THE ANNOTATED
I.
BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
•%
THE ANNOTATED
Book of Common Prayer
BEING AN
HISTORICAL, RITUAL, AND THEOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
ON THE DEVOTIONAL SYSTEM
OF
Cl)e Cljurel) of Cnglanb
EDITED BY THE REV.
JOHN HENRY BLUNT, D.D.
AUTHOR OF "the HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION"
EDITOR OF "THE DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY"
ETC.
*' ?!Cf)ttj» s!attl& tlbe Horn, ^tanu pe vx t$e toa^iS, ann uee, ann ^$\ for tl&e otn pattiis, tnTjere in t\t goon fioap,
atiB toallfe ttjetein, atiD pe js^all finD tcjit fot pour isouTsJ."— Jeremiah vi. i6
NE^W EDITION
LON DON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK: 1 5 EAST i6TH STREET
1S92
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
CJ)e annotaten iBook of Common IPtapet
IS
BY PERMISSION
Ee0pectfuUp tieliicateD
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
\
305
PREFACE.
rjlHE present edition of the Annotated Prayer Book has been, carefully revised in
-*- 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 columns 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 Journails of the Houses of Lords and Commons.
. ■ ■ I
[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 in the same manner from the Manuscript of
the Prayer Bopk and from the Great Bible. Brief historical notices of the Psalms
have also been added to the Liturgical references given in former editions.
- ■ i<
[5] The Introduction to the Ordinal has been much enlarged by the addition
of Tables shewing, in as much detail as space will allow, the course of Ministerial
descent and succession from our Lord and His Apostles to the living 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 in this edition to bring it into exact agreement with
that of the Manuscript subscribed by the Convocations of Canterbury and York, and
viii Preface to tfje retJlseD
annexed by Parliament to the Act of Uniformity. The Editor has made repeated
applications for permission to collate this Manuscript ; and, after much correspondence,
the following final reply was received by him : —
" House of Lords, August 2Srd, 1880.
Sir, — I am directed by the Clerk of the Parliaments to inform you that the Parliament Office
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
tlie Act of Uniformity, and that the Committee are of opinion that your application should not be acceded
to. I have further to inform you that the E-eport 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 kind permission of Lord Cairns, 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, tv/o 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 Psalms. 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 ] with the Cam-
bridge Authorized Version edited by Dr. Scrivener. The ItaKcs have been carefully
inserted as they appear in the same Text ; and interpolated 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 Boman
type in the original black-letter Bible) difier slightly here and there from those marked
as such in the Manuscript of the Prayer Book ; but as the intention of the Bevisers of
1661 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 an^
Edward the Sixth," it has been thought best to take Cranmer's Bible, the Authorized
Version of 1539, as the standard.
Since the original pubHcation of the Annotated Prayer Book in 1866, many works
have been published which help to throw Hght 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, birt particular mention should be made
here of Messrs. Procter and Wordsworth's edition of the Sarum Breviary ; of Dr.
ann enlarged tuition. be
Henderson's editions of the Yo7'k Missal, Maimed, and Pontifical, and of the Hereford
Missal; of Mr. Simmons' admirably edited Lay Folk's Mass Book; of Mr. Chambers'
Worship 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 three 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 in England and America, the Editor begs to
offer his sincere thanks for their communications, and to add that they have a;ll 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 respecting ancient ritual, that the history
of ritual might be the more effectually illustrated, it must not be supposed that the
revived use of all such details is advocated in this 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 ofier them may be built up in faith and reverence.
October 1883.
PREFACE TO FORMER EDITIONS.
T^HIS 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 complete of
all such books being Mr. Procter's excellent History of the Book of Common Prayer,
with 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 : aud 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 Beformation, 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 Saruni 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 which 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 (JEDitions:
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 them 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 reahty 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 Liturgicw 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.
The 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 the 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 Clmrch 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 References), the authors must, of course, be considered
individually responsible. Circumstances have arisen which threw into the Editor'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 collection of ancient Service-books, which, with the rest of his
his degree at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and became Library, he left to Skipwith parish, on condition of a room
Rector of Skipwith. In 1688 he was oflfered the Rectory of being built to receive them. This not being done, the widow
Lancaster, but not being able to take the oaths to William 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. FothergiU
the degree of D.D., for which he hjid qualified. He lived at I 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. His volumes shew that he was a most indus-
Westminster, on Sept, 7, 1731. Mr, Fothergill made a noble trious reader.
xii Preface to former OEDitions.
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 Pev. T. W. Perry, and to the Rev. 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 Pev. 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
HoLYDAYS 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. 451, 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 Routh
Library, at Durham ; and to the Hon. and Rev. Stephen Willoughby Lawley, M. A.,
formerly Rector of Escrick, and Sub-Dean of York, 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,
By Rev. J. B. Dykes, Mus. D.
W. Perry
Preface .....
Preface to former Editions
List of Authorities ....
Chronological Table ....
An Historical Introduction to the Prayer Book
A Ritual In troduction to the Prayer Book —
Section I. The Principles of Ceremonial Worship .
Section II. The Musical Performance of Divine Service
Section III. The Accessories of Divine Service. By Rev. T
Title, etc., of the Sealed Prayer Books
Acts of Uniformity .
Preface, etc., to the Prayer Book
Tables and Rules
An Introduction to the Calendar
^The Calendar, with Comparative View
Notes on the Minor Holydays. By Rev. 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 Rev. 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. P. G. Medd, and the Editor
An Introduction to the Offices for Holy Baptism
The Ministration of Publick Baptism of Infants, with Notes
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 . •
PAGE
vii
X
XV
xix
1
44
50
63
81
84
96
116
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 Commination, with Notes . 1
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 Form of Ordaining or Consecrating of an Archbishop or Bishop, with Notes.
General Appendix — _
I. The State Services. By Rev. W. D. Macray .
II. The Scottish Prayer Book of 1637. By Rev. W. Briglit
III. The Irish Prayer Book. By Rev. W. D. 3Iacr:iy
Index and Glossary . . . . . .
Ditto
PACK
486
487
490
496
501
650
655
674
683
693
703
705
709
713
I L L U S T li A T I O N S,
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 face page, 80
429
122
&:2
A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL
LITURGICAL AND HISTORICAL AUTHORITIES
USED, QUOTED, OE EEFERRED TO, IIS" THIS WORK.
The Manuscript Prayer Book, subscribed by the 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 1636, 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 with 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, Cosin'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' Eeprint. 1848.
See Pickering, Stephens, infra.
Acta Sanctorum, 1643 — still in course of publication.
Amalarius Symphosius [circ. a.d. 820-827], De Divin. Off. Cologne, 1568. [Bibl. Max! Lugd. xiv. 934-1060.]
Andrewes, Bishop. Notes on Prayer Book. Misc. Works, Ang. Cath. Lib. 1854.
Anglican Church Calendar. 1851.
Assemanus, Jos. Codex Liturgicus Eccl. Universse. 1749-63.
Baker, Sir Richard. On the Lord's Prayer. 1638. .
Baring-Gould, S. Lives of the Saints. 1872-77.
Baruffaldus, Hier. Comment, ad Rituale Romanum. 1731.
Beleth [thirteenth century]. Rationale Divin. Off. Lyons, 1612.
Bingham, Jos. Antiquities of the Christian Church. 1710-22. Last edit. 1843-6.
Blunt, J. H. Directorium Pastorale. 1864. . ^ -->^
Annotated Bible. 1878-82.
History of the Reformation. 1868-82. T 7^
Bona, Cardinal. De Rebus Liturg. Paris, 1676. Sak'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. . i >
Bright, Will. Ancient Collects and other Prayers. 1857.
Brogden, Jas. Illustrations of the Liturgy, 1842.
Bulley, Fred. Variations of the Communion and Baptismal Offices. 1842.
Burn, R. Ecclesiastical Law. Phillimore's ed., 1842.
Biurnet, 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.
Syaodalia. 1842.
xvi 9 List of autftorities.
Cai-dwell, Edw. Two Liturgies of Edward VI. 1838.
Catalanus, J. C. Pontif. Koman., commentariis illustratum. 1*738.
Chambers, J. D. Divine Worship in England in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries. 1877.
Churton, Archd. R. Life of Dean Nowell. 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. Vl .^ng. Cath. Lib. 1856.
Cranmer, Archbp. Eemains, edited by Jenkyns. 1833.
Daniel, H. A. Codex Liturgicus. 1847-54.
Thesaurus Hymnologicus. 1855-6.
Denzinger, H. Ritus 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 Kalendars. 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. Explanation 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 Eituum. 1762.
Gelasius's Sacramentary [A.t). 492]. In Muratori's Liturgia Rom;ui;i.
Gerbertus, Mart. Vetus Liturgia Alemannica. 1776.
Gibson, Bishop Edra. Synodus Anglicana. 1702 and 1854.
Goar, J. Rituale Grsecorum. 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 Kalendarise 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. 1647, 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. Dunelm. 6X dono Awtoris]. 1705.
Hierurgia Anglicana. 1848.
Hittorpius, M. De Divinis Officiis. Cologne, 1568.
Hope, A. J. B. Worship of the Church of England. 1875.
Jacobson, Bishop. Illustrations of the History of the Prayer Book. 1874.
Jebb, J. Choral Service. 1843.
Ritual Law and Custom of the Church Universal ; a Sermon. 1866.
Jerome, St. Comes seu Lectionarium. Pamelius's ed. Coiognej,,157l. .
Kalendar of the English Church. 1865-6. ' ' ;>,_
9 List of authorities, xvii
Keble, J. Eucharistical Adoration. 1857.
Keeling, W. Liturgiae Britannicae. 1851.
Kennett, Bishop. A Register, Ecclesiastical and Civil, from the Restoration. 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, R. F. North-side of the Altar. 1863. . _
On the Mixed Chalice. 1863.
Liturgies, etc., of King Edward VI. Parker Soc. 1844.
etc., of Queen Elizabeth. Parker Soc. 1847.
Mabillon, J. Museum Italicum. 1687-9.
De Liturgii GallicanS,. Paris, 1685.
Manuale Sarisburiense. 1498.
et Processionale Eboracense. Surtees Soc. ed. Edited by Dr. Hendersop. 1875.
Martene, E. De Antiquis Ecclesise Ritibus. Antwerp, 1763-4.
Vet. Script. Collect. Vol. VL '
Maskell, W. Ancient Litiirgy of the Church of England. 1846.
Dissertation on Holy Baptism. 1848.
Monumenta Ritualia Ecc. Ang. 1846-7.
Enquiry into the Doctrine of the Church of England on Absolution. 1849^
Mason, F. Vindiciae Ecc. Anglic, sive de legitimo ejusdem Ministerio. 1625.
Massingberd, F. C. Lectures on the Prayer Book. 1864.
Meibomius, M. Antiquae Musicae Auctores Septem. 1652.
Merbecke, J. Common Prayer Noted. 1550.
Micrologus [Johannis, Episcopi, thirteenth century. Maskell's date, 1080]. Pamelius's ed. Antwerp, 1565. [Bibl.
Max. Lugd. xviii. 469.]
Mirroure of our Ladye. 1530. [Cosin's copy, Cosin's Lib. Durham, 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 Ecclesiae Ordinationibus. 1655.
Muratori, L. A. Liturgia Romana 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 Liturgicae. 1832.
Pamelius, J. [a.d. -1536-87]. Liturgica Latinorum. Cologne, 1571.
Parker, Archbishop. Correspondence. Parker Soc. 1853.
James. Introd. to History of Prayer Book Revisions. 1877.
First Prayer Book of Edward VI. compared with successive Revisions. 1877.
Perry, T. W. Historical Considerations relating to the Declaration on Kneeling. 1863.
Phillimore, 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 List Of ^utboxitm.
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 Romanum. See Catalanus. . •
Position of the Priest at the Altar. [By J. H. Blunt.] 1858.
Poullain, V. L'Ordre des Pri^res, 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. CoUectio, 1716.
Rock, D. Hierurgia. 1851.
Church of our Fathers. 1849-53.
Scudamore, W. E. Notitia Eucharistica. 2nd ed., 1876.
The Communion of the Laity. 1855.
Sparrow, Bishop, Collection of Articles, 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 Prayer, 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 Laudamns. 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. Max. Lugd. 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.
:-p-~rrrr
CHRONOLOG-ICAL "tK B L E;^ ' = - ''
Liturgy of Cassian and Leo ...... •'■'*-♦ 'y-j'-''-'-;^^'- ''- ^-"^ ^•'•i-^^i^
Sactamentary of St. Leo ...... -^ ? ' ^'^I^W" ') vo f- j- -rfrn, jrillv>r: ^^^
— ^ Gelasius . . . . , . . , •--^''-'^.•^ ;i ;^:. ;.!..^.j^ ^^2
— ^ Gregory . . , . .''... ... • - ^ •' - ^ -gO
St. Augustine's revised Liturgy of Britain , .' ' . .* * . . '■'O.Ji.:n-J^ - - ^.^^ ^^^
Salisbury Use of St. Osmund . . . [ . / . . J^i'-;m\J..^-::l UyfLr/j ^^g^
English Prymer. [Maskell's Mon. Rit. Ang. ii.] . . . . .' ' - • --^ .(.!.;/ ^.^^^ ^^^^
Liber Festivalis. [A book of mediaeval English Homilies, printed by Caxton.] ..""'.' . . . 1483
Salisbury Breviary " reformed." [1st ed.] . . ; ; . ^ > ^- . • . ' . .' 1516
Mirror of our Lad3% [A translation of and commentary oh the Daily Offieei^ of Syoii and the ikass:] . . 1 530
Salisbury Breviary "reformed." [2nd ed.] . . ; . . '.^ . '."'".' i 1531
Missal " reformed " . . . . . . '. •^'- ■ ' ; "i ^ - '_ j533
English Psalters printed . . . . . . . . ' . /- Ki: » 1534-40
Marshall's Prymer . . : . . ". ' ' . . . . . '.' '. 1535
English Epistles and Gospels printied . . . . . . . , . 1538-48
Hilsey's Prymer ............. 1539
The " Great Bible " set up in Churches as the " Authorized Version " . . . . . . 1540
Salisbury Use further reformed, and adopted (by order of the Convocation) throughout the Province of Canter-
bury .............. 1541
Committee of Convocation commissioned to revise Service-books ...... 1542-49
English Litany ordered for use in Churches ......... June 11, 1544
King Henry VIII.'s Prymer ............ 1545
Archbishop Hermann's Consultation [German, 1543; Latin, 1545], printed in English, 1547 ; reprinted . . 1548
Edward VI.'s First Year ........ Jan. 28, 1547, to Jan. 27, 1548
Second Year ....... Jan. 28, 1548, to Jan. 27, 1549
English Order of Communion added to Latin Mass ........ March 8, 1548
Book of Common Prayer. [First Book of Edward VI.] —
Submitted to Convocation (by Committee of 1542-49) ...... Nov. 24, 1548
Laid before Parliament as part of Act of Uniformity [2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1] . . . . Dec. 9, 1548
Passed by the House of Lords ditto ditto .... Jan. 15, 1549
Commons ditto ditto .... Jan. 21, 1549
Printed ready for circulation . . . . . . . , ... March 7, 1549
Received Royal Assent as part of Act of Uniformity [2 and 3 Edw. VI. c. 1]. [Probably at prorogation of
Parliament on ......... . March 14, 1549]
Taken into general use .......... June 9, 1549
English Ordinal ............ March 1550
Book of Common Prayer. [Second Book of Edward VI.] —
[Committee of Convocation commissioned, probably ........ 1551]
Passed through Parliament as part of Act of Uniformity [5 and 6 Edw. VI. c. 1] . . . April 6, 1552
Ordered to be taken into use from ......... Nov. 1, 1552
Edward VI. died July 6, 1553
Acts of Uniformity (including Prayer Books) repealed by 1 Mary, aess. ii. c. 2 . * • • Oct. 1653
XX
Cfjronological Catile,
Queen Elizabeth's Accession ......
Edward VI.'s Second Book restored (with some alterations) by 1 Eliz. c.
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 .
Revision completed by Convocations .....
Approved by King in Council .....
Passed House of Lords as part of Act of Uniformity [14 Car. II. c. 4]
Commons ditto ditto
Received Royal Assent ditto ditto
Taken into general use
Adopted by Irish Convocation
Standard copies certified under Great Seal
Embodied in Irish Act of Uniformity [17 and 18 Car. ll. c. tJj
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 Vict. c. 37
Shortened Order for Morning and Evening Prayer authorized by 35 and 36 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 15to 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
. 1689
. 1752
1785-89
. 1871
. 1872
AN"
HISTOEICAL INTEODUCTIO:^
TO THE
PRAYER BOOK.
^PHE Book of Common Prayer remained 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 1C61. 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 formularies of its own as far 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 spent 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 when 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 Rome. 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 Apostolic 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^ Augustine and
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 driven 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 unprepared 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
1 S«e Palmer's Origines Litttrg. i. 153. XfiALEand Forbks' Gallican Liturgies, Freeman's Principles of Divine Service^ ii. 399.
A
an lE)tstorical JntrotJuction
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 bom 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 uj}. But it is my pleasure that if you have found anything either in the Roman
or the Gallican 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, therefore, 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. Opera, ii. 1151, 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 Gallican Church is also partly extant,^ and has been shewn (as was mentioned before) to be
derived from the Liturgy of the Church 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.
Augustine 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 degree 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 Sails- ^^^ Chancellor of England,^ collecting together a large body of skilled clergy,.
to^iry. remodelled the Offices of the Church, and left behind him the famous Portiforium
or Breviary of Sarum, containing the Daily Services ; together with the Sarum Missal, containing
the Communion Service ; and, probably, 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
' See the names Menard, Muratori, and Mabillon, in the | Bishop of Salisbury [a.d. 1078-1099] after the foundation of
list of Authorities. The Gregorian and Gallican Liturgies \ that diocese by the consolidation of the Sees of Kamsbury
are also printed in Hammond's XV<Mrr/Je«, ^otsiern anrf Western, j and Sherborne in a.d. 1058 and 1075. St. Osmund Mas the
Oxford, 1878. principal builder of the Cathedral of Old Sarum, a small
' See Maskell's Ancient Liturgy of the Chtirch of England, \ fortified hill a few miles distant from the present city. This
Preface, p. liv. cathedral was taken down, and that of New Sarum, or
» St. Osmund, who was canonized in a.d. 1456, was a Salisbury, the existing cathedral, built in the place of it, in
nephew of William the Conqueror, being the son of the king's i a.d. 1225: the remains of St. Osmund being removed
sister Isabella and Henry, Count of S^ez. He was the second i thither.
to tbe IPraper T5ook
was introduced into other parts of England so generally that 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 1256, " being conspicuous above all other Churches like the sun
in the heavens, diffusing its light everywhere, and supplying their defects." i 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 perhaps 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 great 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
ndany 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 modem languages of all which countries were formed from
it) down 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 people 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, Archbishop 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 horn-books,
on which the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Angelic Salutation were written. The following is an
^ At an even earlier date [a. d. 1200] the chronicler Brompton
says that the Custom-book of Salisbury was used almost all over
p]ngland, Wales, and Ireland. [Brompton 's Chron. 977.]
^ These three English Uses alone were of sufficient import-
ance to ensure the dignity of appearing in print while they
* Johnson's Eng. Canons, i. 186.
* Ibid. 248.
» 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 barely 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 I ing all schoolmasters to teach their scholars to translate into
Sarum Breviary alone having been printed some forty or fifty . English instead of French.
times between 1483 and 1557. '
3n 5)ififtorical 31nttoDuction
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.
While these horn-books were thus provided for the poor, the Scriptorium of the jNfonastery also
provided 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 devotion 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 perhaps hymns. They continued
to be published up to the end of Henry VIII.'s reign,^ and, in a modified form, even at a later date :
and they must have familiarized those who used them with a large 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 age, and the following specimens will shew 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 Prymer in Latin and "Anglo-Saxon" is
printed at the end of Hickes' Letters, etc. It probably dates
from the tenth or eleventh centuries.
' Coverdale and Grafton the printer wrote to Cromwell on
September 12, 1?38, in favour of Regnault, the Parisian
printer, at whose press many of the Breviaries and Miasals
used in England were printed. They say that, among other
books, he had printed P]nglish Prymers for forty years, that
is, from the end of the fifteenth century. [State Papers, Dom,
Hen. VIII. i. 589.]
to tj)c IPraper ^oofe.
THE LOKD S PRAYEK IN ENGLISH OF THE SEVENTH
CENTURY.
Fader usjer thu artli in Heofnas sic gelialgad noma
tliin to cymeth ric thin, sie willo thin suae is in Heofno
and in Eortho. HIaf userne oferwistlic sel us to daeg,
and forgef us scyltha usra suaB use forgefou scylguni
usum. And ne inlead usith in costnunge. Ah gefrig
usich from yfie.
THE CREED IN ENGLISH OF THE NINTH CENTURY.
lo gelyfe on God Freder aelmihtigne, Scyppend heo-
fonan and eorthan ; And on Hseland Crist, Sunu his
anlican, Drihten urne ; Se the wges geacnod of tham
Halgan Gaste, Acsenned of Marian tham maedene ;
Gethrowad under tham Pontiscan Pilate, Gerod feestnad,
Dead and bebyrged ; He nither astah to hel warum ;
Tham thriddan daege he aras fram deadum ; He astah
to heofonum ; He sit to swythran hand God Faeder
waes ajhnihtigan ; Thonan toweard deman tha cucan
and tha deadan. Ic gelyfe Tha halgan gelathunge riht
gelyfdan; Halgana gemaenysse ; And forgyfnysse synna;
Flaesces aeriste ; And thaet ece life. Si hit swa.
To these early specimens of devotional English may be added a few 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.^
iust werkis : jyue to thi seruantis pees that the world
may not jeue, that in our heartis jouun to thi com-
mandementis, and the drede of enemyes putt awei, owre
tymes be pesible thurj thi defendyng. Bi oure lord
iesu crist, thi sone, that with thee lyueth and regneth
in the unitie of the hooli goost god, bi all worldis of
worldis. So be it.
THE lord's prayer IN ENGLISH OF THE THIRTEENTH
CENTURY.
Fader oure that art in heve, i-halgeed bee thi nome,
i-cume thi kinereiche, y-worthe thi wylle also is in
hevene so be on erthe, oure iche-dayes bred ?if us to day,
and forjif us oure gultes, also we forjifet oure gultare,
and ne led ows nowth into fondingge, 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
Sone, Hure Laverd ; That was bigotin of the Hali Gast,
And born of the mainden Marie ; Pinid under Punce
Pilate, festened to the rode, Ded, and dulvun; Licht
in til helle ; The thride dai up ras f ra dede to live ;
Steg intil hevenne ; Sitis on his Fadir richt hand, Fadir
alwaldand ; He then sal cume 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 Xoster.
OURE fadir, that art in heuenes, halewid be thi
name : thy rewme come to thee : be thi wille do
as in heuene and in erthe : oure eche dales breed jyue
us to day : and for?yue us oure dettis, as and we forjeueu
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 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 and euer and
in to the worldis of worldis. So be it.
Credo in.
IBILEUE in god, fadir almyjti, makere of heuene
and of erthe : and in iesu crist the sone of him,
oure lord, oon aloone : which is conceyued of the hooh
gost : born of marie maiden : suffride passioun undir
pounce pilat : crucified, deed, and biried : he Avente doun
to hellis : the thridde day he roos a?en fro deede : he
steij to heuenes : he sittith on the ri|t 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 : communynge of seyntis : forjyuenesse
of synnes : ajenrisyng of fleish, and euerlastynge lyf.
So be it.
Preie we. For the pees.
Deits a quo.
God, of whom ben hooli desiris, ri|t councels and
[Pro //er for the Clergy.']
ALMYGHTI god, euerlastynge, that aloone doost
-^^ many wondres, schewe the spirit of heelful grace
upon bisschopes thi seruantis, and vpou 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. So be it.
\CoIled for the Annunciation.]
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 for Whitmn Day.]
GOD, that taujtist the hertis of thi feithful seruantis
bi the lijtnynge of the hooli goost : 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 Stmday.]
EUERLASTYNGE almyjti god that jave 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 Prayer Book. These
titles were a guide to the ear when the prayers and psalms
were being said or sung in Latin. . ,
3n lj)i0toncal Jntrotiuction
knowe the glorie of the endeles trinite, and in the | [Collect for St. Michael and all Angels.'\
mijt of mageste to worchipe thee in oonhede : we | /^ OD, that in a merueilous ordre ordeynedist seruisys
bisechen that bi the sadness of the same feith we be | VX of aungels and of men, graunte thou mercifulli
kept and defendid euermore fro alle aduersitiees. Bi I that oure liif be defendid in erthe bi hem that stondon
crist. I nyj euermore seruynge to thee in heuvene. Bi crist.
The ancient formularies had, however, by change of circumstances, become unsuitable in several
respects for the Church of England. They had grown 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 apart 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 mercyfuU bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Off all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
Haue mercy uppon me oo god.
Affter thy grat mercy.
Remember your promys made in baptym.
And chrystys mercyfuU bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Off all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
And acordyng to the multytude of thy mercys.
Do awey my wyckydnes.
Remember your promys made in baptym.
And chrystys mercyfuU bloudshedyng.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Off all youre syns youe haue fre perdun.
Glory be to the father, and to the sun, and to the holy goo.st.
As hyt was yn the begynyng so now and euer and yn the world off worlds. So be hytt.
By the wyche most holy sprynklyng.
Off all youre syns youe haue fre perdun."^
1 This commentary on the Mass was published by the Early ^ The following is the title of one of these books, and a
Enelish Text Society in 1879 under the following title : " The specimen of the references is annexed :—
Lav Folk's Mass Book : or, The Manner of hearing Mass, with " Here begynneth a rule that tellith in whiche chapitris of the bible ye
i^y xoiK a i.»i*oa jjuun. , wi, X ^^ -ri. :„ ^A^f^^v.^.,l.A■,*■^^ may fynde the lessouns, pisths and gospels, that ben red in the churche
Rubrics and Devotions for the Teople. It is admirably edited ^^^^^ ^-^^ ^se ^f salisburi : markid with lettris of the a. b. c. at tlie
by the Rev. T. F. Simmons, Canon of York and Rector of begynnynge of the chapitris toward the myddil or eende : aftir the ordre as
Dalton Holme The book is a mediaeval ' ' Companion to the thelettris stonden in the a. b. c. first ben sett sundaies and ferials togidere :
T,. „ J ... • 4.T,„ 4.„,„lf4.u „„v.4-„,.,r ; and aftir that the sanctorum, the propre and corny n togider of al the yeer :
Altar, and was written in the tweltth century. _ 1 ^,^^ ^j^^^^^^ j^^t ^^^ commemoraciouns : that is clepid the temporal of
2 This was written about A.D. 1430, and printed m A.D. j jil the yere. First is written a clause of the begynnynge of the pistle and
1530. It was reprinted by the Early English Text Society i gospel, and a clause of the endynge therof "
in 1873, with the title, "The Myroure of oure Ladye, con- \ " The first ] ^°'°- ^'"- ''•
taining a devotional treatise on Divine Service, with a trans- sonenday Kjattheu xxi.
lation of the Offices used by the Sisters of the Brigittine | ofaduent. j
Monastery of Sion at Isleworth, during the fifteenth and i * This Breviary, perhaps the finest which has been pre-
sixteenth centuries. Edited from the black-letter text of 1530, ! served, belonged to the Parish Church of Arlingham in
with Introduction and Notes, by John Henry Blunt," ■ Gloucestershire, then in the Diocese of Worcester, and was
etc. It is a commentary upon the Hours, or Services written in the early part of the fifteenth century. The
for' every day of the Week, and upon the Mass : the whole ; Aspersion Service was inserted at a later time, the writing
of the former, and the laymen's part of the latter, being : being dated by experts of the highest authority as belonging
translated. to the middle of the century, from a.d. 1440 to 1460. There
In the library of St. John's College, Oxford, there is also a | is a critical paper on this Aspersion by Mr., now Bishop.King-
Processionale [MS. 167] with English rubrics, which once : don, in the Wiltshire Archosological Magazine for l^l^, T[is,ge&
belonged to Sion, and was written in the middle of the 62-70, with a photograph of the words and music.
fifteenth century. {Mirror, Introd. p. xliv. ] I * At a later date the Aspersion was followed by the dio*
d. we knowen this
tyme.
a. whanne ihs cam
iiygh
ende. in the lord Ihs
Ct.
ende. osanna in high
thingis."
to tf)e prapec TBoofe.
While this anthem was being sung the priest, with the aquae-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. 1536, 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 Sermons, i. 52, ed. 1824.] The assent to this change was in fact so unanimous
among the clergy that Archbishop Cranmer wrote to Queen Mary respecting the Committee appointed
for the revision of the Services by Henry YIII., that although it was composed of men who held
different opinions, they " agreed without controversy (not one saying contrary) 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 conferred with many on the subject, and " never found man (so far as I do
remember), neither old nor new, gospeller nor j)apist, of what judgment soever he was, in this thing
to be of a contrary opinion." [Ridley's Works, 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 prayer 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 1516 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 bread. 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. 1536 in the given above. "And in like manner before the dealing of the
following words : "As concerning the rites and ceremonies holy bread these words :
of Christ's Church ; ... as sprinkling of holy water to put i < of Christ's body this is a token,
us in remembrance of our Baptism, and the blood of Christ Which ou the cross for our sins was broken ;
sprinkled for our redemption upon the cross ; giving of holy ' Wherefore of his death if you will be partakers,
o^i ii.n.xv.v* v/ i:- 1 c A.U a J. £ i-u Of Vice and sin you must be forsakers.
bread, to put us ui remembrance of the Sacrament of the w ^. a = j
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 sacrar
ment and body of Christ, the which we ought to receive in
right charity : 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 fourth of some
injunctions issued by the King's Visitors in a.d. 1548, also
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. " [Buenet's i?</orni.
V. 186, Pocock's ed.]
s an ft)i0tocical 3lnttoDuction
In 1531 this revised edition of the Salisbury Portiforium or Breviary was reprinted, and two
years later a revised Missal was published ; in the latter special 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., Cranmer and the other
Bishops began to revise Tyndale's translation in 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 churches at least,
according to our modern practice, instead of in the ancient but complex 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 by 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 afforded by a comparison of these attempts with others of a similar kind which were made abroad
towards obtaining a Reformed Roman Breviary. Some years after the Convocation of the Church of
England had issued the 1516 edition of the Salisbury Use, Leo X. gave directions to Zaccharia Ferreri
de Vicence, Bishop of Guarda, in Portugal, to prepare a new version of the Breviary 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 Ecclesiasticunn ah eodon
Zach. Pont, longe brevius et facilius redditum et ah omni errore purgatuin propediem exihit."
The promised reform was actually effected by Cardinal Quignonez, a Spanish Bishop, and was published
under the same authority as the Hymnal, in 1535-36. 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 in 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 Breviary 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.2
A very decided advance towards the Prayer Book system had been made in 1536, when in
the Province of York, and almost certainly in that of Canterbury also, an Archiepiscopal order was
issued that " all curates and heads of congregations, religious and other, privileged and 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 Li.st of Printed Service-Books according to the
ancient Uses of the English Church, compiled by Mr. F. H.
Dickinson, and reprinted from the Ecclesiologist of Feb. 1850.
2 The Reformed Breviary of Cardinal Quignonez was begun
latest edition was printed in 1566, and the Breviary was
suppressed in 1568. The 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 preface to it ; which, as is
under Clement VII. — "ejusque hortatu et jussu " — who ex- \ shewn further on, was largely used by the writer of the Pre
communicated Henry VIII. It was afterwards approved and
recommended to the clergy by Paul III. in a Bull dated in a
Paris edition of 1536 as issued on February 3, 1535, but in an
Antwerp black-letter edition in the Bodleian Library as issued
on July 3, 1536. It appears to have gone through at least
seventeen editions, being printed at Paris, Lyons, Antwerp,
face to the Prayer Book of 1549.
For a full account of Quignonez's Breviary, see Claude Joly's
De verbis Usuardi Dissertatio, Senonis, 1669, pp. 93-103;
Zaccar. Bihl. Bit. i. 110, 113, 114; Claudii Espenc^i 0pp.,
Paris, 1619, Digress. I. xi. 156; CiAco^u Vit. Pontif. Roman.
ITT. 498, T^ome, 1677 ; Gueranoer's Instit. Liturg. i. 376,
and Rome, in folio, quarto, octavo, and duodecimo. The i 383, and note B ; Christ, Rememb. Ixx. i299.
to tbz Iptapet iBook
the time may serve) every holy -day." i In 1542 a further advance was made by the Convocation,
which ordered that the 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 exposition ; 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, refonncd, 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." [Wilkins' Concil. iii. 863.]
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 years 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 VIII. 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 Burnefs Hist, of Reform, vi. 199,
Pocock's ed.
2 Wilkins' Concil. iii. 863. It is most likely that the
Gospels and Epistles were read in Latin first and then in
English. There is an interesting anonymous letter to the
Duke of Norfolk, which shews that Cranmer had become
acquainted with this plan in Germany : "Although I had a
chaplain yet could I not be suffered to have him sing Mass,
but was constrained to hear their Mass which is but one in a
Church, and that is celebrated in form following. The Priest,
in vestments after our manner, singeth 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. Then the Priest readeth
softly the Gospel in Latin. In the mean space the Deacon
goeth into the pulpit and readeth aloud the Gospel in the
Almaigne tongue. Mr. Cranmer saith it was shewed to him
that in the Epistles and Gospels they kept not the order that
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 they omit, and the
Priest singeth with a high voice the words of the 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' Orig. Lett. III. ii. 192.]
' The Statute of Six Articles was an Act of ParUament
passed under the personal influence of Henry VIII,, and
against the persevering efforts of the Bishops in the House of
Lords, in the year 1539. It made highly penal any denial of
either of six short statements which embodied the chief points
of doctrine tlien 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
the hope of preventing the bill from passing, he himself argu-
ing against it for three days. The penalties annexed to this
Act were, for preaching or writing against the first article,
burning (without pardon on recantation); imprisonment for
life, with forfeiture, for preaching or writing against any of
the others, with death for the second offence. In his reply
to the Devonshii'e rebels, Archbishop Cranmer writes respect-
ing this statute (which they M'ished 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]
* Yet Ci'anmer made a vigorous effort to persuade the King
into authorizing the publication of their revision. On January
24, 1546, he sent Henry a draft of a letter to be addressed
to himself by the King, in which it is referred to, and by
which it was intended to put it in force. But the King would
not adopt the suggestion. The Archbishop wisely pressed on
these proposed reforms in the hope that tliey 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 Henry the Eight his days
than 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 thought that they might have been prevented by the
Church, when backed by the concentrated power of Henry,
while tlierc was little hope of stemming their force under hi?
successors.
to 9n i^istorical Introtuction
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 the ^^ *^^ 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 suffered 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 peojDle 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 8 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, I have translated into the English tongue, so well as 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, forasmuch as many of the processions,
in the Latin, were but barren, as me seemed, and little fruitful, I was 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 bycause the matter appeared to me to be little to purpose, or
bycause the days be not with us festival days " [having been abrogated in 1537] ; " and some processions I have
added whole, because I thought I had better matter for the purpose than was the procession in Latin ; the
judgement whereof I leave wholly unto your Majesty : and after your Highness hath corrected it, if your Grace
command some devout and solemn note to be made thereunto (as is to the procession which your Majesty hath
already set forth in English), I trust it will much excitate and stir the hearts of all men unto devotion and
godliness. But in mine opinion, the song that shall be made thereunto should not be full of notes, but as near
as may be for every syllable a note ; so that it may be sung distinctly and devoutly, as be the Matins and
Evensong, Venite, the Hymns Te Dettm, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, and all the Psalms and Versicles ;
and in the Mass, Gloria in Excelsis, Gloria Patri, the Creed, the Preface, the Pater Noster, and some of the
Sanctus and Agmts.^ As concerning the Salve festa dies, the Latin note, as I think, is sober and distinct enough;
^ The original MS. is preserved in the British Museum
[Cleop. E. V. 259] ; and it is printed in Collier's Ecd. Hist
V. 104-122, ed. 1852; and in Strype's Ecd. Mem. I. ii. 411,
ed. 1822, i been put together,
' Cosin's Works, vol. v. p. 65.
' The order in which the Canticles are here mentioned
suggests that the English Mattins and Evensong had already
to tie Iprapec iBook.
It
wherefore I have travailed to make the vei'ses 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], " I suppose it will serve well
enough. Thus Almighty God preserve your Majesty in long and prosperous health and felicity. From Bekis-
bourne, the 7th of October.
" Your Grace's most bounden
" Chaplain and Beadsman,
**T. Cantuarien.
" To the King's most excellent Majesty."
From other transactions between the Archbishop 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 1544, and was promulgated by a mandate of the Crown, dated
June 11, 1544.^
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, w^ere entirely or almost entirely, said in
English.
Alter 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, oflfered 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. Altae Lights.
Fro7n the 1th of Henry Villi's Injunctions of
A.D. 1538.
" Ye . . . shall 'sufter 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 ith 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 two lights upon the high
altar, before the sacratnenf, which for the signification
that Christ is the very true Light of the world, they
shall suffer to remain still."
1 The Salisbury Processional was republished in Latin
Bometime in 1544, probably because the King would
not consent to have it used in English as proposed by
Cranmer.
12 an ij)i0toncal JntroDuction
2. The Latin and English Lessons at Mattins and Evensong.
Canon of Canterbury Convocation, February 21, 1543. From the ^Ind of Edivard VI.'s Injunctions of 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 Deuui and distinctly read, or cause to be read, one chapter of
and Magnificat, shall openly read inito the people one the New Testament in English, in the same place at
chapter of the New Testament in English without ■\Iattins, immediately after the 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.
Frovi the 2ith of Edward VJ.'s Injunctions of 1547.*
" Also to avoid all contention and strife which heretofore hath arisen among the King's Majesty'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 Mass 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 folloAviug.
. . . And in the time of the Litany, of the ^lass, of the Sermon, and when the priest readeth the Scripture to the
parishioners, no manner of persons 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 Crown : and this was further enforced
by a Proclamation of February C, 1548, 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. [Wilkixs' 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 the 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 six Psalms with the song of Te Deum Laudamus or Miserere, as the time requireth,
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] " Ite7n. 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 first day of October, sing the
Evensong 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 hour after.
[4] ** Item. Ye shall hereafter omit, and not use the singing of any hours, prime, dirige, or commendations ;
but every man to say the same as him sufficeth or he is disposed.
[5] " Item. Ye shall sing, say, use, or sufi'er none other Anthems in the Church but these hereafter follow-
ing, and such as by the King's Majesty and his most Honourable Council hereafter shall be set forth.
Anthem.
" Like aa Moses lift up the serpent in the wilderness, even so was our Saviour Jesus Christ lift upon tlie
Cross, that whosoever believeth 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 perish, but have life everlasting.
" y. Increase, O Lord, our faith in Thee.
"Bjf. That we may work His pleasure only.
to tbe Praper T5oofe. 13
Collect.
Let us pray.
" Most bountiful and benign Lord God, we, Thy humble servants, 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 partakers 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 Saviour.
" B7. Accept and hear our humble prayer.
Let us pray.
" We sinners do beseech Thee, Lord, to keep Edward the sixth. 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, giving 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 Archbishop 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 places within his Diocese.
[6] " Item. All Sermons, Collations, ^ and Lectures of Divinity hereafter to be had or made in visitations,
Synods, Chapters, or at any other time or place, shall not be used in the Latin Tongue, but in the English, to
the intent that every man having recourse thereunto may well perceive tlie same."
These remarkable Injunctions shew that the authorities were taking up the reform of the Liturgy
exactly where it had been laid down through the refusal of Henry VIII. to sanction the English
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 adapted 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 (gi'imly called "The Whip with Six Cords") would be repealed by Parliament,
as it was, in fact, repealed by 1 Edw. VI. c. 12. Freedom of action being thus secured. Convocation at
once began advancing towards the practical end of the Kevision which had been in view for so many
years. After two formal sessions on the day of meeting and on November 18th, 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 ^vork of 1543. 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, for a better expedition of Divine Service to be set forth accordingly. "^
THE ORDER OF COMMUNION OF AD. 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 great 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
2 See also the form of Aspersion given on an earlier page, they are confirmed by a short Latin entry contained in his
and the Easter processional Anthem printed in the Notes on Register, [WjhKiss' Condi, iv. 15; Stillino fleet's /?r«/ro?»,
Easter Day. P- ^^7; Card well's »S'//«of?a^ifl, p. 420.]
14 Hn 8)lstoricaI Jnttonuction
VIII. had desired Archbishop Cranmer " to pen a Form for the alteration of the Mass into a Com-
munion" [Steype's Mem. of Cranmer, 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 he himself subscribed and
some others." This does not appear to have been the Order of Communion 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,
nullo reclamante." [Wilkins' Condi, iv. 16; Strype's Mem. of Cranmer, ii. 37.] This Act of
Convocation was ratified by an Act of Parliament on December 24, 1547 [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 ot Convocation was (according to
the settlement of 1534) 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 after 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."] ^
THE PRAYER BOOK OF A.D. 1540.
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 Randes) . Bishop of Lincoln.
^ There is a curious and unique volume in the Library of ' may have been prepared for the Duke of Somerset and his
the British Museum [Bible, O. T. Pss. C. 25 b.] which was army, to be used during their invasion of Scotland,
printed about eight months before the Prayer Book of 1549, ^ -jhis 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 1632 which is full of
stitute for the Sarum Psalter or Daily Offices. The title of ' manuscript notes by Bishops Andrewes and Gandy [Bodl. Lib.
the book is "The Psalter or Boke of the Psalmes, where vnto , Eawl. 241]. Heylin makes a quotation from "The Register
is added the Litany and certayne other deuout prayers, i Bookof the Parish of Petworth " which bears upon the subject
Set forth wyth the Kynge's moste gracious lycence. Anno ' of the change of service [Heylin's i/is^ of Reform, p. 64, fol.
Do. M. D. XLViii. Mensis Julii. " The Colophon is ' ' Imprinted at i ed. , i. 1 32, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed. ], but no information can now be
London by me Roger Car for Anthone Smyth dwelling in Paul's j obtained respecting this register. The same list, omitting the
church yarde." The contents of this volume are— [1] The ' name of May, occurs on a printed broadside within the cover of
Psalms, in Coverdale's version : [2] The seven Canticles of
the Sarum Psalter, with the Magnificat, Te Deum, and Quicun-
que Vult, the Magnificat and Te Deum being in the version of
Marshall's Prymer, and the Quicunque Vult in that of Hilsey's
Prymer : [3] The Litany of 1544 : [4] The Prayer of St. Chrysos-
tom : [5] A prayer for men to say entering into battle : [6] A
MS. 44 in Cosin's Library, Durham. It is corrected in the hand-
writing of Bishop Cosin, wlio adds against Redmayne's name
"dubito," and before that of Cox " Deest Decanus Sti Pauli
quisquis erat max. opinor. "
The lives of these and other "compilers" of the Prayer
Book were written at some length by 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
use, ancestor of the publishers of the present work, Charles
The special prayer relating to war suggests that the volume Rivington, in 1722,
to tfte ipraper l5oofe.
'5
George Day .
John Skip
Thomas Thirlby
Nicholas Ridley
William May
Richard Cox .
John Taylor .
Simon Heynes
Thomas Robertson
John Red may ne .
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 Dean 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 up 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 happy 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 Quignonez. 1535-36.^
Simplex ac Pia Deliberatio of Hermann, Archbishop of Cologne. 1545.*
The same in English. 1548." (A previous edition also in 1547.)
^ Strype's Cranmer, ii. 105, Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed. lu his
Memorials Strype says that they met at Windsor in May.
[Strype's Mem. Eccl. II. i. 133.] Heylin says they met at
Windsor on September 1st. [Heylin's Hist. Reform, i. 132,
Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.]
2 " Breviarium sen Portiforium secundum Morem et Con-
suetudinem Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis Anglicance." 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 Bangor, York Use, and Lincoln Use."
* " Missale Mixtum secundum regulam beati Isidori, dictum
Mozarabes . . . impressum Toleti jussu D. Francisci Ximenes.
1500."
"Breviarium secundum regulam beati Isidori . . . impressum
Toleti jussu D. Francisci Ximenes. 1502."
' "Breviarium Romanum, ex sacra potissimum Scriptura,
et probatis Sanctorum historiis nuper confectum, ac deuuo
per eundem Authorem accuratius recognitum, eaque diligentia
hoc 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
<;od'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
of 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
1 6 an historical 3lntrotiuction
The Prymer in English of various dates.^
The" Great "Bible.2
How far the Book of Common Prayer was influenced by these works will be shewn in the margin
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 Keformation in Germany 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 correspondence 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 1549 ; and were probably not even consulted during
its progress towards completion. Melanchthon and Bucer assisted the Archbishop of Cologne in preparing
his "Consultation" (one of the books referred 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 to attach much importance to it.^
It is, 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 great 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.
Nature of the . . ° , , ^
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 slightest 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 spirit 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 Manual [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 (though
not the Epistles and Gospels) as part of the Breviary.* The Marriage Service was also printed 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.
at the signe of the Resurrection, alytle aboue Holbourne
Conduit. Cum gratia et privilegio imprimendum solum."
This translation was probably the work of Coverdale.
' See Maskell's Monumenta Ritualia Ecclesim Anglicanct,
vol. ii. ; and Burton's lliree Primers of Henry VIII.
mularies for Luther, and who was also the original compiler
of a Catechism for Nuremberg and Brandenberg, of which
that of Justus Jonas is a Latin translation. Jolm ^ Lasco is
said to have had some influence with Crannier, and he cer-
tainly lived with the Ai*chbishop at Lambeth from September
"The Byble in Englyshe, that is to saye, the content of '• to February in the year 1548-49. But the Prayer Book was
all the holy scripture bothe of y« olde and newe testament, ■ before Parliament on December 9, 1548, and was before the
truly translated after the veryte of the Hebrue and Greke King in Council previously. It passed the Lords on January
textes, by y6 dylygent studye of diverse excellent learned men, 15th, and the Commons on the 21st, 1549. Foreigners were
expert in the forsayde tonges. Printed by Rychard Grafton very forward in interfering, but their suggestions were civilly
and Edward Whitchurch. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum put aside at this time.
solum. 1539. " | * They are so printed, for example, in Sarum Breviaries of
3 It may be added that Cranmer had married a niece of 1499, 1507, 1510, 1514, 1535, 1541 ; in the British Museum
Osiander, who is said to have prepared the Nuremberg for- and Bodleian Libraries.
to tbe Praper 'Boofe.
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: —
Nocturne 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 Introduction to the Psalter) to have
fallen 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.
Lauds.
Prime.
Mattins.
Invocation.
f. and R/.
Invocation.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Lord, open Thou.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
God, make speed.
Lord, open Thou.
God, make speed.
Glory be.
Glory be.
Glory be.
Glory be.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Alleluia.
Venite, exultemus.
Venite, exultemus.
Hymn.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Hymn.
Psalms.
Psalms.
Lessons.
1st Lesson.
Te Deum or Benedicite.
Canticle.
Athanasian Creed.
Short chapter.
Short chapter.
2nd Lesson.
Hymn.
Benedictus.
Benedictus.
Creed.
♦ ■
Lesser Litany.
Lesser Litany.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Suffrages.
[Creed,] Suffrages, Con-
Suffrages.
fession and Absolution.
1st Collect.
2nd Collect.
3rd Collect.
1st Collect.
2nd Collect.
3rd Collect.
• Intercessory Prayers.
' See also No, 4 of the Injunctions which are printed on p. 12.
i8
an ©igtoncal Jntronuction
The Ancient Daily Services and those op 1549 — continued.
Salisbury Use.
Prayer Book of 1549.
Vespers.
Compline.
Evensong.
Invocation.
Invocation.
Our Father.
Our Father.
Our Father.
God, make speed.
Psalms.
God, make speed.
Psalms.
God, make speed.
Glory be.
Psalms.
Short chapter.
1st Lesson.
Hymn.
Magnificat.
Short chapter.
Magnificat.
2nd Lesson.
Hymn.
Nunc Dimittis.
Nunc Dimittis.
Creed.
Lesser Litany.
Our Father.
Lesser Litany.
Our Father.
Lesser LitanJ^
Our Father.
Suffrages.
Suffrages, [Creed,] Con-
fession and Absolution.
Suffrages.
1st Collect.
1st Collect.
2nd Collect.
2nd Collect.
3rd Collect.
3rd Collect.
Intercessory Prayers.
When these learned Divines had completed their work, the Prayer Book was submitted to Con-
vocation (which met on November 24, 1548), that it might go forth with the full authority of the
Church.^ It was then communicated to the King in Council, and afterwards laid before Parliament
on December 9, 1548, that it might be incorporated into an Act of Parliament [2nd and 3rd Edw.
VI. cap. 1]. This Act (including the Prayer Book) passed 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
/hat 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."
[Collier's Eccl. Hist. vi. 277.] Archbishop Abbot says
that "the more material parts were disputed and debated in
the Convocation House by men of both parties." [Abbot
against Hill, p. 104.] Contemporary evidence respecting the
confirmation of the Book by Convocation is also found in
letters of the King and of the Privy Council.
[1] The Privy Council instructed Dr. Hopton, the Princess
Mary's Chaplain, to say to her respecting the Prayer Book,
"The fault is great in any subject to disallow a law of the
King : a law of the realm by long study, free disputation,
and uniform determination of the whole Clergy, consulted,
debated, concluded." [Foxe's Acts and Mon. vi. 8, ed. 1838.]
[2] In the reply of Edward VI. to the demands of the
Devonshire rebels the King is made to say, "Whatsoever is
contained in our book, either for Baptism, Sacrament, Mass,
Confirmation, and service in the Church, is by our Parlia-
ment established, by the whole Clergy agreed, yea, by the
Bishops of the realm devised, by God's Word confirmed."
[Foxe'.s Acts and Mon. v. 734, ed. 1838.]
[3] The King and Council, writing to Bishop Bonner on
July 23, 1549, say, "One uniform Order for Common Prayers
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 of the late session
of our late Parliament, but also by the like assent of the
Bishops in the same Parliament, and of all other the learned
men of this our realm in their Synods and Convocations
provincial." [Fox^'ii Acts and Mon. v. 726, ed. 1838.]
No doubt the Convocation of York co-operated in some
way, as on subsequent occasions, witli that of Canterbury.
to tfje Prapec IBooL i^
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. 1552.
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 Archbishop
Cranmer.2 A letter of his still exists in the State Paper Office, which was written to the Duke of
Somerset on October 22, 1 548, 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 .3 These appointments 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. Jeremy Taylor's Works, vii. 292.
2 Heylin's Reformation, i. 227, Eccl. Hist. Soc.
3 The same hospitable but unwise charity towards religious
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,
refugees was shewn by James I. in the case of Antonio de | but cause the same to be officiated by all those of his diocese. "
Dominis, Archbishop of Spalatro, and with most unfortunate [Heylik's Reformation, i. 209, Eccl. Hist. Soc] Somerset,
results. i Avriting to Cardinal Pole, June 4, 1549, and sending him a
* Even Bishop Gardiner's official reply to the Privy Council
on the subject was favourable to the Prayer Book. *'He had
deliberately considered of all the Offices contained in the
Common Prayer Book, and all the several branches of it :
that though he could not have made it in that manner, had
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. JEdw. VI.
vol. vii.] Edward VI. 's reply to the Devonshire rebels
asserts the same thing.
20 an 5)istoncal Jntrcnuction
going on, among the latter, from the very time when the Book of 1549 had been 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.
Althouo-h 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 lost, 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 VI. 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, 536,
554 ; Orig. Lett. p. 81.] Bucer was perhaps the most violent of all opponents of the Prayer 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 discussion 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 Bishops 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 Granmer, ii. 663, 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. Cardwell \Tivo Liturgies of Edw. VI. 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
^ So also on February 16, 1550, John Butler wrote to Thomas 1 of England by the King's authority and the Parliament, coii-
Blaurer that some blemishes in the Church of England, ' ' such, cerning the manner and form of praying and ministering the
for instance, as the splendour of the vestments, have not yet | Sacrament in the Church of England, likewise also the book
been done away with." [Parker Soc. Orig. Lett. p. 635.] ' of Ordering Ministers of the Church set forth by the foresaid
^ This was Calvin's phrase, "In Anglicana Liturgia, authority, are godly and in no point repugnant to the whole -
qualem describitis, multas video fuisse tolerahiles ine2jtias." some doctrine of the Gospel, but agreeable thereunto, further-
[Calvik, Epp. p. 98.] ing and beautifying the same not a little : and therefore of
3 See also Heylin's Reformation, i. 228, 229. all faithful ministers of the Church of England, and chiefly
* It was sanctioned by Convocation ex post facto in the of the ministers of the Word, they ought to be received and
thirty-fifth of the forty-two Articles of 1553, which says : j allowed with all readiness of mind and thanksgiving, and to
" The Book which of very late time was given to the Church ' be commended to the people of God."
to ttt IPtaper 15oofe,
21
second Act of Uniformity [5 and 6 Edw. VI. ch. i.], with the revised Prayer Book attached, was passed
on April 6, 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 September 27, 1552, an Order in
Council 1 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 errors, and
directing him to call in several Divines for the purpose 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. Edw. 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 humble commendations unto your good Lordships.
" Where I understand by your Lordships' letters that the King's majesty his pleasure is that the Book of
Common Service should 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 the 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 Mr. Peter
Martyr or such like) should with them expend, and weigh the said prescription of kneeling, whether it be 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 Ave loith just balance weighed this at the making of the hook, and not only we, but
a great many Bishops and others of the best learned within this realm appointed far 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 unqttiet spirits^ which can like nothing btct that is after their
own fancy ; and cease not to make trorihle ivhen things be most quiet and in good order. If such men should he
heard — although the hook were made every year anew, yet it shotdd not lack faidts in their opinion. * But,* say
they, ' it is not commanded in the Scripture to kneel, and whatsoever is not commanded 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 1 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) / ivill set my foot by his, to be tried by fire, that his doctrine is zmtrtce ; 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. kxA
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 imjiort a coTitemptuous than a reverent
receiving of the Saa-ament. '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 we 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 dvaK€ifxat and avaTrtTTTO), 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, tvhich I tvrite as of myself only. The
Bishop of London is not yet come, and your Lordships required answer with speed, and therefore am I constrained
^ "A letter to Grafton the printer to stay in any wise from
uttering any of the books of the new Service, and if he have
distributed any of them amongst his company, that then he
give strait commandment to every of them not to put any
of them abroad until certain faults therein be corrected."
[Privy Council Reg.]
in which it is said that the King had caused the former Book
of 1549 to be "perused, explained, and made fully perfect."
It thus meant more than the correction of clerical errors.
3 This seems to refer to Bishop Hooper. In the order for
his execution at Gloucester a similar expression is used,
"forasmuch as the said Hooper is, as heretics be, a vain-
7 • -_j j-1- T-x.tu :_ i.:_ i. » rTr»/^i>i>n'a
2 The word "perused" has a technical sense, the force of | glorious person, and delighteth in his tongue." [Hooper's
which is shewn by the Act which authorized the Book of 1552. ]Vo7-ks, II. xxvii.].
2 2 an historical 3lntcoDuction
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. Cantr."
What course Cranmer eventually took is not known, but the ultimate result is shewn by an entry
in the Privy Council Register, 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." [Burnet's Reform, iii. 868, 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 those further revisions which resulted
in the Prayer Book of 1661.
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 Henry VIII. A proclamation
made unlawful by was also issued, enjoining that no person should use " any book or books concerning
ary. ^j^^ common service and administration set forth in English to be used in the churches
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 work which had been done wiuh
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 mediaeval 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 VIII." (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 mediaeval 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 day, 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 three estates of this realm,^ for the better
1 The English Litany of Henry VIII. See State Papers,
Dom. Eliz. i. fi8.
3 That is the Ix>rd8, the Commons, and the Clergy. But
see next note, which shews that this intention, as regards
Convocation, could not have been carried out.
to t6e Praper IBook. 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 Revision of Queen
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 : i—
Matthew Parker, subsequently Abp. of Canterbury.
Edmund Grindal, „ Bp. of London, Abp. of York, and Abp. of Canterbury.
James Pilkmgton, ^, 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 w^ords 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
^ Xone of these were Bishops at this time. Parker,
Grindal, Cox, and Sandys were consecrated in December 1559,
Guest in March 1560, and Pilkington in March 1561. There is a
to May 8, 1559, was presided over by Bishop Bonner, with
Nicholas Harpsfield, Dean of Canterbury, for Prolocutor.
At the end of February 1559 they presented five Articles of
letter of Sir T. Wilson's, written in 1559 [State Papers, Dom. the most Ultramontane character to the House of Lords, one
Eliz. vii. 46], which states that the alterations were made of the Articles asserting Trausubstantiation and another the
"by the Convocation consisting of the same Bishops " who Supremacy of the Pope : and such a Convocation would be too
had returned after Queen Mary's death "and the rest of the hostile to the Prayer Book to be intrusted with its revision.
Clergy." But the Convocation which sat from January 24th - ^ Strype's Ami i. 120,; ii. 459. Card well's Conf. p. 48.
24
0n tt)i0toncal Jntronuction
was used, however, in the Queen's chapel on Sunday, May 12th, and at St. Paul's Cathedral on Wednes-
day, May 15th. After the appointed day had passed, a Commission was issued [July 19, 1559] to
Parker, Grindal, and others for carrying into execution the Acts for Uniformity of Common Prayer, and
for restoring to the Crown its jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical matters. [State Papers, Dom. Eliz. v. 18.] A
Royal Visitation was also held in the Province of York, under a Commission dated July 25th. [Ihid. 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 yield 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
reign, Comwallis, 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 of 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 denying 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. 46] refers which, on November 30, 1559,
mentions the progress 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 6, 1560, 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, 1561, the Queen issued a Commission to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, the Bishop of London, Dr. Bill, and Walter Haddon, directing them " to peruse 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 issued by the authority given in the 13th clause of Elizabeth's
Act of Uniformity, which is cited in its opening paragraph ; and in the end of it there is a significant
direction, " that the alteration of any thing hereby ensuing be quietly done, without show of any
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 century, continual assaults were being made upon it by the Puritan party,
extreme laxity was tolerated, and even sanctioned, by some of the Bishops (as, for example, at North-
ampton, by Bishop Scambler of Peterborough), and the people were gradually being weaned from their
1 The Lord Coke, Ma Speech and Charge, London, 1607.
See also Camden, Ann. Eliz. p. 59, ed. 1615. Twysden's
Historical Vindication of the Church of England, p. 175.
Validity of the Orders of the Church of England, by Humphrey
Prideaux, D.D., 1688. Bramhall's Works, ii. 85, ed. 1845.
Bp. Babinoton's Notes on the Pentateuch; on Numbers vii.
Courayer's Defence of the Dissertation on the Validity of
English Ordinations, ii. 360, 378. Harrington's Piris IV.
and the Book of Common Prayer, 1856.
^ Sir John Mason, however, writes to Cecil, on August 1 1 ,
1559, that the Book of Common Service in Latin is ready to
print : and also the little book of Private Prayers for children
and servants. [State Papers, Dom. Eliz. vi. 11.]
^ Parker Correspondence, p. 132. [State Papers, xvi. 7- ]
to tbe draper IBoofe. 25
love for a Catholic ritual : while, in the meantime, a great 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 streno-th 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 1569 by James J.
On the accession of James I. [May 7, 1603] the hopes of those who 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, 16th, and 18th of January, 1603-4, in
the presence of the King and the Privy Council ; but the former was so disgusted with j.g*g^ '^ 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 Confirmation Service was enlarged.
[6] 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 80th 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 months 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 corruptions " 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
§ llie Suppression of the Prayer Book by the PuHtans.
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; an d the successive steps by which
1 These foreign fashions and ijrinciples were pertinaciously | 156. See also Cardwell's (7o«/. 117-120, for a strong illus-
maintained by those who had fled the country in Queen i tration of this in Convocation.]
Mary's days, and returned with what Parker called "Ger- ; 2 The Letters Patent rehearsing the authority and enumerat-
manical natures " in Queen Elizabeth's. [Strype's Parker, i. i ing the alterations are printed in Cardwell's Conf. p. 217-225.
r^ an historical Jntrotiuction
this was accomplished are clearly stated by the Speaker 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, 16G2. "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 fdr 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
with 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, 1641, 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 Netu
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 25th, 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 Presbyterianism 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 we shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through the grace of God, endeavour, in our several
places and callings, the preservation of the reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government, 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
X)f the best reformed Churches ; and shall endeavour to bring the Churches of God in the three kingdoms to the
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 the midst of us.
" II. That we shall in like manner, without respect of persons, endeavour the extirpation of Popery, Prelacy
1 Izaak Walton, in his Life of Bisliop Sanderson, having
spoken of the discontent respecting the Prayer Book which
had been excited in England by the Scotch Covenanters,
writes that "their party in Parliament made many exceptions
against the Common Prayer and Ceremonies of the Church,
and seemed restless for a Reformation : and although their
desires seemed not reasonable to the King and the learned
Dr. Laud, then Archbishop of Canterbury, yet to quiet their
consciences and prevent future confusion, tliey did in the year
1641, desire Dr. Sanderson to call two more of the Convoca-
and abate some of the Ceremonies that were least material,
for satisfying their consciences. And to this end they did
meet together privately twice a week at the Dean of West-
minster's house for the space of three months or more. But
not long after that time, when Dr. Sanderson had made the
Reformation for a view, the Church and State were both
fallen into such a confusion that Dr. Sanderson's Model for
Reformation became then useless." [Walton's Life of
Sanderson, sign, c .3.] But this statement must be looked
upon with some suspicion, for it appears as if Walton were
tion to advise with him, and that he would then draw up i erroneously attributing to Sanderson the work of the Lords'
some such safe alterations a* thought lit in the Service-Book, i Committee
to tbe IPtapet IBoofe.
27
(that is, Church government by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellors and Commissaries, Deans, Deans and
Chapters, Archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical oflficers depending on that hierarchy), superstition, heresy,
schism, profaneness, 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 plagues, 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, 1645, 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 present 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 be " abolished " and the Directory " established and observed 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, 1G45, 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 ^Yith 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
departeth 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." This is still the custom of the Scottish Presby-
terian Kirk.
- Instances will be found in the Calendars of State Papers,
Bishop Kennett's RegisteVy and Walker's Sufferings of the
Clergy.
^ 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 be 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." [Waltois^'s Life of Sanderson, 1678.
Sanderson's Cases of Conscience, 1685, p. 157.] Bishop
Jeremy Taylor published a "Collection of Offices" for the
same purpose. The following narrative respecting Bishop
Bull gives us a graphic picture of the course adopted 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, Sir. 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 fit 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
affection, 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 unworthy 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 office 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 life and spirit to all that he delivered, that the
whole audience was extremely affected with his perfoi-mance ;
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 their 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 lie 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 Liturgy, wherein was contained every prayer
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 X>/<? o/^?^?^ p. 31.]
28 3n lJ)i9torical JntroDuction
THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK OF A.D. 1662.
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 great Dr. Hammond, who was
interred with the proper Burial Service on April 26, 1660. Before the end of 1660 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 England on May 26, 1660, 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
his 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) writes on August 23, 1660,
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. By October
1661, 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 were 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 eight copies of 1660 and one of j seized by mistake, supposing them to be falsely printed.
1661 in the Library of the British Museum, and also one of a [State Papers, Dom. Charles II. xxxix. 87 ; xlvii. 67.]
very rare edition, similar to a copy which formerly belonged : 2 ^^^^g Papers, Dom. Charles II. xi. 27.
to Mr. Maskell [B. M, 3407, e], which was discovered at the » Ihid. xxxii. 97, 109 ; 1. 22,
bottom of the Parish Chest of Grasmere in the year 1878.
The Museum Library possesses copies of all the sizes men-
tioned above.
Among the State Papers there is a record that John
Williams and Francis Eglesfield printed an edition against
the King's return, and what copies remained in their ware-
house were seized by agents of Bill the King's printer on
* Kennett's Register, p. 629.
^ The House of Lords proposed to insert a proviso in the
Act of Uniformity making the use of the Surplice and Sign of
the Cross optional as "things indifferent," but the House of
Commons emphatically refused, on May 7, 1662, to accept
this proviso, defending the use of it, and declaring that it
was "better to impose no ceremonies than to dispense with
November 7, 1660. There is extant also a royal mandate to I any," and that it was very incongruous while settling
Bill, dated July 25, 1661, commanding him to restore to E. | uniformity to establish schism." [House of Lords' Journ. xi.
Royaton, of Oxford, a quantity of Prayer Books which he had 446,]
to tbe Praper TBook.
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 6, 1660, 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, 1660, 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 persona] feeling is so strong as to
make such a step unwise for the present. Throughout this 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 persuasions," 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 conscientiously 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 : —
On the Church sidt
Accepted Frewen, Archbishop 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, Bishop 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 Ro-
chester.]
Edmund Calamy [offered Bishopric of Lichfield].
Richard Baxter [offered Bishopric of Hereford].
Arthur Jackson.
Thomas Case.
Samuel Clarke.
Matthew Newcomen.
Goadjutm^s.
Thomas Horton, D.D.
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. John Lightfoot, D.D
Thomas Jacomb, D.D.
William Bate.
John Rawlinson.
William Cooper.
1 Clarendon, History of the Great Rebellion, iii. 990.
2 Cardwell's Conf. p. 286.
' "And was after by Synod commissioned to review the I
Common Prayer Book
Lib.].
[Fothergill's MS. York Minster
30
an J^fetorical Jnttotiuction
Thomas Pierce, D.D.
Anthony Sparrow, D.D., afterwards
Exeter and Norwich.
Herbert Thorndike, D.D.
John Collings, D.D.
Bishop of Benjamin Woodbridge, 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 and government ; but avoiding, as much as may be, all unnecessary alterations of the forms
and liturgy wherewith 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 loth, and its sittings ended on July 24,
1661 : the Session of Parliament and Convocation commencing on May 8th of the same year. "The
points debated," writes Izaak Walton, " were, I think, many ; some affirmed to be truth and reason,
some denied to be either ; and these debates being then in words, proved to be so loose and 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 and exceptions " raised against the Prayer Book were
thus presented to the Bishops in writing, and they are all on record in two or three contemporary
reports of the Conference, of which one is referred to in the footnote, being also printed at length in
Cardwell's Conferences on the Booh of ComTnon 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 Service by any one
except the Minister, unless 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 and 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 prophecy 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 pertinacious confidence, and less abilities, in all his conversation." 2
^ Cardwell's Conf. 257-368. "Grand Debate between
the most Reverend the Bishops and the Presbyterian Divines.
. . . The most perfect copy." 1661. See also Heywood's
Documents relatiwj to the Settlement of the Church of England
by the Act of Uniformity of 1662, published in 1862.
- Walton writes, Bishop Pearson "told me very lately that
one of the Dissenters (which I could, but forbear to, name)
appeared to Dr. Sanderson to be so bold, so troublesome, and
so illogical in the dispute as forced patient Dr. Sanderson,
who was then Bishop of Lincoln and a Moderator with other
Bishops, to say with an unusual earnestness, that he had
never met with a man of more pertinacious confidence, and
less abilities, in all his conversation." [Walton's Life of
Sanderson, sign. 13.]
to tf)e Prapet TBoofe. 31
Perhaps too they were reminded of Lord Bacon's saying respecting his friends, the Nonconformists of
an earlier day, that they lacked two principal things, the one learning, and the 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 he 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 principle 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 Bishops 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 superscriDtion
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."
§ 6. 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 cup."
§ 11. That if the font be so placed as the congregation cannot hear, it may be referred to the
ordinary to place it more conveniently.
§ 12. That these words, "yes, they do perform these," etc., may be altered thus: "Because they
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 ready 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."
§ IG. 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, 1661, a Licence
from the Crown had been issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury [Juxon], empowering the Convoca-
32 3n ©fetorical 3lnttonuction
tion of his Province to "debate and agree upon such points as were committed to their charge."^
Another was issued to the Archbishop 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 Office 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 Upper 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 tne Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Carlisle and
Chester) to be present and assist at the previous session of the Southern Convocatioh ; 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, Carlisle, and Chester,
therefore wrote to Dr. Neile, the Prolocutor 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 Sancroft, at this time Rector of Houghton-le-
Spring, Prebendary of Durham, and Chaplain 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, which 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 23rd 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 form
* State Papers, Dom. Charles II. xliii. October 10.
* Kennett's Register, p. 503.
3 State Papers, Dom. Charles II. xliii. October 10.
* Kennett's Register, p. 564.
so had about twenty members of the Lower House of
1661.
7 Kennett's Register, pp. 563-56
* A fair copy of this volume, written by Sancroft in a
5 The Bishops returned to their seats in the House of Lords Prayer Book of 1634, is preserved in the Bodleian Library
on November 20th, and from that time the junior Bishop said i [Arch. Bodl. D. 28], and has been collated with the original
prayers daily as formerly. The Presbyterian minister had ! for the present work. Cosin had also written three sets of
been " excused from attendance " on the House of Commons Notes on the Prayer Book; and had prepared a fourth,
on October 7, 1660. j suggesting amendments which he considered to be necessary,
* Archbishop Juxon, Bishops Duppa, Piers, and Roberts, ' several years before. These are collected in the fifth volume
had also been Bishops in 1640. Four other Bishops in of his Works, published in the Library of Anglo-Catholic
the Upper House of 1661, Sheldon, Floyd, Griffith, and Theology. Some MS. Notes on the Prayer Book, Harl. MS.
Ironside, had been in the Lower House in 1640, and I 7311, are also said to be his. [-S'fe p. 36, note.]
to tf)e Iptaper TBoofe, 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 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 " [14 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 history of the Prayer Book,
extending from June 25, 1661, to May 19, 1662 ; 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 Liturgy of the Church of England ; and to make search, whether 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 former 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 1604 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 sai-d 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 was sent up
to the House of Lords, and was not again sent back to the House of Commons until April 10, 1662,
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 17th 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 13, 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. Upon
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 were
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 by the two Houses of Convocation
on that day. It was not to be expected, however, that the King and his Council should collate every
page 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 put in parallel columns : at the end of the first table this note
being added, " These are all ye materiall Alterations, y® rest are onely verball or ye changeing of some
Kubricks 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 this volume was "pub- I the Lord Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury," in the
lished for the Royal Commission on Ritual, by authority of | year 1871. " See p. 38.
C
34
an historical 3lntratiuction
February 24, 1662, 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 :" —
"His majesty having, according to his Declaration of the 25th 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
makino- 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 naature deliberation, they the said presidents, bishops, and
clergy 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 officiate 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, 1661 " [New Style 1662].
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 Uniformity." 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 enemies 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 minds : and you may be confident, I do as much desire to see a uniformity
settled, as any amongst you : I pray, trust me, in that affair ; I promise you to hasten the despatch of it, with all
convenient speed ; you may rely upon me in it.
*" I have transmitted the Book 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 have 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 Uniformity without any further delay.
The Lords' Committee reported to the House on March 13, 1662, and on that and the 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 their 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 alterations 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
prepared. Both books are mentioned subsequently as being
sent down to the House of Commons.
to tfje Ipcapet 'Book,
35
business ; and desired 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 Uniformity in 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, 1662, 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 concurrence 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 volume 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.i
On April 11, 1662, the Act of Uniformity 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 expedition. 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 conceived was a mistake of the writer, " persons "
being put instead of " children :'"
^ Both these volumes were practically lost sight of for
forty or fifty years, but were discovered in 1867 to have been
all the while in safe custody, first on a shelf in the chamber
where the original Acts of Parliament were preserved, and
afterwards in the Library of the House of Lords.
" That is, the black-letter folio with MS. corrections and
the fairly written MS.
3 The 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 being uncovered and for
using reverent gestures at the time of Divine Service. " This
proviso was twice read, "but the matter being held proper
for the Convocation," it was ordered that those members who
managed the Conference with the Lords should intimate the
desire of the House. This was done, and the following entry
appears in the Journals of the House of Lords on May 8th :—
" Whereas it was intimated at the conference yesterday,
as the desire of the House of Commons, ' That it be recom-
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 by this House, and 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^i0toncal Jnttotjuction
" The Lord Bishop of Durham acquainted the House, that himself, and the Lord Bishop of St.
Asaph, and 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, 1662.
In answer to inquiries from the House of Lords, the Bishops had guaranteed (on April 21st) 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 he 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 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." [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 they are' to be used, print
them out at large, and add [Amen] to the end of every prayer.
"Never print the Lord's Prayer beyond — 'deliver us from evil. Amen.'
" Print the Creeds always in three paragraphs, relating to the three Persons, etc.
" Print not Capital letters with profane pictures in them.
" In all the Epistles and Gospels follow the new translation." [They are so written in the MS. annexed to
the Act of Uniformity,]
" As 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 prickt line is drawn under the words, it is not part of the book, but only a direction to the printer
or reader.
^ This correction was made both in the black-letter copy
and in the manuscript, where it is still to be seen. An
order for making it had passed Convocation on April 24th,
[Kennett's Register, p. 666.]
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,
that the Convocation book intended to be the copy confirmed
by the Act of Uniformity had a rash blunder in the rubrick
after Baptism, which should have run [It is certain hy Ood's
word, that children which are baptized dying before they commit
actual sin are undoubtedly saved]. But the words [which are
baptized] were left out, till Sir Cyril Wyche coming to see
the Lord Chancellor Hyde found the book brought home by
his lordship, and lying in his parlour window, even after it
had passed the two houses, and happening to cast his eye
upon that place, told the Lord Chancellor of that gross
omission, who supplied it with his own hand. " [Ibid. p. 643. ]
This story was fifty years old when it reached Bishop Kennett,
but it has an air of probability : and such strange accidents
in the most important matters have not unfrequently occurred.
So the word "not" was once omitted from the seventh com-
mandment in a whole edition [a.d. 1631] of the Holy Bible ;
the printers being heavily fined for the mistake. But there
is no trace of the error in either the black-letter copy or the
manuscript. If it ever existed it was probably in the
copy prepared for the printers, of which nothing is now
known.
2 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, 1662, in which he says,
"My lord desires at all times to know particularly what pro-
gress you make in the Common Prayer." There is also a
mandate from Charles II. to the Dean and Chapter of Durham
among the State Papers, dated June 16, 1662, likewise, and
ordering them to dispense with Prebendary Sancroft's
residence, as he "has been for some months, and still is
attending the impression of the Liturgy;" and adding that
" it is not the meaning of the statutes to require the residence
of members of the Chapter when service of greater use to the
Church requires them." [State Papers, Ivi. 61.]
3 It is very singular that Burton had alleged, in his Tryall
of Private Devotions, that there was "in the great printing
house at London a Common Prayer Book," altered with
Cosin's hand, to shew "how he would have it altered."
Prynne asserts something similar in his criticism of Cosin's
Devotions, printed in 1626 and 1627. [Brief Censure of Mr.
Cozens and his Cozening Devotions, pp. 92, 104.] These
anticipations of Cosin's influence shew that he was marked
out for a leader in the work of revision.
to rfte Ipragec l5oofe.
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 be printed in Capitals."
From this 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 printinr^
office was a printed Prayer Book with the corrections written in, as in the volume which had been
sent with the manuscript 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 volumo
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 Uniformity 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 provided 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
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 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 as 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, 1662. 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 beeft shewn at p. 34, these Tables were read for the information of the two Houses of
1 Every endeavour has been used to obtain permission 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.]
2 Until this was done no copies were allowed to be put into
circulation but those which were sent out from the office of
the King's Printers. As soon as the first impression had been
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, 1662, expressing his displeasure at
the 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."-
[State Papers, Dom. Charles II. Iviii. 42; Ixi. 144; Ixiii.
42.]
38 an !&i0totical JniroDuction
Parliament. 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.
Litany.
Bishops, Pastors, and Ministers. Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
Collect.
The 3*^ Sunday in Advent. A larger and more proper inserted.
For Christmas 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.
Ruh'ich.
Overnight or else in y^ Morning, before y^ beginning of at least sometime ye 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 ye body of y" Church where there is no Chancel.
northside. north part.
Bishops, Pastors, and Curates. Bishops and Curates.
The P* and 2°^ Exhortations are altered and fitted for timely notice and preparation
to ye Communion.
In ye 3^ Exhortation this clause [If any of you be a
blasphemer of God, an hinderer, etc.] is left out.
These words [before this Congregation] omitted.
Before ye Confession, for these words [either by one of by one of ye Ministers,
them, or else by ye Minister].
In ye 2^ Prayer after Eeceiving, for [in thy mysticall in ye mysticall body of thy Son.
body].
In ye last Kubrick but one these words [And ye Parish
shall be discharged of such sums of money or other
dutyes w^ hitherto they have payed for ye same by
order of their houses every Sunday] omitted as needlesse now.
Baptisme.
didst sanctify ye flood Jordan and all other waters, in ye river Jordan didst sanctify water.
dost thou forsake ? Ans. I forsake, doest thou in the name of this childe renounce 1 Ans.
I renounce.
Private Baptisme.
This Demand [whether thiuke you y* childe to be law-
fully and perfectly baptized 'i] omitted.
Confirmation.
set before ye Catechism.
In ye Kubrick for these words [untill such time as he until 1 such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and
can say ye Catechism and be confirmed] these. desirous to be confirmed.
to tbe IPraper T5oofe. 39
Catechisme.
ye king and his Ministers. ye King and all that are put in 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.
Yea. they doe performe them both by their sureties, who Because they promise them both by their sureties, which
promise and vow them both in their names. promise.
Mateimony.
These words [In Paradise] omitted.
depart. do part.
children's children unto y^ 3*^ and 4*^^ generation. children christianly and virtuously brought up.
loving and amiable to her husband as Kachel, wise as amiable, faithfuU and obedient to her husband.
Rebecca, faithfuU and obedient as Sara.
The new married persons, the same day of their Marriage, 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^ Psalme y® 5 last verses omitted.
BURIALL.
ye Lesson read before they goe to y* grave.
eyes, eares.
of resurrection, of y® Resurrection,
this our brother omitted,
them that be elected, ye faithfuU.
Churching.
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 ye new moulding some of ye Collects.
ADDITIONS.
OLD. NEW.
deliver us from evil. For thine is ye kingdome, ye power and y* glory, for
ever and ever [here and in some other places].
Praise ye the Lord. A71S. The Lord's name be praised.
Litany.
privy conspiracy and rebellion,
heresy and schisme.
To ye Prayer in time of dearth another prayer added.
in y* of plague.
Almighty God wc^ in thy wrath didst send a plague upon thine owne people in ye wilder-
nesse for their obstinate rebellion against Moses and
Aaron, and also,
didst then accept of an atonement and.
" • Two Prayers for ye Ember weekes.
A Thanksgiving for restoring publique peace.
A Prayer for ye Parliament.
40
an l^i0toncal 3lnttoDuction
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 day, 1 Cor. 5. 7.
Communion
In ye 3'i Kubrick added,
the Lord thy God,
Tu y^ prayer for y^ whole state of Christ's Church.
to accept our almes
adversity.
draw neere
At y« Prayer of Consecration
Provided y* every Minister so repelling any as is speci-
fied, in this or in y« next preceding Paragraph of this
Kubrick, shall be obliged to give an account of y®
same to y^ Ordinary within 14 dayes after at y^ fur-
thest, and ye Ordinary 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.
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 wth them wee may be partakers of thy heavenly
kingdome.
in full assurance of faith.
Marginall Notes directing y^ Action of y^ Priest.
Baptisme.
A fourth demand added here, and in Private Baptisme. Wilt thou then obediently keepe God's holy will 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 ye Priest make a crosse upon y® childe's fore-
head.
At ye end of ye Kubrick is added this Declaration, It is certaine by God's word that persons w^h are
baptized, dying before they committ actuall sin, are
undoubtedly saved.
An OflSce for baptizing such as are of riper yeeres added.
Confibmation.
Then shall ye Bishop say, Doe you here, in ye presence
of God and of this Congregation, etc., and every one
shall audibly answer, I doe.
After ye words of Confirmation added, ¥« L'^ be wti» you. Ans. And w^^ thy spirit.
ye Lord's Prayer.
After ye Collect Another Prayer added.
Visitation of y*^ Sick.
for ever. Ans. Spare us, good Lord,
ye 2^ Prayer enlarged.
A Commendatory Prayer.
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 minde.
to tfje prapet iBooh.
41
BURIALL.
After they are come into y^ Church shall be read one or
both these Psalms, 39. 90.
everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
at ye end. ye grace of our L^ .Jesus Christ, etc.
COMMINATION.
In ye last prayer, after [looke upon us
in ye merits and mediation of thy blessed Son Jesus
Christ our L'^- Amen.
Then shall ye Minister alone say,
Ye Lord blesse us, and keepe us, ye L^ lift up ye light
of his countenance upon us, and give us peace, now
and for evermore. Amen."
§ Suhsequent Decdinga with the Prayer Book
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 1549 and 1661 ; 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. 23], 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 Eoyal Commission, approved by Convocation, and
authorized by 34 and 35 Vict. c. 37. 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 Prayer 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 under royal and ecclesiastical authority, while that of
America was adopted under 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, and
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 offices, The Scottish
and it was not until the reign of James I. that any endeavour was made to put an i^ayer 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
Spottiswoode. 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 1689," by
Bagster, in 1855. Some account of the progress of the revi-
sion will be found in Bishop Patrick's Autobiography, 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.
4^-
an ^isiorical Jnttotiucticn
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 active), 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 1G37 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 shewn, 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 1637 it was imposed upon the Church of Scotland by letters patent and the authority of the
Bishops : 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
Prayer 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 step towards this was taken at the General Convention of the American
Church held at Philadelphia in 1785 : during the next four years the various Offices 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 form 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, from 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.
Irish.
German.
Dutch.
Greek.
Gaelic.
Spanish.
Danish.
Hebrew.
Manks.
Portuguese
Russian.
Welsh.
FrencL
Italian.
Polish.
to tbe IPraper iBooL
43
Modem Greek.
Susu.
Persian.
Amharic.
Turkish.
Armenian.
Telugoo.
Chinese.
Armeno-Turkish.
Hawaiian,
Arabic.
Kafir.
Bengali.
Hindi.
Bullom.
Yoruban.
Burmese.
Mahratta.
Tamil.
Malay.
Dyak.
Singhalese.
Indo-Portuguese.
Cree.
Assamese.
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 TV., who annexed to it a Preface which
shews a thorough knowledge of the principles of the Prayer Book
EITUAL INTKODUCTIOlsr
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 by 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
by 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 be perfectly 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 forms 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 accompanied 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 even before the time of the Mosaic system. The Divine
institution of the outward ceremony of Circumcision is another instance of the same kind, and one of
even greater force, from the general and lasting nature of the rite as at first ordained ; a rite binding
on the Jewish nation for nearly two thousand years. Another ceremonial custom to be observed in the
a mtml 3Intronuction to tbe Ptapcr IBoofe, 45
XXIV.
Patriarchal times, is that of "bowing down the head" when worshipping the Lord [Gen.
26, 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]j
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 developement of ceremony or ritual. Of what was previously 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 Leviticu
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. 18].
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 insh^menta of Divine Service, and the ceremonies with
which that service w^as 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.
1-6]. 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 appears, 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 worshippers. 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 service
there, in 1 Chron. xvi., xxiii-xxvi. : the descriptions of the structure and of the utensils being almost
46 a Eitual 31ntrot)uction
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 me 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 Chron. 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 wisdom 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 by 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 depreciation 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 practices of the Apostolic age are to some extent indicated in the New Testament, but
as the Temple service was still carried on, and Jerusalem formed the religious centre of the Apostolic
Church, it is clear that 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 'principle
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 Divine 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 preparatory to communion, and again, others of thanksgiving for so inestimable a
benefit ? " [Krazer, de Liturgiis, i. 1-3.]
But there are distinct traces of actual forms of service in the Acts of the Apostles, and in some of
the Epistles. 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 [r^ SiSaxii] and in the fellowship [r^ koivwvlo]
of the Apostles ; and in the breaking of the Bread [r^ KXdcrei rod apTov], and in the prayers \Tal<i
TT/jocrei/xa??] ; 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 offer-
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 Himself [1 Cor. xi. 2] ; and to the Divisions of Divine Service in his words, " I
to tfte IPragec 15ook.
47
exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications [Setja-ei^], prayers [irpoaevxa^], intercessions [evTev^ei^],
and Eucharists [evxapia-rla^], 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 " [Ta9 TrapaSoa-eig], 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 Kesurrection, 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
imdoubtedly 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 shewn, 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 he 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 primitive 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 appropriated 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 [Carm. 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 Eph. 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 appears 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 Hohj EaM. Ch. p. 189.]
In his Additions and Corrections he also says, " There is a
well open rather in front of the place where the altar once
stood in the Church of St. Irene in the Seraglio at Constan-
48 a iRitual 3lnttonuction
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 seven 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
septiformis gratia was poured 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 harps," to offer Him the praise of instrumental music ; they have " golden
vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints," even as the angel afterwards had " given imto
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, Holy, 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 Divine 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 Divine Worship now, as there was a Person to be
adored in the system which culminated in the Temple Service. This Person is moreover revealed
to us as present before the worshippers. And He is further represented as our Redeeming Lord, the
" Lamb that was slain," He Who said respecting Himself to St. John at the opening of the Apocalyptic
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
Divine 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 Tnost 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. 2 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 upon 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 elders, 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 adds, "is a splendid specimen of , part of Christian worship. The "hours of prayer," now
Byzantine architecture, and contains three or four rows in the represented by our Mattins and Evensong, were derived
synthronus of the magnificent apse." i from the Jewish ritual ; and the Christians of Jerusalem
1 It is observable that the incense is not a symbolical 1 evidently " went up to " 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.] I ^ /See a prayer "for the King, "from the Liturgy of St. Mark..
« The Holy Eucharist was the only distinctively Christian I but addressed to the First Person of tlie Blessed Trinity.
to t6e Praper iBooh 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 soine 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 unction 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 upon 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 orderly 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 parish church or chapel,
I worship God by humbly bowing of my body towards His
holy altar, where I have often experienced 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 thanks for the assistance of His
Holy Spirit in all bounden and public service through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Hallelujah. I likewise lowly 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 wortliy 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 the 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. n.
475, ed. 1837.]
50 a iRitual 3Inttonuction
worship which they offer ; One Who accepts such reverence from the holy Angels and the glorified
Saints, and Who will 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 rubrics directly or indirectly point. They are principles which were originally
laid down with the most awful 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 in 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 IL
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 ofiicers, 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 in 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 EvensoTi^r, or such brief injunctions as " here followeth 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 land of Canaan, and having David to be
their King, when the Lord had given him rest, it grieved his 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 present, 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 earliest age in which the Church
was 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 captured 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 ptapet isoofe, 51
which displeased God, came to a sad and untimely close [1 Chron. xiii. 8-12; xv. 11-16]. The latter
is the one which, as meeting with God's express approbation, especially demands our notice. It is in
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 shoutino-, and
with sound of the comet, 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 harps;" some to make "a sound with
cymbals ;" besides " the priests with trumpets 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 practically 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
cymbals, . . . and with musical 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 singing "
[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 developed, 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 mindful 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 Temple. 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
harps 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 Nehemiah 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 Eitual 3lntrotiuction
God ever given any word or sign to shew that He has 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 Kitual, 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 worship
which He attended while sojourning here below. He was first discovered in His youth in His
Father's Temple. His first-recorded words are, " Wist ye not that I must be ev rok rod Uarpo? fxov ;"
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 true home was in the Temple of Him Whose glories still
lingered round the heights of Moriah."i Do we not see Him here and elsewhere expressing in deed
that which of old He expressed in word by the mouth of His " Sweet Singer,"—" Lord, I have loved
the Habitation of Thy House. . . . My soul hath a desire and longing to enter 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 Oratory,^ " 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, with one accord, in the Temple," for the public 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-giving 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 by, the Ministers of the Old Dispensation. For a whole generation, the two went
on simultaneously ; the public worship of the Old, the private 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 (yixvwavTe^), 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 " (v/xvyjcrot) ere) — 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 see 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 for 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.
^ Ellicgtt's Historical Lectures on the Life of our Lord, p.
93, 1st ed.
^ The English version, "breaking bread from house to house"
[Acts ii. 46], would lead us to imagine, if it suggested the
Eucharist at all, that this solemn Breaking 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. Kar'
oIkov is not at any house, but "at home," at one particular
house, or home. And the then Home of the Infant Church
was that Sacred Place where the Holy Ghost had descended,
"filling the whole House where they were sitting;" — the
"Large Upper Room," where the first Eucharist had been
celebrated, where our Lord had appeared on two consecutive
Sundays — "the Upper Room" [t6 virepQov, Acts i. 13], to
which our Lord's chosen servants resorted after the Ascension
in obedience to His command that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait there for His Promised Gift, and
"where abode Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew,
Philip," with the rest, who " all continued with one accord
in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the
Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren."
to tf)Z Pm^zt TBoofe.
53
But the chief point for us, at present, is this ; that in the "Hymn" of our Ever-Blessed Redeemer
we meet with a neiu, 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 appropriate 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 special
home is the Liturgy. Wherever absent, it should not be absent there : and the immediate 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 offering up " solemn rites and hymns," Ho/xTra? koi vfxvovg, — where the word
Uo/ii'Tra? 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 Captivity, 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, Grseco-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, expressed,
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 modem Jewish music we can learn nothing. Music, we are told, has been authoritatively
banished from the Synagogue ever since the destruction of Jerusalem ; 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 with the three several Persons of
the Ever- Blessed Trinity. (1) The " jPsaZms, " 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 the Eucharistic Hymn in the Upper Room, bring us
into special connection with our Lord Jesus Christ. (3) The
"Spiritual Songs,^' as their very name indicates, rather
represent the free, unrestrained outbreathings in Holy Song
of that Divine Spi7-it which animates and inspires the Body of
Christ.
So that we find the fiist 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.
2 Dr. Burney says that * ' the only Jews 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 sung 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 the 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 modem notation, and written in a chant form, with
simple harmony, it is as follows : —
54 3 Eitual 3lnttoDucuon
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 hymnes 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 Hymnes 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." [Socrat. Uccl. Hist. vi. 12, Hanmer's transl, 1636.]
Antioch, as capital of S3n:ia, 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 preparing 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 hymn-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 other Psalms, or Lamnatzeach, i.e. "To the Chief Musician," as sung by the Spanish Jews.
{Original Key,
F.)
■■HSH--
22
JZIL
-^I gU. ^ -g.^s — p — ^~
IC2Z
■— — ■ "7^ ^ ^ ^ ai
to tf)e IPraper IBook, 55
the Psalms and Hymns should be sung 'secundum morem Orientalium partium;'" and that from
Milan this Eastern antiphonal system spread throughout all parts of Western Christendom. [Aug.
Conf. ix. 7.]
It is very difficult to ascertain accurately (and this is not the place 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 form in which it has
come down to us — cannot be of the extremely early date which its name, " The Ambrosian Te Deum,"
would appear 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 has 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,
developed its hidden and exhaustless resources.
Without entering into any detail respecting the ancient Church scales, it may not be 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, luithout 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 \ F ) ^^^ their corresponding
"finals " of the "^ F t " dominants" or notes
4 scales ( C ; for recitation
But there was one exception. For some reason or other, B was not approved 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 " principal " mode had two subsidiary, or " plagal," modes ; the one
below {viro) it, and the other above {inrep) it — beginning four notes beloiu it, and therefore characterized
by the prefix vtto {hypo, or under).
Thus, to St. Ambrose's 1st (or Dorian) mode, St. Gregory added a If^/po-Dorian.
To his 2nd (or Phrygian) „ „ Hypo-Thrygian.
3rd (or Lydian) „ „ Hypo-Lydism.
4th (or Mixo-Lydian) „ „ fT^/po-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 proper 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 a fourth below 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
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.
1 It is not meant that all the chants or melodies in each in the scale, on which a melody, which came to a full close,
mode do really end on the "final ; " but that this is the note, I would naturally tennmatc.
56
a mtml 3lntrotJuction
Thus the eight scales as finally settled by St. Gregory are as follows
: —
Range of 8 notes,
"Final" {or
"Dominant" (or
Name.
beginning from
Keynote).
Reciting note).
1st. Dorian
D
D
A
2nd. Hypo-Dorian
A
D
F
3rd. Phrygian
E
E
4th. Hypo-Phrygian
B
E
A
5th. Lydian
F
F
C
6th. Hypo-Lydian
F
A
7th. Mixo-Lydian
G
G
D
8th. Hypo-Mixo-Lydian
D
G
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 Office. He would even have the Psalms sung almost in monotone : a practice,
however, with which St. Augustine'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 divisions :
1. There was, first, the song for the prayers, the "Cantus Collectarum," 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 Tninor
third (" accentus medius ") ; ^. at each full-stop, a perfect fifth (" accentus gravis ").^
J 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 former 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 unrestrained 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.
=IHt
m
321
122:
:22i
:22:
A - men.
2 But in case the clause ended with a monosyllable, the fol-
lowing variations took place :—
a. The "accentus medius " P v^ ^^ — ; gave way to
the '^^accent'us nioderatus," or'
22Z
■ interrogativus,"
:^
22:
p. And the " accentus gravis "
/m\'
■<r3
II
1^'
._..
vS /r3
^^ f-r II
to the
accentus acutus," -
122:
22:
izz:
It is noticeable that while the Church of England (followmg
the lead of Merbecke) has retained the use of the " mediate '
and •' moderate " accents, she seems practically to have parted
with the "grave" and the "acute :" but the acute is still
used for the Preces in Lincoln Cathedral.
3 Or their substitutes, in case of a monosyllabic termination.
See the preceding note.
to tfte Ptaper 'Book. 57
This embraces the music for the Hymns, metrical or prose ; for Prefaces, Antiphons, 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 period 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 Ofl&ce-books. When the great
remodelling of our English Services took place, earlier in the same century ; when the mj^ „ ,
energetic and successful attempt was made to render them once more suitable, not Ush 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 Sarum 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 Ofiices forced itself upon 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 words, manifested itself in the corresponding changes in the music 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 translated Offices, to restore it to something more of its primitive " plain-
ness," to rid it of its modem corruptions, its wearisome " neumas " 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 ordinary tone of voice may be employed ; but this only as an
exceptional alternative. The rule 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." [Our Lady's
Mirror, E. E. T. Soc. ed. p. 19.]
58
a Eitual 3lntroDuction
that the Athanasian Creed shall be " read here." Now, the point of this rubric being the particular
position in which the Creed shall be recited, and not the particular 7}iode of its recitation, the general
term " legere" is employed. The "modus legendi" 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.^
The two works which directly 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 remainder 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 VI.
A word or two may be said respecting both these publications.
1. The Litany was published in 1544 in a work entitled "An exhortation unto praier thought
mete by the King's Majestic 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 forms 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 Collectarum," 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-Reforma-
tion Service-books the "Capitula" and the Lections were generally very short; 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 Collectarum," 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 Review 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, unsecular, ecclesiastical recita-
tive is alone appropriate ; in the case of addresses to nnan, even though they are lessons of Holy Scrip-
1 " The Psalter, or Psalms of David, pointed as thejr are to
be sung (or said) in Churches." The Psalter, we see, is speci-
ally pointed for singing : the pointing itself plainly expressing
the mind and wish of the Church. The "say" only gives a
permissible 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
Roman) Rite, in the employment of the grave accent [see p.
66) on the last syllable of the collect preceding the '* Amen."
' See also p. 56.
* See, however, an instance of this method described in a
note on Palm Sunday.
to tfte l^raper 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 set to the ancient Ambrosian 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 Litauy 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 probably of a tentative and experimental character.
It was put forth as a companion to our Revised Service-book, as a practical explanation of its musical
rubrics, and as also furnishing examples and specimens of the ivay 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
Defunctis "), we find merely the old Sarum plain song reproduced in simplified form.
vii. The Nicene Creed, the Gloria in Excelsls, 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 be 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 Matins and Evensong, * Venite,' the Hymns * Te Deum,' * Benedictus,'
* Magnificat,' * Nunc Dimittis,' and all the Psalms and Versicles ; and, in the Mass, * Gloria in Excelsis,' ' Gloria
Patri,' the Creed, the Preface, the * Pater noster,' and some of the * Sanctus ' and ' Agnus.' As concerning 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 English 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
1 For the Melody of the Hymn «' Salve, festa dies," see the " Hymnal Noted," No. 62.
6o
a Eitual SlntroDuction
of the Church were intended to furnish, will vent itself in ways irregular, and, perhaps, in unorthodox
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 Eitual, 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 Kitual), 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 musick 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 which it is necessary to
add a few words.
The term itself is merely an Anglicized synonym of the word Antiphon. Its old spelling was
Antem, Anteme, or Antempne.'^ Its origin is the Greek word avTiflxavov, or rather avrlfjibova {anti-
phona : neut. plur.), which is the old ecclesiastical term. From antiphona comes the Italian and
Spanish antifona, as well as the old English form antephne, and the Anglo-Saxon antefn. Now, just
as the Anglo-Saxon word stefn (the end, or prow, of a ship) became stem in English, so did Antefn
become Antem. The further change of the initial ant into anth is merely parallel with the coiTespond-
ing change of the old English te and ta into thee and that.^
From the fact of Barrow in one of his sermons spelling the word " Anthymn," Dr. Johnson and
others have hastily inferred that its true origin is to be traced in avrl vfxvos or avOv/jLvos (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 "hymn," 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 ^wvrj, not v/nvog, 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 within 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 music — our Church composers, 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, Hymns, and the
1 See bur Lady's Mirror, p. 163, E. E. T. Soc. ed.
" For a discussion on the derivation and use of the word
Anthem, see Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, xi. 457, 491 ; xii.
90, 151. Also Skeat's Etym. Diet. s. v.
' From the fact of the Antiphon giving the keynote or
leading idea of the Psalm to which it was attached, we find
the word Anthem frequently used for the text of a sermon.
It may be remarked, tnat as the idea of responsive music lies
at the bottom of Antiphon, or Anthem (whence we find old
writers speaking of the Psalms as sung Ayithem-wise, i.e. re-
sponsively), so, in the actual and varied use of the word we
find sometimes the responsive and sometimes the musical
element coming into prominence : occasionally, one or the
other element entirely disappearing. In the text of a sermon,
for instance, there is nothing musical. In a modern Anthem
there is nothing necessarily responsive. -
to tbz IPraper IBooL
6r
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 modem 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 modem and popular sense, to
denote a piece of sacred music for the use of the Church, may perhaps be approximately illustrated' by
a comparison of the titles of two successive editions of a very important 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 & Communion 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 "Anthems" 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 Koyal, 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 Anthem 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, covering 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 acquiring a modern
musical meaning. " Antem ys as moche to say as a sownynge
before. For yt ys begonne before the Psalmes yt is as moche
to saye as a sownynge ageynste. " [Our Lady' a Mh-ror, p. 94,
E. E. T. See. ed.]
69
a Eitual 3InttoDuctlon
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/aci 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 formal rubrical sanction.
The result of all is, that while " the Anthem " still retains its place, as a special offering to God of
the firstfniits 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 modern
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 — \dndicate 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 " Hymn, or such like song," does not possess any of this " Antiphonal " character, if it is
regarded merely in the light of so much music interpolated 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
" Gloina in Excehis," 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 Dimittis," 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 unwise, even if possible, to lay down any strict rules. 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 harmonies of modem days. All must be freely, fearlessly
^ It should, perhaps, be remarked, that there still remain
in the Prayer Book a few instances of the word Anthem
retaining its old meaning. For example, the Invitatory
Psalm, " Venite exuUemua" is regarded in some sort as a
fixed Antiphon before the Psalms for the day, and is in this
sense called an Anthem ; the Rubric enjoining its constant
use, "except on Easter-day, upon which another Anthem is
appointed." The word is Jilso used in its old sense in the
following passage from the Introduction, "Concerning the
Service of the Church:" "For this cause be cut off
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 Psalm in the
" Visitation of the Sick," is strictly an Antiphon.
2 See, however, a note on the invitatory character of the
Sentences in a note upon them.
^ " In the Communion time the Clerks shall sing —
" * O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.
" ' Lamb of God, etc., grant us Thy peace.' "
to tfje Pmpzt l5oolt. 65
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 exclusiveness, 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, are needed for modem times ; and that all
appliances, musical, ritual, aesthetic, should be brought to bear on the Services rendered to God by so
cultivated an age, and set forth before men to win and help their souls. God having given all these
outward aids — music, ritual, art — He means them to be employed for His glory, and in order to
influence, and subdue, and attract mankind. As churches 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
impress, 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 conductiDg
it, should be furnished with whatever is suitable to denote its reverent dignity. The practice of the
Jewish Church in this respect, based as it was on a Divine command which prescribed even its
miimtest 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 incorporating similar symbolic uses with Christianity, in order that
it may present itself to mankind in a not less attractive form 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 prominent 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 Edivard the Sixth."
A Rubric substantially, though not quite verbally, identical with this, first appeared in the Eliza-
bethan Prayer Book of 1559 : 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 Mary's reign,
and to revert to the form of Divine Worship arranged in the Second Prayer Book of King Edward VI.
[a.d. 1552], 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
6^
a iRitual 3lnttotiuction
was also incorporated with the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity ; it was retained in the very slightly
revised Prayer Book of James I., and was re-enacted at the last revision in 1661.- It will facilitate the
comparison of these four directions, to place them in parallel columns, thus : —
Prayer Book, 1559.
" And here is to be
noted, that the Minister
at the time of the Com-
munion, and at all other
times iu his Ministration,
shall use such Ornaments
in the Church as were in
use by authority of Parha-
raent in the second year of
the reign of King Edward
the Sixth, according to the
Act of Parliament set in
the beginning of this
Book."
[The Act of Parliament
here referred to is that from
which the clause in the
next column is taken.]
Statute 1 Eliz, c.
1558-59.
2, § 25, Prayer Book, 1603-4.
" 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, ki
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 Realm."
" 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 Parlia-
ment, in the second year of
the reign of King Edward
the Sixth, according to the
Act of Parliament 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 1662, 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 handwriting. At the end of the
alteration is a note (not intended for printing, but under-
scored with a dotted line), ' ' These 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 "Surplice &c." Probably
he thought that to specify them might peril the Rubric
itself ; though it is clear that his wish was to name them,
for, in his " Particulars to be considered, explained, and cor-
rected, in the Book of Common Prayer," he appends this note
to the Rubric : ' ' But what those ornaments of the Church
and of the minister were, is not here specified, and they are
80 unknown to many, that by most they are 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." In another Prayer Book, which is interleaved and
contains copious annotations by Cosin, there is also the follow-
ing fuller note on this Rubric : and for the sake of exactness
it is here 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 according to this rubrick are wee all still
bound to weare Albes and Vestm*^ as have beene so long
time wome in the Church of God, howsoeuer it is neglected.
For the 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 eu'y negligent priest to
doe what him listed, so he wold but professe a difference and
an opposition in all things (though neu' so lawfuU otherwise)
agt the Church of Rome, and the Ceremonies therein vsed.
If any man shall answere that now the 58 Canon hath ap-
pointed it otherwise, and y* these things are alterable by the
discretion of the Church wherein we line, I answere, y* such
matters are to be altered by the same autority wherew*''
they were established : and y* if y* autority be y« Convoca-
tion of the Clergy, as I think it is, (only that,) that the 14
Canon comands vs to[observe all y^ Ceremonies p'scribed in this
book, I wold faine know how we shold obserue both Canons. "
[Interleaved Prayer Book of 1619, Cosin's Lib. Durham,
C. I. 2.]
to tbe iptapet TBooL 65
Injunctions of 1547 (whether then or previously 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. 0. 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 practices 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 Rubric 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 1564-65. 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 heighjb 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 of 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. . . ." [Parker 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." [Pai'ker 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 minimum
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 requisite 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 be 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 information 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 legalizing whalj
B
66 a laitual 3lnttoDuction
probably it was then hoped would be no more than a 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 Presbyterian 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 Prayer 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 Services.
But it was easier to make JDoctriTie more objective in the Formularies than to enforce Discipline,
especially in Ritual and Ceremonial matters, which were peculiarly obnoxious to those of Presbjrterian
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 Synodical Acts passed and published in the reigns of King Edward the Sixth and Queen Eliza-
beth," and passed by " both Houses " of Convocation [Collier'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 Statutahly 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 leaven 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 purpose 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, have lately taken offence at the same, upon an unjust supposal,
that they are not only contrary to Our Laws, but also introductive unto Popish superstitions, whereas it well
appeareth unto Us, upon mature consideration, that the said Rites and Ceremonies, which are now so much quarreled
at, were not onely approved of, and used by those learned and godly Divines, to whom, at the time of Reformation
under King Edward the Sixth, the compihng of the Book of Common Prayer was committed (divers of whom
^ That the ancient Ornaments were still in use is shewn It is remarkable that at a much later date, early in the
by a letter written by Beza to Bullinger on Sept. 3, 1566. ! eighteenth century, the Roman Catholic Ritual commentator
"Some," he says, writing in Latin, "are even cast into i Grancolas writes in a chapter on the Church of England of
prison unless they will swear that they will so inviolably ap- j that day, " All these things the priests sing in the regular
prove all these things as neither by word nor writing to op- ; course of the seasons, vested in surplice, cope, and chasuble,
pose them, and will conform themselves to the priests of Baal
so far as even to wear square caps, stoles [collipendivs], sur-
plices, chasubles [casiilis], and other things of a similar kind. "
[Zurich Lett. II. ii. 77.]
in the Cathedrals. They have also a choir of boys, singers,
and organs." [Grancolas, Comm. Hist, in Brev. Horn. i.
12.]
to tfie Prater 'looolt. 67
suffered Martyrdom in Queen Maries days), but also again taken up by this 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 Rule or Law for 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 Rites
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 quarreled 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 ratiiie
by Our Letters Patent under Our Great Seal of England, and to confirm 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 1603-4 and 1640 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 1661, 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 the 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 1662, 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 proper 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 prescribe 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 present 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 prior to the year 1857. Then, however,
the celebrated Ecclesiastical suits arising out of the opposition to certain Ornaments introduced into
1 It has been thought that these Canons have ceased to tion of a Clause contained in" 17 Charles I c. 2 The Act
possess authority, owhig to the language of the 13 Charles merely excludes these Canons from f^^y J^J^'^ff^^
II. c. 12, § 5, A.D. leeifwhere it is%tated that this Act is authority which it might be supposed to confer on them
not "to abridge or diminish the King's Majesty's Supremacy but then it does precisely the same with any other^Eccle-
in Ecclesiastical matters and aflfairs. nor to confirm the I siastical Laws or Canons not formerly confirmed al^^^
Canons made in the year One thousand six hundred and : enacted by Parliament :" this necessarily includes the Canons
forty, nor any of them, nor any other Ecclesiastical Laws of 1603-4, yet their authority is admitted The ^^^^^^^
or &nons not formerly confirmed, allowed, or enacted by ! way afi^ects the recognized authority derived by the C^no^
Parliament, or by the Established Laws of the land, as they of 1640, or by any others, from I^^y^l .^f "f/^ .^^^^^^
stood in the year of our Lord One thousand six hundred and the contrary, it helps *« .^^^^fi™. j"^^„f]^°y^*.yL7S
thirtv-nine " that it was not meant ''to abridge or dimmish the Kings
But. on consideration, it will be seen that the words are Majesty's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical mattera and attau-s
cautionary, and were intended to prevent any misconception and of this the confirmation of Canons was made an im
as to the force of this Act, which was passed "for explana- ' portant part by the Act of Submission 25 Henry VllL c. ly,
68 ' a Eitual Jntronuction
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 Kubric, 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 tlie 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 Burn's Ecclesiastical Lata (vol. i. pp. 375-377). In modern
times Organs and Bells are held to fall under this denomination."
Having 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 way, and a
compromise was made, by which the Services were to be in conformity with the Second Prayer Book,
with certain alterations ; but the Ornaments of the Church, whether those worn or those otherwise used
by 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 ;^ 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 Injunctions, 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 which 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-table (which is
not prescribed nominatim) 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
1 The First Year of Edward VI. was from Jan. 28, 1547, to both kinds. A Form for carrying out this Act was issued by
Jan. 27, 1548. | Proclamation on May 8, 1548, and thenceforward until June
The Second Year of Edward VI. was from Jan, 28, 1548, to 9, 1549, the ancient Salisbury Use with a supplementary
Jan. 27, 1549. I English service for communicating the Laity [see p. 13]
The Third Year of Edward VI. was from Jan. 28, 1549, to was the only form sanctioned by law for the celebration and
Jan. 27, 1550. administration of the Holy Communion. Thus during the
Up to Dec. 24, 1547, the ancient Salisbury Use was alone whole of Edward YI.'s Second Year, the ancient Latin Service
sanctioned by law. On Dec. 24, 1547, the Act of Parliament was retained, and until half of his Third Year had expired :
■was passed which gave legal force to the resolution of Con- , and with the ancient Service the ancient "Ornaments" were
vocation that the Holy Eucharist should be administered in j also retained.
to tbe IPraper TBoofe.
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
allowed. 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-tabl^
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 irrespective
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 " Oma-
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 Salisbury 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.]
HI. 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 prescription or by plain
implication, are now pointed out for use in the Ministrations of the Church of England.
^ The preference which seems to have been given to the
Rites of Sarum is illustrated by the circumstance that the
Convocation of Canterbury decreed, March 3, 1541, that the
"use and custom of the Church of Salisbury should be ob-
served by all and singular clerics throughout the Province of
Canterbury, in saying their canonical hours." [Wilkins
Concilia, iii. 861, 862.]
7t>
a Eitual Jnttonuction
V. These Ornaments are to be sought in the Canons of 1603-4 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.
Corporas (and Case).
* ' A very 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 their
ropes.
Cross, for processions
and for the dead.
' ' Two Candles, or one
at the least, at the
timeof High Mass. "
A Cense pot.
Font of stone, with a
lock and key.
II.
The Old English
Liturgies.
1. Sarum.
2. Bangor.
3. York.
4. Hereford.
III.
The Pkayer Book
A.D. 1549.
1, 2, 3, 4. Altar.
1. Linen Cloth.
1, 2, 3, 4. Corporal.
2. Sudarium.
1, 2, 3, 4. Paten.
1, 2, 3, 4. ChaUce.
1, 2, 3, 4. Wine and
Water brought to
thePriests, — 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, Crucifix.
1. Two Wax Candles
in Candlesticks to
be carried to the
Altar steps.
1, 2, 3, Thurible.
1. Font.
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 — impued in
' ' putting the Wine
into the Chalice . . .
putting thereto a
little pure and clean
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.
IV,
Inventories.
1. Winchester Cathedral,
Oct. 3, 1552.
2. St. Martin, Outwich,
London, Sejjt. 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.
More recent Authorities.
1. Canons, 1603-4.
2. Canons, 1640.
3. The Prayer Book, 1662.
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.
1, 3. Censers.
1, Ship — for Incense.
1, 2. Spoon — for Incense.
Font — unlikely to be men-
tioned, not being move-
able.
1. A Communion Table.
2. An Altar,
3. The Lord's Table.
[Desk or Cushion — needed
for the Altar Book.]
1. 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 life.
Cross — lawful as a decora-
tive Ornament.
Two Lights — the old direc-
tions for them not re-
pealed.
Standard Candlesticks —
consistent with the Ser-
Censer — Use of Incense
never legally abolished.
1, 3. Font.
3. Vessel for Water — im-
plied in " then to be filled
with 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 or Reading-pew, to
read Service in.
to tfje Iprager Book.
71
Ornaments op the Church" — contintied.
I.
Images, especially of
the Saint to which
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.
m.
Pulpit,
Chair for Archbishop
or Bishop.
IV.
2. Cloth for the Pulpit.
2. Organs.
1, 3. Banners.
2. Herse Cloth for burying.
1, 3. Cloths to cover and
keep clean the Linen
Altar Cloth.
1, 3. Pulpit.
3. Kneeling - desk — for
Churchings.
3. Chair for the Archbishop
or Bishop,
Organ — desirable.
1. The Ten Command-
ments. " Other chosen
sentences upon the walls."
{Decorative 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 ; Carpets for the
Altar steps ; Cloths and Veils for Lent.
There were also " Ornaments," i.e. Articles " used in the Services," which, on 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."
L
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 (or Apron).
1, 2. Surplices.
III.
Cope.
Vestment.
Tunicles.
Albes.
Pastoral Staflf(Bp.).
Rochette (Bp.).
Surplice.
Hood.
IV.
1, 2, 3. Cope.
2, 3. Vestment.
1, 3. Chasuble,
1, 3. Deacon(i.e. Dalmatic).
1, 3. Sub-deacon {i.e. Tu-
nicle).
1, 2, 3. Albes.
1, 3. Stole.
2. Amice.
1, 3. Mitre.
1. Crosier Staff (Bp.).
1. Gloves (Bp.).
1. Ring(Bp.),
2 3. Surplices.
V.
1. Cope.
3. General Hubric.
"And here is to be noted,
that su ch Ornaments of the
Church, and of the Minis-
ters thereof at all times of
their Ministration, shall be
retained and be in use as
were in this Church of Bug-
land by the Authority of
Parliament, 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.
\. 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 proving what Ornaments are now lawful
72 a IRitual 3|ntroDuction
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 Lyndwood, in Burn'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 Peckham's Constitutions at Lambeth, A.D. 1281;
and [3] Archbishop 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
Presbyterian 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 under our eighteenth general exception, we desire that it may be wholly left out." [Card-
well's Gonf. 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." \Ihid. p. 345.] In what light the
excepting Ministers viewed this answer of the Bishops may be gathered from their "Rejoinder"
(London, 1661), 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 Booh 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 are 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 Worhs, 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 reasons," but the corrected
reading inserted above is that of the report entitled "The
Grand Debate," etc., p. 12. tration," thus putting the Kubric into its present form.
' Where it will be seen also that in his Durham Prayer Book
he has written the exact words of Elizabeth's Act of Unifor-
mity except in the slight variation " at all times of their Minis-
to tit Ipraper IBook.
7%
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 in a way and to an extent with which no previous period since 1662 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 practically raised,
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 supplemental 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 ;
Catechizing.
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.
The Linen Cloth.
do.
Com. of Sick.
do.
Book Rest 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.
Standard Candlesticks.
Paten and Chalice.
When a Cele-
bration.
Com. of Sick.
When a Cele-
bration.
Paten for Bread to be
oflfered.
do.
do.
do.
Flagon for Wine arid
Water.
do.
do.
do.
Veil {Silk) to cover Vessels.
do.
do.
do.
Linen Palls to cover Chalice.
do.
do.
do.
Mundatory.
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.
CAair
For the Arc!
ibishop or Bisl
lop at Ordinat
ions and Conn.
rmatious,
1
74
Z iRitual 3lntroDuction
ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.
To be used at
Mattins,
Evensong,
Litany, Cora-
mination.
Holy Com-
munion.
Baptism,
Public and
Private;
Catechizing,
Matrimony.
Visitation and
Communion
of the Sick.
Churching of
Women.
Burial of the
Dead.
Cope or 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.
WhenaCele-
bration.
When a Cele-
bration.
do.
do.
do.
When a Cele-
bration.
Rochette.
Surplice or Albe.
Cope or Vestment.
Pastoral Staflf.
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 accomplished, 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
connected 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 tbe lg>rapet IBook
75
were preserved in the ChuTches at the very period to which the Kubric 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, 1552 ;
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.
[I.] MATERIAL OF VESTMENTS.
16
226
146
54
9
337 451 65
Cloth of Gold .
30
Sarsnett
Cloth of Silver
6
Bawdkyn
Velvet .
137
Damask
Satin
30
Tissue
Silk. . / .
134
Chamlett
Fustian .
6
Buckram .
2
Dornyx .
8
Serge
1
Various .
. 48
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 appertaining 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 writer 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 fulness 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 : —
Copes
Chasubles
Dalmatics
Tunicles .
Totals
COLOURS OF VESTMENTS.
White.
Bed.
Blue.
Oreen.
Yellow.
Black.
Various.
Totals.
121
107
83
40
20
13
75
459
28
34
24
10
7
15
37
155
22
33
23
6
6
13
13
116
22
24
27
6
6
12
26
123
193
198
157
62
39
53
151
853
It may be as well to remark here that all the Oreen 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
76
a Eitual 31ntroDuction
Gold.
Blue.
Oreen.
r/iite.
i?ed!.
Black.
Various.
3
11
6
18
6
2
22
3
1
6
8
2
2
9
—
6
8
4
2
4
10
—
2
—
2
5
—
—
6
20
20
32
15
8
41
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, again, 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 " indicus," 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 Century, 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 : —
Altar Coverings
Altar Hangings
Altar Curtains ,
Chancel Hangings
Totals
Besides the colours already enumerated, others are sometimes mentioned, such as Brown, Tawney,
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,i 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.] Oreen, also,
appears to have been at one time a favourite colour with them. Moreover, the retention of Red,
Purple, 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 rule 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 Holy days. 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 the Inquisition, and that Don Pedro, Arch-
bishop of Toledo, was High Admiral of Castile " by a then not
uncommon union of offices," [Dyer's Modern Europe, p. 189.]
to tbe Prapet TBooft.
77
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.
15
m
E-t
CO
<
ENGLISH.
ROMAN.
Seasonb.
Salisbury.
York.
"Wells.
London,
1406-20.
Innocent
m.,
Early,
Late,
Modern.
»
llth-12th
century.
15th-16th
century.
d. 1216.
Black.
Advent— Sundays . . . .
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Red.i
"Omnia
Violet or
Violet.
media. "
Purple.
„ Ferial
Violet.
Red.
Purple (?).
White. 3
"Omnia
media."
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Chi'istmas Eve
White.
White.
,, Octave ....
White.
Red.
White.
Red.*i
White.
White.
White.
White.
St. Stephen
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Red.
Red.
St. John Evangelist ....
White.
White.
Red.i
' ' Media
et alba."
White.
White.
Innocents
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Violet or
Purple.
Violet
(Red if
Sunday).
,, Octave
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
VI. dies Natalis .....
White.
White.
White.
The rest of Christmas-tide .
Red.
White {?).
White.3
White.
White.
Circumcision . . .
Red.
White (?).
Red.i
Red and
White.
White.
White.
White.
Epiphany Octave
White.
Red.
White (?).
Red.i
White.
White.
The rest of the Season ....
W^hite.
White.
Red.
Green or
Yellow.
Green.
Green.
Septuagesima to Easter — Sundays
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Blue. 2
Red.
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
,, ,, Ferial .
Violet.
Red.
Red or
White. 3
Violet or
Black.
Violet.
Purple.
Purple.
Ash Wednesday
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Red."
Violet or
Purple.
Violet or
Purple.
Black.
Violet.
Midlent {"Laeban ") ....
Violet.
Red.
Red.
Blue.
Red.
Violet.
Rose or
Violet.
Maundy Thursday
Black.
Red.
Red.
Red. 3
Red
(a white
banner).
White.
Black.
Violet.
Good Friday
Black.
Red. 6
Red.
Red.
Red and
Purple.
Red or
Black.
Black.
Black.
Easter Eve
Black or
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.*-*
Red.
White.
White.
Violet
(W.Mass).
Easter .......
White.
White.
White.
Red.i
Red.
White.
White.
White.
Low Sunday
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
White
Invention of the Cross ....
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Red.
Red.
Martyrs in Paschal-tide
White.
White.
White.
Red.
Rogation Days
Red.
Red.
Purple or
Violet.
Violet.
Vigil of Ascension ....
Ascension Octave
White.
White.
Red. J
White.
White.
White.
White.
White.
The rest of the Season ....
White.
White (?).
White. 3
White.
White.
Vigil of Pentecost ....
White or
Red.
Red.
4
Red
Red.
Violet
(Red at
Mass).
Whitsuntide
White or
Green.
Red.t
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Vigil of Holy Trinity ....
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
* "WViUo WQO r.,.Aar.r;KAfl nt. Ynrh fnr til
p r'liristmn.
5 MiRRn in
1
t Syml
Dolical of tl
le Pentecos
tal fire.
aurora, and for offices of Palm Sunday and Easter Eve.
1 For numbered footnotes, see p. 78.
78
a iRitual 3lntroDuction
Comparative Table of Coloors accordino to the English, Roman
, AND Eastern Use — continiied.
E-i
ENGLISH.
ROMAN.
Seasons.
Salisbuey.
<
YOEK.
Wells.
London,
1406-26.
Innocent
III.,
Early,
Late,
Modem.
H
llth-l'ith
century.
15th-16th
centui-y.
d. 1216.
Trinity Sunday
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
White.
White.
Corpus Christi
Red.
Red.i
Red.
White.
White.
After Trinity— Sundays
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Green or
Yellow
Green(?).
Green.
Ferial ....
Red.
Green (?).
Green.-*
Green or
YeUow.
Green.
Green.
Transfiguration and M. Holy Name
Red.
White (?).
Red.i
Red.i»
White.
Holy Cross
Red.
Red.
Blue(?).2
Red.
Red.
Red.
Feasts of Blessed Virgin Mary
No pre-
cise prac-
White.
White or
Blue(?).
White.5
White.
White.
White.
Michaelmas
tical rule
can be
White.
White.
Red.i
Blue and
White.
White.
White.
Apostles— out of Easter
given for
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red.
Red.
Red.
St. John, Port Latin ....
these: the
White.
Red.
Blue(?).i
White.
Red.
Conversion of St. Paul ....
general
Red.
White (?)
Blue. 2
Red.
Red(?).
White.
St. Peter ad Vincula ....
principle
which
Red.
Red.
Red.
Green and
Yellow.
Red(?).
White.
St. John Baptist — Nativity .
regulates
Red.
Red. 7
Red.i
Blue.
White.
White.
,, Decollation
the col-
Red.
Red.
Blue. 2
Red.
not Red.
Red.
Evangelist — out of Easter .
our for
Red.
Red.
Red.i
Red."
Red.
Red.
Martyrs ......
seasons
Red.
Red.
Red. 12
Red.
Red.
Confessors
applies to
Festivals
Yellow.
YeUow.
Blue.
Blue and
Green.
YeUow.
White.
Bishops . . . .
which
are ob-
Yellow(?).
Blue.
Green and
Yellow.
White.«
Doctors
served
by the
YelIow(?).
Red.
Green and
YeUow.
White
Virgin not Martyr — Matron
Eastern
White.
White.
Blue."
White.
White.
White.
All Saints
Church.
Red.
Red(?).
Red.i
Red and
White.
White. 3, 9
White.
All Souls
Purple (?).
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Violet.
Ember Days (out of Whitsuntide)
Red [so in
Chichele's
Pontif.]
Red(?).
Black.
Violet.
Vigil
Purole or
Vio et.
Violet.
Dedication Octave ....
"White.
White.
Red.i
"Media
et alba."
White. 9
White.
Green. 5
Red and
White.
9
Marriage
White (?).
White.
Funeral of an Innocent
White (?).
Black.
Mass of Dead
•
Black(?).
Purple.
Black.
Black.
Black.
OflS.ce of Dead
Purple.
Blue.
Black.
Blue or
Purple.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Processions
Red.
Blue.
Black. 1 ' 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 Cranraer in the year 1542.
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
1 It appears from inventories, etc. (noted by Canon Sim-
mons and Dr. Henderson), that in these instances at York Blue
was used for Red at some altars in the fourteenth and fif-
teenth centuries.
2 White for Blue at some ill-furnished altars in York.
* Green, ibid.
* White or Green, ibid.
5 Red or Blue, ibid.
« At Hereford, as in other English uses, the Red Chasuble
was changed for the Black Cope for the latter part of Good
Friday Service. At Paris Brown, or Black with Red
Orphreys, was used in Passion-tide. The Wells Ordinal
prescribes a Black Cope for the impersonator of Caiaphas as
the one exception to the rule for Red.
' At Lincoln, which otherwise followed Sarum, White was
used on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. This was also
the Parisian colour, and it appears in Archbishop Chichele's
Pontifical in the Library of Trin. CoU. Camb. Purple was
used at Lincoln by the celebrant in solemn obsequies about
1350.
" Some Gallican uses have Green for Bishops and Violet
for Abbats.
* At Exeter (where Bishop Grandisson in 1340 adopted the
London, Canterbury, or Mediaeval Roman sequence) any colour
ad 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.
12 The Wells rule (printed by Mr. H. E. Reynolds, 1881)
gives for a Virgin not Martyr White and Red.
to tbe Iprapet 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 Signifieancy 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 Albe ; [3] the Girdle ; [4] the Stole ; [5] the Phanon,
i.e. the Maniple or Sudarium as i^was a,lso called; [6] the Chasuble, The Rubric in the Prayer
Book of 1549 specifies only — [1] the, Alb^ [2] the Vestment or Cope ; [3] the Tunicle ; but, of course,
it does not exclude the others namef|in imc " Rationale," and, in fact, the whole were in use under the
First Prayer Book. These two lists, ^h<^'>. comprise eight Ornaments which are now to be described.
1. The Amice, Amictus (the Ai : hh Vc^hass and, perhaps, the Eastern Omophdrion seem to
correspond to this, especially the fornir"r).-^gThis4s^a broad and oblong piece of Linen with two strings
to fasten it ; in its more ornate form it is <a||broldered on the outer edge with a rich fillet or otherwise
adorned. When used it is first placed on ^ b^ifca d, then slipped down to and worn on the shoulders
beneath the Albe ; so that, when left somewlil^JpBe, 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 Stolcharion 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 pureness of conscience, and innocency he
ought to have, especially when he sings the Mass."
The Surplice, Sioperpelliceum, Plate II. (whether with or without Sleeves;, and the Rochet,
Rochetum, 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, Cingulum (the Eastern Poyass). — 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 Epitrachelion 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 usually
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 ^linister,
it signifieth the yoke of patience, which he must bear as the servant of God,"
5. The Maniple, Maniptdus, sometimes called Fation or Phanon and Sudm-ium (the Eastern
8o a Eitual JntroDuction to tJje IPtapet IBook
Ejpimanikia and the Russian PdrutcKi ; 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 {see 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, beingJtt|dgfl^dch materials and often embroidered,
or even enriched with jewels. It hangs over the left ^^^^^^^^^brant and his assistants ; it should
be fastened near the wrist, in a loop, to prevent its
The " Rationale " describes its meaning togethLi v. iin li. Jir^toi^^ these words : " In token whereof "
{ie. of patience), "he puts also the Phanon oii his arm. whijchaPmonisheth him of ghostly strength
and godly patience that he ought to have, to vanq\ush •; H I'S^ihq all carnal infirmity.
6. The Chasuble or Vestment, Casula (th-XF; i j IKelonion and the Russian Pheldne or
Phcelonion). — This vesture is worn over the Albe : i _i..u.I . it was nearly or entirely a circular gar-
ment, having an opening in the centre through yhichUh^^ead of the wearer passed ; and thus it fell
gracefully over the shoulders and arms, covering vm/ttj^^ person in its ample folds and reaching nearly
to the feet both before and behind: at a later jBiod it was made narrower at the back and front
by reducing its circular form, and so it freqiicntly rerminated 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 drawing 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 termed) being affixed in the front.
The " Rationale " is thus given : " The overvesture, or Chesible, as touching the Mystery, signifieth
the purple mantle that Pilate's soldiers put upon Christ after that they had scourged Him. And as
touching the Minister, it signifies charity, a virtue excellent above all other."
7. The Cope, Gappa (the Armenian Phelonion is a similar Vestment, and is used instead of the
Chasuble). — It is a kind of frill, 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 1603 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 1549 as the Vestment in which to consecrate.
8. The TuNiCLE, Tunica ; also called, as worn by the Deacon or Gospeller, Dalmatic, Dalmiatica
(the Eastern Stoicharion or Saccus 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 large, 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 Epistoler.
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
OP
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, Ordaining, and Consecrating
OF
BISHOPS, PRIESTS,
AND
DEACONS.
82
Ci)e Citle anti tfte
THE TITLE OF THE PRAYER BOOK.
Common Prayer] This familiar term seems first to have
been used authoritatively in a rubric to the English Litanj' of
15-44 : " 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, " Fublica est nobis et Communis Oratio."
Common Prayer and Public Prayer are not theologically
identical, although the terms are used in the same legal sense
in the respective titles of the two Acts of Uniformity. 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 them." [Matt, xviii.
20.] The Nam£ of God is an expression used with great
frequency in Holy Scripture to denote the authority of God ;
in the same manner as we say, that the official agents of the
Sovereign act in the Name 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 authorized
agents.
Thus, true Common Prayer is that which is ofi"ered in
Divine Service in the Church, by a Bishop 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 presupposes 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
appUed the words of St. Cyprian :^ "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 prayer. "
This kind of prayer is therefore the liighest kind of all.
Other prayer is exalted in kind, and probably 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 communion 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 Prayer. The corporate work
of the Church is distinctly recognized in the administration
of Baptism, and the Holy Communion 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.
otJier rites and ceremonies of the Church] These words claim,
as a matter of course, that the substance of the Prayer Book
is in accordance with the 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 the 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. 2
>• Te Kuptxxii, Kyrke, Church, the House of the Lord.
* On the Lord's Prayer, iv.
3 The phrase " Rites and Ceremonies" iS not at all equivalent to our
modern words Ritual and Ceremonial : but refers to the minor services of
the Church, such as the Commination, or the Churching of Women. Arch-
bishop Cranmer's fourth article of 1536 is a good illustration of the meaning
intended : "IV. Of Rites and Ceremonies. As vestments in God's service ;
sprinkling holy water ; giving holy bread ; bearing candles on Candlemas
Day; giving of ashes on Ash Wednesday; bearing of palms on Palm
Sunday ; creeping to the Cross, and kissing it, and offering unto Christ
before the same on Good Friday; setting up the sepulchre of Christ; hal-
lowing the font, and other like exorcisms, and benedictions, and laudable
costoms : that these are not to be condemned and cast away, bat continued,
according to the use of'lhe Church of England'] This right
was acted upon 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 different 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 "use" only retained its
authority, that of the Church of England.
In modem Prayer Books the words "the United Church of
England and Ireland" were, during about seventy years,
substituted for the words "the Church of England,"
under an Order of Council, dated January 1, 1801 ; but
such an exercise of the Royal 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 common 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 the other : and, in
fact, there are some important variations in the Prayer 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 Enghsh crown, America, the Book of Common Prayer
is still " according to the use of the Church of England. "^
But it is also to be observed that the Irish Act of Uni-
formity 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 Prayer . . •
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 with Cosin's
own volume : but that to the Psalter was not provided. The
Ordinal was bound up with the Prayer Book for the first time
in 1661.
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 freely handled by
modern printers that a work like the present cannot go forth
without an accurate copy 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 bird's-eye view
of the History of the Prayer Book.
to put us in remembrance of spiritual things. But tiiat none of these cere-
monies have power to remit sin." [Strypes Memorials of Cranmer, i. 89,
Eccl. Hist. Soc. ed.]
A rubric at the end of the Elizabethan Prayer Books enjoins also that
" every parishioner shall 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 appointed."
* 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 tiling. In Marriage
Licences, and in Letters of Orders, the old form was used : but in many docu-
ments the alteration had been adopted. It is right to add that in the title-
liage 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 named by the same title in the Bidding of the Bedes, used
in Ireland about the year 1538. [State Pap. Doni. Hen. VIII. ii. 564.]
5 The distinctive title, " Church of England," is very ancient, being found
in Magna Cbarta, where it appears to be used as a familiar phrase.
Cable of Contents.
§ Successive Titles of the Prayer Book:
1549.
1552.
1662.
The Book of the Common Prayer
and Administration of the Sacraments,
and other Rites and Ceremonies of the
Church : after the use of the Church
of England.
Londini in Officina Richardi Graftoni
Regii impressoria. Cum privilegio ad
imprimendum solum. Anno Domini
MDXLix. 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 1549.
The Book of Common Prayer, and
Administration of the Sacraments and
other Rites and Ceremonies in the
Church of England.
IT Londini, in Officina Edwardi
Whytchurche.
IT 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
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 Consecrat-
ing of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
§ Sticcessive Tables of Contents.
1549.
The Contents of this 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, and
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.
1662.
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 and days.
7. An Almanack.
8. The 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 the 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 Communion.
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.
18. 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 of 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 is ap-
pointed to be read.
6. 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. The Order for Evening Prayer.
12. The Creed of S. Athanasius.
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 and 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.
AF ACT
FOR THE
UNIFORMITY OF COMMON PRAYER,'
and Service in the Church, and Administration of the Sacraments,
PriTno Mizahethce. [1 Eliz. c. 2, a.d. 1559.]
WHERE at the death of our late Soveraign Lord King Edward
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 Book of Common Prayer,
and Administration of Sacraments, and other Sites and Cere-
monies in the Church of England, Authorized by Act of
Parliament holden in the fifth and sixth years of our said
late Soveraign Lord King Edward the Sixth, intituled, An
Act/or the Uniformity o/ 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 effect, 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 contrary
notwithstanding.
1 This is the third Act of Uniformity which was passed by Parliament.
The first was that which passed the 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. The original statute is called
of the second and third year of that king, Edward's second year ending on
January 27, 1549, and the royal assent not being given until the third
year. It was repealed, among other Acts, 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 Unifonnity. The following is a summary
of this Act :—
5 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 Mass, 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 xmiform,
quiet, and godly order should be adopted, his Highness has appointed the
Archbishop of Canterbury, with other bishops and learned divines, to
arrange such 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 Church." This " rite and fashion of Common and open Prayer
and administration of the Sacraments, has been, bt the aid of the Holy
Ghost, with one uniform agreement, concluded by them, and is set
forth in the Book of Common Prayer." This form of " Mattins, Evensong,
celebration of tlie Lord's Supper, commonly called the Mass, and adminis-
tration of each of the Sacraments, and all their common and open prayer,"
is therefore to be 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 set forth therein, shall, on conviction by verdict
of a jury, forfeit one of his benefices, and suffer six months' imprisonment
for the first offence ; for the second offence be imprisoned for twelve
months, and forfeit all "his spiritual promotions;" and for the third
offence suffer imprisonment for life. Unbeneficed clergy to be imprisoned
six months for the first offence, and perpetually for the second.
III. No " interludes, plays, songs, rhymes," or any other open words,
are to be allowed to be spoken "in the derogation, depraving, or despising
of the same Book, or of any thing therein contained, or any part thereof."
No one shall forcibly compel a clergyman to use other forms than those of
the Prayer Book, under penalties similar in character to those enacted in
the second clause.
IV. Gives power to the Judges to inquire, hear, and determine all
offences committed contrarjr to this Act.
V. Provides that any Archbishop or Bishop may associate himself with
the Judge in the trial of such offences as have been committed within his
own diocese.
VI. The Prayer Book may be 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 Service
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 Uniformity, to
which the " Second Prayer Book of Edward VI." was annexed :—
§ 5 and 6 Edw. VL c. 1. [a.d. 1552.]
I. 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 church
on Sundays and Holy-days.
II. For refonnation thereof, it is enacted that every person shall duly
attend church, unless they have some reasonable hindrance. 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 otlier
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 force under the provisions of the former Act ; and shall
be put in use by all persons after the Feast of All Saints, under penalties
such as those previously enacted : every Curate reading this Act on one
Sunday in every quarter of a year ; and enforcing the duty of Common
Prayer in an exhortation to his people.
Both these Acts of Uniformity were repealed in 1553, and the authority
of Parliament consequently withd^a^vn from both the Prayer Books, by
the third Act of Parliament passed after Queen Mary's accession [1 Mar.
sess. 2, c. 2]. But this "Statute 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 Unifonnity : the second book (subject to tlie
alterations made in it by Elizabeth's Commissioners) being thus revived,
but not either of the statutes themselves. The Act of Mary's reign was,
however, entirely reiiealed by 1 James I. c. 25, and thus the two Acts of
Edward were revived. Tliey are also said to be made perpetual by 5 Anne,
c. 5, and in the authoritative list of the statutes published in the year 1870
they are set down as still in force.
acts Of Onitdrmttp.
85
[2] And further be it Enacted by the Queens Highness,
with 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 England, Wales,
and the Marches of the same, or other the Queens Dominions,
shall from and after the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John
Baptist next coming, be bounden to say and use the Mattens,
Evensong, celebration of the Lords Supper, and administra-
tion of each of the 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 Edward the Sixth ; with one
alteration, or addition of certain Lessons to be used on every
Sunday in the year, and the form of the Letany 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, [Open Prayer in, and through this Act,
is meant that Prayer, which is for other to come unto, or hear,
either in Common Churches, or private Chappels, 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 Queens Highness, Her Heirs, and
Successors, for his first oflFence, the profit of all his Spiritual
Benefices, or Promotions, coming, or arising in one whole
year next after his conviction : And also that the person so
convicted shall for the same oflFence suffer imprisonment by
the space of six moneths, without Bail, or Mainprise : And if
any such person, once convict of any oflFence 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 oflFence suflFer 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 oflFending were dead : and That, if any such person,
or persons, after he shall be twice convicted in form aforesaid,
shall oflFend against any of the premisses the third time, and
shall be thereof, in form aforesaid, lawfully convicted ; That
then the person so oflFending, and convicted the third time
shall be deprived ip^o facto of aU his Spiritual Promotions,
and also shall suflFer imprisonment during his life : And if the
person, that shall oflFend, 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 oflFending, and convict, shall for the first oflFence suflFer
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 oflFend in any thing concerning the
premisses, and shall in form aforesaid be thereof lawfully
convicted ; That then the same person shall for his second
oflFence suflFer imprisonment during his life.
[3] And it is Ordained, and Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That 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 speak any thing in the deroga-
tion, depraving, or despising of the same Book, or of any
thing therein contained, or any part thereof, 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 minister 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 Cathedral, 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
oflFence an hundred marks : And if any person, or persons,
being once convict of any such oflFence, eftsoons oflFend against
any of the last recited oflFences, and shall in form aforesaid
be thereof lawfully convict ; That then the same person, so
oflFending and convict, shall for the second oflFence 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 oflFence con-
cerning any of the last recited oflFences, shall oflFend the third
time, and be thereof in form abovesaid lawfully convict ;
That then every person, so oflFending and convict, shall for
his third oflFence forfeit to our Soveraign Lady the Queen all
his Goods and Chattels, and shall suflFer imprisonment during
his life : And if any person or persons, that for his first
oflFence 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 oflFence, in stead of the said sum, suflFer
imprisonment by the space of six moneths without Bail or
Mainprise : And if any person, or persons, that for his second
oflFence 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 oflFence, in the
stead of the said sum, suflFer 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 then, 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 oflFending shall for-
feit for every such oflFence twelve pence, to be levied by
the Churchwardens of the Parish, where such ofience shall
be done, to the use of the poor of the same Parish, of the
86
^ct0 Of Oniformitjp.
goods, lands, and tenements of such offender, by way of
distress.
[4] And for due execution hereof, the 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 the Archbishops, Bishops,
and other Ordinaries, that they shall endeavour themselves
to the uttermost of their know^ledges, that the due and true
execution hereof may be had throughout their Diocesse and
Charges, as they will answer 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 and 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 and Statute : Any other Law, Statute,
Priviledge, Liberty, or Provision heretofore made, had, or
suffered to the contrary notwithstanding,
[5] And it is Ordained 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] Provided 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 open 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 Pariah,
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
before the said Feast of the Nativity of Saint John Baptist,
shall 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 persons shall be 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
such Justices of Oyer and Determiner, or Justices of Assise,
next after any offence committed or done, contrary to the
tenour of this Act.
[9] Provided always, and be it Ordained, and Enacted by
the Authority afore said. That all and 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 Mayor of London, and all other
Mayors, Bayliffs, and other Head-officers of all, and singular
Cities, Boroughs, and Towns-corporate within this Realm,
Wales and the Marches of the same, to the 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
Archanyel, in like manner and form, as Justices of Assise,
and Oyer, 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 power and Authority
by vertue of this Act, aswel to enquire in their Visitation,
Synods, or elsewhere within their jurisdiction, at any other
time, and place, to take accusations, and informations of all,
and every the things above mentioned, done, committed, or
perpetrated within the limits of their jurisdiction and Autho-
rity, and to punish the same by admonition, excommunication,
sequestration, or deprivation, or other censures, and processes,
in like form, as heretofore hath been used in like cases by the
Queens 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 Edivard the Sixth, until other order shall be
therein taken by Authority of the Queens Majesty, with the
advice of Her Commissioners, appointed and Authorized
under the great seal of England 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 Christs holy Mysteries
and Sacraments.
[14] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid.
That all Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances, wherein, or whereby
any other Service, Administration of Sacraments, or Common
Prayer is limited, established, or set forth to be used within
this Realm, or any other the Queens Dominions, and Coun-
tries, shall from henceforth utterly be void, and of none
effect.
3cts of ajniformitp.
87
[A few alterations being made in the Prayer Book after the
Hampton Court Conference [see 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 the Elizabethan
Act of Uniformity in all Prayer Books of the reigns of James
I. and Charles I., but was omitted by the Revisers of 1661, the
Caroline Act of Uniformity being substituted for it in the
printed Prayer Books of 1662 and all subsequent dates, ^ For
the 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 King.
If 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 Subjects by the
former Declarations wee have published, what our purposes
and proceedings have been in matters of Religion since Our
coming to this Crown : Yet the same being now by Us re-
duced to a settled Form, wee have occasion to repeat somewhat
of that which hath passed : And now at Our very first entry
into the Eealm, being entertained and importuned with infor-
mations of sundry Ministers, complaining of the errours and
imperfections of tlie Church here aswel in matter of Doctrine,
as of Discipline : Although wee had 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 pleased, ) yet because
the importunitie of the Complainers was great, their affirma-
tions vehement, and the zeal wherewith the same did seem to
be accompanied, very specious : wee were moved thereby to
make it Our occasion to discharge that duety which is the
chiefest of all Kingly dueties, That is, to settle the affairs of
Religion, and the Service of God before their own, which
while wee were in hand to do, as the contagion of the sick-
nesse reigning in Our Citie of London and other places, would
permit an assembly of persons meet for that purpose ; some
of those who misliked the state of Religion here established,
presuming more of Our intents than ever wee gave them cause
to do, and transported with humour, began such proceedings,
as did rather raise a scandall in the Church, then take offence
away. For both 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 moneth 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 the
Church, 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 the 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 indifference and uprightnesse of Our
Judgement in determining, wee leave to the report of those
who heard the same, contenting Our Self with the Sincerity of
Our own heart therein. But Wee 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 The only record of this omission is a MS. note in 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 Proclamation is left out : and heere followeth The Preface wch you
haue 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 why any change should
have been at all in that which was most impugned, the Book
of Common prayer, containing the form of the publike Service of
God here established, neither in the doctrine, which appeared
to bee sincere, nor in the Forms and Rites, which 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. That 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 common Adversary
should have advantage to wrest ought therein contained, to
other sense then the Church of England 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, although we doubt not,
but all Our Subjects, both Ministers and others, will receive
the same with such reverence as appertaineth, and conform
themselves thereunto, every man in that which him concern-
eth : Yet have wee thought it necessary to make known by
Proclamation Our authorizing of the same. And to require and
enjoyn all men, aswell Ecclesiasticall as Temporall, 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 rather, for that all the learned men
who were there present, as well of ye 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 tlieir
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
prayer. And wee think it also necessary, that the said Arch-
bishops, 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
light 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 things, 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 save the King.
AN ACT
FOR THE
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, The
Booh 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 tJie CJmrch, 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 whereof 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 the Provinces of Canterbury and
York, being by his Majesty called and assembled (and now
sitting) 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 the
Making and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ;
And that after mature consideration, they should make such
Additions and 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 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
Administratio7i of the Sacraments, and other Mites and Cere-
monies of the Church, according to the vse 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 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 Officiate in all
Cathedral and Collegiate Churches and Chappels, and in all
Chappels of Colledges and Halls in both the Universities, and
the Colledges of Eato7i and Wincliester, 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
Berivick upon Tweed, 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 Onifotmttp.
89
Prayer, in such order and form as is mentioned in the said
Book, annexed and joyned to this present Act, and Entituled,
The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacra-
ments, and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according
to the use of the Church of England : together loith 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 : and That 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 the Publick Worship
of God (which is so much desired) may be speedily effected,
Be it further 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 Bartholoview, which shall be 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 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, 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 oflFending 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, Chappel, 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) shall once (at the least) in every
month openly and publickly 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 Parish 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 CoUedge, 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-day
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 lawfid upon any pre-
tence whatsoever to take Arms against the King ; and that I do
abhor 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
o/" England, as it is now by Law 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 endeav'our any change, or alteration of Govern-
ment, either in Church, or State; and that the same was in
it self an unlawful Oath, and imj)0sed upon the Subjects of
this Realm against the known Laws and Liberties of this
Kingdom.
90
act0 of Oniformitp,
[10] Which 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 publick 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, shall
lose and forfeit such respective Deanry, Canonry, Prebend,
Mastership, Headship, Fellowship, Professors place. Readers
place. Parsonage, Vicarage, Ecclesiastical Dignity, or Promo-
tion, Curates place. Lecture, and School, and shall be utterly
disabled, and ipso facto deprived of the same ; and that every
such respective Deanry, Canonry, Prebend, Mastership,
Headship, Fellowship, Professors place, Readers place, Par-
sonage, Vicarage, Ecclesiastical Dignity, or Promotion,
Curates place, I^ecture and School shall be void, as if such
person so failing were naturally dead.
[11] And if any Schoolmaster or other person. Instructing
or teaching Youth in any private House or Family, as a Tutor
or Schoolmaster, shall Instruct or Teach any 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 offence suffer three months Imprisonment without bail
or mainprise ; and for every second and other such offence
shall suffer three months Imprisonment without bail or main-
prise, and also forfeit to His Majesty the sum of five pounds.
And after such subscription made, every such 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 enjoyned 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 officiate, in the presence of the Con-
gregation there assembled, in the time of Divine Service ; upon
pain that every person failing therein shall lose such Parson-
age, Vicarage, or Benefice, Curates place, or Lecturers place
respectively, and shall be utterly disabled, and ipso faclo
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 dea<^l.
[12] Provided always, that from and after the Twenty fifth
day of March, which shall be in the 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 I do declare that I do hold there lies no obligation 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 either in Clmrch or State ; And that
the same was in it self an unlawful Oath, and imposed upon the
Subjects of this Realm against the known Laws a)id Liberties of
this Kingdom;
So as none of the persons aforesaid shall from thenceforth
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, which shall be in the
year of our Lord, One thousand six hundred sixty and two,
no person, who now is Incumbent, and in possession of any
Pai'sonage, Vicarage, or Benefice, and who is not already in
holy Orders by Episcopal Ordination, or shall not before the
Feast-day of Saint Bartholomeio 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
upon Tweed; but shall be utterly disabled, and ipso facto
deprived of the same ; and all his Ecclesiastical Promotions
shall be void, as if he was naturally dead.
[14] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That no person whatsoever shall thenceforth be capable to
be admitted to any Parsonage, Vicarage, Benefice, or other
Ecclesiastical Promotion or Dignity whatsoever, nor shall
presume to Consecrate and Administer the holy Sacrament of
the IvORDS Supper, before such time as he shall be Ordained
Priest, according to the form and manner in, and by the said
Book prescribed, unless he have formerly been made Priest
by Episcopal Ordination, upon pain to forfeit for every offence
the sum of One hundred pounds ; (one moyety thereof to the
Kings Majesty, the other moyety thereof to be equally divided
between the poor of the Parish where the offence shall be
committed, and such person, or pei-sons 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 Parish 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, Rites 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 Universities, the CoUedges
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 Govemour, or Head of
every CoUedge and Hall in the said Universities, and of the
said CoUedges of Westminster, Winchester, and Eaton, within
one month after the Feast of Saint Bartholomew, which shall
be in the year of our Lord, One thousand six hundred sixty
and two : And every Govemour or Head of any of the said
CoUedges, or Halls, hereafter to be elected, or appointed,
within one month next after his Election, or Collation, and
Admission into the same Government, or Headship, shall
openly and publickly in the Church, Chappel, or other
Publick place of the same CoUedge, or Hall, and in the pre-
sence of the Fellows and Scholars of the 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 the Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth,
and unto the said Book, and declare his unfeigned assent and
consent unto, and approbation of the said Articles, and of the
same Book, and to the use of all the Prayers, Rites, and
Ceremonies, Forms, and Orders in the said Book prescribed,
and contained according to the form aforesaid ; and that all
such Governours, or Heads of the said CoUedges and Halls,
or any of them as are, or shall be in holy Orders, shall once
at least in every Quarter of the year (not having a lawful
^cts of Onifotmitp.
gt
Impediment) openly 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 the Benefits and Profits belonging to the same |
Government or Headship, by the space of Six months, by the i
Visitor or Visitors of the same CoUedge or Hall ; And if any j
Governour or Head of any CoUedge or Hall, Suspended for j
not Subscribing 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 such Government or
Headship shall be ipso facto void.
[18] 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 Chappels
or other Publick places of the respective CoUedges and Halls
in both the Universities, in the CoUedges of Westminster,
Wincliester, and Eaton, and in the Convocations of the Clergies
of either Province 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 shaU 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 Wales, and Town of Berivick
upon Tweed, unless he be first approved and thereunto
Licensed by the Archbishop of the Province, or Bishop of the
Diocess, or (in case the See be void) by the Guardian 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 hereafter 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
PubUck worship 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 the day, and then and there publickly
and openly declare his assent unto, and approbation of the
said Book, and to the use of aU the Prayers, Rites and Cere-
monies, Forms and Orders therein contained and prescribed,
according to the Form before appointed in this Act; And
also shaU 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, before
his said Lecture or Sermon, openly, pubUckly, 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 Publick '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,
acprding to tbe purport, true 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 CoUegiate
Church or Chappel, it shall be sufficient for the said Lecturer
openly at the time aforesaid, to declare his assent and consent
to all things contained in the said Book, according to the
form aforesaid.
[21] And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid,
That if any person who is by this Act disabled to Preach any
Lecture or Sermon, shall during the 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 the
Common Gaol without BaU 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, shaU, and are hereby required to com-
mit the person or persons so offending to the Gaol of the same
County, City, 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 the said Sermon
or Lecture is to be preached, before such Sermon or Lecture
be Preached ; And that the Lecturer then to Preach shall be
present at the Reading thereof.
[23] Provided nevertheless. That this Act shall not extend
to the University-Churches in the Universities of this Realm,
or either of them, when 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 England, and places aforesaid, shall
stand in full force and strength to all intents and purposes
whatsoever, for the establishing and confirming of the said
Book ; Entituled, The Book of Common Prayer, and Admi-
nistration 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 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 all 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 lawful Authority,
[26] Provided also, and be it Enacted by the Authority
aforesaid, That a true Printed Copy of the said Book,
Entituled, 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 o/ England ; togeUier
loith the Psalter, or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to
he sung or said in Churches: and the form and manner of
Making, Ordaining, and Cor^secrating of Bishops, Priests, and ■
92
Zm of filniformitp.
Deacons, 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 Bartholomeio, 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, Colledge, and Hall, 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 sucli
order among themselves, for the souls health of the Flocks
committed to their Charge vrithin Wales, That the Book here-
unto annexed be truly and exactly Translated into the Brit-
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 aU 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 Tongue ; 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 Wales, where the English Tongue
is not commonly understood.
[28] And tc the end that the true and perfect Copies
of this Act, and the 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, That the respective Deans and
Chapters of every Cathedral, or Collegiate Church, within
England and Wales shall at their proper costs and charges,
before the twenty fifth day of December, 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 true and perfect
Copies of this Act, and of the same Book into the respective
Courts at Westminster, 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
hereunto annexed, and shall have power to con-ect, 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 pui-poses whatsoever, and shall be accounted
as good Records as this Book it self hereunto annexed ; Any
Law or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
[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 Sai'um, 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 sixty 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 Book of Consecration of Archhisho^ys, and Bishoiys,
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 ungodly; And therefore whosoever
are Consecrated or Ordered according to the Rites of tliat Book,
since the second year of the aforenamed King Edward xinto this
time, or hereafter shall be Consecrated or Ordered according to
the same Rites ; We decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and
lawftdly 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 fonn 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 Edward 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 this Church of England, together with the form and
manner of Ordaining, and Consecrating Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons heretofore in use, and respectively established by Act
of Parliament in the First and Eighth years of Queen Elizabeth,
shall be still used and observed in the Church of England,
vintil the Feast of Saint Bartholomeio, which shall be in the
year of our Lord God, One thousand six hundred sixty and
two.
AN ACT
FOR THE
AMENDMENT OF THE ACT OF UNIFORMITY
35 and 36 Victoria, c. 35. [a.d. 1872.]
WHEREAS 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 Report
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 their 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
Second, chapter four, intituled "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
annexed 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 u«e of shortened
this Act, may, on any day except Sunday, ^^^l^^^
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 * g im ._.
special form of service approved by the ordinary, for special
so that there be not introduced into such o<'<'*^«'"»-
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 be Additional
used at any hour on any Sunday or holy-day in 1^^* "^^
any cathedral or church in which there are duly hoiy-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 anthems 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 «ervices.
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 the MS. 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 must, it seems, give way to the former, notwith-
standing the 28th clause in tlie Act of Uniformity itself.
94
^ctsi Of (Knifotmitp*
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 Morning Prayer, without preju-
dice nevertheless to any legal powers vested in the ordinary ;
and any of the said forms of service may be used with or
without the preaching of a sermon or lecture, or the reading
of a homily.
6. Whereas doubts have arisen as to whether a sermon or
lecture may be preached without the common
lermon withont prayers and services appointed by the Book
previous service. q£ 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 prayers 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 service authorized 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 ia tliis Act shall aflfect the provision with respect
Saving of 34 and *** *^® chapels of coUeges in the universities of
36 Vict. c. 26, Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham, which is con-
*■ ■ tained in section six of the Universities Tests
Act, 1871.
8. The schedule to this Act, and the notes thereto and
Effect of directions therein, shall be construed and have
schedule. efifect 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 Morn-
ing Prayer or for Evening Prayer in this schedule, may in
his discretion add in its proper place any exhortation, prayer,
canticle, hymn, psalm, 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 divided in the Book of
Common Prayer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this
schedule, to be a separate psalm.
Shorteked Forms of Service.
The Shortened Order for Morning Prayer daily
THROUGHOUT THE YeAR, EXCEPT ON SUNDAY, CHRISTMAS
Day, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Ascension
Day.
At the leginning of Morning Prayer the Minister shall read
with a lotid voice some one or mvi-e of these sentences of the
Scriptures that follow.
When the wicked man, etc.
A general Confession to he said of the whole Congregation after
the Minister, all kneeling.
Almighty and most merciful Father, etc.
The Absolution, or Remission of sins, to he pronounced by the
Priest alone, standing ; the people still kneeling.
Almighty God, the Father, etc.
The people shall answer here, and at the end of all other prayers,
Amen.
Then tJie Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer vnth
an audible voice ; the, people also kneeling, and repeating it
with him.
Our Father, Which art in heaven, etc.
TTien likewise he shall say,
O Lord, open Thou our lips,
etc. etc. etc.
Here all standing up, the Priest shall say.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Then shall folloio one or more of the Psalms appointed. And
at the end of every Psalm throughotct the year, and likewise at
the end of Benedicite, Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc
dimittis, shall he repeated.
Glory be to the Father, etc.
Then shall be read distinctly, with an audible voice, either the
First Lesson taken out of the Old Testament as is appointed in
the Calendar, or the Second Lesson taken out of the Neiv Tes-
tament, except there be a Proper Lesson assigned for that day,
in which case tJie Proper Lesson shall be read, and if there are
two Proper Lessons each shall he read in its proper place ; he
that readeth so standing and turning himself as he may best
be heard of all such as arepresent.
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, O God, etc.
Or this Canticle, Benedicite, omnia opera.
all ye works of the Lord, etc.
Or tlie Hymn following {except when that shall Jmppen 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 sh^all he 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
shall pronounce with a loud voice.
The Lord be with you.
Answer. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Then the Priest shall say,
O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us,
etc. etc. etc.
Then shall follow three Collects. The first of the day, which
shall he the same that is appointed at the Communion; the
second for Peace ; the third for grace to live well ; and the
two last Collects shall never alter, hut daily he said at Morn-
ing Prayer throughout all the year, as followeth, all kneeling.
The second Collect for Peace. /
God, Who art the Author of peace, etc.
The third Collect fo^' Chace.
O Lord, our heavenly Father, etc.
Here may follow an Anihem or Hymn:
acts of 23niformitp»
95
Then these 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 Christ, etc.
Here endeth the Shortened Order of Morning Prayer,
The Shortened Order for Evening Prayer daily
THROUGHOUT THE YeAR, EXCEPT ON SUNDAY, CHRISTMAS
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 folloio :
When the wicked man, etc.
A general Confession to be said of the lohoU Co7igregation after
the Minister, all kneeling.
Almighty and most merciful Father, etc.
TJie 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 hordes Prayer ; the
people also kneeling, and repeating it with him.
Our Father, Which art in heaven, etc.
Then likewise he shall say,
Lord, open Thou our lips.
Here all standing up, 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 Neio Testament as it
is appointed, except there be a Proper Lesson assigned for that
day, in which case the Proper Lesson shall be read, and ij
there are two Proper Lessons each shall be read in its proper
place ; and after the Lesson, or between the First and Second
Lessons, shall be said or sung in English one of the
follotuing :
Either Magnificat, or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary, t?i
English, as follows:
Magnificat, St. Luke i.
My soul doth magnify the Lord, etc.
Or this Psalm (except it be on the nineteenth day of the month,
tvhen it is read in the ordiiiary course of the Psalms):
Cantate Domino. Psalm xcviii.
sing unto the Lord a new song, etc.
Or Nunc dimittis [or the Song of Simeon}, asfolloweth :
Nunc dimittis. St. Luke ii. 29.
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant, etc.
Or else this Psalm (except it be on the tioelfth day of the month) :
Deus misereatur. Psalm Ixvii.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us, etc.
Then slmll be said or sung the Apostles' Greed by tJie Minister
and the people, standing :
I believe in God the Father Almighty, etc.
And after that, the people all devoutly kneeling, the Minister
shall pronounce vnth a loud voice.
The Lord be with you.
Answer. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Then the Priest shall say,
O Lord, shew Thy mercy upon us,
etc. etc. etc.
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 Even-
ing Prayer without alteration.
The second Collect at Evening Prayer.
O God, from Whom all holy desires, etc.
The 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 endeth 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 Publiclc
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 Rites, 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. 1662.]
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 Rebellion, 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.
The 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 Sanderson, ' ' the Con-
vocation's reasons for the alterations and additions to the
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 this Title, The Preface, and begins
thus, It Jiath been tlie wisdom of the Church, cfcc." In the
Acts of the Upper House of Convocation it is recorded that
' ' on Monday the 2nd of December, the Preface or Introduction
to the Common Prayer Book was brought in and read. " It
was referred to a Committee composed of Wren, Bishop of
Ely ; Skinner, Bishop of Oxford ; Henchman, Bishop of Salis-
bury; and Griffith, Bishop of St. Asaph, and some amend-
ments were made in it as it passed through their hands.
first compiling] This is a phrase which could hardly have
dropped from Sanderson's exact pen. No doubt the period
referred to is that of the Reformation ; but as every page of
the following work will shew, the change which 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 oiim nature 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
own nature. Rites and Ceremonies are "indifferent." Their
importance 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 indifferent in its own nature becomes of high import
through the new character which 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 manners, 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-
mon order of the Church, 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 tJtat are in place of Avihority] 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, that it be
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 this
volume, this principle was carried out by throwing the whole
responsibility of revising the older Prayer Book on the Con-
vocations of Canterbury and York, which officially represented
the Church of England. Statutable authority was given to
the work of the Church by the Crown in Parliament, in 14
Carol. II. c. 4. The principle 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 were
thought convenient."
Cfje IPteface*
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 have 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 erred,
which such men are very hardly brought to do) with their utmost endeavours to hinder the restitution
thereof. In order whereunto divers Pamphlets 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 impetuous assaults] The unreasonable
conduct of those who opposed the restoration of 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 in
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 which
dissenting congregations could not be got to use, any more
than the Church of England could be prevailed on to adopt
it ; and yet on such a private fancy as this most of that bitter
opposition centred. Nor must it be forgotten that "private
interest" was deeply concerned, since the constitutional
restoration of the Church and the Prayer Book necessarily
involved the restoration of the surviving clergy to the bene-
fices which men who were not priests of the Church of
England had wrenched 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 historical statements of what actually occurred ; and
which it was necessary to mention for the sake of explana-
tion, as ordered by Convocation.
The 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 in
our devotion, cast water upon our zeal, quench the Spirit,
practise a standard temptation, prove a sad occasion to the
godly, build up that we have destroyed, and entangle our-
selves again 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 useful to append the titles of some of these
pamphlets that were published before December, 1660 :—
The Old Nonconformist, touching the Book of Common Prayer and Cere-
monies. 4to. 40 pp. 1060.
Presbyterial Ordination vindicated . . . , with a brief discourse concern-
ing imposed Forms of Prayer and Ceremonies. 4to. 48 pp. 1660.
Erastus Junior, by Josiah Webb, Gent., a serious detester of the dregs of
the Anti-christian Hierarchy yet remaining among us. 4to. 1660. [The
author was supposed to be a Bomanist.]
The Judgment 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 Seformation of the jniblic doctrine.
Offered to the consideration of Parliament by divers Ministers of sundry
Counties of England. 4to. 1660.
The Common Prayer unmasked. 4to. 1660.
The Common Prayer Book no Divine Service; or, a small Curb to the
Bishops' Career, etc. By Vavasour Powell. 4to. 1660.
Beam^ of former Light, discovering how evil it is to impose doubtful and
disputable Forms and Practices upon Ministers. 4to. 1660.
Reasons showing 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 Cornelius Burges.
4to. 1660. (■
pamphlets, next to the Prayer Book itself, was ' ' A Collection
of Articles, Injunctions, Canons, Orders, Ordinances, and
Constitutions Ecclesiastical, with other Public Records of
the Church of England ; chiefly in the times of K. Edward
Vlth, Q. Elizabeth, and K. James. Published to vindicate
the Church of England, and to promote Uniformity and
Peace in the same. And humbly 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."
great importunities] This refers to the 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 the other side of those who supported 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 Churchmen had no consciences worth considering. The
Bishops at the Savoy Conference took an opportunity of
vindicating the supporters of the Prayer Book in the follow-
ing plain-spoken language, which is a reply 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 pretence of scruples be sujfi-
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
Church 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 here
desired to be altered) ; which would at once both justify all
those which have so obstinately separated from it, as the only
pious tender-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
Smectymnuus Eedivivus. 4to. 1660.
A Treatise of Divine Worship. Tending to prove that the Ceremonies
imposed upon the Ministers of the Gospel in England in present Contro-
versy, are in their present use unlawful. Printed 1604. 4to. 1660.
[" Exceptions against the Common Prayer" was not printed until 1661,
after the King had yielded to the "importunities" referred to; and was
not therefore one of these pamphlets.]
G
98 Cfte 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, convincing 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 Authority, 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 cavil 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- i cold winter at the grave, half so long as the OflSce of Burial
science." [Card well's Conf. p. 336.] | requireth, without the certain hazard of our lives (though
In wJuch review WE have endeavoured] This is the language while we are in motion we can stay out longer), are bound to
of men who were sure of the ground, constitutional and eccle- i believe your Lordships, that a Cap wiU cure this better than
siastical, upon which they were treading. They could speak a Ruhr., though we have proved the contrary to our cost?
as the Church of England, because the Convocations of Canter- and know it as well as we know that cold is cold. Do you
bury and York faithfully represented her. think no place but that which a cap or clothes do cover, is
Catholick Church of Christ] This is one of many places in capable of letting in the excessively refrigerating air ?
which the position of the Church of England towards the "2. Whether a man that hath the most rational probability,
Catholic Church is taken for granted as sound and firm. if not a moral certainty, that it would be his death, or
Another such has been pointed out already in the Title-page dangerous sickness (though he wore 20 caps) is bound to obey
of the Prayer Book. you in this case ?
frivolous and vain] It is very remarkable to see how **3. Whether usually the most studious, laborious ministers,
trifling these objections, officially made at the Savoy Confer- be not the most invaletudinary and infirm ? and
ence, often were. One of them was to the reading of any part "4. Whether the health of such should be made a jest of,
of the Burial Service at the grave, as the minister was sure to by the more healthful ; and be made so light of, as to be cast
catch cold by doing so. The Bishops replied that a cap would away, rather than a ceremony sometime be left to their dis-
remedy this inconvenience ; and this was the reply given by cretion ? And whether it be a sign of the right and genuine
the Dissenting Ministers : which, though long, is inserted as spirit of Religion, to subject to such a ceremony, both the life
being very characteristic of the tone of the whole objections of godliness, and the lives of ministers, and the people's souls ?
that were offered: "We marvel that you say nothing at all Much of this concerneth the people also, as well as the
to our desire (that it be expressed in a Kubrick, that prayers ministers." [Grand Debate, p. 145.]
and exhortations there used, be not for the benefit of the dead, i It is to be hoped the time can never return when such
but only for the instruction and comfort of the living). You trifling and selfish arguments can be used on such a question,
intend to have a very indiscreet Ministry, if such a needlesse I the growth of Anabaptism] The effect of this upon the
Circumstance may not be left to their discretion. The con- ! generation in which this Preface was written must have been
trivance of a Cap instead of a Ruhr, sheweth that you are all j very awful : and the necessity for the Service spoken of was
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, we could wish you
some of our experience of one sort (by more converse with all
the members of the flock) though not of the other. But we
strongly felt by the Convocation. In a work on the Bills of
Mortality, written in 1665, there are some incidental remarks
which strikingly corroborate those of this Preface : ' ' The
keeping of Parish Registers having been taken out of the hands
of every Parish Minister, and committed to some inferior
would here put these three or four Questions to you. fellow elected by the people, and confirmed by the Justices of
"J. Whether such of ourselves as cannot stand still in the Peace, had been much neglected, and was again reduced into
C6e Ipreface.
99
amongst us, is now become necessary, and may be 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 present 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,
ajid 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 are 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.
1 Grant's Obstructions on the Bills of Mortality. 8vo. 1635.
Convocations of both Frovinces] 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, jjeaceable, 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.
nnHERE was never any thing by the wit of man
so well devised, or so sure established, which,
in continuance of time hath not been corrupted :
As, among other things, it may plainly appear by
the Common Prayers in the Church, commonly
called Divine Seivjice. 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 purpose, 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 congrega-
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
'"VTIHIL enim humano elaboratum ingenio, tam
exactum initio unquam fuit, quin postea,
multorum accedente judicio, perfectius reddi pos-
sit, ut in ipsis etiam ecclesiasticis institutis circa
primitivam prsesertim ecclesiam contigisse vide-
mus.
Et profecto si quis modum precandi olim a
majoribus traditum diligenter consideret, plane
intelligat horum omnium praecipuam ab ipsis
habitam esse rationem.
Tertia, ut religionis quoque futuri magistri
quotidiana sacrae scripturae et ecclesiasticarum
historiarum lectione 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 Scripturse sacrse, qui statis annis temporibus
THE ORIGINAL PREFACE OF a.d. 1549.
This explanatory introduction is supposed to have been
written by Cranmer. 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 the Reformed Roman Breviary of Quig-
nonez lying open before the writer. The passages in the
right-hand column are, with two exceptions, taken from an
edition of 1537, belonging to Queen's College, Oxford, and the
preface to this edition agrees with all the later copies. But
the Paris edition of 1536 (probably following the Roman one
of 1535) differs considerably.^ Our English Preface is most
like the later edition of Quignonez ; 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 Breviary in the Bodleian Library, one at the
British Museum, one at the Routh 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
1537. Others are in private hands.
It has already been mentioned, in the Historical Intro-
1 The writer has not been able to meet with this, but copies from Gue-
KAMuer's Inttitutions Littirgiqves, p. 898,
duction [p. 8], that this Reformed Roman Breviary exercised
some influence upon the reformed English offices. It set us
the example of compression in the services, and also of method.
Quignonez removed the ancient Confession and Absolution to
the beginning 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 which was taken from the Old Testament, and the second
from the New Testament. On festivals, a third 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 Quignonez, and sanctioned by
Paul III. in a Papal bull, were more sweeping in their character
than those of our own reform. It is evident from his preface
that others, beside himself, were engaged 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, those of Rome and England.
tJie ancient Fathers] This designation is used in its ordinary
sense for the ancient writers of the Church antecedent to the
Middle Ages. So the great collection of their minor writings
in thirty folio volumes is entitled Bibliotheca Maxima Vfi^
tenim Patrum, ed. 1677.
Concerning: tfje ^ettiice of tfte Cburcft*
lOI
Responds, Verses, vain Repetitions, Commemora-
tions, and Synodals; 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. Paul 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 ears 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
Noctum : 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, here
is set forth such an Order, whereby the same shall
legendi erant more majorum . . . vix dum incepti
omittuntur in alio breviario. Turn historise sancto-
rum qusedam tam incultae, et tam sine delectu
scriptse habentur in eodem, ut nee authoritatem
habere videantur nee gravitatem. [Ut exemplo
esse possunt liber Genesis, qui incipitur in Septua-
gesima, liber Isaise, qui in Adventu, quorum vix
singula capitula perlegimus: ac eodem modo
cetera Veteris Testamenti 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 comparanda, quae quotidie agita-
tione linguae magis quam intentione mentis incul-
cantur.]
. . . et psalmorum plerisque omissis, pauci singulis
fere diebus repeterentur.
Accedit tam perplexus ordo, tamque difficilis pre-
candi ratio, ut interdum paulo minor opera in
requirendo ponatur, quam, cum inveneris, in
legendo.
more majoruni] Later on occur also the following words :
"Ac illucl ante omnia visum nobis est in consuetudinem revo-
care, 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. The writer
has been obliged to quote it from Gueranger, not being able to
meet with this edition in England.
Responds] 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 practice, in moderation, is a very
excellent one.^
Verses'] Versicles following the Responds.
vain Repetitions] The same words being said over and over
again ; first, perhaps, in the Lesson, then in the Kespond, and
again in the Verse. A similar form of repetition may be seen
in the Aspersio printed at p. 6.
Commem,orations] Collects, or Collects and Versicles, com-
memorative of Saints or of Festivals.
Synodals] The provincial constitutions or canons which were
read in parish churches after the conclusion of synods. The
reading of them after the lessons 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. Maskell observes
that it was not possible for the same service to occur on the
same Sunday of the year twice running ; and it will be seen
that Quignonez and our Reformers did not overstate the case
1 Set. notes on the " Te Deuin," where the 9th Respond for Festivals in
Advent 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 de Dominica Prima Adventus.
"LITERA DOMINICALIS A.— Tertia Decembris tota
cantetur Historia Aspiciens. Secundse Vesperse erunt de
Sancto Osmundo, cum pleno servitio in crastino ; et solennis
memoria de octava, et de Dominica, et de Sancta Maria cum
antiphona Ave Maria. — Feria 2 de S. Osmundo : ix. lectiones :
omnia de Communi unius Conf essoris 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
praetermittantur ; et Missa de oct. S. Andreas dicitur in
capitulo.
"LIT. DOM. B. — Quinto Cal. Dec. tota cantetur hist.
Aspiciens, et mem. de S. Maria. — Fer. 2, 6, et sabb. 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 Letters.
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
thought to have been derived from iriva^, an index, or table,
from the wooden boards on which the directions 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.
I02
Concemmg: tfje ^ettjice of tftc Cburcb.
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, Invita-
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 are 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 Rifles 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 jfrom 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 saepe morentur
cum molestia quaeritandi, locum relinqui voluimus
continenti lectioni Scripturae Sacrse , . .
Habet igitur hsec precandi ratio tres maximas
commoditates. Primam, quod precantibus simul
acquiritur utriusque Testamenti peritia. Secun-
dum, quod res est expeditissima propter summam
ordinis simplicitatem et nonnullam brevitatem.
Tertiam, quod historise sanctorum nihil habeant,
ut prius quod graves, et doctas aures offendat.
quasdam omisimus illis nee probabilitate nee
gravitate pares ...
[Rectum quoque duximus ut vel intra provinciam
[Lyons] nostram sacrorum ordo et psallendi una
sit consuetude : et sicut unam cum Trinitatis con-
fessione fidem tenemus, unam et officiorum regulam
teneamus, ne variata observatione in aliquo devotio
nostra discrepare credatur.
Cone. Vannes, A.D. 461, Canon xv.]
feio 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 shall 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, from any idea that the passage was an unworthy
one, but because it was so entirely out of date when the press
had made the advance it had in 1661. Although, moreover,
the passage was applicable to the case of poor parish 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 by most of the clergy and choirs
in one or other class of Churches, separate Breviaries, Missals,
Manuals, Antiphonaries, "Service" Books, Psalters, and
Lectionaries ; tho whole volume of the Holy Bible being now
used for the latter, instead of those parts only which are
needed for the daily and proper Lessons.
but one Us*'] Another part 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
way 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
will weigh their labour, with
the profit and knowledge
which daily they shall obtain
by reading upon the book, 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
onmia ex libro legi, cum multa
in alio quae propter frequentem
repetitionem ediscuntur me-
moriter pronuntientur, com-
penset cum hoc labore cog-
nitionem Scripturae Sacrae,
quae sic indies augescit ; et in-
tentionem animae, quam Deus
ante omnia in precantibus re-
quiret : banc enim majorem
legentibus, quam memoriter
prosequentibus adesse necesse
est : et hujusmodi laborem non
modo fructuosum, sed etiam
salutarem indicabit.
Concerning toe ^ertjice of tbe Cbutcf)*
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, the
words corresponding to "the parties" are "the doers and
executors of the same rites and ceremonies." [2 and 3 Edw.
VI. sec. 1.] In the Elizabethan Latin Prayer Book [a.d. 1560]
the passage is translated, ' ' constitutum est, ut quoties dubia
occumint 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.d.
1604.
53. No 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-
with signify the same to the said Bishop, and not suffer the
said Preacher any more to occupy that place which he hath
once abused, except he faithfully promise to forbear all such
matter of contention in the Church, until the Bishop hath
taken further order therein ; who shall M'ith all convenient
speed so proceed therein, that public satisfaction may be
made in the congregation where the offence Avas given. Pro-
vided, that if either of the parties offending 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.
who by his discretion shall take order] That is if he is re-
sorted to by 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 comers 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.
And if the Bishop of the Diocess be in doubt] This provision
for a rare emergency was added in 1552.
I04
CJ)e latin lprai?ei* T5ock.
T
HOUGH it be appointed, That all things shall be read and sung in the Church in 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 LATEST PRAYER BOOK.i
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 the tongues in the Universities of Cambridge and
Oxford, to use and exercise 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, the
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 Service.^ 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 Version of the 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, because 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 Censura 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 had of our English services
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
fides so ostentatiously put forth on the title-page.
This version was, however, the foundation of that issued
by Queen Elizabeth in 1560, having been revised by Walter
Haddon.4 But Queen Elizabeth's Latin Prayer Book diff"ers
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 this Latin version an Office, "/«
commendationibtis Bene/aetorum," and another, "Celebratio
1 Whitaker's Greek version was printed in 1569 ; Durel's in 1664.
8 An authorized French translation was printed by Archbishop Gran-
mer's order in 1552. In a letter to Secretary Cecil [Strype's Memorials,
iii. 698, Eccl. Hist. Soc] the Archbishop says that this was first done by
*ir Hugh Paulet's commandment (who was Governor of Calais), and over-
seen by the Lord Chancellor (Goodrich, Bishop of Ely) and others, being
afterwards revised by a learned Frenchman who was a Doctor of Divinitj"
This revision was for the second book of Edward VI., and was printed in
1553.
3 " Ordinatio Ecclesise, seu Ministerii Ecclesiastici, in florentissimo Regno
AnglisB, conscripta sermone patrio, et in Latinam linguam bona fide con-
versa, et ad consolationem Ecclesiarum Christi, ubicunque locorum ac
gentium, his tristissimis temporibus, edita ab Alexandre Alesio, Scoto,
Sacrse Theologiae Doctore. Lipsise. MDLI."
•* " Liber Precum Publicarum, seu Ministerii Ecclesiastice administrationis
Sacramentorum, aliorumque rituum & ceremoniarum in Ecclesia Anglicana.
Cnm privilegio Rcgise Majestatis."
coence Domini, in funehribus, si amid et vicini defuncti com-
municare velint." These two offices were specially mentioned
as "peculiaria qusedam" in the Letters Patent. The book
was reprinted in 1574 and in 1596, and is to be found in a
modem 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 precandi
privatim tdi hortamur omnes reliquos Ecdesice nostrce Anglicana;
ministros, ctijuscimque gradus fuerint, iis diebus, quibus aut nan
solent, aut non tenentur parochianis suis, ad cedem sacram x>'>'0
more accedentibus, publice preces vernacida lingua, secundumfor-
mam dicti Statuti, recitare. " Which exhortation may be taken
as a contemporary interpretation of the 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, which 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 ofiicially 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's
Version had any actual authority given 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
affairs ; and it is not unlikely that further evidence may be
discovered on the subject.
Dean Durel's Latin Version is a most excellent one, whether
it is viewed as to scholai-ship, theology, or loyalty to the
Church of England. The 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 Precum Publicarum in Usum Ecclesise Cathedralis Christi. Oxon.
Oxoniae. 1660."
6 " Liturgia, seu Liber Precum Communium, et administrationis Sacra-
mentorum, aliorumque Rituum atque Ceremoniarum Ecclesise, juxta
Usum Ecclesise Anglicanse: uni cum Psalterio seu Psalmis Davidis, ea
punctatione distinctis, qua Cantari aut Recitari debent in Ecclesiis.
Itemque Forma et Modus Faciendi, Ordinandi et Consccrandi Episcopos,
Presbyteros, Diaconos. Londini, excudit Rogerus Nortonus, Regius in
l>atinis, Gra-ois et Hebraicis typographus ; va>neuntque apud Sam. Meame,
Regium Bibliopolarum in vico vulgariter dicto Little-Britaine, 1670."
7 It was ])robably his connection with the French chapel of the Savoy
which led Durel to translate the Prayer Book into French. This version
lias been used ever since in the Channel Islands, though others of a Pro-
testant character have also been introduced in modem times. Tlie follow-
ing is its title : " La Liturgie, c'est k dire, Le Formulaire des Prieres
Publiques, de TAdnjinistration des Sacrements,, et des autres Ceremonies
et Coutumes de I'Eglise, selon I'usage de I'Eglise Anglicane, avec le
Pseautier ou les Psaumes d^ David, Ponctuez selon qu'ils doivent estre ou
chantez ou lefts dans les Eglises. A Londres : Pour Jean Dunmore et
Ootavien PuUeyn le Jeune a I'Enseigne du Roy en la petite Bretagne, 1667."
Durel wi-ot« several learned works, explaining the position, doctrines, and
worship of the Church of England.
8 Liber rreciim Publicarum Ecdesice Anglicance. A. Guhelmo Beight,
Pritjate anti IputJlic Paging of tfte ^ertJiceis 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 ministereth 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 Whitaker, afterwards Professor of Divinity at Cam-
bridge, who was a nephew of Dean Nowell, to whom the
work is dedicated. This was printed by Wolf, and is dated
"23 Maii 1569." But it contains only the Morning and
Evening Prayer, the Litany, the Collects, and the Catechism.
A complete Greek version was made by Dean Durel in 1664,
and dedicated to Archbishop Sheldon. It was printed in very
small-sized type and volume by Field, the University printei-.
PRIVATE SAYING OF THE SERVICES DAILY BY
THE CLERGY.
The second paragraph of the above Appendix to the Preface
of 1549 enjoins the Clergy to say the Daily Offices constantly
either privately or openly, unless hindered by some urgent
cause. This direction has undergone the following changes : —
1552.
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 preach-
ing, studying of di-
vinity, or by some
other urgent cause.
1662.
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.
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 serve
the congregation.
In the Scotch Prayer Book of 1637 the words were added,
* ' of which cause, if it be frequently pretended, they are to
make the bishop of the diocese, or the archbishop of the pro-
vince, the judge and allower." Bishop Cosin also added to
"urgent cause," "which the Bishop of the Diocese shall
approve." But the present form 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," the
words "when conveniently they may," and these words have
been crossed out with the pen, on what authority, or by whom,
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 view ; and so also does the
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 Universitatis
in Acad. Oxon. Sociis, Latine Redditus. Rivington, Londini, Oxonii, Can-
tabrigiae. 1869. Editio Altera.
ing to "a convenient time before he begin," — "which may
be any hour between six and ten of the clock in the morning,
or between two and six of the clock in the evening:" and
although his alteration was not adopted, it serves to shew us
what were then considered the canonical limits of the times
for Mattins and Evensong.
The Laity should never allow their Clergy to find the House
of God empty when they go there to carry out this most
excellent rule of the Church. In the fifteenth Canon, which
directs ' ' the Litany to be read on Wednesdays and Fridays, "
there is an injunction which shews in what manner the
practice of Daily Service ought to be kept up by the 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;
whereunto ice ivish evei'y householder dwelling within half a mile
of the Church to come, or send one at the least of his household,
fit to join with the Minister in prayers. " It was undoubtedly
the intention of the first Reformers, and of all who at any
time revised our Services, to have them used daily, Morning
and Evening, openly in the Church, by the Clergy and as many
of the Laity as may be able to attend. Many endowments
have been left for assisting to carry out this intention of the
Church; and the practice 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-sixth of what
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 countiy 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
that 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
•who frequently join in Divine Service which can only be fully
known by experience, but which will then be appreciated as
blessings not otherwise to be obtained. [5] The service of
the Sanctuary is the most real and true form of that daily
Morning and Evening worship for which Family Prayer has
been originated as an imperfect substitute ; for it is the true
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 Service 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 blinded 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 referred. 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 he done among you,
saith S. Paul, in a seemly and due order : The
appointment of the which order pertaineth 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 the course taken at the Reformation
with respect to the Ceremonial part of Divine Worship was
probably written by Archbishop Cranmer, 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 the more plain Explication and decent
Ministration of Things contained in this Book.
"In the saying or singing of Matins and Evensong, baptiz-
ing and burying, the Minister, in parish churches and chapels
annexed to the same, shall use a surplice. And in all cathe-
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 places, 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.
"H And whensoever the Bishop shall 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 stafi" in
his hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain.
"H As touching kneeling, crossing, holding up of hands,
knocking upon the breast, and other gestures, they may be
used or left, as every man's devotion serveth, without blame.
"IT Also upon Christmas Day, Easter Day, the Ascension
Day, Whit-Simday, 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 the Litany.
"IT If there be a sermon, or for other great cause, the Cur-
ate, by his discretion, may leave out the Litany, Gloria in
Excelsis,^ the Creed, the Homily, and the Exhortation to the
Communion."
S 1 The omission of this is not qnite so strange as it seems at first : " Ab
Advcntu Domini usque ad Nativitatem ejus [ab Septuagesima usque in
Coenam Domini, cap. xlvii.], Te Deum Laudamus, Gloria in Excelsis Deo,
ke missB est, dimittimus, quia major gloria Novi Testamenti, quam Veteris,
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 [a.d. 1549], it also is here
reprinted, so as to bring them under one view : —
" H Upon the day, and at the time appointed for the minis-
tration of the holy Communion, the Pnest that shall execute
the holy 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 their explanation or apology.
institution of man'\ The distinction implied in these words
shews that Archbishop 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 the first instances,
by 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
idolatry, and thus "obscured the glory of God"* instead of
presenting it more clearly to the eyes of His worshippers.
cujus tyimm infra Adventum Domini observamus." [Micrologus de Ecc.
Observdt. cap. xxx.] It was likewise omitted in Septuagesima and on
Innocents* Day. There was also a limitation of its use on Palm Sunday,
"in Ecclesiis in quibus chrisma conficitur, et non in aliis" [Durand.
Ration, div. off. vi. 75. 2] : and one of the first rubrics in the Sacramentary
of St. Gregory is, " Quando vero Litania agitur, neque Gloria in Excelsis
Deo, neque Alleluia canitur."
' Aug. Ep. 55 ad Januarium, c. xix. | 35 (al. Ep. 119).
©f 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 Keligion 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 jiist
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 be 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 away because the great excess] The minute
directions given in the rubrics of the old Service-books often
occupy page after page, while the prayers to which they are
annexed occupy only a few lines ; and it must be a matter of
grave doubt, whether 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 the
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 corruption on the other, "that the abuses could not well
be taken away, the thing remaining still j" a state of things
had in fact grown up which required strong measures for its
reformation.
whereof 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 oflFence to the piety of some and the 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 intellect in drunken-
ness. My opinion therefore is that wherever it is possible, all
those 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 diflferent customs of different
places, that it is with difficulty, if at all, that the reasons
which giaided men in appointing them can be discovered. For
even although nothing be found, perhaps, in which they are
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 the 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 chaflf 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 now as concerning those persons] 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 had been.
io8
£Df Ceremonies*
setting forth of Christ's Religion) is always to be
eschewed. Furthermore, 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
p«t 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.
tee condemn no other Nations] This excellent sentence
strongly illustrates the temperate spirit in which the official
work of the Reformation of the Church of England was con-
ducted. Recognizing the 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 the advocates
of change and reconstruction only within the bounds of their
legitimate jurisdiction. So sound a principle deserves the
highest respect, and should be acted upon at all times. Had
it been adhered to by the foreign party as well as by the
official guides of the Reformation, a great schism would have
been prevented.
diversely in divers countries'] 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 diflfereut system, and under
diflerent 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 different 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 approval and imitation, un-
less restrained by fear of doing greater harm than good
by this course, through the infirmity of others." [Aug. Eji.
Iv. 34.]
THE ORDER
HOW THE PSALTER IS APPOINTED TO BE READ.
rpHE 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 January, 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
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 was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : luorld without end. Amen.
next month ensuing.
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 Introdnotion to the Psalms.
[A.D. 1871.] I [A.D. 1662.]
THE ORDER
HOW THE REST OF HOLY SCRIPTURE IS APPOINTED TO BE READ.
n^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 dififerent) 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 indications in the writings of the Fathers,
in the Apostolical Canons and Constitutions, and in othc'
Christian writings, that Scripture Lections or "Lessons" were
in use in another form than in that of Eucharistic Gospels and
Epistles, from the earliest ages of the Christian Church. It
may almost be said to be inevitable that the possession of so
Cf)e ^potem of tbe lessons;.
Ill
Note also, That the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel appointed for the Sunday shall serve all the
week after where it is not in this book otherwise ordered.
rich a treasure as the Holy Scriptures of the Old and 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 reconstructed in the fifth and 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 Amalarius
[a.d. 820-27], and is shewn in the following Table side by
side with the Prayer Book system : —
§ Table shelving Ancient and Modem Systems of Lessons.
Seasons.
Advent.
Possible Lrarrs
OF Seasons.
November 27th.
December 24th.
Christmas
and
Epiphany.
Septnagesima
to
Passion Sunday.
Passion Sunday
to
Easter.
Easter
Week.
Octave of
Easter
to Pentecost.
Pentecost
" to
Advent.
December 25th.
January.
February 16th.
Januarj' 18th.
February.
March.
April 11th.
March 8th
April 25th.
March 22nd.
April.
May 1st.
March 29th.
April.
May.
June 13th.
May 10th.
June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
December 2nd.
Ancient System.
Modern English System.
Sundays.
A.D. 1662.
Isaiah.
St. Paul's Epistles.
Genesis
and
Exodus.
Jeremiah.
Gospels.
Revelation,
Acts,
Catholic
Epistles.
Kings
and
Chronicles.
5 Books of Solomon.
Isaiah.
Pentateuch.
Job, Tobit,
Ezra, Esther.
Maccabees.
Ezekiel, Daniel,
and Twelve
Minor Prophets.
Joshua —
Kings,
Jeremiah —
Habakkuk,
Proverbs.
A.D. 1871.
Isaiah [4tli
Sunday, Job ;
5th and 6th
Sundays, Pro-
verbs].
Pentateuch.
Joshua-
Chronicles,
Jeremiah —
Malachi.
Daily.
A.D. 1662.
Isaiah
[Nov. 23rd-
Dec. 31st].
Pentateuch
[Jan. 1st—
March 10th]
Joshua —
Esther
[March 11th-
June 8rd].
Job —
Ecclesiastes
[June 4th —
July 16th].
Jeremiah —
Malachi
[July 17th—
Sept. 27th].
Tobit—
Bel and Dragon
[Sept. 28th—
Nov. 23rd].
Isaiah
[Nov. 19th-
Dec. 31st].
Pentateuch
[Jan. 1st —
March 31st].
Lamentations
[Holy Week].
Joshua-
Esther
[April 1st —
June 28th].
Job — Eocles.
[June 30th —
Aug. 8th.]
Jeremiah —
Malachi
[Aug. 9th—
Oct. 27th].
Wisdom—
Baruch
[Oct. 29th—
Nov. ISth].
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 the
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 short 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, probably,
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,
1 On the Jewish system of Lessons, see 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. " [Cham-
bers' /S'ar. PsaU. p. 48, from the Arlmgham Breviary \n Salisb.
Cath. ] The principal officiating minister thus used his dis-
cretion as to the length of the Lesson, stopping the I'eader as
soon as he thought fit.
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
Churcli to a degree of pointedness which it never really
attained, and which perhaps it was almost beyond human
112
IProper le^son^.
t PROPER LESSONS
TO BE READ AT MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER ON THE SUNDAYS AND OTHER HOLY-DAYS
THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
f LESSONS PEOPER FOR SUNDAYS.
[1871.]
[1662.]
Mattins.
Evensong.
Mattins.
Evetisong.
Sundays of Advent.
The first.
Isaiah i.
Isaiah ii. or Isaiah iv. v. 2.
Tsaiah
i.
Isaiah ii.
ii.
V.
xi. to V. 11 „ xxiv.
V.
xxiv.
iii.
XXV.
xxvi. „ xxviii. v. 5 to ». 19.
XXV.
xxvi.
iv.
XXX. to V. 27.
xxxiL „ xxxiii. V. 2 to V. 23.
XXX.
xxxii.
Sundays after Chrntmas.
The first.
XXXV.
xxxviii. „ xi.
xxxvii.
xxxviii.
ii.
xlii.
xliii. „ xliv.
xii.
xliii.
Sundays after the Epiphany.
Tlie first.
Ii.
Iii. i;. 13 and Hii „ liv.
xliv.
xlvi
ii.
Iv.
Ivii. „ Ixi.
IL
liii.
iiL
Ixii.
Ixv. „ Ixvi.
iv.
Ivi.
iv.
Job xxvii.
Job xxviii „ Job xxix.
Mi.
Iviii.
V.
Prov. i.
Prov. iii. „ Prov. viii.
lix.
Ixiv.
vL
ix.
xi. „ XV.
Ixv.
Ixvi.
Septuagesima.
1 Lesson.
Gen. i. and ii. to v. 4.
Gen. ii. v. 4 „ Job xxx^iii.
Gen.
L
Gen. iL
2 Lesson.
Rev. xxi. to V. 9.
Rev. xxi. V. 9 to xxii. v. 6.
Sexagesima.
1 Lesson.
Gen. iii.
Gen. vi. „ Gen. viii.
iii.
vi.
Quinquagesima.
1 Lesson.
ix. to V. 20.
xii. „ xiii.
ix. to V. 20.
xii.
Sundays in Lent.
The first. 1 Lesson.
xix. V. 12 to V. 30.
xxii. to V. 20 „ xxiii.
xix. to V. 30.
xxii.
ii
xxvii. to V. 41.
xxviii. ,, xxxii.
xxvii.
xxxiv.
iii
xxxvii.
xxxix. „ xl.
xxxix.
xlii.
iv.
xlii.
xliii. „ xlv.
xliii.
xlv.
V. »
Exod. iii.
Exodus v. „ Exodus vi. to v. 14.
Exod.
iiL
Exod. V.
vL
ix.
X. „ xi.
ix.
X.
2 Lesson.
Matt. xxvi.
Luke xix. v. 28 „ Luke xx. v. 9 to v. 21.
Matt.
xxvi.
Heb. V. to t>. 11.
Easter Day.
1 Lesson.
Exod. xii. to V. 29.
Exodus xii. r. 29 ,, Exodus xiv.
Exod.
xii.
Exod. xiv.
2 Lesson.
Rev. i. V. 10 to V. 19.
John XX. V. 11 tor. 19 ,, Rev. v.
Rom.
vi.
Acts ii. V. 22.
Sundays after Easter.
The first. 1 Lesson.
Num. xvi. to V. 36.
Num. xvi. r. 36 ,, Num. xvii. to v. 12.
Num.
xvi.
Num. xxii.
2 Lesson.
1 Cor. XV. to V. 29.
John XX. V. 24 to r. 30.
IL 1 Lesson,
iii.
Num. XX. to V. 14.
xxii.
Num. XX. V. 14 to xxi. V. 10 „ xxi. v, 10.
xxiii. xxiv,
iv.
XXV.
Deut V.
xxiii. ,, xxiv.
Deut.
iv.
Dent. iv. to v. 23.
Deut. iv. V. 23 to t'. 41 „ Dent. v.
vi.
Vii.
v. „
vi
ix. „ X.
viii.
ix.
Sunday after Ascension Day.
1 Lesson.
XXX.
xxxiv. „ Joshua i.
xii.
xiii.
Whitsunday.
1 Lesson.
xvi. to V. 18.
xvi. to V. 18.
Isaiah xi.
Isaiah xi. ,, Ezekiel xxxvi. v. 25.
2 Lesson.
Rom. viii. to v. 18.
Gal. V. V. 10 ,, Acts xviii. v. 24 to xix.
Acts
X. V. 34.
Acts xix. to V. 21.
Trinity Sunday.
[V. 21.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah vi. to v. 11.
Gen. xviii. „ Gen. i. and ii. to v. 4.
Gen.
i.
Gen. xviii.
2 Lesson.
Rev. i. to V. 9.
Eph. iv. to V. 17 „ Matt. iii.
Matt.
iiL
1 John V.
Sundays after Trinity.
The first.
Josh. iiL V. 7toiv.t;.15.
Joshua V. V. 13 to vi. r. 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. iiL „ 1 Sam. iv. to v. 19.
ISam
. ii.
1 Sam. iii.
iv.
xu.
xui. „ Ruth i.
xii.
xiii.
V.
XV. to V. 24.
xvi. „ 1 Sam. xvii.
XV.
xvii.
VL
2 Sam. i.
2 Sam. xii. to v. 24 ,,2 Sam. xviii.
2 Sam
. xii.
2 Sam. xix.
vii.
1 Chron. xxi
1 Chron. xxii. „ 1 Chron. xxviii. to v. 21.
xxi.
xxiv.
viu.
xxix. r. 9 to i>. 29.
2 Chron. i. „ 1 Kings iii.
1 Kings xiii.
1 Kings xvii.
ix.
1 Kings X. to V. 25.
1 Kings xi. to v. 15 „ xi. v. 26.
xviii.
xix.
X.
xii.
xiiL „ xvii.
xxi.
xxii.
xi.
xviii.
xix. „ xxi.
2 Kings V.
2 Kings ix.
xii.
xxiL to r. 41.
2 Kings ii. to v. 16 „ 2 Kings iv. v. 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.
xviiL
xix. „ xxiii. to v. 31.
xxxv.
xxxvi.
xvi.
2 Chron. xxx\i.
Nehem. i. and ii. to r. 9 „ Nehem. viii.
Ezek.
ii.
Ezek. xiii.
xvii.
Jerem. v.
Jerem. xxii. ,, Jerem. xxxv.
xiv.
xviii.
xviii.
xxxvi.
Ezekiel iL „ Ezekiel xiiL to v. 17.
XX.
xxiv.
xix.
Ezekiel xiv.
xviii. „ xxiv. v. 15.
Dan.
iii.
Dan. vi.
XX.
xxxiv.
xxxvii. „ Daniel i.
Joel
iL
Micah vL
xxi.
Daniel iiL
Daniel iv. „ v.
Hab.
ii.
Prov. i.
xxii.
vL
viL V. 9 „ xii.
Prov.
iL
iiL
xxiii.
Hosea xiv.
Joel ii. V.21 „ Joel iii. v. 9.
xL
xii.
xxiv.
Amos iii.
Amos V. „ Amos ix.
xiii.
xiv.
XXV.
Micah iv. andv.tor. 8.
Mieah vi. „ Micah vii.
XV.
xvi.
xxvi.
Habak. ii.
Habak. iii. „ Zeph. iii.
xvii.
xix.
xxvii.
Eccles. xi. and xiL
Haggai ii. to v. 10 „ Malachi iii. and iv.
Note.— That the Lesson
i 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 devotionally trained minds, it would
not produce the effect desired upon mixed congregations, and
was better fitted for monastic than for popular use.
Some changes in the direction of our present Lectionary
were made in the new and reformed editions of the Salisbury
Portiforium, which were printed in 1516 and 1531 : and more
extensively by Cardinal Quignonez in his Reformed Roman
Breviary of 15.36. In this latter, two Lessons were appointed
for ordinary days, one from the Old and another from the
Ipropet iLessons
1 1
IT LESSONS PROPER FOR HOLYDAYS.
1871.
1662.
1871.
1662.
Mattint.
Evensong.
Mattins.
vensong.
Mattins.
Evensong.
Mattins.
Evensong.
St. Andrew.
~~—.
Easter Even.
1 Lesson.
Isa. liv.
Isa. Ixv. to V. 17.
Proverbs xx.
Proverbs xxi.
1 Lesson. Zechariah ix.
Hosea v. ti. 8 to
Zech. ix.
Exodus xiii.
2 Lesson.
John i. V. 35 to w.
Johnxii. D. 20to».
1
[vi. V. 4.
St. Thomas.
[«.
, . V t^-
2 Lesson. Luke xxiii. v. 50.
Rom. vi. to V. 14.
Luke xxiii. v. 50.
Hebrews iv.
1 Lesson.
Job xlii. to V. 7.
Isaiah xxxT.
xxiii.
xxiv.
Monday in
2 Lesson.
John XX. u. 19 to
John xiv. to v. 8.
Easter Week.
It'ativit!/ of
[«. 24.
1 Lesson. Exod. xv. to v. 22.
Cant. ii. v. 10.
Exodus xvi.
Exodus xvii.
Christ.
[v. 17.
fr. 17.
2 Lesson. iLukexxiv.tow.lS.
Matt, xxviii. to v.
Matt, xxviii.
Acts iii.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah ix. to v. 8.
Isaiah vii. v. 10 to
Isaiah ix. to v. 8. Isaiah vii. v. 10 to
Tuesday in
[10.
2 Lesson.
Luke ii. to v. 15.
Tit. iii. v. 4 tow. 9.
Luke ii. to v. 15. Tit. iii. v. 4 to v. 9.
1 Easter Week. \
St. Stephen.
[15 to V. 23.
1 Lesson. 2 Kings xiii. v. 14
Ezek. xxxvii. tow.
Exodus XX.
Exodus xxxii.
1 Lesson.
(Jen. iy. to v. 11.
2 Chron. xxiv. v.
Proverbs xxviii. Eccles. iv. [v. 55.
[to V. 22.
[15.
2 Lesson.
Acts vi.
Acts Tiii. to V. 9.
Acts vi. V. 8 and .\cts vii. v. 30 to
2 Lesson.
John xxi. to v. 15.
John xxi. V. 15.
Luke xxiv. to W.13.
1 Cor. XV.
St John Evan-
t [vii. to V. ;iO.
St. Mark.
oelist.
1 Lesson.
I
I Lesson.
Isaiah Ixii. v. 6.
Ezek. i. to v. 15.
Ecclus. iv.
Ecclus. V.
Exod. xxxiil. v. 9.
Isaiah ri.
Eccles. V. Eccles. vi.
SS. Philip and
2 Lesson.
John xiii. v. 23 to
Rev. i.
iApoc. i. AiXK. xxii.
James.
Innocents' Das/.
ti>. 36.
[v. 31.
' 1
1 Lesson
Isaiah Ixi.
Zech. iv.
vii.
ix.
1 Lesson.
Jer. xxxi. to v. 18.
Baruch iv. v. 21 to
Jer. xxxi. top. 18. Wisd. i.
2 Lesson. John i. v. 43.
John i. v. 43.
Circumcision.
1 1
Ascension Day. \ [v. 15.
[16.
1 Lesson.
Gen XTii. v. 9.
Deut. X. V. 12.
Gen. xvii.
Deut. X. V. 12.
1 Lesson. |Dan. vii. v. 9 to
2 Kings ii. to v.
Deut. X.
2 Kings ii.
Eph. IV. to V. 17.
2 Lesson.
Rom. ii. 0. 17.
Col. ii. t). 8 to w.
Rom. ii
Coloss. ii.
2 Lesson. Luke xxiv. v. 44.
Hebrews iv.
Luke xxiv. v. 44.
Epiphany.
[18.
i
Monday in 1
1 Ijessou.
Isaiah Ix.
Isaiah slix. v. 13
Isaiah Ix.
Isaiah xlix.
Whitsun Week. \
[u. 31.
[w. 30.
[to V. 24.
1
1 Lesson. Gen. xi. to v. 10.
Num. xi. V. 16 to
Gen. xi. to v. 10.
Num. xi. V. 16 to
2 Lesson.
Luke iii. v. 15 to
John ii. to v. 12.
Luke iii. to v. 2S.
John ii. to v. 12.
2 Lesson. ,1 Cor. xii. to v. 14.
1 Cor. xii. w. 27 &
1 Cor. xii.
1 Cor. xiv. to i>.
Conversion of
[w. 23.
Tuesday in
WhitmnWeek. ]
[xiu.
[26.
St. Paul.
[13.
1 Lesson.
Isaiah zlix. to v.
Jerem. i. to v. 11.
Wisd. T.
Wisd. vi.
1 Lesson. iJoel ii. v. 21.
Micah iv. to v. 8.
1 Sam. xix. v. 18.
Deut. XXX.
2 Lesson.
Ual. i. V. 11.
Actsxxvi. tov.21.
Acts xxii. tot). 22.
Acts xxvi.
2 Lesson. |l Thess. v. v. 12
1 John iv. to w. 14.
1 Thess. V. w. 12
1 John iv. to w. 14.
Purifieation
Of the V. Mary.
St Bamabcu. \ [to v. 24.
[to w. 24.
[17.
1 Lesson. Deut. xxxiii. tow.
Nahum i.
Ecclus. X.
Ecclus. xii.
1 Lesson.
Exod. ziii. to V.
Haggaiii. tow.lO.
Wisd. ix. Wisd. xii.
[12.
St Matthias.
[v. 36.
2 Lesson.
Acts iv. V. 31.
Acts xiv. V. 8.
Acts xiv.
Acts XV. to V. 36.
1 Lesson.
1 Sam. ii. V. 27 to
Isaiah xxii. v. 15.
Six.
Ecclus. i.
St. John Baptist.
Anminciation
1 Lesson.
Mai. iu. to V. 7.
Malachi iv.
Malachi iii.
Malachi iv.
of our Lady.
2 Lesson.
Matt. iii.
Matt. xiv. tow. 13.
Matt. iii.
Matt. xiv. ton. 13.
1 Lesson.
Gen. iii. to v. 16.
Isaiah Iii. v. 7 to
Ecclus. ii.
iii.
St. Peter.
[15.
Ash Wednesday.
[13.
[V. 13.
1 Lesson.
Ezek. iii. v. 4 to v.
Zech. iii.
Ecclus. XV.
Ecclus. xix.
1 Lesson.
[saiah Iviii. to v.
Jonah iii.
2 Lesson.
John xxi. V. 15 to
Acts iv. V. 8 to t).
Acts iii.
Acts iv.
2 esson.
Mark ii. v. 13 to
Heb. xii. V. 3tov.
St. James.
[v. 23.
[23.
Monday before
Easter.
I Lesson.
[i>. 23.
[18.
1 Lesson.
2 Kings i. to.w.16.
Jer. xxvi. ». 8 to
[v. 16.
Ecclus. xxi.
Ecclus. xxii.
Lam. i. to v. 15.
Lament, ii. v. 13.
2 Lesson.
Luke ix. v. 51 to
2 Lesson.
John xiv. to v. 15.
John xiT. V. 16.
St. Bartholomew.
Iv. 57.
Tuesday before.
1 Lesson. Gen. xxviii. v 10
Deut. xviii. v. 15.
xxiv.
xxix.
Easter.
St. Matthew. [to i>. 18.
1 Lesson.
Lam. iii. to v. 34.
Lament, iii. v. 34.
1 Lesson. 1 Kings xix. t>. 15.
1 Chron. xxix. to
XXXV.
xxxviil.
2 Lesson.
John XV. to V. 14.
John XV. V. 14.
St. Michael.
[w. 20.
Wednesday
1 Lesson. Gen. xxxii.
Dan. X. v. 4.
Gen. xxxii.
Dan. X. V. 5.
before Easter.
2 Lesson. Acts xii. v. 5 to v.
Rev. xiv. V. 14.
Acts xii. to V. 20.
Jude V. 6 to p. 16.
1 Lesson.
C<am. ir. to ». 21.
Dan. ix. v. 20.
Hosea xiii.
Hosea xiv.
St Luke. [18.
2 Lesson.
John xvi. to v. 16.
John XTi. V. 16.
John xi. V. 40.
1 Lesson. Isaiah Ir.
Ecclus.xxxviii.to
Ecclus. Ii.
Job i.
Tftur«(Zaj/
5S. Simon and
[w. 15.
6e/ore Easter.
Jude. [to V. 17.
1 Lesson.
Eloseaxiii.tov.lS.
Hosea xiv.
Daniel ix.
Jerem. xxxi.
1 Lesson. Isaiah xxviii. v. 9
Jerem. iii. v. 12
Job xxiv. & XXV.
xlii.
2 Lesson.
John xvii.
John xiii. to V. 36.
John xiii.
All Saints.
1 [to v. 19.
G'oo(i Friday.
[liu.
1 Lesson.
Wisd. iii. to v. 10. Wisd. v. to t>. 17.
Wisd. iii. to V. 10. [Wisd. v. to v. 17.
1 Lesson.
Gen. xxii. to v. 20.
Isaiah Iii. v. 13 k
Gen. xxii. 1011.20.
Isaiah lui.
2 Lesson.
Heb. xi. V. 33 & Rev. xix. to v. 17.
Heb. xi. w. 33 & Apoc. xix. to v.
2 Lesson.
John xviii.
1 Peter ii.
John xviii.
1 Peter ii.
[xii. ton. 7.1
[xii. tow. 7.1 U7.
New Testament ; and a third, generally from a Patristic
Homily, for festivals. These 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 in the case of the moveable festivals, when
the chapter and verse for Mattins were referred to before the
Introit (which preceded the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of
the day), and for Evensong after the Gospel. There were no
Proper Lessons for ordinary Sundays, the 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 the 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 with those now in the Prayer Book ; and
they were settled in the form in which they remained for two
centuries in 1661, all the 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 the Church
of the Old Testament, though this idea is sometimes subordi-
nated to the season, as in the 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 Apocrypha, and is not connected 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 Scriptures : and it may be doubted
whether any equal advantage would be gained by the substi-
tution of Proper Lessons from the latter for the present system
of reading it in order.
114
IPtoper Psalms.
ir PROPER PSALMS ON CERTAIN DAYS
Christmas Day.
Matti7is.
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
Mattins.
Psalm ii.
Ivii.
cxi.
Psalm viii.
XV.
xxi.
Psalm xlviii. o-^
Ixviii. Uh
Evensong.
Psalm cxiii.
cxiv.
cxviii.
Psalm xxiv.
xlvii. Hi
cviii.
Psalm civ.
cxlv.
Ash Wednesday
Ascension Day
Oood Friday
Whitsunday
PROPER PSALMS.
The only days for which Proper Psalms were appointed
previously to 1661, were Christmas Day, Easter Day, Ascen-
sion Day, and Whitsun 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 Durham Prayer Book of Bishop Cosin.
Additional Proper Psalms proposed by Bishop Cosin.
Mattins.
Evensong.
Epiphany Psalm ii. Irvii.
Rogation Monday ' i xii. xiii. evii.
Rogation Tuesday ' xxviii. xlii.
Rogation Wednesday viii. xix. xxxiii.
St. Michael and All Angels xxxiv. Ixxx. xci.
All Saints' Day i i. xv. Ixxxiv.
i xci.
Psalm Ixxii. xcvii.
Ixxxvi. xc.
xlvi. Ixx.
clii. civ. cxliv.
ciii. civ. cxlviii.
cxii. cxiii. cxix.
1st part, cxlv. cxlix.
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.
Mattins.
Evensong.
Psalm viii. 1.
xix. xlv. Ixxxv.
viii. xl. xc.
xlvi. xlvii. Ixvii.
xx.xlviii.lxxxiv.
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.
Psalm xcvi xcvii.
Ixxxix. ex.
cxxxii.
xcii. ciii.
cxxxv.
Ixxxvii. xciii.
cxxxiv. cxxx viii.
cii. cxxx. cxliii.
cxiii. cxxxi.
cxxxii.
cxli. cxiii. cxliii.
Ixix, Ixxxviii.
xxxi. xlix.
cxiii. cxiv.
cx\iii.
xxiv. xlvii. cviii.
civ. cxlv.
xciii. xcAii. xcix.
ciii. cxlviii.
cxlvi. cxlvii.
cxlix.
Christmas Day
Epiphany
Purification
Ash Wednesday
Annunciation
Thursday before Easter
Easter Even
Easter Day
Ascension Day
Whitsun Day
Trinity Sunday
St. Michael and All Angels
All Saints
Note.— The Psalms for Christmas Day may be used on the Sunday after
Christmas, unless it be the Feast of the Circumcision ; and the Psalms for
Easter Day and Ascension 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 forth by Bishop Wordsworth at the Diocesan
Synod held in Lincoln in the year 1871, and as the Tables
contain suggestions that may be useful to many readers of this
work they are here, by permission, printed entire.
Proper Psalms and Proper Lessons for Special Occasions.
As put forth by the Ordinary in the Synod held at Lincoln,
on September 20, 1871.
Table I. — Proper Psalms for Special Occasions.
For Advent Sunday.
All or any of the following may be used : —
Mattins — Psalm xviii. Ixxxii. xcvi.
Evensong — Psalm xcvii. xcviii. ex. cxliii.
1 In Bishop Cosin's MS. note the Rogation Psalms are all included under
Mattins. From a difiTerence in the apx)earance of the numerals which are
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 those Sundays.
For the Festival of Circumcision, or Netv Year's Day.
Mattins — Psalm i. xx. ciii.
Evensong — Psalm xl. cxiii. cxliv.
Any of these Psalms may be used on New Year'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 Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the
Presentation of Christ in tlie Temple.
Mattins — Psalm 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. cxiv.
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 Monday 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 Whitsxin 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 Tnnity 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.
here placed under Evensong, it is e\'ident they were written in afterwards,
and in the wrong column, by mistake. The others are all written as they
are printed above.
IProper Psalms.
115
All Saints' Day, November 1.
Any of the following may be used : —
Mattins — Psalm i. xi. xv. xvi. xx. xxx. xxxiii. xxxiv. Ixi.
Ixxix. Ixxxiv.
Evensong — Psalm xcii. xcvii. cxii. cxxxviii. cxli. cxlvii. cxlviii.
cxlix.
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 tfie 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.
Any 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. (v. 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. cxx\'i.
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 Chapters.
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 Third Service
ON Sundays and some Holydays.
Sundays in Advent.
T. Psalm xlv. xlvi. [ III. Psalm xlix. 1.
II. ,, ix. X. xi. I IV. ,, xcvi. xcvii. xcviii.
♦ Christmas Day.
Psalm ii. viii. Ixxxiv.
Sundays after Christmas.
Psalm Ixxxvii. xcvi. xcviii.
Sundays after Epiphany.
T. Psalm 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.
Quinquagesima.
Psalm xxviii. Ixxvii.
Sundays in Lent.
I. Psalm vi. xxv. xxxii.
II. ,, xxxviii. li.
III. ,, cii. cxxx.
rv. Psalm cxli. cxlii. cxliii.
V. , , xxii.
VI. „ xl. xlv.
Easter Day.
Psalm iii. xxx. Ixxvi. xciii.
Sundays after Easter.
I. Psalm cxvii. cxviii.
II. ,, xix. XX. xxi.
III. ,, xcviii. xcix. c.
rv. Psalm cxi. cxii. cxiii.
V. ,, Ixxx. Ixxxi.
Ascension Day.
Psalm ii. Ivii. ex.
Sundcf,y 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.
II. ,
, iv. vi. vii.
XCIV.
III. ,
, xi. xii. xiii.
XVIII.
}9
cv.
xiv.
XIX.
)»
cvii.
IV. ,
, xxv. xxvi.
XX.
>»
cix.
V. ,
, xxxiii. xxxiv.
XXI.
cxiv. cxv.
VI. ,
, xxxvii.
cxvi.
VII. ,
vin. ,
, xliv.
, Iii. liii. liv.
XXII.
»)
cxx. cxxi.
cxxiii.
IX. ,
, Ivi. Ivii. Iviii.
cxxiv.
X. ,
Ux. Ix. Ixi.
xxm.
,,
cxxv. cxx
XI. ,
, Ixii. Ixiii. Ixiv.
cxxvii.
XII. ,
XIII. ,
, Ixxi.
, Ixxiii.
cxxviii.
cxxix.
XIV.
, Ixxiv. Ixxv.
XXIV.
,,
cxxxiii.
XV. ,
, Ixxix. Ixxx.
Ixxxi.
cxxxiv.
cxxxv.
XVI. ,
, Ixxxii.
Ixxxiii.
xxv.
»>
cxxxvi.
cxxxvii.
Ixxxiv.
XXVI.
>>
cxliv. cxlv
XXVII. Psali
n cxlvi. cxlvii.
Table ///.—Proper Lessons for Special Occasions.
For Consecration of Churches.
First Lesson — 1 Chron. xxix. , or 1 Kings viii. 22-62.
Second Lesson — Heb. x. I9-2i6, or Mark vi. 11.
For Reopening of Churches after Restoration.
First Lesson— 2 Chron. xxxiv. 8-29, 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 Lesson— Matt. vi. 24, vii. 1-13; Luke xviii. 1-15; 2
Cor. V MO; 2 Cor. ix.
ii6
^otjeatJlc jFeasts anti g)olpDap0.
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.
EASTEB DA Y, 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, Easter Day is the Sunday after.
Advent Sunday is always the nearest Sunday to the Feast of S. Andrew, whether before or after.
Septuagesima \ r Nine
Sexaqesima ' f « -. • 5 Eight
Sunday ^^ ^ g^^^^
Quinguagesima
Quadragesima
Mogation Sunday
Ascension Day
Whitsunday
Trinity Sunday
Weeks before Easter.
IS
Six
Five Weeks
Forty Days
Seven Weeks
Eight Weeks
after Easter,
For Thanksgiving 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. vii. 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 Services.
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 Eph. v. 15 to vi. 21, or 2 Tim.
iii.
For Visitations, Synods, Rurideeanal 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 Chron. 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 1662, and a large portion of
them were taken out of Bishop Cosin's Collection 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 Easter for
ever;" the list of days beginning "Septuagesima," but with-
out Ascension Day, and without any prefix whatever ; and a
short list of Holydays. The general title, ' ' Tables and Rules,
etc.," is in the Durham Book in Bishop Cosin's handM-riting :
lind all the 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 know when 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 Nicaea) 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 1818 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 : —
" In Marche after the first C [il 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. : —
1786
1860
1862
1865
1882
New Moon in March.
Ist Sunday.
2ud Sunday.
Easter Day.
Monday, 27.
Thursday, 22.
Sunday, 30.
Monday, 27.
Sunday, 19.
April 2.
March 25.
April 6.
April 2.
March 26.
April 9.
April 1.
April 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 learned man to be so poor that he could
not get even pens, ink, and paper, and the necessaries of life : and he was
buried bv the charity of Dr. Bushy in the Rector's vault at St. Giles's in
the Fields.
3mmot)eat)le feasts and ft)olptiaps-
117
A TABLE OF ALL THE FEASTS
THAT ARE TO BE OBSERVED IN
THE
1
t
CHURCH OF ENGLAND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
All Sundays in the Year.
/ The Circumcision of our Lord JESUS
1 S. Peter the Apostle.
CHRIST.
S. James the Apostle.
The Epiphany.
S. Bartholomeiv the Apostle,
The Conversion of S. Paul.
S. Matthew the Apostle.
The Purification of the Blessed Virgin.
S. Michael and All Angels.
The
Days 1
of the \
Sai7it Matthias the Apostle.
The
S. Luke the Evangelist.
The Annunciation of the Blessed
Days ,
of the /
Feasts '
S. Simon and S. Jude, Apostles.
Feasts
Virgin.
All Saints.
of
S. Mark the Evangelist.
of
S. Andrew the Apostle.
aS^. 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. Barnabas.
S. John the Evangelist.
\ The Nativity of S. John Baptist.
^ The Holy Innocents.
Monday \
Monday '\
and >- in Easter Week.
and V in Whitsun Week.
Tuesday )
Tuesday ^
§ The Table of Feasts.
This Table is not in Cosin's Devotions, though the days are
all marked in the Calendar of the volume ; but it is in 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 Church
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 1552-53 [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 in this Table have their own Collects,
Epistles, and Gospels, and notices of the days will be
found in the footnotes appended to these in their proper
places.
ii8
Oigilis, jFasts, anD Dap of atistinence.
A TABLE
or THE
VIGILS, FASTS, AND DAYS OF ABSTINENCE,
TO BE OBSERVED IN THE YEAR.
The
Eves
or
Vigils
before
The Nativity 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. MattJieiv.
S. Simon and S. Jude.
S. Andrew.
S. Tlwmas.
All Saints.
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 upon the Sunday next before it.
DAYS OF FASTING, OR ABSTINENCE.
I. The Forty Days of Lent.
^ / The First Sunday in Lent.
II. The Ember Days at (being the Wednesday, Friday \ The Feast of Pentecost.
the Four Seasons, C and Saturday after ^ September 14.
J \ December 13.
III. The Three Rogation Days, being the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Holy Thursday,
or the Ascension of our LOED.
IV. All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day.
[A SOLEMN DAY,
FOR WHICH A PARTICULAR SERVICE IS APPOINTED.
The Twentieth Day of Jun^, being the Day on which Her Majesty began her happy Reign.]
§ The Table of Vigils, Fasts, and 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 Durham Prayer Book.
At the end of the MS. note is written an addition taken from
the Devotions, but not eventually printed in the Prayer Rook : —
"By the ecclesiastical laws of this Reaim, there be some
times in the year wherein Marriages are not usually solem-
nized; ^ viz.
(Advent ) Sunday (eig^tdaysafter the Epiphany,
from ^ Septuagesima ^ until j ^ig^t days after Easter.
( Rogation )
Trinity Sunday.
Cosin also wrote, "All the Fridays in the year except the
twelve days of Christmas. "
But the first portion of it is to be found in 5 and 6 Edw. VL
c. 3, sees. 2, 5, and the second portion in 2 and 3 Edw VI c
19, and 5 and 6 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 the Rogation Days in the notes
to the Fifth Sunday after Easter.
' See notes on the Marriage Service.
All Festivals have Eves, including Sundays, but only some
have Vigils. The Festivals that fall during the seasons of
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide have no Vigils, Fridays
being the only days of Abstinence in those joyous periods.
St. Luke's day 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. Etheldreda occupies the 17th
of October. Michaelmas Day is without a Vigil, because the
Holy Angels had no day of trial like the Saints before enter-
ing into Heaven : and of this the Vigil is a symbolical observ-
ance. The use of the words Vigil and Even at the time when
the Prayer Book was first translated is illustrated by the
following passage from Cranmer's answer to the Devonshire
rebels: "For as Vigils, otherwise called Watchings, re-
mained in the calendars upon certain saints' evens, 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. " [Strype's Cranmer, ii. 533.]
The Vigil was originally that which its name indicates, a
night spent in watching and prayer. The scandals which
arose out of these nocturnal Services, however, made it
necessary to abolish them [Durand. vi. 7] ; and a fast on the
day before was substituted which still retains the name of
Vigil. The Vigil is not therefore connected with the Evening
Service, but is the day before the Festival to which it belongs ;
a Cable to fintJ OBaetet.
119
A TABLE TO FIND EASTER DAY, FROM THE PRESENT TIME TILL THE YEAR
1899 INCLUSIVE, ACCORDING TO THE FOREGOING CALENDAR.
Golden Number.
Day of the Month.
Sunday Letter,
XIV
March 21
C
m
22
D
23
E
XI
24
F
25
G
XIX
26
A
vm
27
B
28
C
XVI
29
D
V
30
E
31
F
XIII
April 1
• G
n
2
A
3
B
X
4
C
5
D
xvm
6
E
vn
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 contains so much of the Calendar as is necessary
for the determining of Easter; To find which, look for the
Golden Number of the year in the first Column of the Table,
against which stands the Day of the Paschal Full Moon;
then look in the third Column for the Sunday Letter, next
after the 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, then (according to the
first rule) the next Sunday 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-
tions ; 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 number remaineth,
then the Letter standing against that number 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
F
3
E
4
D
5
C
6
B
and since (according to the accustomed habit of the Church)
the Festival itself begins on the evening previous, the Vigil
ends before that Evening Service (if there is more than one)
which is observed as the first Vespers of the feast. That, in
mediaeval 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 Epiphanise quando in Dominica conti-
gerit, et prseterquam in quatuor temporibus hebdomadse
Pentecostes. " 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.
Annunciation, Nat. St. John B., SS. Simon and Jude.
Epiphany, St. Matthias, St. Michael.
( Purification, St. Peter, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew.
\ St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Innocents.
Conv. St. Paul, St. Luke, All Saints, St. John Evan.
St. Mark, St. James, St. Stephen.
SS. Philip and James, Christmas.
Circumcision, St. Barnabas.
Days of Fasting] 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 aU 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 butter not being included under that designation.
The accession of the Sovereign was first observed as a
"Solemn Day" in the reign of Queen EUzabeth ; 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 authority 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 " which had been printed in previous Prayer Books,
but which had been framed on a mistaken supposition 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 Golden Numbers and the Sunday Letters are explained
in the notes to the General 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 when astronomy, and consequently chronology,
was imperfectly understood. The Nicene Council [a. d. 325]
endeavoured to settle this difficulty and the Quartodeciman
I20
a CatJle to finu €astet.
ANOTHER TABLE TO FIND EASTER TILL THE YEAR 1899 INCLUSIVE.
SUNDAY LETTERS.
GOLDEN
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
NUMBER.
April 16
I
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 2
3
4
5
6
March 31
April 1
VI
April 23
24
25
19
20
21
22
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
22
X
April 9
10
11
5
6
7
8
XI
March 26
27
28
29
30
31
25
XII
April 16
17
18
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
22
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 Easter falleth that year. But Note, that the Name of the Month
is set on the 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 month Nisan.
3. That the next Lord's Day after that full moon is to be
observed as Easter Day.
4. Unless the full moon happens upon a Sunday, when
Easter Day is to be the next Sunday.
But to observe these rules it was necessary to ascertain the
age of the moon : and although this could be done correctly
for a period by means of a cycle of the moon discovered by
Meton, an Athenian philosopher, which set forth the change
of the moon for nineteen years, and which was supposed to
repeat itself ad infinitum, yet a more accurate knov/ledge of
astronomy shewed 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. This
erroneous system was not corrected, however, until the intro-
duction of the "New Style" by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582;
and the New Style was not introduced into England until
1752, when the Act of Parliament was passed from which the
present Calendar is printed.
These Tables for finding 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 them up with every edition of the
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.
a^otieatile jFeast^
121
A TABLE OF THE MOVEABLE FEASTS
FOR
THE BEST OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY,
ACCORDING TO THE FOREGOING CALENDAR
Year
The
Golden
Number.
The
Sun-
day
Sundays
after
Septua-
The First
Day of
Lent.
Feb. 22
Easter
Kogation
Ascension
Whitsun
Sundays after
Advent
Lord.
Bpact.
11
Let-
ter.
Epi-
phany.
Sunday.
Day.
Sunday.
Day.
Day.
Trinity.
Sunday.
1882
II
A
Four
Feb. 5
Apr. 9
May 14
May 18
May 28
Twenty-five
Dec. 3
1883
III
22
G
Two
Jan. 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
D
Three
1
18
5
10
14
May 24
Twenty-five
29
1886
VI
25
C
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
AG
Three
Jan. 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
2
Feb. 19
6
11
15
May 25
Twenty-five
Nov. 30
1891
XI
20
D
Two
Jan. 25
11
Mar. 29
3
7
17
Twenty-six
29
1892
XII
1
CB
Five
Feb. 14
Mar. 2
Apr. 17
22
26
June 5
Twenty-three
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
1896
XVI
15
ED
Three
2
19
5
10 1 14
May 24
Twenty-five
Nov. 29
1897
XVII
26
C
Five
14
Mar. 3
18
23
27
June 6
Twenty-three
28
1898
XVIII
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
[N.B. — This Table is only a representative and not a facsimile of the Table in the Act of Parliament. The latter extends
from 1752 to 1804. For dates belonging to the twentieth century, see the two Tables in the Appendix to this part of the
Calendar.]
THE EPACT.
The diflference between the length 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 the 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 commenced on the 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. The ivhole months
are not reckoned, however, and instead of 33, the Epact is
taken as 3, instead of 36 as 6, and so forth.
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 1
2
3 1
4
5 1
6 1
7
8 1
9
10
11 1
12
13 1
14 1
15
16
17 1
18
19
18
Epacts
1
11
22
3
14
25
6
1 1^
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
15
26
7
The Epact is used for calculating the age of the moon on
any day m 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 March and the one for which the calculation is re-
quired. The result will give the moon's age within a fraction
of a day. Thus : —
1865. October 10th.
3 The Epact.
13
8 months from March to October, inclusive.
Days 21 = approximate age of the moon.
1 '£ir«»rr)c( rifiif*!. Intercalary days.
The true age of the moon on October 10, 1865, at noon,
being 20 days and 14 hours.
The 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 14th day of the moon's age,
and this 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 6th will shew that April 10th is
Easter Day in that year.
t^i
a^otjcatjle jFea$t0,
A TABLE
OF THE
MOVEABLE FEASTS,
ACCORDING TO THE SEVERAL DAYS '
rHAT EASTER
CAN POSSIBLY FALL UPON.
Easter Day.
Sundays after
Septuagesima
The First Day
Rogation
Ascension
Wliitsun Day.
Sundays after
Advent
Epiphany.
Sunday.
of Lent.
Sunday.
Day.
Trinity.
Sunday.
Mar. 22
One
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
2
6
16
Twenty-six
28
29
Two
25
11
3
7
17
Twenty-six
29
30
Two
26
12
4
8
18
Twenty-six
30
31
Two
27
13
5
9
19
Twenty-six
Dec. 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
22
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
22
June 1
Twenty-four
30
14
Four
10
27
19
23
2
Twenty-four
Dec. 1
15
Five
11
28
20
24
3
Twfenty-four
2
16
Five
12
Mar. 1
21
25
4
Twenty-four
3
17
Five
13
2
22
26
5
Twenty-three
Nov. 27
18
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
2
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, that in a Bisse
xtile or Leap Year, the Number of Sundays after Ej
)iphany will
oe the same, as if Eas
ter Day
had fallen One Da
y later than it really does. And for the same reasc
n, One Day
must, in every Leap "■
ifear, be
added to the Day o
f the Month given by the Table for Septuagesima Si
mday : And
;he like must be don(
; for the
First Day of Lent (
commonly called Ash Wednesday), unless the Tabl
e gives some
Day in the Month o
f March
for it ; for in that (
;ase the Day given by the Table is the right Day.
The order in which this Table follows the others makes its
use 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 Easter. The Note respecting Leap Year must not
be overlooked when this Table is used.
3 Cable to find Caster Dap.
12
Ti\m-F,
TO FIND EASTER DAY
FROM
THE YEAR 1900 TO THE YEAR 2199 INCLUSIVE.
Golden Number.
Day of the Month.
Sunday Letters.
XIV
March 22
D
III
23
E
24
F
XI
25
G
26
A
XIX
27
B
VIII
28
C
29
D
XVI
30
E
V
31
F
April 1
G
Thk Golden Numbers in the foregoing Calendar will
point out the Days of the Paschal Full Moons till the
XIII
2
A
n
3
B
Year of our Lord 1900; at which Time, in order that the
4
C
Ecclesiastical Full Moons may fall nearly on the same
X
5
D
Days with the real Full Moons, the Golden Numbers
6
E
must be removed to diflferent Days of the Calendar, as is
VIII
7
F
done in the annexed Table, which contains so much of
VII
8
G
the Calendar then to be used as is necessary for finding
9
A
the Paschal Full Moons, and the Feast of Easter, from
XV
10
B
the Year 1900 to the Year 2199 inclusive. This Table
IV
11
C
is to be made use of, in all respects, as the first Table
12
D
before inserted, for finding Easier till the Year 1899.
xn
13
E
I
14
F
15
G
IX
16
A
XVII
17
B
VI
18
C
19
D
20
E
21
F
22
G
23
A
24
B
25
c
This Table is simply for revising the first and third
columns of that portion of the Calendar which extends over
the Paschal limits, e.e. those days in March and April that
Easter can possibly fall on. It will not come into use before
the year 1900, and is then applicable for three hundred
years.
124
(General CatJlee.
GENERAL TABLES
FOE FINDING THE DOMINICAL OR SUNDAY LETTER,
AND THE PLACES OF THE GOLDEN NUMBERS IN THE CALENDAR.
TABLE I.
1900
2000
2900
3800
4700
4800
5700
6600
7500
7600
8500
5
4
3
2
1
C
D
E
F
G
1600
1700
2100
2200
2300
2400
2500
2600
3000
3900
4000
3100
3200
3300
3400
3500
3600
4100
4200
4300
4400
4500
4900
5000
5100
5200
5300
■5400
5800
6700
6800
5900
6000
6100
6200
6300
6400
6900
7000
7100
7200
7300
7700
etc.
7800
7900
8000
8100
8200
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 the mimber of hundreds 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 the
Table, is the Sunday Letter.
TABLE n.
II.
IIL
Years of our Lord.
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
5
6
6
7
7
7
8
9
8
9
10
10
10
11
12
12
12
13
13
14
14
14
15
16
11.
ra.
Years of our Lord.
B
B
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 aU the intermediate years betwixt
that and the next hundredth year following, look in the
second column of Table II. for the given year consist-
ing of entire hundreds, and note the number or cipher
which stands against it in the third column ; then, in
Table III. look for the same number in the column
under any given Golden Number, which when you have
found, guide your eye sideways to the left hand, and in
the first column you will find the Month and Day to
which that Golden Number ought to be prefixed in the
Calendar, during that period of one hundred 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.
§ TliyC Dominical or Sunday Letters.
The second column of the Calendar is occupied by the first
seven letters of the alphabet, which are repeated throughout
the year, beginning with A on the first of January. If the
first of January is on a Sunday, A is the Sunday Letter for
(General Cat)le0,
125
TABLE
III.
Paschal
Full Moon.
Sunday
Letter.
THE GOLDEN NUMBERS.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
25
9
6
10
17
11
28
12
9
13
20
14
1
15
12
16
23
17
4
18
15
1
19
26
March 21
c
8
19
11
22
3
14
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
7
18
29
Marcli 25
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
March 26
A
March 27
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
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
26
27
7
8
18
19
29
10
11
April 5
D
23
April 6
E
24
5
16
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
April 7
F
25
6
17
28
9
20
1 i 12
23
4
15
26
7
18
29
10
21
2
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
11
12
22
23
3 1 14
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
20
1
4
15
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
16
27
8 19
1
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
25
6
17
28
9
20
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 18
C
6
17
28
9
20
1
12
23
4
5
15
16
26
27
8
19
11
22
3
14
25
Apjil 18
C
'
18
29
10
21
2
13
24
that year ; if on 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 which indicates the first
Sunday of the year indicates it up to the end of February
only ; and from March onward to the end of the year the
next letter backward is taken, so that if B is the Sunday
Letter for January and February in Leap Year, A is that for
the succeeding months ; and G for the year following. The
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 the remainder of the
nineteenth century." It is sometimes, but erroneously, called
the "Solar Cycle," the name having doubtless arisen from
"Dies Solis,"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 him 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 they 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 month, in the same succession, with a
diflference of one hour and a half. This difference so far dis-
turbs the application of the cycle of Golden Numbers that it
will have to be readjusted in the year 1900, and one of the
foregoing Tables is already provided for the purpose of making
the necessary alteration.
The Golden Numbers in the Calendar indicate the day on
which the Ecclesiastical Paschal 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 asceiiiaining the dates of Festivals for a
long series of years.
126
appenUir,
Tables shetcing the days upon which the Moveable Feasts have been obsei'ved or are to he observed from the Year 1500 to the Year 2000.
TABLE L
1500*
29
1542
19
1584*
29
1626
19
1668*
1
1710
19
1752*
8
1794
30
1836*
13
1877
11
1918
10
1959
8
1501
1 21
1543
4
1585
21
1627
4
1669
21
1711
11
1753
32
1795
15
1837
5
1878
31
1919
30
1960*
27
1502
' 6
1544*
23
1586
13
1628*
23
1670
13
1712*
30
1754
24
1796*
6
1838
25
1879
23 :
1920*
14
1961
12
1503
26
1545
15
1587
26
1629
15
1671
33
1713
15
1755
9
1797
26
1839
10 ,
1880*
7 1
1921
6
1962
32
1504*
17
1546
35
1588*
17
1630
7
1672*
17
1714
7
1 1756*
28
1798
18
1840*
29
1881
27 1
1922
26
1963
24
1505
2
1547
20
1589
9
1631
20
1673
9
1715
27
1757
20
1799
3
1841
21
1882
19 i
1923
11
1964*
8
1506
22
1548*
11
1590
29
1632*
n
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
1 1759
25
1801
15
1843
26
1884*
23
1925
22
1966
20
1508*
S3
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
8
i 1761
1
1803
20
1845
2
1886
35
1927
27
1968*
24
1510
10
1552*
27
1594
10
1636*
27
1678
10
1720*
27
1 1762
21
1804*
11
1846
22
1887
20
1928*
18
1969
16
1511
30
1553
12
1595
30
1637
19
1679
30
1721
19
; 1763
13
1805
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
1555
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*
15
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
SO
1892*
27 !
1933
26
1974
24
1516*
2
1558
20
1600*
2
1642
20
1684*
9
1726
20
1768*
13
1810
32
1852*
21
1893
12
1934
11
1975
9
1517
22
1559
5
1601
22
1643
12
1685
29
1727
12
1769
5
1811
24
1853
6
1894
4
1935
31
1976*
28
1518
14
1560*
24
1602
14
1644*
31
1686
14
1728*
31
1770
25
1812*
8
1854
26
1895
24
1936*
22
1977
20
1519
34 i
1561
16 1
1603
34
1645
16
1687
6
1729
16
i 1771
10
1813
28
1855
18
1896*
15
1937
7
1978
5
1)20*
18
1562
8
1604*
18
1646
8
1688*
25
1730
8
1772*
29
1814
20
1856*
2
1897
28
1938
27
1979
26
1V21
10 1
156S
21 !
1605
10
1647
28
1689
10
1731
28
1773
21
1815
5
1857
22
, 1898
20
1939
19
1980*
16
1522
30 i
1564*
12 :
1606
30
1648*
12
1690
30
1732*
19
1774
13
1816*
24
1858
14
1899
12
1940*
3
1981
29
1523
15 i
1565
32 1
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 '
1567
9
1609
26 1
1651
9
1693
26
1735
16
1777
9
1819
21
1861
10
1902
9
1943
35
1984*
32
1526
11
1568*
28
1610
18
1652*
28
1694
18
1736*
35
1778
29
1820*
12
1862
30
1903
22
1944*
19
1985
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
5
1612*
22
1654
5
1696*
22
1738
12
1780*
5
1822
17
1864*
6
1905
33
1946
31
1987
29
1529
7
1571
25
1613
14
1655
25
1697
14
1739
32
1781
25
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 t
1657
8
1699
19
1741
8
1783
30
1825
13
1867
31
1908*
29
1949
27
1990
25
1532*
10
1574
21 !
1616*
10
1658
21
1700*
10
1742
28
1784*
21
1826
5
1868*
22
1909
21
1950
19
1991
10
1533
23
1575
13 1
1617
30
1659
13
1701
30
1743
13
1785
6
1827
25
1869
7
1910
6
1951
4
1992*
29
1534
15 1
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 j
1619
7
1661
24
1703
7
1745
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 ;
1580*
13 ;
1622
31
1664*
20
1706
3
1748*
20
1790
14
1832*
32
1874
15
1915
14
1956*
11
1997
9
1539
16 1
1581
5
1623
23
1665
5
1707
23
1749
5
1791
34
1833
17
1875
7
19i6*
33
1957
31
1998
22
1540*
7 i
1582
25 1
1624*
7
1666
25
1708*
14
1750
25
1792*
18
1834
9
1876*
26
1917
18
1958
16
1999
14
1541
27 ;
1583
10
1625
27
1
1667
17
1709
34
i
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
SO
31
32
33
34
Common Tears.
Sunday
Sundays
Septua-
after
gesima
Epiphany.
Sunday.
Jan. 18
D
One
E
One
19
F
One
20
G
Two
21
A
Two
22
B
Two
23
C
Two
24
D
Two
25
E
Two
26
F
Two
27
G
Three
28
A
Three
29
B
Three
.SO
C
Three
31
D
Three
Feb. 1
£
Three
2
F
Three
3
G
Four
4
A
Four
5
B
Four
6
C
Four
■ 7
D
Four
8
E
Four
9
F
Four
10
G
Five
11
A
Five
12
B
Five
13
C
Five
14
D
Five
15
E
Five
16
F
Five
17
G
Six
18
A
Six
19
B
Six
20
C
Six
21
First Day
of Lent.
Feb.
Leap Tear.*
ED*
F E*
G F*
D C
Sundays
Septua-
after
gesima
Epiphany.
Sunday.
One*
Jan. 19*
One*
20*
Two*
21*
Two*
22*
Two*
23*
Two*
24*
Two*
25*
Two*
26*
Two*
27*
Three*
28*
Three*
29*
Three*
30*
Three*
31*
Three*
Feb. 1*
Three*
2*
Three*
3*
Four*
4*
Four*
5*
Four*
6*
Four*
Four*
8*
Four*
9*
Four*
10*
Five*
11*
Five*
12*
Five*
13*
Five*
14*
Five*
15*
Five*
16*
Five*
17*
Six*
18*
Six*
19*
Six*
20*
Six*
21*
Six*
22*
■Whit-
sunday.
Sundays
after
Trinity.
27
27
27
27
27
26
26
26
26
26
26
26
25
25
25
25
25
25
25
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
23
23
23
23
23
23
23
22
22
Advent
Sunday.
To find the days upon which the moveable Holydays have been 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 tlie first column of the Second Table, against which you will find a letter
called the Sunday Letter, the number of Sundays after Epiphany and after Trinity, and the days of the Calendar upon which the first day of
Lent and the principal moveable Festivals fall. All the days in the Calendar to which the Sunday Letter is affixed will be Sundays.
But note, that if the number of the year in the First Table hath a * set against it, that year is Bissextile or Leap Year, in which case the month of
February hath 29 days, and the Sunday Letters, the number of Sundays after Epiphany, the day upon which Septuagesima Sunday is observed,
and the day upon which the first day of Lent falleth, are all to be looked for in the Leap Year columns, which are likewise marked with a star *.
In Leap Year there are always two Sunday Letters, whereof the former is used in January and February, and the latter for the rest of the year.
Note also that in the year 1752, in which the Calendar was reformed and the New Style began, the day following Wednesday, September 2, was called
Thursday, September 14, and therefore after September 2 the Sunday Letter was A instead of D, and there were only 25 Sundays after Trinity,
and Advent Sunday was December 3.
Note also that until 1752 the year was reckoned in the Church of England as beginning March 25, all days before March 25 being considered as part
of the year preceding.
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 Common Prayer, there is also annexed a table of
the daily lessons throughout the year.
Calendars are known to have been in use at a very early
date in the Church. One of the Church of Rome was printed
by Bouchier in his Commentary 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 given
by Mabillon in his Analecta, which was drawn up for the
Church of Carthage a.d. 483, and which is preserved in
the Abbey of St. Germaine de Pres, at Paris. Many
others of early times are extant, and a number are printed
by Martene in the sixth volume of his Collection of Ancient
Writers.
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. [Euseb. 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 (generally the same) on
which they were annually commemorated. To these two
columns of the days of the 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 the 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, though 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 the 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 Library, seems to
differ but little from another of the fifteenth century, wliich
is contained in an ancient Missal of that Church, or from that
which has been reprinted from a Missal of 1514, belonging
to Bishop Cosin's Library, in the following pages. Com-
paratively few names were added to the English Calendars
during the mediaeval 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 VIII. ,
great inconvenience being found to arise from the number of
days which were observed with a cessation from labour ; and
In Calendars
of
1549, 1552,^ 1559.
the two days dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury being
especially obnoxious to the King were altogether expunged,
though by very questionable authority.
When the English 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 modern 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.
— Clement. 1552 only.
— Barnabas. 1549 and 1559.
— George. 1
— Laurence. \ 1552 and 1559.
Lammas. )
1 In 1552 an Act of Parliament was passed " for the keeping Holydays and
Fasting-days " [5 and 6 Edw. VI. c. 3]. The preamble runs : " Forasmuch as
at all times men be not so mindful to laud and praise 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 hath been wholesomely provided that
there should be some certain times and days appointed, wherein Christians
should cease from all other kind of labours, and should apply themselves
only and whoUy unto the aforesaid holy works properly pertaining unto true
religion ; . . . therefore as these works are most commonly, and also 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 Holydays, and none other ; that is to
say, all Sundays in the year, the days of the feast of the Circumcision of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Epiphany, of the Purification of the Blessed
Vii^in, of Saint Matthie the Apostle, of Saint Mark the Evangelist, of Saint
Philip and Jacob the Apostles, of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ,
of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist " [with all other Holydays as in
the bracketed list above, until Innocents], " Monday and Tuesday in
Easter Week, and Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun Week, and that none
other day shall be kept and commanded 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 ttie afcrresaid days of the 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 All Saints, and of all the said feasts of the Apostles (other than of Saint
John the Evangelist, and Pliilip and Jacob) shall be fasted, and com-
manded to be kept and observed, and that none other even or day shall be
commanded to be fasted."
The fifth clause provides for the observance of Saturday as a fasted even
when tlie feast falls on a Monday ; and the seventli for the observance of
the usual solemnities on St. George's Feast.
128
an 3lnttot)uction to tje Calennat,
It seems no\T to have been felt by persons in authority
that greater reverence ought to be shewn for the names of
those who had glorified 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 have led to the
appointment of a Commission, consisting of the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, Dr. Bill,
and Walter Haddon, the compUer 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 the Sarum Missal and selecting from
the old Calendar such names of Festivals as they thought
proper to be inserted in the new one.
As regards the days dedicated to our Lord, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and the Holy 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 Sarum Calendars. Among the Festivals
of the Blessed Virgin only that of the Assumption [August
15th] was left out. Of the days on which the Apostles
and other Saints of the New Testament were com-
memorated before the Reformation there were omitted,
St. Paul [June 29th], the Commemoration of St. Paul
[June 30th], St. Peter's Chair [February 22nd], the Inven-
tion of St. Stephen [August 3rd], and St. Michael of the
Mount [October 16th].
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 only be 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 have 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 commemfyrated by the Church of England.
Tlie Hoi}- 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. Marj' Magdalen.
St. Anne.
M.irtyrs in the Age of Persecutions.
St. Nicomede
St. Dionysius the /
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
A.D.
90
96
100
203
230
250
251
258
258
270
275
278
290
290
304
304
305
307
308
316
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.
Enurchus. 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 Book of Common 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 published by the Stationers' Company
Martyrs and 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. Swithin
St. Edmund, K. & M..
St. Edward, K. & M...
St. Dunstan
St. Alphege, M
St. Edward, K. & Conf,
St. Hugh
St. Richard
A.D.
290
303
326
543
544
560
604
604
670
673
725
735
755
862
870
978
988
1012
1163
1200
1253
French and other Saints not included
among the preceding.
St. Silvester 335
St. Enurchus ' 340
St. Hilary of Poictiers,
Confessor
368
St. Ambrose 397
St. Martin 397
St. Jerome 420
St. Augustine i 430
St. Britius j 444
St. Remigius | 535
St. Leonard, Confessor i 559
St. Lambert \ 709
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 are
Martyrs in the age of persecutions ; twenty-one are specially
connected with our own Church ; and eleven are either great
» This authority continued to be given as late as 1832.
an 31nttoDuction to tfte Calentiat.
129
and learned defenders of the Faith, like St. Hilary and St.
Augustine, or Saints of France, whose names were probably
retained as a memorial of the ancient close connection between
the Churches of France and England.
The Calendar itself was not in any way altered by the Act
of Parliament of 1752 for the alteration of the style, the
])resent tables of the mouths being a fairly exact reprint of
those in the Sealed Books. They are here given from the
Act, but are inserted after the Tables and Rules as in the
Sealed Books. This order was evidently adopted with the
object of making a definite Festival and Ferial division of this
part of the Prayer Book, instead of confusing the two divisions
together as in the Act ; and while the improved text of the
latter has been adopted, it has been thought better to take
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 Bade, the Salisbury Use of 1514,
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 the Byzantine Calendar printed in
Neale's Introduction to the History of the Holy Eastern
Church, vol. ii. p. 768. Some remarkable coincidences may
be observed between it and the Calendar of Bede, which help
to confirm the theory of a direct connection between England
and the Oriental Church,
In the Notes on the " Minor Holy days " great care has been
taken to make them as complete as possible without occupy-
ing too much space, and the reader's attention has been drawn
to history rather than legend, except where the latter is neces-
sary in order to understand the special popularity or icono-
graphy of any saint. The authority for dedications of churches
has been The Calendar of the A nglican Church Ilhistrated, J.
H. Parker, 1851, 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 to different
saints, especially in the middle ages, dedications since 1851
not beinof included. Eight Calendars have been selected for
comparis^on: Rnrnm, lil4. 1521, 1556; York and Hereford,
Surtees Soc. edd.; Aberdeen, 1510; Roman. 1582, collated
with a MS. rirc. 1400 ; Paris, 1543, printed by Grancolas ;
Monastic, 1738 ; Austin Canons , 1546.
I^O
C6e CalenDat toitft tfte Catile of ILe0Soni5.
JANUARY liatli 31 Days.
iH
P
<
i
1
1
J
:s:3
.^ ^■?">'>.S x'x'x'x
xiv.
XV.
xvi.
1 Cor. i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
V.
vi.
vii.
•>.d
x'x 'x
1
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xxxxxxxxx X
X X
X X
xxvi.
xxvii.
xxviii.
l-H
• f-4 •
vii.
ix.
xiii.
XV,
xvii.
xix.
xxi.
xxiii.
XXV.
xxvii.
j.-;:3 >*■> . . :s
.2 X X X X -.J > 'S 'S
X X X X x^-^;=i,C ^
xxxxxxxxx X
J
iv.
vi.t
viii.
i
<
1
>
<
1
3
w
iii.
iv. to V. 32.
iv. V. 32tov. i>. 17.
v. V. 17.
vi.
vii. to V. 35.
vii.iJ. 35 to viii. u 5.
viii. V. 5 to V. 26.
viii. V. 26.
ix. to V. 23.
ix. 2). 23.
X. to V. 24.
X. V. 24.
xi.
xii.
xiii. to V. 26.
xiii. V. 26.
xiv.
XV. to V. .30.
XV. V. 30 to xvi.
.d
CO ^
^°
• •l-l
■>■>
X X
xvii. V. 16.
xviii. to V. 24.
xviii. V. 24 to xix.
[v. 21.
5
Gen. i. r. "20 to ii.
[v. 4.
iii. to V. 20.
iv. V. 16.
V. V. 28 to vi. V. 9.
vii.
ix. to V. 20.
xii.
xiv.
xvi.
xviii. to V. 17.
xix. V. 12 to V. 30.
xxi. to V. 22.
xxiii.
xxiv. V. 29 to V. 52.
XXV. V. 5 to v. 19.
xxvi. to V. 18.
xxvii. to V. 30.
xxviii.
xxxi. to V. 25.
xxxii. to V. 22
xxxiii,
xxxvii. to V. ] 2.
xxxix.
xii. to V. 17.
xii. V. 53 to xiii.
[v. 25.
xliii. to V. 25.
xliv.' V. 14.
xiv, V. 25 to xlvi.
[v. 8.
■<
O
i
Matt. i. V. 18.
• « •l-H
iv. to V. 23.
iv. V. 23 to V. V. 13.
V. V. 13 to V. 33.
v. r. 33.
vi, to V. 19.
vi. V. 19tovii. V. 7.
vii. V. 7.
viii. to V. 18.
viii. V. 18.
ix. to V. 18.
ix. V. 18.
X. to V. 24.
X. w, 24.
xi.
xii. to V. 22.
xii. V. 22.
xiii. to V. 24.
xiii. w. 24 to V. 53.
xiii. V. 53 to xiv.
[v. 13.
xiv. V. 13.
>■ >■
X X
xvi. to V. 24.
xvi. V. 24 to xvii.
[v. 14,
xvii. V. 14.
g
o
d
O
ii. V. 4.
iii. V. 20 to iv. v.
[16.
V. to V. 28.
vi. V. 9.
viii.
xi. to V. 10.
xiii.
XV.
xvii. to V. 23.
xviii. V. 17.
XX.
xxi. V. 33 to xxii.
[v. 20.
xxiv. to V. 29.
xxiv. V. 52.
XXV. V. 19,
xxvi. V. 18.
xxvii. V. 30.
xxix. to V. 21.
xxxi. V. 36.
xxxii. V. 22.
XXXV. to V. 21.
xxxvii. V. 12.
eo
»
o
43
'x'x
xiii. V. 25.
xliii. V. 25 to xliv.
[v. 14.
xiv. to V. 25.
1
fSpvpfjan^ of our Hotli.
Lucian, Priest and Martyr.
Hilary, Bishop and Confessor.
Prisca, Rom. Virgin and Martyr.
Fabian, Bishop of Rome and Martyr.
Agnes, Rom. Virgin and Martyr.
Vincent, Span. Deacon and Martyr.
arottbfrsion of St. ^auL
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C6e ^inor i^olptiaps of January.
1] Circumcision of our Lord.— [(See notes on Gosp. Ep.
and Coll.]
Represented — By a circle, or a dove holding a ring in its
mouth.
6] Epiphany of our Lord.— [-S^ee notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Represented — By a star of Bethlehem ; by the three kings,
or by three crowns.
8] LuciAN, Priest and Martyr. —This St. Lncian "of
Beauvais " is not to be confounded with St. Lucian "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 Martyrology
on January 7th. The Sarum Calendar is the only mediaeval
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 8th 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 with
St. Denys, not fearing openly to confess Christ, after much
slaughter was beheaded. This 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 three Roman missionaries who went 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 the
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 Gallican Churches.
Calendars — Sarum, Paris.
Churches dedicated in his name — None,
Represented — Consecrating on his own breast ; lying on
potsherds in prison ; carrying his head in his band. [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 in Sarum, York, and Hereford, as well as in the
Roman Martyrology, on January 13th, but in the Roman
Calendar on the 14th, having been transferred on account of
the Octave of the Epiphany. Quignonez places him on the
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 Bishop of his native city. From the time of
his ordination he lived apart from his wife. After the Arian
Council at Milan [a.d. 355], which had condemned St.
Athanasius, he wrote to the Emperor Constantius to remon-
strate with him for his encouragement of heresy, but without
success. Most of the Gallican Bishops, however, remained
faithful. The rest held an Arian synod in Languedoc, where
St. Hilary opposed them, refuting the Arian heresy. There-
upon the Emperor banished him to Phrygia in A.D. 356, and
cruelly persecuted the Gallican clergy, but in a.d. 357 the
Bishops wrote to assure St. Hilary of their fidelity. He also
received a letter from his daughter Apra, whose touching story
is related by Bishop Taylor in his Holy Dying. In A-D.
358 he wrote his work On Synods, in which he commends
the orthodoxy of the British as well as of the Gallican Bishops.
Then also he wrote On the Trinity, against the Arians, as well
as some hymns. In a.d. 360 he was allowed to return to
his diocese, where he was received by the faithful with
great joy. After a journey into Italy, where he held a public
disputation concerning 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 Arians. The
Sarum Breviary says he so abhorred the enemies of the
Catholic Faith that he would not even salute them, but he did,
in fact, speak gently of them, hoping to win them back.
" Hilary term " in the law courts used to begin on the 13th,
after the Christmas vacation, but it now extends from January
1 1th to January 31st. Dean Boys quaintly remarks that ' ' how-
soever in the court of conscience there be some pleading 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 amongserpents ; with three books,
or a triangle, pen, staff, or trumpet ; with a child, sometimes
in a cradle, at his feet.
18] Prisca, 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
sufferings which are commemorated in works of art. [Sar.
Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — 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, Bishop 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. Denys, Lucian, and Quintin into
Gaul [see January 8th], St. Fabian 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 EIII MP, Fabian,
Bishop, Martyr. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Heb. xi. 33-39. St,
Luke vi. 17-23.]
Calendars — All .
Dedications of Churches — One (with St. Sebastian).
Represented — As a pope, with a dove, sword, or club ; kneel-
ing at a block.
21] Agnes, Roman 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, who sought her love. His pleadings and his
offers of costly presents were alike unavailing, and he fell
sick. The physicians finding that his disappointment was
the cause of his sickness, the case was reported to Sym-
phronius the Prefect. He having tried in vain to induce
Agnes to listen to the suit of the young man, said 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 the main points in her story as commonly
accepted in very early times. St. Ambrose says that she
preferred chastity to life ; St. Jerome that she overcame both
the cruelty of the tyrant and the tenderness of her age, and
crowned the glory of chastity with that of martyrdom ; St.
Augustine that her name means chaste in Greek and lamb in
Latin. As in the case of St. Prisca and of many others, it is
impossible to know how much of truth underlies the mass
of legend that has grown around her story. It is said
that while her parents were praying at her tomb, probably
in the Catacombs, she appeared 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 made into the palls sent
to Archbishops, one of which appears in the arms of the
See of Canterbury lying upon the archi-episcopal cross.
St. Agnes is mentioned in the Nobis quoque in the Canon of
the Mass. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. 1-8. St. Matt,
xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars— A\\.
Cbe e@mot l£)olptiaps of Januatj).
^33
Dedications of Chu )-che6— Three (one with St. Anue).
Represented — With a lamb or an angel by her ; with a lamb
on a book ; iu a fire ; angels covering her with their hair, or
a garment ; a sword in her hand or in her throat ; a dagger ;
a palm ; a short cross ; a dove bringing a ring to her as a
"bride of Christ."
22] Vincent, Spanish Dkacox and Martyk. — St. Vincent
was born at Saragossa, trained iu the faith by Valerius, Bishop
of that see, and by him, too, ordained deacon. The Bishop,
having an impediment in his speech, gave himself to prayer
and meditation, while Vincent under his direction undertook
public teaching. Datian, 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 brought before Datian
in chains, he first tried the usual way 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, beaten, put on an 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 Cod, 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 church in Valencia.
The "Acts "of St. Vincent are at least older than the time
of St. Augustine, when they were read in the church of
Hippo. His "passion" forms the subject of a hymn by
Prudentius, and of sermons, etc., by St. Augustine, St. Leo,
and other early fathers." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xiv.
20, and xv. 4-6. St. John xii. 24-26.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of C/i iirches — Four.
Bepresented — As a deacon holding an iron hook, or a boat,
or a palm ; his bowels torn by a hook ; burnt on a gridiron ;
angels breaking his chains ; a wolf ; a crow or raven, some-
times on a millstone.
25] Conversion of St. F\vh.—[See notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Seventy-two to St. Paul alone; with
St. Peter, two hundred and thirty ; with the Blessed Virgin, one.
Represented — 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.
30] King Charles's Martyrdom. — See "State Services"
in Appendix.
Dedicatiom of Churches — Six.
134
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Cbe a^inor ^olgtiaps of jFetJruatjP.
2] Purification of Mary the Blessed Virgin. — [See
notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll. ]
Represented — At her purification, with a pair of turtle-doves.
See March 25th.
3] Blasius, Bishop and Martyr. — St. Blaise was Bishop
of Sebaste in Armenia, and suffered martyrdom in the persecu-
tion of Licinius [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 Martyrology 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-combiug 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. x.
26-32.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Clmrclms — 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, ' ' 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. 1-8. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]
Calendars— AW.
Dedications 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 eye in pincers ;
a knife, or pincers, or hook in her hand ; on a funeral pile, or
with a chafing-dish of burning coals near her.
14] St. Valentine, Bishop and Martyr. — We find a St.
Valentine on this day in the Sarum, and hence in the
Aberdeen and Reformed English Calendars, styled bishop and
martyr ; in 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 Teranio,
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
the 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. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xxxi. 8-11.
St. Matt. xvi. 24-28.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — As a priest with a sword.
24] St. Matthias, Apostle and Martyr.— [iS'ec notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — One only until modern times,
Thorpe by Hadiscoe, Norfolk.
Represented — With halbert. sword, or axe ; with a stone in
his hand.
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Cfje s^inor J^olgDap0 of ^arcf).
1] David, Archbishop of Mknevia. — St. Dewi or David,
patron of Wales, is styled Archbishop of Menevia from
legendary accounts of him which were current in the earlier
middle ages. The Welsh church of his time had no Arch-
bishops. Very little is really known about his life, and his
time has been put in the days of King Arthur. 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 dying, a vision of Christ, and to have expired with
the prayer, " Lord, take me up after Tiiee ! " The true 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 — Sarum, Herefoi-d, Aberdeen. In York and
Paris his place is occupied by St. Albinus or Aubin.
Dedications of Churches — Nine, and one with St. Mary. In
W^ales about thirty-three, chiefly in the diocese of St. David's.
Bepresented — 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 probably
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 Northumbria, was elected Bishop
in his place, and consecrated by Wini, Bishop of Winchester,
and two British, probably Cornish, Bishops, about a.d. 665
or 666. As Bishop of York he was most exemplary. Wilfrid
returning and tinding the see occupied, retired and acted as
Bishop in Mercia and in Kent. When Theodore, Archbishop
of Canterbury and Primate of all England, visited Nor-
thumbria, he found that for three years Cliad 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 Chad, 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 faithfully than
he had done in Northumbria. Bede tells us much of that
profound religious awe which in Chad, as in Bede liimself 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. 672, and was buried at Lichfield. [Sar. Ep.
and Gosp. : Ecclus. xlv. 1-5. St. Mark xiii. 33-37.]
Calendars — Sarutn, York, Hereford, Aberdeen.
Dedications of Churches — Thirty-one, all in the Midlands.
Represented — As a Bishop ; sometimes with a church in his
hand.
7] Perpetua, Mauritaniax Martyr. — St. Perpetua and St.
Felicitas, the first a well-born lady, the second a slave, and both
married, suff'ered 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 that case inaccurate, unless the martyrs had
come from that district. Their most valuable and genuine
"Acts " are quoted by Tertulliau and St. Augustine, and were
read in the churches of Africa. If compared with the rela-
tions concerning some other 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.
Perpetua 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 that she
should 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 tin)id and unskilful executioner [March 7, a.d.
203]. Their names occur in a Roman calendar of a.d. 354,
and in the Nohin quoque of the liiturgy. [Sar. Ep, and Gosp. :
1 Cor. vii. 25-34. St. Matt, xxv, M3,J . J :
Calendars— A\\ except York and Aberdeen.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — With the wild cow.
12] Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome and Confes-
sor. — St. Gregory, surnamed the Great, was born at Rome,
of noble, wealthy, and religious parents, about a.d. 540. His
early traiping is spoken of by John the Deacon, his biographer,
as having been that of a saint among saints ; and tliat he had
a liberal as well as a religious 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 prtetor 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 Avas
able to return to his monastery, where he threw himself with
great zeal into the religious life, corrected many real or sup-
posed abuses, wrote theological treatises, and carried on
correspondence with all parts of the Christian world. The
well-known story 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 monastery. In a.d. 590 he was
elected Pope, and during his Pontificate he did much to-
wards consolidating the patriarchal supremacy of Rome
over all the Latin Churches ; carrj'ing 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 nuisic, whence we have the terms Gre(jorian sacra-
men tary and chants. He also wrote many of tlie Church's
hymns. In these latter days of his life he suffered much
from gout, but retained his 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 ofChiirches — Twenty-five, and one with St. Mary .
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, King 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 .^Elfthryth [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 Waerham without any kingly worship. Never
was done worse deed among Englishmen than this since first
they sought Britain. Men murdered him, but God honoured
him. He was in life an earthly king, he is now after death
a heavenly saint," etc. Florence of W^orcester charges
Elfrida with the crime, and the story gathers fresh 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 brother, wherefore
he hated the sight of wax candles for the rest of his life. The
popular legend of Edward's being stabbed in the back is not
found in the earliest accounts. The Sarum Breviary dwells
much oh his goodness, and he was popularly considered to
\ have died a martyr. It may be noted that he is so called in
€.f)t a^inor ©olgtia^s of a^arcf)
141
the Saruni, but not in the Reformed Calendar. [Sar. Ep. and
Gosp. : Ecclus. xxxi. 8-11. St. Luke xiv. 26-33.]
Calendars — Sarum only. ■ .
Dedications of Churches — Twenty-one, either to him or to
St. Edward the Confessor j that at Corfe Castle certainly to
the "Martyr."
Represented — As a king, with dagger, falcon, or cup.
21] Benedict, Abbot. — St. Benedict, who restored monastic
discipline in the West, and founded the great Benedictine
Order, was born of a good family at Norcia, in Umbria, about
A.D. 480. He was educated in the great public schools in
Rome, but was so shocked at the licentiousness of his fellow-
students that he secretly betook himself to a cavern at
Subiaco at the age of fifteen, and lived there as a hermit for
three years, being supplied with food by Romanus, a monk.
When distracted by temptations he used to roll himself in
the briers, to which Bishop Taylor refers in his Holy
Livin(j. 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
his cave, where he had 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, hav-
ing 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, founded two
oratories on the site, and brought many to the faith of Christ.
This M'as the beginning of the famous Monastery of Monte
Cassino, where the present monastic system was organized,
and whence 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 visit her once a year. He died of a fever caught in
visiting the poor. Feeling that his end was drawing near,
he ordered his grave to be dug, and, supported by the
brethren, contemplated it in silence for some time. Being
then carried into the chapel, he there expired on the eve of
Passion Sunday, M^rch 21, a.d. 543. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. :
Ecclus. xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke xi. 33-36.]
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 of
fire; a book with the beginning of his Rule, Avscvlta Fili
Verba Magistri.
25] Annunciation of Blessed Virgin Mary.— [xJee notes
on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About two thousand one hundred
and twenty, and one hundred and two with other saints.
Represented — At her annunciation, yiraying or reading, the
angel appearing to her with Ave 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 tlie "Mater
Dolorosa," weeping, and with a sword passing through her
heart [St. Luke ii. 35]. She is generally represented with a
blue outer robe over a red under garment. The conventional
fleur-de-lys is sacred to her.
I42
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Cfie a^inot ^olptja^0 of aptil.
3] Richard, Bishop of Chichester. — Richard de la Wych,
of the ivyche or salt spring, is said to have been born at Droit-
wich, where his parents had an estate to which he was heir.
Early in his life, and in the former half of the thirteenth century,
he joined the new Order of the Dominicans, which was then
attracting the niost ardent and energetic minds in Western
Europe. Having been educated at Oxford, Paris, and
Bologna, he beeame public reader in Canon Law at the last
place, and on his return Chancellor first of Edmund, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury [St. Edmund], and then of the Uni-
versity of Oxford. The see of Chichester falling vacant, the
canons, in order to curry favour with Henry III. , as was said,
elected a chaplain of his, Robert 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
7 evenues, 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 the
Reformation. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17, 20-23,
and xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St. John xv. 1-7.]
Calendars — Sarum, Hereford,
Dedications 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 Praetorian
Prefect. It is said 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 the 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.d.
374. Having now embraced Christianity with his whole
heart, and made over to the Church of Milan all his estates,
he thoroughly devoted himself to his new duties. He had
constant difficulties from the prevalence of the Arian and
ApoUinarian heresies, and wrote many theological treatises,
both controversial and devotional. He is spoken of by St.
Augustine in his Confessions with the most affectionate
reverence, as having been greatly instrumental in his con-
version. For the tradition about the Te Deum, see under
Aug. 28. The saying, "When I am at Rome, I do as they do at
Rome," is attributed to St. Ambrose, who thus replied to St.
Augustine about the different modes of observing Saturday at
Rome and Milan, it being then customary to fast on Saturday
at the former but not at the latter place. On all matters
of principle, however, he was immoveable. When the Arian
Empress Justina sent to ask him for the use of a church out-
side the city for herself and the Arians [a.d. 385], Ambrose
replied that he could never give up the temple of God. 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 tlie Emperor
Theodosius for a cruel abuse of power, and shut the Church
of Milan against him, exhorting him with such effect that he
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.
He is reckoned as one of the four doctors of the Western
Church. A few days before his last sickness he dictated an
exposition of the 43rd [our 44th] Psalm, which he had to
leave unfinished, as it has come down to us, nothing being
said on the last two verses. After a long illness he died
about midnight before Easter Eve, April 4, a.d. 397, aged
about fifty.-seven years, and his body still rests at Milan
under 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.
Dedications of Churches — One, Ombersley, in Worcestershire.
Represented— With scourge, or beehive ; repelling the
Emperor.
19] Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury. — ^Ifheah, or
Alphege, was a West Saxon of noble birth, who early in life
left liis 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 paid. On the Saturday after Easter, April 19,
A.D. 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 Thurkill,
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 wood, and the
bones left from their feast, until one Thrim, 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 buried in St. Paul's Minster, and afterwards
translated to Canterbury by King Canute. Lanfranc disputed
the claim made for Alphege to the title of martyr, but Anselm
defended it on the ground that he died for Christian justice
and charity, refusing to sanction the plundering of his people
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
18th. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Heb. xiii. 9-16. St. John xv.
1-7.]
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.
JRepresented-rrWith stones in his chasuble ; a battle-axe in
his hand.
23] St. George, Martyr. — His name is in the Sacramentary
of St. Gregory, with Collects for his day. 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 story, 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 pulled down and torn into shreds a decree of Diocletian
against the Church in Nicomedia ; and that he is by no means
to be identified, as he is by Gibbon and Dean Stanley, with
the Arian prelate George of Cappadocia, who died some forty -
two years after a church had been dedicated to " St. George the
Martyr, " by Constantine the Great, in Constantinople. The
Sarum Breviary of 1556 says he was of Cappadocia (as was
generally supposed), and that he was martyred under Datian,
but does not mention the Dragon story, on which St. George's
great popularity in the middle ages mainly depended, though
it doubtless arose out of some allegorical or symbolical repre-
sentation. He was also honoured as having appeared against
the Saracens at the head of a numerous army, carrying a red
cross banner, whence he was regarded as the champion of
Christendom, Our Lady's Knight, and the Patron of England.
He is sometimes called "St. George of Lydda," from the
place of his burial, according to some accounts. The Greek
Church honours him with the titles of "Great Martyr" and
"Trophy-bearer." [Sar. i^p. and Gosp.: St. James i. 2-12.
St. John XV. 1-7.]
Calendars — All.
C&e Q^inot J^olgDagg of aptil
H5
Dedications of Churches— 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 cro83 on his armour and
shield.
25] St. Mark, Evangelist and Marttr. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Thirteen.
Represented— ks Evangelist, with a winged lion ; as a
Martyr, strangled with cords.
146
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CFje a^inor ^olptiap^ of ^ap.
1] SS. Philip and James, Apostles and Martyrs. — [See
notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Four ancient ones with the 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 probably 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. St, James
tlu Less, with a fuller's club.
3] Invention of the Cross. — This day, sometimes called St.
Helen's or EUinmas Day, commemorates the supposed finding
of the Cross on which our Lord suffered by the Empress
Helena, about a.d. 326. But the date and details are involved
in great obscurity. St. Cyril 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 Constantine
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. Rufinus, however,
also about the same time, says that Helena had to dig among
the ruins of a temple of Venus, 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. Eusebius 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 other
portions to Constantinople and Rome. To Rome ^so she
sent the title, where part of it is still preserved. About
twenty-five nails are shewn in different places. The Eastern
commemoration is that of " the appearance of the Sign of the
Cross" [the Labarum] to Constantine. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.:
Gal. V. 10-12, and vi. 12-14. St. John iii. 1-15.] [See Sep-
tember 14:th.]
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
Rome 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 he 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 has probably arisen out of
representations of the Apostle holding a symbolical cup of
suffering, 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.
[See St. John xxi. 23.] There has been a church at Rome on
the spot where the 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] Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. — "Of whom,"
says Bishop Godwyn, "I know not how to write, that which
is delivered of him is so infinite." He was bom in Somerset,
of noble 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, and thence into that of Alphege the Bald, Bishop
of Winchester, who persuaded him during an illness to take
monastic vows. He accordingly became a monk at Glaston-
bury, the great Benedictine house in which he had been
educated, and which now obtained with him all his paternal
estate. Soon he became Abbot, and through the 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 partly this, partly his
favouring the cause of the monks against the secular clergy,
led to his being banished in 956, when he retired to the Abbey
of St. Peter in Ghent, while in England monks were per-
secuted and abbeys devastated in all directions. In 957
Edgar 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
was made Bishop of Worcester and of London together, from
which sees he was translated to the primacy in 960. As
Archbishop, his great object was to promote monasticism, and
to compel the married secular clergy to put away their wives
and live as celibates, 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 reformer according to the light that he had. He went
about preaching and instructing the people in the churches of
his diocese, and sometimes retired to Glastonbury for rest and
spiritual recreation. He had early become an able craftsman
in various ecclesiastical arts as well as a skilful musician.
When Edgar died in 975 he favoured the election of Edward
["St. Edward," March 18th], and during the reign of the
child-king Ethelred, which followed the murder of Edward,
he was as Jehoiada 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 in his own Cathedral. [Sar. Ep.
and 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] Augustine, first Archbishop op Canterbury. —
Nothing is known of him until we find him " Praepositus " of
St. Gregory's Monastery of St. Andrew in Rome [March 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 Frankish
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 off 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 Monastery of Lerins, they sent
back Augustine to ask that they might be excused from so
Eerilous, toilsome, and uncertain an enterprise. Gregory,
owever, well 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 Gaul, and, soon after Easter in 597,
crossed the Channel and landed at Ebbsfleet, in Kent.
Augustine and Ethelbert, after interchanging messages, had
a meeting in the open air. The King and his thanes 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 on 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 the
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
step for Augustine was to obtain episcopal consecration, and
for this purpose he went to Aries, and was consecrated by the
Archbishop Virgilius and other Frankish prelates, November
16, A.D. 597. On 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
Gregory did not find the men or answer the questions till
June, A.D. 601, when he sent four men, full answers to the
questions, sacred vessels, church furniture, and vestments,
including the pall for the new Archbishop. By Gregory's
advice Augustine now sought to form relations with the
Cbe Q^inor ^ol^Dags of o^ap.
149
British Bishops yet remaining in the West, and they were
induced to meet him at a trysting-tree near the Severn, called
iu Bede's time "Augustine's Oak." The Paschal question,
the mode of baptism, and the form of the tonsure were dis-
cussed at great length, and a second conference was held, but
both failed utterly in their object. Augustine returned in
bitter disappointment and, in seeming despair of working with
the British Bishops, established the Roman liturgy with com-
paratively little alteration, though Gregory had advised him
to be eclectic as to liturgical practices and forms. Mellitus
and Justus, two of the four missionaries who had last CQme
from Rome, were his suffragans at London and Rochester.
The date of his death is somewhat uncertain ; it was in 604
or 605. Shortly before he died he consecrated his fellow-
labourer Laurence to be his successor, an unusual step, for
which he doubtless had good reason. His body received
temporary burial, and eight years later was deposited in the
north transept of the now destroyed Abbey Church of SS.
Peter and Paul, which he had founded, which is generally
known by his name, and where now "St. Augustine's College "
trains missionaries, who carry to heathen lands that same
Gospel which Augustine brought to us. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp, :
Ecclus. xlvii. 8-n. St. Luke x. 1-7. During Easter-tide,
St. John XV. 1-7.]
Calendars — Sarum, York, Hereford, Aberdeen, Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — Twenty-nine, unless some of them
be dedicated to St. Augustine of Hippo [August 28th].
Represented — As an Archbishop.
27] Venerable Bede, Priest. — In the earliest known
Calendars of the Church of England Bede is commemorated
on May 26th, with St. Augustine. In 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 co." So also in a Saxon codex
[circa 1031] in the British Museum [Vitell. E. xviij.] and in an
Exeter calendar, temp. Hen. II. [Harl. MS. 843.] In the
Kal. Salamense, written about 1000, there is "vij. kal. Junii,
Depositio Augustini Confessoris, Bedae Presbyteri. " Mabillon
notices at the end of an ancient hymn, " vj. id. Mali natalis S'ci
Bedae Presbyteri," which he supposes to be the day of his trans-
lation. In a Durham calendar of the fourteenth 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 the " Enchiridion ad Usum Sarum, 1530."
We know very little of the quiet and uneventful life of the
Venerable Baeda or Bede except from the brief autobiography
at the end of his Ecclesiastical History. He was born a.d.
672 or 673 on the domain given by Ecgfrith for Wearmouth
Abbey [begun a.d. 674]. At seven years old he was put
under the care of Benedict Biscop, the Abbot 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 the 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
either learning, teaching, or writing." He was taught by
Trumberht, and probably also by John the Archchanter,
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
John ['St. John of Beverley'], and at the bidding of Abbot
Ceolfrith. From the time that I was ordained priest till
now, when I am 58 years old, I have occupied myself with
writing commentaries on the Holy Scriptures to suit my own
needs and those of my brethren, gathered from the works of
the venerable fathers, and either briefly given or as a para-
phrastic interpretation of the sense." But he also wrote
treatises on astronomy, meteorology, physics, music, philoso-
phy, grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, and medicine, as well as
the Lives of St. Cuthbert and others. His most important
work, however, was his Ecclesiastical History. Nearly all
that we really know of the century and a half of English history
which dates from the landing of St. 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, and there he died on the Eve of the Ascension, May
25, A.D. 735, and was buried in the Abbey Church of SS. Peter
and Paul. A letter from one Cuthbert to Cuthwin, a brother
monk, gives an affecting account, which cannot be abridged,
and is too long to be inserted here, of the last hours of their
old master. [See Sunday after Ascension.] 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 Bseda,
our master and your blessed patron, used to say, 'I well
know that angels visit the congregations of brethren at the
canonical hours. What if they should not find me there
among my brethren? Will they not say. Where is Baeda?
Why comes he not with his 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 Baedae Venerabilis ossa," in
modem letters. There are three different legends professing
to account for the title of "Venerable," which seems to have
been assigned to Baeda about the ninth century.
Calendars — York on 26th ; Monastic, 27th ; Roman Martyro-
logy, 27th, as his " depositio " or burial.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — 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.
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C6e a^inor J^olpDags of June.
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
untrustworthy, 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. 24-28. 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.
Represented — With spiked club or leaded whip.
5] Boniface, 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
Avas 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 the religious life ; and his father, though much opposed
to such a step, sent him at seven years old to a monastic
school at Exeter, whence he proceeded to Nutescelle, in
Hampshire. 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 heathen 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 with such opposition that he
was obliged to return, whereupon he was made Abbot of
Nutescelle much against his 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 Germany, where he had great
success, as also in Friesland, Hesse, and Saxony, after which
the Pope consecrated him missionary Bishop. Returning to
his mission, he had to encounter not only utter Paganism,
but a wild mixture of Paganism and Christianity. There was
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.
Dedications of Churches — Two.
Represented — With book pierced with sword ; a club ; a
scourge.
II] St. Barnabas, Apostle and Martyr. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Six.
Represented — With St. Matthew's Gospel in his hand, as it
was a tradition (most improbable) that he carried about with
him one written by the Evangelist's own hand ; with a staff,
or a stone, or stones.
17] St. Alban, Martyr. — During the persecution of Dio-
cletian and Maximian, which began a.d. 303, according to
Gildas and Baeda, though the English Chronicles date the
martyrdom 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 the great Roman city Verula-
mium, on the rising ground where the Abbey and English
town of St. Alban's afterwards arose. Many legendary
additions grew 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 shrines 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 protomartyr of
Britain, and in the later middle ages he was hailed in a
hymn as " prothomartyr Anglorum, miles Regis Angelorum."
[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.
Represented — As a layman, with a tall cross ; with a sword.
20] Translation 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 Waerham, and carried it with niickle worship to Scaeftes-
byrig " [Shaftesbury]. Florence of Worcester [anno 979] says
that 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 18th.
24] Nativity of St. John Baptist. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Three hundred and ninety.
Repre^tented — With raiment of camel's hair, carrying the
Ar/nus 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 Coll.]
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.
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Cf)e ^inoc 5)ot^Dap0 of 3|ulp.
2] Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. — This festival
originated in France in the middle of the thirteenth century,
and commemorates the visit of the Blessed Virgin to her
cousin Elisabeth, as recorded in the Gospel for the day.
The Council of Basle decided that it should be celebrated
throughout the Western Church in 1441, but it was
added to the York Calendar by the Convocation of that
province as late as 1526, and then placed at April 2nd.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Cant. ii. 1-4 and 10-14. St. Luke i.
39 and foil.]
Calendars — All. [York, April 2nd. Paris, June 27th. ]
Mepresented — The two meeting and about to kiss or embrace
one another. Elisabeth older than Mary.
4] Translation of St. Martin, Bishop and Confessor. —
St. Brice, the successor of St. Martin, built a chapel over his
tomb within 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 4th translated St. Martin's
remains to a sumptuous tomb behind the high altar. It is
said that the body had been carried into Burgundy, as in
England St. Cuthbert's 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.
Martin, 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, 21-23 ; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St,
Luke xii. 32-34.]
Calendars — All except Roman and Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — See November 11th.
15] St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester, Translation.—
St. Swithun or S within was bom in the kingdom of the West
Saxons, and educated in the monastery attached to Win-
chester Cathedral, of which 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 Ethelwulf 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, whence St. Swithin, like St.
Gervais in France [June 19th] and other 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 Eoman
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.]
Calendar — Sarum only.
Dedications of Churches— ¥iity-oue, and one with St. Nicolas.
Represented — 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 saints 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 East and West, and this must point to some
true story now lost. Her " Acts " were generally accepted in
later times, but are manifestly fabulous. The Greeks com-
memorate her on the 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 helped by pagan representations of Aphrodite
rising out of a fish, mistaken in later times for the Christian
saint. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii.
44-52.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Chmxhes— Two hundred and thirty-eight ;
six with other Saints. Some may be dedicated to St. Margaret
of Scotland.
Itepresented — Crowned, piercing a dragon with a long cross
or spear ; vrith 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, Mary Magdalen.— The Western Church has
generally assumed that Mary Magdalen, Mary of Bethany,
and "the woman that was a sinner" were one and the same
person, while the Eastern Church has held the three to be
distinct. In the Roman Breviary the Office distinctly refers
to all three. Sarum commemorates the penitent sinner as
Mary Magdalen, using the text, "Mary hath chosen that
good part," etc., perhaps only by way of adaptation. The
l^]astern 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, " MercyfuU 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 off'ende thy diuyne
maiestie : that then we may truely repent, and lament the
same, after the example of Mary Magdalen, and by a lyuely
faithe obtaine remission of all our synnes, throughe the onely
merites of thy soune 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. Martha 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 Resurrection. 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 — All except Paris.
Dedications of Churches — About one hundred and fifty.
Represented — With box of ointment ; with boat and open
book ; with a skull ; young, and with long hair,
25] St. James, Apostle 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 shrine 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, with no
hope of children, when Mary was given to them. Procopius
of Csesarea, who lived in the early part of the sixth century,
mentions a church dedicated to St. Anne, "whom some
believe to be the mother of the Virgin, and the grandmother
of Christ," at Constantinople. The Greeks have three days
of St. Anne in the year : On September 4th, with Joachim ;
December 9th, 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, [1566-72]. 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. xxxL 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, cue with St, Agne8»
Represented — Teaching the Blessed Virgin to read.
158
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1] Lammas Day [St. Peter ad Vincxtla]. — The 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
harvest, when bread made of the new wheat was offered at the
Mass. The blessing of new fruits took place in both Eastern
and Western Churches on the 1st or the 6th of August,
and probably took the place of a heathen custom of a similar
kind. Such explanations as Vincula-mass, Lamb-mass, etc.,
cannot stand against the form of the word in the oldest
English, viz, Hlaf-msesse, i.e. "Loaf-mass," especially when
it is taken in connection with the blessing of firstfruits. The
old saying ' ' At latter Lammas, " ». 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 Rome, in which one of the chains
which fell off St. Peter is said to be kept. St. Peter in
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] Transfiguration 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 Overforming of our Lord on the Mount Tabor."
Pope Calixtus III. issued a bull for its general observance on
this day [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 Sariim
Missal 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 Constantinople,
the Patriarch, and 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,
xvii. 1-9.]
Calendars — All except Hereford. [Cologne, ninth century,
July 27th.]
7] Name of Jesus.— This festival does not appear to have
been generally observed until the beginning of the sixteenth
century. In 1498 it was kept with the Transfiguration on
August 6th. Portions of St. Bernard's well-known hymn,
" Jesu, dulcis memoria," were sung in the Sarum Offices and
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 by 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 t{)c or if)S, Latin forfna 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 him 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 Church. The Christians were at this time under-
foing the eighth general persecution, that of Valerian, and
ixtus was led to martyrdom a.d. 258. Laurence, his deacon,
made a most affecting appeal to be allowed to suffer 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, shewing 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. He is
named in the earliest known Roman Calendar, a.d, 354, 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.
Represented — As a deacon, with gridiron, and with thurible,
church and book, long cross-staff, or money-bag.
24] St. Bartholomew, Apostle and Martyr. — [See notes
on Gosp, Ep, and Coll,]
Dedications of Churches — About one hundred and fifty.
Represented — With a flaying-knife in his hand ; sometimes
a human skin on his arm,
28] St,Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Confessor and Doctor.
— Tliis great confessor and doctor of the Western Church was
born at Tagaste,in Numidia, November 13, a.d. 354. His father
was one Patricius, a pagan, and his mother the holy Christian
Monica, commemorated as a saint in the Latin Church on
May 4th. Augustine appears 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 Manichseism 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 Manichseanism, 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 fell 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 of 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 had to struggle with his love
of pleasure, his passions, his earthly ties. And as he lay
down and wept, he heard a child's voice singing l^olle, Lege.
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 the 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 25, a.d. 387,
he was baptized by 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 Te Deum
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 was 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, and 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 far we are mainly indebted to St.
Augustine's own Confessions for the particulars of his life ;
the rest is gathered from a life of him by 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 Rome a.d. 388, and in 391 was
ordained priest by Valerius, Bishop of Hippo, the city of the
Numidian kings, but now more famous as the See of Augustine.
Cf)e ©inot lE)olpnag0 of august
i6i
Here he preached a great deal for Valerius, and corrected an
abuse of the agapce, a custom of which we perhaps have a sur-
vival in the panis benedktus 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 old
man and his deeds, and was disposed to attribute to Divine
Grace a constraining power destructive of human freedom,
and to have laid down maxims most dangerous to morality.
He wrote a letter to Sixtus, priest of Rome, which gave rise
to much controversy, the Galilean Church especially combat-
ing his views. In a.d. 427 he published " Eetractations, " —
not a recantation, but a survey and revision, — the result of
a calmer consideration of former statements. In June a. d.
430, Hippo was besieged by the Arian Vandals, but Augustine
ceased not to preach and to work 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 the 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.D. 710 redeemed from the Saracens by Luitprand, King
of the Lombards. Since then it has been at Pavia, but in
1837 some portions were sent to a church in Algeria, on the
ruined site of Hippo. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xlvii.
8-11. St. Matt. V. 13-19.]
Calendar's — All.
Dedications of Churches — Twenty -nine, except any which
may be to St. Augustine of Canterbury [May 26th].
Eepi'esented — With a burning heart, or a heart with one or
two arrows ; with an eagle.
29] Beheading of St. John Baptist. — This minor festival
of St. John Baptist commemorates his death as related in St.
Matt. xiv. 1-12. It probably took place shortly 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 repiited relics of St. John Baptist were
kept. Portions are shewn at Amiens, Rome, 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 [June
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, 6, 8-11. St.
Markvi. 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.
l62
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Cue ^imt ^olpDapg of ^eptemt)ec»
1] Giles, Abbot and Confessor. — The earlier part of the
legend of St. Giles, or yEgidius, according to which he was an
Athenian who came to Marseilles and became acquainted
with St. Csesarius of Aries, is given up by Mabillon and the
BoUandists 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 Childebert III., King of the Franks [cir.
A.D. 695-711], according to some, or Wamba, 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. Touched at the
sight, the King had the wound dressed, became the hermit's
friend, built a monastery on the site of the cave, 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 they were driven back, and he returned to his 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 Roman. St. Giles 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 — All.
Dedications of Churches — One hundred and forty-six, and
one with St. Martin.
Represented — With the hind and the arrow in various ways ;
with a milk-cup in his hand.
7] Enurchus, Bishop 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. 374. In
the Acta Sanctorum he is placed under Constantine, but there
are no trustworthy accounts 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 Aniauus as
his successor.
Calendar — York.
Dedications of Churches — None,
Hepresented — 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 Sacramentary of St.
Gregory, and was very generally celebrated in the middle
ages with 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 Baring-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. 1-16 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 Heraclius
[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 precious reliquary in his arms. This being opened,
the sacred wood was lifted up before the people, hence pro-
bably the feast 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 multiplied, 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 Day
in May." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Gal. v. 10-12, and vi. 12-14-
St. John xii. 31-36.]
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — 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] Lambert, Bishop and Martyr. — St. Landebert or
Lambert was born of Christian parents of rank and wealth
at Maestricht, where, after a careful education, he 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, was dethroned and murdered, A.D. 673, Lambert,
who was known to be his friend, was driven from his see by
Ebroin, ' ' Mayor " of Maestricht, and retired to the Monastery
of Stavelot, where he spent seven years in strict monastic
obedience, while Faramond, a Canon of Cologne, was put in
his place as Bishop. In A.D. 681, 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,
then a small place, fell upon 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 churcli was built at Liege on the
l)lace of martyrdom, and thither his remains were translated
A.D. 721 by his successor in the See of Maestricht, which
see was now removed to Lifege. 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 Churches — 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.
Hepresented — With 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 or-iginally kept, together with that 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. Cj'prian
occupies the place of another of the same name, a converted
magician of Antioch. Thascius Cyprianus 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 Ctecilius,
a presbyter, he became a Christian, though not without a
struggle that reminds us of St. Augustine. Like that dis-
tinguished convert, he 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 TertuUian. Assuming
the name of his spiritual father, he was styled Thascius
Caecilius Cyprianus. Nf»t long after liis baptism lie was
Cfje ^inoc IpoljJDags of ^eptcmliet.
165
ordained priest [a.d. 247], and soon after that was made
Bishop of Carthage, not without the strenuous opposition of
a small party headed by Novatus and Felicissimus. In the
Decian persecution, a.d. 250, he used the 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
might thus at that time best glorify God. The heathen had
furiously raged together, crying, "Cyprianus ad leones, Cypri-
anus ad bestias," also calling him Coprianus, from the Greek
word for dung, thus fulfilling literally the words of St. Paul [1
Cor. iv. 13]. From his retirement he wrote many letters to his
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 that many councils afterwards adopted it. He
returned to Carthage 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 the 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 void, and hence his famous controversy with
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 Papal 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. " While 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 Mappalian 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 Commimicantes in the Canon of the Mass. [Sar, Ep.
and Gosp. : 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. — [-S'ee notes on Gosp.
Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — About six hundred.
Represented — St. Michael as 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, Confessor, and Doctor. — St.
Jerome was born in the earlier part of the fourth 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 with three friends, passing through
Thrace, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Cappadocia, and Cihcia.
At Csesarea they saw the great St. Basil, and then journeyed to
Antioch, where Jerome had a serious illness ; and he was still
suffering from ill-health there in the Lent of a.d. 374, when
he did not consider himself exempted from the observation of
the 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. AVhile he was yet in the desert the Meletian
schism broke out. Jerome espoused the side of Paulinus, the
Bishop recognized by Rome at Antioch, against that of
Meletius recognized by the 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 Meletias died,
but his partisans carried on the old contention ; and in A. D.
382 Damasus called Paulinus, with his followers and
opponents, to Rome, where 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 version 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 way
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 Bethlehem. 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 errors 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 diflficulty, 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 with 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. : Ecclus. xlvii. 8-11. St. Matt. v. 13-19.]
Caleridars — All.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — With red hat and robe, later as a cardinal;
with lion, ink-bottle, wallet and scroll, church, hOur-glass,
skull, stone ; beating his breast with a stone, knteling on
thorns, or wearing a garment interwoven with thorns. ^
1 66
C&e CalenDar toitl) tbe €:at)le of Heggons,
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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 Montanus, 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 aftei'wards Primate of
Gaul, whence Rheims became the Metropolitical See of
France. He is chiefly known as having baptized Clovis, or
Hlodwig, the first orthodox Christian King of the Franks, with
such solemnity that the convert asked, "Patron, is this the
kingdom of God ?" At the font the holy bishop said, " Bend
thy head 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 May 26th.] 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 his 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 which bears his name,
and which was consecrated by Pope Leo the Great October
2, A.D. 1049, the body of St. Remi having been solemnly
translated on the previous day, which thenceforth 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 Cathedral
Church of Notre Dame in Rheims, together with a new ampul
made in imitation 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 ChurcJies — 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 suffered under the cruel Datian
[see January 22nd] in the latter part of the third century at
Agen, in Aquitaine. Refusing to sacrifice to Diana, she boldly
confessed Christ notwithstanding the most horrible tortures,
endeavouring, as she said, to shew herself worthy of her name.
Having been beaten with 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 Martyrologies mention another St. Faith under
June 23rd as a martyr with her mother Sophia and her 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 of Churches — Sixteen, and one with All Saints ;
also the crypt of old St. Paul's.
Represented — The three sisters as children holding swords.
9] St. Denys, Areopagite, Bishop, and Maktyii. — 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 Bishop of Athens, and according to a later tradition he
suffered martyrdom there. The remarkable philosophical
works long supposed to have been written by him are now
generally considered to be the productions of some Neo-
Platonists of the sixth century. His place in our Calendar is
the result of what was a popular belief for many centuries,
that the Areopagite and St. Denys of France were the same
person, formerly Bishop of Athens, who having 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 Offices of the Mediaeval Churches
generally. According to this legend, St, Dionysius had as
companions in work and in martyrdom Rupticus, a presbyter,
rjid Eleutherius, 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 thr
Areopagite ; and according to Gregory of Tours, a.d. 570, Lc
was sent to Paris vmder 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 person. 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 Baeda and others down to
Alban Butler, who adopts the account which places SS. Denys,
Lucian, Quintin, Crispin, and others with them, in the third
century [see January 8th], without any reference to tlie
Breviary. St. Denys was one of the most popular saints of
the Middle Ages, particularly in France, in which country he
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," Montmartre.
The later story that St. Denys carried his head in his hands
from Montmartre to the site of the Abbey of St. Denys doubt-
less arose out of symbolical representations originally in-
tended to convey nothing more than that he was beheaded.
[Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Acts xvii. 16-34. St. Luke vi. 17-23.]
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] Translation 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 was 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 Holy Innocents, a.d. 1065, but
he was too sick to be present, and on the Eve of the Epiphany
he died. On the following festival he was buried before the
high altar in the new church, a great 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 Henry 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 veneration in which
his memory continued to be held, a veneration which was
scarcely extinct even in 1760, when lying eulogists compared
the devotion of George 11. to that of St. Edward ! Touching
for the ' ' king's evil ' arose out of the belief that St. Edward
could cure disease by his touch, and that the power remained
with his posterity. It was last performed by Queen Anne,
and a special Office for it is found in many Books of Common
Prayer. The same power was attributed 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, Hereford, Monastic.
Dedications ofChicrches — Twenty-one, either to him or to St.
Edward the Martyr ; one at Cambridge is to the Confessor.
CJje e^inot ij)otetiap0 of Dctofiet.
169
Bepi'esented — With the ring, sometimes with a purse.
17] Etheldreda, Vikgin. — ^thelthryth, Etheldreda, or
Audrey, was one of four daughters of Anna, King of the East
Angles, who were all esteemed to be saints, the others being
Sexburga, Ethelburga, and Withburga. Of these Etheldreda
was apparently the third. She was married against her will
to Tunbert, an East Anglian prince, who bestowed on her
the Isle of Ely as a dowry. The marriage remained merely
nominal, and Tunbert soon died. His widow then retired
to Ely in order to devote herself to the religious life. But in
A.D. 660 she was obliged to become the wife of Prince Eg-
frid, son of Oswy, King of Northumbria. Nothing, however,
would induce her to break her resolution of perpetual virginity ;
and when Egfrid came to the throne of his father, a.d. 670,
he sought the help of the famous Wilfrid, or Wilfrith, to bring
her over to his views. W^ilfrid, 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 her 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 taken to
our Lord," says 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 coffin. In
A.D. 695 her sister and successor St. Sexburga translated her
body, placing it, entire and uncorrupt. in a Roman stone or
marble coffin brought from Grantchester [Cambridge]. The
body was afterwards enshrined in the existing cathedral ; and
on the 17th of October, the feast of her translation, pilgrims
fared to her shrine from all quarters. Our word "tawdry"
is said to be derived from pilgrims' " signs" or other objects
bought 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 staflF.
18] St. Luke, Evangelist. — [^ee notes on Gosp. Ep. and
Coll.]
Dedications of ChnrcJies— Seventeen, and one with All Saints.
Represented — With picture of Blessed Virgin Mary ; as
Evangelist, with winged ox.
25] Crispin, Martyr. — Crispin and his brother Crispinian
are celebrated among the band of missionaries who came from
Rome with St. Denys, January 8th, 20th, and October 9th.
Fixing their abode at Soissons, they preached and instructed
the people by day, and when not so engaged exercised the
trade of shoemaking for a maintenance. Hence they have
been considered the tutelar saints or patrons of that craft,
and of two famous societies in France called Freres Cordon-
niers. The two brothers were beheaded, October 25, a.d.
288, after severe tortures, under Riccius Varus, the Roman
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. 9-14. St. Matt. x. 16-22.]
Calendars — All but Eoman and Monastic.
Dedications of Churches — None.
Represented — Shoemaking ; with shoemakers' tools, or strips
of hide, or with a cornucopia full of boots and shoes.
28] SS. Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs. — \See
notes on Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Two in their joint names.
Represented — St. Simon with a fish or two, an oar, a fuller's
bat. usually a saw. St. Jude with a boat, ship, club, bat,
inverted cross, halbert, or carpenter's square.
170
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Ci)e ^inot ^olgDag0 of s^oumbtt.
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, who stood sponsor
for him at the font to do honour to his father. Having
become a disciple of St. Remigius [October 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
him, 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 his ass. Here Leonard ruled
at the head of a flourishing community 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 fifty, one
with 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 bom early in the fourth century at Sabaria, in
Eannonia [Hungary], but brought up at Pavia. Both his
parents were Pagans, but Martin at ten years old used to
frequent the Christian churches and ask to be made a
catechumen. His father, a military tribune, enrolled him in
the army at fifteen, and he 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 off half of his own military cloak with
his sword, and 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 this garment. " When he had been baptized,
and had served in the army about five years, he sought his
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. The next
day the enemy sued for peace and surrendered, whereupon
Martin got his discharge. On leaving the army, he sojouirned
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 he
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 neighbouring 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 he shewed great zeal in demolishing
temples and trees consecrated to Pagan worship ; and, like St.
Boniface [June 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 his life he 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 buried in a cemetery just outside Tours
as it then was, and eleven years afterwards St. Brice, his
successor, built a chapel 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, chapel.
In time a blue banner, divided to represent St. Martin's cloak,
was carried instead, until it was superseded by the famous Ori-
flamme, the banner of St. Denys. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus.
xliv. 17, 20, 21-23 ; xlv. 6, 7, 15, 16. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]
Calendars — AIL
Dedications 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, and even after his
ordination St. Martin had a mind to depose him ; but he
said, " If Christ endured Judas, why 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
contains the legend that on his being accused of being the
father of an infant, he adjured it by Christ to say if he 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 the gravest charges, and returned to
his see in the seventh year armed with Papal authority. In
his latter days he acquired the reputation of a saint, and
dying a.d. 444, was buried near St. Martin in the chapel he
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 burning coals in his vestment ; an
infant on the ground near him.
15] Machutus, Bishop. — Maelog, Malo, Mawes, Maclon,
Maclovius, or Machutus, was a native of Wales, but trained
in a monastery at Aleth [now St. Malo], in Brittany, under
St. Brendan, from whom, when he grew up, he received the
habit. Afterwards he became Bishop of Aleth, and converted
the neighbouring 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, the Bishop, gave him a
cell at Brie, and here 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. xhv. 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 of Lincoln. — Hugh of Avalon, or de
Grenoble, was born of a noble Burgundian family, a.d. 1140.
His mother died when he was eight years old ; and his father
then entering a monastery of regular canons near his castle,
dedicated the 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 Carthusians, 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 the 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 Hugh the monastery
became very prosperous. "The King, who for the opinion
he had of his holinesse, vsed often," says Godwin, " priuately
to conferre with him, remembering how great wrong he 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 procured 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 that it was noted, as I find deliuered, some notable
calamity otherwise did lightly follow them. His Church of
Lincolne he caused to be all new built from the foundation, a
great and memorable worke, and not possible to be performed
by him without infinite helpe." Indeed, as has been well
said by another, "a more zealous and indefatigable prelate
Cfie a^inot ^olptiaps of Boumbtt.
173
than was Bishop Hugh of Lincoln seldom, if ever, presided
over a see of our own or any other Christian land." He
yearly visited Witham 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 sojournings, and died in London, November 17,
A.D. 1200, as they were singing in his hearing the Nunc
dimittis 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. and 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 the
accession of Queen Elizabeth [November 17th] was commonly
called "St. Hugh's Day." [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. xlv.
1-5. St. Mark xiii. 33-37.]
Calendars — Sarum, Aberdeen.
Dedicatio-na of Churches — Quethiock, in Cornwall, unless it
be to some local saint.
Represented — With a tame swan which he had ; holding
three flowers.
20] Edmund, King and Martyr. — This Eadmund, or
Edmund, the last of the native under-kings of East Anglia,
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 otF his head, which they flung into a thicket. The
following year, when the Danes had retired, the body was
recovered, and the 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 13ury. His name is connected with much
that is legendary, and the Sarum Breviary has 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. — Csecilia, 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, tliough 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 Csecilian family. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Ecclus. li.
9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.] Her name occurs in the Nobis
quoque in the Canon of the Mass.
Calendars — All.
Dedications of Churches — Two.
Represented — Crowned ; bearing wreaths of roses or other
flowers ; a palm ; a sword ; an almond branch ; a sprig of
flowers ; in later representations she is holding a portable
organ or harp, or playing on an organ.
23] St. Clement I., Bishop of 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-
cantes in the Canon of the Mass. But so much legend has grown
up around the name of Clement, and so little trustworthy in-
formation has come down to us, that we hardly know anything
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 who 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 Maximinus 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 1836 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 other Roman
Catholic writers to have been monks. Her extraordinary
popularity in France and England dates from the bringing of
alleged relics of her from Mount 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. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches — Nearly six hundred, and three
with other Saints.
Represented — With a cross saltire, or sometimes an ordinary
cross in his hand.
174
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CJje Q^inot I^olpnaps of Decemtier,
6] Nicolas, Bishop of Myra, in Lycia. — The great fame of
St. Nicolas, like that of St. Catharine, is founded on a vast
mass of picturesque legend rather than on anything we 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 shipwreck 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 Nicsea,
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. 1087 some
merchants of Bari in southern Italy carried oflf 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] Conception of the Blessed Viegin Mary. — 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,"
however, 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] Lucy, Virgin and Martyr. — 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 quoque of the Mass. St. Aldhelm wrote much
about her, not only in prose, but in his poem De laude
Virginitatis. The legendary account of her is that she was the
daughter of a Christian lady in Syracuse, named Eutychia,
and bom 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 fuUy resolved to con-
secrate her virginity to God. Her mother was not aware of
this, 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 her goods
to feed the poor, and openly professed her dedication to
Christ. Her former lover now hated 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 her throat was cut with a
sword, and she died a.d. 303, 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. C-
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] Sapientia. — The first of the seven antiphons of the
Magnificat sung in preparation for Christmas. [^See notes on
Fourth Sunday in Advent.] The others were, on the 17th, O
Adonai ; 18th, Radix Jesse ; 19th, O Ola vis David ; 20th,
O Oriens; 22nd, O Rex Gentium; 23rd, Emmanuel (St.
Thomas's Day having its own antiphon, Thoma Didyme).
These titles of Christ were sometimes called the " Seven
Names." It has been maintained, with "much ingenuity,"
and more ignorance, that "O Sapientia" was a saint, one of
the eleven thousand virgins alleged to have suffered with St.
Ursula. [Brady's Glavis Calendaria, ii. 323.]
21] St. Thomas, Apostle and Martyr. — [See notes on
Gosp. Ep. and Coll.]
Dedications of Churches. — 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 Martyr. — [See notes on Gosp.
Ep. and CoU.]
Dedications 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,
Rejrresented — 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.— [^^ec 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 Maxentius 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 Breviary
say that Silvester baptized Constantine, which 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 his successors, is well known to be a
1 gross forgery of the eighth century. Silvester died December
31, A.D. 335, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on
the Salarian Way, whence his body was removed to a church
dedicated to him in the 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 Chevelstone, Devon.
Repi-esented — As a Pope, baptizing Constantine ; an ox by
his side, referring to a story of his bringing to life an ox that
had been killed by magic.
AN INTRODUCTION
TO
MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER
The ordinary daily Offices of the Christian Church 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. 164]; and as Daniel "kneeled upon his
knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before
his God " [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 connection 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 ofifering their
prayers elsewhere at the same hour. It was while "they
were all with one accord in one place " at "the 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 " [Ibid. xvi. 25] : and in the early zeal of
their first love all the believers "continued stedfastly . . .
in the prayers" [toj"j irpoffevxa-h] "daily with one accord in
the temple " [Ibid. ii. 42, 46], as a regular part of the system
of that fellowship into which they had been baptized.
When 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 hours of prayer ; and that 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 Son, and the Holy Ghost, exclusive,
that is, of the regular prayers which are due, without any ad-
monition, at the beginning 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 rational 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 Resurrection 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 God, 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 the 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 coming 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 distinct terms : "Ye shall make prayers.
... In the morning gi^'ing thanks, because the Lord hath
enlightened you, removing the night, and bringing the day :
at the third hour, because the Lord at that time received
sentence from Pilate ; at the sixth hour, because in it He was
crucified ; at the ninth hour, because all things were shaken
when the Lord was crucified, trembling at the audacity of
the impious Jews, not enduring that their Lord should 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.
Constit. viii. 34.]
No account has come down to us which 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 the nineteenth
Psalm as one which was invariably used at the sixth hour.
The fifty-first Psalm is also shewn, 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 " [see 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 Western, 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 were
originally derived from the latter. ^ But there are also many
particulars in which the Western 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, than the rule of St. Benedict [a.d. 530], 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
quotidianse. " 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 daily 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 offered 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
1 They are given at length in Neale's Intrca. Hist, of Eastern Church,
vol. ii. ch. iv.
2 Freeman's Frinc. Div. Serv. i. 65. ' V>id. 106.
U
178
an 3lntroDuction to corning anD (JBtiening Jprajer.
time of St. Gregory : Epistles and Gospels being read at the
Holy Communion, but no I^essons 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 on Sunday only at other
offices, is still maintained.
In Mediaeval 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 differed 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 Churches, they consisted nominally of seven separ-
ate services or hours [see p. 17] ; but as in those churches at the
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 religious. The Reformers condensed the seven
hours instead of aggregating 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 Primei"s 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 Cosin, with other Manuals framed on the
same model, have 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 Princ. Div. Serv. i. 246.
In making this change the Reformers were doubtless
endeavouring to secure by a modification of the Services what
the theory of the Church had always required, the attend-
ance of the Laity as well as the Clergy at the Daily Offices
of Praise and Prayer. From very early days the Church of
England had enjoined the Laity to be present at them, as
may be seen in the collection of Decrees and Canons on the
subject printed by Maskell [Mo7i. Rit. 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 their own use alone, its
structure becoming so complex that none but those who had
been long used to handle it could possibly follow the course
of the services day by day. In forming out of these complex
services such simple and intelligible ones as our present
Morning and Evening Prayer, a new opportunity was
offered 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 system and principles of the
Book of Common Prayer, if taken in their strict sense ; and
to make the offering in the total absence of worshippers seems
scarcely less so. But as every 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 may make the omission of the daily
Offices rare in the Churches of our land. Then indeed might
the time come when the Church of England could say, " Thou,
O God, sentest a gracious rain upon Thine inheritance ; and
refresh edst it when it was 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."
Praiden lie tTje EotB natTp: cben ttje Oot JDKfto Tjelpctl) tisi, aitn pouretl& ^ii Ijenefiw upon \xi.
Dap bp nap toe magtitfp ^]&ee,
ant toe toorjjl&tp ^!)p Jf3ame: eber toorTo toftl&ottt cnu.
THE ORDER FOR
MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER
DAILY TO BE SAID AND USED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
^PHE 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 Ministers 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
(as distinct from the Litany and tlie Holy Communion) are to
be said or sung has remained unaltered since the 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 Pater noster ;" 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 Se7-m. 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 tJiey have 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 say, in the con-
venient situation of the seats, and in the ascent or steps
appointed anciently for the 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 October, in the third year of the reign of
our Sovereign Lady, Elizabeth, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, De-
fender of the Faith, etc. By virtue of her Majesty's Letters addressed to
her Highness' Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical as followeth." [Brit.
Mus. 5155 aa. They are printed in Hevlin's Hist. Reform. Bed. Hist. Soc.
ed. 1849, ii. 360 ; and also in Perry's Lawful Church Ornaimnts, p. 276. ]
with leaving the situation of the seats (as well in the Quire
as in the Church) as heretofore hath been used. Provided
yet that where any parish of their own costs and charges by
common consent will pull down the whole frame, and re-edify-
ing the 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 otherwise attempted in them, but be suffered
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 issued 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-
ness of the church and choir, so that the people may be most
edified." [Cardw. Docum. 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
responsive 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 lumber-room, to be cleared out once
a quarter for 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 v. Dighton, Chief-Justice Erie decided (on appeal
in 1864) 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.
A7id here is to be noted. That such Ornaments of the CJinrch]
This has been popularly called " The Ornaments Rubric," and
may also be fittingly regarded as the Interpretation Clause to
i8o
C{)e flDrnet for scorning anti aBuening Ptapet.
Ministration, 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 Edw. 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 reign of King Edw. VI.] The
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 possible that it had received the Royal Assent, a,nd
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 use in the Church 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, siibject to such omissions as were made
necessary by changes effected under Statutory authority.
THE ORDER FOR
'MORNING PRATER
DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
IF 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 turneth away from
his wickedness that he hath committed,
a Matins [1549
only].
* From here to the
end of the Rubric
following the Ab-
solution [1553].
And likewise 0/
Evening Prayer
[1552)-
c "Executor offi-
cii" of Sarum rub-
rics.
d or more [1662].
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. n. 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 Morning 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 ordo. Morning Prayer was called by
the ancient popular name of "Mattins" (abbreviated from
MatutincB), in the original English Prayer Book of 1549 ; and
that convenient name is still retained in the three Tables of
Proper Lessons and Proper Psalms, and also in the Eliza-
bethan Act of Uniformity.
the Minister} That is, the person who ministers, whether
Bishop, Priest, or, perhaps, Deacon. In the Latin Rubrics
the corresponding term is ' ' Executor oflScii. " In the Rubrics
of the Confirmation Olfice 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 called
"the Priest that shall execute the holy Ministry." In Queen
Elizabeth's time the old Latin word was stiU in use, e.g.
' ' Item. That the Ministers receiving the Communion at the
hands of the Executor be placed kneeling next to the Table. "
[Bishops' Interpr. of Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions ; Card well,
Doc. Ann. i. 206.] Other examples might be given.
In Bishop Cosin's revision he appended to the word
"Minister the following note: "That is, he who at that
time ministereth or celebrateth Divine Service ; " and although
it was not deemed necessary at the time to print this note,
it is valuable to us now as shewing the technical meaning
which was attached to the word Minister when used in the
Rubric.
THE SENTENCES.
The ancient Mattins of the Church of England began with,
" In the Name of the Father, and of the Sou, 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 secreto.
rin the 1552 Prayer Book, these_Sen^ences, with the Exhorta-
/ tion. Confession, and Absolution, weiFej>refixed to Morning
^*rayer, but not to Evening Prayer. This 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 penitentia l
p refix to the service was considered more appropriate for a
mixed congregation 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 rule
about private Confession made it expedient 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 Capitula, during Lent) are a reproduction at
the beginning of Divine Service of the Invitatories which were
prefixed to the Venite in the 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 Mattins on Easter Day.
These were still ordered to be " solemnly sung or said " in the
same place in the 1549 Prayer 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 Andrewes, who suggested some others in the follow-
ing note : "Adde hue, quod ad invitandam poenitentiam
egregia sunt misericordise et longanimitatis encomia; Pa.
Ixxviii. 38; Jer. iii. 7, 12 ; Heb. iv."
As Invitatories intended to give the keynote to the Service^
they may be advantageoiIBly used in the following, or some
similar, order, appropriate to the various days and seasons : —
Advent: "Repent ye." "Enternot." "O Lord, correct me."
Lent : " The sacrifices." "Rend your heart."
Fridays and Vigils : "I acknowledge."
Wednesdays: " Hide thy face ."
Ordinary days : " When the wicked man. " " I will arise. "
"If we say."
Sundays, other holydays, and Eves : "To the Lord our God."
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 Easter Sentences referred to ; as also with
such a use of the Offertory Sentences in the Communion
Service.
read ivith a loud voice] This is an ecclesiastical or
technical phrase, the explanation of which is to be found in a
Rubric before the Tc Deum 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 maimer of distinct reading ; and likewise the
Epistle and Gospel. " 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 in
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 with tongue." The writer,
a little further on, censures those who use their own private
devotions while Divine Service is going on, or ' ' whyle other
syng yt or rede yt by note. " [Mirror 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 the clergyman officiating. There is, however, no
ritual principle by which they are so limited.
l82
aborning Iprapet.
broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt
not despise. ^^- ^^- ^''■
Rend your heart, and not your 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 ii. 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. 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. 8- 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,
Lord ; for in Thy sight shall no man living be
justified. Pf- c'^i"- 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 ^- 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 Father; 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 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. Wherefore 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 ;
IF A general Confession to be said of the whole con-
gregation after the Minister, "all kneeling.
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father ; We
-lA- 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 Exhortation and some
which were used, at the Holy Communion and in Lent, in the
ancient services of the Church of England. There is also a
trace of similarity between it and the opening of Poullain's
L'Ordre des Prieres EccUsiastiques, printed for the use of the
German refugees at Glastonbury, in 1552. The words of the
latter are, "Mea Frferes, qu'un chascun de vous se pr^sente
devant la face du Seigneur, avec confession de ses fautes et
p^chez, suyvant de tout son cueur mes [pa]rolles." ^ 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 Prayer Book in 1552 were entirely responsible 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 extremely ignorant of the true nature of Divine worship
at the time. Five principal parts of worship are mentioned
in it : [1] Confession of sin ; [2] Absolution ; [3] 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 celebrating Divine Service is directed to
"say" this Exhortation, "saying" being the ritual term for
reciting on one musical note, or "monotoning," as distin-
guished from "singing," which is reciting with musical inflec-
tions, and from * ' reading, " which is a general 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 the congregation is settling into a
devotional frame of mind.
humble voice] This represents the submissa vox of old Rubrics.
It indicates a low pitch of voice within the reach of all ; and
where the service is musical the Confession is best said on E.
after me] See the next note.
THE GENERAL CONFESSION.
ajier the Minister] Bishop Cosin erased the word "after"
> This book was also printed in Latin, perhaps before it came out in
French. The French edition seems to be very rare.
in this Rubric, and substituted "%vith;" but the original
word was carefully restored, shewing that a distinction was
intended between the two words in their ritual use. "After
the Minister " 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 " the Minister
means 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 the formulary
was a new one, and that 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 kneeling] The word "all" was also one of Bishop
Cosin's additions, and is illustrated by his note in another
volume: "Kneeling is the most fit gesture for humble
penitents ; and being so, it is strange to see how in most
places men are suffered to sit rudely and carelessly on their
seats all the while this Confession is read ; and others that
be in church are nothing affected with it. They think it a
thing of indiS"erency forsooth, if the heart be right." This
sitting posture during public confessions was one of the
abuses that scandafized the Puritans; and they sought to
have a Canon passed, enjoining all to kneel. The eighteenth
Canon does indeed direct that "all manner 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 of personal humility and reverence, but also one of those
acts required of every one as an individual component part of
the body which forms tlie congregation ; and to neglect it is
to neglect a duty which is owing to God and man in this
respect, as well as the other. We have no right to con-
spicuous private gestures in a public devotional assembly ;
nor are the gestures which we there use (in conformity to the
rules of the Church) to be necessarily interpreted as hypo-
critical because our personal habits or feelings may not be
entirely consistent with them. As the Clergy have an official
duty in church, irrespective of their personal characters, so
also have the Laity. It may be added, that a respectful con-
formity to rules enjoining such official duties may often lead
onward to true personal reverence and holiness.
As far as present researches shew, the general Confession
appears to be an original composition of some of the revisers
of 1552 ; but its principal features are, of course, represented
aborning Praper.
183
offended against Thy holy laws. We have left
undone those things Avhich 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. Kestore Thou them
that are penitent ; According to Thy promises
declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord.
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 Remission of sins, to be pro-
nounced by the Priest alone, '^standing : the people
still kneeling.
ALMIGHTY God, the Father of our Lord
-^-^ Jesus Christ, Who desireth not the death
of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his
a I'.d.spiritual sound,
ness, the soundness
of a perfect heart,
[Cofnp. Ps. 119. 80,
& loi. 2, 6. & 41
4. & 147. 3.]
i Moz. Brev. Wed.
Matt. aft. Advent.
cor . . . sins [1662].
d standing . . .
kneeling [1662].
e Ordo Pcenitentis,
A.D. 900.
Martene, de All-
tiq. Ecd. Rit. i.
803, 814.
*Fac nos, Domine, juste, et sobrie. et pie, in
hoc sseculo vivere.
DOMINE Deus omnipotens. Qui non vis
mortem peccatorum, sed ut convertantur
et vivant . . .
in confessional formularies of the Ancient Church, the ideas
being a common heritage of every age and country. It has
not undergone any alteration since its first introduction into
Morning Prayer.
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 concupiscence,
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, O Lord, have wretched man that I am,
mercy upon us, miserable who shall deliver me ?
offenders.
According to Thy promises, I thank God, through Jesus
declared unto mankind in Christ our Lord.
Christ Jesu our Lord.
All the phrases of the Confession have, however, a Scrip-
tural ring ; and it was very likely compiled almost verbatim
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 spirit in which a general confession of
sins may be made personally and particularly applicable, is
pointedly set forth in a Rubric which precedes the Confession
to be used on board ship when there is danger of shipwreck :
' ' When there is imminent danger, as many as can be spared
from necessary service in the ship, shall be called together,
and make an humble Confession of their sin to God, in which
every one ought seriously to reflect upon those particular sins
of which his conscience shall accuse him, saying as followeth."
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 provisions made by the Church
for her penitents, and the private habits of aU pious Christians,
make equally certain.
The " 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 he pronounced] This is an authoritative and magisterial
term, as is shewn by its use in the Marriage Service, where
1 Feeeman's Principles 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
pi'onounce for doom. "
by the Priest alone, standing] This Rubric stood in the
form "by the Minister alone" until 1661. Bishop Cosin
altered it to "by the Minister alone, standing, and all the
people still kneeling," and his alteration subsequently de-
veloped into the existing 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 their knees ; although, as Bishop A ndrewes wrote, "because
he speaks it authoritalivd, in the Name of Christ 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 1661 the Presby-
terians' eleventh "exception " to the 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 should be used instead of those words throughout the
book. To this it was replied by the Church of England
Commissioners that it would be unreasonable to use the
word Minister al one ; for ' ' since some parts of the Liturgy may
be performed by a Deacon, others by none under the order
of a Priest, viz. Absolution, Consecration, 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 had now passed 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 Absolution,
as they have repeated the Confession, but also that 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 Lord's Prayer.
The Absolution was composed by the Revisers of 1552,
evidently with the old form of Absolution, which was used in
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 vercs
1 84
aborning iprapet.
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 : *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 be pure, and holy ; so that at the last we
a Martene, i. 790.
6 See note on the
Comfortable Words
in the Communion
Service.
c &ax. Com/. Ab-
solution at Holy
Communion.
din or'ig. MS. "be-
seech we," but " let
us " inserted by
later hand.
"Deus omnipotens Salvator et Redemptor
generis humani, Qui apostolis Suis dedit po-
testatem ligandi atque solvendi Ipse te absol-
vere dignetur . . . 'Misereatur vestri omnipo-
tens Deus, et dimittat vobis omnia peccata
vestra : liberet vos ab omni malo ; conservet et
confirmet in bono ; et ad vitam perducat seter-
nam. Amen.
Absolutionem et remissionem omnium pecca-
torum vestrorum, spatium verae poenitentiae, em-
endationem vitae, gratiam et consolationem Sancti
poenitenticB, " though the first part is identical with a Lenten
Collect of St. Gregory's Sacramentary.
Some phrases, a good deal like those of our Absolution, are
also found in the form of prayer got up by John a Lasco,. or
Laski, a Polish refugee, for the German congregation which
he was allowed to gather together at Austiu-friars in London ;
but the likeness is not such as to make it probable that the
English form was derived from his Latin one, though it does
rather indicate that both were in part derived from some such
originals as those printed in the text 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. Secondly,
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 Service, 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 remission 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 authoritative, he adds, " For authority of Abso-
y f lution, see Ezek, xxxiii. 12 ; Job xxxiii. 23 ; Numb. vi. 24 ;
/* 2 Sam. xii. 13 ; John xx, 23. " 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 very 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 — God'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 English translation in the
note below ; but the change has rather strengthened than
weakened the force of the form adopted. Nor must we be
led away by the word " declaratory, " so often used to
distinguish 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
1 See Introduction to the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels.
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. ' ' And as 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, " Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted
unto 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 eflficacious 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. And as it
is a public Absolution, "He pardoneth and absolveth" is
adopted in analogy with the "tribuat vobis omnipotens
et misericors i)omi?iMS," rather 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 offering 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 supersede a particular one. But
the 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 Priest's clothing. According to the words,
"freely ye have received, freely give," the Church casts
her bread 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 repentant
recipients of it ; that secured, wheresoever it touches, it
blesses and heals. " ^
Nevertheless it is probable, for reasons given on the next
page, that the Absolution was not intended to be invariably
used at all week-day Services.
'^ The ancient fonn of Confession, Misereatur, and Absolution, was as
follows, being used in the midst of the preces at Prime and Compline : —
T}i£ Priest, looking towards the Altar,
I confess to God, the Blessed Mary, and all the Saints [turning to
the Choir], and to you, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought,
word, and deed, of my own fault [looking back to the Altar]. I beseecli
Holy Mary, all the Saints of God, and [looking back to the Choir] you to pray
for me.
The Choir replies, turning to the Priest,
Almighty God have mercy upon 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 me.
Then let the Priest say to the Choir, in the first person, if necessary,
Almighty God have mercy upon you . . . everlasting life. Amen.
The Almighty and merciful Lord grant you Absolution and Remission of
all your sins, space for true repentance, amendment of life, and the grace
and consolation of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
3 Freeman's Principles of Divine Service, i. 317.
a^otning )S)rapet»
185
may come to His eternal joy; through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
IT The people shall answer * here, and at the end of all
other prayers, Amen.
H * Then the Minister shall kneel and say the Lord's
Prayer with an audible voice ; the people also
kneeling and repeating it with him, both here,
and wheresoever else it is used in Divine Service.
UR Father, Which art in heaven, Hallowed
be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
O
a here . . . prayers
[1662].
b See below.
<: Sar. Adv. Sund.
d Matt. 6. 9, 13
Spiritus, tribuat vobis omnipotens et misericors
DoMiNUs. Amen.]
■^Ad Matutinas
Ave Maria.
dkat sacerdos Pater Noster ct
[''HATEP yjixwv 6 €v TOts ovpavocs, ay laa- Or^roi to
ovofid crov. 'EA^erw 7] jSaaiXcia cov jivrjd'qTOi
The people shall answer\ The words ' ' here and at the end
of all other prayers " were added by Bishop Cosin.
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 which the Minister alone has spoken, as in Absolu-
tions, Benedictions, and " other prayers," it is to be taken as
a ratification by the people of what the Minister has 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 both as part of the formularies, and is then printed
in Roman type. [3] In the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of
the Communion Service, in the formulae of Baptism, and in
the reception of the baptized into Christian fellowship, it is a
ratification by the speaker himself, and is not to 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 the bottom of
the page, 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 a fleuron," 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 Avas to be omitted. In
the first series of his notes on the Prayer Book [Cosin's
Works, v. 47] he has also written on the Lord's Prayer, "Here
begins the service ; for that which goes before is but a pre-
paration to it, and is newly added in King Edward's Second
Book, in imitation of the Liturgy and Mass of the 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.
Tlien the Minister'] From 1552 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 same place of Evening Prayer, but there
are no lines of the same kind anywhere else throughout the manuscript.
" Domine, labia mea aperies," as is shewn in the Latin Rubric
printed before that versicle.
toith him] That is, simultaneously, clause by clause.
ivheresoever else it is used 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 this.
The Doxology was added here in 1661, 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 antiphon 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 instnictive.
Our Father. Etsi Isesus est. Pater est.
Which art in heaven. Eminenter, non inclusive.
Hallowed be 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, superccelestem et
corporeum.
Forgive us our trespasses. Talenta dimitte.
Lead us not. Nee sinas intrare ductos pronosque.
. / diabolo.
From evil. Ab authore mali \^ \ mundo.
intra, nobismetipsis.
culpse per gratiam.
A malo { pcense per misericordiam.
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 prayer 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 in 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 whenever it is said in the
Services of the Sanctuary. In this place, at any rate, it
should be offered 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 which 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, says 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 paraphrase ; the one, an ancient
2 Bakee, On the Lord's Prayer, p. 51, ed. 1638,
iS6
aborning draper.
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 he shall say,
^O Lord, open Thou ''our lips.
Answer.
'And ''our mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.
Priest,
^O 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 Holy Ghost ;
Answer.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever
shall be : world without end. Amen.
a Doxoloyry added
[1662].
*Sar.
c Ps. 51. 15.
d my [1549 only].
e Fs. 22. 19.
/Ps. 70. I.
g me [1549 only].
A Ps. 38. 22.
i Here
[1662].
TO 6e\rjixd orov, ws ev ovpavi^ Kal eTTi t^s yrjs.
Tov aprov rjjxwv rov cttiowiov Sos rifuv arj/xepov.
Kat a^€S rj/J-lv to. o<^eiA>)/iaTa I'lixuiv, (Ls Kal ij/icts
a<}>L'efxev rots o^etAerais tj/Moyv. Kai /xyj cicrevcyKys
rjfxas CIS TreLpa(Xfx6v dAAa pvaat rjfxas oltto tov
TTovrjpov. "On crov ecrrtv rj ^ao-iAei'a, Kat rj Bvia-
/AiS, Kat 7] Bo^a €L<s Tovs aiwvas. 'A/ai^v.I
* Postea sacerdos iucipiat servitium hoc modo :
DoiviiNE, labia mea aperies.
Chortis respondeat. Et os meum annuntiabit
laudem Tuam.
Sacerdos statim. Detjs in adjutorium meum
intende.
R. DoiniNE, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et
in ssecula saeculorura. 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 VERSICLES.
Lord, open Thou] These versicles and responses have
been used time immemorial as the opening of the daily ser-
vice of praise which the Church continually offers to God.
They are mentioned in the rule of St. Benedict (the great
founder 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 probably adopted them from the previous custom
of the Church ; the two Psalms from which they are taken
having been used at the beginning of the daily OiBces 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 prefix
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 ' ' Sursum
Corda " of the Daily Service, and yet have a tone of humility,
and even penitence, given to them by their derivation from
the fifty-first and seventieth Psalms. It is probably to
express this penitential tone that the musical note to which
the first of them is said by the Priest is always a low one,
being depressed as much as a fiftli from the pitch in which
the Lord's Prayer has been recited : and also that we continue
kneeling till the Gloria Patri. The second versicle is a para-
phrase of the "Hosanna," — Save, Lord, we beseech Thee, —
with which our Lord was led in triumph to the Temple.
GLORIA PATRI 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 This change of pronouns wa.s made in 1552. A reason for retaining tlie
singular is given in an old exposition of the Hours. "And tal<e heed
that all this verse, both that part that is said of one alone, and that that is
answered of all together, are said in the singular number; as when ye say
' mine,' or ' rae,' and not ' our,' or ' us,' in token that ye begin your praising
and prayer in tlie person of holy Church, which is one, and not many. For
though there be many members of holy Church, as there are many Christian
men and women, yet they make one body, that is holy Church, whereof
Christ is the Head." The same commentary explains that "O Lord,
open Thou my lips," and its response, were used only at Mattins, because
all the day after the lips should remain ready for God's praises. [Mirror
of our Lady, p. 81, Blunt's ed.]
independently inspired form, is naturally traceable to the
angeUc 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, who wrote before the end of the second cen-
tury, refers to the use of this hymn under the form, Alpovvres
T(f> fj,6v(j} Trarpl Kal vi<f Kai T(fi aylip irvev/MaTi, "giving glory to
the one Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," and
a hymn of about the same date is printed by Dr. Routh, in
which there is an evident trace of the same custom : ifivodixev
iraripa Kai vibv, Kai dyiov irvevfjLa Qeov, " 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 their own 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 the 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 the
beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, " has
been used for nearly as long a period, being found ordered in
the fifth Canon of the Council of Vaison, presided over by
Coesarius of Aries, in a.d. 529. The use of the hymn in this
place, after the Domiiie 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 the earliest English ser-
vices, those which are usually called " Anglo-Saxon." It also
occurs in the same position in the daily offices of the Eastern
and the Roman Churches 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 Trinity, and of devout
praise to each Person ; worshipping One God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity. The addition of the succeeding versicle and
response gives to this unity of praise on earth 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 servants, 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
thunderings, saying, Alleluia ; for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth." [Rev. xix. 6.]
In the Prayer Book of 1549 the old usage of saying the
"Hallelujah " from Easter to Trinity Sunday in this place was
continued. It was expunged altogether in 1552 ; restored in
the English form, "Praise ye the Lord," and for constant use,
in the Elizabethan revision. The response to it, " The Lord's
horning: prapet.
187
Priest.
Praise ye the Lord.
" Answer.
The Lord's Name be praised.
% Then shall be said or sung * this Psalm following ;
•^ except on Easter Day, upon which another
Anthem is appointed ; and on the Nineteenth Day
of every Month it is not to be read here, but in
the ordinary course of the Psalms.
Veuite, exulte-
mus Domino.
Ps. xcv.
o
COME, let us sing unto the
Lord : let us 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
hands 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 Hia pasture, and the sheep of His
^ hand.
To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not
a jilts. . . . praised
[1662]. And from
Easter to Trinity
Sunday Halle-
lujah [1549 only].
b Tvithotit any invi-
tatory [1549 only].
c except . . . Psalms
[1662].
d Tlie version is that
of the Old Italic.
e quoniani . . . suam,
not in Vulg.
yAI. hands.
g mont. Ipsius sunt.
Vulg.
VJyxiformaveriint.
Vulg.
i Vulg. as Engf.
Alleluia \yel Laus Tibi, Dominb, Rex seternae
gloriae].
Sequatur invitatorium hoc modo. Psalmum Vtnite,
[Invitatory entire.]
"^VENITE, exultemus Domino, jubilemus Deo
salutari nostro : prseoccupemus faciem Ejus in
confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus Ei.
[Invitatory entire.]
Quoniam Deus magnus Dojminus, et Rex
magnus super omnes deos : ^quoniam non repellet
DoMiNus plebem Suam, quia in manu Ejus sunt
omnes ^nes terrse, et altitudines ^montium Ipse
conspicit.
[Invitatory, latter half. ]
Quoniam Ipsius est mare, et Ipse fecit illud ;
et ''aridam fundaverunt manus Ejus : venite, ado-
remus et procidamus ante Deum, ploremus coranr.
Domino Qui fecit nos ; Quia Ipse est Dominus
Deus noster, nos autem populus Ejus, et oves
pascuse Ejus.'
[Invitatory entire.]
Hodie, si vocem Ejus audieritis, nolite obdu-
Name be praised," is first found in the Scottish Pi-ayer Book
of 1637, and was inserted here in 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 Patri. The one is that of turning to the East, 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 general one, that of reverently inclining the head
during the first half of the hymn, 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 England
enjoins : " Quotiesque dicitur Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui
Sancto, ad eadem verba Deo humiliter se inclinent. " [ Wilkins'
Gone. 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 1661, immediately after
"Praise ye the Lord :" "And upon any Sunday, or Lords
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., ut in die Pasch. Then
shall be said or sung," the Venite as we now have it.
Then shall he 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 be observed
in all psaimes 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 matter 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 verse, 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 and 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."
[Cosin's Wo7-ks, 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 gathered from
the Apostolic lesson. Then we chanted the Psalm, exhorting
one another, with one voice, with one heart, saying, '0 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 Eationale of Divine Offices,
1 In the Eastern Cliurcli an epitome of tlie first three verses is used, bat
in the Latin and English Churches it has always been used entire.
i88
horning Praper.
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 My ways.
Unto whom I sware in My 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.
IF Then shall follow ^the Psalms in order as they be
appointed. And at the end of every Psalm
throughout the Year, and likewise in the end of
Benedicite, Benedictus, Ilagnificat, and Nunc dimit-
tis, shall be repeated,
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.
IT Then shall be read distinctly with an audible voice
the First Lesson, taken out of the Old Testament,
as is appointed in the Calendar, except there be
proper Lessons assigned for that day : He that
readeth so standing and turning himself, as he
a irritatione. Vulg.
* offensus. VuIg.
c 6Vjuravi. Vulg.
e certain Psalms in
order, as (hey be
appointed in a
Table viade for
that purpose, ex-
cept there be proper
Psalms appointed
for that day [1540-
1662]. This Table
sets forth the same
arrangement as
that now in use.
/ CHAMBERS' Tr.
of Sarum Psalter,
P-34.
?■ Sar. (Advent
Sunday, e.£^.)
h Transl. of Sarum
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 Mea.
[Invitatory, latter half.]
Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi
*huic, et dixi. Semper hi errant cbrde : ipsi vero
non cognoverunt vias Meas : "quibus juravi in ira
Mea, Si introibunt in requiem Meam.
[Invitatory entire.]
Gloria Patri, 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 them
say the Gloria, in his station, which shall be
observed throughout the whole year.]
-f^Clericus primam lectionem legat hoc modo. Lectio
prima. Esaice i. Visio Esaice Jilii 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 the congregation out of the 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, * ' Laude-
mu8 Jesicm Christum ; quia Ipse est Redemptor omnium sceculo-
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 Redemptor omnium scectUorum" only;
and at the conclusion the whole of the Response, as at the
beginning. These Invitatories were altogether set aside, as
regards the Venite, in 1549 ; and, as has been already shewn,
the " Sentences " were substituted for them at the commence-
ment of Divine Service in 1552. Thus reduced to its psalter
simplicity, the Venite Exultemus is used before the Psalms
every morning, except upon Easter Day, when a special
Invitatory Anthem is substituted, which is printed before the
Collect for the day. On the nineteenth day of every month
it is sung in its place as one of the Mattins psalms, so as not
to be twice used at the same service, which is a continuation
of the old English usage.
An old custom lingers (especially in the North of England)
of making a gesture of reverence at the words, ' ' come, let us
1 There is said, however, to have been an ancient twelve o'clock bell at
Strasburg Cathedral, down to the time of the French Revolution, which
bore the inscription —
" Vox ego sum vitae
Voco vos— orate — venite."
[Haweis' Music and Morals, p. 444.]
This seems rather to corroborate the statement of Surandus.
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 Rubrics between the Venite and the Te Deum were all
rearranged in 1661 ; 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 "the 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 Venite about a century older
than that of the Prayer Book will be found in the Mirror of our
Lady. [Mirror, Blunt 's ed. p. xli.]
THE PSALMS.
For notes relating to the ritual use of the Psalms, the
reader is refen-ed to the Introduction to the Psalter.
After the Psalms have been sung 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. 630
of the Spectator. Perhaps it may be accounted for by a
Salisbury Rubric between the Psalms and Lessons, " Deinde
dicitur Paternoster et Credo in Deum. a toto cho7-o privatim."
So at Durham a voluntary has also been substituted for the
"Agnus Dei," which was once sung during the Communion of
the Laity.
And at the end of every Psalm] Where the Psalms are said
in alternate verses by the Minister and the people it is obvi-
ously proper that the first part of the Gloria 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 note on " The Order how
the rest of Holy Scripture is appointed to be read " in the
Calendar.
On the mode of reading them " in a plain tune," see p. 58.
aborning iptapet.
189
may best be heard of all such as are present.'^
And after that, shall be said or sung, in English,
the Hymn called Te Deum Laudamus, daily
throughout the Year. *
IT " 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 encleth the First, or the Second
Lesson.
Te Deum
Laudamus.
WE praise Thee, God :
acknowleda;e Thee to be
we
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 ^full 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 Ox 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 ,-il-
tered from their
original form in
1662, but remain
substantially the
same as in 1552.
After them had
followed this other:
yf «rf, fo the end the
people may the bet-
ter 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 Gos-
pel [1549-1662].
b except in Lent,
all the which time,
in the place of Te
Deum shall be used
Benedicite omnia
opera Domini Do-
mino (1549 only],
<^ Sar. Comp. Anti-
phon to Athan.
Creed. "TeDeuni
Patretn confite-
mur."
d An Aramaic or
Syriac plural.
e Cherubim et Sera-
phim. MS.S.
/ replenished with
[1549 only].
e St. Cyprian, de
Mortalitate.
h The fair liost of
Martyrs that are
washed white and
fair in their own
blood praise Thee.
[Mirror.]
I Comp. Athan.
Creed. "Immensus
Pater," etc.
* Thy very and wor-
shipful. [Mirror.]
/ The Holy Ghost
also being [iS49
only].
but turned to the Altar, not chanting, but reading
as in the tone of a reader . . . ]
"^rpE Deum laudamus : Te Dominum confite-
T
mur.
Te aeternum Patrem : omnis terra veneratur.
Tibi omnes Angeli : Tibi cceli et universse po-
testates.
Tibi 'Cherubin et Seraphin : incessabili voce
proclamant,
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus : Dominu.s Deus
Sabaoth ;
Pleni sunt cceli et terra : majestatis gloriaj
Tu«.
"Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus.
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus : laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum : sancta confitetur
ecclesia.
'Patrem immensse majestatis ;
Venerandum Tuum verum : et unicum Filium ;
Sanctum quoque Paracletum Spiritum.
Tu Rex glorise : Christe.
THE CANTICLES.
The ritual use of Holy Scripture in Divine Service has
always been connected with praise and thanksgiving. The
dhort responds which were intermingled with the Lessons in
the pre-Reformation Services were very ancient in their origin,
although, no doubt, they had increased in number during the
developement of the Services for monastic use. Of a like
antiquity is the "Glory be to Thee, O Lord," before, and the
"Thanks be to Thee, O Lord," after the reading of the Gospel
in the Communion Service. As will be seen in the account
fiven 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 which thus connected the idea of thanksgiving
with the hearing of God's revelations to man. The Council
of Laodicea [a.d. 367] ordered, in its seventeenth Canon, that
Psalms and Lessons should be used alternately j and this
Canon doubtless refers to a custom similar to ours.
A leading principle of all the Canticles appears 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 Magnificat, 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 chapters 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 ; the sacrificial and sacerdotal gospel, the
symbol of which is the "living creature like unto a calf" or
" an ox ; " and in which is chiefly set forth our Blessed Lord's
relation to the Church as her High Priest off"ering Himself for
sin, and originating from His own Person all subordinate
ministrations of grace.
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 Morning Service as far
back as the Conquest ; and its insertion in the Salisbury
Portiforium by St. Osmund was doubtless a continuation of
the old custom of the Church of England.
Very ancient ecclesiastical traditions represent the Te 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,
Muratori, 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
Appendix of which the Te Deum is found with the title
' ' Hymnus 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 of
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. Ambrose;" but the ancient
rubrical title was as it is at present. In the earliest mention
that 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 words of St. Benedict being "Post
quartum Responsorium incipit Abbas Te Deum Laudamus,
quo prsedicto legat Abbas lectionem de Evangelio ..." It
is also named in the rule of St. Caesarius 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
tliat it was a well-known hymn which the great founder of
the Benedictines adopted for the use of his order from the
ordinary use of the Church 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 Hymnus S.
Abundii, and Hymnus Sisehuti monachi. It has also been
IQO
aborning Praper.
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
Judge.
a susctfisti homU
nem : vel, ad liber-
andum fnundiim,
stiscepisti homi-
nem. When Thou
shouldest take up-
on Thee mankind
for the deliverance
of man, Thou
borridest not the
Virgin's womb.
[Mirror.]
* We believe that
Thou art the Judge
that shalt come.
[Mirror.]
Tu Patris sempitemus es Filius.
Tu, ad liberandum, "suscepturus hominem :
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu devicto mortis aculeo : aperuisti credenti-
bus regna coelorum.
Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes : in gloria Patris.
Judex crederis esse venturus.
attributed to St. Hilary of Aries, and to a monk of Lerins,
whose name is not known ; the number of persons named shew-
ing how much uncertainty has always surrounded the matter.
It is scarcely possible 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.
252 we find the following words in St. Cyprian's Treatise
"On 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, eighth, 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
ill the 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. [<5ee also
Grabe's LXX. 1709, p. 408.] 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 Almighty : O 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, O Lord, to keep me this day without sin.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord God of our fatliers ; and praised
and glorified be Thy Name for ever. Amen.
Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust
is in Thee. Ps. xxxiii. 22.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord : O teach me Thy
statutes. Ps. cxix. 12.
Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, from one
generation to another. Ps. xc. 1.
1 said. Lord, be merciful to me, heal my
soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Ps, xli. 4.
Lord, I fly to Thee ; teach me to do Thy
will, for Thou art my God. Ps. cxim. 9, 10.
For with Thee is the well of life ; in Thy
light shall we see light. Pa. xxxvi. 9.
1 In the latter we do indeed read ". . . we were baptized, and anxiety
tor our i)a8t life vanished from us. Nor was I sated in those days with the
wondrous sweetness of considering the depth of Thy counsels concerning
the salvation of mankind. How did I weep, in Tliy Hymns and Canticles,
touched to the quick by the voices of Thy sweet-attuned Church !" [St.
Avo. C&nf. IX. vi. p. 166, Oxf. trans.] But this passage seems rather to
Indicate the use of Canticles already well known than the invention of any
sew one.
Shew forth Thy mercy to them that know
Thee. Ps. xxxvi. 10.
O holy God, O holy Might, O holy Immortal,
have mercy upon us. Amen.
The first division of this hymn is identical with the
Eucharistic Gloria in 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. Th 
