in Lent are not to be observed as
fast-d.ays, the devotional tone given to them is carefully
assimilated to that of the season ; and a constant memorial of
it is kept up by the use of the Ash- Wednesday Collect after
that of the week on Sundays as well as weekday's. The
ancient Use contained Collects for Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays in Lent.
The Collect for this Sunday has not been traced to any
ancient source ; but as it contains the first allusion to fasting,
it may possibly come down from that distant time v lien Lent
began on this day or the day following, instead of on Ash-
Wednesday. In the ancient Use the Collect for this Sunday
was, " God, WIio dost cleanse Thy Church by the yearly
observance of Lent ; grant unto Tliy family that what it
strives to obtain from Thee by abstinence, the same it may
perform in good works, through our Lord Jesus Christ. "
The Gospel of the day sets forth the Lord Jesus perfect-
ing His sympathy with our nature by undergoing tempta-
tion : and the first words of the Epistle point to the effi-
cacious power of that temptation for the rescue from the
Tempter of all who are tempted. Our Blessed Lord, as the
Originator of a new spiritual nature which was to take the
place of that lost by Adam, went through a similar trial to
that of Adam ; and that He might have perfect sympathy
also with us who are open to the assaults of the Evil One,
" He was tempted like as we are." This representative char-
acter of Christ's Temptation is observable in the three forms
which it took. [1] " Comm.and these stones th.at they be
270
Cf)C ^cconD %imtiap in iLcnt.
him, It is -written again, Tliou sbalt not tempt
the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh Him
up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth
Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; and saith unto Him, All these
things Tivill I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down
and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him,
Get thee hence, Satan ; for it is written. Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only
shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth Him,
and behold, angels came and ministered unto
Him.
The Second Sunday in lent.
Dominica II., Qiiadrayesimce. [Seminiscere.]
THE COLLECT.
/VLMIGHTY God, Who seest that we have no
Jl\- power of ourselves to help ourselve.s ; Keep
us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in
our souls, that we may be defended from all
adversities which may happen to the body, and
from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt
the soul, through Jesus Christ our Loed.
Amen.
..5, a-S. Greg.
Doni. ii. ill XL.,
u! et ad. Mur. ii.
35-
-OEATIO.
DEUS, Qui conspicis omni nos virtute desti-
tui ; interius exteriusque custodi ; ut ab
omnibus adversitatibus muniamur in corpore, et
a pravis cogitationibus mundemur in mente. Per
DoiiiNUM nostrum.
»THE EPISTLE. 1 Thess. iv. 1-S.
\\7 E beseech you, brethren, and exhort you
V V by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have
received of us how ye ought to walk, and to
please God, so ye would abound more and more.
For ye know what commandments we gave you
by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God,
eveti your sanctification, that ye should abstain
from fornication ; that every one of you shoidd
know how to passess his vessel in sanctification
and honour ; not in the lust of concupiscence,
5 S. g. 19. Roin-
aii. 1 Thess. 4- i-
7-
Jlitstertt. Heb. i.
lo— 2. 3-
even as the Gentiles which know not GoDj
that no man go beyond and defraud his brother
in any matter ; because that the Lord is the
avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned
you, and testified. For God hath not called
us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He
therefore that despiseth despiseth not man,
but God, Who hath also given unto us His
Holy Spirit.
made bread, " was a parallel to that temptation of the senses
which was laid before our first parents when they were invited
to eat of the tree whose fruit had been forbidden by God.
And in this primary temptation of sense all others are repre-
sented. But He Who fed five thousand by a miracle after
one day's fasting, will not work a miracle to feed Himself
after a fast of forty days : nor will He rise above the proper
level of His human nature in His struggle with the enemy,
because His time is not yet come. [2] " If Thou be the Son
of God, cast Thyself down," was a temptation to make a
premature and unnecessary display of His Divine Power,
similar to tlie intellectual temptation set before our first
parents, "Ye shall be as gods." The substance of it was,
Can God do this? The answer was, " Thou shalt not tempt
the Lord thy God."' [3] The first Adam was tempted to
covet the gift of a Divine Intelligence, "Ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil ; " and though God had given liim
sovereignty over the world ia His own way, by a delegated
authority, to seek it in another way, by the possession of
Omniscience. So the thinl and strongest temptation offered
to Him Who came to draw all men unto Him by His lilting
up was contained in the olTer — doubtless one that could have
been, in its way, realized — "All these things will I give Thcc."
These three forms of temptation are comprehensive types
of all that tlie Tempter has to offer — sensual temptations,
llie seductions of vanity and pride, and tlie desire to go be-
yond God's will. Thus the ancient formulary, wliich includes
all sin under the three heads, "the world, the flesh, and tlie
Devil," is strictly in keeping with the view of sin which is
given to us in the Fall of the first, and tlio Victory of the
Second Adam : and as we acknowledge ourselves to lie sinners
through our origin from the one, so we may see the full force
of the prayer to the other, " I!y Thy Temptation, good Lord,
deliver us," and seek spiritual strength in all times of spiritual
danger by becoming " fellow-workers with Him " tnrough
the grace of God.
The week which begins with the first Sunday in Lent is
one of the Ember weeks, the following Sunday being the
canonical day for Ordinations.
1 It la obsen'aMc that Siiiion JlntfUH, wlio prctpudocl to bo ilivinc, met
hU death in an attemiit to Jisplay lii» jiower in this very ni.tnner.
Introit. — He hath called upon Jle, and I will hear him.
I will deliver him and bring him to honour : with long life
will I satisfy him. P.i. Whoso dwelleth under the defence of
the ilost High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Glory be.
THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.
Our Lord's triumph in His own Person over Satan is fol-
lowed up on this .Sunday by a narrative of one of those cases
in which He exhibited the same power for the good of others.
" Grievously vexed with a devil " is a phrase which seems to
point to au utter subjugation of the poor victim so afflicted to
the power of the Evil One ; and in that subjugation physical
and mental evil were doubtless combined. He ^^'ho, having
been tempted, was now able to succour them that are tempted,
manifested tliat ability on this occasion by the effect of His
will alone, so that without the use of any apparent means or
any visible act. He caused the Evil One to give up his power
over the afflicted, and in answer to the urgent prayer of the
mother, "her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
There is, doubtless, a connection between the fact told in tlie
Gospel and the exhortation of the Epistle, the epithet designat-
ing the evil spirits who possessed their victims, and that by
which St. Paul designates impurity, being tlie same ; and
several pieces of evidence pointing to extreme impurity of life
as one result of possession. The Collect is moulded in the
same lines of thought, acknowledging the power of the Tempter
to assault the soul by evil tliou^'Iita, and our own inability to
])revail against such assaults without the aid of Him by Whom
the Tempter w.is, and is overcome. The note of the day and
week, therefore, so far as Lent looks to discipline, is a call to
the subjugation of the sensual part of our nature by earnest
jirayer for a participation in the power of Him Who was
tempted, and yet came out of His temptation without sin,
that He might succour others in His strength.
Introit. — Call to remembrance, Lord, Thy tender
mercies ; and Thy loving-kindnesses, wliich have been ever
of old. Let not our enemies triumph over us. Deliver us,
(iod of Israel, out of all our troubles. I's. Unto Thee,
Lord, will I lift up my soul ; my God, I liavo put my trust
in Thee, let me not be confounded. Glory be.
Cf)e Cf)irD ^unoag in Lent.
271
"THK GOSPEL. S. Matt. xv. 21-28.
JESUS went thence, and departed into the
coa.sts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a
woman of Canaan came out of the .same coasts,
and cried unto Him, saying. Have mercy on me,
O Lord, Thou Son of David ; my daugliter i.s
grievously vexed with a devil. But He answered
her not a word. And His disciples eame and
besought Him, saying, Send her away ; for she
crieth after us. But He answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of
■ S. g.m.asP.B.
Homaii. Matt. 17.
Israel. Then came she and worshipped Him,
saying. Lord, help mo. But He answered and
said. It is not meet to take the children's bread,
and to cast it to dog.s. And she said, Truth,
Lord ; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs whicli fall
from their master's table. Then Jesu.s answered
and said unto her, woman, great is thy faith :
be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her
daughter was made whole from that very hour.
THE COLLECT.
\ 17"E beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon
VV the hearty desires of Thy humble ser-
vants, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy
Majesty to be our defence against all our enemies,
through Jesus Chklst our Lord. Amen.
^THE
BE ye therefore followers of God, as dear
children ; and walk in love, as Christ also
hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us,
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-
smelling savour. But fornication, and all unclean-
ness, or covetousness, let it not be once named
amongst you, as becometh saints ; neither filthi-
ness, nor foolish-talking, nor jesting, which are
not convenient ; but rather giving of thanks : for
this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath miy inheritance in the kingdom of Christ,
and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words : for because of these things cometli the
wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
THE Third Sunday in Lent
Dominica III. , Qitadraijesimw. [Oculi. ]
* a- s- m-
Doin. iii. ir
Miir, ii. 39.
.19.
EpRs
*ORATIO.
QUj'ESUMUS, omnipotens Deus, vota humi-
lium respice, atque ad defensionem nos-
tram dexteram Tuae majestatis extende. Per
DoMiNUM nostrum Je-sum Christum Filium
Tuum. Qui Tecum vivit.
EPISTLE. Ephes. v. 1-14.
Be not ye therefore partakers with them : for ye
were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in
the Lord : walk as children of light ; (for the
fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteous-
ness, and truth ;) proving what is acceptable
unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them: for it is a shame even to speak of
those things which are done of them in secret.
But all things tliat are reproved are made mani-
fest by the light : for whatsoever doth make
manifest is light. Wherefore he saith. Awake,
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light.
THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
The dangerous sympathy which exists between human
nature and evil is set forth on this Sunday with fearful
intensity of expression. Our Lord had cast out another of
those evil spirits which were pei'mitted in His time to exer-
cise their utmost power over men, that His glory might be
shewn in overcoming them ; and some of those who witnessed
the occurrence, finding no other way of explaining it, attri-
buted it to "Beelzebub, the prince of the devils." This foolish
and wicked way of accounting for the marvel our Lord met
by two arguments. [1] Satan would not act against himself;
[2] If Satan cast out Satan, tlien " the children " of the Jews,
i.e. the Apostles, to whom "the very devils were subject"
through Christ's name, could only have cast them out by the
same evil power. In the parallel j^ass.age. Matt. xi. 31, He
also goes on to shew how this wicked accusation was in
danger of becoming tlie unpardonable sin ; the Jews, in reality,
calling the saving work of the Holy Spirita "soul-destroying"
work, that of the Destroyer of souls. Tlien the Lord declared
that it is He alone Who can cast out Satan ; He being stronger
than the strong Evil One. From His words we may deduce
the truth that all driving out of the Evil One is the work of
Christ, as all sin is ultimately the work of the Enemy. He
is the Stronger than the strong Who drives evil from our
nature, by purifying that nature in His own holy and imma-
culate Per.son ; from each individual by the work of the same
Person through the grace given in sacraments : and His
power extends over every form of Satan's power, pliysical or
mental infirmity, or spiritual disease. This personal power
of Christ is ill ustr.ated by the words of St. Paul, " wretched
man that I am," tlirough this power of vSatanover me, "Who
shall deliver me?" ... "I thank God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. "
After this comes that awful truth respecting repossession
which illustrates so fearfully the abiding sympathy of our
nature with evil, and the intensification of Satan's power
through every unresisted submission to the influence of it.
Tliis was spoken first of the generation of Jews among whom
our Lord had come, and has its application to later times in
tlie falling away of churches into heresy and worldliness.
Satan was driven out from every position w hich he had taken
up as soon as Christ appeared for the purpose of opposing him.
But the sympathies of the nation were towards evil, and after
their rejection of Christ and His Apostles their spiritual con-
dition became far worse than it was even in our Lord's time
when He called them a "generation of vipers." Tiie van-
quisheil strong man returned, and the horrors of sin among
tlie Jews between our Lord's Ascension and the final destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, — the hardness of heart, the blindness, the
cruelty, — were never exceeded. It is probable that the sway
of Maiiomet.anism in the East and in India is a return of tlie
"strong man armed," with "seven others more wicked than
himself," to nations among whom the Church had been
received as a cleansing and garnishing power for a time, but
was afterwards rejected when the new unbelief aroused old
sympathies with evil.
The application of the same truth to individuals is obvious.
The sense of Satan's power was so strong in the early Church
as to lead it to make exorcism an invariable preliminary of
Ijaptisni. Every act of penitence is a kind of exorcism, and
every Absolution is the conquest of Satan by Christ. But
unless the swept and garnished soul is preoccupied with good,
evil will return to it. In all Lenten discipline, therefore, the
occupation of the soul by the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit is
the true bar to the entrance of the seven evil spirits, and
works of mercy will guard against the dangers and deadly
sins to which inactive devotion makes it liable.
Introit. — Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord ; for
I"]:
Cfje jTourtlj ^unUap in lent.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xi. 14-28.
r "TESUS] Tvaa casting out a devil, and it was
Vxj dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil
was gone out, the dumb spake ; and the people
wondered. But some of them said. He casteth
out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the
devils. And others, tempting Him, sought of
Him a sign from heaven. But He, knowing
their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation ;
and a house divided against a house falleth. If
Satan also be divided against himself, how shall
his kingdom stand ? because ye say, that I cast
out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by
Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons
cast them out? therefore shall they be your
judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out
devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come
upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth
his palace, his goods are in peace ; but when a
stronger than he shall come upon him. and over-
<■ s. 'B. ft.
att arP. B.
8- 34—9- ■■
Ram-
Maik
'come him, he taketh from him all his armour
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He
that is not with Me is against ]\Ie : and he that
gathereth not with Me scattereth. When the
unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh
through dry places, seeking rest ; and finding
none, he saith, I will return unto my house
whence I came out. And when he cometh,
he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth
he and taketh to liivi seven other spirits more
wicked than himself, and they enter in, and
dwell there ; and the last state of that man is
worse than the first. And it came to pass, as He
spake these things, a certain woman of the com-
pany lift up her voice, and said unto Him,
Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the
paps which Thou hast sucked. But He said,
Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the Word
of God, and keep it.
THE COLLECT.
aExiNT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God,
that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily
deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy
grace may mercifully be relieved ; through our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT,
Dominica Media Quadragesima:. [Latare. ]
* £■ S- ft
Dfim
Mur. ii. 43.
Greg,
ill XL.
'^ORATIO.
CONCEDE, quaisumus, omnipotens Deus, ut
Cjui ex merito nostras actionis afiligimur,
Tuaj gratiee consolatione respiremus. Per Domi-
NOM.
TELL me, j"e that desire to be under the law,
do ye not hear the law 1 For it is written,
that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond-
^THE EPISTLE. Gal.
' S. S. ft. Gal. 4-
22—5. 1.
R<»nan. Ga], 4.
iv. 21-31.
maid, the other by a free-woman. But he \\\xo
was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh ;
but he of the free-woman teas by promise. Which
He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn Thee unto me
and have mercy upon me ; for I am desolate and in misery.
Vs. Unto Thee, Lord, will I lift up my soul ; my God, I
have put my trust in Thee, let me not be confounded.
Glory be.
MID-LENT, OR REFRESHMENT SUNDAY.
This day has been called Dominica Befectionis from a very
ancient period, no doubt from the Gospel in which our Lord
is set forth as feeding the five thousand by a miracle in tlie
wilderness.' It has at some times been observed as a day of
greater festivity than was permitted on any other Sunday in
Lent ; and the Mi-Car£me of the French Churcli still gives
an illustration of this usage. In Rome also, the ''Golden
Rose " is blessed on this day, and presented by the Pope to
some distinguished person wlio is considered to have done
good service to tlie Clmrch in the past year : and the cere-
mony is accompanied by festive observances which make Mid-
Lent Sunday conspicuously different from the others of the
season. The "comfort" of the Collect, the "free Jerusalem"
springing out of the bondage of Sinai of the Epistle, and the
Feast in the midst of the wilderness, all point the same way;
as also does the ancient Ofiicium or Introit.
The miracle which gives point to this Sunday exhibits our
Lord aa refreshing men literally by the operation of His Pro-
vidence, and mystically as their spiritual Refresher.
[IJ From the literal point of view the miracle was stupen-
dous, and well calculated to shew that the Providence of Him
" by Wliom all things were made " is able to take care of those
whom He loves. Cornelius i, Lapide, calculating from the
Roman price of a loaf weighing from 8 to 10 ounces, concludes
that the 200 pence named would liave purchased 2000 such
1 Tlic flnit Lemon at Evonsoni; la Genesis xllll., which ends witli the
rcfroHlimcnt of hin brethren by Joseph, who wan, in so many particulars,
a type of our Blesscfl Lonl.
loaves. The average price of bread in England is Ifd. a
pound, at which rate the same money would purchase about
914 pounds, a quantity not verj' far from this estimate. This
weight of bread distributed among 5000 persons only would
give not quite three ounces to each, about as much as is
ordinarily eaten as an accompaniment to other food at dinner.
But St. Matthew [xiv. 21] says that there were "women and
children," besides "about five thousand men ; " and if these
are reckoned at only 5000 more, the quantity of bread provided
for each by the 200 pence would have been only IJ ounce,
literally "a little," as stated by Philip, and quite insufficient
for satisfying a hungry person. But the actual quantity of
bread present was much less than two hundred pennyworth,
being only such a quantity as a tail could carry, five barley
loaves (perhaps ten or twelve pounds in weight altogether),
and in that case enough to give a piece of bread of eiylii or
tin ijrains wciijht to each person. When Elisha's servitor said
of "twenty loaves of barley and full ears of corn in the husk
thereof," "What, should I set this before an hundred men?"
it is no wonder that the servitor of Christ sliould say of the
five barley loaves, "But what arc these among so many" as
ten thousand men, women, and children? Yet in the course
of subdivision this small quantity of bread increased so as to
be sufficient for a full meal ; the persons so satisfied being
evidently in a fasting, and therefore hungry condition. F'or
such a full meal sixteen ounces of bread is not much, but
10,000 ])Ounds of bread amounts to four and a half tons weight,
a vast quantity, apparently a thousandfold exceeding that
from which it originated. Such a calculation magnifies the
miracle in .appearance, yet it \\'(nild have been as much an act
of Divine ])ower to have increased the bread twofold as a
thousandfold ; and acts of Divine power eqn.ally stupendous
are daily being wrought around us by the loviug-kiuuness of
our Creator.
[2] The mystical meaning of the miracle is shewn by the
course of the several acts recorded in the eleventh verso of
the Gospel ; and they are plaiidy of an Encharistic character.
Cf)C JFiftb ^unOaj? in Lent.
273
things are an allegory : for those arc the two
covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this
Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with
her children. But Jerusalem which is above is
free ; which is the mother of us all. For it is
written, Kejoice, thou barren that bearest not ;
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not :
for the desolate hath many more children than
she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But
as then he that was born after the flesh perse-
cuted him that was horn after the Spirit ; even
so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the Scriji-
ture 1 Cast out the bond-woman and her son ;
for the son of the bond-woman sliall not be heir
with the son of the free-woman. So then, brethren,
we are not children of the bond-woman, but of
the free.
"THE GOSPEL. S. John vi. 1-14.
JESUS went over the sea of Galilee, which
is the sen of Tiberias. And a great multi-
tude followed Him, because they saw His miracles
which He did on them that were diseased. And
Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat
with His disciples. And the Passover, a feast of
the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lift up
His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him,
He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread,
that these may eat ? (And this He said to prove
him ; for He Himself knew what He would do. )
Philip answered Him, Two hundred peny-worth
of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one
of them may take a little. One of His disciple.s,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto Him,
There is a lad here, which hath five barley-loaves,
and two small fishes : but what are they among
" S. H- fi
Jiornajt,
i-iS-
kaslertt.
9- '7-3'.
as P. D.
John 6.
so manyl And Jesus said, Make the men sit
down. Now there was much grass in the place.
So the men sat down, in number about five thou-
sand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He
had given thanks He distributed to the disciples,
and the disciples to them that were set down ;
and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
When they were filled. He said unto His disciples.
Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost. Therefore they gathered them together,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of
the five barley-loaves, which remained over and
above unto them that had eaten. Then those
men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus
did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that
should come into the world.
THE COLLECT.
\\7 E beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully
Y V to look upon Thy people ; that by Thy
great goodness they may be governed and pre-
served evermore, both in body and soul, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Fifth Sunday in Lent.
Dominica in Passione Domini. [Judica.'\
*ORATIO.
QUiESUMTJS, omnipotens Deus, familiam
Tuam propitius respice ; ut Te largiente
regatur in corpore, et Te servante custodiatur in
inente. Per.
* ». g. R. Gree.
Dom. V. ill XL.
De Passione Do-
mini, Mur. ii. 47.
o] The loaves are placed in the hands of Jesus, as an
oblation is offered to God of the Bread and Wine.
/3] Jesus gave thanks [ei;xi/5"''7'V'i5, comp. St. Luke xxii. 19]
before distributing them to the disciples, this eucharistization
of the loaves endowing them with capacities which they did
not previously possess.
7] He distributes to His ministers as to persons receiving
gifts from Him for the benefit of others.
5] And by t]ie intervention of these ministers, not by direct
communication between Jesus and the multitude, the latter
receive the eucharistized bread by which they are satisfied.
Thus the mighty work of Christ in the midst of the wilder-
ness is set before His Church in the midst of Lent as a sure
token that the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof ;
and that both fasting and abundance are at His command :
and still more as an earnest of that Divine gift the " Bread
from Heaven," which He distributes to His people in tlie
wilderness of this world, by the hands of ministers, for their
spiritual refreshment and strength.
Intkoit. — Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with
her, all ye that love her : rejoice for joy with her, all ye that
mourn for her ; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the
breasts of her consolations. Ps. I was glad when they said
unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord. Glory be.
PASSION SUNDAY.i
The name of Passion Sunday has been given to the second
Sunday before Good Friday from time immemorial, because
on that day the Lord began to make open predictions of His
coming sufferings. Those sufferings also begin now to be
1 In Taverner'9 Postih [ad. 1540] the order of the Sundays is, Tliird Sun-
day in Lent, Mid-Lent Sunday, Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, Easter Day.
commemorated in the Scriptures for the season. The Epistle
refers to our Lord's Passion ; the Gospel narrates the begin-
ning of it in that fearful rejection of Him by the Jews ; and
tlie first Lessons at Mattins and Evensong are clearly prophetic
of the redemption wrouglit by the sufferings of Christ. When
the last attempt was made to alter the Prayer Book in 1688,
it was proposed to substitute a Collect more in character with
the day, whicli is as follows : " O Almighty God, Wlio hast
sent Thy Son Jesus Christ to be an Higli Priest of good things
to come, and by His own Blood to enter in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us ; mercifully
look upon Thy people, that by the same Blood of our Saviour,
Wlio througli the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot
unto Thee, our consciences may be purged from dead works,
to serve Thee, the living God, that we may receive the pro-
mise of eternal inherit.ance, through Jesus Clirist our Lorii."
As the Divine Power of Christ was illustrated on the pre-
ceding Sunday by the miracle of the loaves and fishes, so on
this day His Divine Nature is set forth in a conspicuous
manner by the juxtaposition of the Gospel in which He used
the words, "Before Abraham was, I am," with the first
Lesson in which God is lieard saying to Moses, "I AM THAT
I AM : . . . thus shalt tliou say unto the children of Israel,
I AM hath sent me unto you." The conduct of the Jews
shews that they recognized in our Lord's words an assumption
of the incommunicable Name, and in that assumption a pro-
clamation that He is God. Tliis open and unlimited procla-
mation of His Divine Nature comes in on Passion SunJ.ay, as
the several manifestations of the glory of Christ come in before
Cliristmas, that through the liumiliation of the Cross, as
through that of the manger, we may behold the eternal Son
of God : and see rays of Divinity shed from His crucified Body.
Introit. — Give sentence with me, God, and defend my
cause against the ungodly people : O deliver me from the
274
Cf)c ^unuap nert before Caster.
s. g. s. t'"'.
!>■ as P. B.
Eastern. Hcb. 9.
"THE EPISTLE. Heb.
CHRIST being come an High Priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more per-
fect tabernacle, not made with hands ; that is to
say, not of this building ; neither by the blood of
goats and calves ; but by His own blood He entered
in once into the holy 'place., having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the
ix. 11-15.
flesh ; how much more shall the blood of Christ,
^Vho, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? And for
this cause He is the Mediator of the new testa-
ment, that by means of death, for the redemption
of the transgressions that were under the first
testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance.
r "TESUS said,] Which of you convinceth ]\Ie
L'J of sin ? and if I say the truth, why do ye
not believe Me 1 He that is of God heareth
God's words ; ye therefore hear them not, because
ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and
said unto Him, Say we not well, that Thou art a
Samaritan, and hast a devil ? Jesus answered, I
have not a devil ; but I honour My Father, and
ye do dishonour Me. And I seek not Mine own
glory ; there is One that seeketh and judgeth.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My
saying, he shall never see death. Then said the
Jews unto Him, Now we know that Thou hast a
devil : Abraham is dead, and the jirophets ; and
Thou sayest. If a man keep 'My saying, he shall
never taste of death. Art Thou "reater than our
'■THE GOSPEL. S. John viii. 46-59.
father Abraham, which is dead 1 and the prophets
are dead : whom makest Thou Thyself ? Jesus
answered, If I honour Myself, Jly honour is
' s. s. n
alt as P. B.
Eastern.
■ 0. 3S-45.
nothing ; it is Jly Father that honoureth Me, of
Whom ye say, that He is your God : yet ye have
not known Him ; but I know Him : and if 1
.should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar
like unto you ; but I know Him, and keep His
saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
My day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said
the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years
old, and hast Thou seen Abraham 1 Jesus said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones
to cast at Him : but Jesus hid Himself, and
went out of the temple.
THE Sunday next before Easter.
Domitika in Ramis Palmarum'.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who, of
~LJ^ Thy tender love towards mankind, hast
sent Thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to
take upon Him our flesh, and to suffer death
upon the cross, that all mankind should follow
the example of His great humility ; Mercifully
grant that we may both follow the example of
His patience, and also be made partakers of His
resurrection ; through the same Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
i- S. S. ?g. Greg..
Getas. Doin. ir
ratnis palmarum.
M ur. i. 546.
^ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui humano
generi ad imitandum humilitatis exempluni,
Salvatorem nostrum carnem sumere, et crucein
subire fecisti : concede propitius, iit et patienti*
Ipsius habere docunienta, et resurrectionis con-
sortia mereanmr. Per eundem.
deceitful and wicked man, for Thou art the God of my
strength. Ps. send out Thy light and Thy trutii tliat they
may lead me, and bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy
dwelling. Glory be.
PALM SUNDAY.
The last week of Lent has ever been observed by Christians
as a time of special solemnity ; and from the awfully impor-
tant events which occurred in the last week of our Lord's life,
which it represents to us, it has been called, from primitive
times, the Great Week and the Holy 'Week. iJuring this
period there was, as early as the days of St. Chrysostom, a
general cessation of business among the Christian part of the
jjeople : fasting was observed with greater strictness than in
the other weeks of Lent, and special acts of mercy and charity
were engaged in by all, the Kmperors {when they had become
Christian) setting an othcial example by ceremonies of which
our Royal Maundy is a rolic.
The first day of the Holy Week is called Lidulgence Sunday
in the Lectionary of St. Jerome, and in many other later
writers. This name has been explained by a custom of the
Christian Emperor.s, who used to set, prisoners free and close
all courts of law during Holy Week. P.ut it seems to have
been in use before this practice originated, which w.a3 not
earlier than the end of the fourth century. It has also been
supposed to be connected with the reconciliation of penitents.
In the Sacramentary of St. CJregory there is the ])hraso, " Per
Quem nobis indulgentia largitur," in the proper preface for
this day, and "ut indulgentiam percipere mereamur," in the
CoUeet for Tuesday ; from which it may be inferred that the
name Indulgence Sunday (and Indulgence Week) originally
pointed to our Lord's work of redemption, and His great love
in going forward willingly on this day to meet His sufferings.
The day is also called Hosauua Sunday in some parts of
Europe and the East.
But a far more common name is that by which it is familiarly
known to us, that of Palm Sunday. It is called Dominica in
raini.'i palmaruvi in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and
Dominica in ramis oliiarmn in that of St. Ambrose, and in
the former there is a plain reference to the ceremony of
branch-bearing as one then in use, as well as to the act of
the .lews which originally gave the name to the Sunday.
The words are in the lienediction of the people: "May
Almighty God grant unto you, that .as yo present yourselves
before Ilim with branches of palms and of other trees, so after
yf)ur departure from tiiis life yo may attain to apjiear before
Him with the fruit of pood works and the palm of victory."
Ill the Ambrosian rite it is not so clear that tlie ceremony was
tlicn in use ; but St. Chrysostom mentions the shaking of the
)ialm-branches [adao ra. fiaia] as one of the customs of the
day in fine of his sermons for tlie Great Week.
in the ancient English Church the lienediction of the Palms
took place before the beginning of the Holy Communion.
First an Acolyte read Exoil. xv. 27 — xvi. 10, the narrative of
Israel's encamping by the twelve wells and threescore and
Cf)e ^unDai) ncrt before faster.
75
an a-. I'. II.
l-atUrn.
-THE EPISTLE,
IET this mind be in you, wliicli luas also in
J Christ Jesus : Who, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God ; but made Himself of no reputation, and
took iipon Him the form of a servant, and was
made in the likeness of men : and being found
in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of
riiii
Pllii. 4.
, ii. 5-11.
the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
e.xalted Him, and given Him a Name which is
above every name ; that at the Name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of thinrjs in lieavon, and
things in earth, and thingn under the earth ; and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
»THE GOSPEL. S. Matt, xxvii. 1-54.
\ \7"HEN the morning was come, all the chief
YV priests and elders of the people took
counsel against Jesus, to put Him to death.
And when they had bound Him, they led Hivi
away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the
governour. Then Judas who had betrayed Him,
when ho saw that He was condemned, repented
himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of
silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I
have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood. And they said. What is that to us ? see
thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of
silver in the temple, and departed, and went and
hanged himself. And the chief priests took the
silver pieces, and said. It is not lawful for to put
them into the treasury, because it is the price of
blood. And they took counsel, and bought with
them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
Wherefore that field was called. The field of blood,
unto this day. (Then was fulfilled that which
was spoken by ''Jeremy the prophet, saying, And
they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of
Him that was valued, Whom they of the children
of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's
field, as the Lord appointed me.) And Jesus
stood before the governour ; and the governour
asked Him, saying. Art Thou the King of the
Jews ] And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.
And when He was accused of the chief priests
and elders, He answered nothing. Then said
Pilate unto Him, Hearest Thou not how many
things they witness against Thee] And He
answered him to never a word, insomuch that
the governour marvelled greatly. Now at that
* *. g. ?!. Rom.
ail. Matt. 26. &
27.
Jiasferii. Jnlin
12. I.i8.
f This is now found
only in Zech. ii,
12, 13. St. Mallliew
may quote from
some lost writing
of Jereini.ih.
feast the goveniour was wont to release unto the
people a prisoner, whom they would. And they
had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
Therefore when they were gathered together,
Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I
release unto you I Barabbas, or Jesus Which is
called Christ ? For he knew that for envy they
had delivered Him. When he was set down on
the judgement-.seat, his wife sent unto him, saying,
Have thou nothing to do with that just 3fa7i ;
for I have sufiered many things this day in a
dream because of Him. But the cliief priests
and elders persuaded the multitude that they
should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The
governour answered and said unto them. Whether
of the twain will ye that I release unto you ?
They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them.
What shall I do then with Jesus, Which is called
Christ? Thei/ all say unto him, Let Him be
crucified. And the governour said, Why, what
evil hath He done ? But they cried out the
more, saying. Let Him be crucified. When
Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but
that rather a tumult was made, he took water,
and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just
Person: see ye to it. Then answered all the
people, and said. His blood he on us, and on our
children. Then released he Barabbas unto them :
and when he had scourged Jesus he delivered
Him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the
governour took Jesus into the common hall, and
gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers.
And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet
ten palm-trees of Elim. Thena Deacon reaJ St. John xii. 12-19,
tlie account of our Lord's triumphal entry. After this the
palm, yew, or willow branches being laid upon the Altar, the
Priest (vested in a red silk cope) pronounced an exorcism and
a blessing over them, which were followed by four Collects.
A procession then passed round the Church, singing Anthems,
and distributing the branches ; after which began the celebra-
tion of the Holy Eucharist. The custom is still represented
in some places by decking the Church with willow-branches
on Palm Sunday ; and almost everywhere by the country-
people bearing them in their hands as they walk out in the
afternoon.
On this day the Church has always begun to set before God
and men the Gospel account of the Passion of our Lord. In
the Lectionary of St. Jerome, and in the ancient Missals of
the Church of England, St. Matthew's narrative, or "The
Passion according to St. Matthew," was fixed for the Gospel
on Palm Sunday, that of St. Mark on Tuesday, that of St.
Luke on Wednesday, and that of St. John on (lood Friday.'
Until 1661 the 26th and 27th chapters of St. Matthew were
still read for the Gospel on Palm Sunday, and the 18th and
1. The Passion was said in a very remarkable manner, and is printed ac-
cordingly in the Salisbury Missal. Instead of the whole being said by the
Gospeller, it was apportioned among three persons, apparently choir-men.
Those words which were spoken by the Jews or the disciples had the letter
*'o" prefixed, and were directed to be sung or said [cantariautpronuntiari]
19th of St. .John on Good Friday ; but a marginal note in
Sancroft's writing is appended to both these days in the Dur-
ham book, directing the first chapter to be left out in each
case, because it is appointed to be read in the Second Lesson.
The distinguishing characteristic of this day in the last
week of our Lord's life is not represented in any of the
Scriptures for the day, which are altogether occupied with
our Lord's Passion. This arises from tlie change made in
1549, when the service for the Benediction of the Palms was
set aside (in which this characteristic of the day was fully
commemorated), and only the Ancient Mass of the day (which
was commemorative of the Passion) retained. This oversight
is to be regretted, as there is clearly a connection between the
usage of palra-bearing and the Divine ritual, botli of Sinai
and the New Jerusalem. One of God's commands to the
Jews was, "Ye shall take you on the first day the boughs
of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of
thick trees, and willows of the brook ; and ye shall rejoice
before the Lord your God seven days." [Lev. xxiii. 40.]
And in the Revelation St. John writes, "After this I beheld,
and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
by an alio voice ; the words of our Lord were marked *' 6," and to be sung
by a bass voice ; those of the Evangelist " w," to be sung by a tenor [media).
This singular custom was observed in reading the Passion from each of the
four Evangelists ; and Ls still kept wp abroad.
276
a^otiDap tieforc Castct.
robe. And -n-lien they had platted a crown of
thorns they put it upon His head, and a reed in
His right hand : and they bowed the knee before
Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the
Jews. And they spit upon Him, and took the
reed, and smote Him on the head. And after
that they had mocked Him they took the robe
off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him,
and led Him away to crucify Him. And as they
came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name ; him they compelled to bear His cross.
And when they were come unto a place called
Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a scull, they
gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall :
and when He had tasted thereof, He would not
drink. And they crucified Him, and parted His
garments, casting lots : that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet. They parted
My garments among them, and upon My vesture
did they cast lots. And sitting down they
watched Him there ; and set up over His head
His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE
KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two
thieves crucified with Him ; one on the right
hand, and another on the left. And they that
passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, and
saying, TJioxt that destroyest the temple, and
buildest it in three days, save Thyself : if Thou
be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him,
with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others.
Himself He cannot save : if He be the King of
Lsrael, let Him now come down from the cross,
and we will believe Him. He trusted in God ;
let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him :
for He said, I am the Son of God. The thieves
also, which were crucified with Him, cast the
same in His teeth. Now from the sixth hour
there was darkness over all the land unto the
ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus
cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say. My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me '? Some of them
that stood there, when they heard that, said. This
3fa7i calleth for Elias. And straightway one of
them ran, and took a spunge, and fiUed it with
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to
drink. The rest said. Let be, let us see whether
Elias will come to save Him. Jesus, when He
had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. And behold, the vail of the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the
graves were opened, and many bodies of saints
which slept arose, and came out of the graves
after His resurrection, and went into the holy
city, and appeared unto many. Now when the
centurion, and they that were with him, watching
Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that
were done, they feared greatly, saying. Truly this
was the Son of God.
Monday before Easter.
" Feria II. post Dominicam in Bamis Palmarum.
*FOR THE EPISTLE. Isa. l.xiii. 1-19.
\ \ THO is this that cometh from Edom, with
V V dyed garments from Bozrah 1 this that is
glorious in His apparel, travelling in the great-
ness of His strength t I that speak in righteous-
ness, mighty to save. Wherefore ait Thou red in
Thine ajiparel, and Thy garments like him that
treadeth in the wine-fat? I have trodden the
wine-press alone, and of the people the7-e toas
none with Me : for I will tread them in Mine
anger, and trample them in My fury, and their
blood shall be sprinkled upon Jly garments, and
I will stain all My raiment. For the day of ven-
geance is in ^line heart, and the year of j\Iy
redeemed is come. And I looked, and there
was none to help ; and I wondered that there
was none to uphold : therefore Jline own arm
brought salvntion unto Me, and My fury it up-
held Me. And I will tread down the jieople in
Mine anger, and make them drunk in Jly fury,
and I will bring down their strength to the
earth. I will mention the loving-kindnesses of
the LoKD, and the praises of the Lord, according
to all that the Loed hath bestowed on us, and
» «. S- K-
» ». g. g. Xcm.
att Isa. 50. 5-10.
the great goodness toward the house of Israel,
which He hath bestowed on them, according to
His mercies, and according to the multitude of
His loving-kindnesses. For He said. Surely they
are ily people, children that will not lie : so He
was their Saviour. In all their affliction He was
afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved
them : in His love, and in His pity, He redeemed
them, and He bare them, and carried them all
the days of old. But they rebelled, and vexed
His Holy Spirit ; therefore He was turned to be
their enemy, and He fought against them. Then
He remembered the days of old, Moses and His
people, snyinrf. Where is He th;it brought them
up out of the sea with the shejiherd of His
flock ? where is He that put His Holy Spirit
within him? that led them by the right hand of
Moses, leitli His glorious arm, dividing the water
before them, to make Himself an everla.sting
Name? that led them through the deep as an
horse in the wilderness, that they sliould not
stumble ? As a beast goeth down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord caused Him to rest : so
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before
tlie throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with wliite roboa,
and palms in their hands." [Rev. vii. 9.]
Introit. — Be not Thou far from me, Lord : Thou art my
succour, haste Thee to help me. Save mo from the lion's
mouth ; Thou hast lieard me from among tlie liorns of the
unicorns. I'l. My God, my God, look upon me; why b.nst
Thou forsaken me? [" Nnn didlur, Gloria Patri."]
MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK.
The distinctive memorial of this day is the act of our
Blessed Lonl in destroying the barren tigtrcc. Having left
.lerusalcin iu tlie evening of Palm Suiul.ay and retired to
Bethany, ile returned to the city in the morning, and on His
way He was hungry ; and seeing a lig-trec afar olf, having
le.ivca, He came, if haply He might lind anything thereon;
and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves ; for
^onDay before (ZBaster.
277
didst Thou lead Thy people, to make Thyself a
glorious Name. Look down from lieaven, and
behold from the habitation of Thy holiness, and
of Thy glory : where is Thy zeal, and Thy strength,
the sounding of Thy bowels, and of Thy mercies
towards me 1 Are they restrained ? Doubtless
Thou art our Father, though Abraham be igno-
rant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not : Thou,
O Lord, art our Father, our Eedeemer, Thy
Name i.-i from everlasting. O Lord, why hast
Thou made us to err fiom Thy ways t and hard-
ened our heart from Thy fear? lleturn for Thy
servants' sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance.
The people of Thy holiness have possessed it Vjut
a little while : our adversaries have trodden down
Thy sanctuary. We are Thine: Thou never
barest rule over them ; they were not called by
Thy Name.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Mark xiv. 1-72.
A FTER two days was the feast of the Pass-
-^^^ over, and of unleavened bread : and the
chief priests and the scribes sought how they
might take Him by craft, and put Ilim to death.
But they said. Not on the feast-(/ay, lest there be
an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany,
in the house of Simon the lejjer, as He sat at
meat, there came a woman having an alabaster
box of ointment of spikenard, very precious ; and
she brake the box, and poured it on His head.
And there were some that had indignation within
themselves, and said. Why was this waste of
the ointment made t for it might have been sold
for more than three hundred pence, and have
been given to the poor : and they murmured
against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone ;
why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a. good
work on Me : for ye have the poor with you
always, and whensoever ye wiU ye may do them
good ; but ]\Ie ye have not always. She hath
done what she could ; she is come aforehand to
anoint My body to the burying. Verily I say unto
you, Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached
throughout the whole world, this also that she
hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of
her. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went
unto the chief priests to betray Him unto them.
And when they heard it they were glad, and
promised to give him money. And he sought
how he might conveniently betray Him. And
the first day of unleavened bread, when they
killed the passover, His disciples said unto Him,
Where wilt Thou that we go and prepare, that
Thou mayest eat the passover ? And He sendeth
forth two of His disciples, and saith unto them,
Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you
a man bearing a pitcher of water ; follow him :
And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the
good-man of the house, The Master saith, Where
is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the pass-
over with My disciples ? And he wiU shew you
a large upper-room furnished, and prepared :
there make ready for us. And His disciples
went forth, and came into the city, and found
as He had said unto them : and they made ready
the passover. And in the evening He cometh
-5. H.m.
IS. 1-36.
Roman, John
1-9.
Eastern. Ml
!4. 3-17-
John
with the twelve. And as they sat, and did eat,
Jesus said. Verily I say unto you, One of you
which eateth with j\le shall betray Me. And
they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Him
one by one, Is it I ? and another said, Is it I ?
And He answered and said unto them, It is one
of the twelve that dippeth with Me in the dish.
The Son of Man indeed goeth, as it is written
of Him : but wo to that man by whom the Son
of Man is betrayed : good were it for that man
if he had never been born. And as they did
eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it,
and gave to them, and said. Take, eat : this is
My Body. And He took the cup, and when He
had given thanks He gave it to them : and they
all drank of it. And He .said unto them, This
is My Blood of the new testament, which is
shed for many. Verily I say unto you, I will
drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until
that day that I drink it new in the Kingdom
of God. And when they had sung an hymn
they went out into the I\Iount of Olives. And
Jesus saith unto them. All ye shall be offended
because of Me this night : for it is written, I
will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered. But, after that I am risen, I wiU go
before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto
Him, Although all shall be offended, yet xvill not
I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto
thee, That this day, even in this night, before
the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.
But he spake the more vehemently. If I should
die with Thee, I will not deny Thee in any wise.
Likewise also said they all. And they came to
a place which was named Gethsemane : and He
saith to His disciples. Sit ye here, while I shall
pray. And He taketh with Him Peter, and James,
and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to
be very heavy, and saith unto them. My soul is
exceeding sorrowful unto death ; tarry ye here,
and watch. And He went forward a little, and
fell on the ground, and prayed, that, if it were
possible, the hour might pass from Him. And
He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible
unto Thee ; take away this cup from Me ; never-
theless, not what I will, but what Thou loilt.
the time of iigs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto
it, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever." [St. Mark
xi. 14.] From thence He went to the Temple, and cleansed
it from the presence of those wlio carried their merchandise
into the very house of God. Both actions are compared by
ritualist commentators to that separation of the firmament
from the subjacent waters out of which the earth was to
spring, and which took place on the second day of the week
of the Creation. As the Almighty Creator separated the
waters above from the waters beneath, so the righteous
Judge of all the earth separates the barren tree from the
fruitful the house of prayer from the house of covetousness
and dishonesty. Thus He foreshadowed the result of His
Passion, by which the latter days of the Lord would be
.severed from the former days of the world ; and His final
Judgement, in which the evil, and those who have been
unfruitful in good works, will be altogether cast out of His
Kingdom.
Introit. — Plead Thou my cause, Lord, with them that
strive with me ; and fight Thou against them that figlit
against me. Lay hand upon the shield and buckler, and
stand up to help me. Ps. Bring forth the spear, and stop
the way against them that persecute me.
2 78
CucsDaj> before OBaster.
And He cometh and lindeth. them sleeping, and
saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou 1 couldest
not thou watch one hour 1 Watch ye and pray,
lest ye enter into temptation : the spirit truly
is ready, but the flesh is weak. And again He
went away, and prayed, and sjjake the same
words. And when He returned He found them
asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither
wist they what to answer Him. And He cometh
the third time, and saith unto them. Sleep on
now, and take your rest : it is enough, the hour
is come ; behold, the Son of Man is betrayed
into the hands of sinners. Else up, let us go ;
lo, he that betrayeth Me is at hand. And
immediately, while He yet spake, cometh Judas,
one of the twelve, and with him a great mul-
titude with swords and staves, from the chief
priests, and the scribes, and the elders. And he
that betrayed Him had given them a token,
saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He ;
take Him, and lead Him away safely. And as
soon as he was come he goeth straightway to
Him, and saith. Master, Master ; and kissed Him.
And they laid their hands on Him, and took
Him. And one of them that stood by drew a
Bword, and smote a servant of the high priest,
and cut off his ear. And Jesus answered, and
said unto them. Are ye come out as against a
thief, with swords and vith staves, to take Me ?
I was daily with you in the temple teaching,
and ye took Me not : but the Scriptures must
be fulfilled. And they all forsook Him, and fled.
And there followed Him a certain young man,
having a linen cloth ca.st about his naked bodi/ ;
and the young men laid hold on him : and he
left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
And they led Jesus away to the high priest : and
with him were assembled all the chief priests,
and the elders, and the scribes. And Peter fol-
lowed Him afar off, even into the palace of the
high priest ; and he sat with the servants, and
warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priests
and all the council sought for witness against
Jesus to put Him to death ; and found none. For
many bare false witness against Him, but their
witness agreed not together. And there arose
certain, and bare false witness against Him, say-
ing, We heard Him say, I will destroy this temple
that is made with hands, and within three days
I will build another made without hands. But
neither so did their witness agree together. And
the high priest stood u]) in the midst, and asked
Jesus, saying, Answerest Thou nothing 1 what is
it which these witness against Thee? But He
held His peace, and answered nothing. Again
the high priest asked Him, and said unto Him,
Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ?
And Jesus said, I am ; and ye shall see the Son
of JIan sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high
priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we
any further witnesses 1 ye have heard the blas-
phemy : what think ye 1 And they all condemned
Him to be guilty of death. And some began to
spit on Him, and to cover His face, and to buffet
Him, and to say unto Him, Prophesy : and the
servants did strike Him with the palms of their
hands. And as Peter was beneath in the palace
there cometh one of the maids of the high priest ;
and when she saw Peter warming himself she
looked upon him, and said. And thou also wast
with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying,
I know not, neither understand I what thou
sayest. And he went out into the porch ; and
the cock crew. And a maid saw him again, and
began to say to them that stood by. This is ove
of them. And he denied it again. And a little
after, they that stood by said again to Peter,
Surely thou art one of them ; for thou art a
Galilean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But
he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know
not this Man of Whom ye speak. And the second
time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind
the word that Jesus said unto him. Before the
cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice.
And when he thought thereon, he wept.
THE Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and I
was not rebellious, neither turned away
back. I gave My back to the smiters, and My
cheeks to them that plucked off the hair : I hid
not My face from shame and spitting. For the
Lord God will help I\Ie, therefore shall I not be
Tuesday before Easter.
Feria III. post Dominkam in Eamis Pahnarum.
■TOR THE EPISTLE. Is.a. 1. .-.-11.
confounded : therefore have I set My face like
a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
He is near that justifieth Me ; who will contend
with Me ? Let us stand together ; who is Mine
adversary ] let him come near to Me. Behold,
the Lord God will help Me ; who is ho that
• S. 15- 19.
S. g. fe. Rom-
an. Jer. II. i8-?o.
TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK.
This was the last day of our Lord's public teachiug and
ministratiou. Having retired to Bethany for the night on
the evening of Mond,iy as on that of Sunday, He again
returned to the city in the morning of this day, and " as they
fasscd by, they saw the fig-trcc dried vip from the roots."
n the Temple, the scribes and elders required from our Lord
an explanation of the authority by which He did tlie things
which He b.ail done there, clearing the Temple of bu}'trs and
sellers, and claiming it as the liouse of His leather. The
events of tlie day are then recorded with much fulness by
the Evangelist. Our Ixird spoke the parables of the Father
and hia two sons, the Vineyard let out to husbandmen, the
Marri,agc Feast and the Wedding (iarment. Each sect of
the Jews, the Hcrodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees,
endeavoured to entangle Him into some discourse which
could be made the ground of an accusation against Him. Our
Lord pronounced the eight woes, and then departed from the
Temjde to speak nearly His last words to the Jews in the
parables of the 'J'en Virgins, the Talents, and the Sheep and
the Goats. The latest puldio event of the d.ay ajipeai-s to bo
that recorded in St. John xii. 28-36, when in reply to the
prayer, "Father, glorify Thy name," there came a voice
from heaven saying, " I have both glorified it, and will glorify
it again." After this voice our Lord spoke of His "lifting
up " upon the Cross. He then gave His final words of public
warning, "Yet a little while is the Light with you. Walk
while ye have the Light, lest darkness come upon you : for
he th.at walkcth in darkness knowcth not whither he goeth.
While ye have light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the
children of light. " [St. John xii. 35, 3C. ] As soon as these words
COeDnesDaj) licforc €mct.
279
" 5. V}. m-
,7/1. Mark 14
/uisffytt,
24. 36 — 26. 2.
shall condemn Me ? Lo, they all shall wax old
as a garment : the luotli shall eat thom up. Who
is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth
the voice of His servant, that walketh m dark-
ness, and hath no light ? let him trust in the
Name of the Lokd, and stay upon his God.
"THE GOSPEL. S.
AND straightway in the morning the chief
-■LJl. priests held a consultation with the elder.s,
and scribes, and the whole council, and bound
Jesus, and carried Ilim away, and delivered Him
to Pilate. And Pilate asked Him, Art Thou tlie
King of the Jews? And He answering said unto
him, Thou sayest it. And the chief priests
accused Him of many things : but He answered
nothing. And Pilate asked Him again, saying,
Answerest Thou nothing! behold how many
things they witness against Thee. r)ut Jesus
yet answered nothing : so that Pilate marvelled.
Now at ihid feast he released unto them one
prisoner, whomsoever they desired. And there
was 07ie named Barabbas, zv/iich /ay bound with
them that had made insurrection with him, who
had committed murder in the insurrection. And
the multitude, crying aloud, began to desire him
to do as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate
answered them, saying, AVill ye that I. release
unto you the King of the Jews ? For he knew
that the chief priests had delivered Him for envy.
But the chief priests moved the people, that he
should rather release Barabbas unto them. And
Pilate answered, and said again unto them, What
will ye then that I shall do unto Ilim Whom ye
call the King of the Jews "? And they cried out
again, Crucify Him. Then Pilate said unto them,
Why, what evil hath He done ? And they cried
out the more exceedingly, Crucify Him. And so
Pilate, willing to content the people, released
Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when
he had scourged Him, to be crucified. And the
soldiers led Him away into the hall, called PrK-
torium ; and they call together the whole band.
And they clothed Him with purple, and platted
a crown of thorns, and put it about His head :
and began to salute Him, Hail, King of the Jews.
And they smote Him on the head with a reed,
and did spit upon Him, and bowing their knees
worshipped Him. And when they had mocked
Him they took off the purple from Him, and put
His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to
crucify Him. And they compel one Simon a
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compa.ss
yourselves about with sparks ; walk in the light
of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have
kindled. This shall ye have of Mine hand, ye
shall lie down in sorrow.
Mark xv. 1-30.
Kot'i-
&.5.
Malt.
Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the
country, the father of Alexander and llufus, to
bear His cross. And they bring Him unto the
place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The
place of a scull. And they gave Him to drink
wine mingled with mj'rrh ; but He received it
not. And when they had crucified Him they
parted His garments, casting lots upon them,
what every man should take. And it was the
third hour, and they crucified Him. And the
superscription of His accusation was written over,
THE KING OF THE JEWS. And with Him
they crucify two thieves, the one on His right
hand, and the other on His left. And the scrip-
ture was fulfilled, which saith, And He was
numbered with the transgressors. And they that
passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads,
and saying, Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple,
and buildest it in three days, save Thyself, and
come down from the cross. Likewise also the
chief priests mocking said among themselves,
with the scribes. He saved others ; Himself He
cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel
descend now from the cross, that we may see
and believe. And they that were crucified with
Him reviled Him. And when the sixth hour
was come, there was darkness over the whole
land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth
hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi,
Eloi, lama sahachthani 1 which is, being inter-
preted, My God, My God, why hast Thou for-
saken Me % And some of them that stood by,
when they heard it, said. Behold, He caUeth
Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge fxdl of
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him to
drink, saying, Let alone ; let us see whether Elias
will come to take Him down. And Jesus cried
with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And
the vail of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom. And when the centurion,
which stood over against Him, saw that He so
cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly
this ^lan was the Son of God.
Wkdnesday before Easter.
''Feria IV. post Dominkam in Ramis Palmarum.
'THE EPISTLE. Heb. ix. 16-28.
WHERE a testament is, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator :
for a testament is of force after men are dead ;
63. 7,
S. % Rom-
Isa. 62. II —
& 53, I-I2.
otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the
testator liveth. Whereupon, neither the first
testament was dedicated without blood : for when
were spoken, the public teachiug of the Light of the wor'd
came to an end, and He shone no more upon the multitude
until He displayed Himself " lifted up " for their salvation :
"These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Him-
self from them. " [St. John xii. 36. ] Henceforth He lived to
instruct His Apostles concerning their office and His, and to
suflfer.
Introit. — We ought to glory in the Cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection ;
by Whom also we are ransomed and saved. Ps. God be
merciful unto us, and bless us, and lift up the light of His
countenance upon us, and be merciful unto us.
WEDNESDAY m HOLY ^YEEK.
The fourth day of the Holy Week marks the actual begin-
ning of the events which reached their climax on Good Friday,
28o
MJcDncsDay before OBastcr.
Moses had spoken every precept to all the people,
according to the law, he took the blood of calves
and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and
hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the
people, saying. This is the blood of the testa-
ment, which God hath enjoined unto you. More-
over, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle,
and all the vessels of the ministrj'. And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood ;
and without shedding of blood is no remission.
It ivas therefore necessary that the patterns of
tilings in the heavens should be purified with
these ; but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not
entered into the holy places made with hands.
"THE GOSPEL. S.
"VrOW the feast of unleavened bread drew
-LM nigh, which is called the Passover. And
the chief priests and scribes sought how they
might kill Him ; for they feared the people.
Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot,
being of the number of the twelve. And he went
his way, and communed with the chief priests
and captains, how he might betray Him unto
them. And they were glad, and covenanted to
give him money. And he promised, and sought
opportunity to betray Him unto them in the
absence of the multitude. Then came the day
of unleavened bread, when the passover must be
killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying. Go
and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.
And they said unto Him, Where wilt Thou that
we prepare? And He said unto them, Behold,
when ye are entered into the city, there shall
a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water;
follow him into the house where he entereth in.
And ye shall say unto the good-man of the house.
The Master saith unto thee. Where is the guest-
chamber, where I shall eat the passover with
My disciples? And he shall shew you a large
upper-room furnished ; there make ready. And
they went, and found as He had said unto them :
and they made ready the passover. And when
the hour was come He sat down, and the twelve
Apo.stles with Him. And He said unto them.
With desire I have desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer : for I say unto you, I
will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled
in the Kingdom of God. And He took t/ie cup.
« s. e. S.
an. Luke 22,
Jlasteytl
26. 6-16.
&23.
[Matt.
which are the figures of the true, but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for
us ; nor yet that He should ofl'er Himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy jdace
every year with blood of others : for then must
He often have suffered since the foundation of
the world ; but now once in the end of the world
hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacri-
fice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgement :
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of
many ; and unto them that look for Him shall
He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation.
Luke xxii. 1-71.
and gave thanks, and said. Take this, and divide
it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will
not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the King-
dom of God shall come. And He took bread,
and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto
them, saying. This is My Body, which is given
for you : this do in remembrance of Me. Like-
wise also the cup after supper, saying. This cup
is the new testament in j\Iy Blood, which is shed
for you. But behold, the hand of him that
betrayeth ^le is with Me on the table. And
truly the Son of JIan goeth as it was determined;
but wo unto that man by whom He is betrayed.
And they began to enquire among themselves,
which of them it was that should do this thing.
And there was also a strife among them, which
of them should be accounted the greatest. And
He said unto them. The kings of the Gentiles
exercise lordship over them, and they that exer-
cise authority upon them are called benefactors.
But ye shall not he so : but he that is greatest
among you, let him be as the younger ; and he
that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether
is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that
serveth ? is not he that sitteth at meat ? but I
am among you as He that serveth. Ye are they
which have continued with Me in My tempta-
tions. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as
My Father hath appointed unto Me ; that ye
may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom,
and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he
the conspiracy of the Sanhedrim, and the agreement between
them and Judas ; on account of which it is always reckoned
the day of the Betrayal. Among the ancient OiBces of the
Church of England for Holy Week there was one called
Tenehrrr, which was used late in the evening of this and the
two succeeding days ; aii<i was, doubtless, a relic of the ancient
night-watchings which accompanied the fastings of this week,
and especially the last four days of it, in primitive times.
The ceremony from which the distinctive name of the Office
was derived consisted of the gradual extinction of lights one
by one until the Church w.as left in darkness ; when this
signilicant memorial of the Crucifixion was heightened in its
tcrrihle solemnity by the singing of the fifty-first I'salin, the
eanie that is said in the Conimination Service.'
It was on this and the following day that our Blessed Lord
gave to His Apostles those instructions and encouragements
which are recorded in the thirteenth and four following
1 Gunninf;, in liis /,'•"( I'asi, Htatc* that tliis d.iy was called " TcnnMo
Wednesday." Probably tbia was a |)opular corruption of Teuebne Wed-
nesday.
chapters of St. John's Gospel. They are given, it is probable,
only in the form of a summary, yet even in that form they
provide the Church with a solid foundation of doctrine
respecting the continual Presence of her Lord, and her true
unity through union with Him. The day seems to have been
spent in the retirement of Uethany ; and was concluded by
another festival, held .at the house of Simon the leper, when
His head was anointed by a woman whose name is not given
[St. Matt. xxvi. G-13], as His feet had been on the Sabbath
evening by Mary. This festival ended our Lord's inter-
course with the family of Lazarus, the next being spent with
His Apostles alone.
Introit. — At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth. Because the Lord having become obccHcnt unto death,
even the death of the Cross ; therefore Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Pk. O Lord, hearken to my
prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee.
CbuvsDaj) before OBaster.
281
may sift yon as wheat : but I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not ; and when thou art
converted, strengthen thy bretliren. And lie said
unto Him, Lord, I am ready to go with Thee
both into prison and to death. And He said, I
tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day,
before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou
knowest Me. And He said unto them. When I
sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes,
lacked ye any thing ? And they said, Nothing.
Then said He unto them. But now, ho that hath
a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip :
and he that hath no sword, let him sell his
garment, and buy one. For I say unto you,
That this that is written must yet be accom-
plished in Me, And He was reckoned among the
transgressors : for the things concerning Me have
an end. And they said. Lord, behold, here are
two swords. And He said unto them. It is
enough. And He came out, and went, as He
was wont, to the mount of Olives, and His dis-
ciples also followed Him. And when He was at
the place, He said unto them. Pray, that ye enter
not into temptation. And He was withdrawn
from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled
down and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be
willing, remove this cup from Me : nevertheless,
not j\Iy will, but Thine be done. And there
appeared an angel unto Him from heaven,
strengthening Him. And being in an agony.
He prayed more earnestly ; and His sweat was
as it were great drops of blood falling down to
the ground. And when He rose up from prayer,
and was come to His disciples, He found them
sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why
sleep ye ? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temp-
tation. And while He yet spake, behold, a
multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of
the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto
Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said unto him,
Judas, betrayest thou the Sou of Man with a
kiss ? When they which were about Him saw
what would follow, they said unto Him, Lord,
shall we smite with the sword ? And one of
them smote the servant of the high priest, and
cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and
said, Suffer ye thus far. And He touched his
ear, and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the
chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the
elders who were come to Him, Be ye come out
as against a thief, with swords and staves?
When I was daily with you in the temple, ye
stretched forth no hands against Me : but this
is your hour, and the power of darkness. Then
took they llim, and led Him, and brought Him
into the high priest's house : and Peter followed
afar off. And when they had kindled a fire in
the midst of the hall, and were .set down together,
Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid
beheld him, as he sat by the fire, and earnestly
looked upon him, and said. This man was also
with Him. And he denied Him, saying, Woman,
I know Him not. And after a little while
another saw him, and said. Thou art also of
them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And
about the space of one hour after, another con-
fidently affirmed, saying. Of a truth this fellow
also was with Him ; for he is a Galilean. And
Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest.
And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock
crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon
Peter ; and Peter remembered the word of the
Lord, how He had said unto him. Before the
cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And
Peter went out, and wept bitterly. And the
men that held Jesus mocked Him, and smote
Him. And when they had blindfolded Him,
they struck Him on the face, and asked Him,
saying. Prophesy, who is it that smote Thee?
And many other things blasphemously spake they
against Him. And as soon as it was day, the
elders of the people, and the chief jiriests, and
the scribes, came together, and led Him into
their council, saying. Art Thou the Christ ?
tell us. And He said unto them. If I tell you,
ye will not believe : and if I also ask you, ye will
not answer Me, nor let Me go. Hereafter shall
the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the
power of God. Then said they all, Art Thou
then the Son of God? And He said unto them.
Ye say that I am. And they said, What need
we any further witness ? for we ourselves have
heard of His own mouth.
Thursday before Easter.
Feria V. in Coena Domini [vel, Hebdomadce Sancloe\.
*THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. xi. 17-34.
IN this that I declare nnto you, 1 praise you
not ; that ye come together not for the
better, but for the worse. For first of all, when
■' Sat. indieCcEnae
i «•
* S. g. S. Rom.
aft. 1 Cor. II, 20-32.
Eastern, I Cor.
II. 23-32.
ye come together in the church, I hear that
there be divisions among you, and I partly
believe it. For there must be also heresies
MAUNDY THURSDAY.
The fifth day of Holy Week was honoured by the lustitu-
tion of the Holy Eucharist, and the names by which it has been
known have ahnost always been derived from this distinguish-
ing feature of the day. As early as the time of St, Augustine
\_Ej>. hv. or cxviii. ad Januar. ] it is called Dies Coenre Domini;
and in later times Natalis Eucharistiae, or Natalia Calicis.
The English name of Maundy Thursday also points to the
same holy event, being a vernacular corruption of Dies
Mandati ; the day when our Lord commanded His disciples
to love one another as He had loved them, to wash one
another's feet in token of that love, and above all to "Do
This," — that is, to celebrate the Holy Eucharist after the
pattern which He had shewn them, — as the sacramental bond
of the Love which He had commanded. The day has also
been called Feria mysteriorum, Lavipedium, and ficydXij
TTEvrds. In the Durham book Cosin added a second title to
the present one, writing it "Thursday before Easter, com-
monly called Mandie Thursday." '
Our Lord's act of humility in washing the feet of Hia
disciples took a strong and lasting hold upon the mind
and afl'ection of the Church ; and the terms in which He
1 The name Maundy is supposed by some to be derived from "mannd,"
a basket such as beggars were accustomed to carry, or "maund," to beg.
Another popular name was "Shere Thursday," and this was used by
Cranmer in his reply to the Devonshire rebels. [Strvpe's Cranmer, ii.
630, Eccl. Hist. 80c. ed.)
282
CDursDay bctou (Z^aster.
among you, that they ivhick are approved may
be made manifest among you. When ye come
together therefore into one place, this is not to
eat the Lord's supper : for in eating every one
taketh before other his own supper ; and one is
hungry, and another is drunken. What, have ye
not houses to eat and to drink in I or despise ye
the church of God, and shame them that have
not ? What shall I say to you ] shall I praise
you in this \ I praise you not. For I have
received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night
in which He was betrayed, took bread ; and when
He had given thanks. He brake it, and said, Take,
eat ; this is My Body, which is broken for you :
this do in remembrance of Me. After the same
manner also He took the cup, when He had
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in
My Blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this
b'-ead, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's
death till He come. Wherefore, whosoever shall
eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord,
unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and
Blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himseH, and so let him eat of that bread, and
drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drink-
eth unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For
this cause many are weak and sickly among you,
and many sleep. For if we would judge our-
selves, we should not be judged. But when we
are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that
we should not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, My brethren, when ye come together
to eat, tarry one for another. And if any man
hunger, let him eat at home ; that ye come not
together unto condemnation. And the rest wOl
I set in order when I come.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xxiii. 1-49.
THE whole multitude of them arose, and led
Him unto Pilate. And they began to
accuse Him, saying. We found this fellow per-
verting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute
to Ceesar, saying. That He Himself is Christ a
King. And Pilate asked Him, saying, Art Thou
the King of the Jews % And He answered him,
and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate to
the chief priests, and to the people, I find no
fault in this Man. And they were the more
fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching
«S. S.1§- Rom
An. John 13. 1-15
Eastern. Matt.
36. 2—37. 2.
f throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to
this place. 'When Pilate heard of Galilee, he
asked whether the Slan were a Galilean. And
[ as soon as he knew that He belonged unto
I Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who
1 himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
I And when Herod saw Jesus he was exceeding
i glad ; for he was desirous to see Him of a long
I season, because he had heard many things of
{ Him ; and he hoped to have seen some miracle
I done by Him. Then he questioned iviih Him in
commanded them to follow His example not unnaturally led
to a belief that the usage was in some manner and degree
binding upon their successors. In later ages, however, the
Church of England has considered the commandment to
follow our Lord's example in that particular, as one which is
not of a perpetual obligation ; wliile " Do this in remembrance
of Me," is one the unceasing obligation of which has never
been doubted.
Our Lord did, in fact, take a local and temporary custom,
and use it as a practical exponent of His extreme humility,
according to His words, "I am among you as He th.-vt
serveth," intensitied as they are by St. Peter's remonstrance.
" Thou shalt never wash my feet." At His hands the act had
doubtless a sacramental efficacy, such as followed every touch
of His holy Person when It came iu contact with those who
had faitli to receive His blessing. But the command with
which He accompanied the act related to the humility and
love symbolized by it, and did not entail a repetition of it by
the Apostles or the Cliuroh of later ages, under circumstances
in which the customs of a country or of a period had ceased
to recognize the literal act as a necessity of social life. As
a symbolical usage the Church has however always, in some
parts of the world, retained the custom of washing the feet
of the poor on Maundy Thursday, Sovereigns, Bisliops, and
Clergy thus marking their obligation to follow their Saviour
in humility and love for His poor. It was continued by our
]:;ngliah Sovereigns until the latter part of tlie seventeenth
century, and by the Archbishops of York on their behalf until
the middle of the last century. The ceremony formc<l part of a
service, which is still represented (though iu an altered form)
by the ' ' Royal Maundy " office, and was connected with
special acts of almsgiving on the part of the Sovereign, which
are likewise retaimd.'
In tlic ancient Offices of the Church of England there were
several special observances on this day. First (after the hour
* The following ts the Hen'icc as now used in the Chapel Royal at White-
hall, on thiH day :—
OFFICE FOB THE ROYAL MAUNDY.
Exhortation, Cox/Msion, Ahsohtlion, etc.
Proper Psalm. Ps. xli.
Firtt Uuon, St, Matthew x»v. 14-30.
of Xoues) came the reconciliation of penitents, a custom
handed down from primitive days. The Holy Communion
was celebrated at the same time with Vespers, and there
First Anthem.
Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy : the Lord shall deliver
him in the time of trouble.— Ps. xli. 1.
£1, Ids. distributed to each woman.
to each man shoes and stockings.
Second Anthem.
Hide not Thou Thy face from us, O Lord, and cast not ofl' Thy servants
in Thy displeasure : for we confess our sins unto Thee, and hide not our
unrighteousness.
For Thy mercy's sake deliver us from all our sins.
WOOLLEN AND LINEN CLOTHS DISTEIBUTED.
Third Anthem.
O Lord, grant the Queen a long life, that her years may endure through,
out all generations. — Ps. Ixi. 6.
She shall dwell before God for ever : O prepare Thy loving mercy and
faithfulness, that they may preserve her. — Ps. Ixi. 7.
As for her enemies, clothe them with shame ; but upon herself let her
crown flourish.— Ps. cxxxii. 10.
PURSES DISTRIBl-TED.
.Sccoiirf Lesson, St. Matthew xxv. 31-46.
Fourth Anthem.
Who is this that cometh from Edom, that is glorious in His apparel,
tnivelling in the greatness of His strength ? I that speak in rightcousuess,
mighty to save. — Isa. Ixiii. 1.
Doubtless Tliou art our Father, our Redeemer ; Thy name is from cver-
lasting. — Isa. Ixiii. 16.
Hosanna to the Son of David ; Blessed is He that Cometh in the name of
the Lord : Hosanna in the highest I Amen. — St. Matt. xxi. 9.
O Lord, the Sovereign of the world, we acknowledge that Thine is the
greatness, and tlie power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty;
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Tliine. Thine is the king-
dom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all ; both riches and
honour come <tf Thee, and Thou reignest overall. In Thy hand is power
and might, and in Thy hanil it is to make great, and to give strength unto
all. Now tlierefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise i'hy glorious name,
that Thou hast not only bestowed greatness and majesty upon our
Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, but hast given her a heart also to take
compassion on them that are below her, and shew mercy upon the poor
and needy. Aeeept, roost gracious God, of this tribute, which she pays
unto Thee, the Giver of all good things, and make her still more fruitHil
ami .abundant in these, and in .ill other good works, that by mercy and
truth she may be preserved, and her throne uphohlen by inerey. Atid
I stir up the hearts of all those who have now been partakers of her bounty.
CljursDay before OBastcc.
283
many words ; but He answered him nothing.
And the chief priests and scribes stood and
vehemently accused Him. And Herod witli liis
men of war set Him at nought, and mocked
Him, and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and
sent Him again to Pilate. And the same day
Pilate and Herod were made friends together ;
for before they were at enmity between them-
selves. And Pilate, when ho had called together
the chief i)riests, and the rulers, and the people,
said unto them. Ye have brought this Man unto
me, as one that perverteth the people : and
behold, I, having examined Uim before you,
have found no fault in this Man toiirking those
thinr/s whereof ye accuse Him : No, nor yet
Herod : for I sent you to him ; and lo, nothing
worthy of death is done unto Him. I will
therefore chastise Him, and release Him. For
of necessity he must release one unto them at the
feast. And they cried out all at once, saying.
Away with this Man, and release xinto us Barab-
bas : (who for a certain sedition made in the city,
and for murder, was cast into prison.) Pilate
therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again
to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify Him,
crucify Him. And he said unto them the third
time, Why, what evil hath He done 1 I have
found no cause of death in Him : I will -therefore
chastise Him, and let Him go. And they were
instant with loud voices, requiring that He might
be crucified : and the voices of them and of the
chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence
that it should be as they required. And he
released unto them him that for sedition and
murder was cast into prison, whom they had
desired ; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon
one Simon a Cyrenian, coming out of the country.
and on him they laid the cross, that he might
bear it after Jjcsus. And there followed Him a
great company of people, and of women, whicli
also bewailed and lamented Hiin. But Jesus,
turning unto them, said. Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and
for your children. For behold, the days are
coming, in the which they shall say. Blessed are
the barren, and the womljs that never bare, and
the paps which never gave suck. Then shall
they begin to say to the mountains. Fall on us ;
and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these
things in a green tree, what shall be done in the
dry 1 And there were also two other, male-
factors, led with Him to be put to death. And
when they were come to the place which is called
Calvary, there they crucified Him ; and the
malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other
on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. And
they parted His raiment, and cast lots. And
the people stood beholding ; and the rulers also
with them derided Him, saying. He saved others ;
let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the
chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked
Him, coming to Him, and oflfering Him vinegar,
and saying. If Thou be the King of the Jews,
save Thyself. And a superscription also was
written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin,
and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE
JEWS. And one of the malefactors, which were
hanged, railed on Him, saying, If Thou be Christ,
save Thyself, and us. But the other answering
rebuked him, saying. Dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation ? And
we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward
of our deeds, but this Man hath done nothing
amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember
was a special reservatiou, the Rubric being, "Ponantura sub-
diacono tres hosti* ad cousecrandum : quarum Anx reserven-
tur in craatinum, una ad percipiendum a sacerdote : reliqua
ut ponatur cum cruce in sepulchro. " In the evening the altars
were washed with wine and water, and the Maundy cere-
monies performed, two clergy of the highest rank present
washing the feet of all iu the choir, and of each other. The
Rubric in the Salisbury Missal regulating these ceremonies
to be truly thankful unto Thee for it, and both to bless and praise Thee
continually for setting such a pious Princess over us, and also pray most
earnestly that Thou wouldst reward her charity with a long and prosperous
reign in this world, and with a heavenly kingdom in the world to come;
through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Jiaviour. Aimn.
Most blessed God, Who art good and dost good and takest pleasure in
those that fear Thee and imitate Thy goodness, look down from Heaven,
the throne of Thy glory, upon us Thy servants here prostrate before Thee,
who thankfully acknowledge that we have nothing but what we have
received from Thee, and therefore can give Thee notliing but what is Thine
own. Fill our hearts, we beseech Thee, with the lively sense of Thy
fatherly goodness, which hath bestowed so many benefits upon us that we
are not able to number them, and likewise given us to understand the
happiness of doing good witli them ; and assist us with the power of Thy
holy Spirit, that we may be faithful stewards of Thy manifold gifts and
graces, following the steps of our Lord and Master Christ, Whom Thou hast
sent into the world, to be a pattern to us of liumble goodness ; unto which
we pray Thee to quicken us by the consideration that we are but strangers
and sojouniers as all our fathers were, our days on the earth being as a
shadow, and there is no abiding ; That so nothing may tempt us to be high-
minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in Thee, 'the living God, Who
givest us all things riclily to enjoy, that we may do good, and be rich in
good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up iu store
for ourselves a good foundation for the time to come, that we may lay hold
on eternal life. And we most humbly beseech Tliee, in a special manner
to bless Her Majesty, whom Tliou hast set over us ; keep this ever in the
thoughts of her heart, to endeavour to do much good with the power which
Thou hast given her, and thereby magriiry Tliee exceedingly in the sight
of all the people of these Realms, and bestow upon her sucii royal majesty
as haUi not been on any prince before her ; All which we beg for the sake
of Jesus Christ, our most blessed Lonl and Saviour, to whiun with Thee
and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
TlienfoUmvs the Prayer for the Queen, and so on to the end.
begins, " Post prandiuni ^ conveniant clerici ad ecclesiam, ad
altaria abluenda ; et ad niandatum faciendum ; et ad comple-
torium dicendum. " While the pedilavium was going on, the
Psalms Deiis miscreatur, Ecce quam bomim, Miwrere, Beati
immaculati, and Auditc hac, omnes gentes, were sung ; the
Antiphon to Dens miscreatur being "Mandatum novum do
vobis : ut diligatis invicem," from the first word of which the
ceremony took its name. At its conclusion a sermon was
preached, and then a "loving cup" (called "caritatis potum"
in the Ruljric) was passed round to all who had taken part
in its performance. The whole ended with this Collect :
" Adesto qua'sumus, Domine, officio servitutis nostrie ; et quia
Tu pedes lavare dignatus es Tuis discipulis ; ne despicias
opera manuum Tuarum, qua; nobis retinenda niandasti : sed
sicut exteriora hie abluuntur inquinamenta corporum ; sic a
Te omnium nostrorum interiora mundentur peccata, quod Ipse
prrestare digneris Qui cum Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis
et regnas Deus. Per." A vestige of this ceremony is still
retained in the Chapel Royal, the Bishop who acts as Almoner,
and his assistants, being girded with long linen towels during
the distribution of the Alms.
Maundy Thursday is also the day on which the Chrism or
anointing oil has been consecrated from time immemorial,
and in all parts of the Church throughout the world. In the
Eastern Church tlie Holy Sacrament to be reserved for the
sick in the ensuing year is also consecrated on this day, the
one element being saturated with the other, divided into
small morsels, and carefully dried ; after which it is preserved
in a receptacle at the back of the Altar. [See Notes on
Comm. of the Sick.]
Introit. — We ought to glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus
1 As early as St. Augustine's time there appear to have been two cele-
brations on this day, " bis in coena Domini Eucharistia datur, mane prop-
ter prandentes, ad vesperum propter jcjunantes." (Ado. Ep. 118.)
284
0OOD jTriDaj).
me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee,
Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise. And
it was about the sixth hour : and there was a
darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
And the sun was darkened, and the vail of the
temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father,
into Thy hands I commend My spirit : and
having said thus, He gave up the ghost. Now
when the centurion saw what was done, he
glorified God, saying. Certainly this was a right-
eous Man. And all the people that came together
to that sight, beholding the things that were
done, smote their breasts, and returned. And
all His acquaintance, and the women that fol-
lowed Him from GalUee, stood afar off, beholding
these things.
THE COLLECTS.
ALMIGHTY God, we beseech Thee graciously
--'-J^ to behold this Thy family, for which our
Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed,
and given up into the hands of wicked men, and
to suffer death upon the cross, Who now liveth
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost,
ever one God, world without end. Ameii.
GOOD Friday.
Feria VI. in Die Parasceves.
["AD COMPLETORIUM. ORATIO.]
EESPICE qusesumus, Domine, super banc
familiam Tuam, pro qua Dominus noster
Jesus Christus non dubitavit manibus tradi
nocentium, et crucis subire tormentum. Qui
Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, by Whose
-L^ Spirit the whole body of the Church is
governed and sanctified ; Receive our supplica-
tions and prayers, which we offer before Thee for
all estates of men in Thy holy Church, that
every member of the same, in his vocation and
ministry, may truly and godly serve Thee ;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
OlilERCIFUL God, Who hast made all men,
and hatest nothing that Thou hast made,
nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather
that he should be converted and live ; Have
mercy upon all Jews, ''Turks, Infidels, and
Heretics, and take from them all ignorance, hard-
" S. g. S. GteB.
in fer iv. & vi. post
palmas. Mur. 11. S4-
' S- S- ffi- Greg,
ut supra. Gelas.
m passione Doni.
Mur. i. 560.
' S. g. ft. Crec.
Gelas. ut supra.
Prosper African,
de vocal. Gent. I.
rf i.e. Maliometans.
*UNIVERSIS ORDINIBUS. ORATIO [iii.].
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Cujus
Spiritu totum corpus ecclesiag sanctificatur
et regitur ; exaudi nos pro universis ordinibus
supplicantes ; ut gratias Tuse munere ab omnibus
Tibi gradibus fideliter serviatur. Per Dominum.
In unitate Ejusdem.
-PRO HERETICIS. ORATIO [vii.].
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui salvas
omnes homines, et neminem vis perire ;
respice ad animas diabolica fraude deceptas, ut
omni hieretica pravitate deposita, errantium corda
resipiscaut, et ad veritatia Tuse redeant unitateni.
Per Dominum.
Christ, in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection ; by
Whom also we are ransomed and saveti. I's. Ood be merci-
ful unto us, and bless us, and lift up the light of His counten-
ance upon us, and be merciful unto us.
GOOD FRIDAY.
This day is not one of man's institution, but was conse-
crated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He made it the day of
His most holy Passion. It is impossible that the anniversary
of our Lord's sufferings could ever have passed by as a com-
mon day in those times when the memory of them was yet so
recent, and when a daily fellowship in them [Phil. iii. 10;
Col. i. 24] was so continually before the eyes of Christians
in the martyrdoms of His f.aithful servants. It is spoken of
under the name of t)ie Paschal TX-iy ' in very early Christian
writings [Tkut. dc Oral, xviii.], but in Liter ages it was
chiefly known by tlie names WapaaKevrf, Dies Parasceves, the
Day of Preparation, or Dies Dominicc-u Passionis, the Day of
our Lord's Pa-ssion. In early English times it was known as
Long Frid.ay [/Elkhio's ('«». ,"57, a. n. 957. A. Sax. Chron.
A.D. 1137], and so it is still c.iUed "Lang Fredag" in Den-
mark and Sweden : but its present beautiful appellation is
the one by which it has now been popularly known for many
ccnturie.i.
Very soon after midniglit our lilcssed Lord was l)etrayed
and apprcliended ; and about day-dawn He was taken before
the ju(licial High I'riost Annas, the ceremonial High Priest
Caiaphaa, and the .Sanliedrim or great Council of tlic .lews [.St.
Matt. xxvi. 04; St. Markxiv. 02; St.Lukexxii. 70], where He
1 Tlatrx* f-rttvfinfiu*'. the Pnscbnl Day of tlic Crucifixion, afl Kntiter Day
WAA r-allcU Hmfx* i'lxrraiffifm, tho Faschal Day uf tho Rosurrcction.
was accused of blasphemy. After that He was sent bound
to Pilate, before whom He was charged with treason ; and by
Pilate sent to Herod as belonging to his jurisdiction. Having
been mocked and insulted by Herod, the holy Jesus was sent
back by him to the Roman governor, declared innocent of all
crime against the state, yet scourged, to please the Jews, and
for the same reason sentenced to be crucified. [St. Matt, xxvii.
3, 25; St. Mark XV. 1, 14; St. Lukexxiii. 1,21; St. John xviii.
28; xix. 6.] Then He was insulted with the purple robe, and
the reed sceptre, and a corona radiata made of tliorns ; was
buffeted and spit upon ; and afterwards led forth from the
Pra'torium by the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.
At the third hour [9 a.m., "Tierce"] our Lord, having
borne His cross, or a portion of it, until His exhausted Body
had fainted under the burden, was nailed to it upon Mount
Calvary without .Terusalcni, the two thieves being crucified
on cither side with the intention of adding sh.ame to His
suflferings. From the Cross He spoke His Last words. As
they fastened His limbs upon it He cried, "Father, forgive
them ; for they know not what tliey do " [.St. Liike xxiii. 34] ;
when the penitent thief prayeil for His remembrance in His
Kingiiom, He said, "^'erily I say unto thee, To-day shalt
thou lie with Me in paradise. " [St. Luke xxiii. 40. ] When He
beheld His mother ami tlie beloved disciple st.aniling at the
footof HisCross,lleaaid totheone, "Woman, bclioM Thyson,"
and to the other, " lichold thy mother." [St. John xix. 2G.]
At tho sixth hour [Noon, " Sexts "] ensued tlie d.arkness
and tho cartlKjuake ; and during the three hours which fol-
lowed before the return of light, it is supposed that our Lord's
greatest sufTcrings took jilace, the veiling of the Father's Pre-
sence, the agony of " being made sin for us," and of having
" laid upon Him the inicpiity of us all." The awful mystery
of these throe liours was summed up in an ancient Litany, in
<SooD jTritiap.
285
ness of heart, and contempt of Thy Word ; and
so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to Tliy flock,
that they may be saved among the remnant of
the true Israelites, and be made one fold under
one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who
liveth and reigneth with Tlico and the Holy
Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
"5. g.m. Crcj.'.
Gclas. ut buprj.
4S.1.5). CrtB.
Celas. lit supra.
Mur. i. 367.
-PRO PERFIDIS JUD^IS. ORATIO [viii.].
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, Qui etiam
.Tudiiicam perfidiam a Tua mi.sericordia non
repellis : exaudi preces nostras quas pro illius
populi obcajcatione deferimus ; ut agnita vcritatis
TuM luce quaj Chri.stus est, a suis tenebris
eruatur. Per eundem Dominum nostrum.
*PRO PACtANIS. ORATIO [ix.].
Omnipotens sempiterne Deu.s, Qui non vis
mortem peccatorum, sed vitam semjier inquiris,
suscipe jiropitius orationem nostram ; et libera
eos ab idolorum cultura ; et aggrega ecclesiae
TusB sanctae ad laudem et gloriam nominis Tui.
Per Dominum.
THE EPISTLE. Heb. x. 1-25.
THE law having a shadow of good things to
come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices, which they offered
year by year continually, make the comers there-
unto perfect : for then would they not have ceased
to be offered "i because that the worshippers once
purged should have had no more conscience of
sins. But in those sacrifices t/iere is a remem-
brance again made of sins every year. For it is
not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins. Wherefore, when He
Cometh into the world. He saith. Sacrifice and
offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou
prepared Sle : In burnt-offerings and sacrifices for
sin Thou hast had no pleasure : Then said I, Lo, I
come (in the volume of the book it is written of
Me) to do Thy will, God. Above, when He
said. Sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offerings,
and offering for sin Thou wouldest not, neither
hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the
Law : then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy
will, God. He taketh away the first, that
He may establish the second. By the which
S. S, ft. Kom.
an. Hos. 5. 15-
6. 6. Exod. 12. II.
will we are sanctified, through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest standeth daily ministering,
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which
can never take away sins. But this Man, after
He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the light hand of God ; from henceforth
expecting till His enemies be made His foot-stool.
For by one ofl'ering He hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified : Whereof the HoLY
Gho.st also is a witness to us : for after that lie
had said before, This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, saith the Lord,
I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them ; and their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more. Now where
remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, hy a
new and living way, which He hath consecrated
for us, through the vail, that is to say. His
flesh ; and having an High Priest over the house
of God ; let us draw near with a true heart, in
the words, " By Thine unknown sufferings, Good Lord, deliver
as." [St. Matt, xxvii. 45; St. Markxv. 33; St. Lukexxiii. 44.]
At the ninth hour [3 P.M. "Nones"] the climax of this
awful period was reached when our Lord spoke the words,
" Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which are tlie first words of
thetwenty-secondPsalm. [.St. Matt, xxvii. 46 ; St. Markxv. 34.]
After this He said " I thirst " [St. John xix. 28], and when He
had received the vinegar, "It is finished" [St. Matt, xxvii. 48;
St. Mark xv. 3G; St. Luke xxiii. 46; St. John xix. 30]; for now
He knew that " all things were accomplished" of the Sacrifice
for sin, and the sufferings of Him in Whom, sinless, all sinners
were then represented heforeGod. Then, crying with a loud
voice, as with a willing exspiration of that life which no man
couhl take from Him, He laid it down of Himself with the
last of His seven words from tlie Cross, "Father, into Thy
hands I commend My spirit " [St. Luke xxiii. 4G], which are
also words uttered by David in the spirit of prophecy iu the
sixth verse of the thirty-first Psalm.
It must have been shortly after this that the body of our
Blessed Lord was taken down from the Cross, for the Sabbath
began at six o'clock in the evening, and tliat Sabh.ath being
"an high day," the Jews entreated Pilate that it might be
removed from the Cross (to be cast into the pit where the
bodies of malefactors were thrown) before the legal beginning
of the festival. Thus on the eve of the Sabbath, after being
subjected to eighteen hours of mental agony and bodily suffer-
ing, the holy Jesus fulfilled, in His Body and Soul, the words
of the Compline Psalm, "I will lay Me down in peace, and
take My rest : for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest Me to
dwell in safety." [Ps. iv. 8.]
With this Passion of our dear Lord in view, it has ever
been the object of the Church to make the devotions of Good
Friday such as should help Christians to realize the magnitude
of the Sacrifice that He offered, of the sins by which it was
made necessary, and of the Mercy which moved Him to offer
it. "On tlie Paschal Day," writes Tertullian [de Oral, xviii.],
"the strict observance of the fast is general, and as it were
public," not restricted to those who professed to lead a life of
closer devotion than others ; works of charity were permitted,
even to the extent of the rich plougliing the land of tlie poor,
but no other labour was engaged in on this holy day. In all
Churches the Passion of our Lord, as narrated in the Gospels,
has ever formed the central subject of the day's meditation
and teaching, while psalm and projihecy have been gathered
around it in saddened and penitent tones, the more perfectly
to represent before God and man the events of this central
Day of the world's history. In the ancient services of the
Day one was conspicuous, in which the Clergy and people
shewed their veneration for the atoning work of Christ by
ceremonies which acquired the popular name of "creeping to
the Cross ; " in which the image of tlie Cross was placed in the
front of the altar, that they might more thoroughly realize
the spirit of penitents "before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth, crucified among them " [Gal. iii. 1],
while they gave Him the lowliest adoration of their bodies.'
During this ceremony of prostration before the Cross, the
"Reproaches," followed by the hymns, "Sing, my tongue,
the glorious battle," and "The Royal Banners forward
go," were sung to their well-known ancient and beautiful
strains.
1 The popular feeling of reverence tow.irds the Cross never died out. It
is illustrated even by the I'ilgrim's Progress, in which Christian, standing
before '* the Image of a Cross," says, ' * He bath given me rest by His sor-
rows, and life hy His death.'*
286
®ooD JFriDap.
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering ; (for He is faith-
ful that promised;) and let us consider one
another to provoke unto love, and to good works;
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves to-
gether, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting
one another : and so much the more, as ye see the
day approaching.
"THE GOSPEL. S. John xix. 1-37.
PILATE therefore took Jesus, and scourged
Him. And the soldiers platted a crown of
thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on
Him a purple robe, and said. Hail, King of the
Jews : and they smote Him with their hands.
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto
them. Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that ye
may know that I find no fault in Him. Then
came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns,
and the purple robe. And Pilate saitli unto
them, Behold the Man ! When the chief priests
therefore and officers saw Him, they cried out,
saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith
unto them, Take ye Him, and crucify Him : for
I find no fault in Him. The Jews answered him.
We have a law, and by our law He ought to die,
because He made Himself the Son of God.
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was
the more afraid ; and went again into the judge-
ment-hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art
Thou ? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then
saith Pilate unto Him, Speakest Thou not unto
me? knowest Thou not that I have power to
crucify Thee, and have power to release Thee ?
Jesus answered. Thou couldest have no power at
all against Jle, except it were given thee from
above : therefore he that delivered Me unto thee
hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth
" £■ B- IB
a«. JohQ
. Rom-
l8. Si 19.
Pilate sought to release Him : but the Jews cried
out, saying, If thou let this Man go, thou art not
Ciesar's friend : whosoever maketh himself a
king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate
therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus
forth, and sat down in the judgement-seat, in a
place that is called the Pavement, but in the
Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation
of the passover, and about the sixth hour : and
he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King ! But
they cried out. Away with Him, away with Him,
crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them. Shall I
crucify your King? The chief priests answered,
We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered
he Him therefore unto them to be crucified : and
they took Jesus, and led Him away. And He,
bearing His cross, went forth into a place called
the place of a scull, which is called in the Hebrew,
Golgotha : where they crucified Him, and two
other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in
the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it
on the cross ; and the writing was, JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
This title then read many of the Jews : for the
place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the
city : and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek,
and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the
Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews ;
The " Eeproaches " are a striking expansion of Micah iii. 3,
4, in which the loving-kindness of the Lord is contrasted with
the ingratitude of those whom He came to save, carrying tlie
idea through each step of the Passion. They are sung in the
following form : —
Jly people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have
I wearied thee ? answer unto Me. For I brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt, and thou hast prepared the Cross
for thy Saviour.
Holy Ood, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal; have
mercy upon vs.
1 led thee forty years in the wilderness, and fed thee with
manna, and brought thee into a goodly land.
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal; hare
mercy upon «.«.
What more could I have done unto thee that I have not
done ? I planted thee indeed My choicest Vine, and thou art
become bitter unto Me ; for thou hast given Me vinegar to
drink, and hast pierced the side of thy Saviour.
Holy Ood, llohj and Mighty, Holy and Immortal ; hare
mercy upon vs.
For thy sake did I scourge Egypt with its firstborn, and
thou didst deliver up Me to oe scourged.
My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I
wearied thee? answer nnto Me.
1 led thee forth out of Egypt, and drowned Pharaoh in the
Red Sea, and thou didst deliver up Me to the chief priests.
My people, what have I ilone unto thee, and wherein have I
wearied thee ? answer unto Me.
1 opened the sea before thee, and thou hast opened My side
with a spear.
My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I
wearied thee? answer unto Me.
1 went before thee to lead thee in a cloudy pillar, and tlmu
didst lead Mo into the hall of Pilate.
My people, what have I done unto thee, atid wherein have I
wearied thee ? answer tinio Me.
1 fed thee with manna in the wilderness, and thou didst fall
upon Me with scourgings and bufFetings.
My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I
jvearied thee ? answer unto Me.
1 gave thee to drink living water out of the Rock, and thou
didst give Me gall and vinegar.
My people, tehat have 1 done unto thee, and wherein have I
wearied thee? answer unto Me.
For thy sake did I smite the kings of the Canaanites, and
thou didst smite Me on the head with a reed.
My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein hai'e I
wearied thee ? answer unto Me.
1 gave thee a royal sceptre, and thon gavest to My head a
crown of thorns.
(J My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein Itave I
wearied thee ? ansiver unto Me.
I lifted thee up in great strength, and thou didst lift Me
up to hang upon the Cross.
My people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I
wearied thee ? answer unto Me.
During this ceremony the red copes and chasuble which
were worn in the other Offices of the day were set aside, and
black copes alone were used ; the utmost aspect of sorrow
and mourning fi>r sin being, at the same time, thrown
over the churcli and all the instrnmviria. of Divine Service,
by means of black hangings, a custoni which has never been
discontinued.
It is a very ancient pr.ictice of the Clnncli to ab.stain from
celebr.ating the IlolyCommunion on Good Friday. On Maundy
Thursday (as has been .already shewn) a portion of the Sacra-
I ment then consecrated was reserved in one element only, and
I this being placed in a chalice of unconsocr.ited wine on Good
Friday, was then received by those who communicated
instead of elements consecr.ated on the d.ay itself. This Mass
of the Pre-sanctified is an institution of very ancient date.
(faster (JBtien.
287
but that He said, I am King of the Jews.
Pilate answered, What I have written, I liave
written. Then the soldiers, when they had
crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made
four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His
coat : now the coat was without seam, woven
from the top throughout. They said therefore
among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast
lots for it, whose it shall be : that the Scripture
might be fultillcd, which saith. They parted My
raiment among them, and for My vesture they
did cast lota. These things therefore the'
soldiers did. Now there stood by the cross of
Jesus, His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary
the wife of Oleophas, and JIary Magdalene.
When Jesus therefore saw Jlis mother, and the
disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith
unto His mother. Woman, behold thy son.
Then saith He to the disciple. Behold thy mother.
And from that hour that disciple took her unto
his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the Scrip-
ture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now
there was set a vessel full of vinegar : and they
filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon
hyssop, and put it to His niouth. When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, He .said. It is
finished : and He bowed Jlis head, and gave up
the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was
the preparation, that the bodies should not
remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day, (for
that sabbath-day was an high day,) besought
I'ilate that their legs might be broken, and that
they might be taken away. Then came the
soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of
the other which was crucified with Him. But
when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was
dead already, they break not His legs. But one
of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and
forthwith came thereout blood and water. And
he that saw it bare record, and his record is true ;
and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye
might believe. For these things were done that
the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him
shall not be broken. And again, another Scrip-
ture saith. They shall look on 7/™ Whom they
pierced.
EASTER EVKN.
" Vi(jilia Paschu:.
"THE COLLECT.
&EANT, Lord, that as we are baptized
into the death of Thy blessed Son our
Saviour Jesus Christ, so by continual mortify-
ing our corrupt affections we may be buried with
" Sar.
b A.D. 1661.
r (lireg. Benedictio
ill Doln. i. post
Pasch. Oct ]
['.... Resuscitet vos de vitiorum sepulchris,
qui Enm resuscitavit a mortuis. Amen. Ut
cum Eo sine fine feliciter vivatis quem resurrex-
isse a mortuis veraciter creditis. Amen.]
being found in the Sacramentaries from wliich our modern
Offices are so largely derived : and since it is traceable, ou
good evidence, as far back as the time of St. Augustine, it
seems to represent tlie practice of tlie primitive Clmrch. Tlie
use of tliis Office lias been general in the ^^'estern Cluirch for
the greater part of the time of its existence. In the Eastern
Church tliere is no recognition of the Eucharist at all 011 this
day,' there being in fact almost a total absence of prayer
altogether, the services consisting cliiefly of the reading of
prophecies and gospels respecting tlie Passion : and sucli
appears also to be the practice of the Ainbrosiaii Rite.
liut although this custom may be of primitive origin, it
has not been preserved in its primitive form. In the Cluirch
of England before the Reformation the practice had grown up
of the priest alone receiving on Good Friday tlie Holy Sacra-
ment which had been consecrated on Maundj' Thursday ; and
this is still the practice of the Latin C'hurcli. The Sacra-
mentary of St. Gregory clearly indicates that in the early
Church others communicated with him as on other days.
The Rubric directs, "Cum dixerint Amen, sumit de sancta,
et ponit in calicem, nihil dicens. Et communlcimt onvtrs cum
silentio, et expleta sunt universa. " [Menard's ed, p. 70 ; comp.
pp. 77, S7.] In the tcntli century a Canon of the Church of
England which enjoins the reservation on Holy Thursday and
certain ceremonies to be used on Good Friday, adds respecting
the latter day, "Then let him," i.e. the priest, "go to housel,
and whosoever else pleases." [JoHXSOx's Caiwu-^, i. 404.] In
fact, Martene proves that Communion of the Laity as well as
of the priest on this day was the prevailing custom of the
Church until the tenth century at least ; and there are strong
grounds for believing that the practice continued down to the
time of the Reformation.
The exact intention of the English rite is not easy to ascer-
tain. The appointment of an Epistle and Gospel is (under
tlie circumstances in which the Prayer Book w.as set forth) a
;Drima /((Ci'e evidence that Consecration on Good Friday was
intended to supersede the Mass of the Pre-sanctified which
1 No consecration of the Holy Eucliaiist is allowed during Lent in tlie
Eastern Clmrch except on Saturday and Sunday. The feast of the Annun-
ciation is the only exception to this rule. Communicants on all other days
receive the pre-sanctifled elements.
had been hitherto used ; and Communion was, of course,
intended to follow. On the other hand, this was a deviation
from tlie ancient practice of the Church, which was not in
accordance M'ith the respect for it shewn by those who set
forth our first English Prayer Book. Such a deviation can
only be accounted for by supposing that strong reasons against
reservation were present to the Reformers, but that, at the
same time, they did not contemplate depriving the Church of
Christ's Sacramental Presence on this Holy Uaj', and there-
fore enjoined the ordinary Service with consecration.
The practice of the C'luirch of England since the Reforma-
tion certainly seems to have been to celebrate the Holy Com-
munion on this day. On Good Friday in 1564 [March 31]
Queen Elizabeth openly thanked one of her preachers in her
Chapel for his seniion in defence of the Real Presence, which
seems to shew that tlie Holy Eucharist was then celebrated.
[Heyi.in's Bef. ii. 317, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.] And in Bishop
Andrewes' Sermons on the Passion there are allusions to it
which put the matter beyond a doubt.
The conclusions that may be drawn are, [l]tliat the Church
of England never intended so far to depart irom ancient
habits as to be without the Sacramental Presence of Christ
on the Day when His Sacrifice is more vividly brought tc
mind than on any other day in the year : [2] that from the
introduction of the un-Catholic custom of Communion by the
priest alone, or for some other reason, it was thought best to
disuse the JIass of the Pre-sanctified and substitute Consecra-
tion : [3] that it is a less evil to depart from ancient usage liy
consecrating on this day than to be without the Sacramental
Presence of our Lord.
EASTER EVE.
The day between Good Friday and Easter Day commemo-
rates the Descent of our Blessed Lord's soul into hell, and the
rest of His body in the grave. In the Gospel we are told
that this S.abbath-day was "an high day" in the Jewish
ritual. It was the day when all were to be present before
the Lord [Exod, xxiii. 17], and wlien the sheaf of the first-
fruits was to be offered. [Lev. xxiii. 10, 11.] In the Christian
Church it at once acquired the name of the "Great Sabbath,"
being so called in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna respect-
288
(Caster €tien.
Him ; and that througli the grave, and gate of ■. [a.d. 1637.)
death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection :
for His merits, Who died, and was buried, and
rose again for us, Thy Son Jesus Chbist our
LoBD. Amen.
*THE EPISTLE,
/T is better, if the will of God be so, that
ye suffer for well-doing, than for evil-
doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. By which
also He went and preached unto the spirits in
prison ; which sometime were disobedient, when
once the long-suffering of God waited in the days
1
■ s. B. m-
mi. Col. I.
Basurn.
6. 3.11.
p/^ MOST gracious God, look upon us in
L \-J mercy, and grant that as we are baptized
into the death of Thy Son our Saviour Jesus
Christ ; so by our true and hearty repentance
all our sins may be buried with Him, and we not
fear the grave ; that as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of Thee, O Father,
so we also may walk in newness of life, but our
sins never be able to rise in judgement against us ;
and that for the merit of Jesus Christ, that died,
was buried, and rose again for us. Amen^
S. Peter iii. 17-22.
of Noah, while the ark was a preparing ; wherein
few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.
The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth
also now save us, (not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good con-
science towards God,) by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ : Who is gone into heaven, and is
on the right hand of God, angels and authorities
and powers being made subject unto Him.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Matt, xxvii. 57-66.
WHEN the even was come, there came a rich
man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who
also himself was Jesus' disciple. He went to
Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then
Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And
when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped
it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own
new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock ;
and he rolled a great stone to the door of the
sepulchre, and departed. And there was !Mary
Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over
against the sepulchre. Now the next day that
followed the day of the preparation, the chief
5. g. IB.
an. Matt, s
priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver
said, while He was yet alive. After three days I
will rise again. Command therefore that the
sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest
His disciples come by night and steal Him away,
and say unto the people. He is risen from the
dead : so the last error shall be worse than
the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a
watch ; go j'our way, make it as sure as ye can.
So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing
the stone, and setting a watch.
ing the martyrdom of St. Polycarp. The ancient Epistle and
Gospel referred to Holy Baptism, and to our Lord's Pvesurrec-
tion : those now appointed were introduced into the Prayer
Book of 1549. The ancient Collect was, "O God, Who didst
make this most holy night to shine with the glory of our
Lord's resurrection ; preserve in Thy new-born family the
spirit of adoption which Thou hast given : that they, being
renewed both in body and mind, may render unto Thee a
pure service, through the same our Lord." This was not
adopted in the translated Offices of the Church (probably
because it had been associated with the blessing of the new
fire and the Paschal candle) ; nor was any Collect provided
for the day until 1637, when that printed above was inserted
in the Prayer Book prepared for Scotland. This is thought
to have been the composition of Archbishop Laud, and was
the foundation of the present Collect, which is first found in
Cosin's writing in the margin of the Durham book. Even
this modern Collect keeps up a memorial of the primitive
custom of the Church in administering Baptism on Easter
Kve. But the practice having fallen into disuse,' the devo-
tional tone of the day is brought into a more direct and close
analogy with the Holy Week history of our Blessed Lord by
the commemoration of His burial, in the Gospel, and His
Descent into Hell, in the Ejiistlc. [See notes to the Apostles'
Creed.]
The Vigil of Easter lias always been celebrated with much
ceremony, even from primitive times. It is mentioned by
Tertullian [ad Uxorem, ii. 4], and in the Apostolical C(m-
stitutions [v. 20], by Eusebius [vi. 9], Lactantius [vii. 19],
St. Chrysostom, and St. Jerome. St. Gregory Nazianzen
[Ornt. xlv. hi I'litrh.] speaks of the churches being so lighted
up that it seemed like day, and this he refers to as a
1 A Preface to the Baptismal Offices, whi(;h was erased from tlic Prayer
Book in lO'Jl, bcKan : *' It apiwarcth by ancient writers, that the sacrament
of Baptism in the oM time was not commonly ministered but at two times
In the year, at Efister and Wliitsuntidc ; . . . whi(th custom (now being
grown out of use), altliough it cannot," etc. [Stc notes to Baptism.]
symbolical usage (in the spirit of the ancient Collect given
above), menioriaUzing the glorious illumination brought on
the world by the Resurrection of the Sun of Eighteousness.
The services continued until after midnight, to welcome the
early da^'n of the Resurrection ; and also from a tradition
(current among the Jews as well) that the second coming of
Christ will be in the night of Easter Eve. - At a later period,
and in the ancient Offices of the English Church, the new fire,
the Paschal candle, and the incense, all received Benediction
on this day for use in the succeeding yeai'.
There has ever been something of festive gladness in the
celebration of Easter Eve, which sets it apart from Lent,
notwithstanding tlio fast still continues. To the disciples it
was a day of mourning after an absent Lord ; but the Ch\irch
of the Resurrection sees already the triumiih of that Lord
over Satan and Death. In the promise of the prophetic
words, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them froni death : death, I will be thy
plagues ; grave, I will be thy destruction " [Hos. xiii. 14],
she sees afar off the dawn of the Resurrection, and already
the words sound in her ears, " Your siu-row shall be turned
into joy." A celebraticm of the Holy Communion took place
on this day, as on Maundy Thursday, .at the time of Vespers ;
and in the place of the Introit was sung Gloria iti Errehis Deo,
with its response, Kt in terra pax liominihus, w liile the bells
of the church were ringing in the Joys of Easter.' At Milan,
"Ad Missam in ecclesia majore," the announcement of our
Lord's Resurrection was thrice made in the wonls, "Christus
Dominus resurre.\it," when the response thrice folhiwed,
" Deo gratias."
5* *' Hnrc est nox, quro nobis propter adventum regis, ac Dei nostri per*
vigllio celcbratur: cujus noctis duplex ratio eat, quod in ca et vitam turn
recepit, cum passus est ; et postea orbis torm; rcgnum reccpturus est. Hie
est enini Liberator, et Judex, et Ultor, et Rex, ot Deus, quern noa Cliristiun
vocamus." ILartant. vii. 19.1
« A similar custom is observed on Christmas Eve at Magdalen College
Oxford.
OBaster Dap.
289
Eastkr Day.
IT At Morning Prayer, instcail of the Psalm, O co7ve,
let us sin;/, etc., these Antlieiris shall be Bung or
said.
"In Die Pascho
CHRIST our Passover is sacrificed for us :
therefore let us keep the feast.
Not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven
of malice and wickedness : but with the un-
leavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1 Cok. v. v, s.
CHRIST being raised from the dead dieth no
more : death hath no more dominion over
Him.
For in that He died, He died unto sin once :
but in that Ho liveth. He liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin : but alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Loed. Rum. vi. 9-11.
CHRIST is risen from the dead : and become
the First-fruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death : by Man came
also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die ; even so in Christ
shall all be made alive. i Cok. xv. 20-23.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be ; world without end. Amen.
*S.l. fi. Creg.
Gelas. ill die Sane-
to Pascii*. Comp.
Prxf. in Dom. i.
post. Asc. Domini
"per gloriam Re-
surrectionis vitEe
, , ^ I sternae aditum
come death, and opened unto us the gate of patefecit." Mur. i.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who through Thine only-
-L-L besotten Son Jesus Christ hast over-
ir Statio et ordo proccssionis in die Pascha; ante
niatutinas cum cnice. I'lilsatis omnibus campanis
caiitctur antiphona.
[COMMUNIO.
PASCHA nostrum immolatus est Cheisius :
Alleluia. Itaquc epulemur, in azyniis
sinceritatis et veritatis. Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia.]
CHRISTUS resurgens ex mortuis jam non
moritur : mors ilia ultra non dominabitur.
Quod enim mortuus est, peccata mortuus est
semel : quod autem vivit, vivit Deo. Alleluia,
Alleluia.
HORATIO.
DEUS, Qui hodierna die per Unigenitum
Tuum seternitatis nobis aditum, devicta
morte, reserasti ; vota nostra, quae proeveniendo
EASTER DAY.
They who went about "preacliing Jesus and the Resurrec-
tion," and who observed tlie first day of the week as a con-
tinual memorial of that Resurrection, must have remembered
with vivid and joyous devotion the anniversary of their
Lord's restoration to them. It was kept as the principal
festival of the year, therefore, in the very first age of the
Church, and Easter had become long familiar to all parts of the
Christian world so early as the days of Polycarp and Anicetus,
who had a consultation at Rome in a.d. 158, as to whether
it should be observed according to the reckoning of Jewish
or Gentile Christians. [Irena'us in Euseb. v. 24.] Eusebius
also records tlie fact that Melitus, Bishop of Sardis about the
same time, wrote two books on the Paschal festival [Euseb.
iv. 26], and TertuUian speaks of it as annually celebrated,
and the most solemn day for Baptism. [De Jrjun. 14 ; De
Bapt. 19.] Cyprian, in one of his Epistles, mentions the
celebration of Easter solemnities [Ivii. ]; and in writers of
later date the festival is constantly referred to as the "most
holy Fe.ast," "the great Day" [Cone. Ancyra vi.], the Feast
of Feasts, the Great Lord's Day, and the Queen of Festivals.
[Greg. Naz. Orat. in Paseh.]
The original name of the Festival was one which also
included Good Friday, Tldcrxo-, which was derived from tlie
Aramaic form of the Hebrew name for Passover. This name
was also retained in the Latin : and in the time of Leo the
Great, when the distinction began to be made of the Pascha
Dominiese Passionis, and the Pascha Dominica; Resurrectiouis,
Dies Paschre began to be understood chiefly, and soon alone,
of Easter. In England the same name was also once familiar,
perhaps derived from the French language, and Easter eggs are
still called "pasque" [or in a corrupt form "p.aste"] eggs all
over the North of England, The more familiar name of Easter
is, however, traceable as far back as tlie time of the Venerable
Bede, who derives it from the name of a pagan goddess Eostre,
or Ostera, whose festival happened about the time of the
vernal equinox [De ratione Temporiim, xiii.], and was
observed as a time of general sacrifices, with a view to a good
harvest. Later, and perhaps more trustworthy, philologists
have derived the word from the old Teutonic nrstan, to rise,
and m-stand, the Resurrection : and it is significant that the
idea of sunrise is self-evident in the English came of the
festival on which the Sun of Righteousness arose from the
darkness of the grave. The popular name for the day among
Oriental Christians is Aa/ivpa, the Bright Day, in which the
same idea is to be observed. In old English C'alendars Easter
is called "the uprising of oure Lord," and "the Ajenrysing of
our Lord."
The Judaizing habits which caused so much trouble in the
earliest days of Christianity long retained a hold upon many
portions of the Church in respect to the observance of Easter.
In the Western Church the festival was always kept on the
first day of the week, as being the actual day which our Lord
had consecrated by His Resurrection ; but the Churches of
Asia kept it on the third day after the 14th of the Jewish
month Nisan, whatever day of the week this might be. In
the second and third centuries there was much controversy
respecting this difference of computation ; but the first Canon
of the Council of Aries [a.d. 314] ordered Easter to be cele-
brated on one day everywhere, and the Council of Nicaea
[a.d, 325] authoritatively ruled that Easter was to be kept
on the Lord's Day.' Tliere being also much diificulty in
determining, without scientific help, which Sunday in March
or April was the proper one, the same Council directed that
1 There is no Canon of this Council on tlie suljcct, but that its decision
was authoritative may be certainly inferred from the manner in which it is
recordea in Theodoret, i, 9. 10 ; Socrates, i. 9 ; and Eitseb. Li/e of Constan-
tine, iii, 18.
290
OBastcr Dap.
<» s. a. ?a. Rom.
an- I Cor. S- 7- 8.
Jzastertt. Acts i.
everlasting life ; We humbly beseech Thee, that,
as by Thy special grace preventing us Thou dost
put into our minds good desires, so by Thy con-
tinual help we may bring the same to good eflect ;
through Jesus Cheist our Lord, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever
one God, world without end. A men.
"THE EPISTLE.
IF ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your
affection on things above, not on things on the
earth : For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also api)ear with Him
*THE GOSPEL. S.
THE first dai/ of the week cometh Mary ^lag-
dalene early, when it was yet dark, unto
the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away
from the sepulchre. Then she runneth and
cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple
whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They
have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre,
and we know not where they have laid Him.
Peter therefore went forth, and that other dis-
ciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran
both together ; and the other disciple did outrun
Peter, and came first to the sepidchre ; and he,
» s. B. ffi.
an. Mark
Hastem.
i-ij.
pspiras, etiam adjuvando prosequere. Per eundem
DoMiNUM nostrum Jesum Christum Filium
Tuum. Qui Tecum.
Col. iii. 1-7.
in glory. Mortify therefore your members
which are upon the earth ; fornication, unclean-
ness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousuess, which is idolatry : For which
things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the
children of disobedience. In the which ye also
walked some time, when ye lived in them.
John XX. MO.
stooping down
Rofn-
l6, 1-7.
Jolm I,
and looking in, saw the linen
clothes lying ; yet went he not in. Then cometh
Simon Peter following him, and went into the
sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie; and the
napkin that was about His head, not lying with
the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place
by itself. Then went in also that other disciple
which came firet to the sepulchre, and he saw,
and believed. For as yet they knew not the
Scripture, that Ho must rise again from the dead.
Then the disciples went away again unto their
own home.
the Churcli of Alexandria should send timely notice to otlier
principal Churches of the day on which tlie true Easter would
occur iu the ensuing year, and that thus an uniform practice
should be maintained throughout the Christian world.' It
was not, liowever, until tlie eighth century that the com-
putation of Easter was settled on sufhciently accurate calcu-
lations to ensure uniformity ; - and the Church of England
I'etained, for some ages, a modified form of the Jewish method,
which was not wholly banished from the northern parts of
the island until A.D. 714. Tliese two methods of computing
Easter may be shortly explained by adding that the Jewish
or " Quartodeciman " computation aimed at observing the
very day of our Lord's Resurrection (as we observe the day
of His Nativity) ; while the method whioli ultimately became
universal aims at observing that Lord's Day as Easter which
comes next after the actual anniversary. Each method
claimed Apostolic authority from the first : Polycarp, who
advocated the Jewish system, declared that it was derived
from St. John, witli whom he was contemporarj' ; while the
Bishops of Kome and others believed tliemselves to be follow-
ing a custom handed down to them from St. Peter and St.
Paul.
The Anthems instead of " Venite exultemus " represent
the primitive custom of Easter morning, when the versicle
"The Lord is risen," and the response " He is risen indeed,"
were the formal salutation between Cliristians. In the
ancient rite of the Englisli Church one of tliese anthems was
said in procession before Jlattins ; and tlie service was
retained in 1549. It may be useful to the reader to see tlie
Latin and English forma side by side.
Salisbury Use. Prayer Book of 1549.
^ Stalio el ordo processionis ^ Inthemornituj afore Maliii.^,
in die Pascluje ante matulinas the people beimj assembled
1 There Is a relic of this practice In the Ambro.sinn Rite, where tlie
followlnp; proflamtttion of Easter is directed to bo made on the Fcnst of tlic
Epiphany :—
" Annunciftlio dici Pascliatis per Diaconuiu.
"Noverit cliaritas vcntm, frntrcs chariBslmi, qnod nnnuento Del ct
Domini noBtri Jcsu Cliri.sti luLsericordia, die tali niensis talis Pascha
Domini celehrabiiiiiiH."
> Ste note on Ihc "Tables to find Easter." The Venerable Hedo says
that the error of the British Chun^h arose merely from its isolated situa-
tion, which previ'iited it from icceivinB year by year the Synodal decrees
respecting the viixk In which Easter fell. "They did not' keep E.i8ter,"
]ic also says, "always on the fuuiteenth day of tiie moon witli the Ji^ws, as
Bomc liavo imndned. but on Sunday, although not in the proper week "
1Bede'8£«I. ;/i3(, iii. 1.)
cum cruce. Pulsatis omni-
bus camjianis cantetur anti-
phona.
Christus . . . vivit Deo.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
y. Dicant nunc Jud«i quo
modo milites custodientes
sepulchrum perdiderunt regem
ad lapidis positionem quare
lion servabant petram justitia;
autsepultumreddantautresur-
gentem adorent nobiscum, di-
ceiites. Alleluia, Alleluia.
]?. Surrexit Dominus de se-
pulchro.
I^. Qui pro nobis pependit
in ligno. Alleluia.
07-atio.
Deus, qui pro nobis Filium
crucis patibulum subire vol-
liisti, ut inimici a m ibis pelleres
potestatem : concede nobis
famulis tuis ut in resurrec-
tionis ejus gaudiis semper viva-
mus. Per.
in the Churcli, these anthems
shall be first solemnly sting
or said.
Christ . . . living unto God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Hal-
lelujah, Hallelujah. Christ is
risen again ... all men shall
be restored tolife. Hallelujah.
The Priest.
Shew forth to all nations the
glory of God.
T?te Ansxcer.
And among all people His
wonderful works.
Let us pray.
O God, Wlio for our redemp-
tion didst give Thine only-be-
gotten Son to the death of the
cross ; and by His glorious re-
surrection liast delivered us
from tlie power of our enemy;
grant us so todiedaily from sin,
that weniayevermore livewith
Him in the joy of His resur-
rection ; through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen.
The present Rubric substituting these Anthems for the
Venite was introduced in 1552 ; ' they were not jiointcd in 1549.
In the Salisbury Use there was a celebration at a late hour
on Easter Eve, probably after midnight ; and in the Prayer
I'ook of l.')49two celebrations are directed for Easter Day, the
Collect, I'Ipistle, and Gospel for the first of which are those
which arc still retained ; the Epistle licing that previously in
use on Easter Eve. 'J'lie second celebration had the Collect
wliich is now used (as it then was also) for the Octave of
Easter Day, and the Epistle and Gospel of the ancient Missal.
Introit. — When I wake up I am present witli Thee. Al-
leluia. Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me. Alleluia.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. Alleluia. Alleluia.
» Sec note at p. 181.
^onDaji) in (Bmev Week.
291
Monday in Easter Week.
THE COLLECT.
God, Who through Thy only
ALMIGHTY
-i^ begotten Son Jesus Christ hast over-
come death, and opened unto us the gate of
everlasting life ; We humbly beseech Thee, that,
as by Thy special grace preventing us Thuu dost
put into our minds good desires, so by Thy con-
tinual help we may bring the same to good effect ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever
one God, world without end. Amen.
"Feria II. post Pascha
" S. T3. J?.
'FOR THE EPISTLE. Acts. x. 34-43.
PETER opened Im mouth, and said, Of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth
Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with
Him. The word which God sent unto the chil-
dren of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ ;
(He is Lord of all ;) that word (I my) ye know,
which was published throughout all Judaea, and
began from Galilee, after the baptism which John
preached : how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost, and with power; Who
went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil : for God was with Him.
■^THE GOSPEL.
BEHOLD, two of [His disciples] went that
same day to a village called Emmaus,
which was from Jerusalem about threescore fur-
longs. And they talked together of all these
things which had happened. And it came to
pass, that while they communed together, and
reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went
with them. But their eyes were holden, that
they should not know Him. And He said unto
them, What manned' of communications are these
that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are
sad? And the one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answering, said unto Him, Art Thou only
a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the
things which are come to pass there in these days?
And He said unto them, What things ? And they
said unto Him. Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
Which was a Prophet mighty in deed and word,
before God and all the people : and how the
chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be
* S. B. p!. Rom-
an. Act5 10. j7-
43-
Easleru. Acts i.
12-17, 21-26.
And we are witnesses of all things which He did,
both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem ;
Whom they slew, and hanged on a tree : Him
God raised up the third day, and shewed Him
openly ; not to all the people, but unto witnesses
chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat
and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.
And He commanded us to preach unto the jieople,
and to testify that it is He Which was ordained
of God to be the Judge of cj[uick and dead. To
Him give all the prophets witness, that through
His Name whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sins.
S. Luke xxiv. 13-35.
c Sk. S. S.
a>i .IS P-B.
Eastern,
l8-2«.
Rom-
John 1.
condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But
we trusted that it had been He Which should
have redeemed Israel : and beside all this, to-
day is the third day since these things were
done. Yea, and certain women also of our com-
pany made us astonished, which were early at
the sepulchre ; and when they found not His
body, they came, saying, that they had also seen
a vision of angels, which said that He was alive.
And certain of them which were with us went
to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the
women had said ; but Him they saw not. Then
He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken :
ought not Christ to have sutiered these things,
and to enter into His glory? And beginning at
Moses, and all the prophets, He expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself. And they drew nigh unto the village
whither they went ; and He made as though He
Ps. Lord, Thou hast searched me out and proved me. Thou
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
EASTER MONDAY.
The extension of the Easter festival through seven days is
mentioned by St. Chrysostom in one of his Easter homilies,
by St. Augustine in one of liis Epistles [Iv. ad Januar.], and
in the Code of Theodosius, whicli directed a cessation of labour
during the whole of the week. The Sacramentary of St.
Gregory contains a service for each day, as does also the
Salisbury Missal. Yet there are many ancient precedents
for the course taken in the later Euglisli rite, which limits tlie
special services to three days. At the Council of Mayence
[a.d. 813] a canon was passed wliich restricted tlie celebration
of Easter to four d.ays. The thirty-seventh Canon of ^Ifric
[a.d. 957] directs the clergy to cliarge their people, that they
keep the first four days of Easter free from all servile work.
A Council of Constance [ad. 1094] enjoined that Pentecost
and Easter sliould botli be celebrated witli three festival days ;
and these rpnj/iepos Tvpoffea/xta are spoken of even by Gregory
Thaumaturgus in the third century. There seems, therefore,
to have been considerable diversity as to the number of days
observed, but a general consent in setting apart several days
after Sunday in special honour of the festival of our Lord's
Resurrection.
In tlio margin of his Durham Prayer Book, Bishop Cosin
wrote out for use on tliis day the Collect, " God, Who for
our redemption ..." wliicli had been formerly appointed for
tlie Procession before Mattins.
Introit. — The Lord hath brought you into a land flowing
with milk and honey. Alleluia. Wherefore, let the law of the
Lord be ever in your mouth. Alleluia. Ps. give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is gi-acious, and His mercy endureth
for ever. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, h.ave mercy
upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. 'p'. Glory to God in
tlie highest. R7. On earth peace, good will towards men.
292
CuesDap m (ZBaster ancefe.
would have gone further : but they constrained
Him, saying, Abide with us, for it is toward
evening, and the day is far spent. And He went
in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as
He sat at meat with them. He took bread, and
blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and
He vanished out of their sight. And they said
one to another, Did not our heart burn within us,
^.hile He talked with us by the way, and while
He opened to us the Scriptures 1 And they rose
up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem,
and found the eleven gathered together, and
them thit were with them, saying, The Loed
is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.
And they told what things were done in the way,
and how He was known of them in breaking of
bread.
TUESDAY IN Easter Week.
-Fer.
THE COLLECT.
/VLMIGHTY God, Who through Thy only-
-^--^ begotten Son Jesus Christ hast over-
come death, and opened unto us the gate of
everlasting life ; We humbly beseech Thee, that,
as by Thy special grace preventing us Thou dost
put into our minds good desires, so by Thy con-
tinual help we may bring the same to good effect ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever
one God, world without end. Amen
a III. post Pascha.
'FOIl THE EPISTLE. Acts xiii. 2G-41.
MEN and brethren, children of the stock of
Abraham, and whosoever among you
feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their
rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the
voices of the prophets which are read every sab-
bath-day, they have fulfilled them in condemning
Him. And though they found no cause of death
in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should
be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that
was written of Him, they took Him down from
the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre. But God
raised Him from the dead : and He was seen
many days of them which came up with Him
from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses
unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made
unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same
unto us their children, in that He hath raised up
Jesus again ; as it is also written in the second
Psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begot-
i 5. i^ S). Rem-
tin. Acts 13. ^6-33-
Easttt ti. Acts 2.
ten Thee. And as concerning that He raised Him
up from the dead, noio no more to return to
corruption, He said on this wise, I will give you
the sure mercies of David. Wherefore He saith
also in another Psalm, Thou shalt not suffer
Thine Holy One to see corruption. For David,
after he had served his own generation by the
will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his
fathers, and saw corruption : But He Whom God
raised again saw no corruption. Be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that
through this Man is preached unto you the for-
giveness of sins : and by Him all that believe
are justified from all things, from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware
therefore, lest that come upon you which is
spoken of in the prophets ; Behold, ye despisers,
and wonder, and perish : for I work a work in
your days, a work which ye shall in no wise
believe, though a man declare it unto you.
-THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xxiv. 3G-48.
JESUS Himself stood in the midst of them,
and saith unto them. Peace be unto you. But
they were terrified and affrighted, and su|)posed
that the;/ had seen a spirit. And He said unto
them. Why arc ye troubled, and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and IMy
feet, that it is I Myself : handle Me, and .see ; for j
a spirit liath not flesh and bones, as yc see Me
have. And when Ho had thus spoken, Ho .shewed
them ///.< hands and His feet. And while they
yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said
' S. g. m.
an. Luke
47-
Eastern,
=4. "-SS-
4. 36-
unto them. Have ye here any meat ( And they
gave Him a piece of a broiled fi.sh, and of an
honey-comb. And He took it, and did cat
before them. And He said unto them, These are
the words which I spake unto you, while I was
yet with you, that all things nuist be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses, and in
the Projihets, and in the Psalms concerning Me.
Then opened He their understanding, that tlteij
might understand the Scriptures, and said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
EASTER TUESDAY.
Until IGGl tlio Collect originally appointed for the second
celebration on Easter Day was appointeil for use on this
day.
iNTRorr. — He sliall give liini the water of wisdom to drink.
Alleluia. Slio shall he cstablislicil in them, and shall not be
moved. Alleluia. And shall exalt them for ever. Alleluia.
Alleluia. Ps. give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious,
and His mercy endureth for over. Glory be.
Cfje jFivst anD ^cconO ^iinDags aftcc Caster.
293
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the
third day ; and that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in His Name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And )c are
witnesses of these things.
Thh First Sunday after Easter
"Dominica I. in Oclaoii Paschce.
'THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY Father, Who hast given Thine
-^^ only Son to die for our sins, and to rise
again for our justification ; Grant us so to put
away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that
we may alway serve Thee in pureness of living
and truth ; through the merits of the same Thy
Son Jesus Chkist our Lord. Amen.
«S. ?B
m.
6 A.D. ;
549-
<: Pr.-ef.
aiitjq. Dom.
in Pair
IS. 1-eria iv.
P.iiuelius Liturg. ii. 1
564-
r'TDER Christum Dosiinum nostrum. Qui
L -L innocens pro impiis voluit pati, et pro
sceleratis indebite condemnari. Cujus mors
delicta nostra detorsit, et resurrectio nobis justi-
ficationem exhibuit . . .]
''THE EPISTLE. 1 S. John v. 4-12.
"TTT'HATSOEVER is born of God overcometh
V V the world ; and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is
he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God 1 This
is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus
Christ ; not by water only, but by water and
blood : and it is the Spiiut that beareth witness,
because the Spirit is truth. For there are Three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the
Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these. Three
are One. And there are three that bear witness
^ ^ar. Sunday, as
on Easter Day,
Ferial, i John 5. 4-
ro.
^. ^. Roman.
I John 5. 4-10.
Eastern, Acts 5.
f The words " of
Cod " were origin-
ally in the MS.,
but were crossed
out. They are in
the Greek and the
Authorized Ver-
sion, but not in the
Vulyale,
in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood :
and these three agree in one. If we receive the
witness of men, the witness of God is greater :
for this is the witness of God, which He hath
testified of His Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself : he that
believeth not God hath made Him a liar, because
he believeth not the record that God gave of
His Son. And this is the record, that God hath
given to us eternal life ; and this life is in His
Son. He that hath the Son hath life ; and he
that hath not the Son 'of God hath not life.
THE GOSPEL. S. John xx. 19-23.
THE same day at evening, being the first dai/
of the week, when the doors were shut,
where the disciples were assembled for fear of
the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst,
and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And
when He had so said, He shewed unto them Nis
hands and His side. Then were the disciples
glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus
^ 5£tr. Sunday, as
on Easier bay.
Ferial, John 20. tg-
'i. i&. J!,n„.,„.
haslerii, John 20.
19.31.
to them again. Peace he unto you : As 3Iy
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.
Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they
are retained.
The Second Sunday after Easter
• Dominica II. post Pascha.
"THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who hast given Thine
■^l\. only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice
h A.D. 1549.
LOW SUNDAY.
All the days between Easter and its Octave have "in albis"
added to them in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, but the
Sunday after Easter is called Dominica octavas Pascha;.
From a very ancient period, however, it has been called
"Dominica post albas," or (as in the Ambrosian Missal),
"Dominica in albis depositis," and shortly, "Dominica in
albis," because on tliis day the newly baptized first appeared
without tile chrisms or white roljes which tliey had worn
every day since their baptism on Easter Eve. The popular
English name of Low Sunday has probably arisen from the
contrast between the joys of Easter and the first return to
ordinary Sunday services. On this Sunday, or sometimes on
the fourth Sunday after Easter, it was the custom, in primi-
tive d.ays, for those who had been baptized the year before to
keep an anniversary of their baptism, which was called the
Annotine Easter, although the actual anniversary of the pre-
vious Easter might fall on another day. [Micrologus, Ivi. ]
The Epistle evidently bears on this custom, and sets forth the
new birth of Baptism as the beginning of an abiding power of
overcoming the world through its connection with the Risen
Christ, the source of our regeneration. The ancient writer
just referred to suggests the reflection, that if we celebrate
the anniversary of that day when we were born to eternal
death through original sin, how much rather ought we to keep
in memory the day when we were new born into eternal life?*
The Collect appointed for this Sunday in 1549 was that now
in use ; being the same that was appointed fur the second
communion on Easter Day, and for Easter Monday and
Tuesday. In 1552, when the special service for this second
communion was discontinued, tlie Collect at present in use on
Easter Day was substituted. In both cases Low Sunday was
regarded as the Octave of Easter, according to the ancient
rite ; but in 1G61 the original Collect of the day was restored
at the suggestion of Cosin, the change that had removed it
from use on Easter Day being overlooked, and thus the ritual
symmetry of the two services was marred.
Inteoit. —When I wake up I am present with Thee. Alle-
luia. Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me. Alleluia. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me. Alleluia. Ps. Lord,
Thou hast searched me out and proved me. Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
The Eucharistic tone of the Scriptures used begins now to
1 In the Lectionary of St. Jerome the Pascha Antiotiniim is set down for
the third Saturday after Easter. The Ejiistle is Rev. v., and the Gospel
John iii.
294
Cbe Ci)icri ^unoay after faster.
for sin, and also an ensample of godly life ; Give
us grace that we may always most thankfully
receive that His inestimable benefit, and also
daily "endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed
steps of His most holy life; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord. Aiiien.
(T On this reflexive
form, s^e note in
Confirmation Ser-
*THE EPISTLE. 1 S. Pet. ii. 19-25.
THIS is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience
toward God endure grief, suffering wrong-
fully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be
buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently ?
But if, when ye do well, and suffer for ii, ye take
it patiently ; this is acceptable with God. For
even hereunto were ye called : because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that
ye should follow His steps : Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in His mouth : Who,
> 5. a. S. Km,,.
a,:. I Pet. =. =1-
Easlerii. Acts 6.
when He was reviled, reviled not again ; when
He suffered. He threatened not ; but committed
Hi7nself to Him that judgeth righteously : Who
His own self bare our sins in His own body on
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live
unto righteousness : by Whose stripes ye were
healed. For ye were as sheep going astray ; but
are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop
of your souls.
^THE GOSPEL. S. John x. 11-16.
r TESUS said,] I am the Good Shepherd : the
LtJ good shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep. But he that is an hirehng, and not the
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the
wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ;
and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the
sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an
hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the
' s. s. n
ail as P. B.
Eastern,
15. 43—16- 8.
Rom-
Mark
Good Shepherd, and know ^ly sheep, and am
known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me,
even so know I the Father : and I lay down My
life for the sheep. And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold ; them also I must
bring, and they shall hear My voice ; and there
shall be one fold, and one Shepherd.
rfS.g. g. CreK.
Gelas. Leo. Dom.
ii. post Oct. Pascliie.
Mur. i. 301.
The Third Sunday after
Dominica III. x>ost Pascha.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who shewest to them that
-^^ be in error the light of Thy truth, to the
intent that they may return into the way of
righteousness ; Grant unto all them that are
admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion,
that they may eschew those things that are con-
trary to their profession, and follow all such
things as are agreeable to the same ; through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
EASTER.
''ORATIO.
DEUS, Qui errantibus, ut in viam possint
redire justitise, veritatis Tuae lumen osten-
dis ; da cmictis qui Christiana professione cen-
sentur, et ilia respuere, quae huic inimica sunt
nomini, et ea quse sunt apta sectari. Per
DOMINUM.
diverge from tlie fact of the Resurrection to the results of it,
as giving to the Church a Saviour abiding with us for ever.
In the Epistle and Gospel He is set forth as the Chief Pastor,
the High Priest of the New Dispensation ; and His own words,
" I am the Good Shepherd," are taken up by His chief Apostle
when he calls Him "the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
Tlie Collect is, however, based on the idea of Clirisfs holy
example as referred to in the first part of the Epistle, and
neither in the modem nor in the ancient service is there any
recognition of the beautiful parable which our Lord spoke of
Himself in the Gospel, except that the first words of it were
taken for the " Communio, " or sentence sung during the com-
munion of the laity. Durandus states tliat the Epistle and
Gospel concerning the sheep and the Shepherd are connected
with a Roman custom of holding councils on this day ; but
if 80, the custom must be more ancient than the days of St.
Jerome, in whose Lectionary they are found. It seems pro-
bable that Christ's example to His pastors is, however, the
idea of the Sunday, not His cxamjjle to all.
In both Epistle and Gospel (considering the season at «hich
they are used) there must be taken to be a reference to victory
gained by Buffering. The Good Shepherd would not win His
nock by agreeing to the Tempter's suggestion, "All these
things will I give Thee, and the glory of them, if Thou wilt
fall down and worship me," for that would have been no
victory at all : but He won them by giving up His life for
them ; and the seeming' extinction of all hope on Good Friday
was the step to th,at triumph l)y which the " kingdoms of thLs
world have become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His
Christ," the Slicphcrd and Bishop of our souls. The humble
obedience of the Sou of Man, "even unto death, " has made
Him an Example to all ages, the Leader of an iimumerable
army of saints, and the Fountain of the pastoral and sacerdotal
office, by the ministrations of which men are gathered into
the one fold of salvation,
Introit. — The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Alleluia. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous ;
for it becometh well the just to be thankful. Glory be.
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
On this Sunday the risen Saviour is presented to ns as the
strength of the regenerate, the Fountain of spiritual ability for
all Christians, as well as of pastoral ability for His ministers.
For the mystical Presence of Christ is the power by which
those who arc admitteil into the Christian body are able to
eschew evil and follow good, and it was this Mystical Presence
of which Clirist spoke in the words of the Gospel.
During the period which is now being commemorated, the
Lord .Tesus was seen again by His disciples ; and yet they
nmst h.tve been possessed by a conviction that it w.as not for
long, and that their Master w'.as to be taken aw'ay frcmi their
he.ad .as Elijah was from Elisha. At such a time, .and as their
faith grew with tlie Resurrection Life of their Lord, the words
He had formerly spoken to them must have recurred to their
minds .as words which had already been in part fulfilled, and
of which a still more glorious fulfilment was in prospect.
Because He wiia going to the F.ather to present His natural
fUbt JFourtb ^untjaj? aftci* ^astci.
295
"THE EPISTLE.
DEARLY beloved, I beseech i/ou as strangers
and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul ; having your conver-
sation honest among the Gentiles ; that, whereas
they speak against you as evil doers, they may,
by your good works wliich they shall behold,
glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake ; whether it be to the King, as
1 S. Pet. ii. 11-17.
1 ». 13- Si. A'o;/i-
ntt. I Pet. 2. I1-19.
litisUrit. Acts 9.
32-41.
supreme ; or unto governours, as unto them that
are sent by Him, for the punishment of evil doers,
and for the praise of them that do well. For so
is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may
put to silence the ignorance of foolish men : as
free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of
maliciousness ; but as the servants of God.
Honour all me7i. Love the brotherhood. Fear
God. Honour the King.
»THE GOSPEL. S. John xvi. 16-22.
r "TESUS said to His disciples,] A little while
LtJ and ye shall not see Me ; and again, a
little while and ye shall see Me; because I go
to the Father. Then said some of His disciples
among themselves. What is this that He saith
unto us, A little while and ye shall not see Me ;
and again, a little while and ye shall see Me ;
and, Because I go to the Father 1 They .said
therefore, What is this that He saith, A little
while? we cannot tell what He saith. Now
Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him,
and said unto them, Do ye enquire among your-
selves of that I said, A little while and ye shall
»S. e. JE). Rem-
an .IS p. B.
Eastefu. Juliii 5.
not see Me ; and again, a little while and ye shall
see Me 1 Verily, verily I say unto you. That yc
shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice:
and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall
be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in
travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come :
but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she
remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a
man is born into the world. And ye now there-
fore have sorrow : but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man
taketh from you.
THE FOUPTH SUNDAY AFTKR EASTER.
Dominica I V. post Pascha.
THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who alone canst order
the unruly wills and affections of sinful
men ; Grant unto Thy people, that they may love
the thing which Thou commandest, and desire
that which Thou dost promise ; that so, among
the sundry and manifold changes of the world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed where true
joys are to be found ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
fS.g.a- Oretr.
Gclas. Doiil. iii.
ost Oct. PasLha;.
58s.
post t
Miir. i
'ORATIO.
DELTS, Qui fidelium mentes unius efficis vol-
untatis, da populis Tuis id amare quod
praecipis, id desiderare quod promittis, ut inter
mundanas varietates ibi nostra fixa sint corda ubi
vera sunt gaudia. Per.
Body as an ever-living Intercession, He could not be soon by
the bodily eyes of His little flock ; but because He was going
to the Father to be a continual Mediator and Intercessor, the
benefits of His Presence would be manifestly given to the
many, even as if the eyes of all tlie faithful rested upon His
visible Person.
Thus had the Good Shepherd comforted His flock before
His Death : and thus in the Divine Service of His Church He
is ever at this season speaking to us, and bidding us look to
Him as a Saviour present in His Church, and to be beheld by
the eyes of those who will look for Him in faith. A Presence
which Christ could speak of in such terms as those of this
day's Gospel may well be called Real, and in such a Presence
Hia people may well look for that strength of the regenerate
which will enable them to fulfil the duties of the regene-
rate.
When the Collect was first composed, the words, "them
that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion " re-
ferred especially to those who had been baptized at Easter.
Introit. — be joyful in God, all ye lands. Alleluia. Sing
praises unto the honour of His Name. Alleluia. Make His
praise to be glorious. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps. Say
unto God, how wonderful art Tliou in Tliy works, through
the greatness of Thy power. Glory be.
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
The Collect for this day originally, i.e. in 1.549, stood in
English exactly as it stands in the Latin : "Almighty God,
Which dost make the minds of all faithful men to be of one
will. ..." Bishop Cosin altered the latter words to ' ' make all
men to be of one mind," but the present form was eventually
adopted, and the idea of unity was thus taken out of the
Collect. The omission is the more singular, since there is in
the Gospel a reference to the Holy Spirit by Whom this unity
is effected.
The Epistle and Gospel point in the same direction as those
of the preceding Sunday, viz. to tlie good and perfect Gift
which would be bestowed upon the Church after, and through,
the bodily departure of Christ to heaven. It seemed strange
and hard to bear that it should be e-xjiedient for Him to go
away Who had been the Leader and Benefactor of His dis-
ciples and all who were willing to receive Him ; but He
spoke these words to them beforehand that they might be
comforted with some foreshadowing of the glory and blessing
of the New Dispensation which w.as to be perfected in His
Resurrection and Ascension ; and be prepared for percei^ang,
when tlie fruit of the Resurrection was ripe for gathering,
that the departure of Christ to heaven was a greater gain
to tliem tlirougli His mystical Presence than His remaining
upon earth could have been. This good and perfect gift, the
gift which the Spirit of truth bestows upon tlie Church, and
through the corporate Church on all its individual members,
is therefore set before us as we draw near to Ascension Day
as the true reason why all sorrow, because of her Lord's
departure, should be banished from tlie Church. The Com-
forter will come to bestow the Gift of the Word of God
engrafted upon human nature, and in that gift to bestow
Light, Trutli, and Salvation.
Introit. — sing unto the Lord a new song. Alleluia. For
He hath done marvellous things. Alleluia. His righteousness
hath He openly shewed in tlie sight of the heathen. Alleluia.
Alleluia. Ps. With His own right hand, and with His holy
arm, hath He gotten Himself the victory. Glory be.
296
Cbe JFiftf) ©unoay after (faster.
"THE EPISTLE. S. Jame& i. 17-21.
'S.S.».
Rem.
an as P. B
Eastern.
Actsii.
19-30.
EVERY good gift, and every perfect gift is
from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Of His own will
begat He us with the Word of trutli, that we
should be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man
»THE GOSPEL. S
r "TESUS said unto His disciples,] Now I go My
LtJ way to Him that sent ile, and none of you
asketh Me, A\Tiither goest Thou 1 But, because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow hath
filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away :
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not
come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send Him
unto you. And when He is come. He will
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgement : of sin, because they believe
not on Me ; of righteousness, because I go to My
Father, and ye see Me no more ; of judgement,
i S. B. S. Rem-
an. John 16. 5-15.
Eastern. John 4.
5-«.
be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath ;
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteous-
ness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness
and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with
meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to
save your souls.
John xvi. 5-15.
because the prince of this world is judged. I
have yet many things to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the
Spirit of truth, is come. He will guide you into
all truth : for He .shall not speak of Himself ;
but whatsoever He shall hoar, that .shall He speak :
and He will shew you things to come. He
shall glorify !Me : for He shall receive of Mine,
and shall shew it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are Mine : therefore said I,
that He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it
unto you.
THE Fifth Sunday after Easter.
Dominica V. post Pascha.
THE COLLECT.
OLOED, from Whom all good things do
come ; Grant to us Thy humble servants,
that by Thy holy inspiration we may think those
things that be good, and by Thy merciful guid-
ing may perform the same ; through our Lord
Jesu.s Christ. Amen.
■ 5. 3@. g. Greg.
Gelas. Dom. iv.
post Oct. Paschs.
^lur. i. 585.
'ORATIO.
DEUS, a Quo cuncta bona procedunt ; largire
supplicibus Tuis ut cogitemus, Te inspir-
ante, quae recta sunt, et Te gubernaute, eadem
faciamus. Per Dominum.
B
''THE EPISTLE. S. James i. 22-27.
E ye doers of the Word, and not hearers d 5. g. ^. Rem. work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
only, deceiving your own selves. For if
any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what
manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the
If
"kTstern.' Kaiif,. any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own
heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion,
and undefiled before God and the Father, is
this. To visit the fatherless and widows in their
affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the
world.
«THE GOSPEL. S. John xvi. 23-33.
~V7~ERILY, verily I say unto yuu, Whatsoever
V ye shall ask the Father in My Name,
He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked no-
thing in My Name : ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full. These things have I spoken
unto you in proverbs : but the time cometh
when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs,
. J3. H). Rem.
John 16. 23-
istern. John 9.
but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
At that day ye shall ask in !My Name : and I
say not unto you, that I will pray the Father
for you ; for the Father Himself loveth you,
because ye have loved Me, and have believed that
I came out from God. I came forth from the
Father, and am come into the world : again, I
ROGATION SUNDAY.
The fifth Sunday after Easter being the first day of the
week in which the I'ogation days occur, has taken its name
from them, and is u.sually called Rogation Sund.iy. The
striking appropriateness of the Gospel, which contains our
Lord's words about asking in His Name, seems to indicate
th.it it was either chosen for this d.iy on account of its position
with reference to tho Rogation days, or that the latter were
appointed to be oljservcd on the three days following because
the Gospel aln^ady distinguished this as the Sund.iy concern-
ing Asking. Both the Epistle and Gospel .ire found in the
Lectionary of .St.. .Icmme; and .ts the Rogation d.iy8 are
generally said to have been instituted in the fifth century, the
latter seems the more probable theory. Tlie Collect has an
evident connection with the purpose of tlic Rogation days ; and
so, perhaps, has the latter part of the Epistle. Bishop Cosin
wished to insert a new rubric at the end of the Gospel, " This
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall be used only upon this day."
Introit.— With tho voice of singing declare ye, declare ye.
Alleluia. Utter it even to the cud of the earth, say ye that
the Lord hath redeemed His people. Alleluia. Alleluia.
/'.■I. be joyful in the Lord, all ye lauds. Sing praises
unto the honour of His N.ime. Make His pr.dse to be
glorious. Glory be.
Cf)C Ascension Day.
297
leave the world, and go to the Fatuee. His dis-
ciples said unto Him, Lo, now speakest Thou
plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are wo
sure that Thou knowest all things, and iieedest
not that any man should ask Thee : by this we
believe that Thou earnest forth from God. Jesus
answered them, Do ye now believe ? Behold, the
hour Cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered every man to his own, and shall leave
Me alone : and yet I am not alone, because the
Fatiiek is with Me. These things I have spoken
unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In
the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world.
The ascension Day.
In Die Aacensionis Domini.
THE COLLECT.
QRANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God,
that like as we do believe Thy only-begot-
ten Son our Lokd Jesus Cheist to have ascended
into the heavens ; so we may also in heart and
mind thither ascend, and with Him continually
dwell, Who liveth and reigneth with Tiiee and
the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.
Amen.
«s.g
H?
Greg.
in Asceii-sa
Domini.
Mur. ii
^'^.
Com p.
Gclas.
Mur
. i. 588.
" ORATIO.
CONCEDE quaesumus omnipotens Deus, ut
qui hodierna die Unigenitum Tuum Redemp-
torem nostrum ad ccelos ascendisse credimus,
Ipsi quoque mente in coelestibus habitemus. Per
euudera Dominum nostrum.
■^rOR THE EPLSTLE. Acts i. 1-11.
THE former treatise have I made, O Theo-
philus, of all that Jesus began both to do
and teach, until the day in which He was taken
up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had
given commandments unto the Apostles whom
He had chosen : to whom also He shewed Him-
self alive after His passion, by many infallible
proofs ; being seen of them forty days, and speak-
ing of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of
God : and, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me.
For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall
be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence. When they therefore were come together,
they asked of Him, saying, Loed, wilt Thou at
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel 1
s. g- Hi-
Rem
a>* as r. U.
hasttrn.
Acts I
I-I2.
And He said unto them, It is not for you to
know the times or the seasons, which the
Fathee hath put in His own power. But ye
shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto
Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judiea, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the
earth. And when He had spoken these things,
while they beheld. He was taken up, and a cloud
received Him out of their sight. And while they
looked stedfastly toward heaven, as He went
xip, behold, two men stood by them in white
apparel ; which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same
Jesus, Which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen
Him go into heaven.
THE ROGATION DAYS.
On the autliority of St. Gregory of Tours (wlio wrote in the
latter part of the sixth century) the institution of the Rogation
Days is attributed to Mamertus, Bishop of the French diocese
of Vienne, a.d. 452. A terrible calamity is said to have
occurred to the diocese or city of Vieune (by earthquake and
fire, .and by the incursion of wolves and other wild beasts),
on account of which Mamertus set apart the three d.ays before
Ascension Day as a solemn fast, during wliich processions
with Litanies were to be made tliroughout the diocese. [-See
Introduction to the Litany.] The custom is supposed to
have been taken up by other dioceses, and to have extended
itself from France to Englanii, but not to have been recognized
at Rome until the eighth or ninth century. A more probable
account is that the Rogation Days were instituted at some
earlier period, for the purpose of asking God's Blessing on the
rising produce of the earth ; and that Mamertus chose them
as the time for a solemn observance in deprecation of God's
anger with reference to the special troubles of his day.
There was a Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Rogation
Days in the Salisbury Missal, but these were not retained in
the Prayer Book, although there is a Homily in three parts
"for the days of Rogation week," ' and an " Exhortation to
be spoken to such Parishes where they use their Perambula-
tions in Rogation week, for the oversight of the bounds and
limits of their to%Yn. " Bishop Cosin proposed to supply this
omission, and wrote the following in the margin of the Dur-
ham Prayer Book : —
1 The title of this Homily, " That all good things come from God," seems
to be suggested by the Collect for the Sunday.
"The Collect.
"Almighty God, Lord of Heaven and Earth, in Whom we
live, and move, and have our being ; Who dost good unto all
men, making Thy sun to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendmg rain on the just and on the unjust ; favourably
behold us Thy people, who call upon Thy Name, and send us
Thy Blessing from heaven in giving us fruitful seasons, and
filling our hearts with food and gladness ; that both our
hearts and mouths may be continu.illy filled with Thy
praises, giving thanks to Thee in Thy holy Church through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. " -
A Collect was also proposed by the Commission of 1689,
which is worthy of being placed beside that of Bishop Cosin ; —
"Almighty God, Who hast bles.sed the earth that it should be
fruitful, and bring forth every thing that is necessary for the
life of man, and hast commanded us to work witli quietness
and eat our own bread ; bless us in all our labours, and grant
us such seasonable weather that we may gather in the
fruits of the earth, and ever rejoice in Thy goodness, to the
- This Collect first a])pears in Cosin's Btvoiions, originally printed in
1G26. It is not quite so rhythmical as some others of his composition, and
perhaps the follomng form of it is better adapted for intonation : —
" Almighty God, Lord of Heaven and Eartli, in Whom we live, and move,
and have our being; Who dost cause Tliy sun to ri,se on the evil and on the
good, and sendest rain both upon the just and the unjust ; we beseech Thee,
favourably to behold Thy people who call upon Thee, sending Thy Bless-
ing down from heaven to give us a fruitful season : that both our hearts
and mouths being continually filled with Thy goodness, we may evermore
give thanks unto Thee in Thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."
lu the same volume there is another admirable Collect for the Ember
Week in September, which would be a most suitable one to use for a
Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration.
298
Clje ascension Dap.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Markxvi. 14-20.
r "TESTIS] appeared unto the eleven as tliey sat
L^ at meat, and upbraided tliem with their
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen Him after He
was risen. And He said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall
be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be
damned. And these signs shall foUow them that
believe : In My Name shall they cast out devils ;
" S. g. 3M.
Rom.
„„ as V. B.
lasUrn.
Luke
!4. 36-53-
they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall
take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay
hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So
then after the Lord had spoken unto them, He
was received up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God. And they went forth and
preached every where, the Lord working with
them, and confirming the Word with signs fol-
lowinrf.
praise of Thy holy Isame, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."
The following Table shews the old Epistles and Gospels for
the three days, those proposed by Cosin, and also those
suggested by the Commission of 1689. [See also the Table of
Proper Psalms.]
Salisbury Use.
Cosin.
leso.
Epistle.
.Tames v. lC-20.
Is.i. vii. 10-15.
Acts iv. 31-35.
J.iiues V. 13-lS.
Deut. xxviii. 1-9.
Gospel.
Luke xi. 5-13.
Luke xi. 1-10.
Matt. vi. 25 to the
Luke i. 26-38.
eud.
John xvii. 1-11.
The religious Services of the Rogation Days are not limited
to the w.alls of the Church. From very ancient days "Per-
ambulations " around the boundaries of the parish have been
made in procession, and the Litany, or a portion of it, with
the 103rd and 104th Psalm sung at various stations, marked
by crosses, or still remembered by the parishioners from
generation to generation, even when the crosses have ceased
to mark the spots. It is not necessary to occupy space with
the details of well-known usages connected with these per-
ambulations, but it may be as well to set before the reader
an extract from the Injunctions of Queen Elizabeth, issued
in 1559, in which both the secular and the religious purpose
of the procession is referred to : —
"... For the retaining of the perambulation of the Cir-
cuits of Parishes, they shall once in tlie year at the time
accustomed with the Curate and the substantial men of the
Parish walk about the Parishes as they were accustomed, and
at their return to the Church make tlieir common prayers.
" Provided, that the Curate in their said common Perambula-
tions, used heretofore in tlie days of Rogations, at certain
convenient places, shall admonish the people to give thanks
to God, in the beholding of God's benefits, for the increase
and abundance of His fruits upon the face of the earth, with
the saying of the lO.'Jrd Psalm : Benedic, animamea, etc. At
wliich time also the same minister shall inculcate these or
such sentences, ' Cursed be he wdiich translateth tlie bounds
and dolles of his neighbour. ' Or such other order of prayers,
.as shall be hereafter appointed."
The "Exhortation" printed as a sequel to the Rogation-
day Homily begins by s.aying tliat the jirincipal object of tlie
Proce.s.sion or I'orambulation is that of asking God's blessing
upon the land and its fruits, and adds, " Yet have we occasion
secondarily given us in our walks on these days to consider
the old ancient bounds and limits l)elonging to our township,"
etc. etc. From liishops' Articles of Visitation of later periods
it appears that the ordinary practice was to use the Litany on
each of these days, and a portion of the Homily. But it is
clear that there was never any settled rule, and that the
practice varied according to the jnety and liturgical feeling of
the d.iy or the parish.
Tlie Rogation Days .and the religious observance of them in
some such manner .as that above indicated are referred to in
the most ancient records of the Chnrcli of England. In the
Laws of King Alfred and of Athelstan they are called
(jchi'ilihiiida or Pr.ayer Days, and also (jctmj drnjas ; the latter
name, "gang d.ays," being still used in some p.arts of the
north of England,
HOLY THURSDAY.
There is not any very early historical notice of Ascension
Day, but St. Clirysostora has a homily on the day ; St.
Augustine mentions it in one of his Epistles, and also in a
Sermon [261], in which he says, "We celebr.ate this day the
solemnity of the Ascension." St. Gregory of Nyssa has .also
left a homily on the day. St. Augustine calls this one of the
festivals which are supposed to have been instituted by the
Apostles themselves [Ep. liv. al. cxviii. ad. Jainiar.], so that
it must have been generally observed in his time : and Proclus,
Archbishop of Constantinople, in the same .age, speaks of it
[Oral, iii.] as one of the days which the Lord h.as made,
reverently considering that the great acts of our Lord so far
consecrated the days on which they occurred th.at no further
appointment was needed for their separation from common
days. Its name has never varied, although popular appella-
tions have, of course, been attached to it on account of some
observauces connected with the day. But even these have
been very few, and are not worth notice, "Holy Thursday"
being the only vernacular name that has been generally
adopted.
During the Paschal Quinquagesima no festivals have vigils
or fasting eves except Ascension D.ay and Whitsunday, the
whole period being regarded as one of spiritual joy in the
Resurrection.
The ritual provisions of the Prayer Book for this day shew
plainly that it is regarded in the system of our Church as one
of the very highest class of solemn days set apart in honour
of our Lord. The Proper Lessons and Psalms at Mattins and
Evensong, and the Proper Preface in the Communion Service,
place it on the same footing as Christmas Day, Easter, or
^Vhitsunday ; and there is no d.ay in the year which is
so well illustrated by these ,as that of the Ascension. It
could hardly have been otherwise, for the act which is
commemorated on this day was one which crowned and
consummated the work of the Redeemer's Person, and
opened the gate of everlasting life to those whom He had
redeemed.
The facts of the Ascension are commemorated in the Epistle
and Gospel. In the first lessons at Mattins and Evensong we
see the ascended Lord in His everlasting Kingdom, and the
type of His Ascension, Elijah, going up to heaven in a whirl-
wind. But the fulness of the d.ay's meaning must be
looked for in the Psalms, where, as so often, the interpre-
tation of the Gospels was given by God beforehand to the
Church. And in these the Church also celebrates tlie eternal
Victory of the King of fJlory, Who had been made a little
lower than the angels in the humiliation of His earthly life,
that He might be crowned ^\ith the gU)ry and worship of all
created things, when seated, still in His lium.an nature, on
the throne of Heaven. The festival concludes the yearly
commemoration of our Blessed Lord's life and work : which
thus leads upward from the cradle at Bethlehem, exliibitiiip
before (iod and man the various stages of His redeeming work,
.and following Him step liy step until we stand with the
disciples gazing up after Him as He goes within the
everhasting doors. And thus this half-yearly cycle of
days presents the holy Jesus to our devotions as perfect
Man .and perfect God, the perfection of His m.anhood con-
firmed in the sorrows of Good Friday, the perfection of
His Divine Nature in the triumph of Easter and the
Ascension.
Inthoit. — Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
lieavon ? Alleluia. So sh.all He come as ye have seen Him
go into heaven. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps. And
while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as He went up,
behold two men stood by tlioiii in white apparel, which said.
Glory be.
^unDaj) after ascension Dap— MJWtsunDap.
299
THE COLLECT.
OGOD the King of Glory, Who hast exalted
Thine only Son Jesus Christ with great
triumph unto Thy kingdom in lieaven ; We
beseech Thee, leave us not comfortless; but send
to ns Thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and
exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour
Christ is gone before, Who livoth and reignetli
with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world
without end. Amen.
o
Sunday after Ascension Day.
Dominica infra Octav. Ascensioitis.
"ANTIPH. AD VE.SP. IN DIE ASCENS.
REX Glorias, Domine virtutum, Qui Tri-
umphator hodie super omnes coelos ascen-
disti, ne derelinquas nos orphanos, sed mitte
promissum Patris in nos Spiritum veritatis.
Alleluia.
[*Omnipotens Deus Pater glorise. Qui Domi-
NUM nostrum Jesum Christum suscitasti a mor-
tuis, conlocans Ilium ad dexteram Tuam super
omnem principatum et putestatem, etc.]
(iclas. Antipli
Mur. i. 590,
d Mo2arabic[Brev.].
^THE EPISTLE. 1 S. Peter iv. 7-11.
THE end of all (hinr/s is at hand ; be ye
therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
And above all things have fervent charity among
yourselves : for charity shall cover the multitude
of sins. Use hospitality one to another without
grudging. As every man hath received i/ie gift,
even so minister the same one to another, as
<■ ». e. S. Km,,
an as I'. B.
r.astern. Acts 20.
16-36.
good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles
of God : if any man minister, let him do it as
of the ability which God giveth ; that God in
all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
to Whom be praise and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.
''THE GOSPEL. S. Jolm xv. 26, and part of Chap. xvi. 4.
\ ITHEN the Comforter is come. Whom I will
VV send unto you from the Father, even
the Spirit of truth, Which proceedeth from the
Father, He shall testify of IMe. And 'ye also
shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me
from the beginning. These things have I spoken
unto you, that ye should not be offended. They
shall put you out of the synagogues : yea, the
rfS. S. $i. Rem.
,7.1 as I'. B.
linsUrtt. John 17.
time Cometh, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God service. And these
things will they do unto you, because they have
not known the Father, nor Me. But these
things have I told you, that, when the time
shall come, ye may remember that I told you of
them.
Whitsunday.
In Die Penlecostes.
THE COLLECT.
GOD, Who as at this time didst teach the hearts
of Thy faithful people by the sending to
them the light of Thy Holy Spirit ; Grant us by
the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all
things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy com-
fort ; through the merits of Christ Jesus our
Saviour, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in
the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world
without end. Amen,
' £. g. fi. Greg.
<hc Saucto Penle-
costes. Mur. ii. 90.
'ORATIO.
DEUS, Qui hodierna die corda fidelium
Sancti Spieitus illustratione docuisti ;
da nobis in eodem Spiritu, recta sapere, et de
Ejus semper consolatione gaudere. Per Domi-
NUM nostrum. In unitate ejusdem.
SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION.
Thia day was anciently called by the significant name of
" Dominica Expectatiouis." Being the only Lord's Day which
intervened between the Ascension of our Lord and the
Descent of the Holy Ghost, it represents that period during
which the Apostles were obeying the command of their
Master, when "He commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father." [Acts i. 4.]
The Collect for this day is an expansion of the ancient
.Antiphon to the Magnificat on Ascension Day ; and has a
special interest in the English Church from tlie fact recorded
in the account of the Venerable Bede's death, tliat it was
among the last of the words which he uttered. He died on
the Wednesday evening about the time of tlie first Vespers
of tlie Festival, and the spirit in which he sang the Antiphou
is well expressed by tlie aspiration that concludes tlie modern
Collect.
Tlie alteration of tlie ancient form, which is addressed to
the ascended " King of Glory " of the twenty-fourth Psalm,
into a prayer addressed to the Father, is to be regretted. It
was probably prompted by the principle of offering prayer
chiefly to the Father through the Son. But its present form
jars strangely with Scriptural ideas in Psalm and Gospel.
The day itself, within the octave of the Ascension, may be
properly considered as a continuation of that festival, but
commemorating especially the session of our Lord at the right
hand of the Father.
Introit. — Hearken unto my voice, Lord, when I cry
unto Thee. Alleluia. My heart hath talked of Thee, Seek ye
My face. Thy face will I seek. hide not Thou Thy face
from me. Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps. The Lord is my light and
my salvation, whom then shall I fear? Glory be.
■WHITSUNDAY.
This great festival commemorates the descent of the Holy
Ghost upon the Apostles to abide in the Church for ever,
according to the promise of Christ. It has been annually
observed from the very beginning, having at first been
engrafted by the Jewish Christians on to the festival of
Pentecost, but being mentioned as a separate feast of the
Church by the earliest writers among the Gentile Christians,
as Irenaeus [Fraijm. de Pascli. in Justin Mart.] and TertuUian
[de Coron. 3, de Idol. 14, de Bapt. 19, de Oral. 23], the latter
of whom leaves it on record in several places that this was
one of the principal times for Baptism in the early Church.
Origen also names it in his work against Celsus. [viii.]
300
mbitmnna^.
■FOn THE EPISTLE. Acts ii. 1-11.
\ \ THEN the day of Pentecost was fully come,
V V they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from
heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the ho"use where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like
as of fire, and it .sat upon each of them : and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues, as the Spieit
gave them utterance. And there were dwelling
at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven. ISTow when this was
noised abroad, the multitude came together, and
« S. V). 18. East-
tr,i as P. B.
Rotttan. Acts lo.
34-47-
were confounded, because that every man heard
them speak in his own language. And they
were all amazed, and marvelled, saying one to
another. Behold, are not all these which speak
Galileans 1 And how hear we every man in our
own tongue wherein we were born % Parthians,
and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Mesopotamia, and in Judiea, and Cajjpadocia, in
Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pumphylia, in
Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene,
and strangers of Kome, Jews, and Proselytes,
Cretes, and Arabians, we do hear them speak in
our tongues the wonderful works of God.
*THE GO.SPEL. S. John xiv. 15-31.
r TESTIS said unto His disciples,] If ye love Me,
Vxj keep Jly commandments. And I will pray
the F--i.THEE, and He shall give you another Com-
forter, that He may abide with you for ever;
even the Spirit of truth. Whom the world can-
not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither
knoweth Him : but ye know Him ; for He
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will
not leave you comfortless ; I will come to you.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no
more ; but ye see ile : because I live, ye shall
live also. At that day ye shall know that I am
in j\Iy Fathee, and ye in Me, and I in you.
He that hath BIy commandments, and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth Me ; and he that
loveth Jle shall be loved of Jly Fathek, and I
will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.
Judas saith unto Him, (not Iscariot,) Loed, how
is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us,
and not unto the world? Jesus answered and
said unto him. If a man love Me, he will keep
My words, and My Father will love him, and
We will come unto him, and make Our abode with
* =.. I}. ?}. Ro„:.
ail. Jolini4. =3-3i-
BasUni. John 7-
37-8. .=.
him. He that loveth jNIe not keepeth not My
sayings : and the word which ye hear is not
Mine, but the Father's Which sent Me. These
things have I spoken unto you, being yet pre-
sent with you. But the Comforter, Which is
the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will
send in My Name, He shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance, what-
soever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with
you. My peace I give unto you : not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard
how I said unto you, I go away, and come again
unto you. If ye loved Jle, ye would rejoice,
because I said, I go unto the Father : for My
Father is greater than I. And now I have told
you before it come to pass, that, when it is come
to pa.ss, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not
talk much with you : for the prince of this
world Cometh, and hath nothing in Me. But that
the world may know that I love the Father ; and
as the Father gave Me commandment, even so
I do.
The original name of the festival was derived from that
given by Greek writers in the Septuagint and in the New
Testament to the Jewish feast, and has precisely the same
meaning as Quinquagesinia, Pentecost being the fiftieth day
from the morrow of the Passover Sabbatli. Tlie English
name seems to be Wliitsun Day, not A\'hit Sunday,' and Neale
suggested its derivation from the Greek tlirougli tlie German
Pfingsten. In medi;eval Englisli it is s])ult both White Sun-
day and Wit Sunday ; the first name appearing to be associ-
ated with the chrisiims of the newly baptized ; and the second
with the outpouring of wiadom (or, in old English, "wit")
upon the Church by tlie Holy Ghost on this d.ay.
The original feast of Pentecost was instituted by God (as it
is supposed) as a memorial of the day on wliich He gave the
law to Moses, and declared the Israelites "a peculiar treasure,
a Uiugdom of priests, and an holy nation." [Exod. xix. 5, 6.]
liut the prominent char.actur of the day was that of a solemn
harvest festival. On tlio morrow of the Passover Salibath,
fifty days before, the first cut .slicaf of corn was olVcred to
God, waved before tlie altar, with supplication for a Ijlessing
on tlie harvest then commenced. On the day of Pentecost
two loaves of the first bre.^d ni.ado from the new corn were
offered (with appointed burnt-offerings), in thanksgiving for
the harvest now ended. Each of these objects of the festival
has a significant tyjucal application. It w.as on this daj' that
the Holy Ghost descended to sanctify a new Israel, that the}'
too might be " a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an
holy n.ation, a peculiar people" [1 Pet. ii. 9]; and this
1 In the West RidlnK of Yorksliiro it \s Iho common custom to «ny
*• Wliissan Sunday^" " WtiiuHan MonJay," " WhiHsan Tuesday," and " Wlii.s-
win-tidc." There m a Iouk and instnictivc, but by no means ronchisivc,
artifrle on tlie elyiiifilogy of the name in Skkat's litymological Dictionary
of the ICn'jli^h Ltrngua'jf
separation of a new Israel from the world began to be made
when three tliousand were added to the Church by Baptism
on the day of Pentecost. On this day also the "Corn of
Wheat " (which had fallen into the ground and died on the
day of the Passover, and had sprung up a new and perpetual
sacrifice to God on Easter Day) sent forth the Holy Spirit to
make those five thous.ind the "One Bread" [1 Cor. x. 17] of
the Lord's mystical Body, a firstfruits offering to God of the
Church which had been purchased with His Blood.
The Collect for Whitsunday was formerly used every day
at Lauds, and was translated into English at least a century
and a half before the Prayer Book was set forth. It appears
in all the English Prymeis which preceded the Prayer Book,
and the ancient version given on Whitsun Monday seems to
have furnished some phrases to the translation now in use
on this day.
Whitsun Week is one of the canonical Ember seasons, the
summer ordinations taking place on Trinity Sunday.
On Whitsunday (June lltli), in the year of our Lord 1549,
the Book of Common Prayer in ICnglish was first used instead
of the Latin Ofiices. Tliat day was doubtless chosen (for
copies were printed and ready some time before) as a devout
acKnowledgunKut that tlic Holy Ghost was with the Church
of England in the important step then taken. May Ho ever
preserve these devotional Oliices from the attacks of enmity
or unwisdom, and continue tliem in that line of Catholic
unity wherein He has guided the Church hitherto to keep
them.
iNTROrr. — The Spirit of the Lord fiUeth the world. Alleluia.
And th.at wliicli eontaineth all things hath knowledge of the
voice. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. I's. Let God arise,
and let His enemies be scattered ; let them also that hate
Him fiee before Him. (ilory be.
fi^onoaj? anD CuesDay in CflJbitsun flBcck.
301
Monday in Whitsun Week.
" Feria II. post Pentecoslen.
^&.13..m- rour. 1
tcciith
century
I'rymer
Version.
M. K. iii.
31.
»S. 13. m. Kcm-
nil. Acts 10. 4--4''^-
Eastern. U\>\\. 5.
8-19.
THE COLLECT.
GOD, Who as at this time didst teach the
hearts of Tliy faithful people, by the send-
ing to them the light of Thy Holy Spirit ; Grant
us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement
in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy
comfort ; through the merits of Christ Jesus
our Saviour, Who liveth and reigneth with
Thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God,
world without end. Amen.
*rOR THE EPISTLE.
THEN Peter opened his mouth, and said. Of
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter
of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth
Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with
Him. The Word which God sent unto the chil-
dren of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ;
(He is Lord of all ;) that Word, I say, ye know,
which was published throughout all Judaea, and
began from Galilee, after the baptism which
.John preached: how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power;
Who went about doing good, and healing all that
were oppressed of the devil : for God was with
Him. And we are witnesses of all things which
He did, both in the land of the Jews, and in
Jerusalem ; Whom they slew, and hanged on a
tree : Him God raised up the third day, and
shewed Him openly ; not to all the people, but
unto witnesses chosen before of God ; even to us
y (~^ OD, that tau3tist the hertis of thi feithful
LV^ seruantis bi the li3tnynge of the hooli
goost : graunte us to sauore ri3tful thingis in the
same goost, and to be ioiful euermore of his
counfort. Bi crist our lorde. So be it.]
Acts X. 34-48.
who did eat and drink with Him after He rose
from the dead. And He commanded us to preach
unto the people, and to testify that it is He Which
was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick
and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness,
that through His Name whosoever believeth in
Him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter
yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on
all them which heard the word. And they of
the circumcision, which believed, were astonished,
as many as came with Peter, because that on the
Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues,
and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can
any man forbid water, that these should not be
baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost
as well as we 1 And he commanded them to be
baptized in the Name of the Lord. Then prayed
they him to tarry certain days.
<: ». 1. 18.
ail as P. B.
Eastern.
18. io-;o.
'THE GOSPEL. S,
GOD so loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that whosoever believ-
eth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but that the world through
Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him
is not condemned : but he that believeth not is
condemned already ; because he hath not believed
in the Name of the only-begotten Son of God.
John iii. 16-2L
And this is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For
every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to
the light, that his deeds m.ay be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
THE COLLECT.
GOD, Who as at this time didst teach the
hearts of Thy faithful people, by the
TUESDAY IN Whitsun Week.
''Feria III. post Pentecoaten.
WHITSUN MONDAY.
In the Epistle and Gospel for tbis d.iy we find a trace of
the primitive custom of Baptism at Whitsuntide ; the one
narrating the baptism of Cornelius and his househohl, and the
other referring to tliat enlightenment by Christ from which
the sacrament of Baptism took one of its most primitive
names, that of " Illumination." This still serves to point out
a purpose in the extension of the Festival. For the Holy
Gho3t came into the Clmrch not only to inspire the Apostles
for their work, which was to be but fur a generation, but also
to abide with the Clmrch in a perpetual Ministry derived
from those Apostles, and a continual ministration of the gift
of grace by their means. Hence the days following Whitsun-
day are a memorial of that abiding of the Comforter which
our Lord promised, that He might be " the Giver of Life "
to the world, in the bestowal of union with Christ by Baptism,
Confirmation, and the Holy Communion.
Introit. — He fed them also with the finest wheat flour.
Alleluia. And with honey out of the stony rock should I
have satisfied thee. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps.
Sing we merrily unto God our strength : make a cheerful
noise unto the God of Jacob. Glory be.
WHITSUN TUESDAY.
On the Tuesday of Whitsun Week there is a reference to
another work of the Holy Ghost, that of Confirmation, the
Epistle narrating the confirmation of the first Samaritan
Christians by the Apostles Peter and John, after they had
been converted and baptized by the Evangelist Philip. In
primitive times Confirmation was administered immediately
after Baptism, if a Bishop was present, as was mostly the
case, and at Wliitsuntide it would no doubt be invariably
given to the newly baptized at once, from the appropriateness
of the season, and tlie necessary presence of the Bishops in
^02
Crlnit^ ©unDap.
sending to them the light of Thy Holy Spirit ;
Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right
judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice
in His holy comfort ; through the merits of
Christ Jesus our Saviour, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the same
Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
"FOR THE EPISTLE. Acta viii. 14-17.
\ \ THEN the Apostles, which were at Jeru-
V V salem, heard that Samaria had received
the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and
John ; who, when they were come down, praj-ed
for them, that they might receive the Holy
" S. IS. Jl. J!sm-
ait ns'P. U.
FnsterM. Rom.
I. 7. 13-17.
Ghost : (for as yet He was fallen upon none of
them ; only they were baptized in the Name of
the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on
them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
*THE GOSPEL. S. John x. 1-10.
"TTERILY, verily I say unto you, He that *^fjp^- R"n-
V entereth not by the door into the sheep- °£»rf<™.'Matt.4.
fold, but cHmbeth up some other way, the same
is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep : to
him the porter opeueth ; and the sheep hear his j
voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And, when he putteth
forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and
the sheep foUow him ; for they know his voice.
And a stranger will they not follow ; but wiU
flee from him ; for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them :
but they understood not what things they were
which He spake unto them. Then said Jesus
unto them again ; VerUy, verily I say unto you,
I am the Door of the sheep. All that ever came
before Me are thieves and robbers ; but the sheep
did not hear them. I am the Door ; by Me if
any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture. The thief
Cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy : I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
Trinity Sunday.
In Die Sa»clcc Trinitatis.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who hast
-^-A. given unto us Thy servants grace by the
confession of a true faith to acknowledge the
glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of
the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We
beseech Thee that Thou wouldest keep us stedfast
in this faith, and evermore defend us from all
adversities. Who livest and reignest, one God,
world without end. Ameyi.
<: S. g. g. Creg.
Doiii. Oct. Pente-
cost, Mur. ii. 90,
rf Fourteenth cen-
tury Prymer Ver-
sion. St. R. iii. 31.
-OKATIO.
O:\INIP0TENS sempiterne Deus, Qui dedisti
famulis Tuis, in confessione verae fidei
setemae Trinitatis gloriam agnoscere, et in potentia
Majestatis adorare Unitatem, qu£esumiis, ut ejus-
dem fidei firmitate ab omnibus semper muniemur
adversis. Qui vivis et regnas Deus. Per.
V" "pp UERL ASTYNGE almy3ti god that 3a ve us
L -LLi thi seruantis in knowlechynge of verrei
their chief Churches for the Ordinations of the following
Saturday or Sunday.
It was doubtless with reference to the preparation of the
Candidates for Ordination that the Gospel was selected ;
pointing out, as it does, that there is only one lawful way of
entering into the Ministry of Christ ; and that those are no
true shepherds who do not enter in by the Door, the Chief
Shepherd Himself, Whoso authority on earth is delegated to
the Bishops of His Church. The second lesson at Evensong,
1 John iv. 1-13, points in the same direction.
Tlie Whitsuu Ember days are of very ancient institution,
probably Primitive. They are alluded to by St. Athanasius
[De J'lirja «Ha] as the fasts of the week following Pentecost,
and it is plain that no time of the year would be so naturally
chosen for continuing the gift of the Spirit by Ordination, as
that which follows immediately upon the day when the Holy
Ghost first came to inhabit the mystical Body of Christ, for
the purpose of "making able" the Ministers of His Gospel-
truth and Sacraments.
Introit. — Receive ye the joy of your glory. .Mlcluia.
Giving thanks unto God. Alleluia. Who li.ith called you
into His heavenly Kingdom. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.
I's. Hear My law, My people. Incline your car to the
words of My mouth. Glory be.
TRINITY SUNDAY.
The Octave of Pentecost has been observed in honour of the
Blessed Trinity from a very early age of the Church. In the
Lectionary of St. Jerome the same Epistle and Gospel are
appointed which have always been used in the Church of
England ; and the Collect is from the Sacramentary of St.
Gregory. But the name " Trinity Sunday" was not general
until a later period, though it has been used in the English
Breviary and Missal since the time of St. Osmund, and may
have been adopted by him from still earlier Offices of the
Church. In the Eastern Church this day is the Fcstiv.il of all
holy Martyrs; a festival which appears to have been observed
at tliis time in the East, even in the days of St. Chrysostom
and the Emperor Leo, who have left respectively a Homily
and an Oration upon it. It appears to have been regarded as a
separate Festival in the ^Vestern world only by the Church of
P^iigland, and those t'hurches of Germany which owe their
origin to the English St. Boniface, or Wiufrid.' Both in the
ancient English and in the ancient German Office books, all
the Sund.ays afterwards until Advent are named after Trinity ;
whereas, in all Offices of the Koman type they are named after
Pentecost. It seems probable that this distinctive ritual
mark is a relic of tho independent origin of the Cliurch of
England, similar to those peculiarities w hicli wore noticed by
St. Augustine, and which were .attributed by the ancient
British Bishops to some connection with .St. John. In this case
it is, at least, significant that it was St. John through whom
the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was most clearly revealed ;
and also that the early Church of England appears never to
1 Gcrvnac of Canterbury, a contcntporary of St. Thoiii.i.<i, asserts that tiio
Feast of Trinity was Instituted by St. Thomas of Canterbury soon after his
ronsecration to that SCO in a.d. 1102, Imt there can be little doubt it was
in some English Office books before that dale.
Crinity ©iinDap.
303
o "sadness "=" set-
tlcdiicss "or "stcd-
fastness," from set-
tun, to set.
feith to knowG tlie glorie of the endeles trinite,
and in tho nn3t of magesto to worchipe thee in
oonhedo : we bisechen that bi tho "sadneHS of the
same feith we be kept and defendid euermore fro
alle aduersitiees. Bi crist.]
*FOR THE EPISTLE. Rev. iv. 1-11.
AFTER this I looked, and behold, a door
V~\ was opened in heaven : and the finst voice
which I heard ruas as it were of a trumpet talking
with me ; which said, Come up hither, and I will
shew thee things which must be hereafter. And
immediately I was in the Spirit ; and behold, a
throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the
throne : and Ho that sat was to look upon like
a jasper and a sardine stone : and ihei-e zvas a
rainbow round about the throne, in sight like
unto an emerald. And round about the throne
ivere four and twenty seats ; and upon the seats
I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in
white raiment ; and they had on their heads
crowns of gold : and out of the throne proceeded
lightnings, and thunderings, and voices. And
there were seven lamps of fire burning before the
throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And
before the throne tltere loas a sea of glass like
unto crystal : and in the midst of the throne, and
* 3. ?g. 3t!. Rev.
4. I-IO.
liomtin. Rom. ii.
i.itstern. Heb.
"• 33— '=■ '■
round about the throne, ivere four beasts full of
eyes before and behind. And the first beast was
like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and
the third beast had a face as a man, and the
fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the
four beasts had each of them six wings about
liim ; and they were full of eyes within : and they
rest not day and night, saying. Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is
to come. And when those beasts give glory, and
honour, and thanks, to Him that sat on the
throne. Who liveth for ever and ever, the four
and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat
on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for
ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Loed, to
receive glory, and honour, and power ; for Thou
hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they
are and were created.
'T'HE gospel. S. John iii. 1-15.
THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews : the same
came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him,
Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come
from God : for no man can do these miracles that
Thou doest, except God be with him. Jestjs
answered and said unto him. Verily, verily I say
unto thee. Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto
Him, How can a man be born when he is old 1
can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb, and be born 1 Jesus answered, Verily,
verily I say unto thee. Except a man be born of
water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
c S. E.g. as p. B.
Komtitt. Matt. 28.
18-20.
Ilitslern. Matt,
■o. 3=. 33. 37. 38.
& 19. 27.30.
the Kingdom of God. That which is born of
the fle.sh is flesh ; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto
thee. Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth ; so is every one that is
born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and
said unto Him, How can these things be ? Jesus
answered and said unto him. Art thou a master
of Israel, and knowest not these things ? Verily,
verily I say unto thee. We speak that we do
know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye
receive not our witness. If I have told you
have been infested by the heresies on this subject which
troubled other portions of the Christian world.
The general observance of the day as a separate festival
in honour of the Blessed Trinity was first enjoined by a Synod
of Aries in A. D. r260. [H.iRDniN, Condi, iii. 514] In Micro-
logus it is stated [cap. I.x. ] that the feast was then observed
in some parts on the Octave of Pentecost, and in others on
the Sunday next before Advent; but th.at the Roman Church
had no such custom, for it honoured the Blessed Trinity in
its daily worsliip by Do.xologies and the Memoria, our present
Collect. ' It seems to have Ijecome generally observed by the
Roman as well as other Churches at the end of the fourteenth
century ; but tho Sundays after it are still named from Pente-
cost in all tlie Catholic Churches of tlie West, except those of
England and Germany.
The significance of the festival, as the end of the cycle of
days by which our Blessed Lord and His work are com-
memorated, is very great. The beginning of His acts was
associ.ated with a revelation of the Three Persons of the
Trinity, and His last command to His Apostles w.as a commis-
sion to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them in the
Name of tlie Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Cihost.
The perfect revelation of the Holy Three in One may also be
1 Tlie Sunday Missa Votiva of Salisbury Use was .'ilmost identical with
the Mass for Trinity Sunday, but the Epistle was Rom. xi. 33-36, and
2 Cor. xiii. 14 ; the Gospel being John xv. 26— xvi. G.
The Trinity Collect w.is said as a daily memoii.tl (as well as that of Whit-
sunday), in the Church of England, until 1549. The alteration of the latter
part was made by Bishop Cosin in 1661, and is much to be regretted.
considered to have been made on the day of Pentecost, when
to the work expressed by our Lord in the words, " My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work," was added that further opera-
tion of the Holy Ghost which was previously unknown even
to holy men, but has ever since been familiar to the whole
world. On Whitsunday, therefore, we see the crowning point
of the work of redemption ; and the feast of Trinity, on the
Octave of Pentecost, commemorates the consummation of
God's saving work, and the perfect revelation to the Church
of the Three Persons in One God, as the sole objects of
adoration. The love of each Person had been commemorated
in the separate Festivals which memorialize before God and
man the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of
our Lord, and the sending forth by the Father and the Son of
tlie Blessed Spirit on AVhitsunday. In the festival of Trinity
all these solemn subjects of lielief are gathered into one act
of worship, as the Church Militant looks upward through the
door that is opened in Heaven, and bows down in adoration
with the Church Triumphant, saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come . . .
Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and
power ; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure
they are and were created. "
The form of the latter part of the Collect until 1661 was
that of the ancient Latin and English : " We beseech Thee
that through the stedfastness of this faith we may ever-
more be defended from all adversity." \i\\y it should have
been altered to its present disjointed and pointless form is
inexplicable.
304
Ct)e Sim ©unoap after Crinitp.
earthly things, and ye believe not ; how shall
ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things 1 And
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that
came down from heaven, even the Son of Man,
Who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in
Him should not iierish, but have eternal life.
The First Sunday after Trinity
" Dominica I. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, the strength of all them that put
their trust in Thee, mercifully accept our
prayers ; and because through the weakness of
our mortal nature we can do no good thing with-
out Thee, grant us the help of Thy grace, that in
keeping of Thy commandments we may please
Thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus
Cheist our Lord. Amen.
a S. g. %■ But
1^. more fre-
quently entitle the
Sundays after Tri.
nity " Dom. post
8vas Pentecostes."
*S.S-a- Greg.
Heba. ii. post Pen-
tccostem. Getas.
Dom. vi. post claus.
PaschiE. Mur. i.
587, ii. 164.
*ORATIO.
DEUS in Te sperantium fortitude adesto pro-
pitius invocationibus nostris : et quia sine
Te nihil potest mortalis infirmitas, praesta auxilium
gratiae Tuse ; ut in exequendis mandatis Tuis, et
voluntate Tibi et actione placeamus. Per Domi-
NUM.
BELOVED, let us love one another : for love
is of God, and every one that loveth is
born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God ; for God is love. In this
was manifested the love of God towards us,
because that God sent His only-begotten Son
into the world, that we might live through Him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitia-
tion for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another. J\'o man hath
seen God at any time. If we love one another,
God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in
us. Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and
He in us ; because He hath given us of His
Spirit. And we have seen, and do testify, that
the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of
4. 8-21.
Kcmau.
3- i3-'8.
Eascerft.
10-16.
'THE EPISTLE. 1 S. Jolm iv. 7-21.
ijohn the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus
John is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he
Rom. 2. in God. And we have known and believed the
love that God hath to us. God is love ; and he
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God
in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that
we may have boldness in the day of judgement ;
because as He is, so are we in this world. There
is no fear in love ; but perfect love casteth out
fear ; because fear hath torment ; He that feareth
is not made perfect in love. We love Him,
because He first loved us. If a man say, I love
God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he
that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen,
how can he love God, Whom he hath not seen ]
And this commandment have we from Him, That
he who loveth God love his brother also.
•'THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xvi. 19-31.
THERE was a certain rich man, which was
clothed in purple, and fine linen, and fared
sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate
full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table :
moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.
The ricli man also died, and was buried : and in
hell ho lift up his eyes being in torments, and
seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said. Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue ; for I am tormented in this flame. But
Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy
''S. g.B. asP. E.
Roman. Luke 14.
16.24.
Eastern. Matt. 4.
:8-2,.
life-time receivedst thy good things, and likewise
Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted,
and thou art tormented. And beside all this,
between us and you there is a great gulf fixed :
.so that they which would pass from hence to j'ou
cannot ; neither can they pass to us, that would
come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee
therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to
my father's house : for I have five brethren ; that
he may testify unto them, lest they also come into
this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him.
They have Moses and the prophets ; let them
hear them. And he said, Kay, father Abraham:
but if one went unto them from the dead, they
will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they bo
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Introit. — Blessed bo the lioly Trinity, and the indivisible
Unity. We will give thanks unto Him, because He hath
shewed His mercy towards us. I's. Let us bless the Father,
and the San, witli the Holy Ghost.
THE FIRST SUNDAY .MTI'R Tl;lNn\ .
The Sundays .ind other Festivals from Advent to Trinity
form one system of dogmatic ilhistraticms of Cliristianity :
Prayer and the words of Holy Scrijiturc .ill combining to pre-
sent the memorial of primary truths before God in .nets of
worship, .and before man as words of instruction. The Sun-
days after Trinity may be rc^'arded as a sy.stcm illustrating
the practical life of Christianity, founded on the truths pre-
viously represented, and guiiled by the example of our Blessed
Lord. There is a Rubric given on this Sunday in the Salis-
bury Missal : " Memoria tie Trinitate liat omnibus dominicis
usque ad atlvcntum Domini."
The love of (iod and the love of m.an are — one m.ay almost
e.ay, of course — the first subject selected for the F.ucharistic
Scriptures in this system, as shewn in St. Jolin's wonderful
definition of love, and in the liistorical parable of the rich
m.an and I,az.arus. In the Kpistle St. Jolin shews that God's
own love for mankind is tlic source .and sjiring of .all love
towards Him, and that all true love tow.ards Him is .shewn
by the evidence of charity. The Gospel, independently of
the revelation made in it concerning the state of the departed,
places in the most awful light the sin of being without Chris-
Cbe ^econD anD CfjirD ©unoaps after Crinitp.
305
The Second Sunday after Trinity.
Dnminica II. pout Trinilatem.
THE COLLKCT.
OLORD, AVho never failest to help and
govern them whom Thou dost bring up
in Thy stedfast fear and love ; Keep us, we,
beseech Thee, under the protection of Thy good
providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear
and love of Thy holy Name ; through Jesus
Cheist our Lord. Amen.
a 5. 10. 38. Grofr.
nelxC iii. post
Pent. Gelas. Doin.
post Asc. Doin.
Miir. i. 590.
"ORATIO.
SANCTI nominis Tui, Dominr, timorom pariter
et amorem fac nos habere pcrpotuum ; quia
nunquam Tua gubernatioiie destituis, quos in
soliditate Tuaa dilectionis instituis. Per DoMi-
NUM.
'THE EPISTLE. I S. John iii. 13-24.
MARVEL not, my brethren, if tlie world
hate you. We know that we have passed
from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer : and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abid-
ing in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because He laid down His life for us : and we
ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels «/
compassion from him ; how dwelleth the love of
God in him ? My little children, let us not love
in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed, and in
truth. And hereby we know that we are of the
«■ s. 5fl. 5i.
3. .3-78.
Jiofttait.
6-11.
l-tisteyn.
I John
I Pet. s.
Rom. 5.
truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
For if our heart condemn u.s, God is greater than
our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if
our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence
towards God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of Him, because we keep His commandments, and
do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
And this is His conmiandment. That we should
believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as He gave us command-
ment. And he that keepeth His commandments
dwelleth in Him, and He in him : and hereby we
know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit Which
He hath given us.
■THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xiv. 16-24.
A CERTAIN man made a great supper, and
bade many; and sent his servant at supper-
time to say to them that were bidden. Come, for
all things are now ready. And they all with one
consent began to make excuse. The first said
unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and
I must needs go and see it ; I pray thee have me
excused. And another said, I have bought five
yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them ; I pray
thee have me excused. And another said, I have
married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
So that servant came, and shewed his kird these
r S. g. ISj. asP. B.
Komitt:. Luke
15. I-IO.
/Jttslertt. Matt. 6.
things. Then the master of the house being
angry said to his servant. Go out quickly into
the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in
hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
and the blind. And the servant said. Lord, it
is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there
is room. And the lord said unto the servant.
Go out into the high-ways and hedges, and com-
pel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
For I say unto you, That none of those men
which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
THE Third Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica III. jiost Trinitatem.
o
THE COLLECT.
LORD, we beseech Thee mercifully to hear
us ; and grant that we, to whom Thou hast
"^ 5.1.18.
Gre^.
Hcbd. iv
post
Pent. Mur
ii. 165.
"ORATIO.
DEPRECATIONS M no.stram quiesumus,
DoMiNE, benignus exaudi ; et quibus sup-
tian love ; and the utter incompatibility of such a condition
with a hfe that will gain the award of future happiness. In
teaching tliis trutli our Blessed Lord also revealed to ua the
intermediate state. Although the Last Judgement was very
distant wlien He told the Jews tliis history of two men who
had, perliaps, been known to tliem, yet He put it beyond
doubt that tlie souls which had departed from tlieir bodies
were as living and conscious as tliey had ever been, and that
their condition was already that of tliose upon whom a pre-
liminary judgement had Ijeen passed ; au award of happiness
to the one, of torment to the other.
Introit. — My trust is in Thy mercy, and my licartis joy-
ful in Thy salvation. I will sing of the Lord, because He
hatli dealt so lovingly with me. Ps. How long wilt Thou
forget me, Lord, for ever ? How long wilt Tliou hide Thy
face from me ? Glory be.
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The present beautiful version of the ancient Collect for
this day was substituted for the literal translation which had
previously been used, in 1661. Cosin added "0 Heavenly
Father " at the end of the old Collect, as if attempting to
remedy its abruptness ; but the subsequent remoulding of
the whole into its present form was a happy improvement,
giving us one of the finest of our Englisli Collects. It will be
observed that its tone is in close agreement with that of the
Introit.
The subject of Active Love is again taken up on this Sun-
day, the Epistle coming from a preceding chapter of St. John
to that used on the previous Sunday, and the Gospel from an
earlier chapter of St. Luke.
Introit. — The Lord was my upholder. He brought me
forth also into a place of liberty ; He brought me forth even
because He had a favour unto me. Ps. I will love Thee,
Lord my Strength ; the Lord is my stony rock and my defence,
and my Saviour. Glory be.
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The Christian virtue of Humility is set forth in the Epistle
for this Sunday in the words of St. Peter, and illustrated in
;o6
Cf)c jFourtf) ^unDap after Crinitp.
given an hearty desire to pray, may by Thy
mighty aid be defended and comforted in all
dangers and adversities ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amot.
pltcandi praestas affectum, tribue defensionis
auxilium. Per.
"THE EPISTLE. 1 S Peter v. 51 1.
ALL of you be subject one to another, and
~l\. be clothed with humility: for God resist-
eth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time ;
casting all your care upon Him, for He eareth for
you. Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adver-
sary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour : whom resist sted-
" 5. B. «
5. 6-11.
Roman.
18-23.
l-.dsterH.
. I Pot.
Ron]. 8.
Rom. 6.
fast in the faith, knowing that the same afflic-
tions are accomplished in your brethren that
are in the world. But the God of all grace. Who
hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make
you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To
Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.
*THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xv. MO.
THEN drew near unto Him aU the Publicans
and sinners for to hear Him. And the Pha-
risees and Scribes murmured, saying. This Man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And
He spake this parable unto them, saying, What
man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine
in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost,
until he find it? And when he hath found it, he
layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when
he Cometh home, he calleth together his friends
and neighbours, saying unto them. Rejoice with
me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
*S.S.la. asP.B.
Rotnajt. Luke
15. i-ii.
Eastern. M.itt. 8.
5-1 3-
I say unto you. That likewise joy shall be in
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons, which need
no repentance. Either what woman having ten
pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not
light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek
diligently till she find it? And when she hath
found it, she calleth Iier friends and Iter neigh-
bours together, saying, Eejoice with me, for I
have found the piece which I had lost. Like-
wise, I say unto you. There is joy in the pre-
sence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth.
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica IV. 7)0s< Trinitalem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, the Protector of all that trust in Thee,
without Whom nothing is strong, nothing
is holy; Increase and multiply upon us Thy
mercy ; that. Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we
may so pass through things temporal, that we
finally lose not the things eternal : Grant this,
heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our
Lord. Amen.
tS.l.R. Creg.
Hebd. V. post
Pent. Miir. ii. i66.
'ORATIO.
PROTECTOR in Te sperantium Deus, sine
Quo nihil est validum, nihil sanctum ;
multiplica super nos misericordiam Tuam, lit Te
Rectore, Te Duce, sic transeamus per bona tempo-
ralia, ut non amittamus seterna. Per Dosiinum.
■'THE EPISTLE,
I RECKON that the .sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us. For
Roifiau. I Pet. 3.
haslern. Rom.
10. t-io.
Rom. viii. 18-23.
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God. For
the creature was made subject to vanity, not
the Gospel by the example of our Blessed Lord in receiving
sinners and eating with them. Tlie Collect, however, seems
to take its tone from the latter portion of tlie Epistle, which
speaks of tlie afllictions and sufferings to wliich the early
Christians were subjected. The Epistle and the Collect are, in
fact, much more fretjuently associated together in tone and
language than the Collect and tlie Gospel ; indicating a proba-
bility tliat the Gospels were not read in the Communion Ser-
vice until a later period than that in which the Epistles came
to be used.
Introit. — Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me :
for I am desolate and in misery. Look upon my adversity
and misery ; and forgive me all my sin, my (lod. Ps. Unto
Thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul ; my God, I have put
my trust in Thee ; let me not be confounded. Glory be.
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Ill the Gospel for this d.iy, Mercy, another of the Christian
virtues, is set forth in the wonls of our Lord, beginning, " Be
\a therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful," enforced
by the proverbs of the blind leading the blind, the disciple
not being above his Master, and of the mote and the beam.
The Collect also refers to the mercy of our heavenly Father,
and seems to have been suggested by the Gospel. But, as on
the preceding Sunday, the Epistle seems to have been selected
with reference to a time when the Church was passing through
some great tribulation, and when Chri.itians needed frequently
to be reminded that they hail here no continuing city, but
must look beyond the sull'urings of this present time to the
glory hereafter to be revraled.
It is possible that the Gospel ni.ay have been selecteil under
the influence of similar circumstances, an .age of martyrdoms
suggesting to those who had so clear a vision of (.hrist's
example the duty of mercy and love towards their persecutors.
For themselves they could only look to tliat future bliss which
was to outweigh the present suffering : for the Church of
succeeding d.ays they could leave such a legacy as St. Stephen
did, when he prayed with his dying lips, "Lord, lay not this
sin to their charge." The I.Nriiorr for the day seems equally
to reflect an age of persecution.
Introit. — The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom
then shall I fc.ar : the Lord is tlie strength of my life ; of
whom then shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine
enemies, and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they
€\)t JFiftl) ^unDay after Crinitp.
307
willingly, but by reason of Him Who liath sub-
jected t/ie same in hope : because the "creature
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God. For we know that the whole
creation groaneth, and travailetli in pain together
a 111 all tlicse places
this is "tile crcil-
tiire" [xTirii], as
ill the fourth place,
where the spellinj;
is "creation."
until now. And not only t/ifi/, but ourselves
also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body.
'THE GOSPEL.
BE ye therefore merciful, as your Father also
is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not
be judged : condemn not, and ye shall not be
condemned : forgive, and ye shall be forgiven :
give, and it shall be given imto you ; good mea-
sure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
running over, shall men give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that ye mete withal,
it shall be measured to you again. And He
spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead
the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
The disciple is not above his master ; but every
* s. S. ffi
Jiitsttrtt.
.1". r. II.
Matt. s.
S. Luke vi. 36-42.
one that is perfect shall be as his master. And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is
in thine own eye? F.ither how canst thou say
to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the
mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself
beholdest not the beam that is in thine own
eye ? Thoii hypocrite, cast out first the beam out
of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly
to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's
eye.
Thk Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Dominica V. post Triiutatem.
THE COLLECT.
GRANT, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the
course of this world may be so peaceably
ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church
may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Avie7t.
' »- ». fi.
Hebi vi.
Pent. Leo.
i- 379
Grec.
post
Mur.
'ORATIO.
DA nobis qusesumus, Domike, ut et mundi
cursus pacifice nobis Tuo ordine dirigatur
et Ecclesia Tua tranquilla devotione laetetur. Per
DOMINUM.
rfS.'
^.
Ro,
ia>
"-l^.,.
12. 6-
14-
■'THE EPISTLE.
JJE ye all of one mind, having compassion one
of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be
courteous ; not rendering evil for evil, or railing
for railing ; but contrariwise blessing ; knowing
that ye are thereunto called, that ye should
inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and
see good days, let him refrain his tongue from
evil, and his lips that they speak no guile : let
liim eschew evil, and do good ; let him seek
1 S. Pet. iii. 8-15.
peace, and ensue
. as p. E.
Rom. 6.
it. For the eyes of the Lord
are over the righteous, and His ears are open
unto their prayers : but the face of the Lord is
against them that do evil. And who is he that
will harm you, if ye be followers of tltat which
is good ? But and if ye suffer for righteousness'
sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their
terror, neitlaer be troubled ; but sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts.
' s. 13. ffi.
'THE COSPEL.
IT came to pass, that as the people pressed
upon Him to hear the Word of God, He
stood by the lake of Gennesareth, and saw two
ships standing by the lake ; but the fishermen
were gone out of them, and were washing their
nets. And He entered into one of the ships,
which was Simon's, and prayed him that he
as P. B.
Marl! 3.
i-ailern. Matt. 9,
S. Luke v. 1-11.
would thrust out a little from the laud : and He
sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when He had left speaking, He said unto
Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down
your nets for a draught. And Simon answering
said unto Him, Master, we have toiled all the
night, and have taken nothing ; nevertheless, at
stumbled ami fell. Ps. Though an liost of men were laid
against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid. Glory be.
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The ancient Leonine Collect fur this day seems to have
been suggested, says Bright, like several of the same age, by
the disasters of the dying Western Empire.' It has, how-
ever, a plain connection with the Gospel, which w.as pro-
bably selected at an earlier date. Like others of our Lord's
miracles, this one was a parable as well, in which He was
teaching the Apostles principles respecting their future work.
The sea is the world, the net is the Church, the Apostles are
fisliers of men, Christ is He Wlio in the spiritual as in tlie
actual world bids them let down the net, anil also gathers into
it the great multitude of fishes. Very significant is it, then,
that with this parabolic miracle in the Gospel, the Collect
should praj' Him Whose Presence was the wealth and the
1 BninnT's Jnrifvt Collects, p. 2ns.
safety of the fishermen that He will so order the waves of
this troublesome world that the Ark of the Churcli may ever
ride over them in peace, and serve Him by gathering in souls
into her nets with all godly quietness through the blessing
of the Saviour's Presence. The Epistle is in close agreement
with this tone, — " The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous,
and His ears are open unto their prayers. . . . Who is he
that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?"
Like those of the preceding Sundays, it reflects a time of per-
secution, such as was passing over the Church when St. Peter
wrote ; but it also breathes the strong faith of him who had
said, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the
water," and whose experience had taught him that if Jesus be
in the ship, no waves or storms can prevail to overwhelm it.
Intp.oit. — Hearken unto my voice, Lord, when I cry
unto Thee : have mercy upon me, and hear me. Thou hast
been my succour : leave me not, neither forsake me, God
of my salvation. Ps. The Lord is my Light and my Salva-
tion, whom then shall T fear?
;o8
Cbe ^irtb ano ^etientb ^unoags after Crinttj).
Thy word I will let down the net. And when
they had this done, they inclosed a great multi-
tude of fishes, and their net brake. And they
beckoned unto their partners which were in the
other ship, that they should come and help them.
And they came, and filled both the ships, so that
they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it,
lie fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from
me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was
i«tonished, and all that were with him, at the
draught of the fishes which they had taken ; and
so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
which were partners with Simon. And Jesus
said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou
shalt catch men. And when they had brought
their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed
Him.
"S-l. 1g. Ores.
Hebd. %ii. post
Pent, Gelas. iii. i.
Mur. i. 6a7.
The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica VI. post Triniiatem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, AYho ha.st prepared for them that love
Thee such good things as pass man's under-
standing; Pour into our hearts such love toward
Thee, that we, loving Thee above all things, may
obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we
can desire ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
« ORATIO.
DEUS Qui diligentibus Te bona invisibilia
prseparasti ; infunde cordibus nostris Tui
amoris affectum ; ut Te in omnibus et super
omnia diligentes, jjromissiones Tuas, quae
omne desiderium superant, consequamur. Per
DOMINUM.
»THE EPISTLE. Rom. vi. 3-11.
KNOW ye not, that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into His death 1 Therefore we are buried with
Him by bapti.sm into death ; that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in
the likeness of His resurrection : knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with Him, that the
body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
R<'man.
Enstertt.
15. 1-7.
as P. B.
Rom, 6.
we should not serve sin. For He that is dead
is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
Him ; knowing that Christ being raised from
the dead dieth no more ; death hath no more
dominion over Him. For in that He died, He
died unto sin once ; but in that He liveth. He
liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also your-
selves 'to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
r TESUS said unto His disciples,] Except your
\_fj righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Ye have
heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou
shalt not kill : and whosoever shall kill, shall be
in danger of the judgement. But I say unto you,
that whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgement : and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Eaca, shall
be in danger of the council : but whosoever shall
say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. v. 20-26.
S. g.S. Mait.5. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and
. 7- there rememberest that thy brother hath ought
Matt, 9. against thee ; leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy
brother, and then come and ofier thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou
art in the way with him ; lest at any time the
adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge
deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into
prison. Verily I say unto thee. Thou shalt by
no means come out thence, till thou hast paid
the uttermost farthing.
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica VII. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
10ED of all power and might, AVho art the
■^ Author and Giver of all good things ; Graft
Hcbd, viii.
Pent. Gclas,
Mur. i, 687.
Greg,
post
"■ORATIO
DEUS virtufum, Cujus est totum quod est
optimum ; insere pectoribus nostris amorem
THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
This (lay seta forth the principle that the obligation of the
old law is heightened under the New Dispensation : as also
that the stricter obligation of the new law i.s accompanied by
a proportionate increase iu the grace by w)iicli tlie duty of
obedience to God may l>e ftdlillcd. Christ's law extends to
the wilful conception of an act as well as to the act itself, and
acco\int3 the one a sin .is well as the other. But Clirist's
death and resurrection extend themselves to the sacrament
of Baptism, making it the means of a death unto sin and a
new birth unto righteousness : and thus endowing Christians
with a power to fulfil the rerjuiremeiits of His law which
otherwise they could not possess. The power of Christ
against sin becomes thus not only a power external to the
soul, but an inward capacity, the practical use or disuse of
which is at the will of those to whom it is given.
Intuoit. —The I^ord is my strength, and lie is the whole-
some defence of His Anointed. O save Thy people, and give
Thy blessing unto Tliine iidieritance ; feed them, and set
tliem up for ever. Pi. Unto Thee will I cry, O Lord, my
strength ; think no scorn of me, lest if Thou make as though
Thou hoarest not, I become like them that go down into the
jiit. (;iory be.
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The Collect for this day has expressions in it which seem
to connect its prayer with both the Kpistle and the Gospel.
The petition, "Graft in our hearts tlie love of Thy Name,"
Cf)C OEigfjtfj ^unoap after Crinity.
309
in our hearts the love of Tliy Name, increase in
us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and
of Thy great mercy keep us in the same ; through
Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen.
'THE EPISTLE. Kom. vi
I SPEAK after the manner of men, because of
the infirmity of your fle.sh : for as ye have
yielded your members servants to unclcanness,
and to iniquity, unto iniquity ; even so now yield
your members servants to righteousness, unto
holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin,
ye were free from righteousness. What fruit
"S. ig.jt!. .isP. I).
Komalt. Kom. 8.
Tui nominis, et pra3sta in nobis religionis aug-
mentuni, ut quse sunt bona nutrias, ac pietatis
studio quae sunt nutrita custodias. Per Dominum.
19-23.
had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed ? for the end of those things is death.
But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holi-
ness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages
of .sin is death : but the gift of God is eternal
life, through Jesu.s Christ our Lord.
*THE GOSPEL. 8.
IN those days the multitude being very great,
and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His
disciples unto llim, and saith unto them, I have
compassion on the multitude, because they have
now been with Jle three days, and have nothing
to eat : and if I send them away fasting to their
own houses, they will faint by the way ; for
divers of them came from far. And His disciples
answered Him, From whence can a man satisfy
these men with bread here in the wilderness?
And He asked them, How many loaves have ye ?
* S. TO. J), as PI!,
Koman. Luke 16
1-9.
i-asterti. Matt
14. 14-22.
Mark viii. 1-9.
And they said, Seven. And He commanded the
people to sit down on the ground. And He took
the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake,
and gave to His disciples to set before them ;
and they did set them before the people. And
they had a few small fishes ; and He blessed, and
commanded to set them also before tliem. So
they did eat, and were filled : and they took up
of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.
And they that had eaten were about four thou-
sand. And He sent them away.
c S. 1. 18. GieB,
llebd. ix. poit
Pent. Gclas. ill. 3.
The Eighth Sunday after Trinity,
Dominica VIII. 2>ost Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, Whose never-failing providence order-
eth all things both in heaven and earth ;
We humbly beseech Thee to put away from us
all hurtful things, and to give us those things
which be profitable for us ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
'ORATIO.
DELTS, Cujus providentia in sui dispositione
non fallitur, Te supplices exoramus, ut
noxia cuncta submoveas, et omnia nobis profutura
concedas. Per Dominum.
■'THE EPISTLE.
BRETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh,
to live after the flesh. For if ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. F'or ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but
''3.1. a
Hainan.
10. 6-13,
Eastern.
3- 9-17.
as P. B.
t Cor.
viii. 12-17.
ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abb.\, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God : and if children, then heirs ; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ : if so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may be also glori-
fied together.
BEWARE of false prophets, which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
'THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. vii. 15-21.
are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by
their fruits : do men gather grapes of thorns, or
' S. g.S.asP. B.
Roman. Luke 19.
appears to be suggested by the idea of good and evil fruit
contained in the former; while "Giver of all good things "
and " nourish ua with all goodness " plainly point out a
devotional application of the narrative whicli the Gospel gives
of the Good Shepherd feeding His flock of four thousand witli
seven loaves and a few small fishes. The bondage of sin and
the service of Christ are contrasted in tlie Epistle, wliicli
seems to be the source of the heautiful expression, "Wliose
service is perfect freedom," in the second Collect at Mattins.
The same idea may be also found in the Gospel, where
Christ's command that the people should sit down (though
it seemed a mere arbitrai-y command) was followed by the
reward of obedience, His bounty.
Intkoit. — clap your hands together, all ye people ; O
sing unto God with the voice of melody. Ps. He shall sub-
due the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
Glory be.
THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The Service of Clirist is set forth in the Epistle of to-day
as no slavery, but a sonship. Those who do the works of a
true obedience to Him do them by the help of the Spirit of
God ; tliose who are led by the Spirit of God are adopted
cliildren of Him whose Only-begotten received the same
.Spirit without measure ; those who are adopted sons of God
are heirs of His eternal gifts, juint-heirs with Christ Himself,
reigning with Him as priests and kings for ever. Such is the
course of the Apostle's reasoning and revelation; and it is
further illustrated by tlie words of our Lord in the Gospel,
which, as the saying of the Eternal Word, living and jio-ner-
ful and sharper than any two-edged sword, discriminates
between those who only say unto Him, " Lord, Lord," by an
outward profession, and those whose sonship is made evident
by their fruits, the doing of the will of God.
Introit. — AVe wait for Thy loving-kindness, God, in the
midst of Thy temple. God, according to Thy Name, so
is Thy praise unto the world's end ; Thy right hand is full
of righteousness. Ps. Great is tlie Lord, and highly to be
praised ; in tlie city of our God, even upon His holy hiU.
Glorv be.
3IO
C1)C Bintb ^unDay aftec Crinity.
figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringetli
forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree briugeth forth
evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
I Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Loed,
shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; but he
that doeth the will of My Father Which is in
Heaven.
The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica IX. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the
spirit to think and do always such things
as be rightful ; that we, who cannot do any thing
that is good without Thee, may by Thee be
enabled to live according to Thy will ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HebS
©.
Greg. 1
\. post rent. 1
Gclas.
U. 4
Leo.
Mur. i
414.
fy%\ ii.
i6S.
"ORATIO.
IAEGIEE nobis, quassumus, Domine, semper
■^ spiritum cogitandi quK recta sunt, propitius,
et agendi ; ut qui sine Te esse non possumus,
secundum Te vivere valeamu.s. Per Dominum.
*THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. x. 1-13,
BEETHEEN, I would not that ye should be
ignorant, how that all our fathers were
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ;
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud,
and in the sea ; and did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink :
(for they drank of that spiritual Eock that fol-
lowed them; and that Eock was Christ.) But
with many of them God was not well pleased ;
for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now
these tilings were our examples, to the intent we
should not lust after evil things, as they also
lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of
them ; as it is wi-itten. The people sat down to
eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let
us commit fornication, as some of them committed,
^THE GOSPEL,
r "TESUS] said unto His disciples, There was
LfJ a certain rich man which had a steward;
and the same was accused unto him that he had
wasted his goods. And he called him, and said
unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee 1
Give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou
mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward
said within himself, What shall I do 1 for my lord
taketh away from me the stewardship : I cannot
dig, to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what
to do, that, when I am put out of the steward-
ship, they may receive me into their houses. So
he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him,
and said unto the first, How much owest thou
10. 6-13.
Rctnan.
I Cor
I Cor
Eastern.
4. 9-16.
I Cor
Roman,
asP. B.
Luke 18.
and feU in one day three and twenty thousand.
Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them
also tempted, and were destroj'ed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also mur-
mured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now all these things happened unto them for
ensamples : and they are written for our admoni-
tion, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man : but God is
faithful. Who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able ; but will with the tempta-
tion also make a way to escape, that ye may be
alile to bear it.
Luke xvi. 1-9.
unto my lord 1 And he said, An hundred
measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take
thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fiftj-.
Then said he to another, A]id how much owest
thou ] And he said. An hundred measures of
wheat. And he said unto him. Take thy bill,
and write fourscore. And the lord commended
the unjust steward, because he had done wisely:
for the children of this world are, in their genera-
tion, wiser than the children of light. And I .say
unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness ; that when ye fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habita-
tions.
THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The keynote of the Office for this day is struck by our
Lord's words in the end of the Gospel, " Make to yourselves
friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habitations." For
by the unjust steward in tlie parable, of wliich tlicse words
give tlie application, is represented the Christian in his way
through this life ; and the children of Israel are represented
to UB in the Epistle on their way thmugh the wilderness. By
the temptations to which the latter were subjected are set
forth as in a living parable tlie lot of the " children of light,"
who also must pass througli sucli tcmpt.ations as arc "com-
mon to man." i'he worldly wisdom of the stewanl our Lord
uses as an example of tlie manner in which the children of
light arc to use the temptations of life as a means by which
they may make friends in heaven among the angels and saints.
Out of the .ManirnoM of unrighteousness— the idols of tliis
life which men are tempted to fall down and worship — this
profit may arise to him who is tempted, that his trial by their
means is like our Lord's temptation by Satan, a trial whicli
will result in greater perfection and fitness for the further
work set before him to do, if due use is made of that way of
escape by wliich he may be .able to bear it. Such temptations
were ofi'ered to the first Israel, and the people gave way before
them ; they are also offered to (Jod's new Israel, and the
words of our Lord are an exhortation to them, that as
"children of light" they slioukl be as wise for spiritual
objects .as " the children of this world " {recklessly irreligious,
yet provident and i)olitic, men) are fur tlie objects which
they Bet themselves to attain as the desire of their life.
Inthoit. — Beliold, God is my helper : the Lord is with
them th.at uphold my soul. lie sliall reward evil unto mine
enemies ; destroy Thou them in Thy trutli. Ps. Save me,
God, for Thy Name's sake : and avenge me in 'I'hy strengtli.
<;kirv be.
€tc Centf) anD OElcticntD ^unoaj^s after Cnnity.
,11
The Tenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica X. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
IET Thy merciful ears, Lord, be open to
-^ tlie prayers of Thy humble servants ; and
that they may obtain their j^etitions make them
to ask such things as shall please Thee ; through
Jesus Christ our Lokd. Amen.
«S. g.ffi- Cdas.
iii. 5. Leo. Mur,
i. 381, 689 ; ti. 169.
■'ORATIO.
ATEANT aurcs misericordiai Tuae, Domine,
precibus supplicantium ; et ut petentibus
desiderata concedas, fac eos qute Tibi placita sunt
postulare. Per Dominum nostrum.
P'
'■THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. xii. Ml.
CONCERNING spiritual yifts, brethren, I
would not have you ignorant. Ye know
that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these
dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I
give you to understand, that no man speaking
by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed;
and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diver-
sities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there
are differences of administrations, but the same
Lord. And there are diversities of operations,
but it is the same God, Which worketh all in all
12. 2-II.
Roman ,
15. I- 10.
]• astern.
9. 3-17.
I Cor.
I Cor.
I Cor.
S.S-»-mP.B.
Romnti. Mark 7.
i3. =3.!5.
•THE OOSPEL. S. Luke
AND when He was come near, He beheld the
-XA- city, and wept over it, saying, If thou
hadst known, even thou, at least in this tliy day,
the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now
they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall
come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a
trench about thee, and compass thee round, and
keep thee in on every side, and sliall lay thee
even with the ground, and thy children within
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to
every man to prolit withal. Fur to one is given
by the Spirit the word of wisdcmi ; to another
the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to
another faith by the same Spirit ; to another the
gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to another
the working of miracles; to another prophecy;
to another discerning of spirits ; to another divers
kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation
of tongoies. But all these worketh that one and
the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man sever-
ally as He will.
xix. 41-47.
thee ; and they shall not leave in thee one stone
upon another ; because thou knewest not the
time of thy visitation. And He went into the
temple, and began to cast out them that sold
therein, and them that bought, saying unto them,
It is written, My house is the house of prayer ;
but ye have made it a den of thieves. And He
taught daily in the temple.
THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica XI. joost Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, Who declarest Thy Almighty power
most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity ;
JilercifuUy grant unto us such a measure of Thy
grace, that we, running the way of Thy com-
mandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises,
and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure ;
throuirh Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Greg.
Ilebd. xii. post
Pent. Gelas. iit. 6.
Mur. i. 690. ii. 169.
■'ORATIO.
DEUS, Qui omnipotentiam Tuam parcendo
maxime et miserando manifestas ; multi-
plica super nos gratiam Tuam, ut ad Tua promissa
currentes, coelestium bonorum facias esse con-
sortes. Per.
THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
There is a touching connection between the Epistle and
Gospel of this day which seems as if it could hardly be
accidental ; or, if it is, offers an illustration of the manner in
which all Holy Scripture gives evidence that it is drawn from
one Fountain of truth. The Gospel shews our Blessed Lord
weeping over Jerusalem, because she had failed to recognize
the things that belonged to her peace. The Prince of Peace
had come to her, offering the good gifts which are ever the
fruits of His Presence, but her eyes had been blinded by her
wilfulness, those gifts of peace had been rejected, and now
they were hid from her. Our Lord's last words of warning a
few days afterwards were in the same strain, " Walk while
ye liave the light, lest darkness come upon j'ou. . . . While
ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the
children of light." They were the last public words of the
Light of the world before His Passion began ; and when He
had spoken them. He " departed, and did hide Himself from
them " [.John xii. 36]. With such an experience before the
new Israel of God, the Apostle St. Paul exhorts them not
to be ignorant of the spiritual gifts with which they have
been blessed : those manifold operations of the Holy Ghost
on the souls of men, by which they are fitted for the ivork of
the ministry, or for that of ordinary Cliristian life. And the
association of these two portions of Holy Scripture comes a.f
a perennial warning to Churches in their corporate capacity,
and to individual Christians, calling them to remember that
as Jesus had cause to weep over the neglect of His gifts when
offered to the Jews, so is such a neglect cause of sorrow even
now in Heaven, and may be followed by the judgement which
fell upon her of old who knew not the time of her visitation.
The enemies of the Church are ever ready to dig their trenches
and compass her around, and lay her even with the ground.
Her true strength is, that she should ever remember and use
her spiritual gifts, and know the value of Christ's Presence
in the time when He visits her with His salvation.
iNTEOtT. — When I cried unto the Lord, He heard my voice
in tlie battle that was against me : yea, even God that
endureth for ever shall hear me and cast them down. cast
thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall nourish thee. Ps.
Hear my prayer, Lord, and hide not Thj'self from my
petition. Take heed unto me, and hear me. Glory be.
THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The subject of this Sunday is the mercy and pity of
Almighty God in bestowing the power of supernatural grace
312
Cf)e CiDClftf) %imDai) after Crinity.
"THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor.
BRETHREN, I declare unto you the Gospel
■nhich I preached unto you, which also ye
have received, and wherein ye stand : by which
also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what
I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all,
that which I also received, how that Cheist died
for our .sins, according to the Scriptures ; and
that He was buried ; and that He rose again the
third day, according to the Scriptures ; and that
He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve : after
that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren
at once ; of whom the greater part remain unto
,S.1.S- -Cor.
15. I -10.
Kctnan, sCor. 3.
4-9.
hastern as P. B.
XV. Ml.
this present; but some are fallen asleep : after
that. He was seen of James ; then of all the
Apostles : and last of all. He was seen of me also,
as of one born out of due time. For I am the
least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be
called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church
of God. But by the grace of God I am what I
am : and His grace which was hestowed upon
me was not in vain ; but I laboured more abun-
dantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace
of God which was with me. Therefore
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so
ye believed.
r TESUS] spake this parable unto certain which
L^ trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and despised others : Two men went
up into the temple to pray ; the one a Pharisee,
and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
Thee, that I am not as other men are, extor-
tioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publi-
can : I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all
THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xviii. 9-14.
that I possess.
* 5. g.llJ.asIM!.
Roman. Luke lo.
Fasieyn. Matt.
19. i6-a6.
And the Publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto
heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God
be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the
other : for every one that exalteth himself shall
be abased ; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.
The T-welfth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XII. j'ost Tfinitatem.
' S. e.g. Cro-
HebX xili, pos
Pent. Gelas. in. 7
Leo. Mur. i. 418
690 J ii. 170.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who art
-^-J- always more ready to hear than we to
pray, and art wont to give more than either we
desire, or deserve ; Pour down upon us the abun-
dance of Thy mercy ; forgiving us those things
whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us
those good things which we are not worthy to
ask, but through the merits and mediation of
Jesus C'hkist, Thy Sox, our Lord. Amen.
''THE EPISTLE.
SUCH trast have we through Christ to God-
ward : not that we are sufficient of our-
selves to think any thing as of ourselves ; but
our sufficiency is of God. Who also hath made
us able ministers of the New Testament ; not of
the letter, but of the Spirit : for the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. But if the luinLs-
tration of death written aiul engraven in stones
Roittatt.
liasUrn.
16. 13-24,
'ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui abun-
dantia pietatis Tuse et merita supplicum
excedis et vota ; effunde super nos misericordiain
Tuam ; ut dimittas quae conscientia metuit, et
adjicias c[ua3 oratio non prcesumit. Per DoMi-
NUM.
2 Cor. iii. .l-O.
was glorious, so that the children of Israel could
not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the
glory of his countenance, which glory was to be
done away ; how shall not the ministration of the
Spirit be rather glorious 1 For if the ministration
of condemnation he glory, much more doth the
ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
MP. B.
Gal. 3,
as a free anil undeserved gift upon sinners. St. Paul's " 1 am
the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called
an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God," is a
parallel to the Publican's " God be merciful to me a sinner : "
and our Lord's declaration tliat the Publican went down to
his house justified because of his humility, is a parallel to tlie
inspired words of the Apostle, " Py the grace of (iod I am
what I am . . . yet not I, but the grace of God which was
with me." " Ancient writers, as St. Augustine and others,"
saya Isaac Williams, "deliglit to dwell on tliese words of St.
Paul, as 80 expressive of liis sweet, trembling humility, fear-
ing to contemplate himself, except in liis sins and infii-mities,
and losing all sense of his greatness in (iod ; fearful lest he
should presume, and so lose by presumption all that crown of
hope and joy which Ijy humility he h.ad gained." This tone
of the lioly Apostle, and that of the Publican, is strikingly
taketi lip by the Collect, whicli offers also a fine specimen of
the fulness of devotion which may be gathered into tliisform
of prayer. Short as it is, this Collect cont.ains five several
subjects, each of which is like tlie condensation of a volume
of devotion. Those subjects are [I] the mercy of God; and
lot it be noted, liow suggestive ia the idea tliat this mercy ia
the chief manifestation of Almighty I'ower : [2] the grace of
Gull, as His gift, according to tlie measure of our necessities ;
[3] obedience, as accomplished only by the power of grace ;
[4] the fulfilment of the Divine promises; [5] the "great
reconipence of reward," tlie " heavenly treasures, " of which
Isaiah and St. Paul wrote, "Eye hath not sucii, nor car
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which (Jod hath prepared for tliem that love Him." Such
fulness of meaning approaches very nearly to that of inspira-
tion, and may well lead us to the belief that a special
blessing from Ood rested upon the intellect and devotional
instinct of the original writer.
Iktroit. — It is God that maketli men to be of one mind in
an house. He will give strength and power unto His jieople.
I'a. Let God arise, .and let His enemies be scattered : let
them also that hate Him fiee before Him. Glory be.
THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The contrast between the Old and New Dispensations is
vividly set forth in the (Jospel and Epistle for this Sunday.
Glorious as the former was in its origin and in its continu.ation,
it was a ministration of condenin.ation, with .sacrifices of
atonement, but with no sacraments of life. The Incarnation
Cf)e Cf)irteentt) ^unDay after Ctmit|>.
;i3
"THE GOSPEL. S. Mark vii. 31-37.
r "TESUS,] dcparling from the coasts of Tyre
LfJ and Sidon, came unto the sea of Galilee,
through tlio midat of the coasts of Decapolis.
And they bring unto Him one that ivas deaf,
and had an impediment in his speech ; and they
beseech Him to put His hand upon him. And
He took him aside from the multitude, and put
His fingers into his ears, and He spit, and
touched his tongue ; and looking up to heaven,
He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatlia, that
"S. S.S. asP. n.
Kontcin. I.ukei7.
II. 19.
liasleyn. Matt.
=■• 33-4J.
is, Bo opened. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loo.scd.
and he spake plain. And He charged them that
they should tell no man : but the more He
charged them, so much the more a great deal
they published it, ; and were beyond measure
astoni.shed, saying. He hath done all things well ;
He niaketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb
to speak.
The Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XIII. post Trinilatem.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of Whose only
-^-J-- gift it Cometh that Thy faithful people do
unto Thee true and laudable service ; Grant, we
beseech Thee, that we may so faithfully serve
Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain
Thy heavenly promises ; through the merits of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
» S. S. m. GrcR.
super populuin.
Ilcbd. XIV, post
Pent. Leo. Mur.
i. 37i> ^'i i>. 170.
''ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS et misericors Deus, de Cujus
munere venit, ut Tibi a fidelibus Tuis digue
et laudabiliter serviatur, tribue nobis, qusesumus,
ut ad promissiones Tuas sine offensione curramus.
Per DoMiNUM nostrum.
'THE EPLSTLE. Gal. iii. 16-22.
TO Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not. And to seeds, as of
many ; but as of one ; And to thy Seed, which is
Christ. And this I say. That the covenant that
was confirmed before of God in Christ, the Law,
which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul, that it should make the promise
of none effect. For if the iidieritanoe be of the
Law, it is no more of promise ; but God gave it
to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth
the Law 1 It was added because of transgres-
' s. ». Hi
as P. B.
Koinatu
Gal. 5-
16-24.
£ a stern.
2 Cor.
I. 21—2. 4.
sions, till the Seed should come, to Whom the
promise was made; and it ivas ordained by
angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a
mediator is not a mediator of one ; but God is
one. Is the Law then against the promises of
God ? God forbid : for if there had been a law
given which could have given life, verily righteous-
ness should have been by the Law. But the
Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the
promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given
to them that believe.
""THE GOSPEL. S. Luke x. 23-37.
BLESSED are the eyes which see the things
that ye see. For I tell you, That many
prophets and kings have desired to see those
things which ye see, and have not seen them;
and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them. And behold, a certain
■' S S S as p. E.
Roman. Matt. 6.
Lasleyti. Matt.
32. 3-14.
Lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life 1
He said unto him, What is written in the Law?
how readest thou 1 And he answering said. Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
of the Son of God was the origin, and the Mystical Presence
of Clirist the continuation, of a spiritual life which the world had
not before known since the Fall. Tlie Cliurch of God liad grown
deaf, and heard not tlie Voice from Heaven as that Voice had
been licard of old ; there was an impediment in her speech, so
that tlie Word of God did not go fortli from her lips in pro-
phecy. The Son of God came down on e.irth, and touched her
by making Himself one with her through His human nature ;
the sigh of His Passion was followed by the " Epliphatha" of
the Resurrection ; and as soon as His work was perfected by
the looking up to Heaven of His Ascension and Session at the
right hand of God, the ears of the deaf were unstopped to
receive the Inspiration of Pentecost, and the tongue of the
dumb loosed, so that "their sound is gone out into all lands,
and their words into the ends of the world. " The same Toucli
of Clirist and communication of grace in the communication
of that which forms part of His Person, is still the means by
which the Church as a corporate body, and every individual
member of it as a living member, is vivified and sustained ; and
He Who gives spiritual ability to the ministers of the New
Testament, that their acts and words may be the means by
which His Presence is continued in the Church, is making the
ministration of righteousness, even in the by-pl.aces of the earth,
to exceed in glory the ministration of Moses at the foot of Sinai.
Introit. — Haste Thee, God, to deliver me : make haste
to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed that seek after
my soul. Ps. Let them be turned backward and put to con-
fusion, that wish me evil. Glory be.
THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Tlie glory of the New Dispensation is again set forth in the
Scriptures for this day, but the parable of the Good Samaritan
comes in with singular fitness, since the Thirteenth Sunday
after Trinity almost always occurs during the harvest (at some
time between August 17th and September 19th), when the
Christian cliarities of social life are a subject that should
mingle with our thanksgivings for God's goodness in giving
us the fruits of the season. The parable sets forth, in its
mystical phase, the exceeding goodness and charity of the
Lord Himself, Who became the good Samaritan to human
n.ature at large when it had fallen into tlie hands of spiritual
foes, had been stripped of the clothing of original rigliteous-
ness, and left half dead in trespasses and sins. But out of
the love which Christ bore springs our love both to Him and
to our neighbour. AVe love Him because He first loved us ;
and our love for others is the necessary fruit of our love for
Him. It is the application of this principle which forms the
literal teaching of the parable ; the extreme case given being
given for that very reason to shew how extensive is the bond
of neighbourliness ; and how extensive, in consequence, the
character of the duties which spring out of it. If a Jew and
a Samaritan are set forth for our example as neighbours in
3M
Cbe jFourteentt) %'unDap after Crmitj^.
and vritli all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as
thyself. And He said unto him, Thou hast
answered right ; this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus,
And who is my neighbour ? And Jesus answer-
ing said, A certain man went down from Jeru-
salem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which
stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him,
and departed, leaving him half dead. And by
chance there came down a certain Priest that
way, and, when he saw him, he passed by on
the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he
was at the place, came and looked on him, and
passed by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was ;
and, when he saw him, he had compassion on
him, and went to liim, and bound up his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own
beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care
of him. And on the morrow, when he departed,
he took out two pence, and gave them to the
host, and said unto him. Take care of him ; and
whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come
again, I will repay thee. Which now of these
three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him
that fell among the thieves ? And he said. He
that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus
unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XI V, post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY' and everlasting God, give unto
-LX. us the increase of faith, hope, and charity ;
and, that we may obtain that which Thou dost
promise, make us to love that which Thou dost
command ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
<• S. f. S. Creff.
Ilebu. 3CV. post.
Pent. Leo. Miir.
i. 374, 691 ; ii. 170.
" ORATIO
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Dels, da nobis
fidei, spei, et charitatis augmentum ; et ut
mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare
quod prsecipis. Per Dominum.
*THE EPISTLE. Gal. v. 16-24.
I SAY then. Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the
other ; so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are
not under the law. Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornica-
tion, uncleanuess, lasciviousness, idolatry, witch-
craft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
5-S S
as P.
n.
Roma ft.
Gal.
s.
■■5—6. JO.
£ a stern .
7 (
or.
. 6.15.
seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunken-
ness, revellings, and such like : of the which I
tell you before, as I have also told you in time
past, That they which do such things shall not
inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance :
against such there is no law. And they that
are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the
affections and lusts.
'THE GOSPEL. S. Luke xvi{. 11-19.
AND it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jeru-
-^^ salem, that He passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered into
a certain village, there met Him ten men that
we7-e lepers, which .stood afar off. And they
lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us. And when He saw thein, He
said unto them. Go, shew yourselves unto the
priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went,
they were cleansed. And one of them, when
' S.W. l^.asP. B.
Romait. Luke 7.
11.16,
RasUrn. Matt.
s=. 35-46,
he saw that he was healed, turned back, and
with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down
on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks ; and
he was a Samaritan, And Jesus answering said,
Were there not ten cleansed ? but where are
the nine ? There are not found that returned
to give glory to God, save this stranger. And
He said unto him, Arise, go thy way, thy faith
hath made thee whole.
the Christian sense, what Christians arc not neighbours to
each other ?
The temporal gifts of God's cood Providence suggest, tlien,
an awakening of tlie .spirit of kindliness, that those who are
among the less "fortunate" may be looked upon by those
wlio are more so as sent to test their jjnactical Cliristianity :
and those who read the parable rightly can liardly fail to find
some occasion for an active obedience to our Lord's precept,
"Go, and do thou likewise."
iNTnoiT. — Look upon Thy covenant. Forsake not for ever
the souls of the poor. Arise, Lord, .ind maintain Thine
own cause, .ind forget not the voice of tlicin that seek Tliec.
Pa. O God, wherefore art Thou absent from us so long : why is
Thy wrath so hot against the sheep of Thy pasture? Glory be.
THE FOURTEEXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The Gospel for this Sunday, like the last, is a memorial of
harvest, setting forth the duty of Christian thanksgiving by
the example of the one leper out of the ten cleansed who re-
turned to give glory to God in Christ. Leprosy being incur-
,ible, except by a miracle, tlic act of our Lord is typical of
tliat continual wonder-working by which He sustains our life,
and gives to us the bounties of His Providence ; and tlie act
of tlianksgiving suggests the recognition, at this time of the
year, of the hand of God prospering by its mysterious opera-
tion the work of man in producing the great necessary of life.
Such a recognition involves falling down at the feet of God in
thankful .idoration : the absence of it leads men to depart on
their way uiiheedful of the supernatural character which is
involvcil in even the most ordinary provision for the necessi-
ties of life.
Intuoit. — Behold, God, our Pefender, and look upon
the face of Tliinc Anointed, For one d.ay in Thy courts is
better than a thousand. Ps. O how amiable arc Thy dwell-
ings. Thou Lord of Hosts ! Glory be.
Ct)C jFiftccntf) aiiD ^irteentD ^unDaj^s after Crinity.
315
The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica X V. post Triidlaiem.
THE COLLECT.
KEEP, wc beseech Thee, O Loed, Tliy
Church with Thy perpetual mercy : and,
because the frailty of mau without Thee cannot
but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things
hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our
salvation ; through Jesus Christ our Loed.
Amen.
«S. M.3I!. Gr.K.
llc'bcl. xvi. post
IViit. Gclas. iii. 10.
Mur. i. 6o2.
"ORATIO.
CUSTODI, qusBsumus, Domine, ecclesiani
Tuaui propitiationo perpetua ; et quia sine
Te labitur humana mortalitas, Tuis semper auxiliis
et abstrahatur a iioxiis, et ad salutaria diritratur.
Per.
*THE EPISTLE. Gal. vi. IMS.
YE see how large a letter I have written uuto
you with mine own hand. As many as
desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they
constrain you to be circumcised ; only lest they
should sutler persecution for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised
keep the law ; but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh. But God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is
* 3. S. ?9
Gal.
5. =5—6. 10.
Romatt.
Eph. 3.
i3-=i-
Jiasfern.
2 Cor.
6, I'lo.
crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availcth
any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new crea-
ture. And as many as wiflk according to this
rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God. From henceforth let no
man trouble me ; for I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace
of our Loed Jesus Christ he with your spirit.
Amen.
THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. vi. 24-34.
~^rO man can serve two masters : for either
-1-^ he will hate the one, and love the other ;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
Therefore I say uuto you. Take no thought for
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put
on : Is not the life more than meat, and the body
than raiment 1 Behold the fowls of the air ; for
they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit unto his stature 1 And why take ye thought
for raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field how
they grow : they toil not, neither do they spin :
f S. 1- ??. Mail.
6. 24-33-
Rom(tn. Luke 14.
l-ii.
Biisiern, Matt.
25. 14-30.
and yet I say unto you. That even Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field,
which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the
oven ; shall He not much more clot/ie you, ye
of little faith ? Therefore take no thought, say-
ing. What shall we eat 'I or what shall we drink 1
or wherewithal shall we be clothed 1 (for after all
these things do the Gentiles seek :) for your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of
all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom
of God, and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added unto you. Take therefore
no thought for the morrow ; for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself : sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof.
The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica X V[. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OLOKD, we beseech Thee, let Thy continual
pity cleanse and defend Thy Church ; and
because it cannot continue in safety without Thy
succour, preserve it evermore by Thy help and
goodness ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
"i-f. ffi. Creff.
Hebd. xvii. post
Pent. Gelas. in. u.
Mur. i. 692.
''ORATIO.
IT^CCLESIAM Tuam, quassumus, Domine,
-^ miseratio continuata mundet et muniat ;
et quia sine Te non potest salva consistere, Tuo
semper munere gubernetur. Per Dominum.
the fifteenth SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The Gospel for this Sunday is also a harvest Gospel, point-
ing out that true Christian forethought ia that which is
intimately associated with dependence on tlie Providence of
God. When tlie stores of the principal provision for the year
are gathered in, then comes the lesson tauglit by Christ's own
words, tliat sowing, and reaping, and gathering into barns, is
not the chief work of a Christian's life ; and that God's bounty,
which feeds the birds of the air, and clothes the lilies of the
field by other means th.an their own toil, is the same bounty
which is feeding and clothini; us bt/ 7nco?i.9 of our toil. Fore-
thought in respect to such things should therefore be a fore-
thought which is consistent with trust in God, and with seek-
ing first the things of His Kingdom.
Imtroit. — Bow down Thine ear. O Lord, and hear me.
My God, save Tliy servant that puttetli his trust in Thee.
Be merciful unto me, for I will call daily upon Thee. Ps.
Comfort the soul of Thy servant : for unto Tliee do I lift up
my soul. Glory be.
THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The compassion of Christ is illustrated by the Gospel of
this Sunday, which is that narrating the restoration to life of
the widow's son ; the pity of the Father is besought for the
Church ; and the earnest prayer of St. Paul in the Epistle
exemplifies the spirit in which such a prayer should be ofi'ered,
as well as the nature of the blessings to be prayed for.
Our Lord's meeting with the funeral procession at the gate
of the cit}' may be taken as a beautiful precedent for the
custom ordered in the second Rubric of the Burial Service :
and when mourners hear Christ's ministers, on such an occa-
3i6
Cf)C %et)cntccntf) ^unDay after Crinitp.
"THE EPISTLE.
I DESIRE that yc faint not at my tribulations
for you, which is your glory. For this cause
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in
heaven and earth is named, that He would grant
you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the
inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts
by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, may be able to comprehend with all saints,
" 5- S- ffi-
Raman.
1-6.
Eastern,
6. 16—7. I.
ns P. B.
Eph. ^.
Ephes. iii. 13 21.
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height ; and to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that
we ask or think, according to the power that
worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church
by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world
without end. Amen.
*THE GOSPEL. S.
AXD it came to pass the day after, that Jesus
-^-j- went into a city called Nain ; and many
of His disciples went with Him, and much people.
Now when He came nigh to the gate of the
city, behold, there was a dead man carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow ;
and much people of the city was with her. And
when the Lord saw her. He had compassion on
her, and said unto her. Weep not. And He came
and touched the bier, (and they that bare him
b S. g. Si. Luke
7- 11-16.
Romati. M.1H.2:.
35.46.
Uaslern. Matt.
15. 21-28.
Luke vii. 11-17.
stood still,) and He said. Young man, I say unto
thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and
began to speak : and He delivered him to his
mother. And there came a fear on all, and they
glorified God, saying. That a great Prophet is
risen up among us, and that God hath visited
His people. And this rumour of Him went forth
throughout all Judoea, and throughout all the
region round about.
THE SEVENTKKNTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica X VII. jiost Trinitalem.
THE COLLECT.
IORD, we pray Thee that Thy grace may
■^ always prevent and follow us, and make
us continually to be given to all good works ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. A men.
' S. g. ffi.
JOtlUI-
Orationes Q
an.t. Mur. i
'i B. g. omit
'sem-
p«."
'OEATIO.
TUA nos, DoMiNE, quagsumus, gratia ''semper
et prseveniat et sequatur ; ac bonis operibus
jugiter prasstet esse intentos. Per Dominum.
'THE EPISTLE. Ephes. iv. 1-6.
I THEREFORE the prisoner of the Lord
beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowli-
ness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing
one another in love ; endeavouring to keep the
^THE GOSPEL
IT came to pass, as Jesus went into the house
of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on
the sabbath-day, that they watched Him. And
behold, there was a certain man before Him which
< S. g. B.asP. B.
Rotnau. 1 Cor. 1,
4-8.
haitern. 2 Cor.
9. 6-11.
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God and Father of all. Who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.
S. Luke xiv. 1-11.
/A. g. 55. as p. B, had the drops}'. And Jesus answering spake
Roman. M.itt. 9. x .1 T 1 Til- • • T -x
unto the Lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it
lawful to heal on the sabbath-day? And they
held their peace. And He took him, and healed
sion, saying, "I am the Resurrection and the Life," they may
remember with tliankful hope that these are the words of Him
Who, saying, "Weep not. . . came and touclied the bier,"
and said also, " Young man, I say unto thee, Arise."
IsTitoiT. — Be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I will call daily
upon Thee. For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious, and of
great mercy unto all them that call u])on Thee. Ps, Bow
down Tliine ear, Lord, and hear me, for I am poor and in
misery. Glory be.
THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER Tl'JNITY.
The idea of tlic Epistle and Gospel for this Sunday appears
to be that of gaining liberty aud victory tlirough becoming the
humble servants of Clirist. St. Paul writes out of his i)rison,
"I the prisoner of the Lord," as he writes in another place,
" Remember my bonds :" and one who was in the bonds of
an infirmity was brought to Christ, ".and He took him, and
healed him, and lot him go," setting him free from liis di.sease
on the instant in a manner which cannot be explained l)y
physiological science. Afterwards our Lord speaks of the
humane work of setting free on tlie Sabbath an ox or an ass
that had f.allen into a pit ; and of one being bidden to go up
higher through liis humility in taking the lowest room at a
wedding feast. All these may be taken as illustrations of the
way in wliich our Lord's service becomes perfect freedom to
tho^e who humbly take His yoke upon them. They offer also
a further illustration of the principle stated in the end of the
Epistle, "There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one
Ijaptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and
through all, and in you all." This principle is of a restrictive
cli.iracter ; bringing the world out of a free worsliip of many
gods to the worship of One ; limiting it to one faith, and to
oue only means of initiation into the family of the one (5od.
The idea conveyed is one of a bondage to rule and law which
leaves no room for invention or wild developement and specu-
lation. But as Christ reigned from His Cross; as St. Paul
governed the churches of I'^phesus and otlier cities from liis
prison in Kome ; as one who sits down in tlie lowest room
will hear the Host say to him, "Friend, go up higher;" so
limitations and restrictions of this kind are a means of real
spiritual freeilom, however much they may seem an irksome
bondage to those who regard tliem superficially. The Chris-
tian who worships the One God is more free than the lieathen
who worshipped many ; and the believer in a Faith once for
.lU given is more free than he who is continually looking for
new developements anil open to the bondage of every novel
s2)eculation.
Introit.— Righteous art Thou, O Lord, ,aiul true is Thy
judgement. O ileal Thou with mo according unto Thy mercy.
Pa. Blessed are the undelllcd in the way, who walk in the
law of the Lord. Glory be.
Cf)C €ig()tccntlj ano Jl3mctccntf) <^unDag0 after Crinitp.
317
liim, and let him go ; and answered tlieni, saying,
Which of you shall have an ass, or an ox, fallen
into a pit, and will not straightway iJiill him out
on the sabbath-day ^ And they could not answer
Him again to these things. And He put forth a
parable to those which were bidden, when He
marked how they chose out the chief rooms, say-
ing unto them, When thou art bidden of any iiian
to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room ;
lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden
of him ; and he that bade thee and him come and
say to thee, Give this man jjlace ; and thou begin
with shame to take the lowest room. But when
thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest
room; that, when ho that bade thee cometh, he
may say unto thee. Friend, go up higher : then
shalt thou have worship in the presence of them
that sit at moat with thee. For whosoever
exalteth himself shall be abased ; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica X VIII. post. Trinitakm.
THE COLLECT.
TORD, we beseech Thee, grant Tliy people
-^ grace to withstand the temptations of the
world, the flesli, and the devil, and with pure
hearts and minds to follow Thee the only God ;
through Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen.
HcbdC
m.
Grc^.
XXI
post
Pent.
ielas
.uri3.
ai. "puro
:orde."
Mur, i
t93.
I. 173.
"ORATIO.
DA, quresumus, Domine, populo Tuo diabolica
vitare contagia, et Te solum Deum pura
mente sectari. Per.
'THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. i. 4-S.
I THANK my God always on your behalf, for
the grace of God which is given you by
.Jesus Cheist ; that in every thing ye are enriched
by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge ;
even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed
« a. B.ffl
asP
B.
Roman.
hpl,
4.
23-28.
l-asurn.
2 L
or.
II. 31-12.
9-
in you ; so that ye come behind in no gift ; wait-
ing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
"Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that
ye may he blameless in the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
'The gospel. S. Matt. xxii. 34-46.
WHEN the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
had put the Sadducees to silence, they
were gathered together. Then one of them,
which was a Lawyer, asked Him a question,
tempting Him, and saying, blaster, which is the
great commandment in the Law ? Jesus said
unto him. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind. This is the first and great com-
mandment. And the second is like unto it.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On
these two commandments hang all the Law
' S. g. 5;. Matt.
22. 35-46.
Jiomatt. Matt. 22.
and the Prophets. While the I'harisees were
gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying.
What think ye of Christ 1 whose Son is He 1
They say unto Him, 'fhe son of David. He
saith unto them. How then duth David in spirit
call Him Lord, saying. The Lord said imto my
Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make
Thine enemies Thy foot-stool ? If David then
call Him Lord, how is He his son t And no
man was able to answer Him a word; neither
durst any man from that day forth ask Him any
more questio7is.
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity
Dominica XIX. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, for as much as without Thee we are
not able to please Thee ; Mercifully grant,
that Thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct
and rule our hearts ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Hebd. x.\ii. post
Pent. Gelas. iii.
14. Miir. i. 693. ii.
"/ORATIO.
DIRIGAT corda nostra, qusesumus, Domine,
Tuaj miserationis operatio ; quia Tibi sine
Te placers non possumus. Per Dominum nos-
trum.
THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Two comprehensive Christian formula are given in the
Gospel and the Collect for this Sunday. That in the former
sets forth the whole duty of the servant of Christ, "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God -n-itli all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind," and " thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself." The formula of tlie English CoUect is
that familiar one of "the world, the Hesh, and the devil,"
which represents all the temptations to whicli a Christian is
liable. To these may also be added the words of the Epistle,
"waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ," as an
expression which comprehensively states the whole object of
the Christian life. Tlie duties, the difficulties, and tlie pur-
pose of the Christian life are thus made the subjects of com-
memoration and prayer ; and the connection of each with the
grace of God and the Person of Clirist is illustrated by the
words of St. Paul in the Epistle, and of our Lord in His con-
futation of the unbelievers .is narrated in the Gospel.
Introit. — Give peace, Lord, to them that wait for Thee,
and let Thy prophets be found faithful. Hear the praj'ers of
Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel. Ps. I was glad when
they said unto me. We will go into the house of the Lord.
Glory be.
THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The forsaking of sins, and the forgiveness of sins, are the
subjects of the Epistle and Gospel for this Sunday. St. Paul
writes to the Ephesians in much detail concerning the Chris-
tian moral law, and shews its relation to the newness of nature
wdiich belongs to those mIio are new born by Baptism into
Christ. In the miracle by which our Blessed Lord restored
to life the dead limbs of a paralytic this change from the old
man to the new man is vividly illustrated. We also see in
the circumstances attending this miracle two other illustrations
of the relation between our Lord and His people. First, in
His words, " Thy sins be forgiven Thee," He shews that His
forgiveness is tlie highest good that can be desired on earth :
C()e Ctucntictb ^unDay after Crinitp.
THIS I say therefore, aud testify in the Lord,
that ye henceforth walk not as other Gen-
tiles walk, in the vanity of their mind ; having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the blindness of their heart :
who, being past feeling, have given themselves
over unto lasciviousness, to work all unclean-
ness with greediness. But ye have not so learned
Christ ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and
have been taught by Him, as the truth is in
Jesus : that ye put off, concerning the former con-
versation, the old man, which is corrupt accord-
ing to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in
the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the
new man, which after God is created in righteous-
ness and true holiness. AVherefore, putting away
lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour:
"THE GOSPEL.
r TESUS] entered into a ship, and passed over,
LtJ and came into His own city. And behold,
they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy,
lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the sick of the palsy. Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold,
certain of the scribes said within themselves.
This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing
their thoughts, said. Wherefore think ye evil in
« THE EPISTLE. Ephes. iv 17-32
"5 g. S!. rph.
4 =3-=s,
Kofnan, Eph. 5.
15.21.
Easlerfl. Gal. I.
Rotnan.
46-53.
J- a stent.
5. i-ii.
for we are members one of another. Be ye angry
and sin not : let not the sun go down upon your
wrath : neither give place to the devil. Let him
that stole steal no more ; but rather let him
labour, working with Ids hands the thing which
is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed
out of your mouth, but that which is good to the
use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and
anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put
away from you, with all malice. And be ye
kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hatli
forgiven you.
S. Matt. ix. 1-8.
your hearts ? For whether is easier to say, I'hy
sins be forgiven thee ? or to say. Arise, and walk ?
But that ye may know that the Son of iLan hath
power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to
the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed,
and go unto thine house. And he arose, and
departed to his house. But when the multi-
tudes saw if, they marvelled, and glorified God,
Which had given such power unto men.
John 4.
THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica XX. 2^ost Triiiitalcm.
THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, of
Thy bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech
Thee, from all things that may hurt us ; that
we, being ready both in body aud soul, may
cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou
wouldest have done ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Ayneii.
cS^.S
9.
Grefc-.
Hebd.
post.
Pent.
OeL-is
111. IS.
Mur. i
694. II. 174.
'OEATIO.
OMNIPOTE^'S et misericors Deus, universa
nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude ; ut
mente et corpore pariter expediti, quas Tua sunt
liberis mentibus exequamur. Per Dojiinum.
■^THE EPISTLE.
SEE then that ye walk circumspectly, not as
fools, but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not
unwise, but understanding what the will of the
Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein
is excess ; but be filled with the Spirit ; speak-
Romatt.
10-17.
Hasterti.
16-20.
. ItsP.B.
Epli. 6,
Ephes. V. 15-21.
ing to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and
spiritual songs ; singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord ; giving thanks always
for all things unto God and the Father, in the
Name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; submitting
j'ourselves one to another in the fear of God.
and tliiit .ilthough He may also see fit to say, "Arise, and
walk," it is this blessing that is to be sought before all others.
Secondly, His peculiar expression, "that tlie Son of Man
hath power on eartli to forgive sins," shews tliat tliis power,
which originates only in tlio Godhead (.as the .Scribes truly
thought), extended to the human nature of our Ijord, that
sins might be forgiven on eartli as well as at the last judge-
ment before tlie throne of God. These words thus contain a
statement of the whole principle of Absolution.
Introit. — I am the Saviour of My people, .s.aith the Lord ;
out of whatsoever tribulation they call unto Mc, I will hear
them, and I will be their Lord for ever. Pn. Hear My Law,
My people : incline your car.i unto the words of My mouth.
Glory be.
THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The prophetic parable of the Marriage .Supper of the Only-
begotten is tlic sul)ject of the Gospel for tliis .Sunday : and to
it may be referred the words of the Collect, "that we, being
ready liotli in body and soul, ni.iy clieerfnlly accomplish those
things tliat Thou wouldest have done." The Epistle seems to
be chosen as an illustr.ation of tlie festivity of Christ's King-
dom, in wliieli the sensual pleasures of heathen rites are
superseded by the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs of
Divine worship, which is chiefly made up of singing, and m.aking
melody to the Lord, ami is ever consecr.ated by the " giving
of thanks," or ofiering of the Holy Euch.arist, to God the
Father, in the Name of our Jjord Jesus Christ. Of this latter,
as well as of the call of the .lews anil the Gentiles, and the
rm,al marri.agc supper of tlie Lamb in Heaven, the Gospel
ought to be interpreted ; and it is so applied in the second
ICxnortation to the Holy Comnumion.
iNTRorr. — In all the things that Thou hast brought upon
ua, Lord, Thou hast executed true judgement ; for we have
sinned, and have not obeyed Thy cnnnn.anilments. Yet give
glory to Thy Name, .and do to us according to the multitude
Cfje Ctocntp^first ^unDaj? after Crinitp.
319
»THE COS
r TESUS said,] The Kingdom of Heaven is like
LtJ unto a certiiin liing, which made a marriage
for his son ; and sent forth his servants to call
them that were bidden to the wedding ; and
they would not come. Again, he sent forth
other servants, saying. Tell them which are
bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner ; my
oxen and m>/ failings a)-e killed, and all things
are ready ; come unto the marriage. But they
made light of it, and went their ways, one to
his farm, another to his merchandise : and the
remnant took his servants, and entreated tliem
spitefully, and slew them. But when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth ; and he sent forth
his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and
burnt up their city. Then saith he to his ser-
PEL. S. Matt, xxii. 1-14.
"S 15. JJ. ns I'. B.
Komtiu. Matt. 18.
hitsltrn. Luke 6.
31-36.
vants, The wedding is ready, but they which were
bidden were not wortliy. Go ye therefore into
the high-ways, and as many a,s ye shall find bid
to the marriage. So those servants went out
into the high-ways, and gathered together all,
as many as they found, both bad and good ; and
the wedding was furnished with guests. And
when the king came in to see the guests, lie
saw there a man which had n(it on a wedding-
garment. And he saith unto him. Friend, how
earnest thou in hither, not having a wedding-
garment 1 And he was speechless. Then said
the king to the servants. Bind him hand and foot,
and take him away, and cast him into outer dark-
ness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.
THE ONK-AND-TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Dominica XXI. post Trinitntnn.
THE COLLECT.
/^ RANT, we beseech Thee, merciful Lord, to
vl^ Thy faithful people pardon and peace, that
they may be cleansed from all their sins, and
serve Thee with a quiet mind ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
« S. 1. ft. Grcs.
liebtl. xxiv. post
rent, Gel<is, ill. 16.
Mur, t, 694. ii, 174.
r imminentibu5, IS.
ft-
'ORATIO.
1ARGIRE, qucesumus, Domixe, fidelibus Tuis
-i indulgentiam placatus et pacem ; ut pari-
ter ab omnibus 'mundentur offensis, et secura Tibi
mente deserviant. Per.
MY brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might. Put on the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against princi-
palities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked-
ness in high ^jiZaces. Wherefore take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day, and, having done
all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth ; and having on the breast-
plate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with
Eastern,
11-18.
''THE EPISTLE. Ephes. vi, lO-iO,
g. jj. Epii, ] the preparation of the Gospel of peace ; above
man. ph,i. i, | all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked ;
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God : pray-
ing always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all per-
severance, and supplication for all saints ; and
for me, that utterance may be given unto me,
that I may open my mouth boldly, to make
known the mystery of the Gospel, for which I
am an ambassador in bonds ; that therein I may
speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
'THE GOSPEL. S. John iv. 46-54.
THERE was a certain nobleman, whose son
was sick at Capernaum. When he heard
that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee,
he went unto Him, and besought Him that He
would come down and heal his son ; for he was
at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto
John
' 5, S. ft.
4- 46-53.
Roman. Matt, 2:
5-16.
him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will
not believe. The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir,
come down ere my child die. Jesu.s saith unto
him. Go thy U'ay, thy sou liveth. And the man
believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto
him, and he went his way. And, as he was now
of Thy mercies. Ps. Great is the Lord, and highly to be
praised : in the city of our God, even upon His holy hill.
(ilory be.
THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
The connection between the Epistle for this .Sunday, which
ia that beautiful pass.age wherein St. Paul describes the whole
armour of God, and the Gospel, in which ia given the narra-
tive of our Lord healing the nobleman's son, ap])ears to lie
chiefly in the words "above all, taking the shield of faith."
The liard, unimpressible generation of the Jews, among whom
our Lord came, would not believe in "signs and wonders" on
any evidence but that of their senses ; and this placed a bar
in the way of His blessing, so that He sometimes could not
do mighty works among them, because there was no co-opera-
tion of faith on their part with power on His. The nobleman
whose child was healed at a long distance by the will of
Christ was a conspicuous illustration of the opposite type of
character. He believed, in the face of all improbabilities,
because he knew that the holy .Tesus was not one to say thnt
which «'as not true. To such minds faith in Christ is a shield
indeed against the fiery darts of the Wicked One ; for their
belief enables Him to do signs and wonders of a spiritual
nature, and establishes a power of co-operation between the
weak servant and the Almighty Lord. Thus not only is
faith a defence against the enemy of souls, but it draws down
Christ Himself to be a " Defence and a Shield ; " so that thej'
can s.iy, "The Lord is my Saviour, my God, and my might,
in Whom I will trust, my buckler, the horn also of my salva-
tion, and my refuge." As humble service of Christ is the
most perfect freedom, because it frees from the bondage of the
Evil One, so humble faith in Christ, the spirit whicli s.ays not
"seeing is believing," but, "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine
unbelief," is the surest path to the revelation of the signs and
wonders of His kingdom.
Introit. — Lord, the whole world is in Thy power, and
there is no man that can gainsay Thee. For Thou hast made
heaven and earth, and all the wondrous things under the
heaven. Thou art Lord of all. Ps. Blessed are the undefiled
in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord, Glory be.
;2o €bc CtocntgrSCConD anD CtDCntp^tfjirD ^unDaps after Crinitg.
going down, his servants met him, and told him,
saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of
them the hour when he began to amend : and
they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh
hour the fever left him. So the father knew
that it teas at the same hour, in the •which Jesus
said unto him, Thy son liveth ; and himself
believed, and his whole house. This is again the
second miracle that Jesus did, when He was come
out of Judaea into Galilee.
The two-and-Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XXII. post Trinitateni.
THE COLLECT.
IOED, we beseech Thee to keep Thy house-
-i hold the Church in continual godliness ;
that through Thy protection it may be free from
all adversities, and devoutly given to serve Thee
in good works, to the glory of Thy Xame ; through
Jesus Cheist our Lokd. Amen.
a S. g. ffi. Crtg.
Super populum.
Hebd, XXV, post
Pent. Mur. ii. 175.
-OEATIO.
FAMILIAM Tuam, quajsumus, Domixe, con-
tinua pietate custodi ; ut a cunctis adver-
sitatibus Te protegente sit libera, et in bonis
actibus Tuo nomini sit devota. Per Domixum.
*THE EPISTLE. Phil. i. S-IL
« S. ©. I
I. 6.11.
Kortuin.
I THANK my God upon every remembrance of
you, always in every prayer of mine for you
all making request with joy, for your fellowship
in the Gospel from the first day until now ; be-
ing confident of this very thing, that He 'Which
hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Cheist ; even as it is
meet for me to think this of }-ou all, because I
have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my
bonds, and mi the defence and confirmation of
'THE GOSPEL. S.
rTDETEE said unto Jesus,] Loed, how oft
L-L shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him? till seven times? Jesus .saith unto
him, I say not unto thee, untU seven times ; but
until seventy times seven. Therefore is the
Kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king,
which would take account of his servants. And
when he had begun to reckon, one was brought
unto him which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife and
children, and all that he had, and payment to
be made. The servant therefore fell down and
worshipped him, saying. Lord, have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the
lord of that servant was moved with compas-
sion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
But the same servant went out, and found one
of his fellow-servants which owed him an hun-
dred pence ; and he laid hands on him, and took
Phil, the Gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For
Phil. 3. God is my record, how cjreatly I long after you
Eph.j. all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I
pray, that your love may abound yet more and
more in knowledge, and in aU judgement : that
ye may approve things that are excellent, that
ye may be sincere, and without oflence, till the
day of Christ : being filled with the fruits of
righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto
the glory and praise of God.
Matt, xviii. 21-35.
Matt, him by the throat, saying. Pay me that thou
Phil. 3. owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his
Eph.i. feet, and besought him, saying. Have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would
not ; but weut and cast him into prison, till he
should pay the debt. So when his fellow-ser-
vants saw what was done, they were very sorrj',
and came and told unto their lord all that was
done. Then his lord, after that he had called
him, said unto him, thon wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt because thou desiredst
me : shouldest not thou also have had compas-
sion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on
thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered
him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that
was due unto him. So likewise shall My
heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their
trespasses.
The three-and-Twentieth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XXIII. poM Trinitniem.
o
THE COLLECT.
GOD, our Refuge and Strength, '\^^^o art the
Author of all godliness ; Be ready, we
rfs.B.a.
Gte-.
IlcbiL XJIV
post
I'cnt. Mur,
11. 17S-
''ORATIO.
"P^EUS, refugium nostrum et virtus, adesto
piis Ecclesiaj Tua; jjrecibus, Auctor Ipse
THE TWK^"TY-.^1;CU^D SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Christian love is here, as on the first Sunday after Trinity,
the subject of the Epistle and Gospel ; but in the prescut
instance it is illu.str.ateil liy the tender word.s of St. Paul in
Ilia Epistle to tlie I'hilippians, and by our Lord's p.arable of
the two debtors, whic)i He spoke as a reply to St. Peter's
question, " Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against nic,
and I forgive him?" This question was asked by one who
was accustomed to the .Tcwish practice, which was ostenta-
tious of its seven times' forgiveness, but yet unforgiving in
reality. Our Lord's law of forgiveness li.id no limits, "Not
until seven times, but until seventy times seven." The for
giveuess of the debt of ten thousand talents represents the
infinite mercy of C!od, and is given as the ti'ue Example and
Standard towards whicli His absolved servants sliould reach
upward.
I.NTROIT. — If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mnrk wliat is
done amiss: O liord, wlio may abide it? For tliere is mercy
with Thee, Lord (iod nf Israel. Pn. Out of the deep have
I called unto Thee; Lord, liear my voice. Glory be.
THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
Our Lord is set forth in the Gospel of this Sunday .is teach-
ing that duties towanls the civil power .are part of our
Cfje Ctocntp=fourtfj ©unDaj> after Crinitp.
321
beseech Thee, to hear the di^vmit prayers of Thy
Church ; and grant that thcjse things which we
ask faithfuUj' we may obtain effectually ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
pietatis ; et prajsta, ut quod fideliter petimus,
eflficaciter consequaniur. Per DoiiiNUM nostrum
Jesum Christum.
•'THE EPISTLE.
BRETHREN, be followers together of me,
and mark them which walk so as ye have
us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom
I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross
of Christ ; whose end is destruction, whose god
is their belly, and tvhose glory u- in their shame,
" ». as P. B.
g. IB. PhiL J. 17
— *- 3-
Roman. INcxt
Sunday before Ad-
vent.] Col. I. 9.14.
Eattent. Epn. 2.
Phil. iii. 17-21.
who mind earthly things.) For our conversation
is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the
Saviour, the Lord Je.sus Christ ; Who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto His glorious Body, according to the
working whereby He is able even to subdue all
things unto Himself.
*THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xxii. 15-22.
.Milt
Roman. Matt. 24.
■5-35-
Eastem. Luke 8.
THEX went the Pharisees and took counsel j * S- B- fi
how they might entangle Him m Hh talk. " '""
And they sent out unto Him their disciples, with
the Herodians, saying, ^Master, we know that
Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in
truth, neither carest Thou for any man : for Thou
regardest not the person of men. Tell us there-
fore, what thinkest Thou ? Is it lawful to give
tribute unto Caesar, or not % But Jesus perceived
their wickedness, and said, "Why tempt ye Me, ye
hypocrites? shew Me the tribute-money. And
they brought unto Him a peny. And He saith
unto them. Whose is this image and superscrip-
tion ? They say unto Him, Caesar's. Then saith
He unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's ; and unto God the
things that are God's. When they had heard
these icorcls, they marvelled, and left Him, and
went their way.
Thk Four-and-T.wentikth Sunday after Trinity.
Dominica XXIV. post Trinitatem.
THE COLLECT.
OLOPiD, we beseech Thee, absolve Thy
people from their offences ; that through
Thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered
from the bands of those sin.s, which by our frailty
we have committed : Grant this, heavenly
Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our blessed
Lord and Saviour. Amen.
c ». ^. On this
day ^. has " Ex-
cita. quasumus. . . .
majora percipiant."
[See p. 322.] Greg.
Hebd. xviii, post
Pent. Mur. ii. I2r.
■ORATIO.
ABSOLVE, quaesunius, Domine, Tuorum delicta
* » populorum ; et a peccatonun nostrorum
nexibus, quai pro nostra fragilitate contraximus,
Tua benignitate liberemur. Per DosiiXLii.
•'s.
'THE EPISTLE. Col.
WE give thanks to God and the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always
for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the
saints ; for the hope which is laid up for you in
heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of
the truth of the Gospel ; which is come unto you,
as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit,
S. CoL
I. 9-ti.
Roman A5on some
Sunday after Epi-
phany.
Eastern. Eph.
4- 1-7-
i. 3-12.
as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of
it, and knew the grace of God in truth. As ye
also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant,
who is for you a faithful minister of Christ ;
who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard
it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire
that ye might be filled v.ith the knowledge of
heavenly citizenship ; St. Paul also, in the Epistle, referring
to the true Christian life on earth as having alreadj' many
things in common with the Hfe of heaven. None ever set a
higher example of obedience to the laws than He Who is the
Eternal Lawgiver and Ruler: and He inculcates an honest
submission to them even in such a case as that on which an
appeal was made to Him, where the law was that of a con-
queror against whom rebellion seemed to be a duty. One
deduction to be drawn from the words of Christ and of His
Apostle is that the Church has little to do with politics or
questions of secular government. The things of C.-esar and
the things of God were confused together by the Jews, and
they ended by rejecting the Lord, and saying, "We have no
king but Caesar." So it has happened at otlier times, that a
want of zeal for God in carefully distinguishing what is His, has
led the Church into bondage to civil rulers until its spiritual
character has been almost obliterated. The Church of England
has been mercifully guided into a just discrimination of the
things of Caesar and the things of God; and while rendering
strictest obedience to the Sovereign, has not suffered an exces-
sive loyalty to yield up spiritual rights. Nor does it ever, in
modem days, seek to interfere in matters of civil government.
Such a just consideration of the respective duties which are
owing towards Csesar and towards God, and such a persever-
ing determination to render to each their proper dues, is a
sure way of promoting both the securitj' and the happy pro-
gress of Christ's Church.
Introit. — I know the thoughts that I think towards you,
saith the Lord ; thoughts of peace, and not of e\-iL Ye shall
call upon Me, and I will hearken unto you. I will turn
away your captivity, and will gather yon from among all
nations. Ps. Lord, Thou hast become gi-aoious unto Thy land ;
Thou hast turned away the capti\-ity of Jacob. Glory be.
THE TWEXTY-FOLTITH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
This Sunday offers another illustration of the faith of man
co-operating with the will and power of Almighty God, in
the two cases of tlie ruler wliose young daughter was dead,
and of the woman whose issue of blood was stayed through
her faith in touching tlxe hem of our Lord's garment. "Sly
daughter is even now dead," said the former, " but come and
lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live:" "If I may but
touch His garment," said the latter, "I shall be wliole."
These instances of recovery from disease and death are devo-
322
Cfjc Ctocntg=fift!) ^unDap after Crinitp.
His will in all wisdom and spiritual understand-
ing : that ye might walk worthy of the Loed
unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God ;
strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffer-
ing with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the
Father, Which hath made us meet to be par-
takers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Matt.
WHILE [Jesus] spake these things unto
[John's disciples,] behold, there came a
certain ruler, and worsliipped Him, saying, Jly
daughter is even now dead ; but come and lay
Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And
Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did His
disciples. And behold, a woman, which was
diseased with an issue of blood twelve years,
came behind Him, and touched the hem of His
garment ; for she said within herself. If I may
but touch His garment, I shall be whole. But
« ,5. (g. Matt. 9.
I8-22.
1?. as P. B.
Komntt as for
some Sunday after
Epiphany.
EasUrit, Luke
l6. 18-23.
ix. 18-26.
Jesus turned Him about, and, when He saw her,
He said. Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith
hath made thee whole. And the woman was
made whole from that hour. And when Jesus
came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels
and the people making a noise. He said unto
them. Give place ; for the maid is not dead, but
sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. But
when the people were put forth, He went in, and
took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And
the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.
The FIVE-AND-TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.
'' Domxnka proxima ante Adventiim.
THE COLLECT.
STIR up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills
of Thy faithful people ; that they, plen-
teously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may of Thee be plenteously rewarded ; through
Jesus Chfjst our Lord. Amen.
''FOR THE
BEHOLD, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will raise unto David a righteous
Branch, and a King shall reign, and prosper, and
shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.
In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely : and this is His Name whereby
He shall be caUed, THE LORD OUR RIGHT-
EOUSNESS. Therefore behold, the days come,
* S. J^. Dom. XXV.
post Svas Pent. J^.
The Collect in |^.
for this day is.
"Excita, qu:Esuin-
us. Domine, poten-
tiani Tuam. et
veni: et quod Ec-
clesia; Tuas promi-
sisti. usque infinem
s^eculi clementer
operare. Qui vivis.
'ORATIO.
EXCITA, quaesumus, Domine, Tuorum fidelium
voluntates : ut divini operis fructum pro-
pensius exequentes, pietatis Tum remedia majora
percipiant. Per Dominum nostrum.
'■5. ^. Greg. Hebd. xxvii- post Pent. Mur. il. 1-6.
EPISTLE. Jer. xxiii. 5-8.
saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The
Lord liveth. Which brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but. The Lord
liveth, Wliich brought up, and Which led the
seed of the house of Israel out of the north-
country, and from all countries whither I had
driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own
land.
rfS. g-Hi.asP.B.
Ro7)ttiJt as for
some Sunday after
Epipl>any.
'THE GOSPEL.
\ \ THEN Jesus then lift up His eyes, and saw
VV a great company come unto Him, He
saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread
< S. 1. g. asP.B.
Kofriatl as for
some Sunday after
Epiphany.
S. John vi. 5-14.
that these may eat ? (And this He said to prove
him; for He Himself knew what He would do.)
Philip answered Him, Two hundred 2ienj'-worth
tionally applied in the Collect ; where the expressive phrase,
"the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have com-
mitted," has a double reference: first, to the bondage of sin
in its spiritual sense ; and, secondly, to the physical evils
which bind us around witli chains that are forged by sin.
IxTP.oiT. — I know the thoughts that I tliink towards you,
saith the Lord ; tliouglits of peace, and not of evil. Ye shall
call upon Me, and I will hearken unto you. I will turn
away your captivity, and will gather you from among all
nations. /'.<. Lord, Tliou li.ast been gracious unto Thy land ;
Thou liast turned away the captivity of Jacob. Glory be.
THE SUNDAY NEXT BEFORE ADVENT.
In St. Jerome's Lectionary twenty-five Sundays after
Pentecost are provided with Epistles and Gospels. In the
Sacramcntary of St. Gregory there are Collects for twenty-
seven Suniiays. In the .Salisbury Missal twenty-four Sundays
were reckoned as after Trinity, and one as the next before
Advent ; and there was a liubrio directing that if there were
more than twenty-five Sumlays between Trinity Sunday and
Advent Sunday, the Olfiee for the 'i'wenty-fourth Sunday was
to be repeateil on each .Sund.ay until the List, wht^n that for
the Sunday lieforo Advent was tn be saiil. In the Prayer
Uook of 1510 no Rtiljric of this kind was provided, but tlio
old usage would, doulHless, \>u adopted. In 15,')2, however,
a Rubric was inserted to this efTect : "" If there be any
more Sundays before Advent Sunday, to supply the same
sliall be taken tlie Service of some of those Sundays that were
omitted between the Epiphany and Septuagesiina. " This
Rubric was altered into its present form in tlie Durliam
book of Bishop Cosin, having already appeared in a similar
but more cumbrous form in 1U37.
If there are two of these Dominica; Vat/antes (as they were
anciently called), the Services for the fifth and sixtli Sundays
after Epiphany should be used ; if only one, tliat for tlie sixth
.Sunday, wliich has evidently been appointed with a view to
its fitness for use on the Sunday next but one to Advent,
'i'ho rule expressed in this Rubric is a very ancient one, being
found in Mierologus, c. Ixii.
The Ollice of this day represents th.at for the fifth Sunday
before the Nativity of our Lord in the Comes of St. Jerome,
which appoints the same JOpistle and Gospel, and in the
Sacramcntary of St. Gregory, though a ditl'ercnt Collect is
appointed for that d.ay in the latter. Its tone is that of Ad-
vent rather than Trinity, commemorating as it does the first
coming of the King Whose Name is "The Lord our Right-
eousness," ami looking forwanl to th.at seeond coming when
the true restoration of Isr.iel will be effected. The Gospel is
the same as th;it for Mid- Lent Sunday, where sttme notes
upon it will be fnund. The rationale of its apiinintnieiil for
to-day is to be finiiul in the last words of it, " Tliis is of a
truth th.it I'rophet th.at shcuild eome into the world."
The alteration of the Collect from its ohl form, "That they
more readily fullowing the fruit of the Divine wiuU" in the
^aint anDrcto's Dap.
323
of bread is not sufficient for them, tliat every one
of thera may take a little. One of His disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto Him,
There is a lad here which hath five barley-loaves
and two small fishes ; but what are they among
so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit
down. Now there was much grass in tlie place.
So the men sat down, in number about five thou-
sand. And Jesus took the loaves, and, when lie
had given thanks. He distributed to the discijiles,
and the disciples to them that were set down, and
likewise of the fishes, as much as they would.
When they were filled. He said unto His dis-
ciples. Gather up the fragments that remain.
that notliing be lost. Therefore they gathered
them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley-loaves which remained
over and above unto them tliat had eaten. Then
those men, when they had soon the miracle that
Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet
that should come into the world.
H If there be any more Sundays before Advent Sunday,
the service of some of those Sundays that were
omitted after the Epi|jhany shall be taken in to
supply so many as ai'e here wanting.
And if tliere be fewer, the overplus may be omitted :
Provided that tliis last Collect, Epistle, and
Gospel, shall always be used upon the Sunday
next before Advent.
Saint Andrew's Day
1" Dies Sancti Andreie.
'THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who didst give such grace
■I^\- unto Thy holy Apostle Saint Andrew, that
ho readily obeyed the calling of Thy Son Jesus
Christ, and followed Him without delay; Grant
unto us all, that we, being called by Thy holy
Word, may forthwith give up our selves obediently
to fulfil Thy holy commandments ; through the
same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
«s. 1. IS.
6 A.D. 1552.
c Coniuioii Prayer
Book of 1549. (Also
in Latin book of
1560.] Coinp. Vx3t-
fat. Ill Greg. Nat.
S. AiKlrea;.
Y ALMIGHTY God, Which hast given such
L J-S- grace to Thy Apostle Saint Andrew, that
he counted the sharp and [lainful death of the
cross to be an high honour and a great glory:
Grant us to take and esteem all troubles and
adversities which shall come unto us for Thy
sake as things profitable for us toward the obtain-
ing of everlasting life : through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
■<THE EPISTLE. Rom,
IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth con-
fession is made unto salvation. For the Scrip-
ture saith. Whosoever believeth on Him shall not
be ashamed. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord over
all i& rich unto all that call upon Him. For
■whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on
Him, in Whom they have not believed? And
how shall they believe in Hivi, of AVhom they
have not heard ? And how shall they hear with-
out a preacher? And how shall they preach,
except they be sent? As it is written. How
<'&. 13. JJ. Rom-
an. Koni, 10. 10-18.
HasCetft. I Cor,
, X. 9-2L
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good
things/ But they have not all obeyed the
Gospel. For Esaias saith. Lord, who hath
believed our report ? So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. But
I say, Have they not heard ? Yes verily, their
sound went into all the earth, and their words
unto the ends of the world. But I say, Did not
Israel know ? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and
by a foolish nation I will anger you. But Esaias
is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that
sought jMe not ; I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after Me. But to Israel He saith.
All day long have I stretched forth Jly hands
unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
heart, to its present form, " plenteously bringing forth the
fruit of good works," is very strange.
Introit. — I know the thoughts that I think towards you,
saith the Lord ; tliouglits of peace, and not of evil. Ye shall
call upon Me, and I will hearlien unto you. I will turn away
your captivity, and will gather you from .among all nations.
Ps. Lord, Thou art become gracious unto Tliy laud; Thou
hast turned away the captivity of .Jacob. Glory be.
SAINT ANDEEW.
[November 30. ]
The Feast of St. Andrew is one of those for which an
Epistle and Gospel are provided in the Lectionary of St.
Jerome, and which has also prayers appointed for it in the
Sacranientary of St. Gregory. It is therefore of very ancient
date in the Church, and one of the most ancient of the
Apostles' festivals, only nine being named (on six days) in the
Lectionary referred to. Its position may be at the beginning
or at the end of the Christian year, according as Advent
Sunday happens in November or December. It has usually
been considered that it comes at the beginning, and that it is
placed there because the Apostle tlius commemorated was the
first-called disciple of our Lord ; but tradition points out the
day as that of his death.
It may be remarked here, as applicable to all the Apostles,
that little has been told us of any except St. Peter and St.
Paul in Holy Scripture ; and that what has come down to us
in uninspired history dues not throw much more light upon
their person.al character or the details of their work. The
latter fact may, perhaps, be accounted for from the circum-
stance that most of the Apostles, except St. Peter, St. Paul,
and St. John, laboured among nations of vhose records,
previous to the quiet settlement of the Church, nothing, or
next to nothing, remains ; and that in the wild and la« less
times which accompanied the breaking up of the Koman
Empire, even lingering traditions about them would pass
a^ay. With respect to the paucity of details given about
the Apostles in the New Testament, there seem to be two
reasons which offer a sufficient explanation. For [1] the pur-
pose of Holy Scripture is to set before us the Person of Christ,
and the Law of Christ ; and whatever else enters into the
four Gospels is merely incidental ; and [2] in the Acts of the
Apostles the object is to shew the work of the Church, and
not to give us the history of individuals ; so that the latter
also is merely incidental.
Hence, probably, the reason why we gather liardly any
324
^aint Cbomas tbt apostle.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. iv. 18-22.
JESUS, Tvalking by the sea of Galilee, saw two
brethren, Simou called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea, (for they
were fishers ;) and He saitli unto them, Follow
Me ; and I will make you fishers of men. And
they straightway left ihei7- nets, and followed
«s.^.
m
Rovt-
<T'i as P
H.
EiisUrti.
John I.
35-51.
Him. And going on from thence He saw other
two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their
father, mending their nets ; and He called them.
And they immediately left the ship and their
father, and followed Him.
SAINT Thomas the Apostle.
£ A.D. IS49
''Dies Sancti Thomce ApostoU.
^THE COLLECT.
ALJIIGHTY and everliving God, Who for the
-^-J^ more confirmation of the faith didst suffer
Thy holy Apostle Thomas to be doubtful in Thy
Son's resurrection ; Grant us so perfectly and
without all doubt to believe in Thy Sox Jesus
Chkist, that our faith in Thy sight may never
be reproved. Hear us, O Loed, through the
same Jesus Christ, to Whom, with Thee and
the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now
and for evermore. Amen.
■'THE EPISTLE. Ephes. ii. 19-22.
~VTOW therefore ye are no more strangers and
-i-N foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the
saints, and of the household of God ; and are
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
<^ S. 19. %.
Rom-
an as P. B.
h astern.
Acts s.
12-20,
CoxnGX- Stone ; in Whom all the building, fitly
framed together, groweth unto an holy temple
in the Lord; in Whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God, through the
Spirit.
particulars from Scripture about the life of St. Andrew. He
was a brother of St. Peter, and therefore a son of Jonas or
John ; and probably younger than St. Peter. The ancients
used to give him the surname of Protocletos, or First-called,
from the circumstances told us in St. John i. 40-42 ; and,
liaving been a disciple of John the Baptist, he was one of those
who were prepared to receive Christ by the teaching and
Baptism of His Forerunner. There are only two other cir-
cumstances of his life mentioned in the Gospels : the first in
St. John xii. 21, where it is St. Andrew and St. Philip who
tell .Tesus of the inquiring Greeks ; and the second in St.
Mark xiii. 3, where Andrew and his brother, mth the two sons
of Zebedee, are found in close companionship with the Lord,
asking Him privately respecting the time wlien Jerusalem
should be destroyed.
Ecclesiastical history records that this Apostle was engaged
after the dispersion of the Apostles in evangelizing that part
of the world which is now known as Turkey in Asia, and the
portion of Russia which borders on the Black Sea : and indeed
that he was the first founder of the Russian Church, as St.
Paul was of the English Church. Sinope and Sebastopol are
both especially connected with the name of St. Andrew. In his
Later days he returned to Europe, consecrated the "beloved
Stachys," first Bishop of Constantinople — then named
Byzantium — and after travelling about Turkey in Europe,
eventually suffered martyrdom at Patras, a town in the north
of the Morea, nearly opposite to Lepauto.
The traditional account of this Apostle's martyrdom is very
touching. At a great age he was called before the Roman
viceroy at Patrm (now Patras), and required to leave off his
Apostolic labours among the heathen (Jrceks. Instead of
consenting, he proclaimed Christ even before the judgcment-
eeat ; and after imprisonment and submitting patiently to a
seven-times-repeated scourging upon his bare b.ack, he was at
last fastened to a cross by cords, and so left exposed to die.
The cross on which he suffered was of a different form from
our Lord's, like this X> ^"'1 '^ known by the name of the cronit
decussate. It is the ilistinctive symbol of the Scotch order of
St. Andiew : the Apostle being always especially reverenced
in connection with the Scottish, as with the Russian Church;
and consequently forms a part of the national banner of Great
IJritain. It has also been observed that it is an integral part
of the monogram of Christ "vlf , which was so familiar to the
carlv Christians.
"Hail, precious cross!" is the substance of the words
attributed to the aged Apostle as he came to it, "that hast
been consecrated by the Body of my Lord, and adorned with
His limbs as with rich jewels. I come to thee e.xulting and
glad; receive me with joy into thy arms. O good cross,
that hast received beauty from our Lord's limbs ! I have
ardently loved thee ; long have I desired and sought thee ;
now I have found thee, and thou art made ready for my long-
ing soul ; receive nie into thy arms, taking me from among
men, and present me to my Master, that He Who redeemed
me on thee may receive me by thee. " For two daj-s the
dying martyr exhorted the people from the cross after His
example Who stretched out His arms all the day long to an
ungodly and gainsaying people. At the end of that time he
prayed to the Crucified One that he might now depart in
peace, when his prayer was heard, and his spirit went home
on the day observed as his festival, a.d. 70.
Introit. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
God : greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps.
Lord, Thou hast searched me out and known me : Thou
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
SAINT THOMAS.
[December 21]
The Festival of St. Thomas the Apostle is not noticed by
any writer until Theodoret, who names it with that of St.
Peter and St. Paul. [Ve Orac. Affect, vii. ] It seems to
have been generally observed in the time of St. Gregory, who
lias provided for it in his Sacramentary, In the Eastern
Church it is kept on October 6th. Although our Collect is
not derived from that source, tJie leading idea of it is found
in a Homily of St. Gregory [Horn, in Ehunj. 2(>], where be
says that " by this doubting of St. Thomas we are more con-
firmed in our belief than Ijy tlie faith of the other Apostles."
There are but four sayings of St. Thomas recorded in tlie
Gospels, two just before the death of our Lord, and two just
after His Resurrection; but there is ajcmarkablc consistency
in these sayings, one in each case shewing want of faith, and
the other a warm, zealous, and faithful love. Tlieae sayings
are as follows : —
"Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we
know the w.ay?" [John xiv. 5.]
"Let us also go, that we m,ay die with Him," [John xi. 10]
Cf)C Conversion of ^aint Paul.
325
-THE GOSPEL. S. John xx. 24-31.
THOMAS, one of the twelve, called Didymiis,
was not with thom when Jesus came. The
other disciples therefore said unto him, We have
seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except
I shall see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into His side, I will not
believe. And after eight days again His disciples
were within, and Thomas with them : then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the
midst, and said, Peace he unto you. Then saith
He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and
" 5- ffi- IP- John
20. 24-29.
Jiontiin. J0I111 20.
'9-3I.
hastertt. Ju1lll20.
9-3'-
behold Jly hands; and reach hUhcr thy hand,
and tlimst it into My side ; and be not faithless,
but believing. And Thomas answered and .said
unto Him, My Lokd, and my God. Jesus saith
unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me,
thou hast believed ; ble.sscd are they that have
not seen, and yet have believed. And many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of
His disciples, which are not written in this book.
But these are written, that ye might believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that
believing ye might have life through lli.s Name.
THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL.
In Conecrsione Sancti
THE COLLECT.
OGOD, Who, through the preaching of the
blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused
the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the
world ; Grant, we beseech Thee, that we, having
his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may
shew forth our thankfulness unto Thee for the
same, by following the holy doctrine which he
taught ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
^ &.
1- ft- GreL-. 1
V S. Paul!.
Loi
Comp. Officiuiii [
Sar
Menard. ^2.
Mur. ii. 104.
TauVi.
*ORATIO.
"T^EUS, Qui universum mundum beat! Pauli
■J-^ Apostoli Tui pr»dicatione docuisti : da
nobis, quaesumus, ut qui ejus hodie conversiunem
colimus : per ejus ad Te exempla gradiamur.
Per DoMiNUM.
'FOR THE EPISTLE.
AND Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and
-^^J- slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,
went unto the high priest, and desired of him
an as P. B.
Acts ix. 1-22.
Rom. letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that, if
he found any of this way, whether they were
men or women, he might bring them bound
"Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into tlie print of tlie nails, and thrust my
hand into His side, I will not believe." [John xx. 25.]
"My Lord, and my God." [John xx. 28.]
In these four sayings we have all that Holy Scripture tells
us of the Apostle's comjjaniouship with our Lord ; but they
seem to give more than the outline of a spiritual character in
which there were the mingled elements of [1] obstinacy, in
not believing, though prophets had foretold of the Resurrection,
and the other Apostles were eye-witnesses of its certainty;
[2] presumption, in requiring such a proof, even perhaps in
the face of the "Touch Me not," which had been made
known by Mary Magdalen; [3] of a warm and loving heart,
open to the strongest faith as well as to despairing doubt;
and which could lead the Apostle to that full confession
of faith contained in the words, "My Lord, and my
God." But it may have been tlie touch of Christ's wounds
which healed the Apostle's doubt, and made his faith what
it was.
It was not granted to St. Thomas to have hia loving and
courageous aspiration fulfilled, by dying with Christ, but the
servant followed the Master afterwards. It is recorded by
Eusebius that he received a direction from our Lord, after
His Ascension (as St. Peter in the case of Cornelius), to send
Thaddeus, one of the seventy disciples, to Abgarus, tributary
king of Edessa in Mesopotamia, who was thus miraculously
cured of a disease, and converted, with his subjects, to
Christianity. After tliis St. Tliomas went to the Parthians,
Medes, Persians, and Chaldeans, founding the Church of
Christ among them until he came to India. The Christians
of St. Thomas still bear witness to his work in that great and
populous land in the south, and in the north there appear to
be relics of the Christian f.aith mixed up with the strange
religion of Thibet ; but the diabolical systems of Brahma and
Buddh, and the Antichristianism of Mahomet, have long ago
erased all other traces of it; and India appears to be one of
those unhappy countries which, having wilfully rejected the
Apostolic ministry, have ceased to be capable of receiving
Christ and His Gospel.
St. Tliomaa was martyred by the Brahmins at Taprobane,
now called Sumatra. Having been assailed with stones, he
was at last killed by tlie thrust of a spear : the manner of his
death offering a striking comparison with his words, "Except
I thrust my hand into His side," and those of our Lord,
"Reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side, and be
not faithless, but believing." As the Lord said to St. Peter,
so were the words true of St. Thomas, "Thou canst not follow
Me now, but thou slialt follow Me afterwards."
Introit. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
God : greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps. Lord,
Thou hast searched me out and known me : Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL.
[January 25.]
This festival does not appear to have been generally
observed until about the twelfth century, although the Collect
for it is found in St. Gregory's Saci'amentary. It is said
[Laterculum of Silvias, a.d. 448] that there was anciently
a festival of St. Peter and St. Paul on February 22nd (nfiw
"Cathedra Petri "), and there may have been some connection
between it and the present festival, but this is only conjecture.
The principal, if not the only, day observed to the honour of
St. Paul was that on which St. Peter was associated with him,
the 29th of June; although, on the following day, a "Com-
memoration of St. Paul " was made, which is marked in the
Salisbury and Roman Calendars, and mentioned in the Rubrics
of the Missal; and which, in Menard's edition of St. Gregory's
Sacramentary, is called " Natale Sancti Pauli." It is a pious
instinct which has led the Church to thank God in this
festival for the wonderful conversion of the Apostle of tlie
Gentiles; but there is something to regret in the loss of the
ancient custom by which his noble martyrdom was also com-
memorated, and by which the unity of the two principal
Apostles was so significantly set forth.
Both the conversion ami the missionary work of St. Paul
are narrated with much detail in the Acts of the Apostles;
and the whole of his life and laliours has been minutely
investigated in the ivell-known work of Conybeare and How-
son, 'To attempt even a sketch of so marvellous a career in
these notes would be to occupy space that cannot be spared ;
326
Cbe Purification of ^aint ^arp.
unto Jerusalem. And, as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus, and suddenly there sliined round
about him a light from heaven. And he fell to
the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me ? And he
said, Who art Thou, Lord 1 And the Loed said,
I am Jesus Whom thou persecutest : it is hard
for thee to kick against the pricks. And he,
trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt
Thou have me to do 1 And the Loed said unto
him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be
told thee what thou must do. And the men
which journeyed with him stood speechless, hear-
ing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose
from the earth, and when his eyes were opened
he saw no man ; but the}' led him by the hand,
and brought him into Damascus. And he was
three days without sight, and neither did eat
nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at
Damascus, named Ananias, and to him said the
Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold,
I am here, Loed. And the Loed scaVZ unto him.
Arise, and go into the street which is called
Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for
one called Saul, of Tarsus : for behold, he prayeth,
and hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias,
coming in, and piutting Iiis hand on him, that he
might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered,
Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how
"THE GOSPEL. S.
PETER answered and said unto [Jesus,] Be-
hold, we have forsaken all, and followed
Thee ; what shall we have therefore 1 And Jesus
said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye
which have followed Me, in the regeneration
when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of
His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
much evil he hath done to Thy saints at Jeru-
salem ; and here he hath authority from the
chief priests to bind all that call on Thy Name.
But the Lord said unto him. Go thy ivay ; for
he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children
of Israel : for I will shew him how great things
he must suifer for My Name's sake. And
Ananias went his way, and entered into the
house ; and, putting his hands on him, said,
Brother Saul, the Lord, {even Jesus that appeared
unto thee in the way as thou earnest,) hath sent
me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be
filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately
there fell from his eyes as it had been scales ;
and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and
was baptized. And when he had received meat,
he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain
days with the disciples which were at Damas-
cus. And straightway he preached Christ in
the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. But
all that heard liim were amazed, and said. Is
not this he that destroyed them which called
on this Name in Jerusalem, and came hither
for that intent, that he might bring them bound
unto the chief priests ■? But Saul increased the
more in strength, and confounded the Jews which
dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very
Christ.
Matt. xix. 27-30.
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Roin-
>9. =7-
And every
one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or
sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for My Name's sake, shall receive an
hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
But many that are first shall be last, and the
last shall he first.
THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE,
COMMONLY CALLED
THE Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin.
Ill Purificalione Bcatce Marice VinjinU.
THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we humbly
-^^A_ beseech Thy ilajesty, that, as Thy only-
begotten Son was this day presented in the
» S. S. m- r.,<:z.
Purif. S. M.iri.-C \'.
M ur. ii. 23. CoiHp.
'ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS sempiterue Deus, Majestatem
Tuam supplices exoramus, ut sicut unigeni-
tus Filius Tuns hodierna die cum nostras carnis
and such a sketeli is rendered unnecessary by tlie elahorate
but yet very accessible work just mentioned.
I.VTROIT. — Let us all rejoice in the J/ord, commemorating
this day, tlie day in which the blessed 8t. Paul adorned tlie
world by hi.s conversion. Ps. For the conversion of tlie
blessed St. Paul, and for the bright beams of light shed by
hia preaching. Glory be.
THE PURIFICATION.
[Ferruahy 2.]
This festival has the same Epistle and Gospel which are
now in use appointed for it in the Leetionary of St. Jerome,
and tlie germ of the present Collect is found in tlie Sacra-
meiitary of Gclasius.^ St. Cyril of Alexandria, and others of
an cfiually early date refer to it ; and there is little doubt that
it was the first festival instituted in memory of the IJlessed
Virgin. The ancient and present n.ainc for it in the Eastern
Church is the Hypapante of our Lord Jesus Christ ; that is,
1 Until 1061 the EpiBtIc wiin tlint for the Siimlav. Bisliop Cosin intro-
duced tlio 0110 now U8C1I. He also prefixed tlie Wni title to tlic day.
the i>7rai'T7) or iTra.-KavTT], the meeting of our Lcird with Simeon
and Anna in the Temple. It is said to have been observed
on the 14tli day of February until the time of Justinian [a.d.
542], but in the Comes of St. Jcrtmie it precedes the festival
of St. Agatha, which is dated on the Nones, or 5th of
February, the day on which that Saint is still coniniemorated ;
and probably it was so observed only by those who kept
Christmas Day 011 the Gth of January, as a part of the Eastern
Church has always done.
The popular iiaiiio of this festival (Candlemas Pay) per-
petuates the memory of a very ancient custcim, that of walk-
ing in procession with tapers, and singing hymns. In a
Homily on the Purification Alcuin says [a. 11. 790|, "The
whole multitude of the city collecting together devoutly
celebrate the solemnity of the Mass, bearing a vast number
of wax lights; and no one enters any jmblic place in the city
without a taper in his hanil." St. Bernard also [a.d. 1153]
gives the following description of the practice, as carried out
in his day :—
" \\'e go in procession, two by two, carrying candles in our
hands, which are lighted, not at a common fire, but at a fire
first blessed in the church by a Bishop. They that go out
first return last; and in the way we sing, 'Great is the glory
Cfjc Puiification of ^aint ^acj).
327
temple in substance of our flesh, so wo may be
presented unto Thee with pure and clean liearts,
by the same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
substantia in templo est prjesentatas, ita nos
facias purificatis Tibi mentibus pruisentari. Per
eundem.
"FOR THE
BEHOLD, I iviU send My messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before Me : and the
Lord, "Whom yo seek, shall suddenly come to His
temple ; even the Messenger of the Covenant,
Whom ye delight in ; behold. He s/ia/J come, saith
the Lord of Hosts. But who »;,«y abide the day
of His coming 1 and who shall stand when He
appeareth 1 for He is like a refiner's fire, and
like fullers' soap. And He shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver ; and He shall purify the
sous of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
EPISTLE. Mai. iii. 1-5.
» S. TS. fi. A'ovi-
a'l. Mai. 3. 1-4.
/■astern. Ut;b. 7.
7-17.
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness. Tlien shall the offering of
Judah and Jerusalem bo pleasant unto the Loud,
as in the days of old, and as wt former years.
And I will come near to you to judgement, and
I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers, and against false-
swearers, and against those that oppress the hire-
ling in kis wages, the widow, and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger from his right,
and fear not Me, saith the Lord of Hosts.
*THE GOSPEL. S. Luke ii. 22-40.
AND when the days of her purification, accord-
-L\- iiig to the Law of Moses, were accom-
plished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to
present Him to the Lord ; (as it is written in the
Law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the
womb shall be called holy to the Lord ;) and to
offer a sacrifice, according to that which is said
in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves,
or two young pigeons. And behold," there was
a man in Jerusalem, whose name toas Symeon ;
and the same man ivas just and devout, wait-
ing for the consolation of Israel : and the Holy
Gho.st was upon him. And it was revealed unto
him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see
death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple ; and
when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to
do for Him after the custom of the law, then took
he Him ttp in his arms, and blessed God, and
said. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart
in peace, according to Thy word : for mine eyes
have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast pre-
pared before the face of all people ; a light to
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people
' S. g. |g. «.,«.
till. LuVe ii, 22-^3.
I-aiUrn as P. B.
Israel. And Josejjh and His mother marvelled at
those things which were spoken of Him. And
Symeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His
mother, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and
rising again of many in Israel ; and for a Sign
which shall be spoken against ; (yea, a sword
shall pierce through thy own soul also ;) that
the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And there was one Anna a prophetess, the
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser ; she
was of a great age, and had lived with an hus-
band seven years from her virginity : and she
ivas a widow of about fourscore and four years ;
which departed not from the temi>le, but served
God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks
likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all
them that looked for redemption in .Jerusalem.
And when they had performed all things accord-
ing to the law of the Lord, they returned into
Galilee to their own city Nazareth. And the
Child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled
with wisdom ; and the grace of God was upon
Him.
of the Lord.' We go two by two in commendation of charity
and a social life ; for so our Saviour sent out His disciples.
We carry lights in our hands ; first, to signify that our light
should shine before men; secondly, this we do this day
especially in memory of the Wise Virgins (of whom this
blessed Virgin is the chief) that went to meet their Lord with
their lamps lit and burning. And from this usage and the
many lights set up in the church this day, it is called Cande-
laria, or Candlemas. Because our works should be all done
in the holy fire of charity, therefore the candles are lit with
holy fire. They that go out first return last, to teach
humility, 'in honour preferring one another.' Because God
loveth a cheerful giver, therefore we sing in the way. The
procession itself is to teach us that we should not stand idle in
the way of life, but 'go from strength to strength,' not look-
ing back to that which is behind, but reaching forward to
that which is before."
The festival is jilaced at forty days' distance from Christ-
mas, as tliat was the interval directed by the law between
the day of birth and the day when the mother presented her-
self for readmission to the congregation, and her infant son
for an offering to the Lord. [Lev. xii. 4 ; Exod. xxii. 29 ;
Numb. viii. 17.] It was on this occasion that Simeon gave
to the Church the Nunc Dimittis, in which he proclaimed the
glorious and universal Epiphany of the Holy Child, when he
prophesied of Him as "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and
the glory of God's people Israel." It was then also that the
Virgin Mother first learned that sorrow as well as joy was in
the wonderful lot assigned her: "Yea, a sword shall pierce
through thy own soul also."
The submission of the Blessed Virgin to the ceremony of
purification, and of her Divine Son to that of presentation in
the Temple, were each of them an illustration of the perfect
humiliation of our Lord to the likeness of sinful man. The
miraculous conception of tlie Virgin had been unattended by
that for which a ceremonial purification was ordained ; and
our Blessed Lord, having no original sin, needed not to be
offered (or presented) and bought back again. But, as at His
Baptism, so now, for Himself and for His holy Mother He
says by their acts, "Sufl'er it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." In the price of
redemption (the representative sacrifice offered in the early
dawn of the Holy Child's life, to be followed by a more per-
fect Sacrifice in its eventide) it has been noticed that there
was a typical meaning, now for the first and only time find-
ing its true signification. The two turtle-doves, or j'oung
pigeons, were expressive of lowliness at all times, as ofierings
of the poor; but in the offering of one by fire, and the eating
of the other by the priest, or those who offered it. are now to
be seen a type of Christ offering Himself for sin, and also
giving Himself to be the spiritual food and sustenance of His
people.
It is worthy of remark, as a happy token of the unity which
is possible in spite of disagreement, that although the cultus
of the Blessed Virgin was and is one principal cause of
difference between the Church of England and other Citholic
!28
^aint e0mi)m' Dap.
Saint Matthias' Day.
« s. 1. %
b A.D. 1549.
"Sanctus Matthias Apostolus.
*THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who into the place of
the traitor Judas didst choose Thy faithful
servant Matthias to be of the number of the
twelve Apostles ; Grant that Thy Church,
being alway preserved from false Apostles, may
be ordered and guided by faithful and true
pastors ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
^FOR THE
IN those days Peter stood up in the midst
of the disciples, and said, (the number of
names together were about an hundred and
twenty,) Men and brethren, this Scripture must
needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost
by the mouth of David spake before concern-
ing Judas, which was guide to them that took
Jesus : for he was numbered with us, and had
obtained part of this ministry. Now this man
purchased a field with the reward of iniquity ;
and falling headlong he burst asunder in the
midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it
was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem,
insomuch as that field is called in their proper
tongue, Aceldama, that is to say. The field of
blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms,
Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man
<• S. ^. IB. R^m-
ait as'P. B.
Easlerii. Acts 1.
12-17. 21-26.
EPISTLE. Acts i. 15-26.
dwell therein ; and, His bishoprick let another
take: Wherefore, of these men which have com-
panied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus
went in and out among us, beginning from the
baptism of John, unto that same day that He
was taken up from us, must one be ordained to
be a witness with us of His resurrection. And
they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who
was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they
prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, Which knowest
the hearts of all men, shew whether of these
two Thou hast chosen ; that he may take part
of this ministry and apostleship, from which
Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to
his own place. And they gave forth their lots ;
and the lot fell upon ^Matthias, and he was num-
bered with the eleven Apostles.
'5 s-m.
■/;; .nsP. li.
"THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xi. 25-30.
AT that time Jesus answered and said, I thank
-lA_ Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, becaase Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babe.s. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good
in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto Me
of j\Iy Father : and no man knoweth the Son,
but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the
Son will reveal Him. Come unto Me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Jle;
for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For l^ly yoke is easy,
and !My burden is light.
Churches of Europe, yet we retain old Collects for both the
Annunciation and the Purification, while nearly all the other
Saints'-day Collects are modern.
Inteoit. — We wait for Thy loving-kindness, God: in
the midst of Thy temple. (!od, according to Thy Name,
so is Thy praise unto tlie world's end : Thy right hand is full
of righteousness. Ps. Great is the Lord, and highly to he
praised : in the city of our God, even upon His holy hill.
Glory be.
SAINT MATTHIAS.
[February 24.]
This is not one of the most ancient of the festivals generally
observed by the Church, as there is no provision for it in the
Lectionary of St. Jerome; but there is a Collect for it in the
Sacramciitary of St. (iregory, and in a German martyrology
of about the same period. It comes first in order after the
Festivals of the Incarnation, perhaps because St. Matthias
represents the earliest independent action of the Church as
that spiritual body which was to exercise the authority of
Christ, and to become the substitute, in some measure, for
His Visible Presence. liut in the Eastern Church it is
August Uth.
St. Matthias' Day was formerly changeable in Leap Year,
when the intercalated day was added between February 2.'5rd
and 2-tth, and the 2.')th became the festival of St. Matthias.
Hut at the revision of the Calendar in KiCl the intercal.iry day
w.is placed at the end of the month, and the festival of St.
Matthias fixed ijermancntly to the 2-4th day. This is the day
(VI. Kalend. Martii) appointed for the Festival in the Sacra-
meutary of St. Gregory.
Nothing more is recorded of St. Matthias in the New
Testament than that he was chosen to be an Apostle in the
place of Judas Iscariot, the account of his ordination to that
high office being given in Acts i. 15-26, the Epistle of the
day throughout the world. The Eastern Gospel contains the
same solemn prayer of our Lord as that does which is used
in tlie Western Church, though taken from a different
Evangelist ; and the coincidence is a striking illustration of
the unity of mind by which the whole Catholic Church is per-
vaded. It is plain also that this Ciospel is intended to shew
that the Apostle, on whose day it is used, was as much
"numbered with" the other Apostles, although ordained by
men, as any of those were who were ordained by our Lord
Himself ; and tlius illustrates the great truth, that the Great
lligli Priest Himself declared, "As My Father hath sent Mc,
even so send I you."
The tradition of the Church respecting .St. Matthias'
Ajiostolic laliours is, th.at after ministering for some years
among his countrymen the Jews, he went to Cappadocia, and
was eventually crucilieil there about tlie year of our Lord G4.
The manner of his death was not very unlike that of the
traitor Jud.as, but the one found the tree on which ho hung
the way "to his own jilace ;" the other, his Master's own
road to the Paradise of God.
I.NTROIT. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto mc,
0(!od: greatly is their beginning strengthened. /'«. Lord,
Thou hast scarclicd me out .and known me : Thou knowest my
dowuaitting and mine uprising, (ilory bo.
Cf)C Annunciation of ttjc l^^irgin a^arj).
329
The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In A nnunciatione Beatce
THE COLLECT.
WE beseech Thee, O Lord, pour Thy grace
into our hearts ; that, as we have known
the incarnation of Thy Son Jesus Christ by the
message of an angel, so by His cross and passion
we may be brought unto tlie glory of His resur-
rection ; tlirough the same Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
"S.ffi.ffi.
Creir.
super 01 il.ntn
Ami.
An^iiW .1(1 n.
M.in-
am. Mur. ii
26.
b Fourteenth
cen-
tury rrynier
sioii. M. R.
vcr-
111. 72.
Marice.
"POSTCOMMUNIO.
GRATIAM Tuam, quagsumus, Domink,
mentibus nostris infunde : ut qui angelo
nuntiante Cheisti Filii Tui incarnationem cog-
noviinu.s, per passionem Ejus et crucem ad
reaurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eundeni.
to
the
'■"TOED, we bisechen helde yn thi grace
-L^ oure iawittis, that bi the message of
aungel we knowe the incarnacioun of thi sone
iesu crist, and by his passioun and cross be ledde
to the glorie of his resurreccioun. Bi the same
iesu crist oure lord, that with thee lyueth and
regneth in oonhede of the hooly goost, god, bi
alle worldis of worldis. So be it.
FOR THE EPISTLE. Isa. vii. 10-15.
MOREOVER, the Lord spake again unto
Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the
Lord thy God ; ask it either in the depth, or in
the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said,
Hear ye now, O house of David ; Is it a small
.1^.51!. R^m-
.IS I'. U.
thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary
my God also ? Tlierefore the Lord Himself .shall
give you a sign ; Behold, a Virgin shall conceive,
and bear a Son, and shall call His Xame Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know
to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
''THE GOSPEL. S. Luke i. 20-38.
AND in the sixth month the angel Gabriel
-lA. was sent from God unto a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, to a Virgin espoused to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David ;
and the Virgin's name ^oas Mary. And the angel
came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art
highly favoured, the Lord is with thee ; blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him
she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her
mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary ;
for thou hast found favour with God. And
behold, thou shalt conceive in thij womb, and
bring forth a Son, and shalt call His Name JESUS.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest ; and the Lord God shall give unto
tin as I'. 15.
Eastern.
I. 24-33.
Rom-
Luke
Him the throne of His father David. And He
shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and
of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said
Mary unto the angel. How shall this be, seeing
I know not a man ? And the angel answered
and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee : therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth,
she hath also conceived a son in her old age ;
and this is the sixth month with her who was
called barren : for with God nothing shall be
impossible. And Mary said. Behold the handmaid
of the Lord ; be it unto me according to thy
word. And the angel departed from her.
THE ANNUNCIATION.
[March 25.]
There is no mention of the festival of the Annunciation in
the Leetionary of St. Jerome, although there are daj'S in
honour of the Purification aud the Nativity and the Death or
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. It is however of very
early date, as Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who died
A.D. 446, has left a homily on the day, which was preached
in the presence of Nestorius, and against his heresy. It
is also mentioned by St. Athanasius, St. Chrysostom, St.
Augustine, and other writers as early ; aud the Collect is
found in the Sacramentary of Gelasius, at the end of the fifth
century, as well as in that of St. Gregory. In the Council of
Toledo, A.D. 656, the first of seven Canons orders that the
Feast of the Annunciation shall, in future, be kept on tlie
18th of December, so as not to interfere with tlie celebration
of Good Friday or the observance of Lent. But this day was
afterwards .appropriated to the festival named "the Expecta-
tion of the Blessed Virgin," and the old day was restored.
In the Consuetudinary of Sarum this festival is called
"Our Lord's Annunciation," and Bishop C'osin proposed to
alter the title both here and in the Table of Lessons to " Tlio
Annunciation of our Lord to tlie Blessed Virgin Mary ;" in
both cases his alteration was inserted in the MS. of the
Prayer Book, but subsequently crossed out, and the authorized
title is "The Aununciation of our Lady," or " The Annuncia-
tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
The Church of England commemorates the Mother of our
Lord on five days in the year, the Aununciation, the Purifica-
tion, tlie Visitation, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, and
her Conception, The three latter are Black Letter Days in
July, September, aud December : the two former, as days
which commemorate eveuts that associated her with the
Person of our Lord and the work of our salvation by His
human Nature, are provided with special services as days of
obligation.
If our Blessed Lord's Nativity occurred on the 25th of
December, as there are sound chronological reasons for
supposing, this may be taken as the time time when the angel
Gabriel first gave to the Church the words, "Hail, thou that
art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou
among women ;" ^^■ords whicli have been associated with
errors in doctrine and practice, but which are still words that
come from God. It must have beeu about this time also,
"in those days," that the Blessed Virgin was inspired to
give to the Churcli the Canticle which has ever since been so
dear to every generation. Tlie words which she was thus
inspired to speak respecting herself, and those which w-ere
spoken of her by the angel "sent from God," shew to what
an exalted place she was raised by the Providence of Almighty
God : and her meek reception of the wonderful revelation
^aint a^arfe's Daj?.
" S. S- Greg. Nat.
S. Jlarc. Ev.
SAINT MARK'S Bay
Sanctus Marcus EvangcUsla,
THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who hast instructed
Thy holy Church with the heavenly doc-
trine of Thy Evangelist Saint Mark; Give us
grace, that, being not like children carried away
with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be
established in the truth of Thy holy Gospel,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
evangelistam
-ORATIO.
DEUS, Qui beatum Marcum
Tuum evangeliccB prsdicationis gratia sub
limasti : tribue, quaesumus, ejus nos semper et
eruditione perficere et oratione defendi. Per
DOMINUM.
DEUS, Qui nobis per ministerium beati Marci,
evangelists et martyri.s, Tui
martyri.s, Tui veritatem
evangelLi patefieri voluisti ; concede, quaesumus,
ut quod ab illius ore didicimus, gratia Tua adjuti
operari valeamus. Per.
^THE EPISTLE.
"TTNTO every one of us is given grace, accord-
vJ ing to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on
high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts
unto men. (Xow that He ascended, what is it but
that He also descended first into the lower parts
of the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that
He might fill all things.) And He gave some
Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evan-
gelists, and some Pastore and Teachers ; for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ;
till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
"■ S. g. K. as P- R
Koirtan. Ezek. i.
10-14.
Eastern.
S- 6-14.
Pet,
Ephes. iv. 7-16.
the knowledge of the Sox of God, unto a perfect
man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-
ness of Christ ; that we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait
to deceive ; but speaking the truth in love, may
grow %ip into Him in all things. Which is the Head,
even Christ : from Whom the whole body fitly
joined together, and compacted by that which
every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself
in love. .
shews a holiness in the subjection of her will to the will of
the Lord, Whose handmaid she was, that no saint ever sur-
passed. Holy in her original character, her holiness was
made more perfect by that most intimate union with Jesus
which existed for nine months of her life. Little children
were brought to Jesus that He might lay His hands on them,
and thus sanctify them by the touch of a passing moment ;
but the same Jesus abode long in His Mother's bosom, His
spotless Body was formed of her substance, and sanctified her
both in what He received from her as ISIan, and what He gave
to her as God. Not Eve when she was in Paradise could have
been so holy as the Virgin Mary when she became a Paradise
herself. Not even the glorified saints who have attained to
the purity and bliss of heaven are raised to higher blessedness
and purity than that saintly maiden was whom Elisabeth was
inspired to speak of as "the Mother of my Lord."
This sanctity of the Blessed Virgin Mary through her
association with her Divine 8on has always been kept vividly
in view by the Church ; but, while excess of sentiment on
the one hand has led to an irreverent dishonour of her name by
associating it witli attributes of Deity, so want of faith in the
principle of the Licarnation lias led, on the other hand, to an
irreverent depreciation of her sanctity. Our two principal
and tliree minor festivals in honour of the Virgin and her
work in the Incarnation point out the true course ; to esteem
her very higldy above all other saints ; but yet so that her
honour may be to the glory of God.
Introit. — Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the
skies pour down righteousness ; let the earth open, and let
it bring forth salvation. [Alleluia. Alleluia. — If in Easter
season. ] Pn. And let righteousness spring up together ; I
the Lord have created it. Glory be.
SAINT MARK.
[April 25.]
The festival of St. Mark is provided for in the Saeramentary
of St. Gregory, although not in the Comes of St. Jerome.
Like others, it probably began in a local observance by the
Church of a particular country (in this case, Egypt), and was
gradually 'extended to all other Churches throughout the
world.
Of the Saint commemorated on this day there can be no
doubt ; but it is not quite certain which of the Marks named
in the Acts of the Apostles is Saint Mark the Evangelist. It
seems most probable that he was not the John Mark of Acts
xii. 12 and Acts xv. 37 (who was the ave^ibs of St. Barnabas,
and about whose conduct the sharp dissension arose between
St. Paul and St. Barnabas), but that the Evangelist was the
"Marcus, my son," of whom St. Peter writes in 1 Pet. i. 13
as being his companion at Babylon. It was his association
with St. Peter which led St. Mark to be the writer of the
Gospel that goes by his name, and which is always connected
with the name of St. Peter as well as of St. Mark by ancient
writers. The later years of his ministry were spent at
Alexandria, where he founded the Church of Christ among the
intellectual men of that learned city, and originated among
them that class of Cliristian scholars which afterwards gave
such a prominent place to Alexandria in tlie theological
history of the Church. The Evangelist canied the knowledge
of Christ and the ministry of the Church into less civilized
parts of Africa, but Alexandria was the central point of his
labours ; and there he was martyred on a day when the
heathen feast of Serapis was being observed, and which also
appears to have been Easter Day, probably A]iril 2rith, and
perhaps late in tlie first centurj', after most of the Apostles
had gone to their rest. He was dragged from his i>lace at the
altar through the streets of the city, and over the rough clifl's
adjoining, to prison ; from whence the next morning he was
again tortured in the same manner until his soul departed
to spend a second and glorious Easter with his risen and
ascended Lord.
One of the ancient Apostolic Liturgies goes by the name of
St. Mark ; and his festival was formerly the d.ay on which
the (ireater Litanies or Processions were said : but these
latter originated with St. Gregory in the sixth century. [See
Introduction to Litany, p. 222.]
It will be observed that the English Epistle and Gospel for
this day were anciently, as thoy still are, different from those
of the I^tin and Oriental Churches.
iNTiiOiT. — Hide me, O God, from the gathering together
of the frowaril, and from the insurrection of wicked doers.
Alleluia. Alleluia. Ps. Hear my voice, God, in my prayer ;
preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Glory be.
^aint Ipljilip anD ^aint 3lamcs' Day.
331
"THE GOSPEL. S. John xv. Ml.
I AM the true Vino, and My Father is tlie Hu.s-
bandnian. Every branch in Me that bearctli
not fruit He taketh away ; and every branch tliat
beareth fruit, Ho purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit. Now yo are clean tlirough the
word which I liavo spoken unto you. Abide in
Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no
more can ye, except ye aliide in Me. I am the
Vine, ye are the branches. Ho that abideth in
!Mo, and I in him, the same briiigcth fortli much
fruit; for without Me yo can do nothing. If a
man abide not in Jle, he is cast forth as a branch,
> 5. tl Jolin IS.
'■7-
P. I.ukc 5- ■■6-
Ki'fnati. Luke 10.
Hastey}t. Luke
10. 16-31.
and is withered ; and men gather them, and cast
them, into the fire, and they are burned. If ye
abide in Me, and j\[y words abide in you, ye shall
ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is My Father glorified, that yc bear much
fruit ; .so shall ye be My disciples. As the
Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you :
continue ye in My love. If ye keep My com-
mandments, ye shall abide in My love ; even as
I have kept My Father's commandments, and
abide in His love. These things have I spoken
unto you, that Jfy joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full.
SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES' DAY.
'■ S. 50. iy.
I- A. D.'iS49.
'■jDi'es AposColorum Philippi el Jucohi.
'THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Whom truly to know is
everlasting life ; Grant us perfectly to
know Thy Son Jesus Christ to bo the Way, the
Truth, and tho Life ; that, following the steps of
Thy holy Apostles, Saint Philip and Saint James,
we may stedfastly walk in the way that leadeth
to eternal life, through the same Thy Son Jesus
Cheist our Lord. Amen.
•<THE EPISTLE. S. James i. 1-12.
JAMES, a servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which
are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temiita-
rf 5.^.1^.
Rom.
au. \Wis<\
Eastent.
Acts 8.
26.39.
tions ; knowing lids, that the trj'ing of your faith
worketh patience. But let patience have her per-
fect work, that ye may bo iierfect and entire,
wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom.
SAINT PHILIP AND SAINT JAMES.
[May 1.]
In the Lectionavy of St. Jerome and the Sacramentary of
St. Gregory the names of these two Apostles are associated
together as they are in the Latin and English Churclies of
modern times : and the day of the festival is in both cases
the same as that now observed. But in the Eastern Church
St. Philip's Day is November 14tli, and St. James' Day
October 23rd. It will also be observed that the Apostle St.
Philip alone is named for May 1st in the ancient Calendar of
the Venerable Bede ; and in some early Calendars of the
English Church, June 22ud is dedicated to "Jacobus Alfei. "
[See pp. 146, 151.]
The Epistle for the day in the Eastern Church is the same
portion of Scripture that was read for the Second Morning
Lesson in our own Church until 1661 : but it seems clear that
the Philii) there mentioned is Philip the Deacon, since St.
Peter and St. John were sent to Samaria to confirm those
whom he had baptized, which would not have been necessary
in the case of an Apostle. It is curious to observe that the
same error should have occurred in both the Eastern and the
English Church ; but there seems to have been much con-
fusion among the ancients between St. Philip the Apostle
and Philip the Deacon and Evangelist, arising out of a
generally received opinion that the former was married
[Euseb. V. 24], while it is recorded of the latter in Acts
xxi. 9 that he had "four daughters, virgins, which did
prophesy."
St. Philip was one of the first of our Lord's disciples, and
is thought to have accompanied Him for some time when St.
Andrew and St. Peter had returned to their occupation of
fishing after their first call. It may have been this faithful
companionship which led to the loving rebuke of our Lord
recorded in the Gospel of the day, "Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?"
For the Apostle's zeal in bringing Nathanael and the Greeks
to his Master appears to indicate a trained faith in the Person
of the holy Jesus, as does even his aspiration, " Shew us the
Father, and it sufficeth us ! " In the account of the miracle
of the loaves and fishes St. Philip also seems to have been
specially under the loving eye of his Master, who sought to
"prove him " before He tried the faith of the others. After
the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Philip carried Christ and
tiie Church to Northern Asia, and his name has also been
connected with the early Church of Russia. St. Chrysostom
and Eusebius both record that he was crucified and stoned
on the cross, at Hierapolis, a great stronghold of idolatry, in
Phrygia ; and the tradition of the Churcli is, that his martyr-
dom took place inmiediately after he had procured by his
prayers the death of a great serpent wliich was worshipped
by the people of the city.
St. James the Less was son of Alphaeus, or Cleophas,
and of Mary, and nephew to Joseph the husband of the
Blessed Virgin. Hence he was, in the genealogical plirase-
ology of the Jews, a " brother of our Lord," as is shewn in the
table at page 253. It was also thought by the ancients tliat
his mother Mary was cousin, or as the Hebrews would say
"sister," to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this would establish
a double legal affinity between James and Joses, her sons, and
the holy Jesus. St. James the Less is mentioned by Josephus
and in the Talmud, being well known to the Jews from his
jjosition as Apostle of the Churcli of Jerusalem up to the
beginning of its last troubles ; and having won even from
them the name of "the just," a name shadowing that of his
Master, so often called "the Righteous" in the Psalm.=. It
is he whose name is several times mentioned by St. Paul ;
and he was the writer of the Catholic Epistle of St. James.
He went to his rest by martyrdom [a.d. 62], in Jerusalem,
being thrown down from a pinnacle or wing of the Temple by
.some of the persecuting Scribes and Pharisees, and slain, as
he lay bruised on the ground below, with a fuller's club.
The only reason that can be suggested for coupling together
St. Philip and St. James is, that by thus doing the manner
in which our Lord sent forth His Apostles two and two is
illustrated. St. Simon and St. Jude, St. Peter and St. Paul,
St. Barnabas and St. Bartholomew are parallel instances.
Intkoit. — They cried unto Thee in the time of their
trouble, and Thou heardest them from heaven. Alleluia.
Alleluia. Ps. Rejoice in tho Lord, ye righteous, for it
becometh well the just to be thankful. Glory be.
332
^aint TBarnabas tf)C 3po0tle.
let him ask of God, that giveth to all meii liber-
ally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given
him. But let him ask in faith, nothing waver-
ing ; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea, driven with the wdnd, and tossed. For let
not that man think that he shall receive any thing
of the LoED. A double-minded man is unstable
in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree
rejoice in that he is exalted ; but the rich in that
he is made low ; because as the flower of the
grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no
Sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth
the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the
grace of the fashion of it perisheth : so also shall
the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation ; for when
he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love
Him.
' S. 1- S. /Jo»i-
ii>i. John 14. 1-13.
Jzuslertt. John i.
44-SI.
-THE GOSPEL. S. John
r AND Jesus said unto His disciples,] Let not
L-^-A. your heart be troubled ; ye believe in
God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house
are many mansions ; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you :
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you unto Myself, that
where I am, there ye may be also. And whither
I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas
saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou
goest, and how can we know the way ? Jesus
saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and
the Life : no man cometh unto the Father but
by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have
known My Father also : and from henceforth ye
know Him, and have seen Him. Philip saith
unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it
suflSceth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so
xiv. 1-14.
long time with you, and i/et hast thou not known
Me, Philip 1 He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father ; and how sayest thou then, Shew us
the Father I Believest thou not that I am in
the Father, and the Father in Me ? The words
that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself ; but
the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the
works. Believe Me, that I am in the Father,
and the Father in Me ; or else believe Me for
the very works' sake. Verily, verily I say unto
you. He that believeth on Jle, the works that I
do shall He do also ; and greater tvor/.-s than these
shall He do ; because I go unto I\Iy Father.
And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that
will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My Name,
I vn]l do it.
* s. a. m-
C A. D. 1549.
SAINT Barnabas the Apostle.
* Sanctus Barnabas Apostolus.
'THE COLLECT.
OLOKD God Almighty, Who didst endue Thy
holy Apostle Barnabas with singular gifts
of the Holy Ghost ; Leave us not, we beseech
Thee, destitute of Thy manifold gifts, nor yet of
grace to use them alway to Thy honour and
glory ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ainen.
■'FOR THE EPISTLE. Acts. xi. 22-30.
TIDINGS of these things came unto the ears « 5. Eph. 2. .9.31.
of the Church which was in Jerusalem ; ; jH':: ^"^ '^'
and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should | J^Zt"' ^"'"''
go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and
hastern [with
St. Bartholomew],
Acts II. 19-30.
had seen the grace of God, was glad ; and
exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart theij
would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good
man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith :
SAINT BARNABAS.
[June H.]
This festival is not of primitive antiquity, being unnoticed
in the ancient Lectionaries and Sacranieutaries. In the
Calendar of the Veneraljle Bede it is the 10th instead of the
1 1 th of June ; and in tlie Eastern Church the name of St.
Barnab.as is associated with that of St. Barthcdomew, the
latter being also commemorated on August 25tli. The day
was omitted from the Englisli Calendar of 1552, but the Service
was retained. lu FotlicrgiU's MS. it is stated that the day was
not observed becau.se St. Barnabas was not one of the twelve.'
The name of St. Banialjas derives its chief lustre from his
association with St. l^aul ; yet, independently of thi.s, he was
one worthy to be ranked among the saints of the Church as
an Evangelist, Apostle, and Martyr.
The Apostle St. Barnabas was born at Cyprus, but was
a Jew of the tribe of Levi, and his origin.al name was
.loses or Joseph. Some of the Fathers record that he was
one of the seventy disciples, and that he was brought up with
St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel. After our Lord's Ascension
1 Hence we (liifl Bisliop Wren In 1030 giving direction that "ministera
forget not to reml the collects, epistles, and Kospels appointed for tlie Con-
version of .-It. I'.iul...andforKt. Harnaby's Day." (Cakd. Uoc. yfiiii. ii. 202.)
he received the name of Barnabas, or "Sou of Consolation,"
from the Apostles ; and shewed his zeal for C^hrist by selling
his i)roperty that the Apostles might distribute the proceeds
among the poor ; an act which possibly oiiginated the name
by which lie has ever since been known. St. Clirysostom
hands down a tradition that he was a man of very amiable
disposition but commanding aspect. Having brought St.
Paul to the Apostles he was associated with him for about
fourteen years, an<^ on several missionary journeys. After
their separation nothing further is recorded of St. Barnabas
in Holy Scripture ; but the traditions of the Church represent
tliat he spent the remainder of his life among his fellow-
countrymen at Cyprus, and that he was stoned by the Jews
at Salamis under circumstances somewhat similar to those
which brought St. Stephen to his death. What was supposed
to be the body of St. Barnabas was discovered four centuries
after liis martyrdom, a Hebrew copy of St. Matthew's CJospel
lying next his heart, which was believed to have been
written by himself. An Epistle is extant bearing tlie name
of St. Barnal)as, but it is not now considered to be his work.
The Gospel for the day is evidently selected with reference
to tlie act of St. Barnahas in consoling the poor disciples in
their poverty. He acted upon the comninnd of our Lord in
the spirit with which the example of the (Jood Samaritan is
%aint 3Iof)n T6aptist's I^ay.
333
and much people was added unto the Loed. Then
departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul.
And when he had found him, he brought him
unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole
year they assembled themselves with the Church,
and taught much people : and the disciples were
called Christians first in Antioch. And in these
days came prophets from Jerusalem unto
Antioch. And there stood up one of them
named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, that
there should be great dearth throughout all the
world ; which came to pass in the days of Claudius
C'ssar. Then the disciples, every man according
to his aVjility, determined to send relief unto the
brethren which dwelt in Judasa. Which also
they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands
of Barnabas and Saul.
-THE GOSPEL. S. John xv. 12-16.
THIS is My commandment, That ye love one
another, as I have loved you. Greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye
do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I
call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth
not what his lord doeth : but I have called you
' S. .IS P
B.
f>- n-
Luke 22.
=4-30,
Kotnan,
Matt. :o.
16-22.
Eastern
[with
St. Bartholomew]. |
Luke 10.
I6-2I.
friends ; for all things that I have heard of Jly
Father I have made known unto you. Ye have
not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth
fruit, and that your fruit should remain : that
whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My
Name, He may give it you.
* s. I
A.D.
SAINT JOHN BAPTIST.
''Dies Sancti Johannis Baptistee.
'THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, by Whose providence Thy
-^^J^ servant John Baptist was wonderfully born,
and sent to prepare the way of Thy Son our
Saviour, by preaching of repentance ; Make us
so to follow his doctrine and holy, life, that
we may truly repent according to his preach-
ing ; and after his example constantly speak the
truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer
for the truth's sake ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
''FOR THE EPtSTLE.
COMFOKT ye, comfort ye My people, saith
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jeru-
salem, and cry unto her, That her warfai'e is
accomplished ; that her iniquity is pardoned : for
she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
straight in the desert a high-way for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall
be made straight, and the rough places plain. And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
'S. ?B. p). Rum-
an. Isa. 49. 1-7.
Izi^stirn. Rom.
13. 11—14. 4.
Isa. xl, 1-11.
flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the
Lord hath spoken if. The voice said. Cry. And
he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and
all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the
field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
because the Spirit of the Lord blowetli upon it :
surely the people is grass. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall
stand for ever. Zion, that bringest good tidings,
get thee up into the high mountain : O Jerusa-
lem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice
with strength ; lift it up, be not afraid : say unto
commended to us, and shewed his love by going and doing
likewise.
Introit. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
God : greatly is their beginning strengtliened. I's. Lord,
Tliou hast searched me out and known nie : Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST.
[June 24.]
This festival is in the Comes of St. Jerome, as also another
commemorating the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, but
the date is not indicated in either case. Mabillon says that
the festival of this day was in the Carthaginian Calendar
before A.D. 484; and it is mentioned [circ. A.D. 400] by
Maximus, Bishop of Turin, as also by St. Augustine, in several
Homilies. In the Eastern Church it is kept on January 7th,
the day after the holy Theopliany ; and tlie festival of the
Decollation is also fixed, as in the Latin Church and our own,
for August 29th. Tlie day on which our principal Festival
of St. John the Baptist is kept has been supposed to be con-
nected with his words, "He must increase, but I must
decrease;" the days of the Bridegroom are growing longer.
but tliose of the friend of the Bridegroom are beginning to
wane. So St. Augustine says [Horn. 2S7], " John was born
to-day, and from to-day tlie days decrease ; Christ was born
on the eighth of the kalends of January, and from that day
tlie days increase." But the 24th of June is also the proxi-
mate day of the Baptist's birth, since he was six months
older than our Lord.
Although the martyrdom of St. John Baptist is one of
the four recorded in Holy Scripture (the other three being
those of the Holy Innocents, St. Stephen, and St. James),
yet the present festival, which commemorates his Nativity,
ajjpears to be the more ancient of the two dedicated to his
name, and the one more generally observed. So we may
judge from the Sermons botli of Maximus and St. Augustine,
each of whom accounts for the custom of observing the Birth
and not the Martyrdom of the Precursor of our Lord as if no
other festival in his honour had yet been established. "The
prophets who had gone before were first born, and at a later
day prophesied, but St. .John Baptist heralded the Incarna-
tion of our Lord when His Virgin Mother came to visit
Elisabeth, and both the Precursor and the Holy Child were
yet unborn."
The miraculous birth of St. Jolin the Baptist, and all tliat
we know of his subsequent history, is told us in the opening
334
%mnt Ipctcr's Dap.
■ S. S. 5).
a>i. Luke
Eastern.
=•1. -S. S7-6S.
the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold,
the Lord God ■will come with strong hand, and
His arm shall rule for Him : behold, His reward
is with Him, and His work before Him. He
"THE GOSPEL.
ELISABETH'S full time came that she should
be delivered ; and she brought forth a son.
And her neighbours and her coitsins heard how
the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her;
and they rejoiced with her. And it came to
pass, tliat on the eighth day they came to cir-
cumcise the child ; and they called him Zacha-
rias, after the name of his father. And his
mother answered and said, Not so ; but he shall
be called John. And they said unto her, There
is none of thy kindred that is called by this
name. And they made signs to his father, how
he would have him called. And he asked for
a writing-table, and wrote, saying. His name is
John. And they marvelled all. And his mouth
was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed,
and he spake, and praised God. And fear came
on all that dwelt round about them ; and all
these sayings were noised abroad throughout all
the hill-country of Judaja. And all they that
had heard tliem laid ilieni up in their hearts,
saying, What mannei- of child shall this be l. And
the hand of the Lord was with him. And his
father Zaeharias was filled with the Holy Ghost,
and prophesied, saying, Blessed he the Lord God
shall feed His flock like a shepherd ; He shall
gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them
in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with young.
S. Luke i. 57-80.
I. 57-68.
Luke I.
of Israel : for He hath visited and redeemed His
people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation
for us in the house of His servant David ; as He
spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which
have been since the world began ; that we should
be saved from our enemies, and from the hand
of all that hate us ; to perform the mercy pro-
mised to our fathers, and to remember His holy
covenant ; the oath which He sware to our father
Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we,
being delivered out of the hand of oiir enemies,
might serve Him without fear, in holiness and
righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
And thou. Child, shalt be called the Prophet of
the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face
of the Lord to prepare His ways ; to give know-
ledge of salvation unto His people, Ijy the re-
mission of their sins, through the tender mercy
of our God, whereby the Day-spring from on
high hath visited us ; to give light to them that
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace. And
the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit ; and
was in the deserts tiU the day of his shewing
unto Israel.
O
SAINT Peter's Day.
'•Dies Apostolorum Petri ct Pauli.
^THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who by Thy Sox Jesus
Christ didst give to Thy Apostle Saint
* S. B. v.-
CK.ll. 1549.
chapters of the four Gospels, in the 11th of St. ^Matthew, and
the 9th of .St. Luke. By comparing our Lord's words in
Matt. xi. 14, those of the angel in Luke i. 16, 17, of Zaeharias
in Luke ii. 76, and those of St. John himself in announcing
his mission, witli preceding prophecies, we see that the pro-
phets had spoken of him more than seven hundred years
before he was born, and that the very last words of tlie Old
Testament, written about four hundred years previcnisly,
were concerning him. And, comparatively little as is said
about St. John in Holy Scripture, what is said shows how
important liis office was, and illustrates the words of our Lord,
that among all previously born of women, none was ever
greater than John the Baptist.
He appears to liave spent his childhood, at least, with our
Blessed Lord and His mother, aud it is natural to suppose
that his parents lived but a few years after his birth. But
when the time for his ministry came, he adopted the ancient
proplietic mode of life ; sucli as is indicated in the case of
Elijali the Tishljite, who is said [2 Kings i. 8] to have been
"an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his
loins." As a jjrophet, and tlie greatest of all, — the last i)ro-
phet of the old dispensation, and tlie first of the new, — lie
assailed the vices of the generation in wliicli our Lord came,
as Elijah himself had assailed those of Ahal) and the Israel of
that d.ay ; azid so doing he brought many to repentance, and
initi.ated a new mor.al life by th.at ordinance of Baptism with
whicli the dispensation of Sinai ended and tliat of Calvary
began. And when by the power of his preacliing he liad pre-
pared the hearts of the people to receive Christ as a blessing,
.and not as one " come to smite the earth with a curse " [M-al.
iv. 0], the other part of his oflice was brought into exercise,
that of baptizing our Lord, and witnessing to the descent of
tho Holy Spirit on His human n.ature.
Powerful as the elfect of St. Jolin tlie Baptist's ministra-
tions evidently was, we have very little information given us
about it. He proclaimed the coming of Christ, rebuked all
classes of the people for their sins, shewed them the way to
turn from them, and baptized with a B.aptism of water which
foreshadowed the Baptism with the Holy Ghost as well as
water. All people seem to have come readily to him, for the
"offence of the Cross" had not yet begun, and the prophet
who attracted was no "carpenter's sou," but "a prophet
indeed," the son of a man well known among them, a priest
of the regular succession of Aaron, prophesying as Elijah,
Isaiah, or Ezekiel, with the outward appearance and habit
of a "man sent from God,'' and telling of that which they
longed for, the near approach of their Messiah. This is all
we learn of the ministry of the Baptist from Holy Scripture,
and tradition has added little or nothing more. His martyr-
dom appears to have taken place very early in our Lord's
ministry, and when St. John himself was only about thirty
years of age ; and since his work was done, we may see in it
the manner in which the course of even the evil of this world
is so regulated, that it ministered by a quick death to the
rapid removal of a saint from the Cliurch on earth to the
Church in heaven when the time of his reward was come.
I.NTROiT. — The Lord hath called me by name from the
womb of my mother. He hath ni.ide my mouth like a sli.arp
sword. In the shadow of His hand hath He hid me ; He hath
made me like a polished shaft, and in His quiver hath He con-
cealed me. /v. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to praise Thy Name, Thou most highest. Glory be.
SAINT PETER.
[June 29.]
This day is one of the oldest of Christian festivals, and one
that was from the be'dnniiig of its institutiim celebrated with
great solemnity. Ruinart [()17] traces it b.ack as far as the
third century, and it is prob.ably of even more primitive
antiquity. In St. Jerome's Loctionary there are two Gospels
%mt Peter's Dap.
335
Peter many excellent gifts, and comniandedst
him earnestly to feed Thy flock; Make, we
beseech Thee, all Bishops and Pastors diligently
to preach Thy holy Word, and tlio people obedi-
ently to follow the same, that they may receive
the crown of everlasting glory; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
« FOR THE
ABOUT that time Herod the king stretched
-l\- forth his hands to vex certain of the
Church. And he killed James the brother of
John with the sword. And, because he saw it
pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take
Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened
bread.) And when he had .apprehended him, he
put him in prison, and delivered him to four
quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending
after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Peter therefore was kept in prison ; but prayer
was made without ceasing of the Church unto
God for him. And when Herod would have
brought him forth, the same night Peter was
sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two
chains ; and the keepers before the door kept the
prison. And behold, the angel of the Loud came
upon him, and a light .shined in the prison ; and
" ^. in. Kotnan
as i'. a.
|t?. Acts 3. i-io.
I-as/ertz. 2 Cor.
II. 21 — 12. 9.
EPISTLE. Acts xii. 1-11.
he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up,
saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off
from his hands. And the angel said unto him,
Gird thy.self, and bind on thy sandals : and so he
did. And he saith unto him. Cast thy garment
about thee, and follow me. And he went out
and followed him ; and wist not that it was true
which was done by the angel ; but thought he
saw a vision. When they were past the first and
the second ward, they came unto the iron gate
that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them
of his own accord ; and they went out, and passed
on through one street, and forthwith the angel
departed from him. And when Peter was come
to him.self, he said. Now I know of a surety, that
the Lord hath sent His angel, and hath delivered
me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the
expectation of the people of the Jews.
"VrTHEN Jesus came into the coasts of Ca?sarea
VV Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying.
Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am 1
And they said. Some say that Thou art John the
Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one
of the prophets. He saith unto them. But Whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered
and said. Thou art 'the Chei.st, the Son of the
living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona : for flesh
%. Jolin2i..5-9-
'*THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xvi. l.S-19.
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
My Father Which is in heaven. And I say also
unto thee. That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build My Church ; and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. And I will
give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of
Heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatso-
ever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven.
c The article is
oinilted in all
pnnte<l Prayer
Books.
and two Epistles, the one pair under the name of St. Peter,
the other under that o£ St. Paul. As there is only one Vigil,
and one Octave, wliich is called the Octave of the Apostles,
the day was evidently then dedicated to both Apostles, as it
was in the English Churcli until the Reformation [a ' ' Com-
memoration " of St. Paul following on the 30th], and as it still
is in the Latin and the Eastern Church. It was a very early
custom for the Bishops of Rome to celebrate the Holy Com-
munion in both St. Peter's and St. Paul's Churches on this
day, a custom which is mentioned [a.d. 348] by Prudentius
[Periatcphano, carm. xii.].
Transtyberina prius solvit sacra pervigil sacerdos,
Mox hue recurrit, duplicatque vota.
He also speaks of the whole city frequenting each church,
as if the festival was kept very generally and with great
solemnity. St. Augustine, St. Leo, and several others of the
Fathers have left sermons preached on the day of St. Peter
and St. Paul ; and no doubt the two, from their relative posi-
tions as the chief Apostles of the Jews and the Cientiles, from
their joint ministrations at Rome, and from their martyrdom
together there on the same day, have always had this day
dedicated in their united names. Bishop Cosin restored the
title " Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's Day " in his Durham
Prayer Book, and added to the Collect, so that it should read
"... commandedst him earnestly to feed Thy flock, ami
madest Thy Apostle St. Fuul a choice rcssel to hear Thy Name
hefore the Gentiles, make, we beseech Thee, all Bishops and all
other ministers of Thy Church, diligently to preach Thy holy
Word . . ." He also altered the Epistle to 2 Tim. iv. 1-9;
but none of these changes were adopted.
St. Peter was one of the first-calleil of our Lord's disciples
[John i. 35-42], and as soon as he had come to follow Christ,
he was marked out by a new name, that of Cephas, the
Syriac equivalent of the one by which he has since been so
familiarly known to the Church. Our Lord did nothing with-
out a meaning, and in giving this new name to His disciple,
He appears to have prophetically indicated the strong,
immoveable faith in Him which that disciple was to exhibit,
and the tirmuess of which is not contradicted even by that
temporary want of courage which led him to try and save his
life by denial of his Master in the bitter hour of His Passion.
Such instances of faith as St. Peter's attempt to walk on the
water, and his confession of Christ as the Son of the living
God, seem to set him at the head of the Ajiostles, as one
whom no shock could move from his belief in the Lord ; and
the striking words of our Lord which are recited in tlie
Gospel for this day shew that a special revelation had been
vouchsafed to the Apostle to give him that know-ledge of
Christ on which his faith rested. It was perhaps because
St. Peter's faith was stronger than that of the other Apostles
that he had to luidergo greater temptation. Satan desired to
" sift him as wheat," as he had desired to tempt Job; but one
look from Jesus brought him to himself and counteracted the
temptation. A similar temptation is said to have assailed
him just before his martyrdom, as our Lord's agony was a
kind of second temptation. St. Peter too desired that the cup
might pass from him, and endeavoured to escape from Rome.
But as he was leaving the city he had such a vision of his
Master as St. Paul had on his way to Damascus. "Lord,
whither goest Thou?" were the words of the Apostle, and the
reply was a question whether that JIaster must go to Rome
and again sutter, since His servants were afraid to die for His
sake. As when Jesus had "looked on" the Apostle years
before in the hall of Pilate, so now, the trial of faith ended in
a victory, and the servant returned to follow the Master by
being girded by another than himself, and led whither he would
not at the first have gone, to the Cross. At his own request
^aint James tfjc apostle.
Saint James thk apostlk.
A A.D. 15^59.
" Dies Sancti Jacohi ApostoU.
*THE COLLECT.
GEAXT, O merciful God, that as Thine holy
Apostle Saint James, leaving his father
and all that he had, without delay was obedient
unto the calling of Thy Son Jesus Cheist, and
followed Him ; so we, forsaking all worldly and
carnal affections, may be evermore ready to follow
Thy holy commandments ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Ameii.
I
'FOR THE EPISTLE.
N these days came prophets from Jerusalem
unto Antioch. And there stood up one of
them named AgabiLs, and signified by the Spirit,
that there should be great dearth throughout all
the world; which came to pass in the days of
Claudius Csesar. Then the disciples, every man
according to his ability, determined to send
relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judsea.
Acts xi. 27, and part of Chapter xii. 3.
'&.%n- Eph.
Which also they did, and sent it to the elders
by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. Now about
that time Herod the king stretched forth his
hands to vex certain of the Church. And he
killed James the brother of John with the sword.
And, because he saw it pleased the Jews, he pro-
ceeded further to take Peter also.
THEX came to Him the mother of Zebedee's
children with her sons, worshipping Him,
and desiring a certain thing of Him. And He
said unto her. What wilt thou ? She saith unto
Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the
one on Thy right hand, and the other on the left,
in Thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said.
Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink
of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be bap-
tized with the baptism that I am baptized tvifh ?
They say unto Him, We are able. And He saith
unto them. Ye shall drink indeed of My cup, and
be baptized with the baiitism that I am baptized
icith : but to sit on My right hand, and on My
''THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. xx. 20-28.
left, is not Mine to give ; but it sliall he given
'' S. g. IS}. J^od:.
an. Matt. so. 2>
Eastern. Lufceo.
1-6.
to them for whom it is prepared of !My Father.
And when the ten heard it, they were moved
with indignation against the two brethren. But
Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Ye know
that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them, and they that are great exercise
authority upon them. But it shall not be so
among you : but whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister; and whosoever
will be chief among you, let him be your servant :
even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom
for many.
he was crucified witli his head downwards to make the death
more ignominious and painful; and as being unworthy to
suffer the same death as his Lord. This was in the year 68 ;
and while St. Peter was being crucified at the Vatican, St.
Paul was being beheaded at Aquce Salvia:, three miles from
Kome.
Our Lord's remarkable words, "I will give unto thee the
keys of the Kingdom of Heaven," do not seem to be wholly
explained by saying that St. Peter represented all the Apostles,
and that these words represented the power given to all.
But if they implied any distinction of authority between St.
Peter and his brethren, they do not give any foundation
whatever to the claims which the Bishops of Rome have made
as successors of St. Peter: for [1] there is no evidence that
they are in any special sense successors of St. Peter, and [2]
if our Lord's words cannot clearly be applied to the other
Apostles, much less can they be .applied to Bishops of later
days who were not Apostles. There is nothing in the Scrip-
tural account of St. Peter's Apostolic work which adequately
explains these words ; nor does the tradition of the Church
respecting that work shew anything that at all lielps to do so.
He presided over the Church at Antioch for some time,— a fact
commemorated by tlic festival of St. Peter's Chair at Antioch,
— assisted, as it appears, in evangelizing Chakhea, and was
probably some years at Piomc before his de.ath. During these
years it seems most likely that ho was all tlie while acting
chieHy as the Apostle of the Circumcision, having charge of
Jewish Christians ; and, while great works were undoubtedly
assigned to tlie otlier Apostles, there are evident traces of a
providential disposition of duties by which Jewish Christianity
became the field of .St. I'eter's labours ; Gentile Christianity
being assigned to St. Paul, wlio seems to have been called to
the jdace of St. James the Great on his martyrdom ; and tlio
general govenimcnt of the Church, wlien .Icwish and Gentile
Christianity were merging into one, the work of St. John,
when the others had passed aw.ay from their labours.
Intkoit. — Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent
His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod,
and from all the expect.ation of the Jews. Ps. And when
Peter was come to himself he said. Glory be.
SAINT JAMES THE GREAT.
[July 25.]
The festival of St. James, the brother of St. John the
Divine, is not noticed in the Lectionary of St. Jerome, but
has a Collect appointed in St. Gregory's Sacramentary, and
is .also in the ancient English Calendars of Bode and of King
Athelstan's Psalter. In the Eastern Church it is kept on
April 30th, but in the Western it has always been observed
on .luly 2r)th.
St. James being a brother of the beloved disciple, his rela-
tionship to our Lord m.ay be seen in the table printed under
that Apostle's day [p. 253]. With St. John be received
the appellation of IJoanerges from our Lord, and has always
been surnamed the Great, or the Greater, by the Cluircli : but
neither of these designations can be satisfactorily accounted
for. Some special position was given to St. James and St.
.John, as well .as to St. Peter, by their Divine Master; and the
retpicst of ilieir motlier, probably S.aliune, that they might
sit on either hand of our Lord in llis Kingdom, w.as doubtless
founded on the choice thus m.ade by Him, coupled with such
a strong faith in His I'erson and Power as was displayed on
another occasion, when the sons of Zebedee scniglit .authority
from Christ to destroy the Samaritan city that had rejected
Him. [Luke ix. 52.] 'I'beir Master had told llis servants th.at
they shotild eat and drink at llis table in His Kingdom, and
^aint T5art()olome\u tfje apostle.
iZ7
" S, ^. ^. Crcff.
N.il. S. Bartli. Ap.
Mciiani. 125.
Saint Bartholomew the Apostle,
In Die S. Barlholonvxi Apostoli.
THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Wlio
didst give to Thine Apostle Bartholomew
grace truly to believe and to preach Thy Word ;
Grant, we beseech Thee, unto Thy Church, to
love that Word which he believed, and both to
preach and receive the same ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
"ORATIO.
OMNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui hujus
diei venerandam sanctamque lajtitiam in
beati Bartholonuci Apostoli Tui festivitate tribu-
isti ; Da Ecclesiai Tuie, quKsumus, et amare quod
credidit, et prasdicare quod docuit. Per Domi-
NUM nostrum.
'FOR THE
BY the hands of the Apostles were many signs
and wonders wrought among the people :
(and they were all with one accord in Solomon's
porch : and of the rest durst no man join him-
self to them : but the people magnified them :
and believers were the more added to the Lord,
multitudes both of men and women :) insomuch
that they brought forth the sick into the streets,
EPISTLE. Acts V. 12-lG.
and laid them on beds and couches, that at the
least the shadow of Peter passing by might over-
shadow some of them. There came also a mul-
titude Old of the cities round about unto Jeru-
salem, bringing sick folks, and them which luere
vexed with unclean spirits ; and they were healed
every one.
* S. 2- Eph. a,
19-2=.
^. as p. B.
Roman. i Cor.
12. 27-31.
J:asffr>t. [See St.
Barnabas" Day.]
r S. g. S.asP. B.
Roman. Luke 6.
12-19.
fiaslent. {Sff St.
Barnabas' Day.]
'THE GOSPEL. S. Luke
AND there was also a strife among them,
-i-^ which of them should be accounted the
greatest. And He said unto them. The kings of
the Gentiles exercise lordship over them ; and
they that exercise authority upon them are called
benefactors. But ye shall not he so : but he that
is greatest among you, let him be as the younger;
and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For
whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he
xxii. 24-30.
that serveth ? w not he that sitteth at meat % but
I am among you as He that serveth. Ye are
they which have continued with Me in My
temptations. And I appoint unto you a king-
dom, as My Father hath appointed unto Me ;
that ye may eat and drink at My table in Jly
kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel.
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; and since
He had given to St. Peter tlie Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven,
the other two favoured Apostles besought that to them might
be given the two posts of honour and sufi'eriug ne.xt to His
Person.
St. James was the first of the Apostles who suffered Martyr-
dom, and the only one whose death is recorded in the New
Testament. The fact of his death is told us in the modern
Englisli Epistle of the day, but of its circumstances nothing
more is known than tliat he suffered through tlie hatred
of Herod Agrippa. Tradition says that his accuser repented
as the Apostle was on his way to the place of execution, and
that having received the blessing of the servant of Christ, he
professed himself a Christian, and was baptized in the blood
of martyrdom at the same time ^^'ith St. James. [Eusee.
Ecd. Hist. ii. 9.] The Apostolic mantle of St. James appears
to have fallen upon St. Paul, and perhaps we may look upon
tlie latter as fuliilling tlie expectations which must have been
raised by the place wliich the elder son of Zebedee occupied
near the Person of our Lord, and by the title of Boanerges
which was given to him.
St. James the Great is the patron saint of Spain, and his
remains are supposed to be preserved at Compostella. " St.
lago of Compostella " holds the same relation to the history of
that kingdom which St. George does to that of England : and
both names have been used as the battle-cry of Christian
hosts when they went forth to stem the torrent of tliat
Mahometan and Moorish invasion which once threatened to
drive Christianity from its throne in Europe as it has driven
it from Asia.
Introit. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
God : greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps. Lord,
Thou hast searched me out and known me : Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
SAINT BARTHOLOMEW.
[August 24.]
There is no festival of St. Bartholomew in the Lectionary
of St. Jerome, Init it appears in the Sacramentary of vSt.
Gregory. In the Eastern Church this Apostle is com-
memorated on the same day witli St. Barnabas, as St. Simon
and St. Jude are connected in tlie Western Church ; but on
this day there is also a commemoration of the Translation of
St. Bartholomew. There is absolutely nothing but his name
recorded of St. Bartholomew in the New Testament (though
it has usually been supposed that Nathanael and Bartholomew
are two names for the same person) ; but the Gospel of the
day perpetuates an old tradition that St. Bartholomew was
of noble birth, and that hence arose the "strife" among the
Apostles, " which of them should be accounted the greatest"
in their Master's expected kingdom.
The reasons wliy Nathanael an<l Bartholomew are supposed
to be the same person are as follows : [1] The call of St.
Bartholomew is nowlicre mentioned, while that of Nathanael
appears to be tlie call of an Ai)0stle. [2] The Evangelists
wlio mention Bartholomew do not name Nathanael, while St.
John, who tells us of tlie latter, does not name Bartholomew.
[3] Bar-Tholmai may be only an appellation of Nathanael.
as Bar- Jona is of St. Peter, since it signifies ' ■ the son of
Tholniai, " as the latter does "the son of Jonas," and as Barna-
bas means "the sou of consolation." But strong as these
reasons seem, there is the strong testimony of the Fathers
against them. St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, and St.
Gregory the Great all declare that Nathanael was not one
of the twelve : and the opinion that he was identical with
Bartholomew is first found in a Benedictine author named
Kupert, who wrote in the twelfth century. St. Augustine
uses the fact that Nathanael was not an Apostle as a proof of
his great holiness and ready perception of Christ: — "This
was not said to Andrew, nor said to Peter, nor to Philip,
which is said to Nathanael, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in
whom is no guile : ' " — and assigns his learning and position
in life as a reason why He Who chose the weak things of the
world to confound the strong did not make him an Apostle.
The common tradition of the Church respecting St.
Bartholomew is that he evangelized Northern India, leaving
there a Hebrew copy of St. M.atthew's Gospel, which after-
wards came into the hands of Pantasnus, head of the college
of Alexandria, about a.d. 190. It is believed that, having
once escaped crucifixion at Hierapolis in Phrygia, through
tlie remorse of his persecutor, St. Bartholomew was after-
wards martyred at Albauojiolis on the Caspian Sea, where
)0°
^aint ^attteto tf)c apostle- ©aint 80icbacl anU all anpls.
SAINT MATTHKW THE APOSTLE.
" Dies Sajicti Matthei Aposloli.
" s. s. ffi.
* A.D. 1549.
*THE COLLECT.
O ALMIGHTY God, Who by Thy blessed
Son didst call Matthew from the receipt
of custom to be an Apostle and Evangelist ;
Grant us grace to forsake all covetous desires
and inordinate love of riches, and ti5 follow the
same Thy Sox Jesus Christ, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one
God, world without end. Amen.
'THE EPISTLE
THEREFORE seeing we have this ministry,
as we have received mercy, we faint not ;
but have renounced the hidden things of dis-
honesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling
the word of God deceitfully, but by manifesta-
tion of the truth commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. But if
our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost : in whom the god of this world hath
S- Eph.
10-14.
Eastern.
4. 9-16.
2 Cor. iv. 1-
blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ,
Who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ
Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your .servants for
Jesus' sake. For God, Who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in
our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.
''THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. ix. 9-13.
AND as Jesus passed forth from thence, He
-L^ saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the
receipt of custom : and He saith unto him,
Follow ]\Ie. And he arose, and followed Him.
And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the
house, behold, many Publicans and sinners came,
and sat down with Him and His disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His
' S. g. S- R'"!-
an.
i-ailent .15 P. B.
disciples, Why eateth your Master with Publicans
and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, He
said unto them. They that be whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and
learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and
not sacrifice ; for I am not come to call the right-
eous, but sinners to repentance.
SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.
In Festo Sancti Michaetis Arehangdi.
o
THE COLLECT. Us.gs. c,ec
EVERLASTING God, Who hast ordained i! Aich.'MfchaeS
11 . f K , 1 Mur. ii. 135.
and constituted the services of Angels and |
men in a wonderful order ; Mercifully grant, that
'OEATIO.
DELTS, Qui in miro ordine Angelorum minis-
teria hominumque dispensas ; concede
propitius, ut quibus Tibi ministrantibus in ccelo
the king Astyages ordered him to be flayed alive (perhaps
on the cross), a mode of punishment not uncommon among
Oriental nations.
Introit. — Thy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
O God : greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps. O
Lord, Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising.
Glory be.
SAINT MATTHEW.
[September 21.]
The festival of this Apostle has Gospel and Epistle appointed
for it in the Comes of St. .leronie, but it does not seem to
have been celebrated in September ; and in the Oriental
Church it is still observed on November 16th. In his double
capacity of Apostle and Evangelist, the first wlio was inspired
to write the Holy Gospel, anil who tells us more than all of
our Lord's human life, his name has ever been much honoured
in the Church. Of the four " living creiitures " by whom the
Apocalypse is believed to symbolize the Evangelists or their
Gospels, the "likeness of a man" is the one assigned to St.
Matthew, as aigiiiticant of the jjrominence wliich his Gospel
gives to our Lord's human nature.
This holy Apostle and Evangelist is first mentioned in his
own Gospel and by the other Evangelists as a Roman toll-
gatherer, though he himself was a Jew. His office was to
collect tolls and customs from those who passed over the sea
of Galilee, and it appears to have been near Capernaum tliat
he was engaged in this iluty wlion he heard tlic words of
Jesus, "Follow Me." [Matt. ix. 9.] As the sons of Zebedee
liad left their ships, tlieir nets, and their occupation, to obey
those words, so did St. Matthew give up his profitable
employment to do the bidding of Him Who had "not where
to lay His head :" and, as it seems to have been immediately
afterwards that our Lord made him one of His Apostles, the
forsaking of all that he hatl must have been as final as it was
sudden, shewing how entirelj' obedient he became to his
Lord. After the dispersion of the Apostles St. Matthew
took part in the evangelization of Chaldaea, and gave up his
life to his Master's service by martyrdom at Nadabar. His
Gospel is supposed to have been written by him originally
in Hebrew for tlie Jewish Christians, but the Hebrew version
appears to have been soon superseded by one in Greek,
which was doubtless the work of the Evangelist him-
self, for it has always been received into the Canon of Holy
Scripture. A copy of the Hebrew text is said to have been
found iu the grave of St. Barnabas a.d. 485, but it is not now
extant.
Introit. — Tliy friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
(iod ; greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps.
Lord, Thou hast searched me out and known me : Thou
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising.
MICHAELMAS DAY.
[September 29,]
There were anciently two days dedicated to St. Michael,
May Sth and September '29th : .and in nicdiieval times a third,
to St. Michael in nioritc Inmba,^ on October 16th. liut the
1 Churclifs (li-'licftted ti> St. Micliaol nre often on elevated spots, as at
St. Michael's Mounts in Normandy and Cornwall.
^aint 9@tcf)acl anD all angels.
339
as Thy holy Angels alway do Thoe service in
heaven, so by Thy appointment they may succour
and defend us on earth ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Ainen.
n Fourteenth Cen.
tury Prynicr ver-
sion. M. Ji. iii. 33.
semper assistitur, ab his in terra vita nostra
muniatur. Per Dominum.
["/^ OD, that in a merueilous ordre ordeynedist
V^ seruisys of aungels and of men, graunte
thou mercifulli that oure liif be defendid in erthe
bi hem that stonden nyj euermore seruynge to
thee in heuvene. Bi crist.]
an. Rev. I. 1-5.
Haster)!. Heb, 2.
3-IO.
*FOK THE EPISTLE. Rev. xii. 7-12,
THERE was war in heaven : Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon fought and his angels ; and prevailed not,
neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great dragon was cast mU, that old ser-
pent, called the devil and Satan, whicli deceiveth
the whole v/orld ; he was cast otit into the earth,
and his angels were cast out with him. And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is
come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of
our God, and the power of His Chkist : for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, wliich
accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and
they loved not their lives unto the death. There-
fore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in
them. Wo to the inhabiters of the earth, and of
the sea : for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he
hath hut a short time.
'THE GOSPEL. S.
AT the same time came the disciples unto
-L\. Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the
Kingdom of Heaven ? And Jesus called a little
child unto Him, and set him in the midst of
them, and said. Verily I say unto you. Except ye
be converted, and become as little children, ye
shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven. And whoso shall receive one such
little child in My Name, receiveth Me. But
whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in Me, it were better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and that
he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Wo
'S.l.S.
au as P. B.
t.iiferit.
lo. i6-^i.
Matt, xriii. 1-10.
unto the world because of offences : for it must
needs be that offences come : but wo to that
man by whom the oifence cometh. Wherefore
if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them
off, and cast them from thee : it is better for
thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather
than Laving two hands or two feet to be cast
into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend
thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee : it is
better for thee to enter into life with one eye,
rather than having two eyes to be cast into
hell-fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of
these little ones ; for I .say unto you. That in
heaven their angels do always behold the face
of My Father Which is in heaven.
day most generally observed was that which we now keep,
and which appears both in the Lectionary of St. Jerome and
in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, as the Dedication of the
Cliurch of St. Michael. This basilica may have been that of
Constantine near Constantinople, or that of Boniface at Rome,
the latter being dedicated A. D. 606. In the Eastern Church
St. Michael's Day is November 8th, July 13th and March
26th being also observed in honour of the Archangel Gabriel.
These two are the only angels or archangels who are
made known to us by name in the Canonical Scriptures,
though Raphael and Uriel are named in the Book of Tobit
and in Esdras.
Tlie holy angels in general are commemorated by the Church
from a deeply-rooted feeling of their communion with the
saints, and of their ministrations among mankind on earth.
Such a feeling is warranted by the words, " Ye are come unto
Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels ; to the
general assembly and Churcli of tlie Firstborn ..." [Heb.
xii. 22] : and, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation ? " [Heb.
i, 14.] The holy Son of God condescended to be ministered
to by angels in His Temptation and Agony ; they waited
upon Him at His Birth and Resurrection ; and at His Second
Advent He will come with "all tlie holy angels." St. Peter
was set free from prison by an angel, and one stood by St.
Paul in the ship, thus illustrating their ministration to Christ's
servants. Our Lord Himself spoke of their rejoicing over
penitent sinners ; and said of the little ones who had passed
under His hand and benediction, that " their augels do always
behold the face of My Fatlier Which is in heaven," as if
indicating many ministrations to those who are His, — some
known, and some that are not made evident to sight or other
sense. It has been a constant tradition of Christianity that
angels attend at the ministration of Holy Baptism, and at the
celebration of the Holy Communion ; and that as Lazarus was
the object of their tender care, so in sickness and death they
are about the bed of the faitliful, and carry their souls to the
presence of Christ in Paradise.
Without taking into account, therefore, any of the many
unveilings to our sight of holy angels and their ministrations
recorded in the Old Testament, we have ample ground for
believing that they are joined in a very close communion with
those who have been I'edeemed by tlie blood of Christ. But
whereas the saints were once sinners, and yet God is pleased
that we should honour Him tlirough tlieni, the angels have
never inherited unholiness or fallen from holiness, and still
more shall we honour Him by venerating these pure and
spotless servants of His who do His pleasure. And as our
Lord has taught us to pray that we may do the will of our
Father on earth as it is done in heaven, so may we take their
example as the highest, next to His, of perfect submission to
the will of God. While in respect to our worship on earth
we may reckon it an exalted privilege to have such communion
with them as to be able to say, "Therefore with angels and
archangels, and all the company of heaven, we laud and
magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee, and
saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and
earth are full of Thy glory : Glory be to Thee, Lord most
High."
Introit. — praise the Lord, ye augels of His, ye that
excel in strength : ye tliat fulfil His commandment, and
Iiearken unto the voice of His words. Ps. Praise the Lord.
O my soul : and all that is within me praise His holy
Name.
340 ^aint iLukc tfjc (JBtjanjclist— ^aint Pinion anD ^aint 3luDe, apostles.
Saint lukk the Evangelist.
4 A.D.
" Sanctus Lucas Evangelista.
*THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who calledst Luke the
-l\- Physician, whose praise is in the Gospel,
to be an Evangelist, and Physician of the soul ;
May it please Thee, that, by the wholesome
medicines of the doctrine delivered by him, all
the diseases of our souls may be healed ; through
the merits of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
'THE EPISTLE. 2
IO-I4.
g. Eph. 2.
52.
Roman, a Cor.
16-24.
Eastirn. Col.
5>3.
\ \ TATCH thou in all things, endure afflictions,
> V do the work of an Evangelist, make full
proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready
to be offered, and the time of my departure is
at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith. Hence-
forth there is laid up for me a crown of right-
eousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day : and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love His appearing.
Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me : for
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this pre-
''THE GOSPEL.
THE Lord appointed other seventy also, and
sent them two and two before His face into
every city and place whither He Himself would
come. Therefore said He unto them, The har-
vest truly is great, but the labourers are few ;
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that
He would send forth labourers into His harvest.
Go your ways ; behold, I send you forth as lambs
Tim. iv. 5-15.
I I sent world, and is departed unto Thessalonica ;
19. ! Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only
Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him
with thee : for he is profitable to me for the
ministry. And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when
thou comest, bring loith thee; and the books,
hut especially the parchments. Alexander the
coppersmith did me much evil : the Lord re-
ward him according to his works. Of whom be
thou ware also, for he hath greatly withstood our
words.
an. Luke
Eiislerti.
10. 16.21.
Rem
Lukt
S. Luke X. 1-7.
among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip,
nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And
into whatsoever house ye enter, first say. Peace
he to this house. And if the son of peace be
there, your peace shall rest upon it : if not, it
shall turn to you again. And in the same house
remain, eating and drinking such things as they
give : for the labourer is worthy ui his hire.
Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles.
' Dies Apostolorum Simonis et Jud<e.
/THE COLLECT.
OAL:^riGHTY God, Who hast built Thy
Church upon the foundation of the
Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
' s. g. ».
/•A.D. 1549.
SAINT LUKE.
[October 18.]
A festival was dedicated in honour of St. Luke, as of the
other Evangelists, at a very early period of Christian history,
and is found in an ancient Calendar [earlier than a.d. 484] of
the Church of Carthage. .St. Jerome says [De Script. AVc]
that the remains of St. Luke were translated to Constanti-
nople in tlie twentieth year of Constantine the Great, and there
laid in the magnificent church which he had built in honour
of the Apostles ; but whether the present festival commemo-
rates this event or not there is no evidence to shew.
Little is indicated to us by Holy Scripture of St. Luke's
personal history. His n.itive place appears to have been
Antiocli ; and as St. Paul calls him "the lieloved physician"
[Col. iv. 14], it seeing clear that these words represent his
profession. Yet ancient traditions have connected him with
the art of p.iinting, and several portraits exist which are
attributed to him, shewing how general this tradition ia.
The Evangelist was probably one of St. P.iul's converts ; for
though there is a tradition that he was one of the seventy,
the dedication of his Gospel seems to exclude himself from
the number of those who had been eye-witnesses of our Lord's
life and works. After the separation of St. Paul from St.
IJamabas. the Evangelist constantly accompanied the former in
his journoyings and missions ; and the latter h.alf of the Acts of
tlie ApoatIe8 records not only what lie heard from others, but
the events which had occurred within his own experience
while sharing St. Paul's work and dangers. Hence St. Paul
speaks of him in affectionate terms as his "fellow-labourer,"
"the beloved physician," and "the brother whose praise is
in the Gospel throughout all the churches. " He continued
his missionary labours long after the death of .St. Paul, and is
believed to have reached his rest through martyrdom, being
crucified upon an olive-tree at eighty years of age.
Introit. — The mouth of the righteous is exercised in
wisdom : and his tongue will be talking of judgement. The
Law of his God is in his heart. Pn. Fret not thyself because
of the ungodly, neither be thou envious against the evil doers.
Olory be.
SAINT SIMON AND SAINT JUDE.
[OcroRF.ii 2S.]
The festival of St. Simon and i^t. Jude appears in the Leo-
tionary of St. Jerome, but it is only in the Western Calendars
that the two Apostles are commemorated on the same day.
In the Eastern St. Simon Zolotes' festiv.al is May 10th, and St.
Jude's .Tunc litth. They appear to luave been sons of Cleojih-as,
or .'Vlph.'cns, and nephews of .lo.seph, and hence they are
called brethren of our Lord, — tlie word brethren being taken
in a wider sense among the Jews th.an with us.
Of St. Simon we have no notice in Holy Scripture beyond
an faints' Dai?.
34'
being the head Corner-Stone ; Grant us so to be
joined together in unity of spirit by their doc-
trine, that we may be made an holy temple
acceptable unto Thee ; through Jesus Christ our
LoKD. A men.
•■THE EPISTLE, S.
JUDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother
of James, to them that are sanctified by God
the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and
called : Mercy unto you, and peace, and love be
multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it
was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort
1/ou, that ye should earnestly contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who
were before of old ordained to this condemnation ;
imgodly men, turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God,
and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore
" ». g. RoiU. 8.
28-30.
ffi. Acts s. 17.
Kfman. Hpli. 4.
7-13-
t:.tstern. Jude.
Jude 1-8.
put you in remembrance, though ye once knew
this, how that the Lord, having saved the people
out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed
them that believed not. And the angels which
kept not their first estate, but left their own
habitation. He hath reserved in everlasting chains
under darkness unto the judgement of the great
day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the
cities about them in like manner giving them-
selves over to fornication, and going after strange
flesh, are .set forth for an example, .suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these
filthy dreamers defile the fle.sh, despise dominion,
and speak evil of dignities.
*THE GOSPEL S. John xv. 17-27.
THESE things I command you, that ye love
one another. If the world hate you, ye
know that it hated Jle before it hated you. If
ye were of the world, the world would love his
own : but because ye are not of the %vorld, but
I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. Remember the word that
I said unto you, The servant is not greater than
his lord : if they have persecuted Me, they will
also persecute you ; if they have kept My saying,
they will keep yours also. But all these things
will they do unto you for My Name's sake,
because they know not Him that sent Me. If
I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
' S. g. IB- R""-
an. John 15. 17.25.
Easiem. John 14.
not had sin ; but now they have no cloke for
their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father
also. If I had not done among them the works
which none other man did, they had not had sin;
but now have they both seen, and hated both
Me and My Father. But this eometh to pass,
that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law. They hated Me without a cause.
But when the Comforter is come, "Whom I will
send unto you from the Father, eveti the Spirit
of truth, Which proceedeth from the Father, He
shall testify of Me. And ye also shall bear
witness, because ye have been with Me from the
beginning.
O
ALL Saints' Day.
' Dies Omnium Sanctorum.
■'THE COLLECT.
ALMIGHTY God, Who hast knit together
Thine elect in one communion and fellow-
' *• g. ».
d A.V. 1549.
the fact tliat lie was suniamed in Hebrew the Cananite, or in
Greek Zelotes, both words signifying a zealot ; but in wh.at
sense is not apparent, unless the appellation is given him
because he wa.s one of a strict sect of Pharisees.
St. Jude, Judas, ThaddKUs, or Lebbaius, calls himself
"the brother of James," apparently to distinguish himself
from .Judas Iscariot ; and it is probably for the same reason
that these other names are put prominently forward, as on
one occasion when his name Judas is used, a parenthesis is
added, "not Iscariot." He was a married Apostle, and
Eusebius mentions two of his grandsons who were brought
before Domitian as confessors for Christ's sake [iii. 20]. St.
Jude wrote the Epistle going under his name, which is read
on this day.
St. Simon Zelotes is supposed to have ministered chiefly
in Egypt and parts of Africa adjoining. .Some early Greek
writers state that he visited Britain, and suffered martyrdom
there by crucitixion. But the more probable account is that
he was sawn asunder (a mode of martyrdom named in Heb.
xi. 37, and that by which Isaiah is believed to have suffered)
in Persia, at the same time with St. Jude, who ministered
chiefly in that country, and who was martyred by the Magi.
It may be in illustration of that unity of the faith for
which the Epistle of St. Jude so strongly contends, that these
two Apostles, ministering and suffering, are also honoured
together.
Introit. — Thj- friends are exceeding honourable unto me,
O God: greatly is their beginning strengthened. Ps. Lord,
Thou hast searched me out and known me : Thou knowest
my downsitting and mine uprising. Glory be.
ALL SAINTS.
[November 1.]
This festival is not of tlie highest antiquity. It appears to
have originated in the Western Church at Rome in the seventh
century, when the Pantheon was dedicated as a Christian
church under the name of the Church of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and all Martyrs. This is said to have taken place on
November 1st, a.d. 608, and the festival to have been kept
on that day ever since. But in the Martj-rology of the Vener-
able Bede (though not in his Calendar) there are two days
dedicated to All Saints, one on the 13th of Maj', "Dedicatio
Sanctje Mariae ad Martyres," and the other on the 1st of
November. In the Eastern Church, the festival of All the
ilartyrs is observed on the octave of Pentecost, our Trinity
.Sunday ; and this, as it appears, since the time of St. Chrj--
sostom, who has left a homily preached upon the da}'. It
may well be concluded tliat when the number of martyrs
increased so rapidly as it did in the great persecutions. Chris-
tian common-sense suggested such a feast as that of All
Saints, in addition to special days of commemoration for the
more illustrious martyrs ; and that the dedication of the
Pantheon took place on a festival already familiar to the
Church, rather than as the foundation of a new one. In the
34^
m faints' Dap.
ship, in the mystical body of Thy Son Christ
our Lord ; Grant us grace so to follow Thy
blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living,
that we may come to those unspeakable joys,
■which Thou hast prepared for them that unfeign-
edly love Thee ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
"FOE. THE EPISTLE, Kev. vii. 2- 12.
AND I saw another angel ascending from the
~l\- east, having the seal of the living God ;
and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth, and the
sea, saying. Hurt not the earth, neither the sea,
nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of
our God in their foreheads. And I heard the
number of them which were sealed ; and there
were sealed an hundred and forty and four thou-
sand, of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thou-
sand.
Of the tribe of Keuben laere sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thou-
sand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thou-
sand.
Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses tvere sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the
thousand.
tribe of Simeon
sealed twelve
an as'P. ]
J'tisurn.
Heb.ii.
Of the tribe of Levi ivere sealed twelve thou-
sand.
Of the tribe of Issachar tvere sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon icere sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph ivere sealed twelve
thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin tvere sealed twelve
thousand.
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed witli
white robes, and palms in their hands ; and cried
with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our GoD
Which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb. And all the angels stood round about
the throne, and about the elders, and the four
beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God, saying, Amen ; Blessing,
and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honour, and power, and might, he unto our God
for ever and ever. Amen.
*THE GOSPEL. S. Matt. v. 1-12.
r "TESUS,] seeing the multitudes, went up into
LU a mountain ; and when He was set. His
disciples came unto Him. And He opened His
mouth, and taught them, saying. Blessed are
the poor in spirit : for their's is the Kingdom of
Heaven. Blessed are they that mourn : for they
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek : for
they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness :
for they shall be filled. Ble.5sed are the merci-
ful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are
* S. B- m.
Kom-
an .ns P. B.
Eastern,
Mall.
lo. 32. 33.
37. 38 i
19- =7-30.
the pure in heart : for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shall be
called the children of God. Blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for
their's is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are
ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute yoii,
and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding
glad ; for great is your reward in heaven : for so
persecuted they the prophets which were before
you.
Sacramentary of St. Gregory both days have Collects, etc.,
provided for them, that in May being entitled "Natale
Sanctru Mariai ad Martyrua," and that in November, " Natale
Omnium Sanctorum," the latter having also a service provided
for its vigil.
Whatever may have been the origin of the festival, it has
become one very dear to the hearts of Christians, and is made,
both by the character of the Service for the day, and by tlie
meaning of it, one of tlie most touching of all liolydays ; a
day on wliich are gathered up the fragments (jf tlie " one
bread " of Christ's mystical Body, tliat notliing be lost of the
memory and example of His Saints. First among the "cloud
of witnesses " are they of the white-robed army of martyrs
who arc not otherwise commemor.ated, whose names are not
noted in the diptychs of the Church, but arc for ever written
in the Lamb's book of life. Next are a multitude of those
who wore called to w.ait with St. John, rather than to follow
their Master with St. Peter, but who are not less surely
numbered among the children of (Jod, and have their lot
among the saints. Among that holy company are some who
are dear to the memory of a whole Church ; good bishops and
priests, whose flocks are around them in the book of remem-
brance ; saintly men and women, whose lives have been
devoted to w'orks of love, although not ministering at the
altar ; hidden saints of God, whose holiness was known with-
in the narrowest circle on earth, but who will shine like stars
in the tirmament before the throne.
\Vhen the Church thanks God on this day for All Saints,
many an one among them should be remembered by those
who are left on earth. At the Holy Communion, and in
private devotions, their names should be used in memorial
before God ; and prayers should bo offered by those to whom
they are still dear, and with whom they are still in one fellow-
sliip, that all loved ones departed may have more .and more
of the Light, Peace, and Refreshment wliich the Presence of
Christ gives in Paradise,
Introit. — Rejoice we all in the Lord wliile wo celebrate
this day the honour of all the saints : for in them the .angels
have joy and give glory to the .Son of God. Ps. Rejoice in
the Lord, ye righteous : for it becometh well the just to lie
thankful. Glory be.
343
" From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My Name shall be great among the
Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My Name, and a Pure Offering : for My Name shall
be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts." — Malachi i. 11.
"This do in remembrance of Me." — Luke xxii. 19.
" He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." — John vi. 57.
" In the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb,
as it had been alain." — Revelation v. 6.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LITURGY.
In the ancient Church of England, as in all other branches of
the Western Church, the Celebration of the Holy Communion,
and the Office for its celebration, were designated by the com-
mon name of "Missa, " ' the true technical meaning of which
word is probably the "Offering," and which assumed the
form of "Mass" in the vernacular tongue. This name was
retained in 1549, the title of the Office in the Prayer Book of
that date being, "The Supper of the Lord, and the Holy
Communion, commonly called the JIass ; " but it was dropped
in 1552, has not since appeared in the Praj'er Book, and has
been generally disused in the Church of England as a name
either for the Office or the Kite : the latter being most fre-
quently called the Holy Comnmuion, or the Holy Eucharist,
and tlie Office being conveniently distinguished by tlie primi-
tive name of "The Liturgy." This latter word appears to
have been derived from classical Greek through the Septuagint.
AtiTovpyia originally signified the public duties, or office, of
any Xarovpycs, or public officer, and especially of those per-
sons who had to undertake the principal care and expense
of public entertainments. In the Septuagint the use of the
Avord was restricted to the public Service of the Sanctuary
viii. 22, xviii. 6 ;
1 Chron.
XXXV. 16];
[Numb. iv. 12, 26, vii. 5
ix. 13, xxvi. 30, xxviii. 13 ; 2 Chron. viii. 14
and in the New Testament it passes ou to the Christian
Divine Service, which during that age, and until the
destruction of the Jewish system, consisted almost entirely
of the celebration of the Holy Communion. [Acts xiii. 2 ;
Piom. XV. Ki ; 1 Tim. ii. 1.] In the Primitive Church,
"The Liturgy" meant both the Office and the Rite itself,
just as "JIass" did in the Mediajval Church; but in
more recent times it lias been restricted to the Office
alone."*
THE HISTORY OF THE LITURGY.
Like the rest of the Prayer Book, the English Liturgy is
an inheritance from former ages. It Mas principally translated,
in the first instance, from the Ordinarimn JUssit, and Canon
JilissiE of the Salisbury Use, which had been the chief rule of
Divine Service in the Church of England, from A.D. 1085 to
A.D. 1549, a period of nearly five hundred years. The JIass
of the Salisbury Rite (as well as of other English rites, such
as those of York, Hereford, Bangor, and Lincoln) was a
revised form of a more ancient Service, which had been in
some very sliglit degree influenced by the Roman under St.
Augustine and his successors, but wliich substantially repre-
sented the Liturgy used also in the Churches of France and
Spain : and this Liturgy was derived fi'om the great
Patriarchate of Ephesus, which was founded by the Apostle
St. Paul, and ruled by the Apostle St. John for many years
before his death.- To understand tliis independent primitive
origin of the English Liturgy, it will be necessary to trace
out shortly the course of liturgical history from the first.
'When our Blessed Lord instituted the Sacrament of the
Holy Communion, and commanded it to be perpetually
celebrated, He xised the words, "This do in remembrance of
Me," and thus imposed a certain form upon tlie Apostles
as the one wliich they were to use in its celebration, and
which would ever after be considered as essential by them,
and tlie rest of the Church, as was the form given by Christ
for Holy Baptism. This essential nucleus of the Liturgy
consisted of at least Benediction, the breaking of the Bread,
the giving of thanks, and the taking of the Cup into the
hands, as is seen from the Gospel narrative [Matt. xxvi. 22 ;
Mark xiv. 22; Luke xxii. 19J ; and also from the special
revelation made to St. Paul [1 Cor. xi. 23, 24]. ^
But as the words with which our Lord "blessed" the
elements, and with which He "gave thanks," ai'e not re-
corded, it can only be concluded that He left them to tlie
inspired memory of His Apostles ; to whom, at the proper
time, the Holy Spirit was to call all things to remembrauce
that our Lord liad taught tliem for the work wliich they had
to do. It may well have been, also, that further details
1 "Missa" is a name of great antiquity, being found in an Ki)istle of Kt.
Ambrose to liis sLster Marcelliiia. [Ambr. Op, ii. 853. Bened. ed.] Many
explanations of tlio word liavc been given, but that of Cardinal Bona seems
the most reasonable, viz. that it is derived from the words " lie missa est,"
with which the congrcf^ation is dismissed by tlic deacon at tlic conclusion
of tlie service, and which are equivalent to tlie "Let us depart in peace"
of the Eastein Liturgies. That tlic term comes from " mittendo " is equally
clear, and as early as Micrologus we find the explanation, "In fcstivis
diebuB, Ite missa est, dicitiir, qnia tunc gcnoralis conventus celebrari solet.
qui per Imjusmodi dcnuntiationem licentiam disccndi accipcre solet."
(xlvi.I St. Thomas Aquinas explains Ibe word ns meaning that the
sacrifice of the Holy Encharist has been sent u]) to God by the niinistni-
tlon of angels (iil. qn. 83. art, iv ]: and as t»ii/ti, "rfo this," is well known
tij have a technical association with sm-rillce, so doubtless has "missa."
The following iinniea were given to the Holy Eucharist in the caily ages
of the Churcii : CoUecta, Dninlnicum, Agenda, Communio, Oblatio,
Q^eonomia, Atircvpyiet, M rrayuyiot, J£uAej'/a, 2y»«{/f, T|A|T»;, Tlfierfcpai.
(Bona, Ri-r. lAUinj. L iii. 2.]
2 Hfi ]ip. 1, 2 of the Historical Introduction.
* For evidence of a tnditionary Divine worship in the Ajiostolic age, «<
Ann. liihU, New Testament, p. 432. For similar evidence respecting an early
Liturgy, tec the same work, pp. 430, 435-437, 443, llj, 458, Sl.l, 527, 632.
respecting the celebration of this priucijial rite of the Church
were among those "things pertaining to the kingdom of
God " w liich our Lord communicated to the Apostles during
the forty days between His Resurrection and Ascension.
There is, however, no strong evidence that the Apostles
adopted, or handed down, one uniform sj'stem of celebrating
the Holy Communion, except in respect to these central
features of the rite. Proclus, Patriarch of Constantinople
iu tlie fifth century, asserts that the Apostles arranged a
Liturgy before tliey parted for their several fields of labour
[sfe Bona, Bcr. Lilurg. I. v. 3], and a passage from a Homily
of St. Chrysostom {Ad Cor. xxvii. 7], in vhich he says,
"Consider, when the Apostles partook of that holy supper,
what they did ? Did they not lietake themselves to prayers
and hymns ? " has been sujiposed to signify the same settled
character of the Liturgy which they used. On the other
hand, St. Gregory appears to say [Ep. Ixiii.] that the Apostles
used only tlie Lord's Prayer in consecrating the holy obla-
tion ; and although it is certain his words must net be taken
strictly, tliey may be considered to shew that the Apustolic
form of Liturgy was not originally a long one. Bona considers
that the diversity in the evidence may be reconciled by
supposing that the Apostles used a short form (containing
only the essential part of the rite), when danger or other
urgent circumstances gave them time for no more ; and that
when time permitted they used a longer form ; although even
this longer form he believes must have been short, compared
with the Liturgies afterwards used, on account of the diffi-
culties which Christians experienced in celebrating Divine
Service during the age of persecutions. Several early liturgical
commentators allege that the developement of tlie Liturgy
was gradual : and the truth seems to be expressed by one of
them when he says that the Lord Himself instituted the rite
in the simple maimer narrated in the Gospel, that the Apostles
added some things to it (as, for example, the Lord's I^rayer),
and that tlien scune of their successors ajipointed Epistles
and Gospels to be read ; others, hymns to be sung ; and
others, again, made sucli additions to the Liturgy from time
to time as they considered suitable for contributing to the
glory of Goil in the holy Sacrament.'* The Gospels and
Epistles were certainly not written until a Liturgy had been
in use for many years, in some form.
The ancient Liturgies which remain shew, nevertheless,
so much general agreement as to bring conviction to the
mind that they were all of tlieni originally derived from some
coiiinion source ; and the same kind of syntliGtic criticism
which traces b.ack all known languages to tliree original
forms of speech can also trace b.ack tlic multitude of dillcring
Liturgies which are useil by the various Cluirches of East and
West to a few — that is to say, four or five — normal types,
all of which have certain strong features of agreement with
each other, pointing to n derivation from the same liturgical
4 Inexact writers sometimes designate tlie whole of the Olllces used in
Divine Service by tlie name of " The Liturgy," l»nt it is niueh more proper,
as well as convenient, to limit the use of tlie word as above.
8 Gemma AnUn(K, 1. 80. Wai.afrid. Straho dc Rebus Kcdis. xxii.
an :jntcoDuction to tbe iLiturgy.
345
fouutain. Tiiat there is any difference at all in tliese may
be attributed probably to three causes : [I] That the ApostliM
did not limit themselves or others solely to the use of the,
central and essential portion of the rite ; and that while this
was substantially kept uniform by them all, each added such
prayers as he saw lit. [-] 'J'liat Liturgies were, to a certain
extent, adapted to tlie circumstances of the various nations
among whom they were to be used, liy snch changes in the
non-essential portions, and such additions, as appeared desir-
able to the Patriarch or Bishop. [3] 'i'hat as Liturgies were
not committed to writing until the end of tlie second century,'
diversities of e.xpression, and even greater changes, winUd
naturally arise, among the variety of whicli it would be im-
possible to recover the exact original, and therefore to estal)-
lish an authoritative uniformity.
It may be added that the lawfulness of an authorized
diversity in non-essential rites, when combined with an
orthodox uniformity in those which are essential, has ahvajs
been recognized by the Catholic Church ;'- and that tliis
principle is stated in the 34th Ai'ticle of Religion of the
Church of England.
Of the many Liturgies which are very ancient there are
several wliich undoubtedly belong to the primitive age of
Christianity, and from these all others that are known (as
has been already said) have evidently branched off. They
are the Liturgies which go by the names of St. James, .St.
Mark, St. Peter, and St. John ; the first was the Liturgy of
Jerusalem, the second of Alexandria, the third of Home, and
the fourth of Ephesus.^
The Liturgy of St. James, or of Jerusalem, was that used
in Palestine and Mesopotamia, the dioceses of both which
countries were included within the Patriarchate of Antioch.
A singular proof of its primitive antiquity is found in the
fact that the Monophysite heretics, who now occupy all these
dioceses, use a Syriac Liturgy which thfey attribute to St.
James, and which is nearly identical with that attributed to
him by the orthodox, between whom and the Monophysites
there has been no intercommunion smce the Council of
Chalcedon, which was held .\.D. 451. Such a coincidence
goes far to prove that this Liturgy is at least fourteen cen-
turies old, and also offers some evidence tliat it was the one
in use by the Churches of the Patriarchate of Antioch before
the great division which arose out of tlie Eutychian heresy.
The Liturgy of St. James is also mentioned in the 3-ud
Canon of the Constantinopolitan Council held in Trullo, A. D.
692 ; and traces of it are to be found in the writings of
Fathers who lived or had lived within the Patriarchate of
Antioch, and may thus be supposed to have been familiar
with its words. Among such are Theodoret, St. Jerome,
St. Clirysostom (once a priest of Antioch), and St. Cyril,
Bishop of Jerusalem, two of whose Catechetical Lectures
(preached in the latter half of the fourth century) are ex-
pressly on the subject of the Holy Eucharist, and describe
the Service minutely. In the Apostolical Constitutions,
written in the third century, there is a Liturgy, or synopsis
of one, which has been called by the name of St. Clement,
but appears to be that of St. James ; and with tbe latter also
agrees the description of the celebration of the Eucharist
which is given by Justin Martyr, who was a native of Samaria
(within tlie Patriarchate of Antioch), and died about sixty
years only after St. John.'' From this evidence it appears
almost certain that the Liturgy of St. James which is used
by the Monophysites, and that which is used on the Feast of
St. James by the orthodox Church of Jerusalem, are versions
of the primitive Liturgy which was used for the celebiation
1 This rule was observed from feelings founded on our Lord's words,
"Give not tli-it which is lioly unto tlie dogs, neither cast ye your pearls
before swine." [M.att. vii. 6.] For the same reason great reserve was used
in speaking and writing on the subject of the Holy Eucharist, and hence
little can be learned from the Fatliers of the first three centuries about the
mode iu which it was celebrated.
~ See, e.g., St. Gkegory's Epistle to St. Altfjvstlne, p. 2 of the Historical
Introduction.
3 To these Neale adds that of St. Thaddeus, used in Persia, and also
called the " Liturgy of the East."
* Justin M.artyr describes the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, about
A.D. 140, in the following terms : " Upon the day called Sunday we have
an assembly of all who live in the towns or in the country, who meet in an
appointed place ; and the records of the Apostles, or the writings of the
Apostles, are read, according as the time will permit. When the reader has
ended, then the Bishop [i ^paitrrui] admonishes and exhorts us in a dis-
course that we should imitate such good examples After that we all stand
up and pray, and, as we said before, when that prayer is ended bread is
olfered, and wine and water. Then the Bishop also, according to the
authority given him [oirri 5tlva/*ij au-rai], sends up [oovaTt>T£j, comp. missa cs/j
prayers and thanksgivings ; and the people end the prayer with him, saying.
Amen. After which, distriljution is made of the consecrated elements,
which are also sent by the hands of the deacons to those who are absent."
[Ju-STiN Mart., Apol.]
of the Holy Communion in .Judioa and the surrounding
countries in the age which immediately followed that of the
jVpostles. From it St. Lasil's Liturgy was derived, and from
St. Basil's that of St. Clirysostom, wliich is the one used at
the present day in the Eastern Church, and in Russia.
The Lituri/i/ of St. Mark, or of Akxandr'm, is known to
have been used by the orthodox Churches of North-eastern
Africa down to the twelfth century, and is still used in
several forms by the Monophysites, who supplanted them.
The most authentic form of it is that entitled " The Liturgy
of Mark which Cyril perfected," and which is extant in the
Coptic, or vernacular language of Egypt, as well as in Greek,
in MSS. of very ancient date. This Liturgy is traceable, by
a chain of evidence similar to that mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, to the second century, to which date it is assigned
by Bunsen.'' Palmer says respecting it, "We can ascertain
with considerable certainty the words and expressions of the
Alexandrian Liturgy before the Council of Chalcedon, A.D.
4.51 ; and we can trace back its substance and order to a
period of far greater antiquity. In fact, there is nothing un-
reasonable in supposing that the main order and substance of
the .Alexandrian Liturgy, as used in the fifth century, may have
been as old as the Apostolic age, and derived originally from
the instructions and appointment of the blessed Evangelist."*
The Liluriji/ of St. Peter, or of Rome, is found, substantially
as it is used iu the Latin Church at the present day, in the
Sacramentaries of St. Gregory [a. D. 590], Gelasius [a.u. 491],
and St. Leo [a.d. 4,'>3], although many additions have been
made to it in later times. The Roman Liturgy is attributed
to St. Peter by ancient liturgical commentators, who founded
their opinion cliictly upon a passage in an Epistle of Innocent,
Bisliop of Rome in the fifth century, to Decentius, Bishop of
Eugubium.'' But no doubt St. Innocent refers to tlie " Canon
of the Mass " (as it has been called in later ages), that part of
the Office which begins with the actual consecration of the
Sacrament. There seems no reason to believe that this con-
fident opinion of so eminent a Bishop in the fifth century was
otherwise than correct ; and like the preceding Liturgies,
that of Rome may reasonably be assigned to the age succeed-
ing the Apostles. St. Gregory revised the variable parts of
this Liturgy, the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels ; but the
only change which he made in the Ordinary and the Canon
was by that addition of a few words which is noticed by the
Venerable Bede. [.SVfp. 192, note. ] From the Roman Liturgy
in its primitive form were derived that used by the Churches
of North-western Africa, and the famous Ambrosian Ritewhich
is used in the Church of Milan. Since the time of St. Gregory
this Liturgy has been used over a large part of the Western
Church, and is now the only one allowed by the See of Rome.
The Zitimj!/ of St. John, or of St. Paul, i.e. the Ejihesine
Liturgy, was the original of that which was used, probably
in three various forms, in Spain, France, and England during
the earlier ages of Christianity, and the only one besides the
Roman which obtained a footing in the Western Church.
This appears to have been disused in the dioceses of which
Ephesus was the centre, at the time of the Council of
Laodicea in Phrygia some time in the fourth century : the
nineteenth Canon of that Council giving such directions
respecting the celebration of the Holy Communion as shew-
that it substituted the Liturgy of St. Basil and St Chrysos-
toni, which is still used iu those dioceses. But, at a much
earlier date, missionaries had gone forth from the Church of
Ephesus, and had planted the standard of Christianity at
Lyons, that city thus becoming the great centre from which
the Church sjiread itself throughout France ; and as late as
.\.D. 177, the Christians of Lyons wrote to the Churches of
Asia respecting the martyrdoms which had occurred in that
city as to those who represented their mother Church, and
had therefore a special sympathy with them. The primitive
Liturgy of Ephesus thus became that of France, and, probably
by the missionary work of the same apostolic men, of Spain
also. This Liturgy continued to be used in the French
Church until the time of Charlemagne [a.d. 742 — S14]. It had
received such additions from the hands of JIuskus, Sidonius,
and St. Hilary of Poictiers, as St. Gregory had made to the
Roman rite, but these additions or alterations did not afl'ect
5 Analecta Ante-Nicwna, iii. 106. ^ Origin. Liturg. i. 105.
7 " Si instituta ecclesiastica, ut sunt a beatis apostolis tradita, integra
vcllent servare Domini sacerdotes. nulla diversitas, nulla varietas in ipsis
nrdinibus et consecrationibus haberetur— quis enim nesciat, aut non adver-
tat, id quod a pvincipe apostolorum Petro Romance Ecclesia traditum
est . . . ?" [Labbk, Coftc(7. ii. 1245.] Cardinal Bona remarks on a similar
p.assage from Ut. Isidore's writings. '* Hoc de re et substantia, noii de ver-
borum tenore et coerenioniis intelligendum est." [Bona, I^cr. Liturg. I,
vii. 6.]
346
an JntroDiiction to rf)C iLiturgp.
the body of the Liturgy, consisting, as they did, of Introits,
Collects, and other portions of the Service belonging to that
which precedes the Ordinary and Canon.
The Gallican Liturgy was partly supplanted by the Roman
in the time of Pepin, who introduced the Roman chant and
psalmody into the Cliurclies of France ; and it was altogether
superseded by Charlemagne, who obtained the Sacrainentary
of St. Gregory from Rome, and issued an edict that all priests
should celebrate the Holy Sacrament only in tlie Roman
manner. In Spain the same Liturgy had been used in a fonn
called the Jlozarabic ; but by the influence of Pope Gregory
VII , Alphonso VI., King of Castille and Leon, was per-
suaded to do as Charlemagne had done in France, to abolish
the use of the national rite and substitute that of the Roman
Church. It was thus wholly discontinued until the beginning
of the sixteenth century, when Cardinal Ximenes endowed
a college and chapel for the use of it at Toledo, and there it
still continues to be used.
The early connection between the Church of France and
the Church of England was so close that there can be no
reasonable doubt of the same Liturgy having been originally
used in both countries. When St. Augustine came to
England in A. D, 596, expecting to find it an altogether heathen
land, he discovered that there was an ancient and regularly-
organized Church, and that its usages were different in many
particulars from those of any Church witli which he had been
previously acquainted. [See p. 1.] By the advice of St.
Gregory he introduced some changes into the Liturgy whicli
he found in use ; the changes coming, not directly from the
Roman Sacramentary of St. CJregory, but "from a sister rite.
formed in the south of France by the joint action, probably,
of St. Leo and Cassian, about two hundred years before
[.v.D. 420] ; having a common basis, indeed, with the Roman
Office, but strongly tinctured with Gallican cliaracteristics
derived long ago from the East, and probably enriched, at
the time, by fresh importations of Oriental usages. "- Thus
the Liturgy of the Church of England after St. Augustine's
time became a modified form of the more ancient Gallican,
which itself was originally the Liturgy of the Church of
Ephesus, owing its germ to St. Paul or St. John. The English
Church of St. Augustine's day, and long after, distinctly
averred that its customs were derived from the latter Apostle ;
but in many particulars the work of St. John and St. Paul
appears to have traversed the same ground, as it certainly
did in the Church of Ephesus, and probably did in the Church
of England.
The Liturgy thus derived from the ancient GaUican, and
the more recent version of it which had been introduced by
Cassian, was again revised by St. Osnmnd, Bishop of Salis-
bury, in A.D. 1085 ; and it was the same Liturgy which also
formed the basis of the other slightly varying Offices that were
used in difl'erent dioceses of England, and have come down
to us by the names of these dioceses. The Salisbury Liturgy
eventually supplanted all the others which were used by the
Church of England, and became the principal basis of the verna-
cular Liturgj' which has now been used for more than three
hundred years in all the churches of the Anglican communion.'
The historical particulars thus given respecting the con-
nection between ancient and modern Liturgies may be con-
veniently reduced into one general view by a tabular form : —
§ Table shewing the Origin of the x>i-incipal Liturgies used throughout the Church.
OUK LORD'.S WORDS OF INSTITUTION.
I
An uuknown Apostolic Nucleus
of a Liturgy.
I
Liturgy of St. James, Autioch,
or Jenisalem.
I
I
Liturgy of St. Basil.
Liturgy of St.
Chrysostoni.
Syriac Liturgy of
St. James.
I
[Monopbysite
Liturgies.]
I
Liturgy of St. Mark,
or Alexandria.
Present Liturgy of
JEgypt.
I
Liturgy of St. Peter,
or Rome.
I
I I
Ambrosian Liturgj-. Saeramentarj-
I of St. Li'O.
Present Liturgy of
Diocese of Milan.
Present Liturgy of
Oriental and Russian
Church.
§ Structure of Vrimitire Liturgies.
In all the primitive Liturgies there is a consistency of
structure «hich shews that they were based on one common
model, or else on certain fixed principles. They consist of
two principal portions, the Pro-Anaphora and Anajihora.
The Anaphora, or Oblation, is represented in the Latin
Liturgies by the Canon of the Mass, and in our English Office
by the part wliich begins with the verside, "Lift up your
liearts." The Pro-Anaphora is represented by the Onlinary
of the Mass, which is all that goes before the Sursum Corda.
The general structure of eacli of tlicse portions of the Liturgy
is as follows, the respective portions of the several parts vary-
ing, however, in different Liturgies : ' —
The Pro- Anaphora.
The Prefatory Prayer.
The Introit [known by various names].
The Little Entrance, or bringing the book of the Gospels
in procession to the Altar.
' For further fletalls the reader may conveniently consull Kkale's
Introduction to th« }iintor)i of the, Ifoly ICnstern Church, l.S.'jn; Hammosd's
Litvr^lti, En.'tcm nnit Wr.ttrrn, 1878 ; and Maskeli.')) Ancitnt Liturgy of the
Church 0/ Ktirjlaml, 3rd ed. 1882.
Sacramentary
of Gelasius.
I
Sacramentary
of St. Gregory.
I
Liturgy of St. John, St. Paul,
or Ephesus.
Liturgy of Lyons.
i '— i 1
Mozarabic, or Liturgy of Liturgy of
Spanish Britain. Tours.
Liturgy. j j
Present Liturgy of
Church of Rome.
Augustine's revised
Liturgy of Britain.
I
Salisbury, York, and other
Missals of English Church.
I
Present Liturgy of the
English Church.
I
I
Liturgy of Scottish
Church.
1
Liturgy of
American
Church.
The Trisagion.
The Epistle and Gospel.
The Prayers after the Ciospel [after these prayers the
Catechumens left the Church, and only "the faithful" or
baptized and confirmed persons remained].
The Great Entrance, or bringing the prepared Elements
in procession to the Altar.
The Offertory.
The Kiss f Peace.
Tlie Creed.
T/ie Anaphora.
The Triumphal Hymn [Tersanctus] with its Preface.
These come in between two portions of a long prayer, called
the Prayer of tlic Triumphal Hymn.
Commemoration of the Institution.
The Words of Institution.
Oblation of the Consecrated Elements.
Prayer for the Descent of the Holy Gliost.
' Freeman's Prindplrs of Divine, Service, II. ii. 405.
' The Roman Liturgy was never used by the Church of England :
and It was not generally adopted by the Unglish .sect of Romanists
until enfcireed through the influence of the Jesuits about tlie middle of
the eighteenth century.
9n :jntroDuction to tfje liturgp.
347
Prayer for the Traiisinutatiou of tlic Elements.
Prayer for the living and the departed.
The Lord's Prayer, preceded by a prayer of preparati(
and followed by the Knibolisnuia.
Adoration, with an appointed prayer.
Elevation.
Union of the two Consecrated Elements.
Prayer of humble access.
Communion.
Thanksgiving.
Without going into very great detail it is impossible
to
shew the elaborate character of the ceremonial, and of the
responsive part of the primitive Liturgies. These details may
all be found in the original languages, and also in Dr. Neale's
translation of the Primitive Liturgies ; and it is sutficient
here to say that the early Christians appear to have liad no
thought of wliat is called "simplicity" in JJivine Worship,
their Liturgies exhibiting a complicated structure, much
ceremony, and an elaborate symbolism. All of them agree
in the above general characteristics, but there are variations
in the order of the ilifferent parts, the chief of which arc
represented in the following table : —
§ Tabk shewing the Order in which the principal features of the Primitive Liturgies occur
St. James [Jerusalem].
St. Mark [Alexandhia],
St. Peter [Rome].
St. John CEphescs].
1. Kiss of Peace.
2. Lift up your hearts.
3. Tersanctus.
4. Coramemomtion of Institution.
5. The ObL-ition.
6. Prayer for descent of the Holy
Ghost.
7. Prayer fur the living.
8. Prayer for the departcil.
9. The Lord's Prayer.
10. Union of the Consecrated Ele-
ments.
11. Communion.
12. Thanksgiving.
1. Kiss of Peace.
2. Lift up your hearts.
7. Prayer for the living.
8. Prayer for the dcparteil.
3. Ters.anctus.
4. Commemoration of In.stitntion.
0. The Oblation.
6. Prayer for descent of tlie H(.ly
Ghost.
10. Union of the Consecrated Ele-
ments.
0. The Lord's Prayer.
11. Communion.
12. Thanksgiving,
2. Lift up your hearts.
8. Tersanctus.
7. Prayer for the living.
C. Prayer for descent of the Holy
Ghost.
4. Commemoratiou of Institution.
5. The Oblation.
8. Prayer for the departed.
10. Union of the Consecrated Ele-
ments.
9. The Lord's Prayer.
1. Kiss of Peace.
11. Communion.
12. Thanksgiving.
7. Prayer for the living.
8. Prayer for the departed.
1. Kiss of Peace.
2. Lift up your hearts.
3. Tersanctus.
4. Commemoration of Institution.
5. The Oblation.
6. Prayer for descent of the Holy
Ghost.
10. Union of the Consecrated Ele-
ments.
9. Tlie Lord's Prayer.
11. Conuunnion.
12. Thanksgiving.
It will be seen at once that the order of St. John, or the
Ephesine Liturgy, is that which is most closely represented
by our own Communion Otiice. The saine correspondence
between the two may also be traced in several particulars
in which the Liturgy of St. John differs from the other two
Eastern Liturgies ; especially in the provision of varying
collects, and proper prefaces, and in the use of the versicle,
" Glory be to Thee, Lord," before the Gospel.
The Liturgy of St. John was handed down (as has been
already stated) through the French Churcli, to which it was
conveyed from Ephesus by missionaries, at a period very near
to that of the Apostles themselves. The Gallican Liturgy itself
is thus described by Palmer : " Germanus informs us that the
Liturgy began with an Anthem, followed by Gloria Patrl,
after which the Deacon proclaimed silence ; and a mutual
salutation having passed between the priest and jjeople, the
hymn Trisagios, in imitation of the Greek rite, was sung, and
was followed by Kyrie eleeson, and the song of Zacharias the
prophet beginning Bvnedictns, after which the priest read
a collect entitled Post prophetiam, in the Gallican missals.
The office so far, though ancient, cannot be traced to the
most primitive ages of the Gallican Church, as doubtless the
Liturgy originally began with the lessons from Holy Scripture,
which I now proceed to consider.
" A lesson from the prophets or Old Testament was first
read, then one from the Epistles, which was succeeded by the
hymn of the three children, Benedlcite, and the Holy Gospel.
In later times the book of the Gospels was carried in pro-
cession to the pulpit by the Deacon, who was accompanied
by seven men bearing lighted tapers, and the choir sung
Anthems before and after the Gospel. After the Gospel was
ended, the Priest or Bishop preached, and the Deacon made
prayers for the people (probably in imitation of the Greek
Liturgies, where a litany of the kind occurs after the Gospel),
and the Priest recited a collect Post precem.
" Then the Deacon proclaimed to the catechumens to
depart, but whether any previous prayers were made for them
seems doubtful. Germanus speaks of its being an ancient
custom of the Church to pray for catechumens in this place,
but his words do not absolutely prove that there were
particular prayers for them in the Gallican Church, and no
other author refers to the custom, as far as I am aware. The
catechumens, and those under penitential discipline, having
been dismissed, silence was again enjoined, and an address
to the people on the subject of the day, and entitled Pnr-
fatio, was recited by the Priest, who then repeated another
prayer. The oblations of the people were next received,
while the choir sang an offertory anthem, termed sonum by
Germanus. The elements were placed on the holy table,
and covered with a large and close veil or pall, and in
later times the Priest here invoked the blessing of God on
the gifts.
"Then the tablets called dipiychs, containing the names of
the living and departed saints, were recited, and the Priest
made a collect, 'post nomina.' Then followed the salutation
and kiss of peace ; after which the Priest read the collect,
'ad pacem.' The mystical liturgy now commenced, corre-
sponding to the Eastern 'prosphora,' or 'anaphora, ' and the
Itoman preface and canon. It began with the form ' sursum
corda, ' etc., and then followed the preface, or thanksgiving,
called ' coutestatio,' or ' immolatio,' in which God's benefits to
the human race were variously commemorated ; and at the
proper place the people all joined in singing the hymn Ter-
sanc'tHS.
"The thanksgiving then continued in the form called 'post
sanctus,' which terminated with the commemoration of our
Saviour's deed and words at the institution of this sacrament.
Afterwards the Priest recited a collect entitled ' post mys-
terium,' or 'post secreta,' jjrobably because the above com-
memoration was not committed to writing, on account of its
being esteemed to have great efficacy in the consecration.
The collect, 'post mysterium,' often contained a verbal obla-
tion of the bread and wine, and an invocation of God to send
His Holy Spirit to sanctify them into the sacraments of
Christ's body and blood. After this the bread was broken,
and the Lord's Prayer repeated by the Priest and people,
being introduced and concluded with appropriate prayers,
made by the Priest alone.
"The Priest or Bishop then blessed the people, to which
they answered, Amen. Communion afterwards took place,
during which a psalm or anthem was sung. The Priest
repeated a collect of thanksgiving, and the service terminated. "
[P.\lmer's Orig. Lilurg. i. 158.]
It was on this rite that the Eucharistic customs of the
Church of England were founded, although they were plainly
revised and altered at several periods, and in several dioceses ;
as, for example, by St. Augustine in the seventh century, and
St. Osmund in the eleventh.
§ The Mcdiceval Liturgi/ of the Church of England.
As, in the early Church throughout the world, there were
various forms of the Liturgy, all having a substantial unity,
so while England was divided into several distinct districts,
by dialect and civil government, the form of Liturgy which
was used in various parts of the country was affected by local
circumstances ; especially as each diocese had the right of
adopting (within certain limits) its own particular customs,
or "use," in Divine Service imtil the sixteenth century.
Soon after the Conquest, however, about the year 10S5,
a great liturgical successor of St. Gregory arose in the person
of Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, of whom we know little
beyond the fact that he revised the Breviary and Missal, and
brought both into a form which commended itself to a large
portion of the Church of England, and even to some foreign
dioceses. There were, indeed, independent Breviaries and
Missals of York, Hereford, Lincolii, and perhaps other
348
an 3introDuction to tbc liturgy.
churches ; but those of Salibbury were tlie most generally
used throughout the southern counties, and besides gradually
becoming the standard books of English use, were generally
adopted in Scotland from the time, it is said, nf Edward I.
In 1541-42 the Jlissal as well as other books of the use
of Sarum were formally adopted for the whole pi-ovince
of Canterbury by an act of Convocation. Notwithstanding
the variations that had so long existed in tlie ritual customs
of different districts and dioceses, it must not be supposed
that these variations extended to any essuntial matters. On
the contrary, there was a distinct generic identity, whicli
shewed that all were, in reality, local forms of one great
national rite, that rite itself being a branch of one great
Catholic system ; and this was especially the case with the
Communion Office or Liturgy.
The substance of the Salisbury Liturgy is given in the
Appendix to this Introduction, but it is necessary to give
some account of it here to shew the manner in which the
Church of England celebrated the Holy Communion from A.ii.
1080 to A.D. 1.540. Many further illustrations of it, and of
the other English uses, as well as of the connection between
them and our present Communion Office, will be found in the
subsequent notes.
The iledia;val Liturgy of the Church of England was made
up, like all others, of the two great divisions which are called
in the Eastern Church the Pro-Anaphora and the Anaphora,
and in the Western Church, tlie Ordinarium and the Canon ;
the former part ending with the Sanctus, the latter part
beginning with the Prayer of Consecration and Oblation.
The first portion of the Ordinary consisted of the hymn
" Veni Creator ; " the Collect, " Almighty God, to Whom all
hearts be open ; " the forty-third Psalm, "Give sentence witli
me, God ; " the lesser Litany and the Lord's Prayer, all of
which were said in the vestry while the Celebrant was put-
ting on his albe, chasuble, etc. The public part of the service
began with the "Officium," or Inti'oit, of which many
examples are given in the notes to the Epistles and Gosijels,
and which was sung [in the manner described at p. 247] while
the Celebrant and liis ministers were going from the vestry
to the altar. After this followed the Confession and Absolu-
tion, said as at Prime and Compline, and as described in a
note at p. 184, tlie Gospeller and Epistoler taking part witli
the choir in the alternate form used. This mutual confession
of unworthiness was sealed with a kiss of peace given by the
Celebrant to the Deacon and Sub-deacon,' and burning incense
having been waved before the altar by the former, tlie
Gloria in Excelsis was sung (except at certain seasons) as
the solemn commencement of the rite. The Mutual Saluta-
tion [sec p. 199] was then said, and after that the Collect of
the Day, the Epistle and Gospel, and the Nicene Creed. The
Gospel was preceded by a procession with singing [the
Gradale], somewhat similar to the "little entrance" of the
Eastern Church [p. 346], and was generally read (in large
churches) from the "Jube" or "pulpit," a desk placed
between the cross and the ■ihancel wall on the rood-loft.
The Nicene Creed was followed by the Offertory, the solemn
Oblation of the Elements, short supplications tliat the sacrifice
might be acceptable to God for the living and the departed,
and certain private prayers of the Celebrant, with which the
first part of the service, or Ordinarium, may be said to have
ended.
The Canon of the Mass was introduced by the Apostolic
versicles, the Proper Preface, and the Tersanctus, which we
still use in the same place ; and then followed a long prayer,
interspersed with many ceremonies, but substantially
equivalent to the "Prayer for the Church Militant," the
" Consecration Prayer," and the first " Thanksgiving Prayer "
of our modern English Liturgy. This will be found given at
length in the Ajipendix to the Communion Office.
The Prayer of Consecration was not immediately followed
by the Participation, as in our moilern Liturgy, but there was
a considerable interval, as in tlie Primitive Liturgies, which
was filled up with otlier prayers. First came the Lord's
Prayer, preceded by a short preface, and followed by a prayer
for deliverance from all evil, analogous to the Embolismus of
the Eastern Church [p. 185]. Then came the Agnus Dei, sung
thrice, in the same manner as it is sung twice in the modern
Litany. After the Agnus Dei followed the ceremony of tlic
commixture of the consecrated elements, by placing a portion
of the wafer into the chalice, in symbolical signification of the
union of natures in our Lord. The Kiss of Peace was then
1 Thin is peculiar to the Sarum rlt«, not being found In any oilier Liturgy
In this part "f the aetrice.
jjassed round from the Celebrant by means of his ministers
(the Deacon and Sub-deacon, or Epistoler and Gospeller),
some private prayers were said by the Celebrant, and after-
wards the Prayer of Humble Access.
Here came in the Communion, first of the Celebrant, and
then of the other Clergy and of the people, that of the latter
being preceded by an exhortation ; and, with the exception
of a Thanksgiving Prayer and a Post-Communion Collect,
this substantially completed the service.
There were, however, some subsequent ceremonies, such
as the ablution of the sacred vessels, and of the Celebrants'
hands, wdiich are left to tradition and individual devotion in
our modern English rite, but which were provided for with
minute exactness in the ancient one. During these cere-
monies the congregation still remained, and after their con-
clusion were dismissed by the Deacon saying, Benedicamus
JJomino, or, /ie, missa fsf, according to the season.
There is no reason to think that this mode of celebrating the
Holy Communion underwent any great changes from the time
of St. Osmund until 1549; and indeed it was probably very
much the same as had been used in the Church of England
even before the time of St. Osmund. Many ceremonies were
doubtless introduced during the Middle Ages, and some had
probably been added by St. Osmund himself ; but these cere-
monies affected the Rubrics rather than the substance of the
Liturgy, and the Ordinary and Canon were otherwise in the
same condition in the sixteenth century that they had been in
the eleventh. It must, however, be remembered that numerous
additions were made to the varialile parts of the JSIissal [p. 241],
special Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, etc., being appointed
for particular days and occasions ; and it was in these additions
that the Reformers found so much which they regarded as
inexpedient or superstitious. What the great French liturgical
scholar, Gueranger, says respecting the JISS. of the Roman
Liturgy was doubtless true, to some extent, of the English,
that they had come to be "loaded with gross and even super-
stitious additions, consisting cliieHy of apocryphal histories,
unknown and even rejected in the eaidy ages, but which had
been afterwards introduced into the Lessons and Anthems, and
in votive Masses (which had become superstitiously numerous),
barbarous forms, and furtively introduced Benedictions." But
these abuses were far more common in the southern countries
of Europe than in England ; and the most conspicuous inno-
vations connected with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist
in our own Cliurch were [1] the withdrawal ol the Cup from
the Laity, and [2] the rare communion of the Laity under any
circumstances except at the approach of death.
In respect to the first, it is sufficient to say that although
the Eucharist appears to have been always sent to the sick
under the form of one element only until 1549, the Laity were
certainly accustomed to partake of it in both kinds at church
until the twelfth century. Even so late as A.D. 1175 the Con-
vocation of Canterbury forbade the introduction of the novel
custom, and it is probable that it did not become common in
England until its adoption was ordered by the Council of Con-
stance in 1415. There is no recognition whatever of the
administration in one kind in the Liturgy itself, though in an
Exhortation used before the Communion of the Laity it is
distinctly referred to.
The second custom arose out of that inattention to the
avaXoyla of doctrine which so often leads men to error
in practice. The Holy Eucharist being both a Sacrifice
and a Sacrament, theologians of the Middle Ages were so
intent upon the duty and necessity of the first that they over-
looked the duty and necessity of the second ; and while the
Mass was offered daily in most, if not in all, churches, and
in some many times in the day, few except the Clergy ever
partook of it more than once or twice in the year, consider-
ing that it was sutricient for them to be present while it was
being offered.
Put this too was an innovation that had found its way into
practice without finding any recognition in the Liturgy. Nor
can it be said tliat there was .anything in tlie .-vuthorized forms
for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist which could have
originally given rise, or encouragement, to cither practice.
§ The lie/ormcd Liturgy of the Chxtrch of England.
The general steps which were taken towards a recou-
struction of all the Offices used in Divine Service, and their
translation into Engl).sh, have been traced out in the
Historical Introduction, pp. 7-13, and need not be repeated
in treating particularly of the Liturgy. Suffice it to say
that the alistinence of the Laity from Communion appeared
an 3ntroriuction to ttje ILiturgp.
349
so great and pressing an evil to the Keformers that they ajiled
on an English Office for the Communion of the Laity iu both
kinds to the ancient Salisbury Liturgy, even before tliey had
finished tlie preparation of the Prayer Booli.'
The general consideration of tlio Theology of the Sacra-
ments had been committed by Henry VIIL to a Commission
of Divines in 1540, and the revision of the Services had also
been undertaken about the same time. In 154(), shortly
before his death, "the King commanded " Archbishop Cran-
mer "to pen a form for the alteration of the Mass into a Com-
munion.'"- On November 30, 1547, the Prolocutor of tlie
Lower House of Convocation "exhibited, and caused to be
read publicly, a form of a certain ordinance, delivered by
the Most Reverend the Arclibisliop of Canterbury, for the
receiving of the body of our Lord under both kinds, viz. of
bread and wine. To which he himself sul)scril)ed, and some
others, etc."^ This "form of a certain ordinance" was
embodied in an Act of Parliament [1 Edward VL cap. i. ]
which received the Assent of both Houses on December 20,
1547 ; but for some time no Liturgical formulary was issued,
and the Clergy obeyed the law by adopting their own mode
of administration. But on March 8, 1548, an "Order of
Communion " was put forth under a Proclamation by the
Crown in Council.^ This proclamation ordered that " the
most blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour
Clirist should from thenceforth be commonly delivered and
ministered unto all persons witliin our realm of England and
Ireland, and other of our dominions, under both kinds, that
is to say, of bread and wine (except necessity otherwise
require), lest every man phantasying and devising a sundry
way by himself, in the use of this most blessed Sacrament of
unity, there might arise any unseemly and ungodly diversity."
The " Order of Communion," thus authorized,^ and the
substance of which is printed in the Appendix to this Intro-
duction, begins with an Exhortation, to be' used on the Sun-
day or Holyday next before the Administration. This
Exhortation was reproduced in the Liturgy of 1549, and
is identical (except that the last paragraph is omitted)
with that now standing first in our present Liturgy. After
this came the following Rubric, which explains the use of the
Office : " The time of tlie Communion sliall be immediately
after tliat the Priest himself hath received tlie Sacrament,
without the varying of any other rite or ceremony in the Mass
(until other order shall be provided), but as heretofore usually
the Priest hath done with the Sacrament of tlie Body, to
prepare, bless, and consecrate so much as will serve the
people; so it shall continue still after the same manner and
form, save that he shall bless and consecrate tlie biggest
chalice, or some fair and convenient cup or cups full of wine
with some water put into it ; and tliat day, not drink it up
all himself, but taking one only sup or draught, leave tlie
rest upon the altar covered, and turn to them that are dis-
posed to be partakers of the Communion, and shall thus
exhort them as followeth. " Then follows the Exhortation
beginning, " Dearly beloved in the Lord, ye that mind," etc.,
which replaced an older form, previously used in the same
place, when the holy Sacrament was administered in one
kind only. After this Exhortation the Priest was directed
to "pause awhile, to see if any man will withdraw himself,"
and then to say the Invitation, " Ye that do truly," the Con-
fession, the Absolution, the Comfortable Words, and the
Prayer of Humble Access, the Communion following
immediately after the latter Prayer, "the Peace of God"
being given in English afterwards, and the Mass concluding
in its ancient form.
From March 8, 1548, until June 9, 1549, the authorized
Liturgy of the Church of England consisted, therefore, of the
ancient Salisbury Mass, with this "Order of Communion" in
English superadded when any of the laity ^^islled to com-
municate. At the end of that year and a quarter the first
complete Book of Common Prayer in English was taken into
use, that is, on Whitsunday (June 9), 1549 ; and it con-
tained a Liturgy formed from the ancient Latin and this
recent English Office. The substance of the Liturgy, so
1 Translations of the Epistles and Gospels of the Sarnm Use had been
connnon fur some time, ;ind a great number of them exist at the end of
Primers of the period, as well as in separate volumes.
!* Strvpe's Memorial of Cranmer, i. 311. Eccl. Hist. Soc.
3 Ibiil. ii. 37.
* It will be remembered that Charlemagne substituted the Roman for
the Galilean Liturgy by Iiis own authority alone.
5 Orijj'inal copies of this "Order of Communion" are extremely rare.
There are two in the British Museum Library, one in the Bodleian, one in
the Public Library, Cambridge, one in Cosin's Library, and one in Routh's
Library, both the latter of Durham : and a few in private libraries.
reconstructed and translated, is given in the Appendix to
this Introduction ; and as the history of the Liturgy is hence-
forth part of that of tlie Prayer Book itself, which has been
already given in the Historical Introduction, it is un-
necessary to go further into it here. The various changes
which ensued in 1552, 1559, and 1661 will be shewn in the
footnotes.
The consequence of these several changes has been that
the Office for the Celebration and Administration of the Holy
Communion in the modern Church of England presents a very
great apparent deviation fnun that which was used before
the ancient Service-books were reconstnicted in Englisli :
and there has, iu fact, been a greater alteration in tliis than
in any other part of the Prayer Book. But the changes
which have taken place at successive times have resulted
chiefly in the simplification of the Service, the consolidation
of separate portions, the omission of special and particular
commemoration of the saints and the departed, and the
rearrangement of the Service, such as placing the "Cloria
in Excelsis " at the end instead of at the beginning. The
(iospels and Epistles remain almo-st wholly the same as in the
Mediieval Missals. Of the Collects three-fourths are the same.
The acts and words of Consecratitm are suljstantially the
same, and so also are the words of Administration. The
greatest change of all is that all communicants now receive in
both kinds, whereas in the later Jlediarval Church of England
few ever partook of the Cup except the Celebrant.
Notwithstanding, therefore, the apparent diversity between
the old and the modern Service, there is, as will be shewn in
detail in the Annotations, a substantial and vital identity :
and this may be conveniently represented here by the follow,
ing Table :—
§ Comparison of the Ancient and Modern Liturgy of the
Church of Emjlnnd.
Medieeval Missals.
Veni Creator.
Collect for Purity.
Psalm 43rd.
Introit.
Kyrie Eleeson, 3 times.
The Lord's Prayer.
Confession and Abso-
lution.
Gloria in Excelsis.
Collect for the Day.
Epistle and Gospel.
Nicene Creed.
Oblation of alms and
elements.
Lift up your hearts, etc.
Prayer for Church
[with special words
of oblation and spe-
cial commemora-
tion of Saints and
others].
1st English Book, 1549.
The Lord's Prayer.
Collect fur Purity.
Introit.
Kyrie Eleeson, 3 times.
Gloria in Excelsis.
Collect for the Day.
Collect for the Sove-
reign.
Epistle and Gospel.
Nicene Creed.
Exhortation.
Oblation of alms and
elements.
Lift up your hearts, etc.
Prayer for Church.
Present Book.
[A hymn, optional.]
The Lord's Prayer.
Collect for Purity.
Ten Commandments,
and
Kyrie Eleeson, 10
times.
Collect for the Sove-
reign.
Collect for the Day.
Epistle and Gospel.
Nicene Creed.
Oblation of alms and
elements.
Prayer for Church.
Exhortation.
Invitation.
Confession and Abso-
lution.
Comfortable words.
Lift up your hearts, etc.
Prayer of Access.
THE ACTS AND WORDS OF THE CONSECRATION
Commemoration of the
departed.
Tlie Lord's Prayer.
Agnus Dei.
Prayer of Access.
Commemoration of
Saints and the de-
parted.
The Lord's Prayer.
Invitation.
Confession and Abso-
lution.
Comfortable words.
Prayer of Access.
THE COMMUNION.
Thanksgiving.
Anthem.
Benediction.
Agnus Dei.
Thanksgiving.
Benediction.
The Lord's Prayer
Tlianksgiving.
Gloria in Excelsis.
Benediction.
350
3n 3IntroDuction to tbe iLiturgp.
It need only be added, to complete the account of the
English Liturg}', that it has been the source from which the
modern Scottish Church has drawn its Communion Office.
In this the modern Church has followed the ancient, for the
Salisbury Missal, in a complete or a modified form, was used
in Scotlana in Mediaeval times. The American Liturgy is
also an adaptation of the English ; and will, as well as the
Scottish, be found in the Appendix to this Introduction.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.
Before the great Sacrament of the Christian Church was
actually instituted by our Blessed Lord, it was foretold and
prefigured by words and acts of His own, and by prophecies
and material types of more ancient date. A due considera-
tion of these antecedents of the Holy Communion is a great
help towards a clear understanding of its true meaning and
use in the Christian economy.
1. First of all is the Tree of Life in the garden of Eden.
From the manner in which this is spoken of, it appears to
have been a tree bearing a kind of natural Sacrament, by
partaking of which as food the natural wear and tear of the
physical body was so counteracted tliat its decay and death
became impossible ; a tree to which man might ' ' put forth
his hand and eat and live for ever." [Gen. iii. 22.] Of this
means of life we liear again in the regenerated city of God,
" the New Jerusalem coming down from God, out of Heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband ;" for "in the
midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was
there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits,
aud yielded her fruit every month ; and the leaves of the
tree were for the healing of the nations." [Rev. x.\ii. 2.]'
But we also hear of it from our Lord Himself, Who, about
the time of the institution of the Holy Eucharist, proclaimed
Himself as the "True Vine," and spoke of the Sacrament
which He originated as the "Fruit of the Vine." [John xv.
1 ; Matt. xxvi. 29.]
2. The chosen people of God were fed for forty years,
during their penal and probationary wandering in the wilder-
ness, with manna, a ni3'sterious "bread from heaven," to
which they gave the name it bore because of its mystery,
"for tliey wist not what it was."" And Moses said unto
them, "This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to
eat." [Exod. xvi. 1.5.]
Of this also we hear in the Book of the Revelation, where,
in His message to the Angel of tlie Church of Perganios, the
Lord says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the
hidden manna." [Rev. ii. 17.]^ But it had been heard of in
a still more remarkable way from the lips of the same Lord,
in His discourse to the people after the miracle of the loaves
and fishes. When our Lord had thus "fiUed them witli
bread in the wilderness," the people, still unconvinced, asked
Him for a sign, not from earth, but from Heaven, and greater
than this. Moses had given them not only common bread,
but even manna, "bread from Heaven," not man's, but
"angel's food;" what could He do more than Moses, to
convince them that He was greater than Moses ? Then our
Lord directed their attention to His own Person, as "the
Bread of God which cometh down from Heaven and givetli
life unto the world ; . . . the Bread of life . . . the Bread
which cometh down from Heaven, that a man may eat thereof
and not die . . . the living Bread which came down from
Heaven : if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever :
and the Bread whicli I will give is My flesh, %vhich I will give
for the life of the world." [John vi. .31, 51.]
.■?. It is impossible not to associate the manna of the wilder-
ness with the "true Bread from Heaven," the "hidden
manna," and that bread of which our Lord said, " This is My
Body; "with all of which is connected the idea of nourish-
ment and life. Our Lord's words respecting this Bread from
Heaven drove away many of His followers, who were impatient
of a mystery which they could not understand ; but when He
said to the Apostles, "' Will ye also go away?" the reply was,
' ' Lord, to wnom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of
I Comp. Notes on Ps. 1. 2 .5ci; mnrpn of the passage.
* The maiiiia wa.s "a Hinall round thing . . . like coriander seed, white ;
and the ta«te of it was hkc wafers, made witli honey . . . aud tlie colour
thereof as the colour of iMlelUuni." [Exod. xvi. 14, 31 ; Kunib. xi. 7.]
Pious writers have seen in the sweetness of the nianua a type of tliat Word
which is "sweeter than honey" to the mouth; in its suitibleness to every
nian's tAstc, of the Eucharist which is so to every man's faith ; ami in tlio
snIHciency of the quantity, however mueh more or less had been gathered
than the assigned measure, a type of the fulness of the Gift of Christ in
every particle of the consecrated element. There seems to bo a curious
traditional memorial of the nianna, and of the Passover, in Good Friday
Ifuns, widch are flavoured with coriander seed. Tiiey ju-obably rcprcsenteii
the ancient Jewish form of Passover cakes. Christianized by tlu: mark of
tho Cross ; but they also represent almost exactly tlie loaf out of wliich
the jwrilons of bread to be consecrated are taken in the I-itnrgies of tlie
Kastem Church.
eternal life. " They continued with Him, notwithstanding
this trial of their faith, and tlieir perseverance was rewarded
Ijy the interpretative acts and words of our Lord when He
instituted the Holy Communion, and shewed them the inner
meaning of the miracle of the loaves and of His mysterious
words respecting Himself, " For My flesh is meat indeed, and
My blood is drink indeed. He that cateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." [John
vi. 55, .56.] "Take, eat; this is Jly body. . . . Drink ye all
of it ; for this is My blood." [Matt. xxvi. 27, 2S.]
These antecedent types and words are the most prominent
of a class which need not be referred to in further detail,
since the two referred to are sufficient to shew that a prepara-
tion was being made for the right understanding of that great
Sacrament ■which our Lord instituted to be the means of
spiritual life to the world. The "bread aud wine" of
Melchizedek's oft'ering, the "Mincha"of the Temple Service,
the " bread " and " mingled wine " of Wisdom's "table "in
the Book of Proverbs, the "pure offering" of the prophet
Malachi, are all anticipative shadows of that which was to
be revealed in the Kingdom of Christ : and many other such
shadows cast their forms across the page of Holy Scripture,
leading up to Him and His work, in Whom and in Which was
to be the fulfilment of all types and figurative representa-
tions.
§ Tlie Holy Communion as a Sacrament.
Thus, then, we are led up to the consideration of the rite
instituted by our Lord as a new tree of life, a manna for the
new chosen people, a Heavenly food, the Sacrament or
Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ.
Strange as it appeared to those v,ho heard the truth for the
first time, there must have been some absolute necessity for
making the Body and Blood of Christ a healing food. What
this necessity was the Holy Spirit has not yet revealed to us ;
but we seem to be tracing out the general outline of it, when
we acknowledge that only our Lord's perfect Human Nature
could remedy the imperfections of that human nature which
is still subject to the influences of evil, first brought to bear
upon it by the Fall. "Wherefore," says the Exhortation
which follows the Praj'er for the Church Militant, "it is our
duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty
God, our heavenly Father, for that He hath given His Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to
be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament."
It is impossible to explain why our Lord's death was not
sufficient for the full prospective accomplishment of His
work ; why it was still necessary for Him to be the spiritual
food and sustenance of His people through all the ages that
were afterwards coming upon the world ; why He should not
build up each soul into the living Temple without the inter-
vention of any sacramental medium between the soul and His
Almighty power. And since it is impossible to give a reason
for this, there is the more cause to acknowledge humbly that
fiod does nothing without necessity, and to bow our intellect
with reverence before the inscrutable fact which lies open
before it in Christ's words, "My flesh is meat indeed, and
My blood is drink indeed." "This is My body, this is My
blood."
Such a reverent awe for this great fact will not be at all
diminished by ini|uiry as to the particular circumstances under
which the Holy Eucharist was instituted, if we are careful not
to give ourselves a false impression of those circumstances l)y
yielding to the seductive bias of mere " local colouring." For
however true it may be that the rite which our Lord insti-
tuted was associated with some previous custom of the temple,
the synagogue, or the household, yet this trutli is only part
of the whole truth ; .and it would be a perversion of a truth
to say that tliis .as.sociation amounted to the actual foundation
of the Christian rite upon the Jewish. It is a more rational,
as well as a more reverent, answer to tlie (|Ucstion, ^^'hence
was the Holy Eucharist derived? to reply tliat it was abso-
lute/!/ orif/innted ''y ""'' Blessed Lord, and not founded on any
previous ordinance or custom. As He took our human nature
into His Divine Nature by an originative act of Creation,
although He was pleased to follow up tho Creative act by the
natural process of its devclopenient from the substance of His
3n 3lntroDuction to tfje liturgp.
351
Mother ; so an originative act iireceded, and stood aljovc, all
associations between the Eucharist and earthly rites or earthly
substances. His Body and His Blood first existed, and tlicn
were associated with bread and wine ; the former taking tiie
latter up into themselves by His Divine power. It ia true
that our Lord did use the words of David, at the most solemn
epoch of His sufferings ; that He associated His I'rayer with
ancient formularies of the older dispensation ; and that He
did, in like manner, associate the Holy Eucharist with the
Temple rite of the Mincha offering of bread and wine, with
the yabbath Eve Synagogue Memorial of the Exodus, and
with the domestic usages of the Passover. But the associa-
tion in each case was that of the antitype with tlie type. He
did not use the words of the Psalms as those of David, but
David used them prophetically as the words of Christ. Those
.Tewish prayers which bore some resend^lance to the Lord'.s
Prayer were typical foreshadowings of that Divine formulary
in which all prayer was to be gathered into one ever-prevailing
intercession ; and, finally, the Eucharist was not evolved out
of former rites, but fulfilled them, and absorbed them. The
Mincha became tlie "pure offering," the Sabbath Eve service
of the Synagogue merged in the Ltu'd's Day Eucharist, and
the domestic rites of the Passover passed into the Sacrament
of His love, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth
is named.
Thus then we are led to look primarily, not at the outward
signs of the Holy Eucharist, but at that which they signified.
Bread and wine, the common food and common drink, not the
exceptional luxuries, of a Jewish meal, were indeed used by
our Lord as the media of His great gift ; but it is to the gift
itself that He draws our attention, saying, not " This Bread "
but " Tliis is My Body," . . . not "This Wine," but " ThU
ia My Blood. " He takes them up into a higher nature ; and
when so consecrated, although their original nature is not
annihilated, it passes out of spiritual cognizance, and the eye
of faith sees, or desires to see, it no more.
Much trouble would have been spared to the Church if
there had been less endeavour to define on the one hand what
our Lord's words mean, and, on the other hand, what tliey
do not mean. Up to a certain point we can define ; beyond
a certain point we must be content to leave definition and
accept mystery. We can say that the elements before con-
secration are bread and wine, and we can also say that they
are bread and wine after consecration : we can say that the
bread and wine are not the Body and Blood of Christ before
consecration, and we can also say that, according to our Lord's
words, they are tlie Body and Blood of Christ after consecra-
tion. But how these apparently contradictory facts are to be
reconciled, what is the nature of the change that occurs in
the bread and wine, in what manner that change is effected,
how far that change extends beyond the use of the Sacrament
— these are questions that no one can answer but God, When
M.\TT. xxvi. 26-28.
And aa they were eating,
Jesus took bread
and blessed it,
and brake it,
and gave it to tlie disciples,
and said.
Take, e.it;
This is My Body.
And
He took the cup,
and gave thanks,
and gave it to them,
saying,
Drink ye all of it ; for
this is My Blood of the New
Testament, which ia shed for
many
for the remission of sins.
M.\RK xiv. 22-24.
And as they did eat, Jesus
took bread,
and blessed,
and brake it,
and gave to them,
and said.
Take, eat ;
This is My Body.
And
He took the cup,
and when He had given thanks,
He gave it to them ; . . .
and He said unto them,
This is My Blood of the New
Testament, which is shed for
many.
Nicodemus said, " How can these things be ? " and the people
at Capernaum, " How can tliia Man give us His fiesh to eat ?"
our Lord did nut explain, but reiterated, the truths which
liad excited the wonder and doubt of the (juestioners. In
doing so He doubtless taught the lesson, that when God
speaks in words of mystery He does so with a purpose ; and
that it is our duty to believe exactly what He tells us, even
tliough we cannot understand all that His words mean.
There can never be any real antagonism between one truth
and another, nor can there be any real conllict between Hia
gift of Faith and His gift of Intellect.
§ Th'' Holy (-'ommnnion as a Sacrifice,
In the projihecy of Jlalachi to which previous reference has
been made, the Holy Ghost gave the following prediction
respecting Gospel times : " From the rising of the sun, even
unto the going down of the same. My Name shall be great
among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall be
offered unto My Name, and A puke okfekin(.: : for My Name
shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts."
[Mai. i. 11.] The words rendered "pure offering" are
" Mincha t'hora" in Hebrew, Bvala KaBapd in the Septuagint,
and " oblalio mtimlii" in the Vulgate. I'he whole text "was
once, and that in the oldest and purest time of the Church, a
text of eminent note, ami familiarly known to every Christian,
being alleged by their pastors and teachers as an express and
undoubted prophecy of the CJiristian sacrifice, or solemn wor-
ship in the Eucharist, taught bj' our blessed Saviour unto Hia
disciples, to be observed of all that shall believe in His Kanje ;
and this ao generalli/ and (jrunledhj, as could never have been,
at least so early, unless they had learned thus to apply it by
tradition from tlie Apostles." [Mede, C'liristian Sacrij. 355.]
The deep and habitual conviction of the truth here expressed
is illustrated by the names which were given to the Holy
Communion in the early Churcli : they were "Oblation,
Sacrifice, Eucharist, Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, Sacrifice of
Praise, reasonable and unbloody Sacrifice, Sacrifice of our
Mediator, Sacrifice of the Altar, Sacrifice of our Eansom,
Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ. It would be in-
finite to note all the places and authors where and by whom
it is thus called." [Ihiil.} In all these terms it will be seen
that the most prominent idea of the Eucharist was not that
of Communion, but of Oblation or bloodless Sacrifice. And
they were terma adviaedly taken into use by holy men and
the Church at large, at a time when sacrifices were still
ottered beyond the pale of the Church.
This habitual dwelling upon the Sacrificial aspect of the
Eucharist was founded upon the acts and words of our Lord
at His Institution of the Sacrament. These are narrated by
the three former Evangehsts and by St. Paul in the following
passages : —
Like xxii. 19, 20.
And
He took bread,
and gave thanks,
and brake it,
and gave unto them,
saying.
This isMy Body which is given
for you : this do in remem-
brance of Me. Likewise
also
the cup after supper.
saying,
This cup is the New Testa-
ment in My Blood, which is
shed for you.
1 CoR. xi. 23-25.
The Lord Jesus . . . took
bread :
and when He had given thanks,
He brake it,
and said.
Take, eat ;
This is My Body, which is
broken for you ; this do in
remembrance of Me. After the
same manner
also
He took the cup, when He had
supped,
saying,
This cup is the New Testament
in My Blood :
This do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of ile.
In tliese narratives certain definite acts and words of our
Lord are clearly recorded. [1] He took bread : [2] He blessed
it, or " gave thanks " over it -. [3] He brake it : [4] He gave
it to those present : [5] He said that what He so gave them
to eat was His Body : [6] He took the cup : [7] He gave
thanks over it also : [8] He gave it to those present : [9] He
called that which He so gave them to drink His Blood : [10] He
directed them to do as He had done for a memorial of Him.
352
an :jntror)iiction to tf)C liturgp.
In the words recorded there are several terms of a special
character. [1] ^Yheu our Lord blessed [evXoYtjcrai] and gave
thanks [ci'xapiffr^tras], He did so in no ordinary sense, as in
the benediction of food before a meal, or the thanksgiving for
it afterwards. He blessed the elements of bread and wine
with the fulness of a Divine benediction, so that His euchar-
istization of tliem caused them to possess properties which
tliey did not previously possess ; especially, to become
spiritual entities. His Body and His Blood. ' [2] In com-
manding His Apostles to "do [woLe'ire] this," our Lord
was using a well-known expression significant of the act of
Sacrifice ; and one which St. Paul (who uses it twice of the
Institution) uses also of the Passover, when lie says of Moses,
that " through faith he kept [eiroirjae] the Passover and
sprinkling of blood." The use of the word for both is found
afterwards in St. Chrysostom, when lie writes, " See how He
weans aud draws them from Jewish rites; 'For,' says He,
'as ye offered that'" {i.e. the Passover, iKitvo eirouiTe) " 'in
remembrance of tlie miraculous deliverance from Egypt, so
offer ' [iroieiT-e] ' this in remembrance of Me : that blood
was shed for preservation of the first-born, tliis for the
remission of tlie sins of the w-hole world. ' " [Chrys. Matt.
xxvi. Ixxxii.] The word is constantly translated " offer " and
"sacrifice," and by equivalent terms in the English version
of the Old Testament, and it clearly has that meaning in
Luke ii. 27. It would therefore be watering down the sense
of it in this place if any less meaning were to be assigned to
it as all the meaning that it contained.-' [3] The expression
*' in remembrance of Me " [ei's tt^i' i^r^f dvafivrjaip] is also of a
sacrificial character, meaning, in conjunction witli the pre-
ceding, " Ort'er this as a Memorial of Me before the Father."
So the word nvrjiibavvov is used in Leviticus ii. '2, 9, "the
priest shall Ijurn the memorial of it upon the altar," and
avdiiv-qati itself in Numbers x. 10 and Leviticus xxiv. 7 ; "and
when so applied," says Keble, it "means always 'a por-
tion of something offered to Almighty God, to remind Him '
of the worsliipper himself, or of some otlier person or object
in whom the worshipper takes an interest ; or of His own
loving-kindness, sliewn by mercies past or gracious promises
for the future. . . . This is the proper drift of the word
remembrance in our Lord's institution of the Sacrament. ' Do
this ; ' He seems to say, Bless, break, distribute, receive this
Bread ; bless, distribute, drink of this Cup ; say over the two
respectively, This is My Body, This is My Blood, in order to
that Memorial .Sacrifice which properly belongs to Me ; the
Memorial which My servants are continually to make of Me,
among one another, and before My Father. " ^ This term also
is used twice in St. Paul's account of the Institution. [4]
Lastly, St. Paul uses an expression which must be interpreted
in a similar manner, when he says, "ye do sliew [Kara-y-
yi\\(T(] the Lord's death." That the whole early Church
thus understood our Lord's words, applying them to the offer-
ing of the Holy Eucharist by His Ministers, and not only to
His one oblation of Himself, is shewn by the words of the
Fathers, by decrees of Councils, and more than all by the
constant witness of the ancient Liturgies. Thus, St. Cyprian
says, " For if Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, is Himself the
great High Priest of God the Fatlier, and first offered Himself
a Sacrifice to the Father, and commanded this to be done in
remembrance of Himself, surely that priest truly acts in
Christ's stead wlio imitates that which Christ did ; and he
then offers a true and full Sacrifice in the Church to God tlie
Father, when he begins to offer it according as he sees Christ
Himself offered it." [Cypr. Ep. Ixiii. 11.] lu the fiftli
Canon of the Nicene Council an injunction is given respecting
the appeasing of disputes in Lent that "the Oifi may be
njfeml pure to God." In the eleventh Canon one kind of
penitents are directed to join in the prayers " witliout o/fcc-
ing : '' and in tlie eigliteeiith those are spoken of " wlio olTer
the Body of Christ."'' How distinctly the ancient Church
spoke on tlic subject, in its solemn public language before
God, may be seen by the following I'rayers of Oblation taken
from some of its Liturgies : —
Liluripi of St. JamrK. — We therefore also, sinners, remem-
bering His life-giving Passion, His salutary Cross, His Death
1 The name word Is used in Jolin vi. 11, where our Lord " eiicliaiistized "
fhe Ave loaves before putting tliem into tlie liands of Ilis disciples with
tlie new capacity of feeding live thousand men. The whole action of this
miracle has an EuchariHtic character. [See note at p. 272, on tlie Gospel for
Mid-Lent Suiiday.J
" See Cartkr on tin Priesthood, p. 84, note. Comp. Lev. ix. 7, In LXX ;
Isa. xix. 21 ; 1 Kings x\. 33. See also a Table of tlio Keptiiagint and Vul-
gate use of the word it6h~i» In Bishop Hamilton's Charge for 18(J7, jip.
1O.0-II18. Tills Table is from the pen of Bishop Kingdon.
» Ewh. Ador. p. OS. * Hoctii'u .Icrlpl. Bed. I. 373, 377, 381.
and Resurrection from the dead on the third day. His Ascen-
sion into Heaven, aud Session on the right hand of Thee His
God and Father, and His glorious and terrible coming again,
when He shall come with glory to judge the quick and the
dead, and to render to every man according to his works, offer
to Thee, Lord, tliis tremendous and unbloody Sacrifice, be-
seeching Thee that Thou wouldst not deal with us after our
sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities ; but according
to Tliy gentleness and ineffable love, passing by and blotting
out tlie liandwriting that is against us, Thy suppliants,
wouldst grant us Thy heavenl}' and eternal gifts, which eye
hath not seen, nor ear lieard, neither hath it entered into the
lieart of man to conceive the things whicli Thou, God, hast
prepared for tliem that love Thee.
LUtirijy of St. Ctemtnt. — ^Vherefore having in remembrance
. . . we offer to Thee our King and our (iod, according to
this Institution, this bread and this cup ; giving thanks to
Thee tlirough Him, that Thou hast thought us worthy to
stand before Thee, and to sacrifice unto Thee.
Litm-gy of St. Murk. — [Before Consecration] . . . Our Lord
and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, by Whom, rendering
thanks to Thee with Himself and the Holy Ghost, we oft'er
to Thee this reasonable and uubloody Sacrifice, which all
nations ofl'er to Tliee, Lord, from the rising of the sun unto
the going down of the same ; from the north and from the
soutli ; for Thy Name is great among the Gentiles, and in
every place incense is offered to Thy Name, and a pure offer-
ing. [After words of Institution*] Almighty Lord and
Master, King of Heaven, we announcing the death of Thine
only-begotten Son our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ
. . . O Lord our God, we have set before Thee Thine own of
Thine own gifts.
LiturrjijofSt. Chrysostom. — We therefore, remembering this
salutary precept, and all that happened on our liehalf, the
Cross, the Tomb, the Picsurrection on the third day, the
Ascension into Heaven, the Session ou the right hand, the
second and glorious coming again, in behalf of all, aud for all,
we ort'er Thee Thine own of Thine own. . . . Moreover we
ort'er unto Tliee tliis reasonable and unbloody Sacrifice : and
beseech Thee aud pray and supplicate ; send down Thy Holy
Ghost upon us, and upon these proposed gifts.
Sacramcnlary of St. Gregory. — Wherefore, Loi'd, we Thy
servants, and also Thy holy people, liaving in remembrance
Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, as well His blessed Passion,
as also His Eesurrection from the lower parts of the eartli [ab
Inferis], and His glorious Ascension into Heaven ; ofl'er unto
Thine excellent Majesty of Thine own donations and gifts
wliich Thou hast given a pure offering [liostiam], an holy
offering, an immaculate offering, the holy Bread of eternal
life, and the Cup of everlasting salvation.
The last of these is the Prayer of 01)lation which was used
by the Church of England (in common with the rest of the
\\'estern Cliurch) before the translation of her ofhces into
Englisli. In the Prayer Book of 1549 the Prayer was sub-
stantially retained, the following words succeeding the words
of Institution : —
English Communion Office o/" 1549. — Wherefore, Lord and
heavenly Father, according to the Institution of Thy dearly
beloved Son, our Saviour Jesu Christ, we Thy humble ser-
vants do celebrate and make here before Thy Divine Majesty,
with these Tliy 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 'I'hee most hearty tlianks for tlie innumerable
benefits procured unto us by the same ; entirely desiring Thy
Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of
praise and thanksgiving ; most humbly beseeching Thee to
grant, that by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ
. . . [as in the present Ollice],
When the Canon w'as separated into three parts in 1552,
these words of oblation were placed after tlie Communion and
the Lord's Prayer. In the Scottish Office of IU37 a return
was made to the Liturgy of ir)49 ; and in the revision of
lU(il Bishop Cosin proposed to restore this form rather than
that of 15r)'2, as Queen Elizabeth and Lord Burleigh had
also wished. But Bishop Cosin's w ishes were overruled, pro-
bably because it was considered that the times were too
dangerous to admit of .iiiy conspicuous change in the Com-
munion Service.
Althougli, however, the change in the position of the words
It must be remembered that the Oriental Church believes the consecra-
tion to be incomplete without an Invocation of the Holy Ohost, as well a.s
the words of Institution.
3n JntroDuctlon to tDc iLiturgp.
353
of Oblation has teiiik'd to ol)acnre the meaning of tho Service,
it cannot for a moment be supposed that tlie revisers of onr
liturgy in 155'2 were so exceedingly and profanely jirc-
snmptiions as to wisli to suppress the doctrine of the Encliar-
istic Sacriliee. There were probal)ly some unfortunate
temporary reasons (such as the unscrupulous tyranny of
ignorant and biassed rulers), which intiuenced them to make
such a change as would save the doctrine, while it left the
statement of it more open than before : and they probably
tliought it better to consult expediency to a certain extent,
than to run the risk of such an interference as would have
taken the Prayer Book out of the hands of the Cliurch, and
moulded it to the meagre faith of Calvinistic Puritans. After
tlie alteration was made, some of onr best and holiest Divines,
such as Andrewes and Overall, were accustomed to say
tlie "iirst Thanksgiving," or Prayer of 01)lation, before
administering the elements, and the second, "Almighty and
overliving (iod," after the Lord's Prayer, but this practice
has been discontinued since the last Revision, though its
revival is much to i)e desired.
From the very nature of the Holy Eucharist it is, however,
impossible for any such change as that which was thus made
to vitiate its sacrilicial character. The Act of Consecration
is in itself an act of Sacrifice, whether or not it is accompanied
by express words of oblation. So long therefore as properly
ordained Priests use the proper formula of consecration, there
must necessarily be an ofi'ering of the Holy Eucharist to God ;
although such a minimum of form is, it is true, quite discord-
ant with the spirit and letter of Apostolic Liturgies. The
whole Service is also a virtual memorial before God, even
if there were not in any part of it specific words on the
subject.
But the Prayer of Oblation yet remains in our Liturgy,
though displaced from its ancient jjosition, and said after
Communion ; and while any jjortion of the consecrated ele-
ments remain upon the altar (even after a portion has been
consumed), the ancient Sacrificial Act of the Church is liter-
ally and verbally continued in respect to that portion : sup-
posing that it is not sufficiently continued towards the portion
previously consumed by the more general form of the Prayer
of Consecration. There need, therefore, be no room for say-
ing that the Eucharistio Sacrifice is not effectively offered by
the modern Liturgy of the Church of England ; and all that
can be truly said is, that a deviation from ancient jjractice has
been made in consuming a part of the consecrated elements
before a formal, verbal oblation of them has been made.
The constant language and practice of the Church having
thus been shewn, it remains to state in a few words what the
Eucharistic Sacrifice is, and what its relation to the one "full,
perfect, and sutficieut sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for
the sins of the whole world," which was made by our Lord
and Saviour upon the cross.
1. The very nature of the rite makes it sufficiently evident
that whensoever the words of Oblation are used, they apply
to that which the elements of Bread and Wine become by the
Act of Consecration. An oblation of the Bread and Wine, as
such, is made in the Prayer for the Church Militant, and be-
fore the Act of Consecration they are spoken of as "these
Tliy creatures of Bread and Wine," with special reference to
this oblation of them as unconsecrated elements, offered to
God as part of His natural creation, that He may sanctify
them. But after the Act of Con.secration they are no longer
called Bread and Wine, but the Boily and tlie lllood of our
Lord .Jesus Christ. What is oflercd to our heavenly Father in
tlie Holy C(mimunion is the whole substance of the Sacrament,
that which (even although the natural bread and wine are not
annihilated by Consecration) i.s reverently called by the name
of the liody and Blood of Christ, and by that name alone.
2. This Sacrifice or Oblation is a solemn memorial offered
to God tho Father "according to His Son our Saviour Jesus
Christ's holy institution," of the Sacrifice which was offered
upon the Cross. Tliore is no new immolation of the Body of
Christ, but a re-jirescntation of that immolation once for all
accomplished at Calvary, a showing — KarayycXla, (it ai'd/j-frjan,
a proclamation or memorial — of the Lord's death until He
come. When we can understand /low the elements become
the Body and Blood of Christ by Consecration, then we may
understand in what manner the offering of those consecrated
elements to God the l''ather is a re-presentation of the Sacrifice
of the Cross. But as the fact is a mystery in the one case, so
there is a mystery connected with the act in the other ; and
the very nature of the Sacrament is such as to lead to the
belief that these mysteries will not be unveiled to the Church
in its Militant condition ; but that Faith must stiU be exer-
cised towards it when Understanding can go no further.
■3. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is notthe offeringof theCelebrant
alone, but of the whole Church, and especially of those who
are then before the altar where it is being offered. This was
made especially clear in the language of the ancient Church
of England, which carefully used a plural pronoun even in
several places where the singular is used in the Roman
Liturgy. But in both the Roman and the English rite the
Prayer of Oblation is worded, "We Thy servants, and also
Thy holy people, offer to Thy Divine Majesty ..." And
in one part of it the Priest is directed to turn to the people
and say, " Pray, brethren and sisters, for me that this my
sacrifice, which is also equally yours, may be accepted by our
Lord God."' In our modern Liturgy this important recog-
nition of the priesthood of the laity is still made by a similar
use of plural pronouns, by the "Amen" of the people at the
end of the Prayer of Consecration, and by the Rubric which
directs that wdien the Priest says the Lord's Prayer after
Communion the people are to repeat it as well.
•1. It must be remembered that as the anticipatory Sacrifices
of the Jewish Church were acceptable to the Father only
through Christ, so the memorial Sacrifice of the Christian is
also acceptable through Him alone. The Priest on earth
does his sacerdotal work as the agent, deputy, and represen-
tative of the eternal High Priest from Whom he receives his
commission ; and the work done by him is eflEcacious, because
it is taken up into the continual intercession of Christ in
heaven. So the Sacrifice of tho Holy Eucharist is acceptable
to the Father because it is associated with the perpetual pre-
sentation of Himself which our Intercessor is making for our
sakes : because, that is, the Body and Blood of Christ which
are offered upon the earthly altar are, in a mystery, the Body
and Blood of that " Lamb as it had been slain," which stands
in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the four created
beings, and in the midst of the elders ; and Whom all the
host of heaven adore as the Lamb Who has redeemed men by
His blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation.
THE USE OF THE HOLY COMMUNION.
The preceding sections have shewn with how great reverence
the Church has always regarded the Holy Eucharist, and what
grounds there are in the nature of the rite, as a Sacrament
and a Sacrifice, why it should be so regarded. The question
which naturally follows is. What is the place held by this holy
rite in tlie economy of grace and salvation : that is, indepen-
dently of What it is, — or rather, following on What it is, —
What is its use?
§ The Divine Presence maintained in the Church by the Holy
Eucharist.
The nature of the Sacrament being what it is, the Divine
Presence is associated with it in a special manner on every
occasion of its celebration. For where the Body and Blood
of Christ are, there is the Human Nature of Christ ; and
where the Human Nature of Christ is, there is the Divine
Nature of Christ. For as that Divine Nature was united to
the dead Body of onr Lord when it lay in the tomb, preserv-
ing it from corruption, and with His Soul when it descended
into Hell, triumphing by Divine might over Satan and
breaking the bonds of those He had ransomed, so much more
is that Divine Nature inseparable from His reunited Body
and Soul now that they are in a glorified condition. Al-
though, therefore, it would be rash over-definition to allege
anything as to the manner in which our Lord vouchsafes His
Divine Presence in and by the holy Sacrament, yet the fact
is so clear that it may be almost called self-evident ; and no
one who Vielieves that the "inward part or thing signified "
is present, can logically withhold his assent from the further
conclusion that He Who is "One Christ" is present as God
as well as present as Man. Aiid as we believe that the ele-
ments of Bread and Wine are by consecration taken up into
a higher nature and become the Body and Blood of Christ, so
we must believe also that the effectuation of that marvellous
mystery effectuates likewise a special fulfilment of the
1 Tlie Roman words are "raeum ac vestnun sacrifirium;" those of all
the English uses, " meum pariterque vestnun . . . sacnficium."
)54
an 3lntroDuction to tl)C liturgp.
gracious promise, " Where two or three are gathered together
in Jly Name, tliere am I in the midst of tliem."
Hence a simple faitli finds no dithculty in respect to the
adoration of our Divine and Human Lord at the time of, and
in special association with. His Presence in the Holy Eucharist.
Such a faith draws its possessor into close agreement with the
spirit of the Liturgy, in which the elements of Bread and
Wine pass out of its language after consecration, and only
the Body and Blood of Clirist are then spoken of. Such a
faith looks beyond the means to the end. To it the outward
part of the Sacrament is as if it were invisible, for its gaze is
absorbed on the inward part. From the material substance
it passes onward to the Divine Presence, and without asking
Where ? or How ? it bows down in humble adoration, saying,
not so much Jly C4od is here, as, I am before my God, even
the God Whom Heaven and earth must worship.
§ The Eucharist a Sacrifice offered for the benefit of the Church.
As the Holy Communion is the great Oblation or Sacrifice
of the Christian Oluirch to memorialize the Father of our
Blessed Lord's work, so it is oft'ered with a purpose, which
ia, to memorialize Him on behalf of the souls whom our
Lord's work is saving. Thus it is the great means by which
the Church out of Heaven participates in that propitiatory
Sacrifice of Intercession which is being for ever offered in
Heaven by our Lord and Saviour.
The habit of thought on this subject in the Primitive Church
is very clearly illustrated by the words of St. Cyril of Jeru-
salem in the fourth century. In describing the rites of the
Holy Eucharist to the newly-contirmed he speaks as follows :
"Then, after the spiritual Sacrifice is perfected, the blood-
less Service upon tliat Sacrifice of propitiation, we entreat
God for the common peace of the Church ; for the tranquillity
of the world ; for kings ; for soldiers and allies ; for the sick ;
for the afliicted ; and, in a word, for all who stand in need of
succour we all supplicate and offer this Sacrifice. Then we
commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us ;
first, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their
prayers and intervention God would receive our petition.
Afterward also on behalf of the holy Fathers and Bishops who
have fallen asleep before us ; and in a word, of all who in
past years have fallen asleep among us, believing that it will
be a very great advantage to the souls for whom the suppli-
cation is put up, while that holy and most awful Sacrifice is
presented." [Catech. Lect. xxiii. 9, 10.] These words exactly
represent the tone and custom of the Primitive Liturgies.
The follo%ving most beautiful praj'er is from that of St. James,
and was offered up day by day in the Church of Jerusalem,
wliere St. Cyril was one of that holy Apostle's successors. It
was said immediately after the Consecration.
Eucharistic Prayer for the Livin;/ anil the Departed, from the
Liturrjy of St. James.
That they may be to those that partake of them, for remis-
sion of sins, and for eternal life, for sanctificatiou of souls and
bodies, for bringing forth good works, for the confirmation of
Thy holy Catholic Church, which Thou hast founded upon
the rock of faith, that the gates of hell may not prevail against
it ; freeing it from all heresy and scandals, and from them
that work wickedness, and preserving it till the consummation
of all things. We offer them also to Thee, Lord, for Thy
holy places which Thou hast glorified by the Divine appearing
of Thy Christ, and by the Advent of Thine All-Holy Spirit,
especially for the glorious Sion, the mother of all Churches.
And for Thy holy Catholic Apostolic Church tlirougliout the
world. Supply it, Lord, even now, with the plentiful gifts
of Thy Holy Ghost. Pemember also, O Lord, our holy fathers
and brothers in it, and the Bishops that in all the world rightly
divide the word of Thy truth, kemembor also, Lord, every
city and region, and the Orthodox that dwell in it, th.at they
may inhabit it with peace and safety. Kemembcr, O Lord,
Christians that are voyaging, that are journeying, that are
in foreign lands, iu bonds and in prison, captives, exiles, in
mines, and in tortures, and bitter .slavery, our fathers and
brethren. Remember, Lord, tlicm that arc in sickness or
travail, them that arc vexed of unclean spirits, th.^t tlicy may
.speedily be healed and rescued by 'I'hee, O God. Remember,
Lord, every Christian soul in tribulation and distress,
desiring the pity and succour of Thee, O C;od, and the con-
version of the erring. Remember, Lord, our fathers and
brethren that labour and minister to us through Thy holy
Name. Remember, I^ord, all for good; have pity. Lord, on
all; be reconciled to all of us; give peace to the multitude of
Thy people ; dissipate scandals ; put an end to wars ; stay
the rising up of heresies. Give us Thy peace and Thy love,
God out Saviour, the succour of all the ends of the earth.
Remember, Lord, the healthfulness of the air, gentle showers,
healthy dews, plenteousness of fruits, the crown of the year
of Thy goodness, for the eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou
givest tliem their meat in due season ; Thou openest Thine
hand, and fillest all things living with plenteousness. Re-
member, Lord, them that bear fruit and do good deeds in Tliy
holy Churches, and that remember the poor, the widov s, the
orphans, the stranger, the needy ; and all those who have
desired us to remember them in our prayers. Furthermore,
Lord, vouchsafe to remember those who have this day
brought these oblations to Thy holy Altar : and the things
for which each brought them, or which he had in his mind :
and those whom we have now commemorated before Tliee.
Piemember also, Lord, according to the multitude of Thy
mercy and pities, me Thy humble and unworthy servant ;
and the Deacons that surround U'hy holy Altai'. Grant them
blamelessness of life, preserve their ministry spotless, keep
in safety their goings for good, that they may find mercy and
grace with all Thy Saints that have been pleasing to Thee
from one generation to another, since the beginning of the
world, our ancestors, and fathers. Patriarchs, Prophets,
Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Teachers, Holy Persons, and
every just spirit made perfect in the faith of Thy Christ. . . .
Remember, Lord, the God of the spirits and of all flesh, the
Orthodox whom we have commemorated, from righteous Abel
unto this day. Give them rest there, in the land of the living,
in Thy kingdom, in the delight of paradise, in the bosom of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our holy fathers, whence pain,
sorrow, and groaning is exiled, where the light of Thy coun-
tenance looks down, and always shines. And direct. Lord,
Lord, in peace the ends of our lives, so as to be Christian,
and well-pleasing to Thee, and blameless ; collecting us under
the feet of Thine elect, when Thou wilt, and as Thou wilt,
only without shame and offence; througli Thine only-begotten
Son, our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ; for He
alone hath appeared on the earth without sin.'
Such commemorations of the living and of the departed are
found in all the Liturgies of the Primitive Church ; and it is
to be observed that they were not only general commemora-
tions, but that the names of persons who were to be prayed
for were read out from the Diptychs, folded tables of wood
or other material on which they were inscribed. At a later
period the names were not so numerous as they had been w hen
the dangers of the living and the martyrdoms of the departed
were a part of everyday experience, and they then came to
be inserted in the prayer itself, at least in the 'Western Church.
In our present English Liturgy the commemorations are of
a much more general character than they were in these ancient
ages of the Church. In the Collect for the t liurch and Sove-
reign, and in the Prayer for the Church Militant, the living
and the servants of God departed this life in His faith and
fear, are still, however, commemorated, as they are also in
the prayer for "all Thy whole Church," which is now a
Prayer both of Oblation and Thanksgiving ; and if the lan-
guage used is more concise than formerly, it cannot be said
to be less comprehensive.
Such intercessory prayer particularizes those for Mliom the
benefit of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is sought, but it is through
the Sacrifice itself that the benefit is to be obtained. By it
is conveyed to the Church without the gates of Heaven, the
blessing of that Sacrifice Which is being offered up before the
Throne of God within. And as the collected Church prays
by the mouth of the celebrating priest at its head, that God
will be mercifully pleased to accejit its sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving, it also adds "nio.it humbly beseeching Thee to
grant that by tlie merits and death of Thy Son Je.'^us Christ,
and tlirough faitli in His blood,'' first "we" and secondly
" .all Thy w hole Church " (ni.adc up of those that are in Christ
here and in the invisible world) "may obtain," first, "remis-
sion of our sins," and, secondly, "all other" known and
unknown "benefits of His I'assion. " To such general words
each individual in.ay reverently add the mention of his own
p.articular needs, and of those of others for w lioni he offers up
intercession to (iod. And although in the case of the departed
we know not what is the nature of the advantage gained for
them by the intercession of the living Church, yet we may
well say with St. Chrysostom, "Not unmeaningly have these
things Wen devised, nor do we in vain make mention of the
departed in the course of the Divine mysteries, and approach
God in their behalf, beseeching the Lamb, Who is before us,
1 Nr.M.n'.s Traml o/Frimilin T.Uiirti. p. M,
3n IntcoDuction to tbe Liturgp.
555
Who taketh away the sin of the world ; not iu vain, )jut tliat
some refreshment may tliereby ensue to tliem. Not in vain
doth lie that standetli by the altar cry out, when the tre-
mendous mysteries are being celebrated, ' For all that have
fallen asleep in Christ, and fi>r those who jjcrform commemo-
rations in their behalf.' For if there were no commemorations
for them, these things would not have been .spoken, since our
service is not mere scenery, Ciod forbid ; yea, it is by ordinance
of the Spirit that these things are done." [llom. .\li. on I
Cor. XV. 4G. ] We cannot trace all the details of the
benefits which are to be gained for the Church at large, and
for its individual members, by the Oblation of the most holy
Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood ; but we can accept
with our reason the general doctrine of the ancient Church
on this subject, and with our faith we can make a reverent
application of that doctrine to the details of our own necessities
and those of others.
Such being the principle of the Eucharistic Sacrifice as
regards the benefit to be gained by means of it, there is one
further consideration to \>e named. These benefits are con-
nected with the Sacrament as an Act of Oblation, not as an
Act of Communion : and although Communion adds still
greater blessing to those who receive it, yet the Communion
of one person cannot be of advantage to another, and the
benefits referred to must thus be considered as independent
of the Act of Communion, so far as the latter is not necessary
to complete the Act of Oblation. It would therefore be
extremely rash to assert that a person can gain no benefit
from being present at the Holy Comnuuiion without receiving
it. Moreover we may well slirink from saying so, since the
Church has never authoritatively asserted that God limits
the blessings of the Holy Eucharist to its recejition ; the prac-
tice of the Church teaches her belief that He does not do so ;
and many saints have been convinced that they themselves
had been spiritually gainers even by being devoutly present
only at the celebration of the Holy Communion without par-
taking of it. Although, therefore, certain abuses of this holy
Sacrament may associate themselves with a frequent habit of
being present without communicating, there is no theological
reason for believing it a useless or injurious practice ; and
whatever legitimate olijectious there m.ay be to it must rest on
their proper ground, that of reverent and pions expediency.
§ The Eucharist as a vieans of Union with God.
Among our Lord's words, in His anticipatory exposition of
the Holy Eucharist, there is a clear declaration that it is a
means of union between the receiver and Himself. "He
that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in
Me, and I in Him." [John vi. 56] Of these words an inter-
pretation is given in an exhortation of our Communion Office :
"The benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart and lively
faith we receive that holy Sacrament (for then we spiritually
eat the flesh of Christ, and drink His blood ; then we dwell
in Christ, and Christ in us ; we are one with Christ, and
Christ with us)."
The union thus spoken of in such solemn tones is not a
mental conformity of opinion, sympathy, and will, although
these necessarily result from it, but it is a real and actual
incorporation of the spiritual portion of man's nature with
the Sacramental Body and Blood of Christ, and heuce with
Christ Himself. Such an incorporation is initiated in Holy
Baptism,' by which the foundation of spiritual life is laid ;
and it is ever being renewed, strengthened, aiul perfected in
the Holy Communion by which the superstructure of spiritual
life is built up in the soul.
Union between God and man is represented in Holy Scrip-
ture as the height, length, breadth, and depth of spiritual
work in the soul. No reasoning can explain what it means,
but neither can any reasoning explain away the statements
made by God respecting it, as if they had no meaning. But
as in tracing up physical life we pass from one step to another
until we are stopped at the threshold of the Eternal Self.
Existence, so as we follow up the phenomena of the spiritual
life of our nature, we find them lead us from the outward
operation of the Holy Ghost upon it to the indwelling of
Christ's Human Nature, and thence to Union with the Divine
Nature itself through the Man Christ Jesus. Thus the words
of our Lord at the Institution tell us that particijjation in
the elements which have been consecrated by Him (through
the ministration of His Word by the priest of the earthly
altar) enables the partaker to receive spiritual food, tlie Body
and Blood of Christ. His previous discourse, in John vi.,
1 .5cc end of Introduction to Baptismal Officrs.
had declared that by means of that spiritual food the par-
taker wouhl dwell in Christ and Clirist in him. The Apostle
St. Paul speaks of this indwelling .as so close an incorpora-
tion that wc "arc members of His body, of His flesh, and of
His bones," and his words exactly reflect the sense of our
Lord's own when He spoke of Himself as a Vine and of His
disciples as branches, and added, "He that abidetli in Me,
audi in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without
Me ye can do nothing.'' [John xv. ;">.] Still going to our
Lord's discourses, we find Him declaring, "At that day ye
shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in
you " [John xiv. 20], words which are again reflected in those
of His Apostle St. Peter tliat we arc "partakers of the Divine
Nature." [2 Pet. i. 3.]
Thus a continuous chain of Unity is formed between the
altar of the Church on earth and the Tlirone of the Divine
glory in Heaven ; and by an inscrutable operation of grace
the Christian soul is linked into that chain, so that Union
^vith God becomes no nietaplior, but an actual fact : and the
Holy Communion is not merely a federal bond of love between
God and man, but a means of si>iritual incoi-jjoratiou through
the Human Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ.
§ The Eucharist as a symbol, and a means, of Union
amomj Christians.
The name "Sacrament' shews that an analogy was soon
observed between the Holy Communion and the "Sacramen-
tum," or military oath, by which the secular armies of the
Roman Empire were bound together in one body. It was
probably given to the Holy Eucharist because the latter was
an outw-ard sign of the bond of love in which the soldiers of
the Christian army are bound together.
The circumstances under which the Institution took place
gave it this character. It was in some now unintelligible
connection with the first administration of the Holy Com-
munion that our Blessed Lord gave the Apostles His great
example of humility and love by m ashing their feet. It was
at that time also that He said, "A new commandment I give
unto you. That ye love one another ; as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know-
that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another. "
[John xiii. 34, 35.] No doubt, then, that the significant rite of
a common participation in a sacrifice was a self-evident symbol
to the disciples, aiul would be so to others also, of that love
which was so solenmly enjoined upon them at the time ; and
of that spiritual relation to each other in which they \^ ere
bound by their Christian profession.
But though the Christian sacramentitni was a symbol, it
was also far more than a symbol. It was a sign, but it was
an efficacious sign. And in the particular aspect under « hich
we are now viewing it, we must consider the Holy Com-
munion as nut only a symbol and sign of spiritual union
between Christians, but also as a means by w-hich that union
is effected.
For the true cause of Christian unity is the Presence of
Christ ; and that Presence is bestowed upon the Christian
community by sacramental means and agency. The wills of
many may combine together, and combine in a holy manner
and for a holy purpose, but it is by the will of Christ pervad-
ing the individual members of which the Church is made up
that such a combination becomes truly spiritual. Hence
unity proceeds, not from the members of the Body mystical
binding themselves to each other, but from their being united
to their Head. The branches of the Vine have an unity with
each other by the Unity which they have with the Stem and
Root. Thus it is our Lord's action in the holy Sacrament,
cementing and consolidating the collateral union by cement-
ing and consolidating the direct union, which gives real unity
to the various members of the Body, and to the various
branches of the Vine.
This is a very important consideration in respect to the
divisions of Christendom. No two Churches can be really
separate from each other if they are really united to their
Head. In proportion also as the life of Churches is main-
tained in vigour by means of the blessed Sacrament, in such
proportion must they be drawing near to each other ; nearer
and nearer as they draw into closer union with Christ. Such
a consideration may tend to mitigate the sorrow which is felt
at the separation between the orthodox, living, churches of
Christendom : and to establish a conviction that notwith-
standing the want of external signs of unity, tliere is yet a
vital unity underlying apparent separation which is most
precious, and the developement of which is doubtless the true
pathway to a restoration of the outward tokens of charity
356
an 3lntroDuction to tfjc liturgp.
anil intercommunion. Xeitlier individual Christians nor cor-
porate Churches can be really in a condition of spiritual
separation when the One Christ is dwelling in each, and each
is thus a living branch of the True Vine.
§ The Eucharist strent/thenhig a7>d 7-efreshin(jthe Soul.
The Gift bestowed in the Holy Communion is tlie spiritual
wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and tlie Bread of
Heaven which strengtheneth man's heart ; that food of the
spirit respecting which our Lord said, "He that eateth ile,
even he sliall Sve by Me." [John vi. 57.] Its effect upon
the t'hristiau nature, to those who faithfully receive it, may
be said, generally, to be a renewal of spiritual life : a re-
invigoration of that nature from spiritual weakness ; a
continual elevation of it from a lower to a higher sphere of
good.
This is effected by the power of Christ's indwelling, i.e. by
the greater or less communication of His power according to
the measure of the Gift of Himself. Hence the Scriptural
language respecting Christ being " formed" in us ; the "mea-
sure of the stature of Christ " being attained by us ; the
building up, or "edification," of our Christian nature in Him.
For the Body and Blood of Christ are the true recuperative
Substance which is represented in the New Testament by the
word " Grace ; " the antidote of the Fall ; and tlie germinat-
ing nucleus of the restored Life. A careful distinction must,
however, be drawn between the action of natural food on the
body, and the operation of the holy Sacrament. In the for-
mer case the living body assimilates the food, and draws it
into its own system and substance and life : but in the latter
the higher life is that which is received by the lower, and the
process of assimilation is reversed. For he who, eating
Christ, lives by Him, is by such sacramental feeding taken
up into and transformed by that which he receives ; and his
whole spiiitual nature elevated to a nearer degree of con-
formity with that of his Lord.
And tluis it may be seen that as the Holy Communion is a
means for elevating the Life of the spirit by communicating
to it Him Who said, " I am the Life," so also it is the means
by ^^■hich the perceptions or faculties of the spiritual nature
are to be elevated and intensified. Christ is the true Wis-
dom, in Whom dwells all the fulness of knowledge. He is
"the Light," and "the Truth:" and as the disciples who
walked with Him in faith when He was gn earth were illumi-
nated by Him, so those who faithfully receive Him in the
Sacrament of His Body and Blood may look for spiritual
illumination and quick perception of Truth. AVith Him is
the well of Life, and in His Light shall we see light. The
power of faith in perceiving the "things that are unseen"
will be increased, the capacity of knowledge for grasping
them will be developed, and continual approximation will be
made to that condition in wliich we sliall no more "see as
through a glass darkly," but "face to face."
And as the life of the soul, its faith, and its knowledge, are
thus to be refreshed and strengthened by the inward part of
the holy Sacrament, so the love of Ciod and man is to be
developed by the same participation at the Fountain of
Divine Love. For, as we love God because He first loved us,
so it is by the Presence of Him ^Mio shewed His Love for men
by giving up His life for them that the gift of charity will
grow and increase. Thus the cold heart will become warm :
thus the relationship of the Christian brotherhood will be
carried out in practical life : thus devotion will fi.x itself upon
its Divine object, and the earnestness of worship in the
Church Jlilitant will train the heart for the fervour of
heavenly adoration.
RITUAL USAGES OF THE ENGLISH LITURGY.
The Holy Communion being an institution of so exalted a
character, and bringing both the Celebrant and all other com-
municants into such solemn proximitj' to the Person of our
Lord, Saviour, and God, the ritual provisions for its celebra-
tion have ever been carefullj' regulated and guarded either by
the rules of the written Liturgies, or by the known traditional
practice of Churches. The Rubrics of our own Office will be
considered in detail in their respective places, but it will be
convenient to say a few words separately, in this Introduc-
tion, by way of sketching out the sj'stem on which the Holy
Communion is celebrated, as to the place of its celebration,
the persons engaged in celebr.itiug it, and one or two other
subjects connected with it.s reverent and profitable adminis-
tration.
§ Tlie Matter of the Sacrament.
The "outward part," or "matter,"' which our Lord
ordained to be used in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,
and as the means whereby the Gift bestowed in the Holy
Eucharist is conveyed to the communicants, is Bread and
Wine, which are called the "Elements" of the Sacrament.
The Bread and Wine which He used when He said " Do this "
were part of those which had been provided for the evening
meal of Himself and His Apostles, this being the first supper
of the Passover week, the week of Unleavened Bread. No
leaven or leavened bread was permitted in any Jewish
house at this time [Exod. xiii. 3] ; and .as all the meals of the
season partook of its festal and sacred character, it is highly
probable that the bread was made of " wheaten flour" [coinp.
Exod. xxix. 2], the "fine Hour" which is so often mentioned
in the Law ; the wine being, undoubtedly, the fermented
juice of the grape.
Wheaten bread h.as therefore been the only kind of bread
recognized by the Church throughout the world as that
proper to be used at the Holy Eucharist : and although it has
never been formally decided th.it the use of barley-bread,
rye-bread, or oatmeal-bread, would invalidate the .Sacrament,
it has certainly been a general opinion that nothing but
extreme necessity would justify the consecration of these
inferior grains, if indeed any necessity could be regarded as
80 extreme as to justify it .at .all Whether the sacramental
Bread should be leavened or unleavened lias, however, been
a (jucstion respecting which there has been much diversity of
opinion ; the unifonn tradition and custom of the Eastern
I This icnn i.s npplicd to tlio water iihoi! Iti BaptiHin in the tliii'd of the
qticstions to l)e a.ski-<l r('H|icrtinK a child privatfly bajitized, *' Witli what
inattf r wan lliis chll<l Iwiptizcil!" (.Ser». I'rtv. Uopl. In/.]
Church being in favour of leavened bread, while that of the
Western Church has been as uniformly in favour of unleavened :
the theologians on either side fully allowing, however, that
whichever kind of bread is used the Sacrament is valid. The
strict following of our Lord's example undoubtedly necessi-
tates the use of unleavened bread : but, on the other hand,
as it was not enjoined that the Eucharist should be celebrated
only in association with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so it
may be reasonably said that it was no part of Christ's injunc-
tions that it should be celebrated only with the particular
kind of bread which He used, since He may have used it with-
out any special purpose, as being the only bread that was to
be obtained at that time. The princip.al argument used by
Greek theologians in supporting the use of leavened bread is
that bread is not "perfect bread" unless it is fermented.
Western theologians, on the other hand, have maintained
that leaven or yeast are impurities, and that unleavened bread
is therefore the purest, and, so far as the Sacrament is con-
cerned, the most perfect bread that can be obtained. The
Roman Church forbids the use of leavened bread : but the
English Church permits the exceptional use of it as sufficing
for the validity of the Sacrament. [See notes on the Rubrics
at the end of the Liturgj'.]
The other element to be used in this Sacrament is that
which alone can be truly called "wine," the pure fermented
juice of the grape.- 'J'hat it should be the juice of the grape,
and not any other liquor, has always been held by theologians
to be essential ; liut it has been allowed by many that if wine,
the fermented juice of the grape, cannot be obtained, then
the unfermented juice expressed from a bunch of grapes into
the chalice, or in the condition in which it runs from the
wine-press, is to be regarded as wine for the purpose of the
Sacrament. This opinion should lie received with very great
caution ; and the practice should certainly not be adopted
unless it is absolutely impossible to obtain true wine. Where
it is impossible to procure either of the elements it is impos-
sible to celebrate the Holy Euch.arist ; and as it would be
actually wrong, and also unavailable, to use water or milk, or
any other fluid than the juice of the grape, so it may be
doubted whether the absence of true wine should not throw
persons back on spiritual communion rather than on the sub-
stitution of that which can only be regarded as wine by a
kind of fiction.
- Thoro is no anomaly in the fact that fermented wine is regarded as
pure, and fenneiitcd liread as iminire. In tlio case of tlio bread the ferments
ing asent remains as jiart of its substance, but there is no trace of it
remaining in the wine.
an IntrotJuction to the liturgj?.
357
But so long as true wine ia used it is not of any importance
what kind it is, or whether it is red or white. The more
general practice in ancient days was to use red wine, the
colour being symbolical. "Nee refert an sit album an rubeuni,
spissum vel tenue, dum tamen sit verum viniim quoad effec-
tum sacramenti ; quam vis vinum rubeuni sit praieligenduni
propter expressionem et similitudinem sanguinis," [Pupil.
Ucitl. iii.] In modern times tlie Continental Cliurches have
used white wine most commonly, but only on the ground that
it does not stain the linen used in connection with the chalice.
§ The Allar.
Although it is possible that in the "breaking of bread
from hou.se to house " no special altar was provided, yet it is
beyond all doubt that as soon as ever places were altogetlier
set apart for the Divine Worship of the Christian Church, the
"Lord's Table" became their most essential feature.' St.
Ignatius, who lived in the Apostolic ago itself, says, "lu
every churcli there is one Altar." [Ad Philipp,] Other early
Fathers frequently allude to the Christian Altar as an object
familiar to Christian siglit ; and in a detailed description of
the Cathedral of Tyre, given by Eusebius in his dedication
sermon, he distinctly names the Holy Altar [^7101' Ouai.aaTripi.ov'l
placed in the midst of tl}e apse at the east end of the church.
There were, however, distinct names given Ijy early Christian
writers to tlie heathen altar [fioiiib^} and the Altar of the
Cliurch [dvinaar-qpiov} ; and while they constantly declare that
they had not the former, they as frequently speak of the
latter as that on which was offered the Christian Sacrifice
[Smria] of the Holy Eucharist.
Altars were made of both stone and wood in the ancient
Church. One of wood, now encased in stone, is preserved in
tlie Church of St. John Lateran at Rome, wliieli lias been
asserted for many centuries to have been u^ed by the Apostle
St. Peter." In the time of St. Augustine wooden altars were
in use in African churches, while stone altars existed in some
of the Churches of Asia. The Council of Epaone [.i.D. 517]
forbade any altars, except those of stone, by its twenty-sixth
Canon ; but such a Canon does not shew that stone was con-
sidered to be absolutely essential, although no doubt there
were some strong reasons of reverence for the Canon being
passed. WiUiam of JIalmesbury says that wooden altars
were originally in common use in England ; and that Wulstan,
Bishop of Worcester in the eleventh century, caused all such
in his diocese to be changed for altars of stone. They are
generally of wood in the Eastern Church.
Of whatever material the Altar may have been made, or by
whatever name called, it has ever been regarded as the Lokd's
Table, because it is the place where the Christian Sacrifice
is offered to Him, and whence He bestows the Body and
Blood of Christ. And because of the honourable office thus
belonging to it, the Altar has ever been placed in tlie mo.st
honourable position of the Church, raised high above its floor,
and decorated with such splendour as art and skill could give
it. The Emperor Coustantine gave some rich tapestry for
an altar, but whether this ■w&s for a covering or for curtains
cannot be determined. It is certain, however, that fine linen
cloths were used to cover tlie Altar during the time of cele-
bration by the Primitive Church. They are mentioned in
the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom,^ by St. Isidore, by Optatus
[vi. 95], and by St. Gregory, in whose Sacramentary there is
a prayer for the benediction of the Palla Altaris and the
Corporis Palla.
The Altar Cross is also handed down to us from the Primi-
tive Church, in which the book of the C4ospels was laid upon
the Holy Table, resting against, or surmounted by, a Cross,
as the sign of the Son of Man, the Word of God, the Saviour
Whose sufferings upon the Cross had won the salvation of
mankind.
It is only necessary further to notice the Credence Table,
which is a reverent adjunct of the Altar for holding the
vessels ami elements until the time when the latter are offered
up at the first Oblation, in the Prayer for the Church Militant.
§ Altar Lights.
The symbolical use of artificial light in Divine worship
appears to have been banded on without any break from the
1 "Alt.ir" and "T.able" are used intcrclianfjeably in Holy Scripture;
both words being used in reference to Jewiyh, Clu'istian, and Heathen
Altars. [.See 1 Cor. ix. 13, x. 18-21,]
2 Perhaps the oldest altar of authentic date is a small portable one of
wood covered with silver, whicli was used by St, Cuthbert, who died a.d.
686. It is preserved in Durham Cathedral Library,
3 Under the name tlAjiTOk.
.Jewish Temple to the Christian Church. The "many lights "
in the "upper chamber" at Troas [Acts xx. 8], and the sym-
bolical references to " candlesticks " in the apocalyptic epistles
to the seven Churches [Rev. ii. 1, 5], offer some indications
to this effect. In some of the early Fathers there are also
allusicms to the burning of candles during Divine Service by
day, and by night in greater abundance than mere necessity
required, as a token of Christian gladness. In the fourth
century a Christian poet, .St, L'aulinus, Bishop of Kola [a,ii.
353 — 431], gives very distinct evidence of the custom, which
was plainly a long-established one in liis time, by writing
that the Altars were crowned with lamps, that the waxen
lights perfumed the air, that they shone by night and by
day, that they gave to the niglit the sjilendour of the
day, and that the day itself was made more glorious by
their illumination.
" Clara coronantur densis altaria lychnis ;
Luiiiina ceratis adolentnr odora papyris,
Noete diefiue niicaiit, Sic nox splendorc diei
Fulget : et ipsa dies coelesti illustris honore
Plus niicat innunieris lucem geminata lucenns."
]?AULiN. Nat. iii. 5". Feltcis.
The practice was, in fact, made a subject of ridicule by Vigi-
lantius [a.d. 370], who was answered by St. Jerome in words
which shew that a definite meaning was associated with it :
"Throughout the churches of the East when the Gospel is
read candles are lighted, although the sun be shining, not for
the purpose of driving away darkness, but as an outward sign
of gladness . . . that under the type of an artificial illumina-
tion tliat light may be symbolized of wliicli we read in the
Psalter, 'Thy Word, Lord, is a lantern unto my feet, and
a light unto my paths.'" [Jerome, Jijiisl. adi: Vigilant, iii.]
The same explanation is given by St. Isidore [a.d. 595] in his
work on the ritual of the Church [Isidok. Origin, vii. 12], as
also by Amalarius [a.d. 810] and liabanus JJaurus [a.d. 822];
and a multitude of later writers interpret the ritual use of lights
as symbolizing the glory of Christ the Personal Word.
For the use of Eucharistic lights in the Church of England
a very great number of autliorities might be cited, but only
a few can here be given. King Edgar's Canons, in the latter
half of the tenth century, contain the injunction, "Let there
be lights always burning in the church when Mass is singing."
[Thorpe'.s Lavs and Instil, ii. 253.] A Canon of jElfric,
Archbishop of Canterbury, a few years later [a.\). 990] illus-
trates the preceding one of Edgar by describing the acolyte
as " one who bears the candle or taper in God's ministries,
when the Gospel is read, or when the Housel is hallowed at
the Altar . . , with that light to announce bliss, in honour
of Christ, W'ho is the One Light. " [Ibid. 347.] After the Con-
quest [a.d. 10S5] St. Osmund wrote the Consuetudinary or
Custom-Book of his .Sarum Use. In this he orders the treasurer
of the Cathedral to provide four candles on all Sundays for
use at Mass, two of which are to be placed "insuper altari,"
and the other two "in gradu coram altari," By the Council
of O.xford, held for the province of Canterbury [a,d. 1222], it
is ordered that at the time when Masses are solemnly cele-
brated, two candles, "vel ad minus una cum lampade," shall
be burning at the Altar. [Wilkins, Concil.i. 595,] A consti-
tution of Bridport, Bishop of Salisbury [a.d. 1236], shews
that the custom extended to all parochial churches, the
parishioners being required to provide " wax candles in the
chancel, and also sufficient lights throughout tlie wliole year
at Mattins, Vespers, and the i\Iass. The Synod of Exeter
[a.d. 1287] has a canon ordering that two candles shall always
be burned out of reverence for the Sacrament, and in ease one
should be accidentally extinguished. [Ibid. ii. 132.] A consti-
tution of Archbishop Reynolds [a.d. 1322] enjoins, "Let two
candles, or one at the least, be lighted at the High Mass "
[Ibid. i. 714] : and the gloss of the media;val canonist Lynd-
wood is " the candles so burning signify Christ Himself, Who
is the Brightness of the Eternal Light." [Lyndwood, 236 ;
comp. Heb. i. 3.] Lastly, at the Reformation, when many
ceremonies were abolished, the Eucharistic lights were re-
tained by the Injunctions, issued under the authority of the
Crown A.D. 1547, which ordered that the clergy "shall suffer
from henceforth no torches, nor candles, tapers, or images of
wax, to be set afore any image or picture, but only two lights
upon the High Altar, before the Sacrament, which, for tlie
signification that Christ is the very true Light of the world,
they shall suffer to remain still. " [Cardw. Ijocum. Ann. i. 7. ]
Ujj to the time of the Great Rebellion the custom was still
continued in the royal chapels, the cathedrals, and some
churches, and is often spoken of bj- the Puritan writers witli
their usual bitter hostility to ceremonies. It was also revived
35S
an IntroOuction to tt)C ILiturgp.
in not a few cases after the Restoration : auJ in a great num-
ber of Churches the candlesticks and candles were retained,
but the latter were not lighted.
The manner in which the Eueharistic lights were used, and
the number of them, has varied in different ages and different
Churches. In the Primitive Church they seem to have been
placed in considerable numbers near to or around the Altar.
An ancient history of York Cathedral [.i.D. 787], printed by
Mabillon, speaks of "three great vases " hung on high for the
Altar lights. The Consuetudinary of Sarum orders two candles
to be placed above the Altar, and two on the steps in front of
it. Durandus speaks of two candlesticks placed at the horns
of the Altar. Bouquillet, in his Traite Historiqiic de la
Litio-ijie &(«•«>, says of candles and flowers, that though they
were used abundantly in ancient churches, they were placed
anywhere but on the Altar during the first twelve centuries :
the former being generallj' carried by acolytes, and placed
upon the ground near the Altar. [Ptgin's Glossai'y, 44-.] A
very common practice in medieval times was to have fnur
brass pillars at the four corners of the Altar, each of which
was surmounted by a taper, curtains being hung between the
standards at the north and south ends of the Altar. The most
ancient EngUsh custom was probably that which is so clearly
indicated in the JUles of Durliam, a book written in Queen
Elizabeth's days by one of the displaced monks of that Abbey.
He says first, in descriljing the High Altar and its appur-
tenances, " And two silver candlesticks, double gilt, for two
tapers, very finely wrought, of three quarters height, to be
taken in sunder with wrests : and other two silver candle-
sticks for every day's service, parcel gilt." These are
described immediately before "two crosses to be borne, on
principal days for procession, one of gold, and the staff it
stood in was of silver, of goldsmitli's fl'ork, very curiously
and finely wrought, and double gilt. The other cross was of
silver. . . . Also there was another cross of crystal that
served for every day of the week. There was also borne
before the cross every principal day a holy water font, of
silver. . . ." The candlesticks mentioned were therefore those
carried in procession by the acolytes, on either side of tlie
cross. [.S'ee Pcgin'.s Glossary, p. 45.] They are shewn in the
title-page of the printed Sarum Missal, where they are being
held by the acolytes ; and they are also mentioned by Bede.
[0pp. Hist. Mil), p. 158 ; Rock's Ch. Fatlias, i. 268, ed.
1849.] What lights were used at the Altar, not of a proces-
sional kind, is shewn by a further passage of the Bites of
Durham: "Before the High Altar, within the Quire above
mentioned, were three silver basins hanging in chains of
silver ; one on tlie south side of the Quire, above the steps
going up to the High Altar ; the second on the north side,
opposite to the first ; the third in the midst, between them
both, just before the High Altar. These three silver basins had
latten basins within them, having pricks for serges, or great
waxen candles to stand on; the latten Viasins being to receive the
dropsof the three candles, which burned day and night, in token
that the house was always watching to (Jod. Tliere was also
another silver basin hanging in silver chains before the Sacra-
ment of the aforesaid High Altar, but nearer to the said Altar
than the others, hanging almost over the priest's back, whicii
was only liglited in timeof Mass, and that ended, extinguished."
It will be observed that the phrase "before the Sacrament "
is here used with a local signilication. That it was so used
also in the Injunctions of Edward VI. is shewn by Hooper's
well-known letter to BuUinger, written on December 27, 1549 :
"They still retain their vestments, and the caudles before
the altars." [Orig. Le.ll. Park. Soc. p. 71.]
The custom of placing candlesticks on either side of the
cross, upon the men.ia, appears to have originally had reference
to the crucifi.K there placed, not to the Blessed Sacrament:
and the "two liglits before tlie Sacrament " were doubtless
candles in great standards— the acolytes' canilles and candle-
sticks permanently placed where they had once been tempor-
arily held during celebration, on tlio platform below tlic foot-
pace.* The crucifix lights had been introduced into many
churches during tlio fourteenth century, and were forbidden
among other image-lights by the same Injunctions of Edward
VI., which continueil the "lights before the Sacrament."
Probably the use of the former was rcviveil after the Restora-
tion instead of tli.at of the latter by those who had seen
foreign customs, under the idea that they were the ancient
Sacrament lights ; and in modern times the Eueharistic
lights have been very generally revived in this form.
' Tlic whole structure of the Altar mid Its plotfonn was often called
" the High Altar."
§ The Celehrant.
In all acts of Divine Service the officiating priest appears
in a twofold capacity. [1] Firstly, he is the representative
of the great High Priest, Who is the Chief Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls ; and [2] secondly, he is the leader of the
people in their adorations and devotions. A little careful
reflection will shew to which of these two divisions of the
minister's oflice particular parts of his duties in Divine Ser-
vice principally belong ; and as regards the celebration of the
Holy Communion, it will be observed that except when
teaching in the Sermon, reading Holy Scripture in the
Epistle and Gospel, speaking the words of pardon in the
Absolution, or of blessing in the Benediction, the ministerial
work of the Celebrant is that of offering to God the prayers,
the alms and oblations, and the "Sacrifice of praise and
thanksgiving " (or Eucharist), on behalf of, and at the head of
his people. Tlie Church comes together in its corporate
capacity (by whatever number it may be represented), as "a
spiritual house, an holy priestliood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." [1 Pet. ii. 5.]
The Minister who stands at the Altar, stands there on behalf
of the people, and as their leader, to represent them before
God, and to oft'er up in tlieir name the spiritual sacrifices
which they have come together to offer.
These principles lie at the root of all the regulations which
are made by the Church as to the dress and the po.iilioii of
the Celebrant, and of those who attend upon him. It is
of infinitely small importance, in itself, what costume the
officiating minister wears, or in what particular place he
stands ; but when the inner meaning and reality of his work,
and of his official relation to God and tlie people, are taken
into account, we at once see that only shallow thinkers,
superficial observers, or persons indifferent to the truth or
falsehood of outward appearances, can imagine that these
things which are of small importance in themselves continue
to be so when they are connected with a mystery so full of
meaning, and a Sacrament so full of life and reality, as that
of the Holy Comnnuiion.
a] The Dress of the Celebrant.
The general principles by which the ritual costume of the
Clergy in the Church of England is regulated will be found
set forth in detail in the third section of tlie Ritual Introduc-
tion to this volume, pp. 63-80. Applyiug these general
principles to the particular case of the Holy Communion, we
find a particular Rubric of 1549, which defined the usage of
tlie Church of England as follows : "H V]ion the day, and at
the time ajypointedfor the ministration of the llolii Communion,
the Priest that shall exfciile the holy ministry,^ shall put vpon
him the vesture appointed for that ministration, that is to say,
a white albe plain, with a vestment or cope." This Rubric was
aftei-wards superseded by the more genei'al one which now
stands before "The Order for Morning Prayer, " and which
directs that "such Ornaments of the Ministers" of the
Church "at all times of their Ministration shall be retained,
and be in use, as were in this Church of Plngland by the
authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of
King Edward VI."
It is clear, therefore, that the ancient tradition of the
Church of England was retained and confiimed ; and that
the existing authoritative law, interpreted by the "Interpre-
tation clause" inserted before Morning Prayer, enjoins the
Celebrant to wear the following dress : —
Over his cassock, or long ecclesiastical coat, he is to put on
[1] an Amice of linen, which is worn round the neck and
shoulders. [2] He vests himself in a linen Ai.nE, which is
a wliite robe of a more compact and close-iltting character
th.an a surplice, and having a girdle, so as to be suit-able for
wearing under another vestment, and not as tlic one chiefly
ill view, such as the surplice is. [.')] Over the alhc, as over
tlie surplice, is to be M'orn the Stolk, a narrow strip of silk
passed across the neck like a yoke, or scarf, .and long
enough for the ends to reach a little below the knee. [4]
Over the stole is to be worn the Cinsi'Bi.K, sometimes called
especially "the Vestment," .although that term properly
includes the whole of tlie Celebr.ant s official dress, because
it is ///(' cliar.acteristic Eueharistic robe of all Christendom,
and h.a3 been so from tlie earliest age of the Church. The
form of tlie chasulilc is that of a short cloak, reaching nearly
to tlic knees, .and gathereil up by tlie arms .at each side, so ns
to hang iu an oval form before and behind. It is usually
1 Conip. Executor ojjicii, p. isi, initrgin.
an 3lntrotiuction to tbc iLiturgy.
359
luaJo of silk, ami its colour (iia alao that of the stole) varies
at different seasons according to rules shewn at \>. 77. But
it has often been made of materials more humble or more
costly than silk, according as much or little could Ijo expended
upon the Service of the Lord's House and Table.' [5] The
^IANIPLE is also to be worn upon the left arm, being some-
times put on before and sometimes after the Chasuble. [For
further detail, see pp. 79, 80.]
/3] The Position of the t'elehrant.
It would appear, at first sight, that nothing could be easier
than to determine what should bo the po.sition of the Cele-
brant during his ministration at the Lord's Table, yet it has
been the subject of protracted controversy ; and volumes full
of ponderous learning were publislied on the subject by Arch-
bishop 'Williams and Dr. Peter Heylyn in the seventeenth
century. The cause of all doubt on the subject -was the
introduction of a ritual phrase, "the north-side of the Table,''
in 1552, which had not been previously used by the Church
of England. "
The principles stated in a preceding paragraph make it
clear that the most natural and common-sense ijosition for tlie
leader of the congregation, when the " Sacrifice of praise and
tlianksgiving " is being offered at the Altar, is in tlie front
of the Holy Table "where his special work is to be done, and
where he manifestly stands at their head as an officer stands
at tlie head of his soldiers, when he is leading them forward.
Probably no one who held orthodox doctrine respecting the
Holy Communion would ever have thought of any other
position but for the introduction of the words "north-side"
and the practice of the Puritans ; which latter was regulated
by the unorthodox theory that the Minister was one at the
head of a table entertaining guests seated around it.
This shockingly irreverent theory of the Puritans, which
put the Minister in the place of God instead of making him
His ministerial representative, led to the constant removal of
the Holy Table iuto the body of the Chancel or Church by
tliem, without any regard to the supposed necessity on
account of which such a removal was permitted in extreme
cases by the Kubric.^ [See note at p. 371.]
Until this removal became so common a habit, the uni-
versal position for the Celebrant was in front of the Altar
[fig. 1] ; and when the removal took place, the relative posi-
tion of the Table and the Celebrant remained the same,
althougli the former was placed "table-wise," or with its
long sides parallel to the north and south walls of the
Church [fig. 2]. When, again, the Holy Table was returned
to its ancient place at the east end, and set altar-wise, many
of the Clergy retained the position with reference to the con-
gregation, though not with reference to the Table, which
they had held when the latter stood table-wise in the Church
[fig. 3].
Celebrant.
1 During the last and the precednig century the cope seems to have been
substituted for tlie chasuble in celebrating tlie Holy Communion. It was
so used in Durham Cathedral until towards the close of the eighteenth
century, being first discontinued by Bishop Warburton, when Prebendary
of Durliam, through irritable impatience of some collision between his wig
and the collar of the cope. This use of the cope is expressly enjoined by
the 24th Canon, and many proofs exist th.at the Canon has only been dis-
regarded in comparatively recent times. Vast numbers of copes were
destroyed during the persecution and spoliation of the Church in the
Great Rebellion, but many were preserved, as were those of Peterborough
[Kennett's Rc'jister, ISS] and other cathedral Churches. Either the cope
was thus substituted for the chasuble because many of the former being
used, more of them escaped destruction than of tlie latter; or else the
name of cope was given, as it undoubtedly was in some cases during the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, to the chasuble itself The Bishops
of Queen Elizabeth's reign, in their interi>retation of her Injunctions,
ordered " that there be used only one apparel; as the cope in the minis-
tration of the Lord's Supper, and the surplice in all other ministrations."
[Cabdw, Docum. Ann. i. 205.]
2 The expression is found in the Syriac Oydo Communis of the Liturgy ;
and also [st'c Neale's East. Cli. ii. 669] in the Mozarabic Liturgy.
3 So general had this practice become, that in 1G2S Bishop Cosin (then
Prebendary of Durham) was accused of l)eing " the first man that caused
the Communion Table in the Church of Dnrliani to be removed and set
altar-wise." [Cosin's IVorks, I. xxiii.] Williams' Bisliop of Lincoln's
Articles of Visitation for 1641 also ask, "Doth your Cnmmunion Table
stand in the ancient place, where it li.ath done for tlie greatest ]>art of these
sixty years, or hath it been removed to the east end, and placed altar-wise?"
Hence it came to bo supposed that "at the north-side of
the Table " meant at the jiart occupied by the Celebrant in
the third figure, whereas it was nothing but a ritual synonym
for tlie ancient rnljrical expression ^*in fiinistro eornu aUaria^^
of the ancient Latin Communion Ofiice of tlie Church of Kng-
land. Thus in the ancient ritual of the Church of England
the Altar was ritually divided into three parts : —
Kach of these is mentioned in the following Rubric of the
Sarum Missal: "Sciendum est antem quod (jiiicquid a eactr-
dole dieitur ante epistolam in dextro cornu altaris expleatiir:
prcKter inceptionem Gloria in excelsis. Similiter fiat jjost per-
ceptionem Sacramenti. (.'cetera omnia in medio altaris exjilean-
tin; nisi forte diaconus defncrit. Tunc enim in sinistra cornu
Altaris Ic'jcitiir evemfjelimii.^'' *
In the ministration of the Holy Communion, then, the Cele-
brant is clearly to go at once to the front of the Altar, and to
say the Lord's Prayer and the Collect for Purity while facing
it. In reading the Commandments he stands "tiniiinij to the
pipople," having previously been turning to the Altar. The
Comniaudments ended, he returns to liis former position, and
says the Collect for the Queen and that for the day, "stand-
ing as before." After the Gospel he goes to the midst of the
Altar, remaining there during all the rest of the Service
except at the time of the Sermon and the Communion : turn-
ing towards the people when he is acting in his capacity as
tlie Minister of God to them : turning towards the Altar
when he is acting in his capacity as their Minister, by oft'er-
ing up prayers, praises, alms, oblations, and the Holy Sacra-
ment itself on their behalf to God.'
Thus the rubrical position of the chief Minister (the
'Apx'fpecs, ;is he is called in the Clementine Liturgy) is in
itself highly significant of the work which he is appointed to
do in the Holy Communion, and scarcely less significant of
that participation of the Laity in the sacred oiBce which he
exercises as a leader at the head of those whose privilege it is
to be "a royal priesthood." A reverent mind will also see
in this relation between the Celebrant and the lay offerers a
type of the relation between them and that High Priest \Vho
is the First-born among many brethren, \Vho has gone up
into the Holy of Holies, and Who has entered within the
veil to offer up the continual Sacrifice of His once suffering
but now glorified Body before the Throne of Grace.
7] Tlie Ministers, or Deacon and Suh-deacon.
The original name for those who assist the Celebrant at the
celebration of the Holy Communion was doubtless the gene-
ral one of Deacon or Minister. When Siib-deacons were
appointed they were permitted to read the Epistle, and to
wait upon the Deacon, as the Deacon did upon the Celebrant.
In the Church of England the rites are compiaratively few,
and these attending Clergy came often to be called by names
characteristic of the most conspicuous part of their duties,
the Gospeller and Epistler. So the 24th Canon speaks of
them : —
"In all Cathedral and Collegiate Churches the Holy Com-
munion shall be administered upon principal feast-days, some-
times by the Bishop, if he be present, and sometimes by the
Dean, and at sometimes by a Canon or Prebendary, the Prin-
cipal Minister using a decent Cope, and being assisted W'ith
* This Eubric is illustrated by the following passages from the Lay Folks'
Mass Book: —
" The prest bigynnes ofiice of niesse.
Or ellis he standcs turnande his boke
At tho south auter noke.
Til deken or prest tho gospel rede.
Stonde up then and take gode hede ;
For then the pre.st flyttes his boke
North to that other auter noke."
But at the " Sursum Corda : "—
" Tlie prest will after in that place
Remow him a litel space.
Till he come to the auter myddis."
[Lay Folks' Mass Book, E. E. T. Soc. ed. pp. 10, 16, 26.)
» Objections are sometimes raised against the Celebrant's "turning his
back to the people," as if it were a gesture that is disrespectful to them.
The objection is too vulgar and puerile to need more than a notice that it
has not been overlooked.
?6o
an 3lntrotiuction to tfjc liturgp.
the Gospeller and Epistler agreeably according to the Ad-
vertisements published Anno 7 Eliz. ..."
So also they are spoken of by Bishop Cosin in the Rubric
proposed by him instead of that now standing before the
Nicene Creed, and which is printed at p. 374 in the foot-
notes.
The Ornaments Rubric, which regulates the dress of the
Celebrant, regulates also that of his assisting clergy ; and it
is illustrated by the Rubric of 1549 : "And tchtre t/iere he
many Priests or Deacons, there so many sliall be ready to help
the priest in the ministration as shall be requisite ; and shall
have upon them likewise the vestures appointed for their minis-
try, that is to say, albes imth tunicles." The tuuicle or tunic is
a loose coat with hanging sleeves, to be made of the same
material and colour as the chasuble of the Celebrant. [See p.
80.] That of the Deacon or Gospeller is called in the old
Rubrics a Dalmatic.
The ordinary places for the assistants of the Celebrant are
on the steps of the Altar, behind hira and on either side, the
Sub-Deacon or Epistler reading the Epistle from his place,
two steps below the footpace of the Altar on the south side,
and the Deacon or Gospeller from his, which is one step below
the footpace on the north side. Into further details of their
ministrations at the Holy Communion it is unnecessary to
enter. 1
§ The Hour for the Celebration of the Holy Communion.
In the early and unsettled age of the Church, there was no
restriction as to the hours during which it was proper to have
public celebrations of the Holy Communion. As Christian
worship (wliich consisted almost entirely of this rite) was
offered up in the upper chambers of dwelling-houses, or in
the " caves and dens of the earth," which were to be found in
sucli places as the catacombs, because it was impossible to do
so otherwise than in secret, even so it was offered up at such
times as the necessities of Christians demanded, by day or
night : and generally, no doubt, during the hours of darkness.
So, in the Apostolic period, Pliny wrote to Trajan that the
Christians held their assemblies before daybreak ; and Ter-
tullian, a century later, gives the true force to the heathen
writer's testimony when he says, "The Sacrament of the
Eucharist commanded by our Lord at the time of Supper,
and to all, we receive even at our meetings before daybreak."
[Tertull. de Coron. iii. ] St. Cyprian, in his sixty-third
epistle, written A. D. 2.53, gives a reason why the Holy Com-
munion was celebrated by the Church in the morning, although
instituted by our Lord at night. "It behoved Christ," he
says, "to offer at the evening of the day, that the very hour
of the Sacrifice might intimate the setting and evening of the
world, as it is written in Exodus, ' And the whole assembly
of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.'
And again in the Psalms, ' Let the lifting np of my hands be
an Evening Sacrifice. ' But we celebrate the resurrection of
the Lord in the morning." [Cypr, Ep. Ixiii. 13] St.
Augustine was consulted as to an evening celebration on the
fifth day in Holy Week, that is. Maundy Thursday, and he
very distinctly speaks of the general practice of the Church
at all times as that of morning celebrations, giving a similar
reason to that given by St. Cyprian ; but he permits an
1 Tlie following Rubric of the Snnun Communion Office contains so much
that is of illustrative value, that it is printed without abbreviation : —
" Ilis finitis, et Officio missai inrhoato, cum post Olliciiim Gloria Patri
incipitur, tunc accedant ministri ad Altare ordinatiin, ]>rimo cerofcrarii duo
pariter incedcntes, dcinde thuril)ularti, post subdiacoims, esinde diaconus,
post cum aacerdos ; diacoiio et subdiacono ca.sulis iudutis, scilicet quotidie
per Adventum et a Bcptuagesima usque ad Canam Domini, quando de
tcmporali dicitur missa, nisi in vifiiliis et Quatuor teniporibus, maims tamen
ad modum .sacerdotia non habeutibus ; cfeteris vero niinistris, scilieet cero-
ferariis, thuribulariis et acolyto, in albis eum ainietibus exsistentibus. In
aliis voro temporibus anni, quando de teniporali dicitur inissa, et in festis
Banctorum totius anni, utantur diaconns et subdiaeonus dalmaticis et
tunicis, nisi in viciliis et Quatuor tempnribns, et nisi in vigilia Pascha; et
Pcntecost«a, et Nativitatia Domini, si in Doniinitra contigerit. et exeepio
jejunlo Quatuor temimrum quod celcbratur in hebdoniada Pentecostes ;
tunc dalm.aticis et tunicis indui debent. In die Paraseeves et in Rogationi-
bus ad missain jejunii ct processionis ct in missis dominicalibus et sanc-
torum qu!B in cajiitulo dicuntur ; tunc cnim albis cum amictibus utantnr;
ita tamen quod in tempore Paschalt de quoennque dieitnr missa, nisi in
Inventione sanctie crucis, utantur ministri alUiris vestinientis albis ad
missam. Similiter flat in fcstn Annunciationia Bcatic Maria!, et in Con-
ccptionc cjuadem, et in ntroque festo saneti Michaelis et in festo Ran<^ti
Johannia apostoli in bcbdomada Nativitatis Domini et per octavas et in
octavis Assumptionis et Xalivitatis beat^e Maria- et in commcmorationibns
cjusdcm per totum annum et jter octavas et in octavis Dedifationis ecclcsitc.
Ilubeifi vero utantur vestimentia omnibus Dominicia per annnm extra
tcmpua Paachie, quando dc Dominica agitur, ct iji qnartaferia in Capitc
jejnnii et in Crena Domini ct in utroquc festo sanctic Crucis, in quolibt^t
fcato martynim apostolonnn et cvangclistanim extra tempus Pascha;. In
omnibus autetii festis nnlus confcgsoris vcl plurimorum coufes.sorum,
utantur vestinientis crocei coloris."
evening celebration on that day for the Communion of those
who could continue their fast so long, as well as the morning
one for tliose who could not. [Aug. £p. cxviii. ad Januar.]
Precisely the same rule is laid down by the third Council of
Carthage [a.d. 397], which ordained in its twenty -ninth
Canon, "that the Sacrament of the Altar is not to be cele-
brated but by fasting men, the one anniversary day being
excepted on which was instituted the Supper of the Lord ;
for if commendation is to be made of any departed, whether
of bishops, or of clergj', or of others, after noon, let it be done
with prayers only, if they who make it shall already be found
to have dined."
Many later testimonies might be added, shewing that the
practice of the Church was always to celebrate the Holy Com-
munion early in the day, and at the least before the principal
meal was eaten. Some early writers appear even to enjoin
the rule observed in later times, that it should be celebrated
and received before any food whatever had been taken on
that day.^
Another established rule of the later Church is, that the
Holy Communion should not be celebrated until after some
other Office has been said. "Potest colligi," saj-s Lyndwood
[iii. 23], "quod in festo Natalis Domini celebraturus primam
Missam, qute solet cantari ante Laudes, debet priua perficere
Matutinas et Primam."
The same rule is to be found in the decrees of several
diocesan synods of the Church of England, as, e.r/. in that of
Norwich [a.d. 1257], which ordered "quod nuUus sacerdos
celebret, quousque Prima canonice sit completa. "
The ancient hour appears to be indicated by St. Gregory of
Tours, when he writes, in the life of St. Nicetius, "Hora
tertia cum populus ad Missarum solemnia conveniret. " The
same hour is named bj' St. Gregory the Great, in his thirtj'-
seventh homily on the Gospels, where he speaks of a bishop
who " oblaturus sacrificium ad horam tertiam venerat." This
hour is found appointed in the rules of some religious com-
munities [M.i.SKELL, A7h: Lit. 154], and was observed in the
Cathedral of Durham, of which Davies writes, "At nine of
the clocke ther riang a bell to masse, called the Chapter
masse." [Jiites of Durham, p. 82.] That nine o'clock in the
morning in medieval times represented a later hour of the
day than it does in tlie present age is evident ; yet it is
clear, beyond all doubt, that it has been the constant rule of
the Church of England to celebrate the Holy Communion
before the middle of the day, and after IMattins.
§ The Frequency with which the Holy Communion should he
celtbi'ated.
In the first fervour and joy of their Pentecostal life the dis-
ciples of our Lord '* continued daily with one accord in the
Temple " obserWng the liours of prayer, and daily also cele-
brated the Holy Communion in one or other of their private
assembling-places, "breaking bread from house to house."
[Acts ii. 46.] Holy Scripture gives us no further indication
whether a d,aily Communion became the established habit of
the Church ; but it seems to have been so invariable a feature
of primitive Christian worship that there is hardly any room
to doubt its having become so. It must have been such a
habit which led the early Fathers to write as they did of the
" daily bread " in the Lord's Prayer, meaning the Gift
bestowed in the Holy Eucharist ; calling it the " supersub-
stantial Bread " with St. Cyril of Jerusalem [Cyril, Cattch.
Led. xxiii. 15], or, with Tertullian, the "Bread which is the
Word of the living God which cometh down from Heaven."
[Tertull. de Oral, vi.] St. Cyprian speaks of it in direct
terms as a familiar habit of the Church of his day, "... It
will be the especial honour and glory of our Episcopate to
have given peace to Martyrs ; so that we who, as priests,
daily celebrate the Sacrifices of God, shall prepare victims
for God as well as oblations." [Cypr. Ej). Ivii. 2, "hostias
- So St. Augustine in the Epistle to Januarins, previously quoted, writes
as follows: "It jdainly ajip'-ars that when the disciples Ilrst rereived the
Lord's liody and lilood, they did not receive it fasting. Ought it then to
be a matter of rejtrdarh to tlie Catholic Church that this Sacrament has ever
been received fasting? I'or it seemed good to tlio Holy Cliost that for the
honour of so great a Sacrament the Lord's Body and 'Blood should enter
the Christian's mouth before oilier food. Since it is for this reason that
such a custom is kept throughout the world. And though the Lord gave
It after meat, yet the brethren ought not to assemble to receive that Sacra-
ment after ilinner or supper, nor mix It nji with their meals, as they did
whom St Paul reproves and ciu-rects. For the Saviour, in order more
earnestly to recommend the de]ith of that Mystery, wished, as He was
going away from Ilia diseiples to His P.assion, to fl'x II Iti their hearts as
His last act. And He left no directions as to the future order, thai lie
might rcscr\'e It for the Apostles to do, to whom He was about to eonimit
the Chnrebea. For had He commanded that It should be always received
after other food, no one, I believe, would have altered that custom."
an 3lntroDuction to ti)Z ILitutgg.
361
Deo et victimas prasparemua."] The same writer also says,
"This IJroad we pray that it be given lis clay by ilay, lest wo
who are in Christ, and wlio daily receive the l^lucharist for
food o£ salvation, shuukl by the admission of any grievous
crime . . . ." [Cvn:. dn Urat. Dvm. xiii.] The words of
St. Augustine shew, however, that there was not one rigid
and uniform rule on this subject; for lie says, "The Sacra-
ment of this thing, that is, of the unity of the IJody and
Blood of Christ, in some places every day, in some places at
certain intervals of days, is on the Lord's Table prepared,
and from the Lord's Table is taken." [Aiui. in Joan. vi. 54.]
He also writes elsewhere, "I neither praise nor lilamc those
who receive the Holy Communion daily, but I exhort all to
receive it on the Lord's Days."
In the ancient Lectionary of St. Jerome, and in the Sacra-
mentaries, provision is made for celebrations on every day at
the more sacred seasons of the year ; and, in general, on
Wednesdays and Fridays at otiier times ; and this also is the
case with tlie Salisbury Missal, which during a large part of
the year has Epistles, Gospels, etc., for several or all of the
week-days. But no canon of the Church of England exists
imposing daily celebration as a rule on the English Clergy,
although the rule as to Sunday iias strict and definite.
Nevertheless, it is certain that daily celebration was the
practice of the Clergy ; and probably few, if any, exceptions
can be proved in medieval times.
In the Prayer Book of 1549 provision was made for daily
public celebrations, in a Rubric before the first Exhortation,
as follows: "IT In cathedral churches, or other j^laces where
there is dally Communion, it shall be sufficient to recul this
Exhortation above written once in a month. And in xiarish
churches, upon the week-days, it may he left unsaid." The
Post-communion sentences were also directed "to be said or
sung, every day one, after the Holy Commtmjon ; " and in the
end of the Service is a Rubric permitting the omission of the
Gloria in Excelsis, the Creed, the Homily, and the Exhorta-
tion, "when the Holy Communion is celebrate on the work-
day." One of the final Rubrics also directs that after the
Litany has been said on Wednesdays and Fridays, preparation
shall be m.ado to celebrate the Holy Communion, " the Priest
shall pvl upon him a plain albe or surplice, with a cope, and
say all thinys at the Altar (appointed to be said at the celebration
of the Lord's Sup]>er), until after the Offertory," when, if there
were no Communicants, he was to dismi.ss the jieople with a
Collect and "the accustomed bkssinij." "And the same order
shall be used," it is added, "all other days whensoever the
peojile be customably assembled to pray in the church, and none
disptosed to communicate with the Priest." These rules were
in 1552 condensed into the Rubric, which (with the word
" Colleijes" added) now stands at the end of the Service:
"And in cathedral and collegiate churches, wliere be many
Priests and Deacons, they shall all receive the Communion with
the Minister every Sunday at the least, eoxejit they have a reason-
able cause to the contrary." The Rubrics respecting Collects,
Epistles, and Gospels, and Proper Prefaces, will shew that
provision is made for the celebr;ition of the Holy Communion
on any day of the week, and that, at least at certain solemn
seasons, such frequent celebrations are plainly contemplated.
After the great Rebellion fre<|uent Communions were urged
by all our pious Divines, Sparrow, Jeremy Taylor, and
Beveridge advocating its daily celebration. Dean Grenville
of Durham used most energetic endeavours, under the sanction
of Archbishop Bancroft, to get the weekly celebration properly
restored in all cathedrals, and, happily, there have been few
in which the habit has since been dropped.
The conclusion to be drawn from these evidences of the
rule and practice of the Church of England is, that while
regular Sunday celebrations of the Holy Communion are the
undoubted rule for every Church, provision is also made for
more frequent, and even daily celebrations in cathedral
churches, and wherever reasons of pious expediency make
them desirable. The oljject of every celel)ration being two-
fold, first, an offering of the Holy Eucharist, and, secondly,
a Communion ; the frequency of them between Sunday and
Sunday can never, in the abstract, be without justification ;
and may, in particular circumstances, become a great spiritual
necessity and privilege, to the Cliurch at large, to a particular
parish, and to individual Communicants.
APPENDIX.
[I.]
THE ANCIENT LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENG-
LAND, ACCORDING TO THE USE OF SARUM.
The Priest, having first confessed and received Absolution,
said the Hymn, " Veni, Creator," whilst putting on the holy
vestments, and then the Collect, " Deus, cui omne cor patet, "
Ps. xliii. Judica me, with the Autiphou, " Introibo ad altare
Dei, ad Deura qui la^tificat juventutem meam ; " followed by
"Kyrie," "Pater noster," and "Ave Mai'ia." All this,
ajaparently, was done in the Sacristy.
The "Officium," or Introit, having been begun, the Priest
proceeded "ad gradum Altaris," and there (with the Deacon
on the right and the Sub-deacon on the left side of the Altar)
said "Confiteor," etc. ; to which they responded with
' ' Misereatur, " etc. Then they said the " Confiteor, " and tlie
Priest responded with "Misereatur," and " Absolutionem. "
He then kissed the Deacon and Sub-deacon, saying, ' ' Habete
osculum pacis et dilectionis, ut apti sitis sacrosancto altari,
ad perficiendum officia Divina ; " and then going up to tlie
Altar, and standing before the midst of it, said secretly, ' ' Take
from us, we beseech Thee, Lord, all our iniquities, that we
may with pure minds enter in unto the Hi-ily of Holies.
Through Christ our Lord." He then signed himself with the
cross in his forehead, saying, " In the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Cihost. Amen."
Then, taking the censer from the Deacon, he censed the
Altar in the middle and at each horn, and gave it back to the
Deacon, who censed him.
All this was done during the singing of the Introit by the
Choir. Then, after " Kyrie Eleison," etc., the Priest, stand-
ing before the midst of the Altar, precented the "Gloria in
excelsis Deo ; " after which he returned to the ' ' dexter horn "
of the Altar ; for according to Sarum Use, the Priest, having
gone to the "dexter horn" after the "Aufcr a nobis, " re-
mained there until the Epistle, or, if assisted by Epistoler and
Gospeller, until the Creed, excepting only when he had to
precent the "Gloria in Excelsis." '
Then the Priest, having crossed himself on the forehead,
turned to the People with y. The Lord be with you. R7.
And with thy spirit. Then, turning to the Altar, he said the
Collect.
The Sub-deacon then going from the Altar through the
Choir, read the Epistle, sometimes from a pulpit, sometimes
from the step of the Choir ; after which the Gradale, and
Alleluia, and sometimes a Sequence or Tractus were sung.
Then the Deacon, having first censed the middle of the
Altar, went down through the Choir, preceded by the two
tajier-bearers and the censer-bearer, and read the Gospel from
the same place from which the Epistle had been read, the
Sub-deacon holding the Book, the taper-bearers one on each
side, and the censer-bearer behind him. After the announce-
ment of the Gospel the Choir turned to the Altar and sang
" Glory be to Thee, Lord ; " but during the reading of the
Gospel they turned towards the reader. The Gospel finished,
the Deacon kissed the Book, and taking it from the Sub-
deacon, carried it back in front of his breast, and the Priest,
moving to the midst of the Altar, precented the first words
of the Creed, ' ' I believe in one God. " The Sarum Use directs
the Choir to turn to the Altar at the Creed, and to bow, [1] at
" And was incarnate ; " [2] at "And was made man ; " [3] at
"And was crucified."
After the Creed, the Priest, saying first, "The Lord be
with you," said the "Offertory," which consisted of a few
verses of Holy Scripture, most frequently from the Psalms.
After the " Offertory " the Deacon handed to the Priest the
Chalice containing wine and water, and upon it the Paten
containing some bread. The Priest then raised the ChaUce
.slightly in both hands, "otferens sacrificium Domino," and
saj'ing the prayer, " Suscipe, Saucta Trinitas, banc oblationem
1 The "Gloria in Excekis" was not said during Advent, nor from
Septuasesima to Easter Eve.
?62
an JntroDuction to tbc liturgj).
quam ego indignus peccator offero in iiouore tuo, beut:e
Marine et omnium Sanctorum tuoruni, pro peccatis et oifen-
siouibus meis : et pro salute vivorum et requie omnium
fidelium defunctorum. In Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus
Sancti acceptum sit omnipotent! Deo lioc sacrificium novum. "
He tlien replaced the Chalice and Paten and Bread upon the
Altar, and covered them with the Corporale ; and taking the
censer from the Deacon, censed the oblations, saying, "Let my
prayer, Lord, be set forth in Tliy sight as the incense. " Then
tlie Deacon censed tlie Priest, and an acolyte censed the Choir.
Then the Priest going to the "right horn" of the Altar
washed liis hands, saj'ing, "Cleanse me, O Lord, from all
defilement of mind and body, that I may be able with purity
to fulfil the holy work of the Lord. " Then, returning to the
midst of the Altar, he bowed, and said, "In the spirit of
humility and witli contrite hearts may we be accepted of
Thee, Lord ; and may our offering be so made in Thy sight
that it may be accepted of Thee this day, and maj' please
Thee, Lord my God."
Then, crossing himself " In the Name," etc., and turning to
the People, he said, " Pray, brethreii and sisters, for me, that
this my sacrifice, which is also equally yours, may be accepted
by our Lord God : " and the Clerks answered, " The grace of
the Holy Spirit enlighten thy heart and tliy lips, and the Lord
graciously accept this sacrifice of praise at thy hands for our
sins and offences."
Turningback to the Altar, the Priest then said the "Secret*,''
corresponding in number to the Collects said before the Epistle;
and again saluting the People with "The Lord be with you,"
began the Anapliora, or more solemn part of the Communion
Service, which was as follows : —
Priest. Lift up your hearts.
Answer. We lift them up unto the Lord.
Priest. Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
Answer. It is meet and right so to do.
Prie-'it. It is very meet, riglit, and our bounden duty, that
we should at ail times, and in all places, give thanks unto
Thee, Lord, holy Father, Almighty everlasting God :
through Christ our Loi-d. Tlirough Whom the Angels praise
Thy Majesty, Dominions adore Thee, and Powers tremble
before Thee. The Heavens, and all the Hosts of them, and the
blessed Seraphim, together in united exultation praise Tliee.
With whom we pray that Thou wouldst command our voices
also to be admitted, evermore humbly praising Thee and say-
ing :
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts : heaven and earth
are full of Thy glory : Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He
that Cometh in the Name of the Lord : Hosanna in the highest.
[Then immediateli/, joinin'j his hands and raising his ei/es, he
heyan the Canon of tlie Mass, as follows,']
Most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, through
Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, that Thou wouldest accept
and bless these gi-{-fts, these offer+ings, these ho-l-ly uude-
filed sacrifices.
Which, before all things, we offer unto Thee for Thy holy
Catholic Church, which do Thou vouchsafe to keep in peace
and unity, and to rule and govern it throughout the world,
as also Thy servant N. our Pope, and N. our Bishop, and N.
our King, and all orthodox believers of the Catholic and
Apostolic Faith.
Remember, I>ord, Thy servants and Thy handmaidens,
N. and N., and all here present, whose faith and devotion are
known unto Thee : for wliom we offer unto Thee, and who
themselves also do offer unto Thee, this sacrifice of praise for
themselves and all their friends, for tlio redemption of their
own souls and the hope of their own salvation and deliver-
ance, and who pay their vows to Thee, the eternal, living,
and true (jod :
In communion with, and liaving in devout remembrance,
first, the glorious and Ever- Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus
Christ our Lord and God, as well as also Thy blessed Apostles
and Martyrs, Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas,
James, Philij), Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thad-
diEUS : Linus, Cletus, Clemens, Sixtus, Cornelius. Cypri.m,
Laurence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Oosmas and Damian ;
and all 'J"hy Saints : by whose merits and jirayers do 'J'liou
grant, that we may evermore be defended by the help of 'i'hy
protection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
This oblation therefore of us 'J"hy humble servants, as well
as of 'i'hy whole family, we pray that 'I'hou, Lord, wouhlest
favourably receive ; and wouldest dis])0.se our days in Tliy
peace, and deliver us from eternal damnation, and make ns
to be numbered M'ith the flock of Thine elect. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Which oblation do Thou, God Almighty, vouchsafe to
make alvogether bles-1-sed, me+et, and ri+ght, reasonable,
and acceptable, that to us it may become the Bo+dy and
Blo-J-od of Thy most dearly beloved Sou, our Lord Jesus
Christ. [Here the Priest raised the Host, saying,']
Who the day before He suffered, took bread into His holy
and venerable hands, and lifting up His eyes to heaven, [here
he raised his eyes,] to Thee, God, His Father Almighty, and
giving thanks to Thee, He bles+sed, and brake it, and [hci-e
he touched the Host] gave it to His disciples, saying. Take and
eat ye all of this. For this is My Body. [After these words
the Priest boivrd himself toimrds the Host, and then raised it
abure his forehead that it might be seen by the people, and then
reverently rej^laced it in front of the Chalice. He then vncovercd
the Chalice, and taking it in Iiis hands, said,]
In like manner after they had supped, taking also this
noble cup into His holy and venei-able hands, and giving
thanks to Thee, He bles-f-sed it, and gave it to His disciples,
saying. Take and drink ye all of this. [Here he raised the
Chalice slightly, saying,]
F^or this is the cup of My Blood of the new and everlasting
covenant, the mystery of faith, which shall be shed for you
and for many for tlie remission of sins. [Here he raised the
Chcdice to his breast, or above his head, saying,]
As oft as ye shall do this, ye shall do it in remembrance of
Me. [Here he replaced the Chalice on tlie Altar, and covered
it.]
Wherefore, Lord, in memory of the same Thy Son Christ
our Lord and tJod, of His blessed Passion as well as of His
Resurrection from the grave and glorious Ascension into
Heaven, we Thy servants, and also Thy hcdy people, offer to
Thine illustrious Majesty of Thine own gifts which Thou
hast given, a pu-J-re offering, an ho-J-ly offering, an unde4"filed
offering, even the holy bre+ad of eternal life, and the c-f-up
of everlasting salvation.
Upon which vouchsafe to look with favourable and jiropi-
tious countenance, and to accept, as Thou vouchsafedst to
accept the gifts of Thy righteous servant Abel, and the Sacri-
fice of our Patriarch Abraham, and that which Thy High
Priest Melchisedecli offered unto Tliee, a holy sacrifice, an
otTering undefiled.
We liumbly beseech Thee, Almighty God, command these
to be carried by the hands of Thy holy angel to Thine altar
on high, ill the sight of Thy Divine Majesty, that as many of
us as by partaking of this Altar have received the holy Body
and Blood of Thy Son, may be fulfilled witli Thy grace and
heavenly benediction. Through tlie same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Remember also, Lord, the souls of Thy servants and
handmaids N. and N. who have gone before us with tlie sign
of faith, and now do sleep in the sleep of peace : to them,
Lord, and to all that are at rest in Christ, grant, we beseech
Thee, a place of refreshment, of light and peace. Through
the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
To us sinners also Thy servants, who trust in the multi-
tude of Thy mercies, vouchsafe to give some portion and
fellowship with Thy holy Apostles and Martyrs, with John,
Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcel-
linus, Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes,
Cecilia, Anastasia, and with all Thy Saints, into whose
company do Thou, we beseech Thee, admit us, not weighing
our merits, but pardoning our offences. Through Christ our
Lord.
Tlirough Whom, Lord, Thou evermore Greatest all these
good things, sancti -ffiest, quicken-J-est, bless+est them, and
givest them to us.
Through Hi4-m, and with Hi-fm, and in Hi+m, in the
unity of the Holy+Gliost, all honour and glory be unto Thee,
O (iod, the Father Al-J-mighty, world without end. Amen.
Let us pray.
Tauglit by His wholesome precepts, and guided by His
Divine instruction, we are bold to say :
[Here the Deacon took tlie Paten, and, standing on the right
of the Priest, raised it vp on high vncovercil, and held it so, to
the words, Grant, of Thy mercy, jieace in our days.
The Prie.it meantime raising his harids, said,]
Our Father, etc.
Choir. But deliver us from evil.
Priest, secretly. Anion.
Deliver us, we beseech Thee, Lord, from all evils, past,
present, and future : and, the blessed and gloricnis and Ever-
Virgin Mary, tlic Mother of CJod, and Thy blessed Apostles,
I'eter and Paul and Andrew, and all Thy Saints, interceding
for us,
an 3lntrotiuction to tfje ILiturgp.
363
[Here the Deacon gave the Paten to t/ie Priest, who, fast
makiiiif the siijn of the Cross willi U in front of himself, jilaced
it on the Altnr, sai/imj,]
(Jrant of Thy mercy peace in mir clays, that wu being aided
by the help of Thy mercy, may evermore be both free from
sin, and also secure from all disturbance.
[Here tlic Priest uncovered the Chalice, and, hoioimj reverentlij,
took the Host, and, holding it with his th nmbs a nd furefanjers
over the Chalice, broke it into three parts ; saying, at the fa'st
breaking,]
Tlirough the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
At the second.
Who livetli and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the
Holy Ghost, ever one God.
And then, holdi)ig tivo jwrtions in his left hand, and the third
in his right hand over the top of the Chalice, atoiul,
World without end.
Choir, Amen.
Priest. The peace of the Lord-J-be witli+you ever-J-more.
Choir. And witli thy spirit.
[Then the Priest, irlth the Deacon and Sub-deacon, said,^
Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world :
Have mercy upon us.
O Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world :
Have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world :
Grant us Thy peace.
Or, in Masses for the departed,
O Lamb of God, That takest away the sins of the world :
Grant them rest.
Adding eternal at the third repetition.
[Then the Priest dipped the third portion, of the Host into the
sacrament of the blood, making the sign of the Cross, and saying,]
May this ho-J-ly commingling of the Body and Blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ be to me and to all who receive it health of
mind and body, and a healthful preparation towards the
attainment of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our
Lord. Amen.
[Bifore giving the Peace, the Priest said,]
O Lord, holy Father, Almighty everlasting God, Grant me
so worthily to receive this holy Body and Blood of Thy Son
.Jesus Christ our Lord, that I may thereby receive the remis-
sion of all my sins, and be tiUed with Thy Holy Cihost, and
have Thy peace ; for Thou art God alone, and beside Thee
there is none else, Whose glorious kingdom and dominion
endureth evermore, world without end. Amen.
Priest, to the Deacon. Peace be to thee, and to the Church
of God.
Ansiver. And with thy spirit.
[Befoi'e communicating, the Priest, holding the Host ivith both
haiuls, said tliese private jnayers :]
O God the Father, the source and origin of all goodness,
Who moved by pity didst will that Thine Only-begotten
should descend to the lower parts of the earth and take flesh,
which I unworthy hold here in my hands, [boioing to the Host,]
I adore Thee, I glorify Thee, I praise Thee with the whole
intention of my mind and heart, and pray that Thou wouldest
not forsake us Thy servants, l5ut wouldest forgive our sins,
that we may be able to serve Thee, the only living and true
God, with pure heart and chaste body. Through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Lord Jesu Christ, Son of the living God, Who by the
will of the Father and the co-operation of the Holy Ghost,
hast by Thy death given life unto the world : Deliver me, I
beseech Thee, by this Thy holy Body and Blood from all my
iniquities and from all evils ; and make me to be always
obedient unto Thy commandments, and suffer me not to be
separated from Thee for ever, Saviour of the world. Who
witli the Father and the same Holy Ghost livest and reiguest
ever one Ciod, world without end. Amen.
May the sacrament of Thy Body and Blood, Lord Jesu
Christ, which, although unworthy, I receive, be not unto me
for judgement and condemnation ; but of Thy pity be profit-
able unto me for salvation both of body and soul. Amen.
[Tlien with an act oflmmble reverence he said, before receiv-
ing,]
Hail evermore, most holy Flesh of Christ, to me before and
above all things the sum of delight. iLay the Body of our
Lord Jesus Christ be unto me a sinner the way and the life.
In the Na-{-me of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
[Here he took the Body, first making a Cross with it before his
month. Then with humble reverence and devotion towards the
Blood, he said-]
Hail evermore, heaveidy drink of Jesus' Blood, to me before
and above all things the sum of delight. May the Body and
Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be proiUable to me a sinner
for an everlasting remedy unto eternal life. Amen.
In the Na+me of the Father, and of tlie Sou, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
[Here he took the Blood ; and then bending himself, said with
devotion the folloiring prayer:]
I yield Thee thanks, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty ever-
lasting God, Wlu) hast refreshed me with the most holy Body
and Blood of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ; and I pray that
this sacrament of our salvation, which I, an unworthy sinner,
have received, may not come into judgement or condemnation
against me according to my deserts, but may be for the
advancement of my soul and body unto life eternal. Amen.
[Then followed immediately the cleansing of the vessels, the
Priest carrying the Chalice to the "dexter horn" of the Altar,
and the Sub-deacon piouring in the wine and ivater. After this
the following prayers were said,]
That which outwardly with our mouth we have taken,
grant. Lord, we may with pure mind inwardly receive ; and
may the gift vouchsafed in this life be to us a henling remedy
unto that which is to come.
Lord, may this communion cleanse us from sin, and make
us partakers of Tliy heavenly blessings.
[TliC Priest then washed his hands, the Deacon in the mean-
time folding the Corporals. After u-hich the Priest v;itli Ids
assistants said the " Commtinio," {usually a verse from a
Pscdm,) and after that the Post-communion Collector Collects,
followed by the "Ite, missa est" to mark the conclusion of the
service. He then, standing before the midst of the Altar, ivith
his body inclined and his hands joined, said secretly,]
O Holy Ti-inity, may this my huml-ile duty and service be
pleasing unto Tliee : and grant that this sacrifice which I un-
worthy have offered before the eyes of Thy Majesty, may of
Thy mercy be favourably accepted by Thee, for myself and
for all those for whom I have ofl'ered it : Who livest and
reignest, ever one God, world witliout end. Amen.
[This done, he raised himself, signed the Cross u/ion his fore-
head, with the tpords. In the Name, etc., and lift the Altar,
saying, as he went, the fast fourteen verses of the Gospel accord-
ing to St. John.]
[II.]
THE ORDER OF THE COMMUNION COMBINED WITH
THE PRECEDING LITURGY IN A.D. 1547.
This begins with an exhortation or warning to be given
"by the Parson, Vicar, or Curate" to the Parishioners on
"the next Sunday or Holyday , or at the least one day before
he sliall minister the Communion." This is nearly identical
with the first Exhortation in the Prayer Book. There is
then the following Rubric, wdiich shews clearly the purpose
for which the " Order of Communion " was intended : —
IT The time of the Communion shall be immediately after that
the Priest himself hath received the Sacrament, withotd the
varying of any other rite or ceremony in (he 3Iass (iintil other
order shall be provided), bvt as heretofore usually the Priest
hath done with the Sacrament of the Body, to prepare, bless,
and consecrate so much as will serve the}jeople ; so it shall con-
tinue still after the same manner and form, save that he shall
bless and consecrate the biggest chcdice, or some fair and con-
venient cup or cupis full of wine icith some water p)id unto it;
and that day, not drink it up all himself, hut taking one only
sup or draught, leave the rest upon the Altar covered, and turn
to them that are disposed to be 2^artahers of the Communion,
and shall thus exhort them as follotveth.
The Exhortation which follows is that beginning, " Dearly
beloved in the Lord," which is ordered to be used in the
Prayer Book, and this was succeeded by the shorter one
beginning, "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent." After
this the "Order" proceeded in these words : —
Then shall a general co7ifession be made, in the name of all those
that are minded to receive the holy Communion, by one of them,
or else by one of the Jlini^ters, or by the Priest himself; all
kneeling humbly upon their knees.
Almighty Ciod, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of
all things. Judge of all men ; AVe acknowledge and bewail our
manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time
most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and
deed, against Thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly Thy
564
an 3lntroDuction to tbe liturgp.
wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent,
and be heartily sorry for these our misdoings ; the remem-
brance of them is grievous unto us ; the burthen of them is
intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us,
most merciful Father ; for Thy Sou our Lord Jesus Christ's
sake, forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may ever
hereafter serve and please Thee, in newness of life, to the
honour and glory of Thy Name ; througli Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
IT Then shall the Priest stand up, and turninj him to the
people, say thus ;
Our blessed Lord, Who hath left power to His Church to
absolve penitent sinners from their sins, and to restore to the
grace of the heavenly Father such as truly believe in Christ ;
Have mercy upon you ; pardon and deliver )'ou from all sins ;
confirm and strength you in all goodness ; and bring you to
everlasting life.
IT Then shall the Priest stand up, and turning him to the
people, say thus :
Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith to
all that truly turn to Him.
Come uuto Me all that travail and be heavy loaden, and I
shall refresh you. So God loved the world, that He gave His
only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in Him
should not perish, but have life everlasting.
Hear also what St. Paul saith.
This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be embraced
and received, That Jesus Christ came into this world to save
sinners.
Hear also what St. John saith.
If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous : He it is that obtained grace for
our sins.
IT Then shall the Priest hieel down and say, in the name of all
them that shall receive the Communion, this prayer following :
\Ye do not presume to come to this Thy Table (0 merciful
Lord) trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold
and great mercies. We be not worthy so much as to gather
up the crumbs under Thy Table. But Thou art the same Lord,
Whose property is always to have mercy : Grant us therefore,
gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of Thy dear Son Jesus
Christ, and to drink His Blood, in these holy Mysteries, that
we may continually dwell in Him, and He in us, that our sinful
bodies may be made clean by His Body, and our souls washed
through His most precious Blood.
IT Then shall the Priest rise, the people still reverently kneeling,
and the Priest shall deliver the Communion, first to the Minis-
ters, if any be there present, that they may he ready to help the
Priest, and after to the other. And when he doth deliver the
Sacrament of the Body of Christ he shall say to every one
these words following.
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for
thee, preserve thy body unto everlasting life.
II And the Priest delivering the Sacrament of the Blood, and
giving every one to drink once and no more, shall say,
The IJlood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for
thee, preserve thy soul unto everlasting life.
^ If there be a Deacon or other Priest, then shall he follow
with the chalice, and as the Priest ministe.reth the bread, so
shall he for more expedition minister the wine, in form before
written.
IT Tlien shall the Priest, turning him to the people, let the
people depart with this blessing.
The peace of God, which pa-sseth all understanding, keep
your hearts and minds in tlie knowledge and love of God, and
of His Son JesuB Christ our Lord.
H To the which the people shall ansioer.
Amen.
II Note, thai the Dread that shall he consecrated shall be such as
heretofore hath been accustomed. And every of the said con-
secrated Breads shall be broken in two pieces, at the least, or
more by the discretion of the Minister, and so distributed. A nd
men must not think less to be received in part, than in the
whole, but in each of them the whole Body of our Saviour Jesus
Christ. '
1" Xote, that if it doth so chance, that the wine hallowed and
consecrate doth not suffice or be enough for them that do take
the Communion, the Priest, after the first cup or chalice be
emjified, may go again to the Altar, and reverently, and
devoutly prepare, and eonserrate another, and so the third,
or more, likeivise beginning at these icords, Simili modo post-
(piam ccenatum est, atid ending at these words, qui pro vobis
et pro multis efiFundetur in remissionem peccatorum, and
without any lei'ation or lifting up.
[111.]
THE FIRST VERNACULAR LITURGY OF THE
CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
A.D. 1549.
The Supper of the Lord, and the Holy Communion, com-
monly called the Mass.
Tlie Priest standing humbly afore the midst of the Altar,
shall say the Lord's Prayer, with this Collect.
Almighty God, unto Whom all, hearts be open, and all
desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid : Cleanse
the thoughts of our hearts, by the inspiration of Thy Holy
Spirit : that we may perfectly love Thee, and worthily
magnify Thy holy Name : through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Then shall he say a Psalm appiointed for the Introit ; which
Psalm ended, the Priest shall say, or else the Clerks shall
sing,
iii. Lord, have mercy upon us.
iii. Christ, have mercy upon us.
iii. Lord, have mercy upon us.
Then the Priest standing at God's board shall begin.
Glory be to God on high.
The Clerks. And in earth peace, good wiU towards men, etc.
Then the Priest shall turn h im to the jKople, and say,
The Lord be with you.
The Ansrver. And with thy spii-it.
The Priest. Let us pray.
Then shall follow the Collect of the day, with one of these two
Collects folloiving for the King. [Collects the same as at
present.]
The Collects ended, the Priest, or he that is appointed, shall read
the Epistle, in a place assigned for the purpose, saying,
The Epistle of St. Paul, written in the Chapter of
to the
The Minister then shall read the Epistle. Immediately after
the Epistle ended, the Priest, or one appointed to read the
Oospel, shall say.
The holy Gospel, written in the Chapter of
The Clerks and people slutll aiiswcr,
Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Tlic Priest or Deacon then shall read, the Gospel: After llic
Gospel ended, the Priest shall begin,
I believe in one God.
The Clerks shall sing the rest.
After the Creed ended, shall follow the Sermon or Homily, or
some portion of one of tlie Homilies, as they slmll be hereafter
divided : wherein if the people be not exhorted to the worthy
receiving of the holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our
Saviour Christ, then shall the Curate give this cxlwrtation, to
those tluit be minded to receive tJie same.
Dearly beloved in the Lord, ye that mind to come, etc.
In Cathedral cliurches or other places, where there is daily
Communion, it shall be sufficient to read this exhortation
above tcrittcn, once in a month. And in j>arish churches,
upon the week-days it may be left unsaid.
Ami if upon the Sunday or holyday the peojilc be negligent to
come to tlic Communion : Tlicn shall the Priest earnestly
exhort his })arishioncrs, to dispose themselves to tlic receiving
an 3lntcoDuction to tijc ILiturgg.
365
of the llohj C'uminunioii inon' diliijciillij, srnjiiitj Ihcsj or like
words unto them.
Dear frieiuls, and you especially upon whose souls I have
cure and charge, on next, I do intend, by (Jod's grace,
to oB'er to all sucli as shall be godly disposed, the most com-
fortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, etc.
Then shall follow for the Offertory one or more of these Sen-
tences of Holy Scri]}ture, to be sunt/ tohilcs the people do
offer, or else one of tkcin to be said by the Minister, immc-
diatelij afore the offering.
Let your light so sliine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify yoiir Father Which is in heaven.
Malt. V.
Lay not up for yourselves, etc.
Where there be Clerks, they shall simj one, or many of the
Sentences above lurittcn, accordiny to the Iciiyth ami shortness
of the time, that the 2>eople be offering.
In tlie mean time, whiles the Clerics do sing the Offertory, so
many as are disposed shall offer to the poor men's box every
one according to his ability and charitable mind. And at the
offering days apjminted, every vian and wmnan shall ijay to
the Curate the due and accustomed offerings.
T/ten so many as shall be j)artakcrs of tlic Holy Communion
shall tarry still in the quire, or in some convenient jilace nigh
the quire, the men on the one side, and the women on the other
side. All other {that mind not to receive the said Holy Com-
munion) shall depart out of the quire, except the Ministers
and Clerks.
Then shall the Minister take so much Bread and IFine, as shall
suffice for the j'^i'^ons appointed to receive tlie Holy Com-
munio^i, laying the Bread upon the Corporas, or else in the
Paten, or in some other comely thing prepared for tlud 2>ur-
pose : And 2>utting the Wine into the Chalice, or else in some
fair or convenient cup, prejxtred for that use {if the Chalice
icill not serve), 2>utting thereto a little 2>nre and clean ivater :
And setting both the Bread and Wine upon the Altar : Then
the Priest shall say.
The Lord be with yon.
Answer. And with thy spirit.
Priest. Lift up your hearts.
Answer. We lift them up unto the Lord.
Priest. Let us give thanks to our Lord God.
Answer. It is meet and right so to do.
The Priest. It is very meet, I'ight, and our bounden duty
that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks to
Thee, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty everlasting God.
Here shall follow the Proper Preface, according to llic lime (if
there be any specially a2)2Mintcd), or else immediately shall
follow,
Therefore with Angels, etc.
PROPER PREFACES
[as at present].
After which Preface shall follow immediately.
Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the
holy company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious
Name, evermore praising Thee, and saying.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts : heaven and earth
are full of Thy glory : Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is
He that cometh in the Name of the Lord ; Glory to Thee,
Lord, in the highest.
This the Clerks shall also sing.
When the Clerks have done singing, then shall the Priest, or
Deacon, turn him to the peo2>le, and say.
Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church.
Then the Priest, turning him to the Altar, shall say or sing,
2jlainly and distinctly, this prayer following :
Almighty and everliving God, which by Thy holy Apostle
hast taught us to make prayers and sup])lications, and to give
thanks for all men : We humbly beseech Thee most mercifully
to receive tliese our prayers, which we offer unto Thy Divine
Majesty, beseeching Thee to inspire continually the universal
Church with the spirit of trntli, unity, and concord ; And
grant tliat all they tliat do confess 'I'hy lioly Name, may agree
in the truth of Thy holy Word, and live in unity ami godly
love. Specially we beseech 'i'hec to .save and defend 'J"hy
servant Edward our King, tliat under him we may be godly
and quietly governed. And grant unto liis whole Council,
and to all tliat be put in authority under him, that they may
truly and iiulili'creiitly minister justice, to the punishment of
wickedness and vice, and to the m.aintenance of God's true
religion and virtue. Give grace {O heavenly Father) to all
Bishops, Pastors, and Curates, that they ni.ay both by tlieir
life and doctrine set forth 'I'hy tnut and lively Word, and
rightly and duly administer 'I'liy holy Sacraments : and to all
Thy people give Thy heavenly grace, that with meek heart
and due reverence tliey may hear and receive Thy holy Word,
truly serving Thee in holiness and righteousness all the days
of their life. And we most humbly beseech Thee of Thy
goodness (0 Lord) to comfort and succour all them, which in
this transitory life be in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or
any other adversity. And especially we commend unto Thy
merciful goodness this congregation 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 Vir-
gin Mary, mother of Thy Sim Jesu Christ our Lord and God,
and in the holy I'atriarchs, Prophets, Ajiostles, and Martyrs,
whose examples (0 Lord) and stedfastness in Thy faith, and
keeping Thy holy commandments, grant us to follow. We
commend unto Thy mercy (0 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, ve be-
seech Thee, Thy mercy, and everlasting peace, and tliat, 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 I'ight hand, and hear that His most joyful voice : Come
unto Me, ye that be blessed of My Father, and possess the
kingdom, which is prepared for you from the beginning of tlie
world ; Grant this, Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only
Mediator and Advociite.
God, heavenly Father, which of Thy tender mercy didst
give Thine only Son Jesu Christ, to sufi'er death upon the
cross for our redemption, Who made there (by His one obla-
tion, once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice,
oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world,
and did institute, and in His holy Gospel command us to
celebrate, a perpetual memory of that His precious death,
until His coming again ; Hear us (0 merciful Father) we
beseech Thee ; and with Thy Holy Spirit and Word vouch-
safe 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 Jesxis Christ : Who, in
the same night that He was betrayed, took Here the
bread, and when He had blessed, and given Priest must
thanks. He brake it, and gave it to His dis- take the bread
eiples, saying: Take, eat; this is My Body '""i '"'^ '"""'«•
which is given for you : do this in remembrance of Me.
Likewise after supper He took the cup, and when He had
given thanks. He gave it to them, saying : Drink jjj,.j ^^^
ye all of this, for this is My Blood of the New Priest shall
Testament, which is shed for you and for many, ta/.e the cup
for remission of sins : do this, as oft as you shall '"'" ''" *"'"''•
drink it, in remembrance of Me.
These words before rehearsed are to be said, turning still to the
Altar, without any elevation, or shewing the Sacrament to the
peo2)le.
Wherefore, 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 SLijesty, 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 imto us by the same,
entirely desiring Thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept
this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving : most humbly
beseeching Thee to grant, that by the merits and death of
Thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in His Blood, we
and all Thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins,
and all other benefits of His Passion. And here we oft'er and
present unto Thee (O Lord) ourself, our souls, and bodies, to
366
an :jntroOuction to tbe liturgp.
be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice uuto Thee : liumbly
beseeching Thee, tliat Avhosoever shall be partakers of this
Holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious
Body and Blood of Tliy Son Jesus Christ, and be fulfilled with
Thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body witli
Thy Son Jesus Christ, that He may dwell in them, and they
in Him. And although we be unworthy (through our manifold
sins) to ofier unto Thee any sacrifice : yet we beseech Thee to
accept this our bounden duty and service, and command these
our prayers and supplications, by the ministry of Thy holy
Angels, "to be brought up into Thy holy Tabernacle before
the sight of Thy Divine Majesty ; not weighing our merits,
but pardoning our oft'ences, through Christ our Lord ; by
Whom, and with Whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
all honour and glory be unto Tliee, Father Almighty,
world without end. Amen.
Let us pra}'.
As our Saviour Clirist hath commanded and taught us, we
are bold to say, Our Father, Which art in heaven, hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done iu
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive tlieni tliat tres-
pass against us. And lead us not into temptation.
The Ansicer. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Then shall the Priest say,
The peace of the Lord be alway with you.
The Clerks. And with thy spirit.
The Priest. Christ our Paschal Lamb is offered up for us,
once for all, when He bare our sins on His Body upou the
cross ; for He is the very Lamb of God, that taketh away the
sins of the world ; wherefore let us keep a joyful aud holy
feast with the Lord.
Here the Priest shall turn him toward those that come to the
Holy Communion, and shall say.
You that do truly and earnestly repent j'ou of your sins to
Almighty God, and be in love and cliarity with your neigh-
bours, and intend to lead a new life, following the command-
ments of God, and walking from henceforth in His lioly ways :
draw near and take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort,
make j'our humble confession to Almighty God, and to His
holy Church here gathered together in His Name, meekly
kneeling upon your knees.
Then shall this general Confession be made, in tlie name of all
those that are minded to receive the Holy Communion, cither
by one of them, or else by one of the Ministers, or by the Priest
himself, all kneeling humbly Ujion llicir knees.
[Here follow the Confession, the Absolution, the Comfort-
able Words, aud the Prayer of Humble Access.]
Then shall the Priest first receive the Communion j)i both kinds
himself, and next deliver it to other Ministers, if atry be there
present (tliat they may be remly to help the chief Minister),
and after to the people.
And when he deliverelh the Sacrament of the Body of Christ lie
shall say to every one these tcords :
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for
thee, preserve thy body [and soul] unto everlasting life.
A nd the Minister delivering the Sacrament of the Blood, and
giving every one to drink, once and no more, shall say,
The Blood of our Lord Jesus Clirist, which was shed for
thee, preserve thy [body and] soul uuto everlasting life.
jFf there be a Deacon or other Priest, then shall he follow with
the Chalice : and us the Priest ministereth the Sacrament of
the Body, so shall lie (for more expedition) minister the Sacra-
ment of the Blood, inform before written.
In the Communion time the Clerks shall sing,
ii. Lamb of God, that takest away tlio sins of the world :
have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world :
grant us Thy peace.
Beginning so soon as tlie Priest doth receive the Holy Com-
munion, and when the Communion is ended, then shall the
Clerks sing the Post-Communion.
Sentences of Holy Sci-ipture, to be said or sung every day one
afte) the Holy Communion, called the Post-Communion.
If any man will follow Me, let him forsake himself, and
take up his cross, and follow Me. Matt. xvi.
Whosoever shall endure uuto the end, he shall be saved.
Mark xiii.
Praised be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and
redeemed His people : therefore let us serve Him all the days
of our life, in holiness and righteousness accepted before Him.
Luke i.
Happy are those servants, whom the Lord (when He conieth)
sliall find waking. Luke xii.
Be ye ready, for the Son of Man wiU come at an hour when
ye think not. Luke xii.
The servant that knoweth his master's will, and hath not
prepared himself, neither hath done according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stri|ies. Luke xii.
The hour cometh, and now it is, when true worshippers
shall worship tlie Father in spirit and truth. John iv.
Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest any worse
thing happen unto thee. John v.
If ye shall continue in My word, then are ye My very dis-
ciples, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free. John viii.
While ye have light believe on the light, that ye may be
the children of light. John xii.
He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, the
same is he that loveth JSIe. John xiv.
If any man love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father
will love him, and We will come unto him, and dwell with him.
John xiv.
If ye shall bide in Me, and Jly word shall abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will, and it sliall Ije done to you. John xv.
Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, aud
become Jly disciples. John xv.
This is My commandment. That you love together, as I
have loved you. John xv.
If God be on our side, who can be against us ? which did
not spare His own Son, Ijut gave Him for us all. Itotn. viii.
Who shall lay any thing to the cliarge of God's chosen ? it is
God that justifieth ; who is he that can condemn? Pojn. viii.
The night is past, and the day is at hand ; let us therefore
cast away tlie deeds of darkness, aud put on the armour of
light. Pom. xiii.
Christ Jesus is made of God, unto us, wisdom, and riglit-
eousness, and sanctifying, and redemption, that (according as
it is written) He which rejoiceth, should i-ejoice in the Lord.
1 Cor. i.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? If any man defile the temple
of God, him shall God destroy. 1 Cor. iii.
Ye are dearly bought ; therefore glorify God iu your bodies,
and in your spirits, for tliey belong to God. 1 Cor. vi.
Be you followers of God as dear children, and walk in love,
even as Christ loved us, and gave Himself for us an offering
and a Sacrifice of a sweet savour to God. Eph. v.
Then the Priest shall give thanks to God, in the name of all
them that have communicated, turning him first to the people
and saying.
The Lord be with you.
The Answer. And witli thy spirit.
The Priest. Let us pray.
Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank Thee,
etc.
Then the Priest turning him to the people, shall let them depart
with, this blessing :
The peace of God (which passeth all understanding) keep
your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of (iod, and
of His Son Jesus Oirist our Lord : Aud the blessing of God
Almighty, the Father, the Sou, and the Holy Ghost, be
amongst you and remain with you alway.
Then the people shall answer.
Amen.
Where there are no Clerks, there the Priest shall say all things
appointed here for them to sing.
When the Holy Communion is celebrate on the work-day, or in
private houses : Then may be omitted the Gloria in Excelsis,
the Creed, the J/omily, and the E.chortation, beginning. Pearly
beloved, etc.
an ^ntroDuction to tf)C ILiturgj?.
36/'
[IV.]
THE SCOTTISH LITURGY.
[a.i;>. 1704.]
In tho Communion ODSce of the Church of Scotland, tlie
Offertory 13 followed immediately by the Sursum Corda,
Preface, and Sanctus. It then proceeds as follows : —
Then the Presbi/ter, siandinrj at such a part of the UoUj Table,
as he may, vith the most ease and ileeencij, use both his hands,
shall say the Prayer 0/ Consecration, asj'olloweth:
All glory be to Thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
for that Thou, of Thy tender mercy, didst give Thy only Son,
Jesus Clirist, to sutler death upon the cross for our redemj)-
tion ; Who (by His own oblation of Himself ouce oU'ered)
made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacritice, oblation, and
satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world, and did institute,
and in His holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual
memorial of that. His precious death and sacrifice, until His
coming again.
For, in tho night that He was betrayed {here the Presbyter is
to take the 'pateii into his hands) He took bread, and when He
had given thanks {and here to break the bread), He brake it,
and gave it to His disciples, saying. Take, eat {and here to lay
his hands upon all the bread). This is My Body, which is given
for you ; do this in remembrance of Me.
Likewise, after supper {here he is to lake the cup into his
hand). He took the cup ; and when He had given thanks. He
gave it to them, saying. Drink ye all of this {and here to lay
his hands upon every vessel [be it chalice orjlai/on] in which there
is any wine to be consecrated), for this is My Blood, of the New
Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remis-
sion of sins : do this, as oft as ye sliall drink it. in remem-
brance of Me.
Wherefore, Lord, and heavenly Father, according to the
.,„ „, , . institution of Thy dearly beloved Son, our
baviour, Jesus (.hnst, wo, Ihy humble servants,
do celebrate and make here, before Tliy Divine Majesty, with
these Thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto Thee, the
memorial Thy Son hath commanded us to make ; having in
remembrance His blessed Passion and precious Death, His
mighty Resurrection and glorious Ascension ; rendering unto
Tliee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits pro-
cured unto us by the same.
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 Sjiirit, these Thy gifts and creatures of Bread and
Wine, that they may become the Body and Blood of Thy
most dearly l>eloved Son.
And we earnestly desire Thy fatherly goodness, mercifully
to accept tliis our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, most
humljly beseeching Thee to grant, that by the merits and
death of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, and through faith in His
Blood, we and all Thy whole Church may obtain remission of
our sins, and all other benefits of His Passion.
And here we humbly offer and present unto Thee, O Lord,
ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and
lively sacrifice unto Thee, beseeching Thee, that whosoever
shall be partakers of this Holy Communion, may worthily
receive the most precious Body and Blood of Thy Son, Jesus
Christ, and be filled with Thy grace and heavenly benedic-
tion, and made one body with Him, that He may dwell in
them, and they in Him.
And although we are unworthy, through our manifold sins,
to offer unto Thee any sacrifice ; yet we beseech Thee to
accept this our bounden duty and service, not weighing our
merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our
Lord ;
By Whom, and with Whom, in the unity of the Holy
Ghost, all honour and glory be unto Thee, Father Almighty,
■world without end. Amen.
Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church.
Almighty and everliving God, Who by Thy holy Apostle
hast taught us to make prayers and supplications, and to give
thanks for all men ; "\\'e humbly beseech Thee, most merci-
fully to accept our alms and oblations, and to receive these
our prayers, which we offer unto Tliy Divine Majesty ; be-
seeching Thee to inspire continually the universal Church
with the spirit of trutli, unity, and concord : and grant that
all they that do confess Thy holy Name, may agree in the
trutli of Thy holy Word, and live in unity and godly love.
We l)eseeoh 'I'hcc to save and defr-iid all Cliristian Kings,
Princes, and Governors, and especially Thy servant Victoria
our Queen, that under her we may be godly and (juietly
goverued ; antl grant unto her wliole Council, and to all who
are put in authority under her, that they may truly and in-
differently minister justice, to the punishment of wickedness
and vice, and to the maintenance of Thy true religion and
virtue.
Give grace, O heavenly Father, to all Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons, that they may, both by their life and doctrine, set
forth Thy true and li\ily Word, and rightly and duly a<l-
minister Thy Holy Sacraments.
And to all Thy people give Thy heavenly grace, that with
meek heart and due reverence they may hear and receive Thy
holy Word, truly serving Thee in holiness and righteousness,
all the days of tlieir life.
And we commend especially to Thy merciful goodness the
congregation which is here assendjled in Thy Name to cele-
brate the commemoration of tlie most precious death and
sacrifice of Thy Son, and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
And we most humbly beseech Thee, of Thy goodness, O
Lord, to comfort and succour all those, who in this transitory
life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adver-
sity.
And we also bless Thy holy Name, for all 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 declared in all
Thy Saints, who have been the choice vessels of Thy grace,
and the lights of tlie world in their several generations : most
humbly beseeching Thee, to give us grace to follow the
example of their stedfastuess in Thy faith, and obedience to
Thy holy commandments ; that at the day of the general
resurrection, we, and all they who are of the mystical Body
of Thy Son, may be set on His right hand, and hear His most
joyful voice. Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the king-
dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Grant this, Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only
Mediator and Advocate. Ajnen.
Then shall the Presbyter say,
As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and taught us, we
are bold to say. Our Father, etc.
7'hen the Presbyter shall say to them that come to receive the
Holy Communion, this invitation :
Ye that do truly and earnestly, etc.
[Then follow the Confession, the Absolution, the Comfoii;-
able Words, and the Collect of Humble Access, as in the
English Office, with verbal alterations in the two latter.]
Then, shall the Bishop, if he be present, or else the Presbyter
that celebrateth, first receive the Communion in both kinds
himself, and next deliver it to other Bishops, Presbyters, and
Deacons {if there be any present), and after to tlie jieople in
due order, all humbly kneclinrj. And vihen he recciveth him-
self or delivereth the Sacrament of the Body of Christ to
others, he shall say.
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for
thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.
Here the person receiving shall say. Amen.
And the Presbyter or Minister that receiveth the Cup himself,
or delivereth it to others, shall say this Benediction,
The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for
thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.
Here the j^erson receiving shall say. Amen.
If the consecrated bread or wine he all sj>ent before all have
communicated, the Presbyter is to consecrate more, according
to the form before prescribed, beginning at the words. All
glory be to Thee, etc., and ending with the ivords, that they
may become the Body and Blood of Thy most dearly beloveil
Sou.
When all Aare communicated, he that celebrates shall go to
the Lord's Table, and cover ivith a fair linen cloth that which
remaineth of the consecrated elements, and then say.
Having now received the precious Body and Blood of
Christ, let us give thanks to our Lord God, Who hath
;68
an 3lntroouctlon to tbc Liturgp.
graciously vouchsafed to admit us to the participation of His
holy Mysteries ; and let us beg of Him grace to perform our
vows, and to persevere in our good resolutions ; and that,
being made holy, we may obtain everlasting life, through the
meri'ts of the all-sufficient Sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ.
Then the Presbyter shall say this Colled of Thanisgiving, as
followeth.
Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank
Thee, etc. [And the Office closes with the " Gloria in Excel-
sis," the Peace, and the Blessing, as in the English Use, with
alterations in the " Gloria."]
[V.]
THE AMERICAN LITURGY.
The order and arrangement of the Communion Office of the
American Church is the same as our own, with this one
important difi'erence, viz. that the Prayer of Oblation and
the Invocation liave been restored to their place in immediate
connection with the Prayer of Consecration, which now closely
resembles that of the Scottish Liturgy, and is as follows : —
All glory be to Thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
for that Thou of Thy tender mercy didst give
» Here the Thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon
F nest IS to take ., i i ,- ,i-, , .,^
the Paten into the cross for our redemption ; \\ ho made tliere
Ms hands. (by His one oblation of Himself once ofl'ered) a
b Andhereto ful]^ perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation,
'"'TAndulet ^"^1 satisfaction for the sins of the whole world;
lay his hand and did institute, and in His holy Gospel com-
upon. all Vti mand us to continue, a perpetual memory of
^'a"fli« he I ^^^"'^ '^'^ precious death and sacrifice until His
to take the Cup coming again : For in the night in which He
into his luind. was betrayed, (a) He took bread ; and when He
' And here )J_.^J given thanks, {h) He brake it, and gave it
his handnpm *» His disciples, saying. Take, eat ; (c) this is
every Vessel in My Body, which is given for you ; do this in
which there is remembrance of Me. Likewise, after supper,
mZcZatU"' '" '''* H** *""'' *'^^ *="? = ^^^ "^'^*^" ^^ ^^^^ ^'"'<="
thanks. He gave it to them, saying. Drink ye
all of this ; for (c) this is My Blood, of the New Testament,
which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sin :
do this, ...s oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of Me.
"Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the
institution of Thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour j.^^ ohlation
Jesus Christ, we, Thy humble servants, do cele-
brate and make Iiere before Thy Divine Majestj', with these
Thy holy gifts, which we now oflfer unto Thee, the memorial
Thy Son hath commanded us to make ; having in remembrance
His blessed Passion and precious Death, His mighty Resur-
rection and glorious Ascension ; rendering unto Tliee most
hearty thanks, for the innumerable benefits procured unto
us by the same. And we most hnmbly beseech Thee, O
merciful Father, to hear us; and, of Thy al- „, _
.,, 1 ' , fill 1 i-f Tlic Invocation.
mighty goodness, vouchsafe to Ijless and sanctity,
with Thy Word and Holy Spirit, these Thy gifts and creatures
of bread and wine ; that we, receiving them according to Thy
Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remem-
brance of His Death and Passion, may be partakers of His
most blessed Body and Blood. And we earnestly desire Thy
fatherly goodness, mercifully to accept this our Sacrifice of
praise and thanksgiving ; most humbly beseeching Thee to
grant, that by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ,
and through faith in His Blood, we, and all Thy whole Church,
may obtain remission of our sins, and all other benefits of His
Passion. And here Me cifler and present unto Thee, Lord,
ourselves, our souls, and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and
living sacrifice unto Thee ; humbly beseeching Thee, that we,
and all others who shall be partakers of this Holy Com-
munion, may worthily' receive the most precious Body and
Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ, be filled with Thy grace and
heavenly benediction, and made one body with Him, that
He may dwell in them, and they in Him. And although we
are unworth}', through our manifold sins, to offer unto Thee
any sacrifice ; yet we beseech Thee to accept this our bounden
duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardoning our
offences : through Jesus Christ our Lord ; by Wliom, and
with Wliom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honour and
glory be unto Thee, Father Almighty, world without end.
Amen.
Here shall be sting a Hymn, 07- Part of a Hymn, from the
Selection for the Feasts and Fasts, etc.
THE OEDEK FOR THE
ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER,
OR
HOLT COMMUNIOK
IT So many as intend to be partakers of the holy Com-
munioa shall signify their Names to the " Curate,
at least some time the day before.
n i.e. The Priest
wli.j lias the Cure
of souls.
IT And if any of those be an open and notorious evil
liver, or have done any wrong to his neighbours
by word or deed, so that the congregation be
THE TITLE.
The Order for the Admhuslration] The Title of this Office
in the Prayer Book of 1549 was, "The Supper of the Lord,
and the Holy Communion, commonly called the JIass. " It
is evident that the Reformers did not see any reason why this
Sacrament should not still be commonly called "The JIass ;"
but the name soon dropped out of use after the introduction
of the vernacular into Divine Service, and it was not printed
as a third title in 1552, or in any subsequent Prayer Books.
the Lord's Siipjyer] The use of this name for the Eucharist
is almost entirely modern. It is occasionally, but very rarely,
found in the writings of the Fathers as a designation of the
Sacrament in its aspect of a Comnmnion [Aug. Ep. liv. 7,
cxviii. 5] ; but it was used in the Primitive Church as the
name of the Love Feast [see Amiot. Bible, iii. 435], and in
later ages, when the Love Feasts had become obsolete, as that
of the Last Supper, and especially with reference to our Lord's
act of love in washing the feet of His disciples. Hence
Maundy Thursday is always called " C.'ena Domini" in the
Liturgical books of the Western Church. Tlie name was
adopted by the early Lutherans in the Confession of Augs-
burg [a.t>. 1530] as that of the Holy Eucharist, and also by
Calvin in his Institutes. [C.-vlvin's /hs<. iv. 22.] Its first use
in that sense in England was in an Act of Parliament of A. D.
1547, which speaks of the Holy Eucharist as being "com-
monly called the Sacrament of the Altar, and in Scripture
the Supper and Table of the Lord, the Communion, and par-
taking of the Body and Blood of Christ. " [1 Edw. VI. cap. 1. ]
The name thus given to the holy Sacrament has led many to
confuse the Lord's Last Supper ^ with the institution of the
Sacrament itself, which it is expressly said took place ' ' after
supper " [Luke xxii. 20], and " when He had supped." [1 Cor.
xi. 25.]
or Holy Coramntiion'] Among other names given to the
Eucharist, Cardinal Bona mentions this as an ancient one ;
and says of the term that it is applied not only to the vse of
the Sacrament, but also to the sacrifice of it, because without
the communion of the Celebrant there is no sacrifice. His
words are, ". . . sed quia in ea sit consecratio, et participatio
corporis et sanguinis Christi, et ideo sine communione esse
non potest. " The name is Scriptural in the strictest sense,
St. Paul saying, "The Cup of blessing which we bless, is it
not the Communion of the Blood of Christ ? The Bread which
we break, is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ ? "
[1 Cor. X. 16.] St. Paul uses the term not primarily of the
fellowship which Christians thus maintain with each other by
means of the Sacrament, but of the fellowship which is thus
originated through the communion established between the
Head ami His members by comnranicatiou to them of His
Body and His Blood in that Sacrament. As our Church has
1 Pictures are still the books of the unlearned, and many persons derive
their impressions of the Institution of the Evicharist from Leonardo da
Vinci's picture of the Last Supper. This picture was painted for the refec-
tory of the Dominican convent of St. Maria delle Grazie at Milan, and was
intended to represent, as an appropriate subject for sucli a place, our Lord's
parting meal with His disciples. It is sometimes copied in sculpture, or in
paintings or painted glass, and placed over the altar, .and thus the error is
propagated.
happily consecrated the term Bible by calling the book of the
Scriptures the " Ilobj Bible," so by the prefix " Holy " to the
word "Communion" a sacred distinctive title is given to the
Sacrament which it designates, expressive of its relation both
to God and man.
The name of highest dignity and of greatest antiquity is
that of "The Eucharist," or Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, which
is derived from our Lord's own act of giving thanks or
" Eucharistizing " at its Institution, an act always com-
memorated in its celebration. [Luke xxii. 19 ; 1 Cor. xi. 24]
This is the term used by St. Ignatius, the contemporary of
St. John [Ign. Phtlad. iv., Smyrn. 6] ; and a few years after
[a.d. 140] Justin Martyr writes of the Sacrament, "And this
taking of food is called among us the Eucharist. " [JrsT.
Maet. Apol. i. 66.]
THE INTRODUCTOPvY RUBRICS.
at least some time the day before] In the Liturgy of 1549 and
1552 the direction was "overnight, or el.se in the morning,
afore the beginning of Matins, or immediately after." This
implies, as Cosin remarks, "a certain distance of time between
Morning Prayer and High Service. A rule «hich is at this
time duly observed in York and Chichester, but by negligence
of ministers, and carelessness of people, vvholly omitted in
other places." [Cosin's Work.i, v. 83.] It also shews the
intention of the Church, that Mattins should be said before
the Celebration of Holy Communion, which is to be inferred
likew'ise from the fact that on Palm Sunday the Proper
Second Lesson at Mattins is Matt. xxvi. and the Gospel is
Matt, xxvii., and on Good Friday the Proper Second Lesson
is John xviii. and the Gospel is John xix. This is a very
ancient rule of the Church of England ; as, e.g., in some con-
stitutions of the Province of Canterbury, a.d. 1322, it is
ordered, "Let no parish priest celebrate mass till he hath
finished matins, prime, and undern - [tierce]. " Grindal, in
his Injunctions as Archbishop of York, in 1571, ordered the
Morning Prayer, Litany, and Communion to be said together
"without any intermission;" there being, doubtless, some
local or temporary reason for his so doing.
Atid if any] These disciplinary Rubrics formed part of the
First Reformed Liturgy of 1549. The English, like the
Scottish and Continental Reformers, laid great stress on dis-
cipline. The definition of the Church in the Homily for
Whitsunday includes among its marks, "The right use of
Ecclesiastical Discipline ;" and that in the Catechism of 1553,
" Brotherly correction .and excommunication, or banishing
those out of the Church that will not amend their lives."
Comp. also Art. 33, and Canon 26. The disuse of it in
modern times is due partly to the sturdy individualism and
indisposition to submit to authority which is part of our
national character, and partly to the fact that no sufficient
method was devised of supporting the Curate in the exercise
of this part of his duty. It is perhaps, to some extent, prac-
tically compensated for by the voluntary abstinence from the
Lord's Table of almost all " open and notorious evil livers. "
'- Johnson's Canons, ii. 338.
2 A
2>7o
Cf)C Communion.
thereby offended ; the Curate, having knowledge
thereof, shall call him and advertise him, that in
any ■wise he presume not to come to the Lord's
Table, "uutilhehaveopenlydeclaredhimself tohave
truly repented, and amended his former naughty
life, that the congregation ma^' thereby be satis-
fied which before were offended ; and that he have
recompensed the parties to whom he hath done
wrong ; or at least declare himself to be in full
purpose so to do, as soon as he conveniently
may.
IT The same order shall the Curate use with those
betwixt whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to
reign ; not suffering them to be partakers of the
Lord's Table, until he know them to be reconciled.
And if one of the parties so at variance be content
to forgive from the bottom of his heart all that
a iiittil . . . may
(i66>J.
b From here to the
end of the Rubric
w.i5i inserted in
c Usually the Arch-
deacon.
d See Canon 26.
the other hatli trespassed against him, and to
• make Amends for that he himself hath offended ;
and the other party wiU not be persuaded to a
godly unity, but remain still in his frowardness
and malice : the Minister in that case ought to
admit the penitent person to the holy Communion,
and not him that is obstinate. * Provided that
every Minister so repelling any, as is specified in
this, or the next precedent Paragraph of this
Eubrick, sliall be obliged to give an account of
the same to the '^Ordinary within fourteen days
after at the farthest. And the Ordinary shall pro-
ceed against the offending person according to the
''Canon.
IT The Table, at the Communion time having a fair
white lineu cloth upon it, shall stand in the body
of the Church, or in the Chancel, where Morning
the Lord's Table] The word Altar, retained in the Liturgy
of 1549, was entirely dropped in the Revision of 1552. The
motive was the necessity [1] of disabusing the minds of the
people of the gross and superstitious notions with reference
to the Eucharistic Sacrifice (amounting to a belief in an actual
reiteration of the sacrifice of the Cross) which had gradually
grown up during the latter centuries of the medi;i>val period ;
and [2] of bringing back into its due prominence the trutli
(which the denial of the Cup, and the usually exclusive com-
munion of the Celebrant, had most grievously obscured) that
this holy ordinance is intended to be a means of heavenly
communion with Christ by tlie spiritual feeding on His most
precious Body and Blood. The consequence of this, and of
some other changes made at tlie same time in the same direc-
tion (such, for instance, as the removal of the Prayer of Obla-
tion from its place immediatelj' after tlie Consecration, the
placing of the Altar — during the century which immediately
followed the Reformation — iu most instances " table- wise, "
in the middle of the chancel or of the nave, so that the
Celebrant standing, as usual, at the middle of the long side,
faced south instead of east), has been the partial obscuration
of the sacrificial aspect of the Holy Eucharist, and the almost
exclusive concentration of popular belief on its communion
aspect. Only those ignorant of theology can maintain that
there is any contradiction between the two. They are iu
truth correlative and mutually complementary. The Holy
Communion is, [1] A solemn presentation and pleading before
Almighty God of the one, only, unique, and absolutely suffi-
cient Sacrifice once and for ever finished upon the Cross, and
the earthly counterpart of that perpetual presentation of it,
and of Himself, which is made in Heaven by the one and
only true Priest, Who "ever liveth to make intercession for
us" in His "unchangeable Priesthood," as our " High Priest
for ever." [Heb. vii — x.] And in this aspect that whereon
it is celebrated is riglitly called, and in ordinary speaking we
do call it, an "Altar." [Heb. xiii. 10.] It is [2] A Feast,
after an heavenly and spiritual manner, upon that one Sacrifice
so pleaded and presented, i.e. upon the Body and Blood of
Christ, and in this aspect tlie Altar is rightly called a "Table"
[1 Cor. X. IG-21], though the word " Altar " is twice used by
St. Paul [1 Cor. ix. 13; Heb. xiii. 10] in connection with the
"partaking" of it. In Scriptural usage the words are
synonymous, i.e. different names for the same thing in dif-
ferent aspects, or as respects different uses of it. [See Isa.
Ixv, 11; Ezek. xxiii. 41, xxxix. 17-20, xli. 22, xliv. 15, 16;
Mai. i. 7, 12; 1 Cor. x. 16-21.] The word " Altar " is still
retained throughout in the Form for the Coronation of the
Kings and Queens of England in Westminster Abbey [Mas-
kell's Mon. Hit. ii. 02, ed. 1882], and is used througliout the
"Office of Institution of Ministers into Parishes or Churches,"
Bet forth in the General Convention of the American Branch
of the English Church in 1804 and 1808. In the Apostolic
Fathers the word "Table " is never used for " Altar," and in
the Ecclesiastical writers of the first three centuries after
Christ only once. [See also the Introduction to this Office,
p. 357]
It may be added that the term " Communion Table " is
not to be found in the Prayer Book, the Taljlo being invariably
viewed as the Table of the Lord, and not that of the Com-
municants.
a fair tnliite linen cloth] To understand the force of a law,
we must understand the meaning which was given to its
words at the time wlien it was imposed. Tlie application of
this rule to these words of the Rubric will shew us that they
mean a beautiful linen cloth, not one that is simply clean.
So "fayre" is translated "pulcher, venustus, decorus, beUus,"
in the Promptorium Parvulurum ; and of the seventeen mean-
ings given to this adjective by Jolinson, that of pulcher only
is to be found in the English Bible. Thus the Bible speaks
of "fair colours" [Isa. liv. 11], and "fair jewels'" [Ezek.
xvi. 17 el sqq.], and of One Who is "fairer than the children
of men.'' [Ps. xlv. 3.] Lineu which is simply c/ffiH and white
is called iu the Bible "pure and white" [Rev. xv. 6], or "clean
and white" [Rev. xix. 14], or "fine linen,'' the two former
adjectives being both renderings of the same word, which
is KtxBapiv, in the original. Hence a "fair white linen cloth"
does not mean merely a "plain, clean linen cloth," but a white
lineu cloth wliich has been made beautiful for its specific
purpose by the addition of fitting ornamentation.
Since the invention of "damask " linen, the ornament thus
wrought in the course of manufacturing the fabric has been
very generally adopted ; but plain, und.imasked, linen maj'
be made much more "fair" by means of embroidery; and
common-sense will shew that the word "white" limits the
colour of the "linen cloth," not of its ornamentation.
In recent times a custom has been introduced of spreading
a large white cloth over the Lord's Table, in the same manner
as an ordinary table is prepared for a meal. This is, however,
an innovation introduced into the Church at a time when all
such arrangements were left to pew-openers and sextons.
The "fair white linen cloth" here ordered, and that with
which the Celebrant is directed to cover "what remaineth of
the consecrated elements," are the cmyoralia of the ancient
Rubrics, otherwise called palla linca; a third being used by
custom to cover the middle part of the Altar during the cele-
bration: this being spread bj' the Celebrant or one of his
Jlinisters. The object of using such a cloth is not to give
the idea of a meal, but to carry out tlie symbolism of the
"linen clothes," in which our Lord's body was wound before
it was placed in the sepulchre, and i\hich were found there,
laid in exact order, after the Resurrection. [John xx. 7.] It
is a memorial also of that shining raiment, " exceeding white
as snow " [Mark ix. 3], in which His transfigured Body
appearetl to the three disciples ; and it is further observable
that fine or wliite linen is ever represented as the clothing of
those who dwell in Heaven.
The custom of the Church is to have the linen cloth two or
three inches wider than the ritual mensa, i.e. the slab of the
table, and sufficiently long to hang down nearly to its base at
the nortli and south ends.
ill the hodii of the Church, or in the Chancel] The explana-
tion of these words is that it was the custom for the com-
municants to kneel all at once in the chancel, the clergy
carrying tlio consecrated elements to them as they knelt.'
But tlie number of communicants was sometimes too large
for the clianccl to hold all at once, anil wlicn moveable altars
were substituted for fixed ones, it was pcrmittetl under such
circumstances to transfer tlicm to tlie nave, and celebrate
there instead of in the chancel. Tlius the Archbishops and
Bishops, in tlieir "Interpretations" of Queen Elizabeth's
Injunctions, direct, "Item. That the table be removed out of
the choir into the body of the church, before the chancel door,
where either the choir seemcth to be too little, or at great
feasts of receivings. And at the end of the Communion to be
1 Chancel rails were llrst ordered by Archbishop Land, chiefly for tho
purpo-se of keeping dogs away from thit Holy Table. They were forbidden
iiy rniliamont in 1041. Where there are Chancel screens, Altar rails are
hardly necessary.
C&e Communion.
371
and Evening Prayer are apjjointed to be said.
And the Priest standing at the " north side of the
11 " north part " was
originally written
in the MS., but
"pare " was crossed
liirotigh with the pen, an<l "side" inserted in Sancroft's Iiand. Comp. Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, J/« TOv [loplinv fxipout.
Taljlo shall say the Lord's Prayer, with the Collect
following, the people kneeling.
OUR F.VTHER, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us tliis day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
H The Collect.
ALillGHTY God, unto Whom all hearts
-^^A. be open, all desires known, and from
Whom no .secrets are hid ; Cleanse the thoughts
of our hearts by the inspiration of Thy Holy
Spirit, that we may perfectly love Thee, and
worthily magnify Thy holy Name ; through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
5 For details of
changes made in
1552. see the notes
bciow.
<: S. g. m-
"&■■&.
'"DATER nostcr, Qui es in ccelis ; sanctificetur
-L nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum : fiat
voluntas Tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra. Panem
nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie : et dimitte
nobis debita no.stra, sicut et nos dimittimus debi-
toribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in tentationem :
sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
''"T~\EUS Cui omne cor patet, et omnis voluntas
J-^ loquitur, et Quern nullum latet secretum ;
purifica per infusionem Sancti Spieitus cogita-
tiones cordis no.stri ; ut Te perfecte diligere, et
digne laudare mcreamur. Per Christum Domi-
NUM nostrum. Amen.
set up again" [on the high footpace, that is] "according to
the Injunctions. "1 [C.^edw. Doc Aym. i. 205 ; see also Canon
82.] This practice of removing the Lord's Table from its place
led to great irreverence, and to a perverted notion of the holy
Sacrament ; but it continued in many, perhaps in most
churches, until the time of Cliarles I. Ne.ale writes : " When
the sacrament was administered in parish cliurches, the com-
munion table was usually placed in the middle of the chancel,
and the people received round it in their several places there-
about. " This was, of course, a very different thing from what
the Rubric allowed, and the reforming Bishops of Charles I.'s
days ordered the Table to be placed at the east end of the
chancel only. Neale continues, "It is almost incredible what
a ferment the making this alteration at once raised among the
common people all over England. " [Ne.vle's Hist, of Puritans,
ii. 221, ed. 1822.]
In Cosin's Durham Book the whole of this Rubric of 1552
is altered into the following form, which is similar to that in
the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637 : —
Tlie TABLE abmycs standing in the midst at the upjier end
of the Chancell {or of the Church where a Chaneell is wanting),
and being at alt titnes covered with a carpet of silk, shall also
have at the Communion-time a faire white limien cloth upon it,
with patin, chalice, and other decent furniture, meet for the high
mysteries there to be celebrated.
In the MS. the Rubric was originally written in the most
convenient place in the tipper end of the Chancel {or of the Body
of the Church where there is no Cliancel). This form of it was
inserted in the margin of the printed copy which was corrected
for the perusal of the King and Council [see p. 33], but being
crossed through with the pen the Rubric itself is altered into
its present form by interlinear corrections.
the Priest standing at the north side] This means at the
north side of the Table's front, no other boundary line of the
rectangular mensa than that in front being taken account of
in directing the ministrations of the Celebrant. This seems
always to have been the rule of the English Church, except
in such unsettled days as those referred to in the last note.
Curtains (sometimes called altar-veils) at the north and south
ends appear to have been always used in England, instead of
the baldachin or canopy which surmounts tlie altars of foreign
churches ; but solid pillars were substituted for these in the
elaborate classical "altar screens" of the seventeenth and
eighteenth century. The disuse of tlie latter seems to
require a more general return to the curtains than has yet
been made, for tlie purpose of adding dignity to the Lord's
Table. In Durham Cathedral those which were anciently in
daily use were of white silk. [See also p. 359.]
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
■ In the ancient Use of Salisbury the Lord's Prayer formed
1 "Xhey that shall be admitted to the Holy Cominuiuou, as soon as they
have made their oblation, must go together to that place that shall be ap-
pointed unto them, nigh to thealtar. . . . They then which shall be admitted
to the Communion of the Lord's board shall stand in that place, the men in
part of the Introductory Service which was said by the Cele-
brant before he went up to the Altar, and probably in the
Vestry wliere there was one. This seems to have been the
practice of the Primitive Church, tlie third Council of Car-
thage [.4. D. 397] decreeing, " Ut . . . cum altari adsistitur
semper ad Patrem dirigatur oratio : fuit hoc exemplo Christi,
Qui discipulos docens orare, exordium precationis ad Patrem
direxit. " The first Prayer Book [a.d. 1549] ordered that
"the Priest, standing humbly afore the midst of the Altar,
shall say the Lord's Prayer, with this Collect," before the
Introit was sung ; and probably the custom soon arose of
saying it aloud. It is, however, still to be said, like "the
Collect fallowing," by the Priest alone, as the history of the
Service shews ; and as is also indicated by the manner of
printing the "Amen," which is not to be repeated by the
people, but said, like the rest of the Prayer, by the Priest.
The Lord's Prayer is not indicated at all in this place in
Merbecke's book, and was not printed at length until much
later.
As in all other parts of Di%'ine Service, the Prayer of our
Lord is liere used with a special object. It is a royal Anti-
phon of Prayer which supplies the keynote of that which is
to follow ; and the Celebrant uses it as a prevailing interces-
sion with tlie Father that he may be found not unworthy in
the execution of his special office. With the same intention
it should be heard by the people, since the offering to be
made in the Holy Eucharist is tlieirs as much as it is that of
their leader who stands at their head in front of God's Altar.
THE COLLECT.
This Prayer, which is commonly called the " Collect for
Purity," also formed part of the Introductory Prayers of the
Celebrant in the Saruin rite, and is not found in any other of
the English Liturgies or in the Roman. It appears again in
a " Missa ad invocanduiu gratiani .Spiritus Sancti " at the end
of the Sarum Missal, a Mass whicli is attributed by Muratori
[ii. 383] to St. Gregory, Abbot of Canterlniry about a.d. 780.
It is found too in the Sacramentary of Alcuin, and it also
occurs among the prayers after Mass in the Hereford ]Missal,
and at the end of the York Litany ; so that it is probably a
Prayer of the early Church, but preserved almost solely by
the Church of England. It occurs, however, in the Roman
"Missa votiva de Spiritu Sancto."
The Prayer for Purity now forms, naturally, a part of the
public Service ; and in making it so, it was doubtless the
intention of those who reconstructed our Liturgy to make it
a Prayer of the people w ith the Celebrant, for themselves, as
well as his own prayer witli reference to his special work of
celebration. Standing at the head of his flock, the Priest
offers up this preliminary Prayer to God for himself and them,
that all may be prepared by His mercy for the solemn rite in
which they are about to take their respective parts as Priest
and Christian laity.
their proper place, and the women in their place, and there they shall give
thanks, and pray religiously with the pastor." (Dave's transl, of Hermann's
Co}ls^tn. (. 22n, ed. 1547.]
372
€-ht Communion.
IT This Rubric and
the Ten Command-
ments were in-
serted in 1552.
d Comp. St. Marie's
Liturgy. ffToiflT»l
IT "Then shall the Priest, turning to the * People,
rehearse distinctly all the Ten Commandments ;
and the People still kneeling shall, after every
Commandment, ask God mercy for their trans-
gression thereof for the time past, and grace to
keep the same for the time to come, as followeth.
H INIinister.
GOD spake these words, and .said ; I am the
Lord thy God : Thou shalt have none
other gods but Jle.
ir People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IT Minister.
Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven
image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or in the eartli beneath, or in the
water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow
down to them, nor worship them : for I the Lord
thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of
the fathers upon the children, unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate Me, and
shew mercy unto thousands in them that love
Me, and keep ]\Iy commandments.
:r People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IT Minister.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord
thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless, that taketh His Name in vain.
U People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law. I
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
turninrj to (he People] Turning from the position in which
he stands to pray, when he faces the Altar, to that in which
he exhorts, when he faces the people. In the Scottish
Liturgy of 1637 this Rubric ended as follows : " The people
all the while kneelinrj, and asking God's mercy for Ihe trans-
(iression of every duty therein ; either according to the letter, or
to the mystical importance of the said Commandment."
The use of the Ten Commandments in the Communion Ser-
vice is quite peculiar to the English Church. It is indirectly
derived from the custom of reciting and expounding them at
certain intervals, which is so frequently enjoined by the
ancient Synods and by the Bishops of the Church of England.
The immediate origin of the usage is, however, to be traced
to an Order of Council appended as a Preface to the Homilies
set forth in the year l.'>47. This directed that one of the
Homilies should be read during High Mass on Sundays when
there was no Sermon, and tliat on Holydays "falling in the
week time" the Clergy were to "recite the Pater Noster, the
articles of our faith, and the Ten Commandments in English,
openly before all the people." In the Injunctions of the
same date a similar direction is contained for "every Holy-
day throughout the year " and the time of High Mass at
which it w.a3 to lie carried out is defined as "immediately
after the Gospel. " They were inserted in the place where
they now stand in 1552.'
Lord, have mercy upon us] The respond after each Com-
mandment was suggested by the nine times repetition of the
Kyrie Eleiscm which followed the Introit, the Introit follow-
ing the Collect for Purity, in tlie opening of the Communion
Service as it stood in the First Book of Edward A'l. and in
the Miss.als. It is in reality a Christian application of the
Law in the words of .Ter. xxxi. 33 and Ps. cxix. 36, and as
already made by St. Paul in Heb. viii. 10. It may be clearly
traced in the Vulgate : " Inclinavi cor meum ad faciendas
1 The tranHlatlon of tlie Dcculogno used liere, and in ihe Catechism, is
not tliat of our present version, and scemu to have been made for tlie
Prayer Bool<.
'i Minister.
■ Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-
day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that
thou hast to do ; but the seventh day is the Sab-
bath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do
no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant,
thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy
gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven
and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day : wherefore the Lord
blessed the seventh day, and haUowed it.
IT People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IT Minister.
Honour thy father and thy mother ; that thy
days may be long in the land, which the Lord
thy God giveth thee.
U People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IT Minister.
Thou shalt do no murder.
IT People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
If Jlinister.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
justificationes Tiias . . ." [Ps. cxix. 111.] " Inclina cor
meum in testimonia Tua ..." [Ihid. 36.] "... etcustodiam
illam in toto corde meo." [Ibid. 34.]
The Kyrie thus said appears to represent the ancient Litany
element [the Greek eclene] of the Eucharistic Ofhce, and
especially when it was sung in an expanded form, or " farsed,"
as it was on all the higlier class of festivals. At the end of
some Missals there are several pages, "De cantu Kyrie
Eleison," and these contain nine such expanded forms, Kyrie
generally beginning the first three lines, Christe the second
three, and Kyrie the third three ; all the nine lines ending
with "Eleison." Twenty-nine of these expanded Kyries are
printed in Henderson's edition of the York Missal [ii.
243-2o'2]. Translations of two are also here given from a
Missal of 1514 as specimens ; —
"Lord, Almighty, Father nnbegotten, on us wretched ones
have mercy.
Lord, AYho hast redeemed Thine handiwork, by Thine own
Son have mercy.
Lord, Adonai, blot out our sins, and on Thy people have
mercy.
Christ, the splendour of the Father's glory and the image
of His substance, have mercy.
Christ, Who didst save the world at the Father's bidding,
have mercy.
Christ, Salvation of men and eternal life of angels, have
mercy.
Lord the Spirit, the Paraclete, Bestower of pardon, have
mercy.
Lord, Fountain of mercy, sevenfold in grace, have mercy.
Lord, most gracious Pardoner, proceeding from Both, most
bounteous Bestower of Spiritual gifts, have mercy."
" Lord, the Maker of all creatures, have mercy upon us.
Thou Who blottest out our sins, have mercy upon us with-
out ceasing.
Let not Thy handiwork perish ; but graciously have mercy
upon it.
Christ, the only Sou of tlie Father, born of the Virgin,
have mercy upon us.
Cfte Communion.
373
IT People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IT Minister.
Thou shalt not steal.
If People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
IF Minister.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour.
TT People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our
hearts to keep this Law.
H Minister.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor
any thing that is his.
IT People.
Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these
Thy Laws in our hearts, we beseech Thee.
IT Then shall follow one of these two Collects for the
Queen, the Priest standing as "before, and saying,
H Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY God, Whose kingdom is everlast-
-^-J^ ing, and power infinite ; Have mercy upon
a Com/i. St. Chry*
sostom's Liturgy,
'iffTttToLi iv ai !rpo-
Tlpov veru.
b or he that is af-
pointed [1549],
£ ittaptaceassi!:ttfd
for that fit rpase
'[I5491-
the whole Church ; and so rule the heart of Thy
chosen servant VICl'ORIA, our Queen and
Governour, that she (knowing Whose minister she
is) may above all things seek Thy honour and
glory : and that we, and all her suVjjects (duly
considering Whose authority she hath) may faith-
fully serve, honour, and humbly obey her, in Thee,
and for Thee, according to Thy blessed Word and
ordinance, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who
with Thee and the Holy Gho.st liveth and
reigneth, ever one God, world without end.
Amen.
IT Or,
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, we are
~t\. taught by Thy holy Word, that the hearts
of kings are in 'Ihy rule and governance, and that
Thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth
best to Thy godly wisdom : We humbly beseech
Thee so to dispose and govern the heart of
VICTORIA Thy Servant, our Queen and Gover-
nour, that, in all her thoughts, words, and works,
she may ever seek Thy honour and glory, and
study to preserve Thy people committed to her
charge, in wealth, peace, and godliness. Grant
this, O merciful Father, for Thy dear Son's
sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Avun.
IT Then shall be said the Collect of the day. And
immediately after the Collect the * Priest shall read
the ""Epistle, saying, Tlw Epistle [or. The portion of
Scripture appointed for the Epistle] is written in the
Chapter of beyinniiuj at the Verse.
And the Epistle ended, he shall say. Here endeth
Tliou tliat by Thy Blood savedst a ruined world from death,
have mercy.
Hear the Prayer of those who now cry unto Thee, and in
tenderness have mercy.
Gracious Spirit, fill us with Thy grace, have mercy.
Thou who tlowest from the Father and the Son continually,
have mercy upon us.
Holy Trinity, trinal Unity, together to be worshipped,
Loosen the bonds of our sins, redeeming us from death.
Let us all now cry aloud with sweetly-flowing voice, God,
have mercy."
An interesting feature of these expanded forms of the
Kyrie is the retention of Greek words, which indicates their
Eastern origin, and that the associations connected with
them were precious to the Cliurch of England.
In the American Prayer Book the Commandments are fol-
lowed by our Lord's Summary of the Decalogue from Matt.
xxii. 37-40 ; the use of which is also allowed instead of that
of the Decalogue by the Scottish Liturgy.
COLLECT FOR THE SOVEREIGN.
the Priest standing as before] That is, at the northern part
of the front of the Altar, looking towards the east, as he had
stood before he turned to the people to read the Ten Com-
mandments.
Both these Collects appear to have been composed in 1549,
but the second is very similar in its phraseology to the first
Collect or the Missa pro Rege given at p. 20.3, of which the
first words are, "Deus in cujus manu sunt corda regum."
There seems to have been considerable variety in the Missae
pro Rege et Eegina : and it is possible that these Collects are
both of them taken from some ancient sources not yet recog-
nized.
The insertion of this Prayer for the Sovereign may be thus
accounted for. Tlie Sovereign was mentioned in the ancient
Canon, in that of the first Prayer Book, and in tlie Prayer for
the Church Militant, when that Canon was aftenvards broken
up into three portions as we now have it. But in the first
Prayer Book one of the final Rubrics directed that on Wed-
nesdays and Fridays, if there was no celebration, the Com-
munion Service should yet be said as far as the end of the
Offertory. When so used, the memorial of the Sovereign in
the Canon would not he said, and this Collect was probably
inserted to supply the deficiency. It would also be said con-
stantly that those who did not remain to receive (and there-
fore did not liear the Canon), might still hear, and take part
in, a Prayer for the Sovereign and the C'hurcli. When the
Canon was broken up, and that part of it which now forms
the Prayer for the Church Militant was removed to an earlier
part of the Oflice, it was directed to form part of the Offer-
tory even when there is no Celebration : and thus tlie second
memorial forms not only part of the Canon, as in ancient
days, but of the Service used when there are no communi-
cants. Temporary reasons connected witli the disloyalty of
the times had probably some influence in fixing this Collect
upon the Churcli.
Viewing the Ten Kyries preceding as a representative, in
some degree, of the primitive Ectene, or Great Collect, the
Collect for the Sovereign is not without a certain propriety
as to its Liturgical position. One of the petitions in that
Eucharistic Litany is, "For our most religious and God-
protected Sovereigns, for all the Palace and their Army, let
us beseech the Lord. E7. Lord, have mercy upon us."
It should also be .added that "Memorise" were said with
the Collect for the day under the old system of the Church of
England, aud that the use of the present memorial Collect
for the Sovereign may represent an ancient custom. The
Rubric was as follows : " Deinde diciiur oratio, sic determin-
ando. Per omnia scecula sajculorum. Amen. Et si aliqtta
Memoria hahenda est iterum dicat Sacerdos Oremus %it supra.
El quando sunt plures colleda: dicenda;, tunc omnes Oratioiies
quce sequentur sub tmo. Per Dominum, et uno Oremus dicun-
lur. Ita tamen quod septenarium numerum excedere non debent
secundum nsum EcclesicB Sarum."
the Collect of the dai/] Some notes on the history of the Col-
lects de Tempore will be found at p. 242 ; some special rules
connected with their use at pp. 201, 244.
If Memorial Collects, on account of national or diocesan
afflictions or necessities, should ever be issued by the author-
ities of our Church, the proper place to use them is after the
Collect or Collects of the day, both here, and at Mattins and
Evensong.
shall read l/ie Epistle] For notes on the history of the
374
Ct)C Communion.
the Epistle. Then shall be read tlie Gospel (the
People all standing up^, saying, The holy Gospel
is xc}'itte)i in the Chapter oj beginning at
ii SCathft Siiceriios
in medio AUaris
iytnbolu*njitie\ iti-
cipiat excelsa loce.
g. In 5. and 5§.
there IS a simile directiwi.
the Verse. And the Gospel ended, shall be
sung or said the Creed following, the People still
standing as before. '^
I BELIEVE in one God* the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things
visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the onl}'-
begotten Son of God ; Begotten of His Father
before aU worlds; God, of God; Light, of Light;
Very God, of very God ; Begotten, not made :
Being of one substance with the Father: ''By
Whom all things were made : Who for us men
and for our salvation came down from heaven,
And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the
Virgin Mary, And was made Man : And was
crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He
suffered and was buried. And the third day He
rose again according to the Scriptures, And
ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right
hand of the Father. And He shall come again
with glory to judge both the quick and the dead :
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost; '"The Lord,
and Giver of life ; Who proceedeth from the
Father ^and the Sox ; Who with the Father
and the Sox together is worshipped and glorified ;
Who spake by the Prophets. And I believe one
Catholick and Apostolick Church. ''I acknow-
ledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. And
I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the
life of the world to come. Amen.'
I b After these words
[ folJuwed a Rubric
j m 1549. The clerks
shall sing the test.
' f VliffT£uu in ilie
) Greek Liturgies.
rf i.e. By GoD the
Son.
£ i.e. \i] The Lord
God. and (2] the
Giver of life, or
more strictly, tlie
Life-Giver.
/ Filioque. No cor-
respontlingworii is
found in the origi-
nal Greek.
^ k'/iocv not ill the
Liturgy of St.
Mark. So the word
"sanctam""b want-
ini; in some e.irly
Latin versions.
h So in MozaraMc.
Co'tfiteo r, Uio u l; h
the rest is said iii
the plural.
i The punctuation
of the English lias
been re-arranged
for the present
■>\ ork.
'ITISTEYOMEN d^ ha Qehv, Jlar'ipa TravTOKpd-
Topa, TTOujT-ijv oipai'ov Kal ■y/j;, opaTiov t£ ttcIvtwv
Kal dopOiTIDl'.
Kat CIS eVa Ki'piov 'lijcrovv Xpttrroi', tov Yioi'
Tov Qeov TOV /xoi'oyei'i], tuv Ik toij Tlarpo'i ytv-
vi]devTa irpu TrdvTiav twv atdjvuv [6eoi' tK 0€oi"]
#<us iK ^(oTos, Qeuv aXrjdivov Ik Qiov dXi]dLVov'
yevvrjdiVTa, ov ironjdevra, ojxoovmov T<u Tlarpr
ZC ov TO. TrdvTa eyevero' Toi' 6t' i}//as Tovs dvdptii-
TTOVS, Kal 8nx T))i' i)neT€pav aumjpiav, Kare\66vTa
€K Twv oi'pavlov, Kal (rapKoiOevTa Ik IIj'ei'/iaT09
'Ayt'oD, Kat Mapjas ttJs irapdkvov. Kal ivavftpdnrnj-
cravra' cnavpiaOivTa re VTrep ■ijjiuiv eVi IIovTtoi'
IltAaTov', Kal TTadovra, Kal Ta<^€i'TO., Kal avamaVTa
Tj; Tp'i'Ty Vf^^P?- i^^'a ■'■'^5 ypa<f>6.%' Kal dveXOovra
eh Tous ovpavov's, Kal Kade^o/xtvov £K Sf^wiv tov
UaTpos' Kal TTciAiv (pypfxevov /lerd So^tJs Kplvai
foivras Kal vcKpovs' ov xjys /3ao-iA£tas oi'k ecrrai
TeAos.
Kat €is TO ni'tr/ia to "Ayioi', to Kvpiov, Kal to
ZcUOTTOlOl', TO €K TOli ITaTpOS iKITOpiVOpLiVOV, TO
(TVV IlaTpt Kal Yua cri'/iTrpoo-Kii'or'juevov Kal crvv-
So^a^o/icroi', to AaA>5o"ar 8ta twi' t7 po<^i'jTQiV' Ets
fi.lav'-' ay iav KadoXiK^^vKal dirocTToXiKyv iKKXrjO'iav.
ofioXoyovfiev h' PaTniajxa u% a.<f)eaiv djiaprmv.
■17pOaSoKMp€l' dvd(TTa(TLV iCKpon', Kal f(0))v TOV
jxiXXovTOS auui'os. 'A/xtp'.
Epistle and Gospel as used in tlie Communion Office, see p.
243. The Epistle was anciently read from a lectern near
the Altar, from which sometimes both it and the Gospel also
were read. At Durham Cathedral, before its iniquitous
spoliation, "at the North End of the High Altar there was a
very fine Lettern of Brass, where they sang the Epistle and
Gospel, with a great Pelican on the height of it finely gilt,
billing the blood out of her breast to feed her young ones,
and lier wings spread abroad, whereon lay the Book, in which
they sung tlie Epistle and Gospel : it was thought to be the
finest Lettern of Brass in this country."' But this lectern
doubtless stood on the north of the Altar because it was used
for the Gospel. The proper side from which to say the
Epistle is the south, or that which is on the right hand, when
looking towards the Altar.
Tlie following is Cosin's alteration of this Rubric : —
Inimcdiaiel;/ after tlif. Collects, the PrieM., or the EpistUr
appointed, shall turn to tlie people and read the Epistle in the
place assigned for it, beginning thus : The Epistle is written in
the Chapter of , and ending thus : Here endeth the
Epistle. And the Epistle ended, the Priest or the Gospeller
appointed shall read the Gospel, saying first : The Holy Gospel
is written in the Chapter of . And the people all
standing up sliall say : Glory be to Thee, O Lord. And at the
end of the Gospel lie that readelh it shall say : Here endeth the
holy Gospel. Atid the people shall answer: Thanks be to
Thee, O Lord.
Although no gesture is prescribed for the people during
the reading of the Epistle, the custom of sitting is in
Htrict accordance with the ancient practice of the Church.
Thus Amalarius wrote in the ninth century that while tlie
Les^ion, or Epistle, is "being read we are accustomed to sit
after the manner of the ancients." [Amal. de Ercl. Off- iii.
11 ] Rupert of Deutz also wrote to the same effect in the
twelfth century. [R(JP. de Div. Off. i. .'i2.] A Rubric per-
mitting those in the Choir to sit while the Epistle was being
1 The Ritfj 0/ Dnrhnm, written hy nn cyc-witncss of the spoliation.
Thcrn was another hra»8 Ijoetem in the midst of the Quire for the nulslc-
book, and a wooden one for tlic Lessons lower down, near the Quire door.
The "great pcliean " has been revived recently in the magnificent lectern
uscil for the Lessons, " the flnest Leit«m ... in this country." '
read, and the Gradual and Tract sung, is found in some Sarum
Missals.
Then shall he read the Gospel] The highest reTercnce has
always been given by the Church to the Eucharistic dispensa-
tion of tlie Gospel : doubtless from a recognition of ihe solemn
association between such an use of it and the Personal Word
of God, Whose message it is. In the Eastern Church the
Book of the Gospels is carried in procession to the Altar, this
rite being called the Little Entrance, as tlie procession of the
Elements to the Altar is called the Great Entrance.- In the
Church of England lighted tapers used to be held on either
side of the Gospeller while he was reading, and Incense
burned, to signify that tlie Gospel is from Him Who is the
Light of the World, and that the reading of it is a memorial
offered before God. The versicle, "(ilory be to Thee,
Lord," is also handed down to us from the ancient Church
[Rup. de Dir. Off. i. 36], was printed in tlie earlier
Prayer Books, and has been retained with a firmer hold than
most ritual traditions by subsequent generations. The Gos-
pel is always said at the north side of tlie Altar, or that side
which is on the left hand when looking towards it.
Standing at the Gospel is a custom significant of this
reverent instinct of the Church. The historian Sozomen, who
wrote in the fifth century, knew of only one exception to this
custom, which was that of the Bishop of Alexandria. St.
Chrysostom bids the people "stand with soul and ear erect"
when the Gospel is read, .and in the Apostolical Constitutions
of the third century is the direction, "When the Gospels are
in reading, let all the Priests and Deacons, .and all the people,
stand up in great quietness ; for it is written, ' He still, and
hearken, Israel :' and again, ' But do thou stand here and
listen!'" Upon this custom Hooker writes, "It sheweth a
reverend regard to the Son of God above all other nu'ssengers,
altliough speaking .as from God also. And against Infidels,
Jews, Arians, who derogate from the honour of Jesus Christ,
such ceremonies arc most profitable. "
At the end of the Gospel the Celebrant moves to the centre
^ The " Kvangelisteria," or IJooks of the Go.spels, were anciently decor-
ated in the most costly manner. One u.sed in Salisliur)' Cathedral, for
example, was adonied with twenty sapphires, six emeralds, eight topazes,
twelve pearls, eighteen Blcniandines, and eight ganiets.
Cf)C Communion.
375
The Liitiii version of the Niceiie Creed is a3 fol-
lows : —
" " Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotontem,
Factorem coeli et terrse, visibilium omnium et invisi-
bilium. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum, Et ex Patro natum ante omnia
sieoula : Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum vcrum
de Deo vero, Cenitum nun factum, oonsubstantialem
Patri, per Quern omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos
homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coilis,
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virgine,
Et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub
Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est. Et resurrexit
tertia die secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in eoelum,
sedet ad dexteram Patris, Et iterum veuturus est cum
gloria judicare vivos et mortuos, Cujus regni non erit
Snis. Et in Spiritum vSanctum, Dominum et Vivifican-
tem, Qui ex Patre Filioque procedit, Qui cum Patre et
Filio siniul adoratur et conglorifieatur, Qui locutus est
per pi-ophetas. Et unam sanetam Catliolieam et Apos-
tolicam Ecelesiam. Confiteor unum baptiama in re-
missionem peccatorum, et exspecto resurrectiouem
mortuorum, Et vitam venturi sa^culi. Amen."
The following is an interesting English version of the
" Mass " Creed, taken from Our Lady's Mirror. [Mir-
ror of our Lady, pp. 312-321, Blunt's ed. ] Although this
translation was made about A. D. 1430, it is yet almost
exactly identical with that adopted in 1549. There
are njucli older English versions : —
" I byleue in one god y" father almyghty, maker of
heuen and of erthe, and of al thinges vysyble and in-
uisyble, and in one lorde iesu cryste, the only begotten
sone of god : borne of the father before al worldes. god
of god. lyghte of lyghte. very god of very god. by-
gotten and not made, and of one substaunce wyth the
father. By wliome all thyiiges are made, whiclie for
us men and women, and for oure helthe cam downe
from heuens. And he was incarnate of the holy gooste
of the vyrgyn marye, and lie is made man. He was
crucyfyed also for us under ponce pylate, Buffered
passyon, and was buryed. And he aro.se the thyrde
daye after scryptures. And he asceded in heuen and
sytteth on the fathers ryghte hande. And he shall
come agayne with glory to deme the quycke and the
deade. Of wliose kyugdome shall be none ende. And
I byleue in the holy goste, lord and quykner. which
proceedeth of the father and of the sonne. which is
worshijjed, and glorifyed togyther wyth the father and
wyth the sonne, whych hathe spoke by the prophetes.
And I byleue on holy comon and apostly chirche. I
knowlege one baptym in remyssyo of synnes. And I
abyde the resurreccyon of the deade. And I abyde the
lyfe of the worlde to come. Amen."
of the Altar to say the Creed, remaining there for the rest of
the Service except when communicating the people. In
Merbecke, and in all other Services, the first words of the
Creed, "I believe in one God," are assigned to the Priest
alone, the Choir and people joining in at the words "the
Father Almighty."
THE NICENE CREED.
The recitation of the Creed in the public ministration of
the Holy Eucharist was first introduced by Peter the Fuller,
Bishop of Antioch in 471, and adopted by Timotlieus, Bishop
of Constantinople in 511. In the West it was adopted first
in Spain, by the Third Council of Toledo in 589, as an anti-
dote to the Arian heresy, with which the Spanish Churcli
had been infected ; then in I'rance in the time of Charles the
Great, aud lastly in the Roman Cliurcli under Pope Benedict
VIII, in 1014. Originally tlie Creed seems to have been used
only in the instruction of catechumens, and as their profession
of faith when baptized ; and also as that of Bishops at their
consecration.'
One of the most interesting of the early creeds is that of
Caesarea, because it was adopted by the Council which
assembled at Nicsea in 325, to condemn the errors of Arius,
as the basis of that profession of the Faith which — with tlie
addition made at the Second General Council of Constantinople
in 381 (from "the Lord, and Giver of life " to the end), to meet
the heresy of Macedonius — was confirmed and finally adopted
by the Third Genex-al Council of Ephesus in 431, and by the
Fourth, that of Chalcedon, in 451. [See Hammond's Defini-
tions of Faith and Canons of the Universal Church.]
The Nioene, or, more correctly, the Niceno-Constantino-
politan Creed, from the solemn sanction thus given to it by
the great tEoumenioal Councils, stands in a position of greater
authority than any other ; and amid their long-standing
divisions is a blessed bond of union between the three great
branches of the One Catholic Church — the Eastern, the
Roman, aud the Anglican, of all whose Communion Offices
it forms a part. It is vei-y seriously to be regretted that the
American portion of the Anglican Communion has made its
use in the Communion Office optional, giving the Apostles'
Creed as an alternative.
The shorter draught of the Creed as it came from the
Nicene Council contained the words 0ebii e/c OeoO, which the
Council of Constantinople omitted as unnecessary, and the
words Deum de Deo do not occur in the Creed as given in the
Gelasian Sacramentary. [Mukatoei, Lit. Bom. i. 540.] But
they have since been universally restored throughout the
Western Church.
The words " et Filio" or " Filioque " of the Procession of
the Holy Ghost have, as is well known, never been admitted
into the Creed by the Eastern Church. They were first
1 Some of the earlier creeds may be seen in Harvet's History and
'I'heoh.iil of the three Creeils, Heurtley's Ilarvionia .Sjimiolica, Walcuius'
Bibliothcca Siniiholica, ami Bingham's Antiquities, X. iii. 4. [Sm also pp.
195-198 and •211-213 of this work.]
introduced, probably, as an additional protest against the
Arian denial of the full Godhead of the Son, by the Spanisli
Church, at the great Council of Toledo in 6S9 ; or, according
to Bingham, at the still earlier Council of Bracara in 411.
Some, however, think that tliey cannot be traced with certainty
higher than the T<;)ledan Council of 6.'J3. [Gdett£, Papaxdi
Schismaliqiie, p. 335.] Tlie addition first became of impor-
tance towards the end of the eighth century, when the doctrine
of the procession of the Holy Ghost from tlie Son was wielded
as a theological weajion against the adoptionist heresy of the
SiMnish Bishops, Felix and Elipandus.
It was then generally adopted tlirough Gaul and Germany,
chiefly tlirough the influence of Charlemagne, who is said to
have written the hymn Vcni, Creator: and, — although Pope
Leo III., on the subject being referred to him by a Council
held at Aix-la-Chapelle in 809, declined to sanction it, and
caused a copy of the Creed without the "Filioque" to be
engraved on silver plates and set up in St. Peter's, — Pope
Nicholas I., the great rival of the patriarch Photius, half a
century later, insisted, in spite of the protests of the Greeks,
on its insertion throughout the churches of the West. The
dispute was embittered by the growing assumptions of the
Roman See, which have alwaj's been stedfastly resisted by
the Eastern Church ; and the rupture was unhappily com-
pleted on July 16, 1054, when the legates of Pope Leo IX.
laid on the altar of St. Sophia at Constantinople a writ of
Excommunication against Michael Cerularius the Patriarch,
which was answered by an anathema on the part of the Patri-
arch and his clergy.
The resistance of the Easterns to the insertion of the
"Filioque" seems to have been influenced principally by
these considerations : —
L An objection to the doctrine, if it was intended to
assert that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son in the
same sense, that, namely, of eternal derivation, in which
He proceeds from the Father. This they thought was to
trench on the great fundamental verity of one sole 'Apxv, or
Originating Principle, in the Godhead. Tlie being the sole
fount of Deity was, they argued, not one of the Substantial
attributes of Godhead as such, since then it w'ould belong
equally to each of the Three Blessed Persons ; but the dis-
tinctive Personal attribute of the Father only, as it is the
distinctive Personal attribute of the Son that His Godhead
is eternally derived from the Father by way of Generation,
and of the Holy Spirit that His Godhead is eternally derived
from the Father by way of Procession. And thej' maintained
that the passages of Holy Scripture urged in defence of the
eternal Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son, referred
only to His temporal mission by the Son ; and that on so
mysterious a subject it was safer to keep strictly, as the
Oecumenical Councils had done, to the plain letter of Holj-
Scripture, which affirms expressly that the Holy Ghost pro-
ceedeth from the Father, but does not affirm expressly that
He proceedeth from the Son.
"2. An objection to any unauthorized interpolation in the
o/*
Cfjc Communion.
IT Then the Curate shall declare unto the people what
holydays, or fasting-days, are in the week follow-
ing to be observed. And then also (if occasion
be) shall notice be given of the Communion ; and
the Banns of Jlatrimony published ; and Briefs.
Citations, and Excommunications read. And
nothing shall be proclaimed or published in the
Church during the time of Divine Service, but by
the Jlinister : nor by him any thing, but what is
prescribed in the Rules of tliis Book, or enjoined
by the Queen, or by the Ordinary of the place.
If Then shall follow the Sermon, or one of the Homilies
already set forth, or hereafter to be set forth, by
Authority.
IT Then shall the Priest return to the Lord's Table,
and begin the Offertory, saying one or more of
these .Sentences following, as he thinketh most
convenient in his discretion.
IET your light so shine before men, that they
■^ may see your good works, and glorify your
Father Which is in heaven. s. jiatt. v. lo.
Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon the
earth ; where the rust and moth doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal : but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; where
neither rust nor moth doth corrupt, and where
thieves do not break through and steal.
S. Matt. vi. 10, 20.
Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto
you, even so do unto them ; for this is the Law
and the Prophets. s. Matt. vii. 12.
Not every one that saith unto !Me, Lord,
Lord, .shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ;
but he that doeth the will of ^My Father Which
is in heaven. s. Matt. vh. 21.
Zacchseus stood forth, and said unto the Lord,
Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the
poor ; and if I have done any wrong to any man,
I restore four-fold. s. Luke xix. 8.
Who goeth a warfare at any time of his own
universally accejjted Creed of Christendom, resting on the
universally admitted authority of the Second and Fourth
General Councils, especially when it originated in a local
Church of the then unsettled and unlettered extreme AVest,
and afterwards enforced by the Papal .See very much by way
of asserting and establishing its extravagant claims of supre-
macy, and of dominion over the Faith of the Church.
At the English Reformation the question was not raised,
and the Creed iu this respect contiimed as before.'
Then, the Curate shall declare unto the people] We happen
to have two very ancient notices that were given out to the
people during Divine Service in tlie early Church. The one
is the notification of Easter, whicli was given on tlie Feast of
the Epiphany, according to the Ambrosiaji Rite, and which
will be found in a note at p. 290. This is placed after the
Collect "Super Populum " iu the Missal of St. Ambrose, and
was probably, therefore, read at an analogous part of tlie
Service to that directed above. The other is a notice by St.
Augustine in the following words: "I suggest to you.
Beloved, what ye know already. To-morrow dawns the
anniversary day of the Ordination of the vener.ible Lord
Aurelius. He asks and admonishes you by my humble
ministry that you will, of your charity, grant him a meeting
with all devotion at tlie basilica of Faustus. Thanks be to
God." [Serm. cxi. Ben. ed., Ixi. Oxford transl.] In niediseval
times it was the custom (according to Cardinal Bona) to give
out notices of feasts and fasts after the Benediction, which
occurred iu the part of the Service that comes between the
Consecration and the Communion, and he gives some examples
of these and other notices (including one of Baptism) from a
Roman Sacramentary written before the ninth century. [l!rr.
Litiiri). ii. 16.] The practice of interpolating such notices in
the Communion Office is therefore one of great and apparently
Primitive antiquity. In the Church of England it appears to
have lieen the medieval custom to associate the bidding of
Holydays with tlie bidding of Prayers, a list of Festivals
having been found written on the same parchment from
which the former was evidently read, in a fourteentli century
MS. printed by L'Estrange.^
The Sixty-fourth Canon directs as follows : —
" Canon 64.
Ministers solemnly to bid Holydays.
Every Parson, Vicar, or Curate shall, in his sever.al charge,
declare to the people, every Sunday, at the time appointed in
the Communion-b<iok, whether there be any Holydays or
Fasting-days the week following. And if any do, hereafter,
wittingly offend herein, and being once admonished tlierenf
by his Ordinary, shall again omit that duty, let him be
censured according to law, until he submit himself to the due
performance of it.
And then . . . of the Cojnmuiiion] The notice here directed
docs not refer to either of the Exhortations subsequently
printed, as they are ordered by the Rubric preceding them
* Tlic Htandard EngHHli works on the Nicene Creed are those of Bislinp
Bull and Bishop Forbes of Brechin. There is an admirable old English
exposition of it, with the above translation, In the Mirror of our Lady.
' Alliance Div. OJIlat, p. 202. Ang. L'ath. Lib. c(l.
to be used after the Sermon, this notice being before it.
There is some confusion in tlie Rubrics, both of which belong
to an unhappy time of rare celebrations and communions ; and
neither of them come into operation wliere the Holy Com-
munion is regularly celebrated, as it undoubtedly should be,
every Sunday. In the one Rubric the parenthesis "(if occa-
sion be) " indicates that such notice is left to the discretion of
the minister ; and in the other the meaning plainly is, that the
exhortations are to be used on the Sunday or Holyday preceding
the Communion, if the celebration of it is not a regular part
of the Sunday Service, and "warning " is therefore necessary.
the Banns of Matrimony jmblished] This portion of the
Rubric has been altered by the Delegates of the Press at
Oxford, and the Syndics at Cambridge, without any authority
whatever, in all Prayer Books printed during tlie last sixty
years. The authoritative Rubric is as above, and could only
be altered by the same constitutional authority which imposed
it.^ By Lord Hardwicke's Act, 26 Geo. II. c. 33 (1753), it
was enacted that "all Banns of Matrimony shall be published
in an audible manner in the Parish Churcli according to the
form of words prescribed by the Rubric affixed to the Office
of Jlatrimony in the Book of Common Prayer, upon three
Snnd.aj's preceding the Solemnization of Marriage, during the
time of iloruing Service, or of Eveuiug Service (if there be
no Morning Service in such church upon any of those Sundays)
immediately after the Second Lesson, and all otlier the rules
prescribed by the said Rubric concerning tlie publication of
Banns, and the solemnization of Matrimony, and not hereby
altered, sh.all be duly observed."''
It will be seen that this clause does not define anything
with respect to the time of publication at the "Morning
.Service," leaving it still to take place after the Nicene Creed,
or (which is the .same thing when there is no Sermon) "imme-
diately before the sentences for the Offertory." A judicial
decision on this subject, and some further particulars, will be
found in the notes to the Marriage Office.
BrirJ's] These were letters patent issued by the Sovereign,
directing the collection of alms for special olijects named in
them. They were granted for building and repairing
churches, and for many benevolent purposes (such as the
compensation of losses by fire), which are now provided for
by societies or public subscriptions. Great abuses arose out
of Briefs, and a statute was passed to regulate them in Queen
Anne's reign. [4 Anne, c. 14.] The abuses still continued,
however, as will be seen by the following jiarticulars of ninety-
seven briefs for repairing or rebuilding churches or chapels,
and forty-seven briefs for accidents by fire, inundations, etc.,
issued between Michaelmas ISO"), and Micliaelmas 1818 ; —
Michnclinas 1S05, Estinintes of Sums v , ,
to Michaelmas 1818. money required, collected. ^'^^ proceeds.
£ s. d. £ s. if. £ s. d.
97 briefs for churches, etc. 125.240 19 4} 3,'i,S.17 6 73 14,297 14 45
47 „ accidents, etc. 34,SS4 15 Si 31,050 12 SJ 14.606 18 7
144 160,125 14 8J 07,513 19 4i 28,904 12 IIJ
An attempt was again made to reform the system in 1821,
but with so little success that Briefs were at last abolished,
in 1828, by !) Geo. IV. c. 28. "King's Letters," which were
' Su pji. 32-37.
• Stc also 4 Geo. IV. c. 70, 1623.
Cf)C Communion.
377
cost 1 Wlio planteth a vineyard, and eatcth not
of the fruit thereof? Or wlio feedeth a Hock,
and eateth not of the milk of the flock i
1 CoK. ix. 7.
If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is
it a great matter if we shall reap your worldly
things ? 1 Cob. ix. 11.
Do ye not know, that they who minister about
holy things live of the sacrifice ; and they who
wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar?
Even so hath the Lord also ordained, that they
who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.
1 Cou. ix. 13, 14.
He that soweth little shall reap little ; and he
that soweth plenteously shall reai) plenteously.
Let every man do according as he is disposed in
his heart, not grudgingly, or of necessity ; for God
loveth a cheerful giver. 2 cor. ix. c. 7.
Let him that is taught in the Word minister
unto liini that tcacheth, in all good thing.s. Be
not deceived, God is not mocked : for whatsoever
a man soweth that shall he reaji. Cal. vi. 6, 7.
While wo have time, let us do good unto all
men ; and specially unto them that are of the
household of faith. Gal. vi. lo.
Godliness is great riches, if a man be content
with that ho hath : for we brought nothing into
the world, neither may we carry any thing out.
1 Tim. %'i. 6, 7.
Charge them who are rich in this world, that
they be ready to give, and glad to distribute ;
laying up in store for themselves a good founda-
tion against the time to come, that tliey may
attain eternal life. i Tim. vi. 17-10.
God is not unrighteous that He will forget your
works and labour that procoedeth of love ; which
only discoutiiiued about 1860, were documents of a similar
character, and one granted by Charles II., for Chelsea
Hospital (but never used), is among Archbishop Sancroft's
papers in the Bodleian. These were granted, in recent times,
to the Incorporated Societies for Church Building, Missions,
and Education.
Citations] "A citation is a judicial act, whereby the de-
fendant, by authority of the judge (the plaintiff requesting
it), is commanded to appear, in order to enter into suit, at
a certain day, in a place where justice is administered."
[Burn's £'fc. Laic.] They were read after- the Ofiertory in
the Media3val Church. The only kind of C^itation ever lieard
in church at the present day is the " Si quis " of candidates
for Holy Orders, calling upon any persons who know reasons
why they should not be ordained to declare those reasons to
the Bishop.
Excommunications] These are sentences of ecclesiastical
censure passed by competent authority, that is, by some
ecclesiastical judge or ordinary. Canon 65 fully •xplains this
part of the Rubric. [See also Balmei'.'s Oriij. Liiiinj. ii. 384.]
And iiotliini/ fliall be iiroclaimed] Many Acts of Parliament
required that parochial notices respecting purely secular
matters should be publicly read in cliurcli ; and the example
had been followed in respect to numberless matters of tlie
same kind without the same autlnu'ity. All such enactment.s
were repealed by 7 Will. IV. and 1 Vict. c. 45, which thus
practically enforced the authority of tlie Rubric.
Then shall follow the Sermon] It has been the constant
custom of the Church from the eai'lieat ages for a sermon to
be preached during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and
many Mediseval Sermons in English have come down to modern
times.
The Sermon was usually preached from the Altar steps, or
from the gallery, or "rood loft," over the Chancel screen;
which was tlien called "the i>ulpit." But pulpits in the
modern sense were introduced into English Churches at least
as early as the fourteenth century.
When the Celebrant is the preacher, and preaches from the
pulpit, he ouglit to lay aside his Vestment, placing it upon
the Altar.' If he preaches from the Altar it should be
retained. The ancient custom was to preach from the Altar
steps, and pulpits were far from being universal in churches
when this Rubric was first inserted.
The only form of prayer before sermon which has any
authority whatever is that enjoined in the Fifty-fifth Canon.
"Canon 55.
Titeform of a Prayer to he used by all Preachers before
their Sermons.
Before all Sermons, Lectures, and Homilies, the Preachers
and Ministers shall move the people to join with them in
Prayer in this form, or to this effect, as briefly as conveniently
they may : Ye shall pray for Christ's holy Catholic Church,
that is, for the whole congregation of Cliristian people dis-
persed throughout the whole world, and especially for the
Churches of England, Scotland, and Ireland : and herein I
1 In most Churches it was the custom for the Celebrant to put on hi.-;
vestment in the sight of the people, taking it from the Altar. Vestries
were rare before the fourteenth century.
require you most especially to pray for the King's most excel-
lent Majesty, our Sovereign Lord James, King of England,
Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the F.aith, and
Supreme Governor in these his realms, and all other his
dominions and countries, over all persons in all causes, as
well Ecclesiastical as Temporal : ye sliaU also pray for our
gracious Queen Anne, the noble Prince Henry, and the rest
of the King and Queen's royal issue : ye shall also pray for
the Ministers of God's holy Word and Sacraments, as well
Archbishops and Bishops, as other Pastors and Curates : ye
shall also pray for the King's most honourable Council, and
for all the Nobility and Magistrates of tliis realm ; that all
and every of these, in their several callings, may serve truly
and painfully to the glory of God, and the edifying and
well-governing of His people, rememljering the account that
they must make : also j-e shall pray for the whole Commons
of this realm, that they may live in the true faith and fear of
God, in humble obedience to the King, and brotherly charity
one to another. Finally, let us praise God for all those which
are departed out of this life in the faith of Chri.st, and pray
unto God that we may have grace to direct our lives after
their good example ; that this life ended, we may be made
partakers with them of the glorious resurrection in the life
everlasting; always concluding with the Lord's Prayer."
This is a modernized form of the ancient " Bidding of the
Bedes," but is seldom used except in Cathedrals and Colleges.'-
It was enjoined on preachers in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, on account of the iniquitous use which was
made of their so-called prayers before tlie sermon by the
Puritans ; some of whom made it a weekly vehicle for teach-
ing sedition and schism.' It may be doubted whether the
Bidding Prayer was ever intended to be used for Sermons
preached during the Communion Service. When it was
inserted in tlie Canons, Sermons were often preached apart
from prayers, as at Paul's Cross, and as the University
Sermons are still preached at Oxford and Cambridge. In
similar cases it would still be very appropriate.
THE OFFERTORY.
The solemn Oblation of the Elements to be consecrated for
the Holy Communion has always formed a prominent feature
of the Liturgy.'' In the Eastern Church the elements are
prepared in the chapel of the Prothesis, the northern of two
which stand on either side of the Altar, with a special service,
called "The Office of the Prothesis, " and are taken to the
Altar with much ceremony in a procession called "The Great
Entrance." Then they are offered to God with a Prayer of
Oblation, the following being that appointed in the Liturgy
of St. Chrysostom, which is now generally used in the East
and in Russia : —
"Lord, God Almighty, Only Holy, Who receivest the
2 For ancient forms of tliiii, sec Liher FcstUvlis; L'Estrange's Alliance of
Dii: Offices; Maskell's Moa. Hit. jii. 400 ; Coxe's Forms of Bidding Prayer,
with Introduction and Notes, 1S40.
s See a single instance, extending from p. 97 to p. 109 of Coxe's volume.
* The writer commonly called Dionysius the Areopagite tells ns that
after the exclusion of the Catechumens and jiersons under penance, the
ministers and priests " tlien place upon the altar of God the holy bread
and the cup ot blessing." {De Eccles. Hierurchia, cap. 3. Op. torn. i. p.
1S7 D.]
378
C&e Communion.
love ye have shewed for His Name's sake, who
have ministered unto the saints, and yet do
minister. heb. vi. lo.
To do good, and to distribute, forget not ; for
with such sacrifices God is "well pleased.
Heb. xiii. 16.
Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth uji his compas-
sion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in
bJTn ? IS. John iii. 17.
Give alms of thy goods, and never turn thy
face from any poor man ; and then the face of
the Lord shall not be turned away from thee.
ToB. iv. r.
Be merciful after thy power. If thou hast
a " well " is crossed
out in tlie MS. 19
much, give plenteously : if thou hast little, do
thy diligence gladly to give of that little : for so
gatherest thou thyself a good reward in the day
of necessity. Tob. iv. s, 9.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto
the Lord : and look, what he layeth out, it shall
be paid him again. ^^ov. xix. 17.
Blessed be the man that provideth for the sick
and needy : the Lord shall deliver him in the
time of trouble. Fs. xii. 1.
IT Whilst these Sentences are in reading, the Dea-
cons, Churchwardens, or other fit person ap-
pointed for that purpose, shall receive the Alms
for the Poor, and other devotions of the People,
in a decent Basin, to be provided by the parish
sacrifice of praise from them that call upon Thee with their
whole heart, receive also the supplication of us sinners, and
cause it to approach to Thy holy Altar, and enable us to pre-
sent gifts to Thee, and spiritual sacrifices for our sins, and for
the errors of the people ; aud cause us to find grace in Thy
sight, that this our sacrifice may be acceptable unto Thee,
and that the good Spirit of Thy grace may tabernacle upon
us, and upon these gifts presented unto Thee, and upon all
Thy people. Through the mercies of Thine only-begotten
Son, with Whom Thou art tp be blessed, aud with the all-
holy, and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to
ages of ages."
In the unreformed Liturgy of the Church of England a
short anthem, called " Offertorium," was sung at this part of
the service, and then the Celebrant said the following prayer :
" Accept, O holy Trinity, this Oblation which I offer to
Thine honour [in honour of the Blessed Mary and of all Thy
Saints, ] ' for my sins and offences, for the wealth of the liring,
and for the rest of all the faithful departed. May this new
sacrifice be acceptable to Almighty God, in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. "
In the Communion Office of 1549 there was no special
prayer connected with the Oblation of the Elements ; but
there was the following Rubric : " IVien shall the Minister
take so much bread and tcine as shall suffice for the persons
appointed to receive the Holy Communion, layin-g the bread
upon the corporas, or else in the paten, or in some other comely
thinfi^ prepared for that piurpose : and jJUtting the xoine into the
chalice, or else in some fair or convenient cup prepared for that
use {if the chalice loill not serve), putting thereto a little pure
and clean wcUer, and setting both the bread and tvine npion the
altar."
This mixture of water with the wine is a practice handed
down from Apostolic times, and, there is good reason to think,
from our Lord's own example in the original institution of the
Holy Eucharist. Wheatley remarks respecting this usage :
" It must be confessed that the mi.xture has, in all ages, been
the general practice, and for that reason was enjoined to be
continued in our own Church by the first Reformers. And
though in the next Review the order for it was omitted, yet
the practice of it was continued in the King's Chapel all the
time that Bishop Andrewes was dean of it." "We ought by
no means to censure others, who put water into the Cup, for
they have the consent of the Church Catholic of all ages with
them in this particular. This practicerem.aincduniversalforthe
first fifteen hundred yearsafter Christ in .all Churches, excepting
that of Armenia. Pfafiius shews that the cup of blessing among
the Jews did for the most part consist of wine mixed with
water, and from tlicnce concludes that the Primitive Church
took this practice from them, as it is certain they did several
others." [.IcjUXSON', Unhl. Sacrif. I'art ii. ch. i. § iv. vol. ii.
p. 84.] "It seems to me to have been an Apostolical use,
and veiy probably practised by Jesus Christ Himself ; there-
fore I cannot but wish that it might be restored." [Ibid. p.
203. See also Palmer, Orig. Litvrg. ch. iv. § 9 ; and
Littledale's The Mixed Chalice.]
Symbolically the mixture of water with the wine represents
the union of the human with the Divine nature in the
Incarnation. It is also a lively memorial of Him Who for
our redemption did shed out of His most precious side both
Water and Blood.
' No (louljt tlila if* a late luKcrtion.
2 Probably a "clborium " wah meant.
The substance of the Rubric last quoted is retained in that
which immediately precedes the Prayer for the Church
Militant, and its significance was heightened in the revision
of 1661 by the introduction of the word " oblations " into that
prayer. The Rubric and the words of the prayer together
now give to our Liturgy as complete an "Oblation of the
Elements " as is found in the ancient Offices, This should be
distinctly shewn by the reverent method of "placing" the
bread and wiue upon the Lord's Table ; so that it may be
seen they are placed there as a devout offering to God of His
creatures of bread and wine that He may accept them at our
hands (as the Lord accepted the five loaves from His dis-
ciples), to be by Him eucharistized to the higher sphere and
purpose of the new creation. A separate Prayer of Oblation
is still used in the Office for the Holy Communion when cele-
brated at Coronations. It is as follows ; "Bless, Lord,
we beseech Thee, these Thy gifts, and sanctify them unto
this holy use, that by them we may be made partakers of the
Body aud Blood of Thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ,
and fed unto everlasting life of soul and body."'
A secondary part of the Ofl'ertory is the collection and
ofiiring of " alms for the poor, and other devotions of the
people." The words " accept our alms " were inserted where
they now stand in 1552 ; but the Rubric directing the church-
wardens to put them into the " poor men's box," it is doubt-
ful whether they were offered upon the Altar. Perhaps it
was this doubtful character of the Rubric which led to such
a distinct direction as that which we now have, and which
was inserted in 1661.
other devotions of the PeopW] This expression is explained
by the use of it in the Injunctions of Edward VI. [a.d. 1547],
"declaring unto them whereas heretofore they have been
diligent to bestow much substance otherwise than God com-
manded upon pardons, pilgrimages, trentalles, decking of
images, ofl'ering of candles, giving to friars, and upon other like
blind devotions, they ought at this time to be much more ready
to help the poor and needy ..." It is clearly used for "sub-
stance" devoted by an offering of it on God's Altar, to other
religious uses than that of alms. "The vhich alms and
devotion of the people," it is added, "the Keepers of the
Keys sh.all at times convenient take out of the chest," and
devote to the relief of tlie poor, the reparation of highways
next adjoining, and the reparation of the church, if great
need require, and the parish is too poor to provide for its
repair otherwise.
The idea of an Offering of Alms at the Holy Communion
arises out of the idea of the Oblation of the Elements. The
elements are tlie materials of the sacrifice about to lie offered
to God and partaken of by the communicants ; aiul (.as under
the Jewish system) such materials are provided Ijy those who
are to benefit by the sacrifice. But since so .small a quantity
of material is not recognizable as an ofl'ering from many indi-
viduals, each supplements it according to his ability with an
oifering of money to be applied .as alms for the poor, whom
"always ye have with you," or for some sacred object con-
nected witli tlic work of Christ and of the Church. Such an
ofl'ering at sucli a time is very significant ; for, first, "we
thereby acknowledge God's sovereignty over .all, and His
great bounty to us in particular," that "all things come of
Him," and of His own do we give Him; fulfilling His com-
mand of not "appearing before Him empty ; " and, secondly,
the people acknowledge and fullil then- duty of providing
for the maintenance of God's Priests, of God's Poor, of God's
Churcli, His consecrated fabrics .ind His holy services.
Cf)C Communion.
379
for tliat purfjose, and reverently bring it to the
Priest ; who shall humbly present, and place it
upon the Holy Table.
IT And when there is a Communion, the Priest shall
then place upon the Table so much Bread and
Wine, as he shall think sufficient. After which
done, the Priest shall say,
IT Let US pray for the whole state of Cheist's
Church," militant here in earth.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, Who by
-^-^ Thy holy Apostle hast taught us to make
prayers, and supplications, and to give thanks,
it Ste footnote i.
for all men ; We humbly beseech Thee most
mercifully \to accept our alms and j/ there beno
oblations, and] to receive these our o'ma or oWo-
prayers, which we oiler unto ihy „^ \i.„y^^ i^f
Divine Majesty ; beseeching Thee -'ccei.tii.K our
'^. yy 1 ° - , alms and ob-
to inspire continually the universal lations] he u/t
Church with the spirit of truth, <""«""""■
unity, and concord : And grant, that all they
that do confess Tliy holy Name may agree in
the truth of Thy holy "Word, and live in unity,
and godly love. We beseech Thee also to save
and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and
In the old Latin service the alms and devotions of the
people were usually taken up to tlie Altar steps by them after
the Oblation of the Elements; "primomasculi,deindefccmina3."
[BoitA, Ber. LUurtj. II. ix. 1.] The alms given were called, with-
out any refefence to the actual amount, the "mass-penny," and
were regarded as a freewill-ofi'ering. Tlius in the Lay Folks'
Mass Book, after the writer has expounded the Creed, he says: —
" After that, fast at hande,
Comes the tyme of oflraiide.
Olfer or leeve, -v^-hether the lyst,
How thou shulde praye I wold thou wyst."
Ill his Durham Book, Cosin made a rearrangement of, and
some additions to, the Offertory Sentences, which are worth
notice. He annexed the following direction to the printer :
"(KS" Print the first thirteen of these sentences at a distance
from the six following : and those six at a distance from the
four next after ; and the last (being the 26) at a distance by
itself. " This classification may be understood by comparing
the following numbers and additions with the numbers affixed
to the Sentences in the margins above.
1, 2, 3, 4. 12, 13, 14, 15. Gen. iv. 3 ; Exod. xxv. 2 ; Deut.
xvi. 16 ; Ps. xcvi. 7, 8 ; Mark xii. 41 ; and Luke xxi. 3, 4.
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
IL
in.
5. 16. 20. 19 [17, 18, these two, from Tobit, erased by San-
croft].
IV.
Blessed be Thou, O God, for ever. Thine, O Lord, is the
greatness and the glory. For all that is in the heaven and
in the earth is Tliine. Both riches and honour come of Thee ;
and of Thine own do we give unto Thee. As for me, in the
uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these
things. And now have I seen with joy Thy people who are
here present to offer willingly unto Thee. [1 Chron. xxix.
11-13. 17.]
Another classification may be suggested, as follows : —
For general use, 1, 2, 3, 4. 9. 12, 13. 15. 18.
„ the poor, 5. 17. 19, 20.
,, the support of Churches, Clergy, and Missions, 6, 7, 8. 10.
,, special Church charities, 11. 14. 16.
,, Hospitals, 20.
§ Praijer for the Church.
Let lis pray for the whole state] The "Oremus" of this
prayer is formed from the title of an ancient prayer for the
living and the departed, which was in use before the Keforraa-
tion, and which is printed (from a volume of Hours dated
1531) in the Directorium AnrjUcanum. [P. 53, 2nd ed.] It
is also found at fol. 192 of the Liber Feslivalis of 1515, first
printed in 1483 by Caxton. This prayer is entitled, ''IT A
generall and devout prayre for the goode state of cure moder
the Churche militant here in erth. " The general character
of the prayer is similar to that of the present Church Militant
Prayer, but it ends with the following words : ''et omnibus
fideiibus vivis et defunctis, in terra viventium vitam letemam
pariter et regimen concedas. "
Prefaces of a similar kind to that here ordered were affixed
to each of the nine Collects for Good Friday in the Salisbury
Missal ; and the first of them began, "Oremus, dilectissimi.
nobis in primis pro ecolesia sancta Dei ..." the preceding
Rubric ending, "Et prima pro unirersali statu ecclesice." It
was adopted before the Consecration Prayer of tiie Liturgy of
1549, in the form, " Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's
Church," and the ancient phrase "militant here on earth"
was added in 1552.' Bishop Cosin altered it in his Durham
Book to "Let us offer up our prayers and praises for the
good estate of Christ's Catholick Church," making the same
change in the title of the prayer in the first Rubric at the end
of the Communiou Oliice. In tlie original MS. it was first
written "for the good estate of the Catholick Church of
Christ militant here in earth," and was then altered into its
present form by the hand of Sancroft.
Almiijhttj and ecerlivimj God] Tlie Prayer for the Church
Militant is the first portion of the Canon as it was re-formed
in 1549. [See the Appendix to this Office.] It was separated
from that part of the Canon more immediately associated
with the Act of Consecration in 1552, and thrown back into
this early part of the Service. At the same time, the com-
mendation of the congregation present was put in its present
short form, instead of in one which specified that they were
met to commemorate the death of Christ. Bishop Cosin
wished to restore the passage in a bracket, with a marginal
Rubric, as follows : —
["And we commend especially unto Thy „., ,,
merciful goodness this Congregation which is ,,0 Communion
here assembled in Thy Name, to celebrate the these words
Commemoration of the most precious death and "'"^ inclosed
Sacrifice of Thy Son and our Saviour Jesus tlfretobeleft
Christ."] _ "■
He also desired to insert after the words "their life," a full
and definite commemoration of the departed, after the pattern
of the older Liturgy, and as it had been adopted in the Scot-
tish Office of 1637. His MS. insertion in the margin of the
Durham Book is as follows : —
"And we also bless Thy holy Name for all these 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
declared in all Tliy 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 daj'
of the general Resurrection, we and all they which are of the
mystical Body of Thy Son may be set on His right hand, and
to hear that His most joyful voice, 'Come, ye blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foim-
datiou of the world.' Grant," etc.
A prayer similar in character to the Prayer for the Church
Militant is found in all Liturgies, although placed in closer
connection with the Consecration Prayer. = The object of the
1 In a Form of Prayer for August 5, 1603, it is punctuated " Christ's
Church, militant here on earth," and so it was always read by Bishop
Phillpotts of Exeter. This is obviously the true punctuation and sense,
for it would be mere verbiage to say of the Church MiUtaiU that it is " here
on earth," while it is a quite proper form of expression to say that the
portion of Christ's Church which is on earth is Militant.
- In the Scotch Communion Office this Prayer (which in its commemora-
tion of the departed is fuller than ours, and keeps more closely to the
Liturgy of 1549) follows immediately after the Prayers of Consecration and
Oblation. This is its position in the Liturgies of St, James, St. Basil, St.
Chrysostom, and the Clementine ; but in the Alexandrine Liturgy of St.
Mark, and in the Mozarabic and ancient Gallican Liturgies, the great In-
tercessory Prayer for Living and Dead preceded the Consecration. In the
Latin forms, Roman, Ambrosian, and Anglican, the Commemoration of the
Living preceded Consecration : that of the Departed followed it.
For the general similarity between this prayer and similar ones in the
Primitive Church, covip. Tertcll. Apol. 3f>, and St. Cyril's Fifth Caki:heti-
cal Lecture on the Mysteries.
38o
Cf)C Communion.
Governours ; and specially Thy servant VIC-
TORIA our Queen, that under her we may be
godly and quietly governed : and grant unto her
whole Council, and to all that are put in Autho-
rity under her, that they may truly and indiffer-
ently minister justice, to the punishment of
wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of
Thy true religion, and virtue. Give grace, O
heavenly Father, to all Bishops and Curates,
that they may both by their life and doctrine
set forth Thy true and lively Word, and rightly
and duly administer Thy holy Sacraments : And
to all Thy people give Thy heavenly grace ; and
especially to this congregation here present ; that,
with meek heart and due reverence, they may
hear, and receive Thy holy Word ; truly serving
Thee in holiness and righteousness all the days
of their life. And we most humbly beseech
Thee of Thy goodness, O Lokd, to comfort and
succour aU them who iu this transitory life are
in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other
adversity. 'And we also bless Thy holy jS'ame
for all Thy servants departed this life in Thy
faith and fear ; beseeching Thee to give us grace
so to follow their good examples, that with them
we may be partakers of Thy heavenly kingdom :
Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake,
our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
a i.e. The person
ministering m the
pulpit.
JT When the " Minister giveth warning for the celebra-
tion of the holy Communion (which he shall always
do upon the Sunday, or some holyday, immedi-
ately preceding), after the Sermon or Homily
ended, he shall read this exhortation following.
DEARLY beloved, on day next I purpose,
through God's assistance, to administer to
all such as shall be religiously and devoutly dis-
posed the most comfortable Sacrament of the
Body and Blood of Christ, to be by them received
in remembrance of His meritorious Cross and
Passion, whereby alone we obtain remission of
our sins, and are made partakers of the Kingdom
of Heaven. Wherefore it is our duty to render
most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God
our heavenly Father, for that He hath given
His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to
die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and
sustenance in that holy Sacrament. Which being
so divine and comfortable a thing to them who
receive it worthily, and so dangerous to them
that wOl presume to receive it unworthily ; my
duty is to exhort you in the mean season to con-
sider the dignity of that holy mystery, and the
great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof ;
and so to search and examine your own con-
sciences, (and that not lightly, and after the
manner of dissemblers with God ; but so) that
prayei', whatever its position, is to present a supplication for
all members of the Church at the time when the ofi'ering up
the Eucharist makes intercession a special duty of love, and
gives to it a special hope of prevailing power. Condensed as
our present form of this prayer is, yet its comprehensiveness
is very observable ; and, though it is brief, it is as all-inclusive
as the Litany. Having made the verbal offering of the Alms
and of the Oblations, it proceeds to pray for the living under
five principal divisions, which it would be well to mark in the
typographical arrangement of the prayer by beginning a fresh
paragraph for each. 1. For the C^atholic Church. 2. For
Christian Princes. 3. For the Bishops and Clergy. 4. For
the People. 5. For the Afflicted. This praj'er is, indeed, so
exhaustive as to render it unnecessary to use the Litany im-
mediately before the Communion Office, as part of the same
continuous Service. In Cliurches where JLattins, Litany, and
Holy Communion are thought to make too long a Service at
once, as indeed they do, it would be better to let the Com-
nmniou follow immediately after Mattins, using the Litany
as a separate Service in the afternoon. This would obviate
the sameness of repeated prayers for the same persons and
objects, which, more than the actual time taken, is the cause
of the common complaints of the length of the Morning Ser-
vice. Particular intercession should be privately made after
the word "adversity" and "fear," and the Priest should make
a short pause, to allow those present thus silently to commend
to God any for whom they are specially bound to pray.
If it be thouglit by any to be an omission that in this
prayer we do not pray for " all sorts and conditions of men,"
Heathen as well as Cliristian, but only for Christ's Church, it
should be remembered that our Lord Himself in His Euchar-
istic Intercession expressly says, " I pr.ay not for the world,
but for them which Thou hast given Me." [John xvii. 9.]
Very observable also is it that the earnest prayer for unity,
which is found in the great intercessory prayer that forms
part of every known Christian Liturgy, is a close following of
our Blessed Lord's own example at the first Institution of the
Eucharist. [.John xvii. 20-23.]
In commemorating the departed at the time of celebrating
the Holy Eucharist, the Church of England simply does as
every known Church has done from the earliest age in which
its Liturgical customs can be traced. The following are some
Primitive examples : —
lAiMnjij of St. Jaines. See Introduction to this Office, p.
354. The first words of commemoration, "... th.at they
may find mercy and grace with all Thy Saints ..." will be
found exactly similar in character to those of the Church
Militant prayer.
LUurgii of St. Marl;. " Give rest to the souls of our
fathers and brethren that have heretofore slept in the faith
of Christ, Lord our God, remembering our ancestors,
fathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors,
bishops, holy and just persons, every spirit that has departed
in the faith of Christ, and those whom to-day we keep iu
memory. "
Liturgy of St. Clement. "Let us commemorate the holy
martyrs, that we may be deemed worthy to be partakers of
their trial. Let us pray for all those who have fallen asleep
in the Faith. "
Liturgy of St. C/injsostom. " Further, we pray for the
blessed and ever-memorable founders of this holy abode, and
for all our fathers and brethren that have fallen asleep before
us, and lie here, and the orthodox that lie every where."
[From the Ectene. ] "And, farther, we offer to Thee this
reasonable Service on behalf of those who have departed in
the Faith, our ancestors, fathers, . . . and every just spirit
made perfect in the Faith." [From the Prayer of Oblation.]
"And remember all those that are dejmrted in the hope of
the resurrection to eternal life, and give them rest where the
light of Thy countenance shines upon them." [From the
commemoration of the diptj'chs of the departed.]
It will thus be seen how great a deviation it would be from
Primitive Christianity to omit all mention of the deceased
members of Christ, at the time when celebrating the great
Sacrament of Love by which all the whole Church is bonded
togetlier. And it must be considered as great matter for
tliankfulness, that in all the assaults made upon tlie Liturgy of
the Church of England by persons holding a more meagre
belief in things unseen, the Providence of God has preserved
the prayer for the whole Church, departed as well as living,
in the prayer which is too often regarded as being for the
Church Militant alone.
THE EXHORTATIONS.
When the Minister giveth warniyig] That is, when he gives
notice that the Holy Comnninion is to be celebrated. This
"warning "or notice is distinct from tlie "exhortation fol-
lowing," anil the words in which it is to be given are not
enjoined. When the Holy Communion is celebrated on every
Sunday and holyday no such warning is needed.
ofter the Sermon or Jlomili/ ended] Not after the Niccnc
Creed, as has often been the custom. The Exhortation is
intended to bo read from the pulpit as an appendix to the
Sermon or Homily which has just been preached or read
there.
Cfje Communion.
381
ye may come holy and clean to such a lieavenly
feast, ill the marriagc-garnient required by God
in holy Scripture, and be received as wortliy par-
takers of that holy Table.
The way and means thereto is ; First, to
examine your lives and conversations by the rule
of God's commandments ; and whereinsoever ye
shall perceive yourselves to have offended, either
by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own
sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty
God, with full purpose of amendment of life.
And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such
as are not only against God, but also against your
neighbours ; then ye shall reconcile yourselves
unto them ; being ready to make restitution and
satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your
powers, for all injuries and wrongs done by you
to any other ; and being likewise ready to forgive
others that have offended you, as ye would have
forgiveness of your offences at God's hand : for
otherwise the receiving of the holy Communion
doth nothing else but increase your "damnation.
''Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God,
an hinderer or slanderer of His Word, an adul-
terer, or be in malice, or envy, or in any other
grievous crime, Eepent you of your sins, or else
come not to that holy Table ; lest, after the
a i.f. " Condemna-
tion" or "judge-
nient"=Gr. tipifJLtt.
(See A>l>t. Bible,
note on I Cor, ix.
=9).
b " Therefore . . .
body and soul,"
This passage was
not in tlie original
MS., bnt was in-
serted in the mar-
gin. It is written
in the margin of the
1636 Prayer Boole
in the same hand
as the other inser-
tions.
taking of that holy Sacrament, the Devil enter
into you, as he entered into Judas, and fill you
full of all iniquities, and bring you to destruction
both of body and soul.
And because it is requisite, that no man
should come to tlie holy Communion, but with
a full trust in God's mercy, and with a quiet
Conscience ; therefore if there be any of you,
who by this means cannot quiet his own Con-
science herein, but rcquireth furtlier Comfort, or
Counsel, let him come to me, or to some other
discreet and learned Minister of God's Word,
and open his grief; that by the ]\Iinistry of
God's holy Word he may receive the benefit of
Absolution, together with ghostly counsel and
advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and
avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.
IT Or in case lie Sliall see the people negligent to come
to the holy Communion, instead of the former, he
shall use this exhortation.
DEARLY beloved brethren, on I intend,
by God's grace, to celebrate the Lord's
Supper : unto which, in God's behalf, I bid you
all that are here present, and beseech you, for
the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, that ye will not
refuse to come thereto, being so lovingly called
These short homilies were introduced into the Commiinion
Office at a time when the Church of England Laity were in
danger of two extremes. The first was that almost total
neglect of Communion which had sprung up during the
Middle Ages : the second w.ts that irreverence towards the
Holy Communion which arose from the dreadful principles
held respecting it by tlie Puritan school : an irreverence so
great as to call out even an Act of Parliament for its sup-
pression. [1 Edw. VI. c. 1, 1547.]
In the face of these dangers, and when Sermons were but
rarely preached in comparison with later times, these Exhor-
tations were placed where they are for instruction of the
people, as well as for a hortatory purpose. Although extremely
valuable as statements of doctrine, they are not so necessary
in times when Sermons respecting the Holy Communiou are
so common as they now are ; and they are out of character
with the habits of a Church in which there is a regular cele-
bration of the Holy Communion on all Sundays and Holydays.
The tone of the Rubric and of the Exhortations is plainly
fitted to a time of infretjuent Communions.
§ The first Exhortation.
This is intended to be said from the pulpit "after the Ser-
mon or Homily " which has been preached there is "ended."
So in the First Prayer Book the Rubric says that "if the
people be not exhorted" in the Homily or Sermon "to the
worthy receiving of the holy Sacrament of the Body and
Blood of our Saviour Christ, then shall the Curate give this
exhortation," the third of those now printed.
The original of the first Exhortation formed part of the
"Order of Communion" set forth in 1548, when a great endea-
vour was being made to revive the practice of actual Communion
among the Laity. Who was its author is unknown. It under-
went some alterations in 1552, the most important of which
was the omission of the following admirable passage respect-
ing Confession and Charity, with which it ended in 1549,
"requiring such as .shall be satisfied with a general Confes-
sion not to be offended with them that doth use, to their
further satisfying, the auricular and secret Confession to the
Priest ; nor those also which think needful or convenient for
the quietness of their own consciences particularly to open
their sins to the Priest, to be offended with them which are
satisfied with their humble confession to God, and the general
confession to the Church ; but in all these things to follow
and keep the rule of charity ; and every man to be satisfied
with his own conscience, not judging other men's minds or
acts, whereas he hath no warrant of God's Word for the same. "
In 1661 some changes were made by Bishop Cosin.
The concluding paragraph of this Exhortation is very
important as indicating that, while the Church of England
advises auricular confession in the cases specified [see notes
on Visitation of the Sick], it is yet not considered to be of
absolute necessity before the receiving of the Holy Communion,
as in the Roman and Eastern Churches, whose Lait}', as a
rule, communicate much less frequently than do those of
the Church of England. It is permitted, and perhaps even
enjoined to such as fiinl it necessary for their own comfort ;
for in the English of 1548 the phrase "let him come "was
more probably imperative than merely permissive. It can
hardly be questioned that the Church of England regards pri-
vate Confession as occasional and remedial, not as habitually
desirable ; as medicine, not regular food. In estimating the
teaching of the Praj'er Book on this subject, it must always
be remembered that an authoritative priestly aljsolution is
provided, both in the Communion Office and in the daily
Mattins and Evensong, which only differs from a private
absolution in being adtlressed to individuals as included in a
congregation and not separately. [See note at p. ."iSS.] The
lirominence given in the Revision of 1552 to the Confession
and Absolution in the Daily Office, and the intention of the
Church, made clearer still in that of 1661, that they should
be taken for an effectual Absolution of all them that truly
repent and unfeignedly believe, seem to indicate a wish to
discourage frequent private Confession, by rendering it less
necessary. [.S'ee p. 18.3.]
lest, after . . . Jmlas] A passage the insertion of w hich is
much to be regretted : since it is not historically proveable
that Judas received the Eucharist, nor is it theologically pro-
b.able that "the Devil" should "enter into" a communicant
immediately "after the taking of that holy Sacrament."
open his grief] That is, confess the sins which cause his
grief, that, after penitent Confession of them, he may receive
the "further Comfort" of Absolution.
Ilivistrij of God's holy Word] This does not mean that the
priest is to read some part of the Holy Bible to the penitent,
but to give him tlie Absolution. In the language of the
period, "God's Word " was a term applied to a form of words
pronounced in the Name and by the authority of God, as well
as to the Holy Bible. It was just coming into use for the
latter, but the former was its more established sense.
§ The second Exhortation.
This Exhortation, which is also intended to be said from
the pulpit, was inserted in 1552, as Cosin thinks at the
instance of Bucer, and waa then placed between the Church
Militant Prayer and the Ordinary Exhortation on giving
382
Cf)e Communion.
and bidden by God Himself. Ye know how
grievous and unkind a tiling it is, when a man
hath prepared a rich feast, decked his table with
all kind of provision, so that there lacketh nothing
but the guests to sit down ; and yet they who
are called (without any cause) most unthankfuUy
refuse to come. AVliich of you in such a case
would not be moved ] WTio would not think a
great injury and wrong done unto him 1 Where-
fore, most dearly beloved in C heist, take ye
good heed, lest ye, withdrawing yourselves from
this holy Supper, provoke God's indignation
against 3-ou. It is an easy matter for a man to
say, I will not communicate, because I am other-
wise hindered with worldly business. But such
excuses are not so easily accepted and allowed
before God. If any man say, I am a grievous
sinner, and therefore am afraid to come : where-
fore then do ye not repent and amend ? "When
God calleth you, are ye not ashamed to say ye
will not come 1 Wlien ye should return to God,
wiU ye excuse yourselves, and say ye are not
ready ? Consider earnestly with yourselves how
little such feigned excuses will avail before God.
They that refused the feast in the Gospel, because
they had bought a farm, or would try their yokes
of oxen, or because they were married, were not
so excused, but counted unworthy of the heavenly
feast. I, for my part, shall be ready ; and, ac-
cording to mine Office, I bid you in the Name of
God, I call you in Christ's behalf, I exhort you,
as you love your own salvation, that ye will be
partakers of this holy Communion. And as the
Son of God did vouchsafe to yield up His soul
by death upon the Cross for your salvation ; so
it is your duty to receive the Communion in
remembrance of the sacrifice of His death, as He
Himself hath commanded : which if ye shall
neglect to do, consider with yourselves how great
injury ye do unto God, and how sore punishment
hangeth over your heads for the same ; when ye
wilfully abstain from the Loed's Table, and
separate from your brethren, who come to feed on
the banquet of that most heavenly food. These
things if ye earnestly consider, ye will by God's
grace return to a better mind : for the obtaining
whereof we shall not cease to make our humble
petitions unto Almighty God nur heavenly Father.
•" At the time of the Celebratiou of the Communiou,
the Communicauts being conveniently placed for
tlie receiving of the holy Sacrament, "the Priest
shall say this exhortation.
DEAPiLY beloved in the Lord, ye that mind
to come to the holy Communion of the
Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, must
consider how Saint Paul exhorteth all persons
diligently to try and examine themselves, before
they presume to eat of that Bread, and drink of
that Cujj. For as the benefit is great, if with a
true penitent heart and lively faith we receive
that holy Sacrament ; (for then we spiritually
eat the Flesh of Christ, and drink His Blood ;
then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us ; we
are one with Christ, and Chri.st with us ;) so
is the danger great, if we receive the same un-
n i.f. The Celebrant.
b [Ilarleian MS.
2383. .1/i,;;. Rit.
iii. 408.]
r*/~^ OOD men and women, y charge yow by
L VI^ the Auctoryte of holy churche, that no
man nother woman that this day proposyth here
to be comenyd [communifatedl that he go note to
Godds bord, lase than he byleue stedfastlych, that
the sacrament that he ys avysyd here to reseue,
that yt ys Godds body flesche and blode, yn the
forme of bred ; & that (vkich) he receyvythe
afterward, ys no thyng ells but wj-ne & water,
for to dense yowr mowthys of the holy sacra-
ment. Furthermor, y charge j-ow that no man
nother woman go to Godds borde lase than he be
of ys synnys clen confessyd, & for hem contryte ;
warning of Communion. Bucer, in the following passage
[Censura, c. 27], pleads earnestly for frequent Communion :
"Modis omnibus instandum, ut qui prajsentes suntcommuni-
cent. Sed sunt qui in eo nobiscum sentiunt, quo autem id
obtineant uon veris utuntur rationibus. Alii enim eo rarius
.S. Cccnam celebrant, ut in anno vix plures quam ter aut
quater. Alii populum qui ad prredicationem Evangelii et
preces conlluxit omnem dimittunt, ut Ccenam celebrent cum
iis tantum qui volunt ea communieare. Nam ex eo quod
Dominus usum hujus Sacramenti commendavit discipulis suis,
ut ca-remoniam pertinentem ad soleunem sui inter uos cele-
brandam niemoriam, qure sane a nobis celebrari debet omui
die Dominico. Item, ex eo quod Apostolus, 1 Cor. xi. caudem
ccenam oinni frequentiori ca?tui deputat, ct quod Ecclesia
Apoatolica lecitur ita fractione panis perseverasse, ut in doc-
trina Apostolorum, Act. II. ; apjjaret ergo Ecclesias priscas
Illud ex certa Apostolorum traditione accepisse, ut fSacram
Coenam singulis diebus Doniinicis et Fcstis, immo quotics tota
conveuicbat Ecclesia, exhibcrent."
As this Exhortation originally stood, it contained a strong
passage about the ill effects of h.abitually remaining to "gaze
without receiving the Communion, which shews that the
habit was an extremely common one at that time. This
paragraph, which followed the words "hangeth over your
lieada for the eamo," was crossed out in Cosin's book,
apparently by Sancroft, as Secretary to the Committee, the
ink being of the colour used by him, and not of that used by
Cosin,
§ The third ExJiortalion.
conrenioMy placed] After the Offertory Sentences the
Liturgy of 1549 has this Rubric : "Then so many as shall be
partakers of the Holy Communion shall tany still in the
quire, or in some convenient place nigh the quire, the men
on the one side and the women on the other side. All other
(that mind not to receive the said Holy Conmmnion) shall
depart out of the quire, except the Ministers and Clerks."
This implies that "the Ministers," i.e. the Deacon and Sub-
deacon, and the "Clerks," i.e. the Choristers, might remain
in the (juire, aud others in the body of the church, during
the celebration, even if not intending then to communicate.
This Exliortation was therefore intended for the whole con-
gregation ; .as is also shewn by the next Eubric, in which
"tliem tliat come to receive the Holy Communion" are dis-
tinguished from the body of the congregation.
If all but communicants have left the Church, this Exhorta-
tion ought not to be used. It appeal's to be handed down
in i)rinciple, and partly in words, from the habit of the un-
reformed Church of England. The old English form pl.aced
parallel to it was evidently known, jn'rhajia f.amiliar, to those
who wrote it ; aud the position of the Confe.s.sion and Absolu-
tion at the end of it appears to indicate that the Reformers
.adopted no new system when they introduced these into our
OiUco in their present form, but simply remoulded what they
found already in use.
AVliether this was tlio general h.abit of the Cluirch of
Cf)e Communion.
383
worthily. For then we are guilty of the Body
and Blood of Christ our Saviour ; we eat and
drink our own "damnation, not considering the
Lord's Body ; we kindle God's wrath against
us ; we provoke Him to i)laguo us with 'divers
diseases, and sundry kinds of death. Judge
therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not
judged of the Lord. Repent you truly for your
sins past ; have a lively and stedfast faith in
Christ our Saviour. Amend your lives, and
be in perfect Charity with all men ; so shall ye
be meet partakers of those holy mysteries. And
above all things ye must give most humble and
hearty thanks to God, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, for the redemption of the world
by the death and passion of our Saviour Christ,
both God and ilan. Who did humble Himself,
even to the death upon the Cross, for us, miser-
able sinners ;"* Who lay in 'darkness and the
shadow of death, that He might make us the
children of God, and exalt us to everlasting life.
And to the end that we should alway remember
the exceeding great love of our !^L^ster, and only
Saviour, Jesus Christ, thus dying for us, and
the innumerable benefits which by His precious
blood-shedding He hath obtained to us ; He hath
instituted and ordained holy mysteries, aspledges
of His love, and for a continual remembrance of
His death, to our great and endless comfort. To
Him therefore, with the Father and the Holy
Ghost, let us give (as we are most bounden)
continual thanks ; submitting ourselves wholly
to His holy will and pleasure, and studying to
serve Him in true holiness and righteousness all
the days of our life. Amen.
IT Then shall •^the Priest say to them that come to
receive the holy Communion,
YE that do truly and earnestly repent you of
your sins, and are in love and charity with
your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life,
following the Commandments of God, and walk-
(T Sgc note It, p.
381. and the right-
hand colunm oppo-
site tins note.
^.Sec HatiiUt, v. i.
Mirror of Our
Lady, pp. 25. 7J,
74. etc.
c See CVPK. de
Laps, for some
remarkable in-
stances.
rfThis ";" is in the
MS.
e The reference is
to the "darkness"
in wliich our Lord
uttered His fourth
saying upon tile
Cross. Hebecame
a Son forsaken.
We as children to
be taken.
//.^. The Celebrant
that ys to sey hauyng sorow yn yowr herts, for
yowre synnys. Furthermore, I charge yow yf
ther bo cny man or woman, that beryth yn his
herto eny wrothe or rancor to eny of his *even-
cristen [fellow-Chrkdan] that he be not ther
howsolyd, ther to the tyme that he be with hym
yn perfyte love & cheryte, for ho so [?(7(04o]
beryth wrethe or evyll wyll yn herte, to eny of
hys evencristen, he ys note worthy hys God to
receyue; and yf he do, he reseyvythe his "damp-
nacyon, where he schuld receyue his saluacion.
Furthermore, y charge yow that none of yow go
to Godds borde to day, lasse than he be yn full
wyll ife purpose for to sese and to withstond the
deds of syn. For who proposyth now to con-
tynue yn syn a3ene after hys holy tyme he is
note worthy to receyue his God ; & yf he do hyt
ys to hym grete perell. Furthermore I charge
all strangers bothe men and women, that none
of yow go to godds borde, yn to tyme that 36
liaue spoke with me, other [or] with myn asynys.
Furthermore, y charge yow bothe men and women
that havythe servants, that 36 takythe hede that
they be well y gouernyd yn takyng of mets &
drynks, for the perell that may be fall, thorow
forfeytyng of mets & diynks. . . . Also 30
shall knell adown apon yowr kneys, seyyng after
me, y cry God mercy, and our lady seynt mary, &
all the holy company of hevyn, & my gostelyche
fadyr, of all the trespasse of syn that y have don,
in thowte, word, other [o?-] yn dode, fro the tyme
that y was bore, yn to this tyme ; that ys to say
in Pryde, Envy, Wrethe, Slowthe, C'ovetyse,
Gloteny, & Lechery. The v. Commawndements,
dyuerse tymys y broke. The werks of mercy
note y fulfyllyd. My v. wytts mysse spend, etc.
Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, etc.
A bsolulionis forma.
Deus noster Jesus Christus, pro Sua magna
misericordia, etc.]
England before the Reformation or not, certainly now one of
the moat remarkable of the peculiar features of the Anglican
Communion Otiices is the anxious carefulness shewn by the
Church to ensure that communicants aliall approach the Lord's
Table after due preparation and witli right dispositions. Not
only in the previous notice, but in the course of tlie Service
itself, they are warned of the danger of unworthy Communion,
and the necessity of self-examination is insisted upon. The
words of the Invitation are also very emphatic : "Ye that do
truly and earnestly repent you of your sins." The lowly self-
abasement of the general confession ; the reminder tliat turn-
ing to Him "with hearty repentance and true faitli " is the
condition of God's forgiveness, and that our Saviour's "com-
fortable words " are addressed only to those who " truly turn
to Him," are all of the same character. The admixture of
grave warning and tender encouragement in this Service is
indeed truly wonderful. There is nothing like it in the
Offices of any other Communion, as (however others may be,
in some features, grander and more striking) there is no
Service more touchingly beautiful than the Communion Ser-
vice of the Church of England, when performed as it ought
to be. This peculiarity has probably conduced largely to the
growtli amongst us of a feeling, with respect to Holy Com-
munion, which goes far to compensate for the almost universal
neglect of the Church's direction that intending communi-
cants should signify their names to tlie Curate beforehand,
and to obviate the necessity of the Minister "repelling " any.
For there is more risk of persons refraining who ought to com-
municate, than of persons comnuinicating who ought to refrain.
It should be observed that the last paragraph forms a
doxology, such as that with which sermons are concluded,
and ought to be said as such,
§ T/ie Invitation.
The germ of this Invitation is to be observed in the above
Exhortation of the Mediaeval Church, It is first found, as it
now stands, in the "Order of Communion" of 1548, It was
no doubt originally intended as an actual invitation, to those
who were about to communicate, to leave the body of the
congregation and pass into the chancel. The "Order of
Communion " was an English appendix to the Latin Office ;
and the latter having been already completed, as far as the
Communion of the Priest, the Invitation of course (with the
Confession, Absolution, and Comfortable Words) followed the
Consecration, instead of preceding it as now. It may be taken
as a verbal substitute for the kiss of peace. Cosin suggested
the words, "Draw near in full assurauce of faith, " probably
with the view of indicating that the Invitation is now for an
approach of the heart, not'of the body. It should be read by
the Celebrant.
384
Cfje Communion.
a Liturgies of SS.
Jame5 and Chry-
sostom.
b Daye's transl. of
Hermann's Co}:-
suit., A.D. 1547.
. S g-
d Daye's transl. of
Herrfitittn's Cpii-
suit., A.U. 1547.
ing from henceforth in His holy ways ; Draw
near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to
your comfort ; and make your humble confession
to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your
knees.
IT Then shall this general Confession be made, in the
name of all those that are minded to receive the
holy Communion, by one of the Ministers ; both
he and all the people kneehng humbly upon their
knees, and saying,
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Loed Jesus
-lJL Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all
men ; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold
sins and wickedness, Which we from time to time
most grievously have committed, By thought,
word, and deed. Against Thy Divine Majesty,
Provoking most justly Thj' wrath and indignation
against us. We do earnestly repent. And are
heartily sorry for these our misdoings ; The re-
membrance of them is grievous unto us ; The
burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon
us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father ;
For Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake.
Forgive us all that is past. And grant that we
may ever hereafter Serve and please Thee, In
newness of Ufe, To the honour and glory of Thy
Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
*\ Then shall the Priest (or the Bisliop being present)
stand up, and turning himself to the people, pro-
nounce this Absolution.
/VL^IIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, Who
-^-J- of His great mercy hath promised forgive-
ness of sins to all them that with hearty repent-
ance and true faith turn unto Him ; Have mercy
upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your
sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and bring you to everlasting life ; through Jesus i- *. b. j?
Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT Then shall the Priest say,
H Hear what comfortable w-ords our Saviour
Christ saith unto all that truly turn to
Him
COME unto Mo all that travail and are heavy
laden, and I will refresh you. s. Matt. xi. 28.
So God loved the world, that He gave His
/ Daye's transl. of
Herwanu's Con-
s:ilt., A.D. 1547.
h Daye's transl. of
J/^t-t/l^tt/t's Con-
sult., A.D. 1547.
"MtTci 4>6l3ov Qeov, Kai jricrTeus, xal dyaTrr^<; Trpo-
II His finitis, . . . accedat sacerdos cum suis ministris
ad gradum altaris, et dicat ipse confessionem,
diacono assistente a dextris et subdiacono a sinis-
tris. Hoc modo incipiendo.
* ALMIGHTY everlasting God, the Father of
-''—»- our Lord Jesus Christ, the Maker of
all things, the Judge of all men, we acknow-
ledge, and we lament that we were conceived
and born in sins, and that therefore we be prone
to all evils . . .
'Confiteor Deo, . . . quia peccavi nimis cogi-
tatione, locutione, et opere : mea culpa . . .
''And we are sorry for it with all our hearts . . .
Have mercy upon us, most gentle Father,
through Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ . . .
U 'Et sciendum est, quod quicunque sacerdos Officium
exsequatur, semper episcopus si prsesens fuerit, ad
gradum altaris dicat Conjiteor, Misereatttr, et ^5-
sotutionem.
^TDECAUSE our blessed Lord hath left this
J—' power to His congregation, that it may ab-
solve them from sins, and restore them in to the
favour of the heavenly Father, which being
repentant for their sins, do truly believe in
Christ the Lord . . .
■^Misereatur vestri Omnipotens Deus et dimittat
vobis omnia peccata vestra, liberet vos ab omni
malo, conservet et confirmet in bono, et ad vitam
perducat seternam. Amen.
Hear j^e the Gospel.
''/^ OD so loved the world
John iii.
that He gave His
only-begotten Son, that all which believe
in Him, should have life everlasting.
THE CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION.
From the ancient fonn of Exhortation given above, it will
be seen that public confession and absolution before Com-
munion were not a novelty when introduced into the Order
of Communion of \'AS, and sub.sequently into the full Com-
munion Office of l.'iiO. Tliere was indeed a form of Confession
in the ancient Oliice (which will be found in the Appendix to
the Liturgy, and at p. 184), yet thi.s cannot be considered as
the Confession of tlie people, l)ut ratlier as that of the Cele-
brant and his Ministers. One was therefore used by the
people before their too rare reception of the one clement in
ante-Reformation times, and this was methodized into its
present form in 1.^)18. It originally stood after the Consecra-
tion, and referred tlierefore to Communion only : but in 15.")'J
it was placed in its present pnsitinn, proliablj' with tlio very
reasonable and pious view that as " we are unworthy to oiVcr
any sacrifice " to God, so before wo ofl'cr that sacrifice, the
offering of which is our boundcn duty, it is fit that we sliould
make open confession of our unworthiness, and receive the
benefit of Ab.solution. There is, indeed, an analogy between
this and the washing of the disciples' feet by our Lord before
the Institution. " Ye are clean, ' said He, wlien He li.ad done
this to tlicm ; or, as .St. John records "Now ye aro clean
through the word which I have spoken unto you." [John xvi.
3.] So by the absolving word of God, even of "our Lord
Jesus Christ," Wlio hath power on earth to forgive sins, and
"Who hath left power to His Cluuch to absolve all sinners
who truly repent and believe in Him," all such may approach
tlie solemn moment of Consecration, cleansed ami prejiared
by the act of the Church crowning their own penitence and
confession.
The present position of tlie Confession and Absolution may
thus be regarded as anotlier recognition of the Priestliood of
the Laity, and of the share wliich they liave in tlio subsequent
offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice by their leader and repre-
sentative who stands at the Altar.
iloth the Confession and Absolution owe somo expressions
to Hkumann's Consultolioii, but tliere is no ground for sup-
posing that the idea of llieiii was taken from tlience. Her-
mann's Confession is a long and liomiletic kind of form, of
which the only words at all simil.ar to that of our Office are
tliose given above. Wliat slight association is traceable be-
tween the two may be further seen by a reference to tlie note
on the Absolution in the "Order for the Visitation of the
Sick."
Until IGfll the Rubric directed the Confession to be said
"in the name of those that aro minded to receive the Holy
Cl)C Communion.
385
only-begotten Son, to tho end that all that be-
lieve in Him should not perish, but have ever-
lasting life. S. John iii. 10.
H Hear also what Saint Paul saith.
This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to
be received, That Jesus Chkist came into tho
world to save sinners. i Tim. '■ i^-
II Hear also what Saint John saith.
If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ; and He is
the propitiation for our sins. i s. John ii. ].
IF After which the Priest shall proceed, saying,
Lift up your hearts.
Answer.
We lift them up unto the Lord.
Priest,
Let us give thanks unto our Lord God.
Answer.
It is meet and right so to do.
IT Then shall the Priest turn to the Lord's Table, and
say,
IT is very meet, right, and our bounden duty,
'These words that we should at all times, and in
S(^ he^omitud ^^^ places give thanks unto Thee,
on. Trinity Sim- O LORD, *Holy FATHER, Almighty,
'^y- Everlasting God.
IT Here shall follow the proper Preface, according to
tho time, if there be any specially appointed : or
else immediately sliall follow,
THEREFORE with Angels and Archangels,
and with all the company of heaven, we
laud and magnify Thy glorious Name ; evermore
praising Thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord
God of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of Thy
o &. J}. Si. All
ancient Limr^ies.
d Mozarab. /.«'f.
mjts.
II Or 1 Tim. i.
This is a sure saying, and worthy of all em-
bracing, that Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners.
IT Or .John iii.
Tho Father loveth the Son, and hath given
all things into His hands ; he that believeth in
the Son hath life everlasting.
IT Or Acts X.
All the prophets bear witness unto Christ,
that all that believe in Him receive remission of
their sins through Him.
IT Or 1 John ii.
My little children, if any have sinned, we have
a just Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
and He is an atonement fur our sins.
"Sursum corda.
e Ccmp. Trisagion.
in notes to Anthem
in Burial Service.
'Habemus ad Dominum.
Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
Dignum et justum est.
VERE dignum et justum est, sequum et salu-
tare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias
agere, Domine Sancte, Pater Omnipotens, seterne
Deus.'
IT Sequuntur Prsfationes.
ET ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum
thronis et dominationibus, cumque omni
militia coelestis exercitus, hymnum glorise Tuae
canimus, sine fine dicentes :
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus
Communion, either by one of them, or else one of the
Ministers, or by the Priest himself. " The Puritans objected
to this, saying, "We desire it may be made by the Minister
only, " and that "it is a private opinion, and not generally
received in the Cathohc Church, that one of the people may
make the Public Confession at the Sacrament, in the name of
all those that are minded to receive the Holy Communion."
Cosin altered the Rubric to, " hij one of the Ministers, or the
Priest himself, both he and all the people kneeling humbly upon
their knees, and saijing " The Puritans apparently wished to
prevent the people from saying it at all.
THE COMFORTABLE WORDS.
The use of these t«xts of Scripture is peculiar to the
English Liturgy, and seems to have been derived from
the Consultation of Archbishop Hermann. Before Com-
munion and after Consecration the Liturgy of St. Mark
directs the 4'2nd Psalm to be said, and that of St. James
has the 23rd, 34th, 145th, and llGth in the same pl.ace.
There is some analogy between this custom and our own,
but it can scarcely be considered the precedent which led to
the present usage.
Perhaps the object of their introduction was the obvious
one suggested in the title of "comfortable words, " that of
confirming the words of Absolution with those of Christ and
His Apostles ; and of holding forth our Lord and Saviour
before the communicants in the words of Holy Scripture to
prepare them for "discerning" His Body in the Sacrament.
The title was not a new one, being used in one of the author-
ized volumes issued in Henry the Eighth's reign under the
editorship of Cranmer. " Whereupon . . . the penitent may
desire to hear of the Minister the comfortable words of
remission of sins. And the Minister thereupon, accord-
ing to Christ's Gospel, shall pronounce the sentence of
Absolution." [^-1 A'eeessarij Doctrine, etc., 1543.] The
words "Christ's Gospel" illustrate the expression "believe
His holy Gospel " in the Absolution used at Mattins and
Evensong.
These texts appear to be translated for the Prayer Book,
and not taken from any of the English versions of the Bible.
THE PREFACE.
This poi-tion of the Communion OfEce is so called, as being
an introduction to the most solemn part of the Service, that
2b
386
Cf)e Communion.
Glory.
Amen.
Glory be to Thee, O Loed most High.
ir PROPER PREFACES.
IT Upon Christmas day, and seven days after.
BECAUSE Thou didst give Jesus Christ
Thine only Son to be born as at this time
for us ; Who by "the operation of the Holy Ghost
was made very Man of the substance of the Virgin
Mary His Mother, and that without spot of sin,
to make us clean from all sin. Therefore with
Angels, etc.
IT Upon Easier day, and seven days after.
BUT chiefly are we bound to praise Thee for
the glorious Eesurrection of Thy Son Jesus
Christ our Lord : for He is the very Paschal
Lamb, Which was offered for us, and hath taken
away the sin of the world ; Who by His death
hath destroyed death, and by His rising to life
again hath restored to us everlasting life. There-
fore with Angels, etc.
IT Upon Ascension day, and seven days after.
T5HR0UGH Thy most dearly beloved Son
Jesus Christ our Lord ; Who after His
most glorious Resurrection manifestly appeared
to all His Apostles, and in their sight ascended
up into heaven to prepare a place for us ; that
where He is, thither we might also ascend, and
reign with Him in Glory. Therefore with Angels,
etc.
^ S. similar in ^.
Gelas.
Greg.
Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria Tua :
Osanna in excelsis. Benedictus Qui venit in
nomine Domini : Osanna in excelsis.
PR^FATIONES.
"Htec prsefatio dicitur in die Nativitatis Domini . . . et
quotidie per hebdomadam, et in die Circumcisionis.
^ ^. similar in
!■ IS- Greg.
Sequens Prsefatio dicitur in die Paschai et per totam
hebdomadam . . .
* |j"i T Te quidem omni tempore, sed in hac potis-
J-l^ simum die gloriosius priedicare, cum Pascha
nostrum immolatus est Christus. Ipse enim
verus est agnus Qui abstulit peccata mundi, Qui
mortem nostram moriendo destruxit, et vitam
resurgendo reparavit. Et ideo cum angelis, etc.
■^Sequens Pri-efatio dicitur in die Ascensionis Domini,
et per octavos, et in octavis, et in Dominica infra
octavas . . .
''"TDEPi. Christum Dominum nostrum. Qui post
-L resurrectionem Suam omnibus discipulis
Suis manifestus apparuit, et ipsis cementibus est
elevatus in coelum, ut nos divinitatis Suae tribu-
eret esse participes. Et ideo cum angelis, etc.
immediately connected with the Consecration, or "the
Canon.'' It is found almost word for word in every
known Liturgy, in every part of tlie Catholic Church,
from the earliest times ; and there can be no doubt that
it is a correct tratlition which assigns it to the Apostolic
age.
The originals are here given from the Ancient Greek
Liturgies. "Avu trxw^ei' Taj KapSia^. "Exo/xe;' irplis ritv
Ki'ptoi'. Evxapi<^'^V^^^^'^ ri^ Kvpiu]. "A^toi^ Kal dlKatov.
'AXijdui^ d^idy iaTi Kal SUatov, Trp^irov re Kai 64>€iK6pi€yoi',
ak aive'iv, ah vp.vtlv, <jk eCXoy^^f, ik TrpoaKwelv, ah bo^oXoyeiv,
aol evxa.piaTciv. [St. James.] MairoTa Ki''pie 9e^, ndrep
TravTOKpdrop. [St. Mark.] df vfxvovaLV ol ovpavoi tCiv ovpavCcv,
Kal iraaa ij Suvapus avrwv . . . dyyeXot, dpxdyyeXot [St. James],
etc., at much greater length than in the Western Prefaces
. . . ''A7ios, a^tos, dyios Kvpie 2a/3au)^, irXriptjs 6 oi'pavb^, Kal
i] yr] T^s o6^r]S aov. 'Qaapyd iv toIs v^piarots. €u\oyTjfj.^fOS
6 ipxificos (v dpipiaTi Kvptov waapwi. iv roh ii^larois. [St.
James.]
It seems more than probable that this long thanksgiv-
ing prayer (tlie fOxaptarla iirl iroXu of Justin M.\rtvh,
Apol. i. ch. 86), which, beginning with the Sursuni
Corda, included also the Invocation of the Holy Spirit,
the recitation of the Words of Institution, and the Prayer
of Oblation, and closed witli the Lord's Prayer, is alluded
to by St. Paul in "Else when thou shalt ble?s with the
spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the un-
learned say Anieii at thy giving of thanks [inl tj ffj ti'xa-
piarlf], seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest ? "
[1 Cor. xiv. 16.]
The "Sursum Corda" is referred to by St. Cyprian in his
treatise on tlie Lord's Prayer [a.h. 2.')2], where he says, "It
is for this cause that the Priest before worship uses wor<ls of
introduction, and puts the minds of the brethren in prepara-
tion, by saying, ' Lift up your hearts ; ' that while the
people answer, ' We lift them up unto the Lord,' they ni.-iy
be reminded that there is nothing for them to think of c.xcei)t
the Lord." [Cyp. de Oral. 20.] St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a
century later, also comments upon tliem in these terms :
"After this the Priest cries aloud, 'Lift up j'our hearts.'
For truly ought we in that most a^^•ful hour to have our
heart on high with God, and not below, thinking of earth
and earthly things. The Priest then, in effect, bids all
in that hour abandon all worldly thoughts, or household
cares, and to have their heart in heaven with the merciful
(iod. Then ye answer, ' We lift them up unto tlie Lord ; '
assenting to him by your avowal. . . . Then the Priest says,
' Let us give thanks to the Lord.' For in good sooth are we
bound to give thanks, that He has called us, unworthy as we
are, to so great grace ; th.it He has reconciled us who were
His foes ; that He has vouchsafed to us the spirit of adoption.
Then ye say, 'It is meet and right : ' for in giving thanks we
do a meet thing and a right ; but He did, not a right thing,
but what was more than right, when He did us good, and
counted us meet for such great benefits." [Cykil, Calefli.
Led. xxiii. 3, 4.] These versicles are also referred to by St.
Chrysostom [de Eue/i., de Pcenitentia], by St. Augustine [de
Dono Perseverant. xiii.], and by Ctesarius of Aries. [Horn.
xii. xvi. ]
The use of the Sanctus is of equally ancient date. St. Cyril
speaks of its long Preface in a passage following that just
quoted, and then goes on to say : " We make mention also of
the .Seraphim, whom Isaiah, by the Holy Ghost, beheld
encircling the throne of (!od, and with two of their wings
veiling tlieir countenances, and with two tlieir feet, and with
two flying, who cried, ' Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of
S.ibaoth.' [Is.i. vi. 1; Rev. iv. 8.] For this cause, there-
fore, we rehearse this confession of God, delivered down to
us from the Seraphim, that we may join in hymns with the
hosts of the world .above."
It is very remark.ible that in .all the .ancient Liturgies, both
of East and West, the s.aying of the Sanctus is given to the
choir an<l jjcople. The Celebr.ant h.aving recited the I'ref.ace,
or Introductory p:irt of this great act of Eucharistic Thanks-
Cf)e Communion.
387
IT Upon Whitsunday, and six days after.
THROUGH Jesus Christ our Loud, accord-
ing to Whose most true promise, the Holy
Ghost came down, as at this time, from heaven
with a sudden great sound, as it had been a
mighty wind, in the likeness of fiery Tongues,
lighting upon the Apostles, to teach them, and to
lead them to all truth ; giving them both the gift
of divers languages, and also boldness with fervent
zeal, constantly to preach the Gospel unto all
nations ; whereby we have been brought out of
darkness and error into the clear light and true
knowledge of Thee, and of Thy Son Jesus Christ.
Therefore with Angels, etc.
IT Upon the Feast of Trinity only.
WHO art one God, one Lord ; not one only
Person, but three Persons in one Sub-
stance. For that which we believe of the glory
of the Father, the same we believe of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference
or inequality. Therefore with Angels, etc.
If After each of which Prefaces shall immediately be
sung or said,
THEREFORE with Angels and Arcliangels,
and with all the company of heaven, we
laud and magnify Thy glorious Name ; evermore
praising Thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God of Hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of Thy
Glory : Glory be to Thee, O Lord most High.
Amen.
" S-. similar in ^.
/' litst. 0/ Christian
Mitii. Parapli. of
Creed. A.D. 1537.
' &. K.
""S. g. ft. Grej,
Gelas.
Sai.
"Sequens Priefatio dicitur in die Pentecostes et per
hebdoniadam . . .
'The same Holy Spirit did once descend down
from Heaven in the similitude and likeness of
fiery Tongues, and did light down upon all the
Apostles and disciples of Christ, and inspired
them also with the knowledge of all truth, and
replenished them with all heavenly gifts and
graces.
'Sequens Prsefatio dicitur in die Sanctae Trinitatis et in
omnibus Dominicis usque ad Adventum Domini . . .
''/~\UI cum unigenito Filio Tuo et Spiritu
V:^ Sancto udus es Deus, unus es Dominus,
non in unius singularitate Personse, sed in unius
Trinitate Substantice. Quod enim de Tua gloria
revelante Te credimus, hoc de Filio Tuo, hoc de
Spiritu Sancto, sine differentia discretionis
sentimus . . . una voce dicente.s.
IT 'Item in aliis PrEefationibus conclusio.
ET ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum
thronis et dominationibus cumque omni
militia coelestis exercitus, hymnum glorije Tuse
canimus, sine fine dicentes :
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus
Sabaoth, pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria Tua ;
Osanna in excelsis ; benedictus Qui venit in
nomine Domini ; Osanna in excelsis.
giving, the "Triumphal Hymn" itself, as the Liturgies of St.
Basil and St. Chrysostom call it, is taken up by the whole
body of the worshippers wlio, as kings and priests unto God,
join in tliat solemn act of adoration of the ever-blessed
Trinity. To mark this Catholic custom the Sanctus itself
ought to be printed as a separate paragraph, and so
it was printed in 1549 and 1552. In choirs, and places
where they sing, both it and the Gloria in Excelsis ouglit
always to be sung in the same manner as the Creed. In
tliis our highest, most glorious, and most joyous Service
our highest efforts ought to be used to make it as worthy
as we can of Him to Whom it is offered, and to bring
out as fully aa we can its character of adoring thanks-
giving.
In the Primitive and Jlediajval Liturgies the Sanctus con-
cluded with the words, " Hosanna in the Higliest, blessed
is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna in the
highest." In translating it for the Office of our Prayer
Book, the four latter words were changed to "Glory to
Thee, Lord, in tlie highest ; " .and the present termination
was substituted in 1552, thus displacing the Hosanna alto-
gether.
No reason can be assigned for this deviation from ancient
custom.' But there was, perhaps, some popular superstition,
now lost sight of, which made it seem desirable to drop the
words in question. The Mirror of Our Lady comments upon
the Sanctus aa then used in the following words : "This song
S.anctus is the song of Angels, and it is said to the Blessed
Trinity, as is said before in tlie hymn Te Deum at JIattins.
The second part thereof, that is, Benedictus, is taken from
the Gospel, where the people on Palm Sunday came against
our Lord Jesus Christ, and said to Him the same words in
praising and joying of His coming. And so they are sung
liere in the Mass, in worship of our Lord's coming in the
1 In the Clementine Liturgy, however, the Sanctus and the Hosanna
are placed separate, and at a considerable distance from each other.
Sacrament of the Altar. And therefore at the beginning of
Benedictus ye turn to tlie Altar and make tlie token of the
Cross upon you in mind of our Lord's Passion, which is
specially represented in the Mass. " [Mirror, p. 329. ] It is
not unlikely that the last period of this comment gives an
indication of the reason why the change was made. A more
satisfactory explanation that may be given, however, is that
the Benedictus is not part of tlie song of the angels, and is
tlierefore inconsistent, strictly speaking, with the words of
the Preface.
Tlie presence of angels at the celebration of the Holy Com-
munion has been believed in by the Church from Primitive
times, and in all parts of the Christian world.
§ Proper Prefaces.
Besides these five Proper Prefaces, the Sarum IMissal had
one for Epiphany and seven days after, one for Ash-Wednes-
day and Ferial days in Lent, one for Festivals of Apostles or
Evangelists, and one for the Festivals of the Blessed Virgin.
The Trinity Preface was used on all the Sundays after
Trinity, and at every wedding celebration. The Liturgies of
the Eastern Church have but one invariable Preface, much
longer and fuller than those of the West, throughout the
year. In the Latin Church the variety of Prefaces was
anciently much greater than it is now. The Sacrameutariea
of SS. Leo, Gelasius. and Gregory, Mhich liave been the great
sources of Liturgical forms for all the Churches of the West,
contain a Preface for nearly every Sunday and Festival
throughout the year. The same is true of the Jlozarabic
Missal, in which the Pref.ice is called " Ill.atio," and of the
ancient Gallican Liturgies, whose name for it is "Contes-
tatio. " The number was reduced to ten about the end of the
twelfth century, in the English, and in all other Western
Missals but the Aiiibrosian and the Mozarabic. The ancient
Missals alwa3-s contained the musical notation of tlie various
Prefaces as well as of the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer ; and
the Intonation of the Gloria in Excelsis.
388
Cfje Communion.
H Then shall the Priest, kneeling do-mi at the Lord's
Table, say in the name of all them that shall
receive the Communion this Prayer fullowing.
\ \ 7"E do not presume to come to tliis Thy
V V Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our
own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and
great mercies. We are not worthy so much as
to gather up the crumbs under Thy Taole. But
Thou art the same Lord, Whose property is
always to have mercy : Grant us therefore,
gracious Lord, so to eat the Flesh of Thy dear
Son Jesus Christ, and to drink His Blood, that
our sinful bodies may be made clean by His Body,
and our souls washed through His most precious
Blood, ''and that we may evermore dwell in Him,
and He in us. Amen.
a Order of Com.
iiiuiuon. A.D. 1548.
"&.-§. m- Gree.
ap. Menard, p.
265. Mozarab.
Lit.
c Syriac Liturgy of
St. James. Prayer
before CommunioD.
■ us [1552).
Oremus.
*T^OMINE, sancte Pater, omnipotens, aHerne
J—/ Deu.s, da nobis hoc corpus et sanguinem
FiLii Tui Domini Dei nostri Jesu Christi ita
sumere, ut mereamur per hoc remissionem pecca-
torum nostrorum accipere et Tuo Sancto Spieitu
repleri : quia Tu es Deus, et proeter Te non est
alius nisi Tu solus. Qui vivis et regnas Deus.
'f~^ RANT, O Lord, that our bodies may be
vjr sanctified by Thy holy Body, and that our
souls may be cleansed by Thy propitiatory Blood :
and that they may be for the pardon of our faults,
and the remission of our sins. O Lord God,
glory be to Thee for ever.
§ The Prayer 0/ Humble Access.
This Prayer, together with the Invitation, "Ye that do
truly," the Confession, Absolution, and Comfortable Words,
■which it then immediately followed, was placed in the
Liturgies of 1548 and 1549 between the Consecration and tlie
Communion. It is similarly placed in the Scottish Liturgy
of 1637 ; and in the present Scottish Office. Archbishop
Laud says: "If a comparison must be made, I do think
the order of the Prayers as they now stand in the Scottish
Liturgy to be the better and more agreeable to use in the
Primitive Church ; and I believe they which are learned will
acknowledge it." The change was made in 1552, and like
some others made at the same time is difficult to account for.
except on the ground of some temporary influence and danger.
In the Order of Communion of 1548 and in the Liturgy of
1549, after "drink His blood" was added "in these holy
mysteries," which words were omitted in 1552, and proposed
for restoration by Cosin. In the Eastern Liturgies the Prayer
which answers to this is called the Prayer of Inclination, and
is said immediately before the Communion of the People.
Bishop Cosin proposed to place this Prayer immediately
before the Communion : the reasons already given for the
place of the Confession and Absolution seem, however, to
justify its retention here.
In the Salisbury and Hereford Missals it was said in the
singular number ; but the York Missal had it in the plural as
given above.
so to eat] The emphatic sense of these words must not be
overlooked in the use of this Prayer. Their sense may be
beat seen by a paraphrase : "We are not worthy to gather
up the crumbs under Thy Table, but of Thy mercy Thou dost
grant us the flesh and blood of Thy dear .Son ; Grant us so to
eat and drink that precious Gift that His promise may be
altogether fulfilled, that we may eat and drink of these after
the manner of those to whom He is Life unto Life ; and not
after the manner of those to whom the WORD of Life Itself
is Death unto Death."
that our sinful bodies . . . by His Body] These words, as
far as " Blood, and," were not in the Prayer as it appeared
in tlie Order of Communion, but were added in 1549. The
separate application of the Body and Blood to tlie body and
Boul was, however, made in the words of administration in
the Order of Communion. [.S'ee Appendix to Introduction,
p. 364.]
THE PRAYER OF CONSECRATION.'
This ia the centnal portion of the "Canon of the Mass " as
it was rendered in the English Liturgy of 1549. The original
form of the whole will be found in tlie Appendix to the Com-
munion Office.
IVhim tlie Priest, standing be/ore the Table] In tlie Prayer
Book of 15,52 the Rubric merely directs the I'riust, after
saying the Prayer of Humble Access "kneeling down at God's
Board," to say the Prayer of Consecration standing up. In
1 The manner in which BiHhop Cosin dcfilrcd to restore tlie ancient mode
of Conaccration and (Jblation may be bust Hcen by printinK lii.s m.trKinal
alterations in their proper order. A coinpariflon of these with the Olllces
of 1&49 nnd 1637, as printed in the Ai>pcndlx, will give a complete view of
thi» Prayer.
*' litre follov/elh the Prayer 0/ Consecration.
" fFhen the PHett, atamtivg be/ore the Table, hath so orderetl the Bread ni\d
the Scottish Book of 1637 the Rubric is : "Then the Pres-
byter, standing up, shall say the Prayer of Consecration as
foUoweth ; but then during the time of consecration he shall
stand at such a part of the holy table, wliere he may with
the more ease and decency use both his hands. " The natural
meaning of the present Rubric is that the Celebrant, who,
during the Prayer of Humble Access, has been "kneeling
down at the Lord's Table," shall now "stand," and stand
"before" it, i.e. at the middle of its front, facing east, and
having "so ordered the Bread and Wine," etc., shall, without
changinij his position (for which there is no direction), "say
the Prayer of Consecration." Tlie phrase " before the
people" means, not turning towards them, but [1] In front
of, at the head of them, as their representative and spokes-
man. [2] In fuU view of them, in the one place where he
can best be seen by all present.
shall say the Prayer 0/ Consecration] This is not to be said
in an inaudible voice. Ritual directions to say the Canon
" secreto " or "submissa voce" receive a striking iDustration
from a Canon passed in A.D. 1200 at a Council held under
Archbishop Fitzwalter : "Verba Canonis rotunde dicantur, et
distincte, nee ex festinatione nee ex diuturnitate nimis pro-
tracta. " [John.son's Cn«. ii. 84.] The saying of the Canon in
such a manner as that it shall not be heard by the congrega-
tion is a ritual affectation which sprung up in tlie later Middle
Ages among other abuses tlirust upon the ancient Liturgy.
Here the Priest] The marginal Rubrics for the manual rites
were omitted in the Revision of 1552. The two directing the
Priest to take the Bread, and then the Wine, into his hands,
JVlne that he may with the more readiness and decency break the Bread he/ore
the people, and take the Cup into his hands, he shall say as followeth,
"Almighty God, our heavenly Father. Who ... * j* ,i j
ITisprecions death and s.acriace . . . wemosthumblv „ i7 i n'"",r
beseech Tliee, and l.v the power of Thv holy Word ''' . , '?''<!»"1 "«
and Spirit, vouchsafe so to bless and sanctify these J^" ,f ," ."', "!*.'
Thy gifts and creatt.res of Broad and Wine, that we i,„„,l, . „i("r'akeit)
he is to break the
Bread: and at [this
receiving them according to Tliy Son ... in remcm-
brrmce of Him, and to shew'forth Ills death and
pa.ssion, may be partakers of His most blessed Body
and Blood.
is 5Iy Body] to lay
■ Wlio ill the same night that He was betrayed "took ''",'l'H"' "J""" ?'■
cad, and when He had ble.s.sod, and given thanks. He „ V^ , ', ,V \', ,
Ike it and gave it to His disciples saying. Take, eat, ^ ^i? rte «ali«
Bread,
brake it
this is My Body which is given for you, doe this in
remembrance of Me.
into his hmids : and
"Likewise, after supper. He took the Cup, and ?' ", '? f?'^,"^ ""?'
hen He had blessed and 'given thanks He give it [i^?, ^" ''",'" T»
wlie
to tlieni, saying. Drink ye all of this : for Ibis is
My Blond of tlie New Testament, wliiclt is shed
for ynu, and for many for the remission of sins, do
ever]/ vcssd [be it
■ink ve ail of this: for this is rM.„K««^:- m- J!i
New Testament, which is shed Cl"*hce or Flagon
' ■ - - 171 Winch there i«
thiaas oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance of Me. ^'Jj*^ '° ^* ''°"^''"
*' Itumediately after shall/ollow this Memorial, or PraTfer of Oblation,
" Wliorcforc, O I-ord and heavenly Father, according to the Institnlion
of Thy dearly beloved Son, onr Saviour Jesus Christ, we Thy humble ser-
^'nnts do celebrate, and make here before Thy Divine Majesty, with these
Thy lioly gifts, the memorial which Thy .Son hath willed and commanded
ns to make: having in remembrance His most blessed }<as6ton and sacri-
line, llis mighty resurrection, and Ilia glorious ascension into lieaven,
rendering unto Thee most hearty thanks, for the innumerable benefits
procured unto us by the same, and we entirely desire Thy Fatherly good-
ness, mercifnlly to accej>t this our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving:
most humbly beseeching Thee to grant, that by the merits and death of
'J'hy Bon Jesns Christ, now represented unto Thee, and through faith in
His Blood Who makelh intercession for us at Thy right hand, we and all
Thy wliole Church may obtjiin remission of our sins, and bo made j^ar-
takcrs r)f all other benelUs of His Passion. And here wc offer and i>reaent
unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies." {.As in 1549. See
Appendix]
Ct)e Communion.
389
H Wlien the Priest, staucling before the Tabic, hatli so
ordered the Bread and Wine, that lie may with
the more readiness and decency Ijreak the Hread
before the people, and take the (,'up into his hands,
he shall say the Prayer of Consecration as fol-
loweth.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father,
.i^\- Who of Thy tender mercy didst give
Thine only Son Jesus Cheist to suffer death
upon the Cross for our redemption ; Who inade
there (by His one Oblation of Himself once
offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice,
Oblation, and Satisfaction, for the sins of the
whole world; and did institute, and in His holy
Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual
memory of that His precious death, until His
coming again ; Hear us, O merciful Father, we
most humbly beseech Thee ; and grant that we
receiving these Thy ''Creatures of Bread and
Wine, according to Thy Son our Saviour Jesus
Christ's holy Institution, in remembrance of
His death and passion, may be partakers of His
most blessed Body and Blood : Who, in
the same night that He was betrayed,
(«) took Bread ; and, when He had
given thanks, (6) He brake it, and gave
it to His disciples, saying. Take, eat,
* Here the
Priest is tu take
the Pate)i into
his hands :
^ And here
to break the
Bread :
[T Book of Common
Prayer, A.U. 1549.
/i " Christ and His
death be the sii/-
Jicient oblation,
xacrijiie, satis/nc-
tiott, and recom-
fence, for the which
God the Father fiir-
^iveth and reniit-
teth . . ." [Comf.
tliird of Ten Arti-
cles of A.D. 1536.]
c Tllis Invocation in
1549 only.
d That is, the " cre5-
tures " of God's
natural creation.
' S. i. H.
/ al. Hie fiat sig-
nutn fractionis.
\See footnote i.]
"O ^^^ lieavenly Father, Which of Thy ten-
V_/ der mercy didst give Thine only Son Jesu
Christ, to suffer death upon the Cross for our
redemption; Who made there (by His one Obla-
tion once offered) a full, perfect, and 'sufficient
Sacrifice, Oblation, and Satisfaction, for the sins
of the whole world ; and did institute, and in
His holy Gospel command us to celebrate a per-
petual memory of that His precious death, until
His coming again : Hear us, (O merciful
Father,) we beseech Thee ; 'and with Thy Holy
Spirit and Word vouchsafe to bl>J<ess and
sanc>J<tify these Thy gifts and creatures of
bread and wine.
. . . 'ut nobis cor>J«pus et san>J<guis fiat dilectis-
isimi Filii Tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi.
Qui pridie quam pateretur, accepit panem in
sanctas ac venerabiles manus Suas, et elevatis
oculis in coelum ad Te Deum Patrem Suum Om-
nipotentem, Tibi gratias agens bene>J<dixit, fregit,
\fllic ti-DKjat hosdam dicens] deditque discipulis
were restored in 1661, and the other threfe directing the
Breaking of the Bread, and the laying of the hand on the
Bread, and on the Wine, were then first inserted. In the
case of the first marginal Rubric there is a needless and awk-
ward change from that of 1549. It is the Bread, not the
Paten, the Priest should take into his hands. If he takes the
Paten, he must certainly put it down again before he can con-
veniently comply with the next direction.
And here to brectk the Bread] The breaking the Bread
before Consecration, though apparently " most agreeable with
the institution of Christ," is peculiar to the English Rite.'
In all other Liturgies it occurs after the Consecration, usually
after the Lord's Prayer, with which the long Consecration
Prayer invariably closes, and shortly before the dipping of a
portion into the cup before actual commtniion, a rite which
is found in all the great Liturgies of East and West. The
laying of the right hand on each element during the utterance
of the words of consecration is also peculiar to the English
Rite. It seems to come most nearly in the place of the act
of making the sign of the Cross, which in the unreformed Use
the Celebrant did as he said the word benn'i-ilixit over each
Element.
tluit we receiving these Thy Creatures of Bread and Wine'] In
this place the Invocation of the Holy Ghost was inserted in
1549. This occurs in every ancient Catholic Liturgy of both
East and West, excepting only the Roman, anil those derived
from it (if indeed the Roman or Petrine family of Liturgies
did not itself also originally contain it), and the Holy orthodox
Church of the East has always thought it essential to the act
of consecration. It was omitted in 155'2, probably in defer-
ence to the scruples of Bucer. It was inserted in the Scottish
Book of 1637, and forms part of the existing Scottish and
American Communion OfHces, where it follows the Words of
Institution and the Prayer of Oblation, as in the Eastern
Liturgies. The clause in our present Office contains an
implied or oblique invocation of the Holy Cihost, since it is
only through His Divine operation that we, by receiving
God's "Creatures of Bread and Wine, " can " be made par-
takers of Christ's most blessed Body and Blood." But we
may be allowed to wish, with Bishops Horsley and Wilson,
1 There is some reason to think th.tt this peculiarity is of very ancient
existence in the Cliureh of England. A Manual of about a.d. 1320, pur-
chased in Holdernesse many years ago, was once for some time in the hands
of the writer, and afterwards came into the possession of the Rev. W. J.
Blew, contains many peculiarities in the Rubrics, and some in the prayers ;
the former including the Rubric " bene+dixit hie fiat signnvi fraetionis
fregit." This looks like the suj-vival in form of an actual fraction. That
the usage en.joined was not uncoinluon is shewn by the Sarum Missal of
1554, in whicli are the words, " Hie non debet tnnift. hostia modo fraetionis
sicut alii fatui tangunt et male faciuiit," an argument following to shew
why this ouglit-not to be done.
and the best informed JInglish Divines, that the direct Invo-
cation had been left untouched. -
§ The Words of Institution.
Most theologians of the Western Church have always held
that the Consecration of the Holy Eucharist is effected and
completed by the recitation of our Lortl's words of Institu-
tion.' They are of such solemn importance, as bringing our
Lord Himself in to be the Consecrator of the Holy Sacra-
ment, that they should be uttered with deliberation and
distinctness, the Celebrant taking ample time for the manual
gestures. Bishop Cosin marked off as separate paragraphs
the words beginning, "Who, in the same night," and "Like-
wise after supper : " and it is much to be wished that this
mode of printing the prayer was adopted. The Sarum
Rubric for the pronunciation of the words "Hoc est enim
corpus meum " is as follows : " £t dehent ista verba proferri
cum uno sjiiritu et sub nna prolatione, nulla pausatione inter-
posita. "
Previously to the words "blessed and brake," the Liturgies
of St. Mai'k, St. James, St. Clement, and that of Malabar,
and all the great Western Liturgies, except the Mozarabic,
insert that "our Lord looked up to Heaven," and the Sarum
and Roman Liturgies direct the Celebrant to lift up his eyes
to Heaven. This is not mentioned in the Gospel accounts of
the Institution, though our Lord may well have done so, as it is
mentioned He did in blessing the bread at the Feeding of the
Five Thousand, and tradition may have preserved it. The
Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom do not notice it.
After "given thanks" all the ancient English Liturgies, the
Roman, Ambrosian, and Mozarabic, the Liturgies of St.
M.ark, and St. Basil, and of Malabar, insert "He blessed,"
both for the Bread and tlie Cup ; the Liturgy of St. James
and the Clementine for the Cup only ; and the Liturgy of St.
Chrysostom for the Bread only.
He brake it] There cannot be too great exactness and
reverent formality on the part of the Celebrant in consecrat-
ing the Elements by means of which, when consecrated, an
acceptable sacrifice is to be carried up to the Father, and the
Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ received by the
communicants. The Priest having, therefore, taken the
- On this subject, see Neale's Introd. to Hist, of the Holy Eastern Church,
i. 492-602; and Freeman's Frinc. Div. Sen: II. ii. pji. 190-199.
3 There is room for doubt whether the Consecration was always con-
sidered to be complete withoitt the Invocation of the Holy Ghost. The
Gallican and Slozarabic Liturgies seem to witness otherwise by siich
prayers as the following : " Descendat, Domiue. plenitudo JIa.iestatis, divi-
nitatis, pietatis, virtutis, benedictionis et glorite tufe super hunc panem,
et super huuc calicem : et tiat nobis legjtima Eucharistia in transfonnatione
corporis et sanguinis Domini." [Neale and Forbes' Gallican Liturgies,
p. 11 ; comp. p. 4.)
390
Cf)C communion.
^ A^id here
to lay his ftaJwZ
upon all the
Bread.
^ Here lie is
to take the Cup
into his ^ hands :
« Atid here
to lay his hand
upon every ves-
sel (be it Chaliee
or Flagon) in
which there is
any u'ini to be
consecrated.
((•) this is My Body which is given
for you : Do this in remembrance of
Me. Likewise after supper He (d)
took the Cup ; and, when He had
given thanks, He gave it to them,
saying, Drink ye all of this ; for this
(e) is My Blood of the New Testa-
ment, which is shed for you and for
many for the remission of sins : Do
this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in
remembrance of Me. Amen.
a The MS. has
" itaniis : " the
black-letter book
of 1636 has thebc
>lanua] Rubrics
\Mitteii in the mar-
gin, and the word
is " ha}id." But
the plural is tlie
more correct, re.
presenting the an-
cient Sarum and
York Rubric, "f^«-
eat inter maniis
itias."
Suis, dicens, Accipite et manducate ex hoc
otnnes.
Hoc est enim corpus Meum.
Simili modo posteaquam ccenatum est, acci-
piens et liunc prasclarum calicem in sanctas ac
venerabiles manus Suas, item Tibi gratias agens,
bene>^dixit, deditque discipulis Suis, dicens
Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes. [Ilic elevei ]}ar-
umper calicem, ita dicens,'\
Hie est enim calix sanguinis Mei novi et a^terni
testamenti, mysterium iidei, qui pro vobis et pro
multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.
Bread into his hands at the words "took bread," should
raise his hands in front of his breast, break the Bread by
separating it into two portions, and then hold the separated
portions one in each hand in such a manner that they maj' be
visible to the communicauts. He should tlien replace tlie
fragments on the Paten, take the Paten in his left hand, and
hold his right hand over it whilst saying the words, " This is
My Body which is given for you." He should then raise the
Paten in both hands, and, bowing his head, hold it raised
upward in front of him whilst saying the words, " Do this in
remembrance of Me," and then replace it on the Altar and
cover it. Similarly at the Consecration of tlie Wine he should
raise the Chalice in both hands, and when he has said the words,
"This is My Blood of the New Testament . . . remission of
sins," while laying one hand upon the Chalice, he should
hold it raised upward in both hands while he says, "Do this,
as oft as }'e shall drink it, in remembrance of Me ; " then
replacing the Chalice and covering it.'
Eeverence suggests that at the words, "When He had
given thanks," in each case, the sign of tlie Cross should be
made over tlie Element then in the hands.
This is the most solemn part of the whole ministration of
the Liturgy. Standing before the flock of Christ in the Pre-
sence of Almighty Ciod, the Priest stands there as the
vicarious earthly representative of the invisible but one true
and only Priest of the Heavenly Sanctuary : acting "in His
Name," and "by His commission and authority" [Article
xxvi.], he brings into remembrance before the Eternal
Father the one only and everlasting Sacrifice which was once for
all made and "finished upon the Cross" [Article xxxi.], but
is perpetually pleaded, offered, and presented, by the One
Everlasting Priest and Intercessor in Heaven. For Christ as
our Great High Priest, Who "ever liveth to make interces-
sion for us," and Who is the ever-acceptable Victim and
Propitiation for our sins, doeth indeed no more that which
He pronounced to be "finished" on Calvary, but evermore
pleadeth for our sake that which then He did. And this He
does in two ways. [1] In Heaven, openly, as one may say,
and by His own immediate action. [2] On Earth, mystically,
but as really, acting mediately by the earthly Priest as His
visible instrument. The Action is the same in both cases,
and the real Agent is the same ; for Christ, since Pentecost,
is as really (though supernaturally and spiritually) present
on earth, in and by the ordinances of His own Institution, as
He is since the Ascension in Heaven naturally and corporally.
"Where two or three are gathered together in His Name,"
(and where so truly are we so gathered as when we meet to
celebrate the great Memorial Sacrifice specially appointed by
Himself?) "there is He in the midst of us ; " not so much as
the accepter (for such is sometimes mistaken to be the only
meaning of this text) as the leader and offerer of our worship,
invisibly acting through His visible instrument and represen-
tative. The great and only Sacrifice once made can never
be repeated. But it is continually offered, i.e. brought into
remembrance and pleaded, before God. They who arc called
" Priests " because, and only because, they visibly represent
to the successive generations of mankind the one iimiiortal
but invisible Priest, are through God's unspeakable mercy
privileged to bring it into remembraii(-e before Him, by His
order. Who said, " Do this for a Jlemorial, a Comnicmor.ation
of Me." Thus the Priest's action in olTering our Christian
Sacrifice may bo described [1] as the earthly counterpart of
that which Christ continually does in Heaven ; [2] as the
commemoration of that which, once for .all, He did on Cal-
vary. The Priest makes the Oblation actu.ally and verbally
when he says the words, "Do this," etc., and afterwards
1 Coven* were provided for Clmlit^os during the Hevcntecntli and
eighteenth ccntiirieH, but Chalice veils uf linen arc now generally used.
verbally, and with greater fulness, in the " Praj'er of Obla-
tion " which follows the actual communion. -
Avun'] But although the celebrating Priest stands thus
before God offering up to Him this holy Oblation, he does it
in company witli all the faithful, at whose head he stands.
And to signify their co-operation witli him in his great act,
they say "Amen" to his Eucharistic words and acts, adopt-
ing them as their own. On this point a venerated writer of
our own day has written as follows : —
" It is the unquestionable doctrine both of the Old and
New Testament, that, without prejudice to the special
official Priesthood of the sons of Aaron in the one dispensa-
tion, and the successors of the Apostles in the other, all the
people of God, with the true Melchizedec at their head, are
'a kingdom of Priests, a royal priesthood,' and every one is
a ' king and priest unto the Father, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.' None may
doubt that the chief of those spiritual sacrifices is that which
causes all the rest to be acceptable,— Christ Himself offered
up to the Father by the offering of His Body and Blood in
the Holy Communion. Accordingly, the Christian people
have been instructed from the beginning to take their part
in tliat offering, by the solemn Amen especially, wherewith
they have always responded to the Prayer of Consecration.
There is hardly any point of our ritual which can be traced
more certainly than this to the very Apostolic times. Every
one will remember St. Paul's saying, 'When thou shalt bless
with the Spirit, how shall he that oceupieth the room of the
unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he under-
staudeth not what thou sayest?' [1 Cor. xiv. 16] — words
which, ill a singular way, bear witness both to the share
[roiros] which all Cliristians have in the priesthood of Mel-
chizedec, and to the distinction which nevertheless exists
between those who might bless, and laymen [iSiitToi] who
were not permitted to do so. . . . Justin Martyr mentions
the ' Amen ' uttered by the people at the end of the Conse-
cration as a special circumstance of the Christian Eucharist."
Tertullian, St. Chrysostom, and St. Ambrose also all expressly
allude to the emphatic response of "Amen" at the close of
the Consecration Praj'er.
THE COMMUNION.^
Tlien shall the Minister first recdrc] There is no express
^ On tlie Eucliaiistic Sai-vitice, see Hickes' Christian Priesthood, John-
son's Unbloody tiacrijicey the Bishop of Brechin's Theological Dejeiice, pp.
10-SO, 104; Keble'.s Eucharistical Adoration, II, 3t3, etc. Many more
works might be named, but these are comparatively accessible to the
theological student. .Sec also the Introduction to the Connuunion Oificc,
p. 350 of this work.
a The alterations proposed by Uishoi> Cosin after tlie Prayer of Conse-
cration are here given as they stand in his Durham Book : —
Tlien shalt the I'riest, that celebrateth, receive the Holy Coinmvnion in both
kind^ upon his knees, and u-hcn he taketh the Sacrament of the Body o/Christ,
he shall say.
The Body of our Lonl Jesus Christ, which was given fi'r me, iircservc
my body and soul unto everlasting life. Amen. I take and eat this for
the remembrance of Christ Who died for me, and I feed on Ilini in my
heart by faith with thanksgiving.
A nd when tie taketh the Sacrament of Christ's Blooil, he shall say,
Tlie Blood of our Lord, which was sheil for me, ineserve my l)ody and
soul into everlasting life. Amen, I drink this for the remembrance of
Christ Who ,shed liis Bhiod for me, nnd nin thankful.
77icu shall he stand 7ip and proceed to deliver the Holy Communion, first to
the Bishops, Priests, and l^eacons, (if any be present,) in both kinds: and
offer to the people in due order, into the hands of all hiimhly kneeling and so
continning, as i^ most meet, at tlicir devotions and prayers unto the end 0/
the whole Communion.
And when he delivercth the Sacrament of the Body of Christ to any one Jie
shnll say.
The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve
thy body and soul into everlasting life. \Aitd here each person receiving
shiill sa}f, Amen. Then .•:hnU the Priest add], Take and eat this for the
remembrajire of i 'hrist Who died for thee, and feed on Him in thine heart
by faith, with thanksgiving.
And when he delivcreth the Cup to any one he shp.ll say.
Cf)e Communion.
391
Then shall " the Minister lirat receive the Com-
munion in both kinds hiiiisulf, and then proceed
to deliver the same to the IJisliops, Priests, and
''Deacons, in like manner, (if any be present,) and
after that to the people also in order, into their
hands, all meekly kneeling. And, when he
delivereth the 'bread to any one, he shall say,
II i.e. Tile conse-
crating Bishop or
I'ricst.
* S. Similar in ^.
m-
<■ S. 13. 18.
rf5<-^NiC(;ne Canons,
xviii.
e Originally in M.S.
"cottsecratfii
bread" but the
first word crossed
throutjh with a pen.
''Ad corpus dicat cum humiliatione antequam percipiat.
"AVE ill aiternum sancti«.sima caro Christi :
mihi ante omnia et super omnia surama dulcedo.
Corpus Domini nostri Jksu Christi sit mihi
jjeccatori via ot vita. In No>J<mine Pateis et
FiLii et Spiuitus Sancti. Amen. Hie sumat
corpus . .
direction as to the posture of the Celebrant himself in receiv-
ing, unless (which seems hardly likely) the words "allmcekly
kneeling " are intended to apply to him as well as to those to
whom he delivers the Communion. The usage of the Catho-
lic Church generally, both East and West, is for the Celebr.aut
after kneeling in adoration to receive standing, because his
receiving is part of his official action as Priest. The Eastern
Church, following, no doubt, herein the earliest custom (for
we know from Tertnllian tliat even to kneel in prayer on
a Sunday was thought unbecoming the Christian joyfulness
and triumph of the day), does not even require her communi-
cants generally to kneel, but to reverently bow the head.
As will be seen by the note below. Bishop Cosin proposed to
introduce a Rubric on the subject, enjoining the Celebrant to
kneel while receiving, and to use the words he uses to others.
The Celebrant's Communion is p.art of the act of the
Eueharistic Sacrifice : he must therefore communicate every
time that he celebrates.
to the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons] i.e. actually taking part
in the Service, not when merely present unofficially among the
congregation. Comp. the Rubric of 1552, "And next deliver
it to other Ministers, if any be there present, that they may
help the chief Minister." So also the Scotcli Liturgy of 1637,
" that they may help him that celebr.ateth. "
also in order] As the preceding part of the Rubric directs the
administration to theClergy iuorder of their ecclesiastical rank,
so this may be taken as referring [1] to the observance of some
order in respect to secular rank, and [2] as pointing to the com-
mon custom of administering to the men Ijefore the women.
into their hands] It is reverent and convenient for communi-
cants to receive the consecrated Bread in the palm of the right
hand, according to St. Cyril's direction in his fifth Catechetical
Lecture, "Making thy left hand a throne for the right
which is about to receive a king, hollow tliy palm, and so
receive the Body of Christ, saying thereafter the Amen. "
And, lehen he delivereth] 'The most ancient form in the
The Blond uf our Lord Jesus Christ, which was slied fur thee, preserve
thy body and soul into everlasting life. [And here each person receiving
shall say. Amen. Then the priest shall atld]. Drink this for the remem-
brance of Christ Who shed His Blood for thee, and be thankful.
// there be aiwtlier Vriest or a Deacon to assist the chief minister, then,
shall he/oUow with the Cnp ; and as the chief minister giveth the Sacrament
of the Body, so shall he give the Sacrament of the Blood, in fonn before 'pre-
scribal.
If any Bread or Wine be wantinff, the Priest is to consecrate more, as is
before appointed, bcijinning with [Our S.aviour Christ in the same niglitl/or
the blessing of the Bread, and at [Likewise after supjier, etc.] for the bless-
ing of the Clip.
In the Communion time shall be snng (where there is a Qnire),
O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon
us : and, O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, gi-ant us
Thv peace: together with some or all of these sentences of Holy Scripture
folioiviug: Eom. xi. 33; Ps. ciii. 1-5; Luke i. 68, 74, 75; 1 Cor. i. SO, 31;
Johnv."l3; John viii. 31, 32; Matt. xxiv. 13; Luke xii. 37, 40; John xii.
35, 36; Rom. xiii. 12-14; 1 Cor iii. 10, 17; 1 Cor vi. 20; John xv. 8, 12;
Kph. V. 1, 2 ; Rom. viii. 23 ; Apoc. v. 12, 13.
And where there is no Quire, let the Communicants lllake use of the same at
their own jirivatc and devout medit'itions.
When all liave communicated, he that celebrateth shall ret^trn to the Lord's
Table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated ele-
ments, covering the same with a fair Linen cloth, and then say,
The Lord be with you.
Answer.
And with thy spirit.
Priest.
Let us pray.
Almighty and everliving God . . . world without end. Amen.
Then sJiall be said or sung,
Glory be to God on high . . . the Father. Amen.
[Divided by Cosin into four paragraphs.]
Then the Priest . . . blessing.
[Benediction as now.]
Underneath these alterations of C(i.sin's, on the page which contains the
Prayer of Consecration, there is written the following note in Bancroft's
hand : —
** My LL. ye BB. at Elie house orderd all in ye old method, thus : First
yc prayer of Address, We do not presume, etc. Aft ye Rubrick When ye
priest stands, etc., ye prayer of Consecron unalterd (only one for orvn, and
Amen at last), wth'the marginal Rubrics. Then (ye memorial or prayer of
Oblation omitted, and ye L'is prayer) follow ye Rubrics and Forms of Par-
ticipation and Distribution to ye end of ye Rubrick, u'hen all have eoicated,
etc. Altogether as in this book ; only ye Rubrick, In ye Colon time shall
besting, etc., wth ye sentences following, wholly omitted. And yn yc Lords
Prayer and Collect, O Ld and Henv. F., etc. etc. to ye end."
delivery of the Elements was "The Body of Christ," and
"The Blood of Christ," to each of whicli the people answered
"Amen." [Ambro.s. dc Myst. iv. 5; Aug. Serrn. 272.] In
the time of (Gregory the Great it was "The Body of our Lord
Jesus Christ preserve thy soul," to which by the time of
Aleuin and Micrologus [xxiii. ] was added "unto everlasting
life." The usual form in England appears to have been
"The Body of our Lord .Jesus Christ preserve thy body and
thy soul unto everlasting life. Amen, " After the restoration
of the Cup the forms provided in 1548 were, "The Body of
our Lord .Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve
thy body," etc, and "The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which was shed for thee, preserve thy soul," etc., with which
compare, "that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His
Body, and our souls washed through His most precious
Blood," in the Prayer of Humble Access. In 1549, "Pre-
serve thy body and soul " v\ as said in each case, as now, pro-
bably after tlie above ancient form.
The ancient words with which the Celebrant received, as
directed in the .Salisbury Missal, are given in the text. They
were tlie same in that of Bangor. The other two great Uses
of the Church of England had as follows : —
Yorlc. — "Corpus ]J. K. ,J. C. sit mihi remedium sempitemum
in vitam «ternam. Amen : " and, " Sanguis D. N. J. C. con-
servet me in vitam wternam. Amen. Corpus et Sanguis
I). N. .1. C. custodiat corpus meum et animam meam in vitam
ajternam. Amen." Hereford. — "Corpus D. N. J. C. sit
animffi mere remedium in vitam jeteruam. Amen : " and,
"Sanguis D. N. J. C. conservet animam meam in vitam
a?teruam. Amen." In the modern Roman use it is only
"custodiat .animam meam in vit.am a?ternam. Amen," at
the Celebrant's reception both of the Bread and of the Cup,
and at the delivery of the Bread to the communicants.
The clauses now subjoined in each case, "Take and eat,"
etc., and "Drink this," etc., were substituted in 1552 in
place of the first, which were then dropped altogether.
The reason of this change is made pretty clear from the
controversy between Cranmer and G.ardiner. In the "Expli-
cation and assertion of the true Catholick faith touching the
most blessed Sacrament of the Altar," which Gardiner pre-
sented to the Privy Council as his defence on January 26,
1551, he says : " The author of this book " [Ckanmee'.s
Defence of the . . . Sacrament] "reporteth an untruth wit-
tingly against his conscience to say they teach (calling them
Papists) that Christ is in the Bread and Wine ; but they agree
in form of teaching with that the Church of England teacheth
at this day in the distribution of the Holy Communion, in
that it is there said the Body and Blood of Christ to be under
the fornr of bread and wine." [Fol. 16,] To this Cranmer had
the astonishing disingenuousness to answer, "As concerning
the form of doctrine used in this Church of England in the
Holy Communion, that the Body and Blood of Christ be
under the forms of bread and wine, when you shall shew the
place where this form of words is expressed, then shall you
purge yourself of that which in the meantime I take to be a
plain untruth," [Jexkyns' Betnains of Cranmer, iii. 96.]
On the restoration of the Prayer Book under Queen Eliza-
beth in 1559, the old and the new forms of administration
were combined as they now stand. " Excellently well done
was it of Q. Elizabeth's Reformers to link them both together :
for between the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist,
and the Sacramental Commemoration of His Passion, there is
so insepar.able a league, as suh.':isl they cannot unless they
consist. A .Sacramental verity of Christ's Body and Blond
there cannot be, without the commemor.ation of His Death
.and Passion, because Christ never promised His mysterious
(yet real) presence, but in reference to such commemoration :
nor can there be a true conmiemoration Avithout the Body and
Blood exhibited and participated ; because Christ gave not
those visible elements, but His Body and Blood to make that
iSpiritu<al Representation. " [L'Estranoe's Alliance of Divine
Offices.] This view gives to the latter clause the character of
an oblation in the case of each comnmnicant.
he sliall saij] 154S and 1549 have, "And when he delivereth
392
Cbc Communion.
THE Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
was given for thee, preserve th}' body and
soul unto everlasting life : " take and eat this in
remembrance that Christ died for thee, and
feed on Him in thy heart by faith with thanks-
giving.*
IT And 'the Minister that delivereth the Cup to
any one shall say,
THE Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
was shed for thee, preserve thy body and
soul unto everlasting life : ' drink this in remem-
brance that Christ's Blood was shed for thee,
and be thankful/
IT If the consecrated Bread or Wine be all spent before
all have communicated, the Priest is to consecrate
more according to the form before prescribed :
Beginning at [Our Saviour Christ in the same night,
etc.] for the blessing of the Bread ; and at [Like-
wise after Supper, etc.] for the blessing of the
Cup.
i( To here 1549 —
1552 only.
tr To Iiere 1532 —
■559 only.
c i.e. Whether Bi-
shop. Priest, or
Deacon. The
words stood origin-
ally in the MS..
".ind he that de-
iiiereth," but were
altered as the text
now stands.
''S. S. KittisBaf-
tizaitdi. De ex-
tremct Vttctiotte.
e To here 1549 —
1552 only.
/ To here 1552—
1559 oiUy.
U Deinde ad sanguinem cum magna devotione,
dicens,
AVE in seternum coelestis potus mihi ante
omnia et super onmia summa dulcedo. Corpus
et Sanguis Domini nostri Jesu Christi prosint
mihi peccatori ad remedium sempiternum in
vitain aeternam. Amen. In iSro>|<mine Patris,
et FiLii, et Spieitus Sancti. Amen. Ilic
sumat sanguinem . . .
''Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat
corpus tuum et animam tuam in vitam feternam.
Amen.
the Sacrament of the Body of Christ he shall say to every one
these words." The practice of saying the words only once
for each group of communicants as they kneel before the
Altar is contrary to the plain direction of tlie Prayer Book
and of Canon 21, and inconsistent with the individualizing
love of Christ and of His Church for souls. The large number
of communicants is no excuse for it. The remedy for that
difficulty is to divide the number by more frequent celebra-
tions. The question was raised at the last Kevision, and the
Bishops answered those who desired that it might "suffice to
speak the words to divers jointly," in these words : "It is
most requisite that the minister deliver the Bread and Wine
into every particular communicant's hand, and repeat the
words in the singular number ; for so much as it is the pro-
priety of Sacraments to make particular obsignation to each
believer, and it is our visible profession that by the grace of
God Christ tasted death for every man." [C.\rd\vell, Conf.
p. 354.]
It is a very ancient and primitive custom for the communi-
cant to say "Amen" on receiving the consecrated Elements.
The Apostolical Constitutions and St. Cyril [Calech. Mysl. 5,
18] attest its use in the East ; Tertullian, Saints Ambrose,
Augustine, Jerome, and Leo in the ^^'est. Bishops Andrewes,
Cosin, Sparrow, and Wilson recommend it. The Scotch
Liturgy of 1637 directs it.
During the actual delivery of the Elements the Antiochene
Liturgy of St. James, and the Mozarabic Liturgy, direct the
34th Psalm to be sung, a custom alluded to both by St.
Jerome and by St. Cyril of Jerusalem.
The English Liturgy of 1549 directed the clerks "in the
Communion time" to sing the Agnus Dei, " Lamb of God,"
etc.
The American Liturgy orilers "a Hymn, or part of a Hymn,
from the Selection for the Feasts and Fasts," etc.
The form of Communion Service in tlie "Simplex ac pia
doliberatio" of Arclibishop Hermann of Cologne directs that
where there are Clerks the Ai/nu.i Dei should be sung both in
German and in Latin, and if there be time the German hymns,
" Ooll spy (jelohrl," and "Jesus C'hristns onser heylamlt."
Among his suggestions submitted to Convocation, Bishop
Cosin made one to a similar etfect, as sliewn in a preceding
note ; and a relic of tlie custom still remains at Durham
Cathedral, where a soft voluntary is played during the Com-
munion.
This custom of singing during Communion was probably
very common before the dry days of tlie last century.
L'Katrange speaks of "tlie general fashion used in our
Church, in employing the congregation in singing during the
time of communicating." [L'Kstkanck's Allinnre of J)irine
<)Jfire», p. 210.] At an earlier date, 1025, Ijily writes respect-
ing a Commiiiiion at which he w,i8 present : " During the dis-
tribution tliorcof I do very well remember we sang thirti'iii
parts of the llDth Psalm." [Liiu's of Anti(/. p. 2(;.] Still
earlier Whitgift replies to Cartwright tlie Puritan, " As for
piping, it is not prescribed to be used at the Communion by
any rule. Singing, I am sure, you do not disallow, being
used in all reformed Churclies." [Whithift's Defence, p.
606. .See also p. 62.]
// the consecrated bread or wine be all spent] The Com-
munion Office of 1548 makes provision for the consecration of
a second or third Chalice, " or more likewise," in case of need
arising from the small size of the Chalices in use before the
Reformation, when only the Celebrant partook of the Cup ;
but makes no such provision in case of the failure of the con-
secrated Bread. The Liturgies of 1549 and 1552 make no.
provision for either case. The present Eubric was added at
the last Revision. It follows the principle laid down in one
of the Sarum Cantels ; "Cum reli(juis debet Sanguis talis cui
venenum est immissum in vasculo inundo reservari. Et ne
Sacramentum maneat imperfectum debet calicem denuo rite
pr;eparare, et resumere consecrationem sanguinis ab illo loco,
Simili motlo." [M.4skell's Aticient Liturgy, 244.]
covering the same ivith a fair linen cloth] The name for this
fau" linen cloth in the Western Church has always been the
Corporal : in the Eastern Church it is called the Veil. It is
mentioned in the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom, and in the
Sacramentary of St. Gregory there is a prayer for its benedic-
tion. It was originally the linen cloth which was spread on
the top of the other Altar cloths of silk and linen, and it was
made of such a size that one end would be folded over the
chalice and paten. About the twelfth century a second
Corporal began to be used, St. Anselm saying that "whilst
consecrating some cover the Cup \\ith the Corporal, others
with a folded cloth " [Ansei.m, "/);). 138, c. iv. ], and Durandus
that "the cloth which is called the Corporal is twofold, one
that which the deacon spreads upon the Altar, the other that
which he spreads folded uptm the Chalice. " Two Corporals,
or pairs of Corpor.als, are also constantly mentioned in medieval
documents and inventories : but in later times the smaller one
was called the Veil or Chalice Veil.
It has been already mentioneil that the idea of the Corporal
is associated with the linen clothes in which the Body of our
Lord was wrapped when laid in the Sepulchre. Its use is a
witness to the doctrine cif the Church respecting the efl'ect of
Consecration upon the I'^Iements. Were the Elements sacred
only so far as they wore jiartaken of, there could be no reason
for specially directing tlie Priest to place what reniaineth
reverently upon tlic Lord's Table, for no more reverence
towanls them would be nceiletl than that respect which is
shewn for everything used at the Holy Comnuiiiion. Still
less would there be reason for so strikingly .symbiilical a
custom as th.at of covering the Elements that remain with a
white linen cloth : a cu.'jtoiii which had alw.ays been ritually
associated with tlic reverence jiaid to our Lord's natural
Body ; and with nothing else. In retaining such a custom
.as this, and dcliiiing it by a Rubric at a time [\.i>. 1661] when
•all Rubrics were cut down to such an .absolute mini>nu7n .as
must be insisted on, we h.ave a clear proof th.at they who did
so believed a special sanctity to belong to the elements by
virtue of their consecration, and also believed that this sanctity
Cfje Communion.
393
IT When all have comniuuicateJ, the Minister shall
return to the Lord's Table, and reverently place
npon it what remaineth of the consecrated Kle-
nicnta, covering the same witli a fair linen cloth.
IT Then shall the Priest say the Lord's Prayer, the
people repeating after him every I'etition.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil : 'For Thine is the king-
dom, The power, and the glory. For ever and
ever. Amen.
IT After shall be said aa followeth.
OLORD and heavenly Fathee, we Thy
humble servants entirely desire Thy
fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our
Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most
humbly beseeching Thee to grant, that by the
a Litur^iy 01 St.
Chrysostum.
/■ S. ffi. in .ifter
C(insccr.ltioii and
before CoininutlJoii.
c The doxolojjy wai
not originally in the
MS., butwas added
by another hand.
''S-U-
" Then the Deacon, taking the sacred paten, and hold-
ing it over the sacred chalice, . . . with care
and reverence covers it with the veil. In like
manner he covers the paten with the asterisk, and
that with its veil.
*TDATER noster, Qui es in coelis ; sanctificetur
-L Nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum :
fiat voluntas Tua, .sicut in coelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie : et
dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimit-
timus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in
tentationem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
"'^ I "IE igitur, clementissime Pater, per Jesum
-L Christum Filium Tuum Domindm nos-
trum, supplices rogamus ac petimus uti accepta
habeas et benedicas haac do^na, hsec mu^<nera,
haec san(^cta sacrificia illibata, . . . pro quibus
belonged to those Elements whether or not they were received
by the communicants. Evidence to the same effect is afforded
by the sixth Rubric at the end of the Office.
The tone of thought on this subject in the Primitive Church
is also indicated by a Kubric in the Liturgy of St. Chrysos-
tom: " Then the Deacon . . . gathers together the Holy Thhigs
tuith/ear and all safely; so that not the very smallest particle
should fall out, or be left." St. Cyril also writes, " Give heed
lest thou lose any of it. . . . If any one gave thee gold-dust,
wouldest thou not with all precaution keep it fast, being on
thy guard against losing any of it, and suffering loss ? How
mucli more cautiously then wilt thou observe that not a
crumb falls from thee, of what is more precious than gold and
precious stones. " [Cyr. Catcch. Led. xxiii. 21.]
THE PRAYERS OF OBLATION AND THANKSGIVING.
§ The Lord's Prayer.
The repetition of the Lord's Prayer as the keynote of obla-
tion aud thanksgiving is a custom handed down to us from
the Primitive Liturgies. After the Consecration, and before
the Communion, says St. Cyril, "we say that Prayer which
the Saviour delivered to His own disciples, with a pure
conscience styling God our Father."' [Cyr. C'atech. Led.
xxiii. 11.] It is accordingly found here in every ancient
Liturgy except that of St. Clement. In the Galilean Liturgy
(as now in the Mozarabic form of it) the Lord's Prayer was
here preceded by a Proper Preface, in the same manner as the
Tersanctus ; aud in all it was followed by the Embolismus, a
prayer which was an expansion o£ the petition, ' ' Deliver us
from evil. "
The words of St. Cyril plainly shew that the Lord 's Prayer
was repeated, in this place, by the people as well as by the
Celebrant. St. Gregory of Tours also refers to the same
practice, in describing the miracle of a dumb woman who
received speech at this moment to say the Lord's Prayer with
the rest. St. Gregory the Great [Ep. Ixiv.] says, "Among
the Greeks it is the custom for the Lord's Prayer to be said
by all the people, but among us by the Priest only ; " and his
words are found in the Mirror of our Lady [p. 330, Blunt's
ed.], shewing that the custom of his day was also that of the
Metli.-eval Church of England. It is, however, certain that
the Gallican Liturgy required it to be said by all the people
as well as by the Priest ; and as the customs of the ancient
English Church were analogous to those of that Liturgy, we
may conclude that our present habit is a return to the usage
of the Primitive Church in England as well as in the East.
In the Sarum Missal the I^ord's Prayer was included in the
Office to be said by the Clergy in the vestry after the Service
at the Altar was ended. It is probable, therefore, that this
custom iuffuenced its present position — after Communion as
well as after Consecration, — the public and the private reci-
tation of it being thus combined.
1 St. Cyril gues on to give tlie Exposition of the Lord's Prayer vhiclt
is printed at p. 208.
§ The Memorial, or Prayer of Oblation.
It nas been already remarked, in the Introduction to this
Office, that if there is any room for doubt as to the complete-
ness of the Oblation as made by the acts and words of Conse-
cration, that doubt may be dispelled by the consideration
that this definite Prayer of Oblation is used while "what
remaineth of the consecrated Elements " is standing upon the
Lord's Table. While that which has just been called many
times the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as
such "reverently" placed on the Lord's Table, and covered
"with a fair linen cloth," still remains there, the Celebrant
solemnly beseeches our Lord and heavenly Father to
accept "this our Sacritice of praise and thanksgiving," that
is, our Eucharistic Sacrifice ; and he further says, that though
we are unworthy to offer any .sacrifice whatever, yet this parti-
cular Sacrifice it is our bouuden duty to offer to God, Whom
we pray to pardon our unworthiness, and accept us and our
work through Christ. The words may well be understood aa
referring to the whole Act of the Service, to the Consecrated
Elements still remaining on the Altar, and to those who have
received the Communion.
Yet there is reason to regret that this Oblation is not made
— as it was in the Liturgy of 1549, and as it is now in the
Scottish and the American Liturgies [.tee p. 367] — before
instead of after the administration. Bishop Cosin has this
remarkable note on the subject: " Certainly it " (the above
arrangement) "was the better and more natural order of the
two ; neither do I know whether it were the printer's negli-
gence or no thus to displace it. ... I have always observed
my lord and master. Dr. Overall, to use this Oblation in its
right place, when he had consecrated the Sacrament, to make
an offering of it (as being the true public Sacrifice of the
Church) unto God; that 'by the merits of Christ's death,'
which was now commemorated, ' all the Church ' of God
might receive mercy, etc., as in this prayer ; and that when
that was done he did communicate the people, and so end
with the thanksgiving following hereafter. If men would
consider the nature of this Sacrament, how it is the Christian's
Sacrifice also, they could not choose but use it so too. For
as it stands here, it is out of its place. We ought first to send
up Christ unto God, aud then He will send Him down to us."
[Cosis's Works, v. 114.]
Dr. Overall, it should be remembered, was Bishop of Nor-
wich, and was the author of the latter portion of the Cate-
chism relating to the Sacraments. Thorndike also [Just
Weights, ch. 22] saj's, " That Memorial or Prayer of Oblation
is certainly more proper there (immediately after the Prayer
of Consecration) than after the Communion. " The suggestions
submitted to the Revisers of 1661 included the proposal of a
"Memorial or Prayer of Oblation," much resembling that of
1549, to follow immediately the words of Consecration. Its
displacement was, we cannot doubt (if not, as Cosin suggests,
accidental), one of those alterations which Bishop Horsley,
in his well-known letter to the Rev. J. Skinner, on the
subject of the Scotch Liturgy, condemns as made "to
394
Cf)C Communion.
merits and death of Thy Sox Jesus Christ, and
through faith in His Blood, we and all Thy whole
Church may obtain remission of our sins, and all
other benefits of His Passion. And here we
offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, our-iSelves,
our Souls and Bodies, to be a reasonable, holy,
and lively sacrifice unto Thee ; humbly beseech-
ing Thee, that all we, who are partakers of this
holy Communion, may be " fullfilled with Thy
Grace and heavenly Benediction. And although
we be unworthy, through our manifold sins, to
offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech
Thee to accept this our bounden duty and ser-
vice ; not weighing our merits, luit pardoning our
offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; by
Whom, and with Whom, in the unity of the
Holy Gho.st, all honour and glory be unto Thee,
O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen.
IT Or this.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, we most
-lA. heartily thank Thee, for that Thou dost
vouchsafe to feed us, who have duly received
these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of
the most precious Body and Blood of Thy Son
our Saviour Jesus Christ ; and dost assure us
thereby of Thy favour and goodness towards us ;
and that we are very members incorporate in the
a So spelt in the
MS.
* [Daye's traiisl. of
Hermcinn's Coil'
stilt„ A.D. 1547.1
Tibi offerimus vel qui Tibi offenint hoc sacri-
ficium laudis . . .
Supplices Te rogamus . . . ut quotquot ex
hac Altaris participatione sacrosanctum Filii Tui
corpus et sanguinem sumpserimus, omni bene-
dictione ccelesti et gratia repleamur . . .
. . . non sestimator meriti, sed venise, qusesumus,
largitor admitte. Per Christum Dominum nos-
trum. . . . Per Ipsum et cum Ipso et in Ipso est
Tibi Deo Patri Omnipotent! in unitate Spiritus
Sancti omnis honor et gloria. Per omnia sajcula
sseculorum. Amen.
r* ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, we give
L ~L^ thanks to Thy exceeding goodness, because
Thou hast fed us with the Body of Thy only-
begotten Son, and given to us His Blood to
drink. We humbly beseech Thee, work in us
with Thy Spirit, that as we have received this
divine Sacrament with our mouths, so we may
also receive and ever hold fast with true faith
humour the Calvinista," aud, "in his opinion, much for the
worse."
Ihat . . . we and all Tliij n-hok Church'] Tlie double
supplication is here to be noticed. Tlie prayer is that [1] "we "
and [2] "all Thij inholc Church," aud it is also that "we may
obtaiuremissionof our sins," and that "all Thy whole Church"
may receive " cUl other benefits: oi His Passion." The latter
phrase looks towards the ancient theory of the Church tliat
the blessed Sacrament was of use to the departed as well as
to the living. It is a general term used by men who were
fearful of losing all such commemoration, if inserted broadly
and openly, but who yet feared lest no gate should be left open
by which the intention of such commemoration could enter.
One is reminded of the ancient Litany sujjplication, "By
Thine unknown sufferings. "
This view is confirmed by the words of Andrewes aud
Cosin. " Where," says the latter, "by all the whole Church
is to be understood, as well those that have been heretofore,
and those that sluiU be hereafter, as those that are now the
present members of it. . . . The virtue of this Sacrifice
(which is here in this Prayer of Oblation commemorated and
represented) doth not only extend itself to the living, and
those that are present, but likewise to them tliat are absent,
and tliem that be .already departed, or shall in time to come live
and die in the faith of Christ." [Cosin 's Wen-Is, v. 3.51, 517.]
So too Bishop Andrewes, to whom Cosin [Ibid.] refers, in
his answer to Cardinal Perron : —
"The Eucharist ever was. and by us is considered, both as
a Sacrament and as a Sacrifice. A sacrifice is proper and
applicable only to Divine worship. The sacrifice of Cmti.sx's
death did succeed to the sacrifices of the Old Testament.
The sacrifice of Cuhi.st's death is available for present, absent,
living, dead (yea, for them that arc yet unborn). When we
say the dead, we mean it is available for the apostles, martyrs,
and confessors, and all (because we are all members of one
body): these no man will deny.
"In a word, we hold with St. Augustine, in the very same
chapter which the Cardinal citcth ; 'Quod hujus sacrificii
caro et sanguis, ante adventum Ciihisti, per victimas simili-
tudinum proniittebatur ; in passione CnitlsTi, per ipsam
veritatcm rcddcbatur ; post adventum [? aacensum] Cmkisti,
per Sacr.amentum mcmori.'e oelcbratur. ' " [Andrewes' Minor
Worku, Aii'j. Calh. Lib. p. 19.]
may lie j'ntl filled, iri/h Thy Grace] The meaning of this expres-
sion may be illustrated by its use in Chaucer ; —
" That lord Ih now of TlK;>ifH tfic citce
FuUUllcd of irc .ind of iiiif|iiite(r."
fCiiAUcEK'a Kniyhts' Tak, v. llll.)
§ The Thanksgiving.
A Prayer of Thanksgiving formed a conspicuous feature in
all the Primitive Liturgies, but it had dropped out of the
mediwval Service, except in the form of a private prayer of
tlie Celebraut. That which was introduced into our Liturgy
was partly taken from Hekmakn's Connultation : but there
is mucli resemblance between it and the corresponding part
of the Liturgy of St. James, v liich is as follows : "We give
Thee tlianks, Christ our God, that Thou hast vouchsafed to
make us partakers of Thy Body and Blood, for the remission
of sins, and eternal life. Keep us, we beseech Thee, without
condemnation, because Thou art good, and the lover of men
We thank Thee, Cod and Saviour of all, for all the gooa
things \\hich Thou hast bestowed on us ; and for the partici-
pation of Thy holy and spotless mysteries. . . . Glory to
Thee, Glory to Thee, Glory to Thee, Chri.st the King, Only-
begotten A\'ord of the Father, for that Thou hast vouchsafed
us sinners and Thy unworthy servants to enjoy Thy spotless
mysteries, for the forgiveness of sins, and for eternal life :
Glory to Thee. "
It sliould be remembered that the words "who have duly "
apply to all who have received ; "duly" being the English
word for "rite," i.e. according to proper form and ordin-
ance.
§ The Gloria in Excelsis.
The use of a Hymn of Thanksgiving after the Communion
may be reasonably associated with what is recorded of our
Lord and His Apostles at the first Institution of the Holy
Eucharist; th.it, "when they had sung an hymn," tlicy left
the upper chamber as having thus concluded the sacred
service. [Matt. xxvi. 30.] The hymn or jisalm then sung
was probably part of the great ILillel, i.e. of Psalms exiii —
cxviii. , of which an .account will be found in the Notes on those
Psalms. Or it might be, as Archdc.accui Freeman considers
[Princlp. Div. Serv. II. ii, S77], the "Praise-song" still in
use among the Jews, and in which he traces some remarkable
coincidences of expression with our Lord's great Eucharistic
Prayer. In the Armenian Liturgy the 34tii Psalm, and in
the Constantinopolitan tlie 23rd I'salni, are sung after the
Communion.
The ordinary position of the Gloria in Excelsis in ancient
Liturgies was, however, at the beginning, not at the end of
the Office. It occupied such a position iu our own Liturgy
until 1,552, when among the other changes m.ade was that of
turning the Gloria in Excelsis into a Post-Communion Thanks-
giving. At the same time was added a third "Thou that
Clje Conimumon.
395
mystical body of Thy Son, -which is the blessed
company of all faithful iieofilc ; and arc also
heirs through hope of Thy everlasting kingdom,
by the merits of the most precious Death and
Passion of Thy dear Son. And we most humbly
beseech Thee, heavenly Father, so to assist
us with Thy grace, that we may continue in that
holy fellowship, and do all such good works as
Thou hast prepared for us to walk in, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom, with Thee
and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory
world without end. A men.
M Then shall be said or sung,"
&LORY be to God on high, and in earth peace,
good will towards men. We praise Thee,
we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee,
we give thanks to Thee for Thy great glory, O Lord
God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son Jesu Christ;
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
that takest away the sins of the world, have
mercy upon us. Thou that takest awny the sins
of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that
takest away the sins of the world, receive our
prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of
God the Father, have mercy upon us.
For Thou only art holy, Thou only art the
Lord, Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy
Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the
Father. Amen.
n ", . . qiied iiici-
fiatur semper in
titedio attttfis
qjiandtjclinque di-
ctcttr." [Sar.] ' ht
medio altarii erec-
Its tnantbus iV/.i.
piat Gloria in l-.\-
celsisDeo."(Hbor.]
■ ' Quo dido eat
sacerdos ad tne.
diiint aitaris : et
ein'tindo tnitmis
stias dicat, (iloria
in Exceliis Deo."
Illerford.l
* "T/Avos ii)8iv6^- "
CodexAlexandrin.
Mils. Brit. For
Latin version of
S. 1. Si., see
bflow.
e il}}(,Kltet, in MS.
d [An addition in 3
later hand.}
Thy grace, remission of sins, and communion with
Christ Thy Son. All which things, Thou hast
exhibited unto us in these sacraments, through
our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Which liveth
and reigneth with Thee, in unity of the Holy
GiiosT, very God, and very Man for ever.
Amen.]
*AOSA kv v\jfiarToi.s ©Ey, Kal iTrl yrji (ipyvq, Iv
avdpwirois 'ivSoKta. Au'oP/icv (re, €uAoyor/i£v <t(,
wpoaKWoviitv o"e, So^oXoyov/xev crt, (v\api<rTovniv
(rot, Sia Tyv ptydXiiv <tov So^av, Ki'pie jiaaiXiv,
€irox<pai'i€. Get Yloryp TlavTOKpaToip.
Kvpii YU /ioi'oyci'i), 'L^o-olI XpicTf, Kal "Ayiov
Hvfvpa, Kvpie 6 Seos, o 'Apvus Tou Qeov, o YJos
n
€A€
aTpos, o liipoiv ras upapria^ tou Koo-fjiov,
eAerj(TOV fj/iai, o aipmv Tas a/xapTias Tov ko(thov
[''eA.cj/trov ypas,] irpoaSi^ai, t-ijv Shjaa' I'jpioi', 6
Ko.9i)iJiiVos kv Se^iif TOV Xlarpos, kXktjaoi' I'lp.as.
On crv « p.oi'O's aytos, (TV c? povos Kvpws,
lijiTOvs XpuTTos, €is So^av Geou Tlarpos. 'A/ivJi-.
takest away the sins of the world," having iu view probably
the threefold Agnus Dei wliicli was until then used as a Post-
Communion. The only other Liturgy iu which it has such a
position is, according to Palmer {Uriyin. Liliirg.
23],
that in use among the Irish monks of Lexovium [Lisieux]
in Gaul in the seventh century. Bold as was the change
thus made by the Revisers of 1552, there is so striking
an appropriateness in the present position of the Gloria
in Excelsis as au Act of Eucharistio Adoration that there is
reason to rejoice at the alteration rather than to regret it :
and it may he truly said that there is no Liturgy in the world
which has so solemn and yet so magnificent a conclusion as
our own.
The Gloria in Excelsis, — or, as it is called in the Oriental
Church, "The Angelical Hymn," or "Great Do.\~ology, " — is
of great antiquity, having been used from very early times as
a daily morning hymn [Trpocrevxv fuOii'))] in combination with
what is evidently the germ of the Te Deum. [See p. 100.]
This use of it is mentioned iu the Apostolical Constitutions
[vii. 47], where a text somewhat differing from the above
is given [Daniel's lliesaur. Hi/mnoloi/. ii. 269] ; and it is
also quoted and directed to be used by St. Athanasius
in his treatise on Virginity. [De Vinjin. torn. ii. p. 122,
Bened.] St. Chrysostom frequeutlj' mentions it, es[iecially
as used by ascetics for a morning hymn : and the title of
it in Athelstan's Psalter is " Hymnus in die Dominica ad
Matutinas. "
Its introduction into the Liturgy appears to have been
gradual. It does not seem to have been thus used in the
East, except among the Nestorians, at any time ; but the
first words of it are found in the Liturgy of St. James, and
another portion of it in that of St. Chrj'sostom : " Thee we
hymn, Thee we praise ; to Thee we give thanks, Lord, and
pray to Thee, our God. " The germ of it was evidently used
in Apostolic times, and perhaps the holy martyr Polycarp
was quoting it, when among his last words he said. Aid toCto
Kal TV(pl vavTwv ai aivu, ai evXoyCi, ai So^djw. [EaSEB.
Eccl. Hist. iv. 15.]
Ancient liturgical writers state that the Gloria in Excelsis
as now used was composed by Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome,
A.D. 128 — 138, but it does not appear that he dul anything
more than order the first words, the actual Angelic Hymn,
to be sung in the Mass. Alcuin attributes the latter part of
it to St. Hilary of Poictiers [a. d. 350—367], whose name has
also been associated with the Te Deum : but it is clear that
it was in use in its complete form when Athanasius wrote his
treatise on Virginity, and that it was then too familiar tn the
Church for a recent composition. The truth may possibly be
that St. Hilary separated the ancient Morning Hymn of "the
Cluu-ch into two portions, the first of which we know as the
Gloria in Excelsis, and the second as the Te Deum. Sym-
machus, Bishop of Rome, A.D. 500, definitely appropriated
the Angelical Hymn to its present use as an Eucharistic
thanksgiving, placing it in the position before spoken of, at
the beginning of the Communion Office.
It appears to have been an ancient custom to expand the
Gloria in Excelsis somewhat in the same manner as the Kyrie
Eleison. [<S'eep. 372.] The following is such an expanded form,
arranged for the Festival of our Lord's Nativity : —
"Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonse
voluntatis. Laudamus Te, Latis Tua, Dens, resonet coram
Te rex. Benedicimus Te, Qui venisti projiter no.'! Bex anrjeloriim
Dens. Adoramus Te, Gtoriosum regem Israel in Ihrono Palris
Titi. Glorificamus Te, veneranda Triniias. Gratias agimus
Tibi propter maguam gloriam Tuam, Domine Deus Rex
crelestis, Deus Pater Omnipotens. Domine Fill unigenite
Jesu Christe, Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris, qui
toUis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui toUis peccata mundi
suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
miserere nobis. In sede majestatis Tnce. Quouiam Tu solus
sanctus, Deus fords et immortalis : Tu solus Dominus, Cceles-
tium, terrestrium, et infernorum Rex : Tu solus altissimus,
Bex regum regiium Tuuni solidnm permanebit in cetemum,
Jesu Christe. Cum sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen."
This is given by Pamelius [Liturgicon, ii. 611], and he also
prints another which was used at the Dedication of a Church.
Although there is much beauty in such an arrangement, the
reverent remark of Cardinal Bona is very applicable. He
says, after quoting these two forms: "Non desunt aha
exempla, sed ista superflua sunt, ut quisque agnoscat
temerario quorumdam ausu, sen potius simplicitate, ac zelo
(jui non erat secundum scientiam, inserta hsec Angelico
hynmo tuisse, qua; Ecclesiasticam gravitatem minime redo-
lent, cultumque divinum non augent, sed diminuunt. " '
[Bona, Ber. Lilurg. II. iv. 6.]
1 The following interpolatetl version is taken from the Minor of our
596
Cf)C Communion.
H Then the Priest (or Bishop if he be present) shall
let them depart with this blessing.
THE peace of God, which passeth all under-
standing, keep your hearts and minds in
the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son'
Jesus Christ our Lord : And the blessing of
God Almighty, the Father, the Sox, and the
Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with
you always. Amen.
f' 5. g. ^. after
Consecration and
before Comniunioo.
c Leofric's Exeter
Pontifical,
rf al. fnaittat.
[ " Deinde si episcopus celebraverit, diaconus ad populum
conversus baculum episcopi in dextera tenens,
curvatura baculi ad se conversa dicat hoc modo.
Humiliate vos ad bcnedictioncm.
'TDAX Domini ^ sit sem^per vobiscum.]
'Benedictio Dei Patris et Filii et Spiritus
Sancti, et pax Domini, ''sit semper vobiscum.
IT Collects to be said after the Otfertory, when there
is no Communion, every such day one, or more ;
and the same may be said also, as often as occasion
shall serve, after the Collects either of Morning or
Evening Prayer, Communion, or Litany, by the
discretion of the Minister.
ASSIST US mercifully, Lord, in these our
-^^^ supplications and prayers, and dispose the
way of Thy servants towards the attainment of
everlasting salvation ; that, among all the changes
and chances of this mortal life, they may ever
be defended by Thy most gracious and ready
help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God,
vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to direct,
sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies
in the ways of Thy laws, and in the works of Thy
Commandments ; that through Thy most mighty
protection, both here and ever, we may be pre-
served in body and soul, through our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Anuii.
• /~1 RANT, we beseech Thee, Almighty God,
vIT that the words which we have heard this
f ^av. MtsSLi pro
iter at^etitibiis.
Grcff. ibid. Gelas.
lid Pntn. Gelas.
Mur. i. 703. Latin
Primer. 1516, "For
wayfaryng men."
/ Sar. aa Prim.
Greg. ibid. Men-
ard. 125.
.pA.D. 1549.
h Liturgy of St.
James.
'ADESTO, DoMiNE, supplicationibus nostris :
^LA_ et viam famulorum Tuorum in salutis Tuse
prosperitate dispone : ut inter omnes vise et vitae
hujus varietates, Tuo semper protegantur auxilio.
Per DoMiNUM.
^T~\IRIGERE et sanctificare et regere dignare,
-L' Domine Deus, qucesumus, corda et cor-
pora nostra in lege Tua, et in operibus manda-
torum Tuorum : ut hie et in seternum, Te auxi-
liante, sani et salvi esse mereamur. Per.
''(~\ GOD, Who hast sounded into our ears Thy
v^ divine and salutary oracles, enlighten the
THE BLESSING.
This beautiful Benediction is peculiar to the English
Liturgy, both as to form and place. It is plainly intended to
be a substitute for the Benediction anciently given after the
Lord's Prayer and the Fraction of the Bread, and before tlie
Agnus Dei. The latter half of it is analogous to a Benedic-
tion used in Anglo-Saxon times and given in the Appendi.x
to HicKEs' Letters, as well as in the Exeter Pontifical [see
also Confirmation Office] : the former half is a reversion from
the old Liturgical form to one containing more of the actual
words of Holy Scripture: "And the peace of God, which
l)as3eth all imderstanding, shall keep your hearts and miuda
through Christ Jesus." [Phil. iv. 7.] This former part alone
W.13 used in " The Order of Communion " of 1.548.
A comparison of the modern and ancient Rubrics (for the
latter of which sec the Burntisland edition of the Sarum
Mi.ssal, 622 f. ) will shew that this Blessing is to be considered
a speci.al a.accrdcital act, belonging of right to the episcopal
ollice, anil devolving from it to the Priest, in the absence of
the Bishop. As Absolution conveys actual pardon of sins to
the true penitent, so does Benediction convey a real benefit
/vO/iy, and sliews tn what length such free handling of ancient forms has
been cArricd by indiscreet persons ; '* Glory be to god, on liy. And p(?ace
in crthe to men of good wylle. wc prayse the. we blysse the. we worship
the. we glorify the. we thanke the. for thy grete glory Lorde god heuenly
kyngc. god father aliiiyghly. Lorde oncly sone o/ man/ Jcsu er>*stp. Lordc
god. lanibe of god. sone of the father that docKt away the synncs of the
worlde havte mercy on vs. ^y the vioste pytfjxd prayer of thy mother viary
vyrgyn. Thou that docsi away the synnes of the worlde. receyuo oure
jirnycr. that i/'e motr. cotyntwally pteanc tht ami thy holy ijwther viary V]ir^yn.
Thou that sy ttest on the riglitc syde of the father, liauc mercy on vs. by ye
aufrrv/es of mary. tluU U mother and doughter of her sone. For thou only
art holy, mary only is mother and vyrgyn. Thou only arte lordc. Mary
ondy yaa lady. Thou only arte hycst. father and sone of mary. Jesn criste
to the lioly goste In glory of god the father. Amen." Such forms are said
by Daniel [Thrsaur. Ihjmnol. ii. 27lf] to be in almost nil Oerniaii MisMals of
the niidille ages ; and there was one of a similar kind tirdered by the later
Banun Ml.ssals to be sung daily at the Mass in Lady Chapels.
to the soul when received in faith at the mouth of God's
minister.
This Benediction is commonly used on other occasions in
the full form in which it is here given ; but it seems better
to use it thus only in connection with the Holy Communion,
and at other times to begin with "The Blessing of God Al-
mighty," as at tlie end of the Confirmation Service, and as
was the ancient custom. Bishop Cosin inserted it thus at
the end of the Burial Office, but the Commissioners substi-
tuted 2 Cor. xiii. 14.
THE OCCASIONAL COLLECTS.
The Rubric which precedes these Collects originally
extended only .as far as "Every such d.ay one;" .all th.at
follows was added in 1552. Bishop Cosin amended it thus ;
" Collects to be said one or more at tlie discretion of tlie
Minister, before the final Collect of Morninij and Erenimj
Prayer, Litany, or Commtmion, as occasion shall .lerve: as o/.so
after the Offertory, or frayer for the estate of Christ's Chiirrh,
u-hen there is no Communion celebrated." But although this
cmend.ition was not erased, the Itubric «aa printed in the old
form. By "before tlie final Collect," Cosin meant before
what is headed the "third" Collect in Morning and Evening
Prayer. He erased the words " second " and " third " before
"Collect" in both headings, .and introduced between them,
at Evening Pr.aycr, the .ancient Prime Collect, " Almighty
Lord and everlasting (!od," iiniler the title of "The Collect
for gr.ace and protection." FiMm tliis correction, and from
its being set aside, it is evident th.at those OccaBional Collects,
which Cosin wished to use before the thinl Collect, arc in-
tended to be usoil after it, and not .after the Prayer of St.
Chrysostom, which is nowhere called a "Collect" in the
Book of Common Prayer. It seems as it the conclusion of
the Service witli the third Collect [see p. 201] w.as considereil
by some to be too .abrupt ; and that, therefore, discretion
was given to use one of these Collects in addition.
Ci)C Communion.
397
day with our outward ears, may through Thy
grace be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that
they may bring forth in us the fruit of good liv-
ing, to the honour and praise of Thy Name ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. A7nen.
PKEVENT us, Lord, in all our doings with
Thy most gracious favour, and further us
with Thy continual help ; that in all our works
begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may
glorify Thy holy Name, and finally by Thy mercy
obtain everlasting life, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
* ALMIGHTY God, the Fountain of all wisdom,
-Ol_ Who kuowest our necessities before we ask,
and our ignorance in asking ; We beseech Thee
to have compassion upon our Infirmities ; and
those things, which for our unworthiness we dare
not, and for our blindness we cannot ask, vouch-
safe to give us for the worthiness of Thy Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
'ALMIGHTY GoD,Who hast promised to hearths
-^-A. petitions of them that ask in Thy Son's
Name ; We beseech Thee mercifully to incline
Thine ears to us that have made now our prayers
and supplications unto Thee; and grant, that those
things which we have faithfully asked according to
Thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief
of our necessity, and to the setting forth of Thy
glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
« Sar. nftcr Mms.
C'.rejj. Sabh. in xii.
Uct. tncnsis prinii.
Mur. ii. 34.
b A.D. 1549,
souls of US sinners to the receiving of that which
hath been read, that we do not appear as hearers
alone of spiritual things, but may also be doers
of good works, following after faith unfeigned,
and blameless life, and innocent conversation.
" ACTIONliS nostras, qusesumus, Domine, et
-^^ aspirando pra2veni et adjuvando prose-
quere: ut cuncta nostra operatio et a Te semper
incipiat, et per Te coepta finiatur. Per.
IT Upon the Sundays and otlier Holydays (if there be
no Communion) shall be said all that is ajjpointed
at the Communion, until the end of the general
Prayer [ ''For the whole state of Christ's Church
ti al. For the good
estate of the Ca-
tliolick Church of
Christ.
militant here in eartK] together with one or more
of these Collects last before rehearsed, concluding
with the Blessing.
IT And there shall be no Celebration of the Lord's
The first, second, and fourth of these Occasional Collects
are translated from ancient forms, used for many ages in tlie
Church of England. The third is a paraphrase of the prayer
'O e^7;x'}o'a5 ^/xas Geos rd dad aov \6yia in the Liturgy of St.
James. [Neale's ed. p. 48. ] The fifth and sixth appear to
be compositions of the Reformers, the latter reading like a
paraphrase of the prayer of St. Chrysostom.
THE FINAL RUBRICS.
These " CauteLie Missaj " were inserted in 1552, supersed-
ing some longer Rubrics which had been placed here in the
Prayer Book of 1549 : but some important alterations were
made by Cosin, some of which were adopted by the Commis-
sioners in 1661.
Upon the Sundays aiul other Holydays] The Liturgy of
1549 here ordered that when there were " none to conmiuni-
cate with the Priest " he sliould still " say all things at the
altar, appointed to be said at the celebration of the Lord's
Supper, until after the Offertory, " concluding with "one or
two of the Collects aforewritten, " and the "accustomed bless-
ing." The present paragraph was substituted in 1552, but
without the words " Sundays and other " before " holydays,"
and without the direction to conclude with the Blessing.
These were added in 1661. The Scottish Liturgy of 1C37
does not order the Blessing to be given.
It is observable that our Communion Office contains ab-
solutely no hint as to whether or when, on occasion of a
celebration, persons present in the Church and not intending
then to communicate are to withdraw. Still less is there any
warrant for the practice of dismissing the non-communicants
with one or two of the preceding Collects and "The grace of
our Lord. " The Church clearly intends, however, that the
Alms should always be collected from the whole of the con-
gregation, and that all should stay to the end of the Prayer
for the Church Militant. Then, " if there be no Communion,"
the Priest is to dismiss tlie whole congregation with one or
more of the Collects and the Blessing. The Service would
then be what Durandus [Die. Off. iv. 1. 23] calls a " Missa
Sicca," i.e. when "the Priest, being unable to celebrate,
because he has already done so, or for some other reason,
puts on his stole, reads the Epistle and Gospel, and says the
Lord's Prayer, and gives the Benediction." The same sort
of service is said by Socrates to have been in use in the C'hurcli
of Alexandria. [Socp.at. Hist. Eccl. v. 22. ]
If, on the other hand, there is a celebration, non-communi-
cants are permitted, not commanded, to withdraw ; whilst
communicants, drawing nearer towards the Chancel and the
Altar (tarrying "still in the quire, or in some convenient
place nigh the quire, the men on the one side, and the
women on the other side," 1549), so as to be "conveniently
placed for the receiving of the Holy Sacrament," are more
specially addressed in the Exhortation, " Dearly beloved in
the Lord, ye that mind to come," etc. With regard to the
question of non-communicating attendance, it is best left
open, as the wisdom of the Church has left it. The presence
of persons, wlio, being regular communicants at certain inter-
vals, may not feel prepared to receive at every celebration,
but yet may scruple to leave the Church, and may wish
devoutly to use the opportunity for prayer and intercession,
cannot fairly be called non-communicant attendance, and
could not be forbidden without needless crueltj'. The pro-
bably rare occurrence of the presence of persons who have
never communicated, and are not preparing to do so, ought
to be discouraged. But it would in most cases be wise to
encourage young persons preparing for their first Communion
to remain throughout the whole Service. The fact of never
having witnessed the actual Celebration and Communion,
joined to the natural sh}'ness of the English character, has
probably in numerous cases delayed the first Communion for
years.
(^e whole state 0/ Christ's Church militant here in earth] This
phrase was altered in the MS. to "the good estate of the
Catholiok Church of Christ," and by Cosin into "the good
598
Cfje Communion.
Supper, except there be a convenient number to
communicate with the Priest, according to his dis-
cretion.
IT And if there be not above twenty persons in the
parish of discretion to receive the Communion ;
yet there shall be no Communion, except four (or
three at the least) communicate with the Priest.
i[ And in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, and
Colleges, where there are many Priests and
Deacons, they shall all receive the Communion
with the Priest " every Sunday at the least, except
they have a reasonable cause to the contrary.
IT And to take away all occasion of dissension and
a The original words
of the MS. were.
"once in every
week," but they
were erased and
"every Sunday"
substituted.
superstition, which any person hath or might
have concerning the Bread and Wine, it shall
suffice that the bread be such as is usual to be
eaten ; but the best and purest wheat bread that
conveniently may be gotten.
IT And if any of the Bread and Wine remain uncon-
secrated, the Curate shall liave it to liis own use :
but if any remain of tliat «hieli was consecrated,
it shall not be carried out of the Church, but the
Priest and suih other of the Communicants as he
shall then call unto him, shall, immediately after
the Blessing, reverently eat and drink the same.
T The Bread and Wine for the Communion shall be
estate of Christ's Catholick Cliurch : " but it was restored to
its previous form. It was printed in the altered form in the
Sealed Books, but altered with the pen in several of them.
It stands as in the original MS., however, in many later
Prayer Books, e.g. one of 166S.
a convenient number^ This is defined, by the next Rubric,
to be "four (or three at the least)" besides the Priest himself.
The rule is in agreement with the directions given by several
ancient Councils. The forty-third Canon of the Council of
Meutz [a.d. 813] forbade priests to say Mass when there was
no one else present. That of Paris [a.d. S29] says in its
forty-eighth Canon, that " a blameworthy custom has in very
many places crept in, partly from negligence, partly from
avarice, viz. that some of the priests celebrate the solemn
rites of masses without ministers." A Council at York [a.d.
1195] decrees that no priest shall celebrate, "sine ministro
literato ; " and many others of a similar kind might be quoted.
Yet there is no essential reason why this rule should be
enforced. Should a celebration and communion take place
in the chamber of a sick person, "in time of plague . . . when
none of the parish or neighbours can be gotten to communi-
cate with the sick in their houses for fear of the infection,"
and only the priest and the one sick person are there, it is
quite as valid as if "four, or three at the least," were present.
The reason, moreover, assigned by Councils and by Liturgical
writers against Solitary ilasses is tliat there is an indecorum
and absurdity in saying "The Lord be with j'ou," and
similar versicles, when there is no one present : a difficulty
which has been supposed to be met by the suggestion that
the priest addresses himself to the absent Church "as present
by faith and communicating in the Sacraments by charitj'."
On the whole it must be considered that the rule is one of
expediencj', and not of principle. It arose out of two con-
flicting causes : [1] The anxiety of the Clergy to oiTer up the
Holy Eucharist day by day for tlie benefit of the Church, and
[2] the indifference of the Laity to frequent Communion.
Bishop Cosin wrote, " Better were it to endure the absence
of people, than for the minister to neglect the usual and daily
sacrifice of tlie Church, by which all people, whether tliey be
there or no, reap so much benefit. And tliis was the opinion
of my lord and master, Dr. Overall." [ U'oi-its', v. 127] Yet
the "four, or three at the least," was written in a slightly
varied form of the Rubric which Cosin inserted in tlie Durham
volume. Perhaps it is one of those rules to which exceptions
may sometimes be made under the wise law, "Charity is
above Rubrics."
in Cathedral and Collei/iate CInirches, and Colleges] The word
" Colleges " was inserted by Cosin, who also erased the words
"except they shall hare a reasonable cause to the contrary,"
and inserted after " Sunday" "or once in the month." It is
to be hoped th.it the next generation will be entirely without
experience of " C.athedr.als, Collegiate Churches, or Colleges"
where this rule of a weekly celebration is transgressed.
it shall suffice that the bnad] This Rubric stood thus in the
Prayer Book of 1549: '' For avoiding of all matters and occa-
sion of dissension, it is meet that the bread prepared for the
Communion be. made, through all this realm, after one sort and
fashion: that is to say, unleavened, and round, as it was afore,
but imthout all manner of print, and something more larger and
thicker than it v;as, so that it may be aptly divided in divi-rs
pieces : ami every one shall be divided in two pieces, at tlie least,
or more, by the discretion of the minister, and so distributed.
And men must not think lets to be received in part than in the
whole, but in each of them the whole body of our Saviour Jesu
Christ." It was altered to its present form in 1552.
Bishop Cosin proposed to substitute the following : " Con-
cerning the Bread and Wine, the Bread shall be such as is
usual : yet tjic best and purest thai conveniently may be gotten •
though wafer Bread {pure and without any figure set upon it)
shall not be forbidden, especially in such churches where it hath
been accustomed. The Wine also shall be of the best and purest
that may be had."
This was scarcely in accordance with the interpretation put
upon the existing Rubric by the Elizabethan Injunctions
[a.d. 1559], and by Archbishop Parker. The former directs
as follows : " Item, Where also it was in the time of K.
Edward the Sixt used to have the Sacramental bread of com-
mon fine bread, it is ordered for the more reverence to be
given to these holy mysteries, being the Sacraments of the
body and blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ, that the same
Sacramental bread be made and formed plain, without any
figure thereupon, of the same finenesse and fashion round,
tliough somewhat bigger in compasse and thicknesse, as the
usuall bread and wafer,' heretofore named singing cakes,
which served for the use of the private Masse. " Archbishop
Parker, when appealed to as to the meaning of the Rubric,
wrote, "It shall suffice, I expound, where either there
wanteth such fine usual bread, or superstition be feared in
the wafer-bread, they may have the Conmiunion in fine usual
bread ; which is rather a toleration in these two necessities,
than is in plain ordering, as it is in the Injunction." [Cor-
resjwiidence, p. 376.] He also wrote to Sir William Cecil,
"As you desired, I send you here the form of the bread used,
and was so appointed by order of my late Lord of London
[Griudal] and m3'self, as we took it not disagreeable to the
Injunction. And how so many churches have of late varied
I cannot tell ; except it be the practice of the common adver-
s.ary the devil, to make variance and dissension in the Sacra-
ment of Unity. " [/6iVZ. 378.] Parker was also consulted by
Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich, on the subject. He first
referred him to the Rubric and Injunction, and in a subse-
quent letter wrote, "I trust that you mean not universally
in your diocese to command or wink at the loaf-bread, but,
for peace and quietness, here and there to be contented there-
with." [Ibid. 460.] In his Visitation Articles, Parker also
inquired, "And whether they do use to minister the Holy
Communion in wafer-bread, according to the Queen's Ma-
jesty's Injunctions ? "
This contemporary interpretation of the Rubric shews
plainly tliat tlie Sacramental Bread was usually to be in the
form of wafers, but that for peace and quietness' sake, where
wafers were objected to, " the best and purest ^\ heat bread
that may conveniently be gotten " might be permitted.
Thus on July 26, 1580, a letter was sent from the Privy
Council to Chaderton, Bishop of Chester, containing the fol-
lowing : "And where[as] youre Lordship desiercth to be
resolved, from us touchinge two speciall Points worthy of
Reformation ; tlione, for the Lords Supper, witli ^^'afers, or
with common Bread . . . for the Appeasinge of such Divi-
sion and Bitternes as doth and maie aryse of the Use of both
these Kinds of Bread, we thinke yt meete. That in such
Parishes as doe use the common Bread and in otliers that
embrase the \Vafer, they be severallie continued as they are
at this present. Until which Time also your Lordship is to
be careful, according to your good Discretion to persuade and
procure a Quietness amongst such as sliall strive for tlie pub-
lic maintaining either of the one or the other : whereof we
hope your Lordship will take care as appertaineth." [Peck's
Desiderata Curiosa, i. 16.]
Such an interpretation was also given to the Rubric by the
practice of learned bishops like Andrewes, by the custom of
W'estminster Abbey, and of the Boyal Chapels, and by the
practice of learned parocliial Clergy, such as Burton, author
of the Anatomy of Melancholy, wlio was Vicar of St. Tliomas',
Oxford.
I Cardwcll prints " water," after Sparrow ; but this scorns to liave beeii
a priutcr's error.
Cf)e Communion.
399
provided by the Curate and the Churcli-wardcns
at the charges of the parish.
IT And note, that every parishioner shall communicate
at the least three times in the year, of which
Kaster to be one. And yearly at Kastor every
parishioner shall reckon with the Parson, Vicar,
or Curate, or his or their Deputy or Deputies ;
and pay to them or him all Kcelcsiastical Duties
accustomably due, then and at tliat time to be
paid.
IT After the Divine Service ended, the money given at
the Offertory shall be disposed of to such pious
and charitable uses, as the Minister and Church-
wardens shall think fit. Wherein if they disagree,
it shall be disposed of as the Ordinary shall appoint.
IT IITHEREAS it is ordained in this Office for the
VV Administration of the Louu's Supper, that
the Communicants should receive the same kneeling ;
(which Order is well meant, for a signification of our
humble and grateful acknowledgement of the benefits
of CuRiST therein given to all worthy Receivers, and
for the avoiding of such profanaticju and disorder in the
holy Communion, as might otherwise ensue) yet lest
the same kneeling sliould by any persons, either out
of ignorance and inlirmity, or out of malice and
In the Oriental Church fermented or leavened bread is
used : but the general practice of the Western Church has
been to use bread ]irepared without fermentation, as being
purer. The Old Lutherans also use wafer-bread, and it was
used even by Calvin.
Jiicl if any of the Bread and Wine remain unconsecrated]
This is a recognition of the right which the Christian Ministry
has to "live by the Altar." [See 1 Cor. ix. 4-14; Gal. vi. 6.]
hut if any remain of thai w/iich was eonseerated] These
words were inserted by Bishop Cosin. They bear important
testimony as to the opinion hold by the Revisers of 1G61 in
respect to the effect of consecration. Some remarks on the
Reservation of the Holy Eucharist will be found in the
Notes to "the Order for the Communion of the Sick."
.thall be provided . . . at the charges of the j'arish] In the
Primitive Church the Elements were offered by the people,
probably in successive order, the bread being taken from that
which was offered for the love-feasts. In some churches of
France this very ancient custom is still kept up, under the
name of " Voffrandre." Large circular cakes, of bread, sur-
rounded by lighted tapers, are, during the Offertory, carried
on a sort of bier by two deacons or sub-deacons from the
west end of the Church up to the Altar, aud after being
blessed (hence called pain hcni) and cut up into small pieces
are carried round iu a b.asket and distributed among the con-
gregation. A similar relic of the Primitive Church is main-
tained at Milan, where ten bedesmen and two aged women
form a community for the purpose ; two of whom, vested iu
black and white mantles, carry the Oblations up to the choir,
where they are received by the Deacon.
In all the ancient Bidding Prayers of the Church of Eng-
land there is a clause, " ye shall pray for him or her th.it this
day gave the holy bread," or "the bread to be made holy
bread of," "and for him that first began and longest hohleth
on, that God reward it him at the day of doom," from wliich
it may be seen (as from much other evidence) that this cus-
tom of the blessed bread maintained its hold in England as
late, at least, as the sixteenth century. It w.as discontinued
because the bread so blessed was superstitiously regarded by
many ignorant persons as equivalent to tlie Holy Sacrament
itself.
The present Rubric may be considered as an adaptation of
this custom, but it is quite certain that the wafers for con-
secration must always have been provided under the special
direction of the Clergy, though certainly at the cost of the
parish.
The SOth Canon provides that the wine shall be brought to
the Altar in a metal flagon or cruet, of pewter or silver, thus
forbidding any domestic vessel such as a glass bottle.
three times in the year} This is a very ancient rule of the
Church. Councils held at Agde [a.d. 506] and Autun [a.d.
670] decreed that "laymen who did not communicate at
Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, were not to be considered
as Catholics [Labb. iv. 1386, xiv. 1887], and these decrees
were often adopted by other Councils. The words of the
modern Rubric reproduce also those of earlier English rules.
The Council of Euuham or Ensham under St. Alphege [a.d.
1009] ordering, " Let every one who understands his own need
prepare himself to go to Housel at least thrice in the year,
so as it is requisite for him " [Johnson's Eec. Lairs, i. 487] :
and a Synod of I'ishops under Archbishop Sudbury [a.d.
1.378] ordering, "Let Confessions be heard three times in the
year, and let men be admonished to communicate as often,
namely, at Easter, Pentecost, aud Christmas." [Johnison'.s
Ecc. Latcs, ii. 444.]
Easter to be one] In the Prayer Books from 1552 to 1662
these words were followed by "and shall also receive the
Sacraments and other Rites, according to the order in this
Book appointed." It has often been said th.at these words
were omitted from modern Prayer Books without authority ;
but they do not appear in the MS., and they are crossed
through iu the bl.ack-letter book of 1636 ; the assertion is
therefore a mistaken one.
the money . . . shall be ilisposed of] This Rubric was added
in 1661. It is a modification of the following, which was the
one proposed by Bishop Cosin : —
"IT After the Divine Service ended, the money which ivas
offered shall be divided, one half to the Priest " [erasure, " to
provide him books of Divinity "], "the other half to be emj/loyed
to some pious or charitable itse for the decent fvrnishiny of the
Church, or the relief of the poor, amovr/ vhom it shall be dis-
tributed if need reijuire, or jml into the poor man's box at the
discretion of the Priest and C'hurch-ivardens, or other officers
of the 2>lace that are for that purpose appointed."
This was substantially taken from the Scottish book of
1637 : and offers some guide as to tlie purposes to which it
was intended that the Offertory money should be applied.
THE DECLARATION ON KNEELING.
This Note was first added to the Communion Office at the
last Revision in 1661 ; having been written into the MS. after
the latter had been completed, and in tlie same handwriting
as that in which it is also written in the black-letter Prayer
ISook of 1636. It was framed, though with a most important
difference in the wording, from the Declaration which, as a
sort of afterthought, was inserted in the majority but not in
all of the copies of the Prayer Book issued in 1552. [See p. 22]
This affirmed that "no adoration was done or ought to be
done, either unto the sacramental Bread or Wine there bodily
received, or unto any real and, essentied presence there being
of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood." It was probably framed
by Cranmer, and intended merely [see the Rev. T. W. Perry's
exhaustive volume entitled The Declaration on Kiieelin'j] as a
protest against the doctrine of Transubstantiatiou, and the
low notion of a carnal presence which had come to be the
interpretation too commonly put on the phrase "real and
essential presence." The Declaration of 1552 was "signed
by the King" [Strype's Cranmer, bk. ii. ch. 33], but it was
never ratified by the Church, and is wanting in all editions
of the Prayer Book from Elizabeth's Accession to the Restora-
tion. At the Savoy Conference the Presbyterians desired its
restoration. The Bishops replied, "This Rubric is not in
the Liturgy of Queen Elizabeth, nor confirmed by law ; nor
is there any great need of restoring it, the world being now
in more danger of profanation than of idolatry. Besides, the
sense of it is declared sufficiently in the 2Sth Article of the
Church of England." [Caedw. Conferences, p. 354.] ^^■hilst
partly adopting it, the Revisers of 1661 (under tlie infiuence,
as it seems, of Bishop Gauden, probably at the suggestion of the
venerable Gunning) made the important change of substitut-
ing the word " corporal " for the woi'ds " real and essential."
Thus they retained the protest against Transubstantiation,
whilst they removed all risk of the Declaration, or "Black
Rubric," as it was sometimes called, being misunderstood
as even an apparent denial of the truth of the Real
Presence.
" Natural " is not here used in the sense of yf^vxcKov, i.e. the
Adamic body of 1 Cor. xv. 44, for the Lord's body ceased to
be " natural " in tliat sense, and became iri'ei'/iaTociji' after the
Resurrection change. It is used in the sense of "material " (as
our Lord demonstrated to St, Thomas it still continued to be
even after the Resurrection change), and "having extension
in space, "and so occupying a definite position iu space, i.e.
localized, qualities not at all contradictory to those implied by
irvevfiaTLKoi', which does not mean ' ' merely spiritual, " au}' more
than xj/vxikSv me.ans "merely consisting of tpvxh," but rather
means "fully indwelt by, and solely animated by irKP/ua,"
400
Cbe Communion,
obstinacy, be misconstrued and depraved ; It is here
declared : that thereby no adoration is intended, or
oucht to be done, either unto the Sacramental Bread
or^Wine there bodily received, or unto any Corporal
Presence of Christ's natural Flesh and Blood. For the
Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very
Natural Substances, and therefore may not be adored,
;for that vere Idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful
Christians) and the natural Body and Blood of our
Saviour Christ are in Heaven, and not here ; it being
against the truth of Christ's natural Body to be at one
time in more places than one.
and. as such, although material, possessing powers and capa-
bilities which do not belong to the merely natural body.
Further, in thinking of the powers and capabilities of the
Lord's Body, it must be always remembered that, whether
before or after the Resurrection, it was, and is, the Body of
the Everlasting Word, and so absolutely unique in God's
Universe, in such wise that the powers and capabilities of the
bodies, whether "natural" or "spiritual," of other beings
can be no measure for It, nor their limitations predicable of
It.
AN INTRODUCTION
OFFICES FOR HOLY BAPTISM.
The ecclesiastical word Ba7rncr/ia, from which our familiar
English word is derived, always associates itself with the
idea of purification, although such an association of ideas was
not necessarily connected with the classical /SaTrrifw, (idrTu,
from which it is formed. On the other hand, although the
original classical word has the primary sense of dipping (that
is, of more or less immersion in some fluid), this sense is not
necessarily connected with the ecclesiastical word. It is
used in the New Testament with several applications : as, for
example, to the baptism of the Jews by 8t. John the Baptist
[John i. 26] ; to ceremonial washings of the person and of
vessels used for eating and drinking [Mark vii. 4 ; Heb. ix
10]; to the ministry of our Lord [Matt. iii. 11]; to the
Passion of our Lord [Luke xii. 50 ; ^Lark x. .S8] ; to the
operation of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles [Acts i. 5] ;
and, lastly, in its most customary sense, to the rite of Holy
Baptism, instituted by Christ. [Matt, xxviii. 19 ; Acts viii.
^6; Eph. iv. 5; 1 Pet. iii. 21.] In all these, applications of
the word the idea of purification is plainly latent, even when
it is so metaphorically used as in the case of our Lord's words,
"I have a baptism to be baptized with ;" for although He
had no sin from which He could be jiurified, yet was He
"made sin for us," .and also "made perfect through suffer-
ings." [Heb. ii. 10.] It is moreover observable, that after the
institution of the rite of Christian Baptism by our Lord, the
word is not any longer used in other senses in Holy Scripture
(except historically), but is restricted to the one wliich it has
commonly held in all subsequent ages.
§ History of Hohj Bapthm.
It appears from the Holy Gospels that the o.dinance of
Christian Baptism was a sacrament.al climax which had been
arrived at, and developed o-ut of, other and inferior ordinances.
St. John the Baptist prepared the way for our Lord's ministra-
tions among the Jews by leading them to confess their sins ;
.and this confession of their sins was followed up by a Baptism
of which no further particulars are given to us than that
those who received it went down into the water [JLatt. iii.
IG] ; and we are not told whether any words were used at the
time of the immersion.' Of this rite our Lord Himself was
pleased to partake, and by doing so consecrated the element
of water to its future and higher use. A Baptismal rite was
.also used in the ministrations of our Lord, but not by Him-
self [John iii. 26 ; iv. 2] ; and from the manner in which
this was spoken of by the disciples of St. .John the Baptist, it
would appear th<at there was no outward distinction between
this rite and that which he had used. In both cases an
ancient custom of the Jews '- appears to have been adopted,
signifying by a ceremony of ablution the cleansing aw.ay of
an old life for the purpose of beginning a new one, as a prose-
lyte to a new and a stricter faith. In the case of Jewish
baptisms the change signified was from heathenism to Judaism ;
in that by St. John and our Lord from a sinful life as Jews to
a good life as the disciples of the Baptist or of Christ. This
significant use of water as the outward sign of admission to
a new spiritual condition ought doubtless to be reg.arded as
a preparation, by the Providence of Almighty God, for the
Sacrament which was to be instituted by our Lord.
There were also certain verbal and typical preparations
made for that institution by our Blessed Lord Himself. At the
outset of His ministry occurred His interview with Nicodemus
1 "John," says tlie Venerable Becle, "baptized with the baptism of
repentance to confession of sins and amendment of life ; and he preached
the coming baptism of repentance in Christ for the remission of sins ; in
which latter baptism alone is remission of sins given to us, as the Apostle
testifies." [Homil. xlviii.]
2 See Lightfoot on Matt. iii.
[John iii. 1-15], in which He spoke of a result of Baptism
which had evidently never been supposed to accompany it
hitherto. Men were to be horn of water and the Spirit that
they might enter into the kingdom of Heaven : and although
Nicodemus must have been familiar with the Baptism of prose-
lytes, the idea of new birth by the use of Baptism was
evidently novel to him.'' At the close of His ministry, our
Lord w.ashed the feet of His disciples, teaching them that the
act, as performed by Him, was not only a sign of humility,
but also a me.ans of spiritual purification ; a truth the full
meaning of whicli was not tlien revealed to them, but would
be at a later period, when its revelation i\as to be a part of
the instructions given for their appointed work. [John xiii.
4-10.] And in the midst of His ministry Jesus had taken
little children in His arms and blessed them, that by His
touch and word they might be admitted (even without other
Sacrament) to the kingdom of God, and that the Church
might learn for ever to suffer little children to come to Him,
and forbid them not. Lastly, when blood and water flowed
from the side of the Lord, the connection betw een His Death
and the two Sacraments was unmistakeably .symbolized.
Thus, by tlie course of His Providence, our Lord had pre-
pared the Jews, and the Apostles especially, for the institu-
tion of Christian Baptism. [1] They had become familial
with the use of water as an external sign of a spiritual change ;
[2] they had been instructed (by words the meaning of which
was to be developed to them by the Holy Ghosti that the use
of water was to be not a .«/;/« only, but also the means of spiritual
cleansing and new birth into the kingdom of God ; and [3] it
had been shewn tliem that even little children were capable
of entering tliat kingdom. And, thus prepared by our Lord's
words and acts, the Apostles received His last command and
commission, "Go ye therefore, and disciple [|Ua9?;TftVaTc, see
margin of English Bible] all nations, baptizing them in the
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Their work was, as it had been hitherto, to " make disciples;"
.as they had long been doing, they were to admit to disciple-
ship by baptizing, i.e. by immersing their converts in water :
but the rite was now to be distinguished from all previous
baptisms by being administered with the most solemn words
that man can use, an invocation of the One God in three
Persons.'' [Matt, xxviii. 19.]
The subsequent parts of the New Testament shew that the
Apostles carried out this command of our Lord in its most
literal sense. When a multitude had been converted on the
Day of Pentecost, and asked, "Men and brethren, what
shall we do?" St. Peter's immediate answer was, "Repent,
and be b.aptized every one of you " [Acts ii. 38] ; and the
same day there were added to tlie little flock which then
made up Christ's mystical Body about three thousand souls.
When the people at Samaria " believed Philip preaching the
things concerning the kingdom of Ciod, and the Name of
Jesus Christ, they were b.aptized, botli men and women."
[Acts viii. 12] So it is recorded of the eunuch, Saul, the
liousehold of Cornelius, the household of Lydia, the Philippian
" This seems beyond doubt, notwithstanding the alleged Jewish use of
the expression " new birth" in connection with" the bajitism of proselytes.
* The Institution of the Sacrament of Baptism is not to be looked for in
.in exemplary action of our Lord, as in the case of the other Sacrament;
for we are expressly told that our Lord did not baptize. [Johniv. 2.] The
1 view taken above is substantially that of the ancient handbook of the
I Clergy, the PuplUft Oculi, in which is the following passage : " Baptismus
Christi fnit institutus materialiter et inchoative; quando Christus tactu
sute mundissiniffi carnis vim regenerativam aquis contnlit. Preceptive ;
quando dixit Nichodemo. nisi quis renatns, etc. Effective; quando
(_'hristus passus est in cruce. Dsus fuit inchoatus ; quando raisit dis-
cipulos suos ad prffidicandura et baptizandum. Promulgatus ad omnes ;
post passioneni, Matthrei nit." {Pvjiil. Oculi, iii. 24.)
C
402
9n ^ntroDiiction to tbc ©fiSccs for IDolp TPaptism.
gaoler "and all his," the household of Stephanas, and many
others, that they were baptized according to our Lord's com-
mands as soon as they had been converted to belief in Him :
and the cases recorded furnish evidence sufficient to give us
a moral certainty that the Apostles universally baptized, or
caused to be baptized all, in every place, who desired to be
added to the Church.
§ Administration of Baptism in the Primitive Church.
Of the manner in which the Sacrament of Baptism was
administered in the Apostolic age we have no detailed record
beyond the fact that it was ordinarily by immersion, and
that the invocation of the Blessed Trinity accompanied the
immersion. St. Paul twice speaks of being " buried in bap-
tism" [Rom. vi. 4 ; Col. ii. 12], and St. Chrysostom uses the
expression "a certain burial in water " [Horn, in Johan. xxv.]
with an evident reference of the Apostle's words to the act of
immersion in baptism. Shortly after the time of the Apos-
tles, Tertullian describes the rites of Baptism in general terms
as follows: "To begin with Baptism . . . we do in the
Church testify, under the liand of a chief minister, that we
renounce the Devil, his pomps, and his angels. Then are we
thrice dipped," or, as in another place, "we dip not once but
thrice, at the naming of each Person of the Blessed Trinity
. . . pledging ourselves to something more than the Lord
hath prescribed in tlie Gospel. . . . After this, having come
out from the bath, we are anointed thoroughly with a blessed
unction . . . next to this the hand is laid upon us, calling
upon and in\'iting the Holy Spirit tlirough the blessing . . .
some undertaking the charge of us, we first taste a mixture
of honey and milk, and from that day we abstain a whole
week from our daily washing." [TERTrLL. de Coron. v. 3, adc.
Prax. xxvi. de Bapt, vii. and viii.] From St. Cyprian, in
the following century, we learn that the water was "first
cleansed and sanctified by the Priest" (or Bishop), "that it
may be able, by Baptism therein, to wash away the sins of
the baptized:" and that interrogatories were used, "Dost
thou believe in eternal life, and remission of sins through the
holy Church?" [Cyp. Ep. xlix. 6, Ixx. 1, 2.] In the latter
half of the fourth century St. Cyril of Jerusalem gave his
lectures on the Mysteries to the recently baptized ; and the
first three being on the rites before and after Baptism, we
may gather in some detail what was tlie custom of the Church
in that day. " Fii-st ye entered into the outer hall of the
Baptistery, and there facing towards the West ye heard the
command to stretch forth your hand ; and as in the presence
of Satan ye renounced him . . . with arm outstretched to
say to him as though actually present, ' I renounce thee,
Satan, and all thy works, and all thy pomp, and all thy
service.' Then thou wert told to say, 'I believe in the
Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost, and in one
Baptism of repentance. ' And these things were done in the
outer chamber. As soon as ye entered into the inner chamber,
ye put off your garment, and this was an image of putting off
the old man with his deeds. Then when ye were unclothed,
ye were anointed with exorcised oil from the very hairs of
your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good
olive-tree, Jesus Christ. After these things ye were led to
the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried from
the Cross to the Sepulchre, which is before our eyes.' And
each of you was asked whether ye believed in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and ye made
that saving confession, and descended three times into the
water, and ascended again ; here also covertly pointing by
a figure to the three days' burial of Christ. . . . And at the
selfsame moment ye died and were born ; and that water of
salvation was at once your grave and your mother. After
you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams the
unction was given, tlie emblem of that wherewitli Christ was
anointed. This holy ointment ... is symbolically applied
to thy forehead and thy other senses ; and while thy body is
anointed with visible ointment, thy soul is sanctified by the
Holy and Life-giving Spirit. And ye were first anointed on
your forehead . . . then on your cars . . . then on your
nostrils . . . then on your breast. When ye are counted
worthy of this holy Chrism ye are called Christiana, verifying
also the name by your new birth." [Cvu. Catcch. Lert.
xix — xxi. ] To these early customs of the Church it may be
added that wliite garments were worn by the newly baptized
for eight days or more after their Baptism- [Ibid. iii. IG, xxii.
8], and that a new name was given, as Peter and Paul received
1 This WU8 Rnid in Jcnisalein.
» Set Notes to the First Sunday nft«r Easter, p. 298.
new names on their conversion, whose names, with that of St.
John, Were "used by many among the faithful." [Euseb. vii.
25.]
The earliest Baptismal Office that has been handed down
to modern times is that contained in the Sacramentaries of
Gelasius and St. Gregory ; of which the following summary
(taken from the Easter-Eve Service of the latter) will give a
sufficient view.^
§ Administration of Baptism in the Sixth Century.
[1] The clergy and people being assembled in the church
at the eighth hour [2 p.m.], the clergy went within the
sacrarium, having on the customary vestments ; and two
tapers being lighted, and held at each corner of the altar by
two notaries or readers, another reader went up to the ambon,
and read eight Lessons concerning the creation of man, the
temptation of Abraham, and other appropriate subjects from
Exodus, Isaiah, and Jonah, — after each of which was said a
CoUect founded on the preceding lesson ; and before the last
Collect was sung, "Like as the hart desireth the water-
brooks," etc.
[2] A procession was formed from the Altar ' ' ad fontes, "
the "school" or quire singing the "Litania septena,"'' the
taper- bearers, and a minister carrying the ampulla of conse-
crated oil, going before the Bishop, who was supported by a
Deacon on either side.
[3] The prayers for the Benediction of the font were said
by the Bishop, who, at a particular part of them, divided the
water with his hand in the form of a Cross ; at a second, held
the taper in the water ; and, at a third, breathed on the water
thrice, afterwards pouring in the chrism in the form of a Cross,
and spreading it with his hands.''
[4] When the benediction of the water was ended, the
"infants" were baptized, first the boys and then the girls ;
the Interrogatories being first made of those who brought
them in the following form : " Quis vocaris ? Re^p. 111. Item
interroijat Sacerdos : Credis in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem,
Creatorem coeli et terras? Besji. Credo. Jnlerroyat : Et in
Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum Domiuum nostrum,
natum et passuin ? Pesp. Credo. Interroyat : Credis et in
Spiritum Sanctum, Sanctam Ecclesiani Catholicam, Sanctorum
('ommunionem, reniissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrec-
tionem, vitam aeternam ? Pesp. Credo. hiterrogat : Vis
baptizari ? Pe.'ip. Volo : Et dicit. Et ego baptize te in
nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. " Then when the
newly baptized was taken from the font he was given to one
of the priests, « lio made the sign of the Cross upon the crowD
of his head with the chrism, saying, "Almighty God, the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath regenerated thee
by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath also given to thee
remission of all thy sins, anoint thee with the chrism of
salvation unto eternal life. Amen. " ^ After this the baptized
infants and adults were confirmed by the Bishop, the names
being given by him during the act of Confirmation ; and the
Service was ended with the Holy Communion.
The medifeval Offices for Baptism were founded on this
ancient and perhaps primitive one ; but several ceremonies
were added, and the offices were much increased in length.
They were divided into three distinct parts, the first of which
was entitled "Ordo ad faciendum Catechumenum ; " the
second, " Benedictio Fontis ; " and the third, " Ritus Bap-
tizandi." Those of the Salisbury Use are partly represented
in the right-hand column and in the footnotes of the following
pages, but it may be useful to give a summary, shewing the
exact order of their several parts, and the ceremonies with
which the Sacrament was administered.
§ The Adminifitrntion of Baptism in the Mediceval Chmxh
of England.
a] Admission of a Catechumen.
[1] The child being held without the doors of the church,
3 The aUniissiun as Cnttchmncns of thuso who were aftcrwiu-ds to be bap-
lized took i>laco as a separate ceremony some time previously. It has not
been thoiijjht necessary to give any account of this service above, as.
altliouKli ineorporatcd with that fur Uaptisin in later times and in our
own olllce, it was really a separate rite.
* See Rome notice of the Litania Septena, and the analogou.s Litania
Heptiformis, at p. 222. Menard [Notes 04] seems to eonsider that these were
identical. Ijut tlie LitAtiia Hepteiia was probably sung by those only who
wcie in Holy or in Minor Orders.
1 St. AuKUstine notices the custom of signing the water with the Cross
in his nsth Homily on St. John, and in bis ISlst Sermon tie Tempore.
s This prayer Is found at an earlier date, in the fourth century. [See
St. A.MHKOSE de Myst. iii. 7.]
an 3lntroDuction to tbe HDflBfccs for It)oIp TSaptism.
403
the priest made the sign of the Cross upon its forehead and
breast, saying, " I put the sign of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ on thy forehead . . . and on thy breast." Then lie
placed his hand upon the head of tlie child, while he oU'ered
a prayer, beseeching God to open to it the door of His mercy,
and grant it the grace of Baptism.
[2] Salt, over which an exorcism Ivad been said, was placed
in the mouth of the child with the words, " N. Receive the
salt of wisdom, that God may be gracious to thee unto life
everlasting. Amen." This was followed by a prayer that
God would send His holy angel to take care of His servant ,
N., and bring him to the grace of Baptism.
[3] An exorcism and adjuration of Satan to forsake the
child was tlien said ; followed by another signing with the
Cross, and a prayer that the child might be turned from dark-
ness to light, and made fit to receive Baptism.
[4] The Gospel was then read.
[5] The ears and nostrils of the child were touched with
saliva.
[6] The Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, aiul Creed, were said by
the priest, sponsors, and congregation.
[7] The child was again signed with the Cross, the word.s
" Trado tibi signaculum," etc., being said; and afterwards
the priest, taking him by the right hand, led him within the
church, saying, "Enter thou into the house of God: that
thou mayest have eternal life, and live for ever and ever.
Amen."
/3] Benediction of the Font.
[1] A Litany was said, similar to that in ordinary use, as
far as the end of the Invocations.
[2] The Benediction followed, with similar prayers and
ceremonies to those of the Gregorian Sacramentarj'.
7] The Baptism.
[I] The child being brought to the font, the priest jjlaced
his right hand upon him, asked his name, and made the
interrogatories of abrenunciation.
[2] The priest anointed the child with chrism, in the form
of a Cross, on the breast and between the shoulders.
[3] Then followed the profession of faith, and the "Quid
petis ? " and " Vis baptizari ? "
[4] The act of Baptism followed, with trine immersion, as
shewn further on in the Service itself.
[5] This was followed by the signing with the Cross, as in
the Gregorian Office.
[6] The chrisom, or white vestment, was put upon the
child with the words, " N. Receive a white, holy, and spot-
less vesture, which thou shalt bear before the judgement-seat
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life,
and live for ever and ever. Amen. "
[7] A lighted taper was placed in the hand of the child,
with the words, " N. Receive a burning light that cannot be
taken out of thy hand : guard thy baptism, keep the com-
mandments, that when the Lord shall come to the wedding,
thou mayest be able to meet Him in company with His saints
in the heavenly bridechamber ; that thou mayest have eternal
life, and live for ever and ever. Amen."^
The changes made in the above OfBce in 1549 were not very
great, but considerable alterations were made in 1552, and all
the ancient ceremonies have now disappeared from the English
Service excejjt the signing with the Cross. It is scarcely
necessary to add that these ceremonies are no part of the
essentials of Holy Baptism, and that so much popular super-
stition had grown up around them as to make their abolition
appear desirable to those who reconstructed the Offices of the
Church of England.- The successive alterations which were
1 At the end of the Office a Go.spel was inserted [Mark ix. 17-29], which
wa.s to be used, if desired, for the prevention of the falling sickness, —
"quia secundum doctores luaxime valet pro raorbo cadueo."
'^ There is, however, a touching anecdote on record which seems to indi-
cate that, like some other changes, these were forced upon the Convocation
by considerations of expediency rather than principle. During the reign
of Queen Mary, a Mrs. Hickman, whose husK^nd had fled out of the
country, "was sent down to a gentleman's house in Oxfordshire for her
approaching confinement, as she w.is not able to bear the voy.age to
Germany. But when her child was bom she was in a dilemma about the
baptism, not liking to have it baptized by a ' Romish priest' according to
the ritual then of late restored. So she contrived to send a message to
the Bishops then in prison at Oxford to know what she should do, and
their answer was, that she might safely employ the priest, for that 'the
Service for Holy Baptism was of .ill the Services that in which the Church
of Rome had least departed from the truth of the Gospel and the primitive
practice.' " This anecdote is given in Massingberd's Lectures on the
Praysr Book, p. 123, from the leaves of a copy of Beza's New Testament,
belonging to a descendant of the family. The testimony is valuable, as
two of the imprisoned Bislioj)S, Cranmer and Ridley, were connected with
every step taken in the Reformation of the ancient Offices.
made will be found in the notes to the various parts of the
Services for the Public and Private Baptism of Infants. The
Office for the Baptism of Adults was an addition of KJGl.
§ y/ie. En.ynlinlx of llobj Bajdiam.
The words of our Lord to the Apostles seem so clear as to
place beyond a doubt wliat is essential to a true Christian
Baptism : "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." [Matt, xxviii. 19.] Yet questions have arisen,
from very early ages, as to the matter and form with which
the Sacrament is to be administered, and also as to the person
by whom it is to be administered. Tertullian, in the opening
of his treatise on Baptism, speaks of a sect which denied the
necessity of water in Baptism [Teetull. de Bapt. i.] ; and
St. Augustine refers to the rejection of water because created
by the evil one, and therefore in itself evil, as one of the
heresies of the Manicha;ans. [Auo. de Hares, xlvi.] In the
twelfth century, the Cathari, or Puritans, denied the neces-
sity of tlie Sacrament altogether, but adopted a ceremony
which they called baptism with fire, as a substitute for that
with water. The Waldenses also regarded water as unneces-
sary to a spiritual baptism ; and the B'lagellants of Germany,
Poland, Hungary, and France, held that the only true bap-
tism was one in blood, etfected bj' scourging the body. With
respect to the form of words in which the person is to be
baptized, it is sufficiently evident that all who have rejected
the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity must necessarilj' have
modified and adapted to their own principles the words used
by the Church, if they continued to administer a rite in
imitation of Christian Baptism. The Arian form is given by
St. Jerome [cont. Liicf.], and the Eunomian by Epiphanius
[Heeres. Ixxvi.] ; but both are too irreverent towards the
second and third Persons of the Holy Trinity to be set down
here.
Such practices gave rise to strict definitions on the part of
the Church, which are represented by the questions in our
Office for Private Baptism of Children: "Because some
things essential to this Sacrament may happen to be omitted
through fear or haste, in such times of extremity; therefore
I demand further of you,
" With what matter was this child baptized ? "
"With what words was this child baptized?"
In the first Rubric of the Office for Public Baptism, also,
the font is directed to be filled with "pure water;" and in
the Catechism " the outward visible sign or form of Baptism"
is clearly stated to be "water; wherein the person is bap-
tized In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ohost." Such distinct language being used by the
Church of England, it may also be well to add that which
was used by the Council of Trent: "If any one shall say,
that true and natural water is not of necessity for Baptism,
and, on that account, shall wrest to some sort of metaphor
those words of our Lord Jesus Christ, ' Except a man be born
of water and of the Holy Ghost,' let liim be anathema."
[Sess. vii. Can. ii. de Bapt. ] It may also be added that cases
of necessity have occasionally arisen, in which pure water
was not at hand for the purpose of Baptism, when wine, or
even sand, has been used as the element or material of Bap-
tism : but sound theologians have always ruled that this
ceremony could not be a true and valid administration of the
Sacrament. Such cases of emergency may arise, even in the
present day, among missionaries; and it is therefore well
to point out this general consent of the Church to take our
Lord's words in their literal sense, "baptizing them with
water," and to follow literally the practice of His Apostles
as recorded several times in the New Testament. [Acts viii.
36, X. 46 ; 1 Pet. iii. 20. Camp, also Ezek. xxxvi. 25.]
The form of words used by the Church of England is that
which is used by the whole Western Church, and that which
lias been so used from time immemorial. In the Eastern
Church a similar form is used, but in the third person, and
with a passive verb; "The servant of God, N., is baptized
in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." The essential part of the form is the distinct men-
tion of each Person of the Blessed Trinity with reference to
the act of Baptism ; and both East and West therefore agree
in naming [1] the person, [2] the act of Baptism, and [3] the
three several Persons of the Holy Trinity. The most ancient
records of the Church point to the Western form, as shewn
in the citation made above from the Sacramentary of St.
Gregory, and this form differs from the Eastern in also
naming the person baptizing, " / baptize thee : " but it may
be considered that this is included in the Ka=tern form, since
404
an 3lntroDuction to tfjc ©fficcs for ^olp T6aptism.
the statement that the person "is baptized" comprehends
elliptically the words "by me, who am now performing the
act, and speaking the words." Sucli an explanation of the
Eastern form cannot, however, justify any, the slightest,
departure from the other in the Church of England. '
The original mode of administering Holy Baptism was un-
doubtedly by the descent of the person to be baptized into a
stream or pool of water. It is probable that the person bap-
tizing also stood in the water [Acts viii. 38], and poured some
of it with his hand upon the head of the other, as the latter
bowed himself three times (at the naming of each Person of
the Trinity by the baptizer) into the stream. St. Paul gave
a beautiful symbolical meaning to this practice of immersion
when he said, "We are buried with Him by baptism into
death : that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in new-
ness of life. " [Rom. vi. 4. ] When fonts were made in churches,
they were made with a descent of seven steps, symbolizing
the sevenfold gift bestowed by the Holy Ghost [Lsidore de
Ecc. Off. ii. 24-] ; and this implies a considerable depth of
water, reaching to about the waist of an ordinary-sized man.
The practice of trine immersion also appears to be of primitive
origin. It is mentioned by Tertullian, and other early Fathers,
in passages already quoted ; and also by St. Ambrose, in his
Treatise on the Sacraments ; St. Basil, in his work on the
Holy Spirit ; and St. Leo, in his fourth Epistle : and all give
substantially the same account of the practice with that given
by St. Ambrose: "Thou wast asked, Dost thou believe in
God the Father Almighty ? Thou didst answer, I believe,
and didst dip into the water, that is, thou wast buried.
Again wast thou asked. Dost thou believe in Jesus Christ our
Lord, and in His Cross ? Thou didst answer, I believe, and
didst dip into the water : therefore also thou wast buried with
Christ : for whosoever is buried with Christ, shall rise again
with Christ. A third time wast thou asked. Dost thou be-
lieve in the Holy Ghost ? Thou didst reply, I believe ; and
a third time didst thou dip into the water." The Apostolical
Constitutions of the fifth century even forbade the practice
of single immersion, decreeing in their fiftieth Canon: "If
any bishop or priest does not perform the one initiation with
three immersions, but with giving one immersion only into
the death of our Lord, let him be deposed. For the Lord
said not. Baptize into ily death ; but. Go — baptizing them
in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. " Yet there seems to have been an early necessity for
guarding against error in the use of this trine immersion, and
St. Gregory of Nyssa writes : " We immerse to the Father,
that we may be sanctified : we immerse to the Son also to
this same end : we immerse also to the Holy Ghost, that we
may be that which He is and is called. There is no difference
in the sanctification. " The practice of immersion, whether
trine or single, was not, however, regarded as an essential
feature of Baptism. The Philippian gaoler "was baptized,
he and all his, straightway, " in prison, and in the middle of
the night ; and immersion in such a case seems extremely
improl)able. It seems almost equally unlikely in the case of
Cornelius and his household. In days of persecution, when
Christian rites could only be administered in secret, immer-
sion could not have been universal : and there is abundant
evidence that "chnic baptism " — that is, the baptism of those
who were on their deathbeds — was very common in those
primitive days. Respecting the usage in the latter case, St.
Cyprian wrote to Magnus [.\.D. 2.5.5] in the following words :
"You have inquired also, dearest son, what I think of those
who in sickness and debility obtain the grace of God, whether
they are to be accounted legitimate Christians, in that they
are sprinkled, not washed, witli the saving water. ... I,
as far as my poor ability conceivctli, account that the Divine
blessings can in no respect be mutilated and weakened, nor
any less gift be imparted, where what is drawn from the
Divine bounty is accepted with the full and entire faith both
of the giver and the receiver. . . . Nor sliould it disturb
any one that tlie sick seem only to be sprinkled or alVused
with water, when they attain tlic gr.ace of the Lord, since
Holy Scripture speaks by the Prophet Ezekiel, and says,
'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and yc shall be
cleansed from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will
I cleanse you ; a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you.'" He then goes on to refer also to
litis supposed that the Ea.Ht<;ni fijrm w.is a(lo|itC(l ns a stiinding refuta-
Numbers xix. 7, 19, 20, viii. 5-7, xix. 9; and adds,
" Wlien:e it is apparent that the sprinkling also of water has
like force with the saving washing, and that when this is done
in the Church," not, i.e. by heretics, "where the faith both
of the giver and receiver is entire, all holds good, and is con-
summated and perfected by the power of the Lord and the
truth of faith." [Cvp. £/). Ixix. 11, 12.] The principle thus
so plainly set forth by St. Cyprian has ever since been gene-
rally accepted by the Church, and ablution, or the actual
touch ofu'ater during the invocation of the Blessed Trinity, has
always been accounted the essential feature in the adminis-
tration of Holy Baptism. Whether that ablution is effected
by the more complete method of immersion, or by the less
perfect one of affusion, the result is the same : care being
always taken that the actual contact of the water with the
person is really effected. And thus the Rubric of the English
Office leaves it discretionary whether the infants or adults to
be baptized shall be dipped in the water, or have water poured
upon them ; security being provided for the actual contact of
the water by the exclusion of mere sjn-inhlinfi, which is not
recognised at all in the Church of England, and can never be
considered a safe method of applying the water, or a reverent
way of obeying the command of our Blessed Lord, however
much it may, as a mininuim of obedience, fulfil the required
conditions.
§ The Minister of Baptism.
Having said so much about the matter and form of Holy
Baptism, it remains to be considered who is the proper ministei'
of the Sacrament.
There can be no doubt that in the first instance our Blessed
Lord gave to His Apostles a commission to ' ' baptize all
nations," and that such a commission was to be handed on
to those who were to take up their work after their deaths,
those whom they ordained for that purpose according to the
words of their Master, "As My Father hath sent Me, so send
I you." Very early in the history of the Apostolic Church
also, we find a deacon, Philip, baptizing at Samaria, and the
Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, ratifying his act by con-
firming those whom he had baptized. From this it may be
concluded that as the Bishops are the one principal channel
through wliich ministerial authority is conveyed from our
Lord, the Fountain of all such authority, to others, so they
undoubtedly commissioned inferior ministers to baptize in the
very beginning of the Christian Church.
But the question soon arose whether the nature of Holy
Baptism was not such as to make a Bishop, Priest, or Deacon,
absolutely essential to its right administration ; and upon this
subject three theories have been held. [1] The first and
strictest of these was that maintained by St. Cyprian, who
esteemed that Baptism only to be true and effective which is
administered by those who have been ordained by orthodox
Bishops, and are in communion with the Church. [2] The
second theory was much more generally held in the early
Church, viz. that even schismatics and heretics could give
true Baptism, provided they were in holy orders. [3] A third,
and this was that held by St. Augustine, made the essence of
the Sacrament to consist in the application of the water with
the proper words of Invocation, by whomsoever this was done.
The Council of Aries [a. D. 314] decided by their eighth Canon
against the first theory, and in favour of the second ; a decision
practically confirmed by the nineteenth Canon of the Council
of Nica;a, which directed the re-baptism of those only who
had lieen baptizeil by the followers of Paul of .Samosata, and
so not in the Name of the lilessed Trinity. No further
decision on the subject was ever given by a General Council,
and thus the ([uestion still remained open whether those who
were not in Holy Orders could, by the proper use of water
and the proper Invocation, administer a true Baptism. In
ancient times this question was not one of very extensive
bearing, as none but the Clergy ever baptized, except in cases
where there was danger of death, and no cU-rgyman ct)uld be
found. But in modern times it has become a matter of
prim:iry import.ince, as a considerable portion of the people
of England, and the m.ajority of those born in I'rotcstant
countries, are baptized Iiy persons who have never been
ordained by IJishojis, and who are not therefore either Priests
or Deacons in the sense of the Church of Engl.md, of Churches
of the Roman connntinion, or of the Eastern Church.
The validity of smh L:iy Baptism was maintained by Ter-
tullian |(/<' Hiijil. xvii.], who however adds that a woman is as
nnich forbidden to b.aptiKe as to tc;ich in the Clinrch. It was
allowed by the Patriarch of Alexandria in the case of some
boys b.aptized by Athanasius when he himself was a boy.
an 3lntroDuction to tb^ HDfficcjei for IDoIp TSaptism.
405
[Sujin. i. 14.] St. Augustine maintained it to be valid, not
only in cases of necessity, but under otlier circumstances also.
[Aug. de Bapt. vii. 102, cont. Parmen. ii, 13.] St. Jerome
also allowed it in case of necessity ; and tlie Council of lUiberis
or Elvira [.\.D. .300] decided in its thirty-eiglitli Canon that
no re-bajitism was necessary for those wlio had been baptized
in an emergency by laymen, but only that the persons so
baptized should be brought to the Bishop for Confirmation, if
they should survive. Without citing any further authorities,
it may be sufficient to give the emphatic words of Hooker,
"Yea, 'Baptism by any man in case of necessity,' was the
voice of the whole world heretofore." [AVc. PoUt. V. Ixi. 3.]
He also affirms in his subsequent argument that even Baptism
by women in case of extreme necessity was valid, and not to
be reiterated.
The principle thus laid down has been definitely stated from
time to time by English synods fi'om a very early age ; and
the PupHla Oculi, which was a standard book of instruc-
tions for the Clergy in the medieval period, has some ex-
haustive statements on the subject [ii. 2], which plainly shew
that it was the practice to recognize Baptism as valid, by
whomsoever administered, if given with tlie proper matter
and form of words ; which practice undoubtedly continued
up to the time of the lleformation. Tliis is, at the same time,
shewn most clearly and authoritatively by the Rubric placed
at the end of the Ritus Baptizandi in the Salisbury Manual,
which is as follows : "H Notandiim est quod qiiUibet sacerdos
parochialis debet parochianis suis forniam baptizandi in aqua
pura, naturaU, et recenti, el non in alio liquore, J'requenter in
diebus dominicis expoiiere, ut si necessitas emcnjat sciant parvulos
in forma ecclesice baptizare, pro/erendo formani verborum
baptismi in lingua materna, distincte et aperte et solum unica
voce, nuUo modo iterando verba ilia rite semel prolata, vel
similia super eundem: sed sine aliqua additione, subtractione,
interruptione, verbi pro verba positione, mutatione, corruplione,
sen transpositione sic dicendo : I christene the ..V. in the name
of the Fadir, and of the Sone, and of the Holy Gost. Amen.
Vel in linrjua latina, sic : Ego baptize te, N. in nomine Patris,
et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Aquam super parvuluin
spanjendo, vel in aquam mergendo ter vel saltern semel." ^
The substantial part of the above Rubric was retained in
the Book of Common Prayer in the following words : —
"IT 7Vie Pastors and Curates shall oft admonish the people
that they defer not. . . . And also they shall warn them that
without great cause and necessity they baptize not children at
home in their houses. Aiul when great need shall compel them
so to do, that then they minister it on this fashion. M First, let
them that be present call upon God for His grace, and say the
Lord's Prayer, if the time will suffer. And then one of them
shall name the child, and dip him in the water, or pour water
upon him., saying these words : IT A\ I baptize thee in the Name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Ami let them not doubt, but that the child so baj/tized is laufully
and sufficiently baptized. ..." After the Hampton Court
Conference, in 1603, the above Rubric was altered to meet the
prejudices of the Puritans, the words " lauful minister " taking
the place of "07ie of them." In 1661 this was further altered
to ^*the Minister of the Parish," and at Bishop Cosin's sugges-
tion was added " {or in his ab.sence, any other lauful Minister
that can be procured-) : " and these successive alterations have
been supposed to narrow the theory of the Church of England
respecting Baptism, and to restrict its valid administration to
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. But, although these additions
and alterations were probably made with the object of check-
1 Another Rubric added this caution: "^ Non licet laico vel mulieri
aliqueni baptiz.are, nisi in articnlo necessitatis. Si vero vir et mulier .^d-
essent ubi inimineret necessitatis articulns baptizandi pueium, et non esset
alius minister ad hoc magis idonens preesens, vir baptizet et non mulier,
nisi forte mulier bene sciret verba sacramentalia et non vir, vel aliud im-
pedimentum subesset." But niidwives were constantly licensed by the
Bishops to baptize in case of necessity [Burn'.^ Ecc. Law, Art. Midwives]
down to quite recent times. It may also be added that surgeons frequently
baptize children in danger of death at tlie present day. [Blunt'.s Directoriuni
PttsUirale, p. 15(3.] In 15S4 the Puritans presented a menrorial to Archbishop
Whitgift, praying, amongst other things, "that all baptizing by midwives
and women may from henceforth be inhibited and declared void." The
Archbisliop replied that the Bajitism of even women is lawful and good,
"so that the institution of Christ toucliing the word and element is duly
used ;" and he adds that no learned man ever doubted that such was the
case, though some of late by tlieir singularity in some points of religion
had given the .adversary greater advantage than anj-tliing else could do.
" It must not be forgotten tiiat ^'minister" iu the Book of Common
Prayer means " executor officii" [see p. 181], and that if it was used here in
that sense, the addition of " lawful " does not by any means of necessity
restrict it to a clergyman. The '* alius minister ad hoc magis idoneu^s" of
the Rubric given in the preceding note, shews that the word "minister"
was used even of a lay person in the case of the ministration of Baptism
long before the Refonnation.
ing Lay Baptisms, it cannot be said that they contain any
decision against their validity ; nor, indeed, can it be supijosed,
for a moment, tiiat the prudent men who superintended the
various revisions of the Prayer Book would have reversed,
merely by a Rubric, the long-estaljlished tenet of the Church
of England that Lay ijajjtisms are in some cases necessary,
and are not to be repeated. Moreover, in the questions to
be asked by the Clergyman of those who bring a privately-
Ijaptized child to the Church to be received, it is expressly
stated that the "things essenti.al to this Sacrament" are the
"matter" and the "words," no notice being given that the
person who performed the ceremony was one of these "things
essential " more than those who were present. Lastly, al-
though there were supposed to be about 300,000 persons in
England who had been baptized by laymen, at the time when
the Clergy were restored to their duties in 1661, no public
provision was made by the Church for rebaptizing them, nor
does it appear that any doubt whatever was thrown upon the
validity of their baptism by those who revised our Offices.''
Lay Baptism being thus allowed to be valid in case of
necessity, it is yet clear that its validity depends uiwui the
manner of its administration, not upon the reality of the
necessity ; and hence even if there is no such necessity, it
must still be accounted valid, provided the proper matter and
form are used. And Baptism by those who have not received
Holy Orders (however they may lay claim to ministerial
authority) being of this latter class, it must be granted that
the question of its validity resolves itself into a question of
the actual administration by water and the proper words of
the Sacrament. No doubt there is much uncertainty respect-
ing this ; for many Dissenters attaching little importance to
Baptism, it is reasonably to be supposed that they would
be sometimes iudifi'erent about exactness in administering it.
For eases of doubt the hypothetical form, "If thou art not
already baptized," etc, , is provided ; and by its use an uncon-
scious iteration of Baptism is avoided, while at the same
time the certainty of its administration is secured.
It is hardly necessary to add that Lay Baptism should be
resorted to only in great extremity ; and that when the
Sacrament is administered by one who is not ordained with-
out such necessity, the jjerson baptizing is guilty of a great
sin, even though his act may bring a blessing to the person
baptized. His act cannot be undone, but it ought not to
have been done.
§ The Effect of Holy Baptism.
It remains now to speak of the spiritual benefits which
result from Holy Baptism to those who duly receive it accord-
ing to the ordinance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
They are spoken of in the Offices as " a washing and sanctify-
ing \vith the Holy Ghost, a deliverance from the wrath of
God, a receiving into the ark of Christ's Church, a remission of
sins by spiritual regeneration, an embracing with the arms of
God's mercy, a gift of the blessing of eternal life, a participa-
tion of God's everlasting kingdom, a bestowal of the Holy
.Spirit, a being born again and made heir of everlasting salva-
tion, a release from sins, a gift of the Kingdom of Heaven
and everlasting life, a burial of the old Adam, and raising up
of the new man, an enduing with heavenly virtues, a mysti-
cal washing away of sin, a regeneration and grafting into the
body of Christ's Church, a death unto sin and a living unto
righteousness, a putting on of Christ." In the Catechism
the effect of Baptism is first stated in the familiar words in
which every child replies, that " therein I was made a mem-
ber of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the king-
dom of heaven : " and, secondly, in the definition of the
inward and spiritual grace of the Sacrament, wliere it is
described as "a death unto sin, and a new birth unto
righteousness : for being by nature born iu sin, and the
children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of
grace. "
These blessings and benefits of Holy Baptism, thus set
forth with such an overflowing fulness of language, are all
comprehensively included in the .Scriptural term "Regenera-
tion ; " the first use of which recorded in the New Testament
is by our Blessed Lord when He said to Nicodemus, "Except
a man be born again. Except a man be born of ^'ater and of
tlie Spirit, he cannot see, he cannot enter into, the kingdom
of God." [John iii. 3, 5.] This langu.age of our Lord is also
that of His Apostles, as of St. Paul: "According to His
mercy He saved us by the washing of regeneration, and
^ The judgement of Lord Brougham in Escott v. Mastiii goes ver>- fully
into the question of Lay Baptism, and decides iu favour of the Catholic
principle.
4o6
an :jntroDuction to tfjc SDfficcs for ^olj? Idaptism.
reuewing of the Holy Ghost ; which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that being justified by
His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of
eternal life " [Titus iii. 5-7] : and of .St. Peter, " Being bom
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." [1 Pet. i.
23.] The mode by which God eti'eets this regeneration is a
mystery. "We know it," says Dr. Pusey, "in its author,
God ; in its instrument. Baptism ; in its end, salvation,
union witli Christ, souship to God, 'resurrection from the
dead, and the Life of the world to come.' ^Ve ouly know it
not where it does not concern us to know it, in the mode of
its operation. " ' But though we do not know the manner
in which God effects regeneration by the rite of Baptism, we
are able to follow up the language in which the Church has
ever been accustomed to speak of Holy Baptism, and to trace
out its efficacious operation under the two heads indicated by
St. Cyril's words, "At the selfsame moment, ye died and
were born " [CatecJi. Led. xx. 4] ; and by our English Cate-
chism in the expression, "A death unto sin, and a new birth
unto righteousness."
I. That which is comprehended under the first of these
heads, "a death unto sin," is the breaking off from that
chain of spiritual relationship between the baptized and
Adam, by which they are, first, inheritors of a nature prone
to CNnl rather than good ; and, secondly, inheritors of the
penalty due to sin.
[1] The inheritance of a fallen nature is not merely an his-
torical circumstance, but a practical power exercising its
influence upon those whose nature it is. The moral habitat
of this fallen nature is among the lowest regions of moral
intuition, or conscience, and of moral power. Good is natur-
ally alien to it ; evil is naturally its choice. It is, normally,
incapable of spiritual perception ; for '" the natui'al man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are
foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned " [1 Cor. ii. 14] ; and hence
belief in miracles or sacraments is scarcely possible for those
who are mlfully rejecting Baptism, and must always be
difficult to the unbaptized, even when their condition arises
from no fault of their own. But these characteristics of a
fallen nature are removed by Holy Baptism. Tlie nature is
new-born ; and with new birth come new facidties, such as a
higher kind of conscience, faith, and moral strength. It has
broken off its bondage to the Fall, has become dead to the
strongest and primary influences of it ; and receives a ten-
dency to rise towards good and the Author of good rather
tlian to sink towards evil and the Evil One.
[2] There is also conveyed in Baptism a " death unto sin "
in respect to the penalty which is its due, — the wrath of God,
and the punishment which is an inevitable consequence of
that WTath. This is the "remission of sins " which is con-
nected with the " One Baptism " in the Nicene Creed. It is
solemnly named to God in the ancient prayer before Confir-
mation, which was said immediately after Baptism in the
Primitive Church, and which is still retained in our English
Confirmation Service : " Almighty and ever-living God,
Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy servants by
water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given unto them for-
giveness of all their sins. ..." This remission extends to all
actual sin in adults who come with penitence to Holy Bap-
tism, as well as to original sin in all, and is so complete that,
although an "infection of original sin" remains even in the
regenerate, yet an entirely new life is begun in tlie favour of
God, Who no longer regards the sin of tlie unregenerate con-
dition in which the baptized person previously was, nor visits
him with the punishment which must otherwise have fallen
upon him. Hooker speaks of this as "that act of grace
which is dispensed to persous at their baptism, or at their
entrance into the Church, when tliey openly professing their
faith, and undertaking their Christian duty, God most
solemnly and formally doth absolve them from all guilt, and
1 Pusey'8 SanplMToL Vitiwi oJUoly Baptism, p. U3.
accepte*'h them to a state of favour with Him." [Herrn. on
Justifieulion.} In the same manner Bishop Jewell declares
in his Defence of the Apoloiji/ of the Church of England :
"We confess, and have evermore taught, that iu the Sacra-
ment of Baptism, by the death and blood of Christ, is given
remission of all manner of sin, and that not in half, in part,
or by way of imagination, or by fancy, but whole, full, and
perfect, of all together ; so that now, as St. Paul saitb,
' there is no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus.'"
[Z>eJ. of Apol. II. xi. 3.] As when Naaman washed iu Jor-
dan "his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little
child," so the waters of Baptism effect that cleansing of our
fallen nature from the leprosy of sin of which our Lord spoke
when He said, " Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven."
[Matt, xviii. 3.]
II. A new birth unto righteousness includes, first, Adop-
tion by God, and, secondly, Union with our Lord Jesus
Christ.
[1] In adopting as His children those who were previously
alienated from Him, our merciful Father establishes a new
relation betweeu Himself and those whom He adopts, giving
them a claim to paternal love and the privileges of sonship.
This adoption is often called Justification in the New Testa-
ment, as where St. Paul says, "According to His mercy He
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost : which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour ; that being justified by His grace, we
should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life." [Tit. iii. 5-7.] God is the efficient cause of this justifi-
cation ; our Lord Jesus Christ is the meritorious cause of
it ; and Holy Baptism is the instrrimental cause of it.
And when Ciod, for the sake of Christ's merits, and by the
instrument of Baptism, has thus made them "heirs of eternal
life," His children are entitled (through His free gift, and
not by their deservings) to assisting grace by which they
may be enabled to do His will while they are in a state of
probation, aud to that everlasting life which He has pro-
mised to those who are faithful aud stedfast, when their statu
of probation is ended.
[2] A mystical union is effected in Baptism, by some unin-
telligible and supernatural operation, between the baptized
and our Lord Jesus Christ. They are united to the Body
and Soul of His human nature, and since that is insejjarablc
from the Godhead, they are also through it united to His
Divine Nature. By means of the union thus effected with
the Person of their Mediator, they receive through Him the
Divine gift of grace to which the Father's mercy entitles
them. That grace is an active principle working in them to
mould them to the pattern of Him of Whom they have
become members. By it they are enabled both to know and
to do the will of God ; and a moral perfection of which the
natural life is not capable becomes easy in the Christian life
through this co-operating power of Christ. Through the
same grace is derived an illumination of the mind by which it
is enabled to grasp the knowledge of Divine truth, and in
faith to receive those mysteries which are at present beyond
the power of even an illuminated Christian understanding ;
they who wash at the Divine command, " come again seeing."
And, lastly, this imion with Christ through Baptism plants
the germ of eternal life in the nature of the baptized person,
restoring an immortality that was lost by the Fall ; and
reojiening the Vision of God to the eyes of men born blind.
Thus, then, the ellect of Holy Baptism may be once more
summed uj) in the V'ords of the Apostle, " Know ye not, that
so many tjf us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into His death ? Therefore we are buried with Him
by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of His death, we sliall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection. . . . Likewise reckon ye al.so
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Ciirist our Lord." [Horn. vi. 3-11.]
THE MINISTRATION OF
PUBLICK BAPTISiVI OF INFANTS,
TO BE USED IN THE CHURCH.
" Baptismus Pucrorum. [Ordo adfuciciidum C'alechiimenum. Benediciio Fontis, Jtitm Baptlzandi.]
U The people are to be admonished, that it is most
convenient that Baptism should not be adminis-
tered but upon Sundays, and other Holydays,
when the most number o£ people come together ;
b Daye's transl. of
Hermnntt's Coii-
sult., A.D. 1547
. ''the Pastors shall warn the peo2jU that . . . they
briny their children to be baptized at those hours
when, after the custom, the peopjle resort together to
hear the Lord's Word.
THE TITLE AND INTRODUCTORY RUBRICS.
I'ublielc Baptism . . . to be used in the Church] The adminis-
tration of Holy Baptism has always been, from the very be-
ginning, a public ceremony, except in cases of urgency : not
because publicity is in any way essential to the efficacy of the
Sacrament, but that it might be given in the face of the
Church. One of the Rubrics at the end of the ancient Office
for Baptism in the Church of England is as follows : " IT Non
licet aliquem baptizare in aula, caynera, vel aliquo loco privato,
sed duntaxat in ecclesiis in quibus sunt fontes ad hoc specialiter
ordinati, nisi J'uerit Jilius regis vel principis, ant talis necessitas
emerserit propter quam ad ecclesiam accesstis absque periculo
haberi non potest." In 1552 the word " Publick " was ex-
punged from the title of this Office, but it was restored in
1661.
Infants] Baptism has been given to Infants from the time
of its first institution. No direct record of the custom of the
Apostles is contained in Holy Scripture, but the fact that they
baptized whole households is indirect evidence that the Sacra-
ment was not denied to children. Our Lord's act and words
in blessing little children, and requiring the disciples to suffer
them to come to Him and not to forbid them, is the strongest
testimony that could be given, short of the connection of this
command with the actual rite of Baptism, of His will on the
subject. About A.D. 148, Justin Martyr writes, that there
were in his time "many of both sexes, some sixty and some
seventy years old, who had been made disciples to Christ
from their infancy ; " and Irenjeus, not long after, speaks
distinctly of ' ' infants and little children, and boys and young
men and old men," all being alike new born to God by Holy
Baptism. [Adv. Hares, ii. 22, al. 38.] St. C'yprian, writing
to Fidus [Ep. Ixiv.], says, " We all judge that the mercy and
grace of God is to be duuied to none born of man ; " and the
Epistle is written to contradict the opinion of Fidus, that
infants ought not to be baptized until they are eight days old,
St. Cyprian declaring that no infant can be too young to be
baptized.' St. Augustine speaks of "infants baptized in
('hrist, " and says, " In babes born and not yet baptized, let
Adam be acknowledged ; in babes born and baptized, and
thereby born again, let Christ be acknowledged. " "Infants,
too," lie writes in another place, "are carried to the Church ;
for if they cannot run thither on their feet, they run with the
feet of others, that they may be healed. ... If when infants
are carried, they are said to have no birth-sin at all, and they
come to Christ ; why is it not said in the Church to those who
bring them? — 'Away with these innocents hence ; they that
are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick ; Christ
came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' It was never so
said ; nay, nor ever will it be so said. " [Aug. Serm. 174 and
176, Ben., 124 and 126, Oxf. transl.] In the primitive Office
for Baptism, which is noticed in the previous Introduction,
"infants" are distinctly mentioned; and the twenty-seventh
Article of Religion testifies to the ancient practice of our own
1 Tlie only one of the Fathers who expresses a different opinion is
Tertullian. Holding strong views as to the unpardonable nature of sins
committed after Baptism, he advocated the postponement of its adminis-
tration until a person was in some degree assured of remaining stedfast in
the Faith. [Terti-ll. Bapt. xviii.]
Church, when it says, "The Baptism of young children is in
any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with
the institution of Christ."
The necessity of Holy Baptism to salvation is so urgent,
and the blessings conferred by it so great, that Infants should
be brought to the font as early as possible. Baptism is often
delayed until the mother is able to be present with her child ;
but however pleasing this may be to her feelings, such a
delay is very undesirable, for the spirit in which children are
brought to Baptism should be that in which our Lord vouch-
safed to come to Circumcision, — "I made haste, and delayed
not, to keep Thy commandments." The Rubric at the com-
mencement of the Office for Private Baptism plainly shews
the mind of the Church on this subject: "The Curates of
every Parish shall often admonish the people, that they defer
not the Baptism of their children longer than the first or
second Sunday next after their birth, or other holyday fall-
ing between, unless upon a great and reasonable cause, to be
approved by the Curate."
THE INTRODUCTORY RUBRICS.
Sundays, and other Holydays] In the Primitive Church the
seasons of Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost were those at
which Baptism was administered, except urgent necessity
required its administration at other times ; and the two latter
were the times principally used in the Western Church. The
third Canon of the Council of Mai,x>n [.\. D. 585] forbids Baptism
at any other time than Easter, meaning probably the whole
season between Easter Eve aud Whitsuntide, and many
mediaeval councils repeat the injunction. One of the Rubrics
of the Salisbury JIanual is as follows : "IT Solemnis baptismtcs
celebrari solet in Sabbalo sancto Paschce et in vigilia Pente-
costes, et ideo pueri nati infra octo dies ante Pascha, vel infra
octo dies ante Peniecosten, debent reservari ad baptizandum in
Sabbato sancto Paschce vel in vigilia Pentecostes, si commode et
sine pierietdo valeant reservari." From 1549 to 1661 the fol-
lowing Rubrical Introduction, taken from Hermann's Con-
sultation, stood before the Offices for Baptism, but the present
Rubric was substituted in the latter year : "It appeareth by
ancient writers, that the Sacrament of Baptism in the old
time was not commonly ministered but at two times in the
year, at Easter and Whitsuntide ; at which times it was
openly ministered in the presence of all the congregation :
which custom (now being grown out of use), although it can-
not for many considerations be well restored again, yet it is
thought good to follow the same as near as conveniently may
be.^ W^herefore the people are to be admonished, that it is
most convenient that Baptism should not be ministered, but
upon Sundays and other holydays, when the most number
of people may come together : as well for that the congrega-
tion there present may testify the receiving of them that be
newly baptized into the number of Christ's Church ; as also
2 In Cranmer's answer to the Devonshire rebels, lie speaks of the conse-
cration of the font at Easter and Wliitsuntide as having become an unmean-
ing ceremony, for " except it were by chance, none were baptized, but all
were baptized before." [Strvpe's Memorials of Cranmcr, ii. 033, Eccl. Hist.
Sac] The custom of blessing the fonts on Easter Eve sprung out of the
j'riinitive usage, which also restricted this benediction to the Bishop.
4o8
ll?ui)lick '!i3apti5m of Jnfants.
as well for that the Congregation there present
may testify the receiving of them that be newly
baptized into the number of Christ's Church ; as
also because in the Baptism of Infants every Man
present ma)' be put in remembrance of his own
profession made to God in his Baptism. For wliich
cause also it is expedient that Baptism be minis-
tered iu the " \Tilgar tongue. Nevertheless (if
necessity so require), Children may be baptized
upon any other day.
And note, that there shall be for every male child
to be baptized two Godfathers and one Godmother ;
and for every female, one Godfather and two
Godmothers.
When there are Children to be baptized, the Parents
sha,ll give knowledge thereof over night, or in the
morning before the beginning of Morning Prayer,
to the Curate. And then the Godfathers and
Godmothers, and the people ^Wth the Children,
must be ready at tlie Font, either immediately
after the last Lesson at Morning Prayer, or else
immediately after the last Lesson at Evening
a Originally written
"Englisb ' in tlic
MS.. and altered lo
"\-ulgai."
* Sav. Ad/acitnd.
Catcchum.
'' 111 prime deferaturinfans ad valvas Ecelesias, etinquirat
Sacerdos ab obstetrice, utrum sit infans masculus
an femina. Deinde, si infans fuerit baptizatus
domi : et quo nomine vocari debeat. . . . JMasculus
autem statuetur a dextris Sacerdotis : mulier vero
a sinistris.
because in the baptism of infants every man present may be
put in remembrance of his own profession made to God in his
baptism. For which cause also it is expedient that baptism
be ministered in the Euglish tongiie. Nevertheless (if
necessity so require), children ought at all times to be
baptized either at the Church or else at home." But thf
tendency of the Rubrics, in later times, has beeu that
indicated in the last note : and additional facilities were
offered to the people for the Public Baptism of their children
in Church, with the intention, probably, of discouraging lay-
baptisms at their own houses.
It should be clearlj' understood also that the facilities offered
for Public Baptism are extended to et:er]j Sunday and Holy
day by an express Canon of the Church, and do not depend
only on the construction to be put upon the Rubric. It is as
follows : —
"Canon 68.
' ' Miniskrs not to refuse to Christen or Bury.
" Xo Minister shall refuse or delay to christen any child
according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer that is
brought to the Church to him upon Sundays or Holy days, to
be christened, or to bury any corpse that is brought to the
Church or Churchyard, convenient warning being given him
thereof before, in such manner and form as is prescribed in
the said Book of Common Prayer. And if he shall refuse to
christen the one, or bury the other (except the party deceased
were denounced excomrauuicated majori excommunicatione,
for some grievous and notorious crime, and no man able to
testify of his rei)entance), he shall be suspended by the Bishop
of the diocese from his ministry by the space of three months. "
In interpreting this Canon, due regard must be paid to the
expression, "according to the form of the Book of Common
Hrayei'," since this "form" limits the time of Baptism to
"after the last Lesson" at Morning or Evening Prayer, and
the clergyman would not be bound to baptize a child brought
to the Church at a later time of the Service, or when there is
neither Mattins nor Evensong. " Convenient warning " has
also been defined as being "warning of the intention to bring,"
and reasonably means at least the evening before, as in the
Rubric.
And iiote . . . liuo Godfathers and one Godmother] The
Rubric on tliis subject, at the end of our ancient Baptismal
Office, is as follows: " Non plures quam unus vir et una
mulier debent accedere ad suscipiendum parvulum de sacro
fonte : unde plures ad hoc simul accedeiites peccant faciendo
contra prohibitionem canonis, nisi alia fuerit consuetudo
approbata : taincn ultra tres aiiiplius ad hoc nullatenus
recipiantur. " Yet iu a Lcgatine Council, held at York by
Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1195, and in a Con-
stitution of Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1236,
there is a provision exactly similar to that in our present
Rubric : "Ad Icvandum vcro puerum dc fonte, tres ad plus
recipiantur ; videlicet in baptismo maris duo marcs et una
fot'mina ; in baptismo ftemina', duaj fcemin.x', et unus masculus ;
(juod cnim aiiiplius est a malo est." [(Jiiison's Cmlex, 43!). J
The primitive practice of the Church appears to have been
identu;al with that of the Kasterii and the Latin Church at
present, iu which only one sponsor is required, although two
are permitted. [Duty of Parish Priests, iii.W; Cone. 2'rident.
xxiv. 2.] In the ancient English exhortation, printed at the
end of this Office, it will be seen that one Godfather and one
Godmother are named : and it may be doubted whether three
sponsors were ever actually required until lti(il, when the pre-
sent Rubric was inserted by Bishop Cosin. The twentj'-ninth
Canon forbids parents to be sponsors for their own children,
and iu this follows the old Rubric: "H Similiter jiatcr vel
mater non debet proprium flium de sacro fonte levare . . . ;"
but this Canon was altered by the Convocation of Canterbury
in 1865 ; and although that Canon has never been received
by the Northern Convocation, nor ratified by the Crown, yet
its acceptance by the Bisliops and Clergy of the Southern
Province offers' some ground for relaxing the prohibition in
practice. The change would practically reduce the number
of sponsors to one again, since the father and mother are
already responsible, in the highest degree, as Christian
parents : but it would be well for the spirit of the ancient
rule to be carried out by some one who is not the parent
taking the baptized child from the hands of the priest who
has baptized it.'
immediately after the last Lesson] In the Primitive Church
it was the custom to confirm Infants as soon as they were
baptized, and then to administer to them a small particle of
the consecrated bread moistened with tlie consecrated wine.
Hence Baptism was administered (as may be seen by the
ancient Sacramentary of St. Gregory) immediately before the
celebration of the Holy Eucharist. This was probably the
custom also in the medi;eval Church : and in Daye's transla-
tion of Archbishop Hermann's book [a.d. 1547] are tlie words,
"Our mind is tliat the handling of the Sacrament of Christ's
body and blood, called Eucharistia, may be joined with
Baptism, antl that they which bring the Infants to Baptism
may use the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ after
the manner and institution of the Primitive Church."- In
the Prayer Book of 1549 the times appointed for Baptism
were " either immediately afore the last Canticle at Mattins,
or else immediately afore the last Canticle at Evensong," as
by the present Rubric.
And the PrieM coming to the Font] In the Prayer Book of
1549 the sponsors were directed to be ready at the church
door, where t)ie priest came to them, and said the first
part of the Service as far as the Exhortation before the
Interrogatories. This Rubric and benediction followed :
" M Then let the Priest take one of the children by the riglit hand,
the other being brought after hiyn. And coming into the
Church toward the font, say. The Lord vouchsafe to receive
you into His holy household, and to keep and govern you
1 The above Rubric ends: "nee baptimre. nisi I'lt pxtremw necessitatis
'trticuh, tuiic eniiii bene possunt sine pTceJudicio copulw conjugalis ipmm
liaptizare, iiisl fuerit aliq-uis alius pr(Kscns (lui hoc faccre scirct et vellet.
As parents are the means of transmitting oripinal .sin to their oflsprin;:
[2 Pet. i. 4], the reason of this rnle is sufliciently evident. Innocent ami
holy as the married state is [and inOv/Mict does not imply sin ; comp. Gal. v.
171, yet this should not be overlooked as a reverent "reason acainst any
liaptism of a child by its father without extreme neix'ssity, and a fortiori
against the unseemliness of such a Baptism in the fare of the Church.
3 This partly aecounts for the strictness of tlie 2'.'ili c.inon in requiriug
that sponsors shall be communicants.
Ipufilick leaptism of :jnfants.
409
Prayer, as the Curato by liis diacretiDii shall
appoint. Aud the Priest coming to tlie Font
(which is then to be filled with pure Water), and
standing there shall say. Hath litis Child lieai
alreatbi Ixiptized, or no i If they answer, No :
Then shall the Priest proceed as followeth.
DEARLY beloved, forasmuch as all men are
conceived and born in sin ; and tliat our
Saviour Cheist saith, None can enter into the
kingdom of God, except he be regenerate and
born anew of Water and of the Holy Ghost ;
I beseech you to call upon God the Father,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of His
bounteous mercy He will grant to this Cliild that
thing which by nature he cannot liave ; that }ie
may be baptized with Water and the Holy
Ghost, and received into Christ's holy Church,
and be made a lively member of the same.
IT Then shall the Priest say.
' Sar. Ikmd.l'oitl.
b Daye's transl. of
Hermann's Con-
suit., A.u. 1547.
" Quando fuerit fous mandandns et de pura aqua reno-
vaudus, (juod saepe debet fieri propter aqua; cor-
ruptionem ...
BELOVED in Christ Jesu, wc hear daily
out of the Word of GoD and learn by our
own experience ; that all we, from the fall of
Adam, are conceived and born in sins. . . .
alway in the same, that you may have evcrlastiug life.
Amen." This usage was dropped iu 1552. In 1061 the
Presbyterians wished the font to "be so placed as all the con-
gregation may best see and hear the wliole administration ; "
but the Bishops replied, "The font usually stands, as it did
in primitive times, at or near the Church door, to signify that
Baptism was the entrance into the Church mystical ; ' we are
all baptized into one body' [1 Cor. xii. 12], and the people
may hear well enough." A large stone font, actu.aUy tilled
with pure water, and having a drain by which the blessed
water may be let off after the Baptism, is plainly contem-
plated by the Rubric, and is directly enjoined by the eighty-
first Canon. Some decorous vessel should be provided for
bringing the water to the font, so as to avoid the use of au
ordinary domestic pail or can. The ancient Salisbury
Rubric is instx'uctive : "II Presbyter auteni si poterit semper
haheat fontem lapideum, integrum, el honeslmn, ad baplizan-
dvm : si auteni nequicerit, habeat vas conveniens ad baptismum
quod aliis nsibus nuUatenus deputetnr, nee extra ecclesiam
de}>ortelur." '
THE INTRODUCTORY SERVICE.
The ancient division of the Baptismal Office into three parts
is still to be clearly traced, as will be seen from the subse-
quent notes and marginal references in the central column.
The Introductory portion answers to the Admission of a
Catechumen, and e.\tends as far as the end of the Collect
which precedes the exhortation to the Godfathers and God-
mothers.
Hath this Child been already baptized, or no/] The actual
words of this question were substituted for the rubrical
direction, " The Priest shall ask whether the children be
baptized or no," iu 1661. In Bishop Cosin's Durham Book
the MS. Rubric as amended by him stands, "And the Priest,
coming to the Font, lohich. is then to be replenished with piure
water, and standing there, shall say, Hath this child been
already baptized or no ? Or if there be more, Hath any one
of these children? varying the Form only in those words whieh
are requisite to express a difference of the sex or number of the
children." The question is one of importance, as, in the words
of Hooker, "iteration of Baptism once given hath been always
thought a manifest contemptof that ancient apostolic aphorism,
'One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism,' Baptism not only one
inasmuch as it hath everywhere the same substance, and
offereth unto all men the same grace, but one also for that it
ought not to be received by any one man above once. " [Ece.
Polit. V. Ixii. 4.] This is the unvarying doctrine of the
Church, the only diversity of opinion on the subject being in
respect to what constitutes true Baptism. Care should there-
1 The Puritans destroyed the fonts or removed them wherever they could
do so, both iu the reign of Queeu Elizabeth and at a later date. On
October 10, 1561, an Order of Council was issued enjoining *' that the fonts
be not removed from the accustomed place : and that in Parish Churches
the Curates take not upon them to confer Baptism in basins, but in the
font customably used." In 1643 the House of Commons ordered that all
"holy-water fonts" should be removed from the Churclies, but so many
ancient fonts have survived to modern times that the order could not have
been very generally obeyed.
fore be used on both sides to secure a distinct answer to this
question with respect to every child brought to the font ; so
as to avoid mistakes and accident through deafness or want
of understanding.
If they answer. No :] For the course to be followed in case
the contrary answer " Yes " is given, see the notes at the
beginning of the Office for Private Baptism.
Dearly beloved, forasmuch as all men] The address which
follows, although partly suggested by that in Archbishop
Hermann's Consultation, seems to have been adopted with a
knowledge of that in the ancient Baptismal Office of the
French Church, which is not unlikely to have been handed
down from the time of Polycarp and St. John. The follow-
ing is a translation : " Very dear Brethren, let us, in the
venerable Office of the present mystery, humbly pray our
Almighty Creator and Restorer, Wlio deigned to repair,
through grace, the glories of our nature, lost through sin,
that He will ti'ansfuse efficacy into these waters, and by the
presence of tlie Majesty of the Trinity, give power to effect
the most holy regeneration ; that He will break in pieces the
head of the dragon upon these waters ; and that the debtors
being buried with Clirist by Baptism, the likeness of death
may so take place here, that the perishing may be saved, and
death may only be felt in the destruction here on earth
through Jesus Christ."
Then shall the Priest say. Let us pray] There is no Rubric
here directing the position of the Priest or the People. In
the MS.S. , however, there stood originally a Rubric after " Let
us pray, " which directed, "^ {And here all the congregation
sliall kneel.)" This Rubric was erased, but it was retained
in the Service for "Baptism of such as are of riper years,"
and it is found iu Cosin's Durham Book. It does not
appear in the black letter Prayer Book of 1536, having
evidently been overlooked by Bancroft when copying in the
"Alterations" aud "Additions " for the use of the King aud
Privy Council. Although not now in the text of the Prayer
Book in this place, its appearance in the later Service gives
it authority, and defines the position of the people. That of
the clergyman has already been defined by the Rubric, " The
Priest coming to the Font . . . and standing there. " Both are
confirmed by the Rubric following these two prayers, ' ' Then
shall the people ■•stand up, and the Priest .•shall say." The
clergyman should not kneel at all during the administration
of tne Sacrament of Baptism, unless at the Lord's Prayer,
when the Rubric, " The7i .••hall be said, all kneeling," niaj'
possibly include him as well as the people. His standing
during the former parts of the Office is in token that he is
the minister of God, commissioned authoritatively to give the
outward sign by which inward grace is conveyed. The "all-
kneeling " Rubric was added by Bishop Cosin in 1661 ; and
if it includes the Priest, must be taken as intended to shew
that the authoritative act is over, and that the Minister of
God is now the mouthpiece of the people in offering up a
humble thanksgiving. It may be added that this thankB-
giving does not, as in the case of the Holy Communion, form
an essential part of the rite. In that case the Priest
stands as still continuing the act of Sacrifice, but here
the sacramental act is completed before the child leaves his
arms.
4IO
IputJlicfe TBaptism of Infants.
Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, ^Ylio of Thy
-^^^ great mercy didst save Noah and his
family in the ark from perishing, by water ; and
also didst safely lead the children of Israel Thy
people through the Red Sea, figuring thereby
Thy holy Baptism ; and by the Baptism of Thy
well-beloved Sox Jesus Christ, in the river
Jordan, didst sanctify Water to the mystical
washing away of sin ; We beseech Thee, for
Thine infinite mercies, that Thou wilt mercifully
look upon this Child; wash hiiii and sanctify
him with the Holy Ghost ; that he, being
delivered from Thy wrath, may be received into
the ark of Christ's Church ; and being stedfast
in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in
'charity, may so pass the waves of this trouble-
some world, that finally he may come to the
land of everlasting life, there to reign with Theo
world without end; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Ajnen.
n Daye's transl. of
Hermann's Con-
sult., A.D. 1547.
b Invenit eos fortes
in fide, longanimes
in spe, funaatos in
dilectione, patien-
tissinius in pauper-
tale. iRU. Bapt,
in Citron. Foun-
tains, twelfth cen-
tury.)
ALMIGHTY and immortal God, the Aid of all
-L^ that need, the Helper of all that flee to
Thee for succour, the Life of them that believe,
and the Resurrection of the dead ; We call upon
Thee for this Infant, that he, coming to Thy
holy Baptism, may receive remission of his sins
by spiritual regeneration. Receive him, O Lord,
as Thou hast promised by Thy well-beloved Son,
saying, Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and ye
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you : So give now unto us that ask ; let us that
seek find ; open the gate unto us that knock ;
that this Infant may enjoy the everlasting bene-
diction of Thy heavenly washing, and may come
to the eternal kingdom which Tliou hast promised
by Christ our Lord. Ainen.
S.^. Ad/aciend.
Catec'turn, Greg.
Mur. ii. 15s.
' Douiine. §.
itaqiie. 13-
/ Per Clirihtuni l~to-
iniuMiu, §.
"Let us pray.
FURTHER, Almighty God, Which in old time
didst destroy the wicked world with the
flood, according to Thy terrible judgement, and
didst preserve only the family of godly Noah,
eight souls, of Thy unspeakable mercy : and
Which also didst drown in the Red Sea obstinate
Pharaoh the king of the Egyptians, with all his
army and warlike power, and causedst Thy people
of Israel to pass over with dry feet, and wouldest
shadow in them holy Baptism the laver of regene-
ration. Furthermore, Which didst consecrate
Jordan with the Baptism of Thy Son Christ
Jesu, and other waters to holy dipping, and
washing of sins ; we pray Thee for Thy exceeding
mercy look favourably upon this infant, give
him true faith and Thy Holy Spirit, that what-
soever filth he hath taken of Adam, it may be
drowned, and be put away by this holy flood,
that being separated from the number of the
ungodly, he may be kept safe in the holy ark of
the Church, and may confess and sanctify Thy
Name with a lusty and fervent spirit, and serve
Thy Kingdom with constant trust, and sure hope,
that at length he may attain to the promises of
eternal life with all the godly. Amen.
'T^EUS, immortale prsesidium omnium postu-
-L-' lantium, Uberatio supplicum, pax rogan-
tium, vita credentium, resurrectio mortuorum :
Te invoco' super hunc famulum Tuum N. qui
Baptismi Tui donum petens, Eeternam consequi
gratiam spirituali regeneratione desiderat. Accipe
eum, DoMiNE : et quia dignatus es dicere, petite ac
accipietis, quserite et invenietis, pulsate et aperie-
tur vobis, petenti' prjemium porrige et januam
pande pulsanti : ut teternam coelest's lavacri
benedictionem consecutus, promissa Tui niuneris
regna percipiat. -^Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo
Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per
omnia ssecula saeculorum. Amen.
Almvjldy and everlastimj God, IVlto] This prayer is not
derived from the old Office of tlie English Church, but is pro-
l)ably of great antiquity. Luther translated it into German
from the ancient Latin in 1523, and it appears again in his
revised "Baptismal Book" of 1524. From thence it was
transferred to tlie Nuremberg Office, and appears in the
Consultnlion of Archbishop Hermann in 1545. The latter
was translated into English in 1547, and the prayer as it
stands in the Prayer Book of 1549 is almost identical with
this translation, as given above.
did■^t mvr, Noah . . . by loater] The type of the deluge was
used in two senses in the original, as will be seen above ;
first, indicating water as a means of destroying evil ; and,
secondly, as a means of salvation. Tlie first sense was
eliminated from the prayer in 1552, as also was the similar
passage wliicli spoke of the destruction of Pharaoh : and in
its present form the idea of ' ' saving by water " is more
strongly expressed than it was previously l)y "whom. . . Thou
ilidst save in the ark." Yet the original twofold sense is to
1)0 found in the Oelasian Office for Baptism : " Wlio, wash-
ing away tlie sins of the world by water, didst in the very out-
pourings of the deluge stamp a figure of regeneration ; so tliat
through the mystery of one and the same clement, tliere was
both an end put to sins, and a source of excellence." The
Baptism of the world by the deluge to the cleansing away
of its iniquity, and the regenerating it for a new life, is a
favourite idea with the ancient fatliers. '
1 1'1'mkv'h ''icriptural VUws 0/ lUiptUm, yo2, 11.
didst sanctify Water] Every ancient Baptismal Office con-
tains this reference to the effect of our Lord's Baptism in
sanctifying the element of water, and yet it is remarkable
tliat no sucli doctrine is to be found in Holy iScripture. It is
one of tliose venerable religious impressions which pervade
tlie whole Church of Christ, and which, at the same time,
cannot be traced up to their origin." The words were
objected to by the Presbyterians at the Savoy Conference,
but happily the Bishops retained them, with the explanation
that the Baptism of Christ was " dedicatio baptismi." Com-
pare this Prayer with that in the Baptism of Adults.
The signing with the Cross which now foUow.s the act of
Piaptism, took place here in the I'rayer Book of 1540, the
words used being, "iV. " (the child having been named by the
sponsors), "Receive the sign of the holy cross, both in thy
forehead and in thy breast, in token that thou shalt not be
ashamed ..." etc.
Almvjhly and immortal God, the Aid] This is from the
ancient Offices, where, and in the Prayer Book of 1549, it was
associated with the Exorcism. In the Salisbury Manual the
prayer is addressed to God the Son ; in that of York, as in the
English Service, to God the Father.
It was followed in the first Prayer Book by the Exorcism,
which stood in this form : —
"U Then let the Priest, lookimj upon the children, say,
' ' 1 command thee, unclean spirit, in the Name of the Father,
' The Benediction of (lie Wntcr-s of the Nova in tlic Russian CImicli is
cnnnecte'l with tliin traiiition.
IputJlicfe a5apti0m of infants.
411
IT Then shall the people stand up, ami the Priest
shall say,
Hear the words of the Gospel, written by Saint
Mark, in the tenth Chapter, at the thirteenth
Verse.
*rpHEY brought young chiklren to Cueist, that
-L He should touch them : and His disciples
rebuked those that brought them. But when
Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said
unto them. Suffer the little children to come
unto Me, and forbid them not : for of such is the
Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you. Who-
soever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as
a little child, he shall not enter therein. And
He took them up in His arms, put His hands
upon them, and blessed them.
IT After the Gospel is read, the Minister shall make
this brief exhortation upon the words of the
Gospel.
BELOVED, ye hear in this Gospel the words
of our Saviouk Christ, that He com-
manded the children to be brought unto Him ;
how He blamed those that would have kept
them from Him ; how He exhorteth all men to
follow their innocency. Ye perceive how by
His outward gesture and deed He declared His
good will toward them ; for He embraced them
in His arms. He laid His hands upon them, and
blessed them. Doubt ye not therefore, but
earnestly believe, that He will likewise favour-
ably receive this present Lifant ; that He will
embrace him with the arms of His mercy ; that
He will give unto him the blessing of eternal
life, and make him, partaker of His everlasting
kingdom. Wherefore we being thus persuaded
of the good will of our heavenly Father towards
this Infant, declared by His Son Jesus Christ ;
and nothing doubting but that He favourably
'' alloweth this charitable work of ours in bring-
"Sar. ^{d/Mitn<i.
Catcclium.
''5. 11 . Raman.
Matt. 19. 13-15.
I-astern. lip.
Rom. 6. 3-12. Gosp.
Matt. 38, 16-30,
f Daye's tr.ilisl. of
Her}iia}tii s Ccn-
sutt., A.D. 1547.
His dictis, dicat sacerdos,
"DoMiNUS vobiscum. liesp. Et cum spiritu
tuo. Sequentia .sancti Evangelii secundum
Matthaum. lies]). Gloria Tibi, Domine.
(i Onj^nally altered
in N(S. to "accept-
etli," but restored
to its old form.
'Believe these words and this deed of our Lord
Jesus Christ upon them, and doubt not but
that He will so receive your children also, and
embrace them with the arms of His mercy, and
give them the blessing of eternal life, and the
everlasting communion of the Kingdom of God.
The same Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ
confirm and increase this your faith. Amen.
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out and
depart from these infants, whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath
vouchsafed to call to His holy Baptism, to be made members
of His body, and of His holy congregation. Therefore, thou
cursed spirit, remember thy sentence, remember thy judge-
ment, remember the day to be at hand wherein thou shalt
burn in fire everlasting, prepared for thee and thy angels.
And presume not hereafter to exercise any tyranny towards
these infants, whom Christ hath bought with His precious
blood, and by this His holy Baptism calleth to be of His
flock."
This was founded on the ancient Exorcism, but was not
quite identical with it in the latter part. Both it, and the
Dominus Vobiscum which followed it, were left out in the
revision of 1552. The Exorcism seems to have been expunged
in deference to the criticism of Bucer, wlio thought that it
pointed to an actual possession of all unbaptized persons,
similar to the cases of possession recorded in the Gospel. It
was an usage derived from the Primitive Church, and shewed
a more sensitive appreciation of the actual power and presence
of the Evil One than the half-sceptical Germanism of Bucer
could understand ; but it can hardly be regretted that it is
not in our present Office.
Ifear the loords of the Gospel] The practice of former days
at the reading of the Gospel in the iJaptismal Office appears
to have been identical with that used at the same rite in the
Communion Service, for Bishop Cosin inserted the following
in his Prayer Book prepared for the Revision of 1661. Before
the Gospel, "Here the j^eople shall stand up and saij. Glory
be to Thee, O Lord : " and after the Gospel, " So entieth the
Holy Gospel. Answer. Thanks be to Thee, O Lord." In the
ancient Offices these versicles were sometimes inserted, and
in some cases (as in our modern one) left out. Reverence
and analogy both suggest their use.
The parallel passage from St. Matthew's Gospel was used
in some Baptismal Offices (as in those of Beauvais and Remire-
raont) [Martene, de Antii/. Ecc. i. 43] as long as eight
hundred years ago, and is probably of as ancient a date in our
own Office, although not traceable in the Sacramentaries of
the Primitive Church. It was changed for the present
Gospel from St. Mark in 1549, perhaps for the sake of the
emphatic words of our Lord with which the passage concludes
in that Evangelist, and which were a Divine witness against
the Anabaptist heresy that infested the Churches of Europe
at the time of the Reformation. It was also appointed in
Hermann's Consultation.
Beloved, ye hear in this Go.yjel] This address, or short
homily, was first inserted in 1549, and was evidently founded
on that in the Cologne book. In its original form [1549] it
ended, "and say the prayer whicli the Lord Himself taught.
And in declaration of our faith, let us also recite the articles
contained in our Creed. " The Lord's Prayer and the Creed
were then said (according to the ancient custom) by "the
Minister, godfathers, godmothers, and people present," before
the prayer which now immediately follows the Exhortation.
This recitation of the Lord's Prayer and Creed was made by
all, on their own behalf, and was quite independent of the
interrogatory Creed which is recited by the Priest and
replied to by the sponsors on behalf of the child to be
baptized. It is singular that, although the Lord's Prayer
has been removed from this place in this Office, it is retained
in the parallel one for jjubhcly receiving a privately baptized
child.
alloweth] An old word for "approves and accepts," i.e.
412
Ipublicfe T5aptism of infants.
ing ihis Infant to His holy Baptism ; let lis faith-
fully and devoutly give thanks uuto Him, and
say,
ALIMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly
Jl\. Father, we give Thee humble thanks,
for that Thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the
knowledge of Thy grace, and faith in Thee :
Increase this knowledge, and confirm this faith
in us evermore. Give Thy Holy Spirit to this
Infant, that he may be born again, and be made
an lielr of everlasting salvation ; through our
LoED Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth
with Thee and the Holy Spirit, now and for
ever. Ainen.
TT Then shall the Priest speak uuto the Godfathers
and Godmothers on this wise.
DEx\ELY beloved, ye have brought this Child
here to be baptized, ye have prayed that
our Lord Jesus Christ would vouchsafe to
receive him, to release hiin of his sins, to
sanctify him with the Holy Ghost, to give liim
the Kingdom of Heaven, and everlasting life.
Ye have heard also that our Lord Jesus Christ
hath promised in His Gospel t<i grant all these
things that ye have prayed for : which promise
He, for His part, will most surely keep and per-
form. AVherefore, after thia promise made by
Christ, this Infant must also faithfully, for his
part, promise by you that are his sureties, (until
he come of age to take it upon himself,) that he
will renounce the devil and all his works, and
constantly believe God's holy Word, and obedi-
ently keep His commandments.
a Daye's tratlsl. of
Hefntann's ton-
suit., A.D. 1547.
b Daye's transl. of
siiit., A.D. 1547.
"ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly
-^^ Father, we give Thee eternal thanks,
that Thou hast vouchsafed to call us to this
knowledge of Thy grace, and faith towards Thee.
Encrease and confirm this faith in us evermore.
Give Thy Holy Spirit to this infant, that he may
be born again, and be made heir of everlasting
salvation, which of Thy grace and mercy Thou
hast promised to Thy holy Church, to old men
and to children, through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which liveth and reigneth with Thee now and
for ever. Amen.
* "OELOVED in Christ, yesterday by the grace
J—' of God we heard how exceeding and un-
speakable mercy is exhibited in Baptism. Ye
have renounced Satan and the world, ye have
confessed the faith of Christ, and ye have pro-
mised obedience to Christ, and the congregation,
and ye have required of God the Father that
for His Son's sake our Lord Jesus Christ, He
will deliver these infants from the kingdom of
darkness, and settle them in the Kingdom of His
beloved Son. You must remember these things,
and doubt nothing but that we shall receive all
these things that we require if we believe . . .
"indorses." [Coriip. Luke xi. 48, where the original word
ffwevhoKEiTe fixes the sense.]
Almighty and everlasting God] The Collect which follows
the Exhortation is not from the ancient Offices of the EugUsh
Church, but is taken from the Cologne Book of Archbishop
Hermann. It may have been taken into that book, like the
first prayer in the Ottice, from ancient German rituals. The
first half of it is on behalf of the congregation, and is plainly
inserted with reference to the Creed which originally preceded
it : the latter is a prayer on behalf of the child to be baptized,
in which the Church beseeches God that it may be made
partaker by baptismal regeneration of the inheritance of
"everlasting salvation." The words of the Latin in Her-
mann's original are, "Da huic infanti Spiritum Sanctum
Tuum quo regeneretur, et haeres fiat ffitemse salutis. " They
must not be taken as referring to any expected indwelling of
the non-incarnate God, the Holy Ghost, in the individual,
but to the operation upon the iiulividual of that Third Person
in the IMessed Trinity, Who ever indwells in the Church as
a corporate body, according to the promise of our Lord. The
prayer has some analogy with the Invocation of the Holy
Ghost which is found in ancient Eucharistic Liturgies, the
Person being, of course, substituted for the Elements.
It is a common practice for the congregation to repeat this
Collect after the Minister. Perhaps the custom has some
connection with the recitation of the Creed, by which it was
fas has been shewn) preceded until 1.552. But a Rubric stood
before it in the first hook of ICdward VI., " The I'rieM shall
add also this praijer," and there is nothing in the present
Rubric, or in the printing of the several clauses, to indicate
that it should be said by any one excei)t the Priest.
Immediately after this Collect, according to the Oflioo of
\')i'.), the priest took the chill (or one of tiie children) to be
baptized l>y the liand, and went from the cliurch door (where
.all the preceding parts of the .Service had been performed)
towards the font, saying, " 'J'ho Lord vouchsafe to receive
you into His holy household, and to keep and govern you
alway in the same, that you may have everlasting life.
Amen." This ancient custom seems originally to have been
instituted with reference to adult catechumens, the leading
of an infant by the hand which was being carried in its god-
mother's arms being clearly an adaptation, and not a very
significant one, of an usage w hich was highly significant in the
case of a grown-up person. As the service for the admission
of the catechumen ceased now to be separate from that for
hi.s Baptism, and as the Baptismal Office was now intended
primarily for infants, though in primitive times intended
primarily for adults who had been Jews or Heathens,
the abolition of the practice appears to be not unreasonable ;
and the less so as it is substantially continued in the Baptism
of Adults.
The introductory part of the Office, answering to the
primitive and mediaeval "Ordo ad faciendum Catechumenuni,"
now ends with this Collect.
THE BAPTISMAL VOWS.
With the E.xhortation to the Sponsors the .actual "Ritus
Baptizandi " begins, as it began in the ancient OUiees ; but it
is now intermingled witli the Benediction of the Font ; the
chrism [anointing] and the chrisom [baptismal robe], with
the lighted taper [symbol of the lamps of the ten virgins],
:ire omitted, and a thanksgiving, witli the Lord's Prayer, is
added.
The earliest Chri.stian writings, and even the Holy Scrip-
tures, shew that some form of interrogation always preceded
iJaptism. AVhcn the eunuch desired baptism from Philip the
Deacon, the Latter said, "If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
tliat .Jesus Clirist is the Son of God." [Acts viii. ."iT.] It has
also been believed by many sound interpreters that St.
I'aul's words to Timothy, '' Fight the good tight of faith, lay
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses " [1 Tim.
vi. 12], refer to this custom. Tortulli.an speaks of the renun-
ci.ation of S.atan. and the decl.aration of belief, as part of the
IPutiUck 15aptism of Jnfants.
4'3
I demand therefore,
DOST thou, in the name of this Child,
renounce the devil and all his works, the
vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covet-
ous desires of the same, and the carnal desires of
the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led
by them '
IT Answer.
I rec"\ince them all.
1 Minister.
DOST thou believe in God the Fathek
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ?
And in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son
our Lord ? And that He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost ; born of the Virgin Mary ; that He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucilied, dead,
and buried ; that He went down into hell, and
also did rise again the third day ; that He as-
cended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty ; and from thence
shall come again at the end of the world, to
judge the quick and the dead 1
And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost ; the
holy Catholick Cliurch ; the Communion of
Saints ; the Remission of sins ; the Resurrection
of the flesh ; and everlasting life after de^th ?
IT Answer.
All this I stedfastly believe.
If Minister.
TTriLT thou be baptized in this faith 1
tiznndi.
'' S. ig. RHUS Bap.
tiziiftdi. Orcg.
Gelas.
H Answer.
That is my desire.
Greg.
" Item Sacerdos dicat.
iV. Abrenuncias Sathanje. Jiespondeant cumpalrini
el commairi/ia; Abrcnnncio. Ilem Sacerdos. Et
(mmibus operibus ejus. I^. Abrenuncio. Item
Sacerdos. Et omnibus pompis ejus. ^. Abre-
nuncio.
*Item Sacerdos.
If. Credis in Deum Pateem omnipotentem, Crea-
torem cocli et terra; 1
Respondeant : Credo.
'Item Sacerdos: Credis et in Jesum Christum
FiLiUM Ejus unicum Dominum nostrum, natum
et passum ?
Respondeant : Credo.
Item Sacerdos : Credis et in Spiritum Sanc-
tum, sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam, Sanctorum
communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis
resurrectionem, et vitam Eeternam post mortem ]
Respondeant : Credo.
TUNC interroyet Sacerdos nomen infantis dicens :
Quid petis 1 Respondeant : Baptismum. Item
Sacerdos: Vis baptizari '! Respondeant: Volo.
ceremony for making catechumens. [De Coroii. iii.] St.
Cyprian says [Ep. Ixx. 2], "The very interrogatory which is
put in Baptism is a witness of the truth ; ' ' and from his time
f(trward some form or other of interrogation and of Baptismal
Vow is frequently alhided to by the Fathers. In the earliest
e.xtaut Baptismal Liturgy, that of Gelasiiis and C4regory, the
interrogatories are identical with those of the Salisbury
Manual as printed above ; and as those now in use are sub-
stantially the same, it may be reasonably considered that the
modern form represents that which was in use in the Primi-
tive, and perhaps in the Apostolic Church.
§ The Vow of RemmckUion.
The form of renunciation is referred to by Tertullian in
these words : " We do in the Church testify, under the hand
of a chief minister, that we renounce the devil and his pomp
and his .angels." St. Basil [de Sji. S. xxvii.] speaks of the
same renunciation as one of the unwritten traditions and
customs of the Church. St. Cyril of Jerusalem gives the
form as, " I renounce thee, vSatan, and all thy works, and
all thy pomp,' and all thy service ;" and he says that while
the renunciation was being uttered the catechumen stood
facing the West, as "tlie region of sensible darkness," and
stretched out the arm as though actually speaking to the
Kvil One. The ancient Roman form is that of Gelasius and
Gregory. The form of the Eastern Church is, "Dost thou
renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his angels, and all
his service, and all his pomp? Answer. I renounce them:"
the renunciation being made three times, which seems to
1 " Pomp " comes fioia rroiitr/;, pompa, and means strictly a religious pro-
cession. The ancient form of the renunciation carries us back to the
primitive days of Christianity, when all public games and shows among
the Greeks and Romans were connected with idolatrous and Satanic cere-
monies. In its later fonn the " pomp" is connected with the world ; and
Shakespeare seems to have had the Baptismal vow in view when he put
into Wolsey's mouth the words, " Vain pomp and glory of this world, I
hate ye." [Henni VII J. iii. 2.] The word was also used for masques.
have been the ancient practice. The original English form
also contained three renunciations, being as follows : —
'^ N. Dost thou forsake the devil and all his works?
" Ansioer. I forsake them all.
" Alinister. Dost thou forsake the vain pomji . . . desires of
the same ?
"Answer. I forsake them all.
^^ Minister. Dost thou forsake the carnal desires . . . nor
lie led by them ?
"Ansioer. I forsake them.'
These were combined into one question and one answer in
the revision of 1552, and continued in that form with the
addition, "in the name of this Child," and the word
"forsake" altered to "renounce " in 1661, the changes being
made by Bishop Cosin.-
§ The Vow of Belief.
The profession of faith is founded on our LortVs words in
Matt, xxviii. 19 ; and from the case of the eunuch in Acts
viii. 37, it appears to have been required from the very first.
It seems also to be required by our Lord's words, " He that
believeth and is baptized " [Mark xvi. 16] : for as belief must
necessarily, in adults, precede Baptism, so some confession of
what is beUeved seems necessary as an outward evidence of
belief. The object, however, is not that each person should
declare his own private belief, but that he should assent to
that of the Church. Tertullian [de Coron. iii.] speaks of such
a confession being made in his time, "pledging ourselves
to something more than the Lord hath prescribed in the
Gospel ; " that is, to a fuller Creed than the confession of
belief in the Three Persons of tlie Blessed Trinitj'. Such a
confession is extant in the case of Palmatius, who was bap-
tized about A.D. 220, a few years after Tertullian MTote. It
2 .See other forms of the renunciations, and of the Baptismal Office at
large, in Asseman. Cod. Litiirg. i, 174, ii. 211 ; and in Neale's Hist. Easlern,
Church, ii. 945.
414
Iputilick TBaptism of 3lnfant0.
H Minister.
"VTTILT thou then obediently keep God's holy
VV will and commaudments, and walk in the
same all the days of thy life ?
IT Answer.
I wiU.
IT Then shall the Priest say,
OMEKCIFUL God, grant that the old Adam
in tJiis Child may be so buried, that the
new man may be raised up in him. Amen.
Grant that all carnal affections may die in Idm,
and that all things belonging to the Spirit may
live and grow in him. Amen.
Grant that he may have power and strength to
have victory, and to triumph against the devil,
the world, and the flesh. Amen.
Grant that whosoever is here dedicated to Thee
by our office and ministry, may also be endued
with heavenly virtues, and everlastingly re-
"Tj^IAT locus iste dignus, in quern Spieitus
J- Sanctus influat : Amen. Sepeliatur hie
illic Adam vetus, resurgat novus : Amen.
Moriatur hie omne quod carnis est ; resurgat
omne quod est spiritus : Amen.
Quicunc^ue hie renunciant diabolo ; da eis
triumphare de mundo : Amen. Quicunque in hoc
loco confessus fuerit, Tu eum recognoscas in
regno : Amen.
Ut per ministerium nostrum Tibi consecratus,
seternis ad Te virtutibus sternis prajmiis conse-
is as follows : " Credis, ex toto corde, iu Deum Patrem
Omuipotentem, Factorem omnium visibilium et invisibihum ?
Respondit Palmatius. Credo. Et in Jesum Cliristum, Filium
ejus ? El ait, Credo. Qui natus est de Spiritu Sancto ex
Maria Virgine ? Palmatius respondit. Credo. Et iu Spiritum
Sanctum : .Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam : Kemissionem
peccatorum : et carnis resurrectionem ? Et exdamavil ciivi
lachrymis Palmatius, dicens. Credo, Domine. " ' St. Cyprian,
in his seventieth and seventy-sixth Epistles, gives part of a
similar creed, and others are extant whicli were used at the
baptism of various persons in the third and fourth century ;
this being, in fact, the earliest use of the Apostles' Creed."
St. Cyril [CatecJi. Led. xix. 9] states that this profession of
faith was made towards the East.
In our first English Office the three divisions of the Creed
formed three separate questions, to each of which the answer
"I believe" was given. They were put together under one
question and answer in 1552, and were retained in that form
in 1661, although Bishop Cosin wished to restore the old
custom, and noted it accordingly in his revised book. The
question, " Wilt thou be baptized in this faith?" represents
the two questions, " ^Yhat dost thou desire? "and, "Wilt
thou be baptized ? " of the old Office : which were altered to
the present form in 1552.
§ The Vow of Obedience.
This is not represented in the Primitive Offices of Baptism
of the Sacramentaries, nor in tliat of the English Church
before 1661. It first appears in Bishop Cosin's MS. annota-
tions, the question beginning, "Dost thou promise tliat thou
wilt obediently . . . ?" and the answer being, "I do pro-
mise. " But it appears probable from Justin Martyr [Apol. i.
61] that a declar.ation of a similar kind was used m very
ancient times in the Eastern Church.
All the interrogatories were formerly addressed to the child
without any modifying expression, although tliey were, of
course, intended to be answered by the sponsors, according
to the Sarum Rubric, " Respondeant compatrini et comma-
trina;." Among the fine-drawn objections, liowcver, of Bucer
in l.")49, thi.s was the subject of one ; and tlie Presbyterians
of 1661 objected to the answers being maile in tlic name of
the child at all. In Bishop Cosin's book there is written,
"Dost thou, in the name of this child," and tlie alteration was
adopted : but the Revisers refused to go further. Bishop
Cosin also altered the Rubric which precedes the interroga-
tories into tliis form : " H Then shall the Priest demand of
the godfathers and godmothers of every several child to he
baptized, these questions following." Where many children
are to be baptized, it would be almost impossible to repeal
the questions in the case of every several child : and it may
be considered sufficient, if care is taken, by tone, gesture (and
repetition, where necessary), that the si)onsor3 of every child
really make the answers which are appointed. An <in,siver tor
each child ia that which is required, and this may be secureil
even when the interrogatories arc put only once to the whole
1 ilKrliTl.Ev'H Uttrtnonta .SymloUat, p. 100,
2 Tlir; I-'astcm Cliurcli ukcs the Nlccne Creed at BaptlHin.
body of sponsors. It must at the same time be remarked,
that in making these answers the sponsors are simply the
mouthpiece of the child, and do not incur any responsibility
on their own account in consequence, either as regards the
child or themselves. Yet as each godfather and godmother
makes tliem, they can hardly fail to have a keen conscious-
ness of the fact that these very replies were once made on
their own behalf ; and the thought may well arise, How
have the vows thus made been kept in subsequent years ?
"Baptism doth re-present unto us our own profession."
THE BENEDICTION OF THE WATER.
Although the element of water was sanctified to a sacra-
mental purpose by our Blessed Lord when He was baptized
in it Himself, it has ever been the practice of the Church
to use a form of benediction upon that portion of water
which was to be set apart for the administration of Baptism.
From the words of Tertullian it would even seem that such a
form was used over running streams : for after saying that
there is no difference whether a man is baptized in the sea, in
a pool, in a lake, in a river, or in a fountain, he adds that
"all waters, from the ancient privilege of their origin, obtain,
after prayer to God, the sacrament of sanctifi cation. " [Z>e
Bajitism. iv.] St. Cyprian writes to Januarius in the year
235, "The water must first be cleansed and sanctified by the
priest,^ that it may be able, by Baptism therein, to wash
away the sins of the baptized." [Ep. Ixx.] St. Cyril of
.Jerusalem taught his candidates for Baptism in similar words :
"Regard not the sacred laver as simple water, regard rather
the spiritual grace given with the water . . . plain water,
after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, and of Christ, and of
the Father, gains a sanctifying power." [Catech. Led. iii. 3.]
In the treatise on the Sacraments, attributed to St. Ambrose,
the author writes, "When the priest first comes to the
baptistery, lie exorcises the creature of water, and afterwards
makes an invocation and ofi'ers a prayer, that the font may
be sanctified for the presence of the Eternal Trinity. " In the
Apostolical Constitutions, and in the Sacramentaries of
(Jel.asius and St. Gregory, tlio aotu.il form of benediction is
given ; and tlie ceremonies by which it was accompanied are
indicated in tlie jirevious Introduction to this Office. The
ancient " Bcnedictio Fontis " of the Church of England was
of a similar character to that of tlie Gregorian Sacramentary.
In all these cases the Benediction of tlie water was a cere-
mony separate from, or at least not necessarily performed at
the same time with, the administration of Jiaptism. The
special times of its performance were Faster Eve and Whit-
sun Eve : and in the early Church tlie Bishop was the officiat-
ing minister. The impurity of water which has been kept
for a long time rendered a more freijuent benediction necessary
when Baptisms came to be administered on any Sunday or
Holyday ; ami as there w.as no essential necessity for the
pi'csence of a bisliop, the rite was eventually performed by the
priest, from time to time, whenever the water was changed.
3 Scerrthn, used in an incluHivo sense, (is we nsc " iiiinisftev : " tlie Bisliop
lieing then tlie niliiister of IhiM rite.
IputJlicfe TBaptism of ^Infants.
415
warded, through Thy mercy, O Blessed Lord
God, Who dost live and govern all things, world
without end. Avien.
ALMIGHTY, everliving God, Whose most
-^l\. dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, for
the forgiveness of our sins, did shed out of His
most precious side both water and blood, and
gave commandment to His disciples, that they
should go teach all nations, and baptize them In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost ; Regard, we beseech Thee,
the supplications of Thy congregation : sanctify
'THIS WATER to the mystical washing away
of sin : and grant that this Child, now to be bap-
tized therein, may receive the fulneSs of Thy
grace, and ever remain in the number of Thy
faithful and elect children ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
« S. ^. Binrrl.
Font. Oreg. Gelas.
b Mozarabic. Bened,
l-ont.
c So in MS.
cretur : Amen. Per mLsericordiam ipsius Dei
nostri Qui est benedictus : et vivit et omnia regit
in saecula SKCuIorum. Amen.
. . "Benc^J^dico te per Jesum Christum
FiLiDM Ejus uuicum Dominum nostrum : qui te
in Ghana Galileaj . . . Qui te una cum san-
guine de latere suo produxit : et discipulis jussit
ut credentes baptizarentur in te diccns : Ite,
docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine
Pa>J<tris, et Fii^Lii, et Spi>J<ritu.s Sancti
''Sancti^^fica fonteni liunc Sancti^ficator generis
humani. Ameu.
This custom was continued in the reformed Prayer Book, the
Office for the Benediction of the Font — taken from the Moz-
arabic Office — being placed at the end of the two Offices for
Baptism, as follows : —
" H The water in the font shall be chancjed every month once at
the least, and afore any child be baptized in the water so
changed, the Priest shall sai/ at the font these j'rayersfolloir-
ing.
"0 Most Merciful God our .Saviour Jesu C'lnist, Who hast
ordained the element of water for the regeneration of Thy
faithful people, upon Whom, being baptized in the river of
Jordan, the Holy Ghost came down in likeness of a dove :
send down, we beseech Thee, the same Thy Holy Spirit to
assist us, and to be present at tiiis our invocation of Tliy holy
Name : sanctify-J*this fountain of baptism, Thou that art the
sanctifier of all things, that by the power of Thy Word all
those that shall be baptized therein may be spiritually re-
generated, and made the cliildren of everlasting adoption.
Amen.
" Merciful God, grant that the old Adam, in them that
shall be baptized in this fountain, may be so buried, that the
new man may be raised up again. Amen.
"Grant that all carnal affections may die in them; and
that all things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow in
them. Amen.
" Grant to all theui which at this fountain forsake tlie devil
and all his works, that they may have power and strength to
have victory and to triumph .against him, the world, and the
flesh. Amen.
" Whosoever shall confess Thee, O Lord : recognize him
also in Thy kingdom. Amen.
" Grant tliat all sin and vice here may he so extinct : that
they never have power to reign in Thy servants. Amen.
"Grant that whosoever here shall begin to be of Thy flock ;
may evermore continue in the same. Amen.
"Grant that all they which for Thy sake in this life do
deny and forsake themselves : may win and purchase Thee,
Lord, Whicli art everlasting treasure. Amen.
" Grant that whosoever is here dedicated to Thee by our
office and ministry : may also be endued with heavenly virtues,
and everlastingly rewarded through Thy mercy, O blessed
Lord God, Who dost live and govern all things world without
end. Amen.
" The Lord be with you.
"Answer. And with thy spirit.
"Almighty, Everliving God, Whose most dearly beloved
.Son .lesus Christ, for the forgiveness of our sins, did shed out
of His most precious side both water and blood, and gave
commandment to His disciples that they should go teach all
nations, and baptize them In the Name of the Father, the Son,
and tlie Holy Ghost ; Regard, we beseech Thee, the supplica-
tions of Thy congregation, and grant that all Thy servants
which shall be baptized in this water, prepared for the
mini.stratiou of Thy holy Sacrament, may receive the fulness
of Thy grace, and ever remain in the number of Thy faithful
and elect children, through Jesus Christ our Lord. "
In 1552 this separate benediction of the water was abolished,
through the interference of Bucer. He objected to any bene-
diction, but a portion of the service was, notwithstanding,
incorporated with that for Baptism, to be used whenever the
Sacrament is administered. The last prayer was retained for
the actual benediction instead of the first, the only alteration
made being the omission of the words, " prepared for tlie
ministration of Thy holy Sacr.ament. " It was changed into
its present form in 1661 ; but in Bishop Cosin's revised book
the words are much less pointed than they were ultimately
made, being, "... this water, which we here bless in Tliy
Name, and dedicate to this holy action."
Although this benediction of the water of Baptism is not
essential to the regeneration of the baptized person, like the
affusion of the water upon him, it is a solemn recognition of
the work of God in the Sacrament ; a significant symbol of
the Creator laying " the beams of His chambers " — the
Temple of Christ's mystical body — "in the waters ;" of the
Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, for the
purpose of new creation ; of the ^'ictor breaking in pieces the
head of the dragon in those waters by means of which the
power of the evil one is counteracted and defeated. Being a
rite of so solemn a kind, it should be performed with reverence
and exactness, and it is well to use the old custom of making
the sign of the Cross in the water at the word "sanctify,"
though it is not now the practice to print the cross in the
Prayer Book, as formerly, in the places where it is proper
to use it.' Care should also be taken not to repeat the
benediction ; and to avoid this the water should be let off
from the font immediately after the conclusion of the
Baptismal Office.
The four petitions with which the benediction of the water
begins now, as it began when it was a separate service, are
substantially taken from the ancient Mozarabic Ritual of the
Spanish Church. They have no place in the Roman ritual,
nor were they in the Latin Office of the English Church : but
they probably belong to that ancient Ephesine rite of St.
.John, which formed the original basis of the Spanish, French,
and English national rites. The original form has a great
resemblance to the Great Collect or Litany which begins the
Eastern Baptismal Office.
During the suppression of the Prayer Book some fonns of
prayer were printed by .Jeremy Taylor, to be used by those
who loved the ancient customs ; and his prayer for the bene-
diction of the font offers a beautiful devotional commentary
upon the subject. It is as follows : —
"Our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus, Who was baptized
of John in Jordan, Who ^lalked upon the waters, Who con-
verted water into wine, Who out of His precious side shed
forth blood and water, the two sacraments of Life unto His
holy Church, and commanded His disciples to teach all nations,
baptizing them with water in the Name of the Father, of the
1 St. Augustine wi-ites, " In fine, wliat is, as all know, the sigii of Christ,
save tlie Cross of Christ? Which sign unless it be applied, whether tu the
brows of the believing, or to the very water out of which they are regenerated,
or to the oil wherewith they are anointed, or to the sacrifice wherewith they
nre fed, none of these is duly performed." [Aro. in Joann. cs\iii. 5.J And
in another place he also says, " For with this sign of the Cross the Body of
the Lord is consecrated, and the water of Baptism sanctified." [Serm.
exviii. de Temp.] Tlie Rubric of the Salisbury Office (at least as old as the
time of St. Gregory) is, " //(C diridat sacenlos aqunm vioint stin (textra in
viodrim cmcis."
4i6
IputJlick 15aptism of infants.
H Then the Priest shall take the Child into his hands,
and shall say to the Godfathers and Godmothers,
Name this Child. And then naming it after them
(if they shall certify him that the Child may well
endure it) he shall dip it in the water discreetly
and warily, saying,
"Vr I baptize tliee In the Name of tlie Father,
Xi • and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
H But if they certify that the Child is weak, it shall
suffice to pour water upon it, saying the foresaid
words,
I baptize thee In the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
N
Amen.
W
II Then the Priest shall say,
E receive this Child into the congregation
of Christ's flock, + and do sign him
+ Here the "^^^^^ t^i® ^ig" 0^ ^^^ cross, in token
Priest shall that hereafter he shall not be
o'" lu'^chm's "ashamed to confess the faith of
forehead. Christ crucified, and manfully to
^ ».&. RitlisHap.
tiztindi. Grey.
Gcl.i5.
* S. ^. RHUS Bap.
tizandi. Greg.
Gelas.
c " In token that he
is come to be pro-
fessed and totally
to be dedicated to
Christ crucified.
Whom he ivill
never be ashamed
before men openly
to confess and
knowledge." (Ra-
tionale of 1541 in
COLLlER'.s C/i.
Ntst. V, 106]
" Deinde accipiat Sacerdos infantem per latera in mani-
bus suis, et interrogato nomine ejus, baptizet eum
sub trina mersione, tantum sanctam Trinitateni
invocando, ita diceus :
iV. Et ego Baptizo te in Nomine Patris.
M inergat eum semel versa facie ad aquilonem,
et capite versus orientem:
Et FiLll :
Et iterum inergat semel versa facie ad meri-
diem :
Et Spiritus Sancti : Amen.
Et mergat teriio recta facie versus aquam.
[*Oratio.
DEUS Omnipotens, Pater Domini nostri
Jesu Christi, Qui te regeneravit ex aqua
et SriRiTU Sancto, quique dedit tibi remis-
sionem omnium peccatorum tuorum : Hie linial
infantem de ipso ckrisrnate cum pollice in vertice
in modum crticis, dicens, Ip.se te linit chrismatc
Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; He bless and sanctify by His
Holy Spirit this water, that it may be instrumental and
effective of grace, of pardon, and sanetification. Hear us,
most gracious God, that whosoever shall be bajjtized in this
water may be renewed by Thy grace, justified by Thy mercy,
sanctified by Tliy Spirit, preserved by Thy Providence, and
guided by Thy Word : that in this water, springing from the
Paradise of God, the soul [or, souls] presented unto Thee may
be cleansed and purified, and that there may be added to
Thy Church daily such as shall be saved in the day of Thy
glorious appearing, blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus.
Amen. "
It must be remembered that the benediction of the water
for Baptism is of a very different nature from the benediction
of the Elements with our Lord's own words in the Holy
Eucharist. In the former case the blessing simply sets it
apart for a very holy use, and effects no sacramental change
in the element. The rite is not (so far as we know) of our
Lord's institution, nor did He ever use such words respecting
water as He used respecting the Eucharistic Elements.
THE BAPTISM.
The whole of what goes before is a preparation for the few
words and the simple action by which the Baptism, and
therefore the regeneration, of the child is effected, and all
that follows looks back to these either in tlianksgiving or in
exhortation. Great exactness is. therefore, necessary in the
use of this part of the Office : [1] first, that the child may not
lack any of the benefits of regeneration through any omission
in the rite by which it is conveyed ; [2] and, secondly, that
the priest may not have guilt upon his soul through depriving
the child, by any such omission, of the means of salvation.
The essential parts of the rite have been already spoken of
in the previous Introduction ; but it may here be repeated
that without actual contact of tlic w.ater with the person of
the child, while the words are being spoken, there cannot be
a Baptism. Wlien and where innnersion was the common
practice, this contact of the water was inevitable ; but now
that immersion is not used, some precautions are desirable.
\. The water should be poiirn/, upon the child according to
the Paibric, not sprinkled. This may be done from the hollow
of the hanil, or from a small shell iif silver nr other material.
2. The water should be poured freely over the head of the
child.'
:i. To effect this properly, and with a reverent regard to
the nature of the rite, the cap of the child must be removed
from ita head ; and not tlie hair only, but the flesh well laved.
1 In Normandy fonts am often found witli a Hniall NUliHidiaiy baHin
and drain to receive the water as it flowed otT from tlic child. Some
ritualistH consider tliat it Is wrong for tlie water to flow back into the
font, and if there is no sncit iirovision as that siioki-n of, allow it tt* fall on
till- lldor of tlic Church.
4. The hand or shell should be deliberately filled with
water before the words are spoken.
5. In reverent accordance with ancient and primitive
practice, and also for the more certain contact of the water
with the child, it should be poured on thrice, — at the naming
of each Person of the Blessed Trinity.
It is most necessary that the act of Baptism should habitually
be thoroughly performed, primarily (of course) for the sake of
the child, whose eternal interests are involved, but also that
the essential nature of the external rite may be made quite
evident to the Laity, and that full confidence may be estab-
lished in the ministrations of the Clergy.
There can be no tjuestion that affusion, if thoroughly
performed, is amply sufficient for the due administration of
the Sacrament of Baptism. In such a climate as onrs, with
such habits as those of modern times, and all its consequences
considered, the dipping of infants could seldom be seemly,
and would often be attended with danger. The "weakness"
of the Rubric may justly be assumed (without supposing
actual sickness) as tlie normal condition oT infants brought up
under such conditions, and the very clothing of infants is in
itself a certificate of such weakness. Although not recognized
in the Rubric until 1549, there can be little doubt that
affusion was practised instead of immersion (at the discretion
of the priest), in ancient as well as in modern times. -
SIGNING WITH THE CROSS.
It has been already mentioned that in the Prayer Book of
1 549 the sign of the Cross was made ujion the forehead ami
breast of the child at an earlier part of the service. In the
ancient Office tlfis signing took place at the very beginning of
tlie Service for making a catechumen. The words used in the
first Prayer Book were these : " N. Receive the sign of the
holy Cross, both in thy forehead, and in thy breast, in token
that tliou shalt not be ashamed to confess tliy faitli in Clirist
crucified, and ni.anfuUy to fight under His banner ag.ainst sin,
the worhl, and the devil, and to continue His faithful soldier
and servant unto thy life's end. Amen. " Thefirst part of these
words came from the ancient Service, and the general idea of
the remaining ])art is taken from those which accompanied
two other consignations, one at tlie naming, and the other at
tlie exorcism of tlie cliild, both also in the Ollice for making a
catechumen. The anointing after the I'aiitism (and after the
delivery of the Chrisom) was continued in the first Prayer
Book with the words of the ancient Office, " Then the Piiest
nhall anoint the Infant vjion the hi'ail, Kiinin;!, Almighty God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, AVho hath regenerate
thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath given unto thee
- .Sec Lyiidrwood in Ma.skkli.'m ^fon. Hit. I. Cfix., liitjfah Horn. Dc forn}tl
liaptiiini, and Ciitrrh. Trident, ii. 17. The latter siieaks of allUsion as tlie
"general jinintici-" at that tiiiu', tlie middle ol^ the sixtfoiitli century,
[fomji, Ht. Thomas Aquinas, III. rjiic.'sf. Ixvi. art. vii.)
Pufilicfe TBaptIsm of 31nfants.
4'7
fight under His banner, against sin, the world,
and the devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful
soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.
H Then shall the Priest say,
SEEING now, dearly beloved brethren, that
this Child is regenerate, and grafted into
the body of Christ's Church, let us give thanks
unto Almighty God for these benefits ; and with
one accord make our prayers unto Him, that
this Child may lead the rest of his life according
to this beginning.
H Then shall be said, all kneeling,
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
►J< salutis in eodem FiLio Suo Domino nostro
Jesu Christo in vitam scternam.]
PTAUDES et gratias Domino referamus,
L -i-^ fratresdilectissimi, quod augeredignatus
est ecclesi* Sua; congregationem per caros nostro.<t,
qui modo baptizati sunt. Petamus ergo do
Domini misericordia ut baptismum sanctum,
quod accoperunt, illibatum, inviolatum, et im-
maculatum perferant ante tribunal Christi.]
remission of all thy sins : He vouchsafe to anoint thee with
the unction of His Holy Spirit, and bring thee to the inherit-
ance of everlasting life. Amen."
Thus it will be seen that the present action and words
represent the ancient usage, but that the use of anointing
oil being discontinued and only the signing with the Cross
retained, the words formerly used in the earlier part of the
Service were substituted liere for those whicli referred to the
act of unction ; and " we receive this child into the congrega-
tion of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign of the
Cross, " for the opening words which were previously addressed
to the chikl itself. As the thirtieth Canon distinctly says,
the signing with the Cross adds nothing to tlie virtue and
perfection of the Baptism, so also we must remember that
neither are the accompanying words, "We receive," etc., any
essential part of the Baptism. They have sometimes been
spoken of as if by them tlie child was "received into the
Church :" but the act of Baptism is the true reception into
the Church, and these words are a ceremonial declaration only
of that fact. In this respect they are analogous to the words
used by tlie Priest in the Marriage Service, after the essential
part of the Office is completed by the solemn adjuration,
"Those whom God hath joined togethei', let no man put
asunder." As the Priest then " pronotinces " that the married
couple are "man and wife together, " so here he xironounces
that the baptized child has become one of the congregation of
Christ's flock. This is made still more evident by the Rubric
and words of the Office for Private Baptism, "... then
shall not he christen the child again, hut shall receive him as one
of the flock of true Christian people, saying thns, I certify you
... is now by the laver of Regeneration in Baptism received
into the number of the children of God, and heirs of ever-
lasting life ..." Neither the words nor the act liave any
sacramental efficacy, but it is clear [1] that tlie latter (as a
substitute for unction) is the emphatic part of tliis most sig-
nificant, venerable, and even primitive rite ; and also that [2]
any idea of an additional "reception into the Church" by
the use of them tends to obscure the full completeness of that
reception which is efiected by the act of Baptism itself.
The superstitious antipathy which the Puritans entertained
for the material figure and for the sign of the Cross led the
reforming Divines to try and conciliate them by not printing
it in the places where it was customary to use it in the vSer-
vices of the Church ; but no pressure could prevail on them,
in any of the revisions, to remove its obligatory use from the
Baptismal Office. It is not worth while to occupy any space
with the always weak and often wicked arguments that were
alleged against the use of this holy sign ; but, as the tliirtieth
Canon [a, d. 1603] was framed to be a general reply to them,
and is referred to in the Rubric at the end of the Service, it
is inserted below as an illustration of the temperate yet finn
line which the Reformers took on this subject.' Among
1 CANON 30.
The Lawful Use of the Cross in Haptism expuiinefJ.
We are sorry that his Majesty's most priiicely care ami ii.iins taken in
2d
Archbishop Sancroft's MSS. in the Bodleian Library there is
an interesting memorandum respecting the authorship of this
Canon. He writes, "The declaration concerning the Crosse
the Conference at Hampton Court, amongst many other points, touching
this one of tlie Cross in Baptism, hath taken no better etlect with many,
lint that still the use of it in Baptism is so greatly stuck at and impugned.
For the further declaration theiefoie of the true use of this ceremony, and
for the removing all such scruple as might any ways trouble the consciences
of them who are indeed rightly religious, following the royal steps of our
most worthy King, because he therein followeth the rules of the Scriptures,
and the practice of the Primitive Church : we do commend to all the true
members of the Church of England these our directions and observations
ensuing.
First, it is to be observed, that although the Jews and Ethnicks derided
both the Apostles and the rest of the Christians for preaching and believing
in Him Who was crucified upon the Cross ; yet all, both Apostles and
Christians, were so far from being discouraged from their profession by
the ignominy of the Cross, as they rather rejoiced and tliumphed in it.
Yea, the Holy Ghost by the mouths of the Apostles did honour the name
of the Cross (being hateful among the Jews) so far, that under it He
comprehended not only Christ cnicilied, but the force, effects, and merits
of His Death and Passion, with all the comforts, fruits, and promises,
which we receive or expect thereby.
Secondly, the honour and dignity of the name of the Cross begat a
reverend estimation even in the Apostles' times (for aught that is known
to the contrary) of the sign of the Cross which the Christians shortly after
used in all their actions': thereby making an outward show and profession,
even to the astoiiisliment of the Jews, that they were not ashamed to
acknowledge Him for their Lord and Saviour, Who died for them upon the
Cross. And this sign they did not only use themselves with a kind of
glory, when they met with any Jews, but signed therewith their children
when they were christened, to dedicate them by that badge to His service,
whose biiiclits bestowed upon them in Baptism the name of the Cross did
represent. And this use of tlie sign of the Cross in Baptism was held in
the Primitive Church, as well by the Gieeks as the Latins, with one
consent and great applause. At what time, if any had opposed themselves
against it, they would certainly have been censured as enemies of the name
of the Cross, and consequently of Christ's merits, the sign wdiereof they
could no better endure. This continual and general use of the sign of the
Cross is evident by many testimonies of the ancient Fathers.
Thirdly, it must be confessed, that in process of time the sign of the
Cross was greatly abused in the Church of Rome, especially after that cor-
ruption of Popery had once possessed it. But the abuse of a thing doth
not take away the lawful use of it. Nay, so far was it from the purpose of
the Church of England to forsake and reject the Churches of Italy, France,
Spain, Germany, or any such like Churches, in all things which thev held
and practised, that, as the Apology of the Church of England confesseth,
it doth with reverence retain those ceremonies, which do neither endamage
tlie Church of God, nor oflend the minds of sober men ; and only departed
fiom them in those particular points, wherein they were fallen both from
themselves in their ancient integrity, and from the Apostolical Churches,
wliirli were their first founders. In which respect, amongst some other
\ery ancient ceremonies, the Sign of the Cross in Baptism hath been retained
in tills Church, both liy the judgement and practice of those reverend
Fathers and great Divines in the days of King Edward the Sixth, of whom
some constantly sulfered for the profession of the truth : and others being
exiled in the time nf yueen Mary, did after their retui-n. in the beginning of
the reign of our late dread ^Sovereign, continuallv defend and use the same.
This resolution and practice of our Church hath been allowed and approved
by the censure upon the Coniniunion Book in King Edward the Sixth his
days, and by the harmony of Confessions of later years : because indeed
the use of this Sign in Baptism was ever accompanied here with such
sufficient cautions and exceptions against all Popish superstition and error,
as in the like cases arc either fit or convenient.
First, the Church of England, since tlic abolishing of Poperj', hath ev^r
held and taught, and so doth hold and teach still, that the Sign of the Cross
used in Baptism is no part of the substance of that .Sacrament : for when
the minister, dipping the infant in water, or haying water upon the face of
it. (as the manner also is,) hatli pronounced these words, / baptise thee in
the Nttvie of the Father, and of the Son, ami of the Holy Ghost, the infant is
4i8
Ipublicfe T5aptism of 3lnfants.
IT Then shall the Priest say,
~YT7"E yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful
VV Father, that it hath pleased Thee to
regenerate this Infant with Thy Holy Spirit, to
receive him for Thine own Child by adoption,
and to incorporate him into Thy holy Church.
And humbly we beseech Thee to grant, that he,
being dead imto sin, and living unto righteous-
ness, and being buried with Christ in His death,
may crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the
whole body of sin ; and that, as he is made 2}(t>'-
taker of the death of Thy Son, he may also be
partaker of His resurrection ; so that finally, with
the residue of Thy holy Church, he may be an
inheritor of Thine everlasting kingdom ; through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT Then, all standing up, the Priest shall say to the
Godfathers and Godmothers this exhortation fol-
lowing.
FORASMUCH as this Child /ta<7t promised by
you his sureties to renounce the devil and
all his works, to believe in God, and to serve
Him ; ye must remember, that it is your parts
and duties to see that this Infant be taught, so
soon as he shall be able to learn, what a solemn
vow, promise, and profession, he hath here made
by you. And that he may know these things
the better, ye shall call upon him to hear Ser-
mons, and chiefly ye shall provide, that lie may
learn the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten
Commandments, in the vulgar tongue, and all
a [Miss. Bobiense.
Mur. ii. 85a.]
* S. 9. Also in
form of Latin Rub-
ric. This exhorta.
tion v.iries in its
phraseology, but is
always the same in
substance.
[""T^OMINE Deus Omnipotens, famulos Tuos,
-L^ quos jussisti renasci ex aqua et Spiritu
Sancto ; conserva in eis baptismum sanctum
quod acceperunt, et in nominis Tui sanctifica-
tionem perficere dignare, ut proficiat in illos
gratia Tua semper, et quod Te ante donante sus-
ceperunt, vitoe suce integritate custodiant.]
^X COJIAUNDE ow godfadre and godmodre,
-L on holy chirche bihalue, that ye chargen
the fadur and the modur of this child, that they
kepe this child in to the age of seuen jere, that
hit beo from fier and water, and from alle other
mischeues and periles that my3ten to him byfalle,
throu3 miskepinge, and also that ye or they
techen liis ryjte bileue, hure pater noster, and
hure Ave Maria, and hure Credo, or do him to
beo taujte : and also that j'e wasthe youre hondes
or ye gon out of Chirche : and also that hit beo
conformed the next tyme that the byssop cometh
ill tlie Canons of 1603 was not made by Bishop Overall, but
by Bishop Bilson." [Sancroft's MSS. vol. exxxvi. fol. 177.]
THE THANKSGIVING.
The old OfBce of Baptism, and that of 1549, concluded with
the ceremonies which supplemented the Baptism itself, and
which weie discontinued in 1552 ; except that it was always
the practice of the Church of England Utr the Priest to give
a charge to the godfathers and godmothers respecting the
future life of the cliild. But from the aljove address and
prayer taken out of an ancient Italian Missal, written before
.\. D. 1100, it would appear that the revisionists of 15.52 had a
precedent for their innovation, tliough not perhaps exactly
that liere printed. Tlie use of the Lord's Prayer in this place
is, at least, analogous with the custom of tlie Primitive Cliurch,
in which the newly baptized were permitted and enjoined to
say it for the first time immediately they had become Christians
by B.iptism.'
The address whicli is placed as a preface to the Lord's Prayer
fully arid perfectly baptized. So as the Sign of the Cro.s.s being afterwards
used, doth neither adil any thing t/> the virtue and jjerfection of Baptism,
nor being oniittcd, doth detract any tiling from the etlect and substance
of it.
Secondly, it is apparent in the Commwniou Book, that tlie infant b.iptized
is, by virtue of Baptism, before it be signed witli the Sign of the Cross,
received into the congregation of Christ's nock, as a perfect member thereof,
and not by any power a.scribed unto the Sign tif the Cross. So that for the
very remembranee of the Cross, which is very pn.'cious to all them that
rightly believe in .lesus Christ, and in the other respects mentioned, the
Churcli of England hath retiiined still the Sign of it in Baiitism ; following
therein tiic primitive and aimstulical Churches, and aecountiiig it a lawful
outward ceremony and honourable badge, whereby the infant is dedicated
to the Service of lliin that died upon the Cross, as by the words used in
the Book of Common Prayer it may ajipcar.
Lastly, the use of the Sign of the Cross in Baptism being thus purged
from all Popish superstition and error, and reduced in the Cliureli of England
to the primary institution of it, upon those true rules of rloctrine eoneern.
ing things indifferent, which are consonant to the Word of God, and the
judgement of all the ancient Fathers, we hold it the part of every private
man, both minister and other, reverently to retain the true use of it pre-
scribed by public anthority : considering" that things of themselves indif-
ferent do in some sort alter their natures, when they are either conimanded
or forbidden by a lawful ningistrate ; and may not be omitted at every man's
pleasure, contrary to the law, when they be eomnianded, nor used when
they arc prohibited.
' AfnM. Ctynsl. vii. 4-1. Vi.
shews that it and the Collect which follows are to be used [1]
as an act of thanksgiving for the regeneration of the child by
Baptism, and [2] as a prayer for the child's final perseverance
in the way of salvation in whicli it lias now been placed ; and
thus these few words give a key to tlie doctrine of the Church
respecting the condition of the baptized. It is also to be
observed that tlie use of the Lord's Prayer immediatelj' after
Baptism is an act of thanksgiving similar to tliat compre-
hended in its use immediately after Communion ; and when
the Churcli bids us "with one accord to make our prayers"
to God in the very words of our Blessed Lord, it is with the
obvious intention of making tliat prayer the central point of
devotional expression and devotional unity ; a prayer as
capable of expressing witli one accord the highest praise and
thanksgiving, as it is of expressing the deepest penitence and
humiliation. '-
Of the Collect which follows it need only be remarked that
it shews an unhesitating faith in the effects of Holy Baptism ;
and also an unhesitating conviction that witliout final per-
severance on the part of those who have been baptized, and
have afterwards come to years of discrimination between good
and evil, there is no hope of the attainment of tliat everlasting
kingdom of which their regeneration lias made them heirs.
At the .Savoy Conference of ICHl the Presbyteri.ans objected
to this Act of Tlianksgiving after Baptism, — " We cannot in
faith say tl1.1t every cliild th.at is b.aptized is ' regenerated by
God's Holy Spirit ; ' at least, it is a disputable point, and
tlierefore we ilcsirc it to be otherwise expressed. ' To this
the Bishops replied as follows, — liaving previously referred
to .lohn iii. and Acts ii. 38, for proof that " Baptism is our
spiritual regeneration," and tliat by it "is received remission
of sins," — " .Seeing that God's Sacr.aments luive their effects,
where the receiver dotli not 'pmiero obicem,' put any bar
ag.ainst them (wliicli children cannot do) ; we may s.ay in faith
of every chilil tliat is b.aptized, that it is regenerated by God's
Holy Spirit ; .and the denial of it tends to anabaptism, and
the contempt of this lioly Sacr.amcnt, as nothing worthy, nor
material whether it be .administered to chihlrcn or no.''^
Althougli this objection and its answer are contained in few
words, they represent the substance of a long controversy,
2 Stc note on the Lord's Prayer, p. 185.
3 C'AnnwEM.'s Con/, ji. SliO. '
PufilicR Ti3apti8m of 3infant0.
419
other things wliich a Chrintian ouglit to know
and believe to his soul's liealth ; and that this
Child may be virtuously brought up to lead a
godly and a Christian life ; remembering always,
that bajitism doth rei)resent unto us our i)rofcs-
sion, which is, to follow the example of our
Saviour Chbist, and to be made like unto Him ;
that, as He died, and rose again for us, so should
we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again
unto righteousness ; continually mortifying all
our evil and corrupt affections, and daily pro-
ceeding in all virtue and godliness of living.
IT Then shall he add and say,
YE are to take care that this Child be brought
to the Bishop to be confirmed by him, so
soon as he can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer,
and the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar
tongue, and be further instructed in the Church-
Catechism set forth for that purpose.
TT It is certain, by God's word, that '"Children wliich
are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin,
are undoubtedly saved.
H To take away all scruple concerning the use of the
sign ot the Cross in Baptism ; the true explication
thereof, and the just reasons for the retaining of
it, may be seen in the xxxth Canon, first published
in the year ""MDCIV.
1 S. 19. Rubric
* Originally written
" Persons ' in the
MS., but altered to
" Children " in ink
of the same colour
as that used in the
body of the MS.,
and in a very simi-
lar hand. In the
black-letter Prayer
Book of 1636 it is
similarly altered in
the h.ind of Bishop
Cosin. [Sie p. 40.]
c Articles to stablish
Christian quietness.
I5j6. [WILKINS'
Loir. iii. 818.1
ci Seep. 41;
to contre : and al this doeth in jieyno of cor-
synge.
SIMILITER compatri et r.ommatri injungatur
docere infantem Pater noster et Ave Maria
et Credo in Deum,'^ vel doceri facere ; quod chris-
male deferatur ad Ecclesiam ; similiter quod con-
firmetur, quando citius Episcopus advenerit cir-
cum partes per septem milliaria.
INFANTS, Innocents, and Children ... by
the sacrament of baptism do also obtain
remission of their sins, and be made thereby the
very sons and children of God. In.somuch as
infants, dying in their infancy, shall undoubtedly
bfi saved thereby, and else not.
and the decision of the Church of England ; a decision
deliberately expressed, and in the most solemn way, by words
spoken to Almighty God, in this prayer.
Forasmuch as this Child hath promised] Some form of Ex-
hortation to the Sponsors is directed in all the ancient Bap-
tismal Offices of tlie Church of England, sometimes in a Latin
Kubric stating the substance of what the Piiest was to say,
and at others in the vernacular of tlie day. The above i.s
found in a York Manual belonging to York Minster Library,
and is also in a MS. Manu.al bought .i.D. 1404-14, for the long-
vanished Chapel of South Charford, Breamore, near Salisbury.
[Mus. Brit. Bihl. Seij. MS. 2 A. xxi.] The present Exhorta-
tion restricts the responsibility of Sponsors to the spiritual
oversight of their godchildren ; but even this responsibility is
practically in abeyance while the parents are living, since to
them is assigned, in the first place, the duty of bringing up
in a Christian manner the children whom God's Providence
h.as given them.
Bishop Cosin erased from this Exhortation the words, "call
upon them to hear Sermons, and chiefly ye shall," and substi-
tuted in a later part, "ye shall call upon them at due time
hereafter to frequent the Divine Sen'ice, and to hear Sermons
in the Church, putting them in remembrance that" Baptism
doth represent, etc. The charge respecting Confirmation was
also formed by him out of the former Rubric, by which the
same thing was enjoined.
It is certain, by God's loord] This Rubric is, in part, a
reproduction of words which appeared first in "Ai'ticles to
establish Christian quietness," put forth by the authority of
Henry VIII. in 153fi ; afterwards in the "Institution of a
Christian Man," which was printed in the following year;
and, thirdly, in the Rubric before the Confirmation Service.
When introduced into the latter Rubric, the words "and else
not" were dropped, and the object of their introduction there
was to shew that Confirmation was not essential to the sal-
vation of baptized Infants.
Neither in this Rubric, nor in any other formulary of tlio
Church of England, is any decision given as to the state of
infants dying without Baptism. Bishop Bethell says [Be-
ijeneration in Baptism, p. xiv] that the common opinion of
the ancient Christians was, that they are not saved : and as
our Lord has given us such plain words in John iii. 5, this
seems a reasonable opinion, lint this opinion does not involve
any cruel idea of pain or suffering for little ones so deprived
of the Sacrament of new birth by no fault of their on n. It
rather supposes them to bo as if they had never received the
gift of an immortal spirit [1 Thess. v. 23] for spiritual existence,
when they miglit, through the care and love of their parents,
have been reckoned among the number of those "in whom
is no guile," and " who follow the Lamb whithersoever He
goeth. " Most persons would, however, prefer to think with
the wise and good Bishop Sanderson. "Into some men it
maybe," he writes, "and extraordinarily (especially in the
want of ordinary means) God may infuse faith and other
graces accompanying salvation, as also {modo nobis incognito)
make supply unto Infants unbaptized some other way, by the
immediate work of His Holy and Almighty Spirit, without
the use of the outward means of the ^^'ord and Sacraments.
Of which extraordinary work we cannot pronounce too spar-
ingly ; the special use whereto it serveth us being the sus-
pending of our censures, not I'ashly to pass the sentence of
damnation upon those Infants or Men that want the ordinary
outward means, since we are not able to say how God in
His infinite power can, and how in His rich mercy He hath,
doth, or will deal with them." [Sanderson's Pax Ecclesiam,
p. 71.]
1 On a font at Bradley in Lincoliishive there is the inscription —
"^atcr nosfet abe inaria nnli cricTif
Icren pj cbgllJ fit cs neDc,"
a curious perpetual reminder of the admonition given at the font.
THE MINISTRATION OF
PRIVATE BAPTISM OF CHILDREN IN HOUSES.
H The Curates of every parish shall often admonish
tlie people, that they defer not the Baptism of
their Children longer than the first or second
Sunday next after their birth, or other Holyday
falling between, unless upon a great and reasonable
cause, to be approved by the Curate.
IT And also they shall warn them, that without like
great cause, and necessity, they procure not their
Children to be baptized at home in their houses.
But when need shall compel them so to do, then
Baptism shall be administered on this fashion.
IT First, let the Minister of the Parish (or in his
absence, any otlier lawful Minister that can be
procured) with them that are present call upon
God, and say the Lord's Prayer, and so many of
the Collects appointed to be said before in the
Form of Publick Baptism, as the time and present
exigence will suffer. And then, the Child being
named by some one that is jjresent, the Jlinister
shall pour Water upon it, saying these words ;
"VT" I baptize thee In the Name of the
JLM . Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
U Then, all kneeling down, the Minister shall give
thanks unto God, and say,
\\/ E yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful
VV Father, that it hath pleased Thee to
regenerate this Infant with Thy Holy Spirit, to
receive him for Thine own Child by adoption, and
to incorporate him into Thy holy Church. And
we humbly beseech Thee to grant, that as lie is
now made partaker of the death of Thy Son, so
he may be also of His resurrection ; And that
finally, with the residue of Thy Saints, he may
inherit Thine everla-sting kingdom ; through the
same Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
'S.B.
' Xon licet aliquem baptizare in aula vel in camera
vel in aliquo loco privato, sed duntaxat in Ecclesiis
in quibus sunt fontes ad hoc specialiter ordinati,
nisi fuerit filius regis vel principis, vel saltern
necessitas emerserit propter quam ad Ecclesiam
accessus absque periculo haberi non potest.
'Notandum est quod quilibet sacerdos parochialis
debet parochianis suis forniam baptizandi in aqua
pura . . . frequenter in diebus dominicis exponere,
ut si necessitas emergat sciant parvulos in forma
ecclesiai baptizare, proferendo formam verborum
liaptismi in lingua materna ... sic dicendo :
ICEISTENE thee ^'. in the name of the
Fadir, and of the Soiie, and of the Holy
Gost. Amen.
PRIVATE BAPTISM OF INFANTS.
The Baptism of Infants who were in extreme danger was
provided for by certain Rubrics at the end of the Office in the
ancient Manuals of the Church of England, and these Rubrics
made no mention of any prayer being used, or any other
words than tliose essential to Baptism. These Rubrics form
the foundation of our present Ollice for Private Haptism. In
the first Prayer Book, that of 1.549, the person baptizing was
directed to "call upon Hod for llix ijrua', and miy the Lord's
Prayer, if the time suffice ;" the use of tlie Lord's Prayer
with that special intention being douVitless what was meant,
and not any extempore prayer. But in 16G1, Bishop Cosin
suggested the substitution of the words " call upon (iod, and
say the Lord's Prayer, and so many of the Collects .ippointed,"
etc. Probably great latitude had been introduced under a
misinterpretation of the former Rubric, and the alteration
was intended to suppress tlie use of extempore prayer in
Private Baptisms by giving .an authorized form to be used.
At the same time the spirit of the old Rubrics was retained
in the words, "as the time and present exigence will suffer,"
shewing that tlie prayers were not to be considered as an
essential part of Baptism, and that if the child is supposed to
be dying rapidly, it is to be baptized at once. The Collect of
Thanksgiving was also introduced from the public Service.
Various attempts had been made to alter the rules of the
Church, so as entirely to exclude Baptism by lay persons,
even in case of extreme emergency, but these attempts were
so contrary to the spirit of tlic .ancient Churcli that they were
never allowed to prevail,' beyond tlic extent of so modifying
the Rubric as eli'eetually to discourage lay Baptism when there
was no necessity for it.
In addition to the Rubrics of this Office, there is also a
special law of the Church on the suliject of Priv.ate Baptism,
the definite words of which make it a good guide both for
Clergy and Laity. It is as follows : —
"Canon 69.
" Ministers not to defer Christening, if the Child be in danger.
" If .any Minister, being duly, without any manner of collu-
sion, informe<l of the weakness anil danger of death of any
I .Sre Cardwell's .5!/iiof!n/i'n. i. 135, for a proposed Canon on the subjcrt,
nnd tlio Introclnction to tlic It;qitisinal OIHceH.
Private TSaptism of 3infants.
421
H Anil let them not doubt, but tliat the Cliikl so
baptized ia lawfully and auliiciently baptized, and
ouglit not to be liaptized again. Yet nevcrtlieleas,
if the Child, which is after tliis sort baptized, do
afterward live, it is expedient that it be brought
into the Cliurch, to the intent that, if the "Minister
of the same Parish did himself baptize that Child,
the Congregation may be certitied of the true
Form of Baptism, by liim privately before used :
In whieh case he shall say tlius,
I CERTIFY you, that according to the due
and prescribed Order of the Church, at such.
a time, and at such a place, before divers wit-
nesses I baptized this Child.
*i But if the Child were baptized by any other lawful
' Minister, then the Minister of the Parish wliero
the Child was born or christened, shall examine
and try whetlier the Child bo lawfully baptized, or
no. In which case, if those that bring any Child
to the Church do answer, tliat tlie same Child is
already baptized, then sliall the Minister examine
them further, saying,
BY whom was this Child baptized 1
Who was present when this Child was
baptized ?
Because some things essential to this Sacrament
may happen to be omitted through fear or haste,
in such times of extremity ; therefore I demand
further of you,
With what matter was this Child baptized ^
With what words was this Child baptized '?
IT And if the Minister shall find by the answers of such
as bring the Child, that all things were done as
they ought to be ; then shall not he cliristen the
Child again, but shall receive him as one of the
flock of true Christian people, saying thus.
rt Until 1661, "Priest
or Minister."
c Ndh tioet tntco teI
fitulieri aliqite'n
haptizare nisi in
arliciilo necessita-
tis. Si vera vir et
tniitier adesse>tt
iil>i itnmineyet tie-
cessittttis artiattirs
bapciztindi pner-
titn. et non esset
alius mifiister ad
hoc ntagis idonens
prasens, vir citius
baptizaret et noil
ntiilier: nisi forte
niiilier nieliiis sci-
ret Z'erta sacra-
incntatia tfiiani
vir, let aliiid iin-
pcdimentiirn SJtt'es-
set. &. g. [See
also p. 404.J
IT Et si puer fuerit baptizatus secundum illam formam,
caveat sibi unusijuisquo ne iterum eundem bap-
tizet : scd si hujusmodi parvuli couvale-scant,
deferantur ad ccclesiam et dieantur super cos
exorcismi et eathechismi cum unctiouibus et
omnibus aliis supradictis pr;eter immersionem aijuie
et formam baptismi, qute omnino sunt omitteiida,
videlicet : Quid piii.t : et ab hine usque ad ilium
locum quo Sacerdos debeat parvulum ehrisuiat'j
liuire.
U ''Kt ideo si laicus baptizaverit puerum, antequam
deferatur ad ccclesiam, interroget .Sacerdos dili-
genter quid dixerit, et quid fecerit :
et si invenerit laicum discrete et debito modo
baptizasse, et formam verborum baptismi ut supra
in suo idiomate integre protuhsse, approbet
factum, et non rebaptizet eum.
I CERTIFY you, that in this case all is well
done, and according unto due order, con-
cerning the baptizing of this Child ; who being
born in original sin, and in the wrath of God, is
now, by the laver of Regeneration in Baptism,
received into the number of the children of God,
and heirs of everlasting life : for our Lord Jesus
Christ doth not deny His grace and mercy unto
such Infants, but most lovingly doth call them
unto Him, as the holy Gospel doth witness to our
comfort on this wise.
S. Mark x. 13-16.
THEY brought young children to Christ, that
He should touch them ; and His disciples
rebuked those that brought them. But when
Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said
unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto
iMe, and forbid them not ; for of such is the
Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, "Who-
soever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as
a little child, he shall not enter therein. And
infant unbaptized in his parish, and thereupon desired to go
or come to the place where the said infant remaineth, to
baptize the same, shall either wilfully refuse so to do, or of
purpose, or of gross negligence, shall so defer the time, as,
when he might conveniently have resorted to the place, and
have baptized the said infant, it dieth, througli such his
default, imbaptized ; the said Minister shall he suspended for
three months ; and before his restitution shall acknowledge
his fault, and promise before his Ordinary, that he will not
wittingly incur the like again. Provided, that where there
is a Curate, or a Substitute, this Constitution sliall not extend
to the Parson or Vicar himself, but to the Curate or Substi-
tute present."'
It cannot be said that there is never any " collusion " in
this matter, and the clergyman is therefore bound to make
strict inquiry as to the condition of the cliild whose Baptism
in private is required. Objection to the rite being admin-
istered during time of Divine .Service, the ex])euse of a
"christening feast," desire to make sure of "burial money "
(which is lost when children die unbaptized), are all reasons
1 The Last words, of course, refer to a. iiou-resident Paiyon or Vicar.
"Curate" being used in tlic compreliensive sense of the clergyman iu
actual charge of the parish.
that have come within the writer's experience : and, except
in cases where there is manifest danger of death, it is best
both for the Clergy and the Laity that a medical certificate
should be provided, stating that there is weakness or disease
which renders the infant incapable of being brought to Churcli
for public Baptism without risk.
The remaining part of what is printed under tlie Iieailiug,
"The Ministration of Private Baptism of Children in Houses,"
is an adaptation to the case of sucli children of tliat part of
the Office for Baptism which is not used in private.
The object of bringing a convalescent child who has been
clinically baptized to Church is twofold. [1] First, that a
solemn public recognition may be made of tlie child's regen-
erated condition by tlie Priest "receiving him as one of the
flock of true Christian people" in the face of the Churcli : and
[2], secondly, that the child, by its sureties, may make tiiose
solemn engagements of tlie Baptismal vow which Mere omitted
when it was supposed that tlie infant would not "come of
age " to be capable of fulfilling them.
The form in which the certification is to be given when it
is to be made by the clergyman who has himself baptized the
child was not defined until tlie revision of 1661. In Bishop
Cosin's Durham Book he has written the following proposed
422
Ipcitiate TBaptism of 3lnfant0.
He took them up in His arms, put His hands
upon them, and blessed them.
H After the Gospel is read, the ^Minister shall make
this brief Exhortation upon the words of the
Gospel.
BELOVED, ye hear iu this Gospel the words
of our Saviouk Christ, that He com-
manded the children to be brought unto Him ;
how He blamed those that would have kept them
from Him ; how He exhorted all men to follow
their innocency. Ye perceive how by His out-
ward gesture and deed He declared His good will
toward them ; for He embraced them in His
arms, He laid His hands upon them, and blessed
them. Doubt ye not therefore, but earnestly
believe, that He hath likewise favourably received
this present Infant ; that He hath embraced him
with the arms of His mercy ; and (as He hath
promised in His holy Word) will give unto him
the blessing of eternal life, and make Iiim par-
taker of His everlasting kingdom. Wherefore,
we being thus persuaded of the good will of our
heavenly Father, declared by His Son Jesus
Christ, towards this Infant, let us faithfully and
devoutly give thanks unto Him, and say the
prayer which the Lord Himself taught us.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
wiU be done in earth. As it is iu heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly
-L\. Father, we give Thee humble thanks,
that Thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the know-
ledge of Thy grace, and faith in Thee : Increase
this knowledge, and confirm this faith in us ever-
more. Give Thy Holy Spirit to (kis Infant, that
he, being bom again, and being made an heir of
everlasting salvation, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, may continue Thy servant, and attain
Thy promise ; through the .same our Lord Jesus
Christ Thy Son, Who livetli and reigneth with
Thee and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.
Allien.
IT Then shall the Priest demand the Name of the
Child ; wliich being by the Godfathers and God-
mothers pronounced, the Minister .shall say,
DOST thou, in tlie name of this Child, renounce
the devil and all his works, the vain pomp
and glory of this world, with all covetous desires
of the same, and the carnal desires of the flesh,
so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them?
II Answer.
I renounce them aU.
^ Minister.
DOST thou believe in God the Father Al-
mighty, Maker of heaven and earth 1
And in Jesus Christ His onl3'-begotten Son
our Lord ] And that He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost ; bom of the Virgin JIary ; that He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead,
and buried ; that He went down into hell, and
also did rise again the third day; that He ascended
into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God
the Father Almighty ; and from thence .shall
come again at the end of the world, to judge the
quick and the dead ?
And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost ;
the holy Catholick Church ; the Communion of
Saints ; the Piemission of sins ; the Eesurrection
of the flesh ; and everlasting life after death ?
IT Answer.
AU this I stedfastly believe.
II Minister.
\ A TILT thou then obediently keep God's holy
V V will and commandments, and walk in the
same all the days of thy life '?
H Answer.
I will.
IT Then the Priest shall say,
\ \ TE receive this Child into the congregation
V V of Christ's flock, and do -i- sign him
with the sign of the Cross, in token , „ ,i
that hereafter he shall not be ashamed Priest siiaii
to confess the faith of Christ cruci- l'^^^^ " "°^l
fied, and manfully to fight under Chiurs /on-
His banner, against sin, the world,
and the devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful
soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.
H Then shall the Priest say,
SEEING now, dearly beloved brethren, that
this Child is by Baptism regenerate, and
grafted into the body of Christ's Church, let us
give thanks unto Almighty God for these benefits;
and with one accord make our prayers unto Him,
that this Child may lead the rest of his life accord-
ing to this beginning.
w
H Then shall the Priest say,
E yield Thee hearty thanks, most merciful
Father, that it hath pleased Thee to
form : " . . . in which case he shall say thus : I certify you
that, according to the due and prescribed Order of tlie Church,
in case of necessity, at such a time, and in such a place, and
before divers witnesses, I administered private i!a2)tism to
this child, who being born in original sin, etc., nt infra."
From this it would appear that tlie whole of the following
part of the form, as afterwards printed, w.os intended by him
to h.xve been used in every case. The internal evidence of
the Office seems to indicate such an intention also, and pro-
bably the omission ia a clerical error, whicli h.as arisen from
Coflin not writing the whole at length in hi.s M8. revision,
Cosin also transferred the Lord's I'rayer from the place
which it hero occupies, and which is that of the old Office,
to the same place aa it occupies in the ordinary Service for
Public Baptism : but although his alteration is left as he
wrote it, while erasures are on either side, it was not printed,
and the two forms of the Office do not .igree.
At the end of the Exhortation in the I'rayer Books, as they
stood before ICOl, there was a Kubric, " And so forth, .is in
Public 15aptism. " This Pubric was erased by Cosin, and he
substituted, " Thru shall he add and say, Furthermore, I
require you to take care ut supra in public liaptism." This
supplementary charge is not printed in the Scaled books, yet
it seems clear that its omission was a clerical error, and that
it ought to be inserted by the clergyman when ho uses the
Office.
There is, in fact, a certain want of exact consistency about
the use of this Oifice (and the same ia observable in the use
Pritiatc T5aptisni of 3lnfant0.
regenerate this Infant with Tliy Holy Si'ikit, to
receive him for Thine own Child by adoption,
and to incorporate him into Thy lioly C'hureli.
And humbly we beseech Thee to grant, tliat he,
being dead unto sin and living unto rightecnisnes.s,
and being buried with Christ in His death, may
crucify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole
body of sin ; and that, as he is made partaker of
the death of Thy Son, he may also be partaker
of His resurrection ; so that finally, with the
residue of Thy holy Church, he may be an
inheritor of Thine everlasting kingdom ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
IF Then, all standing up, the Priest sliall say to tlic
Godfathers and Godmotliers this Exhortation fol-
lowing.
FORASMUCH as this Child hath promised
by you his sureties to renounce the devil
and all his works, to believe in God, and to serve
Him ; ye must remember, that it ia your parts
and duties to see that this Infant be taught, so
soon as he shall be able to learn, what a solemn
vow, promise, and profession, he hal/i here made
by you. And that he may know these things the
better, ye .shall call upon him to hear Sermons;
and chiefly ye shall jirovide, that he may learn
the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com-
mandments, in the vulgar tongue, arjd all other
things which a Christian ought to know and
believe to his soul's health ; and that this Child
may be virtuously brought up to lead a godly
and a Christian life ; remembering always, that
Baptism doth represent unto us our profession ;
which is, to follow the example of our Saviour
Christ and to be made like unto Him ; that, as
He died, and rose again for us, so should we, who
are baptized, die from sin and rise again unto
righteousness ; continually mortifying all our evil
and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all
virtue and godliness of living.
1 But if they which bring the Infant to the Clnirch
do make such uncertain auswers to the Priest's
questions, as that it cannot appear that the Child
was baptized with Water, In the Name, of the
Fat/ifi; and of the Son, and of the Holij Ghost,
(which are essential parts of Baptism,) then let
the Priest baptize it in the form before appointed
for Publick Baptism of Infants ; saving that at
the dipping of the Child in the Font, he shall use
this form of words.
IF thou art not already baptized, N. I baptize
thee In the Name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
. " Si vero dubitet rationabiliter Sacerdos utrum
infans ad baptizaudum sibi oblatus prius in forma
debita fuerit baptizatus vel non, debet omnia
perficere cum eo sicut cum alio quern constat sibi
non baptizatum, pra-terquam quod verba sacra-
mentalia essentialia proterre debeat sub conditione,
hoc modo dicendo :
N. si baptizatus es, ego non rebaptizo te : sed si
nondum baptizatus es, ego baptizo te, in nomine
Patris, et FiLii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Suh aspersione vel immersione ut supra.
of the unreformed Office "ad faciendum Catechumeuum ")
over a baptized child. It is also impossible to follow it
exactly if an attempt is made to amalgamate it with the
Office for Public Baptism. It was probably intended to be
used at the font, but no water should be placed in the
latter.
CONDITIONAL BAPTISM.
The earliest mention of conditional Baptism is in the
statutes of St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mentz about a.d. 745.
His words as given by JIartene [de Antiq. rit. i. 16,3, ed.
1636] are, " Si de aliquibus dubium sit, utrum sint baptizati,
absque ullo scrupulo baptizentur ; his tamen verbis pr.-c-
missis : Non te rebaptizo, sed si nondum es baptizatus, etc."
It is not probable that Boniface would originate this form.
nor is it likely that the whole Western Church would so
exactly have adopted any form originated by him ; we may
therefore reasonably conclude that his words represent the
established usage of the ancient and settled Churches of
Europe when he wrote, and that tlie charity of the Church
had always provided such a form.
Conditional Baptism ought not to be administered hastily
as a means of escaping from a difficulty. The principle of
the Church is clear and unhesitating (as is shewn in the
Rubric above) that if water and the words of Institution
have been used they have constituted a true Baptism, the
iteration of which would be sinful in the baptizer, and at the
same time useless to the baptized. But, after careful inquiry,
doubts may often be felt as to the due use of the essentials
of Baptism, and in such a case the conditional form should
certainly be adopted, for the sake of the child.
THE MINISTRATION OF
BAPTISM TO SUCH AS ARE OF RIPER YEARS,
AND ABLE TO ANSWER FOR THEMSELVES.
V When any such persons as are of riper years are to
be baptized, timely notice shall be given to the
Bishop, or whom he shall appoint for that pur-
pose, a week before at the least, by the Parents,
or some other discreet persons ; that so due care
may be taken for their examination, whether they
be sufficiently instructed in the principles of the
Christian Religion ; and that they may be ex-
horted to prepare themselves with prayers and
fasting for the receiving of this holy Sacrament.
IT And if they shall be found fit, then the Godfathers
and Godmothers (the people being assembled upon
the Sunday or Holyday appointed) shall be ready
to present them at the Font immediately after
the second Lesson, either at Morning or Evening
Prayer, as the Curate in his discretion shall think
tit.
IT And standing there, the Priest shall ask whether
any of the persons here ijresented be baptized or
no : If they shall answer, Ko ; then shall the
Priest say thus,
DEARLY beloved, forasmuch as all men are
conceived and born in sin, (and that
which is boru of the flesh is flesh,) and they that
are in the flesh cannot please God, but live in
sin, committing many actual transgressions ; and
that our S.vviour Christ saith. None can enter
into the Kingdom of God, except he be regen-
erate and born anew of Water and of the Holy
Ghost ; I beseech you to call upon God the
Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that
of His bounteous goodness He will grant to t!iese
persons that which by nature thei/ cannot have,
that thei/ may be baptized with water and the
Holy Ghost, and received into Christ's holy
Church, and be made lively members of the
same.
H Then shall the Priest say.
Let us pray.
(IT And here all the Congregation shall kneel.)
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, Who of
-^-J- Thy great mercy didst save Noah and his
family in the ark from perishing by water ; and
also didst safely lead the children of Israel Thy
people through the Red Sea, figuring thereby
Thy holy Baptism ; and by the Baptism of Thy
well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river
Jordan, didst sanctify the element of water to
the mystical washing away of sin ; We beseech
Thee, for Thine infinite mercies, that Thou wilt
mercifully look upon these Thy servants; wash
them and sanctify them with the Holy Ghost, that
they being delivered from Thy wrath may be
received into the ark of Cueist's Church ; and
being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, and
rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this
troublesome world, that finally they may come to
the land of everlasting life, there to reign with
Thee world without end ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and immortal God, the Aid of all
-^^^ that need, the Helper of all that flee to Thee
for succour, the Life of them that believe, and the
Resurrection of the dead ; We call upon Thee for
these persons, that they, coming to Thy holy
Baptism, may receive remission of their sins by
spiritual regeneration. Receive them, O Lord,
as Thou hast promised by Thy well-beloved Son,
saying. Ask, and ye shall receive ; seek, and ye
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you : So give now unto us that ask ; let us that
seek find ; open the gate unto us that knock ;
that these perso7ts may enjoy the everlasting bene-
diction of Thy heavenly washing, and may come
THE BAPTISM OF ADULTS.
In that Preface to the Prayer Book which was written by
Bishop Sanderson in 16(il, it is stated that among other
alter.ationa and additions it was thought expedient to add
"an Office for the Baptism of sucii as are of riper years;
■which, .ilthough not so necessary when the former Book was
compiled, yet by the growth of Anabaptism, through the
liccntiou.sncss of the l.ate times crept in amongst us, is now
become necessary, an<l m.ay be always useful for the baptizing
of Natives in our Plantations, and others converted to tlie
Faith." It is probable that this was suggested by Bishop
CdsIm, for at the end of the Office for Private Baptism in his
Durham Book, he has written, " I'rinl in a new leaf, 'J'he
Ministration of Publick Baptism to such as are of perfect age,
or come to the years of discretion, and are .able t" render an
account of their faith, and undertake for tlicmselvcs ;" all
after "discretion" being subseijucntly erased. The Office
was, however, framed under the direction of a Committee
of Convocation, consisting of the following Bishops and
Clergy :—
Henchman, Bishop of Salisbury.
Laney, ,, Peterborough.
Griffith, ,, St. Asaph.
Earl, Dean of Westminster.
Oliver, ,, Worcester.
Sparrow, Archdeacon of Sudbury.
Creed, ,, Wilts.
Heywood,
Gunning, afterwards Bishop of Chichester and of Ely.
These met at tlie Savoy for the purpose on May 20, IGRI,
a date which shews that tlie review of tlie Prayer Book was
begun six months iR'forc the final olhoial steps towards
revision were undertaken. [<SVc ]). .■i2. ] Wood, in his ./IrtoitK
Oxoninnsh, says that the Bishop of St. Asaph had the chief
T13aptism of sucb as arc of Eipcr J^ears.
425
to the eternal kingdom which Thou hast pro-
mised by Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT Then shall the people stand up, and the Priest
shall saj',
Hear the words of tlie Gospel, written by Saint
John, in the third Chapter, beginning at the
first Verse.
THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Tlie
same came to Jesus by night, and said unto
Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher
come from God ; for no man can do tliese
miracles that Thou doest, except (Jod be with
him. Jesus answered and said unto him. Verily,
verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be
born when he is old 1 Can he enter tlie second
time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered. Verily, verily I say unto thee.
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof ; but canst not tell
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is
every one that is born of the Spirit.
IT After which he shall say this exhortation following.
BELOVED, ye hear in this Gospel the express
words of our Saviour Christ, that except
a man be bora of water and of the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. Whereby
ye may perceive the great necessity of this Sacra-
ment, where it may be had. Likewise, imme-
diately before His ascension into heaven, (as we
read in the last Chapter of Saint Mark's Gosjjel,)
He gave command to His disciples, saying. Go
ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to
every creature. He that believetli and is bap-
tized shall be saved ; but he that believetli not
shall be damned. Which also shewetli unto us
the great benefit we reap thereby. For which
cause Saint Peter the Apostle, when upon his first
preaching of the Gospel many were pricked at
the heart, and said to him and the rest of the
Apostles, IMen and brethren, what shall we do ?
replied and said unto them, Repent and be bap-
tized every one of you for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is to you and your children, and
to all that are afar oft", even as' many as the
Lord our God shall call. And with many
other words exhorted he them, saying. Save
yourselves from this untoward generation. For
(as the same Apostle testifieth in another place)
even Baptism dotli also pow save us, (not the put-
ting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience towards God,) by the resurrec-
tion of Jesus Christ. Doubt ye not therefore,
but earnestly believe, that He will favouraljiy
receive these present persons, truly repenting, and
coming unto Him by faith ; that He will grant
them remission of their sins, and bestow upon
them the Holy Ghost ; that He will give them the
blessing of eternal life, and make them partalceis
of His everlasting kingdom.
Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the
good will of our heavenly Father towards these
persons, declared by His Son Jesus Christ ; let
us faithfully and devoutly give thanks to Him,
and say,
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, heavenly
-^^^ Father, we give Thee humble thanks, for
that Thou hast vouchsafed to call us to the
knowledge of Thy grace, and faith in Thee :
Licrease this knowledge, and confirm this faith in
us evermore. Give Thy Holy Spirit to these
persons, that they may be born again and be
made heirs of everlasting salvation, through our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth
with Thee and the Holy Spirit, how and for
ever. Amen.
II Then the Priest shall speak to the persons to be
baptized on this wise :
WELL-BELOVED, whoare come hither desir-
ing to receive holy Baptism, ye have heard
how the congregation hath prayed that our Lord
Jesus Christ would vouchsafe to receive you
and bless you, to release you of your sins, to give
you the Kingdom of Heaven and everlasting life.
Ye have heard also that our Lord Jesus Christ
hath promised in His holy Word to grant all
those things that we have prayed for ; which
promise He, for His part, will most surely keep
and perform.
hand in composing tliis form. It received the approbation
of Convocation on May 31, 1661.'
Two Rubrics at the end of this OflRce furnish a rule as to
the age of the persons for wliom it is to be used. The first
enjoins that every one baptized with it shall be confirmed
and be admitted to the Holy Communion as soon as con-
veniently may be. From this it is evident that all who would
be considered old enough to be confirmed if they had been
baptized come within the limits of those "riper years " named
in the title. The second Rubric lays down tlie rule that the
Office is not to be used for those who are not yet come to
years of discretion to answer for themselves, but that such
shall be baptized with the Office for Infant Baptism. Adult
idiots ought to be baptized, but not with this Office : and
perhaps that for Private Baptism is best suited to their case,
it neglect of Baptism in their infancy has been added to their
natural misfortune. Perhaps it may be laid down as a general
1 Cakdwell's Coil/, pp. 370, 374. Lathburt's Coiivoc. p. 2S3.
rule that while Confirmation is not given to young children,
all under the age of twelve should be baptized as Infants, and
all persons above that age with the present Office.
As this Office was framed entirely for adult persons,
whether bom of Christian or of Heathen parents, it necessarily
recurs to those principles on which Holy Baptism was
administered in the primitive times of Christianity, when
millions of such persons were so admitted into the Church of
Christ. Thus the Candid.ate for Baptism is a Catechumen in
the ancient sense ; and as such is admitted to the sacrament
of regeneration only by the express permission of a chief
minister of the Church, and after proper instruction and
examination, with the discipline of prayer and fasting. It
may be observed also, that a IJishop or Priest is supposed
throughout to be the minister of Adult Baptism in public ;
though, of course, the ordinary rules as to valid Baptism
apply, to extreme cases of dying persons, when no priest can
be procured.
The ritual of the Baptism of Adults dift'ers from that of
426
15aptism of sucb aj8 ate of iRipcr gears.
Tyherefore, after this promise made by Christ,
ye must also faithfully, for your part, promise in
the presence of these your witnesses, and this
whole congregation, that ye will renounce the
devU and all his works, and constantly believe
God's holy Word, and obediently keep His com-
mandments.
IT Then shall the Priest ilemaud of each of the per-
sons to be baptized, severally, these Questious
following :
\ Question.
DOST thou renounce the devil and all his
works, the vain pomp and glory of the
world, with all covetous desires of the same, and
the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt
not follow, nor be led by them 1
IT Answer.
I renounce them all.
IT Question.
DOST thou believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth 1
And in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son
our Lord 1 And that He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost ; born of the Yirgin Jilary ; that He
sutiered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead,
and buried ; that He went down into hell, and
also did rise again the third day ; that He
ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty ; and from
thence shall come again at the end of the world,
to judge the quick and the dead?
And do.st thou believe in the Holy Ghost ;
the holy Catholick Church, the Communion of
Saints ; the Remission of sins ; the Piesurrectior
of the flesh ; and everlasting life after death ?
IT Answer.
All this I stedfastly believe.
IT Question.
ILT thou be baptized in this faith ?
IT Answer.
That is my desire.
w
H Question.
\ ATILT thou then obediently keep God's holy
VV will and commandments, and walk in
the same all the days of thy life ?
H Answer.
I will endeavour so to do, God being my helper.
IT Then shall the Priest say,
O MERCIFUL God, grant that the old Adam
in tliese persons may be so buried, that the
new man may be raised up in them. Amen.
Grant that all carnal affections may die in them,
a So in MS. ContJ^.
p. 415-
aad that all things belonging to the Spirit may
live and grow in them. Amen.
Grant that thei/ may have power and strength
to have victory, and to triumph, against the
devil, the world, and the flesh. Amen.
Grant that the!/, being here dedicated to Thee
by our office and ministry, may also be endued
with heavenly virtues, and everlastingly rewarded
through Thy mercy, O blessed Lord God, Who
dost live, and govern all things, world without
end. A men.
ALMIGHTY, everliving God, AVhose most
-J^^ dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, for the
forgiveness of our sins, did shed out of His most
precious side both water and blood, and gave
commandment to His disciples, that they should
go teach all nations, and baptize them In the
Name of the Father, the Sox, and the Holy
Ghost ; Regard, we beseech Thee, the supplica-
tions of this congregation; sanctify ""rHIS
WATER to the mystical washing away of sin ;
and grant that the persons now to be baptized
therein may receive the fulness of Thy grace, and
ever remain in the number of Thy faithful and
elect children, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
IT Then shall the Priest take each person to be baptized
by the right hand, and placing him conveniently
by the Font, according to his discretion, shall ask
the Godfathers and Godmothers the Name ; and
then shall dip him in the water, or pour water
upon him, saying,
"]^r I baptize thee In the Name of the Father,
-LN . and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
IT Then shall the Priest say,
^TTE receive this person into the congregation
V V of Christ's flock ; + and do + ^'cic (ht
sign him with the sign of the cross, ■?"'«' «''''"
in token that hereafter he shall not i,j,oii the per-
be ashamed to confess the faith of ''»'''/''"''<:''<'■
Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His
banner, against sin, the world, and the devil ;
and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and
servant unto his life's end. Amen.
IT Then shall the Piiest say,
SEEING now, dearly beloved brethren, that
these persons are regenerate, and grafted
into the body of Christ's Church, let us give
thanks unto Almighty God for these benefits,
and with one accord make our prayers unto Him,
that they may lead the rest of their life according
to this beginning.
IT Then shall be said the Lord's Prayer, all kneeling.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
Infants only in three particulars : 1. The person to he
baptized answers the interrogatories himself. 2. The Priest
takes him by the right hand and brings him to the font,
"placing him conveniently by the Font." D. An address to
the newly baptizcrl follows the short one which is made to
the sponsors. To these it may be added, fourthly, though
not directed in the liubric, that it is most reverent and
seemly for the person who is being baptized to kneel during
the act of Baptism. Women should also be provided with
veils similar to those used at Conlirmation, to be removed, of
course, during the actual Haptism.
I'crsons who have come to years of discretion are sometimes
in doubt respecting tlicir li.aptism, and arc anxious to be
baptized with the conditional form. As a rule the Church
has always concluded that those who have been born of
Christian parents have been bajitized, unless the contrary
15apti.sm of sucb as are of iRipct gears.
427
will be done in earth, As it is in Leaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive tlieni that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
"TTTE yield Thee humble thanks, O heavenly
VV Father, that Thou hast vouchsafed to
call us to the knowledge of Thy grace, and faith
in Thee : Increase this knowledge, and confirm
this faith in us evermore. Give Thy Holy Spikit
to these persons ; that being now born again, and
made heirs of everlasting salvation through our
LoED Jesus Christ, thei/ may continue Thy
servants, and attain Thy promises through the
same Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth
and reigiieth with Thee in the unity of the same
Holy Spirit, everlastingly. Amen.
% Then, all standing up, the Priest shall use this
Exliortation followiug ; speaking to the Godfathers
and Godmothers first.
FORASMUCH as these i^ersons have promised
in your presence to renounce the devil and
all hia works, to believe in God, and to serve
Him ; ye must remember, that it is your part and
duty to put them in mind, what a solemn vow,
promise, and profession they have now made
before this congregation, and especially before
you their chosen witnesses. And ye are also to
call upon them to use all diligence to be rightly
instructed in God's holy Word ; that so they
may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and live godly, righteously,
and soberly in this present world.
(IT And then, speaking to the new baptized 2'eM0M«, he
shall proceed, and say,)
AND as for you, who have now by Baptism
-LX. put on Christ, it is your part and duty
also, being made the children of God and of the
light, by faith in Jesus Christ, to walk answer-
ably to your Christian calling, and as becometh
the children of light ; remembering always that
Baptism representoth unto us our profession ;
which is, to follow the example of our Saviour
Christ, and to be made like unto Him ; that as
He died, and rose again for us ; so should we who
are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto
righteousness, continually mortifying all our evil
and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all
virtue and godliness of living.
IT It is expedient that every person thus baptized
should be confirmed hy the Bishop so soon after
his Baptism as conveniently may be ; that so he
may be admitted to the lioly Communion.
IT If any persons not ba^itized in their infancy shall be
brought to be baptized before they come to years
of discretion to answer for themselves ; it may
suffice to use tlie Office for Publick Baptism of
Infants, or (in case of extreme danger) the Office
for Private Baptism, only changing the word
\_Infanl\ for [Child or Persoii] as occasion requireth.
can be proved. Careful inquiry should, therefore, be made
whether there is really any good reason for doubt before any
such question is entertained. But if, after inquiry, there
still remains cause for doubt, there seems to be no reason why
the conditional form should not (the Bishop consenting) he
used, although no actual provision is made for it in the case
of adult persons. Even although a person may have been
confirmed and have received the Holy Communion, if it is
afterwards discovered that he has not been baptized, the
Sacrament of Baptism should he administered. In such a
case, reverent doubt as to the effect of the latter Sacrament
in supplying the omission of the former might well lead to the
use of the conditional form.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CATECHISM.
The ecclesiastical word Catechismus is derived from the
Greek Karrixni'-'!^ and means literally an instruction by word
of mouth of such a kind as to draw out a reply or echo.' In
the earliest age of the Church the word was used for that
kind of instruction whicli was given to the catechumens or
candidates for Baptism [Luke i. 4] ; and from this usage it
has come to mean also, in later ages, the instruction which
is given to candidates for Confirmation. A similar kind of
instruction among the Jews is indicated by the only incident
which is recorded of our Lord's childhood, ^vhen after three
days' disappearance He was found b}- His Mother and .Joseph
"sitting in the midst of the doctors, both lieariug them, and
asking them questions." [Luke ii. 46.]
In the Primitive Clrarch catechizing appears to have been
carried on by means of what we sliould now call a lecture,
the questions being asked ratlier by the persons catechized
than by tlie person catechizing. A lifelike description of
such a method is contained in an epistle of St. Augustine to
Deo Gratias, which is, in fact, a treatise on catecliiziug, and
has the title " De catechizandis rudibus. " It was written
A.D. 400. There is also an invaluable series of Catechetical
Lectures by St. Cyril of Jenisalem, delivered in that city
about A.D. 347. In the previous century Origen, aud before
him Clemens Alexaudrinus (who left a series of Catechetical
Lectures entitled P«dagogus), and Pantsnus, his predecessor,
had made the catechetical school of Alexandria famous for
the instruction there conveyed in the principles of CInistianity ;
but there can be no doubt that this instruction was of a less
elementary character than what is usually understood by the
word catechizing.
In St. Augustine's treatise he gives a description of the
manner in which a catechist is to keep alive the attention
and interest of the person who is being catechized : he also
sets forth the subjects of instruction, and gives two examples,
one long, the other short, of the mode in wliich those subjects
were to he taught in detail. From these it appears to have
been the custom first to give a narration of tlie Bible Histoiy,
and then to shew its connection witli Cliristianity, afterwards
setting forth the doctrines of tlie Creed and tlie principles of
Christian duty. St. Cyril's lectures also begin with an expo-
sition of the relation which tlie Old Testament history bears
to Christ and Christianity : they then go on to explain the
principles of Baptism and the benelits to be derived from it ;
afterwards expound the Creed in fifteen lectures ; and con-
clude with five on tlie Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's
Supper, the latter addressed to the same set of hearers
immediately after tlieir Baptism had taken place.'
It will be observed that this primitive form of instruction
was of a different character from that fixed question and
answer whicli we understand in modern times by the word
Catechism. This was represented l)y the Interrogatories
whicli formed part of the Office for Baptism and Cunfirmation,
and which were called by that name both in primitive and in
medi;eval times. Thus St. Cyril says, " Let thy feet liasteii
to the Catechizings, receive with earnestness the Exorcisms ;
for whether thou art brcatlied upon or exorcised, the Ordi-
nance is to thee .salvation." [Iiitrod. Lect. 9, Oxf. trausl.]
So among Archbishop Peckliam's Constitutions tlicre is one
wliich enjoins "that children baptized by laymen or women
in case of urgent necessity are not to be baptized again ; "
and it is added, "let the exorcisms and catechisms be used
over cliildreu so baptized, in reverence to the ordinances of
the Church." [.Ioiinson'.s ('anonn, ii. 277.]
When tlie Olfices of the Cliurch of I'higland were translated
into Englisli, and an endeavour was being made to develope
1 ** In x%Tr,xit>i\n liichKlnd an iterntion, and from iiyiuwc liavo our word
tr.ho. 'IIx*«iH indeed 'tosonnd the la,st syllalilc,' and such Bounders haply
there are enough ; but xarnxtw in ' t" sound in tlic whole, after one again.*
And such Is the rep.tition wjdeh is required of tlic right and true iMTnx'^-
lAUct. yciung eatecluzed Clii-iMtians, and those ])lares are called xitTv,x('t Uiat
give the whole verso or word again." [Bihhop Andukwkh" Introd)ictiO)i to
Pattern of Cattchlitical l)(Ktrine.\
' St. Cyril's Exposition of tho Lord's Prayer may lie found at p. 508.
further than had hitherto been done the intelligent use of
them by the laity, aud also to promote generally an intellec-
tual religion among them, a Catechism was inserted in the
Office for Confirmation. This was, of course, to be learned
during the period of preparation for Confirmation ; but the
Rubric directed that when the rite was to be administered,
the Bishop, or some one appointed by him, should "appose"
the persons to be confirmed by requiring them to answer such
questions of this Catechism as the former should see fit.
The object of this was stated to be that those who were
about to be confirmed might " then themselves with their
own mouth, and with their own consent, openly before the
Church, ratify and confess " what tlieir Godfathers and God-
motliers had promised for them in their Baptism. This cus-
tom was continued until tlie last revision of the Prayer Book
in 1661 ; but in 1552 the word "confess" in the Rubric (used
ill the sense of confessing or professing our belief) was unfor-
tunately altered to "confirm;" and the Kubric being then
adopted as a preliminary address in the Confirmation Service
(while that %\liicli had been referred to by the word was
removed from it), a confusitiu of ideas was originated which
connected the expression "ratify aud confirm" with the
ordinance of laying on of hands instead of with the catechiz-
ing by which it is preceded. [Sec notes on Confirmation.]
The Catechism which thus stood in the Prayer Book from
1540 to 1661 (under both the general title "Confirmation,
wherein is contained a Catechism for Children," aud the par-
ticular one by which it is now alone headed), was nearly
identical with tlie present one, but only extended as far as
the end of the explanation of the Lord's Prayer.' It has
often been said to have been made by Alexander Kowell, who
was second master of Westminster School at the time when
the Prayer Book was in preparation, but Dean of St. Paul's from
1560 to 1602. It has also been attributed to Bishop Poynet,
who (at the age of thirty-three) was made Bishop of Rochester
in 1550. But it is very unlikely that a young second master
of 'Westminster School would have lieen intrusted with so
grave an undertaking by the Divines who set forth the
3 Tliere is a Catechism in the Confirmation Office (such as it is) of Hkr-
mann's Consultation which bears a general resemblance to that in the
t'rayer Book, and from which hints were jirobaMy taken for the compnsi-
tinn of the latter. Some of its questions and answers will thus be of interest
to the reader. "Thev are given from Bishop Cosin's copy of Daye's transl.
of 15:!7.
Demand. Dost thou profess thyself to be a Christian?
Answer. I profess.
Demand. What is it to be a Christian?
Ansieer. To be born again in Christ, aud to have remission of sins, and
participation of everlasting life through Him.
Demand. Wliereby trustest thou that these things be given thee ?
Answer. Because I am baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost.
Demand. What belicvest thou of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost?
Aiisxver. The same that the Articles of our Creed do comprehend.
Demand. Rehearse them.
An^ircr. I do believe in God the Father Almighty, etc.
^ Hei-e let the child in this j'lacc recite all the articles of the Cl'eed
])luiidy aud distinctly.
I After which follow questitms on each article of the Creed, some of the an-
swers being very long. These are followeil by a re]>etition of the vows made
at Baptism by the catechumen, aud a statement of Christian ilut.v. Some
questions ui>on tlie Holy Coinnuuiion al"e the titdy others that liave any
verbal resemblance to the Catechism of the Prayer Book.l
Uriiiand. What doth the Communion of tiic congregation of Christ
require besides?
Ansv'cr. It requireth also, that I receive the Suppei- of tho Lord with
other Christian men, to whom 1 come, and with whom 1 dwell, as one, that
is one bread, aud one body with them in Christ.
Demand. 'What is this Saeniment?
Answer. It is the comnnndon of the Body and Blood of Christ, which, in
the Lord's Supper, when it is celebrated aecoidiiig to the Institution of the
Loril, be truly exliibited with the bread aud wine.
***#*■:■*
Demand. Wilt thou faithfully pcrrorni and ub8er\'e all these things, as
thou hast now professed ?
Answer. I will, by the hel]) of our Lord .Tesus Christ.
There is no rehearsal of the Ten e'ommandnients or of the Lord's Prayer
in this Catechism of Hermann ; and it hears much more mark of t&mporary
coutroversies than that in the Prayer Book.
an 3Intromiction to tbc Catechism.
429
Prayer Book of 1549 : and although Poynet published a Cate-
chism in Latin and English, the licence to print it was only
asked from Cecil by the Earl of Northumberland on Septem-
ber?, 1552.' Poynet had, however, been chaplain to Cranmer.
Tlie name of Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, has also been
associated witli the authorship of a i)art of the Catechism.
The authority for tliis is the fact that two tablets — each
measuring twenty-four inches by twenty-one inches — are
inserted in panels on the outside of a bay window in a gallery
which he built on the north side of the palace at Ely, on which
0VR9VT1I
ISTOBELCTl TO-FEHRe
60d-™c)-T0-L0VE-60c)WITH
aiL-OVRHER-^WITH-HlLOVR-W
NDWlTh-AbOVR-SOVLZWI
TH-HLOVR-POYERTOWORS
hVJPE-60d TO-6weHy/\™
rjKESTO -PVT OVRWHOLTRVST-
II\I-60c) TO-CKLVPON-HyMO-
hONOVR-HIS-hOLVNFIrt-AN^'
HlSWORDE-HTO-SERVe- 60 c)-
TRVLI-nLThE-c)nyESOF-OVR
LYFE-
too short in its existing form." "The addition," says Cosin,
" was first penned by Bishop Overall (then Dean of St. Paul's)
and allowed by the Bishops." [Cosin'.s Notes, p. 491, Ang.
Cath. Lib] Many other writers repeat the statement.
As Bishop Cosin wrote this about 1C40, twenty years only
after Overall's death ; and as he had, in his early life, been
chaplain to that good and learned divine, no doubt he had
authority for his statement ; but it is also pretty well estab-
lished, from internal evidence, that Overall translated from
some Latin formula, probably from an ancient "A, B, C,
with the Catechism, " of unknown authorship, which was
used in St. Paul's School, and of which there is a reprint
dated 1687.»
As in many other particulars, so in the matter of Catechiz-
ing, the Reformation rekindled a principle and a practice
which had been gradually becoming extinguished in that
decadence of spirituality which had been the bane of the
Church of England for a century or more, and from which
the Reformation itself was a reaction. Accordingly in a set
of Injunctions framed by Cranmer and issued by authority of
Henry VIII. in 1536, the fifth was a reiteration of the rule
so often to be met with in medieval times, that the clergy
should take care children were taught the Creed, the Lord'.s
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments in their mother tongue. ■*
This rule has been so neglected (it is stated in the Homily
against Disobedience and wilful Reliellion) that few even of
the most simple people were taught them except in Latin,
which they of course could not understand. In the Injunc-
tions of Edward VI. [1547] this duty was again enforced
upon the clergy in the following words : " Jti'm. That every
1 State Papers, Domestic. Edw. VI. xv. 3.
2 Much information about the long Catechisms of the Protestant Re-
formers may be found in W.^lchius, hibl. Theol. vol. i. Nowell's larger
Catechism in Latin was republished at Oxford in lS3j and 1S44. The volu-
minous Catechism of the Council of Trent is in many respects a valuable
summary of Christian doctrine, but was intended as a book of instructions
for the clergy, and not for the use of children.
3 As Erasmus and Colet were very intimate, it is not improbable that
this Catechism may have originated with the former, who was a great
authnritv at the time of the Reformation.
« See Hist. Introd. p. 3-
are engraved "our duty to God," and "our duty to our neigh-
bour," in words similar to those now so familiar to every child.
As he was one of the Connnittee of Convocation by whom the
Prayer Book was prepared,' there is no imijrobabdity in the
supposition that these portions of tlie Catechism came from
his pen ; and if they did bo, it may be fairly concluded that
the remaining portions of it (as it stood at first) are his also."
The latter part of the Catechism was added Ijy the autlio-
rity of King James I., after the Hampton Court Conference,'
tlie Puritans complaining through Dr. Keinolds that it was
^5r-()uriP!oiDarc)fsoijrnnai]boDr\s-
'50W-t)piiifts-sj]rpifHni)(oc)oto-
MmfnRs-3-\iJOiDPtl]r])ft]iil;tr-tD-ro-iiif
to-ljonoURoDf))t(jfKuw-fliiaf)is-5i
ni(tprs-toful)iiijitoDi-fplff-toal('Oiiroo
ijpiiiourps/puituallztfinporal-towcFr
OiU'ff(fp-ldlwl))-to-ail{upf2iors-to-^urr-no'
boD))-bj]tooitr-no2[FWobc-i\}nr-inalI-
Oiu-t)faljn0-to-bmrno-nial))CP-iiiouri)d
©okfp-ourtiancrs-froni-tirlpsz-oDz^
tona-tromfu))ll-fpffitip{P-lo-kppf-oljr-to
tr;;5-in-!eniiriftunff-nor-to-col3ft-otf)ei-mrns-
Goolps-buMf\bourr-trurtv-fo2-otjriyuunff-iii-
ttatf-of-\)/tf-'U3|)ic^f-pleRC • ftOD-tocai-Us -on-to-
holyday throughout the year, when tiiey liave no sermon,
they shall, immediately after the Gospel, openly and plainly
recite to their parishioners, in the pulpit, the Paternoster,
the Credo, and the Ten Commandments in English, to the
intent the people may learn the same by heart ; exhorting all
jjarents and houseliolders to teach their children and servants
the same, as they are bound tbylie law of God, and in con-
science to do. . . . Item. That they shall in confessions every
Lent, examine every person that cometli to confession to them,
whether they can recite the articles of their faith, the Pater-
noster, and the Ten Commandments in English, and hear
them say the same particularly."'* The Catechism was a
natural developement of this ancient and now revived practice.
It appeared in the Prayer Book which was completed in the
year [1548] following the above Injmietions ; and at the end
of the Contirmation Service, of which it formed a part, was
the following Rubric : "IT The Curate of every parish, once
in six weeks at the least, upon warning by him given, shall,
upon some Sunday or Holyday, half an hour before Evensong,
openly in the Church instruct and examine so many children
of his parish sent unto him, as the time will serve, and as he
shall think convenient, in some part of this Catechism. And
all fathers, mothers, masters, and dames shall cause their
children, servants, and apprentices (which are not yet con-
firmed) to come to the Church at the day appointed, and
obediently hear and be ordered by the Curate, until such
time as they have learned all that is here appointed for them
to learn. IT And whensoever the Pjishop shall give knowledge
for children to be brought afore him to any convenient place
for their confirmation, then shall the Curate of everj' parish
either bring or send in writing the names of all those children
6 See Hist. Introd. p. 14.
6 The above engravings are made from nibbiugs which were taken on
.July 26, 1SS2, with the kind permission of tlie Bishop of Ely, by the
Rev. J. T. Fowler, F.S.A., of Durham. They represent exactly the
]»eculiarities of the inscriptions, and also the deficiences now existing in
the left-hand panel through the stunning of the stone on which they are
sculptured. Copies of the inscriptions, not quite accurate as to spelling,
will be found in Churton's Life o/ NoKell, Oxford 1S09.
" Hist. Introd. p. 25.
8 C.ARDW. Doc. Ann i 7. 10-
430
9n 3lntromiction to t&c Catccbism.
of his parish which can say the Articles of their Faith,
the Lord's Prayer, aucl the Ten Commandments ; and
also how many of them can answer to the other questions
contained in this Catechism. " In the previous Injunctions it
had been ordered that none should be admitted to the Holy
Communion until they could say these three primary sum-
maries of Faith, Prayer, and Duty. A Rubric following the
above now embodied this rule in a difl'erent form : " H And
there shall none be admitted to the Holy Communion until
such time as he be confirmed." In 1549 other Injunctions
were issued, and the eighth is, "Item. That the Curates
every sixth week at the least, teach and declare diligently
the Catechism, according to the book of the same."' The
forty-fourth of Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions of 1559 reiterates
that of Edward VI., altering the time to " every holyday,
and every second Sunday in the year."- All these Injunc-
tions were embodied in the fifty-ninth Canon of the Church
of England in the year 1603.^
"Canon 59.
"Ministers to Catechize every Sunday.
"Every Parson, Vicar, or Curate, upon every Sunday and
Holyday, before Evening Prayer, shall, for half an hour or
more, examine and instruct the youth and ignorant persons
in his parish, in the Ten Commandments, the Articles of the
Belief, and in the Lord's Prayer ; and shall diligently hear,
instruct, and teach them the Catechism set forth in the Book
of Common Prayer. And all fathei's, mothers, masters, and
mistresses, shall cause their children, servants, and appren-
tices, which have not learned the Catechism, to come to the
Church at the time appointed, obediently to hear, and to be
ordered by the Jlinister, until they have learned the same.
And if any Minister neglect his duty herein, let him be
1 Cardw. Doc. .^iiii. i. 64.
' Ibid. 193.
3 In the Liber qiiorunduvi Canonuvi of 1571 there is one which en
joins the duty of catechizing very strongly. ". . . Et nt onmes intelligant i
quid debeant Deo Oi>timo Maximo, quid Prineipi, quern colere ac veuerari
debent ut Vicavium Dei : quid lepibus : quid nuigistratibus, quid fratribus
suis : quid populo Dei : omnibus dominicis et festis diebus sLatim a raeridie
praesto erunt in teraplis, ihique minimum ad duas horas legent, et docebunt
Ciitechisraum, et in eo instituent omnes suos omnium Eetatum, atque ordi-
num, non tantum puellas aut pueros, set etiam si opus erit grandiores."
[Sparrow's CoUeclion.] Tlie "at least two hours " maybe profitably anno-
t;ited by an extract from a letter of Archbishop Parker to Bishop Parkhurst,
" For it is not intended by our canons th.at everjthing should be so pre-
cisely kept, but for the most part, and as occasion of edification should
require." [Parker Correspondence, p. 3S9.I
sharply reproved upon the first complaint, and true notice
thereof «»iveu to the Bishop or Ordinary of the place. If,
after submitting himself, he shall willingly offend therein
again, let him be suspended; if so the third time, there being
little hope that he will be therein reformed, then excommuni-
cated, and so remain until he will be reformed. And likewise
if any of the said fathers, mothers, masters, or mistresses,
children, servants, or apprentices, shall neglect their duties,
as the one sort in not causing them to come, and the other
in refusing to learn, as aforesaid ; let them be suspended by
their Ordinaries (if they be not children), and if they so
persist by the space of a month, then let them be excom-
municated."
The present Rubric so far supersedes this Canon that it
directs the clergyman to catechize after the Second Lesson at
Evening Prayer. It is plain that both Canon and Rubric
contemplate catechizing as an open and public Ministration
in the Church, and in the face of a congregation : and how-
ever diligently school catechizing may be carried on, it can-
not be considered as adequately satisfying the law of the
Church, or as being equivalent to a solemn ministration con-
ducted in the House of God. The value of such a ministration
has been testified by innumerable writers of former centuries
and of modern times in the Church of England : and the
catechetical works of Bishop Andrewes, Hammond, Bishop
Nicholson, Bishop Ken, and (in our own times) Bishop Kixon,
shew how our best Divines have recognized in the Catechism,,
and in the practice of public catechizing, a duty and a labour
upon which the highest intellectual powers maj' be profitably
exercised for the good of Christ's little ones, and of the Church
at large.
It is obvious from the history of the Catechism that it was
formed upon the basis of the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and
the Ten Commandments. To these, and to the catechetical
exposition connected with them, was prefixed a fourth
di\'ision on the Christian nature and covenant ; and at the
end was afterwards added a fifth division on the Sacraments.
It has thus become a comprehensive summary respecting [1]
the relation between God and Christians, [2] Faith, [3] Duty,
[4] Prayer, [5] Grace. But although thus happily comprehen-
sive, it must be remembered that it does not profess to be
exhaustive : and that when the Puritans at the Savoj- Confer-
ence wished it to be made longer by adding questions on
justification, sanctification, etc., the Bishops replied, "The
Catechism is not intended as a whole body of divinity, but as
a comprehension of the Articles of Faith, and other doctrines
most necessary to salvation. "
A CATECHISM,
THAT IS TO SAY,
AN INSTRUCTION TO BE LEARNED OF EVERY PERSON, BEFORE HE BE
BROUGHT TO BE CONFIRMED BY THE BISHOP.
IT Question.
"TTTHAT is your Name ?
H Answer.
K or 3f.
IT Question.
Who gave you this Name ?
a Luke
I. 4.
iPet
3- 21-
Luke
2 Tim
• 59; 2
*iCor
12. 13-
Gal. 3.
26,27.
Kotn.
8.17.
U Answer.
'My Godfatliers and Godmothers in my Bap-
tism ; wherein I was made a member of Chei.st,
the child of God, and an inheritor of the King-
dom of Heaven.
What did
then for you 1
IT Question,
your Godfathers
and Godmothers
THE CATECHISM.
What is your Name ?] The Christian name is used in the
Ministrations of the Church, at Baptism, lier'e, and in the
Marriage Service. It was formerly used also at C'ontirmation.
In this place it obviously singles out, by a sort of analysis, the
individual Christian from the Christian body at large, and
thus fixes on the idea of indicidaal privilege, duty, and re-
sponsibility, while at the same time not interfering with the
prominency of the idea of corporate unity which is contained
in that of membership.
N. orM.] The most probable explanation of these letters is,
that N was anciently used as the initial of Nomen, and that
Nouien for one person, or Nomina for several jjersons, was
expressed by f^ vel J9J!3 ; the double J3 being afterwanls
corrupted into SS. The M by wliich 1000 is expressed was
formed in a somewhat similar manner from the ancient nota-
tion, Q 1 0> l^y which that number was expressed in classical
Latin, and which became (D in the Teutonic character of later
inscriptions.
in my Baptism ; wherein I was madel This answer is very
comprehensive, and offers a concise definition of doctrine
respecting the Christian nature. It declares that Christians
are made such by God's work co-operating with the work of
the person baptizing. The infant was dipped in water, or
had water poured upon it, while the person baptizing named
it, and said, " I baptize thee in the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." This constituted "my
Baptism," so far as man's work could effect it. "In" that
Baptism, without leaving room for any doubt, without im-
posing any condition by which the blessing could be nullified,
God " made me a member of Christ, the child of God, and an
inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. " The new birth is not
conditional on the regenerated person's subsequent fulfilment
of the baptismal vows, but only upon the due administration
of the water and words of Baptism.
a member of Christ} This is a Scriptural expression, used by
St. Paul, who says, " We are the body of Christ, and mem-
bers in particular " [1 Cor. xii. 27] : also, that " by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body . . . for the body is not one
member, but many " [1 Cor. xii. 13, 14] : also that this Body in
its completeness is Christ, " As the body is one, and hath
many members ... so also is Christ " [1 Cor. xii. 1'2] : "For
we are members of His Body, of His flesh, and of His bones. "
[Eph. V. 30.] How tliis membership can be is a mystery, but
the results of it are intelligible, and may be understood partly
from analogy, partly from the statements of our Lord and His
Apostles. By physiological analogy we may draw the infer-
ence that life is maintained in every member by union with
the Head, and without that union no member can live. Hence
spiritual life is derived from our Lord the Fountain of life,
not only as a gift bestowed by one person npon another, but
by an actual, though mysterious, and therefore unintelligible
union.
It is on such a principle that St. Paul founds his familiar
but deeply-important words, " He is the Head over all things
to the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him Which
filleth all in all." [Eph. i. 2'2, 23.] "And He is the Head of
the Body, the Church." [Col. i. 18.] To baptize an infant
is, therefore, to use the means by which God gives it spiritual
life by uniting it to Christ. To leave an infant unbaptized, is
to leave it spiritually without life, by leaving it without this
union. And the same is true, no wilful bar to the Sacrament
intervening, of adults. Our Lord shewed this in describing
Himself as the true Vine, and the Apostles as branches ; and
especially in the words, " I am the Vine, ye are the branches :
he that abideth in Me, the same bringeth forth niuch fruit :
for without Me [x^p's "Efj-ov] ye can do nothing. " To be made
a "member of Christ" is, therefore, to be united in a living
spiritual bond with "the Way, the Truth, and the Life,"
" the Light," "the Kesurrecti(m and the Life." Our spiritual
existence, our spiritual knowledge, and cur future Resurrec-
tion to life eternal are dependent on that union being effected
in and by Baptism.
the child of Go<l'\ This term also is iScriptural. St. Paul
uses it thus : " For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus " [Gal. iii. 2G] : and St. John, " Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God. . . . Beloved, now are we
the sons of God. " [1 John iii. 1, 2.] Such a relationship also
springs from actual union with God through Christ in re-
generation, and not from federal relationship. So St. Paul
alleges when he writes, " For both He that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified, are all of one : for which cause He
is not ashamed to call them brethren." [Heb. ii. 11.] So also
St. John alleges in the words, " Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of [yfyim-qrai] God : and every one
that loveth Him that liegat [Tof yewqaavTa], loveth him also
that is begotten of Him " [toi' ycy€in/T]fia'm> ej Ai'roC]. To be
the child of God is not only therefore to be taken into that
relationship by a covenant, but to be made so by a super-
natural effect of grace.
an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven] St. Paul writes that
sonship brings heritage, " If children, then heirs ; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ. " [Rom. viii. 17.] The in-
heritance is [1] of the Church Militant, which our Lord speaks
of as the Kingdom of Heaven on many occasions [e. if. JIatt.
iii. 2 ; xiii. 24] : and [2] of the Church Triumphant, of
which He also speaks under the same title. [^latt. xxv. 34.]
The heritage of the Church Militant is a title to all Church
privileges and teaching, to benediction, absolution, all sacra-
mental rites, the blessed Sacrament, and burial within the
fold of the Church, and may be described as a title to the
grace of God (through His mercy, and not through our merits).
432
a Catecbism.
IT Answer.
"They did promise and vow three things in my
name. First, that I should renounce the devil
and *all his 'works, the pomps and vanity of this
wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the
flesh. Secondl}-, that I should believe all the
Articles of the Christian Faith. And, thirdly,
that I should keep God's holy will and command-
ments, and walk in the same all the days of my
life.
IT Question.
'' Dost thou not think that thou art bound to
believe, and to do, as they have promised for
thee?
H Answer.
'Yes verily; and by God's help so I will. And
I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that
He hath called me to this state of salvation,
through Jesus Christ our S.a.vioue. And I
pray unto God to give me His grace, that I may
•^continue in the same unto my life's end.
IT Catechist.
Rehearse the Articles of thy Belief.
(T Isa. 19, 21. 1 Jolm
b all liis Tuarl:! attd
potnfs, the vani-
tteio/.elc.i^ig — 61,
<* Gal. 1.4; 5. 24.
M,irk 16. 16. Matt.
28, 20; 22. 37-39.
Luke I. 74, 75.
rf Deut. 26.
James z. 17.
i Fs. 146. 5. Eph.
5. 20. 2 Tim. I. g.
Tit. 2. II. Phil. 4.
6; 1.6; 2. 13.
/Deat. 31 12,
^ 2 Tim. 3. 14.
ft Heb. II. e. I Cor.
8. 6. Jolin 14. I.
I John 4. 14-
1f Answer.
T BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty,
-L j\Iaker of heaven and earth :
And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of
the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
"Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended
into hell ; The third day He rose again from the
dead ; He ascended into heaven. And sitteth at
the right hand of God the Father Almighty ;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy
Catholick Church ; The Communion of Saints ;
The Forgiveness of sins ; The Resurrection of
the body ; And the Life everlasting. Amen.
IT Question.
•^ What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles
of thy Belief?
IT Answer.
"First, I learn to believe in God the Father,
Who hath made me, and all the world.
which title can, of course, be forfeited by sin. The heritage
of the Church Triuinpliant is the gift of blessedness which
" eye hath not seen nor ear heard."
St. Augustine writes respecting both : " Wherefore, dearly
beloved, Catholic plants, members of Christ, think what a
Head ye liave ! Children of God, think what a Father ye have
found ! Christians, think what .an Inheritance is promised you !
Not such as on earth cannot be possessed by children, save
wlien their parents are dead. For no one on earth possesses
a f.ither's inheritance save when he is dead. But we, whilst
our Father liveth, shall possess what He shall give : for that
our Father cannot die. I add more, and say the truth, our
Father will Himself be our inheritance. " [Aug. fiermons, cxivi.
2.] As cliildren could never grow up if they refused the food
and shelter of their parents' home, so tlie cliildren of God can
never grow to " the fulness of the stature of Christ " if they
refuse the present privileges to which they are entitled iu the
Church of God. And while "not growing up" in the one
case means physical death, so does it mean spiritual death in
the other : an excision of the unfruitful branch, the unworthy
member of Clirist ; an expatriation of the prodigal son for
ever from his father's house ; a forfeiture of the eternal in-
heritance to which the spiritual birthriglit has entitled, but
of which the disentail has been signed and sealed by the heir
of his own free will.
T/iey did promise and voto . . . in my name] Baptism is not
administered on the condition of vows being made, nor do the
vows exercise any anticipative influence upon it. They are
part of the discipline of the Church, aud proliably established
by the Apostles, but do not belong to the essence of the
Sacrament, which is entirely perfect as to its outward form
and its inward grace, even where tliey are not used or in-
tended to be used. At the same time, the vows of Baptism
express obligations which are inseparalile from the relation
cstablisheil with our heavenly Father by it : so that children
wlio have never had God-p.arent.-i to make them on their be-
half are bound, by tlie nature of their position as Cliristian
children, to the duties stated in tliese vows, .as much as if
they had been explicitly ni.ade at tlieir ISaptism. A child
wlio has not iii.ade any verbal promise of obeilience to its
parents, is as much bound to obey, by the law of God, as one
who has done so : and no superadded vow can heigliten or
intensify the oljlig.ations which natur.ally belong to the rela-
tionship of Christians towards (iod, though it may express
and define them.
tluU I Hlwiihl renounce the derit] The renunciation of the
adversary of (iod and man, wliich was made by those who
were children of wrath before they became children of God,
expressed an obligation from which tliey could never after
become free. St. Jolin appears to refer to this renunciation
when he says, " I write unto you, young men, because ye
have overcome the wicked one." [1 John ii. 1.3.] In what
manner practical effect is to be given, throughout life, to thiit
renunciation, be also shews by referring [1] to the victory
gained by Christ our Head ; and [2] to the union between
Him and His members, through ■vihich they may be made
partakers of His strength. " For this purpose the Son of
God was manifested, th.at He might destroy the works of
the devil." " Greater is He that is in j'ou, than he that is
in the world." [1 John iii. 8 ; iv. 4.] Thus the true way to
give practical force to the vow of rciumci.ation is to gain the
power of Christ,. [1] by tlie wish to do good rather than evil ;
[2] by dependence, in faith, on our Lord the Victor of the
Evil One ; [3] by an earnest resistance to Satan ; [4] by a
continued use of the grace given by God. [Conip. Litanj'
clause, "From all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and
the devil ;" and Collect for Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.]
all liis works] Sins, or the works of the devil, are classified
under seven kinds, viz. I'ride, Avarice, Lust, Envy, Gluttony,
Anger, Sloth, which are called tlie seven deadly sins.
pomps] See footnote at p. 413 in the Service for Baptism.
that I slioiild beliere . . . the Christian Faith] Such an act
of faith presupposes a faculty of faith, just as an act of reason
supjioses a facultj' of reason. The one belongs to our spiritual
nature, which we receive at Bajitism'; the other to the nature
whicli we receive by our natural birth. Faith is the power
of believing all that Ciod reveals to us without the necessity
of any corroboratory evidence from our senses. Such cor-
robor.atory evidence sometimes accompiinies the revelation of
God ; but in respect to the most important objects of faith it
does not : and our Lord commends that faith most highly
which is ex'. rcit-ed without it: "Thomas, because thou hast
seen Me, thou liast believed : blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed." [John xx. 29.] The "Articles
of the Cliristi.in Faith " are so much ciaicenied with objects
of faith respecting which we can have little or no evidence
beyond God's Wonl for their existence and truth, that a
thorough belief in tliem can only be entertaineil by the exer-
cise of the faith which is the gift of God, and which enables
us to know, by a participation in (Jod's knowledge, what is
altogether beyond the reach of un.'issi.stcd intellectual appre-
hension. Hence, as belief in all the Articles of the Cliristian
Fcaith is a duty imposed u]ion Chi isti.ans with their biithright,
so it is the exercise of a gift or faculty which belongs to the
Christian n.ature. A partial faith, an afsint and gidmrission
of the intellect is, of couise, possible to .all who possess reason,
.and is a necessary (jualitication for Bajitism in adult persons.
It ni.ay be added, th.it the difVrrencc between faith and super-
stition i.s that the first is belief on good evidence (of vliicli the
best .and highest kind is God's Word about the object upon
which f.aith is to be exercised); while superstition is belief on
insufficient evidence, of which kind is, sometimes, the evidence
of the senses.
On the necessity of a right faith to salvation, see notes on
the Athanasian Creed, pp. 217-220. Covip. also Jude 3 ; Eph.
iv. .5; 1 .lohn v. 4; 1 I'et. v. 9; Rev. ii. 13; xiv. 12; the
a Catecbism.
433
"Secondly, in God the Son, Who hath redeemed
me, and all mankind.
Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, Who sanc-
tifieth me, and all the ''elect people of GoD.
H Question.
■■You said, that your Godfathers and Godmothers
did promise for you, that you should keep God's
Commandments. Tell me how many there be (
ir Answer,
'Ten.
IT Queb'tioii.
'Which be they?
IF Answer.
THE same which God spake in the twentieth
Chapter of Exodus, saying, -^1 am the Lord
thy God, Who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
I. Thou shaft have none other gods but Me.
II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven
image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the
water under the earth. Thou shalt not l)ow
a Acls s- 3. 4.
Pet. I. I, 2.
/' j\e. Christians.
God's clioseii
people.
c Exod. 19. 5, 7,
Ts, 76. 11.
1^ Exod. 34. 28.
€ Matt. 23. 37-40.
y Exod. 20. 2-17.
Deut.5. 6-21. Matt,
19, Tfi, 19, M,Trk 12,
3C,-j3, Luke lu, 27.
Kom, 13, 9,
down to them, nor worship them : for I the
Lord thy God am a jealous God, and vi,sit the
sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the
third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,
and shew mercy luito thousands in them that
love Me, and keep !My conmiandnients.
III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord
thy God in vain : for the Loud will not hold
him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.
IV. Remember that thou keep holy the
Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour, and
do all that thou hast to do ; but the seventh day
is the Sabbath of the Loud thy God. In it thou
shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son,
and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-
servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is
within thy gate.s. For in six days the Lord
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in
them is, and rested the seventh day ; wherefore
the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed
it.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother, that
thy days may be long in the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee.
clause "From all false doctrine," etc., in the Litany; and
the Collect for St. Thomas's Day.
fJuU I should keep OoiVs holy will] God's ^\'ill is the supreme
law over all ; and His Commandments are the 'expression of
that Will. This expression is by no means to be limited in
our minds by the Ten Commandments, though tliese contain
a sunmiary of all moral dutj' ; for the "Will of God is expressed
in many other ways. Of sucli modes by which that Will is
expressed there are five principal ones. [1] By the natural
relationships of life. Thus St. Paul shews that the duties of
children towards their parents, of wives towards their lius-
bands, and i'/ce fersa, are duties laid upon them by God. [Col.
iii. 18, etc.] Duties so plainly imposed by our heavenly
Father are a plain revelation of His Will ; and the non-
fulfilment of such duties is disobedience to it. [2] By the
light of the Christianized conscience, which is "the candle of
the Lord within" [Prov. xx. 27], "the light that is in thee,"
of which our Saviour spoke when He said, " If therefore the
light that is in thee l)e darkness, how great is that darkness ! "
[Matt. vi. 2.3.] But all apparent dictates of the Christian
conscience are not hastily to be taken as such revelations of
God's Will and Commandment, as natural inclination may be
mistaken for the voice of conscience. [3] By the voice of tlie
Church, represented iu its Catholic teaching, and in the
admonitions and advice of those individual ministers whom
God has appointed as spiritual guides to the flocks in the
midst of which He has placed them. [4] By the written
word of God's revelation, contained in the Holy Bible. [5]
By the written and unwritten law of the land in which His
Providence has placed us, respecting which St. Paul says,
" Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there
is no power but of God : the powers that be are ordained of
God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the
ordinance of God : and they that resist shall receive to them-
selves damnation." [Rom. xiii. 1, 2.] Obedience to the Will
and Commandment of God, however it may be revealed, draws
our relationship to Him still closer; Christian nature and
Christian obedience thus reacting upon each other, and ful-
filling the words of Christ, ' ' Whosoever shall do the will of
God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother. "
[Mark iii. 35.]
by Ood's help so I icill] This answer takes the form of an
oath, the ordinary adjuration of which in this country is, " So
help me God. " Every time it is repeated, the child or person
repeating it " renews the solemn promise and vow that was
made in their name at their Baptism ; ratifying and confirm-
ing the same in their own persons, and acknowledging them-
selves bound to believe and do all those tilings which their
Godfathers and Godmothers then undertook for them. " [See
Confirmation Office. ] This is done for the last time immedi-
ately before Confirmation by the reply, " 1 do," to the Bishop's
question. It must be remembered that the promise and vow
made on behalf of a child by its God-parents do not originate
the obligation of that child " to do all these things," but only
ex])res3 an obligation tliat would be binding whether it was
expressed or not.
this date of salvation'] That is, into a Christian condition in
which it is quite certain (whatever may be the possibility
in a non-Christian condition) tliat salvation is 'witliin reach.
The Christian child has already been saved from the rjuilt of
original sin, and from much of its power over the soul. Final
salvation depends on final perseverance, that is, on a con-
tinuance in the state of salvation, by God's grace, to our
lives' end, so that we may not die in mortal sin.
First, I learn to bcliere] For an expository paraphrase on
tlie Apostles' Creed, see the Notes on Morning Prayer, p. 197.
Some illustrative texts of Scripture will be found in the
Table of references to the books of the New Testament at p,
196.
Ten] In the Catechism as it stood iu 1549 the first five of
the Ten Commandments were given in a much shorter form,
as follows : ' —
" I. Thou shalt have none other gods but Me.
"II. Thou shalt not . . . nor worship them.
" III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God
iu vain.
" IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day.
" V. Honour thy father and thy mother."
In the tentli commandment the words, " Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's house," were altogether omitted,
evidently by a singular accident. The Primer of 1545 con-
tains "The Ten Conunandmcnts compendiously extracted,"
etc., which is exactly similar to the arrangement of 1549,
except that tlie commandment there put as the second is
omitted [it is jjrinted in the exposition immediately preced-
ing], and the tenth is divided into two. The writer of the
Catechism must have copied out the compendium from the
Primer, inserting so much as he did insert of tlie second
commandment, and then forgetting altogether what there
stood as the ninth !
The translation of the Commandments here, and in the
Communion Office, is apparently an original version made
for the Prayer Book. The Puritans of 1661 wished to have
that of 1611 substituted, but the Bishops considered that there
was no necessity for this change.
The same wldch God spahe] Although the Ten Command-
ments were given especially to the .Jews, they represent the
whole substance of a moral law which is equally binding
upon Christians. Thus our Lord recognized the summary of
them which was given to Him by the lawyer, in Luke x. 27,
and thus He summed them up Himself, in Matt. xix. IS, and
xxii. 37-40, as a rule of obedience by which a man might
1 That a compendium of the Ten Commandments is perfectly justifiable
may be concluded from its adoption by our Lord in Matt. lii. 18, and by
St. Paul in Rom. xiii. 9.
E
434
a Catccdism.
VI. Thou shalt do no murder.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adulterj'.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal.
IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour.
X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's
house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,
nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his
asf5, nor any thing that is his.
H Question.
"What dost thou chiefly learn by these Com-
mandments ?
H Answer.
I learn two things ; my duty towards God, and
my duty towards my Neighbour.
IT Question.
What is thy duty towards God?
IT Answer.
^My duty towards God. is to believe in Him,
to fear Him, and to love Him witli all my heart,
with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all
my strength ; to worship Him, to give Him
thanks, to put my whole trust in Him, to call
upon Him, to honour His holy Name and His
Word, and to serve Him truly all the days of my
Ufe.
IT Question.
What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour ?
^ Answer.
'' My duty towards my Neighbour, is to love him
as myself, and to do to all men, as I would they
a Malt. 23. 37-40.
fi 2 Cor. 3, 5 : 12, 9.
Heb. 4. 16. 2 TheBS.
1. II. 12. Luke II.
1-4.
c 2 Chron. 20. 20.
l.uke 12. 5 ; 10, 27.
John 4. 23. I Thess.
5. 18. I Tim. 4. 10.
i'hil. 4. 6. Ps. 13S.
2. I Chron. 28. 9.
rf Juris prxcepta
sum htec. honeste
vivere, alteruni non
I.T-'dere. sunni cui.
que tribuerc. [JL'S-
rlN-. /tut. I. i. 3.]
Rom. 13. 8.1Q.
Matt. 7. 12 ; 15. 4-6.
Eph. 6. 2. 3. I Pet.
2. 13. 14, 17. Tit. 3.
I. Heb. 13. 7. 17.
Tit. 2. 9, 10. I Pet.
s. 5. Lev. 19. 32.
Koni. 12. 17-21.
Phil. 4. S. James 3.
14, 16. Eph. 4. 23,
25. 31. James i. 26.
Luke 21. 34. I Cor.
6. 13. 2 Cor. 7. 1.
Heb. 13. 5. I Tliess.
4. II. 12. 2 Cor. 7.
20.22. Eccles. 12.
■3-
should do unto me : To love, honour, and .succour
/ny father and mother: To honour and obey the
Queen, and all that are put in authority under
her : To submit mysdlf to all my governours,
teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters : To order
myself lowly and reverently to all my betters :
To hurt no iDody by word nor deed : To be true
and just in all my dealing : To bear no malice
nor hatred in my heart : To keep my hands from
picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil-
speaking, lying, and slandering : To keep my
body in temperance, soberness, and chastity : Not
to covet nor desire other men's goods ; but to
learn and labour truly to get mine own living,
and to do my duty in that state of life, unto
which it shall please God to call me.
IT Catechist.
*My good child, know this, that thou art not
able to do these things of thy.self, nor to walk in
the Commandments of God, and to serve Him,
without His special grace ; which thou must
learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer.
Let me hear therefore, if thou canst say the
I Lord's Prayer.
II Answer.
OUR F.vTHEE, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
I us this day our daily bread. And forgive us
1 our trespasses. As we forgive them that trespass
I against us. And lead us not into temj)tatiou ;
1 Uut deliver us from evil. Amen.
" enter into life," and on which "hang .all the law and the
prophets. " As, moreover, a greater measure of grace is bo-
stowed upon Christians than was given to the Jews, so is the
moral law interpreted to them by a more strict rule. Christ
came, "not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," and "the
law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ ; " so that
we " serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldnesa of the
letter," as children yielding a willing, not as servants yield-
ing a forced, obedience.
/ learn tioo things] The division of the Ten Commandments
into the four which enjoin duties towards God, and the six
which summarize duties towards man, was sanctioned and
adopted by our Blessed Lord, and was probably derived from
the m.anner in which they were written on the " two tables "
brought down by Moses from Sinai, and preserved in the Ark
under the Mercy-seat within the Holy of Holies.
Mij duty towards Ood} This summary exposition of the first
four commandments sets forth first the mental qualities which
are comprehended in a Cliristian disposition towards God,
which are Faith, Fear, and Love ; and, secondly, tlie acts by
which the e.xercise of those qualities is manifested, which are
principally Worsliip, Prayer, and faithful Service. Acts of
worship are such offerings of praise as are made to God with-
out any consideration of recompense, and tlie highest of such
acts is the " S.-icrifice of praise and th.anksgiving " comprised
in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, as distinct from the
consiiniptiou of it, which afterwards constitutes the act of
Communion. Upon such acta Faith, holy Fear, and Love
are all exercised in their highest degree. Acts of Prayer are
Buch offerings of worship as are mingled with supplications
for some spiritual or tem[)oral benefit ; and upon these, too,
all three qualities are exercised. Acts of faithful Service are
other practical evidences and exertions of tho.sc (jualitics in
the work of life ; and by them the labour ajipointed to us in
the world is transfigured into Christian work, done also in
the Kingdom of Clod. The intensification of the law under
the Christian dispensation is here shewn by the ilcclaration
that such faithful service is due to God, not only on the
S.abb.ith, which w,a,s a temporary institution, but on "all the
days of my life," since all a Cliristian's days arc to be conse-
crated in some way to (loil. A practical Trust in the Provi-
dence of God is necessarily involved in such faithful service ;
and reverence for His holy Name and Word is inseparable
from a faithful, humble, and loving habit of worship.
My duty towards my Keiijliboiir] The details of this answer
are in themselves a sufficient comment upon, and illustration
of, the six commandments to which they refer. They are
also an exposition of the practical duties arising from our
Lord's commandment as given in the Sermon on the Mount ;
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the
prophets." [Matt. vii. 12.] Some portions of this answer seem
to be taken from St. Augustine, who thus speaks of the obli-
gations of Sponsors : "Admoneant, ut castitatem custodiant,
virginitatem usque ad uuptias servent, a maledicto vel per-
jurio linguara refrenent, cantica turpia vel luxuriosa ex ore
non proferant, non superbiant, iracundiam vel odium in corde
non teneant . . . sacerdotibus et parentibus honorem amore
vcTX caritatis impendaut. " [Serm. de I'emp. clxiii. ]
What desiresl thou of God in this Prayer ?] In the Notes to
Evening Prayer, p. 20S, will be found an Exposition of the
Lord's Prayer taken from St. Cyril's Catechetical Lectures;
at p. 185 one by Bishop Andrewes ; and at p. 208 one by
the author of the Christian Year. The general objects of
the seven petitions which compose it may be thus summed
up : ' —
[I.] Otir Father, Which art in hearen, llalloieed be Thy
Name. In the first petition we pr.ay that all things done on
earth, all our actions as well as those of our brethren, may
minister to the glory of (iod, that by our lives and in our
hearts His Name m.ay be h.allowed.
fll.l Tliy kiiiijdoni come. This is a prayer that all things
here may tend to the propag.ation of the Gospel, the establish-
ment of God's kimjilom in all the world, ami to tlie subjection
of ourselves to the rule of our heavenly Fatlier.
[IIL] 'J'liy will be done in earth, As it is in hearen. In the
third petition we pray th.at we and all men may keep the
Commandments and do the whole fVill of God.
[IV.] Gire lis this day our daily bread. In the fourth peti-
tion wo beseech God to give us day by day the bi-ead we need,
I .sVe Denton on tiw Lord's I'raycr, j). 103.
a Catccfjism.
435
IT Question.
"What desirest thou of God in this Prayer I
IT Answer.
"I desire my Lord God our heavenly Father,
Who is the Giver of all goodness, to send His
grace unto me, and to all people ; that we may
worship Him, serve Him, and obey Him, as we
ought to do. And I pray unto God, that Ho will
send us all things that be needful both for our
souls and bodies ; and that He will be mercifid
unto us, and forgive us our sins ; and that it will
please Him to save and defend us in all dangers
ghostly and bodily; and that He will keep us from
all sin and wickedness, and from our ghostly
enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I
trust He will do of His mercy and goodness,
through our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore
I say, Amen, So be it.
IT Question.
OW many Sacraments hath Christ ordained
in His" Church?
IT Answer.
■^Two only, as generally necessary to salvation,
that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the
Lord.
IT Question.
What meanest thou by this word Sacrarif,ent i
IT Answer.
'I mean an outward and visible sign of an
inward and spiritual grace,* given unto us,'
ordained by Christ Himself, as a '"means
whereby we receive the ''same, and a ''pledge to
assure us thereof.
H
rt Matt. 6. 7-13.
/'James 1. 17. Matt.
7.7-11. Ps. 29. 2,9:
89. 7. Exod. 19. 5.
Matt. 6. 25-33, 12-15:
26. 41. 1 Cor. 10. 13.
Ps. 19. 13. 13. I
John 5. 18. 3 Tim.
4. 18. I Pet. 1. 5.
2 Cor. I. 20.
cMatt. 28. 9. .\ct.s
10. 47.
dSeep. 403.
^ John 1. 12, 13.
Rom, 6. 3, 4, 7, II :
9. 8. Acts. 2. 39.
/Set p. 405.
£• Matt. 28. iS-20.
Luke 22. 19. 20.
h Acts 2. 38; 8. 36.
37. Heb. 10. 22, 23.
< John 3. 3. 5. Tit.
3. 5. John 6. S3. 54.
h This comma ap-
pears in the origi-
nal MS.
/ i.f. First, the
"sign" was "or-
dained by Christ : "
secondly, the
" spiritual grace "
is "given unto us."
ni i.e. The sign is
the "means."
«Matt. 19. 14. Gen.
17. 7. 12, 13.
See p. 407.
p i.e. The "grace"
which is given by
God and received
by us.
1 I.e. The "sign"
is a " pledge " to
assure us of the
grace.
^ Question.
How many parts are there in a Sacrament ?
H Answer.
Two ; the outward visible sign, and the inward
spiritual grace.
IF Question.
What hi the outward visible sign or form in
Bapti.sm 1
U Answer.
'Water; wherein the person is baptized In the
Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost."
IT Question.
What is the inward and spiritual grace ?
IT Answer.
'A death unto sin, and a new birth unto
righteousness : for being by nature born in sin,
and the children of wrath, we are hereby made
the children of grace."'
" Question.
What is required of persons to be baptized 1
IT Answer.
* Repentance, whereby they forsaiie sin ; and
Faith, whereby they stedfastly believe the pro-
mises of God made to them in that Sacrament.
H Question.
"Why then are Infants baptized," when by
reason of their tender age they cannot perform
them i
the food necessary for the strengthening and nourishing our
body and soul ; so that, sustained by His liand, we may be
enabled to live to His glory.
[V.] And fonjivc us our tresjiasscs. As tee forgive them that
trespass ayainst ns. In the next petition we ask God to for-
give Its those trespasses which have sejmrated us from Him,
and to restore us to that peace which by our actions we have
disturbed, even as we forgive our brethren, and renew that
concord which has been broken by our quarrels.
[VI.] And lead us not into temptation. In the sixth petition
we pray for the protection and support of God against the
assaults of the Evil One, the flesh, and the world, for deliver-
ance from all temptations.
[VII.] But deliver us from evil. By the seventh petition we
seek deliverance from all evil, temporal and spiritual, and for
the consummation of the work of God in our hearts and lives.
Two only, as generally necessary to salvation] The use of the
word "generally" in the sense of "universally," may be
illustrated by the two places in which it is to be found in the
Holy Bible. The first is in 2 Sam. xvii. 11, "Therefore I
counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from
Dan even to Beersheba : " the expression in the Vulgate being
" xmiversus Israel," and the LXX ttSs 'laparfK. The second is
Jer. xlviii. 38, " There shall be lamentation generally upon all
the housetops of Moab ; " where the Vulgate reads "super
omnia teeta Moab," and the LXX evi irivrijiv tCiv Soiixdroiv
Mwd^. So also Bishop Hooper says, "Notwithstanding that
God's promises be general, unto all people of the world, yet
many shall be damned." [Declaration of the Ten Command-
ments.] Bishop Latimer, again, says, "The promises of
Christ are general ; they pertain to all mankind." [Sermon on
Parable of King's Son.] And, lastly, in the Prayer for the
Parliament is the expression "this kingdom in general, "which
clearly means the whole of this kingdom, all persons therein.
There are probably no instances to be found of any writer in
the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries who used the word
"generally" otherwise than with the meaning "universally ;"
and such is its meaning in this place.
The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are
therefore declared to be the only Sacraments wliich are
necessary to the salvation of all persons ; and, by implica-
tion, ' ' those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say,
Confirmation, Penance, Orders. ^Matrimony, and Extreme
Unction" [Article of Religion XXV.], are necessary only for
particular classes of persons. So Bishop Bramhall respecting
one of these, " We deny not Ordination to be a Sacrament,
though it be not one of those two Sacraments which are
' generally necessary to salvation.' " [Bramhall's C'onsecr. of
Prot. Bish. vindic. Disc, v.] Among the Fathers the word
sacrament was used almost in the same sense that we now
use the word mystery, aud was not restricted to any particu-
lar number. "As for the number of them, " says the Homily
of Common Prayer and Sacraments, " if they should be con-
sidered according to the exact signification of a sacrament,
namely, for visible signs expressly commanded in the New
Testament, whereuuto is annexed the promise of free forgive-
ness, and of our holiness and joining in Christ, there be but
two, namely, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. . . . But
in a general acceptation the name of a Sacrament may be
attributed to anything whereby an holy thing is signified.
In which understanding of the word, the ancient writers have
given this name, not only to the other five commonly of late
years taken and used for supplying the number of the Sacra-
ments, but also to divers and sundry other ceremonies, as to
oil, washing of feet, and suchlike ; not meaning thereby to
repute them as Sacraments in the same signification that the
two forenamed Sacraments are. . . . And although there are
retained by the order of the Church of England, besides these
two, certain other rites and ceremonies about the institution
of ministers in the Church, Matrimony, Confirmation of
children . . . and likewise for the Visitation of the Sick ;
yet no man ought to take these for Sacraments, in such
signification and meaning as the Sacraments of Baptism and
the Lord's Supper are ; but either for godly states of life,
necessary in Christ's Church, and therefore worth)- to be set
forth by public action and solemnity by the ministry of the
Church ; or else judged to be .such ordinances as may make
for the instruction, comfort, and edification " [i. e. okoSi/xijcris]
"of Christ's Church."
/ mean an outivard and visible sign] This definition is
436
9 Catccf)ism.
IT Answer.
"Because tliey promise them both by their
Sureties ; whicli promise, when they come to age,
themselves are bound to perform.
H Question.
■\Vliy was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
ordained ?
^ Answer.
'For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice
of the death of Christ, ''and of the benefits which
we receive thereby.
^ Question.
What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's
Supper ]
H Answer.
' Bread aud Wine, which the Lord hath com-
manded to be received.^
II Question.
^Vhat is the inward part, or thing signified ?
IT Answer.
"The Body and Blood of Christ, which are
verily and indeed taken and received by the
faithful in the Lord's Supper.*
U Question.
What are the benefits whereof we are par-
takers thereby?
"i Answer.
'The strengthening and refreshing of our souls
by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies
are by the Bread and Wine.*
a Col. 2. II, 13.
Deut. 29. 10-15. 24.
t> I Cor. 11. 28. 2
Cor. 7. II, Tit, 2,
II. 12, Heb, 10.21,
22. Col. I. 12-14,
Matt. 5, 23, 24, 1
Cor. 5, 7, 8: 13, 3-8,
,- Luke 22, 19. Heb.
9. 26.
d See note below.
e I Cor, II, 23-26,
/See p, 356,
fiCor. 10. 16. John
6- 33, 47-
h See p. 35i,
I Ps. 104. IS. John
6. 33. SI, S5, 36.
^ See p, 356
TI Question.
What is required of them who come to the
Lord's Supper?
II Answer.
'To examine themselves, whether they repent
them tnily of their former sins, stedfastly pur-
po.sing to lead a new life ; have a lively faith in
God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful
remembrance of His death; and be in charity
with all men.
H The Curate of every Parish shall diligently upon
Sundays and Holydays, after the second Lesson
at Evening Prayer, openly in the Church instruct
and examine so many Childi-en of his Parish sent
unto him, as he shall think convenient, in some
part of this Catechism.
H And all Fathers, Mothers, Masters, and Dames,
shall cause their Children, Servants, aud Appren-
tices, (which have not learned their Catechism,) to
come to the Church at the time appointed, and
obediently to hear, and be ordered by the Curate,
until such time as they have learned all that is
here appointed for them to learn.
H So soon as Cliildren are come to a competent age,
and can say, in their Mother Tongue, the Creed,
the Lord's Prayei', and the Ten Commandments ;
aud also can answer to the other Questions of this
short Catechism ; they shall he brought to the
Bishop. And every one shall have a Godfather,
or a Godmother, as a Witness of their Confirma-
tion.
H And whensoever the Bishop shall give knowledge
for Children to be brought unto him for their Con-
firmation, the Ctirate of every Parish shall either
bring, or send in writing, with his hand subscribed
thereunto, tlie names of all sueli persons within
his Parish, as he shall think fit to be presented to
the Bishop to be confirmed. And, if the Bishop
approve of them, he shall confirm them in manner
folloAvinff.
attributed to Peter Lombard, called the Master of the
Sentences, in the twelfth century. The Homily just quoted
(written about 156"2) says, "The common description of a
Sacrament, which is, that it is a visible sign of an invisible
grace." The somewhat involved form of this answer may be
made clearer by a paraphrase, as follows : " I mean an out-
ward and visible sign (ordained by Christ Himself) of an in-
ward aud invisible spiritual grace, which grace is given unto
us by God. This outward sign was ordained by Christ, first,
as a means whereby we are to receive the inward grace, and,
secondly, as a pledge to assure us of that inward grace ; " for
the grace cannot ordinarily be separated from the sign which
Christ has ordained.
and 0/ the lienefils which u-e rcceire thereby] These words as
they now stand say that the Eucharist was instituted " for the
continual remembrance ... of the benefits which we receive "
by the Death of Christ, But it is more probable that the
meaning intended should be expressed by the words "and
for the benefits which we receive " by the Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, so instituted as a sacrificial Memorial before
God of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ. In the Sealed
Books the words stand as in the text above, as also they do
in the MS. of the Prayer Book. But in the Black-Letter
Prayer Book of 1636 preserved with the latter [see pp. 33, 35]
they originally stood — as in all editions from 1604 to 1(!62 —
"and the benefits which we receive thereby," the "of" being
written in red ink above the line. The meaning suggested as
that wliich was intended agrees exactly with that expressed in
the third question and answer beyond.
For expositions of the doctrine of the Sacraments, see the
Introductions to, and Notes on, the Offices for Holy Baptism
and the Holy Communion. A detailed exposition of the whole
Catechism will also be found in the author's Key to Christian
Doctrine and Practice, foiimkd on the Church Catec?iism.
AN INTRODUCTION
CONFIRMATION OFFICE.
From the earliest ages of the Christian Churcli, and in every
part of it all over the whole world, until modern times, the
rite of Confirmation has been considered essential to the full
perfection of Christian life in those who have attained to
years wlion tliey can discern fully between right and wrong.
Nor have any Christians been ordinarily permitted by the
Churcli to partake of the Holy Communion until after tliey
had been confirmed.
The rite appears to have been administered at first by an
Apostle or Bishop laying his hands on the liead of the baptized
person, but at a very early period the rite of unction was
added. The Apostles St. Peter and St. John went down to
Samaria to lay their hands on those who had been baptized by
their Deacon Philip [Acts viii. 1-t- 17] ; "and they received the
Holy Ghost," some new and special Gift being bestowed upon
them by the Holy Ghost through that outward sign. In the
same manner St. Paul laid his hands on the Ephegian disciples
of St. John the Baptist as soon as they had been ' ' baptized
in the Name of the Lord Jesus." [Acts xix. 5.] In the latter
case, and probably also in the former, the Gift bestowed was
accompanied by other gifts of miraculous powei's ; but these
were clearly a special addition to the ordinary gift, and thus
it was for the confirmation of previous Baptism that the
Apostles administered the rite by the imposition of their
hands. The anxious care of St. Paul for the administra-
tion of it to the Ephesians appears also to have a parallel in
that which he expressed to the Roman Christians when lie
wrote to them, "I long to see you, that I may impart unto
you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established."
[Rom. i. 11.]
The rite so administered has several names given to it in
the New Testament. The most obvious is that derived from
the particular ceremony which was used in administering it,
as when in the Epistle to the Hebrews "the doctrine of
Baptisms and of Laying on of hands " [Heb. vi. 2] is spoken
of. Another title given to it is that of the Seal or the Seal-
ing, as when St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, " After that
ye believed in Christ, ye were Sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance " [Eph. i.
13, 14]: or, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are
Sealed unto the day of redemption " [Eph. iv. 30] : or again,
"He Which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath
anointed us, is God ; Who hath also Sealed us, and given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." [2 Cor. i. 21, 22.] There
seems also to be a reference to the same ordinance in the
words, "The foundation of God standeth sure, having this Seal,
The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one
that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity." [2
Tim. ii. 19.] By all which passages, where the idea of Seal-
ing is connected with the gift of the Holy Ghost, we are
carried back to the same idea iu respect to our Blessed Lord,
of Whom it is said, " For Him hath God the Father sealed."
[John vi. 27.] As all grace flows down from the Father to
the members of Christ through Christ their Head, so from
Him to Whom the Father "gave not the vSpirit by measure,"
flows down, even to the "skirts of His " mystical ' ' clothing,"
that anointing Spirit of promise, whereby Christians are
"sealed unto the day of redemption." The Oriental Church,
which is so conservative of Scriptural terms and language,
still retains the name of the "Seal of the Gift of the Holy
Ghost," as that of the ordinance which the Western Church
calls "Confirmation."
The rite is also called "the Unction" or "Anoiuting" in
the New Testament, and in this case also the name is clearly
connected with our Lord, the Christ or Anointed One ; the
"holy Child Jesus, Whom Thou hast anointed" of Acts iv.
27, and of Whom St. Peter said, " how God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power." [Acts x.
38.] Li a passage already quoted St. Paul speaks of God
having "anointed us." [2 Cor. i. 21.] St. John refers to it as
a special means of illumination and union with Christ : "But
tlie Anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in
you, and ye need not that any man teach you ; but as the
same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and
is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in
Him." [1 John ii. 27.] He also says of it, "Ye have an
Unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things " [1 John
ii. 20] : and these words respecting illumination at once con-
nect themselves with those of our Lord respecting the Holy
Ghost the Comforter, " He shall teach you all things." [John
xiy. 26.]
The familiar name by which this rite is known in the
Western Church appears first in the writings of St. Ambrose:
"Ye have received the spiritual seal. . . . God the Father
hath signed you, Clirist our Lord hath confirmed you, and,
as ye are taught by the apostolic lection, hath given you the
pledge of the Spirit in your hearts." [Ambeos. de Mijst. vii.
42.] By the time of St. Gregory the name seems to have
been commonly established, although it still continued to be
called " signaculum " and "chrisma. "
In the early Church, when Baptism was publicly adminis-
tered at speci.il seasons, and in the presence of the Bishop,
the baptized were confirmed immediately on leaving the font.
In his Treatise concerning Baptism, TertuUian says, ' ' After
this, having come out from the bath, we are anointed
tlioroughly with a blessed unction. . . . Next to this, the
hand is laid upon us, calling upon, and inviting the Holy
Spirit, tlirough the blessing." [Tekt. de Bapt, vii. viii.] St.
Cyprian writes, in his famous seventieth Epistle, "Anointed
also must be of necessity he who is baptized, that having
received the chrism, that is, unction, he may be the anointed
of God, and have within him the grace of Christ." [E]\ Ixx.
3.] Again, expounding the passage in the Acts respecting
the Confirmation of the Samaritans by St. Peter and St.
John, he says, "Which now also is done among us, those
baptized in the Church being brought to the Bishops of the
Church, and by our prayer, and laying on of hands, they
receive the Holy Ghost, and are perfected with the seal of the
Lord." [Ej}. Ixxiii. S.] Some passages in which St. Cyril
speaks of the use of the chrism after Baptism will be found
in the Introduction to the Baptismal Oflices : he also says to
those about to be baptized, " In the days of Moses, the Spirit
was given by the laying on of hands, and Peter also gives the
Spirit by the laying on of hands. And on thee also, ^\ ho art
about to be baptized, shall His grace come." [Ccittch. Led.
xvi. 26.]
This administration of Confirmation at the time of Baptism
is provided for in the Sacramentaries of Gelasius and St.
Gregory. The following is the form which has been handed
down from that distant time, beginning with the Rubric
which follows the Baptism ; —
" Poiiti/ex vera ralil in sacrarinm expectans, ul cum vesliti
fuerimt infantes, confirmet eos. Qui etiam non jiroliibenlvr
laelari ante sacram Communionem, si necesse fxierit. Indnti
vera, ordinanltir per ordinem sictit scrijjti sunt. Et infantes
qrtidem in brachiis dextris lenentur: majores rcro jiedem
ponunt sujjer pedem, patrini mi. Deiyide Schola jussa
facil Lctaniam quinam ad fontes, Pontifex vera i-enie»s ad
infantes, tenentc Areliidiacono chrisma, involutis scapuiis et
hvachiis ex panno Unco, et lei'atii manu sua super capita
omnium dicit. Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui regenerare
dignatus es . . ." [As in tliu right-hand column in the Ofiice
beyond.]
' ' Et interrorjantihus Diacoiiibus nomina singidorum, Pontifex
438
9n 31ntroDuction to t\)C Confirmation ©flacc.
Undo pollke in chrismalc, facit cnicem in fronts tinitcs, similiter
per omnes sinijiUatim ." [Mexard's Sac. Greg. 73.]
In later days Baptism and Confirmation were separated,
the latter being administered, as now, by the Bishop, .in
periodical visits to tlie greater churches ; but the form of the
rite has varied very little since the days of St. Gregory.
Bede narrates of St. Cuthbert [a.d, 686] that he used to go
roimd his diocese bountifully distributing counsels of salva-
tion, "as well as laying his hands on the lately baptized, that
they might receive the grace of the Holy Ghost." [Life of St.
Cutlihert, xxix.]: and from a period very little later a Ponti-
fical has come down to us which belonged to Egbert, Arch-
bishop of York, and which contains the fomi of Confirmation,
as it was then used ; probabty the same that was used by
St. Cuthbert. A translation of it is here given, as it forms a
link between the primitive OtBce of St. Gregoiy and that of
the Medieval Church, from which our own is directly derived.
§ The Use of York. Circa a.d. 700.
"The Confirmation of men, to be spoken by a Bishop.
' ' How he ought to Confirm.
"Almighty, everlasting God, Who hast vouchsafed to
regenerate this Thy servant with water and the Holy Ghost,
and Who hast given unto him remission of all his sins, pour
into him, Lord, the sevenfold .Spirit, Thine holy Comforter,
from heaven. Amen. Give liim the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding. Amen. The Spirit of counsel and strength.
Amen. The Spirit of knowledge and piety. Amen. Fill
him with tlie Spirit of the fear of God, and of our Lord .Jesus
Christ, aud of Thy favour : sign him with the sign of Thy
holy cross unto eternal life.
"Here he ought to jiut the chrism on the forehead of the man,
and say —
" Receive the sign of the holy cross, by the chrism of salva-
tion, in Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Amen.
"The Lord be with you.
"And with thy spirit.
"The peace and blessing of the Lord be ever with thee.
And with thy spirit.
"Afterwards, he ought to read this xirayer —
"God the Father, and the Sou, and the Holy Ghost, con-
firm thee, that thou mayest have eternal life ; and thou shalt
live for ever. So thus let every man be blessed that feareth
the Lord. The Lord from out of Sion bless Thee, aud mayest
thou see the things which are good in Jerusalem all the days
of thy life. Peace be with thee unto eternal life. Amen.
" Then they arc to be bound [with a band of linen round the
forehead].
" God, Who gavest the Holy Ghost to Thy Apostles, and
willedst Him to be given to the rest of the faithful by them
and their successors, look favourably upon our humble service,
and grant unto all them whose forehead we have this day
anointed and confirmed with the sign of the cross, that the
Holy Ghost coming upon their hearts may perfect them for a
temple of His glory, by worthily inhabiting them. Through.
" Then they are to be communicated of the sacrifice.
" The episcopal benediction follows.
"God Almighty, Who created all things out of nothing,
bless you, and grant you in Ijaptism and in confirmation
remission of all sins. Amen.
"And may He Who gave the Holy Ghost in fiery tongues
to His disciples, culigliten your hearts by His own enlighten-
ing, and duly kindle them to the love of Himself. Amen.
" So that, being cleansed from all vices, defended by His
own assistance from all adversities, we may be worthy to be
made His temple. Amen.
" May He \Vho created you guard you from all imminent
evils, and defend you from all wickedness. Amen.
" Which He Himself. Amen. The blessing. Amen.
"Another bltnaiiKj at Mass, after confii-mation —
" Pour forth, Lord, we pray Thee, Thy heavenly blessing
upon these Thy servants, and Thine handmaids, to whom
Thou hast been pleased by us to deliver Thine excellent
sevenfold Holy Ghost, and to give them the grace and gifts
of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
"That whosoever are born again of water and the Holy
Ghost may be ever defended Viy Thy protection. Amen.
"May charity, diffused by the Holy Ghost, abound in them,
which covers and overcomes every multitude of sins. Amen.
"Protect them with divine protection, that all sins m.ay
flee from them ; and may they always study to fulfil Tliy
commandments. Amen.
"Res*- favouraljy in them. Who formerly rested glorious
in the Apostles.
" Which He Himself. Amen. The blessing. Amen."
These specimens of Confirmation Offices of the Western
Church will shew how little substantial variation there has
been in them from the days of Primitive Christianity down
to our own time. In the Eastern Church the rite is not
restricted to the Bishop, but is administered by the priest (as
his deputy, and with chrism blessed by him) immediately
after Baptism, with the sign of the Cross in chrism on various
parts of the body, and the words, ' ' The Seal of the gift of
the Holy Cihost. Amen." The modern Roman is almost
identical with the ancient use of Salisbury.
The imposition of hands was undoubtedly the principal
ceremony of Confirmation in Apostolic times, and cannot be
regarded otherwise than as the essential part of the rite.
Nor can it be doubted that it consisted of an actual placing
of one or both of the Bishop's hands on the head of the person
to be confirmed. Yet, in mediaeval times (as in the modem
Latin Church), consignation with chrism, and the blow on
the cheek, were the only ways in which the Bishop's hand
came into actual contact with the head of the candidate ; and
what was called imjmsition of hands, was an deration of his
hands in an attitude of benediction, spreading them abroad
towards the persons kneeling before him. A somewhat
similar custom has been adopted by modern English Bishops,
who lay their hands on each child successively, and then say
the words, "Defend, O Lord," etc., over the whole collec-
tively with hands outstretched. Y^et the actual laying on of
hands is perfectly effected in the latter case, and it is certain
that tlie words are not an essential part of the rite.' The
words of the English Rubric, however, plainly direct that the
words shall be uttered over each child while the hands of the
Bishop rest upon him ; and as the words are a precatory
benediction, it does appear that the other custom may, in
some degree, deprive the person who ought to be individually
blessed by the Bishop of the full benefit which the blessing
is intended to convey.
Confirmation is not, according to the strictest form of
definition, a Sacrament. Our Lord did indeed ordain "the
outward and visible sign " of benediction, by laying His
hands on the little children who were brought to Him, and
on His Apostles. But there is uo distinct evidence that this
laying on of hands was for the purpose of Confirmation ; and
as Baptism, in its fullest Christian phase, was net admin-
istered before the Day of Pentecost, it can scarcely be
supposed that such was the case. Although, however, not a
Sacrament in the strictest sense. Confirmation undoubtedly
conveys grace, and the grace is conveyed by the outward sign.
Accordingly Bishop Cosin writes, "The nature of this holy
Sacrament (for so we need not fear to call it in a right sense)
will be more easily understood ..." [Works, v. 142], giving
it the sacred title in a subordinate sense, as an outward and
visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace indeed, but not
known to be certainly of Christ's Institution, nor "generally
necessary for salvation."
§ The Effect of Confirmation.
The outward sign of Confirmation is the same as that of
Ordination, the laying on of hands by a Bisliop ; and this fact
suggests that there is some analogy between the two rites.
Confirmation is, indeed, a kind of lesser Ordination, by wliich
the baptized person receives the gift of the Holy Ghost for
the work of aclult Christian life : and hence it is the means of
grace by which that " priesthood of the laity " is conferred,
to which St. Peter refers when he writes, "Ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priestliood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people. " [1 Pet. ii. 9. ] It is also the means of grace by which
the Christian, whose sins were all forgiven in Baptism, receives
a further measure of strength, enabling him to stand against
the temptations which assail maturcr life. Thus, although
Baptism is a perfect Sacrament, conveying forgiveness of sin,
and giving a new nature through the union which it effects
between tlie liajitized and Clirist, yet Confirmation is the
complement of B.aptism, in that it [1] renews and strengthens
the Christian life tlien given, and [2] carries the baptized
person on to "perfection," so tliat he becomes competent to
take part in the highest of Christian ordinances. And thus,
as gi'ace for the work of the ministry is given by the laying
1 One of the oldest Bishops in tlie Church of Engl.iud confirmed 1"_',.')64
l)ersoii8 during the summer of 1SC5. To say the words over e.ich severally
in sneh a inultitudc seems nlniost impossible.
3n ^ntroDuctioii to tbe Confirmation laDflScc.
439
on of haiuls in Ortliiiation, — tlic (irdaiiicil person licing placed
in a different relation towards (iod from tliat wliicli lie beforo
occupied, — so by tlie laying on of hands in (jonlirniation the
relation of the confirmed person towards Uod is also changed,
and lie becomes competent to undertake spiritual work, both
as to duties and privileges, for which he was not previously
qualitied.
The value of this holy ordinance as a means of grace, and
its relation to Baptism, are plainly and beautifully set forth
in these words, taken from a book of Homilies written before
the Reformation, and here transcribed from Kothergill's MS.
Annotations on the Prayer Book, preserved in York Minster
Library : "In Baptism he was born again spiritually to live,
in Confirmation he is made bold to tight. There he received
remission of sin, here he reoeiveth increase of grace. There the
Spirit of God did make him a new man, here the same Spirit
doth defend him in his dangerous eonllict. There he was
washed and made clean, here he is nourislied and made strong.
In Baptism lie was chosen to be God's son, and an inheritor of
His heavenly kingdom: in Confirmation God shall give him His
Holy Spirit to be his Mentor, to instruct him and perfect him,
that he lose not by his folly that inheritance which he is called
unto. In Baptism he was called and chosen to be one of
God's soldiers, and had his white coat of iunocciicy delivered
unto him, and also his badge, which was the red cross, the
instrument of His Passion, set upcm his forehead and other
parts of his body : in Confirmation he is encouraged to fight,
and take the armour of God put upon him, which be able to
bear off the fiery darts of the devil, and to defend him from
all harm, if he will use them in his battle, and not put himself
in danger of his enemies by entering the field without them." '
Such being the benefits to be derived from Confirmation,
the Church has provided that it shall be administered so fre-
quently that it may be within the reach of ev,ery one. The
Sixtieth Canon enjoins that it shall be performed every third
year, as follows : —
Canon 60.
" Conjlrmation to be performed once in three Years.
" Forasmuch as it hath been a solemn, ancient, and laudable
custom in the Cliurch of God, continued from the Apostles'
times, that all Bishops should lay their hands upon children
baptized, and instructed in the Catechism of Christian Religion,
praying over them, and blessing them, which we commonly
call Confirmation, and that this holy action hath been
accustomed in the Church in former ages to be performed in
the Bishop's visitation every third year ; we will and appoint.
That every Bishop or his Suffragan, in his accustomed visita-
tion, do in his own person carefully observe the said custom.
And if in that year, by reason of some infirmity, he be not
able personally to visit, then he shall not omit the execution
of that duty of Confirmation the ne.vt year after, as he may
conveniently. "
But tliere are few dioceses in England in which the Bishop
1 Fothergill's MSS., xi. F. 9, p. 19. Tlie first jxirt of tliis quotation
seems to be from Melchiades, Epi&t. ad Hisp., in utal, but Fothci^Mil
appears to have taken it from a book of English Homilies siuiilar to the
Liber Festivalis.
docs not now find it necessary to hold Confirmations more
frequently. -
The age at which children are to be presented to the Bishop
IS not explicitly (U'dered by the Church <if England ; but the
Sixty-first Canon makes it necessary for the child to have
arrived at an age when he can have some intelligent acquaint-
ance with the priiici)iles of faith and duty.^
Canon (il.
"Ministers to 2^epare Children for Confirmation.
" Every Minister, that hath cure and charge of souls, for
the better acconiplisliiiig of the orders prescribed in the Book
cjf Common Prayer coiicerniiig Confirmation, shall take
especial care tliat none shall be presented to the Bishop for
him to lay his hands upon, but such as can render an account
of their faith, according to the Catechism in the said Book
contained. And when the Bishop shall assign any time for
the performance of that part of his duty, every such Minister
shall use his best endeavour to prepare and make able, and
likewise to procure as many as he can to be then brought,
and by the Bishop to be confirmed."
The Rubrics at the end of the Catechism further direct that
as soon as this age of intelligence has been attained, children
shall be brought to the Bishop to be confirmed. A further
light is thrown upon the subject by the old P.ubric, out of
which the present Preface to the Confimiation Cilice
Avas formed. It may also be added that the 112tli Canon
requires all persons to become communicants before the age
of sixteen years : and that with triennial confirmations this
supposed many to become so at twelve or thirteen years of
■age. Before that age they were forbidden to communicate
by one of Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions :■* the time for Con-
firmation, as intended by those Mho fi'amed our present Office,
appears therefore to have been from twelve to sixteen years
of age, according to the developenient of intelligence on the
one hand, and the opportunities offered on the other for
coming to the ordinance. Yet the principle of the ordinance
seems to suggest that an earlier age even than twelve might
often be adopted with great spiritual advantage to those who
thus receive the grace of God to protect them against tempta-
tion.^
2 It is to be feared tliat Coufirniations were very much neglected by the
Bishops from the Reformation until modem times. Bishop Cosin has a
note which shews that a loose practice of mediseval times prevailed even
in tile seventeenth ceiitui-y : "The place whereuuto the children shall be
bi-ought for their contirmation is left to the appointment of the Bishop
If the place were ordered here to be none but the church, and there the
otiiee to be done with the Morning or Evening Prayer annexed, it would
avoid the offensive liberty that herein hath been commonly taken, to con-
lirm children in the streets, in the highways, and in the common fields,
without any sacred solemnity." [H'ovls, v. 522.) This seems to shew that
the canonical periods of Confirmation were not obser\-ed, but any chance
occasion t.iken advantage of by the people.
^ A similar rule was enjoined by the Council of Trent. [See Catechism of
Council of Trent, cha.p. iii, quest. 7.] The tinie there marked out for Con-
firmation is between seven and twelve years of age.
* The Bishops' " Interpretations " give the same explanation as to age, i:i
the same terms. [Cardw. Doc. Aim. i. 20t>.]
5 In further illustration of this subject it may be mentioned that tbc
Fifth of the Five Articles of Perth [A.n. 1617] enjoined the administration
of Confirmation to all children .above eight years of age.
THE
ORDER OF CONFIRMATION,
OR LAYING ON OF HANDS UPON THOSE THAT ARE BAPTIZED AND COME TO YEARS OF DISCRETION.
" Confirmatio Piierorum el Alioitim Baptizatorum.
IT Upon the day appointed, all that are to be then con-
firmed, being placed, and standing in order, before
the Bishop ; lie (or some other Wmister appointed
by him) shall read this Preface following.
TO the end that Confirmation may be minis-
tered to the more edifying of such as shall
receive it, the Church hath thought good to
order, That none hereafter shall be Confirmed,
but such a-s can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer,
and the Ten Commandments ; and can also
answer to such other Questions, as in the short
Catechism are contained : which order is very
convenient to be observed ; to the end that
children, being now come to the years of discre-
tion, and having learned what their Godfathers
and Godmothers promised for them in Baptism,
they may themselves, with their own mouth and
« Sar.
/' Rubric in Com-
nion Prayer Boole
of 1549.
t- i.e. Examine,
"When 1 am at
liome, and in the
country where I
go. sometime,
when the poor
people come and
ask at me, I appose
them myself, or
cause my servant
to appose them, of
the Lord's Prayer."
[LATIMER'S Sir.
)fii»is, \. 284.] The
annual examiners
at Eton and Win-
chester arc still
called "Posers-"
IT ^ To the end that confirmation may be ministered to
the more edifying of such as shall receive it,
(according to St. Paul's doctrine, who teachetli
that all tilings should be done in the church to
the edification of the same,) it is thought good
tliat none hereafter shall be confirmed but such as
can say, in their mother tongue, the Articles of
the Faith, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Com-
mandments, and can also answer to such questions
of this short catechism as the bishop (or such as
he shall appoint) shall, by his discretion, "^ appose
them in. And this order is most convenient to be
observed for divers considerations.
TT First, because that when children come to the years
of discretion, and have learned what their god-
THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION.
Previously to the last revision of the Prayer Book, in 1661,
Confirmation was preceded by such questions from the Cate-
chism as the Bishop saw fit to ask, or to cause to be asked.
The Vei'sicles and Collect followed, without any address or
other questions intervening, and then the act of Confirma-
tion. As soon as the act of Confirmation had taken place,
the Collect whicli now comes after the Lord's Prayer follow;ed
immediately, and the Service concluded with the Blessing.
In what respect this form of the Office diiTered from that of
1549 is shewn further on.
The present form is due to Bisliop Cosin, but ho proposeil
even greater alterations, as will be seen iu the following Office,
copied from the margin of the Prayer Book which he pre-
pared for the Re\nsion Committee of 1661. He altered the
title to its present form from tlie sub-heading, ' ' Confirmation,
or laying ou of hands," and erased altogether the principal title
which preceded the above Rubric and included the Catechism.
Under the new title he then inserted the following Rubric
and Office : —
§ Order of Confirmation jn-oposed bij Bishop Cosiii.
"H UjyOH (he day appointed, after Morniiirj or Evening
Prayer is ended, the Bishop shall ijo to the Lord's Table,,
aitd all that are to he then confirmed being placed, and
slandinrj in order before him near unto the same, he, or his
C'/iaplain, or some other Minister appointed by him, shall
read this preface following.
"To the end that Confirmation, etc. [as before the Catechism
vaquc ad] to the will of God.
" Answer mc therefore, Do ye hero in the presence of God,
and of His holy Church, renew the solemn promise and vow
that was made in your name at your Baptism, ratifying and
confirming the same in your own persons, and acknowlctlging
yourselves bound to do ,all tliesc things which your God-
fathers and Godmothers then undertook for you ?
"And every one shall audibly answer,
" I do.
"Minister.
"Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works, the vain
pomp and glory of the world, with all the covetous desires of
tlie same, and the wicked desires of the flesh, so that thou
■\vilt not follow uor be led by them ?
"Answer.
" I renounce them all.
' ' Minister.
"Do you believe iu God the Father Almighty, etc. [as in
Public Baptism usque ad] grace so to do ?'
" Minister, or the Bishop.
"Almighty God, Who hath given you the will to promise
and undertake all these things, grant yon also power and
strength to perform the same, that He may accomplish the
good work wliich He hath begun in you, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
" ^ Then shall they all kneel, and the Bishop standing at the
Lord's Table .thall proceed, and say, " —
[Then follow the Versicles and the Collect.]
" II Then shall the Chapilain or Curate of the place read the
Epistle —
"Acts viii. V. 12 to the 18?'.
"And the Gospel—
" St. Luke ii. r. 40 to the end of the chapter."
[The remainder of the Office is the altered form which is
now in use.]
From this OiKce, tlic basis of that now in the Prayer Book,
it will be seen tliat tlie present (jucstion asked by the Bishop,
" Do yc here," etc., is tlie last relic of the public catechizing
which was introducctl into the Confirmation Service at tlie
1 There iippcars l(i Imvc liceii some coufiisinn in Cosin's iniiid, wlioii he
wrote this, between tlie Ofllce for Public Baptimn and tlie Catechi.siti, in
wliieh are the words, " I juay unto God to give inc Ilia grace, that I iii.ny
conthiue in the same unto my life's end."
CI)C ©rDer of Confirmation.
441
consent, openly before tlio Clmrch, ratify and
confirm the same ; and also promise, that by tlie
grace of God they will evermore endeavour them-
selves faithfully to ol'serve such things, as they,
by their own confession, have assented unto.
IT Then shall the Bishop say,
DO ye here, in the presence of God, and of
this congregation, renew the solemn pro-
mise and vow that was made in your name at
your Baptism ; ratifying and confirming the same
in your own persons, and acknowledging your-
(T ralify and
Jlrm [1552].
b into sundry kitlds
"/sin ti552j.
r Jia7'i nil tltiji^s
tiectssary for their
salvation, and be
[■55»J.
rf Daye's transl. of
Hermann's Con-
sult.. A.D. 1547.
fathers and godinnthers promised for them in
baptism, they may then themselves, witli tlieir
own mouth, and with their own eonsent, openly
before the church, " ratify and confess the same ;
and also promise that, by the grace of God, they
will evertnore endeavour themselves faithfully to
observe and keep such things as they, by their
own moutli and confession, have assented unto.
H Secondly, forasmuch as confirmation is ministered
to them that he )ja]>tized, that, by imposition of
hands and prayer, they may receive strength and
defence against all temptations to sin, and the
assaults of the world and the devil, it is most
meet to be ministered when children come to that
age, that partly by the frailty of their own flesh,
jjartly by the assaults of the world and the devil,
they begin to be in danger to fall * into sin.
If Thirdly, for that it is agreeable with the usage of
the church in times past, wherel)y it was ordained
that confirmation should l)e ministered to them
that were of perfect age, that they, being in.structed
in Christ's religion, should openly profess their
own faith, and promise to be obedient unto the
will of God.
IT And that no man shall think that any detriment
shall come to chiMren, by deferring of their con-
firmation, he shall know for truth that it is certain,
by God's word, that children 'being baptized (if
they depart out of this life in their infancy) are
undoubtedly saved.
■^ T^OETH that please the, then, and doe.?t thou
J-V allowe it, and wilte thou continue in the
same, that thy godfathers promised and professed
in thy name at holy baptisme, when in thy steede
thei renounced Satan, and the world, and bound
Reformation.' This is made still more clear by a previous
alteration which Cosiu had made (and afterwards erased) in
the Eubric, which he turned into the present preface ; after
the words, "None shall hereafter be confirmed, but such as,"
in the first paragraph, he had written, " the ministers of the
several parishes having first instructed and examined them in
the Catechism following, and shall certify and undertake for
them, that they can say in their mother tongue," etc. Cosin,
therefore, shortened the Service by substituting an actual
verbal renewal of the baptismal vows for the repetition of the
Catechism ; and it was afterwards still further shortened by
retaining only the first of the questions which he proposed ;
in answering which the Candidates do still implicitly renew
their baptismal vows.
The Latin in the right-hand columns beyond represents the
Confirmation Office as it stood in the old Manuals and Ponti-
ficals of the Church of England before the Reformation : the
portion now discontinued being enclosed within brackets.
ratify and confirni\ It will be observed that this originally
stood "ratify and confess," the word "confess" being used in
the sense now more commonly expressed by the cognate word
"jjrofess." The alteration was made in 1552, and seems to
have been introduced out of pure love for a synonym. The
phrase was adopted by Cosin in the subsequent question asked
by the Bishop, and its exact force may be determined by a
parallel passage in the Declaration prefixed to the XXXIX
Articles, in which the King is made to say, ". . . the Articles
. . . which we do therefore ratify and confirm. ..." This
declaration was first issued by Charles I. some time between
June 26th and January 20th, 1627-28. It was just at this time
that Cosin was so much in the King's confidence as to be
commissioned to draw up the ' ' Private Devotions " for his
Majesty's use ; and it is not improbable that the Declaration
itself was also drawn up by Cosin.
The use of the expression "ratify and confirm " being thus
illustrated, it may be added that the ratification and confirma-
tion spoken of is that of the bajitismal vows. The confirma-
1 The idea of introducing a Catechism into the Contirni.ation Service
ajipears to have been taken from Archbishop Hermann's Consultation. For
.some notice of that pro\ided by him for the purpose, see the Introduction
to the Catechism.
tion of the Baptism itself, and therefore of the baptized per-
son, is a wholly distinct thing, performed by the Bishop, and
having no essential connection whatever with the previous
ratification of the baptismal vow by the person confirmed.
The confusion of terms is imfortunate, as many have been
misled by it into a total misapprehension of the nature of
Confirmation. A person is fully competent to receive Con-
firmation who has been baptized in private, or even by a
layman : and for whom no baptismal vows having ever been
made, there are none to " ratify and confirm."
endeavour themselces] This reflective form of the verb "en-
deavour " has passed out of ordinary use. It occurs, however,
five times in the Prayer Book, and also in the fourth clause
of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity. [See p. 86.] The
other places where it is used in the Prayer Book are the
Collect for the second Sunday after Easter, in two Answers
made by Deacons and Priests respectively at their Ordination,
and in the last clause but one of the Exhortation to those
about to be ordained priests. Other illustrations of its use
abound in the writings of the period, as when in the first
part of the Homily against Contention [a.d. 1547] it is said,
"Let us endeavour ourselves to fulfil St. Paul's joy ;" and in
Udall's translation of the paraphrase of Erasmus [a.d. 1548],
"Those servants ... do still endeavour themselves to do
their office" [Mark, fol. 87]; and again, "Endeavour your-
selves earnestly to be such as ye would be taken for." [Luke,
toh 112.]
The MS. of a Confirmation address in Bishop Cosin's own
handwriting is inserted between the leaves of the Office in his
Durham Prayer Book. He appears to have used it before the
Preface, "To the end therefore, etc," being written at the
close as its continuation. This address will be found printed
at p. 526 of the fifth volume of his works, and also in Nicholls'
additional notes ; but in neither of them have the editors
taken any notice of the indication afforded by the MS. re-
specting the manner in which the Bishop's address and the
" Preface " were intended by Cosin to be connected together.
In adopting this Prefatory address. Cosin may have had in
view the Rubric of the Lyons Pontifical, in which the Bishop
is directed to "first give an admonition to the people " re-
44:
Cf)C ©rncr of Confirmation.
selves bound to believe, and to do, all tliose things,
which your Godfathers and Godmothers then
undertook for you ?
11 And _every one shall audibly answer,
I do.
the to Christe and to His congregation, that thou
shouldest be thorowlie obedient to the Gospel ?
Anstuei: I aUowe these things, and by the healpe
of our Lorde Jesus Christ I wyl continue in the
same unto thende.
IT The Bishop.
/^UR help is in the Name of the Loed ;
IT Answer.
Who hath made heaven and earth.
"Ssr.
" lu primis dicat Episcopus.
ADJUTORIUM nostrum in nomine Domini
Qui fecit crelum et terram.
r Bishop.
Blessed be the Name of the Loed ;
Sit nomen Domini benedictum.
IT Answer.
Henceforth world without end.
Ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.
IT Bishop.
Loed, hear our prayers.
* See note below.
[*DoMiNE, exaudi orationem meam.
IT Answer.
And let our cry come unto Thee.
Et clamor mens ad Te veniat.]
DoMiNus vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
IT Bishop.
Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, Who hast
-lJl_ vouchsafed to regenerate these Thy ser-
vants by Water and the Holy Ghost, and hast
given unto them forgiveness of all their sins;
f S. 2. 3El. Greg.
Gelas. Mur. i. 571.
Oremus.
^/~\MNIPOTENS sempiterne Deus, Qui re-
vy genei-are dignatus es hos famulos Tuos vel-
has fanuilas Tnas ex aqua et Spieitu Sancto,
Quique dedisti eis remissionem omnium pecca-
specting Confirmation in its relation to themselves and tliose
about to receive it. An "admonition" is also directed in a
pontifical of the Church of Catalonia [sec ilartene, I. i. 18, for
both], and it is probable that it formed part of the ancient
Gallican rite.
/ do] This short answer, taken iu connection with the
question to which it is a reply, contains, as has been already
shewn, an implicit renewal of the baptismal vows ; and is a
repetition, under more solemn circumstances, and to God's
chief minister, of the answer in the Catechism, "Yes, verily;
and by God's help so I will," to the question, "Dost thou
not think that thou art bound to believe, and to do, as they
have promised for thee ?" The connection of this latter
solemn adjuration with the "I do" of the Confirmation
Service is accidentally indicated b}' the first versicle, "Our
help is in tlie Name of the Lord." Every time the answer in
the Catechism has been repeated by the children catechized,
they have ratified an<l confirmed in their own persons, and
acknowledged themselves bound to believe and to do, all
those things which their Godfathers and Godniotliers under-
took for them, i.e. promised on their behalf, at their Baptism.
They now ratify and confirm tliose Baptismal vows in as
solemn a manner as possible, not before their parish priest
only, but before the Bishoji, who is the liighest spiritual
ofiicer of Christ on earth, and His chief ministerial represen-
tative. This prclinnnary catechizing is therefore a formality
of a very significant character, and, altliough no essential
part of the rite of Confirmation, is a preparation for it which
ought not to be passed over lightly. It marks the last steji
in the pathway of Christian childhood ; and, on the verge of
Christian maturity, sounds the trumpet-call of Christian duty
to those wlio have promised manfully to fight under Christ '.s
banner against sin, the world, .and the devil, and to continue
Hia faithful soldiers and servants unto their lives' end. The
last stone in the foundation of the Christian life is about to
be laid, and sealed with God's signet in confirmation of His
promises. It is a time to remember that although "the
foundation of (io<l standcth sure, having this se.%1. The Lord
knoweth them that are His," there is a "reverse" .as well .as
an "obverse" to the seal of Confirmation, and that it h.i3
another inscription, "Let every one that nametli the Name
of Christ depart from iniquity." [2 Tim. ii. 19.] The new
blessing confirms the promise of God made iu Baptism : it
also enforces again that obligation of faithful service from
which the Christian can never become free.
Our help is in the JS'ame] With the first four of these ver-
sicles the Office of Confirmation anciently began. The latter
two appear to have been added for the first time in 1552,
when the Dominus Yobiscum was placed after the act of Con-
firmation instead of before the Collect ^^■hicll preceded it.
They are, however, found in very general use in ancient
Offices, as they are in our own, and it is not improbable that
some of our ancient Pontificals had them in this ]ilace. They
are in the Offices for Holy Matrimony, the Churching of
Women, and the Yisitation of the Sick ; and in 1661 they
were placed after the Veni Creator in the Consecration of
Bishops.
§ The Prayer of Invocation.
The Collect which follows the versicles is of primitive
antiquity, being in the' Sacramentaries of St. Gregory and
Gelasius, and also in "St. Ambrose's " Treatise on the Sacra-
ments [ii. 3, iii. 7] ; while its position and use indicate a still
higher antiquity.' It is extant in a pontifical of Egbert,
Archbisliop of York, dating from about A.t>. 700, so that we
know it has lieen used in tlic Church of ICngland for at least
eleven hundred and fifty years. Some similar Invocation of
the Holy Spirit is found in all Confirmation Offices.
The first words of tliis solemn invocation offer a distinct
recognition of the truth th.at there is "One Baptism for the
remission of sins ; " and .although Confirmation has been
separated from B.aptism for ages, yet the Church has never
w.avercd in the continued use of tlicse words, being assured
that God's promises arc alw.ays fulfilled ; and that if His
pardon ceases to be efrected, it is not through any deficiency
in His Gift of regeneration, but from the obstacles placed by
man in the way of its operation. The latter part of the
Collect is based on a faithful appreciation of our Lord's words,
1 It is also to bo found, iu more Orioutal Inngujigo, lu tlic Conflnnatiou
Olllce of the Eastern C'lmrch. \See Littludale's OJ/iccs o/ttic Eastern C'/i ttrch,
i>r. 20, i-io-l
Cbc ©cDcr of Conftrination.
44:
Strengthen them, we beseech 'I'liee, O Lord, with
the Holy Ghost the Comforter, and daily in-
crease in them Thy manifold gifts of grace ; the
spirit of wisdom and understanding ; the spirit
of counsel and ghostly strength ; the spirit of
knowledge and true godliness ; and fill them,
Lord, with the spirit of Thy holy fear, now and
for ever. Amen.
II Then all of them in order kneeling before the Bishop,
ho shall lay his hand upon tlio licad of every one
severally, saying,
DEFEND, O LoKD, this Thy Child [or, this
Thy ServaHt\ with Thy heavenly grace,
that he may continue Thine for ever : and '^daily
increase in Thy Holy Spirit more and more, until
he come unto Thy everlasting kingdom. Amen.
IT Then shall the Bishop say,
The Lord be with you.
Answer.
And with thy spirit.
IT And (all kneeling down) the Bishop shall add,
Let us pray.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our trespasses. As we forgive them that tres-
pass against us. And lead us not into tempta-
tion ; But deliver us from evil. Amen.
IT And this Collect.
ALMIGHTY and everliving God, Who makest
-aTJl. us both to will and to do those things
' 3. B. !Ei.
* S.g.lEl. similar.
t "Ye 0UL;lit licarti-
ly .and iiicekty to
tnank our Lord
tliereof that is
Giver of all goods,
and to pray Him
with a fervent de-
sire that yc may
continue and in-
cyease ever more
and more in His
grace." \Mi.-rorof
Our Lady. p. 68.
Blunt'sed.l Bishop
Cosin appears to
have takeii the
words now in use
from this passage
in his copy, still
preserved, of Our
Lady's Mirror.
d Daye's transl.
Hermanns Ci
suit.. A.U. 1547.
toruni : immitte in eos septiforinem spiritum,
Sanctum I'auaclitum de ccelis. Amen.
Spiritum .sa})ientia; et intellectus. Amen.
Spiritum scienti;e et pietatis. Amen.
Spiritum consilii et fortitudinis.>J<Anicn.
"Kt imple eos vel eas .spiritu timoris Domini.>J<
Amen.
Et consigna eos vel eas signo sanctK crueis ^
confirma eos vel eas chrismate salutis in vitam
propitiatus aeteniam. Amen.
IT Et tunc episcopus petat nomen, et ungat pollicem
chrismate : etfaciat in fronte pucri cruceni, diccns,
* /^ONSIGNO te N. signo cnicis >^ et confirmo
^-^ te chrismate salutLs. In nomine Patris,
et Fi>J<ni, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Pax tibi.
Oremus.
The Collect.
■' ALMIGHTY and merciful God, heavenly
~L^ Father, which onely workest in us to wil
"I am the Vine, ye are the branches." They who abide in
the olive partake of the fatness of the olive. The anointing
of the Head flows down upon the members, "even to the
skirts of His clothing." As the sevenfold Spirit rested upon
our Lord and Saviour (according to the prophecy of Isaiah),
after His Baptism in Jordan, so may those who have been
united to Him by Baptism hope for a participation in the
gifts of the same Spirit through that rite by which their
Baptism is confirmed and their Christian nature matured.
The Puritans objected to this prayer, in 1661, in the fol-
lowing words: "This supposeth that all the children who
are brought to be confirmed have the Spirit of Christ, and
the forgiveness of all their sins ; whereas a great number of
children at that age, having committed many sins since their
baptism, do shew no evidence of serious repentance, or of any
special saving grace ; and therefore this confirmation (if ad-
ministered to such) would be a perilous and gross abuse."'
This was a reverent objection, but shewed considerable ignor-
ance of the theological principles on which the Offices of the
Church are framed, as well as of the manner in which they
are intended to be administered. The reply of the Bishops
was short, but pointed, and consistent with the principles of
the Prayer Book: "It supposeth, and that truly, that all
children were at their baptism regenerate by water and the
Holy Ghost, and had given unto them the forgiveness of all
their sins ; and it is charitably presumed that notwithstanding
the frailties and slips of their childhood, they have not totally
lost what was in baptism conferred upon them ; and therefore
adds, ' Strengthen them, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with the
Holy Ghost the Comforter, and daily increase in them Thy
manifold gifts of grace,' etc. None that lives in open sin
ought to be confirmed."- A faithful certainty respecting
God's justice, mercy, and grace, mingled with a loving habit
I Cakdw. Con/ p. 329.
Tbid. 11. 3S5.
of charitable doubt respecting the sins of individual Christians,
pervades the whole of the Prayer Book.
§ The Act of Confa-matiov .
The original form of this, in the Prayer Book of 1549, was
as follows : —
"Minister.^ Sign them, O Lord, and mark them to be Thine
for ever by the virtue of Thy holy cross and passion. Con-
firm and strengthen them with the inward unction of Thy
Holy Ghost mercifully unto everlasting life. Amen.
' ' Then Ike BisJiop shall cro.s.s them in the forehead, and lay
his hand upon their head, saying,
" N. I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and lay my
hand upon thee, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
"And thus shall he do to every child, one after another. And
tvhen he hath laid his hand npon ererij child, then shall he say,
"The peace of the Lord abide with you.
"Answer. And with thy spirit."
ff the use of Unction was dropped in 1549, the consigna-
tion with the Cross was thus retained. In 1552 the Rubric
and words with which the latter was given were omitted, and
a precatory benediction founded on the preceding Collect was
adopted as an accompaniment to the laying on of the Bishop's
hands. But it is probable that the sign of the Cross was still
used by our Bishops, for its use is defended as if it were
a well-known custom in a sermon by Edward Boughen,
chaplain to Howson, Bishop of Oxford. This seimon was
preached at the Bishop's first visitation, on September 27,
1619, Confirmations at that time being part of the episcopal
visitation. Boughen's words are as follows: "The cross,
therefore, upon this or the like consideration, is enjoined to
be used in Confirmation in the Book of Common Prayer set
' See p. ISl, note.
444
Cfjc SDtDcr of Confirmation.
that be good and acceptable unto Tliy divine
Majesty ; We make our humble supplications
unto Thee for these Thy servants, upon -whom
(after the example of Thy holy Apostles) we have
now laid our hands, to certify them (by this sign)
of Thy favour and gracious goodness towards
them. Let Thy fatherly hand, we beseech Thee,
ever be over them ; let Thy Holy Spirit ever be
with them ; and so lead them in the knowledge
and obedience of Thy Word, that in the end they
may obtain everlasting life, through our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who with Thee and the Holy
Ghost liveth and reigneth, ever one God, world
without end. Avien.
O ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God,
vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to direct,
sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies,
in the ways of Thy laws, and in the works of
Thy commandments ; that, through Thy most
mighty protection both here and ever, we may
be preserved in body and soul, through our Lord
and Savioub Jesus Christ. Amen.
IT Then the Bishop shall bless them, saying thus,
THE Blessing of God Almighty, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon
you, and remain with you for ever. Ame}i.
" S. p. E t.
* s. B. Ui.
and to performe the thynges that please The,
and be good in dede, we besech The for these
children, whom Thou hast gyven to Thy church
. . . that when we shall now lay our handes
upon them in Thy name, and shall certifie them
by thys signe, that Thy Fatherly hande shall
ever be stretched forth ujion them, and that they
shall never wante Thy holy Spirite to keepe,
leade, and governe them in the way of healths
and in a very christian life . . .
Oratio.
r"~r\EUS, Qui apostolis Tuis Sanctum dedisti
L -L-' SriRiTUM, Quicjue per eos eorum suc-
cessoribus creterisque fidelibus tradendum esse
voluisti : respice propitius ad nostrre humani-
tatis famulatum : et prcesta, ut horum corda
quorum froutes sacrosancto chrismate delinivimus,
et signo sanctje crucis consignavimus, idem
Spiritus Saxctus adveniens, templum glorije
suae dignanter inhabitando perficiat. Per Domi-
NUM. In uuitate ejusdem.
'"TT^CCE sic benedicetur omnis homo, qui timet
-L— ^ DoMiNUM. Benedicat vos Dominus ex
Sion : ut videatis bona Hierusalem omnibus die-
bus vestris.
Benedicat vos Omnipotens Deus : Pa>J<ter, et
Fii^Lius, et Spiritus ►Ji Sanctus. Amen.
forth and allowed in Edward VI. 's reign. And I find it not
at any time revoked : but it is left, as it seems, to the Bishop's
discretion to use or not to use the cross in confirmation. " No
doubt tliis represents the feehng of many who were occupied
at various times with the revision of the Prayer Book. It
might be desirable to omit the mention of many things for
the sake of relieving the consciences of persons to whom they
were a burden ; but such omission was not necessarily to bind
those in wliose eyes the things omitted were precious to a
total disuse of primitive and holy ceremonies. Charity to-
wards those who disUked ceremonies was not intended to
exclude charity towards those who loved them ; and the
Prayer Book thus represented in many places the minhnmn
of ceremonial usage customary in the Church of England, but
left the maximum to be souglit from tradition. As for the
sign of the Cross itself, the time seems to have passed away
when any justification of its use in Divine Service needs to be
given to educated and religious persons. It may, however,
be added, that n'iitlier the use of that ceremony, nor of the
words, whether in tlie old or the present Prayer Book, is any
essential part of the acts of Confirmation. Whatever of a
sacramental nature is contained. in the rite is contained in the
Divinely instituted ceremony of the laying on of liaiuls ; the
contact of which with the licad of tlie person to be confirmed
has been always esteemed (even in the form of consignation)
absolutely necessary to a true Confirmation. It was the
desire to restore this ceremony to its full im])ortauce, and to
enforce tlie proper use of it, which really led to the changes
made in the OlTice in 1552.'
1 It will be observed that it wa.i llic custom (according to ancient prac-
tice) for tlie liiHliop to coiitlrm the children by name, until 1552. This cus-
tom gave rifle to a jiower on the jmrt of the Iiis1io]> to eliange the baptismal
name for another if he saw fit. *• Let jiriests take cave that names which
carry a lascivloiis houiuI be notKiven to children at theirbaptisni, especially
to those of the female sex : If they be altered, let theni be by the bisliojis
at conllniiation." (.Johkhon'h Canon*, li. 277.) On this subject Lord Coiie
says, '* If a man be baptized by the name of Thomas, and after, at his con-
flnnatlon by the bishop, he is named .lohn, his name of conllrmation shall
■tand good. And this was the cose of Sir Francis Gawdie, chief-justice of
§ Tfii' Collect mid Benediclion.
The Lord's Prayer was first inserted in the Confirmation
Service in 1661, when the Dominus Vobiscum, which had been
removed from the Service altogether in 1552, was replaced in
its present position, instead of with the other versicles. The
Pax Tibi was also removed in 1552, but was not restored.
This "Peace be with you" was (as in the modern Latin
Church) accompanied by a slight blow on the cheek, intended
to signify that the person confirmed was to he a faithful
soldier of Clirist, and ready to suffer afTrouts for His sake.
The Collect which follows the Lord's Prayer has some
the Court of Common Pleas, who.se name by baptism was Thomas, and his
name of conlirmation Francis : and tluat name of Francis, by the advice of
all the judges, he did bear, and afterwards used in all his purchases and
grants." [Cokk's Institutes, I. iii.] Lord Coke must have been well ac-
quainted with the practice of the Bishojis in confirming, and his words
indicate either that [1] the rite of consignation was still retained by tradi-
tional usage, or that [2] Bishops named tlic iiersons conlirmed by saying,
"This thy Child JV.," or *' thy .Servant JV." Johnson, in speaking ni^ the
practice (in a note to the above Canon), exjiressly says that the iiractiee of
conhnning by name was altered " upon the review of the Liturgy at King
Charles' restoration," but no Prayer Books are known which provide for
this except that of l.')4!>.
Bishop Kennctt hius left on reconl in some 3IS. notes to the Prayer Book,
which are now in the British Museum, an account of a cjise in which a
Bishop changed the name of a child so lately as 1707. He states the fact
as follows : *' On Sunday, December 21, 1707, the Lord Bishop of Lincoln
contlrmed a young lad in Henry VII. *s Cliapel : who upon that ceremony
was to change his Christian nauie ; and, accordingly, the sponsor who pre-
sentrd hiiti 'hliv.T' d to the Bisho]) a ceiiillcate, which his lordship signed,
to notify that he had ei'iilirmcd such a person by such a name, and did
order the parish minister then present to registei the person in tlic parish
book under that name. This was done by tneoi)lnion under hand of Sir
Edward Northey, and the like opinion of Lord Chlef-Justico H<dt, founded
on the authority of Sir Edward Coke, who says it was the common law of
England." The anciontcanon law certainly only referred to such a cliango
when the baptismal name was one of an improi>er kind, yet this may only
represent a portion of the common law of the Church on the subject.
A little further light is thrown on the subject by a letter of Bishop
Scamblcr of Peterborough, written in l.^»i)7. " I may not change," he
says, "usnall or comon mimes at the Coiilinnacion, but onlie strange and
not comon ; and further, if the name be changed at Conflrmacion, it taketh
cfl'ect but from the Conflrmacion," [B, Mus. Lansd. MS. bO, fol. 127.)
Cf)c ©rDcr of Confirmation.
445
IT And there Bliall none be admitted to the lioly Com-
munion," until such time as hf be contirmcd, or be
ready and desirous to be coulkmed.
on being married were expected to receive the Holy Communion.
1 " Or unto Mntri-
uiouy " was on^in-
<llly added In tlie
MS., but crossed
tlirougli witli t)ic
pen. TJic rc.nsoii
of this addition
was tiiat nil persons
* Conslit. Iv., Arclibisliop Peclch.in), A. I). 1281
''Statuimus quod nullus ad saeramentum corporis
ct sanguinis Domini atlniittatur e.\tra articulum
mortis, nisi fuerit conlirmatus, vul nisi a recep-
tioiie coufirmationis ratiouabiliter fuerit impe-
ditus.
likeness to that which occupied the same place in the ancient
Office, but its words are taken in part from a long Collect
which preceded the Act of Confirmation in Archbisliop
Hermann's Cologne Book. The secoml Collect was inscrtcil
in 1661, probably with the intention of placing at the end of
the Service a prayer for the general congregation, the pre-
ceding one being for the newly confirmed. The latter part of
the ancient Benediction has been retained in tlie English
Office, but tlic fifth and sixtli verses of the llJStli r.'salm which
preceded it were not continued in use. Tlio ancient bene-
dictions in this place were sometimes very long : and were,
in reality, a Psalm pronounced in a benedictory form.
AN INTRODUCTION
MARRIAGE SERVICE.
When Marriage was originally instituted by God, its institu-
tion was accompanied by the higliest form of religious cere-
mony wliich is possible, that of the Divine Benediction pro-
nounced by Himself. [Gen. i. 2S, ii. 22, v. 2 ; Mark x. 6, 9.]
As, therefore, our Lord's benediction of little children when
He took them into His arms is the original type of Baptismal
ceremonies, so the Divine benediction of our first parents is
tlie original type of tlie Marriage Service, which is essential
as a benediction of the natural conjugal union and of the civil
contract by which husband and wife are bound together under
liumau laws.
The continuity of this pliase of Marriage may be seen by
our Lord's association of it under Christian rule witli its
original institution, when He adopted the words of Adam,
doubtless inspired words, as the exposition of the nature of
Marriage which He would leave witli His Cliurch, saying,
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and
shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh."
Hence St. Paul speaks of marriage of Christians as a marry-
ing "in the Lord" [1 Cor. vii. 39], and from Apostolic
times forward there is distinct evidence tliat Christians
were married with ecclesiastical ceremonies by ecclesiastical
persons.
Among the earliest of all Christian writings after the New
Testament are the Epistles of St. Ignatius ; and in one of
these, which he wrote to St. Polyoarp and the Church of
Smyrna, as he was journeying onward to his martyrdom, lie
writes; "It is fitting for those who purpose matrimony to
accomplish their union with the sanction of the Bishop ; that
their marriage may be in the Lord, and not merely in the
flesh. Let all things be done to the honour of tiod. " [Ignat.
ad Polycarp. v.] Tertullian speaks of Marriage being "rati-
fied before God," and says afterwards, "How can we find
words to describe the happiness of that marriage in which
the Church joins togetlier, which the Oljlation confirms, the
benediction seals, tlie angels proclaim wlien sealed, and the
Father ratifies!" [Tertull. ad Ux. ii. 7, 8.] In the thir-
teenth canon of the fourth Council of Carthage [a.d. 398]
it is enjoined that the bride and bridegroom shall be pre-
sented by their jiarents and friends to a priest for benediction.
St. Basil calls ilarriage a yoke which Sid tti^ (vXoyias, by
means of the benediction, unites in one those who were two.
[Ba.sil, Ilexaem. vii.] St. Ambrose calls Marriage a sacra-
ment, as does also St. Augustine in many places of his treatise
"on the Good of Marriage:" and the former, again, says,
"As marriage must be sanctified by the priest's sanction and
blessing, how can that be called a marriage wliere there is no
agreement of faith?" [Amhkos. Ep. xix.] Lastly, to pass
from the Fathers of the fourth century to our own land and
to the tenth, there is among the laws of King Edmund [a.d.
946], respecting espousals, one which provides tliat "the
priest sliall be at the marriage, and shall celebrate the union
according to custom with (jod's blessing, and with all solem-
nity." Our Engliali Office, which is substantially the same
as the old Latin one, is probably a fair representative of the
one which was in use in that distant age.
Nothing more need be said by way of Introduction to this
Office than to shew what provisions are m.adc beforehand fl]
to secure the publicity of Marriage, and [2| to prevent tlie
union of tliose wlio cannot bo lawfully joined together in Holy
Matrimony.
§ The. Publicity of Marriage.
It in reasonably supposed, from the manner in which
Marriage is referred to by the piiinitive Fathers, that some
public notice was given to the Bishop, or to the asseinliled
Church, equivalent to that now in use : and traces of such a
practice have been observed in the French Church of the
ninth century. The earliest extant canon of the Church of
England on the subject is the eleventh of the Synod of West-
minster, A.D. 1200, which enacts that "no marriage shall be
contracted without banns thrice published in churdi " [JoHX-
son'.s Canoiis, ii. 91] : but this seems only like a canonical
enactment of some previously well-known custom. The law
of the Churcli of England has ahvays been very strict on the
subject, the Rubrics of the Latin Manuals declaring that any
clergyman celebrating a marriage without banns or licence
was ipm facto suspended for a whole year. The existing law
is even mure stringent, as may be seen from the first part of
the sixty-second Canon.
"Canon 62.
"Ministers not to marry any J't:rsous williout Banns or
Licence.
"No Minister, upon pain of suspension per tHennivm ipso
facto, shall celebrate Matrimony between any persons, with-
out a faculty or licence granted by some of the persons in
these our Constitutions expressed, except the Banns of Matri-
mony have been first published three several Sundays, or
Holydays, in the time of Divine Service, in the Parish
Churches and Cliapels where the said parties dwell, according
to the Book of Common Prayer. ..."
Tlie licence is an Episcopal dispensation, permitting the
marriage to take place without any previous publication of
banns. Such licences have been granted by English Bishops
at least since the fourtcentli ceutuiy, and the power of grant-
ing them was confirmed by 25 Hen. VIII. c. 21. Marriages
to be performed under an ordinary licence are subject to the
same restrictions in respect to time and place as those by
banns ; but special licences can be granted by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, which are not subject to these restrictions.'
Banns hold good for three months, and no longer, from the
date of tiie last publication ; and licences for the same time
from the day on which tliey were granted.
The law respecting clandestine marriages is so very strict,
and the consequences to any clergyman who performs the
ceremony are so serious, that it may be well to state shortly
what means are provided for guarding against them. [1] By
Statute 4 Cieo. IV. c. 76, s. 7, "no minister shall be obliged
to publish banns, unless the persons shall nirni days at least
before the time required for the first publication deliver or
cause to be delivered to him a n<itice in writing of their names,
of their house or houses of abode, and of the time during which
they have dwelt, inhabited, or lodged in such house or houses."
The clergyman is not bound to demand this notice, but the
power of doing so is given, that lie may have opportunity of
inijuiring into the truth of the statements made respecting
the alleged residence of the per-sons in his parish : and if after
the marriage it is discovered that the persons were not so
residing, and that the clergyman marrying them made no
inquiry, he is li.ible to tlic full penalty of three years' suspen-
sion imposed by the Canon. [2] The Rubric enjoins that
wliero the persons wlmse l)anns arc to be published reside in
dilferent parishes, they shall bo married in one of them, and
1 Tliusu Bjiccinl licences were originally a privilege of the Archbishop of
C.'uiterbury .is " Le^:atus natns" of the rope. The right to grant them is
coiillnneil by the Murriiigu Act of 18IW.
an 3introDuction to tt)c ajarriagc ^eruice.
447
a certificate of the duo i)uI)licatiou of banns in the other shall
be given to the clergyman required to marry them before he
be allowed to perform the ceremony. [3] Tlie sixty-second
Canon forbids a clergyman (under penalty of three years' sus-
pension) to marry any persona by banns or licence except
between the hours of eight and twelve iu the niorniug, and in
the Church.
"Canon 62.
"... Neither shall any Minister, upon the like pain,
under any pretence whatsoever, join any persons so licensed
in marriage at any unseasonable times, but only between the
hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon, nor in any private
place, but either in the said t'hurches or Chapels where one
of them dwelleth, and likewise in time of Divine Service. ..."
[4] The marriage of minors by banns is forbidden (under
the same Canon and Statute of Geo. IV.) unless with the
consent of parents or guardians.
"Can-OS 62.
"... Nor when banns are thrice asked, anil no licence
in that respect necessary, before the parents or governors of
the parties to be married, being under the age of twenty and
one years, shall either personally, or by sufficient testimony,
signify to him their consents given to the said marriage."'
The eighth section of the Act, however, enacts that no
clergyman shall be punishable for celebrating the marriage of
minors without the consent of parents or guardians, unless he
has had notice of their dissent. If such dissent is openly
declared or caused to be declared, at the time of the publica-
tion of tlie banns, such publication becomes "absolutely void."
Where a licence is brought to the clergynuxn (however
wrongly obtained) he is not legally responsible.
In modern Prayer Books the Rubric respecting the publica-
tion of Banns is seldom printed correctly. About the year
180.5 (the alteration having been resolved upon by them in
1797) the Delegates of the press at Oxford [see Bishop of
Exeter's Speech in Hansard, III. vol. Ixxviii. p. 21] caused it
to be altered iu all the Oxford Prayer Books, so as to make it
direct that the banns shall be published after the Second
Lesson at Morning or the Second Lesson at Evening Prayer,
their object being to bring tlie Rubric into agreement with
2(i Geo. II. c. 33, s. 1. But that statute only provided for
the publication to take place after the Second Lesson at
Evening Prayer, in the absence of a Morning Service ; and,
according to the decision of Lord Manstield and Baron Alder-
son, left the Rubric untouched. In Reg. v. Benson, ISr>6,
Sir Edward Aldersou expressed a doubt whether the publica-
tion of banns is valid under the Act of Parliament in question,
when it has taken place after the Sccdud Lesson instead of
after the Nicene Creed. The law, said the judge, had not
altered the injunction of the Rubric. As, chiefly through the
neglect of Bishops and Clergy in past times. Morning Service
was not always celebrated, " the statute enacted that in such
cases the publication should be made in the Evening Service
after the Second Lesson." The Marriage Act of 1S36 expressly
confirms " all the rules prescribed by the rubrick " in its first
clause. '
The limitation of the hours during which the celebration of
marriages may take place is partly to ensure publicity." So
in 1502 a priest was presented to the Archdeacon for marrying
a man and woman "in hora secunda post mediam noctem,
januis clausis ;" and in 1578 another was presented for marry-
ing iu the afternoon. [Hale's Preealents, 247, 507.] But it
is conjectured with some reason that the practice of morning
marriages necessarily arose from the Office being followed by
the Holy Communion. It is some confirmation of this that
the wedding breakfast is always eaten after the marriage, as
if in traditional though unintentional compliance with the
rule of not breaking the night's fast before Communion.
After the form of the Banns (which was inserted by him)
Bishop Cosin proposed to print the following Rubrics, which
are written iu the margin of his Durham Prayer Book : —
"IT The impediments of Marriage are Pre-contract, or a
suit depending thereupon, Consanguinity, or Affinity within
1 It has been doulited whether banus published upon Holydays wliu-h
are not Sundays would be considered legal, as Holydays are not mentioned,
while Sundays are, in the Marriage Act, 4 Geo. IV. c. "6; but the later
Act seems to resolve the doubt, and the Latin Rubric shews the r.ationale.
3 The provisions to secure publicity were very stringent iu the mediicval
Church of England. [Stc Johnson's Canons, ii. 04, ill.)
the degrees prohibited by the laws of God and this realm,
Sentence of divorce from a party yet living. Want of competent
years, Consent of parents in minors, and of Confirmation and
such like.
"H And none shall be marrieil till their Banns be thrice
thus published, unless a lawful dispensation to the contrary
I)e procured : neitlier shall any persons under tlie age of
twenty-one years complete be married without the express
consent of their parents or guardians.
"If No Minister shall celebrate any Marriage but publicly
in the Parish Church or Chapel where one of the parties
dwelleth ; nor at other times than between the hours of eight
and twelve in the forenoon.
"1] And here is to Ijc noted that by the Ecclesiastical Laws
of this Realm, there be some times in the year when Marriage
is not ordinarily solemnized. "■'
The "times in the year" thus referred to by Cosin are
settled by Ecclesiastical custom of ancient standing, founded
on a law of the Primitive Church.
As eai-ly as the fourth century the Council of Laodicea [circa
A.D. 365] forbade, by its fifty-second canon, the celebration of
marriages during Lent. Durandus states the times as from
Advent Sunday to the Epiphany, from Septuagesima to the
Octave of Easter, the three weeks before the feast of St. John,
and from the first day of the Rogations to the Octave of Pente-
cost inclusive. [Durand. I. ix. 7.] The Manual of Salisbury
has a Rubric on the subject as follows : "II Et sciendum est
quod licet omni tempore possint contrahi spousalia, et etiani
matrimonium quod fit privatim solo consensu : tanien traditio
uxorum, et nuptiarum soleninitas certis temporibus fieri pro-
hibentur : videlicet ab adventu Domini usque ad octavam
EpiphaniK : et a Septuagesima usque ad octavam Paschse : et
a Dominica ante Ascensiouem Domini usque ad octavam Pente-
costes. In octava die tamen Epiphanife licite possunt nuptise
celebrari : quia non invenitur prohibitum, quamvis in octavis
Pascha; hoc facere non liceat. Similiter in Dominica proxima
post festuni Peutecostes licit celebrantur nupti* : (piia dies
Pentecostes octavam diem non habet. " ^ After the Ref onnation
an entry of the prohibited times was often made in the Parish
Register ; and inquiries on the subject are found iu some
Episcopal Visitation Articles. A Latin notice of this kind
appears iu the register-book of Dymchurch, in Kent, dated
1630 ; a rhyming English one, of the same tenor, in that of
St. llary, Beverley, dated November 25, 1641. In that of
Wimbish, in Essex, there is one dated 1666, of which the fol-
lowing is a copy : —
' ' The Times when Marriages are not usually solemnized.
( Advent Sunday 1 1 8 dayes after Epiphany.
From ■< Septuagesima > until I 8 dayes after Easter.
( Rogation Sunday ) ( Trinity Sunday."
A similar entry appears in the register-books of South
Benfleet, Essex, and of Hornby, in Yorkshire, and probably
of many other parishes ; and Sharpe, Archbishop of York, in
a charge of 1750 names the px-ohibited times as then observed.
They will sometimes also be found mentioned in old Alma-
nacs, as if the practice still continued during the last century.
Although there is no modern canon of the Church of England
respecting these prohibited times, the consentient testimony
of these various centuries will have great weight with those
who would supply, by a voluntary obedience, the absence of
a compulsory law, when the mind of the Church appears to
be plain and clear.
§ The Prohibited Degrees.
The restrictions which forbid the marriage of relatives
within certain degrees of consanguinity (or blood-relationship),
and of affinity (or relationship by marriage), are founded on
the Divine Law laid down for the Jews in Leviticus xviii.
Before the Preformation, the rule of the Church of England
was the same as that of the foreign Canon Law, which forbade
marriages within the fourth degree of eimsanguinity or affinity.
After the Reformation had begun, an Act of Parliament was
passed [25 Hen. VIII. c. 22], forbidding marriages between
persons within certain degrees of relationship therein speci-
fied. This prohibition was re-enacted by 28 Hen. VIII. c.
7. But a later one [32 Hen. VIII. c. 38], confirmed by 1
Eliz. c. 1, s. 3, is the existing autliority on the subject, and
3 See note to Table of Vigils and Fasts, etc., for Cosin's list of theso
times. , „ , c
* There is a nuich longer Rubric to the same effect m the urdo hponsa-
linm of tlie Sarnni Missal.
448
2n Jntronuction to tbc carriage ^ecuict.
vith-
it forbids marriage between auy persons who are not
out the Le\-itical degrees." .
In explanation of this law, Archbishop Parker issued a
Table of forbidden Degrees in the year 1563, and this was
adopted in the 99th Canon of 1603. The Table is constructed
in rather a cumbrous manner, but the following is a summary
of its contents : —
1. SeJatives w/iO»i a Man may not Marry.
Mother or
Stepmother
Widow of
Aunt
Sister
Daughter, or
Niece
I of his own, or his wife's parents,
/his Father, or Father-in-law.
1 — Dnelc.
{ — Brother.
— Son, or Stepson.
v — Nephew.
of himself, or of his wife.
Daughter, or | j j^j q,. of ijjs
Stepdaughter)"
wife's, children.
Itelatives whom a Woman inay not Marry.
^-'ather, or
Stepfather
Widower of
Uncle
Brother
Son, or
Nephew
Son, or
Stepson
^ of her own, or of her husband's, parents.
/'her Mother, or her Mother-in-law.
I — Aunt.
{ — Sister.
i — Daughter, or Stepdaughter.
V — Niece.
f herself, or of her husband.
I of her own, or of her husband's, children.
These prohibitions are founded upon the two principles that
[1] the relationships forbidden by God in the case of either
sex are equally forbidden to the other sex ; and that ['2] the
husband and wife being one flesh, relationships by marriage
become, to either of them, blood-relationships. These prin-
ciples have been uniformly adopted in all judicial decisions on
the subject.
THE FORM OF
SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY.
" Ordo ad Faciendum l^ijonaalia.
First the Banns of all that are to be married together
must be published in tlie Church three several
Sundays, or Holydays, in the time of Divine
Service, immediately before the sentences for the
Offertory, the Curate saying after the accustomed
manner,
PUBLISH
M. of
the Banns of
- and N. of —
Marriage between
— . If any of you
know cause, or just impediment, why these two
persons should not be joined together in holy
matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first
[second, or thirdl time of asking.
IT And if the persona that are to be married dwell in
divers Parishes, the Banns must be asked in both
Parishes ; and the Curate of the one Parish shall
not solemnize Matrimony betwixt them, without
a ' Certificate of the Banns being thrice asked,
from the Curate of the other Parish.
IT At the day and time appointed for solemnization of
Matrimony, the persons to be married shall come
into the Body of tlie Church with their Friends
and Neighbours : and tliere standing together.
" s. n.
c For llie Sarum
form of Certificate.
sfe MasKULL'S
M. R. iii. 376.
"" S-- §. Slaliian.
tuy . . . eccUsia.
Stet aiitetii t'iV a
sijtistris rnittieris,
nudier aii!ei/i it
tfextrisi'iri, coram
Presbytero a m ictn,
nldit, fanone, el
sloia revestito. |^.
[MEN UE ii SON'S
J 'oi-l; IHali. p.
' Non fidabit Sacerdos nee consentiet ad fidationem inter
virum et mulierem ante tertium edictum banno-
rum. Debet enim sacerdos banna in facie ecclesise
infra missarum solemnia cum major populi adfuerit
multitudo, per tres dies solemnes et disjiinctas,
iuterrogare : ita ut inter unumquemque diem
solemnem cadat ad minus una dies fcrialis . . .
et si contrahentes diversanim sint parochiarum,
tunc in utraqne ecclesise parochiarum illarum sunt
banna interrogauda . . .
'' In primis statuantur vir et mulier ante ostium
ecclesia^ coram Deo, sacerdote, et populo, vir a
dextris mulieris, et mulier a sinistris viri.
THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY.
into the Body of the Cliurch . . . and there stundhnj] The
ancient Rubric, as will be seen above, required this part of
the Office to be said ante ostium eccleske. This seems to
mean the same as the ad valvas ecclesiic of the first Rubric in
the Office for making a Catechumen. [See Holy Baptism. ] The
porch was probably intended in both cases, not the exterior
of the Church.
" .She was a worthy woman all her live,
Hoiisbondes at ye chirche (lore had she had five."
Chaucer's Wife of Bath , Prol. 1 4i;i,
It is clearly from the ancient Rubric that the English one is
derived ; and it is also equally clear that "the Body of the
Church " means some portion of the Nave. Of this practice
it is difficult to find any explanation, unless it be that the
betrothal anciently took place some time previously to the
marriage, and that the latter only was associated with the
Holy Communion. This was the opinion of the Bishops at
the Savoy Conference ; for when the Puritans objected to the
' ' change of place and posture mentioned in these two Rubrics, "
the Bishops replied, " They go to the Lord's Table because the
Communion is to follow." [Cardw. Co h/ 360.] Whatever may
have been the origin of the custom, it is undoubtedly enjoined
by the present Paibric, and the Rubric has been so carried out in
many churches down to our own time. In Bishop Wren's
"orders and directions for the diocese of Norwich," the ninth
Injunction directs that immediately after the " close of the
first service," the "marriage (if there be any) be begun in the
body of the Church and finished at the table ; " and the
eleventh orders "that they go up to the holy table at
marriages at such time thereof as the Rubric sa directeth."
[Cardw. Doe. Ann. ii. 203, 204.] At Broadwater, in Sussex,
the custom was found existing in ISOO hy a new Rector, who
continued it for the fifty years of his ministry there. It lias
also continued to the present day in some Yoi'kshiro, Lincoln-
shire, and Somersetshire churches, and doubtless in many
others elsewhere. In our modern churches the open space in
front of the Choir screen seems to l)e the most proper place
for the first part of the Service ; although, of coui'se, any
other and more convenient part of the nave would equally
suit the words of the Rubric. '
with their Friends and Nei(jhhours\ Marriages are always
1 A record of a man-iage at the Choir door, which took place about 1400,
has been handed down to ns in the Plumptoii Coirespondeace ; and it con-
tains so much interesting illustration of the custom of the time that it is
here given at length : —
" Richard Clerk, parish clerk of Knaresburgh, Yorkshire, of the age of
fifty years and more, deposed, that he had known Sir William Plompton
for fifty years and more, and Joan Winfringham from the time of her birth
— that on a certain friday, which exactly he does not remember, between
the feasts of Easter and Pentecost, about twenty-one years ago, in the
parish church of Knaresburgh, was solcmpuized a marriage between the said
Sir William and Joan— that at th^t time he was, as now, parish clerk of
Knaresburgh, and was present on this occasion— that the preceeding night
John Brown, then peipetual Vicar of Kn,iresburgh, sent word to the
deponent that Sir William Plompton intended to marry Joan Wintringham
on the morrow, she then sojourning with Alice Wintringham her mother
in Knaresburg, and therefore he bade him wait on him very early the next
morning and open the doors of the church for him, and" so he did— and
very early in the morning of the said Friday came the said Sir William and
Jo.an to the parish church of Knaresburgh, and they standing at the door
of the clianoel of the said clmrch within the said church, the aforesaid John
Brown came from the high altar in his vestments and solempnized mamage
between them in the presence of the deponent, the said Sir William taking
the said Joan with his right hand and repeating after the Vicar, Here I
take the Jhenyiett to my wedded wife to hold and to have, ait bed aiul atl bonl,
for farer or lather, for better for ivarse, in sickncsse and in kele, to dede us
depart, and thereto I plight the my trouth, and the said Joan making like
response incessantly to the said Sir William,— that the Vicar, hartng con-
cluded the ceremony in the usual form, said the mass of the Holy Trinity
in a low voice in the hearing of the deponent— that there were present at
the marriage the said Vicar, the contracting parties, Alice Wintringham,
mother of the bride, Thomas Knaresburgh of Knaresburgh, Richard Ask-
ham of Kirkdighton, Richard Exilby of Knaresburgh, and John Croft, his
fellow-witness, and no more — and innnediately after the marriage the said
Sir William earnestly entreated those present to keep the matter secret,
untiU he chose to have it made known- and further, that Sir William was
clad in a garment of green checkery, and Joan in one of a red colour."
\Plitmpton Corresp. p. Ixxvi, Camden Soc]
450
Solemnisation of agatrimonp.
the Man on the riglit hand, and the Woman on
the left, the Priest shall say,
DEARLY beloved, we are gathered together
here in the sight of God, and in the face
of this congregation, to join together this man
and this woman in holy ^Matrimony ; which is an
honourable estate, instituted of God iu the time
of man's inuocency, signifying unto us the mys-
tical union that is betwixt Christ and His
Church ; which holy estate Christ adorned and
beautified with His presence, and first miracle
that He wrought, in Cana of Galilee ; and is
commended of Saint Paul to be honourable among
all men : and therefore is not by any to be enter-
prLsed, nor taken in hand, unadvisedly, lightly,
or wantonly, to satisfy men's carnal lusts and
appetites, like brute beasts that have no imder-
standiug ; but reverently, discreetly, advisedly,
soberly, and iu the fear of God ; duly considering
the causes for which matrimony was ordained.
First, It was ordained for the procreation of
children, to be brought up in the fear and nurture
of the Lord, and to the praise of His holy Name.
Secoudh^ It was ordained for a remedy against
sin, and to avoid fornication ; that such persons
as have not the gift of continency -might marry,
and keep themselves undefiled members of
Christ's body.
Thirdly, It was ordained for the mutual society,
help, and comfort, that the one ought to have of
the other, Ijoth in prosperitj' and adversity. Into
which holy state these two persons present come
now to be joined. Therefore if any man can shew
any just cause, why they may not lawfully be
" sar. iFt.mi .1
Manual beloii^'iniT
to Charford, a clia-
pelry of Breaiuore.
Hants, in A.D. 1408.
Bibt. Kf/r- -' -I- ^"i.]
f V.
'■ Sar. Harl. MS.
873. 5§. similar.
U Tunc interroget sacerdos banna dicens iu lingua
niaterna sub hac forma,
" "TO breyren & sustren her we beon comyn to
-L^ gedre i ye worsschip of god & his holy
seintes i ye face of holy chirche to joynen to gedre
yuse tweyne bodyes yat heynforward yei beon
body i ye beleue & in ye lawe of god forte
deserven evelastynge lyf. Wat so yei hau don
here byfore. Wherfore i charge zou on holy
chirche by half aUe y' here bes yat zif eni mon
or woinan kuowen eny obstacle piiei or apert
why y' yey lawefully mowe nozt come to ged' iu
ye sacrament of holy churche sey ey now or neu
* "TO bretheren we are comen here before God and
-L^ his angels, and all his halowes. In the face
and presence of our moder holy Chyrche, for to
couple and to knyt these two bodyes togyder :
that is to saye, of this man and of this woman.
That they be from this tyme forthe, but one body
and two soules in the fayth and lawe of God and
holy Chyrche : For to deserue euerlastyug Lyfe,
what someuer that they haue done here before.
. . . I charge you on Goddes behalfe and holy
Chirche, that if there be any of you that can say
any thynge why these two may not be lawfully
wedded togyder at this tyme, say it nowe, outher
pryuely or appertly, in helpynge of your soules
and theirs bothe.
IWARNE you alle that yf there" bee any of
you whych wost owht by thys man and thys
supposed to be celebrated in the face of tlie Church, and both
tlie civU and the ecclesiastical laws have always been severe in
reprobating anything like secrecy in the performance of the
rite. The sixty -second Canon even directs that the marriage
shall take place in time of Divine Service, and an extract
given above from Bishop Wren's Injunctions shews that such
was the practice in his time. Tlie words "in the face of this
congregation " seem to signify the intention of the Praj'er
Book in 1661 to be the same as that of the Canon iu 1G03.
By tlie Marriage Act witnesses are required to be present,
and to sign tlie register ; and although it is not expressly
ordered that these shall be friends of tlie bridegroom or bride,
it is certainly more conformable to the spirit of the enact-
ment as well as to that of the Church tliat they should be so
ratlier than strangers, or than tlie jiarish clerk aud sexton
impressed sicc.o pedi' for tlie purpose.
Ilip Man on the. rhjltt hunil] The custom is to read this portion
of the Rubric (wliich was added by Bishop Cosin) in the sense
of the ancient one from the Sarum and the York Manuals
whicli is placed by its side. But tlie Hereford Rubric reverses
the position, as is sliewn above, placing the man on the
wotuau's left hand and the woman on the man's right hand.
It would be iu conformity with ritual habit to suppose that
"on the right hand" means on the riglit hand of the priest,
as he faces the man aud woman. 'J'liis was the Jewi.sh custom,
which may reasonably be supposed to have been followed by
the early Cliristians ; aud it may also be remarked tliat tlie
north side of the Church is that whieli is appropriated to the
men when the sexes are divided. Sucli a po.sitiou would
receive a significant meaning from the beautiful Marriage
Psalm of Solomon, "Upon thy right hand did stand the
Queen in a vesture of gold " [Ps. xlv. 10] : for, as the selection
of this psalm for Christmas Day shews, these words are
written prophetically pf " the mystical union betwixt Christ
and His Church," which is "signified" by lioly matrimouy.
It is worthy of notice that iu the later part of the ancient
Sarum Service there is a Rubric directing that "when the
prayers are ended and all have gone into the presliytery, that
19, to the south side of the Church between the Choir aud the
Altar, llie woman being placed on the r'njht ham! of tlie man,
lltal is, between him and the Altar," the Service for the Holy
Communion shall commence. After ^vhich the bride aud
bridegroom are to kneel in front of the altar /;( tlie same order
while the pall is held over them, and also during their com-
munion.
It must be said, however, in support of the received custom,
that where ancient effigies of luau and wife lie side by side on
a tomb, the wife is on the left hand of her husband. So also
the bodies of an Earl and Countess of Gloucester were recently
found lying under their effigies iu Tewkesbury Abbey. {Comp.
Cant. ii. 6.]
the Priest shall saij] The ancient rule of the Church was
that marriages sliould be celebrated " per presbyteruui Sanctis
ordinibus eonstitutum :" no cliauge was made iu this rule at
the Reformation or subsequently, and there is not a shadow
of authority for the celebration of the rite of marriage by
Deacons. Chief-Justice Tiudal gave his opinion, aud that of
his brother judges, before the House of Lords on July 7, 1843,
that it was the rule of the Cliurch of England to require the
ceremony to be performed by a priest. From an ecclesiastical
point of view it must be renieiubeied that [1] The Marriage
Office is especially one of Benediction ; that [2] Benedietious
are beyond the power of a deacon ; tliat [8J The Rubrics
throughout couteuiplato the Minister of the Office as a Priest ;
and tliat [4] No autliority to celel>rate marriages is giveu,
either iu word.s or by implication, to the Deacon at his
ordination or at any other time. The duty of celebrating
marriages ouglit not to be imposed upon Curates iu tlieir
diaeonate by tlieir Rectors ; .and the laity should insist
strongly upon being married by Priests, remembering that
their uiarriagos cannot receive the fulness of Benediction
which the Churcli has provided for them in the Office except
from a Priest or a Bishop.
This Exhortation seems to liave been condensed from the
article on "The Sacrament of Matrimony" iu the Institution
of a Christian Man, a work which was printed by authority,
liaving been compiled by a large Commission of Bisiiops and
Clergy iu the year 1,5.'{7. [iA.oyu's Formiil. of Faith, ]). 82.]
But "the causes for which mati'imony was ordained arc also
set out by the medi.i>v.nl Canonist Lyudwood, who writes,
Solemnisation of a^atrimony.
451
joined together, let him now speak, or else here-
after for ever hold his peace.
^ And also, speaking unto the persona that shall
be married, he sliall say,
I REQUIRE and charge you both, (as yo will
answer at the dreadful day of judgement
when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed,)
that if either of you know any impediment, why
ye may not be lawfully joined together in matri-
mony, ye do now confess it. For bo ye well
assured, that so many as are coupled together
otherwise than God's Word doth allow are not
joined together by God ; neither is their matri-
mony lawful.
H At which day of Marriage, if any man do allege and
declare any impediment, why they may not be
coupled together in matrimony, by Ciod's Law, or
the Laws of this Realm ; and will be bound, and
sutEcient sureties with him, to the parties ; or else
put in a Caution (to the full value of such charges
as the persons to be married do thereby sustain)
to prove his allegation ; then the solemnization
must be deferred, until such time as the truth be
tried.
T If no imnediment be alleged, then shall thf Curate
say unto the man,
JV. \ \7~ILT thou have this woman to thy
V V wedded wife, to live together after
God's ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?
Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour, and
keep her in sickness and in health ; and, forsak-
ing all other, keep thee only unto her, so long as
ye both shall live ?
e tub hac fi^rma.
8.
woman where fore they won nat lawfully kome
to gedyr, knowleche ye hyt here now or never.
T « Eadem admonitio tiat ad virum et ad mulierem, ut
si quid ab illis occulte actum fucrit, vel si quid
devoverint, vol alio luodo de se noverint quare
legitime contnihere non possint : tunc confiteau-
tur.
*/\LSO I charge you both, and eyther be your
-^j_ selfe, as ye wyll answer before God at the
day of dome, tliat yf there be any thynge done
pryuely or openly, betwene your selfe : or that
ye knowe any lawfull lettyng why that ye may
not be wedded togyther at thys time ; Say it
nowe, or we do any more to thi.s mater.
IT '■ Si vero aliquis impedimentum aliquod proponere
voluerit : et ad hoc probandum cautionem praesti-
terit : ditferantur sponsalia quousque rei Veritas
cognoscatur. Si vero nullus impedimentum p»o-
ponere voluerit ; interroget sacerdos dotem mu-
lieris . . .
IT '' Postea dieat fsacerdos ad virum cunctis audientibus
in lingua materua sic'
^A^.~VTIS habere banc mulierem in sponsam, et
V earn diligere : honorare : tenere : et
custodire sanam et infirmam, sicut sponsus debet
sponsam : et omnes alias propter earn dimittere,
et illi soli adhrerere quamdiu vita utriusque ves-
trum duraverit?
"... duie principales causa; quare contrahitur Matrimonium :
una est susceptio sobolis, alia est vitatio tornicationis. Second-
arise causas sunt personarum conjunctio, " etc. [Lyxdw. lib.
iv. tit. iii.].
Ihke brute beasts that hare no understaiidinij] These un-
necessarily coarse words were erased by Cosin in his revised
Prayer Book. He also reinserted from the book of 1549 the
words "that such as be married may live chastely in matri-
mony" before "keep themselves," etc., at the end of the
third paragraph.
Therefore if any man can sliexo any just cause] These ancient
words are equivalent (as the next Rubric but one shews) to a
fourth publication of Banns. They are exactly analogous to
the admonition of the Bishop to the people at the Ordination
of Deacons and Priests, and to a similar one used at the Con-
firmation of Bishop.5. As will be seen above, the Address is
substantially that which was used in the Pre-Reformatiou
Church ; but the more homiletic form of it appears to have
been imitated from Archbishop Hermann's book.
/ require and chanje you both^ This last and solemn appeal
to the consciences of the persons to be married shews how
great care has always been taken by the Cliurch to prevent
improper marriages. What are impediments to marriage is
shewn in the proposed Rubrics of Bishop Cosin on a preceding
page.
if any man do alleije and declare any impediment] This is
a very difficult Rubric, and does not seem ever to have
received a judicial interpretation. On the one hand, it
appears to stop the marriage only in case the objector submits
to "be bound, and sufficient sureties with him, to the
parties ; or else to put in a caution," etc. On the other, the
mere fact of a real impediment alleged by any apparently
trustworthy person seems to put it out of tlie power of the
Clergyman to proceed with tlie marriage (whether the ob-
jector offers security or not) until a legal investigation has
taken place. Impediments have been alleged at this part of
the Service, and the marriage has been stopjied in consequence
without any other formality ; but such a jjrocecding does not
seem to meet the requirement of the Rubric, nor to be just to
the persons desiring to be married.
§ 7'he Mutual Consent.
Although this ceremony may appear to be a mere formality,
since it is very improbable that persons will appear before the
Clergyman tor the purpose of being married unless they have
previously come to a decision and agreement on the sxibject,
yet it is a formality respecting which the Church has always
been strict ; and in the civil contracts which have been
adopted under modern legislation equal strictness has been
observed. In point of fact, forced marriages have not unfre-
qiiently taken place, and they are as alien to the spirit in
which Holy Matrimony is regarded by the Church as the
worst clandestine marriages are. At the last moment, there-
fore, before the irrevocable step is taken, and tlie indissoluble
bond tied, each of the two persons to be married is required
to declare before God and the Church that the marriage takes
place with their own free will and consent. This declaration
is also worded in such a manner as to constitute a promise in
respect to the duties of the married state ; and although no
solemn adjuration is annexed to this promise, as in the Invoca-
tion of the Blessed Trinity afterwards, yet the simple " I will,"
given under such circumstances, must be taken to have the
force of a vow as well as that of an assent and consent to the
terms of the marriage covenant as set forth by the Church.
The above English forms of the consent are given from a
Salisbury Ordinale in the British Museum. The following are
from the York ilanual : —
" N. Wilt thou haue this woman to thy wyfe : and loue her
and kepe her in syknes and in helthe, and in all other degrese
be to her as a husbande sholde be to his wyfe, and all other
forsake for her : and holde thee only to her, to thy lyues
ende ? Respondeat i^ir hoc modo : I wyll.
"K. Wylt thou have this man to thy husbande, and to
be buxum tn him, serue him and kepe him in sykenes and in
452
Solemnisation of a^atrimonp.
IT The man shall answer,
I will,
H Then shall the Priest say unto the woman,
N. 11 TILT thou have this man to thy wedded
VV husband, to live together after God's
ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony ? Wilt
thou obey him, and serve him, love, honour, and
keep him in sickness and in health ; and, forsak-
ing all other, keep thee only unto hini, so long as
ye both shall live ?
^ The woman shall answer,
I will.
IT Then shall the Minister say.
Who giveth this woman to be married to this
man^
"Sar.
873-
i> These four words
.ire all found in an
injunction given to
parisliioners in a
form for Collation
to a Benefice, A.D.
1139 — 1162: " Ut
predictum Ed-
munduin Presby-
terum vc^truin dili-
gatis.honoralis.ser-
viatis, obediatis
. . ." [KENNE-n's
Case 0/ htifropy.t
App. iv.]
c Harl. MS. 873.
' Sar. MS. Bill.
Reg. ?. a. xxi., A.D.
"N. \ \TYLT thou have thys woman to thy
V V weddyd wyf and her loue honour holde
and kepe heyl and syke as a housbonde owyth to
kepe hys wyf and all other for her to lete and
holde the only to her as long as your eyther lyf
lastyth \
IT Respondeat vir.
Volo.
IT Item dioat sacerdos ad mulierem hoc modo.
,iV.~V7~IS habere hunc virum in sponsum et ei
V obedire et servire : et eum diligere,
honorare,* accustodire sanum et infirmum sicut
sponsa debet sponsum : et omnes alios propter
eum dimittere, et illi soli adhterere quamdiu vita
utriusque vestvum duraverit ?
'N. \ \TYLT thou have thys man unto thy
V V housbonde and obeye to hym and
serve and hym to love and honour and kepe heil
and syke as a wyf owyth to do the housbonde
and to lete alle other men for hym and holde
the only to hym whylys your eyther lyf lasteth?
H "^ Respondeat mulier hoc modo.
I wylL
'Deinde Sacerdos.
Who schal 3eve yis woman %
^ Who gyues me this wyf e \
helthe : And in all other degrese be vuto hym as a wj'fe
shoukl be to hir husbande, and all other to forsake for hym :
and holde thee only to hym to thy lyues ende ? riespondcat
mulier hoc modo : I wyll. "
g The Betrothal.
That espousal which used, in very ancient times, to take
place some weeks or months before the marriage, and which
constituted a formal religious recognition of what is now-
called an "engagement," is represented in oiir present Office
by the previous words of consent, whioli were called a con-
tract " de future." Even when they were thus used, a con-
tract "per verba de pnesenti " was also made ; but the two
contracts have long been habitually placed together by the
Church as is now the case ; ' and the Betrothal more pro-
perly consists of this part of the ceremony in which the hands
are joined, and each gives their troth or promise of fidelity
(wliicli is tlie marriage vow) to the other.
Tlie present words of betrothal are substantially identical
with those which have been used in England from ancient
times. Three variations are here printed ; which, with that
given above, will fully illustrate tlie language in which they
were spoken from about the thirteenth to the sixteenth
centuiy.
Salisbury Use. York Use. Hereford Use.
I iV. take the iV. Here I tak the iV. I, i\^. ,underfyngc
to my weddyd wyf to my wedded wyff the, N., for my
to haue and to holde to holde and to have wedded wyf, for
fro thys day wafur att bed and att betcro for worse,
i Yet there is evidence of separate espousaLs liaviiig lioen made as late as
the time of Charles I. For in the Parish Register of Boughton Moncliel-
sea, in Kent, is tlie following entiy: "MichacliH. 1030. Spoiisalia inter
Gulieltn. Ma'ldox ot Klizabeth Grimestone in debit' juris fonnfi transaeta,
10 die Jantlarii." Two years and tliree-fiti.irtcrs afterwards comes the entry
of tile marriage : "Michaelis. 103:!. Xiiptiai inter Gulielmi"i Maddox et
Elizabetha Grimestone, ultimo Octobris." [Burns' Hist, of Fleet Mar-
riages, p. 2.J The ancient oath of espousals was administered in this form :
'* You swear l>y God and His holy saints herein, and by all the saints in
Poradisc, that yon will take this woman, whose name is N., to wife, within
forty days, if Holy Chureh will i)erniit." The hands of the man and
woman being then joined together by the priest, he also said, '*And thus
ye alliance yourselves," to whirh they made an adlmiative rei>ly, an
exhoi-lution concluding the ceremony.
beter, for worse, for
rycher, for porer ;
in sykenesse and in
helthe, tyl deth us
departe - yf holy
chyrch wol it or-
deyne and ther to
I plj'cht the my
trouth. ^
I N. take the N.
to my weddyd hus-
bonde to haue and
to holde fro* thys
day for bether, for
wurs, for richer, for
porer, in sykenesse
and bin elthe to be
Vionourand buxum''
in bed and at bort :
tyll detli us departe
yf holy chyrche wol
itordeyne: and ther
to I plyche te my
throute.
horde for fairer for
laither,'' for better
for wars, in sikness
and in heile till dethe
us depart and there-
to plyght I the my
trough.
Here I tak the N.
to my wedded hous-
band to hold and to
have att bed and att
borde for fairer for
laither, for better
for wars, in sikeness
and in heile till dethe
us depart and there-
to I plyght the my
trough.
fur richer for porer,
yn sekenes and in
helthe tyl deth us
departe, as holy
church hath or-
deyned, and therto
y plijth the my
trowthe.
I, X. , underfy nge
the y., for my wed-
iled housbaud, for
better, for worse, for
richer, for porer, yn
sekenes and in
helthe, to be buxom
to the tyl deth us
dei^arte, as holy
churcli hath or-
dcyued, and tharto
y pliit the my
trowthe.
- '* Depart" is sound English for " part asunder," which was altered to
*'do part" in IGGl, at the pressing request of the Puritans, who l<new as
little of the liistory of their national language as they did of that of their
national Church. " And yt is also departed in two." [Mirror of Our Lady,
p. 174.1
3 " Troth," or " Trouth," is commonly identified with "truth ;" hut this
is an error, the meaning of the word being " Ildelity," or "allegiance," To
"give trotli " is equivalent to "litlem dare."
* *' Laither :" this is the old coiiijiarative degree of '" loath," as in "Ihc
am him tiie Inthere." [Lazamon's iinif. i. 37.] The word "fouler" is used
in some Salisbury Manuals : and each, of course, expressc? the idea of
" leas fair," or " less pleasing."
fi This is a conjectural emendation. The word is "for" in two copies.
8 " Bonour and buxnm" are the rejiresentativcs of " Bonnairc," gentle
(as in (f»*ftoj((iir), and " Bonghsome," obedient. Some Manuals added "in
all lawful places." In the Golden Litany in-inted by Maskell [Man. Rit.
ii. '245] one of the petitions is, " By Thy iiiilnite buxomiies : have mercy on
us." In the Promptorium Parvutorum the two equivalents Ihnnilitas and
ot>r(lieiitia are given under the word Biixuninesse. Another illustration
may be given fi*om Fuller, who gives a fonn of abjuration, of the date 1:19&,
Solemnisation of ^atrimonj?.
453
U Theu shall they give their troth to eacli other in
this manner.
U The Minister, receiving the woman at her father's
or friend's liands, shall cause the man with his
right haiiil to take the woman l)y her right hand,
and to say after him as followetii,
Ii\^. take thee N. to my wedded wife, to have
and to hold from this day forward, for better
for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and
in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do
part, according to God's holy ordinance ; and
thereto I plight thee my troth.
H Then shall they loose their hands ; and tlie woman,
with her right hand taking the man by his right
hand, sliall likewise say after the Minister,
IN. take thee N. to my wedded husliand, to
have and to hold from this day forward, for
better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness
and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till
death us do part, according to God's holy ordi-
nance ; And thereto I give thee my troth.
IT Then shall they again loose their hands, and the
man shall give unto the woman a ring, laying the
same upon the book, with tlie accustomed duty to
the Priest and Clerk. And the Priest taking the
ring, sliall deliver it iinto the man, to put it upon
the fourth finger of the woman's left hand. And
the man liolding tlie ring there, and taught by
the Priest, shall say,
TTTITH this ring I thee wed, with my body
VV I thee worship, and with all my worldly
If " Deinde detur femina a patre suo, vel ab amicis ejus :
quod si puclla sit discoopertam habeat manum :
si vidua tectain : quam vir recipiat in Dei fide et
sua servandam, sicut vovit coram sacerdnte, et
teneut cam per manum de.xtram in manu sua
dextra, et sic det iidem mulicri per verba de
prKsenti, ita dicens docente sacerdote.
'' X N. take the N. to my wedded wyf to haue
-L and to holde fro this day f orwarde for better :
for wors : for richere : for poorer [for fairer for
fowler. Had. MS.'] : in sykenesse and in hele :
tyl dethe vs departe if holy chyrche it woll
ordeyne, and therto I plight the my trouthe.
Manum retrahendo.
Deinde dicat mulier docente sacerdote.
IN. take the N. to my wedded hou.sbonder to
haue and to holde fro this day forwarde for
better : for wors : for richer : for poorer : in syke-
nesse and in hele : to be bonere and buxum in
bedde and at the borde tyll dethe vs departhe if
holy chyrche it wol ordeyne and therto I plight
the my trouthe.
■^ Manum retrahendo.
Deinde ponat vir aiirum : argentum ; et annulum
super scutum vel librum : . . . tunc . . . accipiens
sacerdos annulum tradat ipsura viro : quern vir
accipiat manu sua dextera cum tribus principalio-
ribus digitis, et manu sua sinistra tenens dexteram
sponSi'e docente sacerdote dicat,
' "TXTITH this rynge I the wed, and this gold
» V and siluer I the geue, and with my body
The words, and the accompanying ceremony, which are
thus handed down to us from the ancient Church of England,
have a very striking Christian signiticance. In the ceremony
of betrothal it will be observed that woman is recognized
throughout as still subject to tlie law of dependence under
which she was originally placed by the Creator. As soon as
the mutual consent of both the man and the woman has been
solemnly given in the face of God and the Church, the minister
of the Office is directed to ask, " AVho giveth this woman to
be married to this man ? " Then she is given up from one
state of dependence to another, through the intermediate
agency of the Church; "the minister receiving the woman
at her father's or friend's hands " (to signify that her father's
authority over her is returned into the hands of God, AYho i
gave it), and delivering her into the hands of the man in '
token that he receives her from God, Who alone can give a
husband authority over his wife. The quaint but venerable
and touching words with which the two "give their troth to
each other " express again and in a still more comprehensive
form the obligations of the married state which were pre-
viously declared in the words of mutual consent. Each pro-
mises an undivided allegiance to the other, until the death of
one or the other shall part them asunder ; God joining them
together, and His Providential dispensation alone having
power to separate them. On both sides a promise is given of
love and support under all the circumstances of life, prosperous
or adverse. The duties of support, shelter, and comfort,
which ordinarily devolve upon the husband chiefly, may,
under some circumstances (though they rarely arise), fall
chiefly upon the wife ; and if by sickness and infirmity he is
unable to fulfil them towards her, he has a claim upon her,
by these words, that she shall perform them towards him.
Under any circumstances each promises to be a stay to the
other, according to their respective positions and capacities,
on their way through life. In the marriage vow of the
woman the modern phrase "to obey " is substituted for the
obsolete one "to be buxom," which had the same meaning.
It implies that although the woman's dependence on and
obedience to her father has been given up by him into God's
hands, it is only that it may be given over to her husband.
Since it pleased our Blessed Lord to make woman the instru-
from the Tower rolls, in which are the words, " And also I shall l)e buxilm
to the laws of holy chyrche and to yhowe as niyn archbishop, and to myn oyer
ordinaives and curates." [Fcller's Ch. Hist. i. 4Gl>, ed. 1S37.]
ment of His Incarnation, her condition has been far more
honourable than it was before ; but part of that honour is
that "the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ
is the Head of the Church." Natural instinct, good sense,
mutual love, and, above all, religious feeling, will always
enable the wife to discern bow far she is bound to obey, and
the husband how far it is his duty to rule ; and regulated by
these the yoke of obedience will never be one which the
woman need regret to wear or wish to cast aside. Jeremy
Taylor has well jiointed out that nothing is said in the hus-
band's part of the marriage vow about "rule," for this is
included in the word "love." " The dominion of a man over
his wife is no other than as the soul rules the body ; for
which it takes a mighty care, and uses it with a delicate
tenderness, and cares for it in all contingencies, and watches
to keep it from all evils, and studies to make tor it fair pro-
visions, and very often is led by its inclinations and desires,
and does never contradict its appetites but when they are evil,
and then also not without some trouble and sorrow ; and its
government comes only to this — it furnishes the body with
light and understanding, and the body furnishes the soul with
hands and feet ; the soul governs because the body cannot
else be happy." So also he writes in respect to the obedience
of the wife: "When God commands us to love Him, He
means we should obey Him : ' this is love, that ye keep My
commandments ; ' and ' if ye love Me, keep !My command-
ments. ' Now, as Christ is to the Church, so is the man to
the wife, and therefore obedience is the best instance of her
love, for it proclaims her submission, her humility, her
opinion of his wisdom, his pre-eminence in the family, the
right of his privilege, and the injunction imposed by God
upon her sex, that although ' in sorrow she bring forth
children,' yet with 'love and choice she should obey. ' The
man's authority is love, and the woman's love is obedience." '
§ The Marriage.
With this rinij I thee wed] The use of the wedding ring was
probably adopted by the early Church from the marriage
customs which were familiar to Christians in their pre^-ious
life as Jews and Heathens : - for the ring, or something
1 Bishop Tayloi's Semion on the SlaiTiage Ring.
2 TertuUiaii speaks of the Roman matron's "one finger, on which her
husband had placed the pledge of the nuptial ring." (Tehtcll. Apol. vi.
Dc Idol, xvi.l
454
Solemnisation of a^atiimonp.
goods I thee endow : In the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.
IT Then the mau leaviug the i-iug upon the fourth fin-
ger of the woman's left hand, they shall both
kneel down and the Minister shall say,
Let us pray.
O ETERNAL God, Creator and Preserver of
all mankind, Giver of all spiritual grace,
the Author of everlasting life ; Send Thy bless-
ing upon these Thy servants, this man and this
woman, whom we bless in Thy Name ; that, as
Isaac and Kebecca lived faithfully together, so
these persons may surely perform and keep the
vow and covenant betwixt them made, (whereof
this ring given and received is a token and
pledge,) and may ever remain in perfect love and
peace together, and live according to Thy laws ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT Then shall the Priest join their right hands
together, and saj',
Those whom God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder.
a hiinoiire. |^.
'■ 5. §. J). [A.i
ttjtli.']
c Daye's transl. of
Herfnami's Ccfit-
Siiit., A.D. 1547.
I the worshipe, and with all my worldely cathel
I tne "endowe. Et tunc inserat sponsus annidum
jwliid s])OHSce diceiis. In nomine Pateis : deinde
secuiulo digito diceiis. et FiLll : deinde teriio digito
dicens : et Spikitus Sancti. deinde quarto digito
diceiis. Amen, ibique dimittat annulum . . .
Deinde inclinatis eormn capitibus dicat saccrdos
benedictionem super eos.
[*/~^REATOR et conservator humani generis .
V-^ dator gratise spiritalis : largitor ajternse
salutis : Tu, Domine, mitte benedictionem Tuam
super hunc ainiulum, respice, ut qwie ilium gesta-
verit sit armata virtute coelestis defensionis, et pro-
ficiat illi ad teternam salutem. Per Christum.
Bene>J<dic, Dohine, hunc annulum, respice,
quern nos in Tuo sancto nomine benedicimus : ut
ipiajcumque eum porta verit in Tua pace consistat:
et in Tua voluntate permaneat : et in Tuo amore
vivat et crescat et senescat : et multiplicetur in
longitudinem dierum. Per Dominuji.]
IT <■ And so lette the minister ioiue their right handes
together, and saye,
That, that God hath ioyned, lette no mau
dissever.
equivalent to it, appears to have been given by the man to
the woman at the marriage or at espousals, even from tliose
distant patriarchal days when Abraliam's steward betrothed
Eebekah on behalf of Isaac, by putting "the earrings upon
her face, and the bracelets upon her hands." Much pleasing
symbolism has been connected with the wedding ring,
especially that its form liaving neither beginning nor end, it
is an emblem of eternity, constancy, and integrity. This
meaning is Ijrought out in the'aucieut form of consecrating a
Bishop, when the ring was delivered to him with the words,
"Receive the ring, the seal of faith, to the end that being
adorned with inviolable constancy, thou niayest keep unde-
liled the spouse of God, which is His holy Church." Tlie
same form of blessing the ring was used in this case as was
used in the Marriage Service, and which is printed above.
Probably it has always been taken as a symbol of mutual
truth and intimate union, linking together the married couple,
in the words of the ancient Exliortation, " Tliat they be from
this tyme forthe, but one body and two souls in the fayth
yorh Use.
With this rynge I wedde
the, and with this gold and
silver I honoure the, and with
this gyft I honoure the. In
nomine Patris : et Filii : et
Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Hereford U»e.
Wyth thys ryng y the
wedde, and thys gold and
seluer ycli the jeue, an<l wyth
myne body ych the honoure.
In nomine Patris : et Filii :
et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
and lawe of God and holj' Chyrche. " It is the only relic of
the ancient tokens of spousage, — gold, silver, and a ring
being formerly given at this part of the Service : and as the
gold and silver were given as sj-mbols of dowry, so probably
one idea, at least, connected with the ring, Mas that of the
relation of dependence wliich the woman was henceforth to
be in towards her husband. I:i the Prayer Book of 1549 the
gold or silver were still directed to be given (and in Bishop
Cosin's revised Prayer Book he proposed a restoration of the
custom, inserting, "and other tokens of spousage as gold,
silver, or bracelets," after the Mord "ring"), but in 1552 "the
accustomed duty to tlie Priest and Clerk " was substituted,
and ultimately retained in the revision of 1661. It is possible
that the "gold or silver'' had customarily been appropriated
as the marriage fee : but Hooker says that the use of them
had " in a manner already worn out" even so early as the
time of Queen Elizabeth. The following forms of the words
with whicli the ring was given, and Cosin's proposed form,
mil further illustrate the subject : —
Form jn-oposed by Bishop
Cosin, 1661.
With this ring I thee wed,
and receive thee into the
holy and honourable estate of
matrimony : In the Name of
the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
An old manu.al in the Britisli Museum [Bib!. Brrj. 2, a. xxi.]
has also the following words in addition, explaining the
object of the gold and silver : —
' ' Loo this gold and this siluer is leyd doun in signifyinge
tliat the woman schal haue hure dower of thi goodes, jif hco
abide aftur thy disces."
The ring was anciently placed first on the thumb at the
invocation of the First Person of the Trinity, on the next
linger at the Name of the Second, on the third at tlie Name
of the Third, and on the fourth at the word Amen. The
expression of the second Rubric, " kavinrj llie rinrj upon the
fourth fnger," seems to point to this custom as still observed,
and still intended. The ancient Rubric also gave as a reason
fiir its remaining on the fourth finger, "quia in medico est
i/ucedam renn procedens vsr/ue. ad cor ; " and this reason has
become deeply rooted in the popular mind. The same Hubric
Prai/ei- Book of 1549.
With this ring I thee wed,
this gold and silver I thee
give, with my body I thee
worship, and with all my
worldly goods I thee endow :
in the Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
also adds " et in sonoritate anjend designatur interna dileclio,
quce semper inter eos debet esse recens."
vjilh my body 1 thee vorship] The meaning of the word
"worship" in this place is defined by the word used in its
place in some of the ancient Manuals, which (as may be seen
above) was "honour." The Puritans always objected to the
word; and in 1661 it was agreed that "honour" should be
substituted, the alteration bemg made by Sancroft in Bishop
Cosin's revised Prayer ]5ook instead of the change suggested
by Cosin himself. But either by accident, or through a
change of mind on the jiart of the Revision Committee, the
old word was allowed to rem.ain. The more exclusive use of
this word in connection with Divine Service is of compar-
atively modern date. In the Liber Festiralis, printed by
Caxton in 1483, an Easter homily calls eveiy gentleman's
house a " place of worship," and in the same century a prayer
Solemnisation of a^atrimonj).
455
If Then shall the Minister speak unto the people.
FORASMUCH as K and iV. have consented
together in holy wedlock, and have wit-
nessed the same before God and this company,
and thereto have given and pledged their troth
either to other, and have declared the same by
giving and receiving of a ring, and l)y joining of
hands ; I pronounce that they be man and wife
together, In the Name of the Fathee, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
H Aud the Minister sliall add this Blessing,
GOD the Father, God the Son, God the
Holy Ghost, bless, preserve, and keep
yon ; the Lord mercifully witli His favour look
upon you ; and so lill you with all spiritual bene-
diction and grace, that ye may so live together
in this life, that in the world to come ye may
have life everlasting. Amen.
If Then the Minister or Clerks, going to the Lord's
table, shall say or sing this Psalm following.
Beati omues.
Fs. cxxviii.
BLESSED are all they that fear the
Lord : and walk in His ways.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands :
O well is thee, and hap|)y shalt thou be.
Thj'' wife shall be as the fruitful vine : upon
the walls of thine house ;
5. 13. it).
g-3t(.
If And lette the pastour say more over, with a lowde
voice, that niaye be hearde of all men,
FORASMUCUE as than thys Johan If.
desircth thys Anne to be hys wife in the
Lorde, and this Anne desireth thys Johan to be
hir husljande in the Lorde, and one hath made
the other a prorai.ssc of holie and Christian
matrimonie, and liaue now both professed the
same openly, and haue confirmed it with giuinge
of ringes ech to other, and ioininge of liandes :
I the minister of Christ and the congregacion
pronounce that they be ioyned together with law-
full and Christian matrimony, and I confirme
this their mariage in the Name of the Father,
the Sonne, and the Holie Gost. Amen.
""DENE^J^DICAT vos Deus Pa tee, cnstodiat
-L^ vos Jesus Cheistus, illuminet vos Spiei-
Tus Sanctus. Ostendat Dominus faciem Suam
in vobis et misereatur vestri. Convertat Domi-
nus vultum Suum ad vos : et det vobis pacem :
impleatque vos omni benedictione spirituali, in
remissionem omnium peccatorum vestrorum ut
habeatis vitam seternam, et vivatis in saecula
sseculorum. Amen.
IT *Hic intrent ecclesiam usque ad graduiu altaris ; et
sacerdos in euudo cum suis ministris dicat hunc
psalnnim sequentem.
Psalmus c.xxvii.
BEATI omnes qui timent Dominum : qui
ambulant in viis Ejus.
Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis :
beatus es, et bene tibi erit.
Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans : in lateribus
domus tua.
begins "God that commandest to worship fadir and modir. "
This secular use of it is still continued in the title "your
worship," by which magistrates are addressed, aud in the
appellation " worshipful companies. " The expression, "with
my body I thee worship " or " honour " is equivalent to a
bestowal of tlie man's own self upon the woman, in the same
manner in wliich she is delivered to him by the Church from
the hands of her father. Thus he gives first the usufruct of
his person in these words, aud in those which follow the usu-
fruct of his possessions or worldly goods.
As far as the ceremony of marriage is a contract between the
man and the woman, it is completed by the giving of the ring
with this solemn invocation of the Blessed Trinity. In all
that follows they are receiving the Benediction of the Church,
and its ratification of their coutract.
thei/ shall both kucel dovii] All present should also kneel at
this prayer, except the Priest. It is the only part of the
Service, in the body of the Church, at wliich the bystanders
are required to kneel ; but the married couple ought to con-
tinue kneeling until the commencement of the Psalm or In-
troit. The prayer which follows is founded upon the aucient
benediction of the ring. It takes the place of a long form of
blessing which followed the subarrhation in the ancient Office. [
In 1549 the parenthesis " (after bracelets and jewels of gold '
given of the one to the other for tokens of their matrimony) "
followed the names of Isaac and Eebecca ; which indicates
the origin of Cosin's proposed dowry of bracelets.
Those loliom God hath joined together] This sentence of
marriage with its accompanying gesture of joining the bride
and bridegroom's hands is a noble peculiarity of the English
rite, though probably derived originally from Archbishop
Hermann's Consultation. It completes tlie Marriage rite so
far as to make it spiritually indissoluble, and may be con-
sidered as possessing a sacramental character in that lower
sense in which those rites have it, the outward signs of which
were not ordained by Christ Himself. There are hardly any
words in the Prayer Book which more solemnly declare the
faithful conviction of the Church that God ratifies the work
of His Priests. In this case and in the Ordination Service
the very words of our Lord Himself are adojited as the sub-
stantial and effective part of the rite : and each case is an
assertion of the very highest spiritual claims that can be made
on behalf of an earthly ministry. As there the Bishop says
unconditionally, " Receive the Holy Ghost ; " so here the
Priest says unconditionally, that "God hath joined together"
these two persons by his ministry. The words were part of
the ancient Gospel at the Missa Sponsalium.
Forasmuch as N. and N. hare consented] This declaration
of the completed union is also taken from Archbishop Her-
mann's Cologne book. It bears an analogy to the words used
at the consignation of the child after Baptism ; and, as in that
case, it is a proclamation to the Church of what has already
been effected by previous parts of the rite.
And the Minister shall add (his Blessing] In the Prayer Book
of 1549 this blessing .stood as follows : " God the Father bless
you -1- God the Son keej) you: God the Holy Ghost lighten
your understanding : the Lord mercifully with His favaur
look upon you, and so fill you with all benediction and grace,
that you may have remission of your sins in this life, and in
the world to come, life everlasting. " It was changed to the
jjresent form in 1552.
Then the Minister or Clerks, going lo the Lord's table]
This originally stood, " Then shall they go into the rpa're,'' and
Cosin wished so to restore it, with the alteration, " they all."
The proper interpretation of the Rubric doubtless is that the
Clergy, the Choir, the bride and bridegroom, and the bridal
party are to go from the body of tlie church in jirocession to
the Chancel, singing the processional psalm Beati Omnes : that
tlie Clergy proceed to the Altar as at ordinary celebrations of
the Holy Communion, the bride and bridegroom kneeling in
front of the Altar, with the bridal party behind them, while
tlie Choir go to their usual places. To effect this without
confusion, tlie Choir should move first in their proper order,
the Clergy next, after them the bride and bridegroom, and
then the remainder of the bridal party. Thus the singers
can at once file off to their places in the choir, while the
Clergy pass on to the sacrarium, aud the bridal party to the
presbytery or space between the Altar steps and choir stalls.
456
Solemnisation of a^atrimony.
Thy children like the olive-branches : round
about thy table.
Lo, thus shall the man be blessed : that feareth
the Lord.
The LoKD from out of Sion shall so bless thee :
that thou shalt see Jerusalem in prosperity all
thy life long ;
Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's children :
and peace upon Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sox : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT Or this Psalin.
Deus misere.i- /^l OD be merciful unto us, and
tor. Ps. ixra. \J~ ijjggs yg . and shew us the
light of His countenance, and be merciful unto
us.
That Thy way may be known upon earth : Thy
saving health among all nations.
Let the people praise Thee, O God : yea, let
all the people praise Thee.
O let the nations rejoice and be glad : for
Thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern
the nations upon earth.
Let the people praise Thee, O God : j'ea, let
all the people praise Thee.
Then shall the earth bring forth her increase ;
and God, even our own God, shall give us His
blessing.
God shall bless us : and all the ends of the
world shall fear Him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT The Psalm ended, and the man and the woman
kneeHng before the Lokd's table, the Priest stand-
ing at the table, and turning his face towards them,
shall say.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
^ Answer.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
IT Minister.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
OUR Father, '\^^lich art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us
our trespa.sses. As we forgive them that tresi)ass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
IT Minister.
O Lord, save Thy servant, and Tliy hand-
maid; r.>. ixxxvi.i.
IT Answer.
Who put their trust in Tliee.
5. V!- B-
» 5. B. ffi.
Filii tui sicut novellas olivarum : in circuitu
mensse tuae.
Ecce, sic benedicetur homo : qui timet Domi-
NUM.
Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion : et videas
bona Hierusalem omnibus diebus vitas tuaj.
Et videas filios filiorum tuorum : pacem super
Israel.
IT Tunc prostratis sponso et sponsa ante gi-adum
altaris, roget sacerdos circumstantes orare pro
eis, dicendo,
Kyeie Eleison.
Christe Eleison.
Kyeie Eleison.
PATEPi noster, Qui es in coelis ; sanctilicetur
nomen Tuum: adveniat regnum Tuum: fiat
voluntas Tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra. Panem
nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie : et dimitte
nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittinnis debi-
toribus nostris : ct ne nos inducas in tentationem :
sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
"Salvum fac servum Tuum et ancillam Tuam.
*Deus meus, sperantes in Te.
Such arrangements can only be carried out well in large
churches, but they give the key to tlie manner in wliicli the
spirit of the Rubric may be acted upon, as far as circunistance.s
will allow, clsewlierc : and as a procession is an invariable
part of every wedding, where tljcrc is a bridal ])arty of
friends, it is very desirable that it should bo properly worlicd
into the system of the Church, instead of being loft to the
chance of the moment, and the confused attempts of nervous
people.
The portion of the Service which fullows the psalm, onward
to the end of the benediction, is to )>ii regarded as preparatory
to the Holy Communion. In the old Oliicea it was followed
by the Sunday Missa \'otiva, that of the Blessed Trinity, the
lOpistle being however 1 Cor. vi. 15-20, and the Gospel Matt,
xix. 3-(;.
Hie Priest slamUng nl Hie lalilr] There is no pretence what-
ever for the priest to place himself awkwardly in the angle
formed by the north end of the Loi-d's Table and the cast
w.all. Ho i.s clearly to stand in front of the table. Tlio
Ollice having the nature of a benediction is therefore said
towards the persons blessed. There was, indeed, in the
ancient Ollice, and in that of 1549, a "Let us pray" after
Solemnisation of ^atrinionj).
457
U Minister.
Lord, send them help from Thy lioly
place ; Pb. xx. i, •.'.
IT Answer.
And evermore defend them.
IT Minister.
Be unto them a tower of .strength, Ps. ixi. 3.
IT Answer.
From the face of their enemy.
IT Minister.
Lord, hear our prayer. Ps. cii. i.
H Answer
And let our cry come unto Thee.
IT Minister.
OGOD of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of
Jacob, bless these Thy servants, and sow
the seed of eternal life in their hearts ; that
whatsoever iu Thy holy Word they shall profit-
ably learn, they may iu deed fulfil the same.
Look, O Lord, mercifully upon them from
heaven, and bless them. And as Thou didst
send Thy blessing upon Abraham and Sarah, to
their great comfort, so vouchsafe to send Thy
blessing upon these Thy servants ; that they
obeying Thy will, and alway being in safety
under Thy protection, may abide in Thy love
unto their lives' end ; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
II This Prayer next following shall be omitted, where
the woman is past childbearing.
O MERCIFUL Lord, and heavenly Father,
by Whose gracious gift mankind is in-
creased ; We beseech Thee, assist with Thy
blessing these two persons, that they may both
be fruitful in procreation of children, and also
live together so long in godly love and honesty,
that they may see their children christiauly and
virtuously brought up, to Thy prai.se and honour ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
OGOD, Who by Thy mighty power hast
made all things of nothing ; Who also
(after other things set in order) didst appoint
that out of man (created after Thine own image
and similitude) woman should take her begin-
ning ; and knitting them together, didst teach
that it should never be lawful to put asunder
those whom Thou by matrimony hadst made one :
O God, Who hast consecrated the state of ma-tri-
"S. 3D-
"E.
rfg.
'•a-
' S- g. »
"' S. tf.
"S.,l3|l!-
' S. 5!.
Missam.
"Mitte eis, Domine, auxiliura de sancto.
[*DoMiNUS custodiat vos ab omni male]
'Et do Syon tuere eos.
["'Cu.stodiat animas vestras DoiiiNus.]
'Esto eis, Domine, turris fortitudinjs.
[^DoMiNus custodiet introitum vestrum et
exitiuni vestrum.]
•^A facie inimici.
[''Ex hoc, nunc, et usque in saeculum.]
'Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
^Et clamor meus ad Te veniat.
'DoMiNus vobiscum.
Et cum spiritu tuo.
Oremus.
'"T^EUS Abraham, Dbus Isaac, Deus Jacob,
-A-^ benei^dic adolescentes istos : et semina
semen vitas .eternai in mentibus eorum : ut quic-
quid pro utilitate sua didicerint, hoc facere
cupiant. Per.
Oremus.
"Ilespice, Domine, de ccelis, et bene^dio con-
ventionem istam. Et sicut misisti sanctum
angelum Tuuin Raphaelem ad Tobiam et Sarani
filiam Raguelis: ita digneris, Domine, mittere
bene>pdictionem Tuam super istos adolescentes :
ut in Tua voluntate permaneant : et in Tua
securitate persistant : et in amore Tuo vivant et
senescant : ut digni atque pacifici fiant et multi-
plicentur in longitudinem dierum. Per Chris-
tum DoMiNUM nostrum.
Oremus.
""DESPICE, Domine, propitius super huuc
-LV famulum Tuum, respice. et super banc
famulam Tuam : respice. ut in nomine Tuo bene-
►J«dictionem coelestem accipiant : et filios filiorum
suorum et filiarum suarum usque in tertiam et
quartam progeniem incolumes videant, et in Tua
voluntate perseverent, et in future ad ccelestia
regna perveniant. Per Christum.
Oremus.
''X^EUS, Qui potestatc virtutis Tua', de nihilo
J-^ cuncta fecisti : Qui dispositis universitatis
exordiis, homini ad imaginem Dei facto ideo
inseparabile mulieris adjutorium condidisti, ut
foemineo corpori de virili dares carne principium,
docens cpiod ex uno placuisset institui, nunquam
liceret di.sjungi. Hie incipit benediciio sacrameii-
ialis : Deus, Qui tarn excellenti mysterio con-
jugalem copulam cousecrasti, ut Christi et
the versicles, from which it might he reasonably concluded
that the Priest was then to turn towards the Altar, in the
direction in which all prayers were intended to be said : but
the nature of the rite is essentially benedicatory; and as even
the final blessing is preceded by "Oremus" in the Latin
form, the former conclusion seems to be the correct one.
The concluding prayers have undergone little change in
the course of translation from the ancient Latin Office ; and
only a portion of the last of all can be traced back to the
ancient .Sacramentaries.
c/iriitlanly and n'rttfousli/ hroufjlit npl This expression was
substituted for "see their children's children unto the third
and fourth generation," at the last revision in 1661.
Wild hast consecrated the state of matrimony] Among the
exceptions offered against the Prayer Book by Baxter and his
friends in 1661 was the following: ".Seeing the institution
of Marriage was before the Fall, and so before the promise of
Christ, as also for that the said passage in this Collect seems
to countenance the opinion of making matrimony a sacrament,
we desire that clause may be altered or omitted. " To this
458
Solemnisation of a^atrimony.
mouy to such au excellent mysterj-, that in it is
signified and rei^resented the spiritual marriage
and unity betwixt Cheist and HLs Church ; Look
mercifully upon these Thy servants, that both
this man may love his wife, according to Thy
Word, (as Christ did love His spouse the Church,
Who gave Himself for it, loving and cherishing
it even as "His own flesh.) and also that this
woman may be loving and amiable, faithful and
obedient to her husband ; and in all quietness,
sobriety, and peace, be a follower of holy and
godly matrons. O Lord, bless them both, and
grant them to inherit Thj' everlasting kingdom ;
through .Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
U Then shall the Priest say,
ALMIGHTY God, Who at the beginning did
-^^^ create our first parents, Adam and Eve,
and did sanctify and join them together in mar-
riage ; Pour upon you the riches of His grace,
sanctify and bless you, that ye may please Him
both in body and soul, and live together in holy
love unto your lives' end. Aynen.
ecclesise sacramentum praesignares in fcedere
nuptiarum. Ilic jhiitur benedictio sacramentalis.
. . . lespice, propitius super hanc famulam
Tuam qua; maritali jungenda est consortio, quas
se Tua exi)etit protectione muniri. Sit in ea
jugum dilectionis et pacis : fidelis et casta nuiat
in Christo : iniitatrixque sanctaruni permaneat
feminarum. Sit amabilis ut Rachel viro : sai)iens
ut Rebecca : longfeva et fidelis ut Sara . . . et
ad beatorum requiem atque ad coelestia regna
perveniat. Per Dojiinum . . . Per omnia ssecula
sasculoruro. Amen.
Deinde beiiedicat eos dicens. Oremus. Oratio.
OMNIPOTENS misericors Deus, Qui primos
parentes nostros Adam et Evam Sua vir-
tute creavit, et Sua sanctificatione cnpulavit :
. . . superabundet in vobis divitias gratire Suae,
et erudiat vos in verbo veritatis, ut ei corpore
pariter et mente complacere valeatis . . . atque
in societate et amore verte dilectionis conjungat.
Per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Amen.
If After which, if there be no Sermon declaring the
duties of man and wife, the Minister shall read as
followeth,
ALL ye that are married, or that intend to
-lA_ take the holy estate of matrimony upon
you, hear what the holy Scripture doth say as
touching the duty of husbands towards their
■wives, and wives towards their husbands.
6 Eph. 5. 25.33.
'Saint Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians,
the fifth Chapter, doth give this commandment
to all married men ; Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave
Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water, by the Word ; that
He might present it to Himself a glorious Church,
not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ;
the Committee of Convocation replied: "Though the institu-
tion of Marriage was before the Fall, yet it may be now, and is,
consecrated by God to such an excellent mystery as the repre-
sentation of the spiritual marriage between Christ and His
Church. [Eph. v. 23.] We are sorry that the words of Scrip-
ture will not please. The Church, in the twenty fifth article,
hath taken away the fear of making it a sacrament. " [C.4-KDW.
C'o)i/. 830, 360.] The singular answer of the Puritan
opponents of the Prayer Book to this was, ' ' When was Mar-
riage thus consecrated? If all things, used to set forth
Clirist's offices, or benefits, by way of similitude, be conse-
crated, then a Judge, a Father, a Friend, a Vine, a Door, a
Way, etc., are all consecrated things. Scripture phrase
pleasetli us in Scripture sense." [Grand Debate, p. 140.]
loviiiij and amiahle] After these words there followed, until
1661, "to her husband, as Racliael, wise as P>ebecca, faithful
and obedient as Sara," as in the ancient form.
" l-urth cometti the prest, with stole about liis uekkc,
And bade hire be like Sara and Hebekke."
Chaucer's Wi/e of Bath, 1. 9577.
Pour upon you (he riches] In this benediction the sign of
the Cross was printed in the Prayer Book of 1549, thus :
"sanctify and -t- bless you." It was omitted in li5.52, being
no doubt left out to conciliate the Puritan superstition on
the subject, and intended, as iu other places, to be part of a
Rubrical tradition which those would use wlio respected and
loved that holy sign. The benediction is made up from two
consecutive Sarum forms.
After which, ij there be no Sermon] Until 1661 this Rubric
stood in this form : "U Then shall betjin the Communion, and
after the Gonpel sliall be mid a Sermon, wherein ordinarihi (.10
oft as there is any marriage) the office of a man and wife 'shall
be declared, according to Holy Scripture. Or if there be no
Sermon, the Minister shall read this that followeth." Bishop
Cosin .altered this to, "Thm shall ber/in the Communion, if any
be that day appointed. And after the Oospel and Creed shall
be said a Sermon wherein it is expedient that the office of man
and wife be declared according to Holy Scripture. Or if there
he no Sermon, the Minister shall read this that folloueth."
Bishop Jeremy Taylor and Dr. Donne have left some beauti-
ful sermons preached on occasion of marriages : and the
custom seems to have been not imcommou.
It is convenient . . . the holy Communion] The practice of
connecting the Marriage Office with the Holy Communion
fell into strange disuse during tlie last and present centuries.
In the old manuals the Mass of the Holy Trinity concluded
the Office, and there is no reason to suppose that it was ever
omitted. Until 16(il the Piubric stood : "H The netc married
jiersons {the .same day of their marriage) must receive the holy
Communion." This is altered in Bishop Cosin's revised
Prayer Book to " Tlw new married 2^<-'>'sons, the same day of
their marriage, must receive the Holy Communion ; unto wliich
the minister is noio to jtroceed, reading the Offertory, etc.,
according to the form prescribed. " The present form of the
Rubric was adopted in deference to the objection tjf the Puri-
tans, \i'lio wished to dissociate the Office from tlie Hidy
Communion, from tlic morbid fear which tliey had of attacli-
ing too much im]iortancc to the religious rite with which
Marriage is celclirated by the Church. But "convenient" is
used in its strict and primary sense of "fit "or "proper,"
the secondary sense being a more modern one. From Bishop
Cosin's proposed Rul)ric it wouhl appear as if the Holy Com-
munion was used on such occasions without tlie introductory
lection of the Ten Commandments. "To end the public
solcnmity of marriage," .says Hooker, "witli receiving the
blessed Sacrament, is a custom so religious and so holy, that
if the Cluirch of England be blamcable in this respect, it is
not for sullering it to be so much, but ratlier for not provid-
ing that it may be more put in use." [Hooker's J£cc. J'olit.
V. Ixxiii. 8.]
A custom which retains its hold in some churtlies, that of
kissing the bride, is derived from the SaUslmry Kubric con-
cerning the Pax in the Missa Sponsalium, which is: "Tunc
amoto pallio, surgant ambo sponsus et sponsa : et accipiat
sponsus paccm a eacerdotc. et fcrat sponsa; osculans eani et
Solemnisation of sgatrimony.
459
but that it should be holy, and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies. He that lovetli his wife lovetli himself :
for no man ever yet hated his own flesli, but
nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the Church : for we are members of His body,
of His flesh, and of His bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and
shall be joined unto his wife ; and they two
shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery ; but
I speak concerning Cueist and the Church.
Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so
love his wife, even as himself.
"Likewise the same Saint Paul, writing to the
Colossians, speaketh thus to all men that are
married ; Husbands, love your wives, and be not
bitter against them.
■'Hear also what Saint Peter, the Apostle of
Christ, who was himself a married man, saith
unto them that are married ; Ye husbands, dwell
with your wives according to knowledge ; giving
honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel,
and as being heirs together of the grace of life,
that your prayers be not hindered.
Hitherto ye have heard the duty of the hus-
band toward the wife: Now likewise, ye wives,
hear and learn your duties toward your husbands,
even as it is plainly set forth in holy Scripture.
'Saint Paul, in the aforenamed Epistle to the
Ephesians, teacheth you thus ; Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the
Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the Head of the Church : and
/■ I Pi;l. 3. 1. 3-6.
( Col 3. 19.
Eph.
I
He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore as
the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
And again he saith, Let the wife see that she
reverence her husband.
"And in his Epistle to the Colossians, Saint
Paul giveth you this short lesson ; Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in
the Lord.
''Saint Peter also doth instruct you very well,
thus saying ; Ye wives, be in subjection to your
own husbands ; that, if any obey not the Word,
they also may without the Word be won by the
conversation of the wives ; while they behold
your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
Whose adorning, let it not be that outward
adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of
gold, or of putting on of apparel ; but let it be
the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible ; even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price. For after this manner in the old time the
holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned
themselves, being in subjection unto their own
husbands ; even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, call-
ing him lord ; whose daughters ye are as long as
ye do well, and are not afraid with any amaze-
ment.
IT It is convenient that the new married persons sliould
receive the holy Communion at the time of their
Marriage, or at the first opportunity after their
Marriage.
nemmem alium, nee ipse nee ipsa : seel statim diaconus vel
clerious apresbytero pacem accipiens. ferat aliis sicut solitum
est." This took place immediately before the Communion of
the newly-married couple.
It is curious to find that the registration of marriages if
directed in a Eubi-ic of the Ambrosian Ritual: "Notabit
vero ipse (Parochus) quam primum in libro parochiali matri-
moniorum proprio, nomine 'conjugum' et 'testium,' diem
prjeterea ' annum ' et ' locum ' contracti matrimonii ex
formula prsescripta, quem librum apud se accurate custodiat. "
[Ex Eitiiali Ambrosiano jiissii C(fsaris M'ontif C'ardumlis et
Arch. Mediolanensis edilio Martene, vol. ii. p. 139.]
AN INTEODUCTION
OFFICE FOR THE VISITATION OF THE SICK.
The duty of visiting the sick is specially enjoined on the
Curates of souls in the New Testament : "Is any sick among
you ? let him call for the elders of the Church ; and let them
pray over him, anointing him ■nitli oil in the Kame of the
Lord : and the prayer of faith shall save tlie sick, and the
Lord shaU raise him up ; and if he have committed sins, they
shall be forgiven him. ' [James v. 14,15.] The Visitation of
the Sick is not therefore in the minister of Christ a mere
piece of civility or neighbourly kindness, but an act of reli-
gion. He comes in the Name of Christ to pray with and for
the sick man ; if necessary, to reconcile him to the Church
by the blessing of absolution, and to communicate to liim the
Sacrament of our Lord's Body and Blood. That the primitive
clergj- of the Church made this visitation in time of sickness
their special duty, is proved to us l)y many passages in early
writers. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John, in his Epistle to
the Philippians, gives it as advice to presbyters, iTncKi-Kj 1060.1
Toi's 6.G6iVfX%. Posidonius, in his Life of St. Augustine [cap.
27], relates that the Saint, as soon as he knew any man was
sick, went unto him immediately. The decrees of various
early Councils enjoined this duty on the Clergy whenever
they were called for ; and the Council of Jlilan goes even
further than this, and orders " Etiamsi lion vocati invisant."
Our own Pro\-incial Constitutions require all Rectors and
Vicars of Parishes to be diligent in their \'isitations to those
who are sick, and warn them, "Ut quoties fuerint accersiti,
celeriter accedant et hilariter ad legrotos." [Lyxdwood,
Vrov. Const, i. 2,] In our Post-Reformation system we find
also that ample provision is made for the continuance of this
ancient and laudable custom. Canon 67, " Ministefs to visit
the Sick," directs, "When any person is dangerously sick in
any Parish, the Minister or Curate (baving knowledge there-
of) shall resort unto him or her (if the disease be not known
or probably suspected to be infectious) to instruct and comfort
them in their distress, according to the order of the Com-
munion Book, if lie be no Preacher, or if he be a Preacher,
then as he shall think most needful and convenient." In the
Ordination of Deacons it is also stated to be part of their duty
to search out the sick and poor in the parish in which they
are appointed to minister, and to give notice of such cases to
the Incumbent : "And furthermore it is his office, where
provision is so made, to search for the sick, poor and impotent
people of the Parish, to intimate their estates, names and
places where they dwell unto the Curate, that by his Exhor-
tation they may be relieved with tlie alms of the Parishioners
and others. Will you do this gladly and willingly ? " This
question, and the first parenthesis in the Canon {which speaks
in general terms of the knowledge by the Jlinister of a case
of sickness), imply that the Incund>ent is expected to do
something more than merely visit sick people who send for
him. Whether he become acquainted with the case directly
or indirectly, he is bound to visit, and even, if circumstances
permit, lie is to search for, or at any rate cause to be sought
for, the sick and impotent, and to act up to the maxim quoted
above, " Etiamsi wore vocatus. " For giving full force to this
Visitation of the Sick, the Englisli Ritual contains a formulary
which has been used with sliglit alteration in our churches
from the earliest times. Nearly all the Rubrics and prayers
are to be found in the ancient Manuals of the Cliui-ch of
England, and some of the prayers can be traced to almost
primitive times. Where some variation lias been made from
these originals (as, for exani])le, in the ICxhortation, and in
the substitution of a Rubric directing the Minister to examine
whether the Sick Man repent him truly of his sins, etc., for
a somewhat lengthy form), tlie spirit of tlie original is still
adhered to. The only portions which have been altogether
omitted in our I'rayer Book are the jirocession of the Priest
and his Clerks to the house saying the seven penitential
Psalms, and the Service of Extreme Unction. The original
object of anointing with oil, as we see from the passage in
St. James cited above, was to "save," or procure a miraculous
recovery of the infirm, by remission of the temporal punisli-
inent which they li.id merited for their sins. Tliough it
shoulil also be .added tliat Extreme Unction was used in very
early times without any expectation of cure, in extrcmin : and
it seems probable that there was a primitive ordinance of
this kind whicli was used for the dying, as well as that which
was used with a view to recovery. The Reformers retained
the practice in the first Prayer Book, but it was dropped out
of the second in 1552. The Office then in use is given in a
note at the end of this Service.
An Appendix of four Prayers was added to the Visitation
Office in 1661, to meet particular cases ; the first for a sick
child, the second for a sick person when there appears little
hope of recover}', the third a Commendatio Animse for a
dying person, and the fourth a Prayer for one troubled in
mind or conscience. These have not as yet been traced to
any ancient source.
§ The Use of the Office,
The structure of the Office for the Visitation of the Sick
shews that it is intended as a formal rite, to be once used
over the Sick Person, and not to be used as the customary
prayers of the Clergyman in his ordinary and frequent visits
to the sickrooms of his parishioners. It is a solemn recogni-
tion of the person over whom it is used as one who is in tlie
fellowship of tlie Church, and for whom the Church, by its
authorized Minister, ofTers prayer to God ; and it is also a
solemn recognition of the fact that the sicknesses and infirmi-
ties incident to human nature are a consequence of sin, a
part of tliat heritage of death which came upon us through
the Fall.
The promiscuous use of the Office would evidently be a
departure from the intention with which it is put into the
hands of her i>riests by the Church of England. Their duties
towards the sick' divide themselves, indeed, into two distinct
general branches, the one consisting of ordinary pastoral
instruction, consolation, and prayer ; and the other of the
use of the two services for Visitation and Communion ; and
every clergyman must find himself obliged to exercise his
discretion as to those cases in which he can adopt the more
solemn course which the Church has appointed for him and
his parishioners in the latter branch of his duties.
Those who really have an)' religious convictions, and who
have made religious principles the rule of their life, will
either be consistent Church people or religious Dissenters.
The former are well accustomed to the system and services
of the Church, and have been trained, consciously or uncon-
sciously, by means of it: the latter are in more or less igno-
rance about the principles of the Church, and have not
ordinarily been under its training influence. In the case of
the one the Visitation Service would be appropriate even if
used on a sudden, supposing the case to be one of imminent
danger ; and no prayers could be used witli so great advantage.
To the other it would be like a strange language, if used
without much preparation and instruction : and would not
be applicable at all, except it were accompanied by an
understanding that its use presupposed reconciliation to the
Cliurch.
In the case of other classes of persons, who have led irreli-
gious and wicked lives, and who are ill instructed in the way
of salvation, the ^'isitation Service can only be properly
applicable after much instruction has been given, and much
progress made towards ])enitence. An abrupt use of it miglit
tend to bring into their view the comforts of the Office more
prominently than would be advisable ior those who do not
fully appreciate the necessity of repentance towards the
attainment of pardon and true peace.
It may be added, in conclusion, that the Visitation Office
should be used with all the proper solemnity belonging to a
formal rite of the Church. The first Rulnic of the ancient
Service was, " /x primis indnat Sf s<ieer(Jos sitperpiUicio eum
slola . . . ," and the same rule sliould still be observed. Care
should also be taken that there is some one present to say the
responses. In his revised book Bisho]) C'osiii provided for
tliis by so far reviving the .ancient ]ir.actico as to direct the
attendance of one lay Clerk with the Priest. But some
mcmbors of the sick jierson's family, or a parish visitor, or
other friend, can always be found ready to take this cliaritablc
duty (111 tliemselves.
THE
ORDER FOR THE VISITATION OF THE SICK.
Onlo ad Visitamlum Injirmnm.
IT " When any person is sick, notice shall be given
thereof to the Minister of the Parish ; who, com-
ing into the sick person's house, shall say,
a "And the Priest
with his Cleric,
entering into."
[Covin's Durh.-lin
Boolt.J
IT *Et cum intraverit doiimm dicat.
TDEACE be to this house, and to all that dwell
-L in it.
4S. 1
LJAX huic donuii et omnibus habitantibus in
JL ea : pax ingredientibus et egredientibus.
IT When he cometh into the sick man's presence
he shall say, kneeling down,
IJEMEMBER not, Lord, our iniquities, nor
-LA' the iniquities of our forefathers. Spare
us, good Lord, spare Thy people whom Thou
hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood,
and be not angry with us for ever.
~^~E reminiscaris, DoMiNE, delicta nostra, vel
-L ' parentum nostrorum : neque vindictam
sumas de peccatis nostris : parce, Domine, parce
famulo Tuo : quem redemisti precioso sanguine
Tuo ne in reternum irascaris ei.
Answer.
H Spare us, good Lord.
IT Then the Minister shall say.
Let US pray.
Et statim sequatur.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Kyrie eleisou.
Cheiste eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
/^UR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
V^ be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
L)ATER noster, Qui es in ccelis ; sanctificetur
-L nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum :
THE SALUTATION.
The Priest, on entering the house, is ordered to use the
salutation enjoined by our Lord upon His Apostles : "And
into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this
house." [Luke X. 5.] It is specially appropriate when thus
pronounced by the Minister of God on entering a house (jf
sickness. In a household so circumstanced there is often
much of disquietude and anxiety. The relations are per-
plexed and agitated, inclined to forget, perhaps, that this
sickness is of the Lord. The words of the Priest remind them
of that peace which is to be found in resting in the Lord, and
casting their cares on Him. But the Salutation has a special
reference to the sick man, to whom the Priest comes as the
Messenger of Peace. He is very probably under deep con-
viction of sin, longing for pardon and reconciliation ; and the
object of this \nsitation is to strengthen his faith, awaken his
charity, move him to sincere confession and repentance, and
on his sincere repentance and confession to give him the free
and full forgiveness vouchsafed by the Saviour to all who
truly turn to Him, and so to make the sinner at peace witli
God.
These words, too, used at the very entrance of the Priest
into the house, help to remind those who hear them that he
comes on no ordinary errand of condolence, but specially in
his character as a representative of Him Who said to His
ministers, " My peace I leave with you." They thus serve
to bring about a tone of mind in unison with the Service that
is to follow.
THE ANTHEM.
In the older Service-books the Priest and his Clerks were
directed, on their way to the house of the sick man, to say
the seven Penitential Psalms, with the Gloria Patri after
each, and to conclude with the Antiphon, "Ne reminiscaris."
In the Prayer Book of 1549 one of the Penitential Psalms,
the 143rd, was said by the Priest on entering the sick man's
presence, followed by the Gloria Patri and this anthem,
" Remember not," etc. Subsequently the Psahn was omitted,
iind tlie anthem, "Remember not," alone retained. The
Respond, "Spare us, good Lord," was added at the last
revision in 1661.
This Antiphon memorializes God of the redemption of His
people by the most precious Blood of Christ. To those pre-
sent in the sickroom, as well as to the sick person himself, it
also gives the keynote of the Service at its very beginning :
pointing out that sickness is a chastisement permitted by
God ; that sin has brought it into the world ; and that our
prayers for benefits to the body ought to be founded on the
confession of God's undeserved mercy in Christ. The words
are, of course, spoken to God, and are a kind of Litanic h}'nin ;
but they cannot fail to have a subjective side also in warning
the sick of their true relation to His mercy, and of the worth-
lessness as well as impiety of self-reliance. They remind him
that God's mercy must be sought ; that His anger against sin
is often shewn by bodily chastisement ; and that temporal
judgements are frequently sent by Him in mercy, that He may
not be compelled to be "angry with us for ever."
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
The prayer of our Blessed Lord is used here, as elsewhere,
at the beginning of the Service in token of its prevailing
power with God, and a? the gate by which all other praj-er is
to enter into Heaven, and be heard by Him. The structure
of the Service suggests that it should be said by all present
as well as by the Priest, and " wilh " him, as in the end of
the Litany. It should also be said with a special intention
directed towards the subsequent portion of the Service,
remembering that God is Our F.ither to chastise and Our
46:
Cf)C Visitation of tftc ^icfe.
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our trespasses, As we forgive them that tres-
pass against us. And lead us not into tempta-
tion ; But deliver us from evil. Amen.
IT Minister.
" O Lord, save Thy servant ;
IT Answer.
Which putteth his trust in Thee.
IT Minister.
*Send him help from Thy holy place,
IT Answer.
And evermore mightily defend /;««.
U Minister.
'Let the enemy have no advantage of him;
IT Answer.
Nor the wicked approach to hurt him.
T Minister.
"■Be unto hhn, Loed, a strong tower,
IT Answer.
'From the face of his enemy.
H Minister.
^O LoED, hear our prayers.
U Answer.
^And let our cry come unto Thee.
/' Ps. 20. 1.2: 79. 9.
i PS. S9. 22. 23.
rf Ps. 61. 3.
e Prov. 18. 10.
/■Ps. 61.
£ Ps. 102. I.
fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie : et
dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimit-
timus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in
tentationem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
y. Salvum fac servum Tuum vel ancillam
Tuam.
B7. Deus meus sperantem in Te.
y. ]\Iitte ei, Domine, auxilium de sancto.
]^. Et de Syon tuere sum.
y. Nihil proficiat inimicus in eo.
'R/. Et filius iniquitatis non apponat nocere ei.
y. Esto ei, DoMiXE, turris fortitudinis.
B7. A facie iniraici.
y. DoMiNE, exaudi orationem meam.
B7. Et clamor meus ad Te veniat.
Father to heal; that "He woundeth, and His hands make
whole ; " and that the first prayer of the sick and of those
who love them sliould be in the tone of His Whose holy
example teaches us to say, " Thy will be done."
The lesser Litany precedes the Lord's Prayer in this place
with a special emphasis, for it is the very language of those
who came to Jesus to be healed of their infirmities in the
days of His earthly life. Thus the two blind men mentioned
in St. Matthew ix. came to Christ, "crying and saying, Thou
.Son of David, have mercy upon us ;" and in like manner the
two mentioned in St. Matthew xx. " cried out, saying, Have
mercy on us, Lord, Thou Son of David." In almost the
same terms the father prayed for his lunatic son, "saying.
Lord, have mercy on my son" [Matt. xvii. 15]; and the
woman of Syro-Phcenicia, who came to Jesus on behalf of her
sick daughter, "cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me,
Lord."
THE VERSICLES.
These suflVages are the same which are used throughout
the Occasional Offices, slight variations Ijeiug made in them
according to the nature of the Service in which they are
iutroduced. They are taken from the '20tli, the Gist, the
86th, and the 89th Psalms, and represent a strain of respon-
sive supplication wliich has been ascending to the Throne of
God for the sick during as many ages as the ScrWce itself
can be traced back.
THE PRAYERS.
In tlie Sarum Manual, immediately after the responses
follow nine collects, two of wliich only have been translated,
and retained in our present Service. The collect now stand-
ing fir.st was the last of tliis series. In tlie original, mention
is made of God's blessing on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
it is prayed th.at God in like manner will visit and bless His
servant. This clause has been omitted in translation. The
sentence which opens the collect is doubtless originally
derived from Deut. xxvi. 15, " Look down from Thy holy
habitation, from heaven, and bless Thy people Israel ;" a form
which, if we may judge from Isa. Ixiii. 1.5, was long in use
in the Jewish Church : "Look down from heaven, and be-
hold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory."
Solomon in like manner prayed at the Dedication of the Tem-
ple : "Whatsoever sickness there be . . . then hear Thou
in heaven Thy dwelling-place, and forgive ..."
The object of the prayer is to beg (.iod's help on behalf of
the sick man. It asks that the Lord would look on him in
mercy, not remembering his sins, but considering his weak-
ness ; that He would be pleased to comfort him under his
trial, and enable him to have firm faith in God. Not only
does it ask that the Almighty will remember him for good,
but that He will defend him from the evil, sjjccially that He
will guard him against the assaults of the Devil, that He will
grant him perpetual peace, and ever keep him in safety.
If we compare this prayer and the preceding versicles, we
shall see how naturally the collect re-echoes what has been
already prayed for. It gathers up into a connected v liole all
the previous petitions, and again lays them before God. This
is no idle repetition : the blessings sought are of so great
value, and so deeply needed, that the Church purposely
enables us here to set them once and again before God, accord-
ing to the example of our Blessed Lord, Who in the hour of
His distress prayed three times, using the same words ; "If
it be possible, let this cup pass from Me ; yet not My will,
but Thine "
Tlie next prayer is the third of the group of collects in the
Sarum Manual. In the original prayer mention is made of
the miraculous cure of Peter's wife's mother and of the
centurion's servant, of 'i'obias and of Sara, which allusions
were all omitted at the last revision in l(i()l. The former
prayer is directed to seeking comfort and helji for the sick
man from God in the time of his aflliction ; this second collect
sets forth sickness .as an instrument in the hand of the
Almighty for good, and jirays that the present trial may be
sanctified to the sull'crer. Tlie "accustomed goodness" of
God is here invokeil, not for the recovery of the patient, or
even for support under trial, but that the fatherly correction
may work the end God has intended in sending it. If sick-
ness is to answer any good end, it must be viewed as Fatherly
correction ; and it it comes from our Father, to Him we may
go for help and comfort uiuler it, and we may be per.suaded
that it comes for some good purpose. Locdciiig to God as
Cbe Oisitation of tljc %ick.
463
U Miuistcr.
OLORD, look down from heaven, behold,
visit and relieve this Thy servant. Look
upon Mm with the eyes of Tliy mercy, give him
comfort and sure confidence in Thee, defend Mm
from the danger of the enemy, and keep Mm
in perpetual peace and safety, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
HEAR us. Almighty and most merciful God
and Saviour ; extend Thy accustomed
goodness to this Thy servant who is grieved with
sickness. Sanctify, we beseech Thee, this Thy
fatherly correction to him ; that the sense of Ms
weakness may add strength to Ms faitli, and
seriousness to Ms repentance. That, if it shall be
Thy good pleasure to restore him to Ms former
health, he may lead the residue of Ms life in Thy
fear, and to Thy glory : or else give Mm grace
so to take Thy visitation, that after this painful
life ended he may dwell with Thee in life ever-
lasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Oremus.
EESPICE, Doming, de coelo, et vide et
visita hunc famulum Tuum N. et bene>J<-
dic euni sicut benedicero dignatus es Abraham,
Isaac, et Jacob, liespice super eum, Domine,
oculis miscricordise Tuaj : et reple eum omni
gaudio et lastitia et timoro Tuo. Expello ab eo
omnes inimici insidias : et mitte Angelum pacis
qui eum custodiat, et domum istam in pace per-
petua. Per Dominum nostrum.
Oremus.
EXAUDI nos, omnipotens et misencors Deus,
et visitationem Tuam conferre digneris
super hunc famulum Tuum N. quem diversa
vexat infirmitas. Visita eum, Domine, sicut
visitare dignatus es socrum Petri, i)uerumque
centurionis, et Tobiam, et Sarani, jicr .sanctum
angelum Tuum, Raphaelem. Restitue in eo,
Domine, pristinam sanitatem : ut mercatur in
atrio domus Tuse dicere, castigans castigavit me
DoMiNUS, et morti non tradidit me : Salvator
mundi. Qui cum Deo Patee, et Spiritu
Sancto vivis et regnas Deus : per omnia ssecula
sseculorum. Amen.
U Then .shall the Minister exhort the sick person after
this form, or other like.
DEARLY beloved, know this, that Almighty
God is the Lord of life and death, and of
all things to them pertaining, as youth, strength.
health, age, weakness, and sickness. Where-
fore, whatsoever your sickness is, know you cer-
tainly that it is God's visitation. And for what
cause soever this sickness is sent unto you,
whether it be to try your patience for the
Father, our own weakness will lead us more to Him, will
make us feel our dependence on Him more ; in short, will
strengthen our faith. The sense of weakness will force on us
the uncertainty of life, will make us remember how short our
time is, and bring us to more earnest repentance for all we
have done amiss, as remembeiung the account we may so soon
have to give before our God. The prayer, too, reminds those
who hear it, that the repentance and sorrow are not to be
limited simply to a sickbed, but that in case of recovery the
good work begun in time of affliction must be carried out.
How necessary to pray, " If it shall be Thy good pleasure to
restore him to his former health, he may lead the residue of
his life in Thy fear !" How many are there wlio promise well
when God's hand is upon them, who seem full of godly sor-
row for sin, and Christian hatred of it, who yet on recovery
forget all. and fall back into old sins, and form new evil
habits !
And since the issues of life and death are with the Lord,
and we know not what the event may be, recovery or death,
the collect prays, not only that in case of restoration the sick
man may be enabled to live to God, but that in case his illness
prove fatal, he may, through the grave and gate of death,
pass to a joyful resurrection, and, this life ended, dwell for
ever with God in life everlasting.
THE EXHORTATIONS.
The use of Exhortation after Prayer has long formed part
of the Service in the Western Church. The princijjal heads
of the Exhortation as given in our Prayer Book are prescribed
by an ancient Canon, in which the Priest is ordered, after he
hath prayed for the sick, " to speak comfortably and mildly
to him, exhorting him to place all his hope in God, and to bear
his scourging patiently ; to believe it is designed for his
purifying and amendment, and also to confess his sins, and
promise reformation if God grant him life, and that he engage
to do acts of Penance for his faults ; also that he dispose of
his estate while his reason and senses remain entire ; that he
break off his iniquities by Almsdeeds ; that he forgive all
that have offended him ; that he hold a right Faith and
Belief, and never despair of God's mercy." \Conc'd. Nanne-
tens. cap. 4, np. Biiiiiim tom. 3, p. 2, pag. 131.] In the
Sarum Manual the first form of Exhortation, which probably
in some measure suggested the two Exhortations here set
forth, is but short: " Frater charissime, gratias age omni-
potenti Deo pro universis -i- beneficiis suis : patienter et
benigne susoipiens infirmitatem corporis quam tibi Deus
immisit : nam si ipsam humiliter sine murmure toleraveris,
infert animaj tuK maximum pr;emium et salutem. Et frater
charissime quia viani universal carnis ingressurus es ; esto
tirmus in fide. Qui enim non est firmus in fide infidelis est :
et sine fide impossibile est placere Deo. Et ideo si salvus esse
volueris : ante omnia opus est ut teneas catholicam fidem :
quam nisi integram inviolataraque servaveris : absque dubio
in ai'ternum peribis. "
Some traces of similarity with our own form may also be
found in a media;val Exhortation of early date, given by
Maskell. It is taken from an ancient MS., De Visitaiione
Infirniorum, in the Library of St. John's College, Oxford : —
"How thou shall comfort a man that he ijrucche noii^t whan
he is seke.
"Sone .oueste thou thi Lord God? he will sai, je. Than
thus, 5f thou lone God, thou louest that He doith, and He
skorgeth the, and therfor thou shalt gladli suti're it. Here
of sjiekit Salamon, and seith, Sone speke noujt a;en the
chastising of thi fader, for it is no sone whom the fadir
chastisith nou;t, and it accordith with commine maner of
speche. For if a man see anotheris child do schreudeli in his
fader presence, and the fader chastised him nou5t, than wold
that othir man seie, it is noujt his sone, or ellis lie loueth
him noujt, for if he were his child or ellis loued him, he wold
cliastise him : and therfor be nou>t evil afraide of thi Faders
chastising of heuene ; for he seith himself ; ■i\ hom I loue, him
I chastise. Also sekenes of bodi makith soule hele, and soule
hele is noujt but of God; therfor despice nou;t Godis scorge,
but whan God ponissche the, thanke him and loue him, that
he emendith the, and undernemith tlie, and Ijlanieth the, and
ponissche the nou;t in his wrath ne in his wodnes, but in bis
grete mercy ..." [Maskell's J/o/t. Rit. iii. 354.]
The Exhortation, as set forth in our Service, is divided into
two portions, whereof the second part may be omitted if the
person visited be very sick. The first part is devoted to
instruction regarding the cause of sickness, and the purpose
of it as concerns the sufferer. The second portion is purely
464
Cf)e 23isitation of tbc %ick.
example of others, and that your faith may be
found in the day of the Loed laudable, glorious,
and honourable, to the increase of glory and end-
less felicity ; or else it be sent unto you to cor-
rect and amend in you whatsoever doth offend
the eyes of your heavenly Fathek ; know you
certainly that if you truly repent you of your
sins, and bear your sickness patiently, trusting in
God's mercy, for His dear Sox Jesus Christ's
sake, and render unto Him humble thanks for His
Fatherly visitation, submitting j'ourself wholly
unto His will, it shall turn to your profit, and
help you forward in the right way that leadeth
unto everlasting life.
IT If the person visited be very sick, then the Curate
may end his exhortation in this place, or else pro-
ceed.
TAKE therefore in good part the chastisement
of the Lord : For (as Saint Paul saith in
the twelfth Chapter to the Hebrews) whom the
Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every
sou whom He receiveth. If }-e endure chasten-
ing, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not 1
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all
are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh,
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence :
shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the Father of spirits, and live 1 For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own plea-
sure ; but He for our profit, that we might be
rt Heb. 12. 6-ia
partakers of His holiness. These words, good
brother, are written in holy Scripture for our
comfort and instruction, that we should patiently,
and with thanksgiving bear our heavenly Father's
correction, whensoever by any manner of adver-
sity it shall please His gracious goodness to visit
us. And there should be no greater comfort to
Christian persons, than to be made like unto
Christ, by suffering patiently adversities,
troubles, and sicknesses. For He Himself went
not up to joy, but first He suffered pain ; He
entered not into His glory before He was cruci-
fied. So, truly, our way to eternal joy is to
suffer here with Christ ; and our door to enter
into eternal life is gladly to die with Christ ;
that we may ri.se again from death, and dwell
with Him in everlasting life. Now therefore
taking your sickness, which is thus profitable for
yovi, patiently, I exhort you in the Name of God,
to remember the profession which you made unto
God in your baptism. And forasmuch as after
this life there is an account to be given unto the
righteous Judge, by Whom all must be judged
without respect of persons ; I require you to
examine yourself and your estate, both toward
God and man ; so that accusing and condemning
yourself for your own faults, you may find mercy
at our heavenly Father's hand for Christ's
sake, and not be accused and condemned in that
fearful judgement. Therefore I shall rehearse
to you the Articles of our Faith, that you may
know whether you do believe as a Christian man
should, or no.
hortatory, exhorting to patience, self-examination, and faith.
In the earlier portion the sick man is reminded that all things
are of God, as life, death, health, and sickness. Whatever
his trial may be, it is God's visitation. If from the Lord, it
comes with some definite end and purpose, for the Almighty
does not work at random. The object may be the trial of
his patience for the example of others, that they may see in
the sick man visible proof of God's sustaining grace, and be
brought to seek it for themselves ; or that his faith may be
tried, to see of what sort it is, whether it will endure in the
furnace of affliction ; or that he may be moved to see his sins,
and the need of repentance and amendment of life. One or
other of these, or a combination of all, may be the end pur-
posed by God ; but although we may not be able to see
clearly the cause for which the sickness is sent, one thing is
certain, that if it be accepted iu a right spirit, it will turn to
the good of the sufferer. If he truly repent him of his sins,
if he bear Iiis sickness patiently, trusting in God's mercy
through Christ, — nay more, if, strong in faith, he is able to
see goodness iu this fatherly visitation, and to thank God for
it ; then, whether he recover or whether he die, the sickness
shall turn to his profit. If he recover, health will find him
strengthened, stablished in the faitl), earnest to run his
Christian race, to press forward toward the mark of the prize
of his liigh calling iu Christ .Jesus, with deeper love to his
Lord and firmer faith. If he die, there will be ministered
unto him, through the grace of God, an entrance into life
eternal.
The second part is founded, as far as tlie earlier portion of
it is concerned, on Heb. xii. 6-10. These words are set
before the sick man as an argument for patience uiulcr the
chastening hand of God. He is reminded, too, of the example
of Chri.st. The Christian before all things should long to
be as his Master, Who going through sorrow and pain on
eartli, entered not into His glory until after His agonizing
Death on the cross. They who would share the blessedness
of Christ must be willing to take up the cross when it is set
before them, and follow Him in the path of suffering.
It is also observable that the continued obligation of the
vows made in Baptism is set before the sick person ; and that
these vows are spoken of as the substantial matter on which that
Judgement will be founded which mortal sickness so \ividly
brings into view. Thus the Christian system is shewn to us,
consistent with itself in all its parts, as is the Christian
revelation : and when a person is lying on a sickbed in
expectation of death, he is forcibly reminded by the ministra-
tions of the Church to him that the life of tjiis world is, in
its spiritual reality, a preparation for a life to come with
which it is intimately associated.
THE PROFESSION OF FAITH.
In the ancient Euglish Office the Priest is directed to recite
to the sick man the fourteen articles of the faith, of which
the seven first relate to the mystery of the Trinity, and the
seven others to tlie humanity of Christ. After these articles
it is, however, added, "And if the sick man be a laic or
simply a literate, then the priest may question him generally
on the articles of the faith under this form. " The form pre-
scribed in this case is simjily the Creed slightly jiaraphrased.
Maskell cites a form of examination from the ilS. De
Viailatione Infirmornm, ah-eady quoted. Part of it is : "Whan
thou hast told him alle this, or ellis jif thou haue no time to
sai alle for hast of deth, begin here, and-speke to him on this
nianer, whan tliou scest that he neiheth the deth. iirother,
art thou glad that thou shalt die in Christiu feith ? Itesp. je.
Knowleciie that thou hast noujt wel lined as tliou sliuldcst?
Resp. je. Art thou sori therfor '! Kesp. ;e. Hast thou
wil to amende the, jif thou liaddist space of lif? Resp. je.
Leuist thou in CJod, Fader Alniighti, Maker of heuenc and
erthe? Resp. jc. Leuist thou in the Fader and the Sone
and the Holi Gost thre persons and on Ciod? Resp. je.
Leuist thou that ourc Lord .lesus Crist Godis Sone of heuene
was couseiuid of tlie Holi Gost, and toke (lesche and blode of
oure ladi seint Marie, .and was borne of hir, she being nioder
and mayde '! Resp. je. Leuist thou that he sull'riil pine and
deth, for oure trespas, and noujt for his gilt under Pounce
Pilate, and that he was don on the cros, and ilied for the on god
Fridai, an<l was buried V Resp. je. Thaukest thou him
therfor? Ticsp. jc. Leuist thou that thou ni.ay noujt be
sauid but throw his deth ? Resp. je." [Maskeli.'s Mo». Rit.
iii. 3.')7.]
€l)t Visitation of tbc ^icfe.
465
IT Here the Minister shall reliearsc the Articles of
the Faith, saying thus,
DOST thou believe in God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth 1
And in Jesus Cheist His only begotten Son
our Lord 1 and that He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary ; that He
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead,
and buried ; that He went down into hell, and
also did rise again the third day ; that He
ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right
hand of God the Father Almighty, and from
thence shall come again at the end of the world,
to judge the quick and the dead?
And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy Catholick Church, the Communion of
Saints, the Remission of sins, the Piesurrection
of the flesh, and everlasting life after death i
IT The sick person shall answer,
All this I stedfastly believe.
IT Then shall the Minister examine wliether he repent
him truly of his sins, and be in charity with all
the world ; exhorting him to forgive from the
bottom of his heart all persons that have offended
him, and if he hath offended any other, to ask
them forgiveness ; and where he hath done injury
or wrong to any man, that he make amends to the
uttermost of his power. And if he hatli not before
disposed of his goods, let him then be admonished
"Sar.
»Sar.
IT " Et si infirmus laicus vel simpliciter literatus fuerit :
tunc potest sacerdos articulos fidci in generali ab
eo inquirere, sub hac forma.
OARISSIME frater : credis Patrem et Filium
et Spiritum Sanctum, esse Tres Personas
et Unum Deum, et ipsam bonedictam atque indi-
visibilem Trinitatem creasse omnia creata vi.si-
bilia et invisibilia. Et solum Filium, de Spiritu
Sancto conceptum, incarnatum fuisse ex Maria
Virgine : passum et mortuum pro nobis in cruce
sub Pontio Pilato : sepultuin descendisse ad
inferna : die tertia resurrexisse a mortuis : ad
cogIos ascendisse : iterumque venturum ad judi-
candura vivos et mortuos, omnesque homines tunc
in corpore et aninia resurrecturos, bona et mala
secundum merita sua recepturos. Et remissionem
peccatorum per sacramentorum ecclesise percep-
tionem. Et sanctorum communionem : id est,
omnes homines in caritate existentes, esse par-
ticipes omnium bonorum gratiaj quae fiunt in
ecclesia : et omnes qui communicant cum justis
hie in gratia, communicare cum eis in gloria ?
If Deinde respondeat infirmus,
Credo firmiter in omnibus . . .
H Deinde dicat sacerdos.
'Y^ARISSIME frater : quia sine caritate nihil
V^* proderit tibi fides, testante Apostolo qui
dicit : Si habuero omnem fidem ita ut montes
transferam, caritatem autem non habuero, nihil
sum : Ideo oportet te diligere Dominum Deum
tuum super omnia ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota
This form of Exliortation appears to belong to a type com-
monly used in the Middle Ages. Mr. Maskell's form is
taken from a MS. in St. John's College Library, Oxford ; the
following is from a MS. in the Bodleian [Rawlinson, c. 587,
if. 53, 5-t.] In the same collection [Rawlinson, c. 108, 90]
there is a Latin form apparently drawn up for the use of
priests in the diocese of Laudun, in the fifteenth century,
which begins in a similar manner.
" Antequam communicetur infirmus et ante unccionem : —
"Brother, be ye gladde y' ye shall dye in Clu-ysten beleve ?
He. Ye, syr.
" Knowe ye well y' ye have not so well lyved as ye shulde ?
Ye, syr.
"Haue ye wille to amende yow if ye had space to lyve?
Ye, syr.
"Beleve ye that o^ Lorde Christ Jhu goddys soon of
heaven was born of the blessyd vyrgyne ou'' ladie saynt Mary ?
Ye, syr.
' ' Beleve ye that our Lorde Christ Jhu dyed vpon the crosse
to bye maus sowie upo the good ffrydaie ? Ye, syr.
" Thancke ye him entierly therof ? Ye, syr.
"Beleve ye y' ye may not be saved but by his precious
death ? Ye, syr.
' ' Tunc dicat sacerdos.
"Therfor, Brother, while yo'" sowle is in yo'' bodye,
thancke ye god of his death, and haue ye hole truste, to be
saved, through his precyouse death, and thyncke ye on non
other worldely goode, but onely in Christe Jhus deathe, and
on his pytefuU passyon, and saye after me, Jly swete Lorde
Christ Jhu, I put thy precyous passion betwene the and my
evill werke and betwene me and thy wrathe.
"Et dicat infirmus ter.
"In manus tuas Domine, etc. Vel sic : —
' ' Lorde Christ Jhu, in to thy handes I betake my sowle and
as thow boughtest me, bodye and soule I betake to the."
The beautiful words, "I put Thy precious Passion," etc.,
are taken from St. Anselm ; unless indeed the reverse be the
case, and St. Anselm quoted them from a form familiar in his
time.
In our Prayer Book the Creed simply has been retained as
containing all things necessary to be believed by a Christian
man, and on account of its great conciseness, an important
point to be considered in selecting or composing a form for
use in time of sickness and consequent weakness. In the case
of ignorant persons there should be some previous instruction
in the doctrines of the Creed before the Visitation OiEce is
used, and this profession of faith thus solemnly made. A
concise exposition of it will be found in the Notes to Morn-
ing Prayer, p. 197.
Then shall the Minister examine] In the Sarum Manual,
after the patient's confession of faith, there follows a long
exhortation to charity (grounded on 1 Cor. xiii.), to make
amends for injuries done, to forgi\e injuries received, to love
of enemies, to firm hope and faith in God, to confession of
sin ; and after the sjjecial confession the priest is directed to
use an exhortation to almsgiving and good deeds and to
works of penance in case of recovery. The Exhortation
directed by the various Rubrics that follow the confession of
faith in our Service is to be similar in its general character.
In addition, however, to moving the sick man to repent him
truly of his sins, to be in love and charity with all men, and
to make amends to the uttermost of his power if he have
wronged any, the priest is directed to admonish him, if he
hath not before disposed of his property, to make his will.
This may seem at first sight to be too purely a secular matter
to find place in a deathbed Exhortation. Yet when we reflect
what heartburning and jealousy is often caused by the fact
of no disposition of property having been made, and when we
remember that from this very cause families are often broken
up and relations estranged, we can see at once that it is a
part of the duty of the minister of Christ to do his utmost to
prevent such a state of things. After having couuselled the
sick man to make a just and equitable provision for his
family or relations, the priest is directed earnestly to move
him to be liberal to the poor. First, he is exhorted to con-
sider how his affairs stand, then to be charitable, that in his
giving there may be no injustice to those who have prior
claims upon him either by debt or relationship. It has
466
Cf)C Oisitation of the %icfe.
to make his Tvill, and to declare his debts, what
he oweth, and what is owing unto him, for the
better discharging of his conscience, and the quiet-
ness of his executors. But men should often be
put in remembrance to take order for the settLng
of their temporal estates, whilst they are in
health.
IT These words before rehearsed may be said before
the Minister begin his prayer, as he shall see
cause.
IT The Minister should not omit earnestly to move
such sick persons as are of ability, to be liberal
to the poor.
IT Here shall the sick person be moved to make a
special confession of his sins, if he feel his con-
science troubled with any weighty matter. After
anima tua : et proximum tuum propter Detjm
sicut te ipsum : nam sine hujusmodi caritate
nulla fides valet. Exerce ergo caritatis opera
dum vales : et si multum tibi affuerit, abundanter
tribue : si autem exiguum, illud impartiri stude.
Et ante omnia si quern injuste Iseseris, satisfacias
si valeas : sin autem, espedit ut ab eo veniam
humOiter postules. Dimitte debitoribus tuis et
aliis qui in te peccaverunt, ut Deus tibi dimittat.
^ " Deinde stabilito sic infirmo in fide, caritate, et spe
dicat ei saccrdos,
CARISSIME frater : si velis ad visionem Dei
pervenire, oportet omnino quod sis mundus
in mente et purus in conscientia : ait enim
Cheistus in evangelio : Beati mundo corde,
quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. Si ergo vis
mundum cor et conscientiam sauam habere,
peccata tua universa confitere. . . .
always been the custom of the Church to stir up men to
liberality in time of sickness : it is supposed that the heart
at such a season will be most readily touched with sympathy
for the sorrows of other.*, therefore specially at such times are
men exhorted by the Church, "To do good and to com-
municate forget not ; for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased."'
THE SPECIAL CONFESSION OF SINS.
Here shall the sick person] This Rubric is, as will be seen,
an abbreviated form of the ancient Latin Rubric and Exhorta-
tion. Its transition from the ancient to the modern form may
be further illustrated by the following comparison : —
1549.
Here shall the
sick person
1552.
Here shall
sick person
the
make a special con- make a special con-
fession, if he feel his
conscience troubled
with any weighty
matter. After
which confession
the Priest shall
absolve him
fession, if hefeelhis
conscience troubled
with any weighty
matter. After
which confession
the Priest shall
absolve him
after this sort.
1661.
Here shall the
sick person
be moved to
make a special con-
fession
of his sins,
if lie feel his con-
science troubled
with any weighty
matter. After
which confession
the Priest shall
absolve him
(if he humbly and
heartily desire it)
after this sort.
after this form :
and the same form
of absolution shall
Ije used in all pri-
vate confessions.
The parenthesis in the last form of this Rubric was intro-
duced by Bishop Cosiu, wlio has written it in the margin of
Hie Durham Book.
It is plain tliat the kind of Confession named in this Rubric
is that which is popularly known as "Auricular" Confession;
for althougli privacy is not enjoined, it is quite certain that
it would be sought botli by Priest and jjcnitent, and that
without it the Confession would most likely be of a very
general, instead of a "special" character. That it is also
intended to be private or "auricular" — spoken to the ear of
tho Priest alone — is sliown by the original form of tlie Rubric
in 1.349, which speaks of "all private confessions " with an
evidently inclusive sense, — tliis here enjoined being one of
the kind included.
> Great caution should, however, be used iti carrying out these duties.
Dying jierflonH are not only Busceptilile in respect to true Christiun charity
and justice ; but tliey are also open to impressions from fear, sentiment,
and other influences incidental to their state of prostration. In actinj.!
ujion this Rubric, therefore, the Clergyman should rather use Exhctrta-
tions of a general character, st.atin(; principles, than any which descend
into detail. It may also be remarked that he should assist in making a
will only in cases whort! a more proi»cr person cannot be found in time.
Before proceeding further, it may be well to enquire what
references to private confession are to be found in the official
documents of the Church of England, in addition to the one
now before us. The most familiar is that at the close of the
Exhortation directed to be used by the ilinister when giving
warning of the celebration of the Holy Communion: "And
because it is requisite. That no man should come to the Holy
Communion, but with a full trust in God's mercy, and witli a
quiet conscience ; therefore if there be any of you, who by
this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but re-
quireth further comfort and counsel, let him come to me, or
to some other discreet and learned Minister of God's Word,
and open liis grief ; that b}' the ministry of God's Holy Word
he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with
ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience,
and avoiding of all scruple aud doubtfulness." The 113th
Canon also refers to tlie subject ; enjoining secrecy on the
Minister in respect to all confessions confided to him : —
"Provided always. That if any man confess his secret and
hidden sins to the Jlinister, for the unburdening of his con-
science, and to receive spiritual consolation and ease of mind
from him, we do not any way bind the said Minister by this
our Constitution, but do straitly charge and admonish him,
that he do not at any time reveal or make known to any
person whatsoever, any crime or offence so committed to his
trust and secrecy (except they be sucli crimes as by tlie Laws
of this Realm his own life may be called in question for con-
cealing tlie same) under pain of irregularity. "-
And, lastly, in the second part of the Homily of Repentance
it is said, " If any do find themselves troubled in conscience,
they may repair to their learned curate or pastor, or to some
other godly learned man, and shew the trouble and doubt of
their conscience to them, that they may receive at their hand
the comfortable salve of God's Word."
These quotations might be illustrated by many cases
recorded in the lives of good Cliurclimen and Cluirchwomen
of the last and previous centuries, in which private Confession
was used both in health and sickness ; and numberless practi-
cal writers speak of it as a recognized habit in tlie Church of
England since the Reformation as well as before.' Nearly
2 The force of thi.s Canon is apparently weakened by the indcllnite
character of the last word in the ciuotation, as uscil in modern times. In
ecclesiastical law "irregularity" means deprivation, accompanied by a
perpetual incapacity lor taking any benetlco whatever. It is the severest
punishment wiiich can be inflicted on a Clergyman under the Canon law,
short of d^'gradation from his Orders.
3 An interesting docunient has lately come to light among the papers of
Grenville, Dean of Durham, and son-in-law to Bishop Cosiu. The impers
referred to are in the IJodleian Library: Rawlinson MS. Misceli. 1109.
They arc also published by the Surtees Society. The Dean wiites as
i^ollows :—
"We having no directions given by the Church for private Confession
and Absolution, but what is in the Oifloe for the .Sick, as to the nianner
of jicrforrnance, wo ought to proceed in that methiul, for the matter of
examination, as far as timf, and place, and pemon will permit.
The form of Absolution is there set down, and therefore ought to be
retained, but as for the form of prayers before or after, it is left to the dis-
cretion of the Minister And accordingly several Ministers have several
ways and methods of pcrforniance of it ; more or less to odillcation.
'The rule of the Ajtostle — let all Ihimis he dvne to edijication — ought to
guide priests in this, and all other performances.
Being moved thereto by these consldei-ations and the practice of the most
Cbe Oisitation of t\)z ^icfe.
467
which confession, the Priest shall absolve him (if
he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort.
OUR Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath left
power to His Church to absolve all
sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of
His great mercy forgive thee thine ofl'ences : And
by His authority committed to me, I absolve
thee from all thy sins, In the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost. Amen.
H And then the Priest shall say the Collect following.
H Let us pray.
OMOST merciful God, Who, according to
the multitude of Thy mercies, dost so put
«5-B-
f S. ^. Celas. Ke-
conciliatio Pccni-
tentis ad mortem ;
in Martene dg
Antif. Bu. Hit.
iii. 15. Menard's
NoUs to Greg.
Saer. p. 353.
Mur. 1. 304.
II " Deinde absolvat sacerdos iulirmum, ab omnibus
j)cccatis suis, hoc modo dicens,
DOMINUS noster Jesus Cueistus pro Sua
magna pietate te absolvat : et ego aucto-
ritate Ejusdem Dei ct Domini iiostri Jesu
Cheisti, et beatorum Apostolorum Petri et
Pauli, et auctoritate mihi tradita, absolvo te ab
omnibus peccatis* his de quibus corde contritus
et ore mihi confessus es : et ab omnibus aliis
peccatis tuis de quibus si tuas occurrerent
memori® libenter coniiteri velles : et sacramentis
ecclesia3 te restituo. In nomine Patris, et Filii,
et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Oremus.
*■ "T^EUSmisericors, DEUsclemens, Quisecundum
J-^ multitudinem miserationum Tuarum pec-
all such writers, however, protest against its compulsory in-
junction ; and it does not seem to be proved that frequent
and habitual Confession has ever been very common in the
Church of England since the Reformation.
Having to deal here only with cases of sickness, the question
comes before us, What is a clergyman's duty under the
circumstances indicated by the Visitation Office ?
It is plain that we cannot say, he must press no one, but
must simply be willing, if confession is volunteered, to hear
it; for the Rubric expressly saj's, " Then shall.the sick person
be moved," and the addition was made in 1601. Still the
Church interposes a condition, " if he feel his conscience
troubled with any weighty matter," which implies that only
in special cases, even in time of sickness, is confession to be
urged as absolutely essential to the health of tlie soul.
A clergyman often meets with such special cases ; where it
is plain (for example) that the time is short, the sick man
suffering from some severe accident probably soon to end in
death, or lying under mortal sickness. He possibly knows
little of the dying person "s previous life, and even if he does
know something of his outward conduct, he can hardly be
acquainted with his secret sins. In such a case he could not
take a more direct course towards jjromoting the dying man's
peace with God than by moving him to make a special con-
fession of his sins, if his conscience be troubled with any
weighty matter. Such a confession is almost the best proof
godly and eminent Divines under whom I have had my edification, I do
make use of the form fullowinf^ : —
Begin first witli the Lord's Prayer, saying together : Our Father Whicli
art, etc.
Vers. O Lord, open Thou our lips.
Ans. And our moutli shall shew forth Thy praise.
V^rs. O God, make speed to save us.
Ans. O Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
As it was in the beginning, etc.
Tlien recite together Psalm exxxix., Domim probasti,—0 Lord, Thou
hast searched me out and known me, etc.
After this is said the Priest takes his place in his chair, and requires the
penitent to kneel down before him, and to answer sincerely in the Name
and fear of God to such questions as he shall by Christ's authority demand
of him.
It is expedient and thought good for the ease and encoui-agement of the
penitent to have some form of examination and answers given to him some
convenient time before to consider of for the greater profit of his soul, and
better preparation for so solemn a duty.
Then let the penitent repeat one of the forms of Confession after the
Priest, with due deliberation and intention. After wltich the Priest rising
up sliall add. O Lord, I beseech Thee, etc., and then solemnly pronounce
that excellent form of Absolution, Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc.
Then let the Priest pronounce such sentences of Scripture as he conceives
most to edification. Reciting afterwards on their knees together Psalm
xxxii.. Blessed, etc., concluding with these following prayers : —
Let us pray.
1. O most merciful God, Who according to the multitude of Thy mercies,
etc., with some few alterations.
Or,
O most mighty God and merciful Father, etc.
2. Lord, we beseech Thee give us grace to withstand, etc.
3. O Lord, Who knowest that all our doings are nothing worth, etc.
4. Lord, we pray Thee that Thy grace, etc.
Almighty God, the Fountain of all wisdom, etc.
Benediction."
A long paper of questions is appended which appears to have been used
by Grenvilte f'>r some person wlm eaiue to him habitually for Confession.
we can have of a dying man's sorrow for sin, of his penitent
mind, and of his desire for pardon. It is easy for him to say
that he is "comfortable in his mind," or that " he is happy ; "
but such words are too often used by those who ought neither
to be comfortable nor happy when the Judgement is immedi-
ately before them. On the other hand, if a dying person
opens out his sinfulness to the sorrowing gaze of Christ's
minister, he does that which is extremely distasteful, and
perhaps very jiainful, to liimself ; and does it with no other
object than th.it by his humble confession he may gain the
benefit of Christ's cleansing Blood througli the word of
absolution pronounced by the Priest in his Waster's Name.
It is most evident that where a person is thus desirous of
unburdening his mind, [1] the Priest has no right to refuse to
hear and receive such confession ; .and .also that [2] the Priest
is even bound to suggest and advise it as the remedy pro-
vided by the Church to those who are thus burdened.
The form in which Special Confessions are to be made ia
not laid down in the Prayer Book. The following is a com-
mon one : "In the Name of the Father, and of the .Son, and
of the Holy Ghost. Amen. I confess to God the Father
Almighty, to His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
to God the Holy Gliost, and to you, father, that I have
sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed, through my
fault, through my most grievous fault. [Here comes in a
statement of the sins troubling the person's conscience.] For
these and all my other sins which I cannot now remember I
humbly beg pardon of Almighty God, and grace to amend ;
and of you, my father, I ask [penance,] counsel, and absolu-
tion. And therefore I beseech God the Father Almighty,
His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Ghost,
to have mercy upon me, and you, father, to pray for me."
THE ABSOLUTION.
The substantial part of this Absolution is ancient, .as will
be seen by comparing it with the Latin original. A prefatory
addition was made to it at the time of its translation in 1549 ;
and this was taken from the Absolution in the "Order of
Communion" of 1548, which, again, was derived from Arch-
bishop Hermann's ConauUation.
Daye's Transl. of Hermann'' s
Consultation, 1547.
Because our blessed Lord
hath left this power to His
congregation, that it m.ay
abi Ive them from sins, and
restore them into the favour
of the heavenly Father, which
being repentant for their sins,
do truly believe in Christ the
Lord, I the minister of Christ
TJte Order of Communion,
1548.
Our blessed Lord, Who liath
left power to His Church to
absolve penitent sinners from
their sins, and to restore to
the grace of the heavenly
Father such as truly believe
in Christ ; Have mercy upon
you . . .
Like the two other Absolutions contained in the Praj'er
Book, this is intended to convey what it professes to convey,
pardon of sin. That pardon cannot, however, be conveyed
without the co-operation of the person to whom it is spoken.
It is nullified by a false confession (even although the
468
Cf)e Visitation of tbc ®icfe.
away the sins of those who truly repent, that
Thou rememberest them no more ; Open Thine
eye of mercy upon this Thy servant, who most
earnestly desireth pardon and forgiveness. Eenew
in Jiim (most loving Father) whatsoever hath
been decayed by the fraud and malice of the
devil, or by his own carnal will and frailness ;
preserve and continue this sick member in the
unity of the Church ; consider his contrition,
accept his tears, asswage his pain, as shall seem
to Thee most expedient for him. And forasmuch
as he putteth his full trust only in Thy mercy,
impute not unto hivi his former sins ; but
strengthen him with Thy blessed Spirit, and
when Thou art pleased to take him hence, take
him unto Thy favour, through the merits of Thy
most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ameti.
H Then shall the Minister say this Psalm,
tn Te, Domine, "T^ Thee, LoRD, have I put my
speravi. Ps.ixxi._L trust; let me never be put to con-
fusion : but rid me, and deliver me in Thy right-
eousness ; incline Thine ear unto me, and save me.
Be Thou my strong hold, whereunto I may al-
way resort : Thou hast promised to help me; for
Thou art my house of defence, and my castle.
Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the
ungodly : out of the hand of the unrighteous and
cruel man.
For Thou, O Lord God, art the thing that I
long for : Thou art my hope, even from my youth.
Through Thee have I been holden up ever since
I was born : Thou art He that took me out of my
mother's womb; my praise shall alway be of Thee.
I am become as it were a monster unto many :
but my sure trust is in Thee.
O let my mouth be filled with Thy praise ; that I
may sing of Thy glory and honour all the day long.
Cast me not away in the time of age : forsake
me not when my strength faileth me.
« Sar. Deextrema
Unctiotte.
cata poenitentium deles, et praiteritorum criminum
culpas venia remissionis evacuas : respice super
hunc famulum Tuum N., sibi remissionem omnium
peccatorum suorum tota cordis contritione poscen-
tem. Eenova in eo, piissime Pater, quicquid
diabolica fraude violatum est : et unitati corporis
ecclesise Tuaj membrum infirnmm, peccatorum
percepta remissione, restitue. Miserere, Domine,
gemituum ejus : miserere lachrymarum : miserere
tribulationum atque dolorum : et non habentem
fiduciam nisi in Tua misericordia, ad sacramentum
reconciliationis admitte. Per Christum Domi-
NUM nostrum.
IT Deinde dicatur Psalmus.
N Te, Domine, speravi . . . non confundar
- in Eeternum.
deception is not detected by the Priest), and by any act of
sin whicli places a bar between tlie sinner and God's pardon.
The Priest has acted, of course, to the best of his judgement
in regard to the true penitence of the jjcrson over wliom he
pronounces the Absolution, but his judgement is human, and
the eye of God alone can detect the full truth.
It was probably with the object of making clear in the
form of words itself what relation the Priest stands in
towards the penitent and towards the One Forgiver of sins,
that the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ was placed in the
very forefront of the Absolution. He, by His death, pur-
chased remission of sin for all men ; therefore He alone is
the .Judge of all, having the supreme power in Himself origi-
nally to save or to condemn. The right foundation being thus
laid, the power delegated by Christ to His ministers is intro-
duced. It is their part, first, to bring sinners to sidmiit to
•Jesus ; and, secondly, as His Ambassadors to reconcile them,
But this reconciliation is only on certain fixed conditions,
repentance and faith. Without these there can be no for-
giveness ; without evident tokens of these the Priest has no
right or power to pronounce the Absolution ; without tliese,
even if the Absolution be pronounced by the Priest, there is
no pardon. The I^rd .Tesus being set forth as tlie Author of
all pardon, the authority of His ministers as derived from
Him l.iid down, the conditions of forgiveness stated, the
Petition follows that He will confirm in he.avcn wh.at is done
on earth, that He Who is the I'ricst's Lord will forgive by
His servant's ministry. Then follows the indic.itive p.art of
the Absolution: "And by His authority committed to me, I
absolve thee," etc. Reverting again to the oi)ening clause,
wc thus see that Christ has power on earth to forgive sins,
which power He has deputed to His ministers ; and since He
has promised that He will forgive under certain conditions,
it is subject to those conditions that His deputies dispense
His pardon.
Thus, iu this very solemn form of Absolution, the Priest
acts ministerially throughout ; that is, he acts as the instru-
mental agent for the declaration by an audible word of that
pardon which God will give by an inaudible sentence to the
person who bows down to receive it with a faithful and peni-
tent heart. To such it will be a true comfort a word of
pardon and a word of peace. '
THE COLLECT.
This ancient "reconciliation of a penitent ne.ar death" is
not only found in the old foi-nudarics of the English Church,
where it was used long before the preceding indicative
form of Absolution was introduced, but in the Sacramcntary
of Gelasius, a.d. 494; and for many centuries it was com-
monly used in the Churches of the West, as the marginal
references shew.
The prayer opens with an appeal to the unfailing mercy of
1 There is a practical note ahnnt tlie in.inner of giving Absolution in tlie
Salisbury Maniml wliieli may be nsefnlly annexed : —
" Et jiost absoUitioiiem convenienter aiijionitiir. 'In Nomine Fatris, ct
Filii, et .Spirifus Saiicli. Amen.' Ad signanduni, quod snrerdos non pro-
pria anetoritnte absolvit : sed quasi minister: tamen lioc relinquitur
sacerdotis arbitdo. Nee requiritur in absolntione nianiis inipositio, qnia
hoc Bacrainontiun non ordinatur nd exeqiifiubmi aliqiiain exccltentiani
gmtiio, sed remissionem culpie, ct ideo niagis compotit crncis signatio,
(|uia fiiit instnuiientiun nostrie redemptionis." lJlfrt«i(«/. Sarisb. 1530.
Mask. ii. »02.)
€i)t Visitation of tbc ^icfe.
469
For mine enemies speak against me, and tlicy
that lay wait for my soul take their counsel to-
gether, saying : God hath forsaken him, persecute
him, and take him ; for there is none to deliver
him.
Go not far from me, God : my God, haste
Thee to help me.
Let them be confounded and perish that are
against my soul : let them be covered with shame
and dishonour that seek to do me evil.
As for me, I will patiently abide alway : and
will praise Thee more and more.
My mouth shall daily speak of Thy righteous-
ness and salvation ; for I know no end thereof.
I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God :
and will make mention of Thy righteousness only.
Thou, O God, hast taught me from my youth
up until now : therefore will I tell of Thy won-
drous works.
Forsake me not, O God, in mine old age, when
I am gray-headed : until I have shewed Thy
strength unto this generation, and Thy power to
all them that are yet for to come.
Thy righteousness, O God, is very high, and
great things are they that Thou hast done : O
God, who is like unto Thee 1
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT Adding this,
O SAVIOUR of the world. Who by Thy Cross
and precious Blood hast redeemed us, save
us, and help us, we humbly beseech Thee,
Lord.
IT Then shall the Minister say,
" rpHE Almighty Lord, Who is a most strong
J- tower to all them that put their trust in
a A.D. IS49-
d (Greg. A<i Vtii-
taudufn Injir-
IT Finito psalmo cum.
Gloria Fatri, et Filio : et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et
in saecula steculorum. Amen.
Tota dicatur Antipb.
SALVATOR mundi, salva nos, Qui per Crucem
et Sanguiuem redemisti nos : auxiliare nobis
Te deprecamur, Deus noster.
r*^TIRTUTUM coelestium Deus, Qui ab
L V humanis corporibus omnem languorem
God in putting away the sins of those who truly repent, aud
remembering them no more : it then beseeches the pity of
the Almighty on behalf of the sick man. From this the
prayer rises to a petition for internal sanctification, praying
that as by the frequent commission of sin tlie desires have
been biassed towards evil, the faith weakened, the heart
hardened, the devotion quenched, the love to God cooled ;
God would be pleased to renew these, to strengthen faith, to
soften the heart, to give life to devotion, warmth to love.
Then follows a petition for external continuance in the Com-
munion of the Saints, that though from circumstances the
sick man is unable publicly to associate with God's people
in the outward ordinances of religion, he may still be united
in heart to Christ's mystical Body.
The prayer then asks that God will accept his contrition,
will mitigate his pain, will grant him remission of all his
sins, and finally will give him eternal salvation ; and all for
the merits of Jesus Christ his Lord.
THE PSALM.
This Psalm holds a place in the Services for the Visitation
of the Sick in both the Western and Eastern Churches. In
the Sarum Manual it is given at full length : in our Prayer
Book the last five verses have been omitted, since they speak
of the sick man as already delivered and restored to healtli,
and are therefore not so suitable to the case of one still in
affliction.
The Psalm is most appropriate for the position it holds ;
throughout it runs a mingled strain of fervent petition and
earnest profession of firm faith in the promises and love of
God. It opens with prayer for deliverance, protection, and
help ; and grounds these petitions on the Psalmist's constant
resort to God in time of trouble as his castle and house of
defence. Then follows a memorial of God's past dealings,
how even from the hour of birth upward He has been the
stay and strength of His servant ; then, again, fresh prayer
that God, Who has so long shewn His goodness, will not
now desert and leave His follower, when His help is specially
needed and doubly required.
Above all, the Psalm points to the great Example offered
to His suffering servants by the greatest of aU sufferers ; for
it is of Him chiefly tliat it speaks ; and in His "patient abid-
ing always " may the servant see the meekness and submis-
sion of his Master as a pattern which he himself is humbly
to copy in the time of affliction. This application of the
Psalm is indicated by the Antiphon which follows the
Doxology.
THE ANTIPHON.
This Antiphon is extremely interesting as being the only one
retained in the Book of Common Prayer ; and as still shew-
ing the manner in which Antiphons were formerly appended
to Psalms for the purpose of drawing out their spiritual
meaning or giving them the turn required for the special
occasion on which they were used. In this case it clearly
points to the preceding Psalm as spoken in the Person of
Christ, our suffering Saviour ; and pleads the sufferings there
expressed as tlie cause of that human sympathy which is stiU
and ever felt for His members by the Divine Redeemer. ["See
also p. 234, note.]
THE BENEDICTIONS.
The first of these benedictory forms was inserted as the
conclusion of the Visitation Office in 1549, and bears some
470
Cfje Qisitation of the ^icfe.
Him, to Wliom all things in heaven, in earth,
and under the earth, do bow and obey, be now
and evermore thy defence, and make thee know
and feel, that there is none other Name under
heaven given to man, in Whom, and through
Whom, thou mayest receive health and salvation,
but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Cheist.
Amen.
^ And after that shall saj',
"TTNTO God's gracious mercy and protection
»->' we commit thee. The Loed bless thee
and keep thee. The Lord make His face to
shine upon thee, and be gracious uuto thee. The
Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and
give thee peace, both now and evermore.
Amen.i
Benedi
diebus
GaUic. Gri-
Sacrum
ct. quotid.
diceiid.
et oninem infirmitatem prjecepti Tui potestate
depellis, adesto propitius huic famulo Tuo III.
ut, fugatis infirmitatibus et viribus receptis,
Nomen sanctum Tuum instaurata protinus sani-
tate benedicat. Per Dominum.]
""OENEDICAT vos Dominus et custodiat
-L-' semper. Ostendat Dominus faciem Suam
super vos et misereatur vestri. Convertat Domi-
nus vultum Suum ad vos, et det vobis pacem.
Per Dominum.
^ A Prayer for a sick child.
O ALMIGHTY God and merciful Father,
to Whom alone belong the issues of life
and death ; Look dowii from heaven, we humbly
beseech Thee, with the eyes of mercy upon this
child now lying upon the bed of sickness : Visit
/lim, O Lord, with Thy salvation ; deliver Mm
in Thy good appointed time from /lis bodily pain,
and save his soul for Thy mercies' sake. That
if it shall be Thy pleasure to prolong his days
here on earth, he may live to Thee, and be an
instrument of Thy glory, by serving Thee faith-
fully, and doin^; good in his generation ; or else
receive him into those heavenly habitations,
where the souls of them that sleep in the Lord
Jesus enjoy perpetual rest and felicity. Grant
this, O Lord, for Thy mercies' sake, in the same
Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livetb
and reigueth with Thee and the Holy Ghost,
ever one God, world without end. Amen.
U A Prayer for a sick ijerson, when there appeareth
small hope of recovery.
O FATHER of mercies, and God of all com-
fort, our only help in time of need ; We
fiy unto Thee for succour in behalf of this Thy
servant, here lying under Thy hand in great
weakness of body. Look graciously upon him,
O Lord ; and the more the outward man decay-
eth, strengthen him, we beseech Thee, so much
the more- continually with Thy grace and Holy
Spirit in the inner man. Give hivi unfeigned
repentance for all the errors of his life past, and
stedfast faith in Thy Son Jesus, that his sins
may be done away by Thy mercy, and his pardon
sealed in heaven, before he go hence, and be no
resemblance to a Collect in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory
which was i:sed for the Visitation of the Sick. The other,
the ancient Jewish Benediction, first appears in Bishop
Cosin's liandwriting, at the end of the OUice in his Durham
book. Mr. Palmer found it used as a Benediction in an
ancient Irish Manual or Ritual'; published by Sir William
Betliam, in the first number of his Antiqiiaridn Researches,
from a MS. which lie refers to tlie seventh century. It is
also extant in ancient (iallican and Anglo-Saxon Missals, as in
that of (irimoldus printed by Pamelius. [Lilurgicon, ii. 509.]
THE SPECIAL PRAYERS.
The four prayers appended to the Visitation OfBce were
added in 1661. The lirst of them, for a sick child, seems
1 Tlic following is the Office for anointing which was inserted here in
1540, but omitted in \bb'l:~
% If the Hick i)er.son 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 tliis visible oil thy body outwardly is anointed ; so our heavenly
Fathi-T. Almighty God, grant of His inlinite goodne.s8, that thy soul
inwardly may beanointed 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 blcsseri will) to restore unto thee thy bodily health, and
strength, to serve Him ; and send thee release of all thy pains, troubles,
and dirte.ases, both in body and mind. Antl howsoever His goodness (by
His divine and unsearchable providence) shall tlispose of thee : we. His
unworthy ministers and servants, humbly I)eseech tiie Eternal Ma^jesty to
do with thee acconiing to the nuiltitude of His innumerable mercies, and
to pardon thee all thy sins and offences, committed by all thy bodily
senses, passions, and carnal affections : Who also vouchsafe mercifully to
grant unto thee ghostly strength, by His Holy Spirit, tfl withstand and
overcome all temptations and assaults of thine adversary, that in no wise
he iirevail against thee, but that thou mayest have lierfect victory and
triumph against the ilevil, sin, and death, through Christ our Lord ; Who
!»y His death hath overcoined the prince of death, and with tlie I-'ather and
the Holy Ohost evermore livcth and rcigneth God, world without end.
Amen.
Uvjuequo, Dominc^ [Ps. xiii.J
intended as a provision for those whom extreme youth or
infancy would incapacitate from taking part in the actual
Visitation Oftice ; and to whom also the greater part of it
would be inapplicable. The second praj'er is for a sick man
when there appears small hope of recovery. Its chief intent
is to pray God to vouchsafe spiritual consolations in Christ
Jesus, to give the man unfeigned repentance for the errors
of his life past ; if it seems fit in His eyes, to raise him up
again ; if not to receive his soul into the everlasting kingdom
of Heaven. The third is a commendatory prayer. In the
Sarum Manual there is given a Service, "Commendatio
Animamm," but it contains no prayer from which this could
have been derived. A hint seems to have been taken for
a portion of it from the Litany in the service of Extreme
Unction: " Ut quicquid vitiorum fallente diabolo et
propria iniquitate atque fragilitate contraxit clemcnter
indulgere digneris. Te rogamus, audi nos." The applica-
tion to the survivors seems to be quite peculiar to our Prayer
Book.
The fourth is a prayer for those troubled in conscience.
Its chief aim is to |)ray to Cod to enable the man rightly to
know and judge himself, that he may not on the one hand be
unduly cast down, or on the other too self confident ; th.at he
may fully understand the threatenings and jjromises in God's
Word, that so he may not be driven into despair, or tempted
to presume f.tlsely on the mercy of the Alniiglity. Finally,
that God would deliver him and give him peace through the
merits and mediation of Clirist.
In Bishop Cosin's Durham Prayer Book the following
Rubric was inserted by him at the end of the Visitation
Office: —
"If any sick persons desire the pr.ayers of the Church in
pnblick, they are to send their names in writing to the
Curate, who immediately after the final Collect of Morning
or Evening Pr.aycr shall cUclare the same, and use the form
above prescribed, beginning at the words, U Lord, safe Thy
Cf)c Oisitation of tijc %itk.
471
more seen. We know, O Loed, that there is no
word impossible with Thee ; and that, if Tium
wilt. Thou canst even yet raise him up, and grant
him a longer continuance amongst us. Yet, for-
asmuch as in all appearance the time of his dis-
solution draweth near, so fit and prepare /*/?», we
beseech Thee, against the hour of death, that
after his departure hence in peace, and in Thy
favour, his soul m;iy be received into Thine ever-
lasting kingdom, through the merits and media-
tion of Jesus Christ, Thine only Son, our Lord
and Saviour. Amm.
IT A commendatory Prayer for a sick person at
the point of departure.
O ALMIGHTY God, with Whom do live the
spirits of just men made perfect, after they
are delivered from their earthly prisons ; We
humbly commend the soul of this Thy servant,
our dear brother, into Th}' hands, as into the
hands of a faithful Cekatoe, and most merciful
Saviour ; most humbly beseeching Thee, that it
may be precious in Thy sight. Wash it, we pray
Thee, in the blood of that immaculate Lame that
was slain to take away the sins of the world ;
that whatsoever defilements it may have contracted
in the midst of this miserable and naughty world,
through the lusts of the flesh, or the wiles of
Satan, being purged and done away, it' may be
presented pure and without spot before Thee.
And teach us who survive, in this and other like
daily spectacles of mortality, to see how frail and
uncertain our own condition is, and so to number
our days, that we may seriously apply our hearts
to that holy and heavenly wisdoni, whilst we
live here, which may in the end bring as to life
everlasting, through the merits of j£su.s Christ
Thine only Son our Lord. Amen.
H A Prayer for persona troul)lcd in mind
conscience.
or in
O BLESSED Lord, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comforts. We beseech
Thee, look down in pity and compas.sion upon
this Thy afflicted servant. Thou writest bitter
things against him, and makest him to possess
his former iniquities ; Thy wrath lieth hard upon
him, and his soul is full of trouble : But, O
merciful God, Who hast written Thy holy Word
for our learning, that we, through patience and
comfort of Thy holy Scriptures, might have hojje ;
give him a right understanding of himself, and of
Thy threats and promises, that he may neither
cast away his confidence in Thee, nor place it any
where but in Thee. Give him strength against
all his temptations, and heal all his distempers.
Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the
smoking flax. Shut not up Thy tender mercies
in displeasure ; but make liini to hear of joy and
gladness, that the bones which Thou hast broken
may rejoice. Deliver him from fear of the
enemy, and lift up the light of Thy countenance
upon him, and give him peace, through the
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
servant, etc., unto the Exhortation, and ending witli these two
last prayers, The Almif/hti/ Lord, etc. Unto God's yracious
protection, etc."
This Rubric was erased by the Committee of Revision,
probably on account of that which was connected with the
Prayer for all conditions of men. But that the custom had
been adopted is evident from the ninth of Bisliop Wren's
Injunctions, which orders that "when any need is, the sick
by name be prayed for in the reading-desk, and nowliere else,
at the close of the first Service : except it be in the afternoon,
and then to be done immediately after the Creed, using only
there two Collects, which be set down in the Service-book
for the Visitation of the Sick." [Caedw. Doc. Ann. ii. 203.
See also Granville's Remains, ii. 42, 103.]
THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK.
IF Forasmuch as all mortal men be subject to many
sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever
uncertain wliat time they shall depart out of this
life ; therefore, to the intent they may be always
in a readiness to die, ^vhensoever it shall please
Almighty God to call them, the Curates shall
diligently from time to time (but especially in the
time of pestilence, or other infectious sickness)
exliort their Parisliioners to the often receiring of
the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of
our Saviour Christ, when it shall be publicly
administered in tlie Church ; that so doing, they
may, in case of sudden visitation, have the less
cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. But
if the sick person be not able to come to the
Church, and yet is desirous to receive the Com-
munion in liis house ; then he must give timely
notice" to the Curate, signifying also how many
there are to communicate with him (which shaU
be three, or two at the least), and having a con-
venient place in the sick man's liouse, witli all
things necessary so prepared, tliat the Curate may
reverently minister, he shall there celebrate the
holy Communion, beginning witli the Collect,
Epistle, and Gospel, here following.
t The Collect.
ALillGHTY, everliving God, Maker of man-
-^^ kind, Who dost correct those whom Thou
(1 Erased in the MS.,
"overnight or else
early in the morn-
ing. *
dost love, and chastise every one whom Thmi
dost receive ; We beseech Thee to have mercy
upon thi.s Thy servant visited with Thine hand,
and to grant that he may take his sickness
patiently, and recover his bodily health, (if it be
Thy gracious will,) and whensoever his soul shall
depart from tlie body, it may be witliout spot
presented unto Thee, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
H The Epistle. Heb. xii. 5.
MY son, despise not thou the chastening of
the Lord, nor faint when thou art re-
buked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth He
cliasteneth ; and scourgeth every son whom He
receiveth.
IT The Gospel. John v. 24.
VERILY, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth My word, and believeth on Him
that sent Jle, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation ; but is passed from
death unto life.
It has been a universal practice in the Catholic Church to
administer tlie Holy Communion to the sick, and especially
to the dying. We have evidence of this in tlie writings of
the Fathers, in Canons, and other ancient documents. In the
Eastern Church it was called e065ioi', in the Western viati-
cum, both words meaning provision for the journey which is
"too great for "us except God feed us. [I Kings ix. 7.]
In the earlier documents of the Englisli Churcli we find great
stress laid upon the reception of the Eucharist by the sick :
as the following examples shew. Archbisliop Theodore
[Penilmlial, cap. 41], after speaking of the penance imposed
before reconciliation of penitents, adds ; "Si vero periculum
mortis, propter aliquam infirmitatem, incun-erint, ante con-
stitutum tempus recoiiciliari eos oportet, ne forte, quod absit,
sine communione ab hoc sajculo discedant." Aud again, in
the 4th section of the same chapter, the like indulgence is to be
granted even t) those who had not previously begun a course
of repentance : " Si (juis nou pffiuitct, et forsitan ceciderit in
■x-gritudinem, et quresierit cominunicare, non proliibeatur, sed
date ei sauctam communionem, ita tamen ut omnia sit ante
confes.su3 : et mandate illi ut si placuerit Dei misericordiffi ut
evaserit dc ipsa .-cgritudine, mores sues et actus in quibus
antea deliquit, omnino corrigere debeat, cum pienitentia."
The Excerpts of Archbishop Egbert exhil)it a similar case :
they direct " Ut cuncti sacerdotes . . . omnilnis iiilirmis ante
cxitum vitre viaticum et communionem corporis Christi miseri-
corditer tribuant," while in the 22ud of the said Excerpts it
is further ordered, "Ut presbyter cucliaristiam haljcat semper
paratam ad infirmos, ne sine communione moriantur. "
So far was this feeling carried, that it was even directed
that Priests should carry about witli them the consecrated
Eucharist, to administer it upon sudden occasions. This
custom, however, seems never to have prevailed to any extent
in the English Church. King Edg.ar's 65th Canon [a.d. 060]
orders every priest " to give housel to the sick, wlicn they
need it ; " ana the Canons of .Elfric direct "tlic priest shall
housel the sick and infirm, while the sick can swallow the
houacl ; and lie shall not administer it, if he be lialf living,
because Christ commanded that the housel should be
eaten. "
A Canon of the Synod of Westminster [a. d. 1138] goes also
indirectly to prove the constant care whicli was taken in the
early English Church that all sick persons might receive the
Holy Communion. "2. Sancimus etiani, ut ultra oeto dies
corpus Christi non reservetur ; neque ad infirmos, nisi per
sacerdotum, aut per diaconum, aut necessitate instante, per
quemlibet cum sumnia reverentia deferatur. " [Mask. Mon.
kit. I. ecxxiii. ]
Tlie reservation of the Holy Sacrament for the purpose of
administration to the sick was probably a primitive practice ;
for it is named at a very early period. Justin JIartyr, in his
Apology, tells us tliat those who were absent from the public
celebration had the elements brought to tlieni at their o«n
houses, aud this seems to have been part of the duty of the
deacons of that day — hoXov^uvoi nap^ 7)/j.iv AidKOPoi bfddaaiv
eKaaTCfi rCiv TrapovTwv, p^ra^aXdy dird rov cvxapto9^vTos, &pTov
Kal otvov Kal L'Oaros, Kal tois ov wapoi'ffi d-jTOtjilpoi'Gt.
There is ample e\idence in the history of the Church to
shew that this was the common mode of proceeding ; and the
practice of reservation was provided for in the liist liubric of
the Office for the Communion of the Sick in the Prayer Book
of 1.'549 : " If tlie same day there be a celebration of the Holy
Communion in tlie churcli, then shall the Priest reserve (at
the open Communion) so much of the Sacrament of the Body
and Blood as sliall serve tlie sick person, and so many as
shall communicate with him (if there be any), and so soon as
lie conveniently may, after the open Communion ended in the
church, shall go and minister the same, first to those tliat are
ajipointed to coinmuiiicatc ^\■ith the sick (if there be any) and
last of all to tlio sick person himself. But before the Curate
distribute the Holy Communion, the appointed (jenernl con-
frxsion must be made in the name of tlie communicants, the
Curate adding the Abaoliilioii willi the comfortnhlr jroriln of
Srriptim: following in the open Communion ; and after the
Communion ended, the CoWect, Almi(jlitii and rrrrliritu] GotI,
wc moat htarlihj lliaiil: Tlice, etc. But if the day be not
Cbe Communion of tbc ©icb.
473
IT After wliich, the Priest shall prcioeecl accordinc to
the form before prescribed for the holy Cmii-
niiiiiiun, beginning at these words [Ye thai do
Ini/y, etc.].
If At the time of the distribution of the holy Sacra-
ment, the Priest shall first receive the Communiun
himself, and after minister unto them that ate
appointed to communicate with the sick, and la.st
of all to the sick person.
H But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sick-
ness, or for want of warning iu due time to the
Curate, or for lack of company to receive with
him, or by any other just impediment, do not re-
ceive the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood,
the Curate shall instruct him, that if he do truly
repent him of his sins, and stedfastly believe that
Jesus Christ hath suflered death upon the cross
for him, and shed His Blood for his redemption,
earnestly remembering the benefits he hath there-
by, and giving Him hearty thanks therefor, he
doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our
« Sav. Man. dc
Extrem. Unct.
% "Deinde communicetur infirmus nisi prius communi-
catus fuerit : et nisi de vomitu vel alia irreverentia
probabiliter timeatur : iu quo casu dicat sacerdoa
infirmo.
Frater, in hoc casu sufKcit tibi vera fides, et bona
voluntas : tantum crede, et manducasti.
appointed for the open Communion in the church, then (upon
couvenient warning given) the Curate shall come and visit
the sick person afore noon. And having a couvenient
place," etc.
The same practice was also provided for in another way by
the second Rubric at the end of the same Office: "And if
there be more sick persons to be visited the same day that
the Curate doth celebrate in any sick man's house; then shall
the Curate (there) reserve so much of the Sacrament of the
Body and Blood as shall serve the other sick 'persons, and
sucli as be appointed to communicate with them (if there be
any), and shall immediately carry it and minister it unto
them."
It will thus be seen that the original form of our Office
jirovided for reservation in ordinary cases, and for private
eeleljration in exceptional ones. In 1552 both the above
Rubrics were dropped, and private celebration alone provided
for, the present Collect, Epistle, and Gospel being then
appointed. The Rubric respecting reservation reappears,
however, eight years later, in the Latin Prayer Book of Queen
IClizabeth's reign ; from which fact it may Ije reasonably con-
cluded that the practice did not cease when the Rubric dropped
out of the English Book in 1552. The same conclusion may
be drawn from the continuance of the practice iu the Scottish
( 'hurch, and by the Nonjurors. Mr. Perry, as of his own
knowledge, states [.\. D. 1863] "that a member of the present
Englisli Episcopate (and one who would certainly not be said
to hold very high views on the Eucharist) not unfrequently, in
his ministrations as a parochial Incumbent, reserved the Sacra-
ment, at the public celebration, for the use of the sick." The
same writer also says that Longley, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, when Bishop of Ripon, was appealed to on the subject
of reservation during the cholera in Leeds, and that "while
saying that he could not authorize reservation, he did not
feel himself justified in forbidding it in that emergency."'
The fact is, that in this, as in many otiier particulars, the
temporary dangers and errors wliich led the Reformers to
discourage ancient usages have long passed away ; and
practical men feel that a return to them is often expedient,
both for the promotion of God's glory, and for the good of
souls.
The modern practice is, however, justified on ancient
authority by Mr. Palmer in his Origines Litim/icce, where he
adduces the following instances of ancient private celebration
(Oriri. Liliirrj. ii. 232): —
"Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, caused the Eucharist to be
celebrated in his own chamber not many hours before his
death. 'Cum ante triduum, quam de hoc niundo ad cceleste
habitaculum vocaretur, cum jam de salute ejus omnes
desperassent, et duo ad eum episcopi visitandi studio con-
venissent, id est, S. Symmachus et Benedictus Hyacinthinus
. . . quasi profecturus ad Dominum, jubet sibi ante lectulum
sunm sacra mysteria exhiberi, scilicet ut una cum Sanctis
' Historical Considerations relating to me Declaration on Kneeling, etc.,
by the Rev. T. W. Perry, 1SG3, p. 139. As is well known, Archbishop Tait
consumed as the Holy Eucharist, reverently kneeling before the Altar in
his douK'stic chapel to receive it, a wafer wliicli had been consecrated else-
where many months before.
episcopis oblatosacrificio animam suain Domino commendaret.
Fita Paidini Nolani authore Uranio Presb. apud Surium
Junii 22, p. 733.' Gregory Nazianzen informs us that his
father communicated in his own cliamber, and that his sister
had an altar at home. [Grerjor, Nazien, Oral, 19, de Laude
Palris ; Oral. 11, de Gonjonia,'] St. Ambrose is also said to
have administered the Sacrament in a private house in Rome.
Per idem tempus cum trans Tiberini apud quondam clarissi-
mum invitatus, sacrificium in domo olTerret, etc. [ Vila
Ambrosii a Paulino, p. iii. Append, torn. ii. Oper. Ambros.
edit. Benedict.]"
At the same time that the private celebration has been
adopted more freely than in ancient times, restriction has
been laid upon a too free use of it by Canon 71, which enjoins
that "no minister shall preach or administer tlie Holy Com-
munion in any private house, except it be in times of neces-
sity, when any being either so impotent as he cannot go to the
church, or very dangerously sick, are desirous to be partakers
of the holy Sacrament, upon pain of suspension for the first
offence, and excommunication for the second," while the
Rubric directs, "if the sick person be not able to come to
the church, and yet is desirous to receive the Communion in
his house ; then he must give timely notice, etc." Thus con-
siderable limitation is indicated with respect to private cele-
brations of the Holy Communion ; and it is very desirable
that this limitation should be practically acted upon in the
spirit of the Canon, as the celebration of the Holy Communion
in a room used for ordinary living, and on a table used for
meals or other domestic jjurposes is a practice which it
is difficult to guard from irreverence and from dishonour
towards so holy a Sacrament.
To guard against it as much as possible, care should be
used to carry out the spirit of the Rubric, by having "a con-
venient place" and "all things necessary" for ministering
the Communion. The proper vestments should be worn by
the Priest : proper vessels should be provided for the celebra-
tion ; and fine linen cloths should also be taken by him to be
used as at the Altar in the church.
IT At the time of tlie distrihdioii, etc.] The object of this
Rubric was probably to avoid any danger from contagion to
those who partook with the sick man ; in addition to this
there are many cases where it would be felt there were
reasons which made it undesirable for the fellow-connnuni-
cants to receive after the sick person. Care should be taken
not to consecrate more of the Elements than is absolutely
necessary, so that none may remain over after the sick man
has communicated. If any remain, and circumstances prevent
its being partaken of by the sick man or the Priest, it may be
consumed in the fire. " Sed hoc quod reliquum est de carnibus
et panibus in igne incendi pracepit. Quod nunc vidimus
etiam sensibiliter in ecclesia fieri, ignique tradi qnscunque
remanere contigerit inconsumpta." [Hesych. in Leo. lib. ii.]
IT But if a man, either by reaaon, etc,] This Rubric sets
forth certain cases in which, though a man may be prevented
from actually receiving the Sacrament of Christ's Body and
Blood, he may j'et spiritually be a partaker. Extremity of
sickness, want of warning to the Curate, lack of compan}', or
any other just impediment, are all alleged as reasons which
may make actual Communion impossible. Ignorance, want
474
Cf)C Communion of tfjc %ick.
Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's health,
although he do not receive the Sacrament with
his mouth.
IT Wlien the sick person is visited, and receiveth the
holy Communion all at one time, then the Priest,
for more expedition, shall cut off the form of the
Visitation at tlie Psalm [In Thee, Lord, Jiave I
put my tTUSl\ and go straight to the Communion.
^ In the time of the plague, sweat, or such other like
contagious times of sickness or diseases, when
none of the Parish or neighbours can be gotten to
communicate with the sick in their houses, for
fear of the infection, upon special request of the
diseased, the Minister may only communicate
with him.
of due understanding of the Sacrament, carelessness about
receiving it, cannot be just impediments ; the man must be
fitted and willing to receive the Holy Sacrament, if he is to
be able spiritually to partake.
In the York ilanual a direction is given as to those who
are not to receive the Holy Communion —
" Dum vomet infirmus, non debet sumere corpus,
Christi nisi credit ; credendo fideliter egit;
Ebrius, insanus, erroneus, et male credens,
Et pueri, corpus Christi non suscipiant hi ;
Non nisi mense semel, aliquis communicet ffger. ''
In the Saruni Manual provision is made for spiritual Com-
munion in cases where actual reception of the Elements is
impossible. The subject is touched on in a very reverential
spirit in the Penitential of Egbert, Archbishop of York, a
work dating from the eighth century: "Si homini alicui
eucharistia denegata sit, et ipse iuterea moriatur, de his rebus
nihil aliud conjicere possumus, nisi quod ad judicium Dei
pertineat, quoniam in Dei potestate erat, quod absque
eucharistia obierit. "
The Curate, in a case where the sick man is prevented
from communicating, is to instruct him that '■ if he truly
repent him of his sins, and stedfastly believe that Jesus
Christ hath suffered death upon the cross for him, and shed
His Blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the
benefits he hath thereby, and giving Him hearty thanks
therefor, he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our
Saviour Christ profitably to his soul's liealtli. although he do
not receive the Sacrament with his mouth."
The Priest should instruct the sick man to call to mind all
that Christ did and suffered for his sake ; how He left the
glory that He had from all eternity with the Father to take
upon Him the form of a servant ; how He humbled Himself
and became of no reputation for our sakes ; how He endured
the contradiction of sinners ; how He had not a place where
to lay His head ; how for us He died and for us rose again
and ascended into heaven, where He ever liveth to make
intercession for His people. He should bid the sufferer medi-
tate on the infinite love of the Redeemer, as set forth in a life
during which He went about doing good, as exemplified in a
death of suffering most intense, of humiliation most abject.
He should bid him see in .Jesus the Way, the Truth, au(l the
Life ; should urge him to look to that Saviour, not simply as
his Teacher, but as the source of his spiritual life. Specially
should the Priest direct the sick man's thoughts to the full,
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for
the sins of the whole world once offered by Christ on the
cross for our redemption. He should lead him to plead that
all-sufficient sacrifice with God the Father, to trust to it for
the forgiveness of all his sins, to believe that through it he
may receive strengtli to stand against the wiles and snares of
the devil ; that through it he may receive the grace, the bless-
ing, he needs. He should lead him to see in this sacrifice
his hope for a peaceful death, his expectation of a glorious
resurrection. The sick man should be taught to present him-
self, his soul and body, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively
sacrifice unto flod, beseeching the Lord that neither in will
nor deed he may ever again depart from Hi.s ways. Ho should
be reminded that he has to do witli One Who sees the sincere
desire of his heart, and Who accepts the earnest wish and
longing where the power actually to communicate is w.-mting.
Thus instructed, tlie sick man may receive in his soul the
comforts and strength to be derived from the blessed Com-
munion of his Saviour's Body and Blood, thoiigli from some
just impediment he is prevented from actually eating that
Bread and drinking that Cup. And, if possible, his intentions
sliould be directed towards the Holy Sacrament at the very
time of its celebration in church.
IT In the time of the plague] This Eubric shews that in certain
cases it is plainly the duty of a Parish Priest to visit persons
suffering from infectious diseases. It is evident from the
parenthesis in the 67th Canon, which directs tlie minister to
resort to the sick person "(if the disease be not known, or
probably suspected to be infectious)," that some discretion is
allowed in visiting such cases.
There are circumstances in which nothing should prevent
a parish priest visiting even where the risk of infection is
strongest. If he be called upon to baptize a dying child, or
be sent for by a sick person, or by some friend wlio has a
right to speak on his behalf, no clergyman should for a
moment think of refusing to incur any danger ; especially if
the infected person express a hearty desire for the Holy Com-
munion, the minister must go without anj' hesitation or
attempt to excuse himself. He is going about his Master's
business, and should go in humble trust that that Master
will be with him and protect him in his work. Where it may
be perfectly allowable for others to shrink and hold back, as
in the case of the diseases mentioned in the Eubric, and in
sicknesses of similar malignity, a clergyman has no right to
hesitate. His duty is clear, to be ready to comfort and help
those who need his spiritual advice and counsel. Still, while
a clergyman goes to such cases trusting to the watchful care
of his Master, he should not omit any proper precautions
that he can take, for his own sake, for that of his family, and
for that of other sick persons he may have to visit.
The following rules for avoiding infection are taken from
Bluxt's Directorium Pastorale, fourth edition, p. 220 : —
Som.e Rules for avoiding Infection.
1. Avoid visiting dangerous cases of illness in a hurry with
the stomach in a very empty condition, or with the lungs
exhausted by running or quick ascent of stairs. Calmness
is a great safeguard. It is better to take a biscuit and glass
of wine before starting to visit very extreme cases of infec-
tious disease.
2. Do not place yourself between the patient and the fire,
where the air is drawn from the former to the latter over
your person.
3. Do not inhale the breath of the patient.
4. Do not keep your hand in contact with the hand of the
sufferer.
5. Avoid entering your own or any other house until you
have ventilated your clothes and person by a short walk in
the open air. You are morally bound to take this precaution
in respect to other sick persons whom you have to visit ; and
in the case of your own family, altluuigh they must abide by
the risks which belong to your calling, they have a claim
upon you for the use of all lawful precautions in making that
risk as small as possible. [Clergymen should know that it is
almost certain death to a lying-in woman to be visited by a
person fresh from the bedside of another suffering from puer-
peral fever.]
6. In times when yo>i are much among infectious cases, use
extra care to keep the perspiratory ducts of the skin clear of
obstruction, that the excretive force of the perspiration may
have fair play in throwing off infectious matters floating in
the air.
By taking such precautions as these, clergymen may visit
infectious cases with at least as much security as medical men.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BURIAL SERVICE.
Religious ceremonies at Burial are to be traced up to the
earliest ages of mankind, being as universal among polytheist
nations, lilie the Egyptians, (ireelis, and Romans, as among
people to whom tlie true knowledge of Giid was preserved, as
the Patriarchs and tlie Jews. But tlie Resurrection of our
Lord so changed the feelings of the world respecting death
that, doubtless, new ideas were soon connected with the
ceremonies of Burial. The Body of the Saviour liad conse-
crated the earth as a place of rest for their bodies in the eyes
of His people, and wlien devout men carried Stephen to burial
they carried tlie body as of one who had ' ' fallen asleep, " even
as the graves of the departed soon came to be called in general
" cemeteries " or sleeping-places.
These new ideas respecting tlie state of the departed soon
crystallized around the great central act of early Cliristian
worship, and the Catacombs give evidence tliat the Holy
Eucharist was an accompauiment to the burial of martyrs at
least, while Saints' Days are a never-fading memorial of its
celebration year l)y year at their tombs on the anniversaries
of tlieir deaths. ' Nor did such an association of the Eucliarist
with Burial belong only to the martyrs, as may be seen Ijy St.
Augustine's words respecting the burial of his mother Monica :
"And, beliold, the corpse was carried to the burial: we
went and returned without tears. For not even di<l I weep
in those prayers which we poured forth unto Thee, wlien the
Sacrifice of our Ransom was offered for her, as the manner is,
while the corpse was by the side of the grave-, previous to
being laid therein. "-
That such was the custom of the Church may also be seen
by the ancient Sacramentaries of the Primitive Church, in
whicli tliere are Collects and Prefaces for the celebration of
the Holy Communion. "In die depositionis defuncti. " The
ancient Lectionary of St. Jerome,' also, which is so frequently
referred to in this volume in connection with our system of
Gospels and Epistles, preserves to us another relic of the
primitive rite of Burial in the selection of Scripture passages
which were used. There are nine of these lections, "In
Agenda Mortuorum, " all of which were found in the Pre-
Reformation Burial Ser\aces of the Churcli of England, and
four of which have been used in the later system of tlie
Prayer Book. The following columns shew how these portions
of Scripture have been lianded down to our Burial Office from
the Primitive Church : —
St Jerome*s Lectionary.
2 Mace. xii. 43.
1 Thess. iv. 13.
1 Cor. XV. 49.
Ezek. xxxvii. 1.
Rev. xiv. 13.
John V. 21.
„ vi. 37.
„ vi. 61.
, xi. 24.
Salisbury Use.
Anniversarj'and Trental
Epistle.
Funeral Epistle.
Alternate Daily Epistle.
Alternate Daily Epistle.
Thursday, Funeral Gos-
pel.
Tuesday, Funeral Gos-
pel.
Friday, Funeral Gospel.
Sunday and Monday
Fimeral Gospel.
Book of Common Prayer.
Funeral Epistle.
Funeral Lesson.
Funeral Anthem.
Funeral Gospel [16t;0|.
Funeral Gospel.
In mediseval times a great multitude of ceremonies gathered
round the rite of Burial, as round all other rites of the Church,
but the celebration of the Holy Eucharist was always the
chief part of them. And when those rites were translated
and abridged at the Reformation, provision was made for a
continuance of this primitive custom by placing at the end
of the Service an introit— "Like as the hart desireth the
water-brooks," etc. — the existing Collect based on the Sun-
day Gospel at burial, and an Epistle and Gospel, the whole
being headed, "Tlie Celebration of the Holy Communion
when there is a Burial of the Dead." In the Latin Prayer
Book of 1560 the old title was translated with an addition,
"Celebratio coen» Domini, in funebribus, si amici et vicini
defuncti communicare velint," and so were the Epistle and
two Gospels, the alternative one being John xxv. 24-29. The
1 Tertull. de Coron. iii. Ibid, de Morwgavi. x. Cypr. Kp. xxxiv. xxx\'ii.
Ivii. Ixvi. Alio. Etichirid. ex. PosiDONius, Vita S. Aug. xiii. Amprose,
de Ohitn Valentin.
» Aug. Covf. ix. 11, 12.
3 For an account uf the Comes Hieronymi, see p. 244.
English Service underwent several alterations through the
influence of the Puritans, who were extremely averse to any
service at the burial of the dead. " 'I'hey would liave no
minister," says Cosin, "to bury their dead, but the corpse
to be brought to the grave and there put in by the clerk, or
some other honest neighbour, .and so back again without any
more ado." [Cohin, Works, v. 168. <SV:e also Hookek, JCccl.
Polit.y.lxxv. 1,4.] And the best of them wished to restrict the
ceremonies to exhortation and preaching only. Tliey objected
to the Psalms, and these were given up till 16fil ; and .as they
hjid a peculiar aversion to the celebration of the Lord's Supper
on any but very rare occasions, so its celebration at funerals
was very distasteful to them, and was ignorantly associated
by them with the Roman doctrine of purgatory. Thus this
practice was also much discouraged. When the Psalms were
■again printed in the Office, after a hundred years' suppression,
the Gospel and Epistle were not ; and tlie funeral Communion
had almost passed out of memory in the first li.alf of tliis
century, the only relic of it being the funeral oflfertory, whicli
still retained its hold upon the Church in Wales. But even
this was deprived of its primitive character by being appro-
priated for fees by the clergyman, clerk, and sexton.
There are, however, sound reasons why the pious, ancient,
and primitive custom should be observed.
[1] The Holy Eucharist is cssenti.ally a sacrifichal act offered
up for the departed as well as for the living. The petition in
the Prayer of ObUtion, "humbly beseeching Thee to grant
that by the merits and death of Tliy Son Jesus Christ and
through faith in His Blood, we and all Tliy whole Church may
obtain remission of our sins and all otlier benefits of His
Passion," is one whicli includes the departed members of
Christ's whole Cliurch, or it would be only a petition for a
portion of the Church ; and " all other benefits of His Passion "
seems especially to apply to the departed, as "remission of
our sins " applies to the living. "Soth.at tlie virtue of this
Sacrifice (which is liere in tliis prayer of oblation com-
memorated and represented) doth not only extend itself to
the living .and thoi5e th.at are present, but likewise to them
that are absent, and them tliat be already departed, or shall
in time to come live and die in the faith of Christ." At no
time could this benefit be so appropriately sought, as when
for tlie last occasion the body of the deceased Christian lies
in front of the Altar.
[2] A funeral Eucharist is also an act of communion with
the departed, by whicli we make .in open recognition of our
belief th.at he still continues to be one of God's dear children;
that the soul in P.aradise and the body in the grave are still
the soul and body of one who is still a member of Christ, still
a branch (as much as those who remain alive) of the true Vine.
[3] The Holy Communion being the speci.al means by which
the members of Christ are brought near to their Divine Head,
it is to it that the surviving friends of the deceased may look
for their chief comfort in bereavement. By it they may look
to have their faith strengthened in Him Wlio has proclaimed
Himself to be "The Resurrection and the Life :" and by the
strengthening of their faith they ni.ay hope to see, even in
the Burial of their loved ones, the promise of a better resur-
rection when that which has borne the image of the earthly
shall also bear the image of the Heavenly, when death shall
be swallowed up in victory, and when God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes in the joy of a reunion before His
Presence.
§ Prayers for the DejMrted.
There are few persons who have not felt the want of
prayers which they could use witli definite reference to a
dep.arted relative or friend while the body of the deceased
was yet waiting to be carried to the grave. To ignore the
departed at such a season, when we are pr.aying to our
heavenly Father in the Communion of Saints, is repugnant
to Christian feeling ; nor can those who have a vivid sense
of the intermediate state feel any hesit.ation in praying for a
continuance of His mercy to the soul ■which has just entered
upon it.
Although there is no direct command in Holy Scripture
respecting prayers for the departed, there are several indirect
476
3n JntroDuction to tfje Tl3urial ^eruicc.
pieces of evidence that the use of them was habitual to
Chi-istians of the Apostolic age, as it had been to the Jews,'
and as it was to the Christians of the Primitive Church after
the Apostles. St. Paul ofl'ers a prayer for Onesiphorus in the
words, "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of
the Lord in that day." [2 Tim. i. 18.] That Onesiphorus was
not then living seems to be proved, [1] by the omission of his
name from the salutation, wliich shews that he was neither
at Rome nor at Ephesus : [2] by the manner in which St.
Paul speaks of his association vrith him as belonging to that
which was long past and gone by : [3] by the salutation sent
to tke household of Onesiphorus, as if he were not now one of
that household : [4] by the direction of the prayer towards
the Day of Judgement, and not to the time of grace and pro-
bation. In another Epistle St. Paul enjoins on the Ephesians
that they should offer intercessory prayer as well as prayer
for themselves : " praying always with all prayer and suppli-
cation in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perse-
verance and supplication for all saints. " [Eph. vi. 18.] This
inclusive phrase is one which brings to mind the sense in
which it is used on " All Saints' " Day, of the departed in
Christ, and also the passage of Scripture respecting our Lord's
Resurrection, in which it is said also that "many bodies of
the saints which slept arose." [Matt, xxvii. 52.]
Every primitive Liturgy that exists contains prayers for
the departed, and the works of early Christian -n-riters make
innumerable references to the habit as one which was evidently
as familiar to them as that of pi-aying for the living. Some
specimens of such primitive intercessions will be found in an
earlier part of this volume, in the notes to the Liturgy. In
short, it may be said that no one ever thought of iiol praying
for the departed until in compai'atively recent times ; and
when the question whether such prayers were lawful or not
in the Cliurch of England was brought before a court of
ecclesiastical law. Sir Herbert Jenner, the judge, proved, and
decided, that they were constantly recognized by our holiest
divines since the Reformation.
But few have written more wisely and feelingly on this
subject than the holy Bishop Heber : —
" Having been led attentively to consider the question, my
own opinion is on the whole favourable to the practice, which
indeed is so natural and so comfortable, that this alone is a
presumption that it is neither uupleasing to the Almiglity nor
unavailing with Him.
" The Jews so far back as their opinions and practices can
be traced since the time of our Saviour, have uniformly
recommended their deceased friends to mei'cy ; and from a
passage in the Second Book of Maccabees it appears that
(from whatever source they derived it) they had the custom
before His time. But if this were the ease the practice can
hardly be unlawful, or either Chri.st or His Apostles would,
one should think, have in some of their writings or discourses
condemned it. On the same side it may be observed that
tlie Greek Church and all the Eastern Churches, though they
do not believe in purgatory, pray for the dead ; and that we
know the practice to have been universal, or nearly so, among
the Christians little more than a hundred and fifty years after
our Saviour. It is spoken of as the usual custom by TertuUian
and Epiphanius. Augustine, in liis Coii/tssiom, has given a
beautiful prayer, which he himself used for his deceased
mother, Monica ; and among Protestants, Luther and Dr.
Johnson are eminent instances of the same conduct. I have
accordingly Ijeen myself in the habit for some years of recom-
mending on some occasions, as after receiving the Sacrament,
etc. etc., my lost friends by name to God's goodness and
compassion through His Son, as wh.at can do them no harm,
and mo»/, and I hope will, be of service to them. Only this
caution I always endeavour to observe — that I beg His for-
giveness at the same time for myself if unknowingly I am too
presumptuous, and His grace lest I, who am thus solicitous for
others, should neglect the appointed means of my own salva-
tion." -
It has been thought, therefore, that the following Collect
from the ancient \'esper Office for the Departed will be
1 The books of Maocnbces were probably written in tlie century before
our Lord, and tbe liabit of the Jew.s i.s shewn l)y wliat is retrorded of Judas
MaccibtiMm : " When be had made a ^fathering thronj;hoiit the company to
tlic sum of two thousand draebms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to
offer a sln-offr-rinK, doinj; ther'in very well and hoTiestly, in that lie was
mindful of the resurrection : for if be had not hoped that they that wore
slain should have risen BKain, it had been superfluous atil vain to pray for
the dead. And also in that he jierceived tliat there was Kreat favour laid
up for tbo.HC that die<! Kodly, it was an holy aurl j^ood thought. Whereupon
he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from
sin." [2 Mace. xii. Kir,.]
' llwnjoja iMhj 0/ Quality, ji. i!)0.
acceptable to many, as one that may be incorporated with
their pnvate or their household prayers, together with such
Psalms as the 42nd, 121st, and I30th :—
Deus, cui propriumest mise-
reri semper et parcere ; te sujj-
plices deprecamur pro anima
famuli tui (vd famul;e tuaj),
quam hodie de hoc sseculo mi-
grare jussisti ; ut non tradas
eam in manus inimici, nee ob-
liviscaris in finem ; sed jubeas
illam ab angelis Sanctis sus-
cipi, atque ad I'egionem vivo-
rum perduci ; et quia in te
speravit et credidit, sancto-
rum tuorum mereatur socie-
tate la'tari. Per Dominum
nostrum Jesum Christum Fili-
um tuum, qui tecum vivit et
regnat in unitate Spiritus
Sancti Deus, Per omnia saicula
sseculorum.
God, Whose nature and
property is ever to have mercy
and to forgive, receive our
humble petitions for the soul
of Thy servant whom Thou
hast [this day] called to de-
part out of this world : and
because Thy servant did hope
and believe in Thee, we be-
seech Thee that Thou wilt
neither suffer him to fall into
the hand of the enemy, nor
forget him for ever ; but wilt
give Thine holy angels charge
to receive his soul, and to
transport it into the land of
the living, there to be found
worthy to rejoice in the fellow-
ship of Thy saints ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, Who
ever liveth and reigneth with
Thee in the Unity of the Holy
Ghost, one God, world with-
out end. Amen.
§ The Riijht to the Use of the Service.
A question not unfrequently arises, whether this Office
must necessarily be used over all persons buried in conse-
crated ground, provided they do not belong to one of the
three classes mentioned in the first Rubric. There are [1]
cases in wliich clergymen would rather avoid saying the
Service over ill-living and ill-dying parishioners, and also [2]
in which the survivors, being Dissenters, would prefer the
omission of the Service, such omission being also in known
agreement with the principles and wishes of the deceased.
The only law of the Church on the subject, besides the
Rubric, is the following : —
"Canon 68.
" Ministers not to refuse to Cliristen or Bury.
"No Minister shall refuse or delay to christen any child
according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer, that is
brought to the Church to him upon Sundays or Holy Days to
be christened, or to bury any corpse that is brought to the
Church or Churchyard, convenient warning being given him
thereof before, in such manner and form as is prescribed in
the said Book of Common Prayer. And if he shall refuse to
christen the one, or bury the otlier, (except the party deceased
were denounced excommunicated majon ezcommunieatione,
for some grievous and notoricuis crime, and no man able to
testify of his repentance,) he shall be suspended by the Bishop
of the diocese from his ministry by the space of three months. "
This Canon of 1603 tlius imposes a penalty on the clergy-
man for refnsinff to bury any person not e.\ctunmunicated ;
does not impose it for delay unaccompanied by refusal ; and
says nothing about omission by mutual consent of the clergy-
man and the friends of tlie deceased. The Kubric was added
(at the suggestion of Bisliop Cosin) in 16(il. Bishop Gibson,
in his Codex, evidently takes for gr.anted that the Service is
to be said over all except those mentinued in the Rubric, and
his opinion is rejiroduced by Burn and later writers. But,
until recent times, many persons were buried in private
grounds, such as gardens, orchards, and fields ; and probably
a case had never arisen in which tlie omission of the Service
was desired when the body of the deceased was brought tO
consecrated ground. Sir .lohn NiclioU says [Kem]ie r. Wickes],
"Our Cliurch knows no such indecency as putting the body
into the consecrated ground without the Service being at the
same time performed : " but this dictum must have been
uttered in forgetfulness of the law of 1821, which directs
that suicides {felo de se) .shall be buried there without Service,
and whicli seems to be in accordance with tlie practice indi-
cated by tlie first Pubric, in whicli there is no prohibition of
burial in consecrated ground.
An Act of Parliament [5 (ieo. IV. c. 25] empowers the Irish
Clergy to omit the Service in certain cases other than those
defined by the Rubric, and the preamble assumes that the
Clergy arc bound to use it in every case which is not excepted
an JntroDuction to tbe TBurial ^crtiice.
477
by the Statute or the Rubric. The rjuestion seems never to
have been fairly raised, and no judicial decision has dulined
the exact duty of a clergyman in respect to it. The nearest
approach to such a definition is contained in an opinion given
by Dr. Lushington on .Sc]itcinber 7, IS35, in which he .say.s,
" I think when tlie friends of the deceased apply to the
clergyman to abstain from performing the funeral Service,
on the ground that the deceased when alive was a dissenter,
the clergyman may comply with such request." In Lanca-
shire, Roman Catholics have constantly been buried without
any Service in the Church or Ciuirchyard ; while, on tlic
other hand, at tlie burial of Robert Owen the socialist, and
of the infidel Carlile, tlie clergymen thought it tlieir duty to
say the Service, in the face of a strong protest again.st its use
on the part of tlie relatives.
There are cases of notorious wickedness or iniidelity, iu
which it miglit be the painful duty of the clergyman to re-
fuse, on that account, to use the Office. In such cases it
would not probably be difficult to obtain the assent of the
survivors to such a course, if the reasons for taking it were
solemnly told to them beforehand. Should it be impossible
to obtain such an assent, there are few clergymen who would
not be prepared to abide the consecjuences. But in the
majority of cases, even where the life has been notoriously
evil, there is still room for the charitable hope that the
sinner has not been utterly forsaken by God's mercy in his
death.
But three classes are distinctly excluded from the right to
the use of this Office by the first Rubric — [1] the unbaptized,
[2] the excommunicate, and [3] those who " have laid violent
hands upon themselves." Each of these cases should be
noticed in some detail.
[1] Tlie unbaptized. Many infants and even adult pei"sons
die, of whom it is quite certain that they have not been
baptized ; and in such cases the law is clear. ' But it is an
ancient rule of the Church that while conditional baptism
should be administered to a living person, of whom it is
uncertain whether or not he has been baptized prex-iously, in
the case of deceased persons, in a Christian country, their
baptism is to be taken for granted unless there is proof to the
contrary. Archbishop Longley once wrote to a remonstrant,
"that the Service of the Church of England for the Burial of
the Dead is intended for those who have been made members
of the Church of Clirist by Baptism, and that to use tliat
Service over the unbaptized would be an anomalous and
irregular proceeding on the part of a minister of the Church
of England."' A strict observance of the Rubric tends very
much to impress upon parents the necessity of Holy Baptism
for their children.
[2] The excommunicate. The Rubric of 1661 is to be in-
terpreted in accordance with the Canon of 1603 : and hence a
person "excommunicate" must mean one "denounced, ex-
communicated majori excommimicutione, for some grievous
and notorious crime, and no man able to testify of his
repentance." A formal absolution before death by tlie
authority which has passed the sentence of excommunication
is not, therefore, of absolute necessity to admit the use of the
Office : an opening being left for the exercise of the charity of
the Church towards even one excommunicated from its fold,
if his repentance before death can be credibly shewn to have
taken place. While discipline is so little exercised as at
present, there is seldom any occasion for taking this part of
the Rubric into consideration ; but it is possible that a revival
of discipline may take place to the extent, at least, of excom-
municating open and notorious evil livers, when it might
sometimes become necessary to decide whether this charity
of the Church could be exercised or not.
It is clear tha.t sentence of excommunication is contemplated
by the Rubric, and that it does not include those who have
deserved it, but upon whom it has not been actually pro-
nounced. -
[3] Suicides. Suicides are divided by the common law of
the land into two classes — those who have committed felony
by a wilful murder of themselves, and those who have killed
themselves while iu a state of insanity. The first are held
fully responsible for the consequences of their act ; their
property being forfeited to the Crown, and their liodies
ordered to be buried in a churchyard or cemetery without
1 Letter to .a Unitarian preacher at Tenterden, May 20, 1SG5.
2 Sentence of excommunication was very frequently pronounced in the
sixteenth and seventeentli centuries ; and tliere are entries in Parisli
Registers of those who have died and lieen buried as excommunicates.
Lord George Gordon was excommunicated towards the end of the last
century.
any religious rite, and between the hours of nine and twelve
at night. The second are considered to be in no degree re-
sponsible for their act, and the law does not impose any penal
consequences upon it.
Such a distinction does not seem to be contemplated by
the Rubric, wliich speaks inclusively of all " who have laid
violent liands upon themselves." Yet Christian charity
requires that some distinction should be made, and such a
distinction was iuqjlied, at least, by the ancient canons on
the subject. Thus the Council of Bracara, or Braga, in Spain
[.\.D. 563], enjoins, "Concerning those who by any J'auU
inflict death on themselves, let there be no commemora-
tion of tliem in the Oljlation. . . . Let it be enjoined that
those who kill themselves by sword, poison, precipice, or
halter, or by any other means bring violent death upon them-
selves, shall not have a memorial made of them in the Obla-
tion, nor shall their bodies be carried with Psalms to burial."
This Canon was adopted among the Excerpts of Egbert, in
A.D. 7iO, and is substantially repeated among some Peniten-
tial Canons of tlie Church of England in A. u. 963, and indi-
cates the general principle of the canon haw on the subject.
This principle certainly indicates that a distinction should
be made between those who " by any fault" cause their own
deaths, and those who do so when they are so far deprived
of reason as not to be responsible in the sense of doing it by
"any fault," wilfully and consciously. And the Rubric be-
ing thus to be interpreted by a law of charity, the responsi-
bility of deciding in what cases exceptions shall be made to
its injunction is, by the nature of the case, thrown upon the
clergyman who has cure of souls in the parish where the
suicide is to be buried.
Numerous writers have laid it down that the verdict of the
Coroner's jury relieves the clergyman from this responsibility,
and that if that verdict is "Temporary Insanity" he is bound
to disregard the fact that the deceased person has laid violent
hands upon himself.^ But to adopt such a rule is to throw
uj) the discipline of the Church and to jilace it in the hands of
a secular tribunal ; one, moreover, which is apt to be influ-
enced by secondary motives and feelings in this particular
matter which are quite irrespective of the religious question.
If the same jury were to be asked, quite independently of the
question of forfeiture, whether the suicide was a person over
«hom they themselves could pronounce the words of the
Burial Service, the reply would often be in the negative, and
that the verdict of Temporary Insanity was one of charity
towards the living rather than of justice towards the dead.
There cannot be a doubt that many men would return such a
verdict under the feeling that the self-murder «as a great
crime indeed, one for which the suicide deserved punishment
if it had been possible to punish him, and one from which
others ought to be deterred : but that not being able to punish
him for his crime, they would not punish his family by add-
ing to their sufferings. The question of the verdict is, there-
fore, legally and morally distinct from that of the Rubric ;
and though the two are analogous, yet they must be judged
by separate persons and by separate standards. The jury
are the deputies of the State, to decide whether or not the
suicide was a felon by the laws of the State. The priest is
the deputy of the Church, to decide whether the benediction
of the Church can rightly be dispensed in the case of one
wdio has taken away life contrary to tlie la«' of God.
In coming to this decision the verdict of the jury should
have respectful attention, though it is not to be considered
as an invariable law for the clergyman. It is not often, per-
haps, that any circumstances within his own knowledge will
compel him to act in a way that seems to be discordant with
it ; nor need he seek out information to disturb his mind on
the subject. But if circumstances have come to his know-
ledge which make it plain that there was no such insanity as
to deprive the suicide of ordinary moral responsibility, then
he is to remember [1] that he is a "steward of the mysteries
of God," who has no right to misapply the blessings given
him to dispense : and [2] that the scandal, and encourage-
ment to suicide, which result from a too easy compliance, are
in themselves great evils which it is his duty, as it is within
his power, to prevent. In this case, as in the previous one
of excommunication, a solemn explanation of the painful
necessity might often win the sorrowful acouiescence of con-
scientious survivors.
3 It may be as well to state that the "Coroner's Warrant" for the
burial of a body over which an inquest lias been called is simply a dis-
charge of the body from the custody of the Crown. In ordinary cases it
is unconditional, and imposes no obligation of any kind as to ioterment.
In a case of/elo de se it ordei-s burial in the manner stated above.
THE ORDER FOR
THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD.
Inhumatio Defimcti,
If Here is to be noted, that the Office ensuing is not
to be used for any that die unbaptized, or excom-
municate, or have laid violent hands upon them-
selves.
H The Priest and Clerks meeting the Corpse at the
entrance of tlie Churchyard, and going before it,
either into the Church, or towards the Grave,
sliall say, or sing,
""T AM the riesurrection and the Life, saith the
-L Lord : he that believeth in Me, though he
were dead, yet shall he live : And whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.
' ~r KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that
-L He shall stand at the latter day npou the
earth. And though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God :
Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, and not another.
■Wl
brought nothing into this world, and it
IS certain we can carry nothing out :
the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ;
blessed be the Name of the Lord.
(I John ij. 25. 26.
* ^ar. Ant to
BeneOictus. at tlie
c Job 19, 25-27.
Coynp. Clirys. in
I Thess. 4. 13.
i^^ar. Vk^lsoftlie
Deail.
Tim. C. 7. Job
*A.T7^ GO sum Eesurrectio et Vita : qui credit in
-L- ^ Me, etiamsi mortuus fuerit, vivet : et
omnis qui vivit et credit in Me, non morietur in
ffitenmm.
''I^./^REDO quod Redemptor mens vivit : et in
^^ novissimo die de terra surrecturus sum :
Et in carne mea videbo Deum Salvatorem meum.
y. Quem visurus sum ego ipse et non alius :
et oculi mei conspecturi sunt. Et in carne mea
videbo Deum Salvatorem meum.
IT After they are come into the Church, shall be read
one or both of these Psalms following.
Dixi custodiam. Psalm xxxix.
I SAID, I will take heed to my ways : that I
offend not in my tongue.
I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle :
while the ungodly is in my sight.
I held my tongue, and spake nothing : I kept
silence, yea, even from good words ; but it was
pain and grief to me.
!My heart was hot within me, and while I was
thus nmsing the fire kindled : and at the last I
spake with my tongue ;
Lord, let me know mine end, and the number
of my days : that I may be certified how long
I have to live.
Behold, Thou hast made my days as it were
a span long : and mine age is even as nothing in
respect of Thee ; and verily every man living Is
altogether vanity.
For man walketh in a vain shadow, and dis-
quieteth himself in vain : he heapeth up riches,
and cannot tell who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what is my hope ; truly ray
hope is even in Thee.
Deliver me from all mine offences : and make
me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
I became dumb, and opened not my mouth :
for it was Thy doing.
Take Thy plague away from me : I am even
consumed by means of Thy heavy hand.
When Thou with rebukes dost chasten man for
Here, u to he. nolfd] For a full interpretation of this Piubric,
see the preceding Introduction to the Service.
either into the Church, or toimriU the Orave] This clearly
authorizes the Priest to read tlie wliole Service at the Grave
if, in his discretion, he should think it advisable to do so.
In bad cases of infectious disease, it would be more proper
that the body should not be taken into tlie Churcli ; and
there arc many cases (with modem habits of delaying funerals
for a week) in which it is not right to take it there when the
Church is, or is about soon to be, occupied liy a congregation.
shall m>/, or sinij] The first of tliese beautiful processional
Anthems is traceable to the ancient Jiihnmalio DiJ'imcli, and
was also a Compline Antiphon "in agenda Mortuoruni"in
the Antiphonarius of St. (iregory. The second was used in
the Vhi'dicr, Mnrliioriim or Dirge of tlio Sarum rite. In
Mekiiki ke's Common I'rayer Aoteil, they are arranged as
Responses .and Versicles, the divisions being made where the
musical points stand, in the text above. The Response is
also commenced .again, with .an "etc.." after the A'ersicle,
from which it would appear tli.at it should be rejieated by
the Choir. The second was thus arranged in tlie I'rimer of
the fourteenth century ; —
19. I bilecue that myn ajenbiere lyueth and I am to rise of
the ertho in the liist day, and in my lleish I shal se God my
Sauyour.
^'. Whom 1 my self shal sc and noon other : ami myn
yjen ben to so.
1^. And in my deishc I shal se god my Sauyour.
these Psalms /oUomihi'\ In the ancient IJuri.al Odico of the
Chnrch of KngLand a number of Psalms, exiv. xxv. cxviii.
xlii. cxxxii. cxxxix. oxlviii. cxlix. cl. , together with the
seven Penitenti.al I'salnis, or, instead of them ["vol salteni
at tf)c TBurial of tfje DcaD.
479
sin, Thou makest his beauty to consume away,
like as it were a moth fretting a garment : every
man therefore is but vanity.
Hear my prayer, O Lokd, and with Thine ears
consider my calling : hold not Thy peace at my tears.
For I am a stranger with Tliee : and a so-
journer, as all my fathers were.
O spare me a little, that I may recover my
strength : before I go hence, and be no more seen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Domine, rcfugium. Psalm xc.
IORD, Thou hast been our refuge : from one
-^ generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or
ever the earth and the world were made : Thou
art God from everlasting, and world without end.
Thou turnest man to destruction : again Thou
sayest, Come again, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as
yesterday : seeing that is past as a watch in the
night.
As soon as Thou scatterest them, they are even
as a sleep : and fade away suddenly like the grass.
In the morning it Ls green, and groweth up : but
intheevening it is cutdown, dried up, and withered.
For we consume away in Thy displeasure : and
are afraid at Thy wrathful indignation.
Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee : and
our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.
For when Thou art angry all our days are
gone : we bring our years to an end, as it were
a tale that is told.
The days of our age are threescore years and
ten ; and though men be so strong, that they
come to fourscore years : yet is their strength
then but labour and sorrow ; so soon passeth it
away, and we are gone.
But who regardeth the power of Thy wrath :
for even thereafter as a man feareth, so is Thy
displeasure.
O teach us to number our days : that we may
apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Turn Thee again, O Lord, at the last : and be
gracious unto Thy servants.
O satisfy us with Thy mercy, and that soon : so
shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
Comfort us again now after the time that Thou
hast plagued us : and for the years wherein we
have suffered adversity.
Shew Thy servants Thy work : and their chil-
dren Thy glory.
And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our
God be upon us : prosper Thou the work of our
hands upon u.s, O prosper Thou our handy-
work.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
IT Then shall follow the Lesson taken out of the
fifteenth Chapter of the former Epistle of Saint
Paul to the Corinthians.
1 Cor. XV. 20.
"VTOW is Christ risen from the dead, and
-»-^ become the First-fruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order : Christ the
First-fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's
at His coming. Then cometli the end, when He
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even
the Father ; when He shall have put down all
rule, and all authority, and power. For He must
reign, till He hath jiut all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For He hath put all things under His feet. But
when He saith all things are put under Him, it
is manifest that He is excepted, Which did put
all things under Him. And when all things shall
be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also
Himself be subject unto Him that put all things
under Him, that God may be all in all. Else
what shall they do which are baptized for the
dead ? if the dead rise not at all, why are they
then baptized for the dead 1 And why stand we in
jeopardy every hour ] I protest by your rejoicing,
which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die
daily. If after the manner of men I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me,
if the dead rise not t Let us eat and drink, for
to-morrow we die. Be not deceived : evil com-
munications corrupt good manners. Awake to
righteousness, and sin not ; for some have not
the knowledge of God. I speak this to your
shame. But some man will say. How are the
dead raised up 1 and, with what body do they
come 1 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die. And that which thou
sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some
Psalmum "], the De Profundis, Psalm cxxx. It m.-iy be
doubted whether all these Psalms were used at every burial.
In the Prayer Book of 1549, after the two prayers which
followed the placing of tlie corpse in the grave, came this
Rubric, "H These Psalms, with other suffrages following,
are to be said in the Church, either before or after the burial
of the corpse :" the Psalms being cxvi. cxxxix. cxlvi-
At the Holy Communion, Psalm xlii., " Like as the hart
desireth the water-brooks," was used as the Introit. Singular
to say, no Psalms were printed in the Burial Service from
1552 to 1661, nor did the Introit appear in the Latin Office
for the celebration of the Holy Communion at funerals.
They appear to liave been omitted in deference to the scruples
<if Bucer, who objected to prayers for the dead. [Cosin's
Works, v. 498.] At the last revision, in 1061, the Psalms
xxxix. and xc. were inserted, and thus the OfBce regained
its ancient and primitive character.
T/ie7i shall folloio the Lesson] This and other portions of the
New Testament which are used in the Burial Service have
been in use from the primitive ages of Christianity.
There is no part of the New Testament which so compre-
hensively sets forth the doctrine that our Lord's Incarnation
is the source of all spiritual life, and therefore the source of
eternal life, as the chapter now read for the Lesson. [See
notes in Blunt's ^liuiol. Bible.]
§ The Holy Communion.
If the Holy Communion is celebrated at a funeral, the
proper place for it is immediately after the Lesson, while the
body of the deceased is yet in the Church.
Introit. Ps. xlii.
Epistle. 1 Thess. iv. 13-18.
Gospel. John vi. 37-40.
48o
at m T5urial of m DeaD.
other grain : But God givetli it a body, as it hath
pleased Him, and to every seed his own body.
All flesh is not the same flesh ; but there is one
kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts,
another of fishes, and another of birds. There
are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial ;
but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory
of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory
of the suu, and another glory of the moon, and
another glory of the stars ; for one star difl'ereth
from another star in glory. So also is the resur-
rection of the dead : It is sown in corruption ; it
is raised in iucorruption : It is sown in dishonour ;
it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it
is raised in power : It is sown a natural body ; it
is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural
body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is
written. The first man Adam was made a living
soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening
Spirit. Howbeit, that was not first which is
spiritual, but that which is natural ; and after-
ward that which is spiritual. The first man is of
the earth, earthy : the second Man is the Lord
from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also
that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, such are
they also that are heavenly. And as we have
borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. Kow this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit
iucorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump, (for the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall
be changed.) For this corruptible miLst put on
iucorruption, and this mortal must put on immor-
talitj\ So when this corruptible shall have put
on iucorruption, and this mortal .shall have put
on immortality ; then shaU be brought to pass
the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up
in victory. death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory ? The sting of death
is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But
thanks be to God, Which giveth us the victor}'
through our LoED Jesus Christ. Therefore, my
beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, for-
asmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain
in the Lord.
II When they come to the Grave, while the Corpse is
made ready to be laid into the earth, the Priest
shall say, or the Priest and Clerks shall sing :
MAN that is born of a vroman hath but a
short time to live, and is fuU of misery.
Dirge.
H
OMO natus de muliere brevivivens tempore
repletur multis miseriis. Qui quasi flos
niien they come to the Grai>e'\ Bishop Cosin altered this
Rubric as follows : "H If there be any Divine Service to be
read, or Sermon to be made at this time, the Corpse shall be
decently placed in the midst of the Church till they be ended.
Then all going in decent manner to tlie grave, while tlie
Corpse is made ready," etc. By "Divine Service" Cosin
doubtless meant the Holy Communion, as no other Service
was ever mixed up in this manner witli the Burial Office.'
Provision liad been made for this in Edward VI. 's reign and
in that of Queen Klizabeth. Sermons at funerals were also
common in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; and a
very excellent "Sermon at burienges *' is provided at the end
of Taverjjer's Pastils, priuted a.d. 1.540.
Clerks shall sing] This expression here and in the preced-
ing Rubric recognizes tlie presence of a choir as a matter of
course ; liut their absence is provided for by the alternative
direction for the Priest to say the Anthem alone.
THE BURIAL ANTHEM.
This was printed continuously until the last re\asion, when
it was separated into paragraphs at the suggestion of Bishop
Cosin. It was printed by the Reformers of 1549 in two por-
tions—first, the two verses from Job ; and, secondly, " In the
midst of life," etc., the latter being translated (with some
slight changes in the last paragraph) from an Anthem used at
Compline on the third Sunday in Lent.^
Tlie use of this noble Anthem, Sequence, or Prose, at
Burials is peculiar to the English Communion ; and it never
had a place in any part of the Roman Breviary. It conies
into the Ambrosian Odice for the second and fifth weeks in
Lent, and is used at Tours on New Year's Eve. In some old
German Breviaries it wa-s appointed for a Compline .\nthem on
Saturdays, and it is often used also at Compline on Sundays.
The original composition of the Media vita is traced back
to Notkcr, to whom that of the Dies \tx can be traced, and
who was a monk of St. Gall, in Switzerland, at the close of
1 It IB right to add, liowevcr, that at St Paul's Cathedral the Burial
Office lias been Hometime.n amal^amaUrd with Kvensong, the proper Psaluis
and Lesson btintc Kulistitnted for ttiosc of the day.
'At Pct«rborougli, iiart of the Hentcnccf of tlic Burial Ser^'ico were sung
■s tlie anthem during Service on tlie Eve of tlio Annunciation |1642. Gun-
ton, p. 99. 1
the ninth century. It is said to have been suggested to him
by some circumstance similar to that which gave birth to a
noljle passage in Shakespeare.^ As our English poet watched
the samphire-gatherers on the clifls at Dover, so did Notker
observe similar occupations elsewhere. And as he watched
men at some "dangerous trade," he sang, "In the midst of
life we are in death, " moulding his awful hymn to that familiar
form of the Trisagion, "Holy God, Holy and Jlighty, Holy
and Immortal, have mercy upon ns, "which is found in the
primitive Liturgies. In the Jliddle Ages it was adopted as a
Dirge on all melancholy occasions in Germany : armies used
it as a battle-song ; and superstitious ideas of its miraculcus
power rose to such a height, that in the year 1316 the Synod
of Cologne forbade the people to sing it at all except on such
occasions as were allowed by their Bishop. A version of it
by Luther, "Mitten wir im Leben sind," is still very popular
in Germany as a hymn.
When sung to such strains as befit its beautiful words, this
Anthem has a solemn magnificence, and at the same time a
waihug prayerfulness, %\ hich makes it unsurpassable by any
analogous portion of any ritual w hatever. It is the prayer of
the living for themselves and for the departed, when both
are in the Presence of God for the special object of a final
seiiaration (so far as this world and visible things are con-
cerned) until the great Day. At such a season we do not
argue about Prayers for the departed, but we jiray them.
For them and for ovirselvcs we plead the mercies of the
Saviour before the eternal .ludge. Not as those to vhom the
brink of the grave brings no thought but th.at of our own
mortality do we tremblingly cry out for fear ; but as stand-
ing up before our dead who still live, as in anticipation of
the Day when we sli.all ag.ain stand together, dying no more,
before the Throne of the Judge, we acknowledge tliat Death
is a m.irk of (iod's displeasure, that it is a result of sin. and
that it ends in the bitter pains of an eternal death, unless
the holy, mighty, and merciful Saviour deliver us. Such
deep words of penitent humiliation on our own behalf, and
on that of the person whose body is now to be removed from
our sight, are a fitting termination to the last hour which
is spent in the actual presence of those with whom we have,
perhaps, spent many hours whieli need the mercy of God.
^ King Lear, iv. 6.
at tfje 'Ji3iirial of tfjc DcaD.
481
He Cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower ;
he tteeth as it were a shadow, ami never con-
tinueth in one stay.
In the midst of life we are in death ; of wliom
may we seek for succour, but of Thee, O Loud,
Who for our sins art justly displeased?
Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most
mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour,
deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal
death.
Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts ;
shut not Thy merciful ears to our prayer ; but
spare us. Lord most holy, O God most mighty,
O holy and merciful Savioctr, Thou most worthy
Judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for
any pains of death, to fall from Thee.
IT Then, while the earth shall be cast upon the body
by some standing by, the Priest shall say,
FORASMUCH as it hath pleased Almighty
God of His great mercy to take unto Him-
self the soul of our dear brother here departed,
we therefore commit hU body to the ground;
a l.t'iiteii Ant,
Nunc Dimittts.
'■ 5ar.
egreditur et conteritur : et fugit velut umbra, et
nunquam in eodem statu permanet.
"A. Media vita in morte sumus :
Quern (juujrinms adjutorem nisi Te, Domine?
Qui pro peccatis nostris juste irasceris.
Saiicte Deus, Sanctc Fortis, Sancte et misericors
Salvator :
Amarse morti ne tradas nos.
f. Ne projicias nos in tempore senectutis :
Cum defecerit virtus nostra, ne derelinquas
nos, Domine.
Sancte Deu.s, Sancte Fortis, Sancte et miseri-
cors Salvator :
Amarse morti ne tradas uos.
y. Noli claudere aures Tuas ad preces no.stras.
Sancte Fortis, Sancte et misericors Salvator :
Amarae morti ne tradas nos.
y. Qui cognoscis occulta cordis, parce peccatis
nostris.
Sancte et misericors Salvator :
Amarse morti ne tradas nos.
* Finitis orationibus executor officii terram super cor-
pus ad modum crucis pouat . . .
C^IOMMENDO animam tuam Deo Patri Omni-
^ potenti, terram terras, cinerem cineri, pul-
verem pulveri, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et
Spiritus Sancti.
Ill the ancient Latin rite of the Church of England, the
114th Psalm, "When Israel came out of Egypt," was sung
during the procession to the grave ; anil if the i}roeession was
long in going, the 2oth Psalm also, " Unto Thee, God, will
I lift up my soul. " The Antiplion to the Psalm was, "May
the angels carry thee to Paradise ; may the martyrs receive
thee into tiieir assembly, and bring thee unto the (Jity of the
heavenly Jerusalem. "
Then, icliilr. tlie earth shall he eaxt] This striking ceremony
was anciently performed by the Priest himself, and so tlie
Rubric directed in 1.549 ; but was ordered to be performed
by "some standing by" in 1.552. The practice of casting it
thrice appears to be one not peculiar to Christians, since it is
referred to by Horace [Carm. I. .\xviii. 3.5] —
" Licebit
lujecto ter pulvere curras."
Bishop Cosiii says that it was the custom in most places for
this to be done by the Priest in his day. In some parts of
England four or five of the mourners usually assist the sexton
in filling up the grave. Both customs arise out of that instinct
of human nature that the Burial of the Dead is one of the
works of mercy.
The original intention of the Office appears to have been
that the Priest should cast in the three .symbolical handfuls
of earth, sayiug the words of commeiidation, and that then
the Anthem should be sung while the grave was being filled
up by "some standing by." ^ This reconciles the Rubric, the
custom above referred to, and Cosin's words, "Still the priest
uses to cast the earth upon the corpse, before the clerk or
sexton meddles with it." [CosiN's Works, v. 168.] In the
Greek Chunh the Priest casts earth on the body, saying,
"The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the comiiass
of the round world, and tbey that dwell therein." A touch-
ing memorial that the earth is being sown with the bodies of
the saints as Paradise is being filled with their souls.
Forasmuch as it hath phased] These words are founded on
several texts of Scripture. "Then shall the dust return to
the earth as it was : and the spirit shall return unto God
Who gave it." [Eocles. xii. 7.] "Behold now, I have taken
upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and
ashes." [Gen. xviii. 27. 1 " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return." [Gen. iii. 19.] "For our conversation is in
heaven ; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ : Who shall change our vile body, that it may
be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the
working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto
Himself." [Phil. iii. 20, 21.]
The various forms in which these commendatory words
have been cast may be seen at a glance by the following
parallel arrangement : —
1549.
I commend thy soul
to God the Father Al-
mighty, and thy body to
the ground ; earth to
earth, ashes to ashes,
dust to dust ;
insure and certain hope
of resurrection to eter-
nal life, through our
Lord Jesus Christ . . .
1552.
Forasmuch as it hath
pleased Almighty God
in sure and certain hope
of resurrection to eter-
nal life, through our
Lord Jesus Christ . . .
Proposed by Cosin."
Forasmuch as it hath
pleased Almighty God
1661.
Forasmuch as it hath
pleased Alndghty God
in hope of a general and in sure and certain hope
joyful resurrection to of the resurrection to
eternal life, through our eternal life through our
Lord Jesus Christ . . . Lord Jesus Christ . . .
Burial at Sea.
Forasmucb as it hath
pleased Almighty God
We therefore commit his
body to the Deep, to be
turned into corruption,
looking for the resurrec-
tion of the body, (when
the sea shall give up her
dead, ) and the life of the
world to come, through
our Lord Jesus Christ
1 "This is left arbitrary for any bystander to iierform, by wliicli it is
implied that it shall be the state and condition of e\'ery one one day. He
that casts e;irth upon tlie dead bo.ly to-day may have earth cast upon his
tomorrow, ' llodie nilhi, eras tibi.' " [Ki.borow On Occasional Ojfirc.-t, p. 115.)
- This is the form which was originally written in the MS. now preserved
in the House of Lords; but under "general and joyful" a reviser has
interlinec' " sure and certain. "
:.' U
482
at tf)c ai?utial of tl3C Dcat).
earth to eartli, ashes to ashes, dust to dust ; in
"sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to
eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ ;
"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be
like unto His glorious body, according to the
mighty working, whereby He is able to subdue
all things to Himself.
IT Tlieu shall be said or sun
*T HEARD
-L me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord : even so saith the
Spirit ; for they rest from their labours.
a Tlie words "sure
and certain " were
originally omitted
from the MS., but
\* ere afterwards
interlined.
a voice from heaven, saying unto ; t Rev. 14. 13.
' <: Sar. VigiU of
I the dead. AiiL r<>
Magnificat. So al-
so in the Dirige ol
the Primers of 1535.
■539-
T Then the Priest shall say,
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy npon vs.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
OUR Father, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thj'
wiU be done in eavtli. As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses. As we forgive them that trespass
against ils. And lead us uot into temptation :
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
^ Priest.
ALMIGHTY God, with Whom do live the
-LX. .spirits of them that depart hence in the
Lord, and with Whom the souls of the faithful,
after they are delivered from the burden of the
flesh, are in joy and felicity ; We give Thee
hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased Thee to
deliver this our brother out of the miseries of
this sinful world ; beseeching Thee, that it may
please Thee, of Thy gracious goodness, shortly
to accomplish the number of Thine elect, and to
hasten Thy kingdom ; that we, with all those
rf At the burial.
/ Prayer
'549
' AUDIYI vocem de coelo dicentem : Beati mor-
-jl^ tui qui in Domiso moriuntur.
. . . '' Jeinde sequatur.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
PATER noster, Qui es in ccelLs ; sanctificetur
nomcu Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum :
fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in ccelo, et in terra.
Pauem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie :
et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos
dimittimus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas
in tentationeni : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
DEUS,apud Quern spiritus mortuorum vivunt,
et in Quo electorum animte, deposito car-
nis onere, plena felicitate la;tantur, prajsta sup-
plicantibus nobis, ut anima famuli Tui . . .
' ALMIGHTY God, we give Thee hearty thanks
-L\. for this Thy servant, whom Thou hast
delivered from the miseries of this wretcheil
world. . . . Grant, we beseech Thee, that at the
day of judgement his soul, and all the souls of
Thy elect, departed out of this life, may with us.
The latter form has been substantially adopted liy the
American Cliurch.
These words sometimes appear out of place wheu used over
persons who have lived evil hves, and have not given evidence
of dying penitent deaths. But it must be remembered that
the Burial OtJice is framed on the supposition that it should
be used only over those who are Christians ; those, that is,
who have been made members of Christ, children of Ciod, ami
inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven. If they have ceased
to be Christians, tliey have no right to the use of the Office.
But who have ceased to be Christians ? And who would
dare, of their own unauthorized judgement, to go against the
spirit of the injunction laid on us by the Apostle, " Judge
nothing before the time " ? It may be regretted that tlie
oinginal form of 1,")49 was ever altered ; but it is instructive
to learn that the form adopted to please tlie Puritans of I5D2
was thoroughly distasteful to the Puritans of lOGl.
What the words do, in fact, express, is this : That [1] the
body of a Christian, our "dear brother " in Christ (even if an
erring brother) is being committed to the ground. That [2]
God lias taken him to Himself in the sense that bis spirit
has "returned to (iod Wlio gave it." That [:ij while we thus
commit the body of one to the ground, who (whatever he was,
was yet a sinner) we do it with faith in a future llcsurrection
of all. That [4] without any expression of judgement as to
our departed bnjther, we will yet call that hope a "sure and
certain hope," since it is founded on the Word of (Jod.
There may be cases iu which persons have iliod in tlic
actual committal of some grievous sin, and in wliicli these
words might be manifestly unsuitable ; but in such cases the
whole Office is out of place, and the clergyman sliould dechnc
to use it. And iu almost all others, if not in all, there is
room for an expression of liope, in the spirit of charity in
which the Church appoints the wonla to be used ; and as the
Bishops replied to the Puritans in 16G1, "It is better to be
charitable and hope the best, than rashly to condemn. "
Then the Prie.'it shall say] In the Book of 1549 the Psalms
and Lesson were directed to be said in the Church either
before or after the burial of the corpse, "with other suffrages
following." Tliose suH'rages consisted of the lesser Litany
and the Lord's Prayer, with these from the ancient Office.
Priest. Kilter not (O Lord) into judgement with Thy servant.
Ansrcer. For in Thy sight no living creature shall be justified.
Priest. From the gates of hell,
Aitswer. Deliver their souls, 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.
A».neer. And let my cry come unto Thee.
After which fidlowed this pr.-iycr, of w hich tli.at now iu use
is a modified form, "O Lord, with Wliom 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 ficsh
be in joy and felicity ; (ir.ant unto this 'I'hy servant that the
sins which he coniniittcil in this world be not imputed unto
him ; but that be escaping the gates of hell, .and pains of
etern.il darkness, may ever dwell in the region of light, with
Abraliam, Isa.ac, and .I.icob, in tlie place where is no w eeping,
sorrow, nor heaviness ; and wlicn tli.at dreadful 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 iii.adc pure and incorruptible. Set him on the riglit
li.and of Thy Son .Icsus Christ, among the holy and elect, that
then he ni.ay hear with them these most sweet and comfortable
words
With
ended
benediction was added.
I'ith this prayer the Office (excepting the celebration I
cd from l.")4!) until the last revision in Kifll. when the
at tbc IBurial of tbc DcaD.
483
tliat are departed in the true faith of Thy holy
Name, may have our perfect consummation and
bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and
everlasting glory ; through Jesus Chkist our
Lord. Amen.
f The Collect.
OMOST merciful God, the Fathkb of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Resurrec-
tion and the Life ; in Whom whosoever believeth
shall live, though he die ; and whosoever livoth,
and believeth in Him, shall not die eternally ;
Who also hath taught us, by His holy Apostle
Saint Paul, not to be sorry, as men without hope,
for them that sleep in Him ; We meekly beseech
Thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of
sin unto the life of righteousness ; that, when we
shall depart this life, we may rest in Him, as our
hope is this our brother doth ; and that, at the
general Resurrection in the last day, 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 from the beginning
of the world : Grant this, we beseech Thee, O
merciful Father, through Jesus Christ our
Mediator and Redeemer. Amen.
a rr.lyer Kook of
1549. Celebration
of Holy Com-
intinion at Burials.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of Goo, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Ameii.
b Prayer Book of
1549. Burial of the
and we with them, fully receive Thy jiromises,
and be made perfect altogether ; through the
glorious resurrection of Thy Son Jesus Christ
our Lord.
CoUect.
"rx MERCIFUL God, the Father of our Lord
V_/ Jesu Christ, Who is the Resurrection and
the Life ; in Whom whosoever believeth .'^hall live,
though he die ; and whosoever liveth, and believ-
eth in Him, shall not die eternally ; Who also
hath taught us, (by His holy Apostle Paul,) not
to be sorry, as men without hope, for them that
sleep in Him ; We meekly beseech Thee, (O
Father,) to raise us from the death of sin unto
the life of righteousness ; that, when we shall
depart this life, we may sleep in Him, as our
hope is this our brother doth ; and at the general
Resurrection in the last day, both we, and this
our brother departed, receiving again our bodies,
and rising again in Thy most gracious favour,
may, with all Thine elect s:iints, obtain eternal
joy. Grant this, O Lord God, by the means of
our Advocate Jesus Christ ; Which, with Thee
and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one
God for ever. Amen.
. . . *Set him on the right hand of Thy Son
Jesus Christ, among Thy holy and elect, that
then he may hear with them these most sweet
and comfortable words. Come to Jle, ye blessed
of Jly 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 ilediator
and Redeemer. Amen.
c A.D. 1661. 2 Cor.
Tlie Colled] This most beautiful Collect properly belongs
(as was previously shewn) to the Office for the celebration of
the Holy Communion at funerals, and hence its title. The
first part of it is founded on the Gospel used at funerals when
they took place on Sunday, and on the Epistle, whicli was
used witliout variation, following in this many of the Collects
for Sundays and other Holydays.
\Vhen tlie revision of 1552 took place, the Introits were
uniformly removed from the Prayer Book, including that
used in the Burial Office. The special Epistle and Gospel
were also removed from the English Book, although retained
iu the Latin one. Hence the Collect only was left, and this
was (according to the usual manner in which the Missal was
printed) placed with the other jjarts of the Service for use
when required. In 1661 the Apostolic Benediction was placed
after it ; and tlius led to its being regarded as part of the
ordinary Burial Service, even when there is no celebration of
the Holy Eucharist. The Communion Collect being used at
Morning and Evening Prayer, analogy permit.^ the use of the
Funeral Communion Collect in the Funeral Service without
Communion ; but probably its omission in such cases is
strictly the proper rule.
When there is a Celebration, this Collect takes the place of
the Collect for the day, and should not be repeated at the
grave after having been said at the Altar.
The latter part of the prayers is translated from that
belonging to the " Missa de quinque vubieribus," in the
Sarum Missal : "Domine Jesu Cliriste, Fili Dei vivi ; qui de
cibIo ad terram de sinu Patris descendisti ; et in ligno crucis
quinque plagas sustinuisti : et sanguineni tuum preciosum in
remissionem peccatorum nostrorum effudisti ; Te humiliter
deprecamur ut in die judicii ad doxteram Tuam .st.ituti a Te
audire mereamur illam vocem dulcissimam, Venite, benedicti,
in regnum Patris mei. Qui cum eodem Patre in unitate.
Per."
The grace of our Lord] This was inserted here by Bishop
Cosin, who at first wrote out for insertion, "The blessing of
God Almighty the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be
amongst you, and remain with you always ;" thus illustrating
the form in which that Benediction should be used when not
given at the Holy Communion. Used in the Burial Service
this Apostolic form of blessing has a particular meaning, for
it especially includes the deceased person, and thus becomes
a very solemn farewell to him as his body is left in the grave.
APPENDIX TO THE BURIAL OFFICE.
In the Primitive Church, and in the Church of England
before the Reformation, it was the custom to celebrate a
Service of Commemoration on the anniversaries of the death
of a friend, relative, or benefactor. These services were, of
course, only continued for a time, according to the provision
made by survivors or by the will of the deceased persons."
And, as is well known, they too often degenerated into
superstition, in connection with the erroneous dogma of a
penal Purgatory.
The principle of such services has, however, been retained
in the Church of England to the present day ; and the follow-
ing two Offices offer an illustration of the manner in which
that principle is carried out in the language of modem
devotion. The first is used in tlie Cliapel Royal, Windsor,
once in every quarter. The second (which varies in some
respects) is used in some of the Colleges of Oxford and Cam-
bridge (though neglected in some) once during every term ;
484
at tf)C IBmial of tbe DcaD.
and is substantially the same as that which was authorized in
the Latin Prayer Book of loOO. The particular form printed
here is that used at Trinity College, Canibridge. That of
Queen Elizabeth is also given.
(A)
"THE SERVICE APPOINTED FOP. OBIIT SUXDAY.
( XXI.
Propei- Psalms { CXLVI.
( CXLVII.
The First Lesson. Ecclesiasticus xliv.
The Second Lesson. Hebrews xi.
These two Collects following are read daily at Mornimj and
Evening Prayer, immediately hefore the Prayer of St.
Chrysostom.
ALMIGHTY God, we beseech Thee to keep Thy servant
VICTORIA, our most gracious Queen and Governor, and so
rule her heart in Thy Faith, Fear, and Love, that evermore
she may have Affiance and Trust in Thee, and ever seek Thy
Honour and Glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ame)i.
GOD save our gracious Sovereign, and all the Companions of
the most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. Amen.
In the Communion Servirr, the portion of Scripture for the
Epistle ('- Deuteronomy x.xxiii.
The Gospel is St. John v. verse 24 to 30.
The following Pp.avers are used immediately after the Gloria
in Excekis Deo.
Priest.
Lord, save our Queen.
Choir.
And mercifully hear us when we call upon Thee.
O LORD our heavenly Father and merciful Saviour Jesus
Christ, assist our most worthy Queen continually with Thy
Holy Spirit, that as she is anciently and truly descended from
the noble Princes of this Realm, and the bountiful Patrons
and Founders of this noble Order and Churcli, so she may
proceed in all good works ; namely, for sustentation of Learn-
ing, and help of Poverty ; and that all Noblemen of this
Realm (especially such as be Companions of this most honour-
able Order of the Garter) may likewise dispose themselves
in Honour and Virtue at all times, that God thereby may be
tlie better honoured, tlie Commonwealth served, and their
Fame remain to their Posterity ; and that we all may con-
tinue in tlie true Faith, and walk in good Works that God
hath appointed us, througli Jesus Clirist our Lord. Amen.
WE praise and thank Thee, Lord, in all the noble Kings,
Patrons, and Founders of this Order, and our Benefactors
Thy Servants, humbly beseeching Thy Majesty, that as they
for their time honourably and charitably did bestow their
gifts to our relief, so we may faithfully use tbem, to the end
that thereby others may be moved by such examples, to pro-
vide for good and learned Ministers to teach Thy Word, and
to be merciful in relieving the Poor, through Jesus Christ our
Lord and Saviour. Amen.
GOD save our gracious Sovereign, and all the Companions of
the most Honourable and Noble Order of the Garter. Amen.
(B)
"Forma Commendationis Fundatoris et aJiorum Bene-
factorum.
Prima recitelur. Pater noster, etc.
Deinde deaintentur hi treJt P.mlmi :
Exaltabo Te, Deus. Psal. cxlv.
Lauda, aninia mea, Dominum. Psal. cxlvi.
Laudato iJuminum. Psal. cxlvii.
Post haic legatur caput 44 Ecclosiastici
Turn unun e Concionatoribun concionc.m haheat.
Finila condone, decantetur Hymnus sequens.
Verne and Chorus.
Oh, give tlianka unto the Lord.
Solo Contra-Tenor.
The righteous shall bo liad in everlasting remembrance, and
the just as the lirightncss of the liimamont.
Verse and Chorus.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for everlasting, and let all
the people say. Amen.
Ad extremmn Juec oratio adhibeatur ;
Minister.
The memory of the righteous shall remain for evermore ;
Chorus.
And shall not be afraid of any evil report.
Min ister.
The souls of the righteous are in the haud of God ;
Chorus.
Neither .shall any grief hurt them.
Minister.
The Lord be with you ;
Chorus.
And %vith thy spirit.
Let us give thanks.
LORD, Who art the Resurrection and the Life of them
that believe. Who always art to be praised, as well in those
that live as in those that are departed ; we give Thee thanks
for King HENRY the Eighth our Founder, Queen Mary,
EiiWARD the Third, Hekvy of Stanton, and others our
Benefactors, by whose Beneficence we are here maintained for
the fartlier attaining of godliness and learning ; beseeching
Thee to grant, that we, well using to Thy glory these Thy
gifts, may rise again to eternal life, with those that are
departed in the faith of Christ, through Christ our Lord.
A men.
THPj grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all ever-
more. Amen."
The following is the Elizabethan form of this OfiBce : —
IS fOMMENDATIONIBUS BENEFACTORUM.
Ad cujusque termini finem, commendatio tiat fundatoi'is,
aliorumque clarorum virorum, quorum beneficeutia Colle-
gium locupletatur. Ejus lia;c sit forma.
Primum recitetur clai'a voce Oratio dominica.
Pater noster qui es in coelis, etc.
! Exaltabo te Deus mens rex.
Psalmus cxliv.
Lauda anima mea Do. cxlv.
Laudate Dominum, quoniam
bonus. Psalmus cxlvi.
Postha^c legatur caput 44. Ecclesiastici.
His finitis, sequatur concio, in qua concionator Fundatoris
amplissimam muniticentiam pra?dicet : quantus sit liter-
arum usus ostendat : quantis laudibus afiiciendi sunt, qui
literarum studia beneiicentia sua excitent : quantum sit
ornameutum Regno doctos viros habere, qui de rebus
controversis vere judicare possunt : quanta sit scriptur
arum laus, & quantum ilhe omni humanaj auctoritati
antecedant, quanta sit ejus doctrinie in vulgus utilitas, &
quam late jiateat : quam egregium & regium sit (cui
Deus universal plebis sua; curam commisit) de multitudinc
miuistrorum verbi laborare, at()ue hi ut honesti at(iue
eruditi sint, curare : atque aha ejus generis, qua; pii &
docti viri cum laude illustrare possiut.
Hac Concione perorata decantetur.
Benedictus Dominus Dous Israel.
Ad extremum ha!c adhibeantur.
Minister. In memoria a'terna erit Justus.
Responsio. Ab auditu malo non timclut.
Minister. Justorum anima; in nianu Dei sunt.
Responsio. Nee attinget illos cruciatus.
Oremus.
Domino Deus, resurrectio & vita credcntium, qui semper
cs laudandus, tarn in viventibus, quam in defunctis, aginius
tibi gratias pro fuudatore nostro N. ceterisquo benefactoribus
miatris, quorum beneficiis liic ad pietatcm & studia literarum
alimur : rogantes, ut no.i his donis ad tuam gloriam rccte
utcntcs, una mm illis ad resurrectionis gloriam inimortaleni
perducamnr. Per Christum Ilominum nostrum. Amen.
at tt)C 1i3uvjal of tfje DcaD.
485
The following is the actual form autliorized in 1560 for the
celebration of the Holy Coininuiiion at Funerals : —
CKLEBRATIO flEN.lC DOMINI, I.N FUNEDKinUS, SI AMICI &
VICINI DEFUXLTI (.OJIMUNICARE VELINT.
CoUecta.
Miaericors Deus, Pater Domini nostri .Icsu Christi, rjni es
resurrectio & vita, in quo qui credidit, etianisi niortuus fuerit,
vivet ; & in quo qui crediderit & vivit, non niorietur in a^er-
nuni : qui(iuc nos docuisti per sanctum Apostohini tuum
I'aulnm, non debere mtprere pro dormicntilins in Cliristo,
aicut ii fjui spem non habent resurrectionis : humiliter peti-
nius, ut nos a morte peccati I'esnscites ad vitam justitia', ut
cnin ex liac vita emigramus, dormiamns cum (liristo. qnemad-
modum spi'ramns hunc fratrem nostrum, & in generali resur-
rectione, extreme die, nos una cum hoc fratrc nostro rcsus-
oitati, & receptis corporibus, regncmus una tecum in vita
;eterna. Tcr Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum.
Epistola. 1 Tliess. iv.
Nolo vos ignorare, fratrcs, dc his (pii obdormicrunt, . . .
Proinde consolciniui vos niutuo sermonibus his.
Evangelium. .Joan. vi.
Dixit Jesus discipulis snis, & turbis Jud^orum : Omne quod
dat mihi Pater . . . habeat vitam .Tteniam, & ego suscitabo
eum in novissimo die.
Vel hoc Evangelium. .loan. v.
Dixit Jesus discipulis suis, & turbis Judieorum : Amen,
.\men, dico vobis, qui .sermonem meum audit . . . qui vcro
mala egerunt, in reaurrectioncm coudemnationis.
AN
INTRODUCTION TO THE CHURCHING SERVICE.
This Service underwent scarcely any change in the transition
of our Offices from the old English system to the new. In
lo-)'-0 the ancient title M'as retained, the "quire door " was
substituted for the door of the Church, and the address at
the commencement of the Service was substituted for that at
the end of the old one. In 1552 the present Title was adopted,
and "the place where the table standeth " put instead of
"the quire door." In lOtil the two Psalms now in use were
substituted for the 121st : the second of them being added to
the 121st by Bishop Cosin, but the llGth afterwards inserted
instead of it.
Although the Churching Service does not appear in the
ancient Sacramentaries, very ancient Offices for the purjjose
are to be found in the rituals of the Western and Eastern
Churches, which are given in the pages of Martene and Goar.
The practice itself is referred to in St. Gregory's answer to
the questions of St. Augustine [a.d. 601]. The latter had
asked, " How long must it be before a woman comes to church
after childbirth?" and St. Gregory's reply contains tlie exact
expression now adopted as the title of the Service :' "In how
many days after her delivery a woman may enter into the
church you have learned from the Old Testament. . . . Yet
if she enter into the church to make her thanksgiving [actura
gratias] the very hour in which she gives birth, she is not to
be considered as doing that which is sinful. " 'There is a still
more ancient reference to the practice in the seventeenth con-
stitution of the Emperor Leo, published about .\.D. "KiO. In
both cases the custom is mentioned in such a way as to give
the impression that it was a familiar and established one ;
but there appears to have been a frequent difficulty as to the
interval which should be allowed after childbirth before the
thanksgiving was made. It is not unreasonable, therefore,
1 In the Ruhric at tlic beginning fif this OHice, in the Greek ritual, the
jihrasc tri tu \iix'Kv,irtoLs^7t^tx.i is nsed. [Goar, p. 2(j7.]
to conclude tliat the Churcliing of Women is a primitive
practice derived from the Jews ; and that its adoption by
the Christian Church was accompanied ijy some doubts as to
the extent to which the law of God respecting it, as given to
tlie Jews, was to be literally obeyed.
This Christian custom is not founded, however, on tlie
Jewish law alone, but on those first principles of religion to
which liuman nature was subjected from the time of the Fall.
The word of God to Eve was, "In sorrow thou shalt bring
forth children ; " and the first words of Eve afterwards are on
the birth of Cain; when, as the Psalm says, " Lo, children
and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that
Cometh of the Lord," so the mother of all living said, "I have
gotten a man from the Lord." This sense of the Providence
of God in the matter of child-bearing, and also of the sorrow
and pain which He has connected with it on account of Eve's
transgression, must ever lead instinctively to thanksgiving,
an<l to a religious recognition of His goodness in giving safe
deliverance. The same principles extend themselves also
further than this ; and, acknowdedging that original siu is
inherited by children from their parents, enjoin upon the
mother the duty of recognizing the fact by a ceremonial
return to the Church ^vith humble prayers.
This Service was not formerly used for unmarried women
until they had done penance. So Archbishop Grindal en-
joined in 1571, "tliat they should not church any unmarried
woman, whicli had been gotten with child out of lawful
matrimony ; except it were upon some Sunday or holyday ;
and except either she, before childbed, had done penance, or
at her churching did acknowledge her fault liefore the con-
gregation." [Carpw. Doc. Ann. i. ,S35.] So also the Bishops
replied to those who excepted against this Service for the
mothers of illegitimate children in 1661 : "If the woman be
such as is here mentioned, she is to do penance before she is
churched."
THE THANKSGIVING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILDBIRTH,
COMMONLY CALLED,
THE CHURCHING OF WOMEN.
« Ordo ad Purijicandmn Mnlicrem pod Partiav, ante Ostium Ecclaskc.
IT The woman, at the usual time after her <lelivery, [ a S:ax.
shall come into the church decently apparelled,
and there shall kneel down in some convenient
place, as hath been accustomed, or as the Ordinary
shall direct : And then the Priest shall say unto
her,
FORASMUCH as it hath pleased Ahiiighty
God of His goodness to give you safe
deliverance, and liath preserved you in the great
danger of childbirth ; you shall therefore give
liearty thanks unto God, and say,
[U Then shall the Priest say the cxvith Psalm.]
*a '■' Primo sacerdos et ministri ejus dicant psalmos
sequentes. Ps. Levari oculos meos. Ps. Beati
omiies. Gloria Patri. Sieut erat.
I AM vcell pleased : that the Lord
hath heard the voice ot my
prayer ;
That He hath inclined His ear unto me : there-
fore will I call upon Him as long as I live.
The snares of death compassed me round
about : and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.
I fciund trouble and heaviness, and I called
upon the Name of the Loud : Lord, I beseech
Thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is tlie Lord, and righteous : j'ea, our
God is merciful.
The Lord preserveth the simj>le : I was in
misery, and He helped me.
at the usual tlnie} The first Kubric as altered by Bishop
Cosin in the Durham Book stands thus: "The woman, a
month after delivery, being recovered, shall, upon some
Sunday or other Holyday, come decently vayled into tlie
Parish Church, and at the beginning of the Communion
Service shall kneel down in some convenient place appointed
unto her Ijy the Minister before the Holy Table ; at which
he standing shall thus direct his speech to her. "
decently apparelled] In Archdeacon H.\le's Precedents there
are several presentations of clergymen for refusing to churcli
women who did not wear veils or kerchiefs when they came
to their thanksgivings, and of women for coming without
them : " The said Tabitlia did not come to be churched in a
vaile. " [p. '259.] " Presentatur, for that she being admonished
that when she came to church to give God thanks for her safe
deliverance in childbirth, that she should come with sucli
ornaments as other honest women usually have done, she did
not, but coming in her hat and a quarter about her neck, sat
down in her seat where she could not be descried, nor seen
unto what the thanksgiving was read." [p. 237.] It is
evident from such records as these that some ilistinctivc dress
was considered desirable in former times ; and that a veil was
thought to be a token of modesty better befitting such an
occasion than a mere ordinary head-dress. In an inventory
of Church goods belonging to St. Benet's Gracechurcli in 1500,
there is "a cliurching-cloth fringed, white damask;" from
which it would seem that the veil was in some cases provided
by the C'liureh. Elborow speaks of the veil being commonly
used in the latter half of the seventeenth century, but adds that
it was ' ' scrupled " against by some as if the wearing it were
a gross sin.
convenient place] The jjlace assigned by the Rubric before
the Reformation was the Church door.^ In 1549 this was
altered to the Quire door; and "nigh unto the table" in
1552. Now that the place is left to the clergyman's appoint-
ment, he will have to consider that the spirit of the Rubric
has always been to symbolize by the woman's position during
her Churching that she is being readmitted to Church
privileges and Divine worship. The Cliurch door is not suited
to modern climates and constitutions, but the Choir door
seems a very litiing place, and was used by Bishop Andrewes.
In the book referred to in the last note, a Churching ".stool"
or form is referred to, which probably indicates a seat near
to the Church door. The tenth of Bishop Wren's orders and
injunctions for tlie diocese of Norwicli, in 1636, enjoins,
' ' That women to be cliurched come and kneel at a side near
the communion table without the rail, being veiled accord-
ing to the custom, and not covered with a hat ; or other-
wise not to be churclied, but presented at the next generals
l.iy the minister, or churchAvardens, or any of them." In
Bishop Brian Dupi'a's Artichs of Visitation of 16;-!S there is
a similar one: "Doth he go into the Chancel, the woman
also repairing thither, kneeling as near the Communion
Table as mny be ; and if there be a Communion, doth she
connnunicate in acknowledgement of the great blessing
received by her safe delivery ? Doth the woman who is to be
Churched use the accustomed habit in such cases with a
white veil or kerchief upon her head ? "
Then shall the Prient say] It may be doubted whether it
was ever intended that the Priest should say this alone. As
1 Yet uot always, for in the Cliurcliwarders' accounts of St. Mary
Hubbard, Eastcheap, tbere is the entry : —
" Item, For mnkyiiy of the Cliiieliyng pewc . . . viiiJ."
This was ill a.d. 1405-06.
488
Cljc Cfjiircfjing of CiOoincn.
Turn again then unto tliy rest, O my soul : for
the Lord hath rewarded thee.
And why ? Thou hast deUvered my soul from
death : mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling.
I will walk before the Lokd : in the land of
the living.
I believed, and therefore will I sjjeak ; biit I
was sore troubled : I said in my haste, All men
are liars.
What reward shall I give unto the Lord : for
all the benefits that He hath done unto me ?
I will receive the cup of .salvation : and call
upon the Name of the Lord.
I wiU pay my vows now in the presence of all
His people : in the courts of the Lord'.s house,
even in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise
the Lord.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Sox : and
to the Holy Ghost :
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
.shall be : world without end. Amen.
Nisi Doniinus.
the
but
ri.se
the
His
*" Or, Psahii cx.xvii.
EXCEPT the Lord build
house : their labour is
lost that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city : the watchman
waketh but in vain.
It is but lost labour that ye haste to
up early, and so late take rest, and eat
bread of carefulness : for so He giveth
beloved sleep.
Lo, children and the fruit of the womb : are
an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.
Like as the arrows in the hand of the jxiant :
even so are the young children.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of
them ; they shall not be ashamed when they
speak with their enemies in the gate.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghcst ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
•" Then tlie Priest shall say,
Sequatur.
IT Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon vs.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
/^UR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
V—/ be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
•will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil : For Thine is the king-
dom, The power, and the glory, for ever and
ever. Amen.
LJATER. noster. Qui es in coilis ; sanctificetur
-L nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum :
fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in ccelo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie :
et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimit-
timus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in
tentationem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
Tf Minister.
"0 Lord, save this woman Thy servant ;
a Ps. S6. J
DoMiNE, salvam fac ancillam Tuam.
*r Answer.
Who putteth her trust in Thee.
Deus meus sperantem in Te.
IT Minister.
*Be Thou to her a strong tower;
J Ps. 61. 3.
Esto ei, DoJiiNE, turris fortitudinis.
IT Answer.
From the face of her enemy.
A facie inimici.
IT Minister.
'Lord, hear our prayer.
i-Ps. 61 1
DoMiNE, exaudi orationem meam.
the old Rubric directed the choral use of the Psalm, and as
that in the .Marriage Service is to be used in the same way
(the very Psahn that formerly stood here), ao no doubt it
was meant that this should be used as other Psahns are. It
has sometimes V)een used processionally in the same manner
as an Introit, to wliicli it bears a close analogy. The Priest
shoidd stand during the whole of the Service.
The 116th Psalm is most appropriate where the woman
is going to communicate after her Churching ; or where
her sorrows have been added to by the death of her
infant, in which latter case the 127th Psalm is very inoppor-
tune.
offerings] A due to the Priest oftered on tlic Altar. Com-
pare the words " ICaster Offering" and " Kastcr Dues." So
Bishop Andrewes interprets it, and so Hooker, V. Lx.xiv. 4.
Tile t'hrisom was formerly included ; the woman being re(|uired
to bring it for tlie use of tlie Church unless tlie infant had
died, and so been buried in it, as a " Chrisom child" before
her Clnirching. That this was actu.illy done is shewn by the
account rolls of Hipon Minster, in which the returned t'hrisoms
arc entered year by year.
it in roH)v'M(>H/l Tliat is, suitable. ConvemeM is a word that
meant "fitting" more distinctly in former days tlian now.
[Comi). Kph. V. 4.]
Cfjc Cfjurcbing of C^omcn.
489
U Answer.
And let our cry come unto Thee.
11 Minister.
Let us pray.
OAL^riGHTY God, we give Thee humble
tlianka for that TIiou ha.st vouchsafed to
deliver this woman Thy servant from the great
pain and peril of childbirth ; Grant, we beseech
Thee, most merciful Fatiiek, that she, through
Thy help, may both faithfully live, and walk
according to Thy will in this life present ; and
also may be partaker of everlasting glory in the
life to come ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
II The woman, that conieth to give her thanks, must
offer accustomed offerings ; and, if there be a
Communion, it is convenient that she receive the
Holy Communion.
Et clamor mens ad Te veniat.
DoMiNUs vobiscuni.
Et cum spiritu tun.
Oremus.
DEUS Qui hano famulam Tuam de pariendi
periculo liberasti, et cam in servitio Tuu
devotam esse fecisti, concede ut tempor.ali cursu
fideliter peracto, sub alls misericordire Tuio vitam
perpetuam et cpiietam consequatur. Per Chris-
tum DOMINUM.
[Tunc aspergatnr inulier aqua bcjiudicta : deiude
iuducat eam sacerdos per nianum dextram in
ecclesiam, dicens : Ingredere in (empliim Dei vl
habeas vitam a-fernnni el vivas in sacula saculorum.
Amett.]
thai she receive] As tlie Churching Service is a restoration of
the woman to the privileges of the Lord's house, it is clear that
it should be said at the beginning of, that is, before, any
service at which she is to be present for the first time after
her recovery. It she is to communicate, a suitable time
would be immediately before the Lord's Prayer and Collect
for Purity, supposing she has not been present at Litany and
Mattins ; and such a use of this Service would doubtless be
nearest to the intention of the Church in every way. Bishop
Sparrow says that this time was mentioned in Visitation
Articles, and Bishop Wren's directions expressly enjoin it ;
adding that if there is a marriage, the Churching is to come
immediately next to the Communion iService after tlie con-
clusion of that for tjie Marriage. In P.i.shop Cosin's revised
Book he began this Rubric, "The Priest here goeth to the
Communion Service." This rule about Holy Communion
clearly excludes impenitent unmarried women from " Church-
ing."
A COMMINATION,
OR, DENOUNCING OF GOD'S ANGER AND JUDGEMENTS AGAINST SINNERS, A^TH CERTAIN PRAYERS,
TO BE USED ON THE FIRST DAY OF LENT, AND AT OTHER TIMES, AS THE ORDINARY SHALL
APPOINT.
^ After Morning Prayer, the Litany ended according a Sai.
to the accustomed manner, the Priest shall, in the |
Reading-Pew or Pulpit, say, |
TT " Feria iv. in capite Jejunii : post sextain in primas
fiat sermo ad populnm si placuerit . . .
BRETHREN, in the Primitive Cliurch there jDem..;-
was a godly discipline, that, at the beginning
of Lent, such persons as stood convicted of notori-
ous sin were put to open penance, and punished
in this world, that tlieir souls might be saved in
the day of the Loed; and that others, admonished
by their example, might lie the more afraid to
offend.
Instead whereof, (until the said discipline may
be restored again, which is much to be wished,) :
it is thought good, that at this time (in the pre-
sence of you all) should be read the general
sentences of God's cursing against impenitent
sinners, gathered out of the seven and twentieth
Chapter of Deuteronomy, and other places of
Scripture; and that ye should answer to every
Sentence, Amen: To the intent that, being
admonished of the great indignation of God
against sinners, ye may the rather be moved to
earnest and true repentance ; and may walk
more warily in these dangerous days ; fleeing
from such vices, for which ye affirm with your ,/Dtut. 27. 19.
own mouths the curse of God to be due.
c Deul. 27. 16.
; d Deut. 37. 17.
e Deut 27. 18.
* /"NURSED is the man that maketh any carved
v^ or molten image, to worship it.
IT And the people shall answer and say. Amen.
•^ Minister.
'Cursed is he that curseth his father or mother.
H Answer.
Amen.
V. Minister.
"'Cursed is he that removeth his neighbour's
landmark.
II Answer.
Amen.
IT Minister.
'Cursed is he that maketh the blind to go out
of his way.
^ Answer.
Amen.
IT Minister.
-''Cursed is he that perverteth the judgement of
the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.
THE COMMINATION.
This is a substitute for the dreadful " Fonn of the greater
Excommunication," or "General Sentence," which was read
four times a year in the Media?val Church, by order "of our
holy failer the pope of Rome, and his cardinalis, and all his
counscil," the il.iys on which it was used being Advent Sun-
day, tlie first .Sunday in Lent, Trinity Sunday, and the first
Sunil.-iy after the Assumption of our Lady.
The devotional portion, beginning with the fifty-first Psalm,
is, however, an adajitation of an ancient Service whicli was said
after Sext on .Vsh-Wednesday. The first part of this Service
may be understood from the portion incorporated into our own
as shewn by the Latin ; six other ("Collects and an Absolu-
tion, which followed the Collect Kxfinili, qua-.mmun, not
being included. After the Ab.solution beg.an tlie Service for the
Benediction of the Ashes, consisting of a Collect (which forms
the substance of the one beginning, " most mighty God "),
the Benediction and Distribution of the Ashes, and an Anthem
sung while the hitter was going on. The Anthem and the
Epistle of the succeeding Mass are the foundation of the
'"olemn confession with which the Commination originally
ended. "Through the merits," etc., "The Lord bless us
and keep u.s," were added by Bishop Cosin at tlie Revision of
llifil. ile also proposed to alter " punished " in tlie opening
Homily to "did humbly submit themselves to undergo
punishment," and succeeded in substituting " siood convicted
of notorious sin," for the original words "were notorious
sinners."
Ixeadimj-Pew or Pulpit] The reading-pew does not mean a
ieading-(ic'.si', but the chancel-pew, or stalls, occupied by the
Clergy and singers. Tlie "pulpit" is probably the "Jube,"
a lectern on the top of the chancel-screen,' from which the
Epistle and Gospel were read in ancient days, and from
which they were ordered to be read by Archbishop Grindal
and others in tlicir diocesan injunctions. Pulpits a."* now under-
stood were extremely rare in Parish Churches before and for
some time after the Refonn.ation, and "reading-desks" are of
comparatively modern introduction. The modern preaching-
puljiit is certainly not the place for the Priest when taking
his part in a rispnnsivc Scr\'ice ; .and now th.at the ancient
Jubc is disused for the Epistle and Gospel, it is most proper
to follow the aiialogj- of usage in respect to them, and read
the Conimination Service from the front of the Alt.ar. The
analogj' between the maledictions and the Decalogue leads
ti> tlie s.ame conclusion. As the Services out of wOiich this
was formed immediately preceded the Mass of tlic d.iy, so no
doubt it was intended that the Conimination should precede,
with some slight interval, the Ash- Wednesday celebration of
t!ic Holy Communion.
oi oilier tirneii] The Commination Service has not been used
1 See DwiEs's Rita oj Durham ; und also Cusis's Korks, v. 383.
a Commination.
491
IT Answer.
Amen.
U Minister. ;
"Cursed is he that .smiteth his neighbour oDcui. 27. 24.
secretly. I *Ma«,3.3,.<,,mnr,..
II Answer.
Amen.
c Hcb. 10. 23. 31 :
12. 29.
rf'Ps. II. 6.
II Minister.
'Cursed is he that lieth with his neighbour's <• lc%. 20
wife. I
risa. 26. 21
Amen.
H Answer.
H Minister.
/* Deiil. 27. 25.
I Malt. 3. 12; 13. 30.
* Cursed is he that taketh reward to slay the
innocent.
IT Answer.
Amen. k i riiess. s. 2, 3.
H Minister.
'Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, /jer. ,7. 5
and taketh man for his defence, and in his heart '
goeth from the Lord.
C .Mai. 3.
I m Rom. 2. 4, f
H Answer.
Amen.
*l Minister. i
"Cursed are the unmerciful, fornicato'rs, and „ ji.,tt. 23. 41.
Cor. 6. 9. 10.
Prov. 1. 28-30.
adulterers, covetous persons, idolaters, slanderers, ^°'' '' '' '"■
drunkards, and extortioners.
H Answer.
Amen.
H Minister.
•^"^rOW seeing that all they are accursed (as
-L^ the prophet David beareth witness) who
do err and go astray from the commandments of
God ; let us (remembering the dreadful judge-
ment hanging over our heads, and always ready r Man. 25. <
p * PS. 119. 21, 120,
q Matt. 25. 10. II,
to fall upon us) return unto our Lord God, with
all contrition and meekness of heart ; bewailing
and lamenting our sinful life, acknowledging and
confessing our offences, and seeking to bring
forth worthy fruits of penance. *For now is the
axe put unto the root of the trees, .so that every
tree that bringcth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into tlic fire. 'It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living GoD : "'He shall
pour down rain upon the sinners, snares, fire and
brimstone, storm and tempest; this shall be their
portion to drink. ^For lo, the Lord is come out
of His place to visit the wickedness of such as
■*' But who may abide the
Who shall be able to endure
'His fan is in His hand.
His floor, and gather His
but He will burn the chaff
re. *The day of the Lord
the niglit : and when men
things are safe, then
come upon them.
dwell upon the earth,
day of His coming ?
when He appeareth ?
and He will purge
wheat into the barn ;
with unquenchable fi
cometh as a thief in
shall say. Peace, and all
shall sudden destruction
sorrow cometh upon a woman travailing with
child, and they shall not escape. '"Then .shall
appear the wrath of God in the day of vengeance,
which obstinate sinners, through the stubbornness
of their heart, have heaped unto themselves ;
which despised the goodness, patience, and long-
sutlerance of God, when He calleth them con-
tinually to repentance. "Then .shall they call
upon Me, (saith the Lord,) but I will not hear ;
they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find
Me ; and that, because they hated kno'wledge,
and received not the fear of the Lord, but
abhorred My counsel, and desjiised My correction.
'Then shall it be too late to knock when the door
shall be shut ; and too late to cry for mercy when
it is the time of justice. O terrible voice of most
just judgement, which shall be pronounced upon
them, when it shall be .said unto them, ''Go, ye
in recent times on any other day than Ash-^yednesday.
title lias undergone three changes as follows : —
The
15i9.
The First Day of
Lent, commonly
called Ash-Wed-
nesday.
1552.
A Commination
against sinners,
with certain Pray-
ers, to be used
divers times in the
year.
1662.
A Commination,
or denouncing of
God's anger and
judgements against
sinners, with cer-
tain prayers, to be
used on the first
day of Lent, and at
other times, .as the
oi'diuary shall ap-
point.
The original title, it will be observed, agrees with the
ancient one ; and the alteration was made at the suggestion
of Martin Bucer, whose Judaizing tendencies led him to wish
for a more frequent use of the Commination, and a general
revival of open penance, the infliction of which seems to
have possessed great charms for Puritan minds. From
some Visitation Articles of Bishop Grindal [C.\rdw. Doc.
Ann. i. 398] it seems probable th.at it was used in some
places " on one of the three Sundays next before Easter, one
of the two Sundays next before the Feast of Pentecost, and
one of the two Sundays next before the Feast of the Birth of
our Lord." But such a signal perversion of the Sunday
festival was not likely ever to have become general.
The introduction of the awful Judaic maledictions into the
ancient Service, and the archaic character of the Homily, will
probably always restrict its use to the first day of Lent. The
form in which these are used is singularly out of character
with the general tone of the Prayer Book ; denunciation of
sin ordinarily taking the form of a Litany, not of an Exhorta-
tion, under the Christian dispensation. "These dangerous
days " and other expressions also give the Exhortations a tone
which belongs to the past rather than the present.
It should be remembered that the restoration of discipline
which is spoken of in the second paragraph of the opening
Exhortation, does not refer to the ordinary discipline of the
Church, but to the "godly discipline" of the "Primitive
Cliurcli." Archdeacon Hale, in his volume of Precedents
[p. V of the Introductory Essay], illustrates this by a Canon
enacted under King Edgar: "H.-e consuetudines trans mare
observantur ; id est, quod qnilibet episcopus sit in sede
episcopali sua die Mercurii, quem caput jejunii vocamus ;
tunc uuusquisque eorum hominum qui capitalibus criminibus
polluti sunt, in provincia ista, eo die ad ilium accedere debet,
et peccata sua illi profiteri, et illc tum prjescribit eis pceni-
tentiam, cuique pro ratione delicti sui ; eos qui eo digni sunt,
.lb Ecclesiastica communitate segregat, et tamen ad propriam
eorum necessitatem animat et hortatur ; et ita postea, cum
illius venia, domum redeunt." [Ancient Lairs and Institutes
of Enrjland, vol. ii. p. 267.] In the times to which this
Canon belongs, the Episcopal exercise of this discipline
resulted from the intimate admixture of the Ecclesiastical
and Secular laws. In the Primitive Church a severity of
discipline was gi-adually established (long after the Apostolic
age), which was probably adopted witli reference to a state
of society in which self-control was rare, and gross vice unre-
buked except by the Clergy. Persons ' 'convicted of notorious
sin " are now otherwise punished ; and an aspiration after the
revival of an " open penance " wliich is utterly impossible, is
apt to lead the thoughts away from the restoration of a
disciijline and penance which is both possible and desirable.
492
3 Commination.
cursed, into the fire everlasting, which is prepared i
for the devil and his angels. " Therefore, brethren, ! „ , cor. 6.
take we heed betime, while the day of salvation ' j isa. 5., 5. 5.
lasteth ; for the niglit cometh, when none can I
work. "But let us, while we have the light, j rjoim 5.4.
believe iii the light, and walk as children of the 1
light; ''that we be not cast into utter darkness, 1^ Matt. 23.
where is weeping and gnashing of teeth. 'Let us
not abuse the goodness of God, Who calleth us
mercifully to amendment, and of His endless
pity promiseth us forgiveness of that which is
past, if with a perfect and true heart we return
unto Him. *'l'or though our sins be as red as
scarlet, they shall be made white as snow ; and
though they be like purple, yet they shall be
made white as wool. ''Turn ye (saith the Lord)
from all your wickedness, and your sin sliall not
be your destruction : Cast away from you all
your ungodliness that ye have done : Make you
new hearts, and a new spirit : Wherefore will ye
die, ye house of Israel, seeing that I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the
LoED God? Turn ye then, and ye shall live.
Although we have sinned, yet have we an Advo-
cate with the Father, Jesus Christ the right-
eous ; and He is the proi)itiation for our sin.s.
Tor He was wounded for our offences, and smitten
for our wickedness. Let us therefore return unto
Him, Who is the merciful Receiver of all true
penitent sinners ; assuring ourselves that He is
ready to receive us, and most willing to pardon
us, if we come unto Him with faithful repent-
ance ; if we submit ourselves unto Him, and
from henceforth walk in His ways ; -^if we will
take His easy yoke, and light liurden upon us,
to follow Him in lowliness, patience, and charity,
and be ordered by the governance of His Holy
Spirit ; seeking always His glory, and serving
Him duly in our vocation with thanksgiving :
This if we do, Christ will deliver as from the
curse of the law, 'and from the extreme maledic-
tion which shall light upon them that shall be
set on the left hand ; and He will set us on His
right hand, and give us the gracious benediction
of His Father, commanding us to take possession
of His glorious kingdom : Unto which He vouch-
safe to bring us all, for His infinite mercy.
Amen.
IT Then shall they all kneel upon their knees, and ' * ;
tlie Priest and Clerks kneeling (in the place whei-e I
they are accustomed to say the Litany) shall say
this Psalm. I
. * Deiude prosternaut se clerici in choro, et dicant
septeni Psalnios pcenitentiales cum Gloria Patri et
sicut erat et Antii)hona »e reminiscaris.
Miserere mei, Deus. Ps. li.
HAVE mercy upon me, O God, after Thy
great goodness : according to the multi-
tude of Thy mercies do away mine offences.
Wash me throughly from my wickedness : and
cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my faults ; and my sin is
ever before me.
Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this
evil in Thy sight : that Thou mightest be justified
in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art judged.
Behold, I was .shapen in wickedness : and in
sin hath my mother conceived me.
But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward
parts : and shalt make me to understand wisdom
secretly.
Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall
be clean : Thou shalt wash me, and I .shall be
whiter than snow.
Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness :
that the bones which Thou liast broken may
rejoice.
Turn Thy face away front my sins : and put
out all my misdeeds.
Make me a clean heart, O God : and renew a
right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence : and
take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
O give me the comfort of Thy help again :
and stablish me with Thy free Spirit.
Then shall I teach Tliy ways unto the
wicked : and sinners shall be converted unto
Thee.
Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, God, Thou
that art the God of my health : and my tongue
shall sing of Thy righteousness.
Thou shalt open my lip.s, Lord : and my
mouth shall sliew Thy praise.
For Thou desirest n(.> sacrifice, else would I
give it Thee : but Thou delightest not in burnt-
offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit : a
broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou
not despise.
O be favourable and gracious unto Sion : build
Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifice
of righteousness, with the burnt-otferings and
oblations : then shall they ofi'er young bullocks
upon Thine altar.
Glory be to the Father, and to tlie Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
Atis. As it was in the beginning, is now, and
ever shall be : world without end. Amen.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
CiiniST, have, merri/ n./ion un.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Kyeie eleison.
Christe eleison
KvRiE eleison.
9 Coinmlnation.
49-
OUR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Tljy Name. Thy liingdom cuinc. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Amen.
IT Minister,
" O LoKD, save Thy servants ;
II Answer.
That put their trust in Thee.
II Minister.
*Send unto them help from above. s ft. 20. ■. =
H Answer.
And evermore mightily defend them.
H Minister.
Help us God our Saviour.
IT Answer.
^ And for the glory of Thy Name deliver us ; he], ps. 79. 9.
merciful to us sinners, for Thy Name's sqke.
IT Minister.
•'O Lord, hear our prayer.
H Answer.
And let our cry come unto Thee.
II Minister.
Let us pray.
LORD, we beseech Thee, mercifully hear , ps. , ,. j^tt 2.
our prayers, and spare all those who con- 3^; .'^'^'"iSh''?:
o
fess their sins unto Thee ; that they, whose con-
sciences by sin are accused, by Thy merciful
pardon may be absolved : through Christ our 1
Lord. Amen.
o
MOST mighty God, and mercifid Father, '/ps 145.8.9. Matt
Who hast compa.ssion upon all men, and 4' Ezek. 33 ii.-2
12. Prov. 18. 14.
Matt. II. 28. 2
Tlicss. 2- 16, 17.
Hxoil. 34. 6,
RL-uk 9. 7. Joel
17. Ps. 143. 2-
i^ Bencciictio ciiier
urn. Greg. Celas.
hatest nothing that Thou hast made ; Who
wouldest not the death of a sinner, but that he
should rather turn from his sin, and be saved ;
Mercifully forgive us our trespasses ; receive and
comfort us, who are grieved and wearied with
the burden of our sins. Thy property is always 1
to have mercy ; to Thee only it appertaineth to |
forgive sins. Spare us therefore, good Lord, j
spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed ;
enter not into judgement with Thy servants, who
are vile earth, and miserable sinners ; but so turn
Thine anger from us, who meekly acknowledge
our vileness, and truly repent us of our faults,
and so make haste to helj) us in this world, that
we may ever live with Thee in the world to
come ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
H Then shall the jjeople say this that foUoweth, after
the Minister,
TURN Thou us, O good Lord, and so shall
we be turned. Be favourable, O Loud,
PATER noster. Qui es in coelis ; sanctificetur
nomen Tuum : adveniat regnum Tuum ;
fiat voluntas Tua, sicut in cojlo, et in terra.
Panem nostrum (piotidianum da nobis hodie : et
dimitte nobis dcbita nostra, sicut et nos dimit-
timus debitoribus nostris : et ne nos inducas in
tentationem : sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
Salvos fac servos Tuos et ancillas Tuas.
Deus mens sperantes in Te.
Mitte eis, Domine, auxilium de sancto.
Et de Syon tuere eos.
Convertere, Domine, usquequo.
Et deprecabilis esto super servos Tuos.
Adjuva nos, Deus, salutaris noster.
Et propter gloriam nominis Tui, Domine,
libera nos et propitius esto peccatis nostris propter
nomen Tuum.
Domine. exaudi orationem meam.
Et clamor mens ad Te veniat.
DoMiNUs vobiscuni.
Orenms.
EXAUDI, quEesumus, Domine, preces nostras,
et confitentium Tibi parce peccatis : ut
ciuos conscientioe reatus accusat indulgentia Tua;
miserationis absolvat. Per Christum.
^/^MNIPOTENS, sempiterne Deu.s : Qui mise-
Vv reris omnium, et nihil odisti eorum qua;
fecisti. . . .
Oratio.
DOMINE Deus noster. Qui oflfensione nostra
non vinceris, sed satisfactione placaris :
; respice, cpiajsumus, super famulos Tuos qui se
i Tibi graviter peccasse confitentur : Tuum est
enim absolutionem criminum dare, et veuiam
prajstare peccantibus ; qui dixisti pcenitentiam
Te malle peccatorum, quam mortem : concede,
ergo, Domine, his famulis Tuis, ut Tibi poeni-
tentise excubias celebrent, et correctis actibus suis
conferri sibi a Te sempiterna gaudia gratulentur.
Per Christum.
h Lectio Jolieiii
proph, 11 in Missa
Y^ONVERTIMINI ad me in toto corde vestro :
V^ in jcjuuio et Hetn et planctu : . . . Inter
494
3 Comminatlon.
Be favourable to Thy people, Who turn to Thee
in weeping, fasting, and praying. For Thou art
a merciful God, Full of compassion, Long-suffer-
iug, and of great pity. Thou sparest when we
deserve punishment. And in Thy wrath thinkest
upon mercy. Spare Thy people, good Loed,
spare them, And let not Thine heritage be
brought to confusion. Hear us, O Lord, for
Thy mercy is great. And after the multitude of
Thy mercies look upon us ; Through the merits
and mediation of Thy blessed Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
IT Then tlie MiDister alone shall say,
* 'T^HE Lord bless us, and keep us ; the Lord
-L lift up the light of His countenance upon
us, and give U3 peace, now and for evermore.
Amen.
u Antiph.
dictio
Antiph.
ibid.
in Bene-
cineniin.
Greg.
* Numb. 6. 34.26.
vestibulum et altare plorabunt sacerdotes ministri
LoMiNi, et dicent Parce, Domine, parce populo
Tuo : et ne des hiereditatem Tuam in opprobrium.
"TTXAUDI nos, DojiiNE, quoniam magna est
J— ^ niisericordia Tua : secundum multitudineni
miserationum Tuanun respice nos, Domine.
Tliuu tliat makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise Thee." — Psalm Ixv. 6.
" That all things must be fulfilled which were written in . . . the Psalms concerning Me." — Ltjkb xxiv. 44.
"These things saith He . . . that hath the Key of David." — Revelation iii. 7.
" My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and fatness : when my mouth praiseth Thee with
joyful lips." — Psalm Ixiii. G.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PSALTER
§ 1. Tlte Manner of using the Psalms in Divine Service.
Whether or not the Psalms were all primarily composed for
use in Divine Service, it is certain that many of them were
BO ; that all were collected together for that purpose by those
who had charge of the services oft'ered up to God in the
Temple ; and that they were taken into public devotional
use by the early Christian Church after the example of the
Jewish.
Psabns were composed and sung by iloses, Miriam,
Deborah, and Hannah ; but it may be reasonably supposed
that the constant use of them in Divine Service originated
with David, the "sweet singer of Israel," whose pre-eminence
as an inspired Psalmist has caused the whole collection to be
called after his name, " the Psalms of David." To him was
assigned the work and honour of preparing the materials out
of which the Temple was to be Ijuilt ; and to him also the
honour of preparing the materials of that Divine Psalmody
which was henceforth ever to miugle with the worship of
Sacrifice, and form the substance of the praises offered to
God throughout the world. It seems even as if the very
earliest Liturgical use of Psalms was recorded in the state-
ment, " Then on that day David delivered first this j)sabn to
thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren,"
on occasion of the Ark of God being brought to its home of
ages on Mount Zion. [1 Chron. xvi. 7.] It is true that the
words "this psalm "are not in the original, and that the
psalm afterwards given is a cento of the 105th, the tlUth, and
other Psalms, which are considered by modern critics to
belong to a much later date than that indicated ; but there
can be no doubt that David had been inspired to compose
some of his psalms long before, and that when "he appointed
certain of the Levites to . . . thank and praise the Lord God
of Israel ... to give thanks to the Lord, because His mercy
endureth forever" [1 Chron. xvi. 4, 41], he was initiating on
Mount Zion that system of liturgical P.^almody, which (even if
it had existed in any form previously) was now to continue there
until it was taken up by the Christian Church. The estab-
lishment of this system in the Temple is recorded with
similar exactness in 2 Chron. vii. 6, " And the priests waited
on their offices : the Levites also with instruments of musick
of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the
Lord, because His mercy endureth for ever, when David
praised by their ministry." And in a previous chapter the
advent of the Divine Presence is connected in a remarkable
manner with the first offering of such praises in the Temple :
"It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were
as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thank-
ing the Lord ; and when they lifted up their voice with the
trumpets and cymbals and instrumeuts of musick, and praised
the Lord, saying. For He is good ; for His mercy endureth
for ever : that then the house was filled with a cloud, even
the house of the Lord : so that the priests could not stand
to minister by reason of the cloud : for the glory of the Lord
had fiUed the house of God." [2 Chron. v. 13, 14.1 Thus in
the dedication of the Temple' we sec the final settlement of
the system of praise originated (as it seems) by David at the
triumphal entry of the Ark of God to Mount Zion ; and in
" the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph,
of Heman, of .leduthun, with their sons and their brethren,
arrayed in white linen," we see the Jewish original of those
surpliced choirs by which the same Psalms of Daviil have been
sung in every age of the Christian Church.
The hundred and fifty Psalms of the Christian Psalter
were, however, the growth of perhaps six centuries, extend-
ing from David t" Kzra and Nehemiah ; and hence only a
portion of those we now sing were used in the Temple of
Solomon, although all were so used in the four centuries
whicli preceded tlie Advent of our Lord, and the supersession
of the Jewish by the Christian Church. This gradual growth
of the Psalter led to that division into five parts which is so
evident in its structure, and wliich is also noticed liy some
of the Fathers who lived near to the time of its use in the
Temple. Doxologies are found at the end of the 41st, 72nd,
S9th, and 106th Psalms, and these are considered to point
out the division of the Psalter into five books, partly accord-
ing to the date of their composition, and pai'tly with reference
to some system of Liturgical use. But notwithstanding
these divisions, there is an e(iually evident union of all the
books into one by means of the first Psalm, which forms a
general introduction or Antiphon, and the last, which forms
a general Doxology, to the whole number.'
The mode in wliich the Psalter was used in the Services of
the Primitive Church is not known, but it seems clear that
the division into books was disregarded, and the whole
Psalter treated as a collection of one hundred and fifty separate
Psalms distinguished by titles and numliers ; and it is hardly
probable that any definite separation of these into diurnal or
weekly portions was adopted in the earliest age of the Church.
There has, in fact, always been a great variety in the mode
of appropriating the Psalms to hours and days in all those
times of which any such method is recorded, and this would
not have been the case if any definite system had been origi-
nated in early times. We must, therefore, suppose that the
Church was left quite at liberty in this respect, and that
each Diocese or Province adopted or originated such a division
of the Psalter for use iu Divine Offices as was considered
most expedient for the time in which it Mas to be used, and
for tlie persons who were to use it.
The most ancient systems of the Psalter known to us are
the Oriental, the Ambrosian, and the Mozarabic ; all three of
Mliich are of so extremely complicated a character that it is
hardly possible to give any clear notion of tliem without
occupying many pages. Some account of them will be foimd
in Neale's Introilnvtion to the History of tlie Holy Eastern
i'hurch, and in his Commentary on the Psalms; and Arch-
deacon Freeman has traced out some analogies between the
Kastern and \\'estern systems in his Principles of Divine
Service : to which works the reader is referred for further
information. In the Latin Church generally the Psalter was
used according to the plan laid down by St. Gregory in the
sixth century, and this was almost identical with the ordinary
use of the English Church up to the time of the Pieformation.
The characteristics of this system will be seen in the annexed
Table, which shews the manner in which the whole of the
hundred and fifty Psalms were appointed to be sung in the
course of every seven days. A general principle underlies the
whole arrangement, viz. that of appropriating the first half of
the Psalms to the earlier, and the second half to the latter part
1 Modem critics have analyzed the Book of Psalms with great minute-
ness. The general result of the conclusious arrived at by Hengsteuberg,
Mr. Thrupp, and otliei-s, may be shortly stated thus :—
§ Table o/t/ie Authorship and Compilation of the Psalttr, according to
modern critics.
Books.
Psalms.
Authorship.
When, or by whom
collected for use in
the Temple.
,„.j
IV.
V.
i-xli.
xlii— xlix.
li-lxxi.
Ixxii.
Ixxiii— Ixxxv.
Ixxxvi.
Ixxxvii— Ixxxix.
xc— cvi. j
cvii-cl. \
David.
The Levites.
Azariah.
David.
David or Solomon.
The Levites.
Ilezckiali.
The Levites.
Various writers, iuoludilig
MosoH, the Projihets,
and Ezra.
David.
(_ In the time of
l' Hezckiah.
■ ( In the time of
i Josiah
1 Ezio or
1 Nehemiah.
But tlic proplietic iispcct of David's ofllcc as the chief of rsalnilsts seems
to be too little roK'^riled in the* latter part of this classillcation ; and (to-
bably many Psalms were written by him— such as the " Songa of Degrees"
- which fire here assigned to later authors.
9n Jntromiction to tDe Psalter,
497
of the day ; but this general principle (for which there is no
ground in the character of the Psahns themsclve.'i) is associ-
ated with a principle of selection, by which certain I'salms
are set aside for particular hours, as the 51st for Ferial Lauds,
the Compline P.salins, and the three last, which were appointed
for constant use at Laud.'i, whether Ferial or Festival.
g Table of the Ordinary Course in ivliich the Psalms were appointed to be sung in the ancient Chvrch of England.
riouis.
The Lord's Day.
Monday.
Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday.
Friday.
The Sabbath.
1 1st Nocturn
MattinS' 2nd Nocturn
(Srrt Nocturn
Lauds . . . A
Prinw . . ■ ■{
Tierce )
Sexts ...
Nones j
Vespers
Compline . . j
i— iii. vi— XV.
xvi— xviii.
xix— xxi.
xciii. c.i Ixiii.
Ixvii. Song of the
Three Cliildrcn.
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.2
xxii— xxvi. liv.
cxviii. cxix. 1-32.
( 33-80,
CXix.-^ 81-12S,
129-17(>.
rx— oxv. 1
iv. xxxi. 1-7.
xci. cxxxiv.
xxvii-
j xxxviii,
li. v. Ixiii.
.Son^ of Isai.ih
llsa. xii.].
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
xxii — xxvi. liv.
cxix. 1-33.
■ As on Sunday,
cxvi. cxvii. cxx.
cxxi.
j. Aa on Sunday.
vxxix— xlii. xliv
-1. lii.
li. xliii. Ixiii.
Song of Heziikiah
[Isa. xxxviii. J.
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
>As on Monday.
> cxxii— cxxvi.
As on Sunday.
liii. Iv— Ixli.
Ixiv — Ixvi.
li. Ixv. Ixiii.
Song of Hannah
[1 Sam. ii.].
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
As on Monday.
cxxvii— cxxxi. -j
As on Sunday.
\ Ixix— Ixxx. -j
li. xc. Ixiii.
Song of Moses
[Exod. XV.].
cxlnii. cxlix. cl.
As on Monday.
cxxxii. cxxxiii.
cxxxv—cxxxvii.
As on Sunday.
Ixxxi— Ixxxix.
xciv. xcvi. xcvii.
li. cxiiii. Ixiii.
Song of Ilabak-
kuk lUab. iii.).
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
As on Jlonday.
!• cxxxviii— cxlil.
As on Sunday.
j- xcviii— cix.
li. xcii. Ixiii.
Song of Moses.
[Deut. xxxii.]
cxlviii. cxlix. cl.
As on Monday.
cxliv— cxlvii.
As on Sunday.
This system was little more, however, than a paper system,
as it was broken iu upon by the frequent occurrence of
Festivals, when the ordinary or Ferial Psalms were set
aside ; and Festivals were so numerous that, in practice, less
tlian one-half of the Psalms, in.stead of the whole number,
were sung through weekly, as is the case in the Latin Church
at the present day.' This deviation from the appointed
order is referred to iu the Preface to the Prayer Book of 1549 ;
"... Notwithstanding that the ancient Fathers have divided
the Psalms into seven portions, whereof every one was called
a Nocturn : now of late time, a few of them have been daily
said, and the rest utterly omitted." The weekly recitation
of the Psalter, however beautiful in theory, was not, there-
fore, the real practice of the Church ; although it was doubt-
less adopted by many devout persons in their private
devotions.
There is reason to think that the ancient system was being
set aside also in another Way, before any attempt had been
made to construct an English Prayer Book out of the ancient
Offices. Psalters e.xist which bear on their title-page " ad
usum insignis eeclesia; Sarum et Eboracensis, " in which a
much more simple aiTangement is adopted, and one out of
which our modern use evidently took its rise. Fifteen such
Psalters have been examined by the writer in the Bodleian
Library, and in the British Museum, in all of which the
Psalms are arranged in a numerical order, according to the
following plan, instead of on the elaborate system shewn iu
the preceding Table : —
§ Table of the Ordinciry Course appointed for the Psalms
in Psalters of USO— 1516.
Mattins.
a
1
i
Vespers.
Sunday . , .
i— xxvi.
ex— cxv.
Monday . . .
Tuesday . .
Wednesday .
Thursday . .
Friday . . .
Saturday . .
XX vii— xxxviii.
xxxix— lii.
liii— Ixviii.
Ixix— Ixxx.
Ixxxi— xcvii.
xcviii— cix.
cxvi — cxviii.
cxxii— cxxvi.
cxxvii— cxxxi.
cxxxii— cxxxvii.
cxxxviii— cxiiii.
cxliv— cl.
f On Ferial days^
tlie 119th Psalm
is divided among
these four hours,
and at Nones,
120th and 121st
are added to the
portion appointed
.^fur that hour. ^
In this plan all the Psalms except the 119th and the two
short ones following it are divided between Mattins and
1 In Lent Psalms li. and cxviii. were used instead of xciii. and c.
2 These eight Psalms were also those of Lauds on all Feasts of Saints.
' The abuse has even increased in modern times, and Mr. Neale says that
" according to tlie practice of the modern Roman Church, a Priest is in the
habit of reciting about fifty Psalms, and no more ; these fifty being, on the
whole, the shortest of the Psalter." [Cmm. on I'salms, p. 20.]
* In King Edward VI.'s Injunctions of 1547 there is one to this effect :
"Hem, wlien any Sermon or Homily .shall be had, the Prime and houres
shall be omitted." This omission seems to have represented a much earlier
practice, as there are no Psalms provided for the little hours of Snnd.iy in
the above arrangement of tlie Psalter. See also the fourth of the Injunc-
tions at p. 12.
Vespers, and no notice is taken of Compline ; the proportion
assigned to Mattins being more than four times that assigned
to Vespers, and more than ten times that given to the four
intermediate hours.''
How far this new plan of reciting the Psalter was intro-
duced into the Church of England it is imiicssible to say ; but
it is plainly a link of transition between the ancient system,
adapted for the Clergy and religious bodies, and the modern
one adapted for parochial use. It is far from impiobable that
it was introduced with a view to parochial use ; and that for
the private recitation of the Clergy and the use of monastic
bodies the old system was still retained. The arrangement
of the Psalter made by Cardinal Quignonez in his Reformed
Breviary had no influence whatever on that adopted in the
Prayer Book. The latter was settled in 1549, and has never
since been altered. If we could read the experience of
previous ages, as well as we can those of the times that have
elapsed since this monthly system of recitation was intro-
duced, we should probably come to the conclusion that it is
the best one that could be adopted for general use, according
to the ordinary measure of devotional attention of which
ordinary persons are capable.
Three principal ways of singing or saying the Psalms have
been generally recognized in the Christian Church. [1] The
Cautus Directus, in which the whole Psalm is sung straight
through by the whole choir. [2] The Cantus Antiphonalis,
in which the Choir is divided into two sides, tlie Cantoris
aud Decani, each singing alternate verses. [3] The Cantus
Responsarius, in which the Precentor sings the verses with
uneven numbers, and the Choir or Congregation those with
even numbers. All three methods have always been in use
in the Church of England, but the secoud and third most
commonly so ; and all three have the sanction of ancient
custom. The second is the method which the Christian
Church inherited directly from the Jewish, the one which
is most in accordance with the heavenly pattern of praise
revealed to us through Isaiah and St. John ; and the third
may be looked upon rather as a modification of it than as a
separate system. There was always also some variation in
the posture adopted during the singing of the Psalms. "In
Psalmody," says the autlior of Our Lady's Mirror, "some-
times ye stand, for ye ought to be ready and strong to do
5 The Psalters examined are as follows : Bodleian Library, Douce, 9 (1480)
70 (1504); A. 2, IS, Line. (1500), Douce, 26, 141 ; C. 4, 10, Line, (all 1616),
Douce, 8 (1530) ; Kawl. 990 (u. d.); C. 42, Line. (1555). British Museum
Library, Harl. MS^. 2856, 2888, C. 35, g. (1516) : C. 35, b. (1524) ; C. 36, a.
(1529). It is quite evident that some of these Psalters were intended for
use in the choir ; and this is expressly stated in the title of the sixth (Douce,
8), dated 1530, which is as follows : " Psalterium ad decantanda in choro
officia ecclesiastica accommodatissimum cum sexpeiiita litania, hyninis
quoque, ac vigiliis defuiictorum, una cum kalendario et tabulis ex di%-ersis
orthodoxorum i>racticis patrum collectis : ad simplicium sacerdotum cleri-
eonimque instructioneiii nunc quidem impressum ; et a quodam emdito
castigatum et auctuiii. 1530. Venundantur Londonii in cimiterio divi
Pauli apud Joh.annem renis sub intersignio Sancti Georgii."
The same arrangement of the Psalter is also found in an Augsburg
Psalter in the Bodleian (Douce, 26S], and in a Psalter in the British
Museum, which is marked " iu usum cede Augnsten " iu tiie Catalogue.
The Bodleian copy begins, "In nomine DiTi nostri Jhesu x7i amen. In-
cipit psalterium cum snis ptinentibus quemadmodnm ecclesije Augnsten
ordinatum Dominicis diebus. Invitatorium. Adoremus dominnra qui
fecit nos."
2 I
498
an 3intromiction to t!)c Ipsalter.
good deeds. And sometimes ye sit, for ye ought to see that all
your deeds be done restfuUy, with peace of other as far as is in
you." [Mirror of Our Lady, p. 96, Blunt's ed., E. E. T. Soc]
§ 2. Versions of the PmUer used in Divine Service.
It is not probable that the Psalms were ever sung in
Hebrew in the Christian Church, although tliey were doubt-
less so used in the Temple to the last. Our Lord and His
Apostles sanctioned their use in the vernacular by frequently
quoting them from tlie Septuagint version ; and it is from
that version they are principally quoted even in the Epistle
to the Hebrews. ^ The instinct of the Church which lias always
made it cling to the Septuagint Psalms for use iu Divine
Service may, therefore, be regarded as growing out of its
most primitive usages ; and, in some degree, out of our
Blessed Lord's own example.
But although a Greek Psalter was thus ready to haud for
the Church to use in its services at their first institution, a
Latin versiou was almost equally necessary for that large
portion of the Western world, in which the Septuagint Psalms
would have been almost as unintelligible as the Hebrew.
How soon, or by whom, this Latin translation of the Psalter
was made, is not on record. Probably it was made at the
same time that other jjortions of Holy Scripture were trans-
lated ; although it seems almost impossible but that it should
have preceded the writing down of the Gospels in Greek,
since otherwise the Psahnody of Divine Worship would have
been unintelligible to large numbers of Latin Christians.
Portions of such a primitive Latin version of the Holy
Scriptures, and more especially the Psalms, are still extant
in the works of the Latin fathers who preceded St. Jerome,
and in ancient Psalters. The Psalms were so generally used
in private as well as for Divine Worship, that St. Augustine
says every one who knew a little of Greek as well as Latin
was accustomed to dabble in the work of translation. But
there appears to have been one principal and recognized
Latin version of the whole Bible, of very early date, which
was called the Italic version by St. Augustine [Be Doct.
Christ, ii. 15]; and to which St. Jerome gave the name of
the Vulgate, a name afterwards applied to his own translation.
Of this ancient Vulgate, or "old Italic," the Psalter is still
extant (although, perhaps, with some corrections of a later
date), and it was used in Divine Service long after the rest
of the translation had been superseded by the labours of St.
Jerome.
St. Jerome left three versions of the Psalter, which have
acquired the names of the Roman, the Gallican, and the
Hebrew. The latter was so called because it was ti'anslated
directly from the original ; but it has never been used in
Divine Service, and has rarely appeared in volumes of the
Holy Scriptures, and need not, therefore, be further men-
tioned here. The Roman Psalter of St. Jerome is simply the
old Italic sparingly corrected by him, at the request of St.
Damasus, during his residence at Rome about a.d. .S83.
This version was used iu the churches of the city of Rome
down to the sixteenth century, and is even still used in the
Church of the Vatican and iu St. Mark's at Venice ; but it
was never extensively used in Divine Service, and where it
is found in Psalters meant for use in Divine Service, the
older ver.siou is mostly \vritten in a parallel column or inter-
lineated, sliewing tlie liold wliich it retained upon the affec-
tions of the Church." The (iallican version of St. .Jerome
has, on the other hand, been tlie Psalter of the whole Western
Churcli for many centuries, altliough it was a long time
before it entirely superseded the ancient Italic, or Vetus
Vulgata. It was translated from Origen's edition of the
Septuagint liy St. .Jerome while he was living at Bethlehem,
A.D. 389, and was introiluced into Genii.any and (iaul either
by St. Gregory of Tours in tlie end of the sixth century, or
by the English Apostle of Germany, St. Boniface, in the
early part of the eighth century. From France it was brouglit
over to England, and eventually superseded the older Italic
version in Divine Service throughout the Church of England
on the revision of its oflSces by St. Osmund in the twelfth
century. The same version (slightly altered at the last re-
vision of the Vulgate) is in use tliroughout the Latin Churcli,
both iu Divine Service and in complete volumes of the Holy
Bi ble.;>
> TertiiUinn, In lils Apolrti/y [c, xviii.]. seems to say that the Jews of
Egypt used the IjXX in Ihcir Hynagogiii-'S.
■•' Tlie same tiling is found in smnu BlbleB ofQneou Elizabeth's reign, In
which the old v«rHioli la ]ilaced Hide hy Hide with that of 1508. In some,
the old version supersedes the authorized one ultogether.
» S« Epp. Dania-s. lijeron. ot Hieron. Dauiaso De rsalmonim einenda-
tione, (HiEnoN, 0pp. Xi. 2^■>, Bene<l. ed. 17.14-42 ] Tlie three versions ar«
Our English Psalter grew out of this long-used " Psalterium
Davidicum ad usum Ecclesia; Sarisburiensis, " that is, out of
the Galhoan version of St. Jerome. It was frequently trans-
lated into Anglo-Saxon and mediajval English ; and the fifty-
two Psalms of the Prj'mer were of course so translated and
revised at the various periods at whicli the Prymer was re-
edited. The translations made from the Vulgate by A\'illiam
de Schorham and Richard RoUe, the hermit of Hampole,
early in the fourteenth century, as also that of the Wickliffe
Bible of A.D. 1388, are well known : and these versions (in
common ■ndth other books of Scripture) formed the basis of
subsequent translations. Thus, when it was found necessary
to restrain the growth of private English versions of the
Bible, and to issue one standard and authorized edition,
which was in 1540, the edition so issued was a gradual growth,
springing originally from the Latin \'ulgate of St. Jerome,
and corrected (after his example) by comparison with the
Septuagint version and the Hebrew original.
From this first authorized edition of the English Bible our
Prayer Book Psalms are taken, as is stated in a note which
follows tlie Preface to the Prayer Book, respecting the Order
iu which tlie Psalter is appointed to be read.'' The paragraph
referred to is as follows : " Note, That the Psalter foUoweth
the Division of the Hebrews, and the Translation of the
Gre.at English Bible, set forth and used in tlie time of King
Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth." But until recent
times the printers were allowed to do much as they, and
uncritical delegates of the press, pleased with the text of
the Bible and the Pra3-er Book, and this "note" has been,
and is still, so entirely disregarded by them that the italics
of "the Great English Eilile " are never represented. In the
manuscript of the Prayer Book the italics are represented by
"large script " letters. In the following pages they are care-
fully reproduced from the manuscript collated with editions
ot the "Great Bible " in the British Museum. [See pp. v, vi.]
The only cliauge made since 1540 has been the numbering of
the verses, which was first done in tlie Latin Prayer Book of
1572, aud then in the English of 1620.
Thus the English Psalter, which we now use in Divine
Service, may be said to speak the continuous and enduring
language of the Church, after the example of our Lord and
His Apostles when they spoke truths out of Holy Scripture
not in the original Hebre%v language, but in the venerable
Greek version of the Septuagint. And the peculiar manner
in which the English Psalter has grown out of the Psalters
of ancient days, may entitle us to say, without extravagance
or irreverence, that it represents, by a sort of Catholic con-
densation into one modern tongue, the three ecclesiastical
languages in which the Psalter has chiefly been used, the
"Hebrew, Greek, and Latin" of the Cross; and that it
thus represents also the original and the continuous Inspira-
tion by which God the Holy Spirit guides the Church into
all truth.
§ 3. The Mcamnrj of the Psalms as used in Divine Service.
No part of Holy Scripture possesses greater capacity than
the Psalter for that many-sided application which is a chief
characteristic of inspired writings. We may regard it as a
book of history, for it contains a large store of materials for
filling up the details of tlie personal life of David and of the
national life of Israel. It is a book of spiritual experiences ;
for in it the man after God's own heart, and other godly
souls, have recorded the love, the joy, tlie penitence, the
sorrow with wliicli they opened out their innermost selves to
their God. If we look for moral teacliing tliere, we may hear
God Himself speaking to us precepts of Divine wisdom
through His servants, shewing wliat are His ways towards
men, and what the rel.ation in wliicli they stand to Him. If
we ask for words of prayer, in tlio I'saltcr we find the very
Prayer Book which was used l)y Clirist and His saints ; and
may use the privilege of sending up to tlie Tlirone of Grace
the very aspirations that have been consecrated a second
time by passing tliitlicr from the lips of the Son of JIan.
From one end to tlie other it is full of the praises of the Lord,
all found in the great Caiiterhviry P.salter of the elevelith eentury, which is
preserved in the Library ot Tiiuily Collt-Ke, Canibridfcje : the Galilean being
in large letters for use, the others iu jiaiallel eolunms of smaller hand for
reference.
* Tlie "Bible version" of the Psalms has gone through two subsequent
revisions, the lirst that of Archbishop Parker in 1568, aiul the last that of
the translators (principally the Cambridge Committee) of Iclll. Hut the
Commissiouers of llill were specially enjoined to deviate from Arch-
bisliop Parker's version of 1568 only when the sense of the original
jiositively required tliem to do so, and "revision" would more truly
describe their work than "translation."
9n 3Intromiction to tfte Psalter.
499
such aa the soul need never tire of uttering, and the Lord will
never tire of receiving. It is a book of propliecy, spealcing of
things that were to be in distant agea with words tliat aliew
how deeply tliey were inspired l)y Him to Whom all things
are a continual present. And it is, above all, a book in wliich
t'hrist and His Church are prefigured, so that David speaks
in the Person of his Lord, and Israel personifies that New
Jerusalem which is the Motlicr of us all.
Of these manifold tones in which the I'saltcr speaks, some
are adapted for tlie pulpit, some for private meditation, some
for the confession of the penitent wlien lie is upon his knees
in self-abasement. But when it is used in Divine Service
there is one tone with which tlie Psalter ever rings ; and tliat
is tlie one which speaks to the praise and glory of God con-
cerning tlie relations which exist between the Divine Nature,
the Son of Man, and the Mystical Body of Christ. All other
aspects in which the Psalter can be viewed ought to come
within the range of Christian study and practice ; and we
cannot afford to undervalue any one of tliem. But as a
Psalter for use in Divine .Service all other views and meanings
ought to be subordinated to this, which sees chiefly God, and
Christ, and the Church in the Psalms. Thus the Christian
finds the Psalter a living word for every generation ; and if
he sings concerning the City of God, the voice of his under-
standing and love dwells little on the historical Jerusalem of
the past, but soars upward either to tlie allegory under which
lies hidden the Church Militant of the present, to the figura-
tive representation of the soul in which Clirist dwells, or to
the exalted Image which reveals to his faith that Celestial
City, wherein will be the eternal home of the saints.^
Tliis spiritual mode of viewing the Psalms was the principal
if not the only one adopted by the early Church. "All the
Psalms," says St. Jerome, " appertain to the Person of Christ. "
"David more than all the rest of the prophets," says St.
Ambrose, "spake of the marriage between the Divine and
Human nature." Tertullian had declared tha't nearly all the
Psalms represent the Son speaking to the Father ; and .St.
Hilary leaves his opinion on record, that all which is in the
Psalms refers to the knowledge of the coining of our Lord
Jesus Christ, His Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection, and
to the glory also and power of our own life in Him. Such
habits of thought were partly inherited from the Jews, who
could see the Messiah in their ancient prophecies, though the
generation in wliich He came failed to recognise His actual
Person. But without going back to the Jews, we may trace
this clear vision of Christ in the Psalms to the Apostles them-
selves, and from them to the teaching of His own lips and
example. In the earliest dawn of tlie Church after the
Ascension, the Apostles began to find in the Psalms an
explanation of the events which were occurring around them.
They recognized in the fall of an Apostle a fulfilment of that
" which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before
concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
. . . For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habita-
tion be desolate, and let no man dwell therein : and his
bishoprick let another take." [Acts i. 16, 20.] And in the
Resurrection of their Lord they found the one full interpreta-
tion of what the "patriarch David . . . being a prophet,"
and "seeing before" of that which was to be, "spake of
the Resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in
hell, neither His tlesh did see corruption." [Acts ii. 29-31.]
Such a use of the Psalms was not by way of adaptation or
mere illustration, but as clear, unimpeachable evidence;
infallible truth, coming from the Fountain of Truth.
Nor is it to be wondered at that the Apostles should thus
immediately, and as a matter of course, go to the Psalms for
light about Christ and the Church ; for their Divine Master
had often shewn them the way during the time of His
ministrations among them; wliile the last hours which He
and they had spent together seem to have been wonderfully
connected by Him with " the things that were spoken in the
Psalms concerning Him. ' It seems, indeed, as if our Blessed
Lord took every opportunity at that time of shewing how the
meaning of the Psalter was to be seen clearly only when
viewed in the light of the Gospel. When the Pharisees
remonstrated with Him for permitting the children to sing
1 Tliose four meanings of Holy Scripture are thus expressed in an
.nuiiient couplet: —
" I.itera scripta docet : quod credas Allegoria :
Quid speres. Anagoge : quid agas, Tropologia."
The Literal sense is thus said to teach the hvetorical meaning; the
Alleoorical sense that whicli is to be believed, and so concerns tlie
Christian life on earth ; the Moral or Tropological sense that which is
to be done in the Church Militant; and the Anaoogical sense that whieli
is to be hoped for in the Church Triumphant.
Hosanua to Him as the .Son of David coming in the Name of
the Lord, it is out of David that He answers them, reminding
them of tlie 8th Psalm, and saying, "Yea; have ye never
read. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast
perfected praise?" [Matt. xxi. ](i. ] In the same manner,
shortly after, Ho foretold them of His own glory (notwith-
standing their rejection of Him) by quoting words that
seemed from a human point of view to have had no such
application, "Thestone which the builders rejected, the same
is become the head of the corner. " [Matt. xxi. 42. ] And from
their own confession that Christ was the Son of David spoken
of in the Psalms, He convicted them of folly in not
acknowledging Him, the Son of David, for their Lord.
[M.att. xxii. 4,5.]
After these final hours of Christ's pu)>lic ministratione
came those which ended the time of His humiliation. When,
during that sad and solemn jieriod, lie would reveal to the
Apostles that the traitor was to c(mie from among themselves.
He shews them how this had been already predicted in the
Psalms, and that what is to happen will be in fulfilment of
the .Scripture, "He that catctli bread with Me h.ath lifted up
his heel against Me." [John xiii. IS.] When He .speaks of
the feelings which the Jews entertained towards Him, again
He goes to the Psalms, "But this conieth to pass, that the
word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They
hated Me without a cause." [.John xv. 25.] His last act of
common worship with them was when He and they sung the
latter half of the great Hallelujah Hymn of the Passover
[Psalms cxvi — c.xviii. ] as they went forth to Gethsemane. And
when He was on the Cross the words of the Psalmist form such
an atmosiiherc of fulfilled prophecy around the Throne of His
suffering, as to make a tlioughtful Cliristian receive with
respect the old tradition, that He recited the 22ud and
following Psalms as far as the sixth verse of the 31st, before
commending His soul into the hands of His Father, not in
new words, but in those with which His Spirit had inspired
David many ages before. [Luke xxiii. 4G.]
When the Apostles, then, began immediately to look for
the Gospel in the Psalter, they followed with loving faith in
the path which their Master had opened out to them by His
words and example. And that this pathway was not opened
out for a temporary object, only as one by wliich the Jews
might be led through their own Scriptures to conviction, may
be seen by the frequency with which St. Paul (who received
his Gospel by direct revelation from his ascended Lord, and
chiefly for ministrations among those who were not Jews)
deals with the Psalms in the same manner. He writes to the
Romans concerning the privileges which Christ brought home
to Gentiles as well as Jews, and finds God's olden declaration
of this truth in the words of the ISth Psalm, "For this cause
I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto Thj'
Name ;" and again in the 117th Psalm, "Praise the Lord, all
ye Gentiles ; and laud Him, all ye people." [Rom. xv. 9, II.]
Where we should otherwise least expect it he finds an
allegorical allusion to the first spread of the Gospel ; and
fixes the I9th as one of our Easter Psalms by shewing that
"their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto
the ends of the world," refers to the Apostles of the Sun of
Righteousness, Who Himself, and Himself in them, was run-
ning His course to extend the Light of salvation through all
nations. How remarkably the Apostle draws out the depth
of meaning contained in the Psalms to throw light on the
argument of his Epistle to the Hebrews, is familiar to every
thoughtful reader of the New Testament ; and some notes
will be found under several Psalms in the following pages,
connected with the meaning which he has given to them
in that Epistle.
This principle of interpretation has been adopted by the
Church in the selection of Proper Psalms for days which com-
memorate special epochs of our Lord's life and work ; and a
careful consideration of these Proper Psalms will shew that
the principle is recognized as one whose apjjlication is by no
means intended to be limited to the most self-evident alle-
gories and spiritual interpretations. In the choice of such
Psalms as the 19th, S9th, and 1.32nd for Christmas Day,
of the 40th and SSth for Good Friday, of those appointed
for Ascension Day, and of the GStli, 104th, and 145th
for W^litsunday, we see the Church penetrating far below
the surface into the mystical depths of the Psalter ; and
finding there reasons why these rather than other Psalms
should be taken on the lips of Christians to celebrate the
Incarnation, Death, and Ascension of our Lord, and the
marvellous operations of the Holy Sj^irit in canning on the
work of God's glory in man's redemption.
500
an 31ntrotiuction to tfje psalter.
There can be uo doubt, therefore, that in thus using the
Psalter as a treasury of truths respecting Christ and His
Church, -which God the Holy Ghost Himself has fiUed from
the treasury of Divine wisdom, we are strictly following the
couree which our Lord and His Apostles first pointed out.
And when, offering up to God of that which He has given us,
we take these truths out of this treasury, and cause them to
ascend to the Throne of His grace as the chief meaning of
our words of praise, we make such a use of them as is most
accordant with the habits of the saints, and wi+h the teaching
of our infallible Guide. Thus we praise Christ as God Whose
Throne is from everlasting ; Christ Who comes in the Incar-
nation, saying, "A Body hast Thou prepared Me;" Christ,
the Stone set at nought by the buUders, but becoming the
Head of the corner; Christ bearing the sins of the world, and
saying, as the Representative of sinners, ''Lord, rebuke Me
not in Thine indignation ; " Christ, imder tlie eclipse of sin
borne for others, crjnng, " My God, Jly God, whj- hast Thou
forsaken Me?" Christ, reigning from His Cross, lifted up
that He may draw all men unto Him ; Christ, awaking right
early on the morning of the Resurrection ; Christ, tlie King
of Glorj-, carrying our nature within the everlasting gates ;
Christ, sitting on the right hand of God until all His enemies
be made His footstool ; Christ, the true Vine of Unity and
Sacramental life, brought out of Egypt that it might take
root, and fill the land with a people wondrously made one
with Christ Himself.
Nor need we fear, even beyond those many applications of
the Psalms in this manner \\hich are given us in the New
Testament, to seek for others also in uninspired wisdom and
Christian common-sense : especially if we take for our guides
the many holy and learned writers who have striven Imnibly,
reverently, and with deep faith to follow the line so clearly
marked out for them, and to search the Psalms for Him that
hath the Key of David that they might make an acceptable
offering of praise in their worship before the Ark. Such a
use of the Psalter wiU give to those who sing it day by day,
some experience of the devout and happy feelings which
David himself had when he sang, "My soul shall be satis-
fied, even as it were with marrow and fatness : wlien my
mouth praiseth Thee with joyful lips. "
In the Annotations which are given with each Psalm in the
following pages the principal object of the writer has been to
draw out the spiritual meaning wliich has here been indicated.
For historical and explanatory notes the reader is referred to
the Annotated Bible.
CLASSIFIED PSALMS.
The Se\-en Pesttextial Psalms
The Six Passion Psalms
Tlie FrvE !Messi.:\jnic Psalms
The Fifteen Songs of Degrees
The Gre.at Hallelimah
Pss. vi. xxxii. xxxviii. li. cii. cxxx. cxliii.
Pss. ii. xxii. xxxviii. lix. Ixix. Ixxxviii.
Pss. ii xvi. xxii. xlv. ex.
Pss. cxx — cxxxiv.
Pss. cxiii — cxviii.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID.
Pmllerium Davidiaim ad nsum Ecclesice Sarisburitnsis.^
Day 1. MORNING PRAYKR.
THE I. PSALM.
Beatua vir, qui non abiit.
BLESSED is the man that hath not walked
in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood
in the way of sinners : and hath not sat in the
seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Loed :
and in His law will he exercise himself day and
night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the
water-side : that will bring forth his fruit in due
season.
4 His leaf also shall not wither : and look,
whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
5 As for the ungodly, it is not so with them :
but they are like the chaff, which the wind
scattereth away from the face of ihe earth.
6 Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to
stand in the judgement : neither the sinners in
the congregation of the righteous.
7 But the Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous : and the way of the ungodly shall
perish.
THE II. PSALM.
Quare f remuerunt gentes ?
WHY do the heathen so furiously rage to-
gether : and why do the peojile imagine
a vain thing ?
Historicdl : —
David ; the pro-
mises made to liiiii
respecting the
Messiah. [2 Sam.
7I
Litiirf;iciil : —
S. ffl. 18. Sunday
Matlins, ist Noct.
Easter D.ay and
8ve Maltins. Corp.
Christ., 1st Noel.
II.
Hist. David i the
promises made to
nim respecting the
Messiah. [2 Sam.
7.J
Lituyg. Easter Day
Mattms. S. ^.
|§. Sunday Mal-
tins, 1st Noct,
Christm. Maltins.
1st Noct, Good
Friday, ist Noct,
Passion Vs. 2.
lilessiatiic Ps. 1,
PSALMUS I.
BEATUS vir qui non abiit in consilio impi-
orum, et in via peccatorum non stetit : et
in cathedra pestilentiaj non sedit :
Sed in lege Domini voluntas ejus : et in lege
Ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.
Et erit tanc[uam ligimm, quod plantatum est
secus decursus aquarum : quod fructum suura
dabit in tempore suo :
Et folium ejus non defiuet : et omnia quK-
cunque faciet prosperabuntur.
Non sic impii, non sic : sed tanquam pulvis
quern projicit ventus a facie terrse.
Ideo non resurgent impii in judicio : neque
peccatores in concilio ju.storum.
Quoniam novit Dominus viam justorum : et
iter impiorum peribit.
Q
PSALMUS II.
UARE fremuerunt gentes : et populi meditati
sunt inania?
PSALM I.
Beyond the obvious moral meaning of this Ps,T,lm, it contains
a prophetic laudation of the holiness of Christ. He is "the
M,an " to Whom we sing, " Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might," as
the Lamb of God, Who ia God, throughout the Psalms. In
this particul.tr Psalm He is praised as the one only wearer of
our nature in Whom pure and perfect holiness has been found
during the time of earthly sojourn and probation. In His
temptation, He walked not in the counsel of the Wricked
One, stood not in the way of sinners by yielding thereto, and
refused the temporal cathedra which was offered Him (though
it seemed to bring Him in a moment that sovereignty whicli
could otherwise only be won through suffering), because it
was the throne of the Evil One, the Prince of this world, and
not the throne of the Cross. His delight was to do the will of
Him that sent Him, in the day while there was glad sun-
shine and time to work, and in tlie niglit too, when all was
eclipse, and darkness, and sorrow. Being made perfect
through suffering, He became the origin of perfection in
others ; the Corn of Wheat cast into the ground to die and
to spring up again with a power of life-giving in its own
1 N.B.—On\y the text of tlie Psalms themseh'es is here printeJ, m.t-
withstancliiiK the above title : and they are placed in the order of tho
modern, not of the .incient Psalter : the ancient order heins indicated in the
central notes. The York and Hereford Breviaries had the same arrange-
ment of the Psalter as the Salisbury.
resurrection ; the Corn and Wine of the Tree of Life, planted
by that River the streams whereof make glad the City of
God ; a fruit of sacramental life for the regeneration, edifica-
tion, and resurrection of souls. Nor can any of His work
fail through any deficiency of its own ; for whatsoever He
doeth, whether of grace towards men, or of Intercession
towards God, it shall prosper, because it is His.
As for Tho Ungodly wlio sets up his kingdom against that
of Christ, opposing Him first by the Jews, then by the
Heathen, and at all times liy sin, the end will prove how
great the contrast ! The Wind of Pentecost will at last
scatter altogether all the opponents of the Kingdom of God,
as it has been doing in part ever since its first sound was
heard. For them there will be no defence in tlie dreadful
Day of Judgement, nor any place in the Communion of glorified
saints. Only the path which He has marked out. Who said,
"I am the w.ay," can lead to the Presence of God; and they
who go in the path of the adversary must take their lot with
him.
Blessed is the follower of the Man Christ Jesus, who walks
in His way, and endureth temptation with stedfastness ; for
after his trial and victory lie also shall receive a crown of
life, which the Lord Jesus, the righteous Judge, hath pre-
pared for them that love Him, tiat tliey may reign with
Him in His glory.
PSALM II,
This is a Hymn, at once, of our Lord's suffering and of
502
CIjc Ipsalms.
1st Day. [Ps. 3.]
2 The kings of the earth stand up, and the
rulers take counsel together : against the Lokd,
and against "His Anointed.
3 Let us break their bonds asunder : and cast
away their cords from us.
4 He that dwelleth in heaven, shall laugh
them to scorn : the Lokd shall have them in
derision.
5 Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath :
and vex them in His sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set My King : upon My holy hill
of Sion.
7 I will preach the law, whereof the Lord hath
said unto Me : Thou art My Sox, this day have
I begotten Thee.
8 Desire of ile, and I shall give Thee the
heathen for Thine inheritance : and the utmost
parts of the earth for Thy possession.
9 Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of iron :
and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings : be
learned, ye that are judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord in fear : and rejoice unto
Him with reverence.
12 "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and so
ye perish from the 7-ii/!it way : if His wrath be
kindled (yea, but a little) blessed are all they
that put their trust in Him.
THK III. PSALM.
Domiue, quid multiplicati ?
IORD, how are they increased that trouble
■^ me : many are they that rise against me.
2 Many one there be that say of my soul :
There is no help for him in his God.
3 But Thou, O Lokd, art my defender : Thou
art my worship, and the lifter up of my head.
4 I did call upon the Lokd with my voice :
and He heard me out of His holy hill.
5 I laid me down and slept, and rose up again :
for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid for ten thousands of the
1 i.e. His Messiah
[Heb.l, His Christ
(CrcekJ.
^ IJotlMtiUSCCVTOUi.
[LX,\.)
ci.^. OjTerHinihuiii-
agc as a Sovereii^n.
ni.
Nisf. David : rt;-
spectin^ Absalom's
rebellion, [z Sam.
15. 30; 16. 14; 17.
r,'!«n'- S. f. IS.
Sunday Alattins.
1st Noct.
JiitsUru, A daily
Morning Psalin.
Astiterunt reges terrre, et principes convenerunt
itf unum : adversus Dominum, et adversus Chris-
tum Ejus.
Dirumpamus vincula eorum : et projiciamus a
nobis jugum ipsorum.
Qui habitat in cojlis irridebit eos : et DoMiNUS
subsaunabit eos.
Tunc loquetur ad eos in ira Sua : et in furore
Suo conturbabit eos.
Ego autem constitutus Sum Rex ab eo super
Sion montem sanctimi Ejus : proedicans prseceptum
Ejus.
DoMiNUs dixit ad Me, FOius Mens as Tu :
Ego hodie genui Te.
Postula a Me, et dabo Tibi gentes hiereditatem
Tuam : et possessionem Tuam terminos terrK.
ferrea : et tanquam vas
erudimini qui judi-
*Eeges eos in virga
figuli confringes eos.
Et nunc reges intelligite
catis terram.
Servite Domino in timore : et exultate Ei cum
tremore.
Apprehendite disciplinam, uequando irascatur
DoMiNUS : et pereatis de via justa.
Cum exarserit in brevi ira Ejus : beati omnes
qui confidunt in Eo.
PSALMUS m.
DOMINE, quid multiplicati sunt qui tribulant
me ? multi insurgunt adversum me.
!Multi dicunt animaj mese : !Non est salus ipsi
ill Deo ejus.
Tu autem, Domine, susceptor mens es ; gloria
mea, et exaltans caput meum.
Voce mea ad Do.minu.m clamavi : et exaudivit
me de monte sancto Suo.
Ego dormivi, et soporatus sum : et exsurresi,
quia DoMiNCS suscepit me.
Non timebo millia populi circumdantis me :
His victory, and therefore a Psalm for Easter Day. Its true
meaning in shewn by the quotations from it in Acts iv. 'J.5,
26, by SS. Peter and Joliii, and by those in Acts xiii. ?•">.
Heb. i. 5, and v. 5, by St. I'aul. The manner in wliich it is
quoted by the former may lead to tlie conclusion, liowever,
lliat the Psalm is spoken of the mystical Body of Christ, as well
as of the Messiah Himself ; and of the Church also it may,
indeed, be sung that she gained her victory over the world •
liy suffering.
To this day the (lucstiou may be asked, Why did the
"heathen," and "the people" of the Jews, persecute Christ
and His Church as they did? "We will not have this Man
to reign over us," was their cry for .iges, as it i.s of tlio Jews
still ; and yet (iod's irresistible law had gone forth that His
eternally-begotten Son should estaldi.sh a supreme spiritual
Empire upon earth, which should gather within its embrace
all nations, to make them "the Kingdoms of tlic Lord .and
of His Christ." And now the Good Shepherd has broken
.tsunder all other universal empire, tliat He might guide and
gather men with His staff into the unity of His fold. While
the world cries to break away the bands and to cast away
the yokes. He is ever crying, "Take My yoke upon you . . .
for My yoke is easy, and .Nly burden is light : " and the ven-
geance of the Lord has been displayed in tliat loving compul-
sion by which He has led His enemies to true wisdom and
learning, by leailing them to do reverent service and homage
to the Son of Man.
Thus the Cross of the Passion has become the triumphant
Banner of the Resurrection ; and the sign of the Son of Man,
M"hich was once the badge of shame, surmounts the proudest
tokens of earthly glory, to signify that He against Whom the
world exalted itself in vain has become " King of kings and
Lord of lords."
PSALM III.
In David, persecuted by his son Absalom, the light of
Gospel analogy shews us a type of Christ coming to His own
and His own receiving Him not. On Palm Sunday the
multitude led Him in trium))!! to Jerusalem, but on Good
Friday tliey led Him bcfuio llcrod and Pilate ; so tliat they
were " increased " that troubled Him by rejecting Him, and
become "many" that rose against Him, "saying, Crucify
Him, crucify Him." Liter.iUy, the mockers said, "He
trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have
Him :" figuratively, the wliole world looked on His I'assion
and said, " We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God,
and alllicted."
liut, as in the preceding Psalm, the voice of sorrow is turned
into a song of joy ; and in tlic depths of His Passion the
suffering Man of Sorrows could say, " Pather, into Tliy
hands I commend My spirit," knowing that He would be the
Lifter up of His head in the Resurrection and in the coming
Kingdom.
So may the Churcli take up the words of Christ, and set
aside all fear M'lien the world opposes the work of God, know-
1st Day. [Ps. 4, 5.
Cbc Pisalms.
503
people : that liave set themselves against me
round about.
7 Up, Lord, and help me, O my God : for
Thou smitest all mine enemies upon the cheek-
bone ; Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongeth unto the Loiiu : and
Thy blessing is upon Thy people.
THE IV. rSALM.
Cum iuvucarem.
HEAR me when I call, O God of my
righteousness : Thou hast set me at
liberty when I was in trouble ; have mercy upon
me, and hearken unto my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye blas-
pheme iline honour : and have such pleasure in
vanity, and seek after "leasing?
3 Know- this also, that the Loed hath chosen
to Himself the man that is godly ; when I call
upon the Lord, He will hear me.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not : commune with
your own heart, and in your chamber, and be
still.
5 Oflfer the sacrifice of righteousness : and put
your trust in the Lord.
6 There be many that say : Who will shew us
any good ?
7 Lord, lift Thou up : the light 'of Thy
countenance upon us.
8 Thou hast put gladness in my heart : since
the time that their corn and wine and oil increased.
9 I will lay me down in peace, and take my
rest : for it is Thou, Lord, only that makest me
dwell in safety.
THE V. PSALM.
Verba mea auribus.
PONDER my words, O Lord : consider my
meditation.
2 O hearken Thou unto the voice of my calling,
my King, and my God : for unto Thee will I
make my prayer.
IV.
fjist. D.ivicl : re-
specting Absalom's
rebellion.
L,i„a-. s. s. m-
K.istcr Eve, Corp.
( lir., ist Noct.
Maundy Tli.,
Prime. Martyrs,
Confessors, 2nd
Noct. Compline,
ft t>. Lying.
Hist. David ; re-
specting Absalom's
rebellion.
i./«,-r. S. 1 . m-
Monday Lauds,
Mattins of the de-
parted. Martyrs,
Confessors. 2nd
Noct. St. Michael,
ist Noct.
exsurge, Domine, salvum me fac, Deus
meus.
Quoniam Tu percussisti omnes adversantes mihi
sine causa ; denies peccatorum contrivisti.
Domini est salus : et super populum Tuuni
benedictio Tua.
PSALMUS IV.
CUM invocarem exaudivit me Deus justitiae
mese : in tribulatione dilatasti mihi.
Miserere mei : et exaudi orationem meam.
Filii hominum, usquequo gravi corde ? ut quid
diligitis vanitatem, et qujeritis mendaciuni 1
Et scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus sanc-
tum Suum : Dominus exaudiet me cum clania-
vero ad Eum.
Irascimiiii, et nulite peccare : quae dicitis in
cordibus vestris, et in cubilibus vestris com-
pungimini.
Sacrifieate sacrificium justitias, et sperate in
Domino : multi dicunt, Quis ostendit nobis bona ?
Signatum est super nos lumen vultus Tui,
Domine : dedisti hetitiam in corde meo.
A fructu frumenti, vini, et olei sui : multipli-
cati sunt.
In jiace in idipsum : dormiam et requiescam.
Quoniam Tu, Domine, singulariter in spe :
constituisti me.
PSALMUS V.
VERBA mea auribus percipe, Domine
tellige clamorem meum.
Intende voci orationis
Deus meus.
mese : Rex meus et
ing that One has said, "The gates i)f hell shall not prevail
against it."
So may each member of Christ lay them down to rest niglit
by night, knowing that there is One Who will "lighten our
darkness ; " and at the last lay them down to the sleep of the
grave, saying, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," — " If we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him, "
PSALM IV.
It is the last verse, probably, of this Psalm which has
marked it out as the first of the Compline or late Evensong
Psalms throughout the Eastern and the Western Church ; but
a general tone of thankfulness for rest after trouble, toil, and
sorrow, pervades the whole Psalm, and fits it for the place
which it has so universally occupied in the devotions of the
Church.
Uttered in the person of Christ, it is an expansion of His
commeudatiou prayer, and applies to that moment when,
while the world was still standing in awe at the supernatural
darkness. He cried of " the Sacrifice of Righteousness," "It is
finished. " Doubtless a ray of Divine liglit comforted the
broken heart of the dying Jesus as He commended His soul
to His Father. He knew that the Lord had heard Him, and
would glorify again the Name which He had already glorified.
And so while tlie people said, "He saved others, Himself He
cauuot save," Jesus looked forth on the travail of His soul.
and was satisfied. The Life-giving Com and Wine had been
perfected, the Unction from the Holy One had been bought
by the atoning blood, and now for ever was the Sufferer set
at liberty, in peace to take His rest.
Even thus is the true peace and rest of the Church to be
found in the Sacramental Life by which it is made the
mystical Body of Christ ; and whether in life or in death, the
members of that Body may dwell safely and in hope, through
Him Who is the Corn, the Wine, and the Oil of their souls.
It has been said of these four Psalms which open the
Psalter that they contain an epitome of the Gospel. In the
1st we have the Life of Christ, in the 2nd His Passion, in
the 4th His Death and Burial, in the 3rd His Resurrection.
PSALM V.
The third verse of this Psalm appears to indicate that it
was composed for morning use ; and both in the Eastern and
the Western systems it is thus appropriated to the second
Morning Service, or Lauds, on Mondaj*.
It is, throughout, the voice of the Church speaking to
Christ. As in the dawn of its existence the Church prayed
that the Lord would grant unto His servants that with all
boldness they might speak His Word, and that He would
stretch forth His hand to work signs and wonders : so now
does she direct her constant prayer that His Presence may
bless the opening day, and that He will direct her way.
It is Well, in using tliis and other Psalms in which the
504
Cf)C Psalms.
1st Day. [Ps. 6.]
3 My voice slialt Tliou hear betimes, O Loed :
early in the moruiug will I direct my prayer unto
Thee, and ■will look up.
4 For Thou art the God that hast no pleasure
in wickedness : neither shall any evil dwell with
Thee.
5 Such as be foolish shall not stand in Thy
sight : for Thou hatest all them that work vanity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing :
the Lord will abhor both the bloodthirsty and
deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Thine house,
even upon the multitude of Thy mercy : and in
Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple."
8 Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness,
because of mine enemies : make Thy way plain
before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in his mouth :
their inward parts are very wickedness.
10 Their throat is an open sepulchre : they
flatter with their tongue.
11 Destroy Thou them, O God, let them
perish through their own imaginations : cast
them out in the multitude of their ungodliness ;
for they have rebelled against Thee.
12 And let all them that put their trust in
Thee rejoice : they shall ever be giving of thanks,
because Thou defendest them ; they that love
Thy Name, shall be joyful in Thee ;
13 For Thou, Lord, wilt give Thy blessing
unto the righteous : and with Thy favourable
kindness wilt Thou defend him as with a shield.
Day 1. Evening Prayer,
the vi. psalm.
Domine, ne in furore.
OLORD, rebuke me not in Thine indignation :
neither chasten me in Thy displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am
weak : O Loed, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
3 ily soul also is sore troubled : but. Lord,
how long wilt Thou punish me 1
4 Turn Thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul :
O save me for Thy mercy's sake.
5 For in death no man remembereth Thee :
and who will give Thee thanks in the pit ?
6 I am weary of my groaning, every night
wash I my bed : and water my couch with my
tears.
a Cent/. 1 Sam. i. g.
VI.
//isi. David : re-
specting Absalom's
rebellion.
Litur^. Ash-Wed.
Mattins. S-S-K-
Sunday Mattins.
1st Noct- Mattia-i
of the departed.
Penitential Ps. 2.
Quoniam ad Te orabo, Domine : mane exaudies
vocem meam.
Mane astabo Tibi et videbo : quoniam non
Dects volens iniquitatem Tu es.
Neque habitabit juxta Te malignus : neque
permanebunt injusti ante oculos Tuos.
Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem : per-
des omnes qui loquuntur mendacium.
Virum sanguinum et dolosum abominabitur
DosiiNUS : ego autem in multitudine misericordise
Tuc-e.
Introibo in domum Tuam : adorabo ad tem-
plum sanctum Ttium in timore Tuo.
Domine, deduc me in justitia Tua propter
inimicos meos : dirige in conspectu Tuo viam
meam.
Quoniam non est in ore eorum Veritas : cor
eorum vanum est.
Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum ; Unguis
suis dolose agebant : judica illos Detjs.
Decidant a cogitationibus suis ; secundum
multitudinem impietatimi eorum expeUe eos :
quoniam irritaverunt Te, Domine.
Et loetentur omnes qui sperant in Te : in
aeternum exsultabunt, et habitabis in eis.
Et gloriabuntur in Te omnes qui diligunt
Nomen Tuum : quoniam Tu benedices justo.
Domine, ut scuto bonse voluntatis Tuae :
coronasti -uos.
PSALMUS VI.
DO!MINE, ne in furore Tuo arguas me : neque
in ira Tua corripias me.
Miserere mei, Domine, quoniam infirmus sum :
sana me Domine, quoniam conturbata sunt ossa
mea.
Et anima mea turbata est valde : sed Tu,
Domine, usquequo?
Convertere, Domine, et eripe animam meam :
salvum me fac propter misericordiam Tuam.
Quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit Tui :
in inferno autem quis confitebitur Tibi ?
Laboravi in gemitu meo, lavabo per singulas
noctes lectum meum : lacrymis meis .stratum
meum rigabo.
(lustniction of enemies is spokcu of, to reiuomljer that they
arc God's enemies, and the enemies of His Churcli and law,
against whom the words are uttered, and tliat the destruc-
tion of evil for the ."i.-ilvation of the repentant evil-doer is the
highest exercise of Divine mercy. Nor must it be forgotten
that as wickedness is essentially hateful to tlie All-Good, so
there is a "wrath " even "of the Lamb," Whose meekness
and love are infinite.
PSALM VI.
In this first of the seven Penitential Psalms we begin to
liear the voice of our Kcdeemer speaking as One upon \Vhom
the Ixjrd hath laid the initiuity of us all, .and Whoso visage
was marred more than any m.in's in tlio awful hours of dark-
ness which Ho sufTcrcd upon the Cross. No one was ever so
humbled by sin as the .Son of (Jod, Who condescended to a
shameful death for sinners : no one ever so felt the wrath of
Gotl poured out upon him as He Wlmse loving heart was
broken by the rebuke of the Lord, so that He cried, "My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Mo?" Yet, as God
has said, "As m.any as I love I rebuke and chasten," so His
love for sinners was shewn in the cliastisemcnt which was
Laid upon the Redeemer of sinners, and in the rebuke
which shed forth that Kedeemer's Blood for their salva-
tion.
Since our Lord and Saviour thus condescended to bo so
entirely one of ourselves that He was "made sin for us," and
could utter the words of one bowed down by tlie burden, so
has He thus set us an example of words wherein each sinner
may turn to God with words of penitence in deprecation of
His indignation and displeasure. And .is the darkness passed
away witli the rotiiiiiing Light of the Father's Presence, so
can all sinners hope that a penilcnti.'il confession of sin will
end in words of joy through the ajiplicatiou of the healing
absolution, "Thy sins are forgiven thee."
1st Day. [Ps. 7.]
Cbe ipsalms.
505
7 Jly beauty is gone for very trouble : and
worn away because of all mine enemies.
8 Away from me, all ye that work vanity : for
the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Loud hath lieard my petition : the
LoED will receive my prayer.
10 All mine enemies shall be confounded, and
sore vexed : they shall be turned back, and put
to shame suddenly.
THE VII. PSALM.
Domine, Deus meus.
OLORD my God, in Thee have I put my
trust : save me from all them that perse-
cute me, and deliver me ;
2 Lest he devour my soul like a lion, and tear
it in pieccM : while there is none to help.
3 LoKD my God, if I have done any such
thing : or if there be any wickedness in my
hands ;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt
friendly with me : yea, I have delivered him that
without any cause is mine enemy ;
5 "Then let mine enemy persecute my soul, and
take me : yea, let him tread my life down upon
the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust.
6 Stand up, O Loed, in Thy wrath, -and lift
up Thyself, because of the indignation of mine
enemies : arise up for me in the judgement that
Thou hast commanded.
7 And so shall the congregation of the people
come about Thee : for their sakes therefore lift
up Thyself again.
8 The LoKD shall judge the people ; give
sentence with me, O Lord : according to my
righteousness, and according to the innocency
that is in me.
9 let the wickedness of the ungodly come
to an end : but guide Thou the just.
10 For the righteous God : trieth the very
hearts and reins.
11 Jly help cometh of God : Who preserveth
them that are true of heart.
12 God is a righteous Judge, strong, aiid patient :
and God is provoked every day.
13 ''If a man will not turn, He will whet His
sword : Ho hath bent His bow, and made it
ready.
14 He hath prepared for him the instruments
of death : He ordaineth His arrows against the
persecutors.
vii.
Niif. David ; re-
.sjjcctiiijf Absalom's
rebellion.
Sunday Mattins,
isl Noct. Mattins
or the tlepaited.
Cotnp. Job 31
b Ccmp. Deut. 32
Turbatus est a furore oculus mcus : inveteravi
inter omnes inimicos mcos.
Discedite a me omncs qui operamini iniqui-
tatem : quoniam cxaudivit Dominus vocem Helus
mei.
Exaudivit Dominus deprecationem meam :
Dominus orationem meam suscepit.
Erubescant et conlurbentur vehementer omnes
inimici mei : convertantur et erubescant valdo
velociter.
PSALMUS VII.
DOMINE, Deus meus, in Te speravi : salvum
mo fac ex omnibus persequentibus nie, et
libera me.
Nequando rapiat ut leo animam meam : dum
non est qui redimat, neque qui salvum faciat.
DoMiNB, Duus meus, si feci istud : si est
iuiquitas in manibus meis.
Si reddidi retribuentibus mihi mala
merito ab inimicis meis inanis.
decidam
Persequatur iuimicus animam meam et compre-
hendat, et conculcet in terra vitam meam : et
gloriam meam in pulverem deducat.
Exsurge, Domine, in ira Tua : et exaltare in
finibus inimicorum meorum.
Et exsurge, Domine, Deus meus, iu prascepto
quod mandasti : et synagoga populorum circun-
dabit Te.
Et propter hanc in altum regredere : Dominus
judicat populos.
Judicame, Domine, secundum justitiam meam :
et secundum innocentiam meam super me.
Consumetur nequitia peccatorum, et diriges
justum : scrutans corda et renes Deus.
Justum adjutorium meum a Domino : Qui
salvos facit rectos corde.
Deus Judex Justus, fortis, et patiens : numquid
irascitur per singulos dies^
Nisi conversi fueritis, gladium Suum vibravit :
arcum Suum tetendit, et paravit ilium.
Et in eo paravit vasa mortis : sagittas Suas
ardentibus effecit.
PSALM VII.
The second verse of this Psalm points out the adversary
spoken of as th.at one of wliom St. Peter speaks as a roaring
lion walking about seeking whom he may devour ; and of
whom David liad ah'eady found an evil type when he was
guarding the flock intrusted to him by his father, [1 Sam.
xvii. 3-1.] And since the adversary is Satan, so the Person
speaking must be Clirist, the seed of the woman persecuted
by the Evil One, the seed of the serpent whose he.ad He was
to bruise. Many a lamb had the lion seized out of the flock,
and at last he strove to tear in pieces the Lamb of God Him-
self. All through the Psalm it is this personal adversary
who is spoken of ; and even when the enemies of Christ are
represented as many, the one power and influence liy which
they are moved is recalled to our minds by the interchange
of the plural and the singular number.
The plea of innocence w liicli I made in the third, fourtli,
and fifth verses is mingled with a prophetic foreshadowing
of that which is now history, that "He Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in His mouth," was yet " made sin "
for us, had His holy body torn in pieces. His soul persecuted.
His life trodden down upon the earth, and His honour laid in
the dust. Thus David in his affliction prophetically personi-
fied Him AVliose bitter Passion wrought out the Atone-
ment, and Who, "while we were enemies, yet died for
us."
Then, as in previous Psalms, a sudden transition takes
jilace from the "dust" of deatli to the "lifting up" of the
Resurrection. In one sense it is the voice of Christ calling
upon His Father to glorify His Name now that the purpose
of His humiliation and sutfering is accomplished : in another
it is the voice of the Church calling upon Christ to lift up
Himself again in the Kesurrectiou for the sake of those whom
5o6
Cf)C Psalms.
2nd Day. [Ps. 8, 9.]
15 Behold, he travaileth with mischief : he
hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth ungod-
liness.
16 He hath graven and digged up a pit : and
is fallen himself into the destruction that he made
for other.
17 For his "travail shall come upon his own
head : and his wickedness shall fall on his own
pate.
18 1 will give thanks unto the Lord, accord-
ing to His righteousness : and I will praise the
Name of the Loed most High.
THE ^^II. PSALM.
Domine, Dominus noster.
OLORD our Governour, how excellent is Thy
Name in all the world : Thou that hast
set Thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of very babes and suck-
lings hast Thou ordained strength, because of
Thine enemies : that Thou mightest still the
enemy and the avenger.
3 ''For I will consider Thy heavens, even the
works of Thy fingers : the moon and the stars
which Thou hast ordained.
4 "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him :
and the son of man, that Thou visitest him ?
5 Thou madest him lower than the angels : to
crown him with glory and worshiji.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion of the
works of Thy hands : and Thou hast put all
things in subjection under his feet ;
7 AU sheep and oxen : yea, and the beasts of
the field ;
8 The fowls of the air, and the fishes of the
sea : and whatsoever walketh through the paths
of the seas.
9 O Lord our Governour : how excellent is
Thy Name in all the world.
Day 2. MORNING PRAYER.
THE IX. PSALM.
Confitebor Tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto Thee, O Loud, with
my whole heart : I will speak of all Thy
marvellous works.
a i.t. " Trouble,"
ill the sense of
painstaking, or la-
VIII.
Hist. David ; re-
specting his victory
over Goliath.
Litnrg. Ascension
Day Mattins. S*.
^. |§. Sunday
Mattins. Ascension
Day. St. Michael.
All Saints, B.V.M.,
Virg, and Matr. , ist
Noct. Inv. and
Ex. Cross M.ittins.
Martyrs. 3n<l Noct.
b Cotnp. Luke ii.
IX.
Hist. David ; re.
spectin^ his victory
over Goliath.
Utur^. S. 59. IB-
Sunday Mattins,
1st Noct.
Ecce parturit injustitiam ; concepit dolorem :
et peperit iniquitatem.
Lacum aperuit, et efiodit eum : et incidit in
foveam quain fecit.
Convertetur dolor ejus in caput ejus : ot in
verticem ipsius iniquitas ejus descendet.
Confitebor Domino secundum justitiam Ejus :
et psallam Nomini Domini Altissimi.
psALMus \t:ii.
DOMINE DoMiNCS noster : quam admirabile
est Nomen Tuum in universa terra.
Quoniam elevata est magnificentia Tua : super
ccelos.
Ex ore infantium et lacteutium perfecisti
laudem propter inimicos Tuos : ut destruas
inimicum et ultorem.
Quoniam videbo coelos Tuos, opera digitorum
Tuorum : lunam et stellas quaj Tu fundasti.
Quid est homo, quod memor es ejus ? aut filius
hominis quoniam visitas eum ?
Minuisti eum paulominus ab augelis, gloria et
honore coronasti eum : et constituisti eum super
opera manuum Tuarum.
Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus ; oves et
boves universas : insuper et pecora campi.
Volucres coeli, et pisces maris : qui perambu-
lant semitas maris.
DoMiNE Dominus noster : quam admirabile
est Nomen Tuum in universa terra.
PSALMUS IX.
CONFITEBOR Tibi, Domine, in toto corde
meo : narrabo omnia mirabilia Tua.
He has redcemctl, tli.at they who are partakers of His Death
may also be partakers of His Life and His Glory. Then,
althougli all forsodk Ilini and fled, and none were left around
Him but a congregation of wicked doers and cruel men, when
He h.ad ascended up on high, to take u|) His Divine Glory
again, He should gather about Him in the Kingdom of the
Resurrection a coiigrcg.ation of the people, whose multitude
no man can number, out of all nations, and peoples, and
tongues. " I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto
Me."
In the latter verses, the final subjugation of the Evil One
is predicted, the second death of the lake of fire, and the
bottomless pit into which the great enemy himself shall l)e
cast. [Rev. xx. 10, 14.] Thus also the ninth verse is .another
form of the prayer, "Thy kingdom come . . . deliver us
from evil : " a prayer that God may be all anil in all,
PSALM VIII,
The Church sings this Psalm to the glorj' of the Son of
Man, our Lord aa Creator, and our Lord as Redeemer, Who
has been crowned with the glory of an everlasting kingdom,
and a ueverending Divine \\\irship in heaven and earth.
The prophecy of the second verse is declared by Christ
Himself to have been fulfilled by the children crying
" Hosanna to the Son of David" as He rode into Jei'usalem
on ralm Sunday. We need not, however, suppose this to be
its only fullilment, for the Holy Innocents glorified the Holy
Babe by tlieir deaths, and ,in army of Holy Innocents "follow
the Lamb whithersoever He goeth " in His glorified Kingdom.
Above all other b.abes out of whose mouth strength has been
ordained is He of Whom it is written, " Untti us a Child is
born, unto us a Son is given, and His Name shall be called
^Vonderful, The mighty God."
Hence St, Paul guides us to that use of this I'salm which is
specially m.arkcd out by its selection for Ascension Day : and
" we see Jesus " in Him " Who was made a little lower than
the aiij,'els for the suH'ering of deatli, crowned with glory
and honour." l!ut when we thus sing the glory of Him Who
is the Alpha ,inil Omega,— the Lord our Lord in the beginning,
and the Lord our I/ord in the end, — we m.ay also remember
that " both He that sanctilleth and they who arc sauctitied are
2nd Day. [Ps. 9.]
Cbc IPsalnis.
507
2 I will be glad and rejoice in Thee : yea, my
songs will I make of Thy Kame, Thou most
Highest.
3 "While mine enemies are driven back ; they
shall fall and perish at Thy presence.
4 For Thou hast maintained my right and my
cause : Thou art set in the throne that judgest
right.
5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, and de-
stroyed the ungodly : Thou hast put out their
name for ever and ever.
6 thou enemy, destructions are come to a
perpetual end : even as the cities which thou
hast destroyed ; their memorial is perished with
them.
7 But the Lord shall endure for ever : He
hath also prepared His seat for judgement.
8 For Ho shall judge the world in righteous-
ness : and minister true judgement unto the
people.
9 The Lord also will be a Defence for the
oppressed : even a Refuge in due time of trouble.
10 And they that know Thy Name, will put
their trust in Thee : for Thou, Lord, hast never
failed them that seek Thee.
110 praise the Lord Which dwelleth in Sion :
shew the people of His doings.
12 For, when He maketh inquisition for blood.
He remembereth them : and forgetteth not the
complaint of the poor.
13 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, consider
the trouble which I suffer of them that hate
me : Thou that liftest me up from the gates of
death.
14 That I may shew all Thy praises within
the *ports of the daughter of Sion : I will rejoice
in Thy salvation.
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that
they made : in the same net which they hid
privily, is their foot taken.
16 The Lord is known to execute judgement :
the ungodly is trapped in the work of his own
hands.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell : and
all the people that forget God.
18 For the poor shall not alway be forgotten :
the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish
for ever.
19 LTp, Lord, and let not man have the upper
hand : let the heathen be judged in Thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, Lord : that the heathen
may know themselves to be but men.
rt John 18. 6. M.llt.
Lastabor et exultabo in Te : psallam Nomini
Tuo, Altissime.
In convertendo inimicum meum retrorsum .
inlirmabuntur, et peribunt a facie Tua.
Quoniam fecisti judicium meum et causam
meam : sedes super thronum qui judicas justitiam.
Increpa-sti gentes, et periit impius : nomtn
corum delesti in agternum et in steculuni saeculi.
Inimici defecerunt frameie in fmcni : et civitates
eorum destruxisti.
Periit memoria eorum cum sonitu : et DojiiNi'S
in seternum permanet.
Paravit in judicio thronum Suimi : et Ipse
judicabit orbem terne in sequitate ; judicabit
populos in justitia.
Et factus est Dominus refugium pauperi :
adjutor in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione.
Et sperent in Te qui noverunt Nomen Tuum :
quoniam non dereliquisti quserentes Te, Domine.
Psallite Domino, Qui habitat in Sion : annuu-
tiate inter gentes studia Ejus.
Quoniam requirens sanguinem, eorum recor-
datus est : non est oblitus clamorem paui^erum.
Miserere mei, Domine : vide humilitatem
meam de inimicis meis.
Qui exaltas me de portis mortis : ut annuntiem
omnes laudationes Tuas in portis filite Sion.
Exultabo in salutari Tuo
in interitu Cjuem fecerunt.
infixM sunt gentes
I
In laqueo isto quern absconderunt : compre-
hensus est pes eorum.
Cognoscetur Dominus judicia faciens : in operi-
bus manuum suarum comprehensua est peccator.
Convertantur peccatores in infernum : omnes
gentes quae obliviscuntur Deum.
Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis :
patientia pauperum non peribit in finem.
Exurge, Domine; non confortetur homo : judi-
centur gentes in conspectu Tuo.
Constitue, Domine, legislatorem super eos : ut
sciant gentes quoniam homines sunt.
all of one," and that we sing also of the exaltation of human
nature by its union witli Him llirough His Incarnation and
Ascension.
PSALM IX.
A song of Christ and of His Cliurch, setting forth tlie
triumph of His Person and His work, and giving thanks
because He Who became poor for our sakes hath made many
rich to the glory of God.
The marvellous works of God in tlie miracles of grace are
even more worthy to be sung than tliose whicli surround us
in the miracles of Creation and Providence. Especially in
that miracle of grace from whicli all others spring, that of our
Lord's Incarnation : " Great is the mystery of godliness ;
God was manifest in tlie flesh," the angels and those who
recognized their Saviour rejoiced, while the enemy was con-
founded and death vanished in presence of Him Who is the
Life. As the multitude with swords and staves who came to
take Jesus went backward and fell to the ground at tlie pro-
clamation of the Incommunicable Kame, and as the keepers
iiecame as dead men in sight of the Kesurrection glory, so the
darkness of heathenism tied before the Light of the world,
the universally destructive empire of the Enemy of God and
man was broken up, and the Throne of the Cross was
established for ever.
The "inquisition for blood" speaks of that blood of which
the Jews said, "Let it be on us and on our children," and
which speaketh better things than that of Abel ; the com-
]ilaint of the Poor, cryin<; up to God, " F.athcr. forgive them ;
for they know not wliat they do." It speaks also of the
blood of the martyrs, Stcplien praying, "Lord, lay not this
sin to their charge," and tlie souls under the altar crying,
"Lord, how long, Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? "
In the continued prayer for mercy and deliverance, an
5o8
€.ht IPsalms.
2nd Day. [Ps. 10.]
THE X. PSALM.
Ut quid, Domine ?
\\1' HY standest Thou so far off, Lord : and
V V liidest Thy face in the needful time of
trouble ?
2 The ungodly for his own lust doth persecute
the poor : let them be taken in the crafty wiliness
that they have imagined.
3 For the ungodly hath made boast of his own
heart's desire : and speaketh good of the covetous
whom God abhorreth.
4 The ungodly is so proud, that he careth not
for God : neither is God in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are alway grievous : Thy judge-
ments are far above out of his sight, and there-
fore defieth he all his enemies.
6 For he hath said in his heart, Tush, I shall
never be cast down : there shall no harm happen
unto me.
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and
fraud : under his tongue is ungodliness and
vanity.
S He sitteth lurking in the thievish corners of
the streets : and privily in his lurking dens doth
he murder the innocent ; his eyes are set against
the poor.
9 For he lieth waiting secretly, even as a lion
lurketh he in his den : that he may "ravish the
poor.
10 He doth ravish the poor ; when he gettetb
him into his net.
11 He faUeth down, and humbleth himself :
that the congregation of the poor may fall into
the hands of his captains.
12 He hath said in his heart. Tush, God hath
forgotten : He hideth away His face, and He will
never see it.
13 Arise, O Lord God, and lift up Thine
hand : forget not the poor.
14 Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme
God : whUe he doth say in his heart, Tush, Thou
God carest not for it.
1 5 Surely Thou hast seen it : for Thou behold-
est ungodliness and wrong.
16 That Thou mayest take the matter into
Thine hand : the poor committeth himself unto
Thee ; for Thou art the Helper of the friendless.
In continuation of
Ps.9.
a I.e. rliir.tljr.
IT
[PSALMUS IX. v. 22.]
T quid, DoMiNE, recessisti longe : despicis
in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione 1
Dum superbit impius, incenditur pauper : coui-
prehenduntur in consiliis quibus cogitant.
Quoniam laudator peccator in desideriia animae
sure : et iniquus benedicitur.
Exacerbavit Dominum peccator : secundum
multitudinem ira3 suae non quajret.
Non est Deus in conspectu ejus : inquinat*
sunt vife illius in omni tempore.
Auferuntur judicia Tua a facie ejus : omnium
inimicorum suorum dominabitur.
Dixit enim in corde suo : Non movebor a gene-
ratione in generationem sine malo.
Cujus maledictione os plenum est, et amaritu-
dine, et dolo : sub lingua ejus labor et dolor.
Sedet in insidiis cum divitibus in occultis : ut
interficiat innocentem.
Oculi ejus in pauperem respiciunt : insidiatur
in abscondito, quasi leo iu spelunca sua.
Insidiatur ut rapiat pauperem ; rapere pauperem
dum attrahit eum.
In laqueb suo humiliabit eum : inclinabit se, et
cadet cum dominatus fuerit pauperum.
Dixit enim in cordo suo ; Oblitus est Deus :
avertit faciem Suam ne videat in finem.
Exurge, Domine Deus, et exaltetur manus
Tua : ne obliviscaris pauperum.
Pi-opter quid irritavit impius Deum? dixit
enim in corde suo, Non requiret.
Vides; quoniam Tu laborem et dolorem con-
sideras : ut tradas eos in manus Tuas.
Tibi derelictus est pauper : orphano Tu eris
adjutor.
illustration is given of the oneness which Christ establishes
between Himself and the Church. When Saul hunted down
the members of Clirist to slaugliter, the Lord met him and
said, "Saul, Saul, why pcrsecutest thou Me?" In the same
manner the Voice of the Head is heard speaking of the
"trouble" which He suffers in His members from them that
hate Him; and with His my.stical liody Ho prays to the
Divine Nature, Arise, Lord, in tlie power of the Resurrec-
tion, and establish tub Poor in His kingdom as a Lawgiver
and a Saviour.
PSALM X
"Man's necessity is God's opportunity," yet the cry with
M-liioh this Psalm opens expresses literally the utter forsaken-
ness of Christ even "in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione,"
when the I^ord is to all others a defence and a refuge : to sucii
an utter depth of persecution and sull'cring did "the Poor"
descend for the s.ike of those Ho came to save.
This Psalm is in reality a continuation of the 9th, as it is
written in the LXX and the Vulgate, and as is shewn by the
initial letters of the verses, wliich in the Hebrew form the
Alphabet, beginning with the (irst verses of the Utli and
ending with tne last verses of the 10th.
But as the enemies of the Poor in the former Ps.alm are
the heathen, persecuting Christ and His Church from with-
out, so in this they are from within, those of His own house-
liold. Consequently this latter I'salm has ever been inter-
preted of the troubles wliich the Church will have to under-
go in the days of Antichrist, when the greatest enemy that
has ever persecuted the mystical Body of Christ will arise
from among its members.
Antichristian j)ride is here predicted as if it would be a
revivification in practical life of tlie first temptation that
men "should lie as Gods." And, as the enemies of Christ
allied themselves witli the covetous traitor, so it is a
characteristic of the spirit of Antichrist that covetousness,
which God declares to lie the root of all evil, is by him spoken
good of, and reckoned as a virtue. The unjust steward is
commended, in such a spirit, because he was wise in his
generation, tliat generation being narrowed within the bounds
of this present life.
It is, perhaps, more of this future conflict between the
kingdom of the Poor and the kingdom of Antichrist, than of
the personal sufl'crings of Clirist in His I'assion that this
I'.salm speaks. Anuf the conclusion is a prophecy that
.although the eyes of those who follow tlio enemy of Christ
2iid. Day. [Ps. 11, 12.
Cbe P0alms.
509
1 7 Break Thou the power of the ungodly and
malicious : take away his ungodliness, and Thou
shalt find none.
18 The Lord is King for ever and ever : and
the heathen are perished out of the land.
19 Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the
poor : Thou preparost their heart, and Tiiino ear
hearkeneth thereto ;
20 To help the fatherless and poor unto their
right : that tlie man of the eartli bo no more
exalted against tliem.
THE XI. PSALM.
In Domino confide.
IN the Lord put I my trust : how say ye then
to my soul, that she should fiee as a bird
unto the hill ?
2 For lo, the ungodly bend their bow, and
make ready their arrows within the quiver : that
they may privily shoot at them which are true of
heart.
3 For the foundations wiU be cast down : and
what hath the righteous done 1
4 The Lord is in His holy temple : the Lokd's
seat is in heaven.
5 His eyes consider the iMor : and His eyelids
" try the children of men.
6 The Lord *alloweth the righteous ; but the
ungodly, and him that delighteth in wickedness
doth His soul abhor.
7 Upon the ungodly He shall rain snares, fire
and brimstone, storm, and tempest : this shall be
their portion to drink.
8 For the righteous Lord loveth righteous-
ness : His countenance will behold the thing that
is just.
Day 2. EVENING PRAYER.
THE XII. PSALM.
Salvum me fac.
H
ELP me, Lord, for there is not one godly
man left : for the faithful are minished
from among the children of men.
2 They talk of vanity every one with his
neighbour : they do but flatter with their lips,
and dissemble in their double heart.
XI.
Hist. David ; when
his life was threat-
ened by Saul, [i
Sam. 19. I, 10. 18.]
Lii,,,-,'. s. io. m-
Siimhiy Mattins,
ist Noct. Ascen-
sion Day, St. Mi-
chael, ist Noct.
Martyrs, 3rd Noct.
a " trieth." [B. V.]
d i.e. Approveth, in
the sense of prov-
ing true by assay.
XII.
Hist. David : in time
of some great dis-
tress.
Lituyr. S- W. ^.
Sunday Mattins,
ist Noct.
Contere brachium peccatoria et maligni
retur peccatum illius, et non invenietur.
quse-
DoMiNUS regnabit in aeternum et in sseculum
saiculi : peribitLs gentes de terra illiu3.
Desidcrium pauperuin exaudivit Dominus :
prseparationcm cordis eoruni audivit auris Tua.
Judicare pujiillo et humili : ut non apponat
ultra magniticare so homo super terrain.
I
PSALMUS X.
N Domino confido : quomodo dicitis animse
mese, Transmigra in montem sicut passer f
Quoniam ecce peccatores intenderunt arcum ;
paraverunt sagittas suas in pharetra : ut sagitteut
in obscuro rectos corde.
Quoniam quaa perfecisti destruxerunt : Justus
autem quid fecit 1
Dominus in templo sancto Suo : Dominus in
coelo sedes Ejus.
Oculi Ejus in pauperem respiciunt : palpebree
Ejus interrogant filios hominum.
DoMiNU.s interrogat justum et impium : qui
autem diUgit iniquitatem, odit animam Suam.
Pluet super peccatores laqueos : ignis, et sul-
phur, et spiritus procellarum, pars calicis eorum.
Quoniam Justus Dominus, et justitias dilesit :
sequitatem vidit vultus Ejus.
PSaLMUS XI.
SALVUM me fac, Domine, quoniam defecit
sanctus : quoniam diminutaj sunt veritates
a filiis hominum.
Vana locuti sunt unusc[uisque ad proximum
suum : labia dolosa, in corde et corde locuti sunt.
may be so wilfully blinded that they can see no God, no
Christ, no world to come, yet God will hear the prayer of His
Church, "Thy kingdom come," "the kingdoms of this workl
shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ,
and He shall reign for ever and ever." As Christ said, "I
will not leave you orphans," so His pi'omise will be fulfilled :
the Poor shall enter on His reign of glory, tlie fatherless shall
sit down with Him in the kingdom of His Father and theirs,
and the power of Antichrist will be cast down, broken, and
destroyed.
PSALINI XI.
This is, doubtless, spoken primarily of "Jesus Christ the
Righteous," "the Holy One and the Just," "that Just One,"
against Whom the ungodly Jews bent their bows of hatred,
and made ready their arrows of slander and false witness.
For a short time He went away from them " unto a country
near to the wilderness into a city caUed Ephraim, " probably
between Jerusalem and Jericho ; but when His time was
approaching, six days before the Passover, He returned to
Jerusalem, going willingly to His sufferings. It may be that
there was some advice given to Him identical with that
implied in the opening verse of this Psalm, such as the words
of St. Peter, "That be far from Thee, Lord;" or of the
other disciples, " The Jews of late sought to stone Thee, and
goest Thou thither again ? " In the same manner the Church
has at times retired from the fierceness of persecution into the
deserts of Egypt and Palestine, or the Catacombs of Kome ;
but, with her Head, ever looking upward faithfuUy and
beholding the Throne of the righteous Judge in Heaven. For
a time He tries the Church as He tried the Righteous and the
Poor Himself, but chastening as a Father : and the light of
His countenance shining above all trial gives sure confidence
that the just cause, the cause whicli is His own, will in the
end most surely prevail.
PSALM XII.
This Psahn represents the mournful spirit in which Christ
looked upon the unbelieving heart of the generation that
beheld Him, and at the contradiction of sinners against Him-
self. It is also the voice of His mystical Body, crjing, ' ' Lord,
how long ? " and praying for the Second Advent and perfect
Dominion of the Son of Man.
There were times in the life of our Lord when not even
"His brethren" believed in Him, and when all forsook Him
lO
€U lp.salm0.
2nd Day. [Ps. 13, 14.]
3 The LoED shall root out all deceitful lips :
and the tongue that speaketh proud things.
4 Which have said, With oar tongue ■will we
prevail : we are they that ought to speak, who
is lord over us ?
5 Now for the comfortless troubles' sake of
the needy : and because of the deep sighing of
the poor ;
6 I will up, saith the Lord : and will help
every one from him that swelleth against him,
and will set him at rest.
7 The words of the Lord are pure words : I
even as the silver, which from the earth is tried, |
and purified seven times in the fire.
8 Thou shalt keep them, O Lord : Thou shalt
preserve him from this generation for ever.
9 The ungodly walk on every side : when they
are exalted, the children of men are put to
rebuke.
THE Xni. PSALM.
Usquerjuo, Domine ?
HOW long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord, for
ever : how long wilt Thou hide Thy face
from me?
2 How long shall I seek counsel in my soul,
and be so vexed in my heart : how long shall
mine enemies triumph over me 1
3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God :
lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed
against him : for if I be cast down. Ihey that
trouble me will rejoice at it.
5 But my trust is in Thy mercy : and my
heart is joyful in Thy salvation.
6 I will sing of the Lord, because He hath
dealt so lovingly with me : pea, I will jn'aise the
Name of (he Lord most Iluiliest.
THE XR^ PSALM.
Dixit iusipiens.
"HnnE fool hath said in his heart : There is no
-1- God.
.\ni.
liist. David : \\\ time
of some great dis-
tress.
Liliirg. S. S- f^■
Sunday Maltiiis,
I St Xoct.
xiv.
Hist. David ; before
and after bringing
the Ark to 2ion.
iComp. Ps. 53.]
i,v„^-. a. 6. %.
Sunday Mattin';,
1st Noct. B.V.M.
Compline.
a Comp. 1 Sam, 25.
=5- Ps. 53. I.
Disperdat Dominus universa labia dolosa : et
lii guam magniloquam.
Qui dixerunt, Linguam nostram magnificabi-
mus : labia nostra a nobis sunt ; quis noster
dominus est 1
Propter miseriam inopum, et gemitum pauper-
um : nunc exsurgam, dicit Dominus.
Ponam in salutari : fiducialiter agam in eo.
Eloquia Domini, eloquia casta ; argentum igne
examinatum : probatum terraj, purgatum septu-
plum.
Tu, Domine, servabis nos, et custodies nos :
a generatione hac in oetemum.
In circuitu impii ambulant : secundum altitu-
dinem tuam multiplicasti filios hominum.
PSALMUS XIL
"TTSQUEQUO, Doming, oblivisceris me in
vJ finem? usquequo avertis faciem Tuam a
me?
Quamdiu ponam consilia in auima mea 1 dolo-
rem in corde meo per diem ?
Usquequo exaltabitur inimicus mens super me?
respice, et exaudi me, Domine Deus mens.
Illumiua oculos nieos ne unquam obdormiam
in morte : nequando dicnt inimicus mens, Prse-
valui adversus eum.
Qui tribulant me exsultabunt si motus fuero :
ego autem in misericordia Tua speravi.
Exsultabit cor meum in salutari Tuo ; cantabo
Domino qui bona tribuit mihi : et psallam Nomini
Domini Altissimi.
D
PSALMUS xni.
IXIT iusipiens in corde suo : Non est Deus.
and fled. With rare exceptions those who accepted Him and
His mis.sion were but a "little flock," and while the whole
nation of tlie Jews desired a tempoi'al Sovereign who sliould
re-establish their national indejjendence, there were but few
wlio faitlifuUy " waited for the Redemption of Israel " by a
spiritual Saviour.
The details of the Psalm have a sjjecial application to the
life of the Son of David. The tlirec principal sects of the
Jews, the Pharisees, Sadducees, aiul Herodians, tempted
Him with flattering wonls, and endeavoured by dissembling
to entice Him into some declaration wliich they could use
against Him in their courts of law. But the words of the
Lord were ever pure words ; the very officer sent to take
Him said, "Never man spake like this Man ;" and so com-
pletely did He convict the tempters out of their own mouth,
tliat at last "no man durst ask Him any more questions."
They endeavoured to prevail witli their tongue, but the
Lord rooted out all deceitful lips by the Omniscient search-
inn; of that Word wliich is as a two-edged sword.
It may be obsen-cd that the " deep sighing of the Poor" is
here brought into close association with the evil use of the
tongue ; while in the Gospel it is recorded of our Lord that
He looked upto heaven, and sighed when He w.as about to give
the faculty of speech to one who liad been always deaf and
dumb. iJoubtle.ss He siglied, knowing that He gave that
faculty subject to the man's freewill, and therefore subject
to its use for evil as well ns good.
PSALM XIIL
The voice of the mystical Body of Christ is here heard,
with greater distinctness than in the preceding Psalm,
expressing the longing of the Bride for the return of the
Bridegroom. "The Spii-it and the Bride say, Come." In
the first two verses the cry of "the souls under the altar" is
four times repeated ; but in such a manner as to remind the
individual Christian tliat it is sin wliich causes the hiding of
God's face from His children ; and that even when the Holy
One Himself took such words as these upon His lips, it was
because He was made sin for us, and in His own smitten and
afflicted person represented a whole w^irld of sinners.
Like most Psalms of this mournful character, the 13th
divides into three portions wliiih illustrate tlie transition of
our Lonl from a state of sufluriiig and jier-secution, through
the humiliation of de.ath, to the triumph of resurrection.
The experience of the Lord in the flesh was the experience of
His mystical Body, and is also the experience of each of His
members : the Lord and His Churcli in their contest with the
world, the particular (.'hristian in liis cimHict with sin. It
seems frequently as if the ciu'iuy were aliout to be able to
say, "I have prevailed;" as if He that sluiuld li.avc redeemed
Israel had proved unable to do so, as if tlic Church could
never overcome and counteract the work of Satan, as if the
Christian soul was ever being cast down by the force of
temptation. But as the darkness passed away from the
3rd Day. [Ps. 15.]
Cf)C lpsalm0.
511
2 "They are corrupt, and bectmio abominable in
their doing : there is none that cloeth good, no,
not one.
3 *The Lord looked down from heaven upon
the children of men : to .see if there were any
that would understand, and seek after God.
4 "But they are all gone out of tlie way, they
are altogether become abominable : there i.s none
that doeth good, no, not one.
"'5 'Their throat is an open sepulchre, uith their
tongues have they deceived : the poison of asps is
muter their lips.
6 ^ Their mouth is full of cursing, and bitter-
ness : their feet are swift to shed blood.
7 ^Destruction and unhappiness is in their iva;/s,
and tlie way of peace have they not known : there
is no fear of God before their eyes.
8 '"Have they no knowledge, that they are all
such workers of mi.schief : eating up my people
as it were bread, and call not upon tlie Lord?
9 'There were they brought in great fear, fuere
lohere no fear was : for God is in the generation
of the righteous.
10 As for you, ye have made a mock at the
counsel of the poor : because he putteth his trust
in the Lord.
11 *Who shall give salvation unto Israel out of
Sion 1 When the Lord turneth the captivity of
His people : 'then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel
shall be glad.
a Ps. S3. 2. Rom.
t' Ps. 53. 3. Rom.
3, II.
c Ps. 53. 4. Rom. 3.
rf 5.7. These lltrce
verses .Trc nr>t iti
ttie Hebrew, ami
(inly in .1 few copies
of the LXX. St.
P.tiil quotes tlieiii
fr'iiil other Psahiis,
and this lias led to
their insertion as
fi.irt of tliis. wliicli
le has previously
quoted.
e liom. 3. 13.
/"Rom. 3. 14, 15.
jf Rom. 3. 16-18.
Day 3.
MORNING Prayer.
or
THE XV. PSALM.
Domiue, quis habitabit ?
IORD, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle
•i who shall rest upon Thy holy hill ?
2 Even he, that leadeth an uncorrupt life : aud
doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the
truth from his heart.
3 "'He that hath used no deceit in his tongue,
nor done evil to his neighbour : and hath not
slandered his neighbour.
h I-s. 53, s.
i Ps. 53. 6.
/• Ps. 53. 7.
/ Ps. S3. 8.
XV.
Hist David; after
brining the Ark
to Zion.
Liturg, Ascension
Day Mattins. S.
g. f§. Sunday,
liaster Eve, ist
Noct. St. Michael.
Many Martyrs, 2nd
Noct. Martyrs,
Confessors, 3rd
Noct.
m Comp. Isa. 53. 9,
I Pet. 2. 22.
Corrupt! sunt, et abom'nabiles facti sunt in
studiis suis : non est qui faciat bonum, non est
usque ad unum.
DoMiNUs de ccelo prospexit super filios lK)rai-
num : ut videat si est intelligens, aut requirens
Deum.
Omnes declinaverunt ; simul inutiles facti
sunt : non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque
ad unum.
Sepulchrum patens est guttur eorum ; Unguis
suis dolose agebant : venenum aspidum sub labiis
eorum.
Quorum os maledictiono et amaritudine plenum
est : veloces pedes eorum ad etfundendum san-
guinem.
Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum, et viam
pacis non cognoverunt : non est timer Dei ante
oculos eorum.
Nonne cognoscent omnes qui operantur iniqui-
tatem : qui devorant plebem meam sicut escam
panis ?
Deum non invocaverunt : illic trepidaverunt
timore, ubi non erat tinior.
Quoniam Dominus in generatione justa est :
consilium inopis confudistis, ciuoniam Dominus
spes ejus est.
Quis dabit ex Sion salutare Israiil % cum aver-
terit Dominus captivitatem plebis Suaj, exultabit
Jacob, et laitabitur Israel.
PSALMUS XIV.
DOMINE, quis habitabit in tabernaculo Tuo %
aut quis requiescet in monte sancto Tuo ?
Qui ingreditur sine macula : et operatur
justitiam.
Qui loquitur veritatem in corde suo : qui non
egit dolum in lingua sua.
Nee fecit proximo suo malum : et opprobrium
non accepit adversus proximos suos.
Cross at the ninth liour, anil the Father's countenance was
again unveiled to the eyes of the Crucified, as the age of per-
secution and depression passed away from the Church, so
Christ turns and looks upon the sinner whose trust is in His
mercy, and the daily prayer, " Lighten our darkness," is a
continual memorial before God of the need, and before man
of the power, of the Divine Presence.
PSALM XIV.
There is little absolute Atheism in the world, God liaving
so fully revealed Himself that the inner light of conscience
and the outer light of nature's evidences bear universal and
overpowering testimony to His existence. [Eom. i. 20.] But
there is much of the more subtle Atheism of which the Jews
were guilty, that denial of the Godhead of our Lord Jesus
which underlies every system of religion that diverges from
that of the Catholic Church.
This Psalm is a prophecy of that awful time when this
denial of Christ will have become all but universal, through
the acceptance by tlie world of tlie kingdom of Antichrist.
Such denial may not be entirely open and avowed, for the
Psalm says the fool hath "said in his heart," not with his
lips, There is no God. As the system of Mahomet gives a
subordinate position of honour to Christ, not denying Him
altogether, so that of the final Antichrist will probably pro-
fess some specious respect for Him, acknowledging Him as
worthy of great reverence while utterly refusing to acknow-
ledge Him as worthy of the worsliip due to the Supreme ;
saying with Pilate, " Ecce Homo," but not with the prophet,
" Behold your God."
The terrible words of tliis Psalm open out to us God's
view of such Anticliristianism, " The Lord looked down from
heaven. " They shew us that no fompromise of moral good-
ness and unbelief is known to Him, but that he who says in
liis heart there is no God, — none in heaven, none in Christ,
— is to the eye of the All-righteous and Omniscient "corrupt
and abominable." All gradations of Atheism are thus associ-
ated more or less with a corrupted life.
PSALM XV.
In this, as in the 1st, Psalm there is an obvious application
to Christ as the perfect ideal of the human nature personified :
and this application is certified to us by the Church in the
selection of it for an Ascension Day Psalm. The sense of it
is fi.xed by the third verse, which is all but verbally identical
with the two passages marked against it in the central column,
the one a directly pro]ihetical, the other a directly historical,
reference to tlie Messiah. Of Him alone, dwelling among
men for a generation in the tabernacle of the flesh \(<rKi]voiaiv
(V Tiiuv, John i. 14], can it be said without any reservation
that This was One ^Vllo led an uncorrupt life: of Him alone
that no "guile was found in His mouth ; " of Him alone that
He was wholly "meek and lowly of heart." In the fifth
verse there is also a prophecy of the fulfilment by the Son of
5'2
Cbe IPsalms.
3rd Day. [Ps. 16.]
4 He that setteth not by himself, but is lowly
in his own eyes : and maketh much of them that
fear the Lord.
5 He that sweareth unto his neighbour, ami
disappointeth him not : though it were to his own
hindrance.
6 "He that hath not given his money upon
usury : nor taken reward against the innocent.
7 Whoso doeth these things : shall never full.
THE XVI. PSALM.
Conserva me, Domine.
PRESERVE me, O God : for Lu Thee have I
put my trust.
2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord :
Thou art my God, my goods are nothing unto
Thee.
3 All my delight is upon the saints that are
in the earth : and upon such as excel in virtue.
4 But they that run after another god : shall
have great trouble.
5 Their drink-offerings of blood will I not
offer : neither make mention of their names
within my lips.
G The LoED Himself is the portion of mine
inheritance, and of my cup : Thou shalt maintain
my lot.
7 The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground :
yea, I have a goodly heritage.
8 I will thank the Loed for giving me warn-
ing : my reins also chasten me in the night-
season.
9*1 have set God always before me : for He
is on my right hand, therefore I shall not fall.
10 'Wherefore my heart was glad, and my
glory rejoiced : my flesh also shall rest in hope.
11 "Tor why 1 Thou sh.ilt not leave my soul in
hell : neither shalt Thou suffer Thy Holy One
to see corruption.
12 'Thou shalt shew me the path of life; in
Thy presence is the fulness of joy : and at Thy
right hand there is pleasure for evermore.
a Comp. Lev
35-3-.
XVI.
HisL David; after
Doeg's slaughter of
tlie priests, [i Saiu.
22.]
Lilu't- S. S- ?!■
Sunday. Martyrs,
Mattins, and Noct.
Easter Eve, Corp.
Clir,. 1st Noct.
Messtanic Ps. ".
1> Acts 2. 25.
rf Acts 2. 27 ; 13. 35.
Ad nihUum deductus est in conspectu ejus
malignus : timentes autem Doiiinum glorificat :
Qui jurat proximo suo, et non decipit : qui
pecuniam suam non dedit ad usuram, et muuera
super innocentem non accepit.
Qui facit Iutc : non movSbitur in seternum.
PSALMUS XV.
CONSERVA me, Domine, quoniam speravi in
Te : dixi Domino, Deus meus es Tu, quo-
niam bonorum meorum non es;es.
Sanctis qui sunt in terra ejus : mirificavit omnes
voluntates meas in eis.
llultiplicata; sunt infirmitates eorum : postea
acceleraverunt.
Non congregabo conventicula eorum de san-
guinibus : nee memor ero nominum eorum per
labia mea.
DoMi.vus pars ha^reditatis mese, et calicis mei :
Tu es qui restitues h^reditatem meam mihi.
Funes ceciderunt mihi in prteclaris : etenim
hsereditas mea prsclara est mihi.
Benedicam Dominum, Qui tribuit mihi intel-
lectum : insuper et usque ad noctem increpuerunt
me reues-mei.
Trovidebam Dominum in conspectumeo semper:
quoniam a dextris est mihi ne commovear.
Propter hoc lastatum est cor meum, et exsulta-
vit lingua mea : insuper et caro mea requieacet in
spe.
Quoniam non derelinques animam meam in
inferno : nee dabia sanctum Tuum videre corrup-
tionem.
Notas mihi fecisti vias vitae : adimplebis me
Isetitia cum vultu Tuo ; delectationes in dextera
Tua usque in linem.
God of His purpose and promise to redeem mankind, even
though that fulfilment entailed the taking upon Him the
form of a servant, and suffering death u])on the cross. He
was the Good .Samaritan taking care of His neighbour, and
bestowing on liim the saeraments of life, to be bought without
money and without price.
liut tlic "tabernacle" of Christ's human Body calls also to
niiiul the temple of His mystical Hody, and hence the plain
moral application of the Psalm becomes intensified into a rule
of life for Christians as members of Him " Who did no sin."
[C'omp. Ascension Day Collect.]
PSALM XVI.
The first words spoken by St. Peter after Christ had given
him to understanil what was written in the P.salms concern-
ing Him, and when ins[)ired by the Holy Ghost at Pentecost,
gave the proper interpretation of this Psalm, shewing th.at it
was spoken, prophetically, in the person of Christ, and not
of David, to whom the latter portion could have no real
application. The same interpretation of the Psalm was also
given by St. Paul in his first public ministr.ation ,ifter tlic
Holy Ghost had said, "Sep.ar.ate mo Barnabas and S.aiil for
the work wherennto I have called them." Although, there-
fore, the former half of the Psalm may be accommodatctl to
the Church and to individual members of it, the primary
interpretation of the whole must be understood to be of
Christ Himself. Its use on Easter Eve by the ancient Church
of England shews also that this interpretation was adopted
by it in the commemoration of our Lord's Rest and Resurrec-
tion.
The first part of the Psalm appears to refer to the offering
which Christ made for an atonement between God and man.
God needed not even the "goods" of this sacrifice, for He is
perfect in Himself even without the salvation of mankind.
But Christ's delight was in those whom He was saving by
His Sacrifice ; and as He had come to do His Father's will,
so would He magnify His will in them, that God's will
might be done on earth as it is in heaven. For them Christ
will be .a continu.al Intercessor, but the offerings of those who
run after another god will not be united to His perpetual
Intercession, will be no representation of His Sacrifice.
In association with the sixth verse we cannot fail to
remember, first, the Cup of our Lord's sufi'erings ; and,
secondly, the Cup of tlie New Testament in His Blood.
PSALM .WII.
There are words in this Psalm which can only be used in
their complete sense of the Son of Man. Of Him Pil.ate .said,
"I have found no fault in Him ;" his wife. "This just Per-
son ; " the thief on the cross, " This M.an hath done nothing
amiss ; " the centurion, " Cert.ainly tliia was a righteous Man ; "
and His disciple and companion, St. Peter, that He "did no
sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." Of no other
man, however holy, conld it be truly said, "Thou shalt find
3rd Day. [Ps. 17.]
Cfje Psalms.
513
THE XVII. PSALM.
Exaiidi, Doinine.
HEAR the right, Loud, cmisidei' my com-
plaint : and hearken unto my prayer, that
goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from 'I'liy pre-
sence : and let Tliine eyes look upon the thing
that is equal.
3 Thou hast proved and visited mine heart in
the night-season ; Thou hast tried me, and shalt
find no wickedness in me : for I am utterly jiur-
posed, that my mouth shall not offend.
4 Because of men's works, that are done against
the words of Thy lips : I have kept mo from the
ways of the destroyer.
5 O hold Thou up my goings in Thy paths :
that my footsteps slip not.
6 I have called upon Thee, O God, for Thou
.shalt hear me : incline Thine ear to me, and
liearken unto my words.
7 Shew Thy marvellous loving-kindness, Thou
that art the Saviour of them which put their trust
in Thee : from such as resist Thy right hand.
8 Keep me as the "apple of an eye : hide me
under the shadow of Thy wings.
9 From the ungodly, that trouble me : mine
enemies compass me round about to take away
my soul.
10 They are inclosed in their own fat : and
their mouth speaketli pi-oud things.
1 1 They lie waiting in our way on every side :
turning their eyes down to the ground.
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey :
and as it were a lion's whelp, lurking in secret
places.
13 Up, Lord, disappoint him, and cast him
down : deliver my soul from the ungodly, which
is a sword of Thine.
11 From the men of Thy hand, Lord, from
the men, I say, and from the evil world : which
have their portion in this life, whose bellies Thou
fillest with Thy hid treasure.
15 They have children at their desire : and
leave the rest of their sub.*tance for their babes.
16 But as for me, I will behold Thy presence
in righteousness : and when 1 awake up after
Thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it.
xvn.
Hiit. David ; after
Doer's slaughter of
tlic priests.
IMu,;:. ft. 1. %\-
Sunday Mattins,
and Noct.
a i.e. Tlie pupil ; but
in a wide sense tlie
tender and sensi-
tive eyeball.
Comp. Deut. 32.
PSALMUS XVI.
EXAUDI DoMiNE ju.stitiam meam : intende
deprecationem meam.
Auribus pcrci[ic orationem meam : non in labiis
dolosLs.
De vultu Tuo judicium nicum prodeat : oculi
Tui videant tequitiites.
Probasti cor meum, et visitasti nocte : igne me
examinasti, et non est inventa in me iniquitas.
Ut non loquatur os meum opera hominum :
propter verba labitjrum Tuorum ego custodivi vias
duras.
Perfice gressus meos in semitis Tuis : ut non
moveantur vestigia mea.
Ego clamavi, cpioniam exaudisti me Dexj.s :
inclina aurem Tuam mihi, et exaudi verba mea.
Mirifica miserieoi-dias Tu:is : Qui salvos facis
sperantes in Te.
A resistentibus dexterse Tua; custodi me : ut
pupillam oculi.
Sub umbra alarum Tuaruin protege me : a facie
impiorum ipii me afilixerunt.
inimici mei animani meam circumdederunt,
adipem suum concluseruut : os eorum locutum
est superbiani
Projicientes me nunc circumdederunt me :
oculos suos statuerunt dechnare in terram.
Susceperunt me sicut leo paratus ad prajdam :
et sicut catulus leonis habitans in abditis.
Exsurge Dojiine, prajveni eum, et supplanta
eum : eripe animam meam ab impio, frameam
Tuam ab inimicis inanus Tua?.
DoMiNE a paucis de terra divide eos in vita
eorum : de absconditis Tuis adimpletus est venter
eorum.
Saturati sunt filiis : et dimiserunt reUquias
suas parvulis .suis.
Ego autem in justitia apparebo in conspectui
Tuo : satiabor cum apparuerit gloria Tua.
no wickedness iu me ; " and as the whole Psalm is compactly
connected together, we must conclude tliat it is all written of
Him respecting Whom alone these words can be written.
The fretjuent references to our Lord's Passion which occur
in the Psalms are in exact keei^iug witli His conversation
while on earth, and with the character of that perpetual
Memorial of His Death which He instituted as the Keystone
of the New Temple, and the guide to the Cliurch's religious
habits. With His disciples He continually discoursed about
His coming Passion ; to the nmltitude He al.so spoke of His
" lifting up ;" and when Moses and Elias came to Him fnmi
the unseen world, they talked witli Him concerning His
decease tliat He should accomplish at .Jerusalem. >for is
this to be wondered at, wlien it is considereil that the Death
of Christ was the central point of all the world's spiritual
history, that to wliicli tlie ages pi-eceding looked forward,
that to which all following ages look back."
Of the Lord's atoning work, therefore, the Church is
inspiied to sing more than of any other theme, and Psalm
after Psalm is occupied with references to it ; references once
prophetic, now historical, but one continuous present to the
Holy Gliost Who inspired them.
The Psalm may be taken in detail as a prayer of the holy
Jesus when He was going from Gethsemane to the High
Priest's house, to the hall of Pilate, and to Calvary. The
Piighteons One condemned by unjust human judges appeals
to the Divine and unerring Judge for declaration of His
innocence; and it may be that the words of Pilate and others
were an answer to tliis prayer. The world says, "Let Him
be crucified ; " but God lias already said, " This is My Beloved
Son, in Whom I am well pleased," and even unrighteous judges
cannot gainsay the Divine sentence. Even the accusation,
" This is the King of the Jews," was turned into truth against
the will of Pilate ,and the chief priests, so that the former was
obliged to say, "What I have written, I have written.''
In the concluding verses there is a contrast between the
inheritance of this world, and that of Christ's spiritual King-
dom. The natural cry was, " Who shall declare His genera-
tion, for He is cut off from the land of the living?" for He
seemed to die and to leave neither children nor substance.
But "He beheld of the travail of His soul and was satisfied,"
for He beheld to utmost ages the reign of His glorious King-
dom, .and that of Himself the whole family in heaven and iu
earth shoidd be named.
Z K
514
Cf)e Psalms.
3rd Day. [Ps. 18.]
Day 3. EVENING PRAYER.
THE XVIII. PSALM.
Diligani Te, Domine.
I WILL love Thee, O Lokd, my Strength ; the
Lord is my stony Eock, and my Defence :
my Savioce, my God, and my flight, in Whuni
I will trust, my Buckler, tlie Horn also of my
salvation, and my Refuge.
2 I will call upon the Lord, Which is worthy
to be praised : so shall I be safe from mine
enemies.
3 The "sorrows of death compassed me : and
the overflowings of ungodline.ss made me afraid.
4 The pains of liell came about me : the snares
of death overtook me.
5 In my trouble I will call upon the Lord :
and comphiin unto my God.
6 ''So shall Ht; hear my voice out of His holy
temple : and my complaint shall come before
Him, it shall 'enter into Ilis ears.
7 The earth trembled and qiuiked : the very
foundations also of the hills .shook, and were
removed, because He was wroth.
8 There went a smoke out in His presence :
and a consuming fire out of His mouth, so that
coals were kindled at it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down :
and it was dark under His feet.
10 He rode upon the cherubims, and did fly :
He came flying upon the wings of the ''wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place : His
pavilion round about Him with dark water, and
thick clouds to cover Him.
12 At the brightness of His presence His
clouds removed : hail-stones, and coals of lire.
13 The Lord also thundered out of heaven,
and the Highest gave His thunder : hail-stones,
and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered
them : He cast forth lightnings, .and destroyed
them.
15 The springs of waters were seen, and the
foundations of the round world were discovered
at Thy chiding, Lord : at the blasting of the
breath of Thy displeasure.
16 He shall send down from on high to fetch
me : and shall take me out of many watera.
17 He shall deliver me from my strongest
His!. David ; the
end of his wars.
[2 Sam. 21.]
Litiir^. S. B. S.
Sund.iy Maltiiis.
erni N'oct.
a cords [Heb.).
b Heb. 5.
IS- 38.
c AI. "enter ntn
into."
rf See /Innot. Bible,
i. 408. ii. 935.
PSALMUS XVII.
DILIGAM Te DoMI^'E fortitudo mea : Do-
minus fiimamentum nieum, et refugiura
meum, et liberator mens.
Deus mens adjutor mens : et sperabo in Eum.
Protector meus, et cornu salutis meaj : et sus-
ceptor meus.
Laudans invocabo Dojiixum : et ab inimicis
meis salvus ero.
Circumdederunt me dolores mortis : et torrentes
iniquitatis conturbaverunt me.
Dolores inferni circumdederunt me : prfeoccu-
[laverunt me laquei mortis.
In tribulatione mea invocavi Dominum : et ad
Deum meum clamavi :
Et exaudivit de templo sancto Suo vocem
meam : et clamor meus in con.spectu Ejus introivit
in aures Ejus.
Commota est et contremuit terra : fundamenta
montium conturbata sunt, et connnota sunt, quo-
niam iratus est Eis.
Ascendit fumus in ira Ejus, et ignis a facie
Ejus exareit : carljones succensi sunt ab eo.
Inclinavit coelos, et descendit : et caligo sub
pedibus Ejus.
Et ascendit super Cherubiu, et volavit : vola-
vit super pennas ventorum.
Et posuit tenebras latibulum Suum, in circuitu
Ejus : tabernaculuni Ejus, tenebrosa aqua in
nubibus aeris.
Praj fulgore in conspectu Ejus nubes transie-
runt : grando et carboues ignis.
Et intonuit de cojlo DoMiNi'S, et Altissimus
dedit vocem Suam : grando et carbones ignis.
Et misit sagittas Suas, et dissipavit eos : ful-
gura multiplicavit, et conturbavit eos.
Et apparuerunt fontes aquarum : et revelata
sunt fundamenta orbis terrarum.
Ab increpatione Tua, Domike : ab inspimtione
spiritus ir;e Tu£B.
Jlisit de summo, et accepit me : et assumpsit
me de aquis multis.
Eripuit me de inimicis meis fortissimis, et ab
PSALM XVIII.
This triumphal hymn is found also in the twenty -second
chapter of the Second Book of Samuel, where it is described
as the song whicli David spake " in tlie day wlien the Lord
delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, .and out
of the hand of Saul." But, as in all the songs of "the man
who was raised up on high, the anointed of the (iod of Jacob,
and the sweet I'salmist of Israel, the Spirit of the Lord spake
by him, and His word w.aa in his tongue," and a far higlier
and deeper meaning is evident than can belong to David him-
self, or to any circumstances of sorrow or victory in which he
was ever placed. The sorrows are too deejj for any but the
Man of Sorrows, the triumph too exultant for any but "the
Root of tjessc, and He that shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles." [Rom. xv. 12.]
Passing by, then, the historical application of this Psalm
of victory to the i)er3on of David, we may trace out its pro-
phetic and mystical application to the Person of Christ. Thf
opening words of it are an indication that the Son of Man is
speaking in His human nature, and speaking of the Divine
Nature Which is its Strength, its Rock of ages, its Defence,
its Saviour, its God, its Buckler, the Horn also of its Salva-
tion, and its Refuge. And as Christ thus looks ujiward from
the depths of His humiliation to His Divine Kature in its
glory, so the Cliurch may look to Clirist and say all these
words of Hinj, the Kock upon which she is so founded, that
the gates of hell cannot prevail against her.
After this openiug ascription of praise the Psalm descends
into the ileciw of the I'.assion ; in which the sorrows of death
encompassed the body of the Crucified, and the overflowings
of that ungodliness which He bore in His soul when He was
made sin for u.s, caused Him to cry out in His trouble as if
in fear, "My God, My (iod, why hivst Thou forsaken Me?"
In what manner the bitter p.ain of this trouble was assuaged
we know not, but that some immediate evidence was given
of His voice having reached from the cross to Gtid's holy
templo is shewn by the peaceful contrast of the words in
which Christ commended His soul to His Father. Nor may
it be forgotten that the prevailing power of the great Sncri-
3rd Day. [Ps. 18.T
Cf}C IPsalnm.
515
enemy, and from them which hate me : for they
are too mighty for me.
18 "Tliey prevented me in tlie day of my
trouble : but tlie Lord was my U|iholder.
19 Ho brought me forth also into a place of
liberty : He brought me forth, even because He
liad a favour unto me.
20 The Lord sliall reward me after my right-
eous dealing : according to the cleanness of my
liands shall He recompense me.
21 Because I have kept the ways of the Lord :
and have not forsaken my Gou, as the wicked
doth.
22 For I have an eye unto all His laws ; and
will not cast out His commandments from me.
23 I was also uncorrupt before Him : and
''eschewed mine own wickedness.
24 Therefore shall the Lord reward me after
my righteous dealing : and according unto the
cleanness of my hands in His eye-sight.
25 With the holy Thou shalt be holy : and
with a perfect man Thou shalt be perfect.
26 With the clean Thou shalt be clean : and
with the froward Thou shalt learn frowardness.
27 For Thou shalt save the people that are in
adversity : and shalt bring down the high looks
of the proud.
28 Thou also .shalt light my candle : the Lord
my God shall make my darkness to be light.
29 For in Thee I shall discomfit an host of
men : and with the help of my God I shall leap
over the wall.
30 The way of God is an undefiled way : the
word of the Lord also is tried in the lire ; He is
the Defender of all them that put their trust in
Him.
31 For who is God, but the Lord : or who
hath any strength, except our God i
32 It is God, that girdeth me with strength
of war : and maketh my way perfect.
33 He maketh my feet like harts' feet : and
setteth me up on high.
34 He teacheth mine hands to fight : and
mine arms shall break even a bow of steel.
35 Thou hast given me the defence of Thy
salvation : Thy right hand also shall hold me up,
and Thy loving correction shaU make nie great.
36 Thou shalt make room enough under me
for to go : that my footsteps shall not slide.
II i.t. They went be-
fore inc. ill the sense
of hindering by an-
ticip<l1ion.
his qui oderunt me : quoniam confortati sunt
super me.
Praivencrunt mo in die afflictionis me» : et
factus est Dominu.s protector meus.
Et eduxit me in latitudinem : salvum me fecit,
quoniam voluit me.
Et retribuet mihi Dominus secundum justitiam
meam : et secundum puritatem manuum mearum
retribuet mihi.
Quia custodivi vias Uomini : nee impie gessi
a Deo meo.
Quoniam omnia judicia Ejus in conspectu meo :
et justitias Ejus nou repuli a me.
Et ero immaculatus cum Eo : ct observabo me
ab iniquitate mea.
Et retribuet mihi Dominus secundum justitiam
meam : et secundum puritatem manuum mearum
in conspectu oculorum Ejus.
Cum sancto sanctus eris : et cum viro innocente
innocens eris :
Et cum electo electus eris : et cum perverso
jjerverteris.
Quoniam Tu pupulum humilem salvum facies :
et oculos superborum humiliabis.
Quoniam Tu illuminas lucernam meam, Do-
mine : Deus meus, illumina tenebras meas.
Qxioniam in Te eripiar a tentatione : et in Deo
meo transgrediar murum.
Deus meus impoUuta via Ejus : eloquia Do-
mini ignc examinata ; protector est omnium sper-
antium in iSe.
Quoniam quis Deus prater Dominum : aut
cpis Deus prseter Deum nostrum ]
Deus Qui prsecinxit me virtute ; et posuit
immaculatam viam meam.
Qui perfecit pedes meos tanquam cervorum : et
super excelsa statuens me.
Qui docet manus meas ad prajlium : et posuisti
ut arcum sereum brachia mea.
Et dedisti mihi protectionem salutis Tuse : et
dextera Tua suscepit me :
Et discipUna Tua correxit me in finem : et dis-
ciplina Tua, ipsa me docebit.
Dilatasti gressus meos subtus ine ; et non sunt
infirmata vestigia mea.
fice was heard for all mankind when the answer of God went
forth from the Holy of Holies by the miraculous rending of
the veil from the top to tlie bottom.
From the seventh verse forward there is a reference to the
foundation of the old dispensation on Sinai as a type of that
breaking up of all old foundations which ensued when all things
were made new in the Church of Christ. For the literal
earthquake at the crucifixion was the precursor of that "Yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven "
[Heb. xii. 26], by which the " kingdom that cannot be moved "
was to be established : even as the latter is a precursor
of that Second Advent in which all tilings will be dissolved
to the end that they may be remoulded into a new heaven
and a new earth. In this imagery all the means by which
God has brought salvation and peace out of turmoil and
destruction are referred to ; and hence the foundations of the
world being discovered through the springs of waters pre-
figure the regeneration of the world liy water as tlie former
verses had spoken of its regeneration by fire ; )>otli typical of
the great work of its new birth by the miracle of the Incarna-
tion. Thus the Psalm throughout may be interpreted of
Christ.
And thus we are also guided to the sense in which this
Psalm is the voice of the Church, because it is the voice of
her Head. St. Paul speaks often of the fellowship which the
members of Christ liave in His sufferings ; and even of filling
"up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ " in his
own flesh. [Col. i. 24.] So there is scarcely any verse of
this Psalm which may not be sung as the words of the
mystical Body of our Lord, whether tliey are words of sorrow
or of victory. The key to such an use of it is to be found in
the words of the prophet: "O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones
with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all
thy cliildren shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be
the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be
established." [Isa. liv. 11-14.] For the prosperity which
God giveth imto the King \\'liom He hath set in His holy
;i6
Cbe Ipsalm?
4th Day Ps. 19.]
37 I will follow upon mine enemies, and over-
take them : neither will I turn again till I have
destroyed them.
38 I will smite them, that they shall not be
able to stand : but fall under my feet.
39 Thou bust girded me with strength unto
the battle : Thou shalt throw down mine enemies
under me.
40 Thou hast made mine enemies also to turn
their backs upon me : and I shall destroy them
that hate nie.
41 They shall cry, but there shall be none to
he[p them : yea, even unto the Lokd shall they
cry, but He shall not hear them.
42 I will beat them as small as the dust before
the wind : I will cast them out as the clay in the
streets.
43 Thou .shalt deliver me from the strivings
of the people : and Thou shalt make me the head
of the heathen.
44 A people whom T have not known : shall
serve me.
45 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey
me : but the "strange children shall dissemble
with me.
46 The strange children .shall fail : and be
afraid out of their prisons.
47 The Lord liveth, and blessed be my strong
Helper : and praised be the God of my salvation.
48 Even the God, that seeth that I be avenged :
and subdueth the people unto me.
49 It is He, that delivereth me from my cruel
enemies, and setteth me up above mine adver-
saries : Thou shalt rid me from the wicked man.
50 For this cause will I give thanks unto
Thee, Lord, among the Gentiles : and sing
praises unto Thy Name.
5 1 Great prosperity giveth He unto His King :
and sheweth loving-kindness unto David His
Anointed, and unto his seed for evermore.
Day 4. Morning Prayer,
the xix. psalm.
Cftli enarrant.
THE heavens declare the glory of God : aid
the firmament sheweth His handy-work.
2 One day telleth another : and one night
certifieth anotlier.
(T t.e. Alien or
foreign
XIX.
m'st. David. Occa.
sion unknown,
Liturg. Cliristni.ls
M.-ittins. S.g.lg.
Sunday Mattins,
3rd Noct. ClirLst-
inas. Circumci-
sion. Ascensiontide,
Trinity Sunday.
Apostles, Evanjjel-
ists. All Saints, B.
V. M.. Virg. and
Matr.. 1st Psoct.
St. Michael, end
Noct.
1
Persequar inimicos meos, et coiniirehendam
illos : et uon convertar donee deficiant.
Confringani illos, nee poterunt stare : cadent
subtus pedes meos.
Et prrecinxisti me virtute ad bellum : et sup-
plantasti insxirgentes in me subtus me.
Et inimicos meos dedisti mihi dorsum : et
odientes me disperdidisti.
Clamaverunt, nee erat cjui salvos faceret : ad
DosiiNDM, nee esaudivit eos.
Et comminuam eos ut pulverem ante faciem
venti : ut lutum platearum delebo eos.
Eripies mo de contradictionibus populi : coii-
stitues me in caput gentium.
Populiis quem nou cognovi servivit mihi : in
auditu auris obedivit mihi.
Filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi : filii alieni
inveterati .sunt, et claudicaverunt a semitis suis.
Vivit DoMixu.s, et benedictus Deus mens : et
exaltetur Deus salutis mew.
L»EUS Qui das vindictas mihi, et subdis populos
sub me : liberator wens de inimicis meis iracun-
di.s.
Et ab' insurgentibus in me exaltabis me : a viro
iniquo eripies me.
Propterea confitebor Tibi in nationibus, Do-
mine : et Nomini Tuo psahnum dicam.
Maguificans salutes Regis Eju.s, et faciens mise-
ricordiam Christo Suo David : et semini ejus
usque in sEeculum.
PSALMUS xvni.
CCELI enarrant gloriam Dei : et opera manuum
Ejus annuntiat firmamentuni.
Dies diei eructat verbum : et nox nocti indicat
scientiam.
hill of Zion He e.xtends also to "His seed for evermore,"
even to that Church of the redeemed of whom the Redeemer
eaya continually, "Behold I and tlie cliiKlreu whom Tlum
hast given Me. "
P8ALM XIX.
The ancient C'lmrch of England appears to have regarded
this Psalm as one which especially set forth the glory of
Christ in tlie t'ommiinion of Saints : and by its appropriation
to Festivals of the Incarnation, of the Apostles, tlic holy
Angels, and AH Saints, to have illustrated the words of St.
Paul : " Ye arc come unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of
the living Oml, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumer-
ahle company of angels, to the (jcneral assembly and church
of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, .and to Ood
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
and to Jcsns, the Mediator of the New Covenant. " [Heb.
xii. 22-24.]
The key to this application of the Psalm is given by St.
Paul in I!om. x. 18, where he takes the fourth verse as a pro-
phecy of the foundation of the Church by the Apostles and
Evangelists. But it may also be ilrawn from a comparison of
tlie Psalm with other words of the Holj' Ghost and of Christ
Himself.
The central idea of the Psalm is cont,iined in the fifth and
sixth verses, the previous portion leading up to these, and
that which follows taking its cue from them. In these two
verses the mind of the Church has always obscrvcil a prophecy
of "the Sun of Kiglitemisness " \\ hicli it was declared should
"arise with healing in His beams ' [Mai. iv. 2]: a prophecy,
th.at is, of Him Who said, "lam the Light of the world "
[.lohn viii. 12] ; of Whom St. Jolin wrote that He w.as the
true Light coming; into the worhl to illuminate all men
[John i. 9] ; and \\'Iio in after years s.iid also of Himself, "I
am the Root and the OH'spring of David, and the bright ami
morning Star. " [Rev. xxii. 10.]
'I'he heavens therefore ileelare the glory of Cod as a mystical
par.ablc of the spiritual world. Christ is the central luminary
from Whom Hows all the Light, heat, and Life by which souls
live and the glory of Cod is promoted. As in the glorilled
4th Day. fPs. 20.]
Che IPsalniG.
517
3 There is neither speech, nor language : but
tlieir voices are lieard among them.
4 Tlit'ir sound is gone out into all lands : ;ind
tlioir words into the ends of the world.
5 In them hath He set a taberniicle for the
sun : which cometh forth as a l.)ridegroom out of
his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his
course.
6 It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the
heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it
again : and there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof.
7 Tlic law of the Lord is an undefiled law,
converting the soul : the testimony of the Loim)
is sure, and giveth wisdom unto tlie simple.
8 Tlic statutes of the Lokd arc right, and
rejoice the heart : the commandment of the Lord
is jMire, and giveth light unto the ej'es.
9 Tlio fear of the Lokd is clean, and endureth
for ever : the judgements of the Lokd are true,
and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold : sweeter also than honey,
and the honeycomb.
11 jMoreover, by them is Thy servant taught :
and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how oft he ollendeth : O
cleanse Thou me from ?»_?/ secret faults.
13 Keej) Thy servant also from presumptuous
sin.s, lest they get the dominion over nie : .so shall
I be undefiled, and innocent from the great
offence.
14 Let the words of my moirth, and the medi-
tation of my heart : be alway acceptable in Thy
sight,
15 Lokd : my Strength, and my Eedeemer.
THE XX. PSALM.
Exaudiat te Doininus.
THE Lord hear thee in the day of trouble :
the Name of the GoD of Jacob defend thee ;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary : and
strengthen thee out of Sion ;
3 l>emember all thy offerings : and accept thy
burnt-sacrifice ;
4 Grant thee thy heart's desire : and fulfil all
thy mind.
x.x.
Hist. David. W.nr
witli Syria, etc. [2
bam, 10. 15-19; 12
i6.,,i.l
Littirg. Roy.ll Ac-
cession, S,^.?^.
Sunday Matcins,
3rd Noct. Name
of Jesus, 1st Noct.
Non sunt lotjueke, ncque sermones : quorum
non audiantur voces corum.
In onmem terram cxivit sonus eorum : et in
fines orbis terr* verba eorum.
In sole posuit tabern.acu!um iSinini : et ip.se
tancjuam .sponsns procedcns de thalanio suo.
Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam : a
summo ccolo cgressio tgus :
Et occursus ejus u.sque ad suunnum ejus : nee
est qui se abscondat a calore ejus.
Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas :
testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam prsestans
parvuli.s.
Justitise Domini rectie, l.x'tificantes corda : prae-
ceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculo.s.
Timor Domini sanctus ; permanet in ,Sceculum
sajculi : judicia Domini vera, justificata in seme-
tipsa.
Desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum
multum : et dulciora super mel et favum.
Etenim sei-vus Tuus cu.stodit ea : in cu.stodien-
dis illis retributio multa.
Delicta quis intelligit ? ab occultis meis munda
me : et ab alienis parce servo Tuo.
Si niei non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus
ero : et emundabor a delicto maximo.
Et erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei : et
meditatio cordis mei in conspeetu Tuo semper.
DoMiNE, Adjutor meus : et Kedemptor meus.
PSALMUS XIX.
EXAUDIAT te Dominus in die tribulationis :
protegat te Nomen Dei Jacob.
Mittat tibi auxilium de sancto : et de Sion
tueatur te.
Memor sit omnis sacrificii tui : et holocaustum
tuum pingue fiat.
Tribuat tibi secundum cor tuum : et omne
consilium tuum confirmet.
City of God, so in the Church Militant, "the Laml) is tlie
Light thereof," and she beholds His glory, the glory of the
only begotten of the Fatlier, full of grace and trutli, a glory
transfiguring the tlesh in which He dwelt [tV/i^cwire = taber-
nacled, John i. 14] among His people. From Him flowed the
light of grace .and truth to the Apostles. As He had said of
Himself, so He said of them, "Ye are the light of the world :"
and, "As the Father bath sent Me, so send I you." And
thus " one day telletli another," and the sound of tlie glorious
message of the Incarnation has gone out into all lands tlirougli
the mini3tr.atiou of the Church, so that notliing is bid from
the heat of the vivifying Sun of Righteousness. Thus also
Christ is in His Churcli, vivifying all its work and its mem-
bers, — " in tliem hatli He set a tabernacle for the Sun ; " and
again the heavens declare the glory of C4od when they enable
tlie seer to say, " I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying.
Behold, the tabeni.acle of God is with men, ami He will dwell
with them, and they shall be His people, and (iod Himself
shall be with them, and be their God," [l!ev. xxi, 3.]
The latter verses are to be taken as an expansion of the
concluding words of the sixth, "there is nothing hitl from
the he.at thereof," For this aU-embraeiug Light is law, testi-
mony, statute, commandment, fear, and judgement ; eouvcrt-
ing, giving wisdom, joy, purity, everlasting life, and perfect
righteousness : a savour of life unto life, or a savour of death
unto death. " The nations of them which are saved shall
walk in the light of it." [Rev. xxi. 24.] And to them it
shall be a cleansing, purifying Light. Others there will be
to whom it will be a Light of true and righteous judgement,
" scorching them with great heat " [l!ev. xvi. 9], and bringing
to light all their hidden works of darkness.
With this Psalm therefore should ever go up a prayer that
the work of Christ's Incarnation may go forward more and
more in the world at large and in every heart, so that He
may be the everlasting Light cf us and of aU whom He has
redeemed.
PSALM XX.
The original purpose of this Psalm was doubtless of a
similar kind to that for which it has been chosen in modern
times as a proper Psalm for the day of the Sovereign's acces-
sion to the throne. But in its full meaning it looks bejond
all earthly sovereigns to Him Who is in the most true and
complete sense the Anointed of the Lord.
And it is to be remarked that the i\ ords throughout are
an illustration of the mauner in w liicli Christ is pleased to
;i8
Cfjc Psalms.
4th Day. [Ps. 21.]
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and triumph
in the Name of the Lord our God : the Lord
perform all thy petitions.
6 Now know I, that the Lord helpeth Hi.s
Anointed, and will hear him from His holy
heaven : even with the wholesome strength of
His right hand.
7 "Some put their trust in chariots, and some
in horses ; but we will remember the Name of
the Lord our God.
8 They are brought down, and fallen ; but we
are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, Lord, and hear us, O King of heaven :
when we call \ipon Thee.
THE XXI. PSALM.
Domine, in virtute Tua.
THE King shall rejoice in Thy strength,
Lord : exceeding glad shall he be of Thy
salvation.
2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire : and
hast not denied him the request of his lips.
3 For Thou shalt * prevent him with the bless-
ings of goodness : and .shalt set a crown of pure
gold upon his head.
4 He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest him
a long life : even for ever and ever.
.5 His honour is great in Thy salvation : glory,
and great worship shalt Thou lay upon him.
6 For Thou shalt give him everlasting felicity :
and make him glad with the joy of Thy counten-
ance.
7 And why? because the King putteth his
trust in the Lord : and in the mercy of the most
Highest he shall not miscarry.
8 All Thine enemies shall feel Thy hand : Thy
right hand shall find out them that liate Thee.
9 Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven in
time of Thy wrath : the Lord shall destroy them
in His displeasure, and the fire shall consume
them.
10 Their fruit shalt Thou root out of the
earth : and their seed from among the children
of men.
1 1 For they intended mischief against Thee :
and imagined such a device as they are not able
to perform.
12 Tlierefore shalt Thou put them to flight :
and the strings of Thy bow shalt Thou make
ready against the face of them.
13 Be Thou exalted. Lord, in Thine own
strength : so will we sing, and praise Thy power.
mp. Deut. 17
XXI.
Hist. David. War
with i^yria. etc. I2
Sam. 10. 15.19 : 12.
=6-3'] ,
iMttrs: Ascension
Day Mattiiis. Roynl
Accession. Wind-
sor Obiit Sunday.
S. B. 18. Sun.
day. Rlartyrs, Con.
feasors. Inv. an'l
Ex. Cross Mattins.
3rd Noct.
* i.e. Anticipate, or
fo before, liini, in
lessinghim.
Ltetabimur in salutari tuo : et in nomine Dei
uostri magnificabimur.
Impleat Dominus omnes petitiones tuas : nunc
cognovi quoniam salvum fecit Dominus Christum
Suum.
Exaudiet ilium de ccelo sancto Sue ; in poten-
tatibus salus dexterre Eju.s.
Hi in curribus, et hi in equis : nos autem in
nomine Domini Dei nostri invocabimus.
Ipsi obligati sunt, et ceciderunt, nos autem
surresimus et erecti sumus.
Domine salvum fac regem : et exaudi nos in
die qua invocaverimus Te.
PSALMUS XX.
DOMINE in virtute Tua laetabitur rex : et
super salutare Tumu essultabit vehemen-
ter.
Desiderium cordis ejus tribui.sti ei : et volun-
tate labiorum ejus non fraudasti eum.
Quoniam prtevenisti eum in benedictionibua
dulcedinis : posuisti in capite ejus coronam de
lapide pretioso.
Vitam petiit a Te, et tribuisti ei : longitudinem
dierum in sseculum, et in sa?culum sasculi.
Magna est gloria ejus in salutari Tuo : gloriam
et magnum decorem impones super eum.
Quoniam dabis eum in benedictionem in saecu-
limi sasculi : la?tificabis eum in gaudio cum vultu
Tuo. •
Quoniam rex sperat in Dojiino : et in miseri-
cordia Altissimi non commovebitur.
Inveniatur manus Tua omnibus iniinicis Tula :
dextera Tua inveniat omnes qui Te oderunt.
Pones eos ut clibanum ignis in tempore vultus
Tui : Dominus in ira Sua conturbabit eos, et
devorabit eos ignis.
Fructum eorum de terra perdes
eorum a filiis hominum.
et semen
Quoniam declinaverunt in Te mala : cogitave-
runt consilia, qua; non potuerunt stabilire.
Quoniam poues eos dorsum : in reliquiis Tuis
praeparabis vultum eorum.
■ Exaltare Domine in virtute Tua : cantabimus
et psallemus virtutes Tuas.
identify Himself with His mystical Botly; so that the Church
joins herself witli Him in His very intercession for her mem-
bers. Christ says, "Do this in remembrance of Me;" and
while the Cluircli obeys His command and offers a constant
Memorial before God of the Sacrifice of Christ, she yet places
that Memorial in His hands, saying, May God remember all
Thy offerings ; grant Thee Tliy licart's desire, whicli is that
all may have the bcnetit of Thine offcrint; and rejoice in Thy
salvation. There was a type of tliis in Clirist's words to His
Three Apostles, " Wh.at, could ye not watch with Mc one
hour?" and tliere is a par.able of it in the Revelation, where
" the Lamb as it had been sl.tin " st,and9 in contiuu.al inter-
cession before the Throne, yet in the midst of the four and
twenty elders.
The last verse is constantly used in the .suffrages of Morn-
ing and Evening Prayer according to the form in which it
appears in the LXX and the Vulgate. The two readings
shew the lower and the higher application of the Psalm, the
English being equivalent to the " Hosanna to the Son of
David " with which Clirist was led in triumph to Jerusalem.
P.SALM XXI.
Whatever was the original purpose of this song of triumph,
the coming of Christ to His Kingdom li.is given it a meaning
before which all lower ones must fade into distance. Its
position as a proper Paalm for Ascension Day points out
therefore the i)ro])er interpretation to l)e given to it at all
times, .as a Psalm wliich magnifies the Son of M.an seated on
the Throne of His Divine glory.
In siuli words tlie Church on earth echoes the strains of
those who "cast their crowns before the Throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and
power ; " remembering the " Author and Finisher of our
4th Day. [Ps. 22.]
€bt Ipsaiins.
519
Day 4. Evening Prayer,
the xxii. psalm.
Deus, Deiis mens.
MY God, my God, look itpcm me ; why hast
Tlioii fursakeii me : and art so far from
my health, and from tlie words of my r(mii)lainl?
2 O jiiy God, 1 cry in the day-time, Init 'I'hou
hearest not : and in the night-season also I take
no rest.
3 And Thou coutinuest holy : Thott worwhiji
of Israel.
4 Our fathers lioped in Thee : they trusted in
Thee, and Thou didst deliver them.
.5 They called upon Thee, and were holpen :
they put their trust in Thee, and were not con-
founded.
6 But as for me, I am a worm, and no man :
a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the
people.
7 All they that see me, laugh me to scorn :
they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads,
saying,
8 He trusted in God, that Ho ^^;ould deliver
him : let Him deliver him, if He will have him.
9 But Thou art He that took mc out of my
mother's womb : Thou wast my hope when I
hanged yet upon my mother's breasts.
10 I have been left unto Thee ever 'since I
was born : Thou art my God even from my
mother's womb.
1 1 O go not from me, fur trouble is hard at
hand : and there is none to help me.
12 ^lany oxen are come aliout mc : fat bulls
of Basan close me in on every side.
13 They gape upon me with their mouths : as
it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint : my heart also in the
midst of my body is even like melting was.
1.5 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaveth to my gums : and Thou
shalt bring me into the dust of death.
IG For many dogs are come about me : and
the council of the wicked layeth siege .against
me.
1 7 They pierced my hands and my feet, I may
"tell all my bones : they stand staring and look-
ing upon me.
XXII.
Ilisl. David ; while
persecuted by S.iui,
lilnri^. Good ]'>i-
dnyMattins. &.'^.
|L). Prime. Good
Irid.ly Martins,
isl Noct.
Pijsxton Ps. 2.
Messianic Ps. -J.
a i.e. Count. {Contp.
Vs. 90.9,1
PSALMUS XXI.
"TNEUS Deus mens, rcspice in me, quare me
L' dereliquisti .' longe a salute mea verba
delictiirum meorum.
Deiis mevts, clamabo per diem, et non exaudies :
et nocte, et non ad insipientiam mihi.
Tu autcm in sancto habitas : Laus Israel.
in Te speraverunt patres nostri : speraverunt,
et liberasti eos.
Ad Te clamaverunt, et salvi factl sunt : in Te
speraverunt, et non sunt confusi.
Ego autem sum vermis, et non liomo : oppro-
brium hominum, et abjectio plebis.
Omnes videntes me deriserunt me : locuti
sunt labiis, et moverunt caput.
Speravit in Domino : eripiat cum : salvum
faciat cum, quoniam vult eum.
Quoniani Tu es Qui extraxisti me de ventre ;
spes mea ab uberibus matris mea3 : in Te pro-
j actus sum ex iitero.
De ventre matris mea; Deus meus es Tu : ne
disce.sseris a me.
Quoniam tribulatio proxima est : quoniam non
est qui adjuvet.
Circundederunt me vituli multi : tauri pingues
ubsederunt me.
Aperuerunt super me <« suum : sicut leo
rapiens et rugiens.
Sicut aqua effusus sum : et dispersa sunt omnia
ossa mea.
Factum est cor meum tanquam cera liquescens :
in medio ventris mei.
A.ruit tanquam testa virtus mea, et lingua mea
adhcesit faucibus meis : et in pulverem mortis
deduxisti me.
Quoniam circundederunt me canes multi : con-
cilium malignantium obsedit me.
Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos : dinume-
raverunt omnia ossa mea.
Ipsi vero consideraverunt et inspeserunt me :
faith, Who foi- the joy that was set before Him endured the
Cross, despising the slianie, and is set down at the right
li.and of the Throne of God. "
The heart's desire of t'hrist was, that all might be one in
Him as He was One with the Fatlier : that all might be
redeemed and reign witli Him as kings and priests in His
glorified kingdom. And when He prayed unto Him that
was able to save Him from death, thiit if it were possible the
cup might pass from Him, He was heard in that He feared,
anil offered the perfect obedience of " not My will but Thine."
And so, although the Kiug was to wear a crown of thorns,
and to give up His life instead of keeping it, yet was He by
those very means to attain His prayer, so that He might
reign for ever and ever, and be .alile to say, "I am He that
liveth, and was dead, and behold I am .alive for evermore."
PSALM XXII.
The special consecration of this Psalm by our Lord's use
of its opening words in the most awful moment of His Pas-
sion, has invested it for ever with a royal grandeur of Divine
sorrow. '
The opening words recall to mind the force which was
afterwards given to them by our Lord, when, even after His
Resurrection, He declared His perfect Humanity and His
capacity for perfect Union with Human Nature by raying,
"I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My
God and your God." [John xx. 17.] They reveal at once
the One JIan of Sorrows making Himself one with those
whom He had come to redeem.
But the words that follow, and which give the kej-note to
the whole awful strain of sonow, indicate the mystery of
tliat darkness which was to fall upon the soul of Him AAliose
Body was already suffering tlie fulness of pain upon the Cross.
In that hour, it may be from noon till three o'clock, the vast
burden of all sin w<as eoncentr.ated upon the Redeemer's Soul;
and M'ith it the still more unbearable burden of that Divine
1 St. Augustine spe.iks of tliis Psalm as being used on the day of our
Lord's Passion.
520
Cf)C Ipsalms.
4th Day. [Ps. 23.]
1 8 They part my garments among them : and
cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not Thou far from me, O Loeu :1
Thou art my succour, haste Thee to help me. |
20 Deliver my soul from the sword : my '
darling from the power of the dog.
2 1 Save me from the lion's mouth : Thou hast |
heard me also from among the horns of the j
' unicorns.
22 1 will declare Thy Xame unto my brethren :
in the midst of the cougregatiou will I praise Thee.
23 praise the Lord, ye that fear Him :
magnify Him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and
fear Him, all ye seed of Israel.
24 For He hath not despised, nor al:)horred,
the low estate of the poor : He hath not liid His
face from him, but when he called unto Him He
heard him.
2.5 Jly praise is of Thee in the great congrega-
tion : my vows will I i)erform in the sight of
them that fear Him.
26 The poor shall eat, and be satisfied : they
that seek after the Lord shall praise Him ; your
lieart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember
themselves, and be turned unto the Loed : and
all tlie kindreds of the nations shall worship
before Him.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord's : and He is
the Governor among the people.
29 All such as be fat upon earth : have eaten,
and worshipped.
30 All they that go down into the dust, shall
kneel before Him : and no man hath quickened
his own soul.
31 My seed shall serve Him : they shall be
counted unto the Loud for a generation.
32 They shall come, and the heavenx shall
declare His righteousness : unto a people that
shall be born whom the Loed hath made.
THE XXIII. PSALil.
Dominus regit me.
THE Lord is my Shepherd : therefore can I ■
lack nothing.
2 He shall feed me in a green pasture : and
lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. i
a Sec j4itnct. Biffle,
ii. 62^.
XXIII.
Hist. David ; when
persecuted by Saul
LiluriT. S. g. a.
Prime. Maltins of
the departed.
diviseruut sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem
m:;am miserunt sortem.
Tu autem Domine ne elongaveris auxilium
Tuum a me : ad defensionem meam conspice.
Erue a framea Deus animam meam : et de
manu canis unicam meam.
Salva me ex ore leonis
nium huinilitatein meam.
et a cornibus unicor-
Narrabo Nomen Tuum fratribus meis : in
medio EcclesiK laudabo Te.
Qui timetis Dominum, laudato Eum : universum
semen Jacob glorificate Eum.
Timeat Eum omne semen Israel : quoniam non
sprevit neque despexit deprecationem pauperis.
Nee avertit faciem Suam a me : et cum clama-
rem ad Eum exaudivit me.
Apud Te laus mea in Ecclesia magna
mea reddam in conspectu timentium I'Aim.
vota
Edent pauperes et saturabuntur, et laudabmit
Dominum qui requirunt Eiiin : vivent corda
eorum in sieculum Sceculi.
Reminiscentur et convertontur ad Dominum :
universi fines terra;.
Et adorabunt in conspectu Ejus : vmiversse
familijB Gentium.
Quoniam Domini est regnum : et Ipse domi-
nabitur Gentium.
Mauducaverunt et adoraverunt omnes pingues
terrs : in conspectu Ejus cadent omnes qui
descendunt in terram.
Et anima mea illi vivet : et semen meuni .ser-
viet ipsi.
Annuntiabitur Dojuno generatio ventura : et
aununtiabunt cceli justitiam Ejus populo qui
nascetur, quern fecit Do.minus.
psALMus xxn.
DOJIINL^S regit me, et nihil mihi deerit : in
loco pascuK ibi me collocavit.
Super aquam refectionis cducavit me ; animam
meam convertit.
flispleasure wliicli sin calls down from the All-righteous God.
In what way the Divine Presence was hid from the sight of
Him Whose Human Nature was inseparably joined to His
Godheatl, can he expkiinod by no uninspired pen, and has
not been revealed by the Holy Ghost. The words themselves
reveal the fact, and all that can be said beyond is, that tliey
form a coinprehcusivc commentary on the worils of tlie pro-
phet, ".Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows" [Is.a. liii. 4], and on those of the Ajmstle, "For
He hath made Him to he sin for us Who knew no sin." [2
Cor. V. 21 ; Gal iii. i:?.]
The body of the Psalm has so exact a correspondence with
the narrative of the Crucitixion as to furnish an irrefutable
illustration of the trutli that "all .Scripture is given by
inspiration of God " f'J Tim. iii. Ki] : for only the Omni-
science of Him to Whom all time is one continual present
could have foreseen the circumstances so exactly named. It
should therefore be taken, in the same manner as the fifty-
third chapter of Isaiah, as a Divine exposition and commemo-
ration of tlio Passion. Viewed in tliis light, it shews how utter
w.as the depth of humili.-ition to which Chri.st descended tli.at
He might reach to the lowest of sinners. The patriarchs and
many holy men had called on God, and He had ilelivered them.
Abraham at the sacrifice of Isaac, Josciih in the pit, Job when
stricken to the ground with niiseiy, Daniel in the lions' den,
the three holy Children in the Babylonian furnace, — these h.ad
been heard from Heaven ; but Christ was to go tlirough Mitli
His sacrifice, was to descend into the lowest pit, a place of
darkness, and into the deep ; was to have His visage more
marred than .lob or any sons of men ; was to have His soul
more among lions than was D.anii I's body, and to go through
a furnace of affliction far fiercer than that of Babylon. And
instead of beiug able to say in the midst of all, "Our God
Whom we serve is able to deliver us," He was to suffer a
darkness more terrible than death, so that He could say, "I
am a worm, and no man" . . . " wliy hast Thou forsaken
Me?" ..." I cry, but Thou hc.arest not."
Even this awful proiihecy .and exposition of the Passion,
however, passes on to a declaration of the joy and victory
which were to spring out of it : and the latter half of the
Psalm foreshadows the resignation with which Christ was
able to connneiul His sjiirit to the Father, the joy with which
He could look fi>rth on the travail of His soul and be satisfied :
God beard the Poor when He calli'd unto Him, and diil not
continm; to hide His f.-tce from Hini.
The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses are a prophecy of
the Holy Eucharist. Christ hail said, "The bread which I will
give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world,"
5th Day. [Ps. 24.]
Cf)C Psaims.
;2i
3 He sliall convert my soul : and bring ine
forth in the patlis of righteousness for His Name's
sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valk'y of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for
Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff com-
fort mc.
5 Thou shalt prepare a table before me against
them that trouble me : Thou hast anointed my
head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
G But Till/ luviugkinduess and mercy .shall
follow me all the days of my life : and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Day 5. Morning Prayer,
thp; xxiv. p.salm.
Domini est terra.
THE earth is the Lord's, and all that therein
is : the compass of the world, and they that
dwell therein.
2 For He hath founded it upon tlie seas : and
prepared it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord :
or who shall rise up iu His holy place ? I
4 Even he, that hath clean hands, and a pure ',
heart : and that hath not lift up his mind unto
vanity, niu' sworn to deceive /;;'« neiifliboni:' \
5 He shall receive the blessing from the '
Lord : and righteousness from the God of his [
salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek
Him : even of them that seek thy face, O
Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors : and the King of
glory shall come in.
8 Who is the King of glory : it is the Lord
strong and mighty, even the Lord mighty in
battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors : and the King of
glory shall come in.
10 AVho is the King of glory : even the Lord
of Hosts, He is the King of glory.
XXIV.
Hir/ IJedic.ltion of
the Taheriinclc on
Zinn. [2 Sntti. 6.
17 I
Licurg. Ascension
lJ.iy, liveiisong.
%. ^. ??. Prime.
Circumcision, Tri-
nity Sunday, Mar-
tyrs, Transfifjura-
tioii. B, W M.,
Dedic. of Cliurcli,
Inv. and Hx. Cross,
Virg. and Matr.,
Mattins, ist Noct.
E.ister Eve, St.
Michael, and Noct.
Confessors. 3rd
Noct.
a So rilso LNX
Deduxit ine super seniitas justitiie : propter
Nomen 8uuin.
^am et si ainbulavero in medio uinbrie mortis :
noil timebo malu, quoniam Tu mecuin es.
Virga Tua et baculus Tuns : ipsa me con-
solata sunt.
Parasti in conspectn men nicnsam : ad versus
eos qui tribulant inc.
Impinguasti in oico caput meum : et calix
mens inebrians quam pra'clarus est.
Et misericordia Tua subsequctur mo : oniuibus
diebus vit?e mea.\
Et ut inhabitem iu d(Mno Domini : in longi-
tudincm dierum.
D
PSALMUS XXIII.
0]\IINI est terra, et plenitude ejus : orbis
terrarum, et universi qui habitant in eo.
Quia Ipse super maria fundavit eum : et super
flumina prajparavit eum.
Quis asceudet in montem Domisi % aut quis
stabit in loco sancto Ejus]
Innocens manibus et muudo corde ; qui non
accepit in vano animam suam : nee juravit in
dolo proximo suo.
Hie accipiet benedictioncni a Domino : et
misericordiani a Deo salutari suo.
Hffic est generatio quaerentiuin Eum : qu£eren-
tium faciem Dei Jacob."
Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini
portiB ceternales : et introibit Eex gloria?.
Quis est iste Eex gloricel Dominus fortis et
potens, Dominus poteus in prselio.
Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini
portse feternales : et introibit Eex gloria-.
Quis est iste Eex gloria? ? Dominus virtutum.
Ipse est Eex gloria?.
and " He that eateth Me, even lie shall live by Me ; " and by
Hi3 Death on the Cross He performed the vow which He had
thus made, so that the members of His mystical Body might
eat of the Lifegiving Food, and be satisfied with that Flesh
which is meat indeed.
PSALM XXIII.
This sweet Hymn is the voice of Christ speaking in His
members according to that mystical relation shadowed forth
by His being both the Laml) and the Shepherd, and accord-
ing to His words, " Without Me ye can do nothing." As the
Lamb of God He Himself walked througli the valley of the
shadow of death ; as the Good Shepherd He supports those
who go thitlier by tlie sceptre of His Incarnation, and by the
staff of His Cross, the staff of Beauty and the staff of Bands.'
[Zech. xi. 7-12.]
This Psalm seem.s to follow the 22nd in natural order, that
being the agonized prayer of the Cross, this the peaceful
praise of Paradise. And as there was a rest for the Shep-
herd, so is there a rest prepared for the sheep: when "they
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neitlior shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb Wliicli
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead
1 This was a Burial Psalm in the time of St. Chrysostom.
them unto living Ibuntains of waters ; and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes." All which, both in tlie
Psalm and in the Kevelation, seems to point to a sacramental
Life in Christ both liere and hereafter ; here in the Holy
Eucharist, hereafter iu the restored Tree of Life whose leaves
are for the healing of tlie nations, and wdiereof the redeemed
may " eat and live for ever " in a re-opened Paradise.
The fifth verse of this Psalm may be a constant reminder
to us that the Blessed Sacrament is the true remedy of the
Christian against the Evil One and his temptations. Angels
came to prejiare a table for Christ iu the wilderness of
temptation ; Imt He Himself prepares one for His people in
the Churcli.
PSALM XXIV. -^
As the last Psalm sang of the transition of Christ from the
death of the Cross to the rest of Paradise, so does this of His
Ascension into Heaven.
By His Death the Lord has gained all those kingdoms of
the earth, and the glory of tliem, which were offered to Him
at the Temptation. As the Spirit of God brooded over tiie
waters of chaos, and there sprung therefrom the solid earth
- Tlie first verse of this Psalm has received a new historical interest from
the striking apr'iration given to it hy its conspicuous position on tlie front
of tlic Royal Excliange, at the centre of the world's commerce.
522
Cbc ipsalms.
5th Day. [Ps. 25.]
THE XXV. P.SALir.
Ad Te, Domiue, levavi.
TTNTO Thee, O Loud, will I lift up my soul,
^ my God, I have put my trust in Thee :
O let me not lie confounded, neither let mine
enemies triumph over me.
2 For all they that hope in Thee shall not be
ashamed : but such as transgress without a cause
shall be put to confusion.
3 Shew me Thy ways, Lord : and teach me
Thy paths.
4 Lead me forth in Thy tiiith, and learn me :
for Thou art the God of my salvation ; in Thee
hath been my hope all the day long.
5 Call to remembrance, O Lord, Thy tender
mercies : and Thy lovingkindnesses, which have
been ever of old.
6 O remember not the sins and offences of my
youth : but according to Thy mercy think Thou
upon me, O Lord, for Thy goodness.
7 Gracious, and righteous is the Lord : there-
fore will He teach sinners in the way.
8 Them that are meek shall He guide in judge-
ment : and .such as are gentle, them shall He learn
His way.
9 All the paths of the Lord are mercy, and
truth : unto such as keep His covenant, and His
testimonies.
10 For Thy Xanio's sake, Lord : be merci-
ful unto my sin, for it is great.
11 What man is he, that fearotli the Lokd :
him shall He teach in the way that He shall
choose.
1 2 His soul shall dwell at ease : and his seed
shall inherit the land.
13 The secret of the Lord is among them that
fear Him : and He will shew them His cove-
nant.
1-1 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord :
for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.
1.5 Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon
me : for I am desolate, and in misery.
1 G The sorrows of my heart are enlarged : O
bring Thou me out of my troubles.
1 7 Look upon my adversity, and misery : and
forgive me all my sin.
XXV.
J/isf. Dedication of
the Tabernacle on
2ioH. [= S.im. 6.
lilure-. S. ^. 39.
Prime. B. V. M..
M.ittins, 1st Noct
Mattiiis of the do-
parted, and Noct,
PSALMUS XXIV.
Te DoMiXE levavi animam meam, Deus
meus in Te confide : non erubescam.
Xec^ue irrideant me iuimici mei : etenini
universi qui sustinent Te non confundentur.
A"
Coufundantur omnes iiiiqua agentes : supcr-
vacue.
Vias Tuas Domixe demnnstra mihi : et semitas
Tuas edoce me.
Dirige me in veritate Tua, et doce me : quia
Tu es Deus salvator meus, et Te sustinui tota
die.
Eemiaiscere miserationum Tuarum Domine :
et misericordiarum Tuarum, cj^use a SEeculo sunt.
Delicta juventutis me;e : et ignorantias meas
ne '^^emineri.s.
Secundum misericordiam Tuam memento mei
Tu : propter bonitatem Tuam, Domine.
Dulcis et rectus Dominus : propter hoc legem
dabit delinquentibus in via.
Diriget mansuetos in judicio : docebit mites
vias suas.
TJniversffi \-ise Dcaiini misericordia et Veritas :
requirentibus testamentum Ivjus et testimonia
Ejus.
Propter nomen Tuum Domine jiropitiaberis
peccato meo : multum est enim.
Quis est homo c^ui timet Dominum? legem
statuit ei in via quam elegit.
Anima ejus in bonis demorabitur : ct semen
ejus haereditabit terram.
Firmamentum est Dominus timentibus Eum :
et testamentum Ipsius ut manifestetur ilhs.
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum : quoniam Ipse
evellet de laquei) jiedes meos.
Kespice in me, et miserere mei ; quia unicus et
pauper sum ego.
Tribulationes cordis mei multiplicat® sunt : de
necessitatibus meis erue me.
Vide humilitatem meam, et laborem meum :
et dimitte universa delicta mea.
of the natural creation, so lias tlie Kingdom of C'lirist been
founded upon the water-floods which overwhelmed the
Saviour in His sufferings, and the sacramental sti'eam which
flowed from His side. So also is tlic Church supported safely
on the waves of tliis troul)le3ome world, as the Ails, in tlie
deluge, or the Apostles' Ixiat in tlie sttu'm, because of His
Presence Wlio lias prepared it upon the Hoods.
The middle verses may he compared with the l.'jth Psalm,
and .are a prelude to tlie four triunqih.ant verses wliich form the
main idea of this Hymn of victory. The King of Glory first
entered on His Triumpli when He smote those gates of Ijrass
and hrake those bars of iron asunder which He had declared
should not prevail against His Chureli, and therefore could not
ag.aiust Him. A 8econ<l time the cry went forth, Who is the
King of Glory? when He Who liad come with dyed garments
from Bozrah ascended np to Heaven to make a continual
otTiring of His Body before the Throne. A third time He
will ride forth at the head of tlie armies of Heaven, clothed
with a vesture dipped in Mood, to tread "tlie winepress of
the fiercencB.s and wr.ath of Almighty (iod ;" and once more
will the cry go up, " Lift up your heads, O ye g.ates, and be
yc lift up, ye everlasting doors :'' " Worthy is the Lanib that
was slain ; " " The marriage of the Lamb is come."
PSAL^il XXV.
In the penitential tone of this Psalm we hear again the
voice of Christ speaking for His mystical Body, uniting Him-
self with all its member,-;, so that He becomes the representa-
tive Israel iiloading with God for pardon in their name. He
is our merciful High Priest, hearing "the names of the
children of Israel in the breastplate of judgement upon His
heart, wlien He goeth in unto the holy place " [Kxod. xxviii.
91 "to appear in the presence of God for us. " Accordingly
we find, as in some other Psalms, several changes in the pro-
nouns, sometimes a singular one being used, and at others .1
plur.al : " / have put my trust in Thee," " All fin 1/ that hope
in Thee." As "in all our alUietions Ho was alllicteil " while
on earth, so even now His perpetual Intcreession emhraccs
within its compass that experience of the burden of all sin
which was acfjuinnl wlien He bore ours upon the Cross.
In the words of this Psalm, therefore, Christ is teaching us
how to .approach the Throne of mercy: "Take with you
words, .anil turn to the Lord ; .s.ay unto Him, Take .away all
iniquity, and receive us gr.aciously : so will we render the
calves of our h]is." [Hosea xiv. "J.] And hence it h.is been
called a jjattcru of all prayer. Offered up by the Cliurch of
5th Day. [Ps. 26. 27.]
Cf)C lli)salni5.
523
18 Consider mine enemies, how many tliey are :
and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.
19 O keep my soul, and deliver me : let me
not be confounded, for I have put my tru.st in
Thee.
20 Let perfectne.ss, and righteous dealing wait
upon me : for my hope hath been in Thee.
21 Deliver Israel, O God : out of all his
troubles.
THE XXVI. PSALM.
Judica me, Domine.
have
been
BE Thou my Judge, O Lord, fur I
walked innocently : my trust hath
also in the Lord, therefore shall I not fall.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me : try
out my reins, and my heart.
3 For Thy lovingkindness is ever before mine
eyes : and I will walk in Thy truth.
4 I have not dwelt with vain persons : neither
will T have fellowship with the deceitful.
5 I have hated the congregation of the wicked :
and will not sit among the ungodly.
6 I will wash my hands in innocency, O Lord :
and so will I go to Thine altar ;
7 That I may shew the voice of thanksgiving :
and tell of all Thy wondrous works.
8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of Tliy
house : and the place where Thine honour
dwelleth.
9 shut not up my soul with the sinners :
nor my life with the blood-thirsty ;
10 In whose hands is wickedness : and their
right hand is full of gifts.
1 1 But as for me, I will walk innocently ; O
deliver me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot standeth right : I will praise the
Lord in the congregations.
Day 5. Evening Prayer,
the xxvii. p.salm.
Dominus illumiiiatio.
THE Lord is my light, and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear : the Lord is the
strength of my life ; of whom then shall I be
afraid ?
XXVI.
Hist. Dedication of
llie Tabernacle on
Zion. [2 Sam. 6.
•7-1
Lilurf. &.%%■
Prime. Pntparat,
Miss;e.
xxvii.
Hist. Dedication of
the Tabernacle on
Zion. (2 Sam. 6.
Li'tur^. S.g. IS-
Moiid. Mat tins.
Good Friday, rst
Noct. Easier Eve,
2nd Noct. Mat-
tins of the de-
parted, 2nd Noct.
cspice inimicos nieos, quoniam multiplicati
sunt : et odio iniquo oderunt me.
Cu.stodi aniniam meam, et erue me : nun eru-
bescam, quoniam speravi in Te.
Innoccntes et recti adhajserunt milii : qui;i
sustinui Te.
Libera, Del's, Israel : ex omnibus tribulationi-
bus suis.
rSALMUS XXV.
JUDICA me, Domine, quoniam ego in inno-
centia mca ingressus sum : ct in Domino
sperans non infirmabor.
Proba me, Dominic, ct tenta me : ure renes
meos et cor meum.
Quoniam misericordiii Tua ante oculos meos
est : et complacui in veritatc Tua.
Non sedi cum concilio vanitatis : et cum iniqua
gerentibus non introibo.
Odivi ecclesiam malignantium : et cum inipiis
non sedebo.
Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas : et cir-
cundabo altare Tuum Domine.
Ut audiam vocem laudis Tuae : et euarrem
universa mirabilia Tua.
Domine, dilexi decorem domus Tuk : et locum
habitationis gloriae Tua3.
Ne perdas cum impiis Deus animam meam :
et cum viris sanguinum vitam meam.
In quorum manibus iniquitates sunt : dextera
eorum repleta est muneribus.
Ego autem in innocentia niea ingressus sum :
redime me, et miserere mei.
Pes mens stetit in directo : in ecclesiu oene-
dicam Te, Domine.
PSALMUS XXVI.
DOMINUS illuminatio mea : et salus mea ;
quem timebo 1
Dominus protector vitaj mea; : a quo trepidabo?
Goil, it is a continual acknowledgement of the sins of which
liumau nature has ever been guilty before Him, from the time
of its youth in our first parents to that of its old age in these
latter days. Offered up by each Christian soul, it is a lowly
confession before the righteous Judge of our general unworthi-
uess and our particular sin ; of our sorrow for sin, and our
desire to be strengthened against evil and the Evil One. It
pleads the loving-kinduess of God as evidenced in the days of
old, and asks for a repetition of mercies from the inexhaustible
fountain of His love ; and, self-abased by remembrance of
former falls, it beseeches Him to consider how great is the
power arrayed against us, and how utterly unalile the siimer
is to walk upright in the way of righteousness without His
gracious leading, and support, and protection.
Thus, when we know not what to pray for as we ought,
God Himself teaches us, and "the Spirit itself maketh inter-
cession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
[Rom. viii. 26.]
PSALM XXVI.
Sinners must appeal to the mercy of their .Judge ; but He
ill Whom was no guile could appeal to His strict justice.
Only of <,'hrist therefore can this Psaliu be spoken in its literal
meaning; while others who say, "Be Thou my Judge,
Lord," must add, "If Thou, Loi'd, shouldest be extreme to
mark what is done amiss, Lord, who shall stand?" But
although we can only imperfectly copy the Pattern of perfect
righteousness, aud walk with faltering steps in the pathway
which He h.as trodden, yet Clirist has left us an example in
the words of this Psalm of the manner in which alone an
acceptable approach can be made to the Altar of God. He
entered into Heaven in the strength of His innocence, we
must come before God's Altar in the strength of our penitence.
This Psalm has accordingly been used from time imme-
morial as part of the private prayers of the Celebrant when
he is about to ofl'er up the Eucharistic Sacrifice to (jod. In
the same spirit and with tlie same intention it may be used by-
all Christians, since all have their part in the ofl'cring made
by their ministerial leailer. Aud at whatever time the Psalm
is sung, it must remind all who use it, clergj' or laity, of that
High Priest Who was '■ holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners," as an Example to all who engage in the serfice
of God.
XXVII.
Christ spake words in this Psalm for Himself, His
524
Cf)C Ipsalms.
5th Day. [Ps. 27.]
2 " When the wicked, even mine enemies, and „ joim is. s
ray foes came upon me to eat up my flesh : they
stumbled and fell.
3 Tliough an host of men were laid against
me, yet shall not my heart be afraid : and though
there rose up war against me, yet will I jiut my
trust in Him.
4 One thing have I desired of the Lord,
which I will require : even that I may dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to
behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit
His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me
in His tabernacle : yea, in the secret place of His
dwelling shall He hide me, and set me up upon a
rock of stone.
6 And now .shall He lift up mine head : above
mine enemies round about me.
7 Therefore will I offer in His dwelling an
oblation with great gladness : I will sing, and
speak praises unto the Lord.
8 Hearken unto my voice, O Lord, when I
cry unto Thee : have mercy upon me, and hear
me.
9 My lieart hath talked of Thee, Seek ye my
face : Thy face. Lord, will I seek.
10 hide not Thou Thy face from nie : nor
cast Thy servant away in displeasure.
1 1 Thou hast been my succour : leave me not,
neither forsake me, () God of my salvation.
12 When my father and my mother forsake
me : the Lord taketh me up.
13 Teach me Thy way, O Lord : and lead me
in the right way, because of mine enemies.
li Deliver me not over into tlie will of mine
adversaries : for there are false witnesses risen up
against me, and such as speak wrong.
15 1 should utterly have fainted : but that I
believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in
the land of the living.
Dum appropiant super me nocentes : ut edant
car'ies meas ;
Qui tribulant me inimici mei : ipsi infirraati
sunt et ceciderunt.
Si consistant adversum me castra : non timebit
cor meum.
Si exsurgat adversum me iirrelium : in hoc ego
sperabo.
L'nnm petii a Domino, hanc requiram : ut
inhabitem in domo Dojiixi omnibus diebus vitaj
meje.
Ut videam voluntatem Domini : et visitcm
templum Eju.s.
Quoniam abscondit me in tabernaculo Suo in
die malorum : protexit me in abscoudito taber-
naculi Sui.
In petra exaltavit me : et nunc exaltavit caput
meum super inimicos meos.
Circuivi, et immolavi in tabernaculo Ejus hos-
tiam vociferationis ; cantabo et psalmum dicam
Domino.
Exaudi, DoMiNE, vocem meam qua clamavi ad
Te : miserere mei, et exaudi me.
Tilii dixit cor meum, exquisivit Te facies mea :
faciem Tuam, Domine, requiram.
Ne avertas faciem Tuam a me : ne declines in
ira a servo Tuo.
Adjutor mens esto ; ne derelinquas me : neque
de.spicias me, Deus salutaris mens.
Quonian; pater mens et mater mea derelique-
runt me : Dominus autem assumpsit me.
Legem pone mihi, Domine, in via Tua : et
dirige me in semita recta propter inimicos meos.
Ne tradideris nie in animas tribulantium me,
quoniam iusurrexerunt in me testes iniqui : et
mentita est iniquitas sibi.
Credo videre bona Domini : in terra viventium.
Church, aud for each Christian soul ; expressing that faith in
the Presence of God which He had iu its perfection, and
which is given to His servants to possess according to the
measure of the gift of Him.
Moat of the Psalm applies literally to Christ in tlie time
of His Passion, the "false witnesses" of tlie fourteenth verse
being an evident pix)pliecy of tliose who came and per-
verted our Lord's word.s respecting tlie resurrection of the
temple of His bodj'. In the very lir.st words there apjiears
an implied reference to the physical and spiritual darkness
by which He was surrounded when on the Cross ; the stum-
Iding and falling of those who had come against Him in the
Garden of the Agony is in the same way referred to in the
second verse ; the lifting up of His head iu the sixth verse
carries the thoughts to His lifting up on the Cross by which
He gained the thi'onc of an everl.asting kingdom ; and the
oblation of the .seventh to that sacrifice of praise and thanks-
giving whose ellicacy is derived from the " full, perfect, and
suflicicnt sacrifice, oblation, and s.ati.sfaction for the sius of
the whole world " there made by Him. We may also observe
that " My voice " in the eighth verse follows immediately
after the prophecy of the Sacrifice offered on the Ooss and
rc-presented in the Eucharist, .and that it can scarcely be
otherwise interpreted than of Christ's perpetual Intercession,
and of the "blood that .speaketh better things than that of
Abel." And in the sixteenth verse wc are reminded of His
aaying, " Mine hour ia not yet come."
Not lesB may the Psalm be taken as an aspiration of Christ
speaking in llis members. In the hour of trial faith looks
upward, remembering tli.at "God is light. " Kven when the
Virgin, the daughter of .Sion, is sitting in the dust, she he.ars
the voice from on high, " Arise, shine, for thy Light is come,"
or "The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting Light, and
thy God thy glory ;" and though troubles may be on every
side, yet is there the glory of the regenerated City of God in
the future, when it shall have no need to be illuminated by
any but spiritual joy, for " the Lamb is the Light of it."
For such a joy the individual Christian also may hope,
desiring tliat he may dwell for ever in this house of tlie Lord,
and behold the fairness of the " King in His beauty." Moses
"talked of God, Seek ye My face," but God told him that
he could not see His face and live, and he beheld only part
of the Divine glory while ".standing upon the rock," and hid
in the "clift of the rock." The Eock of Ages has been cleft
th.at the children of (iod may tind a safe hiding-place for ever,
and the Divine glory is now revealed in the Incarnate Person
of the Lord Jesus. 80 the time M ill come when a yet higher
vision of it will be vouchsafed, when there shall be no more
fainting, and when they who wait upon the Lord shall go
from strength to strength till His words are fulfilled, "They
shall sec His face : .and His IV'anu- shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night there : and they need no candle,
neither light of the sun . for the Lord C!od giveth them light :
and they shall reign for ever and ever."
PSALM XXVIII.
Christ's Human Kature here cries to the Divine Nature :
His ^lystical Pody prays to Him .and in Him as He stands
by the throne of the Father. The following pai.aphrase from
IJerholdus strikes the keynote of the Psnlui with a clear tone,
and shews the manner in which saintly writers have heard
the vi>ice of Christ spiaUing by the mouth of David : —
"I, the assumed Human Nature, will cry unto Thee,
5th Day. [Ps. 28, 29.
Cfje Ipsalms.
525
16 tarry thou the Lord'
;iik1 He shall comfort thine !
thy trust iu the Lord.
5 leisure : Ije strong,
icart and put thou
THE XXVIII. PSALM.
Ad Te, Domine.
TTNTO Thee will I cry, Lord my Strength :
LJ think no scorn of me, lest, if Thou make
as though Thou hearest not, I become like them
that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my liumble petitions,
when I cry unto Thee : when I hold up my hands
towards the mercy-seut of Thy holy temple.
3 O pluck me not away, neitker destroy me
with the ungodly, and wicked doers : which
speak friendly to their neighbours, but imagine
mischief in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to tlieir dgeds : and
according to the wickedness of tlieir own inven-
tions.
5 Recompense them after the work of their
hands : pay them that they have deserved.
6 For they regard not in their mind the
works of the Lord, nor the operation of His
hands : therefore shall He break them down, and
not build them up.
7 Praised be the Lord : for He hath heard the
voice of my humble petitions.
8 The Lord is my Strength, and my Shield,
my heart hath trusted in Him, and I am helped :
therefore my heart danceth for joy, and in my
song will I praise Him.
9 The Lord is my Strength : and He is the
wholesome Defence of His Anointed.
100 save Thy people, and give Thy blessing
unto Thine inheritance : feed them, and set them
up for ever.
THE XXIX. PSALM.
Afferte Domino.
"DRING unto the Lord, O ye mighty, bring
young
ranis unto the Lord : ascribe unto
the Lord worship and strength.
xxvin.
/list, Dedicttioil of
tlie T.iljeruaclc on
Zioii. [x Sam. 6.
17.)
1-iliiyir. 5. 13. S.
Moiid. Mattins,
E.x.specta Dominum, viriliter age, et coufoitelur
cor tuum : et sustine Dominum.
PSALMUS xxvir.
D Te, Domini:, clamabo; Deus meus, ne sileas
a me : nequando taceas a me et as.similabor
descendentibus in lacum.
A°
XXIX.
Hist. Dedication of
the Tabernacle on
Zion. |2 Sam, 6.
Liturs. S. g.
19. ftlond. Mittins.
Epiphany, Trans-
fig., ist Noct.
Exaudi, Domini:, voccm deprecationis meae
dum oro ad Te : dum extollo mamis meas ad
templum sanctum Tuum.
Ne simul tradas me cum peccatoribus : et cum
operantibus iniquitatem ne perdas me.
Qui loqnuntur pacem cum proximo .suo : mala
autem in cordibus eorum.
Da illis secundum opera eorum : et secundum
netpiitiam adinventionuin ipsorum.
Secundiuu opera manuum eorum tribue illis :
redde retributionem eorum ipsis.
Quoniain non intellexerunt opera Domini : et
in opera manuum Ejus destrues illos, et non £edi-
ficabis eos.
Benedictus Dominus : quoniam exaudivit vocem
deprecationis meae.
DoMiNUS adjutor meus, et protector meus :
et in Ipso speravit cor meum, et adjutus sum.
Et refloruit caro mea : et ex voluntate mea con-
fitebor Ei.
Dominus fortitudo plebis Suie : et protector
salvationum Christi Sui est.
Salvum fac populum Tuum Domini;, et benedic
ha;reditati Tuai : et rege eos, et extolle illos usque
in ceternum.
PSALMUS XXVIII.
AFFERTE Domino, filii Dei : afferte Domino
~L^ filios arietum.
Lord : Thou .art My Deity, in wliicli I, tlie Son of David, am
the Son of God, equally as the Father and the Holy Ghost
are God : Thou art My Deity, and since Thou art the Word
of the Father, keep not silence from Jle, from Me, the
Human Nature which Thou, Word, didst personally unite
to Thyself. By the voice of Tliy Blood, crying from the
ground, do Thou, Word, so speak as to be heard, even in
Hell, when my soul shall descend thither : make manifest
that I am not like them that go down into the pit, from the
weight of original, or the guilt of actual, sin. For I, untainted
by any sin, shall so be 'free among the dead,' that I also
shall be able to deliver others thence, and to say even to
death itself, '0 death, where is thy sting? O grave, where
is thy victory ? ' "
The last four verses of the Psalm exhibit again the transi-
tion from humiliation and death to triumph and life, in the per-
son of God's Anointed; and the union of Christ with His people
in the closing words of faithful and joyful pr.ayer. The last
of all is used daily by the Church in the suffrages of Mattins
and Evensong: "Y- Lord, save Thy people. K/. And
bless Thine inheritance ; " and also in the Te Deum, " Govern
them, and lift them up for ever."
PSALM XXIX.
This is a song of praise and thanksgiving to Ctod for the
work wrought by the Holy Ghost in the kingdom of the New
Creation. The perpetual presence of the Lord in His Church
is signified by the mention of His Voice, of which it is said
in the prophecy of the New Testament that " out of the
throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices."
The same prophecy also speaks of " seven lamps of fire burn-
ing before the throne, which are the Seven Spirits of God"
[Rev. iv. 5], and hence we may understand that the sevenfold
operations of the Holy Ghost are mystically set forth by the
seven times repeated " voice of the Lord."
As the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters of
Creation, giving lite to an inanimate world, so does He com-
mand the waters and rule the sea in the .'>acrameut of Baptism,
the Laver or ".Sea of glass" [Itev. iv. C] "mingled with
fire " [Rev. xv. 2J, in which our fallen nature is regenerated
to a life capable of righteousness and a title to the inheritance
of the saints in light. When God the Father glorified the
»Son of Man, some said that "it thundered," and only ears
opened by faith heard the Vciice of (iod as it declared, "I
have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. " [John xii.
28.] Only the faitliful, again, knew the significance of that
mysterious sign which appeared when the house was shaken
where the Apostles were assembled on the morn of Pente-
cost, and the Holy Ghost divided the flaming tongues of fire
upon the heads of those present. But, whether or not bj'
visible and audible signs, the operation of the Holy Ghost is
ever being carried on in the Church of God, by an endow-
ment to it of power from on high ; pouer given in Baptism,
in Confirmation, in the Holy Eucharist ; power to break up
the strongest obstacles that oppose themselves ; power to
526
Cf)c Psalms.
6th Day. [Ps. 30.]
2 Give the Lord the honour due unto His
Name : worship the Lord with holy worship.
3 It is the Lord that commandeth the waters :
it 13 the glorious God that maketh the thunder.
i It is tlio Lord that ruleth the sea ; the voice
of the Lord is mighty in operation : the voice of
the Lord is a glorious voice.
5 The voice of the Loud breaketh the cedar-
trees ; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of
Libanus.
6 He maketh tliem also to .skip like a calf :
Libanus also, and "Sirion like a youug *imicorn.
7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames
of fire, the voice of the Lord shaketh the wilder-
ness : yea, the Lord shaketh the wilderness of
'Cades.
8 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to
bring forth young, and ''discovereth the thick
bushes : in His temple doth every man speak of
His honour.
9 The Lord sitteth above the water-flood : and
the Lord remaineth a King for ever.
10 The Lord shall give strength unto His
people : the Lord shall give His people the
blessing of peace.
Day 6. MORNING PRAYER.
THE XXX. PSALM.
Exaltabo Te, Domine.
J WILL magnify Thee, Lord, for Thou hast
set me up : and not made my foes to triumpli
over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee : and
Thou hast healed me.
3 Thou, Lord, hast brought my soul out of
hell : Thuu hast kept my life from them that go
down to the i>it.
4 Sing praises unto the Lord, O ^e saints of
His ; and give thanks unto Him for a remem-
brance of His holiness.
5 For His wrath endureth but the twinkling
of an eye, and in His pleasure is life : heaviness
may endure for a night, )jut joy cometh in the
morning.
6 And in my prosperity I said, I shall never
be removed : Thou, Lord, of Thy goodness hast
made my hill so strong.
a i.e. Hermon.
[Deul. 3. 9.1
f> See Atmvt. Bit>te,
d i.e. Uncovcreth.
Afferte Domino gloriam et honorem, afiferte
D'^MINO gloriam Nomini Ejus : adorate Dominttm
in atrio sancto Ejus.
Vox Domini super aquas, Deus majestatis
intonuit : Domikus super aquas multas.
Vox Domini in virtute : vox Domini in magui-
ficentia.
Vox Domini confringentis cedros : et confringet
Dominus cedros Libaui
Et commiiuiet eas tanquam vitulum Libani : et
dilectus quemadmodum Alius unicornium.
Vox Domini intercidentis flammam ignis ; vox
Domini concutientis desertum : et commo\ebit
Dominus desertum Cades.
Vox Domini prceparentis cervos, et revelabit
coudensa : et in teniplo Ejus omnes dicent
gloriam.
Dominus diluvium inhabitare facit : et sedebit
Dominus Rex in sternum.
Dominus virtutem populo Sun dabit : Dominus
benedicet populo Suo in pace.
I
xxx.
mil. David ; at
benediction of liis
hyii5e. [z Sain. 6.
=o.J
/.iii.rr. s. g. a.
Mun.l. Mattins.
H.ister Eve. St.
Mich.-iel. Ex. Cross,
2nJ Xoct.
PSALMUS XXIX.
TT^XALTABO Te, Domine, quoniam suscepisti
me : nee delectasti inimicos ineos super
me.
Domine Deus mens, clamavi ad Te : et sanasti
me.
Domine eduxisti ab inferno animam meam :
.salvasti me a descendentibus in lacum.
Psallite Domino omnes sancti Ejus : et coutitc-
mini memori£e sanctitatis Ejus.
Quoniam ira in iudignatione Ejus : et vita in
voluntate Ejus.
Ad vesperum demorabitur tietus : et ad matu-
tinum Iffititia.
Ego autem dixi in abundantia mea : Non
niovebor in a^ternum.
Domine, in voluntate Tua : priestitisti decmi
meo virtutem.
elevate the Church and tlie soul to the highest spiritual
exaltation and "joy in the Holy Ohost;" power to shatter
the oaka of the forest [verse 8], puttiug down the proud
in the imagination of their hearts, and raisiug up a
Saviour to reveal the mysteries hid in the " thick bushes " of
prophecy.
Ill the Temple of the Holy Ghost, therefore, — in the mystical
Body of Christ, — all things proclaim His glory Who still
moveth upon the face of the waters to vivify, strengthen,
.ind give linal peace to His people. "The temple of God was
opened in Heaven, and tliere was seen in His temi>le the Ark
of His Testament : and there were liglitning.s, and voices,
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." "And
tlie temple was filleil with smoke from the glory of God, and
from His power." [I'.ev. xi. 19; xv. 8]
PSALM XXX.
This Psalm is entitled "for the opening of the house of
David," looking also, perhaps, to the dedication of the temple
built by his son Solomon.' Our Lord associated the Temple
with a typical signification when He said of His own Body,
" Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
[.John ii. 19.] Not without reason, therefore, have wise
interpreters associated this dedication Psalm with the dedi-
cation of Christ's Body in its Resurrection and Ascension,
whereby w.as founded that mystical Body which will also in
His time be raised from its militant and sutfcring condition
to be dedicated as the holy city .and tlie New Jerus.alem,
"prepared .as a bride adorned for her hus1)and. " [Rev. xxi. 2. ]
The voice of Christ is hoard, therefore, in this Psalm,
rejoicing in His deliver.ance from death, the grave, and hell.
The wrath of God came upon Him as the representative of
all sinners, and for a time the Father turned His face even
1 When the firstfrults were brought to be offered, those who brouglit
them were accustomed to sing Psalm cxxii. ;is they cauie on tlielr way tff
the Temple, and I'sabu el. on their closer approach to it. Wlien they
ariived within the court of the Temple, the I.evites sang Psalm xxx.. per-
liai)a from some association of ideas between the dedication of the Temi>le
and of the flrstfruits.
6th Day. [Ps. 31.]
Che Ipsalms.
527
7 Tliou didst turn Thy face from me : and I
was troubled.
8 Then cried I unto Thee, O Lfiiin : and gat
me to my Lord right humbly.
9 What profit is there in niy blood : when I
go down to the pit?
10 Shall the dust give thanks unto Tlieo : or
shall it declare Thy truth ?
1 1 Hear, O Lokd, and have mercy upon me :
Lord, be Thou my helper.
12 Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy :
Thou hast put otf my sackcloth, and girded me
with gladness.
13 Therefore shall every good man sing of Thy
praise without ceasing : my God, I will give
thanks unto Thee for ever.
THE XXXI. PSALM.
In Te, Domine, speravi.
IN Thee, O Lord, have I put my trust ; let me
never be put to confusion, deliver me in
Thy righteousness.
2 Bow down Thine ear to me : make haste to
deliver me.
3 And be Thou my strong Rock, and House of
defence : that Thou mayest save me.
4 For Thou art my strong Rock, and my Castle :
bo Thou also my Guide, and lead mc for Thy
Name's sake.
5 1 )raw me out of the uet that they have laid
privily for nie : for Thou art my Strength.
6 Into Thy hands I commend my spirit : for
Thou hast redeemed me, Lord, Thou God of
truth.
7 I have hated them that hold of superstitious
vanities : and my trust hath been in the Lord.
8 I will be glad, and rejoice in Thy mercy :
for Thou hast considered my trouble, and hast
known my soul in adversities.
9 Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of
the enemy : but hast set my feet in a large room.
10 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am
in trouble : and mine eye is consumed for very
heaviness ; yea, my soul and my body.
11 For my life is waxen old with heaviness :
and my years with mourning.
12 My strength faileth me, because of mine
iniquity ; and my bones are consumed.
XXXI.
/ArA See Anuot.
HMf, ii. 648.
r,!,„T. &. S. IK.
Monti, Mattins.
Compline, verses
Avortisti faciem Tuam a mc : et factus sum
conturbatus.
Ad Te, Domine, clamal;o ; et ad Dicu.m meum
deprecabor.
Qu:e utilitas in .sanguine meo : dum desccndo
in corruptionem ?
Nunquid tonfitebitur Tibi pulvis : aut annuu-
tiabit veritatem Tuam '(
Audivit DoMiNUS et niisertus est mei : Do.mi-
NUS factus est adjutor mens.
Convertisti planctum meum in gaudium mihi :
concidisti saccum meum, et circundodisti me
laititia.
Ut cantet Tibi gloria mca, et non compungar :
Domine Deus meus, in eeteriium confitebor Tibi.
I
PSALMUS XXX.
N Te, Domine, speravi ; non confundar in
reternum : in justitia Tua libera me.
Inclina ad me aurem Tuam : accelera ut eruas
Esto mihi in Deum protectorem et in domum
refugii : ut salvum me facias.
Quoniam fortitudo mea et refugium meum es
Tu : et propter nomen Tuum deduces uio, et
enutries me.
Educes me de laqueo quem absconderunt mihi :
quoniam Tu es protector meus.
In maniis Tuas commendo spiritum meum :
redemisti me, Doming Deu.s veritatis.
Odisti observantes vanitates : supervacue.
Ego autem in Domino .speravi : exultabo et
Icetabor in misericordia Tua.
Quoniam respexisti humilitatem meam : salvasti
de necessitatibus an imam meam.
Nee conclusisti me in manibus inimici : statu-
isti in loco spatioso pedes meos.
Miserere mei, Domine, cpioniam tribulor : con-
turbatus est in ira oculus meus, anima mea et
venter meus.
Quoniam defecit in dolore vita mea : et anni
mei in gemitibus.
Infirmata est in paupertate virtus mea : et ossa
mea conturbata sunt.
from His beloved Son, so that the soul of the holy and inno-
cent One was troubled. Giving up His life, that Holy One
suffered His body to be carried to the grave, while His soul
descended into hell. But the dust of death could not magnify
the glory of <iod, nor offer an Eucharistic sacrifice, nor give
profit from the blood of the Atonement, nor proclaim Divine
Truth. Therefore tlie Lord in His good purposes, for His
own glory, and for man's salvation, bronght the soul of
Christ out of hell, kept His body from the usual lot of those
wlio descend into the grave, put off from Him the sackcloth
of suffering humanity and a natural boily, and girded Him
with the joy of a humanity that is glorified and a body tliat
has become spiritual. Because of this mercy of God towards
man for the sake of his Redeemer, the Church, which is
Christ's glory, — even the children which God has given to
Him, — will praise Him continually, offering up to Him for
ever the acceptable memorial of His love, according to His
commandment, "This do, for a remembrance of Me."
The application of this Psalm to Christ the Head shews
clearly without further illustration how it may be applied to
His members, collectively and individually. When the time
of her tribulation is past, the Church can follow tliu words of
her Lord, and as He could say, "Thou hast set Me up," as
the High Priest interceding, the King of kings ruling, and
the Lamb of God receiving Divine worship, so may His
Church jiraise God for revealing His glory by and in her,
lifting her up from the dust and sackcloth of suffering, and
girding her with the joy of an universal triumph. And there
are times when the Christian soul may take such words for
its own also, and thauk God with a better informed faith
than Hezekiah did, when even he said, "The living, the
Uving, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day. "
PSALM XXXI,
This is another of the Psalms which our Lord has
marked with the sign of the Cross, His last words at
Calvary being taken from the sixth verse, "Father, into
Thy hands I commend My spirit," It is an old tradition
that He repeated all the Psalms from the 12nA as far as this
verse of the 31st during the three hours of His extreme
sufferings ; thus making these words the Compline Hymn of
Hia earthly life.
The Psalm is especially one of those in which Christ speaks
Cfte Psalms,
6th Day. [Ps. 31.]
1.3 I became a reproof among all mine enemies,
but especially among my neighbours : and they
of mine acquaintance weie afraid of me, and they
that did see me without conveyed themselves
from me.
1-1 I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of
mind : I am become like a broken vessel
15 For I have heard the blasphemy of the
multitude : and fear is on every side, while they
conspire together against me, and take their
counsel to take away my life.
16 But my hope hath been in Thee, O Loed :
I have said. Thou art my God.
17 My time is in Thy hand, deliver me from
the hand of mine enemies : and fiom them that
persecute me.
IS Shew Thy servant the light of Thy counten-
ance : and save me for Thy mercy sake.
19 Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for
I have called upon Thee : let the ungodly be
put to confusion, and be put to silence in the
grave.
20 Let the lying lips be put to sDence : which
cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully speak
against the righteous.
21 O how plentiful is Thy goodness which
Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee : and
that Thou hast prepared for them that put their
trust in Thee, even before the sons of men.
22 Thou shalt hide them privily by Thine own
presence from the provoking of all men : Thou
shalt keep them secretly in Thy tabernacle from
the strife of tongues.
23 Thanks be to the Loud : for He hath
shewed me marvellous great kindness in a strong
city.
24 And when I made haste, I said : I am cast
out of the sight of Thine eyes.
2-5 Nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my
prayer : when I cried unto Thee.
26 O love the Lord, all ye His saints : for the
Lord preserveth them that are faithful, and
plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.
27 Be strong, and He shall establish your
heart : all ye that put your trust in the Lord.
Super omnes inimicos meos factus sum oppro-
bnum vicinis meis valde : et timor notis meis.
Qui \idebant me foras fugerunt a me : oblivioni
datus sum, tanquam mortuus a corde.
Factus sum tanquam vas perditum : quoniam
aiidivi vituperationem multorum conimorantium
in circuitu.
In eo dum conveuirent simul adversum nic ;
accipere animam meam consiliati sunt.
Ego autem in Te speravi, Domine ; dixi, Deus
mens es Tu : in manibus Tuis sortes mea3.
Eripe me de nianu inimicorum meorum : et a
persequentibus me.
Illustra faciem Tuam super servum Tuum, sal-
vum me fac in misericordia Tua, Domine : non
confundar, cjuoniam invocavi Te.
Erubescant impii, et deducantur in infernum :
muta fiant labia dolosa.
Quaj loquuntur adversus justum iniquitatem :
in superbia, et in abusione.
Quammagnamultitudodulcedinis Tuse Domine :
quam abscondisti timentibus Te 1
Perfecisti eis qui sperant in Te : in conspectu
filiorum hominum.
Abscondes eos in abscondito faciei Tua3 : a
conturbatione hominum.
Proteges eos in tabernaculo Tuo ' a contra-
dictione linguarum.
Benedictus Dominus : quoniam mirificavit
misericordiam Suam mihi ; in civitate nmnita.
Ego autem dixi in excessu mentis meie : Pro-
jectus sum a facie oculorum Tuorum.
Ideo exaudisti vocem orationis me;e : dum
claniarem ad Te.
Diligite Dominum omnes sancti Ejus, quoniam
veritateni requiret Dominus : et retribuet
abundanter facientibus superbiam.
YiriUter agite, et confortetur cor vestrum :
omnes qui speratis in Domino.
as personating Hia people, or rather as concentrating within
Himself all their experiences. Having taken our nature, He
speaks in our words, that we may the better learn to speak
with Ilis. Accordingly we hear Him speaking of God's
mercy towards Him, although that mercy was needless for
One Whose immaculate nature could face tlie unmitigated
justice of till! All righteous ; and of His .strength failing
because of His iniquity, tliough all the sin which He bore was
that of others. !So He said to the persecutor of His Church,
"Saul, Saul, why persecutcst thou Me?" and so He will say
at the last day, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least
of these My brethren, ye did it unto Mc"
In psalms and prophecies we may liud the Scriptural com-
plement of the (lospcls, revealed by Him Who could foresee
liistory. So in the eleventh verse of this I'salm wo have a
most affecting tnith concerning the influence of Christ's
sorrows on His human nature. His eartlily life extended
only to thirty-three years, yet he seemed so much older that
the .Jews saiil to Him. '"thou art not yet Ji/ti/ years old."
The truth is here told us, that His "life was waxen old
through heaviness, ami His years with mourning:" ynutli
and jiiy having no place in the ministerial life of Hiui Who
saw ami fidt the whole accunjidatcd burden of .all sin.
The direct application of this I'.s.alm to our Lord is thus as
clearly shewn as in any of those which are more especially
named as Psalms of the Passion • nor can a complete applica-
tion be made to any other person, or to Him in any other
manner than as representing those for whom His work of
atonement was wrought. The whole Psalm is an amplifica-
tion of our Lord's prayer, " Not My will, but Thine ; " and
sets before us very strongly the necessity ami the advantage
of prayer. For if He uttered sucli words of prayer for
deliverauce Who knew the whole course of events that was
to follow, how much more are they bound to sujiplicate their
God to Whom the future is a sealed book ! And if the Lord
heard tlie voice of the Saviour's praj'cr [verse 'Jo], and sent an
angel to strengthen Him though the cu|) of the Passion was
not removed, much more may they look to be made strong,
and to have their hearts established, who are in so much
greater need of the Divine aid.
Pew I'aalnis contain more verses which can be taken into
use by the Christian as expressive of his own experience and
aspirations. As our Lord left to His people the germ of all
])r,ayer, so He has consecrated the words of David by His own
.adoption of them, and th.at in such a m.anner that we may
use them as part of His own prevailing intercession.
PSALM .X.XXII.
Christ, as the representative of the whole human race,
offers uj) in this Psalm the sacrifice of penitence, and rejoices
in the blessedness of Absolution, So "blessed" indeed was
6th Day. [Ps. 32, 33.]
Cbe Ipgalms.
529
Day 6. Evening Prayer,
the xxxii. psalm.
Beati, quorum.
BLESSED is he whose unrighteousness is for-
given : and whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
imputeth no sin : and in whose spirit there is no
guile.
3 For while I held my tongue : my bones con-
sumed away through my daily complaining.
4 For Thy hand is heavy upon me day and
night : and my moisture is like the drought in
summer.
5 I will acknowledge my sin unto Thee : and
mine unrighteousness have I not hid.
6 I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord :
and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.
7 For this shall every one that is godly make
his prayer unto Thee, in a time when Thou
mayest be found : but in the great water-floods
they shall not come nigh him.
8 Thou art a Place to hide me in, Thou shalt
preserve me from trouble : Thou shalt compass
me about with songs of deliverance.
9 I win inform thee, and teach thee in the
way wherein thou shalt go : and I will guide thee
with Mine eye.
10 Be ye not like to horse and mule, which
have no understanding : whose mouths must be
held with bit and bridle, lest they fall upon thee.
1 1 Great plagues remain for the ungodly : but
whoso putteth his trust in the Lord, mercy
embraceth him on every side.
12 Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the
Lord ; and be joyful, all ye that are true of
heart.
THE XXXIII. PSALM.
Exultate, justi.
EEJOICE in the Lord, O ye righteous ; for
it becometh well the just to be thankful.
2 Praise the Lord with harp : sing praises
unto Him with the lute, and instrument of ten | '&
strings.
X,XXII.
/lis!. D.iviJ. 0cC3-
sion unknown.
LilJiri-. Ash Weil.
Mnttms. S.gS-
Mond. Mattins.
/'fnitetttia/ Ps, 2.
xxxni.
Ntst. David. Occa-
sion unknown.
/ ,t,ir^. S. g. B.
.Mond. Mattins. All
Saints, Many Mar.
Many Con-
ssors, 3ra Noct.
[Se'fS. AVG.Serm,
33S-1
PSALMUS XXXI.
et
BEATI quorum remissse sunt iniquitates
quorum tecta sunt peccata.
Beatu,s vir cui non imputavit Dominus pecca-
tum : nee est in spiritu ejus dolus.
Quoniam tacui, inveteraverunt ossa mea : dum
clamarem tota die.
Quoniam die ac nocte gravata est super me
manus Tua : conversas sum in ajrumna mea, dum
configitur spina.
Delictum meum cognitum Tibi feci : et
injustitiam meam non abscondi.
Dixi, Confitebor adversum me injustitiam
meam Domino : et Tu remisisti impietatem
peccati mei.
Pro hac orabit ad Te omnis sauctus : in tem-
pore opportuno.
Veruntamen in diluvio aquarum multarum :
ad eum non approximabunt.
Tu es refugium meum a tribulatione qu£e cir-
cundedit me : exultatio mea, erue me a circun-
dantibus me.
Intellectum tibi dabo, et instruam te in via
hac qua gradieris : firmabo super te oculos Meos.
Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus : quibus non
est intellectus.
In chamo et frreno maxillas eorum constringe :
qui non approximant ad te.
Multa flagella peccatoris : sperantem autem in
Domino misericordia circundabit.
La?tamini in Domino et exultate justi
gloriamini omnes recti corde.
et
PSALMUS xxxn.
EXULTATE justi in Domino : rectos decet
collaudatio.
Confitemini Domino in cithara : in psalterio
decem chordarum psallite Illi.
He by the purity of His nature that no sin was imputed to
Him as His own, nor was any guile found in His spirit.
Yet so great is the mercy of God that the blessedness of the
forgiven soul is made next, and even like to, that of the inno-
cent soul. When His pardoning word has exercised its
power, and "unrighteousness is forgiven," the spirit is
freed, and pure of guile and sin ; so that they who are thus
reunited to the spotless Lamb of God become partakers of
His holiness.
Thus, although there is no peace to the sinner while he
holds his tongue, and refuses to confess his sin, he who puts
his trust in the Lord's mercy and humbly acknowledges his
transgressions will find that mercy embracing him on every
side. Especially he will find out that the Son of Man hath
power OQ earth to forgive sins, and that this power He has
given to His Church [John xx. 23]; that when "tnith of
heart," a sincere penitence, has removed every bar from the
way of God's word of absolution, it vnl\ go forth m ith power
to convey actual pardon, and, with pardon, comfort.
This penitential Psalm is, tlierefore, a word of Christ
shewing us the pattern of repentance to be followed by His
members, and proclaiming the blessedness of their state
whose repentance has been of that sincere character that God
is able to bless to the penitent the words of absolution, and
thus to make them effective to his pai'don and justification.
PSALM XXXIIL^
Tlii.s Psalm has been used time immemorial on festivals of
martyrs. It was, doubtless, adopted for that purpose from
its manifest position as a sequel to the foregoing Psalm of
penitence; which makes it represent the "New Song" of
the saints who have entered into perfect peace through the
final pardon of their God ; " And they sung a new song, say-
ing. Thou art wortiiy to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof : for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God
by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests : and we shall reign on the earth." [Rev. v. 9, 10.]
This association of ideas is further exhibited by the general
subject of the Psalm, « hicli is a hymn of praise to God for
1 Tlie structure of this Psalm is observaMe, consisting as it does of an
introductory and concluding verse, and of nine intermediate stanzas or
subjects. It can scarcely be doubted that this structure was recognized in
the nmsic to which the Ps.ilm was originally sung. It is also probable
that there is ti reference to it iu the end of the second verse.
530
Cbc Ipsalms.
6th Day. [Ps. 34.]
3 Sing unto the Lord a new song : sing
praises IvistOy vnto Ehn with a good courage.
4 For the Word of the Lord is true : and all
His works are faithful
5 He loveth righteousness and judgement : the
earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the Word of the Lord were the heaven-s
made : and aU the hosts of them by the breath
of His mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together,
as it were upon an heap : and layeth up the
deep, as. in a treasure-house.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord : stand in
awe of Him, all ye that dwell in the world.
9 For He spake, and it was douo : He com-
manded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord bringeth the counsel of the
heathen to nought ; and maketh the devices of
the people to be of none effect, atul casteth out
the coun^ls of princes.
11 The counsel of the Lord shall endure for
ever : and the thoughts of His heart from genera-
tion to generation.
12 Blessed are the people whose God is the
Lord Jehovah : and blessed are the folk that
He hath chosen to Him, to be His inheritance.
13 The Lord looked down from heaven, and
beheld all the children of men : from the habita-
tion of His dwelling He considereth all them
that dwell on the earth.
1 i He fashioneth aU the hearts of them : and
understandeth all their works.
15 There is no king that can be saved by the
multitude of an host : neither is any mighty man
delivered by much strength.
16 A horse is counted but a vain thing to save
a man : neither shall he deliver any man by his
great strength.
17 Behold, the eye of the Lord is iipon them
that fear Him : and upon them that put their
trust in His mercy ;
18 To deliver then- soul from death : and to
feed them in the time of dearth.
19 Our soul hath patiently tarried for the
Lord : for He is our Help, and our Shield.
20 For our heart shall rejoice in Him : because
wo have hoped in His holy Name.
21 Let Thy merciful kindness, O Lord, be
upon us : like as we do put our trust in Thee."
THE XXXIV. PSALM.
Benedicam Domino.
I WILL alway give thanks unto the Lord :
His praiso shall over be in my mouth.
a Litany Suffrages.
-XXXIV.
Hist David : at
court of Achish.
Litur^. St. ©. a.
Mond. Mattins,
Many Martyrs, 3rd
Noct. St. Michael
and All Saints, snd
Noct. Apostlcsand
Evangelists, 1st
Noct.
Cantate Ei canticum novum : bene psallite Ei
''n vociferatione.
Quia rectum est verbum Domini ; et omnia
opera Ejus in fide.
Dihgit misericordiam et judicium : mlsericordia
Domini plena est terra.
Verbo Domini coeli firmati sunt : et spiritu oris
Ejas omnis virtus eorum.
Congregans sicut in utre aquas maris
in thesaiuis abyissos.
ponens
Timeat Domixum omnis terra : ab Eo autem
comnioveantur omnes inhabitantes orbem.
Quoniam Ipse dixit, et facta stmt : Ipse man-
davit, et creata simt
DoMiNUS dissipat consilia gentium ; reprobat
autem cogitationes popidorum : et reprobat con-
silia pirincipum.
ConsUimn autem Domini in setemum manet :
cogitationes cordis Ejus in generatione et genera-
tionem,
Beata gens cujus est Dominus Deus ejus :
populus quem elegit in hajreditatem SibL
De ccclo respesit Dominus
honiinum.
De pr^parato habitaculo Suo
omnes qui habitant terram.
Qui tinxit singillatim corda eorum
ligit omnia opera eorum.
Non salvatur rex per miiltam \drtutem : et
gitcas non salvabitur in multitudine vu'tutis sua;.
vidit omnes filios
respexit super
qui intel-
FaUax equus ad salutem : in abundantia autem
virtutis suse non salvabitur.
Ecce oculi Domini super metuentes Eum
in eis qui sperant suj^er mlsericordia Ejus.
et
Ut eruat a morte animas eorom : et alat eos in
fame.
Anima nostra sustinet Dominum : quoniam
adjutor et protector noster est.
Quia in Eo lietabitur cor nostrum : et in
nomine sancto Ejus speravimus.
Fiat mlsericordia Tua, Domine, super nos :
quemadmodum speravimus in Te.
psALwrus xxxni.
BENEDICAil DoMiNUM in omni tempore
semper laus Ejus in ore meo.
the wonder.') of Creation, it being one of the strains of
heavenly Lands that "Thon art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honour and power : for Thou hast created all
tilings, and for Tliy pleasure they are and were created."
[llev, iv. 11.]
But all sucli hymns of praise for God's good work in the
natural creation carry a further meaning which looks to the
new and spiritual Creation whereby all things are made new
in Christ .Jesus. By the word o£ the Lord were the heavens
made : and the same word will be the Creator of the new
heaven and tlie new earth, when the first heaven and the
fii-flt earth shall have passed away and there shall be no more
sea. The Church, enlightened liy the words of Cliri.st and
the Holy Ghost, sings this hymn to God with a far deeper
meaning than .attached to it when sung by the Jewish Church :
beholding with open face the glory of the I>oi'd Jesus revealed
in it : and adoring Him in its measured strain.s as that
eternal \\'oRii, \\'lio became man for us men and for our
salvation, and Whose perpetual miracle of new creation is
the subject of her continual thanksgiving.
PSALM XXXIV. 1
This Psalm contains a Divine prophecy of the Agony,
1 Tliis Psalm is appointed for use at the time of Communion in (lie
Liturgy of St, Jami'H, uud in tlio Apostolical Constitutions, The associa-
tion of it witli the Eucharist plainly arises from the words of the eighth
verso. In the Ilebrew it is nn Alphabet Psalm.
6th Day. [Ps. 34.]
Cf)C Ipsalms.
531
2 My soul shall make her boast in the
Lord : the humble shall hear thereof, and be
glad.
3 O praise the Lord with me : and let us
magnify His Name together.
4 I sought the Loud, and He heard me : yea,
He delivered mo out of all my fear.
5 They had an eye unto Him, and were light-
ened ; and their faces were not ashamed.
6 Lo, the poor criotli, and the Lord heareth
him ; yea, and saveth him out of all his
troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord tarrieth round about
them that fear Him : and delivereth them.
8 O taste, and see how gracious the Lord is :
blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.
9 O fear the Lord, ye that are His saints : for
they that fear Him lack nothing.
10 The lions do lack, and suffer hunger : but
they who seek the Lord shall want no manner of
thing that is good.
1 1 Come, ye children, and hearken unto me :
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is he that lusteth to live : and
would fain see good days 1
13 Keep thy tongue from evil : and thy lips,
that they speak no guile.
14 "Eschew evil, and do good : seek peace,
and *ensue it.
1 5 The eyes of the Lord are over the right-
eous : and HLs ears are open unto their prayers.
16 The countenance of the Lord is against
them that do evil : to root out the remembrance
of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hearetli
them : and delivereth them out of all their
troubles.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a
contrite heart : and will save such as be of an
humble spirit.
19 Great are the troubles of the righteous :
but the Lord delivereth him out of all.
20 He keepeth all his bones : so that not one
of them is broken.
21 But misfortune shall slay the ungodly :
and they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate.
22 The Lord delivereth the souls of His
servants ; and all they that put their trust in
Him shall not be destitute.
a i,e. Shun. or. as in
B. v.. " depart
from."
b t.t. Follow after,
or.asin B,\' . "pur-
sue "
In DoMiNO laudabitur anima mea
mansueti, et laetentur.
audiant
Magnificats DoMiNUM mecum ; et exaltemus
nomen Ejus in idipsum.
Exquisivi Dominum, et exaudivit me : et ex
omnibus tribulationibas meis eripuit me.
Accedite ad Eum, et illuminamini ; et facies
vestrse non confundontur.
Iste pauper clamavit, et Dominus exaudivit
eum : et ex omnibus tribulationibus ejus salvavit
eum.
Immittet angelus Domini in circuitu timentium
Eum : et eripiet eos.
Gustate, et vldete quoniam suavis est Do-
minus : beatus vir qui sperat in Eo.
Timete Dominum omnes sancti Ejus : quoniam
non est inopia timentibus Eum.
Divites eguerunt et esurierunt : inquirentes
autem Dominum non minuentur omni bono.
Venite, filii, audito me : timorem Domini
docebo vos.
Quis est homo qui vult vitam : diligit dies
videre bonos 1
Prohibe linguam tuam a malo : et labia tua ne
loquantur dolum.
Diverte a malo et fac bonum : inquire pacem,
et persequere earn.
Oculi Domini super justos : et aures Ejus ad
preces eorum.
Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala :
ut perdat de terra memoriam eorum.
Clamaverunt justi, et Dominus exaudivit eos :
et ex omnibus tribulationibus eorum liberavit
s.
Juxta est Dominus his, qui tribulato sunt
corde : et humiles spiritu salvabit.
MultEB tribulationes justorum : et de omnibus
his liberavit eos Dominus.
Custodit Dominus omnia ossa eorum : unum
ex his non conteretur.
Mors peccatorum pessima : et qui oderunt
justum delinquent.
Eedimet Dominus animas servorum Suorum :
et non delinquent omnes qui sperant in Eo.
SufJering, and Deliverauce of the holy Jesus ; and also of the
fate of Judas the betrayer : "Great are the troubles of the
righteous. . . . But they that hate the righteous shall be
desolate." In the third verse there is a direct recognition of
the principle that Christ's words in the Psalms are also often
given to be the words of His members ; and in the sixth and
seventh verses this principle is illustrated by the change of
the pronoun from singular to plural. The "poor in spirit"
are one with Him Who became "the poor" that He might
make many rich. He cried to His Father when His soul
was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, and the angel of
tlie Lord appeared from Heaven, strengthening Him. Our
Lord is also called "the righteous" (the term being used
interchangeably in the same manner) in the fifteenth, seven-
teenth, and nineteenth verses. This term is found in Acts
iii. 14, and vii. 52, and the twentietli verse being expressly
applied to our Lord by St. John, shews clearly of Whom
the Psalm speaks. Li contrast to this designation of the
holy Jesus, "the Ungodly" must clearly be taken to mean
the betrayer, whom "misfortune slew" when "lie h.inged
himself, and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst,
and his bowels gushed out," and of whom the Apostle said,
"Let his habitation be desolate. " Hence we may see that
the "evil" of the traitor's "tongue," and the "guile"
of his "Hail, Master," .are signified in the thirteenth and
fourteenth verses, setting him forth as a terrible example, and
warning us that it is possible even now to crucify the Sou of
("iod afresh.
In the eleventh verse we seem to hear the parting words
of the great Teacher to His little flock, "I will not leave
you orphans : " the echo of which loving words sounded in
the oft-repeated s.alutation of His beloved Apostle, "My
little children." Of that little flock, the children of the
Lord, the words of the Psalm are also spoken : of the Bride
which is "bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh," and
%\-hich He will preserve through all the troubles of this world,
that though her blood be even shed like water in the streets
of Jerusalem, the strength of her internal frame shall sur-
vive to be restored to life in tlie glory of the Resurrection
kingdom.
532
Cf)e IPsalim.
7th Day. [Ps. 35.]
Day 7. MORNING PRAYER.
THE XXXV. PSALM.
Judica, Domine.
PLEAD Thou my cause, O Lord, with them
that strive with me : and fight Thou
against them that fight against me.
2 Lay hand upon the shield and buckler : and
stand up to help me.
3 Bring forth the spear, and stop the way
against them that persecute me : say unto my
soul, I am thy salvation.
4 Let them be confounded, and put to shame,
that seek after my soul : let them be turned back,
and brought to confusion, that imagine mischief
for me.
5 Let them be as the dust before the wind :
and the angel of the Lord scattering them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery : and let
the angel of the Lord persecute them.
7 For they have privily laid their net to
destroy me without a cause : yea, even without
a cause have they made a pit for my soul.
8 Let a sudden destruction come upon him
unawares, and his net, that he hath laid privily,
catch himself : that he may fall into his own mis-
chief.
9 And, my soul, be joyful in the Lord ; it
shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 AH my bones shall say, Lord, who is like
unto Thee, Who deliverest the poor from him that
is too strong for him : yea, the poor, and him that
is in misery, from him that spoileth him.
1 1 False witnesses did rise up : they laid to my
charge things that I knew not.
12 They rewarded me evil for good ; to the
great discomfort of my soul.
1 3 Nevertheless, when they were sick I put on
sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting ;
and my prayer shall turn into mine own bosom.
14 1 behaved myself as though it had been
my friend, or my brother : I went heavily as one
that mourneth for his mother.
15 Hut in mine adversity they rejoiced, and
gathered themselves together : yea, the very
abjects came together against me unawares, mak-
ing mouths at me, and ceased not.
16 With the flatterers were busy mockers :
who gnashed upon me with their teeth.
XXXV.
Hut. Da\-id : while
persecuted by Saul.
Liturg. S. S. g.
Mond. Mattins
JUDICA,
tl impugnantes me.
PSALlVrUS XXXIV.
Domine, nocentes
me : expugna
Apprehende arma et scutum : et exsurge in
adjutorium milii.
Eft'unde frameam, et conclude adversus eos qui
persequuntur me : die animse me», Salus tua Ego
sum.
Confundantur et revereantur : quserentes ani-
mam meam.
Avertantur retroreum et confundantur : cogi-
tantes mihi mala.
Fiant tanquam pulvis ante faciem venti : et
angelus Domini coarctans eos.
Fiat via illorum tenebras et lubricum : et angel-
us Domini persequens eos.
Quoniam gratis absconderunt mihi interitum
laquei sui : supervacue exprobraverunt animam
meam.
Veniat illi laqueus quem ignorat : et captio
Ciuam abscoudit apprehendat eum, et in laqueum
cadat in ipsum.
Anima autem mea exultabit in Domino : et
delectabitur super siilutari Suo.
Omnia ossa mea dicent : Domine, quis similis
Tibi? .
Eripiens inopem de manu fortiorum ejus :
egenum et pauperem a diriiiientibus eum.
Surgentes testes iniqui : quaj ignorabam in-
terrogabant me.
Eetribuebant mihi mala pro bonis : sterilitatem
animse meie.
Ego autem cum mihi molesti essent : induebar
cilicio.
Humiliabam in jejunio animam meam : et
oratio mea in .sinu meo convertetur.
Quasi proximum, et quasi fratrem nostrum, sic
complacebam : quasi lugens et contristatus, sic
humiliabar.
Et adversum me Iretati sunt, et convenerunt :
congregata sunt super me flagella, et ignoravi.
Dissipati sunt, nee compuncti ; tentaverunt
me ; subsannaverunt me subsannatione : frendue-
runt super me dentibus suis.
P.SALM XXXV.
A Scriptural key to the Evangelical interpretation of tliia
Psalm i.'i given by our Lord Himself in one of His final dis-
courses : " IJut this is come to pass, that tlie word might be
fuiniled that is written in their law, They liated Mo without
.1 cause," f.Tcihn xv. 2o.l The eleventh verso also received a
literal fulfilment in the false witness borne against our Lord
wlien Ho was accused before the High Priest. And, like the
preceding Psalm, it contains, in addition to tliese direct refer-
ences to the sufferings of our Lord, a ])ro)ilKtic intim.ation of
the fate which should bcf.-vll the traitor .Judas.
Although bearing much rcscmljlance to the 22nd Psalm in
its gcner.il character, tliis differs from that in dwelling less
upon the sorrows of the suffering Jesus as they affected His
body and soul than on tho aspect which those sorrows wear
as being brought about by the acts of tliose wliom He camo
to love and save. In the one Psalm the M.an of Sorrows ia
heard crj-ing out in the depth of the woe brought upon Him
by His vicarious atonement : in tho other, the guileless Just
One appeals to the All-rigliteous Judge against the unrighteous
judgement of men : "Judge Me, Lord, according to Thy
righteousness." In this aspect the .Sr>t.li Psalm furnishes us
with a fearful comment upon tho injustice of the Jews in per-
secuting Christ. And since, when He cries, "Plead Tiiou My
cause," He asks the righteous Judge to plead that of His
mystical liody also, the Psalm e.xpresses not less the injustice
of those who at any time persecute tho Church. In the one
case Me see tlie manner in wliich the world treated the Good
Samaritan wlio put on the sackclotli of our nature that He
might lift up that nature, sick and wounded by the Fall : in
the otiier tlie Antichrists of every age rising up in false wit-
ness, and spre;iiling nets .against His Church, the one mission
of which is to gather souls to Ood. In both the appeal lies
from the injustice of earth to the righteousness of Heaven :
"How long, Lord, holy and true, ilost Thou not judge and
avenge our lilood on them tliat dwell on tlie I'arth ? " And
the Church of the Redeemer can look forward as her Lord
7th Day. [Ps. 36.]
m)C Psalms.
17 LoKD, how long wilt Thou look upon this :
deliver my soul from the calamities whicli they
bring on nie, and my darling from the lions.
18 So will I give Thee thanks in the gTcat
congregation ; I will praise Thee among much
people.
19 O let not them that are mine enemies
triumph over me ungodly : neither let them wink
with their eyes that hate me without a cause.
20 And why t their communing is not for
peace : but they imagine deceitful words against
them that are quiet in the land.
21 They gaped upon me with their mouth, and
said : Fie on thee, fie on thee, we saw it with
our eyes.
22 This Thou hast seen, Lord : hold not
Thy tongue then, go not far from me, O Loed.
23 Awake and stand up to judge my quarrel :
avenge Thou my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me, Lord my God, according to
Thy righteousness : and let them not triumph
over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, There,
there, so would we have it : neither let them say.
We have "devoured him.
26 Let them be put to confusion and shame
together that rejoice at my trouble ; let them be
clothed with rebuke and dishonour that boast
themselves against me.
27 Let them be glad and rejoice that favour
my righteous dealing : yea, let them say alway,
Blessed be the Lord, Who hath pleasure in the
prosperity of His servant.
28 And as for my tongue, it shall be talking
of Thy righteousness : and of Thy praise all the
day long.
THE XXXVI. PSALM.
Dixit injustus.
MY heart sheweth me the wickedness of the
ungodly : that there is no fear of God
before his eye.s.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own sight :
until his abominable sin be found out.
3 The words of his mouth are unrighteous,
and full of deceit ; he hath left off to behave
himself wisely, and to do good.
4 He imagineth mischief upon his bed, and
hath set himself in no good way : neither doth
he abhor any thing that is evil.
5 Thy mercy, Lord, reacheth unto the
heavens : and Thy faithfulness unto the clouds.
It Al. liczvitreii.
XXXVI.
Hist. David; while
persecuted by Saul.
Ul:.re. 5. B. m-
Moud. Mattins.
Many Martyrs, 3rd
N'oct.
DoMiNE, cjuando respicies ? restitue animam
meam a malignitate eorum : a leonibus unicam
meani.
Confitebor Tibi in ecclesia magna : in populo
gravi laudabo To.
Non supergaudeant mihi qui adversantur mihi
inique : qui oderunt me gratis, et aimuunt oculis.
Quoniam mihi cjuidem pacifice loquebantur :
et in iracundia terras loquentes dolos cogitabant.
Et dilataverunt super me os suum : dixerunt,
Euge, euge, viderunt oculi nostrL
Vidisti, DoMiNE, ne sileas : Domine, ne dis-
cedas a me.
Exsurge et intendc judicio meo Deus mens :
et DoMiNUS mens in causam meam.
Judica me secundum justitiam Tuam, Domine
Deus mens : et non supergaudeant mihi.
Non dicant in cordibus suis, Euge, euge,
animce nostrse : nee dicant, Devorabimus eum.
Erubescant et revereantur simul : qui gratulan-
tur malis meis.
Induantur confusione et reverentia : qui maligna
loqiuuntur super me.
Exultent et L-etentur qui volunt justitiam
meam : et dicant semper, Magnificetur Dojiinus,
Qui voluit pacem servi Ejus.
Et lingua mea meditabitur justitiam Tuam :
tota die laudem Tuam.
PSALMUS XXXV.
DIXIT injustus ut delincpiat in semetipso : non
est timor Dei ante oculos ejus.
Quoniam dolose egit in conspectu ejus : ut
inveniatur iniquitas ejus ad odium.
Verba oris ejus iniquitas et dolus : noluit
inteUigere ut bene ageret.
Iniquitatem meditatus est in cubili suo : astitit
omni vise non bon» ; malitiam autem non odivit.
Domine, in coelo misericordia Tua
Tua usque ad nubes.
et Veritas
did, with faith in the righteous verdict of her God and in
His avenging hand : looking for the destruction, not of foes,
but of the enmity and sin of foes : looking for them to be so
conquered and brought to shame that they may be clothed
with tlie rebuke and dishonour of true penitence, and after-
wards be among the number of those that sing, "Blessed
be the Lord, Who hath pleasure in the prosperity of His
servant."
Some remarks applying to the imprecatory tone of the first
eight verses will be found in the notes to the 69th Psalm.
PSALM XXXV1.1
The first four verses of this Psalm set forth the condition
3 111 the iiidictmont of criminals, .a form of wnnls is used which is takf n
from the first verse of this Psalm, viz. " not haviiig the fear of God before
his eyes."
of fallen man ; the latter verses proclaim the mercy of God
in the dispensation of grace from the "Fountain" of our
Lord's immaculate human nature which was ' ' opened for all
uncleanness."
"The fear of God," that fear which proceeds from love and
not from terror, was lost by the Fall; the "flattery" of
himself by the sinner was shewn by the attempt to veil the
shame wliich came with the knowledge of evil : the excuses
which the sinners made to God were unrighteous and full of
deceit ; they had left off to behave themselves -n-isely, and
tried to hide themselves from their All-seeing Creator : good
became alien to them instead of being natural ; and they had
lost the hatred of disobedience and sin with which they had
originally been endowed. AU this was typical of sin and
sinners ataU times ; and at all times God's mercy to the sin-
ner is immeasurable, immoveable, and inexhaustible. Such
is the signification underlying the first half of the Psalm.
534
Cbe Psalms.
7th Day. [Ps. 37.]
6 Thy righteousness standeth like the strong
mountains ; Thy judgements are like the great
deep.
7 Thou, LoED, shalt save both man and beast ;
How excellent is Thy mercy, O God : and the
children of men shall put their trust under the
shadow of Thy wings.
8 They shall be satisfied with tlie plenteous-
ness of Thy house : and Thou shalt give them
driuk of Thy pleasures as out of the river.
9 For with Thee is the well of life : and in
Thy light shall we see light.
10 O continue forth Thy loving-kinduess imto
them that know Thee : and Thy righteousness
unto them that are true of heart.
11 let not the foot of pride come against
me : and let not the hand of the ungodly cast
me down.
1 2 There are they fallen, all that work wicked-
ness ; they are cast down, and shall not be able
to stand.
Day 7. EVENING PRAYER.
THE XXXVII. PSALM.
Noli semulari.
FEET not thyself because of the ungodly :
neither be thou envious against the evil-
doers.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the
grass : and be withered even as the green herb.
3 Put thou thy tnist in the Lord, and be
doing good : dwell in the land, and verily thou
shalt be fed.
4 Delight thou in the Lord : and He shall
give thee thy heart's desire.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord, and put
thy trast in Him : and He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall make thy righteousness as clear as
the light : and thy just dealing as the noon-day.
7 Hold thee still in the Lord, and abide
patiently upon Him : but grieve not thyself at
him whose way doth prosper, against the man
that doeth after evil counsels.
8 Leave off from wrath, and let go displeasure :
fret not thyself, else shalt thou be moved to do evil.
9 ^Vicked doers shall be rooted out : and they
that patiently abide the Lord, those shall inherit
the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be
clean gone : thou shalt look after his place, and
he shall be away.
XXXVII.
NisC. David; when
persecuted by Saul.
and added to in tiis
last days.
Lilur^. &. g. ffi.
Mond. Mattins.
Justitia Tua sicut montes Dei : judicia Tua
abyssus multa.
Homines etjumentasalvabis, Domine : quemad-
modum multiplicasti misericordiam Tuam, Deus.
Filii autem hominum : in tegmine alarum
Tuarum sperabunt.
Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus Tuae : et
torrente voluptatis Tuse j)otabis eos.
Quoniam apud Te fons vitie : et in lumine Tuo
videbimus lumen.
Prsetende misericordiam Tuam scientibus Te :
et justitiam Tuam his qui recto sunt corde.
Non veniat mihi pes superbias : et mauus pecca-
tons non moveat me.
Ibi ceciderunt qui operantur iniquitatem :
expulsi sunt, nee potuerunt stare.
PSALMUS XXXVI.
~^rOLI femulari in malignantibus
-L-^ zelaveris facientes iniquitatem.
ueque
Quoniam tanquam fosnum velociter arescent :
et quemadmodum olera herbarum cito decident.
Spera in Domino, et fac bonitatem : et inhabita
terrain, et pasceris in divitiis ejus.
Delectare in Domino : et dabit tibi petitiones
cordis tui.
Revela Domino viam tuam : et spera in Eo, et
Ipse faciet.
Et educet cjuasi lumen justitiam tuam, et
judicium tuum tanquam meridiem : subditus esto
Domino, et ora Euin.
Noli asmulari in eo qui prosperatur in via sua :
in homine faciente injustitias.
Desine ab ira, et derelinque furorem : noli
amulari ut maUgneris.
Quoniam cpu malignantur, esterminabuntur :
su.stinentes autem Dominum, ipsi hiereditabunt
terram.
Et adhuc pusillum, et non erit peccator : et
quieres locum ejus, et lion iuvenies.
Then wc t)r.iise God that "when there was none to help,
His arm brought salvation " [Isa. Ixiii. .5], .and that His
love gathered sinners to Himself "like as a hen g.ithcreth
her chickens under her wings," by sending His Sou into the
world to .save them. To that Son the nintli and tenth verses
turn, anticipating His ovm proclamation of Himself as the
Fountain of living water, the Living Bread of Which men
may eat and ho satisfied, the Light of the world Which
enliglitens ,all men with its beams.
It is also obvious that this J'salm proclaims the wickedness
of Antichrist and the Lord's final victory over him.
PSALM XXXVII.
Christ speaks in and to the Church, exhorting it not to bo
overborne by persecution or any otlier trouble, but to look to
the end. Kvil may prevail for a time, but .at Last the t.ares
will be cut down for destruction, and the wheat gathered
into the garner of God. The prevailing theme of the Psalm
is that of patience and rest in the Lord. "In j'our patience
possess yc your souls," w.as the Jjord's own teaching to His
C'hnrcli respecting the troublous times that would come upon
it ; and twice in the Book of the Kevel.ation it is repeated,
"Here is the patience anil f.aith of the saints." In like man-
ner the Apostles h:ul often written to the early Church in
the same strain, as if iiuu-li faith was requisite to enable it to
believe th.at in (juictness and in eonlideuce was their strength :
"Cast not aw.ay therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompcncc of reward. For yc have need of patience, that
•after ye have done the will of (Icul, ye might receive tho
promise. For yet a little while, .and Ho that sh.all come will
come, and will not tarry." [Ileh. x. 3.5-37.] The trials of
the early Church were .so stupendous that it did indeed
rc<|uirc a strong f.aith to believe that the Lord w.as upholding
it with His baud, and that the powers of sin would not pre.
vail. They saw the ungodly in great power, and the follower*
7th Day. [Ps. 37.]
Cf)C IJPsalms.
535
11 But the meek-spirited shall possess tlie
earth : and shall be refreshed in the multitude
of peace.
12 The ungodly sceketh counsel against the
just : and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13 The LoKD shall laugh him to scorn : for He
hath seen that His day is coming.
14 The ungodly have drawn out the sword,
and have bent their bow : to cast down the poor
and needy, and to slay such as are of a right con-
versation.
15 Their sword shall gn through their own
heart : and their bow shall be broken.
16 A small thing that the righteous hath : is
better than great riches of the ungodly.
17 For the arms of the ungodly shall bo
broken : and the Lokd uphnldeth the righteous.
18 The Lord knoweth the "day-s of the godly :
and their inheritance shall endure for ever.
19 They shall not be confounded in the peril-
ous time : and in the days of dearth they shall
have enough.
20 As for the ungodly, they shall perish, and
the enemies of the Lord shall consume as the fat
of lambs : yea, even as the smoke shall they con-
sume away.
21 The ungodly borroweth, and payetli not
again : but the righteous is merciful and liberal.
22 Such as are blessed of God shall possess
the land : and they that are cursed of Him shall
be rooted out.
23 The LoED ordereth a good man's going ;
and maketh his way acceptable to Himself.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be cast away :
for the LoKD upholdeth him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old : and
yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his
seed begging their bread.
26 The righteous is ever merciful, and lendeth :
and his seed is blessed.
27 Flee from evil, and do the thing that is
good : and dwell for evermore.
28 For the Loed loveth the thing that is
right : He forsaketh not His that be godly, but
they are preserved for ever.
29 The unrt'r/hteous shall be pimished : as for
the seed of the ungodly, it shall be rooted out.
30 The righteous shall inherit the land : and
dwell therein for ever.
31 The mouth of the righteous is exercised in
wisdom : and his tongue will be talking of judge-
ment.
Mansueti autem h;creditabunt terram : et
delectabuntur in multitudine pacis.
Observabit peccator justum : et stridebit super
eum dentibus suis.
DoMiNUs autem irridebit eum : quoniam pros-
picit quod veniet dies Ejus.
Gladium evaginaverunt peccatores : intenderuut
arcum suum,
Ut dejiciant pauporem et inopem : ut trucident
rectos corde.
Gladius corum intret in corda ipsoruni : et
arcus eorum confringatur.
MeliiLS est modicum justo : super divitias pcc-
catorum multas.
Quoniam brachia peccatoram conterentur : con-
fimiat autem justos Dominu.s.
Novit DoMiNUS dies immaculatoimm : et hsre-
ditas eorum in sternum erit.
Non confundentur in tempore malo : et in
diebus famis saturabuntur, quia peccatores peri-
bunt.
Inimiei vero Domini mox ut honorificati fucrint
et exaltati : deficieutes, quemadmodum fumus
deficient.
Mutuabitur peccator, et non solvet : justas
autem miseretur et tribuet.
Quia benedicentes Ei ha3reditabuut terram ;
maledicentes autem Ei disperibunt.
Apiid DoMiNUM gressus hominis dirigentur ; et
viam ejus volet.
Cum ceciderit, non coUidetur : quia Dominus
supponit manum Suam.
Junior fui, etenim senui : et non vidi justum
derelictum, nee semen ejus quasrens panera.
Tota die miseretur et commodat : et semen
illius in benedictioue erit.
Declina a malo, et fac bonum : et inhabita in
sfficulum sasculi.
Quia DoJiiNUS amat judicium et non derelin-
quet sanctos Suos : in asternum conservabuntur.
Injusti punientur : et semen impiorum peribit.
Justi autem hrereditabunt terram : et inhabi-
tabunt in steculum sreculi super eam.
Os justi meditabitur sapientiam : et lingua
ejus loquetur judicium.
of tlie Righteous One evei-ywliere cast down by the most
bitter persecution. But tliey were bidden not to fret them-
selves because of the power of Antichrist, for that ho would
soon be cut down as the grass by the sickle of God's Angel :
"The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
because he knowetli that he hatli l:iHt a short time. Aud
when the dragfiu saw that he was cast into the earth, he per-
secuted the woman which brought forth the Man." [Rev.
xii. 12, 13.] They were bidden thus to be ever taking tlie
strain of this Psalm (which was doubtless often sung by them
in Divine Service) as tlie guiding principle of their Christian
life. Let not the seeming prosperity of God's enemies make
you contrast your own condition with theirs : rest in the
Lord ; watch wliat tlie end will be ; assure yourselves in
your faith, and believe that Christ and the right must prevail,
and that evil shall be cast down. Abide patiently in the
Lord, and He shall bring it to pass.
And, as the Apostolic teaching of the suiferiug Church
often reminded them that here they had no continuing city,
but that they sought one to come, so in this Psalm there are
repeated references to "the land" and "the inheritance"
which is prepared for those who "tarry the Lord's leisure,"
and look for " a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens, " though this earthly tabernacle of the Lord should
be utterly dissolved. It may be that both here and in
our Lord's own words, "Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth," there is a prophecy of a world
purified from sin and regenerated by tire for the future
habitation of the redeemed, as it was once regenerated by
water.
Although the stores of precious comfort which this Psalm
contains may thus be most strongly illustrated by reference
to the trials of the Church in those days when the suilerings
of Christ's natural body were continued in His Body mystical,
yet it is not for one age alone that its words are spoken. It
is still true that we "must through much tribulation enter
536
Cf)C Ipsalins.
8th Day. [Ps. 38.]
32 The law of his God is in his heart : and
his goings shall not slide.
33 The ungodly seeth the righteous : and
seeketh occasion to slay him.
34 The Lord will not leave him in his hand :
nor condemn him when he is judged.
35 Hope thou in the Lord, and keep His way,
and He shall [iromote thee that thou shalt possess
the land : when the ungodly shall perish, thou
shalt see it.
36 I myself have seen the ungodly iu great
power : and flourishing like a green "bay-tree.
37 1 went by, and lo, he was gone : I sought
him, but his place could no where be found.
38 Keep innocency, and take heed unto the
thing that is right : for that shall bring a man
peace at the last.
39 As for the transgressors, they shall perish
together : and the end of the ungodly is, they
shall he rooted out at the last.
40 But the salvation of the righteous cometh
of the Lord : Who is also their strength in the
time of trouble.
41 And the Lord shall stand by them, and
save them : He shall deliver them from the
ungodly, and shall save them, because they put
their trust in Hira.
Day 8. MORNING PRAYER.
THE XXXVIII. PSALM.
Domine, ne in furore.
)UT me not to rebuke, O Lord, in Thine
anger : neither chasten me in Thy heavy
displeasure.
2 For Thine arrows .stick fast in me : and
Thy hand presseth me sore.
3 There is no health in my flesh, because of
Thy displeasure : neither is there any rest in my
bones, by reason of my sin.
4 For my wickednesses are gone over my
head : and are like a sore burden, too heavy for
me to bear.
5 !My woimds stink, and are corrupt : through
my foolishness.
6 I am brought into so great trouble and
misery : that I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with a sore disease :
and there is no whole part in my body.
P'
a Or, a tree flourisli.
ing ill its native
xxxvni.
Ntit. David ; after
his sin with Bath-
sheba.
l.iturg. Ash Wed.
.Mattins. S.g.lg.
Moud. Alattiiis.
Good Friday, 2nd
Noct.
Femtetttiat Ps. 3.
Passion Ps. 3.
Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius : et non supplanta-
b'jntur gressus ejus.
Considerat peccator justum : et quserit morti-
ficare eum.
DoMiNus autem non derelinquet eum in mani-
bus ejus : nee damnabit eum cum judicabitur illi.
Electa DoMiNUM, et custodi viam Ej us ; et
exaltabit te, ut hsereditate capias terram : cum
perierint peccatores, videbis.
Yidi impium superexaltatum : et elevatum
sicut cedros Libani.
Et transivi, et ecce non erat : quKsivi eum, et
non est inventus locus ejus.
Custodi innocentiam, et vide a?quitatem :
quoniam sunt reliquiae homini pacifico.
lujusti autem disperibunt simul : reliquiae
impiorum interibunt.
Salus autem justorum a Domino : et protector
eoriun est in tempore tribulationis.
.Et adjuvabit eos Domixus, et liberabit eos :
et eruet eos a peccatoribus, et salvabit eos, quia
speraverunt in Eo.
PSALMUS XXXVII.
DOMINE, ue in furore Tuo arguas me : neque
in ira Tua corripias me.
Quoniam sagittse Tuae infixae sunt mihi : et
confirmasti super me manum Tuam.
Non est sanitas in came mea a facie irae Tua3 ;
non est pax ossibus meis a facie peccatorum
meorum.
Quoniam iniquitates mea3 supergressas sunt
caput meum : et sicut onus grave gravatae sunt
super me.
Putruerunt et corrupt* sunt cicatrices mea; :
a facie insipientias meas.
Miser factus sum, et curvatus sum usque in
fiuem : tota die contristatus ingrediebar.
Quoniam lumbi mei impleti sunt illusionibu.s :
et non est sanitas in carne mea.
into " our rest ; and there is still need for the faith of C'hns-
tians to be stirred up, that tliey may look to the end both as
regards the Church and their own particular lot. For how
often still does it seem th.at the ungodly are in great prosper-
ity ; that truth, peace, and love have to take the lower place
in the world, while heresy, war, and hatred have tlie upper
hand ; that the good are cast down, and the wicked built up.
Then is the time to sing this Psalm with a new fervour,
remembering that the .Son of Man once had not where to lay
His head, but miw reigns King of kings and Lord of lords ;
tliat His little Mock was once persecuted on all sidis. yet now
•extends through all kingdoms of the world. "They that
patiently abide the Lord, those shall inherit the laud. "
PSALM XXXVIII.
Leat we ahoulil fear to consider these words of dee]) peni-
tence as those of our Lord, the cleventli, thirtecntli, and
fourteenth verses are specially pointed tow ards the circuni-
Btanccs which attended His last hours, wlicn "all the dis-
ciples forsook Him and fled," and when the words of the
jirophecy were literally fulfilled concerning the "Lamb of
God ;" "He was oppressed, and He was aiilictcd ; yet He
opened not His mouth. He is brought .as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He
opeucth not His mouth." "Then Herod questioned with
Ilirn in many words, but He an.swered nothing." "And
when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He
answered nothing. " The Psalm throughout may be profitably
compared with Isaiah liii. and .lob xvi. and xvii., where in
one case we see the most distinct jirophecy of our Lord's
vicarial work of penitential sutrering, and in the other a per-
sonal type of Him in His atlliction. "Ye have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen tlic end of tlie Lord. " [James
V. 11.]
It is not unlikely tliat whtii Havid wrote this Psalm he
w.as suffering some Ijodily atlliction such as Job h.id sulfered,
and that all from the third to the seventh verse had a literal
meaning when uttered by him. When these verses are taken
of our Lord, they must be taken of the torture which His
holy Body underwent from the agony of the wounds caused
by tlie nails in His hands and feet, and the sharp thorns of
8th Day. [Ps. 39.]
Cbc IPsalms.
537
8 I am feeble, and sore smitten : I have
roared for the very disquietness nf my heart.
9 Lord, Thou knowest all my desire : and
my groaning is not hid from Thee.
10 My heart panteth, my strength hath failed
me : and the sight of mine eyes is gone from me.
11 ]\ry lovers and my neighbours did stand
looking upon my trouble : and my kinsmen stood
afar off.
12 They also that sought after my life laid
snares for mo : and they that went about to do
me evil, talked of wickedness, and imagined
deceit all the day long.
1 3 As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard
not : and as one that is dumb, who doth not open
his mouth.
14 1 became even as a man that heareth not :
and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 For in Thee, O Loed, have I put my trust :
Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God.
16 1 have required that they, even mine enemies,
should not triumph over me : for when my foot
slipped, they rejoiced greatly against me.
17 And I, truly, am set in the plague : and
my heaviness is ever in my sight.
18 For I will confess my wickedness : and be
sorry for my sin.
19 But mine enemies live, and are m"ighty :
and they that hate me wrongfully are many in
number.
20 They also that reward evil for good are
against me ; because I follow the thing that
good is.
21 Forsake me not, Lord my God : be
not Thou far from me.
22 Haste Thee to help me : O Lord God of
my salvation.
THE XXXI.X. PSALM.
Dixi, custodiam.
I SAID, I will take heed to my ways : that I
offend not in my tongue.
2 I will keep my mouth as it were with a
bridle : while the ungodly is in my sight.
3 I held my tongue, and spake nothing : I
kept silence, yea, even from good words ; but it
was pain and grief to me.
xxxix.
//is^. David ; after
his sin with Bath-
slieba.
Lititfg. Burial of
the dead. S.g.Ji.
Tuesd. Mattiiis.
Afflictus sum ct humiliatus sum nimis : rugie-
bam a gemitu cordis mei.
DoMiNE, ante Te omne desiderium meum : et
gemitus meus a Te non est absconditus.
Cor meum conturbatnm est, dcreliquit me
virtus mea : et lumen oculorum meorum et ipsum
non est mecum.
Ainiei mei et proximi mei : adversum me ap-
propinquaverunt, et steterunt.
Et qui juxta me era)it do longe .steterunt : et
vim faciebant ((ui quasrebant animam meam.
Et qui inquirebaut mala milii locuti sunt vani-
tates : et dolos tota die meditabantur.
Ego autem tanquam surdus non audiebam : et
sicut mutus non aperiens os suum.
Et factus sum sicut homo non audiens : et non
habens in ore suo redargutiones.
Quoniam in Te, Uomine, speravi : Tu exaudies
me, DoMiNE Deus meus.
Quia dixi, Nequando supergaudeant mihi
ininiici mei : et dum commoventur pedes mei,
super me magna locuti sunt.
Quoniam ego in flagella paratus sum : et dolor
meus in conspectu meo semper.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam annuntiabo : et
cogitabo pro peccato meo.
Inimici autem mei vivunt et confirmati sunt
super me : et multiplieati sunt qui oderunt me
inique.
Qui retribuunt mala pro bonis detrahebant
mihi : quoniam sequebar bonitatem.
Ne derelinquas me Domine Deus meus : ne
discesseris a me.
Intende in adjutorium meum : Domine Deus
salutis mere.
PSALMUS XXXVIII.
DIXI, Custodiam vias meas : ut non delin-
quam in lingua mea.
Posui ori meo custodiam : cum consisteret
peccator adversum me.
Obmutui, et humiliatus sum, et silui a bonis :
et dolor meus renovatus est.
His crown, and the racking pain of hanging from the (.'loss.
Our Lord speaks them also, mystically, of His mystical Body,
of which He was bearing the sins ; sins, the effects of which
upon human nature are described in the words of the prophet,
"The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From
the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness
in it ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores ; they have
not been closed, neither bound up, neither moUitied witli
ointment." [Isa. i. 5, 6.] The words of the fiftli verse in
the Vulgate seem especially to connect the latter words of
the prophet with the Psalm, for they seem to speak of wounds
partly healed, but again reopened, such wounds as the moral
cicatrices of human nature had been subjected to from the
time of its first deadly wound in the Fall.
In such a spiritual sense, also, is this penitential Psalm to
be used by individual Christians. Remembering how hateful
all sin is in the sight of God, how it has marretl the beauty
of His handiwork, and how totally incurable are the wounds
it causes except by the remedy of Christ's Incarnation and
.sufferings, none need consider the expressions which are used
too strong for ordinary penitents. She who so clearly saw
her sin ever before her in the days of our Lord's earthly life.
and who laid it all upon Him as she bathed His feet with lier
tears, was honoured by our Lortl's words, "She loved much."
So the greater the love of God, the greater will be the hatred
of sin, the more clear will be the view of its sinfulness, the
more freely will the lips confess it, and the more deeply the
heart be sorry for it. ^\"hile, tlierefore, this Psalm reveals
to us some of the feelings by which our Redeemer was moved
i\ hen He bore our sins in His own Body on the tree, it fur-
nishes also a Divine strain of penitence which His members
may take on their lips from age to age as following His
example.
PSALM XXXIX.
When our Redeemer said, "If it be possible, let this cup
pass from Me," He was praying in the spirit and almost in
the words of David, "Take Thy plague away from me ; " and
when David sang, "When Thou with rebukes dost chasten
man for sin. Thou makest his beauty to consume away," he
was prophesying of Him "Whose visage was marred more
than any man," and Who when we should see Him should
" have no be,auty in Him that we should desire Him." This
538
Cf)e Jpsalms.
8th Day. [Ps. 40.]
4 My heart was hot within me, and while I
was thus musing the fire kindled : and at the last
I spake with my tongue.
5 LoED, let me know mine end, and the
number of my days : that I may be certified
how long I have to live.
6 Behold, Thou hast made my days as it were
a span long ; and mine age is even as nothing in
respect of Thee, and verily every man living is
altogether vanity.
7 For man walketh in a vain shadow, and
disquieteth himself m vain : he heapeth up
riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
8 And now. Lord, what Ls my hope : truly
my hope is even in Thee.
9 Deliver me from all mine offences : and
make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
10 1 became diunb, and opened not my mouth :
for it was Thj- doing.
11 Take Thy plague away from me : I am
even consumed by the means of Thy heavy
hand.
12 When Thou with rebukes dost chasten
man for sin. Thou makest liis beauty to consume
away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment :
every man therefore is but vanity.
1.3 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and with Thine
ears consider my calling : hold not Thy peace at
my tears.
14 For I am a stranger with Thee, and a
sojourner : as all my fathers were.
15 O spare me a little, that I may recover my
strength : before I go hence, and be no more
seen.
THE XL. PSALM.
Expectans expectavi.
I WAITED patiently for the Lord : and He
inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
2 He brought me also out of the horrible pit,
out of the mire and clay : and set my feet upon
the rock, and ordered my goings.
3 And He hatli put a new song in my mouth ;
even a thanksgiving unto our God.
4 Jilany shall see it and fear : and shall put
their trust iu the Lord.
XL.
Hist. David : after
Ills sin with Bath-
sheba.
Ltltir^. Good Fri-
day Mattins. S-.^-
1^. Tuesd.Mattins.
Good Friday, 2nd
Noct. Mattins of
tlie departed, 3rd
Noct.
Concaluit cor meum intra me : et in medita-
tione mea exardescet ignis.
Locutus sum in lingua mea : Notum fac mihi,
D0511NE, finem meum ;
Et uumerum dierum meorum, qui.s est : ut
sciam quid desit mihi.
Ecce mensurabiles posuisti dies meos : et sub-
stantia mea tanquam nihUum ante Te.
Veruntamen universa vanitas : omnis homo
vivens.
Veruntamen in imagine pertransit homo : sed
et frustra conturbatur.
Thesaurizat : et ignorat cui congregabit ea.
Et nunc quse est expectatio mea? nonne Do-
MiNUS '\ et substantia mea apud Te est.
Ab omnibus iniquitatibus meLs erue me :
opprobrium insipienti dedisti me.
Obmutui, et uon aperui os meum, quoniam Tu
fecisti : amove a me plagas Tuas.
A fortitudine manus Tua3 ego defeci : in
increpationibus, propter iniquitatem, corripuisti
hominem.
Et tabescere fecisti sicut araneam animam
ejus : veruntamen vane conturbatur onmis homo.
Exaudi orationem meam, Domine, et depre-
cationem meam : auribus percipe lachrymas meas.
Ne sUeas, quoniam advena ego sum apud Te :
et peregrinus, sicut omnes patres mei.
Kemitte mihi, ut refrigerer priusquam abeam :
et amplius non ero.
PSALMUS XXXIX.
et
EXSPECTANS esspectavi Dominum
intendit mihi.
Et exaudivit preces meas : et eduxit me de
lacu miseria5, et de Into f;ecis.
Et statuit super petram pedes meos : et direxit
gressus meos.
Et immisit in os meum canticum novum :
carmen Deo nostro.
Yidebunt multi et timebunt : et sperabunt in
Domino.
I'salm may, therefore, be reverently considered as the words
of Christ speaking for His members, and declaring in His
own person tlie sorrows whicli death had wrought and would
continue to work in the world. "We see Jesus, Who was
made a little lower than the angels for the suirering of death,
crowned witli glory and honour ; tliat He by the grace of
God should taste death for every man." [Heb. ii. 9.] That
He might become in all things like unto ilis brethren. Ho
also became a stranger and a sojourner, and ended His
pilgrimage by t.osting death, that death might be v.aniiuished.
In this I'sabn, especially when used in the Burial OtKce,
we may hear Christ 8.aying to all those wlio desire a place
in His kingdom, "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of,
and be baptized witli the b.iptism tliat I am b.-ijjti/cd with?"
'I'hrough death He triumi>hed over death and entered into
His glorj', being made perfect through suffering : and by the
grave and g.atc of death His people must pass that they may
attain a joyful resurrection. Picsignation, prayer, trust, an<l
Iiopc are, therefore, the four notes of tlie chord whicli sounds
throughout this mournful hymn. " Wli.it is your life? It
is even a vapour, that appcaretli for a little time, and then
vanislieth .away." f.Iamcs iv. 14.] Yet, "I know tli.at my
licduemcr liveth, Who is tho Ilesurrcction and the Life, and
though He slay mc, yet will I trust in Him." "We know
that if our earthly house of tliis tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God, an house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens:" and we may therefore say, "O
death, where is thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? "
for "if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so
them also that sleep in Jesus will (iod bring with Him."
Thus the light of tlie glorious Gospel has trausfigured the
mournful words of the Old Testament saint, and developed out
of them a new meaning to those who sorrow not as men with-
out hope.
PSALI^I XL.
The words of St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and
tho custom of tho Church in adopting this Psalm for Good
Friday, identify it as a hymn of Christ : and w'ith this key tt)
the meaning of it there is no diflioulty in tr.acing out that He
speaks, fir.st, as One ofl'cring up Himself .as a personal Sacri-
lice of atonement for sin ; and, secondly, as tho llcail of the
mystical Body wliich He is jileased to .associate in intimate
oneness with Himself. A Body hast Thou preparcil Me that
I may ofl'er it as the One acce])table Sacrihco: a Body hast
8th Day. [Ps. 40.]
Cbe Ipgalms.
539
5 Blessed is the man that hath set his hope in
the Lord : and turned not unto the proud, and
to such as go about with lies.
6 Lord my God, great are the wondrous
works which Thou hast done, like as be also Thy
thoughts which are to us-ward : and yet there is
no man that ordereth them unto Thee.
7 If I should declare them and speak of them :
they should be more than I am able to express.
8 Sacrifice and meat-offering Thou wouldest
not : but mine ears hast Thou opened.
9 Burnt-offerings and sacrifice for sin hast
Thou not required : then said I, Lo, I come,
10 In the volume of the book it is written of
me, that I should fulfil Thy will, O my God : I
am content to do it ; yea, Thy law is within my
heart.
11 I have declared Thy righteousness in the
great congregation : lo, I will not refrain my lips,
O Lord, and tliat Thou knowest.
12 I have not hid Thy righteousness within
my heart : my talk hath been of Thy truth, and
of Thy salvation.
13 I have not kept back Thy loving mercy
and truth : from the great congregation.
14 AVithdraw not Thou Thy mercy from me,
Lord : let Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth
alway preserve me.
1 5 For innumerable troubles are come about
me, my sins have taken such hold upon me that
1 am not able to look up : yea, they are more in
number than the hairs of my head, and my heart
hath failed me.
16 O Lord, let it be Thy pleasure to deliver
me : make haste, liORD, to help me.
17 Let them be ashamed, and confounded
together, that seek after my soul to destroy it :
let them be driven backward, and put to rebuke,
that wish me evil.
18 Let them be desolate, and rewarded with
shame : that say unto me. Fie upon thee, fie
upon thee.
19 Let all those that seek Thee be joyful and
glad in Thee : and let such as love Thy salvation
say alway, The Lord be praised.
20 As for me, I am poor and needy : but the
Lord careth for me.
21 Thou art my Helper and Eedeemer : make
no long tarrying, my God.
(Old
Beatus vir cujus est nomen Domini spes ejus :
ct non respexit in vanitates et iasanias falsas.
Multa fecisti Tu, Domine Deus mens, mira-
bilia Tua : et cogitationibus TuLs non est qui
similis sit Tibi.
Annuntiavi et locutus sum : multiplicati sunt
super numerum.
Sacrificium et oblationem noluisti : "aures autem
perfecisti milii.
Holocaustum et pro peccato non postulasti :
tunc dixi ; Eccc venio.
In capite libri scriptum est de me, ut facerem
voluntatem Tuam ; Deus meus, volui : et legem
Tuam in medio cordis mei.
Annuntiavi justitiam Tuam in ecclesia magna :
ecce labia mea non prohibebo ; Domixe, Tu scisti.
Justitiam Tuam non abscondi in corde meo :
veritatem Tuam et salutare Tuum dixi.
Non abscondi misericordiam Tuam et veritatem
Tuam : a concilio multo.
Tu autera, Domine, ne longe facias miserationes
Tuas a me : misericordia Tua et Veritas Tua sem-
per susceperuut me.
Quoniam circundederunt me mala quorum non
est numerus : comprehenderunt me iniquitates
mea-, et non potui ut viderem.
MultiplicataB sunt super capillos capitis mei :
et cor meum dereliquit me.
Complaceat Tibi, Domine, ut eruas me :
Domine, ad adjuvandum me respice.
Confundantur et revereantur simul qui quee-
runt animam meam : ut auferant eam.
Convertantur retrorsum et revereantur : qui
volunt mihi mala.
Ferant confestim confusionem suam : qui
dicunt mihi, Euge, euge.
Esultent et l^tentur super Te omnes quserentes
Te : et dicant semper, Magnificetur Dominus, qui
diligunt salutare Tuimi.
Ego autem mendicus sum et pauper : Dominus
sollicitus est mei.
Adjutor meus, et protector meus Tu es : Deus
meus, ne tardaveris.
Thou prepared Jle that the mystery of My Incarnation may
be continued in the mystery of My Chiu'ch.^
As a Psalm applicable to the day of Christ's Passion, it
must be considered in the light of a solemn, and even awful,
thanksgiving for His death as the source of the world's new
life. The agony and the darkness are past : and, even from
the Cross, He Wlio took upon Him the form of a Servant
and wore the badge of the linndage of sin, can behold His
triumph in all future ages. " He shall see of the travail of
His soul, and shall be satisfied : by His knowledge sliall My
Righteous Servant justify many ; for He shall liear their
iniquities." [Isa. liii. 11.] Thus it is a song of Good Friday
sorrows sung in the knowledge that Easter is to follow : and
the tone of it is like those pictures of the Crucifixion in
which our Lord's incarnate Body is suspiended free upon the
1 "A Body hast Thou prepared 5Ie," is quoted by St. P.aul frojil the
Septimgint, not from the Hebrew. It wiU be observed above that the
ancient Vulgate, tlie " Vetus Itala," quoted in the margin, has the same
reading; while the more modern Vnlgate of St. Jerome's later revision has
a reading very similar to that of the English. The piercing of the ears
was a sign of servitude. [See Exod. xxi. 0,]
Cross, surrounded by the glorious raj-s of that Divine Nature
which made it impossible for His soul to be left in hell, or
for His flesh to see corruption. [Acts ii. 31.]
The words "I waited patiently," are suggestive of several
interpretations. [1] Of our Lord's waiting, until the fulness
of the time should come when that blessed work of Redemp-
tion should be wrought which He had purposed from the
time of the Fall itself. [2] Of that patient waiting for the
time of the appointed Sacrifice which is indicated by the
declaration on several occasions tliat His hour was not yet
come. [3] Of that patience which the prophet foresaw when
he declared that as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so
He openeth not His moutli, and that He gave His back to
the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.
[4] Of Christ speaking in tlie name of His people who are
waiting the Lord's good time in the Church on earth and
in the Church of Paradise : some in afflictions, — like their
Master and Head, — many full of ardent longing to be with
Him, all in the hope of that blessedness which He holds forth
in the Church Triumphant. "I waited patiently for the
Lord. . . . ;Make no long tarrying. my God." "With a
540
Ci)e lPsalm0.
8th Day. [Ps. 41, 42.]
Day 8. Evening Prayer,
the xli. psalm.
Beatus qui intelligit.
BLESSED is he that considereth the poor and
needy : the LoED shall deliver him in the
time of trouble.
2 The Lord preserve him, and keep him alive,
that he may be blessed upon earth : and deliver
not Thou hini into the wiU of his enemies.
3 The Lord comfort him -when he lieth sick
upon his bed : make Thou all his bed in his sick-
ness.
4 I said, Lord, be merciful unto me : heal my
soul, for I have sinned against Thee.
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me : When
shall he die, and his name perish ?
6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh
vanity : and his heart conceiveth falsehood with-
in himself, and when he cometh forth he telleth
it.
7 All mine enemies whisper together against
me : even against me do they imagine this evil.
8 Let the sentence of guiltiness proceed against
him : and now that he "dieth, let him rise up no
more.
9 Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I
trusted : who did also eat of my bread, hath
laid great wait for me.
10 But be Thou merciful unto me, O Lord :
raise Thou me up again, and I shall reward them.
11 By this I know Thou favourest me : that
mine enemy d<jth not triumph against me.
12 And when I am in my *health. Thou
upholdest me : and shalt set me before Thy face
for ever.
1 .3 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel : world
without end. Amen.
THE XLII. PSALM.
Quemadmodum.
I IKE as the hart desireth the water-brooks :
-^ so longeth my soul after Thee, O God.
2 !My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for
the living God : when shall I come to appear
before the presence of God ?
XLI.
Hut. David : after
his sin %\ith Bath-
sheba.
ii/./^i-. S. 13. JJ.
Tuesd. Mattins.
Mallins of the de-
parted, 3rd Noct.
b if. Spiritual
health; or, as in
B. v., integrity.
XLII.
Hist. Perhaps by
David when in exile
at Mahanaini, and
afterwards expand,
ed by the Korah-
iles.
i.iturs. &. e. S.
Tuesd. ^fattins.
Mattins of the de-
parted, 3rd Noct.
PSALMUS XL.
BEATUS qui intelligit super egenum et
pauperem : in die mala liberabit eum
DoMINUS.
DoMiNDS conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et
beatum faciat eum in terra : et non tradat eum
in animam inimicorum ejus.
DoMixus opem ferat illi super lectum doloris
ejus : universum stratum ejus versasti in infinni-
tate ejus.
Ego dixi, DoMiNE, miserere mei : sana animam
meam, quia peccavi Tibi.
Inimici mei dixerunt mala mihi : Quando
morietur et jjeribit nomen ejus f
Et si ingrediebatur ut videret, vana loquebatur :
cor ejus congregavit iniquitatem sibi.
Egrediebatur foras : et loquebatur in idipsum.
Adversum me susurrabant omnes inimici mei :
adversum me cogitabant mala mihi.
Verbum iuiquum constituerunt adversum me :
nunquid qui dormit, non adjiciet ut resurgat ?
Eteniin homo pacis meos, in quo speravi, qui
edebat panes meos : magnificavit super me
supplantationem.
Tu autem, Domine, miserere mei, et resuscita
me : et retribuam eis.
In hoc.cognovi quoniam voluisti me : quoniam
non gaudebit inimicus meus super me.
Me autem propter innocentiam suscepisti : et
confirmasti me in conspectu Tuo in setemum.
Benedictus Dojiinus Deus Israel : a sjeculo, et
in speculum ; Fiat, fiat.
PSALMUS XLL
QUEMADMODUM desiderat cervus aa fontes
aquarimi : ita desiderat anima mea ad Te
Deus.
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fontem vivum :
quando veniam, et apparebo ante faciem Dei 1
versicle and response breathing the same tone the Holy Bible
ends : —
y. Surely I come quickly : Amen.
E/. Even so, come, Lord .Jesus.
In sucli a tone the sutfering Saviour commended His soul
on tlie first Good Friday, saying, " Fatlicr, into Tliy hands I
commend My spirit ; " and in sucli a tone also may His mys-
tical Body, corporate and in its several members, be ever
patiently waiting for the Lord, and working in humble obedi-
ence during the time of waiting.
PSALM XLI.
There is enough analogy between this and the first Ps.alm
to lead to tlic conclusion tliat it was intended for tlie position
it now occui)ies as the last I'salm of the first bools ; the end
of which book is marked by the Doxology. As the first is a
meditative hymn on tlie blessedness of the guileless Man, so
this is one upon the mystery of His poverty A\ lio became
poor that He might make many rich. Our I.,ord quoted it as
applying to Himself in .John xiii, ]R, declaring that the
ninth verse of the I'salm was fulfilled by His Betrayal. The
fifth and four following verses relate therefore to the betrayer.
bis sentence and his punishment, and " now that he dieth "
[or "lieth"], "let him rise up no more," may be compared
with the mysterious words of St. Peter, that Judas had gone
"to his own place."
This Psalm is to be viewed in two aspects. [1] It sets forth
the blessedness of "considering," — or meditating upon with
understanding, — the Person of the Kcdocmer ; an .aspect
which m.ay remind us of St. Paul's expression as to " dis-
cerning "or "considering" the Lord's Body in the Holy
Eucharist. As "many arc weak and sickly, and many
sleep" [1 Cor. xi. 29] through not considering the Poor and
Needy, so will tlie Lord deliver from trouble, preserve alive,
strengthen and comfort those who tlioie do discern Him.
[2] The second aspect under whidi the Psalm is to be viewed
shews the Son of God Himself considering poor .and needy
human nature, and coming down from Heaven to become as
one of us. In His time of trouble the Lord delivered Him,
and was merciful to Him when He became as the One Sinner
in the place of all sinners.
It will have been observed that all the forty-one Psalms
which compose the first book point niiswi-rviiigly to our
Blesseil Lord. They were a gift to the Church of Israel,
8th Day. [Ps. 43.]
C|)C Psalms.
541
3 My tears have been my meat day and night :
while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy
GODi
4 Now when I think thereupon, I pour out
my heart by my self : for I went with tlie multi-
tude, and brought them forth into the house of
God;
5 In the voice of praise and thanksgiving :
among such as keep holy-day.
6 Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my
soul : and why art thou "disquieted within me ?
7 Put thy trust in God : for I will yet give
Him thanks for the help of His countenance.
8 My God, my soul is vexed within me : there-
fore will I remember Thee concerning the land
of Jordan, and the little hill of *Hermon.
9 One deep calleth another, because of the
noise of the water-pipes : all Thy waves and
storms are gone over me.
10 The Lord hath granted His loving-kindness
in the day-time : and in the night-season did I
sing of Him, and made my prayer unto the God
of my life.
Ill will say unto the God of my strength,
Why hast Thou forgotten me : why go I thus
heavily, while the enemy oppressoth me ?
12 My bones are smitten asunder as with a
sword : while mine enemies that trouble 'me cast
me in the teeth ;
13 Namely, while they say daily unto me :
Where is now thy God 1
14 Why art thou so vexed, O my soul : and
why art thou so disquieted within me ?
15 O put thy trust in God : for I will yet
thank Him, Which is the help of my countenance,
and my God.
THE XLIII. PSALM.
Judica me, Deu3.
GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend
my cause against the ungodly people : O
deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.
a Al. so (fisifniftfit.
h 1!, v.. nnci of Uic
llenuonitfS I or
IIltiiiuiis], from the
hill Mtzar.
XLIII,
Hisf. A continua-
tion of the preced-
ing Psalm.
Ltlurg. a,. 1. 1g.
Tuesday Lauds.
Corp. Chr.. ^rd
Noct.
Fuerunt mihi lachrymse mese panes die ac
nocte : dum dicitur mihi quotidie, Ubi est Deus
tuus ?
HsBC recordatus sum, et effudi in me animain
meam : quoniam transibo in locum tabernaculi
admirabilis, usque ad domum Dei.
In voce exultationis et confessionis : sonus
epulantis.
Quare tristis es aniina moa ? et quare conturbas
me?
Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor lUi :
salutaro vultus mei et Deu.s mens.
Ad meipsum aniina mea conturbata est : prop-
torea memor ero Tui de terra Jordanis, et Her-
monii a monte modico.
Abyssus abyssum invocat : in voce catarac-
tarum Tuarum.
Omnia excelsa Tua et fluctus Tui : super me
transierunt.
In die mandavit Dominus misericordiam Suam :
et nocte canticum Ejus.
Apud me oratio Deo vitae meie : dicam Deo,
Susceptor meus es :
Quare oblitus es mei ? quare contristatus
incedo, dum afHigit me iuimicus ]
Dum confringuntur ossa mea, exprobraverunt
mihi : C[ui tribulant me inimici mei.
Dum dicmit mihi per singulos dies : Ubi est
Deus tuus ?
Quare tristis es anima mea ? et quare conturbas
me?
Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor Illi :
salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.
PSALMUS XLII.
JUDICA me, Deus, et discerne causam meam
de gente non sancta : ab honiine iniquo et
doloso erue me.
that its faith might look forward iu hope: they are a gift
to the Christian Churcli, that her faith may be intelligently
fixed upon her Redeemer, and behold throughout the written
word — "in the volume of the book" — the story of the per-
sonal WORD'S Incarnation and redeeming work.
THE SECOND BOOK.
PSALM XLII.
The Second Book of the Psalms opens with one iu which
Christ is again heard speaking. He speaks in His own Person
as longing for the time of ascending to Hia Father, in the
person of His mystical Body as longing for the time when
her earthly pilgrimage will be ended, and her militant humi-
liation transfigured into triumphant glory. It was formerly
used in the Burial OlHce of the Church of England [see p.
478] ; and has a place in the Primitive Liturgy of St. Mark,
both applications of it expressing the earnest longing of the
Church and the devout soul for the Divine Presence : " My
soul is athirst for God iu His Eucharistic Mystery : My soul
is athirst for Him in His Panadisal Presence."
In their fulness the aspirations of this Psalm can only be
assigned to Christ Himself. Job typically anticipated the
sufferings of the Holy One to a certain extent, so that he could
say, ' ' And now my soul is poured out upon me, the days of
affliction have taken hold upon me," but it was to the soul of
the "Man of Sorrows" alone that the whole force of such
words as those of this Psalm could belong : of Him only that
it could be said one abyss proclaimed to another tliat all tlie
waves and storms of Divine anger with sin had overwhelmed
Him. We may, therefore, see in the touching expressions of
this beautiful hynm the highest and most perfect form of
resignation to the will of God under the most extreme depres-
sion of sorrow and suffering : words whicli open out to us the
mind of Clirist, shewing how the truly faithful soul wUl trust
in God as a loving Father, and long for His presence, even
when bowing down under the weiglit of trial : " longing to be
with Christ, which is far better," yet desiring, above all, to
fulfil His will. It is a Psalm which must have had especial
force in the Divine Service of the early Church, when per-
secutions surrounded it on every side, and the echoes from
one overwhelming cataract of heathen fury overtook the rush
of another. Such intense longings for a better life and the
peace of Paradiso belong to such times ratlier than to those of
untroubled ages : and wlien the Antichristian persecutions of
the latter days have come upon the Church, the meaning of
tliis hymn will again be felt in its fulness as it may have been
felt by those who had to endure the Antichrists of the first
age. Yet the spirit of the Psalm enters into all longings for
the Presence of Christ : and those who fully realize the work
of sin will be able to enter into it to a great extent in connec-
tion with the blessedness of that Presence in the Eucharistic
Mystery.
PSALM XLIII.
This is plainly a continuation of the preceding Psalm
(though not a portion of it), the ideas of it being exactly
analogous, and the burden, from which the whole derives so
542
C&e Ipsalms.
9th Day. [Ps. 44.]
2 For Thou art the God of my strength, why
hast Thou put me from Thee : and why go I so
heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me ?
3 O send out Thy light and Thy truth, that
they may lead me ; and brmg me unto Thy holy
hill, and to Thy dwelling.
4 And that I may go unto the altar of God,
even unto the God of my joy and gladness : and
upon the harp will I give thanks unto Thee, O
God, my God.
5 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul : and
why art thou so disquieted within me 1
6 O put thy trust in God : for I will yet give
Him thanks. Which is the help of my countenance,
and my GoD.
Day 9. MORNING PRAYER.
THE XLIV. PSALM.
Deus, auribus.
WE have heard with our ears, O God, our
fathers have told us : what Thou hast
done in their time of old ;
XLI\'.
Htst. The Korah.
ites. early in the
reigii of Ahaz.
Liters:. 3. g. 19.
Tuesd. Mattins.
r Exod.
Deut. 4. 3
rf Deut. 33. I
2 " How Thou hast driven out the heathen with
Thy hand, and planted them in : how Thou hast
destroyed the nations, and cast them out.
3 'For they gat not the land in possession * Deut. a. .?. is.
through their own sword : neither was it their
own arm that helped them ;
4 "But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and
the light of Thy countenance : because Thou
hadst a favour unto them.
5 Thou art my King, God : send help unto
Jacob.
6 ''Through Thee will we overthrow our
enemies : and in Thy Name will we tread them
under that rise up against us.
7 For I will not trust in my bow : it is not
my sword that shall help me;
8 But it is Thou that savest us from our
enemies : and puttest them to confusion that
hate us.
9 We make our boast of God all day long :
and will praise Thy Name for ever.
10 But now Thou art far off, and puttest us
to confusion : and goest not forth with our
armies.
11 Thou makest us to turn our backs upon
our enemies : so that they which hate us spoil
our goods.
12 Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep :
and hast scattered us among the heathen.
Quia Tu es Detjs fortitude mea : quare me
repulisti, et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me
iaimicus ?
Emitte lucem Tuam et veritatem Tuam : ipsa
me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum
Tuum, et in tabernacula Tua.
Et introibo ad altare Dei : ad Deum qui
I.-etificat juventutem meam.
Confitebor Tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus mens :
quare tristis es anima mea, et quare conturbas
me?
Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor Ilii :
salutare vultus mei et Deus mens.
PSALMUS XLHI.
DEUS, auribus nostris audivimus : patres
nostri annuntiaverimt nobis,
Opus quod operatus es in diebus eorum : et in
diebus antiquis.
Manus Tua gentes disperdidit et plantasti eos :
afflixisti populos et expulisti eos.
Nee enim in gladio suo possederunt terram :
et brachium eorum non salvavit eos :
Sed dextera Tua, et brachium Tuum, et illu-
minatio vultus Tui : quoniam complacuisti in
eis.
Tu es Ipse Kex mens et Deus mens : qui
mandas salutes Jacob.
In Te inimicos nostros ventilabimus cornu : et
in nomine Tuo spernemus insurgentes in nobis.
Non enim in arcu meo sperabo : ei; gladius
mens non salvabit me.
Salvasti enim nos de affligentibus nos : et
odientes nos confudisti.
In Deo laudabimur tota die : et iu nomine Tuo
confitebimur in sasculum.
Nunc autem repulisti et confudisti nos : et non
egredieris, Deu.s, in virtutibus nostris.
Avertisti nos retrorsum post inimicos nostros :
et qui oderunt nos diripiebant sibi.
Dedisti nos tanquam oves escarum
gentibus dispersisti nos.
et in
mournful and passiou-like a cliaracter, repeated ; yet a dis-
tinctive character is also given to this concluding portion of
the threefold hymn, wliich makes it a song anticipative of
llesurrection joy. As the words of Christ are, "Thou wilt
not leave My soul in liell . . . Thou wilt shew Me the path
of life ; " so they are, " .Send out Thy light . . . bring Me unto
Thy holy hill." And while we liear Christ longing for the
light of the Picsurrcction, and the Altar wliere the Lamb, as
it liad been slain, was to take His kingdom to Himself, so we
also hear the voice of His Church asking God to send forth to
her the Light of the world, in the Person of Christ, to lead
her through this lite to glory everlasting, and by the earthly
to the heavenly Altar. The third verse looks pl.ainly to Him
Who is the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Light of the
City of (!od ; and the fourth verse as plainly to the Eucharis-
tio thanksgiving of the Christian dispensation.
PSALM XLIV.
For periods of great trouble, such as the time when the
Philistuies came up with their champion against the army
of Saul, or when .Sennacherib against Hezekiali, or when the
nation was broken to pieces by the tyranny of Antiochua
Epiphaiics, this Psalm was i)enncd as a national pleading
with God for His own people in their adiiction ; and, so pro-
phesying, tlio writer luiconsciously gave words to the future
Church which might in all ages be lifted up to God as a
prayer for deliverance.
It must bo understood that the tone of this Psalm is by no
means one of expostulation with God, as if it were to be said
to Him, Why liast Thou done this? It is, on tlie contrary, a
declaration of perfect trust in Him, like th.it uttered by Job
when he said, " Though He sl.ay me, yet will I trust in Him."
9th Day. [Ps. 45.]
Ef)c IPsaims.
543
13 Thou sellest Thy people for nought ; ami
takest no money for theui.
li Thou makest us to bo rebuked of our
neighbours : to be laughed to scorn, and had in
derision of them that are round about u.s.
15 Thou makest us to bo a by-word among
the heathen : and that the people shako their
heads at us.
16 My confusion is daily Ijefore me ; and the
shame of my face hath covered me;
17 For the voice of the slanderer and blas-
phemer : for the enemy and avenger.
18 And though all this be come upon us, yet
do we not forget Thee ; nor behave ourselves
frowardly in Thy covenant.
19 Oiu' heart is not turned back : neither our
steps gone out of Thy way ;
20 No, not when Thou hast smitten us into
the place of dragons ; and covered us with the
shadow of death.
21 If we have forgotten the Name of our
God, and holden up our hands to any strange
god : shall not God search it out 1 for He
knoweth the very secrets of the heart.
22 For Thy sake also are we killed all the day
long ; and are counted as sheep appointed to be
slain.
23 Up, LoED, why sleepest Thou ; awake,
and be not absent from us for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face : and
forgettest our misery and trouble '?
25 For our soul is brought low, even tmto the
dust : our belly cleaveth unto the ground.
26 Arise, and help us ; and deliver us for Thy
mercy's sake."
THE XLV. PSALM.
Eructavit cor ineum.
MY heart is inditing of a good matter : I
speak of the things which I have made
unto the King.
2 My tongue is the pen : of a ready writer.
3 Thou art fairer than the children of men :
fuU. of * grace are Thy lips, because God hath
blessed thee for ever.
4 Gird Thee with Thy sword upon Thy thigh,
O Thou most Mighty : according to Thy worship
and renown.
5 Good luck have Thou wth Thine honour :
ride on, because of the word of truth, of meek-
ness, and righteousness ; and Thy right hand
shall teach Thee terrible things.
a Litany.
XLV.
/Jist. The Korah.
ites, at the mar.
riage of Soloiuon,
[i Kings 3. I.J
Litttrg. Christmas
Mattins. S.g.lg.
Tuesd. Mattins.
Christmas, Apostles
and Evangelists,
Name of Jesus, ist
Noct. Circuni.antI
B. v. M., Virir. and
Matr., 2nd Noct.
All Saints. 3rd
Noct.
Messianic Ps. 4.
b Camp, Luke i. 28,
in the Greek.
Vendidisti populum Tuum sine pretio : et non
fuit multitudo in commutatiunibus eorura.
Po.suisti nos o[)probrium vicinw nostris : sub-
sannationem et derisum his qui in circuitu nostro
sunt.
Posuisti nos in similitudinem Gentibas : com-
motionem capitis in populi.s.
Tota die verecundia mea contra mo est : et
confusio faciei mese cooperuit me.
A voce e.xprobantis et obloquentis : a facie
inimici et persequentis.
Haic omnia venerunt super nos, nee obliti
sumus Te : et inique non egimas in testamento
Tuo.
Et non recessit retro cor nostrum : et dcclinasti
semitas nostras a via Tua.
Quoniam humiliasti nos in loco afflictionis : et
cooperuit nos umbra mortis.
iSi obHti sumus nomen Dei nostri : et si ex-
pandimus manus nostras ad deum alienum.
Nonne Deu.? requiret ista? ipse enim novit
abscondita cordis.
Quoniam propter Te mortificamur tota die :
ffistimati sumus sicut eves occisionis.
Exsurge, quare obdormis Dojiine % exsurge, et
ne repellas in finem.
Quare faciem Tuam avertis : oblivisceris inopise
nostra) et triljulationis nostrae ?
Quoniam humiliata est in pulvere anima nostra :
conglutinatus est in terra venter noster.
Exsurge Domine, adjuva nos : et redime nos
propter nomen Tuum.
PSALMUS XLIV.
ERUCTAVIT cor meum verbum bonum :
dico ego opera mea Regi.
Lingua mea calamus scribre : velociter scri-
bentis.
Speciosus forma prse filiis hominum ; diffusa
est gratia in labiis Tuis : propterea benedixit Te
Deus in aetemum.
Accingere gladio Tuo super femur Tuum : po-
tentissime.
Specie Tua et pulchritudine Tua : intende,
prospere precede, et regna.
Propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et justi-
tiam : et deducet Te mirabiliter dextera Tua.
Thu3, taken in its true sense, it may recall to mind our Lord's
words respecting the time when the last troubles would come
upon Jerusalem ; .and those still greater troubles, of which
these were a type, upon the City of God in the end of the
world : "In your patience possess ye your souls."
Thus the tone of the Psalm is, ' ' The Lord has brought all
this woe upon us ; yet though He suffer much more than this
to come upon us, our steps shall not go out of His way : we
wiU trust still in His mercy, and call on Him to shew it in
His good time." And the actual experience of such persecu-
tion in the early Church drew out from .St. Paul an applica-
tion of this tone when he wrote, " Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or distress, or per-
secution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? As it
is written. For Thy sake we are killed all tlie day long ; we
are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved
us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord." [Rom. viii. 35-39.]
PSALiI XLV.
For whatever occasion this grand triumphal hymn was
composed, the typical application of it is cast into the shade
by its fulfilment in Christ : concerning \Yhom, the good
AVORD of God, it is wholly indited ; and to tlie glory of
AVhose Person and work the praise of the faithful heart flows
freely, as from the pen of a scribe swiftly writing.
The use of the Psalm on Christmas D.ay gives the key to
544
€\)t Psalms.
9th Day. [Ps. 45.]
6 Thy arrows are very sharp, and the people
shall be subdued unto Thee : even in the midst
among the King's enemies.
7 Thy seat, O God, endureth for ever : the
sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
8 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity : wherefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
9 All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and
cassia : out of the ivory palaces, whereby they
have made thee glad.
10 Kings' daughters were among thy honour-
able women : upon thy right hand did stand the
queen in a vesture of gold, uronffht about loith
divers colours.
11 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline
thine ear : forget also thine own people, and thy
father's house.
12 So shall the King have pleasure in thy
beauty : for He is thy Lord God, and worship
thou Him.
13 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there
with a gift : like as the rich also among the
people shall make their supplication before thee.
14 The King's daughter is all glorious within :
her clothing ls of wrought gold.
15 *She shall be brought unto the King in
raiment of needlework : the virgins that be her
fellows shall bear her company, and shall be
brought unto thee.
16 With joy and gladness shall they be
brought : and shall enter into the King's palace.
17 Instead of thy fathers thou shalt have chil-
dren : whom thou mayest make princes in all
lands.
" 'O Sfcx
(LXX.)
Co>'iJ>. Judy. ;. 50.
Sagittae Tuse acutse ; popuU sub Te cadent : in
corda inimicorum regis.
"Sedes Tua, Deus, in soeculum sseculi : virga
directionis virga regni Tui.
Dilexisti justitiam et odisti iniquitatem : prop-
terea unsit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo lietitiae prse
consortibus tuis.
Mj'rrha, et gutta, et cassia a vestimentis tuis,
a domibus eburneis : ex cpiibus delectaverunt te
filioe regum in houore tuo.
Astitit Regina a dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato :
circundata varietate.
Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam : et
obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui.
Et concupiscet Rex decorem tuum : quon
Ipse est DoMiNUS Deus tuus, et adorabunt E
lam
lUni.
Et fili« Tyri in muneribus : vultum tuum
deprecabuntur omnes divites plebis.
Omnis gloria ejus filise Regis ab intus, in
fimbriis aureis : circumamicta varietatibus.
Adducentur Regi virgines post earn : proximse
ejus aflerentur tibi.
Afferentur in laetitia et exultatione : adducentur
in templum Regis.
Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii : constitues
eos principes super omnem terram.
its interpretation as a song of joy and praise respecting tlie
Incarnation, and teaches us to draw out that interpretation
even in detail. Thus we sing to Him, "Thou art fairer than
the children of men " in respect of the Beauty of the King in
His Human Nature, which was certainly the perfection of
moral purity, and probably of external grace.' Foraltliough
He was " made sin for us," yet He " knew no sin," but was
spotless altogether in nature, will, and deed ; and altliough
His visage was marred more than any man's, iDy the persecu-
tion and suffering He underwent, yet it could not but be that
it was fairer than any other countenance in its original and
unmarred state. Thus, too, we sing to Him, "Full of grace
are Thy lips," remembering how it was said of Him, "Never
man spake like this Man" [John vii. 46], and how "all bare
Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words whicli
proceeded out of His mouth." [Luke iv. 22.]
The fourth verse refers to the ceremony by which corona-
tion was completed, the girding on of the sword. So when
the fulness of the time was come, the WORD of God rides
forth conquering and to conquer, girding on His Human
Nature, — His Vesture dipped in blood, — on which, and on
His thigh, is written tlie glorious Name which is the Chris-
tian fulness of the prophetic "Most Mighty," — "King of
kings and Lord of lords." [Rev. xix. 16.] The effects of
the Incarn.ation are signified by the " terrible" or "wonder-
ful " things achieved by the right hand of thclncarnate Word.
Such marvellous works have already been effected as tlie
overthrow of Paganism, the establishment of a sound
morality, the first spread and the enduring perpetuity of the
Christian Church : such terrible tilings are yet in store as the
1 No one can fall to obsen-c the cxcciitional cliaractor of the traditional
portrait of Christ with which religiou.s art i.s iicrvaded. This Is found as
the Good Shepherd in the Catacuinbs, and in many oUic-r very ancient
frinns : and there is probahly trntli in the rejjresentations that there were
several contemijorary portraits of our Lord taken, with and without
miraeulous agency, during Ills earthly life. This traditional rountenance
of fhrist is not Jewish, but a Catholic ecleclicisin of human beauty. [See
dntwlulni IlihU, iii, M3.]
second Advent of the Word, the overthrow of Antichrist, the
general Resurrection, the Last Judgement, and the subjuga-
tion of all things to the universal Sovereignty of Christ.
This universal dominion of Christ is further referred to in
the seventh verse, which is used in Heb. i. 8, 9, as evidence
of the Divine Nature of our Lord : the use of the word
"throne" instead of "seat" making the meaning more plain
there than in the English version of the Psalm. Such a
dominion is prepared for Christ in this dispensation, in the
Day of Judgement, and in the perfected Church in glory ; a
dominion of a right, erect, straight, or righteous sceptre,
ever guiding to the justice and truth of God, and ever
opposed to the lawless iniquity of the Evil One.
In the eighth verse the reward of Christ's love in becoming
Man is proclaimed, the anointing of His Human Nature with
tlie Holy Ghost given to Him without measure that He might
have unlimited power to work out the work of salvation.
This mention of the Anointing of Christ is especially connected
with His Human Nature by the mention of "ni3'rrh, aloes,
riud cassia," which carry the mind to the offerings of the wise
men, and to the spices with which the holy body of Jesus
■nas embalmed at His burial." This seems the connecting-
link between the former and the latter verses of the Psalm,
the former setting forth the royalty of the Bridegroom, our
liOrd Jesus Christ ; the latter declaring the royalty of the
Bride, His Church.
St. John the Baptist was the first to mention the Bride in
2 It is observable that the anointing oil of the Mosaic dispensation
[Exod. XXX. 2:1] was made of" principal spices" and plive oil. Tlie "prin-
ciiJal spices" named are myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cas-
sia, the myrrh and cassia being each to weigh as much as both the others
put together. This oil was used for anointing the Tabernacle, the vessels,
and the priests, including Aaron.
Among the plants of the "garden enclosed" [Song of Solomon, iv. 12],
the "spring shut ui>," the "fountain sealed," are spikenard, calamus,
cinTiamoit, Irankincensc. myrrh, and aloes, with "all the c/iic/ spiCM."
Myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon (which is nearly identical wltli cassia} are also
named together In Prov. vii. 17.
9th Day. [Ps. 46. J
C[)c Psalms.
545
18 I will remember Thy Name from one
generation to another : therefore shall the people
give thanks unto Thee, world without end.
THE XLVI. PSALM.
Deu3 uoster refngium.
GOD is our Hope and Strength : a very
present Help in trouble.
2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth
be moved : and though tlie hiUs be carried into
tlie midst of the sea.
.3 Thougli the waters thereof rage and swell :
and though the mountains shake at the tempest
of tlic same.
4 T)ie rivers of the flood thereof shall make
glad the city of Gob : the holy place of the
tabernacle of the most Highest.
5 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall
slie not be removed : God .shall help her, and
that right early.
G The heathen make much ado, and the king-
doms are moved : but God hath shewed His
voice, and the earth shall melt away.
7 The Lord of Hosts is with us : the God of
Jacob is our Refuge.
8 O come hither, and behold the works of the
Lord : what destruction He hath brought upon
the earth.
9 He maketh ware to cease in all the world :
He breaketh the bow, and knappetli the spear in
sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.
10 Be still then, and know that I am God ; I
will be exalted among the heathen, and I will be
exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of Hosts is with us : the God of
Jacob is our Refuge.
xt.vi.
Hisl. Tile Korali-
ites. after the de-
struction of Sen-
Il.icherib's army,
i.iiure. S. p. ffi.
Tuesd. NIatlins;,
Hpipli.-iny. 3r(l
Noct. Tr.Tiis-
li.Ciiratioii, Dc-dic.
Church, 1st Nnct.
Trinity. IJ. V. M..
Virp. and Matr.,
sncl Noct.
Memores erunt nominis Tui Domine : in omni
generatione et generationem.
Propterea populi confitebuntur Tibi in «;ternum :
et in SMCulum sieculi.
PSALMUS XLV.
DEUS noster refugium et virtus : adjutor in
tribulationibus qua> invenerunt nos nimis.
Propterea non tiinebinius duni turbabitur terra :
et transferentur muntes in cor maris.
Sonuerunt et turbatie sunt aqua,* eorum : con-
turbati sunt montes in fortitudine ejus.
Fluminis impetus la;tificat civitatem Dei :
sanctificavit tabernaculum Suum Altissimus.
Deus in medio ejus ; non commovebitur :
adjuvabit earn Deus mano diluculo.
Conturbatse sunt Gentes, et inclinata sunt
regna : dedit voceni Suam, mota est terra.
DoMiNUS virtutuni nobiscum : susceptor noster
Deus Jacob.
Venite et videte opera Domini : quie posuit
prodigia super terram.
Auferens bella usque ad finem terroe : arcum
conteret, et confringet anna ; et scuta comburet
igni.
Vacate, et videte quouiam Ego sum Deus :
exaltabor in Gentibus, et exaltabor in ten'a.
DoMiNUs virtutum nobiscum : susceptor noster
Deus Jacob.
New Testament time.s wlien lie said, " He that hath the Bride
is the Bridegroom." [John iii. 29.] Similar pliraseology
appears in our Lord's earliest words [Mark ii. 19 ; Luke v.
.34], and in several of His parables, where He represents the
kingdom of Heaven under the figure of marriage. St. Paul
speaks of his earnest desire to present the Church as "a
chaste virgin " to Christ [2 Cor. xi. 2], .and likens the union
between it and Christ to the union of husband and wife.
[Eph. V. 23-32.] But, above all, the tone of this Psahn is
taken up in the latter chapters of the Revelation, " Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him : for the marriage
of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. "
[Rev. .\ix. 7.] "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusa-
lem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband." [Rev. xxi. 2.] "And there
came unto me one of the seven angela . . . saying, Come
hither, 1 will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he
carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain,
and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descend-
ing out of heaven from God." [Rev. xxi. 9, 10.]
And as the King, the Incarnate Word, is fairer than the
children of men in natural beauty of body and soul, so the
Queen on His right hand is also represented as being adorned
with all that can make fit to stand before Him, as well as
being "all glorious within. " Though the Church is "clothed
with the sun " [Rev. xii. 1] in a spiritual sense, yet in a
litei'al sense also she is to have all that external splendour
which is tj'pified by clothing of wrought gold and raiment of
needlework ; a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers
colours, reflecting the glory of the Bridegroom's "vesture
dipped in blood."'
In this Psalm, therefore, the Church ever offers a hynm of
I There is an accidental coincidence of a very sinking character between
this Christmas Mattins Psalm and the first lesson on Chiistmas Eve, which
is Isa. Ix. [.%c also p. 249.)
thanksgiving to Christ for that Betrothal of Himself to His
mystical Body which will be perfected by the final assump-
tion of the Bride to His right hand in Heaven. Girt with
the sword of His Human Nature, and clad with transfigured
garments which are still perfumed with the myrrh, aloes, and
cassia of His atoning work, the King of Glory stands pre-
pared to receive to His side the Church which He has
espoused ; that as a Queen she may enter into His palace, as
a Queen be cro^vned with a never-fading beauty, and as a
Queen reign with Him, "having the glory of Ciod. " [Rev.
xxi. 11.]
PSALM XLVI.
As the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom
of the Lord and of His Christ, so the waters which rage and
swell and shake the eartli to its foundations shall be subdued
at the Divine command, "Be still," and become the river
which makes glad the City of God. "There .shall be no
more sea " to trouble the Church [Rev. xxi. 1] ; but there
shall be "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, pro-
ceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb " [Rev. xxii.
1], and "every thing shall live ^^■hither the river cometh.''
[Ezek. xlvii. 9.]
Such is the mystical strain which this Psalm carries up to
the praise of God. The ordinary antagonism of the world
may embarrass the Church, or active persecution trouble it,
but the Spirit of CJod moves upon the face of the waters to
bring life out of death ; Ciod will remember Noah, to make
that by which He brings destruction upon the earth be also
the salvation of His Church. Christ, though asleep, is yet
in the ship of the Apostles, re.idy to rebuke the winds and
the waves, and to saj% "Peace, be still. "
Grant, Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this
world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that
Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly fjuietness,
through .Tesus Christ our Lord. Amni,
:m
546
Cf)C Psalms.
9th Day. [Ps. 47, 48.]
Day o. Evening Praykr.
the xlvii. psalm.
Omnes gentes, plaudite.
OCLAP your bauds together, all ye people :
O sing unto God with the voice of melody.
2 For the Lord is high, and to be feared : He
is the great King upon all the earth.
3 He shall subdue the people under us : and
the nations under our feet.
4 He shall choose out an heritage for us : even
the worship of Jacob, whom He loved.
5 God is gone up with a merry noise : and the
Lord with the sound of the trump.
6 O .sing jH'aises, sing praises unto out- God :
O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
7 For God is the King of all the earth : sing
ye praises with understanding.
8 God reiuueth over the heathen : God sitteth
iipon His holy seat.
9 The princes of the people are joined unto
the people of the God of Abraham : for God,
Which is veiy high exalted, doth defend tlie earth,
as it were with a shield.
THE XL\Tn. PSALM.
Maguus Doniinus.
GEEAT is the Loud, and highly to be praised :
in the city of our God, even upon His
holy hill.
2 The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy
of the whole earth : upon the north-side lietli the
city of tlie great King ; God is well known in
her palaces as a sure refuge.
3 For lo, the kings of the earth : are gathered
and gone by together.
4 They marvelled to see such things ; tliey
were astonished, and suddenly cast down.
5 Fear came there upon them, and sorrow : as
upon a woman in her travail.
G Thou shalt break the ships of the sea :
through the east-wind.
7 Like as we have heard, so have we seen in
the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our
God : God upholdeth the same for ever.
8 We wait for Thy loving-kindness, O God :
in the midst of Thy temple.
XLVII.
Hist, After J ehosha-
phat's victory over
the confederate
armies. Iz Chron.
St..]
Litwg. Ascension
Evensong. S'. ^.
1^. Tuesd. Mat-
tins. Epiph.iny, 1st
Noct. Trinity Sun-
day. Apostles and
livangelists, Tr.^ns-
iiff.. Ex. Cross. St,
Michael, 2nd Noct.
PSALMUS XLVI.
OMNES Gentes plaudite manibus : jubilate
Deo in voce exultatiouLs.
Quoniara Dominus excelsus terribilis : Eex
magnus super omnem terram.
Subjecit populos nobis : et gentes sub pedibus
nostris.
I Elegit nobis hoereditatem Suaiu : speciem
Jacob quani dilexit.
A,scendit Deus in jubilo : et Dominus in voce
tubie.
Psallite Deo nostro, psallite : psallite Regi
no.stro, jjsallite.
Quoniam Eex omnis terrw Deus : psallite
sapienter.
Iteguabit Deus super Gentes : Deus sedet
super sedem sanctam Suam.
Principes populorum congregati sunt cum Deo
Alaraham : tpioniam dii fortes terra; vehementer
elevati sunt.
.\i.vin.
Hilt. Alterjehosha-
phat's victory over
the confederate
armies. [2 Chron.
TO J
Litittg. Whitsnti-
day Maltins. ;b.
S. 16. Tuesd.
Whitsuntide. Mat-
tins, Name of Jesus,
1st. Noct. Christ-
ni.is. Circumcision,
Trinity Sunday,
Dedic. of Churcli.
Translig.. 2ntl
Noct.
M
PSALMUS XLVII.
AGNUS Dominus, et laudabilis nimis : in
civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto Ejus.
Fundatur exsultatione universe terras mous
Sion ; latera aquilonis, civitas Regis magni.
Deus in domibus ejus cognoscetur : cum sus-
cipiet earn.
Quoniam ecce reges terras congregati sunt : con-
venerunt in unum.
Ipsi videntes sic aamirati sunt, conturbati sunt,
commoti sunt : tremor appreliendit eos.
Ibi dolores ut parturientis
menti conteres naves Tharsis.
in spiritu velie-
Sicut audivimus, sic vidimus in civitate Domini
virtutum, in civitate Dei nostri : Deus fundavit
eam in teternum.
Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam Tuam : in
medio templi Tui.
PSALM XLVII.
This J3 a hymn of triuinpli, not for auy temporal victory
of Christ's Church, but for tliat glorious work of peace by
which the fold of the Good Shepherd is being extended that
it may embrace all races of mankiud. As holy Simeon saw
that the Sun of Righteousness had arisen to be a Light to
lighten tlie Gentiles, as well as God's ancient people Israel,
so the prophet hail been inspired to tell of the then distant
age of the Messiah, that "God reigneth over the heathen,"
and that "the princes of the jieople," beyond tlie bounds of
the chosen race, are joined unto tlie people of the God of
Abraham.
The selection of this Psalm for Ascension Day is connected
partly with the ordinary interjjretation of the tiftli verse, but
not less with the general tone of victory whicli perv.ides the
whole, and which is so suitable to the leading of captivity
captive by Christ when He ascended up on high, to reign
over the jjcople whom He had bought witli a price, and to
place His Human Nature on the holy throne of Divine majesty
and power.
It is a song of trust also in Christ, in which the Church
UcclarcH that, as the " word of the Lord came unto Abram in
a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy sliield, and tlij'
exceeding great rewai'd," so will the same WORD, God,
Which is very high exalted, ever defend as with a shield the
inheritance which He has won for His own.
PSALM XL VIII.
Much light is thrown upon this Psalm by comparing
together the two chapters of the Revelation in which are
described the fall of the mystical city liabylon, and the
establishment for ever of the New .lerusalem. The eighteenth
chapter expands the third and folUiwing three verses of the
Psalm into a fearful description of a sudden destruction, ami
privation of the Light aiul Presence of God: "Al.as, ahis !
that great city, th.at was clnthed in tine linen, aiitl purple,
and scarlet, and decked witli gold, and precious stones, and
pearls ! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.
. . . And the light of a candle shall sliine no more at all in
tliee ; ami the voice of the bridegroom anil of the brido shall
be heard no more at all in thee," [Rev. xviii. IG, 17, '-^f.] 'I'lie
Holy City, on the other hand, whose foimd.ations were laid
at Pentecost, is seen descending from (!iid, "prepared as a
bride adiirned for her husbaml . . . anil tlie city had no need
9th Day. [Ps. 49. J
C|)c Ipjgalnis.
547
rejoice, and the
becau.sc of Thy
round about her :
9 GoT), according to Thy Name, .so i.s Thy
praise unto the world'.s end : 'L"hy right liand is
full of righteousness.
10 Let the mount Sion
daugliter of Judah be glad
judgements.
1 1 Walk about Sion, and g
and tell the towers thereof.
1 2 Mark well her bulwarks, set up her houses :
tliat ye may tell them that come after.
13 For this God is our God for ever and ever :
He shall be our Guide unto death.
THE XLIX, PSAL.M.
Audite hiBC, omnes.
OHEAR ye this, all ye people : ponder it
with your ears, all ye that dwell in the
world ;
2 High and low, rich and poor : one with
another.
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom : and my
heart shall muse of understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear to the parable : and
shew my dark speech upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the daj^s of
wickedness : and when the wickedness of my
lieels compasseth me round about 1
G There be some that put their trust in their
goods : and boast themselves in the multitude of
their riches.
7 But no man may deliver his brother ; nor
make agreement unto Goo for him ;
8 For it cost more to redeem their souls : so
that he must let that alone for ever ;
9 Yea, though he live long : and see not the
grave.
10 For ho seeth that wise men also die, and
perish together : as well as the ignorant and
foolish, and leave their riches for other.
1 1 And yet they think that their houses shall
continue for ever : and that their dwelling-places
shall endure from one generation to another ; and
call the lands after their own names.
1 2 Nevertheless, man wiU not abide in honour :
seeing lie may be compared unto the beasts that
perish ; this is the way of them.
13 This is their foolishness : and their posterity
praise their saying.
,\L1X.
//i>A After Jehosli.n-
phat's victory over
the coiifedemtr.
armies. [2 Cliiuii,
Liliiyg. S, )|. 5!.
Tiiesd. Maitins.
Secundum Nomen Tuuni, Belts, sic et laus Tua
in fines terriu : justitia plena est dextera Tua.
Lsetetur mons Sion, et exsultent filise Judaj :
propter judicia Tua, Domine.
Circundate Sion, et complectimini earn : nar-
rate in turribus ejus.
Ponite corda vestra in virtute ejus : et distri-
buitc domos ejus ; ut enarretis in progenie altera.
Quoniam hie est Deus, Deus noster in atemum,
et in sieciilum SKculi : Ipse reget nos in sfecula.
PSALMUS XLVIII.
A UDITE haec, omnes gentes : auribus percipite
-LX- omnes qui habitatis orbem.
Quique terrigena^, et filii honiiium : simul in
unum dives et pauper.
Os meum loquetur sapientiam : et nieditatio
cordis mei prudentiam.
Inclinabo in parabolam aurem meam : aperiam
in psalterio propositionem nieam.
Cur timebo in die mala ? iniquitas calcauei mei
circundabit me.
Qui confidunt in virtute sua
divitiarum suarum gloriantur,
et in multitudine
Frater non redimit ; redimet homo : non dabit
Deo placationem suam,
Et pretium redemptionis animas sua3 : et labo-
rabit in sternum, et vivet adhuc in finem.
Non viclebit interitum cum viderit sapientes
morientes : simul insipiens et stultus peribunt.
Et relinquent alienis divitias suas : et sepulchra
eorum douius illorum in seternum.
Tabernacula eorum in progenie et progenie :
vocaverunt nomina sua in terris suis.
Et homo, cum in honore esset, non intellexit :
comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis
factus est illis.
H<BC via illorum scandalum ipsis : et postea in
ore suo complacebunt.
(it the sun, neither of the moon, to sliiue in it ; for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the Light thereof . . .
they need no candle, neither light of the siui ; for the Lord
(iodgiveth them light." [Eev. xxi. 2, 23; xxii. 5.]
While therefore the city of Antichrist, whicli aays in its
pride, " I .shall be a lady for ever" [Isa. xlvii, 7], is a marvel
to see, because of its gigantic ruin, the ('ity of God, the
Temple of the Holy Ghost, shall stand tinn in all its towers
and bulwarks, because God Himself upholds it, and dwells
in the midst of its streets.
PSALM XLIX.
The "parable" and " dark speech " of this Psalm appear
to refer to the vision of a better resurrection which upholils
the faithful soul when depressed by adversity. The strain
of the Psalm is, Look not at the outward prosperity of this
life, as that which is most to be desired, and tlie loss of which
is most to be lamented : but rather look to that deliverance
from eternal miserj' [v. l.">] and that reception into the
Presence of God, wliich will be the only true and enduring
prosperity. Until Christ brought life and immortality to
light by the Gospel, it was only in parables and dark sayings
that they were made known to the world, and even the
seventh and fifteenth verses speak of redemption and a future
life of blessedness only in negative and enigmatical terms.
■Such parables and enigmas have, however, received their
interpretation by the word and work of Christ ; and thus an
additional force is given to them as they are used in the
Church. God has revealed even to babes the truths that
were hidden from the wise and prudent of old, and eveiy
Christian can behold the unveiling of mysteries, which pro-
phets and kings looked into without understanding. And
thus, when we sing that no man may deliver bis brother, we
do it in the knowledge that One has made Himself our
Brother, to redeem us by making an atonement with God for
us; and when, "But God hath delivered My soul from the
place of hell ; for He shall receive ile," we know that we are
speaking of Him Who lay in darkness and the shadow of
death, that He might make us the children of God, and exalt
us to everlasting life. He is the Righteous Who could say,
" All souls are Mine," and could have domination over them,
to lead captivity captive, in the morning of His Resurrection.
There is an obvious association of ideas between this Psalm
548
€i)C Ipsalms.
lOth Day. [Ps. 50.]
14 They lie in the hell like sheep, death
gnaweth upon theni, and the righteous shall have
domination over them in the morning : their
beauty shall consume in the sepulchre out of their
dwelling.
15 But God hath delivered my soul from the
place of hell : for He shall receive me.
16 Be not thou afraid, though one be made
rich : or if the glory of his house be increased ;
1 7 For he shall carry nothing away with him
when he dieth : neither shall his pomp follow
him.
18 For while he lived, he counted himself an
happy man : and so long as thou doest well unto
thyself, men will speak good of thee.
19 He shall follow the generation of his
fathers : and shall never see light.
20 Man being in honour hath no understand
ing ; but is comiiared unto the beasts that perish.
Day 10. MORNING PRAYER.
THE L. PSALM.
Deus (leoruni.
THE Lord, even the most mighty God, hath
spoken : and called the world, from the
rising up of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Sion hath God appeared : in perfect
beauty.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep
silence : there shall go before Him a consuming
fire, and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up
round about Him.
4 He shall call the lieaveu from above : and
the earth, that He may judge His people.
5 Gather ily saints together unto Me
L.
//;j/. Asapli. O.;.
cisioh unknown.
/.,t„r^. S. J5. P..
Titeid. .Mattins.
that
fice.
C
ness
7
tliose
have made a covenant with Me with sacri-
And the heavens shall declare His righteous-
: for God is Judge Himself.
Hear, My people, and I will speak : I My
self will testify against thee, Israel ; f<ir I am
God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee because of thy sacri-
fices, or for thy burnt-oft'erings : because they
were not alway before Me.
9 I will take no bullock out of tliine house :
nor he-goat out of thy folds.
Sicut ovesin inferno positi sunt : mors depascet
eos.
Et dorainabuntur eorum justi in matutino : et
auxilium eorum veterascet in inferno a gloria
eorum.
Veruntamen Deus redimet animam meam de
manu inferi : cum aceeperit me.
Ne timueris cum dives factus fuerit homo : et
cum uuiltiplicata fuerit gloria domus ejus.
Quoniam cum interierit, non suniet omnia :
neque descendet cum eo gloria ejus.
Quia anima ejus in vita ijisius beuedicetur :
coufitebitur tibi cum benefeceris ei.
Introibit usque in progenies patrum suorum :
et usque in Kternum non videbit lumen.
Homo, cum in honure esset, non intellexit :
comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis
factus est illis.
P.S.A.LMUS XLIX.
DEUS deorum Dominus locutus est : et voca-
vit terram,
A soils ortu usque ad occasum : ex Sion
species decoris Ejus.
Deus manifesto veniet : Deus noster, et non
sllcbit.
Ignis in conspectu Ejus exardescet : et in cir-
aiitu Ejus tempestas valida.
Advocavit caelum desursum : et terram. dis-
cernere populum Suum.
Congregate lUi sanctos Ejus : qui ordinant
testamentum Ejus super sacrificia.
Et annuntiabunt cceli justitiam Ejus : quoniam
Deus judex est.
Audi populus Meus, et loquar ; Israiil, et teati-
ficabor tibi : Deus, Deus tuios. Ego sum.
Non in sacrificiis tuis arguam te : holocausta
autem tua in conspectu Meo sunt semper.
Non accipiam de domo tua vitulos : neque de
gregibus tuis hircos.
and nur BlcBseil Loril's parables of the rich fool, and of Dives
and Lazarus. The one thouglit tliat liis house should con-
tinue for ever, but while he was planning for the future heard
the voice, "This night shall thy soul be required of thee,"
and was compared unto the beasts that perish. The other
" was clotliecl iu purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously
every ilay," yet carried nothing away witli him, neither did
his pomp follow liim ; for it was in liell and in torment th.at
he opened the eyes which had been closed by death. But
though a .Job or a Lazarus may be compassed about with the
consequences of that sin which bruised the heel even of the
Second Adam, he may say, "Wherefore .should I fear?"
"I know that my Redeemer liveth, .and that Jfc shall .stand
at the latter day upon the earth ; and though worms deatniy
this body, yet in my Hesh shall I see (lod." And thus, wliile
the wicked follows the generation of his fathers, and shall
never sec liglit, they that live in Christ follow the generation
of the New birth, and walking in the path of light which He
will shew them, .attain at last to the perfect Day.
PSALM L.
This Psalm proclaims the Advent of the .Son of God to
establish a new covenant between God and ni.an. Li the old
covenant the voice of the Lord was heard from Sinai by a
single nation, but in the new covenant He speaks to the whole
world, and sends forth His invitation "froni the rising up
of the sun unto the going down thereof." But, .although it
declares the Advent of Christ in the "perfect beauty " of the
Incarnation, it sets Him forth es])ecially in that character to
which our lyord referred when He s.aid, "The Father hath
committed all judgement unto the Son." And hence the
Psalm is .a continual witness th.at, although we are come to
the " Mount Sion " of mercy, and not to the mount which
l)urned with the lire of judgement, yet the dispensation of
the Son of Man is a continuous dispensation of judgement
even in this life. Our rightcims .Judge is judging His people
while the d.ay of gr.acc is still theirs, s.aying even to His saints,
and those that have made a covenant with Him, with the
s.acrifice of the New Dispensation, " Hear, My people, .and
I will spe.ak. . . . Consider this, lest I pluck y(m away, and
there be none to deliver you." This judgement is, therefore,
as far as it relates to the present life, our Lord's merci-
ful appeal to the consciences of His people, by which He is
striving to bring them to penitence, love, and a closer w.alk
with liim. At the same time, as His jirophetic words con-
10th Day. [Ps. 51.
Cljc Psalms.
549
10 Fox all the bcasis of the forest are Miiiu ;
and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Ill know all the fowls upon the mountains :
and the wild beasts of the field are in My sight.
12 If I be hungry, I will not tell thee : for the
whole world is Mine, and all that is therein.
13 Thinkest thou that 1 will eat bull's flesh :
and drink the blood of goats ?
14 Offer imto God thanksgiving : and pay thy
vows unto the most Highest.
15 And call upon ]\Ie in the time of trouble ;
so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise Me.
16 But unto the ungodly said God : Why dost
thou preach My laws, and takest My covenant in
thy mouth ;
17 Whereas thou Latest to be reformed : and
hast east My words behind thee ?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst
unto him : and hast been partaker with the
adulterers.
19 Thou hast let thy mouth speak wickedness :
and with thy tongue thou hast set forth deceit.
20 Thou satest, and spakest against thy
brother : yea, and hast slandered thine own
mother's .son.
21 These tilings hast thou done, and I held
My tongue, and thou thoughtest wiclcedly, that I
am even such a one as thy self : but I will
reprove thee, and set before thee the things that
thou hast done.
22 consider this, ye that forget God : lest 1
pluck you away, and there be none to deliver
you.
23 Whoso offereth Jle thanks and praise, he
honoureth Jle : and to him that ordcreth his con-
versation right will I shew the salvation of God.
THE LI. PSALM.
Miserere mei, Dens.
HAVE mercy upon me, O God, after Thy
great goodness : according to the multi-
tude of Thy mercies do away mine offences.
2 Wash me throughly from my wickedness :
and cleanse me froni my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my faults : and my sin
is ever before me.
LI.
lltst. David ; after
his bin witli Batli-
stieba. [2 Sam. 12.]
I.iUttx, Ash Wed.
Coiiiminalion. ^.
0. %. Ferial
Lauds. Lauds of
the departed.
Pctiitential Ps. 4.
Quoniam Meaj sunt omnes ferse silvarum :
junienta in montibus et boves.
Cognovi omnia volatilia coeli : et pulchritudo
ugri jMecuni est.
Si esuriero nou dicam tibi : ^leus est enim
orbis ten-ii" et plenitudo ejus.
A'^untpxid niauducabo carnes taurorum? aut
sanguinem hircorum potabo ?
Immola Uko sacrilicium laudis : ot redde
Altissimo vota tua.
Et invoca Me in die tribulationis : eruam te et
honorifioabis Me.
Peccatori autein dixit Deus, Quare tu enarras
justitias Meas : et assumis testamentum Sleum
per OS tuum 1
Tu vero odisti disciplinam : et projecisti .ser-
mones Meos retrorsum.
Si videbas furem, currebas cum eo : et cum
adulteris portionem tuam ponebas.
Os tuum abundavit malitia : et lingua tua
concinnabat dolos.
Sedens adversus fratrem tuum loquebaris : et
adversus filium matris tux ponebas scandalum ;
h;ec fecisti, et tacui.
E.xistimasti inique quod ero tui similis : arguam
te, et statuam contra faciem tuam.
Intelligite hajc, qui obliviscimini Deum :
nequando rapiat, et non sit qui eripiat.
Sacrificium laudis honorificabit ]Mc : et illic
iter quo ostendam illi salutare Dei.
PSALM US L.
MISEEERE mei, Deus : secundum magnam
misericordiam Tuam.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum
Tuarum ; dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea : et a pec-
cato meo munda me.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cogno.sco • : et
peccatum meum contra me est semper.
cerning the destruction of .Jerusalem had a further reference
to the end of the world, so, when speaking of judging His
people in this life, He refers also to that final and irrevocable
judgement, from which, if He have not saved, there is none
to deliver. Thus we are reminded of His words as He wept
over the Holy City, " How often would I have gathered thy
children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her
wings ! " or of His words spoken liy the prophet, "Come, now,
and let ns reason together, saith the Lord ; Though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as sno"\\' ; tliough they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool. H' ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."
The references to sacrifices which this Psalm contains are
to be taken in two senses. First, they speak of the uuac-
ceptableuess of offerings made in hypocrisy, and which arc
not accompanied by penitence, obedience, and love ; offerings
which are again repudiated by Clod in the penitential Psalm
that follows : " To what puipose is the multitude of your
sacrifices unto Me ? saith the Lord : I am full of the burnt-
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not
in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. . . .
Bring no more vain oblations ; incense is an abomination unto
Me." [Isa. i. 11-13.] Secondly, they look prophetically to
the passing away of the old dispensation, which was founded
on a system of sacrifices wherein slain animals were ofl'ered,
and to the coming in of the new dispensation, which is founded
on the once-ofl'ered Sacrifice of Christ, presented before God
continually in Heaven, and re-presented on eai'th, in the
sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist. Thus, '" Offer unto God
thanksgivmg," and, " \Mioso offereth Me thanks and praise,
he honoui'eth Me," look to that of which the prophet Malachi
spoke when, after saying, " I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord of hosts, neitlier will I accept an offering at your
hand," he added, " For from the rising of the sun even unto
the going downi of the same, My Name shall be great among
the Gentiles ; and in ex'ery place incense shall be ofl'ered unto
My Name, and a pure oH'ering : for My Name shall be great
among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." [Mai. i. 11.]
PSALM LI.
Such was the completeness of our Blessed Redeemer's identifi-
cation of Himself with our nature, that even these words of
deep and sorrowing penitence are His words, spoken as the
Representative of all sinners. God laid upon Him the
iniquities of us all, and thus He speaks as One in Whom all
550
Cfje Ipsalms.
lOth Day. [Ps. 51.J
4 Against Thee only have I sinned, and done
this evil in Thy sight : that Thou mightest be
justified in Thy saying, and clear when Thou art
judged.
5 Behold, I was shapen in wickedness : and
in sin hath my mother conceived me.
6 But lo, Thou requirest truth in the inward
parts : and shalt make me to understand wisdom
secretly.
7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean : Thou shalt wash me, and I shall
be whiter than snow.
8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and glad-
ness : that the bones which Thou hast broken
may rejoice.
9 Turn Thy face from my sins : and put out
all my misdeeds.
10 Make me a clean heart, O God : and
renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not aw.ay from Thy presence : and
take not Thy holy Spirit from me.
12 give me the comfort of Thy help again :
and stablish me with Thy free Spirit.
13 Then .shall I teach Thy ways unto the
wicked : and sinners shall be converted unto
Thee.
14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God,
Thou that art the God of my health : and my
tongue shall sing of Thy righteousness.
15 "Thou shalt open my lips, Lord : and my
mouth shall shew Thy praise.
16 For Thou desirest no .sacrifice, else would
I give it Thee : but Thou delightest not in burnt-
oft'erings.
1 7 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit :
a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt Thou
not despise.
18 be favourable and gracious unto Sion :
build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sac-
rifice of righteousness, with the burnt-offerings
and oblations : then shall they offer young bul-
locks ujjon Thine altar.
.» Mattiusand Hven-
song V'ersicles.
Tibi soli peccavi, et malum coram Te feci : ut
justificeris in sermonibus Tuis, et vincas cum
jadicaris.
Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum : et
in peccatis concepit me mater mea.
Ecce enim veritatem dilexisti : incerta ct
occulta sapientias Tua; manifestasti mihi,
Asperges me, Dojiute, hyssopo, et mundabor :
lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
Auditui meo dabis gaudium et lietitiam : et
exsultabunt ossa humiliata.
Averts faciem Tuam a peccatis meis : et onmes
iniquitates meas dele.
Cor mundum crea in me, Deus : et spiritum
rectum innova in visceribus meis.
Ne projicias me a facie Tua : et si)iritum
sanctum Tuum ne auferas a me.
Redde mihi ketitiam salutaris Tui ; et spiritu
priucipali confirma me.
Docebo iniquos vias Tuas : et impii ad Te con-
vertentur.
Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Dels salutis
niese : et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam Tuam.
DoJiiXE, labia mea aperies : et os nieum annum
tiabit laudem Tuam.
Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem :
utique holocaustis non delectaberis.
Sacrificiimi Deo spiritus contribulatus : cor
contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
Benigne fac, Domine, in liona voluntate Tua
Sion : ut sedificentur muri Hierusalem.
Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiw, oblationes
et holocausta : tunc imponent super altare Tuum
vitulos.
the woes of mankind, all original and all actual sin, were for
the time condensed into a focus, that, by the intensity of His
penitence, tliey might be brought witliin the reach of mercy
and pardon. Hence, all the millions of mankind that have
inherited sin from the first Adam are brought before the
All-righteous .Judge in tlie Person and by the voice of the
Second Adam, Who says for them, and not for Himself,
" Have mercy U]ion Me," " Uo away Mine offences," "' Wash
Me," " Cleanse jlc." Have mercy upon Mc, for in Me Thou
dost behold not 'J'hy sinless Son alone, but Him Whom Thou
liaat made sin for all 'i'liy sinful chiUlren. Do away Mine
offences, for not only am I Thy Son, in Whom is no guile, but
the new Head and Leader and Representative of Thine offend-
ing offspring. Wash Mc, Whose sirdess Conception by my
Virgin Mother left no need for baptism, and cleanse Me, Who
have no defilement of .My Nature, for I am made like unto
My bretliren in all tilings, that I may win purity for them.
I acknowledge My faults, for theirs have I taken on Me, and
My sill is ever before Me, for the burden of their sin weighs
Me down from My cradle in the manger at Bethlehem to My
Cross on the hill of Cahary. Oh, be favourable and gracious
unto Thy Sion, and l)uild Thou the walls of Thy New .Jeru-
saleni, tliat the I'^uchansts of My atoniii" Sacrifice may ever be
presented before Thee, and in thnt and in them all other sacri-
fices find their fulfilment, their completion, and their climax.
It is only in the way thus indicated that a full explanation
can be given of (1) the deep and intense spirit of self -accusa-
tion ; ('2) the entire confidence in the cleansing power of (iod ;
and (.3) the sense of most intimate relation between Himself
and His Judge, by which the penitent's words in this Psalm
are so strikmgly characterized. In tliis ilegi'ee, and that a
very high degree, David was a type of our atoning Lord when
he uttered this Psalm, and thus his tone of penitence so far
exceeded that which ordinary sinners could thoroughly assume :
but David's penitence was that of an actual sinner, who could
say literally of himself individually that he Mas shajien in
wickedness, that his mother had conceived liiiu witli tlic taint
of original sin, that he needed purging «ith liyssciji fiom the
leprosy of actual sin, and deliverance from liloi.>d-guiltiness.
The personal sinlessness of the Lamb of (iod aggravated the
pain of the burden laid upon Him, and also mabled Him to
see the whole o/GoiV/i Iiatredfor sin as no actual ninner could,'
And thus when He " was made sin for lis," that He might
make intercession for us by a vicarious penitence, the intensity
of the words of penitence wa.s in proportion to His thorough
and penetrative perception of its necessity. As He was set
forth to us for an example of innocence, so He is also set forth
for an example of penitence ; and hence, where we should
least exjiect it, in Him Who knew no sin, we find the perfect
Pattern which the sinner is to copy when he comes before
God confessing hia transgressions, praying for pardon, promis-
ing amendment of life, and faithfully expecting a perfect
absolution.
Part of the tenth, eleventh, and fifteenth verses of this
J This cxplftiiiM " Agninsl Thoi- only liavc I sinned." In tlic<l.-]itli of His
vicariouR penitence the olfenco aRainst God becomes so Mindingly ni>i)ai-cut
tliat tlie ofTeuce against man is lor tin- time invisiltle.
10th Day. [Ps. 52, 53. J
Cfte Psalms.
551
THE LII. PSALM.
Quid gloriaris ?
"VTTHY boaste.st thou tliysclf, thou tyraut :
V V that tliou canst do luischiof ;
2 Whereas tlie goodness of God : cndurcth
yet daily?
3 Thy tongue imagineth wickedness : and
with lies thou cutte.st like a sliarp rasor.
i Thou hast loved unrighteousness more than
goodness : and to talk of lies more than rigliteous-
ness.
5 Thou hast loved to speak all words that
may do hurt : thou false tongue.
6 Therefore .shall God destroy thee for ever:
He shall take thee, and pluck thee out of thy
dwelling, and root thee out of the land of the
living.
7 The righteous also shall see this, and fear :
and .shall laugh him to scorn.
8 Lo, this is the man that took n<it God for
his strength : but trusted unto the multitude of
his riches, and strengthened himself in his
wickedness.
9 As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in
the house of God : my trust is in the tender
mercy of God for ever and ever.
10 I will always give thanks unto Thee for
that Thou hast done : and I will hope in Thy
Name, for Thy saints like it well.
Day 10. EVENING PRAYER.
THE LIII. PSALM.
Dixit insipiens.
body hath said
heart
THE foolish
There is no God.
2 * Corrupt are they, and become abominable
in their wickedness : there is none that doeth
good.
3 ' God looked down from heaven upon the
children of men : to see if there were any that
would understand, and seek after God.
4 "'But they are all gone out of the way, they
are altogether become abominable : there is also
none that doeth good, no not one.
5 ' Are not they without understanding that
work wickedne.ss : eating up my people as if they
would eat bread 1 they have not called upon God.
6 -^They were afraid where no fear was : for
i,n.
/ftsf. Diivid; when
bctrayctl liy Uovy.
[1 Sam. a=. 9.1
ItlHir. *. ip. Vi-
Tuesd. iM.ittiiis.
P.SAL.MUS LL
I. III.
J/isi. I).ivi'l. Occa.
sion unknown.
Wed. Mnttins.
a Ps.
«rs.
4. I.
<-Ps. n, 3.
r Pb. 14. 8.
/Ps. 14. 9-
Q
UID gloriaris in malitia : qui potens es in
iniquitate ?
Tota die injustltiani cogitavit lingua tua :
sieut novacula acuta fecisti dolum.
Dllexisti malitiam super bcnignitatem : iniqui-
tatem magis quaui loqui a;quitatem.
Dllexisti omnia verlia prscipitatlonis : lingua
dolosa.
Propterea Deus destruct te in finem : evellet
te, et emlgrablt te de tabernaculo tuo ; et radicem
tuam de terra viveutlum.
Vidcbunt justi et timebunt, et super eum rlde-
Inmt, et dlcent : Ecce homo qui non posuit
Deu.m adjutorem suuni :
Sed speravlt In multitudine divitiarum suarum:
et prasvaluit in vanltate sua.
Ego autem, sicut oliva fructifera in domo Dei:
speravi in miserlcordla Dei in eeternum ; et in
sasculum skcuH.
Confitebor Tibi In sajculum, quia fecisti : et
exspectabo Nomen Tuum, quonlam bonum est in
conspectu sanctorum Tuorum.
PSALMUS LIL
T~\IXIT in.slpiens in corde suo ; Non est Deus.
Corrupti sunt, et abomlnablles factl sunt in
iniqultatlbus ; non est qui faclat bonum.
Dels de ccelo prospexlt super fillos hominum :
ut vldeat si est inteUigens, aut requlreus Deum.
Omnes decUnaverunt, slmul Inutlles factl sunt:
non est qui faclat bonum, non est u.sq>ie ad unum.
Nonne sclent omnes qui operantur Iniquitatem :
qui devorant plebem meam ut cibum panls?
Deum non Invocaverunt : llllc trepidaveruut
tlmore, ubl non fult timer.
Psahn are ilaily used as versicles at llattiiia and Kxeusong.
The whole Psalm was formerly used every day e.xcept Sunday.
PSAL;\I LII.
The title of this Psalm connects it witli the iniquitous acts
of Doeg in slaying Ahinielecli and a multitude of other priests
and their families at the oonmiand of Saul. [I Sam. xxii. IS,
19.] By this wicked act both Saul and Boeg constituted
themselves ty)ics of Antichrist, and the words spoken against
them by the I'salmist derive a part of their force from the
fact that they are also a prophecy respecting the great enemy
of the Lord and of His Church. This gives the key to
the strong language respectuig the "lies "of the "tyrant"
Iiy which the Psalm is cliaraeterized ; for the whole rule of
Anticlu-ist will reflect the one great lie set up in his person,
when " he as God sitteth in the temple of f-iod. showing him-
self that he is (!od." [2Thess. ii. 4.] But the " sharp razor "
of Antichrist will be vanquished by the "two-edged swor.l "
[Rev. i. 101 of truth which proceeds out of the mouth of
" the WORD of God." [Jbid. xix. 13. 2 Thess. ii. 8.]
Thus also a contrast is set forth in this Psalm between the
kingdom of Antichrist and the Church. The one will be
rooted out of the land of the living, the other planted like a
green olive-tree in the House of God. For all past mercies to
her, therefore, the Church here gives thanks to God, assured
that she may still hope in His Name, Who has promised that
the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her.
PSALM LIIL
This Psalm is nearly identical with the fourteenth. Tlie
difference, and a very conspicuous one, is, that there is here
no mention of "the Poor "and "the Righteous," after the
words " They were afraid where no fear was. " This omission
gives the Psalm a more direct application to the pei-secutiou
of tlie Church by Antichrist than to the opposition offered by
him to our Lord personally ; and thus it may be taken as a
hynni of the Cluirch in the last days of its militant condition,
when the souls under the Altar will cry, "How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost Thou not jud..;.> and avenge our blood on
them that d\vell on the earth ? " and when Antichrist haxing
552
Ct)C Psalms.
lOth Day. |Ps. 54, 55.]
God hath broken the bones of him that besieged
thee ; thou hast put them to confusion, because
God hath despised them.
7 " Oh, that the salvation were given unto
Israel out of Sion : Oh, that the Lord would
deliver His people out of captivity.
8 Then should Jacob rejoice : and Israel
should be right glad.
THE LrV'. PSALM.
Deus, in Nomine.
and
SAVE me, O God, for Thy Xame's sake
avenge me in Thy strength.
2 Hear my prayer, O God : and hearken unto
the words of my mouth.
3 For 'strangers are risen up against me : and
tyrants, which have not God before their eyes,
seek after my soul.
i Behold, God is my Helper : the Loed is with
them that uphold my soul.
5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies :
destroy Thou them in Thy truth.
6 An offering of a free heart will I give Thee,
and praise Thy Name, Lord : because it is so
comfortable.'
7 For He hath delivered me out of all my
trouble : and mine eye hath seen His desire upon
mine enemie.s.
THE LV. PSALM.
Exaudi, Deus.
HEAR my prayer, O God :
Thyself from my petition.
and hide not
2 Take heed unto me, and hear me : how I
mourn in my prayer, and am vexed.
3 The enemy crieth so, and the ungodly cometh
on so fast : for they are minded to do me some
mischief, so maliciously are they set against me.
4 My heart is disquieted within me : and the
fear of death is fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulnes.s and trembling are come ujion
me : and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed
me.
I Ps. 14. 11.
LIV.
/fist. David : when
lictrayed by Zipli-
itcs. (i Sam. 2^. 19,]
I.jturg. Good Fri-
day Mattiiis. S'.S.
??■ Sunday and all
Festivals. Prime.
Good Friday Mat-
tins. 2nd Noct.
Easter Eve, 3rd
Noct.
b i.e. Aliens or
foreigners.
c ictf foolnole i.
Nisf. D.avid ; on his
fliylit from Jeiusa-
lem. [2 Sam. 15J
Litiirg. S. g. g.
Wed. Mattins.
Quoniam Deus dissipavit ossa eorum qui
hominibus placent : confusi sunt, quoniam Deus
sprevit eos.
Quis dabit ex Sion salutare Israel ! cum con-
verterit Deus captivitatem plebis Suae : exsul-
tabit Jacob, et Isetabitur Israel.
PSALMUS LIIL
DEUS, in Nomine Tuo salvum me fac : et in
virtute Tua judica me.
Deus, exaudi orationem meam : auribus per-
cipe verba oris mei.
Quoniam alieni iiisurre.xerunt adver.sum me, et
fortes ciUK.sierunt animam meam : et non pro-
po.suerunt Deu.v ante coiispectum siuim.
Ecce enim Deus adjuvat me : et Doiiixus
susceptor est anim;B meie.
Averte mala inimicis meis : et in veritate Tua
disperde illos.
Voluntarie sacriiicabo Tibi ; et confitebor
Nomini Tuo, Domine ; quoniam boniim est.
Quoniam ex omni tribulatione eripuisti me : et
super inimicos meos despexit oculus meus.
PSALMUS LIV.
EXAUDI, Deus, orationem meam : et ne
despeseris deprecationem meam ; intends
mihi, et exaudi me.
Contristatus sum in exercitatioue mea : et con-
turbatus sum a voce inimici, et a tribulatione
peccatoris.
Quoniam declinaverunt in mc iniquitates : et
in ira molesti erant mihi.
Cor meum conturbatum est in me : et formido
mortis cecidit super me.
Timor et tremor venerunt super me : et cou-
texerunt me tenebrw.
been empowered " to make war with the saints and to over-
come tliem," they also will cry, " Oh, that the salvation were
given unto Lsrael out of Sion ; oh, that the Lord would
deliver His people out of captivity." But "he that leadeth
into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with
the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the
patience and faith of the saints." [Rev. xiii. 10.]
PSALM LIV.
The long-established custom of the Church has given us tlic
true meaning of this Psalm by appropriating it to the com-
memoration of our Blessed Lord's Passion. In the words
"Save me, Ood," we hear the same voice as that which
uttered the bitter cry which was taken from tlie t^enty-
»econd Psalm. In "strangers are risen up against me," wc
hear the predictiou, ages beforeliaml, of the fiict that Jesus
would be put to death liy a foreign ruler and foreign soldiers,
a circumstance in the last degree unlikely to have occurred
to the uninsnii-cd mind of a .Jew in David's time, hut clearly
foreseen and foreordained by God. In "the tyrants which
"■ mm/orUibk] i.e. elnnfflheninn. So the earliest English BiMos im.l
I»a. xli. 7, ■' And he minjortklc hyiii Willi nnilcs, t)iiit it sliuWe not he
mmml." And Phil. iv. Vi, " I may alio thingia in lilni thnt catn/oHUh
me." Tlic nltiiiiotc tlrrlvatlon of '• comfort " is from " fortla."
have not God before their eyes," we see the unjust conduct
of Pilate, who was convinced of the Holy Sufi'erer's innocence,
and yet condemned Him through fear of men. In "God is
my Helper" may be traced the spirit which prompted the
words, "Put up thy sword into tlie sheath," and "Thou
couldest have no power at all against Me, except it were
given thee from above." In the "offering of a free heart,"
we see the submission expressed in the w<u'ds " not My will
but Thine be tlonc," and the vnbuitary yielding up of His
life when no man had powc^r to tiike it from Him. Lastly,
the "vengeance ' spoken of here receives its proper interjirc-
tation by a comparison of the last words of the Psahn w ith
our Lord's words, " Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do." Tlie prayer was heard, and .Icsus, looking
forth from His Cross, "saw of the travail of His soul and was
satisfied," for even His enemies were afterwards made to be
at peace with Him by the power of His Intercession.
PSALM LV.
The sorrows of our Blessed Redeemer's Soul are here pre-
dicted by His owii inspiration, so that the prophecy becomes
a history, setting forth the mental troiilile which preceded
His Apprehension and Dcntli. Tliis anguish culminated in
the Agony of Gethsemanc ami the Cross, but it also pervaded
10th Day. [Ps. 55.]
Cf)c Psalms.
553
(5 And I said, O that I had wings like a dove :
for then would I flee away and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I get me away far ort' : and
remain in the wilih^ruess.
8 I would make haste to escape : because of
the stormy wind and tempest.
9 Destroy their tongues, O Lord, and divide
them : for I have spied unrighteousne.ss and strife
in the city.
10 Day and night 'they go abont within the
walls thereof : mischief also and sorrow are in
the midst of it.
1 \ Wickedness is therein : deceit and guile go
not out of their streets.
12 For it is not an open enemy that hath
done me this dishonour : for then I could have
borne it.
13 Neither was it mine adversary that did
magnify himself against me : for then pet-adven-
ture I would have hid my self from liim.
1-t But it was even thou, my companion : my
giiide, and mine own familiar friend.
15 We took sweet counsel together : and
wallced in the house of God as friends.
16 Let death come hastily upon them, and let
them go down ''quick into hell : for wickedness
is in their dwellings, and among them.
17 As for me, I will call upon God : and the
Lord shall save me.
18 In the evening, and morning, and at noon-
day will I pray, and that instantly : and He shall
hear my voice.
19 It is He that hath delivered my soul in
peace from the battle that was against me : for
there were many with me.
20 Yea, even God, that endureth for ever,
shall hear me, and bring them dowm : for they
will not turn, nor fear God.
21 He laid his hands upon such as be at
peace with him : and he brake his covenant.
22 The words of his mouth were softer than
butter, having war in his heart ; his words were
smoother than oil, and yet be they very swords.
fi I.e.
e II s n
strife."
"Ullriglit-
: !> s a n il
b Coiiip. Matt. 26.
r-;.i-. Aliv<
Num. i6.
. \Co»tf:
30. J
I'^t di.xi, quis dabit mihi pcnnas sicut columbie :
et volabo, et rcquiescam.
Ecce elongavi fugiens : et mansi in solitudine.
E.xspectabam eum qui salvuni me fecit : a
pusillanimitato spiritus et tempcstate.
Priecipita, Domine, divide linguas eorum :
quoniam vidi iniciuitatcm et contradictioneni in
civitatc.
Die ac nocte circundabit earn super mnros ejus
iniquitas : et labor in medio ejus et injustitia.
Et non defecit do plateis ejus : usura et dolus.
Quoniam si inimicus mens maledixisset mihi :
sustinuissem utique.
Et si is qui oderat me super me magna locutus
fuisset : abscondissem me forsitan ab eo.
Tu vero himio unanimis : dux mens ct notus
meus :
'''Qui simul mecum dulces eapiebas cibos : in
domo Dei ambulavimus cum consensu.
Veniat mors super illos : et descendant in
infermun viventes.
Quoniam nequitiaj in habitaculis eorum : in
medio eorum.
Ego autem ad Deum clamavi : et Dominus
salvavit me.
Vespere, et mane, et meridie narrabo et annun-
tiabo : et exaudiet vocem meam.
Redimet in pace animam meam ab his qui
appropinquant mihi : quoniam inter multos erant
mecum.
Exaudiet Deus, et humiliabit illos : qui est
ante siucula.
Non enim est illis commutatio, et non timue-
runt Deum : extendit manum suam in retribucndo.
Contaminaverunt testamentum ejus : divisi
sunt ab ira vultus ejus, et appvopinrpiavit cor
illius.
Molliti sunt sermones ejus super oleum : et
ipsi sunt jacula.
all His life, and especially that period of it when His Ministry
brought Him vitliin the nearer contemplation of man's
ingratitude.
That the holy Jesus suS'eved from the fear of death is a
proof of His perfect oneness in nature with those whom He
came to save. But He doubtless sufl'ered more than the
ordinary fear of death fi'om the knowledge that He was to
tread the winepress alone, and that of the people there was
none with Him. [Isa. Ixiii. .S.] As David went up the
"ascent of the Mount of Olivet, and wept as he went," on
the occasion when this I'salm was written, "the people that
was with him" were also "weeping as they went up." ['2
Sam. XV. 30.] But Mhen the Son of David stedfastly set His
face to go up to .Jerusalem, " He went before them " [Slai'k
X. 32], walking alone in such a manner as to show His
purpose, to amaze them and make them afraid. So, when in
the garden of Gethsemane, He first left the body of His
Apostles at the gate, and then "went a little further," that
He might be divided from the companionship even of the
three chosen disciples ; and as it to make His loneliness mo.c
complete, they could not even at a distance watch ii-illi Him,
but fell asleep. Alone He went with those who apprehended
Him, for "all forsook Him and fled;" alone He appeared
before the High Priest and Pilate, even Peter denying that
he was His friend ; alone He Imng upon the Cross, His dis-
ciples "standuig afar off." Such utter isolation in His
sufferings and sorrows may have aggravated greatly the fear
of death, and the horrible dread by which He was over-
whelmed ; and still more would tliat fear be aggi'avated by
the "storm and tempest" of the bitter and tumultuous
assembly by which He was surroiuided.
The twelfth and following verses contaiu an indication of
the character of that intercourse between Christ and His
Apostles which led Him to say that He had called them
friends and not servants, and tliat, whereas a servant knew
not his master's will, they, as friends, had been admitted to
take sweet counsel with Him. It was one of these whose
words were smoother than oil when he said, ' ' Master, Master,
and kissed Him," and yet were as the piercing of a .sword,
since they were words with which he betrayed that Master.
It was to that one that, even at the last, the meek, loving,
and forgix-ing Jesus said, " Frknd, wherefore art thou
come ? "
The peculiar circumstances under which St. Peter quoted
the twenty-third verse, "casting all your care upon Him, for
He careth for yon," show that this Psalm may be taken also
as the words of Christ's mystical Body, speaking of the
troubles wliich come upon her from Antichrist. The afflic-
tions of the Church under Nero's persecution foreshadowed
those which will come upon her in the latter daj's, as is
554
Cbc Ipsalms.
nth Day. [Ps. 56.1
23 O cast thy burden upon the Lokd, and He
shall nourish thee : and shall not suffer the right-
eous to fall for ever.
24 And as for them : Thou, O Ood, shalt
bring them into the pit of destruction.
2-5 The blood-thirsty and deceitful men shall
not live out half their days : nevertheless, my
trust shall be in Thee, Lord.
Day 11. MORNING PRAYER.
THE LVI. r.SALM.
Miserere mei, Deus.
► E merciful unto me, O God, for man goeth
B'
about to devour me : he is daily "fightin;
and troubling me.
2 :Mine enemies are "daily in hand to swallow
nie up : for they be many that fight against me,
O Thou most Highest.
3 Nevertheless, though I am sometime afraid :
yet put I my trust in Thee.
•i I will praise God, liecause of His word : I
have put my trust in God, and will not fear what
flesh can do unto me.
.5 They daily mistake my words : all that they
imagine is to do me evil.
6 They hold all together, and keep themselves
close : and mark my steps, when they lay wait
for my soul.
7 Shall they escape for their wickedness :
Thou, O God, in Thy displea.sure shalt cast them
do^^^l.
8 Thou tellest my ''flittings; put my tears
into Thy bottle : are not these things noted in
Thy book ?
9 Whensoever I call upon Thee, then shall
mine enemies be put to flight : this I know ; for
God is on my side.
10 In God's word will I rejoice : in the Lord's
word will I comfort me.
1 1 Yea, in God have I put my trust : I will
not be afraid what man can do unto me.
12 Unto Thee, O God, will I pay my vows :
unto Thee wiU I give thanks.
LVI.
Hist. At the court
of Achish. Lt ^aiii.
51. 14.)
Liturg. ^. ^. ^.
Wed. Mattins.
a i.e. All the day.
b i.e. Tliou miiiiber.
est my wanderings.
Jacta super Domixum curam tuam et Ipse te
enutriet : et uon dabit in uetemum fluctuationem
iusto.
Tu vero, Deus, deduces eos : in puteum interi-
tus.
Viri sanguinum et dolosi non dimidiabunt dies
suos : ego autem sperabo in Te, DosiiXE.
PSALMUS LV.
MISERERE mei, Deus, quoniam concidcavit
me homo ; tota die impugnians tribulavit
me.
Conculcaverunt me inimici mei tota die :
quoniam nuilti bellantes adversum nie.
Ab altitudine diei timebo : ego vero in Te
sperabo.
In Deo laudabo sermones meos ; in Dko
speravi : non timebo quid faciat mihi caro.
Tota die verba mea execrabantur : adversum
me omnes cogitationes eorum in malum.
Inhabitabunt et abscondent : ipsi caleaneum
meum observabunt.
Sicut sustinueruut animam meam, pro nihihi
salvos facies illos : in ira populos confringes.
Deu.s, vitam meam annuntiavi Tibi : posuisti
lachrymas meas in conspectu Tuo.
Sicut et in promissione Tua : tunc convertentur
inimici mei retrorsum.
In quacunque die invocavero Te : ecce cognovi
quoniam Detts meus es.
In Deo laudabo verbum, in Domino laudabo
sermonem : in Deo speravi, non timebo quid
faciat mihi homo.
In me sunt, Deus, vota Tua : quro reddam,
laudationes Tibi.
shown by our Lord's prophecy of both those periods. And
as the .Jews led ou the persecution of the Church whenever
opportunity offered, so, doul)tless, there will be those wlio
ought to be loving brethren, but will prove the most bitter of
foes, in the terrible per.secntion of Antichrist. Tlius many
verses of this Psalm have a future application tcj the position
of the Church, as well as a past application to the sorrows of
Christ. And they may, in a degi-ee, be applied to all periods
of trouble which fall upon the City of God, through the con-
stant and persistent antagonism of " the Prince of this world."
PSAL.M LVI.
The tone of this Psalm agi'ees with that of the preceding :
and it as clearly refers to that lifelong persecution which our
Lord underwent from thnsc wlio lay w.ait for Him, wlio
endeavoured to entangle Him in His talk, and wlio daily
mistouU His woi'ds, by imputing to Him treasou against (lod
and man. But altliougli man was lliu.s imagining evil against
Christ, all His life was laid open before the I'Ighteous .hidge,
His sorrows were nfited in fJoil's Book of remembrance, and
"when He had offeriMl up prayers and supiilications, with
strong crying and teai-s, unto Him that w.as .able to .lave Him
from death, He w.as heard in th.at He feared."
There is also to be found in this I^salm a direct and
particular reference tu the Passion of our Lord. "Man'
going about to devour Him represents in one sense concrete
human nature, the sins of which were the cause of all Clu'ist's
trouble ; but, in another sense, the Adversary who is ever
going about seeking whom he may devour, and of whom our
Lord sometimes spoke parabolically under the figure of a
human Enemy. The "daily "of verses 1 and 2 should be
understood as "all the day long," and the "swallowing up"
of the same verses bears also the sense of pressing do\ni, as of
grapes into a wine-vat. Thus we have given to us a key to
the interpretation of the Psalm as .s])oken of that day when
our Piedccincr's Body and Soul -were afflicted so sorely by the
sins of mankind, and bruised in the winepress of the wrath
of Ood, that the life-giving blood might How forth as an
offering of Atonement and a fountain of health : of that day
when f'eai' boic Him down from the sixth hour to the ninth —
" from tlie height of the day " — during the time of darkness ;
when tlicy mistook even His last cry of anguish for a cry
after human succour ; when some marked His stejis by sitting
down and watching Him in a spirit of mere cniel curiosity,
and otlicrs lay wait for His Soul by .saying, " Let be, let us
.see whether Elias will come to save Him."
.So solemn a meaning of this Psalm will warn against its too
close application to the troubles of onr ordinary life. The
member of ('hrist is, indeed, surrounded by spiritual enemies,
the Evil One and all his evil instruments, and against these
the prayerful words of the I'salm may legitimately be used.
nth Day. [Fs. 57, 58.)
Cf)c i>salm9.
555
1 3 For Thou hast delivered my soul from
death, and my feet from falling : that I may
walk liefore God in the light of the living.
THE LVII. PSALM.
.Miserere mei, Deus.
BE merciful uuto me. O God, be merciful
unto me, for my .soul trusteth in Thee :
and under the shadow of Thy wings shall be my
refuge, until this tyranny be over-past.
2 I will call unto the most high God : even
unto the God that shall perform the cause which
I have in hand.
3 He shall .send from heaven : and save me
from the reproof of him that would eat iiio up.
■l God .shall send forth His mercy and truth :
my soul is among lions.
5 And I lie even among the children of men,
that are set on fire : whose teeth are spears and
arrows, and their tongue a sliarp .sword.
6 Set up Thyself, O God, above the heavens :
and Thy glory al)ove all the earth.
7 They have laid a net for my feet, and
pressed down ray soul : they have digged a pit
before me, and are fallen into the midst of it
themselves.
8 "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fi.xed :
I will sing, and give praise.
9 ''Awake up, my glory; awake, lute and harp:
I my self will awake right early.
10 'I will give thanks imto Thee, O Lord,
among the people : and I \vill sing unto Thee
among the nations.
11 ""For the greatness of Thy mercy reacheth
unto the heavens : and Thy truth unto the clouds.
12 'Set up Thyself, O God, above the heavens :
and Thy glory above all the earth.
THE LVIII. P.SALM.
Si vere utique.
ARE your minds set upon righteousness, ye
-lA_ congregation : and do ye judge the thing
that is right, O ye sons of men ?
LVH.
//isi. At the c.nvc
of Adullaiii. L>
Haul. 22.]
Lihiri:. Hastcr Day.
tMattin.s. &.l;>.|^.
Wed. Matlins.
d Ps. loS. 4.
e Ps. loS. 5.
LVIII.
Hut. At the cave
of Adullaiii. [i
Sam. 22.]
l.iltirs- 5- fi. 'S-
Wed. Mattiiis.
Quoniam eripuisti animam mcam dc morte, et
pedes mcos de lap.su : ut placeam coram l)JiO in
lumine viventium.
PSALMUS LVI.
MISERERE mei, Dkus, miserere mei : quo-
niam in Te confidit aiiima mea.
Et in umbra alarum Tuarum sperabo : donee
transeat initpiitatis.
Clamubo ad Deum altissimum : Deum Qui
benefecit milii.
Misit de coelo, et liberavit me : dedit in oppro-
brium cimculcantes me.
Misit Deus inLserieordiain Suaiu et vcritatem
Suiim : et eripuit animam nieam de medio catu-
lorum leonum ; dormivi conturbatus.
Filii hominum dentes eorum arma et sagitt;u :
et lingua eorum gladius acutus.
E.xaltare super ccelos, Deu.s : et in omnem
terrain gloria Tua.
Laqueum paraverunt pedibus meis : et incur-
vaverunt animam meam.
Foderunt ante faciem meam foveam : et inci-
derunt in eam.
Paratum cor meum, Dei's, i)aratuin cor meum ;
cantabo et psalmum dicain Domino.
Exsurge gloria mea, exsurge psalterium et
cithara : exsurgam diluculo.
Confltebor Tibi in populis, Dojiine : et psal-
mum dicam Tibi in gentibus :
Quoniam magnificata est usque ad cceIos
misericordia Tua : et usque ad nubes verita.s Tua.
Exaltare super ca-los, Deus : et super omnem
terrain gloria Tua.
PSALMUS LVII.
SI vere utique justitiam loquimini : recta judi-
cate filii hominum.
But words tliiit were primarily spoken as a prophecy relating
to tlic persecution of Christ are infinitely too solemn to be
referred to the human foes, however evil, of any other human
person, however saintly.
Of tlie Church as a body, the whole Psalm may, however,
l)c used without such hesitation, seeing that all foes of Christ
are also cuemies of His Church, and that they who persecute
the Church are re-opening the wounds of the Crucified Jesus
Himself. [Acts i-x. 5.]
PSALM LVII.
The Easter character of this Psalm is evident in the sixth
and the last five verses, the latter of which are identical with
the first five verses of the lOSth Psalm.
It was wi-itten Viy David when in the Cave of AduUam, to
wliich there is supposed to be some reference in the appeal of
the first verse to a refuge under the shadow of Cod's wings,
and in the expression " my soul is among lions," in the fourth
verse. These early verses are not less applical)Ie to the Son
of David, however, than the latter ones, describing as they
do the bitter tyranny with which He was persecuted, con-
demned, and tormented by those who " digged a pit before
Him," and afterwards fell into the destniction which they
had prepared for Him and His.
And as of David in the Cave of AduUam, and among lions
in the surrounding wilderness ; as of Christ on the Cross and
in the Cave wherein He was buried ; so does the Psalm sing
of His mystical Body taking refuge in " dens and caves of the
earth," cast to the lions in tlie amphitheatre, smitten and
slain with a tyranny to which the world never saw a parallel :
and yet ever saying, "Under the shadow of Thy wings shall
be my refuge, until the day-dawn come, and 1 awake right
early. "
The prophetic reference to Christ as (iod in the sixth and
twelfth verses is strikingly plain. It is the voice of the
Church calling upon Him to cro\™ His Passion ^vith His
Resurrection, and answering His words, " I Jlyself will
awake right early," \At\\ tlie cliorus, " Set up Thyself,
Cod, above the heavens;" "Awake up, My glory," with
" .Set up Thy glory above all the earth."
And as the Church has part with Christ in His Sufferings,
so also in the joy and triumph of His ResuiTection. While
therefore the Head sings, " Awake up. My glory ... I
Myself will awake right early," the prophetic echo is heard,
" Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body sh.all
they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust : for Thy
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the eartli sh.-ill cast out the
dead." [Isa. xxvi. 19.]
PSALM LVIII.
David was not at any time brought before a "congrega-
556
Cf)e IPsalms.
nth Day. [Ps. 59. j
•2 Yea, ye imagine mischief in your heart upon
the earth : and your hands deal with wickedness.
.'i The ungodly are froward, even from their
motlier's womb : as soon as they are born, they
go astray, and speak lies.
4 They are as venomous as the poLson of a
serpent : even like the deaf adder that stoppeth
her ears ;
.3 Which refuseth to hear the voice of the
charmer : charm he never so wisely.
6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths,
smite the jaw-bones of the lions, O Lord : let
them fall away like water that runneth apace, and
when they shoot their arrows let them be rooted
out.
7 Let them consume away like a snail, and be
like the untimely fruit of a woman : and let them
not see the sun.
8 Or ever your pots be made hot with thorns :
so let indignation vex liim, even as a tiling that
is raw.
9 "The righteoius shall rejoice when he seeth
the vengeance : he shall w^ash his footsteps in the
blood of the ungodly.
10 So that a man shall say. Verily there is a
reward for the righteous : doubtless there is a
God that judgeth the earth.
DxY 11. Evening Prayer.
THE LIX. PSALM.
Eripe me de inimicis.
ELIYER me from mine enemies, God :
defend me from them that rise up against
and
D
2 O deliver me from the wicked doers
save me from the blood-thirsty men.
3 For lo, they lie waiting for my soul : the
mighty men are gathered against me, without
any oft'encc or fault of me, O Loed.
4 They run and prepare themselves without
my fault : arise Thou therefore to heljj me, and
behold.
5 Stand up, O Lokd God of hosts. Thou God
of Israel, to visit all the heathen : and be not
merciful unto them that ofl'end of malicious
wickedness.
LIX.
//is/. David ; on liii
flight from Saul.
[I Sam. 19. II. J
Liturf. S. g. g.
Wed. M <l 1 1 i n 5.
Good Friday. 3rd
Noct.
Passion Ps. 4.
Etenim in corde iniquitates operanuni in terra :
injustitias enim manas vestra; concinnant.
Alienati sunt peccatores a vulva ; erraveruut
ab utero : locuti sunt falsa.
Furor illis secundum similitudinem serpentis :
sicut aspidis surdse et obturantis aures suas.
Qu!B non exaudiet vocem incantantium : et
venefici incantantis sapienter.
Deus conteret dentes eorum in ore ipsorum :
molas leonum confringet Do.minus.
Ad nihilum devenient tanquam aqua decurrens:
intendit arcum suum donee infirmentur.
Sicut cera qu» iluit, auferentur : supercecidit
ignis, et non viderunt solem.
Priusquam intelligerent spinas vestrsc rhamnum :
sicut viventes, sic in ira abaorbet eos.
Laitabitur justua cum viderit vLndictam : inanus
suas lavabit in sanguine peccatoris.
Et dicet homo, Si utique est fructus justo :
utique est Dzus judicans eos in terra.
PSALMUS LVIII.
ERIPE me de inimicis meis, Deus meus
ab insurgentibus in me libera me.
et
Eripe me de operantibu.s iniquitatem : et de
viris sanguinum salva me.
Quia ecce ceperunt animam meam : irruerunt
in me fortes.
Kcque iniquitas mea, neque peccatiuu meum,
DoMiNE : sine iniquitate cucurri, et diresi.
Exsurge in occursiuu meum, et vide : et Tu,
DoMiNE, Deus virtutum, Deus Israel.
Intende ad visitandas omnes gentes : non
miserearis omnibus qui operantur iniquitatem.
tion," or assembly of judges, nor was his conduct ever debated
in a judicial sense by those who gave counsel to Saul or
Absalom. Our Lord was, however, brought before tlie
Sanhudrin, the supreme asseml)Iy of judicature among the
.Jews, and tlie Psalm has a literal meaning m respect to Him
which it lias not in respect to David. To the unjust judge-
ment of those who condemned Christ, and to the Jewish
nation a.s represented by them, this Psalm must be considered
to apply ; and as, in the preceding one, the cniel severity of
His foes ia spoken of. so here is their cruel injustice. The
comparison of these unjust judges to jioisoiious scrjients meets
with a parallel in the expression used Ijoth l)y St. .John the
liaptist and our Lord, "ye generation of vipers;" and tlie
reference to tlie deafness of the viper or adder is a prediction
of the spirit in wliicli the judges of our Lonl said, " What
need we any further witness ': " and in which those who
stoned tlie first martyr of His C'liurcli " cried out with a loud
voice, and stopped their ear.i, and ran upon liiiii with one
accord." It was venomous hatred which prompted the foes
of Christ and His Church, in both cases, and not a desire for
either tnith or justice.
In the latter verses of the Psalm there arc some of those
terrible imprecations upon which some comments are given
in the notes at page 568. Tlie explanation of the eighth
verse (as it is given in the Prayer Book version) appears to be
conveyed in such a paraphrase as "Tliough your cooking
vessels can be rapiiUy lieated by the quickly-burning tliorns
gathered in the ^rilderness, yet the indignation of God shall
more quickly overtake these unjust judges: swiftly as raw
tiesh could be thus sodden, more swiftly shall the fii'e of God's
wrath destroy them." [See also Ami. Bible, ii. G6S.]
PSALM LIX.
This Psalm has been universally interpreted as being spoken
of our Lord's Passion and the destruction of the Jewish nation.
It is .also prophetic of the suti'erings of Christ's mystical Body,
and of the ultimate ovcrtlirow of Aiitichristian power.
In the first words we have a parallel to the historical words
of our Lord, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me,"
the human nature of Clirist being made porfeot in weakness,
so that He might ascribe His strength unto tlie Divine Nature.
The liloodthirstiness of the Jews was conspicuously shown in
their conduct before Pilate: for when he desired to release
Christ, they cried, "Crucify Him, ermafy Him;'' and when
I'ilate washed his hands before them, they willingly accepted
the responsibility thrown upon them by that act, saying,
"liia blood be on us .and on our children." Such a thirsting
nth Day. [Ps. 60.]
Cfjc Jpsalmg.
55!
G Tlicy go to and fro in tlie evening : thoy
"grin like a dog, and run aboul through tlic
city.
7 Behold, they speak with tlieir mouth, and
sword.s are in their lips : for who doth hear'f
8 But Thou, O Lord, .shalt have them in
derision : and Thou shalt laugh all the lieatlicn
to scorn.
9 My strength will I ascribe unto Thcc : for
Thou art tlie God of my refuge.
10 God sheweth me His goodness plenteously:
and God .shall let me .see my desire upon mine
enemies.
1 1 Slay them not, lest my people forget it :
but scatter them abroad among the people, and
put them down, O Lord, our defence.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and for the
words of their lips they shall be taken in their
pride : and why ? their preaching is of cursing
and lies.
13 Consume them in Thy wrath, consume
them, that they may perish : and know that it is
God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of
the world.
14 And in the evening they will return : 'grin
like a dog, and will go about the city.
15 They will run here and there for meat :
and grudge if they be not satisfied.
IG As for me, I will sing of Thy power, and
will praise Thy mercy betimes in the morning :
for Thou hast been my Defence and Refuge in the
day of my trouble.
17 Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing :
for Thou, O God, art my Refuge, and my merci-
ful God.
THE LX. PSALM.
Deus, repulisti uos.
OGOD, Thou hast cast us out, and scattered
us abroad : Thou hast also been displeased,
O turn Thee unto us again.
2 Thou hast moved the land, and divided it :
heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast shewed Thy people heavy things :
Thou hast given us a drink of deadly wine.
■D.v.iiiikca
i.r. Ilowl.
6B.V. inikca
i.e, howl.
LX.
Hist. David J his
war with Syria and
Edom. [2 Sam. 8.]
Ul,4yg. a. p. ¥).
Wed. Mattins.
Convertentur ad ve.speram, ct fanieni patientiir
ut canes : et circuibunt civitatem.
Ecce loquentur in ore suo et gladius in labile
eorum : quoniam quis audivit (
Et Tu, DoMiNK, dcridebis eos : et ad nihilum
deduces omnes gentes.
Fortitudinem meam ad Te custodiam, quia
Deus susceptor mens : Deu.s mcus, misericordia
Ejus praiveniet me.
Deus ostendit mihi .s\iper inimicos mcos ; nc
occidas eos : ncquando obliviscantur populi mei.
Disperge illos in virtutc Tua : et depone eos
protector mens, Domine.
Delictum oris eorum, sermonem labiorum ipso-
rum : et comprehendantur in superbia sua.
Et de execratione et mendacio : annuntiabun-
tur in consummatione.
In ira consummationLs, et non enmt : et scient
quia Deus dominabitur Jacob et finium terrae.
Convertentur ad vesperani, et famem patientur
ut canes : circuibunt civitatem.
Ipsi dispergentur ad miinducandum : si vero
non fuerint saturati, et murmurabunt.
Ego autem cantabo fortitudinem Tuam : et
esaltabo mane misericordiam Tuam.
Qiria factus es susceptor meus : et refugium
meum in die tribulationis mea3.
Adjutor mcus, Tibi psallam : quia Deus sus-
ceptor meus es ; Deu.s meus, misericordia mea.
PSALMUS LIX.
DEUS, repulisti nos, et destruxi.sti nos : iratus
es ct misertus es nobis.
Commovisti terram et conturbasti eam : sana
contritiones ejus ; c^iua commota est.
Ostendisti populo Tuo dura : potasti nos vino
compunctionis.
for His blood on the part of His brethren was doubtless an
addition to the bitterness of Christ's suflering. It is com-
pared in this Psalm to the savage voracity of the dogs of
Eastern cities, whose wild ferocity is notorious to this day,
and the comparison recalls the words of the prophet Zepha-
iiiah, " Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges
.are evening wolves."
It is observable that this Psabn presents the unconverted
Jews under tlie aspect of heathen, for to them as the perse-
cutors of our Lord the words of the Psalm plainly apply.
This is explained by Theodoret as a result of the change of
circumstances which has taken place since their persistent
and national rejection of our Lord: "The Je\vs, who once
were the chilih'en, have, for their own wickedness, Iicen de-
graded to the rank of dogs; while the f4en tiles, who were
once dogs, have been advanced to the dignity of sons."
Nothing can, in fact, be more repugnant to Christianity than
the Judaism of Christian times. The .Judaism of ancient days
derived all its reality from Christ, to Whom all its ordinances
looked forward, and upon Whom they all depended for their
efficacy. But the Judaism of Christian times i-ejects Christ
altogether, and hence the very substance of the ancient faith,
with which it professes to be one, is eliminated ; and since
there is none other Name under Heaven by which men
must be saved, that system which rejects the Saviour is mere
heathenism, or, at best, a mere empty imitation of the re-
ligion professed by Moses, David, and the Prophets.
Thus the Jews have become the enemies of Christ, and of
the one C'hurch in which there Is salvation. This they have
ever shewn themselves to be in days when they had oppor-
tunity to lead pei-secutious, and it is likely that the fourteenth
verse of this Psalm predicts a time when they will again
return, in the evening of the world's history as in the evening
of our Lord's life, and devastate the City of God. ^\^len
such a period arrives the C'hurch will look forward as Christ
did ; and though bowed down with the evening of trouble,
look forwai-d to a Resurrection of triumph, wlien she may
sing her new song, praising God's mercy betimes in the
morning, because He has been her refuge, and her merciful
God.
PSALM LX.
As the last Psalm was a prophecy respecting the rejection
of those among the ancient people of God who reject Christ,
so this is the prophetic pleading of those among them who
recognize the token, or banner of the Cross, which He has
given for an ensign to all people, and a sign of His truth.
[Veree 4.] As a body " Israel hath not obtained that which
he seeketh for," but there were multitudes of Jew:; from the
Apostles downward who believed in Christ, and they were
558
Cfje Psalms
12th Day. [Ps. 61, 62.]
4 Thou hast given a token for such as fear
Thee : that they may triumph because of the
truth.
5 "Therefore were Thy beloved delivered : help « ps. ,o8, 6.
lue with Thy right hand, and hear me.
6 'God hath spoken in His holiness, I will «ps, ,08. ?.
rejoice, and divide Sichem : and mete out the
valley of Succoth.
7 '"Gilead is Mine, and Manasses is Mine :ifPs. loae.
Ephraim also is the strength of My head ; Jiidah I
is ily lawgiver,
8 Moab is My washpot ; over Edom will I ca.st
out My shoe : Philistia, be thou glad of Me. t
9 ''Who will lead me into the .strong city : who ^ps. los. 10
\~ill bring me into Edom ?
10 'Hast not Thou cast us out, O God : wilt tPs. 108. n.
not Thou, O God, go out -n-ith our hosts i !
1 1 '0 be Thou our help in trouble : for vain is Vps. ios. 12,
the help of man.
12 ''Through God will we do great acts : for it U'Ps. ios. 13
is He that .shall tread down our enemies.
THE LXI. PSALM.
Exaudi Deus.
DedLsti metuentibus Te significationem
fusiant a facie arcus.
ut
HEAE my crying, O God : give ear nnto my
prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth will I call np<in
Thee : when my heart is in heaviness.
3 O set me up upon the Rock that is higher
than I : for Thou hast been my Hope, and a
strong Tower for me against the enemy.
■1 I will dwell in Thy tabernacle for ever : and
my trust shall be under the covering of Thy
wings.
5 For Thou, O Lord, hast heard my desires :
and hast given an heritage unto those that fear
Thy Name.
G Thou shaft grant the King a long life : that
his years may endure throughcjut all generations.
7 He sh.all dwell before God for ever : O pre-
pare Thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they
may preserve him.
8 So will I always sing praise unto Thy Name :
that I may daUy perform my vows.
D.\Y 12. MORNING PRAYER.
THE LXII. PSALM.
Noune Deo ?
MY soul truly waiteth still upon God
Him cometh my salvation.
LXI.
}/ir!. L'avid ; his
war with Syria and
Edom. [2 Sam. ?.]
/.,/.,^f. S. g. JJ.
^\■e<l. Mattins.
.\postIes and Evan-
gelists, Name of
Jesus, 2nd Noct,
for of
LXII.
//ix/. David ; las
w.lr with Syria antl
Edom. [2 Sam. 8.]
Litiirg. S. S- %•
Wed. Mattin.s.
Ut liberentur dilecti Tui : salvuni fao dextera
Tua, et exaudi me.
Del's locutus est in sancto Sun : Liutabor et
partibor Sichimam ; et convallem taVjernaculorum
metibor.
!Meus est Galaad, et Mens est Jilanasses ; et
Ephraim fortitudo capitis ifei.
Juda rex Mens : Moab oUa spei Me;e.
In Idumieam extendam calceamentuiii Menm :
]\Iilii alienigenaa subditi sunt.
Quis deducet me iu civitateiii munitam : quis
deducet me usque in Idumieam ?
Nonne Tu, Deus, Qui repulisti uos : et non
egredieris, Deus, in virtutibus nostris '?
Da nobis auxilium de tril.mlatione : quia vana
salus hominis.
In Deo faciemus virtutcm : et Ipse ad nilulnni
deducet tribulantes nos.
PSALMUS LX.
EXAUDI, Deus, deprecationem meam : in-
tende orationi me*.
A finibus terra; ad Te clamavi, dum anxiaretur
cor meum : in petra exaltasti me.
Deduxisti me, quia factus es spcs mea : turris
fortitudinis a facie ininiici.
Inhabitabo in tabernaculo Tuo in skcuIo : pro-
tegar in velamento alarum Tuarum.
Quoniam Tu, Deus meiLS, exaudisti orationem
meam : dedisti hjereditatem tiraentilius Nomen
Tuum.
Dies .super dies regis adjicies ; annos ejus
usque in diem generationis et generationis.
Permanet in sternum in conspectu Dei : miseri-
cordiam et veritatem Ejus quis requiret ?
Sic psahuum dicam Nomini Tuo in sjBculum
sseculi : ut reddam vota mea de die in diem.
PSALMUS LXI.
"VrONNE Deo subjecta erit aniina mea?
-i-^ Ipso enim salutare meum.
ab
"the election" wlio " hatli obtaiiieil it." [Kom. .\i. 7.] Tlie
full meaning of this Psalm will pioliably be brought out in a
blaze of light by some great con\ersioii of the .lews in tlui
latter day.s, when they will recognize the sign of the .Son of
.Man, and call uijon Him to go forth with tlicir hosts to the
■■' strong city," the new Jerusalem descending out of Heaven
fron\ God. .Vml whether or not it be God's puifose to restore
His ancient people to their land, as the sixth and three
following verses might be thought to intimate, they must
certainly be gatherccl in to a blessed home if they are taken
into the Church of their licdeemer.
The Psalm h.os an evident application to any season of
trouble in the Church of God, and is at all times a call
upon Christians to look to the Cross of their Saviour as the sign
of truth, and of victory over the (aiemies of the faith as well
•as over spiritual foes.
PSALM LXL
This is the aspiration of the Church of Christ, which He
has placed even in " the ends of the earth," .and of which Hf
has promised that it should be founded on the Kock of His
Person, so that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
Tims Christ speaks in His mystical Body ; declaring (1) the
perpetual dependence of tlie Church on hei- Head, (2) the
everlasting reign of Christ in and with those who have been
made " kings and priests " by His redeeming love, and (.'))
the never-ending work of adoration which is commenced in
the day-by-day worship of tlie Church Militant, and perfected
in the joy and praise of the ('hurch Triumph;int.
From one cncl of tlie eartli to the other, tluii, tlie Church of
Christ is beseeching Him to draw closer that union with Him-
self which is here spoken of .as a setting up upon the Rock. She
is pleading the merit of His Intercession Whose desires have
been heard, and Who, looking fiuth on the heritage gained
by the travail of His ,Soul, was satislied. Knowing His prayer,
" That they all may be one ; as Tliou, Father, art in -Me, and
I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us" [.fohn xvii. 21].
she knows that He \Vho was ilead and is alive again. Who is
12th Day. [Ps. 63. J
Cbe Psalms.
559
2 Ho vorily is my 8trengtli luul luy Salviition :
He is my Defence, so that I shall not greatly fall.
3 How long will ye imagine niischiof against
every man : ye .sliall be slain all the sort of you ;
yea, as a tottering wall shall ye be, and like a
l)roken hedge.
4 Their device is only how to put him out
whom God will c^alt : their delight is in lies,
they give good words with their mouth, but curse
witli their heart.
5 Nevertheless, my soul, wait thou still ujion
God : for my hope is in Him.
G He truly is my Strength and my Salvation :
He is my Defence, so that I shall not fall.
7 In God is my health, and my glory : the
rock of my might, and in God is my trust.
8 O put your trust in Him alway, ye people :
pour out your hearts before Him, for God is our
Hope.
9 As for the children of men, they are but
vanity : the children of men are deceitful upon
the weights, they are altogetlier lighter than
vanity itself.
1 O trust not in wrong and robbery, give not
yourselves mito vanity : if riches increase, set not
your heart upon them.
11 God spake once, and twice I have also
heard the same ; that prnver belongeth unto
God;
12 And that Thou, Lord, art merciful : for
Thou rewardest every man according to his work.
THE LXIII. PSALM,
Deus, Deus mens.
OGOD, Thou art my God : early will I seek
Thee.
2 My soul thirsteth for Thee, my Hosli also
longeth after Thee : in a barren and dry land
where no water is.
3 Thus have I looked for Thee in holiness :
that I might behold Thy power and glory.
■1 For Thy loving-kindness is better than the
life itself : n.7 lips shall praise Thee.
5 As long as I live will I magnify Thee on this
manner ; and lift up my hands in Thy Name.
6 j\Iy soul shall be satisfied even as it were
with marrow and fatness : when my mouth
praiseth Thee with joyful lips.
Lxin.
Hist. David ; on Ab-
salom's rebellion.
Lituty. S. B. 18.
l-auds. Icri.il ami
festival. Lauils i-f
the departed.
l-.astefii. A daily
Morning Psalm.
Nam et Ipso Duns mens et salutaris mcus :
susceptor mens uon movebor amplius.
Quousiiuo irruitis in hominem : interficitis
univcrsi vos, tanquam parieti inclinato ct maceria;
depnlsio ?
Veruntamen pretium meuni cogitaverunt repel-
lere : cucurri in siti ; ore suo benedicebant, et
corde suo uialcilicebant.
Veruntamen Dko subjecta esto anima mea :
quoniam ab Ipso patientia m(;:i.
Qui Ipse Diius mens ct salv.ator mens : adjutor
mens ; non emigrabo.
In Deo salutare meuni, et gloria niea : Deus
auxilii mei ; et spes inca in Deo est.
Sperate in Eo oninis congrcgatio pijpuli : efl'un-
dite coram Illo cordii vestra; Deus adjutor noster
in isternum.
Veruntamen vani filii hominum, mendaces filii
hominum in statcris ; ut decipiant ipsi de vanitate
in idipsum.
Nolite sperare in iniquitatc, et rapinas nolite
concupiscere : divitiae si affluant, nolite cor aj)-
ponere.
Semel locutus est Deus, duo hasc audivi ; quia
[lotestas Dei est, et Tibi, Domixe, misericordia :
quia Tu reddes unicuique juxta opera sua.
D
rSALMUS LXII.
EUS, Deus mens : ad Te de luce vigilo.
Sitivit in Te anima mea : quam multipliciter
Tibi caro mea.
In terra deserta, invia, et inaquosa ; sic in
sancto apparui Tibi : ut viderem virtutem Tuam,
et gloriam Tuam.
Quoniam luelior est misericordia Tua super
vitas : labia mea laudabunt Te.
Sic benedicam Te in vita mea : et in Nomine
Tuo levabo manus meas.
Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea :
et labiis exsultationLs laudabit os meum.
King of kings and Lord of lords, and Who will reign for ever
and ever, will prepare His loving mercy and faithfulness for
the preservation of His mystical Body, and that tlio " crying "
of her prayers here will end in the eternity of her praises
hereafter.
PSALM LXII.
The exclamation of strong faith in the second and seventh
verses of this Psalm connects it with the preceding one, in
which " set me up upon the Rock tliat is higher than I " is
the chai'acteristic aspii-ation. It is the faitli of Christ's mys-
tical Body while in a state of outward depression : "We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed,
but not in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down,
but not destroyed .... wlule we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things whicli are not seen : for the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are
not seen are eternal."
The third verse seems to associate itself very naturally with
the passages of Lsaiah and Ezekiel noted in the margin ; and
especially witli tlte latter of them, in wliicli the prophets who
seduced the people from their true allegiance to God are said
to build up a wall, and temper it with untempered mortar
only to see it utterly destroyed. For the device of those who
" imagine mischief " is jilamly against Christ's dignity ; it is
"only to put Him out Whom God will exalt," to depreciate
the glory of our Lord as Licarnate God, and to deny the
sovereign exaltation to which He has been raised.
From these two associations we may very properly consider
this Psabn as referring to all those developcments of unbelief
in our Blessed Lord which will reach their climax in the final
persecution of Him, in His Church, by Antichrist.
PSALM LXIII.
Our Lord's words upon the Cross are recalled by the open-
ing exclamation of tliis Psalm, " God, Thou art my God,"
and His cry "I thirst," by the second verse. St. Augustine
also remembers, when commenting upon the eleventli verse,
that our Lord said of Herod, "Go tell that fox ;" and as
Herod was an Edomite and not a .Tew, lie conjectures tliat the
imprecation of that verse was fulfilled hy the .Tews falling
56o
Cf)C Psalms.
12th Day. [Ps. 64.;
7 Have I not remembered Tliee in my
bed : and thought npon Thee when I was wak-
ing?
8 Because Thou hast been my Helper : there-
fore under the shadow of Thy wings will I
rejoice.
9 Jly soul hangeth upon Thee ; Thy right
hand hath upholden me.
10 These also, that seek the hurt of my soul :
they shall go under the earth.
1 1 Let them fall upon the edge of the sword :
that they may be a portion for foxes.
12 But the King shall rejoice in God; all
they also that swear by him shall be commended :
for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be
stopped.
THE LXIV. PSALM.
Exaudi, Deus.
HEAE my voice, O God, in my prayer : pre-
serve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the gathering together of the
froward : and from the insurrection of wicked
doers ;
3 "Who have whet their tongues like a sword :
and shoot out-their arrows, even bitter words ;
i That they may privily shoot at him that Ls
perfect : suddenly do they hit him, and fear not.
5 They encourage themselves in mischief : and
commune among themselves, how they may lay
snares, and say, that no man shall see them.
6 They imagine wickedness, and practise it ;
that they keep secret among themselves, every
man in the deep of his heart.
7 But God shall suddenly shoot at them with
a swift arrow : that they shall be wounded.
8 Yea, their own tongues shall make them
fall : insomuch that whoso seeth them shall laugh
them to scorn.
9 And all men that see it shall say, This hath
God done : for they shall perceive that it is His
work.
i.xiv.
Ut'st. Da\ i.l ; on
Sheba's rebellion.
[z Sam. 20.]
/Jture. S. B. S-
WecL Mattins.
Apostles and Ev.in-
gelists, and Noct.
Sic memor fui Tui .super stratum meum ; in
matutinis meditabor in Te : quia fuisti adjutoi-
mens.
Et in velamento alarum Tuarum exsultabo ;
adhoesit anima mea post Te : me suscepit dextera
Tua.
Ipsi vero in vanum cjuassierunt animam meam ;
introibunt in inferiora terras : tradentur in manus
gladii ; partes vulpium erunt.
Rex vero Isetabitur in Deo ; laudabuntur omnes
qui jurant in eo : quia obstructum est o.t loquen-
tium iniqua.
PSALMUS LXIII.
EXAUDI, Deus, orationem meam cum depre-
cor : a timore inimici eripe animam meam.
Protexisti me a convcntu malignantium : a
multitudine operantium iuiquitatem.
Quia exacuerunt ut gladium Unguas suas : in-
tenderunt arcum rem amaram, ut sagittent in
occultis immaculatuni.
Subito sagittabunt eum, et uon timebunt :
firmaveriuit sibi sermonem nequam.
Narraverunt ut abscondcrent laqueos : dixerunt,
Quis videbit eos ?
Scrutati sunt iniquitates : defecerunt scrutantes
scrutinio.
Accedet homo ad cor altum : et esaltabitur
Deus.
Sagittie parvulorum factse sunt plagre eorum :
et infimiata; sunt contra eos lingua eorum.
Conturbati sunt omnes qui videbant eos : et
timuit omnis homo.
Et aununtiaverunt opera Dei : et facta Ejus
intellexerunt.
under the dominion of foreign rulers: "they rejected the
Lamb, they chose the fox." This idea seems to be confimied
liy tlie immediate reference to "the King" which follows ;
fur, in the Psalms, the King spoken of is ever, mystically, the
King of kings and Lord of lords. Thus light is thrown on
several parts of this Psalm as applying to our Lord. " Early
will I seek Thee," recalls to niiud that "very early in the
morning" when the sepulchre was found empty by tlie holy
women, because Christ had ari.seii to seek His Father : " they
also that swear l)y Him " are they who " name the Name of
Christ," and have " this seal, the Lord knoweth them that
are His," the mystic Tau, or Cross, of Ezekiel [P^zek. ix. 4],
the "seal of the living (iod," with which "the servants of
our God are sealed in tlieir foreheads." [Rev. vii. 2.]
Thus also we may judge that "them that speak lies " is to
be iiiterpreteil in no ordinary sense, but of that Antichrist
unto whom was given a "mouth speaking great things and
bl.'isphemies, " whose "mark" also will be received " in their
right liand, or in their foreheads," by those who are deceived
by him, but whom the Lord shall " consume with the spirit of
ilis moutli, and shall destroy with the brightness of His
Coming."
PSALM LXIV.
The tone of this Psalm clearly identifies it witli Christ and
His enemies ; .and, by a more remote anticipation, with tlie
Church of God, and the simulative Church which Antichrist
will establish in the last days.
As a prophetic hymu sung in the person of Christ, He is
heard praying in it that He may be preserved from the malice
of the Sanhediin and of the general assembly of the .Jewish
multitude : who were devising secret plots, and making
tumultuous insurrection against "Him that is perfect,"
Whose immaculacy was openly acknowledged by the chief
judge and governor of the nation ; and more privately by
their oivn subornation of false witnesses. But the arrow of
(iod's justice spe<l more swiftly and surely against them than
their own arrows against Christ ; and their own tongues, their
" bitter words," were one cause of their fall, 'i'hey said, " \\"e
have no king but Ctesar," and Ca>sar avenged their rel)ellion
against him by destroying their Temiile, city, and nation.
They said, " itis blood be npon us and on our children," and
their words were fulfilled by an avenging of tliat holy blood
which has lasted from that day for more than eighteen cen-
turies ; an avenging so clearly the work of a Divine Kuler that
all men who see into the inner meaning of great events and
courses of events say, "This liatli ( Jnd done," perceiving "that
it is His work." So have tlie .lews fallen, that their degene-
racy has made that nation an object of just scorn, which was
anciently the most noble nation on the face of the earth.
Hut THE RicilTKOl's rejoices in the Lord in the new Israel,
whcim He has made " true of heart " by the new heart with
which He has endowed the regenerate.
12th Day. [Ps. 65.]
Cfje IPsalms.
561
10 Tlie righteous shall rojoico in the Loed,
and put his trust in Him ; and all they that are
true of heart shall be glad.
Day 12. Evening Prayer,
the lxv. psalm.
Te decet hymnus.
THOU, O God, art praised in Sion : and unto
Thee shall the vow be performed m Jeru-
salem.
2 Thou that hearest the prayer : unto Thee
shall all flesh come.
3 My misdeeds prevail against me : be Thou
merciful unto our sins.
4 Blessed is the man, whom Thou choosest,
and receivest unto Thee : he shall dwell in Thy
court, and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of
Thy house, even of Thy holy temple.
5 Thou shalt shew us wonderful things in Thy
righteousness, God of our salvation : Thou
that art the Hope of all the ends of the earth, and
of them that remain in the broad sea.
6 Who in His strength setteth fast the moun-
taias ; and is girded about with power.
7 Who stilleth the raging of the sea : and the
noise of his waves, and the madness of the
people.
8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts
of the earth shall be afraid at Thy tokeni? : Thou
that makest the outgoings of the morning and
evening to praise Thee.
9 Thou visitest the earth, and blessest it :
Thou makest it very plenteous.
10 The river of God is full of water : Thou
preparest their corn, for so Thou providest for
the earth.
11 Thou waterest her furrows, Thou sendest
rain into the little valleys thereof : Thou makest
it soft with the drops of rain, and blessest the
increase of it.
12 Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness :
and Thy clouds drop fatness.
LXV.
/fist. David ; a
tliaiik&i;iving after
tlie rebellions and
famine.
/.it„rjr. &. g. fi.
Wed. Mattins.
Lauds of llie de-
parted.
Against the future gathering together of the frowarcl under
the rule of Antichrist the spouse of Christ will prevail as He
Himself prevailed, and, like Him, after a period of suffering.
Then again will the Hand of an ALiiighty Judge make itself
evident to all, so that it shall be said of the mystical Babylon,
" Rejoice over her, thou Heaven, and ye holy Apostles and
Prophets; for God hath avenged yovi on her. " .... "True
and righteous are His judgements."
PSALM LXV.
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity was revealed in Old Tes-
tament prophecies in such language that the coming of Christ
and the Holy Ghost could alone give the key to its meaning.
This and the two following Psalms the Christian may thus
use as hymns to the praise of God the Creator, God the Re-
deemer, and God the Sanctifier, when the .Jew could see in
them only the praise of God as He revealed Himself on Sinai.
But the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are so inti-
mately united that no human thought can safely tlwell upon
their individuality, and consequently these three Psalms run
into each other, mingUng the praises of the whole Trinity with
those of each Person. So also, as God's kingdom of ^Nature
and His kingdom of Grace are separate, and yet closely united,
the Psalm in praise of God as the Creator of the visible world
of nature, looks, all through, to the "things which are not
seen," magnifying His glory in the "new Heavens and the
new Earth " which have been founded in the redeeming work
of Christ.
Laetabitur Justus in Domino et sperabit in Eo ;
et laudabuntur omnes recti corde.
T
PSALMUS LXrV.
IE decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion : et Tibi red-
detur votum in Hierusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam : ad Te omnis caro
veniet.
Verba iniquorum pnevaluerunt super nos : et
impietatibus nostris Tu propitiaberis.
Beatus ([uem elegisti, et assumpsisti : inhabi-
tabit in atriis Tuis.
Replebimur in bonis domus Tua3 : sanctum est
templum Tuum, mirabile in sequitate.
Exaudi nos, Deds salutaris noster : spes om-
nium finium terrce, et in mari longe.
Prseparans montes in virtute Tua, accinctus
potentia : Qui conturbas prof undum maris, sonum
fluctuum ejus.
Turbabuntur gentes, et timebunt qui habitant
terminos a signis Tuis : exitus matutini et vespere
delectabis.
Visitasti terram et inebriasti earn : multipli-
casti locupletare eam.
Flumen Dei repletum est aquis : parasti cibum
illorum ; quoniam ita est prasparatio ejus.
Rivos ejus inebrians, multipHca genimina ejus :
in stillicidiis ejus laetabitur germinans.
Benedices coronas anni benignitatis Tuse
campi Tui replebuntur ubertate.
et
The second, third, and fourth verses of this Psalm are to
be interijreted in the spirit of S. Paul's words, that "we must
all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ," and "Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death ? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord." As the continual interces-
sion of our Mediator is being heard always by God, so also is
" the prayer " of His Church, " Thy kingdom come ; " and in
answer to it "all flesh shall come" unto Him. In that day
who will be able to say otherwise than ' ' My misdeeds prevail
against me, be Thou merciful unto our sins " ? And, on the
other hand, how vast " a multitude, which no man can num-
ber, " will be able to claim a share in the saving words of
Christ, "Behold I and the children whom Thou hast given
Me," and to say, "Blessed is the m.\n Whom Thou choosest
and receivest im to Thee." Blessed all they who in that day
are still part of His mystical Body : " they shall see His face,
and His Name shall be in their foreheads. "
The remainder of the Psalm is so full of suggestive thoughts
in reference to the work of gi-ace in the Church Militant, and
that of salvation in the Church Triumphant, that it is impos-
sible to draw out its Christian application thoroughly in a few
lines. Some such thoughts are indicated by the marginal
references : and the key to the whole Psalm may be foimd in
the song with which the four-and-twenty elders worship the
Creator, proclaiming His glory as revealed in the fourfold
Gospel: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honour and power : for Thou hast created all things, and for
Thy pleasure they are and were created." [Rev. iv. 11.] Thou
hast set fast the mountains of the earth, and the Rock of Thy
2n
562
Cbe lli),salm0.
12th Day. [Ps. 66.]
13 They shall drop upon the dwellings of the
wilderness : and the little hills shall rejoice on
every side.
li The folds shall be full of sheep : the val-
leys also shall stand so thick with corn, that they
shall laugh and sing.
THE LXVI. PSALM.
•Tubilate Deo.
OBE joyful in God, all ye lands : sing praises
unto the honour of His Name, make His
praise to be glorious.
2 Say unto God, O how wonderful art Thou in
Thy works ; through the greatness of Thy power
shall Thine enemies be found liars unto Thee.
3 For all the world shall worship Thee : sing
of Thee, and praise Thy Name.
4 O come hither, and behold the works of
God : how wonderful He is in His doing toward
the children of men.
5 He turned the sea into dry land : so that
they went through the water on foot ; there did
we rejoice thereof.
6 He ruleth with His power for ever ; His
eyes behold the people : and such as will not
believe shall not be able to exalt themselves.
7 O praise our God, ye people : and make the
voice of His praise to be heard ;
8 Who holdeth our soul in life : and suffereth
not our feet to slip.
9 For Thou, O God, hast proved us : Thou
also hast tried us, like as silver Ls tried.
10 Thou broughtost us into the snare : and
laidest trouble upon our loin.s.
1 1 Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads :
we went through fire and water, and Thou
broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
12 I will go into Thine house with burnt-
offerings : and will pay Thee my vows, which I
promised with my lips, and spake with my mouth,
whpu I was in trouble.
LXVI,
Hist. David; a
thaiiksciving after
tlie rebeUionc and
famine.
Litityg. Prayers to
be used nt Sea. S".
g. 15. Wed. Mat-
tins. Ep't'iany. ist
Noct. ]-■:. Cross,
2nd Xoc:.
Pinguescent speciosa desert i : et exsultatione
coUes accingentur.
Induti sunt arietes ovium, et vaUes abunda-
bunt frumento : clamabuut; etenim hymnum
dicent.
I'SALMUS LXV.
JUBILATE Deo omnis terra, psaknum dicite
Nomini Ejus : date gloriam laudi Ejus.
Dicite Deo, Quam terribilia sunt opera Tua,
Doming : in multitudine virtutis Tufe mentientur
Tibi iuimici Tui.
Omnis terra adoret Te, et psallat Tibi : psal-
mum dicat Nomini Tuo.
Venite et videte opera Dei : terribilis in con-
siliis super filios hominum.
Qui convertit mare in aridam ; in flumine per-
transibunt pede : ibi liEtabimur in ipso.
Qui dominatur in virtute Sua in seternum ;
oculi Ejus super gentes respiciunt : qui exasperant
non exaltentur iu semetipsis.
Benedioite gentes Deum nostrum : et auditam
facite vocem laudis Ejus.
Qui posuit animam meam ad vitam : et non
dedit in commotionem pedes meos.
Quoniam probasti nos, Deus : igne nos exami-
uasti, sicut examinatur argentum.
Induxisti nos in laqueum posuisti tribulationes
in dorso nostro : imposuisti homines super capita
no.stra.
Transivimus per ignem et aquani : et eduxisti
nos in refrigerium.
Introibo in domum Tuam in holocaustis :
reddam Tibi vota mea quse distinxerunt labia
mea.
Et locutum est os meum : in tribulatione mea.
Church : Thou art girded about with the power of the God-
head and of the manhood : Thou didst still the raging of the
Deluge, and Thou hast bidden the winds and the waves to
"be still " around Thy saving Ark: Thee the Sons of God
praised in the morning of Creation, Thee all the redeemed
praise in the evening of redemption and salvation : Thou hast
visited the caitli witli natural abundance, and with the abun-
dance of the river of Life and tlie Bread of Heaven : Thou
crownest year by year with Tliy goodness, and Tliy goodness
shall be our song when Thou do.st crown the whole period of
redemption with Thy good salvation. And in that day,
Lord, shall Thy folds be full of Thy sheep, and Thy gamers
rejoicing in the harvest of that " Corn of wheat " \\hich abid-
cth not alone.
PSALM LXVL
In the Septuagint version the title affixed to this Psalm is,
"For the end, a Song of a Psalm of Re.sun-ection," which
shows that the Church has for many ages, and perliaps even
before the time of the Incarnation, considered it to be
especially associated with Him Who is now revealed to us as
the Secoml Person in the Blessed Trinity. As the general
strain of the preceding I'salm associated the works of Creation
with those of Grace, so tliat of this Psalm associates witli the
latter the wonderful doings of God's Providence toward the
children of men : the contemplation of those doings centring
upon His dealings witli the ancient and tlic new Israel. The
song is thus sung of the Resurrection of Clirist's mystical Body
rather than respecting that of His natural Body ; and it may be
observed that the expressions used in the opening verses are of
the most comprehensive character: " all ye lands, " " all the
world," distinctly prophesying the universal spread of Christ's
Kingdom.
The first words of those who were converted out of "all
lands " on the Day of Pentecost shew the fulfilment of the
first words of this Psalm : " ^ye do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of (!od ; " and among the earliest
of the songs of the redeemed is named tlie " song of Moses and
the Lamb:" "Groat aud marvellous are Thy works, Lord
God Almighty ; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of
Saints. \\\\a shall not fear Thee, Lord, and glorify Thy
Name ? for Thou only art holy : for all nations shall come and
worship before Tliec ; for Thy judgements are made manifest."
In the same strain tlie Cliurch of C'hrist is ever pointing to the
mercies of (iod in creating, redeeming, and sanctifying man-
kind, and invites all to come and join their voices in His
praise. He led lli.s ancient people tlirougli tlie sea as on dry
land ; and so He has ever preservcil His new Israel from being
overwhelmed by the sea of the \\'orld ; but has turned the sea
into dry land by making the kingdoms of this world the king-
doms of the Lord and of His Clirist. Hereafter He will so
order it that tlicre shall be ,a,n opposing world no longer, but
only His Church — " there shall be no more sea."
The nation of the .Jews passed through much afHiction,
which the prophecies tell us was sent partly for their ]>unish-
ment, and partly for their purilication. The latter was never
so cU'ectually accomplished as to fidlil cut inly the words and
13th Day. [Ps. 67, 68.1
C|)e Pie(alm0.
563
13 1 will offer unto Thee fat burnt-sacrifices,
with the incense of rams : I will offer bullocks
and goats.
14 O como hither, and hearken, all ye that
fear God : and I will tell you what He hath
done for my soul.
15 1 called unto Him with my mouth : and
gave 1 1 im praises with ray tongue.
16 If I incline unto wickedness with mine
heart : the Lokd will not hear me.
17 But God hath heard me : and con.sidered
the voice of my prayer.
18 Praised be God Who hath not cast out niy
prayer : nor turned His mercy froiu me.
THE LXVII. PSALM.
Deus misereatur.
GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us ; and
shew us the light of His countenance, and
be merciful unto us ;
2 That Thy way may be known upon earth :
Thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise Thee, O God : yea,
let all the people praise Thee.
4 O let the nations rejoice and be glad : for
Thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern
the nations upon earth.
.'i Let the people praise Thee, O God : let all
the people praise Thee.
6 Then shall the earth bring forth her increase ;
and God, even our own God, shall give us His
blessing.
7 God shall bless us : and all the ends of the
world shall fear Him.
Day 13. MORNING Prayer.
THE LXVIII. PSALM.
Exsurg.at Deus.
* "TET God arise, and let His enemies be scattered ;
J—^ let them also that hate Him flee before
Him.
LXVII.
Ihst. David : a
tliankstiiving after
the rebellions and
fainine.
Lititrff Evensong
Canticle. Holy
Matrimony. ^. ?9.
1^. Sunday and
Festival Lauds.
Lauds of the de.
parted.
(T Coynp. Num. 6. 2J
26.
LX\an.
Hilt. David ; con-
tjuest and dedica-
tion of the Holy
aty. l^Sam. 5. 6,]
Liturg, Whitsun.
day Mattins. S-.
g. 5g. Wed. Whit-
suntide, Mattins.
li Num. 10. 33.
Holocausta medullata offeram Tibi cum incenao
arietum : oflferam Tibi boves cum hircia.
Venite, audite, et narrabo, omnes (pii timetis
Deum : quanta fecit animse me;c.
Ad Ipsum ore nieo clamavi : et exaltavi sub
lingua mea.
Iniquitatem si aspexi in corde meo : noii
exaudiet Dominus.
Propterea exaudivit Deus : et attendit voci
deprecationis meae.
Benedictus Deus, Qui non amovit depreca-
tionem meam : et misericordiam Suam a me.
PSALMUS LXVL
DELTS misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis :
illuminet vultum Sui;m super nos, et mise-
reatur nostri.
Ut cognoscamus in terra viam Tuam : in omni-
bus gentibus salutare Tuum.
Confiteantur Tibi populi, Deus : confiteantur
Tibi jiopuli omnes.
Lretentur et exsultent gentes, quoniam judicas
populos in Eequitate : et gentes in terra dirigis.
Confiteantur Tibi populi, Deus, confiteantur
Tibi populi omnes : terra dedit fructum suum.
Benedicat nos Deus, Deus noster ; benedicat
nos Deus : et metuant Eum omnes fines terrw.
PSALMUS LXVII.
EXSURGAT Deus, et dissipentur inimici
Ejus : et fugiant qui oderunt Eum a facie
Ejus.
spirit ill which the whole Psalm, from the seventh verse to
the enj, is written. We must therefore look for a more
complete fulfilment of it in God's trial of the Church by some
great " fight of afflictioii," such as our Lord predicts will hap-
pen in the end of the world. [Matt, xxiii. 4-31.] At that
time, the prophet Malachi tells us, the Lord " shall sit as a
refiner and purifier of silver ; and He shall purify the sons of
Le^^, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may oifer
unto the Lord an offering In righteousness." And speaking
of the palm-bearers thus refined, the angel told St. John,
' ' These are they which came out of gi'eat tribulation, antl
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb." [Rev. vii. 14.]
PSALM LXVII.
It has been pointed out at page 3.5 that there is some simi-
larity between the Song of Simeon and this Psalm. Perhaps
the Gospel Canticle was suggested by the well-known words
of the Psalm, as the Magnificat appears to have been sug-
gested by the Song of Hannah : but whether it were so or not,
the Psalm is clearly to be understood only by taking it as a
prophecy of the spread of the Gospel, the illumination of
mankind by that Light of the world Who alone can make
God's way truly known upon earth.
Hence this Psalm is to be interpreted as a hjTiin to God the
Holy Gliost. He was merciful to mankind by blessing it
with the Incarnation of our Lord, and thus causing to shine
on eartli tlie WORD, "the true Light, Which, coming into
the world, lightctli every man." [.John i. 9.] He blessed man-
kind by spreading the knowledge of His saving health among
all nations, when He gave the Apostles those marvellous gifts
by which they were enabled to convert tlie world. He causes
the earth to bring forth her spiritual increase by bestowing
on the Ministry of the Church those ordinary gifts which
enable them to give sacramental life and nourishment.
"Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that
watereth ; but God that giveth the increase." [1 Cor. iii. 7.]
The jubilant tone of this prophetic hymn may encourage
us to hope that, notwithstanding the dreadful position in
which the .Jews stand towards the one only Saviour, Whom
they wilfully and blindly deny, the time will come when " a
remnant according to the election of grace " [Rom. xi. 5] will
again be found as in the first days of Christianity, and when
the prophecy in Zech. viii. 13 will be again fulfilled: "So
will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing."
PSALM LXVIII.
The whole Western Church has used this Psalm on 'Whit-
sunday time immemorial, and in the ancient Church of
England it was also used every morning during the Octave.
It is thus interpreted as a hymn of praise to God the Holy
Ghost, coimnemorating His work in the Church of God, and
setting forth the typical relation to that work of God's deal-
ings with His ancient congi-egation.
The whole Psalm conveys the idea of a triumphant, irre-
sistible march : the forward march of the Church of Christ,
according to the words of the prophet, "I will surely
assemble, .Jacob, all ff thee ; I will surely gather the rem-
564
Cfje Psalm0.
13th Day. [Ps. 68.]
2 Like as the smoke vanisheth, so slialt Thou
drive them away : and like as the wax melteth
at the fire, so let the ungodly perish at the pre-
sence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice
before God : let them aLso be merry and joyful.
4 O sing unto God, and sing praises unto His
iSFame : magnify Him that rideth upon the
heavens, as it were upon an horse ; praise Him
"in His Name, yea, and rejoice before Him.
5 He is a Father of the fatherless, and defend-
eth the cause of the widows ; even God in His
holy habitation.
6 He is the God that maketli men to be of
one mind in an house, and bringeth the prisoners
out of captivity : but letteth the runagates con-
tinue in scarceness.
7 O God, when Thou wentest forth before the
people ; when Thou wentest through the wilder-
ness,
8 The earth shook, and the heavens dropped
at the presence of God ; even as Sinai also was
moved at the presence of God, Who is the God
of Israel.
9 Thou, O God, sentest a gracious rain upon
Thine inheritance : and refreshedst it when it
was weary.
10 Thy congregation shall dwell therein : for
Thou, God, hast of Thy goodness prepared for
the poor.
11 The Lord gave the word : great was the
company of the 'preachers.
12 Kings with their armies did flee, and were
discomfited : and they of the houshold divided
the spoil
13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet
shall ye be as the wings of a dove : that is covered
with silver wings, and her feathers like gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings for
their sake : then were they as white as snow in
Salmon.
15 Aa the hill of Basan, so is God's hUl : even
an high hill, as the hill of Basan.
16 Why hop ye so, ye high hills? this is
God's hiU, in the which it pleaseth Him to dwell :
yea, the Lord will abide in it for ever.
a B.V., in His Name
J AH.' Co yap.
Exod. 15, 2. Isa.
12. 2 ; 26. 4.
b Or, of those who
proclaimed it.
" The pubUsher-
esses of it were a
igrcat host " [Heb.] ;
I referring originally,
Iperhaps, to Miriam
and the women of
Israel after the pas-
s.age of the Red
Sea. [Exod. 15. i.]
Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant : sicut fluit cera
a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei.
Et justi epulentur, et exsultent in conspectu
Dei : et delectentur in L-etitia.
Cantate Deo, psalmum dicite Nomini Ejus :
iter facite Ei Qui ascendit super occasum ; Do-
MiNUS Nomen Illi.
Exsultate in conspectu Ejus : turbabuntur a
facie Ejus, patris orphanorum, et judicis vidua-
rum.
Deus in loco sancto Suo : Deus Qui inhabitare
facit miius moris in domo.
Qui educit vinctos in fortitudine : similiter eos
qui exasperant, qui habitant in sepulchris.
Deus, cum egredereris in conspectu populi Tui :
cum pertransires in deserto ;
Terra mota est ; etenim cceU distillaverunt a
facie Dei Smai : a facie Dei Israel
Pluviam voluntariam segregabis, Deus, hseredi-
tati Tui-e ; et infirmata est : Tu vero perfecisti
earn.
Animalia Tua habitabunt in ea : parasti in
dulcedine Tua pauperi, Deus.
DoMiNUS dabit verbum evaugelizantibus : vir-
tute multa.
Eex virtutum dUecti dilecti : et speciei domus
dividere spoUa.
Si dormiatis inter medios cleros, pennae columbae
deargentatffi : et posteriora dorsi ejus in paUore
auri.
Dum discernit coelestis reges super earn, nive
dealbabuntur in Selmon : mons Dei, mons pin-
guis.
Mons coagulatus, ons pinguis : ut quid sus-
picamini niontes coagulatos ?
Mons in quo beneplacitum est Deo habitare in
eo : etenim Dominus habitabit in finem.
nant of Israel ; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah,
as the flock in the midst of tlieir fold : they shall make great
noise by reason of the multitude of men. The Breaker is
come up before them ; they have broken up, and have passed
through the gate, and are gone out by it : and theii- King
1 This i.s ft form of the holy N.-ilne "Jehovah," and is found in the Sonp
of Moses [Exod. xv. 2], where the authorized version translates it *'tlio
LORD." It is the termination of the familiar word Halleln-,iah of Rev. xix.
4, 0, and of the Psalma, a word which forms an intef^al part of the pr.aises
of the Jewish economy, the Christian Chnrch, and of glorified saints in
Heaven.
This saercd word was not introduced into the authorized version nntil
A.D. 1011, although it is Hrnnd in the Geneva Bible. It had not, therefore,
of course, any place in the Great Uihle of 1.^,40. from which the I'rayer Hook
Psalms are taken. The earliest Prayer Hook in which it has been dis-
covered is an Oxford octavo of Baskett, dated 1710, but it was not com-
monly printe'I nntil the middle of the last century. Yet in the Scottish
Book of 10:j7 it liad already ajipeared.
In an EnRlish Psalter of 1610 [Douce BB. 71, Bodl. Lib.] the latter half
of the verse is rendered a-s in the Vulgate, "Take your .journey to Him that
asccndeth up above the west, the Lord is His Name;" but in Matthew's
Bible of 1637 it is the same as in the Great Bible of 1640. It seems dilllcult
to believe that Homoeonfiision has not arisen in our English vei-si(*n tlirouf.'h
the Identity of the German word "jah" and tlie English word "yea."
The sacred Name is nnrloubtedly In the Hebrew, but the Septuafiint is
identical with the Vulgate : and it seems preferable to use the ftirm of the
verse adopted from the Great Bible, as above, rather than to siiif; the In-
clftthlo Name Itself, for which "the LORD" is reverently substituted In
tlio English Bible.
shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them."
[Micah ii. 13.] It seems to have been founded on words
recorded in the Book of Numbers: "And it came to pass,
when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and
let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee
flee before Thee. And when it rested, he said. Return, Lord,
unto the many thousands of Israel." But there are so many
expressions in this Psalm which can only be explained with
reference to the spiritual triumph of the Churcli of Christ,
that it may be doubted whether it was written with any local
or temporary meaning, and whether it is not to be regarded
simply as a prophetic liymn of the same character as some
portions, and especially the sixtieth chapter, of Isaiah, Such
a sense, at hast, is the only one in wliich it can be used in
Divine Service.
In the first verse, then, in the eighteenth (which is the
central one of the Psalm), and in the last, unmistakeable
reference is made to our Lord's glorious Resurrection, Ascen-
sion, and Session at the right hand of God, as the source of
all blessing .aiul glory to tlie Church : His Resurrection having
achieved the victory, His Ascension celebrated the triumph,
His Session in " the holy place " within the veil established
His Intercessory oflice on behalf of His people.
The first and second verses contain a metaphor similar to
that of Malachi : " Unto you that fear My Name shall the
13th Day. [Ps. 68.]
€:\)t lp0alm$.
565
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
even thousands of angels : and the Lord is among
them, as in tlie holy place of Sinai.
18 Thou art gone up on high, Thou hast led
captivity captive, and received gifts for men :
yea, even for Thine enemies, that the Lord God
might dwell among them.
19 Praised be the Lord daily : even the God
Who helpeth us, and poureth His benefits upon
U3.
20 He is our God, even the God of Whom
cometh salvation : God is the Lord, by Whom
we escape death.
21 God shall wound the head of His enemies :
and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still
in his wickedness.
22 The Lord hath said, I will bring My
people again, as I did from Basan : Mine own
wlU I bring again, as I did sometime from the
deep of the sea.
23 That thy foot may be dipped in the blood
of thine enemies : and that the tongue of thy
dogs may be red through the same.
24 It is well seen, O God, how Thou goest :
how Thou, my God and King, goest in the sanc-
tuary.
25 The singers go before, the minstrels follow
after : in the midst are the damsels playing with
the timbrels.
26 Give thanks, O Israel, unto God the Lord
in the congregations : from the ground of the
heart.
27 There is little Benjamin their ruler, and
the princes of Judah their counsel : the princes
of Zabulon, and the princes of Nephthali.
28 Thy God hath sent forth strength for thee :
stablish the thing, O God, that Thou hast
wrought in us,
29 For Thy temple's sake at Jerusalem : so
shall kings bring presents unto Thee.
30 When the company of the spear-men and
multitude of the mighty are scattered abroad
among the beasts of the people, so that they
humbly bring pieces of silver : and when He
hath scattered the people that delight in war ;
Currus Dki decem millibus multiple.v, millia
hetantium : Ddminus in eis, in Sinai in sancto.
Ascendisti in altum, cepisti captivitatem :
accepisti dona in horninibus.
Etenim non credentes : inhabitare Dominum
Deum.
Benedictus Dominus die quotidie : prosperum
iter faciei nobis Deus salutarium nostrorum.
Deus noster, Deus salvos faciendi ; et Domini
Domini exitus mortis.
Veruntamen Deos confringet capita inimicorum
Suorum : verticem capUli perambulantium in
deHctis suis.
Dixit Dominus, Ex Basan convertam : conver-
tam in profundum maris :
Ut intingatur pes tuus in sanguine : lingua
canum tuorum ex inimicis ab ipso.
Viderunt ingressus Tuos, Deus : ingressus Dei
mei, Regis mei Qui est in sancto.
Prfevenerunt principes conjuncti psaUentibus :
in medio juvencularum tympanistriarum.
In ecclesiis benedicite Deo : Domino de fonti-
bus Israel.
Ibi Benjamin adolescentulus : in mentis ex-
cessu.
Principes Juda, duces eorum : principes Zabu-
lon, et principes Neptalim.
Manda Deus virtuti tuie : confirma hoc, Deus,
quod operatus es in nobis :
A templo Tuo in Hierusalem : Tibi offerent
reges munera.
Increpa feras arundinis, congregatio taurorum
in vaccis populorum : ut excludant eos qui pro-
bati sunt argento.
Dissipa gentes quse bella volunt ; venient legati
Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings," an
arising of the Light of the world, before which all the mists
of moral and spiritual darkness must fiy, in the time of pro-
bation, and before which all enemies must succumb in the
Day of .Judgement.
The following three verses [4, 5, 6] contain a declaration of
the glory of the Lord similar to that in the words of Isaiah,
adopted by tlie Baptist ; the true sense being, " make straight
in the deserts a higliway for Him that rideth : " and doubtless
this is closely analogous to the words of St. .John, " I saw
Heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He that sat
upon him was called Faithful and Tnie, and hi righteousness
He doth judge and make war .... and He hath on His
vesture and on His thigh a Name written, King of kixos
AND LoKD OF L0RD.S." [Rev. xix. 16.] Notwithstanding this,
He is the Prince of Peace, and under His dispensation of the
peace which He left with His Church, the Holy Ghost is ever
binding together in one Body the children of God, "makuig
men to be of one mind in an house," i.e. in the spiritual
Temple wherein He dwells.
In the seventh verse the leading of Israel through the
mldemess by God is talcen as a type of the new Israel going
through the world under the leadership of Him respecting
Whom the prophet said, "Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him." The
eartli quaked at His Resun'ection, when He became tlie First-
fruits of the gi'eat harvest, entering Heaven at the liead of a
risen army of saints, as the Firstborn among many brethren.
So will there be great earthquakes at tlie Second Advent,
when once more He will go forth before the people. And so
also, when His Presence with the Church was again mani-
fested by tlie coming of the Holy Ghost, and as an answer to
the prayer of the Apostles, there was on the one occasion " a
rushing mighty wind," while on the otlier "the place was
shaken where they were assembled together." With such
signs did God send " the gi'acious rain " of the Holy Spirit
' ' upon His Inheritance, " refreshing it when it was weary
through tlie long absence of His manifestations from the
ancient Temple and its system.
Passing over many things -B-ithout further illustration than
that contained in the marginal references, the twenty-seventh
verse may be selected as showing that nothing is set down at
random in Holy Scripture, and that mystical meanings pro-
bably underlie ahiiost every idea that it contains. The tribes
there named are Benjamin and Judah, Zabulon and Nephthali.
These were the most prominent of all the tribes during the
history of Israel as an united people, and Benjamin and Judah
were located nearest of all to the holy house of God. From
these four tribes, also, sprung all the Apostles of our Lord ;
those who were Galila;ans belonging to Zabulon and Nephthali,
^66
Cf)c ll^salms.
13th Day. [Ps. 69.]
31 Then shall the princes come out of Egypt :
the "Morians' land shall soon stretch out her
hands unto God.
32 Sing unto God, O ye kingdoms of the
earth : O sing praises unto the Lord.
33 Who sitteth in the heavens over all from
the beginning : lo, He doth send out His voice,
yea, and that a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe ye the power to God over Israel :
His worship and strength is in the clouds.
35 O God, wonderful art Thou in Thy holy
places : even the God of Israel ; He will give
strength and power unto His people ; blessed be
God.
Day 13. EVENING PRAYER.
THE LXIX. PSALM.
Sahiim me fac.
SAVE me, God : for the waters are come in,
even unto my soul.
2 I stick fast in the deep mire, where no
ground is : I am come into deep waters, so that
the floods run over me.
3 I am weary of crying, my throat is dry : my
sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my
God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more
than the hairs of my head : they that are mine
enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are
mighty.
5 I paid them the things that I never took :
God, Thou knowest my simpleness, and my faults
are not hid from Thee.
6 Let not them that trust in Thee, O Lord
God of hosts, be ashamed for my cause : let not
those that seek Thee be confounded through me,
O Lord God of Israel.
7 And why 1 for Thy sake have I suffered
reproof : shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren :
even an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of Thine house hath even eaten
me : and the rebukes of them that rebuked Thee
are fallen iipon me.
a t.e. The land of
the Moors.
LXIX.
Hist. David. Occa-
sion unknov\-n.
Lituy^. Good Fri-
day Evensong, S.
g. |§. Thursd.
Mattins. Maundy
Thursd.. ist Noct.
Passion Ps. 5.
ex Mgy\)io
Deo.
.Ethiopia praeveniet manus ejus
Regna terrte, cantate Deo : psaUite Domino :
PsaUite Deo Qui ascendit super coelum cceli :
ad orientem.
Ecce dabit voci Suk vocem virtutis ; date
gloriam Deo super Israel : magnificentia Ejus et
virtus Ejus in nubibus.
Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis Suis ; Deus Israel
Ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi Suae ;
benedictus Deus.
PSALMUS LXVIII.
8ALVUM me fac Deus : quoniam intra verunt
aquje usque ad animam meam.
Infixus sum in limo profundi : et nou est sub-
stantia.
Yeni in altitudinem maris : et tempestas de-
mersit me.
Laboravi damans, raucaj facta; sunt fauces
meas ; defeceruut oculi mei, dum spero in Deum
meum.
MultipUcati sunt super capillos capitis mei ;
qui oderunt me gratis.
Confortati sunt qui persecuti sunt me inimici
mei injuste : quae non rapui, tunc exsolvebam.
Deus,Tu scis insipientiam meam : et delicta
mea a Te non sunt abscondita.
Non erubescant m me qui exspectant Te, Do-
mine : DoMiNE virtutum.
Non confundantur super me : qui qu;«runt Te,
Deus Israel.
Quoniam propter Te sustumi opprobrium :
operuit confusio faciem meam.
Extraneus factus sum fratribus meis : et pere-
grinus filiis matris meae.
Quoniam zelus domus Tuae comedit me : et
opprobria exprobrantium Tibi, ceciderunt super
the " bretlu-eu " (or " cousins," as we say in modern language)
of our Lord to the tribe of .Tudah, and St. Paul to Benjamin.^
Thus the princes of these tribes represent those princes of tlie
Church of wlioni our Lord said that they should sit on twelve
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; tliose by whom
"He sent forth strength for" His C'hurcli, and established
the thing that He liad wrought for His Temple's sake, the
Temple of the Holy Ghost, in His New Jerusalem.
PSALM LXIX.
This awful prophecy of our Blessed Saviour'.s Passion is
nmch quoted in tlie New Testament, and seems to have been
often in tlie minds of Clirist and His Apostles when not
directly tjuoted by them. It lias also a strong analogy witli
some portions of the Prophecy and the Lamentations of .lere-
miah, whose great sufferings seem to liave been typical, in tlie
liighest degree, of the Passion of the Lord.
1 It is worth n'lnark llmt St. Piuirs immc sigiiiOes " little," a circum-
stance which partly HiiRgcstcd, perhaps, liis assertion that he was "the
least of all the Apostles. ' It is also to he noted that " little Benjamin their
filler" was reprcscnte'l hy the twelfth stone in the breastplate of Aaron,
which stone was a jasper. Bnt in the foundations of the wall of the City
of God, "the first foundation was jasper," as if signityiug that "the last
•hall be first." \Comp. Exod. xxviii. ^0; liev. xxL 19.1
The cry of anguish with which the Psalm opens is of the
same nature as others which are heard from the lips of Christ
in other Psalms, and it testifies here and elsewhere to the
thoroughly human character of that human nature which He
bore ; so human that it was liable to tlie same fear of death
which all experience. Hezekiah in his sickness, Jonah in the
deep of the sea, Jeremiah in the mire of the pit, were all
types of our Lord in this : liut great as were their troubles
and their fears, they were not overwhelmed as He was by the
" floods of ungodliness " borne for others, nor had tlicir fear
of death that supernatural character wliicli niaile His so infi-
nitely painful. \'et though He called upon the Leather to
save Ilini, He would not shorten or lessen His o\ni suffering.
He .saved others, and He could have saved Himself : He
walked u]ion the natural waters, but He suffered Himself to
sink into the miry bed of that sea of persecution which sur-
rounded Him : He comforted the penitent thief with the
loving promise, " To-day shalt thou be with Mc in Paradise ;"
but for Himself was the cry of woe, " My (loil, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me ?' Kver ready to hear the cry of others,
He Himself, for our sins, was "weary of crying," His "sight
failing through waiting so long upon His God.'
Thus, throughout tiiis Psalm, the intensity of Christ's
Sufferings is set forth in language equalled only in its awful
13th Day. [Ps. 69.]
Ct)c Ipsalms.
567
101 wept and chastened myself witli fasting :
and that was turned to my reproof.
Ill put on sackcloth also : and they jested
upon me.
12 They that sit in the "gate speak against
me : and the drunkards make songs upon mo.
13 But, Lord, I make my prayer unto Thee :
in an acceptable time.
1 i Hear mo, God, in the multitude of Thy
mercy : even in the truth of Thy salvation.
15 Take me out of the mire, that I sink not :
let me be delivered from them that hate me,
and out of the deep waters.
16 Let not the water- flood drown me, neither
let the deep swallow me up : and let not the pit
shut her mouth upon me.
1 7 Hear me, O Loed, for Thy loving-kindness
is comfortable : turn Thee unto me according to
the multitude of Thy mercies.
18 And hide not Thy face from Thy servant,
for I am in trouble : O haste Thee, and hear me.
19 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it : O
deliver me, because of mine enemies.
20 Thou hast known my reproof, my shame,
and my dishonour : mine adversaries are all in
Thy sight.
2 1 Thy rebuke hath broken my heart ; I am
full of heaviness : I looked for some to have pity
on me, but there was no man, neither found I
any to comfort mo.
22 They gave me gall to eat : and when I was
thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
23 Let their table be made a snare to take
themselves withal : and let the things that should
have been for their wealth be unto them an occa-
sion of falling.
24 Let their eyes be blinded, that they see
not : and ever bow Thou down their backs.
25 Pour out Thine indignation upon them :
and let Thy wrathful displeasure take hold of
them.
26 Let their habitation be void : and no man
to dwell in their tents.
27 For they persecute him whom Thou hast
smitten : and they talk how they may vex them
whom Thou hast wounded.
28 Let them fall from one wickedness to an-
other : and not come into Thy righteousness.
a t'.f. Tlic rulers,
sitlillt; in judye-
niciit.
Et operui in jejunio animam meam : et factum
est in opprobrium mihi.
Et posui vcstimentum mcum cilicium ; ot fac-
tus sum illis in parabolam.
Adversum me loqucbantur qui sedebant in
porta : et in mo psallebant qui bibobant vinum.
Ego vero orationem meam ad Tc, Domine :
tempus bcneplaciti, Deu.s.
In multitudine misoricordia; Tua; exaudi me :
in veritate salutis Tuk.
Eripe me de luto, ut non infigar : libera me ab
his qui oderunt me, et de profundis aquarum.
Non me demergat tempestas aquae : neque
absorbeat me profundum ; neque urgeat super me
puteus OS suum.
Exaudi me, Domine, quoniam benigna est
misericordia Tua : secundum multitudinem mise-
rationum Tuarum respice in me.
Et ne avertas faciem Tuam a puero Tuo :
quoniam tribulor, velociter exaudi me.
Intende animas me;c, et libera eam : propter
inimicos meos eripe me.
Tu scis improperium meum et confusionem
meam : et reverentiam meam.
In conspectu Tuo sunt omnes qui tribulant me :
improperium exspectavit cor meum et miseriam.
Et sustinui qui simul contristaretur et non f uit :
et qui consolaretur, et non inveni.
Et dederunt in escam meam fel : et in siti mea
potaverunt me aceto.
Fiat mensa eorum coram ipsis in laqueum : et
in retributiones et in scandalum.
Obscurentur oculi eorum ne videant : et dorsum
eorum semper incurva.
Eifunde super eos iram Tuam : et furor irae
Tua3 comprehendat eos.
Fiat habitatio eorum deserta : et in taberna-
culis eorum non sit qui inhabitet.
Quoniam queni Tu percussisti, persecuti sunt :
et super dolorem vulnerum meorum addideruut.
Appone iniquitatem super iniquitatem eorum :
et non intrent in justitiam Tuam.
sadness by the tweuty-secoiiJ Psahii. He is guiltless auil
alone, and weak with weeping and fasting ; His enemies are
mighty, and more in number than the hairs of His head.
The sins of those who sinned against God are fallen upon Him
Who knew no sin. He exchanged the joys of Heaven for the
sorrows of earth, fasted from the Presence of His Father, and
put on the sackcloth of human nature ; His loring work was
tuiTied to His reproof, so that when He spoke of God as His
Father they charged Him with blasphemy, and, instead of
beholding His Immaculate Human Nature, called Him the
"son of the carpenter:" the judges that " sat in the gate "
condemned Him unjustly, and the foolish soldiers and passers-
by reviled Him.
But in the midst of all this sorrowing prophecy of Christ's
Passiou, there is a contiiuial appeal from the injustice of man
to the justice and love of God, and also a constant declara-
tion of the great Truth that Christ snflerud for the sins of
mankind. Thus, " They that hate Me willtout a cause " . . . .
"I paid them the thing that I never took" .... "They
that would destroy Me (/»,;7??ess " .... "God, Thou know-
est My simpleness, and My faults are not hid from Thee "
.... " For Thy sake have I suffered reproof " .... "The
zeal of Thine house hath even eaten Me " .... " But, Lord,
I make My prayer unto Thee' .... "Hear Me, Lord,
for Thy loving-kindness is comfortable " .... "Thou hast
knoivn My reproof, My shame, and My dishonour" ....
" Thy rebuke hath broken My heart."
Thus did the spotless Lamb of God plead from the midst of
the fire of the sacrifice, pleading not for Himself, but for
others. Thus did He pray that the sin by which He was
borne down might be removed from Him, that it might be
removed from those for whom He bore it. Thus did He cry
".Save Me," "Take Me out of the deep waters," that, being
Himself saved. He might be "mighty to save" all men.
Thus did He liold forth His broken heart as aa atonement for
the hard hearts of sinners.
Like all Psalms of our Lord's Passion, this also ends in a
song of Resurrection joy ; and in the expressions used we may
trace clearly the manner in which Christ's Death, Descent into
Hell, Resurrection, and Ascension, are all events in which the
redeemed are made partakers through their union with Him.
So the Lord hears the intercessions of the PooK, and the
prisoners of hope are released from their dark dungeon of
death, to live in the light of Paradise : the City of God is
built up out of Christ's omti Body, and all they which are
written in the Lamb's book of life shall inherit it : " and
568
Cbc Psalms.
13th Day. [Ps. 70.]
29 Let them be wiped out of the book of the
living : and not be -nritten among the righteous.
30 As for me, when I am poor and in heavi-
ness : Thy help, O God, shall lift me up.
31 I will praise the Name of C4od with a song :
and magnify it with thanksgiving.
32 This also shall please the Loed : better
than a buUock that hath horns and hoofs.
33 The humble shall consider tliis, and be
glad : seek ye after God, and your soul shall Uve.
3-i For the Lord heareth the poor : and
despiseth not His prisoners.
3.5 Let heaven and earth praise HLm : the sea,
and aU that moveth therein.
36 For God will save Sion, and buUd the
cities of Judah : that men may dwell there, and
have it in possession.
37 The posterity also of His servants shall
inherit it : and they that love His Name shall
dwell therein.
THE LXX. PSALM.
Deus, in adjutorivmi.
" "T TASTE Thee, O God, to deliver me : make
J — L haste to help me, O Lokd.
2 ''Let them be ashamed and confounded that
seek after my soul : let them be turned backward
and put to confusion that wish me evil.
3 "Let them for their reward be soon brought
to shame : that cry over me. There, there.
4 ''But let all those that seek Thee be joyful
and glad in Thee : and let aU such as delight in
Thy salvation say alway, The Lord be praised.
HUl. David"; Ado-
injah'srebeUion. [i
Kmgs I.J
I.„u.s. S. e. ?i).
Thiirsd, Mattins.
Maundy Thursd.,
1st Noct.
a Ps. 40. i6.
b Ps. 40. 17.
d Ps. 40. 19.
Deleantur de libro viventium : et cum justis
nou scribantur.
Ego sum pauper et dolens : salus Tua, Deus,
suscepit me.
Laudabo Nomen Dei cum cantico : et magnifi-
cabo Eum in laude.
Et placebit Deo super vitulum noveUum :
cornua producentem et ungulas.
Videant pauperes et tetentur : quasrite Deum,
et vivet anima vestra,
Quoniam exaudivit pauperes Dominus : et
vinctos Suos non despexit.
Laudent lUum cceli et terra : mare et omnia
reptilia in eis.
Quoniam Deus salvam faciei Sion : et sedifi-
cabuntur civitates Juda;.
Et iuhabitabunt ibi : et hsereditate acquirent
cam.
Et semen servorum Ejus possidebit eam : et
qui diligunt Nomen Ejus habitabunt in ea.
PSALMUS LXIX.
DEUS, in adjutorium meum intende : Domine,
ad adjuvandum me festina.
Coiifundantur et revereantur : qui quaerunt
animam meam.
Avertantur retrorsum et erubescant : qui volunt
mihi mala.
Avertantur statim erubescentes : qui dicunt
mUii, Euge, euge.
Exultent et Isetentur in Te omnes c^ui quKrunt
Te : et dicant semper, Magnificetur Dominus, qui
diliaunt salutare Tuum.
every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are
in them," shall be heard "saying, Ble.ssing, and honour, and
glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb," even the Lamb as it had been slain, "for
ever." [E«v. v. 13.]
§ The Imprecations.
Gentle-minded and loving Cliristians have often felt a dilS-
culty in the use of those Psalms which, like the sixty-ninth,
contain such strong expressions of feeling towards evil-doers
as are apparently inconsistent with the precepts of charity
enjoined in the New Testament. Psalms of this character
have been sometimes called the " cursing " or " imprecatory "
Psalms, and the spirit of them has been supposed to be so
thoroughly .Judaical as to make them unsuitable for use by
the Christian Church. But such ideas respecting them are
founded on an insufficient appreciation of the true sense in
which all tlie Psalms are to be regarded : and they are, per-
haps, accompanied by a too limited application of them to the
experience and circumstances of the individual person who
uses them.
It should be remembered as a first principle in the use of
the imprecatory Psalms, that the imprecations are uttered
against the enemies of God, not against those of Da\id or any
other merely human person. It may be doubted wliether the
Sweet Singer of Israel could ever have uttered them in any but
a prophetic sense, for he was of too meek, forgiving, and tender
a character to entertain so strong a spirit of vengeance as the
personal application of his words would imply. Wlien Saul
was a most bitter enemy to him, David twice refrained from
taking his life, though the king was completely in his power:
when Shimei cursed liim with the most shameful imprecations,
he forgave liim as a man, although as a righteous ruler he could
not altogether overlook tlic crime committed against the sove-
reign's person : when his rebellious son Absalom died, the
most pathetic tenderness was exhibited by the bereaved father,
so that his " Absalom, my eon, my son," sliadows forth the
"0 .Jenisalem, Jerusalem," of the Sou of David in after
ages.
It was, therefore, as an inspired prophet, and net as a pri-
vate waiter, that David WTote the maledictions of the Psabns ;
and he wrote them, not rsspecttng any men because they were
enemies of his own, but because they were enemies of his God.
In the same spirit they are to be used by the Christian Church.
And this particular Psabn contains some striking references
to the fads of the Crucifixion which furnish a key to the
use of the maledictions or imprecations wherever they are
found. For these references to facts, which belong exclusively
to the Sufiferings of our Lord, show that the enemies of Christ
are those against whom the terrible words are recorded : as,
also, that they are spoken in the Person of Christ, the righteous
and most merciful Judge of .all men. Thus we are led to the
Gospel narrative and to the historical words of Christ, to ex-
amine whether anything analogous is to be found in the
record of His meek, losing, and gentle life. And there it is
to be observed, that He \Vho uttered the eight Benedictions
in the Sermon on the Mount, also uttered the eight woes in
the very same discourse : that He AVho was mercifid to re-
pentant publicans and sinners, denounced unrepentant hypo-
crites in terms of extreme sternness as a "generation of
vipers," and meted out to them words of most bitter scorn
and condemnation : that He ^\'ho wept over Jerusalem, pre-
dicted at the same time, and in the terms of one passing a
judicial sentence, that fearful siege and destruction the
details of which are unmatched for horror in the history of
the woi-ld : that He ^Yho prayed f<n' His murderers, " Father,
forgive tlieni," was the same Who revealed His own futiu'e
words, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."
Remembering the disposition tow.ards sinners which was
entertained by the Saviour Who came to give up His life for
them, we thus arrive at tlie conclusion that tlie more perfect
the love of (io(l and of souls is, the more deeidcil .and definite
is the righteous indignation wliicli is felt against those wlio
dishonour the One and ruin the other. And a further indi-
cation of this is found in the fact that it was the "Apostle of
14th Day. [Ps. 71.]
Cl)c ipsalms.
569
5 "As for lue, I am poor and in misery : haste
Thee unto me, O God.
G 'Thou art my Helper and my Redeemer : O
Lord, make no long tarrying.
Day 14. MORNING PRAYER.
THE LXXI. PSALM.
In Te Domine, speravi.
IN Thee, Loed, have I put my trust, let me
never be put to confusion : but rid nie, and
deliver me in Thy righteousness ; incline Thine
ear unto me, and save me.
2 Be Thou my Strong-hold, wherounto I may
alway resort : Thou hast promised to help me,
for Thou art my House of defence and my Castle.
3 Deliver me, my God, out of the hand of
the ungodly : out of the hand of the unrighteous
and cruel man.
4 For Thou, O Loed God, art the thing that
I long for : Thou art my Hope, even from my
youth.
5 Through Thee have I been holden up ever
since I was born : Thou art He that took me out
of my mother's womb ; my praise shall be always
of Thee.
6 I am become as it were a ''monster unto
many : but my sure trust is in Thee.
7 O let my mouth be filled with Thy praise :
tliat I may sing of Thy glory and honour all the
day long.
8 Cast me not away in the time of age : for-
.sake me not when my strength faileth me.
9 For mine enemies speak against me, and
a Ps. 40. 20.
b Ps. 40. 21.
LXXI.
Hist. David: Ado-
nijaii's rebellion, (t
Kings i.l
Lilurg, Visit.ltion of
IhcSick. ^.J).?!.
Thursd. M.ntliii,
Maundy Thursd,.
1st Noct.
c i.e. A niiraculoi
prodigy.
Ego vero egenus et pauper sum : Deu.s, adjuva
me.
Adjutor meus et liberator meus es Tu : Do-
mine, no moreris.
I
PSALMUS LXX.
N Te Domine speravi, non confundar in
aetenium : in justitia Tua libera me et eripe
Inclina ad me aurem Tuam : et salva me.
Esto mihi in Deum protectoreni, et in locum
munitum : ut salvum me facias.
Quoniam firmamentum meum : et refugium
meum es Tu.
Deu.s meus, eripe me de manu peccatoris ; et
de manu contra legem agentis et iniqui.
Quoniam Tu es patientia mea, Domine : Do-
mine, spes mea a juventute mea.
La Te confirmatus sum ex utero ; de ventre
matris meas Tu es protector meus :
In Te cantatio mea semper : tanquam prodigium
factus sum multis, et Tu adjutor fortis.
Repleatur os meum laude ut cantem gloriam
Tuam : tota die magnitudinem Tuam.
Ne projicias me in tempore senectutis : cum
defecerit virtus mea, ne derelinquas me.
Quia dixerunt inimici mei mihi : et qui custo-
love " who wrote most severely of all the Apostles against
unbelievers : and who was chosen by God to wind up the
words of Holy Writ with the fearful maledictions, "He that
is unjust, let him be unjust stiU ; and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still. "...." If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book ; and if any man sliall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out
of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things
which are written in this book." [Rev. xxii. 11, 18, 19.]
The imprecations of the Psalms are, then, utterances of that
"wrath of the Lamb," to fly from which sinners, the enemies
of Christ, will at the last call upon the rocks and hills to fall
upon them, hide them, and annihilate them. [Rev. vi. 15-17.]
They are spoken respecting those who finally refuse to become
His friends, and who reject for ever the redeeming love which
would have won them to His fold. When they are sung or
said in the course of Divine Service or in private devotion,
there must be no thought of applying tliem to any particular
persons, or of taking tliem as words which have any reference
to our own real or supposed wrongs. They are the words of
Christ and His Clnirch, not our words spoken as individual
persons : they are uttered agamst the finally impenitent ; and
who these are the Great Judge of all alone can decide. They
must be used, therefore, in the spirit in which the martyrs
cry, "Lord, how long?" in which the Church Militant prays
day by day, "Thy Kingdom come, " and in which at the last,
notwithstanding the horrors attending the Last .Judgement,
the Bride will respond to "Him that testifieth, I come
quickly," "Even so, come. Lord Jesus."
I'SALM LXX.
This Psalm is almost identical with the last six verses of
the fortieth ; but as the second book of the Psalms is chiefly
spoken in the person of Christ's mystical Body, while the
first is chiefly spoken in the Person of Christ Himself, so it
has been thought that this Psalm is the voice of the Church
crying out, ' ' Lord, how long ? " at a period of great tribulation.
It is observable that the language of the second and third
A'erses is such as will bear an interpretation of blessing rather
than cursing. Saul sought after the souls of those whom he
dr,agged to prison, and of God'.s holy martyr Stephen, and
while he was "breathing out slaugliters " such shame and
confusion fell upon hun, and so was he " turned backward,"
that he was converted to become a life servant and martjT of
that Lord Who said to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou Me?" [Acts vii. 58; ix. 4.] Many persecutors are
known to have been converted to Christ in those ages, and
doubtless there were among them some of those very men
who had cried, "There, there," against tlie Lord Himself.
In praying, therefore, "Make haste to help me, Lord,"
the Church prays in the same tone which the merciful Jesus
taught when He bade us pray daily, " Thy Kingdom come ; "
that all, even the enemies and persecutors of Christ, may lae
brought, like St. Paul, to be joyful and glad in Him.
PSALM LXXI.
Although the subject of this Psalm is the same as that of
the preceding, its subdued tone and the absence of any expres-
sions of extreme anguish give it quite a different character.
While the one may be supposed to represent the bitter paui
of the Cross, the other may be taken as illustrating the period
Immediately preceding the Resurrection, -nhen the remem-
brance of the Passion has not yet given place to the trium-
phant joy of a completed Victory. It is the same Voice which
said, "Thou shalt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt
Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Thus the
Psalm represents to us the " patient abiding alway " of the
holy Jesus, waiting for the arrival of the appointed time for
Him to be brought from the deep of the earth again, going
forth in the strength of the Divine Nature, and never doubt-
ing the righteousness of the Di\'ine Will. '
> It. is observable tli.at although tbe first part of tbis Psalm is identical
witli tlie first part of tlie thirty-first, the special compline words of our
Lord, " Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit," are not found here.
570
Ci)c Ipsalmg,
14th Day. [Ps. 71.]
they that lay wait for my soul take their counsel
together, saying : God hath forsaken him ; per-
secute him, and take him, for there is none to
deliver him.
10 Go not far from me, O God : my God,
haste Thee to help me.
11 Let them be confounded and perish that
are against my soul : let them be covered with
shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil.
12 As for me, I will patiently abide alway :
and will praise Thee more and more.
13 My mouth shall daily speak of Thy right-
eousness and salvation : for I know no end
thereof.
14 I wiU go forth in the strength of the Lord
God : and will make mention of Thy righteous-
ness only.
15 Thou, O God, ha,st taught me from my
youth up until now : therefore wOl I tell of Thy
wondrous works.
16 Forsake me not, God, in mine old age,
when I am gray-headed : until I have shewed
Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy
power to aU them that are yet for to come.
17 Thy righteousness, O God, is very high :
and great things are they that Thou hast done ;
God, who is like unto Thee 1
18 what great troubles and adversities hast
Thou shewed me ! and yet didst Thou turn and
refresh me : yea, and broughtest me from the
deep of the earth again.
19 Thou hast brought me to great honour :
and comforted me on every side.
20 Therefore wiU I praise Thee and Thy faith-
fulness, O God, playing upon an instrument of
musick : unto Thee will I sing upon the harp, O
Thou Holy One of Israel.
21 My lips will be fain when I sing unto
Thee : and so wUl my soul whom Thou hast
delivered.
diebant animam meam consilium fecerunt in
unum.
Dicentes, Deus dereliquit eum : persequimini
et comprehendite eum ; quia non est qui eripiat.
Deus, ne elongeris a me : Deus meus, in
auxilium meum respice.
Confundantur et deficiant detrahentes animae
mese ; operiantur confusione et pudore qui qms-
runt mala mihL
Ego autem semper sperabo : et adjiciam super
omnem laudem Tuam.
Os meum annuntiabit justitiam Tuam : tota
die salutare Tuum.
Quoniam non cognovi litteraturam, introibo in
potentias Doiiixi : Domtne, memorabor justitiae
Tuse solius.
Deus, docuisti me a juventute mea : et usque
nunc pronuntiabo mirabilia Tua.
Et usque in senectam et senium : Deus, ne
derelinquas me :
Donee annuntiem brachium Tuum : generationi
omni qua3 ventura est :
Potentiam Tuam et justitiam Tuam, Deu.s,
usque in altissima, qua3 fecisti magnalia : Deus,
quis similis Tibi ?
Quantas ostendisti mihi tribulationes multas
et malas ; et conversus vivificasti me : et de
abyssis terrse iterum reduxisti me.
MultipUcasti magnificentiam Tuam : et con-
versus consolatus es me.
Nam -et ego confitebor Tibi in vasis psahni :
veritatem Tuam, Deus ; psallam Tibi in cithara,
sanctus Israel.
Exsultabunt labia mea cum cantavero Tibi ; et
anima mea quam redemisti.
From the fourth to the eighth verses inclusive, and also in
the fifteeuth and sixteenth, thei-e are such references to the
duration of our Lord's life on earth as seem to indicate that,
altiiough it contmued for only thirty-three years, yet every
period of man's life was represented by or condensed into it.
" Cast me not away in the time of age," may well lead us to
believe that the closing part of our suffering Redeemer's time
of humiliation was, to Him, as the concluding part of an old
man's life, rather than that of a man in the vigour of youth ;
and that in so many years as are reckoned to one generation
He exhausted the experiences of the longest lifetime. There
may be, also, in the expression, " Forsake Me not when My
strength faileth Me," and in the pleading of the two following
verses, a prayer that the Godhead may yet continue with the
Manhood, even when the strength of the Incarnation [see note
on Psalm xuiii. 1 ] seemed to be failing in the last epoch of
Christ's humiliation, tlie Descent into Hell. If so, then these
verses shew that Christ's enemies were not quieted by His
Death, but that the great Adversary and his hosts "lay wait
for " His " soul," under the impression tliat it was forsaken
by the Divine Nature when they beheld it separated from
His Body. It cannot be doubted, that, to the Omniscient
Eye whicli foresaw the events of Christ's Passion in the time
of the Psalmist, the spiritual foes of the Redeemer must have
been as penetratingly known, at least, as those who visibly
stood in the hall of Pilate, or around the Cross.
Like all Psalms which relate to the Sufferings of our Lord,
this one ends in tones of joy and triumph: " what great
trouliles and adversities hast Thou shewed Me " in My Life
and My Death, "and yet didst Thou turn and refresh Me"
in Paradise, "yea, and broughtest Me from the deep of the
earth again " by the re-union of Body and Soul in a glorious
RcsurrectioD,
A manifest application of this Psalm to the Church, and to
Christians in a time of sickness, is suggested by the words of
the prophet Isaiah: "They that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles ; tliey shall nin, and not be weary ; and they shall
walk, and not faint." [Isa. xL 31.] As Christ was a "won-
der " unto many, so His Church has sometimes been so far
partaker in His sufferings as to sa}% " We are made a spectacle
unto the world, and to angels, and to men." [1 Cor. iv. 9.]
But such afflictions draw closer the bonds of union between
the Head and the members, and will enable Him to say at
last, "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given
Me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of
hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion." [Isa. viii. 18; Heb.
ii. 13.]
PSALM LXXII.
These words of prophetic joy were ever considered by the
.lews to be spoken of the Jlcssiah and His Kingdom : to the
Christian, with the light of the (iospel and the history of the
Church before him, this Psalm can have no other meaning.'
If it ever h;id a partial application to Solomon, it could only
have been in a very inferior degree applied to liim as a type
of that Son of David Whose glorious reign was to be universal
and without end ; and of Whom another pi"ophet wrote,
"Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes
shall rule in judgement. And a M;in shall be as an hiding-
place from the wind, and a covert from the temjicst ; as rivers
1 The nciJilect of llic spiritual interpretation of the Fsahiis is painfully
illustrated by a perversion of tlio seventh verse in the hytnn ordered instead
of VcTiitc Kx'ultennis in tlie " Acncssion Service." Some other perversions
in this hynm are equally objectionable.
14th Day. [Ps. 72].
Cf)c Ipsalms.
571
22 My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteous-
ness all the day long : for they are confounded
and brought unto shame that seek to do ino evil.
THE LXXII. PSALM.
Deus, judicium.
/^ IVE the King Thy judgements, O God : and
vX Thy righteousness unto the King's son.
2 Then shall he judge Thy people according
unto right : and defend the poor.
3 The mountains also shall bring peace : and
the little hills righteousness unto the people.
4 He shall keep the simple folk by their right :
defend the children of the poor, and punish the
wrong doer.
5 They shall fear Thee, as long as the sun and
moon cndureth : from one generation to another.
6 Ho shall come down like the rain into a
fleece of wool : even as the drops that water the
earth.
7 In His time shall the righteous flourish ; yea,
and abundance of peace, so long as the moon
endureth.
8 His dominion shall be also from the one sea
to the other : and from the "flood unto the world's
end.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel
before Him : His enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall
give presents : the kings of Arabia and Saba
shall bring gifts.
11 All kings shall fall down before Him : all
nations shall do Him service.
12 For He shall deliver tlie poor when he
crieth : the needy also, and him that hath no
helper.
13 He shall be favourable to the simple and
needy : and shall preserve the souls of the poor.
l-l He shall deliver their souls from falsehood
and wrong : and dear shall their blood be in His
sight.
Lxxn.
Hiit. David; Solo-
nioii's accession.
U:ur,;. &. I|. ffi.
Tluirstl. Mattins.
Oiristmas. Epi-
plMiiy, Maundy
Tliursd., Trinity
Sunday, 2nd Noct.
a i.e. The Euphra-
tes, as the words
refer to the king-
dom of Solomon.
Sed et lingua mea tota die meditabitur justi-
tiam Tuam : cum confusi et reveriti fuerint qui
quagrunt mala mibi.
PSALMUS LXXI.
DEUS, judicium Tuum Eegi da : et justitiam
Tuam Filii) Regis :
Judicare populum Tuum in justitia : et pauperes
Tuos in judicio.
Suscipiant montes pacem populo : et coUes
justitiam.
Judicabit pauperes populi, et salvos faciet filios
pauperum : et humiliabit calumniatorem.
Et permanebit cum sole et ante lunam : in
generatione et generationem.
Descendet sicut pluvia in vellus : et sicut stilli-
cidia stillantia super terram.
Orietur in diebus Ejus justitia, et abundantia
pacis : donee auferatur luna.
Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare : et a
ilumine usque ad terminos orbis terrarum.
Coram Illo procident .(Ethiopes : et inimici
Ejus terram lingent.
Eeges Tharsis et insute munera efferent :
reges Arabum et Saba dona adducent.
Et adorabunt Eum omnes reges : omnes gentes
servient Ei.
Quia liberabit pauperem a potente : et pau-
perem cui non erat adjutor.
Parcet pauperi et inopi • et animas pauperum
salvas faciet.
Ex usuris et iniquitate redimet animas eorum :
et honorabile nomen eorum coram Illo.
of water in a dry place ; as the shadow of a great rock in a
weai'y land." " For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is
given : and the government shall be upon His shoulder ; and
His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of His government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order
it, and to est.^blish it with judgement and with justice, from
henceforth even for ever. " " Behold, a greater than Solomon
is here."
The perpetuity, the universality, and tlie iniinite blessings
of Christ's Kingdom are, then, mystically set forth in this
Psalm. Christ came among the .Jews as the rain upon Gideon's
fleece, lea\ang all around dry : but as the fleece was afterwards
left dry while all around it fell the rain, so, when He was
rejected by His owm nation. He caused the Gentile world to
blossom and bear fruit. He came, therefore, to establish an
universal dominion " from sea to sea, " even to the "utmost
bounds of the earth," ' to establish also a " Kingdom of God
within " us, from the sea of Baptism to the sea of glass before
tlie Throne, one from the flood to the world's end, even from
the flood of destruction to the "river of the water of life." And
it is very observable that this perpetual and universal King-
dom depends altogether on the "righteousness " of the King's
Son, that immaculate holiness and obedience which enabled
Him to be the Saviour of sinners, the " work " of which is
"peace," and the effect of it "quietness and assurance for
ever."
1 "Tharsis and the i.sles " indicate all known and unknown regions Ijing
westward of the fetiaits uf Gibraltar.
To Him, then, is the "gold " of worship and the Incense of
prayer to be oiJered day by day through all ages ; and by Him
is the earth blessed with "an heap of corn," the "Bread of
Life," to be the sustenance of His people here, and until the
time when " His fruit shaU sliake like Libanus " in the Tree
of Life, and be " green in the midst of the street of " the NeAV
.Jerusalem.
The doxology of this Psalm forms to it a fitting conclusion
of fervent praise, but it also marks the end of the second book
of Psalms ; in which it may be observed that the Church, as
the mystical Body of Christ, has been more prominently
Ijrought forward than in tlie first book.
THE THIRD BOOK.
PSALM LXXIIL
As our Lord Jesus iucreascd in wisdom as well as in stature
[Luke ii. 52], it must be concluded that the fulness of know-
ledge did not at once come to His Human Nature, notwith-
standing its union with His Omniscient Divine Nature. It is
not, therefore, irreverent to suppose that some actual con-
dition of our Lord's mind is predicted in this Psalm ; and
that there was a period in His life when the vision of a Di\-ine
Providence was in some degree veiled from His sight, as at
last was the 'S^ision of the Divine Presence.
Another view that may be taken is, tliat, as the Penitential
Psalms are the words of Clu-ist speaking for and in His sinful
members, so these are His words speaking for and in those
572
Cfte Psalms.
14th Day. [Ps. 73.]
15 He shall live, and unto Him shaU be given
of the gold of Arabia : prayer shall be made ever
unto Him, and daily shall He be praised.
1 6 There shall be an heap of corn in the earth,
high upon the hills : His fruit shall shake like
Libanus, and shall be green in the city like grass
upon the earth.
1 7 His Name shall endure for ever ; His
Name shall remain under the sun among the pos-
terities : which shall be blessed through Him;
and all the heathen shall praise Him.
18 Blessed be the Lord God, even the God of
Israel : Which only doeth wondrous things ;
19 And blessed be the Name of His ]\Iajesty
for ever : and all the earth shall be filled with
His Majesty. Amen, Amen.
Day 14. EVENING PRAYER.
THE LXXIU PSALM.
Quam bonus Israel !
TKULY God Ls loving unto Israel : even unto
such as are of a clean heart.
2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone : my
treadings had well-nigh slipt.
3 And why ? I was grieved at the wicked ; 1
do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
4 For they are in no peril of death : but are
lusty and strong.
5 They come in no misfortune like other folk :
neither are they plagued like other men.
6 And this is the cause that they are so holden
with pride : and overwhelmed with cruelty.
7 Their eyes swell with fatness : and they do
even what they lust.
8 They corrupt other, and speak of wicked
blasphemy : their talking is against the most
High.
9 For they stretch forth their mouth "unto the
heaven : and their tongue goeth through the
world.
10 Therefore fall the people unto them : and
thereout suck they no small advantage.
11 Tush, say they, how should God perceive
it : is there knowledge in the most High ?
12 Lo, these are the ungodly, these prosper in
the world, and these have riches in possession :
and I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in
vain, and washed mine hands in innocency.
13 All the day long have I been punished :
and chastened every morning.
14 Yea, and I had almost said even as they :
but lo, then I should have condemned the gene-
ration of Thy children.
I.XXUI,
Hist, Asaph. Occl-
sion unknovNTi,
Lit!,rr. S. g. Jg.
Thursd. Mattins,
Maundy Thursd.,
2nd Noct.
Et vivet et dabitur Ei de auro Arabiae : et
adorabunt de Ipso semper ; tota die benedicent
Ei.
Erit firmamentum in terra in summis montium;
superextoUetur super Libanum fnictus Ejus : et
florebunt de civitate sicut fcenum terras.
Sit Nomen Ejus benedictum in sjecula : ante
solem permanet Nomen Ejus.
Et benedicentur in Ipso omnes tribus tense :
omnes gentes magnificabunt Eum.
Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel : Qui facit
mirabHia solus :
Et benedictum Nomen majestatis Ejus in
feternum : et replebitur maj estate Ejus omnia
terra. Fiat, fiat.
PSALMUS LXXn.
QUAM bonus Israel Deus : his qui recto sunt
corde.
Mei autem pene moti sunt pedes : pene effusi
sunt gressus mei.
Quia zelavi super iniquos : pacem peccatorum
videns.
Quia non est respectus morti eorum : et firma-
mentum in plaga eorum.
In labore hominum non sunt : et cum homini-
bus non flagellabuntur.
Ideo tenuit eos superbia : operti simt iniqui-
tate et impietate sua.
Prodiit quasi ex adipe iniquitas eorum : trans-
ierunt in afisctum cordis.
Cogitaverunt et locuti sunt nequitiam ; iniqui-
tatem in excelso locuti sunt.
Posuerunt in coelum os suum : et lingua eorum
transivit in terra.
Ideo convertetur populus meus hie : et dies
pleni invenientur in eis.
Et dixeruut, Quomodo scit Deus : et si est
scientia in Excelso ?
Ecce ipsi peccatores, et abundantes in sseculo :
obtinuerunt divitias.
Et dixi, Ergo sine causa justificavi cor meum :
et lavi inter innocentes manus meas :
Et fui flagellatus tota die : et castigatio mea in
matutinis.
Si dicebam, Narrabo sic ; ecce nationem filio-
rum Tuorum reprobavi.
whose eyes behokl things darkly, so that ' ' men " seem ' ' as
trees walking," until His Word causes them to see clearly,
and His unveiled Presence reveals the mysteries of His hi<lden
Providence.
The twenty-first chapter of Job is very similar in character
to the seventy-third Psalm, and it is one of the many striking
and instructive coincidences hrouglit out by tlic daily services
of the sanctuary th.at on the 14th of .June the one is the first
lesson at Mattins, the other an Evensong Psalm. This coin-
cidence is not the less striking Iiecause of the manner in wliich
.Job, an well a.s I),avid, wa.s so conspicuous a tj'jie of our
Blessed Lord : for it illustrates the principle laid down by
Clirist that the Scriptures speak in every page concerning
Hini. It was true of Him in the most literal sense that
while the ungodly were prospering in the world and had great
riches in possession. He was punished all the day long, chas-
tened every morning, and without a place whei-e to lay His
Head.
There are few portions of Holy Scripture which offer so
much consolation to the Church of Christ, or to individual
Christians in time of affliction and depression. Tlie powers
of wickedness have often seemed to be prevailing, and (iod's
pui"po3es to be failing ; j)rosperity has often seemed to follow
the footsteps of vice, and misery that of virtue : but this is
only a superficial and shortsighted view of things, which may
be corrected by " going into tlic sanctuary of God," and look-
ing at the eternal life of mankind .as the true life. Then it
will be found, tliat though Antic'hrist and his ministers may
prevail for a time, Christ and His Church shall reign for ever
and ever; and that though wicked Dives may have his good
14th Day. [Ps. 74.]
Cf)e IPsalms.
573
15 Then thought I to understand this : but it
was too hard for me,
IG Until I went into the sanctuary of God ;
then understood I the end of these men ;
17 Namely, how Thou dost set them in slip-
pery places : and castest them down, and de-
stroyest them.
18 Oh, how suddenly do they consume : per-
ish, and come to a fearful end !
19 Yea, even like as a dream when one
awaketh : so shalt Thou make their image to
vanish out of the city.
20 Thus luy lieart was grieved : and it went
even through my reins.
21 So foolish was I, and ignorant : even as it
were a beast before Thee.
22 Nevertheless, I am alway by Thee : for
Thou hast holden me by my right hand.
23 Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel ; and
after that receive me with glory.
24 Whom have I in heaven but Thee : and
there is none upon earth that I desire in com-
parison of Thee.
25 My flesh and my heart faileth : but God
is the strength of my heart, and my portion for
ever.
26 For lo, they that forsake Thee shall perish :
Thou hast destroyed all them that commit forni-
cation against Thee.
27 But it is good for me to hold me -fast by
God, to put my trust in the Lord God : and to
speak of all Thy works in the gates of the daughter
of Sion.
THE LXXIV. PSALM.
Ut quid, Dens.
OGOD, wherefore art Thou absent from us
so long : why is Thy wrath so hot against
the sheep of Thy pasture ?
2 O think upon Thy congregation ; whom
Thou hast jiurchased and redeemed of old.
3 Think upon the tribe of Thine inheritance ;
and mount Sion, wherein Thou hast dwelt.
4 Lift up Thy feet, that Thou mayest utterly
destroy every enemy : which hath done evil in
Thy sanctuary.
5 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of Thy
congregations : and set up their banners for
tokens.
6 He that hewed timber afore out of the thick
trees : was known to bring it to an excellent
work.
LXXIV.
Hist. Asaph : dur-
ing the Captivity.
Li:,.nr. _S. g. |£[.
Thursd. Mattins.
Maundy Thursd.,
and Noct,
Existimabam ut cognosccrem : hoc labor est
ante mo.
Donee intrem in sanctuarium Dei : ct intelli-
gam in novissimis eorum.
Veruntamon propter doles posuisti eis : de-
jecisti eos dum allevarentur.
Quomodo facti sunt in desolationem ? subito
defecerunt : perierunt propter iniquitatem suam.
Velut somnium surgentium, Domink : in civi-
tate Tua imaginem ipsorum ad nihilum rediges.
Quia inflammatum est cor meum, et renes mei
commutati sunt : et ego ad nihilum redactus sum
et nescivi.
Ut jumentum factas sum apud To : et ego
semper Tecum.
Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in volun-
tate Tua deduxisti me : et cum gloria suscepisti
me.
Quid enim mihi est in ccelo? et a Te quid
volui super terram 1
Defecit caro mea et cor meum : Deus cordis
mei et pars mea Deu.s in seternum.
Quia ecce, qui elongant se a Te peribunt : per-
didisti omnes qui fornicantur abs Te.
Mihi autem adhasrere Deo bonum est : ponere
in Domino Deo spem meam :
Ut annuntiem omnes praedicationes Tuas : in
portis filiffi Sion.
u
PSALMUS LXXin.
T quid, Deus, repulisti in finem : iratus est
furor Tuus super eves pascuse Tuaj 1
Memor esto congregationis Tuas : quam pos-
sedisti ab initio.
Eedemisti virgam hajreditatis Tuas : mons
Sion, in quo habitasti in eo.
Leva manus Tuas in superbias eorum in finem :
quanta malignatus est inimicus in sancto.
Et gloriati sunt qui oderunt Te : in medio
solennitatis Tuas.
Posuerunt signa sua, signa : et non cogno-
verunt sicut in exitu super summum.
things and holy Lazarus his evil things in this world, yet
hereafter the prosperous sinner will be tormented and the
afflicted saint comforted.
As yet we cannot understand these mysteries of Providence
any more than we can understand the mysteries of God's
Personality and Trinity ; though we know as much as this,
that Christ Himself was chastened, and was made perfect
through sufferings, and that "if ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons." Hereafter they who obtain
an entrance into the eternal sanctuary of the Heavenly Jerxi-
salem will understand these things. Man once endeavoured
prematurely to attain such fulness of knowledge and to "be
as God :" hereafter "we shall be like Him" in our degree,
even in the understanding of His Providential acts : no longer
looking upon Him darkly as through a glass, but seeing "Him
as He is," perfect in justice, love, and truth. [1 John lii.
2.]
PSALM LXXIV.
This wailing lamentation belongs either historically or pro-
phetically to the period when God's Presence had been i-emo\ed
from Zion during the time of the Babylonish Captivity.' It is
not, however, the lamentation of penitents, like the prayer of
Daniel (which in some respects coiTesponds with this Psalm),
but of the Church speaking by her Head. Hence there is no
trace of such words as those of Daniel, ' ' Yea, all Israel have
1 It is a mistake to consider this Psalm as applicahle to the destrnclion
of the Temple hy the Romans under Titns. When this event occurred, the
Presence of God had been removed from the Temple to the Church. The
Spirit of God, speaking by St. Paul, declared that however glorious the
Old Dispensation w.is, the New Dispensation far exceeded it in glory. The
same Spirit, speaking by the Psalmist, would not have lamented the pass-
ing away of that Old Dispensation in such tenns as are here used. But
such tenns are quite natural in respect to the temporary destruction of a
system which was not yet pennanently replaced by a better.
574
Cbe Psalms.
14th Day. [Ps. 74.]
7 But now they break down all the carved
work thereof : with axes aud hammers.
8 They have set fire upon Thy holy places :
and have defiled the dwelling-place of Thy Name,
even unto the ground.
9 Yea, they said in their hearts, Let us make
havock of them altogether : thus have they burnt
up all the houses of God in the land.
10 We see not our tokens, there is not one
prophet more : no, not one is there among us,
that understandeth any more.
11 O God, how long shall the adversary do
this dishonour : how long shall the enemy blas-
pheme Thy Name, for ever ?
12 Why T\dthdrawest Thou Thy hand : why
pluckest Thou not Thy right hand out of Thy
bosom to consume the enemy ?
13 For God is my King of old : the help that
is done upon earth He doeth it Himself
14 Thou didst divide the sea through Thy
power : Thou brakest the heads of the "dragons
in the waters.
15 Thou smotest the heads of "Leviathan in
pieces : and gavest him to be meat for the people
in the wilderness.
16 Thou broughtest out fountains and waters
out of the hard rocks : Thou driedst up mighty
watera.
1 7 The day is Thine, and the night is Thine :
Thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
18 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth :
Thou hast made summer and winter.
19 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy
hath rebuked : and how the foolish people hath
blasphemed Thy Name.
20 O deUver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove
unto the multitude of the enemies ; and forget
not the congregation of the poor for ever.
21 Look upon the covenant ; for all the earth
is fuU of darkness, and cruel habitations.
22 O let not the simple go away ashamed :
but let the poor and needy give praise unto Thy
Name.
23 Arise, O God, maintain Thine own cause :
remember how the foolish man blasphemeth
Thee daily.
24 Forget not the voice of Thine enemies :
the presumption of them that hate Thee increaseth
ever more and more.
n These are sym-
bolical names for
the Egyptians.
Quasi in silva lignorum securibus exciderunt
januas ejus in idipsum : in securi et ascia deje-
cerunt eam.
Incenderunt igni sanctuarium Tuum in terra :
poUuerunt tabernaculum Nominis Tui
Dixerunt in corde suo cognatio eonim simul :
Quiescere faciamus omnes dies festos Dei a terra.
Signa nostra non vidimus, jam non est pro-
pheta : et nos non cognoscet ampUus.
Usquequo, Deus, improperabit inimicus : irritat
adversarius Nomen Tuum in finem 1
JJt quid avertis manum Tuam : et dexteram
Tuani de medio sinu Tuo in finem ?
De0s autem Rex noster ante sjecula : operatus
est salutem in medio terras.
Tu confirmasti in virtute Tua mare : contribu-
lasti capita draconum in aquis.
Tu confregisti capita draconis
escam populis .<Ethiopum.
dedisti eum
Tu dirupisti fontes et torrentes : Tu siccasti
fluvios Ethan.
Tuus est dies, et Tua est nox : Tu fabricatus
es auroram et solem.
Tu fecisti omnes terminos terrae : sestatem et
ver Tu plasmasti ea.
Membr esto hujus, inimicus improperavit Do-
mino : et populus insipiens incitavit Nomen
Tuum.
Ne tradas bestiis animas confitentes Tibi : et
animas pauperum Tuorum ne obliviscaris in
finem.
Respice in testamentum Tuum : quia repleti
sunt qui obscurati sunt terri« domibus iniqui-
tatum.
Ne avertatur humUis factus confusus : pauper
et inops laudabunt Nomen Tuum.
Exsurge, Deus, judica causam Tuam : memor-
esto improperiorum Tuorum, eorum quse ab
insipieute sunt tota die.
Ne obliviscaris voces inimicorum Tuorum :
superbia eorum qui Te oderunt ascendit semper.
transgressed Thy law .... therefore the curse is poured
upon us." [Dan. ix. 11.] The one thought which pervades
the P.salm is that of the dishonour done to God by tlie desola-
tion of His holy House ; and the cry goes up to His Throne,
" How long shall the Adversary do this dishonour ? . . . .
Maintain Thine own cause." It is not the sinner who speaks,
pleading, " () Lord, hear ; Lord, forgive ; Lonl, hearken
and do : defer not, for Thine own sake, my God ; for Thy
city and Thy people are called by Thy Name." [Dan. ix. 19.]
But it is the Voice of Him Who cried, " Father, glorify Thy
Name."
This literal application of it to the Captivity, and the de-
struction of .Solomon's Temple, is sufficiently evident ; and it
is only necessary to point out that Christ seems already to be
pleading for Hi.s Church even before the Dispensation of Sinai
hail given place to that of the Incarnation. It is far more
clear, however, that the I'salm represents Him as ple.ading
for the New .lerusalem in times of depression, alllic^tion, and
persecution, and especially in that time of desolation of
which He Himself prophesied as to happen in the last days.
No human words can heighten the awful horror of the picture
drawn by our Lord in Matt. xxiv. , and by St. John in Rev.
xiii. 8, in whioli botli are setting forth the final attempt of
the Adversary to dishonour God by destroying His Church ;
and to that period, doubtless, belongs the full force of this
Psalm.
But every opposition ofTered ti> the true work of Christ's
Church is an approach towards tliat height of blasphemy and
persecution wliicli will characterize that period. In respect
to all such tidiililc, therefore, the Church continually sings
this supplicatory hymn, beseeching the Lord to "maintain
His own cause."
PSALM LXXV.
This is a song of ti'iuinjihant hope sung by the Church of
God in prospect of the tinnl contest with Antichrist : sung,
not as by a hunuui community, but ns liy tlic mystical Body
15th Day. [Ps. 75, 76.]
Cfte ipsalms.
575
Day 15. MORNING PRAYER.
THE LXXV. PSALM.
Confitebimur Tibi.
""TTNTO Thee, God, do we give thanks :
LJ yea, unto Thee do we give thanks.
2 Thy Name also is so nigh : and that do Tliy
wondrous works declare.
3 When I receive the congregation : I shall
judge according unto right.
4 The earth is weak, and all the inhabiters
thereof : I bear up the pillars of it.
5 I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly :
and to the ungodly, Set not up your horn.
6 Set not up your horn on high ; and speak
not with a stiff neck.
7 For ''promotion cometh neither from the
east, nor from the west : nor yet from the south.
8 And why 'I God is the Judge : He putteth
down one, and setteth up another.
9 For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
and the wine is red : it is full mixed, and He
poureth out of the same.
10 As for the dregs thereof : all the ungodly
of the earth shall drink them, and suck them out.
1 1 But I will talk of the God of Jacob : and
praise Him for ever.
12 All the horns of the ungodly also will 1
break : and the horns of the righteous shall be
exalted.
THE LXXVI. PSALM.
Notus in Jud^a.
IN Jewry is God known : His Name is great
in Israel.
2 At Salem is His tabernacle : and His dwelling
in Sion.
3 There brake He the arrows of the bow : the
shield, the sword, and the battle.
4 Thou art of more honour and might : than
the hills of the robbers.
5 The proud are robbed, they have slept their
sleep ; and all the men whose hands were mighty
have found nothing.
6 At Thy rebuke, God of Jacob : both the
chariot and horse are fallen.
7 Thou, even Thou art to be feared : and who
LXXV.
Nist. Asaph f dur-
inj; the Captivity.
Lil,in'. S. S. ffi-
Thursd. Mattins.
Maundy Tliursd.
Apostles and Evan-
gelists. 3rd Noct.
a Comp. Song of
Hannah, i Sam. 2.
i-io, and the Mag-
nilicat.
b Or, setting up.
LXXVI.
Hist. Asaph ; on de-
struction of Sen-
nacherib's army. [2
Kings 19.]
LUur^r. ». H. ItJ.
Thursd. Mattins.
Maundy Thursd,.
Etster Eve. Ex.
Cross, 3rd Noct.
may stand in Thy sight when Thou art angry
I
PSALMUS LXXIV.
CONFITEBIMUR Tibi, Deus, confitebimur :
et invocabimus Nomen Tuum.
Narrabimus mirabilia Tua ; cum accepero tem-
pus, ego justitias judicabo.
Liquefacta est terra et omnes qui habitant in
ea : ego confirmavi columnas ejus.
Dixi iniquis, Nolite inique agere : et delinquen-
tibus, Nolite exaltare cornu.
Nolite extollere in altuni cornu vestrum : nolite
loqui adversus Deum iniquitatem.
Quia neque ab oriente, neque ab occidente,
neque a desertis montibas : quoniam Deus judex
est.
Hunc humiliat et hunc exaltat : quia calix in
manu Domini vini meri plenus mixto.
Et inolinavit ex hoc in hoc ; veruntamen fax
ejus non est exinanita : bibent omnes peccatores
terrse.
Ego autem annuntiabo in speculum : cantabo
Deo Jacob.
Et omnia cornua peccatorum confringam : et
exaltabuntur cornua justi.
PSALMUS LXXV.
NOTUS in Judaea Deus : in Israel magnum
Nomen Ejus.
Et f actus est in pace locus Ejus : et habitatio
Ejus in Sion.
Ibi confregit potentias : arcum, scutum, gladium
et bellum.
Illuminans Tu mirabiliter a montibus ^ternls :
turbati sunt omnes insipientes corde.
Dormierunt somnum suum : et nihil invenerunt
omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis.
Ab increpatione Tua, Deus Jacob : dormitave-
runt qui ascenderunt equos.
Tu terribilis es et quis resistet Tibi ? ex tunc
ira Tua.
of Christ ; and therefore, as by Christ Himself speaking in
and by His Church.
The ' ' Name " of God is brought ' ' so nigh " to man througli
the Incarnation of the Second Person in the Blessed Trinity,
and evidence of its nighness is given by all the wondrous
works which have been done in the kingdom which Christ
appointed to His Church as His Father had appointed mito
Him. [Luke xxii. 29.] Though, therefore, the earth is weak
(or "poured out" in weakness), yet does Christ, by His Pre-
sence in the Church, "bear up the pillars of it, "and establish
His Kingdom as "a city which cannot be moved." Hence
the folly of those who oppose and seek to overthrow the Church
of Chi'ist ; a folly which will culminate in the mad and ter-
rible violence of the great Antichrist who will be "revealed
in his time," the "Ungodly," who sets up his horn on high
by offering himself as an object of worship instead of Christ,
and speaking blasphemous things against the Most Highest.
As God " brought it to pass " and not Sennacherib himself,
that the Assyrian king should "be to lay waste fenced cities
into ruinous heaps," so it is God also by Whom it will be
"given unto" Antichrist "to make war with the saints, and
to overcome them, " for some good purpose towards His Church,
doubtless its purgation by persecution.
There may be some reverent hesitation in interpreting the
ninth verse without any reference to the Blessed Sacrament :
yet it seems to be in strict analogy with two passages in the
"Revelation, in which "the wine of the wrath of God," and
"the cup of His indignation" is given to the worshippers of
Antichrist, and to "Great Babylon." And this sense seems
to be confirmed by the undoubted reference in the last verse
to the triumph of " the Lamb as it had been slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spiiits of
God," over both Antichrist and Babylon.
PSALM LXXVI.
As the preceding Psabn is a prophetic hymn of Christ's
mystical Body looking forward to the onslaught of Antichrist,
so in this still higher strain of triumph is to lie discerned the
celebration of a victory accomplished. The Septuagint title
describes it as sung respecting the Assyrian, doubtless after
the destruction of Sennacherib's host : and, like the former
576
Cf)e Psalms.
15th Day. [Ps. 77.]
8 Thou didst cause Thy judgement to be heard
from heaven : the earth trembled, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgement : and to help
all the meek upon earth.
10 The fierceness of man shall turn to Thy
praise : and the fierceness of them shalt Thou
refrain.
11 Promise unto the Lord your God, and
keep it, all ye that are round about Him : bring
presents unto Him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall refrain the spirit of princes : and
is wonderful among the kings of the earth.
THE LXXVII. PSALM.
Voce mea ad Dommum.
I WILL cry unto God with my voice : even
unto God will I cry with my voice, and He
shall hearken unto me.
2 In the time of my trouble I sought the
Lord : my sore ran, and ceased not in the night-
season ; my soul refused comfort.
3 When I am in heaviness, I will think upon
God : when my heart is vexed, I wiU complain.
4 Thou boldest mine eyes waking : I am so
feeble, that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old : and the
years that are past.
6 I call to remembrance my song : and in the
nisht I commune with mine own heart, and
search out my spirits.
7 Will the Lord absent Himself for ever : and
will He be no more intreated 1
8 Is His mercy clean gone for ever : and is
His promise come utterly to an end for evermore t
9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious : and
will He shut up His loving-kindness in dis-
pleasure ?
10 And I said. It is mine own infirmity : but
I will remember the years of the right hand of
the most Highest.
1 1 I will remember the works of the Lord :
and call to mind Thy wonders of old time.
Lxxvn.
Nist. Asaph. Occa-
sion unknoftii.
LM,r^. s. 1. m-
Thursd. Matting.
Maundy Thursd.,
3rd Nott.
De ccelo auditum fecisti judicium : terra tre-
muit et quievit.
Cum exsurgeret in judicio Deus : ut salvos
faceret omnes mansuetos terra;.
Quoniam cogitatio hominis confitebitur Tibi :
et reliquise cogitationis diem festum agent TibL
Vovete et reddite Domino Deo vestro ; omnes
qui in circuitu Ejus affertis munera,
Terribili, et Ei Qui aufert spiritum principum :
terribili apud reges terrse.
T
PSALMUS LXXVI.
OCE mea ad Domindm clamavi
ad Deum, et intendit mihi.
voce mea
In die tribulationis meae Deum exquisivi,
manibus meis nocte contra Eum : et non sum
deceptus.
Renuit consolari anima mea : memor fui Dei,
et delectatus sum, et exercitatus sum ; et defecit
spiritus meus.
Anticipaverunt vigihas oculi mei : turbatus
sum et non sum locutus.
Cogitavi dies antiques : et annos seternos in
mente habui.
Et meditatus sum nocte cum corde meo : et
exercitabar et scopebam spiritum meum.
Nunquid in ajternum projiciet Deus : aut non
apponet ut complacitior sit adhuc 1
Aut in finem misericordiam Suam abscindet :
a generatione in generationem 1
Aut obliviscetur misereri Deus 1 aut contLnebit
in ira Sua misericordias Suas ?
Et dixi, Nunc ccepi : hsec mutatio dexterse
Excelsi.
Memor fui operum Domini : quia memor ero
ab initio mirabiHum Tuorum.
Psalm, this also is to be regarded as a liyinn of victory over
that Antichrist of whom Sennacherib was one of the many
personal types. It is very significant that the City of God is
spoken of under the name of Salem, not Jerusalem ; the former
being the name wliich it bore in the time of Melchizedec, after
the order of whose Priesthood Christ came, Whose undisputed
reign alone will establish a City of perfect Peace.' [Rev. vi. 4 ;
Isa. ii. 4 ; Micah iv. 3.]
This may be taken, therefore, as an Evangelical hymn of
that new .JewTy, Salem, and Sion, of which St. John heard
tlie " great voice out of Heaven, saying, Beliold, tlie taljeniacle
of (iod is with men, and He will dwell w'itli them, and they
sliall be His people, and Cod Himself shall be with them, and
be their Cod. And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes ; and there shall be no more dcatli, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away." [Rev. x.\i. ',i, 4.] The troubles of
the last days are spoken of as past ; Antichrist is subdued and
overtlirowii ; the judgement of Christ has been heard from the
"great wliite tlirone ;" the perfect supremacy of the "King
of kings and Lord of lords " is for ever established in aa end-
less reign of peace.
PSALM LXXVII.
In the first half of this Psalm the voice of Christ's mystical
• The LXX translates tlie Hebrew "it t!ff,<yi."
Body cries out to God from the midst of some affliction in which
He has seemed to hide His face. The tenth verse recalls to
mind that God is never really absent from the Chui-ch, and
that if He seems to be so, it is because our own infinnity and
want of faith prevent us from beholding His Presence. In
the latter half of the Psalm God's dealings with His people of
old are recounted as a memorial before Him in the tone of the
Litany Antiphon : " O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for
Thy Name's sake."
There were occasions on which the way of Christ was " in
the sea, and His path in the deep waters ; " and when ' ' the
waters saw " Him their God " and were afraid, and the depths
were troubled : " and these miracles of our I^ord's Person and
Word seem to be prophetically commemorated in this I'salm
no less than the miraculous passage of the Ked Sea is histori-
cally comnicinorated. On one of these occasions the storm
arose when our Lonl was asleep in tlie ship, and after being
awoke He expressly reliukcd tlie disciples for their want of
faith, reminding them that tlieir fear arose from their " own
infirmity," for that His Presence not less than His Word is a
sure token of safety to tlie Church. On the other occasion
our Lord walked on the sea to the disciples, who were toiling
in vain against a contrary wind, and they were by His
Presence brouglit immediately to the haven where they would
be. Then, too, it is recorded of them tliat their faith was
wanting, " for they eonsicUtred not the miracle of the loaves :
for their heart was liardened."
Thus the key-note of the Psalm is struck in the tenth verse.
15th Day, [Ps. 78.
Cf)C ipsalms.
577
12 1 will think also of all Tliy works : and my
talking shall be of Thy doings.
1 3 Thy way, God, is holy : who is so great
a God as our God l
1 4 Thou art the God that doeth wonders : and
liast declared Thy power among the people.
15 "Thou hast mightily delivered Tliy ]ieople :
even the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
16 *The waters saw Thee, O God, the waters
saw Thee, and were afraid : the depths also were
troubled.
17 'The clouds poured out water, the air
thundered : and Thine arrows went abroad.
18 The voice of Thy thunder was heard round
about : the lightnings shone upon the ground, the
earth was moved, and shook withal.
19 ''Thy way i.s in the sea, and Thy paths in
the great waters : and Thy footsteps are not
known.
20 Thou leddest Thy people like sheep ; by
the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Day 15. EVKNING PrayKR.
THE LXXVIII. PSALM.
Attendite, popule.
HEAR My law, My people : incline your
ears unto the words of Jly mouth._
2 ^I will open My mouth in a parable : I will
declare hard sentences of old ;
3 ''Which we have heard and known : and such
as our fathers have told us ;
4 ''That we should not hide them from the
children of the generations to come : but to shew
the honour of the Lord, His mighty and wonder-
ful works that He hath done.
5 'He made a covenant with Jacob, and gave
Israel a law : which He commanded our fore-
fathers to teach their children ;
6 That their posterity might know it : and the
children which were yet unborn ;
7 *To the intent that when they came up : they
might shew their children the same ;
a Comf. Ps. 8o. 2, 3.
*Exo(l.i4. 21. M.ltt.
8. 20.
czSam. 22. 14. Josh.
10. II. 2 Sam. 22.
IS-
Et meditabor in omnibus operibus Tuis : et
in adinventionibus Tuis exercebor.
Deus, in sancto via Tua ; quis Deus magnus
sicut Dku.s noster^ Tu cs Deu.s Qui facis mira-
bilia.
Notam fecisti in populis virtutem Tuam : rede-
misti in brachio Tuo poi)ulum Tuum, iilios Jacob
et Joseph.
Vidcrunt Te aqu«, Deus, viderunt Te aquaj et
timuerunt : et turbatse sunt aljyssi.
Multitudo sonitus aquarum : vocem dederunt
nubes.
Etenim sagittal Tua; transeunt : vox tonitrui
Tui in rota.
lUuxerunt coruscationes Tua; orbi terrae : com-
mota est et contremuit terra.
iux,\t6.tf. Kom. ] In marl via Tua, et semitaa Tuie in aquis
' multis : et vestigia Tua non cognoscentur.
Deduxisti sicut oves populum Tuum : in manu
Moysi et Aaron.
PSALMUS LXXVn.
i.xxvni.
Hist. Asaph ; on the
rebellion of the Ten
Tribes.
Lii„ri:. 5. g. K-
Thursd. Mattinj.
e Isa. 51. 4.
/ Matt. 13. 35. I
Cor. 10. II.
J.' Exort. 12. 14. Dent.
6. 20.
h Col. i, 27.
fc Deut. 6. 20.
ATTENDITE, popule Meus, legem Meam :
i \ inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris Mei.
Aperiam in parabolis os Meum : loquar prnpo-
sitiones ab initio.
Quanta audivimus et cognovinuis ea : et patres
nostri narraverunt nobis.
Non sunt occultata a iiliis eorum : in genera-
tione altera.
Narrantes laudes Domini et virtutes Ejus : et
mirabilia Ejus qu<B fecit.
Et suscitavit testimonium in Jacob : et legem
posuit in Israel.
Quanta mandavit patribus nostris : nota facere
ea filiis suis ; ut cognoscat generatio altera ;
Filii qui nascentur et exsurgent : et narrabunt
filiis suis.
Adversity may surround the Church or particular members of
it, and Christ's Pi-eseuce may seem far off, or if He is in the
sliip yet is He asleep ; faith, however, will say. This appear-
ance of danger is from " mine own infirmity, liut I will
remember the years of the right hand of the most Highest."
Tliough we may be in the midst of " the waves of this trouble-
some world " and He on the shore of His Father's Throne, yet
is His way in the sea, and His path in the great waters ; so
that nothing can separate the Church from the protection of
of His Presence. Though He may seem to be heedless of our
danger, yet may we rely on His Presence, and be sure that if
He is in the ship, though asleep, it is an Ark of safety.
Very great comfort may therefore be found in this Psabn at
all times of tribulation, for in it we memorialize God, and
remind ourselves, of His wonders to His Church in old time,
and of His never-failing love towards her for ever. As He
led His ancient people like sheep by the hand of Moses and
Aaron, so does He Himself as the Good Shepherd go before
His sheep that they may hear His voice, and follow Him to
pastures of safety and peace.
PSALM LXXVIII.
This didactic hymn sets forth the history of the ancient
Israel as in a parable for the instruction of the new Israel of
God, and for memorializing Him of His mercies to the Church
of all ages. As regards the Jews it has a pai'allel in the dis-
course of St. Stephen before the Council of the Sanhedrin,
especially in setting forth the persistent disobedience to God
by which their history had been marked, and the continual
forgiveness witli which He had requited their misdeeds.
That the parable is spoken with reference to the Cliristian
Church also we may clearly understand from the words with
which St. Paul concludes a short enumeration of some of the
sins of Israel : ' ' Now all these tilings happened unto them
for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon
whom the ends of the world are come."' The Psalm, there-
fore, comes to the Church as the voice of Christ, saying,
" Hearken unto Me, My people, and give ear unto Me, O My
nation ; for a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My
judgement to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness
is near ; My salvation is gone forth ; and Mine aiTn shall judge
the people ; the isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm
shall they trust. " "All these things sjiake Jesus unto the
multitude m parables ; and without a parable spake He not
unto them."
As it will be impracticable to foUow out this tj'pical
character of the Psalm in any lengthy detail, a few par-
ticulars may be selected for the purpose of illustration from
several of its vai'ious sections.
The whole Psalm obviously symbolizes the passage of the
new Israel at all periods of its history from spiritual bondage
and the wilderness of this ^\orld to the promised land of rest
1 It has been observed, as illustrating the typical force of this Psalm, that
though relating to past events the Hebrew verbs are in the future.
•i O
578
Cf)C Psalms.
15th Day. [Ps. 78.]
8 That they might put their trust in God : and
not to forget the works of God, but to keep His
commandments ;
9 "And not to be as their forefathers, a faith-
less and stubborn generation : a generation that
set not their heart aright, and whose spirit cleavetli
not stedfastly unto God ;
10 '^Like as the children of Ephraim : who
being harnessed, and carrying bows, turned them-
.selves back in the day of battle.
11 'They kept not the covenant of God : and
would not walk in His law ;
12 But forgat what He had done : and the
wonderful works that He had shewed for them.
13 "'Marvellous things did He in the sight of
our forefathers, in the land of Egypt ; even in the
field of Zoan.
14 'He divided the sea, and let them go
thron^li : ITe made the waters to stand on an
heap.
15 •'In the day-time also He led them with a
cloud : and all the ni^ht through with a light of
fire.
16 -^He clave the hard rocks in the wilderness :
and gave them drink thereof, as it had been out
of the great depth.
17 He brought waters out of the stony rock :
so that it gushed out like the rivers.
18 '''Yet fur all this they sinned more against
Him : and provoked the most Highest in the
wilderness.
19 'They tempted God in their hearts : and
required meat for their lust.
20 *They spake against God also, saying :
Shall God prepare a table in the wilderness ?
21 He smote the stony rock indeed, that the
water gushed out, and the streams flowed withal :
' but can He give bread also, or provide flesh for
His people 1
22 '"When the Lord heard this. He was wroth:
so the fire was kindled in Jacob, and there came
up heavy displeasure against Israel ;
23 Because they believed not in God : and
put not their trust in His help.
24 "So He commanded the clouds above : and
opened the doors of heaven.
25 He rained do^^ii manna also upon them for
to eat : and gave them food from heaven.
26 " So man did eat Angels' food : for He sent
them meat enough.
27 '" He caused the east-wind to blow under
heaven : and through His power He brought in
the south-west-wincL
n Deut.21. i8. Acts
7, 51. 2 Chron. 30.
c 2 Kin^ 17. 14, Isa.
I. 3.
e Exod. 14
Cor. 10. 2.
yExod. 13. 21. lia.
4- 5-
J Exod. 17.6. Num.
20. II. I Cor. 10.4.
/I Heb. 3. 16.
I Exod. 16. 3
i Cc^iip. Jolin 6. 22,
6<:>.
« John 6. 52.
o John 6. 51.
J> Num. II. 31.
Ut ponant in Deo sj>era suam : et noii oblivis-
cantur operum Dei ; et mandata Ejus exquirant.
Ne fiant sicut patres eorum : generatio prava
et exasperaiis.
Generatio qua? nun direxit cor suum : et non
est creditus cum Deo spiritus ejus.
Filii Ephrem intendentes et mittentes arcum :
conver.si sunt in die belli.
Non custodieruut testamentum Dei : et in lege
Ejus noluerunt ambulare.
Et obliti sunt benefactoruiu Ejus : et mirabilium
ejus qu:« ostendit eis.
Coram patribiis eorum fecit mirabiha in terra
Jigypti : in canqjo Thaneos.
Interrupit mare et perduxit eos
aquas quasi in utre.
et statuit
Et deduxit eos in nube diei
illuminatione ignis.
Interrupit petram in eremo
velut in abysso multa.
et tota nocte in
et adaquavit eos
Et eduxit aquam de petra : et deduxit tanquain
flumina aquas.
Et apijusuerunt adhuc peccare Ei : in irara con-
citaverunt Excelsum in inaquosu.
Et tentaverunt Deu.m in cordibus suis : ut
peterent escas animabus suis.
Et niale locuti sunt de Deo : dixerunt, Nun-
quid poterit Deus jiarare mensam in deserto ?
Qui percussit petram, et fluxerunt aquas : et
torrentes inundaverunt :
Nunquid et panem poterit dare : aut parare
mensam populu Suo ?
Ideo audivit Dominus et dlstulit : et ignis
accensus est in Jacob, et ira asrendit in Israel.
Quia non crediderunt in Deo
runt in sahitari Ejus.
Et manda\-it nubibus desuper : et januas coeli
aperuit.
Et pluit illis manna ad manducandum
panem coeli dedit eis.
Panem angelorum manducavit homo : cibaria
misit eis in abundantia.
Transtulit austrum de ca-lo : et induxit in vir-
tute Sua africum.
nee sperave-
et
and the heavenly Jerasalem. Hence the significance of the
fourteentli verse, relating to the Baptism of the Israelites in
the cloud and in tlie sea at the outset of their j'ourney towards
tlie land of promise, and of all those following verses wliich
set fortli (Jod's nicrcy in providing drink and food for them
during the whole period of their wanderings. St. Paul's
words respecting these circumstances sliew tliat we should
nmch undervalue the true teaching of Holy Scripture if we
failed to see their typical meaning : and his immediate refer-
ence to the "Cup of Ble8suig"and "the Bread which we
lireak " clearly indicates that tliis typical meaning looks
towards tlie sacramental life of the Christian Chuich. While,
then, we recount the wonders of old time when Ood divided
the sea to let His ancient people pass through, we recount,
also, His continual mercy in causing Ills new Israel to pass
through the watera of Baptism that they may be cleansed
from the spiritual defilement of the Egypt out of which He
has brought them.
A prophecy of Isaiah also connects this portion of the
history of Israel very distinctly with the abiding of the Holy
Ghost in the Church. Having spoken of the day when " the
Branch of the Lord" shall be beautiful and glorious, and the
remnant of Israel " shall be callcil holy, even every one that
is written among the livinj,' in .lerusalem," the prophet goes
on to say that tlie Lord shall then have " washed aw.iy the
filth of the daugliter of Ziou " and purged the Mood of .Jerusa-
lem " by the spirit of judgement, and the spirit of buniinp.
And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-plaie upon
mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by
day, and the shining of a flaming tire by night : for upon all
the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle
for a shadow in the ilav time from the heat, and for a pl.ice
15th Day. [Ps. 78.]
Cf)e Psalms.
579
28 He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust :
and feathered fowls like as tlie sand of the sea.
29 He let it fall among their tents : even
round about their habitation.
30 So they did eat, and were well filled, for
He gave tlieni their (jwu desire : they were not
disappointed of their lust.
31 "But while the meat was yet in their
mouths, the heavy wrath of God came upon
them, and slew the wealthiest <if them : yea, and
smote down the chosen men that were in Israel.
32 ' But for all tliis they siimed yet more :
and believed not His wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did He consume in
vanity ; and their years in trouble.
34 ' When He slew them, they sought Him :
and turned them early, and enquired after God.
35 ''And they remembered that God was their
strength : and that the high God was their Ke-
deemer.
36 Nevertheless, they did but flatter Him
with their mouth : and dissembled with Him in
their tongue.
37 For their heart was not whole with Him :
neither continued they stedfast in His covenant.
38 '■ But He was so merciful, that He forgave
their misdeeds : and destroyed them not.
39 ^ Yea, many a time turned He His wrath
away : and would not suffer His whole displeasure
to arise.
40 For He considered that they were but
flesh : and that they were even a wind that
passeth away, and cometh not again.
41 Many a time did they provoke Him in the
wilderness : and grieved Him in the desert.
42 "They turned back and tempted God :
and moved the Holy One in Israel. ^
43 They thought not of His hand : and of the
day when He delivered them from the hand of
the enemy ;
44 How He had wrought His miracles in
Egypt : and His wonders in the field of Zoan.
45 '' He turned their waters into blood : so
that they might not drink of the rivers.
46 ' He sent lice among them, and devoured
them up : and frogs to destroy them.
47 ''He gave their fruit unto the caterpillar :
and their labour unto the grasshopper.
48 'He destroyed their vines with hail-stones :
and their mulberry-trees with the frost.
49 He smote their cattle also with hail-stones :
and their flocks with hot thunder-bolts.
a N'uin. II. 33.
c 2 Chroii. 30. 9.
d Deut. V 4. '5i '8,
' Exod. 34. 6.
/Num. 14. 20. Exod.
I4ii.i2;i5.23,24:
16. 2, 20, 27, 28 ; 17.
1-3: 32. 8. Num.
II. 1,41 ■4- ■>=■
■ Acts 7. 52.
h Exod. 7. 19, 20.
Rev. 16. 4, 6.
i Exod.
Rev. 16. I
i Exod.
9.3-
I Exod. 9, 24.
16. 21.
Et pluit .super eos sinut jmlverem carnes : et
sicut arenam maris volatilia pennata.
Et ceciderunt in medio castrorum eorum : circa
tabernacula eorum.
Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt nimis, et
desideriuni uoriun attiilit eis : non sunt fraudati
a desiderio suo.
Adhuc escaj eorum erant in ore ipsoi-uni : et
ira Dei ascendit sujier eos.
Et occidit pingucs eorum : et electos Israel
impedivit.
In omnibus his peccaverunt adhuc : et non
crediderunt in mirabilibus Ejus.
Et defecerunt in vanitate dies eorum : et anni
eorum cum festinatione.
Cum occideret eos, quasrebant Eum et reverte-
bantur : et diluculo veniebant ad Eum.
Et rememorati sunt quia Deus adjutor est
eorum : et Deus excelsus Redemptor eorum e.st.
Et dilexerunt Eum in ore suo : et lingua sua
mentiti sunt Ei.
Cor autem eorum non erat rectum cum Eo :
nee fideles habiti sunt in testamento Ejus.
Ipse autem est misericors et propitius fiet pec-
catis eorum : et non disperdet eos.
Et abundavit ut averteret iram Suam : et non
accendit omnem iram Suam.
Et recordatus est quia
vadens et non rediens.
caro sunt : spiritus
Quotiens esacerbaverunt Eum in deserto : in
iram concitaverunt Eum in inaquoso ?
Et conversi sunt et tentaverunt Dedm : et
Sanctum Israel exacerbaverunt.
Non sunt recordati manus Ejus : die qua re-
demit eos de manu tribulantis.
Sicut posuit in jEgypto signa Sua : et pro-
digia Sua in campo Thaneos.
Et convertit in sanguinem flumina eorum : et
imbres eorum, ne biberent.
Misit in eos cynomyiam, et comedit eos : et
ranani, et disperdidit eo.s.
Et dedit ajrugini fructus eorum : et labores
eoru-m locustce.
Et occidit in grandine vineas eorum : et moros
eorum in pruina.
Et tradidit grandini jumenta eorum : et pos-
sessionem eorum igni.
of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain." [Isa.
iv. 2-6.] Thus the cloudy pillar of the Psalm clearly typifies
that cloud by which the house was filled where tlie Apostles
were assembled, and which first signified to the Church the
coming of the Holy Ghost to abide with it for ever.
Led by the same inspii-ed teaching, we know that the rock
which God " elave ' in the wilderness is a type of Christ the
" Rock of ages ; " and in the continual provision of water from
that fountain we thus see a type of that ever-flowing Fountain
which has been opened for us in the grace of our Lord, the
" living M'ater " of which men drink here as a foretaste of the
water of life provided for them in the glorified City of God.
We have still higher authority, If it were possible, that of
'• It h.is been pointed out by a modem critic that the lattertpart of verse
42 Is literally they *' crossed the Holy One of Israel," a striking prophecy
of the manner in which "the Jews tilled up the measure of tlicir guilt by
tempting God manifest in the flesh amongst them, .and by ' crossing ' the
Holy One of Israel." (Theupp on Ike Psalvisi ii. 2'), note.]
Christ's own words in the sixth chapter of ,St. John's Gospel,
for taking the manna of the wilderness as a significant type
of the " Living Bread " of the Church. This has been already
referred to in the Introduction to the Liturgy [p. 360], but a
word may be added as to the significance of the twentieth and
twenty-first verses. The half belief here indicated is one
which has been illustrated in all ages of the Church. It was
that which laid the foundation of heresies in the early Church,
and that which has hindered the full reception of sacramental
doctrine in later times. Up to a certain point doctrines
respecting Christ and the Sacraments are received with com-
parative facility : but there is a point when these become ' ' a
hard saying," and many tuni back from following after our
Lord into the fulness of mystery : ' ' He smote the stony rock
indeed, that the water gushed out, and the sti'eams flowed
withal : " He came as a JIan beyond all men, He gave man-
kind the .Sacrament of a New Birth in Holy Baptism, " But
can He give bread also, or provide flesh for His people ? " did
vSo
Cf)C Ipsalms.
15th Day. LPs. 78.]
50 He cast upon tliem the fm-iousness t)f His
wrath, anger, displeasure, and trouble : and sent
evil angels among them.
51 "He made a ^'ay to His indignation, and
spared not their soul from death : but gave their
life over to the pestilence ;
52 * And smote all the first-born in Egypt : the
most principal and mightiest in the dwellings of
Ham.
53 ' But as for His own people. He led them
forth like sheep : and carried them in the wilder-
ness like a flock.
54 ''He brought them out safely, that they
.should not fear : and overwhelmed their enemies
mth the sea.
55 ' And brought them within the borders of
His sanctuary : even to His mountain which He
purchased with His right hand.
56 ^ He cast out the heathen also before them :
caused their land to be divided among them for
an heritage, and made the tribes of Israel to
dwell in their tents.
57 So they tempted aivi disiileased the most
high God : and kept not His testimonies ;
58 ■^But turned their backs, and fell away like
their forefathers : starting aside like a broken
bow.
59 Tor they grieved Him with their hill-
altars : and provoked Him to displeasure with
their images.
60 'When God heard this. He was wroth :
and took sore displeasure at Israel.
61 *So that He forsook the tabernacle in Silo :
even the tent that He had pitched among men.
62 ' He delivered their power into captivity :
and their beauty into the enemy's hands.
63 '"He gave His people over also unto the
sword : and was wroth with His inheritance.
64 The fire consumed their young men : and
their maidens were not given to marriage.
65 "Their priests were slain with the sword :
and there were no widows to make lamentation.
66 So the LoKD awaked as one out of sleep :
and like a giant refreshed with wine.
67 " He smote His enemies in the hinder parts :
and put them to a perpetual shame.
68 ' He refused the tabernacle of Joseph : and
chose not the tribe of Ej)hraim ;
69 "But chose the tribe of Judah : even the
hill of Sion which He loved.
70 'And there He built His temple on high :
and laid the foundation of it like the ground
which He hath made continually.
a £xod. g. 8.
/' Exod. 12. 2;
-30.
c Exod. 12. 37
rf Exod. 14, 2
e Dent. g. i.
/Deut. 31. 3.
11. 23;I-1-S-
p. 557. note.
Josh.
Co,„f.
,r Hosca 7. 16
/: Judg. 2. II,
■3-
.2 Kings 17.
B.
J: I Sam. I. 3: 3.
I.
I Judg. 2. 14-23
Sam. 4. 17.
I
}H I Sam. 4- 10.
n I Sam. 4- 11.
19.
I Sam. 5. 6-is.
/I Sam. 6. 12; ;
Isa. II. 13.
. I.
q I Chron. 16. 1
31. 2 Chron. i.
6.
4.
rsCliron. 2. i.
Misit in eos iram indignationis Sua3 : indigna-
tionem et iram, et tribulationem ; inimissiones
per angelos malos.
Viam fecit semitas irae Sui«, et non pepercit a
morte animarum eorum : et jumenta eorum in
morte conclusit.
Et percussit omne primogenitum in terra
7Eg)'pti : primitias ouniis laborLs eorum in taber-
naculis Cham.
Et abstulit sicut oves populum Suum : et per-
duxit eos tanquam gregem in deserto.
Et eduxit eos in spe, et non timueruut : et ini-
micos eorum opertiit mare.
Et iuduxit eos in montem sanctificationLs Sua; :
montem, quem acquisivit dextera Ejus.
Et ejecit a facie eorum gentes : et sorte divisit
eis terram in funiculo distributionLs.
Et habitare fecit in tabernaculis eorum : tribus
Israel
Et tentaverunt et exacerbaverunt Deum excel-
sum ; et testimonia Ejus non custodierunt.
Et averterunt se, et non servaverunt pactum :
quemadmodum patres eorum, conversi sunt in
arcum pravum.
In iram concitaverunt Eum in collibus suis : et
in sculptilibas suis ad SEmulationem Eum provo-
caverunt.
Audivit Deus et sprevit : et ad nihilum redegit
valde Israel.
Et repulit tabernaculum Silo : tabei-naculuni
Suum ubi habitavit in hominibus.
Et tradidit in captivitatem virtutem eorum : et
pulchritudinem eorum in manus inimici.
Et conclusit in gladio populum Suum : et
hsereditatem Suam sprevit.
Juvenes eorum comedit ignis : et virgines
eorum non sunt lameutat;e.
Sacerdotes eorum in gladio ceciderunt : et
viduK eorum non plorabantur.
Et excitatus est tanc|uam dormiens DojiiNtJS :
tanquam potens crapulatus a vino.
Et percussit inimicos Suos in posteriora :
opprobrium sempiternum dedit illis.
Et repuUt tabernaculum Joseph : et tribum
Ephraim non elegit :
Sed elegit tribum Juda : montem Sion quem
dilexit.
Et iedificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium
Simm : in terra quam fundavit in sa^cula.
He come simply and truly a.9 Goil Incarnate ? does He
give the Living Bread from Heaven, His own Flesh, the
Life of the Baptized, — in the Sacrament of the Holy Com-
munion ?
It may be observed in conclusion [1] that a comparison of
the plagues of Kj'ypt wliich are here enumerated with certain
passages in the Book of the Revelation will shew that the
Kgypt of the Israelites represents typically the Antichrist of
the Church : and [2] that as the Lord refused the tabernacle
of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, so He sufifereit
some of the most flourishing Churches to have their candle-
stick removed out of its place in the early days of Chnstianity.
The latter warning is for every age of the ^'hurch : " Let us
therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into
HLs rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." [Heb.
iv. 1.]
PSALM LXXIX.
The ancient appropriation of tliis as a proper I'salm for All
Saints' Day points out its constant function as a connneniora-
tion of the martyrs of the Church. It is also to be fciken as a
prophecy of those future martyrdoms which our Lord and His
Apostle St. .John have predicted as characterizing the last
gi-eat war of Antichrist against the Kingdom of the Cross :
for again is heard the cry of the souls under the altar. " How
long, Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?" a tit Antiphou
to this Psalm.
The woi-ds of the Psalm had, doubtless, a very literal
apidication to the condition of the .Jewish nation at such
jicriods of its history as tlie Babylonish C.aptivity, and the
lUsolation tliat fell upon its religion in the time of .\ntiochus
16th Day. [Ps. 79.]
Ctje Psalms.
71 "He chose JJavid also His servant : and
took Iiim away from the sheep-folds.
72 * As he was following the ewes great witii
young ones He took liini : that he might feed
Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.
73 'So he fed them with a faithful and true
heart : and ruled them prudently with all his
power.
D.\Y 16. MORNING Prayer.
THE LXXIX. PSALM.
Deus, venerunt.
OGOD, the heathen are come into Thine in-
heiitance : Thy holy temple have they
defiled, and made Jerusalem an heap of stones.
2 The dead bodies of Thy servants have they
given to be meat unto the fowls of the air : and
the flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the
land.
3 Their blood have they shed like water on
every side of Jerusalem : and there was no man
to bm-y them.
4 We are become an oiien shame to our
enemies : a very scorn and derision unto them
that are round about us.
5 Lord, how long wilt Thou be angry : shall
Thy jealousy burn like fire for ever?
6 Pour out Thine indignation upon the heathen
that have not known Thee : and upon the king-
doms that have not called upon Thy Name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob : and laid
waste his dwelling-place.
8 remember not our old sins, but have mercy
upon us, and that soon : for we are come to great
misery.
9 Help US, God of our salvation, for the
glory of Thy Name : O deliver us, and be merci-
ful unto our sins, for Thy Name's sake.
10 \\'herefore do the heathen say
now their God I
Where is
11 O let the vengeance of Thy servants' blood
that is shed : be openly shewed upon the heathen
in our sight.
12 O let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners
come before Thee : according to the greatness of
Thy power, preserve Thou those that are appointed
to die.
13 And for the blasphemy wherewith our
neighbours have blasphemed Thee : reward Thou
them, O LoED, seven-fold into their bosom.
* 2 Sam. s. 2.
c Joliii lO. II, Ib.l,
40. It.
LXXI.\.
y/(-vA Astudi : 1)11
Sliishak's iiivasidii.
1:1 Cliroii, 12. 2.9.1
l.it„ri: S. g. P.-
Thured. Mattins.
All Saints, 2ii'l
Noct. Name of
Jesus. M.Tny Mar-
tyrs, 3rd Noct.
Epiplianes. .Jereniiali had predicted, "The carcases of this
people sliall bo meat for the fowls of the heaven and for the
beasts of the cai'th ; and none shall fray them awaj'
Tiotli the great and tlie small shall die in this land : and tliey
sliall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them : " and
no doubt his propliecy was exactly fulfilled. "We know also,
from the Books of the MaccaViees, how mucli the persecution
which fell upon .luda'a in their days was like the persecution
of C'ln-istianity three and four centuries later. But however
literally the words of tlie Psalm may express the sad condition
of .JudiBa at such periods, their meaning is not exhausted by
such an application, and there are clearly features of inartyr-
ilom pourtrayed to which the suffering Jews, as a body, could
not lay claim.
We are rather to look for the true Christian meaning of
this Psalm in the Church of the first three centuries, and of
Et elegit David .servum Suurn, et sitstulit enm
de gregibus ovium : de post foetantes acccpit
eum,
Pascerc Jacob servum Siinm : et Israel h.ere-
ditatem Suani :
Et pavit eos in innocentia cordis sui : et in
intellectibus niaimum suarum dedu.xit e(js.
PSALMUS LXXVIII.
DEUS, venerunt gentes in hsereditatem Tuam :
polluerunt templum sanctum Tuuni; posuc-
runt Hierusaleni in pomorum custodiam.
Posuerunt morticina servorum Tuorum escas
volatilibus coeli : carnes sanctorum Tuorum
bestiis terrie.
Etfuderunt sangnincm eoruni tanquam aquam
in circuitu Hierusaleni : et non erat qui scpeliret.
Facti sumus opprobrium vicinis nostris : sub-
sannatio et illusio his qui in circuitu nostro sunt.
Usquequo, Domine, irasceris in fiiiem : accen-
detur velut ignis zelus Tuus ?
Effunde irani Tuam in gentes qua? Te non
noverunt : et in regna quee Nomen Tnum non
invocaverunt :
Quia comederunt Jacob : et locum ejus desola-
verunt.
Ne memineris iniquitatum nostrarum antiqua-
rum : cito anticipent nos misericordi;u Tu:u, quia
pauperes facti sumus nimis.
Adjuva nos, Deus salutaris noster, et projiter
gloriam Nominis Tui, Domine, libera nos : et
propitius esto peccatis nostris, propter Nomeu
Tuum :
Ne forte dicant in gentibus, Ubi est Deus
eorum ? et innotescat in nationibus coram oculis
nostris,
Ultio sanguinis servorum Tuorum, qui efl'usus
est : introiiat in conspectu Tuo gemitus compcdi-
torum.
Secundum magnitudinem brachii Tui : posside
filios mortificatorum.
Et redde vicinis nostris septuplum in sinu
eorum : improperium ipsorum, quod exprobrave-
runt Tibi, Domine.
that period of which our Lord prophesied when He spoke of
the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place [Matt,
xxiv. 15], and respecting the troubles of which time He adds,
"And except those days should lie shortened, there should no
flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be
sliorteued." Of this desolation of the Church by Antichrist
St. Paul also speaks, clearly intimating at tlie same time that
its peculiar and dreadful character cannot be fully compre-
hended until it is " revealed " by its actual occurrence. "That
ilay shall not come," says he, "except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of per-
dition : who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as (Jod, sitteth
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." ['2
Thess. ii. 3, 4.] To the reign of this Enemy of God the Book
of the Eevelation applies almost exactly the opening verses of
582
Cbc Psalms.
16th Day. [Ps. 80.]
14 So we that are Thy people and sheep of
Tliy pasture shall give Thee thanks for ever : and
will ahvay be shewing forth Thy jiraise from
generation to generation.
THE LXXX. PSALM.
Qui regis Israel.
HEAR, O Thou Shepherd of Israel, Thou
that leadest Joseph like a sheep : shew
Thy self also, Thou that sittest upon the Cheru-
bims.
2 Before PJphraim, Benjamin, and JManasses :
stir up Thy strength, and come, and help us.
3 Turn us again, O God : shew the light of
Thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
i O Lord God of hosts : how long wilt Thou
be angry with Thy people that prayeth 1
5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears :
and givest them plenteousness of tears to drink.
6 Thou hast made us a very strife unto our
neighbours : and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7 Turn us again. Thou God of hosts : shew
the light of Thy countenance, and we shall be
whole.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt :
Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou madest room for it : and when it had
taken root it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of
it : and the boughs thereof were like the goodly
cedar-trees.
11 She stretched out her branches unto the
sea : and her boughs unto the river.
12 Why hast Thou then broken down her
hedge : that all they that go by pluck oil" her
grapes ?
13 The wild boar out of the wood doth root it
up : and the wild beasts of the field devour it.
14 Turn Thee again, Thou God of hosts, look
down from heaven : behold, and visit this vine ;
15 And the place of the vineyard that Thy
right hand hath planted : and the branch that
Thou madest so strong for Thy self.
LXXX.
/its/. Asapli; on
I'ekah and Renin's
invasion. [sCtiron.
s8. 5.]
Z*„y. S. g. IS.
Tliursd. Mattins.
Nos autem populus Tims et oves pascua3 Tu;e :
confitebiniur Tibi in sieculum.
In generationem et generationem : annuntia-
bimus laudem Tuam.
PSALMUS LXXIX.
QUI regis Israel, intende ; Qui deducis velut
ovem Joseph.
Qui sedes super Cherubin : manlfestare coram
Ephraim, Benjamin, et Manasse.
Excita potentiam Tuam, et veni : ut salvos
facias nos.
Deus converte nos : et ostende faciem Tuam,
et salvi erimus.
DoMiNE Deus virtutum : quousque irasceris
super orationem servi Tui ?
Cibabis nos pane lachrj-marum : et potum
dabis nobis in lachrymis in mensura I
Posuisti nos in contradictionem vicinis nostris :
et inimici nostri subsannaverunt nos.
Deus virtutum, converte nos : et ostende faciem
Tuam, et salvi erimus.
Vineam de yEgypto transtulisti : ejecisti gentes,
et plantasti earn.
Dux itineris fuisti in conspectu ejus : et plan-
tasti radices ejus, et implevit terram.
Operuit montes umbra ejus : et arbusta ejus
cedros Dei.
Extendit palmites suos usque ad mare : et
usque ad flumen propagines ejus.
Ut quid destruxisti maceriam ejus : et vinde-
miant eam omnes, qui pn'etergrediuntur viam ?
Exterminavit eam aper de silva : et singuhiris
ferus depastus est earn.
Deus virtutum, convertere : respice de ccclo,
et vide, et visita vineam istam.
Et perfice eam quam plantavit dextera Tua :
et super filium hominis quem confirmasti Tibi.
this Psalm : " And wlieii they shall have finished their testi-
mony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall
make war against them, and shall overcome tliem, and kill
them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the
great city, whicli spiritually is called Sodom, and Egypt,
wliere also our Lord was crucified." As the Revelation was
written long after the destruction of .Jerusalem, it is clearly
to some future period that these words refer. And to such
period, also, does tliis Psalm refer whose mystical meaning
may often receive a partial fulfilment, but a complete one only
in the last great and terrible days.
PSALM LXXX.
This is a hymn of prayer to the Oood Slicplicrd of the new
Israel: to Him Who knows His .slieep by name, and Who
leadeth them in the wilderness of this world lil<c a flock even
while JIc sits enthroned in the world on higli surroumled by
His unfidlcn flock, tlie hosts of Heaven. 'I'lic tii'st verse
catches up the strain of tlie preceding Psalm, "We that are
Thy people, and the slieep of Thy pasture:" but the more
characteristic figure of the Psalm is that of the Vine, which
our Lord subsequently adopteil in the interpretative form : "I
am the Vine, ye are the brandies." Hence also the mournful
reference to (ion's ancient favour towards His people becomes
a prayer against that falling away altogether from the True
Vine of which our Lord said, " If a man abide not in Me, lie
is east forth as a bi'anch, and is withered ; and men gather
them, and cast them into the fire, and they are bunied."
[.folm XV. 6.]
This parable of the Vine illustrates the wonderful con-
sistency of Holy Scripture in general, and of prophecy in
particular. The vineyard was an ancient figure in projihecy
as regarded the Israelites and their kingdom : and though,
humanly speaking, it might liavc become so because of the
local importance of the Vine and the familiarity of it in all its
aspects to the people, yet there is evidently a Divine spiritual
meaning underlying all that is said about it. Noah planted
a vineyard innneiliately on leaving the Ark, probably on the
south-east sli>pes of Lebanon : Mclcliizedek, king of Salem
nearly five Inuulred year.s lieforc the descenilants of Abraham
were " lirought out of Egypt," bi'ought to the I'atriarch a
symbolical offei ing of the fruit of the Corn of wheat, and the
juice of the True Vine : .Jacob, in his blessing, declared of
.ludah, " Tlie sceptre shall not depart from .Tudah, nor a law-
giver from between liis feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto
liim shall tlic gatliering of the people be. Binding bis foal
unto the Vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice Vine, he
washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of
grapes ; his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white
with milk." [Gen. xlix. 10, 12. Comp. Isa. Ixiii. 1-3.]
Passing over other illustrations furnished by the early his-
tory of Israel {r.ij. Deut. viii. 8; Num. xx. .'i, xiii. 1 ; Pent,
vi. II ; Cant. viii. II ; Isa. vii. 1, 23], we come to the Vine
and Vineyard of this I'salni, of Isaiah v. 1-7, and of our
Blessed Lord's parables, all w hieh bear a consistent interpieta-
16th Day. [Ps. 81.]
^l)t Ipsalms.
;«3
16 It i.s burnt witli fire, and cut down : and
tlicy shall perisli at tlio rebuke of Thy counten-
ance.
17 Let Thy liand be upon the man of Thy
right liand : and upon the .son of man, whom
Thou made.st .so .strong for Thine own .self.
18 And .so will not we go back from Tliec : O
let us live, and we shall call upon Thy Name.
19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts :
shew the light of Thy countenance, and we shall
be whole.
THE LXXXI. PSALM.
E.'i.sultate Deo.
SING wc merrily unto God our strength : make
a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take the psalm, bring hither the tabret : the
merry harp with the lute.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new-nioou : even
ill the time appointed, and ujion our .solemn feast-
day.
4 For this was made a statute for Israel : and
a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He ordained in Joseph for a testimony :
when he came out of the land of Egypt, and had
heard a strange language.
6 I eased his .shoulder from the burden : and
his hands were delivered from making the "pots.
7 Thou calledst upon iMe in troubles, and I
delivered thee : and heard thee what time as the
storm fell upon thee.
8 *I proved thee also : at the waters of strife.
9 Hear, O My people, and I will a,ssure thee,
O Israel : if thou wilt hearken unto Me,
10 There shall no strange god be in thee :
neither slialt thou worship any other god.
Ill am the Lord thy God, Who brought thee
out of the land of Egypt : open thy mouth w ide,
and I shall fill it.
12 But My people would not hear My voice :
and Israel would not obey Me.
13 So I gave them up unto their own hearts'
lusts : and let them follow their own imaginations.
Htst. Asapli ; for tliL-
1'e.Tst of TrunipL'l^.
I Lev. 25. 24.1
/.i/,„X'. »■ B. %l
^^i(l.^y Maltins. AH
Saints, Corp. Clir.,
3rd Nuct.
Incensa igni ct suft'ossa
Tui peribunt.
ab increpatione vultus
a Or, '■ from" c.nrry-
iiig " the basket "
of clay for brick-
making;.
d Exotl. 17. 7.
Fiat nianus Tua super virum dextera; Tua; : et
super filium hominis quem confinnasti Tibi.
Et non discedimus a Te; vivificabis nos : et
Nomen Tuum invocabimus.
DoMiNK Deus virtutuin, converte nos : et
ostende faciem Tuam, et .salvi erimus.
P.SALMUS LXXX.
EXSULTATE Deo adjutfjri nostro : jubilate
Deo Jacob.
Sumite psalmum, et date tympanum : psalterium
jucundum cum citliara.
Buccinate in neomenia tuba : in insigni die
solennitatis vestra; :
Quia pr»ceptum in Israel est : et judicium
DiiO Jacob.
Testimonium in Joseph posuit illud, cum exiret
de terra .^Egypti : linguam quam non noverat
audivit.
Divertit ab oneribus dorsum ejus : manus ejus
m cophino servierunt.
In tribulatione invocasti Me, et liberavi te :
exaudivi te in abscondito tempestatis ; probavi
te apud aquam contradictionis.
Audi populus ]\feus et contestabor te : Israel
si audieris Me, non erit in te deus recens, neque
adorabis deum alienum.
Ego enim sum Dominus Deus tuus. Qui eduxi
te de terra J^lgypti : dilata os tuum et implebo
illud.
Et non audivit populus Jleus vocem Sleani :
et Israel non intendit ]\Iihi.
Et dimisi eos secundum desideria cordis eorum:
ibunt in adinventionibus suis.
tioii as applicalile to the ancient Church of (Jod among the
children of Israel, and to the mystical Body of the True Vine.
The wail of tliis Psalm carries back tlie mind to the propliecy
of Moses, and to that of our Lord. The one liad declared,
among the tlireatenings with which he almost closed hi.s
work, "Thou shalt plant a vincj'ard, and shalt not gather
the grapes thereof .... the fruit of thy land and all thy
labours shall a nation « liich thou knowest not eat up " [Deut.
xxviii. 30, 3.3] : and among the last words of our Lord were
those, the meaning of which was so well understood by the
.Jews, "He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and
give the vineyard to others." [Luke xx. IG.]
Thus the stream of prophecy is always found to be flowing
in the same direction, leading us to the conclusion that as
(iod's Pro\iileiice brought out of Egypt the Vine of the .Jewish
Church and planted it in the Mount of God, to take deep root
and fill the laud from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, and to
be His own Vineyard, so did He "break down her hedge "
and "give the vineyard to others," because of the fruitless-
ness of the Vine through the wickedness of the husbandmen.
The same prophecy teaches us that tlie Vineyard of the Lord
is now planted in "a very fruitful held " and has taken deep
root throughout the world, but that times of apostacy will
yet come when the faithful part of Christ's Church will have
to take np the words of this J'sahn as the faithful .Jews
wailed out their sorrow before (lod during the Babylonish
l.'aptivitj'. In prospect of that time, and at all periods when
attlictions befall the Cluirch of Christ, the remembrance of
our Lord's words, "I am the Vine, ye are tlie branches," may
give comfort such as the Jews could not possess, teaching that
the Church is so associated with the Lord Himself that
nothing can finally overthrow it. And while she cries, " Turn
us again, O Lord (Jod of hosts," she can also say, "Let Thy
hancl be upon the iJan of Thy right hand : and upon the Son
of Man Whom Thou madest so strong for Thine own self."
The sacramental Life of the Vine can never be destroyed,
because it is the Life of Christ our God.
PSALM LXXXI.
As the previous mournful hynm of the Church represents
Christ's mystical Body under the figure of a Vine, it seems to
be with some mystical reason that this Psalm of the Church's
triumph Is entitled "upon Gittith," i.e. as the Septuagint
ti'anslates it, "upon the winepress.'' For so, w^hen the
question is asked, "Who is this that cometh from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozrah ? this tliat is glorious in His
apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength? ....
Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy gai-meuts
like him that treadeth in the wine- vat ?" tlie triumphant Jles-
siah answers, "I have trodden the winepress alone." So also
the same Lord, speaking by Isaiah, speaks of the winepress
which He has made la His vineyard [Isa. v. 2] ; in the parable
which He siioke to the Jews He also uses the same figure [JIatt.
xxi. 33] ; and in the last trium]ih of Christ and His Church there
is "a winepress without tlic City, ami blood came out of the
winepress.'' [Rev. xiv. 20.] Thus it seems that the title of
584
Cf)C Ipsalm
».
16th Day. [Ps. 82, 83.]
14 that ily people would have hearkened
unto Me : for if Israel had walked in My ways,
15 1 should soon have put down their enemies:
;ind turned ily hand against their adversaries.
16 The haters of the Lord should have been
found liars : but their time should have endured
for ever.
17 "He should have fed them also with the
finest wheat-flour : and vdth honey out of the
stony rock should I have satisfied thee.
Day 16 Evening Prayer
THE LXXXII. PSALil.
Deus stetit.
GOD standeth in the congregation of princes :
He is a Judge among gods.
2 How long wiU ye give ■nTong judgement :
and accept the persons of the ungodly ?
3 Defend the poor and fatherless : see that
such as are in need and necessity have right.
4 Deliver the out-cast and poor : save them
from the hand of the ungodly.
6 They will not be learned nor understand,
but walk on still in darkness : all the foundations
of the earth are out of course.
G I have said, Ye are gods : and ye are all the
children of the most Highest.
7 But ye shall die like men : and fall like one
of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, and judge Thou the earth :
for Thou .shalt take all heathen to Thine inherit-
THE LXXXIII. PSALM.
Deus, qxiis similis ?
HOLD not Thy tongue, O God, keep not
still silence : refrain not Thy self, O God.
2 For lo, Thine enemies make a murmuring :
and they that hate Thee have lift up their head.
3 They have imagined craftily against Thj-
l)eoplc : and taken counsel against Thy secret
ones.
LX.XXII.
Hi;t. Asapli. Occa-
sion unknown.
Lilur^. &. %. S.
Friday Mattins.
t.XXXIU,
His!. Avapli : on tlie
invasion of Judali
in Jehoshaphat's
reiipi. [2 Ciiron.
I-ilufg. 5. S. J).
Friday Mattins.
Si populus Meus audi.sset Me : Israel si in viis
Meis ambulasset :
Pro nihilo forsitan inimicos eorum humiliasseni :
et super tribulantes eos misissem manum ]\Ieam.
Inimici Domixi mentiti sunt ei : et erit teni-
pus eorum in sfecula.
Et cibavit eos ex adipe frumenti : et de petra
melle saturavit eos.
PSALMUS LXXXI.
DEUS stetit in synagoga denrum : in medio
autem deos dijudicat.
Usquequo judicatis iniquitatem : et facies pec-
catorum sumitis 1
Judicate egeno et pupillo : humUem et paupereui
justificate.
Eripite pauperem : et egenum de manu pecca-
toris liberate.
Nescierunt, neque intellexerunt ; in tenebris
ambulant : movebuntur omnia fimdamenta terne.
Ego disi, Dii esti.s : et filii Exeelsi omues.
Vos autem sicut homines moriemini : et sicut
unus de principibus cadetis.
Surge, Decs, judica terram : quoniani Tu
hcereditabis in omnibus gentibus.
PSALMUS LXXXII.
DEUS, quis similis erit Tibi / ne taceas, neque
compescaris, Deus :
Quoniam ecce inimici Tui sonuerunt : et qui
oderunt Te extulerunt caput.
Super populum Tuum malignaverunt consi-
lium : et cogitaverunt adversus sanctoa Tuos.
this Psabn as well as its substauce indicates it to be a hynm
of victory for the Church when the days of her warfare ai'e
acconiplishetl, and her sorrow is at an eud.
Thus at the uew " beginuuig of months," the " solemn
fc:ist-day " when the "trumpet shall sound anil the dead shall
lie raised," the song of joy is heard, "Sing we merrily unto
<!()d our streugtli," " Alleluia, for the Lord (jod Omnipotent
reigneth." It is the song of the Church's deliverance from
Egypt, and of her deliverance from "the burden" of sin, and
the death which comes from sin.'
Ill that day it M-ill lie plainly seen by all that the triumph
of the people of Ooil is the result of His mercy in Christ, and
not of their own worthiuess : that thougli the prayer has been
going up continually, "Thy Kingdom come," yet the coining
of that Kingdom has been hiiiilereil by the sins of Israel :
that the words of this Psalm are litci-ally true, " If Israel
had walked in My ways, I sliould soon have put down their
enemies :" and that even in her highest triumph "no man in
Heaven, nor in earth, neither under tlie eartli, will be able to
open the Book, "or be found worthy to stand in his owni righteous-
ness. The final interpretation of " Sing we merrily unto (!od
our strength," will therefore be, " Worthy is tlie Lamb that
was slain to receive jiower, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." [Kev. v. 12.]
> It is not altogether without interest that the word tianslatcd "pots"
(literally "haskcts") is reiidcreil by a word idciitiial with our Knglish
•' cofflns," both in the LXX and the Vulgate. The practice of uru-burial
Is well known.
PSALM LXXXII.
\Mien the Incarnate WORD stood before the Sanhedrin,
the first verses of this Psalm \\ere literally fultilled : (ioD —
the Second Person of the Blesseil Trinity inseparably united
with Human Nature — standing in the congregation of princes,
and the Judge of all the worlil among the juilges. So also
was the second verse literally fullillcil ^\Iien wrong juilgemcnt
was given against the Holy One, and the person of tlie ungoilly
murderer and rebel Barabbas accepted instead. "All the
foundations of the e.irth" seemed indceil to be "out of course"
when such terrible injustice could be done by judges who. on
account of their most sacred oli'ice, had receiveil from (iod
Himself the name of "gods." The la.st words of our Lord's
public ministrations were, "While ye have tlie light, believe
in the liglit, that ye may be the cliililrcn of light." But they
walked on still in darkness, unwilling to learn from Him or
to understand His words. Therefore the .Tews were given up
by Ood : "Ye shall die like men," while He Who stood
before the unjust judges arose in the glory of His new King-
ilom to " take .all the heathen to " that inheritance which His
iinciont people had despised.
Such seems to be the prophetic and Christian meaning of
this Psalm. Its meaning as a general exhortation to all
judges is too obvious to need illustration.
PSALM LXXXIII.
A continuation of the call for judgement upon the enemies of
16th Day. [Ps. 84.]
Cf)c li?salin0.
5^5
4 They have said, Cdiiic, and let us root tlioni
out, that they be no more a people : and tliat the
name of Israel may be no more in reniumbiunce.
5 For they have cast their heads together with
one consent : and are confederate against Thee ;
6 The tabernacles of the Edomites, and the
Ismaelites : the Jloabitcs, and Hagarens ;
7 Gebal, and Amnion, and Amalek : the Philis-
tines, with them that dwell at Tyre.
H Assur also is joined with them : and have
liolpen the children of Lot.
9 But do Thou to them as uiito the Madianites :
unto Sisera, and unto Jabin at the brook of
Kison ;
10 Who perished at Endor : and became as
the dung of the earth.
1 1 Make them and their princes like Orcb and
Zeb : yea, make all their princes like as Zeba
and .Salmana ;
12 Who say. Let us take to our selves : the
houses of God in possession.
13 "O my God, make them like unto awheel :
and as the stubble before the wind ;
14 Like as the fire tlwt burneth up the wood :
and as the fiame that consunieth the mountains.
15 Persecute them even so with Thy tempest :
and make them afraid with Thy storm.
IG JIake their faces ashamed, Lord : that
they may seek Thy Kame.
17 Let them be confounded and vexed ever
more and more : let them be put to shame and
perish.
18 And they shall know that Thou, Whose
Name is Jehov.vh : art only the most Highest
over all the earth.
THE LXXXIV. PSALM.
Quam dilecta.
Thou
OHOW amiable are Thy dwellings
Lord of hosts.
2 My soul liath a desire and longing to enter
into the courts of the Loed : my heart and my
flesh rejoice in the living God.
t Co)np, Isa. 17.
LXXXIV.
Hist. Tlie Kor.ili-
itcs. Occasion un-
known.
I.iliirf. S. 59. IQ.
I-ritl.iy Mauins.
Tr.anstig., Dedic. of
Clnirdi'. end Nnct.
All S.Tints, Coqj.
Chr., Many Con-
fessors, 3rd Noct.
Di.xerunt, Vcnite et disperdamus eos de gente:
et non memoretur nomen Israel ultra.
(jiioniam cogitaverunt unanimiter siinul adver-
sus Tu : testamcntum disposucrunt, tabernacula
Iduma;orum ot Isinaelita' :
!Moab, et Agareni, Gebal, et Animon, et Amalec:
alienigeniu, cum liabitantibiis Tyrum.
Etenim As.sur venit cum illis : facti sunt in
adjutorium filiis Lot.
Fac illis sicut Madian et Sisano : sicut Jabin
in torrente Cison.
Disperierunt in Endor : facti .sunt ut stercus
terra.'.
Pone princnpes eorum sicut Oreb et Zeb : et
Zebee, et Salmana.
Omnes priucipes eorum qui dixerunt : ILore-
ditate possideamus sanctuarium Dei.
Deus mens, pone illos ut rotam : et sicut
stipulam ante faciem venti.
Sicut ignis qui comburit silvam ; et sicut 11am-
ma comburens niontes :
Ita persequrris illos in tempestate Tua : et in
ira Tua turbabis eos.
Imple facies eorum ignominia : et qurerent
Nomen Tuum, Domine.
Erubescant, et conturbentur in sasculum SKCuli :
et confundantur, et pereant.
Et cognoscant quia Nomen Tibi Dominus : Tu
solus Altissimus in omni terra.
PSALMUS LX XXIII.
UAM dilecta tabernacula Tua, Dojiine vir-
tutum : concupiscit et deficit anima mea in
atria Domini.
Cor meum et caro mea : ex.sultaverunt in Deuji
vivum.
Q
Christ and His Churcli i.s to be fmuKl in this Psalm. At tlit
time of tlie great Diocletian persecution a general attempt
was maile tlirougliout the world to destroy the Church, aud
the words of the fourth verse are strongly illustrated by the
heathen monuments ot the day, which declared that Chris-
tianity had been overthrown, and its very name blotted out.
The agreement of the Ca'sai'S who governed the Roman world
in such an universal persecution may be represented by the
confederation of the ten nations named in the si.Kth, seventh,
and eighth verses. Notwithstanding the fierceness of this
terrible persecution, the Church' «as so far from being rooted
out as that it should be no more a people, and the name of
Christ's Israel no more had in remembrance, that it arose from
its ashes to a life of greater vigour than before, and within a
few years was the one recognized religion of the very empire
which had attempted its extermination.
Such a general persecution of the Church has never again
occurred, but there is a continuous confederacy of its various
foes, who are the representatives of the ten nations named in
this Psalm. 8ome entirely reject the Lord .Jesus Christ, as
the Heathen and the utter Infidel. Sonic recognize Him, in
a certain sense, as the Mahometans, and the various sects of
(falsely so called) " Unitarian " heretics. Some recognize the
Person of the Lord, but deny His work in His mystical Boily.
Some, liy their wickedness, practically reject both Him and
His work, though they m.iy theoretically acknowledge Him.
All these various classes are among the enemies of God who
"make a murmuring," and in their hatred "lift up their
head " whenever favourable opportunities occur of opposing
Christ and His Church.
But the mystical meaning of the Psalm has probably a pro-
phetic aspect which bears reference to tlie enmity and opposi-
tion of Antichrist in the last time. In iiim all the various
opponents of the Church will find a " head " whom they may
" lift up " against Christ, as one pi'ofessing himself to be Cod
in the place of the Lord Jesus, and accepting Divine worship
in the Cliurch. Thus, perhaps, the ten nations of the Psalm
find their parallel in the ten kingdoms of Antichrist ; and the
final " Come, let us root them out," is represented by the pro-
phetic record, that he caused "that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed." [Eev. xiii.
15.]
PSALM LXXXIV.
This is the prayer of the Anointed of the Lord, our Saviour
.Jesus Christ, expressing the longing of His Soul while on
earth ; a longing which was revealed in its suffering form
when He said, " Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head."
AU the creatures of God found a resting-place in the loving
care and Providence of their Jlaker, but the Son of Man
looked on afar at the Presence of His Father as One Who had
taken upon Himself the form of sinful man, of man cast out ot
the Paradise of God. "The Man," therefore, whose blessed-
ness is proclaimed in tlie fifth verse is the same ilAN Who
is set before us in the very first words of the Book of Psalms ;
586
(JLlie Psalms.
16th Day. [Ps. 85.
3 Yea, tlie sparrow hath found her an house,
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her
youtig : even Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my
King and my God.
i Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house :
they will be alway praising Thee.
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in
Thee : in whose heart are Thy ways.
6 ^Vho going through the vale of "misery use
it for a well : and the pools are filled with water.
7 They will go from strength to strength : and
unto the God of gods appearetli every one of
them in Sion.
8 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer :
hearken, O God of Jacob.
9 Behold, O God our defender : and look
upon the face of Thine Anointed.
10 For one day in Thy courts : is better than
a thousand.
11 * I had rather be a door-keeper in the
house of my God : than to dwell in the tents of
ungodliness.
1 2 For the Lord God is a light and defence :
the Lord will give grace and worship, and no
good thing shall He withhold from them that live
a godly life.
13 Lord God of hosts : blessed is the man
that putteth his trust in Thee.
THE LXXXV. PSALM.
Benedixisti, Domine.
10RD, Thou art become gracious unto Thy
-^ land : Thou hast turned away the captivity
of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the offence of Thy
people : and covered aU their sin.s.
3 Thou hast taken away all Thy displeasure :
and turned Thy self from Thy wrathful indigna-
tion.
4 Turn us then, O God our Saviour : and let
Thine anger cease from us.
5 Wilt Thou be displeased at us for ever : and
wilt Thou stretch out Thy wrath from one gene-
ration to another ?
6 Wilt Thou not turn again, and quicken us :
that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?
7 Shew us Thy mercy, O Lord : and grant us
Thy salvation.
8 I win hearken what the Lord God will say
concerniiig me : for He shall speak peace unto
a LXX., Of weep-
ing.
t> See Aiitiet. BiN<
ii. 687.
LXXXV.
Hisl. The Kor.lh-
itcs. Occasion un-
known.
Lititfg. Christmas
Day .Mattins. S.
§.g. Friday Mat-
tins. Clinstnias,
Dedic. of Church,
and Noct.
Etenim passer invenit silii domum et turtur
nidum sibi : ubi reponat pull(js suos :
Altaria Tua, Domine virtutum : Rex mens, et
Deus meus.
Beati qui habitant in domo Tua, Domink : in
saecula sseculorum laudabunt Te.
Beatus vir cujus est auxilium abs Te : ascen-
siones in corde suo disposuit, in valle laclirynia-
rum, in loco quern posuit.
Etenim benedictionem dabit legislator; ilauit
de virtute in virtuteni : videbitur Deus deorum
in Sion.
DoMiXE, Deus virtutum, exaudi orationem
meam : auribus percipe Deus Jacob.
Protector noster aspice, Deus : et respice in
faciem Christi Tui :
Quia melior est dies una in atriis Tuis : super
millia.
Elegi abjectus esse in domo Dei mei : magis
quaui habitare in taliernaculis peccatorum.
Quia misericordiani et veritatem diligit Deus :
gratiam et gloriam daViit Dosiinus.
Non privabit bonis eos qui ambulant in inno-
centia : Domine virtutum, beatus homo cjui sjjerat
inTe.
PSALM US LXXXIV.
BENEDIXISTI, Domine, terrain Tuam : aver-
tisti captivitatem Jacob.
Remisisti iniquitatem plebis Tu;e : operuisti
omnia peccata eorum.
]\Iitigasti omnem iram Tuam : avertisti ali ira
indignationis Ture.
Converte uos, I)eus salutaris noster : et averte
iram Tuam a nobis.
Nunquid in Kternum irasceris nobis ? aut ex-
tendes iram Tuam a generatione in generationem.
Deus, Tu conversus vivificabis nos : et plebs
Tua kietabitur in Te.
Ostende nobis, Domine, niisericordiam Tuam :
et salutare Tuum da nobis.
Audiam quid loquatur in me, Dominus Deus :
quoniam loquetur pacem in plebem Suam :
and the blessedness liere spoken of is that arising froin His
entire submi.ssion of His heart to tlie ways of the Divine Pro-
vidence and purpose respecting the redemption of mankind.
By such submission His "strength " was elevated above the
strength of even the holiest humanity, and l)ecame a super-
human, Divine strength, a strengtli in (iod, " mighty to .save."
Thus endowed witli the power of the Incarnation, our Lord
passed tln-ough tlie " vale of misery," making His Humiliation
afountainorwellof life, as if the tears which lle.shed liad become
inexhaustible " pools " of living w.ater springing up into ever-
lasting life. Such is the strength of our Lord's Incarnation on
earth; but "they' will go from strength to strength, anil unto the
Ood of gods appcireth every one of tliem in Sion." .Jesus Tri-
umphant is even more " mighty to save " than .Jesus Suffering :
the Intercessor ofTering His Sacrifice before the Throne is
even more the " Strength of Israel " than the Saviour offering
' Tlio freqiicnt int^rnlmnKe of iironouns is here ag.iin illustrated. Coni-
|iar« notes at pp. 006, h'ii.
that Sacrifice upon the Cross. Let us look, therefore, not
only on the Crucifix, setting forth His Passion before our ej'cs,
but let us also hear the words of the angel, " He is not here,
but is risen," and behold in the vacant Cross, as in the empty
tomb, the Sign of the Son of Man's continual Sacrifice of Inter-
cession ; a passing from tlie strength of earth to the strength
of Heaven. By such an Ascension did the Son of Man find
the aspirations of Hi.s heart fulfilled, that His human heart
and flesh shniild njoice in the living (iod, entering into His
courts, and dwelling there for an eternal " day."
From such a view of this Psalm it is easy to sec also that it
reveals Christ praying for His mystical Body that it may be
glorified by its final reception into the Divine Presence.
Here the Church of (iod is in the " vale of tears," but the
everlasting benediction of (!od will go forth upon its work as
the Chiiri-li .M ilitant in a state of grace, so tliat though " weep-
ing may endure for anight, joy conieth in the morning," when
it enters on a state of glory. " But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are elioiiged into
17th Day. [Ps. 86. J
Cf)C lif^salms.
587
His people, and to His .saints, that they turn not
again.
9 For His .salvation is nigh them that fear
Him : that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together : riglit-
eousne.ss and peace have ki.sse<l each otlier.
11 Truth shall llourisit out of tlie earth : and
righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
12 Yea, the Lord shall .shew lovingkindne.ss :
and our land shall give her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before Him : and
He shall direct His going in the way.
Day 17. MORNING Prayer.
THE LXXXVI. P.SALiM.
Inclina, Doniine.
BOW down Thine ear, O Lord, and hear me :
for I am poor and in misery.
2 Preserve Thou my soul, for 1 am holy : my
God, save Thy servant that puttcth his trust in ]
Thee. '
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord : for I will
call daily ujion Thee.
4 Comfort the soul of Thy servant : for unto
Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For Thou, Lord, art good and gracious :
and of great mercy unto all them that call upon
Thee.
6 Give ear. Lord, unto my prayer : -and pon-
der the voice of my humble desire.s.
7 In the time of iny trouble I will call upon
Thee : for Thou hearest me.
8 Among the "gods there is none like unto
Thee, O Lord : there is not one that can do as
Thou doest.
9 All nations whom Thou hast made shall
come and worship Thee, O Lord : and shall
glorify Thy Name.
10 For Thou art great, and doest wondrous
things : Thou art God alone.
1 1 Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and I will
walk in Thy truth : O *knit my heart unto Thee,
that I may fear Thy Name.
12 1 will thank Thee, Lord my God, with
all my heart : and will praise Thy Name for ever-
more.
LXXXVI,
//('.lA David ; before
AbbalomS rebel-
Hull.
Lituri;. ». J@. J).
l'"riday Mattins.
Epiphany, 2n(l
Noct. Name of
Jesus, 3rd Noct.
(T Of, luiyhty ones,
\Co}np. Hxod, 15,
II, marg, Ps, 89, 7.]
b Of, unite.
Ft super sanctos Suos : ct in eos qui conver-
tuntur afl cor.
Veruntanien propc timentes Hum salutare
Ipsius : ut inhabitct gloria in terra nostra.
Misericordia et Veritas obviaverunt sibi : jas-
titia et pa.x osculata; sunt.
Veritas de terra orta est ; et ju-stitia de cfjclo
prospexit.
Etenini Dominus dabit benignitateni : et terra
nostra dabit fructum suuni.
Justitia ante Eum ambulabit : et ponet in via
gressus Suos.
PSALMUS LXXXV.
INCLINA, r)0MiNE, aurem Tuam, et exaudi
me : quoniam inops et paujier sum ego.
Custodi animam meam, quoniam sanctus sura :
salvum fac servuni Tuum, Deus mens, sperantem
in Te.
Miserere mei, Dojiine, quoniam ad Te clamavi
tota die ; hetifica animam servi Tui : quoniam ad
Te, DoMiNE, animam meam levavi.
Quoniam Tu, Dominb, suavis, et mitis; et
mult;e misericordia3 omnibus invocantibus Te.
Auribus percipe, Domine, orationem meam :
intende voci deprecationis me».
In die tribulationis meai clamavi ad Te : quia
exaudisti me.
Non est similis Tui in dils, Domine : et non
est secundum opera Tua.
Omnes gentes quascunque fecisti, venient et
adorabunt coram Te, Domine : et glorificabunt
Nomen Tuum.
Quoniam magnus es Tu, et faciens mirabilia :
Tu es Decs solus.
Deduc me, Domine, in via Tua, et ingrediar in
veritate Tua : tetetur cor meum ut timeat
Nomen Tuum.
Confitebor Tibi, Domine, Deus mens, in toto
corde meo : et glorificabo Nomen Tuum in eeter-
nuin.
tlie same image from glory to glory, even as by tlie Spirit of
tlie Lord."
Ill viewing the Psahn as the words of onr Blessed Lord, we
sliall also find the key to its use as the words of His members.
Nothing else uttered by human lips ever so fully expressed
the longing which the devout soul, especially in seasons of
sorrow, has to "depart and be with Christ" even in "the
lowest room." Oh, how much rather the most abject place in
"the house not made with hands," than the highest throne in
the mystical Babylon ! How infinite the blessmgs of one day
in Heaven, compared to all that earth can furnish in three-
score years and ten !
PSALM LXXXV.
The Incarnation of our Blessed Lord was the ti'ue turnmg
away of the Captivity of God's people, and His speaking of
peace to them ; so that this Psalm has been appropriated,
time immemorial, to the celebration of His Nativity, when a
multitude of the heavenly host was heard " praising God, and
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
goodwill towards men." To Him Who is the Prince of Peace,
Who said of Himself, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life," and Whose perfect Righteousness fits Him to be the
Judge of all men, to Him and to His work alone such words
as those of the ninth and following verses belong : and in His
constant declarations, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,"
" The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you," " The King-
dom of God is within you," the Psalmist's prophecy is ful-
filled, "For His salvation is nigh them that fear Him."
The penitential tone of verses 4-7 shows that this Psahn
looks also prophetically to the Second Coming of our Lord,
and the " tiuickening " of the general resurrection. Until
then the Church is going through a second captivity, since it
cannot before enter iipon the full glory of its inheritance.
When that captivity draws to a close, the Prince of Peace will
again fulfil the eleventh verse — He that is "called Faithful
and Tnic " going forth "in righteousness" to "judge and
make war," that " gloiy may dwell in our land " by the sub-
jugation of all evil.
PSALM LXXXVI.
The central idea of this Psalm is to be found in the central
verse, the ninth, which doubtless gives the key to its use as
an Epiphany Psalm in the ancient system of the Church. It
is entitled " A Prayer of David," and is to be taken as the
supplication of Him Whom David prefigured. In "the time
588
Cf)C Ipsalms.
17th Day. [Ps. 87, 88.]
13 "For great is Thy mercy toward me : and
Thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost
hell.
l-t God, the proud are risen against me :
and the congregation.s of naughty men have
sought after my .soul, and have not set Thee
before their eyes.
15 But Thou, O Lord God, art full of com-
passion and mercy : long-suffering, plenteous in
goodness and truth.
16 turn Thee then unto me, and have mercy
upon me : give Thy strength \nito Thy servant,
and help the son of Thine handmaid.
17 Shew some token upon me for good, that
they who hate me maj- see it, and be ashamed :
because Thou, Lord, ha.st holpen me and com-
forted me.
THE LXXX^'^. PSALM.
Fundamenta ejus.
HER foundations are upon the holy hills : the
Lord lovetli the gates of Sion more than
all the dwellings of Jacob.
2 Very e.xcellent things are .spoken of thee :
thou city of God.
3 I will think upon Rahab and Babylon : with
them that know me.
4 Behold ye the Philistines also : and tliey of
Tyre, with the * Morians ; lo, there was He born.
5 And of Sion it shall be reported that He
was born in her : and the most High shall stab-
lish her.
6 The Lord shall rehearse it when He writeth
up the people : that He was born there.
7 The singers also and trumpeters .shall He
rehearse : AU my fresh springs shall be in Thee.
THE LXXXVIII. P.SALM.
Doiniiie Deus.
■I V'^. i6. TO. Acts
2. 3t. [M.nt. 16. i&
Jonah 2, 2. Col. 1.
>3l
o
LORD God of my salvation, I have cried
day and night before Thee : O let my
Lxxxvn.
ffise. Tlie Korali-
ites ; at the buil<l-
ing of the Temple
platform.
Ltturg-. S:. ^. IJ.
Friday Mattins.
Circumc, Derlicof
Church., B. V. M.,
Vug. and Matr..
and Xoct.
* i.e. The Moor?.
LXXXVIII.
Ni'st. Henian. Oc-
casion unknown.
Litur^. Good Fri-
day Evensong. S-.
§.?§. Friday Mat-
tins. Good Friday,
Easter Eve, 3rd
Noct.
r.astern. A daily
Atoming Ps.ilm.
Passion Ps. 6.
Quia misericordia Tua magna est super me : et
eruisti aniinam nieam ex iiiferno inferiori.
Deus, ini(iui in.surrexerunt super nie, et syua-
goga potentium qua^sierunt auimam meam : et
non proposuerunt Te in coiLspectn suo.
Et Tu, DoMiNE Deus, miserator et niisericors :
patiens, et multas misericordise, et verax,
Respice in me et miserere niei ; da imperium
Tuum puero Tuo : et salvum fac filiuni ancill^
TucX.
Fac mecum signum in bono, ut videant qui
oderunt me, et confundantur : quoniam Tu,
DoMixE, adjuvisti me, et consolatus es me.
F
PSALJIUS LXXXVI.
UNDAMENTA ejus in montibus Sanctis
diligit DoMiNUS portas Sion super omnia
tabernacula .Jacob.
C41oriosa dicta sunt dc te : civitas Dei.
Memor ero Kahab et Babylonis : scientium me.
Ecce alienigenie, et Tyrus, et populus ^Ethio-
pum : hi fuerunt Illic.
Xunquid Sion dicet. Homo, et homo natus est
in ea : et Ipse fundavit eam Altissimus ?
DoMiNUS narrabit in scripturis populorum : et
principum horum qui fuerant in ea.
Sicut Iffitantium omnium : habitatio est in Te.
PSALMUS LXXXVII.
DOMINE Deus salutis me» : in die clamavi
et nocte coram Te.
of His trouble," even when "He groaned in tlie spirit ''again
ami again. He Avas able to say, " Father, I thank Thee that
Thou hast heard Me." So .also when He said, "Now is My
Soul troubled, and wliat shall I say? P'ather, save Me from
this hour ? But for this cause came I unto tliis hoiu' : ]''ather,
glorify Thy Name. Then came there a voice from heaven,
saying, I have hoth glorified it, and \y\\\ glorify it agam."
Thus the perfect obedience of the Son of Man wlien He was
"poor and in misery " brought for His Human Nature the
highest l^iiiplianics of I)i\-ine glory, and eventually bronglit
all nations to come and worship Him, and glorify His Name.
" And they .sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and
the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy
works. Lord (lod Almighty; just and tnie arc Thy ways.
Thou King of s.ainta. Who sliall not fear Thee, Lord, and
glorify Thy Name? Ym Tliou only art holy ; for all nations
shall come and worship l)cfriic 'i'hee ; for 'i'hy judgements are
made manifest." Only He Wlio is " King of saints," .and to
Whom all saints and angels sing "Thou only art holy," could
say in its full .sense, " I am holy ;"and thus the Song of Moses
and of the Lamb is a suitable Antiphon to this I'sabii, striking
the mystical key-note of its Christian use. The Son of God
became "poor "that He might make many ricli. He was
ilespisocl and rejected of men in His " misery " that He might
bring many sons unto glory [Heb. ii. 1(1]: He was "made in
the form of a servant " that He might cnfr.anchise many from
the bondage of Sat.au to the jjerfect freedom of God : He
prayed as with the voice of a snmer, that bearing the sins of
the whole world. He miglit lead forth His people " from the
nethcnnost Hell." He thus went through all the travail of
His Soul that He might see " some token for good, "and be
" satisfied " with the mighty results of His Sufl'erings ; that
the great work of man's redemption might be accomplished ;
and that hereafter the " token for good " may be shewed before
all men in the sign of the Sou of Man which shall appear as a
cross of suffering transformed into a lianner of triumph; at
whose appearing ' ' they which pierced Him '' shall look on His
transfigured wounds, and acknowledge Him for their Judge.
^^'ith careful and reverent reserve this I'sahn may be used
by the members of Christ as His Voice speaking in them.
Tlie bracketed references at vei-se 13 Avill indicate how far
Christ's own words respecting Himself may be adopted by
Christians respecting themselves ; and a due appreciation of
this and similar Psalms in their highest sense will be the best
preservative agauist a presumptuous application of them.
rSALM LXX.WIl.
Whatever application this Psalm ni.ay originally have had
to the earthly Sion has been transligured and glorified by the
subsecjnent Revelation of the City of God in the prophetic
vision of St. .John. Of the New .Jerusalem it was predicted,
"It sh.all come to pass in the last days tli.at the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be established in the lop of the moun-
tains, and shall be exalteil .above tlie hills, and all ii.ations
sliall flow unto it ; " and of tliis St. .lohii h.ad a glorious vision
long after the earthly Sion li.ad been destroyed, when " he
carried me away in the spirit to a great and liigli mountain,
and showed ine that great city, the holy .lerusalem, descend-
ing out of Hea^■en from t!od, having the gloiy of God ; ami
17th Day. [Ps. 88.]
Cfte Psalms
5^9
])raycr enter into Thy preHeuce, incline 'i'hino ear
nnto my calling.
2 For my soul is full of trouble : and my life
drawoth nigh unto helL
3 I am counted as one of them that go down
into the pit : and I have been even as a man that
hath no strength.
4 Free anu)ng the dead, like unto them that
are wounded, and lie in the grave : who are out
of remembrance, and are cut away from Thy
hand.
5 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit : in a
place of darkness and in the deep.
fl Thine indignation lioth hard ujion nic : and
ThoTi liast vexed me with all Thy storms.
7 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far
from me : and made me to be abhorred of them.
8 I am .so fast in prison : that I cannot get
forth.
9 My sight faileth for very trouble : Lord, I
have called " daily upon Thee, I have stretched
forth my hands unto Thee.
10 Dost Tliou shew wonders among the dead :
or shall the dead rise up again, and praise Thee 'i
11 Shall Thy lovingkindness be shewed in the
grave : or Thy faithfulness in destruction l
12 Shall Thy wondrous works be known in
tlie dark : and Thy righteousness in the land
where all things are forgotten I
13 Unto Thee have I cried, LoAd : and
early shall my prayer come before Thee.
14 Lord, why abhorrest Thou my .soul : and
hidest Thou Thy face from me?
15 1 am in misery, and like unto him that is
at the point to die : even from my youth up ; *
Thy terrors have I suffered with a troubled mind.
IG Thy -wrathful displeasure goeth over me :
and the fear of Thee hatli undone me.
17 They came round about me "daily like
water : and compaesed me together on every side.
18 'My lovers and friends hast Thou put away
from me : and hid mine acquaintance out of my
sight.
Iiitret in conspectu 'i'no oratio mea : inclina
aurem Tuam ad pr(icem meam :
Quia repleta est malis anima mea : et vita mea
inferno apjjropinquavit.
yEstiniatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum :
factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio, inter mor-
tuos liber.
Sicut vulnenxti, d(jrniientes in scpulchrLs, quo-
rum non es memor amplius : ct ipsi dc manu Tua
repulsi sunt.
Posuerunt me in lacu inferior! : in tenebrosis
et in umbra mortis.
Super me confirinatus est furor Tuus : et omnes
ductus Taos indiLxisti super me.
Longe fecisti notos meos a me : posuerunt me
abominationem sibi.
Traditus sum et non egrediebar : oculi mei
languerunt pra; inopia.
Clamavi ad Te, Domine : tota die expandi ad
ir. All the daj'. Te manus meas.
Nuncpiid mortuis facies mirabilia : aut medici
suscitabunt, et confitebuntur Tibi i
Nunquid narrabit aliquis in sepulchro miseri-
cordiam Tuam : ct veritatem Tuam in perditione?
Nunquid cognoscentur in tenebris mirabilia
Tua : et justitia Tua in terra oblivinnis?
Et ego ad Te, Domine, clamavi : et mane
oratio mea praiveniet Te.
Ut quid, DoMTNE, repellis orationem meam :
avertis facicm Tuam a me 1
Pauper sum ego et in laboribus a juventute
mea : exaltatus autem, humiliatus sum et contur-
batus.
In me transierunt ir;e Tuie : et terrores Tui
conturbaveruiit me.
Circundederunt me sicut aqua tota die : circun-
dederunt me simul.
Elongasti a me amicum et proxLmum : et notos
meos a rniseria.
See
h The " ;" ought to
lie placed .ifter
'■ youth up.
fuutuole 2.
c Matt. =6. 56.
her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a
jasper stone, clear as crystal ; and had a wall great and high,
ami had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and
names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve
tribes of the children of Israel ; . . . and the wall of the city
had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamli." This city had already been spoken of
also by St. Paul : " But ye are come to mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," "built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, .Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone;" and to the
same our Lord referred when He said, " Upon this Rock I will
build My Church ; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail
against it." Thus the New Testament rings out a clear Aiiti-
phon to this Psalm, "I saw the holy city, new .Jerusalem,
coming down from God, out of Heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband " ' [Rev. xxi. 2] — a city belonging to all
the peoples of the world, and in which Christ is ever being
born, through the increase of His mystical Body.
PSALM LXXXVIII.
Nothing but the Passion of our Blessed Redeemer can give
the key to the mournful words of this Psalm ; and as the holy
1 It is ix)iuted out by a modern eomtneiitator on the Psalms th.it the use
of the words " spoken of" in verse 2 is identical with thnt in Canticles
viii. .S, and has reference to betrothal, "With glorious promises lie claitn-
cth thee as His bride." [Thbcpp <m IJie Psalvis, ii. 90.]
Name Jesus, though often borne by men before it was adoptLd
by the Saviour, can never again be reverently used by them,
so if this Psalm ever expressed the personal experience of
Daxdd or any other saint, it has yet now become too sacred to
be applied to any but Christ : in Whose Name it is sung by
His mystical Body. No other Psalm expresses so fully the
profundity of the spiritual darkness which overwhelmed the
Soul of the suffering Jesus on the Cross, or expresses it so
utterly without the breaking in upon it of one hopeful ray of
light. We are almost compelled to go even further, and to
receive the Psalm as a Divine revelation of a darkness beyond
the Cross which is not referred to in the holy Gospel ; for all
the expressions in the Psalm refer to death as past, and to the
state after death as that which is present to the mind of the
speaker. -
But such an interpretation, in a literal form, seems to be
inconsistent with our Lord's last words, " It is finished," and
" Father, into Thy hands I connnend My spirit. " It is safer,
therefore, to suppose that the darkness of the state after death
formed part of our Lord's Sufferings hy aiitifipation, that the
actual Descent into Hell was a part of the Resurrection Victory,
and that the misery of God's "wrathful displeasure" -nitli
sinners after death formed part of those unknown Sufferings
which were veiled by the " darkness over all the earth," and
the evidence of which is condensed into the awful cry, " My
2 The one apparent exception, verse 15, is not really so. The "point is
so placed as to iitterfere with the true meaning, which is, " I'rom my youth
up I have been at the point to die." .Sec the Vulgate and the Bible Version.
590
Cf)c Psalms.
17th Day. [Ps. 89.
Day 17. EvKNiNG Prayer.
THE LXXXIX. PSALM.
Misericordias Domini.
MY song shall be alway of the loviiigkind-
nes3 of the Lord : with my mouth will
I ever be shemng Thy truth from one generation
to another.
2 For I have said, ilercy shall be set up for
ever : Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in the
heavens.
3 I have made a covenant with My chosen : I
have sworn unto David !My ser\'ant ;
i Thy seed will I stablish for ever : and set
up thy throne from one generation to another.
5 O Lord, the very heavens shall praise Thy
wondrous works : and Thy truth in the congrega-
tion of the saints.
G For who is he among the clouds : that shall
be compared unto the Lord '?
7 And what is lie among the " gods : that
shall be like unto the Lord ?
8 God is very greatly to be feared in the
council of the saints : and to be had in reverence
of all them that are round about Him.
9 Lord God of hosts, who is like unto
Thee : Thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on
every side.
10 Thou rulest the raging of the sea : Thou
stillest the waves thereof when they arise.
11 Thou hast subdued Egypt, and destroyed
it : Thou hast scattered Thine enemies abroad
with Thy mighty arm.
12 The heavens are Thine, the earth also is
Thine : Thou hast laid the foundation of the
round world, and all that therein is.
13 Thou hast made the north and the south :
Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy Name.
14 Thou hast a mighty arm : strong is Thy
hand, and high is Thy right hand.
15 Righteousness and equity are the habita-
tion of Thy seat : mercy and truth shall go before
Thy face.
16 Blessed is the people, O Lord, that can
rejoice in Thee : they shall walk in the light of
Thy countenance.
1 7 Their delight shall be daily in Thy Name :
and in Thy righteousness sh;ill they make their
boast.
LXXXIX.
Nisf. Ethan ; on
Shishak's invasion.
Litiirff. Christmas
Day. Evensong.
£. g. g. IriiLiy
Mattins. Cliristnias,
3rd Noct.
a Or, the mighty.
[Com/. Pss. 29. I ;
86. 8.J
PSALMUS LXXXVni.
MISERICORDIAS Domini : in reternum
cantabo.
Li generationem et generationem : antumtiabo
veritatem Tuam in ore meo.
Quoniam dixisti, in Eeternum misericordia aadi-
ficabitur in ccelis : priBparabitur Veritas Tua in
eis.
Disposui testamentum electis ileis : juravi
David servo !Meo, Usque in sternum pra'paralm
semen tunni.
Et iedificabo in generationem et generationem :
sedem tuam.
Coiifitebuntur cceli mirabilia Tua, Domine :
etenim veritatem Tuam in ecclesia sanctorum.
Quoniam quis in nubibus asquabitur DoMINO :
similis erit Deo in filiis Dei 1
Deus cjui glorificatur in consilio sanctorum :
magnus et terribilis super omnes qui in circuitu
Ejus sunt.
DoMiNE, Deus virtutum, quis similis Tibi ]
potens es, Domine, et Veritas Tua in circuitu Tuo.
Tu dominaris potestati maris : motuni autem
fluctuum ejus Tu mitigas.
Tu humiliasti, sicut vidneratum, superbum : in
brachio virtutis Tuai dispersisti inimicos Tuos.
Tui sunt cceli, et Tua est terra : orbem terra3
et plenitudinem ejus Tu fundasti : aquilonem et
mare Tu creasti.
Thabor et Hermon in Nomine Tuo exsulta-
bunt : Tuuni brachium cum potentia.
Firmetur manus Tua, et exaltetur dextera Tua :
justitia et judicium prajparatio sedis Tuas.
^Misericordia et Veritas pr;«cedent faciem Tuam:
beatus populus, qui scit jubilationeni.
DoMiNE, in luniine vultus Tui ambulabunt, et
in Nomine Tuo exsultabunt tota die : et in justitia
Tua exaltabiuitur.
God, My God, wliy hast Thou forsaken Me ? " As the fear of
death entered into His Sufferings, so also did the fear of what
comes after death form a part of them. Thus " I am counted
as one of them that go down into the pit " may be intei'preted
in the same manner as " He was numhcml ' with tlie trans-
gressors : " viz. that He l)ore all tlie sliamc of a transgressor
tliough He was not actually one, and that, being "made sin
for UB," He suffered the fidl punishment of sin — privation of
the Divine Presence — thciugh He did not suffer during His
vicarious Ijut triumphant descent into the kingdom of Satan.
Beyond this general indication of the manner in which this
Psalm applies to Christ's Passion it may be <uidesirablc to go,
for when once the pervading sense of it has liccn perceived,
the details are so plain that they are scarcely iiu need of
further explanation, and may be more reverently left without
it.
PSALM LXXXIX.
This aong of the Lord's loving-kindness celebrates the
^ So wlicn Mattliiaa wn» made au Apoatlc, it is said " lie was numbered
with the eleven Apostles."
Nativity of our Blessed Saviour, and the establislmient of the
true David's spiritual seed by virtue of His Incarnation, and
of the results which followed therefrom. "For unto us a
ChUd is born, unto us a Son is given, anil the government
shall be upon His shouliler ; and His Name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of I'eace. Of the increase of His govern-
ment and ])eace there shall be no end, upon the throne of
David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgement and Mith justice, from henceforth, even for
ever." " I will make an everlasting covenant « ith you, even
the sure mercies of David." " He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of tlie Highc-^t, and the Lonllicpd .shall give
unto Him the throne of His father David : and He shall reign
over the house of .lacob for ever : and of His Kingdom there
shall be no end."
Thus the P.salm praises God, first for the fultilinent of His
promise in raising up a Messiah from the seed of David ; and
secondly, for establishing the .seed of the Messiah Himself in
a perpetual succession from one generation to another. It is
also to be understood, in part, as a song of praise to Christ
17th Day. [Ps. 89.]
Cbe Psalms.
591
.f
tlieir strongtli :
sliiilt lift 111)
the lluly
18 For Thou art tlio glory
and in Thy lovingkindne.ss Thon
our horns.
19 For the Lord is our defence
One of Israel is our King.
20 Thou spakest .sometime in visions unto Thy
saints, and saidst : I have laid lielp upon one
that is mighty ; I have exalted one chosen out of
the people.
21 I have found David j\Iy .servant : with My
holy oil have I anointed liiui.
22 Jly hand shall hold him fast : and .My
arm shall strengthen liini.
23 The enemy shall not be able to do him
violence : the son of wickedness shall not luirt
him.
24 I will smite down his foes before his face :
and plague them tliat hate him.
25 My truth also and My mercy shall bo with
him : and in My Name shall his horn be exalted.
2G 1 will set his dominion also in the sea : and
his right hand in tlie "floods.
27 He shall call Me, Thou art my Fatheu :
my God, and my strong salvation.
28 And I will make him My first-born :
higher than the kings of the earth.
29 j\Iy mercy will I keep for him for ever-
more : and My covenant shall stand fast with
hiui.
30 His seed also will I make to endure for
ever : and his throne as the days of heaven.
31 But if his children forsake jSIy law : and
walk not in My judgements ;
32 If they break Jly statutes, and keep not
My commandments : I will visit their offences
with the rod, and their sin with scourges.
33 Nevertheless, ^ly lovingkindness will I
not utterly take from him : nor suffer My trutli
to fail.
31: My covenant will I not break, nor alter the
thing that is gone out of My lips : I have sworn
''once by My holiness, that I will not fail David.
35 His seed shall endure for ever : and his
seat is like as the sun before Me.
36 He shall stand fast for evermore as the
moon : and as the faithful witness in heaven.
37 But Thou hast abhorred and forsaken
Thine Anointed : and art displeased at him.
Mediterranean to
the Euphrates, the
liiiiindaries of the
Davidic Empire.
i> i.e. Once for .ill.
Quoniam gloria virtutis corum Tu es : et in
beneplacito Tuo e.xaltabitur cornu nostrum.
Quia Domini est assumptio no.stra : et sancti
Israel llegis nostri.
Tunc locutus es in visioue .Sanctis Tuis : et
dixisti, Posui adjutorium in potente, et exaltavi
electum dc plebe Mea.
Inveni David servum Meum : oleo sancto Meo
et brachium
unxi eum.
Manus enim Mea auxiliabitur ei
ileum confortabit eum.
Nihil proficiet inimicus in eo : et filius iniqui-
tatis non apponet nocere ei.
Et concidam a facie ijasius inimicos ejus : et
odientes eum in fugam convertam.
Et Veritas j\Iea et misericordia Mea cum ipso :
et in Nomine Meo exaltabitur cornu ejus.
Et ponam in marl manum ejus ; et in fluniini-
bus dexteram ejus.
Ipse invocavit Me, Pater mens es Tu : Deus
mens, et susceptor salutis me;e.
Et ego primogenitum ponam ilium : excelsum
praj regibus terra;.
In ajternum servabo illi misericordiam Meam :
et te.stamentum ileum tidele ipsi.
Et ponam in sseculum Sieculi semen ejus : et
thronum ejus sicut dies ca4i.
Si autem dereliquerint filii ejus legem Meam :
et in judiciis Meis non ambulaverint.
Si justitias Meas profanaverint : et mandata
Mea non custodierint.
Visitabo in virga iniquitates eorum : et in
verberibus peccata eorum.
Misericordiam autem ileam non dispergam
ab eo : neque uocebo in veritate Mea.
Neque profanaoo te.stamentum ileum ; et qua;
procedunt de labiis Meis non faciam irrita.
Semel juravi in sancto Meo, si David mentiar :
semen ejus in a;teruum manebit.
Et thronus ejus sicut sol in conspectu Meo :
et sicut luna perfecta in ajternum, et testis in
ccelo fidelis.
Tu vero repulisti et despexisti : distulisti
Christum Tuum.
Himself, Whose wonch-ous works, in His Incarnation, Resur-
rection, and Ascension, the very heavens praised by tlie mouth
of holy angels. In this sense we see how fully tlie Divine
glory of "tlie Man Christ Jesus * is ilhistrated by the voice of
prophecy. When St. Paul ■writes, "But to which of the
angels said He at any time. .Sit on My right Iiand, until I
make Thine enemies Thy footstool?" he does but take up tlie
tone of David, " Who is he among the clouds that shall be
compared uuto the Lord ? And what is he among the gods
that shall be like unto the Lord '! " So also, when the Kvan-
gelical record tells us that Jesus "arose and rebuked the
wind, and said unto the sea. Peace, be still ; and the wind
ceased, and there was a great calm," tlie words are as distinct
an historical conmient on " Tliou rnlest the ragiiig of the sea,
Thou stillest the waves thereof wlien they arise," as is the
account given in E.xodus of the Passage of the Red Sea.
Hence in this first section of the Psalm there is much of
mystical application to our Lord : and we may interpret the
eighth verse of the «-orship given by all the saints and angels
to "the Lamb as it had been slain," the eleventh verse of the
subjugation of Antichrist, the twelftli of that final gloiy of
Christ, when " all things shall be put under His feet."
The twentieth verse begins another section in which the
Church, or rather Christ in the Person of His mystical Body,
recounts the ancient promises of God respecting the establish-
ment of the Messiah and His Kingdom. These promises had
a partial relation to Dawd himself, but there is very much hi
tliem which is clearly typical, and relating to Him A\'ho was
' ' chosen out of the people " by being born of the Virgin
Mary, " anointed " with the Holy Ghost at His Baptism in
Jordan, declared to be the " First-born " of God by the Voice
from Heaven, "This is My beloved Son," made " liigher than
the kings of the earth " by His reign over a Kingdom which
embraces all kingdoms, to Whom is given a "seed" that
"shall endure for ever," and a throne " like as the sun " in
its gloiy and stability before God.
After recounting these promises, there is a transition in the
thirty-seventh verse to a strain which is that of a Passion
Psalm. Coming where it does, this strain illustrates the fact
that Christ's whole life on earth was one of deep humiliation,
and that the Iiic.irnation itself was the first step towards the
Cross. Except in the last few words, the remainder of the
Psalm all takes this sad tone, and it is, thus, much in keeping
with the tone of our Lord's personal feelings so far as they
592
Cf)e Psalms
18th Day. [Ps. 90.]
38 Thou hast broken the covenant of Thy ser-
vant : and cast his crown to the ground.
39 Thou ha.st overthrown all his hedges : and
broken down his strong holds.
40 All they that go by spoil him : and he is
become a reproach to his neighbours.
41 Thou hast set u)) the right hand of liis
enemies : and made all his adversaries to rejoice.
42 Thou hast taken away the edge of his
sword : and givest him not victory in the battle.
43 Thou hast put out his glory : and cast his
throne down to the ground.
44 The days of his youth hast Thou shortened:
and covered him with dishonour.
45 LoKD, how long wilt Thou hide Thy self,
for ever : and shall Thy wrath burn like fire ?
46 O remember how short my time is : where-
fore hast Thou made all men for nought I
47 ^Vhat man is he that liveth, and shall not
see death : and shall he deliver his soul from the
hand of hell ?
48 Lord, where are Thy old lovingkind-
nesses : which Thou swarest unto David in Thy
truth ■?
49 Remember, Lord, the rebuke that Thy
servants have : and how I do bear in my bosom
the rebukes of many people ;
50 AVherewith Thine enemies have blasphemed
Thee, and slandered the footsteps of Thine
Anointed : Praised be the Lord for evermore.
Amen, and Amen.
Day 18. MORNING PRAYER.
THE XG. PSALM.
Domine, refugium.
IORD, Thou hast been our refuge : from one
■^ generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever the earth and the world were made :
Thou art God from everlasting, and world with-
out end.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction : again
Thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.
4 For a thousand years in Thy sight are but
as yesterday ; seeing that is past as a watch in
the nisrht.
xc.
Hisf. Moses: in the
wiltleniess,
Lituvg. Burial of
the dead. S.g.lS.
Thursday Lauds.
F.vertisti testament um servi Tui : profanasti in
terra sanctuarium ejus.
Destruxisti omnes sepes ejus : posuisti firma-
mentum ejus formidinem.
Diripuerunt eum omnes transeuntes viam :
factus est opprobrium vicinis suis.
Exaltasti dexteram deprimentium eum : !;etiti-
casti omnes inimicos ejus.
Avertisti adjutoriuin gladii ejus : et lion es
auxiliatus ei in beUo.
Destruxisti eum ab emundatione : et sedem
ejus in terram coUisisti.
Minorasti dies teinporis ejus : perfudisti eum
confusione.
Usquequo, Domine, avertis in tlnem : exardes-
cet sicut ignis ira Tua ?
ileinorare qua; mea substantia : nunquid enim
vane constituisti onmes filios hominum ?
Quis est homo tpii vivet, et non videbit mor-
tem : eruet animaiu suam do maun inferi /
Ubi sunt inisericordiiB Tu;e antique, Domine :
sicut jurasti David in veritate Tua 1
Memor esto, Do^iine, opprobrii servorum
Tuoruni : quod contiiiui in sinu meo multaruni
gentium.
Quod exprobraverunt inimiei Tui, Domine :
c^uod exprobraverunt conunutationeiii Christi
Tui.
Benedictus Dominus in leternum : Fiat, Fiat.
PSALMUS LXXXIX.
DOMINE, refugium factus es nobis : a gene-
ratione in generationem.
Priusquam montes fierent, aut formaretur terra
et orbis : a sa>culo ct usque in s;"eculum Tu es
Deus.
Ne avertas hominem in humilitatem : et dixisti,
Convertimini filii hominum.
Quoniam mille anni ante oculos Tuos : tanquam
dies hesterna, qua; prasteriit.
.are revealed to us in tlie Gospels. It is impossible to explain
how His holy mind could have been so filled with what in
ordinarj' persons we should call despondency, when the
glorious enil of all must have been visible to Him. Yet the
fact is plain in the (lospel narrative, and the latter portion of
this Psalm, written concerning Him, is au inspired confirma-
tion of the fact. .Such depression and despondency has not
unfrequently come upon the Church of Christ also at certain
periods of her history : and a time will probably arrive when,
as "the very elect " will be, " if it were possible," deceived by
"fal.se Christs," so they will be driven ahnnst to despair of
(Jod's promise that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against
His Church.
The concluding l)urst of jiraise (the Doxology of tlie third
liook) which make.f a new and so sudden a transition from the
sorrow of the prei;eding verses is, more or less, common to
nearly all the J'salms which set forth the humiliation .ami
siiH'ering of our Lord. " Heaviness may endure for a niglit,
but joy cometh in the morning ; " and the morning of tlie
Resurrection l>rought its earliest rays of Light to the garden
tomb. As the triumph and glory of ChrLst followed im-
mediately on His greatest humiliation and suffering, so after
the last dei)res»ioii and persecution of His mystical I'.ody the
Light of (iod and the I..;imb will shine upon her, and witli
unceasing joy the Bride will sing.
Omnipotent reigneth."
' Alleluia, for the Lord Ood
THE FOURTH BOOK.
PSALM XC.
The title of this Psalm is " A Prayer of Moses the servant of
Ood," and there is no reason to suppose otherwise than that
it comes down from him. It seems to be a ty])ical intercession
of the typical nu'iliator, uttered in view of that revelation of
the Fall of man, and of the sentence, " Dust thou art, and
inito dust slialt thou return," which is recorded in tlie Book
of Genesis ; and the second verse confirms this \\iiw by its
striking analogy with the opening of th.at Book. It may be,
also, that the third verse is the prophet's contemplation of
( ioo'.S promise to Kvc that One should arise of her tlcseendants
Who should bruise the head of the Tempter, and thus open
the gates of Paradise for the return of the ehililicn of men.
It may be, also, that a dim foreshadowing of the time when
Christ shoulil appear is indicated by the fourth verse, though
the Psalm was proliably written about fifteen hundred years
before His Advent.'
' St. B.inmbas qiiok'H the foin-tli .is one imlicntion among others thnl the
18th Day. [Ps. 91.]
Cbe ipsalms.
593
5 As soon as Thou scatterest them they are
even as a sleep ; and fade away suddenly like
the grass.
6 In the morning it is green, and groweth up :
but in the evening it is cut down, dried iiji, anil
withered.
7 For we consume away in Thy displeasure :
and are afraid at Thy wrathful indignation.
8 Thou hast set our misdeeds before Thee :
and our secret sins in the light of Thy counten-
ance.
9 For when Thou art angry all our days are
gone : we bring our years to an end, as it were
a tale that is "told.
10 The days of our age are threescore years
and ten ;i and though men be so strong that they
come to fourscore years ; yet is their strength
then but labour and sorrow ; so soon passeth it
away, and we are gone.
1 1 But who regardeth the power of Thy
wrath : for even thereafter as a man fearetli,
so is Thy displeasure.
12 ''So teach us to number our days : that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Turn Thee again, O Lord, at the last : and
be gracious unto Thy servants.
14 satisfy us with Thy mercy, and that
soon : so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days
of our life.
15 Comfort us again now after the time that
Thou hast plagued us : and for the years wherein
we have suffered adversity.
1 6 Shew Thy servants Thy work : and their
children Thy glory.
17 And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our
God be upon us : prosper Thou the work of our
hands upon us, prosper Thou our handy-work.
THE XCI. PSALM.
Qui habitat.
"TTTHOSO dwelleth under the defence of the
VV most High : shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
2 I -ivill say unto the Lord, Thou art my
hope, and my strong hold : my God, in Him
will I trust.
rt ;>. A fited num.
ber that is fully
counted, as when so
uiany strokes on a
1>L-II are "tolled."
rile words are
otherwise read "as
anieditation." [See
j-tmiot. Hihie, ii.
69=1
1} Al. ttacit Its.
XCI.
Hiit, Perhaps by
Moses; on the re-
belllfin of Korah.
(Num. l6. 44-50.]
I.ifur^. S. g. 1§.
Compline. Dedic.
of Church, 3rd
Noct.
Et custodia in nocte : qua; pro nihilo habentur,
eorum auni erunt.
Mane sicut herba transeat, mane floreat et
transeat : vespere decidat, induret, et arescat.
Quia dcfecinms in ira Tua : et in furore Tuo
turbati sumus.
Posuisti iniijuitates nostras in conspectu Tuo :
speculum nostrum in illuminatione \Tiltus Tui.
Quoniam omnes dies nostri defecerunt : et in
ira Tua defecimus.
Anni nostri sicut aranea meditabuntur : dies
annorum nostroruni, in ipsis septuaginta anni.
Si auteni in potentatibus octoginta anni : et
amplius eorum labor et dolor.
Quoniam supervenit mansuetudo : et corripie-
mur.
Quis novit potestatem ir» Tuse : et pra^ tiraore
Tuo iram Tuam dinumerare 1
Dexteram Tuam sic notam fac : et eruditos
corde in sapientia.
Convertere, Domine, usquequo : et deprecabilis
esto super servos Tuos.
Eepleti sumus mane misericordia Tua : et
exsidtavimus et delectati sumus omnibus diebus
nostris.
Lajtati sumus pro diebus quibus no3 humiliasti :
annis quibus vidimus mala.
Respice in servos Tuos et in opera Tua : et
dirige filios eorum.
Et sit splendor Domini Dei nostri super nos ;
et opera manuum nostrarum dirige super nos : et
opus manuum nostrarum dirige.
Q
PSALMUS XC.
UI habitat in adjutorio Altissimi
tione Dei coeli comniorabitur.
in protec-
Dicet Domino, Susceptor mens es Tu, et refu-
gium meum : Deus meus, sperabo in Eum.
Even at tliia early date God thus revealed to all to whom
the words of this Psalm came the Evangelical truth more fully
declared in after ages, that death is not a natural circumstance,
belonging to the constitution of the human body and soul, but
that it is a consequence of sin : "By one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." [Kom. v. 12.] It is a trath
which is likely to be brought into discredit in an age when
physiological studies are not so much tempered as they ought
to be by theological studies : but yet a truth which no physio-
logical research can disprove, and which Holy Scripture
distinctly asserts. Man does not die because it is a necessary
part of his nature to wear out ; but because the decree has
gone forth, "Dying, thou shalt die." [Gen. ii. 17.] The
world win last for 6000 years in its resent condition. " Tlierefore, my
children," ho adds, " in six days, that is, in the six thousand years, all
things shall be finished. And He rested on the seventh d.ay: this means,
when His Son shall come, and shall abolish the time of the Wicked One,"
(.\ntiehrist,] "and shall judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun and
moon and stirs. Then shall He rest gloriously on the seventh day."
1 Moses himself lived to the age of 120, and was then in full vigour.
[Deut. xxxii. 7.] But the forty years which Israel spent in the wilderness
appear to have been the extreme limit of a generation : and we may, there-
fore, conclude that "threescore years and ten" was nearly the average
age of mankind even in the time of Moses, though specially so of those
who died in the wilderness, and the shortening of whose lives had a penal
character.
key-note, or Antiphon, of this Psalm is, then, to be found in
the words of Isaiah, partly adopted by St. Peter : "The Voice
said. Cry. And he said, What shall I cry ? All flesh is grass,
and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the
Lord bloweth upon it : surely the people is grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God
shaU stand for ever." Blessed be God that a further revela-
tion also has been made to us, "I am the Resurrection and
the Life : he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth La Me shall
never die." "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God ? "
PSALM XCI.
When the Tempter misquoted the eleventh and twelfth
verses of this Psalm, he was the means of giving us evidence
that it is spoken of Christ, for the holy Jesus did not contra-
dict the appUcation of it to HimseU, but rebuked the wrong
application of it.- Amidst the frequent changes of pronouns
- .A.'i Satan distorted God's command to our first parents, so he omitted
" in all Thy ways,"— the ways of Christ's work and duty,— iu quoting these
verses. [Matt. iv. 6.]
•1 P
594
C&e IPsalms.
18th Day. [Ps. 92.]
3 For He shall deliver thee from the snare of
the hunter : and from the "noisome pestilence.
4 He shall defend thee under His wings, and
thou shalt be safe under His feathers : His faith-
fulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by
night : nor for the arrow that flieth by day ;
6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness :
nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-
day.
7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten
thousand at thy right hand : but it shall not
come nigh thee.
8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold :
and see the reward of the ungodly.
9 For Thou, Loed, art my hope : Thou hast
set Thine house of defence very high.
10 There shall no evil happen unto thee :
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
1 1 For He shall give His angels charge over
thee : to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee in then- hands : that
thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder :
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread
under thy feet.
14 Because he hath set his love upon Me,
therefore wiU I dehver him : I will set him up,
because he hath known My Name.
1 5 He shall call upon Me, and I wiU hear him :
yea, I am with liim in trouble ; I wiU deliver
him, and bring him to honour.
1 6 With long life will I satisfy him : and shew
him My salvation.
THE XCn. PSALM.
Boniim est confiteri.
IT is a good thing to give thanks unto the
Lord : and to sing praises unto Thy Name,
O most Highest ;
2 To tell of Thy lovingkindness early in the
morning : and of Thy truth in the night-season ;
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon
the lute : upon a loud instrument, and upon the
harp.
4 For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through
Thy *works : and I will rejoice in giving praise
for the operations of Thy hands.
a i.t. Noxious, or
destroying.
xcn.
Hist. Perhaps by
Moses ; and after-
wards used as a
Sabbath morning
Psalm in the
Temple.
Lilurg. S. g. g.
Saturday Lauds.
All Saints, Maltins,
snd Noct.
b Of, doings : i.f.
Thy Providential
dealings «-ith me.
Quoniam Ipse liberavit me de laqueo venan-
tium : et a verbo aspero.
Scapulis Suis obumbrabit tibi : et sub pennis
Ejus sperabis.
Scuto circundabit te Veritas Ejus : non timebi.s
a timore nocturno.
A sagitta volante in die, a negotio perambulante
in tenebris : ab incursu, et daemonio meridiano.
Cadent a latere tuo mUle, et decern miUia a
dextrls tuis : ad te autem non appropinquabit.
Veruntamen oculis tuis considerabis : et retri-
butionem peccatorum videbis.
Quoniam Tu es, Domine, spes mea : Altissimum
posuisti refugium Tuum.
Non accedet ad te malum : et flagellum non
appropinquabit tabernaculo tuo.
Quoniam angelis Suis mandavit de te : ut
custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.
In manibus portabunt te : ne forte oflfendas ad
lapidem pedem tuum.
Super aspidem et basUiscum ambulabis : et
conculcabis leonem et draconem.
Quoniam in Me speravit, liberabo eum : pro-
tegani eum, quoniam cognovit Nomen Meum.
Clamabit ad Me, et ego exaudiam eum : cum
ipso sum in tribulatione ; eripiam eum et glorifi-
cabo eum.
Longitudine dierum replebo eum : et ostendam
illi salutare Meum.
B
PSALMUS XCI.
ONUM est confiteri Domino
Nomini Tuo, Altissime.
et psallere
Ad annuntiandum mane misericordiam Tuam :
et veritatem Tuam per noctem.
In decachordo psalterio : cum cantico, in
cithara.
Quia delectasti me, Domine, in factura Tua :
et in operibus manmmi Tuarura exsultabo.
which occur, it may yet be clearly discerned that the Psalm is
substantially a continuous promise of God to the Beloved Son
in Whom He is well pleased. The literal ligiire of the first
and fourth verses looks, doubtless, towards the Mercy-seat
over which the wings of the Cherubim were spread forth: but
mystically it looks to that unity of the Fiist and Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity which St. John speaks of when
lie writes, " Tlie only -begotten Sou, Which is in the bosom of
the Father." [.John i. 18.] For this (Iwelling under the
defence of the Most High and abiding under tlic shadow of
the Almighty was the strengtli and safety of our Lord's
Human Nature. Thus He was delivered from the snares
which the Devil laid for Him in the Temptation, having
been already delivered l)y His Immaculate Conception from
the " noisome pestilence '' of original sin. Thus the " fiei-y
darts " of the Evil One were shot against Him in vain. Thus,
though a thousand fell beside Him and ten thousand at His
right hand by the stiiig of death, that pestilence came not
nigh Him, for He was able to say, "0 Death, 1 will be thy
idagues." Thus, also, did He withstand the "roaring lion"
who goeth about seeking whom he may devour ; thus did He
bruise the head of the "adder : " and thus, hereafter, will He
tread under His feet " the Dragon, that old serpent, which is
the Devil," in His final glorious victory over all that is evil.
Aud since He vouchsafes to make such an intimate union
as He does make between Himself and His Church, therefore
these promises that were made primarily to Him, the Bride-
groom, may be taken as applicable, in a secondary degree, to
her, the Bride. " Clothed with tlie Sun " of Righteousness,
she will eventually tread down under her feet the symbol and
the power of Antichrist, she will be brought to honour in the
Presence of her l.,(U-d, and " having the glory of God," not-
withstanding all tlie dangers and persecutions through which
she will have to pass.
PSALM XCII.
The title, "A Psalm and song for the S.abbath day," points
out this to be a song of the Church during that rest upon
which she has already, in some degree, entered, aud in
anticipation of the great Sabljath wlien she will enjoy com-
plete rest from her warfare with sin : the " rest that remaineth
for the people of God."
The Psalm has an Eucharistic character, the twelfth and
18th Day. [Ps. 93.]
Cf)c Ipsalms.
595
5 O LoED, how glorious are Thy works : Thy
thoughts are very deep.
G An unwise man doth not well con.sider thi.s :
and a fool doth not understand it.
7 When the ungodly are green a.s the grass,
and when all the workers of wickedness do
flourish : then shall they be destroyed for ever ;
but Thou, Lord, art the most Highest for ever-
more.
8 For lo. Thine enemies, O Lord, lo. Thine
enemies shall perish : and all the workers of
AvicTcedness shall be destroyed.
9 But mine horn shall be exalted like the horn
of an "unicorn ; for I am anointed with fresh oil.
10 Mine eye also shall see his lust of mine
enemies : and mine ear shall hear his desire of
the wicked that arise up against me.
11 The righteous shall flourish like a palm-
tree ; and shall spread abroad like a cedar in
Libanus.
12 Such as are planted in the Louse of the
Lord : shall flourish in the courts of ihe hotise of
our God.
13 They also shall bring forth more fruit in
their age : and shall be fat and well-liking.
14 That they may shew how true the Lord
my strength is ; and that there is no unrighteous-
ness in Him.
a Sec Aitttot. BiHe,
ii. 6ss.
Day 18. EVENING PrAYKR.
THE XCIII. PSALM.
Dominus regnavit.
THE Lord is King, and hath put on glorious
apparel : the Lord hath put on His apparel,
and girded Himself with strength.
2 He hath made the round world so sure :
that it cannot be moved.
3 Ever since the world began hath Thy seat
been prepared : Thou art from everlasting.
4 The floods are risen, O Lord, the floods have
lift up their voice : the floods lift up their waves.
5 The -waves of the sea are mighty, and rage
horribly : but yet the Lord, Who dwelleth on
high, is mightier.
6 Thy testimonies, O Lord, are very sure :
holiness becometh Thine house for ever.
xcni.
Hist. Perhaps by
Moses.
Lilnrg. S,. S. S.
Sunday and Festi-
val Lauds.
Quam magnificata sunt opera Tua, Domine :
nimis profundio factaj sunt cogitationes Tuk.
Vir insipieiis non cognoscet : et stultus non
intelliget hxc.
Cum exorti fuerint peccatores sicut foenum : et
apparuerint omncs qui operantur iniquitatem :
Ut intereant in sieculum sasculi : Tu autem
AltLssimus in ;eternum, Uomine.
Quoniam, ecco, inimici Tui, Domine, quoniam,
ecce, inimici Tui peribunt : et dispergentur omnes
qui operantur iniquitatem.
Et exaltabitur sicut unicornis cornu meum : et
senectus mea in misericordia uberi.
Et despexit oculus mens inimicos meos : et
insurgentibus in me malignantibus audiet auris
mea.
Justus ut palma florebit : sicut cedrus Libani
multiplicabitur.
Plantati in domo Domini
nostri florebunt.
in atriis domus Dei
et
Adhuc multiplicabuntur in senecta uberi
bene patientes enmt, ut annuntieat,
Quoniam rectus Dominus Deus noster : et noii
est iniquitas in Eo.
psALMus xon.
DOMINUS regnavit ; decorem indutiis e.=3t :
indutus est Dominus fortitudinem, et praj-
cinxit Se.
Etenim finnavit orbem terrie : qui non com-
movebitur.
Parata sedes Tua ex tunc : a sreculo Tu es.
Elevaverunt flumina, Domine : elevaverunt
flumina vocem suam.
Elevaverunt flumina fluctus sues : a vocibus
aquarum multarum.
Mirabiles elationes maris : mirabilis in altis
Dominus.
Testimonia Tua credibiUa facta sunt nimis :
domum Tuam decet sanctitudo, Domine, in longi-
tudinem dierum.
thii'teenth verses especially pointing to the Sacramental life
out of which tlie eternal life of Heaven will spring. In tiie
nintli verse, also, tliere is a reference to tliat anointing whicli
ever looks, in tlie Psalms, to the work of the Holy Ghost, and
to His Presence with the mystical Body of Christ. He Him-
self was " anointed witli the oU of gladness above His
fellows : " but of His members it is also said, " Ye have an
unction from the Holy One " [1 John ii. 20] : and their song,
at the last, is an Evangelical paraphrase of this ninth verse,
" Thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests." [Rev.
v. 10.]
The concluding verses of the Psalm speak of the mystical
Tree of Life so often referred to in this and in other parts of
Holy Scripture. Our Lord adopts the figure of the Vine :
here it is the palm and the cedar, the one reno\™ed as pro-
viding food in extraordinary abundance, the other noted for
beauty and strength. In each case the one Root, Stem, and
Branch are signified ; Him from Whom the Israel of God
alone derive Life, strength, and glory. " I will be as the dew
unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his
roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty
shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They
that dwell luider his shadow shall return : they shall revive
as the Com, and grow as the Vine : the scent thereof shall
be as the wine of Lebanon."
PSALM xcm.'
The magnificent opening of this Psalm indicates the begin-
ning of a series of wliich the lOUth Psalm is the last, and in
which (designedly or accidentally) the Advent of our Lord
and His Kingship are the continued subjects of praise. As
God He was supreme from eternity : but when He put on the
apparel of His Human Nature He girded Himself with strength
to become the Sa\'iour of mankind ; and, when that apparel
1 The Septiiagint title of the 93rd Psalm assigns it to " the day befors
the Sabbath, when the earth was founded." St. Augustine connects this
title with the subject of the Psahn by reminding his hearers that on the
sixth d.ay God created man in His own Image, and that our Lord's Incar-
nation began the sixth age of the world.
596
Che Ip0alm0.
18th Day. [Ps. 94.
THE XCIV. PSALil.
Deus ultionura.
OLOED God, to Whom vengeance belongetli :
Thou God, to Whom vengeance belongeth,
shew Thy.self.
2 Arise, Thou Judge of the world : and reward
the proud after their deserving.
3 LoED, how long shall the ungodly : how
long shall the ungodly triumph 1
4 How long shall all wicked doers speak so
disdainfully : and make such proud boasting ?
5 They smite down Thy people, O Lokd ; and
trouble Thine heritage.
6 They murder the widow and the stranger :
and put the fatherless to death.
7 And j'et they say, Tush, the Lord shall not
see : neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
8 Take heed, ye unwise among the people : O
ye fools, when will ye understand 1
9 He that planted the ear, shall He not hear :
or He that made the eye, shall He not see ]
10 Or He that nurtureth the heathen : it is
He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not He
punish 1
11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man :
that they are but vain.
12 Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest,
O Lord : and teachest him in Thy law ;
13 That Thou mayest give him patience in
time of adversity : until the pit be digged up for
the ungodly.
14 For the Lord will not fail His people :
neither will He forsake His inheritance ;
15 Until righteousness turn again unto judge-
ment : all such as are true in heart shall follow
it.
16 Wlio will rise up with me against the
wicked : or who will take my part against the
evil-doers ?
17 If the Lord had not helped me : it had not
failed but my soul had been put to silence.
18 But when I said, My foot hath slipped :
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
19 In the multitude of the sorrows that I had
in my heart : Thy comforts have refreshed my
soul.
by
XCIV.
Hist. Perhaps
Moses.
LUtirg-. S. g. S-
Friday Mattins.
Good Friday, 3rd
Noct.
D
PSALMUS XCIII.
EUS ultionum DoMiNUS ; Deus ultionum
libere egit.
Exaltare Qui judicas terram : redde retribu-
tionem superbis.
Usqueciuo peccatores. Doming : usquequo pec-
catores gloriabuntur :
Effabuntur, et loquentur iniquitatem : loquentur
omnes qui operantur injustitiam 1
Populum Tuum, Domine, humiliaverunt : et
hffireditatem Tuam vexaverunt.
Viduam et advenam interfecerunt : et pupiUos
occiderunt.
Et dixerunt, Non videbit Dominus : nee intel-
liget Deus Jacob.
Intelligite insipientes in populo : et .stulti
aliquando sapite.
Qui plantavit aurgm, non audiet? aut Qui
finxit oculum, non considerat ?
Qui corripit gentes, non arguet? Qui docet
hominem scientiam?
Dominus scit cogitationes hominum : quoniam
vana3 sunt.
Beatus homo quem Tu erudieris, Domine : et
de lege Tua docueris eum.
Ut mitiges ei a diebus malis : donee fodiatur
peccatori fovea.
Quia non repellet Dominus plebem Suam : et
hrereditatem Suam non derelinquet.
Quoadusque justitia convertatur in judicium :
et qui juxta illam omnes qui recto sunt corde.
Quis consurget mihi adversus malignantes?
aut quis stabit mecum adversus operantes iniqui-
tatem.
Nisi quia Dominus adjuvit me : paulominus
habitasset in inferno anuna mea.
Si dicebam, Motus est pes mens : misericordia
Tua, Domine, adjuvabat me.
Secundum multitudinem dolorum meorum in
corde meo ; consolationes Tuce tetificaverunt
animam meam.
became glorious by His Resurrection, to become King of kings
.and Lord of lords. " Who is this that cometh from Edom,
with dyed garments from Bozi-ah ? this that is glorious in His
apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength ? I that
speak in righteousness, mighty to save." ..." I looked, and
there was none to help ; and I wondered that there was none
to uphold : therefore Mine own arm brought salvation unto
Me : and My fury, it upheld Me."
By that Advent and Licarnation the King of kings " hath
made tlic round world " of His spiritual Kingdom " so sure
that it cannot be moved " from tlic Rock on wliich He has
founded it, and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against it.
'riic floods of the sea of this world " l)fiat \chcmently upon
tliat House," but it is founded on a Rock : and witlun its
walls is that tlirone of everlasting dominion which was jire-
pared ever since tlie world began in tlie loving purjiosc of .an
.all-pitying Clod to become the Saviour of man. Amid all the
trouljle that may fall on the Cluircli, the immoveability of lier
foundation and the eternal Royalty of licr Head will be lier
true consolation and sujiport. " In tlie world ye shall liave
tribulation : but be of good comfort ; I have overcome the
world." [John xvi. .33.]
PSALM XCIV.
The first act of Christ's final sovereignty will necessarily be
the judgement and subjugation of those who oppose His
Kingdom. His o^vn words declare the nature of His Second
Advent and manifestation, " Hereafter shall ye see the Son of
Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
clouds of Heaveu : " the opening words of the Revelation
declare, " Behold, He cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall
see Him, and they .also which pierced Him : and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen "
[Rev. i. 7]': and the propliet of tlie New Dispensation licard
the martyrs using almost the words witli %vluch this Ps.alm
opens, wlien "they cried w'ith a loud voice, saying, How
long, Lord, holy and true, dost Tliou not jiulge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on the eartli?" This Ps.alm,
therefore, is tlie call of tlie Cliurch to Clirist to fulfil her con-
stant pr.ayer, " Thy Kingdom conic, " and tlie antecedent of licr
great Euuliaristic liymn, " Wo give Tlice th.auks, O Lord God
Almighty, 'Which art, and wast, and art to come ; because
Thou hast taken to Thee Tliy gi-eat power, and hast reigned. "
[Rev. xi. 17.]
That events will occur shoi-tly before our Lord's Second
Advent wliich will cause tlie Church of God to cry out in
anguish for Christ to hasten His Kingdom and to judge lier
cause against the great Persecutor of tliat time, our Lord
Himself revealed in His last discourse to tlie Apostles before
His Snircring. A constant tradition of the Christian world
19th Day. [Ps. 95.]
Cfje IPsalmff.
597
20 Wilt Tlioii have any thing to do with the
stool of wickedness : which imagineth mischief
as a law ?
21 They gather them together against the soul
of the righteous : and condemn the innocent
blood.
22 But the Lord is my refuge : and my God
is the strength of my confidence.
23 He shall recompense them their wickedness,
and destroy them in their own malice : yea, the
Lord our God shall destroy them.
Day 19. MORNING Prayer.
THE XCV. PSALM.
Venite, cxultemua.
OCOME, let us sing unto the Lord : let us
heartily rejoice in the strength of our sal-
vation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanks-
giving : and shew ourselves glad in Him with
psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God : and a great
King above all gods.
4 In His hand are all the "corners of the
earth : and the strength of the hills is His also.
5 The sea is His, and He made it : and His
hands prepared the dry laud.
6 come, let us worship and fall down : and
kneel before the Lord our !Maker.
7 For He is the Lord our God : and we are
the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His
hand.
8 To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not
your hearts : as in the provocation, and as in the
day of temptation in the wilderness ;
9 When your fathers tempted Me : proved Me,
and saw My works.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this
generation, and said : It is a people that do err
in their hearts, for they have not known My
ways ;
11 Unto whom I sware in My wrath : that
they should not enter into My rest.
y.cv.
Hist. I'crliapb by
Moses.
Liturjy. Invitatory
Psalm, ft. e. K.
Invitatory Psalm.
Epiphany, Mattins,
and Nucl.
a Or. as in B. V.,
" the deep places.
Nunquid adhfcret Tibi sedes iniquitatis : qui
lingis laborem in proccepto ?
Captabunt in animam justi : et sanguinem
innocentem condomnabuut.
Et factus est mihi Dominus in refugium : ct
Deus nieus in adjutorium spei meao.
Et reddet illis iniquitatem ipsorum, et in
malitia eorum disperdet eos : disperdet illos
Dominus Deus noster.
PSALMUS XCIV.
VENITE, exultemus Domino : jubUemus Deo
salutari nostro.
Prajoccupemus faciem Ejus in confessione : et
in psalmis jubilemus Ei.
Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus : et rex mag-
nus super omnes deos.
Quia in manu Ejus sunt omnes fines terr» : et
altitudines montium Ipsius sunt.
Quoniam Ipsius est mare, et Ipse fecit illud :
et siccam manus Ejus formaverunt.
Venite adoremus et procidamus et ploremus
ante Dominum Qui fecit nos : quia Ipse est Deus
noster :
Et nos populus pasouM Ejus : et oves manus
Ejus.
Hodie si vocem Ejus audieritis : nolite obdurare
corda vestra.
Sicut in irritatione : secundum diem tentatioiu's
in deserto.
Ubi tentaverunt Me patres vestri : probaverunt
et viderunt opera Mea.
Quadraginta annis offensus fui generationi iUi :
et dixi. Semper hi errant corde.
Et isti non cognoverunt vias Meas : ut juravi
in ira Mea, Si introibunt in requiem Meam.
has also been maintained to tlie same efl'ect. No doubt the
full application of this Psalm will be revealed when that time
arrives, a time when the faith and patience of Christians will
be tried to the uttermost.
But although the crowning violence of the great Enemy of
God and man is reserved for a future time, he is still the great
Enemy at all times, and the prayer, "Thy Kingdom come,"
is conjoined witli tlie prayer, "Deliver us from evil," — the
E\'il One and all the evil which he causes. Hence the con-
tinual prayer of the Church is uttered as in the face of an
Enemy whose hatred never ceases, and whose power is being
exercised against her year by year and day by day. The One
Body, therefore, of whose sufferings the words of this Psalm
were once most literally true, and of whom they will bo so
again, utters them still (even in a time when there is little
outward persecution of Christians), because her foe is still
what he has l)een and ever will be, and because all history is
one continuous present in the eye of the Lord.
A large portion of this Psalm will bear personal application
to the case of individual Christians, who may, In its words,
acknowledge before God their sense of His love in the chas-
tisements that are sent to them, and of the comforts with
which He alone can refresh the soul in the multitude of its
PSALM XCV.
For many ages this Psalm has been sung every morning in
the whole Western Church, and a portion of it in the Eastern
Church, as an Introductory hymn to the other portions of the
Psalter ; the key to such an usage being found in the second
verse, and in the invitation to worship Christ which gives its
character to the whole Psalm.'
In its place in the Psalter it may be regarded as setting
forth, in the first half, the Divine Nature of our Lord as "a
gi-eat God ;" His Royalty as " a gi-eat King ;" His supremacy
above all the angels to whom in their majesty and might the
name of gods is, in a lower sense, conceded ; His glory and
power as the Creator of the land and sea (with all that is
comprehended in those temis) ; and as the SustaLner, in His
Divine Proviilence, of all that He has created. In the second
half of the Psalm, beginning with the sixth verse, the glory
of Christ is set forth with respect to the relation between
Him and mankind : Let us worship Him, for He is not only
Creator of the universe, but He is our Creator, our God, our
Divine Shepherd. The latter verses of this second division of
the Psabn consist of a warning to the Christian flock of the
I See p. 1S7 for a note on the >ise of this as an luvitatorj' Psalm.
598
Cf)e IPsalms.
19th Day. [Ps. 96, 97.]
THE XCVI. PSALM.
Cantate Domino.
OSIiS^G unto the Loed a new song : sing unto
the Lord, all the whole earth.
2 Sing unto the Lord, and praise His Name ;
"be telling of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His honour unto the heathen : and
His wonders unto all people.
i For the Lord is great, and cannot worthily
be praised : He is more to be feared than all
gods.
5 As for all the gods of the heathen, they are
but idols : but it is the Lokd that made the
heavens.
6 Glory and worship are before Him : power
and honour are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of
the people : ascribe unto the Lord worship and
power.
8 Ascribe unto the Lord the honour due unto
His Name : bring * presents, and come into His
courts.
9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holi-
ness : let the whole earth stand in awe of Him.
10 Tell it out among the heathen that the
Lord is King : and that it is He Who hath made
the round world so fast that it cannot be moved ;
and how that He shall judge the people right-
eously.
1 1 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth
be glad : let the sea make a noise, and all that
therein is.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it:
then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before
the Lord.
13 For He cometh, for He cometh to judge
the earth : and with righteousness to judge the
world, and the people with His truth.
THE XCVn. PSALM.
Dominus regnavit.
THE Lord is King, the earth may be glad
thereof : yea, the midtitude of the isles
may be glad thereof.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about Him :
I'ighteousness and judgement are the habitation
of His seat.
XCVI.
Nisf. Perhaps by
Moses, and adapt-
ed by David for
the removal of the
Ark to Zion. [i
Ctiron. l6. 7.J
Liturg. S. B. Si.
Friday Matlins.
Christmas, Circum-
cision. Epiph.iny.
Trinity Sunday,
Dedic. of Church,
B. V. M., St. Mi.
chael, Translig.
Name of Jesus,
Ex. Cross. Virg.
and Matr. 3rd
Noct.
a Or, bear the glad
tidings.
b i.e. Offerings.
xcvn.
Hist. Perhaps by
Moses, or Joshua,
for the passage of
the Jordan, and re-
cast by David.
ii/«ri-. S. 5. S-
Friday ^^attins.
Circumcision, Epi-
phany, Trinity Sun-
day, Apostles and
Evangelists, B. V.
M.. St. Michael,
Translig.. Ex.
Cross, Dedic. of
Church, Virg. and
Matr., 3rd Noct.
PSALM US XCV.
CANTATE Domino canticum novum : cantate
Domino omnis terra.
Cantate Domino, et benedicite Nomini Ejus :
annuntiate de die in diem salutare Ejus.
Annuntiate inter gentes gloriam Ejus : in
omnibus populis mirabilia Ejus.
Quoniam magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis :
terribilis est super omnes deos.
Quoniam omnes dii gentium doemonia
MINUS autem coelos fecit.
Do-
Confessio et pulchritudo in conspectu Ejus :
sanctimonia et magnificentia in sanctificatione
EJU.S.
-Aiferte Domino, patriae gentium, afferte Do-
mino gloriam et honorem : afferte Domino gloriam
Nomini Ejus.
ToUite hostias, et introite in atria Ejus :
adorate Dominum in atrio sancto Ejus.
Commoveatur a facie Ejus universa terra :
dicite in gentibus quia Dominus regnavit.
Etenim correxit orbem terrte, qui non commo-
vebitur : judicabit populos in requitate.
LcBtentur cceU, et exsultet terra ; commoveatur
mare, et plenitudo ejus : gaudebunt campi, et
omnia quas in eis sunt.
Tunc exsultabunt omnia ligna silvarum a facie
Domini, quia venit : quoniam venit judicare
terrain.
Judicabit orbem terrse in tequitate : et populo3
in veritate Sua.
PSALMUS XCVI.
DOMINUS regnavit, exsultet terra : laetentur
insuke multse.
Nubes et caligo in circuitu Ejus : justitia et
judicium correctio sedis Ejus.
Good Shepherd drawn from the historj- of His Jewish flock.
" Let us labour, therefore, to enter into tliat rest, lest any
man fall, after the same example of unbelief." [Heb. Iv. 11.]
PSALM XCVI.
As our Lord said, " A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another : as I have loved you, that ye also
love one another " [.John xiii. o4]: .so a "new song" com-
memorates the gi'eat change whicli His Deatli and Resurrec-
tion effected by drawing the heathen into His fold. The
glory of the King of kings is no longer to l)c declared only to
His people Israel, ))ut also to the heathen, out of whom He
gathers a new I.srael when rejected by the unbelieving .Jews.
The Christian sense of tliis P.salm, therefore, makes it not
only a proclamation of the glory of Cod as a Ood infinitely
superior to the idols of the heathen, but also a proclamation
of the glory of His salvation wrought for all, and an invitation
to all to come and sacrifice in His courts, and to worship Him
in the beauty of holiness.
This beautiful hymn is therefore a prophetic anticipation of
the miracle of Pentecost, when men of every nation under
Heaven heard the wonderful works of Uoil in the Incarnation,
Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, proclaimed to
them in their native languages : and of that time when the
Apostles learned more distinctly still that it was the purpose
of their Master that they should found His Churcli among the
Gentiles as well .as the Jews. "God hatli highly exalted
Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name, that
at the Name of .Jesus every knee shoulil bow, of things in
Heaven, and things in earth, and things under tlic eartli : and
tliat every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father."
PSALM XCVII.
From the mjinncr in which St. Paul (|Uotes the seventh
verse of tliis l'.s.alm, it must be taken as wiitteii altoget.lier to
the praise of our Lord : " When He Ijriiigelh in tlic Virst-be-
gotten into the world He saitli, And let all the angels of God
worship Him." It is therefore a hymn to the glory of Christ
in respect to His reign in the Kingdom gained by His Incar-
nation. "Ho Who stood before tlie judge. He Wlio received
blows, He Who was scourged. He Wlio was spit upon, He
19th Day. [Ps. 98.]
Cf)c Psalms.
599
3 There shall go a fire before Him : and burn
up His enemies on every side.
4 His lightnings gave shine unto the world :
the earth saw it, and was afraid.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of
the Lord : at the presence of the Loud of the
whole "earth.
6 The heavens have declared His righteous-
ness : and all the people have seen His glory.
7 Confounded be all they that worship carved
images, and that delight in vain gods : worship
Him, all ye gods.
8 Sion heard of it, and rejoiced : and the
daughters of Judah were glad, because of Thy
judgements, O Lord.
9 For Thou, Lord, art higher than all that
are in the earth : Thou art exalted far above all
gods.
10 ye that love the Lord, see that ye hate
the thing which is evil : the Lord preserveth the
souls of His saints ; He shall deliver them from
the hand of the ungodly.
11 There is sprung up a light for the right-
eous : and joyful gladness for such as are true-
hearted.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous : and
give thanks for a remembrance of His holiness.
Day 19. EVENING PRAYER.
THE XCVIII. PSALM.
Cantate Domino.
OSING unto the Lord a new song : for He
hath done marvellous things.
2 With His own right hand, and with His
holy arm ; hath He gotten Himself the victory.
3 The Lord declared His salvation : His
righteousness hath He openly shewed in the
sight of the heathen.
4 He hath remembered His mercy and truth
toward the house of Israel : and all the ends of
the world have seen the salvation of our God.
5 Shew your selves joyful unto the Lord, all
ye lands : sing, rejoice, and give thanks.
6 Praise the Lord upon the harp : sing to the
harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.
7 With trumpets also, and shawms : O shew
your selves joyful before the Lord the King.
a Coiiip. Joili. 3-
XCVIII.
Hisl. Perhaps by
Moses.
Liturg. Evensong
Canticle. S. B-
|§. Saturday Mat-
tiiis. Christinas,
Circumcision, Tri-
nity Sunday, B. V.
M., Virg. and
Matr., 3rd Noct.
Ignis ante Fpsum prrocedet : et inflammabit in
circuitu iniinicos Ejus.
Alluxerunt fulgura Ejus orbi terne : vidit et
commota est terra.
Montes sicut cora fluxerunt a facie Domini : a
facie Domini oinnis terra.
Annuntiaverunt cccli justitiam Ejus : et vide-
runt onmes populi gloriain Ejus.
Confundantur omiies qili adorant sculptilia : et
qui gloriaiitur in simulachris suis.
Adorate Eum omnes angeli Ejus : audivit et
Isetata est Sion.
Et exsultaverunt filiae Judae : propter judicia
Tua, DojtiNE.
Quoniam Tu Dominus altissimus super omnem
terram : nimis exaltatus es sujjer omnes deos.
Qui diligitis Dominum, odite malum : custodit
Dominus animas sanctorum Suorum, de manu
peccatoris liberabit eos.
Lux orta est justo : et rectis corde laetitia.
Laetamini justi in Domino : et confitemini
memoriae sanctificationis Ejus.
PSALMUS XCVII.
CANTATE Domino canticum novum : quia
mirabilia fecit.
Salvavit Sibi dextera Ejus : et brachium sanc-
tum Ejus.
Notum fecit Dominus salutare Suum : in con-
spectu gentium revelavit justitiam Suam.
Eecordatus est misericordiae Suae : et veritatis
Suae domui Israel.
Viderunt omnes termini terrte salutare Dei
nostri : jubilate Deo omnis terra ; cantate et ex-
sultate et psallite.
Psallite Domino in cithara, in cithara et voce
psalmi : in tubis ductilibus, et voce tubas corneae.
JubUate in conspectu Regis Domini : moveatur
Who was crowned ■nnth thorns, He Who was buffeted. He
Who hung upon the Cross, He Who, as He hung upon the
wood, was mocked. He Wlio died upon the Cross, He Who
was pierced with the spear. He Who was buried, He Who
arose from the dead : The Lord is King." Such are the
forcible words with whicli St. Augustine begins his exposition
of the first verse, and he adds that "the Word of God hath
been preached, not in the continent alone, but also in those
isles which lie in mid-sea ; even these arc full of Christians,
full of the servants of God ; " by which he appears to refer
to the British Isles as among those who were kno^^^l to be glad
that the Lord is King. " Let them give glory unto the Lord,
and declare His praise in the islands : " " My righteousness is
near ; My salvation is gone forth, and Mme arms shall judge
the people : the isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm
shall they trust. "
Thus does all the earth bow down before Jesus as King of
kings and Lord of lords, waiting for that time when He shall
come in the clouds of heaven to reign in Mount Zion and in
Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously : once reigning
from the Cross by suffering, for ever from tlie Throne in the
majesty of Divine Power.
PSALM XCVIII.
This is a prophetic hymn of the whole Church of God, Jew
and Gentile, gathered into the one Christian fold, and singing
to the glory of one Lord and King, coming to judge the world
with righteousness, power, love, and mercy. The Israel of
old, the people gathered from " the ends of the earth," all the
created works of God, are called upon to sing the new song
which ijroclaims the final victory of the King of kings. Such
praises for the marvellous works of Christ in the salvation of
mankuid are being offered day by day in the Psalms and
hymns of the Church, and still more in her Eucharistic Sacri-
fices : but they will be offered more purely and fully when the
\'ision of St. John becomes a reality : " Every creature which
is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such
as are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I sa3'ing.
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that
sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever."
Already with voice and with instrumental music the Church
slugs her new song of thanksgiving to her King, but hereafter
those who have attained a part in His Victory over evil will
stand upon " as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire " sur-
6oo
Cbe lp,salm0.
19th Day. [Ps. 99, 100.]
8 Let the sea make a noise, and all that
therein is : the round world, and they that dwell
therein.
9 "Let the floods clap their hands, and let the
hills be joyful together before the Lord : for He
is come to judge the earth.
10 With righteousness shall He judge the
world : and the people with equity.
THE XCix. PSALM.
Dominus regnant.
THE Lord is King, be the people never so
impatient : He sitteth between the * cheru-
bims, be the earth never so unquiet.
2 The Lord is great in Sion : and high above
all people.
3 They shall give thanks unto Thy Name :
which is great, wonderful, and holy.
4 The King's power loveth judgement ; Thou
hast prepared equity : Thou hast executed judge-
ment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 magnify the Lord our God : and fall
down before His ' footstool, for He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among His priests, and
Samuel among such as call upon His Name : these
called upon the Lord, and He heard them.
7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy
pillar : for they kept His testimonies, and the
law that He gave them.
8 Thou heardest them, Lord our God :
Thou forgavest them, O God, and punishedat
their own inventions.
9 magnify the Lord our God, and worship
Him upon His holy hill : for the Lord our God
is holy.
THE C. PSALM.
Jubilate Deo.
OBE joyful in the Lord, all ye lands : serve
the Lord with gladness, and come before
His presence with a song.
2 Be ye sure that the Lord He is God ; it is
He that hath made us, and not we our selves :
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
a Co)iip, Iba. 55- 12
XCIX.
litit. Perhaps by
Moses.
Lilurg. S. ffi. ffi.
Saturday Mattiiis.
Apostles and Evaii-
felists, Transfig..
t. Michael, 3rd
Noct.
b Cotnfi. Exod. 25.
17-22. Lev. 16. 2.
I Kings 8. 12.
c Cojnp. Ps. 132. 7,
Nist. Perhaps by
Moses.
Lititr);. Mattins
Canticle. S. g-
|§. Saturday Mat-
tins. Sunday and
Festival Lauds.
mare et plenitudo ejus
habitant in eo.
orbis terrarum et qui
Flumina plaudent manu, simul montes exsulta-
bunt a conspectu Domini : quoniam venit judi-
care terram.
Judicabit orbem terrarum in justitia : et
populos in aequitate.
psALMus xcvm.
DOMINUS regnavit, irascantur populi : Qui
sedes super Cherubin, moveatur terra.
DoMiNUS in Sion magnus : et excelsus super
omnes populos.
Contiteantur Nomiui Tuo magno ; quoniam
terribile et sanctum est : et honor regis judicium
dUigit.
Tu parasti directiones : judicium et justitiam
in Jacob Tu fecisti.
Exaltate Dominum Deum nostrum et adorate
scabellum pedum Ejus : quoniam sanctum est.
!Moyses et Aaron in sacerdotibus Ejus : et
Samuel inter eos qui invocant Nomen Ejus.
Invocabant Dominum, et Ipse exaudiebat eos :
in columna nubis loquebatur ad eos.
Custodiebant testimonia Ejus : et pr^ceptum
quod dedit iUis.
DoMiNE, Deus noster, Tu exaudiebas eos ;
Deus Tu propitius fuisti eis : et ulciscens in
omnes adinventiones eorum.
Exaltate Dominum Deum nostrum, et adorate
in monte sancto Ejus : quoniam sanctus Dominus
Deus noster.
PSALMUS XCIX.
JUBILATE Deo omnis terra : servite Domino
in liBtitia.
Introite in conspectu Ejus : in exsultatione.
Scitote quoniam Dominus, Ipse est Deus :
Ipse fecit nos, et non ijjsi nos.
Populus Ejus et oves pascuae Ejus, introite
rounded with the dazzling light of a heavenly sunshine,
"having the harps of God," and singing " the song of Moses
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great
and marvellous are Thy works. Lord God Almighty ; just and
true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints."
P.SALM XCIX.
The Presence of the Lord in His Church is here set forth.
" He sitteth between tlic Cherubinis " on His throne of mercy,
and His greatness is manifested in " Zion," the City of God.
Before the " footstool " of His earthly altar the worship of
all is to be offered, while His priests and prophets arc minis-
tering before God and man in the work of intercession : and
as His Presence was then manifested by a voice out of the
cloudy pillar, so now also have we a sure word of promise
tliat where two or three are gathered together in His Name,
there will He be in the midst of them.
It may be obscrveil that the Ter-sanctus of Isaiah and of
tlie Revelation is, in some measure, represented in this Psalm.
Holy is God's Name [v. li]. Holy is He [v. 5], Holy is tlic
Lord our (iod [v. 9] : and that (as in Isaiah, Ezekicl, and the
Vision of St. .John) the Presence of flod is associated with
mysterious beings called " living creatures," " Seraphim " and
"Cherubim." As Isaiah spake of Christ, and behclil His
glorj' in that vision of the Lord, high and lifted up and sitting
upon His throne, so also did St. John when he beheld the
Throne in the midst of the four-and-twenty elders of the Old
and New Dispensation. So also in this Psalm we behold the
Lord Jesus set before us as the King of glory, the Object of
our highest reverence and worship, manifesting His Presence
at His footstool.
PSALM C.
This is also a jubilant thanksgiving of the Catholic Church
of Christ for the blessing of (Jod's adoption. No longer is the
Divine Presence manitesteil in one land alone, but "all lands"
are illuminated by it : no longer is the fold of God opened
only to one people, but all the baptised are numbered among
the sheep of His pasture ; and they are His, not because He
has "made" them according to natural Creation, but because
they have become adopted chililron through the supernatural
re-creation by whicli they have been bom again.
With great joy, therefore, the Churrh remembers the words
of the Lonl, "I am the Good Slipplicnl, and know My sheep,
and am known of Mine." \\'ith great joy she calls to mind
that He also said, " By Me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and go in and out, and find pasture "...." there
shall be one fold, and one Shepherrl." And knowing what
"gracious words proceeded out of His mouth " when He was
visible among men, those words arc to faithful hearts as if
20th Day. [Ps. 101, 102.]
^U IPsalms.
6oi
3 O go your way into His gates with thanks-
giving, and into His courts with praise : be
thankful unto Him, and speak good of His
Name.
4 For the Loed is gracious, His mercy is ever-
lasting : and His truth endureth from generation
to generation.
THE CI. PSALM.
Miscricordiam et judicium.
My song shall be of mercy and judgement :
unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing.
2 O let me have understanding : in the way
of godliness.
3 When wilt Tliou come unto me : I will walk
in my house with a perfect heart.
4 I will take no wicked thing in hand ; I hate
the sins of unfaithfulness : there shall no such
cleave unto me.
5 A froward heart shall depart from me : I
will not know a wicked person.
6 Whoso privily slandereth hia neighbour :
him will I destroy.
7 Whoso hath also a proud look and "high
stomach : I will not suffer him.
S Mine eyes look upon such as are faithful in
the land : that they may dwell with me.
9 Whoso leadeth a godly life : he shall be my
servant.
10 There shall no deceitful person dwell in
my house : he that telleth lies shall not tarry in
my sight.
11 I shall soon destroy all the ungodly that
are in the land : that 1 may root out all wicked
doers from the city of the Lord.
Day 20. MORNING PRAYER.
THE CII. PSALM.
Domine, exaudi.
HEAR my prayer, O Lord : and let
crying come unto Thee.
2 Hide not Thy face from me in the time of
my trouble : incline Thine ear unto me when I
call ; O hear me, and that right soon.
my
CI.
Nist. David. Occa-
sinn unknotvn.
Litnrt;. Royal Ac-
cession, ft. §. '^.
Saturday Mattins,
^ i.e. A licart tliat
i^ insatiable in its
hauglitiness.
CII.
Hist. Probably by
Jeremiah.
Littirg. Ash-Wed.
Evensong. 5b- ?i.
|§. Saturday Mat-
tins.
Penitential Ps. S-
portas Ejus in confe.ssione : atria Ejus in hymnLs ;
confiteinini lUi.
Laudate Nomcn Ejus ; quoniam .suavis est
DoMiNUS ; in leternum misericordia Ejus : et
usque in generationem et generationem Veritas
Ejus.
PSALMUS C.
MISERICORDIAM et judicium : cantabo
Tibi, Domine.
Psallam et inteUigam in via immaculata :
quando venies ad me.
Perambulabam in innocentia cordis mei : in
medio domus meoo.
Non proponebam ante oculos nieos rem injus-
tam : facientes prtevaricationes odivi.
Non adhsesit mihi cor pravum : declinantem a
me malignum non cognoscebam.
Detrahentem secreto proximo suo : hunc per-
sequebar.
Superbo ociilo et insatiabili corde : cum hoc
non edebam.
Oculi mei ad fideles terra?, ut sedeant mecum :
ambulans iii via immaculata, hie mihi ministrabat.
Nou habitabit in medio domus mea3 qui facit
superbiam : qui loquitur iniqua, non direxit in
conspectu oculorum meorum.
In matutino interficiebam omnes peccatores
terras : ut disperderem de civitate Domini omnes
operantes iniquitatem.
PSALMUS CI.
DOMINE, exaudi orationem meam : et clamor
mens ad Te veniat.
Non avertas faciem Tuam a me : in quacunque
die tribulor, inclina ad me aurem Tuam.
In quacunque die invocavero Te : velociter
exaudi me.
they were being continuously spoken, words of mercy and
words of truth tliat never cease to be lieard by those who
listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd.
This Psalm is, therefore, to be talcen as a thanksgiving for
the grace given in the Church by the manifestation of Christ's
Presence: according to His words of enduring truth, " Lo,
I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." " The
Lord is King," "Be ye siire that the Lord He is God : " even
the Lord our Shepherd.
PSALM CL
Mercy and judgement are the two great chai'acteristics
which mark the acts of Christ towards others while He was
upon earth, and the two which distinguisli His rule ill His
Kingdom. Tliis Psalm expresses first His rigliteous purposes
while preparing the way of His Kingdom and lifting up the
longings of His human heart to the Father ; and, secondly.
His Voice speaking from the midst of His mystical Body during
the period of its probation and of its waiting for the Second
Advent.
Under these two aspects is thus set forth the entire holiness
of the Lord Jesus, to Whom alone of all men was given a
"perfect heart" in its original nature, and in the obedience
of will. To such perfect holiness and righteousness, froward
or wilful wickedness, whetlier of the unfaithful, of the slan-
derer, of him who has been misled by that pride which gave
Satan his first hold on man, of deceitful and lying persons
who copy the ' ' father of lies " in their sin, or of any other
perverse unholiness, is thoroughly hateful : and our Lord
shewed His abhorrence of such while He was upon earth, as
He declares respecting His glorified Church that none such
shall have a place in the New Jerusalem.
And each particular Christian may take up the words of
his holy Lord in the unity of His mystical Body, so as humbly
to use this Psalm respecting his own determination to root
out sin from the City of the Lord.
PSALM CII.
In this, the fifth of the Penitential Psalms, the Voice of
Christ, as the Kepresentative Penitent, is heard pleading witli
God for pardon and restoration to His Presence. Though, as
St. Augustine says, there are some things which make us fear
to say so, there are other things which force us to say so : and
a humble reverence influencing all our thoughts on so awful a
subject, we may thankfully accept such a meaning as exhibit-
ing the fulness and depth of our Saviour's S.acrifice of Himself
for sinners. The same holy Voice is also heard lifting up the
supplication of His fainting Church that God will build up the
602
Cf)c P0alm0.
20th Day. [Ps. 102.]
3 For my days are consumed away like smoke :
and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-
brand.
4 My heart Ls smitten down, and withered like
grass : so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 For the voice of my groaning : my bones
wUl scarce cleave to my flesh.
6 I am become like a pelican in the wilder-
ness : and like an owl that is in the desert.
7 I have watched, and am even as it were a
sj)arrow : that sitteth alone upon the house-top.
8 Mine enemies revile me all the day long :
and they that are mad upon me are sworn to-
gether against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread :
and mingled my drink with weeping ;
10 And that because of Thine indignation and
wrath : for Thou hast taken me up, and cast me
down.
11 My days are gone like a shadow : and I
am withered like grass.
12 But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever :
and Thy remembrance throughout all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon
Sion : for it is time that Thou have mercy upon
her, yea, the time is come.
14 And why? Thy servants think upon her
stones : and it pitieth them to see her in the
dust.
15 The heathen shall fear Thy Name, O Lord :
and aU the kings of the earth Thy Majesty ;
16 When the Lord shall build up Sion : and
when His glory shall appear ;
17 When He turneth Him unto the prayer of
the poor destitute : and despiseth not their
desire.
18 This shall be written for those that come
after : and the people which shall be born shaU
praise the Lord.
19 For He hath looked down from His sanc-
tuary : out of the heaven did the Lord behold
the earth ;
20 That He might hear the mournings of such
as are in captivity : and deliver the children
appointed unto death ;
21 That they may .declare the Name of the
Lord in Sion : and His worship at Jerusalem.
Quia defecerunt sicut fumus dies mei : et ossa
mea sicut cremium aruerunt.
Percussue sum ut fcenum, et aruit cor meum :
quia oblitus sum comedere panem meum.
A voce gemitus mei : acUiassit os meum carni
mere.
SimUis factus sum pehcano solitudinis : factus
sum sicut nycticorax in domicUio.
Vigilavi : et factus sum sicut passer solitarius
in tecto.
Tota die esprobrabant mihi inimici mei : et
qui laudabant me adversum me jurabant.
Quia cinerem tanquam panem manducabam :
et potum meum cum fletu miscebam.
A facie irse indignatiouis Tuaj : quia elevans
allisisti me.
Dies mei sicut umbra declinaverunt : et ego
sicut fcenum ami.
Tu autem, DoinNE, in setenium permanes : et
memoriale Tuum in generationem et generationem.
Tu exsurgens, Domine, misereberis Sion : quia
tempus miserendi ejus, quia venit tempus.
Quoniam placueruut servis Tuis lapides ejus :
et terrffi ejus miserebuntur.
Ea timebunt gentes Nomen Tuum, Domine : et
omnes reges terrre gloriam Tuam.
Quia redificavit Dominds Sion : et videbitur in
gloria Sua.
Eespexit in orationem humilium : et non
sprevit precem eorum.
Scribantur hsec in generatione altera : et
populus qui creabitur laudabit Dominum.
Quia prospexit de excelso sancto Suo : Domi-
Nus de cffilo in terram aspexit ;
Ut audiret gemitus compeditorum : ut solveret
filios interemptorum.
Ut annuntient in Sion Nomen Domini : et
laudem Ejus in Hierusalem.
■walla of the Heavenly City, and raise it to the glory of a
never-ending endurance by filling it with the glory of His
eternal Presence. So out of tlie dcptli of soitow for siu Faith
looks forward to that blessed time when "God shall mpe
away all tears from tlie eyes of His people ; and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain : for the former things are passed
away." [Rev. xxi. 4.]
It is RiguiKcant of our Lord's great humiliation that His
words here are in several places similar to those used by Job :
" Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen tlie end
of the Lord." [.Jaincs v. 11.] Thus .Job laments, " My days
are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without
hope. . . . My skm is black upon me, and my bones arc
burned with heat. . . . My bono cleaveth to my skin, and to
my flesh. ... I am a brother to dr.agons, and a companion
to owls. . . . My haq) also is turned to mourning, and my
organ into the voice of them tliat weep. " Some expressions
arc also similar to those used by other suffering sen-ants of
God ; as of Hezekiali when lie said, " 1 reckoned till morning,
that, as a lion, so will He break all my bones ; from day even
to niglit, so wilt Tliou make an end of me. Like a ci'ane or
a swallow, so did I eliattcr : I did mourn as a dove : mine
eyes fail with looking upward : O Lord, 1 am oppressed.
undertake for me." Or as Jeremiah in his Lamentations
respecting Israel, " Their visage is blacker than a coal : they
are not known in the streets : their skin cleaveth to their
bones ; it is withered, it is become like a stick." And thus
it seems to be intimated that "in aU our afliictions He was
afMicted," and that when He bore our sins in His own Body
on the Cross, He bore all the miseries also that sins bring
with them condensed into one scorchuig ray of woe upon His
Person. '
It is out of the midst of such misery that "Tlic Afflicted
One " looked fortli on the travail of His .Soul and was satis-
fied ; and tliougli He liad but a few hours before predicted of
the Temple and of Jerusalem tliat not one stone should bo
left upon another, yet He could say, "Thou shalt arise, and
luive mercy upon Sion . . . AVhcn the IjOrd shall build up
Sion," for He knew that the fulness of time had come, and
that though the earthly Zion was about to become a desola-
tion, the City of God was to be built up anew, a spiritual
house, not made -ivith h.ands, eternal in the heavens.
To the editication of the spiritual Zion tlie rest of the Psalm
looks; seeming to say with the prophet, "O thou allhctcd,
1 Tlic title of this Psalm Is, " A Prayer of tlie Afflicted, when He Is over-
wliclnu'd, .ind I'oiiretli out His comiilaint before the Lord."
20th Day. [Ps. 103.]
Cbc Ipsalms.
603
22 When the people are gatliered together :
and the kingdoms also, to serve tho Lord.
2.'5 Ho brought down my strength in my
journey : and shortened my days.
24: But I said, O my God, take mo not away
in the midst of mine age : as for Thy years, they
endure throughout all generations.
25 Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the
foundation of the earth : and the heavens are the
work of Thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure :
they all shall wax old as doth a garment ;
27 And as a vesture shalt Thou change them,
and they shall bo changed : but Thou art the
same, and Thy years shall not fail.
28 The children of Thy servants shall con-
tinue : and their seed shall stand fast in Thy
sight.
THE cm. PSALM.
Beiiedic, anhna mea.
PKAISE the Lord, O my soul : and all that
is within me praise His holy Name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul : and forget not
all His benefits ;
3 Who forgiveth all thy sin : and healeth all
thine infirmities ;
4 Who saveth thy life from destruction : and
crowneth thee with mercy and lovingkindness ;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things :
making thee young and lusty as an eagle.
6 The Lord executeth righteousness and judge-
ment : for all them that are ojspressed with
wrong.
7 He shewed His ways unto Moses : His
works unto the children of Israel.
8 The Lord is full of compassion and mercy :
long-suffering, and of great goodness.
9 He will not alway be chiding : neither keep-
eth He His anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins :
nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.
1 1 For look how high the heaven is in com-
parison of the earth : so great is His mercy also
toward them that fear Him.
12 Look how wide also the east is from the
west : so far hath He set our sins from us.
cm.
Htsf. David ; a
th.lnksjnving in his
old age.
!.ii,„r. 5. IS. ft.
Sflliirday Mattins.
Whitbuntidc. St.
Mitliael, 3rd Noct.
All Saints. 1st Noct.
EtjsUrft. A daily
Morning Psalra.
In conveniendo populos in unum : et reges ut
serviant Domino.
Respondit ei in via virtutLs suoe : paucitatem
dierum meorum nuntia mihi.
Ne revoces me in dimidio dierum meorum : in
generationem et generationem anni TuL
Initio Tu, DoMiNE, torram fundasti : et opera
manuum Tuarum sunt ca-li.
Ipsi peribunt, Tu autem permanes : et omnea
sicut vestimentum veterascent.
Et sicut opertorium mutabis eos, et mutabun-
tur : Tu autem idem ijiso es, et anni Tui non
deficient.
Filii servorum Tuorum habitabunt : et semen
eorum in saiculum dirigetur.
PSALMUS CII.
BENEDIC, anima mea. Domino : et omnia
qua3 intra me sunt, Nomini sancto Ejus.
Benedic, anima mea, Domini : et noli oblivLsci
omnes retributiones Ejus.
Qui propitiatur omnibus iniquitatibus tuis :
Qui sanat omnes infirmitates tuas.
Qui redimit de iuteritu vitam tuam : quia
coronat te in misericordia et miserationibus.
Qui replet in bonis desiderium tuum : renova-
bitur ut aquilffi juventus tua.
Faciens misericordias Dominus : et judicium
omnibus injuriam patientibus.
Notas fecit vias Suas Moysi : filiis Israel volun-
tates Suas.
Miserator et misericors Dominus : longanimis
et multum misericors.
Non in perpetuum irascetur : neque in Ktemum
comminabitur.
Non secundum peccata nostra fecit nobis :
neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuit
nobis.
Quoniam secundum altitudinem coeli a terra :
corroboravit misericordiam Suam super timentes
Se.
Quantum distat ortus ab Occidents : longe fecit
a nobis iniquitates nostras.
tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay
thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with
sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy
gates of carbuncles, and all thy Ijorders of pleasant stones.
And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great
shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt
thou be established." "Thy sun shall no more go down,
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself ; for the Lord shall
be thine everlasting Light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended."
So Christ looked forward from Hi.s throne of suifeiing and
vicarious penitence to His throne of dominion and glory. So
the Church, His mystical Body, looks forward from the time
of her militant waiting, her contest with sin, her persecution
at the hajids of Christ's enemies, to the time when the Lord
shall create all things new. So the penitent soul, abased
before the .Judge of all, may look forward ton ; anil making
its prayer " the prayer of The Poor destitute," receive of the
riches which His poverty gained for sinners in an Absolution
on earth that will be ratified in that Day when the redeemed
and pardoned shall " stand fast," upheld by the Cross of their
afflicted and glorified Saviour.
PSALM cm.
The Evangelical key-note to this Psalm was given by St.
Paul when he wrote, " Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, in Christ."
In its Liturgical use it is to be regarded as the thanksgiving
of the Church for the redeeming work of Christ : a thanks-
giving offered up indeed on behalf of the whole body of human
nature, for every individual member of which that ever lived,
or ever will live, Christ died. For the Church is the true
" aninui muncli ;" and although the world without, and even
the dumb creation, praises God in a certain sense by the ful-
filment of its duty and vocation, it is within the Church alone
that mankind can appreciate the blessings of Redemption, and
praise the Lord for them.
The Psalm contemplates mankind, then, as a whole, and in
its fallen condition, and looks forwai-d to that work whose
efi'ects reached back to the age of the Psalmist and to all
previous times, the work by which the Saviour of all brought
about the forgiveness of all. The " sin " is thus not any par-
ticular sins of one person, but the aggregate sin of mankind,
0O4
Cf)c lp0alms.
20th Day. [Ps. 104.]
13 Yea, like as a father pitieth his own chil-
dren : even so is the Lord merciful unto them
that fear Him.
1 4 For He knoweth whereof we are made : He
remembereth that we are but dust.
15 The days of man are but as grass : for he
flourishetli as a flower of the field.
16 For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is
gone : and the place thereof shall know it no
more.
17 But the merciful goodness of the Lord
endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear
Him : and His righteousness upon children's
children ;
18 Even upon such as keep His covenant : and
think upon His commandments to do them.
1 9 The Lord hath prepared His seat in heaven :
and His kingdom ruleth over all.
20 O praise the Lord, ye AngeLs of His, ye
that excel in strength : ye that fulfil His com-
mandment, and hearken unto the voice of His
words.
21 O praise the Lord, all ye His hosts : ye
servants of His that do His pleasure.
22 O speak good of the Lord, all ye works of
His, in all places of His dominion : praise thou
the Lord, O my soul.
Day 20. Evening Prayer,
the civ. psalm.
Benedic, aiiima mea.
PRAISE the Lord, my soul : Lord my
God, Thou art become exceeding glorious ;
Thou art clothed with majesty and honour.
2 "Thou deckest Thy self with light as it were
with a garment : and spreadest out the heavens
like a curtain.
3 *Who layeth the beams of His chambers in
the waters : and maketh the clouds His chariot,
and walketh upon the wings of the wind.
4 He maketh His angels spirits : and His
ministers a flaming fire.
5 'He laid the foundations of the earth : that
it never should move at any time.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep like as with
a garment : the waters stand in the hills.
7 At Thy rebuke they flee : at the voice of
Thy thunder they are afraid.
8 They go up as high as the hills, and down
to the valleys beneath : even unto the place which
Thou hast appointed for them.
crv'.
Hist. David ; in liis
old age.
Litur^. Whitsun.
day Evensong. ^.
^. ^. Saturday.
Whitsuntide Ma't-
tins.
a THE First Day
OF Creation.
\Co)'ip. Gen. 1. 1-5.]
b The Second
Day of Crea-
tion. ICotni, Gen.
I. M.J
c The Third Day
OF Creation.
\Comp. Gen. 1, 9-
■3.1
Quomodo miseretur pater fihorum, misertus est
DoMiNUS timentibus Se : quoniam Ipse cognovit
f gmentum nostrum.
Recordatus est quoniam pulvis sumus : homo
sicut foenum dies ejus ; tanquam flos agri sic
efiiorebit.
Quoniam spiritus pertransibit in Ulo, et non
subsistet : et non cognoscet amplius locum suum.
Misericordia autem Domini ab setemo : et
usque in ajternum super timentes Eum.
Et justitia lUius in filios filiorum : his qui
servant testamentum Ejus ;
Et memores sunt mandatorum Ipsius : ad
faciendum ea.
DoiiiNUS in coelo paravit sedem Suam : et reg-
num IjMius omnibus dominabitur.
Benedicite Domino, omnes angeli Ejus : po-
tentes virtute, facientes verbum Illius, ad audien-
dam vocem sermonum Ejus.
Benedicite Domino, omnes virtutes Ejus :
ministri Ejus qui facitis voluntatem Ejus.
Benedicite Domino, omnia opera Ejus : in
omni loco dominationis Ejus; benedic, anima
mea, Domino.
psALMus cm.
~|I^ENEDIC, anima mea. Domino : Domine,
magnificatus es vehementer.
-U Deus mens,
Confessionem et decorem induisti
lumine sicut vestimento.
amictus
Estendens ccelum sicut pellem : Qui tegis aquis
superiora Ejus.
Qui ponis nubem ascensum Tuum : Qui ambulas
super pennas ventorum.
Qui facis angelos Tuos spiritus : et ministros
Tuos ignem urentem.
Qui fundasti terram super stabilitatem Suam :
non inclinabitur in sKCulum sseculi.
Abyssus, sicut vestimentum, amictus ejus :
super montes stabunt aquas.
Ab increpatione Tua fugient : a voce tonitnii
Tui formidabunt.
Ascendunt montes; et descendunt campi : in
locum quem fundasti eis.
there being no sin for which the Blood of Christ is not a suffi-
cient Sacrifice and Atonement. The "infirmities" are also
those which came upon mankind tlirough sin ; all tiiat long
train of pliysical weaknesses and degenerations which cul-
minate in deatli : and all those spiritual weaknesses which
the grace of God only can prevent from ending in spiritual
destruction. Thus Christ procured a modification of the
sentence, "Thou shalt surely die," by redeeming; the life of
human nature from that incapacity for immortality which
waa the consequence of the I all, and restoring it to the
vigour of its first state, making it "young and lusty as an
eagle. "
Tliis gives the key to the intei-pretation of the whole
Psalm. Man deserved the loss of eternal life and of tlie
Vision of Cod, but the Lord was full of compassion and
mercy, and provided a means of pardon and restoration.
Man alienated himself from the family of God, yet He
pitieth men as His children still, and remembers that they
were created with a power of falling from then- first estate,
and of returning to the dust from which they were taken.
In His " merciful goodness," therefore, the Son of God comes
down from Heaven to become Man Himself, th.at the
righteousness of God may be extended upon " children's
eliildrcn " if they are in the new covenant founded on the
Incarnation.
The I.-ist verses of the Psalm express the unity of the Church
in Heaven with the ('hureh on earth through the work of
Christ. " Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the City
of the living tJod, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innu-
merable company of angels : to the general assembly and
20th Day. [Ps. 104.
Cbe Psalms.
605
9 Thou hast set them their bounds which tliey
shall not pass : neither turn again to cover the
earth.
10 He sendeth the springs into the rivers :
which run among the hills.
1 1 All beasts of the field drink thereof : and
the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Beside them shall the fowls of the air liave
their habitation : and sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the hills from above : the
earth is filled with the fruit of Thy works.
1 -1 He bringeth forth grass for the cattle : and
green herb for the service of men ;
15 That He may bring food out of the earth,
and wine that maketh glad the heart of man :
and oil to make him a cheerful countenance, and
bread to strengthen man's heart.
1 6 The trees of the Lord also are full of sap :
even the cedars of Libanus which He hath
planted.
17 Wherein the birds make their nests : and
the fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork.
18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild
goats : and so are the stony rocks for the conies.
19 "He appointed the moon for certain seasons :
and the sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness that it may be
night ; wherein all the beasts of the forest do
move.
21 The lions roaring after their prey : do seek
their meat from God.
22 The sun ariseth, and they get them away
together : and lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth to his work, and to his
labour : until the evening.
24 Lord, how manifold are Thy works : in
wisdom hast Thou made them all ; the earth is
fuU of Thy riches.
25 * So is the great and wide sea also : wherein
are things creeping innumerable, both small and
great beasts.
26 There go the ships, and there is that
' Leviathan : whom Thou hast made to take his
pastime therein.
27 ''These wait all upon Thee : that Thou
mayest give them meat in due season.
28 When Thou givest it them they gather it :
and when Thou openest Thy hand they are filled
with good.
29 When Thou hidest Thy face they are
troubled : when Thou takest away their breath
they die, and are turned again to their dust.
(i the fourth
Day of Crea-
TH)N. [Com;*. Gen.
I. 14-19.]
li THE Fifth day
OF Creation.
[Cotnp, Gen. I. 20
=3.1
c See Atntot. Bib/e,
ii. 623.
rfTHE SIXTH Day
OF Creation.
[Comp. Gen. i. 24-
3>.]
Terminum posuisti, quem non transgredientur :
nequo convertcntur operirc terram.
Qui eraittis fontes in convallibus : inter medium
montium pertransibunt aquae.
Potabunt onuies bestiie agri : exspectabunt
onagri in siti sua.
Super ea volucres coili habitabunt : de medio
petrarum dabunt voces.
Rigans montes de superioribus suis : do fructu
operum Tuorum satiabitur terra.
Producens fcenum jumentis : et horbam servi-
tuti hominum.
Ut educas panem de terra : et vinum laitificct
cor hominis.
Ut exhilaret faciem in oleo : et panis cor
hominis confirmet.
Saturabuntur ligna campi, et cedri Libani quas
plantavit : ilhc passeres nidificabunt.
Herodii domus dux est eorum : montes exceLsi
cervis ; petra refugium herinaciis.
Fecit lunam in tempora : sol cognovit occasum
suum.
Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox : in ip.sa per-
transibunt omnes bestite silvK.
Catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant : et quserant
a Deo escam sibi.
Ortus est sol, et congregati sunt : et in cubilibus
suis collocabuntur.
Exibit homo ad opus suum : et ad operationem
suam usque ad vesperam.
Quam magTiificata sunt opera Tua, Domine :
omnia in sapientia fecisti ; impleta est terra pos-
sessione Tua.
Hoc mare magnum et spatiosum manibus :
illic reptilia quorum non est numerus.
Animalia pusilla cum magnis : illic naves per-
transibunt.
Draco iste quem formasti ad illudendum ei :
omnia a Te exspectant, ut des illis escam in tem-
pore.
Dante Te ilUs, coUigent : aperiente te manum
Tuam, omnia implebuntur bonitate.
Avertente autem Te faciem, turbabuntur :
auferes spiritum eorum et deficient, et in pul-
verem suum revertentur.
Church of the Firstborn, which are written in Heaven."
[Heb. xii. 22.]
PSALM CIV.
This is a hymn of praise to the Creator of all things visible
and im-isible : and it looks beyond the first Creation to that
time of which Isaiah was inspired to prophesy in the words
of God Himself, "Behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth : and the former shall not be remembered, nor come
into mind ; but be ye glad and rejoice in that which I create :
for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicuig, and her people a
joy." [Isa. Ixv. 17.] For this reason the Church has ap-
pointed this Psalm for Whitsun Day, as being one the mystical
sense of which glorifies God the Holy Ghost, the "Giver of
life," in the spiritual creation ; and formerly this sense was
brought out even more conspicuously by the use of the Psahn
throughout the Octave as well as on Whitsun Day itself.
Whatever is recorded m Holy Scripture respecting the
natural Creation is set down from infomiation given by the
Creator Himself : and in whatever language, whether that of
history, prophecy, or poetry, such information is given, the
absolute Truthfulness of God makes it impossible that the
substance of it should be inconsistent with fact. In this
Psalm we are, therefore, provided with a Divine Creed
respecting the work of the Creator. The words are given us
by God Himself tliat we may use them in His praise. Al-
though perfectly consistent witli the Mosaic naiTative, the
Psalm has sufficiently independent characteristics to make it
improbable that it was in .any way founded on that nan-jitive,
and we m.ay consider it more justly as a new revelation,
in which the Divine Wisdom teaches man to speak of his
Creator's work out of the depth of a knowledge that cannot
err ; and especially to glorify that continuous act of Creation
by which the universe is preser\-ed in order, beauty, and use-
fulness.
Such a Christian sti-ain is a constant witness against that
6o6
Ci)c Ipsalms.
21st Day. [Ps. 105.]
30 When Thou lettest Thy breath go forth
they shall be made : and Thou shalt renew the
face of the earth.
31 The glorious Majesty of the Lord shall
endure for ever : the Lord shall rejoice in His
works.
32 The earth shall tremble at the look of
Him : if He do but touch the hiUs, they shall
smoke.
33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live :
I win praise my God whUe I have my being.
34 And so shall my words please Him : my
joy shall be in the Lord.
35 As for sinners they shall be consumed out
of the earth, and the ungodly shall come to an
end : praise thou the Lord, O my soul, praise
the Lord.
Day 21. MORNING PrayKR.
THE CV. PSALM.
Confitemini Domino.
OGIVE thanks unto the Lord, and caU upon
His Name : teU the people what things He
hath done.
2 let your songs be of Him, and praise
Him : and let your talking be of all His won-
drous works.
3 Kejoice in His holy Name : let the heart of
them rejoice that seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength : seek His
face evermore.
5 Eemember the marvellous works that He
hath done : His wonders, and the judgements of
His mouth ;
6 ye seed of Abraham His servant : ye
children of Jacob His chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God ; His judgements
are in all the world.
8 "He hath been alway mindful of His cove-
nant and promise : that He made to a thousand
generations ;
9 *Even the covenant that He made with
Abraham ; and the oath that He sware unto
Isaac ;
10 "^ And appointed the same unto Jacob for a
law : and to Israel for an everlasting testament ;
1 1 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of
Canaan : the lot of your inheritance.
12'* When there were yet but a few of them :
and they strangers in the land ;
CV
Hist. Probably by
Haggai. for the
deaication of the
Second Temple.
[Ezra 6. 15-1S.]
Litur^. S. g. S-
Saturday Mattins.
a Luke I. 72. 73.
f' Gen. 17. 2-7 : 26. 3.
f Gen. 28. r4; 35. 11,
d Gen. 12. 1-20 ; 13.
12; 20. 3-7; 26. II.
Luke 12. 32.
Emitte spiritum Tuum et creabuntur
novabis faciem terrae.
et re-
Sit gloria Domini in sseculum
MINUS in operibus Suis.
Isetabitur Do-
Qui respicit terram, et facit earn tremere : Qui
tangit montes et fumigant.
Cantabo Domino in vita mea : psaUam Deo
meo quamdiu sum.
Jucundum sit Ei eloquium meum : ego vero
delectabor in Domino.
Deficiant peccatores a terra, et iuiqui ita ut
uon sint : beuedic, anima mea, Domino.
PSALMUS CIV.
CONFITEMINI Domino et invocate Nomen
Ejus : annuntiate inter gentes opera Ejus.
Cantate Ei et psallite Ei : narrate omnia mira-
bilia Ejus ; laudamini in Nomine sancto Ejus.
Laetetur cor quwrentium Dominum ; quserite
DoMiNUM et confirmamini : qujerite faciem Ejus
semper.
Mementote niirabilium Ejus quie fecit : pro-
digia Ejus et judicia oris Ejus.
Semen Abraham servi Ejus : filii Jacob electi
Ejus.
Ipse DoMiNus Deus noster : in universa terra
judicia Ejus.
ilemor fuit in sseculum testament! Sui : verbi
quod mandavit in mille generationes.
Quod disposuit ad Abraham : et juramenti Sui
ad Isaac.
Et statuit illud Jacob in prsceptum : et Israel
in testamentum reternum.
Dicens, Tibi dabo terram Chanaan : funiculum
hwreditatis vestr*.
Cum essent numero brevi : pauci.ssimi, et in-
colre ejus.
kind of unbelief which denies the ovemiling hand of God,
and believes a monstrous fable of independent and self-origina-
tive action in the operations of Nature. It is the voice of tlie
Churcii reading God's glory from age to age in every page of
the book of Nature, and saying, "Thou art worthy, Lord,
to receive glory, and honour, and power ; for Thou hast
created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created." [Rev. iv. 11.]
It has already been rem.arked that this Psalm has a further
meaning, viz. a typical reference to the spiritual world of
New Creation. The manner in which this mystical sense
may be drawn out is almost self-evident to any mind accus-
tomed to use the Psalma from day to day in the services f>f
the Church. When we sing, " Thou deckest Thyself witli
light as with a garment," we cannot but think of those fre-
quent allusions to light in connection with God's Presence
which culminate in the Apostolic saying, "(!od is Light;"
the words of our Lord, " I am the Light of the world ; and
the Vision of the New Creation in the Apocalypse, "The City
had no need of the sim, neither of the moon, to shine in it :
for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof." The Creator laying " the beams of His chambers
in the waters " brings up thoughts of those waters of Baptism
on which the Holy .Spirit founds the work of New Creation
in the Church of God. The many allusions to ^^atcr will
lead the mind to dwell on tlie streams of grace which How
like a "pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." JIan "going
forth to his work and to liis labour until the evening " repre-
sents the whole period of that dispensation which will end in
"the rest that remaineth for the people of God;" and the
regeneration and glorious resurrection of mankind and nature
is clearly indicated by the renewal of the earth nniler the
operation of God's Spirit again going forth as at the first
Creation. Thus wc sing to the glory of the I^ord, not only re-
s]ieeting the visible Creation, but also respecting that of which
"He that sat upon the throne said. Behold, I mnke all
things new."
21st Day. [Ps. 105.]
Cf)C Psalms.
607
dearth upon
provi.sion of
was
the
and
Lis
13 What time as they went from one nation to
another : from one kingdom to another people ;
14 He sufiered no man to do them wrong : but
reproved even kings for tlieir sakos ;
15 "Touch not Mine ''Anointed : and do My
prophets no harm.
16*^ Moreover, He called for a
the land : and destroyed all the
bread.
17 "'But He had sent a man before them :
even Joseph, who was sold to be a bondservant ;
18 Whose feet they hurt in the stocks : the
iron entered into his soul ;
19 Until the time came that his cause
known : the word of the Lord tried him.
20 ' The king sent, and delivered him :
prince of the people let him go free.
21 ^ He made him lord also of his house :
ruler of all his substance ;
22 That he might inform his princes after
will : and teach his senators wisdom.
23 ^Israel also came into Egyjit : and Jacob
was a stranger in the land of Ham.
24 ''And He increased His people exceedingly :
and made them stronger than their enemies ;
25 Whose heart turned so, that they hated His
people : and dealt untruly with His servants.
26 ' Then sent He Moses His servant : and
Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 And these shewed His tokens among. them;
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 '''He sent darkness, and it was dark
they were not obedient unto His word.
29 ' He turned their waters into blood
slew their fi.sh.
30 '"Their land brought forth frogs ; yea, even
in their kings' chambers.
31 "He spake the word, and there came all
manner of flies : and lice in all their quarters.
32 " He gave them hail-stones for rain : and
flames of fire in their land.
33 •'' He smote their vines also and fig-trees :
and destroyed the trees that were in their coasts.
34 '' He spake the word, and the grasshoppers
came, and caterpillars innumerable : and did eat
up all the grass in their land, and devoured the
fruit of their ground.
35 'He smote all the first-born in their land :
even the chief of all their strength.
36 ' He brought them forth also with silver
and gold : there was not one feeble person among
their tribes.
and
and
(I Rev. 8.
i Plural.
\
r Gen. 41.
SJ.
d r.cii. 37
38.
36.
e Gen. 41.
'4-
/Gen. 41.
40.
43-
S Gen. 46.
10. 22.
6.
Deut.
// Exod. I
7.
2.
i Exoa. 3.
10,
4. 14-
k Exod. K
Comp. Gen.
22.
• 3-
I Exod. 7.
20,
21.
m Exod. 8. 6.
n Exod. 8
24
17-
.> Exod. 9
=3.
24.
p Exod. 9
=S
q Exod. 10
9. 3-10.
■5-
Rev.
>■ Exod. IS
6. ,5.
.29
Rev.
s Exod. 12. 35
. 3«.
Et pertransierunt de gente in gentem : et de
regno ad populum alterum.
Non reliquit hominem nocere eis : et corripuit
pro eis rege.s.
Nolitc tangcre christos Meos : et in prophetis
Meis nolite malignari.
Et vocavit faniem super tcrram : et omne fir-
mamentum panLs contrivit.
Misit ante eos virum : in servum venundatas
est Joseph.
Humiliaverunt in compedidus pedes ejus : fer-
rum pertransiit animam ejus, donee veuiret ver-
bum eju,s.
Eloquium Domini inflammavit eum : misit rex
et solvit eum ; princeps popuhjrum et dimisit
eum.
Constituit eum dominum domus sua3 : et prin-
cipem omnis possessionis sua;.
Ut erudiret jirincipes ejus sicut semetipsum :
et senes ejus prudentiam doceret.
Et intravit Israel in ^gyptum : et Jacob
accola fuit in terra Cham.
Et auxit populum Suum vehementer : et firma-
vit eum super inimicos ejus.
Convertit cor eorum ut odirent populum Ejus :
et dolum facerent in servos Ejus.
Misit Moysen servum Suum : Aaron quem
elegit Ipsum.
Posuit in eis verba signorum Suorum : et pro-
digiorum in terra Cham.
Misit tenebras et obscura'vit ; et non exacer-
bavit sermones Suos.
Convertit aquas eorum in sanguinem : et
occidit pisces eorum.
Et dedit terra eorum ranas : in penetralibus
regum ipsorum.
Dixit et venit cynomyia et ciniphes ; in omni-
bus finibus eorimi.
Posuit pluvias eorum grandinem : ignem com-
burentem in terra ipsorum.
Et percussit vineas eorum et ficulneas eorum :
et contrivit lignum finiuni eorum.
Dixit et venit locusta et bruchus : cujus non
erat numerus.
Et comedit omne fojuum in terra eorum : et
comedit omnem fructum terroe eorum.
Et percussit omne ^jrimogenitum in terra
eorum : primitias omnis laboris eorum.
Et eduxit eos cum argento et auro : et non
erat in tribubus eorum inflrnms.
PSALM CV.
This and the following Psalm were written, prophetically
or historically, witli reference to the Captivity in Babylon.
The one rehearses, in the form of a didactic hymn, the great
goodness which God had ever sho^^•n to His people, and His
faithfulness in keeping the covenant which He had made with
their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and .Jacob, and with them-
selves, as a nation, in the time of Moses. The other recounts
the history of the unfaithfulness which Israel had so con-
tinually shewn towards God, and the sins for which He had
suffered them to be carried into captivity.
The first iifteen verses of this Psalm form part of that of
which it is said, " On that day David delivered iii-st this
Psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his
brethren," and the first and the last two verses of the 106th
Psalm are identical with the last three of the one so spoken
of. [1 Chron. xvi. 1-36.] Both the 105th ajid the I06th
Psalms seem to be also associated with the 1 04th by the
sequence of the subjects and by the Hallelujah, or Praise ye
the Lord, which concludes all three and begins the two
former,' and appears, for the first time, in this series of
Psalms.
As the Old Testament is now as much the heritage of the
Christian as it was anciently of the Je-nnsh Church, so the
history of God's ancient people is part of the history of the
one chosen people of God : for there is an essential continuity
between the Church of the Old and the Churcli of the New
Dispensation through the Person of our Blessed Lord. In
singing this Psalm, therefore, the Church of Christ is [1] cele-
brating the merciful Providence of God in so preserving the
1 The 78th, 135th, and 136th Psalms are of a similar character to the 106th
and lOCth. as is also the discourse of St. Stephen.
6o8
Cbc Psalms.
21st Day. [Ps. 106.]
37 Egypt was glad at their departing : for
tliey were afraid of them.
38 "He spread out a cloud to be a covering :
and fire to give light iu the night-season.
39 * At their desire He brought quails : and
He fiUed them with the bread of heaven.
40 ' He opened the rock of stone, and the
waters flowed out : so that rivers ran in the Axy
places.
41 ''For why? He remembered His holy pro-
mise : and Abraham His servant.
42 And He brought forth His people with joy :
and His chosen with gladness ;
43 ' And gave them the lands of the heathen :
and they took the labours of the people in pos-
session ;
44 -^ That they might keep His statutes : and
observe His laws.
Day 21. EVENING PRAYER.
THE CVI. PSALM.
Confitemini Domiiio.
OGIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is
gracious : and His mercy endureth for
ever.
2 "Who can express the ''noble acts of the
LoED : or shew forth all His praise 1
3 Blessed are they that alway keep judgement :
and do righteousness.
4 'Eemember me, Lord, according to the
favour that Thou bearest unto Thy people : O
visit me with Thy salvation.
5 *That I may see the felicity of Thy chosen :
and rejoice in the gladness of Thy people, and
give thanks with Thine inheritance.
6 'We have sinned with our fathers : we have
done amiss, and dealt wickedly.
7 '"Our fathers regarded not Thy wonders in
Egypt, neither kept they Thy great goodness in
remembrance : but were disobedient at the sea,
even at the Red sea.
8 "Nevertheless, He helped them for His
Name's sake : that He might make His power to
be known.
9 "He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was
dried up : so He led them through the deep, as
through a wilderness.
10 'And He saved them from the adversary's
hand : and delivered them from the hand of the
enemy.
Ex,.d. ,3. ■
h Exod, 16, 13, 14.
c Exod. 17. 6.
e Dcut J i'>, II.
CVI.
Hist. Probably by
Haggai, for the
dedication of the
Second Temple.
[Ezra 6 15-18.]
lAttirg. s. s. m.
.Saturday Mattins.
g Ecclus. 43- 30.
A Or, mighty acts,
as in B. \'.
» Neh. 13 14. =
k Luke 10. 23.
/ Dan. 9, 5. Acts
7- 51-S3-
r Exod. 14. II, 13
I Exod. 9. 16.
Exod. :
Rev. 16.
/ Exnd. 14. 3n.
Lsetata est .^Egyptus in profectione eorum :
quia incubuit timor eorum super eos.
Expandit nubem in protectionem eorum : et
ignem ut luceret eis per njctem.
Petierunt, et venit coturnix : et pane coeli
saturavit eos.
Dirupit petram et fluxenmt aqua3 : abierunt
in sicco flumina :
Quoniam memor fuit verbi sancti Sui : quod
habuit ad Abraham puerum Suum.
Et eduxit populum Suum in exsultatione : et
electos Suos in Itetitia.
Et dedit illis regiones gentium : et labores
populorum possedenmt :
Ut custodiant justificationes Ejus : et legem
Ejus exquirant.
c
PSALMUS CV.
ONFITEMINI Domino, quoniam bonus
quoniam in steculum misericordia Ejus.
Quis loquetur potentias Dojiixi : auditas faciet
onines laudes Ejus %
Beati qui custodiunt judicium et faciunt justi-
tiam : in omni tempore.
Memento nostri, Domixe, in beneplacito populi
Tui : visita nos in salutari Tuo.
Ad videndum in bonitate electorum Tuorum,
ad L-etandum in lietitia gentis Tuai : ut lauderis
cum hasreditate Tua.
Peccavimus cum patribus nostris : injuste
eginius, iniquitatem fecimus.
Patres nostri in ^gypto non inteUexerunt
mirabUia Tua : non fuerunt memores niiiltitudinis
misericordiai Tu;e.
Et irritaverunt ascendentes in mare : mare
Rubrum.
Et salvavit eos propter Nomen Suum : ut
notam faceret potentiam Suam.
Et increpuit mare Rubrum, et exsiccatum est :
et deduxit eos in abyssis sicut in deserto.
Et salvavit eos de manu odientium
eos de manu inimicL
et redemit
particular nation of the Jews that from among their number
the Saviour should be born : and [2] pniising Him also for
His continual loving-kindness to those whom Christians must
regard as tlieir own spiritual ancestors.
But, in addition to this literal sense in whicli the Psalm is
to be used, it must 1)C remombereil tliat the liistory of Israel
is typical in the highest degree : and tli.at we are, tlierefore,
justified in looking for mystical meanings tlirougliout in any
portifm of Holy Scri])tin'e, and especially tlie Psalms, in which
the events of tliat liistory are recounted. Some of tlicse
mystical meanings may be particularly noticed. The fouiula-
tion of the whole Psalm, for example, is the covenant which
God made with the patriarchs, "saying, Unto thee will 1
give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance :" which
covenant wfus made when " there were yet but a few of them :
and they strangers in the land." Such a covenant, also, ^\■a.'^
made by (lod with His newly-chosen people, a covenant sig-
nified in our Lord's words, '• Fear not, little flock ; for it is
your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
[Luke xii. .Si.] " To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with ilc in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set
down with My Father in His throne." [Kev. iii. 21.] Again,
the "Touch not Mine Anointed" of the Psalm clearly refers,
literally, to the Patriarchs and to their descendants ; mysti-
cally it is impossible not to see its reference to Christ and to
those who are made kings and priests by the unction of the
Holy Spirit. In the sending a Man before them, even .Toscph,
who was solil to be a bondservant, wliosc feet thoy hurt in
the stocks, the iron entering into his soul, we cannot fail to see
a mystical type of the Man \\\\o took upon Him the form of
a sen-ant, Whose feet were fastened to the Cross, Whose heart
the iron lance pierced through, and Whom the King delivered
in the Resurrection, making Him Lord also of His house, and
Ruler of all His sulistance, by raising His Human Nature to
the Throne of Heaven. So also, in the increase of the people
of Israel, in tlieir growing stronger than tlicir enemies, in the
21st Day. [Ps. 106.]
€bc Psalms.
609
11 "As for those that troubled them, the waters
overwlielined them : there was not one of them
left.
12 *Tlien believed they His words : and sang
praise unto Him.
13 'iiut within a while they forgat His works :
and would not abide His counsel.
14 "'But lust came upon them in the wilder-
ness : and they tempted God in the desert.
15 'And He gave them their desire : and sent
leanness withal into their soul.
16 ''They angered Moses also in tlie tents :
and Aaron the saint of the Lord.
17 ^So the earth opened, and swallowed up
Dathan : and covered the congregation of Abi-
ram.
18 ''And the fire was kindled in their com-
pany : tlie flame burnt up the ungodly.
19 'They made a calf in Horeb : and wor-
shipped the molten image.
20 "^Thus they turned their glory : into the
similitude of a calf that eateth hay.
21 And they forgat God their Saviour : Who
had done so great things in Egypt ;
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham : and
fearful things by the Red sea.
23 'So He said. He would have destroyed
them, had not Moses His chosen stood before
Him in the gap : to turn away His wrathful
indignation, lest He should destroy them. '
24 "'Yea, they thought scorn of that pleasant
land : and gave no credence unto His word ;
25 "But murmured in their tents : and heark-
ened not unto the voice of the Lord.
26 "Then lift He up His hand against them :
to overthrow them in the wilderness ;
27 ■'To cast out their seed among the nations :
and to scatter them in the lands.
28 ''They joined themselves unto Baal-peor :
and ate the offerings of the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with
their own inventions : and the plague was great
among them.
30 'Then stood up Phinees and Sprayed : and
so the plague ceased.
31 'And that was counted unto him for right-
eousness : among all posterities for evermore.
32 "They angered Him also at the waters of
strife : so that He punished Moses for their
sakes ;
a Exoct. 14. 38.
/' llxot\, 15. 1-21.
c Xuni. II. 31.
^iNiiiii. 16. v-3^-
l-.Knd. ^2. 4.
/ nxoti. 32, 9.14.
m Xum. 13. 32,
ti Num. 14.
'/ Niim, 25. 3.
r Num. 25. 7. 8,
s Of. executed
judt;emeut. a^ In
B. V.
t Num. 25. 1I-13,
Et operuit aqua tribulantes eos
non remansit.
unus ex eis
Et crediderunt verbis Ejus : et laudaverunt
laudeni Ejus.
Cito fecerunt, obliti sunt operum Ejus : et non
sustinuerunt consilium Ejus.
Et concupierunt concupiscentiam in deserto :
et tentaverunt Ukum in inaquoso.
Et dedit eis petitionem ipsoruni : et mLsit
saturitatem in animas eorum.
Et irritaverunt Moysen in castris : Aaron
sanctum Domini.
Aperta est terra, et deglutivit Dathan : ct
operuit super congregationem Abiron.
Et exarsit ignis in synagoga eorum : flamma
combussit peccatores.
Et fecerunt vitulum in Horeb : et adoraverunt
sculptile.
Et mutaverunt gloriam suam : in similitudinein
vituli comedentis fceuum.
Obliti sunt Deum Qui salvavit eos : Qui fecit
magnalia in ^Egypto, mirabilia in terra Cham,
terribilia in mari Kubro.
Et dixit ut disperderet eos : si non Moyses
electus Ejus stetisset in confractione in conspectu
Ejus.
Ut averteret iram Ejus, ne disperderet eos : et
pro nihilo habuerunt terram desiderabilem.
Kon crediderunt verbo Ejus, et murmuraverunt
in tabernaculis suis : non exaudierunt vocem
Domini.
Et elevavit manum Suam super eos : ut pro-
sterneret eos in deserto :
Et ut dejiceret semen eorum in nationibus : et
disperderet eos in regionibus.
Et initiati sunt Beelphegor : et comederunt
sacrificia mortuorum.
Et irritaverunt Eum in adinveutiouibus suLs :
et niultiplicata est in eis ruina.
Et stetit Phinees, et placavit : et ce.ssavit quas-
satio.
Et reputatumesteiin justitiam : in generationem
et generationem, usque in sempiternum.
Et irritaverunt Eum ad aquas contradictionis :
et vexatus est Moyses propter eos ; quia exacer-
baverunt spiritum ejus.
hatred of them, and the untrue dealing to which they wers
subjected, it is not difficult to see a typical representation of
the first growth of the Church, and of its contest with the
heathen world. Lastly, the plagues of Egypt find tlieir
parallel in the last plagues of Antichrist predicted in the
Apocalypse : and the deliverance of the people from Egypt,
their going forth with gladness, is a type of that final vest of
the Churcli when it will have entered upon the many mansions
prepared for it by the Father.
PSALM CVI.
The first and the last two verses of this Psalm are to be
found, as already mentioned, in the dedication hymn of
David : but the fourth and sixth verses seem to connect it
with the prophets Daniel and Nehemiah. The whole Psalm is
a confession of nation.-il sins, cast in the form of a penetcntial
hymn : and its tone is that of Daniel's prayer when he knew
that the time of the CaptiWty was drawing to a close, " AYe
have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done
2q
wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from Thy
precepts, and from Thy judgements." As the preceding
Psalm recounts the noble acts of the Lord with a view to His
praise, so are tliey recounted, in this one, for the sake of con-
fession on the part of His people : and as, in that, God is
glorified by the Christian Church for His mercies to His one
people in the days before Christ and in the present dispensa-
tion, so this Psalm of confession is offered up on behalf, and
in the name, of the same one continuous spiritual fellowship
in both periods of its progress towards the unveiled Presence
of the Lord, "the felicity of His chosen."
Thus the Church of God is ever being brought out of the
mystical Egypt by the guiding Providence of her Almighty
Head, and ever being " delivered from the hand of the
Enemy." This was most conspicuous in the early ages when
Satan made the heathen persecutors his instruments for the
destruction of the Cliurch, and when her continued existence
was a continuous miracle of Divine power. Passing through
a Red Sea of persecution, the very waters into which she was
driven by the Adversary's hand were the means of her pre-
6io
Cbc ll?salms.
22nd Day. [Ps. 107.]
33 "Because they provoked his spirit : so that
he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
3i 'Neither destroyed they the heathen : as the
LoED commanded them ;
35 ^But were mingled among the heathen : and
learned their works.
36 ''Insomuch that they worshipped their
idols, which turned to their own decay : yea,
they offered their sons and their daughters unto
devils ;
37 'And shed innocent blood, even the blood
of their sons and of their daughters : whom they
offered unto the idols of Canaan, and the land
was defiled with blood.
38 Thus were they stained with their own
works : and went a whoring with their own
inventions.
39 -^Therefore was the wrath nf the Lord
kindled against His people : insomuch that He
abhorred His own inheritance.
40 And He gave them over into the hand of
the heathen : and they that hated them were
lords over them.
41 Their enemies oppressed them : and had
them in subjection.
42 ^ Many a time did He deliver them : but
they rebelled against Him with their own inven-
tions, and were brought down in their wicked-
ness.
43 Nevertheless, when He saw their adversity :
He heard their complaint.
44 ''He thought upon His covenant, and pitied
them according unto the multitude of His mercies :
yea, He made all those that led them away captive
to pity them.
45 Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather
us from among the heathen : that we may give
thanks unto Thy holy Name, and make our boast
of Thy praise.
46 Blessed be the Loed God of Israel from
everlasting, and world without end : and let all
the people say, Amen.
Day 22. MORNING PRAYER.
THE CVII. PSALM.
Confitemini Domino.
•■/^ GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is
V/ gracious : and His mercy endureth for
ever.
*Judg. I. 21, 27-33.
c Judg.
rfjudg. 2. 12.
e Lev. 20. i-S- Comp.
Jer. 32. 33. Num.
35- 34-
rjMlg-
^Judg. 2. 16.
h Lev. 26. 42.
9-9-
cvn.
Hist. Ontherelum
from Babylon.
Liturg. Prayers to
be used at Sea, 5,
^. E. Saturday
Mattins.
I' First section.
Et distinxit in labiis suis
gentes quas dixit Domisus i
non disperdiderunt
lis.
Et commixti sunt inter gentes, et didicerunt
opera eorum ; et servierunt sculptilibus eorum :
et factum est illis in scandalum.
Et immolaverunt filios suos : et filias suas
dEemoniis.
Et efTuderunt sanguineminnocentem, sanguinem
filiorum suorum et filiarum suarum : quas sacri-
ficaverunt sculptilibus Chanaan.
Et infecta est terra in sanguiuibus, et contami-
nata est in operibus eorum : et fornicati sunt in
adinventionibus suis.
Et iratus est furore Dojiint's in iiopuluni
Suum : et abominatus est hiereditatem Suam.
Et tradidit eos in manus gentium
sunt eorum qui oderunt eos.
et dominati
Et tribulaverunt eos inimici eorum : et humiliati
sunt sub manibus eorum ; siepe liberavit eos.
Ipsi autem exacerbaverunt Eum in consilio
suo : et humiliati sunt in iniquitatibus suis.
Et vidit cum tribularentur : et audivit orationem
eorum.
Et memor fuit testamenti Sui : et poenituit Eum
secundum multitudineni misericordiaj Sufe.
Et d'edit eos in misericordias : in conspectu
omnium qui ceperant eos.
Salvos fac nos, DomxE, Deus noster : et con-
grega nos de nation ibus :
Ut confiteamur Nomini sancto Tuo : et glorie-
mur in laude Tua.
Benedictus Domincs Dels Israel a sseculo et
usque in SKculum : et dicet omnis popnlus ; Fiat,
Fiat.
PSALMUS CVI.
CONFITEMINI Domino, quoniam bonus
quoniam in soeculum misericordia Ejus.
serration, and Heathenism itself was thus overwhelmed by
what was Intended to have been the destruction of Christi-
anity. It has been generally thought by holy men that the
words, " tliere was no more sea " [Rev. ,xxi. 1], are a mystical
prophecy of the time when tlie Adversary's hand will cease
to be lifted up for the destruction of the Church, and God
will give Iter final rest and peace.
But " witliin a while they forgat His works." With the
overwhelming of Heathenism and the comparative peace
whicli followed, "lust came upon them in tlie wilderness," a
desire of temporal power, and a general worldliness in which
Christians often "i'orgat His counsel," "My Kingdom is not
of this world." In the Eastern and tlie Western Church its
rulers and people aliUe thought sconi of the pleasant lanil
promised to tliem liereafter when tliey should reign witli
Christ for ever and ever, and acted as if they liad " a continu-
ing city " in this world. Then God gave them their desire,
the Visible Church became great and powerful in tlie world's
eyes, but its external prosperity was accompanied by internal
weakness, through the heresies and schisms by whic h it was
accompanied, and He ' ' sent leanness withal into their soul. "
The Church and the world were mingled together, and tlie
former " leai'ncil the works " of the latter. Then, agaiu, God
"gave them over into the hand of the heathen:" deadly
heresies sprung up which culminated in Mahomctanisui, and
what was once tlie fairest portion of the Church's heritage
has for ages ueen "oppressed " and "had in subjection" by
the enemies of Clirist and of His mystical Body.
Thus, in confessing the sins of Israel in old time, we are
also confessing the sins of the Church in later ages : and such
confession belongs, not to one period alone, but, in its degree,
to all.
It is to be obsen-ed also, that as, in the preceding Psalm,
Joseph is a personal type of Christ in His Providential Othce
towards tlie Church, so in tliis one Moses is a type of Christ
in His Mediatorial Olliec. He continually " stands before
God in the gap," and without any such infirmity as that
recorded of Moses in the thirty-third \ei'se, He ever holds up
His hands in intercession for His people, that they may not
be destroyed by their own sins. It is His Voice, sj ealuii^'
22nd Day. [Ps. 107.
Cbe IPsalms.
6ii
2 Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath
redeemed : and delivered from the liand of the
enemy ;
3 And gathered them out of the hinds, from
the east, and from the west : from the north, and
from the south.
4 They went astray in the wiklerness out of
the way : and found no city to dwell in ;
5 Hungry and tliirsty : their soul fainted in
them.
6 So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble :
and He delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them forth by the right way : that
they might go to the city where they dwelt.
8 that men would therefore praise the Lord
for His goodness : and declare tlie wonders that
He doeth for the children of men ;
9 For He satisfieth the empty soul : and filleth
the hungry soul with goodness.
"10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death : being fast bound in misery and iron ;
1 1 Because they rebelled against the words of
the Lord : and lightly regarded the counsel of
the most Highest ;
12 He also brought down their heart through
heaviness : they fell down, and there was none to
help them.
1 3 So when they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble : He delivered them out of their distress.
14 For He brought them out of darkness, and
out of the shadow of death ; and brake their
bonds in sunder.
15 O that men would therefore praise the
Lord for His goodness : and declare the wonders
that He doeth for the children of men.
16 For He hath broken the gates of brass ;
and smitten the bars of iron in sunder.
*17 Foolish men are plagued for their offence :
and because of their wickedness.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of meat :
and they were even hard at death's door.
19 So when they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble : He delivered them out of their distress.
20 He sent His word, and healed them : and
they were saved from their destruction.
21 O that men would therefore praise the
Lord for His goodness ; and declare the wonders
that He doeth for the children of men ;
IT Seconil section.
b Third section.
Dicant qui redempti sunt a Domino : quos
redemit de manu inimici ; et de regionibus con-
gregavit eos.
A solis ortu ct occasu : ab Aquilone et mari.
Erraverunt in solitudine, in inaquoso : viam
civitatis habitaculi non invenerunt.
Esurientes et sitientes : aninia eorum in ipsis
defecit.
Et clamaverunt ad Dominum cum tribularen-
tur : et de necessitatibus eorum eripuit eos.
Et deduxit eos in viam rectam : ut irent in
civitatem habitationLs.
Confiteantur Domino misericordi;c Ejus : et
mirabilia Ejus filiis hominum.
Quia satiavit animam iiianem : et animam
esurientem satiavit boni.s.
Sedentes in tenebris ct umbra mortis : vincto.s
in mendicitate et ferro.
Quia exacerbaverunt eloquia Dei : et consilium
Altissimi irritaverunt.
Et humiliatum est in laboribus cor eorum : in-
firmati sunt, nee fuit qui adjuvaret.
Et clamaverunt ad Dominum cum tribularen-
tur : et de necessitatibus eorum liberavit eos.
Et eduxit eos de tenebris et umbra mortis : et
vincula eorum disrupit.
Confiteantur Domino misericordise Ejus : et
mirabilia Ejus filiis hominum.
Quia contrivit portas ajreas : et vectes ferreos
confregit.
Suscepit eos de via iniquitatis eorum : propter
injustitias enim suas humiliati sunt.
Omnem escam abominata est anima eorum : et
appropinquaverunt usque ad portas mortis.
Et clamaverunt ad Dominum cum tribularen-
tur : et de necessitatibus eorum liberavit eos.
Misit verbum Suum, et sanavit eos : et eripuit
eos de interitionibus eorum.
Confiteantur Domino misericordise Ejus : et
mirabiha Ejus filiis hominum.
from the midst of the Church Militant, wliich is heard, in the
conchiding verses of the Psalm, praying that the Captivity of
its militant condition may be ended ; and that the gloi-y of
God may be perfected by the final redemption of His people.
Their confession, " We have siimed with our fathers," is
therefore supplemented by the prayer of their Intercessor,
" Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me,
be with Me where I am : that they may behold Sly glory,
which Thou hast given Me." [.John xvii. 24.] And the
doxology of this Psalm (which is also the doxology of the
fourth Book) is a type of that hymn of the purified Church.
"Amen, Alleluia, Praise our God, all ye His servants, and
ye that fear Him, both small and great. Alleluia, for the
Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." [Rev. xix. 4-6.]
THE FIFTH BOOK.
PSALM CYIL
The five divisions of this Psalm are each concluded with a
doxology in two verses, that at the end of the last division
being, as it stands, of a less marked character than the rest.
but finding its complement in the Gloi-ia Patri. Each divi-
sion related originally to circumstances connected -mXh. the
Captivity of the Israelites ; and, in tlie first four, commen-
tators have found an expansion of tlie third verse which
refers to the gatliering of the people from, and therefore
their previous dispersion to, the desert on "the east" of
Judaja, Kgypt on " the west," Babylon on " the north," and
the sea on ' ' the south, " where the Red Sea is situated. A
parallel is found in the prophecy of Isaiah : ' ' Fear not ; for I
am with thee : I will bring thy seed from the east, and
gather thee from the west : I will say to the north, Give up ;
and to the south. Keep not back ; bring My sons from far,
and My daughters from the ends of the earth." [Isa. xliii.
5, ().] Such a gathering of His own mystical Body the Lord
Jesus also predicted when He said, "They shall come from
the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from
the south, and shall sit dowai in the Kingdom of God."
[Lukexiii. 29.]
The Christian application of the Psalm appears to be to
that blessed time when our Lord's words will have received
their final and complete fulfilment at the marriage supper of
the Lamb, when "the redeemed of the Lord shall return and
come with singing unto Zion ; and everlasting joy shall be
6l2
Cbe Psalms.
22nd Day. [Ps. 107.]
22 That they would offer unto Him the sacri-
fice of thanksgiving : and tell out His works with
gladness.
"23 They that go down to the sea in ships :
and occupy their business in great waters ;
2i These men see the works of the Loed : and
His wonders in the deep.
25 For at His word the stormy wind ariseth :
which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They are carried up to the heaven, and
down again to the deep : their soul melteth away
because of the trouble.
27 The}' reel to and fro, and stagger like a
drunken man : and are at their wits' end.
28 So when they cry unto the Lokd in their
trouble : He delivereth them out of their distress.
29 For He maketh the storm to cease : so that
the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad, because they are at
rest : and so He bringeth them unto the haven
where they would be.
31 O that men would therefore praise the
Lord for His goodness : and declare the wonders
that He doeth for the children of men ;
32 That they would e.xalt Him also in the con-
gregation of the people : and praise Him in the
seat of the elders.
*33 Who turneth the floods into a wilderness :
and drieth up the water-springs.
34 A fruitful land maketh He barren : for the
wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35 Again, He maketh the wilderness a stand-
ing water : and water-springs of a dry ground.
36 And there He setteth the hungry : that
they may build them a city to dwell in ;
37 That they may sow their land, and plant
vineyards : to yield them fruits of increase.
38 He blesseth them, so that they multiply
exceedingly : and sufYereth not their cattle to de-
crease.
39 And again, when they are minished and
brought low : through oppression, through any
plague, or trouble ;
40 Though He suffer them to be evil intreated
through tyrants : and let them wander out of the
way in the wilderness ;
41 Yet helpeth He the poor out of misery : and
maketh him households like a flock of sheep.
ii Fourth section.
t Fifth section.
Et sacrificent sacrificium laudi.s : et annuntient
opera Ejus in exsultatione.
Qui descendunt mare in uavibus : facientes
operationem in aquis multis.
Ipsi viderunt opera Domixi : et mirabilia Ejus
in profundo.
Dixit, et stetit spiritus procelhii : et exaltati
sunt fluctus ejus.
Ascendunt usque ad coelos, et descendunt
usque ad abyssos : anima eorum in malis tabes-
cebat.
Turbati sunt, et moti sunt sicut ebrius : et
omnis sapientia eorum devorata est.
Et clamaverunt ad Dojiixcji cum tribularen-
tur : et de necessitatibus eorum eduxit eos.
Et statuit procellam ejus in auram : et silu-
erunt fluctus ejus.
Et lajtati sunt quia siluerunt ; et deduxit eos
in portum voluntatis eorum.
Confiteantur DoMiso misericordise Ejus : et
mirabilia Ejus filiis hominum.
Et exaltent Eum in ecclesia plebis : et in cathe-
dra .seniorum laudent Eum.
Posuit flumina in desertura : et exitus aquarum
in sitim.
Terrani fructiferam in salsuginem : a malitia
inhabitantium in ea.
Posuit desertum in stagna aquarum : et terram
sine aqua in exitus aquarum.
Et collocavit illic esurientes : et constituerunt
civitatem habitationis.
Et seminaverunt agros, et plantaverunt vineas :
et fecerunt fructum nativitatis.
Et benedixit eis, et multiplicati .<unt niniis : et
jumenta eorum non minoravit.
Et pauci facti sunt : et vexati sunt a tribula-
tione malorum et doNu-e.
Effusa est contemptio super principes : et errare
fecit eos in invio, et non in via.
Et adjuvit pauperem de inopia : et posuit sicut
oves faniilias.
upon their head ; they shall obtain gladness and joy ; and
sorrow and mourning shall flee away." As, therefore, the
Church looks back, in her praises, to past history, recounting
God's mercy to her in the dnys of the Jewish economy, so also
does she look forward to the glorious end of all, and sings by
anticipation the "new song," "Thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation."
Thus interpreted, the Psalm may be regarded as celebrating
[1] the goodness of God to His people in gathering them out
of the wilderness of this world into His Cluu-ch; [2j His
comfort of them in the last hour \\hen they " sit in darkness
and the shadow of death;" [3] His su]iport of them in the
intermediate state ; [t] His bringing them to " the haven " of
Hia Presence "where they would be," and [.">] His creation of
a new Heaven and a new earth, the City of God, for those
who have hungered and thirsted after righteousness "to
dwell in."
The first division, with its doxology,i is comprised in the
first nine verses. It represents the leading into the Church
1 Tlicsc <Ioj[oloKic« (verses 8, 9 ; 1.'), 16 ; 21, 22 ; 31, 32 : nnd 42, 43, should
te distinctly marked by "full" singing.
of Christ, "the city where they dwelt," of that human nature
which had been going astray iu the wilderness from the time
of the Fall. Departing " out of the way " in which the
Creator had placed it, tliere was still hunger, thirst, and
emptiness ; a fainting for tlie grace of God. Then tlie Good
Shepherd came and led His flucli into the riglit way, gathering
them into His one fold, satisfied the empty soul with His
grace, and filled the hungi-y soul with His I'oodness. Such
was His good word, " He tliat cometh to ^Ie shall never
hunger, and he that believcth on Me shall never thirst."
Tlie second division extends from tlie tenth to the sixteenth
verses inclusive, ami celebrati-s Iho \ictory of Christ over that
death wliich liad come upon all maiiUinil through the disobedi-
ence of their first parents, and the inheritance of a mortal
nature by all their descendants. When tlie Lord saw tliere
was none to help them, His own arm brought salvation. God
asked of Job, "Have the gates of death been opened unto
thee ? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?" but
of His "aiiointcil,"uiiilcr the type of Cyrus, He says, "I will
loose the loins of kings to open before Him the two-leaved
gates ; and the gates shall not ue shut : I will go before Thee,
and make the crooked places straight : 1 will break in pieces
tlie gates of brass, and cut iu sunder the bars of iron. So
22nd Day. [Ps. 108, 109.]
Cf)e Psalms.
613
42 The righteous will consider this, and re-
joice : and the mouth of all wickedness shall l)c
stopped.
43 Whoso is wise will [londer these things :
and they shall understand the lovingkindness of
the Lord.
Day 22. Evening Prayer,
the cviii. psalm.
Paratum cor meum.
"/^ GOD, my heart is ready, my heart is ready :
V^ I will sing and give praise with the best
member that I have.
2 * Awake, thou lute and harp : T my self will
awake right early.
3 ' I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord,
among the people : I will sing praises unto Thee
among the nations.
4 'Tor Thy mercy is greater than the heavens :
and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.
5 ' Set up Thy self, O God, above the heavens :
and Thy glory above all the earth.
6 -^That Thy beloved may be delivered : let
Thy right hand save them, and hear Thou me.
7 -"God hath spoken in His holiness : I will
rejoice therefore and divide Sicliem, and mete
out the valley of Succoth.
8 '' Gilead is Mine, and Manasses is J^ine :
Ephraim also is the strength of My head.
9 ■ Juda is i\Iy law-giver, Moab is My wash-
]iot : over Edom will I cast out My shoe ; upon
Philistia will I triumph.
10 *Who will lead Me into the strung city :
and who will bring Me into Edom ?
1 1 ' Hast not Thou forsaken us, O God : and
wilt not Thou, O God, go forth with our hosts ?
12 '"O help us against the enemy : for vain is
the help of man.
13 "Through God we shall do great acts : and
it is He that shall tread down our enemies.
THE CIX. PSALM.
Deus laudum.
HOLD not Thy tongue, O God of my praise :
for the mouth of the luigodly, yea the
mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.
CVIII.
Hist. Adapted from
two Psalms ot
David.
LUurs. Ascension
Day. Evensnng. ^.
H. 1g. Saturday
Mattins.
ri Ps. 57. S.
If Ps. 57. 9.
c Ps. 57. 10.
d P.. 57. II.
€ Ps. 57, 12.
/Ps. 60. ;.
.1- Ps. 60. 6.
:, Ps. 60. 7,
CIX.
Hist. Probably by
David. Occasion
unknown.
I.iliirg. S. g. 1§.
Saturday Mattins.
Videbunt recti, et laetabuntur : et omnis iniqui-
tas oppilabit os suum.
Quia sapiens, ct custodiet haec : et intelliget
misericordias Domini.
P
PSALMUS CVII.
ARATUM cor meum, Deus, paratum cor
meum : cantabo et psallani in gloria mea.
E.xsurge gloria mea, exsurge psalterium et
cithara : exsurgam diluculo.
Confitebor Tibi in populis, Domine : et psal-
1am Tibi in nationibus.
Quia magna est super ccelos misericordia Tua :
et usque ad nubes Veritas Tua.
Exaltare .super ccelos, Deus, et super omnem
terram gloria Tua : ut liberentur dilecti Tui.
Salvum fac dextera Tua, et exaudi me : Deus
locutus est in sancto Suo.
Exsultabo et dividam Sichimam : et couvallem
tabernaculorum dimetiar.
Mens est Galaad, et Mens est Manasses : et
Ephraim susceptio capitis ]\Iei.
Juda rex Mens : Moab lebes spei Jleae.
In Idumfeam extendam calceamentum ileum :
Mihi alienigenaj amici facti sunt.
Quis deducet jNIe in civitatem munitain ? cpiis
deducet Me usque in Iduma;am ?
Nonne Tu, Deus, Qui repulisti nos : et non
exibis Deus in virtutibus nostris.
Da nobis auxilium de tribulatione : quia vana
salus homiuis.
In Deo faciemus virtutem ; et Ipse ad nihilum
deducet inimicos nostros.
PSALMUS CVIII.
D
est.
EUS, laudem meam ne tacueris : quia os
peccatoris et os dolosi super me apertum
has the Lord Jesus overcome for His people that they can
say, "0 Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy
victory?"
The third di\'ision, verses 17-22, and tlie fourth division,
verses 17,-%i, botli refer to the work of the Redeemer for His
Church in tlie intermediate state, when the Word, Whicli
had become flesh that mankind might be " liealed," descended
into Hell that He might carry His power even to the regions
whei'e the souls of men wei'e " hard at the door of "eternal
"death," and oidy that power could save them from final
destruction. The i-epresentation of the Intermediate State
under the figure of men in the midst of the deep is illustrated
by the punishment of Jonah, which our Lord interprets as a
figure of His omi abiding for three days in the " lieart of tlie
earth." [Matt. xii. 40.] A further illustration may also be
found in tlie miracle wrought by our Lord when the disciples
were overtaken in a storm: " They willingly received Him
into the sliip : and immediately the ship was at the land
whither they went."
The fourth division, from the thirty-third verse to the end,
celebrates, by anticipation, the rest and glory of Christ's
Church when it has passed from tlie wilderness of this world,
and been g.athered in for ever to that City of God where the
river of the water of life flows through the midst of its streets :
where the mystical Body of The Poor is helped out of misery
for ever, and there is one fold and one Shepherd. In view of
that blessed consummation of His Church's pilgi'image, "tlie
righteous will consider this, and rejoice ; " and whatever may
be the troubles attending it in life or in death, " they shall
understand the loving-kindness of the Lord " in all His dealings
with His people.
PSALM cvni.
There is scarcely any variation between the words of this
Psalm and those verses of the fifty-seventh and sixtieth which
are indicated in the central column. The two portions com-
Ijiued form a hymn of \nctory, the spiritual meaning of whicli
is shewn by the appropriation ot the Psalm to Ascension Day.
It is the voice of the Church offering up her Eucharistic Sacri-
fice before the Throne in the Person of the ascended Jesus, the
Head of all His members : ' ' Behold, I see the heavens opened ,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. " [Acts
vii. 56.]
PSALM CIX.
Wlien our Blessed Lord offered up to the Father the prayer
6i4
Cf)e lli)0alms.
22nd Day. [Ps. 109.]
2 And they have spoken against me with false
tongues : they compassed me about also wth
words of hatred, and fought against me without
a cause.
3 For the love that I had unto them, lo, they
take now my contrary part : biit I give my self
unto prayer.
4 Thus have they rewarded me evil for good :
and hatred for my good will.
5 Set Thou an ungodly man to be ruler over
him : and let Satan stand at his right hand.
6 ^Tien sentence is given upon him, let him
be condemned : and let his prayer be turned into
sin.
7 Let his days be few : and let another take
his office.
8 Let his children be fatherless : and his wife
a widow.
9 Let his children be vagabonds, and beg their
bread : let them seek it also out of desolate
places.
10 Let the extortioner consume all that he
hath : and let the stranger spoil his labour.
1 1 Let there be no man to pity him : nor to
have compassion upon his fatherless children.
12 Let his posterity be destroyed ; and in the
next genei'ation let his name be clean put out.
13 Let the wickedness of his fathers be had
in remembrance in the sight of the Lokd : and
let not the sin of his mother be done away.
14 Let them alway be before the Lord : that
He may root out the memorial of them from off
the earth ;
15 And that, because his mind was not to do
good : but persecuted the poor helpless man, that
he might slay him that was vexed at the heart.
16 His delight was in cursing, and it shall
happen unto him : he loved not blessing, there-
fore shall it be far from him.
17 He clothed himself with cureing, like as
with a raiment : and it shall come into his bowels
like water, and like oil into his bones.
18 Let it be unto him as the cloke that he
hath upon him : and as the girdle that he is
alway girded withal.
Locuti sunt adversum me lingua dolosa : et
sermonibus odii circrmdederunt me, et expugnave-
runt me gratis.
Pro eo ut me diligerent, detrahebant mihi :
ego autem orabam.
Et posuerunt adversum me mala pro bonis : et
odium pro dilectione mea.
Constitue super eum peccatorem : et diabolus
stet a dextris ejus.
Cum judicatur, exeat condemnatus : et oratio
ejus fiat in peccatum.
Fiant dies ejus pauci : et episcopatum ejus
accipiat alter.
Fiant filii ejus orphani : et uxor ejus vidua.
Nutantes transferantur filii ejus et mendicent :
et ejiciantur de habitationibus suis.
Scrutetur foenerator omnem substantiam ejus :
et diripiant alieni labores ejus.
Non sit iUi adjutor : nee sit qui misereatur
pupiUis ejus.
Fiant nati ejus in interitum : in generatione
una deleatur nomen ejus.
In memoriam redeat iniquitas patrum ejus in
conspectu Domixi : et peccatum matris ejus non
deleatur.
Fiant contra Dominum semper, et dispereat de
terra memoria eorum : pro eo quod non est recor-
datus facere misericordiam :
Et persecutus est hominem inopem et mendi-
cum : et compunctum corde mortificare.
Et dilexit maledictionem, et veniet ei : et
nuluit benedictionem, et elongabitur ab eo.
Et induit maledictionem sicut vestimentum : et
intravit sicut aqua in interiora ejus, et sicut oleum
in ossibus ejus.
Fiat ei sicut vestimentum quo operitur : et
sicut zona qua semper prsecingitur.
which forms the seventeenth chapter of St. John's Gospel, He
used words M'hich give us a key to the meaning of this awful
Psalm, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them
in Thy Name : those that Thou gavest Me I have kept, and
none of tliem is lost, but the son of perdition ; tliat the Scrip-
ture might be fulfilled." [.John xvii. 12.] The "son of per-
dition " has alwaj'S been understood to mean Judas, of whom
two Evangelists record that "Satan entered into him." Tlicse
words are a Divine ilUistration of tlie tiltli verse of the
Psalm, "Let Satan stand at his right hand." The seventh
verse was also distinctly (pioted by St. Peter a few days later,
as among the words which the Holy (ihost had spoken before
" concerning Judas : " " His bishopric let another take." We
thus have tlie highest possible warrant for interpreting tliis
Psalm as a Prayer of the Redeemer spoken prophetically of
His betrayal, spoken against Iiim wlio betrayed Him, and
against Satan the "ungodly" and "deceitful," the great
Accuser of Job (a personal tj'pc of our sufloriiig Lord), and of
"our brethren .... which accu.sed tliem before our God day
and night." And thus, while the awful imprecations of the
Psalm nave reference to Judas, they have also reference, in a
still greater degree, to the great Adver.sary of God and man
by whom .Judas was possessed ; and they are used in this
latter sense by the Church of Christ. The constant, vigilant
enmity of that Advcrsai-y is shown by the words just quoted
from the Revelation. " Day and night " his accusations arc
being tnado- before Ood ngainst the mystical Bodj' of Christ,
with the same malice as against the Holy One Himself before
tlie earthly triijunal ; and the terms of the Psalm lead us to
suppose that those accusations are not only those which may
justly be made against sinners, but also the slanderous inven-
tions of him who is the "father of lies."
As Christ is heard speaking, therefore, in this Psalm, with
regard to His Betrayal, so also is He lieard speaking in and
for His mystical Body with regard to its persecution before
the Throne of God, b\' the slanders of Satan. So far as tliey
who wilfully take p.irt in tliis work of Satan are alluded to in
the Psalm, they are spoken of as the enemies of Christ : and
those wlio, having utterly and finally rejected Him and His
mercies, have cut themselves off from the operation of His
redemption and pardon, find tliere is "no Man to pity them."
[See former remarks on tlie Imprecations, at page 5(58.]
Nothing can more awfully set forth the danger of speaking
against Christ ; or (wliat is more likely to be done in these
days) of making slanderous accusations against His Church,
the Temple of tlie Holy Ghost. ' ' Whosoever speaketh against
t)ie Holy Gliost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, nor in the world to come. " ' [Matt. xii. 32. ]
1 All rcadera arc iifreclioiiatcly w.irned of the tl.ingor wliich Imnps nhout
any wordrt spoken in depreciation of the Sapranicnt.s, or of the work of
ju-iests and hishops. the rllleacy of wliich is entirely derived from tlie Holy
Ghost. Sneh words iis " the sonl-destroyinR doctrine of Biipti.snial Kegeiic-
ration " were once quite common : and fearfully intemperate language lias
been used renpeetlnt; the Presence of Christ in the Holy Comnninion.
23rd Day. [Pa. 110.]
Cfje Psalms.
615
Lord unto
.speak evil
19 Let it thus happen from the
mine enemies : and to those that
against my soul.
20 But deal Thou witli me, O Lord God,
according unto Thy Name : for sweet is Thy
mercy.
210 deliver me, for I am helpless and poor :
and my heart is wounded within me.
22 I go hence like the shadow that deiwrteth :
and am driven away as the grasshojiper.
23 My knees are weak through fasting : my
flesh is dried up for want of fatness.
24 I became also a reproach unto them : they
that looked upon me shaked their heads.
25 Help me, O Lord my God : O .save me
according to Thy mercy ;
26 And they shall know, how that this is Thy
hand : and that Thou, Lord, hast done it.
27 Though they curse, yet bless Thou ; and let
them be confounded that rise up against me ; but
let Thy .servant rejoice.
28 Let mine adversaries be clothed with
shame : and let them cover themselves with
their own confusion, as with a cloke.
29 As for me, I will give great thanks unto
the Lord with my mouth : and praise Him
among the multitude ;
30 For He shall stand at the right hand of
the poor : to save his soul from unrighteous
judges.
Day 23. Morning Prayer.
THE ex. rSALM.
Dixit Dominus.
THE Lord said unto my Lord : Sit Thou on
My right hand, until I make Thine enemies
Thy footstool.
2 The Lord shall send the rod of Thy power
out of Sion : be Thou ruler, even in the midst
among Thine enemies.
3 In the day of Thy power shall the people
oifer Thee free-will offerings with an holy wor-
ship : the dew of Thy birth is of the womb of the
mornins.
ex.
Hist. David. Occa-
sion unknown.
Lilurg; Christm.is
Day, Evensong, 5,
p, ^, Sunday,
Christmas. Apos-
tles and Evangel-
ists, Corp, CTir,,
Vespers.
Messianic Ps. s.
Hoc opus eorum qui detrahunt mi hi apnd
DoMiNUM : et qui loquuntur mala adversus
animam meara.
Et Tu, UoMiNE, DoMiNE, fac mecum propter
Nomen Tuum : quia suavis est misericurdia Tua.
Libera me, qiua egenus et pauper ego .sum : et
cor meum conturbatum est intra me.
Sicut umbra cum declinat ablatus sum : et
excussus sum sicut locust*.
Genua mea infirmata sunt a jejunio : et caro
mea immutata est propter oleum.
Et ego factus sum opprobrium illis : viderunt
me, et moverunt capita sua.
Adjuva me, Domine, Deus meus : salvum me
fac secundum misericordiam Tuam.
Et sciant quia manus Tua hajc : et Tu, Do-
mine, fecisti eam.
Maledicent illi, et Tu bcnedices : qui insurgunt
in me confundantur ; sorvus autem Tuus Iseta-
bitur.
Induantur qui detrahunt mihi pudore : et
operiantur sicut diploide confusione sua.
Confitebor Domixo nimis in ore meo
medio multorum laudabo Eum.
et m
Qui astitit a dextris pauperis : ut salvam
faceret a persequentibus animam meum.
PSALMUS CIX.
DIXIT Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris
Meis :
Donee ponam inimicos Tuos : scabellum pedum
Tuorum.
Virgam virtutis Tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion :
dominare in medio inimicorum Tupruni.
Tecum principium in die virtutis Tua% in
splendoribus sanctorum : ex utero ante luciferum
genui Te.
The last verse of the Psahn brings out very strongly the
completeness of that deliverance which God will give to the
mystical Body of Christ from the accusations of Satan. The
Accuser stands at the right hand of the Betrayer and the
Slanderer as well as at the right hand of "Joshua the High
Priest;" but while in the one case the words are heard, " Let
him be condemned," in the other the words are, "The Lord
rebxike thee, Sat.an ; even the Lord that hath chosen Jeru-
salem rebuke thee : is not this a brand plucked out of the
fire ?" Thus God Himself shall stand at the right hand of The
Poor to save His soul from unrighteous judges. And thus
the prophecy will be fulfilled, " I heard a loud voice saying
in Heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the King-
dom of our God, and the power of His Christ : for the Accuser
of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our
God day and night."
PSALM ex.
Our Lord and His Apostles distinctly certify to us that this
Psalm is spoken of the Messiah, by quotmg the first and the
fourth verses and applying them to Him. It is, in fact,
quoted in the New Testament more than any other Psalm ;
and may be taken — as Christ's use of it shews — as a treasury
of mystical truth respecting the Kingship and Priesthood of
the Son of JIan.
In the first words there is a revelation of the First and
Second Persons of the Holy Trinity, since they are spoken
by the Father to the Son. They are also considered to contain
a reference to the Third Person, since it was by the Holy
Ghost descending on the Sou of Man that He was consecrated
to that work by means of which His Human Nature attained
to the glory of the Father's right hand. In the words " My
Lord " has also been observed a prophecy of the Incarnation,
David speaking of Christ as hl-i because He was descended
from him, as his Lord, because He was the Son of God.
The second verse proclaims the Kingship and Kingdom of
Christ, both proceeding forth from the elder Church of God,
and prevailing even over the Gentiles who had for so long
been the enemies of God, ruling with a rod of iron, the sceptre
of His power and redeeming love, the power and love of the
Incarnation. To His Royal Person in " the Lord's Day " of
the Incarnation the wise men were to bring oflerings of gold,
frankincense, and myrrh : to it tlie Church will be rendering
the homage of Divine worship for ever in eartli and in Heaven ;
recognizing in the Holy Child Jesus the Day Star from on
high, the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing in His
beams.
And as the Kingship of Christ is here commemorated in
holy song, so also is His eternal and supreme Priesthood, by
which He offers up Himself as a perpetual Sacrifice before the
6i6
Cf)C Ipsalms.
23rd Day. [Ps. 111.]
i The Lord sware, and -svill not repent : Thou
art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchise-
dech.
5 The Lord upon Thy right hand : shall
wound even kings in the day of His wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen ; He
shall fill the places with the dead bodies ; and
smite in sunder the heads over divers countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way :
therefore shall He lift up His head.
THE CXI. PSALM.
Confitebor Tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto the Lord with my
whole heart : secretly among the faithful,
and in the congi-egatiou.
2 The works of the Lord are great : sought
out of all them that have pleasure therein.
3 His work is worthy to be praised, and had
in honour : and His righteousness endureth for
ever.
4 The merciful and gracious Lord hath so
done His marvellous works : that they ought to
be had in remembrance.
5 He hath given meat unto them that fear
Him : He shall ever be mindful of His covenant.
6 He hath shewed His people the power of
His works : that He may give them the heritage
of the heathen.
7 The works of His hands are verity and
judgement : all His commandments are true.
8 They stand fast for ever and ever : and are
done in truth and equity.
9 He sent redemption unto His people : He
hath commanded His covenant for ever; holy
and reverend is His Name.
c.\i.
NisL Authorship
■iiul occasion tiii-
knoAvn.
Lititr^. Easter D.iv.
Mattins. S.B.ft.
Sunday, Christinas,
Vespers. Corp.
Chr,, 1st Vespers,
Juravit DojiiNUs, et non posnitebit Eum : Tu
es Sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Mel-
^.hisedecli.
DoMI^a's a dextris Tuis : confregit in die ir«
Suae reges.
Judicabit in natiouibus ; implebit ruinas : con-
quassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet : propterea exaltabit
caput.
c
PSALMUS ex.
ONFITEBOR Tibi, Domine, in toto corde
' meo : in consilio justorum, et congregatione.
Jlagna opera Domini : exquisita in omnes
voluntates ejus.
Confessio et magnificentia opus Ejus : et justitia
Ejus manet in sseculum sseculi.
Memoriam fecit mirabilium Suorum ; miseri-
cors et miserator Dojiinus : escam dedit timen-
tibus Se.
Memor crit in SKCulum testamenti Sui : virtu-
tem operum Suorum annuntiabit populo Suo :
LTt det illis h«reditatem gentium : opera
manuum Ejus Veritas et judicium.
Fidelia omnia mandata Ejus ; confirmata io
sseculum Sfficuli : facta in veritate et Eequitate.
Eedemptionem misit Doumus pojmlo Suo :
mandavit in ;eternum testameutum Suum.
Throne of God, and from the Fountain of which originate all
the streams of grace by which the Church waters and refreshes
the world.
The Victory of the Messiah in tlie Resurrection and the
.Judgement is prefigured in the fifth and sixth verses. He
will go forth conquering and to conquer, all things will be put
under His feet. He will cause the dead both small and great
to stand before His Thi'one of righteous judgement, and will
destroy even the last enemy ; so that when the graves are
opened and the sea gives up her dead, and everlasting life
dawns on the redeemed, tliey will say, "0 Death, wliere is
thy sting ? O Grave, where is thy victory ?"
So shall the Lord Jesus bruise the head of the tempter for
ever, and His ovra head sliall be lifted up in eternal triumph.
He drank of the water-floods whicli ran over Him in His
Passion, and so was His prophecy fulfilled, "I, if I be lifted
up, will draw all men unto Me."
PSALM CXL'
The praises of the Church are here otfered to God for the
spiritual works which He lias wrouglit through the ' ' grace and
truth " which " came by Jesus Christ." The "works of the
Loril " are, therefore, those works the power and efficacy of
which proceed from tlie Person of God Incarnate. Hence the
subject of praise in this Psalm is our Lord Himself as the
source of redem[)tion, grace, and salvation : "I am souglit of
them that asked not for Me : I am found of them that .sought
Me not." " To him that ovcrcometh will I give to eat of the
hidden manna." "Great and marvellous are Thy works,
I/ord God Almiglity : just and true are Tliy ways, Thou King
of sainte."
I'SALM CXII.«
Our Lord's words, " It is more blessed to give than to
1 This is one of the " alpliabct Psalms," each vorae or clauso flucccssively,
In the Hebrsw, beKinning with IIjo successive lottcis of the alphabet.
> Thia is also an alphabet Fsalm.
receive " [Acts xx. 3j], ofter a comprehensive illustration of
this Psalm, which recounts the blessedness of the man Chi-ist
Jesus, Who "is merciful and lendeth " the talents of His
gi'ace. Who "hath dispersed abroad and given to the poor"
of the bounties of His mercy.
In His perfect obedience to the Will of His Father our
Lord became the source of regeneration to mankind, and in
Him the prophecy was fulfilled, "He shall see His seed, He shall
prolong His days. " Thus, having originated a new people, the
riches and plenteousness of His grace are stored up in His
Church for them : and He is the "good Man" Who scattereth
and yet increaseth, and Who in His mercifulness so bestows
His grace that He can say to His Church respecting it, "Freely
ye have received, freely give."
These indications of a spiritual interpretation of this Psalm
will be a guide to further developement of it in the same direc-
tion ; especially when considered in connection with the remark-
able parallel expressions in the eleventh chapter of Proverbs,
and with the passages referred to in the central column
opposite to the fifth and tcntli verses.
PSALM CXIII— CXVIII.
THE GREAT HALLELUJAH.
" And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Jlount of
Olives,"— JV/ar/j xiv. 2G,
Tlio group of Psalms which begins with tltc 1 13th and ends
with tlie UStli is endowed with a special cliaracter as a link
between tlie OUl Dispensation and the New above all the rest of
the Psalms. At the time of the Passover it «'as the custom of
the .Icwish ritual to sing tlic hymn made uji of these six Psalms
partly in the Temple and partly at lionie, under the title of the
Gre.at Hallelujah, the hymn beginning witli that word, and
having it also in several other places, Tlic tiist three of the
Psalms of wliich it is composed were suue " in tlie courts of the
Lord's house" during the time occupied by slaying the Pass-
23rd Day. [Ps. 112, 113.]
Cf)C Psalm?
617
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom : a good understanding have all they that
do thereafter ; the praise of it endureth for ever.
THE OXII. PSALM.
Beatiis vir.
BLESSED is the man that feareth the Lord :
lie hath great delight in His command-
ments.
2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth : thi'
generation of the faithful shall be blessed.
3 Riches and plenteousness shall be in his
house : and his righteousness endureth for ever.
4 Unto the godly there ariseth up light in the
darkness : he is merciful, loving, and righteous.
5 A good man is merciful, and lendeth : and
will guide his words with discretion.
6 For he shall never be moved : and the
righteous shall be had in everlasting remem-
brance.
7 He will not be afraid of any evil tidings : for
his heart standeth fast, and believeth in the Lord.
8 His heart is established, and will not shrink :
until he see his desire upon his enemies.
9 He hath dispersed abroad, and given to the
poor : and his righteousness remaineth for ever ;
his horn shall be exalted with honour.
10 The ungodly .shall see it, and it shall grieve
him : he shall gnash with his teeth, and consume
away ; the desire of the ungodly shall perish.
" THE CXIII. PSALM.
Laudate, pueri.
PRAISE the Lord, ye servants : O [iraise the
Name of the Lord.
CXI I.
Ilisf. Aullinr nnd
occ.i^ton unknown.
I.ilurn. a. 5. fi.
Sunday, Clinstmab',
Vespcrb.
CXUI.
Hist. The Great
HaUelujah. I.
Litutg. Haster Day,
Evensong. S. g.
15. Sunday, Apos-
tles and HvauKel-
ists, Vespers.
Christmas, Trinity,
Name of Jesus, ist
Vespers.
(/ Coinp. Magniticat.
Sanctum et terribile Komen Ejus : initium
sapientiic timor Domini.
Intcllectus bonus omnibus facientibus Eum :
laudatio Ejus manct in sieculum sieculi.
PSALMUS CXI.
BEATUS vir qui timet Dominum : in man-
datis Eju.s volet nimis.
Potens in terra erit .semen ejus : generatio
rectorum benedicetur.
Gloria et divitiie in domo ejus : et justitia eju.s
manet in .sMculurn sajculi.
Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis : niiseri-
cors, et miserator, et Justus.
Jucundus homo qui miseretur et commodat ;
disponet sermones suos in judicio : cjuia in ster-
num non commovebitur.
In memoria ajterna erit Justus : ab auditione
mala non timebit.
Paratum cor ejus sperare in Domi.no; confirnia-
tum est cor ejus : non commovebitur donee de-
spiciat inimicos suos.
Dispersit, dedit pauperilnis ; justitia ejus manet
in SEeculum sasculi : cornu ejus exaltabitur in
gloria.
Peccator videbit et irascetur ; dentibus suis
fremet et tabescet : desiderium peccatorum peri-
bit.
PSALMUS CXII.
IAUDATE, i)ueri, Dominum : laudate Nomen
■i Domini.
over lambs : the latter three, beginuiug "I am well pleased,"
were sung in the room in which the Passover lamb had been
eaten, and at the conclusion of all the ceremonies connected
with the Supper.
Whether the Great Hallelujah was composed for this pur-
pose or not, there are several historical and local expressions
in it which indicate its fitness for use at the Pa.ssover. The
first division, for public use in the Temple, is a hymn of
thanksgiving to the Lord for His mercy and loving-kindness
to the people of Israel : a national hymn in which the dis-
tinctive position of the separated nation is prominently kept
in view, and the Lord praised as the God of Israel. The 113tli
and 114th Psalms are supposed to have been written for the
foundation of the second Temple by Ezra. In the first of
these the allusion to tlie worship of God " from the rising up
of tlie sun unto the going do^vn of the same," seems to givt^
evidence of a travelled people who had retained their true
faith and religious customs in a distant land, and among
the heathen who are named directly afterwards. Then the
praise of the condescension of the Lord of Heaven towards
the simple and poor, who had lain in the dust and the mire,
but was now being lifted up by Him to be set among princes,
speaks the natural feeling of those who had returned from the
Captivity, and were once more beginning a national existence :
while in "the barren woman" we see the long-desolated
Church of Israel once more about to "keep house" in the
Holy City and lie a joyful mother of children to be added to
the household of God. The following Psa,lm, the 114th, refers
. to still more ancient mercies of God towards His people, when
He took them out of their Egyptian bondage, and aftertheu'loug
miraculous sustenance by means of the stream which sjjrung from
the rock in the wilderness, cleft the waters of Jordan in two, as
He had done those of the Red Sea, that He might make a way
for Israel to go to their home, the land which was to be marked
80 Bignally aa the eanctuary and dominion of the I^ord. Such
national mercies of old time lead on, through the humbleacknow-
ledgement, " Not unto us, Lord, not unto >is, but unto Thy
Name give the praise," to an expression of faith and confidence
in the continued loWug-kindness of the Lord, and in His provi-
dential care of Israel. A small band — on their return from
captivity, and even at the best of times — among the heathen
round about, j'et the Lord's manifest dealings towards them
are an answer to the taunt which had been cast upon them by
those heathen on account of the depressed state of Israel,
" Where is now their God ? " What evidence could Heathen-
dom give to jirovc any Providence exercised by their idols,
though they were i<lols of silver and idols of gold ? But for
the house of Israel and the Priesthood of Aaron there was
abundant reason for trusting in God, AMio had shewn Himself
to be their succour and defence in past ages, and would shew
Himself the same in time to come towards those who feared
Him with the loving reverence of filial fear. The Lord had
sent His people into captivity for their national sins, but He
had not forsaken them altogether : He ^^•ould still bless the
separated nation, and the separated priesthood, and shew once
more that they were His chosen. Such is the substance of
the hymn sung in the Temple, which ends as it began vrMx
the sacred and joyous cry, " Hallelujah."
The second portion of the hymn is all viTitten in the first
person, with the exception of the two verses numbered as the
117th Psalm, which seem to be a choral refrain taking up the
burden of the Temple part of the hymn, and so connecting
the private and the pulilic divisions of it. In this there are
several references to the Passover itself. The " cup of sal-
vation " cannot but have refened to the cup of «Tnc over which
a Benediction was said, and which was partaken of several times
during the Supper as a part of the ritual of the Passover.
" Bind the sacrifice with cords, yea, even unto the horns of the
altar," is a memorial of the offering made in the Temple, and
upon which the household has been reverently feasting at home.
6i8
€i)t Ipsalms.
23rd Day. [Ps- 114, 115.]
2 Blessed be the Xame of the Lokd : from
this time forth for evermore.
3 The Lord's Name is praised : from the
rising up of the sun, unto the going down of the
same.
4 The Lord is higli above all heathen : and
His glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like unto the Lord our God, that
hath His dwelling so high : and yet humbleth
Himself to behold the things that are in heaven
and earth.
6 He taketh up the .simple out of the dust :
and lifteth the poor out of the mire.
7 That He may set him with the princes :
even with the princes of His people.
8 He maketh the barren woman to keep house :
and to be a joyful mother of children.
Day 23. EVKNING PRAYER.
THE CXIV. PSALM,
lu exitu Israel.
~\T7"HEN Israel came out of Egyi)t : and the
V V house of Jacob from among the " strange
people,
2 Judah was His sanctuary : and Israel His
dominion.
.3 The sea saw that, and fled : .Jordan was
driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams : and the
little hilLs like young sheep.
.5 What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou
fleddest : and thou Jordan, that thou wast driven
back?
6 Ye momitaius, that ye skipped like rams :
and ye little hills, like young sheep 1
7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the
Lord : at the presence of the God of Jacob ;
8 Who turned the hard rock into a standing
water : and the flint-stone into a springing well.
THE CXV. PSALM.
Non nobis, Domine.
"VTOT unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto
-L^ Thy Name give the praise : for Thy loving
mercy, and for Thy truth's sake.
2 Wherefore shall the heathen say : Where is
now their God ?
CXIV.
Nisf. The Great
Hallelujah. II.
Littir^. Easter Day,
Evensong. 5. ©.
^. Sundtiy Ves-
pers.
■7 i.f. Alien or
foreign, or "people
of strange lan-
guage," as in B. v.
CXV.
//:./. TlK Great
Hallelujah, III.
L,l,,ys. 5. B. 53.
Sunday Vespers.
Sit Nomen Domini benedictum : ex hoc nunc
et usque in sseculum.
A solis ortu usc^ue ad occasum : laudabile
Nomen Domini.
Escelsus super omnes gentes Domixus : et
super coelos gloria Ejus.
Quis sicut Domixus Decs noster. Qui in altis
habitat : et humilia respicit in calo et in terra ?
Suscitans a terra inopem : et de stercore eri-
gens pauperem :
Ut coUocet eum cum principibus : cum princi-
pibus populi Sui.
Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo : matrein
filiorum l^tantem.
IN exitu I;
liopulo I
PSALMUS cxiii.
srael de .^gypto : domus Jacob de
barbaro :
Facta est Judrea sanctificatio Ejus : Israel
potestas Ejus.
Mare vidit, et fugit : Jordanis conversus est
retrorsum.
]\Iontes exsultaverunt ut arietes : et colles sicut
agni ovium.
Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugisti : et tu Jor-
danis, cpiia conversus es retrorsum 1
Monies exsultastis sicut arietes : et colles sicut
agni ovium.
A facie Domini mota est terra : a facie Dei
.Jacob.
Qui convertit petram in stagna aquarum : et
rupem in fontes aquarum.
[PSALMUS cxm. v, y.]
Non nobis, Domine, non nobis : sed Nomini
Tuo da gloriam.
Super misericordia Tua et veritate Tua : ne-
quando dicant gentes, Ubi est Detjs eorum 1
So also with the verse, "I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of
thanksgiving. . . . I will pay my vows." And not less dis-
tinct is the local api)lication of the words, " The voice of joy
and healtli is in the dwellings of the righteous," and of, "This
is the ilay which the Lord hath made : wo \\\\\ rejoice and be
glad in it :" while througliout tliis portion of tlie hymn, as of
the other, there arc references to the circumstances of tlie first
Passover and the early liistory of Israel whicli unite the thanks-
givings for present mercies to commemorations of the never-
to-be-forgpttcn providence of (lod's hand in .ancient ilajs.
But draw out tlie meaning ami the application of tliis hymn
as we will, it is impossible not to feel that tliosc are so far
from being exhai.sted by their connection with the Old Dis-
pensation that they seem only lik« morsels of gold lying upon
the surface which point out to the observant eye the place
where rich veins of treasure .ire to lie found by deeper research.
This is especially the case with the Latter portion, beginning
"I am well plcLsed," and a flood of light is thrown upon the
whole of the flreat Ilalklujali by the use of tliis portion under
tlic circumstances n.arrated by St. Mark, " Wiun tlicy had
sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives."
For the moment at which this hymn was sung by our
Elcssed Saviour and His Apostles was the crisis of the Old and
New Dispensation, when the Passover sacrifice was about to
be merged in that great Sacrifice of the Lamb of God whereof
it was the type, when the Passover Supper >\a3 vanishing
before the Supper of the Lord then instituted, wlien typical
shadows were about to become sacramental realities, and when
the hidden words of this prophetic hymn were to receive their
full interpretation in the woful, yet glorious, work of the
three following days. It is in the light so shed upon tlie Great
Hallelujah that it is to be viewed now that it is used in Divine
Service ami by Christian worsliip]iers : in that Light in « liich
we shall see light ; as the Hallelujah of Uim Who, when He
had sung it, went fortb to the Mount of Olives, to Geth-
semane, and to Calvary.
PSALM CXIII.— The first three Psalms of this series are
of a much less individual character in their language than the
later three ; and arc thus to be taken as the voice of the
Church, while the others arc the Voice of Christ Himself. In
the 113th the Church pr;ii.scs God for the rising nf the Sun of
Righteousness upon her, and with Him shining in the midst
speaks in the tone of Malachi's Eut.-haristic prophecy : "From
the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, My
Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place
24th Day. [Ps. 116.]
Cf)C Psalms.
619
3 As for our God, He is in lieaven : He hath
done whatsoever pleased Him.
4 Their idols are silver and gold : even the
work of men's hands.
5 They have mouths, and Hjieak not : eyes
have they, and see not.
6 They have ears, and lioar not : noses have
they, and smell not.
7 They have hands, and handle not ; feet have
they, and walk not : neither speak they through
their throat.
8 They that make them are like unto them :
and so are all such as put their trust in them. /
9 But thou, house of Israel, trust thou in the
Lord : He is their succour and defence.
10 Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in tlie
Lord : He is their helper and defender.
11 Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in
the Lord : He is their helper and defender.
12 The Lord hath been mindful of us, and
He shall bless us : even He shall bless the house
of Israel, He shall bless the house of Aaron.
13 He shall bless them that fear the Lord :
both small and great.
14 The Lord shall increase you more and
more : you and your children.
1.5 Ye are the blessed of the Lord : Who
made heaven and earth.
16 All the whole heavens are the Lord's : the
earth hath He given to the children of men.
17 The dead praise not Thee, O Lord : neither
all they that go down into silence.
18 But we will praise the Lord : from this
time forth for evermore. Praise the Lord.
D.4.Y 24. Morning Prayer.
THE CXVI. P.SALM.
Dilexi, quoniani.
AM well pleased : that the Lord hath heard
the voice of my prayer ;
I
CXVI.
Hijf. The Great
Hallelujah. IV.
Littirg, Churching
of Women. ^. §.
^. Monday Ves-
pers. Vigils of the
departed. Name of
Jesus, ist Vespers.
Dkus autem no.stcr in coelo : omnia quascuiKpie
voluit, fecit.
Simulachra gentium argentum, et aiuuin :
opera manuum hominum.
Os habent, et non l(i([ucntur : oculos habent,
et non videbunt.
Aures habent, ct non audient : nares habent,
et non odorabuiit.
jManus habent, et non palpabuiit; pedes habent,
et non ambulabunt : non clamabunt in gutturc
suo.
8iiiiilo8 illis fiant qui faciunt ea : et omnes qui
coiifiduut in eis.
Domus Israel speravit in Doming : udjutor
eorum et protector eorum est.
Domus Aaron speravit in Domino : udjutor
eorum et protector eorum est.
Qui timent Dominum, speraverunt in Domino :
adjutor eorum et protector eorum est.
DoMiNUs memor fuit nostri : et benedi.xit
nobis.
Benedixit domui Israel : benedisit doniui
Aaron.
Benedixit omnibus qui timent Dominum :
pusillis cum majoribus.
Adjiciat Dominus super vos : super vos, et
super filios vestros.
Benedict! vos a Domino ; Qui fecit coeluui et
terrain.
Ccelum cceli Domino : terram autem dedit filiis
hominum.
Non mortui laudabunt Te, Domine : neque
omnes qui descendunt in infernum.
Sed nos qui vivimus benedicimus Domino : ex
hoc nunc et usque in sajculum.
PSALMUS CXIV.
DILEXI, quoniam exaudiet Dominus : vocem
orationis mere.
incense shall be otiered mito Me, and a pnie olieriug, for My
Name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of
hosts." [Mai. i. 11.] Looking forward to Christ's "lifting
up " to the throne of the Cross, He is beheld also rising again to
His Easter throne of victory and everlasting dominion, taken np
out of the dust of death, and set " far above all principality,
and pow-cr, and might, and dominion, and every name that i.s
named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to
come." [Eph. i. 22.] And this glory of Christ is seen to be
also the glory of "the Chnrcli, which is His Body, tlie fulness
of Him that filleth all in all " [Eph. i. 2.3] : so that the Psalm
ends with words of rejoicing which also find their parallel in
prophecy : " Sing, barren, thou that didst not bear : break
forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail
with child : for more are the children of the desolate, than
the children of the married wife, saith the Lord."
PSALM CXIV. — The same strain is continuwl in the next
of the series ; in which it must be understood that the ancient
Israel and the Gentiles have changed places, and that the
former lieing rejected the latter have been accepted in their
stead. ' The coming forth of Israel from Egypt is to lie taken,
therefore, as the taking of His little flock (soon to become a
great people) out from among the world, by Christ ; and the
succeeding verses are to be interjireted in the sense wliich
was given by tlie coming of Christ to the ancient prophecy :
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill
shall be made low, and the crooked sh.all be made straight,
and the rough places plain : and the glory of the Lord shall
1 Sec note on Psalm lix. p 5'.7.
be revealeil, and all tiesli shall see it together, for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it." [Isa. xl. 4, 5.] When that
glory was revealed the Rock of Ages became a sacramental
Fountain of life, openetl for all uneleanness : and from the
Corner-Stone flowed forth a springing well of grace, whose
waters are for the refreshment of every age.
PSALM CXV. — The third of the series still proclaims the
gi'eat work of salvation .about to be WTOUght in the Sutl'erings
and Glory of Cluist : but the tone is rather that of confident
faith in somethmg yet to come than of assurance respecting a
gain alreatly acquired. The second verse points to the taunts
with %\hich the Jews mocked our Lord wdien upon the Cross,
and to those with which the heathen long assailed the Church
respecting her invisible God and Saviour. The blindness of
those who reject Chi'ist is also compared to the senselessness
of the idols wdiich they set up in His place ; idols, at one time
of material silver and gold, at another of the imagination and
distorted reason, but all eriually worthless as objects of wor-
ship and faith, and whose worshippers are spiritually dead.
The new Israel of Clirist is bidden to stand firni against the
shock of all such taunts and .all such seductions, to look for
the blessing of its Di\Hne Head, and to be assured that though
only a "little flock" they shall gTow into avast people, a,
living body spread over the earth, wdiich has become the heri-
tage of the Son of ilan, and singing Hallelujah to Him for
evermore.
P.SALM CXVI.- — This and the last Psalm of the series are
2 This Psalm was associated with tlie Burial of the Dead as early as the
time of St. Clirysnstoin.
620
Ci)e Ipsalms.
24th Day. [Ps. 117, 118.]
'2 Tliat He Lath inclined His ear unto me :
therefore will I caU upon Him as long as I live.
3 The "snares of death compassed me round
about : and the pains of heU gat hold upon me.
4 I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will
call upon the Xame of the Lord : O Lord, I
beseech Thee, deliver my soid.
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous : yea,
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserveth the simple : I was in
misery, and He helped me.
7 Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul :
for the Lord hath rewarded thee.
8 And why ? Thou hast delivered my soul from
death : mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord : in the land of
the living.
10 I believed, and therefore wUl I speak; but
I was sore troubled : I said in my haste. All men
are liars.
11 What reward shall I give unto the Lord :
for all the benefits that He hath done unto me ?
12 I will receive the cup of salvation : and
call upon the Name of the Lord.
13 1 will pay my vows now in the presence of
all His people : right dear in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints.
U Behold, O Lord, how that I am Thy
servant : I am Thy servant, and the son of
Thine handmaid ; Thou hast" broken my bonds
in sunder.
15 1 will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanks-
giving : and will call upon the Name of the
Lord.
16 1 will pay my vows unto the Lord in the
sight of all His people : in the courts of the
Lord's house, even in the midst of thee, O Jeru-
salem. Praise the Lord.
THE CXVII. PSALM.
Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE the Lord, aU ye heathen : praise
Him, all ye nations.
2 For His merciful kindness is ever more and
more towards us : and the truth of the Lord
endureth for ever. Praise the Lord.
« [Heb.] cords.
[Com/. Ps. iS. 3.J
o
THE CXVIIL PSALM.
Confitemiui Domino.
GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is
graciou-s : because His mercy endureth for
tii„K^'. ». g. II).
Monday, Maundy
Thursd,. Good Fri-
day. Apostles and
Evangelists. Many
Martyrs, AU Saints,
Vespers, Corp.
Chr,, Name of
Jesus, 1st Vespers.
CXVII.
//isf. The Great
Hallelujah, V.
I.itur£. S. g. S-
Monday, General
Festival. Vespers.
Christinas, Tnnity,
ist \'esper^.
CXVIII.
//isf. The lircat
llallelujali, VI.
/. Uurg, liaster Da\',
Hvensong. &• g.
m. Sunday Prime.
Quia inclinavit aurem Suam mihi : et in diebus
meis invocabo.
Circundederunt me dolores mortis : et pericula
inferni invenerunt me.
Triljulationem et dolorem inveni : et Komen
Domini invocavi.
O DoMiSE, libera animam meam ; niisericors
DoMiNDS, et Justus : et Deus noster miseretur.
Custodiens parvulos Domixus : humiliatus
sum, et liberavit me.
Convertere, anima mea, in requiem tuam : quia
DoMiNUs benefecit tibi.
Quia eripuit animam meam de morte, oculos
meos a lachrjTuis : pedes meos a lapsu.
Placebo Domino : in regione vivorum.
PSALMUS CXV.
CREDIDI, propter quod locutus sum : ego
autem humiliatus sum nimis.
Ego dixi in excessu meo ; Omnis homo mendax.
Quid retribuam DoiiiNO : pro omnibus quae
retribuit mihi.
Calicem salutaris accipiam : et Nomen Domini
invocabo.
Vota mea Dojiixo reddam coram omni populo
Ejus : pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sancto-
rum Ejus.
O DoMiNE, quia ego servus Tuus : ego servus
Tuus, et filius aucillse Ture.
Dirupisti vincula mea ; Tibi sacrificabo hostiam
laudis : et Nomen Domini invocabo.
Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu oninis
populi Ejus : in atriis domus Domini, in medio
tui Hierusalem.
PSALMUS CXVI.
IAUDATE Dominum omnes gentes : laudate
-i Eum omnes populi :
Quoniam confirmata est super nos misericordia
Ejus : et Veritas Domini manet in setenium.
PSALilUS CXVIL
CONFITEMIXI DoMiNO quoniam bonus
quoniam in smculuin misericordia Ejiw.
of a much more distinctly personal oliaractor than those which
form the first half of the series, as if they were words spoken
within the privacy of that inner fold of Apostles in which
Christ was accustomed to expound privately the things which
ha<l been spoken to the people at large in parables, and as if
the time of the Great Passover was felt to be drawing nearer
and nearer. The tone of this Psalm is like that of One already
recovering from a great Agony, comforted anil rt^assured by
having been heard in His prayer which He had thrice uttered
out of the midst of snares of death and the pains of hell
through which He had pa.sscd. Further trouble and heavi-
ness yet await Him, but His resignation is now comiilete, "not
My Will, but Thine :" and Hia vision of future deliverance is
clear Thus we cannot fail tu associate the " Cup of salva-
tion " with that of which He said, " If it be possible, remove
this Cup from Me," and with His words to the sons of Zebe-
dee, "Are ye able to drink of the Cup th.at I shall drink of?"
That Cup is viewed, now, not .is a cup of suUering, but as an
Eucharistic Cup : " I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanks-
giving;" and it is to be offered in the presence of all His
people, ill fai-if Krrh'sio; as a Memorial of that Death of the
king of Saint.s whicli is " right dear in the sight of the Loi'd,"
as a prevailing Intercession.
PSALM CXVIT.— This expansion of the word Hallelujah is
to be considered as a doxology uniting tlic IlGth and llSth
Psalms, calling upon all people to join with the "little flock"
of the Saviour in praising the Lord for His merciful kindnrss
24th Day. [Ps. 118.]
Cf)e Ipsalms.
621
2 Let Israel now confess, that He is r/racious :
and that Hi.s mercy cnduretli for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now confess : that
His mercy endureth for ever.
4 Yea, let them now that fear the Lord con-
fess : that His mercy endureth for ever.
5 I called upon the Lord in trouble : and the
Lord heard me at "large.
6 The Lord is on my side ; I will not fear
what man doeth unto mo.
7 The Lord taketh my part with them that
help me : therefore shall I see my desire upon
mine enemies.
8 It is better to trust in the Lord ; than to
put any confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord : than to
put any confidence in princes.
10 All nations compassed me round about :
but in the Name of the Lord will I destroy them.
11 They kept me in on every side, they kept
me in, I say, on every side : but in the Name of
the Lord will I destroy them.
12 They came about me like bees, and are
extinct even as the fire among the *thorns : for
in the Name of the Lord I will destroy them.
13 Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might
fall : but the Lord was my help.
14 The Lord is my strength, and my song :
and is become my salvation.
15 The voice of joy and health is in the dwell-
ings of the righteous : the right hand of the
Lord bringeth mighty things to pass.
16 The right hand of the Lord hath the pre-
eminence : the right hand of the Lord bringeth
mighty things to pass.
17 1 shall not die, but live ; and declare the
works of the Lord.
18 The Lord hath chastened and corrected
me : but He hath not given me over unto death.
1 9 OpeH me the gates of righteousness : that I
may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord ; the right-
eous shall enter into it.
211 will thank Thee, for Thou hast heard me:
and art become my salvation.
22 The same stone whicli the builders refused :
is become the headstone in the corner.
23 This is the Lord's doing : and it is marvel-
lous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made :
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Help me now, Lord : O Lord, send us
now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of
a i.e. Heard iiieanl
set iiic at large.
fi Whicli sparkles up
fiercely, but suon
dies out.
Dicat nunc Israel quoniam bonus : quoniam in
.sx'culum misericordia Ejus.
Dicat nunc donius Aaron : quoniam in sseculum
misericordia Ejus.
IJicant nunc qui timent Dominum : quoniam
in saiculum misericordia Eju.s.
De tribulatione invocavi Dominum : et exau-
(livit me in latitudine Dominus.
DoMiNUS mihi adjutor : non timebo quid faciat
mihi homo.
Do.MiNUs mihi adjutor : et ego despiciam
inimicos meos.
Bonum est confidere in Domino : quam con-
fidere in homine.
Bonum est sperare in Domino : (juam sperare
in principibus.
Omnes gentes circuierunt me : et in Nomine
Domini quia ultus sum in eos.
Circundantes circundederunt mo : et in Nomine
Domini quia ultus sum in eos.
Circundederunt me sicut apes, et exarserunt
sicut ignis in spinis : et in Nomine Domini quia
ultus sum in eos.
Impulsus eversus sum ut caderem : et Dominus
suscepit me.
Fortitude) mea et laus mea Dominus : et factus
est mihi in salutem.
Vox exsultationis et salutis : in tabeniaculis
justorum.
Dextera Domini fecit virtutem, dextera Do-
mini exaltavit me : dextera Domini fecit virtutem.
Non nioriar, sod vivam : et narrabo opera Do-
mini.
Ciistigans castigavit me Dominus : et morti
non tradidit me.
Aperite mihi portas justitiiB, et ingressus in
eas confitebor Domino : hffic porta Domini ; justi
intrabunt in earn.
Confitebor Tibi, quoniam exaudisti me : et factus
es mihi in salutem.
Lapidem quern reprobaverunt Kdificantes ; hie
factus est in caput anguli.
A Domino factum est istud : et est mirabile in
oculis nostris.
Hsec est dies quam fecit Dominus : exsultemus
et laetemur in ea.
O Domine, salvum me fac, O Domine, bene
prosperare : benedictus qui venit in Nomine Do-
mini.
and for the fulfihiient of His covenant with mankind respect-
ing their salvation.
PSALM CXVIII.— The first four verses of the last Tsalm
of the series are a continuation of the strain taken np in tlie
preceding Doxology : in tlie fifth \-erse tlie indix'idnal or per-
sonal Voice of Christ is again heard, and thenceforward to the
end. That tone is a triumpliant anticipation, tlirougliont, of
the Easter victory : and its climax is reached in tlie twenty-
seventh verse, wltere the L,amb of Uod offers Himself willingly
for the coming Sacrifice.' A few days before tlie singing of
1 Some modern critics re.ad tlii.s verse as if '* bind tlie s.icrifice with cords"
were a parenthesis, and the "light" a fire extending even to the liorns of
the altar. The association of the verses indicated in tlie ahove note may
lead us to doubt the accuracy of such au interpretation.
the Great Hallelujah, the multitude had led .Jesus into Jeni-
saleni with the glad proclamation taken from the twenty-sixtli
verse of tliis Psalm. [Matt. xxi. 9.] When our Lord was
taking His last farewell of tlie city. He said, " Ye shall not see
Me henceforth, till ye shall say. Blessed is He that cometh in
tlie Name of the Lord." [Matt, xxiii. 39.] His last words
to the people at hu-ge were, " Yet a little while is tlie Light
with you. Walk while ye have the Light, lest darkness
come upon you : for he tliat walketh in darkness knoweth
not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the
Light, tliat ye may be the children of light. " [.John xii. 35,
36.] Thus are His "lifting \i\>" [Ihkl. 32], and His accus-
tomed cry, "I am come a Light into the world " [Thid. 4Gj,
associated with the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh ver?e2
of this Psalm, and the ancient words of Abraham were illus*
622
Ctjc Ipsalms.
24th Day. [Ps. 119. J
the Lord : we have wished you good luck, ye
that are of the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord Who hath .shewed u.s
light : bind the sacrifice with cords, yea, even
unto the horn.s of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I will thank Thee :
Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee.
29 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is
gracious : and His mercy endureth for ever.
Day 24. EVKNING PRAYER.
THE CXIX. PSALM.
Beati immacxilati.
"DLESSED are those that are undefiled in the
way : and walk in the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep His testimonies
and seek Him with their whole heart.
3 For they who do no wickedness : walk in
His ways.
4 Thou hast charged : that we shall diligently
keep Thy commandments.
5 O that my ways were made so direct : that
I might keep Thy statutes.
6 So shall I not be confounded : while I have
respect unto all Thy commandments.
7 I will thank Thee with an unfeigned heart :
when I shall have learned the judgements of Thy
righteousness.
8 I will keep Thy "ceremonies : O forsake me
not utterly.
In quo corriget.
"YT7HEEEWITHAL shall a young man cleanse
V V his way : even by ruling himself after
Thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought Thee :
let me not go wrong out of Thy command-
ments.
11 Thy words liave I hid within my heart :
that I should not sin against Thee.
12 Blessed art Thou, O Lord : () teach me
Thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I been telling : of all
the judgements of Thy mouth.
14 1 have had as great delight in the way of
Thy testimonies : as in all manner of riches.
15 I will talk of Thy commandments : and
have respect unto Thy ways.
1 G My delight shall be in Thy statutes : and I
will not forget Thy word.
Rctribue servo Tuo.
ODO well unto Thy servant : that 1 may live,
and keep Thy word.
18 Open Thou mine eyes : that 1 may see the
wondroas things of Thy law.
cxi.x.
Htjf. David : in his
yuulh.
Liturg. S. g. R.
Prime. Commenda-
tion of Souls.
Benediximus vobis de domo Domini
DoMiNUS, et illuxit nobis.
Deus
n" Statutes." [B. v.]
Constituite diem solennem in condensis : usque
ad cornu altaris.
Deus meus es Tu, et confitebor Tibi : Deus
mens es Tu, et exaltabo Te.
Confitebor Tibi quoniam exaudisti me : et
factus es mihi in salutem.
Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus : quoniam
in saeculnm misericordia Ejus.
PSALMUS CXVIII.
ALEPH [{<].
BEATI immaculati in via : qui ambulant in
lege Domini.
Beati qui scrutantur testimonia Ejus : in toto
corde exquirunt Eum.
Non enim cpii operantur iniquitatem : in viis
Ejus ambulaverunt.
Tu mandasti : mandata Tua custodiri nimls.
Utinam dirigantur vise meas : ad custodiendas
justificationes Tuas.
Tunc non confundar : cum perspexero in omni-
bus mandatis Tuis.
Confitebor Tibi in directione cordis : in eo
quod didici judicia justitiae Tua-.
Justificationes Tuas custodiam : non me dere-
linquas usquequaque.
BETH [3].
In quo corrigit adolescentior viam suam : in
custodiendo sermones Tuos.
In toto corde nieo exquisivi Te : ne repellas me
a mandatis Tuis.
In corde meo abscondi eloquia Tua ut non
peccem TibL
Benedictus es, Domine : doce me justificationes
Tuas.
In labiis meis pronuntiavi : omnia judicia oris
Tui.
In via testimoniorum Tuorum delectatus sum :
sicut in omnibus divitiis.
In mandatis Tuis exercebor : et considerabo
vias Tuas.
In justificationibus Tuis meditabor : non obli
viscar sermones Tuos.
GIMEL [j].
KETRIBUE servo Tuo ; vivifica me : et cus-
todiam sermones Tuos.
Revela oculos meos : et considerabo mirabilia
de lege Tua.
trated in their fulfilment, "My son, God will provide Him-
self a Laml) for a burnt offering." [Gen. x.xii. 8.]
From the tenth to the thirteenth verses is expressed the
suflfering Saviour's prevision of the result of His work : in the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, the same prevision
of a glorious Resurrcetion through which He Himself was to
heeomc eternally the ]>oor whereby His lloek should enter
into life : and the twenty-fourth verse is a prnphotio weleome
of that Day of the Lord in which all niankiml .should keep a
perpetual Easter of joy. And thus throughout are heard such
words as those of the prophet, " In that day thou shalt say,
Lord, I will praise Thee : though TIkui wast angry with
me, Tliine anger is turned away, and Thou eonifoitedst me.
Behold, God is my salvatinit ; I will trust, aiul not bo afraid:
for the Lord Jkuovah is my strength and my song ; He
also is become my salvation." [Isa. xii. 2.] "0 give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy enduretli for
ever."
25th Day. [Ps. 119.]
€bt li^salms.
62'
19 I am a "stranger upon eartli : O hide not
Thy comniandnicnts from mo.
20 My soul breiikcth out for tlic very fervent
desire : that it hath alway unto Tliy judgements.
21 Thou hast rebuked tlic proud : and cursed
are they tliat do err from Tliy commandments.
22 O turn from me shame and reljukc : for I
have kept Thy testimonies.
23 Princes also did sit and speak against me :
but Thy servant is occupied in Thy statutes.
24 For Thy testimonies are my delight : and
my counsellor.s.
Adhsesit pavimento.
MY soul cleaveth to the dust : O quicken
Thou me, according to Thy word.
26 I have acknowledged my ways, and Thou
heardest me : O teach me Thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of Thy
commandments : and so shall I talk of Thy
wondrous works.
28 ^ly soul melteth away for very heaviness :
comfort Thou me according unto Thy word.
29 Take from me the way of lying : and cause
Thou me to make mucli of Thy law.
30 I have chosen the w.ay of truth : and Thy
judgements have I laid before me.
31 I have stuck unto Thy testimonies : O
Lord, confound me not.
32 I will run the way of Thy commandments :
when Thou hast set mj' heart at liberty.
Day 25. MORNING PRAYER.
Legem pone.
TEACH me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes :
and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep
Thy law : yea, I shall keep it with my whole
heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of Thy com-
mandments : for therein is my desire.
36 Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies :
and not to covetousness.
37 O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold
vanity : and quicken Thou me in Thy way.
38 O stablish Thy word in Thy servant : that
I may fear Thee.
39 Take away the rebuke that I am afraid of :
for Thy judgements are good.
40 Behold, my delight is in Thy command-
ments : O quicken me in Thy righteousness.
Et veniat super me.
IET Thy loving mercy come also unto me, O
■^ Lord : even Thy salvation, according unto
Thy word.
42 So shall I make answer unto my blas-
jihemers : for my trust is in Tliy word.
(1 Or, " sojourner,"
away from home.
Incola ego sum in terra : non abscondas a me
m.andata Tua.
Concupivit anima mea de.siderare justificatioues
Tuas : in omni tempore.
Increpasti superbos : maledicti qui declinant a
mandatis TuLs.
Aufer a me opprobrium et contemptum : quia
testimonia Tua e.xquisivi.
Etonini .sederunt principes, et adversum me
loquebantur : servus autem Tuns exercebatur in
justificationibus Tuis.
Nam et testimonia Tua meditatio mea est : et
consilium meum justificatioues Tu;e.
DALKTH h].
Adhsesit pavimento anima mea : vivilica mi-
secundum verbum Tuum.
Vias meas enuntiavi, et exaudisti me : doce me
justificatioues Tuas.
Viam justificationum Tuarum instrue me : et
exercebor in mirabilibus Tuis.
Dormitavit anima mea pr;e tivdio : confirnia
me in verbis Tuis.
Viam iniquitatis amove a mc : et de lege Tua
miserere mei.
Viam veritatis elegi : judicia Tua non sum
oblitus.
Adhassi testimoniis Tuis, Doming : noli me
confundere.
Viam mandatorum Tuorum cucnrri : cum
dilatasti cor meum.
HE [n].
1EGEM pone mihi, Domine, viam justifica-
-^ tionum Tuarum : et exquirara earn sempei-.
Da mihi intellectum, et scrutabor legem Tuam :
et custodiam illam in toto corde meo.
Deduc me in semita mandatorum Tuorum :
Cjuia ipsam volui.
Inclina cor meunr in testimonia Tua : et non
in avaritiam.
Averte oculos meos ne videant vanitatem : in
via Tua vivifica me.
Statue servo Tuo eloquium Tuum ; in timore
Tuo.
Amputa opprobrium meum quod suspicatus
.sum : quia judicia Tua jucunda.
Ecce concupivi mandata Tua : in sequitate Tua
vivifica me.
VAU [l].
Et veniat super me misericordia Tua, Domine :
salutare Tuum secundum eloquium Tuum.
Et respondebo exprobrantibus mihi verbum :
quia speravi in sermonibus Tuis.
PSALM CXLX.'
The characteristic feature of this Psalui is a pervading
1 This is an " alphabet Psalm " of a jjeculiar character. Each divisiou
is made of verses which begin with the s.nme letter, the sections answerintt
to the versi's of the other alph.ibet rsalins. The s.ime arrangement is found
reference to tlie AYill of God and the grace of obedience. It
was noted by the ancient Jewisli commentators that every
verse contains some word associated with the spoken WUl of
in the Book of Lamentations. In the earlier Vulg.ite the Hebrew division
is recognised as in our English Psalter. But in the Samm Psalter, and
in the modern Vulgate, the Pstilni is ilivided into sections of sixteeu
verses.
624
Cf)C l!9sa!ms.
25th Day. [Ps. 119.]
43 take not the word of Thy truth utterly
out of my mouth : for my hope is in Thy judge-
ments.
4-1 So shall I alway keep Thy law : yea, for
ever and ever.
45 And I wiU walk at liberty : for I seek Thy
commandments.
46 I will speak of Thy testimonies also, even
before kings : and will not be a.shanied.
47 And my delight shall be in Thy command-
ments : which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto Thy com-
mandments, which I have loved : and my study
.^hall be in Thy statutes.
Jlemor esto servi Tui.
OTHIXK upon Thy servant, as concerning
Thy word : wherein Thou hast caused me
to put my trust.
50 The same is my comfort in my trouble ;
for Thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me exceedingly in
derision : yet have I not shrinked from Thy law.
52 For I remembered Thine everlasting judge-
ments, O LoKD : and received comfort.
53 I am horribly afraid : for the ungodly that
forsake Thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs : in the
house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have thought upon Thy Name, O Lord,
in the night-season : and have kept Thy law.
56 This I had : because I kept Thy command-
ments.
Portio mea, Domiiie.
THOU art my portion, O Lord : I have pro-
mised to keep Thy law.
58 I made my humble petition in Thy presence
with my whole heart : O be merciful unto me,
according to Thy word.
59 I called mine own ways to remembrance ;
and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.
60 I made haste, and prolonged not the time :
to keep Thy commandments.
61 The congregations of the ungodly have
robbed me : but I have not forgotten Thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto
Thee : because of Thy righteous judgements.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear
Thee : and keep Thy commandments.
64 The earth, Lord, is full of Thy mercy :
teach me Thy statutes.
Bouitatem fecisti.
OLORD, Thou hast dealt graciously with
Thy .servant : according unto Thy word.
66 learn me true understanding and know-
ledge : for 1 have believed Thy commandments.
67 Before I was troubled, I went wrong : but
now have I kept Thy word.
68 Thou art good and gracious : teach me
Thy statutes.
Et ne auferas de ore meo verbum veritatis
usquequaque : quia in judiciis Tuis supersperavi. ■
Et custodiam legem Tuam semper ; in saeculum
et in sreculum sajculi
Et ambulabam in latitudine : quia mandata
Tua exquisivi.
Et loquebar in testimoniis Tuis in conspectu
regum : et non confundebar.
Et meditabar in mandatis Tuis : quse dUexi
Et levavi mauus meas ad mandata Tua quie
dilexi : et exercebor in justificationibus Tuis.
ZAIN [f].
"\/rEirOR esto verbi Tui servo Tuo
-L'-L mihi spem dedisti
m quo
H;ec me consolata est in humilitate mea : quia
eloquium Tuum vivificavit me.
Superbi inique agebant usquequaque : a lege
autem Tua non declinavi.
Memor fui judiciorum Tuorum a sieculo, Do-
sriNE : et consolatus sum.
Defectio tenuit me : pro peccatoribus derelin-
quentibus legem Tuam.
Cantabiles mihi erant justificationes Tuse : in
loco peregrinationis meae.
Memor fui nocte Nominis Tui, Domine : et
custodivi legem Tuam.
Hrec facta est mUii ; Cjuia justificationes Tuas
exquisivi.
CHETH [n].
Portio mea, Domine : dixi custodire legem
Tuam.
Deprecatus sum faciem Tuam in toto corde
meo : miserere mei secundum eloquium Tuum.
Cogitavi vias meas et converti pedes meos : in
testimonia Tua.
Paratus sura, et mm sum turbatus : nt cus-
todiam mandata Tua.
Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me : et
legem Tuam non sum oblitus.
!Media nocte surgebam ad confitendum Tibi :
super judicia justificationis Tuje.
Particeps ego sum omnium timentium Te : et
custodientium mandata Tua.
Misericordia Tua, Domine, plena est terra :
justificationes Tuas doce me.
TETH [u].
BONITATEM fecisti cum servo Tuo, Domine:
secundum verbum Tuum.
Bonitatem et disciplinam etscientiam doce me:
quia mandatis Tuis credidi.
Priusquam humiliarer ego deliqui : propterea
eloquium Tuum custodivi
lionus es Tu : et in bonitate Tua doco me jus-
tificationes Tuas.
God : and the light of flospcl tnitli leads clearly to the inter-
pretation of all, or nearly all, of these, in connection with the
Person of our Blessed Lord. This is the more evident as in
forty out of one liiindrcd and seventy-si.x such c.\j)rcssion3 the
actual title of the "WORD" is used, by which the Second
Person in the l?!e3scd Trinity is designated in the New Testa-
ment : while the remainder, such as Law, Testimony, Com-
mandment, Judgement, Way, Truth, are all of a character
25th Day. [Ps. 119.
Cf)C Psalniiff.
625
69 The proud have imagined a lie against me:
but I will keep Tliy coimiiaudments with my
whole heart.
70 Their heart i.s as fat as brawn : but my
delight hath been in Thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been in
trouble : that I may learn Thy statutes.
72 The law of Thy mouth is dearer unto me :
than thousands of gold and silver.
Day 25. Evening Prayer.
Manus Tute fecerunt me.
THY hands have made me and fashioned me :
O give me understanding, that I may learn
Thy commandments.
74 They that fear Thee will be glad when
they see mo ; because I have put my trust in
Thy word.
75 I know, Lord, that Thy judgements are
right : and that Thou of very faithfulness hast
caused me to be troubled.
76 O let Thy merciful kindness be my com-
fort ; according to Thy word unto Thy .servant.
77 O let Thy loving mercies come unto me,
that I may live : for Thy law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be confounded, for they go
wickedly about to destroy me : but I will be
occupied in Thy commandments.
79 Let such a,s fear Thee, and have known
Thy testimonies : be turned unto me.
80 O let my heart be sound in Thy statutes ;
that T be not ashamed.
Defecit anima mea.
MY soul hath longed for Thy salvation : and
I have a good hope because of Thy word.
82 Mine eyes long sore for Thy word : saying,
O when wilt Thou comfort me ?
83 For I am become like a "bottle in the
smoke : yet do I not forget Thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of Thy servant :
when wilt Thou be avenged of them that perse-
cute me ?
85 The proud have digged pits for me : which
are not after Thy law.
86 All Thy commandments are true : they
persecute me falsely ; O be Thou my help.
87 They had almost made an end of me upon
earth : but I forsook not Thy commandments.
88 O quicken me after Thy lovingkindness :
and so shall I keep the testimonies of Thy mouth.
o
In ietenixim, Domine.
LOKD, Thy word : endureth for ever in
heaven.
90 Thy truth also remaineth from one genera-
tion to another : Thou hast laid the foundation
of the earth, and it abideth.
91 They continue this day according to Thine
ordinance : for all things serve Thee.
92 If my delight had not been in Thy law ; I
should have perished in my trouble.
n i.e. A skin bottle,
shrivelled by the
heat of the fire.
Multiplicata est super me iniquitas superb-
orum ; ego autem in toto corde meo scrutabor
mandata Tua.
Coagulatum est sicut lac cor eorum : ego vero
legem Tuam meditatus sum.
Bonum mihi quia humiliasti me : ut discam
justiHcationes Tuas.
Bonum mihi lex oris Tui : super millia auri et
argenti.
JOD [*].
Manus Tuas fecerunt me et plasinaverunt mo :
da mihi intellectum, ut discam mandata Tua.
Qui timent Te videbunt me et laitabuntur :
quia in verba Tua supersperavi.
Cognovi, Domine, quia icquitas judicia Tua :
et in veritate Tua humiliasti me.
Fiat misericordia Tua ut consoletur me : se-
cundum eloquium Tuum servo Tuo.
Veniant mihi miserationes Tua; et vivam : quia
lex Tua meditatio mea est.
Confundantur superbi, quia injuste iniquitatem
fecerunt in me : ego autem exercebor in mandatis
Tuis.
Convertantur mihi timentes Te : et qui nove-
runt testimonia Tua.
Fiat cor meum immaculatum in justificationi-
bus Tuis : ut non confundar.
CAPH [3].
DEFECIT in salutare Tuum anima mea : et
in verbum Tuum supersperavi.
Defecerunt oculi mei in eloquium Tuum :
dicentes, Quando consolaberis me ?
Quia factus sum sicut uter in pruina : justifica-
tiones Tuas non sum oblitus.
Quot sunt dies servi Tui : quando facies de
persequentibus me judicium 1
Narraverunt mihi iniqui fabulationes : sed non
ut lex Tua.
Omnia mandata Tua Veritas : iniqui persecuti
sunt me, adjuva me.
Paulominus consummaverunt me in terra : ego
autem non dereliqui mandata Tua.
Secundum misericordiam Tuam vivifica me :
et custodiam testimonia oris Tui.
LAMED [■)].
In seternum, Domine : verbum Tuum permanet
in ccelo.
In generationem et generationem Veritas Tua ;
fundasti terram et permanet.
Ordinatione Tua perseverat dies ; quoniam
omnia serviunt Tibi.
Nisi quod lex Tua meditatio mea est : tunc
forte perii.ssem in humilitate mea.
that gives them a personal association with Him Who
tleclared, " I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," and
Whose declaration, "I am the Light of the world," also
exhibits Him as being the Personal Manifestation of Divine
Will and Law.
As, moreover, we tnow by later revelations that our Lord
626
C6c Psalms.
26th Day. [Ps. 119.]
93 I will never forget Thy commandments :
for with them Thou hast quickened me.
94: I am Thine, O save me : for I have sought
Thy commandments.
95 The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy
me : but I will consider Thy testimonies.
96 I see that all things come to an end : but
Thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Quomodo dilexi.
ZORD, what love have I unto Thy law : all
the day long is my study in it.
98 Thou through Thy commandments hast
made me wiser than mine enemies : for they are
ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than my
teachers : for Thy testimonies are my study.
100 I am wiser than the aged : because I keep
Thy commandments.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil
way : that I may keep Thy word.
102 I have not shrunk from Thy judgements :
for Thou teachest me.
103 O how sweet are Thy words unto my
throat : yea, sweeter than honey unto my mouth.
104 Through Thy commandments I get under-
standing : therefore I hate all evil ways.
Day 26. MORNING PRAYER.
Lucenia pedibus meis.
THY word is a lantern unto my feet : and a
light unto my paths.
106 I have sworn, and am stedfastly purposed ;
to keep Thy righteous judgements.
107 I am troubled above measure : quicken
me, O Lord, according to Thy word.
108 Let the free-will offerings of my mouth
please Thee, O Lord : and teach me Thy judge-
ments.
109 Jly soul is alway in my hand : yet do I
not forget Thy law.
110 The ungodly have laid a snare for me :
but yet I swerved not from Thy commandments.
111 Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine
heritage for ever : and why 1 they are the very
joy of my heart.
112 I have applied my heart to fulfil Thy
statutes alway : even unto the end.
Iniquos odio habui.
I HATE them that imagine evil things : but
Thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my defence and shield : and my
trust is in Thy word.
115 Away from me, ye wicked : I will keep
the commandments of my God.
116 O stablish me according to Thy word,
that I may live : and let me not be disappointed
of my hope.
117 Hold Thou me up, and I .shall be safe :
yea, my delight shall be ever in Thy statutes.
In ajtemum non obliviscar justificationes Tiia.s :
quia in ipsi.s vivificasti me.
Tuus sum ego, salvum me fac : quoniam justi-
ficationes Tuas exquisivi.
Jle exspectaverunt peccatores ut perderent me :
testimonia Tua intellexi.
Omnis consummationis vidi finem : latum
mandatum Tuum nimis.
MEM [»].
QLTOMODO dilexi legem Tuam, Domine : tota
die meditatio mea est.
Super inimicos meos prudentem me fecisti
mandato Tuo : quia in aetermim mihi est.
Super omnes docentes me intellexi : quia testi-
monia Tua meditatio mea est.
Super senes intellexi : quia mandata Tua quse-
sivi.
Ab omni via mala prohibui pedes meos : ut
custodiam verba Tua.
A judiciis Tuis non decHnavi : quia Tu legem
posuisti mihi.
Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia Tua : super
mel ori meo 1
A mandatis Tuis intellexi : propterea odivi
omnem viam iniquitatis.
NnN [3].
Lucerna pedibus meis verbum Tuum : et lumen
semitis meis.
Juravi et statui : custodire judicia justitife
Tu*.
Humiliatus sum usquequaque, Domine : vivi-
fica me secundum verbum Tuum.
Voluntaria oris mei beneplacita fac, Domine :
et judicia Tua doce me.
Anima mea in manibus meis semper : et legem
Tuam non sum oblitus.
Posuerunt peccatores laqueum mihi : et de
mandatis Tuis non erravi.
H;ereditate acquisivi testimonia Tua in ster-
num : quia exsultatio cordis mei sunt.
Inclinavi cor meum ad faciondas justificationes
Tuas in seternum : propter retributionem.
SAMECH [d].
TNIQUOS odio habui : et legem Tuam dilexi.
Adjutor et susceptor mens es Tu : et in verbum
Tuum supersperavi.
Declinate a mo maligni : et scrutabor mandata
Dei mei.
Suscipe me secundum eloquium Tuum, et
vivani : et non confundas me ab cxspectatione
mea.
Adjuva me, et salvus ero : et meditabor in
justificationibus Tuis semper.
.Jesus ia set forth to mankind as the highest standard of obedi-
ence and holiness, so we licar, throughout tliis I'salni, the
Voice of His Human Nature speaking as the Representative
of God's children : .and speaking in such tones as to make
Himself, in His perferl ol)cdience, tlic One Example for us.
according to our ability, to follow. "Learn of Me, for I am
meek, .and lowly of heart."
And, lastly, as our Lord's Person is the Sacramental Foun-
tain of all holiness, so incorpor.ation with the 'WOKD is mys-
tically .set forth in every portion of this I'salm as the means
26th Day. |Ps. 119.
Ci)C IPsalms.
627
118 Tliiiu liast trodden down all them tliut
depart from Thy .statutes : for they iniagiiie but
deceit.
119 Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the
earth like dross : therefore I love Thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee : and
I am afraid of Thy judgements.
Feci judicium.
IDEAL with the thing that is lawful and
right : O give me not over unto mine
oppressors.
122 Make Thou Thy servant to delight in that
which is good : that the proud do me no wrong. ^
123 Jline eyes are wasted away with looking
for Thy health : and for the word of Thy right-
eousness.
124 O deal with Thy servant according unto
Thy loving mercy ; and teach me Thy statutes.
125 I am Thy servant, O grant me under-
standing : that I may know Thy testimonies.
126 It is time for Thee, Lord, to lay to Thine
hand : for they have destroyed Thy law.
127 For I love Thy commandments : above
gold and precious stone.
128 Therefore hold I straight all Thy com-
mandments : and all false ways I utterly abhor.
Mirabilia.
therefore
THY testimonies are wonderful
doth my soul keep them.
130 When Thy word goeth forth : it giveth
light and understanding unto the simple.
131 I opened my mouth, and drew in my
breath : for my delight was in Thy command-
ments.
132 O look Thou upon me, and be merciful
unto me : as Thou usest to do unto those that
love Thy Name.
133 Order my steps in Thy word : and so
shall no wickedness have dominion over me.
13-4 deliver me from the wrongful dealings
of men : and so shall I keep Thy commandments.
135 Shew the light of Thy countenance upon
Thy servant : and teach me Thy statutes.
136 !Mine eyes gush out with water : because
men keep not Thy law.
•Justus es, Domine.
RIGHTEOUS art Thou, O Lord : and true
is Thy judgement.
138 The testimonies that Thou hast com-
manded : are exceeding righteous and true.
139 My zeal hath even consumed me : because
mine enemies have forgotten Thy words.
140 Thy word is tried to the uttermost ; and
Thy servant loveth it.
141 I am small, and of no reputation : yet do
I not forget Thy commandments.
142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting right-
eousness : and Thy law is the truth.
Sprovisti omnes discedentes a judiciis TuLs :
quia inJMSta cogitatio eorum.
Pr:evaricantes rc]iutavi omnes peccatores terrie :
ideo dilexi testimonia Tua.
Confige timore Tuo carnes meas : a judiciis
enim Tuis timui.
AIN []}].
Feci judicium ct justitiam : non tradas me
calumniantibus me.
Suscipe servum Tuum in bonum : non calum-
nientur me superbi.
Oculi mei defecerunt in salutare Tuum : et in
eloquium justitiiB Tuaj.
Fac cum servo Tuo secundum misericordiam
Tuam : et justificationes Tuas doce me.
Servus Tuus sum ego : da mihi intellectum ut
sciam testimonia Tua.
Tempus faciendi, Domine : dissipaverunt legem
Tuam.
Ideo dilexi niandata Tua : super aurum et
topazion.
Projjterea ad omnia mandata Tua dirigebar :
omnem viam iniquam odio habui.
PE [a].
MIRABILIA testimonia Tua, Domine : ideo
scrutata est ea aniraa mea.
Declaratio sermonum Tuorum illuminat : et
intellectum dat parvulis.
Os meum aperui, et attraxi spiritum : quia
mandata Tua desiderabam.
Aspice in me et miserere mei : secundum judi-
cium diligentium Nomen Tuum.
Gressus meos dirige secundum eloquium Tuum :
ut non dominetur mei omnis injustitia.
Redime me a calumniis hominum : ut custodiani
mandata Tua.
Faciem Tuam illumina super servum Tuum : et
doce me justificationes Tuas.
Exitus aquarum deduxerunt oculi mei : quia
non custodierunt legem Tuam.
TZADDI [vl-
Justus es, Domine : et rectum judicium Tuum.
Mandasti justitiam testimonia Tua : et veri-
tatem Tuam nimis.
Tabescere me fecit zelus mens : quia obliti sunt
verba Tua inimici mei.
lo-nitum eloquium Tuum vehementer : et servus
Tuus dilexit illud.
Adolescentulus sum ego, et contemptus : justi-
ficationes Tuas nou sum oblitus.
Justitia Tua justilia in ceternum : et lex Tua
Veritas.
by which holiness is to be attained. "I am the Vine, ye are
the branches : he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same
1 The ancient Jewish interpreters noted this verse as the only one which
does not contain " Thy word " or an equivalent expression.
bringeth forth much fniit : for severed from Me }'e can do
nothing." [John xv. 5, marg.]
The whole Psalm is, therefore, to be interpreted on one
principle, as setting forth the blessedness of conformity to the
example of our Lord .Testis Christ by the transformation of our
628
QLU Ipsalms.
26th Day. [Ps. 119.J
143 Trouble and heaviness have taken hold
upon me : yet is my delight in Thy command-
ments.
144 The righteousness of Thy testimonies is
everlasting : O grant me understanding, and I
shall live.
Day 26. EVENING PRAYER.
Clamavi in toto corde meo.
I CALL with my whole heart : hear me, O
Lord, I will keep Thy statute.s.
146 Yea, even unto Thee do I call : help me,
and I shall keep Thy testimonies.
147 Early in the morning do I cry unto Thee :
for in Thy word is my trust.
148 !Mine eyes prevent the night-watches :
that I might be occupied in Thy words.
149 Hear my voice, O Loed, according unto
Thy loving-kindness : quicken me according as
Thou art wont.
150 They draw nigh that of malice persecute
me ; and are far from Thy law.
151 Be Thou nigh at hand, Loed : for all
Thy commandments are true.
152 As concerning Thy testimonies, I have
known long since : that Thou hast grounded
them for ever.
Vide humilitatem.
O CONSIDER mine adversity, and deliver
me : for I do not forget Thy law.
154 Aveuge Thou my cause, and deliver me :
quicken me according to Thy word.
155 Health is far from the ungodly : for they
regard not Thy statutes.
156 Great is Thy mercy, O Lord : quicken
me, as Thou art wont.
157 Slany there are that trouble me and perse-
cute me : yet do I not swerve from Thy testi-
monies.
158 It grieveth me when I see the transgres-
sors : because they keep not Thy law.
159 Consider, O Loed, how I love Thy com-
mandments : O quicken me, according to Thy
loving-kindness.
160 Thy word is true from everlasting : all
the judgements of Thy righteousness endure for
evermore.
Principes persecuti sunt.
PRINCES have persecuted me without a
cause : but my heart standeth in awe of
Thy word.
162 I am as glad of Thy word : as one that
findeth great spoils.
163 As for lies, I hate and abhor them : but
Thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day do I jn-aise Thee : be-
cause of Thy righteous judgements.
Tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me : mandata
Tua meditatio mea est.
jEquitas testimonia Tua in sternum : intellec-
tum da mihi et vivam.
KOPH [pi
C1LAMAYI in toto corde ; exaudi me, Domine :
^ justificationes Tuas requiram.
Clamavi ad Te ; salvum me fac : ut custodiam
mandata Tua.
Prseveni in maturitate, et clamavi : quia in
verba Tua supersperavi.
Prsevenerunt oculi mei ad Te diluculo : ut
meditarer eloquia Tua.
Vocem meam audi secundum misericordiam
Tuam, DoMiNE : et secundum judicium Tuum
vivifica me.
Appropinquaverunt persequentes me iniquitati :
a lege autem Tua longe facti sunt.
Prope es tu, Domine : et omnes vice Tuse
Veritas.
Initio cognovi de testimoniis Tuis : quia in
aetemuni fundasti ea.
RESH [l].
Vide humilitatem meam et eripe me : quia
legem Tuam non sum oblitus.
Judica judicium meum et redime me : propter
eloquiuin Tuum ^dvifica me.
Longe a peccatoribus salus : quia justificationes
Tuas non exquisierunt.
Jlisericordiffi Tua; multse, Domine : secundum
judicium Tuum vivifica me.
Multi qui persequuntur me et tribulant me :
a testimoniis Tuis non declinavi.
Vidi prajvaricantes, et tabescebam : quia eloquia
Tua non custodierunt.
Vide cpioniam mandata Tua dilexi, Domine :
in misericordia Tua vivifica me.
Principium verborum Tuorum Veritas : in
seternum omnia judicia justitise Tuae.
SCHIN [£}>].
PRINCIPES persecuti sunt me gratis : et a
verbis Tuis formidavit cor meum.
Ljetabor ego super eloquia Tua : sicut qui
invenit spolia multa.
Tniciuitatem odio habui et abominatus sum :
legem autem Tuam dilexi.
Septies in die laudem dixi Tibi : super judicia
justitise Tua3.
own wills thioHgh sacramental union with Him, THE WORD.
I II many parts tliere seems to be little other coherence between
the separate sections, or even the separate verses of a section ;
but this pervading principle is a ))oijd of unity which makes
it inipcssible to considor the Psalm as a fortuitous collection
of pious thoughts, as some have supposed. At the same time
there does not seem to he any formal division of the Psalm
into separate subjects, and it must be taken as a eontinuous
elaboration of the one idea indicated ; the turning about of a
diamond whose light is refracted througli uumy facets, and
^\■hose brilliant beauty is discerned from whate\er point of
view it is looked at.
This characteristic of tlie 119th Psalm seems to make it un-
necessary to give any exposition of it in further detail. It is
sullieicnt to offer the suggestion tliat the principle indicated
shonM be carefully kept in view in the liturgical use of the
27th Day. [Ps. 120, 121.J
^bt Ipsalms.
629
165 Great is the peace that they have who
love Thy law : and they are not oftemled at it.
16G LoKD, I have looked for 'J'hy saving
health : and done after Thy commandments.
167 My soul hath kept Thy testimonies : and
loved them exceedingly.
168 I have kept Thy commandments and
testimonies : for all my ways are before Thoe.
Appropiuquct deprecatio.
IET my complaint come before Thee, Lord :
■^ give me understanding, according to Thy
word.
170 Let my supplication come before Thee :
deliver me, according to Thy word.
171 My lips shall speak of Thy praise : when
Thou hast taught me Thy statutes.
172 Yea, my tongue shall sing of Thy word :
for all Thy commandments are righteous.
173 Let Thine hand help me : for I have
chosen Thy commandments.
174 I have longed for Thy saving health, O
Lord : and in Thy law is my delight.
175 O let my soul live, and it shall praise
Thee : and Thy judgements shall help me.
176 I have gone astray like a sheep that is
lost : O seek Thy servant, for I do not forget Thy
commandments.
Day 27. MORNING PRAYER.
THE CXX. PSALM.
Ad Dominum.
"TTTHEN I was in trouble I called upon the
VV Lord : and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips :
and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What reward shall be given or done unto
thee, thou false tongue : even mighty and sharp
arrows, with hot burning coals.
4 Wo is me, that I am constrained to dwell
with Mesech : and to have my habitation among
the tents of Kedar.
5 My soul hath long dwelt among them : that
are enemies unto peace.
6 1 labour for peace, but when I speak unto
them thereof : they make them ready to battle.
THE CXXI. PSALM.
Levavi oculos.
I WILL lift XTp mine eyes unto the hills : from
whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh even from the Lord : Who
hath made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved :
and He that keepeth thee will not sleeji.
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel : shall
neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord Himself is thy keeper : the Lord
is thy defence upon thy right hand ;
cx.x.
Hi^l I'salm of De-
RTL-U^. I.
Ul„rg. S. g. W-
Monaay, Maumly
Tliursd.. Good Fri-
day, Vespers, Com-
mendation of Souls,
Vigils of the de-
parted.
C.XXl,
Hisl. Psalm of De
yrees, II.
iiVioy, S. JB, It),
Monday \'espers.
Vigils of the de
parted, Purifica,
tion of Women,
B, \*. M,, Tierce,
Pax multa diligentibus legem Tuam : et non
est illis scandalum.
Exspectabam salutare Tuum, Domine : et man-
data Tua dilexi.
Custodivit aninia mea testimonia Tua : et
dilexit ca veheiuenter.
Servavi mandata Tua et testimonia Tua : quia
omnes viie meai in conspoctu Tuo.
TAU [n].
Appropinquet deprecatio mea in conspectu Tuo,
Domine : ju.xta eloquium Tuum da mihi inteUec-
tum.
Intret postulatio mea in consijectu Tuo : secun-
dum eloquium Tuum eripe me.
Eructabunt labia mea hymnum : cum docueris
me justificationes Tuas.
Pronuntiabit lingua mea eloquium Tuum :
quia omnia mandata Tua aaquita.?.
Fiat manus Tua ut salvet me : quoniam man-
data Tua elegi.
Concupivi salutare Tuum, Domine : et lex Tua
meditatio mea est.
Vivet anima mea et laudabit Te : et judicia
Tua adjuvabiint me.
Erravi sicut ovis quie periit : quaere servum
Tuum, quia mandata Tua non sum oblitus.
PSALMUS CXIX.
AD Dominum cum tribularer clamavi : et
-^-J- exaudivit me.
Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis :
et a lingua dolosa.
Quid detur tibi, aut quid a])ponatur tibi : ad
linguam dolosam?
Sagittaj potentis acutae : cum carbonibus de-
solatoriis.
Heu mihi, quia incolatus mens prolongatus est;
habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar : multum incola
fuit anima mea.
Cum his cjui oderunt pacem eram pacificus :
cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.
PSALMUS OXX.
I EVA VI oculos meos in montes ; unde veniet
■^ auxilium mihi.
Auxilium meum a Domino ; Qui fecit ccelum
et terram.
Non det in commotionem pedem tuum : neque
dormitet Qui custodit te.
Ecce non dormitabit neque dormiet : Qui cus-
todit Israel.
Dominus custodit te, Dominus protectio tua :
super manum dexteram tuam.
PsaUn, and that a mind imbued with pervading reverence for
our Lord's Person and Example can hardly apply that prin-
ciple in too minute detail.
THE PSALMS OF DEC4REES.
CXX— CXXXIV.
These lifteen Psalms have been so called from very distant
times, perhaps from the time when they were originally com-
posed. They have also been named ' ' Psalmi communes " and
" Psalmi pcenitentiales," but these names have been less gene-
rally recognized than the other.
Several explanations have been given of the title " Songs of
Degrees." Some have supposed that it indicated Psalms
which were to be sung by the Lcvites uith a high voice
[2 Chron. xx. 19] ; others that they were Psalms of special
excellency, as persons are sometimes said to be of " high
6;o
Ci)C ll?saliiv£
27th Day. [Ps. 122, 123.J
G So that the sun shall not burn thee by day :
neither the moon by uight.
7 The LoKD shall preserve thee from all evil :
yea, it ia even He that shall keep thy soul.
8 The LoED shall preserve thy going out, and
thy coming in : from this time forth for ever-
more.
THE C'XXII. PSALM.
Lsetatus sum.
I WAS glad when they said unto me : We will
go into the house of the Loed.
2 Our feet shall stand in thy gates : Jeru-
salem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city : that is at unity
in itself.
4 For thither the tribes go up, even the tribes
of the Loed : to testify unto Israel, to give
thanks unto the Name of the Loed.
5 For there is the seat of judgement : even the
seat of the house of David.
6 O pray for the peace of Jerusalem : they
shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls : and plenteous-
ness within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes : I
will wish thee prosperity.
9 Yea, because of the house of the Loed our
God : I wUl seek to do thee good.
THE CXXIII. PSALM.
Ad Te levari oculos meos.
TTNTO Thee lift I up mine eyes : O Thou
LJ that dwellest in the heavens.
cxxn.
m^t. David; Psalm
of Degrees. H].
LHurs- £ B.- S-
Tuesday, Dedic. of
Church, \'espcrs.
B. V. M., Name of
Jesus, ist Vespers.
neque luna per
custodiat
cxxin.
Hiil. Psalm of De-
grees, IV.
Luuri'. *. s. n
Tuesday Vespers.
B. V. M.. ist Ves-
pers and Sexts.
Per diem sol non uret te
noctem.
DoMiNUS custodit te ab omni malo
animam tuam Dominus.
DoMixu-s custodiat introitum tuuui et exituin
tuum : ex hoc nunc et usque in speculum.
PSALMUS CXXI.
IyETATUS sum in his quie dicta sunt mihi : in
^ domum Domini ibimus.
Stantes erant pedes nostri : in atriis tuia Hieru-
salem.
Hierusalem quae aedificatur ut civitas ; cujus
participatio ejus in idipsum :
lUuc euim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini :
testimonium Israel, ad confitendum Nomini Do-
mini.
Quia illic sederunt sedes in judicio : sedes
super domum David.
Eogate quae ad pacem sunt Hierusalem : et
abundant ia diligentibus te.
Fiat pax in virtute tua : et abundantia in tur-
ribus tuis.
Propter fratres meos et proximos meos : loque-
bar pacem de te :
Propter domum Domini Dei nostri quaesivi
bona tibi.
A"
PSALMUS CXXII.
D Te levavi oiulos meos : Qui habitas in
ccelis
liegree " [1 Chron. xvii. 17]; others again that they were
Psalms composed to be sung at the ' ' going up " of the banished
tribes from Babylon to Judsa ; others that they were in-
tended to be used by the people when ' ' going up " to the feasts
at Jerusalem. The most generally received explanation of
the title is, however, that it marks processional Psalms which
were sung during the ascent of the tifteen steps which led up
to the Temple. [Comi,. Ezek. xl. •22-34.] The first of these
Psalms is entitled in the Chaldee, " A Song for the goings up
out of the deep,"' a superscription which is consistent with
either of the two latter theories. They were probably VTitten
by David as part of that preparation which he made for the
building of the Temple, and for the Divine Service to be
canned on there : and although he himself was not permitted
to lay a single stone, he thus in prophetic \'ision beheld the
choirs of the House of Ood going up in procession to then-
work of praise. All of them bear the appearance of being
^vritten originally for use in tlic Temple Service, containing
its they do such frequent references to Zion and Jerusalem,
the Temple of tlie Lord, and the habitation of the mighty God
of Jacob, references which, in a ( Inistian sense, must be under-
stood to apply to the Church of Christ. In that sense we may
thus take tlie "Songs of Degrees" as hymns relating to the
progress of Christ's mystical Body through the succes.^ive
stages of its pilgrimage and ascent towards its heavenly glory
and rest.
PSALM CXX.
This opening Psalm of the series represents Cln-ist in the
time of Hia sojourning on earth, and the Church in the time
of her warfare, lamenting the wickedness of those who refuse
the "peace of Goil whiuh passeth all understanding," and are
ever ready to contend agamst Him Who would lead them to
the true Salem.
It is, therefore, the Voice of Christ's mystical Body dwcll-
* This title has been associ:ited wifli nn ancient Chftldec tr.idition that
after the Captivity a. flood poured fnith from the eaith wliicli re.'i<hed to
the lieight of llfteen culiit-*t, ttirr-ntening to ovcrwhchn tljc whole areii of the
Temple, and that its destructive progi-ess was stayed by writing tlie in-
cfTahle Name upon each of the uteps.
ing in exile from the Presence of God, and can-j'ing on her
conflict witli the great Enemy. The Church, passing through
the wilderness of this world, has often had to say, '• We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; we are perplexed,
but not in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast down,
but not destroyed." [2 Cor. iv. 8, 9.] But, looking forward
and upward to the end of her pilgrimage, she beholds the place
of God's Presence there, and says also, "AVe look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen :
for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things
wliich are not seen are eternal." " When I was in trouble, I
called upon the Lord, and He heard me."
PSALM CXXL
Thus in her pilgi-image the Cliurch lifts up her eyes to look
upon "the Holy City, New Jerusalem," whose foimdations
are in the holy hills, beholding her joy from afar. Yet is she
ever drawhig nearer and nearer to the lielp which cometh from
the Lord : to the time when ' ' God shall wipe away all tears from
tlieir eyes ; and tliere shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither sliall there be any nioie pain : for the
former things are passed away." [Rev. xxi. 4,]
And even the prospect of God's glory on the distant ever
lasting hills gives strengtli to the faith whicli recognizes His
protecting Presence in the Churcli during tlie time of warfare
and pilgrimage. So the promise is remembered that "none
shall stumble or fall " who lean upon the strength of Israel,
and that He has said that not even the gates of Hell shall pre-
vail .against His Church. As the Presence of the Lord was
manifested upon the tabeniaole in its journoyings through the
wilderness, so is it given to tlie t'huich in her pilgrimage, and
the word is already fulfilled : "My Righteousness shall go before
thee: theglory of tlieLord sh.-ill liethy rereward .... and the
Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul iiulrought,
and make fat thy bones : and thou shalt be like a watered
garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."
PSALM CXXII.
The New Jerusalem is here set forth as being the treasury
27th Day. [Ps. 124, 125.]
Cf)e Psalms.
631
2 Behold, even as the eyes of servants look
unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes
of a maiden unto tlie hand of her mistress : even
so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until
He have mercy U[)on us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy
upon us : for we are utterly despised.
4 Our soul is tilled with the scornful reproof
of the "wealthy : and with the despitefulness of
the proud.
THE CXXIV. PSALM.
Nisi quia Dominus.
IF the Lord Himself had not been on our side,
now may Israel say : if the Lord Himself
had not been on our side, when men rose up
against us ;
2 They had swallowed us up quick : when
they were so wrathfully displeased at us.
3 Yea, the waters had drowned us : and the
stream had gone over our soul.
4 The deep waters of the proud : had gone
even over our soul.
5 But praised be the Lord : Who hath not
given us over for a prey unto their teeth.
6 Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of
the snare of the fowler : the snare is broken, and
we are delivered.
7 Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord :
Who hath made heaven and earth.
THE CXXV. PSALM.
Qui confidunt.
THEY that put their trust in the Lord shall
be even as the mount Sioii : which may
not be removed, but standeth fast for ever.
The prosjjur.
cxxiy.
Hist. David : Psaim
of Degrees. V,
Liluyg. ». 1. ?).
Tuesday Vespers.
B. v. M., ist Ves-
pers and Sexts.
Ecce sicut oculi servorum : in manibus domi-
norum suorum.
Sicut oculi ancilUe in manibus domina; suae :
ita oculi nostri ad Dominum L)eum nostrum,
donee inisoreatur nostri.
Miserere nostri, Do.mink, miserere nostri : quia
multuni repleti sumus despectione :
Quia multum repleta est aniina nostra, oppro-
brium abundantibus : et despectio superbis.
PSALMUS CXXIIL
"IVriSI quia Dominus erat in nobis, dicat nunc
J- 1 Israel : nisi quia Domikus erat in nobis :
CXXV.
Hist. Ps.ilni of De-
grees, VI.
LUuyg. ». S. IE).
Tuesday Ves]iers,
B. V. M.. 1st Ves-
pers and Sexts.
Cum exsurgerent homines in uos
deglutissent nos ;
forte vivos
Cum irasceretur furor eorum in nos : forsitan
aqua absorbuisset nos.
Torrentem pertransivit aninia nostra : forsitan
pertransisset anima nostra aquam intolerabilem.
Benedictus Dominus, Qui non dedit nos : in
captionem dentibus eorum.
Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est : de
laqueo venantium :
Laqueus contritus est : et nos liberati sumus.
Adjutorium nostrum in Nomine Domini : Qui
fecit coelum et terram.
PSALMUS CXXIV.
QUI confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion :
non commovebitur in ceternum cjui habitat
in Hierusalem.
of Christ's peace and unity, according to our Lord's words,
" My peace I leave with you," and His final prayer, "That
they all may be one." The unity of the Church is symbolized
in the Book of Revelation by the figure of a city built four-
square, "having twelve foundations, aud in them the names
of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb." And the association of
this unity with peace is elaborated by St. Paul when he writes
to the Ephesiaus that they should walk worthy of the voca-
tion with which they are called, " endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." "For," he adds,
" there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in
one hope of your calling ; One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all,
and in you all. " And, showing this unity of peace to be in
Christ, he shows also that it is maintained by Apostolic order :
" And He gave some apostles ; and some prophets ; and some
evangelists ; and some pastors and teachers ; for the perfect-
ing of the samts, for the work of the ministry, for the building
up of the Body of Clu-ist ; till we all come, in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of Cod, unto a perfect
Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fuhiess of Christ."
From the Church of Christ, therefore, proceeds the peace
which Christ left for His people, the " peace which passeth
all understanding." Because His Throne is within its walls,
it is a City which is at unity with itself in respect to the essen-
tials of grace, however diverse its gates in the sight of men.
Whatever may seem the outward divisions of tlie one Catholic
and Apostolic Cliurcli, there is a sacramental unity which
must bind together all its parts so long as they are united to
the Head. And hence even already the words of the prophet
are fulfilled in their degree, thoiigh hereafter to receive a more
complete fulfilment : " And many people shall go and say.
Come ye, aud let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob : and He will teach us of His ways,
and we will walk in His paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth
the law, and the word of the Lord from .Jerusalem . And Ho
shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people :
and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their
spears into pruning-hooks : nation shall not lift up sword
agamst nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
PSALM CXXIIL
This is a prayer of the Church for times of trouble during
her pilgrimage. The way of that pilgrimage is not one of un-
impeded progress, for the sin of men brings down the displea-
sure of God even upon His Holy City, and the Evil One is
permitted to bring desolation upon it, so that even "the rem-
nant that are left of the Captivity .... are in great afflic-
tion and reproach : the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down,
and the gates thereof are burned with fire." Then her faith-
ful prayer goes up to the Throne of God to undo the work of
her faithless children, memorializing Him that "they are Thy
people and Thine inheritance, which Thou broughtest out by
Thy mighty power, and Thy stretched-out arm." [Dent. ix.
29.]
PSALM CXXIV.
This is a thanksgiving, corresponding to the prayer of the
preceding Psalm, acknowledging that it is God's arm which
has delivered His Church in all time of trouble, and that but
for His protecting Providence it could never continue from
age to age in the face of opposition from Satan and the world.
"When the Enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of
the Lord shall lift up a Standard against him. .And the Re-
deemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from
transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord." [Isa. li.x. 19, 20.]
PSALM CXXV.
This is another hymn concerning the Lord's protection aud
care of His Church in the midst of the danger's to which it is
subject froin foes. It is a House built upon a rock, even the
Rock of Christ's Person, and thoush the winds anr) .«:torms of
Cbc lpsalm0.
27th Day. [Ps. 126, 127.]
2 The liills stand about Jerusalem : eveu so
standeth the Lokd round about His people, from
this time forth for evermore.
3 For the rod of the ungodly cometh not into
the lot of the righteous : lest the righteous put
their hand unto ■wickeduess.
-t Do well, O LoED : unto those that are good
and true of heart.
5. As for such as turn back unto their own
wickedness : the Lord shall lead them forth vi-ith
the evil-doers ; but peace shall be upon Israel.
Day 27. EvKNING PRAYER.
THE CXX^^. PSALM.
In convertendo.
"TTTHEN the Lord turned again the captivity
VV of Sion : then were v.-& like unto them
that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter :
and our tongue with joy.
3 Then said they among the heathen : The
Lord hath done great things for them.
4 Yea, the Lord hath done great things for ua
already : whereof we rejoice.
5 Turn our captivity, Lord : as the rivers
in the south.
6 They that sow in tears : shall reap in joy.
7 He that now goeth on his way weeping, and
beareth forth good seed : shall doubtless come
again with joy, and bring Lis sheaves with him.
THE CXXVII. PSALM.
Nisi Dominus.
EXCEPT the Lord build the house : their
labour is but lost that build it.
2 Except the Lord keep the city : the watch-
man waketh but in vain.
3 It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up
early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of
carefulness : for so He giveth His beloved sleep.
4 "Lo, children and the fruit of the womb ; are
an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.
cxxvi.
Niif. Psalm of De-
grees, V'll.
Litursr- &■ S- S-
Tuesday. Apostles
and Evangelists.
Vespers. B. V. M.,
1st \'espers ancl
Nones.
CXXVII.
Hist. Psalm of De-
grees. VIII.
LUtirg. Churching
of Women. S. ^-
^. Wednesday.
Dedic. of Churcli,
\'espers, B- V. M.,
Nones.
a Isa. 8. i8. Gal. 4.
s8- Gen. 18. 10-
I Sam. I. 5, 19.
Luke 1. 6, 13.
ilontes in circuitu ejus, et DoMixus in circuitu
populi Sui : ex hoc nunc, et usque in sa;culum.
Quia non reliuquet Dominus virgam peccato-
rum super sortem justorum ; ut non extendant
justi ad iniquitatem manus suas.
Benefac, Domine : bonis et rectis corde.
DecUuantes autem in obUgationes, adducet
Dominus cum operantibus iniquitatem : pax
super Israel.
PSALMUS CXXV.
IN convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion ;
facti sumus sicut consolatL
Tunc repletum est gaudio os nostrum : et
lingua nostra essultatione.
Tunc dicent inter gentes : Maguificavit Do-
minus facere cum eis.
Maguificavit Dominus facere nobiscum : facti
sumus Iffitantes.
Convertere, Domine, captivitatem nostram :
sicut torrens in Austro.
Qui seminant in lachrymis : in exsultatione
metent.
Euntes ibant et flebant : mittentes semina sua.
Venientes autem venieut ciun exsultatione :
portantes mauipulos suos.
PSALMUS CXXVI.
~V]~ISI Dominus asdificaverit domum : in vanum
-L^ laboravenmt qui .edificant eani.
Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem : frustra
vigilat qui custodit earn.
Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere : surgite
postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.
Cum dederit dilectis Suis somnum : ecce,
hiereditas Domini filii ; merces f ructus ventris.
persecution may beat against it, it uauuot fall, nor cau the
gates of HeH prevail against it, Ijecause it is thus securely
founded. It is a Vineyard in a very fruitful liill, wliich the
Lord has fenced about with His Providence as Jerusalem was
surrounded by its fortress mountains. And though His Church
is in the midst of many and great dangers through the strength
of the foe without and the weakness of those within, yet He
will never suffer it to be overcome by the enemy ; " I pray
not that Thou shouldcst take them out of the world, but that
Thou shouldest keep them fnjm the evil. " [.John xvii. 1.").]
He permittetl Satan to stretch forth ids hantl on .Tob, but there
was a restriction laiil upon him, ".Save his life;" and the
effect of this limitation 01 the " rod of the ungodly " was that
"in all this .Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
Thus does the Lord fulfil His promise to His Church : "When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and
through the floods, they shall not overflow thee : when thou
walkcst through the tire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." [Isa. xliii. 2.]
PSALM CXX\^.
This prophecy of Israel's return from the Babylonish Cap-
tivity, is also a prediction of the T^ord's final reception of His
(.)hurch out of its captivity in this w(jrUl to its glory in Heaven :
and hence it is a hymn based on the constant prayer of the
Church, "Thy Kingdom come." When that time anivcs,
the living shall be like those that have already been in the
state of rest, " and we which are alive, and remain unto the
coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep
.... the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are
alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the
Lord." [1 Thess. iv. 15, 17.] The redeemed will sing of the
great things that tlie Lord had done for them, "(ircat and
marvellous are Thy works, Lord (iod Almighty :" "the ran-
somed of the Lord .shall return, and come to Zion with songs,
and everlasting joy upon their heads : tlicy shall obtain joy
and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall ficc away. " The
bread which Christ the Sower hath cast upon the waters shall
then be found after many days, and the full blessing revealed
of them that sow beside all waters, in the joy with which He
shall gather in His harvest. "And I looked, and behold a
white cloud, and upon the clouil One sat like unto the Son of
Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a
sharp sickle .... and He that sat on the cloud thrust in
His sickle on the earth ; and the earth was reaped."
PSALM CXXVII.
The building of the Temple by Solomon, the rebuilding of
the wall of .Tenisalcin by Nehemiah, ami of the ruined House
of the Lord by Zcrubbabel, were all typical of the foundation
27th Day. [Ps. 128, 129. J
€l)t Psalms.
633
5 Like as the arrows in the hand of the giiiiit ;
even so are the young children.
6 H.ajipy is the man that Imth iiis quiver fuU
of them : they shall not be ashamed when they
speak with their enemies in the gate.
THE CXXVIII. PSALM.
Beati omnes.
BLESSED are all they that fear the Lord :
and walk in His ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labour.s of thine
hands : O well i.s thee, and happy shalt thou be.
3 Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine : upon
the walls of thine house.
4 Thy children like the olive-branches : round
about thy table.
5 Lo, thus shall the man be blessed : that
feareth the Lord.
6 The Lord from out of Sion shall so Isless
thee : that thou shalt see Jerusalem in prosperity
all thy life long.
7 Yea, that thou shalt see thy children's chil-
dren : and peace upon Israel.
THE CXXIX. PSALM.
Saepe expugnavenuit.
MANY a time have they fought against me
from my youth up : may Israel now say.
2 Yea, many a time have they vexed me from
my youth up : but they have not prevailed against
me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back : and
made long furrows.
4 But the righteous Lord : hath hewn the
snares of the ungodly in pieces.
5 Let them be confounded and turned back-
ward : as many as have evil will at Sion.
6 Let them be even as the grass growing upon
the house-tops : which withereth afore it be
plucked up ;
cx.xvni.
/Jtse. I'saliu of Dc-
KKcs. IX.
LilHrff. Holy Matri-
..™,v. s. g. Hi.
Wcuncstlay Vcs.
pers. Holy Matri-
mony. Purification
ofWomen. B.V.M.,
Nones. Corp. Chr.,
1st Vespers.
CXXIX.
Jltit, Psalm of De-
grees, X.
Lilurg. S>. g. It).
Wednesday Ves-
pers. B. v. M.,
Compline.
Sicut sagittas in inanu potentis : ita filii excus-
sorum.
Beatus vir qui implevit desiderium suum ex
ipsis : non confundetur cum loquetur iuimicis
suis in porta.
PSALMUS CXXVII.
BEATI omnes qui timent Dominum : qui
ambulant in viis Ejus.
Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis :
beatus es, et bene tibi erit.
Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans : in lateribus
domus tUcB.
Filii tui sicut noveU;u olivarum : in circuitu
mensa3 tuaj.
Ecce, sic benedicetur homo : qui timet Domi-
num.
Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion : et videas
bona Hierusalem omnibus diebu.s vitie tuie.
Et videas filios filiorum tuorum : pacem super
Israel.
PSALMUS CXXVIII.
S./EPE expugnaverunt me a juventute mea :
dicat nunc Israel.
Sffipe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea :
etenim non potuerunt mihi.
Supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores :
prolongaverunt iniquitatem suam.
DoJiiNiTs Justus concidet cervices peccatorum :
confundantur et convertantur retrorsum omnes
qui oderunt Sion.
Fiant sicut famum tectorum
eveUatur exaruit.
quod priusquam
and building of the City of God, whose walls are Salvation,
and her gates Praise. It was predicted respecting this ' ' new-
house " that "The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,
and their kings shall mmister unto thee .... the glory of
Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the jiine-tree, and
the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary, and
I will make the place of My feet glorious." [Isa. Ix. 11, 1.3.]
But it was the sleep of the Beloved by which the Lord built
the house, and by which He keeps the City. For as when
Adam slept Eve was taken out of his side, so when the Second
Adam fell asleep on the Cross there proceeded forth from His
side the Sacramental streams by which the children who are
the Lord's heiitage and gift are new born to Him and nourished
lip to eternal life.
It is these children who are as arrows in the hand of the
Bridegroom, rejoicing as a giant to run His course : and He is
the Man Whose happiness it is to .say, ' ' Behold I and the
children whom the Lord hath given Me :" because, also, He is
their Strength, they shall liave " boldness in the Day of jmlge-
inent " when the great Enemy shall be their accuser before
the Throne.'
I'SALM CXXVIII.
Uespecting this Psalm also the words of St. Paul may be
put into the mouth of the Psalmist, ' ' I speak concerning
Christ and His Church." The figure of marriage is one con-
stantly used in a mystical sense of the union which God
establishes between Himself and His people. So He said of
old, " Thy Maker is thy Husband : " so also when all things
' The "giite" in the last verse may be :ui antitype of both the "gate of
death "and the gate in whieh the king sat to judge the jieoplc's causes.
S« 2 Sam. XV. 2 : .ti.';. S.
arc made new the Apocalyptic vision of the glorified Chiu-ch is
of one "prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband," of
whom the angel said, "Come hither, I will shew thee the
Bride, the Lamb's Wife." [Rev. xxi. 1, 9.]
Thus this Psalm is to be taken, in its highest aspect, as
spoken of Christ, "the Man" so often pronounced to be
" blessed " throughout the wliole Book of Psalms. The
" labours of Thine hands ' are those marvellous works for
which the s.iints praise the Kmgof Saints [Rev. xv. 3] : "Thy
wife" is the Bride of Christ, made one with Himself "the
true Vme," which has become the Tree of Life beside His
House on earth : "Thy children " are they who have become
the children of God through their regeneration. [1 Pet. i. 3 ;
1 .lohn V. 1.] "Let us be glad, and rejoice, and give honour
to Him ; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His AVife
hath made herself ready. "
PSALM CXXIX.
From her youth up to her later ages the world and Satan
have fought against tlie Church, and vexed her and made her
to "till up that w-hich is beliind of the afflictions of Christ."
[Col. i. 24.] As " He gave His Ixack to the smiters " and was
" wounded for our transgressions " by the scourging which
He suffered in the hall of Pilate, so the persecutions wliich
fell upon the Church in its youth were as the torture of plowers
lilowing upon His mystical Body, and making long furrow's
with the scourge of wicked tyranny. [Comp. Acts ix. 4, 5.]
Active persecution of this kind is but one phase of that con-
tinuous opposition to the work of Christ and His Church
which the Apostle speaks of as "crucifying the Son of God
afresh." It will never cease until the warfare of the Church
634
Cbe Ipsalms.
28th Day. [Ps. 130—132.]
7 Whereof the mower fiUeth not liis hand :
neither he that bindeth up the sheaves his bosom.
8 "So that they who go by say not so much as,
The LoED prosper you : we wish you good luck
in the Name of the Lord.
THE CXXX. PSALM.
De profundis.
OUT of the deep have I called unto Thee, O
Lord : Lord, hear my voice.
2 let Thine ears consider well : the voice of
my complaint.
3 If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark
what is done amiss : O Lord, who may abide it ?
4 For there is mercy with Thee : therefore
.shalt Thou be feared.
5 I look for the Lord, my soul doth wait for
Him : in His word is my trust.
6 My soul fleeth unto the Lord : before the
morning watch, I say, before the morning watch.
7 O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the
Lord there is mercy : and with Him is plenteous
redemption.
8 And He shall redeem Israel : from all his
THE CXXXI. PSALM.
Domiue, non est.
10KD, I am not high-minded : I have no proud
■i looks.
2 I do not exercise myself in great matters :
which are too high for me.
3 But I refrain my soul, and keep it low, like
as a child that is weaned from his mother : yea,
my soul is even as a weaned child.
4 O Israel, trust in the Lord ; from this time
forth for evermore.
Day 28. MORNING PRAYER.
THE CXXXU. PSALM.
Memento, Domiue.
"TOED, remember David : and all his trouble ;
ij Comfi. Ruth s. 4.
CXXX.
Hist. Psalni of De-
fiees, XI.
iiufg. Ash-Wecl..
Evensong. S. §.
I§- Wednesday,
Christmas. Vespere.
Vigils of the de-
parted.
Penitential Ps. 6.
CXXXI.
Hist. David; Psalm
of Degrees, XII.
Lituyir. S. g. H.
Wednesday Ves-
pers. B. V. M.,
Compline.
C.XXXII.
Hist. Psalm of De.
pees. .XIII.
Liturg. Christmas
Day, Evensong. ,5.
p. 1^. Thursday,
Christmas, Vespers.
De quo non implevit nianum suaui qui metit :
et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit :
Et non dixerunt qui prteteribant, Benedictio
Domini super vos : benediximus vobis in Nomine
Domini.
PSALMUS CXXIX.
DE profundis clamavi ad Te, Domine : Domine,
exaudi vocem meam.
Fiant aures Tuse intendentes : in vocem depre-
cationis meae.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domike : Dojiixe,
quis sustinebit ?
Quia apud Te propitiatio est : et propter legem
Tuam sustinui Te, Domixe.
Sustinuit anima mea in verbo Ejus : speravit
anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad uoctem : speret
Israel in Domino.
Quia apud Dominum misericordia : et copiosa
apud Eum redemptio.
Et Ipse redimet Israel : ex omnibus iniquitati-
bus ejus.
PSALMUS CXXX.
DOMINE, non est exaltatum cor meum :
neque elati sunt oculi mei.
Neque ambulavi in magnis : neque in mira-
bilibus super me.
Si non humiliter sentiebam : sed exaltavi ani-
mam meam.
Sicut ablactatus est sup)er matre sua ; ita retri-
butio in anima mea.
Speret Israel in Domino : ex hoc nunc, et
usque in saeculum.
PSALMUS CXXXI.
MEMENTO, Domine, David :
suetudinis ejus.
et omnis man-
is ended, Satau defeated, and all the foes of Christ made His
footstool. But as the Lord Himself suffered the plowers to
plow upon His back that His Sufferings might work the sal-
vation of men, so the persecutions which fall upon the Church
are for her purification. At the last He will make manifest
His good Providence in this, and say to the enemies of the
new as He did to those of the ancient Israel, "Hast thou
not heard long ago how I have done it ; and of ancient times
that I have formed it : now have I brought it to pass that
thou shouldest be to lay dcfeiiced cities into i-uinous heaps
.... I will turn thee back by the way by which thou
earnest."
PSALM CXXX.
This is the sixth of the Penitential Psalms, and has also
been associated time immemorial with the mourning and
watching of survivors over their departcil brethren. It bears
much similarity to the ))rayer of Joiiali, which begins, " 1
cried by reason of mine afllicticui unto the Lord, and He lieard
me : out of the belly of hell cried I, and Thou hcardcst my
voice." And as our Lord Himself declared that the prophet
tJonah was a sign or type of Him so clear as to be evident even
to that wicketi generation which rejected Him, wo have, in
this coincidence of the prayer and the I'salm, an evidence th.at
the latter is to be understood, like the other Penitential
Psalms, as the words of Christ taking our sins upon Him, and
offering up a vicarious penitence, by participation in the ful-
ness of which by His lirethren their imperfect penitence is
made acceptable to (Jod.
'I'his Psalm expresses, however, the cry of the penitent in
the state of the departed, rather than that of the sinner in the
day of probation. As Jonah from his living grave, as Christ
from His Cross, so the sinner from his place in the intermedi-
ate state calls "out of the deep " upon the mercy of (iod,
pleads tlie impossibility of salvation if full justice is poured
out upon his sins, memorializes God of His mercy through
Christ, and lifts up the aspiration of his soul to flee unto the
Lord "very early in the " resurrection " morning."
Thus this I'salm finds a proper Antiphon in the words of the
jirophets Nahum and Zecliariah. "Who can stand before
His iniliguation, and who can abide in the fierceness of His
.■mger ? Hia fury is pourcii out like fire, and the rocks are
thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold in
the day of trouble ; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."
"Turn you to tlie strongliold, ye prisoners of hope." [Zech.
ix. 12.]
P.'^ALM CXXXL
This is the Voice of Him AVho, esteeming it no robbery to
lie even equal with Cod, yet took upon Him the form of a
28th Day. [Ps. 132.]
Clje ipsalnis.
63:
2 Ho\\- lie .sware unto the Lord : and vowed a
vow unto the Almighty God of Jacob ;
3 I will not coiiio within the tabernacle of
mine house : nor climb up into my bed ;
4 I vi'ill not suffer mine eyes to sleep, nor mine
eye-lids to slumber : nnllur the temples of my
head to take any rest ;
5 Until I find out a place for the temple of
the Lord : an habitation for the mighty God of
Jacob.
6 Lo, we heard of the same at Ephrata : and
found it in the wood.
7 We will go into His tabernacle : and fall low
on our knees before His footstool.
8 Arise, Lord, into Thy resting-place : TIjou,
and the ark of Thy strength.
9 "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteous-
ness : and let Thy saints sing with joyfulness.
10 For Thy servant David's sake : turn not
away the presence of Thine Anointed.
11 The Lord hath made a faithful oath unto
David : and He shall not shrink from it ;
12 Of the fruit of thy body : shall I set upon
thy seat.
13 If thy children will keep Jly covenant, and
My testimonies that I shall learn them : their
children also shall sit upon thy seat for evermore.
14 For the Lord hath chosen Sion to be an
habitation for Himself : He hath longed for
her.
15 This shall be My rest for ever : here -wiM I
dwell, for I have a delight therein.
16 I will bless her victuals with increase : and
will satisfy her poor with bread.
17 1 will deck her priests with health : and
her saints shall rejoice and sing.
18 There shall I make the horn of David to
flourish : I have ordained a lantern for Mine
Anointed.
19 As for his enemies, I shall clothe them
with shame : but upon himself shall his crown
flourish.
a M.ittiils and Hvcil.
Sony Suffrages.
Sicut juravit Domino : votum vovit Duo
Jacob :
Si introiero in tabernaculum domus mese : si
ascendero in loctum strati mei :
Si dedero somnum ocuLLs meis : et palpebris
meis dormitationem ;
Et requiem temporibus meis, donee inveniam
locum Domino : tabernaculum Deo Jacob.
Ecce, audivimus earn in Ephrata : invenimus
eam in campis silva3.
Introibimus in tabernaculum Ejus : adorabimus
in loco ubi steterunt pedes Ejus.
Surge, Domine, in requiem Tuani : tu et area
sanctificationis Tua.'.
Sacerdotes Tui induantur justitiam : et sancti
Tui exsultent.
Propter David servum Tuum : non avertas
faciem Christi Tui.
Juravit Dominus David veritatem, et non
frustrabitur eam : de fructu ventris tui ponam
.super sedem tuam.
Si custodierint filii tui testamentum Meum :
et testimonia Mea base quse docebo eos :
Et filii eorum usque in seeculum : sedebunt
super sedem tuam.
Quoniam elegit Dominus Sion : elegit eam in
habitationem Sibi.
Hsec requies Mea in saeculum sasculi : hie
habitabo ; quoniam elegi eam.
Viduam ejus benedicens benedicam : pauperes
ejus saturabo panibus.
Sacerdotes ejus induam salutari : et sancti ejus
exsultatione exsultabunt.
Illuc producam cornu David : paravi lucernam
Christo Meo.
Inimicos ejus induam confusione : super ipsuni
autem efflorebit sanctificatio Mea.
servant, veiltd His Divine glory iu a tabernacle of flesh, and
came into the world in the likeness of sinful men. Such was
our Lord, and such was the Example which He set forth,
"Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." On more
than one occasion the people desired to take the holy Jesus
and set Him up for their King, but His ordinary practice on
such occasions was to go apart from the nmltitude, as not
exercising Himself in great matters ; and only once, immedi-
ately before His Sufterings, did He permit Himself to be led
in triumph. Thus His holy Example illustrated the benedic-
tion whicli He uttered, " Blessed are the meek : for thej' shall
inherit the earth." [Matt. v. 5.] And as our Lord, in the
Psalms, mostly speaks in the Person of His mystical Body, so
here we may doubtless see both example aud precept teaching
us that the Church should ever be kept apart from schemes of
secular ambition, and " exercised " only iu such matters as are
connected with her spiritual work.
PSALM CXXXII.
AVhen David sang respecting the vow which he had made
to God to build Him a house [vv. l-ld], and respecting God's
promise to him as to the firm establishment of his seed in Siou
[w. 11-19], he was mystically indicatiug [1] the Son of David
tabernacling among men in the flesh that He might find out a
place for the spiritual Temple, and [2] the promises of God
made to His children for the sake of His Beloved Son. "But
thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto
Jle that is to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been
from of old, from the days of eternity." [Mic. v. 2; Matt,
ii 6.]
In this Psalm God is therefore memorialized of the "good
pleasure " which the Son of God " hath purposed in Himself,"
and of "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ
.Jesus," that the Word should become flesh and dwell among
us, and that "the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion,
and in Jei-usalem, and before His ancients, gloriously." "He
has chosen for a rest," says St. Hilary, " those of «hom the
Lord says in the Gospel, ' No man can come to Me, except the
Father Which hath sent Me draw him.' He has chosen that
holy Zion, that heavenly Jerusalem, to wit, the harmonious
company of the faithful, and the souls hallowed by the sacra-
ments of the Church, to the end that in them, as in a reason-
able and intelligent habitation, thoroughly cleansed, and
eternal through tlie glory of the Resurrection, the reasonable
and intelligent, aud uudefiled, and eternal nature of His in-
effable Divinity may rest."
DwelUng in His Church here, Christ thus reigns in His
chosen liabitation, blessing her corn and wine with sacramental
increase, that they may satisfy lier poor with the Bread of Life.
There does God make the horn of the Son of David to flourish,
and there He has ordained a City set on an hill to be a lantern
for His Christ. Hereafter all things will be put under His
feet, and His enemies shall be clothed with shame when they
see the crown of thorns blossoming into the corona radiala of
an Imperial glory, the sign of just judgement, and of everlast-
ing domminn.
636
Cbc IPsalms.
28th Day. (Ps. 133— 135. J
THE CXXXIII. PSALM.
Ecce, quam bouum.
BEHOLD, how good and joj-ful a thing it is :
brethren, to dwell together in unity.
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the
head, that ran down unto the beard : even unto
Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirts of
his clothing.
3 Like as the dew of Hermon : which fell
upon the hiU of Sion.
i For there the Lord promised His blessing ;
and life for evermore.
THE CXXXn*. PSALM.
Ecce miuc.
BEHOLD now, praise the Loed : all ye ser-
vants of the Lord ;
2 Ye that by night stand in the house of the
Lokd : even in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary : and
praise the Loed.
4 The Lord that made heaven and earth : give
thee blessing out of Sion.
THE CXXXV. PSALM.
Laudate Nomeu.
O PRAISE the Lord, laud ye the Name of
the Lord : praise it, ye servants of the
Lord ;
2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord : in
the courts of the house of our God.
3 O praise the Loed, for the Lord is gracious :
O sing praises unto His Name, for it is lovely.
4 For why 1 the Loed hath chosen Jacob unto
Himself : and Israel for His own jjossession.
5 For I know that the Loed is great : and
that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He
in heaven, and in earth : and in the sea, and in
all deep places.
7 He bringeth forth the clouds from the ends
of the world : and sendeth forth lightnings with
the rain, bringing the winds out of His treasures.
8 He smote the first-born of Egypt : both of
man and beast.
9 He hath sent tokens and wonders into the
midst of thee, O thou land of Egyjit
Pharaoh, and all his servants.
upon
cxxxni.
Hist, David ; Psalm
of Degrees. XIV,
Lilurg. S. S- S-
Tlmrsday Vespers.
CXXXIV.
Htsi. Psalin of De-
grees. XV.
LHuyg. S. B. ID.
Compline. Mauixly
Thursday, Prime.
CXXXV.
Hist. Author and
occasion unknown.
Lifurg: S. ^. |^.
Thursday Vespers.
PSALMUS CXXXIL
"Tj^CCE, quam bonum et quam jucundum :
-L^ habitare fratres in uuum.
Sicut ungueutum in capite : quod descendit in
barbam, barbam Aaron :
Quod descendit m oram vestimenti ejus : siuut
ros Hermon, qui descendit in montem Sion.
Quoniam Olic mandavit Dominus beuedic-
tionem : et vitam usque in sfficulum.
PSALMUS cxxxm.
ECCE, nunc, benedicite Domixum : omnes
servi Domini.
Qui statis in domo Domini : in atriis domus
Dei nc^tri.
In noctibus extoUite mauus vestras in sancta :
et benedicite Dominum.
Benedicat te Dominus ex Sion : Qui fecit
coelum et terram.
PSALMUS CXXXIV.
IAUDATE Nomen Domini : laudate, servi
■^ Dominum.
Qui statis in domo Domini : in atriis domus
Dei nostri.
Laudate Domenum, quia bonus Dominus : psal-
lite Nomiui Ejus, quoniam suave.
Quoniam Jacob elegit Sibi Dominus : Israel in
possessionem Sibi.
Quia ego cognovi quod magnus est Dominus :
et Deus noster prse omnibus diis.
Omnia quascunque voluit Dominus, fecit in
ccelo et in terra : in mari et in omnibus abyssis.
Educens nubes ab extremo terr.-e : fulgura in
pluviam fecit.
Qui producit ventos de thesauris Suis : Qui
percussit primogenita iEgypti, ab homine usque
ad pecus.
Et misit signa et prodigia in medio tui,
jEgypte : in Pharaonem et in omnes servos ejus.
PSALM CXXXIII.
This is a soug of the Cluii'ch resijecting the Indwelling of
the Holy Ghost in the mystical Body of Christ. It is this by
which tlie Unity of tlie Church is originated and maintained
through the union of the members witli the Head, the engi-aft-
ing and growth of the branches in the ^'ino. Poured out fir.st
upon Christ our High Priest, to AN'honi "Cod giveth not the
Spirit by measure," it flowed down from Him to the Apostles,
from the Apostles to the elect of God's ancient Israel, and
thence to the Gentiles. Thus the superabundance of the
heavenly Gift was bestowed upon the 15ody of Cln-ist as the
anointing oil poured forth upon the head of Aaron, so tJiat its
unction extended to the very skirts of his clothing : as the
fertilizing dew which God sends forth to water the earth, and
to cause it to bring forth much fruit to perfection. By such
an indwelling of the Holy Ghost was the pr.iycr of our Lord
fulfilled, "That they all may be one ; as Thou, Father, ai-tin
Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." "And
after those things I hejird a great voice of much people in
Heaven." [Rev. xix. I,]
PSALM CXXXIV.
The Evensong of the Church day by day has always been
associated with thoughts of the night which is at hand in the
unseen world. So this ancient Compline Psalm looks to the
condition of those members of Christ's Body who are in the
state of the depailcd, in tlie darkness of night so far as our
extern.al vision is concerned, but wlio, in the Light of Christ's Pre-
sence, are yet united with the Church on earth in the one work
of praising the Lord : the one work of those « ho "are before the
Throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple."
The Church Militant, therefore, calls to the Church in the
intermediate state to continue the work of God's praise ; and
oilers u]) her supplication for the departed, that the Lord Who
made Heaven and earth, being their Lord still, will grant to
them the blessed benefits of Clu'ist's Passion from out of the
inexhaustildc stores of His Sion. "The Lord grant unto him
that he may find mercy of the Lord in that Day."
PSALM CXXXV.
The antiphonal stnicture of each verse of this I'.salm marks
28th Day. [Ps. 136.]
Ct)e Psalms.
63;
10 He smote divers nations : and slew mighty
kings ;
11 Sehon kiny of tlio Amoritcs, and Og the
king of Basan : and all the kingdoms of Canaan ;
12 And gave their land to be an heritage :
even an heritage unto Israel His people.
13 Thy Name, O Lord, endureth for ever : so
doth Thy memorial, Lord, from one generation
to another.
14 For the Lord will avenge His people : and
be gracious unto His servants.
1.5 "As for the images of the heathen, they are
but silver and gold : the work of men's hands.
16 ''They have mouths, and speak not : eyes
have they, but they see not.
17 ^They have ears, and yet they hear not :
neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 ''They that make them are like unto them :
and so are all they that put their trust in them.
19 'Praise the Lord, ye house of Israel :
praise the Lord, ye house of Aaron.
20 ^Praise the Lord, ye house of Levi ; ye
that fear the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 Praised be the Lord out of Sion : Who
dwelleth at .Jerusalem.
Day 28. EVENING Praykr.
THE CXXXVI. PSALM.
Coiifitemini.
GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for He is
gracious : and His mercy endureth for
for
o
2 give thanks unto the God of all gods
His mercy endureth for ever.
3 thank the Lord of all lords : for His
mercy endureth for ever.
4 Who only doeth great wonders : for His
mercy endureth for ever.
5 Who by His excellent wisdom made the
heavens : for His mercy endureth for ever.
6 Who laid out the earth above the waters :
for His mercy endureth for ever.
7 Who hath made great lights : for His mercy
endureth for ever ;
8 The sun to rule the day : for His mercy
endureth for ever ;
9 The moon and the stars to govern the night :
for His mercy endureth for ever.
: I"s. IIS. 4-
il\, ,15.5,
■V-. 115. 6.
f Ps. 115. R.
■Ti. IIS. 9. I
'Ps. 115. TI.
CXXXVI.
Htsf. Author and
occasion unknown.
£,r,<,r. S. S. ?S!.
Sund.iy I.auds,
Sept. to Easter.
Thursday Vespers.
Qui percussit gentes multas : et occidit reges
fortes.
Sehon regem Amorrhx'orum, et Og regem
Basan : et omnia regna C'hanaan.
Et dcdit terrain corum hsereditatem : haeredi-
tatem Israel populo Buo.
Uo.MiNE, Nomen Tuum in ajtenium : Domine,
memoriale Tuum in generationem et geiierationem.
Quia judicabit Dominus populum Suuin : et
in .servis Suis deprecabitur.
Simulachra gentium argentuin et aurum : opera
manuuin hominum.
Os habent, et non loquentur : oculos liabent, et
non videbunt.
Aures habent, et non audient : neque enim est
spiritus in ore ipsoruni.
Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea ; et omnes qui
confidunt in eis.
Domus Israel, benedicite Dominum : domus
Aaron, benedicite Dominum.
Domus Levi, benedicite Dominum : qui timetis
Dominum, benedicite Dominum.
Benedictus Dominu.s ex Sion : Qui habitat in
Hierusalem.
PSALMUS CXXXV.
CONFITEMINI Domino, quoniam bonus :
quoniam in oeternum misericordia Ejus.
Confitemini Deo deorum : quoniam in oeternum
misericordia Ejus.
Confitemini Doming dominorum : quoniam in
aHernum misericordia Ejus.
Qui facit mirabilia magna solus : quoniam in
reternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui fecit ccelos in inteUectu : quoniam in
ajternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui firmavit terram super aquas : quoniam in
asternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui fecit luminaria magna : quoniam in seter-
num misericordia Ejus.
Solem in potestatem diei : ciuoniam in setemum
misericordia Eju.s.
Lunam et steUas in potestatem noctis : quoniam
in a3ternum misericordia Ejus.
it especially with the characteristic which belougs to many
others, that indicated by the heavenly worship seen and heard
by Isaiah : "And one cried unto another, and said." Each
verse contains what we are accustomed to call a Versicle and
Response, priests and people "teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. " This is
most conspicuous in the first and last three verses, but the
others also are evidently intended to be " cast," as it has been
.said, " from one to the other ;" and in carrying out this pur-
pose the Psalmist lias been following a Divine pattern, shewn
to him in the mount of (iod.
In this Psalm the Church again praises God for His continu-
ous mercy and goodness towards her in the days of His ancient
as in those of His new Israel : and the greatness of this mercy
is set forth by sucli references to the majesty and power of
(rod as declare throughout that "the Lonl thy (Jod giveth
thee not this good land to possess it tor thy rigliteousness, "
but for His holy Name's sake, that "great Name " which He
"will sanctify." [Deut. ix. 6; Ezek. xxxvi. 22.] And as it
was a perpetual subject of rejoicing among God's ancient
people that He had thus chosen them from among all nations
as a people among whom He might dwell and manifest forth
His glory, so the Presence of Christ in His Church is still the
chief subject of pi'aise. " Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that
did He in Heaven and in earth, and in the sea, and in all
deep places ;" but He condescended to come dowii and take
Human Natiu'e upon Him, and considering not His own
almighty and irresistible Will alone, took pity also upon a
fallen world. " Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens
cannot contain Thee ; how much less this house that I have
builded ! Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of Thy
servant, and to his supplication, Lord my God."
PSALM CXXXVI.
God is here praised as the Creator, Preserver, and Giver of
life, and we are taught by the third and the last verses to
offer up the Psalm as a tribute of praise to Him " by Whom
all things were made," and by Whom the Light and Life of
grace came into the world ; to Him Whom the Church in
Heaven praises as " King of kings, and Lord of lords."
Thus inteqjreted, the Psalm divides itself {after the Intro-
ductory verses) into three sections. In the first section [vv.
638
Cfje Ipsalms.
28th Day. [Ps. 137.1
10 "Who smote Egypt with their first-born :
for His mercy endureth for ever ;
11 *And brought out Israel from among them :
for His mercy endureth for ever ;
12 'With a mighty hand, and stretched out
arm : for His mercy endureth for ever.
13 ''Who divided the Red sea in two parts :
for His mercy enduretli for ever ;
14 ^And made Israel to go through the midst
of it : for His mercy endureth for ever.
15 ^But as for Pharaoh and his host, He over-
threw them in the Red sea : for His mercy en-
dureth for ever.
16 Who led His people through the wilderness :
for His mercy endureth for ever.
17 Who smote great kings : for His mercy en-
dureth for ever ;
18 Yea, and slew mighty kings : for His
mercy endureth for ever ;
19 ■^Sehon king of the Amorites : for His
mercy endureth for ever ;
20 ■* And Og the king of Basan : for His mercy
endureth for ever ;
21 And gave away their land for an heritage :
for His mercy endureth for ever ;
22 Even for an heritage unto Israel His ser-
vant : for His mercy endureth for ever.
23 ^Vho remembered us when we were in
trouble : for His mercy endureth for ever.
24 And hath delivered us from our enemies :
for His mercy endureth for ever.
25 Who giveth food to all flesh : for His
mercy endureth for ever.
26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven :
for His mercy endureth for ever.
27 give thanks unto the Lord of lords : for
His mercy endureth for ever.
a ExoU. la. 29.
* Exod. 12. 37,
B
THE CXXXVII. PSALM.
Super flumina,
Y the waters of Babylon we sat down and
wept : when we remembered thee, Sion.
2 As for our harps, we hanged them up : upon
the trees that are therein.
3 For they that led us away captive, required
of us then a song, and melody, in our heaviness ;
Sing us one of the songs of Sion.
e Exod. 14. 22, 29.
yExod. 14, 27.
e Deut, 5, 6.
CXXXVII.
Hisi. Jeremiah ;
during the C.ip.
tivity.
Lilitrg. S. H. 19.
Thursday Vespers.
Qui percussit iEgyptum cum primogenitis
eorum : quoniara in Eeternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui eduxit Israel de medio eorum : quoniam
in seteriium misericordia Ejus.
In manu potenti et brachio excelso : quoniam
in eeternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui divisit mare Rubrum in divisiones : quo-
niam in iBtenium misericordia Ejus.
Et eduxit Israel per medium ejus : quoniam
in Eeternum misericordia Ejus.
Et excussit Pharaonem et virtutem ejus in
mari Rubro : quoniam in eeternum misericordia
Ejus. _
Qui traduxit populum Suum per desertum :
quoniam in retenium misericordia Ejus.
Qui percussit reges magnos : quoniam in aster-
num misericordia Eju.s.
Et occidit reges fortes : quoniam in teternum
misericordia Ejus.
Sehon regem Amorrhieorum : quoniam in
ffiternum misericordia Ejus.
Et Og regem Basan : quoniam in leternum
misericordia Ejus.
Et dedit terram eorum hajreditatem : quoniam
in reternum misericordia Ejus.
Hrereditatem Israel servo Suo : quoniam in
leternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui in humilitate nostra memor fuit nostri :
quoniam in isternum misericordia Ejus.
Et redemit nos ab inimicis nostris : quoniam
in Eeternum misericordia Ejus.
Qui dat escam omni carni : quoniam in seter-
num misericordia Ejus.
Confitemini Deo cceli : quoniam in aeternum
misericordia Ejus.
Confitemini Domino dominorum ; quoniam in
eeternum misericordia Ejus.
PSALMUS CXXXVI.
SUPER flumina Babylonis, illic sedimus et
flevimus : dum recordaremur tui, Sion.
In salicibus in medio ejus : suspendimus organa
nostra.
Quia illic interrogaverunt nos : qui captives
diixerunt nos, verba cantionum :
Et qui abduxerunt nos : Hymnum cantate
nobis de canticis Sion.
4-9] the marvels of Creation are set forth as tokens of the
mercy of the Lord : a mercy wliose objects may extend far
beyond the boundaries of our own world, but of which our own
experience gives ua abundant reason to sing tliat it enduretli
for ever. But the great wonders of tlie natural world are
types and symbols of those in the spiritual world. The heavens
are the glorified Church : the earth is the Church in its mili-
tant condition. And because the Militaut Cliurch is that
wherein souls are made fit for the Churcli glorified, therefore
it is laid out aV;ove (or founded on) tlie waters of grace, where-
in all souls are new bom. and respecting which tlie invitation
is ever going forth, " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters." "If any m.an is .athirst, let him come unto
Me, .and drink." The "great lights" are the Sun (jf Right-
eousness, "Light of Light," and the "les.scr light," the Church,
which derives all her light from Him, tliat she may shed it
abroad on men during the "night " of His absence from their
sight: the stars arc they of whom the prophet said, "They
that turn many to righteousness" sh.all shine "as the stars
for ever and ever," and of whom our Lord said, " Ye are the
light of the world."
In the second section [vv. 10-22] the mercy of the Lord is
magnified for delivering human nature from the power of the
E\-il One, and the Church from the opposition of Antichrist :
the progress of His people being symbolized by the triumphant
march of Israel in the face of all her enemies ; and the foes of
Christ and His Church, — Satan and all his Antichristian
agents, — by Pharaoh, the great and mighty kings, Sehon and
Og. Thus is signified how the "Prince of this world" is to
be deprived of that dominion over which he has exercised his
jjower since the Fall, ami how the heritage is to be given to
Israel God's servant, the Lord Jesus, anil to His mystical Body.
The third section consists of verses 'J3, 24, and 25, and is
characterized by the latter verse especially, in which is sig-
nified the mercy of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity
in giving Himself to be tlie " Living Bread," given for " the
life of tlie world."
Thus recounting the mercies of her Saviour, the Church
returns to her first strain of praise, "0 give thanks unto the
Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth for ever."
PSALM CXXXVII,
The p.athos of this sorrowful strain looks beyond the exile
28th Day. [Ps. 138.]
Ctie Psalnw.
639
4 How shall \vc sing the Lord'.s song ; in a
strange land ?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem ; let my right
hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thoc, let my tongue
cleave to the roof of my mouth : yea, if I prefer
not Jerusalem in my mirth.
7 Remember the children of Edoni, Lord,
in the day of Jerusalem : how they said, Down
with it, down with it even to the ground.
8 daughter of Babylon, wasted with misery:
yea, happy shall ho he that rewardeth thee, as
thou hast served us.
9 Blessed shall he be, that taketh thy children :
arid throweth them against the stones.
THE CXXXVni. PSALM.
Coniitebor Tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, with
my whole heart : even before the gods will
I sing praise unto Thee.
2 I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and
praise Thy Name, because of Thy lovingkind-
ness and truth : for Thou hast magnified Thy
Name and Thy Word above all things.
3 When I called upon Thee, Thou heardest me :
and enduedst my soul with much strength.'
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee,
O LoED : for they have heard the words of Thy
mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the
Lord : that great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord be high, yet hath He
respect unto the lowly : as for the proud. He
beholdeth them afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet
shalt Thou refresh me : Thou shalt stretch forth
Thy hand upon the furiousness of mine enemies,
and Thy right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord shall make good His lovingkind-
ness toward me ; yea. Thy mercy, Lord, en-
dureth for ever; despise not then the works of
Thine own hands.
CXXXVIII.
hiist. David. Oc-
cafiiiiii unknown.
L.turg. 3. B. g.
Friday. St. Michael.
Vespers. Vigils of
the departed, Name
of Jesus, 1st Ves-
pers.
Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini : in
terra alicna 1
Si oblitu.s fuero tui, Ilierusaleni : oblivioni
detur dextera mea.
Adh.xreat lingua mea faucibus meis : si non
meminero tui :
Si non proposuero Hierusalem : in principio
Isetitite mew.
Memor esto, Domine, filiorum Edom : in die
Hierusalem ;
Qui dicunt, Exinanite, exinanite : usque ad
fundamentum in ea.
Filia Babylonis misera : beatus, qui retribuet
tibi retributionem tuam, cjuam retribuisti nobis.
Beatus qui tenebit : et allidet parvulos tuos ad
petram.
PSALMUS CXXXVII.
CONEITEBOR Tibi, Domine, in toto corde
meo : c^uoniam audisti verba oris mei.
In conspectu angelorum psallam Tibi : adorabo
ad templum sanctum Tuum, et confitebor Noraini
Tuo.
Super misericordia Tua et veritate Tua : quo-
niam magnificasti super omne Nomen sanctum
Tuum.
In quacunque die invocavero Te, exaudi me :
multiplicabis in anima mea virtutem.
Confiteantur Tibi, Domine, omnes reges terrse :
quia audierunt omnia verba oris Tui.
Et cantent in viis Domini : quoniam magna
est gloria Domini.
Quoniam excelsus Dominus, et humilia res-
picit : et alta a longe cognoscit.
Si ambulavero in medio tribulationis, vivifica-
bis me : et super iram inimicorum meorum exten-
disti manum Tuam, et salvum me fecit dextera
Tua.
Dominus retribuet pro me ; Domine, miseri-
cordia Tua in sajculum : opera manuum Tuarum
ne despicias.
and captivity of the Jews, and sets before God the longing of
His Church for that Paradise out of which she was driven by
the Fall, but to which she hopes to return after the destruc-
tion of the mystical Babylon [Rev. xviii — xxii.] — that great
world of confusion which has broken up the order and harmony
of the Creator's good work.
In the Sion of God's Presence the four-and-twenty elders
are represented as " haraig every one of them harps," the New
Song is " the voice of harpers harping with their harps," the
martyrs ' ' stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God, "
and when Babylon is fallen "the voice of hai-jiers '' is heard
in her no more. Thus is symbolized the restoration to the
redeemed of the joys from which the Church has been exiled
while it dwelt in the "strange land" of a world which was
held captive in the bondage of Satan. And while in that
land, she is ever looking forward to the bliss of a restored
Paradise ; a Jerusalem " new " indeed, yet such as that happy
place in which mankind could at first sing the Lord's song to
the praise of tlieir Creator m His Visible Presence, the Object
o£ their worship speaking to them, and "walking in the
garden."
" Love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world," is thus the tone of this Psalm. The mystical Baby-
lon is ever at enmity against God, and the praj'er of His Church
is ever that all may be destroyed which i.s not for His gloiy.
Since then, " in her was found the blood of prophets and of
saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth : " therefore
the voice comes even from Heaven, " Reward her even as she
rewarded you, and double unto her double accorduig to her
works. "
PSALM CXXXVIII.
This Psalm may have been written by David wlien he was
living as an exile in an idolatrous kingdom, and when he would
be the more fervently calling upon God, because walking in the
midst of trouble. It may have been upon the lips of the three
young confessors as they walked in the midst of the furnace of
Nebuchadnezzar : or of the aged Daniel as he knelt three times
a day before his God as aforetime, with his face toward Jeru-
salem, notwithstanding the cniel devices of his enemies to put
him to death : or it may have been the song of tliose who sang
praises at midnight in the prison, when they were brought
before rulers and kings for Christ's sake. But more than all
it is the Voice of Christ speaking for Himself and for His
mystical Body, praising and thanking God because He has
magnified His Name and His Incarnate AVokd above aU things,
even through the trouble and affliction of the Cross. For
when He called upon His Father, His Voice was heard, and
His Soul was endued ■with strength to subdue all the kings of
the earth to His allegiance, so that they should "sing m the
640
€U Psalms.
29th Day. [Ps. 139.]
Day 29. MORNING Praykr.
THE CXXXIX. PSALM.
Domine, probasti.
OLOED, Thou liast searched me out, and
known me : Thou knowest my down-sit-
ting, and mine up-rising; Thou understandest
my thoughts long before.
2 Thou art about my path, and about my bed :
and spiest out all my ways.
3 For lo, there is not a word in my tongue :
but Thou, O Lord, knowest it altogether.
4 Thou hast fashioned me behind and before :
and laid Thine hand upon me.
.5 Such knowledge is too wonderful and excel-
lent for me : I cannot attain unto it.
6 Whither shall I go then from Thy Spirit :
or whither shall I go then from Thy presence ?
7 If I climb up into heaven, Thou art there :
if I go down to hell, Thou art there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning : and
remain in the uttermost parts of the sea ;
9 Even there also shall Thy hand lead me : and
Thy right hand shall hold me.
10 If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall
cover me : then shall my night be turned to day.
11 Yea, the darkness is no darkness with
Thee, but the night is as clear as the day : the
darkness and light to Thee are both alike.
12 For my reins are Thine : Thou hast covered
me in my mother's womb.
13 1 will give thanks unto Thee, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made : marvellous are
Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
14 My bones are not hid from Thee : though
I be made secretly, and fashioned beneath in tlie
earth.
15 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being
imperfect : and in Thy book were all my mem-
bers written ;
16 Which day by day were fashioned : when
as yet there was none of them.
17 How dear are Thy counsels unto me, O
God : O how great is the sum of them !
18 If I tell them, they are more in number
than the sand : when I wake up, I am present
with Thee.
CXXXIX.
Ntss. David. Oc-
casion unknouti.
Litiirs. ^. §. 1^.
Friday, Apostles
and Evanjjelists,
Wspers, Com-
mendalion of Souls.
PSALMUS CXXXVIII.
DOMINE, probasti me, et cognovisti me : Tu
cognovisti sessionem meam et resurrec-
tionem meam.
Intellexisti cogitationes meas de longe : semi-
tam meam et funiculum meum investigasti.
Et omnes vias meas prsevidisti : quia non est
sermo in lingua mea,
Ecce, DoMiNE, Tu cognovisti omnia, novissima
et antiqua : Tu formasti me, et posuisti super me
manum Tuam.
Mirabilis facta est scientia Tua ex me : confor-
tata est, et non potero ad eam.
Quo ibo a Spiritu Tuo % et quo a facie Tua
f ugiam ?
Si ascendero in ccelum, Tu illic es ; si descen-
dero in infernum, ades.
Si sumpsero pennas meas diluculo : et habita-
vero in extremis maris ;
Etenim illuc manus Tua deducet me : et
tenebit me dextera Tua.
Et dixi, Forsitan tenebrse conciilcabunt me : et
nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.
Quia tenebrse non obsourabuntur a Te, et nox
sicut dies illuminabitur : sicut tenebrse ejus, ita
et lumen ejus.
Quia Tu possedisti renes meos : suscepisti me
de utero matris mese.
Confitebor Tibi, quia terribiliter magnificatus
es : mirabiUa opera Tua, et anima mea cognoscet
nimis.
Non est occultatum os meum a Te, quod fecisti
in occulto : et substantia mea in inferior! bus
terrse.
Imperfectum meum viderunt oculi Tui, et in
libro Tuo omnes scribentur : dies formabimtur, et
nemo in eis.
Mihi autem nimis honorificati sunt amici Tui,
Deus : nimis confortatus est principatus eorum.
Dinumerabo eos, et super arenam multiplica-
buntur : exsurrexi, et adhuc sum Tecum.
ways of the Lord," acknowledging that the kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ.
And though tlie Church walk in tlie midst of trouble, as
Christ did, she is the work of the Saviour's "own hands,"
Whose mercy cnduretli for ever, and Who will not despise or
forsake that which He lias new created.
PSALJI CXXXIX.
The ancient lutroit of the Church of England for Low
Sunday applied a portion of this Psalm to our Lord's Resurrec-
tion : "When I wake up, I am present with Thee. Alleluia.
Thou liast laid Thine hand upon Me. Alleluia. Such know-
ledge is too wonderful for Me. Allehiia. O Lonl, Thou hast
searched Me out and known Me : Thou knowest My down-
sitting and Mine up-rising." This beautiful use of the first
and fifth verses indicates to us the primary spiritual interpre-
tiition of the Psalm as relating to the Incarnation of our T.lcsseil
Lord, and to the ftjrmation of His mystical l'>nily, the Churcli.
"Conceived by the Holy (i host, born of the Virgin Mary,"
the Human Nature of the Holy .Jesus attaineil tlie cbmax" of
that mystery attending tlie origin and growth of all onr kind,
and of none couM it be so fully said, "Thou hast fashioned
Me behind ami before : and laid Thine liand upon Me." It is.
therefore, as if the Human Nature was speaking to the Divine
Nature : " Thou hast fashioned Me by the overshadowing
with which Thou hast covered Me in My Mother's womb :
Thou hast united Me inseparably with the overshadowing
Spirit ; Thou hast taken Me into Thee, so that I cannot be
separated from Thee, whether I ascend to Heaven or descend
to Hell, whether I go forth to the rising of the morning sun,
or to the darkness left by his departure in the west ; therefore
I will offer )ip Myself as a never-ceasing Eucharist to Thee,
declaring the marvellousness of Thy works in creating a New
Man, after fJod, in lighteousness and true lioliness. " The
prophet Isaiah gave to the Church, therefore, a perpetual
Antiphon to this Psalm when he said, " Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a Son, and sliall call His Name Immanuel."
[Isa. vii. 14.] " (Jod with us." [Matt. i. 23.]
" But the actual fleshly Body of Christ was itself the type
of His mystical Body, the Church, and is as such continually
represented in Scripture. His bodily agonies on the Cross
were a warning of the atlliotions to wliicli the Church should
bo continually exposed, always delivered untodeatli for Jesus'
sake : His unbroken bones betokened the undiminished
strength which throughout her afilictions the Church should
retain ; the blood and water which flowed from His pierced
side exhibited to view what subseciuent generations cherished
29th Day. [Ps. 140.
C()C Ipsalms.
641
19 Wilt Thou not slay the wicked, O God :
depart from me, ye blood-thirsty men.
20 For tlioy speak unrighteously against Thee :
and Thine enemies take Thy Name in vain.
21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate
Thee : and am not I grieved with tiiose that rise
up against Thee ?
22 Yea, I hate them right sore : even as
though they were mine enemies.
23 Try me, O God, and seek the ground of
my heart : prove me, and examine my thoughts.
24 Look well if there be any way of wicked-
ness in me : and lead me iu the way everlasting.
THE CXL. PSALM.
Eripe me, Domine.
DELIVER me, O Lord, from the evil man :
and preserve me from the wicked man.
2 Who imagine mischief in their hearts : and
stir up strife all the day long.
3 They have sharpened their tongues like a
serpent : adder's poison is under their lips.
4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the
ungodly : preserve me from the wicked men, who
are purposed to overthrow my goings.
5 The proud have laid a snare for me, and
spread a net abroad with cords : yea, and set
traps in my way.
G I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God :
hear the voice of my prayers, Lord.
7 O Lord God, Thou strength of my health :
Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Let not the ungodly have his desire, O
Lord : let not his mischievous imagination
prosper, lest they be too proud.
9 Let the mischief of their own lips fall upon
tlie head of them ; that compass me about.
10 Let hot burning coals fall upon them : let
them be cast into the fire, and into the pit, that
they never rise up again.
11 A man full of words shall not prosper upon
the earth : evil shall hunt the wicked person to
overthrow him.
12 Sure I am that the Lord will avenge the
poor ; and maintain the cause of the helpless.
1 3 The righteous also shall give thanks unto
Thy Name : and the just shall continue in Thy
sight.
CXL.
Hist. David ; while
persecuted by Saul.
Lituri;. ». 1. fl).
Friday, Maundy
Thursday. Good
Friday. Vespers.
Si occideris, Deits, peccatores : viri sanguinum
declinate a me.
Quia dicitis in cogitatione ; Accipient in vani-
tate civitates suas.
Nonne qui oderunt Te, Domine, oderam : ct
super inimicos Tuos tabcscebam ?
Perfecto odio oderam illos : inimici facti sunt
mihi.
Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum : interroga
me, et cognosce semitas meas.
Et vide, si via iniquitatis in me e.st : et deduc
me in via jeterna.
PSALMUS CXXXIX.
ERIPE me, Domine, ab homine malo : a viro
iniquo eripe me.
Qui cogitaverunt iniquitates in corde : tota die
constituebant praelia.
Acuerunt linguas suas sicut serpentis : vene-
num aspidum sub labiis eorum.
Custodi me, Domine, de manu peccatoris : et
ab hominibus iniquis eripe me.
Qui cogitaverunt supplantare gressus meos :
absconderunt superbi laqueum mihi.
Et funes extenderunt in laqueum : juxta iter
scandalum posuerunt mihi.
Dixi Domino, Deus mens es Tu : exaudi, Do-
mine, vocem deprecationis mese.
Domine, Domine, virtus salutis mese : obum-
brasti super caput meum in die belli.
Ne tradas me, Domine, a desiderio meo pec-
catori : cogitaverunt contra me ; ne derelinquns
me, ne forte exaltentur.
Caput circuit us eorum : labor labiorum ipso-
rum operiet eos.
Cadent super eos carbones, in ignem dejicies
eos : in miseriis non subsistent.
Vir linguosus non dirigetur in terra : virum
injustum mala capient in interitu.
Cognovi quia faciet Dominus judicium inopis :
et vindictam pauperum.
Veruntamen justi confitebuntur Nomini Tuo :
et habitabunt recti cum vultu Tuo.
in the two Christian sacraments. It would be impossible,
therefore, with due regard to the analogy of other Scripture-
teaching, to read in the Psalm before us a prophecy of the
Incarnation of Christ, and yet not to behold in It also a picture
of that more spiritual Body of His, in which, and in the
different members of which. His gloi-y was to be displayed
forth to the world from the period of His first to that of His
second coming In secret, iu the darkness of His ovra
grave, that Church was fearfully and wonderfully made : the
Corn had to fall into the ground and die ere its much fruit
could be brought forth. Then, after His Resurrection from
the dead, and Ascension to His Father in Heaven — ' I have
awaked, and am again with Thee,' — did His new life on earth
in the person of the company of His redeemed people begin.
It was then, when in His own Person He had left the world
and gone to the Father, that He openly contemplates both
the preciousness and the number of the friends of God, the
members of His Body. Their preciousness was shewn by the
fulness of measure in which He poured forth His gifts upon
them : their number was the Divine fulfilment of the promise
originally made to Abraham, ' I will make tliy seed as the
dust of the earth : so that if a man can number the dust of
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.'"'
The last six verses of this Psalm illustrate what has been
said respecting the Imprecations in a note on the 69th
Psalm,- showing that the hatred of the Church towards reck-
lessly impenitent sinners is a hatred of them as the enemies
of her Lord ; a hatred, in fact, of their reckless sin, mingled
with grief for them in respect to the consequences which such
impenitence will bring upon their bodies and souls.
PSALM CXL.
This is also one of those Psalms of which the 69th is a
type, wherein the full wickedness of opposition to Christ
and His Church is set forth by the strength of the language
which is used in its condemnation. "The evil man," and
" the wicked man," who " have sharpened their tongues like
a serpent, " the "ungodly," and the "proud," are all repre-
sentative terms, signifying, in their most extreme sense, that
^ Thrupp on the Psalms, ii. 297,
= Page 568.
642
Cbc Psalms.
29th Day. [Ps. 141, 142. J
THE CXLI. PSALM.
Domine, clamavi.
LORD, I call upon Tliee, haste Thee unto me :
and consider my voice, when I cry unto
Thee.
2 Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as
the incense : and let the lifting up of my hands
be an evening sacrifice.
3 Set a -watch, Lord, before my mouth :
and keep the door of my lips.
4 O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil
thing : let me not be occupied in ungodly works,
with the men that work wickedness, lest I eat of
such things as please them.
5 Let the righteous rather smite me friendly :
and reprove me.
6 But let not their precious balms break my
head : yea, I will pray yet against their wicked-
ness.
7 Let their judges be overthrown in stony
places : that they may hear my words, for they
are sweet.
8 Our bones lie scattered before the pit : like
as when one breaketh and heweth wood upon the
earth.
9 But mine eyes look unto Thee, O Lord
God : in Thee is my trust, O cast not out my
soul.
10 Keep me from the snare that they have
laid for me : and from the traps of the wicked
doers.
11 Let the ungodly fall into their own nets
together : and let me ever escape them.
Day 29. EVENING PRAYER.
I
THE CXLII. PSALM.
Voce mea ad Dominum.
CRIED unto the Lord with my voice
yea,
even unto the Lord did I make my suppli-
cation.
2 I poured out my complaints before Him :
and shewed Him of my trouble.
3 When my spirit was in heaviness. Thou
knewest my path : in the way wherein I walked
have they privily laid a snare for me.
CXLI.
Hut. David; while
persecuted by Saul.
Lih.rg. a. g. ^.
Friday, Maundy
Thursday, Good
Friday, Vespers.
CXUI.
Hist. David ; while
at the cave of Adul-
latn. [1 Sam. ??. i.]
i.ft,rf. -*. 1. ?g.
Friday, Maundy
Thursday, Good
Friday, vespers.
PSALMUS CXL.
DOMINE, clamavi ad Te, exaudi me : intende
voci meoe, cum clamavero ad Te.
Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in con-
spectu Tuo : elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium
vespertinum.
Pone, DoMI^^;, custodiam ori meo : et ostium
circumstantise labiis meis.
Non declines cor meum in verba malitiaa : ad
excusandas excusationes in peccatis.
Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem : et
non communicabo cum electis eorum.
Corripiet me Justus in misericordia, et increpabit
me : oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput
meum.
Quoniam adhuc et oratio mea in beneplacitis
eorum : absorpti sunt juncti petric judices eorum,
Audient verba mea, quoniam potuerunt : sicut
crassitudo terrse erupta est super terram.
Dissipata sunt omnia ossa nostra secus infer-
num : quia ad Te, Domine, Domixe, oculi mei ;
in Te speravi, non auferaa animam meam.
Custodi me a laqueo cjuem statuerunt mihi :
et a scandalis operantium iniquitatem.
Cadent in retinaculo ejus pecca tores : singu-
lariter sum ego donee transeam.
PSALMUS CXLI.
VOCE mea ad Dominum clamavi : voce mea
ad Dominum deprecatus sum.
Effundo in conspectu Ejus orationem meam :
et tribulationem meam ante Ipsum pronuntio.
In deficiendo ex me spiritum meum : et Tu
cognovisti semitas meas.
In via hac qua ambulabam : absconderunt
laqueum mihi.
Evil One whom St. Paul calls "the Wicked," the "old Ser-
pent, " whose minister is Antichrist. From the temptation of
the first Adam in Paradise to the Temptation of the Second
Adam in the wilderness, and thence onward in all ages of the
Church until the last great Day, this Evil One is imagining mis-
chief against Christ and His mystical Body, so that the prayer
must ever go up, " Deliver us from the E%'il," until Satan and
his ministers have been cast into the " bottomless pit," among
the "hot burning coals" of God's never-ending displeasure.
Then the event will shew that God has surely avenged TiiK
Poor ; tlie mystical Body of TnE Righteous sliall give thanks
to His Name, and shall continue in His Presence for ever.
PSALM CXLI.
This is the ciy of the Lord and of His Church under suffer-
ing from the first and the last persecutors. Wlien the Land)
of God was offered up in the evening of the world's duratiuii,
and on the evening of the first Good Friday, He became tlie
true Evening Sacrifice, Whose very attitude was that then
used in prayer, a lifting up of His hands, and spreading them
forth as when one sprcadcth forth his hands to swim. All tlic
day long did He stretch forth His hands to a gainsaying people ;
yet not m vain, for it was all the day long also in intercession
with His Father. And altliough there was a supernatural
darkness over body and soul for a time, the incense of His
supplication arose before the Throne, and when the Evening
Sacrifice had been offered, the prophecy was fulfilled, "It
shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light."
[Zech. xiv. 7.]
For the Church this is a continual hymn of exposition upon
the words of Christ respecting the troubles of the last days ;
" In your patience possess ye your souls " . . . . "Wlien these
things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your
heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." [Luke xxi. 19,
28.] It is better for the Church and for each particular mem-
ber of Christ to suffer chastisement for a season in the mercy
of a righteous Father, than to gain a temporary prosperity by
partaking of tlie "dainty and goodly things " of Babylon and
Antichrist, and so fall into the snare and the net from which
there is no escape. [Rev. xvii. and xviii.]
PSALM CXLU.
When David thus poured out his complaints to the Lord,
and shewed Him of his trouble, he prefigured the holy Son of
29th Day. [Ps. 143.]
Ctje Psalms.
643
4 I looked also upon my right hand : and saw
there was no man that would know me.
5 I had no place to flee unto : and no man
cared for my soul.
6 I cried unto Thee, O Lord, and said : Thou
art my hope, and my portion in the land of the
living.
7 Consider my complaint : for I am brought
very low.
8 O deliver me from my persecutors : for they
are too strong for me.
9 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may
give thanks unto Thy Name : which thing if
Thou wilt grant me, then shall the righteous
resort unto my company.
THE CXLIII. PSALM.
Doinine, exaudi.
HEAR my prayer, O Lord, and consider my
desire : hearken unto me for Thy truth
and righteousness' sake.
2 And enter not into judgement with Thy
servant : for in Thy sight shall no man living be
justified.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul ; he
hath smitten my life down to the ground : he
hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that
have been long dead.
4 Therefore is my spirit vexed within me ;
and my heart within me is desolate.
5 Yet do I remember the time past ; I muse
upon all Thy works : yea, I exercise myself in
the works of Thy hands.
6 I stretch forth my hands unto Thee : my
soul gaspeth unto Thee as a thirsty land.
7 Hear me, Lord, and that soon, for my
spirit waxeth faint : hide not Thy face from me,
lest I be like unto them that go down into the
pit.
8 O let me hear Thy lovingkindness betimes
in the morning, for in Thee is my trust : shew
Thou me the way that I should walk in, for I
lift up my soul unto Thee.
9 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies :
for I flee unto Thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth
CXUII.
Itisl. D.ivid ; tlurini;
Absalom's rebel-
lion.
Uturg. Ash-Wed.
Evensong. ^. ^.
1^. Friday Lauds.
BitsUrn. A daily
Morning Psalm.
Penitential Ps. 7.
Considerabam ad dexteram, et videbam : et
non erat qui cognosceret me.
Periit fuga a mo : et non est qui requirat
animam meam.
Clamavi ad Te, Domink ; dixi, Tu es apes mea :
portio mea in terra viventium.
Intende aJ deprecationem meam : quia huuii-
liatus sum nimis.
Libera me a persequentibus me : quia confor-
tati sunt super me.
Educ de custodia animam meam ad confitendum
Nomini Tuo : me exspectant justi, donee retribuas
niihi.
PSALMUS CXLII.
DOMINE, exaudi orationem meam ; auribus
percipe obsecrationem meam : in veritate
Tua exaudi me, in Tua justitia.
Et non intres in judicium cum servo Tuo :
quia non justificabitur in conspectu Tuo omnis
vivens.
Quia persecutus est inimicus animam meam :
humiliavit in terra vitam meam.
Collocavit nie in obscuris sicut mortuos sseculi :
et anxiatus est super me spiritas meus, in me
turbatum est cor meum.
Memor fui dierum antiquorum, meditatus sum
in omnibus operibus Tuis : in factis manuum
Tuarum meditabar.
Expand! manus meas ad Te : anima mea sicut
terra sine aqua TibL
Velociter exaudi me, Domine : defecit spiritus
meus.
Non avertas faciem Tuam a me : et similis ero
descendentibus in lacum.
Auditam fac mihi mane misericordiam Tuam :
quia in Te speravi.
Notam fac mihi viam in qua ambulem : quia
ad Te levavi animam meam.
Eripe me de inimicis meis, Domine ; ad Te
confugi : doce me facere voluntatem Tuam, quia
Deus meus es Tu.
David of Whom it is said, "111 all their affliction He was
afflicted." It is supposed that this Psalm was sung by David
when he was in the cave of AduUam, as was also the 57th : '
and if so, the circumstances in which he was may have con-
tributed their typical character to it, since it evidently presents
to us the Voice of Christ crying unto the Lord out of that
darkness which was to Him as the "prison" of sinners.'-
Tlius, from His Cross, and in the greatest depth of His
sorrows, the suffering Saviour cries unto the Lord, beseeching
Him not to forsake Him, but to receive His Spirit. And in
that darkest hour even. He can see of the travail of His Soul
and be satisfied, knowing that when that Soul is brought out
of prison, tlie great Eucharistic Sacrifice for all the world will
have been offered, and that a vast congi'egation of those made
righteous by it will gather to their Saviour's company, in His
mystical Body.
So, also, has the Church often been partaker ui the Suffer-
ings of Christ to such an extent as to be able to take up the
words spoken by Him in a gi-eat degree of tlieir fulness. And
as the Head was delivered from His persecutors to give thanks
to God, ill like manner will the faithfulness of His Church
prevail, iii the mercy of God, to her final rescue from sorrow,
however strong her persecutors may be.
See p. 555.
2 See note on Ps. Ixx.wiii. p. 5S0.
PSALM CXLIII.
This is the seventh, and last, of the Penitential Psalms.
Like the preceding Psalm, it is the Voice of Christ speaking
to us out of the anguish of the Cross, when God's ancient
word was fulfilled by the Serpent bruising the heel of the
Woman's Seed, and laying Him in the darkness as the men
that have been long dead in the grave of their sin. From that
Cross, stretching forth His wounded hands in supplication,
He prayed to God as the One Penitent on Whom all the sins
of mankind were gathered together, and Whose Voice was be-
wailing them in such tones of sorrow as none else could use,
since only the Innocent, "made sin for us," could so feel the
awful burden.
But the words of our holy Saviour's vicarious penitence
are become a fountain of penitential expression for those whose
sins are their own. The Enemy has persecuted their soul,
smitten their spiritual life do'mi to the ground, and laid them
in the darkness of that sinful state in which the vision of
God is faint or lost. Then, in the words of their Saviour,
they lay their vexed spirits and desolate hearts at the footstool
of a merciful God, and stretch forth their hands to Him, be-
seeching Him not to hide His face from them for ever, but to
let them hear His loving- kindness in the morning of the Resur-
rection ; to quicken their sin-stricken souls in this life, that
644
Cbe Ipsalms;
30th Day. [Ps. 144. j
Thee, for Thou art my God : let Thy lo\^ng
Spirit lead me forth into the land of righteous-
ness.
1 1 Quicken me, O Lord, for Thy Name's sake :
and for Thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out
of trouble.
12 And of Thy goodness slay mine enemies :
and destroy all them that vex my soul ; for I am
Thy servant.
Day 30. MORNING PRAYKR.
THE CXLIV. PSALM.
Benedictus Dominus.
BLESSED be the Lord my strength : Who
teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers
to fight ;
2 My hope and my fortress, my castle and
deliverer, my defender in Whom I trust : Who
subdueth my people that is under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that Thou hast such
respect unto him : or the son of man, that Thou
so regardest him t
4 Man is like a thing of nought : his time
passeth away like a shadow.
.5 Bow Thy heavens, O Lord, and come down :
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth Thy lightning, and tear them :
shoot out Thine arrows, and consume them.
7 Send down Thine hand from above : deliver
me, and take me out of the great waters, from
the hand of strange children ;
8 Whose mouth talketh of vanity : and their
right hand is a right hand of wickedness.
9 I will sing a new song unto Thee, O God :
and sing praises unto Thee upon a ten-stringed
lute.
10 Thou hast given victory unto kings : and
hast delivered David Thy servant from the peril
of the sword.
11 Save me, and deliver me from the hand of
strange children : whose mouth talketh of vanity,
and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity.
12 That our sons may grow up as the young
plants : and that our daughters may be as the
polished comers of the temple.
13 That our garners may be full and plenteous
with aU manner of store : that our sheep may
cxLrv.
Hisf. David; afl'-T
his victory over
Goliatti and tlie
Philistines.
Liturs-. 5. g. 58.
Saturday Vespers.
Spiritus Tuus bonus deducet me in terram
rectam : propter Nomeu Tuum, Domine, vivifi-
cabis me in tequitate Tua.
Educes de tribulatione animam meam : et in
misericordia Tua disperdes omnes inimicos meos.
Et perdes omnes qui tribulant animam meam :
quoniam ego servus Tuus sum.
PSALMUS CXLin.
BENEDICTUS Dominus Detts meus. Qui
docet manus meas ad prselium : et digitos
meos ad beUum.
Misericordia mea et refugium meum ; susceptor
meus et liberator meus.
Protector meus, et in Ipso speravi : Qui subdit
populum meum sub me.
DoiiiNE, quid est homo, quia innotuisti ei 1
aut filius hominis, quia reputas eum f
Homo vanitati similis factus est : dies ejus
sicut umbra prastereunt.
DomNE, inclina coelos Tuos, et descende :
tange moutes, et funiigabunt.
Fulgura coruscationem, et dissipabis eos : emitte
sagittas Tuas, et conturbabis eos.
Emitte manum Tuam de alto ; eripe me, et
libera nie de aquis multis : et de manu filiorum
alienorum.
Quorum os locutum est vanitatem : et dextera
eorum dextera iniquitatis.
Deus, canticum novum cantabo Tibi : in psal-
terio decachordo psallam Tibi.
Qui das salutem regibus : Qui redemisti David
servum Tuum de gladio maligno, eripe me :
Et erue me de manu filiorum alienorum, quorum
OS locutum est vanitatem : et dextera eorum
dextera iniquitatis.
Quorum filii sicut novelise plantationes : in
juventute sua.
Filia3 eorum compositse : circumornat» ut
similitudo templi.
Promptuaria eorum plena : eructantia ex hoc
in illud.
they may arise to everlasting life iii "the land of righteous-
ness."
P.SALM CXLH".
David here prefigures the Captain of our salvation. So
among his last words, when he said, " Thou hast girded mo
with strength unto tlie battle," he added such expressions
regarding the future as could only bo true of his Lord : "Thou
hast also delivered mo from the strivings of my people ; Thou
hast kept me to be the head of the heathen ; a peojde whicli T
knew not shall serve me.' David's conflict with the lion, the
bear, and the Philistine champion, were all symbolical of the
contest between Christ and the powers of evil, in the days of
His flesh, and in the life of His mystical Body. With tlio
shepherd's staff of His Incarnate Body, and the "five smooth
stones "of His Wounds, His hands were taught to war and
His fingers to fight, coming before the powers of evil not with
sword and spear, but in the Xamc of the Lord of Hosts.
This Psalni thus points to our Lord's work of victory by
means of the Incarnation. "Man is like a thing of nought,"
but the Son of God became the Son of JIan, and raised human
nature to its former place in tlie hannony of God's Kingdom.
The hand was sent down from above, and delivered our nature
from the hand of the oppressor, lifting it out of the great
waters in wliicli it was almost overwhelmed. Tlie "everlast-
ing arms" supported it, and the " right haiul of wickedness"
lost its power. Then was sung the " new song " of the Son of
Man's triumph, a song of the victory which God had given to
His anointoil, and of the mercy of His I'rcvidcuce which had
kept the true David from tlio peril of the Evil One's sword.
Out of tliat victory sprung the (. Imidi of the Redeemer,
" the Temple of His Body " in wliicli the children of God are
built upas "living stones," and "polished corners," "built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus
Christ Himself being the Cliief Corner- Stone ; in Whom all
the building, fitly framed togetlier, groweth unto an holy
temple in the Lord. In Whom ye also are budded together
for an habitation of God, through the Spirit." Out of tli.at
30th Day. [Ps. 145.]
^bt Jpsatms.
645
bring forth thousands and ten thousands in owr
streets.
14 That our oxen may be strong to labour,
that there be no decay : no leading into captivity,
and no complaining in our streets.
15 Happy are the people that are in such a
case : yea, blessed are the people who have the
Lord for their God.
THE CXLV. PSALM.
Exaltabo Te, Deus.
I WILL magnify Thee, God, my King : and
I will praise Thy Name for ever and ever.
2 Every day will I give thanks unto Thee :
and praise Thy Name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and marvellous, worthy
to be praised : there is no end of His greatness.
4 One generation shall praise Thy works unto
another : and declare Thy power.
5 As for me, I will be talking of Thy worship :
Thy glory, Thy praise, and wondrous works ;
6 So that men shall speak of the might of Thy
marvellous acts : and I will also tell of Thy great-
ness.
7 The memorial of Thine abundant kindness
shall be shewed : and men shall sing of Thy
righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious, and merciful : long-
suiFering, and of great goodness.
9 The Lord is loving unto every man : and
His mercy is over all His works.
10 AU Thy works praise Thee, O Lord : and
Thy saints give thanks unto Thee.
1 1 They shew the glory of Thy kingdom : and
talk of Thy power ;
1 2 That Thy power, Thy glory, and mightiness
of Thy kingdom : might be known unto men.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom :
and Thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
14 The Lord upholdeth all such as fall : and
lifteth up all those that are down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon Thee, Lord :
and Thou givest them their meat in due season.
16 Thou openest Thine hand : and fiUest all
things living with plenteousness.
CXLV.
//isf. U;ivid. Occa-
sion unknown.
l.ttutx. Whitsun-
day. Evensong.
Coiniiieinoration of
Founders and
Benefactors. i6.
19. '&. Saturday
Vespers. Christ-
mas, ist Vespers.
Lauds of the de-
parted.
Oves eorum ffxjtosaj, abundantes in egressibus
suis : bove.s eorum crassie.
Non e.st ruina niaceri;c, iieriue transitus : neque
clamor in platei.s eorum.
Beatum dixerunt populmn, cui hsec sunt :
beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus.
PSALMUS CXLIV.
EXALTABO Te Deus meus Eex : et bene-
dicam Nomini Tuo in sajculum, et in
saeculum sseculL
Per singulos dies benedicam Tibi : et laudabo
Nomen Tuum in sKculum, et in sfeculum sajculi.
Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis : et
magnitudinis Ejus non est finis.
Generatio et generatio laudabit opera Tua : et
potentiam Tuam pronuntiabunt.
Magnificentiam gloriae sanctitatis Tuae loquen-
tur : et mirabilia Tua narrabunt.
Et virtutem torribilium Tuorum dicent : et
magnitudinem Tuam narrabunt.
Memoriam abundantioe suavitatis Tuse eructa-
bunt : et justitia Tua exsultabuut.
Miserator et misericors Dominus : patiens et
multum misericors.
Suavis Dominus universis : et miserationes
Ejus super omnia opera Eju.s.
Confiteantur Tibi, Domine, omnia opera Tua :
et sancti Tui benedicant Tibi.
Gloriam regni Tui dicent : et potentiam Tuam
loquentur.
Ut notam faciant filiis hominum potentiam
Tuam : et gloriam magnificentias regni Tui.
Regnum Tuum, regimm omnium sseculorum :
et dominatio Tua in omui generatione et genera-
tionem.
Fidelis Dominus in omnibus verbis Suis : et
sanctus in omnibus operibus Suis.
-Allevat Dominus omnes qui corruunt : et
erigit omnes elisos.
Oculi omnium in Te sperant, Domine : et Tu
das escam illorum in tempore opportune.
Aperis Tu manum Tuam : et imples omne
animal benedictione.
victory sprung the sacramental abundance of the Cliurch, by
which myriads of souls are gathered into the heavenly gamer,
the flock of Christ's fold multiplied by thousands and ten
thousands in the streets of the New Jerusalem, and the ser-
vants of God who wear the yoke of the priesthood endowed
mth ministerial ability [2 Cor. iii. 6], that they may be strong
to labour in the grace-giving work of their Master.
PSALM CXLV.i
This is entitled " David's Psalm of Praise," and it is thought
by some that the title belongs to the whole final series, of
which this is the commencement. Literally it is a hymn
praising the Lord for His works of Creation, but mystically it
praises Him for all His marvellous works in the redemption
and salvation of mankind.
For these merciful works of our Lord Jesiis Christ the
Church already sings by anticipation " the song of ^Moses the
1 This is an alph.iV)et Psalm, one letter being omitted. Tlic fiftecntli
verse, and perhaps the whole Ps.alm, was used at the celebration of the
Holy Communion in the time of .St. Clirysostom.
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying. Great and
marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just and true
are Thy ways. Thou King of Saints ; " praising Him day by
day for these in all her psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
One generation takes up the strain from its forerunner, and
the song goes up unceasingly to the Throne from the choirs of
Cathedrals, parish churches, and religious houses, " We praise
Thee, God ; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord. The
Holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee ;
the Father of an infinite Majesty ; Thine honourable, true,
and only Son : also the Holy Ghost the Comforter. "
And with the voice of the redeemed Church goes up the
voice of all the works of God, each in its appointed and
orderly round setting forth His praise Who created it. " And
every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under
the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,
heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power,
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
for ever and ever."
-And as in the natural, so in the spiritual world, the eyes of
all wait upon the Lord the Holy Ghost, the Giver of life, that
646
Cf)C Psalms.
30th Day. [Ps. 146, 147.]
17 The LoKD is righteous in all His ways :
and holy in all His works.
18 The LoKD is nigh unto all them that call
upon Him : yea, all such as call upon Him faith-
fully.
19 He wiU fulfil the desire of them that fear
Him : He also wOl hear their cry, and will help
them.
20 The LoKD preserveth all them that love
Him : but scattereth abroad aU the ungodly.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the
LoED : and let all flesh give thanks unto His
holy Name for ever and ever.
THE CXLVI. PSALM.
Lauda, auima mea.
PRAISE the Lord, O my soul ; while I live
will I praise the Lokd : yea, as long as I
have any being, I will sing praises unto my God.
2 O put not your trust in princes, nor in any
child of man : for there is no help in them.
3 For when the breath of man goeth forth he
shall turn again to his earth : and then all his
thoughts perish.
4 Blessed is he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help : and whose hope is in the Lokd his
God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that therein is : "Who keepeth His promise for
ever ;
6 Who helpeth them to right that sufifer wrong :
Who feedeth the hungry.
7 The Lord looseth men out of prison : the
Lord giveth sight to the blind.
8 The Lord helpeth them that are faUeu : the
Lord careth for the righteous.
9 The Lord careth for the stranger; He
defendeth the fatherless and widow : as for the
way of the ungodly. He turneth it up-side do\vn.
10 The Lord thy God, O Sion, shall be King
for evermore : and throughout all generations.
Day 30. EVKNING PRAYER.
THE CXLVII. PSALM.
Laudate Dominum.
OPEAISE the Lord, for it is a good thing to
sing praises unto our God : yea, a joyful
and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.
CXLVI.
Hist. Haggai and
Zechariah ; on the
return of the Jews
to Jerusalem under
Ezra.
Ltiitrg, Commemo-
ration of Founders
and Benefactors.
Windsor Obiit Sun-
day. S. g. K.
Saturday Vespers.
Christmas, 1st Ves-
pers. Vigils of tlie
departed.
CXLVII.
Hist. Ha^ai and
Zechanah ; on the
return of the Jews
to Jerusalem under
Ezra.
Litnrg. Commemo-
ration of Founders
and Benefactors.
Windsor Obiit Sun-
day. S. §. M.
Saturday, Dedic. of
Church, Vespers.
Christmas, 1st Ves-
pers.
Justus DoMiNUS in omnibus viis Suis : et
sanctus in omnibus operibus Suis.
Prope est Dominus omnibus invocantibus Eum :
omnibus invocantibus Eum in veritate.
Voluntatem timentium Se faciet : et depreca-
tionem eorum exaudiet, et salvos faciet eos.
Custodit DoMiNHS omnes diligentes Se : et
omnes peccatores disperdet.
Laudationem Domini loquetur os meum : et
benedicat omnis caro Nomini sancto Ejus in
SEeculum, et in s»culum SEeculi.
PSALM US CXLV.
IAUDA, anima mea, Dominum ; laudabo DoMi-
■^ NUM in vita mea : psallam Deo meo quandiu
fuero.
Nolite confidere in principibus : iu filiis homi-
num, in quibus non est salu.s.
Exibit spiritus ejus, et revertetur in terram
suam : in ilia die peribunt omnes cogitationes
eorum.
Beatus cujus Deus Jacob adjutor ejus, spes
ejus in Domino Deo Ipsius, Qui fecit caelum et
terram : mare et omnia quEe in eis sunt.
Qui custodit veritatem in steculum ; facit
judicium injuriam patientibus : dat escam
esurientibus.
DoMiNUs solvit compeditos : Dominus illumi-
nat csecos.
Dominus erigit eUsos : Dominus diligit justos.
Dominus custodit advenas; pupillum et viduam
suscipiet : et vias peccatorum disperdet.
Regnabit Dominus in ssecula ; Deus tuus,
Sion : in geuerationem et generationem.
PSALMUS CXLVI.
IAUDATE Dominum, quoniam bonus est psal-
■^ mus : Deo nostro sit jucunda decoraque
laudatio.
He may give them their meat in due season. Ah'eady does
the Life-giver bestow on them Com and Wine for sacramental
life, the Bread Which came down from Heaven, and the Blood
of the True Vine : liereafter will He proWde for them the
Tree of Life in the miilst of the street of the New Jerusalem
and on either side of the river of life, which shall bear " twelve
manner of fruits, and yield her fruit every mouth," for the
perpetual invigoration of His saints.
I'SALM CXLVI.
This is a song of the Church when at rest and peace, able
to lift up her soul without any sorrow in Hallelujalis to her
King : and blessing Him Who has wrought her deliverance.
"Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is
everla-sting strength."
Christ is, therefore, praised as the Creator of the natural
and the spiritual world ; of tlic heaven, which is tlie Church
above in glory ; of the earth, M-liicli is the f'hurch Militant ;
of the sea, which is the world witliout, into which the
Church casts her net for a draught at her Master's word.
Thus He is praised in terms founded on the Prophecy of Isaiah
which He Hijnself expounded wlien He said, "This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears:" "The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He liath anointed Me to preach the
Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent Me to heal tlie broken-
hearted, to preach deliverance to tlic captives, and recovering
of siglit to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptaljle year of tlie Lord." lilcssed tliey
who have this Helper for their own : tliey shall sing His praises
as long as they have any being ; and declare Him to be theii-
King for evermore, and throughout all generations.
PSALM CXLVII.
The song of joy and thanksgiving is continued, the subject
being the edification of the Cliurch of God, the gathering in of
the f Jontiles, the healing work of sacramental grace. So in
the Cluirch Militant does Christ gather together in one the
iliihlrcn of Cod that are scattered abroad, tliat there may be
one flock and one Shepherd ; so in the Cluucli Triumpliant will
His elect be gatlieicd together from the four winds of heaven;
30th Day. [Ps. 148.]
Cbe IPsalms.
647
2 The Lord cloth build up Jerusalem : and
gather together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth those that are broken in heart :
and giveth medicine to heal their sickness.
4 He telletli the number of the stars : and
calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Loed, and great is His power :
yea, and His wisdom is infinite.
6 The Lord setteth up the meeli : and bringeth
the ungodly down to the ground.
7 O sing unto the Loud with thanksgiving :
sing praises upon the harp uhto our God ;
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and
prepareth rain for the earth : and maketh the
grass to grow upon the mountains, ami herb for
the use of men ;
9 Who giveth fodder unto the cattle : and
feedeth the young ravens that call upon Him.
10 He hath no pleasure in the strength of an
horse : neither delighteth He in any man's legs.
11 But the Lord's delight is in them that
fear Him : and put their trust in His mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, Jerusalem : praise thy
God, O Sion.
13 For He hath made fast the bars of thy
gates : and hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh peace in thy borders ; and fillcth
thee with the flour of wheat.
15 He sendeth forth His commandment upon
earth : and His word runneth very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool : and scattereth
the hoar-frost like ashes.
17 He caste th forth His ice like morsels : who
is able to abide His frost %
18 He sendeth out His word, and melteth
them : He bloweth with His wind, and the waters
flow.
19 He sheweth His word unto Jacob : His
statutes and ordinances unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation :
neither have the heathen knowledge of His laws.
THE CXLVIII. PSALM.
Laudate Dominum.
PRAISE the Lord of heaven : praise Him
in the height.
o
LitHy^'. S. i. ?!.
Saturilay, Dedic. of
Church, Vespers.
Christmas, Corp.
Chr., ist Vespers.
CXLVIII.
Hist, Haggai and
Zechariali ; on the
return of the Jews
to Jerusalem under
Ezra.
Liturg. S>. 1. n-
Lauds, ferial ami
festival. Lauds of
the departed.
vEdificans Hierusalem Dominus : dispersiones
Israelis congregabit.
Qui sanat contritos cordo : ot alHgat contri-
tiones eorum.
Qui numerat multitudinem stellarum : et omni-
bus eis iKimina vocat.
Magnus Dominus noster, et magna virtus Ejus :
et sapientiaj Ejus non est numerus.
Suscipiens mansuetos Dominuh : humilians
autem peccatores usque ad terram.
Prcecinite Domino in confessiono : psallite Deo
nostro in cithara.
Qui operit caelum nubibus : et parat terraj
pluviam.
Qui producit in montibus foenum : et herbam
servituti hominum.
Qui dat jumentis escam ipsorum : et pullis
corvorum invocantibus Euni.
Non in fortitudine equi voluntatem habebit :
nee in tibiis viri beneplacitum erit Ei.
Beneplacitum est Domino super timentes Eum :
et in eis qui sjierant super misericordia Ejus.
PSALMUS CXLVII.
IAUDA, Hierusalem, Dominum : iauda Deum
■^ tuum, Sion.
Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum :
benedixit fUiis tuis in te.
Qui posuit fines tuos pacem : et adipe frumenti
satiat te.
Qui emittit eloquium Suum terras : velociter
currit sermo Ejus.
Qui dat nivem sicut lanam : nebidam sicut
cinerem spargit.
Mittit crystaUum Suam sicut bucceUas : ante
faciem frigoris Ejus quis sustinebit?
Emittet verbum Suum, et Hquefaciet ea : fiabit
spiritus Ejus, et fluent aquae.
Qui annuntiat verbum Suum Jacob : justitias
et judicia Sua Israel.
Non fecit taliter omni nationi : et judicia Sua
non manifestavit eis.
PSALMUS CXLVm.
IAUDATE Dominum de ccelis : laudate Eum
■^ in excelsis.
and though no man could number the spiritual seed of Abra-
ham more than he could count the stars, yet the Good Shep-
herd knows all His sheep, and " calleth His own by name,
and leadeth them out." Thus the Lord setteth up Him Who
was " meek and lowly of heart " in an eternal kingdom, and
bringeth the ungodly, Satan and his evil ministers, down to
the ground in an everlasting destruction.
Throughout this Psalm, as in many others, the blessings of
supernatural grace are Indicated by reference to those of
natural provision. The clouds and rain represent the over-
shadowing abundance of the dew of the Holy Spirit, causuig
the sacramental food of God's children to grow upon the
mountain of His Church, the City set on an liill, the "great
and holy mountain " where the prophet saw " the holy Jeru-
salem descending out of Heaven from God." The "flour of
wheat " with which Sion is filled when He maketh peace in
her borders, signifies the Bread of Heaven which the Prince
of Peace gives in His City of Peace.
There are other allusions, moreover, which can scarcely be
dissociated from our Lord, as when His \yord runnuig very
swiftly reminds us of the eternal WORD, the Sun ot Right-
eousness, Who goeth forth as a giant to run His course : or as
when the giving of snow like wool recalls Him of Whom it is
said that ' ' His head and His hairs were white like wool, as
white as snow."
Thus we look, in this hymn of praise, to our Lord as the
Source of all grace and strength in that City, tlie bars of
whose gates He has made fast by sure foundation on Himself
the Rock. No natural powers — such as animal strength —
can win a place in that City, but only the fear of the Lord,
and trust in His mercy. There He deals mercifully and
graciously with the nation whom He has chosen to Himself
to be His inheritance, giving them peace in theii- borders, and
fillhig them with His grace, and shewing them His Word.
PSALM CXLVIII.
The three concluding Psalms of the Psalter have always
been specially connected together in the mind of the Church as
Alfoi, or "Lauds." They proclaim the final progress of the
Churcli "from glory to glory," in the Kew Creation, the
Resurrection, and the bliss of Heaven.
648
Cbe Jpsalms.
30th Day. [Ps. 149.9
2 Praise Him, all ye angels of His : praise
Him, all His host.
3 Praise Him, suu and moon : praise Him, all
ye stars and light.
4 Praise Him, all ye heavens : and ye waters
that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the Name of the Lord : for
He spake the loord, and they were made ; He com-
manded, and they were created.
6 He hath made them fast for ever and ever :
He hath given them a law which shall not be
broken.
7 Praise the Lord upon earth : ye dragons,
and all deeps ;
8 Fire and hail, snow and vapours : wind and
storm, fulfilling His word ;
9 Mountains and all hills : fruitful trees and
all cedars ;
10 Beasts and aU cattle : worms and feathered
fowls ;
11 Kings of the earth and all people : princes
and all judges of the world ;
12 Young men and maidens, old men and
children, praise the Name of the Lord : for His
Name only is excellent, and His praise above
heaven and earth.
13 He shall exalt the horn of His people; all
His saints shall praise Him : even the children of
Israel, even the people that serveth Him.
o
THE CXLIX. PSALM.
Cantate Domino.
SING unto the Lord a new song : let the
congregation of saints praise Him.
CXLIX.
Hist. Hag^ and
Zechariah ; on the
return of the Jews
to JerusaJem under
Ezra.
LUurg. 5. g. S-
Lauds, ferial and
festival. Lauds of
the departed.
Laudate Eum, omnes angeli Ejus : laudate
Eum, omnes virtutes Ejus.
Laudate Eum, sol et luna : laudate Eum,
omnes stell;e et lumen,
Laudate Eum, cceli coelorum : et aquee omnes
qu£e super coelos sunt, laudent Nomen Domini.
Quia Ipse dixit, et facta sunt : Ipse mandavit,
et creata sunt.
Statuit ea in eeternum, et in sseculum saeculi :
praaceptum posuit, et non prseteribit.
Laudate Dominum de terra : dracones, et omnes
abyssi ;
Ignis, grando, nix, glacies, spiritus procellarum :
quaj faciunt verbum Ejus,
Montes, et omnes colles : ligna fructifera, et
omnes cedri :
BestiK, et universa pecora : serpentes, et
volucres pennatse :
Eeges terra}, et omnes populi ; princii^es, et
omnes judices terrEe :
Juvenes et virgines, senes cum junioribus,
laudent Nomen Domini : quia exaltatum est
Nomen Ejus solius.
Confessio Ejus super coelum et terram : et
exaltavit cornu populi Sui.
Hymnus omnibus Sanctis Ejus : filiis Israel,
populo appropinquanti Sibi.
PSALMUS CXLIX.
CANTATE DojiiNO canticum novum : laus
Ejus in ecclesia sanctorum.
This, the first of the three, calls upon all created things to
join their voices mth the Church in Heaven and earth and
praise the Lord of all, and is expanded in the Song of the
Three Holy ChUdren, the Benedicite omnia Opera of
Morning Prayer, The mystery of a sympathy between all
the works of God, animate and inanimate, is frequently
referred to in the Psalms and elsewhere. When the Lord
answered Job out of the whirlwind, He spake of the founda-
tion of the earth by Himself : " when the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." [.Job
xxxviii, 7,] ^^'^len man fell, God said, "Cursed is the ground
for thy sake," and St, Paul declares that the whole Creation
groaneth and travaileth together, waiting for the adoption
and redemption of man by the work of Christ, When, there-
fore, the Incarnation hail changed the face of things, there
was, doubtless, a partici])aticin even of the lower world of
Creation in the blessings and joy which it brought, according
to the prophecy, " The mountains and the hills shall break
forth Ijefore you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands," [Isa, Iv, 12.] "Sing, O ye heavens ;
for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth :
break forth into singing, ye mountains, forest, and every
tree therein : for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified
Himself in Israel." [Isa. xliv. 23.]
PSALM CXLIX.
The last verse of the preceding Psalm fonns the theme
out of which this one is developed. For the congregation of
saints is the Church of Christ, the spiritual children of Israel :
the Israel whom Christ has made anew ; the children of the
New Jerusalem of which He is the King: the "servants"
that "shall serve Him."
The fifth verse plainly gives the key to the prophetic
meaning of the Psalm as a hymn of joy for those who sleep in
the T>ord Jesus in the day of the general Resurrection : " Thy
tlead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they
arise. Awake and sing, yc that dwell in dust : for thy dew
is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead,"
Perhaps it is witliin the proper bounds of allegorical inter-
pretation to consider the " two-edged sword " as the Cross of
Victory, the banner of the Church's final triumph over evil.
Yet it must be remembered that our Lord prophesied to His
Apostles that they should " sit on twelve tlu'ones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel," and that St. Paul wrote, " Do ye not
know that the saints shall judge the world ? " Three times
also in the Revelation our Lord is represented as haNiug a
sharp two-edged sword, this being twice said to proceed out
of His mouth [Rev. i. 16 ; xLx. 15], when He goes forth to
judgement as the WORD of God. Such words as those of this
Psalm may therefore reveal that in the final triumph of the
glorified Church it will be a partaker with Christ in His work
of judgement.
PSALM CL.
The last Psalm is one which prefigures the song of praise
that wiU rise before the Throne of God when there .shall be no
more curse, when evil no longer has a place in the City of God,
and tears and sorrow shall be knovii in it no more. Hence
the last verse of the preceding Psalm is again taken up by the
first of that which follows ; and the " honour of (iod's saints "
is identified with that glory of which Daniel spoke when he
prophesied, "They tliat be wise sh.all shine as tlie brightness
of the firmament " [Dan. xii. ii], and our Lord Axhen He said,
" Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the King-
dom of their Father," [Matt. xiii. 4,3.]
For the Church has arrived at the end of lier ^lilitant and
her waiting condition, and is henceforth to praise Goil in His
inner .Sanctuary, tlio Heavenly .Icrusalcm in which there is
"no temple," "for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it," There will the saints remember the " noble
acts " of the Lord, singing to the " harps of God " the " song
of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty ;
just and true arc Thy ways, Thou King of Saints, "
Thus the songs of David and of the Temple have become the
songs of Christ and of the Church Militant, Thus will the same
30th Day. [Ps. 150.]
C1)C Ipsalms.
649
2 Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him :
and let the children of Siou be joyful in their
King.
3 Let them praise His Name in the dance : let
them sing praises unto Him with tabret and
harp.
i For the Lord hath pleasure in His people :
and helpeth the meek-hearted.
5 Let the saints be joyful with glory : let them
rejoice in their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their mouth :
and a two-edgeJ sword in their hands ;
7 To be avenged of the heathen : and to
rebuke the people ;
8 To bind their kings in chains : and their
nobles with links of iron.
9 That they may be avenged of them, as it is
written : Such honour have all His saints.
THE CL. PSALM.
Laudate Doininum.
O PRAISE God in His holiness : praise Him
in the firmament of His power.
2 Praise Him in His noble acts : praise Him
according to His excellent greatness.
3 Praise Him in the sound of the trumpet :
praise Him upon the lute and harp.
4 Praise Him in the cymbals and dances :
praise Him upon the strings and pipe.
5 Praise Him upon the well-tuned cymbals :
praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath : praise the
Lord.
CL.
f/isf. H.ly^^al .nnd
Zechari.ih ; on the
return of tlie Jews
to Jerusnieiu under
Ezra.
Liliirx'. .S. g. 3§.
Lauds, ferial and
festival. Lauds of
the departed.
Laetetur Israijl in Eo Qui fecit eum : et tilii
Sion exsultent in Rege suo.
Laudent Nomen Ejus in choro : in tympano et
psalterio psallant Ei.
Quia beneplacitum est Domino in populo Suo :
et exaltavit mansuetos in salutem.
Exsultabunt sancti in gloria : laetabuntur in
cubilibus sui.s.
Exsultatiunes Uei in gutture eorum : et gladii
ancipites in manibus eorum.
Ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus : increpa-
tiones in populis.
Ad alligandos reges eorum in compedibus : et
nobiles eorum in manicis ferreis.
Ut faciant in eis judicium conscriptum : gloria
haec est omnibus Sanctis Ejus.
PSALMUS CL.
IAUDATE DoMiNUM in Sanctis Ejus : laudate
■^ Eum in firmamento virtutis Eju.s.
Laudate Eum in virtutibus Ejus : laudate Eum
secundum multitudinem magnitudinis Ejus.
Laudate Eum in sono tuba3 : laudate Eum in
psalterio et cithara.
Laudate Eum in tympano et choro : laudate
Eum in chordis et organo.
Laudate Eum in cymbalis benesonantibus ;
laudate Eum in cymbalis jubilationis : omnis
spiritus laudet Dominum.
strains sounti in the hymns of the Church Ti'iumphant. And
thus shall the last words of the last Psalm receive that further,
most glorious, fulfilment which was foreshadowed to St. John
when the door was opened in Heaven : " And every creature
which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying.
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that
sitteth upon the throne, antl unto the Lamb for ever and ever."
AlXKLDIA, FOK THE LoRD GoD OMNIPOTENT KEIGNETH.
FORMS OF PRAYER TO BE USED AT SEA.
^ The Morning and Evening Sen'ice to be used daily
at Sea shall be the same which is appointed in the
Book of Common Prayer.
^ These two foUo^i'ing Prayers are to be also used in
her Majesty's Navy every day.
O ETERNAL Loed God, Who alone spreadest
out the heavens, and rulest the raging of
the sea ; Who hast compassed the waters with
bounds until day and night come to an end ; Be
pleased to receive into Thy Almighty and most
gracious jirotection the persons of us Thy servants,
and the Fleet in which we serve. Preserve us
from the dangers of the sea, and from the vio-
lence of the enemy ; that we may be a safeguard
unto our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen
VICTORIA, and her "Dominions, and a security
for such as pass on the seas upon their lawful
17 "Kingdoms" in
the MS. and the
Sealed Books.
occasions ; that the inhabitants of our Island may
in peace and quietness serve Thee our God ; and
that we may return in safety to enjoy the bless-
ings of the land, with the fruits of our labours,
and with a thankful remembrance of Thy mercies
to praLse and glorify Thy holy Name ; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect.
PEEVENT us, Lord, in all our doings,
with Thy most gracious favour, and further
us with Thy continual help ; that in all our works
begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may
glorify Thy holy Name, and finally by Thy mercy
obtain everlasting life ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
•j Prayers to be used in Storms at Sea.
OMOST powerful and glorious Lord God, at
Whose command the winds blow, and Lift
up the waves of the sea, and Who stillest the
rage thereof ; We Thy creatures, but miserable
sinners, do in this our great distress cry unto
Thee for help : Save, Lord, or else we perish.
We confess, when we have been safe, and seen all
things quiet about us, we have forgot Thee our
God, and refused to hearken to the still voice of
Thy word, and to obey Thy commandments : But
now we see how terrible Thou art in all Thy
works of wonder ; the great God to be feared
above all : And therefore we adore Thy Divine
Majesty, acknowledging Thy power, and implor-
ing Thy goodness. Help, Lord, and save us for
Thy mercy's sake in Jesus Christ Thy Son, our
Lord. Avien.
Or this.
OMOST glorious and gracious Lord God,
Who dwellest in heaven, but beholdest all
things below ; Look down, we beseech Thee, and
hear us, calling out of the depth of misery, and
out of the jaws of this death, which is ready now
to swallow us up : Save, Lord, or else we perish.
The living, the living, shall praise Thee. O send
Thy word of command to rebuke the raging
winds, and the roaring sea ; that we, being
delivered from this distress, may live to serve
Thee, and to glorify Thy Name all the days of
our life. Hear, Lord, and save us, for the
infinite merits of our blessed Saviour, Thy Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
^ The Prayer to be said before a Fight at Sea
against any Enemy.
OMOST powerful and glorious Lord God,
the Lord of hosts, that rulest and com-
mandest all things ; Thou sittest in the throne
judging right, and therefore we make our address
to Thy Divine Majesty in this our necessity, that
Thou wouldest take the cause into Thine own
hand, and judge between us and our enemies.
Stir up Thy strength, O Lord, and come and
help us ; for Thou givest not alway the battle to
the strong, but canst save by many or by few.
O let not our sins now cry against us for ven-
geance ; but hear us Thy poor servants begging
mercy, and imploring Thy help, and that Thou
wouldest be a defence unto us against the face of
the enemy. ^Make it appear that Thou art our
Saviour and mighty Deliverer, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
^ Short Prayers for single persons, that cannot meet
to join in Prayer with others, by reason of the
Fight, or Storm.
General Prayera.
IORD, be merciful to us sinners, and save us
-^ for Thy mercy's sake.
PRAYERS TO BE USED AT SEA.
These forms of Prayer were composed, and inserted here at
the Revision of IfJfil. They wore )irobably written or com-
piled by Bishop Sanderson,' wlio "did also," says Walton,
1 The examination and revision of tlicm was committed by Convocation
to St«rn, BUbop of Carlisle, ou September 27, 1661.
" by desire of the Convocation, alter and add to the forms of
Prayers to be used at sea, now taken into tlie Service Book "
[Walton's Life of Samhrson\ but they have not been traced
in any older form, and tliosc portions which are not taken from
otiier divisions of tlie Pr.aycr Book are probably original com
positions drawn up for the occasion. They are mentioned in
the Preface as one of the additions which it was thought ex-
jrorms of prapcr to be useD at %ca.
651
Thou art the great God, that hast made and
rulest all tilings ; O deliver vis for Thy Name's
sake.
Thou art the great God to be feared above all :
O save us, that we may praise Thee.
Special Prayers with i-espect to the Enemy.
T^HOU, O Lord, art jast and powerful : O
-*- defend our cause against the face of the
enemy.
God, Thou art a strong tower of defence to
all that llee unto Thee : O save us from the vio-
lence of the enemy.
Lord of hosts, fight for us, that we may
glorify Thee.
O suffer us not to sink under the weight of our
sins, or the violence of the enemy.
Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thy
Name's sake.
Short Prayers iii respect of a Storm.
THOU, Lord, that stillest the raging of the
sea, hear, hear us, and save us, that we
perish not.
blessed Saviour, that didst save Thy dis-
ciples ready to perish in a storm, hear us, and
save us, we beseech Thee.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
CllltisT, have mercy upon vs.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, hear us.
Christ, hear its.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy
Ghost, have mercy upon us, save us now and
evermore. Amen.
OUE Father, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth. As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil : For Thine is the king-
dom, The power, and the glory, For ever and
ever. Amen.
^ When there shall be imminent danger, as many as
can be spared from necessary service in tlie Sliip
sliall be called togetlicr, and make an liumblc
Confession of tlieir sin to God : In whicli every
one ought seriously to reflect upon those particular
sins of wliich his conscience siiall accuse him ;
saying as followeth.
The Confession.
/VL^IIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus
-^-^ Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all
men ; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold
sins and wickedness. Which we, from time to
time, most grievously have committed. By
thought, word, and deed. Against Thy Divine
Majesty, Provoking most justly Thy wrath and
indignation against us. We do earnestly repent,
And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings ;
The remembrance of them is grievous unto us ;
The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy
upon us. Have mercy upon us, most merciful
Father ; For Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's
sake. Forgive us all that is past ; And grant that
we may ever hereafter Serve and please Thee In
newness of life. To the honour and glory of Thy
Name; Through Jesus Chei.st our Lord.
Amen.
If Then shall the Priest, if there be any in the Ship,
pronounce this Absolution.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, Who
-^^ of His great mercy hath promised for-
giveness of sins to all them that with hearty
repentance and true faith turn unto Him ; Have
mercy upon you ; pardon and deliver you from
all your sins ; confirm and strengthen you in all
goodness, and bring you to everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ame7i.
Jubilate Deo.
Ps. Ixvi.
Thanksgiving after a Storm.
OBE joyful in God, all ye lands :
sing praises unto the honour of
His Name, make His jjraise to be glorious.
Say unto God, how wonderful art Thou
in Thy works : through the greatness of Thy
power shall Thine enemies be found liars unto
Thee.
For all the world shall worship Thee : sing of
Thee, and praise Thy Name.
O come hither, and behold the works of God :
how wonderful He is in His doing toward the
children of men.
He turned the sea into dry land : so that they
went through the water on foot ; there did we
rejoice thereof.
He ruleth with His power for ever ; His eyes
behold the people : and such as will not believe
shall not be able to exalt themselves.
praise our God, ye people : and make the
voice of His praise to be heard ;
Who hokleth our soul in life : and suflFereth
not our feet to slip.
For Thou, O God, hast proved us : Thou also
hast tried us, like as silver is tried.
Thou broughtest us into the snare : and laidest
trouble upon our loins.
Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads :
we went through fire and water, and Thou
broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
1 will go into Thine house with burnt-offerings :
and will pay Thee my vows, which I promised
pedient to make, but no further light is thrown upon their
origin. The only parallel to them in the ancient services is a
Missa j>ro Naviganiibus, but this is not represented in any of
the present forms.
It is not unlikely that they were suggested by a " Supply
of Prayer for the Ships that want Ministers to pray with them, "
which was set forth by the rebel Parliament as a supplement
to the "Directory of Public Worship," intended by them to
supersede the Prayer Book. In the preface to this it is stated
that the Common Prayer is still used on board ship, though
" for many weighty reasons abolished : " and to prevent the
necessity of using it any longer " it hath been thought fit to
frame some prayers agreeing ^^^th the Directory established
by Parliament."
652
jForms of Iprapet to be useD at ^ca.
■with my lips, and spake with my mouth, when I
was in trouble.
I wUl oifer unto Thee fat burnt-sacrifices, with
the incense of rams : I will offer bullocks and
goats.
come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear
God : and I will teU you what He hath done for
my soul.
1 called unto Him with my mouth : and gave
Him praises with my tongue.
If I incline unto wickedness with mine heart :
the Lord will not hear me.
But God hath heard me : and considered the
voice of my prayer.
Praised be God Who hath not cast out my
prayer : nor turned His mercy from me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
Confitemini DO'
mino. Ps. cvii.
OGIVE thanks unto the Lord,
for He is gracious ; and His
mercy endureth for ever.
Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath re-
deemed : and deHveredfroni the hand of the enemy;
And gathered them out of the lauds, from the
east, and from the west : from the north, and
from the south.
They went astray in the wUdemess out of the
way : and found no city to dwell in ;
Hungry and thirsty : their soul fainted in them.
So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble :
and He delivered them from their distress.
He led them forth by the right way : that they
might go to the city where they dwelt.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord
for His goodness : and declare the wonders that
He doeth for the children of men !
For He satisfieth the empty soul : and filleth
the hungry soul with goodness.
Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of
death : being fast bound in misery and iron ;
Because they rebelled against the words of the
Lord : and lightly regarded the counsel of the
Most Highest ;
He also brought down their heart through
heaviness : they fell down, and there was none
to help them.
So when they cried unto the Lord in then-
trouble : He delivered them out of their distress.
For He brought them out of darkness, and out
of the shadow of death : and brake their bonds
in sunder.
O tliat men would therefore praise the Lord
for His goodness : and declare the wonders that
He doeth for the children of men !
For He hath broken the gates of brass : and
smitten the bars of iron in sunder.
Foolish men are plagued for their offence : and
because of their wickedness.
Their soul abhorred all manner of meat : and
they were even hard at death's door.
So when they cried unto the Lord in their
trouble : He delivered them out of their distress.
He sent His word, and healed them : and they
wei'e saved from their destruction.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord
for His goodness : and declare the wonders that
He doeth for the children of men !
That they would offer unto Him the sacrifice of
thanksgiving : and tellout His works with gladness!
They that go down to the sea in ships : and
occupy their business in great waters ;
These men see the works of the Lord : and
His wonders in the deep.
For at His word the stormy wind ariseth :
which Hfteth up the waves thereof.
They are carried up to the heaven, and down
again to the deep ; their soul melteth away
because of the trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man ; and are at their wits' end.
So when they cry unto the Lord in their
trouble : He delivereth them out of their distress.
For He maketh the storm to cease : so that
the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad, because they are at rest :
and so He bringeth them unto the haven where
they would be.
O that men would therefore praise the Lord
for His goodness : and declare the wonders that
He doeth for the children of men !
That they would exalt Him also in the con-
gregation of the people ; and praise Him in the
seat of the elders !
Who turneth the floods into a wilderness : and
drieth up the water-springs.
A fruitful land maketh He barren : for the
wickedness of them that dwell therein.
Again, He maketh the wUderness a standing
water : and water-springs of a dry ground.
And there He setteth the hungry : that they
may build them a city to dwell in ;
That they may sow their land, and plant vine-
yards : to yield them fruits of increase.
He blesseth them, so that they multiply ex-
ceedingly : and suffereth not their cattle to
decrease.
And again, when they are minished, and
brought low : through oppression, through any
plague, or trouble ;
Though He suffer them to be evil intreated
through tyrants : and let them wander out of the
way in the wilderness ;
Yet helpeth He the poor out of misery : and
maketh Him households like a flock of sheep.
The righteous will consider this, and rejoice :
and the mouth of all wickedness shall be stopped.
Whoso is wLse will ponder these things : and
they shall understand the loviug-kinduess of the
Lord.
On the restoration of the Prayer Book it was probably felt
that the great increase of tlie Navy through tlie regular levy
of "ship money" during Cromwell's time had made some
special prayers of this kind desirable.
The prayers are for " occasional " use, with the exception
of the first two : and all that calls for notice is the fact that
they are framed on the strict principles of the Church of Eng-
land. Confession and Absolution are appointed, in extreme
danger, as a reality to Mliich niin will be glad to fly when
their souls are about to ai)pc:u- suddenly before (!od. The
responsive form is kept up throughout : and the "Hymns of
Praise and Thanksgiving," as well as the use of the Te Deuni
jrorms of ipraper to tie useD at ^ea.
65:
Glory be to the Fatiiee, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
ahall be ; world without end. Amen,
Collects of Thanksgiving.
OMOST blessed and glorious Lord God,
Who art of infinite goodness and mercy ;
We Thy poor creatures, whom Thou hast made
and preserved, holding our souls in life, and now
rescuing us out of the jaws of death, humbly pre-
sent ourselves again before Thy Divine Majesty,
to offer a sacrifice of praise and thank.sgiving, for
that Thou heardest us when we called in our
trouble, and didst not cast out our prayer, which
we made before Thee in our great distress : even
when we gave all for lost, our ship, our goods,
our lives, then didst Thou mercifully look upon
us, and wonderfully command a deliverance ; for
which we, now being in safety, do give all praise
and glory to Thy holy Name ; through Jesus
Christ ovir Lord. Amen.
Or this :
OMOST mighty and gracious good God, Thy
mercy is over all Thy works, but in special
manner hath been extended toward us, whom
Thou hast so powerfully and w-onderfully de-
fended. Thou hast shewed us terrible things,
and wonders in the deep, that we might see how
powerful and gracious a God Thou art ; how able
and ready to help them that trust in Thee. Thou
hast shewed us how both winds and seas obey
Thy command ; that we may learn, even from
them, hereafter to obey Thy voice, and to do Thy
will. Wo therefore bless and glorify Thy Name,
for this Thy mercy in saving us, when we were
ready to perish. And, we beseech Thee, make
us a.s truly sensible now of Thy mercy, as we
were then of the danger : And give us hearts
always ready to express our thankfidness, not
only by words, but also by our lives, in being
more obedient to Thy holy commandments. Con-
tinue, we beseech Thee, this Thy goodness to us ;
that we, whom Thou hast saved, may serve Thee
in holiness and righteousness all the days of our
life ; through Jesus Christ our Lord and
Saviour. Amen.
A Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving after a dangerous
Tempest.
' /^ COME, let US give thanks unto the Lord,
vv for He is gracious : and His mercy endureth
for ever.
,,Ps
48.
'•
07 2.
«Ps
■45
8.
<-Ps.
■03-
10.
<irPs.
103
tl.
fPs.
116.
3;
107. iS
J-Fs.
124.
4.3
ePs.
107.
=5-
h Ps.
107
=6,
2S.
i Ps, 66. 19, 20 : 1
■9.
k Ps. 107. 29 ; 147, 15.
/ Ps. 107. 13.
t Ps. 68. 19, 20.
;; Ps. 92. 4.
Ps. 72. 18, 19.
/ Ps. 106. 48.
q Ps. 107. 1.
" Great is the Lord, and greatly to bo praised ;
let the redeemed of the Lord say so : wliom He
hath delivered from the merciless rage of the sea.
'' The Lord is gracious and full of compassion :
slow to anger, and of great mercy.
' He hath not dealt with us according to our sins :
neither rewarded us according to our iniquities.
'' But as the heaven is high above the earth :
so great hath been His mercy towards us.
' We found trouble and heaviness : wo were
even at death's door.
•^ The waters of the sea had well nigh covered
us : the proud waters had well nigh gone over
our soul.
^ The sea roared : and the stormy wind lifted
up the waves thereof.
'' We were carried up as it were to heaven, and
then down again into the deep : our soul melted
within us, because of trouble ;
Then cried we unto Thee, O Lord ; and Thou
didst deliver us out of our distre.ss.
' Blessed be Thy Name, Who didst not despise
the prayer of Thy servants : but didst hear our
cry, and hast saved us.
''Thou didst send forth Thy commandment :
and the windy storm ceased, and was turned into
a calm.
' O let us therefore praise the Lord for His
goodness : and declare the wonders that He
hath done, and still doeth for the children of men.
'"Praised be the Lord daily : even the Lord
that helpeth us, and poureth His benefits upon
us.
He is our God, even the God of Whom cometb
salvation : God is the Lord by Whom we have
escaped death.
" Thou, Lord, hast made us glad through the
operation of Thy hands ; and we will triumph in
Thy praise.
"Blessed be the Lord God : even the Lord
God, Who only doeth wondrous things ;
''And blessed be the Name of His ]\Iajesty for
ever : and let every one of us say, Amen, Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
2 Cor. xiii.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy
Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
After Victory or Deliverance from an Enemy.
A Psalm or Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving after
Victory.
'TF the Lord had not been on our side, now
-1- may we say : if the Lord Himself had not
been on our side, when men rose up against us ;
r Ps. 124. 3.
s Ps. 124. I, 2.
t Ps. 124. 4, 5.
""They had swallowed us up quick : when they
were so wrathfully displeased at us.
' Yea, the waters had drowned us, and the stream
had gone over our soul : the deep waters of the
proud had gone over our soul.
after victory, presuppose a choral use of the Church's ser-
vices. Some of the Prayers are evidently intended to be used
in the same manner and place as the " Occasional Prayers and
Thanksgivings," the ordinary daily Service being directed to
be used both by the Rubi-ic at the head of these Forms, and
by the first of the " Ai'ticles of War." The latter is as
follows : —
" Otiicers are to cause Public Worship, according to the
Liturgy of the Church of England, to be solemnly performed
in their ships, and take care that prayers and preaching by
654
jForms of Ipmpcr to tie useD at ^ea.
But praised be the Loed : Who hath not given
us over as a prey unto them.
" The Lord hath wrought : a mighty salvation
for us.
* We gat not this by our own sword, neither
was it our own arm that saved us : but Thy
right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy
countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto us.
' The LoED hath appeared for us : the Loed
hath covered our heads, and made us to stand in
the day of battle.
The Lord hath appeared for us : the Loed
hath overthrown our enemies, and dashed in
. pieces those that rose up against us.
■^ Therefore not unto us, O Loed, not unto us :
but unto Thy Xame be given the glory.
' The Lord liath done great things for us : the
Lord hath done great things for us, for which we
rejoice.
^Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord :
Who hath made heaven and earth.
^ Blessed be the Name of the Loed : from this
time forth for evermore.
Glory be to the Fathee, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
a I Sam. 19. 3.
4 Ps. 44. 3.
c Ps. 140. 7.
dVs. ris. I.
e P5. 126. 3, 4
/Ps. 1=4. 7
i'Ps. 113. 2.
U After this Hymn may be svmg the Te Detim.
^ Then this Collect.
O ALMIGHTY God, the Sovereign Com-
mander of all the world, in Whose hand is
power and might which none is able to with-
stand ; We bless and magnify Thy great and
glorious Name for this happy victory, the whole
glory whereof we do ascribe to Thee, Who art
the only giver of victory. And, we beseech
Thee, give us grace to improve this great mercy
to Thy glory, the advancement of Thy Gospel,
the honour of our Sovereign, and, as much as in
us lieth, to the good of all mankind. And, we
beseech Thee, give us such a sense of this great
mercy, as may engage us to a true thankfulness,
such as may appear in our lives by an humble,
holy, and obedient walking before Thee all our
days, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; to Whom
with Thee and the Holy Spieit, as for all Thy
mercies, so in particular for this victory and
deliverance, be all glory and honour, world with-
out end. Anieti.
2 Cor. xiii.
THE grace of our Loed Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
At the Burial of their Dead at Sea.
^ The OfBce in the Common Prayer-book may be used ;
Only instead of these words [We therefore commit
his body to the grouiid, earth to earth, etc.] say,
WE therefore commit his body to the deep, to
be turned into corruption, looking for the resur-
rection of the body, (when the sea shaU give up
her dead,) and the life of the world to come,
through our Loed Jesus Cheist ; Who at His
coming shall change our vile body, that it may
be like His glorious body, according to the
mighty working whereby He is able to subdue
all things to Himself.
the chaplains be performed diligently, and that the Lord's
Day be observed. "
It is worthy of notice that the form with which the body
is committed to the deep in the Burial Service differs from
the older form in an important particular, "looking for the
resurrection of the body .... and the life of the world to
come," being substituted for " in sure and certain hope of the
resurrection to eternal life." This change has been adopted
in the American Book of Common Prayer. The difference is
only a verbal one, but circumstances have given it importance :
and the words above have often been quoted as if they had
originated in America instead of in our own revision of 1661 ;
and with (as is probable) so Catliolic-minded a Churchman as
Bishop Sanderson.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ORDINAL.
§ The Origin of the Ministry.
The fundamental principle of the Christian Ministry is
that it is derived from our Blessed Lord Himself, Who be-
came the Fountain of all ministerial authority and power
through the Offering of that " full, perfect, and sufficient sacri-
fice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world "
which constituted Him the Eternal High Priest of the New
Dispensation.
He gave an earnest of a permanent ministry, thus deriving
its authority and power from Him, when He sent forth the
twelve Apostles and the seventy Evangelists on their tem-
porary mission during the time of His ovn\ jjersonal Ministry :
He promised His perpetual Presence with sucli a ministry
when He declared to the Apostles, "Lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world " [Matt, xxviii. 20] :
and He established the twelve as the chief ministerial
channels through which ministerial life was to flow when,
having stated their commission "as My Father hath sent Me,
even so send I you," He ordained them by breathing into
them the breath of that ministerial life, and said unto them,
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost, \\niose soever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them ; and whose soever sins ye re-
tain, they are retained." [John xx. 22, 23.]
The twelve, thus commissioned and ordained by the Great
High Priest, had other and special work to do in continuation
of His, for which they received special gifts on the Day of
Pentecost : but the ordinary ministerial gift was bestowed
upon them by Christ before His Ascension, and in such a
manner that they were able, even before the Day of Pentecost,
to ordain Matthias as one of their number [Acts i. 22, 26],
upon whom, thus ordained, the Pentecostal gifts came as upon
themselves.
But as the number of Christians increased, the twelve
Apostles found themselves too few to fulfil all the ministerial
duties of the Christian body ; and in the exercise of the
authority given to them by Christ — given either generally in
the words, " As My Father hath seut Me, so send I you," or
in some more detailed instructions not recorded — they dele-
gated part of their mmistry to seven others, whom they
called, not "Apostles," but "Deacons" [Acts vi. 6], or
"Ministers to Apostles," who seem to have held an office
relatively to the Apostolate similar to that which the Apostles
themselves had held relatively to Christ during His personal
Ministry. [Acts vi. 8 ; viii. 5 ; xiii. 5 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28.]
At a later time the sphere of ministerial work was still
further extended, and it became necessary to appoint per-
manent and stationary ministers in the local churches which
the Apostles organized. These were called ' ' presbyters " or
"elders" [Acts xi. 30] — the Greelc word presbyter becoming
in English "priest" — whose office was that of ministering
to particular congregations, for which purpose they were
"ordained in every church" [Acts xiv. 23; xv. 2, 4, 6, 22,
23], each to remain among his own particular flock ; while
the duty of the Apostles called them from one place to
another, as having " the care of all the churches." [2 Cor. xi.
28.]
Later still, as the number of local churches increased, and
with them the number of presbyters, whUe at the same time
the number of the Apostles diminished, it became necessary
to provide for the government of tliese bodies and their
ministers, and also to provide for a continuance of ministers
when the Apostles, who alone were ordainers at first, should
all have departed from the world. For this purpose men were
ordained who were called "Overseers," the Greek word for
overseer having since been transformed from Ejnscopos into
Biscop and "Bishop." The existence of sucli Bishops, as
early at least as a.d. 65, is she-\vn by St. Paul's pastoral
Epistles, in which he speaks of "the office of a bishop " as if
it was already familiar to the Church [1 Tim. iii. 1], and
indicates among its duties the ordination of priests [Titus
i. 5], the discipline of them [1 Tim. v. 1], and that of ordina-
tion in general. [1 Tim. v. 22.]
Tliis sketch of Scriptural evidence on the subject shews that
a ministerial organization was developed during the lifetime
of the Apostles in which two special features are discernible :
first, that of fixed ministration by one order of persona called
Presbyters or Priests in particular churches ; and secondly,
that of ministration by another order of persons called Bishops,
to wliom the duties of discipline and ordination were assigned.
To tliese special features of the New Testament ministry may
be added a third, that of ministration to and for other ministers
by an order of persons called Deacons.
The succession of this ministry of the Church from our
Lord, tlirough the Apostles, may be traced in the Church of
England — as in many other Catholic Churches — with great
clearness ; and the Chart on the following page will shew the
principal channels through which the Apostolic life of the
ministry has flowed down to our present Bishops.
The three orders whose Scriptural and Divine origin has
been indicated above are named in the earliest Christian
records subsequently to the time of the Apostles which
we possess : as by St. Ignatius m several of his Epistles,
by St. Irenaeus iu his book on Heresies (where he gives
a list of the Bishops of Rome from the Apostles' time to
liis own), by St. Clement of Alexandria m his book called
Tlie Pa'dagoijue [iii. 12], by Tertullian [de Fiiija, xi.], and
by St. Cyprian in mauy of his Epistles and Treatises. From
their days, that is, from about a century and a half after the
Apostolic age, and especially iu the Ecclesiastical Histories
of Eusebius and his successors, there are abundant references
to the mmisterial system of Christianity, which shew beyond
doubt that ' ' from the Apostles' time there have been these
Orders of Ministers iu Christ's Churcli : Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons. "
In the same way it may be shewn that the continuation of
the Christian ministry by ordination was always accounted
the work of Bisliops, and Bishops only, iu the ancient ages of
the Church. In the Eastern Church the essential power of
ordination has always been reserved to Bishops exclusively,
and it was not until the fourth century that the African
Church permitted Priests to lay on their hands with the
Bishops in the ordination of Priests : nor after this rule was
adopted by the Western Church is there any example in
ecclesiastical history of ordination by any but Bishops only,
as their proper and peculiar function, confirmed by the ancient
Apostolical Canons and Constitutions, by the Councils of
Ancyra, Antioch, c. ix., Sardica, c. xix., Alexandria, Nicaea,
c. xix., Chalcedon, c. xi., VI. Trullo, c. xxx-\Ti., Constanti-
nople, Orange, II. Orleans, c. iii., Braga, c. iii., Cealchythe,
c. vi., Dahnatia, c. ii., and Seville, c. vi. ; by the testimonies
of the Fathers, St. Athanasius [II. .4po/. c. A than.], St.
Chrysostom [i« Phil., Hom. i. iji 1 Tim. iii.], St. Augustine
[de Hcer. c. Hi.], St. Epiphanius, St. Jerome [Epist. ad
Evany, ci.], St. Cyprian [Ep. xU.], Cornelius, Dionysius; by
the acts of the primitive Bishops, and by every sacramentary
and ritual. [Decret. P. i., dist. Ixvii.] The Catholic doctrine
has ever been that without Sacraments there is no Church
and without Bishops there can be no Priests, and consequently
no Sacraments. There is not one instance in Holy Scripture
or ecclesiastical history of ordination by Presbyters only ; it
was the prerogative of Bishops, and therefore the present
rubric [1662] declares that "no man shall be accounted or
taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, or suflfered to
execute any of the said functions, except he be called, tried,
examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the Form
hereafter following, or hath had formerly Episcopal consecra-
tion or ordination.
§ Succession of the Ministry from the Aposttes.
The order of Bishops is essential to the outward being of a
Clnuch. ' ' Scire debes Episcopum in Ecclesia esse et Ecclesiam
656
3n 3lntroDuction to tftc ©rDinal.
CHART OF THE MINISTERIAL SUCCESSION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
OUR BLESSED LORD.
I
THE APOSTLES.
I
British Bishops.
Two Wina
unnamed [London
Bishops. 662-675],
Chad [York 664,
Bergwyn Lichfield 669,
[Llandaff]. Died 672].
French Bishops.
1
Irish Bishops.
Roman
Bkhops.
Milanese
Bishops.
Vergilius [Aries].
Augustine [Canterbury 597*604].
Mellitus [London 604, Justus [Rochester 604, Laurentius
Canterbury 619, Canterbury 624, [Canterbury
Died 624]. Died 6:^7]. 604-619].
Romanus (Rochester
624-627].
i
Paulinus [York 625
Rochester 633,
Died 644].
Honorius [Canterbury 627].
I
Felix
[Dunwich
630-647].
I
Ithamar
[Rochester
Dcus-dedit [Canterbury 655-664].
Damian [Rochester
655-6641
Thomas
[Dunwich
647-652]-
Boniface
[Dunwich
652-669].
Agilbert [Dorchester
630. Paris 664].
Aidaa
[Lindisfame
635-650-
Finan
[Lindisfame
651-661].
(
I I
Cedda Diuma
[E. Saxons [Mercia
or London 6'6-658\
654-664]. —
CeoUach
[Mercia
653-659]-
Trumherc
[Mercia
659-662].
Colraan Jarumnan
[Lindisfame (Mercia
661-674]. 662-667].
Birinus
[Dorchester
634-6501.
Godwin
[LyonsX
BERTHWALO
[Canterbury
^ ^ 6?3-73"]-
rrom whose succession all Archbishops
of Canterbury and York descended lor
about 500 years. 24 Bishops were con-
secrated during his incumbency.
Wilfrid
[York, Leicester,
Hexham. York,
664-709].
Oftfor,
[Worcester
692-693].
[All the consecrations from Augustine to Theodore are here inserted exactly
as they are recorded in Beae and other wTiters ; but it is reasonable to
suppose that there were many more oi which no records are known,]
f
Theodore
[Canterbury, 66S-690.]
2o Bishops were con-
secrated during his
incumbency, some of
whom doubtless were
associated with Benh-
wald in the consecra-
tion of succeeding
Bishops, though most
died before 693.
949 Medlxval English Bishops.
pVinchester
1487-1528].
Plegmund
(Canterbury, 891-914].
I
See Table at p. 668.
Arundel
(Exeter
1496-1504].
Fitzjames
[London
i497;»5:2]-
Roman Bishops.
Clerk
(Bath i523-i54il.
RHAM (
;erburj-,<
1-1585]. I
WaRHAM
[Cam.
1502-1585].
The following Bishops were associated with Warham in consecrating succeeding
Bishops, VIZ- Fisher, of Rochester ; Sherbom. of Chichester ; Halsay, of Leighlin ;
Young, of Gallipoli; West.ofEly; Longlands, of Lmcoln ; and Voysey ofExeter.
Voysey
[Exeter 1519-1554I.
Longlands
[Lincoln 1521-1547].
Standish
(St. Asnph 1518-1535].
Fisher
[Rochester 1504.1535].
Cranmer
[Canterbury i533->5S6].
Hnlhe.ichi Hodgkins.
[Lincoln], 1
I I
Chctham
(Sidon],
I
Ridley
[London
>S47-j555l
Hilsey
(Rochester
1535- '538]-
Parfew
[St. Asaph
>S36-»55-l1-
Rawlins
(St. David's
15231536J-
LoDglaiids.
Stokesley
(London
' 530-1 5191-
Hodgkins
[Bedford 153;].
Barlow
(Chichester
1536-15691
Coverdale
[Exeter
rSSi.i56!;l.
I
Scory
(Hereford
'55'-«58sl
Holbcach was consecrated by Kilsey, Larimer, and Parfew.
Pahukk (and four other Bisliops ]
ICiniCTbury 1559-1575]- . . . , .
From whose succession all sub'^equent Archbishop> of Canterbury and York have descended.
In the seventeenth century- ihc succession thus derived w.is united with that of the ancient
Irish Church, through Bishops Thornboro' of Limerick. Murray of Kilfenora. an<l Hopkins of
Derry. Also with the Roman through De Dominis. otigin.-Ylly Bishop of Vicenxo, .md after-
wards Archbishop of Spal.itro,
[See also an Appendix to this Tabic at p. r>68.1
an 3lntroDuction to tfte ©rDinai.
657
in Kpiacopo ; et si qui cum Epiacopo nori sint in Ecclcsiri noii
esse." [St. Cypr., Ep. Ixvi. § 7.] "Ottoi; hv (/lavy i iwlaKoTros
^Kei t6 wXyjOo'; t^ffTOi, (hffwcp 6ttov d.v 77 X/)tcrr6? lr}aous ^Kei 7/
KaOoXtKi) iKKXyjaia. [St. Ionat., j!jj>. ad Smijrn. § viii.] But
even before the ordination of IJisliopa, tlic Apostles tlicn being
alive, Deacons were chosen as coadjutors, at first in relieving
them of secular business, but subsequently with permission
to preach and baptize [Acts viii. 5, 88] ; and this, which was
the constitution of the Church of Jciiisalcm, was adopted in
cities [Tit. i. 5] which were too small to require tlie ministra-
tions of Priests, as at Philippi. [Phil. i. 1 ; St. Clem, wl
Corinth, c. xlii.] Thus Titus and Timothy by St. Paul,
Clement by St. Peter, Polycarp of Smyrna by St. John, and
St. Mark of Alexandria, and Kvodius of Antioch, were con-
secrated Bishops. However, as the "care of all the Churches"
[2 Cor. xi. 28 ; Acts xv. 36 ; 1 Cor. v. 4] devolved on the
Apostles, and their representatives the Bishops in separate
and local Churches found the oversight too laborious without
assistance in their sacerdotal functions, they appointed Priests,
about the year 45, though reserving to the chief pastors the
right of laying on of hands, jurisdiction, government, and
episcopal visitation. These bodies of Priests are invariably
mentioned in the plural number, as by St. Peter [1 Pet. v. 1]
and St. Paul [1 Thess. v. 12 ; Tit. i. 5 ; Heb. xiii. 7 ; 1 Tim.
V. 17] ; and in consequence of theii- local supervision of places
where there was no resident Bishop, they were sometimes
called Bishops [Acts xx. 28 ; 1 Pet. v. 2; Phil. i. 1]; they
corresponded to the Seventy, being in that afterwards called
teclrnically the second order of Priesthood, Bishops occupying
the first order, and then, as Theodoret says, called Apostles.
[In 1 Tim. iii. ] But until the second century the names were
not invariably distinguished [St. Auo., Ep. Ixxxii. ; Tiiko-
coKET, in 1 Tim. c. iii. ; St. Chrys., Horn. i. ad Phil. c. 1] ;
thus St. John and St. Peter call themselves Priests. [1 Pet.
V. 1 ; 2 Jolm 1.] vSt. Paul mentions Epaphroditus, without
himself, as an Apostle [Phil. ii. 25], and Timothy as a Deacon.
[2 Tim. iv. 5.] By some mediasval and later ritualists the
doctrine was held that Bishops and Priests formed one order
with two degrees, and St. Jerome says that with the ancients
the same man was Bishop and Priest, for one is a name of
dignity, the other of age. [Ep. Ixxxii. ad Ocean.; comj}.
Theod. iii. p. 1, p. 700 ; and Theophylact, torn. ii. p. 626, A.]
But the Apostles, foreseeing tliat there would be a strife
among the Priests who should be the greatest [St. Clem.
Rom. c. xliv.], which would endanger unity, appointed chief
overseers of the Churches [St. Hieeon. , Ep. c. 1, ad Evang.,
and Comm. in Ep. ad Tit. c. 1 ; St. Cypr., Ep. Iv.] in pro-
vinces and principal cities. These were at first called also
Angels [Phil. ii. 25 ; Rev. i. ii.], and had their kno^vn authority
and superior place established a long time before their settled
distinction of name and title took place. It is not improbable
that the Apostolical Bishops may have been called Angels as
ministering the New Testament '(vitli reference to the tact of
the Law having been received by the disposition of angels
[Acts vii. 53 ; Gal. iii. 19 ; Heb. ii. 12], and of our Lord being
called the Angel of the Presence [Isa. Ixiii. 9] and of the
Covenant [Mai. iii. 1 ; Ps. Ixviii. 8 ; Num. xx. 16 ; Exod.
xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 2] ; and St. Paul says that the Galatians
received him as an angel of God. [Gal. iv. 14.] At length the
interchange of names ceased, and the three orders of Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons were detemiined and distinguished
nominally, even as from the beginning of Church polity they
had been essentially distinct in otEoe and powers.
It would be impossible within the compass of the space at
our disposal to give a complete series of patristic authorities
to illustrate the great fact of the Apostolical succession. A
few must suffice : —
St. Ignatius [a.d. 107] : " The Bishop sitting in God's place.
Priests in the place of the company of Apostles, and Deacons. "
[Ad Magnes. c. vi.] — St. Irena^us [a.d. 202]: "We can
reckon up the list of Bishops ordained in the Churches by
the Apostles up to our time." [Hon: 1. iii. c. iii. § 1, 2.] — St.
Clement of Alexandria [a.d. 218]: "The ecclesiastical
honours of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are, I trow, the
resemblance of angelic glory." [Strom. 1. vi. c. xiii. ; Pied.
1. iii. c. xii.]— Tertullian [a.d. 220]: "The High Priest, i.e.
the Bishop, has the right of giving baptism, then Priests and
Deacons, but not without his authority. " [De Bajtt. c. xvii.] '
Our adorable Lord was Himself externally commissioned for
1 See also De Pra'sc. H(t:r. c. xxxii. xli. : Scorpiace, c. ix. Similar testi-
monies may be found in Origen, a.d. 254 [Hovi. in Matt. c. xxii. Tr. xxiii. ;
0)1 Ilkrem. Horn, xi.] ; St. Cyprian, a.d. 25S [Ep. Isix. § 4 ; Ixvi. § 3 ; xxxi.
§ 4]: Euscbius [Eccl. Hist. 1. iii. c. iv. ; iv. c. xxii.]; Optatus, a.d. 386
[de Schisvi. Donat. lib. i. c. xiii. xiv. ] ; St. Ambrose, a.d. 397 [de Dign. Sacerd.
2T
His Ministry by the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon
Him, and by an audible Voice from Heaven proclaiming Him
to be the Messiah when lie was about thirty years old.
"Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high jiriest, but
He that said unto Hini, Thou art My Son, this day have I
l)egotten Thee." [Heb. v. 3.] None of His Apostles or dis-
cijiles presumed to undertake any ministry until they received
a direct commission from Him. [Mark iii. 14; John iv. 2;
Luke X. 1.] It was the direct prophecy of God Himself that
He would take for Priests and Levites [Isa. Ixvi. 21], and
therefore, as St. Paul says of tlie Evangelical Ministry, "No
man iaketh this honour to himself but he that is called of God,
as was Aaron." [Heli. v. 4.] Aaron, his sons, and all the
Levites (coiTesponding to Bishops, I'riesta, and Deacons),
were commissioned by God [Lev. viii. 1,2; Num. iii. 5], and
death was the penalty of an invasion of their office [Num.
iii. 10, xviii. 17], as in the instance of Korah, Dathan, and
Abiram [Num. xvi. 39, 40] ; and Uzzah, for acting in things
pertaining to God without a Divine commission. [2 Sam. vi.
6, 7.] Saul lost his kingdom f<jr offering sacrifice [1 Sam.
xiii. 12, 14], and Uzziah was smitten with leprosy and excom-
municated for burning incense [2 Chrou. xxvi. 16], whilst
Jeroboam's especial sin was that he consecrated all comers to
the priesthood [1 Kings xiii. 33, 34, xii. 31] ; and the heaviest
censures of God are denounced on all usurpers of the pro-
phetical office. [.Jer. xxiii. 19, 21, 31.] Such Lntniders, who
come in their own name, are cliaracterized by our Lord Him-
self as thieves and robbers. [.John v. 43, x. 1, 8.] St. Paul
expressly speaks of the distinct ministerial offices as of God's
ordinance. [1 Cor. xii. 28, 29 ; Rom. xii. 7 ; Eph. iv. 11, 12.]
"How shall they preach," he asks, "except they be sent?"
[Rom. X. 15.] So also our Blessed Lord said, "As Thou hast
sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them " (the
Apostles) [.John xvii. 18] ; and, "Ye have not chosen Me, but
I have chosen you, and ordained you." [Ibid. xv. 16.]
§ Derivation of tlie English Ordinal.
As there was only one Pontifical for the use of each diocese,
copies of such collections of Services are among the rarest of
ecclesiastical books. The Pontifical of Salisbuiy — collated
with that of Winchester, which is in the University Library
at Cambridge, and of Bangor, preserved among the cathedral
muniments — lias been printed by Mr. Maskell in his Monu-
menta Eitualia ; and that of Exeter by Mr. Barnes. Tlie
Pontifical of Egbert has been published by the Surtees
Society, and there are other uses in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford ; and, mostly imperfect, among the MSS. of the
British Museum. These sources of information, collated
with ancient Sacramentaries, Italian and French Pontificals,
the Euchologium of the Greek Church, and the Ordinals of
other Churches of that Commimion, published by Martene,
Morin, and Assemanni, form the groundwork of the present
illustrations of the English Ordinal ; whilst the works of
Catalani, Hallier, Morin, and Muratori, and the notes of
Menard, and ^vriters contained in the volume piinted by
Hittorp, have been freely used. It is a remarkable fact that
English writers, such as Wheatley, Sparrow, and L'Estrange,
have wholly omitted the subject ; Mr. Pahner and Mr. Procter
have only cursorily illustrated the Services ; Bishop Cosin made
his notes, now In his Library at Durham and in the British
Museum, in copies of the Book of Common Prayer which do
not contain the Forms of Ordination ; and Dean Comber, like
Dr. Mant and Dr. Doyly and Mr. Pinder, has done little more
than offer some practical observations. With the exception,
therefore, of a volume on the English Ordinal by the present
writer, this series of notes may be regarded as the first
ritualistic illustration of this all-important portion of the
Book of Common Prayer, whilst they embody the earliest
complete account of its developemeut from ancient sources.
For our Ordinal was not taken word for word from the
Roman Pontifical, as Archbishop Whitgift asserted, but
framed on the comprehensive and broad gi-ound of all known
Forms and Manners of Ordination used in all branches of the
Catholic Church.
There was a British Church existing in the second centurj-,
and founded in the Apostolic age [Eusebius, Demoiut. Evang.
1. iii. c. vii.; Theodoret adv. Gent. Disp. ix. in Ps. cxvi.,
Interpr. ; Tertullian adv. Jiul. c. vii. ; St. Clement, Ej).
ad Corinth, c. v. ; St. Jerome, Catal. Script. Eccles. § v.]
In 314, at the Council of Aries, probably at Nica;a, 325,
c. iii. in Ps. cxWii.] ; Epiphauius, a.d. 403 [Har. 1. iii. c. Ixxix.] ; St. Chrj'-
sostom, a.d. 407 [in 1 ad Tivi. c. iii. Hom. xl.J : St. Jerome, a.d. 420 [ad
Helind., Ep. v. adv. Lvdf., ad Marcell. xxvii., in Ps. xliv.]; St. Augustine
[de Bupl. 1. vii. c. xliii., de Verh. Emng. Serm. cii., de Mor. Eccles. lib. i.
c. xxxii.].
658
9n 3introtiuction to tf)C DrDinal.
certainly at Sardica, 347, and Rimini, 360, British Bishops
were present. In 597 St. Augustine was consecrated by
Virgilius, Bishop of Aries ; Wilfred of York by Agilbert,
Bishop of Paris, 665. There were also Bishops consecrated
in Rome, and Italy, by Saxon, Irish, and Scotch Bishops,
several of the latter ha%Tng derived theii' orders from Rome.
For the purpose of simplifying the history of the gradual
developement of successive Ordinals, the contents of those
used in England from the fifth century to the present time
have been given, as well as the earhest kno'mi forms pre-
served in Sacramentaries, which prove that the latter were
accepted as the formularies of the Western Church. It is
certain that the further we can trace back rituals, the simpler
they are ; for they only gradually received additions aud
enlargement, with fresh rubrics designed to enhance the
solemnity of the ceremonial. Possibly these were the inno-
vations of an individual Bishop, adopted by neighbouring
diocesans, imtil authoritatively recognized. But they were
changed according to the diversities of countries, times, aud
men's manners. It wiU be seen how much they varied.
\Mule the Church of England retained the essential fonn and
matter, she ordained, changed, or abolished some of those
ceremonies and rites of the Church which were ordaiued only
by man's authority, so that all things might be done to edify-
ing, and rendei-ed more confonnable with primitive usage.
The Form and Offices for making Deacons agi'ee in contain-
ing a Prayer Ad ordinandum Diaconum, oremus dilectissuni,
a Prayer for the Holy Spirit, Exaudi Domine, an address for
united Prayer for the Deacon, Ad consummandum Diaconum,
Commune votum, and a Benediction, Domine Sancte Spei.
The delivery of the stole and Gospel, and other ceremonials,
were of later introduction.
Diaconus cum ordinatur, solus Episcopus qui eum benedicit
manum super caput illius quia non ad sacerdotium sed ad
miuisterium consecratiu'. [I\'. Coimcil of Cai'thage, ap. Moriu,
p. 260.]
Sacramentary of St. Leo. [Migne, p. 260.]
Domine Deus, preces nostras clementer exaudi (f).
Oremus, dUectissimi (a).
Deus Consolator.
Adesto, qufesumus (;3).
Sacramentary of St. Gelamii. [Moriu, p. 267.]
Ordination.
Ad ordinand. Diac. Oremus, dilectissimi (o).
Exaudi, Domine Deus, preces nostras (f).
Consecration — Adesto, qua;sumus (/J).
Ad consumnmndiim — Conmiune votum (7).
Benediction — Domine Sancte Spei (5).
Sacramentary of St. Greijory.
Presentation by the Archdeacon.
Address to the people — Auxiliante Domino (0).
The Litany (x).
Ordination with laying on of hands.
Prayer — Oremus, dilectissimi (a).
Prayer for the Holy Spirit — Exaudi, Domine Deus (j").
Consecration — Adesto, qu^sumus (^).
Investiture with the stole (e).
Liturgia Alemannica, [Gerberti, 40, ninth century.]
Ordination.
Benedictio — Oremus, dilectissimi (a).
Exaudi, Domine (^).
Consecratio — Adesto, quoesumus .... houorum Dator O).
Gallican Liturgy. Deacon. [Muratori, 664 ; Migne, xxii. 320.]
AUocutio ad populum, ending Si vestra apud meam concordat
electio testimonium quod vultis vocis approbate. Per
Dominum.
Oratio — Oremus, dilectissimi (a).
Conwrratio — Adesto, quajsumus (/3).
E.xaudi, Domine (^).
Ad cojinummandum Diaconi officium — Commune votum (7).
Benedictio — Domine Sancte Spei.
Pontifical. [Claudius A. iii. 42 (Cotton MS.), of the tenth
century]
Oratio ad Ordinandum Diaconi — Oremus, dilectissimi (a).
Exaudi, Domine, preces nostras (f).
Domine Deus omnipotcns.
Connecratio — Adesto, quajsunnis, omnipotens Deus lionorum
Dator (,■?).
Ad consummandum Diaconi officium — Commune votum (7).
Benedictio — Domine Sancte Spei (5).
Investiture with stole (e).
Consecration of the Deacon's hands with oil and chrism.
The Mass.
Pont if cat of Egbert.
Address by the Bishop — Auxiliante Domino (0).
The Litany (x).
Investiture with stole.
Delivery of the Gospel.
Ordination of the Deacon with laying on of hands by the
Bishop.
Benediction of the Deacon — Oremus, dilectissimi (a).
(alia) Exaudi, Domine (f).
Consecratiou of the Deacon — Prayer for the Holy Spirit,
Adesto, qusesumus (/3).
Collect ad conservandum diaconatus officii. Commune
votum (7).
Benediction — A Prayer referring to St. Stephen : Domine
Sancte Spei (5).
Consecration of the hands of tlie Deacon with holy oil and
chrism.
Deacon. [Harl. MS. 2906, fo. S, tenth century.]
Presentation by the Archdeacon (fi).
The Gospel is read.
Si quis.
Litany (x).
Ordination by the Bishop only.
Conunune votum — Addi-ess to the people (7).
Priefatio — Oremus dilectissimi (a).
Consecratio — Adesto, quajsumus (/3).
Delivery of the stole.
Prayer for the Deacon with allusion to St. Stephen.
Deacons.
Deacons and Subdeacons approach together with their habits
[Bangor also] [separately Winchester and Exeter] (jn).
The Litany [omitted by Winton Pont.] (x).
The Deacons retire. 'The Bishop's address.
Diaconum oportet [a longer form in Winton Pont.].
Ordination by the Bishop, saying, Accipe Spiritum Sanctum
[the form omitted in Winton Pont.].
Prafatio — Oremus, dilectissuni (a).
Exaudi, Domine (f).
Vere dignum, with a prayer in it for the Holy Ghost — Emitte
in cor Spiritum Sanctum.
Investiture with the stole.
[A long prayer in Winton Pontifical. ]
[The delivery of the Gospels.]
[Comniuue votum] (7).
[Domine Sancte, Pater Spei] (5).
Delivery of the Gospels x x .
Domine Sancte, Pater fidei spei, etc. (5).
Delivery of the dalmatic.
Reading of the Gospels by a newly-ordained Deacon. 00.
1549, 1552, 1662.
Presentation to the Bishop (ix).
Address to the people [Praefatio a. i. 7].
Litany (x).
Holy Communion.
Collect— Almighty God, Who by Thy Divine Providence.
[Consecratio] (/3).
The Epistle, 1 Tim. iii. S, or Acts vi. 2.
Examination of candidates.
Ordination by the Bishop.
Delivery of the Gospel x x .
Tlie (Jospel, St. Luke xii. 35, read by a Deacon (X).
Collect — Almighty God, Giver of all good [ad consum-
mandum] (5).
Prevent us, Lord [added 1662].
Benediction [added 1662].
Ordering of Priests.
The earliest Services agree in containing a Pi-ayer, Ad ordi-
nandum Presbyterum, called the Preface in the Salisbury
Pontifical ; the Consecratio corresponding to the Collect,
" Ahuiglity (Jod, G iver of all good tilings ; " the Consummatio
a final Collect, and the licncdiclio. The Prayer for the giving
of the Holy Gliost was about the tenth century added to tlie
proper Preface of tlic Mass Vere dignum, and after the thir-
teenth century took llie direct form, " Receive the Holy Ghost,"
an :|ntroDuction to tbe DrDinal.
659
and in some Pontificals the Verc (lignum is directed to bo left
out. As early as the time of i'ope Gregory there was an investi-
ture with the chasuble ; and in the tenth century a delivery of
the chalice and paten, and a change in the arrangement of the
stole : the Consecration of the hands occurs in the Gregorian
Sacramentary, and of the head in the Pontifical of I'lgbei-t.
The arrangement of the chasuble, and the introduction of the
Hymn, Veni, Creator Spiritus, were far later insertions.
Presbyter cum ordinatur Episcopo cum benedicente et
manum super caput ejus tenente, etiam omnes Preabyteri qui
prajsentes sunt manus suas juxta manum I'Ipiscopi super caput
illius teneant. [IV. Counc. of Carthage.]
Sacramentary of Pope Leo. [Migne, 55. 115.]
Oremus, dilectisslmi (/3).
Exaudi nos (7).
Domine Sancte (a).
Sacramentary 0/ Si. Oelasius. [Morin, 2G7.]
Prir'.'if.
Si quis.
Litany.
Ordination by the Bishop.
Ad Ordiuandum Presbytenim — Oremus, dilectisslmi {/3).
Exaudi nos (7).
Consecratio — Domine Sancte, Pater omnipotens, Kterue Deus :
honorum, etc. (a).
Cotisummatio — Sit nobis fratres communis oratio (5).
Benedictio — Sanctificationum onuiium Autor (0).
Gregory's Sacramentary.
Priest.
Presentation by the Archdeacon.
Litany.
Ordination with laying on of hands.
Prayer for blessing on the Priest — Oremus, dileetissimi (/3).
Prayer for the Holy Ghost — Exaudi nos, qusesumus (7).
Consecratio — Domine Sancte (a).
Investiture with the chasuble.
Consecration of the hands (f).
Galilean Liturgy. [Muratori, 666 ; Migne, Ixxii. 521.]
AUocutio ad populum, ending Ideo eleetionem vestram debetis
voce publica profiteri.
Oratio — Oremus, dilectissinii {(i).
Exaudi nos (7).
Consecratio — Domine Sancte .... honorum, etc. (a).
Consiimmatio — Sit nobis pati'es communis oratio (5).
Benedictio — Deus Sanctificationum (0).
3rS. Pontifical. [Claud. A. ill.]
Priest
Ordination.
Oratio ad Ordinandum Presbyterum.
Oremus, dilectisslmi (/3).
Exaudi, quffisumus, Domine Deus (7).
The stole is changed. Consecratio (a). I
Domine Sancte, Pater omnipotens, teterne. Dispositor
honorum, etc.
Consecration of the Priest's hands with cliritm, with prayer,
and of his head with oil.
Investiture with the chasuble (t).
Consecratio — Presbyteri, Sit nobis communis oratio (5).
The Mass.
Pontifical of EgieH [135— 76G].
Investiture with the stole, with a prayer.
Mention of the title on which the Priest is ordained.
Ordination l>y laying on of the hands of the Bishop and
Priests, with a prayer.
Oratio ad Presbyterum Ordiuandum — Oremus, dilectissinii (/3).
Exaudi nos (7).
Consecration of the Priest — Domine Sancte, Pater omnipo-
tens (a).
Oratio — Sit nobis communis oratio (5).
Benediction of the Priest — Deus Sanctificationum (0).
Investiture with the chasuble (e).
Consecration of the hands with chrism in the shape of (f) a
cross, and of the head of the Priest with oil.
Lititrijia Alemannica. [Ninth century, Gerberti, 41.]
Ordination — The Priests holding their hands next the Bishop's
hands.
Benedictio — Oremus, dilectisslmi (/j).
Consecratio — Doiriinc Sancte (a).
Consecration of the hands.
Prie.st. [Harl. 2906, tenth century.]
Presentation by two Deacons and two Priests.
Ordination by 15isliops and Priests.
Quoniam, dilectissinii.
Address to the people.
Preface — Oremus, dilectissimi (fl).
Exaudi nos (7).
Vere dignum, with Aiterne Deus, bonorum Dator (a).
Investiture with stole.
Benediction — Deus Sanctificationum (0).
Craciform unction of both hands {{').
Delivery of paten and chalice.
Benediction.
Salisbury. — Priests.
Presentation by Archdeacon.
Duties of Priesthood explained — Sacerdotem oportet.
[A long address liy the Bishop. \Vinton I'ontif.]
Ordination by the Bishop in silence, tlic Priests assisting.
Pra-fatio Sacerdotum cum nota stando, Oremus, dilectis-
simi (/3).
[Li the Exeter Pontifical is the Poijuli Commonitio, Com-
mune votum.]
Exaudi nos, quajsumus.
Vere dignum, with prayer for tlie Priests.
Investiture with stole and chasuble.
Consecration of the hands with oil and chrism.
Oratio — Deus Sanctificationum omnium (0).
The Hyimi, Veni, Creator Spiritus [omitted in Winton
Pontifical].
Blessing of the hands.
Delivery of the paten and chalice.
[In the Winton Pontifical Consumniatio — Sit nobis.
Communis oratio (0).
Deus Sanctificationum (0).
The Benediction.]
The Mass — After the Post-Communion.
The ordination by the Bishop — Accipe Spiritum Sanctum.
An-angement of the chasuble. [This is found also in the
Greek Euchologium, where "the Bread" is put into the
hand of the newly ordained Priest. The Deacon has a
fiapper delivered to him. Assemani, xi. 132. ]
Benediction.
1549, 1552, 1662.
Sermon or Exhoi'tation.
{Presentation by the Archdeacon. ^
Address to the people. After the
The Litany. )• Veni, Creator,
Collect — Almighty God [the Conse- I 1552.
oration (o) and Preface]. J
Epistle, Eph. iv. 7 [Acts xx. ; 1 Tim. iii., 1552].
The Gospel, Matt. ix. 36 [Matt, xxviii., 1552].
John X. 1 [and John xx., 1552].
Address to the Candidates) [after the Veni, Creator,
Prayer for them j 1552].
Veni, Creator [after the Gospel, 1552].
Prayer — Almighty God [Benediction (0)].
Ordination by the Bishop, the Priests assisting.
Delivery of the Bible.
Collect— Most merciful Father [Consumniatio] (5).
Prevent us, Lord [1662].
The Benediction [1662].
CONSECRATlOjr OP BI.SHOPS.
The Offices for consecration of a Bishop agree in having a
Prayer for the elect, Oremus, dilectissinii, the Benediction,
Adesto supplicationibus, and the Consecration, Deus honorum.
The Unction appears first in the Sacramentary of Gelasius,
and the delivery of the staff in Egbert's Pontifical. A form
of enthronizatiou also occurs at an early date.
Episcopus cum ordinatur, duo Episcopi ponant et teneant
Evangelioi-um codicem supra caput et cervicem ejus, et imo
super eum fundente benedictionem reliqui omnes Episcopi
qui adsunt manibus suis caput ejus tangant. [IV. Council of
Carthage.]
Sacramentary of Po2K Leo. [Jligne, Iv. 114.]
Exaudi, Domine, supplicum preces (().
66o
9n Jntronuction to tfjc ©rDinal.
Suscipe, Domine.
Adesto, misericors Deus (7).
Propitiare I)eus (a).
Deus honorum omnium (/3).
Sacramentary of St. Gelasius. fMoriu, 267.]
Consecration witli laying on of the Gospels.
Oremus, dilectissiini (5).
Adesto supplicationibus (7).
Propitiare Domine (a).
Deus honorum omnium ((3).
Unction •n'ith chrism.
In a vert/ ancient French Pontifical of Poictiers, c. 511 — 560,
printed hy Morin.
Exhortation to the people.
Oremus, dilectissinii (6).
Exaudi, Domine (e).
Propitiare, Domine {a).
Collect — Deum totius sanctificationis.
Consecratio — Deus hononim omuium (/3). containing a prayer
for spiritual unction.
Siicrain. Gregorii. [Migne, Ixxviii. p. '223.]
Ordination with imposition of hands.
Prayer for the Bishop — Oremus, dilectissimi (5).
Benediction of the Bishop — Adesto supplicationibus nostris (7).
Another prayer for the same — Propitiare, etc. (a).
Consecration — Deus honorum omnium (/3).
Unction.
GalUcan Litnnjy. [Muratori, 669 ; Migne, Ixxii. 323.]
Exhortatio ad populum.
Oratio et preces — Oremus, dilectissimi, the third Prayer in
the Ordo Romanus (5).
Exaudi, Domine (e).
Propitiare, Domine (a).
CoUectio — Deus omnium sanctificationum.
Consecratio — Deus hononim omnium, with a prayer for unction
of the Holy Ghost, and for enthronement (fi).
Liturgia Alemannica. [Ninth century, Gerberti, 42.]
Benedictio — Adesto, quajsumus (7).
Propitiare (a).
Consecratio — Deus honorum, with prayer for the Holy
Spirit (/3).
Pont. Egberti.
Ordination by one Bishop pronouncing the Benediction, two
holding the Gospels over the neck of the ordained, and the
rest hokling their hands over his head.
^Oremus, dilectissimi (5).
Three Prayers < Adesto supplicationibus (7).
(Propitiare, Domine (a).
Consecration of the hands of the Bishop.
Unction of his head.
Delivery of the pastoral staff and i"ing.
Prayer ad pontificem ordiuandum — Deus honorum onmium (/3).
Installation of the Bisliop on his throne, with prayer, Onmi-
potens Pater (f).
The Benediction.
Benedictio in consummatione Episcopi. Spiritus Sanctus
Septiformis veniat super te, et virtus Altissimi sine peccato
custodiat te, et omnis benedictio qua; in Scripturis Sanctis
scrijita est super te veniat. Confirmet te Deus Pater et Filius
et Spiritus Sanctus, ut habeas vitam ;eteniam et vivas in
sa;cula sa;culorum. Amen.
Salisbury Pontifical.
Bislio]}.
Presentation by two Bishops.
Examination l)y the Archbishop.
The Mass begun with the Prayer Adesto supplicationibus (7),
to the end of the Sequence.
The Archdeacon robes the elect.
Two Bishops present him.
Oremus, dilectissimi (5).
'I'he Litany.
(The Hymn, Vcni, Creator] [Winton Pontif.]
The Gospels laid on the head of the elect fwith Accipe
Spiritum Sanctum, Exeter I'ont.].
Veni, Creator,
^'cre dignum, with the preface for the Bishop elect. Domine
.Sanctc .... honor omnium dignitatum (/<).
Unction of the head of the elect with oil and chrism.
Preface and Prayers for the elect, for the gifts of the Holy
Spirit. Pater Sancte, omnipotens Deus (f).
Benediction of the Septiform Spirit [occuning also in Pont.
Egberti].
Unction of the hands of the elect.
The delivery of the pastoral staff [also in Pont. Egbert and
Dunstan].
The delivery of the ring [also in Pont. Egbert].
The delivery of the mitre.
The delivei-y of the Gospels.
The Post-Communion.
Greek Eitchologimn [of the eleventh century].
Ordination of a Bishop.
After the Trisagion the Archbishop goes up upon the steps of
the Sanctuary befoi'e the Holy Table, and receives a letter,
stating that by the approbation of the Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons, the heavenly grace which healeth the weak and
supplieth that which is lacking, promotes this godly Priest
N. to be Bishop of the city ^, and we therefore pray that
the Grace of the Holy Spirit may descend upon him.
The Archdeacon then says, "Attend," and the Patriarch
reads the letter ; then Kyrie Eleison is said, and the elect
is led up by three Bishops, assistants in the consecration.
Then the Patriarch lays the book of the Gospels on his
neck, the Bishops touching it ; three signs of the cross are
made on his head, and the Bishop holding his hand on it
says two prayers : he then invests him with the pall ; and
after enthronization the newly consecrated Bishop com-
mimicates the Patriarch. [Assemanni, xl. 125.]
1349, 1552, 1662.
Communion Office.
Collect — Almighty God.
Epistle [1 Tim. iii. 1].
Acts XX. 17 [1662].
Gospel — .John xxi. 15.
John XX. 19 [1662].
John X. [1552].
Matt. xx\iu. 18 [1662].
Presentation to the Bishop.
Oath of due Obedience.
Address to the Congregation.
The Litany.
Prayer — Abnighty God, Giver of all good things [Consecra-
tion] (/3).
Address to the elect.
Interrogation of the elect.
The elect robes.
Veni, Creator.
Prayei- — Almighty God [Benediction] (7).
Consecration by three Bishops.
Delivery of the Bible [and of the staff, 1549].
Prayer — Most Merciful Father.
Prevent us [1662].
Benediction [1662].
§ The Revision of the English Ordinal.
The first change in the old English Pontificals was made by
the omission of the Oath of Obedience to the Bishop of Home
by Act 28 Hen. VIII. c. x. In the winter of 154S, a Com-
mittee, consisting of the Pi-imate, the Bishops of Rochester,
Ely, Lincoln, and Westminster, according to Heylin [Hint,
of Reform., pp. 57, 58], the Deans of St. Paul's. Lincoln,
Exeter, Ch. Ch. , Archdeacon Robertson, and Redmayne,
Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and, as Buniet adds
(Collier inclining to the same belief), the Ai'chbishop of York,
and Bishops of London, Durham, 'Worcester, Norwich, St.
Asaph, Salisbury, Coventry, Carlisle, Bristol, and St. David's
[BcRNKT, Hist, of the Reform, pt. ii. b. i., and Collier,
Eccl. Hist. pt. ii. b. iv.], was appointed to reconstruct an
Ordinal. The old books of Ecclesiastical Offices had been
destroyed ruthlessly and needlessly by the King's orders
[C.VRnwKLL, Doc. Ann., No. xx.]; and therefore, in Novem-
ber 1549, the Parliament made an Act, declaring that "for-
asmuch as concord and unity to be had within the King's
Majesty's Dominions, it is requisite to have one uniform
fa.shion and manner for makuig and consecrating of Bisliops,
Priests, and Deacons, oi' Ministers of the Church : Be it there-
fore enacted by the King's Highness, with the assent of the
Lords spiritual ami tciiqionil, .and the Commons in this )iresent
Parliament assembled, and by the autliority of the same, that
an 3lntroDuction to tljc HDrDinal.
66i
such form and maimer ol' making anil coiisucrating of Arch-
bishops, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and otiicr ministers of the
Church, as by six prelates and six other men of this realm,
learned in God's law, by the King's Majesty to lie apjiointcd
and assigned, or by the most numljcr of them, sliall be devised
for that purpose, and set forth under the (_!rcat Seal of
England before the first day of April next coming, shall by
virtue of the present Act l)e lawfully exercised and used, and
none other, any statute or law or usage to tlie contrary in any
wise notwithstanding." [3 & 4 Edw. VI. c. xii.] In the
House of Lords the Bishops of Durliani, C'liicliestcr, Carlisle,
Worcester, and Westminster protested against the Act.
[Burnet, pt. ii. b. i.] Cranmer had the cliief liand of the
work [Htrype's Mem. of Crannvr, eh. xi.], and, it is said,
drew up tlie preface. Three Offices only were prepared,
altliough the Statute had mentioned the ordering of otiier
Ministers of the Church, that is. Clergy in minor orders, Sub-
deacons and Readers, etc. It was providential that the
counsels of tlie more moderate party in tlie Cliurcli prevailed
over tlie rash advice of the intemperate and (iermanizing
section, who would have abolished much tliat was of ancient
use. Poynet wished to abandon the very name of Bishop.
Grindal called it the mummery of consecration. Jewel would
have had no clerical dress, and Hooper would not wear it.
In the new form the unction of the Priest's hands, a Fi'ench
rite in the sixth century, unknown in the Greek Church, and
not practised at Rome until after the time of Nicholas I., was
laid aside ; as was also the blessing of the Priest's habit with
a special blessing for his offering acceptable sacrifices, a cere-
monial not of earlier date than the eighth century. But the
delivery of the chalice, or cup with the bread, which had
been practised in the tenth century, was retained. It may
be observed, that under the Law certain portions of the
offertory were placed in the hands of Aaron and of his sons,
symbolically of their office of pi'esenting the sacrifices before
the Lord. [Exod. xxix. 24.] The Service began with an
Exhortation; and one of the following Psalms, xl., exxxii.,
and cxxxv., at the discretion of the celebrant, was to be sung
as the introit to the Holy Communion. For the Epistle was
appointed Acts xx. 17-35, or else 1 Tim. iii. 1, 8; for the
Gospel, Matt, xxviii. 18 to the end, or John x. 1-16, or John
XX. 19-23. The Veni Creator having been sung, the Deacon
was presented by the Archdeacon. Then followed the Litany
with a special Collect. The Deacon to be ordained Priest
was to have a plain albe upon him ; the dress appointed for
the candidate for Deacon's orders, vnth the addition of the
word "white." The oath of the King's supremacy was
administered, and the Exhortation made by the Bishop, who
proceeded to put a series of questions copied literally in part,
and wholly In spirit, from the interrogatories made in the
Elder Pontificals to Bishops ; after a certain space kept in
silence for prayers by the congregation, the Bishop, having
said a prayer, ordained the Deacon to the Priesthood, and
delivered to him the Bible ; the Holy Communion followed,
witli a special Prayer before the Benediction. In the ordering
of Deacons the order was as in the present Form.
In the Litany, however, three of the petitions ran thus :
" From all sedition and privy conspiracy, from the tyranny
of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities, " etc.
" That it may please Thee to illuminate all Bishops, Priests,
and Ministers of the Church," etc. "That it may please
Thee to bless these men, and send Thy grace upon them, that
they may duly execute the office now to be committed unto
them to the edifying of Thy Church, and to Thy honour,
praise, and glory." The Epistle was 1 Tim. iii. 8-10, or Acts
vi. 2. The oath of the King's supremacy was much longer,
and in a different form. The newly-appointed Deacon was
to "read the Gospel of that day, putting on a tunicle." If
Deacons and Priests were ordained at the same time, the
whole of the three chapters of the First Epistle to Tunothy
was read. In the form of consecrating an Archbishop or
Bishop, the Psalm for the introit at the Holy Communion
was to be the same as at the ordering of Priests. The Epistle
was 1 Tim. iii. 1, and the Gospel, John xxi. 15, or "chap, x.,
as in the order of Priests." At the presentation, the elected
Bishop was to have upon him a surplice and cope, and the
presenting Bishops to be in sui'plices and copes, and bearing
their pastoral staves in their hands. The Archbishop laid
the Bible on the neck of the consecrated Bishop, and put the
staff into his hand, saying, " Be to the flock," etc.
This complete Form and Manner was published in March
1549-1550, and printed by Richard Grafton, Printer to the
King and five Bishops were consecrated according to it.
Unhappily the efforts of the extreme reformers prevailed now
over the better judgement of the Catholic party. The influ-
ence of Peter Martyr, Alaseo, Bucer, and Calvin was felt in
the counsels of Hooper, Poynet, and their followers. In
consequence of their representations, a new review was
instituted in the commencement of 1551 ; and on and after
All Saints' Day 1552 the Second Book of Edward VI. was
ordered to be in use. The handiwork of violent men of
factious, peevish, and perverse spirit is only too recognizable,
"bewraying their own folly," and "full of innovations and
newfangleness. " Several laudable practices of the Church of
England, or indeed of the wluile Catholic Church of Christ,
were now laid aside. The introits of the Holy Communion,
the habits of the candidates and of the presentiiiL' and elect-
ing Bishops, the delivery of the chalice and Sacred Elements,
and of the pastoral staff, was omitted, and only one change
was made for the better at the instance of Hooper, the sub-
stitution in the oath of the King's supremacy of the words,
So help me God, iliroiif/h Jestis Christ, for all Saints aiul lite
holij Erangelisls. By Statute 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. i. § 45,
the form and manner of making and consecrating of Arch-
bishops, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, was annexed to the
Book of Common Prayer, "faithfully and godly perused,
explained, and made fully perfect." This Act passed the
House of Commons, and was returned to the Lords, April
14, 1552 [Collier, Ecdcs. Hist. p. iv. b. ii. ; Burnet, p. ii.
b. i.], and the 35th of the Articles drawn up in 1552 by a
Committee delegated by lioth Houses of Convocation, and
in force until 6 Eliz., declares that the book of the Order-
ing of the Ministers of the Church, for tnith of doctrine is
godly, and in nothing is repugnant to the sound doctrine
of the Gospel, but agreeth thereto and doth much promote
and illustrate the same. The 25th Article, entitled, "Kemo
in Ecclesia ministret nisi vocatus," is literally the same as
the 23rd in the Articles of Religion of 1562. Only one
Bishop was consecrated according to this Ordinal.
Out of twenty-six sees twenty were still occupied by
Bishops who had been consecrated according to the use of
the old Pontificals : upon the accession of Queen Mary, the
Acts of 3 Edw. VI. c. xii., for drawing up the Ordinal, and
5 Edw. VI. c. i. , for annexing it to the Book of Common
Prayer, were repealed ; and after December 20, 1553, the
forms commonly used in England in the last year of King
Henry VIII. were only to be used. An unanswerable testi-
mony that the main body and essentials, as well in the
chiefest materials as in the frame and order thereof, had been
continued the same in the Reformed Ordinals, is contained in
the fact that the Roman party contented themselves with
requiring "the supply of those things wanted before," such
as unction and the delivery of sacred vessels and of the proper
habits [Art. XV. 1553 ; Bumet, pt. ii. b. ii.], and so reconciling
the Ministers ordained according to the new form [Cardw.,
Doc. Ann., No. xxx. ; Heylin's Hist, of the Reform., p. 206],
and Pope Julius in his Bull, 1553, giving Legatine power to
Cardinal Pole, desired him to reconcile and reinstate the
Bishops and Archbishops in their Cathedral Churches, and
permit them to ordain to the priesthood, — ad quoscnnque etiam
sacros et Presbyteratus ordines promovere et in illis ant per
eos jam licet miniis recte susceptis ordinibus, etiam in altaris
ministerio ministrare necnon niunus consecrationis suscipere.
[Caedw., Doc. Ann. xxxii.] It will be borne in mind that
these subsidiary rites and ceremonies, as will be shewn on a
later page, are regarded by Roman Catholic Canonists of the
first rank and eminence to be wholly unessential and of very
late introduction. On June 13, 1558, every copy of the
English Ordinal was required to be delivered up to the
Ordinary of the diocese. [Cardwell, No. xxxix.] Thirteen
Bishops were consecrated during the imprisonment of the Pri-
mate Crarmier, and as many were irregularly intruded into sees
not vacant [Burnet, pt. ii. b. ii. ; Heylin, p. 208] by the autho-
rity of the Pope, which had been renounced by the Provincial
Synods of Canterbury and York, as well as by individual dio-
ceses. In November 1558, Queen Maryand Cardinal Pole died.
On the accession of Queen Elizabeth the Second Book of
Edward VI. , with the Ordinal, having been reviewed by Parker,
Cox, PiUvington, Grindal, Sandys, Guest, May, Bill, and Smith,
was restored by Act of Parliament, April 20, 1 Eliz. c. ii. § 3,
to be in force and effect after June 24, and the Act of Repeal
passed in Queen Mary's reign was annulled. On December 17,
1559, at Lambeth^Chapel, Parker was consecrated to thearch-see
of Canterbury by'the Bishops of Chichester, Hereford, Bedford,
and (late) Exeter. The Oribnal had been included under the
words "of Administration of Sacraments, Rites, and Cere-
monies," but Bishop Bonner objected that jt was not expressly
named, although of course it formed an integral part of the
662
3n 31ntroDuction to tfjc SDrDinal.
Book of Common Prayer b\' Statute of 1552, and had been
repealed together with it in 1553. However, to put an end
to all such exceptions, an Act was passed September 13, 1566,
8 Eliz. c. i. § 3, 5, confirmed by 1 Jac. I. c. xxv. § 48,
authorizing the use of the Ordinal in future, and declaring
that all persons that had been or should be made, ordered,
or consecrated by it were true Archbisliops, Bishops, Priests,
and Deacons. But the 3fltli Ai'ticle of Religion, drawn
up in 1562, and confirmed by Convocation, 1571, had already
decreed the validity of all orders conferred according to tlie new
Ordinal since the second year of Edward VI., and the Act,
13 Eliz. c. xii., required siibscription to those Articles by the
Clergy; the Constitutions Ecclesiastical, 1575, further required
that Holy Orders should be given oulj- according to the form
and manner of the Ordinal ; and in those of 1604 [c. xxxvi.]
all impugners of the Ordinal were declared excommunicate,
and all candidates for the ministry required to acknowledge
its conformity mth the 'Word of God. Courayer mentions
the important fact that Pope Pius IV. by his envoy offered
to confirm the whole Englisli Prayer Book, of course includ-
ing the Ordinal, pro\'ided the Church of England would be
reconciled to the Pope and acknowledge his supremacy. [Cli.
xiii. p. 2.35.] In 1640, when a complete Pontifical was to
have been drawn up, the fomi of Ordering Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons was to have been retained. [Heylin, Cypr. Anij/k.
pt. ii. p. 414.] In January 1645, the Book of Common Prayer
was proscribed. On March 25, 1661, by Royal Commission,
King Charles II. empowered Conferences to be held for a
' ' review of the Book of Common Praj-er, comparing the same
^vith the most ancient Liturgies whicli have been used in the
primitive and purest times." Bishops Cosin, Wren, Sander-
son, Nicholson, ISIorley, Heucliman, Skinner, and Warner
proceeded to undertake the work, assisted by tlie MS. notes
of Bishops Cosin, Overal, and Andrewes. On November 29,
the Upper House were still at work upon the revision of the
Ordinal ; on December 20, 1661, the Book was received,
approved, and subscribed by both Houses. On ilay 19, 1662,
the Bill for the Uniformity of Public Prayers and Adminis-
tration of the Sacraments received the Koyal Assent, and
provided that the new Book should be used after the feast of
St. Bartholomew, 1662. [13 & 14 Car. II. c. iv. §32.] It was
authorized again by Act, 1706, 5 Ann. c. v. viii. art. xxv. § vii.
The alterations, additions, and variations were chiefly made
in rubrics for the better direction of those officiating in the
Service, in a clearer explanation of some words and plu'ases,
and rendering the Epistles and Gospels according to the last
translation. Tlie former were numerous and of greater sig-
nificancy and importance.
In the Ordering of De.aconn the words, "After Morning
Pr-ayer is ended there shall be a Sermon or, " were added in
the first rubric. The Bishop was required to be sitting in his
chair near to the Holy Table, whilst the candidates were once
more directed to be decently habited, that is, in the habit
and apparel suitable to the order to which they were to be
ordained, — "the vestures appointed for their ministry," a
plain albe or surplice, with a cope for Priests, and albes with
tunicles for Deacons, were appointed in the first Prayer Book
of Edward VI. This rubric therefore i-estored in spirit that
of the first Prayer Book of Edward VI., whilst it was opposed
to the old custom of investiture of the candidates by the
Bishop's own hands. In the Litany the word "rebellion"
was substituted for the passage, " From the tyranny of the
Bishop of Rome and his detestable enormities;" "Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons," for the vague wording, "Bishops,
pastors, and ministers of the Church;" and for "to bless
these men and send," etc., "these Thy servants now to be
admitted to the order of Deacons, and to pour Thy grace
upon them." The Prayer of St. Chrysostom was omitted.
This rubric was now added, "Then shall be sung or said the
Service for the Communion, with the Collect, Gospel, and
Epistle as foUoweth. " The candidate was desired to " humhly
hied hc/orc the Bishop." At the delivery of the Gospel, the
words "thereto licensed by the Bishop himself," were sub-
stituted for " Ifirrcunto ordbmribj commanded." Instead of
the Gospel of the day, a proper Gospel was enjoined ; and the
Collect, " Prevent us, O Lord," was added from the Post-Com-
munion Office. Id the address on the duties of a Deacon, the
words ' ' to baptize " were enlarged into these, "in the absence of
the Priest, to baptize infants ;" and the sentence "they may be
relieved by tlie parish or other convenient alma," was altered
to "relieved with the alms of the parisliionera or others."
The Orderinij of Pn<'Kf.i.—T\u: Utvm hitherto began with the
Service for the Holy Communion ; after an Exhortation and
the presentation of tho candidatoa followed the singing of
the Veni Creator, but it was now removed to the beginning
of the .Service in a manner like that for the Ordering of
Deacons. For the Epistle of 1552, Acts xx. 17-35, or
1 Tim. ill., transferred to the Consecration of Bishops, because
the irpeirfivTepoi. mentioned therein were the Bishops of Asia
Minor [St. Chrysostom, Hom. xi. 1 ; Theodoeet in 1 Tim.
iv. 14 ; fficuMENius, Comm. in 1 Tim. c. xiii. ; Theophylact
in 1 Ep. ad Tim. iv. 14 ; SriCEE, Thes. Ecdes. ii. p. 824 ;
Aquixas, Comm. cap. iv. g 3], Eph. iv. 7 was appointed.
The Gospel, Matt. xx\'iii. 18-20, now the appropriate third
Gospel for the Consecration of Bishops, was exchanged for
Matt. ix. 36, and the third Gospel, John xx. , was removed
to that Service also. Another translation of the hynrn Veni
Creator, probably made by Bishop Cosin, was added. The
words "for the office and work of a Priest in the Church of God
now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands,"
were inserted after the words " P^eceive the Holy Ghost," in
order to determine the ordination to the Priesthood. The old
nibric was ambiguous, "If the Orders of Deacon and Priest-
hood be given both upon one day, then shall all things at the
Holy Communion be used as they are appointed at the
Ordering of Priests, saving that for the Epistle the whole of
1 Tim. iii. shall be read as it is set out before in the Ordering
of Priests, and immediately after the Eijistle the Deacons
shall be ordered, and it shall sutfice tlie Litany be said once."
It was now expanded into a fuller and clearer shape : "And
if on the same day the Orders of Deacons be given to some,
and tlie Order of Priesthood to others, the Deacons shall be
first presented and then the Priests, and it shall suffice that
the Litany be once said for both. The Collects shall both be
used, first that for Deacons, then that for Priests. The
Epistle shall be Eph. iv. 7-13, as before in this Office. Im-
mediately after which they that are to be made Deacons shall
take the Oath of Supremacy, be examined and ordained as is
above prescribed. Then one of them ha\'ing read the Gospel,
which shall be either out of Matt. ix. 36-38, as before in this
Office, or else Luke xii. 35-38, as before in the form for Order-
ing of Deacons, they that are to be made Priests shall likewise
take the Oath of Supremacy, be examined and ordained as in
this Office is before explained."
Consecration of a Bishop.- — In place of the old title and
rubric, "The fflrm of Consecrating of an Archbishop or
Bishop," these were added, "The form of Ordaining or
Consecrating of an Archbishop or Bishop, which is always to
be performed on some Sunday or Holyday. " "When all
things are duly prepared in the Church and set in order."
"After Morning Prayer is ended, the Archbishop, or some
other Bisliop appointed, shall begin the Communion Seirice,
in which this shall be the Collect," the latter containing a
slight alteration of the Collect for St. Peter's day, the name
of that Apostle being omitted. The word ordaining was
added to shew the distinction between the Orders of Pi-iest
and Bishop, and the ceremonial was directed to take place on
a Sunday or Festival, a special C'oUect being added. The
Epistle, Acts XX. 17, with the rubric, "And another Bishoi^
shall read the Epistle," was ad<led, and the (5ospel, John
XX. 19 (in place of "John x., as in the Ordering of Priests"),
or Matt. xx\nii. IS, with the rubric, "Then another Bishop
shall read the Gospel," was inserted ; thus securing the
presence of at least three Bishops, the Canonical number, and
the reading of appropriate passages of Holy Scripture. The
former rubric, "After the Gospel and Credo ended, first the
elected Bishop shall be presente<l by two Bishops unto the
Archbishop of that pro\Tnce, or to some other Bishop appointed
by his commission, the Bishops that present him saying,"
was amplified tluis, "After the (iospel and Nicene Creed and
tlie. Sermon are ended, the elected Bishop, rexted with his
rochet, shall be presented by two Bishops unto the Archbishop
of that province, or to some other Bishop appointed hji lavful
eommiiision, the Archhi.-thop niUi.nr) in his chair near the Holy
Table, and the Bishops that present him saying." A pro-
vision was thus made for a proper habit to be worn by the
elect, for the proper position of tlie Archbisliop, and for the
appointment of his representative in case of his illness or
death. In the next rubric the words " person okcted " were
changed into "persons elected." In the Litany the rubric
was altered from "he shall say," to "the proper suffrage there
following shall bo omitted, and this inserted instead of it."
In the address to the elect the words "to the government of
the congregation of Christ," were altered to "govcnimcnt in
tho Church of Christ." After tho sixth question was inserted
a new Interrogatory, " A\'ill yon be faithful in ordaining,
sending, or laying hands upon others? Annver. I will so be,
by the help of God." After these questions, for the words
9n IntroDuction to tbc ©rDinal.
663
" Tlie Archbishop," the rubric was added, " Then the Arch-
bishop, standing tip, shall say:" and for tlic rubric "Then
shall be sung or said, Come, Holy Oliost," another was sub-
stituted, " Then shall the Bishop Elect put on the rest of the
Episcopal habit, and kneeling down, \'eni, (jreator Spiritus
shall be aung or said over liim, the Archbishop beginning, and
the Bisliops with others that are present answering by verses
as followeth. " In the rubric jjreceding the Consecration the
words " kneeling before them on hi.i A'He™, " were added after
"the elected Bishop;" and for the form, "Take the Holy
Ghost, and remember that thou stir up tlic grace of (ioil which
is in thee by imposition of hands, for fiod liath not given us
the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of solierness, "
another was ordered : " deceive the. J/oli/ (Jhoat for the office
and work of a Bishop in the Church of God, now committed unlo
Ihee htj the imposition of our hands, in tlic Name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Hohi Ghost. Amen. And remem-
ber," etc., thus emphatically marking the consecration to the
Episcopate. The words ' ' with other, " were changed into ' ' with
others " who were to communicate with the new-consecrated
Bishop ; and ' ' after the last Collect "to " for tlie last Collect,"
"Prevent us, Lord," being inserted before the Benediction.
Such is the history of the great revision of the Ordinal of
1662. Some oeremonies were with reverence restored in
conformity with ancient precedents ; many improvements
were made, and certain reconstructions to secure greater con-
formity in the services were carried out. la tlie year 16S9
some insidious designs against the rntegrity of the Ordinal
were set on foot, but, under God's good providence, frustrated.
With some few variations, it is in use in that great branch
of the Catholic Church founded iu the United States of
America, and in the sister Churches of Ireland and Scotland
it has been preserved in its complete form.
§ The Essentials of Ordination.
The Greek words for Ordination were tcKhow, ayia^eiv
[.Iohnson's Unhl. Sac. oh. ii. sect. I], and riXecrioviiyla, Kadupwai^
[ZoNARAS in I. Can. Aj^ost.], and, by Dionysius, iepariKi]
TfXciuffis, but almost universally x"/'<"'<'>'''» in the sense both
of Election [I. Cone. Niceen. A. d, 325, c. iv. I. Cone. Aiitioch,
A.D. 341, c. xix., and Laodicaea, a.d. 365, c. v. 2 Cor. viii. 1!1,
as the Jewish Judges of Consistories and the public Magistrates
of Athens were chosen by a show of bauds] and of Ordination
by laying on of hands. [Acts xiv. 23 ; 1 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim.
i. 6.] But the latter is almost wholly and certainly the
proper sense in which it was applied. [St. Hieron., Comm.
in Esai. c. Iviii. Cone. Neo-Cfesar. c. ix. a.d. 314. Ancyra,
c. 314, c. X. 2 Cone. Nic. c. xiv. St. Basil, Ep. ad Amph.
c. X. St. Chrys. in Ep. ad Tit. c. i. ; Horn. ii. in Ep. ad
Phil.] The word x"P<'^f<'''"> employed by the Council of
Antioch, c. 341, 'c. x., and the 2nd Counc. of Nicaa, c. 4, means
benediction of the ordained ; iwldtais tuv x^'P"'') which ex-
presses the actual ceremony or matter of Ordination, is a
mere synonym for x^V'"'"''''- The laying on of the Bishop's
hands is the only essential rite of Ordination, being of Aposto-
lical origin, having Scriptural authority, and being that cere-
mony which has prevailed in all ages and among all branches
of the Catholic Church. [InM. Calvini, lib. ix. c. iii. § 16.
Reform. Leg. Eccles. de Saer. c. vi. Bec'an. de Sacram. c.
XX vi. qu. iv. 3, 6.] Laying on of hands was the action used
in blessing among the Jews [Gen. xlviii. 14], and was em-
ployed by our Saviour [Mark x. 16], and also in the Consecra-
tion of Priests [Num. xxvii. 18, 19 ; Dent, xxxiv. 9 ; Num.
viii. 10 ; Exod. viii. 6, 7], the hand being symbolical of
Divine aid. [Ps. Ixxxix. 21, 22; Ezek. iii. 14.] Our Lord
used the incommunicable ceremony of breathing, as the
Author of the heavenly gift, and as shewing that the assistance
of the Holy Ghost, which proeeedeth from Him aloue, coidd
make efficient ministers of the new Testament, and would be
given to them for tlieir spiritual work. But as He ascended
He laid on His uplifted hands and blessed His Apostles [Luke
xxiii. 50], and this significant action was adopted by them as
symbolical of Divine protection, and a token of delegated and
spiritual power. Thus St. Paul and St. Barnabas were
ordained with prayer and the laying on of hands, and are
said to be sent forth by the Holy Ghost. [Acts xiii. 3.] Thus
St. Timothy was consecrated [1 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6] ;
thus the Bishops, ordained by the Apostles, are said to have
been constituted by the Holy Ghost. [Acts xx. 28.] Thus
Deacons were ordained [Acts vi. 3], and Priests. [1 Tim. v. 22.]
This doctrine has been held by Fathers, Councils, and
Canonists. [St. Jerome in Esai. Iviii. 10. St. Augustine,
de gest. cum Emer. § xi. ; de Bapt. contr. Donat. c. i. § 2 ;
corUr. Ep. Parmen. I. ii. c. 13, § 28. St. Ambrose, dc Diyn.
Saccrd. ; Comm. in 1 Tim. c. iv. v. 14. Sx. Cvpkia.n,
Ejy. Ixvii. ad Cler. el pleb. Hisp. St. Basil, Ep. ad Ampliil.
c. 1. St. Ciiryso.stom, in cap. xv. Act. Horn. xiv. St.
Gregorv Nazianzen, Orat. xliii. in laude Batilii ; I. Cone.
Nic.T?n. A.D. 32.5, c. ix. ; Antioch, 341, c. x. ; IV. Carth. 398,
c. iv. ix. ; Ancyra, 314, c. x. ; Counc. of Mayencc, 1549,
c. XXXV. ; Cologne, IS.'JU, i)t. i. c. i. ; Trent, 1501, sess. xiv.
c. 3 ; and by the liiform. Leg. Eccles. de Eccl. p. 99, and by
the ritualists Sym. Tiiess. 0. v. ; Diony.s. Arcop. ; P. Inkoc.
I. ad Episc. Maced. Ep. xxii. § 5. St. Thom. Aquinas, Dist.
xxiv. qu. ii. act. iii. EsTlus, 1. iv. d. 24, § 1. 24. Juennics,
deSacr. Q. iii. diss. viii. Hahekt's Archier. p. 121. MoRiN,
dc Sricr. Ord. pt. iii. Ex. i. c. I , § 2. Dens, Tract, de Ord. vii.
p. 47. Bellarmi.ne, de Sacr. Ord. 1. i. cix. ; de Rom. Pont.
1. i. c. xii. Makianus ap. Menardnm. Arcudius, de Sacr.
Ord. 1. vi. c. 5. Maldonatus, de vii. Sacr. qu. iii., etc. See
also Pkideaux, Validitij, pp. 70-82, and Walcott's Ordinal, -p-p.
248-9, note 1.] The ancient Sacramentaries make mention of
no other rite. Tlic Greek Bishops use only the right liand in
the Ordination of Priests and Deacons ; and the same custom
was observed, until the sixth century, it would seem, in the
Western Church. In the English Church tlie Bishop lays on
both hands, and in the Ordering of Priests, the Priests
present, witlioiit speaking, lay their hands conjointly with
the Bishop on the head of the Deacon as a sign of their appro-
bation and reception of the newly-ordained Priest, to give a
proof of previous deliberation, and to guarantee to the Church
that the Bishop was acting with competent authority, and
that there is no defect iu his ministration of the sacred rite.
It is a bare ceremony, as in the Greek Church Priests salute
the Priests, and Deacons the Deacons who are newly ordained.
The transition from the custom of the Eastern to that of the
Western Church can readily be traced in the foUo-nnng stages.
"In the ordering of a Priest a Bishop, lay thyself thy hand
in his hand, the Priests standing by." [Const. Apost. 1. viii.
c. xvi.] "This is the form of Ordinations," says Theophilua
of Alexandria ; "all the Priests agree and choose, then the
Bishop examines, and, with the assent of the Priests, ordains
in the midst of the Church." The third Canon of the 4th
Council of Carthage, a.d. 398, "When a Priest is ordained,
the Bishop blesses and holds his hand above his head, and all
the Priests hold their hands next the Bishop's hand above his
head," is quoted in all the old Sacramentaries up to the
twelfth century ; but in the Pontifical of Corbey, of that
date, the Priests are desired to hold their hands on his
shoulder-blades ; and in a still earlier one of the ninth
century and some of the tenth century a distinction was
made, the Bishop layiug on his hand and the Priests holdmg
theirs elevated. [Martene, 1. i. c. viii. art. ix. § 9 ; Morin,
P. ii. p. 280.] The Bishop alone laid on hands in the Ordina-
tion of Deacons. [Martene, n. s. § 1.] The unction of the
Priest's hands, and the delivei-y of the vessels and habits,
were later ceremonies, which at the Reformation were laid
aside ; m the revised Prayer Book of 1552 the delivery of the
chalice and paten and pastoral staff being also discontinued.
The delivery of the Epistle to the Deacon, and of the Holy
Bible to the Bishop and Priest, was probalily introduced from
the East through the Gallican Church, as it was the custom
at Constantinople to place the order for tlie Holy Communion
in the hands of the Priest, with the word 'AJios ; and by the
Euchologium, the Priest is directed at once to read from the
Book of the Liturgy. In the African and Western Churches
the Bishop alone received the Bible, but it was at length also
given to Priests, as being associates of the Bishop in teaching
the people and the office of preaching.
The essential words by which Orders are conveyed are
Prayer for the grace of the Holy Ghost, with a blessuig
pronounced on the ordained. Hostiensis and Pope Innocent,
the chief of Canonists, held that it would be sufficient for
the ordainer to say, "Be a Priest," or words to that effect,
if the Church had not ordei'ed a prescript form. [P. SuA^as,
Polani. Hist. Cone. Trident. 1. vii. art. 6.] For as Pope
Innocent says, now that proper forms have been made and
enacted by the Church, they must be of necessity observed.
[Ap. Xich. arch. Panorm. Comm. s. ii. pt. i. I. Decret.] The
4th Council of Carthage makes no mention of the form : while
in some of the old Sacramentaries and Pontificals are found a
long praj-er or preface called the Consecration, and in others
a jjrayer which was sung, beginning, " Giver of honours, and
distributor of orders." Thus, St. Augustine says, "They
prayed that the Holy Spirit might come upon them on whom
they laid hands, a custom yet observed by the Church in her
Bishops ; we can receive this gift according to our measure,
I but certainly cannot shed it upon others ; but that this may
664
an 3lntrotmction to tbc ©rtiinal.
be done, we invoke God Who worketh the same on their
behalf over them " [rfc Trin. 1. xv. c. xxvi. § 4<3] ; and St.
Ambrose. " The Cliurch, as hax-ing true Priests, rightly claims
this" [i.e. the Divine Commission]. The gift of the Holy
Spirit is the priestly ollice. \_De Pcen. 1. i. c. ii. § 7.] So God
took of the Spirit vrhich was upon Moses, and put it upon the
Seventy. [Num. xi. 17, 2.5.] In aU this the old aphorism
holds true, avOpwirhrj Td|i! Ge(a 5^ X^P"- Aii<l ill order to
receive spiritual strength and gi-ace, in all rituals communion
in the Holy Eucharist is required from the new ordained or
consecrated. In the Greek Church the words employed are,
"The Divine Grace, which helpeth them that are weak and
supplieth that which lacketh, chooseth this godly Subdeaeon
(or Deacon) to be Deacon (or Priest) " [Euchol. ap. Mokin. de
Saci: Orel. P. i. p. 79] ; and in the Syro-Nestorian, "He is
separated, sanctified, perfected, and consecrated to do the
ministry of a Deacon in the Cluirch, and the work of a Levite,
as did Stephen, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost." The Church of England makes an express
mention of the order to which the candidate is to be appointed.
For nine hundred years after Christ there was no express
statement of the Church respecting the power of consecrating
Christ's Body and Blood in the Ordering of Priests. The
Greek Church does not give in express terms the power of
consecrating the Sacred Elements, or of absolution, the invo-
cation of the Holy Ghost, a pi'ayer of consecration, and a
benediction by the Bishop, constituting her form ; but as an
equivalent she prays God that the Priest may stand uublame-
able at His altar, to preach the Gospel of His salvation, to
minister [Upovpyew] the Word of His truth, to offer to Him
gifts and spiritual sacrifices, and to renew His people by the
laver of regeneration. The Benediction of the old Pontificals
resembled tliis prayer : "May the blessing of tlie Father, tlie
Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon thee, that thou mayest be
blessed in the order of Priestliood, and offer propitiatory
sacrifices " [hosllm]. In the Western Church the power of
consecrating the Holy Eucharist was not named until the
tenth centiiry, and was not adopted in the Use of Bangor
before the close of the thirteenth century ; but it is found in
the Pontifical of Caetan before a.d. 1000, at the delivery of the
paten and Elements, and the chalice \\-ith wine : "Take the
power to offer the Sacrifice to God, and to celebrate Mass in
the Name of the Lord." The form conveying the power of
absolution is later by three hundred years, but was alluded to
in the shape of a prayer. In a Pontifical of Mayence of the
thirteenth century, liowever, it occurs, "Eeceive the Holy
Ghost, whose sins j'e remit," etc., and in a Pontifical of
Rouen, about the next century,
§ The Effect of Ordination.
The laying on of hands and prayer, with the delegation of
ministerial order, constituting the essential and necessary
form and matter of Ordination, it remains to consider the
Divine vocation, and the results of Ordination. It is a sancti-
fication of the person to do certain offices of religion, as in the
case of Jeremiali [.Jer. i. 5], and St John Baptist [Luke i. 15],
and also the imparting of grace to make the person meet to
perform the same. The change of name adopted by St. Paul
and St. Peter after their ordination expresses significantly
the change of condition, the new honour sanctified by God.
But, as St. .Jerome says, "Let every one jirove himself and
so come ; ecclesiastical order does not make a Christian. " [.-1 d
Heliodor. Ep. v. al. 1.] Tlie candidate is to be called to a
high dignity and a weighty ofiice and chai-ge, to be a
messenger, watchman, and steward of the Lord. He is to be
a worker together W'ith God [2 Cor. vi. 1], and giving no
offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed, approv-
ing himself in all tilings aa the minister of God. He is to be
one of tliat order, of whom it is said, that " he that heareth "
them heareth Christ [Luke x. 16], he is to be God's witness
[Luke xxiv. 47, 48], to have power over all the power of the
enemy [Tjuke x. 19], and to exercise a most solemn delegation.
[.John XX. 2.S.] But lie has also to shew by his deeds ratlier
than liy name wliat liis profession is, and to apply himself
wholly to one thing, tlic priestliood of tlic atonement and tlie
ministi-y of reconciliation : to be one set apart by tlie most
impressive vow at God's altar ; to forsake .-dl ^lorldly cares
and studies, and to sanctify and fasliion his life after the rule
and doctrine of Christ ; to be a wliolesoiiic and godly example
and pattern for the people to follow. He, like Moses and
Joshua [Exod. iii. .5 ; Josh. v. 1.->1, is bidden to a nearer access
to God than the people. [Exod. xxiv. i:i, 14.] And who is
sufficient for these things 'if for, as St. Chrysoatom argues,
from Lev. iv. 3-13, xxi. 17, and Luke xii. 47, as the fault of
coining short of God's Will is greater in His minister, so a
more horrible punishment of neglect will ensue : he wants a
great soul and a thousand eyes on every side. [Horn. iii. in
c. i. AlI. ; xxvi. in c. viii. Matt. ; de Saeerd. 1. vi. c. xi.]
The candidate when ordained will have need of learning, for,
as Bishop Jeremy Taylor observed, an ignorant minister is a
head without an eye ; he requires to be a feeder [1 Pet. v. 2],
a leader [John x. 4], an oracle [Mai. ii. 7], sober, gi-ave,
att'able, firm, patient, long-sutt'ering, kind, unwearied, zealous,
and undaunted [2 Cor. vi. 1-10], "never ceasing labour, care,
and diligence [Acts xx. 2 ; 1 Thess. ii. 17] until he has done
all that lies in him, according to his bounden duty, to bring
all such as are committed to his charge unto that agi-eement
in the faith and knowledge of God, and to that ripeness and
perfectness of age in Clu-ist, that there be no place left among
them eitlier for error in religion or for viciousness in life. "
The candidate for the Diaconate professes his trust that he
is inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him that
office and ministration, and the candidate for the Priesthood,
that he thinks in his heart that he is truly called, according
to the Will of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any state of life is said
to be that to which God is pleased to call us [Catechism], and
St. Theophylact renders ttj itXijcrfi [1 Cor. ™. 17-20], as iv oiV
/ii'y Koi kv oi'(fj Ttxyixari Kai TroXtTet'^uari. Vocation is twofold :
[I.] E-draordinarij, when God calls men (1) immediately, as
was Moses ; (2) or by means and intervention of a prophet, as
Elisha ; (3) before the existence of an Order of Ministers, as
Aaron and the tribe of Levi ; (4) after the institution of a
Jlinistry, as Samuel and Elias, the Twelve [John xi. 70], and
the Seventy, St. Matthias, St. Paul [1 Cor. i. 1 ; 2 Cor. i. 1 ;
Eph. i. 1 ;"Col. i. 1 ; Gal. i. 1 ; Rom. i. 1], and St. Barnabas:
and [II.] Ordinary, when men call and appoint a Minister in
the Church according to the law prescribed by God, as were
the Aaronic Priests and Levites ; Titus and Tunothy, Priests
and Deacons of the Apostolical Churches, and now the Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons of the Church. But the secret voice of
the Holy Ghost does in\'ite individuals [1 Cor. ii. 11 ; Jer.
xi. 20, xvii. 10] ; on the one hand, Moses hesitated to accept,
on the other, Isaiah sought to receive, a mission, and the
Apostle declares that the desh-e to become a Minister is good.
[1 Tim. iii. 1.] St. Augustine says, when Mother Church
desires our work, ' ' nee elatione avida suscipiatis nee blaudiente
desidia respuatissed miti corde obtemperetis Deo. " [Ep. xlviii.]
"They who came not were sent," says St. Jerome, "for He
saith, they came, and I did not send them. In those who
came is the presumption of rashness, in those who are sent
the obedience of service." [Prol. in Comm. in St. Matt.]
The natural sense of men required a holy entrance on the
Priesthood [Demosthenes contr. Androtion. Pi..\to, deLeg. 1.
vi. § vii.], and the Canonical impediments were read over to
the candidate in the Church during many centuries. "The
cvcnest line of moderation in suits after spiritual functions
which may be as ambitiously forborne as prosecuted, is not
to follow them without conscience, nor of pride to withdraw
ourselves utterly from them." The presence of earthly
motives, such as desire of honour, wealth, and reputation, is
utterly at variance with a Divine call. "The simple eye"
[Matt. vi. 22, 23], "a good intention towards God, is a sign
of its existence" [St. Chkys. Horn. v. in 1 Tim. i. 8], as
the one end sought is doing His work to His honour, and
setting forward the salvation of all men, out of a good con-
science. [St. Aug. de Serm. Dom. ; Ivo, de Excell. Sao: Ord. ;
C.4LVIN, de Exter. Med. ad Sal. 1. iv. c. iii. § 11.] Itis not said
to the candidate, "Have you such an inward perception of
such a Divine impulse, that you can distmguish it from all
other inward movements by its manner of impressing you?"
but, " Do you trust that you are on good grounds persuaded
that you have a Di\ane call, that is, from your serious pre-
paration, your honest intention, your sacred resolution to
discharge the duties of the ofiice which you seek ? " There is
required of necessity no inward, secret, sensible testimony of
God's blessed and sanctifying Spirit to a man's soul, nor any
strong working of the Spirit of illumination ; suffice it that
there be inclination of nature, personal abilities, and care of
education, without any extraordinary assistance of the Holy
Ghost. [Sir S.\NDEi;soN, iv. Serm. S 32.] " Here is now th.at
glass wherein thou must behold thyself, and discern whether
thou liave the Holy Ghost within thee or the spirit of the
Hesh of man. See that thy works lie \-irtuous and good, con-
sonant to tlie prescript rule of (Jod's Word, savouring and
t.asthig not of the Hcsh, but of the Spirit, then assure thyself
th.at tiiou art endued with the Holy Ghost." [Ilomili/ on
W'hif.iunda)/.] The only sure preservative for such a devotion
of life and thought to the work of the Ministry as will ensure
9n 31nti-oDiiction to tfjc ©rDinal.
665
its acconiplishment, is tlie jiurputual memory (if Iliin Who
gave the commission to perform it, of tlie end for wliieli it was
given, and the account we must one day render to the Great
Shepherd of tlie Shocp.
The distinction between Clergy and lay persons is asserted
by St. C'hrysostom [in Ps. cxiii. v. 19, § 4], TertuUian [de
Prase. Hirr. c. xli. ; ilc 3fonoij. xi. ; di'.Fiuja, xi.], St. Ambrose
[de Dhjn. Sacerd. c. iii.], St. Cyprian [Eji. lix. ad Com.}, and
St. Jerome [adv. Liiri/.]. The designation Clergy, kX%os, a
lot or inheritance, as in the suffrage "Bless Thine iidieritance"
[Ps. xvi. 15 ; Ixxiii. 26], is another illustration of the analogy
subsisting between the Aaronic and Christian Priesthood
[Num. xxviii. 20; Deut. xviii. 1, 2; St. Jerome, Ejy. xxiv.
ad NepoC], whilst there is also a reference to the circumstance
of God overruling the lots in the ease of St. Matthias, the first
minister oi'dained by the Apostles. [Acts i. 26. St. Auti.
Kiiarr. in Ps. Ixvii. 19. Isidore, Orhj. 1. vii. c. xii. ; de Off.
Ecdcs. 1. ii. c. 1.] The word a.<j>opurixh^, severance, setting
apart, founded on Acts xiii. 2, is also used as a synonym for
ordination. [Bever. Senn. ii., On the Church.}
This distinction rests upon the impression of the indelible
Ecclesiastical mark or character, the ' ' charisma certum veri-
tatis," as Irenseus terms it [coidr. liar. 1. iv. c. xxvi. § 2], or
as St. Augustine, "SacramentumOrdinationis su;e." [DeEono
Conj. c. xxviii. ; contr. Donati.it. 1. i. c. 1, § 2 ; coidr. Ep. Par-
men. 1. ii. c. xiii.] The same doctrine is stated by Bishop
Jeremy Taylor [Episc. A.tscrf. s. xii. xxxi. 3], Archbishop
Potter [Church Gov. ch. v.], Prideaux [Validity, etc., y. 25],
Hooker [Eccks. Pol. h. v. c. Ixxvii. § 3], Mason [de Mia.
Analic. 1. ii. c. xi. § 6], and Bingham [Oriij. Ecclcs. h. xvii. c.
ii. § 5]. It is that of the Canon Law, " Si (juis clericus relicto
officii sui ordine laicam voluerit agere vitam vel se militi*
tradiderit, cxcommunicationis pa^na feriatur. " [Cone. Turou.
A.D. 461, c. v.] "Sanctorum decus lionorum qualibet fnerit
oecasione perceptxim manebit onmibus iiieonvulsum. " [VIII.
Cone. Tolet. a.d. 653, c. vii.] " Ordo characterem, i.e.
spirituale quoddam signum a ceteris distinctmum imprimit
in anima, indelebile. " [Deer. Eugen. ad Armen. Cone. Flor.
A.D. 1439. Comp. Cone. Trident. Sess. xxiii. a.d. 1563, c. iv.]
The Canonists use similar expi'essions [St, Thom. P. iii. qu.
63. E,stius in Sent. Comm. L iv. dist. i. § 20. Becakus, Ibid.
§21 ; and Lyndewood, Walterus, sub cjucest. Prov. Amjl. 1. i.
tit. 5], and our own Canons, "Semel receptus in Sacrum
Ministerium ab eo impostemm non discedet, nee se aut vestitu
aut habitu aut in ulla \'ita; parte geret pro laico " [Articuli,
A.D. 1571], with which Canon Ixxvi. of 1604 concurs. This
principle is grounded on the analogy of the perpetuity of the
priesthood, both of Melchisedec and the Jews, and the
Apostles and Clergy of the Primitive Church ; on the endur-
ing grace of Holy IJaptism ; on the self-dedication for life to
God ; on the fact that God has nowhere signified that the
character will expire before death ; on the actual unbroken tradi-
tion that re-ordination was a sacrUegious and heretical act, and
that in cases even of deposition the exercise of sacred functions
was only suspended. [Gomj). Ed. Rev. art. v. Jan. 1849.]
Holy Orders are not denied, in a large sense of the word and
in another nature, the name of a Sacrament, by the ninth of the
second Book of Homilies of the English Church ; but, as being
restricted to a class in the conununity, as lacking the promise of
remission of sins, and not having any visible sign or ceremony
ordained of Christ [Art. XXV.], and not being generally neces-
sary to salvation, they are so called in an inferior sense to the
two Sacraments of the Gospel. With this resei-vation, the
Church of England i-egards Orders as a Sacrament, or rather
aa sacramental. The title of the Book of Common Prayer in-
cludes ' ' administration of the Sacraments and other rites and
ceremonies of the Church." The rubric of 1549 prorided
that ' ' every parishioner shall commiuiicate at the least three
times in the year, and shall also receive the Sacraments and
other rites according to the order of this Book appointed. "
Similar language is employed in the Act of Unifomiity, 1
Eliz. c. ii., and the Homilies, P. 1, "On Common Prayer and
Sacraments :" "Neither Orders nor any other Sacrament else
be such Sacraments as Baptism and the Communion are " [p.
316]. Melanchthon included Ordination among Sacraments.
[Loci Thcol. tom. i. pp. 233, 234. Cnmp. Gonf. A ugshnrrf, pp.
29, 30.] The greatest English theologians, however, cautiously
guard against any misapprehension of the term Sacrament,
on the safe ground that the outward ceremony of breathing
has been changed into laying on of hands ; that the Form of
Words is given "as in the Person of Christ," and not from
ourselves; and that the grace given is "gratis data," not
"gratumfacien3"[Bp. Audrewes, Serm. ix.]; but they still
do not withhold the designation of Sacrament, provided that it
bo not understood as a true or necessary Sacrament. [Bp.
Jewee, Treat, on Sacr. p. 1225. Def. of Apoloijji, p. ii.
p. 459. AKciinisiior Wake, Expos, of Doctrine, Art. xv.
]). 46. Caleiiile, Ans. to Martiidl, p. 229. Br. Burnet,
Vind. of OriL p. 21. Arciiblsiioi' Bramhall, Cons, of
Biihop.H, disc. v. Ckakanthorp, Def. Eccl. Amjl. c. xxx.
Bp. MKVEniDcv. on Art. XXV.]
From the distinction existing between the Clergy and Laity
is derived the word " Order "[;/»■«(/«.< ^aO/i6s, ordo rtifis], the
state to which tlie ministers of (iod are ordained. [St. Amp.h.
de Off. Min. lib. 1. c. viii. 25. St. Auc. de Civ. Dei, 1.
xix. c. 13. Gabriel Piiilad. c. ii. St. Leo, Ep. Ixxxiv. c.
4. Bp. Jeremy T.\yj.ok, Episc. Assert. § xxxi. 1. .3. J The
words polestas, officium, honor, diijnitas, d^la, a^iu/xa, locus,
Xcipa, are also synonyms of ordo.
§ The Preface to the Ordinal.
The Preface to the Ordinal sets forth the following stiite-
ments and principles : —
I. The Three Orders of the Ministry are Apostolical, and
have ever been held in reverent estimation.
II. That there are proper ages at which Orders should be
conferred.
IV. That there are proper times and places for Ordination.
III. That the candidates shall be duly tested as to character
and qualifications.
V. That there are indispensable rites and cerquionies
ministered by a Bishop for Ordination, public prayer
with imposition of hands.
I. If these three orders be from the Apostles' times, they
must be Divine. The Saviour, as High Priest upon eartli,
actually ordained His Apostles and seventy disciples as repre-
senting Priests and Le\ates. The first consecration of Apostles
is referred to the Holy Ghost [Acts i. 24 ; xiii. 2], and the
Ordination of Deacon also, "being full of the Holy Ghost "
[vi. 5]. The offices of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are quite
clear in the New Testament ; but distinct names for the three
orders are not discernible at first until language pemiitted
and eii'cumstances demanded it. Me find ordainers and per-
sons ordained, and the names Bishops, Priests, and Deacons :
even in the second century I'resbyters were called Bishops, as
overseers of a portion of the flock ; but in the third century
Bishops are nowhere called Presbyters. The Apostolical
fathers distinctly enumerate Bishops, Priests, and Deacons
as severally distinct. These orders, on the testimony of
ancient authors, evidently existed at all times in Christ's
Church, and must therefore be perpetuated by lawful autho-
rity, that is, by Bishops, who alone have the power of
ordaining in order that they may continue and be reverently
used and esteemed.
II. The Canon Law defines thu-ty years to be the Canonical
age for the reception of the Priesthood, but suffers the admis-
sion of the candidate at tM-enty-five years of age. [P. Dist.
Ixxviii. c. 1, ii. v.] Pope Zosimus, 417, enacted the ages for
Priesthood and the Diaconate to be respectively thirty and
thirty-five years. [R. Maueus, de Ord. Antiph. c. xiii.] Pope
Sir-icius, 385-398, requires the ages to be thirty-five and thirty.
[Ep. i. § ix.] The Councils of Agde, a.d. 506, c. xvi. xvii. ;
III. Carthage, a.d. 397, e. iv. ; II. Toledo, a.d. 531, c. i.,
permitted the reception of the Diaconate at twenty-five years ;
tliat of Melfi, a.d. 1089, at twenty-four, and the Priesthood
at thirty years of age. The latter age is also prescribed by
the old Saxon laws, and the Councils of Neo-C;esarea, a.d.
314, c. xi. ; IV. Toledo, a.d. 633, c. xx. ; IV. Aries, a.d.
524, c. i., and Trullo, 691, c. xiv. The 3rd Council of
Kavenna, a.d. 1314, Ruhr, ii., forbids Deacons to be made
under twenty, or Priests below twenty-five years of age.
The Council of Trent, Sess. xxiii., a.d. 1563, e. xii., permits
the ordination of Deacons at twenty-three, and of Priests at
twenty-five years of age. In the Greek Church the age for a
Deacon is twenty -five [that for Levites in the Jewish Church],
for a Priest thirty years. [Sym. Thess. c. v. ; Assemanni,
P. iv. p. 169.] The latter age is so often prescribed because
at it our Lord began His Jlinistry. [St. Luke iii. 23. Excei-p.
Egbert, 750. Epist. c. xcv. St. Aug. Ep. xxxix. ad Theoph.]
In the Orduial of 1552 the age for the Diaconate was twenty-
one, that of the Roman Sub-diaconate ; which is still allowed
in the American Church (1832) and Scottish Church (1838),
twenty-four years of age being required in the candidate for
the Priesthood. In 1584 Archliishop Wliitgift i-equired
twenty-four years of age full in the candidate for Orders.
[Caedw. Doc. Ann. No. seix.] In the Apostolical Consti-
tutions the age for a Bishop is at least fifty years [1. ii. c. 1],
and Pope Boniface, in the eighth century, alludes to this rule ;
666
an 31ntroDuction to tf)c ©cDinal.
by .Tustiniau [A'arelt. Conx>. 123, c. 1] it is fixed at thirty-
five, but in Novell. exxx\-ii. c. 2, at tliirty ; by Sirieius and
Zosimus forty-five [Theod. H. E. 1. ii. c. 26] ; but in tlie Greek
Church it is probable that in the cases of St. Athauasius,
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Atlienodorus [ErsEB. //. E. 1. vi.
c. 30], Acholius [Ambb. Ep. Ix.], Paul [Soc. //. E. lii. c. 5],
and in the Western Church, Remigius of Rheims, who are all
spoken of as young men, a lower age was sometimes accepted.
By the Act 3 Eliz. c. xii. § v. vii., a Priest was required to be
of twenty-four years of age, wliich is confirmed by the 34tli
Canon of ltl03. and by the present rulnic : and the Canonical
age for the Diaconate is fixed at twenty-three years, unless
he have a faculty, that is, a licence, or dispensation from the
Archbishop of Canterbxiry, given to persons of extraordinary
abilities, by ^•irtue of tlie Act 44 George III. c. xliii. c. 1,
wliicli confirmed the right hitherto held by the Primates. [21
Hen. Till. c. xxi. § 3.] JIartene furnishes several instances
of Ordination before the canonical age. {De A nt. Hit. Eccl. 1. i.
c. A-iii. Art. iii. § 4.] Arclibishops Sharp and Ussher, and
Bishops Bull and Jeremy Tajlor, and Ven. Bede were all
ordained Priests before the age of twenty-four years. And
the monks of Westminster had the privilege of Ordination to
the Priesthood at twenty-one years of age.
The Deacon must continue in tlie office of a Deacon tlie
space of a whole year ["at the least," 1552], except for
reasonable causes it shall otlierwise seem good unto the
Bishop [his ordinary, 1552], to the intent he may be perfect
and well expert in the things appertaining to ecclesiastical
administration. An interval has always been required be-
tween Ordination to the Diaconate and to the Priestliood. [St.
Gkeg. Naz. Oral. xxi. § 7. St. Hier. Ep. xxxv. ad Heliod.
St. Cvpkiax, Ep. Iv. p. 103. Leo, Ep. Ixxxv. c. i. Decret.
P. i. dist. Ixxviii. c. iii.] Tlie Councils of Bai-celona, 599, c.
iii. ; Dalmatia, 1199, c. ii. ; Bourdeaux, 1024, c. vi. n. iii.,
and Trent, Sess. xxiii. 1563, c. xiv., prescribe one year's
service in tlie Diaconate ; Zosimus [Ep. i. c. ii.], and Sirieius
[Ep. i. c. ix.], and Canon Law [Decret. i. dist. Ixxvii. c. il.
iii.], five years ; and tlie Council of Constantinople [870, Act.
X, c. V. xvii. ], and Hormisdas [Eji. xxv. c. i.], tliree years,
and for the Priesthood, four years. By the old English Pon-
tifical : "Inhibemus quod nullus Ordincm recipiat Diaconatus
nisi fuerit setatis viginti annorum, Presbyteratiis viginti qua-
tuor, et \-icesimum quintnm attigerit." [Lacy's Pontifical,
p. 78.]
III. By the 31st Canon, the place of Ordination is
defined to be the Cathedral or the Parisli Church where the
Bishop reside th, "and tlie Ordination is to take place in pre-
sence of the Archdeacon, the Dean, and the two Prebendaries,
at the least, or four grave persons, being M.A. at the least,
and allowed to be preachers." The Ordination is to take
place "in the face of the Church;" and the Church is best
represented by the Cathedral of the Diocesan wlio ordains.
Bishops were absolutely Interdicted from holding Ordinations,
except within their own dioceses, by the Apost. Can. c.
xxxv. ; I. Council of Niciea, c. xv. ; I. Constantinople, c. ii. ;
Antioch, c. xiii. xxii. ; I. Tours, 461, c. ix. ; III. Orleans, 538,
c. XV., and Aix, 789, c. xi. As early as 1538, the lOtli Article
says: " Docemus quod nullus ad ecclesiai Ministerium voca-
tus, ctiamsi Episcopus sit, hoc sibi jure divino vindicare
possit, lit ullam Ecclesiasticam functionem in aliena dia'cesi
exercere valcat, hoc est nee Episcopus in alterius dio?cesi,"
etc. [§xiii.] The Bisliop at Ordination is seated in a chair
near the Holy Table, as the candidates, according to Symeon
of Tliessaloiiica and Dionysius and Theodoret, were also
ordained in the Sanctuary \ I lint. En-lot. p. 166 ; Morin, P. ii.
p. 47, 106], and the Greek Kuchologiuiii has a similar rubric,
"The High I'ricst sittetli in front of the Holy Table on a
little throne." [Goar, p. 292.] Amalarius also iiicntion.s tliat
the Deacons and Priests received Ordination before the Altar.
[Dc Div. Off. 1. ii. c. vi.] Tlie Councils of Rouen, 1581, and
Bourdeaux, 1624, require tlie Ordinations to he made at the
High Altar, and the 4th Council of Milan, that tliey should
be Tield in tlie principal church of a town, if not in the Cathe-
dral, in both places reinforcing the decree of the Council of
Trent. [Seas, xxiii. c. viii.]
IV. The appointment of times for Ordination is the public
demand of the Church in the name of the Lord Himself,
"■\Vhoin shall I send, and who will go for Us?" fisa. vi. S. ]
There arc besides the vocation and voluntary offer of the
candidate, two solemn preliminaries, examination by the
Bishop and Clergy [Theoi'II I i.us of Alexandria in Can. vi.
Apost. Const, lii. c. 28, 1. viii. c. 16. St. C'YrRiAN, Ep.
xxxviii. Ixvii. PosiDOXiu.s in Vif, A"'/, c. xxi. IV. Counc.
Carthage, 398, c. xxii.], and the testimony of the people.
The former is enforced by St. Paul himself ; by St. Chrvso-
STO.^i, de Saca-(l. liv. c. ii. ; St. Cv'priax, ad Clcr. Ep. xxix. ;
by Gkegory I. ad A dead. Ep. xlix. 1. iii.; Sirieius, Ep. iii.
c. i. ; thu Canon Law, Decret. P. i. dist. Ixxxi. c. iv. ; Theo-
THiLrs Alex. Comm. in Can. vi.; Theophylact in 1 Tim.
c. v., and these Councils — Nicwa, c. ix.; Aix, 789, c. ii. ;
Besiers, 1233, c. \-i. ; Lateran, 1215, e. xxvii. ; VIII. Toledo,
653, e. viii. ; Canon Arabici, 325, c. xii. The English Church
ha-s always obseiwed the same nile. [Councils of Cloveshoe,
747, c. vi.; Ccalchythe, 787, c. vi.; Oxford, 1222, de Ordin. ,
and 1322; Lambeth, 1330, c. vi. ; Lyndewood, Proi: 1. i. tit.
V. vi., and App. p. 17; and Council of London, 1557, tit. de
qual. ordin.] For this cause, and to prevent uncanonical
intrusions, Bishops were forbidden to ordain Clerks out of
their own diocese, unless with the consent and letters of the
Diocesan. [Councils of London, 1175, c. v.; III. Orleans,
538, c. vi. ; Sardica, 347, c. xv. ; III. Carthage, 397, c. xxi. ;
IV. Cartilage, 398, e. xxvii. ; II. Braga, 563, c. i-iii. ; May-
ence, 888, c. xiv.; Rouen, 1050, c. ix.; Lucca, 1308, e. xvi. ;
Rheims, 1564, c. viii. ix.; Cambraj', 1565, e. x.; Bourges,
1584, c. iii.; and Trent, Sess. xxiii., 1563, de RefoiTn. e. vii.]
Nor may one Bishop ordain the Clerk of another without
Letters dimissory from the latter granting his pennission and
sanction. [XXXIV. Canon, 1603, L^ndew. Pror. 1. i. tit. iv.
pp. 27, 32. Cardw. Doc. Ami. ii. 322, 356, 420.]
Wednesday appears to have been the usual day for the
commencement of the examination, and three days are some-
times prescribed for it. [Coiuicil of Nantes, c. xi. ; Decret. P.
i. dist. xxiv. c. v.] Three points are insisted upon in the
Canon Law — canonical age, suffieient knowledge, and virtuous
conversation. The Bishop himself has the chief position in
the examination, then the Archdeacon, the Dean and two
Prebendaries of the Cathedral Church [Canon XXXI. XXXV.
1603], and his own Chaplains, of whom, by the Act of 25
Henry VIII. , he is peiTnitted to have two additional, and the
Archbishop four, to assist liim in Ordination. "Grave and
expert men " are required to aid him in this work by Gregory
I. [Ep. xlix. 1. iii. ind. xi.] The Council of Nantes, 900, c.
xi. , appoints Priests attached to his person, and other pi-udent
men, well skilled in the Divine law, and instructed in Ecclesi-
astical rule. Three examiners at least are appointed by the
Council of Toledo, 1473, c. xi., and by others of later date
three ; in allusion, doubtless, to the Scriptural rule. [Deut.
xix. 15.] The English rule, says Bishop Stillingfleet in 1681,
was to have four.
The examiners are to require virtuous conversation and
sufficient knowledge of Latin and the Holy Scriptures. The
old nibrics ran thus : —
"Nullus ordiiietur nisi examinacio pmcedat." [Lacy's
Pontifical, p. 75.] " Postea fiant inhibitiones in generalibui
ordinibus et Episcopo lilacuerit. In virtute Spiritus Sancti in-
hibemus sub jmina anathematis ne quis se ingerat ordinandum
nisi prius examinata jiersona, cum tilulo intitulatus fuerit et
vocatus. Nequis etiam morlalis peccati conncius rel excom-
municatiis ant susjiensus ordiiies recipiat. Item nidliin alterius
dicecesis, nisi lite.ras dimissorias liabucrit." [Lacy's Pontifical,
P- 77.]
The Canon Law required that diligent inquiry should be
made into the life, age, title, and place of education of the
candidate ; whether he was well leanied, iiistnicted in the
law of the Lord, and, above all, if he firmly held the Catholic
faith, and could express it in simple words. [Decret. P. i. dist.
xxiv. e. v.] But besides these requirements, a long list of
canonical impediments, such as irregulai'ity, i.e. bodily defor-
mity, illegitimacy, and the like, offered hindrance to the
reception of a candidate. But all the Canons of the Church
require him to be without crime. [Pror. Lynmew. I. i. tit.
iv. V. vi., App. 16, 17. Counc. of Chichester, 1246 ; Exeter,
1287, c. viii.; IV. Carthage, .398, c. Ixvii. Ixviii.; Epaon, 517,
c. iii.; III. Orleans, 538, c. vi.; Agde, c. xliii.; Nica'a, e. x.;
IV. Toledo, 663, c. xix. Canon. Apost. c. xviii.] St.
CiT^rian says, that in accordance with the Divine law [Exod.
xxi. 21, xix. 22, xxviii. 43], Priests and Deacons should be
morally whole and without blemish [l<Jj>. Ixxii. i^trpliano], and,
as St. Augustine well says, St. Paul, when he chose Priests
and Deacons, saitli not, " If any be without sin ; " for had ho
said this, every man would be rejected, none would be
ordained, but he saitli, "If any be without crime, such as
murder, adultery, any uiicleanness, fornication, theft,
cheatery, sacrilege, and the like." [Tract, xii. ;'« St. Joann. c.
viii. ] The knowledge of letters is required by the 1 st Council of
Rome, 465, e. ii.; Lucca, I.S08, c. x.xxiv. ; II. Orleans, c. xvi.;
and Canon Law Decret. P. i. dist. xxxvi. c. i. ix. x. xiv. ; and
Novell. .Just, cxxiii. tit. xv. c. xii.; and of Latin by tha
an :jntvoDuction to tijc ©tDinal.
667
Councils of Genoa, 1274, c. 2ri, and Toleilo, 1473, 0. iii. and
London, 1571, c. i. !St. Haul roiniired a man to be apt to
teacli, and to be distinguished frimi tlie unlearned. [1 Cor. xiv.
16.] Knowledge of the Holy Sn-ipture.s is insisted upon by
St. Jerome [Comm. in Ay;/, u. ii.J, Councils of Nantes, 900, c.
xi. ; IV. Toledo, 633, c. xxv. ; and Canterbury, 1.52.5; while
at the present time, Unowledge of Greek is considered indis-
pensable in candidates, and Hebrew is sometimes required.
The concurrence of the people, or rather their testimony, is
required, as the Levitical Priests were presented to the con-
gregation [Exod. xxix. 4]; and seven men "of good report"
were the first Deacons. [Actsvi. 3.] In the rrimitive Chui'ch,
a proclamation of the candidates, an iiriKripviis, or prwdicatio,
was always used. [Lanipridius, c. xlv. Council of Chalcedon,
A.D. 451.] A " Si quis " is now read out in the I'arish Church
of the candidate before Ordination, and letters testimonial
from his College, or three beneficed Clergymen, are necessary.
An appeal is also made to the congregation whether they
know any notable crime, or canonical impediment, in accord-
ance with the nile of the old Knglish Cliurch. [Excerp.
Egberti, c. xcix.] In the early Church, the people gave
their approbation, or consent, or expressed their rejection of
the unworthy by exclaiming 'A410S, or dfa^w!. [Const. Apost.
1. viii, c. iv. St. Ambr. de Diijn, Sacerd. c. v. Euseb.
IT. E. 1. vi. c. xxix. xliii.] There was no election by the
people, except in the case of the sc\-en Deacons (and of them
because made stewards of tlie connnon stock of the Church),
and when Deacons were appointed to Ministerial offices, the
people's voice had no share in the matter of choice, but refer-
ence was made to them, as by St. Peter at the consecration
of St. Matthias. Yet whilst Bishops reserved to themselves
the absolute and inherent right of acceptance or rejection
[Decret. P. i. dist. Ixiii. c. viii. Po.sid. in Vit. Aurj. c. iv.],
they wisely, when the gift of discerning of spirits was with-
drawn, asked for the testimony of the Clergy and people (not
the people only), amongst whom the candidate had lived, to
his virtuous conversation. [St. Cypr. Ep. rxxxviii. St.
Jerome, Ep. xcv. ad Rust. Siriciu.s, Ep. i. e. x. Leo I. Ep.
Ixxxix. § 3. III. Council Carthage, 397, c. xxii. IV. Car-
thage, 398, e. xxii.; and the ancient Sacramentaries and
Pontificals.] If any crime was then objected [Apost. Can. c.
Ixi.] the Ordination was deferred, and the accuser examined
strictly within three montlis. If he failed to oft'cr sutiicient
pi-oof, if a Clerk, he was degraded, and if a layman adequately
punished. [Novell. Just. Const, cxxxvii. p. 408.] But the
ordainer was not to take the accusation without proof [Cone.
Chalc. c. xxi.], and no excommunicate person, or one not a
communicant, was allowed to be lieard. [Cone. Constant, c.
vi.] _ Daniasus, in 367, required the accuser to put in a
caution that in default ample atonement to the sufl'erer might
be made by him [Epist. iv. c. vii.], and the Canon Law for-
bade the delivery of the Holy Communion to a false accuser
from that day forth. [Decret. P. ii. Cans. ii. qu. iii. c. iv.]
In all Rituals the congregation are desired to unite in prayer
for the candidates.
V. Our blessed Lord as the Chief Bishop and Great High
Priest chose and ordained [St. John xv. 16] the Apostles and
the Seventy Disciples, the first Bishops and Priests of His
Church. After His Ascension St. Matthias was elected by
God [Prov. xvi. 33], and the Twelve were endowed with the
miraculous power of discerning spirits, knowing men's hearts,
whether they were sincere and spiritually-minded [1 Cor. xii.
10], by prophecy, that is, by the Holy Ghost, says Theophy-
lact [/« 1 Tim. i. IS], and St. Chrysostom [Hom. v. in 1 Tim.
i.], by ordinance of the Spirit, according to CEcumenius [in I
Ep. ad Tim. iv.], by Divine revelation, as Theodoret explains
[in 1 Tim. i.], or as Clement of Alexandria asserts of St. John,
that he ordained Bishops and Clergy out of such as were
signified by the Spirit. [Euseb. iii. 23. ] But as this heavenly
gift died with the Apostles, St. Paul laid down rules for the
fitness of candidates to St. Timothy and Titus, and as St.
Clement says, "The Apostles knew from our Lord Jesus
Christ that there would be a strife touching the name of
Bishops. For this cause, having a perfect foreknowledge,
they established Bishops and Deacons, and a rule of future
succession, that after their decease others approved [by the
Holy Ghost] might receive their ministry." [Ad Corinth.
§ xliv.] This succession is that of Bishops.
The Jewish Priesthood was hereditary, adapted to the
circumstances of a temporal dispensation, and a people for-
bidden communication with other nations. But the Church
has a spiritual ministry, is one and Catholic, designed to bring
all countries into the one fold, under one Shepherd, and to
last even unto the end of the world. The Chief Bishop was
born of the royal tribe, not of that of Levi, a Priest after the
order of Melchisedec, not of Aai'on. Therefore her "succes-
.'iion is not limitcil to a lineage, or her ministries a.ssigned to a
single family, but from e\'ery tribe, and people, and l.-inguage,
those whom Divine clioice approves as fit and worthy, she
constitutes Priests, not on the merits of birth, but of worth."
[St. Cvi'H. de Unci. Chrixni.} The best of every nation she
presses into her service. [Const. Apost. 1. vi. c. xxiii.J
Simony, heresy, schism, or any other grievous sin, will not
hinder the effect of the laying on of the hands of the ordainer
[Art. XXVI. Glossa Decret. I', ii. c. i. i\i\. 1, c. xvii.J, just as
under the Law bodily blemishes did dcliar the Priest from
off'ering the " Bread of (lod" [Lev. xxi. 17], yet did not cut
off the entail, internipt the succession, or disentitle his sons
from the inheritance of the Priesthood. Moses, appointed by
extraordinaiy commission from (iod, consecrated Aaron as
High Priest, and Aaron's sons as Priests. [ Ps. xcix. 6 ; Exod.
xxix. 30 ; Lev. viii.] Aaron continued the .succession. [Heb.
v. 4 ; Num. viii. 11-13.] Wlicn the Apostles received the
gift of the Priesthood [1 Pet. ii. 25; Luke xxii. 29; John
XX. 22], they by Divine appointment divided the Ministry
into such degrees and orders as were necessary to the govern-
ment and comeliness of the Church. They, having conse-
crated Bishops [1 Tim. iv. 14 ; 2 Tim. i. 6 ; Tit. i. 45], either
ordained Priests [Acts xiv. 23], or desired Bishops to ordain
such, reserving the plenitude of power, which is the peculiar
and special endowment of the Episcopate ; and also ordained
Deacons. [Acts vi. 6.]
The great charter, bestowing the exclusive power of Ordi-
nation upon Bisliops, lay in the words of the Redeemer to the
Apostles, " As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you ; "
as Bishops are the successors of the Apostles, so the Church
has alwaj's kept this rule without break or doubtfulness. In
tlie Eastern Church, the essential power of Ordination has
always been reserved to Bishops exclusively, and it was not
until the fourth century that the African Church permitted
Priests to lay on their hands with tlie Bishops in the Ordina-
tion of Priests : nor after tliis rule w-as adopted by the
Western Church, is there any cxamjJe in ecclesiastical history
of Ordination by any but Bishops only, as their proper and
peculiar function confirmed by the ancient Apostolical Canons
and Constitutions, by the Councils of Ancyra, Antioch, c. ix.,
Sardica, c. xix., Alexandria, Nic;ea, c. xix., Chalcedon, c. xi.,
VI. Trullo, c. xxxvii., Constantinople, Orange, II. Orleans,
c. iii., Braga, c. iii., Cealehythe, c. vi., Dalmatia, c. ii., and
Seville, c. vi. ; by the testimonies of the fathers, St. Athana-
sius [II. Apol. c. Athan.], St. Chrysostom [//( Phil. Hom. i.,
in I Tim. iii.], St. Augustine [de Aier. c. Hi.], St. Epiphanius,
St. Jerome [Epist. ad Evanij. ei.], St. Cyprian |Ep. xli.],
Cornelius, Dionysius ; by the acts of primitive Bishops, and
byeverySacramentary and Ritual. [Decret. P. i. dist. Ixvii.J
On the other hand. Ordinations by Priests only were con-
stantly declared to be null and void, and to connnunicate
Presbyterian Ordination was affirmed to be heresy by the
united voice of Christendom ; and, as ijishop Hall says,
"that Presbyter would have been a monster among Chris-
tians that sliould have dared to usurp it." The Catholic
doctrine has ever been that without Sacraments there is no
Church, and without Bishops there can be no Priests, and
consequently no Sacraments. There is not one instance in
Holy Scripture or ecclesiastical history of Ordination by
Presbyters only, it was the prerogative of Bishops ; and
tlierefore the present rubric (1662) declares that "no man
shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or
Deacon, or suffered to execute any of the said functions,
except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted tliereunto,
according to the Form hereafter following, or hath had
formerly Episcopal consecration or ordination." Priests of
the Western and Eastern Church, on conforming to her
discipline and doctrine, are therefore admitted at once to
minister in the churches of England ; and in the Office of
Consecration of Bishops, in 1662, the question was significantly
added: " Arc/dnsliop. Will you be faithful in ordaining,
sending, or laying hands on others? Answer. I will so be,
by the help of God." The special powers of the Bisliop lie in
the right to ordain, to consecrate persons and tilings, to
admuiister Confirmation, and in jurisdiction ; just as the
Diaconate does not possess the pri\-ilege of the I'riesthood,
to consecrate the Holy Eucharist, to absolve, to preach, and
ordinarily, to baptize.
The Priesthood, however, have an important pai-t in Ordi-
nation of Priests and Deacons, for their testimony is required
before the acceptance of a candidate, their aid in his examina-
tion, and in the former case their presence and aid at the laying
668
3n 3lntrot)uction to tf)C ©rDinal
on of hands. Where the laying on of the hands of the Presby-
tery is mentioned by St. Paul [1 Tim. iv. 14], the Presbytery (a
word sometimes used in the sense of an order) has been under-
stood by St. Chrysostom, Theodoret, CEcumenius, Theophylact,
Siiicer, and all the best commentators, ancient and modem, to
designate the College of Bishops ; and tliis gift, which is said
to have been given by the laying on of their hands, is in the
Second Epistle [c. i. 6] said to have been given by the laying
on of the Apostles' hands, so that the utmost that could be
made of the passage, even in conjunction with the Carthaginian
Canon, would be, that Priests sometimes imposed their hands,
together with an Apostle or Bishop. But St. Timothy was a
Bishop [1 Tim. v. 22], and nowhere liave we an example of
Priests ordaining a Bishop ; and the Council of Carthage,
reserving the Ordination of Deacons to the Bishop solely, only
required tlie presence of the Priests (wlio were enjoined to be
silent), in order to add solemnity to the Ordination, and to
preclude the admission of unworthy or unfitting persons to
the Priesthood. Even this canon was not in harmony with
ancient practice, although it rightly permitted the Bishop
alone to bless the person ordaiued. A remarkable use of
prepositions in the passage of the Epistle to Timothy just
cited, must also be noted. In the ease of St. Paul, it is dm,
through, by means of, laying on of my Iiands, but in the case
of "the Presliytery, " /J-era, together with: one was instru-
mental, the other assistant.
The Ephesian Presbytery after all were the ' ' elders of tlie
Church " of Ephesus, whom St. Paul says "the Holy Ghost
had made Bishops over the flocks." [Acts xx. 17-28.] The
3rd Council of Carthage, held only one year before that
which permitted Priests to assist, laid down this canon [c.
xlv.] : " Episcopus unus esse potest per quern dignatione
Divinft Presbyteri multi coustitui possunt ; " and, to avoid
any doubt, the Epistle, 1 Tim. iii., was transferred from the
Ordering of Priests to the Consecration of Bishops, in 1G62.
The Catholic Cliurch has ever held this doctrine, that true
ministrations of gi'ace depend on Episcopal ministries, and
has always regarded all other ministries, whether assumed to
be conferred by Presljyters, undertaken at will, or bestowed
by a call from the congregation, to be wholly invalid. Luther,
Knox, Wesley, and Whitfield were but Priests, Calvin was
only a Subdeacon, and others mere laymen ; every mission
by their hands is therefore absolutely null and void, according
to Scriptural authority, Apostolical practice, and the unbroken
tradition of eighteen centuries. Those only who liave Epi-
scopal orders of Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, in the Western and
Eastern Cliurclies (including also now that of America),
according to the 23rd and 26th Articles of our Church,
minister the Word of God, and His Sacraments, in Christ's
Kame, and by His commission and authority. All others
must be actually ordained, whether of previous Presljyterian
or congregational nomination, on conforming to the Church ;
as in IGGl, four teachers of the former in Scotland were first
ordained Deacons and Priests, and then, on December 15,
Bishops of the Scottish Church. [WooD,yl. 0. Fasti, iv. 321.]
A Roman or Greek Subdeacon is regarded as a layman. In
some cases of the Superior or Major Oi-ders an imposition of
hands " non-ordinativa sed reconciliatoria " has been used.
One of tlie earliest declarations from authority after the
Eefonnation, against Orders conveyed by Presbyters, of the
year 1585, may be seen in C.uidwell, Doc. Ann. No. eii.
As the chief magistrate is the fountain of honour in the
State, so in the Church the Bishop is tlie chief in the Christian
polity, a jiriuce in the spiritual commonwealtli, with the sole
power of Ordination, and distribution of gi'ades and offices,
and degrees of ministry ; and the reservation of this power to
the Episcopate is a visible symbol of tlie unity of the One
Catholic and Apostolic Church. There is but one Spirit of
grace, though there are diversities of gifts and operations.
In 1549 the necessity of la-\vful admission by the Bisliop was
asserted in the Preface to the Ordinal, and this lawful admis-
sion, in the 10th Article of 1538, is reproduced in tlie 23rd
of 1562 (" Non licet," it is not lawful by God's law, etc.), and
is clearly expressed, "Docemus quod nemo debeat publico
docere aut Sacramenta niinistrare nisi rite vocatus et quidem
ab his peues quos in Ecclesia juxta verbuni Dei et leges et
consuetudines uiiiuscujusque regiouis jus est vocaudi et
admittendi " [§ xiii.]. Therefore in tlie Litany she prays for
the whole Catholic Church, for all Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons ; for all Bishops, Pastors, and Curates, in her Collect
for St. Peter's Day, and lier Prayer for the Church Militant ;
and ill the first prayer for Ember Week supplications are
offered without any limitation for the Bishops and Pastors of
God's flock, all of one fold under one Shepherd.
APPENDIX.
In the "Chart of the Jlinisterial Succession of the Church of
England " at page 656, the general line of that succession is
shewn from our Lord to Berthwald, Archbishop of Caiiter-
liury, in the early part of the eighth century, and from
mediaeval times to the Refonnation. By the kind assistance
of the Rev. Chaides Frere Stopford Warren, the Editor is
enabled to supplement tliis Table by leading details respect-
ing the succession from Archbishop Berthwald to Archbishop
Benson. A complete view of it in the form of a Genealogical
Table would occupy many pages.
Duruig the eighth century thefollowiug lines of succession can
be distinctly made out in the Provinces of Canterbury and York.
GoiUviu Lyons. [See Table at pajic C56.]
I
# GO'.i, Berthwald Canterbury.
!
I
70ri, Daniel Winchester.
727, Eadulf Rochcstev.
7:u, Tatwin Canterbury.
I
734, Egbert York.
\
7.'».'), Notheltn Canterbury. 759, Bregwin Canterbury.
736, Cuthbcrt Hereford, Cant«rbuiy. .
700, Jaenbert Canterbury.
707, Ethelbert York.
I
777, Ethelbert Whitliern, Ilcxliani.
711, Podda Hereford. 711, Dunno Rochester.
780, Eanbald I. York.
1
700, Eanbald 11. York.
1 1
V81, Tilbert Hexham. 781, Higbald Lindisfarn.
707, Hcardred Hcxhani.
SOO, Eanbo
1
803, Egbert Lindisfarn.
rt Hcxliam.
785, Aldulf Migcnsia.
791. Baldulf Whitliern.
an 3lntroDuction to the SDiDlnal.
669
For tlie ninth century the consecrations arc less certain.
Archbishop I'lcgniuiid, wlio was eonsocrateil to Canterbury
in 891, received consecration, it is stated by Ralph de
Diceto [<h Arr/if<jtisr. ('iintanrioin.^ fi'oni Pope Forniosus,
but there seem to have been a few surviving Bishops of
Berthwald's line, and it is probable that the two succes-
sions were soon united into one line. From Plegmund to
the present Archl>isliop the Fi)iscopal descent of tlie I'Jnglish
Episcopate is traceal)le witli historical certainty link by link
as follows for a thousand years. [The principal consecrators
of the assistant Bishops are named where known in the foot-
notes.]
Consecrating Bisiior.
Date.
Consecrated Bisuop.
1. Plegmund Canterbury
909
Athelm Wells, Canterbury, d. 923.
2. Athelm Canterbury
914
Wulfhelm ^^'ells, Canterbury, d. 942.
3. Wulfhelm Canterbury .
926
Odo Ramsbnry, Canterbury, d. 959.
4. Odo Canterbury .
957
Dunstan Worcester, London, Canterbury, 1
. 988.
5. Dunstan Canterbury
985
Siric Ramsbury, Canterbury, d. 994.
6. Siric Canterbury .
990
Elfric Ramsbuiy, Canterbury, d. 1005.
7. Elfric Canterbury
10U.S
Wulfstan Worcester and York, d. 1023.
8. Wulfstan York .
1020
Ethelnoth Canterbury, d. 1038.
9. Ethelnoth Canterbury .
1035
Eadsige St. Martins, Canterbury, d. 1050.
10. Eadsige Canterbury
1043
Stigand Elmham, Winchester, Canterbury,
d. 10:0.
11. Stigand Canterbury
1058
Siward Rochester, d. 1075.
12. William London ' .
Walkelin Winchester -
Giso Wells''.
Walter Hereford '
Herman Sherborne
29th Aug. 1070
Lanfranc Canterbury, d. 1089.
Siward Bochester .
Remigius Dorchester*
Herfast Elmham .
Stigand Selsey . j
13. Lanfranc Cantcrbtiri/
Thomas York* .
5th April 1086
Maurice London, d. 1107.
14. Thomas Y'ork* .
Maurice London .
Walkelin Winchester =
,
Gundulf Rochester *
Osmond Sarum' .
Robert Hereford •'
.
4th Dec. 1093
Anselm Canterbury, d. 1109.
Robert Lichfield ■'' .
John Bath " .
Ralph Chichester "
Herbert Thetford '- J
15. Anselm Canterbury
Gerard York!"
Ralph Durham « .
Robert Lichfield >■ .
.John Bath = .
•
nth Aug. 1107
Roger Sarum, d. 1139.
Ralph Chichester "
Herbert NorHach ''
Robert Lincoln'
16. Alberic Ostia
Henry Winchestei-*
Roger Sarum
Simon Worcester*
Seffrid Chichester'
.
8th .Tan. 1139
Theobald Canterbury, d. 1101.
Roger Lichfield ' .
Alexander Lincoln '
Robert Hereford*
Robert Exeter » .
17. Theobald Canterbury
■
Theodore Amiens .
5th Sept. 1148
Gilbert Hereford, London, d. 1187.
Nicholas Cambray
18. Gilbert London
Walter Rochester '"
"
7th Nov. 1176
Peter .St. Davids, d. 1198.
Roger Worcester"
19. Baldwin Canterbury'- ~i
Hugh Lichfield '3 .■
Peter St. Davids .
Gilbert Rochester '=
22nd Oct. 1189
Hubert Sarum, Canterbury, d. 1205.
Reginald Bath '■ .
Hugh Durham " .
20. Hubert Canterbury
Philip Durham "^ .
Godfrey Winchester ^'
23rd May 1199
William London, d. 1224.
John Norwich '- .
1 Consecrated by Ai'chbishop Robert, who was consecrated by Ead-
sige.
" ,, Arraenfrid Sion.
2 ., Pope Nicholas II.
* ,, Stigand. ^ gy Lanfranc.
"J ,, Thomas York. 'EyAnstdui.
8 5 Avchbishop 'William de Corbel! ; he by Richard London ;
he by Anselm.
3 Consecrated by Alberic Ostia.
^'^ ,, Archbishop Theobald.
^^ ,, Archbishop Thomas a Becket ; he by Henry Winchester :
he by Archbishop de Corbeil.
^" „ Ai'chbishop Richard ; he by Pope Alexander III.
^^ ., Archbisho]! Baldwin ; he by Archbisliop Richard.
!■* „ Pope Anastasius IV.
IS y Pope Celestine III.
6/0
3n 3Introt)uction to tbc SDrDinal.
Consecrating Bishop.
Date.
Consecrated Bishop.
Sefii-id Chichester ^ , -
Gilbert Rochester -
Savaric Bath'
Henry Llandaff^ .
Henry Exeter*
Herbert Sarum ■• .
y .
23rd May 1199
William London, d. 1224.
Eustace Ely*
Geoffrey Lichfield *
Hugh Lincoln -
John Dublin
21. Stephen Canterbury 5 '
William London .
Peter Winchester =
Reiner St. Asaph -
nth Oct. 1214
\V,-xlter Worcester, York, d. 1255.
Eustace Ely ■>
Joceliue Bath *'
Hugh Lincoln'
22. Wcilto- rork
5th Dec. 1249
^Valter Durham, d. 1260.
23. Walter Durham
7th Feb. 1255
Henry Wliitlicru, d. 1293.
24. Anthony Dm-ham '
Henry Whitherit .
Robert Bath «
14th Sept. 1292
John Carlisle, d. 1324.
William Ely" . '
25. Thomas Worcester "
John Carlisle
Da\ad St. Asaph '-
Peter Corbavia .
'
27th June 1322
Roger Lichfield, d. 1359.
.John Glasgow
Robert Clonfert .
26. Henry Luicoki '^ .
JRoi/er Lichfield .
loth July 1330
Robert Sarum, d. 1375.
John Llandafif" .
27. William Winchester '^
Bobert Sarum
'
20th Mar. 1362
Simon (Sudbury) London, Canterbury, d. 1381.
Adam St. Da\'idsi«
28. Ullliam Canterbury '■
Simon London
'
9th Apr. 1374
Thomas (Arundel) Ely, York, Canterbury, d. 1414.
Thomas Rochester
29. Thomas Canlerhurii
12th Aug. 1408
Benedict (NicoUs) Bangor, St. Davids, d. 1433.
30. Henry Winchester "
John London^'
Philip Worcester"
William Lichfield -"
■ ■ ■
27th May 1425
John (Stafford) Bath, Canterbury, d. 1452.
John Rochester -' .
Benedict St. Davids
31. Henry Winchester ^^
John York "
John Bath .
15th May 14.35
Thomas (Bourchier) Worcester, Ely, Canterbury, d. 1486.
Robert Sarum -' .
John St. Asaph -- .
32. Thoma-i Canterbury
31st Jan. 1479
John (Morton) Ely, Canterbury, d. 1500.
33. John Canterbury .
James Norwich -■* .
Sth Apr. 1487
Richai-d (Fox) Exeter, Bath, Durham, Winchester, d. 1528.
Peter Winchester-^
34. Richard Winchester
John Exeter "-^
25th Sept. 1502
William (Warham) London, Canterbury, d. 1532.
Richard Rochester =^
35. William Canterbury
John Rochester-".
Nicholas Ely=« .
Sth May 1521
John (Longlands) Lincoln, d. 1547.
.John Exeter™
36. John Lincoln
John Exeter =»
. ,
.30th Mar. 1533
Thomas (Cranmcr) Canterbury, d. 1556.
Ileury St. Asaph =«
Cousecrated by Ai-clibishop Richnnl ; lie by Pope Alexander III.
■ „ Archbislioj) Baldwin ; lie by Archbislmp Richard.
' „ Alb. Albaiio.
„ Archbislir)p Iliibt-rt.
' „ Pope Innocent III.
! ,, William London.
„ Arclibisbop Htcjdien.
,, WllliJiin York ; he by Pope Nicholas III.
' ,, ArelibiHhop Ilolx-rt, Kilwiirby ; he by William Bath ; he
by NicbolaH Worco.sti-r ; lie by Archbi.-ihop Boniface ;
he by Pope Innocent IV.
• ,, Archbiwhoj) John Pcckham ; he by Pope Nicliolas HI.
1 ,, Nicholaw UHtia.
■ Archbishop Walter Reynolds ; he by Archbishop Win-
chclHcy; ]\i' V»y (b-nird Sablna.
* „ John Norwich ; he )»y Arclibi:*hop Winchulsey.
" Consecrated by Aixihbishop Winchelsey.
15 ,, Ai-clibisliop simtford ; he by Vitalis Albann.
ifl „ Williuiii Wiui-li.'stor; he by Archbishui. Stratford.
17 ,, Archbislit'p Wtiittlesey ; he by Archbishop I.sUp ; he
by Ralpli London ; he by Archbishop Stratford.
18 ,. Archbishop Walden ; he by Roln'rt London; he by
Thomas Exeter; Ik- by Simon London; he by
William Winchester.
„ William Hebron.
„ Richard London ; ho by Archbishop Arundel.
„ Archbishop Chichek- ; he by Pope Gregory XII.
,, Henry Winchester.
„ Simon Antibari. (E^Tcnx.
„ Thomas London ; be by John York ; he by William
,, Archl'ishop Morton.
„ Ai'chbishop Warham,
19
21
S8
3n JntroDuction to the C»i:Dmal.
671
Consecrating Bishop,
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
Thomas Canterburt/
John Bangor '
William Norwich '
John London''
John Rochester' .
Robert St Asaph .
William Chichester'
John Hereford ' .
John Bedford
Miles (late) Exeter '
Maltltriv Citiderhiiry
William Cliiclicster '
John Hereford ' .
John Bedford
Edmund Cauterburi/
.John London ''
Robert Winchester ''
Richard Chichester ■
42. John Canterbury .
John Rochester ■* .
Anthony St. Davids ''
Richard Bangor ^ .
Anthony Chichester"
Richard Caiderhuri/
Lancelot Ely ''
Richard Rochester '
George Canterbury
Mark Anthony Spalatro
John Loudon'
Lancelot Ely'
John Rochester ' .
John Lichfield ' .
George London
John Worcester'
Nicholas Ely '
George Chichester ^
John Oxford '
Theophilns Llandaff"*
Willia m Canterhu rij
Thomas Durham *
Robert Lichfield "
.John Oxford '
Matthew Ely ^ .
Brian Winchester .
Accepted York " .
Matthew Ely i» .
John Rochester i" .
Henry Chicliester '-
48.' Gilbert Canterbury
George Winchester '■'
Seth Sarum "
John Rochester '^ .
Joseph Peterborough '^
Peter Chichester "
Henri/ London
Seth Sanim '^
Joseph Peterborougli '■*
Jolm Rochester " .
Peter Ely 1^ .
Guy Bristol '■''
Thomas Lincoln '"
Thomas Exeter'" .
William Canterbury
John York '■'
Henry London " .
Nathaniel Durham '■*
Peter Winchester '■*
Thomas Exeter "■ .
Francis Ely "
Thomas Rochester
43.
44.
45.
46.
47
49
1-
50.
J
•2iid July 1536
9th Dec. 1537
17th Dec. 1.5.50
•21st Dec. 1550
'21st Apr. 1577
Sth May 1.597
3rd Dec. 1G09
14th Dec. 1017
ISth Nov. 1021
17th June 1638
28th Oct. 1G60
6th Dec. 1674
■27tli .Jan. 1678
Sth Nov. 1685
CONSKCRATEO BiSIIOP.
Robert (Parfew) St. A.sapli, Hereford, d. 1558.
John (Ilodgskin) Bedford, d. 1560.
Matthew (Parker) Cantcrljury, d. 1575.
Edmund (Orindal) London, York, Canterlniry, d. 158.*!.
Jolm (Whitgift) Worcester, Canterbui-y, d. 1G04.
Ricluiril (Bancroft) London, Canterbury, d. 1010.
George (Abbott) Lichfield, London, Canterbuiy, d. 1633.
George (Monteigne) Lincoln, London, Durham, York,
d. 1028.
William (Laud) St. Davids, Bath, London, CanterbuiT,
d. 1645. ■*
Brian (Duppa) Chichester, Sarum, Winchester, d. 1G62.
Gilbert (Sheldon) London, Canterbury, d. 1677.
Henry (Comptou) Oxford, London, d. 1713.
William (Sancroft) Canterbury, d. 1693.
.Jonathan (Trelawuey) Bristol, Exeter, Winchester, d.
1721.
' Consecrated hy Archbishop Cranraer.
'■* ,, -John Lincoln ; he by Archbishop Cranmer.
^ ,, Aa-chbishop Grannie'-, John Exeter, and John
which last by Eoinan Bishops. But as the
register has not been found, the succession
traced tlirongh him.
* „ Arclibishop Grindal.
* „ Ai-etibishop Parker. ' By Aichbisliop \V1
' ,, Arclibisliop Bancroft.
* ,, Archbishop Abbott.
Bath,
actual
is not
9 Consecrated by Irish Bishops to Limericli.
'** ,, Archbishop Laud.
" ,, John York ; he by George London (llonteigne).
"" ,, William London (Al'chbishop Juxon).
'3 „ Brian Winchester.
" „ Gilbert London (Archbishop Sheldon).
'■^ ., Richard York ; he by Accepted York.
'" ,, George Winchester ; he by Brian Winchester.
'" ,, Henry London (Compton).
"* ,, Archbishop Sancroft.
672
3n 3lntroDuctlon to tbe ©minal.
CoN'sncRATiNG Bishop.
Date.
Consecrated Bishop.
51. Jonalfian Winchester
.Tohn Bangor '
William Lincoln '
.
15th May 1715
John (Potter) Oxford, Canterbury, d. 1747.
Richard Gloucester"
52. John Canterbury .
Nicholas St. Da%4(ls'
Robert Noi-wich ■* .
-
loth Jan. 173S
Thomas (Herring) Bangor, York, Canterbury, d. 1757.
Thomas Oxford •" . J
53. Thomas Canterbmij ']
Joseph Rochester'
Martin Gloucester ■■
'
inth Feb. 17.")0
Frederick (Comwallis) Lichfield, Canterbury, d. I
783.
Thomas Norwich ^
54. Frederick Canterbvri/
Edmund Ely ^
Robert Oxford = .
\
12th Feb. 1775
John (Moore) Bangor, Canterbury, d. 1805.
John Rochester* .
55. John Canterbury .
John Peterborough '■
James Lichfield "
\ ■ ■
8th April 1792
Charles (Manners Sutton) Nonvich, Canterbury, d.
1828.
Richard Gloucester" J
56. Charles Canterbury
William London*
Robert Chichester »
John St. Davids'
.
21st May 1826
Cliarles Richard (Sumner) Llandafl', Winchester, d.
1874.
57. Edward York "' .
1
Charles B. Winchester
! ■ ■
14th Sept. 1828
John Bird (Sumner) Chester, Canterbury, d. 1862.
Christopher Gloucester'
58. John B. Canterbury
s ■
AshurstT. Chichester »
John Lincoln ^^
23rd Nov. 1856
Arcliil>ald Campbell (Tait) London, Canterbui-y, il.
1882.
Henry JI. Carlisle '-
59. Archibald G.Canterbury
John London "
Edward H. Winchester "
Alfred Llandaflf" .
Christopher Lincohi
James Hereford '•* .
25th Apr. 1877.
Edward White (Benson) Truro, Canterbury.
Fredei-ick Exeter .
James R. Ely " .
Henry Nottingham
Edward Dover '^ .
60. Edu-nrd W. Canterbury.
[It is ob\'ious that the humblest Priest in the Church of
Englaud cau trace his ministerial descent from the Apostles,
and our Lord, the Fountain of all ministerial authority, as
readily as the Archbishop of Canterbury by means of these
notes and the Table at page (SiiQ. Thus a Priest who was
1 Consecrated by Ai-chbishop Tenison ; he by Arclibishop Tillutson ; he
by PettT Winchester ; he by Archbishop Sheldon.
2 „ Gilbert 8uiuni (Burnet) : he by Henry Loudon (Cunip-
tou).
* ,, Archbishop Wake ; he by Archbishop Tenison.
* ,, Edmund Loudon; he by Ai'chbishop Wuki;.
^ , Archbishop Herring.
6 „ Archbishop ConiwaUis.
" ,, Arclibislic)]} Moore.
8 ., Archbisluip Manners Sutton.
ordained by Bishop Wilkinson of Truro on Trinity Sunday
1SS3, is in the line of Apostolic Succession through the ninety-
second Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Benson : by
whom, assisted by ten other Bishops, Bishop Wilkinson of
Truro was consecrated on St. Mark's Bay in the same year.]
'' Consecrated by William London (Archbishop Howley); he by Arch-
bishop Manners Sutton.
'** „ William York ; he by Robert York ; he by Archbishop
Hen-ing.
11 „ Archbishop Sumner.
12 ,j Tliomas York ; lie by Ai'chbishop Howley.
13 ,, Archbishop Longley.
'^ ,, Archbishop Tait.
15 ,, John London ; he by Archbishop Sunnier.
THE FORM AND MANNEE
MAKING, ORDAINING, AND CONSECRATING
BISHOPS, PRIESTS, AND DEACONS,
ACCOBDINO TO TlIK
C>rtici* of ttjc Cfjurcl) of Cng:lanD.
THE PREFACE.
IT is evident unto all men diligently reading the 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.
Which Offices were evermore had in such reverend
Estimation, that no man might presume to execute
any of them, except he were first called; tried,
examined, and known to have such qualities as are
requisite for the same ; and also by publick Prayer, with
Imposition of Hands, were approved and admitted
thereunto by lawful Authority. And therefore, to the
intent that these Orders may be continued, and
reverently used and esteemed in the Church of
Emjland ; no man shall be accounted or taken to be a
lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in the Church of Emj-
land, or suffered to execute any of the said Functions,
except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted there-
unto, according to the Foi-m hereafter following, or hath
had formerly Episcopal Consecration, or Ordination.
And none shall be admitted a Deacon, except he be
Twenty-three years of age, unless he have a Faculty.
And every man which is to be admitted a Priest shall
be full Four-and-twenty years old. And every man
which is to be ordained or consecrated Bishop shall be
fully Thirty years of age.
And the Bishop knowing either by himself, or by
sufficient testimony, any person to be a man of virtuous
conversation, and without crime, and, after examina-
tion and trial, finding him learned in the Latin Tongue,
and sufficiently instructed in holy Scripture, may at
the times appointed in the Canon, or else, on urgent
occasion, upon some other Sunday or Holy-day, in the
face of the Church, admit him a Deacon, in such
manner and form as hereafter followeth.
THE PREFACE.
For full notes on this important Preface, see the preceding
Introduction to the Ordinal.
Church of England^ This is misprinted in some modern
Prayer Books "the United Church of England and Ireland."
The above is the only legal form, and the reasons why It is
desirable to retain that form are stated at page 82.
It is evident unto all jHfn] For notes on this subject, consult
the preceding Introduction.
Twenti/-three years of af/e] The Excerpts of Archbishop
Egbert, quoting a Carthaginian Canon, decree : " Placuit ut
ante xxv annos ietatis, nee diaconus ordiuetur, nee virgines
consecrenter, nisi rationabili necessitate cogente." The
Pupilla Oculi [1. Wi. c. 4, A.], "Ordinandus in exorcis-
tam, lectorem, sen ostiarium debet esse major uifante, i.e.
major septemiio. Et similiter ille qui primani tonsuram
suscipit ordinandus in acolytum debet esse major xiiij annis.
Item major .xvij annis potest ordinari in subdiaconum. Major
etiam xix annis potest ordinari in diaconum : et major xxiv
annis in sacerdotem : et major xxx annis potest esse Epis-
copus." [Maskell, il/on. Bit. iii. cvii.]
times appointed in the Canon] In 1661, on April 21, the
Committee for the revision of the Ordinal resolved, "quod
nullfe ordinationes clericorum per ali(iiios Episcopos fierent
nisi intra quatuor tempera pro ordinationibus assignata. "
[Cardw. Si/nod. ii. 670.] These are the Ember Days, the
Ymbei-yne Dagas (from ymhe, a course, and ryne, a running)
[per totius anni circiilum distribute St. Leo, Serm. viii. rfc
JeJ. X. mens. Op. torn. i. col. 59] of the Anglo-Saxon Church,
occurring in regiilar circuit and course, the Jejunia quatuor
temporum, corrupted into Quatember in C4erman, and Ember
in English, the Fasts of the Four Seasons on which the year
revolves. They are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
after the First Sunday in Lent, after Whitsunday, after
Sept. 14, Holy Cross, and after Dec. l.S, St. Lucy.
Gelasius, probably, was the first who limited the seasons of
general ordination to certain times of the year. Micrologus
saj'S, "Gelasius papa constituit, utordinationes presbyterorum,
et diaconorum non nisi certis temporibus fiant. " [Cap. 24,
p. 448, edit. Hittorp.] So also Rabanus Maurus : " Sacras
ordinationes quatuor temponim diebus oportere fieri, decreta
Gelasii papae testantur." [De Instil. Cleric. 1. 2, c. 24,
p. .3.38, ibid. Maskell, Mon. Bit. iii. cxxii.] Muratori is
of opinion that no fixed and general rule for the observance
of Ember weeks existed until the Pontificate of Gregory VII.,
c. 1085. [Diss, de Jej. IV. temp. c. vvi. Anecd. torn. li. p. 262.]
Our Canons of 1604 enjoin as follows : —
Canon 34.
The Quality of such as are to be made Ministers.
No Bishop shall henceforth admit any person into Sacred
Orders, which is not of his own diocese, except he be either
of one of the Universities of this realm, or except he shall
bring Letters Dimissory (so termed) from the Bishop of whose
diocese he is ; and desiring to be a Deacon, is three and
twenty years old ; and to be a Priest, four and twenty years
complete ; and hath taken some degree of school in either of
the said Universities ; or at the least, except he be able to
yield an account of his faith in Latin, according to the Articles
of Religion approved m the Synod of the Bishops and Clergy
of this realm, one thousand five hundred sixty and two, and
to confirm the same by sufficient testimonies out of the holy
Scriptures ; and except moreover he shall then exhibit Letters
Testimonial of his good life and conversation, under the seal
of some College in Cambridge or Oxford, where before he
remained, or of three or four grave Ministers, together with
the subscription and testimony of other credible persons, who
have known his life and beha\-iour bj- the space of three years
next befoi'e.
THE FORM AND MANNEE
MAKING OF DEACONS.
1 When the day appointed by the Bishop is come,
after Morning Prayer is ended, there shall be a
Sermon or Exhortation, declaring the Duty and
OflBce of such as come to be admitted Deacons ;
how necessary that Order is in the Church of
Christ, and also, how the people ought to esteem
them in their office.
f First the Arch-Deacon, or his Deputy, shall present
unto the Bishop (sitting in his chair, near to the
holy Table) such as desire to be ordained Deacons,
(each of them being decently habited,) saying
these words,
REA^EEND Father in God, I present unto
you these persons present, to be admitted
Deacons.
1[ The Bishop.
TAKE heed that the persons, whom ye present
unto us, be apt and meet, for their learning
and godly conversation, to exercise their Ministry
duly, to the honour of God, and the edifying of
His Church.
^ The Arch-Deacon shall answer,
I HAVE enquired of them, and also examined
them, and think them so to be.
^ " Quando ordLues agantur, primo fiat sermo si placeat
.... Dum officium canitur, vocentur nominatim
illi qui ordinandi sunt ....
5[ Deinde sedeat episcopus ante altare conversus ad
ordinandos, et archidiaconus capa indutus humiliter
respiciens in episcopum cum his verbis alloquatur,
ita dicens
POSTULAT haec sancta Ecclesia reverende
pater, hos viros ordinibus aptos consecrari
sibi a vestra paternitate.
Resp. Episcopi : Vide ut natura, scientia, et
moribus, tales per te introducantur, immo tales
per nos in domo Domini ordinentur personse, per
quas Diabolus procul pellatur, et clerus Deo
nostro multiplicetur.
Re&p. Archidiaconi : Quantum ad humanum
spectat examen, natura, scientia et moribus digni
habentur, ut probi cooperatores effici in his, Deo
volente, possint.
ORDINATION OF DEACONS.
Sermon or Exhortation] An Exhortation to the Deacons
after the presentation will be found in Assemanni viii. 377,
from the Pontifical of Clement VIII., and one to the Priests
after the address to the people. [Iliid. 363.] By the Sarum
and Exeter Pontifical, after the Introductory .Sermon the
Bishop read out the Prohibitions or Canonical Impediments.
In the Winchester Pontifical the Sermon by the Bishop
follows the presentation of the Deacons by the Archdeacon.
The rubric directs that it shall treat ' ' de castitate, de absti-
nentia, et his siniilibus %'irtutibus : terribiliter interdicens ne
quia ad sacros ordines venire prresumat qui pecuuiam dare
promittere prKsurapsorit. " [Mask. Mon. Rit. iii. 155.]
the Arch- Deacon] Next to tlie Bishop himself, his vicar the
Archdeacon is charged witli the duty of examining candidates
for ordination, and is to declare that " he has inquired of them
and also examined them." [Comp. Catalani, Pont. Rom.
torn. i. § xvi. p. 51, Rome, 1739. Maktkne, de Antlqu. Rit.
torn. ii. col. 3i), B.C. Antv. 17.36. Council of Coyaco, a.d. 1050,
c. .5. Lahhe, torn. xi. col. 1441, E. ] This is in conformity
with the Council of Carthage and the Canon Law as early as
the ninth century. "Nos mcraininuis cxpressisse quod ad
Archidiaconum dcbcat pcrtinere examinatio etiam clericorum
si fuerint ad Sacros Ordines promovendi." [Decret. fiuKd.
1. i. tit. xxiv. c. vii.] " Ea de jure conimuni ad Archi-
diaconi sjjcctcnt officium, soil, rcprasentaro ordinandos
Episcopo et illos cxaminare." [Ihid. c. ix. Corp. Jur. Can.
torn. ii. col. 315. 48. 316. 44.] "De jure civili h.^c cxami-
n.atio pertinet ail Archidiaconum ; ad h.To ali.is, si sit
absenu Kpiscopua, potest per sc cxaminare, si velit, vol aliis
idoneis circa latus suum id committere. " [Lyndewood, Prov.
Anglic. 1. i. tit. v. vi., Oxf. 1679, p. 33. Comp. Bingham,
Orig. Eccles. b. ii. c. xxi. sect. 7, vol. i. p. 94, ed. 1724 ; and
MORIN, de Sacr. Ord. pt. iu. c. iii. § 3, p. 218, D.] By the
4th Council of Carthage, A.D. 398, c. 5, 6, 7 [Labbe, ii. col.
1437-8], the Archdeacon was to give the vessels used by his
order to the Deacon. By the Capitulars of Hincmar, a.d.
877, c. xi., the Ai-chdeacons receive this injunction: " Sol-
licite providete de vita et scientia clericorum quos ad ordina-
tionem adducetis, ne pro aliquo munere tales ad ordinandum
introducatis qui introduci non debent." [Op. Hincmar, torn.
i. p. 740, Lutet. 1645.] About the beginning of the eleventh
century, the Archdeacon in the Greek Church bore a pro-
minent part at ordinations [Euchologium ; Morin, de Sacr.
Ord. pt. ii. p. 63, Antv. 1695], and two centuries after this
rubric occurs, 6 fx^Wuv xuporovundaL cis rriv dtaKoviav Trpoadyerai
I'/iri ToO apxiSiaKdvov. [Ihid. p. 69.] In the Syro-Ncstorian
Ordinal, as translated by Morin : "Stat pr.-vsul super sedem
et qui ordinandi sunt subtus candelabnuu ubi adorant ; turn
dicit Archidiaconus, Orcmus " [P. ii. p. 373], and in the
Coptic Ordinal: " Postquam pnesentator Diaconi ex sacer-
dotibus intellcxlt eum hoc Ministro dignum esse, pr.Tsenta-
bujit eum Episcopo testificantcs do eo. Stabit autem proesen-
tatus .ante altare coram Episcopo." [P. ii. p. 444, C]
or lii.i Deptil)/] In the Orderint; of Priests, "or, in his
absence, one .appoint cil in his stead." That is, one of tlie
examiners of the candidate, "alter cloricus cui Episcopus
faciendum injunxcrit" [Pont. Mogunt. .ann. circa cccc. Ord.
xvi.; M.MiTENK, dc Aid. Rit. ii. co!. 214], and so by English
C.anciM I.iiw : "In die onliinim cclcbrandorum Arrhidi.aconus
vel Exaniinator alius ad hoc de))utatus, in actu celebrationis
^t)t ©rDcring of Deacons.
675
^ Then the Bishop shall say unto the people :
BRETHREN, if there be any of you who
knoweth any Impediment, or notable
Crime, in any of these persons presented to bo
ordered Deacons, for the which he ought not to
be admitted to that Office, let him come forth in
the Name of God, and .shew what the Crinu; or
Impediment is.
1[ And if any great Crime or Impediment be objected,
tlie Bishop shall surcease from Ordering that
person, until sucli time as the party accused sliall
be found clear of that Crime.
^ Then the Bishop (commending such as shall be found
meet to be Oi'dered to the Prayers of the congi'ega-
tion) shall, with the Clergy and people present,
sing or say the Litany, with the Prayers as fol-
loweth.
^ " Quibus explctis, dicat cpiscopus banc orationem
publico, stando, sine iiota.
AUXILIANTE Domino et Salvatoee nostro
^~\ . Jesu CaitiSTo, prajsentes fratres nostri in
sacrum ordinem electi sunt a nobis, ct clericis
huic sanct;u sedi famulantibu.s. Alii ad ofiicium
presbyterii, diuconii, vel subdiaconii, quidam vero
ad cteteros ecclesiasticos gradus. Proinde ad-
monemus et postulamus, tam vos clericos quam
caeterum populum, ut pro nobis et pro illis puro
corde et sincera mento apud divinam clementiam
intercedere digneraini, quatenus nos dignos faciat
pro illis exaudiri : et eo.s unumquemque in suo
ordine eligere, et consecrare per nianus nostras
dignetur. Si quis autem habet aliquid contra
hos viros, pro Deo et propter Deum, cum fiducia
exeat et dicat, verumtamen memor sit com-
munionis suae.
^ Delude aocedentes qui ordinandi sunt diaconi et
sacerdotes cum vestibus siiis, et prostrate episcopo
ante altare cum sacerdotibus et levitis ordinandis,
postea duo clerici incipiant litaniam ....
The Litany and Suffrages.
*/^ GOD the Father, of heaven : have mercy
^^ upon us miserable sinners.
God the Father, of heaven : have mercy
upon us miserable sinners.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world : have
mercy upon us miserable sinners.
God the Son, Redeemer of the loorld : have
mercy upon us miserable sinners.
God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
Father and the Son ; have mercy upon us
miserable sinners.
l> For originals, etc.,
of Litany, see pp.
255-233.
God the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the
Father and tlie Son : have mercy upion us miser-
able sinners.
holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three
Persons and one God : have mercy upon us
miserable sinners.
holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three
Persons and one God : have mercy upon us miser-
able sinners.
Remember not. Lord, our offences, nor the
offences of our forefathers ; neither take Thou
vengeance of our sins : spare us, good Lord,
ordinum priesentabit Episcopo ordinanti ipsos ordmandos."
[Prov. 1. i. tit. v. vi. p. 33.]
decently habited] In the old rubric of 1549 they were
desired to appear in an albe, but it must be remembered that
then the candidate was a Subdeacon, not, as now, a layman.
The present rubric requires, if not an albe, at least a surplice,
as the fitting dress of the candidate for the Order of Deacon.
Reverend Father in Ood] Bishops are called Fathers by
Epiphanius [TLer. 1. iii. § Ixxv. c. iv.], not of the universal
Church, which God alone is, but in particular branches
thereof. The title is founded on 1 Cor. iv. 1.5 ; 2 Cor. vi. 13 ;
Gal. iv. 19; 1 John ii. 1, 13, 14. The word Papa was simi-
larly used by St. Jerome [Ep. xciv.], and in the fifth and sixth
centuries. [Sidonius, 1. vi. Ep. 1-12 ; vii. Ep. 1-11.] Accord-
ing to Baronius, in 1076, it was restricted to the Bishop of
Rome.
/ 2'Tesent unto you] The ancient form of presentation was
" Postulat S. Mater Ecclesia." This form is found in the .Sacra-
mentary of Gregory, and also in the old English Pontificals.
It was, however, thought to be too bold a presumption, and
was changed into a declaration by the Archdeacon in his own
name.
/ have enquired, etc.] In the Sacramentary of Gregory the
answer of the Archdeacon was, " Quantum humana fnagilitas
nosse sinit et scio et testificor ipsos dignos esse ad bujus onus
officii." In our own fomi the words, " as far as human frailty
suffereth," being regarded as too vague an expression, and
offei'ing a shelter for prevarication, were omitted ; whilst
the assertion, "I know and bear witness, " was softened down
by the tempered language, " I think them so to be."
commending such, etc.] In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory
the Bishop in the " Benedictio Diaconi " thus commends those
who are to be ordained to the prayers of the people : "Ore-
mus, dilectissimi, Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, ut super hunc
famulum suum, quem in sacrum ordinem Diaconatus officii
dignatui" assumere, lUe benedictionis suaj gratiam clementer
effundat, eique donum consecrationis propitius indulgeat per
quod eum ad pr^mia aiterna perducat, auxiliante Domino
nostro Jesu Christo." The Prayer in the Pontifical of Egbert
is very similar, and differs only in the insertion of the clauses,
" et preces nostras clementer exaudiat, ut suo eum prosequatur
auxilio et sua potius electione justiflcet," between "indulgeat"
and "per quod." In the .Saiiim Pontifical the same Prayer
occurs, differing merely in a few words. It stands immediately
after the ordination. There is also in the Wiuton Pontifical "a
similar Prayer, In which, after "hos famulos tuos " are inserted
the words, ' ' quorum nomina hie rccitantur. " The same Prayer
occurs after the ordination in Harl. MS. 2906, fo. S, b., as the
Prsefatio with a different ending, being preceded by the address
to the people : " Commune votum communis oratio prose-
quatur, ut hi totius ecclesia? prece qui in Diaconatus Minis-
terium prfeparantur Leviticoe benedictionis ordine clarescant,
et, spirituali conversatione pra?f ulgentes, gratia sanctificationis
eluceant." This address in the Winton Pontifical succeeds
the delivery of the Gospel. [Maskell, Mon. Kit. iii. 199.]
The Litany] The rubric in the MS. Harl. 2906, fo. 8, a
676
C!)e ©rDering of IDcacons.
spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed
with Thy most precious blood, and be not angry
with us for ever.
Spare ns, yood Lord.
From aU evil and mischief ; from sin, from
the crafts and assaults of the devil ; from Thy
wrath, and from everlasting damnation.
Good Lord, deliver its.
From all blindness of heart ; from pride, vain-
glory, and hypocrisy ; from envy, hatred, and
malice, and all uncharitableness.
Good Lord, deliver us.
From fornication, and all other deadly sin ;
and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh,
and the devil.
Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest ; from plague,
pestilence, and famine ; from battle and murder,
and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebel-
lion ; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism ;
from hardness of heart, and contempt of Thy
Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver ns.
By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation ; by
Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision ; by Thy
Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By Thine Agony and Bloody Sweat ; by Thy
Cross and Passion ; by Thy precious Death and
Burial ; by Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascen-
sion ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation ; in all time of
our wealth ; in the hour of death, and in the day
of judgement,
Good Lord, delivei- us.
We sinners do beseech Thee to hear us,
LoED God ; and that it may please Thee to rule
and govern Thy holy Church universal in the
right way ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to keep and strengthen
in the true worshipping of Thee, in righteousness
and holiness of life, Thy Servant VICTORIA,
our most gracious Queen and Governor ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to rule her heart in
Thy faith, fear, and love, and that she may ever-
more have affiance in Thee, and ever seek Thy
honour and glory ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to be her defender and
keeper, giving her the victory over all her enemies ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless and preserve
Albert Edivard Prince of Wales, the Princess of
Wales, and aU the Royal Family ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to illuminate all
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true know-
ledge and understanding of Thy Word ; and that
both by their preaching and living they may set
it forth, and shew it accordingly ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless these Thy
servants, now to be admitted to the Order of
Deacons, [or Priests,"] and to pour Thy grace
upon them ; that they may duly execute their
Office, to the edifying of Thy Church, and the
glory of Thy holy Name ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Ut Apostolicum donum, et omnes gradus
ecclesise, in sancta religione conservare digneris,
Te rogamus.
^ Hie surgat episcopus et sumat baculum in manu sua,
et conversus ad ordinandos dicat.
Ut electos istos bene>J<dicere digneris,
Te rogamus.
Ut electos istos bene^dicere et sancti>J<ficare
digneris,
Te rogamus.
Ut electos istos beue^dicere, sancti>J«ficare et
conse^crare digneris,
Te rogamus.
That it may please Thee to endue the Lords of
the Council, and all the Nobility, with grace,
wisdom, and understanding ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless and keep the
Magistrates, giving them grace to execute justice,
and to maintain truth ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to bless and keep all
Thy people ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give to all nations
unity, peace, and concord ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give us an heart to
love and dread Thee, and diligently to live after
Thy commandments ;
We beseech Tliee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give to all Thy
people increase of grace, to hear meekly Thy
Word, and to receive it with j)ure affection, and
to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Tliat it may please Thee to bring into the
way of truth all such as have erred, and are
deceived ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good, Lord.
That it may please Thee to strengthen such as
Pontifical of the tenth century, is, " Tunc prosternat se
pontifex cum Archidiacono coram altari super stramenta cum
nisque qui consecrandi sunt, et schola iniponat letaniam;"
and in the Cotton MS. Tib. c. i. fo. 142, b. , which is perhaps
earlier : " Pontife.K super tapctia et qui consecrandi sunt super
pavimentum prosternantur, ac tunc agatur tetania, et inter
Cf)C ©tDcring of ^Deacons.
677
do stand ; and to comfort and help the weak-
hearted ; and to raise up them that fall ; and
finally to beat down Satan under our feet ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to succour, help, and
comfort, all that are in danger, necessity, and
tribulation ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to preserve all that
travel by land or by water, all women labouring of
child, all sick persons and young children ; and
to shew Thy pity upon all prisoners and captives;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to defend, and pro-
vide for, the fatherless children, and widows, and
all that are desolate and oppressed ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to have mercy upon
all men ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to forgive our ene-
mies, persecutors, and slanderers, and to turn their
hearts ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give and preserve
to our use the kindly fruits of the earth, so as in
due time we may enjoy them ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
That it may please Thee to give us true repent-
ance ; to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and
ignorances ; and to endue us with the grace of
Thy Holy Spirit to amend our lives according
to Thy holy Word ;
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
Son of God : we beseech Thee to hear us.
Son of God : tve beseech Thee to hear its.
O Lamb of God : that takest away the sins of
the world ;
Grant us Thy peace.
O Lamb of God : that takest away the sins of
the world ;
Have mercy upon m.
O Christ, hear us.
Christ, hear us.
LoED, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
U Then shall the Priest, and the People with him,
say the Lord's Prayer.
OXJE Father, Which art in heaven. Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation ;
But deliver us from evil. Ameu.
H Priest.
O Lord, deal not with us after our sins.
Answer.
Neither reward us after our iniquities.
IT Let us pray.
OGOD, merciful Father, that despisest not
the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the
desire of such as be sorrowful ; Mercifully assist
our prayers that we make before Thee in all our
troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress
us ; and graciously hear us, that those evils
which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man
worketh against us, be brought to nought ; and
by the providence of Thy goodness they may be
dispersed ; that we Thy servants, being hurt by
no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto
Thee in Thy holy Church ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Lord, arise, help tis, and deliver us for Thy
Name's sake.
OGOD, we have heard with our ears, and
our fathers have declared unto us, the
noble works that Thou didst in their days, and
in the old time before them.
Loud, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thine
honour.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and
to the Holy Ghost ;
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
From our enemies defend us, O Christ.
Graciously look upon our afflictions.
Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts.
Mercifully forgive the siiis of Thy people.
Favourably with mercy' hear our prayers.
Son of David, have mercy upon us.
Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us,
Christ.
Graciotisly hear us, Christ ; graciously hear
us, Lord Christ.
H Priest.
O Lord, let Thy mercy be shewed upon us ;
Answer.
As we do put our trust in Thee.
If Let us pray.
"VTTE humbly beseech Thee, O Father, merci-
V V fully to look upon our infirmities ; and
for the glory of Thy Name turn from us all those
evils that we most righteously have deserved ;
and grant, that in all our troubles we may put
our whole trust and confidence in Thy mercy, and
evermore serve Thee in holiness and pureness of
living, to Thy honour and gloi-y ; through our
only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ our
Lord. A7nen.
alia dicatur : Ut fratres nostros ad sacrum ordinem electos in
vera religione conservare digneris." The admonition to the
Deacons, in the Winchester Pontifical, immediately follows
theii' approach to the Bishop, nor does there seem in that age,
according to the use of that Church, to have been a Litany
appointed. [Maskell, 3fon. Hit. ii. 201.]
678
Cf)c ©rDcting of Deacons.
^ Then shall be sung or said the Service for the Com-
munion, with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, as
foUoweth.
The Collect.
ALMIGHTY God, Who by Thy Divine Provi-
■^l\. dence hast appointed divers Orders of
Ministers iu Thy Church, and didst inspire Thine
Apostles to choose into the Order of Deacons the
first Martyr S. Stephen, with others ; Mercifully
behold these Thy servants now called to the like
Office and Administration ; replenish them so
with the truth of Thy doctrine, and adorn them
with innocency of life, that, both by word and
good example, they may faithfully serve Thee in
this Office, to the glory of Thy Name, and the
edification of Thy Church ; through the merits of
our Saviour Jesus Cheist, Who liveth and
reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, now
and for ever. Arnen.
''"r^OMINE sancte, Patek fidei, spei, gratise, et
-L^ perfectuum Munerator, Qui in cuilestibus
et terrenis niinisteriis ubique dispositis per omnia
elementa voluntatis Tu* diffundis efiectum : hos
quoque famulos Tuos speciali dignare illustrare
aspectu, ut, Tuis obsequiis expediti, Sanctis Tuia
altaribus ministri puri accrescant, et indulgentia
puriores, eorum gradu, quos apostoli in septenario
munero, beato Stephano duce ac prasvio, Sancto
Spieitu auctore, elegerunt, digni existant et vir-
tutibus uuiversis, quibus Tibi servire oportet,
instructi polleant. Per Dominhji. In unitate
ejusdem.
The Epistle. 1 Tim. iii. 8-13.
IIKEWISE must the Deacons be grave, not
-i double-tongued, not given to much wine,
not greedy of filthy lucre ; holding the mystery of
the faith in a pure conscience. And let these
also first be proved ; then let them use the Office
of a Deacon, being found blameless. Even so
must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober,
faithful in all things. Let the Deacons be the
husbands of one wife, ruling their children and
their own houses well. For they that have used
the Office of a Deacon well purchase to them-
selves a good degree, and great boldness in the
faith which is iu Christ Jesu.s.
^ Or else this, out of the Sixth of the Acts of tlie
Apostles.
Acts vi. 2-7.
THEN the Twelve called the multitude of the
disciples unto them, and said. It is not
reason that we should leave the Word of God,
and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye
out among you seven men of honest report, full
of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may
appoint over this business. But we will give
ourselves continually to prayer, and to the minis-
try of the word. And the saying pleased the
whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a
man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and
Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicauor, and Timon,
and Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte of
Antioch ; whom they set before the apostles :
and when they had prayed, they laid their hands
on them. And the word of God increased, and
the number of the disciples multiplied in Jeru-
salem greatly ; and a great company of the Priests
were obedient to the faith.
^ And before the Gospel, the Bishop, sitting in his
chair, shall cause the Oath of the Queen's Supre-
macy, and against the power and authority of all
Then shall be smir/ or said, etc.] Iu the Harl. MS. 2906, fo.
8, the rubric is, "Qua (i.e. letania) tinita erigat se pontifex
et ascendant ipsi electi ad sedem pontificis, et benedicat eos
ad quod vocati sunt, et descendant et stent in ordine suo.
Benedictioue accepta Archidiaconus imponat Evangelium, et
caitera ex more."
The rubric in the Sacramentary of Gregory is similar :
" Litauia cxplcta ascendunt ipsi ad sedem pontificis, et bene-
dicit eos ad quod vocati sunt, et desccndentes stant in ordine
suo benediotione ijcrcepta." See also Pont. Egberti, p. 9. In
Lacy's Pontifical it is directed : ' ' Missani in qua ordinatus est
totaliter audiat. Ordiues non conferuntur a quolibet, nee
cuilibet, ncc (jualibet die, nee qualibet hoi-a diei, sed tempore
Missae."
Tli£ Collect] This corresponds to the Consecratio in the
Sacramentary of St. Gregory and early Pontificals. Abbe
Migue makes the following note: "In priiiio Theod. ha'C
omnia [tliat is, the presentation of the candidates and the
Litany] omittuntur usque ad 'Oremus dilectissimi,' cui pra;-
mittuntur orationcs ad ordinandos Diaconos, eodem ritu
caetera pro ordin. Presbyteri et Episoopi habentur." [Ixxviii.
220.]
The Apostolical Constitutions contaui a similar prayer ;
^ETrirpavov rb npitatjiTrhv iiOT iirl rbf SovXbv i^OT rbfOe tuv vpo-
Xctpt^bfievdv 2^01 ^Is AiaKOfiav, Kal ■jrXijtroi' avrbv Ilfci'/xaros 'A7/01'
i:al Swa/xtus, it (Tr\ri(!a.% 'Zriipavop rbv /MxpTvpa, Kal KaTa^lwaov
avrbv €{iap^ffTus \f:trovpyrj(Tai/Ta tt]V ^yxetfrOctaav avrip SiaKoviav
drp^TTTUs, iijU)nrTus, avc-yKX-^Tut, /xtifoi'os i^iwOijvai (iaBjiov.
[Const. Apost. Iviii. cxviii. Assem. P. \\. p. 112. Morin, P.
ii. p. 375.)
Compare also the Collect in the Ordinal of the Syro-Nestori-
ans, as translated by Morin : " Tu per gratiam Tuam elegisti
Ecclesiam Tuam Sanctam, et suscitasti in ea Apostolos Sacer-
dotes et doctores ad perfectionem Sanctorum, et in ea quoque
posuisti Diaconos, et quemadmodura elegisti Stephauum et
socios ejus, ita nunc quoque, Domine, secundum misericordiam
Tuam da servis Tuis istis gratiam Spiritus Sancti ut sint
ministri electi in Ecclesia Tiia sancta, et serviant Altari Tuo
puro cum puro corde, et conscientia bona, et splendeant in
operibus justiti;e muustrantes niysteriis Tuis divinis. " [P. ii.
p. 378.]
The Epistle and Gospel] "In Ordinatione Diaconorum
Lectio Epistolse B. Pauli Apost. ad Tinioth. : 'Diaconos con-
stitue pudicos. ' Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum Joliannem,
' Nisi granum f rumenti. ' " [D. Hieuon. Coincs ap. J'amel. ii. 60. ]
In the Gallicau Church the rubi'ic was, "Legenda qmmdo
Diaoonus ordinatur Lectio Ezcchiel, Prop. e. xliv. 15, .16.
Epi.st. S. Pauli ad Tim. iii. 8-15" [Mabillon, 1. ii. No.
Ixxviii.], and tlie Gospel "Evang. S. Luca; ix. 57, 02." [Ibid. p.
170.] In tlio Syro-Maronitc Ordinal the rubric is, " Deinde
tiaditur ei ut legat Epistolam Apostoli I'auli ad Timoth.
'Similiter Diaooni.'" [Morin, P. ii. p. 329.] In the German
Liturgy tlie Epistle «as 1 Tim. : " Eidclis sermo onmi accep-
tione dignus;" and tlie Gospel St. .lohn : "In illo tempore
.Icsus dixit .... Pater Mens, Qui est iu cu'lis" [Gerbcrt,
410, 443.] In tlie ancient Ordo Konianus the E])i.sUe is from
1 Tim., "Fratres Diaconos .... in Christo Jcsu Domino
nostro." It is directed to follow the Introit and Prayer. In
the Sarum Pontifical the Gospel is St. Luke iii. 1-0.
Oath of the Qtieen'n Svpremari/] The following are the two
forms successively used in Ordinations from 1661 until 1865.
Till' third fonn is that now ordered to bo taken : —
^\)z ©rDeting of Deacons.
679
foreign Potentates, to be ministered unto every
one of them that are to bo Ordered.
The Oath of the Queen's Sovereignty.
^ Then shall the Bishop examine every one of them
that ai'e to be Ordered, in the presence of the
people, after this manner following.
DO you trust that you are inwardly moved by
the Holy Ghost to take upon you this
Office and Ministration, to serve God for the
promoting of His glory, and the edifying of His
people ?
Answer.
I trust so.
The Bishop.
O you think that you are truly called,
according to the will of our Lord Je.sds
D
Chelst, and the due order of thi.s Realm, to the
Ministry of the Church?
Answer.
I think so.
The Bishop.
DO you unfcignedly believe all the Canonical
Scriptures of the Old and New Testa-
ment ?
Answer.
I do believe them.
The Bishop.
"TTTILL you diligently read the same unto the
VV people assembled in the Church where
you shall be appointed to serve 1
I will.
Answer.
Form of Oath printed in Sealed Books. Form of Oath ordered hy 1 W. & M. c. 8. Form of Oath ordered by 21 & 22Vict. c. 48.
1, A. B., do utterly testifie and declare
in my conscience, That the King's High-
ness is the only Supream Governour of
this Realm, and of all other his High-
nesses Dominions and Countries, as well
in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical things or
causes, as Temporal : And that no foreign
Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or Poten-
tate hath or ought to have any jurisdic-
tion, power, superiority, pre-eminence or
authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual with-
in this Realm. And therefore I do utterly
renounce and forsake all foreign jurisdic-
tions, powers, superiorities and authori-
ties; and do promise. That from hence-
forth I shall bear faith and true allegiance
to the King's Highness, His Heirs and
lawful Successors, and to my power shall
assist and defend all jurisdictions, privi-
ledges, pre-eminences and authorities
granted or belonging to the King's High-
ness, His Heirs and Successors, or iinited
and annexed to the Imperial Crown of
this Realm. So help me God, and the
contents of this Book.
I, A. B., do swear, that I do from my
heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious
and heretical, that damnable Doctrine and
Position, That Prhices excommunicated or
deprived by the Pope, or any authority
of the See of Rome, may be deposed or
murdered by their Subjects, or any other
whatsoever. And I do declare, that no
foreign Prince, Person, Prelate, State, or
Potentate, hath or ought to have any
jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-
eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or
spiritual, within this Realm. So help me
God.
I, A. B., do swear that I will be faith-
ful and bear true allegiance to Her
Majesty Queen Victoria, and wUl defend
her to the utmost of my power against
all conspiracies and attempts whatever
which shall be made against her person,
crown, or dignity ; and I will do my ut-
most endeavour to disclose and make
known to Her Majesty, her heirs and
successors, all treasons and traitorous
conspiracies which may be formed against
her or them ; and I do faithfully promise
to mauitain, support, and defend, to the
utmost of my power, the succession of the
Crown, which succession, by an Act,
intituled "An Act for the further limita-
tion of the Crown, and better securing
the rights and liberties of the subject," is
and stands limited to the Pi-incess Sophia,
Eleetress of Hanover, and the heirs of her
body being Protestants, hereby utterly
renouncing and abjuring any obedience
and allegiance unto any other person
claiming or pretending a right to the
crown of this realm ; and I do declare,
that no foreign prince, person, prelate,
state, or potentate, hath or ought to have
any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-
eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or
spiritual, within this reahn ; and I make
this declaration upon the true faith of a
Christian. So help me God.
In the tirst Prayer Book of Edward VI. the confirmation
ran, " So help me God, aU .Saints, and the holy Evangelists ; "
owing to the remonstrance of Bishop Hooper it was altered to,
"So help me God, through .Jesus Christ." [Zur. Lett. iii.
81, 566. Hooper's Earli/ Wrkinpn, 479.] In 1559 an entirely
new fonn of oath was inserted, with a corresponding alteration
ui the rubric preceding and introducing it. [Pref. Lit. Serr.,
Park. Soc. p. xxi., p. 281.]
By the Clergy Subscription Act, 1865, 28 & 29 Vict. c.
cxxii. § xi., Oaths are not to be administered during the
Services of Ordination ; but this does not extend to or affect
the oath of due obedience to the Archbisliop taken by Bishops
on consecration, § xii. ; by § iv. every person about to be
ordained Priest or Deacon shall, before ordination, make and
subscribe the declaration of assent, and take and subscribe the
oath of allegiance and supremacy ; and the Bishop's oath of
due obedience to the Archbishop is retained.
Then shall the Bishop examine] The candidate is required to
answer plainly to several questions, that is, " clara voce," and
to make certain promises, which, as Bishop Beveridge says,
"being made so solemnly before God and His Church, are
certainly as binding as if made upon oath, and ought to be as
religiously obsen'ed ;" "ut non solum habeat Dei timorem
sed ctiam coram omnibus denunciationem et professionem
erubescat. " [Novell. Just. Auth. Coll. 1, tit. vi. cap. i. § 9,
p. 19, Lugd. 1581.] All these interrogations are in accordance
with St. Paul's demands of a good life, good government, and
that second part of the pastoral office, sound and good doctrine
according to the Word of Life, to be found in the Minister of
God. [1 Tim. v. 17.] They relate [I.] To a profession of the
Catholic Faith, and the assurance of the candidates tliat they
are lawfully called to be ministers of the Churcli of England.
[Ai-t. XXIII.] [II.] A promise is given to observe the dis-
cipline of the Church, according to her laws and constitutions.
[III.] A profession of obedience is made to ecclesiastical
governors. They are grounded on the questions put to
Bishops in ancient formularies, and were added to secure
uniformity in the serWces. But they follow ancient precedent
as given by the Codex Thuanus of the ninth century : ' ' Pri-
mitus cum venerint ordinandi Clerici ante Episcopum debet
Episcopus inquirere unumquemque si literatus, si bene doctus,
si docibilis, si moribus temperatus, si \'ita ca«tus, si sobrius,
si domui bene pr;eesse sciat, et ante omnia si Fidei documenta
pleniter sciat. Et tunc demum in conspectu Episcopi vel
Cleri sive populi polliceri debet qufe subter inserta sunt. Ut
Sacras Scripturas quotidie meditetur et populum doceat ; ut
intentus sit lectioni assiduse. Ut eleemosynarius, hospitalis.
humilis, benignus, misericors. largus, ecclesiasticus prsedica-
6So
C()c DrDcnng of aDeacons.
The Bishop.
IT appertaioeth to the Office of a Deacou, iu
the Church where he shall be appointed to
serve, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and
specially when he ministereth the holy Com-
munion, and to help him in the distribution
thereof, and to read holy Scriptures and Homilies
in the Church ; and to instruct the youth in the
Catechism ; iu the absence of the Priest to bap-
tize infants ; and to preach, if he be admitted
thereto by the Bishop. And furthermore, it is
liis Office, where provision is so made, to search
for the sick, poor, and impotent people of the
Parish, to intimate their estates, names, and
places where they dwell, unto the Curate, that
by his exhortation they may be relieved with the
alms of the Parishioners, or others. WiU you do
this gladly and willingly ?
Answer.
I will so do, by the help of God.
' Finita litania, redeant sacerdotes electi ad loca sua,
remanentibus Levitis ad consecraudum, et epi-
scopus dicat eis sine nota, sedendo.
jIACONUM oportet ministrare ad altare,
evangelium legere, baptizare, et pnedicare.
The Bishop.
"TTTILL you apply all your diligence to frame
VV and fashion your own lives, and the
lives of your families, according to the Doctrine
of Cheist ; and to make both yourselves and
them, as much as in you lieth, wholesome
examples of the flock of Cheist ?
Answer.
I will so do, the Lord being my helper.
The Bishop.
\ \ '''ILL you reverently obey your Ordinary,
' V and other chief ^Ministers of the Church,
and them to whom the charge and government
over you is committed, following with a glad
mind and ^^^ll their godly admonitions?
Answer.
I will endeavour mjself, the Lokd being my
helper.
tor, ^Hsitator iniirmorum. Ut Ecclesiam suam in officiis
divinis frequentare non negligat. Ut popuUim ad earn vel ad
se venieutem bene recipiat et instruat. Ut Canones pleuiter
discat et intelligat. Ut ecclesia una, i.e. sua cni ordinatus
est, contentus sit. Ut sine jussione sui Episcopi extra suam
ecclesiam non proficiscatur. " [MOKIX, de Sacr. Orel. pt.
ii. p. 252, D.] By the 11th Council of Toledo, a.d. 675,
c. X. : " Unusquisque qui ad ecclesiasticos gradus est acces-
.sui"us non ante honoris consecrationem accipiat quam placiti
sui innodatione promittat ut fidem Catholicam sincera cordis
devotione custodiens, juste ac pie vivere debeat ; et ut in
nuUis operibus suis Canonicis regulis contradicat ; atque ut
debitum per omnia honorem atque obsequii reverentiam
praeeminenti sibi unusquisque dependat. " [L.iBBE, Cone.
tom. vii. .568, B.] In 813 the Council of C'halon.s forbade
the practice of Bishops exacting from candidates an oath
that they were worthy, would not contravene the Canons,
and would obey the Bishop who ordained them, and tlie
Church in which they were ordained, this being prejudicial
to diocesan rights, [c. xiii. Labbe, tom. ix. col. 362, C]
]t appcrlai/icl/i, etc.] By the fiftli Canon of tlie Council of
York, 1195, "decrevimus etiam ut non nisi sununa et gi'avi
necessitate diaconus baptizet." [Wilkins, Cone. i. 501.] So
by the Council of London, 1200, c. iii., " Ut non liceat diaconis
baptizare, nisi duplici necessitate, viz. quia sacerdos non
potest vel absens vel stulte non vult, et mors immineat piiero."
[Ibid. 505.] And a Provincial Constitution gives similar direc-
tions. [Ibid. p. 6.36.] This question in the Sarum Pontifical
occurs as an address to the candidate after the Litany, wlien
the Deacons to be ordained Priests have I'eturned to their
places [nee above]. The admonition is much longer in the
Winton Pontifical [Maskkll, 2^foll. jRII. iii. ini.]
An instnictive illustration of the traditional customs pre-
served in the Church of England is to be found in a Puritan
work of Queen Elizabeth's time, entitled "One liundred points
of Popery " in "A Pleasaunt Dialogue between a Souklier of
Barwicke and an English Chaplain," written between 1559
and 1581. The thirteenth point is "Deacons made to otiicr
purposes than scripture appoynteth." Then follows iu the
fourteenth point, "They may minister baptisme, but not the
communion ; they may minister the cup, not the bread. "
the Curate] Towards the latter end of the sixteenth centurj-
Bishops I'estricted the word (which had been exclusively
applied, as here properly, to parish Priests having cure of
souls, in its subordinate and present sense) to tlieir vicars.
[Art. 1576, § 28. Bancroft, Vis. Art 1605, § 25.] These
were formerly called "Substitutes." [Canons 1603, clxix.
Comp. Cardw. Conf. ch. viii. p. 342. Grindal's Letters,
xiii. p. 246.] Sheldon, however, employs it in the sense of a
deputy in 1665. [Cardw. Doc. Ann. No. cxxxix. clii.]
Will you apply, etc.] A hint for this question may probably
have been taken from the following prayer in the Sacramentary
of St. Gregory : " Exaudi, Domine, preces nostras et super
huuc famulum Tuum SiJiritum Tuse benedictionis emitte, ut
ca?lesti munere ditatus et Tua; gratiam possit majestatis
acquirere et bene \'ivendi aliis exemplum pra;bere."
yoiir Ordinary] That is [1] the Bishop, as having orciiiiarN-
jurisdiction in causes ecclesiastical, of conmion right, and of
course : [2] Chancellors, Commissaries, Officials, and Arch-
deacons. So Lyndewood states that ordinaries are those
" quibus competit jurisdictio ordiuaria de jure privilegii vel
consuetudine." [Lyxdew. Proi: 1. tit. ii.]
llien the Bishop layini/ Itis /lands, etc.] The Salisbury Pon-
tifical [see above] enjoins the words, "Accipe Spiritum
Sanctum." The Bangor MS. also enjoins these words, but
tl\e Winton Pontifical does not. The modem Roman fonn,
which does not mention tlic ofiice of the Deacon, is, "Accipe
Spiritum Sanctum ad robur, et ad rosistendmn diabolo, ct
tentationibus ejus. Li nomine Domini." It is interpolated
in the long prayer wliich is caHod Pricfatio, licginning,
" Honorum dator." Martenc says that this form is not earlier
than the tliirteenth century. It does not occur in the 'Winton
Pontifical, nor in tlie Brit. Mus. Pont. [MS, Harl. 2906], and
for the first time appears in the Bangor Use. A clause in the
prayer called the Consecration, corresponding to the English
Collect, "Almighty (Jod, giver of all good things," does occur
in the Harl. Pontifical, and in tliose of Egbert and Lacy,
" Emitte Sjnritum Sanctum, "and lias been distorted into "the
fonn " by Catalani and Martene. The Greek Churcli uses this
form, substituting Priest or Deacon in the several ordering of
both, 'H Qfla x<^P'^ V '"duTore to. daOivrj OfpnTrcvovira Kal to
iWftiroi'Ta ivaT\7ipoO(Ta, Trpoxfipfffrai riv Sfiva riv ei'Xa^^ffroTov
C&e ©rDeimg of Deacons.
68j
^ Then the Bishop hiyiiif,' his liands severally upon the
head of every one of tlicm, humbly kneeling Ijufore
him, shall say,
TAKE thou Authority to execute the Office of
a Deacon in the Church of God committed
unto thee ; lu the Name of the Father, and of
the Sox, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
% Then shall the Bishop deliver to every one of them
the New Testament, saying,
TAKE thou Authority to read the Cio.spel in
the Church of God, and to preach the
same, if thou be thereto licensed by the Bishop
himself
» Quibus inelinantibus, Bolus cpiecopus qui eos benedioit,
manum super capita singulorum ponat, dicens solus
secrete, Aecipe Spiritum Sanctum .... Tunc
ponat singulis, super siiiistrum humenim, stolam
usque ad ascellani dexteram subtus, dicens sine
nota:
IN Nomine Sanctse Trinitatis, aecipe stolam
immortalitatis : iniple ministerium tuum,
potensest enim Deus ut augeat tibigratiam, Qui
vivit et regnat ....
. . . . Post luce tradat eis librum evangeliorum dicens
sine nota :
IN Nomine Sanctse Trinitatis, aecipe potestatem
legendi evangelium in ecclesia Dei, tarn pro
vivis quam pro defunctis in Nomine Domini.
Amen
^ Then one of them, appointed by the Bishop, shall
read the Gospel.
S. Luke xii. 35-38.
IET your loins be girded about, and your lights
■i burning ; and ye yourselves like unto men
that wait for their lord, when he will return
from the wedding ; that when he cometh and
knockoth, they may open unto him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when
he cometh shall find watching : verily I say
unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make
them to sit down to meat, and will come forth
and serve them. And if he shall come in the
second watch, or come in the third watch, and
find them so, blessed are those servants.
I'lroSiaKovoi' els SioKOfov. [MoRiN, de Sacr. Ord. pt. i. p.
79, D.]
laijinij his hands severally] As regards this rite, the words
of the -Ith CouncU of Carthage, c. iv. [Mansi, tom. iii. col.
951], are, " Diaconus cum ordinatur solus Episcopus qui eum
benedicit manum super caput illius ponat, quia non ad sacer-
dotium sed ad ministerium consecratur. " [Morin, p. 260.J
They are incorporated in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory,
and the old Ordo Romanus. But in the Gelasian Sacra-
mentary, and an English Pontifical of Rouen, this clause is
inserted, " Reliqui omnes Sacerdotes juxta manum Episcopi
caput illius tangant, quia non ad sacerdotium," etc. Curand
[Ration. 1. ii. c. i.\. § 14] observes, "We read in the Acts
of the Apostles that they set them in the sight of the Apostles,
and they prayed and laid hands on them. Hereby we see
that not only the Bishop, but the Priests that stand by, ought
to lay hands upon the Deacon at Ordination. " And Amalarius
[de OJJic. Eeeles. 1. ii. c. xii.] agrees with Durand in object-
ing to the imposition of the hands of the Bishop alone,
founding his ai'gument on the same text : but Menard answers
the objection, saying, ' ' As this was the first Ordination, and
all the Apostles wei"e assembled, it was right that they should
all lay on hands, although an unnecessary act, as only one of
them would have been sufficient." [M. Saeram. Greg. Nota;
MiGNE, Ixxviii. 484.] In the Harl. JIS. 2906, fol. 8, b., the
rubric is, " Et omnes qui ordinandi sunt oblationes def erant
ad manus Episcopi cum ab eo oi-dinationem accipiant. Ordi-
natio Diaconi : Diaconus cum ordinatur, solus Episcopus qui
eum benedicit mauus super caput ejus imponit, quia non ad
sacerdotium sed ad ministerium consecratur ; et alloqiiitur
populuni his verbis : Commune votum." The Royal MS. and
Codex of Noyon, as Migne observes, required the Priests to
touch the Deacon's head.
the New Testament] "Ti-adat ei Episcopus sanctum Evan-
gelium, dicens, Aecipe istnd volumen Evangelii, lege et
intellige et aliis trade et opere adimple. " [E.i:. Anijlic. Cod.
Rotom. Eccleis. ann. Dccc, MoKiN, p. 232, E. Ord. ii. Pont.
Gemmet. ante ann. Dococ, Martene, ii. col. 109, A. Ord. xi.
Pont. Bece. ante ann. D., ibid. col. 179, B.]
" Accipite licentiam legendi Evangelium in Ecclesia Dei in
nomine Domini." [Code.z Bellovac. ann. DCL., Morin', p. 270,
E. Ord. vi. Pont. Suess. ante ann. DC, ibid. col. 140, E. Ord.
XV. Morjunt. ann. circa crcc, col. 219, D. Ord. xvii. Pont.
Noviom . a,i\n. circa DCCC, Martene, tom. ii. eol. 137, D. Ord.
vli. Pont. Noviom. ann. ccoc, col. 209, C. Ord. xvii. Pont.
MS. Bib!.. Colb. col. 234, C. Ord. xiii. Pont. Camerac. ann.
D., col. 190, D.]
Mai'tene says, "The most ancient Pontificals written before
the ninth century, with the exception of the English copies,
do not mention the delivery of the Gospels in the Ordering of
Deacons. I say vith the exception of English Pontificals,
for the Pontificals of Archbishop Egbert of York, of the eighth
century [tom. ii. col. 98, D.], of Jumieges of the ninth
century [Ibid. 109, A.], of Rouen of the same date [Morin, p.
232, E.], which certainly were designed for the English use,
expressly notice the delivery of the Gospels ; so, therefore,
this was a solemn rite in England, and found in all the rituals
we have seen, it is clearly of English origin." [De Ant. Eccl.
Rit. 1. 1, 0. viii. art. ix. S 6, 7, tom. ii. col. 60, D., 61, A]
An earlier Pontifical of Bee, ante ann: D., also mentions it.
[Iljid. col. 179, B.] Ivo of Chartres says, "Deacons receive
the text of the Gospels from the Bishop, whereby they under-
stand that they ought to be preachers of the Gospel. " [De Reb.
Eecles. Sum. ii. apud Hittorp. col. 776, D.] Neither Raba-
uus Maurus, Isidore, Alcuin, nor Amalarius, mention the rite,
but Durand says that as he wished to confomi to the use of
the other Churches, he wrote in the Ordinal of his church of
Auicia, on the margin, that the book of the Gospels was to be
given to the Deacon with a form of words. [In IV. Sent. dist.
xxiv. qu. 3.] In Spain [IV. Counc. Toledo, c. 27] Deacons
do not seem to have read the Gospel.
In the Syro-Nestorian Church this rubric occurs : "After-
wards the Archdeacon delivers tlie book of the Apostle to the
Bishop, who gives it to each of those that are to he ordained,
saying, ' He is set apart, sanctified, perfected, and consecrated
for the Ecclesiastical Ministry of a Deacon in the name of the
Father,' etc. The Bishop takes the book from the hand of
each of them, and delivers it to the Archdeacon. " [Morin, pt.
ii. p. 379.] The Nestorian Form enjoins the delivery of the
Epistles to the Deacon, and the Gospel to the Priest. [Ibid.
pt. iii. Exerc. ix. de Diae. c. i. § 16, p. 136.]
one of them .... sliall read tlie Gospel] In the Greek
Cliurch the Deacon or Priest read the Gospel [Const. Apost.
1. ii. c. Ivii.]: at Constantinople the Archdeacons. But
Sozomen adds, in some Churches the Deacons, in others the
Priests, read the Gospel. [H. E. 1. vii. cap. xix.] In the
time of St. Jerome in the Western Church the duty was
reserved to Deacons [Ep. xciii. ad iSabinian. Op. tom. iv. col.
758], and by St. Gregory. [Epist. App. v. tom. ii. col. 1289, A.]
■The Council of Vaison, a.d. 529, c. ii., declared they were
worthy to read it [Labbe, v. col. 822, C], and Isidore [de
Dir. Off. 1. ii. c. viii.] and Honorius [1. i. c. elxxx,] mention
that they did so. [Ap. Hittorp. col. 208, D., 1226, E., 1238, D.]
The Greek Church assigns the reading of the Gospel in the
Holy Communion to them, but there is no mention of a de-
livery of the Gospel to them at Ordination in the Euchologium.
licensed by the Bishop] In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory,
at the delivery of the stole to the Deacon, the Bishop says,
' ' Imponimus ut prsecoues regis ccelestis irreprehensibiliter
existere mereamiui." Archbishop Whitgift says, "Surely I
682
Ci)e ©rDering of Deacons.
^ Then shall the Bishop proceed in the Communion,
and all that are Ordered shall tarry, and receive
the holy Communion the same day with the
Bishop.
^ The Communion ended, after the last Collect, and
immediately before the Benediction, shall be said
these Collects following.
ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good tMngs,
-^^J- Who of Thy great goodness hast vouch-
safed to accept and take these Thy servants unto
the Office of Deacons iu Thy Church; Make
them, we beseech Thee, Lord, to be modest,
humble, and constant in their IVIinistration, to
have a ready will to observe all spiritual Disci-
pline ; that they having always the testimony of
a good conscience, and continuing ever stable
and strong in Thy Son Ckeist, may so well
behave themselves in this inferior Office, that
they may be found worthy to be called unto the
higher Ministries in Thy Church ; through the
same Thy Son our Savtoue Jesus Chuist, to
Whom be glory and honour world without end.
Amen.
PEEVENT us, O Loed, in all our doings
with Thy most gracious favour, and further
us with Thy continual help ; that in all our works
begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may
glorify Thy holy Xame, and finally by Thy mercy
obtain everlasting life ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
THE peace of God, which passeth aU under-
standing, keep your hearts and minds in
the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son
Jesus Cheist our Loed : And the blessing of
God Almighty, the Fathee, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain vrith
you always. Amen.
o Sat. Pontif. of
Enjj.. Jumieges,
St. Dunstan. Arch-
bisliop Egbert, and
Bishop Lacy.
* Sat. Canon Mts-
sa ad Jin. Greg.
Snbh. in xii. Itct.
tnensis primi.
trMS.Lcofric. Exon.
fol. cccx.\xii.
^ " Ultimo concludendo ei qui lecturus est evangelium.
DOMINE sancte, Pater omnipotens, seteme
Deus, honorum dator, ordinumque dis-
tributor, ac officiorum dispositor .... Super
hos quoque famulos Tuos, quajsumus Domine,
placatus iutende, quos Tuis sacrariis servituros in
officimu diaconii suppliciter dedi>J<camus
Abundet in eis totius forma virtutis, auctoritas
modesta, pudor constans, innocentise puritas, et
spiritualis observantia disciplinte. In moribus
eorum prsecepta Tua fulgeant, txt sure castitatis
exemplo imitationem sancta plebs acquirat, et
bonum conscientise testimonium prajferentes, in
Cheisto firmi et stabUes persevereut, dignisqne
successibus de inferiori gradu per gratiam Tuam
capere potiora mereantur.
Terminando secrete: Per eundem Dominum
nostrum, Jesum Christum, Filium Tuum, Qui
Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate ejusdem.
* ACTIONES nostras, quassumus, Domine, et
-^^A_ aspirando praeveni, et adjuvando prose-
quere ; ut cuncta nostra operatio et a Te semper
incipiat, et per Te ccepta finiatur. Per.
BENEDICTIO Dei Pateis et Filii, et Spiei-
tus Sancti et pax Domini sit semper
vobiscum.
^ And here it must be declared unto the Deacon, that
he must continue in that Office of a Deacon the
space of a whole year (except for reasonable causes
it shall otherwise seem good unto the Bishop) to
the intent he may be perfect, and well expert in
the things appertaining to the Ecclesiastical ad-
ministration. In executing whereof if he be found
faitliful and diligent, he may be admitted by his
Diocesan to the Order of Priestliood, at the times
appointed in the Canon ; or else, on urgent occa^
sion, upon some other Sunday, or Holy-day, in
the face of the Church, in such manner and fonn
as hereafter foUo'neth.
think no man is admitted into the Ministry but he is permitted
to preach in his own cure witliout further licence, except it be
upon some evil usage of himself afterwards cither in life or
doctrine." [De/enn; etc., Tr. xiii. vol. iii. p. 41.]
Ordination and Mission are distinguished in St. Mark iii.
14; St. Matt. x. 5; St. Luke vi. 13; ix. 2; and in the
23rd Article; the 36th and 50th Canons of 1604 require
a licence. The Bishop under Christ being the fountain of
spiritual power in his Diocese, by such an act or issue of his
jurisdiction delegates a portion of his authority, not abso-
lutely, but revocably, to the Clerk deputcil to perform Eccle-
siastical acts. A Rector or Vicar is intnisted witli this Mis-
sion by Institution, "Missus a jure ad locum et populum
cura suae ; " a Curate by licence. No power can deprive a
Clerk, or make his Orders void, in respect to the inward
power conferred upon him by Ordination ; but admission, sus-
pension, or deposition is competent to the Ordinary in respect
to the outwanl exercise of that power and ordinary ministration
publicly in the Cliurch, as well as in private, eitlier for a set
time, or during his life. Admission is given by a licence, the
formal permission to perform certain sacred functions in
specified places, to which an unbeneficed curate shall be
appointed.
Almighty Goil, giver of all good things] This prayer is also
to be fouiid in aii Anglican Pontifical of the Monastery of
.lumieges [ante ann. Dcccc], and in another of St. Dunstan.
[Martenk, de Ant. Ecd. Hit. vol. ii. p. 39.] Alco in Egbert's
Pontifical, and in Lacy's.
THE FOEM AND MANNER
ORDERING OF PRIESTS.
*l] When the day appointed by the Bishop is come,
after Morning Prayer is ended, there shall be a
Sermon or Exhortation, declaring the Duty and
Office of such as come to be admitted Priests ;
how necessary that Order is in the Church of
Christ, and also how the people ought to esteem
them in their Office.
^ First, the Arch-Deacon, or, in his absence, one
appointed in his stead, shall present unto the
Bishop (sitting in his chair near to the holy Table)
all them that sliall receive the. Order of Priesthood
that day (each of them being decently habited)
and say
^ " Deinde {i.e. post Evangelium) dicat Archi-diaconus :
Recedant qui ordtnati sunt diaconi ; acctdaiit qui
ordinandi sunt sacerdotes.
REVEREND Father in God, I present unto
you these persons present, to be admitted
to the Order of Priesthood.
T
The Bishop.
AKE heed that the persons, whom ye present
unto us, be apt and meet, for their learning
and godly conversation, to exercise their Ministry
duly, to the honour of God, and the edifying of
His Church.
I
^ The Arch-Deacon shall answer,
HAVE enquired of them, and also examined
them, and think them so to be.
Sermon or Exhortation^ " Legebantur ordinandis Canoues
ecclesiastici qui de sacris ordinationibus agunt, aut Episcopus
ipse sermonem ad eos exhortatorium habebat de diguitate
officiisque siugulorum ordinum, nisi id jam jirajstitisset Archi-
diaconus, qui (ut priescribunt autiqui libri rituales) eos de
omnibus in suo ordine ageudis prius instruxisse debuerat. "
[Martene, 1. i. cviii. art. nii. § 3, tom. ii. p. iS.] In the
Wintou Pontifical is this rubric, " Hos [Sacerdotes] domnus
prwsul lie dignitate officii sacerdotalis diligentur instruens
dicat." Tlien follows an Exhortation, setting forth the duty
and office of such as are to be ordained Priests. [Maskell,
Mon. Bit. ii. 213.]
First, the Arch-Deacon] In a Pontifical of Corbey of the
twelfth century, the Arolideacon comes and presents him that
is to be ordained Priest to tlie Bishop. In tho Creek Church
the rubric is : "He that is to he ordained is led up by the
Archpriest, and the Archdeacon coming forward shall say,
'Let IIS attend ; ' then the Patriarch reads the citation or
diploma of election." {Eucholoij. Mokin, P. ii. p. 03.] In a
later Ordinal the Archpriest presents the Deacon for priest-
hood. By the Coptic Ordinal, when the candidate is presented
the Priests first give testimony of his good works, and
his knowledge of the word of doctrine, that he is gentle, kind,
compassionate ; tliat his wife is such as the law and Canon
require ; and that he is a Deacon. The Arclideacon says,
"May the peace of our Lord be upon this man standing at
Thy altar, and expecting Thy heavenly gifts, that he may be
raised from the Order of Deacons to the Priesthood " [Ibid. p.
445, E.] ; and by the Syro-Nestorian Ordinal the Archdeacon
leads liim by the right hand, saying, "We oS'er to Thy holi-
ness, holy Father, elect of God, my Lord Bishop, this God
loving man, who standeth here that he may receive the laying
on of the Divine hand to pass from the Order of Deacon to the
Priesthood." [Ihid. p. 336.]
or, in his absence] "Every Archbishop, because he must
occupy eight Chaplains at Consecrations of Bishops, and every
Bishop, because he must occupy six Chaplams at giving of
Orders, may eveiy of them have two Chaplains over and
abovethenumberabovelimitedtothem." ['21 Hen. VIII. c.xiii.
§ 24.] The number of Chaplains was intended to add dignity
to tlie presence of an Archbishop, and one of the Bisliops
might act as the deputy of the Ai'chdeacon, besides assisting
in the laying on of hands upon Deacons to be ordained
Priests.
decently habited] The Salisbury Pontifical directs, "Omnes
etiam pi'ovideaut de vestibus sacris sibi necessariis." Also
immediately before the Litany is the rubric, "Deinde acceden-
tes qui ordinandi sunt Diaconi et Sacerdotes cum vestibus suis,"
etc. The rubric in the Bangor Pontifical is, " Deinde acce-
dentes qui ordinandi sunt Diaconi et Sacerdotes cum vestibus
suis et titulis et stantibus cunctis, " etc. The Winchester
Pontifical agrees witli the Exeter in calling up the Deacons
and Priests separately.
The rubric in the Churching of Women uses the words
"decently apparelled," and tlie Bishops in the Savoj' Confer-
ence have explained the word etVx'?M<^''ws, in a fit scheme,
habit or fashion, decently ; and that there may be uniformity
in those decent performances, let there be a to|i5, rule or canon
for that purpose." [C.^rdw. Con/. 34(j.] "The Ministers"
included "garments under the name of decency" [p. 3381,
and the Bishops answer, ' ' Reason and experience teaches
that decent oi'naments and habits preserve reverence, and
are therefore necessary .... to the solemnity of religious
worship. And in particular no habit more suitable than
white linen, which resembles purity and beauty, wherein
angels have appeared [Rev. xv.], fit for those whom the Scrip-
ture calls angels, and the habit was ancient. [CnKYS. Horn.
Ix. ad Pop. Antioch. p. 350.J "
684
Cbc ©rDcrinj of Priests.
*[ Then the Bishop shall say unto the people ;
/^ OOD people, these are they whom we pur-
vl^ pose, God willing, to receive this day unto
the holy Office of Priesthood : For after due ex-
amination we find not to the contrary, but that
they be lawfully called to their Function and
Ministry, and that they be persons meet for the
same. But yet if there be any of you, who
knoweth any Impediment, or notable Crime, in
any of them, for the which he ought not to be
received into this holy ilinistry, let him come
forth in the Name of God, and shew what the
Crime or Impediment is.
^ And if any great Crime or Impediment be objected,
the Bishop shall surcease from Ordering that per-
son, until such time as the party accused shall be
found clear of that Crime.
^ " Then the Bishop (commending such as shall be found
meet to be Ordered to the Prayers of the congrega-
tion) shall, with the Clergy and people present,
sing or say the Litany, with the Prayers, as is
before appointed in the Form of Ordering Deacons;
save only, that, in the proper SufiFrages there
added, the word [Deacons] shall be omitted, and
the word [Priests] inserted instead of it.
^ Then shall be sung or said the Service for the Com-
munion, with the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, as
followeth.
The Collect,
ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things,
-^-J^ Who by Thy Holy Spieit hast appointed
divers Orders of ^Ministers in the Church ; Mer-
cifully behold these Thy servants now called to
the Office of Priesthood ; and replenish them
so with the truth of Thy doctrine, and adorn
them with innocency of life, that, both by word
and good example, they may faithfully serve
Thee in this Office, to the gloiy of Thy Name,
and the edification of Thy Church ; through the
merits of our Saviouk Jesus Christ, Who liveth
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost,
world without end. Amen.
«aat.
*/^REIiIUS, dilectissimi, Deum Patrem omni-
vy potentem, ut super hos famulos Suos, quos
ad presbyterii munus elegit, coelestia dona multi-
plicet, et quod Ejus dignatione suscipiunt, Ipsius
consequantur auxilio.
mEUS, sanctificatiouum omnium auctor,
Cujus vera consecratio plenaque bene-
dictio est, Tu, Domine, super hos famulos Tuos,
quos presbyterii honore dedicamus, munus Tujb
benedictionis effunde : ut gravitate actuum et
censura vivendi probent se esse seniores, his
instituti disciplinis quas Tito et Timotheo Paulus
exposuit, ut, in lege Tua die ac nocte meditantes,
quod legerint credant, quod crediderint doceant,
quod docuerint imitentur ; justitiam, constan-
tiam, miseTicordiam, fortitudinem, ceterasque vii--
tutes in se ostendant, exemplo probent, admoui-
tione confirment, ac purum et immaculatum
ministerii sui donum custodiant ]
The Epistle, Ephes, iv, 7-13.
"I TNTO every one of us is given grace accord-
y-J ing to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on
high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts
unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but
that He also descended first into the lower parts
of the earth ? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that
He might fill all things,) And He gave some,
Tlwn the Bishop shall say] Martene [ii. 122] cites the fol-
lo%ving : " AUocutio ad populum ad ordinandum Presbyterum :
Quoniam, dilectissimi fratres, conversatio illius, quantum nos-
cere mihi v-ideor, probata ac Deo placita est, et digna, ut
.arbitror, ecclesiastici honoris augmento , , . , quid de ejus
actibus aut moribus noveritis, quid de merito censeatis, Deo
teste, consulimus. Sod ne unum fortasse vel paucos aut deci-
piat assensio aut falhit affectio, sententia expectanda est
multorum." [Pont, Noyon. a,d, 800,] "Si quis autem
habeat aliquid contra hos viros, pro Deo et propter Deuni
cum fiducia exeat ct dicat," [Pont, S, Com, ante a,d, 600,]
In the Harl, M.'^, 2906, fo, 11, is this AUocutio ad populum:
" Fratres, rectori navis et navigio deferendis cadem est vel
securitatia ratio vel timoris. Communis eorum debet esse
sententia quorum causa communis cxistit. Nee frustra a i)at-
ribus reminiscimur inatitutum ut do clectione eorum qui ad
regimen altaris adhiliendi sunt consulatur et populus. Quia
de acta et convcr.satione prescntandi quod nonnunquam igno-
ratur a pluribus scitur a paucis ; et nccesse est ut facilius
quos obedientiam exhibcat ordinato cui assensum prabuerit
ordinando, Fratrum noatrorum ct Presbyterorum illonim
conversatio quantum mihi vidctur probata et Deo placita est,
et digna, ut arbitror, ecclesiastici honoris augmento. Scd nc
unum fortasse vel paucos aut dccipiat aut fallat affectio, sen-
tentia est expectanda multorum. Itaque quid de eorum acti-
bus aut moribus noveritis, quid do merito censeatis, Deo Teste,
consulimus. Debet hanc fidem caritas vestra habere quam
secundum prseceptum evangelicum et Deo exhibere debetis et
proximo, ut his testimonium sacerdotii magis pro merito quam
affectionc aliqua tribuatis, et quiidevotione omniimi expec-
tamus intelligere taoentes non possumus. Scimus tamen quid
est acceptabilius Deo. Aderit per Spiritum Sanctum consen-
sus uuus animorum, et ideo electionem vestram debetis publica
voce proliteri,"
The appeal to the testimony of the people at the Ordination
of Priests is alluded to by Lampridius, in the Life of Alex-
ander Sevei'us ; by St, Leo [Ep. Ixxxviii.], who says: " Ut
Sacerdos Ecclesia- pnvfuturus non solum atteatatione iidclium
sed ctiam eorum (jui foris sunt testimouio niuuiatur ; " and by
St, Cyprian [Kp. xxxiii.], who says that in Ordination he
waa wont to consult beforehand with tlie brethren, and weigh
the merits and manners of each witli connnon counsel, [Comp.
Ep. Ixviii,, and St, Basil, Ep, clxxxi,] The edict of Theo-
phylact, patriarch of Constantinople [Can, vi.], required
Ordinations to be held " (v ixlari rij iKK\T)(xlif, iropii'Tos toC XaoD
^at TTpocKti^vovvTO^ Tov (iriaK6wov ct Kal 6 Aais duyarat aitrt^
fiapTvpc'iv ;" and by the .Srd Council of Carthage [c. xxii.Jno
Clerk was to be ordained without examination by the Bishop
and tlie witness of the peoiilc,
the Litaiii/] No Litany waa appointed in the Pontifical of
Rheinia, It iirat occurs in the Sacrament.ai-y of Pope Gregory,
In the (ircck Euchologium these petitions occur : —
Cfte HDrDcring of llPriests.
685
apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evan-
gelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ :
till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfi^ct
man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-
ness of Christ.
^ After this shall be read for tlie Gospel part of the
ninth Chapter of Saint Matthew, as followeth.
St. Matt. ix. 36-38.
WHEN Jesus saw the multitudes. He was
moved with compassion on them, because
they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep
having no sliepherd. Then saith He unto His
disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest, that He wiU send forth labourers
into His harvest.
% Or else tliis that followeth, out of the tenth Chapter
of Saint John.
St. John X. 1-16.
VERILY, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheep-
fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is
a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by
the door is the shepherd of the sheep. _ To him
the porter openeth ; and the sheep hear his voice :
and he calleth his own sheep by name, and
leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him : for they know his voice. And
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him ; for they know not the voice of strangers.
This parable spake Jesus unto them : but they
understood not what things they were which He
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them
again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the
Door of the sheep. All that ever came before
Me are thieves and robbers : but the sheep did not
hear them. I am the Door : by Me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and
out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but
for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy : I am
come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly. I am the Good
Shepherd : the Good Shei)herd giveth His life
for the sheep. But ho that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the .sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leavcth the sheep, and
lleeth : and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth
the sheep. The hireling flecth, because he is an
hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the
Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am
known of Mine. As the Father knoweth Me,
even so know I the Father : and I lay down
My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold : them also I must
bring, and they shall hear My voice ; and there
shall be one fold, and One Shepherd.
*\ Then the Bishop, sitting in his chair, shall minister
unto every one of them the Oath concerning the
Queen's Supremacy, as it is before set forth in the
Form for tlie Ordering of Deacons.
^ And that done, lie shall say unto them as hereafter
foUowetli.
YOU have heard. Brethren, as well in your
private examination, as in the exhortation
which was now made to you, and in the holy
Lessons taken out of the Gospel, and the writings
of the Apostles, of what dignity, and of how
great importance this Office is, whereunto ye are
called. And now again we exhort you, in the
Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you have
in remembrance, into how high a Dignity, and
to how weighty an Oflice and Charge ye are
called ; that is to say, to be Messengers, Watch-
men, and Stewards of the Lord ; to teach, and to
premonish, to feed and provide for the Lord's
family ; to seek for Christ's sheep that are dis-
persed abroad, and for His children who are in
the midst of this naughty world, that they may
be saved through Christ for ever.
Have always therefore printed in your remem-
brance, how great a treasure is committed to
your charge. For they are the sheep of Christ,
which He bought with His death, and for whom
inrkp ToO hk ToO mH rpoxcip^t^l^^'^ov Trpefffivripoxi Kai ttjs
(TorrT^ptas avTov rov 'Kvpiov Seyjdui/j.ei'.
6ircos 6 ^thcwOpwirot 0EO2 datrLKov Kal dfj.ujp.'rjTov avToO ryjv
iepuavvrii' xapii^cTai deTidu>iJ.ei>. [Assemanni, P. iv. p. 109.]
the Service /or the C'ommnnion] The rubric of 1549 directed:
" When the Exhortation is ended, then shall be sung for the
Introit to the Communion this Psalm : ' Expectans expectavi
Dominum ' [Ps. xl. ] ; or else this Psalm : ' Memento, Domine,
David' [Ps. cxxxii.] ; or else this Psalm: ' Laudate nomen
Domini' [Ps. cxxxv.]." Tliese were some of the Psalms re-
commended to be said secretly by the elect Bishop in old
forms, whilst the congi'egation were praying for him.
The Collect] This Collect corresponds to the Consecratio of
the Pontificais, and, in its opening, to the Benedictio, the
reading "all good things" being a translation of a corrupt
reading, "bonorum," noticed by tlie Ritualists, for "honorum,"
which denoted ecclesiasticalorders. In the Pontiticalsof Egbert
and Dunstan this Prayer is entitled "Consummatio Presby-
teri." In the Greek Euchologium this Prayer occui's : 'liXcwv
di'dSet^oy 5o0\6v 2ou if iraffiVj cvapeaTovvTO, Sot Kal d^i'ws
TroKLTev6p.€vou rrjs dojpLadeitrrji TrpoyvwffTiKrj^ 5vvdp.iu}^ fxcydXT]^
TavTYis IfpaTtKrj! Tiprj!. [Assemaniii, Cod. Lit. torn. xi. p. 109.]
The Epistle and Gospel] "In Ordinatione Presbyterorum :
Lectio Libri Sapientise, ' Sacrificium salutare est attendere
mandatis ; ' Sequentia, S. Evangelii secundum Matthaeiim,
' Vigilate ergo quia neacitis. ' " [D. Hibron. Comes ap. Pame-
Hum, ii. 60.] The Galilean Church read for the Epistle
Titus i. 1-0. The Gospel St. John x. 1 was read in that
Churcli in Natali Episcoporum. [Mabillon, I. ii. No. Ixxviii.,
Ixxi.] The Natalis of a Bishop was the commemoration of
the day of his Consecration. [A]}. Migne, Ixxiv. 206.] In tlie
German Liturgy the Gospel was St. Matthew : "In illo tem-
pore dixit Jesus .... constituet eum;" or St. John: "In
illo tempore loquente Jesu .... opera Abrah;e facito. "
[Gerbert, 444.]
You have heard. Brethren, etc.] In a French Pontifical of
the sixth century there is an Exhortation to the people at the
Consecration of a Bishop which resembles this address in
spirit : "In locum defuncti talis successor proeparetur Eccle-
sia?, cujus pen-igili cura et instanti solicitudine ordo Ecclesite
et credentium tides in Dei timore melius convalescat. Qui
pra?cipienti Apostolo in omni doctrina formam boni operis ipse
prffibeat, cuique habitus, semio, vultus, incessus, doctrina,
virtus sit. Qui ut pastor bonus fide instruat, exemplum
patientise doceat, doctrinam religionis instituat, in omni bono
opere confirmet caritatis exemplum .... Sit in [populo]
quasi unus ex illis, omnia judicii Domini nostri, non pro se
tantum sed et pro omni populo qui solicitudini suae creditur,
coutremiscens, ut qui meminerit de speculatorum manibus
omnium animas requirendas, pro omnium salute persigilet,
pastorali, ergo creditas sibi oves Domini diligentife ejus semper
se flagrantissimum adprobans." [Morin, p. 265.]
686
C&c ©rDering of Priests.
He shed HLs blood. The Church and Congrega-
tion whom you must serve, is His Spouse, and
His Body. And if it shall happen the same
Church, or any ilember thereof, to take any hurt
or hindrance by reason of your negligence, ye
know the greatness of the fault, and also the
•horrible punishment that will ensue. Wherefore
consider with yourselves the end of your Ministry
towards the children of God, towards the Spouse
and Body of Christ ; and see that you never
cease your labour, your care and diligence, until
you have done all that lieth in you, according to
your bounden duty, to bring all such as are or
shall be committed to your charge, unto that
agreement in the faith and knowledge of God,
and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in
Christ, that there be no place left among you,
either for error in religion, or for viciousness in life.
Forasmuch then as your Office is both of so
great excellency, and of so great difficulty, ye see
with how great care and study ye ought to apply
yourselves, as well that ye may shew yourselves
dutiful and thankful unto that Lord Who hath
placed you in so high a Dignity, as also to
beware, that neither you yourselves offend, uor
be occasion that others offend. Howbeit, ye
cannot have a mind and will thereto of
yourselves ; for that will and ability is given
of God alone : therefore ye ought, and have
need, to pray earnestly for His Holy Spirit.
And seeing that you cannot by any other
' means compass the doing of so weighty a work,
pertaining to the salvation of man, but with
doctrine and exhortation taken out of the holy
Scriptures, and with a life agreeable to the
same ; consider how studious ye ought to be in
reading and learning the Scriptures, and in fram-
ing the manners both of yourselves, and of them
that specially pertain unto you, according to the
rule of the same Scriptures : and for this self-
same cause, how ye ought to forsake and set
aside (as much as you may) all worldly cares and
studies.
We have good hope that you have well weighed
and pondered these things with yourselves long
before this time ; and that you have clearly
determined, by God's grace, to give yourselves
\\ holly to this Office, whereunto it hath plea.sed
God to call you : so that, a.s much as lieth in
you, you will apply yourselves wholly to this one
thing, and draw all your cares and studies this
way ; and that you will continually pray to God
the Father, by the Mediation of our only
Saviour Jesus Christ, for the heavenly assist-
ance of the Holy Ghost ; that, by daily reading
and weighing of the Scriptures, ye may wax riper
and stronger in your Ministry ; and that ye may
so endeavour yourselves, from time to time, to
sanctify the lives of you and yovirs, and to fashion
them after the Rule and Doctrine of Christ,
that ye may be wholesome and godly examples
and patterns for the people to follow.
And now, that this present Congregation of
Christ here assembled may also understand
your minds and wills in these things, and that
this your promise may the more move you to do
your duties, ye shall answer plainly to these
things, which we, in the Name of God, and of
His Church, shall demand of you touching the
same.
DO you think in your heart, that you be
truly called, according to the will of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and the order of this Church
of England, to the Order and Ministry of Priest-
hood 1
Answer.
I think -it.
The Bishop.
ARE you persuaded that the holy Scriptures
./ * contain sufficiently aU Doctrine required
of necessity for eternal salvation through faith
in Jesus Christ? and are you determined out
of the said Scriptures to instruct the people com-
mitted to your charge, and to teach nothing, aa
required of necessity to eternal salvation, but
that which you shall be persuaded may be con-
cluded and proved by the Scripture "?
Compare also with the earlier portion of the Exhortation,
the following : " Eja dilectissime frater, satage atque elabo-
rare non desinas ad perficiendum opus quod inchoaturus es,
ut oves tibi traditas tandem aliquando ad ovile Dominicum
salubre etrefectionls pabulo educatas repriesentari te una cum
eis merearis. Irai)loranda est et cum gemitibus crebrisque
Buspiriis Domini misericordia exoranda, ut opem ferat, qua-
tenus oves quas vobis ad regendum tradidit, juxta Ipsius vol-
untatem m proccUa hujus s.-eculi regere poasimus, atque ad
o\'ile Ipsius vitam rectam instituamus, (jua; via recta est una
nobiscum, perducere valeamus. Si pastores ovium semetipsos
laborc inficiuut ut oves dominorum suorum absque damno
custodiant, quid nos e contra in die districti judicii dic-
turi sumus, qu,ando apijaruerit Pastor pastonim, Judexque
vivorum, et cceperit rationem ponere cum servis Suis de
talentis qua; tradidit?'' [Exlwrl. ad Epinc. Cons., Pont.
Bisunl. ad ann. circ. DC, Martene, ii. pp. 1GG-1G8.]
to hrimj all such, etc.} Compare the concluding portion of
the Consccratio in the Sanim Pontifical [see also I'oui. E(jh.
p. 2.3], "et perobsequium plebis tu;c .... et inviolabili cari-
tate, in vu'um perfectum, in mensuram ietatis plcnitudiuis
Christi in ilie justi et a>temi judicii, conacientia pura, fido
plena, Spiritu Sancto pleni persolvant. "
Foranmuch lliett as your Office, etc.} The hint for this may
have been taken from the ()))cning clause of a short admonition
in the Sarum Pontific.il, aiMressed by the Bishop to the newly
ordained Priests, immediately after the final benediction :
' ' Quia res quam tractaturi cstis satis periculosa est, f ratres
carissimi, nioneo ut diligenter et honeste," etc.
as also to beware, etc.'\ "Cavere debent Presbyteri never-
bum Dei quod annunciant pravis actibus vel moiibus corrum-
pant." [Serm. ad Presb., ^Martene, ii. p. 51.]
And see.iiiij that you cannot] " Pr.odicationi insta, verbum
Dei plebi tibi commissoe affluenter niellitiueque atque distincte
prasdicare non desinaa. Scripturas Divinas lege, immo si
potest fieri, lectio sancta in nianibus tuis, niaxime in pectore
semper inhaereat, ipsam vero lectionem oratio interrumpat."
{Pontlf. ap. M/\BTENE, 1. ii. JG0-1G8.]
tliat, by daily readinij, etc.] Compare the following clauses
in the Consecratio of the Salisbury Pontifical: " Ut in lege
Tua die ac nocte meditantes, quod legerint crcdant, quod
crediderint doceant, ciiiod docuerint iniitentur ; justitiam,
coustanti.ani, miscricordiani, fi>rtitudinem, ceterasque virtutes
in se ostendant, exemplo probent, admonitione confirment, ac
purum et ininiacnlatum ministerii sui douum custodiant."
[See also Pont. Eijb. p. 2.3. MS. Pont. Harl. 2906, fo. 13.
MS. Pont. Claud. A. iii. 47, b.]
Do you think, etc.] A short examination is cited by Mar-
tene, from a Pontifical ".ad usuni Ecclesia; Suessionensis :" —
"Vis Prcsbyterii gradum in nomine Domini accipero ? Q.
Volo.
" Vis in eodem gradu quantum proevales et intelligis secun-
dum Canonum sanotiones jugiter manorc ? B- Volo.
"Vis Episcopo ftd cujus parochiam ordinanduB es obediens et
Cf)C ©rDcring; of Ipricsts.
68:
Answer.
I am so persuaded, and have so determined by
God's grace.
Tho Bishop.
"VTTILL you then give your faithful diligence
V V always so to minister the Doctrine and
Sacraments, and the Discipline of Christ, as tho
Lord hath commanded, and as this Church and
Realm hath received the same, according to the
Commandments of God ; so that you may teach
the people committed to your Cure and Charge
with all diligence to keep and observe the same 1
Answer.
I mil so do, by the help of the Lord.
The Bishop.
"TT7"ILL you be ready, with all faithful dili-
VV gence, to banish and drive away all
erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's
word ; and to use both publick and private
monitions and exhortations, as well to the sick as
to the whole, within your Cures, as need shall
require, and occasion shall be given ?
Answer.
I will, the Lord being my helper.
The Bishop.
"VTTILL you be diligent in Prayers, and in
VV reading of the holy Scriptures, and in
such studies as help to the knowledge of the
same, laying aside the study of the world and
the flesh 1
Answer.
I will endeavour myself so to do, tho Lord
being my helper.
The Bishop.
\ ITILL you be diligent to frame and fashion
VV your own selves, and your families,
according to the Doctrine of Christ ; and to
make both yourselves and them, as much as in
you lieth, wholesome examples and jjatterns to
the flock of Christ?
Answer.
I will apply myself thereto, the Lord being
my helper.
The Bishop.
"VTTILL you maintain and set forwards as
VV much as lieth in you, quietness, peace,
and love, among all Christian people, and
especially among them that are or shall be
committed to your charge 1
Answer.
I will so do, the Lord being my helper.
The Bishop.
■\ I TILL you reverently obey your Ordinary,
VV and other chief Ministers, unto whom is
committed the charge and government over you ;
following with a glad mind and will their godly
admonitions, and submitting yourselves to their
godly judgements ?
Answer.
I will so do, the Lord being my helper.
IT Then shall the Bishop, standing up, say,
/VLMIGHTY God, Who hath given you this
-i^A_ will to do all these things : Grant also
unto yon strength and power to perform the
same ; that He may accomplish His work which
He hath begun in you ; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. A7nen.
IT " Sequitur prKfatio sacerdotum, cum nota, stando.
O REMUS, dilectissimi, Deum Patrem omni-
potentem ut super hos famulos Sues, quos
ad presbyterii munus elegit, coelestia dona multi-
plicet, et quod Ejus dignatione suscipiunt, Ipsius
consequantur auxilio.
oonsentiens esse, secundum justitiam et ministerium tiium?
IJ. Volo." [Martene, Pont. Siie^s. a.d. 600, torn. ii. Ord.
vii. c. 140, E,]
in your heart] That is, as if from his experience in the
diaconate.
Are you persuadetl] This question includes the fourth in
the Ordering of Deacons, and differs from the third in this
respect, that the Priest has to interpret the Holy Scriptures,
wliilst the Deacon requires a licence to preach. In tlie Roman
Pontifical the candidates for Priesthood repeat the Creed,
"stantes protitentur Fidem quam praedicaturi sunt."
Will you then give, etc.] This and the question following it
resemble the Fifth Question in the Ordering of Deacons. An
illustration of them occurs in the following Canon : ' ' Placuit,
ut omnes Sacerdotes qui Catholici-E Fidei unitate complectimur
nihil ultra diversiim aut dissonum in ecclesiasticis Saeramen-
tis agamus. Unus igitur ordo orandi atque psallendi nobis
per omnem Hispaniam atque Galliam conservetur, unus modus
in Missarum solenmitatibus, unus in Vespertinis Matutinisque
officiis." [Cone. Tolet. IV. A.D. 633, c. 2. Labbe, tom. vi.
col. 1450, B.]
Will yoti he diligent to frame, etc.] Priests and Deacons
were required ' ' professionem Episcopo suo f acere ut caste ac
pure vivant sub Dei timore ut dum eos talis professio obliga-
verit, vitse sauctae disciplinam retineant. " [IV. Cone. Tolet.
c. xxvii. Labbe, tom. vi. col. 1460, A.] By the Canons of
the African Church [B. xiii. c. xxxvi.], and the 3rd Council
of Carthage [c. xviii.], Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are not
to be ordained until they liave made every one in their house-
hold Catholic Christians. [Martene, 1. i. c. \iii. art. 2, § 17,
tom. ii. col. 15, B. Ed. Rouen, 1700.] In the Legantine Con-
stitutions of Cardinal Pole Clerks are required ' ' curare ut
domesticorum suonim vita honesta et probata sit." [Deer, v.,
Cardw. Doc. Ann. i. p. 185. Comp. Ai't. XXXII. , and
Mason, de Min. Anglic. 1. ii. c. viii.]
Will you reverently, etc.] Ordinaries by Canon Law are
those " quibus conqietit jurisdictio ordinaria de jure privilegii
vel cousuetudme. " [Lynd. Prov. 1. i. tit. ii,] The Ordi-
nary is [1] the Bishop, in the diocese; [2] the Dean, in the
cathedral ; [3] the Archdeacon, in the Archdeaconry. The
"chief Ministers " are incumbents of parishes. St. Jerome
says to Nepotian, " Esto subjectus Pontifici tuo et quasi
aniniEe parentem suscipe" [Ep. xxxiv. , Op. tom. iv. c. 261];
and St. Augustine, ' ' Episcopo tuo noli resistere, et quod facit
ipse, sme ullo scrupulo vel disceptatione sectare. " [i^). xxxvi.
ad C'asid. torn. ii. c. 81, E.]
The Council of Toledo decrees [Canon x.], "Placuit huic
sancto concilio . . . . ut debitum per omnia honorem,
atque obsequii reverentiam prajeminenti sibi unusquisque
dependat, juxta illud beati Papae Leonis edictum : Qui scit se
quibusdam esse pra?posituni, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi
esse prre'latum, sed obedientiam quam exigit, etiam ipse
dependat." [Cone. Mansi, tom. xi. eol. 143, aj). Mask. Mon.
Hit. ii. 260.]
Almighty God] After the short examination cited above
from Martene follows the prayer : ' ' Voluntatem tuam bonam
et rectam ad perfectionem sibi beneplacitam Deus perducere
dignetur." [Martene, JEccl. Pit. ii. 146.]
688
Cfje CrDcring: of IPriests.
IT After this, the Congregation shall be desired, secretly
in their Prayers, to make their humble supplica-
tions to God for all these things : for the which
Prayei-s there shall be silence kept for a space.
If After which shall be sung or said by the Bishop (the
persons to be Ordained Priests all kneeling) Veni,
Creator Spiritiis : the Bishop beginning, and the
Priests, and others that are present, ans^^■ering by
verses, ds folJoweth.
COME, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the auointing Spirit art.
Who dost Thy seven-fold gifts impart.
Thy blessed Unction from above,
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
The didness of our blinded sight.
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of Thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home ;
Where Thoxi art guide, no ill can rome.
Teach us to know the Fathee, Son,
And Thee, of both, to be but one.
That, through the ages all along,
This may he our endless song;
Praise to Thy eternal merit.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
IT " Expleta autem hac oratione [i.e. the " Consecratio")
genuflectendo coram altare incipiat Episcopus
hymuum.
VENI, CRE.4.T0R Spiritus,
Mentes Tuorum visita :
Imple superna gratia
Qu« Tu creasti pectora.
Qui Paeaclitus diceris,
Donum Dei altissimi :
Fens vivus, ignis, caritas,
Et .spiritalis unctio.
Tu septiformis munere,
Dextrse Dei Tu digitus :
Tu rite promissum Patris,
Sermone ditans guttura.
Accende lumen sensibus,
Infunde amorem cordibus :
Infirma nostri corporis
Virtute firmans perpetim.
Hostem repellas longius,
Pacemque dones protinus :
Ductore sic Te prsevio
Vitemus omne nosium.
Per Te sciamus da Patresi,
Noscamus atque Filium :
Te utriusque Splritum
Credamus omni tempore.
Sit laus Patri cum Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito :
Nobisque mittat Filius
Charisma Sancti Spieitus.
Amen.
Or this,
The fountain and the living spring
/^OME, Holy Ghost, eternal God,
V_y Proceeding from above,
Of joy celestial ;
The fire so bright, the love so sweet,
Both from the Father and the Sox,
The Unction spiritual.
The God of2}eace and love.
Thou in Thy gifts art manifold.
Visit our minds, into our hearts
By them Christ's Church doth stand :
Thy heavenly grace inspire ;
In faithful hearts lliou writ'st Thy law
That truth and godliness we may
The finger of GoD's hand.
Pursue with full desire.
Thou art the very Comforter
According to Thy promise. Lord,
In grief and all distress ;
Thou givest speech \vith grace ;
The heav'nly gift of God most high.
That through Thy hdp GoD's pj-aises may
No tongue can it express.
Resound in every place.
Afttr which ahall he suny] The rubric in Lacy's Pontifical
is, " Episcopus cum ministris suis ante altare in medio genu-
flectat cantando Ympnum, ' Veni, Creator Spiritus. ' Et
chorus proscquatur. Et incipiat Episcopus cum suis ministris
(jucmlibet versum illius ympni et chorus proscquatur."
Come, Hohf GliJixt] Tlio short version of tills liymn was
added in 1662, and is first fo\md in Bishop Cosin's I'rivali'
Devotion/!, 1627. Thi.s liynm was probably introduced into
the service late in the eleventh century, when it occurs in the
Pontifical of Soisson. [Marine, Ordo vii. toni. ii, col. 141,
C] Two centuries later, in the Pontifical of Mayenoe, there
is this niVn'ic, " Episcopus incipiat Cloro prosequente ' V'cni,
Creator Spiritus ' . . . . item clionis cantet scquentiam
'Sancti Spiritus adsit,' etc., et si multitudo ordinandorum
requirit, addatur liymnus, ' Veni, Creator.'" [Ibid. Ordo xvi.
col. 221, B. AssEMANNi, Cod. Litunj. Ordo ii. P. i. p. 308.]
It is found in all English Pontificals witli the exception of
that of Winchester ; and in two Pontificals, one printed by
Morin [de Sacr. Ord. P. p. ii. 281, D., 279, E.], the otlior by
Assemanni [Codex Litnrr/. Ordo iv. tom. i. p. .S67, Rome
Cf)C SDrOcring of Priests.
689
Holy Ghost, into our minds
Send down Tliy licuv'nly lij^dit ;
Kindle oar hearts u' it k fervent zeal,
To serve God day and night.
Of strife and of dissension
Dissiiive, Lord, the bands.
And Icuit the knots of peace and love
'Throughout all Christian lands.
Our weakness strengthen and confirm,
(For, Lord, Thou know'st us frail ;)
That neither devil, world, nor Jlesh,
Against its in<tij prevail.
(irant us the grace that we may know
The Father of all might,
'Tliat -we of Jlis beloved SoN
May gain the Uissful sight,
Put back our enemy far from us,
And help us to obtain
Peace in our hearts tvith God and man,
(^The best, the truest gain ;)
And that wo may witli perfect faith
Ever acknowledge Thee,
77te Si' I HIT of Father, and of So^;
One God in Persons 'Three.
And grant tliat Thou being, Lokd,
Our leader and our guide,
We may escape the snares of sin.
And never from Thee slide.
To God the Father laud and praise.
And to His blessed Son,
And to the Holy Spirit of grace,
Co-equal 'Three in One.
Such measures of Thy powerful grace
Grant, Lord, to us, we pray ;
'That 'Thou may'st he oxir Comforter
■ At the last dreadful day.
And pray we, that our only Lord
Would please His Spirit to send
(>n all that shall profess His Name,
From hence to the loorld's end.
Amen.
*\ That clone, the Bishop shall pray in this wise, and
say.
Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY God, and heavenly Father,
-£^ Who, of Thine infinite love and goodness
towards us, hast given to us Thy only and most
dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ, to be our
Redeemer, and the Author of everlasting life ;
Who, after He had made perfect our redemjition
by His death, and was ascended into heaven, sent
abroad into the world His Apostles, Proijhets,
Evangelists, Doctors, and Pastors ; by whose
labour and ministry He gathered together a great
flock in all the parts of the world, to set forth the
eternal praise of Thy holy Name : For these so
great benefits of Thy eternal goodness, and for
that Thou hast vouchsafed to call these Thy ser-
vants here present to the same Office and Minis-
try appointed for the salvation of mankind, we
render unto Thee most hearty thanks, we praise
and W'orship Thee ; and we humbly beseech Thee,
by the same Thy blessed Son, to grant unto all,
which either here or elsewhere call iijjon Thy
holy Name, that we may continue to shew our-
selves thankful unto Thee for these and all other
Thy benefits ; and that we may daily increase
and go forwards in the knowledge and faith of
Thee and Thy Son, by the Holy Spirit. So
that as well by these Thy Ministers, as by them
over whom they shall be appointed Thy Ministers,
Thy holy Name may be for ever glorified, and Thy
blessed kingdom enlarged ; through the same Thy
' »ar. Sacr. Gieg.
" "T^OMINE sancte, Pater omnipotens, asterne
-L-^ Deus : honorum dator, et distributor
omnium dignitatum Unde et sacerdotales
gradus, atque officia Levitarum, sacramentis
mysticis instituta creverunt, ut cum pontifices
summos regendis populis pnefecisses, ad eorum
societatis et operis adjumentum, sequentis ordinis
viros et secundie dignitatis eligeres .... hac
providentia, Domine, apostolis Filii Tui Doctores
fidei comites addidisti ; quibus illi orbem totum
secundia prsedicationibus implevemnt
1755], there are the following rubrics: " Deinde Episcopo
incipiente cantatur hyinnus ' Veui, Creator Spiritus.'" " Pon-
tif ex flexis genibus incipit alta voce, scliola prosequente, ' Veni,
Creator Spiritus.'" Dean Comber \^Discourse , etc. chap. vi. §
i. p. 341] observes that the composition of this hymn was
ascribed to St. Ambrose. It is not, however, claimed by his
Benedictine editors. In the Salisbury Breviary it occurs as
a hynui for Pentecost, "Ad Tertiam."
AlmU/hty Ood, and heavenly Father'] This Prayer corre-
sponds to the Consecratio uf tlie elder Pontiticals. In MS.
Harl. 290G, fo. 12, it forms part of the " Vere dignum et jus-
tum est," as it does also in the Salisbury Pontifical. A very
similar Prayer is to be found in the Syro-Nestorian Ordinal :
" Domine Deus fortis et onmipotens, elegisti Ecclesiam
Sanctam Tuam, et posuisti in ea Prophetas et Apostolos et
Doctores et .Saeerdotes, et in opus ministerii et in edificatio-
nem corporis Ecclesiastici. Tu ergo respice etiam nimc in
servos Tuos .... oi-nent quoque et illustrent operibus justis
filios Ecclesise sanctai Catholicse ad laudem Nominis Tui
Sancti." [Syr. Xest. Ord. P. ii. p. 3S6.]
690
Cf)c ©rncring of Priests.
Son Jesus Cheist our Lord, Who liveth and
reignetli with Thee in the unity of the same
Holy Spirit, world without end. A^nc?!.
^ AVhen this Prayer is done, the Bishop with the
Priests present shall lay their hands severally
upon the head of eveiy one that receiveth the
Order of Priesthood ; the Receivers humbly kneel-
ing upon their knees, and the Bishop saying,
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 thou dost forgive, they
are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain,
they are retained. And be thou a faithful Dis-
penser of the Word of God, and of His holy
Sacraments ; In the Name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
% Then the Bishop shall deliver to every one of them
kneeling, the Bible into his hand, saying,
TAKE thou Authority to preach the Word of
God, and to minister the holy Sacraments
in the Congregation, where thou shalt be lawfully
appointed thereunto.
^ " Benedicente eos Episcopo postea, et manuni super
capita eonim tenente, et nihil eis dicente, et una
manu tangeute, et omnes presbyteri qui praeseutes
sunt, manus suas super capita eorum levatas
teneant
Antequam dicatur postcommuuio, ponat Episeopus
manus suas super capita stngulorum, dicens :
ACCIPE Spiritum S-\nctum : quorum re-
- miseris peccata, remittuntur eis : et quo-
rum retinueris, retenta erunt.
ACCIPE potestatem offerre sacrificium Deo,
-LX- niissamque celebrare tam pro vivis quam
pro defunctis.
When this Prayer is done, etc.^ The rubric in the Pontifical
of Egbert is, " Et benedicente eum Episcopo, manus super
caput ejus teneat. Similiter et presbyteri, qui presentes
sunt, manus suas juxta manum Episcopi super caput illius
teneant." It occurs also in the Sacramentary of Pope Gre-
gory. In MS. Harl. 2906 [fo. 11], the rubric is, " Eo inclinato
imponat manum super caput ejus et omnes Presbytei-i qui
adsunt cum eo pariter," etc. In the MS. Pontifical of the
tenth century, Claud, iii. 45, b. , the Mord "ponant" occurs
instead of "teneant.'' In several French MSS. the word
used was " teneant ; " in the Ordo Romanus, and an English
Pontifical cited by Menard, it is "ponant." In the Roman
Pontifical, the Bishop and Priests lay both their Iiands on the
head of the candidates, after which they liold their right
hands extended over them. The 3rd Canon of the 4th Council
of Carthage directs: "Presbyter cum ordinatur, Episcopo
eum benedicente, et manum super caput ej us tenente, etiam
omnes Presbyteri qui prassentes sunt, manus suas juxta
manum Episcopi super caput illius teneant. " [M.\.skell, Mon.
Hit. iii. 205.] The Church of England has now prescribed
only one imposition of liands, and confers explicitly in her
form the power [1] of Preaching; [2] of Consecrating tlie
Holy Eucharist ; and [3] of Al^solution of Penitents. The
(ireek Church does not give such a commission formally, but
uses Invocation of the Holy Ghost, a Prayer of Consecration,
a Benediction, and a Prayer that " tlie Priest may be pre-
sented imblameablc at the altar of God, to preach the Gospel
of His salvation, to minister the Word of His truth, to oli'er
oblations and spiritual sacrifices, and to renew His people by
the laver of regeneration." [Greec. Ord. ap. Morin. P. ii. p.
55. ] 'I'hc Commission to consecrate the Holy Eucharist was
never given until tlie tenth century, when this rubric occurs
fMoKiN, P. ii. 2f!2; P. iii. E.xere. vii. c. i. § Ui, p. 105]:
' ' Let him take the Paten with the ol ilatiou and tlie Clialice
witli the wine, and say, ' Receive power to offer sacrifice to
God and celebrate Mass.'" In England it appears in the
Bangor Pontifical before the close of the thirteenth century.
[M.\SKKI.I,, Mon. Hit. iii. 213.] Compare the Pontificals of
Beauvais, Mayonce, Noyon, Besan(,'on, Cambray, Apamea,
given by Morin fpp. 271, 277] and Martenc [torn. ii. pp. 138,
174, 192, 197, 221].
the Receivers humbly IcneeUnri] The candidate kneels be-
cause in the presence of the ambassador an<l representative of
our Blessed Lord, executing his office in His Name, and by
His authority ; and also, as invoking the confinnation of His
seiTant'a words by the Sa^■iour lliiiwolf.
lifcpivi'. the Jloly Ghont] Archbishop \Vliitgift .says, "Christ
used these words : ' This is My Roily, ' in the celebration of His
Supper, but there is no special commandment that the Minis-
ter should use the same, and yet must he use them because
Christ used them ; even so, when Christ did ordain His
Apostles Ministers of the Gospel, He said unto them, ' Receive
the Holy Ghost,' which words, because they contain the prin-
cipal dutj- of a Minister, and do signify that God doth pour
His Holy Spirit upon those whom He calleth to that function,
are most aptly also used of the Bishop, who is God's instni-
ment in that business in the ordaining of Ministers. St. Paul,
speaking to Timothy, saitli : ' Neglect not the gift that is in
thee, which was given unto thee by projihecy %\ith the laj'ing
on of the hands of the Eldership.' In wliiili words the
Apostle signilieth that God doth bestow His gifts and Spirit
upon such as be called to the Jlinistry of the Word, whereof
Ordination is a token, or rather a confirmation. " [Defence,
Tr. iv. vol. i. p. 490.] So Calvin, " Unde coUigimus non in-
anem fuisse rituin, quia consecrationem quam homines im-
positione manuum hgurabant, Deus Spiritu Suo inflavit. "
IComm. in Epixl. i. ad Timollt. c. iv. 14, torn. vii. p. 458.]
All sacerdotal power is derived from the Holy Gliost ; the
Church, therefore, holds that the reception of the Holy Ghost
is necessary to constitute a Christian Priest, and that this
gift can be conferred only through the hands of a Bishop.
The priesthood is a grace of the Holy .Spirit. "The Holy
Ghost," s.tys Bishop Cosin, "is then given to them, partly to
direct ami strengthen them in their ways, and partlj' to
assume unto Itself for the more assurance and authority those
actions which belong to tlieir place and calling," [Serm. vi. ]
Being the very words employed by our Lord « hen He ordained
His Apostles, they are tlie original Charter of the institution
of the Ministry, from which alone the limits and extent of its
authority are to be known. In the Office of Holy Baptism,
the Priest says, acting in the Name and Person of Christ :
"I baptize thee in the Name, " etc. In the Holy Euch.arist
he repeats the very words of the Lord, and applies them to
the Sacred Elements. In Absolution of the Sick he says,
"By His authority committed to me, I absolve thee ;" and
in the Office of Matrimony, "I pronounce that they be man
and wife together in tlic Name," etc. So here, because He
gives a portiim of His Spirit to those whom He sends, the
Bishop, in His Name, says, "Receive the Holy (Jhost ; " that
is, the enabling gift, the iio\\'cr, the qualifying grace (xapts
SiciKOJ'ias) for the ministration of Divine things. [Kph. iii. 8 ;
2 Tim. i. 6 ; Eph. iv. 7, 11, 12.] As St. Cyprian says : "In-
telligimus non nisi . . . . llominica ordinatione fuiulatislicere
baptizaro et rcmissam ])ecoatorum dare " [Ep. Ixxiii.] ; and St.
Jerome: " Acceperunt Apostoli Spiritus Sancti gratiani qua
peccata remitterent ct baptiz.arent." \Ad Iledih. Ep. cl.]
All tlio ellicacy that there is in the adniinistraticui of any
Ecclesiastical oihcc dcpciula wlmlly upon the co-operation of
the Holy Ghost; "whether we preach, pray, b.aptizo, com-
municate, condemn, give absolution, or whatsoever, as dis-
Cf)E DrDering of Ipriests.
691
*S When thia is clone, the Nicene Creed shall be sung or
said ; and the Bishop shall after that go on in the
Service of the Comnuinion, which all they that
receive Orders shall take together, and remain in
tlic same place where hands were laid upon thnm,
until such time as they liave received the Com-
munion.
II The Communion being done, after the last Collect,
and immediately before the Benediction, shall be
said these Collects.
MOST merciful Fathkr, we beseech Thee to
send upon the.se Tliy .servants Thy
heavenly blessing ; that tliey may bo clothed
with righteousness, and that Tliy Word spoken
by their mouths may have such success, that it
may never be spoken in vain. Grant also, that
we may have grace to hear and receive what they
shall deliver out of Thy most holy Word, or
agreeal")le to the same, as the means of our salva-
tion ; that in all our words and deeds we may
seek Thy glory, and the increase of Thy kingdom ;
through Jesus Cheist our Lord. Amen.
PREVENT us, Lord, in aU our doings,
with Thy most gracious favour, and fur-
ther us with Thy continual help ; that in all our
works begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we
may glorify Thy holy Name, and finally by Thy
mercy obtain everlasting life ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
II " Tunc vertat Episcopus, et dicat offertorium
Bum cantatur oflertorium, ponaiitur tut hostia;
ijuot sulliciant presbyteris ormnandis ad communi-
candum
Post conimunionem Episcopi, Sacerdotes accedant nd
communicandum.
BENEDICTIO Dei Patris»I<, et Filii»I<, et
Spiritus >i* Sancti, descendat super vo.s,
ut sitis benedicti in ordine sacerdotali, etc.
posers of God's mysteries, all words, judgements, acts, and
deeds are not ours, but the Holy Ghost's " [Hooker, Ercl.
Pol. b. v. c. Ixxvii. 5, S] ; and the gift is the spirit of power,
of love and soberness, the spirit of confirmation, and of
ghostly strength.
It will be observed that the form is in the words of Scrip-
ture, "Receive ye ... . retained " [John xx. 22, 23]; and
the words, " Be thou afaithful dispenserof the Word of God,
and of His holy Sacraments," are simply a clearer rendering
of ' ' Ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God "
[1 Cor. iv. 1], being equivalent expressions denoting the Priest
to be invested with the holy ministry of the Gospel committed
unto him, tlie Word of God and His holy Sacraments forming
wholly the mysteries of God. An objection having been
made to the ancient form, as not sufileiently distinguishing
between a Bishop and a Priest, ontlie advice of Bishops Gunning
and Pearson [Prideaux, ]'alid. of the Ordejs, p. 72], the
words, " for the office and work of a Priest in the Church of
God, now committed to thee by Imposition of our hands,"
were inserted in the Form.
Whoxe sina thou dost forgive] The form for conveying the
power of Absolution is comparatively modern. Tlie actual
words, "Receive the Holy (Jhost ; whose sins ye remit," etc.,
are first found in a book belonging to the Cathedral of May-
ence, of tlie thirteenth century. [Morin, 279, E. ; Martene, ii.
327.] Martene cites tlie following passage from the life of a
Bishop of Cambray, \iho lived in the tenth century, where
the writer is speaking of that Bishojj being ordained Priest,
and, among other circuiiistances, remarks, "Cumqueadmanus
impositionem pontificalis diceretur novo presbytero, ' Accipe
Spiritum Sanctum, quorum remiseris peccata,'" etc. Mar-
tene, however, adds most justly, "Verum quid uniouin tes-
timonium tot pontificalibus libris opponendum." [Martene,
tom. ii. 23.] It appears in the I'angor MS. of the thirteenth
century, and in a Pontifical of Rouen of the fourteenth cen-
tury. [Morin, P. iii. Exerc. vii. cap. ii. § 2, p. 107, A.] It
is not in tlie early English MSS. of Egbert or Dnnstan, or the
Winchester Use ; it is not in any of the foreign orders printed
by Martene before the twelfth century ; it is not in the old
Sacramentaries of St. Gregory or Gelasius ; nor, lastly, does
one of the ancient ritualists, Isidore, Amalarius, Strabo,
Alcuin, Micrologus, or Ivo Carnotensis, allude to it in the
most distant terms. [Maskell, Moik J!!t. iii. 220.]
the Bible into his hand] In 1549 the Chalice also was directed
to be delivered to the Priest by the Bishop, thus following
the rubric in the Salisbury Use, which directed, "Quo facto,
accipiat patenam cum oblatis et calicem cum vino, et det
singulis, inter indices et medios digitos, cuppam calicis cum
patena, " etc. This rite of delivery of the sacred vessels was
quite justifiably abandoned, for it had no prescription in an-
tiquity, as Menard shews. [Migne, Ixxviii. 493.] It is not
mentioned by Dionysius, or the Apostolical Constitutions, in
the Pontificals of Rlieims, St. Eloy, and others of ancient
date, nor by tlie 4th Council of Carthage, or 4th Council of
Toledo, nor by the early fathers, or ritualists, such as Isidore,
Rabanus, etc.
!» the Coiigregafioi)] In the Prayer Books of 1549, 1552,
it is ^/(/.5 Congregation. The change to "the" is important.
The Commission, hitherto, was limited to the single diocese
in which the Priest was ordained, but now w.as made general
tliroughout tlie Cliurch, in whatsoever part he was lawfully
called to minister.
The words "In the Church and Congregation whom you
must serve," have just been used in the exhortation as syno-
nymous, just as in the 24th Article, where in the title,
"the Congregation," and in the body of it, " tlie Church,"
is used. In the early translations of the Bible, the word
eKK\ri<Tla, now translated "Church," appears as "Congrega-
tion " [Matt. xvi. 18 ; Acts ii. 47 ; vii. 3 ; xii. 1 ; Eph. i. 22,
23], and in the Bishops' Bible, published in 1568, six years
after the date of the Articles, although "the Church " is the
general translation, yet, in the words of the Saviour to St.
Peter, the passage is turned, "On this Rock I will build My
Congregation;" in 1003 the word also appears, "the whole
Congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the
world." In the Latin version of the Articles XIX., XXIII.,
XXIV. "Congregation" is rendered by "Ecclesia." Dr.
Reynolds, in 1G62, took exception to the words "in tlie Con-
gregation," as implying tliat any man without lawful calling
might preach and administer Sacraments out of the Congre-
gation, but the Bishops replied that, by the doctrine and
practice of the Church of England, none but a licensed Minis-
ter might preach, nor either publicly or privately administer
the Eucharist. [C.iRDW. Doc. Ann. No. cii. § 2.] Probalily
the word Congregation was used to avoid misapprehension,
owing to the popular but mischievous appropriation of the
word Church to designate the Clergy [Twysden's Ansic, p.
13], or its appUcation in tlie sense of an assembly or place of
assembly. [Fulke's Defence, ch. iv. § 2.]
Most mercifnl Father] This Prayer corresponds to the
Consummatio of the elder Pontificals, and the Benedictio of
the Harl. MS. 2906, fo. 13. To the Benedictio in the Exeter
Pontifical this rubi'ic is added; " Et moneantur attente
audire. "
69-
Cbc ©rDcring of Priests.
THE peace of God, which passeth all under-
standing, keep your hearts and minds in
the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son
jEsrs Christ our Lord : And the blessing of
God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy "Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with
you always. Amen.
BENEDICTIO Dei omnipotentist, Patri.s ^
et FiLii >i< et Spiritus >i* Sancti, descen-
dat super vos et raaneat semper. Amen.
H And if on the same day the Order of Deacons be
given to some, and the Order of Priesthood to
others ; the Deacons shall be first presented, and
then the Priests ; and it shall suffice that the
Litany be once said for both. The Collects shall
both be used ; first, that for Deacons, then that
for Priests. The Epistle shall be Ephes. iv. 7-13,
as before in this Office. Immediately after which,
they that are to be made De.acons shall take the
Oath of Supremacy, be examined, and Ordained,
as is above prescribed. Then one of them having
read the Gospel (which shall be either out of jS'.
Matt. i.x. 36-38, as before in this Office ; or else S.
Luke xii. .35-38, as before in the Form for the
Ordering of Deacons,) they that are to be made
Priests sluvU likewise take the Oath of Supremacy,
be examined, and Ordained, as is in tliis Office
before appointed.
And if on the icime day] Lacy's Pontifical [p. 84] has the
following rubric : " Alicjui praelati faciunt simul vocare eos
qui ordinandi sunt Diaconi et Sacerdotes, quibus sigillatim
vocatis et introductis, Episcopus cum ministris prosternat se
ante altare dum Letania a choro cantatur. Aliqui vero dicunt
Letauiam solum in ordinatione Presbyterorum. Finita Letania
redeant Sacerdotes electi ad loca sua, remanentibus Levitis
ad consecrandum. "
THE FORM OF ORDAINING OR CONSECRATING
ARCH-BISHOP, OR BISHOP;
WHICH IS ALWAYS TO BE PERFORMED UPON SOME SUNDAY OR HOLY-DAY.-
TI When all things are duly prepared in the Church, and
set in Order, after Morning Prayer is ended, the
Arch-Bisliop (or some other Bishop appointed) shall
begin tlie Communion Service; inwhichthisshallbo
Tiie form of Ordaiiv'nri, etc.] The distinction of the Order
of Bishops from that of Priests was definitely asserted for the
first time in 1()61, by the addition of the words in the Preface
to the Ordinal, " Episcopal Consecration, or Ordination," and
' ' every mau which is to be ordained or consecrated a Bishop ; "
and in the heading, " form of ordaininfj or consecrating a
Bishop," although previously implied in the Preface, which
speaks of " these Orders of Ministers in Clirist's Church,
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons." It was not until the close
of the sixteenth century that the distinction between the
Orders of Bishops and Priests was asserted. On February
9, 1589, Dr. Bancroft, in a sermon, maintained the superi-
ority of Bishops jure divino ; the doctrine was completely
acknowledged during the primacy of Laud, and enforced by
Bishop Hall in a well-known treatise on the subject. Many
writers have held that although the Episcopate is dis-
tinguished from the Presbyterate j»)t divino, yet they together
form but one order, because both hold the administration of
the Word of God and Sacraments, and have the common
trust of the power of the keys, and the Episcopate includes
within it the Priestliood of the second degree, being its ex-
tension, consummation, and completion, i.e. being the highest
Priesthood. Epiphanius condemned Aerius for asserting the
identity of the orders. [Har. Ixxv. Oomp. St. August, de
Har. c. liii.] St. Jerome says, " In Episcopo et Presbyter
continetur." [Ep. cii. ad Eran;/. tom. iv. c. 803.] St.
Ambrose, or rather Hilary the Deacon, observes, "In Epi-
scopo omnes ordines sunt ; quia primus sacerdos est, hoc est,
princeps est sacerdotum." [In Ephes. c. iv. 11, tom. ii. col.
2-11, D. App.] "Episcopi et Presbyteri una ordinatio est.
Uterque enim sacerdos est." [In 1 Ep. ad Timoth. c. iii. 10,
col. 295, ed. Par. 1690.] Anicetus, in the same sense, called
the Priesthood " bipartitus ordo " [Ep. iii. § 1 ; Labbe, tom.
i.e. 529, c] ; and so do ^Elfric's Canons, .\.D. 1052, § xvii. ;
Spelman's Counc. p. 576 ; Tlieodulf's Capitulars, a.d. 791, c.
i. ; Labbe, tom. ix. c. 185, A. ; and our own Reformers, the
Bishop of St. David's, with Doctors Thirleby, Redman, and
Coxe, held, that, in the beginning, Bishops and Priests were
identical [Buknet'.s Hid. of Reform. B. iii. v. ii. p. 211],
there being, as the Bishops held, no mention in the New Tes-
tament, but of two degrees or distinctions in orders, but only
of Deacons or Ministers, and of Priests or Bishops. [Ibid. Add.
p. 300.] Thorndike admits that the name of Priest [Sacerdos]
is common to both estates, as in regard of the offices of Divine
Service, whicli are performed by both, so in regard of the
government of the Cliurch, common to both. [Prim. Gov. of
Churches, ch. vii. vol. i. P. i. p. 33. Comp. Bp. Taylor's
Episc. Asserted, § 28.] Bellannine says, "Septimus ordo Sa-
cerdotum est : at Ecclesia Catholica distinctioncm agnoscit,
ac docet jure divino Episcopatum Presbytorio majorem esse,
tum ovdinis potestate, turn etiam jurisdictione. Sic enim
loquitur Cone. Trident. [Sess. xxiii. c. iv. can. vi. vii.] Ean-
dem sententiam decent et defeudunt Theologi doctores apud
Magistrum in libro iv. Sent. dist. xxiv., et S. Thom. in ii.
2, qu. clxxxiv. art. vi. de clerieis." [Cap. xiv. col. 265, A,
C. Colon. 1620.] As DodweU observes, " Philo sometimes
reckons the High Priest in the same order with the common
Priests, sometimes he makes him a distinct order by himself."
[One Priest, etc., ch. xii. s. vi. p. 348, Lond. 1683.] Fulke
timidly says, "The Orders of Bishops, Elders, and, as they
be commonly called. Priests and Ministers, is all one in autho-
rity of ministering tlie Word and Sacraments. The degree
of Bishops, as they are to be taken for a superior order unto
Elders or Priests, is for government and discipline specially
committed unto them, not in authority of handling the Word
and Sacraments." [Defence, etc., ch. xv. § i. p. 461, ed.
Camb. 1843.] The Anglo-Saxon Church distinctly held that
there were three orders. [Soajie.s, Ilisi. p. 271, ed. Lond. 1844.
Bp. Lloyd, Anc. Gov. of Brit. Clinrch, ch. iii. § 8. Comp.
Becon, Cedcch. P. vi. p. 319, ed. Camb. 1844.] So Bishop
Jewel says, that the doctrine of the English Church is that
there are three orders. [Apol. Eccles. Avg. pp. 10, 11, ed.
Camb. 1847, comp. pp. 271-274. Def of Apol. P. ii. p. 271,
vol. iii. Camb. 1848.] Isidore calls the Episcopate an order
[Etymol. 1. vii. e. xii. p. 62, H. col. 1617. Comp. Hallier, de
Sacr. Ord. P. ii. cap. i. § 1, 14, tom. ii. p. 14], and Estius
agrees that jt is so truly and properl}-. [L. iv. dist. xxiv. § 28,
col. 37, B.] The distinction between the Episcopate and
Priesthood lies in the special function of the former, the power
of giving Ordination and administering of Confiniiation ; the
Priest's authority to minister is derived from the Bishop who
ordains him thereunto. [Bp. Cosin, Serm. vi. vol. i. p. 100.
Hooker, Eccle.'<. Pol. b. vii. c. 6, § 3. Bp. Taylor, Epi.'sc.
Asserted, § 31, 3. 5. § 37, § 28. Pkideau.x, Val. of Orders, p.
46, ed. Lond. 1716.] Besides, the Bishop receives an Ordina-
tion by laying on of hands of Bishops, in order to receive his
Consecration to the Episcopate, having already received
Ordination to the Priesthood by the laying on of hands of a
Bishop and Priests. [Bp. Pearson, Det. i. vol. i. p. 277.]
Sunday or Holy-day] Inferior orders were conferred at
stated times ; but Consecration of Bishops could be held on
all Sundays. [III. Carthag, c. xxxix., a.d. 397.] Leo the
Great wi-ote to Hilary of Aries, saying, "Nee sibi constare
status sui noverit fundamentum, qui non die Sabbati vespere,
quod lucescit in prima Salibati, vel ipso Dominico die fuerit
ordinatus;" adding, that this was the ancient rule, "major-
um disciplina." Hugo de St. Victor [Tlieol. de Sacr. Erud.
1. ii. P. ii. c. XX.] says, "The Sacred Canons permit Consecra-
tions of Bishops on Sundays only." [Comp. Surius, a.d.
1035, tom. vii. c. xv. Mail iv.] Alcuinus Flaecus, of the
ninth century, declares that Bishops being vicars of the
Apostles, as of Christ, are consecrated on Sundays, because
on that (lay the Lord, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, vouch-
safed to illuminate the hearts of the Apostles. [De Div. Off.
Sahb., in xii. lection.] As Bishops are successors of Apostles,
the proper day was extended to festivals of Apostles, and
then to holydays in general. Thus Pelagius II. was conse-
crated on St. Andrew's Day [in Vita ab Anastasio], and Udalric,
Bishop of Aosta, on the Holy Innocents' Day. [Surius,
Julii iv.]
in the Church] The usual custom was for a Bishop to be
consecrated in his own cathedral, as St. C3'prian says [Ep.
Ixviii.], " Diligenter de traditione Divina et Apostolica
] observatione servandum est et tenendum, quod apud nos
694
Cf)C Consecration of TBi0f)op5.
The Collect.
ALMIGHTY God, Who by Tliy Son Jesus
J-J^ Christ didst give to Thy holy Apostles
many excellent gifts, and didst charge them to
feed Thy flock ; Give grace, we beseech Thee, to
all Bishops, the Pastors of Thy Church, that they
may diligently preach Thy Word, and duly ad-
minister the godly Discipline thereof ; and grant
to the people, that they may obediently follow
the same ; that all may receive the crown ot ever-
lasting glory ; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
IT And another Bishop shall read the Epistle.
1 Tim. iii. 1-7.
THIS is a true saying, If a man desire the
Office of a Bishop, he desireth a good
work. A Bishop then must be blameless, the
husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach ; not
given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy
lucre ; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous ;
one that ruleth well his own house, having his
children in subjection with all gravity ; (for if a
man know not how to rule his own house, how
.shall he take care of the Church of God ?) Not
a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall
into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover
he must have a good rejiort of them which are
without ; lest he fall into reproach and the snare
of the devil.
M Or this, for the Epistle.
Acts XX. 17-35.
FROM Miletus [Paul] sent to Ephesus, and
called the elders of the Church. And
when they were come to him, he said unto them,
Ye know, from the first day that I came into
Asia, after what manner I have been with you at
all seasons, serving the Loed with all humility of
mind, and with many tears, and temptations
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught
you publickly, and from house to house, testify-
ing both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go
bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing
the things that shall befall me there : save that
the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying
that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none
of these things move me, neither count I my life
dear imto myself, so that I might finish my
course with joy, and the ministry, which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel
of the grace of God. And now behold, I know
that ye all, among whoni I have gone preaching
the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I take j'ou to record this day, that I
am pure from the blood of all men. For I have
not slninncd to declare unto you all the counsel
of GoD. Take heed therefore unto yourselves,
and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you Overseers, to feed the
Church of God, which He. hath jsurchased with
His own blood. For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own
selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them. Therefore
quoque et fere per proviucias universas tenetur, ut ad ordi-
nationes rite celebrandas, ad earn plebem, cui Priepositus
[al. Episcopus] ordinatur, Episcopi ejusdem provincia? proximi
quique conveniant, et Episcopus deligatur plebe prtesente. "
Julius I., in his Epistola ad Orientates, preserved in the
second Apology of St. Athanasius, objects that George was
not duly, according to the Canons, appointed and made
Bishop at Alexandria, by the Bisliops of the province. " Non
oportuit creationeni novi Episcopi illegaliteret prfeterCanonem
Ecclesiasticum fieri, sed in ipsa Ecclesia. " So St. Augustine
requested the Primate ot Numidia to come and consecrate
the new Bishop ot Fussala. [Ep. cclxi.] By the 4th Counc.
of Toledo, c. xviii., "Episcopus ibi consecrandus est ubi
Metropolitanus eligeret ; Metropolitanus tameu non nisi in
civitate Jletropoli ; " and Thomassin [Discipl. P. ii. 1. ii.]
gives numerous infractions of the rule of consecrating in a
Bishop's own church.
after Morning Prayer is ended} The ancient time was the
third hour, in memory of the descent of the Holy Ghost at
Pentecost, and was appointed by Pope Anacletus. [Gratian,
dist. Ixxv. Honorius, 1. i. c. clxxxix. Glossa, Juris Canon.
Ordin. dist. Ixxv.] The part of the Service where the Office
of Consecration began varied, but, as llartene she^s, invari-
ably preceded the Gospel ; thus the Pontificals of Noyon,
Autnn, and Rouen prescribe it at the Secret Prayer, but those
of Besan<;on, after the Use of Tours and Rheims (a JIS. COO
years old), at the Preface. In the Greek Church tlic Conse-
cration took place before the Epistle. [GoAU, Hit. Oni-r.
p. 302.] In some instances in the Western Church, it
immediately joined with the Canon in the Liturgy. [Martene,
ii. p. 329.]
the Arch-Bishop] A Bishop ought to be consecrated by his
Metropolitan, or by the licence of the latter. That Metro-
politans existed in the early centuries of the Church is shewn
by the Apo.stolical Canons, c. xxvi , P. Clement I. Ep. i.,
P. Stephen, Epist. iii., and P. Anacletus, Ep. i. , who s.-iys,
"Reliqui eomprovineiales Episcopi, si nece.sse fuerit, ceteris
consentientibus, a tribus, jusau Archiepiscopi, consecrari
posgunt Episcopig ; acd melius est, si ipse cum omnibus cum
elegerit, et cuncti pariter sacraverint pontificem. " The
Metropolitan was at first designated xpiiros eirKTKdTrwn, or,
TrpA/i-piTO! Tuf \onrC)v. [Const. Apost. 1. viii. e. iv.] The
metropolitan cities are defined by TertuUian [de Prase, c.
XX.] to be, "Ecclesias apud unamquamque civitatem, a
quibus traducem fidei et semina doctrina; ; ca^tera* exinde
Ecclesia' mutuatie sunt, et quotidie niutuantur ut Ecclesia;
fiant. " Hallier [P. iii. s. v. e. iv. ] traces through successive
centuries the indefeasible right of the Metropolitan to conse-
crate his suffragrans. The Bishops of the same province were
to assist at Consecrations, as Anacletus says [Epist. ii. dist.
Ixi. c. Ordin.], " Ordinationes Episcoporum auctoritatc
apostolica ab omnibus qui in eadem provincia Episcopi sunt
celebranda;. " [Comp. St. Cype. Ep. Ixviii. ErsEB. 1. vi.
e. x. R.4B.\NUS Maukus, de Inst. Chrc. 1. i. c. iv. Isidore,
de Eccles. Off. 1. ii. c. vi. I. Counc. Nicaja, e. iv. Laodicea,
c. 365, e. xii. Antioch, 341, c. xix. Sardica, 347, c. v. IV.
Carthage, 397, c. xxxix. Riez, 439, c. i. Chalcedon, 451,
c. XXV. Orange, 441, c. xxi. Orleans, 53S, c. iii. II. Counc.
Auvergne, 533. II. Counc. Tours. III. Paris, 557, c. iii.
Constantinople, C91. Rome under Sylvester. Aix, c. ix.
Vienne, and Anjou, etc.]
or some other Jiishop] The rubric immediately following the
Gospel is more explicit : it saj'S, "some other Bishop appointed
by lawful commission." In the absence of tlie Archbishoji,
the Bisliop senior, according to consecration or in point of
rank [llallicr, u. s. § viii.], was cousecrator. A Metropolitan
was consecrated by [1] Bishops of his province, or [2] the
nearest Metropolitan, or [3] by the Patriarch or Primate.
[Ihid. art. ii. § i. II. Counc. Orleans, c. vii. III. Orleans,
c. iii.] In case of two Bishops only acting at a Consecration,
thoy and the Bishoj) elect were deposed. [Morinus, P. iii.
Excrc. iv. § ii. v.]
'J'he C'ollrrt] This Collect is identical with that for St. Peter's
r)a>', omitting the Ajiostlo's name, and with some slight vei'bal
diU'ercnci's, and tlic itiscrticin of the clause, "and duly ad-
minister the goiUy discipline thereof."
And another Bishop] Three Bishops are thus rctpiircd, the
Consecrator, the Epistoler, and Gospeller. In a Greek ritual
Cf)C Consecration of 15ist)ops.
695
watch, and remember, that by the space of three
years I ceased not to warn every one night and
day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God, and to the word of His grace, which
is able to biiikl you up, and to give you an in-
heritance among all them which are sanctified.
I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or ap-
parel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands
have ministered unto my necessities, and to them
that were with me. I have shewed you all
things, how that so labouring ye ought to support
the weak, and to remember the words of the
Loud Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to
give than to receive.
H Then another Bishop shall read the Gospel.
S. John xxi. 15-17.
JESUS saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these f
He saith unto Him, Yea, Lokd ; Thou knowest
that I love Thee. He saith unto him. Feed My
lambs. He saith to him again the second time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me "! He saith
unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love
Thee. He saith unto him, Feed My sheep. He
saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas,
lovest thou Me 1 Peter was grieved because He
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me t
And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all
things ; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus
saith unto him. Feed My sheep.
IT Or else this.
S. John XX. 19-23.
THE same day at evening, being the first day
of the week, when the doors were .shut
where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus and .stood in the midst, and
saith unto them, Peace bo unto you. And when
He had so said. He .shewed unto them His hands
and His side. Then were the disciples glad,
when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesu.s to
them again. Peace be unto you : as My Father
hath sent Me, even so send I you. And when
He had said this. He breathed on them, and saith
unto them, Keceive ye the Holy Ghost : whose
soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them ;
and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
IT Or this.
S. Matt, xxviii. 18-20.
JESUS came and spake unto them, .saying, All
joower is given unto IVIe in heaven and in
earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching
them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world.
H After the Gospel, and the Nicene Creed, and the
Sermon are ended, the Elected Bishop (vested
with his Rotchet) sliall be presented by two
Bishops unto the Arch-Bishop of that province (or
" Sav
IT "Ipse vero eleotus sacerdotalibus vestibus induatur,
prjeter casulam, et pro caaula induatur capa, et
sic duo coniprovinciales episcopi deducaut eum
per manus coram metropolitano examinandum,
of the fifteenth century three Bishops present the Bishop
elect. [Assemanni, xi. 160.]
The Epistle and Gospel] The Epistle [1 Tim. iii. 1] is given
by Morin [P. ii. 264], from a MS. more than 700 years old in
his time. It is given also in the Syr. Maronit. Ord. [Iljkl.
P. ii. 356.] It occurs also in the Ordo Romauus and a
Pontifical of Compitjgne, according to the Use of .Soissons
[Catalani, § xiv. p. 191], and in the Sacranientary of Leofric.
[Bodl. Lib. fo. 278.]
It was used also in Germany. [Gerberti, p. 416.] The
Gospel was —
St. Matt. — "In illo tempore circuibat . . ." . infirmi-
tatem."
St. Mark. — " lu illo tempore circuibat .... sana-
bautur."
St. Luke. — " In illo tempore convocatis Jesu discipulis
.... curantes ubique. "
The following Epistles and Gospels are given in the Cotnes
Hieronymi [Pamelius, ii. 60, 61]: —
"In ordinatione Episcoporum. Lectio Epistolai B. Pauli
Apost. ad Timotheum."
"Carissime, fidelis sermo, Si quis Episcopatiira deside-
rat."
" Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum Johannera, Nisi granuni
frumenti."
" Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum Mattha^um, Vigilate
ergo quia nescitis. "
"Item Lectio Epistola? B. Pauli Apost. ad Titum, Oportet
Episcopum sine crimiue esse."
" Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum Marcura, Circuibat
Jesus in circuitu doceus."
"Item Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum ilattha-um, Con-
vocatis Jesus duodeoim."
"Item Setjuentia S. Evangelii secundum Liicam, Dcsignavit
Jesus duodecim."
"Item Sequentia S. Evangelii secundum Johauuem, Ego
sum Pastor bonus."
The Gospel iu an old Pontifical printed by Morin [p. 246]
is from St. Luke xxii. 24-30; but from St. Mark in the
Pontifical of Compifegue according to tlie Use of Soissous of
the sixth century, quoted by Catalani [i. p. 191], and in the
Ordo Romanus." In the Salisbui-y Pontifical the Epistle is
from Hebrews, " Fratres, omnis Pontifex .... Melchisedec;"
and the Gospel from St. John, "In illo tempore dixit Jesus
discipulis suis .... unus Pastor."
The Gospel from St. John xx. 19 occurs in the Syro-
Nestorian Use. [Morin, ii. 395.]
vested u'ith his Rotchet] By the Sarum Pontifical the elect
was to wear his Priest's haljit, except having a cope instead
of a chasuble. A Pontifical of Rouen of the eleventh century
requires an albe, stole, and cope. By the Prayer Book of
1549 he was "to have upon him a surplice and cope," the
presenting Bishops "being also in surplices aud copes, and
having their pastoral staves in their hands." The rochet
was prescribed for the use of Bisliops by the Council of
Arenda, 1473 [c. iii.]. Tlie word rochet is derived from the
Anglo-Saxon roc by Soniner and Spelman, but Meursius,
Gerard Voss [de Vit. Serm. 1. ii. c. xvi.], and Ferrarius,
derive it from the German rod: According to Ceccoperius,
the French form of the name was adopted at Avignon when
the Popes resided there. The rochet difi'ers from the albe in
reaching only to the knees, and from a surplice in having
strait sleeves. In 1298 rochets are mentioned in an inventory
of St. Paul's. [Alonast. iii. p. 331.] Cardinal Baronius,
Gavauti and Georgius, think the " linea " worn by St. Cyprian
was the rochet. Until the thirteenth century it ■i\-.as known
as the linea, or camisia Romana, aud corresponds to the
mantle. [Cur. Tiora. 1. i. c. i.] Chaucer uses the word
'• rokette " [Romaunt of the Rose, 1240], aud Bishop Latimer,
iu his sixtli Sermon before Edward VI., mentions tliat he
travelled in his rochet. \Comp. St. Elphegc's dress, Act.
Sanct. ii. 130.] i.
shall he presented btj two Bishops] "Episcopus qui ordinan-
1 " Item, two albes wch were translated, the one made a surplice for the
preiste, the other made a rochet for the clarke." [Peacock s Ch. Funi. 150.
696
Cf)C Consecration of ']l5i0f)op0.
to some other Bishop appointed by lawful Commis-
sion) the Arch-Bishop sitting in his chair near the
holy Table, and the Bishops that present him
saying,
MOST Reverend Father in God, we present
unto you this godly and -well-learned man
to be Ordained and Consecrated Bishoi).
*" Then shall the Archbishop demand the Queen's
Mandate for the Consecration, and cause it to be
read. And the Oath toucliing the acknovrledge-
ment of the Queen's Supremacy, shall be minis-
tered to the persons Elected, as it is set down
before in the Form for the Ordering of Deacons.
And then shall also be ministered unto them the
Oath of due obedience to the Archbishop, as
foUoweth.
The Oath of due Obedience to the Ai-chbishop.
IN the Name of God. Amen. I iV. chosen
Bishop of the Church and See of N'. do pro-
fess and promise all due reverence and obedience
to the Archbishop, and to the Metropolitical
Church of J\\ and to their successors : So help
me God, through Jesus Christ.
*T This Oath shall not be made at the Consecratior
of an Ai'chbishoiJ.
11 Then the Archbishop shall move the Congregation
present to jjray, saying thus to them
BRETHREN, it is written in the Gospel of
S. Luke, That our Saviour Christ con-
tinued the whole night in prayer, before He did
ipso metropolitano sedente in loco examinationis,
dorso verso ad majus altare
"XN Dei Nomine. Amen. Ego N. talis
J- ecclesiae electus, et a te, reverende pater,
nomine N. Cantuariensis archiepiscope, totius
Anglias primas, consecrandus antistes, tibi et
Sanctis Cantuariensi ecclesite metropoliticje, tuis-
que successoribus in dicta ecclesia Cantuariensi
canonice substituendis, debitam et canonicam
obedientiam, reverentiam et subjectionem me per
omnia exhibiturum profiteor et jsromitto .... sic
me Deus adjuvet, et sancta Dei evangelia. Et
prisdicta omnia subscribeudo propria mauu con-
firmo.
ADESTO supplicationibus nostris, omnipotens
j Tx Deus, ut quod nostra? humilitatis geren-
dum est ministerio, Tuas virtutis impleatur effectu.
dus est duo Episcopi per manum de Secretario .... dedu-
cant ante altare." [Morin, 250. 234. Comj). Martene, ii. p.
340.]
It appears by old Pontificals of Salzburg, Besanpou, and
Bee, that the consecrator sat in a throne before the Altar, the
two assistant Bishops facing him, and the elect in front of all.
Simeon of Thessalonica [de liacr. Ord. c. vii. ] represents the
assistant Bishops seated on either side of the consecrator.
The Bishop, when presented, wiU be in the centre, with the
senior Bishop on his right hand : in the old Pontificals he is
required to bend the head, as a mark of subjection to the con-
secrator, and of humility in receiving the gift of God. In old
Pontificals of Besamjon [ann. Df.], !Mayence [ DC. ann.],
Lyons [ccc. ann.], and the Use of Tarento, the consecrator
inquired of the presenters wliether they knew the elect to be
worthy ; they answered, " Scimus et credimus ilium esse dig-
num, quantum humana fragilitas nosse sinit ;" and all said,
"Deo gratias." But this custom was abandoned when the
Popes took elections and confirmations into their own hands.
[Catal. i. p. 178.]
Most Reverend FatJier in Go'I] In many ancient Pontificals
the form ran, "Reverende Pater," but in the acts of tlie
Council of Chalcedon the title " Heverendissimc " is used.
The ancient Bishops were called Fatliers by their juniors [.Jo.
Filus/M;, de Sac. Episc. Ordin. cap. x. § iv.]; and in the 1st
Council of Toledo Bi.shop Dutinius says, "I am of the same
opinion as my lord and father, Bishop Sy m])hosius. " St. Augus-
tine calls the elder Bishops fathers, and the juniors brotliers.
[Epist. ex. So Paulinus, Epist. xxiv. ] St. Epiphanius [Hn 1:
Ixxv.], says, " Episcoporum ordo ad gignendos patres Eccle-
sire prajcipuc portinet. IIujus cnim cat Patrum propagatio."
[See al.so jjiNOnAM, Ant. B. ii. c. ii. § viii.]
tlte Queen's Mandair] E.stius, 1. iv. dist. xxiv. § xxxi. xxxii. ,
proves that the lay people have a voice in the election of a
Bishop. However, in lapse of time, as Van Espen [Jus.
Ecelea, P. i. tit. xiii. c. ii.] says in tlie twolftli century,
"Elections of Bishops passed to the Cathedral Chapters,
owing to tlie tumults and factions raised among the laity in
such circumstances." [Sec Jcekniu.s, di Sacr. Ovd. DLss. ix.
qu. i.] .John XXI. in 1322 [Raynauld, torn. xv. in app.] first
reserved to himself the elections of Bishops in tlie provinces
of Aquileia, Milan. Genoa, Pisa, and Naples, o^nng to the
riots whioli had taken place, but added that he only took
this step until, the storm being past (he alludes to the rival
Pope at Avignon), full security in elections could be secured
to churches. In 144S, by concordat between Pope Nicholas V.
and the Emperor Frederick III., elections were to be made
in cathedrals and abbey churches ; and by concordat between
Pope Leo X. and Francis I. at Bologna in 1516, it was agreed
that elections should no longer take ])lace in metropolitan or
cathedral churches of the kingdom, Dauphiny, or the pro-
vinces of Die and Valence, but that on a vacancy the king
should nominate a Doctor or Licentiate in Divinity or Law,
of the age of twenty-seven years, within six months after
such a vacancy, and the Pope should issue his bull. In Spain,
by concordat lietween Charles V. and Pope Adrian VI., it was
agreed that the nomination of all Bishops and Abbots should
be vested in the Crown [Mariana, Ivi. c. v.] ; and in Naples
Clement VII. gave to Charles V. the right of nomination to
twenty-four sees. [.9«' ofeo TnoiiAssix, i/e Vef. et Xov. Eerle.'i.
Disc. 1. ii. c. XXXV. C.\t.\t..\ni, de Cons. Elect, i. tit. xiii.]
In some instances the king sent a precept signed by his owu
hand, or an indiculus without the privy seal, nominating a
Bishop ; and in Sp.ain [XII. Toledo, c. vi.] the Archbishop of
Toledo acted as the king's delegate. [Ilallier, V. vii. 8. v. § vii.]
Thomassin [P. ii. 1. ii. c. 34, § 8] shews that in the sixtli and
seventh centuries the kings of France issued mandates for
Consecration.
Oalli of due Ohedience] In the Greek Cliurch the oath of
allegiance to the Emperor is required. [Kinc's 7i'/7('.s- ofOreek
Church, lip. 295-299.] By the 11th Council of Toledo, A.D.
G75, an oath of obedience to his superior was exacted from a
Bishop elect [Thomassin, P. ii. 1. ii. ch. 41] ; and in the
ninth century Gaulish Bishops made professions of obedience
to tlicir Metropolitans, [/bid. P. iii. 1. ii. ch. 30.] An ancient
form was as follows : " Ego illo Sancta; N. Ecclesia; nunc or-
iliiiandus Episcopus subjectionem et reverentiam a Sanctis
Patribno ooustitutam secundum pi'a'ccjda Canonum, S. sodis
Ctjc Consecration of Bisbops.
697
choose and send forth His twelve Apostles. It
is written also in the Acts of the Apostles, That
the Disciples who were at Antioch did fast and
pray, before they laid hands on Paul and Barna-
bas, and sent them fortli. Let us therefore, fol-
lowing the example of our Saviour Christ, and
His Apostles, first fall to prayer, before we admit
and send forth this person presented unto us, to
the work whereunto we trust the Holy Ghost
hath called him.
IT And then shall be said the Litany, as before in the
Form of Ordering Deacons ; Save only, that after
this place That it may please Thee to illuminate all
Bishops, etc. , the proper Suffrage there following
shall be omitted, and this inserted instead of it ;
THAT it may please Thee to bless this our
brother Elected, and to send Thy grace
upon him, that he may duly execute the Office
whereunto he is called, to the edifying of Thy
Church, and to the honour, praise and glory of
Thy Name ;
Answer.
We beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord.
IT Then shall be said this Prayer following.
ALMIGHTY God, giver of all good things,
-LS- Who by Thy Holy Spirit hast appointed
divers Orders of ^Ministers in Thy Church ; merci-
fully behold this Thy servant now called to the
work and Jlinistry of a Bishop ; and replenish
him so with the truth of Thy doctrine, and adorn
him with iiinocency of life, that, both by word
and deed, he may faithfully serve Thee in this
Office, to the glory of Thy Name, and the edifying
and well-governing of Thy Church ; through the
"Oromus, dilectissimi nobis, ut huic viro ad
utilitatem ecclesiic provehendo, benignitas omni-
potentis Dei gratia Suas tribuat largitatcm. Per
DOJIINUM.
II Et statim a duobus episcopis incipiatnr : Kyrio
eleiaon, Ciun litania . . . . et dicatur litania sicut
in ordiniljus, et cum ventum fuerit ad vcrsum qui
pro domino episcopo cantatur, surgat consecrator,
et dicat conversus ad electum sic :
T TT hunc electum bene^dicere digneris.
^ liesj). Te rogamus.
Ut hunc electum bene>J<dicere et sancti^ficara
digneris.
Resp. Te rogamus.
Ut hunc electum bene>f<dicere, sancti>J<ficare
et conse>Jicrare digneris.
Resp. Te rogamus.
. . . . DoMiNE sancte. Pater omnipotens, aeterne
Deus : Honor omnium dignitatum, quae gloria;
Tuae sacris famulantur ordinibus . . . . Et idcirco
huic famulo Tuo, quern ad summi sacerdotii
ministerium elegisti, hanc, quajsumus Dojiine,
gratiam largiaris, ut quicquid ilia velamina in
fulgore auri .... signabant, hoc in ejus mori-
bus actibusque clarescat. Comple, Domine, in
sacerdote Tuo ministerii Tui summam ....
N. Ecclesise rectoribusque ejus in pr.tsentia domini Ai'chi-
episcopi perpetuo me exhibiturum promitto et super sanctum
altare propria manu firmo." [Ex. Pont. Tiiron. ann. DCO.
ittat. superante, Martene, II. 415.] lu the Roman Pontifical
the oath of obedience to the Pope is here made by the elect.
[Catal. i. 178, 170.]
In the Sarum Pontifical the profession given above is pre-
ceded by the question, "Vis sancta^ Cantuariensi Ecclesise et
mihi, meisque successoribus subjectionem, et obedienti.am per
omnia exhibere, secundum canonicam auctoritatem, et decreta
sanctorum pontificum ? Resp. Volo." The same question
occurs with slight variations in the Winton and Bangor Pon-
tificals. In that of Exeter is this remarkable addition, " Vis
beato Petro Apostolo, ciii a Deo data est potestas ligandi
atque solvendi, ejusque vicariis, Romanis pontiticibus, atqne
sanctse ecclesire Cant." etc. All thi-ee Pontificals omit the
form in which the profession itself is to be made.
Brethren, it is u'ritten] In the Galilean Liturgy is an "Ex-
hortatio ad populum cum Episcopus ordinatur : " it ends,
"Nunc igitur, dilectissimi fratres, testimonii boni operis
electum, dignissimum sacerdotio consonantes laxidibus claniate
et dicite dignus est." [Migne, 1. xxii. p. .325.] The elect
was at this part of the service recommended in some old
forms to say in private or secretly the Penitential Psalms,
and Ps. cxv. , "Credidi; " Ps. Ixxxiv., " Benedixisti ; " Ps.
Ixxxvi., " Fuudamenta ; " Ps. Ixxxv., " Inclina ; " Ps. cxxxi.,
"Memento;" Ps. Ixxxvii., "Domine;" Ps. Ixxxiii., "Quam
dilecta."
the Litany] The Litany was enjoined by the Oi-do
Romaniis and a Pontifical of Lyons of the third century
[Catalan!, i. 194] : "Tunc duo Episcopi ineipiant Litaniam, et
inter alia dicant, Ut fratrem nostrum electum pontificem in
vera religioue conservare digneris." [JloRiNUS, 275. AssE-
MANi, e Cod. DC. ann., Cod. Litiirg. viii. ISO.] The Litany
always formed part of the Greek Ordinations. [Goar, Bit. Gr.
p. .303. AssEMANi, Cod. Lituri/. x. ji. 13. Martene II.,
362, 372, 404. MoKiN, 361.] The Greek petitions were, 'Tyrfp
roO dov\ov Tov Q^ou tov Selvos, toC' vv} irpnx€ipii^oi.i€i'ov "Eirio'/v'oiroi'
Kal T^s aurriplas avrov toC Ki'pc'oK oeriBu'/xtp. "Ottus 6 (piKdvOpairos
Geos d(nrt\ov Kal afXib^x-qTov avrov tj}v apxi^pwavvt^v x^P^'^^V^^^
TOV \\vpiov 0€7)6C)fj.^v. [Goar, p. 303.] The Litany in the
Church of Constantinople occurs in a later part of the Office
[Goar, 303] ; in the Syro-Nestorian ritual, after the Gospel
[Assemaui, x. 13] ; in some Western uses before [Martene IL ,
362, 372], in others after tlie Epistle. [Ihid. p. 304.]
THE EXAMINATION.
An examination was appointed by the 4th Council of Car-
thage, c. i., and by II. Nicaen, c. xi. See also Martexe, de
Ant. Bit. 1. i. c. viii. Art. X. n. viii. The following form is
from an Italian Pontifical, and one of the eighth century :
"Sedeat dominus Papa in sua sede, facto ibi silentio fiat ex-
aminatio talis. Antiqua S. Patrum institutio docet et prse-
cipit, ut is qui ad ordinem Episcopatus eligitur, maxime, ut
legimus in Canone Carthaginiensi, antea diligeutissime exami-
netur cum omni caritate de fide .SS. Trinitatis, et interrogetur
de diversis causis vel moribusquse huic reginiini congruunt, et
necessaria sunt retineri, secundum Apostoli dictum 'Manus
cito nemini imposueris,' et ut etiam is qui ordinandus est
antea erudiatur, qualiter sub hoc regimine constitutum opor-
teat conversari in Ecclesia Dei .... eadem itaque auctoritate
et pra?cepto interrogamus te, dilectissime frater." [Pont, of
Barl, Catalasi, i. tit. xiii. App. pp. 228, 229. MoKix, p. 263,
ex. Cod. Dcc. ann. Martene, e Cod. Dcccc. ann. ii. p. 386.]
In the Vatican !MS. of Gregory's .Sacramentary the rubric
runs, " Examinatio in ordinatione Episcopi ante Litaniam faci-
enda." [Migne, Ixxviii. 223.] In the Sarum Pontifical the
Examination is much longer than in the Prayer Book, and
includes a series of questions on the Creed and Ai-ticles of the
Faith. In tlie Greek Church tlie Bishop elect is also examined
in the Creed and Articles of the Faith. [Assemani, P. iv.
233, etc.]
In the very ancient Ordo Romanus [Mabillox, ^^n.i.
Pal. i. p. 87], the Bishop of Rome, sitting in his chair, calls
to him Bishops or Priests, and bids them sit with him. The
whole Clergy standing, he bids his chaplain desire the people
of the city to enter. While he goes to bring them in, the
698
Cf)C Consecration of T5isf)op0.
merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who liveth
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost,
world without end. Amen.
IT Then the Archbishop, sitting in his Chair, shall
say to him that is to be Consecrated,
BEOTHER, forasmuch as tlie holy Scripture
and the ancient Canons command, that
we should not be hasty in laying on hands, and
admitting any person to government in the
Church of Christ, which He hath purchased
with no less price than the effusion of His own
blood ; before I admit you to this Administration,
I wiU examine you in certain Articles, to the end
that the Congregation present may have a trial,
and bear witness, how you be minded to behave
yourself in the Church of God.
ARE you persuaded that you be truly called to
-^^^ this Ministration, according to the will of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Order of this
Realm 1
Answer.
I am so persuaded.
The Archbishop.
ARE you persuaded that the holy Scriptures
^» contain sufficiently all doctrine required
of necessity to eternal salvation through faith in
Jesus Christ ? And are you determined out of
the same holy Scriptures to instruct the people
committed to your charge ; and to teach or
maintain nothing as required of necessity to
eternal salvation, but that which you shall be
persuaded may be concluded and proved by the
same?
Answer.
I am so persuaded, and determined, by God's
grace.
The Arclibishop.
WILL you then faithfully exercise your self
in the same holy Scriptures, and call
upon God by prayer, for the true understanding
of the same ; so as ye may be able by them to
teach and exhort with wholesome doctrine, and
to with.stand and convince the gainsayers ?
Answer.
I will so do, by the help of God.
Tlie Archbishop.
E you ready, with all faithful diligence, to
banish and drive away all erroneous and
B
" . . . . ipso metropohtano sedente in loco examina-
tionis .... Tunc dicat metropolitanus ;
ANTIQUA sanctorum patrum institutio docet
■ <» et prajcipit, ut is qui ad ordinem episco-
patus eligitur, antea diligentissime exaniinetur
cum omni caritate, de fide sanctse Trinitatis, et
interrogetur de diversis causis vel moribus, quaj
huic regimini congruunt, et necessaria sunt
retineri, secundum apostoli dictum, manus cito
nemini imposueris ; et nt etiam is qui ordinandus
est antea erudiatur, qualiter sub hoc regimine
constitutuni oporteat conversari in ecclesia Dei,
et ut irreprehensibiles siut etiam, qui ei manus
ordiiiationis imponunt.
EADEM itaque auctoritate, et prjecepto, inter-
rogamus te, dilectissime frater, caritate
sincera, si omnem prudentiam tuam, quantum
tua capas est natura, diviuje Scripturie sensibus
accommodare volueris ?
Jiesp. Ita volo, ex toto corde, in omnibus
obedire et conseutire.
Interrogafio. Vis ea qupe ex divinis Scripturis
intelligis, plebeni cui ordinandus es, et verbis
docere et exemplis ?
Resjy. Volo.
Bishop chooses one of the Priests to answer his questions.
When they are brought in they are inquired of by the Bishop,
"Quid est, fratres, quod vos fatigastis?" They answer,
"Ut nobis conuedas patronuni. Habetis vestruin y 5. H.ibe-
mus. Quo honore fungitur? IJ. Uiaconus," Presbyter, or
what he is. "Quantos anuos habetin iJiacon.atu aut Presby-
teratu? IJ. . De ipsa Ecclesia est an de alia? Deipsa,"
(but if of any other Church) " Diniissoriani h.abet de Kpisco-
posuo? IJ. Ilabet." They produce the letter. "Conjugem
iiabuit? Disposuit de domo sua? I}. Disposuit. Quid vobis
complacuit de eo ? IJ. Kt castilas, hospitaht.is, bcnignitas,
et omnia bona qu.^e de co sunt ]jrolata. A'idete, fratres, ne
aliqnam proiiiissioncni feclssct vobis. Suitisquod simoniacum
et contra Canones est. If. Absit a nobis. Vus videritis.
Habeti.s decrttum ? IJ. Habemus.'' It is then read by the
ch.apbiin, and wlicn it has been read the elect is brought in.
The Bishop says, "May God protect us ; '' and then says to
the elect, " What seekest thou, brother?" to which he re-
pHes, "That of which I am not worthy ; my fellow-servants
led me on." "What honour have you fullilled ? IJ. Deacon
or Priest," etc. " How long have you been in tlie I)iaeonate?"
etc. He states the time. He is then a.<ikcil. " Had you a
wife, ".and "Have you disposed of your household ?" whctlier
he lias made a simoniacal covenant, " Wliat books arc read ill
your ehurcli?" " Do you know th" Canons ?" to the Last the
elect repHes, "Teacli us, sir?" to which the .ansueris, "Ordiiin
at tlie proper sea.sons, January, April, September, December."
'J'he petition from the people is then read, ami the Consecra-
tion deferred to the morrow, .Sunday. On tliat day the
liialmp, witli Uisliops, and Priests, and Clerks inter the
ehunli, and. after the Iiitroit, follow a prayer and the Mpistle
from 1 'i'imothy, " Pidelis sermo." While the gradual is
sung, the elect is vested by tlie Archdeacons, sub- Deacons,
and Acolytes with dalmatic, chasuble, and stall', and brought
Cbe Consecration of T5isbops.
699
strange Doctrine contrary to God's Word ; and
both privately and opcjniy to call upon and
encourage others to the same 1
Answer.
I am ready, tlic Lord being my helper.
The Archbishop.
"TTTILL you deny all ungodliness and worldly
VV lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world ; that you may shew
your .self in all things an example of good works
unto others, that the adversary may bo ashamed,
having nothing to say against you ?
Answer.
I will so do, the Loed being my helper.
The Archbishop.
~YT7"ILL you maintain and set forward, as
VV much as shall lie in you, quietness, love,
and peace among all men ; and such as be un-
quiet, disobedient, and criminous, within your
Diocese, correct and punish, according to such
authority as you have by God's word, and as to
you shall be committed by the Ordinance of this
Realm ^
Answer.
I will so do, by the help of God.
The Archbishop.
"TTTILL you be faithful in Ordaining, sending,
V V or laying hands upon others ?
Answer.
I will so be, by the help of God.
The Archbishop.
"TTTILL you shew yourself gentle, and be
V V merciful for Chiiist's sake to poor and
needy people, and to all strangers destitute of help?
Answer.
I will so shew myself, by God's help.
IT Then the Archbishop standing up shall say,
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, Who
-^^J- hath given you a good will to do all these
things. Grant also unto you strength and power
to perform the same ; that. He accomplishing in
you the good work which He hath begun, you
may be found perfect and irreprehensible at the
latter day ; through Jesus Cheist our Lord.
Amen.
" rn/errof/ndo. Vis mores tuns ab onini nialo
temperarc, et quantum poteris, Domino adjuvante,
ad omnc li(inum conimutare i
Jiesp. Volo.
Interrogaiio. Vis semper esse divinis negotiis
mancipatus, ct a terrenis negotiis vel lucris turp-
ibus esse alienus, quantum te huniana fragilitas
concesserit posse?
Resp. Volo.
Interrogatio. Vis humilitatem, et patientiam,
in temetipso custodire, et alios similiter docere ?
Resp. Yolo.
Interrogatio. Pauperibus et peregrinis, omni-
busque indigentibus vis esse, propter Nonien
Domini, affabilis et misericors ?
Resp. Volo.
tibi
Tunc dicat ei pontifex :
HMC omnia et cajtera bona trlbuat
Dominu.s, et custodiat te, atque corro-
boret, in omni bonitate.
Respondeant omiws asianies : Amen.
Ha3c tibi fides augeatur a Domino ad veram et
oeternam beatitudinem, dilectissime frater in
Cheisto.
Et respondeant omnes : Amen.
in: the Bishop says, " The Clergy and people of .... have
chosen . . . . to be consecrated Bishop ; let us pray tliat our
Lord God Jesus Christ may grant unto him the Episcopal
chair, to rule tlie Church and all the people." The Litany
follows, and the elect receives tiie bened'ictiou. After the
Alleluia follow the Gospel and Mass, and the newly-con-
secrated Bishop communicates the people.
In another Ordo of St. Gall [p. 91], at night, after the
Introit, the Bishop of Rome says Gloria in Excelsis ; and
tliere is a prayer ; then one Priest and one Deacon, going
from the Altar, lead in the elect, having clothed him with
albe (linea) and girdle, "analogium," the little dalmatic,
brachiale, stole, and great dalmatic, whilst tlie choir sing
" Immola Deo, " the tract "Qui semiuat," and the Gospel,
"Misit illos binos ante faciem suam." He is then led up by
a Priest on the riglit, and Deacon ou the left. Tliey theii
take off his chasuble, and the Bishop reads the brief, "Our
citizens have chosen this man as tlieir pastor, let us pray that
Almighty God will pour down ou him the Spirit of His grace,
and that he may be worthy to govern in the Episcopal chair. "
Tlie choir sing the Kyrie and Litany. The elect bows his
head before the altar, and the Bishop, laying his hand upon
him, says a prayer like a collect, and sings another as the Pre-
face (contestata) is chanted. The newly-ordained Bishop
kisses the Bisliop's feet, and receives tlie kiss of peace.
Will you thru faiflifidly exercise, etc.] The study of holy
Scriptures is required by the Council of Tours, 813, c. ii. iii. iv.
11(7^ you shew yourself gentle, etc.] This kindness to tln^
poor and strangers is enjoined by the Council of Tours, A.D.
813, c. iv. v. vi.
Almiijhly God] Assemanni [P. iv. 241] gives the following
benediction as in use in the Greek Churcli ; 'H x^/"5 tol' -wav-
ayiov Yivev^cTO^ et-rj ;xera <tou (piiiri^oiiaa, aTTjpi^ovaa^ Kal (TVveTl^ovad
(re TTcttras rds ij^^pas Trjs ^(Jj/s cov.
yoo
Ct)C Consecration of TBisbops.
IT Then shall the Bishop elect put on the rest of the
Episcopal habit; and kneeling down, [I'eHj,
Creator Spirilu-s] shall be sung or said over him,
the Archbishop beginning, and the Bishops, with
others that are present, answering by verses, as
foUoweth.
COME, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And liyhten with celestial f re.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost Thy severirfold gifts impart.
Thy blessed Unction from above,
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perjietual light
The dulness of our blinded sight.
Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the ahundance of Thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home :
Where Thou art guide, no ill can come.
Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And Thee, of both, to he but One.
That through the ages all along,
This may he our endless song ;
Praise to Thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
% Or this :
/^OME, Holt Ghost, eternal God,
Etc. as before in the Form of Ordering Priests.
ir That ended, the Archbishop shall say,
Lord, hear our prayer.
Answer.
And let our cry come unto Thee.
Let us pray.
ALMIGHTY God, and most merciful Father,
-C^ Who of Thine infinite goodness hast given
Thine only and dearly beloved Son Jesus
f' [For the original
of this hylnn, Sfe
Form forOrdinatioit
of Priests.]
et dicat ordinator : Veni, Creator, ut supra in
ordinibus.
Then shall the Bishop electa After the benediction (" Adesto \
supplicationibus nostris," etc.), the Salisbury Pontifieal has
this rubric: "Interim autem, dum h.-ec fiunt, innuat domi-
nus metropolitanus Archidiacono, et ipse descendens cum
acolytis et sub-Diaconis vadat extra chorum, ubi expectat qui
ordinandus est, et acciijiens vestimenta induat eum cum san-
daliis, alba, stola, manipulo, tunica, dalmatica, et casula,
sine mitra et absque baculo vel aiuiulo." By the Sarum Pon-
tifical two Bishops vested in copes lead the elect up to the
consecrator ; by the Bangor, two Bishops in chasubles. By
the Winchester Pontifical the Archdeacon leads the elect up
to the Altar where the Jletropolitan is standing, and presents
him. The ^^'incIlCstor rubric witli regard to the vesting of
tlie elect Bishop is simply .... " et accipiens vestimentum
induat eum," omitting the list of vestments given in the Salis-
bury Poutifical. [Maskki.i,, Mnn. Itil. iii. 2.53, 2.54.] By the
first Prayer Book of Edward VI., confirmed by Act 2 & 3
Edw. VI. c. i. [romp. Cranmer\i Memorials, c. xxiv. 363, 364],
whensoever the Bishop shall celebrate tlie Holy Communion
in the Church, or execute any other public ministration, he
shall have upon him beside his rochet a sui'iilice or albe, and
also a cope or vestment [i.e. cope or ch.asul>le], and also liis
pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne or holden by his
ch.iplain. Bisliop Cloodrich, of Ely, 1;5.54, Bisliop Bell, of
Worcester, 1.5.56, Bishop Pursglove, of Hull, ir)7n, and Arch-
bishop Harsnet, 1631, arc represented on tlieir br.asses in
mitre, cope, and rochet, and boMing the pastor.il stall'. The
mitres and pastoral staves of 'I'relawny and Mews arc pre-
served in Winchester Cathedral ; Laud's st.afFis in St. .John's
College, Oxford, and there is one of Caroline date in the
vestry of York Minster. Mitres were worn at a coronation
in the last century ; pastoral staves aro now carried before
several of our Bishops ; copes are worn at coronations, and
royal marriages and christenings. The Primate wore his
cope in Convocation in 1562 and 1640, and Bishop Cosin wore
a white satin cope without embroidery. The chimere is a
dress of black satin with lawn sleeves [Soames, iii. 560], the
latter properly belonging to the rochet. Hody says, that in
the reign of Henry VIII. and Edward ^'I. the Bishops wore
their Doctor of Divinity scarlet habit with tlieir rochet, the
colour being changed tor the present ugly and unauthorized
black satin cliimere late in the time of Qiiecu Elizabeth.
The following notices occur of the chimere, but the deriva-
tion of the name is unknown: " Chimeres and Kochets."
[i\Kriiiiisnor Pauker'.s Worls, p. 475.] Cliimere, a robe
made of velvet, grogram, or s.atin, used also in riding
[Arehteol. xxx. 17], a gown cut dow7i tlie middle, gcner.ally
used by persons of rank and opulence [llalliwcll]. " A scar-
let episcopal gown." [3 /iiir. Left. 271.] " His upper garment
a long scarlet chimere, down to the feet, and under that a
white linen rochet." [Foxe, vi. 641.]
Vcni, Creator Spiritti.f] In tlic Ordo preserved by Morin
f)!. 26.5] here follows tlie Sermon. In the Bari Pontitical,
after the Vere Uignum, the Veni, Creator Spiritiis is added
ill a later hand. [Catalan!, i. ji. 230.] Tliis liymn does
not occur in the Sacramcntary of vSt. Gregory, tlie ancient
Ordo r.din.anus, or the early Pontificals ; but it ajipcars
fri>m the Csc of Lyons, tliat in certain churclics a ^lass of
tlic Holy Ohost was sung, .and in otliers th.at tliis hymn was
used, in the Euchologium of Allatius, after the profession of
faith by the elect, the eonsecr,ator said, "Gratia Spiritus
S.ancti sit tecum." [§ xxi. torn. i. p. 201.] By the Pontifical
of Mayence, about the twelfth century, the Mass of the Holy
Ghost was ordered to bo sung, and also by the Pontifical of
C()c Consecration of TBisbops.
701
CHEiST,tobeour Redeemer, and the Authorof ever-
lasting life ; Who, after tliat He had made perfect
our lledemption by His deatli, and was ascended
into heaven, poured down His gifts almndantl}'
upon men, making some Apostles, some Propliets,
some Evangelists, some Pastors and IJoctors, to
the edifying and making perfect His Church ;
Grant, we beseech Thee, to this Thy servant such
grace, that he may evermore bo ready to spread
abroad Thy Gospel, the glad tidings of reconcilia-
tion with Thee ; and use tlie authority given
him, not to destruction, but to salvation ; not to
hurt, but to help : so that as a wise and faithful
servant, giving to Thy family their portion in due
season, he may at last bo received into everlast-
ing joy ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Wlio,
with Thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and
reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.
H Then the Archbishop and Bishops present shall lay
their hands upon the liead of the elected Bisliop
kneeling before them upon liis knees, the Arch-
bishop saying,
EECEIVE 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 of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
And remember that thou stir up the grace of
God which is given thee by this Imposition of
our hands : for God hath not given us the spirit
of fear, but of power, and love, and soberness.
IT Then the Archbishop shall deliver him the Bible,
saying,
GIVE heed unto reading, exhortation, and
doctrine. Think upon the things con-
". . . . Sint speciosi, munere Tuo, pedes ejus ad
evangelizanduni pacem, ad evangelizandum bona
Tua. Da ei, Domine, ministerium reconcilia-
tionis, in verbis et in factis, in virtute signorum
et prodigiorum. Sit sermo ejus, et pra^dicatio,
non in persuasibililjus huinan;e sapientiie verbis,
sed in ostensione spiritus et virtutis. Da ei,
DoMiNE, claves regni cujlorum, ut utatur, non
glorietur, potestate quam tribuis in sedificationem,
non in destructionein Sit fidelis servus et
prudens, quem constituas Tu, Domine, super
familiam Tuani ; ut det illis cibum in tempore
opportuno Terminando secrete : Per DoMl-
NUM nostrum Jesum Chrlstum Filium Tuum,
Qui Tecum vivit et regnat, in unitate Spiritus
Sancti, Deus. Per omnia sascula sa;culoruni.
£i impondeant omnes ; Amen.
IT Postea det eis codicem evangeliorum, dicens :
A CCIPE evangelium et vade, praedica populo
-^-^ tibi commisso.
Lyons, written in the fourteenth century. [Catalani, § xiv. p.
191.] Thomassin has printed this hymn in his collection of
very ancient hymns of the ancient Church. [Op. torn. ii. p.
375. See also Brev. Sarish. Pars kkmidis, fo. 97, MS. Sarisb.
fo. 71.] The first English version (added in 1662) has been
attributed to John Dryden.
Receive the Holy Oliost] None of the old English Pontifi-
cals, except the Exeter, contain this " Form ; " and Martene
acknowledges, " Verba ilia .... toti antitjuitati ignota
fuerunt : adeo ut vix in ullo Pontifical! annos 400 attigente
reperiautur. Nam ex omnibus qu;e percurrimus, tria tantum
ilia habent, Ai'elatense, Andegavense, et Gulielmi Durandi. "
The "Form" occurs in the Roman Pontifical. In the Greek
Church the form is, 'H 6da X"P'5i V iraj/xore to. acrOevTJ ffepaTrev-
ovaa, Kal ra tWeiirofra dvaTrXtjpodaay Trpoxetp^s'^Tat top delva^ rov
BeoipiX^ffTaTOi' Tipio-^uTepof, "EiriaKOTroi', [Uo.lR, Bit. Gr. p. 302.]
shall ddh'er him the Bible] St. Dionysius, in Eccles. Hier.
c. v., explains the delivery of the (gospels to imply the
necessity of knowing, preaching, and meditating on them.
[Ste also DuKANDUs, 1. ii. c. xi. Sym. Thess. c. vii. P.
Damian, Serm. i. de Dedic. Ajial. Fort. 1. ii. c. xiv., and
Haeerti in Obs. ad Pont. Girec. p. 79.]
The 4th Council of Carthage, c. ii., directs, " Episcoj)us
cum ordinatur, duo Episcopi ponant et teneaut Evangeliorum
codicem super caput et cervicem ejus : et uno super eum
fundente benedictionem, reliqui omnes Episcopi, qui adsunt,
manibus suis caput ejus taugant." In the first Prayer Book
of Edward VI., 1549, this old tradition was observed, for the
Archbishop was required to "lay the Bible upon his (the
elected Bishop's) neck."
The Roman Pontifical requires the open Gospels to be laid
without a word on the neck of the elect, and Catalani says.
that with this agree the Greek and Syrian rituals, a Pontifi-
cal of Mayence, and Roger Wendover, s. a. 1093.
A MS. of Aries (juoted by Martene [de Ant. Erdes. Bit. 1.
i. c. viii. Art. X. n. xv.] leaves it inditt'erent whether open
or closed, and so do Latin rituals, except the Ordo Romauus
and that of C. Cajetan, which prescribe it to be closed ; but
the Apost. Const. [1. viii. c. iv.], Symeon of Thessalonica
[c. vii.], and the Greek Jlarouite and Jacobite rites prescribe
it to be open. Two old Pontificals require the Gospels to be
laid between tlie shoulders and on the neck, the Greek
rituals and Symeon of Thessalonica say it v,iis to be laid on
the back of the head and neck (ttj Ke(f>a\rj Kai ™ rpa^viXu), and
the Nestorians, on the back. Three Deacons held the book
[Const. Apost. 1. viii. c. iv.] ; but the Ordo Romanus
[IV. Counc. Carth. c. ii.], the Sacramentary of Gregorj', and
other rituals, appoint Bishops for the act. From the words
of the Gospel which chanced to open, the superstitious of
the Middle Ages drew auguries, and this custom seems to
liave led to the direction that the book should be shut.
Amalarius Fortunatus [de Off. Eccles. 1. ii. cxiv.] says of this
ceremony, " Neque vetus auctoritas ; " Alcuin [de Die. Offc]
agrees with Amalarius. This statement must be somewhat
corrected, as we find the rite enjoined in the Pontifical of
Egbert, the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and the 4th Coun-
cil of Carthage. Hallier makes this, with the laying on of
hands, two forms, as he notes two matters of Consecration,
"Receive the Holy Ghost," and, " Take the Gospel." [P. iii.
s. viii. c. ix. Ai't. 3.] Probably the custom of the delivery of
the Bible was derived from the old English custom of giving
the Gospel to the Deacons, mentioned 900 years ago, as Mar-
tene shews. [Tom. ii. p. 314.]
Give heed unto reading, etc.] The following passages may
702
Cf)E Consecration of TBisbops.
tained in this Book. Be diligent in them, that
the increase coming thereby may be manifest
unto all men. Take heed unto thyself, and to
doctrine, and be diligent in doing them : for by
so doing thou shalt both save thyself and them
that hear thee. Be to the flock of Christ a
shepherd, not a wolf ; feed them, devour them
not. Hold up the weak, heal the sick, bind up
the broken, bring again the out-casts, seek the
lost. Be so merciful, that you be not too remiss ;
so minister discipline, that you forget not mercy :
that when the Chief Shepherd shall appear you
may receive the never-fading crown of glory ;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
IT Then the Archbishop shall proceed in the Com-
munion-Service ; with whom the new Consecrated
Bishop (with others) shall also communicate.
" Quum datur baculus dicat ordinator :
Accipe baculum pastoralis officii : et sis in
corrigendis vitiis pie sseviens, judicium sine ira
tenens, in fovendis virtutibus auditorum animos
demulcens, in tranquillitate severitatis censuram
non deserens.
IT Et dominus metropolitanus, vel consecrator, peragat
missam.
If And for the last Collect, immediately before the
Benediction, shall be said these Prayers.
MOST merciful Father, we beseech Thee to
send down upon this Thy servant Thy
heavenly blessing ; and so endue him with Thy
Holy Spirit, that he, preaching Thy Word, may
not only be earnest to reprove, beseech, and
rebuke with all patience and doctrine ; but also
may be to such as believe a wholesome example,
in word, in conversation, in love, in faith, in
chastity, and in purity ; that, faithfully fulfilling
his course, at the latter day he may receive the
crown of righteousness laid up by the Lord the
righteous Judge, Who liveth and reigneth one
God with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
world without end. Ameji.
PREVENT us, O Lord, in all our doings,
with Thy most gracious favour, and fur-
ther us with Thy continual help ; that in all our
works begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we
may glorify Thy holy Name, and finally by Thy
mercy obtain everlasting life ; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE peace of God, which passeth all under-
standing, keep your hearts and minds in
the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son
Jesus Christ our Lord. And the blessing of
God Alnughty, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost be amongst you, and remain with
you always. Amen.
be cited as illustrating this charge : " Sint speciosi munere
Tuo pedes horum ad Evangelizandam pacem, ad Evangelizan-
dum bona Tua. Da ois, Domine, ministerium reconciliationis
.... Utantur nee glorientur potestate, quam tribuis, in a;di-
ficationem, non in destructionem. Sint servi fideles et
prudentes quos constituas Tu, Domine, super familiam Tuam,
ut dent illis cibum in tempore necessario." [MoRiN, P. ii.
216. MS. Leofrici, fo. 2S0. Pont. Egberti Eboeacens.
Martexe, p. 341. Gel.vsii Sacrum. Muratori, Lit. Rom.
Vet. torn. i. pp. 625, 626.]
*' Cum baculus datur. — Accipe baculum sacri regiminis sig-
num, ut imbecillos consolides, titubantes confirmes, parvos
currigas, rectos diriges in viam salutis ,tteni». " [Morin, P.
ii. 266, ex. Cod. ann. ncc. aetat. superante.] In the Greek
ritual occurs, Xa^e Tainrqv t7}v ^aKT-qpiav iV c0' ri ar-qpL^o/Jievoi
0€O(pt\uis t6 TTolfxvLbv tjov^ OTt Kul \6yov /xAXtis dTrodovfaL xjirkp
avToO TU) 6c(j €P rifxipt^ Kpiaeus. [Assemani, P. iv. p.
231.]
" Pascite gregem Dei, qui creditus est manibus vestris, et
visitatc ilium spiritualiter, non violenter sed sponte, non
propter lucra turpia . . . . ut sitis bonum exemplar, ut
ii'im apparebit Princeps Pastorum, accipiatis ab eo coronani
qu£e non marcescit. " [Mokin, Ord. Syr. Maron. P. ii. p.
355.]
Most merciful Fatlier] This prayer is an adaptation of the
"Benedictio super populum,"by the newly-ordained Bishop,
in the Salisbury Pontifical ; —
" Deus, qui me indignum et peccatorem ad Pontificale
ofEcium dignatus est promovere, sua vos illustret atque
sanctificet benedictione. Amen.
" Dcmet niihi per gratiam suam bene operandi facultatem ;
et vobis sui famulatus promptissimam obeditionem. Amen.
" Sicque vos doctrinis spiritualibus et operibus bonis repleri
in pra^senti vita concedat : ut ad pascua vitae astern* cum
ca-teris ovibus suis vos pariter introducat. Amen."
A somewhat similar prayer is to be found in Assemani's
collection [P. iii. pp. 55, S8, 89] at the delivery of the Epi-
scopal ornaments, and in the Praj'er of Consecration [P. iv.
165], HoiijfToi' yLpeaBai tov 'A\7;(?tfou IXoifihos, oSt^^ov ti'0Xwj',
tpuis t(cv iv (tk6t€l, iraiSii'Ti^i' d0p6i'a)r, (pwffrrjpa. it' Koisp.(^, tea,
Karapriaas rds €/j.TnffT€vdei(Tas aiVw ^I'xo-s iirl rrjs irapova-r]^ S^V^y
Trapaarfi TLp firip-aTL ^oO d/caTaicrxi'^Tajs, Kal top /xiyap fiLaOdv
X'qyprp'at 5p €TOifj.a.aa^ toU dd\-^aaatp virip tov K7]pi^iJ.aTos tov
€vayye\iov 2ot5.
FINIS.
GENERAL APPENDIX.
THE "STATE SEEVICES."
Until the year 1859 modern editions of the Book of Common
Prayer contained four services for special days of the year,
which were commonly called "State Services," because they
conunemorated certam public events connected witli the
political history of the country, and because tlie use of them
was enjoined by the State alone rather than by the Church
and State together. Tliese formed no part of tlie book put
forth by authority of Crown, Convocation, and tlic Houses of
Lords and Commons in 1661, and therefore no part of the
book alone sanctioned by the Act of Uniformity.' The
authority for the tliree whicli have been discontinued was
of a mixed chai'acter, partly civil and partly ecclesiastical ;
the authority for that wliicli is still eujoinecl by the State is
to this day solely that of the State, and of one branch of the
State alone. In giving a short summary of tlie history and
obligation of the several Forms, it will be convenient to
mention the particulars of each case separately.
§ The Form of Prayer for the Fifth of November.
The Act of Parliament ,3 Jac. I. c. 1, provided for the
annual observance of tliis day in commemoration of the dis-
covery of the Powder Plot, and ordered that all ministers in
every Cathedral and Parisli Church should say Morning
Prayer, and "give tlianks to Almighty God for tliis most
happy deliverance, " and that all " persons inhabiting within
this realm of England and dominions of the same " should
resort to some Church and be present during such service.
No particular form, however, was prescribed, and none was
prepared by Convocation ; but a form drawn up by the
Bishops was issued by royal authority in 1606. In April
1662 this form was revised by Bishop Cosin, and adopted by
Convocation on the 26th of that nionth, together with those
for January 30, and May 29, and was attached to the Prayer
Book by virtue of a Royal Proclamation, enjoining the use of
all the three, of May 2, 1662. The form remained unaltered
until the accession of William III., when, as he happened to
have landed in England upon that day, and was regarded as
the means of a similar deliverance to that then commemorated,
various interpolations relating to his accession, as well as
some alterations (e.<j. the substitution of Luke ix. 51-57 as
the Gospel, instead of Matt, xxvii. 1-10, the account of
Judas's betrayal of his Master, " which for some good reasons,
I suppose, says Wheatley, significantly, "was then thought
proper to be discontinued ") were made by Bishops Patrick
and Sprat without the sanction of either Convocation or
Parliament. This service was then re-issued by Proclamation
of October 18, 1690, and was the form which continued to be
enjoined until its recent removal.
1 The following is found in manuscript at the end of tlie MS., and of tlie
corrected folio of 162(3, preserved in the House of Lords Library [sec page
3;i], and in the Sealed Books, but it is not found in the MS. of the Pi-ayer
Book which is preserved at Dublin : —
'* Tlie Forvies of Prayer for the V of Novrmter the XXX of Janliary, & for
the XXIX of May are to he printed at the end of this Book. "
It may be safely asserted that the forms themselves were not in existence
when this note was written in the place of them, and thus that they did
not receive the sanction of Convocation, the Crown, and Parliament when
the Prayer Book itself did. They were evidently, however, in course of
preparation or revision at this time, and that they came into use at an early
date subsequently is shewn by the fact that inquiries respecting the use of
them are found in Visit,ation Artieles of 1662.
The history of the State Services themselves is fully given, from the two
opposite points of view, in Rev. A. P. Percival's Oriyiuul Services for the
State Holidays, Lond. 1S38, in which the original and altered forms are
exhibited in parallel columns, and in a pamphlet by Rev. T. Lathbury,
The Authority of the Services .... considered, Lond. 1843.
§ The Form of Prayer for the Thirtieth of January.
This day was appointed to be observed "as an anniversai-y
clay of fasting and humiliation, to implore the mercy of God, "
by Act of Parliament, 12 Car. II. c. 30. The foi'm of Prayer
was prepared by a Committee of Convocation appointed May
16, 1661, which consisted of Bishops Warner of Rochester,
King of Chichester, Morley of Worcester, and Reynolds of
Norwich, together with eight representatives of the Lower
House ; it was approved April 26, 1662, and enjoined, with
the preceding service, by Proclamation of May 2, 1662.-
Upon the accession of .James II., however, certain alterations
weie made by royal authority alone, which were not improve-
ments, intensifying in some degree the tone and language of
the earlier service, and especially enlarging the Introductory
Hymn by the addition of various passages of Holy Scripture
prophetic of our Blessed Lord's .Sufl'erings and Death. This
form (the order for the use of which was dated December 23,
1685) was not altered during the reign of William III., and
was the one which remained in use subsequently.
No public performances in theatres or concert-rooms were
permitted on this day until 1808, when a concert was given
at the Haymarket without interference from the authorities.
An oratorio followed in 1809, and the old custom was then
abandoned. [See Parke's Musical Memoirs, ii. 32, 1830.]
§ The Form of Prayer for the Ihoenty-ninth of May.
The Act 12 Car. II. c. 14, appointed May 29 to be observed
with public thanksgivings for a double reason, as being the
birthday of Charles II. as well as tlie day of his Restoration.
The service was prepared, as in the preceding case, by a
committee of Convocation, consisting of Bishops Wren of
Ely, Skimier of Oxford, Laney of Peterborough, and Hench-
man of Sanim, together with eight members of the Lower
House : its approval by the two Houses and issue under the
authority of the Crown were simultaneous with those of the
form for January 30. .Since, however, various portions herein
referred to the birth of Charles II., the use of which after his
death would have been out of place, the form was revised
upon the accession of James, who upon its republication issued
an order for its observance, dated April 29, 1685, which
mentioned the reason for its alteration, and stated that it was
' ' now, liy oxir special command to the Bishops, altered and
settled to our satisfaction." From this time the fonn con-
tinued without any further change.
' It has not, we believe, been previously distinctly noticed that two
editions and versions of a form were issued "by His Majesty's direction,"
before that which was prepared by Convocation. One of these appeared in
1661, in which the lutrodnctiu-y Hymn was longer than that in tlie subse-
quent service, some of the proper Psalms different, and a very long prayer,
full of the strongest expressions, occupied the place of the first Collect,
which, together with some portions of the other Prayers, was taken from
Fnvate forms of prayer, fitted for the late sad times; pa}'ticidarly a forin of
prayer for tlie thirtieth of January, a book in which Bishop Brian Duppa
Iiad a share, printed at Loudon in 1660. By a singular oversight, the
Collect for the Royal Family was copied without alteration from a Prayer
Book of the reign of Charles I, ; and consequently petitions were offered
in it for "Queen JIary, Prince Cluarles. and the rest of the royiil progeny,"
when that Prince had become the reigning monarch. A second edition,
corrected in this respect, appeared, with a proclamation for its use, dated
January 7, 16G2 ; it was somewhat curtailed, but was still longer than the
form finally adopted by Convocation. Burnet says that Sancroft drew for
the three days " some Offices of a very high strain. Yet others of a more
moderate strain were preferred to them. But he, coming to be advanced
to the See of Canterbury, got bis Offices to be j^ublished by the King's
authority." [Own Times, i. 333] Probably these were the alterations intro-
duced on James's accession.
704
<Sencral 9ppcnDir.
§ Tlie Form of Prayer /or the Accession of the Sovereign.
This is the only one for which tliere was never any degree
of parliamentary authority, formerly or at present. The
other serrices, altliough not specially prescribed, were recog-
nized by the enactments wliich ordered that their several
days should be observed ^\•ith particular thanksgi\'ings ; but
even this modified authority is wanting to the service for the
Accession. In principle, however, it is the oldest of all the
State Serrices. The first form was issued in 1578, to be used on
November 17, the day of the accession of Queen Elizabeth ; ^
but during the reign of James I. the observance of the day
appeal's to have been laid aside, his reign being sufficiently
marked by tlie form for November 5, and that for August 5,
the day of his escape from the conspiracy of the Cowries. A
form, however, was issued in 1626 for the accession of Cliarles
I., the history of the preparation of wliich is not known, but
wliich appeared only under the King's authority. Among
the Canons passed by Convocation in 1640 was one wliieli
recognized this form and enjoined the observance of the day ;
but an Act passed in 1661 (13 Car. II. c. 12), expressly forbade
the enforcement of these Canons as lackmg the authority of
Parliament, and the day and fonn alike remained unsanc-
tioned, and were then disused, the King's accession being
more fitlj' commemorated on May 29. But on the accession
of James II. both were rexived ; a new form was prepai'ed,
which retained but one of the prayers in the pre\ious form
(that wliich commences, "0 Lord our God, Wlio upholdest
and governest"). It appeared with a proclamation for its
use dated December 23, 168"), which sets out witli stating,
" \\'liereas not only the pious Christian emperors in ancient
times, but also of late our own most religious predecessors,
kings of this realm, did cause the days on which they began
their several reigns to be publickly celebrated every year (so
long as they reigned) by all their subjects with solemn prayers
and tlianksgiving to Almighty God ; tliis pious custom received
lately a long and doleful interruption upon occasion of the
barbarous murder of our most dear Father of blessed memory,
which changed the day on wliich our late most dear brother
succeeded to the Cro\ni into a day of sorrow and fasting.
But now we thinking fit to revive the former laudable and
religious practice, and having caused a form of praj'er and
■thanksgiving to be composed by our Bishops for that purpose,
our will aud pleasure is," etc. Duiing the reign of William
III. the day and fonn were not ol>served, his accession being
added to the serrice for November 5 ; but with Anne they
returned into use. King James's service being re\ised aud
altered, and re-issued under the authority of a Proclamation
of February 7, 1703-4. - This remains the fomi still enjoined
for use on June 20, the anniversary of the accession of Her
present Majesty, except that during tlie reign of George I.
1 In Oxford the r*nniversary had been, however, previously obser\'ed in
the reign of 5Iary as well as in tliat of Elizabeth. We learn from a sermon
by Bishop John Howson in defence of the Festivities of the Church of England
(4tii, Oxf. 1002), that two solemn Masses were appointed in Queen Mary's
days to be celebrated in St. Mary's Clmrch on the Queen's birthday, and
als'o on her coronation-day. And in tlie appendix to a sermon preached at
St. Paul's, November 17, 1599, by Dr. Thomas Holland (-ito, Oxf. 1601),
there arc some interesting particulars given as to the form adopted on
Queen Elizabeth's accession-day. To the opdhiary daily service was added
an exposition of Scripture, "such as islitte tojierswade theaudit^n-y todue
obedience to her Majesty," etc., followed by solemn prayer "made by the
ministers, or set forth by pubhtjue antliority," and, in some cases, " Psalmes
song or sacred Antiplions, either by the whole multitude or by the Quier
(as it is used in her Maiesties Chappell or in C'athedrall Churches)." And
of the beginning of this custom Holland writes thus : " About the VI yearc
of the rcignc of her Excellency was the iirst practize of the puhliqne
solemnization of this day. and (as fan-e forth a.s I can heare, or can by any
diligent enquiry learne) the first pnljlic celebrity of it was instituted in
Oxford (liy JJ. Cooper, being th(m there Vicechanncelor, after B. of Lincolnc,
and by renioue from thence B. of Wiiu-hester), from whence this insiitntiou
flowed by a voluntary current over all this Ilealme, not witliout the secret
motion of God's Holy Spirit, I doubt not, and to the grcate comfort of all
true English harts. Tlie continuall oh.servation of which ceremony sithenec
hath not becne imposed upon the Clmrch of England by any Ecelesiasticall
decree neyther prescribed by any Canon of the Chun-h ; but hath bin
meere voluntarily continued by the religious and dutifull suhiects of this
Realmc," etc.
2 To the Iirst issue of the Accession Service in 172S for lltli June, the
anniversary of the accession of George I., the fnll-iwing rubric is ].rrli\.-d :
"Tills day being the festiv.al of the Ajiostle St. IJarn.'ibas. the proper ( ntic.-
i'or that day shall be wholly omitted, and this used instead of it ; and tliere
,^llall lie notice thereof given iiubllckly in the Church the Sunday before."
In a copy of this fonn preserved in the Bodleian Library (Svo, llawllnson,
1043) there is the following caustic MS. note by the Non-juror Thomas
Hcamc : '* I have liought and secured tliis form of Prayer with Thanks-
giving, because in after times perhaps it will hardly be" bellev'd that tlie
olllce for tlie day of St, Baniahas the Apostle was publickly ]irohibitcd,
and that orders were given that no nolh e shoulil be tiiken of him, but thai;
Instead theriMjf one much inferior to an Apostle should be mentioned in his
room." Ileanie adds also in another note that the omission (d' St, Barnabas
was "to the great ncaudal of good auU lioueut men, who justly think It very
Hhockliig,"
part of the first lesson appointed m James's book (Josh. i. 1-9)
was restored in place of tlie lesson substituted by Queen Anne
(Prov. viii. 13-36).
From tliis brief sununary it is evident that the three earlier
forms liatl in their original condition sufficient authority ; the
days were appointed by Parliament for special services, such
serWces were prepared by Convocation, and tlien were ratified
by tlie Crown. The subsequent alterations lacked both
parliameutarj' and ecclesiastical sanction, except in so far as
the former was afforded by the recognition of the days and
their services through the incorporation of the whole Prayer
Book Calendar in the Act for the regulation of the Calendar,
24 Geo. II. c. 23. Considerable difficulty was in consequence
felt by many Clergy as to the legality of the forms, the recon-
cilability of their use with the terms of the Act of Unifonnity,
and tlie right of the State to impose them ; added to which,
the tone of portions of them jarred painfully in their bitter-
ness aud vehemence witli that of the ordinary devotions of
the Cliurch, "Popish treacherj', " "hellish malice," "blood-
thirsty enemies," and the like expressions, which were chiefly
found in the form for November 5, were felt by most to be
out of place in a service of solemn thanksgiving and interces-
sion. In consequence, the observance of the several days
gradually fell into comparative disuse, and was kept of late
years only in Cathedrals, College Chapels, and in some (and
some only) of the Cliurches where Daily Prayer was oft'ered.
The subject was considered in the Lower House of Convoca-
tion in 1857, and a Report from a Committee appointed to
examine it (presented July 10), stated that the serxices as
they then stood, with the alterations which had from time
to time been made, rested on the sole power of the Crown.
The mind of Clergy aud Laity was therefore prepai'ed to
some extent for the debates in Parliament in June 1858 (Ln
which special reference M'as made to the Report of Convoca-
tion) on the expediency of abolishing the obsen'ance of the
three days, which resulted, in the first place, in Addresses to
tlie Queen from both Houses, praying for the discontinuance
of the Forms of Prayer. Upon these Addresses followed, on
January 17, 1859, the issue of the "Warrant" by Her
Majesty, which ordered that tlie use of these foi-ms "be
henceforth discontinued," and that they "be not henceforth
printed and published witli, or annexed to, the Book of
Common Prayer.'' The repeal of the several Acts enjoining
the observance of the anniversaries (including also the Act of
the Parliament of Ireland, 14 & 15 Car. U. c. 23, for the
observance in Ireland of the 23rd October in commemoration
of the Rebellion of 1641) was then in the last place enacted
by Stat. 22 Vict. c. 2, wliich received the Royal Assent on
March 25, 1859. It is, however, a matter for regret that the
history of great national mercies and sins should by this total
repeal have altogether lost its public religious aspect, in
connection with the teaching of the Church of the land ; well
would it ha\e been if but one Collect for each day had been
left by proper authority to preserve the memoi-y and lessons
of events whicli were of the highest national moment.
But if any doubt I'ested on the degree of obligation attaching
to these three earlier forms, much more must it be a question
liow far the remaining service, that for the Accession, can
still buid the Clergy to its use, \\'hen it rests simply and
entirely upon the authority of Proclamation alone, without
sanction from either Parliament or Convocation. Every title
Christian Englishman who has a real 'ieiise of the dignity,
greatness, and responsibility of the Sovereign set over him by
God, and a real interest in the welfare of the nation, must
desire that the day whicli annually commemorates the per-
petuity of our Constitution should be marked \\ ith a special
offering of praise and prayer ; praise for the great mercies
vouchsafed to our land, and prayer that Prince and People
may alike, from the consideration of those mercies, coiitinu-
iilly Icaru and practise lietter their own mutual duties,
(iroatly therefore is it to be «isheil that ti form were pre-
pared by Comocation and duly sanctioned by 1 tirlianient, in
wliich all could gladly and without scruple take part ; a form
wliich \\ ould be indeed at once the annual solemn confession
liy the Church on behalf of the People that by (iod alone
" Kings reign and Princes decree justice," and the annual
witness to the old loyalty tliat jealously guards alike the
Altar and the Throne.
OTHER SUPI'LEMENTARV SEU\-K'E.S.
§ Service in Commemoration of the Fire of London.
A Form of Prayer appointed to be used annually on Sep-
tember 2, in coininemoratioii of the Fire of Luiidoii (which
CDc ^cottisb Iprapcr 15oofe of ins/.
705
commenced on that day), appears in some Oxford Prayer
Books printed between 1681 and 1G83. It was first issued for
use, "by his Majestie's special command," on October 10,
1066, and contained, like otiier special forms, a liynm instead
of the Venite, proper I'salms anil Lessons, etc., but was
without any special mention of the Kire or of the City of
London. In IGOCi it was revised and reissued under Arch-
bishop Tenison's autliority, with a different hymn, and other
changes, and with a Collect added which prayed for the preser-
vation of tlie City from fire. The service was reprinted in a
separate sliapo by the king's printers from time to time, even
as lately as the year 1821 : and a Latin version of it is in-
cluded in the Latin Prayer Book publislied by I'homas
Parsell, of which the last edition appeared in 1/59. Its use
was continued in St. Paul's Cathedral until the year 1859,
when the observance of the day ceased, together with that of
the State holydays abi'ogated by Parliament.
§ The Office, used at the Healing.
Prayer Books printed in the earlier part of the last century,
and particularly during tlic reign of Queen Anne, frequently
contain the prayers used on tlie occasion of the touching by
the sovereign for tlie cure of the king's evil. The earliest
edition in which the Office has as yet been found is of the date
of 1706, and the latest is that printed by Baskett in Oxford
in 1732. [BoiU. Libr.] A Latin version, however, continued
to appear in the later editions of the Latin Prayer Book pub-
lished by Thomas Parsell, of Merchant Taylor's School, to
the year 1759. But as the service possessed no liturgical
authority, and had no rightful place in the English Service-
book, it is not necessary to notice it here in any detail. It
was first, as it seems, compiled in a regular form in the reign
of Henry VII., whose Office was printed by Henry Hills, the
king's printer, in 1686, in quarto,' and is to be found re-
printed in Pegge's CuriaUa Miscellanea (Lond. 1818), and
in vol. iii. of Maskell's Momimetila Hitualia. The order
of the service appears to have varied with each sovereign,
and the ceremonial used by Queen Aime waS considerably
shorter than that adopted by her predecessors.
Although the service appears in Prayer Books of the Georg-
ian era, it is said that it was never used by a sovereign of
the house of Hanover. The jjower of touching was exercised
by the son of James II. as James III. in the hospitals at
Paris, and by Prince Charles Edward at Edinburgh ; "and two
silver touch-pieces for distribution at the healing were struck
by the last representative of the house of Stuart, the Cardinal
of York, under the title of Henry IX., who appears occasion-
ally to liave practised tlie rite. " ''
An Englisli fomi frcjm a Prayer Book of 1710 is given, as
well a.s tlic earlier Latin form, in Pegge's CuriaUa Miscel-
lanea, and from a Prayer Hook of 1715 (also with the Latin
form) in the Notes to A. .). Stcplicns' edition of tlie Prayer
Book, vol. ii. pp. 900-1005, in both cases accompanied with
notices of the rite ; but tlie fullest historical account of the
whole subject is to be found in a pamphlet by Edw. Law
Hussey, Esq., M.R.C.S., of Oxford, reprinted in 1853 from
the ArchcKolocjical Journal, and entitled. On the Cure of
Scrofulous Diseases aUrihnteil to the Hoyal Touch. See also
a paper in the British Mlayaxine for 1848, pp. 122-140.
The Form of Consecrating Cramp-ringa on Oood Friday, as
a remedy against contraction of the nerves and the falling-
sickness — a practice used by Henry VIII. and Queen Mary,
in the assertion of a similar power to that claimed to be
exercised in the preceding rite, was never printed in the
Prayer Book, as it was ne\-er used by any sovereign since the
Reformation, although apparently revised and prepared for
use in the reign of .lames II. It is printed in English (from
a MS. of the latter date) in Pegge's CuriaUa Miscellarmi,
in vol. iii. of Maskell's Monumenta, and in Stephens'
I'rayer Book [Eccl. Hist. Soc], vol. ii. p. 921 ; a Latin form,
prepared for Queen Mai-y in 1554, is to be found in Burnet,
and in Wilkins.
§ Tlie Form used at the Meeting of Convocation.
This Latin form was first printed in 1700 by the king's
printer, and again in 1702, with the title, " Fomia precum in
utraque donio Convocationis, sive Synodi Pralatorum et
cateri Cleri, seu Pros-incialis sen Nationalis, in ipso statim
cujuslibet sessionis initio solemniter recitanda. " It is found
in Parsell's Latin Prayer Book, of which the fourth edition
appeared in 1727, and a later one in 1744 ; and, from thence, in
Bagster's Lilurijia Anglicana Poli/'jlolla, published in 1825.
It consists of the Litany (which is said in the Upper House by
the junior Bishop, and in the Lower by the Prolocutor) with a
special supplication inserted after that for the Clergy, a prayer
after that for the Parliament, and the following four Collects
before the Prayer of St. Chrysostom, viz. that for St. Simon and
St. Jude, the second for Good Friday, and those for St. Peter
and for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity. The form is reprinted
in the Appeudi.x to Perceval's Original Services for the State
Holy Days, pp. 102, 103. W. D. M.
II.
THE SCOTTISH PEAYER BOOK OF 1637.
The Scottish "Service-book," as it was called at the time
of its introduction, is alike interesting from the great names
with which it is associated, from the calamitous circumstances
of its first appearance, from its relation to the first book of
Edward, and from the influence which, in spite of its failure
in Scotland, it exercised on the final revision of the English
book. A brief description of this Prayer Book — popularly,
but incorrectly, called Ai'chbishop Laud's — is now presented
to the reader.
To begin with its historic antecedents. A real Episcopacy
— as distinct from what is known in Scottish history as the
"Tulchan Prelacy" — was provided for Scotland by the con-
secration, in 1610, of Archbishop Spottiswood, Bishop Lamb,
and Bishop Hamilton, for the sees of Glasgow, Brechin, and
Galloway. Spottiswood became Archbishop of St. Andrews
in 1615 ; and in the same year he seems to have drawn up a
list of the wants of the Scottish Church, among which was
included the lack of a fonn of Divine Service. [Grub'.s Feel.
Hist, of Scotland, ii. 305.] At that tune Knox's Book of
Common Order was used along with extemporary prayer.
In 1616 the General Assembly at St. Andrews, under Spot-
tiswood's presidency, agi-eed to the proposal (which King
James had expressly supported) that an uniform order of
Liturgy should be framed, "to be read in all kirks on the
ordinary days of prayer, and every Sabbath-day before ser-
mon." "The King," says Mr. Gi-ub, "certainly intended to
1 This edition is in Latin, with English rubrics. An edition entirely in
English was also printed by the same printer in the same year in duodecimo,
of which a copy exists among Ant. \ Wood's books in the Bodl. Libr.,
Ko. SOa, iv.
pave the way for the introduction of the English Prayer
Book," while many of the Ministers of the Assembly merely
contemplated a book on the model of the Common Order.
[Grub, ii. 375.] James determined to accustom the inhabi-
tants of Edinburgh to the presence of the English ritual
(which he had once rudely and ignorantly sath'ized) by
establishing it in the Chapel Royal at Holyrood, where, on
Saturday, May 17, 1617, it was for the first time perfonned
with ' ' singing of choristers, playing on organs, and surplices, "
in the King's o\vn presence. A celebration followed on Whit-
sunday, when Bishop Andrewes preached. The Dean of the
chapel. Bishop Cowpar, at first declined to communicate
kneeling : Laud, who was in attendance on the Court, gave
offence by performing a funeral in a surplice ; and it was
evident that the example of the Chapel Royal would not be
willingly followed by the Scottish kirks. One other public
step was taken in James's reign — the promulgation in 1620 of
an Ordinal for Scotland — a very unsatisfactory rite, which
ignored the Order of Deacons. But the King received from
Archbishop Spottiswood the draft of a Liturgy, which he
caused to be revised by Dean Young of Winchester, and
then returned, with marks of his own, to Spottiswood. [Law-
son, Hist. Episc. Ch. i. 497.]
Charles I., at his accession, resumed the project of a
Scottish Liturgy, and carefully considered the book which his
father had received. Rather more than a year after Laud's
translation to the see of London — that is, in September 1629
— the Bishop (then just able to sit up after a severe illness)
- See Nutcs and Queries, Cth S., vol. vii. p. 411.
7o6
(General 9ppenDir.
was \nsited by Dr. John Max-n-ell, one of the Edinburgh
Clergy, who told him in the King's name that he was desired
to comnmnicate with some Scottish Bishops, including Arch-
bishop Spottiswood, concerning a Liturgy for that Cliurch.
"I told him," says Laud [Works, iii. 427], "I was clear of
opinion that if His Majesty would have a Liturgy settled
there, it icere bext to take tfie Enrjlhli Litunjij without any
variation He replied that lie was of a contrary oijinion ;
and that not lie only, but the Bishops of that kingdom,
thought their countrymen would be much better satis-
fied if a Liturijij icere framed by their own Clergy, than to
have the English Liturgy put upon them ; yet, he added,
that it might be according to the form of the English Ser\'ice-
book." Laud replied, tliat if this were so, he would take no
further step until he was able to see the King. This he did
in October ; Charles "avowed tlie sending of Dr. Maxwell,
and the message," but acquiesced in Laud's opinion. "And
in tliis condition," says Laud, " I held the matter for two, if
not three, years at least." Maxwell, meantime, was the
bearer of a Royal Letter to Archbishop Spottiswood, pressing
greater conformity to the Church of England. " [Lawson, i.
449.]
In June 1633 King Charles was crowned at Holy rood ;
and Maxwell appeared among the prelates as Bishop elect of
Ross. A few days later Laud preached in the Chapel Royal
on the benefits of ecclesiastical conformity ; and some thought
tliat this would have been a favourable time for proposing
the reception of the English Liturgy in Scotland. But it
appears that in this summer — otherwise memorable for Laud's
translation to Canterbury — Charles gave way to the urgency
of some of the Scottish Bishops for a Liturgy of their o-mi.
They used not only the argument from national feeling, but
another which would have great weight with the King and
Laud : " that, if they did not then make the book as j)erfect as
they could, they should never be able to get it perfected
after." [Laud, iii. 343.] The King ordered an Episcopal com-
mittee in Scotland to prepare a Liturgy, and to communicate
with Laud, who was conunanded to give his "best assistance
in this way, and work." " I delayed as much as I could,"
he says, ' ' with my obedience, and, when nothing would serve
but it must go on, I confess I was very serious, and (/are
them the best help I coidd." [Laud, iii. 428.] Bishops Juxon
and Wren were to assist Laud. Charles, in the meantime,
determined that nothing should be wanting for the due per-
formance of the English ritual at HoljTood : in October
1633 he sent orders for that purpose, one of which was,
"that there be prayers twice a day with the quire, according
to the English Liturgy, till some course be taken for making
one that may fit the customs and cons-titutions of that
Church." Laud also wrote repeatedly to Bishop Bellenden,
Dean of the Chapel, exhorting him to preach " in his whites "
on Sundays, and otherwise to see to the due order of the
worship.
The compilation of the Scottish Liturgy appears to have
occupied between two and three years. Of the Scottish pre-
lates, some, as the Archbishop of Glasgow, were more or
less indisposed towards the undertaking, others were
decidedly favourable, as Lindsay of Edinburgh, who was
afterwards denounced at the Assembly of Glasgow as "a
bower to the altar, a dedicator of churches," and even " an
elevator at consecration ; " Bellenden of Aberdeen, A\'hiteford
of Brechin, and Sydserf of Galloway, who was pelted in 1637
by female fanatics, and accused of Arminianism and Popery,
and driven into exile, where, alone of Scottish Bishops, he
survived until the Restoration. But tlie two chief compilers
were Maxwell, Bishop of Ross, and Wedderburn, of Dun-
blane. In fact, if the book were to be called after any one
man, it should be known as "Maxwell's Liturgy." He was
a person of much practical energy, and very obnoxious to the
Scottish Puritans. As early as 1636, or earlier, he estab-
lished the English ritual in his Cathedral of Fortrose, where
he afterwards, for some time, upheld tlie Scottish ; he was
denounced in 1638 as " a bower at the altar, a wearer of cope
and rochet," and .as having "consecrated" Deacons. Wed-
derburn was a Scotsman educated at Oxford, had been inti-
mate with Casaubon, and iield piebends at Wells and Ely ;
Laud knew liim personally, " wished him very well for liia
worth sake, "and thouglit that although " a mere scholar and
a book-man," he was certain to do good service, if "his
heart " could be kept up. The Presbyterians denounced him
as having, by lectures at St. Andrews, "corrupted divei-s
with Arminianism," and left evidence "in all the nooks of
the kingdom, of Ilia errors and perverseuess, luiving been
special penner, practiser, urger of our books and all nova-
tions." As an orthodox theologian, he had objected to the
inadequacy of the Ordinal of 1620, and he felt very strongly
the desirableness of making the new Service-book more per-
fect, by conforming it in certain impoi-tant points to Edward
YI. 's fir t Liturgy ; for Laud cites a note of his, to the effect
that if the forms of administering the Sacrament be left as
they stood in that Liturgy, "the action will be much the
shorter ; beside-% the words which are added since, ' Take,
eat, in remembrance, &c. , may seem to relish somewhat of the
Zuinglian teilet." [Laud, iii 357.]
Archbishop Laud himself disclaims, and with perfect justice,
the authorship of tlie Scottish Liturgy, but allows that he
took a deep interest in, and prayed heartily for, its success.
Again, he writes, " I like the book exceeding well, anil hope
I shall be able to maintain anything that is in it, and wish
with all my heart that it had been entertained there. " [Laud,
iii. 335.] We find him urging on the English printers, revis-
ing proofs, encouraging Maxwell, receiving his queries as to
certain suggestions, and " notes " from Bishop \Vedderbuni,
as to which he takes the Kuig's pleasure, ' ' sits down seriously "
with Bishop Wren to consider them, remits them to Charles
with remarks, receives back from him those wliich he has
approved, and sends them to Wedderbuni written in an
English Prayer Book, April 20, 1636. [Laud, vi. 456.] One or
two of the points whicli he takes may illustrate the minute
carefulness of his criticism. The Psalms caimot be well sung
without a colon in the middle of each verse. As to the
Oftertory sentences, "we admit of aU yours," but some
others from the English book are recommended in addition.
— "God be thanked," he concludes ; " this will do very well,
and, I hope, breed up a great deal of devout and religious
liiety in that kingdom." He asks Wedderbuni to send him
a list of desideraiida whicli would make the Liturgy still
more perfect, whether the times will bear them or not : he
may find some use for them. The King himself was eager
and painstaking ; having sanctioned a first draft of the book
on September 28, 1634, he gave a Royal Warrant in April
1636, for the revised fonn sent by Laud to Weddei'burn ; and
most of Laud's alterations were written down in his presence.
As early as September 30, 1633, Laud had urged Spottis-
wood to proceed strictly according to law, " because His
Majesty had no intendment to do anything but that which
was according to 'honour and justice, and the laws of that
kingdom." [Laud, iii. 42'.!.] And he tells us that he ever
advised the Scottish Bishops, both in the King's presence
and at other times, both by word and WTiting, ' ' to do nothing
in this particular but by warrant of law," protesting that,
as he knew not the Scottish laws, he must leave the manner
of introducing the Liturgy wholly to them. "And, I am
sure, they told me they would adventure it no way but that
which was legal." [Laud, iii. 336.]
The misfortune was, that some of the Scottish Bishops, as
well as Charles I. himself, appear to have regarded as legal
what to the Scottish nation seemed an intolerable excess
of power. Spottiswood, if we may trust the report of his
conversation with the Earl of Rothes, relied on royal prero-
gative as sufficient to warrant the introduction of the Liturgy,
or indeed of any other ecclesiastical change. [Lawson, i. 519.]
But Maxwell took a higher Ime, to the efl'ect tliat the
Bishops, who " had the autliority to govern the Church, and
were the presentative Church of the kingdom, " had as such
concurred with the King in introducing the Liturgy. [Lawson,
i. 511.] Maxwell on this occasion spoke of General
Assemblies as ' ' consisting of a multitude ; " w hereas it is
remarkable that Laud in his History expresses an opmioii
that " the Bishops trusted with this business went not the
rii/ht iray, by a tleneral Assembly and other legal courses of
that kingdom " [Laud, iii. 278] ; and in letters to Stratford
and Spottiswood, he speaks of the Bishojis' " improvidence"
in being too desirous to "do all in a quiet way," in not
" taking the whole Council into coiisideratiiui," " engaging "
the lay lords, and "dealing with" tlie ministers. "The
King," he writes, "ought to have dealt more thoroughly
with the lords of the Council, and sifted their judgements "
[Laud, vi. .Vw] ; ami he proceeds to impute treachery to one
wiiom he had trusted, the Earl of Trai|U;ur : an imputation
wiiich Collier in his History repeats [viii. 114]. The gross
mistake of publishing the ('anoiis, which conunanded the use
of the Liturgy, before the l^iturgy itself appeared, has often
excited astonishment. Tlie Caiums were promulgated by
letters patent, on the ground of royal jirerogative in causes
ecclesiastical, M.ay 23, 16.'!5, ami publishcil early in 1636.
The Sei'vice-book was authorized by a Royal Warrant of
October 18, 1636, and by an Act of the Scottish Privy
Cf)e ^cottisf) Ipragcr T5oo(i of iop.7.
707
Council, December 20, 163G. But altliough a new Ordinal,
of which no copy is now supposed to exist, but which appears
to have recognized tlie Order of Deacons, and to liave liad tlie
form "Receive the Holy Ghost," appeared at the close of
1636 [Grub, ii. 368], the .Service-book was not actually pub-
lished until Lent 1037.
We may lay all due stress on the various instances of mis-
management in this memorable transaction ; but if Cliarlcs I.
had taken a moderate course, avoiding the display of high-
handed authority and the appearance of English dictation,
and laying the proposed book before the General Assembly
and the Parliament, its chance of acceptance could not have
been materially improved, although there miglit have been
fewer outbreaks of fanatical M'rath, fewer outrages in the
name of religion.' The book — although, as we shall see, not
faultless — was, in fact, too good to be appreciated by a
people so deeply alienated, as Mr. Grub observes [ii. 399],
"from what had been the common heritage of Christendom
for fifteen centuries." Brandiall, then Bishop of Derry,
wrote to Spottiswood that the book was " tohe envied, peHiajm
in some tlihifia, if one owned all," and agreed with Dr. Uuppa,
aftei'wards Bishop of Winchester, that since the first six
centui'ies there had been no such Liturgy ; and Maxwell
declared it to be "one of the most orthodox and perfect
Liturgies in the Christian Church." But this, to the Scots,
was no recommendation.
Passing l:)y the disasters whicli followed the attempt to
introduce it at Edinburgh, July 23, 1637, we proceed to take
a survey of its contents ; —
"Prefixed to it was the royal proclamation enjoining its
use A preface followed, which made reference to the
constant use of some prescribed order of prayer in the Church,
to the desirableness of uniformity, and to the propriety of
adhering to the English form, even as to some festivals and
rites which were not yet received in Scotland. " [Grab, ii.
382. ] Then came some remarks on ceremonies, the order for
the Psalms (which were taken from the Bible version) and the
Tables of Psalms and Lessons. ' ' The Lessons for Sundays
are almost precisely identical with those In the Elizabethan
Table of 1561 The same may be said of the Holyday
Proper Lessons, except that some First Lessons are omitted,
and a few unimportant substitutions." [Scottish Eeclis.
Journal, iv. 199.] By the King's express order (October 18,
1636), six chapters from Wisdom were appointed for three
Saints' days, six from Ecclesiasticus for three- others. He
also commanded that some names of Scottish Saints, especi-
ally those of royal blood, and some of the most holy Bishops
(as David, Kentigern, Colman, Columba, Palladius, Ninian,
Margaret) sliould be placed in the Calendar ; no Lessons for
ordinary days were taken from the Apocrypha, the space
thus left being filled by a large increase of chapters from tlie
Old Testament Canon. Thus, instead of our four chapters
from Leviticus, eight were prescribed ;' from Numbers,
twenty-four instead of eighteen ; from Ezekiel, twenty-eight
instead of nine ; and between November 22 and December
17, fourteen chapters from 1 Chronicles, and thirty-four from
2 Chronicles, two very Important books passed over in our
arrangement. Ecclesiastes was finished on July 27, and was
followed by Isaiah. Jeremiah was begun on August 31; on
Michaelmas Day, which had no Proper Lessons, Ezekiel was
begun at Evening Prayer ; Hosea on October 19 ; and
Malachi was finished November 22. Then, on December
17, the latter chapters of Isaiah were begun again, from the
forty-seventh onwards ; so that the sixty-sixth concludeil the
year, a.s in our course. The ruliric before the Daily Oftlce
ordered that the accustomed place of the church, cliapel, or
chancel, should be used, except it should be otherwise deter-
mined by the Ordinary ; that chancels should remain as in
times past ; and that the ' ' ornaments " of the Clergy should
be such as should be prescribed by the King, according to the
Act of Parliament in that behalf. The duty of saying the
Daily Office, either privately or openly, was laid on the
Clergy, " except they be hindered by some urgent cause ; of
which cause, if it be frequently pretended, they are to make
the Bishop of the diocese, or the Archbishop of the province,
the judge and allower."
In the Daily Office the first sentence was, " Cast away
1 lu the Remains of Dean Granville, of Durham, jtublislied by the
Surtees Society (Part ii. p. 117), he states that on Holy Thursday 1683 he
had a conversation ^\ith Burnet, Archbishop of St. Andrews, who, " sadly
bewailed " the want of liturgical worship in Scotland, "as also that they
liad not at first, after the Kinji's restoration, attempted to introduce the
Liturjry of the Church of England, together with the Bishops : which he
and the Bishops of Scotland were now convinced they might have done
with as little trouble as they did the other."
from you all your transgressions ; " and there were fewer
sentences tlian in our book. The Confession was to be said
Ijy the pec^jle after or v it I 1. the Minister. The "Presbyter"
was to pronounce the Absolution "standing up and turning
himself to the people, but they still remaining humbly on
tlieir knees." This was a considerable improvement on the
English rubric as it then stood, "the Absolution to be pro-
nounced by the Minister alone ; " and here we may observe a
case in which the Caroline revisers of our own book looked to
tlie Scottish Service-book, although they altered "Minister"
into "Priest," avoiding (as they avoided some other faults)
the concession to anti-Catholic pi'cjudice implied by the sub-
stitution of " Presbyter." The " power and commandment "
was said to be given to the Presbyters of the Church of (iod,
the Ministers of His Gospel; but after "and His Holy
Spirit," came a clause which might be interpreted in a
sense which would favour Puritanism: "that we may
receive from Him absolution from all our sins. " The twenty-
tliird Psalm was substituted for the Benedicite. " Presbyters
and Ministers " were named in the third versicle before the
Collects. The Collect for Clergy and Peojile was called a
prayer "for the holy Clergy." The second of our Ember
Collects was placed before the Prayer of St. Chrysostom.
In the Athanasian Creed one or two alterations were made
in the English text : "He therefore that would be saved, let
him thus think," etc. "So He Who is God and Man," etc.
Laud, writing to AVedderbura, April 1636, had refused to
allow any more emendations in this Creed. The Litany
prayed for the governing of "the Holy Catholic Church
universally."
There was a peculiar Collect for Easter Even, which has
been the model of our present noble one, the work of the last
revisers. It is : —
"0 most gi'acious God, look upon us in mercy; and
grant that as we are baptized into the death of Thy Son, our
Saviour, Jesus Christ, so by our true and hearty repentance
all our sins may be buried with Him, and we not fear the
grave ; that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
glory of Thee, Father, so we also may walk in newness of
life, but our sins never be able to rise in judgement against us,
and that for the merits of Jesus Christ that died, and was
buried, and rose again for us."
The Conmiunion Office "was in more ways than one indica-
tive of Wedderburn's desire to return to the first Liturgy of
Edward; and "gi'eatneed there was, " said David Mitchell,
afterwards for a few months Bishop of Aberdeen, " to return
to it, propter Sacramentarios. [Lawson, i. 547.] Bishop
Horsley's expressed admiration of the Scottish Communion
Office, which is a revised form of the Office of 1637, is well
known : he considered that it was decidedly better than the
English Office of 1662, although the latter was "very good."
The introductory rubric ordered that the Holy Table (which
was never spoken of in the Office simply as the Table) should
have "a carpet, and a fair white linen cloth upon it, and
other decent furniture, meet for the high mysteries there to
be celebrated," and should "stand at the uppermost end of
the chancel or church." The Presbyter was to begin "at the
north side or end thereof ; " our book has nothing about
"end." He was to turn to the people when reciting the
Commandments, a direction not given in England until 1662.
An anti-Sabbatarian feeling expressed itself in the words, that
the people were to ask God's mercy for their transgression of
the law, " either according to the letter, or to the mystical
importance of the said Commandment ; " and it is remarkable
that the difficulty felt as to the prayer referring to the Fourth
Commandment not only suggested this qualifying clause, but
afterwards led many of the Non-jurors to substitute the Evan-
gelical summary of the Law, commonly called "the Short
Law," for the Ten Commandments. Instead of " Have mercy
upon tlie whole Church," the reading was "Have mercy
upon Thy Holy Catholic Church, and in the particular Church
in which we live so rule," etc.
It was expressly provided that the people should say,
"Glory be to Thee, Lord," at the a«inouncement of the
Gospel, and also, "Thanks be to Thee, Lord," at its end.
The Nicene Creed was to be said or smig : this alternative
was given in England in 1662. The Offertory began with
the account, in Genesis iv. 3, of Cain and Abel. The thanks-
giving of David [1 Chron. xxix. 10, S'y. ] was one of the sentences;
the Scottish Office, since the revision of 1755, has ordered it
to be said at the moment of presenting the alms. There were
no sentences from the Apocrypha. The alms were loosely
called oblations (in the present English book a distinction is
observed), and they were to be " humbly presented on the
7o8
General ^ppeiTDfr.
Holy Table," an order which our present book has adopted.
There was another order for the " otfering up and placing " of
the Elements upon the Lord's Table ; and our present book
has substantially adopted this also, and has a reference to the
Elements as " oblations " in the prayer, whereas the Scottish
book had no such reference. The words ' ' militant here in
earth" were retained. Where we read, "all Bishops and
Curates," the Scottish reads, "all Bishops, Presbyters,
and Curates." At a Celebration these words were added ;
"And we commend especially unto Thy merciful goodness
the congi'egation which is here assembled in Thy Name, to
celebrate the commemoration of the most precious Death and
Passion of Thy Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ." The
Liturgy of 1549 was not followed in its mention of the Blessed
Virgin, the Patriarchs, Prophets, etc., nor in its commenda-
tion of the departed faithful to God's mercy ; but other parts
of the language of 1549 were adopted, the Prayer, after ' ' any
other adversity, " proceeding, as now the Scottish form does :
" And we also bless Thy holy Name for all 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 declared
in all Thy Saints, who have been the choice vessels of Thy
grace, and the lights of the world, in their several genera-
tions ; most humbly beseeching Thee that we may have grace
to follow the e.xample of their stedfastness in Thy faith, and
obedience to Thy holy commandments ; that at the day of
the general resurrection, 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 Sly
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from tlie foun-
dation of tlie world. Grant this," etc. It is easy to see that
tlie Caroline revisers had this before them when they framed
the commemoration of the departed servants of God for the
book of 1662.
The service then proceeded as it was settled in the second
book of Ed'nard, until the Preface, the word "blessed"
being inserted before "Virgin" in the Cliristmas Preface.
The Invitation, Confession, Absolution, Sentences, Preface,
and Tersauctus were kept in the place which they held in the
English rite by Laud's desire ; but the Prayer of Access was
deferred until just before Communion. The rubric before
consecration was : —
' ' Then the Presbyter, standing up, shall say the Prayer of
Consecration, as followeth. But then during tlie time of conse-
cration, he shall stand at such a part of the Holy Table, where
he may with the more ease and decency use both his hands."
On this it is to be observed : [1] That Laud had expressly
required that " every prayer or other action in the Communion
should be named in the rubric, that it miglit be known what
it was, — The Prayer of Consecration, the Slemorial or Prayer
of Oblation." And until 1662 the Enghsh book bad no such
words as "the Prayer of Consecration." [2] That from
Laud's own words [Laud, iii. 347], and from the obvious sense
of the passage, it is plain that the celebrant was intended to
perform the consecration standing in front of the Holy Table.
This was objected to in Boyne's Master-piece, as "smell-
ing very strongly of Popery." [Laud, iv. 495.] In reference to
such changes, Laud argaies that " tlie north end of the Table
in most places is too narrow, and wants room, to lay the
Service-book open before him that officiates, and to place the
bread and wine within his reach." [Here again Laud allows
the word "end" to stand for "side."] And [3] that this
tlirows light on the present English rubric, whicli was clearly
framed with the Scottish rubric in view ; and discourages
tliat interpretation of it which would have the Priest stand
before the Table only while ordering, not while consecrating,
the Elements.
The actual Prayer is like our own until "Hear us," except
that it reads "which" for "who " after " Father," and also
inserts "and Sacrifice" after "precious death" — an insertion
not taken from the Liturgy of 1549 ; then after the words,
"beseech Thee, " comes the Invocation, a passage of which
Laud says [iii. 354] : "'Tis true, this passage is not in the
Prayer of Consecration in the Service-book of England ; but
I tcish iL-ilh all my heart it icere. For though the consecration
of the Elements may be without it, yet it is much more
solemn and full by that invocation." The form may be com-
pared with those of Edward's First Liturgy and tlie present
Scottish Office.
First Book.
And with Thy Holy Spirit and word ^
vouchsafe to bl^ess and sancJ^tify tliese
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 : Who in the same night ....
1637.
And of Thy Almighty goodness vouch-
safe so to bless and sanctify witli Thy
word and Holy Spirit these Thy gifts and
creatures of bread and wine, tliat they
may be unto us the Body and Blood of
Tliy most dearly beloved Son : so that we
receiving them according to Thy Son our
Saviour Jesus Christ's holy institution,
in remembrance of His death and passion,
may be partakers of the same His most
precious Body and Blood : Who in the
night ....
Present Scottish.
And of Thy Almighty goodness vouch-
safe 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 Sou.
It is remarkable that early in the eighteenth century Bishop
Rose of Edinburgh v\a3 accustomed, when using the Englisli
Office of 1662, to insert this Invocation ; and it became one
of the famous Usages. The present Scottish rite, since 1755,
has placed the Invocation after the Oblation, and, since 1764,
has omitted the Western phrase "to us," and the sentence,
"so that we receiving," etc.
The English Office until 1662 had no directions for any
"manual rites" in consecration. But the practice, as we
infer from Laud's letter to Wedderburn, and from Cosiu
[ IVorku, v. 340], was for the Priest to take the paten ami
chalice into his hands. But the Scottish book prescribed all
the four manual rites, just as tlie book of 1662, evidently
borrowing from it, lias prescribed tliem. This is one of the
most important instances of the beneficial effects of the
Scottisli book on the Caroline revision.
After the words of Institution came, " Immediately after
this shall bo said tlie Memorial, or Prayer of Oblation as fol-
loweth : "
"Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to
the institution of Tliy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus
(yhrist, we Tliy humble servants do celebrate and make here
before Thy Divine M.ijesty, witli these Thy holy gifts " [here
the present Scottish Office, since 174.'5, has added " which we
now olTcr unto Thee ; " an express oblation in this place being
J It acema certain that by " word " is mount the words of Institution,
one of the greater ' ' Usages, " and ranking as such with the
Invocation of the Holy Spirit, the mixed cup, and the non-
exclusion, to say the least, of prayer for the departed ;] '
"the memorial wliich Thy Son hath willed us to make;
having in remembrance His blessed Passion," [the present
Scottish adds, " and precious Death, "] ' ' mighty Resurrection,
and glorious Ascension ; rendering unto Thee most hearty
thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the
same." [Here the present Scottisli inserts the Invocation.]
"And we entirely desire Thy Fatherly goodness," etc., as in
our present book down to "humbly beseeching Thee," when
following the book of 1549, it proceeded, "tliat whosoever
shall be partakers of this Holy Communion may wortliily re-
ceive the most precious liodj' and Blood of Thy Son Jesus
Christ, and be fullilled with 'I'hy grace and heavenly benedic-
tion, and made one body with llini, tliat He may dwell in
tliem, and they in Him. And although we be unworthy,"
etc., as in the present English. Tlien came tlic Lord's Pr.ayer ;
Laud, it may l)e added, having thoroughly approved the
placing of it and of the Prayer of Oblation before the Com-
munion. Tlien tlie Prayer of Access ; and then the Com-
munion, the Bishop or the celebrant being ordered first to
receive, and then to administer to the otlier Clergy, " that
they may helii him that celebrateth " (as it then stood in the
^ or these four usages the book of 1G37 sanctioned only one, the Invoca-
tion.
Cf)C ^tist) Pragcc TBook.
709
EngliRh book, "that they may help tlic cliicf Ministei'") "all
humbly kneeling : " the English book then had no such ad-
verb ; "meekly" was added in 1062. Tlic Benedicti(m,
" the Body of our Lord," etc. {which was much objected to
by the Puritans, as suggestive of transubstantiation !) was to
be said by the Celebrant himself when receiving, and to bo
followed by Amen ; and the "Take and eat this," "Drink
this," which had been first inserted in l,'jr)2, were, according
to Wedderburn's request, omitted. Laud writes, "/ see no
hurt in the omission of those latter words, none at all. And
if there be any, it proceeded not from me." [Laud, iii. 357.]
After the administration, the Celebrant was to cover the
remains of the Sacrament "with a fair linen cloth or cor-
jmral:" no such rule then existed in the Knglish book, but
it was adopted — excepting the word "corporal," and witli
the addition of the word "reverently" — in 1G62. The Col-
lect "Almighty and everliving (3od"then followed, as in the
English book ; the strange error which from the first book
downwards had made this prayer, while addressing the
Father, speak of "Thy mystical Body," was not cori'ected.
The Office was concluded liy the Gloria in Excelsis and the
Blessing. Among the rubrics after it there was a direction
that after service what had been collected from the people
should be divided in the presence of the Presbyter and church-
wardens ; half was to be for the Presbyter's use, "to furnish
him with books of holy divinity ; " half for purposes of piety
and charity within the parish. There was also a careful pro-
vision, — which did not then exist in the English book, but
was adopted iu 1062, — for the prevention of irreverent use of
the consecrated remnants. To this was added: "And to
the end there may be little left, he that officiates is required
to consecrate with the least ; and then, if there be want, the
words of consecration may be repeated again, over more
either bread or wine ; the Presbyter beginning at these words
in the Prayer of Consecration : ' Our Saviour, in the night
that He was betrayed, took ' " etc. This provision was also
adopted, and made somewhat more definite, 'in 1662. The
last rubric provided that every parishioner shall communicate
at the least three times in the year, "of which Pasch or
Easter shall be one ; and shall also receive the Sacraments
and other rites according to the order in this book appointed."
This, excepting the word Pasch, which was a peculiarly
Scottish term for Easter, was then the language of the English
book ; but the Scottish omitted the I'ule about parishioners
reckoning at Easter with the parson, vicar, or curate, etc.,
and paying all ecclesiastical dues.
The only features in the Occasional Offices worthy of special
notice are the following. In the first prayer at Public Bap-
tism, before the entreaty that Ciod would mercifully look
upon these children, caine the sentence, " Sanctify this foun-
tain of Baptism, Thou Wliich art the Sanctifier of all things."
The first book had placed this sentence, together with a
signing of the Cross, in a Collect beginning, " mo.st merci-
ful God, our Saviour Jesu Christ," which, with other praj'ers,
was to be said after the water in the font had been changed,
and before any child was baptized therein. Bucer had ob-
jected to this; "his fear was, lest it should engender the
idea, that into the Elements themselves there was infused
some magical efficacy." [\V'ii,iiki:kor('K on Holy Bripl. p. 247.]
His objection, however unreasonable, had led to the omission
of the benediction of the water in the second book : and the
compilers of the Scottisli Service-book resolved to return to
tlie precedent of 1549, and to ))orrow from its elaborate bene-
dictory OlHcc one sentence which should represent the idea,
and might be inserted in tlie actual Order of Baptism. This
was one of the points which gave great offence ; it was a
"consecration of holy water." And in the prayer before
administration, " Almighty everliving God," which had stood
at the end of the benedictory form of 1549, the reading was,
" this water, which we here bless and dedicate in Thy J^ame
to this spiritual washing. " The Caroline revisers substantially
imitated this when they inserted the clause, "Sanctify this
water," etc., into the latter of these two prayers.
The Comniination address was to be heard by the people,
"sitting and attending with reverence," a direction not
found in the English book.
Such was the Service-book of 1637. Its history, to tlic
thoughtful Churchman, is suggestive of much hope and com-
fort. After all the learned labour and devout solicitude
bestowed upon it, after all the prayers made for its success,
it comes forth associated with all that could most deeply pre-
judice the people of Scotland in its di.sfavour ; it is made
the occasion of sacrilegious outbreaks ; it is spurned and de-
nounced, with prayers that God would " confound " it ; and
it virtually kindles the first flame of civil war. Those who
have been most heartily interested in it have to mourn, as
Laud did, over the failure of their hopes, and to jjrophesy
that Scotland "will one day have more cause " than them-
selves for sorrow. [Laud, iii. 338.] Bishop Wedderburn,
driven, like most of tlie Scottish prelates, to seek a refuge
out of Scotland, dies at or near Canterbury, in 16.39. [Lawson,
611.] Bishop Maxwell, appointed by tlie King to Irish sees,
plundered and wounded by Romanist insurgents, dies Arch-
bishop of Tuam, February 14, 1646 — being found lifeless on
his knees ; an end, surely, not unfitting for one who had so
laboured to promote God's worship. Years pass away ; the
Piestoration arrives, and the Cliurch of England has to re-
settle her Prayer Book. In this work the ill-fated Scottish
Prayer Book is unexpectedly and manifoldly influential ; it
assists the orthodox Caroline revisers to raise the tone of the
English book, by various significant though gentle alterations,
and in this way it materially strengthens the hold of Catholic
belief and devotion on the hearts of the English race. In
Scotland, indeed, the restored Church, for the most part,
worships without a Liturgy ; but when disestablished in 1689,
after some years, it adopts from the book of 1637 a Commu-
nion Office which, passing through several revisions, becomes
the known standard of a deeply earnest churchmanship,
imparts one of its main features to the American rite, and
may yet, in God's Providence, do a work for Faith and Unity.
"Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my
strength for nought, and in vain ; yet surely my judgement
is witli the Lord, and my work with my God." [Isa. xlix.
4.] -W. B.
III.
THE IRISH PRAYEE BOOK.
The introduction of the Revised English Prayer Book into
Ireland after the Restoration was effected, not merely by
royal authority, or as an act of servile imitation and compli-
ance, but as the result of deliberate and careful consideration
on the part of the Convocation and Parliament of that king-
dom. Among the MSS. of Archbishop King preserved iu
Trinity College, Dublin, is a volume containing the journals
of the Irish Convocation in 1661 — 1665, from which it appears
that in August and September the English book was examined
by both Houses separately, and approved, the Lower House
recommending the addition of Forms of Prayer for the Lord-
Lieutenant and for October 23. In November they resolved
that an Act of Parliament should be asked for, enjoining the
use of the book on the Irish Church : but, from some unknown
causes, the procuring such an Act was delayed for nearly four
years.' At length, on January 17, 1661, the Bill for Unifor-
1 See "The Irish Convocation of 1*561," an article [hy Rpv. .T. C. Cros-
thwaite] in the JiUh Ecdesia^tkal Jouriwl for Decemher 1S43, vol. ii, pp.
290-292.
mity was read for the first time in the House of Commons;
after the second reading, on February 1, it was referred to a
committee, which reported that alterations were necessary in
regard to dates which had already elapsed, and one or two
other minor points. A new Bill was consequently introduced
on May IS, 1666, which passed the House of Commons on
May 22, and the House of Lords in due succession, and
received the Royal Assent on June 18.
The English Prayer Book is therefore the Prayer Book also
of the Irish Church by its own free adoption. But it con-
tained, and still in a lesser degree contains, several additions
whicli render it a distinct book, and which we now proceed
to point out in brief detail. -
- The original MS. of the Irish Book is fortunately still preserved in the
Rnll.'i Office in Dnblin ; it was edited hy Archibald J. Ste]iheDS, Esq., in
1S49-50. in three vols, for the Eccl. Hist. Soc. . vith full and elaborate his-
torical introductions. A valuable sketch of the history of the Irish book,
by Rev. W. Keatinge Clay, B.D., is to be found in the British Magasine for
December 1846, pp. 601-629.
7io
(General 3ppcnDir.
I. In 1662 an Act of the Irish Parliament was passed (14
& 15 Car. II. c. xxiii. ) -Hhich ordered that October 23 be
yearly kept as a day of thanksgiving for the discovery of the
conspiracy to seize Dublin Castle and murder all the Protes-
tants in 1641, which was revealed, as the Act states, not
many hours before tlie time appointed for its execution, by
Owen O'Connelly, "a meer Irishman," who had been brought
up as a Protestant. ' Tliis Act ordered that Morning Prayer
should be offered in all churches, without prescribing any
particular form of thanksgiving ; but on Kovember 1 1 tli in the
same year the Irish Convocation, in a declaration of accept-
ance of the revised English Liturgy, ordered that a new
service be prepared for this day, as well as a Prayer for the
Lord-Lieutenant. -
Considerable delay ensued in the preparation of the form,
and the execution of tlie necessarj' formalities for giving it
legal sanction, as M'ell as in the extension of the Act of
Uniformity to Ireland. In a letter from the Marquis of
Ormonde, as Lord-Lieutenant, to the Earl of Arlington, dated
at DubUn, July 7, 1666 (preserved amongst Cartes ilSS. in
the Bodleian Library, vol. li. p. 129) we read, "The Lord
Primate [Margetson] brought me the enclosed di-aught of a
warrant for the King to signe, whereby certain prayers fitted
for this kingdom are ordered to be added to the Booke of
Common Prayer, which cannot be printed till his JIajestie
shall please to send the warrant signed. " These prayers are
consequently not found in the MS. Book of Common Prayer
attached to the Irish Act of Uniformity, that Act having
received the Royal Assent on June 18, 1666, nor is October
23 mentioned there in the Calendar, in the list of "Certain
solemn days." Tlie warrant, however, for which the Primate
asked was issued on August 15 ; and the service for October
23 consequently appears in the first Irish edition of tlie
revised Common Prayer, which was published in the same
year (1666), printed by John Crook at Dublin, in quarto;-'
although the service seems to liave been added here after the
rest of the volume (which was printed at different times) had
been finished.''
On the accession of George I. all the State Services were
revised by the Irish Bishops, for the sake of bringing them
into accordance with the English altered versions of those
which were in joint use, and the five (together with the
prayers for the Lord-Lieutenant) were then reissued by a
warrant from the King in Council, dated November 3, 1715.
This foiTn retained its place in the Prayer Books in use in
Ireland (although since the Union it was not mentioned in
the Order in Council prefixed to the State Services) until the
discontinuance of the State Services in England, when the
observance of the day was abrogated by the same statute
which abolished three of the English State holidays, viz. 22
Vict. c. 2, which received the Royal Assent March 25, 1859.
The abrogation, however, was not conducted according to the
constitutional course which was followed with reference to
the English Offices. No Irish Convocation was summoned
to consider the matter ; and a service which possessed the
authority of the Church as well as of the State was abolished
by being included in a Bill which originally was contemplated
only with regard to the three days, the disuse of the Offices
for which had been recommended by the English Convoca-
tion, and enjoined by Royal Warrant of 17th January 1859,
pursuant to previous addresses from the Houses of Parlia-
ment.
II. The Prayer for the Lord-Lieutenant still used in the
Daily Ser\nce, after that for the Royal Family, appears in
the MS. Book of Connnon Prayer, but, strange to saj', is
omitted in the first printed edition. This appears to shew
that the earlier portion of that book was printed before the
passing of the Irisli Act of Uniformity to wliich the MS. was
annexed. The prayer tlius authorized by the three Estates
of the Realm is the second of the two prayers which are
printed in the present Irish editions, the first of these having
been added (without any apparent reason) by the authority
1 The observance of tho day liad been enjoined twenty years previously
by "An Act of Stat« made by tlic Lords Justices and Coimcil of Irclaml,"
>oveinbcr 23, 1642, whicli was printed by IJIadcn at Dublin, .at tbe same
date. But the subsequent troubles had of course prevented the carrj'ing
ont of this Ordinance. A copy of it is to be found in the King's Inn
Library at Dublin, with the press-mark, N. 8, ICa. [Ex inform. J. P.
Prendereast, Esq 1
2 Stephens' Introd. to the Irish Prayer Book, vol. I. p. xc.
* Only one ropy of this edition is known to lie extant, which was in
the library of tlie late Earl of Charlemont, At the auction of that colltc-
tjon in 1S65 It was sold for £j. lOs., and is now in the Brilish Museum.
* Dr Ellington in Stephens' Irish C. P., vol. 1. cxxiii., Brilhh Magauini,
1646, p. ei».
only of an Order of the King in Council, dated November 3,
1715. The following words, which originally formed part of
the commencement of the other prayer, "by Whose will,
providence, and Spirit powers are ordained, governments
established, and diversities of administrations are dispensed,"
are found omitted in Prayer Books printed in 1700 and 1710,
as well as in all later editions, an omission which probably
commenced at the accession of William III.
A " praier for the Lord Deputie " is found in the earliest
Irish Prayer Book, printed at Dublin in 1551, and is said to
have continued in use, but with several variations, until the
passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1666.
III. Another form peculiar to the Irisli book is that "For
the Visitation of Prisoners," consisting of three Otiices, one
to be used wlien " a prisoner is confined for some great or
capital crime, " another when "a criminal is under sentence
of death," and a third "for imprisoned debtors." These
were prepared in the Convocation held in Dublin in 1711, and
were printed and annexed to the Prayer Book, " pursuant to
Her Slajesty's directions," by a warrant of the Lord-Lieu-
tenant and Council, dated April 13, 1714.
IV. "A Form of Consecration, or Dedication of Churches
and Chapels, according to the use of the Church of Ireland,"
followed by "An Office to be used in the Eestauration of a
Churcli," and "A Short Office for Expiation and Illustration
of a Cliurch desecrated or prophan'd " appears in the quarto
edition of tlie Prayer Book printed by John Crook in 1700,
and in subsequent folio editions printed by Grierson. These
forms were reprinted from an edition printed separately by
the former printer in 1666, but it is not known by whom tliey
were prepared, or by what authority tliey were annexed to
the Prayer Book. Although not now attached to the book,
the Form of Consecration is that which is still in use.
V. In the quarto edition of 1700 and the folio of 1721, the
following unauthorized additions are also found : [1] "A Form
for receiving lapsed Protestants, or reconciling converted
Papists to our Church," which is said to have been written by
Anthony Dopping, Bishop of Meath, and wliich was first
printed separately in 1690 ; and [2] the Commemoration
"Prayers for the use of Trinity College, Dublin." A Form
of Bidding Prayer was prepared and enjoined by decree of
Convocation of February 5, 1662;* but it is not known how
far its use was observed, or when it was discontinued."
W. D. M. [A.D. 1866.]
The foregoing account of the Prayer Book of the Church of
Ireland is now the history of an obsolete book. The Dis-
establishment effected in 1870 necessitated some verbal
alterations, and the opportunity was taken of using the new
macliinery of a free and general Synod for the carrying out
of a revision of the whole Prayer Book. Into the history of
this %\'ork and of the controversy which raged about it, it is not
our part to enter ; suffice it to say that it lasted for six years,
that the most revolutionary changes were at first advocated
and temporarily carried, but that delay fortunately enabled,
by God's blessing, wiser counsels and calmer judgements to
prevail, while time brought tardy repentance to not a few of
the would-be reformers. At length, in 1877, tlie revised book
received the final approval of the Synod, and was published
with the old title as " according to the use of the Church of
Ireland. " A Preface, of which the original draft was written
by Dr. Fitzgerald, Bishop of Killaloe, is prefixed, which
points out in temperate and judicious language the principal
changes in the Communion, Visitation, and other Offices,
and the reasons for making no change in those for Baptism
and Ordination. Omitting minute verbal alterations, the
following are the most noteworthy distinctive features of the
book : —
1. The Apocrypha is entirely omitted from the Lectionary.
2. The Ornaments rubric is omitted ; and several new
nibrics give sanction to variations in the form and order of
sen'ices, and to the use of the Irish language, or any other
language better understood by the people.
3. Psalm cxlviii. may be said in piace of the Te Dcum or
Bcncdicitc.
4. The Prayer for the Lord-Licutcnant (slightly altered
from the second in the old book).
D. A Collect from the end of the Communion Service may
bo substituted for the Third Collect at Evening Prayer.
G. The rubric before the Creed of St. Athanasius is alto-
gether omitted.
7. Prayers for unity (from the Accession Service), in the
' Printed in Irish Eccl. Joum., ubi supra, p. 291, and Brit. Hag. xxx. CIS.
Cbe 3lrisfj Prayer "Book.
711
time of common sickness, for a sick person, for the Rogation
Days, for New Year's Day, for Cliristian Missions, for the
General Synod, and one to be used in Colleges and Schools,
arc inserted among the Occasional Prayers, and a thanks-
giving for a sick person's recovery among the Occasional
Thanksgivings.
8. Rubrics provide that the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
for Ash Wednesday, Ciood Friday, and Ascension Day shall
always be used although other days may concur ; and that
the Office for Ascension Day shall serve until the Saturday
evening following.
9. Double Collects, Epistles, and Gospels arc provided (as in
Edward VI. 's first book) tor Christmas Day and Easter Day ;
the Christmas Collect is from the Sarum Missal, "In vigilia,"
and the Easter Collect from the Sanim Breviary.
10. The second rubric before the Order for Holy Com-
munion is altered, and the third omitted.
11. The Prayers for the Queen may be omitted after the
Commandments.
12. The Ascriptions of Glory and Thanks before and after
the Gospel are authorized.
13. The placing of the Bread and Wine on the Holy Table
at any time before the Oblation in the Prayer for the Church
Militant is allowed.
14. The words "condemnation" and "judgement" are
substituted for "damnation" in the Warning and in the Ex-
hortation.
1.5. The Priest is ordered to say the Prayer of Consecration
' ' standing at the north side of the Table. "
16. The Gloria in Excelsis is to be said standing.
17. An additional optional Collect is added among those
to be said after tlie Prayer for the Church Militant, and one
which may be used when the latter is not said.
18. The minimum number of Communicants is reduced to
two ; and provision is made for saying, with the licence of
the Ordinary, the words of administration to a number of
communicants at once.
19. No change is made in the Baptismal Office beyond
allowing parents to be sponsors, and one sponsor to
sutlicc.
20. In the Catechism the following Question and Answer
are added (from the 2Sth Article): "Question. After what
manner are the Boily and Blood of Christ taken and received
in the Loril's Supper? Ansinn: Only after a heavenly
and spiritual manner, and tlie mean M'hcreby they are taken
and received is l''a,ith."
21. Some verbal changes are made in the Marriage Service,
and a Collect and the Apostolical Benediction added at the end.
22. The Absolution from the Communion Ollice is inserted
in the Visitation of tlie Sick in place of its own, and a
prayer added for a sick person when recovering.
23. In the Buri.al Oflice there is the alternative Lesson of
1 Thess. iv. 1.3-18; and the thanksgiving for the delivery of
the deceased person from the miseries of this world is oiiutted.
24. In the Commination the wish for the revival of obsolete
discipline is omitted, and the word "penance" is changed to
"repentance."
25. In the Ordinal no change is made Ijeyond the omission
of the Oath of Supremacy.
26. The Service for the Queen's Accession is shortened.
27. Forms are added [1] for the first Sunday in which a
Minister officiates in a new cure ; [2] for Harvest ; [3] for the
Consecration of a Church, and [4] of a Churchyard or other
Burial-ground ; [5] for the Visitation of Prisoners (which is,
with one or two small alterations, the same as that in the
former book).
The Thirty-nine Articles and the Table of Kindred and
Affinity ; and (but as no part of the book) fifty-four Canons
enacted in 1871 and 1877, in which are stringent restrictions
on the use of vestments, postures, and gestures ; and pro-
hibitions of the ringing of any bell during service, of stone
altars, lights at the Communion Table, or elsewhere, except
when necessary for giving light, crosses on or behind the
Communion Table, the use of the Mixed Chalice or Wafer
Bread, elevation of the Paten or Cup, Incense, and Processions.
W. D. M. [A.D. 1883.]
And I SAW a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first eaeth were passed away ;
AND THERE WAS NO MORE SEA. AnD I JoHN SAW THE HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, COMING DOWN FROM GoD OUT OF
HEAVEN, PREPARED AS A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAND AnD I SAW NO TEMPLE THEREIN : FOR THE LoRD
God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the
MOON, TO shine IN IT : FOR THE GLORY OF GoD DID LIGHTEN IT, AND THE LaMB IS THE LiGHT THEREOF.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY.
Abgarus, King of Kdessa, his cure and
conversion, 325.
Ablution, the ceremonial rinsing of the
Chalice after the Celebration of
Holy Communion. It is done with
wine and water, w'hich are reverently
drunk by the Priest. [See sixth Rub-
ric after Communion Otiice, 398.]
Abolition of early Liturgies of Euroije,
346.
Absolution, the priestly act whereby
the pardon of God is conveyed to jieni-
tents. Also the form of words em-
ployed.
Absolution in Communion Office, 381 ;
in Mattins and Evensong, 183, 381 ;
Manual Sar. on, 468, n. 1 ; of Sick,
467 ; power of, when first stated, 664,
691 ; form of conveying power of, 691.
Abstinence, a moderated kind of Fast-
ing.
Accession Service, 119, 572 n., 704.
Accessories of Divine Worship, Compari-
son of Rubrics, 64 ; the Reformers'
standard in the time of Elizabeth,
63.
"Accustomed duty " to Priest and Clerk,
453.
Act authorizing drawing up of the Eng-
lish Ordinal, 660 ; same repealed, 661 ;
authorizing use of Ordinal 1566, 662.
Act 5 Geo. IV., Omission of Burial Office,
476.
Act 22 Vict. , repealing the State Services,
704.
Acta Sanctorum, 127.
Acts of Queen Mary repealed, 84.
Acts of Uniformity, Edw. VI. [1549], 84;
[1552], 84 ; Eliz. [1559], 84 ; Charles
II. [1662], 88 ; Vict. [1872], 93 ; what it
empowers the Sovereign to authorize,
82; 14th Charles II. and Canons, 67.
Admission of Catechumen, how repre-
sented in our Office, 409.
Admonition before Marriage, 450.
Adoption included in New Birth, 406.
AduUam, Cave of, 555, 643.
Adults, IJaptism of, 424.
Advent "O Sapientia " Antiphon, 249;
Ember days, 248 ; First Sunday —
what is represented, 246 ; Fourth Sun-
day — alteration in the Collect, 249 ;
general principle of its observance,
that of our own Church, 245 ; how
kept in the Eastern Church, 245 ; how
observed anciently by the "Religious,"
246 ; its observance primitive under
another name, 245 ; said to be insti-
tuted by St. Peter, 245 ; observed as a
Lent, 245 ; Rule for finding, 116, 245 ;
Epistles and Gospels for Wednesdays
and Fridays, 246 ; as a preparation for
Christmas, 246 ; Second, events pre-
ceding it, 596 : period of, 592.
Advents of the Lord, 548.
Advertisements and Injunctions of Queen
Elizabeth, 64, 65.
.iElfric, Injunctions on vernacular teach-
ing, 3 ; Canons of, on Communion of
Sick, 472.
Affusion, the pouring of the water on
recipients of Holy Baptism, as distin-
guished from Aspersion or Sprinkling.
[See Immersion.]
Affusion, Baptism by, 404, 416.
" After," its Liturgical sense, 182.
Agatha, St., 136.
Age, Canonical, for Ordination, 665,
673.
Agnes, St., Benediction of lambs at her
Church, 132.
Aholiab, his inspired wisdom given for
Ceremonial Worship, 45.
Aidan, St., 128, 140.
Aisle, the side or wing of a Church,
separated from the Nave by the arcade,
i.e. the piers and arches.
Alb, or Albb, the close-fitting white
linen tunic or coat worn by the Priest
and Iiis assistants at the celebration of
Holy Communion, 79.
Alban, St., the first recorded British
llartyr, 152.
Albanopolis, Martyrdom of St. Bartholo-
mew, 337.
Alcuin, Quotations from, on Candlemas,
326.
Alderson, Baron, on publication of banns,
447.
Aless, Translator of the Prayer Book into
Latin, 20.
Alexandria, St. Mark martyred there,
330 ; catechetical school of, 428 ; Lit-
urgy of, 345 ; use of " Missa Sicca " at,
397.
Alexandrine Manuscript and the Te
Deum, 190.
"All conditions of men," Prayer for, its
authorship and intention, 238.
" All holy Martyrs' " Festival, 302.
All Saints' Festival, 341 ; Sarum Psalms,
516, 530, 543, 581, 583, 585, 594, 603,
620.
Allegation of impediment at time of Mar-
riage, 451.
Allegiance, Oath of, required of Bishops
in Greek Church, 696.
Allegiance and Conformity, Declaration
of, in Act of Uniformity, 89.
" Alloweth," old word for "approves and
accepts," 411.
Almanacks, Prohibited times for Mar-
riage in, 447.
Alms, Ofl'ering of, 378.
Alphabet Psalms, 616-623.
Alphege, St., 144.
Altar, the "Table of the Lord," where-
on the Christian Sacrifice of the Euch-
arist is oiTered to God.
Altar, a term properly applied to the
Lord's Table, 357, 370; early names
for, 357 ; of stone or wood, 357 ;
wooden in Eastern Church, 357 ; in
private house, 357 ; its position and
decorations in primitive times, .357 ; of
St. Peter at Rome, 357 ; of St. Cuth-
bert at Durham, 357 ; the, seen by St.
John, its arrangement, 47 ; rails, 370.
Altar-lights, 357.
Alterations at the Revision of 1559, 23 ;
Alterations in 1661 — jn-inciplos on
which tlie Convocation acted, 98.
Amalarius, his use of the licnedictus,
194.
Amalgamation of Offices for Private and
Public Baptism, 423.
Ambrose and Augustine, SS., and the
Te Deum, 189.
Ambrose, St., on Amen after Prayer of
Consecration, 390 ; on Benediction of
Water, 414 ; on Burial, 475 ; case of
private Celebration, 473 ; on Confir-
mation, 437 ; tradition respecting him,
144 ; excommunicates the Emperor —
introduced Metrical Hymns, 144 ; his
influence over Western Church Music,
55 ; his writings — contests with Heresy
— saying attributed to him, 144 ; on
Marriage, 446 ; on Prayer of Invoca-
tion in Confirmation, 442 ; on trine
immersion, 404 ; what he says of the
Psalms, 499.
Ambrosian Rite, 144, 221, 345.
Amen after Lord's Prayer, 185 ; after
Prayer of Consecration, 390 ; on re-
ceiving consecrated Elements, 392.
American Church, Burial Office of, 482 ;
Prayer Book, 42 ; Prayer Book, its
variations from that of England, 42 ;
Liturgy in extenso, 368 ; Liturgy re-
ferred to, 350, 373, 375.
Amice, one of the minor Eucharistic
vestments, 79.
Amphibalus sheltered by St. Alban, 152.
AmpuUa of St. Remi, at Rheims, 168.
Anabaptism, its growth during the Great
Rebellion, 98 ; rendered baptism of
Adults necessary, 424.
Anabaptist heresy protested against, 411.
Anaphoka, the most solemn portion of
the Eastern Liturgy, beginning with
the Sursum Corda, and including the
Consecration, 346.
Ancient Customs in Baptism, 408, 412.
Ancient English Collects, 5, 214, 237,
300, 302, 305, 328, 338.
Ancient English Exhortation at Com-
munion, 382 ; at Baptism, 419 ; at
Marriage, 450.
Ancient English Questions and Exhorta-
tions in Communion of Dying, 464.
Ancient English Service of Aspersion, 6.
Ancient English version of Nicene Creed,
375.
Ancient English versions of Lord's
Prayer, 5 ; of Apostles' Creed, 212.
Ancient Form of Confession, Misereatur,
and Absolution, 184.
Ancient Offices for Churching of Women,
486.
Ancient precedent for the Thanksgiving
after Baptism, 418.
Andrew, St., affecting words at his
cnicifixion, 324; his Festival, 323;
his History, 324 ; his labours and mar-
tyrdom, 324 ; patron of the Scotch and
Russian Churches, 324.
Andre wes, Bishop, on catechizing, 430 ;
on Churching of Women, 487 ; on
Eucharistic Commemoration of De-
714
3lnDcr anD (Slossarp.
parted, 394 ; on the Absolution, 184 ;
suggestion as to the sentences, 181 ;
on meaning of KaT-qx^^t 428 ; on Offer-
ings at Churchings, 488 ; quotation,
227 ; used Wafer Bread, 398.
Angel, primitive name for Bishops, 657.
Angelical Hymn, 395.
Angels, ■why commemorated, 339 ; their
names, 339 ; their presence at the Holy
Eucharist, 387.
Anglican Communion, aspect of, as re-
gards Ornaments, towards the rest of
Christendom, 74.
Anne, St., mother of Blessed Virgin
Mary, 156.
Annotine Easter, 293.
Annunciation, Tlie, mentioned by many of
the earliest writers, 329.
AxoiXTiXf; OF THE SiCK, an Apostolic
practice of which Extreme Unction is
declared in the Articles to be a "cor-
rupt following." [.S'ee Visitation of the
Sick, 460, 470.]
Anointing at Baptism in Sarum rite, 416,
Orig. ; Prayer Book of 1549, 416, n. ;
Office of 1549 for, 470 ; Oil, 544.
Anselm, St., "I put Thy precious Pas-
sion," etc., 465.
"Answer " of all the people, 187.
Aktheji, a musical composition sung
after the Third Collect at Mattins and
Evensong. The term used to be ap-
plied to the Canticles. [Rubric before
Venite exultemus.]
Anthem, Form of the word, in various
languages, 60.
Anthem or Hymn, valuable Au.xiliaries,
62 ; how they may popularize Church
doctrine, 62 ; should respond to the
service of the day, 62.
Anthem, in Burial Office, 480 ; in Visita-
tion of Sick, 461 ; its proper place in
the Service, 61 ; not rubrically recog-
nized till 1661, 61 ; Synonym for Anti-
plional, or Responsive ilusic, 60 ; to
what we owe the modern ones, 60.
Anthems, in the Injunctions of Edward
VI., 13.
Antliymii, mistake of Barrow and Jolm-
son, 60.
Antichrist, instrument of the Evil One,
642; City of, 547 ; Church of, 560; final
contest with him, 574, 575 ; ten king-
doms of, 585 ; Antichrist prefigured by
Selion, Og, etc., 638 ; subjugation of,
509, 594, 596 ; types of, 551.
Antichristianism, a compromise, 511.
Antioch, a great intellectual and theo-
logical centre, 54 ; its early Church
Singing and JIusic, 54.
Antiphon of the Litany, 576 ; at burials
in Mediaeval Church, 481 ; Salvator
mumli in Visitation of Sick, 469 ; Ke
re.miniscaris in Visitation of Sick, 461.
Antiphonal Singing, its early introduc-
tion, 54 ; structure of Psalms, 636.
Antiphons as examples of the use of Holy
Scripture in Acts of Adoration, 249 ;
for third and fourth weeks in Advent,
249.
Anti ritual party, 1564-65, Remonstrance
of the Queen, 65.
Apostles and Evangelists, Sarum Psalms,
516, 530, 543, .546, 558, 560, .598, GOO,
615, 617, 620, 632, 640.
Apostles, succession of Ministry from,
055 ; Bishops ordained by, 657 ; insti-
tution of the Order by our Lord, 655 ;
power and authority of, 655 ; tlie three
chosen ones pillars of the Church, 2.54;
mystically signified by stars, 0.38 ;
tlicir office as ruler.s foretold, 566 ;
their tribes, 565 ; care for the faith of
their converts, 196.
Apostolate, in substance an Episcoijate,
655.
Apostolic Christianity, how it reached
Britain, 1; "hours of pra;'er," con-
stitutions quoted, 177 ; usages in Holy
Eucharist, 344 ; practice of Confirma-
tion, 437.
Apostolical Constitutions on Benediction
of Water, 414 ; forbade single immer-
sion, 404 ; on Gloria in Excelsis, 395 ;
on Lord's Prayer after Baptism, 418.
Apostolical Succession, Scriptural autho-
rity for, 657 ; Patristic authority for,
657 ; of Cliurch of England, 656, 668-
672.
Appendix to Burial Office, 483 ; to Com-
munion Office, 361 ; of four Prayers to
Visitation of the Sick, 460, 470.
Apron, Bishop's, a short cassock, so
called from having all cut away except
what is sufficient to cover the front of
the person from the neck to the knees.
Archbishop of Canterbury, legntus ymtiis,
446 ; his apostolic descent, 668-672.
Archdeacon, duties of, in connection with
Ordination, 674, 683.
Arian Form of Baptism, 403 ; heretics,
their alteration of the Gloria Patri,
186.
Arius, Heresy of, 217.
Aries, Council of, on Lay Baptism, 404.
Ai-menian Churcli, their time of observing
Christmas, 257.
Article XXV., on Marriage, 458 ; on
Sacraments, 435 ; XXVI. and XXXI.
on Eucharistic Sacrifice, 390 ; XXVII.
on Infant Baptism, 407; XXVIII.,
explanatory of " Black " Rubric, 399.
Articles accessory to Divine Service not
expressly mentioned, not forbidden,
68; of the Christian Faith, 4.32; "to
stablish Christian quietness," 1536,'
419, Orig., and n.
Asaph and his brethren choristers, 51.
Ascension Day noticeable. Ritual pro-
vision for it, 298 ; Sunday after, signi-
ficant name of, 299 ; Psalms, 511, 518,
521, 546, 613.
Ascension-tide, Sarum Psalms, 516, 518.
Ash-Wednesday, Commination Service
on, 490; Psalms, 504, 529, 536, 549,
601, 6.34, 643; its name ancient and
popular, 268.
Ashes, Benediction of, 268, 490.
AsPEE.sios. [See Affusion.]
Aspersion of Holy Water, English Form
for, 6.
Assent and Consent of the Clergy, 89.
Athanasian Creed, its reputed Author-
ship, 216.
Athanasius, St. , baptized some boys when
himself a boy, 404 ; discouraged much
musical inflection in saying the Divine
Offices, 56 ; on Gloria in Excelsis, 395.
Atheism, more subtle than open, 511.
Atlielstan's Psalter, Gloria in Excelsis in,
395.
Augustine, St., and Te Deum, 160; on
burials, 475 : on catechizing, 428 ; on
"children of God," 432; on Cross in
Jiaptism, 402, n. 5 ; on Cross in Bene-
diction of Water, 415, n. 1 ; effect on
him of Church Music, 54 ; regarding
ceremonies, 107 ; on Christianity in
Britain, 453; on "the Lord is King,"
599 ; on Infant Bajitism, 407 ; on Lay
Ba])tism, 405 ; on Mauiclux-an rejection
of VVater, 403 ; on Marriage, 446 ; note
from his Confessions, 190 ; on the early
use of Psalm xxii., 519 ; on obligations
of Sponsors, 434 ; prayed for hia de-
ceased mother, 470 ; Sermon on St.
Stephen's Day, 251 ; on Sursum Corda,
386 ; visited the sick, 460.
Augustine, St. , of Canterbury , his Mission
from St. Gregory, 148 ; false impres-
sions of, 1 ; his difficulties with the
British Church, 1 ; Archbishop of Can-
terbury, 148 ; revision of English
Liturgy, 346, 347.
Auricular Confession, 466 ; use of, 381.
Authority, wlio in place of, 96.
Authorities used in Annotated Prayer
Book, viii. , xv.
Average age of mankind, 593.
Babylon, the Mystical, 546, 573, 639.
Bacon, Lord, liis saying respecting Non-
conformists, 31.
Baker, Sir Richard, on the Lord's Prayer,
185.
B.VLDACHIN, a canojjy placed above the
Altar, and generally projecting from
the wall behind it.
Bancroft, Bishop, his collection of Canons,
66.
B.4NNS, the publication in Church of
intended man'iages, 376, 446.
Banns, rubric on, incorrectly printed in
modern Prayer Books, 447.
B.-iPTisM, the initiatory Sacrament,
wherein we are born again of water
and of the Holy Ghost.
Baptism, the actual administration, 416 ;
of Adults, 424 ; administration of, in
6th century, 402 ; administration of,
in Primitive Church, 402 ; allowed in
private houses to royal children by a
niedia?val rubric, 407 ; ancient customs
in, 408, 412 ; answers on, in Catechism,
431-433, 435, 436; by father of child,
wliy not seemly, 408 ; clinic, 404 ; con-
ditional, 423 ; earliest Office for, 402,
403 ; its effect, 405 ; essentials of, 403 ;
evidence on, from Acts of Apostles,
401; "Form" in, 402; variation of,
404 ; history of, 401 ; how long after
birth, 420 ; how typified in the begin-
ning of Miracles, 260 : of Infants, 401 ;
Intxoduction to Offices for, 401 ; itera-
tion of, 409 : Jewisli, 401 ; of St. John
Baptist, 401; "Matter" in, 403; the
Minister of, 404, 425 ; not to be de-
layed, 407, 420 ; of tlie world by the
Deluge, 410 ; of our Lord, consecrated
water, 258 ; of our Lord, anciently
commemorated, 258 ; Private, 420 ;
Public, Office for, 407 ; in Riper Years,
424 ; by sprinkling, 404 ; by surgeons,
405 ; by women, 405 ; time for, 408 ;
uses of word in New Testament, 401 ;
Verbal and typical foreshadowings of,
401 ; Vows, 412.
^dwruT/Mi, Bairrit^io, Botttu, 401.
Baptismal Office — its former Preface, 288.
Barnabas, St., Festival, Epistle, and
traditions respecting him, 332 ; his
alleged Epistle, 332 ; on duration of
world, 593.
Bartholomew, St., identified by some
with Nathanael, 337 ; traditions re-
specting him, 337.
Barwick, Dean, first to I'estore the Choral
service in 1660, 28.
Basil, St., on daily offices of the Primitive
Church, 177 ; on Baptismal Renuncia-
tion, 413 ; his Epistle to Neoca.^sarea,
221 ; Liturgy of, 345 ; on ^larriage,
446 ; on trine immersion, 404.
Baxter, liis objection to pray after Mar-
riage Service, 457 ; Prayer Book of,
31, 97.
" Beating the bounds," 223.
Bcauv.ais, Baptismal Office of, 411.
Bede, The Vcncralilc, 149 ; on the "Bap-
tism of John," 401 ; on St. Cuthbcrt's
Confirmations, 438 ; liis C'alcudar, 127 ;
his Martyrology, 128 ; his Shrine, 149.
3lnDcr ano (Slossarg.
715
Bees swarming on mouth of St. Ambrose,
144.
"Before the People" in Communion
rubric explained, 3SS.
Beheading of St. John Baptist, 161.
Beleth, his autliority for St. Jerome's
Lectionary, 244.
Belief, vow of, in Baptism, 413.
Bellarmine on the Episcopate as an Order
^ure diviiio, 693.
Bells on Maundy Thursday, and Easter
Eve, 288.
Benedicite, its proper doxology, 193;
of Jewish origin, 192 ; when to be sub-
stituted for tlie Te Deum, 190, 193.
Benedict, St., Life of, 141 ; his Rule,
141 ; his Rule for the daily offices,
177 ; Iiis Rule, the earliest direct
mention of tlie Te Deum, 189 ; his Rule
on the Gloria Patri, 186.
Benedict and Gregory, SS., their prac-
tice, on wliat based, 177.
Benedictio Fontis, 414, 415, Orig.
Benedictio Sacramentalis, after Marriage,
457.
Benedictiox, the priestly act whereby
the blessing of God is conveyed to the
faithful.
Benediction in Confirmation, 444 ; in
Communion Office, 396 ; of Elements,
the nucleus of the Liturgy, 344 ; on
Easter Even in Hirly English Church,
288 ; of Font, 402, 403, 709 ; of primi-
tive antiquity in Liturgical use, 205 ;
of the water, 414 ; of water, its spirit-
ual import, 415 ; of water, separate
from admiuistration of Baptism, 414 ;
of water, in Prayer Book of 1549, 415 ;
of water, quite distinct from that of
Eucharistie Elements, 416; of Palms,
274 ; final, after Marriage, 458 ; in
Visitation of Sick, 469 ; Levitical, in
Visitation of Sick, 470; Apostolic, in
Burial Office, 483.
Beuedictus, the proper Canticle after 2nd
Lesson, 194; its position and Ritual
meaning, 194; in Communion Office,
387.
Bernard, St., his saying on the death of
the Innocents, 255 ; on the Candlemas
Festival, 326.
Bethell, Bishop, on Baptismal Regenera-
tion, 419.
Bethphania, a name for the Epipliany,
258.
Betrothal, 452.
Beverley, St. Mary's, register on pro-
hibited seasons for Marriage, 447.
Bezaleel, his inspired wisdom given for
ceremonial worship, 45.
Bible, delivery of, to Bishops, 663, 701 ;
delivery of, to Priests, 663, 690 : impo-
sition of, on Bishop-elect's neck, 701 ;
tlie Great, title of, 16.
Bidding of Holydays, 376.
Bidding Peayer, a proclamation of per-
sons commended to the prayers of the
faithful, made by preachers before ser-
mons, 377 ; in Ireland, 710.
Bidding Prayers ; a petition for giver of
holy bread, 399.
Bill, King's printer, royal mandate to
him, A.D. 1661, 28.
Bishop, a Church officer of the highest
order, having spiritual capacity to
Ordain and Confirm in addition to the
spiritual capacities belonging to the
Priesthood.
Bishop and Priest, Names of, not at first
distinguished, C57.
Bishop or Priest, tlie proper Minister of
Adult Baptism, 425.
Bishops, a distinct Order from Priests,
693 ; superiority of, jure divino, as
sorted by Bancroft, 693 ; inherit the
ordinary parts of tlic Apostolic oflicc,
6.55 ; ordained by tlie Apostles, 6.57 ;
Order of, essential, 655 ; no Churcli
without, 068 ; succession of, 667 ;
Fathers in God, 675; Election of, 696;
to be consecrated by tlicir Metrojjolitan,
694 ; three, required at a consecration
of one, 694 ; consecrated in their own
Cathedral, 693 ; Consecration of, held
on Suiid.ays or Holydays, 693 ; elect,
habit of, at Consecration, 695 ; vest-
ments of, as represented on Brasses,
700 ; vestments of, by 2nd Prayer Book
of Edward VI., 700; summary of
ancient Offices for Consecration of,
659, 660; delivery of Bible to, 663;
five consecrated according to tlie Ordi-
nal of 1549, 661 ; one consecrated
according to the Ordinal of 1552, 661 ;
of the same Province to assist at Con-
secrations, 694 ; deposed if only con-
secrated by two others, G94 ; Senior,
consecrator in absence of the Arch-
bishop, 694 ; Service for Consecration
of, 1662, 662 ; special powers of, 667 ;
only to ordain in tlicir own diocese,
666 ; sanction required for Adult Bap-
tism, 425.
"Black Rubric," 399.
Blasius, St., B. and M., 136.
Blessing in Communion Oftice, 396 ; in
Marriage Ser\-ice, 455.
Bloodthirsty, application of term, 556.
Blow on cheek in Confirmation, 438, 444.
Boanerges, meaning of, 253.
Bodleian Library Psalters, 497 ; MS. 465.
Body of the Church, wliy permitted for
Celebration of Holy Communion, 370 ;
the place for Marriage, 450.
"Body prepared," LXX and Vulgate,
539.
Bona, on Collects, 241 ; on Gloria in
Hxcelsis, 395.
Boniface, St., 152 : on Conditional Bap-
tism, 423.
" Bouour " and "buxum," meaning of,
452, n. 6.
Book of Common Prayer, Historical In-
troduction to, 1-43; its Ceremonial prin-
ciples, 44-50 ; Musical performance of,
50-63 ; Ritual law of, 63-80 ; Preface of
^its moderation — written by Sander-
son, Bisliop of Lincoln, 96 ; its chief
Illustrators, and Commentators, x ;
National Versions of it, 41 ; materials
used in its composition, 16.
Book of tlie Gospels, reverence anciently
shown to it, 48.
Books of Hours, 4.
Books of Reference to Lessons, Gospels,
and Epistles, 6.
Borromeo, Carlo, a Musical Commissioner
by appointment of tlie Council of Trent,
57. _
Bouchier, his Commentary and Early
Calendar, 127.
Boughen, Edward, on Sign of Cross in
Confirmation, 443.
Boughtou Monchelsea, Espousals in re-
gister of, 452.
Bowing at the Holy Name, elsewhere
than in the Creed, 197.
"Boy-Bishop," 176.
Boys, Dean, on the Prayer Book, x.
Bracara or Braga, Council of, on burial
of suicides, 477-
"Bread," and "mingled wine," of Wis-
dom's Table, 350 ; breaking of, in Con-
secration, 389 ; fermented or leavened
in Eastern Church for Sacramental use,
399.
Breastplate of Aaron, 566.
Breviary, Daily Services of, 17 ; its com-
jilex character, 178; Hymns, unsuccess'
tul attempts to transl.ate them, 59 ;
Roman, Reformation of, 8 ; services,
never familiar to the Laity, 6.
Bride, Tlie voice of tlic, 510.
Bride and liridegroom in 45tli Psalm, 545.
Briefs, declarations and recommenda-
tions read after tlio Kicene Creed to
commend special objects for the Offer-
tory, 376.
Bright, Dr., on tlie Ancient Collects,
.307.
British Bishops, their independence, 1 ;
Church, founded in Apostolic age, 657 ;
represented at Councils, 6.58 ; men-
tioned by Fathers, 657 ; its Rites, its
Bishops, 1 ; Museum Psalters, 497.
Biitius or Brice, St., 172.
Broadwater, Marriage custom at, 449.
Brook, Lord, Anecdote of, 226.
Brougham, Lord, on Lay Baptism, 405,
n. 3.
Bryling, Nicholas, Greek text of Atlia-
nasian Creed, 219.
Bucer, his desire for frequent Commina-
tion, 491 ; on frequent Communion,
.382 ; his interference with Benediction
of water, 415; his objection to answers
of Sponsors, 414 ; his objection to the
exorcism in Baptism, 411 ; his objection
to prayers for the dead, 479 ; placed at
Oxford by Somerset, 19.
Bull, Bishop, recites Baptism Office from
memory, 27 ; on Nicene Creed, 376,
n. 1.
Bunsen, on Liturgy of St. Mark, 345.
Burial of the Dead, 478 ; Office in what
cases to be used, 478 ; Psalm xlii. for-
merly used, 479, 541 ; Office, Psalms,
538, 592 ; Office with Evensong at St.
Paul's, 480, n. 1.
Burial with Christ in Baptism, 404.
Burleigh, Lord, his challenge to Dis-
senters, 31.
Burn's Ecclesiastical Law on Baptism by
Midwives, 405.
Burney, Dr., on Modern Jewish Music,
5.3.
Burton, author of Analomi/ ofMdanchohi,
used Wafer Bread, 398.
" Buxum," meaning of, 452, n. 6.
Ciesarea, Creed of, 375.
Ca;sarius of Aries, on Snrsum Corda,
386 ; his Rogations, 221 ; Sermons on
Advent, 245.
Calendar, the list of months and days,
together with the Sunday letters and
Holydays.
Calendar, Additions in 1661, 128 ; altera-
tions in 1752, 116 ; changes in 1561,
24 ; of Church of England, changes
and reformation, 127-129 ; of the
Church of England, always local in
character, 127 ; Ecclesiastical, what it
comprises, 127 ; English, necessary
changes in, 127 ; English, its transi-
tions, 127 ; the existing Englisli, with
whom it originated, 127 ; Introduction
to, 127; of Lessons, 1549, 16, 113;
table of its transition, 127.
" Calendarium Floriacense," 127.
Calendars, Byzantine, 129 ; of the Church
of England, published by Stationers'
Company, 128 ; their early use and
origin, 128.
Calvin's interference in the English Re-
formation, 19, 20.
Candlemas Day, why so called, 326.
Canon: [1] The Prayer of Consecration.
[2] An ecclesiastical law so called. [3]
The official designation of certain dig-
nitaries in Cathedral and Collegiate
Churches.
7r6
31nljcr anD (©lossarp.
Canon 71, on private celebration, 473;
81, enjoins large stone font, 409 ; IS,
on reverent gesture, 197 ; 20, requires
flagon, 399 ; 29, altered in 1865, 408 ;
its strictness partly accounted for, 408,
n. 2 ; 30, on the Cross in Baptism, 417 ;
55, on Bidding Prayer, 377 ; 59, on
Catechizing, 430 ; 60 and 61, on Confir-
mation, 439 ; 62, on Banns or Licence,
446, 447 ; 64, on bidding of Holydays,
376 ; 67, on Visitation of the Sick, 460 ;
68, on delaying Baptism, 408 ; on re-
fusing to Bury, 476 ; 69, on deferring
Baptism, 420 ; 112, on age for Commu-
nicants, 439; 113, on Seal of Confes-
sion, 466 ; Latin, of 1571 on Catechiz-
ing, 430 ; Law of Burial, 466, 467.
Canon Missa;, 344, 362, 365, 367, 388.
Canonical limitations as to hours and
seasons for JIarriage, 447.
Canonization bj' the Popes, 127.
Canons, early English, on Communion of
Sick, 472 ; how far binding on the
Clergy and Laity, 66 ; of 1640, their
design, 66.
C'antate Domino, why inserted in Daily
Service, 210.
Caxticle, a prose hymn used in JIattins
and Evensong. All the Canticles are
from Holy Scripture, except "Te
Deum laudamus."
Canticles, The, Ancient Ritualistic use of
Holy Scripture, 189 ; their leading
principle, 189.
" Canticum de EvangeUo," spoken of by
St. Benedict, 194.
" Cantus Ambrosianus," extended use of
the term, 55 ; Antiphonalis, 497 ; Col-
lectarum, 56, 58 ; Directus, 497 ; Pro-
phetarum, 56, 58 ; Responsarius, 497.
Capella, origin of the term, 172.
Cappadocia, ilartyrdom of St. Matthias
at, 328.
Caps of Children to be removed in Bap-
tism, 416.
Captivity of Church and lucamation,
587.
Card well. Dr., his suggestions as to the
Revision of 1552, 20.
Carter on Eucharistic words, 352, n. 2.
Carthage, 4th Council of, on Marriage,
446.
Cassino, Mount, Cradle of Benedictine
Order, 141.
Cassock, the garment worn by ecclesi-
astics under their official vestments and
at other times. The " apron " worn
by Bishops, etc. , is the front of a short
cassock.
Catalonian Pontifical on Confirmation
Address, 442.
Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril of
Jerusalem and of .St. Clement of Alexan-
dria, 428 ; works of English Divines,
430.
Catechism, an oral instruction to be
learned by young persons, that they
may be the better prepared to receive
Confirmation.
Catechism, basis of, 430 ; comprehensive
but not exhaustive, 430 ; definition of,
in Prayer Book, 431 ; on effect of Bap-
tism, 405 ; Introduction to, 428 ; latter
part of its history, 429 ; of 1549, Com-
mandments in, 433 ; in Prayer Book,
origin of, 428 ; in Hermann's Consnl-
tatio, 428, u. 3 ; of Council of Trent,
429, n. 2 ; in Latin and English of
I'oynet, 429 ; Engravings of Tablets on
the Palace at Ely, 429.
Catechisms, Protestant, 429.
" Catechismus," derivation of, 42S.
Catechizing, in Cliurch not superseded by
school-work, 430 ; of our Lord, 428.
Catechumens, admission of, 402, and n. 3 ;
instruction of, 428.
Cathari, or Puritans, their " baptism with
fire," 403.
" Cathedra Petri," an ancient Festival of
Saints Peter and Paul, 325.
Cathedral and Collegiate Churches to
provide copies of Book of Common
Prayer, 92.
Cathedrals, etc., to observe rule of weekly
celebration at least, 398.
Catholic Church of Christ, position of
English Church in, 98.
Cautelse Miss*, 397.
Caution to be observed in Visitation of
Sick, 466, n. 1.
Cecil licensed Poynet's Catechisms, 429.
Cecilia, St., 173.
Cedde, St. See Chad.
Celebrant, his office, his ritual dress, his
position at the Altar, 358, 359 ; his
posture in receiving, 391.
Censing of the Altar. 348, 361.
Cephas, 335.
Ceremonial Worship, 44 ; its principles,
44, 49, 50 ; recognized and observed by
our Lord, 46 ; as set forth by St. John,
47, 48.
Ceremonies of the Church of England,
explanatory Canon on, 10 ; empty, con-
demned, 46 ; in some cases could not
be reformed, 107 ; their abuse illus-
trated, 106 ; Christian, ordained by
our Lord, 46 ; justification of, 106, 108 ■.
of human institution may be changed,
107, 108 ; rights of National Churches
to be respected, 108 ; St. Augustine on
their excessive number, 107 ; why
some w-ere rejected, 107.
Certification of Private Baptism, form of,
421.
Chad, St., 140 ; his custom in a thunder-
storm, 226.
Chalice, the cup, mostly of precious
metal, which is used for the celebration
of the Holy Eucharist.
Chambers' Translation of the Sarum
Psalter, 199, n. 1 ; Sarum Psalter,
ending of Collects, 243.
Chan'CEL, the eastern di%'ision of a church,
where the Altar and Choir are placed,
and in which Divine Service is cele-
brated.
Chancels, their desecration in the last
centurj', 179.
Changes in Prayer Book after Hampton
Court Conference, 25 ; Liturgical, in
1549, their nature and principles,
16.
Chant of the old Litany retained and
harmonized, 58.
Ch.\pel : [1] A portion of a Church possess-
ing a separate Altar. [2] A separate
building other tlian a cathedral, col-
legiate, or parish church, whicli is
authorized to be used for Divine Ser-
vice according to the customs of the
Prayer Book.
Charles I. and Liturgy for Scotland, 705 ;
IMartyrdom, Service abolished, 703.
Chart of the Ministerial Succession of the
Church of England, 656, 668.
Charta, Cornutiana, 244.
Chasuble, the outermost and distinctive
vestment of the priest who celebrates
the Holy Eucharist : it is never worn
at any otlier service, 80.
"Child of (4od," a Scriptural term,
43 L
CuiMEKE, the garment wnni by a Bishop
over his rochet, now usually of black
satin, but properly of scarlet.
Chimere, notices of. 700.
Choir: [1] The chorus or body of men
and boys who sing in the Divine OflSces.
[2] That part of a cathedral, church, or
chapel, in which they sing [Chancel].
"Choir," its early use for our present
word "answer," 187; of the Temple,
Levites, 496 ; Surpliced, their origin,
496.
Choral Processions in the Jewish Church,
50.
Choristers of the Temple, 51.
Chosen Disciples, The Three, their work
and influence, 254.
Chrism, holy oil used in anointing at
Coronations, or in the Unction of the
Sick, provided for in the first book of
Edward VI.
Chrism, used in Baptism, etc., 402, 403,
412, 416, Orig. ; used in Confirmation,
437, 438, 443 ; when it was conse-
crated, 283.
Chkisom, the white robe formerly put
on children when they were bap-
tized.
Chrisom, 402, 403, 412 ; formerly offered
at Churchings, 488 ; in Prayer Book of
1549, 416.
Christ, the True Bread from Heaven,
350 ; the Light, 625 ; the Representa-
tive Penitent, 504, 528, 549, 601, 643 :
and the Bride, 545, 633 ; bringing His
sheaves home, 632 ; and the two-edged
sword, 648 ; Creator of natural and
spiritual world, 646.
Christ's two Natures prophetically shown,
514, 524; glory that of His Church,
545, 618 ; Evening Sacrifice, 642 ;
victory by Incarnation. 644.
Christian name used in Offices of Church,
431 ; Serrice, the first, 52 ; Year, no
way connected witli January 1st, 257 ;
the, beginning on Lady Day, 245.
Christmas Day, how early the Festival
was observed, 250 ; Sermons of Gregory
Nazianzen and Basil, 250.
Christmas Eve, coincidence in the Lesson
and Psalm, 249, 545.
Christmas and Epiphany Festivals, their
association, 250 ; how it was anciently
observed, 250; Psalms, 516, 543, 586,
590, 615, 634; Sarum Psalms, 543,
546, 571, 586, 590, 598, 599, 615, 617,
620, 634, 645-647.
Chrj'sostom, St., on Baptism, 402;
Christmas Homily, 250 ; eulogium of
the Benedicite, 192 ; efforts to coun-
teract Arian Hymns, 54 ; Prayer of,
first use in Western Ritual, 204 ;
ou Fasting, 267 ; Liturgy of, 345, 377 ;
Prayer of, 396 ; on Eucharistic Com-
memorations, 354 ; on Amen after
Prayer of Consecration, 390; on Sursuni
Corda, 386 ; on Gloria in Excelsis,
395.
Church, The, liow it is made an Ark of
safety, 262 ; of Jews and Christians
continuous, 607 ; the true anima
muntii, 603 ; its history in 106th
Psalm, 609 ; its early refuges from
persecution, 509 ; early British, 657 ;
of England, Title found in JIagna
Charta, 82 ; Music, its Divine author-
ity, 50 ; Song, its vicissitudes, 57 ;
officers, representative, 50.
Churches of France and England, their
early connection, 132, 3-(6.
Churches, their earliest form and arrange-
ment, 47.
Churching of Women, 4S7 ; time for,
489 ; place for, 487 ; cloth, formerly at
St. Iknct's tiraceohurch, 487 ; Psalms,
619, 6.S2.
Chui;(IIWai;[ii;.\s, lay officers appointed
to take charge of the fabric and furni-
ture of churches, to keep order during
3lnricr anti (^lossari?.
717
service, to present at visitations,
etc.
ClBOEiUM, a vessel for the reception of
the Consecrated Wafers, .'{"S, n. 2.
Circumcision, Festival of, '25(j ; its true
idea, 257 ; Saruni Psalms, 516, 521,
54.-!, 546, 588, 598, 599.
Citations, 377.
Clarendon, Lord, Anecdote of, ,36, n. 1.
Clement, St., of Alexandria, mentions
Feast of Nativity, 250 ; catechized,
428 ; on Gloria Patri, 18(5.
Clement, St., of Rome, 173.
Clementine Liturgy, l*ositiou of Sanctus
and Hosaniia in, 387, n. 1.
Clergy and Lay people, nature of dis-
tinction, 665.
Clergy and People, Prayer for, Cosin's
proposed alterations in, 204.
Clerk to accompany Priest in X'isitation
of Sick, 460, 461, marg.
Clerks : [1] Ordained clerics. [2] Lay-
men assisting in choir.
Clerks, commonly reduced to one, 179 ;
to sing at burial of dead, 478.
Clinic Baptism, 404.
Cloveshoo, Council of, 2.
Clovis, Conversion of, 168.
Coffins, baskets, or pots, in Psalm l.\-.xxi.,
584.
Coke, Lord, on Confirming by name, 444,
n. 1 ; on Pope Pius IV. and Pr.ayer
Book, 24.
Colet, Dean, his intimacy with Erasmus,
429, n. 3.
Collect, a short prayer (methodically
constructed) either proper to a day,
week, or season, or common to all
times.
Collect of the day, 242, 373 ; its office,
rules for its use, 200 ; 2nd Even Song,
ancient English Version, 214 ; 3rd
Even Song, Cosin's proposed alteration,
215; Third, Old Rubric, 201; for
Purity, 371 ; for Sovereign, 373 ; for
early Christmas-day Communion, 250 ;
for .St. Stephen's D.ay, its enlargement
in 1661, 253 ; for Epiphany, 6th Sun-
day Original by Bishop Cosiu, its
peculiar suit.ability, 263 ; for Easter
Procession, 290 ; after Baptism, its
doctrinal import, 418 ; in Confirmation
Office, 442 ; in Visitation of Sick, 468 ;
in Burial Office, 483 ; Epistle and
Gospel in Communion of Sick, 472 ;
for St. Mary Magdalen's Day, 156.
Collects, Origin of Name, 241 ; structure
and characteristics, 242, 243 ; com-
parison of two composed at an interval
of 1000 years, 242 ; come to us chiefly
from the 5th and 6th centuries, 241 ;
their primary use — from ancient .Sac-
ramentaries, 243 ; New, in 1552, 1661,
243 ; Occasional, at end of Communion
Office, 396 ; for Easter and Low Sun-
day changed in 1661, 293.
Colloquial Tone in Divine Service, 57.
"Collusion" in comiectiou with Private
Baptism, 421.
Colours, Ecclesiastical, English, 75, 76 ;
comparative table of, 77.
Comber, Dean, on use of Jubilate, 194.
"Comes " of St. Jerome, 243.
Comfortable words, 385.
Commandments, their Eueharistio use
and its probable oi'igin, 372 ; in the
"Great Bible" translation, 433.
Commemoration of Founders and Bene-
factors, Psalms for, 645, 646.
"Commemorations," 101 ; of Departed,
483, 484 ; of Departed in Primitive and
in English Liturgies, 354, 380 ; of
Martyrs, 127 ; of Blessed Virgin Mary,
329.
"Commendatio Animarum," 470.
"C'ommendatio Beiiefactorum," Eliza-
bethan form of, 484.
Commeiulation of Souls, Sarum Psalms,
622, 640.
Commendatory words in Burial Office,
481.
Connnentators on the Prayer Book, x.
CoMMiNATioN', "A denouncing of God's
anger and judgements against sinners,"
used on Ash-Wednesday, and ".at
other times as tlie Ordinary shall
appoint."
C'oniniin.ation, 490 ; when to be used,
490 ; formerly used on Sundays, 491 ;
Psalm, 549.
Commission to revise Calendar, 24.
Committee of Convocation for Office of
Adult Baptism, 424 ; for revision of
1661, 32 ; tor Reform of Service-books,
their cautions progress, 9-11.
Committee of Revision, 1559, 23 ; how
tlieir completed work was finally
authorized, 18.
Common Order, Knox's Book of, 41.
"Common Prayer," a very ancient term,
82.
Commons, House of, desire to enforce re-
verence, 35 ; care to preserve Prayer
Book and Act of Uniformity intact, 37.
Communion, the receiving of the Body
and Blood of Christ by the faithful in
the "Lord's Supper," and the conse-
quent union of them with Christ, and
Christ with them.
Conununion with God by bodily acts, 44.
Communion, variable parts of Service,
very ancient, 241 ; on Good Friday,
286, 287; "Table," an objectionable
term, not found in Prayer Book, 370 ;
Psalm xxxiv. in Litany of St. James,
530 ; siJiritual, 473 ; after Marriage,
449, 450, 458 ; of the Sick, 472 ; of
Clergy and People, 348, 349, 391. [See
Holy Communion.]
Compatrini et Commatriua3 (sponsors),
413, Orig., 414.
' ' Compiled, " a term inapplicable to the
Prayer Book, vi.
Compline and the departed, 636.
Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary, 176.
"Concerning the Service of the Church,"
100.
Concessions offered by the Bishops at
Savoy Conference, 31.
Cone. Nannetens. onVisitationotSick,463.
Condensation of Old Services, 16, 17.
Conditional Baptism, 423.
Conditions proijosed by St. Augustine to
British Bishops, 2.
Confederacies against Christ, 585.
"Confess," word formerly used where
now "Confirm," 428, 441.
Confession and Absolution in Communion
Office, 348, 384, 361.
Confession, Auricular, or jirivate, 466 ;
national, in 106th Psalm, 609 ; law of
Church of England on, 466 ; private,
remedial, 381 ; of Sick, various direc-
tions for, 466 ; in Visitation of Sick,
466.
" Confirm," confusion in use of term,
428, 441.
C0NFIRM.A.TION, the laying on of hands by
a Bishop, for the purjjose of strengthen-
ing persons in the grace of Baptism by
a further gift of the grace of the Holy
Spirit.
Confirmation, a Sacrament, 438 ; con-
nected with Catechizing, 428 ; act of,
443 ; custom of modern English Bishops
in, 438, and n. 1 ; in mediaeval English
Church, 4,37-445 ; in Eastern Church,
43S, 442, n. 1 ; "a lesser Ordination,"
438; essential to perfection of Christian
life, 437 ; effect of, 438 ; followed Bap-
tism immedi.ately, 437 ; to follow Adult
Baptism, 425 ; of Infants, 437 ; sepa-
rated from Baptism in later days, 438 ;
necessary before Holy Communion, 437,
445 ; frecjuency of, 4.39, and n. 2 ;
Office, 440 ; Introduction to, 437 ; in
Prayer Book of 1549, 440, etc. ; act of,
443; Office, mediieval, 441, Orig. etc. ;
Address of Bishop Cosin, 440 ; age for,
439, and n. 3 and 5 ; blow on cheek in,
438, 444 ; change of name in, 444, n. 1 ;
Chrism in, 437, 438, 443 ; the comple-
ment of Bai^tism, 438 ; sign of Cross in,
438, 443.
Congregation, meaning of, 691 ; synony-
mous with Church, 691.
CON.SECRATION : [1] The priestly act
whereby the Eucharistic Elements
become the Body and Blood of
Christ. [2] The Episcopal act where-
by other Bishops are made. [3] The
solemn desecularization, Dedica-
tion, and Benediction of churches,
etc.
Consecration of Bishops, anciently at
the third hour, 694 ; always pre-
ceded the Gospel, 694 ; before the
Epistle in the Greek Church, 694 ;
of churches, service in Irish Prayer
Book, 710 ; Service, the First, 51 ;
Services, modern, 51 ; Prayer of, 388 ;
of Elements, effected by words of
Institution, 389 ; great exactness
and reverence necessary in, 388, 389,
390 ; in Holy Eucharist, its effect,
353.
Consent, Mutual, in Marriage, 451.
Constantinople, its Arian Hymnology,
54 ; Council and Creed of, 375.
Constitutions, Archbishop Grey's, Arch-
bishop Peekham's, Archbishop Win-
ehelsy's, 72.
Contact of water necessary in Baptism,
404, 416.
"Contestatio," Galilean term for Pre-
face, 387.
Contracts defuturo a,nA. 2jer verba de prte-
scnti, 452.
" Convenient," meaning of term, 458,
488 ; number to communicate required
by ancient Councils, 398 ; place for
Churching, 487.
Convocation, Intended Prayer for, 238 ;
Office for meeting of, 705.
Conybeare and Howson referred to, Life
and Labours of St. Paul, 325.
Cope, a vestment like a long cape or
cloak, worn in solemn services, proces-
sions, etc., 80.
Cope worn by Bishop Cosin, 700 ; substi-
tuted for Chasuble, 359.
Copes, when worn by Bishops, 700 ;
worn in Convocation, 1562 and 1640,
700.
Coptic Liturgy of St. Mark, 345.
Cornelius and his household baptized,
404.
Cornu Altaris, 359.
Coronation Office, Prayer of Oblation in,
378.
Coroner's warrant for burial, 477.
Corporal, the white linen cloth on which
the Elements are consecrated ; it lies
upon and in the centre of that which
covers the Altar.
Coi-poral, 392.
Correctors of the Press for Prayer Book
of 1662, 36.
Cosin, Bishop, his Liturgical learning,
Preface, x; his Durham Prayer Book,
32 ; his careful directions to the Printer,
36 ; his statement on Rubrics, 10 ; his
7i8
JnDcr anD (Slossarp.
prophetic desire to place the Rubric
beyond controversy, 72 ; his note to
the first Rubric, 64 ; Collects which he
composed or compiled, 24'2 ; Additional
Proper Psalms proposed by him, 114;
"Tables and Rules" from his Private
Devotions, 116; additions to Calendar
from his Private Devotions, 128 ; his
wish to revive the use of invitatories,
1S7 ; his Rubric on Antiphoual use of
Psahus, 187 ; his Rubric on singing the
Lessons, 188; on ".Tube," 490: his
Ember Collect, 236 ; his Thanksgiving
for restoration of peace, 240 ; his altera-
tion of Collect for St. Stephen, 253 ;
his Collect for Third Sunday in Advent,
248 ; his Collect for Sixth Sunday after
Epiphany, 263 ; his Collect for Easter
Even, 287 ; his Collect for Rogation
days, 297 ; his Rubric as to position
and furniture of Holy Table, 371 ; his
Rubric on Epistles and Gospels, 374 ;
his proposed Rubric with regard to
Alms, 399 ; his classification of Ofl'er-
tory sentences, 379 ; his propositions
with regard to Church ililitant Prayer,
379 ; on Exhortations in Communion
Oflice, 381, 383; his alteration of Prayer
of Humble Access, 388 ; his alteration
of Rubric on Confession in Communion
Service, 385 ; his proposed restoration
of ancient mode of Consecration, 3SS ;
alterations after Prayer of Consecration,
390 ; on position of Prayer of Oblation,
393 ; on Eucharist for Departed, 394,
480 ; his emendation of Rubric on Oc-
casional Collects, 396 ; his alterations
of Final Rubrics of Communinn Oflice,
397 ; on Solitary Masses, 398 ; his
emendivtion of Rubric iu Baptismal
Office, 409 ; his direction for kneeling
at Font, 409 ; his directions for Gospel
at Baptism, 411 ; his wish to restore
old custom iu Baptismal Confession of
Faith, 414 ; on Benediction of Water,
415 ; his alterations in Form of Bap-
tismal Renunciation, 413 ; his altera-
tions in Baptismal Interrogations, 414 ;
first introduced Vow of Ol^edience in
Baptismal Office, 414 ; his alterations
in Exhortation to Sponsors after Bap-
tism, 419 ; his addition to Rubric on
Minister of Baptism, 405 ; on certifica-
tion of Private Baptism, 421 ; his trans-
ference of Lord's Prayer in Private
Baptism, 422 ; his alteration at end of
Oflice for Private Baptism, 422 ; on
Office for Adult Baptism, 424 ; on latter
part of Catechism, 429 ; on Sacrament
of Confirmation, 438 ; on Confirmation
Office, 440, 441 ; MS. Confirmation
Address of, 441 ; on lax i)ractice in
Confirmation, 439 ; on Impediments of
Marriage, 447 ; on times for Marriage,
118, 447 ; on procession in Marriage
Service, 4.55 ; his alterations in Mar-
riage Exhortation, 451 ; his proposal
regarding delivery of money in Mar-
riage, 4.54, 455 ; on Communion after
Marriage, 4.58; on Confession of Sick,
466 ; his provision for responses iu Visit-
ation of the Sick, 4110 ; liis Rubric after
Visitation Office, 470; on Puritan objec-
tion to Christian burial, 475 ; on burial
in Divine Service, 480 ; suggested first
Rubric of Burial Office, 476; on custom
of Priest casting earth, 481 ; his intro-
duction of Benediction in Burial Office,
483; on time for Churcliing, 4S9 ; liis
Rubric for Churching of Women, 487 ;
his alterations in Comniination Service,
490 ; revised Service for Nov. 5, 703 ;
his four sets of notes on the Book of
Common Prayer, 32.
Council of Laodicea ordered alternate use
of Psalms and Lessons, 189.
Council of Macon enforced observance of
Advent, 245 ; forbade Baptism save at
Easter, 407.
Councils enjoined Visitation of Sick, 460.
Covering Consecrated Elements, 392.
Coverings and hangings anciently used
for Altars and Chancels, 76.
r'overs for Chalices, .390, n. 1.
Coxe's Forms o/Bkhlinff Prayer, 377.
Cramp rings, their use and origin, 168;
Service for consecrating tliem, 705.
Cranmer, Arclibishop, his answer to
Devonshire rebels, 407, n. 2 ; asserted
antiquity of the Prayer Book, 19; his
eflbrts for Ritual revision, 9 ; his letter
to the King, 9 ; on Rites and Cere-
monies, 82.
Creation, its true story truly told by the
Creator, 605.
Credence, the side-table on which the
Elements are placed previous to the
lesser Oblation or Offertory.
Credence Table, 357 ; sanctioned by the
Queeu iu Council, 68.
Creed, a form of words iu which the
Church solemnly asserts the Catholic
Faith. The three Creeds are also used
as Christian Hymns or Canticles.
Creed, Apostles', traced back to the time
of the Apostles, 196 ; as stated b)
Ireuieus, 195 : its form in the lattei
part of the fourth century, 195 ; used
in its present form in t'le eighth cen-
tury, 195; ancient tradition of the early
Church, 196 ; numerous versions of it
in early English, 211, 212 ; ancient
Trilingual version, 212 ; always used in
the daily Offices of the Church of Eng-
land, 195 ; its position in the Service,
196; an expository paraphrase of it, 197.
Creed, Athanasian, supposed origin, 216;
Confession of Orthodoxy against heresy,
217 ; in ancient usage always sung,
216 ; expository notes on, 217.
Creed, Nicene, 375.
Creed iu Baptismal Office, 413 ; in Bap-
tism, how divided in first English
Office, 414.
Creeping to the Cross, what it was, 285.
Crisis of Old and Kew Dispensation, 618.
Crispin, St., 169.
"Cristene," for "Baptize," in baptismal
Form, 420, Orig.
Critics, Modem, on the Psalter, 496.
Cross : [1] The sacred sign used in Holy
Baptism, etc. [2] The Ornament placed
over the centre of the Altar, and used
generally as a badge of Christianity.
[See Crozier.]
Cross of St. Andrew a part of our na-
tional baimer, 324 ; sign of the Son
of Man, 588 ; sign of Christ Trium-
phant, 586 ; in Baptism, 402, and n. 5 ;
its lawful use in Baptism explained,
417, n. 1 ; over the Altar, 3.57 ; the,
reverence to it always jjopular, 285 ;
sign of, in Benediction of Water, 415,
and n. 1 ; sign of, in Confirmation, 438,
443 ; sign of, in Marriage Benediction.s,
4.5.5, 457, 4.58 ; buns, their probabli'
origin, 350, n. 3; quarter days, 160.
Ci!07.ier, the Diocesan, curved, stafT or
Pastoral Crook borne by or before
Bishops or Archbishops. The term is
often, but incorrectly ajiplied to tlie
Provincial, or straight. Cross borne by
or before Archbisliops only
Curate : [1] A Priest wlio has the cure
of souls legally committed to him by
the Bishop. [2] A Priest or Deacon
acting f<u- a beneficed Priest. [Sue
Canons of 1604.]
"Curate, "old use of term, 204, 440, 680;
comprehensive sense of word, 421, n. 1.
Curtains at ends of Altar, 371.
Cuthbert, St., Confirmations by, 438.
Cyprian, St., on the Apostolic Hours of
Prayer, 177 ; on Common Prayer, 82 ;
on Martyrdom of the Innocents, 255 ;
on Sursum Corda, 386 ; on Baptism,
402 ; on the Minister of Baptism, 404 ;
on Infant Baptism, 407 ; on Interroga-
tory in Baptism, 413 ; on Benediction
of Water, 414 ; on heretical baptism,
165 ; on Confirmation, 437 ; on Creed
in Baptism, 414 ; on clinic baptism,
404 ; on burial, 475, n. 1.
Cyril, St., his exposition of the Lord's
Prayer, 208 ; on Lord's Prayer at
Greater Oblation, 393 ; on mode of
receivHng Elements, 391-393 ; on Con-
firmation, 437.
Cyril, St., of Jerusalem, on Eucharistic
Commemorations, 354 ; on Sursum
Ccirda and Tersanctus, 386 ; on Bap-
tism, 402 ; on Baptismal Renunciation,
413 ; on Benediction of Water, 414 ; on
Creed in Baptism, 414 ; on efi'ect of
Baptism, 406 ; Catechetical Lectures
of, 268, 428.
Daily Celebration, 360 ; no Canon re-
specting, iu English Church, 361 ; pro-
vided for in Prayer Book of 1549, 361.
Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, the
authoritative divisions made between
the first and second portions in the
MS., 185, 207 ; Cosiu on its proper be-
ginning, 185 ; Offices, whence derived,
236 ; Prayer enjoined, 197 ; where to
be said, 237 ; Service-books, early en-
deavours to render them intelligible,
7, 8 ; Service, duty of Laity, 105, 178 ;
pi-iuciple of clerical use of, 105 ; coinci-
dences of the Scriptures in, etc., 572.
Dalmatic, the outer vestment of the
Gospeller at the Holy Eucharist, 80.
Damasus, Pope, and the Benedicite, 193 ;
and the Lectionary, 244.
Daniel on Gloria in Excelsis, 395, 396.
David, a declared Prophet, 512 ; his
office as chief Psalmist, 496 ; type of
Captain of our Salvation, 644.
David, St., 140.
Davies's Rites of Durham on the Jube,
490.
Day, .John, his great choral work, 61.
Daye's Hermann, 407-412, 441, 443, Orig. ;
on joining hands in marriage, 455.
Deacox, a cleric of the third order, whose
duty it is to assist the priest in Divine
Service and pastoral work.
Deacon, his duties at the Altar, 359 ; not
to say Absolution, 183 ; not, ordinarily,
to celebrate Marriage, 450.
Deacons, Baptism by, 680 ; Delivery of
New Testament to, 663, 681 ; Reading
of Gospel by, 681 ; Form and nianner
of making, 674 ; Habit of candidates,
675 ; Prayers common to various Offices
for making, 658 ; Revision of Service
for making, 1662, 662 ; Summary of
Office for making, 658 ; to continue in
their office one year, 666.
Deadly sins, the seven, 432.
Death unto sin in Baptism, 406.
Decalogue, probable origin of its Eucha-
ristic use, 372.
Decani and Cantoris, the two sides of
a choir, on one of which is the stall of
the Dean or other principal officer
governing the Cathedral or Church,
and on the other that of the Precentor,
the leader of Divine Service.
"Declare," "Declaratory," meaning ot,
184.
3Inner ano (51'ossarp.
719
Declaration on kneeling, 399.
Dedication of Church, Sarum Psalms, 545,
546, 585, 588, 5'J:{, 598, 0.32.
Delegates of press at Oxford, their altera-
tion of rubric, 447.
Delivery of Elements to each person sepa-
rately, 392 ; various forms in, 390 ;
into hand.s, 391.
Deluge, its typical import, 410.
Demoniacal possession, deep sense of it in
the Early Church, 271.
Demons cast out, a continuation of our
Lord's personal victory over Satan, 271.
Denial of Cup to Laity, 348.
Denton on the Lord's Prayer, referred to,
434.
Denys, St., or Dionysius, 168 ; Areopa-
gite, of Prance, 132, 168.
"Depart," old English word for part
asunder, 452.
Departed, commemorated in Holy Eucha-
rist, 354, .'579, 394 ; Sarum Psalms for
the, 559, 619, 622, 629, 634, 639, 640,
645-649,
Depraving of Common Prayer forbidden,
84, 85.
Deprivation of Ministers, 466, n. 2.
Descent into Hell, 198, 287, 589, 613.
Desecrated Churclies, Service for in Irish
Prayer Book, 710.
Developement of Liturgy, a gradual pro-
cess, 344.
Devonshire Rebels, their demands, and
Cranmer's reply, 9.
Dickinson, his list of printed Service-
books, 8.
Diocletian persecution in Ps. Ixxxiii.,
585.
"Dionysius the Areopagite," on Oblation
of Elements, 377.
Dipping of the Child in Baptism, 416.
Diptychs, Names of Martyrs inscribed
on, 127 ; their Eueharistic use, 347,
354.
D'ireHorimn PastoraJe on Abstinence,
268 ; on Baptism by surgeons, 405, n.
1 ; rules for avoiding infection, 474.
" Disciplina arcani " with regard to Holy
Eucharist, 345, u. I.
Discipline, disuse of, 361 ; the difficulty
of enforcing it, 66.
Discretion, years of, 425.
Dissenters, Burial of, 476 ; and tlie
Prayer I?ook, 30.
Distribution of Elements in Communion
of Sick, 473.
"Divine Service," meaning of term, 63,
100, 480 ; "Worship, its central point,
200.
Doctors, Four great, 140, 144, 160, 165.
Doctrine of Holy Conmiunion, 350.
Documents relating to Act of Uniformity,
72.
Dogs, Non-Christian Jews so called, 557.
Dominica Expectationis, 299.
"Dominica; Vag.intes, " 322.
Dominical or Sunday letter, 119, 124, 125.
Donne, Dr., Marriage sermon, 458.
Door of the church ancient place for
Churching of Women, 487.
Doubtful Baptism, 426.
Doubts, Eitual, how to solve them, 67,
103.
Doxology at end of Exhortation in Com-
munion Office, 383 ; of Lord's Prayer,
185 ; of 107th Psalm, 612 ; proper to
Benedicite, 193 ; the Great, 395.
"Duly, " equivalent to Latin ' ' mie, "
394.
Dunstan, St., 148.
Duppa, Bishop, his Prayer Book, 226 ;
on Churching of Women, 487 ; private
prayers, 703 ; opinion of Scottish Lit-
urgy, 707.
Duraudus, a laborious and painstaking
writer, 245 ; on connection between
Christ and His Martyrs, 2.52 j on
Canonical seasons for Marriage, 447 :
on Missa Sicca, 397 ; on the time of
observing Lent, 264 ; on the use of the
Venite, 187 ; on three K|iiph.inies, 258.
Durol's Latin Prayer Book, 104.
Durham Cathedral, Copes worn at, 350.
Duty to God and our neighbour on tab-
lets at Ely, 429; towards God, 434;
towards neighbour, 434.
Dying, Holy Comnniuion administered
to, 472.
Dykes, Dr., on manner of performing
Divine Service, 50.
Dymchurcli, register at, on prohibited
seasons for marriage, 447.
Eadfrid, his gloss on the Evangelists,
207.
Early Church, its witness to the principle
of Ceremonial Worship, 46.
Ears, opening or piercing the, 539.
Earth cast on body at burials, 481.
East, Turning to the, 187, 197.
Easter, time of its celebration, 119, 289,
290; error in tables, to find, 110;
Festival, former extension to seven
days, 291 ; its names, 289 ; notices
given for its uniform celebration, 289 ;
principal festival of the year in early
C'luirch, 289 ; Day, two celebrations in
the Salisbury Use, 290 ; Anthems,
Latin and English, 290; Psalms, 501,
555, 616-618, 020; Psalm, Sarum, 501.
Easter Even "a high day " in the Jewish
Ktual, 287 ; Baptisms on, in early
Church, 288 : ancient Collects and
alterations, 288 ; Sarum Psalms, 501,
511, 512, 521, 523, 526, 552, 575.
Eastern Church, its conservation of an-
cient customs and formularies, 241,
245 ; Liturgy of, 345 ; its prayers long
and involved, 242 ; its regulations for
vestments, 75, 77 ; resistance to inser-
tion of Fllioqiie, 375 ; its form in Bap-
tism, with possible origin, 404, n. 1 ;
Form of Baptismal Ilenuuciation, 413 ;
uses Nicene Creed at Baptism, 414 ;
Confirmation in, 438, 442, n. 1 ; Daily
Morning Psalm, 502 ; Bajjtismal Otfice,
414, 415.
Ecclesiastical censures, 67.
Ectene, represented in our Offices, 221,
223, 372.
Edgar, King, Canon of, on Communion
of Sick, 472.
Edmund, King, his law of Marriage, 446.
Edmund, St., 17.3.
Edward, St., King of West Saxons, 140 ;
ti-anslation, 152.
Edward, Confessor and King, 168.
Edwar-d VL's First Liturgy in extenso,
364.
Effect of Holy Baptism, 405.
Egbert, Archbishop of York, his Con-
firmation Office, 438, 442 ; Excerpts
of, on Viaticum, 472 ; Excerpts of, on
burial, 477 ; on Spiritual Communion,
474.
Egypt a type of Antichrist, 580.
'E/cKXijo-iao-flipai, Greek term for Church-
ing of Women, 486, n. 1.
Elborow on burial of dead, 481, n. 1 ; on
veil at Churchiiigs, 487-
" Elect of the Elect " among our Lord's
Disciples, 253.
Elements, the outward visible signs or
materials used in the Sacraments, tech-
nically called nmteries or " matter."
Elements, Oblation of, 378 : offered by
people in primitive Church, 399 ; de-
livery of, 391 ; remaining after Com-
munion of Sick, how to be disposed of,
^ 473.
Eliz.abeth, Queen, her measures to silence
disputes, 22.
IClvira, Council of, on Lay Baptism, 405.
Ely, Palace of, tablets relating to Cate-
cliism, 429.
Ember seasons, the Qimliwr tempora or
four times in the year set apart for
Ordinations, said to have been called
Quatember from the Latin, and hence
Ember.
End)cr Days, 236, 248, 270, 673.
Emljlcms of Saints, 132, 176.
Emb(;lismus, 185, 393.
Emergency, Baptism in cases of, 403.
Empire Spiritual, 502.
" Endeavour themselves," illustrations of
term, 441.
Enemies of the Psalmist, of what typical,
503.
"Engagement," substitute for ancient
betrotlial, 4.')2.
English Liturgy, its Galilean origin — re
visions by SS. Augustine and Osmund,
basis of present Vernacular Liturgy,
346.
Entrance, Great and Little, 374, 377.
]'>nurchus, St., 164.
Epact, meaning and use, 121.
Ephesus, its importance as abode of St.
John, 254 ; Liturgy of, 345, 415.
'E<p65iof, Eastern name for Viaticum, 472.
Epiphanius, on Eunomian Baptism, 403 ;
on Prayer for Dead, 476.
F^Ijiphany, as the close of Christmas-tide,
2.57, 259 ; Unity and fitness of Scrii>
turcs for, 258 ; 6th Sunday after, an
addition of 1601, 263; 3rd Sunday
after. Offertory sentence for, 261 ; of
Christ as a Divine He.aler of our infir-
mities, 261 ; Sarum Psalms, 525, 554-
556, 562, 571, 587, 597, 598.
Episcopate, Divinely instituted, 655 ;
distinguished from Presbyterate jure
divino, 693 ; called an Order by Isidore,
693 ; includes within it the Priesthood,
693 ; its Apostolic descent. Tables of,
656, 668.
Epistle, the portion of Holy Scripture
read before the C4ospel in the Liturgy,
generally taken from one of the Apos-
tolic Epistles, sometimes from the
Acts or Prophets.
Epistle and Gospel read from " Jube,"
490 ; and from a Lectern, 374.
Epistles and Gospels, their arrangement,
243.
Epistles, Ancient, at Consecration of
Bishops, 695 ; at Ordering of Deacons,
678 ; at Ordering of Priests, 685.
Epistoler, the minister who reads the
Epistle and acts as subdeacon at a
celebration.
Epitaph on two Infants, 255.
Epitome of the Gospel, Ps. i-iv. , 503.
Erasmus, possibly author of latter part
of Catechism, 429, n. 3.
Erie, Chief Justice, his decision respect-
ing Chancels, 179.
Escott i'. Mastin, case of, 405, n. 3.
Espousals, 452, n. 1.
Essentials of Holy Baptism, 403, 416.
Ethelred, King, his Ecclesiastical Laws,
203.
Eucharist, the Christian Sacrifice of
jjraise and thanksgiving, wherein we
"show forth the Lord's Death till He
come."
Eucharist, its first celebration, 52; Power
of Consecrating, when first expressly
stated in Ordering of Priests, 539 ;
conveys Divine Presence, 353 ; a Sacri-
fice for the benefit of the whole Church,
720
InDcr ann ^©lossarp.
354, 394 ; a means of union with God,
355 ; a symbol, and a means, of union
among Christians, 355 ; strengthening
and refreshing the soul, 356.
Eucharistia, a term applied to Holy Com-
munion in Daye's translation of Her-
mann, 408.
Eucharistic Worship, the only distinc-
tively Christian worship, 177 ; prepara-
tion, Psalms for, xxvi., 523; xxxiv.,
530 ; Sacrifice, its relation to Jewish
Sacrifices, 353 ; its relation to the
Sacrifice on the Cross, 353.
Eudoxia, Empress, 54.
Eunomian form of Baptism, 403.
Eusebius, Martyr of Alexandria, 251 ;
.what he records of St. Thomas, 325.
Evangelical interpretation. Key to, 532.
Eve or Even, the day before a Festival.
[See Vigil.]
Evening Celebrations, condemned by
Fathers, 360.
Evens or Vigils, the distinction and
reasons, IIS.
Evensong, the order for Evening Prayer,
representing the ancient Oifices of Ves-
pers and Compline.
Evensong, its comprehensive meaning,
50 ; an anticipation of Rest, 211, 636.
Evidence of a common early Formula of
Belief, "A Rule of Truth," 195.
Exactness necessary in administration of
Baptism, 416.
Examination, Ancient, of Priests at
Ordination, 686 ; by Bishop to precede
Ordination, 666 ; in Consecration of
Bishops, 697 ; of Sick person, 465.
Examination for Orders, subject of, 542 ;
days appointed for, 541.
Examiners for Orders, 541 ; number of,
542.
" Exaposteilaria " and Collects, 241, 242.
"Excellent things" in Ps. Ixxxvii., 589.
Excommunicate persons. Burial of, 477.
EXCOMMUNICATION.S, forms of words by
which notorious offenders are cut oti"
from the privUeges of Church member-
ship, 171.
Exeter, Phillpotts, Bishop of, Speech on
Marriage, 447.
Exhortation in our Office from "Order of
Communion," 349; to Communion, old
English form of, 382 ; upon the Gospel
in Baptismal Office, 411; to Sponsors
after Baptism, 419 ; of Sick, ordered
by ancient Canons, 463 ; previous to
Marriage, 449 ; after Marriage, 458 ;
Ancient, by Bishop at Ordering of
Priests, 684.
Exhortations in Communion Office, 380.
Exorcism in Baptism, 271, 403; in Bap-
tismal Office of 1549, 410.
Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
.329.
Extreme Unction, 460.
Fabian, St., 132.
"Fair," its meaning as applied to linen
cloth, .370.
Faith, and superstition distingiiisheil,
432; necessity of, 216, 220, 432; St.,
168.
Fald.stooi,, the small kneeling-desk at
which the Litany is sung or said ; its
use enjoined, 223.
Falling sickness. Gospel used against,
403.
Family prayer an imperfect substitute
for Divine Service, 105.
Fast, a time set apart for especial self-
discipline and humili.ation, and the
practice of niortilicatiou. [Sei: Aiwtin-
ENfE.]
Fast before Easter, from the earliest
Christian times, its duration varied,
266.
Fasting enjoined before Holy Communion,
360; Homily on, 268; of the early
Christians, its mode, 266 ; rules for
practice of, 267.
Fathers, Bishops anciently called, 696.
Faulkner r. Lichfield, opinious of the
Judges, 68.
Feasts and Fasts, Tables and Rules for,
116.
Felicitas, St., an African Martyr, 140.
" Felo de se," burial of, 477.
Ferial and Festival Lauds, Sarum, 559.
Ferreri, Zaccli., reformer of Breviary
Hj'mns, 8.
Festiv.\l, a day set apart for the cele-
bration of some great event connected
with our Blessed Lord or His Saints,
called also a Holy day.
Festival, Christmas, its great importance
in both religious and social life, 251 ;
of three or seven days at Easter, 291.
Festivals of our Lord, idea on which the
whole cycle is founded, 258.
"Fides Catholica," earliest title of
Athanasian Creed, 216.
Fifth of November Service, 703.
" Fili David," an ancient Liturgical e.\.-
pression, 234.
" Filioque " in Nicene Creed, 375.
Final Court of Appeal, 68.
Fire of London Service, 704.
First-fruits Offering, 526.
Five Prayers, Tlie, after the Collects,
when to be used, 202.
Flagellants, their" baptismofblood, "40.1.
FLiiGON, the Cruet, or vessel used to
contain the wine previous to the lesser
oblation, sometimes used also in the
consecration.
Font, the stone vessel which contains
the water for Holy Baptism.
Font, Benediction of, 402, 403, 412 :
blessed on Easter Eve, origin of
custom, 407 ; proper position of, 409 ;
to be emptied .after Baptism, 41.5.
Food of body, its action compared with
that of Sacramental Food, 358.
Forbes, Bishop, on Nicene Creed, 376, n. 1.
Foreign Reformers, how far they influ-
enced Prayer Book, 16-19.
Foreigners thrust into important offices
by Protector Somerset, 20.
"Form" at Consecration of Bi-shops not
found in early English Pontificals, 575 ;
at Consecration of Bishops in the
Greek Church, 575 : of Vestments,
78-80.
Forms and Ceremonies, 44 ; of Dean
Granville for Private Confession, 466 ;
ordinary, 467.
Formularies, Ancient, when found unsuit-
able, and why, 6 ; of the Church of
England, always distinctive, 1.
Forty days of Leut, variously computed,
266.
Fothergill, his Aimotated Prayer Book
in eleven vols. — collection of old Eng-
lish .Service-books, .xi ; MS. on St.
Barnabas, 332 ; MS. on Confirmation,
439.
Founders and Benefactors, Psalms for,
645, 646.
Four meanings of Holy Scripture, 499.
[■'ourth linger why ring finger, 454.
France, Sovereign of, nominated Bishops
by Concordat, 690.
Freem.an, Archdeacon, on Gallican origin
of English Liturgy, 346 ; on Gloria in
Excelsis, 394 ; on likeness between
E.astern Hynnis and Western Collects,
241; on the- 15.52 Revision, 20; on
Words of Institution, 389, u. 2,
French Church, ancient Baptismal Office
of, 409 ; early publication of banns in,
446 ; early Liturgy of, 346.
French Saints in the Calendar, 128.
French translation of Prayer Book, 104.
Frequency of celebration of Holy Com-
munion, 360 ; enjoined in English
Church, .361.
"Frtres Cordonniers, " their origin, 169.
Frewen, Archbishop, 32.
Friends and neighbours to be present at
Marriage, 450.
Frontal, the antependium or ornamental
cloth that hangs around and in front
of the Altar.
Fulda, Abbey of, its Preces, 221, 228,
229.
Furniture of God's House, should be
reverent in character, 49.
Gabriel the Archangel, his day, 339.
Gallican Liturgy, 2, 346 ; Mass for St.
Steplien's Day, 253 ; origin of Prayer
in Benediction of Water, 414, 415,
Orig. ; rite of Confirmation, 442 ; ver-
sion of Psalters, 498.
"Gang Days," 298.
Gardiner, Bishop, accepted the Prayer
Book, 19.
Gates of Brass and Iron, 522.
Gauden, Bishop, on Black Rubrics, 399.
Gawdie, Sir F. , case of, 444, n. 1.
re7^j'i'7;Tai, k.t.X., explained, 431.
Gelasian and Gregorian Sacramentaries,
201-203.
Gelasian Baptismal Oflice, on Deluge,
410; interrogatories in, 413; Sacra-
mentary, rule for Processional Litanies,
222.
Gelasius' Reconciliation of Penitents at
point of death, 467.
General Assembly of 1016 and Scottish
Liturgy, 41.
General Confession, how to be said, 182 ;
Thanksgiving, its authorship, 239.
"General," etc., sense of, in 16th and
17th centuries, 435.
"Generally necessary," meaning of, in
Catechism, 435.
George I., Litany at his Coronation, 223.
German origin of Prayers in Baptismal
Office, 410-412; u.se of Media Vita,
480.
Germanus on Gallican Liturgy, 347.
Gestures in Divine Service, 49, 182, 187,
374.
Gibson, Bishop, on use of Burial Service,
476.
Giles or Egidius, St., 164.
Girdle of the Albe, 79.
Glastonbury Prayer Book of Pollanus,
372.
Gloria in Excelsis, 395 ; its possible origin,
■395 ; expanded form, 395 ; position of,
in Liturgies, 394 ; limitation respecting
its use, 106.
Gloria P.atri, Variations in, 186.
"God's help" invoked, a form of oath,
433; "holy will and commandments,"
433.
"God's beard," an ancient designation
of Altar, 382.
Godfathers and Godmothers, number of,
408 ; mouth-pieces of child, 414, 432.
"Godly discipline," 491.
Gold and silver given .at Marriage, 454.
Goldin numbers, 119; Litany, word
"buxonmes" in, 452, n. 6; Rose, 272.
Good Friday, its various names, 284 ;
how anciently observed, 285 ; the
hours of, illustrated, 284 ; how ob-
served in Eastern Church, 287 ;
churches hung in black, 286 ; Psalms,
519, 538, 552, 566, 588 ; Sarum Psalms,
3InDer ano t^lossarj).
r2l
519, 523, 536, 538, 552, 556, 588, 596,
620, 629, 641, 642.
Good Physician, manifestation of His
power, 261.
Goodrich, Bishop, reputed author of part
of Catechism, 429.
Go.sPEL ; [1] The history of the Life of
our Lord as recorded by the Four
Evangelists. [2] A portion selected
from this history, appointed to be read
in the Liturgy.
Gospel, 243, 374; The, found in the
I'salms, 500 ; for the Circumcision,
Rubric after it, 257 ; in Baptismal
Office, 411.
Gospeller, the Minister who reads tlie
Gospel, and acts as Deacon, at a Cele-
bration.
Gospels, Ancient, at Ordering of Deacons,
678 ; at Ordering of Priests, 685 ; at
Consecration of Bishops, 695.
Gospels and Epistles later than essential
portions of Liturgy, 344 ; changes in
them, 244.
Goulburn, On Communion Office, 243 ;
Collects, ib.
Grace, what it is, 356 ; Collect for, Gre-
gorian and Roman forms, 202 ; pre-
figured by natural provision, 647.
Gradual Psalms, 629, 636.
Grant on the 15ills of Mortality, 99.
Granville, Dean, his Office for private
Confession, 466, n. 3 ; anecdote about
Scottish Liturgy, 707.
Great Sabbath, 287.
Greater Festivals, their central position
in a series of days, 245.
Greek Church, burial custom in, 4S1 :
Prayer for Dead in, 476.
Greek original of Preface in Communini,
Office, 386 ; terms connected with Holy
Eucharist, 352 ; words in Kyrie indica-
tive of Eastern origin, 373 ; version of
Prayer Book, 105.
Gregorian chants in Merbecke, 59 ; Gre-
gorian music, 56, 140; difficulty of
adapting it to English words, 59.
Gregory, St., his Sacranientary, what it
represents, 2 ; his revision of Roman
Liturgy, 343 ; the great originator of
mission to England, 140 ; advice to St.
Augustine, 2 ; Proper Preface for C'ir-
cumcision, 257 ; on Churching of
Women, 486 ; reformer of Church
music, 55.
Gregory of Nazianzus, on Choir veil or
screen, 47 ; on Private Celebration, 473.
Gregory of Nyssa, on trine immersion,
404.
Gregory of Tours, on his predecessor Per-
l)etuus, 245 ; History of Franks, quo-
tations from, 221.
Gregory the Great, on Lord's Prayer,
393.
Grindal, Archbishop, his order to use
Commination Service on certain Sun-
days, 491 ; his order to read Epistle
and Gospel from Chancel-screen, 490 ;
on Churching of Women, 486.
CJueranger on corruptions of Roman
Liturgy, .348.
Guidetti, coadjutor of Palestrina in re-
vising Church Song, 57.
Gunning, Bishop, his instrumentality in
the restoration of the Prayer Book, 238 ;
on Black Rubric, 399.
Gunpowder Plot Service, 703.
Habit proper for Bishop-elect at Conse-
cration, 695 ; proper for Candidates
for Deacon's Orders, 675 ; proper for
Candidates for Priest's Orders, 683.
Hale's Precedents, Cases of Churching
of Women in, 467 ; on Godly discip-
line, 491 ; referred to on hours of
Marriage, 447.
Hallelujah, !564 ; its first use in the
Psalms, 465; in I'rayer liooks of l.")49
—1.5.52, 16.37, 1661, 186; the Great,
;!95, 616.
Hammond on Catechizing, 4.30 ; on Lit-
urgies, .346.
Hampton Court Conference, 184 ; an
cfTort to convince Nonconformists, 66 :
•abruptly broken up, 25; on "lawful
minister " of Baptism, 405.
Hands to receive the Elements at Com-
munion, 391.
"Hard .Sayings," illustrated, 579.
Harvest Thanksgiving, admirable Collect
for, 297.
Harvey on the Creeds, 196, 217.
Hawaiian Version of the Book of Com-
mon Prayer, 43.
Head of Child to have water poured on
it, 416.
" Healing," Note on Office for, 705.
Heaven, The Worship of, 48.
Heber, Bishop, on Pr.aj'er for the Dead,
476.
Hebrew Chants, Melody to 51st Psalm,
54.
Hellenism prejiarcd the World for Chris-
tianity, 54.
Heman and Jeduthun, Choristers, 51.
Hengstenberg on the Psalter, 496.
Hereford Use in Espousals, 452.
Heresies, cause of many, 579.
Hermann, Archbishop, of Cologne,
Ritual Reformer, his Consultation, 15,
384, 385 ; his iorm of Marriage Admo-
nition, 451 ; Catechism in, 428, n. 3 ;
origin of catechizing at Confirmation,
441 ; Daye's translation, 441, Orig. ;
on Seasons for Baptism, 407 ; Baptism
Exhortation in, 411 : Bapti.sm Collect
in, 412 ; on Infant Communion, 408 ;
Absolution in, 467 ; the probable origin ,
of joining hands in Marriage, 455.
Hesychius in St. Leo, quoted on Con-
sumption of Elements, 473.
Heurtley's liarmonin. Si/mlmUca, 195,
212, 414, u. 1.
Hickes on Eucharistic Sacrifice, 390, n. 2.
Hickman, Mrs., Touching anecdote of,
about Reformation Baptism Office, 403.
Hierapolis, Martyrdom of St. Philip, 33.
Hilary, St., of Aries, 132; commends
faithfulness of British Bishops, 132 ;
reputed author of the Athanasian
Creed, 217 ; on the Psalms, 499 ; on
Christ's rest in the Church, 635.
Hilary, St., of Poictiers, reputed author
of part of Gloria in Excelsis, 395.
Hilary Term of Law used to begin on the
Festival of St. Hilary, Jan. 13th, 132.
Hilsey, Bishop, his version of the Atlia-
nasian Creed, 216 ; his Primer, 1539,
199.
History, Spiritual, its central point, 513.
Holt, Lord Chief-Justice, on change of
name, 444.
Holy Apostles, their commemoration, 128.
Holy Bible, always iHiblicly read, 100.
Holy Communion, an ancient and Scrip-
tural phrase, 369 ; its various designa-
tions, ,344 ; oriijinated by our Lord,
and associated by Him with Ancient
Rites, 350 ; doctrine of, 350 ; as a Sacra-
ment, 350 ; as a Sacrifice, 351 ; may
possibli/ supply omission of Baptism,
427 ; Office, 241, 369 ; notice, or warn-
ing of, 380 ; hour for its celebration,
360 ; frequency of its celebration,
360 ; on Good Friday, 286 ; at Burials,
479 ; at Burials, why proper, 475 ; at
Burials, Office for, 485 ; at ChurchingB,
4Sy. [ij<« CoaLMiTioy.]
2 z
Holy Cross Day, 164.
Holy Days, The three after Christmas,
251 ; publication of Banns on, 447. n. 1 ;
bidding of, 376 ; Minor, 1.32, 176.
Holy (iiiost, how given to the regenerate,
412 ; Invocation of, in all Confirmation
Offices, 442.
Holy Innocents, early notices of, 255 ;
muflled peal on, 256 ; ancient Collect
for, 255.
Holy Sacrament, reserved in the Eastern
Church, 283.
Holy Scripture, Coincidences in ancient
.and present mode of reading it. 111 ;
its continuous reading, 1 13 ; responsory
system of reading it. 111 ; its proper
use and mode of interpretation, 218.
Holy Thursday, 298.
Holy Week, or Great Week, 274 ; its
strict observance, official exiimplc of
the emperors, 274.
Homily, pre-Reformation, on Confirma-
tion, 439.
Homily of Common Prayer, etc., on
number of Sacraments, 435 ; of Repent-
ance, on private Confession, 466.
Hood, a badge of academical status worn
by graduates over their surplices. [See
Canon 58.]
Hooker, on the Divine Service, 50 ; on
death unto sin in Baptism, 406 ; on
iteration of Baptism, 409 ; on Lay Bap-
tism, 405 ; on Marriage, 458 ; on de-
livery of money in !Marriage, 454 ; on
Offerings at Churchings, 488 ; on
Puritan objection to Christian burial,
475.
Hooper, Bishop, on sense of word "gene-
ral," 435.
Hope, Expressions of, in Burial Office
explained, 482.
Horace on casting earth on dead body,
481.
Horn Books, Sigraving of one, 4 ; intro-
duced for the poor, 4.
Hornby, register at, on prohibited sea-
sons for Marriage, 447.
Horsley, Bishop, on Invocation of Holy
Ghost in celebr.ation of Holy Eucha-
rist, 389 ; on Scottish Liturgy, 393.
Hosannain Eucharistic Preface displaced,
1552, 887.
Hosanna, Sundaj', 274.
Hour for celebration of the Holy Com-
munion, 360.
Hours of Prayer, how observed by
Apostles and early Christians, 177 ;
seven condensed, 17.
House of Commons, amendments to Act
of LIniformity, 36.
House of God, i\hat it is, 49.
Housel, old English term for Holy
Eucharist, 472.
Hugh, St., 172.
Human Nature, its perfect ideal personi-
fied, 501,511.
Humble Access, Prayer of, 388.
Hyde, Lord Chancellor, corrects an error
in MS. of Prayer Book, 36.
Hymns, their proper position in Divine
Ser\ace, 60 ; sung by Christ, 618.
Hypapante, Eastern name for the Puri-
fication Festival, 326.
Hypothetical form in Baptism, 405.
Idiots to be baptized, 425.
"I do," in Confirm.atiou, 442.
Idolatrous ceremonies, the origin of
"pomps," 413.
Ignatius, St., 54 ; on "one Altar," 357 ;
on Matrimony. 446 ; Tradition respect-
ing Athens, 54.
"Illatio," Galilean and Mozarabic term
for Preface, oo7
722
3intier anD (Sloscarp.
Illiberis, Council of, on Lay Baptism,
405.
IlLMERSlON, the dipping into the -water
of recipients of Holy Baptism. Affu-
sion is now the usual practice.
Immersion, Baptism by, 403, 404 ; the
Apostolic mode of Baptism, 402 ; disuse
of, necessitates special precautions, 416 ;
trine, 404.
Impediments of Marriage, 446, 447, 451.
Imposition of hands in Confirmation,
436, 43S ; of hands sometimes a mere
elevation, 438.
Imprecations of Psalms, 533, 568, 569,
6"14, 641.
Incarnation of our Lord — its fruits in tlie
three kinds of Saints, 251 ; in connec-
tion with the Martyrs, 251.
Incense, its use in ancient Church of
England, 209 ; at Gospel, 374.
Inclination, Prayer of, in Eastern Litur-
gies, 388.
"Incomprehensible," its twofold mean-
ing, 217.
Indulgence, Sunday, 274.
Indwelling of the Holy Ghost, 636.
Infant Baptism in Primitive Church, 402,
407 ; Confirmation and Communion,
40S, 437.
Infants, Baptism of, 407.
Infection, precautions against, 474.
Intidels, burial of, 477.
Infrequent Communion of Laity, 348.
"Inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven,"
Scriptural term, 431.
"Inhumatio Defuncti," 478.
Injunctions on Catechizing, 429, 430.
Injunctions of Edward VI., 11.
Injunctions and Advertisements of Queen
Elizabeth, 64, 65 ; on wafer bread, 398 ;
and 18th Canon on reverence, 197 ; on
age for Communicants, 439.
Innocent, St., on Roman Liturgy, 345.
"Innocents," i.e. idiots, regenerate in
Baptism, 419, Orig.
Innovations connected with Holy Eucha-
rist in Mediieval times, ,348.
Institution of a Christian Mau quoted,
419.
Institution of Holy Eucharist, 344, 350,
351, 369, n. 1, 380.
Interlinear Translations of OfKce-books, 3.
Intermediate state typified in 130th
Psalm, 634.
"Interpretation Clause " of Prayer Book,
67.
"Interpretations and Considerations" of
Queen Elizabeth, 65.
Interrogation of Sick on Articles of Faitli,
464.
Interrogation preceded Baptism, 412.
Interrogations in ancient Baptismal
Offices, 402 ; represented modern Cate-
chism, 428 ; formerly addressed to
child, 414 ; in our Baptismal Office re-
present Apostolic practice, 413.
Interrogatories from Sarum " Ritus Bap-
tizandi," 413, Orig.
Introduction to the Liturgy, 344.
Introductory Rubrics to Baptismal Otiice,
407.
Introductory Service to Baptism, 409.
Introit, the Verse, Psalm, or Hymn
■which is sung as tlio Priest enters
■within the precincts of the Altar.
Introit, 241, 348, 361.
Introits — their selection — ancient names,
241 ; a list as arrauf;cd in the first
English Prayer Book, 241 ; given under
each Sunday and Holyday, 247 ; for
Advent, their spirit, 246 ; to Com-
munion at Ordination Service, 1.549,
685.
vention of the Cross, 145.
Inventories of Ornaments, made in 1552,
69 ; of Vestments and Hangings, 74.
Invitation to Communicants, 3S3.
Invitatories to Venite, 187.
Invocation of the Holy Ghost, 389 ; in
Baptism and Liturgies compared, 412.
Invocation, prayer of, in Confirmation
Office, 442 ; of Trinity in Baptism, 402 ;
of Angels and Saints, 222.
Irenseus on Fastings, 266 ; on Infant
Baptism, 407.
Iriih Clergy, their use of Burial Service,
476.
Irish Common Prayer Book, 42, 709 ; the
revised book of 1877, 710.
Irish Communion Book, 6th century, 243.
" Irregularity ; " sense of word in Canon
Law, 466, n. 2.
Isidore on Fonts, 404.
Israel, its History typical, 608.
Italic Version of Psalter, 498.
Iteration of Baptism, 409, 420, 421.
" Jah," in 69th Psalm, 564.
James, St., the Great, 336.
James, St., the Less, S31 ; Liturgy of,
345 ; its prayer for li\-ing and departed,
354 ; Psalms before Communion, 385.
James I., some slight changes made in
Prayer Book during liis reign, 25 ;
Proclamation giving authority to make
them, 87 ; and Scottish Prayer Book,
705.
Jasper, its symbolism, 566.
Jebb's Choral Service, 234.
Jenner, Sir H. , on Prayer for Dead, 476.
Jerome, St., and tlie Latin Vulgate, 165 ;
his three versions of the Psalter, 498 :
Lectionary, its Epistles and Gospels,
241, 243, 475 ; on Advent, 245 ; on the
Epiphany, 258 ; on Lay Baptism, 405 ;
on Arian Baptism, 403 ; on the Psalms,
499.
•lerusalem, Liturgy of, 345.
Jewell, Bisliop, on death unto sin in
Baptism, 406.
Jewish worsliip, its influence on Chris-
tians, 177 ; origin of Churching of
Women, 486.
Jews, Tlie, tlieir state before the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, 271 ; a great con-
version of tliem foretold, 558 ; their
enmity and rejection foretold, 555 ;
their sin and punishment foretold, 562.
Jews and Gentiles changing places, 557,
619.
Job a type of Christ, 602.
John, St., the Baptist, Nativity of, 333 ;
his greatness and power as a Prophet,
333, 334 ; Advent proclamation of
Christ, 248.
Jolm, St., the Evangelist, his relation-
sliip to our Lord, 253 ; his two escapes
from death, his death at Ephesus, 254 ;
Ante Portam Latinam, 148 ; Liturgy
of, 345. I
Johnson on Eucharist Sacrifice, 390, u. j
2 ; Canons referred to on Confirming j
by name, 444, n. 1 ; referred to for j
Marriage Law, 446 ; referred to on
publicity of ilarriagc, 447 ; referred to
on Catechizing, 428. j
Johnson, Dr., his practice of praying for
dead, 476.
Joining of liands in Marriage, 455. I
Joseph a type of Clirist, 60S.
"Jube," a lectern on Chancel-screen, |
400.
Jubilate, seldom to be used, 194. i
Judaism has become heathenism, 557. j
Judaizing Christians, trouhlcsomc to the
Early Church, 289. \
Judas, in 109th Psalm, 014. {
Judo, St., 341.
Justin Martyr, his account of Celebra-
tion of Holy Eucharist, 345, n. 4 ; his
notice of Christian Hymns, 53 ; on
Sursum Corda, etc., 386; on Amen,
after Prayer of Consecration, 390 ;
early reference to Gloria Patri, 186 ;
on Infant Baptism, 407 ; on Com-
munion of Sick, 472.
Juxon, Archbishop, 31.
:' Kalends of January and Feast of the
I Circumcision, 256.
i KaTTjx'/fis, meaning of, 428, and n. 1.
' Katharine, St., 173.
Katharine, Queen, her Prayers and
ileditations, 203.
Keble on Eucharistical Adoration, 352,
j 390, n. 2.
I Kempe r. Wickes, case of, 476."
Ken, Bishop, on Catechizing, 430.
I Kennett, Bishop, his MS. notes cm
I Prayer Book, 444, n. 1.
" Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven," .336.
Keystone of the Temple, 513.
King's Evil, Office for, 168, 705.
Kingdom of Clirist, 570.
Kingship of Christ, 598, 615.
Kiss of Peace, 347, 348, 361.
Kneeling, Bishop Cosin's note on, 182 ;
declaration on, 399 ; posture of cele-
brant in receiving, 3'Jl ; posture in
ilarriage, 455 ; the jiroper posture in
Adult Baptism, 426.
Knox, John, his P.onk of Common Order,
41 ; saying of, 227.
Krazer, de LUurgiis, 46.
Kyrie Eleison, said in Greek, 198 ; in
Conim. Office, 372 ; expanded formof, ib.
"Laither," meaning of, 452, n. 4.
Laity, Daily attendance of, 178; their
part in offering of Eucharistic Sacri-
fice, 353-390.
Lambert, St., 164.
Lammas Day, 160.
Lancashire, burial of Roman Catholics in,
477.
Languages and Dialects into which the
Prayer Book is translated, 42.
Laodicea, Council of, on Lenten Mar-
riages, 447.
Lapide, Corn, a, calculation regarding
the mirn'^lp nf tfip lonvp«. 272.
Lasco, or Laski, John A, 16, 184.
Last Supper confounded with Institution
of Holy Eucharist, 369.
Latlibury on State Services, 703.
Latimer, Bishop, on meaning of word
" general," 435.
Latin Prayer Book, 104, 24 ; of 1560,
Saints commemorated in, 28.
Latin Service for Convocation, 705.
Latin Version of latter part of Catechism,
429.
Laud, Archbishop, and former Collect
for Easter Even, 288 ; and the Scottish
Pniyer Book, 42, 388, 705, 706.
" Lawful authority," 204.
Lawrence, St., 160.
Laxity tolerated by some Bishops, 24.
Lay Baptism, 404 ; aIlo\\'ed to be valid,
405 ! discouraged, 420, Orig. and n.
Laying on of hands by Bisliop in Order-
ing of Deacons, 680 ; by Priests in
Ordering of Priests, 690 ; in Confirma-
tion, 437.
Lazanion's Brut, referred to, 452, n. 4.
Lecterx, the desk from ■which the Scrip-
tures are read.
Lectern for Epistle and Gospel, 374.
Lecterns for Music-book and for Lessons,
374.
Lectionary, changes made in the Salis-
bury Use, 112.
3lnDci: anD ©lossarp.
723
Lectionary of St. Jerome, commemora-
tion of Apostles, 323 ; SS. Peter and
Paul, 334.
Lections, Scripture, how to be "read or
said," 56-58.
Legal obligations of Canons of 1603-4 and
1640, 67.
" Legatus natus " of Pope, 446, n. 1.
Lent, different usages as to its duration,
264, 266 ; abstinence other than from
food, 267.
Leo, Emperor, Churching of Women
under, 48G.
Leo, St., on Holy Innocents, 255; on
trine immersion, 404.
Leonard, St., 172.
Leonardo da Vinci, his picture of Last
Supper, a means of propagating error,
369.
Lessons, portions from the Old and New
Testament, read at ALattins and Even-
song, and in the Burial Service.
Lessons, The, not always Holy Scripture,
111; new Table of 1871, 41; Table
shewing ancient and modern systems,
111; proper for Holydays, 113; how
anciently read. 111; system established
in 1549, 113; in ancient Baptismal
Offices, 402 ; in Burial Office, 479 ;
proper, suggested for special occasions,
114.
L'Estrange on form in delivery of Ele-
ments, 391.
Letters dimissory, 666.
Levitical Benediction, ancient Irish, Gal-
ilean, and Anglo-Sa.xon uses of, 470.
"Liber Festivalis," its use of word
"worship," 4.54.
Library of Anglo - Catholic Theology,
Works of Bishop Cosin, 32.
Library of St. .John's, Oxford, MS. De
Vis. Inf., 463 ; of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, Trilingual Version of the Creed,
212.
Licence for Marriage, 446 ; Special, 446,
and n. 1.
Lighted taper used in Baptism, 403, 412.
Lighted tapers at Gospel, 374.
Lightfoot on Jewish Baptism, 401.
Lights on the Altar, 357.
Lincoln, Diocese of, petition to King
James for total abolition of Prayer
Book, 25.
Linen cloth for covering Elements, 392 ;
its use and symbolism, 357, 370, 392.
Lion, The, a typical enemy, 505.
Litaueia, use of the word by St. Basil,
221 ; its technical sense, 221.
Litania, Major, Minor, Septena, 222.
Litania Septena, 402 ; septiformis, 402,
n. 4.
Litanies, their general acceptableness to
the people, 222 ; oldest ^Vestern Use,
231 ; proper, of Western Use chiefly,
221.
Litany, a ' ' General Supplication " in the
form of short petitions, to which the
choir and congregation make responses.
Litany in English, 1544, 11, 13 ; its
medifeval use, 222 ; its excellence, tes-
timonies to, 223 ; the simple Chant
fenerally used very old, 58 ; published
y Cranmer with musical notation, 58 ;
Canon 15 on, 105 ; as a separate ser-
vice, 223, 380 ; place for singing it,
223 ; lesser, in Visitation of Sick, 461,
462, n. ; use of, in Ordering of Deacons,
675 ; in Ordering of Priests, 684 ; in
Consecration of Bishops, 697.
Litera Dominicalis, 101.
Littledale'B Offices of Eastern Church,
442.
Liturgical studies, their gradual advance,
vi
Liturgies, Oriental, three Great, 205;
ancient, on Words of Institution, 380.
Liturgy, the Eucharistic Office. The
term is sometimes applied loosely to
the whole of the Book of Common
Prayer, 344.
Liturgy, inexact use of term, 344, n. 4 ;
its primitive origin, 344 ; its divisions,
241 ; of the Koman and Gallican
Churches, 2.
Liturgy of St. James, the Benediction,
205.
Liturgy of St. Mark, Ps. xlii., 541 ; a
Prayer for the Sovereign in, 203.
Liturgy, Ancient, of the Church of Eng-
land, 361 ; Order of Communion of
1549, 363 ; First Vernacular of Church
of England, 364 ; Scottish, of 1764,
367 ; American, 368.
Lombard, Peter, on Sacraments, 436.
Longley, Archbishop, on burial of un-
baptized, 477 ; on Reservation for the
Sick, 473. j
Looking up to heaven in act of Consecra- i
tion, 389.
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Prayer for,
710.
Lord's Prayer, specimen of old versions,
207, 208 ; use with special intention,
185, 199 ; Vei'sions of the 7th and
following centuries, 208 ; anciently
part of Introductory Service before
Introit, 361, 371 ; a sort of Antiphon
to Communion Office, 371 ; at greater
Oblation, 393 ; in Baptismal Office,
411 ; after Baptism, 418; in Visitation
of Sick, 461 ; expositions of, 185, 208,
434 ; Sir Richard Baker on, 185 ;
Bishop Andrewes' Paraphrase, 185 ; I
Paraphrase by Keble, 208 ; familiar to
mediceval people, 207. |
Lord'.s Supper : [1] The ordinary ritu.-il
name, "Ccena Domini," of Maundy
Thursday. [2] a term used in the
ancient Church as the designation of
the Love-feast. Its modern use, a
name for the Holy Communion, may
be justified in some degree as an ellipti-
cal expression, meaning Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper, 281, 369. 1
Lord's Table, 357 ; a term properly
applied to the Altar, 370.
Lords, House of, vote thanks to Con-
vocation for Revision of Prayer Book,
35.
"Low Church party," official attempt to
reconcile them, 30.
Low Sunday, 293.
Lucian, St., 1.32.
Lucy, St., 176.
Luke, St., 340.
Lushington, Dr., on use of Burial Service,
477.
Luther, his translation of a Prayer in
Baptismal Office, 410 ; his Version of
sequence of Notker, 480 ; prayed for
dead, 476.
Lyudewood on Baptismal Affusion, 416,
n. 2 ; list of Church ornaments, 72 ;
Provincial Constitution, on Visitation
of Sick, 460.
Lyons Pontifical, on Confirmation Ad-
dress, 441.
Mabillon, his Anakcta and Early Calen-
dar, 127.
Maccabees on Prayer for Dead, 476.
Maohutus or Malo, St., 172.
Machyn's iJiac!/, 1560, 61.
Magdalen College, Oxford, bells rung on
Christmas Eve, 288.
Magi, traditions respecting them — their
relics— their names, 259 ; Royal Memo-
rial of their offering, 250.
Magnificat and Cantate Domino com-
pared, 210.
Magnificat, The, special reverence shown
to it, 209 ; Puritans desired to banish
it, 210.
Mahonictanism, Probable cause of, in
India and the East, 271.
Maledictions of the Psalms, 568, 569.
Mamertus, his Rogation East, 221.
Man, The Righteous, 501, 531.
Manchester Cathedral, custom of turning
to East there at Gloria Patri, 187.
Manichajans, their rejection of Water,
403.
Manifestations of Christ's glory, three
commemorated at Epiphany, 258 ; in
the Temple, 259 ; on Sundays after
Epiphany, 260, 261 ; still going on by
miracle, 260.
Maniple, a vestment like a short stole,
worn on the left arm by the sacred
Ministers at the Celebration of Holy
Communion, 79.
Manna a type of Holy Eucharist, 350.
Mansfield, Lord, on Publication of Banns,
447.
Manual, Occasional Offices of, 16.
JIargaret, St., 156; sometimes called St.
Marina, 156.
Mark, St., his Labours and Jfartyrdom,
330 ; Liturgy of, 330, 345 ; Psalms
before Communion, 385.
Marriage, Scriptural and Patristic view
of, 446 ; a Sacrament, 446 ; proper,
453 ; impediments of, 447 ; licences,
446 ; hours for, 447 ; forbidden seasons
for, 118, 446, 447 ; Psalms, 563, 633;
by Deacons not authorized, 450 ; Con-
eluding Prayers of Service, 457.
Marshall's Primer, 183.
Martene on Baptismal Offices, 411 ; his
collection of ancient writers, 127 ; on
Confirmation Addresses, 442.
Martin, St., his translation, 156, 172.
Martyr, Peter, placed at Oxford by
Somerset, 19.
Martyrdom of our Lord life-long, 251.
Martyrdom of King Charles I., 133 ;
Service, 703.
Martyrdoms recorded in Scripture, 333 ;
both foretold and commemorated, 580.
Martyrology of Bede, 127.
Martyrs in the age of persecution, 128 ;
specially connected with Church of
England, 128 ; all the. Festival of,
341 ; JIany, Sarum Psalms, 511, 512,
518, 521, 529, 530, 633, 620 ; three
kinds, commemorated on three days
after Nativity, 251.
Mary, Blessed Virgin, her true sanctity,
330 ; Sarum Psalms for her Festivals,
516, 521, 522, 543, 545, 588, 598, 599.
Mary Magdalen, St., 156.
Mary, Queen, her proclamation super-
seding the Reformed Prayer Book, 22.
MaskeU's Monumeiita Situalia, 16, 178 ;
on bidding of Prayers, 199 ; on primi-
tive Liturgies, 346 ; on Visitation of
Sick, 463, 464 ; on Communion of Sick,
472.
Mass, the old English designation of the
Sacrament of the Holy Communion,
344.
Mass, explanation of term, 344 ; how the
term fell into disuse, 369 ; ordered to
be " altered into a Communion," 349.
Mass of Holy Ghost, sung at Consecra-
tion of Bishops, 700.
Masses, Solitary, 398.
Massingberd's Lectures on Prayer Book,
403.
'MaO-qTiuiraTe, its full meaning, 401.
Matrimony, Holy, Christian Marri.ige,
as solemnized by the Church.
724
3[nDer anD (Glossary.
Matrimony, Solemnization of, 449 ;
Psalms for, 508, 633.
" Matter " of Holy Eucharist, 356, 398 ;
of Holy Baptism, 403.
Matthew, St., 338.
Matthias, St., 328.
Mattins, the Order for jSIorniug Prayer,
representing the ancient Offices of
Mattins and Lauds.
**ilattins," beginning of, in ancient
Sarum Use, 181 ; in 1549, 185; in 1G62,
185 ; to be said before Celebration of
Holy Communion, 369.
JIaundy Thursday, its various names,
281 ; ancient Offices for, 282 ; Sarum
Psalms, 566, 568, 569, 571-573, 575,
576, 620. 629, 641, 642.
Maundy, Royal, Office for, 282.
Maximin, burnt a church full of ilartyrs,
250.
Maximum of ceremonial to be sought from
tradition, 444.
Maximus of Turin, De Adveiitu Domini,
245.
Maxwell, Bishop, and the Scottish Prayer
Book, 706. 707.
Mede, on Christian Sacrifice, quoted,
351.
Mediaeval Bishops, their neglect of Con-
firmation, 439.
Medifeval Church of England, Holy Com-
munion at burials in, 475 ; processional
Psalms at funerals in, 481 ; how its
Services were accumulated, 17 ; Liturgy
of, 347.
Melchiades on Confirmation, 439.
Melchizedck's offering, 350.
Melitus, Bishop of Sardis, on Paschal
Festival, 289.
"Member of Christ" a Scriptural ex-
pression, 431.
Memoei.\l Collect, that of the less of
trwo coincident holydays, used after
that of the greater by way of comme-
moration.
Memorifn^ and Memorial Collects, 203,
239, 373.
Menard, on Litanies in Baptismal Oflice,
402, u. 4.
Menard's notes to Greg. Sacra., 467,
marg.
Mexs.\, the slab of stone or wood used
as the surface of the Altar or Lord's
Table.
Merbecke's Prayer Book noted, 58 ; ar-
rangement of Burial Service, 478.
Meton, the Athenian, his Cycle of the
Moon, 120.
Metrical Hymns, early use by and against
heretics, 54 ; Cranmer's wish to retain
those of Sarum, 59.
Metrical Hymn Music, its Grecian origin,
54.
Metrical Psalms, when introduced, 60.
Metropolitan, early existence and title
of, 694 ; by whom consecrated, 694 ;
cities, definition of, by Tertullian, 094.
Mi Careme, The French, and festivity at
Midleut, 272.
Michael, St., two festivals anciently in
his honour, 338 ; peculiarity in jjosition
of churches dedicated to, 338 ; Sarum
Psalms, 511, 516, 521, 526, 530, 546,
598, 603, G39.
Michaelmas, 33S.
Micrologua, on Collects, 242.
Midwivcs licensed to baptize, 405, n. 1.
Milan, Church of, its Liturgy, 345 ;
Church of St. Ambrose at, its music,
54 ; Oblation of Elements at, 399 ;
Council of, on Visitation of the Sick,
460.
" Millenary Petition," 25.
" Mincha '■ of Temwlo Service, 350, 351.
Mmimum of Ritual in present Rubrics,
392, 444.
MixiSTER : [1] The principal or sole offi-
ciant at the Holy Eucharht or other
Services. [2] Clerics or laymen acting
as assistants to the principal officiant.
"Minister," Bishop Cosin's note on the
term, 181 ; its technical meaning, 181,
405, n. 2 ; term applied to Bishop,
443, and n. 1.
Jlinister of Baptism, 404, 425.
Ministers at the Altar, 359 ; qualitj' of
such as are to be made, 673.
Ministry, Three orders of Apostolical,
665 ; succession of, from our Lord,
655 ; succession of English from the
Apostles, 668.
" Ministry of God'.s \yord," meaning of,
381.
Jliuors, Marriage of, 447.
Minor Holydays, 132, 176.
Minor Saints, their representations in
art, 132, 176 ; All Souls, S8. Thomas
and Patrick in Calendars of Stationers'
Company, 128.
Miracle of the Loaves, its mystical char-
acter, 272.
Miracles, " The beginning of," 260.
Mirror of our Lady, a Ritual Commen-
tary, written for the Sisters of Syon
about 1480, 6, 186 ; on Nicene Creed,
376 ; altered form of Gloria in Ex-
celsis in, 396 ; on the Sanctus, 387 ;
on Lord's Prayer at Gi'eater Oblation,
393 ; on Triple Repetition of Lesser
Litany, 199 ; on the word Collect,
242 ; on Reverent Gestures in Praise.
187, 190; on " Synge rede ond say,"
57.
Missa, explanation of term, 344, n. I.
"Missa Sicca," 397.
"Missa Spousalium," 458.
" Missa Votiva " at Marriage, 456.
" Missfe pro Rege et Eegina, " 203, 37.3.
Missal of Sarum or Salisbury, 16, 241,
347, 348, 361, 387.
Miss. Gallic. Grimold., 470, marg.
Miss. Bobiense, Muratori, 417, 418, Orig.
MiTHE, the covering for the head proper
to the Episcopal Order ; it represents
mystically tlie cloven tongues on the
heads of the Apostles. [fiet; Ecc.
Vestments, Plate IL, p. 80.]
ilitres and staves of Trelawny, Mews,
and Laud, 700.
Mixed Chalice, its authority and sym-
bolism, 378.
Monasteries, Ritual efTects of their sup-
pression, 6, 7.
Monday in Holy Week, its distinctive
memorial, 276.
Monica, St., mother of St. Augustine,
160 ; her dying request, 475.
Monophysite Liturgy of St. James, 345.
Monotoue, difl'erent uses, 56 ; in reading
the Lessons, 188.
Monotonic recitative, the basis of plain-
song. 56.
Moral Law binds Christians equally with
Jews, 433.
"Morians," meaning of, 50G, 588.
Moses a type of Christ, 610.
Mother of our Lord and " Mother of us
all," 209.
Mourning, its tokens used in Lent, 208.
Mozarabio, a form of the Gallican Liturgy
used in Spain, 346 ; Proper Pref.ices
in, 337 ; Liturgy, Epistlo for Epi-
phany 4th, 262.
Muratori, Jieconc. Pern. , 467.
Music, Ancient Christian, 53 ; of Medite-
val Church, 53 ; remodelled with the
Sorvices, 57 ; amonc,' modern Jews,
53.
Musical Intonation in Divine Service,
49 ; character of Services retained, 59 ;
scales, their (irecian names, 54 ; scales
of St. Amijrose and St. Gregory, 5.5 ;
notation of Proper Prefaces, etc., 387.
Mutual Consent, 451 ; Salutation, 199,
348, 361.
Mystical Body of Christ, how formed,
503.
"N. or M.," explanation of, 431.
Nadabar, martyrdom of St. Matthew,
338.
Isame, of Jesus, 160 ; Christian, used in
Catechism, etc., 431 ; changed in Con-
lirmatiou, 444, n. 1 ; children confirmed
by, 444, n. 1.
Names given in Baptism, 402.
Naples, King of, allowed to nominate to
24 sees, 696.
"Natalis Eucharistica," 281.
Nathanael, whether identical with St.
Bartholomew, 337-
Nativity, of our Lord, its date, 250 ; of
Blessed Virgin Mary, 164.
Nave, the central portion of the body of
a church. [.S'ee Aisle, Chancel.]
Navy, The, its relations to the Church.
76, 653.
Neale s Jovimentary on the Psabns, 234,
490, 497 ; Hidory of Eastern Church
referred to, 177, 346, 413, n. 2;
Litiirgiolojy, essay on Liturgical
(piot.ations in New Testament, '243, n.
4 ; on Words of Institution, 389, n. 2 ;
on the Eastern Hynms, 242 ; on the
Eastern mode of observing Epiphany,
Neglect of Public Worship fineable, 85.
Nero's persecution foreshadowed, 553.
Neva, waters of, blessed, 410, n. 2.
New birth in Baptism, 406.
New Creation, the Lord of it, 200.
New Names, Three of the Apostles dis-
tinguished by, 253.
New Style, 120.
New Year's Day, a conventional observ-
ance, 257.
Nicaea, Council of, on Lay Baptisin, 404 ;
decree for ruling Easter, 116 ; and
forty days' Fast of Lent, 266.
Nicene Creed, its origin and Liturgical
use, 375 ; used by Eastern Church at
Baptism, 414, n. 2 ; English, Greek,
and Latin versions, 374, 375.
NichoU, Sir John, on use of Burial Ser-
vice, 476.
Nicholson, Bishop, on Catechism, 430.
Nicolas, St., 176.
Nicomede, St., 152.
Nixon, Bishop, on Catechizing, 430.
"Noble," its ancient signification, sense
of it in the Te Deum, 191.
Nocturnal Services, abolislied, 118.
Nocturns, meaning of, 497.
Non- Communicating attendance, 355,
382.
Nou-conforming ministers to vacate pre-
ferment, 90 ; lecturers forbiilden to
preach, 91 ; party in Church, 6().
Nonconformists could conscientiously
use the Prayer Book, but would not,
28 ; Prayer for, 239.
Nohtu-siue of the Altar, that part of tho
front of the Holy Table which is on tho
right hand of tlie Cross, and conse-
quently on the left oS tlie Cckbrant.
"Nortli-sido" rubric, 3,")9, 371, 707.
Northcy, Sir E. , his opinion on change of
name in Confirmation, 444, n. 1.
Notes "respecting the ministrations" in
early Pr.iycr Books, 106.
Notice of Holy Communion, 376; to >*i
given before Commuuicatiug, 369,
3lnDer anD (!5Io0sarp.
725
Notker, author of Afedia Vita and Dies
Iroi, 480.
Nowell, Alexander, reputed author of
Catechism, 428.
Nunc Dimittis, its early use, 210.
Nuremberg Oilice, prayer from, 410.
Oak, St. Augustine's, 2.
Oath of Supremacy, in Scaled Books, 679 ;
ordered by I W. and M. c. 8, 079 ;
ordered by 21 & 22 Vict. c. 48, 079.
Oaths, when to be taken, by Clergy Sub-
scription Act, 1805, 079.
Obedience, oatli of, to his Superior ex-
acted from Bishop, 690 ; oath of, to
Pope required from Bishop-elect, by
the Roman Pontificals, 697 ; profession
of, by Bishop-elect to Archbishop of
Canterbury in Old Pontificals, ()97.
Obedience, vows of, in Baptism, 414.
Obiit Service at Windsor, 483.
"Objections and Exceptions," raised
against the Prayer Book at the Savoy,
30.
Objections, their frivolous nature illus-
trated, 98.
Oblation, the act of offering the Body
and Blood of Christ in the Holy Euclia-
rist.
Oblation, of Elements, 348, 377 ; Prayer
of, 393 ; Prayers of, in ancient Litur-
gies, 352, 35.3 ; Prayer of, in Reformed
Liturgies, 352 ; in Scottish Prayer
Book, 708.
"Oblation's," the Bread and Wine placed
on the Altar preparatory to Consecra-
tion at the Offertory or "lesser obla-
tion."
Obsecrations of the Litany, 227.
Occasional Offices, hymns might be appro-
priately introduced in, 62.
Occasional Prayers and Thanksgivings,
235.
Occasional Thanksgivings, not fully
authorized until 1061, 239.
Occurrence of Holydays, the coincidence
of two or more on the same day.
Octave, the eiglith day after a festival.
The intervening days are said to be
"of" or "within" its octave.
October 23rd, Service for, in Irish Prayer
Book, 710.
Offerings at Churchings, 488.
Offertorium, a short anthem (or Offertory
sentence) sung at Oblation of Elements,
378.
Offertory, or Lesser Oblation, the offer-
ing up of the Bread and Wine, and of
the Alms in the Holy Eucharist.
Offertory, 377 ; sentences, classifications
of, 379 ; money, application of, 399.
Offices, daily Medieval, their complex
form, 178 ; of the Eastern Church, 177,
178 ; for anointing the Sick, A.D. 1549,
470 ; for the departed, Sarum Psalms,
503, 505, 520, 522, 523, 538, 540, 549,
561, 563, 619, 629, 634, 639, 645, 646,
649 ; of the Primitive Church, of what
they consisted, 177 ; Jledi^val, well
adapted to Communities, 178 ; consisted
of seven separate Services, 178.
Offrandre, 399.
Old Service-books, their directions minute
and tedious, 107.
Omission of an order not necessarily a
revocation, 444.
Omissions of Names in the English Calen-
dar, 128.
Ommaney on the Athanasian Creed,
217.
Onesiphorus prayed for after death, 476.
"Open penance" not now possible or
desirable, 491.
"Open Prayer," meaning of, 85.
Opposition to the Common Prayer, Rea-
sons for, 97.
Oratory, the first Christian one, how
consecrated, 52.
" Order of Common Prayer to bo sung in
Ciiurches, " 58.
"Order of Communion," added to the
Mass, 349 ; referred to, 381, 38.3, 391).
"Order" for Daily Pr.aycr, its simple
meaning, 181 ; for the Visitation of
the Sick, 461 ; of Prisoners, 710.
Order of delivery of Elements, 391.
Orders, derivation of the word, 665 ;
Sacramental, 665 ; cannot be made
void, 682 ; English, recognized by Pope
Julius, 66 1.
Ordinal, the Offices for the Consecration
of Bishops, and the Ordination of
Priests and Deaccms.
Ordinal, English, Derivation of, 657 ;
Revision of, 660 ; authorized and an-
nexed by Act of Uniformity, 662 ;
incorporated with the Prayer Book, 32 ;
of 1549, 660; of 1.552, 661; of 1062,
662 ; attempt for Revision, 1689, 663 ;
absence of notes on, 657 ; introduction
to, 655 ; preface to, 665 ; on Visitation
of the Sick, 460.
Ordinarium Miss;B, 344, 346.
Ordinary, the Bishop of the Diocese or
other person acting by his authority.
Ordinary, definition of, 551, 559 ; and
justices to determine offences and con-
viction, 86.
Ordination, Canonical Impediments to,
666 ; Canonical Requisites for, 666,
6S7 ; Essentials of, 663 ; Words essen-
tial to, 663 ; Effect of, 604 ; Greek
words for, 604 ; and Mission distin-
guished, 682 ; Power of, reserved to
Bishops, 667 ; by Priests null and void,
666 ; Place of, 667 ; Times of, 666 ;
Persons to be present at, 673 ; Testi-
mony of People to precede, 667, 684.
Origen catechized, 428 ; speaks of forty
days' fast, 266.
Oriflamme, the banner of St. Denys, 172.
Ornaments, all the several articles used
in Divine Service, whether vestments
of the Ministers or furniture of the
Church.
"Ornaments," of Church and Ministers,
what they mean, distinction by the
Judges, 68 ; as in use in second year of
King Edward to be retained, 86 ; some
omitted as inconsistent with our Prayer
Book, 71 ; Edwardian, what they were
— four sources of information, 69 ;
Comparative List, 70 ; of the Church,
and Ministers — specification of them
desired by Bishop Cosin, 73 ; inten-
tionally legalized in the Revision of 1062,
72 ;, characteristic of military and other
official classes, 74 ; Essential and Sup-
plemental, 73.
Sapientia, 176, 249.
Osiander, a foreign Reformer, 16.
Osmund, St., his revision of English
Liturgy, 32, 195, 346, 847.
Our Lady, the old English designation
of the Blessed Virgin, retained in our
Table of Lessons.
" Outward and visible Sign," 435.
Overall, Bishop, reputed author of latter
part of Catechism, 429 ; his practice at
Greater Oblation, 393 ; on Solitary
Masses, 398.
Padarjorjus of St. Clement of Alexan-
dria, 428.
" Pain b^ni, " 399.
Palestrina, appointed by Council of Trent
to reform Church Music, 57.
Pall ; [1] A covering for a bier. [2] A
vestment woven of lambs' wool, for-
merly received from tlie Pope by Arcli-
bishops, and figured in the arms of the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
Palls of Archbisliop.s, how made, 132.
Palmatius, case of, 414.
Palm Sunday, why so called, 274.
Palm bearing, 274 ; branches, Benediction
of, 274.
Palmer on Gallioan Liturgy, 347 ; on
Liturgy of St. Mark, 345 ; on Private
Celebration, 473 ; on position of Gloria
in Excelsis, 395 ; on Vow of Obedience,
414.
Pamelius, Liturrjicon Ecdesice Latince,
244 ; on corrupt forms of Gloria in
Excelsis, 395.
Pamphlets against the Prayer Book in
1660, 97.
Pantlieon at Rome, its Christian dedica-
tion, 341.
Parables, Christ speaking in them, 577.
Parabolic Instruction, 577.
Paraphrase of the Apostles' Creed, 197 ;
of the Lord's Prayer by Keble, 208.
Parents formerly forbidden to act as
Sponsors, 408.
Parish to provide Elements, 399 ; Priests
to frequently declare the vernacular
form for Baptism, 420, Orig.
Parish Registers, neglect of, during the
RebeUiou, 98.
Parishioners, what they are liable to pro-
vide, 72 ; to provide true copies of the
Book of Common Prayer under penalty,
92.
Parker, Archbishop, Consecration of, 661 ;
on wafer bread, 398 ; Queen Elizabeth,
letter to, on Ritual, 65 ; on interpreta-
tion of Canons, 430.
Parkhur.st, Bishop, on Wafer Bread, 398.
Parliament, Authorship of Prayer for,
237.
Parliamentary debate on Settlement of
Rehgion, in 1660, 29.
Parliamentary History of Prayer Book,
14, 18, 21, 22, 83-36.
Parochial notices, 377.
Pascha, Dominicse Passionis, Resurrec-
tionis ; Annotinum. 289, 293.
Pasque Eggs in North of England, 289.
Passion of our Lord, how read in Salis-
bury Missal, 275.
Passion Psalms, 501, 519, 566, 588.
Passion Sunday, proposed change of Col-
lect in 1688, 273 ; why so called,
273.
Pa.storal Staff, the crook used by
Bishops and Archbishops, as a symbol
of their duty and authority, as sj^iritual
shepherds within the bounds of their
respective dioceses or flocks. [See
Croziek. ]
Paten, the plate or disc, mostly of pre-
cious metal, on which the Element of
Bread is placed for consecration and
administration in the Holy Eucharist.
Patient waiting, 519.
Patras, martyrdom of St. Andrew, 324.
Patriarchal age, its witness to the prin-
ciple of ceremonial worship, 44, 46.
Patristic writings, read occasionally as
Lessons, 113.
Paul, St., his Conversion now his only
Festival, 325 ; meaning of his name,
566 ; and the Collect for Sexagesima,
265 ; Liturgy of, 345.
Paul of Samosata, his Baptism held not
valid, 404.
Paul's, St., School, "Catechism with A
B C " used at, 429.
Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, private cele-
bration for, 473.
" Pax " after MaiTiage, 458.
726
3InDer ann (Slossarp.
Peace, Collects for, their introduction
and connection, 201, 214.
Peace of God in the Church, 631.
Peckham, Archbishop, his Const, on
Catechizing, 428 ; his Const, on Com-
municants being Confirmed persons, 445.
Pelagian heresy condemned by St. David,
218.
Pell, Dr. John, reviser of chronological
calendar, 116.
Pe.n'anxe : [1] Repentance, as in Com-
mination Service. [2] Penitential dis-
cipline, as in the 33rd Article.
Penitential, Prefix, how appropriate to
DaUy Service, 181 ; Psalms, all ii.sed
on Ash- Wednesday, 269 ; Psalm in
Visitation of Sick, 461 ; Psalms, 504,
529, .536, 549, 601, 634, 643.
Pentecost, its meaning and observance,
Jewish and Christian, 300.
People, The, reciting a Collect in Bap-
tismal Offices, 412.
Perambulations or Beating Bounds on
Rogation Days, exhortation for, 297 ;
Psalms for, 298.
Perceval on the State Services, 703.
Perpetua, St., 140.
Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours, 245.
Perry on "Black Rubric," 399; on Re-
servation, 473.
Persecutions, Literal and Prophetic, 581.
Persons desiring Prayers of Church, ,Ser-
vice for, 239.
"Persuasion," first introduction of word,
as indicating an opinion or sect, 97.
" Perused," its technical sense, 21.
Pestilence, private Communion in times
of, 472, 474.
Peter, St., claims of his successors at
Rome, 336 ; customs of the Pope and
people on his Festival, 335, 336 ; one
of the oldest of the Christian Festivals,
334 ; united with St. Paul in the day
of Commemoration, 335 ; Liturgy of , 345.
Peter and Paul, SS., alteration In the
Collect by Bishop Cosin, 335.
Peterborough, Anthem at, in Lent, 480.
Petitions to restore use of Common
Prayer, 28.
Philip, St., the Apostle, 331.
Philip, the Deacon, 331 ; baptizing, 404,
412.
Philippian gaoler, his Baptism, 404.
Phillpotts, Bishop, on Christ's continuous
Sacrifice, 232.
Physiological analogy respecting union
with Head, 431.
Pica Type, 101.
Pie, The, its complexity and difficulty,
101.
Pirmlnius, Ancient Creed in, 195.
Plscina, a stone basin, with a drain to
carry off water used in the ablutions
of sacred vessels, etc.
I'ius I\'. offers to confirm the Prayer
Book, 24, 662.
Plain-Song, The Ancient, utilized at the
Reformation, 57.
Pliny, hismentionof Christian Hymns, .53.
Pollanus, his Gla.stonbury I'raj-er 15ook,
182.
Polycarp, St., quoted Gloria in Excclsi.s
at his Martyrdom, 395 ; on Visitation
of the Sick, 460.
"Pomp," meaning of, 413.
Pontifical, varied for each diocese, 657 ;
proposed, 1640, 662.
Portraits of Christ, 544.
I'ortuiscs, 9.
Posidonius, Life of St. Augustine, 475,
n. 1 ; on St. Augustine's \'isitation of
the Sick, 460.
Position at Font of persons to be Bap-
tized, 408, Orig. ; of person making
Baptismal renunciation, 413; of per-
sons making Baptismal Confession of
Faith, 414 ; of Priest and People at
Font, 409 ; of Priest at the Altar, 359.
Positions of child during trine immersion,
414, Orig.
PosT-CoMMUxiox, the part of the
Liturgy A^hich comes after the Com-
munion of the people, 241, 348.
Poullain. [See Pollanus.]
Pouring of Water in Baptism, 416.
Poynet, Bishop, reputed author of Cate-
chism, 429.
Prseparat. Missae, Psalm, Sarum, 523.
Praise, a continuous Service, 51.
Prayer Book, its general acceptance in
1549, 19 ; its suppression, a.d. 1645,
27 ; great demand for, ^hen prospect
! of Restoration, 28 ; its authorization,
36 ; its comprehensive directions, 50 ;
attempt to remodel it in the reign of
William III., 41 ; Baxter's, Dissenters',
and Lord Burleigh, 31 ; of 1549, Holy
Communion at Burials in, 475 ; its
Rubric for reservation, 472. Text of,
as given in this work, vii. Tables of
"Alterations" and " Additions " made
in 1661, 38-41.
Prayer, Common, public, open, distin-
guished, 82.
Prayer for Church Militant, 379 ; its
Title, 379 ; for a Sick Child or person
in danger, 470 ; for Departed, from
ancient Vesper Office, 476 ; of Humble
Access, 388 ; of Consecration, 389 ; of
Invocation in Confirmation Office, 442 ;
of Commendation for one troubled in
Conscience, 470.
Prayers, of Oblation and Thanksgiving,
393 ; of the Church in New Testa-
ment, 242 ; after Versicles in Visitation
of Sick, 462 ; commendatory, at Or-
dination, 675 : in Her Majesty's Navy
daily, 165 ; for the Sovereign and
Family, 203 ; for the departed, 354,
379, 380, 475 ; not argued about but
prayed, 480.
Precautions in Administration of Baptism,
416.
Precedence of Sovereign before Bishops,
229.
Precentor, his part in Divine Service, 50.
Preces, the petitions made by the Priest
between the Lord's Prayer and the
First Collect at Mattins and Evensong.
Preces, Feriales translated, 198 ; Am-
brosian, St. Fulda, Mozarabic, 221.
Preface, to the Book of Common Prayer,
96 ; of 1549, attributed to Cranmer,
100 ; of 1549 compared with that of
Quignonez, 100 ; of 1661, notes on, 96 ;
in Communion Office, 385.
Prefaces, Proper, 387.
Pre-sanctified Elements, 286.
Presbyterians, their publications against
Prayer Book in 1660, 97 ; attempts to
influence Charles II. against Prayer
Book, 28 ; their objection to Thanks-
giving after Baptism, 418 ; their objec-
tion to proper position of Font, 409 ;
their objections to answers of .Sponsors,
414; their objection to saiu;tifying of
Water, 410; Slinister excused attend-
ance on House of Commons, .32.
Presence of Christ in Holy Eucharist,
.353 ; the cause of Cliristian unity, 3t")5.
Presentation of Christ in the Temple,
326 ; an act of His Humiliation, 327.
Presentation of Candidates for Orders,
Ancient form of, 675.
Prik.st, a Cleric of the second order,
whose distinctive " oflicc and work "
is [11 to offer sacrifice to God, [2] to
administer grace to men.
Priest, Position of, at Altar, 359 ; after
Marriage Service, 456 ; official dress
of, 79, 358 ; " Priest alone," 183.
Priesthood, Action of, in Ordination,
667 ; of the Laity, 199, 200.
Priests, Form and Manner of Ordering,
662, 683 ; summary of Service in Sacra-
mentaries, Pontificals, and Ordinals,
659.
Primitive Church, Seasons for Baptism
in, 407 ; catechizing in, 428 ; Holy
Communion at burials in, 475.
Principles of Ceremonial Worship in
Early Church, 46 ; in Church of Eng-
I land, 50.
Prisca, St., 1.32.
Private Baptism not to be without
necessity, 420 ; provided for by ancient
Rubrics, 420.
Private Celebration, 472 ; its ritual re-
quirements, 473 ; no novelty, 473 ;
restrictions regarding, 473.
Private Confession a recognized practice
in Church of England, 466 ; when
expedient, 467.
Private recitation of Daily Offices by the
Clergy, 105.
"Pro-Anaphora," 346.
Procession of the Holy Ghost, 375.
Procession in Marriage Service, 455.
Processional, English, of Cranmer, 10.
Proclamations of Queens Maiy and Eliza-
beth, 22, and King James, 87.
Procter, on proposed revision of 1689, 41.
Profession of faith required at Baptism,
412 ; at Visitation of Sick, 464.
Prohibited times for Marriage, 118, 447.
" Promise and vow " in Baptism, 432.
Promptorium PaiTulorum on word
" buxumnesse, " 452, n. 6.
Pi'onouns, Change of, in Versicles, etc.,
186 ; in Psahns, 505, 522.
Proper Lessons for Sundays — principle of
the Cycle, 113.
Proper Psalms, Table of, 114.
Prophecy, connecting the Old and New
Dispensation, 194.
Protestants, lapsed. Service for, in Irish
Prayer Book, 710.
Prothesis, Chapel and Office of, 377.
Protocletos, a designation of St. Andrew,
324.
Prymers in English and Latin, 4 ; old
English, translation and contents, 8.
Psalms, The, by whom composed, 496 ;
ahvays intended to be sung, 58 ; our
Lord's application of them, 499 ; their
earliest Liturgical use, 496 ; Apostolic
application of them, 499 ; manner of
using in Divine Service, 496 ; tliree
modes of saying or singing, 497 ; their
weekly recitation, 497 ; their monthly
recitation, its value, 497 ; Bible version
of, 498 ; natural division of many into
three portions, 510 ; Proper, principle
of their selection, 200, 499 ; their pur-
pose, 496 ; additional ones proposed by
Bishop Cosin, 114; their many-sided
application, 498 ; verses of, numbered,
498 ; to be said in private by Bishop-
elect at Consecration, 697 ; their use
as Introits, 241 ; of degrees, 029, 636 ;
in Burial Office, 478 ; in Marriage
Service, 455 ; in Visitation of Sick, 469 ;
in Churching of \\'omen, 487 ; Proper
Psalms suggested for Special Occasions,
114.
Psalms, First Book, what they point to,
540.
Psalms, Second Book, 541 ; their char-
acteristic, .569.
Psalms, Third Book, 571.
Psalms, Fourth Book, 592.
Psahns, Fifth Book, 611.
3lnDcr ano »©Iossaty.
727
Psalter, Introduction to, 491) ; its divi-
sions, 49G ; ancient systems of, 497 ;
pre-Reformation use in Knglisli Church,
497 ; English, its gradual growth, 49(1,
498 ; English, what it represents, 498 ;
English, order in which to be read,
109.
Psalters, "EcclesiajSarumetEboracensis,"
497.
Public Baptism to be in the Church, 407 ;
Confession and Absolution no novelty,
384.
Pulpit, a raised structure of wood or
stoue generally used for preaching from.
" Pulpit," how to be understood in Com-
mlnation .Service, 490.
Punishment for offences against the Act
of Uniformity, 84, 80.
I'lipilla Ocii/i on Baptism of Christ, 401,
n. 4 ; on Lay Baptism, 405.
"Pure Offering" of Malachi, 350.
Pure Water the matter in Baptism, 403.
Purification of Blessed Virgin Mary, 326,
327 ; proper time of observing it — why,
327 ; its Title, Epistle, and Collect
altered, 326.
PUEIFICATOR, a linen cloth used for
wiping the Chalice after the Ablutions.
Puritan leaven, its fermenting powei-, 66.
Puritanism developed by foreign influence,
19, 20.
Puritans, their antagonistic use of the
Press, 25 ; their superstitious antipathy
to the sign of the Cross, 417 ; their
memorial against Lay Baptism, 405,
n. 1 ; their objection to the Magnificat,
209, 210 ; their objection to public
Confession by people, 385 ; their objec-
tion to Prayer of Invocation in Con-
firmation, 443 ; their objection to
Marriage Rubrics, 449 ; their oljjection
to w^ord "worship," 454; their objec-
tion to word ' ' depart, " 452, n. 2 ;
their objection to Burial Service, 475 ;
their wish to substitute translation of
1611 for Commandments, 433; their
wish to secularize Marriage, 458 ; tlieir
wishes with regard to Catechism, 430 ;
their practice of sermons at funerals,
480 ; their scandal at the public irrev-
erence, 182.
Pusey, his Letter to the Bishop of Oxford
quoted, 226 ; his Scriptural Views of
Baptism referred to, 40(i, 410, n. 1.
Quadragesima, Sancti Martini, 245 ; Sun-
day, 264.
Queen Elizabeth, her Thanksgiving
Prayer, 239.
Queen's Mandate, History of, 690.
Quignonez' Reformed Breviary, its in-
fluence, 8 ; manner of using Apostles'
Creed, 195.
Quinquagesima Sunday, 266 ; direction
for use of Te Deum, 190.
Qiiintianus, his Rogation at Auvergne,
221.
Quintin, St., companion of SS. Lucian
and Denys, 132.
"Quires and places where they sing,"
202.
Radcliffe on Athanasian Creed, 217.
"Ratify and confirm," 441.
"Read," "Say," "Sing," old technical
language, 57.
" Reading-desk," when Invented, 179.
Readi.\g-pe\v, the Chancel stall occupied
by the officiant at Mattins and Even-
song, 490.
Real Presence, not denied in Black Ruli-
ric, 399.
Reasons which influenced the Revisers of
1661, 96.
"Reception into the Church," by the
very act of Baptism, 417.
Recitation of the Daily Service by tlie
Clergy, 105.
Reconciliation of Churches Service in
Irish Prayer Book, 710.
Recusants, The first, 24.
Reformation, its Catholicity injured by
foreign influence, 19.
Reformed Liturgy of Church of England,
318.
Uefreshment Sunday, 272.
Regeneration in Baptism, 405 ; most dis-
tinctly held by Church of England, 418.
Regina ?'. Benson, case of, 447.
Relics of SS. Lambert, 164 ; Martin, 1,56 ;
The Holy Cross, 148, 104.
Reniigius or Remi, St., 168.
Remiremont, Baptismal Office of, 411.
Renunciation in Baptism, Ancient V.ug-
lish and other forms, 413, and n. 2.
"Renunciation of the Devil," etc., 432 ;
vow of, in Baptism, 413.
Reordination sacrilegious and heretical,
665.
Repeal of Acts respecting Divine Service,
88.
Re-presentation in Eucharist, 353.
Reproaches on Good Friday, 286.
Reredos, the ornamental structure that
is placed above and beliind the Altar.
[See B.'VLDACHiN.]
Reservation of Eucharist, 399 ; in time
of Queen Elizabeth, 473 ; for the Sick
.in 1549, 472 ; recent in.stances of, 473 ;
in Scottish Church, 473 ; by Nonjurors,
473.
Reserve in personal application of Psalms,
588, 589.
Reserve on subject of Holy Eucharist,
345, n. 1.
Responds to the Lesson, 111 ; Examples
of, 101.
Responses, the answers made by the
choir and people after the Vei'sicles or
Preces, in the Litany, after the Com-
mandments, etc.
Responses after Commandments, 372.
Responsive worship, on what the system
is founded, 198.
Restoration of Charles II. Service, 703.
Restoration of Church Services in 1660,
immediate, 28.
Resurrection, the, A Psalm of, 562.
Retable, a shelf or ledge behind the
Altar, properly a part of the reredos,
or of the wall, and often incorrectly
called the Super-altar. [See Super-
ALTAP-.]
Reverence done to Gospel in Eucharistic
Service, 374.
Revised Prayer Book cf 1552 made un-
lawful by Queen Mary, 22.
Revision of Prayer Book in Elizabeth's
reign, 23 ; accepted by Parliament
without discussion, 23 ; well received
Ijy Romanists, 24 ; in the reign of
.Tames after Hampton Court Conference,
25 ; of 1661, 32, 662.
Reynolds, Bishop, composed or compiled
General Thanksgiving, 239 ; complained
of shortness of Catechism, 429.
Richard, St., 144.
"Right hand," meaning of position in
Marriage rubric, 450.
Right hands joined in Marriage, 455.
Ring, benediction of, 454, Orig. ; delivery
of, 453 ; of Edward the Confessor, 168.
Riper years. Baptism in, 424.
" Riper Years," limits of, 425, 426.
Ritual Introduction, 44.
Ritualism, elaborate in hea\en, 47 : Patri-
archal, 44 ; Mosaic, really Divine, 45 ;
revelation to Bezaleel and Aholiab, 40 ;
revelation to King iJaviil, 46 ; tljc old,
transfigured by our Lord, 52 ; of the
Apostolic age, 40 ; its revival — what
sliould influence and regulate it, 73 ;
usages of lOnglish Liturgy, 3.56 ; of
Adult Baptism, 42.5.
llitus Baptizandi, 402; actual, 41.3.
Ro(;iiet, the linen gannent ordinarily
worn Ijy Bishops, 095.
" Rock of Ages," mystical sense of, 524.
RofiATiON Dav.s, the Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday before Ascension Day
set apart for speci.1l prayer and fasting,
Rogation, meaning of, 290; .Sunday and
Week — their institution, 297 ; Fasts,
Sevenfold Litany on, 222 ; Week, Col-
lects for, liy P.ishop Cosin, 297; Epistles
and Gospels for, 298 ; Services and
Homily for, 297 ; observed yearly in
tlie English Church before Ascension-
tide, 221 ; Litanies decreed by various
Councils, 221.
Roman Catholics, Burial of, 477 ; attempt
to reconcile extreme, 23.
Rome, Liturgy of, 345 ; never used by
Church of England, 340, n. 3 ; " When
at Rome, do as the Romans do," saying
of St. Ambrose, 144.
Rood-.screen, the partition which di\'ides
the Chancel from the Kave. It ought
always to be surmounted by the Holy
Rood or Cross. [See 47.]
Routh, Dr., on Gloria Patri, 186.
Royal Exchange, Legend on, 521.
Royal Family, when first prayed for,
204.
Royal Maundy, Office for, 282.
Royal Proclamations, under Act of Uni-
formity, 204.
Rubric, The First, necessity for it, 63 ;
its prominent position, 63 ; why re-
tained, 72 ; on seasons for Baptism from
1549 to 1001, 407 ; of 1.548 on Cate-
chizing, 429 ; of present Prayer Book
on Catechizing, 430.
Rubrical directions for reading, saying,
singing — what they mean, 57.
Rubrics, to what they point, 50 ; their
reform by the Convocation Committee,
10 ; Four early refonned ones compared,
64 ; after the three Collects — their Im-
portance, 202 ; introductory to Liturgy,
369 ; after Communion Office, 397 ; on
seasons for Man'iage, 447.
Rufinus on a case of Lay Baptism, 404 ;
his Comment on the Apostles' Creed,
195.
Rule as to Accessories, authoritative,
63.
Rule for Priests and Deacons saying
Daily Service, 105.
" Rule of Truth," what it was, 195.
Russian or Eastern Liturgy of present
day, 345.
Sabellius, his heresy, 217.
".Sacerdos," used in an inclusive sense,
414, n. 3.
Sacerdotal power derived from the Holy
Ghost, 690.
SACR--IMENT, an outward visible sign of
an inward spiritual grace, and a means
whereby we receive that grace. [See the
Catechism, 435.]
Sacrameutaries of 5th and 6tli centuries,
I'ather compiled than composed, 241 ;
ancient, tlieir Collects, [177]; of SS.
Leo, Gelasius, and C4regory, proper
prefaces in, 387 ; of Gelasius and .St.
Gregory on Confirmation, 437, 442 ; on
Benediction of Water, 414.
Sacramentary of Gelasius, Third Collect
;28
!JntJcr ann (Slossarp.
at Evensong, 214 ; of St. Gregory,
what it represents, 2 ; on Baptism,
402-404.
Sacraments, number of, 435.
" Sacramentum," or mOitary oath, 355.
Sacrifice of Christ continuous, 232, 390.
Sacrifice, Eucharistic, 351, 390, 540.
Sacrificial terms early applied to Holy
Eucharist, 351.
Saints commemorated by Churcli of Eng-
land, 128; Eastern, Modem, Roman,
Salisbury Use, comparative view of,
131-175 ; French in English Calendar,
128.
Saints' Days, origin of their observance,
253, 475.
Salem, its typical sense, 576.
Saliva used lu Baptism, 403.
Salt used in Baptism, 403.
Salutation in Visitation of Sick, 4(il.
Salvation of unbaptized infants, 419.
Samaritans, Confirmation of, 437.
Sancroft, Secretary to Committee of 16(il.
32; Supervisor of the Press in 16()-,
36.
Sanctus in Communion Office, 386.
Sand substituted for water in Baptism,
403.
Sanderson, Bishop, his mode of public
service, during the fifteen years' perse-
cution, 27 : an account of, 347 ; his
Preface to Prayer Book, 96, 424.
Saruni Breviary, Prayers for King and
Queen, 203.
Sarum Consuetudinary, on Festival of
Annunciation, 329.
Sarum Manual, its Rubrics on Bap-
tism, 405 ; on seasons for Baptism,
407 ; on seasons for Marriage, 447 ; on
Spiritual Communion, 473.
Sarum Missal, 347, 361 ; preference
given to it, 69 ; Rubric for First Sun-
day after Trinity, 304.
Sarum Rubric on Font or substitute,
409 ; as to position of pei-sons to be
baptized, 408, Orig. ; on Interrogatories
in Baptism, 414 ; before Marriage, 450.
Sarum Use, Ad faciend. Catech., 410,
Orig. ; in Visitation of Sick, 461, etc.,
Orig.
Sarum and York Vernacular Exhorta-
tion to Sponsors, 418, Orig.
Sarum Exhortations to Sick, 463.
Sarum Liturgy, in English, condensed,
361-363.
Sarum Rite, Dirge of, 478, etc.
"Sarum Use," or Prayer Book, what it
was, 2 ; remodelled by .St. Osmund, 2 ;
in Matrimony, 452, etc., Orig.
Satan's misquotation of Scripture, 593.
Saturnalia, offered difficulties to Church,
2.56.
Savoy Conference, what authorized by
letters patent, 30 ; how it ended, 32 ;
exceptions of Presbyterians, 183 ; speci-
men of their frivolous character, 98, n. ;
leader of the Opposition, 97.
Saxon Homilies, a.d. 700, 207.
" Saying " explained, 181.
Scambler, Bishop, liis lawless proceed-
ings, 24, 179 ; on change of name,
444, n. 1.
Schoolmasters required to subscribe to
the Act of Unifonnity, 90.
Scottish Prayer Book, Dr. Bright's His-
tory of, 705 ; not sanctioned by tlie
General Assembly, 42 ; its influence on
English Book, 708 ; errors of law, etc.
in publisliing it, 707 ; vigorously and
successfully opposed, 42.
Scottish Liturgy in ej-trnm, 367 ; referred
to, 350, 373, 379, 388, 392, 393, 397, 309.
"Seal" or "Sealing," terms applied to
Confirmation, 437.
Sealed Books, what they were, 37.
Seasons most pi-oper for Baptism, 407.
Second Prayer Book of Edward VI., 20.
Sedilia, seats near the Altar, to be used
by the celebrant and ministers during
the sermon at Holy Communion.
Sennacherib a type of Antichrist, 576.
Sentences, Exhortation, etc., when pre-
fixed, 181 : used as Invitatories, 181 ;
" Read with a loud voice " implies in-
tonation, 181.
Septuagesima, etc., names and reckon-
ings, 264 ; Epistles and Gospels, 265.
Seemox, a,n oral instruction or exhorta-
tion, debvered by the preacher at Holy
Communion, and at otlier times, 377.
Sermon after JIarriage, 458.
Sermons and Lectures to be in Englisli,
by injunction of Edward VI., 13 ; at
funerals, 4S0.
Skkvice, the Canticles and other parts of
Mattins, Evensong, or the Liturgy,
set to music more elaborate than that
of Chant or Plain-song.
' ' Sernce of Song, " sanctioned by our
Lord, 53 ; its threefold division, 53, n.
Seven Hours of Prayer, Aggregation and
Condensation of, 178.
Shakespeare [Henry VIII. iii. 2], 413;
[King Lear, iv. 6J, 480.
Sharpe, Archbishop, on prohibited sea-
sons for Marriage in 1750, 447.
Shell used for Baptismal affusion, 416.
Shepherd, Tlie, of Israel, 582.
Shortening the Services, 185, 202, 215,
238.
Short Service authorized by Act of Uni-
formity, 1872, 93.
Slu-ove Tuesday, 266.
.Sick, The, a daily pr.ayer for, 239 ; Visi-
tation of, 460, etc. ; Communion of,
472.
Sidonius Apollinaris, Gallic processionals,
221.
Sign of the Cross, its abuse and disuse,
106 ; sign of the Son of Man, 502.
Signing with the Cross, 416 ; Canon on,
417 ; of the water in the Font, 415 ; in
Confirmation, 443.
Silvester, St., 176.
Simon Magus, 270.
Simon Zelotes, St., 340.
"Simplicity" no characteristic of primi-
tive worship, 347.
Singing, God's Church a sinking Church,
51 ; during Communion of people, 392.
"Singing cakes," a term applied to wafer
bread, 398.
Sins, Seven deadly, 432.
Sion transfigured into New Jerusalem,
588
"SiQuis,"667.
Slander of tlie Church and Sacraments,
614.
Smith, Sir Thomas, secretary to Queen
Elizabeth, 23.
"So to eat," explanation of phrase, 388.
S. P. C. K. 's translations of the Prayer
Book, 43.
Socrates on Antiphonal singing at An-
tioch, 54 ; on Missa Sicca, 397.
Solemn League and Covenant, Declara-
tion against, 89.
Solemnization of Matrimony, 449.
Solitary Masses, 398.
Solomon, a philosopher and yet a ritualist,
46.
"Son of David," Note on, 234.
"■Song, Service of," 59.
Soutlichardelirth [South Charford, now
annexed to Breamore and Hale, Hants]
Parish Manual, 419. l
Sovereign, The, always prayed for in the
English Church, 203.
Spain, King of, allowed to nominate
Bisliops and Abbots, 696.
Sparrow, Bishop, Collection and Rationale
of, 97 ; on time for Churching, 489 ; on
Catechizing, 430.
Special Prayers in Visitation of Sick, 470.
"Spices, the principal," 544.
Spiritual Communion, 474.
" Sponsalia," 449.
Sponsoes, persons who answer in the
name of children who are brought to
be baptized; "Godfathers and God-
mothers."
Sponsors simply the mouth-pieces of the
child, 414 ; their responsibility in abey-
ance while parents live, 419 ; to wait
at church door in Prayer Book of 1549,
408.
Spi'inkling in Baptism, 404 ; unauthorized
and unsafe, 404-416.
Standard adopted as to accessories of
Divine Worship, 63.
Standing, posture for the Priest when
speaking authoritatively, 183 ; posture,
intention of the Refoi'mers, 200 ; at the
Gospel, 374 ; of Celebrant in receiving,
391.
"Standing up," old Rubric, 200.
Star of Bethlehem, what supposed to be,
258.
"State of salvation," what, 433.
" State Services," 133, 703.
Statute of Six Articles, its influence on
Prayer Book, 9 ; its repeal, 10.
Statute 25 Henry VIII. on Marriage
Licences, 446 ; 4 Cieorge IV. against
Clandestine Marriages, 446 ; 26 George
II. on publication of Banns, 447.
Stephen, St., 252.
Steps into primitive Fonts, Seven, 404.
Stole, a long strip of rich silk worn over
both shoulders by Priests and Bishops,
but over the left shoulder onlj' by Dea-
cons, 79.
Structure of Primitive Liturgies, 34fi.
Strype, his description of Lent Services
in Chapel Royal, 61.
Strype's Cranmer, 82, 118, 407, n. 2.
Style, Change of, 245.
Sub-deacon, his duties at the Altar, 359.
" Sudden death," Objections and An-
swers, 226.
Suffrages or Preces, 198.
Suffrages of the Western Church allied to
Great Collect of Eastern, 198.
Suffrages in Burial Office of 1549, 482.
Suicides, Burial of, 477.
Sumatra, martyrdom of St. Thomas, 325.
Sundays, after Epiphany, how reckoned,
264 ; and other holydays for Public
Baptism, 407 ; in Lent, not Fast-days,
269.
'ZvvevdoKe'irc, explains old English " al-
loweth,"412.
Super-altar, a small portable slab of
costly material formerly used at certain
times to consecrate upon, being laid
upon tlie Men'sa. [See Men.sa, Re-
table. ]
SUPEK-FRONT.-VL, the Covering of the
Men.sa, hanging over the frontal for
about six or eight inches. [See Fron-
T.\L. ]
Supremacy restored to the Crown by Act
1 of Elizabeth, 23.
Sl'RPLlcE, a white linen gown, somewhat
similar to the Albe, but tight-fitting
and shorter, 79.
Sursum Cord.!, 385.
Survey of Church goods in 1552, 69.
Swithun, St., 156.
Symbolic usages. Divine authority for,
63 ; may be combined with highest
spiritual worship, C3.
3lnDer anD (25lossarj).
729
Symbolism of linen cloths, 370 ; of Wed-
ding ring, 454 ; of Psalm Ixxviii. , r>~7.
Symbols of the Name of Jcsns, 160.
"Symbolum Athanasii," always sung as
a Psalm, 210.
Symmachus, Bishop of Rome, • placed
Gloria in Excclsis in Liturgy, 395.
Sympathy between animate and inani-
mate works of God, G4S.
Syuodals explained, 101.
Tabernacle of the Flesh, 512, 517.
Table of the Condensation of the Ser-
vices, 17, 18 ; of Contents, freely
handled by modem printers — autho-
rized form — successive changes, 82, S3 ;
of comparative colours of Vestments,
77 ; to Hud ]</istcr, Quarto-dccinian
controversy, 119, 120; of Proper
Psalms, additions proposed, 114; of
Proper Lessons, 1559, 1061, 113 ; of
Apostolic statements corresponding
with the Creed, 196 ; of Authorship
and Compilation of the Psalter, 490 :
of pre-Keformation weekly use of Psal-
ter, 497 ; of Scripture accounts of
Institution of Holy Eucharist, 351 ;
showing origin of various Liturgies,
346 ; comparing features of Primitive
Liturgies, 347 ; of Burial Lections, 475 ;
illustrating title of Prayer Book, 82,
83 ; of Ornaments, comparative List,
70, 71.
Table-cloth on the Altar, au innovation,
370.
Tables and Kules for the Feasts and
Fasts, 116.
Tables of Jloveable Feasts for the 19tli
century, 121, 122.
Tablets of Duty to God and our Neigh-
bour at Ely, 429.
Tabular View of variations in the Litany,
228.
Tallis, his Plain-song for the Reformed
Litany, 58.
Taper in Baptism, its symbolism, 412.
Taylor, Bisliop Jeremy, Statement re-
garding Cranmer, 19; his prayer for
benediction of water, 415 ; on Marriage,
453-458.
Te Deum, 387 ; its Music, Ambrosian,
39, 191 ; its supposed Authorship,
189; its Rubric, 193 ; special notice of
9th, 16th, 21st verses, 191 ; separate
use of as a special Thanksgiving, 191 ;
proposed Substitutes for Lent and Ad-
vent, 190, n.
Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome, reputed
author of Gloria in Excelsis, 395.
Temple, dedication of, 520 ; its glory
merged in the Church, 573 ; Manifesta-
tions of the glory of the Lord therein,
259 ; Music and Singing, 5 ; Music,
not extant, 53.
Temporary Insanity. Verdict of, 477.
Temptation of our Lord, its representa-
tive Character, 269.
Ten Commandments, Compendium of,
433, and n. 1.
Tenebra;, ancient Office in Holy Week,
280.
Tersauctus in Connnunion Office, 386.
Tersanctus in 99th Psalm, 600.
TertuUian on Amen after Prayer of Con-
secration, 390 ; on Baptism, 402, 403 ;
on trine immersion, 404 ; on renuncia-
tion in Baptism, 413 ; on Confession of
Faith in Baptism, 413 ; on Benediction
of Waters, 414 ; on Lay Baptism, 405;
on Confirmation, 437 ; on Marriage,
440 ; on Wedding-ring, 453 ; on Burial,
475, n. 1 ; on Prayer for Dead, 476 ;
on postures in Prayer, 391 ; on Early
Christian Worship, 177 ; on the Jews
of Egypt, 498 ; on Fasting, 266 ; on
meaning of the Psalms, 499.
Thaddeus, St., Liturgy of, 345, n. 3.
Thanksgiving after Baptism, 418 ; after
Commu:uon, 394 ; for Peace, its
Authorship and Modification, 240.
Tharsis and the Isles, 571.
" Then," after tlie first Rubric, its force
and meaning. 202.
Theodore, Archbishop, Penitential of,
on tlic Viaticum, 472.
Thoodoret on rejection of the Jews, 557.
Theophania, Name anciently in use for
Epiphany, 244, 250, 258.
Third hour for Celebration of Holy Com-
munion. .360.
Thirtieth of .January Service, 703.
Thirty-nine Articles, assent of the t'lergy
recpiired to them. Act of Uniformity, 91 .
Thonuis, St., the Apostle, 324 ; Christians
of, still a witness to his labours in
India, 325 ; St. Thomas's Day, Collect
for, refeiTed to, 433.
Thomas, St. , of Canterbury, his Festival,
128 ; said to have instituted the
Trinity Feast, 302.
Thorndike, on Prayer of Oblation, 393 ;
on looking eastward, 197.
Three Estates of the Realm, 22 ; Orders
of Ministers held by Church of Eng-
land, 093.
Thrupp on the Psabns, 496, 579 ; on 139th
Psalm, 641.
Thursday in Holy Week, its special ob-
servances, 282.
Time for ilattins, Evensong, 105 ; and
•for Holy Communion, 300.
Times and Seasons, their appointment
azul division, 201 ; how tlie Churcli
has always intended to reckon them,
246.
Timlal, Lord Chief-Justice, on Marriage
by Deacons, 450.
Tippet, a hood of some black material
which is not to be silk, worn by Min-
isters who ai"e not graduates. [Canon
58.]
"Title" of Prayer Book "Common
Prayer," 82; "other I'ites and cere-
monies," what they mean, 82 ; of
Prayer Book, ' ' together with the
Psalter," 82.
Titles of our Lord, as used in the Advent
Antiphons, 249.
Toleration, Charles II. 's declaration of
his intentions, 29.
Touching for the Evil, 705.
Tower of London and Courts of West-
minster, Sealed books for, 92 ; touch-
ing inscription in Tower. 201.
Traditional words of Christ on the Cross,
527.
Traditions, what they imply, 46 ; respect-
ing the Apostles' Creecl, 196, 588, 568.
Transept: [1] The transverse portion of
cruciform churches. [2] The northern
or southern end of this.
Transfiguration of our Lord, 160, 259.
Translation of King Edward, 152.
Ti'anslations of the Common Prayer, 42.
" Transubstantiation " protested against
in Black Rubric, 399.
Tree of Life a type of Holy Eucharist,
350, 595.
Trent, Council of, on Water in Baptism,
403 ; on age for Confix'mation, 439 ;
Catechism on Baptismal Aflfusion, 416,
n. 2.
Trine Affusion, 416 ; Immersion, 404-
410, Orig.
Trinity, Holy, great significance of the
Festival, 303 ; the PsaUn of Praise to,
£61 ; Sunday, 302 ; Sunday, Sarum
Psalms, 516, 621, 546, 571, 598, 599.
Trinity College Cambridge, Commemora-
tion Service at, 484.
Trisagion, 3S6.
" Troth," meaning of, 452, n. 3.
Truths of Heathen Philosophy, Church's
application of some, 20.5.
Tuesday in Holy Week, last day of our
Lord's public Ministration, 278.
TuNlCLK, tlie outer \-estment of the Epis-
tolcr at tlic Holy Eucharist : in tlic
Rubric tlie term is ajiplied also to the
D.iL.M.VTio, wliich is almost identical
with it in character, 80.
Twelfth day after Christmas, a memorial
of our Lord's Bajitism, 258.
Twenty-nhith of May Service, 703.
"Two Tallies" of Law, 4.'J3.
Types, of Eucliarist — their number,
agreements, and dix'ersitics, 3.50 ; of
our Lord in suffering, 506 ; of Inter-
mediate State, 613.
Typical character of David, 502-505 ;
persecutions, 502.
Unbaptized Infants dying, 419 ; burial of,
477.
Unconsecrated Elements for use of
Curate, 399.
Un'ctios, the anointing with holy oil at
Coronations, and other rites of the
Church. [See AxoiNTixc]
Unction in Confirmation, 437-443 ; Ex-
treme, 460 ; of the Sick in Reformed
Prayer Book, 460, 470, n. 1 ; a tenn
applied to Confirmation, 437-
" Ungodly," piincipal and instniments,
501.
Uniformity, Act of. Edward's, 21 ; re-
pealed by Mary, 22: Primo Elizabetha?,
84; 14 Carol II., 88; Binding on the
Clergy, 84 ; documents respecting, 72.
Uuifonnity of Services, 7.
Union with Christ in Baptism, 406.
"United Church of England and Ire-
land " a misnomer, 82.
Unity of the Church, 631.
Unity of mind of the whole Catholic
Church, 327, 328.
Unity underlying divisions of Christen-
dom, 355.
Unmarried mothers to do Penance before
being Churched, 4S6.
Unworthy Communion, Great care of
English Church as to, 383.
"Upper Room, The," 52.
"Usages "of the Scottish Liturgy, 708,
709.
" Use" of the Church of England, 82;
of Holy Communion, 353 ; of Visita-
tion Office, 460.
"Uses " in England diverse previous to
Reformation, 2, 3, 102, 346, 347 ; now
to be one and the same, 102.
Uses of Salisbury, York, and Hereford,
in Espousals, 452.
Vaison, Council of, its Canon on the
Gloria Patri, 186.
Valentine, vSt., 136.
Vatican, martjTdom of St. Peter, 336.
Veil, 392 ; formerly insisted on in Church-
ing women, 487 : of Temple, its rend-
ing, 515 ; of Chancel, in Primitive
Church, 47 ; to be worn by women to
be baptized, 426.
Venantius Fortunatus, his Commentary
on Athanasian Creed, 216.
Venerable Bede, his death in connection
with Ascension Collect, 299.
Veni Creator sung at JIass, 348, 3G1 ;
Authorship of, 689 ; Translation of,
ascribed to Dryden, 701.
Veni Creator Spiritus, use of, at Conse-
cration of Bishops, 700.
7ZO
3lnDcr anD (Slossarp.
Venite Exultemiis, its use in the Temple
Serrioe and early Christian, 187 ; Invi-
tatory to, 187 ; old custom of rever-
ence, 188.
Verger, a lay officer, who carries a staff
rod, Wrga, or verge, before dignitaries
in processions, attends to the placing
of the congregation, etc.
Veiity, Christian, explanation of tenn,
218.
Vernacular, its use always encouraged in
the Church of England, 3, specimens
of, 5 ; ancient fonn of Baptism in
Sarum Use, 420, Orig. ; ancient forms of
Lord's Prayer, 207 ; ancient forms of
Apostles' Creed, 21 1 ; ancient forms of
Versicles and Responses for Peace, 199 ;
ancient forms of Collects, 214, 237,
301, 302, 329, 339 ; ancient forms of
Nicene Creed, 375 ; Confession at Holy
Communion, 384 ; Exhortation to Holy
Communion, 382 ; Gloria in Excelsis,
395, n. ; Exhortation at Baptism, 418 ;
in Marriage Ser\-ice, 451-453 ; in Visi-
tation of Sick, 465, 466 ; Litany referred
to, 10, 222 ; Te Deum referre<l to, 191 ;
Athanasian Creed referred to, 216 :
ancient origin of parts of Litany. 229,
231 ; ancient expositions referred to,
10.
Vernacular of our Lord and his Apostles,
498.
Versicles, explanation of term, 101 ;
from the ancient fonn translated. 1 98 ;
before Collects, old Rubric on, 200 ; in
Confirmation Office, 442 ; in Visitation
of Sick, 462.
Versions, Ancient, of the Psalter, 498.
Verulam, 152.
Vessel for l>ringing water to Font, 409.
Vestment, the Chasuble ; the tenn some-
times includes all the Eucharistic vest-
ments, or may be applied to any one of
them.
Vestments, Eucharistic, 79. 358, 360 ;
their colours, 75 ; their material, 75 ;
their form and symbolism, 79, 80 :
illustrations of, 80 ; to be used in
Visitation of the Sick, 460.
" Viaticum," Communion of the Dying,
472.
\'icarious penitence of Christ, 550, 601,
634.
Victricius, reputed author of the Athana-
sian Creed, 217.
Vienne, City of, origination of Rogation
Fast, 221. I
Vigil, the fasted Eve of a festival.
Vigil of Christmas, how observed in
ancient Churcli of England, 250. '
Vigil of Easter, ancient mode of its cele-
bration, 288. j
Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence, '
Table of, 118; not observed in the
Paschal Quinfjuagesima. 298 ; no longer
.in Evening Ser^-ice, 118 ; Collects used
on, 245.
Vincent, St., 1.33.
Vincent, .St., of Lerins, reputed author
of the Athanasian Creed, 217.
\'ine, The, illustrations of its mystical
meaning, 582.
Visitation of Blessed Virgin Mary, 156 ;
of Dioceses on accession of Edward VI.,
12.
VisiT.\Tioy OF THE SicK, an Office to be
used with sick persons, with or without
Communion or Anointing.
Visitation of the Sick enjoined by Holy
Scripture, Fathers, and Councils, 460 ;
569 ; a fonnal rite, 460 ; Introduction
to, 460.
Visitation of Prisoners Service in Irish
Prayer Book, 710.
Vocation to the Ministry extraordinary
and ordinaiy, 664.
A'oice, of the Church, 503 ; of the Lord
sevenfold, 525.
VoLUXT.iKY, a piece of music played after
the Psalms, and before and after ser-
vice ; sometimes during the Communion
of the People.
Voluntary, after the Psalms, 188; sub-
stituted for the Agnus Dei at Durham,
188 ; at the conclusion of the Service,
202.
Vows, Baptismal, 412-414.
Vulgar tongue, its gradual adoption in
the Services, 7.
Vulgate, The ancient, of .St. Jerome, 498.
Wafer, or Wafer Bread, a small un-
leavened cake used for the Eucharistic
Bread. The Rubric permits the sub-
stitution of fine wheaten bread of the
ordinary kind, 398.
Walchius' Bibliotheca SymboUca for
earliest forms of the Creed, 212; on
Protestant Catechisms, 429.
Waldenses, regarded water as unneces-
sary in Baptism, 403.
Wales, Funeral Offertoi'y in, 475.
Warburton, his discontinuance of use of
cope, 359.
Washing of disciples' feet connected with
Institution of Holy Eucharist, 355 ; a
sacramental act, as well as symbolical,
282.
Water, Benediction of, 414; "the out-
ward visible sign or form in Baptism,"
403; sanctifying of, 410; admixture
of, with Wine in the Eucharist, 378.
Waterland, his Histori/ of the Athanasian
Creed, 217.
Waters of the Neva blessed, 410, n. 2.
Wedderburn, Bishop of Dunblane, and
the Scottish Prayer Book, 706.
Wedding Breakfast, why after the mar-
riage, 447.
Wedding ring, 453.
Wednesday in Holy Week, ancient Office
for, 280.
Welsh Prayer Book, 42, 92.
Westminster Abbey, \Vafer bread used
at, 398.
^^'estminster, Monks of, jjrivileged in
respect of age for Ordination, 66 ;
Synod of, on Communion of Sick, 472 ;
Synod of. Marriage enactment, 44G.
Whitgift, Archbishop, memorialized by
Puritans against Lay Baptism, 405, n. 1.
Whitsun, the Englisli name of Pentecost,
its origin, 300 ; Ember Days, nf primi-
tive obsprvance, 302.
Whitsun Eve, Day, and Season, Sarum
Psalms, 546, 563, 604.
Whitsunday, Collect for, how formerly
used, 300; 1549, the English Prayer
Book first used on, 300.
Whitsuntide Psalms, 546, 604, 645.
^^'ilkins' Concilia, on use of .Salisbury
Missal, 69 ; referred to, 419, marg.
Will of God, law over all, 433 ; modes of
its expression, 433.
William III., and the Lesson about
Judas, 703.
William of Malmesbury on Altars of
wood, 357.
Wilson, Bishop, on Invocation of Holy
Ghost, 389.
Wimbish, Register at, on prohibited
seasons for Marriage, 447.
Windsor, Obiit Service at, 483 ; Obiit
Sunday, Psalms for, 518, 646.
Wine used as Matter in Baptism, 403.
Winepress, its typical and prophetical
meaning, 582.
" With," its Liturgical sense, 182.
Woman, her dependence on man, 453.
\\'omen not to baptize save in extreme
necessity, 420, Orig.
Wood (Ath. Oxon. ), on Office for Adult
Baptism, 424.
Word, The, Personal, in all the Psalms
of the First Book, 541 ; in 1 19th Psalm,
624 ; before the Sanhedrim, 584.
Words of Institution, 389 ; of Prayer
consecrated by our Lord, 528, 529.
Worship of Heaven, as seen by St. John,
47 ; Patriarchal, 44 ; Mosaic or Jewish,
so called, but really Divine, 45 ; Spirit-
ual, see Communion with God, 44 ; its
principal parts, 182; offered to a person
present to receive it, 48 ; Christian,
supplemented not supplanted that of
the ancient Church, 52 ; Ceremonial
and ilusical, our Lord's practice, 51 ;
of the Church of England, application
of the Ritual principle, 49, 50 ; Daily,
transferred from the Cloister to the
Parish Church, 7.
" Worship," meaning of, in Marriage
Service, 454.
Wren, Bishop, his order respecting Mar-
riages, 449 ; his Injunctions on Church-
ing, 487, 489 ; his Injunctions on Public
Prayer for Sick, 471 ; his directions to
Ministers, 332.
Wyche, .Sir Cecil, his discovery of an
error in MS. of Prayer Book, 36.
Year, The Church's, beginning from Ad-
vent and Christmas. 245.
York Manual, directions as to who are
not to communicate, 474 ; vernacular
Exhortation to Sponsors, 418.
York Minster Library, Fothergill's MSS.
in, 4.39.
York, Use of, circ. A.D. 700, in Confirma-
tion, 438, 442.
York Use (Marriage), 452.
Zebedee, Sons of. their aim at exaltation,
how granted, 3.37.
PRIKTED W T. A>T) A. COKBTABLE, PBINTEE8 TO EEK MAJfiSIT,
AT TUE EDIKEVKGH UMVEBSITV TBESS.
Edited by the Rev. JOHN HEMY BLDNT, D.D.
Dictionary of Sects,
HERESIES, ECCLESIASTICAL PARTIES, AND SCHOOLS
OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT.
BY VARIOUS WRITERS.
Imperial fivo, 36J.
Dictionary of Doctrinal and Historical
Theology.
BY VARIOUS WRITERS.
Imperial Zvo, i\2s.
THE COMPENDIOUS EDITION
OF THE
Annotated Book of Common Prayer.
FORMING A CONCISE COMMENTARY ON THE DEVOTIONAL SYSTEM OF
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.
Crown Svo, los. 6J.
The Annotated Bible.
BEING A HOUSEHOLD COMMENTARY UPON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, COM-
PREHENDING THE RESULTS OF MODERN DISCOVERY AND CRITICISM.
Three Vols. Demy 4(0, ivith Maps, etc. Sold separately.
VOL. I. (668 pages.)— GENERAL INTRODUCTION, with Text and Annotations
on the Books from GENESIS to ESTHER. 31s. 6d.
VOL. II. (720 pages.)— Completing the OLD TESTAMENT and APOCRYPHA.
31 s. 6d.
VOL. III. (S26 pages.)— THE NEW TESTAMENT and GENERAL INDEX. 21s.
BY THE REV. JOHN HENRY BLUNT, D.D.
The Reformation of the Chw'cJi of England : its History, Prin-
ciples, and Results. Vol. I. Its Progress during the Reign of Henry VIII. 8vo. i6.f.
The Reformation of the Church of England : its History, Prin-
ciples, and Results. Vol. II. From the Death of Henry VIII. to the Restoration of the
Church after the Commonwealth. 8vo. \%s.
The Sacraments and Sacramental Ordinances of the CJinrch : being ■
a Plain Exposition of their History, Meaning, and Effects. Small 8vo. 4.;. dd.
Household Theology : a Handbook of Religious Information respect-
ing the Holy Bible, the Prayer Book, the Church, the Ministry, Divine Worship, the Creeds,
etc. etc. Small Svo. y. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, i6mo. is.
Directoriuni Pastorale. The Principles and Practice of Pastoral
Work in the Church of England. Crown Svo. "js. 6d.
A Companion to the Bible ; being a Plain Commentary on Scrip-
ture History, to the end of the Apostolic Age. 2 Volumes. Small Svo.
Companion to the Old Testament. 3^. 6d.
Companion to the New Testament. With Maps. 2>s. 6d.
A Key to the Knowledge and Use of the Holy Bible. Small Svo.
2S. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, is. dd.
A Key to the Knowledge and Use of the Book of Common Prayer.
Small Svo. 2s. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, is. 6d.
A Key to Christian Doctrine and Practice {^Founded on the Ciiiirch
Catechism). Small Svo. 2s. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, i.f. 6d.
A Key to the Knowledge of Church History {Ancient). Edited by
John Henry Blunt, D.D. Small Svo. 2s. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, is. 6d.
A Key to the Knowledge of CliurcJi History {Modern). Edited by
John Henry Blunt, D.D. Small Svo. 2s. 6d. Also a Cheap Edition, i.y. 6d.
The Book of Church Law. Being an Exposition of the Legal
Rights and Duties of the Parochial Clergy and the Laity of the Church of England. By
the Rev. John Henry Blunt, D.D. Revised by Sir Walter G. F. Phillimore, Bart.,
D.C.L., Barrister-at-La\v, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln, and Ofiicial of the Arch-
deaconry of Colchester. Crown Svo. ns. <jd. „ • ■ ,-x „^
.v?^ ^
^iij'jNVSoi-^""^ 'v/ia3AiN,:
,^WE•UN1VER%
daii-i^ >&Aavaaiii'v^'^ ^Tiii^vsov^"^ '-//ia^AiNn-wv'
'/^,
A
T O A
r-i "- f I
T" O
^'IVFRS;//,, ,vvlOSA;
. AC.r.snrnn
#
^ ^
JIVERJ/^
-" o
>■ =
.VWSA(JCEI%
f^m'^
^ 5 ...
"^AaJAINlljWV
IVEB% ^lOSANCEtfju
C5 «£
~ o
o _
^ 1
*>?>t-;
University of Calilomia
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
^IJTER LOAM
0CT14199&
REC'DMUS-LIB
/APR 2 3 1996^
wsoi^"^ ■^/saaAiNnwv'
ft??! ^f M yr-
•^
"OCe •«
U i^c.
i^>,
''m
L^
ocro6 2oor
^
\m
^
r-i
IFO^
^
U
^ ^v.
^OAavaaiii'v^'^ ^oo
■%i
-3» a c§
sVll
■■J ijjnvwr
INCElfX;^ ^WtllBRAi:
'%OJI1VJJO>^
'"^ommv^
I '. J J\J ■ 'UU3i I V J 3'^) •
^-
^i(C iiiif\^cnr.
yji • ■ i.jj.'MiMi jn>
■UUJIIVJJU ■
•'ouiiivj ju
■V or
"^/Si
■■-'!> ^^.OfCAlIFOSV
CO
^„
^vS^«
•'Jijjrvviur
^aOJIWDJO
i-OF'CAllFOft;/,
,4,0FCMIF0%
%
•'oximmw
.WUL'SlVtKV^
'^V,
C3
o
'^m%
>.
^»\C HlUV/CDC *
V '3 1158 01125 57
J U J I t ■ J 3 '
\WEUNIVERS/A
'A-
o
0.m
Or
O
-n t-J
^lllBRARYOx
i;OFCAllFOft|^
Wl?
't?Aava8ii#'
^.
■-:-UJ( uM,i ] I
JO'
^V\E UNIVERS/A
o
.K:10S .'
^
A
'3J0'
-a:
o
^,':
.VvWSANCF!fj.>
^^T
^«[•UNIVERS//i
f
I 5
1#
%:
AjOFCAllFOff^ ^OFCAUFOP-,
:^S %{
■m.
'■^^^
; SUITS' %ajAiNiiw"^
"^/Ja^AINH JW^'
''^6'Aiivaaii-i^^
"'JJlJ'JNYSOV'^^
-S "
iJ'JNYiOl'^^"