Full text of "The history of the Book of common prayer"

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The Oxford Library 

of 
Practical Theology 



EDITED H Y THE 
REV. \\. (. K. NKWBOLT, M.A. 

CANON AM) ( II AN&lt; i:r.t.oU or &lt;T. 1 At I. s 

AM) TIIK 

HKV. K. K. Bill (ill T.MAN, M. A. 

I.IHKAKIAN OF Till: ITHIiV Ho|&lt;i:, o\ro|!|&gt; 



THE HISTORY OF THE 
BOOK OF COMMON PKAYEK 

I!V Til 1C KKV. 
L K I G H T O N 1 U L L A N 

Follow of St. John Baptist s College, Oxford; 

Lecturer in Theology at St. John s, Oriel, 

and Oueen s Colleges 




LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

39 Paternoster Row: London 

New York, and Bombay 

1900 

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EDITORS 1 PREFACE 

THE object of the Oxford Library of Practical Theo 
logy is to supply some carefully considered teaching 
on matters of Religion to that large body of devout 
laymen, who desire instruction, but are not attracted 
by the learned treatises which appeal to the theo 
logian. One of the needs of the time would seem 
to be, to translate the solid theological learning, of 
which there is no lack, into the vernacular of every 
day practical religion ; and while steering a course 
between what is called plain teaching on the one hand 
and erudition on the other, to supply some sound 
and readable instruction to those who require it, on 
the subjects included under the common title The 
Christian Religion," that they may be ready always 
to give an answer to every man that asketh them 
a reason of the hope that is in them, with meekness 
and fear. 

The Editors, while not holding themselves pre 
cluded from suggesting criticisms, have regarded their 
proper task as that of editing, and accordingly they 
have not interfered with the responsibility of each 
writer for his treatment of his own subject. 

W. C. E. N. 

F. E. B. 



INTRODUCTORY 

THIS volume is intended to illustrate the history and 
meaning of the Book of Common Prayer, and more 
especially of those services which are in most frequent 
use or have been the subjects of theological discussion. 
The author has sometimes ventured to repeat his state 
ments in different chapters, in order to make each 
chapter as intelligible and complete as its necessary 
limits will permit. 

The phrase common prayers was used in the 
middle of the sixteenth century to signify what we call 
public worship. 1 It was used not only by the reform 
ing party in the Church, but also by their opponents, 
and it is therefore an error to suppose that the adop 
tion of the name was intended to mark a difference 
between the reformed and the unreformed worship of 
the Church in England. 

The English Litany published in 1544, in the reign 
of Henry VIII., was the first instalment of reformed 
worship. It was intended to be sung before High Mass. 
In 1548, after the accession of Edward VI., appeared 
the Order of the Communion," a short series of ex 
hortations and prayers in English, appointed to be 
inserted into the Latin Mass, in order to promote 
communion in both kinds among the laity. 

vii 



viii HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

The first Book of Common Prayer in English 
appeared in 1549, and was mainly the work of Arch 
bishop Cranmer. He skilfully included in one book 
an abbreviated form of almost all the principal common 
prayers which had been used before the Reformation. 
These services had originally been distributed through 
a large number of different volumes, and although the 
number of these books had been somewhat reduced by 
the end of the Middle Ages, the idea of compressing 
them within the compass of one volume appears to 
have been unknown in England until the time of 
Cranmer. The fact that it has now become usual in 
Roman Catholic countries to include the more im 
portant services in a Paroissien or in a Diocesan 
Gesangbuch, 1 testifies to Cranmer s true perception of 
a real need. 

The Book of Common Prayer originally contained 
no forms for the ordination of bishops, priests, and 
deacons, and consequently a simplified form of the 
medieval English rites was published in 1550. 

Cranmer was a student with eclectic tastes, and he 
drew his supplies from many sources. The foreign 
sources which he employed were the following : (1) 
The Mozarabic rite used in Spain, the influence of 
which is shown in the English Baptismal Office, and 
perhaps in the Eucharist. (2) The Greek Liturgy of 
S. Basil, the influence of which is shown in some words 
of the Eucharist, and also the Greek Liturgy of 
S. John Chrysostom. (3) The revised Roman Breviary 
drawn up by Cardinal Quifiones (or Quignon), in order 
to simplify the daily c divine service, the influence of 
which is shown in the introduction to the Book of 



INTRODUCTORY ix 

Common Prayer, entitled Concerning the Service of 
the Church," and in our Mattins and Evensong. (4) 
German books which may be conveniently grouped 
together under the name of Lutheran, more especially 
the books used in Coin, Niirnberg, and Schleswig- 
Holstcin. The influence of these books was great, and 
may easily be detected in the English Mattins and 
Evensong, in the Eucharist, in the Baptismal Office, 
and especially in the Litany. In remembering this 
influence it is also important to remember that no 
distinctive Lutheran doctrine is contained in the Book 
of Common Prayer, that the original Lutheran services 
in certain districts closely approximated to the medi 
aeval services, and that it was only after several years 
that the violence of Luther and some of his extreme 
opponents made impossible a reconciliation of the 
moderate men on both sides. There were real hopes 
of reconciliation as late as 1541 in the conference held 
at Ratisbon, and an attempt was made in the Leipsig 
Interim of 1549. 

Besides these foreign sources, Cranmer had at his 
disposal the mediaeval books used in England. These 
books, like those now known by the name Roman," 1 are 
drawn from the Roman Service Books of the sixth 
and eighth centuries, which were enriched and debased 
with elements drawn from the Galilean 1 services 
used in France before the introduction of the Roman 
rite. It is a profound misfortune that students in 
Cranmers time were not acquainted with the pure 
Roman and Gallican Service Books of the type used 
when S. Augustine came to England in 597, or when 
Benedict Biscop, of Monkwearmouth, went to Rome 



x HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

in the next century. If these books had been known, 
it would have been possible to revise the common 
prayers of the English Church with complete success, 
to remove every real corruption, and convince every 
reasonable opponent. Even as things were, the services 
of 1549 were in substantial agreement with the ser 
vices of Rome and France in the sixth century, and 
the great majority of English bishops and priests 
performed them with the conviction that no essential 
Catholic doctrine or practice was thereby compromised. 
A new epoch came in 1552, when a second Book of 
Common Prayer was published. Cranmer had adopted 
some strongly Protestant opinions even before the 
first book came into use, and was not unwilling to 
modify it, but in the changes that he made he appar 
ently acted as a tool of the men who managed the 
boy-king Edward VI. The changes made were in an 
unmistakably Protestant direction, and included an 
omission of the more direct prayers for the dead, of 
passages which implied the Real Presence of the Body 
and Blood of our Lord in the Sacrament, of the 
apostolic custom of anointing the sick with prayers for 
their recovery, and of the traditional ornaments of the 
churches and the clergy. Whereas in the first English 
Book of Common Prayer the Mass was directed to be 
celebrated in such a manner that the congregation 
would realise that they were assisting at a purified and 
intelligible form of the mediaeval service, when the 
second book was introduced no English congregation 
could feel that their parish church was any longer the 
same familiar home. The second book never received 
the sanction of the Church, but was used in London, 



INTRODUCTORY xi 

and at least to some extent elsewhere. The result was 
disastrous. The conservative party, who disliked these 
hastv changes, identified themselves more closely with 
Rome, and were able to taunt the reformers with heresy 
and vacillation. 

The accession of Queen Mary in 1553 put an end to 
the use of the Hook of Common Praver. The full 
mediaeval services were welcomed gladly, Cranmer was 
burnt, and his successor, Cardinal Pole, insisted on the 
most extravagantly Uoman theories with regard to 
transubstantiation and the essentials of ordination. It 
should be mentioned, however, that the priests ordained 
by the reformed rite appear to have been regarded as 
validlv ordained, although in some dioceses they were 
not allowed to officiate unless they received the anoint 
ing of their hands which some ancient ceremonialists 
hail added to the primitive rite. In some places they 
came forward for re-ordination. The cruel persecution 
of the reformers by Mary caused many of them to take 
refuge in Switzerland and Germany, where they be 
came infected with the intolerance of Calvin and the 
rationalism of Zwingli. 

The shrewdness of Elizabeth, who became queen in 
155S, caused her to see the value of moderation and 
the desirability of having a Church free from Rome in 
a State free from Spain. Her action towards the 
Church was somewhat despotic, but apart from her in 
tervention the Church of England might have become 
Calvinistic in doctrine and Presbyterian in organisation. 
She wished to restore the use of the Book of Common 
Prayer of 1549, and of the ecclesiastical ornaments of 
the second year of Edward s reign, a year when almost 



xii HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the whole of the mediaeval ceremonial was still retained. 
With regard to the first point, Elizabeth only succeeded 
in restoring the book of 1552 with a few significant 
doctrinal improvements ; and with regard to the second 
point, her success was generally superficial. Legal 
effect was given to the rule that the mediaeval orna 
ments should be retained, but the law was seldom 
obeyed. Calvinistic Protestantism, known as Puritan 
ism, was widely spread both among bishops and priests, 
and the Government exacted large fines from those 
Roman Catholics who refused to attend the slovenly 
and distasteful services which were common in the 
national Church. But we can remember with gratitude 
that the reign of Elizabeth not only gave us, almost in 
its present form, our Book of Common Prayer, with all 
its great capacities, but also produced men of the type 
of Richard Hooker, who were able to understand the 
difference between reformation and revolution. Hooker 
stands at the beginning of a new age. He called men 
away from the mere negations of controversy, and 
enabled his immediate successors to make good their 
foothold on Catholic ground. 

During the seventeenth century the history of the 
Book of Common Prayer was the epitome of the history 
of Great Britain. The Puritans twice attempted to 
modify it, and once endeavoured to destroy it. Con 
vinced that the Book of Common Prayer and the 
Thirty-nine Articles were adverse to Calvinism, they 
were resolved that they should either be mended or 
ended. Immediately after the accession of James I. 
in 1603, they approached the King with a request for 
an alteration in the ceremonies of the Church of 



INTRODUCTORY xiii 

England. The result was the Hampton Court Conference 
of 1604, at which Puritans and Anglicans met together. 
It became evident that the two parties differed with 
regard to some of the first principles of theology, and 
the Conference came to a close. The struggle was 
renewed in the reign of Charles I. The King actively 
supported those members of the Church of England 
who were anxious to vindicate its Catholic- character 
and maintain the ceremonial which Kli/abeth had 
approved. Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the 
leader of this school. Equally resolute in his opposition 
to the distinctive tenets of Home and of Geneva, he 
enjoyed the hatred of both Jesuit and Calvinist. He 
helped the Scottish bishops, who had made large con 
cessions to the uncouth habits of Presbyterian worship, 
to draw up a Book of Common Prayer for Scotland. 
It contained a Communion Office resembling that of 
the book of 1549. It came into use in 1637, and met 
with a bitter and barbarous opposition. The vigour of 
the Scottish Protestants strengthened the hands of 
their English sympathisers. Laud and Charles were 
executed, Episcopacy was abolished, the use of the 
Book of Common Prayer was prohibited. A Puritan 
Directory for Worship was set forth in 1645, and a 
Calvinistic Confession was drawn up at Westminster by 
an assembly of English and Scottish Presbyterians. 

On the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the 
Puritans made a final attempt to eviscerate the Book 
of Common Prayer. A conference was held in 1661, at 
the Savoy Palace, in the Strand, London, which ended 
in the same way as the Hampton Court Conference. 
The ordination services were slightly altered in such a 



xiv HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

manner as to emphasise the fact that the Church of 
England repudiates the Presbyterian theories that a 
priest has the same authority as a bishop, and that 
Episcopacy is riot necessary in the Church of Christ. 
After the fall of the Stewart dynasty and the arrival of 
William III., some of the English bishops themselves 
tried to make the Book of Common Prayer agreeable 
to the convictions of the Presbyterians and the 
Calvinistic King. The Church refused to sanction 
their proposals, and the Book of Common Prayer 
remained intact. 

The eighteenth century was marked by a growing 
deterioration in English public worship, and by the 
year 1800 an intelligent appreciation of the Book of 
Common Prayer was almost extinct. In Scotland and 
America there were effected some changes which are 
both interesting and important. In 1689 William III. 
disestablished the Church in Scotland, and Presby- 
terianism was established in its place. The Church 
was subjected to a series of penal laws, and its numbers 
steadily diminished. It retained, however, a strong 
affection for Catholic tradition, and revised the Com 
munion Office of 1637 so as to bring it into still closer 
conformity with primitive practice. The authentic 
version of this fine liturgy was published in 1764, and is 
unquestionably superior to any other Anglican service 
except the Litany. It was carried to America by Dr. 
Seabury, who was consecrated by Scottish bishops at 
Aberdeen in 1784 to be the first bishop of the Church 
in the United States. Seabury and other American 
churchmen resisted an insidious attempt which was 
ostensibly made to fit the Book of Common Prayer for 



INTRODUCTORY xv 

American use, but was really intended to remodel it on 
sceptical and Unitarian lines. The sceptical revision 
was a failure, and Seabury succeeded in introducing 
into the Communion Oflice some of the most important 
parts of the Scottish service. 

At the present time the growth of the English 
people and the spread of the English language seem to 
foretell that the Book of Common Prayer will have an 
influence in the world as great as that of the early 
Roman Service Books which it so frequently resembles. 
But it certainly cannot fulfil its true function unless it is 
employed in the best possible manner. Our common 
prayers are often recited with a /eal destitute of know 
ledge, and sometimes with neither /eal nor knowledge. 

We are familiar with deviations from the spirit of 
the Book of Common Prayer for which excuses are 
sometimes found, but for which no adequate defence 
can be made. Such novelties from Belgium or Zurich 
formed no part of the religion which S. Augustine 
brought to England, and they injure the unity and the 
charity of his spiritual children. The law of worship 
is the law of faith, and any disloyalty to faith or dis 
cipline in public worship must rob our common prayers 
of that power to edify the believer and convert the 
wandering which has been granted by Jesus Christ to 
worshij) offered in His Name. 

The author has used the word 4 medievalist " to 
describe those members of the Church of England in 
the sixteenth century who preferred the mediaeval 
English worship, while often rejecting various mediaeval 
corruptions. The differences between these men and 
modern English Romanists make it unjustifiable to 



xvi HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

describe them as Romanists. The author has used 
the word Protestant in its modern sense. In the 
seventeenth century the word was often used in 
a totally different sense, viz. to describe a Christian 
protesting against the peculiar doctrines and practices 
of the Roman Church of that day. The word is used 
in this latter sense in the quotation on page 36 from 
Hammond, a typical Anglican theologian. 



CONTENTS 

CHAI . TAGK 

I. THE EUCHARIST BEFORE THE COMING OF S. AUGUSTINE J 

II. THE EUCHAHIST FROM S. AUGUSTINE TO THE 

REFORMATION . . . . .30 

III. CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII. . . . GO 

IV. REFORMATION ANI&gt; DEFORMATION . . .81 

V. THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION . . . .111 

VI. MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER . . . 131) 

VII. THE LITANY . . . . . .108 

VIII. THE ORDER OF BAPTISM . . . .182 

IX. SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION . . 201 

X. THE CATECHISM ... . 207 

XI. THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION . . . 201) 

XII. THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY . 217 

XIII. THE ORDER FOR THE VISITATION OF THE SICK, AND 

THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK . . . 224 

XIV. THE ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD . . 237 

XV. THE THANKSGIVING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILD 
BIRTH . ... 240 

XVI. A COMMINATION . . . 240 

XVII. FORMS OF PRAYER TO BE USED AT SEA . 252 

xvii 



xviii HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

CHAP. PAGE 

XVIII. THE ORDINAL ..... 253 

XIX. THE PRAYER BOOK IN SCOTLAND, AMERICA, AND 

IRELAND ...... 274 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 295 



APPENDICES 

A. The Sarum Canon of the Mass and that of the First Prayer 

Book . . . . . . . .300 

B. The Ornaments Rubric and the supposed prohibition of 

ancient ceremonies ..... 310 

C. The Mozarabic Canon of the Mass . .313 

D. The Black Rubric . 316 



INDEX 319 



THE HISTORY OF 
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



CHAPTER I 

THE EUCHARIST BEFORE THE COMING OF 
S. AUGUSTINE 

It was a veritable consecration, hopeful and animat 
ing, of the earth s gifts, of all that we can touch and 
see of old dead and dark matter itself, somehow re 
deemed at last, in the midst of a jaded world that had 
lost the true use of it. PATKR, Maritts the Epicurean. 

1. Origin of the Liturgy. 

THE use of liturgical prayers among Christians has come 
down from Christ Himself. It is certain that our Lord 
attended the services of the Synagogue, and that His 
earliest disciples modelled their worship upon the 
worship of the Jews, to which they added the Com 
munion of the Body and the Blood of Christ, and 
discourses bv the inspired prophets of the Church. 
Normal prophesying was a preaching unto edification, 
and comfort, and consolation. " &gt;l The more excep 
tional prophesying included some especial witness to 
the work and Person of our Lord and guidance as to 
future events. All prophesying was calmly tested by 
the Church, the marks of a false prophet being the 
assertion of destructive heresies," 1 a denial of the 
Divinity of Christ, and lasciviousness."* 

All this is made plain to us by the New Testament. 
It is also plain that the Christians, in commemoration 
1 I Cor. xiv. 3. 

- A 



2 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of the Resurrection, called the first day of the week 
the Lord s day, and that they 6 gathered together to 
break bread upon that day. Following the usage 
of the Jews with regard to the Jewish Sabbath, the 
Christians probably consecrated part of the previous 
night to prayer, and celebrated the Eucharist before the 
break of day. This certainly seems to have been the 
case at Troas l in A.IX 56. Slaves would doubtless be 
obliged to work during Sunday, and they would be able 
to attend the Eucharist and betake themselves to their 
accustomed work at the usual hours. It is unlikely 
that the Eucharist was ever celebrated on Sunday 
evening, and there is no evidence for such a practice. 
Before the Eucharist was celebrated it was custom 
ary, at least in some places, for the Christians to 
partake together of a social meal. This was probably 
suggested by the fact that our Lord had instituted 
the Eucharist at the conclusion of a modified Passover 
supper. In the apostolic age this social meal was 
known as the Agape or love-feast, and it was regarded 
as a solemn and religious act. As early as A.IX 55 the 
love-feast was associated with serious abuses. We find 
S. Paul sternly rebuking the Corinthians because the 
richer Christians had their meal prepared in a style 
different from the meal eaten by their poorer brethren, 
and because they were guilty of excesses which led 
to an impious disregard of the Presence of Christ in 
the Blessed Sacrament. In despising Christ in His 
Sacrament, they were guilty of the sin of those who 
murdered Him on Calvary. 2 In S. Jude 12 and 
2 S. Peter ii. 13 we again find grave abuses connected 
with the love-feasts. 

The early Christian manual known as the Didache, 
or Teaching of the Apostles, and possibly written 
before A.D. 100, furnishes us with some interesting 
details of Christian worship, although the account of 

1 Acts xx. ii. 2 i Cor. xi. 27. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE .3 

Eucharistic service cannot be regarded as at all com 
plete. The love-feast still existed and a prophet might 
order it to be held, but he was forbidden to partake of 
it himself evidently lest he should fall into the sin of 
the shepherds 1 condemned by S. Jude. Some modern 
writers hold that in the Dldachc it is implied that the 
love-feast still preceded the Eucharist. This is not 
quite certain. It was celebrated every Lord s day, and 
the congregation confessed their sins before com 
municating. Great emphasis seems to have been laid 
upon the idea of the unity effected between the com 
municants by the Sacrament. It is compared with the 
unity of the various grains of wheat in the Eucharistic 
bread. As this broken bread was scattered upon the 
mountains and gathered together became one, so let 
Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the 
earth unto Thy kingdom/ 

The first important change with regard to the cele 
bration of the Eucharist was the separation of it 
from the Agape. It is very possible that such dis 
orders as were rebuked by 8. Paul and S. Peter ulti 
mately induced the apostles to place the Agape after 
the Eucharist. About A.D. 11, Pliny, the imperial 
legate in Bithynia, wrote to the Emperor Trajan about 
the Christians and their worship. His letter is not 
free from ambiguity, but it certainly seems to imply 
that the Agape was eaten some time after the 
Eucharist. Pliny writes as follows: 

They maintained that all their fault or error was 
this, that they had been accustomed on a fixed day to 
meet before dawn and sing antiphonally a hymn to 
Christ as a god ; and that they bound themselves by a 
solemn pledge (sacramcnto), not for any crime, but to 
abstain from theft, brigandage, and adultery, to keep 
their word, and not to refuse to restore a deposit when 
demanded. After this was done they used to dis 
perse and assemble again to share a common meal of 



4 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

innocent food ; and even this (they said) they had given 
up after I had issued the edict by which, in accordance 
with your instructions, I prohibited the existence of 
clubs." 

It seems, therefore, that the Christians in Bithynia 
abandoned the Agape when Trajan opposed such 
gatherings, but they probably continued their religious 
worship as before. We should notice that the habit of 
assembling for the Eucharist before daylight is ex 
pressly mentioned by Tertullian (A.D. 200), who says : 
The Sacrament of the Eucharist administered by the 
Lord at the time of supper ... we receive even at our 
meetings before daybreak." 

We fortunately possess two very important accounts 
of the Eucharist as it was celebrated at Rome about 
A.D. 152 and A.D. 200 respectively. The first occurs 
in the Apology written by Justin to the Emperor 
Antoninus Pius. No mention is made of the Agape, 
and the account of the service is intentionally put into 
language which would be intelligible to non-Christians : 
e.g. the bishop is called the president/ The account 
is as follows : 

On the day called Sunday all those who live in 
the towns, or in the country, meet together ; and the 
memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the 
prophets are read, as long as time allows. Then, when 
the reader has ended, the president addresses words of 
instruction and exhortation to imitate these good 
things. Then we all stand up together and offer 
prayers. And when prayer is ended, bread is brought 
and wine and water, and the president offers up alike 
prayers and thanksgivings with all his energy, and the 
people give their assent, saying the Amen. And the 
distribution of the elements, over which thanksgiving 
has been uttered, is made, so that each partakes ; and 
to those who are absent they are sent by the hands of 
the deacons. And those who have the means, and are 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 

so disposed, give as much as they will, each according 
to his inclination ; and the sum collected is placed in 
the hands of the president, who himself succours the 
orphans and widows, and those who, through sickness 
or any other cause, are in want, and the prisoners, and 
the foreigners who are staying in the place, and, in 
short, he provides for all who are in need. 

Another passage in Justin shows that the service 
was called the Eucharist or service of thanksgiving," 1 
a peculiarly fitting name, since our Lord especially 
gave thanks 1 when He instituted the Sacrament. We 
also find from Justin that the service included (1) 
the reading of passages from the Old Testament and 
the New Testament ; (2) a sermon ; (3) prayers ; (4) the 
kiss given by the Christians to one another ; (5) the 
oblation of the elements; ((j) praise to God the Father 
through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, 
with a thanksgiving pronounced over the elements 
which then become the flesh and blood of that Jesus 
who was made flesh "* ; (7) Communion given, to those 
present, the Sacrament being also reserved and taken 
from the church to those absent. It is interesting to 
notice that no mention is made of the singing of 
hymns or psalms, but passages in the New Testament 
combine with the evidence of Pliny to make us think 
that singing was not omitted in the public worship of 
the Christians. The Canons of Hippolytus complete 
the picture, of which the outline is given by Justin. 
These canons may be as old as A.D. 195, and it is 
improbable that they are as late as A.D. 218. The 
Communion was received fasting, and the deacons 
and presbyters with the bishop were clothed in white 
vestments more beautiful than all the people and as 
splendid as possible/ The readers 1 also wore festival 
garments/ These readers read passages of Scripture 
until all the people were assembled together, and a 
confession of sins was made before the Kiss of peace 



6 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and the offering of the oblations. Three points of 
special interest are to be discovered in the remaining 
directions for the service : 

(a) We find in these canons the earliest definite 
reference to the Sursum Corda. The service contained 
the familiar sentences : 

The Lord be with you. 

And with thy spirit. 
Lift up your hearts. 

We lift them up unto the Lord. 
Let us give thanks unto the Lord. 

It is meet and right so to do. 

(b) We find an explanation of a sentence in the 
present Roman service which for many centuries was 
quite unintelligible. After the consecration of the 
Sacrament the celebrant still prays that God will 
admit us to the company of the saints, not weighing 
our merits but bestowing Thy pardon, through Christ 
our Lord, through Whom, O Lord, Thou dost always 
create, sanctify, quicken, bless, and bestow upon us 
all these good things. The last phrase is not very 
appropriate to the Holy Sacrament, and the only 
clue to its meaning now remaining in the Roman 
service is the fact that on Maundy Thursday bishops 
are accustomed to bless oil for the anointing of the sick 
at this point of the service. The Canons of Hippolytus 
show that at this point of the service there was origin 
ally a thanksgiving over gifts of corn and wine and oil. 

(c) The formula for administering the Sacrament is 
given. This is the Body of Christ was said to the 
communicant, who replied Amen. Then, when the cup 
was given, This is the Blood of Christ, the com 
municant again replying Amen. 

(d) Directions are given for the observance of the 
Agape, which took place every Lord s day before sun 
set. All stood up, and the senior of the clergy present 
the bishop if possible offered a thanksgiving, 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 7 

breaking a loaf of bread and signing it with the sign of 
the cross. If no priest was present, each person broke 
his own bread. After the meal lights were lighted. 
Sometimes there was a sermon. The service ended 
with psalms. An Agape was also held when the 
Eucharist had been offered for the faithful departed. 

A few words may here be added with regard to the 
later history of the love-feast. In the fifth century 
Socrates, the Church historian, describes certain Egyp 
tian Christians who partake of the mysteries (i.e. 
Sacrament) otherwise than is customary with Christians. 
For after feasting and taking their fill of all kinds of 
food, about evening they otter the oblation and partake 
of the mysteries. 1 This was on Saturday, and not 
Sunday. It is difficult to say whether this is a primi 
tive practice or whether it arose in times of persecu 
tion, when it was safer to meet at night than in the 
early morning. There is an apparently similar case 
mentioned bv S. Cvprian about 250. He rebukes some 
Africans for communicating in the evening in their 
fear lest the odour of the wine should lead to their 
detection. In any case, the Egyptian practice seems 
to be a reminiscence of the Agape, and the Agape was 
known to the Armenian Christians at the same date. 
The Canons of S. Sahak, a celebrated Armenian patri 
arch about 400, show that the Agape still existed 
among the Armenians, but it was considered a sin for 
people to eat and drink in their own houses 1 before 
the Eucharist. It is therefore probable that the Agape 
was celebrated at some time after the Eucharist. John 
of Otxun, an Armenian born about 688, says that 
whereas the Lord instituted the Eucharist after supper, 
we now place many hours between the carnal and the 
spiritual meal/ Whether he refers to the Agape or 
not is difficult to determine. The Council in Trullo 
of 692 forbade the Agape to be held in churches, and 

1 Ecclesiastical History &lt;, v. 22. 



8 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

this proves that the practice was not extinct at the 
end of the seventh century. But long before this date 
the Agape had tended to become either a social enter 
tainment for the rich, as at Alexandria, or a dole of 
food to the poor, as in Western Africa. In either case 
the true significance of the rite was lost. S. Ambrose 
found it necessary to suppress it at Milan about 390, 
and S. Augustine urged the Bishop of Carthage to 
follow his example. But the practice has left a definite 
survival in the bread, blessed though not consecrated, 
and distributed during or after the liturgy in certain 
countries. This is still customary in all the Eastern 
Churches. It survived throughout the Middle Ages 
in England, for the Devonshire rebels in the time 
of Edward VI. clamoured for the retention of holy 
bread, 1 and the 4 pain benit is still distributed in 
certain churches in France. 

2. National Varieties of the Liturgy. 

In the fourth century the Christian Church emerged 
from the catacombs and enjoyed imperial favour. The 
great cities of the Roman Empire were adorned with 
magnificent churches, mostly of that type which has 
been preserved for us in the older churches of Rome. 
A great hall with rows of marble columns and a semi 
circular apse at the end with the altar and the bishop s 
throne made an almost ideal house of prayer, especially 
when decorated with all the glory of bright mosaic 
and vigorous carving. Worship was offered with great 
magnificence, and in different countries the liturgy 
was already assuming different forms. But it is this 
very diversity in the liturgies which makes their sub 
stantial unity so remarkable. In a period ranging 
from the fourth to the seventh century we find that 
the main features of the different liturgies, so far as 
we can trace them, are practically identical. Such 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 9 

an identity points back almost to the apostolic age. 
There are plain indications of the same features in 
the second and third centuries, nor was there any 
attempt to destroy them until the Reformation. 

The service was divided into two parts. The first 
was open to persons who were not yet baptized but were 
being prepared for Baptism, and was therefore known 
in later times, though not yet in the fourth century, 
as the al/irm of the Catechumens. The second part of 
the service was only open to the baptized, and was 
given the name of the Mass of the Faithful. 

i. The Mass of the Catechumens. S. Ambrose 
says, After the Iwnn.v and scrmoji the catechumens 
are dismissed/ 1 So S. Augustine of Hippo (died 430), 
complaining of people talking in church, says, What 
an exertion it is to secure silence in church when the 
lessons are read. If one speaks, all murmur; when the 
psalm is read, it makes silence for itself." So we find 
The Lessons from the Bible. These were not less 
than three in number, the two last being the 
Epistle and Gospel. 2 Between the Epistle and 
Gospel was sung a psalm. 
The Sermon. 

The Dismissals of any non-Christians who might 
be present and any catechumens who were being 
prepared for Baptism. After the dismissals the 
doors were shut. In the fourth century the word 
missa was still used in its original sense of * dis 
missal," 1 and therefore S. Augustine, Sermon 49, 
says, 4 After the sermon the 7niwa catechumenorum 
takes place; the faithful will remain. Afterwards 
the word 4 missa (in English mass ) became 

1 Ep. xx. ad Mar cell. 

3 The lessons in some places were read in the fourth century by 
readers and not by deacons, and at Milan the psalm was sung by a 
boy reader (lector farvufus) and taken up by the congregation. 



10 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

transferred from these solemn dismissals to the 
Eucharist in which the dismissals occurred. The 
word missa 1 is another form of 4 missio," 1 just as 
collecta is another form of collection When 
the old meaning began to be forgotten any service 
was at first called missa, 1 and in the sixth 
century in Spain and Gaul evening masses 1 
meant Evensong, and not the Eucharist. 
With regard to the Mass of the Faithful S. Augus 
tine, in commenting on 1 Timothy ii. 1, says, I prefer 
in these words to understand this, that all or nearly all 
the Church is met together : so that we take the sup 
plications as mentioned, which we make in the celebra 
tion of the mysteries, before that which is on the Lord s 
table begins to be blessed prayers when it is blessed 
and sanctified and broken to be distributed, which 
entire petition almost every Church concludes with the 
Lord s Prayer and intercessions, or as your manu 
scripts have it, " petitions," are made when the people 
are blessed, for then the bishops, like advocates, offer 
to the most merciful Power those whose cause they 
have undertaken by the laying on of hands and when 
these things are done, and this great Sacrament 
received, the thanksgiving concludes all things, which 
in these very words the apostles recommended last."* 

These words of S. Augustine show us the general 
tenor of the Mass of the Faithful. A careful compari 
son of the statements made by writers of the fourth 
century shows us that this part of the service every 
where contained the following sections, though the 
different sections were not everywhere arranged in 
precisely the same order. 

ii. The Mass of the Faithful Preparatory Section. 

Prayers of the faithful for various blessings. 

The Kiss of peace. 

The Oblation of the bread and wine and water. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 11 

In Home and Africa the Kiss was not given until 
just before Communion. 

iii. The Consecration. 

The Lift up your hearts, etc. 

A solemn prayer of thanksgiving (originally extem 
pore), including (a) The Preface and singing of 
Holy, holy, holy. 

A continuation of the thanksgiving, including (ft) 
a narrative of the institution of the Eucharist by 
our Lord. 

An invocation of the Holy Spirit or divine Word 
to make the bread and wine the Body and Blood 
of Christ. 

An intercession for the living and the dead (in 
Egypt this came in later times to be placed before 
the Stinctu.v : at Home the intercession for the 
dead has long been separated from that for the 
living, but some ancient manuscripts do not place 
the commemoration of the dead in its present 
position). 

The Lord s Prayer. 

iv. The Communion, etc. 

The Fraction or breaking of the bread and other 
manual acts, including generally the elevation of 
the Sacrament. 

The Communion, during which a psalm was generally 
sung. 

A Thanksgiving for Communion. 

The Dismissal of the faithful. 

The thanksgiving, consecration, and intercession in 
cluded in the third of the four sections just analysed, 
are in the East known collectively as the Anaphora. 
The earliest complete, or nearly complete, Anaphora 
which we possess is that of Bishop Serapion of Thmuis 



12 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

in Egypt, of about A.D. 350. It is of such interest that 
it is here printed in full : l 

The Preface. 

It is meet and right to praise,, to hymn, to glorify Thee 
the uncreated Father of the only-begotten Jesus Christ. 
We praise Thee, O uncreated God, Who art unsearchable, 
ineffable, incomprehensible to every created substance. 
We praise Thee Who art known of Thy Son the only- 
begotten, Who through Him wast uttered and interpreted 
and made known to created nature. We praise Thee Who 
knowest the Son and revealest to the saints the glories 
that are about Him : Who art known of Thy begotten 
Word, and art brought to the sight and interpreted to 
the understanding of the saints. We praise Thee, O in 
visible Father, provider of immortality. Thou art the fount 
of life, the fount of light, the fount of all grace and all 
truth, O Lover of men, O Lover of the poor, Who recon- 
cilest Thyself to all, and drawest all to Thyself through 
the sojourning of thy beloved Son. We beseech Thee 
make us living men. Give us a spirit of light, that we 
may know Thee the true [God] and Him Whom Thou 
didst send, even Jesus Christ. Give us the Holy Spirit, 
that we may be able to tell forth and to relate Thine 
unspeakable mysteries. May the Lord Jesus speak in 
us and the Holy Spirit, and hymn Thee through us. 

For Thou art far above all principality and power and 
might and dominion, and every name that is named, not 
only in this world but also in that which is to come 
(Eph. i. 21). Before Thee stand thousand thousands and 
myriad myriads of angels (Dan. vii. 10, Heb. xii. 22), arch 
angels, thrones, dominations, principalities, powers : before 
Thee stand the two most honourable six-winged seraphim, 
with two wings covering the face, and with twain the feet, 
and with twain flying, and crying holy (cf. Is. vi. 2, 3), with 
whom receive also our cry of " holy" as we say : 

1 See Bishop Serapion s Prayer Book, with introduction by the 
present Lord Bishop of Salisbury (S.P.C.K., 1899). 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 13 

The Sanctum. 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Subaoth, full is the heaven and 
the earth of Thy glory. 

Oblation and Narrative of the Institution. 

Full is the heaven, full is also the earth of Thy excellent 
glory, Lord of Hosts : fill also this sacrifice with Thy 
power and Thy participation : for to Thee have we 
offered this living sacrifice, the unbloody oblation. To 
Thee we have offered this bread the likeness of the Body 
of the only-begotten. This bread is the likeness of the 
holy Body, for the Lord Jesus Christ in the night in 
which He was betrayed took bread and brake and gave 
to His disciples saying, Take and eat, this is My Body 
which is being broken for you for remission of sins. 
Wherefore we also making the likeness of the death have 
offered the bread, and we beseech Thee through this sacri 
fice be reconciled to all of us and be merciful, O God of 
truth : and as this bread l had been scattered on the top of 
the mountains and gathered together came to be one, so 
also gather Thy holy Church out of every nation and every 
country and every city and village and house and make one 
living Catholic Church. We have offered also the cup, the 
likeness of the Blood, for the Lord Jesus Christ, taking 
a cup after supper said to His own disciples, Take, 
drink, this is the new covenant, which is My Blood, which 
is being shed for you for remission of sins. Wherefore 
we have also offered the cup, presenting a likeness of the 
Blood. 

The Consecration. 

God of truth, let Thy holy Word come to sojourn on this 
bread that the bread may become Body of the Word, and 
on this cup that the cup may become Blood of the Truth. 
And make all who communicate receive a medicine of life 
for the healing of every sickness and for the enabling 

1 This passage is borrowed from the The Teaching of the Apostles, 
ch. ix. 



14 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of all advancement and virtue, not for condemnation, O 
God of truth, and not for censure and reproach. For we 
have invoked Thee, the uncreated, through the Only- 
begotten in the Holy Spirit. 

The Great Intercession. 

Let this people receive mercy, let it be counted worthy 
of advancement, let angels be sent forth as companions to 
the people for bringing to nought of the evil one and 
for establishment of the Church. 

We intercede also on behalf of all who have fallen 
asleep, whose is also the memorial we are making. After 
the recitation of the names : Sanctify these souls; for Thou 
knowest all. Sanctify all souls at rest in the Lord. And 
number them with all Thy holy hosts and give them a 
place and a mansion in Thy kingdom. 

Receive also the thanksgiving of the people, and bless 
those who offered the oblations and the thanksgivings, 
and grant health and soundness and cheerfulness and all 
advancement of soul and body to this whole people 
through the only-begotten Jesus Christ in the Holy 
Spirit; as it was and is and shall be to generations of 
generations and to all the ages of the ages. Amen. 

Having now sketched the structure of the Holy 
Eucharist in the fourth century, we may proceed to 
describe the great national families of the liturgy 
which already existed between the fourth and seventh 
centuries. 

(i) The West Syrian Rite. This was said in Greek 
and was used at Antioch. Light is thrown upon 
it by the writings of S. John Chrysostom, who lived 
and taught in Antioch before he became Archbishop of 
Constantinople in 398, and also by the Apostolic Con 
stitutions, a manual of ecclesiastical life containing 
numerous liturgical formulae, and written at Antioch 
about 375. The Syrian Service is represented by the 
Greek Liturgy of S. James, which is still sung at Zante 
on the festival of that saint. A Syriac version of the 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE 8. AUGUSTINE 15 

same liturgy is used by the Maronites, a sect which is 
very numerous in the lA banon, and has been united 
with the Roman Church since the twelfth century. 
Greek remained the literary language of Damascus 
until the eighth century, but long before that time 
Syriac had become a cultivated language, and was used 
in divine worship. This liturgical use of Syriac began 
when the Syrians separated from the Greek Church, 
through adopting the Monophvsite heresy, which 
denied the reality of Christ s human nature. Crushed 
by Moslem domination, the once great and cultured 
sect of Syrian Monophy sites now probably numbers less 
than 200,000 in Asia Minor and Syria, and about 
300,000 in India. They employ a Svriac version of 
the Liturgy of S. James. 

The Palestinian Rite, once used at Jerusalem, is closely 
akin to the rite used at Antioch. Our knowledge of 
it is largely derived from the writings of S. Jerome 
and S. Cyril of Jerusalem, and from the Pilgrimage 
of S. Silvia, a Burgundian lady who stayed in the holy 
city near the end of the fourth century, and wrote an 
account of the Church services in such Latin as was 
then spoken by the people of Burgundy. 

(ii) The F,a.st Syrian or Persian Kite. This is the 
rite now used by the Nestorians, who declared that Jesus 
Christ was two persons, and refused to accept the 
decisions of the Council of Ephesus held in 431. They 
were at one time one of the most numerous and active 
Churches in Christendom. In 850 there were Nestorian 
metropolitans in India, Merv, and Arabia, and a 
flourishing mission was established in China about 720. 
This vast Church now consists only of about 200,000 
impoverished people on the borderland of Turkey and 
Persia. Their liturgy bears the name of the apostles 
Addai and Mari/ Mari, one of the apostles of Meso 
potamia, probably lived in the middle of the third 
century. Addai, whom legends have made a contem- 



16 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

porary of our Lord, probably lived in the second half 
of the second century, and taught at Edessa, a large 
and flourishing city, which became a Roman colony in 
244. The Syrian Christians of Malabar, who are now 
Monophysite, and use the West Syrian rite, were for 
merly Nestorians. Many of the Persian Nestorians 
have lately been united with the Orthodox Eastern 
Church. 

(iii) The Byzantine Rite. This great rite has a 
peculiar importance, inasmuch as it is now the rite used 
throughout the Orthodox Eastern Church. It stretches 
almost across the world. It is used in different languages 
throughout the Russian Empire, also by all Greek- 
speaking Christians, by the Roumanians, Serbs, Bul 
garians, Georgians, by those of the Orthodox who speak 
Arabic, and by numerous converts from heathenism 
in Japan and elsewhere. The rite comprises three 
liturgies, that of S. John Chrysostom, that of S. Basil, 
and that of S. Gregory Dialogos. The Liturgy of 
S. Basil is used on the Sundays of Lent (except Palm 
Sunday) and on certain holy days. On other days 
the liturgy is celebrated according to the rite of S. John 
Chrysostom. The Liturgy of S. Gregory is used on 
week-days of Lent, when the priest is not allowed to 
consecrate the Eucharist, but publicly partakes of the 
Sacrament, which has been reserved for that purpose. 
The ordinary name of this form of service is the Mass 
of the Pre-sanctified (i.e. previously consecrated 
Sacrament). 

The Armenian Rite is an offshoot of the Byzantine. 
It is most probable that the Armenians first received 
some instruction in Christianity from Syrian Christians. 
This would be easy, for Edessa, the great centre of 
Syrian Christianity, is near to the passes which give 
access to Armenia. It is probable that this evangelisa 
tion began in the third century. The Armenians, 
however, regard as the true founder of their Church 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 17 

S. Gregory the Illuminator, who lived near the begin 
ning of the fourth century. The first Armenian trans 
lation of the New Testament was from the Syriac. 
But at the close of the fourth century the Armenians 
were in communication with Constantinople and other 
centres of Greek Christianity. At this period they 
made an admirable translation of the Bible from the 
Greek, and they probably accepted the Byzantine rite 
at that time. The Armenian liturgy is of great beauty, 
and shows traces of Latin influence dating from the 
later Middle Ages. 

(iv) The Kgyptlan Rite. The earliest form of the 
Egyptian rite which we possess is to be found in the 
precious document which contains the prayers of 
Serapion, already quoted. It is in Greek, like the 
more developed Egyptian rite known as the Liturgy 
of S. Mark. The majority of Egyptian Christians ac 
cepted the Monophysite heresy. They emphasised 
their separation from the Greeks by using in their 
worship the vernacular language of Egypt known as 
Coptic, which is descended from the language of 
ancient Egypt. The Copts still use a Coptic version 
of the Liturgy of S. Mark, though their vernacular is 
now Arabic. The orthodox Christians of Egypt have 
adopted the Byzantine rite. 

Christianity spread widely beyond the boundaries of 
Egypt at an early date. In Egypt it has suffered 
severely from the encroachments of Muhammadanism, 
and in Nubia it became extinct in the seventeenth 
century. It still survives in a corrupt Monophysite 
form in Abyssinia, which received Christianity from 
Egypt in the time of Athanasius, A.I). 346. The 
Abyssinian liturgies are very numerous, and are of the 
Egyptian type. The long intercession for the Church 
is inserted between the Sursum Corda and the Sunctus, 
a peculiarity which is only found in the liturgies of 
Egyptian origin. 



18 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

(v) The Roman Rite. The Roman Church abandoned 
the use of Greek as its official language in the third 
century after Christ. The Roman rite has some points 
of contact with the Egyptian rite. It slowly spread 
over nearly the whole of Western Europe, and our own 
Prayer Book is mostly derived directly or indirectly 
from Roman Service Books of various types. Although 
it is the ordinary rite used by Christians who are under 
the authority of Rome, the Roman Church generally 
permits converts attracted from the Eastern Churches 
to use a slightly Romanised form of their own services. 
It is therefore quite a mistake to suppose that absolute 
uniformity of worship exists in the Roman communion. 
The oldest form of the Roman Mass is to be found in 
the Leonine Sacramentary, 1 discovered at Verona about 
1735. It is mutilated, and of the original twelve 
sections corresponding with the twelve months of 
the year, only nine remain. Unfortunately the most 
interesting parts are missing, including the Easter cere 
monies and the Canon of the Mass, or prayers for the 
consecration of the Eucharist. The book is purely 
Roman, containing numerous local allusions to Rome, 
and showing no trace of the French elements which 
abound in later Roman Service Books. Its date is almost 
certainly near 550, as there seems to be a reference to 
the Ostrogoths who besieged Rome in 538, and the 
prayer Hanc igitur appears without the conclusion 
added to it by S. Gregory about 595. 

(vi) The Gallican Rite. This ancient Latin rite 
was used in France, in Spain, and in Britain and Ire 
land. It differs widely from the Roman. In France 
the Gallican rite was replaced in the eighth century 
by the Roman rite by a decree of King Pepin, 
his action being mentioned in a document of Charles 
the Great, A.D. 789. The Frankish Church was dis 
organised and in a state of liturgical anarchy, and 
the king and his successors determined to restore order 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 1!) 

by introducing the Roman rite. After the Roman 
rite was brought into Gaul it became mixed with 
numerous Galilean ceremonies, and returned to Rome 
in this adulterated form. Rome, so far from troubling 
to maintain her ancient rite in its purity, adopted the 
new Service Books, and has kept them, with additions, 
to this day. In Spain the Galilean rite was more 
fortunate than in France. The Church of the Visi 
goths had a strong centre in the city of Toledo, and 
the liturgy of Toledo was the liturgy of all Spain. 
Gradually the conflict between the Roman and the 
Gallican rite became inevitable. The story goes that 
in the eleventh century, King Alfonso VI., according to 
the strange spirit of the age, decided that the rival 
claims of the two liturgies should be decided by a 
tournament between two knights. The Roman 
champion was killed, but the king was unconvinced. 
So a fire was kindled, and the two Mass Hooks were 
thrown into the flames. That of Rome was consumed ; 
that of Toledo was uninjured. The king then arbitrarily 
commanded the abolition of the Spanish rite. The 
people were furious, and a compromise was made to the 
effect that the Roman use should be introduced into the 
later churches, and the national rite should remain in 
those of ancient foundation. The old Gallican service 
of Spain, known by the name Mozarabic, was revised 
and printed in A.D. 1500 by Cardinal Ximenes, and it is 
probable that Cranmer knew some of the Mozarabic 
services. The rite still survives, tended like a hot 
house plant, though in its own native air. 

A chapel in the cathedral church of Toledo is 
set apart for Mo/arabic services ; there are also two 
Mozarabic parish churches in Toledo, and the old rite 
is, or was until lately, said at Salamanca and in the 
church of S. Martinho de Cedofeita at Oporto. 

In the great diocese of Milan there is used a rite 
which is called Ambrosian. It contains many Roman 



20 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

features, including the Roman Canon of the Mass. It 
is, however, very difficult to decide whether the original 
Ambrosian service was Roman or Gallican. Students 
nave long been divided into two hostile camps on this 
question. Our chief authorities for the Milanese 
services of the fourth century are S. Ambrose and 
S. Augustine. Their writings do not suggest that 
there was then much difference between the services of 
Rome and of Milan. But at a time when it is known 
that the present Roman Canon of the Mass was already 
employed at Milan, the manuscripts prove that the 
Mass sung on the Thursday before Easter was of a 
type which strongly resembles the Gallican. The 
present writer is inclined to rank the Ambrosian 
service with the Gallican. 

3. Western Liturgies in the time of Augustine. 

Owing to a most fortunate circumstance we are able 
to reconstruct almost the whole of the Gallican Mass 
as it was in the days of S. Augustine of Canterbury, 
a reconstruction which is not nearly so easy in the 
case of the Roman Mass. S. Germanus of Paris, who 
died in 576, has left us a description of the Gallican 
service, and by availing ourselves of this description 
and consulting the oldest liturgical books of Gaul, 
Britain, and Spain we can imagine ourselves assist 
ing at the holy mysteries in Paris or Toledo at the 
close of the sixth century. Turning to the Roman 
rite, we find that the Or dines Romani contain the 
ritual for various services at which the Pope himself 
assisted. In particular they describe the stational 1 
Mass which the Pope celebrated himself, and to which 
all the clergy and all the faithful were summoned. 
The Ordines are of different dates, but the earliest 
describe the divine worship of the eighth and ninth 
centuries. With the help of older books it is possible 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE ill 

to extract from them a fairly good idea of the Roman 
liturgy of the sixth century. 

We will now consider the Gallican Mass with which 
S. Augustine was familiar, and during which service 
he was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury at Aries 
in 597. Comparisons will also be made with the 
Roman Mass of the period. 

MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS. 

i () 

GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Antiphon. Antiphon and Psalm (iff In- 

Tritmyion. troitum. 

Kyrie eleison. 
The Prophecy, i.e. Benedict us. Gloria in ejccelsis. 

The service begins with the chanting of an Antiphon, 
such as is now called the Introit or entrance, and the 
celebrant enters wearing a white tunic or alb and a 
very large chasuble with a hood attached. Let us 
observe that our word chasuble is a Galilean Latin 
word. Casula means a little house, and it was the 
name colloquially applied in Gaul to the large dignified 
robe worn by the clergy and the higher lay officials. 
The Roman word for a chasuble is planeta, the origin 
of which word is unknown. The priest would be ac 
companied by two deacons, probably wearing the same 
dress as the celebrant, for the chasuble was not yet an 
exclusively priestly garment. 1 A deacon exhorts the 
people to be silent, and the celebrant says, The Lord 
be always with you." 1 

Then the Trisagion was sung in Greek and Latin 

1 During Advent and Lent the deacon and sub-deacon in England 
continued to wear chasubles throughout the Middle Ages. A statue 
at Wells Cathedral shows us that their chasuble was long and of thin 
material, folded so as to be quite narrow, then placed on the left 
shoulder and passed under the girdle of the alb exactly like a deacon s 
stole. The Continental custom of clothing the deacons in Lent in 
chasubles which have been cut down to the size of an English university 
hood, is a modern barbarism. 



22 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

4 Holy God, Holy mighty, Holy immortal, have mercy 
upon us 1 a beautiful custom of Eastern origin. It 
was followed by the chant Kyrie eleison, another Greek 
custom introduced into Gaul in the sixth century. 
The Kyrie had previously been introduced into Rome, 
but in Rome as in the East it was connected with 
a previously recited litany, whereas in Gaul it was 
isolated. It still survives in the petition, Lord have 
mercy upon us," 1 in the answer made by our choirs 
during the recital of the Commandments. The Kyrie 
was followed by the Prophecy, that is, the Benedictus 
or Song of Zacharias, which we sing at Mattins. Instead 
of the Benedictus the Roman Church sang the Gloria 
in cxcclsis, used at the Greek Mattins. This hymn 
probably dates from the second century, and was 
lengthened in the fourth century. 1 

i (&). 
GALLIC AN. ROMAN. 

Collect. 

The Prayer in Rome was called Collecta,^ in Gaul 
4 Collectio/ There can be little or no doubt that the 
name means the prayer said when all the people 
were collected together and joined in spirit with the 
celebrant. The chants were regarded as preliminary. 
A similar prayer is found in the Prayer Book of 
Serapion, showing the custom of Egypt about A.D. 350. 

i (4 
GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Lesson from Old Testament. 

Gradual, i.e. Psalm sung from 

Gradus or pulpit step. 
Epistle. 
Benedicite. Alleluia; or Psalm called Tract 

sung without repeat. 
Trisagion and Gospel. 

1 At Rome it was first used at the first Mass of Christmas Day only. 
Afterwards it was used every Sunday by bishops only, and finally by 
priests. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE IS. AUGUSTINE M 

Then came the readings from the Bible. Originally 
there was always a lesson read before the Epistle and 
Gospel. This lesson was taken from the Old Testa 
ment. It is still retained on certain Lenten and 
Ember days in the Roman Church, and also by the 
Armenian Church, but it was abandoned long ago by 
the Greeks, from whom the Armenians derived their 
liturgy. The so-called Ambrosian service of Milan 
also retains this lesson, although a modern itching 
for shortened Masses has caused it to be frequently 
omitted by lawless clergy. After this lesson there was 
the Epistle, and then the Bcucdicitc was sung. 1 

Then began the procession of the Gospel while the 
Trisagion was chanted. The deacon ascended the 
marble ambo or pulpit, seven candles being borne 
before him to signify the seven gifts of the Holy 
Spirit; the clerks sang Glory be to Thee, O Lord 1 ; 
and the deacon read the Gospel. There is reason for 
thinking that at Home S. Gregory himself fixed the 
rule that a deacon should read the Gospel. In the 
eighth century, and perhaps earlier, incense was used 
at Rome both at the approach of the celebrant to 
the altar and on going to the pulpit for the Gospel. 
About 830 no incense was used in Rome at Mass after 
the Gospel. After the Gospel came a homily or 
sermon, and S. German appropriately says that the 
pastor of the church must so temper his words with 
art that his rusticity does not offend the wise, and that 
his proper eloquence does not puz/le the rustics. 2 The 
Creed was already sung at Mass in Spain, though not 
in Gaul. It was introduced into the service at Antioch 
in 471, but at Rome it was not sung until the eleventh 



1 At Rome, when they omitted the Old Testament Lesson, they sang 
the Gradual after the Epistle. Its original place was between the Old 
Testament Lesson and the Epistle. 

1 Preaching at Home was rare, as at this period it had become a 
prerogative of the Pope. 



24 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

century, by which time the Gallican service had been 
extinguished in France by the Roman. 

i (d). 
GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Litany: collect Post-prccem. Oremus: Prayers. 

Dismissal of Catechumens. 

In Gaul after the homily came a short litany closely 
corresponding with the litany still repeated here in the 
Greek service. The litany was followed by a collect. 1 
In Gaul penitents who had been guilty of grievous 
sin and catechumens being prepared for Baptism 
were then bidden to depart, and in Rome they were 
probably dismissed after some prayers. This is the 
missa or dismissal of the catechumens, which in the 
sixth century was still maintained in Rome as well as 
in Gaul. The first part of the service concluded with 
this dismissal. The deplorable ignorance of a great 
number of the English clergy has led to the astounding 
modern custom of encouraging the laity to depart just 
before or after the Offertory, as if they had been guilty 
of some deadly sin, and were unfit to be present at the 
Christian sacrifice. 

MASS OF THE FAITHFUL. 

The second part of the service was preceded in Gaul 
by an injunction to guard the doors. At this period 
the original meaning of this injunction was already 
forgotten, and it was supposed to be a command to the 
worshippers to keep the door of their lips, but it had 
originally been a warning to beware of the intrusion 
of pagans. 

1 After the Creed in the Roman Mass the priest still says, Let us 
pray. These words are not followed by any common prayer, but it 
may be regarded as certain that at this point either the prayer of the 
faithful was said, or a prayer before the dismissal of the catechu 
mens. The prayers now said in the Roman liturgy on Good Friday 
suggest the latter alternative. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 26 

I". 
GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Chant and threefold Alleluia : Offertory sung: oblation of 
procession with preriously bread, wine and water, 

prepared oblations. 

Celebrant washes his hands. 

Long invitation to prayer. I ruy, brethren, etc. 

Collect over the oblations. Collect called Secreta. 

Commemoration of saints and 
the departed: collect. 

Kiss of peace : collect. 

Lift up your hearts, etc. 
It is meet and right/ etc. 
4 Holy, holy, holy, etc. 

The Galilean Oflertorv was a ceremony of great 
solemnity. The choir sang a chant ending with Alle 
luia, followed by another verse called the Praises/ 
also ending with Alleluia. Meanwhile a procession 
entered from the sacristy, one deacon bore the Euchar- 
istic bread in a little tower of some precious workman 
ship, another bore a chalice containing wine mingled 
with water. The elements were placed upon the linen 
altar-cloth or corporal cloth/ and covered with a 
veil of silk embroidered with gold and gems. The 
oblations, in accordance with Eastern usage, were 
prepared before the service began, and this practice 
lingered in France after the introduction of the Roman 
rite. The Dominican friars, who use a Roman service 
of a mediaeval French character, still mix the chalice 
before the Mass actually begins, and the same fashion 
was common in England during the Middle Ages. At 
Rome, on the contrary, it was the custom for the 
clergy and laitv, and the celebrant himself, to make 
an oblation of bread and wine to be used for the 
Eucharist. If the Pope celebrated, the archdeacon 



26 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

selected some of these oblations, and before the water 
was added to the wine in the chalice, some of the wine 
offered by the Pope was mingled with that offered by 
the clergy and laity. In the meantime the choir sang 
the Offertory Psalm. Then the celebrant said, Pray, 
brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable 
to God the Father almighty," 1 and over the oblations 
said the Secret prayer. Similarly in the Gallican 
service the Offertory was followed by a prayer, which 
at Milan is called the prayer over the veil. 1 

Then the celebrant in Gaul read the diptychs or 
tablets containing the names of the saints which were 
specially commemorated and all those at rest, 1 and 
God was asked to bid their names to be written in 
eternity/ After this commemoration of those who 
have departed to be with Christ, the living gave to one 
another, in accordance with apostolic custom, the Kiss 
of peace. In Spain, and perhaps in France, the choir 
sang, My peace I give unto you ; My peace I leave 
with you ; not as the world giveth, give I peace unto 
you. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye 
love one another. 1 

The supreme moment of the liturgy now approaches. 
At Rome immediately after the Secret collect, and 
in Gaul immediately after the Kiss of peace, the priest 
briefly saluted the people, 2 and then exclaimed, Lift 
up your hearts, 1 the people responding, We lift them 
up unto the Lord. 1 Next came the prayer which we 
call the Preface, then named in Gaul the Immolation, 

1 At Rome the Kiss of peace was not given until the solemn break 
ing of the bread after the consecration and before the communion. 

2 At the present day the Canon of the Roman Mass is not supposed 
to begin until after the Sanctus and Benedictus. But it was formerly 
sometimes reckoned as beginning with the salutation given by the 
priest before Lift up your hearts. It is most reasonable to hold that 
the Canon ends at the conclusion of the clause added to the Our 
Father. The whole of the Roman Canon in its Sarum form is printed 
in Appendix A. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 27 

followed by the singing of the words, 7/o///, //o/y, 
7/o//y, a chant to be found in all the liturgies. 



iii- 
(JALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Collect called Poxt-sanctus. 

Prayer for the Church ; the 
living ; commemoration of 
saints ; prayers for the obla 
tion. 
Narrative of the Institution by our Lord. 

Wherefore we , Upon which ; 

Prayer that the elements may receive a heavenly consecration. 

Memento of dead : To us also: 
Through whom (dedication of 

the fruits of the earth): 
Our Father: Deliver us. 

In Gaul the Sanctus was followed by a prayer called 
the Post-sanctus, and this led immediately to a recital 
of the words used by our Lord at His supper in the 
upper room. The form of these words printed in 
the Toledo books is almost identical with that of the 
present Anglican prayer of consecration. After this 
recital the priest began another prayer, to the effect 
that the oblation offered to God might be sanctified 
by the Holy Spirit, and so conformed" to the Body 
and Blood of Christ. 

It is of the utmost importance in studying the 
liturgies to remember that the consecration of the 
elements was not generally believed to be immediately 
effected by the words This is My Body, 1 This is 
My Blood, " as in the present English service and in the 
false interpretation now attached to the Roman service. 

The prayer of consecration in the Roman Mass 
beginning Te iffitur, consisted of several prayers com 
bined and known even in the time of Gregory as the 
Canon. After the Sanctus the priest recited prayers 



28 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

for the Church and for the living, 1 and commemorated 
the saints. This series of prayers has left a survival 
in our prayer for the Church militant, now placed in 
a new position. Then came two brief prayers that 
the oblation might be accepted, and the Qui pridie, 
which begins the recital of our Lord s institution of 
the Eucharist. Then after a commemoration of our 
Lord s Passion and Ascension are two clauses begin 
ning respectively Supra quae and Supplices te rogamus. 
This was the original consecration, and corresponds 
exactly with the place occupied in the Greek liturgies 
by the prayer that the Holy Ghost will make the 
bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. 
The consecration was very quiet and simple. There 
was no genuflexion, no censing, no bell-ringing, no 
carrying of lights. No one denied the sacramental 
doctrine of the Church, and therefore it was unneces 
sary to emphasise it by effective ceremonies. 

After this consecration came a commemoration of 
the departed, and another of the living and of the 
saints, and then the clause beginning Per quern, which 
is a prayer for fruits of the earth dedicated at this 
part of the Mass. 2 This prayer was wholly unin 
telligible at the end of the Middle Ages, and its 
present retention in the Roman Canon is scarcely 
defensible. 

At the end of the Roman Canon S. Gregory placed 
the Pater noster, set, as everywhere else, between a 
short preface and a prayer developing the words 
Deliver us from evil. 

1 It is probable that at the beginning of the fifth century the 
diptychs of the living and of the dead, for whom the prayers of the 
Church were desired, were read after the 71? igitur, and that the 
present Memento had not yet been inserted. Magistretti, La Litiirgia 
dell a Chiesa Milanese, p. 103. 

2 See above, p. 6. The Leonine Sacramentary contains the full 
formula for the blessing of milk, honey, grapes, etc. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE -JO 

iv (a). 
GALLIC AN. ROMAN. 

Hreaking of the If read. A JAVV of Pence. 

Our Father. Urea/ting of the. Hread. 

A morsel of the bread is put in the chalice. 

In Gaul the Lord s Prayer was not said until after 
the Fraction or breaking of the bread. This was 
an elaborate ceremony, the bread being broken and 
arranged on the paten in the form of a cross while 
the choir sang an anthem. The whole congregation 
then said the Lord s Prayer together. The Roman 
practice was, and still is, for the priest to say the 
Lord s Prayer alone until the people respond k but 
deliver us from evil/ Both in Gaul and at Rome a 
portion of the bread was placed in the chalice. In 
Gaul, as in the East, the priest accompanied his 
action witli the words, Holy tilings to the holy." In 
the East the Sacrament was elevated at these words. 

S iv (/A 
GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Illexiiny of the people. 

Communion while a chant is sung. 

In Gaul the celebrant then blessed the people, and 
this custom of blessing the people before Communion 
was continued in France by the bishops after the 
introduction of the Roman rite. The English bishops 
maintained it until the Reformation. It still survives 
at Lyons. The celebrant then communicated himself 
and gave Communion first to the clergy and then to 
the laity, who approached close to the altar. The 
men received the Body of our Lord in their hands as 
we do, the women received it not in the naked hand 
but in the hand covered with a linen napkin. A 



.30 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

deacon administered the chalice to the laity, who 
communicated in both kinds until the thirteenth cen 
tury. 1 Some of the large chalices which were used 
for the communion of the people had two handles. 
During communion a psalm or hymn was sung both 
in Gaul and at Rome. Our English hymn, Draw 
nigh and take the Body of the Lord, is a translation 
of an ancient communion hymn used in Ireland. 

iv (&lt;0- 
GALLICAN. ROMAN. 

Long invitation to give thanks. Let us pray. 

Post-communion Collect. 
Dismissal. Dismissal. 

The Mass concluded in the simplest fashion. The 
celebrant invited the congregation to give thanks 
that we who have spiritually received the sacred body 
of our Lord Jesus Christ may be freed from the sins 
of the flesh, and be worthy to become spiritual. 12 A 
short collect followed. The congregation was then 
dismissed, probably without any further blessing, the 
supreme blessing of receiving Jesus Christ being re 
garded as enough for all their needs. At Rome, as 
soon as the collect of thanksgiving (known as the Post- 
communion) was ended, a deacon pronounced the 
formula Ite 9 missa est Go, it is the dismissal. In the 
later Middle Ages, this meaning of the word missa 
having been forgotten, the formula had ceased to be 
intelligible. It has now been rendered doubly unintel 
ligible by the prayers added at the end of every Low 
Mass by command of Pope Leo XIII. 

At the end of this chapter is printed a table of 
Liturgies. It gives in parallel columns, first, the order 
of the Syrian Liturgy of the fourth century, found 

1 It is hardly necessary to say that all communicated fasting. 

2 From the form in the Missale Gothicum for Christmas Day. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 31 

chiefly in the Apostolic Constitutions ; secondly, the 
Liturgy of S. Basil, used in Constantinople ; thirdly, 
the Gallican Liturgy, used in France; fourthly, the 
Roman Liturgy. The three last are given, as nearly 
as can be ascertained, in the form used about 
A.D. 600. 



32 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS. 



Early Syrian. Byzantine 8. Basil. 

Little Entrance of priest. 
Trisagion. 



Old Testament Lesson. Old Testament Lesson. 

Psalm. Antiphon Prokeimenon. 

Epistle. Epistle. 

Psalm. Alleluia. 

Gospel. Gospel. 

Sermon. Sermon. 

Litany and Prayer. 

Prayers and Dismissals. Prayers and Dismissals. 



MASS OF THE FAITHFUL. 
ii. PREPARATORY SECTION. 

Litany and Prayers. Prayers of the Faithful. 

Kiss of peace. 

Diptychs. 

Offertory. Offertory: Great Entrance : 

procession of previously pre 
pared oblations : Chant. 

Celebrant washes hands. Celebrant washes hands. 

Private Prayer. Prayer. 

Diptychs of dead and living. 



Kiss of peace. 
Creed. 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 33 



MASS OF THE CATECHUMENS. 



Gallican. Roman. 

Antiphon. Antiph. and Ps. ad Introitum. 
Trisagion. 

Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. 

Prophetia, i.e. Benedictus. (Jloria in excelsis. 

Collectio. Collc-cta. 

Old Testament Lesson. (( )ld Testaniont Lesson). 

(iraduul. 

Epistle. Epistle. 

Benedieite. Alleluia or Tract, 

liospel (procession: Trisa^ion). (Jospel. 

Sermon. Sermon. 

Litany: collect Post-precem. Oremus: (I rayers). 

Dismissals. (Dismissals). 



MASS OF THE FAITHFl 

ii. I UKI AUATOHY SECTION. 



Offertory: procession of pre- Offertory: oMations offered: 
viously prepared oblations: Antiphon and Psalm Offer- 
Chants Sonum Laudes. torium. 

Celebrant washes hands. 

Collect over oblations. Secreta, a collect. 

Diptychs of dead read, saints 
commemorated: collect Post 
nomina. 

Kiss : collect ad Pacem. 



34 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Early Syrian. Byzantine 8. Basil. 

iii. ANAPHORA. 

The grace, 2 Cor. xiii. 14. ( The grace. 

"Avco rov vovv. "Ava&gt; o^co^-ey rds 

"A^LOV u&gt;s d\rjdu&gt;s. "A^iov KOI dtKatoi/. 

Ayios. Ayios . 
EuAoyr/Tos. 



Ayto? yap ft. Aytoy ci. 

Narrative of the Institution. Narrative of the Institution. 

Mep.vrjp.fvot. ovv (commemora- Mp,vr)p.voi ovv (commemora 
tion of Passion, Resurrec- tiou of Passion, Resurrec 
tion, Ascension). tion, Ascension). 

Epiklesisor Invocation of Holy Epiklesis or Invocation of Holy 

Spirit. Spirit. 

The Great Intercession (the Kai p.vr)crdr]Ti Trdvrwv (all faith- 
Church, emperor, saints, ful departed, the Church, 
persecutors). emperor, all men). 



Blessing of the people. Blessing of the people, 

ndrep f)p.av, with preface and Hdrep f)p,a&gt;v, with preface and 
embolismos. doxology. 

iv. THE COMMUNION. 

Prayer before Communion. Prayer before Communion. 
Fraction. Fraction ( 



Commixtion, 

Ta ayta rots dy/oty. Ta ayta roty dyiots. 

Communion : Ps. xxxiv. Communion : Chant. 

Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. 
Prayer for blessing. 

eV eipTJVT). Ei/ eiprjvfl 



THE EUCHARIST BEFORE S. AUGUSTINE 

Gallican. Roman. 



Sursum corda. 

Vere (lignum ct justum. 

Sanctus . . . Hosanna. 

Bcnedictus. 



Post- 



Vcre sanctus (collect 

sanctus ). 
Narrative of the Institution. 



Invocation in collect called 
Post - secreta or Post- 
mysterium. 



Dominus vobiscum. 

Sursum corda. 

\ ere dignum et justum. 

Sanctus . . . Hosanna . . . 

Benedictus. 

CANON MISSAK. 

Teigitur: [Diptychs], 

Memento : Communicantes, 

Hanc igitur: Quam oblationem. 



Qui j&gt;ridie. 

L nde et memores (commemo 
ration of Passion, Resurrec 
tion, Ascension). 

Supra quae. 

Supplices te . . . jube haec per- 
ferri per manus Angeli. 

Memento etiam (the dead). 

Xol)is quoque (the living and 
the saints). 

Per quern (fruits, etc., dedi 
cated). 

Pater noster, with preface and 
embolismos. 



iv. THE COMMUNION. 



Fraction : Antiphon sung. 
Pater noster, with preface 

and embolismos. 
Commixtion. 
Blessing of the people. 
Sancta sanctis. 
Communion : Chant. 
Post-Communion Collect. 



Fraction. 



Commixtion. 
Kiss of peace. 

Communion : Psalm. 
Post-communion ( ollect. 



Dismissal. 



Ite, Missa est. 



CHAPTER II 

THE EUCHARIST FROM S. AUGUSTINE TO 
THE REFORMATION 

The Protestants of the Church of England believe and 
reverence,, as much as any, the Sacrifice of the Eucharist, 
as the most substantial and essential act of our religion, 
and doubt not but the word Missa, Mass, hath fitly 
been used by the Western Church to signify it, and 
herein abhor or condemn nothing, but the corruptions 
and mutilations which the Church of Rome, without care 
of conforming themselves to the Universal (Church), have 
admitted in the celebration. H. HAMMOND, Archdeacon 
of Chichester, Dispatcher Dispatched, A.D. lOol). 

1. Changes in the Roman Rite in England. 

THE great liturgical changes which took place in the 
west of Europe after the introduction of Christianity 
into England were partly changes in the rite or service 
employed, and partly changes in the interpretation 
and performance of the service. The changes in the 
rite were caused by the gradual spread of the Roman 
rite, its absorption of alien elements, and the birth of 
numerous diocesan uses of a Roman type adapted to 
the French and Teutonic love of variety and cere 
monial. 1 All the services of the Roman Church are 

1 It is worth noting that most of the ceremonies of the modern 
Roman Church which are of a spectacular character are not of Roman 
origin. Among such may be mentioned the censing of persons and 
oblations, the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, the manner of 
employing lights at Tenebrae, the anointing of a priest at his ordina 
tion, and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. 



THE EUCHARIST 37 

of this mixed Roman type, and we have already 
observed that only one manuscript exists to show us 
the character of the Roman liturgy free from all 
foreign influences. This is the Leonine Sacramentary, 
which shows us the Roman liturgy of the time of 
S. Gregory and S. Augustine. The Gelasian Sacra- 
TfU titarii s show us the earliest stage of admixture. 
The oldest was written in the seventh century, or in 
the early years of the eighth, for the use of some 
church in the Prankish dominions, possibly for the 
abbey of S. Denis. It formed part of the library of 
Queen Christina of Sweden, and is now in the Vatican. 
It contains several Gallican elements, such as (a) 
features in the ordination services; (b) the arrange 
ment and character of the feasts. The Roman book 
employed by the compiler was probably earlier than 
A.D. 731, but certainly is not as old as the time of 
Gelasius, who was Pope from 49~ to 496. 

The next stage of development is represented by the 
so-called Gregorian Sacramentaries . Near the end of 
the eighth century Pope Adrian I. sent to Charles the 
Great, at his request, a copy of the Roman Sacra 
mentary in the form which, as it was then believed, had 
been given to it by S. Gregory. This pattern-book 
formed the basis of the class of Sacramentaries known 
as Gregorian. It was a book intended for use in Rome 
by the Pope himself, but Adrian and Charles meant 
it to be adopted by the Church of Gaul. It was 
immediately copied and supplemented with various 
services, such as those for marriages and funerals, and 
the reconciliation of penitents. The original and the 
supplements became gradually fused together. For 
some time the Gelasian Sacramentary continued to 
exist by the side of its rival, and was probably used in 
many places in the ninth century, and perhaps in the 
tenth. It is impossible that even the oldest Gregorian 
Sacramentaries exactly represent the Roman rite of the 



38 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

times of S. Gregory. This is proved by the feasts 
which they contain, such as that of S. Gregory him 
self, and festivals of the Blessed Virgin, which are 
known to be subsequent to his time. 1 

The few books which now remain to show us the char 
acter of the liturgies used in Great Britain and Ireland 
before the Norman Conquest come under two heads : 
(a) liturgies used in Celtic churches, originally 
Gallican but in process of being Romanised; (b) 
liturgies used in Anglo-Saxon churches, Roman but 
with a few Gallican features. 

The most complete relic of the ancient Celtic 
Eucharist is the Stowe Missal, probably written in 
Tipperary in the tenth century. The Missal contains 
not only the Eucharist but also an Order of Baptism, 
a form for the Visitation of the Sick, and another for 
Extreme Unction. The Canon of the Mass is Roman, 
and is expressly named after Pope Gelasius. It 
nevertheless contains several important additions : e.g. 
after the words As often as ye do this ye do it in 
remembrance of Me are added, Ye shall declare My 
Passion, ye shall announce My Resurrection, ye shall 
hope for My Advent, until I shall come to you again 
from heaven. In the Memento, or commemoration of 
the faithful departed, there is a commemoration of the 

1 In the Book of Common Prayer five entire collects are Leonine, 
viz. those for Sunday III. after Easter, and V., IX., XIII. , XIV. after 
Trinity. The Gelasian Sacramentary contains these collects and con 
tributes the second Morning collect, a few words of the third Morning 
collect, the second and third Evening collect, the collect for Clergy 
and People, those for Sunday IV. in Advent, Innocents Day, Palm 
Sunday, II. for Good Friday, the first half of that for Easter Day, those 
for fourteen other Sundays, the collect Assist us mercifully, and 
O Lord, we beseech Thee, in the Commination. The Gregorian 
Sacramentary hands these on and adds those for S. Stephen, S. John 
the Evangelist, the Epiphany, the Sundays after Epiphany, Septua- 
gesima, Sexagesima, Sundays II., III., IV., V. in Lent, I. for 
Good Friday, half of the Easter Day collect, those for Ascension and 
Whitsunday, the Purification, Annunciation, S. Michael, S. Paul, 
Prevent us, and others. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION .39 

patriarchs, apostles, and martyrs, followed bv the 
names of as many as forty-seven saints. The Fraction 
or breaking of the bread is exceedingly elaborate, 
resembling the Mozarabic ceremony. 

The Book of Deer is a memorial of the Scottish Celtic 
Church, containing a portion of the service for the 
Communion of the Sick. It was written before 1130. 
After giving communion to the sick the priest recites 
several beautiful sentences, mostly from the Holy 
Scriptures, and interspersed with Alleluias, such as 
4 We offer the sacrifice of praise with exultation. 
Alleluia. Alleluia. I will receive the cup of salva 
tion and call upon the name of the Lord. Alleluia. 
Alleluia/ 

A few fragments of Gallium origin are to be found 
in some other Celtic books of Irish origin, such as the 
Book (if Dimma, which dates from the seventh century, 
and is a Mass for the Sick. But the only important 
Irish book of a purely Gallium type is the famous Anti- 
phonary of Ban^ or^ belonging to Bangor in Ireland. 
It is preserved in the Ambrosian Library at Milan. 
It is of the seventh century, and free from all Roman 
influence. The greater part of it consists of anthems, 
hymns, and collects which belong to the Divine 
Service or daily Offices of the Church. But it also 
contains some very important liturgical or Eucharistic 
portions. There is a unique form of the Creed, very 
strongly asserting the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, the 
Our Father without a preface or embolismos, a Gloria 
in excehis resembling that of the Eastern rites, and an 
exquisite hymn to be sung during communion, now 
translated into English as 4 Draw nigh and take the 
Body of the Lord. 

The liturgy used by the Anglo-Saxons was Roman. 
S. Augustine, having observed the difference between 
the Roman rite and the Gallican rite, wrote to S. 
Gregory to ask what customs he ought to adopt in 



40 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

England. The Pope replied, You, my brother, know 
the custom of the Roman Church in which you 
remember that you were reared. But I am content 
that whether in the Church of Home or in that of 
the Gauls, or in any other Church, you have found 
anything that can better please Almighty God, you 
select it with carefulness, and in the Church of the 
English, which is yet new in the faith, implant with 
special instruction what you have been able to collect 
from many churches. For we ought not to love things 
for the sake of places, but places for the sake of things. 
These masterly words sound strange enough to us who 
live with those who think no vestment too vulgar and 
no prayer too womanish if it be only thoroughly 
modern and thoroughly Italian. Nor can we tell how 
far Augustine followed the advice of Gregory. Possibly 
he only asked the question under the impression that 
the Celtic bishops in Britain would acknowledge his 
authority an idea in which he was disappointed. The 
close intercourse which existed between England and 
Rome was unfavourable to the retention of Gallican 
usages in England. 

Two famous Missals, named respectively after Leofric, 
Bishop of Exeter, and after Robert of Jumwges^ who 
became Bishop of London in 1044, and then Arch 
bishop of Canterbury, show us the character of English 
worship in the eleventh century. The oldest part of 
the Leofric Missal was apparently brought by Leofric 
from the Continent. It was written in Lotharingia 
early in the tenth century, supplemented by an Anglo- 
Saxon Kalendar written about 970 and a selection of 
Masses, and then presented to the cathedral church 
of Exeter by Leofric. The original part is simply a 
Sacramentary of the so-called Gregorian type. The 
gorgeous Missal of Robert of Jumieges closely re 
sembles that of Leofric. Both contain some Gallican 
features. Thus the Leofric Missal contains the bless- 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 41 

ings pronounced according to the Gallican rite by 
the bishop at Mass before the Communion, and the 
Jumieges Missal contains Gallican prayers for a Mass 
in commemoration of S. Leodegar or Leger. Both 
these Missals contain the Rogation Days, which are 
of Gallican origin, but had been introduced at Home 
about 800. These days had no place in the pattern- 
book sent by Adrian to Charles the Great, and never 
theless the Mass for these days is not Gallican, but is 
the Mass which in Adrian s book was appointed for 
the Greater Litany" of April 5. It should be 
noticed that the Leofric Missal and the Jumieges 
Missal, although they belong to the Gregorian type, 
show the influence of the earlier Roman books known 
as Gelasian. 1 

After the Norman Conquest of England in 10G(j, 
the influence of French liturgies upon the English 
naturally continued. No new principles were intro 
duced thereby, and the later mediaeval English liturgies 
are of the same type as those of the Anglo-Saxon 
period, though still more composite. The ritual of the 
different dioceses varied considerably even in some of 
the prayers in the Order of the Mass. The most im 
portant of these diocesan 4 uses" were those of Hereford, 
of York," and of Sarum or Salisbury. \Ye must add 
a few words to explain the origin of the use of Sarum, 
and the chief sources from which our knowledge of it 
is derived, inasmuch as it is far the most important 
of English mediaeval uses, and was followed not only 
over a large part of England but also in Scotland and 
Ireland. 

The origin of the use of Sarum was attributed to 
S. Osmund, who became bi&gt;hop of that see in 1078. 

1 For further information about ancient Sacramentaries see Delisle, 
Mtinoires sur cC Ancicns Scuramcntaircs. 

3 Where the York use differs from the Sarum, the former often has 
affinities with the Gregorian Sacramentary. 



42 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

This was an era when important changes began to 
take place in our English cathedral churches. In old 
times the bishop had sat in the apsidal east end of 
his church, surrounded by his clergy in capitulo, i.e. in 
the head of the upper end of the church. In this 
place all business and discipline was ordinarily trans 
acted by the bishop and his clergy. By degrees, how 
ever, the bishop had to be absent more and more, and 
he granted many of his rights to this body of clergy, or 
capitulum, as it came to be called. The capitulum, in 
English chapter," became divided into residentiary and 
non-residentiary members, and rules for the dignity 
and duties of the residentiary clergy were drawn 
up. The Sarum Consuetudinary is such a book of 
rules. It dates from about 1210, when Richard Poore 
was dean. Some of it is probably older than the 
time of Poore, and it is possible that it enshrines 
some liturgical prescriptions of S. Osmund. The 
Customary is based upon the Consuetudinary, and is 
a copy of such parts of it as were of most general 
importance. These were added to the Ordinal, which 
was a Service Book for choir use, being a guide-book 
to the rest of the Service Books, showing how the 
various services and parts of services were to be con 
ducted. The Consuetudinary of Sarum mainly showed 
what person ought to perform a particular part of the 
service ; the Ordinal showed him how to do it. The 
rubrics of the later Service Books are a fusion of 
the two. 

A considerable number of printed Sarum Mass Books 
still remain. The rubrics are comparatively few, and 
our knowledge of the service has to be supplemented 
from mediaeval pictures, books of private devotion, and 
hostile criticisms by reformers. A list of the more 
important Service Books is given in our next chapter. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 43 



2. Corruptions in Worship. 

The Latin service must always have been unintel 
ligible to the greater number of the laity in England 
and other Teutonic countries. In France and Italy 
and Spain Latin was perhaps as much understood in 
the seventh and eighth centuries as the English of 
our Prayer Book is understood in the country districts 
now. In France the introduction of the Roman ser 
vices instead of the Gallican came at a time when 
Latin was already imperfectly understood, and the 
change probably caused the laity to take less part 
in the responses and singing. Nevertheless it was 
still the custom for the clergy to say the whole of 
Mass aloud, except the Secret Prayer and the Canon. 
But when no one understood Latin any more the 
clergy repeated the whole of Low Mass in a low 
voice, in spite of the fact that the practice was officially 
condemned both in England and on the Continent. 
Finally, at High Mass they began the practice of 
reading part of the service while the choir was sing 
ing another part, or even allowed the greater part 
of the Creed and Preface to be performed on the 
organ without any singing. In this way some of the 
most edifying parts of the service were completely 
obscured. 1 

Another much more serious fault was the fact that 
the laity ceased to communicate as often as they had 
done formerly. At the beginning of the English lie- 
formation the laity probably had little or no feeling 
against so-called sacerdotalism. Many of them heard 

1 The writer was lately present at High Mass at the cathedral church 
of Bruges, when the celebrant had almost finished the prayers of the 
Canon preceding the consecration by the time that the Sanctus was 
sung. In ancient times the Canon would not have been begun until 
the choir was silent. 



44 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

Mass every day, a large proportion of the men must 
have learnt how to assist the priest by acting as his 
clerk, and must have known perfectly well that the 
priest did not claim to belong to an exclusive caste. 
He confessed his sins to the laity as he bowed himself 
at the altar steps before he began the Mass, and at 
the Offertory he reminded his brethren and sisters 
that the sacrifice of the Mass was theirs as well as 
his. But the laity allowed the clergy to do what they 
ought to have done for themselves ; they liked the 
priest to communicate often, but they disliked doing 
so themselves. In the eighth century, Bede, the 
first great English historian, said that in Rome many 
Christians communicated every Sunday and festival, 
and he wished that the same custom might be followed 
in England. 1 But communions were made more and 
more rarely. In the fourteenth century Archbishop 
Sudbury directed that the people should not com 
municate less than three times a year, thereby showing 
how widely the English people had departed from 
primitive usage. By the beginning of the sixteenth 
century it was usual to communicate only once a year. 
In Rome the laity then thought it wrong to com 
municate more frequently ; in England the rebels of 
Devonshire and Cornwall who protested against the 
English Prayer Book of 1549 demanded that no one 
but the priest should communicate more than this once. 
In 1509 the devout Lady Margaret, the patroness of 
English learning, was regarded as a marvel in that 
she communicated fullnigh a dozen times a year. 
One of the happiest changes of the sixteenth century 
was the attempt made to increase the number of com 
munions both in the Church of England and in the 
Church of Rome, and although there is nothing less 
desirable than the practice of a merely mechanical 
conformity with the primitive rule, we must admit 
1 Rp. ad Ecgb&rtunii 15* 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 45 

that many of the most serious religious difficulties 
would have been obviated if that rule had always been 
devoutly kept. 1 

At the end of the Middle Ages communions were 
not only rare, but they were also mutilated by the 
withdrawal of the chalice from the assistants, whether 
clerical or lay. When the faith was first brought to 
England all had received the precious Blood from the 
chalice, and some of the more ancient churches on the 
Continent of Europe still preserve in their treasuries 
the large chalices which were employed in administer 
ing the Sacrament to the people. An exaggerated fear 
of the possible danger of spilling the contents of the 
chalice led to such decisions as those of the Lambeth 
Constitutions in 181, in which it was forbidden that 
the laity iu smaller churches should partake of the 
chalice.- For some time it was customary to give the 
lay folk unconsecrated wine and water, which they 
drank after receiving the Body of our Lord. This is 
mentioned very clearly in the fifteenth century Irwtruc- 

1 There is a prayer in the Roman Missal which appears to have 
been actually altered in order to accommodate itself to the late mediaeval 
practice. At the end of the Mass the priest now says, May Thy 
Body, O Lord, which I have taken, and the Blood which I have 
drunken, cleave to my heart. In the ancient Gothic Missal the 
words are, May Thy Body, O Lord, which we have received and Thy 
chalice which we have drunken, etc. 

J In the middle of the twelfth century, the practice was being 
introduced into England, as is shown by Robert Pullen. He wns 
familiar with three usages, communion in one kind, communion in 
both kinds, and communion with intinction, a ceremony in which a 
little wine was poured over the hosts given to communicants. He 
strongly opposes this last practice, which was condemned by an 
English Council in 1175. It had previously been sanctioned by a 
Council of Tours for the communion of the sick, in order that the 
presbyter may truthfully say to the sick man, the Body and Blood of 
our Lord Jesus Christ avail for thee . . . unto everlasting life. 
Cardinal Bona ridicules this statement of the Council of Tours. It 
is, of course, contrary to modern Roman theology. The Lambeth 
decision of 1281 was ignored by a Synod held at Exeter in 1287, which 
distinctly mentions communion in both kinds (\Vilkins, Concilia, 
vol. ii. p. 133). 



46 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

tions for Parish Priests, by John Myrc, and in the 
North of England until the very eve of the Reforma 
tion the laity were permitted to receive wine, though 
it was probably not consecrated. Communion was 
given in both kinds until the Reformation at the 
great abbeys of Monte Cassino, Cluny, and S. Denis. 
As late as the thirteenth century the deacon and 
sub-deacon always communicated with the priest who 
sang High Mass, but even this practice was gradually 
abandoned. At Cluny and S. l)enis it survived until 
the eighteenth century, and it is still the custom when 
the Pope sings Mass himself. The habit of the cele 
brant communicating alone was emphasised by another 
change. The proper time in the service for the people 
to communicate was during the Mass, immediately after 
the priest had communicated and before he rinsed the 
chalice. At first only the sick received Holy Communion 
in any other way. But Langland s famous poem Piers 
the Plowman, in which we find such a multitude of 
details concerning the daily life of our forefathers in 
the fourteenth century, shows us that it was already 
the practice to be houselled, 1 i.e. communicated, after 
the Mass was over. This is still a common practice 
in Roman Catholic countries, although the wording of 
the service certainly implies that the people ought to 
communicate during the Mass and not after it. 

With the separation of communion from worship 
there arose certain superstitious beliefs concerning the 
nature of the worship offered to God in the Mass. 
There is a good deal of evidence to show that the 
presence of Christ in the Sacrament was often regarded 
as a material presence similar to His presence in the 
manger or upon the cross, although it was concealed 
from human eyes. The better theologians of the 
Middle Ages, such as S. Thomas Aquinas and S. 
Bonaventura, absolutely repudiated the notion that 
the presence of our Lord in the Sacrament is a material 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 47 

presence limited by the laws which limit our material 
bodies. In early Christian times the doctrine of 
Christ s presence in the Eucharist was not elaborately 
defined. Nevertheless it seems to have been univer 
sally believed by intelligent orthodox Christians that 
the outward signs of bread and wine remained real, 
but that the effect of the prayer of consecration was 
that the Holy Spirit and the divine Word attached to 
those outward signs the Real Presence of the Body and 
Blood of Christ. Language was used which stated 
that the bread and wine became the Body and Blood 
of Christ, not that it was meant that they ceased to be 
bread and wine, but that they became dignified by a 
union of their own properties with the essential pro 
perties of Christ s Body and Blood. This doctrine is 
plainly expressed by S. Irenaeus, who was the pupil of 
S. Polycarp, who was the pupil of S. John, lie says, 
It is no longer common bread but Eucharist, com 
posed of two things, both an earthly and a heavenly/ 1 
In the same way Scripture itself designates that which 
is received as both 4 bread " and 4 the Body of Christ." 
The presence of Christ in the Sacrament was origin 
ally regarded as none the less real because it was 
spiritual. 

But long before the time of Thomas Aquinas there 
was a tendency to explain i the inward part or thing 
signified" in the Sacrament as material. A notorious 
instance of this is afforded by the declaration which 
Pope Nicholas II. forced Berengarius to accept in 1059. 
It contains the assertion that the Body and Blood of 
our Lord are sensually ^ not sacramentally only, but 
actually handled and broken by the hands of the 
priests, and ground by the teeth of the faithful. 1 2 This 

1 For other references see Early Christian Doctrine, p. 75 flf. 
(Rivingtons). 

2 It is worth noting that S. Thomas Aquinas openly denies this. 
In iv. Sent. Dist. x. q. I. a. I. 



48 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

repulsive statement implies a physical transformation 
of one material thing into another material thing. 
Then the philosophic schoolmen tried to defend the 
doctrine of the Real Presence in a more subtle manner. 
They propounded the doctrine of a metaphysical and 
non-physical transubstantiation. They were wont to 
describe everything as consisting of substance and 
accidents. 1 The accidents were thought to be that part 
of a thing which we can know by our outward senses. 
The substance was thought to be a mysterious some 
thing which exists behind everything that we can see 
and touch, and exists independently of it while giving it 
reality. It was therefore said that after consecration 
the accidents of bread and wine and all the properties 
of bread and wine (such as that of giving nourishment) 
still remain, but that the substance of the bread and 
wine was replaced by the mysterious spiritual sub 
stance of the Body and Blood of Christ. The fourth 
Lateran Council, held at Rome in 1215, accepted the 
theory and said that the bread and wine are transub 
stantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Unfortunately the grosser view tended to prevail. 
This was especially the case in England, where the 
word 4 substance was generally used, as we use it, of a 
material physical substance. This was illustrated by 
the trial of Sir John Oldcastle in 1413 on a charge of 
heresy. He heartily admitted that the most worship 
ful Sacrament of the altar is Christ s Body in form of 
bread, the same Body that was born of the blessed 
virgin our lady Saint Mary." But Thomas Arundel, 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to make 
him declare that in the Mass the material bread that 
was before is turned into Christ s very Body." 1 Old- 
castle denied this, and was burned partly in con 
sequence of his denial. The persistence of the 
materialistic theory in England is shown by the fact 
that in 1556 Sir John Cheke was made to reaffirm the 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 49 

very confession required of Berengarius. The official 
doctrine of the Roman Church was again stated at the 
Council of Trent in 1551, and is always explained as 
the schoolmen such as Thomas Aquinas explained it. 
But the Council of Trent did not explicitly condemn 
the materialistic doctrine. 

The popularity of the materialistic view was in 
creased by popular legends which passed from country 
to country with some gruesome story about the impious 
Jews who had insulted the holy mystery and had been 
rebuked by the appearance of living blood in the con 
secrated bread ; and one of the most popular of religious 
pictures was a representation of S. Gregory saying 
Mass before an altar on which he suddenly beheld 
Christ crucified and bleeding. The Ascension of our 
Lord and the nature of His ascended Body and His 
present work became half forgotten in the emphasis 
that was laid upon His sufferings. And this makes 
it necessary for us to consider the meaning of such 
phrases as the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacrifices 
of Masses. 

In the primitive days of the Church it was a general 
custom to describe this service as a sacrifice. S. Paul 
implied this when he reminded the Corinthians 1 that 
the heathens who partook of a sacrifice offered to 
heathen gods did this in order to identify themselves 
with those false deities, and that the Christian identi 
fied himself with Christ when he partook of the dedi 
cated Sacrament. In the Teaching of the Apostles, \\\., 
and in Justin Martyr, Dialogue, 70, the Eucharist is 
represented as the pure sacrifice or offering foretold by 
Malachi. 

S. Cyprian about A.D. 250 speaks of offering the 
Blood," and offering the chalice in commemoration of 
the Lord/ The most ancient Christian writers unite 
in showing that the Church believed that the offering 

1 I Cor. x. 14-21. 
D 



50 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

of the whole service was regarded as the offering of a 
sacrifice. It was chiefly so regarded because it included 
the oblation of bread and wine which became the Body 
and Blood of Christ, so that the worshippers could 
plead before the Father the merit of Christ s work in a 
more special manner than in their ordinary thanks 
givings and prayers. In harmony with their primitive 
belief we find that later writers, such as S. Ambrose, 
A.D. 390, and Paschasius lladbertus, A.D. 840, point 
out the identity of our worship in the Eucharist with 
the present work of Christ. For our Lord, as our 
High Priest, hath somewhat to offer, 1 viz. Himself in 
heaven (Heb. viii. 3), where He ever liveth to make 
intercession" for us (Heb. vii. 25). Christ in heaven 
pleads the work of Calvary, 1 and His people share His 
action when they mystically represent the shedding 
of His Blood and proclaim His death. The offering 
of the Eucharist is therefore the offering of a sacrifice, 
not only because it is the offering of all that we are 
and all that we have to God, but because in it we 
spiritually offer the Passion of Christ Who is the 
propitiation for our sins to the Father. Therefore 
we have an altar (Heb. xiii. 10). 

Such a sacrifice involves no repetition of the death of 
Christ, although the Body and Blood of Christ are truly 
present and the separate consecration of the bread and 
wine is a picture of the separation of Christ s Body and 
Blood upon the cross. The notion of such a repetition 
arose in the latest and most debased mediaeval belief. 
Some of the great Catholic theologians of the Middle 
Ages entirely avoid language which would suggest that 
our Lord is made subject to a new destruction in the 
Eucharist. Thus S. Thomas Aquinas says that the 
immolation of Christ in the Eucharist is a representa- 

1 If Christ did not offer His Blood in heaven, His action would 
fail to correspond with that of the Jewish high-priest as described in 
Hebrews ix. 7. 



8. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 51 

tive image of the Passion. 1 Watson, who was Bishop 
of Lincoln in the time of Queen Mary, says, k Christ in 
heaven and we His mystical Body on earth do hut one 
thing : for Christ being a Priest for evermore after His 
Passion and Resurrection entered into heaven and 
there appeareth now to the countenance of God for us, 
offering Himself for us, representing His Passion and 
all that He suffered/ 1 

But the idea of 4 the sacrifices of Masses which 
prevailed at the end of the Middle Ages was totally 
different from the earlier doctrine. There was no 
authoritative doctrine on the subject, but the doctrine 
popularly held in the fifteenth century is plain. First, 
the belief that Christ is materially present in the Sacra 
ment led to the idea that He is carnally offered, so that 
each Mass was regarded as an inferior but precious 
repetition of Christ s suffering and death. 2 Secondly, it 
was held that a man whose spiritual life had never risen 
higher than such repentance as is produced by fear of 
punishment, could, either in this world or in purga- 
torv, obtain forgiveness of sins and remission of 
punishment if a priest could be induced to say a 
sufficient number of Masses on his behalf. Such a 
theory must have deadened the conscience both of the 
layman who trusted to be thus forgiven and of the 
priest who sold his services for this purpose. Side by 
side with this doctrine there came into existence before 
the Reformation another perverted notion of the sacri 
fice of the Mass. A writer of the fifteenth century, 

1 See Field, Of the Church, vol. ii. p. 8 1 (Cambridge edit.). 

1 There has been a more modern Roman revival of a somewhat 
similar theory, though there is also a school of Roman Catholic 
theologians who hold a totally different theory. There is probably 
no subject on which Roman theologians are so much divided as the 
doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass. See Rev. B. J. Kidd, Later Medi- 
crval Doctrine of the Eucharistic Sacrifice (S. P.C. K.), and Vacant, 
Histoire de la Conception du Sacrifice de la ^Icsse (Delhomme, Paris, 
1894). 



52 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

whose sermons were unfortunately bound up with the 
works of the great schoolman Albertus Magnus, asserts 
distinctly that as the Body of the Lord was once 
offered on the cross for the original debt," 1 so the 
sacrifice of the Altar was instituted to be offered on 
the altar continually for our daily transgressions. 
That is to say, the death of Christ was regarded as an 
atonement for the sin of Adam which tainted his 
descendants, while each Mass was regarded as removing 
the guilt of men s daily sins. This doctrine is described 
by the Lutheran Confession of Augsburg in 1530, and 
by Becon in his Comparison between the Lord s Supper 
and the Pope s Mass 1 in 1559. It is strongly con 
demned by both the 2nd and the 31st Articles of the 
Church of England. The doctrine is a complete per 
version of the true doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice, 
and led first to gross superstition and then to violent 
reaction. But our Articles contain no condemnation 
whatever of the pure doctrine of the sacrifice of 
the Mass as expressed by one of the ablest Anglican 
opponents of Romanism, Archbishop BramhalL We 
acknowledge an Eucharistical Sacrifice of praise and 
thanksgiving ; a commemorative Sacrifice, or a memo 
rial of the Sacrifice of the Cross ; a representative 
Sacrifice, or a representation of the Passion of Christ 
before the eyes of His heavenly Father ; an impetrative 
Sacrifice, or an impetration of the fruit and benefit of 
His Passion, by way of real prayer; and lastly, an 
applicative Sacrifice, or an application of His merits 
unto our souls. Let him that dare go one step further 
than we do, and say that it is a suppletory Sacrifice to 
supply the defects of the Sacrifice of the Cross. Or 
else let them hold their peace and speak no more 
against us in this point of Sacrifice for ever ! 2 

1 Parker Society edit., p. 368. 

- Brarahall, Works, Tome i. Discourse iii., A.D. 1674. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION ,M 

3. The LorcFs Supper 1 in Idler Mediaeval 
Times. 

The changes which came over the performance of 
Christian worship may be illustrated by the alterations 
which were effected in the cathedral churches of this 
country, alterations which were probably more radical 
in England than in any other country. We possess 
few architectural memorials of the Saxon period, but 
there is every reason to believe that the Saxon churches 
were small imitations of the Roman churches, some 
times different from the Roman churches in having a 
square east end instead of a semi-circular apse. Rv 
the sixteenth century a I urge English church bore only 
a remote resemblance to the churches of a thousand 
years before. There was still a great nave and a pro 
minent altar, but their surroundings were new. About 
A.I). 780 the Roman Christians began to build churches 
with three apses and altars at the east end instead 
of one, an architectural improvement which was 
connected with a new form of worship. 

In the seventh century there began in the \Vest of 
Europe the custom of simplifying the Communion 
Service on all occasions when the full ancient ritual 
was difficult. This simplified service, which became 
known by the name of Low Mass," was celebrated 
without a choir and without incense, and the priest 
who celebrated it was unaccompanied by a deacon and 
a sub-deacon, though he generally had some one to 
assist him at the altar. This new form of service soon 
became very popular in the \Yest, but it has never 
been accepted bv the Greek Church. Moreover, the 
brevity and simplicity of the service made it possible 

1 The phrase Lord s Supper was a usual medieval term for the 
Eucharist, and Lord s table was a name for the altar. It cannot be 
discussed here whether in Scripture the Lord s Supper means the 
Eucharist or the love-feast, or both combined. 



4 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

for most priests to celebrate the Holy Eucharist very 
frequently and even every day, so that the larger 
churches became gradually provided with a great number 
of altars for such services. At York minster there 
were at least twenty-two altars, and there was nearly 
the same number at Salisbury. These altars were 
generally dedicated to the commemoration of some saint 
independently of the saint after whom the church 
itself was named, and the largest churches were pro 
vided with a chapel and altar of especial beauty built 
eastward beyond the high altar in honour of the 
Blessed Virgin. One of the last and loveliest of these 
Lady 1 chapels is that which was built at Gloucester 
beyond the stern ancient apse, which a master architect 
of the fourteenth century had already covered with a 
lace of delicate stone-work, and illuminated with 
jewelled glass. 

The structure of the Mass itself had not been 
altered since the period of S. Augustine, in spite of 
the fact that the High Mass at which the deacon 
and sub-deacon assisted the celebrant was performed 
with more sumptuous accessories, while the Low 
Mass was simpler than any Eucharist of the sixth 
century. 

A series of preparatory prayers was provided for the 
celebrant, including the hymn, Come, Holy Ghost, 
our souls inspire," to be said while he put on his vest 
ments, and Psalm xliii., to be said before approaching 
the altar. 1 The Our Father and the opening collect 
in our Communion Service are taken from this 

1 The chalice was frequently mixed immediately before the Mass. 
Where this practice prevails at the present day, it will probably be 
found best to follow the Dominican usage, i.e. for the celebrant to mix 
the chalice at the altar immediately after he has approached it, before 
he opens the book or says any prayer. We must strongly condemn 
the foolish custom, which is sometimes seen, of placing water in the 
chalice before the beginning of the service and wine at the Offertory 
as though the water had flowed from our Lord s side before the blood. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION /&gt;5 

preparatory section. The High Mass will now he 
described. 

i (a). The Opening Chants. 

The Psalm sung ; at the Introit," or entrance of the 
celebrant, was now greatly reduced, being a single 
verse from the original Psalm. On the contrary, the 
Kyrie clelwn was not only retained, but on many 
festivals was interspersed with Latin verses, the mixture 
of Greek and Latin producing a somewhat hybrid 
effect. This custom of interpolating the Kyric has 
been revived in our present service, in which the Kyric 
is interpolated with the Ten Commandments. Much 
of the Mass music was thus varied, and, as an example, 
we may note how the Gloria in i\rcch\s was inter 
polated in commemoration of S. Mary. The last 
clause then ran thus : 

For Thou only art holy, Miiicdfi/hit/ Mart/; Thou only art the 
the Lord, ruling Man/ ; Thou only, crowning Mary, (). Jesu 
Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most hifjh in the tflory of God 
the Father. Amen. 

i (b). The Collect. 

The Collect, which is really the first of the three 
collects of the Mass (the other two being the Secret 
Prayer and the Post-communion Prayer) followed the 
Gloria in ej cclsix. In England the collects were 
numerous, and the rules for their use were complicated. 
Occasionally as many as seven were said at one Mass 
in the place of the original first collect. The later 
mediaeval collects are sometimes fine, but seldom equal 
the old Roman collects. 

i (r). The Lessons and accompanying Chants. 

The first of the three lessons at the Mass had pro 
bably never been read in England except on certain 
days in Lent and at the Ember seasons. At High Mass 



56 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

the celebrant ordinarily read the Epistle quietly at the 
altar, and retired to the carved stone sedile or seat on 
the south wall of the sanctuary while the sub-deacon 
read the Epistle aloud. Then the Gradual psalm or 
Grayl, originally sung before the Epistle, was sung at a 
pulpit (i.e. lectern), or in the gallery of the chancel 
screen. This was followed by the chanting of the 
Alleluia or, in penitential services, by the Tract or 
Tract psalm, originally sung from a pulpit like the 
Gradual. 

The Gospel was read by the deacon at a lectern on 
the north side of the chancel, lights and incense being 
carried before him. 

In the meantime, while the Gradual was being sung, 
there took place a ceremony which probably arose from 
a blending of the Roman rite with the Gallican ritual 
of France, where the oblations used to be prepared 
before the Mass began. 

The two boys who acted as candle-bearers and the 
clerk " (acolyte) went to the vestry, from which the 
clerk returned bearing the chalice and the paten 
with the oblation. These were enveloped in a silk 
veil, which was probably put over the clerk s shoulders 
like a shawl. 

They proceeded to the south side of the sanctuary, 
and at Lincoln the celebrant then mixed the chalice of 
red wine and water before the Gospel began. The 
chalice was then placed behind the altar until the 
Offertory. The usual practice was to place it on the 
altar. 1 

i (d). The Mass Creed, etc. 

The Nicene Creed or Mass Creed was sung on Sundays 
and festivals in England after the Gospel during the 
later Middle Ages. The dismissal of the catechumens 

1 The older custom of not mixing the chalice until the Offertory was 
certainly more appropriate, and was sometimes followed in England. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 57 

and the prayer connected with it, as described on p. 24, 
had long ago disappeared. In English parish churches 

the sermon seems to have generally followed the Creed 
or Offertorv, contrary to the Roman use, in which it 
follows the Gospel. 

ii. The Offertory; The Preface, etc. 

The ancient Roman form of Offertory has long been 
discontinued at Rome, but it is beautifully preserved 
in the English Coronation Service. The sovereign 
offers bread and wine, and the Archbishop, having 
placed them upon the altar, offers them with the 
following Secrcta or privy prayer 1 : 4 Bless, O Lord, we 
beseech Thee, these Thy gifts, and sanctify them unto 
this holy use, that by them we may be made partakers 
of the Body and Blood of Thine only begotten Son 
Jesus Christ, and fed unto everlasting life of soul and 
body : And that Thy servant Queen Victoria may be 
enabled to the discharge of her weighty office, where- 
unto of Thy great goodness Thou hast called and 
appointed her. Grant this, O Lord, for Jesus Christ s 
sake, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen/ This 
follows the arrangement of the mediaeval English 
Coronation Service, in which the Offertory prayers 
then used at other Masses were not inserted. 

A writer of the eleventh century shows that the 
le had already ceased to offer bread and wine, 
because it was not necessary that there should be so 
much bread, as the people did not communicate. 

The priest ordinarily offered the chalice and paten 
together, as is still done by the Dominicans. He 
meanwhile said two brief prayers, then censed the 
sacrifice" with the words Let my prayer, O Lord, 
be set forth in Thy sight as the incense/ 1 Then 

1 In the majority of English churches incense does not appear to 
have been offered at any later point in the service. The rite of using 
incense at the Offertory was copied by the Roman Church. 



58 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

having washed his hands, he bent before the altar, 
saying : 

In an humble spirit and a contrite heart let us be accepted, 
O Lord, of Thee ; and let our sacrifice be so made in Thy sight 
this day that it may be received of Thee, and please Thee, O 
Lord God (Song of the Three Children, 16, 17). 

Most of these Offertory prayers differed widely in 
the various English dioceses, and differed widely from 
those used at Rome. They do not belong to the 
original Roman service, and the process of their 
gradual insertion into the Mass was accompanied by 
the curtailment of the Offertory psalm chanted by the 
choir. 

The oblations having been thus prepared, the priest 
turned to the people with the words : 

Pray brethren and sisters for me : that my sacrifice, which is 
equally yours, may be accepted of our Lord God. 

In the twelfth century the people still stood and 
prayed aloud while he said the Secreta, called in 
English the privy prayer." 1 They then knelt again 
until the Preface, and stood during the Sanctus. They 
also stood at the Agmis, a custom which might well be 
introduced again in order to relieve the strain caused 
by long kneeling. The Lift up your hearts, the 
Preface, and the Sanctus are too familiar to need 
description. 

iii. The Canon of the Mass. 

The Sanctus having been sung, the priest began the 
long prayer of consecration, divided into many parts 
and diversified with many ceremonies. These prayers, 
from time immemorial, were read inaudibly by the priest, 
the silence being at this period broken by the ringing 
of a bell immediately before and after the consecration 
of the host, and again after the consecration of the 
chalice. This ringing of the bell is probably not of 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 50 

Roman origin. It began about 1100, one of the 
earliest records of it being tbe fact that Matilda, 
Queen of England, gave bells for this purpose to the 
church of Notre Dame at Chartres. It is therefore 
older than the official declaration of the doctrine of 
Transubstantiation by the Church of Rome in 15215. 

The spirit in which the Canon of the Mass was 
regarded in England maybe best illustrated by quoting 
the Hationdlc, written soon after the separation of the 
Church of England from Rome, but while the Sarum 
rite was still employed : 

* Then the priest begins to represent in this sacrifice 
of the Mass, the most painful and bloody sacrifice 
once offered for our salvation upon the cross, and prays 
the Father to accept these gifts prepared for the con 
secration ; and inclining his body, makes a cross upon 
the altar, and kisses it, signifying thereby the humble 
inclining and obedience of Christ to the Father s will, 
to suffer His Passion upon the altar of His cross for our 
salvation. 

4 And then, following the example of Christ, the high 
Hishop, which, approaching the time of His Passion, 
gave Himself to prayer ; and also according to the 
apostle s doctrine to Timothy, the minister gives him 
self to prayer . . . and after certain pravers and 
petitions made for the people, and also, that the 
oblation may be acceptable unto God, he proceeds 
with all reverence to the consecration. 

First, of the bread, taking it in his hands, and 
giving thanks, following the example of Christ; by 
virtue and power of whose words, the substance of 
bread is turned into the substance of the Rodv of Christ. 

4 And likewise the substance of wine into His precious 
Blood, which He lifteth up, both that the people with 
all reverence and honour may worship the same, and also 
to signify thereby, partly Christ s exaltation upon the 
cross . . . and partly signifying that triumphant advance- 



60 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

ment and exaltation whereto God the Father, because of 
His Passion, has exalted Him above all creatures, bidding 
the people to have it in remembrance as oft as they 
shall do the same. After the which, the priest extends 
and stretches forth his arms in form of a cross x . . . 
and so proceeds to the second memento, in which he 
prays for them that be dead in the faith of Christ, and 
sleep in peace, that it might please God to grant them 
a place of refreshing, light and peace. Then he joins 
himself with the people, knocking himself upon his 
breast, thereby teaching them that he and they both 
be sinners, and have need of mercy and grace purchased 
by Christ s Passion, and desireth Almighty God to 
give them a society with the holy apostles and martyrs, 
not as an esteemer of their merits, but as a merciful 
granter of remission, and that by Christ by Whom He 
works and grants all these benefits ; 2 wherefore all 
honour and glory is to be rendered to him by Christ, 
and with Christ, the Holy Ghost being knit in unity 
to them. 

And then expressing with a loud voice, how long 
this honour and glory is due to God, he saith, per 
omnia saecula saeculorum, i.e. perpetually ; the Church 
answering Amen. 

The priest then, to the intent he may more worthily 
receive the blessed Body and Blood of Christ, both to 
the comfort and strength as well of him as of them 
that be present, saith the Pater nosier? 

iv (a). The Kiss of Peace and Breaking of Bread. 

The priest having finished the embolismos or prayer 
appended to the Pater noster, said, The peace of the 

1 This extending of the arms in the form of a cross is contrary to 
Roman usage. It was general in England, and continued at Paris 
until 1615. It still survives at Milan, where it is apparently of remote 
antiquity. Paulinus, Vita S. Ambr., n. 47. 

2 Notice the attempted explanation of the dedication of the fruits of 
the earth, no longer understood at this period. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION Cl 

Lord be always with you." The choir having responded, 
sang the Agmus. 

It was in the time of Pope Sergius, A.D. 700, that 
the admirable custom of singing the Agnus had been 
introduced into the Mass. We cannot wonder that a 
welcome was given to such words: k () Lamb of God 
that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon 
us ... O I^aiiih of God that takest away the sins of the 
world, grant us Thy peace. This was intended to 
accompany the solemn fraction " or breaking of the 
bread immediately before the celebrant communicated. 
In England it was the custom to place a particle of the 
Sacrament in the chalice after the Agnux. This act was 
called the Commixtion. The present Roman practice 
is to do this immediately before the Agnus, but the 
English usage is nearer to the original Roman usage. 

In the eighth century the celebrant gave the Kiss of 
peace when he said, l The peace of the Lord be always 
with you," and he communicated immediately after the 
Commixtion. But during the Middle Ages devotion 
prompted the insertion of a few prayers to be said by 
the priest before communicating. Considerable varia 
tion existed with regard to these prayers. The Roman 
differed from the Sarum, and the Sarum prayers were 
not identically the same as those employed in other 
English diocesan uses. The Sarum prayers which come 
after the Agnus are as follows : 

May this sacred commingling of the Body and Blood of our 
Lord Jesus Christ become to me and to all who receive it health 
of mind and body and a saving preparation towards the attain 
ment of everlasting life. 

This prayer plainly dates from a time when the 
laity still received the chalice, and it was retained in 
England when the chalice was withdrawn from them. 
In 1549 Archbishop Cranmer, in replying to the 
Devonshire rebels, correctly argued that this prayer, 



62 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

like the still more definite prayer in the Canon of the 
Mass, implied that the people should communicate 
with the priest. The priest next prayed : 

O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, grant me so 
worthily to take the sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that through this 1 may deserve to receive remis 
sion of all my sins and be filled with Thy Holy Spirit, and have 
Thy peace. For Thou art God, and there is none other beside 
Thee, Whose glorious kingdom abideth for ever and ever. Amen. 

The celebrant then kissed the corporal and chalice 
and then kissed the deacon, or gave him to kiss the 
carved or embossed picture called the pax or pax-brede 
(i.e. pax-board). Such was the late mediaeval manner 
of giving the Kiss of peace. The pax was carried round 
to different members of the congregation in order of 
precedence. It was constantly used in England in the 
first half of the sixteenth century. In 1548, the 
second year of King Edward VI., it was directed in 
the deanery of Doncaster that the clerk should take 
the pax, and standing with it outside the door in the 
rood screen say boldly to the people : This is a token 
of joyful peace, which is betwixt God and men^s 
conscience. Christ alone is the peace-maker, which 
straitly commands peace between brother and brother. 1 
It is difficult to see how such a custom, as thus 
practised in the early days of the Reformation, could 
be abused. But there were sometimes unseemly quarrels 
about precedence in kissing the pax. Chaucer s Parson 
speaks of the proud man who liked to kisse the paxe, 
or be encenced before his neighbour ; and in 1496 
a woman was presented before the Archdeacon of 
Middlesex for throwing the pax on the church floor 
because another woman was allowed to kiss it first. 

iv (b). The Communion. 

After the Kiss of peace the priest recited three 
prayers of great beauty, communicated himself, and 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 03 

gave thanks. All these prayers were unknown in the 
older Roman Mass. 

After the Communion the service soon ended. The 
people very rarely communicated at High Mass, and 
the psalm and antiphon which had been chanted during 
their communion were now reduced to an antiphon. The 
deacon then folded up the fine linen cloth or corporal 
(then known as the corporas cloth 1 ). The sub-deacon 
rinsed the chalice, while the priest held it, with wine 
and water. The priest rinsed his lingers with this 
wine and water, and drank the contents of the chalice. 
lie then again rinsed his fingers with wine or water, 
and drank the contents. Then he washed his hands 
at the fnu rariifin in the south wall of the sanctuary. 
During these ablutions, or rinsings, as they were 
formerly called, the people knelt. 

iv (&lt;). The Thanksgiving. 

The celebrant, having returned to the altar, invited 
the people to join in the last collect, known as the 
Post-communion, and the people rose to prav. They 
were then dismissed with the words Iti\ tnis.w exf. The 
mediaeval Knglish Mass Books contain no final bless 
ing, and it has been commonly supposed that none was 
given. But the Rationale and other documents show 
us that a * benediction in the name of the whole 
Trinity" was sometimes given, and that the Reformers 
only continued a mediaeval usage in placing a benedic 
tion at the end of the Eucharist. The Mirrourc of our 
Lady says, 4 Kvery priest may bless the people in the 

1 In some English churches it is now the custom to provide (i) a 
corporal, (ii) the stiffened corporal known as the pall, (iii) a fair 
linen cloth to he used after the Communion. This is a mistake. The 
fair linen cloth was in the seventeenth century correctly called the 
corporas cloth, and nothing is needed except the two corporas cloths. 
In some medieval English churches only one was used, and this practice 
is not yet extinct. 



64 THE EUCHARIST FROM 

end of his Mass, if there be no bishop present that will 
bless. This proves that the English custom of the 
fifteenth century was the same as the printed rule of 
the present Prayer Book. 



4. Popular Mass Books. 

The immense price of large books, whether written 
or printed, made it impossible that many of the laity 
should be provided with complete Mass Books. Never 
theless a series of prayers especially intended for 
worshippers at the Eucharist was provided in the 
Lay Folk\s Mass Bool:. The original seems to have 
been composed in French by an Anglo-Norman of the 
twelfth century. The existing English translations are 
of different dates, and illustrate in a significant manner 
the difference between the more archaic form of York 
shire English and the later Yorkshire and Midland 
English. The reader is bidden to say the Pater nosier 
when nothing else is provided. There is a good 
paraphrase of the Creed, accurate enough except that 
the communion of saints is misinterpreted as the 
housel or Sacrament of Christ s Body and Blood. 
Some of the prayers, in spite of the roughness of their 
metre, are of the greatest beauty, and are here tran 
scribed in a slightly modernised form. 

At the Offertory : 



Jesu, that wast in Bethlem bore, 
Three, kings once kneeled Thee before, 
And offered gold, myrrh, and incense ; 
Thou disdained not their presents, 
But didst guide them all the three 
Home again to their countree. 
So our offerings that we offer, 
And our prayers that we proffer, 
Take them, Lord, unto Thy praise, 
And be our help through all our days. 



S. AUGUSTINE TO THE REFORMATION 65 

Equally beautiful is the prayer to be said at the 
Sanctum : 

In world of worlds without ending 
Thanked be Thou, Jesu my King: 
All my heart I give to Thee 
For meet it is that so it be. 
With all my will I worship Thee 
And give Thee thanks most heartily. 
Jesu, blessed mayest Them be 
For all the good Thou givest me. 
Sweet Jesu, grant me this, 
That I may come into Thy bliss, 
There with angels for to sing 
This sweet song of Thy praising, 

Minctuif, sunctus, Minctus, 

Jesu, grant that it be thus. 

As the time of the consecration approaches and the 
little heir is rung to give warning before the priest 
says This is Mv Uodv, the worshipper is exhorted to 
pray in his best manner 1 and without dread," kneel 
ing and holding up both his hands in the ancient 
attitude of supplication. He is to behold the eleva 
tion and not cover his eyes in the fashion which 
modern reverence has dictated. He should pray in 
his own words, but if he cannot find words of his 
own then he may say : 

Loved be Thou, King, 

And blessed be Thou, King, 

For all Thy gifts good 

That for me spilt Thy blood 

And died upon the rood. 
Thou give me grace to sing 
The song of Thy loving. 

When we compare the prayers contained in the 
Lay Folks Mass Book and other old books with some 
modern devotions, we are reminded of the difference 
between an English primrose and the creations of a 
merchant of artificial flowers. 



CHAPTER III 
CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 

My lord of Canterbury, 
I have a suit, which you must not deny me. 

SHAKESPEARE, King Ilenry VIII. 

1. Service Books at tlie Eve of the 
Reformation. 

THE account given in the preceding chapter is enough 
to suggest that some reform in the manner of celebrat 
ing the Eucharist was desirable. Other chapters will 
show that a reformation was equally needed in the 
case of other services of the Church. It is also im 
portant to remember that even in matters where there 
was no moral necessity for a change, practical con 
venience demanded it. The ritual of different dioceses 
varied considerably. The uses of Sarum, York, 
Hereford and Bangor diverged from one another in 
many details, and a similar though less important 
divergence was to be found elsewhere. A priest who 
knew the ceremonial of High Mass at Exeter would 
have been puzzled at Lincoln, and a monk of West 
minster would not have felt at home in the midst 
of the rites of some of the great Yorkshire abbeys. 
Moreover, the number of books through which the 
different services of the Church were distributed made 
it almost impossible for the laity to possess any 
adequate knowledge of these services in their entirety. 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 67 

The result of this is plainly shown among Roman 
Catholics at the present day. The laity use pious 
manuals suited to their degree of intellectual capacity. 
The more highly educated possess a fair knowledge 
of the Mass and of Vespers, but have hardly any 
acquaintance with the history and meaning of the 
other liturgical services. The solid devotions of ancient 
days are neglected, particularly in Italy and Spain, in 
favour of devotions which are vulgar in language and 
superstitious in tendency. 

The more important Service Books used in England 
immediately before the Reformation were as follows: 

1. The J//.V.SY//* or Mass Book, containing all that 
was necessary for the Mass for every day throughout 
the year. It WHS an expansion of the ancient Sacra- 
rnentarium (which contained the prayers relating to the 
Sacraments, including the fixed parts of the Mass with 
the collects and other parts chanted by the celebrant). 
In earlier times the Office of Holy Communion was 
usually contained in four volumes, viz. the Sacra- 
mentarium, the Lectionarius, the Evangelistarium, and 
the Antiphonale. When the last three books were 
incorporated in the Missale they were still printed 
separately for the convenience of the assistants of the 
celebrant. 

The Lectionarius included lections read at Mass, but 
not the Gospels. Sometimes it included the Epistles, 
sometimes only those lections which are neither from 
the Gospels nor from the Epistles. 

The Evangelist art um contained the portions of Scrip 
ture appointed to be read from the Gospels. The 
book was often sumptuously adorned, and placed upon 
the altar as one of its choicest ornaments. 

The Antiphonale, Antiphonarliim, or Antiphoner 1 

1 This must be distinguished from the Antiphoner which contained 
the music for Vespers, Mattins and the other daily services, and was 
the ordinary Antiphoner of late mediaeval book catalogues. 



08 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

used at Mass was in later times called the Graduate, 
Gradate, or Grayl, and the name Gradale is as old as 
the ninth century. The Graduale contained the Scrip 
tural portion of the choral part of the Mass, viz. the 
Introit and Psalm, the Gradual, Offertory and Com 
munion. It hardly altered at all in contents from the 
time of S. Augustine to the Reformation. It was 
divided into four parts : (a) Temporale, for the seasons 
from Advent to the Sundays after Trinity ; (b) Sanc- 
torale, for the holy days from S. Andrew s Day onwards, 
excluding the saints 1 days of Christmastide ; (c) Com 
mune Sanctorum, for saints 1 days which had no proper 
service, but were beholden to some common form ; (d) 
Music for the Ordinary of the Mass, i.e. the series of 
fixed forms in which are set the Canon and the variable 
parts of the Mass. 

After the Graduale we must mention the Troparlum 
or Troper. Modern tropes are to be found in the 
insertion of the Ten Commandments, etc., in the midst 
of the petitions c Lord, have mercy upon us in our 
Communion Service. A trope is an insertion or 6 fare- 
ing, 1 such as was put into the Introit, Gloria, Sanctus, 
and Agnus. Tropes were ordinarily non-Scriptural 
additions to the Antiphoner, and like so many other 
unprimitive elaborations of divine worship, they de 
veloped mostly in the extreme West of Europe. Some 
of those in the Winchester Troper contain Greek 
words. By the thirteenth century tropes mostly dis 
appeared from use, and the remainder was incorporated 
in the Graduale. Finally the title of Troper was 
transferred to a collection of Sequences, which were 
originally prose words set to the prolonged notes of 
the Alleluia before the Gospel. Metrical hymns were 
added to the collection and are still known as Proses. 

%. The Processionale or Processional. This con 
tained the hymns, litanies, and all parts of the service 
which pertained to the processions, whether within 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 69 

the church or outside it. At the beginning was the 
Office for the blessing of the holy water used in the 
procession. At an earlier date the Processional was 
included in the Gradual. 

3. The Manualc corresponded with the book called 
on the Continent Rituale. It included the occasional 
Offices which can be performed by a priest, such as the 
services for Baptism, Matrimony, Churching of Women, 
Visitation of the Sick, Extreme Unction, and Burial 
of the Dead. 

4. The Pontificate or Pontifical. This contained 
those sacraments and rites which can only be performed 
by a bishop, vi/. Confirmation, Ordination, the Conse 
cration of a Church, etc. 

5. The Hymnarium or Hymnal. This contained the 
Latin hymns with the musical notation. Many of 
these were of great beautv, and are familiar to us in 
English translations. They were printed in the order 
of the days in which they occurred in the daily divine 
service/ 

6. The Portiforium^ Portors, or Portuis corresponds 
with the Breviarium. It contained the divine service J 
or office 1 strictly so called, vi/. the eight daily services 
or offices 1 which were intended to secure the recitation 
of the Psalter by the clergy every week, and the read 
ing of the greater part of the Bible every year. The 
history of these services is given in the chapter on 
4 Morning and Evening Prayer." 1 

The Legcmla contained the lections appointed to be 
read at Mattins, the most important service of the 
daily offices. 

The Psalterium or Psalter at this period contained 
the Psalms, divided into portions for the daily divine 
service, the Litany, and the Office of the Dead. With 
the Legenda and Antiphoner it would make up the 
entire Portiforium. 

In connection with the Portiforium must be men- 



70 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

tioned the popular Prayer Book known as the Pri- 
marium or Primer. It is of especial interest as illus 
trating the manner in which our forefathers were 
gradually prepared for a return to the primitive prac 
tice of using their mother tongue in divine worship. 

The Primer may be described as a layman^s com 
panion to the Breviary Offices. The Primers used in 
England were sometimes in Latin and sometimes in 
English. They contained those liturgical accretions 
to divine service" which were devised in and after the 
ninth century, and became interwoven with the autho 
rised daily (or Lenten) services. By the fourteenth 
century these additions were regarded as obligatory on 
the clergy. They consisted of: (i) special psalms 
the fifteen Gradual x psalms, cxx to cxxxiv ; the seven 
Penitential psalms, vi, xxxii, xxxviii, li, cii, cxxx, cxliii ; 
and the Commendations, 2 i.e. Psalms cxix and cxxxix, 
with a few prayers : (ii) Offices of the Dead, of the 
Blessed Virgin, etc., framed on the model of the Divine 
Office : (iii) the Litany. 

The invention of printing made it easy to lengthen 
the Primer, and at the close of the fifteenth and in 
the first part of the sixteenth century we find a number 
of pious prayers added to these devotions. 

It is easy to see why these devotions were taken as 
the basis of the Primer. Many of the laity attended 
the Offices of the Church, and the women even recited 
alternately in Church the Office of our Lady in a low 
voice. The Divine Office of the Breviary was much 
too long and intricate to be mastered by busy laymen. 
But the accretions of the Divine Office were simple. 
They were, with the exception of the Office of the 
Blessed Virgin, invariable. Even this Office was not 

1 These fifteen psalms, called also the Psalms of Degrees, were so 
named because they were supposed to have been sung on the fifteen 
steps (gradus] of the Temple. 

2 So called because they commended Christian souls to God. 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 71 

very complicated. It was therefore natural that in 
the fourteenth century the laity should begin to use a 
book which enabled them to follow part of the common 
prayers recited in church, and which was also adapted 
to their daily habits. There are abundant proofs of 
the popularity of the Primer, chief among which we may 
observe the survival of the word Primer" in English, 
and the survival of the \vord J)irg\\ which means the 
Mattins and Lauds in the Office for the Dead. The 
latter is simply Dirigv, the first word of the Anthem 
of the first psalm (v) of the Office Dirigr Domlne Deux 
mfus in conspectii tuo rlam mcmn. X espers for the 
dead were formerly called Placebo, the first word of 
the Anthem of the first psalm (cxvi) of Vespers 
Placebo Domino in ;rvV&gt;w rirornm. 1 In Elizabeth s 
Primer of 1559 both Mattins and X espers of the dead 
are included under the one name of l)irire. 






The following table shows the full contents of a 



- 



Primer about A.I). 1400: 

1. Mattins, and the Hours of our I*idy. 
1 2. Evensong and Compline of our Lady. 

3. The Penitential Psalms. 

4. The Psalms of Degrees. 

5. The Litany. 
(&gt;. The Placebo. 
7. The Dirge. 

*S. The Psalms of Commendation. 
9. The Pater Noster. 

10. The Ave Maria. 

11. The Creed. 

12. The Ten Commandments. 

13. The Seven Deadly Sins. 

To illustrate the nature of the services contained in 

1 The Frymer or Lay Folks Prayer Book, edited by Henry Little- 
hales, Early English Text Society, 1895-1897. 



72 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the Primer it will be sufficient to give an outline of 
Mattins of our Lady. 

Lord, open thou my lips. 

And my mouth, etc. 

O Lord, make haste to help me. 

Glory be to the Father, etc. 

As it was, etc. 

Alleluia. 

The Invitatory. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord 
is with thee. 

The Venite, with the Invitatory interwoven. 

The Hymn Quern terra (Ancient and Modern, 449). 

The three Psalms, viz. viii, xix, xxiv. 

Anthem. Blessed be thou among women, etc. 

Our Father. 

Hail Mary, followed by versicle and responses. 

The three Lessons (very short), each followed by 
versicles and responses. 

The Te Deum, followed by versicle and response. 

An unreformed Sarum Primer was printed in 1532 
in Paris, when the Church of England had already 
affirmed the supremacy of Henry VIII. 

2. Results of the Preach with Rome. 

Henry s divorce of Catherine, his deceased brother s 
wife, was the occasion, but not the cause, of the English 
Reformation. A long train of events had made a breach 
with Rome almost inevitable, and inasmuch as Pope 
Alexander VI. had allowed the French king Louis XII. 
to divorce his wife in the same fashion as Henry, it is 
reasonable to think that political motives weighed most 
strongly with Pope Clement VII. when he refused to 
allow Henry to repudiate his wife. Wolsey had en 
deavoured to set aside the marriage by invoking the 
Pope, but the Pope was forced to refuse Henry his 
heart s desire. The king was not so blinded by his 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 73 

unholy passion as to lose his diplomatic instincts. He 
saw that he could get his own way if he could have 
Parliament on his side, and he wished to secure the 
acquiescence of the clergy in his intended Parliamen 
tary legislation. Therefore in 1531 he induced the 
English clergy to declare that he was, so far as the 
law of Christ will allow, supreme head of the English 
Church and Clergy. 1 The formula was elastic enough, 
and did not necessarily imply a denial of some real 
supremacy of the Pope. 

By the beginning of 1534 the breach with Home was 
nearly complete. Thomas Cranmer, the new Arch 
bishop of Canterbury, had urged with great acuteness 
that the Pope had originally acted beyond his powers 
in granting Henry a dispensation to marry Catherine, 
and in 1533 declared the marriage to be spiritually 
null and void. The Pope retaliated by declaring 
Henry s new marriage to be null and void, and both 
the Convocations of York and Canterbury then threw 
oil the jurisdiction of the Pope by asserting that the 
bishop of Rome hath not by Scripture any greater 
authority in England than any other foreign bishop/ 
The words are carefully chosen, and they contain within 
themselves the whole principle of English protest 
against Home. They do not deny that the Pope has a 
primacy of honour among Christian bishops acquired 
by the consent of the Church ; nor has the Church 
of England ever denied this primacy. They simply 
declare that no primacy was granted by Christ to 
S. Peter, and his supposed successors in the see of 
Home, sufficient to make the Pope the necessary centre 
of truth and government in the Church. After such 
a declaration two courses were open to the Church 
of England : either to adopt the Protestant principle 
by attempting entirely to reconstitute the Church by 
a new appeal to Scripture, or to return to a purer 
Catholicism by simply rejecting any doctrine which 



74 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

could not claim the continuous assent of the Church 
both in East and West. The English Church chose the 
latter method. The process of reform was necessarily 
slow, but the formularies of this reign made a real 
advance in the right direction. 

During the remainder of Henry^s reign nothing was 
introduced into public worship which savoured of any 
dislike of the practice of the whole Catholic Church, 
and there was a general retention of rites and practices 
which were exclusively Western and mediaeval. But 
there are important facts which illustrate the moving 
current of theology. 

1. In 1542 it was directed that the use of Sarum 
should be followed throughout the whole province of 
Canterbury. In 1543 Convocation entrusted to the 
Bishops of Sarum (Shaxton) and Ely (Goodrich) the 
work of examining and reforming all mass-books, 
antiphoners, portuises in the Church of England. If 
they had been able to complete their labours at this 
time it is certain that we should have had a carefully 
reformed edition of the Sarum books. A slightly 
reformed edition of the Sarum Portiforium appeared 
as early as 1541. It omits the title of Pope and some 
doubtful legends. 

The Primer was also in process of reform. The first 
reformed English Primer was printed bv John Byddell, 
probably in 1534. In 1535 Byddell printed another 
for William Marshall. This Primer is considerably 
simplified, and contains a Litany which is partly based 
on a Litany written or edited by Luther. The ac 
customed requests to the saints for their prayers are 
retained, but with a strong warning against the 
popular abuse of such a practice. This may be com 
pared with the vigorous protest uttered by Sir Thomas 
More, a staunch supporter of papal supremacy, against 
the custom of invoking special saints for special needs. 
In 1539 John Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester, published 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 75 

another reformed Primer in English and Latin at 
commaundement of Lorde Thomas Crnmwell. It is 
somewhat more conservative than that of Marshall. 
Both were superseded by King Hcnri/s Primer, 1 pub 
lished in 154-5. This contains, nearly in its present 
form, the English Litany which had been published 
in 1544. Various godly prayers and the Psalms of 
the Passion were added to the Offices, Avc, Creed, and 
Ten Commandments. 

2. Four important doctrinal formularies appeared 
between 1536 and 1543. In 1536 Convocation drew 
up Ten Articles for the purpose of stablishing 
Christian quietness. They are written from an intel 
ligent Catholic standing-point. The authority of the 
first four General Councils and all other sith that 
time in anv point consonant to the same 1 is asserted. 
Papal pardons to deliver souls from purgatory arc 
repudiated. We may ask saints to pray for us, but 
without any vain superstition, as to think that any 
saint is more merciful, or will hear us sooner than 
Christ, or that any saint doth serve for one thing more 
than another/ It is interesting to notice that although 
the Body and Blood of Christ are said to be really 
present under the form and figure of bread and wine," 1 
the word tranmibstantiatlon is omitted. 

In 1537 these Articles were embodied by the bishops 
in a book entitled The Institution [i.e. Instruction] of 
a Christian Man, but more commonly known as The 
Bishops Hook. It contains an excellent explanation 
of the Apostles" Creed and the Seven Sacraments, 
the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and two articles 
on Justification and Purgatory. It should be noticed 
that this book (a) distinctly asserts the Heal Presence 
of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, but does not 
employ the word tnumilstantmtion ; (b) repudiates a 

1 The first book printed in Welsh was the Prymcr, by Sir John 
Price of Brecon, which appeared in 1546. 



76 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

materialistic view of purgatory, simply insisting on the 
duty of prayer for the souls departed ; (c) speaks very 
temperately of the bishop and the Church of Rome, 
while denying that they possess a primacy which 
permits Rome to lord over other Churches ; (d) asserts 
that it is right to ask the saints to be intercessors 
with us and for us, 1 but repudiates invocation, which 
is interpreted as beseeching the saints to bestow gifts 
and graces upon us as though they possessed divine 
power. 1 

At the present day the phrase invocation of saints 
includes both requests to the saints for their prayers 
and addresses to the saints similar in wording to the 
adoration which we render to God. The Institution of 
a Christian Man uses it in the latter sense only and 
condemns it in that sense only. This use agrees with 
the true meaning of the Latin invocare, which means 
to ask the help of a god. As late as 1624 Archbishop 
Ussher, in his Answer to a Jesuits Challenge , dis 
tinguishes Popish invocation 1 from compilation. 
The former consists of absolute prayers to the saints, 
the latter of wishes only or requests of the same 
nature with those which are in this kind usually made 
unto the living." 1 2 

A revised edition of The Bishops 1 Book appeared in 
1543 with the full sanction of the King and Convoca 
tion. The new edition bears the title of A Necessary 
Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man. It 
was commonly called The King s Book, but it must be 
remembered that it had the full sanction of the Church. 

1 Formularies of Faith (Oxford, 1825), p. 141. The Hail Mary is 
treated neither as a request nor as an invocation. This is easily ex 
plained when we remember that the old English form was, Hail Mary, 
full of grace, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women ; and 

blessed is the fruit of thy womb. It did not usually contain any 
petition to pray for us, but such petitions were sometimes added in 
private practice. 

2 Cambridge edition, 1835, pp. 384, 389. 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 77 

It is in some respects an improvement upon its prede 
cessor, and in some respects more mediaeval. It con 
demns the use of the word purgatory while highly 
commending prayer for the departed. The Article on 
the Sacrament of the Altar is much longer than that in 
The Institution^ and definitely implies the truth of the 
doctrine of Transubstantiation and the sufficiency of 
communion in one kind. It denies that the unity of 
the Church is preserved by the Pope s authority, and 
shows no desire to separate from the Churches which 
still acknowledge his supremacy, declaring that the 
Churches of England, Spain, and Italy are one Church 
in God. 1 The great merits of many of the contents 
of the book may well cause us to regret that it was not 
again revised. It would then have supplied a per 
manent and admirable method of instruction for the 
English laity. 1 

About the same time (1543) was finished the short 
and pious Rationale of Rites and Ceremonies, quoted 
above in the account of the Canon of the Mass. It 
seems to have been neglected, probably because The 
Kings Book was considered to contain sufficient in- 

O 

struction. 

3. The history of the English Bible during this 
period illustrates the coming struggle between a 
Catholic and a Protestant Reformation. Modern 
writers have often been ready to assume that the Bible 
in English was a sealed book before the Reforma 
tion. Yet it is certain that there existed not only 
translations of portions of the Bible and more than 
one translation of the Psalms, but also a translation of 
the whole Bible or nearly the whole. This is partly 
proved by a statement in the Mirroure of our Lady, 

1 The Thirteen Articles of 1538 are interesting as a link between the 
present English Articles and the Lutheran Augsburg Confession. Kut 
they were not recognised either by the Church or by the State, and in 
1539 Henry in the Statute of Six Articles enforced the very doctrines 
and practices which the Lutherans attacked as abuses. 



78 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

written about 1450 and printed about 1530. The 
writer says, Of psalms I have drawn [i.e. translated] 
but few, for ye may have them of Richard Hampoule s 
drawinge, and out of Englysshe bibles if ye have 
lysence thereto. The difficulty is to determine the 
exact relation of Wyclif s work to these orthodox Bibles 
of the fifteenth century, and to that English Bible 
which Cranmer, when making preparations for the Great 
Bible, divided into nine or ten parts, to send to learned 
bishops of Catholic opinions to revise. On the whole, 
it seems probable that the translation to which Wyclif 
(1380) contributed most of the New Testament was 
generally regarded as Catholic, in spite of the fact that 
Archbishop Arundel in 1412 denounced it. Unless the 
so-called Wyclifite version was accepted by Catholics, it 
is difficult to see why Bishop Pecock, an opponent 
of the Wyclifites, should have quoted it, or why some 
of the existing manuscripts are carefully marked to 
show the portions read in Catholic worship. It is 
even quite possible that at High Mass in some places 
the Epistle and Gospel were read in English from this 
very version. We must remember that in England 
Wyclif s theological opinions almost died with him, 
and that Hereford, who translated the Old Testament, 
and Purvey, who seems to have revised it, both ended 
their days in the full favour of the Church. It is 
possible that their names may have acted as a certifi 
cate for the Wyclifite version, and that Wyclif s own 
part of the work did not differ materially from transla 
tions which Sir Thomas More describes as already 
well done of old before Wyclif s days. 

The first translation of the Scriptures which appeared 
in the time of Henry VIII. is distinctly Protestant. It 
is a translation of the New Testament made by William 
Tyndale, who went to Coin in 1525, was betrayed, and 
then fled to Worms with the printed sheets of his book. 
In 1526 it was being circulated in England. It is 



CHANGES UNDER HENRY VIII 79 

marked by some doctrinal bias, chiefly Lutheran. 
Instead of the words elders or presbyters, church, 
grace, charity, Tyndale wrote seniors, congregation, 
favour, love. The notes are of a somewhat partisan 
character. Tyndale published a translation of the 
Pentateuch in 1531, and was strangled and burnt 
near Brussels in 1536. 

In 1534-, in order to secure a more orthodox version 
than that of Tyndale, Convocation petitioned Ilenrv 
for an authorised version. Both the conservative and 
the progressive parties were united in the good work, 
Bishop Gardiner, the leading prelate of mediaeval 
sympathies, undertaking the Gospels of S. Luke and 
S. John. Stokesley, Bishop of London, was the only 
prelate who refused to do his share. The work was 
rashlv repressed by Cromwell s injunction to have the 
Bible in Latin and Lnglish in every parish church. 

The version employed for this purpose was that of 
Miles Coverdale, printed at Zurich in 1535. The 
author probably knew little Hebrew, but used the 
4 Douche \ie. German] and Latyn/ The work is in 
ferior, and yet the author possessed literary dexterity 
and a true ear for rhythm. 

The next Bible is that of 1537, named after Thomas 
Matthew. This is probably a pseudonym for John 
Rogers, who was a friend of Tyndale and continued the 
work of that intrepid scholar. The book is to a great 
extent made up of the work of Tyndale and Coverdale. 
It was presented to Cranmer, who cannot have properly 
examined it, for he seems to have mistaken it for a new 
version. He expressed himself delighted with it, and 
got the royal licence for it. Matthew s Bible is the first 
royally-authorised English version. It is even more 
Lutheran than the work of Tyndale, and yet had the 
licence of a king who detested Luther and all his works. 

A hasty and pirated version of Matthew s Bible 
appeared under the name of Taverner in 1539. 



80 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

The next Bible is the Great Bible, otherwise called 
Cranmer s, because Cranmer wrote the preface to the 
second edition. The Psalter in our Prayer Book is 
from Cranmer s Bible. It had Henry s authorisation, 
the bishops having assured him that it contained no 
heresies. It was made by Coverdale on the basis of 
Matthew s Bible, with the help of Minister in the Old 
Testament and Erasmus in the New Testament, and 
omitted Matthew s offensive notes. It was first printed 
at Paris with the licence of Francis I. On December 
17, 1538, the Inquisition intervened and the sheets 
were seized. They were partly saved by a haber 
dasher, and the plant was removed to England, 
where the whole Bible appeared in April 1539. Hans 
Holbein had been employed to design the title-page, 
which is one of the most celebrated ever printed. On 
it is seen King Henry VIII., and above the royal 
debauchee appears the form of the Almighty, from 
Whose mouth issue the words, 4 1 have found me a man 
after My heart, who shall fulfil all My will. 1 

Note on later Primers. In the reign of Edward VI. Henry s 
Primer was republished in 1547,, and again in 1549, when it 
appeared with the Litany as amended for the Book of Common 
Prayer, and contained no direct appeals to the saints. It still re 
tained the old English form of the Hail Mary. It was reprinted 
without the Hail Mary in 1551 and 1552, and again in 1559, 
at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth. Various editions of 
the Sarum Primer appeared under Mary. Another series of 
books for private prayer was printed from 1553 onwards. 
It is important to notice that the Primer of 1559, like the 
older Primers, contains direct prayers for the dead, and that 
this practice was not then considered to be inconsistent with 
the formularies of the reformed Church of England. 



1 The 1543 Convocation ordered that every Sunday and holy day the 
curate of every parish church, after the Te Deuni and Magnificat, 
should read to the people a chapter of the New Testament in English, 
and when the New Testament was read over, begin the Old. A new 
translation was proposed under Queen Mary. For the subsequent 
English versions see p, 130, 



CHAPTER IV 

REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 

My business is not to remake myself, 

But make the absolute best of what God made. 

BROWNINC;, Uishop lllonyrain ts Apology. 

1. Public Worship in English. 

HKNRY VIII. died January 28, 1547, and was succeeded 
by his son Edward VI. Henry had appointed a care 
fully balanced Council of Regency; but his will fell 
into the keeping of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hert 
ford ; and Gardiner, the leader of the conservatives, 
was declared to have been excluded from the Council. 
Then the Council was reconstituted, and Tunstall, 
Bishop of Durham, another conservative, was purposely 
ousted. Hertford raised himself to the dukedom of 
Somerset, he surrounded himself with newly-made 
peers, and by means of a new patent of Protectorate, 
drawn out in the boy-king^s name, he made himself 
supreme. He had now tricked the conservatives out 
of power. He had first used Henry s will in order to 
form the Council, then set it aside in order to remodel 
the Council. Finally, he used the name of Edward to 
raise himself above the Council. His only hope of 
gaining adherents was to crush the conservative party 
by encouraging the spread of Protestantism. There 
fore at the very moment when Protestantism on the 
Continent was on the verge of ruin Somerset was 

F 



82 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

obliged to come forward as its patron. His own 
religion was Calvinism tempered with Erastianism and 
inspired by the love of Mammon. He would have 
destroyed Westminster Abbey itself if he had not been 
bought off by a bribe of twenty manors. Cranmer 
was far too weak to resist. A prelate who, when 
himself secretly married, had beggared clergymen for 
marrying, and had openly perjured himself by taking 
an oath of allegiance to the Pope which he never 
intended to keep, was not made of stuff capable of 
resisting the Protector. When Somerset fell in 1549 
Cranmer basely aided the intrigue which brought him 
to the scaffold, and was left to be the tool of 
Northumberland as he had been the tool of Henry 
VIII. and Somerset. 

Convocation and Parliament met in November. 
The Lower House of Convocation presented a petition 
to the archbishop that the works of the bishops who 
had been examining and reforming the divine service 
might be produced, and on December 2 the whole 
session approved the proposition of taking the Lord s 
Body in both kinds. Parliament approved the adminis 
tration of the Sacrament in both kinds, and an Act 
was passed to condemn those who blasphemed it, 
allowing such persons to do so with impunity until 
May 1, 1548. It is important to notice that Somerset 
was willing that blasphemy should be allowed to run 
its course during that period. 

In January 1548 a Commission of certain bishops 
and divines associated with Cranmer was assembled at 
Windsor. The first publication of this Commission was 
The Order of the Communion. It was not a full Com 
munion Office, but inserted into the Latin Mass a form 
for communicating the people in English. It restored 
the chalice to the laity, and was intended to make the 
communion of the people an integral part of the Mass 
as it had been in earlier times. It is based upon one 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 83 

of the best of the books which had been published on 
the Continent in favour of a wise and moderate refor 
mation. This is the book called A Simple Decision 
concerning* the Reformation of the Churches of the 
Electorate of Coin, published in German in 1543. It 
was drawn up by Bucer, Melanchthon, and Sarcerius at 
the request of Hermann, Prince Archbishop of Coin 
(died 155^). This again was based upon the form of 
worship used by the Lutherans in Brandenburg and 
Niirnberg and the form used in Cassel. A translation 
of it appeared in England, October 30, 1547, under 
the title, A Simple and Religious Consultation l of us, 
Herman by the grace of God archbishop of Cologne, 
etc. The book contained hardly any Protestant state 
ments, and did not win the favour of Luther, who 
wished to see a definite Protestantism introduced at 
Coin. 

The new English Order was published March 8, 
154-8, and was appointed to come into use on Easter 
Day, April 1. It was distinctly ordered that there 
was to be no varying of any other rite or cere 
mony in the Mass. The next Sunday or holy day, 
or at least one day before the Communion, the priest 
was to read an address, which is mainly that which 
stands in our Prayer Book, as the first notice of 
Communion. After the direction about the use of 
private absolution which still remains, it contained a 
sensible caution to the effect that those who were 
satisfied with a general- confession should not be 
offended with those who use the auricular and secret 
confession to the priest, and rice versa. 

At the Mass the priest was bidden to consecrate 
enough of the Sacrament of the Body for the people, 

1 The Latin names vttrt Juduium or Dcliberatio. 

3 This is no vague confession of sinfulness to God, but is explained 
as a general confession to the Church after a humble confession of 
sins and unkindness to God in private. 



84 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and to consecrate the biggest chalice, 1 and after one 
draught to leave the rest upon the altar covered, and 
exhort the people in words nearly the same as those 
of the present Exhortation at the time of the celebra 
tion of the Communion. This exhortation, though 
derived from that of Hermann, has been traced to 
Wolfgang Volprecht, prior of the Augustinian canons 
at Wittenberg, who became Protestants. 

After a brief warning, If any man here be an open 
blasphemer, etc. (a clause now in the Exhortation, 
giving warning of the Communion), the priest paused 
a while to see if any withdrew themselves. The service 
then continued : You that do truly and earnestly 
repent you, 1 etc. The general confession, absolution, 
and comfortable words followed almost exactly in their 
present form, then the prayer beginning We do not 
presume. 1 The administration took place with these 
words, The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was given for thee, preserve thy body unto everlasting 
life 1 The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was shed for thee, preserve thy soul unto everlasting 
life. 1 The conclusion of the Communion is not clearly 
expressed. The priest is told to let the people depart 
with the blessing, The peace of God which passeth 
all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the 
knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 1 But it seems plain that this was 
a dismissal from the altar and not from the church, 
since the Post-communion Collect had to follow. 

The concluding rubrics expressly state that the bread 
is to be the same as heretofore hath been accustomed, 
i.e. unleavened wafer-bread, also that in each part of the 
said consecrated breads is received the whole Body of 
Christ. The only direction which by any ingenuity 
could be interpreted as impugning the doctrine of the 
Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament is that which 
orders that if the priest has to consecrate the chalice 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 85 

a second or a third time, it is to be done without any 
levation or lifting up. This interpretation would be 
contrary to the whole spirit of the service. 

In the meantime a Protestant crusade was being 
carried on in literature which had the sanction of the 
Council. The new Order of Communion was followed 
by The Psalter or Bookc of the Psalms, ichereunto Is 
added the Litany and ccrtayne other devout prayers 
set forth with the Kings most gracious lycence of July 
1548. It is strongly anti-sacramental in tone, and 
exhorts people to receive the Sacrament as a memorial 
of His death, and not to eat it thinking or believing 
Him to be there really." Among the books which were 
intended to prepare the way for further changes was 
a scurrilous attack on the Mass and the priesthood, 
published in 1547 by William Turner, Somerset s 
chaplain; also a tract of 154-8 containing a letter of 
John Calvin against being a partaker of the masse 
of the papysts, 1 and a book written by Hurleston soon 
after the appearance of the Order of the Communion, 
and called Newesfrom Rome concerning the blasphemous 
sacrifice of the papistic all Masse. 

The Commission assembled at Windsor continued 
their deliberations, undertaking the arduous task of 
revising the Latin services and preparing from them 
and other sources a Book of Common Prayer and of 
the Administration of the Sacraments. Their labours 
were finished by Christmas 1548, and in January 1549 
Parliament passed the first English Act of Uniformity. 
The statute provided that from and after Whitsunday 
(June 9) no other form was to be used than that con 
tained in the new book. A fresh chapter was thus 
opened in the history of the English Church. 1 

The objects of the compilers are stated in the 

1 The first service sung in English, except the Litany, was probably 
Compline, which was sung in English in the King s chapel as early as 
April u, 1547. Mass was sometimes sung in English in 1548. 



86 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Preface, based upon the preface to the Reformed 
Roman Breviary of Cardinal Quinones. They are that 
the whole realm should have only one use ; that the 
rubrical directions called the Pie should be simplified ; 
that the Psalms should be repeated in their order, in 
stead of a few being daily said, and the rest omitted ; 
that the Lessons should include the whole Bible, or 
the greatest part thereof in a continuous course ; that 
the reading of the Scriptures should not be interrupted 
by Anthems, Responds, and Invitatories ; that nothing 
should be read but the very pure Word of God, the 
holy Scriptures, or that which is evidently grounded 
upon the same ; and that the services should be in 
the English tongue. It is evident throughout the 
book that it was intended to be more simple, more 
intelligible, and more congregational than the Latin 
services had been for many centuries, and that the 
test of Scripture and the practice of the first six 
hundred years of Christianity should be more carefully 
considered. These intentions were excellent, and the 
outcome is sound and great, Catholic in its teaching 
and perfect in its language. But simplicity was 
attained at the sacrifice of much that was scriptural, 
and the rubrical directions were so inadequate that the 
services could not be properly performed without some 
knowledge of the ancient ceremonial. 

The eight, or as sometimes reckoned seven, Daily 
Services of the Breviary were replaced by a new form 
of Mattins and Evensong. The services of terce, sext, 
and nones were omitted, and Mattins were constructed 
from the services of mattins, lauds, and prime on 
the model of the German mattins used in Schleswig- 
Holstein. Evensong was constructed from the ancient 
evensong and compline after the same German model. 
Both these services began with the Lord s Prayer 
and ended with the third Collect. The Litany was 
that drawn up by Cranmer in 1544 and ordered to 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 87 

be used by Henry VIII., with the exception of the 
requests to the saints for their prayers, which were 
now omitted. This Litany is of mixed Saruni and 
German origin. The Baptismal Office was partly 
based upon the Sarum Offices, but is mainly derived 
from the Consultation and early Lutheran books. 
It still retained the primitive anointing of the candi 
date and the threefold immersion. The Order of Con 
firmation followed that in the Sarum Pontifical, but 
omitted the primitive chrism (anointing with oil). 
The Order of the Visitation of the Sick included the 
apostolic practice of anointing with oil, popularly 
known as Extreme Unction. The Burial Service con 
tained plain and explicit prayers for the deceased 
person, and full provision was made for a Mass to 
be celebrated at a burial. The forms for ordaining 
bishops, priests, and deacons were not published until 
1550. 

Inasmuch as it is chiefly the Mass that matters,"* the 
relation of the Mass in the First Prayer Book to the 
Sarum Mass will be carefully examined. But before 
this examination it will be best to notice some of the 
differences between the service in the First Prayer Book 
and that in the present Prayer Book. The Supper of 
the Lord and the Holy Communion, commonly called 
the Mass" 1 was almost wholly adapted from the Sarum 
Missal, except that it incorporated the Order of the 
Communion of 154-8 after the consecration of the 
elements. The service began with an Introit or Psalm, 
sung at the entrance of the priest; the Commandments 
were not read ; the name of the Mother of God was 
specially mentioned in the praise offered for the saints; 
prayer was offered explicitly for the departed ; the con 
secration included a prayer for the sanctification of the 
elements by the Holy Spirit and the Word ; the words 
used in delivering the Sacrament were only the first 
clause of those now used. It was directed that water 



88 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

should be mixed with the wine, that the sign of the 
cross should be twice used in the consecration, and that 
the Eenedictus and Agnus should be sung. 

When the Prayer Book came into use the Council 
immediately exerted itself to make the new worship 
seem as different as possible from the old, and ordered 
the disuse of various private ceremonies used by the 
priest in saying Mass, and also of lights upon the altar 
and sacring bells. 

2. Cranmer and the Mass. 

At the time of the Reformation three distinct classes 
of opinion prevailed concerning the Eucharist. The 
first may be dismissed very briefly. It is the theory 
of Zwingli, which was to some extent modified and 
improved by his followers, but which is still widely 
spread. In plain contradiction with the primitive 
teaching of the Church, it is taught that no special 
gift is bestowed in the Sacrament, but that the value 
of it resides in the effect produced upon the soul by 
reviving a memory of the death of Christ. Every 
notion of a mystery in the Sacrament is rejected. 
The supporters of this theory were known as Sacra- 
mentaries, and it was almost universally repudiated by 
all members of the Church of England, whether they 
held reformed or unreformed opinions. 

The other theories may be classified as follows : 

I. Theories now included under the name of the 
doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacra 
ment. It is assumed that there is a Real Presence 
attached to the elements at the time of the consecration 
and before the eating and drinking. The subordinate 
forms of this doctrine were these : 

A (a). The better Roman theory. It is taught that 
at the consecration the substances of bread and wine 
are changed into the substances of Christ s Body and 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 89 

Blood. The size, shape, colour, taste, and all the 
properties of bread and wine remain, but in some 
mysterious manner the bread and wine have ceased to 
be. Together with the size, shape, colour, taste, etc. 
of bread and wine, our Lord, says Cardinal Newman, 
is in the Holv Eucharist after the manner of a spirit 
. . . not according to the manner of natural bodies. 1 
This is the doctrine now taught in the Church of 
Home and known as Trmwubstantiation. 

A (b). A debased Roman theory. It was popularly 
taught and believed that not only did the substance 
of bread and wine cease to exist, but that our Lord 
was present in the Eucharist in a material though 
invisible manner, as described above in Chapter II. 

B ((i). The better Lutheran theory. This strongly 
resembles the primitive doctrine, as it maintains the 
co-existence of the substance of bread with the sub 
stance of Christ s Body. 1 But it was unfortunately 
connected with the heretical doctrine that Christ s 
human nature is present in the Sacrament because it 
is strictly present everywhere. The Lutherans also 
taught the novel doctrine that after the conclusion of 
the service the presence of Christ was withdrawn from 
the Sacrament. 2 

B (/;). A debased Lutheran theorv. This was quite 
as materialistic as the most debased Roman theorv, 
and more so, for it was not only taught that Christ 
was present 4 to the stomach, 1 but language was em 
ployed which suggested that Christ is, as Hooker 
says, 4 invisibly moulded up with " the substance of 
the elements. There is therefore a confusion of the 
substance of the bread with the substance of Christ s 
Body. 

1 Thus Mclanchthon in 1535 wrote, We must be careful not to 
oppose the doctrine of the ancients, and previously he had said that 
he would rather die than agree with the Zwinglians. 

3 Hence they taught that it ought not to be reserved in a pyx. 



90 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

This theory is known as Consubstantiation, and 
the same name is applied, somewhat inaccurately, to 
better varieties of Lutheran doctrine. 

II. Theories now included under the name of Re 
ceptionist doctrines of the Sacrament. It is assumed 
that the effect of the prayer of consecration is to attach 
to the elements, not a presence, but a promise. The 
bread and wine have been blessed, and the Lord s 
promise is that when the religious communicant par 
takes of this bread and this wine he partakes of a 
special mysterious power uniting him to Christ. The 
subordinate forms of this doctrine are these : 

C. The doctrine of Calvin. It is taught that the 
elements have the power of communicating to the elect 
recipients predestined to eternal life the virtue of 
Christ, so that Christ sustains them not otherwise 
than if He were present in body."* This is ordinarily 
called the Virtual Presence. 

D. The doctrine of Bucer. Bucer says, The signs 
have no union whatever with the glorious Body and 
Blood of Christ." Nevertheless The true Body and 
Blood of our Lord, Christ Himself, God and man, is 
given and received by the worthy communicant. The 
language of Bucer more closely approximates to 
Catholic language than that of Calvin, but their mean 
ing appears to be nearly identical. Both these theories 
are as supernatural as the doctrine of the Real Presence, 
but put a severe strain upon our faith by teaching 
that our Lord communicates Himself to us by the 
elements, as Bucer says, although He is not present in 
the Sacrament. 

If we ask ourselves how the character of public 
worship in the sixteenth century would have been 
likely to be affected by a congregation abandoning 
the doctrine of the Real Presence in favour of the 
Receptionist theory, a little reflection will convince us 
that the following changes would be likely to take 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 01 

place. First, there would be an inclination not to 
attend at the Eucharist except for the purpose of 
communicating, inasmuch as no special presence of 
Christ would be granted to the worshipper unless lie 
communicated. Secondly, there would be a tendency 
to abandon the use of Eucharistic vestments and altar 
lights, for if there is no special presence in the Sacra 
ment there is no reason why it should be surrounded 
with more tokens of reverence than a pulpit. Thirdly, 
there would be a strong tendency to give up the 
custom of elevating the host at the consecration, 
although the abandonment of such a custom would 
not necessarily mean a denial of the Real Presence, 
nor even a denial of the doctrine of Tran substantiation. 
Fourthly, the Sacrament would no longer be reserved 
for the sick, lest any kind of adoration should be paid 
to the presence of Christ in the Sacrament so reserved. 

All these points are of importance and will help us to 
estimate the intentions of Cranmer and his associates 
in compiling the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. 
For the internal evidence of that Prayer Book agrees 
minutely with the external evidence derived from 
other sources. They show that when the book was 
published Cranmer had himself adopted the Recep 
tionist view, but that he dared not introduce into the 
book anything which definitely implied a denial of the 
Real Presence. In fact, the book was so worded that 
every reader would believe that the doctrine of the 
Real Presence was retained, 1 and the book must have 
been accepted and used in that belief. We have con 
clusive evidence with regard to Cranmers own convic 
tions at the time when the book was published. 

In Aujnist 1548 Cranmer made a translation of 

O 

1 The doctrine is almost more explicit than in the Order of the Com 
munion of 1548, for whereas the rubric of 1548 speaks of the priest 
ministering the bread and the deacon the wine, the same rubric in 
1549 has the Sacrament of the Body and the Sacrament of the 
Blood. 



92 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

a Lutheran catechism. The original says, God is 
almighty, therefore He can do all things that He will. 
. . . When He Himself calls and names any thing which 
was not before, then at once that very thing comes into 
being as the Lord names it. Therefore when He takes 
bread and says : " This is My Body," 1 then immediately 
there is there the Body of the Lord. Cranmer in his 
translation leaves out the words printed above in italics 
and then continues: Wherefore when Christ taketh 
bread and saith : " Take, eat, this is My Body," we 
ought not to doubt but we eat His very Body. 

The meaning of the change is as clear as daylight, 
and Cranmer himself tells us the reason of it. For 
in 1551, in his answer to Smythe, he says : This I 
confess of myself, that not long before I wrote the said 
catechism I was in that error of the Real Presence as 
I was many years past in divers other errors, as of 
Transubstantiation. 1 Therefore, as the work of com 
piling the Prayer Book formally began in September 
1548, it is certain that Cranmer had deserted the 
primitive doctrine for the doctrine of Bucer when the 
compilation was inaugurated. 

But he probably still felt scruples, for we possess 
two letters written in August 1548 by two pupils of 
the Calvinist Bullinger, in which complaint is made of 
Cranmer s lukewarmness and lethargy with regard to 
Eucharistic doctrine. 

By the end of 1548 Cranmer was bolder in his state 
ments. Parliament met at the end of November. 
Before any full discussion of the new Prayer Book, there 
was a discussion on the doctrine of the Sacrament. 
The disputation began in the House of Lords on 
December 14, and lasted for several days. The Pro 
tector Somerset acted as moderator. Tunstall, Bishop 
of Durham, defended the doctrine of the Real Presence, 
and was supported by Thirlby, Bishop of Westminster, 
1 Cranmer s Remains, vol. iii. p. 13 (Oxford edit. 1833). 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 93 

and several others. Cranmer disputed against Tunstall, 
and was supported by Holbeach of Lincoln, Ridley of 
Rochester, and to some extent by Goodrich of Ely. 

A few salient points in the dispute demand special 
attention. Sampson, Bishop of Lichfield, though he 
refused to accept Cranmer s doctrine, objected to the 
word transubstantiation, 1 thought the doctrine of the 
new Prayer Rook very godly, 1 and added that he 
never thought Christ s Body in the Sacrament to be 
present so grossly as divers there alleged/ Probably 
he meant this as a criticism of Tunstall, who maintained 
that in the Sacrament there is the very Body and 
Blood of Christ both spiritual and carnal. Tunstall 
certainly seems to have been guilty of exaggerating 
the mediaeval doctrine, and was understood by the 
secretary Smy the to mean that the natural Body of 
Christ was present, so as to necessitate a presence 
according to physical laws. Ridley urged with modera 
tion that 4 the bread of Communion is not mere bread 
but bread united with Divinity, as a burning coal is 
more than a coal for there is fire with it/ 1 When asked 
whether the receiver taketh any substance in the 
Sacrament or not," 1 he cautiously replied that the 
carnal substance 1 of Christ is at the right hand of 
the Father, and after this understanding of the pre 
sence He is not in the Sacrament. 1 

If the two parties engaged in the controversy had 
been anxious to come to an understanding rather than 
anxious to defend a controversial position, it is possible 
that such men as Holbeach and the Bishop of Lichfield 
might have found that they were not hopelessly 
divided. But Cranmers line made reconciliation im 
possible. He declared that eating with his mouth 
eiveth nothing to man, nor the body being in the 
oread. Christ gave to His disciples bread and wine, 

1 Gasquet and Bishop, Edward VI. and the Book of Common Fraycr, 
P- 415. 



94 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

creatures among us, and called it His Body. On the 
fourth and last day of the discussion he said, The 
Body of Christ is in heaven : Ergo He is not in the 
Sacrament, 1 and he added that fc the Body of Christ 
cannot be under any form in the Sacrament. 1 And 
again he said, We cannot eat His Body indeed, and 
he compared calling the bread Christ s Body with 
saying This glove is my cap. 1 

A general survey of this disputation leads us in 
evitably to the conclusion that in December 1548 
Cranmer held the Receptionist theory of the Eucharist. 
He held the same view as Calvin, but expressed it in 
more Protestant language than Calvin. But Ridley s 
language approximates to Catholic language, and in 
1555 he asserted that the nature of flesh was in the 
bread. 

If we examine the ceremonial of the First Prayer 
Book, and thus test its Eucharistic doctrine, we find 
that Cranmer only secured the most diminutive loophole 
for the freedom of his own opinions. First, the idea of 
the communion of the people is emphasised by the in 
sertion of the Order of Communion of 1548, but there 
is no prohibition of non-communicating attendance. 
Secondly, Eucharistic vestments are retained, together 
with other ornaments of the Church then in use. But 
the rubric permits the use of a vestment or cope by 
the celebrant. The meaning of this was probably not 
perceived at first. But it was revealed later when 
Cranmer sang Mass at S. Paul s wearing a satin cap and 
a cope instead of a mitre and a vestment (i.e. chasuble). 
There were chasubles in plenty at S. Paul s, and a cope 
of the shape then worn was less convenient to wear 
than a chasuble. Cranmer can only have done this 
with the intention of destroying the traditional associa 
tion between the Eucharist and the chasuble. We 
have no reason to believe that Cranmer s example in this 
1 Gasquet and Bishop, Op. cit. , p. 442. 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 95 

respect was followed by the clergy generally. Thirdly, 
the reservation of the Sacrament for the sick is directed 
by the First Prayer Book. Fourthly, the elevation of the 
host is forbidden. This prohibition was capable of two 
interpretations. It might be understood as an indirect 
prohibition to teach any worship of any Real Presence of 
Christ. Or it might be understood only as an indirect 
prohibition to teach the doctrine of Transubstantiation. 
At the time when the Prayer Book first came into use, 
Cranmer no doubt intended the former. But there is 
sufficient contemporary evidence to show that English 
men at that time were too well educated to identify 
every doctrine of the Heal Presence with the doctrine of 
Transubstantiation, and the Prayer Book, understood 
in its natural and grammatical sense, teaches the 
doctrine of the Real Presence. 

The Eucharistic service of 1549 has already been 
contrasted with the present English Eucharistic service, 
and must now be compared with the mediaeval service, 
the general outline of which it closely follows. It more 
strongly resembles the primitive Roman Mass, inasmuch 
as it contains no private prayers to accompany the 
Offertory or the Communion. Certain details deserve 
special notice : 

i. The ancient Gradual" sung between the Epistle 
and Gospel is omitted. But we still find an Introit to 
be sung as the priest enters the chancel, the A/yr/Y, 
Gloria in cxceliis. Collect, Epistle, Gospel, and Creed in 
their old place. 

After the Creed came two exhortations from the 
Order of the Communion of 154-8, standing in the place 
of a homily. 

ii. The Offertory, which was originally a Psalm, 
with Antiphons, and had been reduced during the 
Middle Ages to an Antiphon, was now represented by 
different verses of Scripture to be sung by the choir. 
After the placing of bread and wine mixed with water 



96 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

upon the altar, the service continues as of old with the 
salutation, The Lord be with you, which with the 
succeeding versicle, 4 Lift up your hearts, 1 carries our 
thoughts back to the earliest ages. Then comes the 
Preface, Sa/nctus, and Bencdictus. 

iii. The Canon of the Mass, 1 which is the core of 
the service, will be examined presently, and will be 
found printed side by side with the Sarum Canon in 
Appendix A. In the meantime, let us merely notice 
that in the First Prayer Book it concludes with the 
Lord s Prayer, as in the Roman liturgy since the time 
of Gregory and Augustine. But the pendant prayer 
which followed the Lord s Prayer is omitted. 

iv. The service then proceeds, as of old, with the 
words, The peace of the Lord be always with you, 
and the answer, And with thy spirit. 

Then follows a slight inversion of the mediaeval rite. 
The Agnus Dei used to come next, and then the com 
mixture of the sacred elements. In the Prayer Book 
no direction is given for the commixture, and the 
Agnus is transferred to the time of the communion of 
the people. 2 The priest exhorts the people to keep 
c a joyful and holy feast with the Lord, and then we 
have inserted the devotions preparatory to the com 
munion of the people from the Order of the Communion 
of 1548, ending with the prayer of humble access. 

After the communion of the people a verse of Holy 
Scripture is to be sung, called the Post-communion. 
Formerly a variable verse was sung, called the Com 
munion, and a variable prayer called the Post- 
communion. But as the Agnus was now sung during 

1 The title Canon is not printed in this service as in the mediaeval 
books, but it is retained in the Celebration of the Holy Communion for 
the Sick. 

2 The Agmis was more or less moveable in ancient times. In the 
Roman rite it was formerly sung during the Fraction and is now sung 
after it. The Charterhouse monks used to sing it after the Com- 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 97 

the Communion, it was natural that the next chant 
should he called the Post-communion. 

Lastly, before the blessing came a new prayer, 
retained as an alternative for the k prayer of oblation 
in our present service. The beginning of this prayer 
is adapted from the Sarum prayer said by the priest 
immediately after communion. 

Now, the words of this liturgy imply the doctrine of 
the Real Presence, and teach it more clearly in some 
respects than even the mediaeval Canon of the Mass. 
The mediaeval Canon contains two different prayers of 
consecration. The first is only preparatory, and occurs 
before the words of institution, and is Which obla 
tion, we beseech Thee, () Almighty God, that Thou 
wouldest vouchsafe, in all respects, to bless, approve, 
ratify, and make reasonable and acceptable, that it 
may become to us the Body and the Blood of Thy most 
dearly beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 The 
second completes the consecration, and is after the 
words of institution We humbly beseech Thee, () 
Almighty God, command these things to be carried 
by the hands of Thy holy Angel l to Thine altar on 
high in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty," etc. The 
mediaeval and modern Roman practice is to teach that 
the consecration takes place at the words of institu 
tion, This is Mv Body This is Mv Blood," and by 
so teaching the prayer last mentioned is rendered 
unintelligible. 

Cranmer and his associates overcame the defects of 
this interpretation with the utmost skill. They made 
no attack on the received opinion. But they altered 
the first prayer into: Hear us (() merciful Father), 
we beseech Thee, and with Thy Holy Spirit and Word 
vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these Thy gifts, and 
creatures of bread and wine, that they may be unto us 

1 This Angel is perhaps the divine Word or Son of God, Who is 
so called in early Christian literatur c. 

G 



98 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the Body and Blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son 
Jesus Christ. 1 This phraseology was almost certainly 
derived from the Liturgy of S. Basil, in which the con 
secration depends upon a direct invocation of the Holy 
Ghost. Then having made the consecration take 
place in a manner which would be recognised as valid 
both by Eastern and Western Christendom, they altered 
the second prayer into a request that our prayers and 
supplications 1 might be brought before the sight of 
the Divine Majesty. 1 There was no longer any neces 
sity for asking that the gifts already hallowed should 
be blessed again. 

A further question remains. Does the First Prayer 
Book of Edward VI. imply the doctrine of the Eucha- 
ristic sacrifice ? 

The answer must be in the affirmative, in spite of the 
fact that modern writers sometimes state that Cranmer 
treated all the sentences which implied the Eucharistic 
sacrifice as so many weeds which he felt obliged to 
pluck up. No doubt he was ready in some measure to 
deny the Eucharistic sacrifice inasmuch as he wished 
to deny the doctrine of the Real Presence. The doctrine 
of the Eucharistic sacrifice is closely connected with the 
doctrine of the Real Presence. If the Body and Blood 
of Christ are not really present on the altar, the Victim 
of Calvary cannot be present on the altar, and if the 
Victim is not present, the sacrificial character of the 
service is changed. A man who holds the Receptionist 
theory believes that the Presence of Christ is only to 
be found in the faithful communicant. Therefore, 
although he can believe that the faithful communicant 
pleads the merits of the Divine Victim, he cannot 
believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are offered 
under the forms of bread and wine. Now it is im 
possible to prove that Cranmer eliminated the Catholic 

1 This was in accordance with a mediaeval explanation of the words 
jube haec perferri. 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 99 

doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice, unless it can be 
proved that he eliminated statements which plainly 
imply the above doctrine. 

lie left the word altar, which does imply the Catholic 
doctrine of the Eucharistic sacrifice. He retained the 
words "sacrifice of praise, transferring them from the 
beginning of the Canon of the Mass to a position im 
mediately after the consecration, and connecting them 
with the * holy gifts which have been already blessed 
to be the Body and Blood of Christ. The name 
sacrifice of praise" is borrowed from the Old Testa 
ment, where it is applied to the peace-offering, and 
the First Prayer Book enlarges it by calling it sacrifice 
of praise and thanksgiving/ The last word recalls the 
name Eucharist (thanksgiving), and also the oblation 
of the Jewish peace-offering as a sacrifice of thanks 
giving (Lev. vii. 1,-1;5). We may add that the 
phrase * sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving 1 is the 
precise phrase which the mediaeval party in 1546 
compelled Shaxton, Bishop of Salisbury, to apply to 
the oblation and action of the priest" 1 in the Mass, as 
one of the proofs that he repudiated the Protestant 
doctrine of the Eucharist. 1 Therefore a natural inter 
pretation of the words employed forces us to say that 
the First Prayer Book teaches the doctrine of the 
Eucharistic sacrifice, although Cranmer had ceased to 
believe in that doctrine when the book was published. 
Does the Roman and Sarum Canon of the .Mass give 
any more explicit teaching on this subject than the 
First Praver Book ? No. The Roman and Sarum 
Canon applies the following sacrificial terms to the 
Eucharist: sacrifice of praise 1 once; sacrifices 1 
(sacrificia) once; gifts * (dona) twice; bounties 
(data) once; presents 1 (munera) once; oblation 1 
twice. The word host 1 (hostia) occurs thrice, but 
is really said once, and repeated for the sake of 

1 Burnet, History of the Reformation, vol. I. bk. iii. Record 29. 



100 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

emphasis. It is now sometimes translated victim, 
but it may mean any kind of oblation, and both in 
Roman books and the reformed Latin Prayer Book of 
1551 it is applied to the unconsecrated bread. It 
should be observed that the word bounties must be 
struck out of this list, and also one of the two cases in 
which the word gifts occurs, as the words mean the 
bounties and gifts as given by God to man, and not 
as offered by man to God. 

The list still appears an imposing testimony to the 
doctrine that the Body and Blood of Christ are offered 
to the Father in the Eucharist, but on examination the 
testimony vanishes. It will be a startling fact to some 
who have not studied the history of the Roman Canon 
of the Mass to learn that not a single sacrificial phrase 
occurs in it after the prayer which anciently completed 
the consecration of the bread and wine. All these sacri 
ficial terms except the word host occur not merely 
before this prayer, but actually before the words This 
is My Body, 1 which are now regarded as the words of 
consecration. Moreover, all the sacrificial terms before 
This is My Body, except the expression sacrifice of 
praise J are simply names for the bread and wine, 
which all English sovereigns offer at the Coronation 
Eucharist. 

There remains the thrice repeated word 4 host, which 
occurs between the words 6 This is My Body and the 
ancient prayer which completed the consecration. The 
context makes it evident that the word here originally 
meant the bread and wine regarded as likenesses of 
the Body and Blood of Christ, and parallel with the 
bread and wine mentioned in the story of Melchizedek. 1 

1 Dom Aidan Gasquet, who has made every effort to prove that the 
First Prayer Book is heretical, instead of explaining the true meaning 
of this part of the Roman Canon, contents himself with saying that it 
is * admittedly difficult and mysterious (Edward VI. and the Book of 
Common Prayer, p. 210). The solution of the mystery is that the Roman 
Canon teaches the same doctrine as that of the First Prayer Book. 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 101 

Cranmcr omitted this ambiguous and misinterpreted 
phrase, and replaced it by 4 this our sacrifice of praise 
and thanksgiving/ adding to it a mention of the obla 
tion of ourselves, our souls and bodies." When we 
remember that the bread and wine according to the 
First Prayer Hook had already been consecrated so as 
to be the Body and Blood of Christ, the conclusion is 
obvious. It is that the Canon of the Mass in the First 
Prayer Book of FA! ward VI. contains a definite reference 
to the Eucharistic sacrifice as offered after the conse 
cration, whereas the Roman (/anon, rightly interpreted, 
does not contain any such reference. 

Cranmer afterwards denied the fact, but the ques 
tion is not what Cranmer said after the book was 
published, but what was the natural meaning of the 
words which lie wrote. All the bishops affixed their 
signatures to the Prayer Book, except Day of Chiches- 
ter, and they all seem to have used it. Gardiner in 
particular appealed to the Praver Book as teaching 
the doctrines of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Heal 
Objective Presence. The nature of the other services 
contained in the First Prayer Book will be described 
in their proper place. It only remains to consider 
whether the book had the definite sanction of the 
Church of England. 

It is probable that Convocation sanctioned it, but it 
is not quite certain. The records of Convocation were 
burnt in the great fire" of 1666, and therefore we 
have no first-hand evidence. Against the idea that it 
was submitted to Convocation, or even the Convoca 
tion of Canterbury without the Convocation of York, 
is the fact that the Act of Uniformity of 1549 only 
speaks of the authority of the Archbishop of Canter 
bury and certain of the most learned and discreet 
bishops and other learned men/ This must refer to the 
Winolsor Commission, and cannot refer to Convocation. 
Moreover, Heylyn, who was clerk to Convocation in 



102 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the time of Charles I., and was acquainted with the 
records before they were destroyed, knows nothing of 
any action of Convocation in the matter. On the other 
hand, there is the strong assertion made in a letter 
from the King to Bishop Bonner to the effect that the 
uniform order of worship had been 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 said Parliament, and of all others the learned 
men of this our realm in their synods and convocations 
provincial. 11 Other statements made by the Government 
are ambiguous, but there can be no doubt as to the 
meaning of convocations provincial," 1 and there can be 
no doubt that Bonner must have known the truth, and 
that in this case diplomacy could have gained nothing 
by falsehood. 

3. The Triumph of Protestantism. 

The First Prayer Book was not very popular, for the 
simple reason that men do not like to have their form 
of worship suddenly disturbed. Nevertheless we may 
be sure that before long it would have commended 
itself to the piety of the majority of Englishmen, and 
the extreme Reformers were enraged to find that in 
places like S. Paul s Cathedral there was very little 
difference between the new ceremonial and the old. 1 
But the Government was determined to change the 
platform of the First Prayer Book into a slope. In 
spite of the depravity of morals which attended the 
introduction of Calvinist and Zwinglian doctrines, 2 it 

1 In 1549 a book for choir use was published as a companion to the 
Prayer Book, and in 1550 Marbecke published his Book of Common 
Praier Noted, founded on the pre- Reformation plainsong. 

2 Calvin says that man is under the necessity of sinning, and 
Zwingli says that God is the author, mover, and impeller of the sins 
of men. Such doctrine was not calculated to promote holiness. 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 103 

was intended to make the Church of England a 
compound of Calvinism and Zwinglianism. Traheron, 
writing to Bullinger, June 12,1550, savs : Religion 
is indeed prospering, but the wickedness of those who 
profess the gospel is wonderfully on the increase/ 

The prosperity of religion was shown in many 
ways. The Protestant literary propaganda continued. 
In 154-9 there was published, with a dedication to the 
King, A Trag oedie or Dialoge of the un juste usurped 
Primacie of the Bishop of Koine, translated by John 
Ponet, a chaplain of Cranmer, from a work of Bernar 
dino Ochino, a renegade Italian monk, who soon 
afterwards denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The 
book is violent and vulgar, and treats the doctrine 
of free-will as the invention of Lucifer. It is surpassed 
by the scurrilous book entitled The Image of hot he 
Churelu s, written by Halo in 1548, but not printed until 
1550, the Council having apparently delayed its pub 
lication until a suitable moment. About the same 
time was published The K/njritutil and Precious Pearle, 
by Thomas Hecon, who was chaplain both to Somerset 
and Cranmer. The obscene work on the Mass which 
rendered Hecon notorious was not published until 
1559, so that we can charitably hope that (Yanmcr 
chose his chaplain without knowing of what he was 
capable. 

Two other books, both of which had the licence of 
the Government, must be mentioned as intended to 
pave the way for Calvinism. One is a catechism called 
The True Belief e in Christ and Jus Sacramentes, set forth 
in a Dialogue beticene a Christen Father and h ts Sonne, 
verye necessary to he learned of all Men, of what ( .state 
soever they be. It is dedicated to the Duchess of 
Somerset. It teaches the Calvinistic doctrine of 
Predestination, and affirms that the godly, i.e. the 
predestined who believe in Christ, cannot sin unto 
death. The other book is even more important. It 



104 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

is a revision of Tyndale s New Testament, and was 
published in 1552 by Jugge. It is amply supplied 
with notes of a Calvinistic tendency. On Acts xxii. 
we read concerning Baptism that by a figure called 
alloiosis, the same is ascribed unto the outward sign, 
which doth only pertain unto the grace and election of 
God." On S. Luke xxii. we read concerning the Eucha 
rist that the cup doth only represent unto us the New 
Testament, that is to say, the forgiveness of our sins 
that we have in the Blood of Christ. 1 

The doctrines which the Government encouraged 
were actively propagated by the foreign reformers who 
came to dwell in England to escape molestation. The 
most important were Martin Bucer, John a Lasco, and 
Peter Martyr. Bucer came to England in 1549, and 
was made Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. He was 
a learned and, in some respects, an attractive man. 
His views were far more moderate than those of many 
of his contemporaries, and he approved of the First 
Prayer Book, a very few words and acts apart. His 
chief objection was to the ceremonial of the baptismal 
service. He died in February 1551, and the way was 
left clear for the work of Peter Martyr and A Lasco. 
Peter Martyr was a Florentine monk of good birth ; 
he came to England in 1549, and was appointed 
Professor of Divinity at Oxford. In 1548 a tract of 
his which taught a Receptionist theory of the Eucharist 
was translated into English and dedicated to Somerset. 
His doctrine seems to have subsequently tended in a 
Zwinglian direction. He maintained that it was a 
useless repetition to repeat the words of consecration 
* whenever it happens during communion in the Church 
that wine is wanting in the cup. 1 With regard to 
Baptism, he held that it was a sign of a regeneration 
which God had perhaps bestowed previously upon the 
child baptized. He expressly denied that grace is 
1 See Athenatutn, June 1886. 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 105 

conferred by virtue of the Sacraments. He strongly 
objected to the reservation of the Eucharist for the 
sick. He called the Eucharistic vestments relics of the 
Amorites, 1 and was such a fanatic that he thought it 
better for a Protestant child to die unbaptized than 
that it should be bapti/ed by Lutherans. 1 A Lasco 
(in Polish Laski"), a Polish nobleman who lived with 
Cranmer at Lambeth in 1550, held similar views. In 
his book DC Sacramentis Ecclcs iac, which was printed 
in 1552 and dedicated to Edward VI., he describes 
both circumcision and the Passover as Sacraments, 
and regards Sacraments as signs of a grace which is 
bestowed upon the elect previously. 

The protection which was extended by the Govern 
ment to A Lasco and Peter Martvr is therefore of a 
piece with the licence given to Calvinist and Zwinglian 
books. It was determined to destroy root and branch 
every form of Catholic doctrine or any Lutheran 
doctrine which approximated to Catholicism rather 
than to the extreme Protestantism of Switzerland. 
The First Prayer Book was therefore doomed. The 
path was cleared by depriving Gardiner and Heath and 
Day of their bishoprics, and sending Tunstall to the 
Tower on a fictitious charge of treason. Heath had to 
make way for Hooper, who spoke of the Eirst Prayer 
Book as impious in parts, avowed his disbelief in apos 
tolical succession, and taught a naked Zwinglianism, 
putting Baptism on a level with circumcision. 

Cranmer, stirred up by Calvin, summoned to his aid 
the Archbishop of York and the Bishops of London 
and Ely, obtained criticisms from Peter Martyr and 
Bucer, and began to remodel the Prayer Book. In 
April 1552 Parliament passed a statute declaring the 
Eirst Prayer Book to be agreeable to the word of 
God and the primitive Church, but saying that doubts 
had arisen through curiosity, and that therefore the 
1 Strype s Cranmer, iii. ch. xv. 



106 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

book would be explained and made perfect. The 
new book came into use, November 1, 1552, and was 
found to contain very important alterations. In the 
Daily Offices the exhortation, confession, and absolution 
were directed to be said before Morning and Evening 
Prayer. In Baptism, the exorcism, the anointing, the 
putting on of the chrisom or baptismal robe, and the 
triple repetition of the immersion were omitted. In 
the Visitation of the Sick the anointing and the direc 
tion for reserving the Sacrament for the sick were 
omitted. In the Burial Service the more explicit 
prayers for the departed and the Mass for funerals 
were omitted. In the Ordinations the ceremonies of 
delivering the chalice to the priest and the pastoral 
staff to the bishop were omitted. The outward 
aspect of the services was greatly changed by a 
rubric ordering that neither alb, vestment, nor cope 
should be worn ; a bishop was to wear a rochet and a 
priest only a surplice. The word Mass was dropped, 
and the Office for Holy Communion altered into a 
form identical in structure with the present Office, 
although the small changes which have been sub 
sequently introduced have cut through the peculiar 
root of the Communion Service of 1552. 

That root was Cranmer s latest doctrine of the 
Eucharist. 

The actual method of remodelling the Mass was 
apparently suggested by a book of Bishop Gardiner. 
This was An Explication and Assertion of the True 
Catholic Faith touching the most Blessed Sacrament of the 
Altar. It was printed in 1551, and was a criticism of 
Cranmers book on the Eucharist published in 1549. He 
contrasts the teaching of the Book of Common Prayer, 
which he treats as Catholic, with the opinions expressed 
in Cranmer s book. Five points deserve especial notice. 1 

1 Cranmer s Remains, vol. iii. pp. 155, 145, 347, 93, 217 (Oxford 
edit. 1833). 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 107 

(1). Gardiner refers to the prayers offered for the 
living and the dead after the consecration as a proof 
that the Eucharist was still to be regarded as a sacri 
fice offered in their behalf. When the Second Prayer 
Book appeared the prayers for the dead were omitted, 
and the prayers for the living were shifted to a place 
after the Offertory and before the consecration. 

(2). Gardiner asserts that the doctrine of the Real 
Presence is implied in the praver wherein we require 
of God the creatures of bread and wine to be sanctified 
and to be to us the Body and Blood of Christ." In 
the Second Prayer Book this prayer was altered. 

(3). Gardiner thinks that an adoration of Christ s 
Flesh in the Sacrament is implied in the kneeling of 
the priest and the prayer (now called the prayer of 
humble access 1 ), which then stood after the consecra 
tion and before the Communion. In the Second 
Prayer Book this prayer was put before the consecra 
tion. 

(4). Gardiner points out that in the distribution" 
of Holy Communion it is said that the Body and 
Blood of Christ are under the form of bread and 
wine/ In the Sarum Missal the ordinary formula for 
administering was, The Body of our Lord Jesus 
Christ preserve thy soul unto everlasting life. Amen/ 
But in the Mass at which Communion was first given 
to the newly confirmed a stronger formula was em 
ployed : The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve 
thy body and thy soul unto everlasting life. Amen/ 
In the First Prayer Book this latter formula was used 
at every Mass with a short addition. In the Second 
Prayer Book it was expunged and replaced by the 
words : Take, and eat this, in remembrance that 
Christ died for thee, and feed on Him in thy heart by 
faith, with thanksgiving/ 

(5). Gardiner points out that the rubric attached to 
the Mass of 1549 says : And every one [i.e. of the 



108 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

consecrated hosts] shall be divided into two pieces 
at the least, and so distributed, and men must 
not think less to be received in part than in whole, 
but in each of them the whole Body of our Saviour 
Jesus Christ. In the Second Prayer Book this was 
omitted. 

We should notice that the Benedict us and the Agnus 
Dei were omitted. The omission must have been 
dictated by a desire to deny that the Blessed One is 
present in the Sacrament and that He is there to be 
adored as the Lamb of God. The same intention is 
manifested in the Black Rubric appended to the Com 
munion Service of 1552. It is there declared that 
kneeling at Communion does not mean that any 
adoration is done, or ought to be done, either unto the 
Sacramental bread and wine there bodily received, or 
unto any real and essential presence there being of 
Christ s natural Flesh and Blood. For as concerning 
the Sacramental bread and wine, they remain still in 
their very natural substances, and therefore may not be 
adored, for that were Idolatry to be abhorred of all 
faithful Christians. And as concerning the natural 
Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, they are in 
heaven and not here. For it is against the truth of 
Christ s true natural Body, to be in more places than 
in one at one time. This declaration was added by 
the Council of their own accord, against the wishes 
of Cranmer, three days before the stated day of pub 
lication. 

It may be truly urged that the Second Prayer Book 
here and there manifests a desire to retain Catholic 
forms where they might escape notice. It is also true 
that the actual form of the Communion Service, apart 
from the Black Rubric, does not condemn any Catholic 
doctrine, and that the prayer of consecration is pos 
sibly derived from the Catholic Mozarabic rite, either 
directly or indirectly through the German form used 



REFORMATION AND DEFORMATION 109 

in Brandenburg and Niirnberg. 1 And it is probable 
that the book is in some true sense a well-meant com 
promise. Men like Cranmer were perhaps afraid that 
the whole Church of England would break in pieces 
before the attacks of Zwinglians and Anabaptists. They 
may have feared the extreme Protestants more than 
the extreme medievalists, lint the fact remains that 
the Second Prayer Book made it, for the first time, 
possible for adherents of the English Reformation to 
hold fundamentally heretical views with regard to an 
ordinance of Christ, and yet maintain that their views 
were justified by the services of the Church. The 
whole book is also marked by the essentially schis- 
matical principle that a laudable practice of the 
Catholic Church ought to be abolished if it has been 
misused. All experience proves that regulation and 
not abolition is the real cure, and that abolition will 
simply bring about an unreasoning reaction. Queen 
Mary and the English .Jesuits are the answer which 
history has given to King Edward and the Calvinists. 

The Second Prayer Hook received no sanction on 
the part of the Church of England. Its publication 
was a gross breach of faith, as the Council had falsely 
declared in a previous statute of Parliament that it 
was an explanation and perfection of the former 
Order of Common Service." Side by side with the 
revision of the Prayer Book, Cranmer and others were 
engaged on the compilation of Eorty-two Articles of 
Religion . They were published with royal authority 
in May 155 C ^. They carefully deny the doctrine of 
the Real Presence, and when these Articles were 
taken in the reign of Elizabeth as the basis for our 
present Thirty-nine Articles, it was found necessary to 

1 With regard to the actual words of consecration we should note 
that they are practically the same in the First and Second I rayer 
Book. But in the First Book they are connected with a definite 
prayer involving the doctrine of the Real Presence. 



110 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

erase this and numerous other statements of a Pro 
testant character. The Forty-two Articles were not 
sanctioned by the Church of England, but the Council, 
with lying effrontery, published them with a title-page 
asserting that they had been agreed upon by the 
bishops in Convocation. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 

As far as they (which are of the Church of Rome) 
follow reason and truth, we fear not to tread the selfsame 
steps wherein they have ^one, and to le their followers. 
KM iiAHD HOOKAH, Ecclesiastical Polity, lik. v. ch. ~8, 1. 



1. The Elizabethan Settlement. 

IT has been remarked that each of the three royal 
children of Henry VIII. probably intended to follow 
one aspeet of Henry s religious policy. Henry s strong 
opposition to Koine was inherited by Edward VI., who, 
if lie had lived, would probably have reduced the Church 
of England to a Calvinistic sect. Mary was a medi 
evalist bv conviction, but with a stronger leaning 
towards Koine than had been commonly found in 
English sovereigns of the mediaeval period. Elizabeth, 
on the other hand, represented the policy of modera 
tion and reformed Catholicism to which the liturgical 
changes of Henry s reign and The Bishops Hook had 
pointed. The difficulties which confronted her in 
carrying out her policy were enormous. The moderate 
or Anglican party was small in numbers, and modera 
tion was not always united with enthusiasm. The 
mediaeval party was very strong. Edward s excesses 
had caused a decided reaction in favour of mediaeval 
worship, although the reaction was weakened by 

111 



112 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

popular disgust at the brutal persecution of Pro 
testants in the Southern and Eastern counties. One 
extreme theory begets the opposite extreme. 

This was shown by the birth of English Puritanism. 
When Mary began to persecute, there began an exodus 
to the Continent of some hundreds of English priests, 
who found a home in Strassburg, Frankfurt, Zurich, 
and Geneva. At Frankfurt the magistrates allowed 
the English to make use of the same church as the 
French Calvinists. The English chose as their chap 
lain John Knox, who had been ordained in Scotland, 
had become a Protestant about 1545, and had been 
forced to leave Great Britain in 1547 and again in 
1554. A description of the English service (that of 
the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI.) was sent to 
Calvin for his judgment therein. The description 
was drawn up by Knox and others, and was unsympa 
thetic and occasionally contemptuous. The prayer 
for the Church militant is called a long heap and 
mixture of matters," Confirmation is ridiculed, the sign 
of the cross in Baptism and the ring in Marriage are 
severely criticised. Calvin, whose genius had raised 
him to a position where his word was law, replied 
that he saw in the English liturgy many tolerable 
absurdities. 

Some of the exiles, led by Dean Cox, tried to resist 
the influence of Calvin upon their worship. But 
circumstances told heavily upon them, and when the 
exiles returned to England the majority of them had 
learned to believe that the Pope was Anti-Christ, and 
that anything which the Pope allowed in public 
worship was the work of the devil, unless it could be 
proved to possess the sanction of the New Testament. 

Elizabeth was in a most difficult position. But she 
was determined, both by prudence and conviction, to 
espouse the cause of the moderate party. She had no 
love for the Roman see, which regarded her as the 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 113 

offspring of an illegitimate union. She had nothing 
in common with John Knox, who had lately written 
against the monstrosity of a kingdom being ruled by 
a woman, 1 and at the age of fifty-nine himself fell 
a victim to the charms of a girl of seventeen. 
Elizabeth proceeded delicately. Mass according to 
the use of Sarum was still said in the roval chapel, 
although on the Christmas Day of 1558, a little more 
than a month after her accession, she requested Ogle- 
thorpe, Bishop of Carlisle, not to elevate the host, and 
left the chapel because he refused to comply with her 
command. Her conduct on this occasion can only be 
explained on the supposition that she regarded this 
ceremony as necessarily connected with some material 
istic theory of Christ s presence. For she told l)e Eeria, 
the ambassador of Philip of Spain, that 4 she held that 
God was really present in the Sacrament, 1 and her 
action with regard to the Prayer Hook abundantly 
proves that this was her belief. By a proclamation 
issued two days after her quarrel with Oglethorpe, it 
was allowed that the Epistle and the Gospel, the Ten 
Commandments, and the Litany might be said in 
English. On December 27, 1558, all preaching was 
forbidden in order to prevent the spread of dissension. 
The Venetian ambassador of the time records with the 
regrets of a sincere Roman Catholic the changes in the 
Church. He tells us that on Easter Sunday, March 
26, 1559, Mass was sung in English in the Queen s 
chapel according to Edward s Prayer Book with vest 
ments, and that on S. George s Day, April 23, the 
Queen wished to procure and use the magnificent pro 
cessional crosses kept in the Tower (Calendar of State 
Papers, Venetian, 1558-1580, pp. 57, 74). 

The Queen in the meantime asked for the assistance 
of Sir Thomas Smith, a learned lawyer, who drew up 

1 In a tract called The First Blast of the Trumpet against the 
Monstrous Regiment of \Vomcn, and a Second Blast. 

H 



114 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

a document entitled Device for the alteration of 
religion. 1 He advised the appointment of a cabinet of 
councillors who should be made acquainted with the 
Queen s wishes and aid her to select a committee of 
divines to revise the services of the Church. The 
councillors were directed by William Cecil, afterwards 
Lord Burghley, a shrewd and vigorous politician, who 
was disposed to encourage Puritanism. The revision of 
the liturgy was entrusted to Parker, Grindal, Cox, and 
a few others, to be assisted by Sir Thomas Smith. 
Parker was learned, conscientious, and moderate ; Cox 
and Grindal had become infected with Calvinism 
during their Continental travels. 

Parker fell ill, and his place was taken by Guest 
or Geste, afterwards Bishop of Rochester. Sir Thomas 
Smith, as representing the Queen s opinions, advised 
the adoption of the First Prayer Book of Edward VI. 
But the revisers were probably unwilling to alienate 
the Puritan party ; they wished to make concessions, 
and an explanatory letter written by Guest to Cecil 
maintains the principle that, if ceremonies have once 
been taken away as misused, they should not be again 
adopted. When we recollect that it is certain that 
Guest in some confused fashion believed in the doctrine 
of the Real Presence, it is astonishing that in this letter 
he opposes the use of the cross and the chasuble, the 
retention of which ornaments was so intimately con 
nected with that doctrine. He also advises that 
non-communicants should be dismissed before the 
consecration, and attacks the use of prayers for the 
dead. The conclusion of the whole matter was that 
the committee of divines put aside the First Prayer 
Book of Edward VI., and entrusted Parker with the 
disagreeable duty of reconciling the Queen to their 
decision. But the Queen was determined that if she 
accepted the Second Prayer Book she would only 
accept it in a catholicised form. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 11.5 

Elizabeth s first Parliament met on January 25, 
1559. On the 24th, Convocation assembled, and in a 
few days the clergy issued a formal protest against any 
alteration in the existing form of religion. They 
emphasised three points in the doctrine of the Mass; 
also the supremacy of the Tope, and the fact that it 
belongs to the pastors of the Church and not to 
laymen 1 to define doctrine and discipline ecclesiastical. 
Four of these five articles were endorsed by the uni 
versities of Oxford and Cambridge. The House of 
Commons at once declared war against Convocation in 
a bill annexing supremacy to the Crown. This was 
first read on February 15, and on the next day a Uni 
formity Hill for Common Prayer and Administering 
of Sacraments" was read. Knowing the opposition 
of Convocation, the Commons entrenched themselves 
behind the royal supremacy, and left the Uniformity 
Bill alone till the supremacy u as practically secured. 

In the meantime the Queen had directed Heath, 
Archbishop of York, to arrange a public disputation 
between the mediaeval and the reforming parties in 
Westminster Abbey. There were to be not less 
than eight disputants on each side. 

On the mediaeval side there were four bishops 
White of Winchester, Bayne of Lichfield, Scott of 
Chester, Watson of Lincoln; Cole, Dean of S. Paul s; 
Chedsey, Prebendary of S. Paul s; Langdale, Arch 
deacon of Lewes; and Harps field, Archdeacon of 
Canterbury. Feckenham, Abbot of Westminster, 
assisted. 

On the reforming side were Scory, formerly Bishop 
of Chichester; Cox, formerly Deaii of Westminster: 
Horn of Durham, Whitehead, Grindal, Guest, Elmar, 
and Jewel. 

The dispute began on Friday, March 31, 1559. Sir 
Nicolas Bacon came to represent the Crown, and the 
Privy Council sat in the stalls of the monks. The 



116 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

prelates and other disputants sat below them in the 
choir. The Houses of Parliament attended, and the 
abbey was crowded with sightseers. Three subjects 
had been agreed upon for discussion : 

1. It is against the word of God, and the custom of 
the primitive Church, to use a tongue unknown to the 
people in common prayers and administration of the 
Sacraments. 

2. Every particular Church hath authority to insti 
tute, change, and abrogate ceremonies and rites in 
the Church, so that it be to edify. 

3. It cannot be proved by the word of God that 
there is in the Mass offered up a sacrifice propitiatory 
for the quick and the dead. 

We cannot fail to notice that of these three subjects 
only the third is of a strictly doctrinal nature. 
Without the slightest surrender of principle the 
medievalists might have granted the first assertion of 
their opponents. They might after some discussion 
have agreed upon the second, inasmuch as the Churches 
of England, Spain, and Italy had long varied in their 
ceremonies. With regard to the third subject, the 
utmost care was needed in giving a definition of the 
word propitiatory/ For the Mass might either be 
called propitiatory with the idea that each celebration 
of the Mass has a separate propitiatory character of 
its own, or it might be called propitiatory with the 
idea that it commemorates the propitiatory death of 
Christ and pleads before the Father the merits of Him 
Who is the propitiation for our sins. The first of these 
ideas is unscriptural, and the second is scriptural. Both 
ideas had been held in the Middle Ages. 1 

1 A reconciliation between the two parties with regard to the 
Eucharistic sacrifice was not an impossibility. Even Cranmer said of 
the schoolman Peter Lombard that he confirmeth fully my doctrine, 
and his opponent Gardiner said the sacrifice of the Mass was not an 
iteration of the once perfected sacrifice on the cross, but a sacrifice 
that representeth that sacrifice, and showeth it also before the faithful 



TIIK ANGLICAN RESTORATION 117 

When the dispute was opened, Cole argued on behalf 
of the use of the Latin language. His speech was 
foolish in spite of its subtlety. It was impossible to 
convince the audience that to abandon the use of Latin 
involved an act of schism, or that so expressive and 
copious a language as the Knglish could be treated 
as if it were still an inferior and barbarous" idiom 
unsuited for the dignity of divine worship. Unfor 
tunately the disputation only ended in a misunder 
standing. According to the etiquette of the Schools, 
the medievalist party was entitled to speak second 
as opposing the assertions of the other partv. Hut 
when the medievalists met again on the Monday after 
the debate was opened, Sir Nicolas Bacon tried to 
compel them to speak first, an arrangement in which 
they had previously acquiesced. This would have left 
the reformers the advantage of having the last word, 
and the medievalists now declined. Angry protests 
followed, and Bacon pronounced the discussion closed. 

Parliament met a few days later. The Commons 
brought the Supremacy Bill to its final stage, and then 
read the Bill for Uniformity of Worship, April 18, 
1559. The Bill re-established the Second Prayer Book 
of Edward VI., with a few additions, which will be 
described presently. The Commons appear to have 
accepted it without division. The Lords opposed it 
with energy. Two important speeches have been pre 
served. The first is that made by Feckenham, Abbot 
of Westminster, and the second is that of Scott, Bishop 

eyes, and rcfresheth the effectual memory of it. The difference 
between them was partly a difference as to meaning attached to the 
word propitiatory. Gardiner apjK aled to Hebrews xiii. as justifying 
the application of the word propitiatory to all sacrifices accepted by 
God through Christ. Cranmer said that the word could not be so 
applied, because S. Paul and S. John speak of Christ as being the 
propitiation for our sins only by His death. Cranmer admitted that 
Gardiner had some good sparks of the Spirit, but compared him to 
a cow overthrowing her own milk. Answer to Gardiner, Cranmer s 
Remains, vol. iii. p. 540 ff. (Oxford edit. 1833). 



118 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of Chester. Neither of them was conciliatory, for 
neither of them admitted that there was any necessity 
for reform. But both are marked by considerable 
ability. Both fasten upon the Second Prayer Book 
of Edward VI. as denying the doctrine of the Real 
Presence. Scott said no consecration at all is intended 
by it. Feckenham showed how the foreign reformers 
differed among themselves, and how Ridley and Cranmer 
had changed their own opinions. He declared that the 
First Prayer Book affirmed the Real Presence of Christ s 
Body in the Holy Eucharist, while the Second ignored 
it. He spoke of the revolting blasphemy of Pro 
testants who trampled on the Sacrament and hung the 
knave of clubs over the altars in derision. He there 
fore appealed to the lords not to forsake their professed 
religion, which had the confirmation of all Peter s 
successors in the see apostolic/ l 

Feckenham hit hard, but the medievalists over 
estimated their strength. The Bill passed on April 
28, 1559, by a majority of three, and it provided that 
the Prayer Book should come into use on June 24. 

Nine lords spiritual opposed it. In May they ap 
peared before the Queen, and Archbishop Heath 
exhorted her to reconsider her determination. The 
Queen refused to yield, and in the course of the year 
thirteen bishops were deposed. At first sight it may 
seem strange that in the time of Henry the bishops of 
the mediaeval party accepted the royal supremacy with 
so little hesitation, and that almost all the bishops of 
the same party firmly refused to accept the supremacy 
of Elizabeth, who explained her powers in a more con 
ciliatory manner than Henry. 2 The reason is to be 

1 Cardwell, History of Conferences, p. 104. 

2 Queen Elizabeth expressly refused the title Supreme Head of 
the Church which was borne by Henry, Edward VI., and by Mary 
during the first year of her reign. Elizabeth used, on the contrary, 
the title Supreme Governor. We should notice that it is wholly 
inaccurate to say that the royal supremacy, even as asserted by Henry 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 111) 

found in the history of the reign of Edward VI. and in 
the history of the Prayer Book in the time of Edward. 
The bishops loved Home more because they knew 
Geneva better. They preferred 4 the shadow of Peter 
to the gloom of Calvinism, and the authority of a 
distant Pope seemed less tyrannical than the authority 
of a dictating Parliament. Strong in conviction, 
though not in numbers, they withdrew and left the 
field to be occupied by their adversaries. 

When Elizabeth came to the throne there were 
twenty-six sees in England and Wales, exclusive of 
the see of Sodor and Man. Six were then vacant 
through death, and nine more bishops died within a 
few months. It truly seemed as if God was taking 
His kingdom from their hands. 

Parker was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, 
December 17, 1559, and the vacant sees were then 
rapidly filled. Of the eleven surviving Marian bishops, 
Kitchen of Llandafi conformed (died 15()J3), as did 
Stanley of Sodor and Man (died 1570). Goldwell went 
into exile, Poole was left in restricted liberty, and the 
remaining eight were imprisoned until 156 3. The last 
to die were Watson, in 1584, and Goldwell, in 1585. 
They were somewhat roughly treated, but none of 
them suffered the extreme penalty of the law, and it is 
to the lasting credit of Parker, the new primate, that 
he was scolded by Cecil for his leniency to Bishop 
Thirlby and Dean Boxall. 

The Eli/abet han Prayer Book, as sanctioned by the 
Act of Uniformity of 1559, was distasteful to many 
of the reforming party, because it contained certain 
changes which were deliberately intended to include 
the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist. 

VIII., replaced the supremacy of the Pope, either in the sense in which 
the Pope s supremacy was understood then or is now understood. 
Neither Henry nor Elizabeth believed that bishops derive their 
spiritual authority from an earthly sovereign. 



120 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

1. The use of the Eucharistic vestments was restored. 
It was directed that the Minister at the time of the 
Communion, and at all other times in his ministration, 
shall use such ornaments in the church as were in use ~by 
authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign 
of King Edward the VI. The use of the cross, candle 
sticks, and censer would naturally be covered by this 
rule. 1 

2. The priest in administering Holy Communion 
was directed to use, in addition to the words Take 
and eat, etc., and Drink this, etc., the ancient for 
mulae which were traditionally connected with the 
doctrine of the Real Presence, The Body of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, etc., and The Blood of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, etc. 

3. The Black Rubric at the end of the Communion 
Service, which declared that kneeling at the time of 
Communion did not imply adoration unto any real 
and essential presence there being of Christ s natural 
Flesh and Blood, was struck out. 

We may also observe that when the Thirty-nine 
Articles were issued in 1563, the 28th Article was 
carefully altered in such a way as to deny no longer the 
possibility of the Body of Christ being present in many 
places at the same time after a spiritual manner. 

4. There was removed from the Litany the virulent 
prayer for deliverance from the tyranny of the Bishop 
of Rome and all his detestable enormities. 

There were a few minor alterations which hardly 
call for special mention, but improvements of some 
importance were made by appointing a Table of Proper 
Lessons for Sundays, and by directing that Morning 
and Evening Prayer were to be held in the accustomed 

1 A thurifer was appointed at Lincoln Cathedral some time after the 
introduction of the English service, viz. on March 3, 1560. Reports 
of the Architecttiral Societies of Lincoln and Nottingham for 1886 
(Williamson, Lincoln). It is well-known that Bishop Andrewes, who 
had been a chaplain of Elizabeth, used incense during divine service. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 121 

place (i.e. the Choir), whereas the Second Prayer Book 
had said in such place as the people may best hear/ 

The general tendency of these changes is unmistak 
able. They show that the Queen intended to have a 
service which was Catholic although reformed. An 
exceedingly interesting illustration of her religious atti 
tude was shown in September 1559 on the occasion of 
the death of Henry II., King of France. A magnificent 
catafalque was erected in the Cathedral of S. Paul s, 
London, and in the afternoon of September 8 the 
Dirge for the Dead was sung in English by Parker and 
other bishops-elect. On the next morning a solemn 
requiem Mass was sung in English by bishops attired 
in copes, six of the principal mourners communicating. 
If services of this type had been more common, it is 
certain that many of those who eventually threw in 
their lot with the Church of Rome would have lived 
as loyal sons of the Church of England. Indeed, for 
several years many members of this party attended 
their parish churches. All over England the old vicar 
or rector remained in his parsonage and his church. 
Out of more than nine thousand clergy less than three 
hundred repudiated the Reformation. Moreover, Pope 
Pius V ., according to the positive assertion of Sir 
Francis YValsingham, who received the offer from the 
papal nuncio in France, would have declared the 
English Prayer Book to be Catholic, and allowed its 
use, 4 if the Queen would have acknowledged the same 
as received from him/ 1 But the Queen refused, for to 
acknowledge that she received the Prayer Book by the 
Pope s leave would have been to acknowledge that he was 
universal bishop with jurisdiction in England as in Italy. 

Many of the new bishops were not merely Protestant 
but Puritan, men who, instead of enforcing the rubrics 
of the Prayer Book, winked at any ecclesiastical law 
lessness so long as it was not Catholic lawlessness. The 
1 Calendar of State Papers , Foreign, 1569-1571, p. 477. 



122 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Puritans actually taunted the bishops for not wearing 
what the Prayer Book directs, and asked why they did 
not bear the pastoral staff, and why the alb was laid 
aside and the surplice retained. The Protestant section 
of the clergy had their own Bible (the Genevan version), 
with Calvinistic notes, and their own ceremonial, and 
in 1572 they started a Presbyterian organisation of the 
ministry. They began to insert the whole Genevan 
system into the framework of the English Church, and 
agreed that the ceremonies which they disliked 4 ought 
to be omitted, if it may be done without danger of 
being put from the ministry. 1 In 1565 the Dean of 
Christ Church, Oxford, signalised himself by wearing 
a hat with his gown instead of a square cap, and 
refusing to communicate kneeling in wafer-bread. It 
should be explained that wafer-bread was expressly 
directed to be used in Elizabeth s Injunctions of 
1559, and its use was constantly enforced by Parker. 
The Puritan resistance to the law was even more 
vehement in Cambridge than in Oxford, and the 
country reflected the opinion of the Universities. In 
1566 Parker, after interviewing the Queen, sent to 
Cecil a copy of so-called Advertisements, in which an 
attempt was made, not indeed to enforce the full cere 
monial of the Prayer Book, but to enforce such a mini 
mum as was necessary to terminate the prevailing chaos. 
Even then thirty-seven of the London clergy refused 
to conform, against sixty-one who promised to obey. 
Probably the recalcitrants knew that their bishop, 
Grindal, was reluctant to enforce conformity, and we 
read that the infuriated Queen once rated him soundly, 
and threatened to punish him for an anabaptist. 2 

1 See Dr. Paget, Introduction to the Fifth Book of Hooker s Ecclesi 
astical Polity, p. 67. 

2 An instance of the manner in which some of these bishops con 
tinued the worst abuses is to be found in the fact that Davyes, Bishop 
of S. Asaph, instituted Philip Sydney to the parsonage of Whitford 
when Sydney was ten years old. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 123 

The nonconformists within the Church wore so far 
successful that the legal ceremonial of the Church fell 
into wide disuse. They would have been greatly 
astonished if they could have learned that in the 
nineteenth century their disuse of the ornaments en 
joined in 1559 would be considered a proof that such 
ornaments were inconsistent with the spirit of the 
Church of England. 

The Queen, who was never a deeply religious woman, 
robbed the Church so unmercifully that it was not 
always possible to maintain the outward splendour of 
God s service. Yet there never faded from her eyes 
the attraction of that type of worship which originally 
appealed to her conscience. She used to perform on 
Maundy Thursday the ritual of the washing of the 
feet of the poor, much as it is still performed at the 
royal court of Spain. And, in spite of the Puritans, 
the Eucharist continued to be celebrated in the royal 
chapel with the pomp which she thought fitting for the 
King of kings. The crucifix was sometimes placed 
upon the altar, the celebrant, deacon, and sub-deacon 
wore their sumptuous copes, tapers stood upon the 
altar, censers were retained, wafer-bread was still used 
for the Communion, and the Queen received the chalice 
not with bare hands, but with a houselling cloth 
4 moste princely" 1 held at the ends by four noble earls. 

Here must end our account of the Elizabethan 
settlement of the English Book of Common Prayer. It 
is a settlement which gained from the Church of Eng 
land simply the approval of acquiescence. It was not 
at the time formally sanctioned. As in the days of 
Catholic unity the civil power made short work of the 
rites of Paris and Toledo, so the civil power now brushed 
away the rites of Sarum and Hereford. A true estima 
tion of such changes cannot be based upon the authority 
which made them, but only upon the reasons for which 
they were made. 



124 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

The Latin Prayer Book as used in the reign of 
Elizabeth is of some importance, although it did not 
receive the express and formal sanction of the Church. 
In 1551 Alexander Ales or Alane, a Scottish divine, 
published a Latin translation of the First Prayer Book 
of Edward VI. The translation is inaccurate, and in 
some cases shows a return to the language of the 
mediaeval books. In the rubrics greater clearness is 
sometimes attained by a reference to current practice. 
For instance, the rubric the priest, or he that is 
appointed, shall read the Epistle, 1 is paraphrased the 
priest or sub- deacon"; and 6 the priest, or one appointed 
to read the Gospel, 1 becomes the priest or deacon. 
The rubric directing the preparation of the elements is, 
Then shall the priest place so many hosts [hostias] on 
the chalice or corporal, 1 where the English has so 
much bread. 1 The second clause of the concluding 
blessing at the Mass is omitted, and, for some reason 
which it is difficult to explain, there is no mention of 
anointing after putting on the chrisom at Baptism. 

In 1560 another Latin version was published by 
Walter Haddon, with the authority of the letters 
patent of Elizabeth. The book was intended to be 
used in college chapels. It was based upon that of 
Ales, and shows a strong Catholic tendency. The 
Calendar is very copious, having the name of a saint 
for almost every day of the year. The word Missa for 
Mass is replaced by Coena, but an explicit direction is 
given for the reservation of the Sacrament for the 
communion of the sick, according to the primitive 
custom of the Christian Church the priest at the 
Supper shall reserve so much of the Sacrament as shall 
suffice for the sick man : and immediately after the 
Supper is finished, together with some of those who are 
present, he shall go to the sick man and Jirst com 
municate with those [in modern English communicate 
those ] who stand by the sick man and were present at 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 125 

the Supper, and lastly icith the Infirm man. Here we 
have a plain direction both for reservation of the 
Sacrament and for a non-communicating attendance at 
the Supper by those who afterwards communicate with 
the sick man. Equally remarkable is the fact that 
provision is made for a celebration of the Eucharist at 
funerals. The Collect is the original form of the 
present second Collect at the end of our Burial Service. 
The Epistle is 1 Thessalonians iii. 13-18; the Gospel 
is S. John vi. 37-40, or S. John v. 24-29. 

In spite of the discrepancies between this book and 
the English Prayer Book of 1559, the Latin book is in 
evident agreement with the Queen s religious senti 
ments. It met with considerable opposition, and 
another Latin version much more closely resembling 
the English was published in 1571. 

It is probable that Haddon s version of the Prayer 
Book was intended not only to be used in college 
chapels, but also in those parishes in Ireland where the 
English language was not understood. The Church 
of Ireland did not use the Eirst Prayer Book of 
Edward VI. until Easter 1551, when it was introduced 
in the cathedral of Christ Church, Dublin. No effort 
was made to transfer the book of 1552 to Ireland, 
where, indeed, very few priests understood English. 
The Sarum Missal was employed again in Ireland from 
the death of Edward VI. until August 30, 1559, when 
the English Litany was sung in Christ Church Cathedral. 
In January 1560 the Irish Parliament passed an Act 
of Uniformity authorising the Book of Common Prayer 
which had been put forth in England. As there was 
no Irish printing-press yet provided, and few of the 
people who spoke Irish could read the Irish letters, 
permission was given to say common and open prayer 
in the I^atin tongue, and there is good proof that 
Latin was used. 

It is said that the New Testament was translated 



126 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

into Irish by Archbishop Fitz Ralph in the fourteenth 
century. A translation of it was begun by Nicholas 
Walsh, Bishop of Waterford (1577-1585), assisted by 
others, and completed by William CVDonnell, Arch 
bishop of Tuam. It was printed in 1602, with a 
dedication l to James I. The same prelate published 
the Prayer Book in Irish, 1608-1609. The translation 
of the Old Testament was commenced by Bishop 
Bedell, an Englishman. It appeared in 1685. 
Bedell s sympathy with the Irish language won him 
the gratitude of the Irish and the contempt of many 
of his friends. The failure of the Reformation in 
Ireland, and the consequent strength of Roman 
Catholicism in those countries to which the Irish have 
migrated, are largely due to the neglect of this rich 
and beautiful language by the clergy. In 1834, when 
multitudes of Irishmen conversed almost entirely in 
Irish, Archbishop Trench of Tuam affirmed that, with 
the exception of his own brother, he had not one 
clergyman in his diocese proficient in Irish. 

The Bible was translated into Welsh in 1588 by 
William Morgan, Bishop of S. Asaph, and others. A 
previous translation of the New Testament by Sales- 
bury appeared in 1567, and a translation of the Prayer 
Book in the same year by the same author. 

2. The Development of the Seventeenth 
Century. 

James I. having lived among Presbyterians in 
Scotland, the English Puritans made the mistake of 

1 If the date is correct, it must have been issued on the first day of 
his reign, March 24 (Old Style). The next day was 1603. The 
preface says that Elizabeth had provided Irish characters for the press 
in the hope that God would raise up some one to translate the New 
Testament. The title is Tiomna Nuadh ar Dtighearna agus ar 
Slanajghtheora Josa Criosd, air na tarruing ... as Greigis gu 
gaoidheilg re Huilliam o Domhnuill. It was reprinted in 1681. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 127 

supposing that he would be favourable to their in 
terests. But the general state of piety in Scotland 
was better calculated to prejudice a shrewd observer 
against the established religion than in its favour, and 
James disliked Presbyterianism heartily. Moreover, 
edueated opinion in the Church of England was begin 
ning to crystal lise. A school was growing which saw 
that the English Reformation had a genius of its own 
and implied a continuity with the period before the 
Reformation. The Puritans wished to destroy this 
continuity. The Jesuits ami the Roman priests who 
came over to England from the seminary at Douai 
were at one with the Puritans in their endeavour to 
blacken the character of the English Church. The 
Puritan party said that it was saturated with Popery ; 
the Roman party said that it was not Popish enough. 
Both agreed that it was to be destroyed if possible. 
It is also worth noticing that the Jesuits, in their 
endeavour to be as Roman as possible, not only 
quarrelled with some of the old English Roman 
Catholics, but also joined with the seminarists in 
endeavouring to supplant the Sarum Service Books 
with new Roman books. 1 The result of this double 
opposition was that the Church of England began 
to consolidate itself, and there was little chance of 
any surrender to either Protestant or Romanist. - 

In order to fully appreciate the aims of the Puritans, 
we must not only remember that determined opposition 
to the comely ceremonies of the Church and to the 
primitive doctrine of the Sacraments which we have 

1 The reformed Roman Missal was introduced into England in 1577 ; 
the Roman Ritual for occasional Offices in 1615. 

2 The nature of the Roman and Puritan alliance against the Church 
of England was as well recognised in the seventeenth century as it is 
now. Archbishop Bramhall, replying to a Romanist, says that the 
Presbyterians, Brownists, and Independents have done you more 
service in England than ever you could have done for yourselves. 
Works, Tome I, Discourse i. 



128 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

already noticed, but remember their absolute denial 
that God offers salvation to all men through Christ, 
their denial of the existence of any Catholic Church 
except an invisible Church composed of the elect, and 
their tyrannical narrowness. Puritans were not all 
cast in the same mould, for there were some whose 
faith was simple and robust, as well as others who 
were cunning and ferocious. But it is impossible to 
palliate the fact that Cartwright, the apostle of 
English Puritanism, asserted that false teachers 1 
ought to be killed according to the law of Deuter 
onomy xiii. adding if this be bloody and extreme, I 
am content to be so counted with the Holy Ghost. 

The demands of the Puritans of the time of James I. 
were comparatively moderate, but no one who under 
stands their system can believe that Puritanism would 
have remained contented with anything short of 
absolute predominance. The earliest measure adopted 
by them was to present to the King in April 1603 the 
famous Millenary Petition, so called from the great 
number of signatures attached to it. The Puritan 
demands, as stated in this petition, or as subsequently 
modified, were as follows : 

1. That the cross in Baptism and kneeling at Holy 
Communion should be dispensed with. 

2. That private persons, men or women, should not 
be allowed to baptize. 

3. That Confirmation should be abolished or altered 
into a mere blessing by the bishop or every ordinary 
pastor." 

4. That the ring in marriage, bowing at the Name 
of Jesus, and the reading of the Apocrypha in church 
should be abolished. 1 

5. That the term priest 1 should be abolished. The 
forms of absolution were also disliked. 

1 Many of the Bibles of this period now in the British Museum have 
the Apocrypha torn out by Puritan owners. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 120 

6. That the wearing of the surplice and cap should 
not he compulsory. 

7. That the clergy should preach at least once every 
Sunday. 

The Puritans wore also much dissatisfied with the 
Thirty-nine Articles as not sanctioning Calvinism ; and 
they desired to limit the jurisdiction of the bishop, 
so as to approach the Presbyterian model of Church 
government. 

James granted a conference, which met at Hampton 
Court in January 1(501. The most important Puritans 
were Dr. Kainolds and Dr. Sparkes. The Church was 
represented bv Archbishop Whitgift ; Bishop Bancroft, 
a staunch upholder of Kpiscopacv ; Deans Andrewes 
and Overall, both of them pillars of Catholic- theology, 
with others. 

It was a foregone conclusion that the Church could 
not gratify its Roman Catholic- and Puritan opponents 
by changing itself into a decorated form of Presby- 
terianism. And the frivolity of some of the objections 
made by the Puritans caused the bishops in their 
by-talk" 1 to recall the saving of Master Butler of 
Cambridge, * A Puritan is a Protestant frayed out of 
his wits/ But the bishops made 1 a few concessions 
which involved no desertion of principle. Thus, a new 
lesson was appointed for August 2(j, instead of the 
story of Bel and the Dragon. Into the 1 title of the 
Absolution were inserted the words or Remission of 
Sins/ The title of the Confirmation Service was 
expanded so as to explain the meaning of the 1 service. 
Baptism by the laity was discouraged by altering the 
rubrics of the Office for Private Baptism, and in this 
wav greater security was made for the correct adminis 
tration of the rite. Thanksgivings for rain, fair 
weather, etc., were also added, and a prayer for the 
Royal Family was placed after the prayer for the 
King. 



130 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

A far more important result of the Hampton Court 
Conference was the addition to the Catechism of the 
portion on the Sacraments. This portion appears to 
have been written by Overall. It strongly asserts the 
Catholic doctrine of Baptism and the Lord s Supper. 
Wheatly appeals to the Catechism as teaching a belief 
in the Real Presence, and this belief is testified by the 
scrupulously careful distinction made therein. Baptism 
is described as comprising two things : the outward sign 
and the inward grace. The Lord s Supper is described 
as comprising three things : the outward sign, the 
inward part, and the benefits whereof we are partakers 
thereby. The inward part is defined as the Body and 
Blood of Christ. 

Lastly, the Hampton Court Conference resulted in 
the issue of a royal decree for an authorised translation 
of the Bible. This was proposed by Rainolds. The 
King was enough of a scholar to be charmed with the 
idea, and all preliminaries were set on foot by July 22, 
1604 Why Rainolds made the proposal is a mystery. 
In 1557 a Puritan translation of the New Testament by 
Whittingham, afterwards Dean of Durham, was pub 
lished at Geneva. And in 1560 appeared the famous 
Genevan Bible, 1 with which the Calvinists had every 
reason to be satisfied. It was terse, scholarly, and 
convenient. The notes were Calvinistic, and after 
1579 it was bound up with a strongly Calvinistic 
Catechism. One hundred and sixty editions of it were 
published between 1560 and the Civil Wars, and the 
book was the very fountain-head of English Protestant 
ism. A rival Anglican translation, The Bishops Bible, 
appeared in 1568. The work was uneven, and the 
book was cumbersome. Moreover, the notes were 
sometimes tainted with Genevan theology, and the 
illustrations tainted with pagan morality. The book 

1 This is otherwise known as the Breeches Bible, because in Genesis 
ii. 7 it has breeches instead of aprons. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 131 

was a comparative failure, though its translation of 
the New Testament was afterwards emended. Next 
came the clever version of the English Romanists, 
which was mainly the work of Gregory Martin, for 
merly a scholar of S. John s College, Oxford. It is an 
able work, hut the style shows a too slavish adherence 
to the Latin. The New Testament was published at 
Rheims in 1582, in which year Martindied, and the 
Old Testament was published at Douai by Dr. 
Worthington in 1()09. It has since been revised, 
and remains the ordinary Bible of English-speaking 
Romanists. It was carefully studied by the writers of 
the incomparable Authorised Version, which appeared 
in 1611. 

Before the close of the reign of James I. the position 
of the Church of England began to be appreciated and 
admired. The serene and holy life of Bishop Andrewes, 
his learning, his courtesy, his intelligent devotion to 
Catholic truth and worship, gave to the Church a new 
attraction and a new ascendency. 

The reign of Charles I. was marked by the propaga 
tion of those principles which Overall and Andrewes 
had maintained. The movement was headed by the 
King himself and Archbishop Laud, a man who was a 
munificent patron of learning and devotedly attached 
to the Church of England, although less generous in 
his methods than wise in his doctrines. He assisted 
some Scottish bishops in bringing into Scotland, in 
16&lt;37, a liturgy approximating to the First Prayer 
Book of Edward VI. The book met with furious and 
irrational opposition. It was of course denounced as 
Popish/ a fact which will not weigh much with any 
modern reader who is aware that the Scottish Presby 
terians had previously denounced university degrees as 
* Popish/ Laud failed and died. If he had chosen to 
purchase his life by the sacrifice of his conscience, it 
would have been the Church of England that would 



132 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

have failed. But the Church survived because Laud s re 
ligious principles triumphed. In spite of his faults, he 
had made it practically impossible for any clergyman 
of the English Church to teach that God has eternally 
appointed the reprobation and damnation of the 
majority of mankind, and doth not only appoint the 
ends, but the means, tending to the same. 1 

Parliament in 1645 forbade the use of the Prayer 
Book in any church in England or Wales, and sup 
planted it by a work called A Directory for the Publique 
Worship of God throughout the Three Kingdoms. 
Another ordinance of Parliament prohibited the use of 
the Prayer Book even in private, and severe fines were 
imposed on its use. The churches were violated by 
unseemly acts of vandalism, and respectable clergymen 
were ejected from their benefices by thousands. The 
English Puritans purchased the military assistance of 
the Scottish Presbyterians by abolishing Episcopacy, 
and for fifteen years the Church was deprived of all 
legal rights, and Presbyterianism reigned in its stead. 

When Charles II. was recalled in 1660, it was only 
natural that the Prayer Book should be restored. 
Puritanism was very unpopular, and the nation had 
very little sympathy with a religion which prohibited 
the observance of Christmas Day, and Avould not permit 
a prayer to be said by the graveside of the departed. 
Nevertheless the Presbyterian ministers assured the 
King that the revival of the Prayer Book would give 
great offence. Seeing that its revival was a certainty, 
they petitioned that it might be revised. Their re 
quest was granted, and on April 15, 1661, a conference, 
composed of twelve bishops and twelve Presbyterian 
divines, met at the Bishop of London s lodgings in The 
Savoy Hospital in the Strand. The Anglicans most 
remembered by posterity were John Cosin, Bishop of 
Durham, and Dr. Pearson, who was one of the 
1 From the note in the Genevan Bible on Deuteronomy ii. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 133 

coadjutors of the bishops; while the most famous of 
the Puritans were Edmund Calamv, and Richard 
Baxter, a good man who committed the strategical 
blunder of telling his colleagues that they were bound 
to ask for everything that they thought desirable. 

They certainly asked for a great deal, for the list of 
their objections to the Prayer Book is enormous. A 
few of their proposals were perfectly reasonable, such 
as their wish for a direction that the celebrant should 
4 break " the bread, and their proposed alteration of 
the two obsolete English phrases of the Marriage 
Service, 4 with my body I thee worship," and 4 till 
death us depart." And much might be said for their 
dislike to the indiscriminate use of the words in sure 
and certain hope of resurrection in the Burial Service 1 , 
and their plea for an enlargement of the ministers 
authority to repel intending communicants. We can 
only smile at the perverted sacerdotalism of their 
suggestion that the congregation should take no out 
ward share in public psalms and prayers beyond saying 
Amen, or at the folly of desiring that the Litany 
should be transformed into one- long prayer by the 
minister. But we must admit that they fastened with 
unerring accuracy upon all the distinctively Catholic 
features in the Prayer Book. They not only brought 
forward the musty objections to the ring and the 
surplice and the sign of the cross, but also protested 
against the whole sacramental system of the Church. 
They did not wish all the baptized to be called regene 
rate, and wanted the Catechism to be so altered as to 
imply that there was no visible Catholic Church into 
which the baptized were admitted. They protested 
that the laying on of hands in Confirmation by a 
bishop must not be grounded upon the custom of the 
apostles, and that the rite of Confirmation seemed to 
imply that Confirmation is a Sacrament. They dis 
liked the sacramental character attributed to marriage 



134 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

in the words which assert that Christ 4 consecrated the 
state of matrimony to such an excellent mystery."* 
They wished the absolution in the Visitation oftlieSick 
to be altered. They assailed the Catholic doctrine of 
the Communion of Saints by objecting to the observ 
ance of saints days, and by requesting that a rubric 
should be inserted in the Burial Service to the effect 
that the prayers are not for the benefit of the dead, 
but only of the living. Finally, they desired the 
notorious Black Rubric of 1552 to be inserted again, 
and the Ornaments Rubric of 1559 to be omitted. 

The bishops, however, were resolute. They made a 
large number of small changes, but retained everything 
which implied the doctrines which the Presbyterians 
disliked. Many of the more important changes were 
merely matters of convenience. 

Such, for instance, was the use of the Authorised 
Version of 1611 in all parts of the Prayer Book where 
familiarity with Cranmers version had not made change 
almost impossible. The result is that the Psalter, the 
Decalogue, and the sentences from Scripture in the 
Communion Service still remain in their old form, 
while the Epistles and Gospels are from the Authorised 
Version. A separate Office was added for the Baptism 
of Adults, and the Catechism was separated from the 
Confirmation Service. A new Preface to the Prayer 
Book was prefixed to the original Preface (1549). 

Many of the changes, however, were made with the 
plain intention of emphasising the Catholic character 
of the revision : 

1. The doctrine of the priesthood of the clergy was 
more distinctly marked. The absolution was definitely 
directed to be pronounced by a priest instead of a 
minister, and in the Litany the petition for bishops, 
pastors, and ministers was henceforth to be made for 
4 bishops, priests, and deacons. 1 The old form used in 
the consecration of a bishop, Take the Holy Ghost, 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 135 

and remember that thou stir up the grace of God 
which is in thee by imposition of hands, was altered 
in such a manner as to make it absolutely clear that 
a bishop at his consecration is admitted to a grade 
higher than that of a priest. A similar alteration was 
made in the words used in the ordination of priests. 
These changes were made, not because the old forms 
were invalid, but in order to repudiate openly the 
Presbvterian theory that a bishop and a priest are 
essentially the same. 

2. Although the more explicit prayers for the 
departed were not restored, the prayer for the Church 
militant was enriched by a thanksgiving for those 
who have departed in the fear and faith of God. 

3. The Presbyterians, inasmuch as they did not 
believe in a r/ .v / /&gt;/&lt; Catholic Church, had tended to 
use the word congregation instead of Church." 1 In 
four places the revisers altered the word congregation 
into Church " to prevent any misconstruction being 
put upon their words. 

4. In the Communion Service the word oblations * 
was introduced into the praver for the Church militant 
to signify the alms or the unconsecrated elements as 
dedicated to God ; it was expressly directed that 
the celebrant should break * the bread ; T and that the 
remainder of the Sacrament should be covered with 
a fair linen cloth. 

5. In order to prevent the irreverence of Puritanical 
clergymen who had been guilty of removing the Sacra 
ment to their houses for the purpose of consuming 
it like ordinary food, a new rubric was added bearing 
a strong resemblance to a mediaeval canon. It directs 
that if any remain of that which was consecrated 

1 It has already been noticed that the Fraction or breaking of the 
bread was of great importance in all ancient liturgies. The omission 
of any direction to do this in the earlier editions of the Prayer Book 
appears to be due to an oversight. 



136 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

. . . the priest and such other of the communicants 
as he shall then call unto him, shall, immediately 
after the Blessing, reverently eat and drink the same. 1 
In recent times this rubric has been interpreted as a 
prohibition of reservation of the Sacrament for the 
sick, but there appears to be no evidence to show that 
any such prohibition was intended. 

6. The above-mentioned alterations, like the altera 
tions made in the time of Elizabeth, restore part of 
what had been lost during the reaction under Edward 
VI. But it has been supposed that these restorations 
are balanced by the insertion of the Black Rubric at 
the end of the Communion Service, although the 
bishops did not originally wish it to be inserted. This 
rubric, which first appeared in the Second Prayer Book 
of Edward VI., appears to have been aimed directly 
against any doctrine of the Real Presence. It ran 
thus : We do declare that it is not meant thereby 
[i.e. by kneeling] that any adoration is done, or ought 
to be done . . . unto any real and essential presence 
there being of Christ s natui-al Flesh and Blood. 
On its re-introduction in the time of Charles II. it 
was worded, unto any corporal presence of Christ s 
natural Flesh and Blood. This change is peculiarly 
significant of the spirit of the last revision of our 
Prayer Book. For the rubric in its original form was 
intended as a protest against the whole Catholic doc 
trine of the Eucharist. In its present form it is merely 
a protest against the vulgar superstition that Christ s 
Body is present in a materialistic fashion. It is plain 
that the alteration would not have been made if it was 
not meant to sanction the doctrine that Christ is really 
and essentially present in the Sacrament. 1 

1 It has not been sufficiently noticed that the conclusion of the 
rubric, so far from containing an essentially Protestant doctrine, 
exactly agrees with S. Thomas Aquinas, Quodlib. Quaest. Lib. in. 
q. i. a. 2. The change in the rubric was suggested by Dr. Gunning. 



THE ANGLICAN RESTORATION 17 

This Prayer Book was adopted by the Church in 
Convocation on December ,0, KJCl ; and the use of it 
was enforced by an Act of Uniformity which received 
the royal assent on May 19, !()(). 

It should be noticed that Elizabeth s Act of Unifor 
mity (1559) was included in the Contents of the 
Prayer Hook revised and signed by Convocation. Even 
if it cannot be argued from this fact that the Church 
gave sy nodical sanction to the Act, it can be argued 
that Convocation was ready to accept it. The Act 
was in no way adverse to any Catholic doctrine or the 
fit use of Catholic ornaments. 

An attempted revision of the Prayer Hook was made 
in 1CS9, in the reign of William III. The King, being 
a Dutch Calvinist, desired that an agreement should 
be made between the Church of England and Pro 
testant Dissenters. A Commission was issued to ten 
bishops and twenty divines to prepare alterations in 
the Liturgy and Canons. The proposed alterations 
were extremely numerous. A few are prudent, such as 
a petition in the Litany * by Thy continual intercession 
at the right hand of God/ and a proposed note to the 
clause in the Nicene Creed c Wno proceedeth from 
the Father and the Son It is humbly submitted to 
the Convocation whether a note ought not here to be 
added with relation to the Greek Church, in order to 
our maintaining Catholic communion. 1 The Collects 
are stupidly expanded so as to resemble extempore 
prayers, the word "priest is altered to minister, and 
even the surplice is rendered optional. The doctrine 
of baptismal regeneration is apparently retained, and 
a conditional re-ordination of Presbyterian ministers 
is made necessary. They are to be ordained by a 
bishop without being compelled to deny the validity 
of their former ordinations. Hut most of the proposed 
changes are strangely inconsistent with the idea of 
4 Catholic communion. 



138 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

1. In the Communion Service a second form of con 
secration is provided, in which the mention of the 
partaking of Christ s most blessed Body and Blood is 
omitted. Kneeling at Holy Communion is rendered 
optional. 

2. The mention of private absolution is omitted in 
the first exhortation in the Communion Service. 

3. The Confirmation Service is so modified as to 
suggest that Confirmation does not mean a bestowal of 
the gifts of the Holy Ghost, but a confirmation by 
the candidates of what was promised in their name at 
Baptism, and a prayer for their continuous strengthen 
ing by the Holy Ghost. 

4. The rule for the daily recitation of Morning and 
Evening Prayer is relaxed ; Holy Communion is ordered 
to be once a month in large parishes, and at least four 
times in the year in smaller parishes. It is only fail- 
to add that this proposal with regard to Holy Com 
munion was in harmony with the practice of many 
devout Anglicans. 

The Commission did not venture to lay these altera 
tions before Convocation, and the revision was a fiasco. 
But it has left behind it a valuable lesson. It proves 
that the latitudinarian Commission which made the 
proposals, and the Convocation which was prepared 
to reject them, were agreed that the Prayer Book is 
steeped in doctrine which 4 Protestant Dissenters could 
not conscientiously accept. 



CHAPTER VI 

MOUNINCi AND KVKNINC; 1 KAYKK 

\\ e two will stand beside that shrine 

Orrult, withheld, untrnd, 
Whose lamps are stirred continually 

With prayer sent up to (iod ; 
And see our old prayers, granted, melt 

Karh like a little "cloud! 

Introductory. 

TIIK whole history of Morning Prayer, otherwise called 
Mattins, and of Evening 1 raver, otherwise called 
Vespers or Evensong, is one of great difficulty and 
interest. In no country have these services passed 
through such a complicated history as in England, and 
in no country have they kept so strong a hold upon 
the affections of the people. Not that we can permit 
ourselves to suppose that the modern English treat 
ment of Mattins is satisfactory. Some devout people 
never attend the service at all, while a large number 
attend it every Sunday, and only attend the Eucharist 
occasionally. This strange perversion of the laws of 
Christian worship has chieHy been caused by the ignor 
ance and slackness of the parochial clergv, who first 
postponed Sunday Mattins, which used to be said 
before the congregation had their breakfast, until after 
breakfast, and then late in the eighteenth century 
began the practice of saying Mattins on Sunday at 



140 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

eleven o clock. A well-authenticated tradition ascribes 
the origin of eleven o clock Sunday Mattins l in the 
parish churches of London to the Rev. James Townley 
(1714-1778). He held various city preferments; he 
also wrote farces and was a friend of Garrick. He 
rendered the service in the style of that eminent 
tragedian, and postponed Mattins until eleven, in order 
that his fashionable admirers might have time to drive 
from what was then the west end of London. The 
result of choosing this late hour for Mattins has made a 
subsequent attendance at the Holy Eucharist a great 
difficulty to many Christian people, and it is a cause 
of congratulation that an earlier hour has been kept 
in some parochial and cathedral churches, as well as in 
the colleges of our universities. 

Throughout the Middle Ages, even in the darkest 
periods, our ancestors generally endeavoured to hallow 
Sunday by attending Morning and Evening Prayer as 
well as Holy Mass. The Anglo-Saxons were familiar 
with Uhtsang and Evensang, and of William the 
Conqueror it is said by Robert of Gloucester (A.D. 
1270)- 

c for him none day abide 

That he heard not Mass and Mattins and Evensong, and each 
tide. 

In the fourteenth century Langland represents Sloth 
as failing to hear matynes and masse, and in 1532 
Sir Thomas More complained that many laymen will 
not rise in time to hear out their Mattins before 
breakfast. But the practice of attending Mattins was 
still quite common. The hour of Mattins varied. In 
some monastic churches Mattins were sung before 
retiring to bed ; in other places they were sung before 
daybreak, according to the primitive custom. It is 

1 Week-day Mattins were occasionally said in London at eleven as 
early as 1714, but they were preceded by earlier Mattins at six. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER I II 

probable that 6 or 7 A.M. were general hours. 1 In 
1547, before the introduction of the reformed ser 
vices, Ilolgate, Archbishop of York, directed that 
Mattins should be sung in York minster at (j A.M. or 
7 A.M. according to the time of year. High Mass 
throughout the vear being at J) A.M. In the cathe 
dral church of Aberdeen Mattins were sung at (i A.M. 
both summer and winter. After the restoration of 
Charles II. six and seven were the hours kept for 
Mattins both at Canterbury and Worcester; the 
Litany, followed by the Communion Service, he-gin 
ning at 10 A.M. 

The earliest hour at which Morning Prayer has been 
said in England since the Reformation is probably 
5 A.M., which was the usual week-day hour for Morning 
Prayer in London churches during the reign of (^Hieen 
Kli/abeth. In til a few years ago the bells of some 
of the "city churches" were still rung at this early 
hour. 

The form of Mattins and Evensong now used in the 
Church of Kngland is a lengthened form of the services 
which appeared in 1549 in the First Prayer Hook of 
Edward VI. The origin of these beautiful services 
which Cranmer edited cannot be understood without 
a careful consideration of the history of the forms of 
daily Christian worship which were not included in the 
Eucharist. For the sake of convenience we may divide 
the history of this worship as follows : 

1. Before the Coming of S. Augustine. 

From the earliest times it appears that the Christians 
consecrated to prayer, either public or private, (1) the 
last moments of the night, the time between cock-crow 

1 In the house of King Edward IV. Mass was said in the hall at 
six, at seven Mattins were said in chapel, and a Mass was sung by 
children at nine. 



142 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and sunrise, and (2) the time of gloaming, when the 
sun disappeared and the lamps in the house were 
lighted. Here then we see the beginning of Mattins 
and Evensong. But besides these two hours of prayer, 
Jewish tradition and the story of the Bible indicated 
certain other hours. Daniel prayed three times a day, 
and in the Acts of the Apostles we find the Christians 
observing three hours of prayer. At nine o clock the 
apostles were met together when the Holy Spirit 
descended upon them ; at twelve o^clock Peter goes to 
pray on the flat roof of the house at Joppa ; at three 
o clock Peter and John enter the temple to offer 
prayer. These hours marked the principal divisions 
of the day in the first century of the Christian era ; and 
at the close of the second century we find these three 
hours of the day recognised as times of prayer by 
Clement, the great Christian philosopher of Alexandria, 
and by Tertullian, the fervid Christian writer of Car 
thage. It is probable that the five hours of daily 
prayer which have been mentioned were only observed 
in private, and were quite voluntary. 

The Sunday service stands on a different level. The 
Jews had a tradition that the Messiah would come at 
midnight as the destroying angel came at the time when 
the first Passover was celebrated in Egypt. The early 
Christians on Easter even remained in prayer until 
cock-crow on Easter morning, expecting the return of 
Christ to earth. This primitive observance of Easter 
even formed a model for the observance of the eve of 
every Sunday. In the first chapter of this book we 
noticed how the Christians of the apostolic age met on 
Saturday night. In theory the Saturday night service 
was a continuous service lasting all night, and the old 
Greek name (Trai/z/u^t?, all-night service) proves this. 
But as a general rule the Christians devoted to prayer 
only a period at the beginning of the night when the 
lamps were lit, and a period at cock-crow. To the 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 143 

present day the Eastern Christians attach great import 
ance to the service on Saturday night. A recent 
traveller who gives us an account of the ohservance 
of Whitsunday among the West Syrians found the 
Eucharist celebrated verv early in the morning, and 
nobody was supposed to have the right to be present 
if he had not attendetl service the evening before. It 
was the duty of the monks to spend the whole interval 
between the two services in prayer. 1 

At an early date the service of cock-crow was 
observed on other holy days besides Sundays. The 
Canons of Hippolytus show us that about A.D. 200 the 
Roman Christians were wont to meet together for this 
service on certain days. The clergy were obliged to 
come; the laity were encouraged to come. The service 
consisted of (i) psalms, (ii) the reading of Scriptures, 
(iii) prayers. 

In the fourth century there came a great change in 
public worship. A desire to escape from the worldly 
influences which had begun to effect an entrance into 
the Church caused great numbers of earnest men and 
women to adopt the monastic life, and monasteries 
spread rapidly from Egypt to Italy and Gaul and other 
countries. Moreover, the Church was now protected 
by the State, and magnificent buildings dedicated to 
Christian worship rose on every side. Many of the 
religious communities began to meet in their great 
churches and recite their prayers every day in public. 
The number of services varied in different districts. 
In Egypt, even in the fifth century, the monks still 
recited nothing but the primitive services of the hours 
of cock-crow and lamp-lighting. In Spain the poet 
Prudentius wrote hymns for cock-crow, dawn, evening, 
and the time for retiring to bed, as well as hymns 
before and after meat. These hymns, however, were 

1 Parry, Six Months in a Syrian Monastery, p. 119. 



144 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

probably meant for private use. In Syria and Mesopo 
tamia the monks met at the third, sixth, and ninth 
hours of the day, in addition to the hours of cock-crow 
and sunset. At Bethlehem they added a morning service 
after the services at cock-crow ; and thus there were 
already six daily services. The text in Psalm cxix., 
in which the writer declares that he praises God 
seven times a day, furnished an example of piety which 
the monks decided to imitate, and they reached the 
number of seven by singing, in addition to the Noc 
turnal Office sung at cock-crow, another service at 
dawn called Lauds or praises. Many years later, in 
the rule of S. Benedict (A.D. 530), there was added a 
service to be sung by the monks before retiring to 
rest, and this is known as Completorium or Compline, 
because it completes the consecrated day. 

One of the earliest descriptions of the combined 
Nocturnal Office and Lauds 1 is that given in the 
Pilgrimage of S. Silvia, who visited Jerusalem late 
in the fourth century, and wrote an account of 
what she saw there. In the rough popular Latin of 
the period she thus describes an early service at the 
Church of the Resurrection, which stood near the 
Holy Sepulchre : 

4 Every day, before cock-crow, all the doors of the 
Resurrection are opened and there descend all the 
"monks" and "virgins," as they call them here; and 
not only these but also the lay people besides (men or 
women) who nevertheless wish to keep watch at an 
earlier hour than others. And from that hour until 
daylight hymns [i.e. canticles from the Bible] and 
psalms are said alternately, and likewise antiphons, 
and after each hymn a prayer is made. For sets of two 
or three presbyters, and likewise deacons, every day 
take turns together with the monks, who say prayers 

1 The Nocturnal Office was afterwards given the name of Mattins in 
Western Europe. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 145 

at all the hymns and antiphons. And now when it 
has begun to grow light, then all begin to sav morning 
hymns [niatutinos ymnos\. And, behold, the bishop 
arrives with the clergy, and immediately proceeds 
within the cave, and from within the rails iirst says 
a prayer for all; he also himself commemorates the 
names of those whom he wills; so he blesses the 
catechumens. Again he says a praver, and blesses 
the faithful. And after this, as the bishop goes forth 
from within the rails, all approach his hand ; and he 
blesses them one by one as he now goes out, and thus 
the dismissal [//li&ya] takes place, it being now day- 

light: 

Such were- the daily Nocturnal Office and Lauds at 
Jerusalem about .\.n. 3S."&gt;, and services of a similar 
type were held at the sixth and ninth hours, and also 
at the tenth hour, when the- church was brilliantly 
illuminated. lint on Sunday morning, some time 
before cock-crow, the Nocturnal Office was preceded by 
the ancient observance of the Sunday \ igil (vigil iac, 
otherwise called wubiac). Three Psalms were said, 
each followed by a prayer. Then follow three prayers, 
censers are brought in and the church is filled with 
perfume; the bishop then reads a lesson on the Resur 
rection from the Gospel. After a psalm and a prayer 
at the cross, the bishop blesses the people and retires. 
The laity also retire, but a few remain with the monks 
and sing the Nocturnal Office. 

The distinction between the two services is plain. 
The antique. Vigil service is regarded as more or less 
binding on all Christian people, the Nocturnal Office 
and the other services are chiefly services for the monks. 
The Nocturnal Office began at cock-crow, and KY/.V dix- 
tlnct from the Vigil. This distinction was, however, 
by no means universal. At Rome the Nocturnal Office 
began at cock-crou\ and icas the Vigil We saw that 
this was the case at the close of the second century; 

K 



146 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and it was the case two hundred years later in the 
time of S. Jerome, when the churches were so crowded 
at the Sunday vigils that the saint advises a lady to 
see that her daughter does not move an inch from her 
mother s side. The musical attraction of the service 
cannot have been very great, for Rome had not followed 
the example of Milan in adopting the fashionable 
Greek chants for which the choir and the congrega 
tion were divided into two parts, which sang alternate 
verses antiphonally. 1 No, the Roman Church still kept 
the primitive fashion. The Psalms were sung in solo 
by the deacons with the simplest inflexions. It seems 
that the soloist sang each verse, and that the choir 
repeated a short response after each two verses. Hence 
the Psalms were called Responsory Psalms. 

We must conclude our notice of the services of the 
fourth century by saying that there was still a sharp dis 
tinction between the frequent services of the monastic 
churches and the few services of the ordinary churches. 
This distinction existed in the sixth century and until 
after the death of S. Augustine. In 529 the Emperor 
Justinian directed that the clergy in each church 
should sing Vespers, Nocturns, and Lauds. Such was 
the custom in the East, and in Gaul and Spain it was 
very similar. The Council of Agde in Gaul in 506 
ordains that there shall be just as everywhere else"* an 
Office chanted every day in the morning and another 
in the evening. The fourth Council of Toledo in 
Spain in 633 ordains that there shall be one order of 
singing in the evening and morning Offices. 

If we now turn to Rome in the time of S. Augustine, 
we shall not discover any fundamental changes, but we 
shall find some notable additions adopted, or on the 
eve of being adopted. The Vigil service at Rome, 
instead of being said only on Sundays and festivals, 
was said on private days also. This was established 
at the end of the fifth century, and was imitated from 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 147 

the churches of the East. Every day the clergy of 
Home nu t in church at cock-crow, and continued sav 
ing their first service until sunrise. The Sunday service 
was longer than the week-day service, and included 
nine lessons with various antiphons 1 and rcxpon.sorii. 
The latter word probably means responds, pieces of 
music sung as a solo and then repeated. On week 
days, at the time of year when the nights were shortest, 
there were only three lessons, three responds, and 
three antiphons. Another service was sung at sun 
rise. Vespers apparently did not exist in the parish 
churches ; there was only the Nocturnal Office or Vigil, 
followed hv Lauds. About the time of Augustine 
the old Roman chanting had given way to the Greek 
fashion, and the principal part of the service was sung 
by children. S. (Jregorv himself regarded the chanting 
of the Psalms and reading of the lessons as the duty 
of the sub-deacons. Vet he may have thought the 
Saxon hoys, whom he saw in the Roman market-place, 
fit to he readers and singers, the voices of hoys 
being valued on account of the comparative ease with 
which they were heard in the huge basilicas. It is 
interesting to notice that the introduction of the Greek 
fashion of chanting the Psalms was at first regarded 
in the West as an insidious innovation, or the thin 
end of the wedge. 1 

1 Antiphons (hence the English anthem ) must not be confused with 
an ti phonal singing. The latter is simply the method of singing alter 
nate verses of a psalm by two different choirs. An antiphon is a 
psalm with a refrain interpolated in it, or simply the refrain sung 
before and after each psalm. Originally it was sung more often, some 
times after each verse. It was intended both to give the leading sense 
of the psalm and the musical key in which it was to be sung. It 
struck, in fact, the keynote of the psalm both devotionally and music 
ally. On festivals the antiphons usually had reference to the festival. 
The only antiphon in the Hook of Common I rayer after a psalm 
is O Saviour of the world, after Psalm Ixxi. in the Visitation of the 
Sick. 



148 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



2. From S. Augustine to the Reformation. 

In less than a hundred years after the coming of 
S. Augustine the great church of S. Peter at Rome 
was developing a system of daily worship which for 
grave magnificence and completeness of effect was to 
surpass all earlier and many later forms of worship. 
In A.D. 680 Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth 
and teacher of the Venerable Bede, brought to Eng 
land for the instruction of our forefathers * the 
venerable John, chief chanter of the church of the 
Apostle S. Peter, abbot of one of four monasteries 
which clustered round that famed basilica and furnished 
it with its noble choir of voices. The services were 
not quite fixed, for John taught by word of mouth 
and not from books, but in the eighth century the 
Office of S. Peter s was written with care and welcomed 
in country after country. The Roman order and the 
Roman chant and the Roman corporation known as 
as the Song School, or Scliola Cantorum, were then 
supreme, and began to become the rule for Western 
Christendom. 

The following table shows the Roman Office of the eighth 
century : 

A. NIGHT SERVICES, . { papers ^sunset. 

I Nocturnal Office at cock-crow. 

E. SERVICE AT SUNRISE, . Lauds. 

(" TerceatO A.M. 

C. DAY SERVICES, . . . - Sext at 12. 

( None at 3 P.M. 

In addition to these public services there were two private services : 
Compline said in the dormitory before going to bed ; Prime also said in 
the dormitory when the monks rose from their second rest to which they 
retired after Lauds. Compline was extremely simple. It began, as no 
other Office did, with a short lesson. Then came four invariable Psalms, 
the Nunc dimittis, and a prayer. That was all. Prime resembled Terce, 
but had a special ending. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYKR 



140 



The following table #ives an analysis of the services : 

( ) Lord, open Thou my lijw, etc. 



a. NOCTURNAL OFFICE, 



Noctunis 

nr or three). 



Venite. 

( Psalms. 
I Our Father. 
I. JSOH8, ;i Ke- 
ing 





J LK3SSOI18, a Me- 

IsjKmd being 
sung aftei 
each. 



b. LAUDS AND VESPERS, 



c. TERCE, SEXT, AND NONE, 



There was ordinarily one Nocturn with twelve Psalms and three 
Lessons, but on Sundays there were three Nocturns, containing altogether 
eighteen Psalms and nine Lessons. 

( &gt; ( Jod, make speed, etc. 

Five Psalms with Antiphons. 
Short Lesson. 

Gospel Canticle with Antiphon. 
Lord, have mercy. 
Our Father. 
Prcccs. 

O God, make speed, etc. 
Three Psalms. 
Short Lesson. 
Lord, have mercy. 
Our Father. 
Prcccs. 1 

In reviewing these Old Roman services, we must 
notice that they include : 

(i) A recitation of the whole Psalter every week. 

(ii) A regular system of Lessons. From December 1 
to Epiphany, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel were read ; 
from Epiphany to February 13, E/.ekiel, the Minor 
Prophets, and Job ; in the spring until Holy Week, 
the Pentateuch, Joshua, and Judges; from Easter to 
Pentecost, the Catholic Epistles, Acts, and Revelation ; 
in the summer, Kings, Samuel, and Chronicles; in the 
autumn, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, 
Esther, Judith, Maccabees, Tobit. 

(iii) The Respond, or Responsorium. a chant which 
related to the part of Scripture which was in course of 

1 See note on p. 164. 



150 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

reading. The precentor sang it as a solo, the choir 
repeated it. The precentor then sang one, two, or 
three verses, and the choir responded to each. The 
precentor next sang the Doxology, the choir then re 
peated the latter part of the llesponsorium ; then the 
precentor sang it entire, and the choir repeated it 
entire. Many of these ancient Responds were master 
pieces of beauty. 1 

Gradually the divine service passed through a trans 
formation. 

The first great change came with the introduction 
of services for saints days. About 750 the Office of 
the Saints was added as an appendage to the daily 
Office recited in the churches of Home. Then the 
services were combined. Feast-days were divided 
into two classes, lesser and greater. On lesser 
festivals very little change was made in the ordinary 
ferial 1 Office except the introduction of proper lessons 
for the saint. At Vespers on greater" feasts, Sunday 
psalms and new antiphons were introduced. At first 
the ordinary Nocturn was still sung before the Noc- 
turns of the saint s day. Then the ferial Nocturn 
usually disappeared ; but until the thirteenth century 
the Roman Church still retained a double Office for a 
few great saints. The phrase double Office" or double 
greater Office" still survived for the service of high 
festivals. Then, the meaning of the word having been 
totally forgotten, the ritualists invented the ridiculous 
term semi-double for certain Offices, and divided the 
double Offices into four classes. In the Sarum rite the 
word semi-double is not used, but four classes of 
doubles are found. The result of these services for 



1 The Responsorium with its verse must be carefully distinguished 
from the brief versicle, followed by a. response, such as we find sung 
at or after an Office. The Gradual Psalm sung at the Mass after the 
Epistle is called a Responsorium, though its structure differs from tha 
of the Responds chanted at the Hours. 



MORNING AND KVENINCi I KAYER I.M 

saints days was to destroy the orderly recitation of the 
Lessons and Psalter. The more numerous the festivals 
became, the more the services were confused and 
spoilt. 

The second great change was the introduction of the 
Breviary, the abbreviated and portable Service Book 
to which our English forefathers gave the appropriate 
Anglo-French name of Porthors or Portos (from porter 
and dchors). This contained what Pope Gregory IX. 
in 1,41 calls the modern Oflice." It was the Old 
Roman OHiee modified and abbreviated by the Churches 
north of the Alps, then introduced into Home, and 
accepted by the Pope and his court, for their private 
use when travelling. The Franciscan friars adopted 
this for their own use, and about l^ r &gt;() the Franciscan 
revision was adopted at Rome and made its wav 
through the West of Europe. The Galilean version 
of the Psalms, the second version made bv S. Jerome, 
replaced the first version made bv S. Jerome, 1 and the 
Psalms were now arranged in an order different from 
the order in the Bible. The Lords Prayer, and then 
the Hail Marv. were placed at the beginning of each 
service; after Compline anthems were introduced in 
honour of S. Marv ; lessons from apocryphal romances 
were multiplied; memorials* of the- saints, with their 
collects, were added to the /?/r.v.v rir the Lord at the 
end of some of the Hours. To make up for the ruth 
less abbreviation of the antique responds and anthems, 
there is now a collection of metrical hymns, such as 
were first used bv the Benedictines in their dailv 
Offices. This is the most important characteristic of 
the modern Office, and is a proof of the passionate 
love of Northern Europe for popular music. It is here 
that the Weslevs were at one with the Franciscans, and 
the English Reformers were, on the contrary, at one 
with Gregory the Great. 

1 In Rome itself the first version was used until the fifteenth century. 



152 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

The late mediaeval Breviary, Porthors, or Portiforium, 
consisted of four parts : 

1. KALENDARIUM. The Kalendar, often with the 
addition of a guide to find the moveable feasts in a 
given year. 

2. PSALTERIUM and COMMUNE SANCTORUM. This 
contains the non-variable part of the services for 
Sundays and week-days, i.e. the Psalms divided into 
two unequal parts for the services of Mattins and 
Evensong for a week (with their anthems, etc.), and 
the fixed Psalms for the other -Hours. The Peni 
tential Psalms and Litany were printed next. The 
Commune Sanctorum is the common form for use on 
those feasts of one or more Apostles, Martyrs, 
Confessors, and Virgins which had no peculiar service 
of their own. 

3. TEMPORAL*:, or Proprium de Tempore. This 
contains the variable parts of the choir services, such 
as hymns, anthems, capitula, responds, and collects. 
Also the Sunday and week-day lessons. In the six 
teenth century the rules called the Pie were printed 
with the Temporale. 

4. PROPRIUM SANCTORUM, or Sanctorale. This con 
tains the proper forms for each particular saint s day 
in the course of the year, anthems, hymns, lessons, 
capitula, responds, collects, etc. 

The Breviary services may be thus tabulated for conveniently 
comparing them with the Old Roman daily services. The actual 
books place Mattins first and Compline last. 

f Vespers. 

A. NIGHT SERVICES, . J Com P line - 

I Mattins, containing one 

I or three Nocturns. 

B. SERVICE AT SUNRISE (nominally) . Lauds. 

fPrime. 

0. DAY SERVICES, . ^ fc* 

I Hours. ^None. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 

The following table gives an analysis of the services : 



153 





Introductory. 


i r&gt;enienccn. 
Vcnitc. 






vHymn. 






Psalms. 


a. MATTINS.i . 


Nocturns 
(one or three). 


Our Father 
and Creed. 3 
Lessons and 






. Responds. 




Conclusion 


Tc Dcum. 




, on Festivals. 






Introductory. 


Sentences. 


b. LAT DS, VESPERS, AND COM- 


j 


Psalms. 
Little Chapter. 


PLINE 1 


Essential. 


Hymn. 




1 


Gospel Canticle 

Prayers. 




Introductory. 


Sentences. 






Hymn. 






Psalms. 


c. PRIME, TERCE, SEXT. AND 




At Prime The 


NONE, 


Essential. 


Athanasian 






Creed. 






Little Chapter. 






(.Prayers. 



At the end of the Middle Ages, immediately before 
the Reformation, these Breviary services were in a state 
of almost inextricable confusion. The chief defects, in 
addition to the retention of a dead language and the 
repetition of the services at inappropriate hours, were 
as follows : 

(ti) The Scriptural element in the services was 
seriously diminished. In the first place, the lessons 
from the Bible at Mattins had been greatly shortened 
since the Anglo-Saxon period. In the second place, 

1 The word Mattins was originally a name of Lauds. In the later 
Middle Ages it was incorrectly applied to the Nocturnal Office and 
Lauds combined, or even to the Nocturnal Office only. The habit of 
jwstponing the Nocturnal Office until 6 or 7 A.M. made the change of 
name seem appropriate. 

The use of the Ave and Creed here varies in different books. 



154 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the weekly recitation of the whole Psalter had become 
a pretence, as it was interrupted by numerous holy 
days with proper psalms. 

(b) Legendary chapters were inserted, very unlike 
the substantial and wholesome readings from S. Leo, 
S. Gregory, and S. Ambrose, which had been read in 
the Old Roman services. The absurdity of these 
legends was sometimes so great that we find mediaeval 
breviaries containing contemptuous notes written in 
the margins, such as an old wives fable, 1 4 a stupid 
and ridiculous service. 4 To lie like a second 
nocturn n became a proverb, and the veracity of the 
other noc turns was by no means beyond suspicion. 

(c) The services had become a burden too heavy to 
be borne, for they left almost no time for private 
study or devotion, or attention to the practical duties 
of clerical life. This was not so much the fault of the 
Breviary services as the result of the fact that two or 
even three services or Offices 1 were said instead of one. 
After eacli particular service or hour," it was usual to 
say or sing the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. 1 
This was again followed by the Office of the Dead"; 
and on ordinary days an additional service was added, 
consisting of the seven Penitential Psalms and the 
fifteen Gradual Psalms. The result was gross irrever 
ence or total neglect. Councils vie with one another 
in deploring the manner in which the Divine Office 
is recited. In some cathedral churches the canons 
appear to have entered the choir attended by their 
chaplains at the beginning of the Offices, bowed, and 
then left the church. In 1330 the men who sat in the 
higher stalls in Exeter choir beguiled the time by 
pouring hot wax on those who sat below them, and in 
the fifteenth century some of the clergy at Lincoln 
used to come in and out for such fragments of worship 
as they were pleased to attend. 

(d) The variations in the services, required for the 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYKK 155 

varying degrees in the importance of particular holy 
days, made it very difficult for the clergy to 4 find their 
places 1 in the somewhat clumsy hooks of the period. 
Some guidance was afforded hv the Ordlnalc^ or 
Directory of Priests, which showed the prie&gt;l what 
festivals he ought to observe and the proper Offices 
re(juired throughout the year. This hook was known 
in England by the familiar title of The Pic (in Latin 
Pica"). The name means magpie/ and was probably 
due to the parti-coloured appearance of the tables in 
it, the thick black-letter type on white paper resembling 
the hues of that bird. English printers still retain 
the word pica to signify a particular type, and the 
word pic to denote a mixture of types. 1 The intro 
duction in our Prayer Hook Concerning the Service of 
the Church says: "The number and hardness of the 
rules called the P n\ and the manifold changings of tin- 
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." In England, 
however, considerable assistance was afforded by the 
writings of Clement Mavdestone, a priest of the 
fifteenth century, who drew up a convenient and 
popular Directorium Saccnlotuin. 

What the old Ordinule had done for one ideal year, 
this Guide "* of Clement Mavdestone applied to all the 
working almanacs of his day. Thirty-five varieties 
were provided so as to serve for every possible con 
tingency. Maydestone, author of the Directorium 
Sacerdoturn^ or k Guide of Priests/ was born about 
1390 at Isleworth. Trained at Winchester College, 
he was familiar with the Sarum ritual from his child 
hood, and his book was so successful that at the end 

1 It seems possible, however, that the word Pica is only a mock 
translation of I ie, and that the confused mixture of black and white 
with red initials suggested the name Pie. 



156 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of the fifteenth century his Directorium had superseded 
all such books. About 1501 the shorter Ordinal, or 
Pica Sarum, was cut up and incorporated into the 
text of all editions of the Sarum Breviary. It is pro 
bable that Maydestone is author not only of the 
Directorium Sacerdotum, but also of the Defensorium 
Director 11 Sacerdotum. In this Defence it is stoutly 
and rightly maintained that it is a violation of the Sarum 
rubrics to follow the debased practice of that day, 
which was to read the Bible not continuously but in 
broken fragments. For instance, if it was Advent and 
the book of Isaiah was being read, omissions would be 
made for the sake of holy days with their proper 
lessons, and the reading of Isaiah was not resumed at 
the place where the previous reading ended. 

The criticism passed by Wyclif upon the Ordinal 
of Sarum is interesting, though somewhat violent. 
Writing about 1370 he says it hinders much preach 
ing of the Gospel ; for fools consider it more important 
than the commandments of God and to study and 
teach Christ s Gospel He blesses God that the Mass 
Books witness His Gospel, but complains of the blind 
ness of the priests who say that a priest may be excused 
from saying of Mass, the substance of which God 
Himself commanded, and not excused from saying 
Mattins and Evensong. The recitation of these and 
the other Hours made them weary and indisposed to 
study God s law for aching of heads. He specially 
alleges as a reason for the decay of worship the introduc 
tion of the elaborate music which was corrupting the 
ancient plainsong, rendering it more fit for dancing 
than mourning, and winning the praises of the lewd for 
4 Sir Jack or Hob and William the proud clerk. This 
light music had been introduced even into the Bene 
dictine monasteries of England when Erasmus com 
plained of it in 1512. To the words of Wyclif we 
may appropriately add the words of one of the most 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 157 

eminent of Roman Catholic liturgical writers of the 
present clay: How far have we got from the broad 
and harmonious simplicity of the Roman OHice of the 
eighth century ! . . . the lectionary is become scanty 
and corrupt ... it is difficult not to see in these 
additions, these numerous and burdensome services of 
adventitious prayer, a grave wrong done to the canoni 
cal Office itself. . . . The feasts of the Sanctorale have 
been so multiplied as to make the Office of the Season 
practicallv a tiling condemned to desuetude/ 1 

3. The Reformation. 

The need for a reformation of the daily services was 
urgent, and the start was made at Rome. Pope 
Clement VII. in 15JW gave his approval to a new 
hymnal by Ferreri, Bishop of Guardia Alfiera, who 
had been directed by Pope Leo X. to prepare a Breviary 
4 much shorter and made more convenient and purged 
from all mistakes/ Ferreri died before lie had more 
than written his graceful hymns in the style of Horace, 
and Clement VII. entrusted the work of reforming the 
Breviary to a grave and learned Spaniard, Francis, 
Cardinal Quiiiones. 2 The Cardinal began his work in 
15&), and was assisted by several other learned 
Spaniards. His revised Roman Breviary appeared in 
1535, with the sanction of Pope Paul III. It certainly 
was not wanting in boldness. The preface asserts that 
in the existing practice the books of Scripture are 
almost entirely omitted, that the stories of the saints 
have neither authority nor seriousness, and that whereas 
it had been intended that the Psalms should be recited 
once a week, only a few are said over and over again. 
In the reformed Breviary itself the versifies and 

1 Batifibl, History of the Roman Breviary, p. 225. 

2 The name is also written in two French forms, Quignon and 
Quignonez. 



158 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

responses are omitted, the lessons are replaced by 
longer Scriptural lessons, and three psalms are appointed 
for each canonical hour, so that the entire Psalter is 
recited every week. Only a few hymns are retained. 
The lessons are three in number every day, the first 
being from the Old Testament, the second from the 
New Testament, and the third from the New Testa 
ment, or from the history of a saint, if the day is a 
saint s day. In the first edition all antiphons were 
suppressed, but in the second edition some were rein- 
troduced. In spite of the boldness of the new 
book, and in spite of the fact that Quinones was so 
uncritical as to allow the insertion of some thoroughly 
apocryphal tales of the saints, the book met a want 
and won a great success. It was so easy and attractive 
that it was immediately adopted and circulated by the 
Jesuits, and in Spain was used in the choirs of several 
cathedrals. 1 Its popularity was further attested in 
1542 by the issue of a Dlurnale which contained the 
Day Hours of Quinones without the Mattins, and so 
provided a system of devotion for the learned laity. 

But even the Jesuits did not ensure the permanence 
of the revised Breviary. With the revival of religion 
at Rome and a growing distrust of novelty, there came 
a strong reaction in favour of the mediaeval Roman 
Breviary, and in 1558 Pope Paul IV. decreed that 
there was no longer any reason for the Breviary 
of Quinones to be reprinted. In spite of this 
decree, we know that four editions appeared in 
1566. However, the mediaeval Breviary was corrected 
slowly and carefully, and appeared in its new dress 
in 1568, and though it has undergone several sub- 

1 The need of reform is shown by the fact that there were numerous 
reformed Breviaries besides that of Quiilones, such as the Breviaries of 
Soissons, Orleans, Saragossa, and Taragona. The Breviary of the 
Humiliati of Milan contained the rule that the Psalms were to be 
recited once a month (as in the Book of Common Prayer), and this 
was approved by Pope Paul III. and printed in 1548. 



MORNING AND KVENINCi PRAYER 159 

sequent revisions it remains the Breviary of modern 
Roman Catholic-ism. The services are now reduced to 
reasonable limits by the permission to omit the Oflice 
of the Virgin and the OHice of the Dead, the lessons 
are improved, and the rubrics are clear and good. Hut 
it is far from perfect; the hymns have been retouched 
in the taste of an epoch which valued gilded stucco, 
there are still fifty forged sermons and homilies, and 
the weekly recitation of the Psalter is still interrupted 
by the frequent use of special psalms. 1 

Expelled from Spain, the favourite Breviary of S. 
Francis Xavier and the Jesuits has left a great and 
lasting influence in England. In 154^ Convocation 
directed that the Sarum Oflice should be generally 
adopted through the province of Canterbury, and it 
was ordered that the old books should be called in 
and corrected. It is certain that in the next year 
Cranmer desired a reform on the lines of Quifiones, 
and it is more than probable that the revised Breviary 
was known in England. In a catalogue of the library 
of Henrv VIII. made in 154,, the only Breviaries men 
tioned are Roman Breviaries. It is hardly conceivable 
that immediately after the breach with Rome a Roman 
Breviary would have been introduced into the royal 
chapel, unless it had been of a reformed character. It 
is therefore reasonable to conclude that the Breviary 
of (Juifioncs was actually used in England. In any 
case, Cranmer"s first scheme for a new Breviary for the 
Church of England is clearly derived from Quinones, 
with certain enrichments from the use of Sarum. 

It would probably have been wiser if Cranmer had 
remained content with publishing an English transla 
tion of this proposed Latin Breviary. But he quickly 

1 Great confusion still exists as to the hours for the public recital of 
divine service. It is easy to find Continental churches where Compline 
and Mattins are sung before sunset, and the writer once heard Vespers 
sung at eleven in the morning. 



160 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

made out a second Latin scheme, in which the eight 
daily services were reduced to two, viz. Mattins and 
Evensong. Crammer s own statement shows that this 
important change was directly caused by the slack 
manner in which the mediaeval Offices were recited. 
He says, It seems a mockery to retain the same divi 
sions of the Hours observed by the ancient fathers when 
the custom of praying seven times a day has long since 
ceased, and we now assemble only twice a day for 
prayers. 1 The late mediaeval practice of reciting one 
service immediately after another, and the far worse 
mediaeval practice of neglecting to say many or all of 
the services, probably seemed sufficient reason for in 
sisting upon a certain minimum of public worship, 
which no priest could reasonably call a burden. 1 Cran- 
mer s new Vespers were drawn entirely from the old 
Vespers, the daily Mattins contained part of the old 
service with the Benedictus taken from Lauds, and on 
Sundays the Athanasian Creed taken from Prime. 
Twenty-six of the old Breviary hymns were retained. 
Three lessons were to be read ; and on Sundays arid 
festivals a fourth lesson, taken from the Fathers or from 
the life of a saint. The great peculiarity of the service 
is the omission of the Venite. The Psalter was to be said 
through once a month, and thus one of the most distinc 
tive features of the modern Prayer Book was formed. 

These varying projects were, however, to a great 
extent abandoned by Cranmer in favour of another 
scheme. The followers of Luther had drawn up forms 
of Mattins and Vespers based on mediaeval German 
forms, and Cranmer decided upon a service practically 
identical with that drawn up in 1542 for use in 
Schleswig-Holstein. A comparison of the German and 

1 Cranmer at this time certainly wished that the clergy should con 
tinue to recite the other Hours in private. It should be observed that 
the monks of the Charterhouse only said Mattins and Evensong in 
public, and recited the other Hours privately. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAVKR n;i 

English Mattins seems to place the fact outside the 
range of anv doubt. 



Creed. 

Lord s Prayer. 

O Lord, open Thou my lips. 

And my mouth, etc. 

O God, make speed, etc. 

&lt;&gt; Lord, make haste, etc. 

Gloria Patri. 

Hallelujah. 

Psalm xev. 

Gloria Patri. 

Hymn. 

Versiele and Response. 

One to three Psalms. 

(iloria Patri at end of each. 

First Lesson 

(ordinarily from the Old 

Testament). 
Te Deum. 
Second lesson 

(ordinarily from the New 

Testament). 
Benedictus. 
Kyrie. 

Lord s Prayer. 

Versicle and Response. 

Salutation and Response. 

Collects. 

Salutation and Response. 

Benediction. 



lyt Kdwanl VI. 

Ixml s Prayer. 
O Lord, open Thou my lip- 
And my mouth, etc. 
O God, make speed, etc. 
O Lord, make haste, etc. 
(iloria Patri. 
Praise ye the Lord. 
Halleluiah. 
Psalm xcv. 
(iloria Patri. 



Certain Psalms, 
(iloria Patri at end of each. 
First Lesson 
(from the Old Testament). 

Te Deum or Uenedicite. 
Second Lesson 

(from the New Testament). 

Benedictus. 

Kyrie. 

Creed. 

Lord s Prayer. 

Versieles and Responses. 

Let us pray. 

Collects. 



The same may be said of Evensong, except that the 
resemblance between the German and the English form 
is even more striking, for the German Vesper service 
contains the Xnnc dimittis^ like the English. The 
Nunc dimittis did not find a place even in the second 
of Cranmer s projects for a reformed Evensong, and it 

L 



162 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

is therefore reasonable to suppose that he took the 
idea from the German service of 1542. As the Breviary 
of Quinones appeared in 1535, it is possible that the 
German services were based upon it. 

It was only necessary to combine these German ser 
vices with a systematic division of the Psalms, and a 
plan of daily lessons similar to that provided by 
Quinones. 1 The combination appeared in the Mattins 
and Evensong of the English Prayer Book which came 
into use on Whitsunday 1549. The Mattins and 
Evensong of 1549 began with the Lord^s Prayer, the 
priest being in the quire." The Benedicite was to be 
used in the place of the Tc Deum all through Lent. 2 
The Benedictus was to be used every day. Both 
Mattins and Evensong ended with the third Collect. 
In 1552 it was definitely declared to be of obligation 
on all priests and deacons to say daily the Morning 
and Evening Prayer. It was also directed that the 
Athanasian Creed 3 should be used on thirteen occasions 
yearly, instead of on six only. In 1661 there was 
prefixed to the Evening Service the present penitential 
opening of Sentences, Exhortation, Confession, and 
Absolution. This had been prefixed to Morning Prayer 
in 1552, with a direction that it was also to be said 
at Evening Prayer. Although it can claim a long 
precedent in the Confession and Absolution contained 
in the mediaeval Offices of Prime and Compline, it may, 

1 The principle of Quinones had been to have three lessons daily ; 
one from the Old Testament, one from the Gospels, one from the 
Epistles or Acts. This has a parallel in the reformed English lection- 
ary, the first lesson both at Mattins and Evensong being from the Old 
Testament, the second at Mattins was originally as a rule from the 
Gospels, and the second at Evensong as a rule from the Epistles or 
Acts. 

2 Although the Te Deum had not been used daily in the Divine 
Office itself, its daily use was familiar to the people, as it was said daily 
in the Mattins of our Lady contained in the Primer. 

3 Until 1 66 1 the Athanasian Creed appears to have been said before 
the Apostles Creed, and not instead of it. 



MORNING-ANT) EVENING PRAYER 103 

perhaps, be legitimately doubted whether the use of 
such a form in a publie service is not a mistake, as it 
leads the ignorant to imagine that a general confession 
of sinfulness is as valid as a careful confession of definite 
sins. Apart from this, the only defect in our present 
Evening Prayer seems to be the fact that the Ninic 
dlmittts is less appropriate here and in the Sarum Com 
pline, in botli of which it occurs long before the end 
of the service, than in the OKI Roman Compline, 
where it was simply followed by one prayer before 
the singers departed c in peace to their rest. 

The prayers added after the third Collect at Morn 
ing and Evening Prayer were added in l(J(jl. 

(i) The prayer for the Sovereign occurs in the 
Primer of 1553, and in two little books of prayers 
printed by Berthelet, the King s printer at the end of 
the reign of Henry VIII. In its present shape it was 
introduced into the Litany adopted in Queen Eliza 
beth s chapel in 1559. 

(ii) The prayer for the Royal Family was added to 
the Litany in 1004, and was probably composed by 
Archbishop Whitgift. King James s family was the 
first that would be likely to suggest to the clergy 
the use of such a prayer. 

(iii) The prayer for the Clergy and People, from the 
Gelasian Sacramentary, occurs in the English Litany 
of 1544. 

(iv) The prayer of S. Chrysostom also occurs in the 
English Litany of 1544, and was probably taken by 
Cranmer from the I^iitin translation of the prayer 
in the Greek and Latin edition of the Liturgy of 
S. Chrysostom printed at Venice in 1528. 

(v) The Benediction from 2 Corinthians xiii. 14 
was introduced into the Prayer Book in 1559, among 
the prayers at the end of the Litany. 

If we compare our Evensong with the Old Roman 
Evensong, we see that it contains almost the whole 



164 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of that venerable service with the exception of the 
respond and the antiphons or anthems. The latter 
were much reduced in the Middle Ages, and in the 
4 modern Roman service their original importance and 
meaning were quite obscured. They had become 
useless for the purpose of giving the musical tone at 
the beginning of the psalm as the organ could do this 
quite as well, and as they were no longer sung in the 
course of the psalms they did not serve to relieve 
monotony. The modern English anthem takes the 
place of the Old Roman respond. 

Our present Evensong agrees with the Old Roman 
Evensong and differs from the modern Roman in these 
particulars: (1) It contains no liturgical hymns; (2) 
each lesson is a genuine lesson, and not a little 
chapter, 1 1 so diminutive as to be scarcely visible ; (3) 
it allows hardly any interruptions to the systematic 
reading of the Psalms. On the other hand, it has 
borrowed from Compline (]) the Nunc dimittis ; (2) 
the Creed ; (3) the Sarum Collect derived from the 
ancient Gelasian Sacramentary, beginning Lighten 
our darkness. 1 

1 It is, however, doubtful whether the short lesson (corresponding 
with what was afterwards called the capitulum or * little chapter ) was 
ever long, and whether any of the Offices had long lessons except 
Mattins. The capitulum of Prime was originally quite a different 
thing. It was named after the chapter of monks who assembled at 
the beginning of each day for private devotions, and not named after 
a chapter of the Bible. It was a series of devotions added to the 
Office. It began with the Creed and included two lessons, one being 
from the monastic rule of S. Benedict. In later times another 
capitulum, viz. a short lesson, was inserted in the Office itself. 

The preces feriales, or non-festal week-day petitions, called by 
S. Benedict supplicatio litaniae, are a short litany. In the eighth 
century they followed not only Lauds and Vespers, but also Terce, 
Sext, and None. The Sarum Breviary always retained them after these 
services. They survive in our petitions, O Lord, shew Thy mercy 
upon us, etc. 

The Pater nostcr was originally the climax of Vespers ; in the eighth 
century it was already replaced on Sundays and festivals by the Collect 
of the day. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 1C5 

Our Morning Prayer differs widely from the Old 
Roman Matting, i.e. Nocturnal Office, being a mixture 
of the late forms of Mattins, Lauds, and Prime. As 
Vespers was apparently formed on the model of Lauds, 
so tne Anglican Morning Prayer has been assimilated in 
form to the Anglican Evening Prayer. It cannot be 
compared with the Old Roman Mattins for the reason 
that the two Offices are on a wholly different level. It 
is enough to say that it is better suited to the needs of 
an average congregation. 

The nature of the ancient services and of the revision 
by Quifiones will be shown in the tables at the end of 
this chapter. 



166 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



THE ORDER OF MORNING PRAYER. 


Sarum Portiforium. 


Revision of the Roman 
Breviary, by Quinones. 


Old Roman Office. 


MATTINS. 


MATTINS. 


NOCTURNAL OFFICE. 


Pater noster. Ave. 


Pater noster. 






Confiteor. Absolutio. 


Domine labia. Domine labia. Domine labia. 


Deus in adjutorium. 


Deus in adjutorium. 


Gloria Patri. 


Gloria Patri. ; Gloria Patri. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 




Ps. Venite, ivith Invitatory. 


Ps. Venite, with Invitatory. 


Ps. Venite, with Invitatory. 


Hymn. 


Hymn. 


12, tfr(S) 18 Psalms, with 


3 Psalms, with 12, or (S) 18 Psalms, with 


Antiphons, and Gloria 
after certain Psalms. 


Gloria after each Psalm. 


Antiphons, and Gloria 
after certain Psalms. 


Pater noster. Ave. 


Pater noster. Pater noster. 


3, or g Lessons, with 


3 Lessons. 


3, or 9 Lessons, with 


Responds, 




Responds. 


(S) Te Deum. 


Te Deum, or Ps. Miserere. 




LAUDS. 


LAUDS. LAUDS. 


Pater noster. Ave. 




Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 




5 Psalms, among them (S) 
Jubilate, and Benedicite. 


3 Psalms. 


5 Psalms, among them (S) 
Jubilate, and Benedicite. 


Capitulum. 




Lesson. 


Hymn. 
Benedictus. 


Benedictus. 


Benedictus. 


Collect of the Day, or 
Preces feriales. 


Collect of the Day. 
Memorials. 


Kyrie eleison. Pater noster. 
Supplicatio litaniae. 


Beneclicamus. Deo gratias. 


Benedicamus. Deo gratias. 






Fidelium animae. 




PRIME. 


I KIME. 


PRIME. 


Pater noster. Ave. 


Pater noster. 




Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Deus in adjutorium. 
Gloria Patri. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 




Hymn. 


Hymn. 




3, or (S) 9 Psalms. 
Symbolum Athanasii. 


3 Psalms. 
Apost. or (S) Athan. Creed. 


3, or (S) 9 Psalms. 


Capitulum. 
Preces : Kyrie eleison. 




Kyrie eleison. 


Pater noster. 




Pater noster. 


Credo. 




Capitulum : Credo. 


Versicles and Responses 
with Confiteor and 




Confessio. Miserere. 
Lesson. Collect. 


Absolutio. 






Collect for Grace. 
Benedicamus. Deo gratias. 


Collect for Grace. 
Benedicamus. Deo gratias. 


Verses and Responses. 
Lesson. Blessing. 




Fideliurn animae. 





N.B. &lt;S) denotes the Sunday services. 



MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER 



167 



THE ORDER OF EVENING PRAYER. 


Sa&gt;~um Porti/oriunt. 


Revision of the Roman 
lireviary t by Quinines. 


Old Roman Office. 


VESPERS. 


VESPERS. 


VESPERS. 


Pater nostcr. Avc. 


Paler noster. 




Deus in adjutorium. 


Deus in adjutorium. 


Deus in adjutorium. 


Gloria I .itii. 


Gloria Patri. 


Gloria Patri. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 




S Psalms, with Antiphons. 
Capitulum. 


Hymn. 
3 Psalms. 


5 Psalms, with Antiphons. 
Lesson. 


Hymn. 






Magnificat, with Antiphon. 


Magnificat. 


Magnificat, with Antiphon. 
Kyrie eleison. 


Collect of the Day. 
Memorials. 


Collect of the Day. 
Memorials. 


Pater or Collect of the Day. 
Supplicatio litaniac. 


COMPLINE. 


COMPLINE. 


COMPLINE. 


Pater noster. Ave. 


Pater noster. 


Lesson. 


Converte DOS. 


Converte nos. 




Deus in adjutorium. 


Deus in adjutorium. 




Gloria Patri. 


Gloria Patri. 




Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 


Alleluia, or Laus tibi. 




4 fixed Psalms. 


Hymn. 

3 Psalms. 


4 fixed Psalms. 


Capitulum. 






Hymn. 






Nunc dimittis. 


Nunc dimittis. 


Nunc dimittis. 


Precis . Kyric eleison. 






Pater noster. Ave. 






Credo. 






Versiclcs and Responses 






with Confiteor and 






Absolutio. 






Collect for Aid. 


Collect for Aid and Peace. 


Collect. 


Bcncdicamus. Deo gratias. 


Hencdicamus. Deo gratias. 






Fidelium animae. 






Salve regina. Collect. 






Noctem quictam. 






1 





CHAPTER VII 

THE LITANY 

By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross, 
Rescue him from endless loss ; 
By Thy death and burial, 
Save him from a final fall ; 
By Thy rising 1 from the tomb, 

By Thy mounting up above, 

By the Spirit s gracious love, 
Save him in the day of doom. 

NEWMAN, Dream of Gerontius. 

THE Litany is the most admirable part of the Prayer 
Book. It gathers together the finest utterances of 
mediaeval devotion, and the English in which they 
are expressed lingers in the ear and heart. The use 
of litanies dates from the period when the Christian 
faith was winning its last victories over paganism in the 
countries of Latin speech, when the Church could 
openly offer to the people that satisfaction of their 
aspirations which they had vainly sought from pagan 
gods. Some historical facts of special interest show 
us how the Christians began the use of litanies. First, 
they endeavoured to supplant a pagan procession with 
a Christian procession. The heathen Romans had 
dedicated April 25th to the observance of the Robi- 
galia, when the god Robigus was besought to preserve 
the young corn from blight. The poet Ovid describes 
the procession which took place upon that day. It 

168 



THE LITANY 169 

left the city by the Flaminian Gate, passed over the 
Milvian Bridge, and there worshipped at a sanctuary 
in the suburbs. The Christians in tho time of S. 
Gregory and S. Augustine went in procession by a 
similar route to implore the blessing of God upon the 
fruits of the earth. They started from the Church of 
S. Laurence in Luc ina, near the Flaminian Gate, went 
to the Church of S. Valentine, then to the Milvian 
Bridge, and finally turned towards the Vatican, and 
entered the basilica of S. Peter. 

Secondly, there were other special litanies in addi 
tion to these annual litanies. At Auxerre a litany 
was recited every month. Extraordinary litanies were 
sung in times of* great public distress and fear. Such 
a litany is described by S. Gregory of Tours as having 
been observed in A.D. 477, when Mamertus, Archbishop 
of Vienne in Gaul, ordered litanies for the three days 
before Ascension Day, in consequence of a destructive 
earthquake. These services spread through the whole 
of Prankish Gaul, and were known as the Rogations or 
4 supplications/ The Rogation Davs were days of fast 
ing as well as prayer. They were probably observed in 
England from the days of Augustine, as the Council of 
Clovesho in A.D. 747 enjoins them to be kept according 
to the custom of our ancestors." They were introduced 
into Home about A.D. 800. It is possible that the 
Christians of Gaul were influenced by the recollection 
of the pagan procession known as the lustratio agroi inn, 
which took place at the Ambarvalia on May 29. 

How these days were kept in the decadence of the 
Middle Ages we read in Strype s account of the year 
1554: Rogation Week being come, May 3 being Holy 
Thursday, at the Court of St. James s, the Queen went 
in procession within St. James s, with heralds and 
sergeants of arms, and four bishops mitred. And 
Bishop Bowen, beside his mitre, wore a pair of slippers 
of silver and gilt, and a pair of rich gloves, with 



170 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

ouches of silver upon them very rich. And all the 
three days there went her chapel about the fields. The 
first day to S. Giles 1 , and there sung Mass. The next 
day, being Tuesday, to St. Martinis in the Fields : and 
there a sermon was preached and Mass sung. And the 
company drank there. The third day to Westminster, 
where a sermon was made, and then Mass and good 
cheer made. And after, about the Park, and so to 
St. Jameses Court. The same Rogation Week went 
out of the Tower, on procession, priests and clerks, and 
the Lieutenant with all his waiters ; and the axe of the 
Tower borne in procession : the waits attended."* 1 

Also, in addition to the annual and extraordinary 
litanies, there was in England a choral procession every 
Sunday before High Mass. Our forefathers did not 
regard this procession as a cheerful method of entering 
or walking round the church, as seems to be the habit 
in some modern places of worship. It was a definite 
act of worship made while walking to a definite point. 
Before Mass it led to the high altar, at other times to 
the font, the rood, or some side altar. At Salisbury 
there were processions after Evensong on special days : 

(a) To the altars of S. Stephen, S. John, the Holy 
Innocents, and S. Thomas on Christmas Day and the 
three following days ; and when there was an altar 
named after any saint, there was generally a procession 
thither after the first Evensong of the festival of that 
saint. 

(b) To the font from Easter Day to Friday in 
Easter Week this being from the earliest times the 
favourite season for Baptisms and the procession being 
of most ancient origin. 

(c) To the rood on Low Sunday at first Evensong, 
and thenceforward till the Ascension on every Saturday 
and on Holy Cross Day, and every Saturday from the 
first Sunday after Trinity until Advent. 

1 Strype, Historical Memorials, vol. iii. p. I2O. 



THE LITANY 171 

Now, it is remarkable that our English Litany re 
capitulates all the. historic-Hi circumstances of the more 
important ancient litanies and processions. It was issued 
in a time of distress and fear, it was based upon the 
litany and procession of Rogation-tide, and it came to 
he employed every Sunday as well as annually and 
occasionally. In the year 1544 England was at war 
with both France and Scotland. King Henry VIII. 
wrote to Archbishop Cranmer to require the proces 
sions to be observed upon the accustomed days." In 
these processions a litany was used, and the Mass 
followed. The accustomed days 1 are shown in the 
mandate issued by Cranmer to the bishops to be 
Wednesdays and Fridays. The Mass used would natur 
ally be the Mass for time of war." The same year, 
1544, Cranmer issued a litany in English almost 
identical with our present litany. It was printed in 
Henry VIII/s Primer of 1545 with the title The Litany 
and Suffrages, and it is also called this common prayer 
of procession." 1 The idea of an English litany had long 
been familiar to the people, as such a litany had been 
contained in the Prymers used by the laity throughout 
the fifteenth century. It was therefore hoped by 
Henry VIII. that as the Litany would now be recited 
publicly in English, the processions would be better 
attended than they had been when Latin was 
employed. The new Litany was first sung in S. Paul s 
Cathedral on S. Luke s day 1545, which day fell on a 
Sunday. 

It is certain that Cranmer intended to provide other 
English processional hymns for festivals, for in October 
1545 he wrote to Henry saying that he had trans 
lated into the English tongue certain processions 1 for 
this purpose. Among these processional hymns was the 
Salve Festa Dies, or Hail Festal Day," sung at Easter 
and other high festivals. Cranmer was unable to write 
poetry with the facility that he displayed in writing 



172 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

prose, and showed this inability in his translation of the 
Veni Creator. His lack of skill caused him to abandon 
his project. It therefore appears that before the end 
of the reign of Henry VIII., while the Mass was still 
sung in Latin, it was generally preceded by the English 
Litany, the old Latin processional hymns were dis 
carded, and the Litany was called the procession. 
It was sung in procession. 

Soon after Henry s death in 1547 an injunction of 
Edward VI. directed that processions were to be dis 
continued, and that immediately before High Mass 
the Litany was to be said or sung by the clergy kneeling 
in the midst of the church. None other procession or 
litany was to be used henceforth. The reasons given 
for the discontinuance of the imposing ancient proces 
sions, with their measured tread and lights and incense, 
was 4 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 more quietly hear that which is 
said or sung to their edifying. What historic value 
we can attach to the first of the two alleged reasons 
must be a matter of some uncertainty. The Calvinism 
of Somerset probably suggests the real answer. 

When the first English Prayer Book appeared in 
1549, the Litany was printed after the Mass. No 
direction was given for its use on Sundays, which was 
probably well established. But the idea of providing 
an alternative on greater feasts still lingered, for at the 
very end of the Prayer Book it is said : Also upon 
Christmas Day, Easter Day, the Ascension Day, Whit- 
Sunday, and the Feast of the Trinity, may be used any 
part of Holy Scripture hereafter to be certainly limited 
and appointed, in the stead of the Litany. The rubric 
above the Litany is headed, The Litany and Suffrages 
(the suffrages being still disconnected from the first 



THE LITANY 17. * 

part of the procession). The rubric itself says that the 
English Litany" shall be said or sung" on Wednesdays 
and Fridays. The officiating priest apparently wore a 
surplice. The Litany was still an introduction to the 
Mass, for a rubric at the end of the Mass assumes that 
the priest will celebrate immediately after the Litany 
on Wednesdays and Fridays. If there were no com 
municants, the priest vested himself in a cope and said 
4 at the altar 1 everything appointed to be said at the 
celebration until after the Offertory. 1 After which he 
added one or two collects, and let the people depart 
with the accustomed blessing. The same tradition was 
preserved in the time of (Juccn Elizabeth, who directed 
in 1559 that the Litany should be said immediately 
before the time of communion of the Sacrament. " In 
these injunctions of Elizabeth the Edwardian phrase 
concerning fond courtesy is repeated, but directions 
are given for the perambulation of the circuits of 
parishes . . . used heretofore in the days of rogations/ 
These interesting directions mark a return to ancient 
practice. They were not found in the injunctions of 
Fdward VI. 

It is therefore abundantly clear that the English 
Litany was intended to be the authorised prelude 
to the principal Sunday Eucharist, and also of the 
Eucharist of Wednesdays and Fridays. The latter 
days being penitential days, it was considered appro 
priate that the Litany, which had a somewhat peniten 
tial character, should be prefixed to the Eucharist. 
The Litany is in no sense an appendage to Morning 
Prayer, and for many generations after the Reforma 
tion it was often recited at a much later hour than 
Morning Prayer. Thus in Canterbury Cathedral at 
the close of the seventeenth century Morning Prayer 
was read on Sundays at six or seven, and the Litany 
was sung at ten, followed by the Communion Service. 
At Christ Church, Oxford, the students attended 



174 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Mattins at six on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Litany 
at nine. The practice of regarding the Litany as an 
appendage to Mattins was simply the result of neglect 
ing to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday. The 
result of this widespread neglect of the service which 
Christ Himself instituted was that in most parochial 
churches the ordinary service for Sunday morning con 
sisted of Mattins, Litany, and the beginning of the 
Communion Service, said consecutively without any 
break. When the Oxford movement caused a more 
general revival of weekly celebrations, the great length 
of the combined services of Mattins, Litany, and the 
Eucharist, made it necessary to make some abbrevia 
tion. In many cases the parochial clergy, instead of 
placing Mattins at an earlier hour in accordance with 
ancient usage, retained the late Mattins and omitted 
the Litany. The final perversion of the meaning of 
the Litany took place when it was shifted to the 
afternoon. A somewhat similar practice has grown up 
in those Roman Catholic churches where no litany is 
familiar to the people except the Litany of Loretto, 
ordinarily sung by the people in the afternoon or 
evening. 

No student who is acquainted with the spirit of the 
Prayer Book can doubt that the Litany ought to be 
said or sung every Sunday before the principal service. 
The congregation, by joining in the responses, would 
in many places give to this form of devotion a solem 
nity and vivacity which marked the golden age of 
liturgical worship. 

We may now consider the separate elements from 
which the English Litany is derived. 

(i) The Sarum Litany for Rogation Monday. The 
most important part of the English Litany is derived 
from the litany sung on Rogation Monday according 
to the rite of Sarum. Before invoking the mercy of 
the Holy Trinity, the Sarum Litany contained the 



THE LITANY 175 



Greek prayer to our Saviour, A/yr/V r/f/y.ww, Christc 
clcyson. After the petitions to the Holy Trinity there 
came a long list of saints, each name being followed by 
the request for their intercessions, pray for us. The 
English Litany in the Primer of 1545 retained only 
three of these requests IIolv Virgin Marv, Mother 
of God our Saviour Jesu Christ, pray for us"; All 
holy angels and archangels, and all holy orders of 
blessed spirits, pray for us"; All holy patriarchs and 
prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins, and 
all the blessed company of heaven, pray for us." It 
should be noticed that such requests for prayer were 
common in the Latin services which were used side 
by side with the English Litany; they were expressly 
sanctioned bv the King s Hook of 1543, and also by 
the Bishops Hook of 1537. Hut much popular super 
stition had gathered round the veneration of the saints, 
and in 1549 Cranmer adopted the measure of omitting 
from the Litany all requests addressed to the saints. 

In the petitions which follow, Cranmer massed to 
gether various short clauses into one. The result is 
that the English Litany has lost the short processional 
steps which marked the Latin Litany, and has assumed 
a certain fulness and eloquence which are fitted to aid 
the worship of a motionless congregation. For instance, 
the Sarum Litany has : 

From all evil, Deliver us, O Lord. 

From the crafts of the devil, Deliver us, () Lord. 

From everlasting damnation, Deliver us, () Lord. 

From the imminent perils of our sins, Deliver us, O Lord. 

From the assaults of demons, Deliver us, () Lord. 

In our modern Litany this is replaced by: 

From all evil and mischief; from sin, from the crafts and 
assaults of the devil ; from Thy wrath, and from everlasting 
damnation, 

Good Ix&gt;rd, deliver us. 



176 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

In the same way the Sarum Litany bases a separate 
petition on the fact of the holy Incarnation, of the 
Nativity, of the Circumcision, of the Baptism, and of 
the Fasting of our Lord, all of which are now com 
prehended in one clause. 

(ii) The Sarum Litany for the Dying. It is im 
portant to notice that Cranmer did not merely make 
use of the processional Litany, and that his work is 
partly based upon a Sarum Litany which was not 
intended for processional use. This is the exquisite 
Litany which was said by the priest as a Commenda 
tion of a soul in the moment of death." Immediately 
before the beginning of this Litany, which was repeated 
over our forefathers in their last agony, there was thrice 
said : 

Spare, O Lord, spare Thy servant whom Thou hast vouchsafed 
to redeem with Thy precious Blood : be not angry with him for 
ever. 

It should be observed that this does not contain the 
words give not Thine inheritance unto perdition, 
which are found in the ordinary Sarum Litany, and are 
not found in the modern English form. The following 
is an exact translation of the Latin words printed before 
the ordinary Letania : 

Antiphon. Remember not, O Lord, our offences nor the 
offences of our forefathers, neither take Thou vengeance of our 
sins. 1 [A r o more is said when it is said in choir. ] Spare, O Lord, 
spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious 
Blood, be not angry with us for ever : and give not Thine inherit 
ance unto perdition : forget us not for ever. 2 

From the Commendation appear to be derived the 
words from Thy wrath," and perhaps the conjunction 
of e crafts and assaults of the devil in our petition. 

(iii) A German Litany. In 1529 Luther revised a 
mediaeval Litany used in Germany, and published it 

1 Tobit iii. 3. 2 Joel ii. 17. 



THE LITANY 177 

both in German and Latin for use at Wittenberg. 
It was accepted by Archbishop Hermann of Coin 
for his own diocese, and was certainly used as a basis 
for the Litany in Marshall s Primer of 1535. The 
Primer of Bishop Hilsey of Rochester in 1539 returns 
to the Sarum Litany, though it reduces the number 
of saints whose prayers are asked. From Luther s 
Litany, if we can rightly give the name of Luther 
to such a mediaeval work, are derived the petition 
for magistrates, the words in all time of our tribula 
tion: in all time of our wealth," the words to bring 
into the way of truth all such as have erred and are 
deceived, and practically the whole of the Litany from 
strengthen such as do stand * to the end of the petition 
for enemies, persecutors, and slanderers. 1 

Luther s influence is also shown in the prayer which 
follows the Lord s Prayer. Luther has : l 

Vers. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins. 

Res. Neither reward us according to our iniquities. 

() (Jod, merciful Father, that despisest not the sighing of the 
contrite, and spurnest not the desire of the sorrowful, assist our 
prayers which we make before Thee in the trouhles which con 
tinually oppress us, and graciously hear us, etc. 

This collect occurs in the Sarum Missal in the Mass 
for those in trouble of heart, and Luther must have 
known the same collect or a variation of it. Hut 
Cranmer s translation adheres more closely to Luther s 
version than to the Sarum version, for he inserts the 
words merciful Father, alters the words to Thy 
goodness into before Thee, and says graciously 
hear"* instead of graciously regard. And Cranmer 
sometimes turned from Marshall and Hilsev to Luther, 
as can be seen from the petition that Christ will beat 
down Satan under our feet/ a petition which is less 

1 The versicle and response occur in the Sarum Litany, but arc not 
followed by the prayer. 

II 



178 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

accurately translated in Marshall s rendering of Luther, 
and does not occur in Hilsey. 

After the long prayer, which was modified through 
Luther s influence, our Litany returns to the Sarum 
Litany for Rogation Monday. 

Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for Thy Name s sake. 

This is the ancient antiphon, Exsurge Domine (Psalm 
xliv. 26), and it is still appropriately continued with 
the words, O God, we have heard with our ears," 1 
etc. (Psalm xliv. 1). After this the Gloria used to 
be sung, and the Exsurge was repeated. It is an 
ordinary antiphon shortened. By a grotesque modern 
mistake the Exsurge is now printed and sung as if it 
were a kind of Amen said by the choir to the previous 
collect. The collect ought to end with Amen like any 
other collect, and Amen was printed here in the 
versions used in Elizabeth s chapel in 1558 and 1559. 
Until the revised book was printed in 1662, the clergy 
ended the collects with the traditional formulae, but 
in 1662 Amen, though omitted in the Litany collect, 
was wrongly printed in the Sunday collects after the 
words Jesus Christ our Lord. The words Who liveth 
with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost were left out 
by mistake. 

(iv) The Sarum Litany in time of war. The beauti 
ful petitions which begin From our enemies defend us, 
O Christ, and end graciously hear us, O Lord Christ 
are translated with small changes l from certain verses 
added to the Sarum Litany for Rogation Monday in 
time of war. Their retention in 1544 was peculiarly 
appropriate, as England was then at war with France 
and Scotland. But there is no necessity for con 
fining their use to times of war. Their oldest use in 

1 The words Son of David are remarkable. The original was Fili 
Dei vivi ; it seems possible that the words Dei vivi may have been so 
written as to be mistaken for David. 



THE LITANY 170 

England was connected with peace and joy, and dates 
hack almost to the dawn of English Christianity. 
They are to he found at the conclusion of the litany 
appointed to he sung at the consecration of a church 
in the Pontifical attributed to Egbert, 1 who became 
Archbishop of York in A.D. 7 J2. 

Then come the following versicle and response : 

J rit st. O Lord, let Thy mercy be showed upon us ; 
Answer. As we do put our trust in Thee. 

In the Sarum service these words were ordinarily said 
on week-days at the conclusion of Lauds. The collect 
which follows is enlarged from the Sarum collect for 
the time of war. The Litany ought to end with 
the praver of S. Chrysostom as in 154-9. Hut in 1559 
there was added The Grace of our Lord, etc., which 
now closes the Litany. This has given the Litany a 
false appearance of completeness by obliterating the 
fact that its real completion is the Eucharist, which 
ought to follow it immediately. It is true that in 
the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom The Grace of our Lord, 
etc., occurs at the beginning of the most solemn part 
of the Eucharist. Hut this is not sufficient justification 
for printing it where it stands in our Prayer Book. 
In !()()! our revisers placed the same words at the 
conclusion of Morning Prayer, and thus corroborated 
the popular misconception that the Litany comes to an 
end as definitely and absolutely as Morning Prayer. 

Having considered the history and sources of the 
Litany, it remains to add a few words to explain its 
structure. It may be divided into six parts : 

(a) THK INVOCATIONS TO THE HOLY TRINITY, invok 
ing mercy for us as sinners. It was to ask for mercy 
that some of the first litanies were first instituted. 
The prayer Remember not 1 comes as a climax to 
this section. 

1 Published by the Surtees Society, vol. xxvii. 



180 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

The Suffrages now follow immediately, as there are 
no longer any requests to the saints for their prayers. 
In the Ordination Service the special petition for those 
to be ordained is called the proper suffrage. 1 So the 
original title of the English Litany was, as we have 
seen, Litany and Suffrages. The Suffrages are usually 
distinguished as follows : 

(b) THE DEPRECATIONS, or prayers against evil, be 
ginning From all evil and mischief. They may be 
regarded as expansions of the clause in the Lord s 
Prayer, Deliver us from evil, and they are immediately 
addressed to our Blessed Lord as the Deliverer from 
all forms of evil and their injurious consequences. 

(c) THE DESECRATIONS, or prayers of entreaty; i.e. 
prayers entreating for the assistance which is derived 
from all that Christ has done for us men and our 
salvation, beginning c By the mystery. 1 These are 
addressed to our Blessed Lord. 

(d) THE INTERCESSIONS, or prayers on behalf of others, 
commencing with We sinners do beseech. 1 They in 
clude all sorts and conditions of men, 1 from the holy 
Church to the persecutors and slanderers of the same. 
These also are addressed to the Saviour of all men. 

(e) THE SUPPLICATIONS. These are two prayers ; one 
for material blessings, that God will preserve to us the 
fruits of the earth ; the other for spiritual blessings, 
that God will give us repentance, pardon, and the 
grace of the Holy Spirit. 

Thus conclude the Suffrages. 

(j) THE VERSICLES and PRAYERS are, on the whole, 
penitential and marked by a sense of calamity and 
need in accordance with their origin. The Divine 
Redeemer is so touched with the feeling of our in 
firmities that His intercession for us is as perpetual 
as our need, and we do wrong to imagine that we are 
ever free from danger and weakness, or that these 
prayers are ever inappropriate. 



THE LITANY 181 

We may notice one or two instances of archaic 
English, viz. wealth for wellbeing or felicity, the Lords 
of the Council for the Lords of the Privy Council, 
kindly t frutts for natural fruits, and after our .tins . . . 
after our iniquities for according to, in proportion to, 
our sins and iniquities. 1 



CHAPTER VIII 

HAPTISM 1 

And when the pure 

And consecrated element hath cleansed 
The original stain, the child is there received 
Into the second ark, Christ s Church, with trust 
That he, from wrath redeemed, therein shall float 
Over the billows of this troublesome world 
To the fair land of everlasting 1 life. 

WORDSWORTH, The Pastor. 

1. Baptismal Rites before A.D. 600. 

HOLY BAPTISM was instituted by our Lord Himself. In 
S. Matt, xxviii. 19 the risen Saviour commands His 
apostles to go and teach all nations, 4 baptizing them 
in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost. Modern sceptics have denied that Christ 
ever employed such a formula, simply because they deny 
that His sacred Body rose from the dead, and that He 
gave any directions to His disciples after His death on 
Calvary. Without pausing to discuss the momentous 
fact of the Resurrection, we may observe that the 
primitive use of this formula is attested by the men 
tion of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity in such 
passages as 2 Cor. xiii. 14, S. John xiv. 26, Heb. x. 29. 
Another passage where Christ speaks of the necessity 

1 For a full account of the Ceremonies of Baptism and the Prepara 
tion of Catechumens, see Baptism, chaps, xii., xiii., by Mr. Darwell 
Stone, in this series. 
182 



BAPTISM 18.T 

of Baptism is in the Gospel of S. John. The Gospel 
was written a long time after the other Gospels, 
probably about A.D. 85, and the inspired author does 
not regard it as necessary to record the institution of 
the Eucharist and Baptism. These holy rites were 
then familiar to the Christian world, and their origin 
was adequately described in the other Gospels. S.John 
therefore confines himself to recording two discourses 
which illuminate these two Sacraments respectively. In 
chapter vi. he records our Lord s own exposition of the 
Bread which came down from heaven, and in chapter 
iii. he gives us the discourse with Nicodemus, where it 
is asserted that except a man be born of water and 
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 1 

It is quite impossible to exaggerate the importance 
which the early Christians attached to Baptism. S. 
Peter attaches to it the remission of our sins by God, 1 
and S. Paul calls it the laver 1 or washing 1 of 
regeneration (Tit. iii. 5). Not only so, but in Romans 
vi. 1-14 he enforces the truth that the Christian must 
not yield to Sin, because any such yielding is a repudia 
tion of the union which Baptism effects between Christ 
and the believer. Every one, he teaches, who has faith 
in Christ is baptized into Christ, and the great crises 
in the history of the Saviour are then repeated in the 
believer. Christ died, and the believer enters the. 
baptismal water to die unto sin, and to place himself 
out of its reach. Christ was buried, and the believer, 
in order to ratifv his death to sin, remains for an 
instant submerged beneath the water. Christ was 
raised from the dead, and the believer stands upright 
again to begin a new and risen life. It is abundantly 
evident that S. Paul neither here nor elsewhere regards 
Baptism as a mere symbol. The desire to put such an 
interpretation upon his words has been caused by the 
erroneous notion that the doctrine of a real, as opposed 
1 Acts ii. 38 ; cf. Acts xxii. 16. 



184 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

to a merely symbolic, baptismal regeneration, implies 
that a baptized person will infallibly be saved. But the 
doctrine implies nothing of the kind, and the apostle 
only regards Baptism as an assurance of sanctification 
and salvation when a Christian actively avails himself 
of the powers which Baptism imparts. 

The question as to whether infants were baptized in 
the apostolic age must, it seems, be answered in the 
affirmative. It is not definitely said that infants were 
baptized, but the Scriptures suggest it both by men 
tioning the Baptism of households, 1 and by drawing a 
comparison between Baptism and Circumcision, which 
was always performed in infancy. Secondly, we must 
notice that when the Jews baptized their proselytes 
they seem to have baptized their children also, and the 
Christians would almost certainly follow the Jewish 
practice in such a matter. Thirdly, the Baptism of 
infants is definitely mentioned by S. Irenaeus, who was 
the pupil of Polycarp, the disciple of S. John. It is 
also mentioned about 190 by Clement of Alexandria; 
and Origeri expressly says, The Church has received it 
as a tradition from the apostles to administer Baptism 
even to infants/ The evidence of these three great 
Fathers is so valuable that it cannot reasonably be 
rejected. 

Outside the New Testament, the earliest account of 
Baptism is that contained in the Teaching of the 
Apostles, if we are right in dating the book about 
A.D. 100. The rite of Baptism here includes (1) 
previous instruction and fasting ; (2) a person who 
baptizes the convert; (3) the use of water running 
water if possible; (4) the repetition of the formula, 
into the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. If the water was not abundant enough 
for the candidate to be immersed in it, pouring water 
upon his head was sufficient. 

The following account is given by S. Justin Martyr 



BAPTISM 185 

of Baptism as it was administered at Rome about 
A.D. 152: 

Those who are convinced of the truth of our doctrine, and 
have promised to live according to it, are exhorted to prayer, 
fasting-, and repentance for past sins, we praying and fasting 1 with 
them. Then they are led by us to a place where is water, and in 
this way they are regenerated, as we also have been regenerated 
that is, they receive the water-hath in the Name of God, the 
Father and Ruler of all, and of our Redeemer, Jesus C hrist, 
and of the Holy Ghost. For Christ says, Except ye he born 
again, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Thus, 
from children of necessity and ignorance we become children of 
choice and of wisdom, and partakers of the forgiveness of former 
sins. . . . The baptismal bath is also called illumination, because 
those who receive it are enlightened in the understanding. l 

The comparative simplicity of Justin s description of 
the ritual of Baptism does not exclude the probability 
that ceremonies which lie does not mention were already 
employed in the service. These ceremonies came to be 
of a very impressive and picturesque character, having 
some resemblance to ceremonies employed in certain 
pagan rites of initiation. Capital has lately been made 
out of this fact, in order to represent the Catholic 
baptismal ceremonial of the fourth century as pagan in 
origin and the Church of that period as deeply infected 
with heathen superstition. But a close examination of 
the phenomena shows the accusation to be as ridiculous 
as it is malicious. The more important ceremonies of 
the fourth century were in use about A.D. 200, when 
the Church took no enjoyment in the precarious 
advantage of pagan aestheticism. Among the circum 
stances of Baptism about A.D. 200 was the fact that 
the time was generally at Easter, that the candidate 
renounced Satan, that he was anointed and signed with 
the cross, that immediately after Baptism he received 
the laying on of the bishop s hands, then was given 
Holy Communion, and finally a draught of milk and 

1 Apol. i. 1 6. 



186 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

honey, symbolical of the good things of the land of 
promise. It is almost certain that this anointing dates 
back as early as A.D. 140, and the draught of milk and 
honey seems suggested in the Epistle of Barnabas, which 
is probably at least as early as A.D. 98. 

Now these features are conspicuous in the use of the 
fourth century, at which time we find an astonishing 
unanimity in the baptismal rites of different countries. 
Our best information is derived from the writings of 
S. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, A.D. 347, and S. Silvia, 
A.D. 385, and those of S. Ambrose and S. Augustine. 
The former writers show us the customs of Greek- 
speaking Christians, the two latter show us the customs 
of the Latin-speaking populations of Milan and North 
Africa. Examples of the baptismal prayers employed 
in Egypt are preserved in the book of Bishop Serapion. 
The rites are sharply divided into two parts; the first 
part is the service used when a convert from heathenism 
was admitted to the catechumenate, i.e. made a pro 
bationary member of the Church and brought under 
Christian instruction. In the fourth century it was not 
uncommon for men to become catechumens and then 
to postpone Baptism until old age or the imminent 
approach of death. The emperors Constantine and 
Constantius were guilty of this trifling with religion. 
Sometimes the delay was due to an exaggerated rever 
ence ; too often it was due to a man s desire to have 
his fling before he made his peace with God; and 
this accounts for the denunciation of the practice 
which flashed from the golden mouth of Chrysostom. 
The second part of the rites of initiation into 
Christianity comprises the actual Baptism, followed by 
Confirmation and first Communion. 

At Jerusalem the candidates for the catechumenate 
presented themselves at the beginning of Lent to the 
bishop. Their names were taken down, and the bishop 
made careful inquiries as to the character of each 



BAPTISM 187 

candidate. It the information received was favourable, 
the candidate was accepted and numbered among the 
(f)a)Ti6fjLevoi the recipients of enlightenment 1 (cf. 
Ileb. vi. 4). During the whole of Lent they met in 
church every morning, and were instructed by the 
bishop or his delegate. Clergymen of lower rank pro 
nounced over them certain exorcisms of the Kvil One. 

In due time they were taught the Creed, which was 
somewhat shorter than our present Nicene Creed. The 
course of instruction still continued, and each candi 
date recited the Creed by heart before the bishop. 
Instruction on the Eucharist and Baptism was reserved 
until Master week. 

On the night of Easter Even all the candidates were 
received in the vestibule of the baptistery, and the 
ceremony began by the candidates renouncing Satan. 
This they did turning to the West, the region of 
darkness. Then they turned to the Kast and recited 
the Creed. These ceremonies then followed : 

(1) The candidates unrobed and entered the bap 
tistery, where they were- anointed with oil. In the 
case of female candidates this unction was performed 
by deaconesses. 

(52) They entered the baptismal water, which had 
previously been blessed by the bishop. They confessed 
their faith in a threefold answer to the bishop s inter 
rogations, and water was thrice poured over them. 

(3) Having left the water, the candidates were 
anointed with perfumed oil (p,vpoi&gt;, Chrism). The 
bishop signed them with the cross with this oil, and 
apparently laid his hands upon them, thus administer 
ing Confirmation. 

(4) The bishop then celebrated the Eucharist, and 
Holy Communion was given to the baptized. 

It should be noticed in conclusion that, in parts 
of the Greek-speaking world, a presbyter was per 
mitted to sign the candidate with the Chrism if the 



188 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

bishop was not present. Ambrosiaster expressly says 
that this was done in Egypt. 1 Hence in the Eastern 
Church at the present day, if no bishop is present, the 
only confirmation is this unction administered by a 
priest. This is one of the very few cases in which the 
East has been less faithful than the West to apostolic 
usage. Inasmuch as infants were treated by the 
Church in the same manner as adults, Holy Com 
munion was administered to little children at their 
Baptism. This practice still prevails in the East, and 
it lasted at Milan as late as the fifteenth century. 

The usage of the West in the fourth century was so 
similar to that of the East that it is hardly necessary 
to quote at length the vivid and interesting passages 
in which S. Ambrose and S. Augustine depict the 
ceremonies of Baptism. The candidates or competentes 
were catechised, exorcised, and scrutinised. The 
scrutinium is defined by an ancient writer as an in 
vestigation ; the exorcisms at Rome and at Milan 
included the giving of salt to the catechumen in token 
of the savour of wisdom which befits a Christian ; they 
also included the ceremony of the Ephpheta or Effeta, 
which Ambrose calls the mystery of opening/ This 
was a touching of the lips and ears with saliva, as 
Christ touched the deaf and dumb man that he might 
hear and speak. The competentes, or electi as they 
were also called, were instructed during the course of 
Lent; and Ambrose speaks of himself as teaching the 
Creed to the competentes on Sunday after the sermon, 
when the catechumens had been dismissed. 2 By cate 
chumens he evidently means those catechumens who 
had not yet been elected for the rite of Baptism. 
On Palm Sunday the candidates entered the baptistery, 
answered the necessary questions, renounced Satan, 
turned to the East to Christ, 1 and repeated the Creed. 
The teaching of the Creed was known as the Traditio 
1 In Ep. ad Eph. c. iv. 2 Ep. xx. ad Marcdl. 4. 



BAPTISM 189 

Symboli ; the repetition of it by the candidate was 
called the Redditio Symboli. 

Late on Easter Even, after a long series of lessons 
and psalms, a procession went to the baptistery. At 
Milan there were two baptisteries, one for men and the 
other for women. The bishop blessed the water with 
the sign of the cross, the candidates descended into it, 
were questioned and confessed their faith, the bishop 
made the sign of the cross over them and poured 
water over their heads, repeating the baptismal formula. 
The neophytes then ascended from the font. The 
bishop then washed their feet, and they received from 
the bishop s hands a white baptismal robe. 

The bishop then administered Confirmation, making 
the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the candidates 
with Chrism. S. Augustine speaks very definitely of 
this anointing. 

The procession then returned amid the brilliant 
lights of the neophytes" to the cathedral church. 
The bishop immediately celebrated the Eucharist, and 
the newly baptized were allowed to communicate, 
although they were not, in Milan and Africa, allowed 
to make any oblation at the Offertory until the next 
Sunday. This was postponed on account of the fact 
that the sacrificial system 1 (xacrificii ratio) was not 
explained to them until Easter week. 

2. Kaptismal Rites / rum A.D. GOO to A.D. 1.541). 

The baptismal rites of the Middle Ages were sub 
stantially the same as they were in the fourth century. 
Only it has to be remembered in studying them that 
many details were modified in order to fit them for the 
Baptism of children rather than adults, and to allow 
the frequent administration of Baptism by a priest 
instead of an administration by a bishop in the midst 
of the various rites of Easter Even. The selection of 



190 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Easter had no doubt been due to the desire that 
converts should commence their new life on the day 
that Christ had risen from the dead. But in the West 
the eve of Pentecost was chosen as a second baptismal 
festival, and in the East the Epiphany and Christmas 
were added for the same purpose. 

A complete account of the Roman ceremonies of 
Baptism as administered in the seventh and eighth 
centuries has been preserved to us in an Ordo Baptismi 
of the time of Charles the Great, and in the Gelasian 
Sacramentary, which agrees closely with the Ordo 
Baptismi, except that it contains a few Gallican 
additions. 

The rites of admittance to the catechumenate con 
tained the exsufflation or breathing on the face of the 
candidate, in imitation of our Lord breathing upon 
His disciples, the signing with the sign of the cross, 
and the giving of salt. The instruction which pre 
ceded Baptism began in the third week of Lent, and 
the scrutinies were seven in number. At the 
4 stational Mass on Monday, at which all were ex 
pected to be present, notice was given of the first 
scrutiny. It took place after the collect in the Mass. 
Prayer was offered, and then three exorcists in turn 
laid their hands upon the candidates with this or a 
similar formula : 

O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God Who 
appearedst to Moses Thy servant in Mount Sinai, and broughtest 
forth the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, appointing 
for them the angel of Thy goodness to guard them day and 
night ; we beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou wouldest vouchsafe 
to send Thy holy angel to guard in like manner these Thy 
servants also, and bring them to the grace of Thy Baptism. 

Therefore, accursed devil, recognise thy sentence and give 
honour to the living arid true God, and give honour to Jesus 
Christ His Son, and to the Holy Spirit, and depart from these 
servants of God, for our God and Lord Jesus Christ hath 
vouchsafed to call them to Himself and to His holy grace and 
blessing and the Baptism of the font by His free gift. And 



BAPTISM 1J&gt;1 

this sign of the holy cross which we make upon their foreheads, 
do thou, accursed devil, never dare to violate. 

The priest then said a prayer, and the catechumens 
were dismissed before the Gospel. 

On the third day of scrutiny the catechumens were 
no longer dismissed just after the Gradual. Four 
deacons placed the four Gospels severally at the four 
corners of the altar, and the elect" listened to a 
short commentary on each of them. Then the Nicene 
Creed was taught to them either in Greek or Latin, 
according to the preference of the candidates. Lastly, 
the priest expounded and taught the i Our Father." 
These instructions were the Roman expansion of the 
Trad itio Sijmholi. The Kcdditio Symboli took place 
at the seventh scrutiny, which was on the morning of 
Easter Kven when no Mass was celebrated. After 
the Kff cta the candidates were anointed with oil, like 
athletes about to struggle with a foe. This done, they 
renounced Satan and his works and pomps, and recited 
the Creed. Thev were dismissed by the archdeacon. 

In the afternoon the elect attend at the solemn 
Easter vigil, probably the most ancient of all Christian 
services except the Eucharist. 1 A series of lessons was 
read from the Old Testament, illustrating the dealings 
of God with His people from the creation of the world. 
The series was diversified with chants from the Old 
Testament, such as the Song of Miriam and Like as 
the hart desireth the water brooks." 

The l*ope and his clergy then entered the sumptuous 
baptistery of the Lateran basilica. A portico encrusted 
with mosaic opens into an octagonal baptistery adorned 
with columns of porphyry. In it is a tank, from the 
midst of which there arose a candelabrum. Into the 

1 This vigil was originally kept on Saturday night, and the Mass 
which followed it was at dawn. It has now become transferred to 
Saturday morning, with the result that the first Mass of Easter is 
sometimes said twenty hours too soon. 



192 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

tank there poured a stream of water from above a 
golden figure of the Agnus Dei, supported by silver 
statues of our Lord and S. John Baptist. The Pope 
recited a collect and a long Eucharistic prayer, in the 
course of which he thrice signed the water with the 
cross, once breathed upon it, and once paused while 
two attendants threw lighted tapers into the water as 
he prayed that the power of the Holy Spirit might 
descend upon the fulness of the font. He then poured 
Chrism into the water, and moved the water with his 
hand. 

All being ready, the elect advanced towards the 
tank, modesty being safeguarded by the fact that 
separate oratories for men and women were provided 
close to the baptistery. The archdeacon presented 
them one by one to the Pope, who asked them, Dost 
thou believe in God the Father Almighty ? Dost 
thou believe also in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our 
Lord, Who was born and suffered ? Dost thou believe 
also in the Holy Ghost, the holy Church, remission of 
sins, the resurrection of the flesh ? As each answered 
in the affirmative, he stepped into the tank, and the 
Pope baptized him with the scriptural formula, the 
other clergy entering into the water and assisting. 
The baptized were then anointed with Chrism and 
clothed in white raiment. 

Confirmation immediately followed in the adjacent 
chapel of the Holy Cross. The procession then entered 
the basilica once more, and Mass began. Before the 
end of the Canon the Pope blessed milk and honey, 
and the neophytes after receiving their first Communion 
partook of those emblems of the promised land as the 
day began to dawn over the eternal city. 

The Sarum Baptismal Office is an abbreviated form 
of the ancient Roman rite. It contains four rites : the 
Or do ad faciendum Catechumennm, the Benedictio Fontis, 
the Ritus Baptizandi, and the Conjirmatio Puerorum. 



BAPTISM 193 

The priest met the child at the door, and inquired 
whether it was a boy or a girl, whether it had been 
baptized, and what its name was to be. If a boy it 
was placed at the priest s right hand, if a girl at the 
left a custom which was a relic of the ceremonial 
anciently used at the Baptism of a large number of 
adults. The old ceremonies then followed. The child 
was signed with the cross, named and signed again. 
The salt of wisdom was administered. A series of 
adjurations and exorcisms was pronounced. A short 
Gospel from St. Matthew, describing Christ blessing 
the little children, was read. Then the priest per 
formed the ceremony of the Effeta, touching the child s 
right ear, nostrils, and left ear. lie then repeated the 
Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Creed with all the 
bystanders. And finally he made the sign of the cross 
on the child s hand, and brought it into the church 
saying, Enter into the temple of God, that thou 
mayest have eternal life and live for ever and ever. 
Amen/ The Gospel, Pater, Ave, and Credo were all 
that remained of the instruction of the competent cs. 

The Benediction of the Font began with a litany 
followed by a Eucharistic preface. The priest then 
divided the water in the form of a cross, and prayed 
that it might be a living fountain, a regenerating 
water, a purifying wave." He then threw some of the 
water in four different directions, breathed upon it, 
poured wax into it from the taper, and finished the 
preface. Finally, he poured oil, Chrism, and oil and 
Chrism mingled into the water. The last ceremonies 
were omitted on the Eves of Easter and Pentecost 
unless there were any to be bapti/ed. 

The Kite of Baptizing is almost the same as in the 
eighth century. The priest places his hand upon the 
child and asks its name. Then follows the renunciation 
of Satan and all his works. The child is then anointed 
with oil on the breast and between the shoulders. 

K 



194 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Then the priest puts the questions as to belief, adding 
What dost thou seek ? Baptism. 1 Wilt thou be 
baptized ? I will. The child is then baptized with 
a threefold immersion. The priest afterwards gives 
the child to the godparents. He anoints it with 
Chrism, and the child is clothed with the vestis chris- 
malls (in English, chrisom), the priest saying mean 
while : N. receive the white, holy, and stainless 
garment to bear before the judgment seat of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life and 
live for ever and ever. Amen. 1 * Parish churches were 
generally provided with chrisoms, which were lent to 
people who did not provide them for their god 
children. 

A taper was then placed in the child s hand, with 
the words, N. receive the burning light, which means 
freedom from reproach : guard thy Baptism, keep the 
commandments, that when the Master cometh to the 
marriage feast, thou mayest meet Him together with 
the saints within the court of heaven : that thou mayest 
have eternal life for ever and ever. Amen. 

The Confirmation of the child followed immediately 
if the bishop was present ; and the rubric also directs 
that the child should be communicated if his age 
demand it, the priest saying, The Body of our Lord 
Jesus Christ preserve thy body and thy soul unto ever 
lasting life. Amen. The father and mother were then 
bidden in English to preserve the child from fire and 
water, and all other dangers until his seventh year, 
and the godparents, or the godmothers only, were 
enjoined to teach the child the Our Father, the Hail 
Mary, and the Creed, and to see that the child was 
confirmed as soon as the bishop came within seven 
miles of the place. 

The service concluded with (i) a Gospel from S. 
Mark, containing the story of the healing of the dumb 
boy whose father said, Lord, I believe, help Thou 



BAPTISM 195 

mine unbelief 1 ; (ii) the prologue of S. John s Gospel, 
which was also read by the priest at the end of 
every^Mass. 

3. The Reformed Rites. 

In spite of the beauty of much of the mediaeval 
English service, it is marked by certain defects. The 
ceremonies were too numerous for one continuous ser 
vice, and their meaning had become somewhat obscured. 
If the service were said in two separate parts over adult 
converts from heathenism, the old Roman or Greek 
service would even at the present day be most imposing 
and felicitous. But the compressed mediaeval service 
was in most cases said over infants only, and in such a 
manner that the essential rite of Baptism was smothered 
in non-essential ceremonies. A reform was therefore 
desirable, and, on the whole, the reform of 1549 was 
very well carried out. 

In 1549 the preliminary service took place as before 
at the church door. It was greatly reduced in length. 
The child was named, crossed on the forehead and 
breast, and exorcised. There was no giving of salt and 
no Effcta. The Gospel story about the blessing of the 
little children was read from S. Mark, and no longer 
from S. Matthew. The minister repeated the Our 
Father and the Creed with the bystanders, and then 
took one of the children by the right hand and pro 
ceeded to the font with a brief prayer. 

The reformed Benediction of the Font was printed 
at the end of the private Baptism of Infants, and it 
was ordered that the water should be changed at least 
every month, and blessed before a Baptism. The prayers 
appointed are admirable. The only ceremonial act 
directed is the primitive signing of the water with the 
sign of the cross. This Benediction is directly taken 
from the Mozarabic Benediction of the Font on Holy 



196 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Saturday, and part of it is retained in our present 
service. 1 

The Rite of Baptizing contains the renunciation of 
Satan, the questions as to belief including the whole 
of the Apostles 1 Creed, followed by What dost thou 
desire ? Baptism. Wilt thou be baptized ? I 
will. The child is then baptized with a threefold im 
mersion. The child is afterwards taken by the god 
parents, and the minister puts upon it the chrisom 
with a prayer resembling the mediaeval prayer. After 
this he anoints the child on the head, saying : 

Almighty God^ the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who 
hath regenerate thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath 
given unto thee remission of all thy sins : He vouchsafe to 
anoint thee with the Unction of His Holy Spirit, and bring thee 
to the inheritance of everlasting life. Amen. 

The lighted taper is no longer given. The godparents 
are exhorted to see that the children learn the Creed, 
the Lord s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments in the 
English tongue, and the chrisoms are to be delivered 
to the priests after the accustomed manner, at the 
purification of the mother of every child. 

The influence of Archbishop Hermann s baptismal 
rite is very marked, and can be seen in 

(a) The exhortation, Dearly beloved, forasmuch. 

(b) The prayer, Almighty and everlasting God, 
which. 

(c) The exhortation, Friends, ye hear. 

(d) The thanksgiving, Almighty and everlasting 
God, heavenly Father. 

The first of these four was apparently used by 
Luther in 1521, and perhaps written by him. The 
selection of the Gospel from S. Mark rather than 
S. Matthew is again due to the use of Coin. 

In 1552 the service was greatly altered. The idea of 

1 See Missah Gothictim (Cardinal Lorenzana s edit., Rome 1804), 
col. 455. 



BAPTISM 107 

the catechumenate was given up, and the service began 
at the font. What is left of the earlier part ef the 
service is merely an introduction to the Baptism itself. 
The exorcism and the sign of the cross at the beginning 
of the service were omitted. No direction was given 
with regard to the Benediction of the Font, although the 
prayers connected with the Benediction were repeated 
before the act of Baptism. The Unction and the 
chrisom were both omitted, and in their place was put 
the sign of the cross transferred from the beginning 
of the first division of the service. What is really 
remarkable is that amid this series of innovations the 
revisers erected a citadel of Catholicism. They inserted 
the address Seeing now, dearly beloved, 1 Our Father," 
and We yield Thee hearty thanks. In this new 
section, inserted after the sign of the cross, is the 
strongest possible assertion of the doctrine of baptismal 
regeneration. It certainly suggests that Cranmer, 
conscious that he had yielded far too much in other 
parts of the book, was determined that he would not 
surrender a doctrine to which the whole primitive 
Church had given such unequivocal testimony. 

In 1661 of Infants " was added to the title to dis 
tinguish this Office from the new one for adult persons. 
The second rubric, requiring three sponsors, was added. 
Some other small changes were made. Two changes 
were really important. It was directed that the font 
was to be filled with pure water at each celebration of 
the rite, and the Benediction of the Font was restored 
by inserting in the prayer Almighty, overliving God 
the words, sanctify this water to the mystical washing 
away of sin/ In 1661 there was also added the rubric 
asserting the salvation of baptized infants, derived from 
the Ten Article* of 1556, and placed in 1549 in the 
Order of Confirmation. The final rubric concerning 
the cross in Baptism was also added in 1661. 

In and since 1519 the rite of Confirmation has 



198 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

been printed quite separately from the Baptismal 
Office. 

4. Private Baptism of Infants. 

The necessity of Baptism has brought with it the 
necessity of permitting that, in the case of dangerous 
sickness, it may be administered in a private house. 
The rubric directs that the formula of Baptism is to 
be preceded by so many of the Collects appointed 
to be said before in the Form of Public Baptism, as the 
time and present exigence will suffer." 1 The Sacrament 
is to be administered, if possible, by the minister of the 
parish, or in his absence by any other lawful minister 
that can be procured. 1 This does not confine the power 
to persons in holy orders. According to the unanimous 
teaching of the Catholic Church any person, man or 
woman, may administer Baptism if no priest is present. 
Lay Baptism is permitted, but discouraged except 
when it is unavoidable. Strange to say, the Puritans 
objected to it much more than members of the Church. 

The service of 1549 was taken from the Consultatio 
of Archbishop Hermann and from the Sarum Manual. 
The latter bids the lay folk to baptize with the words, 
I cristene the N. in the name of the Fadir, and of the 
Sone, and of the holy Ghost. Amen." The child was 
to be sprinkled or dipped in the water thrice, or at 
least once. If the child lived he was brought to church, 
and the priest having diligently inquired to find out 
whether a valid form of Baptism had been employed, 
performed all the rites used in public Baptism except 
the immersion. If any doubt existed as to the validity 
of the Baptism, the priest sprinkled or immersed the 
child with the words, A 7 . If thou hast been baptized, 
I baptize thee not ; but if thou hast not yet been 
baptized, I baptize thee : In the Name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." The 



BAPTISM 199 

same rules and almost exactly the same formula are still 
retained in the Church of England. 

The latter part of the Office consists of a somewhat 
abbreviated form of the public service. The objects of 
it are that the Baptism of the child may be publicly 
recognised, and that the sponsors may undertake their 
obligations on the child s behalf. In 155^ the investi 
ture with the chrisom was omitted as in the public 
service; the questions to the sponsors Dost tliou 
forsake," etc., became Dost thou in the name of this 
child forsake," etc., although the corresponding change 
had not then been made in public Baptism. 

5. Baptism of those of riper years. 

This service was compiled in 1GG1 for two reasons, 
as stated in the fourth paragraph of the Preface to the 
Prayer Book : (1) To counteract the growth of Ana- 
baptism, through the licentiousness of the late times 
crept in amongst us." It is hardly necessary to say that 
the Anabaptists now call themselves Baptists, but the 
title Anabaptist is still perfectly correct, as they bapti/.e 
again 1 persons who have been baptized by the Church 
in infancy; (2) for the baptizing of natives in our 
plantations, and others converted/ Plantations, now 
called colonies, began with Virginia in l(j()7. In Eng 
land it is necessary to perform this rite in the case of 
converts from the Jews, or the Quakers, who reject the 
Sacraments, or the Unitarians, who deny the Trinity, 
or the Swedenborgians, who explain the doctrine of the 
Trinity in a heretical manner resembling that of the 
ancient Sabellians. 

The service is based upon the service for the public 
Baptism of Infants. The rubrics are clear and simple; 
but it may be noted that, in accordance with very 
primitive usage, fasting with prayer is urged as a means 
of preparation for Baptism, and that the word dip," as 



200 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OP COMMON PRAYER 

in the Baptism of Infants, apparently does not neces 
sarily mean immerse, 1 but dip so as to touch the water. 
The word mergere** in the mediaeval books originally 
meant that the child was to be put into the font, but 
latterly both pouring and sprinkling were allowed. 



CHAPTER IX 
SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 

The Church of England, howsoever it holdeth not con 
fession and absolution sacramental, 1 that is made unto, 
and received from a priest, to l&gt;e so absolutely necessary, 
as without it there can be no remission of sins ; yet by 
this place it is manifest, what she teacheth concerning the 
virtue and force of this sacred action. The confession is 
commanded to be special. The absolution is the same 
that the ancient Church, and the present Church of Home 
useth. What would they more ? BISHOP Cosix, Xotes on 
Common Prayer, first series, p. 163, A.D. 1G3U. 

I\ T the exhortation in the Communion Service the 
intending communicant who cannot quiet his own 
conscience 1 is invited to come to his parish priest, or 
to some other discreet and learned minister of God s 
Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of 
God s holy Word he may receive the benefit of 
absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice, 
to the quieting of his conscience and avoiding of all 
scruple and doubtfulness/ This passage in our 
Prayer Book is merely an abbreviated form of the 
exhortation contained in the Order of the Communion 
of 154-8, in which this opening of grief to the parish 
priest is called auricular and secret confession," and 
those who find this form of confession necessary are 
urged not to be offended with those who do not, and 

1 According to old-fashioned usage the adjective is here placed after 
the substantive: cf. letters patent, Church universal. 

201 



202 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

vice versa. Then come these excellent words, But in 
all things to follow and keep the rule of charity ; and 
every man to be satisfied with his own conscience, nor 
judging other men s minds or consciences; whereas he 
hath no warrant of God s Word to the same. 

It is exceedingly remarkable that this invitation to 
unburden the conscience remained in all the successive 
revisions of the English Prayer Book, and that after 
1549 it was not even considered necessary to retain the 
warning that members of the Church should not criticise 
one another s action in respect of confession. The fact 
is that there was little or no necessity to defend its 
use. The words which were and are employed at the 
Ordination of every priest whose sins thou dost 
forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost 
retain, they are retained made a misunderstanding 
almost impossible. The same words had been employed 
in the Ordination of Priests in the mediaeval services, 
and they were intended in 1550 to bear the same 
meaning as before. It should also be observed that 
the phrase discreet and learned is a technical expres 
sion which is now frequently used by the clergy without 
an exact appreciation of its meaning. Discreet, or 
4 discreet and prudent, is the mediaeval term for an 
authorised confessor. To suppose that the English 
Reformers, who had been authorised to hear confessions 
in the unreformed Church, did not know what the word 
meant, verges on the ridiculous. Every parish priest 
was entitled to hear confessions in his own parish, but 
not other priests, unless they had a special faculty from 
the bishop of the diocese. Such priests were discreet, 
being regarded by the bishop as trained men com 
petent to undertake the most difficult and trying duty 
of a Christian minister. 

The unanimity of the great divines of the Church of 
England with regard to Confession and Absolution 
Sacramental is so obvious that it requires little com- 



SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 203 

ment. It may be doubted whether any serious diversity 
of opinion on the subject existed until the later Georgian 
period, when the clergy, having shirked some of their 
more irksome duties, began to be tempted to tind 
reasons for their conduct. Bishop Ridley, who died in 
protest against Rome ; Richard Hooker, who appealed 
to men s consecrated reasoning powers; Bishop Overall, 
the author of the latter part of the Catechism ; George 
Herbert, the typical English priest and gentleman; 
Bishop Ken, who would not resign his conscience into 
the hands of William III. ; Bishop Berkeley, the refined 
philosopher all uphold the usefulness of auricular or 
particular" confession. He would be an unnatural 
son of the Church of England who could look with 
indifference upon such a roll of names. But it is a roll 
which can be indefinitely enlarged for the simple reason 
that men took, in their plain and Catholic meaning, 
the words contained in the Communion Service, and in 
the Visitation of the Sick. And with regard to the 
latter service, which contains the form of absolution 
ordinarily employed in the case of auricular confession, 
it may be fit to quote the reverent words of Dr. Donne, 
one of the ablest ecclesiastics of the time of James I. : 
4 We are to remember that every coming to the Com 
munion is as serious a thing as our own transmigration 
out of the world, and we should do as much here for 
the settling of our consciences as upon our death 
bed/ 1 

It is strictly forbidden to the clergy to reveal any 
matter made known to them in confession. The 113th 
Canon of 1603 says : 

If any man confess his secret and hidden sins to the Minister 
. . . we do straitly charge and admonish him, that he do not 
reveal and make known to any person whatsoever any crime or 
offence so committed to his trust and secrecy (except they he 
such crimes as by the laws of this realm his own life may he 

1 Sermons, Ivi. 



204 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

called into question for concealing the same), under pain of 
irregularity. 1 

If the conscientious physician regards himself as 
morally bound not to gossip about the facts which he 
learns in his professional capacity, much more is the 
clergyman bound by every conceivable moral and legal 
obligation not to make known the troubles and sins of 
those who have sought his absolution. In any case 
where there is any abuse of confidence the penitent 
should at once inform the bishop, who in such cases has 
the full right to withdraw the power of the priest to 
hear confessions. 

It is difficult to realise how in this country it should 
ever be imagined, even by the most prejudiced, either 
that the clergy would wish to violate such confidence, 
or that clergymen and laymen alike do not frequently 
desire to avail themselves of confidential help. The 
growing complexity and the increased temptations of 
life makes it a matter of the utmost importance that 
all, and more especially the young and inexperienced, 
should know whither to turn when they need both the 
assurance of divine pardon and the guidance of human 
counsel. This assurance and this guidance are, as a 
matter of fact, perpetually being sought, and an immense 
number of lives would be saved from shipwreck if a 
larger number of persons in this country had been 
regularly taught to avail themselves of this means of 
grace. It is possible that an infinitesimal number 
of priests, like an infinitesimal number of qualified 

1 This canon was by no means a dead letter. The bishops of the 
seventeenth century in their visitation articles made careful inquiries to 
ensure the regular hearing of confessions by their parish priests. Thus 
Bishop Montague in 1638 inquires, Doth the minister exhort his 
parishioners to make confession of their sins to himself, or to some 
other learned, grave, and discreet minister, especially in Lent, against 
the holy time of Easter, that they may receive comfort and absolution, 
and so become worthy receivers of such sacred mysteries ? Express 
inquiries were made by the bishops as to any breach of secrecy on the 
part of priests. 



SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION 205 

physicians, misuse their power. But in England such 
a misuse is almost an impossibility. The clergyman 
who is not above suspicion in the eyes of his people 
knows that he is destitute of influence and that his 
private ministrations will never be required. The 
repulsive suggestions which have sometimes been made 
with regard to the method and results of private con 
fession must always remain unjustifiable except in 
a country where the moral tone is universally low, 
where there is also compulsory celibacy among the 
clergy, and where private confession is always required 
before Communion if the intending communicant 
suspects that he has been guilty of any deadly sin. 1 
There is probably not a country in Europe where all 
these three necessary conditions are fulfilled. They 
are certainly not fulfilled in Ireland. Nor are they 
fulfilled in France. No one was capable of giving 
better evidence on the subject than Kenan, who was 
trained for the French priesthood, and then attacked 
the Church with every faculty at his command. Kenan s 
testimony is unequivocal. He says, The fact is, that 
what people say about clerical morals is, so far as my 
experience goes, destitute of any foundation. I never 
saw the shadow of a scandal. . . . Confession may be 
attended in some countries with serious drawbacks. 
I did not see a trace of them in my ecclesiastical 
youth. &gt;2 

This, and more than this, is true of England. The 
standard of clerical morality is very high, compulsory 
celibacy does not exist in the Church of England, nor 
does the Church in any way deny that contrition for 
sin may be adequate without sacramental confession. 

It may be added that the parochial clergy would do 

1 It is not strictly true to say that confession is compulsory in the 
Roman Church. It is compulsory before Communion when the penitent 
is conscious of having committed deadly sin. 

8 Souvenirs, p. 139. 



206 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

much to protect themselves against misunderstanding 
if they clearly informed their people precisely when, 
and by whom, and where, confessions are heard in^the 
churches under their care. 

Note on Lay Confession. In the Middle Ages, when a priest 
could not be found to hear a confession, penitents sometimes 
confessed their sins to a lay friend, who prayed for them though 
he could not pronounce absolution. The custom is sanctioned 
by the high authority of S. Thomas Aquinas (Summa, Suppl. 
iii. Partis, q. viii. a. 2) and Peter Lombard (Sententiarum, 
Lib. iv. dist. 17, q. ii.)- I* 1 1349, being a time of pestilence, the 
Bishop of Bath and Wells said that if no priest were present the 
dying were to confess to a layman or even to a woman, and in 
1524 the famed Chevalier Bayard made his confession to his 
steward. 



CHAPTER X 

THE CATECHISM 

BEFORE the last revision of the Prayer Book, A.D. 
1661, the Catechism was included in the Order of 
Confirmation. In the Books of Edward VI. and 
Elizabeth the title was, Confirmation, wherein it con 
tained a Catechism for Children. In 1604- this was 
altered to The Order of Confirmation^ or laying on of 
hands upon ehlldren baptized, and able to render an 
account of their faith, according to the Catechism 
Jolloicing ; with a further title to the Catechism itself, 
that is to ,vay, An Instruction to be learned of every 
Child, before he be brought to be confirmed of the 
tiixhop. The word catechism "* is derived from /carj/^t o) 
and denotes virti roee instruction. In the chapter 
dealing with Baptism we have noticed how the converts 
were catechised in the primitive Church. The Sarum 
use contains no catechism, but requires children to be 
taught the Apostles" Creed, the Lord s Prayer, and the 
Hail Mary ; and in A.D. 1281 it was ordered that parish 
priests should expound once a year the Ten Command 
ments in English. As there was a tendency to increase 
the interval between Baptism and Confirmation, it 
became more necessary that children who came to be 
confirmed should have received definite instruction. 
The authorship of the first part of the Catechism 
is uncertain. It has been attributed to Alexander 
Nowell, second master of Westminster School in 1549, 

207 



208 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and Dean of S. Paul s from 1560 to 1602; to Poynet, 
Bishop of Rochester (1550-1) ; and to Goodrich, Bishop 
of Ely (1534-54). The latter part of the Catechism 
was added after the Hampton Court Conference in 
1604. It was composed by Overall, then Dean of 
S. Paul s, and afterwards Bishop of Norwich. 

The Catechism contains three main divisions 
(1). The blessings of Baptism ; and the nature of 
our baptismal vows, which are : 
The vow of Renunciation of the devil, the 

world, and the flesh. 
The vow of Faith : the Apostles 1 Creed and 

its explanation. 

The vow of Obedience to God s will : the Ten 

Commandments and their explanation in 

our duty towards God and our neighbours. 

(2). The practice of Prayer : the Lord s Prayer and 

its explanation. 

(3). The use of the Sacraments generally (i.e. univer 
sally) necessary to salvation. 

The c JV. or M? at the beginning of the Catechism has 
puzzled multitudes of children. The initials are pro 
bably mere contractions of Nomen and Nomina, Name 
and * Names, M. being an error for NN. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION 

This belongs to the use and custom of the Anglican 
Church, according to the most ancient traditions founded 
upon the revealed word ; inasmuch as of old times among 
our forefathers, and in our days among our own selves it 
is a frequent practice to make the sign of the cross in the 
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ ; both publicly in Baptism 
as we are commanded to do, and in the Continuation of 
those who have been catechised, and in all the other 
Sacraments of the Church ; and also in our ordinary life 
and conversation. KICIIAUD MOXTAGI K, Bishop of Chiches- 
ter, Origins Eccletiasticae, Tome i. Part 2, p. 71), A.D. 10^0. 

CONFIRMATION is, in accordance with the language of 
ancient Christendom, a sacred mystery or sacra 
ment, 1 ordained for the strengthening of the spiritual 
life. The Roman Catholic Council of Trent asserts it 
to have been ordained by Jesus Christ," and apparently 
alleges this as a reason why it should be reckoned as a 
Sacrament. Our English Catechism adopts a similar 
view of the nature of a Sacrament, defining it ordained 
by Christ Himself, but our 25th Article denies that 
Confirmation is one of the 4 Sacraments of the Gospel," 
because it has no visible sign ordained of God." The 
difference between the Churches of England and of 
Rome on this point is little more than verbal. Roth 
hold the same doctrine with regard to the nature of 
Confirmation, and both believe that it is based on the 
inspired authority of the New Testament. The ques 
tion, therefore, as to whether we ought to draw a 

o 



210 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

distinction between a rite mentioned in the Gospel 
and one mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, 
and between a rite which Christ personally ordained 
and one which He ordained through the instrumen 
tality of His apostles, is a comparatively trivial 
question. The word sacrament was in primitive 
times vaguely applied to other mysteries besides those 
seven to which it became restricted in the language of 
twelfth century. It was also used, in early times, as by 
our Articles, of the two eminent Sacraments of the 
Eucharist and Baptism. And Confirmation was so 
closely allied with Baptism that it was called a Sacra 
ment when the vaguer use of the word was becoming 
extinct, and when it had not yet become the custom to 
restrict the word to seven rites only. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the 25th Article 
is worded so carelessly. The Article suggests 
that Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and 
Extreme Unction are all either the results of a corrupt 
following of the apostles, or are states of life allowed 
in the Scriptures. But it is quite obvious that Confir 
mation is not a state of life 1 or caused by a corrupt 
following of the apostles. It is true that in the 
Middle Ages certain innovations and corruptions were 
connected with the administration of Confirmation, 
Penance, Orders, and Extreme Unction, but the rites 
themselves are all of scriptural origin. In this volume 
these corruptions are pointed out and distinguished 
from the pure and ancient ceremonies. 

Confirmation has the most express warrant of Holy 
Scripture. The apostles laid their hands upon the 
baptized in order that they might receive the Holy 
Ghost, and thereby become admitted to full com 
munion with the Church created by the Holy Ghost 
upon the day of Pentecost. It appears that the Holy 
Ghost was imparted in different manners in the 
miraculous beginning of Christianity. The apostles 



THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION 211 

received the Holy Ghost from our Lord for their 
ministerial work of absolving the penitent when He 
appeared to them on the evening after His resur 
rection. Vet it was not until the day of Pentecost 
that the Holy Ghost descended to give them full 
power to witness to Christ. Similarly we find that 
the Holy Ghost is said in one instance to have been 
granted to the unbapti/ed 1 ; but the whole tenor of the 
Acts of the Apostles suggests to us that the Holy 
Ghost was normally imparted by the laying on of the 
apostles" hands. His divine presence manifested itself 
in a rich variety of gifts, of which an account is given 
in 1 Corinthians. These new powers and joys are 
shown to be attended by the most serious responsi 
bilities inasmuch as the Christian has become a temple 
of the Holy Ghost. Modern paganism is in the habit 
of asserting that Christianity depreciated the human 
body and its faculties. As a matter of fact, it exalted 
the human body to a position which it had never 
held before, by teaching men that it had been taken, 
limb for limb, by the Kternal God, and become the 
dwelling-place of the Lord and Giver of life. 

Inasmuch as the first converts to the faith were 
generally adults, who, if they had been previously 
heathens, were carefully instructed in the truths of 
religion before their Baptism, Confirmation was ad 
ministered immediately after Baptism. In describing 
the ancient baptismal service we have already described 
the ancient rite of Confirmation. The Eastern Church 
still administers Confirmation in this way both in the 
case of adults and of infants. 

The age of candidates for Confirmation has varied 
greatly in the West. The ordinary medieval English 
rule was that it should be received as soon as possible 
after Baptism. The difficulty of travelling to meet 
a bishop often caused an interval of some years to 
1 Acts x. 47. 



212 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

elapse between Baptism and Confirmation, and the 
permissible age was raised from one to seven years. 
Bishops were allowed to confirm on the roadside if 
children presented themselves to them for that purpose. 
In 1604 the English rubric laid down no limit of age, 
but directed that candidates should be able to render 
an account of their faith according 1 to the Catechism 
following. When the service was brought into its 
present form in 1661 these words were altered into 
come to years of discretion. The present Roman 
Catholic rule is the same as our own, but in some 
parts of Italy the custom of confirming infants still 
lingers. The custom of postponing Confirmation until 
the age of fourteen and upwards was certainly not 
contemplated by the authors of the Prayer Book. 
It was introduced within living memory into certain 
dioceses where the bishops found the children of the 
peasantry to be abnormally ignorant. Early in the 
eighteenth century and also early in the nineteenth 
children were confirmed at the age of eleven and upwards. 
The Sarum Order of Confirmation is very brief and 
simple and may thus be translated : 

The Confirmation of Children and other Baptized 
Persons. 

First let the bishop say : Our help, etc. The Lord be with you. 

Let us pray. 

Almighty everlasting God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate 
this Thy servant (or these Thy servants), by water and the Holy 
Spirit, and Who hast given to them remission of all sins : send 
upon them the sevenfold Spirit, the Holy Paraclete, from 
heaven. Amen. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding. 
Amen. The Spirit of knowledge and goodness. Amen. The 
Spirit of counsel and strength. * Amen. And fill them with 
the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. * Amen. And sign them 
with the sign of the holy cross * confirm them favourably with 
the chrism of salvation unto eternal life. Ameii. 

Then having inquired the name of each one and anointed his 
thumb with chrism, let the bishop make a cross on the forehead of 



THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION 213 

each separately, saying: 1 sign thee N. with the sig-n of the 
cross * and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation. In the 
Name of the Father and of * the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Amen. 

Let then- follow the Psalm. Lo thus shall the man be blessed 
that feareth the Lord. The Lord from out of Syon shall so 
bless thee that thou shalt see the prosperity of Jerusalem all 
thy life long 1 . Glory be to the Father, etc. Vers. Send forth 
Thy Spirit and they shall be made, liesp. And thou shalt renew 
the face of the earth. Peace be to thee. 

Let us pray. 

() God, Who didst give unto Thine apostles the Holy Ghost, and 
Who didst will that He should be bestowed through them upon 
their successors and the rest of the faithful : favourably regard 
the family of our human nature, and grant that the hearts of 
these whose foreheads we have marked with the consecrated 
chrism, and signed with the sig^i of the holy cross, may be 
fitly perfected by the advent and indwelling of the same Holy 
Ghost to be a temple of His glory. Through our Lord, etc. 

May the Almighty God, the Farther, and the * Son, and 
the Holy * Ghost bless you. Amen. 

And if his age demand it, let the bishop communicate him, 
sayinq : The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body 
and thy soul unto everlasting 1 life. 1 Amen. 

This being done let some priest enjoin that the godfathers and 
godmothers prat/ some set prayer for the good estate of the lord 
bishop, and for the souls of his father and mother, and for the souls 
of all the faithful departed, and that they come on the third day 
with the children to the church to lay down the chrisoms and so 
let them depart in the Name of the Lord. 

It will be observed that in this Sarum Office there 
is no definite mention of the laying on of hands. 
It is probable, however, that the bishop laid his hand 
upon the child s head while anointing his forehead 
with the thumb of the same hand. This was the old 
Italian custom as is shown in the Roman Pontifical 
printed at Venice in 1520. The Roman Pontifical of 
the year 1888 in a new Office for the confirmation of 

1 These words were taken by the Reformers for the words of 
administration in the Order of Communion. The medieval English 
formula in ordinary use ran, preserve thy body unto everlasting life, 
and did not contain the words thy soul. 



214 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

one person directs this. But the ordinary Roman 
custom, when a larger number of persons is confirmed, 
is to omit the laying on of the hand while anointing, 
although the bishop extends his hands towards the 
candidates just previously. 1 The use of the sign of 
the cross in Confirmation was continued in England 
long after the Reformation, and in the eighteenth 
century it was practised in Scotland, sometimes with 
the addition of the Chrism itself. 

The First English Prayer Book neither mentioned 
the use of Chrism nor forbade it. After the versicles 
and the first prayer the Office proceeded thus : 

Minister. Sign them, O Lord, and mark them to be Thine for 
ever, by the virtue of Thy holy cross and passion. Confirm and 
strength them with the inward unction of Thy Holy Ghost, 
mercifully unto everlasting life. Amen. Then the Bishop shall 
cross them in the forehead, and lay his hand upon their heads, 
saying : N. I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and lay my 
hand upon thee : In the Name of the Father, etc. And thus 
shall he do to every child one after another. And when he hath 
laid his hand upon every child, then shall he say, The peace of the 
Lord abide with you. Answer. And with thy spirit. 

The collect Almighty everliving God, Who makest 
us, etc., was taken in 1549 from a collect in the Order 
of Confirmation of Archbishop Hermann of Coin. 

In 1552 the whole of this beautiful form from Sign 
them to with thy spirit was omitted, and there was 
inserted the present prayer : 

Defend, O Lord, this child with Thy heavenly grace, that he 
may continue Thine for ever, and daily increase in Thy Holy 
Spirit more and more until he come unto Thy everlasting king 
dom. Amen. 

In 1661 the Office was expanded. The Our Father 
was inserted immediately after the laying on of the 
bishop s hand, and before the blessing was placed the 

1 Cf. the present Roman manner of ordaining a priest, see p. 265. 



THE ORDER OF CONFIRMATION 215 

ancient collect, O almighty Lord, and everlasting God. 1 
At the beginning of the Office there was printed 
the present rubric, preface, and interrogation by the 
bishop. This preface in the previous editions of the 
Prayer Book existed in the form of opening rubrics 
to the Order of Confirmation. The shifting of it in 
1661 has led to a deplorable mistake. It states that 
children ratify and confirm 1 ( confess 1549) when 
they come to the years of discretion what their god 
fathers and godmothers promised for them in Baptism. 
So long as this statement occurred only in the rubrics 
it was hardly possible for it to cause any misunder 
standing, as it came at the head of the Catechism 
which was printed as a preliminary to the Order of 
Confirmation. But the insertion of it in the actual 
Order of Confirmation had led the ignorant to confuse 
the two senses in which the word confirm 1 is em 
ployed, and even to imagine that the Church of 
England teaches that to be confirmed "* by the Holy 
Spirit means no more than to confirm by our own 
breath what our godparents promised. 

It is to be feared that some of the clergy have been 
guilty of a mistake only less serious in requesting 
their bishop to permit the singing of a hymn im 
mediately before the laying on of his hand. Inasmuch 
as the laying on of the hand depends directly upon 
the previous prayer for the gifts of the Spirit, such 
an interpolation is a liturgical error of the gravest 
kind. It is difficult to find a parallel to it except 
in the action of the ignorant bishops of the later 
Middle Ages, who recited the ancient Roman prayer 
for the ordination of a priest without any intention 
of ordaining the candidates until several additional 
ceremonies had been performed. 

The rubric at the end of the service which enjoins 
that none shall be admitted to the Holy Communion, 
until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and 



216 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

desirous to be confirmed, corresponds almost precisely 
with the mediaeval canon passed under Archbishop 
Peckham. It appears that in some parts of the 
Continent the Anglican clergy give Holy Communion 
to Presbyterians and German Lutherans. It should 
be remembered that both these denominations have 
repudiated the episcopate, and with it any genuine 
confirmation. It is therefore a direct violation of the 
rules of our Church to administer the Eucharist to 
such persons. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY 

A contract of eternal bond of love, 
Confirm d by mutual joinder of your hands, 
Attested by the holy close of lips, 
Strengthen d by interchangement of your rings, 
And all the ceremony of this compact 
Seal d in my function, by my testimony. 

SHAKKSPKAHE, Twelfth Night, Act v. Sc. 1. 

THE present Form of Solemnization of Matrimony 
differs very little from that issued in 1549, and it is 
substantially the same as that in the Sarum Manual, 
though influenced by the Consultatio of Arehbishop 
Hermann. 

It seems that in the earliest ages of the Church there 
was no special benediction of Matrimony except a 
special Eucharist. The man and woman are them 
selves the ministers of Holy Matrimony, and their 
acceptance of one another as husband and wife in the 
presence of witnesses constitutes a valid marriage. 
The Roman bride as a sign of her marriage was 
covered with a flame-coloured veil ; so S. Ambrose 
speaks of this flammcum nuptlah^ and Pope Siricius 
speaks of marriage vows at which we were present at 
trie veiling. 1 Tertullian also about A.D. 210 speaks 
of the happiness of a marriage which the Church 
counsels, which the oblation of the Eucharist confirms, 
and a benediction seals. 2 The Leonine Sacramentary 

1 Epp. Aml&gt;rosii, 80. 2 Ad Uxor. ii. 9. 

217 



218 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

shows that in the sixth century there was at this 
Eucharist a prayer inserted before the consecration, 
and a short prayer and a long Eucharistic prayer after 
the Our Father and before the Fraction of the bread. 
These two latter prayers formed the benediction, and 
were pronounced while a veil was held over the man 
and his wife. This veil is distinct from the marriage veil 
of the bride. It is called by S. Ambrose the priestly 
veil, 1 and was commonly used until lately in France 
and Spain, though the fact that it has disappeared 
in Italy is causing its disappearance in other lands. 

For several centuries at Rome, and perhaps still 
longer at Milan, no other religious service was held at 
a marriage than such a Eucharist as that w r hich we have 
noticed. But the disappearance of paganism and the 
absorption of all social life into the Church caused the 
Roman civil ceremonies of marriage to become a part 
of ecclesiastical ritual. This is first shown in the reply 
of Pope Nicholas I. to the Bulgarians in A.D. 866. He 
divides the various ceremonies of marriage as follows: 

(1) The sponsalia or espousals, being the promise of 

of marriage with the consent of the parents ; 

(2) The subarrhatio or giving of the ring by the man 

to the woman ; 

(3) The conveying of the dowry by a written docu 

ment in the presence of witnesses. 

All this was preliminary. The actual marriage 
consisted of: 

(a) The Mass at which the man and the woman 

both take part in the Offertory and in the 
Communion ; 

(b) The benediction pronounced while the veil is held 

over their heads ; 

(c) The coronation as they leave the church. The 

crowns used were usually kept in the church. 



THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY 219 

All these ceremonies were the ancient Roman cere 
monies, with the all-important exception that the Holy 
Eucharist was substituted for the worship of pagan 
gods with sacrifices of blood. The Roman bride and 
bridegroom both wore crowns of Howers, and in the 
West this custom has survived in the case of the bride. 
In the East large crowns of metal are worn by both 
husband and wife, and apparently such crowns were 
used at Rome in the time of Nicholas I. 

The mediaeval English Offices are midway between 
the rites of the ninth century and the modern form in 
which several of the old English features are preserved. 
The rites differed slightly in different dioceses, and 
the vernacular language was largely employed in this 
service. An interesting proof of the continued per 
sistence of Norman French among the upper classes in 
this country is the fact that about 1200 a Council held 
at Durham directed the use of either French or English. 

The priest, wearing alb and stole, met the man 
and woman at the church door. Hence Chaucer in 
describing the Wife of Bath savs : 

She was a worthy woman all hire live, 
Housbondes at the chirche (lore had she had five. 

But it is certain that as early as 1472 the service was 
sometimes begun in modern fashion within the body 
of the church at the chancel door. The priest gave a 
brief admonition in the mother tongue. The espousals 
then took place, the man saying, 4 1 N. take the N. to 
my wedded wyf to have and to holde fro this day 
forwards for better, for wors, for richer, for poorer, 
in syknesse and in hele, tyl dethe us departe 1 if holy 
chyrche it woll ordeyne, and therto I plight the my 
trouthe." In the woman s formula the present love, 
cherish, and obey was represented by the words to be 

1 This sense of the word having become obsolete, depart was in 
1661 replaced by do part. 



220 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

bonere and buxum, i.e. gentle and obedient words 
which were already unintelligible at the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. The man then laid gold 
and silver and a ring upon a shield or upon the book. 
In 1549 these are called 4 tokens of spousage. This 
custom is retained by the English Roman Catholics. 
On the Continent a medal is sometimes used, and in 
some places the custom has been given up altogether. 
In 1552 the English rubric, which is still retained, 
refers to this money as the accustomed duty to the 
Priest and Clerk. 1 This rubric reveals two facts : first, 
that it was even previously to 1552 the custom to give 
these tokens to the priest and the clerk; secondly, 
that the wording of the present rubric has caused the 
origin of the custom to be forgotten. The money 
symbolises the same thing as the ring, to whatever 
purpose it may be devoted when the ceremony is over. 
The priest blessed the ring with holy water, and the 
man took it, saying With this ryng I the wed, 
and this gold and silver I the geve, and with my body 
I the worshipe, 1 and with all my worldely cathel I the 
endowed Placing the ring on the woman s thumb he 
said In the Name of the Father, on the second (now 
called the first) finger he said And the Son, on the 
third he said And of the Holy Ghost, and on the 
fourth he said c Amen. There is a quaint Sarum 
rubric which explains that the ring is placed upon that 
finger because it contains a vein connected with the 
heart. 

Having been twice blessed, the man and woman 
came to the altar step. Psalm cxxviii. was then said, 
as now. They knelt or prostrated themselves, and the 

1 The Hereford form has * honour. In mediaeval English worship 
included almost any kind of honour or veneration. The lower sense of 
the word worship is still preserved in the modern title worshipful. 
A similar ambiguity attaches to adorare and irpoffKVveiv, and has been 
a fruitful cause of error. 



THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY 221 

Lord s Prayer, versicles and responses followed. Five 
collects then followed. The second besought God as 
4 God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, 1 and 
the third referred to the sending of the angel Raphael 
to guard Tobias and Sara the daughter of Raguel/ 
In 1549 these two collects were compressed into one; 
and in 1552 the reference to 4 Thobie and Sara the 
daughter of Haguel (154-9) was omitted as being taken 
from the Apocrypha. Then came a collect, of which 
O merciful Lord, and heavenly Father 1 in the present 
Office is an inferior version. The present final blessing 
referring to Adam and Eve is an appropriate fusion of 
the fifth Sarum collect and the subsequent benediction. 

The Mass then began, the husband and wife being 
placed between the choir and the altar, on the north 
side of the church. After the Sanctwt the married 
pair knelt at the altar step, and the pallium or veil 
was held over them by four clerics until the Agnux, 
when the priest gave the pax to the husband and the 
husband kissed his wife. Immediately after the Frac 
tion was given the solemn sacramental benediction, 1 
in which the priest spoke of the mystical union between 
Christ and His Church. He then went on to offer a 
special prayer for the wife that she might be lovable 
as Rachel, wise as Rebecca, aged and faithful as Sara. 
Part of these prayers is preserved in the prayer O God, 
Who by Thy mighty power, but in 1661 the reference 
to Rachel, Rebecca, and Sara was omitted. In some 
parts of England the husband and wife were given 
bread and wine to drink immediately after the Mass, 
in memory of the marriage feast at Cana. 

In the wording of the service of 1549 one or two 
very interesting changes occur. Most of the opening 
address, which describes the three reasons for which 
Matrimony was instituted, does not occur in any 
known copy of the mediaeval English books, but bears 
a striking resemblance to an address in a Parisian 



222 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Rituale of the seventeenth century, and similar forms 
are found in several continental books, both Catholic 
and Lutheran. Cranmer evidently derived it from a 
Lutheran ritual, probably that of Schwabisch-Hall, 
and inserted it into some words of the Sarum use. It 
can be traced back in substance to the schoolmen, such 
as S. Thomas Aquinas and Peter Lombard. 

Another remarkable addition is to be found in the 
words said by the priest on joining the hands of the 
bride and bridegroom : Those whom God hath joined 
together let no man put asunder. 1 The sentence is 
found in Hermann and some early Lutheran rituals, 
such as that drawn up in 1526 by Osiander. It is no 
doubt derived from mediaeval forms used on the 
Continent. The Polish Catholics used it in the 
eighteenth century, and it occurs in the Ambrosian 
rituals. 

From 1549 to 1661 it was the rule in the Church of 
England not only that there should be a celebration of 
the Eucharist, but also that the husband and wife 
should communicate according to primitive custom. 
In 1661 the rule was altered, and Communion, instead 
of being compulsory, was said to be convenient, 1 
i.e. fitting. No doubt the alteration was due to the 
pious wish that the Holy Sacrament should never be 
profaned, but we may nevertheless regret that the 
Christian Church should have so lost her first love of 
Christ that the old rule should have become modified. 

The service cannot be performed by a deacon, as the 
Church of England retains the primitive and mediaeval 
rule that only a priest may pronounce the nuptial 
benedictions. 

Note on the Wedding Ring. There is a strange similarity 
between the modern English and the modern Roman custom 
with regard to the wedding ring. In both rites the husband 
places it immediately on the third finger of his wife s left hand 
According to the mediaeval English custom, it was placed on 



THE FORM OF SOLEMNIZATION OF MATRIMONY 223 

the thumb and ench finder of the riyht hand until it rested on 
the third finger (then called the fourth tinker). The English 
Roman Catholics, who have continued to use a modified form of 
theSarurn marriage service, kept the old English custom at least 
as late as the time of James II. They now, since at least 17 



have adopted the custom of placing the ring on the left hand, 
though they still place it on each ringer in turn. The Roman 
hooks hegan to say definitely that the ring must be placed on 
the left hand about 1(500, but the practice existed in Italy some 
time earlier. The direction to put the ring at once on the ringer 
where it is intended to remain, occurs in the Roman ^accrdotalr, 
of 1,537. Cranmer s adoption of this continental custom is very 
remarkable, and it is possible that both lie and the Roman 
revisers were influenced by the Renaissance authors who 
described the ancients as wearing their rings on the left hand. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE ORDER FOR THE VISITATION OF THE SICK, 
AND THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK 

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, 
Unhousel d, disappointed, unanel d ; 
No reckoning made, but sent to my account 
With all my imperfections on my head. 

SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 5. 

1. The Visitation of the Sick. 

THIS Office is based upon the beautiful Office in the 
use of Sarum. As the priest proceeded to the sick 
man s house the Seven Penitential Psalms were sung, 
concluding with the antiphon, Remember not, Lord." 
When the priest had entered the house he said, Peace 
be to this house and to all that dwell therein : peace be 
to those that go in and to those that go forth. 1 Then 
the priest sprinkled the sick man with holy water, and 
a short series of versicles and responses followed, begin 
ning with Lord have mercy, * Christ have mercy, 1 
and continuing with the Lord s Prayer, and the sen 
tences which are so well translated in our present Office. 
Then followed nine collects, of which only two were 
translated in 1549. These two prayers were somewhat 
altered when translated, and the second was further 
altered in 1661 when the reference to the apocryphal 
story of Thobie and Sara was omitted. 

224 



THE VISITATION OF THK SICK 225 

The Office still continues on the lines of the medi 
aeval rite. The priest was wont to say, 4 Dearly beloved 
brother, give thanks to almighty God for all His bene 
fits, patiently and gently bearing the weakness of body 
which He hath sent upon thee ; for if thou endure it 
humbly without murmuring, it bringeth the greatest 
reward and health unto thy soul. And, dearly beloved 
brother, because thou must go the wav of all flesh, be 
firm in the faith," etc. The priest then expounded the 
articles of faith with regard to the Trinity and the 
Incarnation, or, if the sick man was unlearned, very 
briefly questioned him. He then urged him to do 
works of charity, to make amendment for the injuries 
which he had done, and forgive the injuries which he 
had received. Then he exhorted him to confess his 
sins : 

4 If thou desirest to attain to the vision of Cod, it entirely 
behoveth thee to In 1 purr in mind and clean in conscience ; for 
Christ saith in the (iospel, Hlessed are the pure in heart for they 
shall see Cod. If therefore thou desirest to have a pure heart 
and whole conscience, confess all thy sins. 

The priest then heard the sick man s confession, and 
absolved him from all his sins. So also in our present 
Office the sick man is exhorted to repentance, forgive 
ness, and charity, and to dispose justly of his goods, if 
lie has not already done so. After this comes the 
rubric Here shall the s n k JHTSOH lie inoird to nmke a 
special Confession of his .v/;/.v, if he /eel his conftr uiicc 
troubled icith a?iy ic/i^ hty mutter. After :chi&lt; h Confes 
sion^ the Priest s/iall absolve him (if he humbly und 
heartily desire if) (if)er this .tort, 

Our Lord Jesus Christ, \Vho hath left power to His ( hurch to 
absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His 
tfreat mercy forgive thee thine offences: And by His authority 
committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, In the Name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Chost. Amen. 

This form of absolution, so rich in the comfort of 



226 THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND 

the Gospel, and so close in its adherence to our Lord s 
own words, is followed by an adaptation of the ancient 
Gelasian absolution of a dying penitent ; and the first 
part of the service then concludes. 

The second part of the service now contains an ugly 
gap. The minister repeats the Psalm In thee, O Lord., 
have I put my trust, adding the exquisite mediaeval 
antiphon, O Saviour of the world, Who by Thy Cross 
and precious Blood hast redeemed us, Save us, and help 
us, we humbly beseech Thee, O Lord. Then he pro 
nounces a benediction composed in 1549, and a second 
benediction which, with four occasional prayers, was 
added in 1661. In all this no single word is said about 
the anointing of the sick man to which the recitation 
of the aforesaid Psalm was formerly a preliminary. 
The scriptural practice of anointing the sick was 
retained throughout the Middle Ages, and by our own 
Reformers in 1549. It disappeared in the Calvinistic 
revision of 1552, and its disappearance throws a lurid 
light upon the attitude of English Puritanism towards 
traditions not repugnant to the word of God, but in 
accordance with that word. 

The duty of anointing the sick is expressly laid upon 
the presbyters in S. James v. 14-16 : Is any among you 
sick ? let him call for the elders of the church : and let 
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the 
Name of the Lord : and the prayer of faith shall save 
him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up ; and 
if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. 
Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray 
one for another, that ye may be healed. Confession, 
prayer, and anointing are here mentioned side by side. 
In the second century some Gnostic heretics, who 
parodied the rites of the Church, are known to have 
anointed the dying, thereby perverting a rite intended 
for the recovery of the living. Very interesting is 
the fact of the recent discovery of a prayer for the 



THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK 22? 

consecration of *oil of the sick among the prayers 
used by Bishop Serapion of Thmuis in Egypt about 
350. This anointing is also directed in the Apoxtolie 
Constitutions about A.D. 375. 

In the Eastern Church this rite has been maintained 
unimpaired unto the present day. In the Churches of 
Western Europe the anointing of the sick came to be 
known as Extreme or Last Unction, inasmuch as a 
Christian was anointed at Baptism and again at Confir 
mation, so that to be anointed in time of sickness was 
to receive the last kind of unction which was bestowed 
upon a Christian. The Saruni rite retained the temper 
of the primitive service. The prayers which it directs 
are prayers for the recovery, bodily and spiritual, of 
the sick man, and it is plainly laid down that the 
anointing may be repeated if necessary. In spite of 
the unmistakable meaning of the words employed, it is 
probable that it was often used as an unction in 
extremis, and administered to those who were obviously 
tlving. Tliis popular burlesque of the rj.te still exists 
on the Continent of Europe. The Abbe Gratrv, one 
of the brightest ornaments of French Catholicism in 
the nineteenth century, denounced in burning words 
this practice of administering Unction to corpses/ 1 

The English Prayer Book of 1549 contains the fol 
lowing form of anointing: If the nick person ile.fire to 
be anointed, then shall the Priest anoint Jinn upon t/it 
forehead or breast only, making the sign of the erosx, 
saying thus : 

As with this visihle oil thy body outwardly is anointed : so 
our heavenly Father, Almighty God, #rant of His infinite good 
ness that thy soul inwardly may be anointed with the Holy 
Ghost, Who is the Spirit of all strength, comfort, relief, and 
gladness : and vouchsafe for His ^reat mercy (if it he His blessed 
will) to restore unto thee thy bodily health, and strength, to 
serve Him ; and send thee release of all thy pains, troubles, and 
diseases, both in body and mind. And howsoever His goodness 

1 Philosophic du Credo, p. 238. 



228 THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND 

(by His divine and unsearchable providence) shall dispose of 
thee : we, His unworthy ministers and servants, humbly beseech 
the Eternal Majesty to do with thee according to the multitude 
of His innumerable mercies, and to pardon thee all thy sins, 
and offences, committed by all thy bodily senses, passions, and 
carnal affections : Who also vouchsafe mercifully to grant unto 
thee ghostly strength by His Holy Spirit to withstand and 
overcome all temptations and assaults of thine adversary, that 
in no wise he prevail against thee, but that thou mayest have 
perfect victory and triumph against the devil, sin, and death, 
through Christ our Lord : Who by His death hath overcomed 
the prince of death, and with the Father and the Holy Ghost 
evermore liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen. 
Usque quo Doniine, Ps. xiii. 

Although this Last Unction has been called the 
lost Pleiad of the Anglican firmament, it should be 
remembered that the English Church is not the only 
branch of the Church Universal which has neglected it 
after misusing it. The Church of Rome for a long 
time permitted the abeyance of Unction of the sick 
among the Uniate Armenians (i.e. Armenians retaining 
Armenian rites but accepting Roman doctrine), the 
Armenians Maying formerly been in the habit of post 
poning Penitence with the idea that their sins would 
l3e remitted by Unction. 1 It would have been wiser of 
the clergy both in England and Armenia to explain 
the rite of Unction instead of abolishing it. The 
Uniate Armenians have already restored it, and there 
are at least some Anglican dioceses where it has recently 
been revived with the bishop s sanction. 

It is practically certain that some of the Scottish 
bishops in the eighteenth century consecrated oil not 
only for the chrism used in Confirmation, but also for 
the unction of the sick. There was long preserved 
a case which had belonged to Bishop Alexander of 
Dunk eld, and contained two vials, one for Confirmation 
and another for Unction. 2 

1 Issaverdenz, Rites de Ct*r&lt;? monies (Venise, 1876), p. 62. 
y Walker, Life and Times of Dean Skinner^ p. 120 (Skeffington, 
London, 1883). 



THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK 220 



2. The Communion of the *SYr/r. 

The Office for the Visitation of the Sick is followed in 
the Hook of Common Prayer by the Office for the 
Communion of the Sick, which it is permitted to com 
bine with the former Office. A lengthy rubric precedes 
the service, saying that fc if the sick person be not able 
to come to the Church, and yet is desirous to receive 
the Communion in his house; then lie must give 
timely notice to the Curate, signifying also how many 
there are to communicate with him (which shall be 
three, or two at the least), and having a convenient 
place in the sick man s house, with all things necessary 
so prepared, that the Curate may reverently minister, 1 
etc. A special collect opens the service, followed by 
an Kpistle, from Ileb. xii. 5, and a Gospel, from S. John 
v. 24-. The priest is then to proceed according to the 
form prescribed for a public celebration of the Holy 
Communion, beginning at the words Yc that do truly, 
etc., and apparently continuing to the end of the 
Office. The companions of the sick person are to 
receive the Communion immediately after the celebrant, 
and last of all the sick person. Such are the directions 
contained in the Jirtit tico of the //zr rubrics that are 
printed at the end of the Office. The third of these 
rubrics points to spiritual communion as a true par 
taking of the Body and Blood of our Saviour granted 
to those who are in a state of grace, but are unable to 
receive the Sacrament; the fourth rubric directs that 
the form of the Visitation of the Sick may be abbrevi 
ated if the sick person is visited and receives the Holy 
Communion all at one time"; the t fifth rubric says 
that in the time of the Plague, Sweat, or such other 
like contagious times of sickness or diseases" the 
minister may communicate alone with the diseased 
person. 



230 THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND 

The present Office is derived from that of 1549, 
which is as follows : 

O praise the Lord, all ye nations, laud Him, all ye people ; 
for His merciful kindness is confirmed towards us, and the 
truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Glory he to the Father, etc. 
Lord have mercy upon us. j A 
( -hrist , have mercy upon us. 1 repetition. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. ) 
The Priest. The Lord he with you. 
Answer. And with thy spirit. 
Let us pray. Almighty everliving God, etc. 
The Epistle. Heb. xii. My son, despise not, etc. 
The Gospel. John v. Verily, verily, etc. 
The Preface. The Lord be with you. 
Answer. And with thy spirit. 
Lift up your hearts, etc., unto the end of the Canon. 1 

It should be observed that in 1549 this Office for 
the celebration of the Mass in the house of a sick 
person was somewhat of the nature of a novelty, and 
it was only intended as an alternative for the older 
practice. The rubric directed that if a sick person 
was to receive the Communion on the same day in 
which there was a celebration in the church (and in 
most churches there would be a celebration every day), 
the priest should reserve so much of the Sacrament of 
the Body and Blood as should serve the sick person, 
and so many as should communicate with him, if there 
were any. The portion intended for reservation would 
in all probability be put aside in a pyx or other seemly 
vessel immediately after the priest communicated him 
self at the Eucharist. The service employed in com 
municating a sick person with the reserved Sacrament 
was, the general Confession, the Absolution, with the 
comfortable sentences of Scripture, the distribution of 
the Holy Communion, and the Collect Almighty and 
everliving God, we most heartily thank Thee,"* etc. 

This practice of reserving the Holy Sacrament for 

1 That is, probably, unto the end of the Our Father which is at the 
end of the Canon. 



THK COMMUNION OF THE SI( K 231 

those unable to communicate in church dates from a 
remote antiquity. In the earliest complete account of 
the Kucharist, that written by Justin Martyr about 
A.I). 15., it is expressly said that the deacons took 
the Sacrament to those who were not present. It is 
difficult to say whether the statement of Justin 
Martyr implies that the Sacrament was reserved only 
for immediate use, or also for use after a longer period. 
In any case it is plain that the celebrant reserved 
the Sacrament for the purpose of communicating the 
absent. An instance of reservation about the year 
A.I). ,50 implies continuous reservation of the Sacra 
ment. The story occurs in a letter written by the 
famous Dionvsius, Bishop of Alexandria. 1 It relates 
that a certain Sarapion having lapsed from the faith, 
was sei/ed with sickness, and thereupon his faith 
returned, and he sent a boy to the priest to ask that 
he might have the Holy Communion. The boy ran to 
the priest, but the priest was also sick and could not 
go; but having the Holy Sacrament reserved, he took 
a portion, which he entrusted to the messenger. The 
Sacrament was brought to Sarapion, and administered 
just in time for him to receive it before he died. The 
lJ3th Canon of the First Council of Nicaea, A.D. 3^5, 
the first General Council of the Church, regards it of 
great importance that the dying should not be de 
prived of the consolation of the last 4 food for the 
journey " in Greek e&lt;/&gt;o8oi&gt;, in Latin Viaticum. The 
Canon certainly implies that such provision should be 
made that there should be no risk of the Church 
failing to provide this Viaticum, and it can scarcely 
be doubted that continuous reservation is meant. It 
is certain that such reservation was practised during 
the fourth century in the cathedral church at Con 
stantinople, and it can be traced throughout the whole 
Catholic Church. 

1 Eusebius, //. ., vi. 44. 



232 THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND 

An early instance of reservation in England is im 
plied in the story related by Bede of the death of 
Caedmon, the poet of Whitby. He was seized with 
sudden sickness, and asked the monks if they had the 
Eucharist in the chapel or within the house. It was 
brought to him, and he received it before dying. The 
principle of continuous reservation of the Sacrament 
was repeatedly recognised in the Church of England, 
the reservation being suitably regulated by laws which 
forbade the Sacrament to be reserved for more than 
a week after consecration, and commanded it to be 
carried to the sick by a priest, or at least by a deacon, 
and directed it to be carried with fitting dignity and 
ceremonial. Suitable places were made for the reserved 
Sacrament in the churches. In Rome and in Scotland 
it was usual to reserve it in a handsome niche or cup 
board in the chancel wall ; sometimes it was placed in 
a little stone tower, delicately carved, such as may be 
seen at Lean in Belgium and at S. Sebald s, Nurnberg ; 
frequently it was suspended over the altar in a hanging 
pyx of precious metal. These pyxes were occasionally 
made in the form of a dove, such as that still used at 
Amiens in France. Several of these ancient doves are 
still in existence, the older being so constructed as to 
hold the consecrated wine as well as the consecrated 
bread. It is worth noting that in the Anglo-Saxon 
Church, as in the Eastern Church, the Holy Sacra 
ment was not carried in procession for the purpose of 
encouraging the people to adore the presence of Christ 
in the Sacrament. Nor did the Church of England at 
any period employ the rite known as Benediction. 
This rite took its rise in Italy during the sixteenth 
century, and consists in placing the reserved Sacrament 
upon an altar while incense is offered and litanies 
recited, after which the priest holds the Sacrament 
over the congregation in token of the divine bene 
diction. Neither priest nor people communicate at 



THK COMMUNION OF THE SICK 233 

Benediction, the service being totally distinct from 
the celebration of the Eucharist, though sometimes 
appended to it. 

Putting aside all further consideration of reservation 
for Benediction and similar rites, which have neither 
primitive authority nor the Ecumenical sanction of the 
whole Church, it remains to ask whether reservation 
Jor the sick is not still lawful as well as necessary in the 
Church of England. 

Of its practical necessity there can be no doubt. A 
private celebration of the Eucharist, where the con 
ditions laid down by the Prayer Book can be fulfilled, 
is both right and edifying. Such a service has been 
described by the 1 angelic genius of Mr. Keble : 

A simple altar by the bed 
For hiph Communion meetly spread, 
Chalice, and plate, and snowy vest. 
U e ate and drank : then calmly blest, 
All mourners, one with dyin^ breath, 
We sate and talk d of Jesus death. 

Hut there are numberless instances where the condi 
tions laid down in the rubrics for such a celebration 
cannot be fulfilled. Eew members of the Church 
of England will dispute the opinion of the eminent 
Roman theologians who hold that a priest mav 
celebrate non-fasting if he celebrates at a late hour of 
the day in order to give the Viaticum to the dying. 
But such a relaxation of a rule does not remove all 
difficulties. A private celebration is far too long for 
a person at the point of death, as well as for persons 
exhausted by such maladies as consumption or heart 
disease. These sufferers sometimes earnestly desire 
Holy Communion, but cannot receive it if they have 
to wait for a fresh consecration of the Sacrament. In 
times of infectious disease, the priest runs a great risk 
of carrving the infection to his other parishioners if he 
celebrates in the sick man s house. And lastly, in the 



234 THE VISITATION OF THE SICK AND 

crowded and heathen tenements of our large towns, it 
is frequently impossible to celebrate with decency or 
quiet, or to secure two persons to communicate with 
the sick person. These circumstances demand reser 
vation for the sick, and in the Episcopal Church of 
Scotland, with which the Church of England is in full 
communion, such reservation has been continued for 
generations. 

It has also the primitive and Ecumenical authority 
of the undivided Church which the Church of England 
is so peculiarly bound to maintain. In point of view 
of both law and charity it must be maintained that 
only the most explicit and precise prohibition by the 
whole authority of the Church of England could 
render such a practice unlawful in the Church of 
England. Our formularies contain no such prohi 
bition, but certain objections raised against the legality 
of reservation must be noticed. 

It is maintained that (1) the sixth rubric at the end 
of the Communion Service, inserted in 1661, forbids 
reservation because it forbids the Sacrament to be 
carried out of the Church, 1 and orders it to be 
reverently consumed. But the argument drawn 
from this rubric melts into air upon examination. The 
rubric was inserted at the advice of Bishop Wren, a 
decided Catholic. He intended it to strike not at 
reservation but at irreverence. 1 We have records of 
certain profane clergymen of the seventeenth century, 
who consecrated a large quantity of bread and wine, 

1 Wren, having mentioned that at Westminster, if I remember 
aright, and elsewhere, plain wafers have ever been used for the 
Communion, suggested the following rubric : What remaineth of the 
Bread of any Loaf or Wafer that was broken for the ttse of the Com- 
munion, or of the Wine that was poured out, or had the Benediction, 
the Curate shall, offer the Service is ended, take some of the Communi 
cants to him, there to eat and drink the same. But all the rest in both 
kinds, the Curate shall have to his own use. Jacobson, Fragmentary 
Illustrations of the History of the Book of Common Prayer, p. 84. 



THE COMMUNION OF THE SICK 235 

and then removed the surplus not required for Com 
munion to their own houses. The rubric put a stop 
to this profanity, and is similar to a rubric- directing 
the consumption of the elements in the Sarum Missal, 
which certainly did not intend to forbid reservation. 

It is maintained that (2) reservation is forbidden 
by the 528th Article, which says that the Sacrament 
of the Lord s Supper was not by Christ s ordinance 
reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped/ 
Here once more it is contemporary history which must 
be studied. The extreme rarity of communions 
at the end of the Middle Ages resulted in the fact 
that the reservation of the Sacrament existed almost 
entirely for the sake of the worship of the Sacrament. 
Against such a change it was necessary to protest, and 
to assert that the Eucharist was ordained for those 
very purposes which recent customs had overshadowed. 
The Article does not say that reservation is wrong 
or blasphemous like certain other mediaeval practices. 
And that it was not understood as an absolute 
prohibition of reservation is shown by the fact that 
reservation is provided for by the Latin Prayer Book 
of 1560. It is also important to notice that Bishop 
Sparrow in his Rationale, of which the earliest extant 
copies are dated A.D. 1057, seems to be wholly uncon 
scious that the 28th Article could be quoted against 
such reservation. He notices that the Prayer Book 
then in use (that of 1604) does not direct how much 
of the Communion Service shall be used for the 
Communion of the sick, and he refers to the First 
Prayer Book of Edward VI. as showing what ought to 
be done in such a case. It is perfectly plain that he 
could not have referred to the direction to reserve 
the Sacrament if he had thought that the Article 
prohibited it. 

Finally, it has been supposed that the Prayer Book 
attaches less importance than the mediaeval books to 



236 VISITATION AND COMMUNION OF THE SICK 

sacramental communion, and shows that reservation 
is not to be regarded as necessary (when the Eucharist 
cannot be celebrated) on account of the third rubric 
after the Office of the Communion of the Sick. This 
rubric asserts that the sick man, if truly believing 
and repentant, but unable to receive the Sacrament, 
nevertheless doth eat and drink the Body and Blood 
of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul s health/ 
The reply to this ignorant argument is simple. The 
rubric is actually derived from the Saruni Manual, 
which taught precisely the same doctrine. 1 And our 
reformers, instead of attaching less importance to 
Communion than the later medievalists, insisted on a 
minimum of three communions a year instead of one. 

It should be added that in mediaeval times it was not 
uncommon for those who Avere dying, and could not 
obtain the Eucharist, to make a symbolical communion. 
Three blades of grass were sometimes used for this 
purpose. The Chronicle of Gaiiner (A.D. 1148) shows 
how William Rufus acted as he was dying in the New 
Eorest : 

Four times lie cried out 

And asked for the Corpus Domini, 

But there was no one to give it to him ; 

He was in a wuste, far from a minster. 

Nevertheless, we are told, a hunter 

Took some herbs with all their flowers, 
And made the king eat a few of them, 
This he considered the Communion. 

1 It is only fair to add that the present Office extends the limits of 
the circumstances under which sacramental communion may be 
omitted. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Till: OUDEK FOR THE KUKIAL OF THE DEAD 

Prayer for the resurrection, pulilic acquittal in the day 
of judgment, and perfect consummation, and hliss of 
them that are fallen asleep in the sleep of death, is an 
apostolical tradition. UK MAUD FIKU&gt;, Dean of Gloucester, 
( / ihr Church, vol. iv. p. liUi! A.D. H50I5-KJ10. 

1. 77/6- Med urcal Kiles. 

THK man is little to be envied who can read without 
emotion the mediieval English services for the dead. 
If the length of these services arouses our surprise, it 
also arouses our admiration for the affection which it 
displays for those who have gone to be with Christ. 
In early days the body of the departed Christian was 
reverently buried never burned after the pagan Roman 
fashion and the Holy Eucharist was celebrated with 
the intention of beseeching for him light and peace. 
The Canons of Hippolytus refer to this custom, and 
also mention the love-feast which was held after the 
Eucharist. The Gelasian Sacramentary contains a 
number of Masses to be said for the departed at 
different intervals, and also prayers said before the 
body is carried out for burial, and others to be used 
at the grave. The growth of the Divine Office was 
followed by the growth of a special Office of the dead, 
and the Placebo and Dirge of this service have already 
been mentioned in our account of the Primer. In 

237 



238 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

addition to the Mass and the Divine Service for the 
dead and the prayers at the burial, it was the custom 
in England to say a long Commendat io Animarum. 
This is distinct from the pathetic litany known as the 
Commendat io Anlmae in Articulo Mortis repeated while 
the dying Christian gave up the ghost. It was said as 
soon as possible after death, partly in the house and 
partly in the church to which the body was taken. 
And it is difficult to say which is the more clearly 
revealed, the sense of piety or the sense of beauty, in 
a service which contains such antiphons, psalms, and 
prayers. The pleading refrain May Christ Who 
called thee receive thee, and may the angels lead thee 
unto Abraham s bosom is mingled with the trium 
phant song When Israel came out of Egypt," 1 and 
with the hope that the soul of the departed may be 
crowned among the martyrs, and gain the joy of God 
amid the gleaming stones of Paradise. 

The Inlmmat to Defunctl or Burial of the Dead was 
performed when Mass was done, the priest wearing an 
alb and no cope. This long service began with an 
antiphon, the Kyrie, and prayers. The priest asked 
those present to pray for the soul of the dead, and the 
first section of the service ended with this collect : 

Incline, O Lord, Thine ear unto our prayer in which we 
humbly entreat Thy mercy that the soul of Thy servant which 
Thou hast commanded to depart from this world, may he placed 
hy Thee in the region of peace and light, and hidden to be 
numbered among Thy saints. 

The body was then carried to the grave, the choir 
singing Psalm cxiv., and, if time permitted, Psalm xxv. 
The grave was opened, another Psalm was sung, and 
the antiphon * Open unto me the gates of righteous 
ness and I will enter into them and confess unto the 
Lord : this is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall 
enter into it. 1 The grave was blessed, sprinkled with 
holy water, and censed, and the body placed therein. 



THE ORDER FOR THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD 239 

while the Psalm was sung Like as the hart desireth 
the water brooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O 
God/ 

After the body was lowered the grave was sprinkled 
with holy water, the priest scattered earth upon the 
body in the form of the cross, then censed it and 
sprinkled holv water upon it, a Psalm and antiphon 
being sung. Then the priest said, I commend thy 
soul to God the Father Almighty, earth to earth, ashes 
to ashes, dust to dust, in the Name of the Father," etc. 
More prayers were said, then Psalms cxlviii., cxlix., cl., 
and the Benedictus, followed bv the antiphon, 4 1 am 
the resurrection and the life, he that believeth on Me 
though he were dead shall live, and every one that 
livetJi and believeth on Me shall not die for ever. 1 
The Psalm Miserere followed shortly afterwards. The 
final collect was : 

O (iotl, by Whose merry the souls of the faithful are at rest, 
to the souls of Thy servants and handmaidens who here and in 
all places repose in Christ, favourably grant the pardon of their 
sins, that absolved from all offences they may with Thee rejoice 
without end. 

Praving that the Lord would grant to the departed 
everlasting rest, and that perpetual light might shine 
upon them, the mourners went away. 

Such were the rites with which our forefathers were 
put to sleep in the green churchyards of England : 

There scattered oft the earliest of the year, 

liy hands unseen, are showers of violets found ; 

The redbreast loves to build and warble there, 
And little footsteps lightly print the ground. 



2. 77/6 Reformed Rites. 

The Burial Service of 1549 is much shorter than the 
mediaeval rite, and is rather a compilation from various 
services for the dead than a translation of the Inhurnatio 



240 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Defuncti. No service is provided to be said in the 
house of the dead. The priest met the corpse at 
the Church stile, 1 and the body was carried either 
to the church or to the grave, the priests saying, or 
the priests and clerks singing, 4 1 am the Resurrection, 
I know that my Redeemer, 1 We brought nothing into 
the world. l The first sentence is the old antiphon to 
the Benedictus, the second is the respond after the first 
lesson in the first Nocturn in Mattins for the Dead, and 
the third was appropriately added by the compilers. 
At the grave were sung the words Man that is born," 1 
which is from the fifth lesson in the Sarum Mattins for 
the Dead, followed by the antiphon In the midst of life," 
which is based upon the Lenten antiphon to the Nunc 
dimittis in the Sarum Breviary. This antiphon is of 
ancient origin, and its use in the Burial Service was 
probably suggested by its use in Hermann s Consulta 
tion. Cranmer s version is partly derived from the 
Latin, and partly from a metrical translation by 
Coverdale of Luther s paraphrase of the Latin. 2 The 
priest was directed to cast earth upon the corpse with 
the commendation of earth to earth, ashes to ashes, 1 
followed by the antiphon I heard a voice, which was 
the antiphon to the Magnificat in the Sarum Evensong 
for the Dead. Then followed two line prayers, the 
first of which is as follows : 

We commend into Thy hands of mercy (most merciful Father) 
the soul of this our brother departed, N. And his body we 
commit to the earth, beseeching Thine infinite goodness, to give 
us grace to live in Thy fear and love, and to die in Thy favour : 
that when the judgment shall come, which Thou hast committed 
to Thy well-beloved Son, both this our brother, and we may be 
found acceptable in Thy sight, and receive that blessing which 
Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and 

1 It was the sweet old English custom for each mourner to carry a 
sprig of rosemary, an emblem of the Resurrection. This was general 
in the seventeenth century. 

- See Dr. Dowden, The Workmanship of the Prayer Book, p. 161. 



THK ORDER FOR TIIK BURIAL OF THE DEAD 241 

fear Thee, saying : Come, ye Messed Children of My Father 
Receive the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning 
of the world. Grant this, merciful Father, for the honour 
of Jesu Christ, our only Saviour, Mediator, and Advocate. 
Amen. 

The second prayer is from the order of Hermann of 
Coin. 

After the service at the grave 1 there was printed a 
service to he performed in church either before or after 
the burial. It consisted of Psalms cxvi.,cxlvi.,cxxxix., 
the lesson from 1 Cor. xv. ,(j to the end (part of which 
was an alternative Epistle in the Sarum Mass for the 
Dead), the Kyrie, Lord s Prayer, and the following 
suffrages from the Sarum order : 

Priest. Enter not (() Lord) into judgment with Thy servant. 

Answer. For in thy sight no living creature shall be justified. 

Priest. From the gates of hell. 

Answer. Deliver their souls, () Ix&gt;rd. 

Priest. I believe to see the goodness of the Lord. 

Answer. In the land of the living. 

Priest. O Lord, graciously hear my prayer. 

Answer. And let my cry come unto Thee. 

The whole concluded with a long prayer, beginning 
O Lord, with whom do live the spirits of them that 
be dead/ The beginning of the prayer is taken from 
one in the Sarum order, and the rest of it shows the 
influence of other Sarum prayers. 

Immediately afterwards follows The Celebration of the 
Holy Communion when there /.v a liiirial of the Dead. 
The Introit is Psalm xlii., which occurs not in the 
Sarum Mass but in the Inhumatlo. The Collect is 
practically the same as the last Collect in our present 

1 It has been the immemorial custom to lay the body with its fee 
eastward, turned towards the dawn. In some places there has been 
introduced the custom of burying the bodies of the clergy westward. 
This custom seems to have been adopted during the period of the 
Renaissance, and has become connected with the idea that the priest 
must face his people at the Resurrection. 



242 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

order, the Epistle is 1 Thess. iv. 13 ft ., and the Gospel 
is S. John vi. 35-41. 

In 1552 there came a violent change. Prayers for 
the faithful departed, and indeed all words concerning 
the departed, were omitted from the Prayer for the 
whole state of Christ s Church in the Communion 
Service, and the Order for the Burial of the Dead was 
modified in such a w r ay as to greatly discourage such 
prayers. To appreciate the meaning of this change it 
must be remembered that the Calvinists denied that 
there was any intermediate place between this life and 
heaven, and naturally did not pray for people whom 
they believed to be already in heaven and past praying 
for. It is difficult to imagine how such an extraordinary 
idea could have arisen, when our Lord in the most 
explicit language said that He, with the penitent thief, 
would enter paradise on the third day before His 
resurrection, and more than forty days before He 
entered heaven. But the superstition took such deep 
root that it has been given a place of honour in the 
Presbyterian Westminster Confession, and in many 
English parishes it is by no means eradicated at the 
present day. That so widely read a man as Cranmer 
could have accepted a notion so wholly foreign to the 
writers of the first ages of the Church is almost in 
credible, and the order of 1552 shows that he made an 
effort to preserve a prayer for the dead in a form 
calculated to attract as little attention as possible. 
The last collect of the order of 1549 appeared in the 
following form : 

Almighty God, with Whom do live the spirits of them that 
depart hence in the Lord, and in Whom the souls of them that 
he elected, after they be delivered from the harden of the flesh, 
be in joy and felicity : we give Thee hearty thanks, for that it 
hath pleased Thee to deliver this N., our brother, out of the 
miseries of this sinful world ; beseeching Thee, that it may please 
Thee of Thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number 
of Thine elect, and to haste Thy kingdom ; that we with this our 



TIIK ORDER FOR THE BHRIAL OF THE DEAD 243 

brother, and all other departed in the true faith of Thy holy 
Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in 
body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting plory. Amen. 

The rest of the service was mutilated by the omission 
of all the Psalms and suffrages. No direction was given 
to enter the church, and the celebration of the Holy 
Communion was ignored. Instead of the priest being 
told to cast earth upon the body, the act is to be 
performed k by some standing by." 

It should be observed that, although the Buri.il 
Service of 1559 is the same as that of 155., Kli/a- 
beth s Primer of 1559 contains distinct prayers for the 
dead, and that the Office of the Dead contained in 
the Primer and a celebration for the dead were 
performed in the most public manner at Elizabeth s 
command, as already noticed on p. 121. 

In 1()6*1 a rubric was prefixed, directing that the 
Office should not be u.scd for any who have died un- 
bapti/ed, or excommunicate, or have laid violent hands 
upon themselves. The element of psalmody, expelled 
in 1552, was restored by directing that Psalm xxxix. or 
xc., or both, should be read in the church before going 
to the grave. The lesson from 1 Cor. \\. was now to 
be read after the Psalms and not after the burial. In 
the committal of the body, the passage sure and cer 
tain hope of resurrection to eternal life" was modified 
by the insertion of 4 the" before resurrection." 

A similar change was made in the collect which has 
been quoted above. The words c that we with this 
our brother, and all other departed in the true faith 
of Thy holy Name, may have our perfect consumma 
tion were altered to " that we, with all those that are 
departed in the true faith of Thv holy Name, may 
have our perfect consummation." The reason for this 
is recorded by Wheat ly. The Puritans protested, 
very reasonably, against all that expressed any assur 
ance of the deceased party s happiness, which they did 



244 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

not think proper to be said indifferently over all that 
died. On that ground, and not because the prayer is 
a prayer for the dead, the bishops abbreviated the 
clause. Wheatly does not doubt that it is a prayer 
for the dead. He says : 

We pray (as it is now) that we,, with all those that are 
departed in the true faith of God s holy Name, may have our 
perfect consummation and hliss ; which is not harely a sup 
position that all those who are so departed will have their 
perfect consummation and hliss., but a prayer also that they may 
have it. 1 

The duty of prayer for the dead was repeatedly 
inculcated by the great divines of the Church of 
England until the revival of Calvinism in the latter 
part of the eighteenth century. Numerous illustrations 
might be given of the practice, but it will suffice to 
give a translation of the beautiful epitaph of the good 
Bishop Barrow, A. p. 1680 : 

The remains of Isaac, Bishop of St. Asaph, laid in the hand of 
God, in the hope of a joyful resurrection, through the merits of 
Christ alone. O ye that pass by into the house of the Lord, 
the house of prayer, pray for your fellow-servant that he may 
find mercy in the day of the Lord. 

There can be no reasonable doubt that: (1) The 
Christian Church inherited prayers for the dead, with 
our Lord s tacit or explicit sanction, from the Jewish 
Church, which still employs them; (2) the whole 
Christian Church has sanctioned them, not one ancient 
liturgy being without them ; (3) the Church of Eng 
land permits them. The Church of England in Article 
xxii. condemns, and justly condemns, the Romish 
Doctrine concerning Purgatory." That is to say, it 
condemns the ordinary doctrine held in the middle of 
the sixteenth century by the Christians who believed 
in the supremacy of the Pope. That doctrine taught 

1 Wheatly, Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer, 
p, 509 (fourth edition, 1722). 



THE ORDER FOR THE W RIAL OF THE DEAD i&gt;45 

that the intermediate stale is a place of torment, and 
that souls are continually passing from purgatory to 
heaven, before the (lay of resurrection, in virtue of the 
application to them of prayers and indulgences by 
their friends on earth. This extraordinary perversion 
of the original teaching of the Church survives in the 
coarser forms of modern Romanism, and to some extent 
even in its best forms. It may be illustrated by the 
fact that whereas the venerable Canon of the Roman 
Mass prays for the servants of God who rest in the 
sleep of peace," Father Faber of the Brompton Oratory, 
now the headquarters of English Komanism, quotes as 
4 true, 1 though not complete," descriptions of the inter 
mediate state which describe it as simply a hell which 
is not eternal. Violence, confusion, wailing, horror. . . . 
The (ire is the same fire as that of hell, created for the 
single and express purpose of giving torture. 11 

No more telling illustration could be given of the 
fact that 4 the Hoinisii doctrine concerning Purgatory" 
is not the same as 4 the Primitive doctrine concerning 
Paradise, 1 and that the 2nd Article in condemning 
one cannot possibly mean to condemn the other. 
Only one thing more is needed to put the matter 
outside the area of controversy. It is that a rough 
draft of the Articles of the Church of England con 
tained a condemnation of prayers for the dead, and 
that this was omitted in every authentic edition of the 
Articles both in English and Latin. 

1 All for J&lt;sus&gt; pp. 364-366 (ninth edit.). 



CHAPTER XV 

THE THANKSGIVING OF WOMEN AFTER 
CHILD-BIKTH 1 

Ix the Sarum Manual this rite is called the Order for 
the Purification of a woman- after child-birth before the 
door of the church. The service was very short, consist 
ing of Psalms cxxi. 4 1 will lift up mine eyes, 1 cxxviii. 
Blessed are all they," the Kyrie, the Lord s Prayer, 
suffrages, and a prayer. The woman was then sprinkled 
with holy water, and the priest, taking her by the right 
hand, led her into the church, saying Enter into the 
temple of God, that thou mayest have eternal life, and 
live for ever. Amen. According to the York Manual, 
the woman was led into the church at the beginning of 
the service. Some old English books contain a strong 
protest against the vulgar superstition that women 
might not c enter holy chirche to thanke theyr god 
as soon as they liked after child-birth. 

In 1549 the service was called the Order of the 
Purification of Women. The rubric directed the 
woman to come into the church, according to the 
mediaeval use of York. She was to kneel down in 
some convenient place, nigh unto the quire door." The 

1 In the Manx Gaelic version of 1610 this service is called Losky na 
Kannil, the Burning of the Candle (cf. the Manx name for the Feast of 
the Purification, Lail More na A annil, the festal day of Mary of the 
Candle). This refers to the old custom of women bearing a lighted 
candle when they were churched, and may imply that the custom 
was continued after the Reformation. 
24(i 



THE THANKSGIVING AFTER CHILD-BIRTH 247 

idea of thanksgiving, which was not expressed in the 
Saruni rite, was now made prominent in the brief 
address at the beginning of the service. Psalm cxxi. 
was the only one used, and the rest of the service 
proceeded as before. An interesting instance of the 
fact that before the Reformation the fc omission " of a 
rubric commanding a practice was not regarded as a 
prohibition 1 is to be found in the rubric at the end 
of the service of 1519. It directs that the woman 
shall otter her chrisom \i.f. her child s baptismal robe) 
and other accustomed offerings. 1 This direction docs 
not occur in the Saruni Manual, but it affords plain 
proof that the ottering was customary when the Sarum 
Manual was employed. 

In 155, the title of the service was altered to what 
it now is, The Thankjigivhig &lt;&gt;/ Women ///?&lt;/ C/t/ld- 
birth, commonly tti/lid ///&lt; Churching &lt;&gt;/ \Voincn. 
The won! w Purification," which was likelv to be mis 
understood, was now omitied. In the sank- wav the 
final rubric was altered from " the woman that is 
purified," etc., to the woman that cometh to give her 
thanks. 1 There was no more mention of the clirisom. 
Instead of kneeling nigh unto the quire door, the 
woman kneels " nigh unto the place where the table 
standeth/ 1 

In !()()! the Psalms cxvi. and cxxvii. were substituted 
for Psalm cxxi. The direction that the woman should 
kneel uigh unto the place where the table standeth 
was omitted from the opening rubric, which now 
directs that the woman shall come into the church 
decently apparelled." This refers to the old custom 
that the woman should wear a white veil. Such veils 
were worn before the Reformation, and were still worn 
in the seventeenth century, and, in fact, regarded as 
compulsory. 1 It seems probable that during the per- 

1 Bishop Sparrow in the Rationale, A.D. 1657, says the woman 
that is to be churched is to have a veil. \Yheatly, Op. &lt;//., shows that 



248 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

secution of the Church under the Commonwealth the 
rule was sometimes disregarded, and that it was neces 
sary to enforce it again in 1661. The clergy would do 
well to provide such a veil for the poorer members of 
their flock. 

According to a seemly old rule, the woman should 
be accompanied by two matrons. 

in the reign of James I. a woman was excommunicated for refusing to 
wear the veil. In 1662 Bishop Wren, in his visitation of the diocese 
of Ely, inquired whether women came to be churched veiled according 
to ancient custom. 



CHAPTER XVI 

A COMMINAT10N 

Tins service is a substitute for the primitive dis 
cipline of penitent sinners which began on the first 
day of Lent, and is a modified survival of the later 
mediaeval rites for that day. The institution of Lent 
dates from the fourth century, and it was in its origin 
simply a period set apart for the instruction of catechu 
mens and the discipline of repentant sinners. The 
latter were treated in a manner very similar to the- 
treatment of catechumens. The number of days over 
which Lent extended varied in different countries, but 
there was a steady tendency in the fourth century for 
all Christians to join in the prayers and fasts of the 
penitents, and out of this noble and instinctive sym 
pathy Lent, as we now know it, had its rise. 

The rites of Ash Wednesday are first described in the 
Gelasian Sacramentary, where we learn that before the 
4 stationa!" Mass the penitents presented themselves to 
a priest who clothed them with sackcloth. On Maundy 
Thursday they were solemnly restored to communion. 
At the beginning of the Mass the penitents were intro 
duced by a deacon, who expressed their sorrow for 
sin, and the Pope offered a beautiful prayer for their 
pardon. By the ninth century the custom of recon 
ciling the penitents in this manner had disappeared 
at Rome, and by the twelfth century an entirely new 
conception was attached to the rites of Ash Wednes- 

249 



250 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

day. All the faithful, clergy and laity, put themselves 
into the position of penitents, and had ashes placed 
upon their heads before attending Mass. Even as late 
as the ninth century this would have been an impossi 
bility. Clergymen in the position of penitents would 
not have been allowed to officiate, and the laity in a 
like position would not have been allowed to communi 
cate. In the fourth century they would not have been 
allowed even to be present at the consecration of the 
Eucharist. 

In the present English Office the Penitential Psalm 
and the collects and suffrages which follow it are taken 
from the mediaeval ceremonial of Ash Wednesday, and 
are entirely appropriate. The Maledictions in the 
earlier part of the service resemble the Greater Ex 
communication which used to be proclaimed in the 
English tongue three or four times a year in the un- 
reformed service. There exists some popular prejudice 
against these cursings, under the false impression that 
they are of the nature of prayers. On the contrary, 
they are merely declarations, and in no sense impreca 
tions. They merely announce what God has said, and 
the fact that the modern service, like the later mediaeval 
service, is for the faithful and not for unreconciled 
penitents, makes them chiefly a warning to those who 
actually repeat them. When we affirm that the curse 
of God is indeed due to certain sins, the use of such an 
affirmation is to make us avoid these sins, and repent 
of them if we be guilty. 

In 1549 the service was simply headed The First 
Day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday, and 
the first rubric announced that After Mattins ended, 
the people being called together by the ringing of a 
bell, and assembled in the church : The English litany 
shall be said after the accustomed manner : which 
ended, the priest shall go into the pulpit and say thus. 
In 1552 and 1604 the title was A Commination 



A COMMINATION 251 

against sinners, with certain prayers, to be used divers 
times in the year." The title did not mention Ash 
Wednesday, and although the service was no doubt 
intended to be used on that day, it is plain that it was 
also intended to be used on other occasions also, like 
the media-val Greater Excommunication. In lu 61 tin- 
title was altered to its present form. 

This brief account of the service may be closed with 
two reflections. First, some may feel a regret that 
the service no longer contains the picturesque and 
significant ceremony which gave Ash Wednesday its 
present name. Hut we may remember that in the 
omission of the ceremony the Church of England, as in 
so inanv other cases, has returned to the usage of the 
old Roman Church. Secondly, we may fully agree with 
(Yanmers wish, written in 1519, that the godly public 
discipline of the Primitive Church 11 in the fourth and 
succeeding centuries may be restored. But at the same 
time we may be thankful that he judged it best that 
the man who was burdened with the sense of sin should 
avail himself of private confession and open his sin 
and grief secretly." 1 The two penitential methods are 
adapted to different states of society, and the Church, 
which lives to save, has rightlv sanctioned both. 



CHAPTER XVII 

FORMS OF PIIAYER TO BE USED AT SEA 

THESE forms of prayer were composed in 1661. They 
are believed to have been written by Robert Sanderson, 
Bishop of Lincoln (died 1663). They are supplemental 
to the services of the Prayer Book which are ordinarily 
to be the same at sea as on land, save for the addition 
of two prayers to Morning and Evening Prayer. The 
other forms are intended for emergencies. There was 
ancient precedent for such forms in the Missa pro 
Navigantibus in the Sarum and other Missals, and in 
a Missa Nautica, l which contained the Mass without 
the consecration and communion. The impossibility 
of consecrating the Eucharist on an ancient vessel in a 
rough sea accounts for the mutilated form of the Missa 
Nautica. It should also be noticed that under the 
Long Parliament (1640-53) a Presbyterian form of 
prayer had been issued for the use of the navy, and 
this fact probably suggested the use of special forms of 
prayer when the Church and the King were restored. 

An additional form is given for a burial at sea, and 
in time of imminent danger there is appointed the 
confession and absolution from the Communion Service. 
An excellent form of thanksgiving after victory is pro 
vided ; but Bishop Sanderson does not appear to have 
contemplated the possibilities of defeat. 

1 Bingham, Anttg.,edit. 1855, vo1 - v - P- 3 6 S &gt; Durandus, Rationale, 
lib. iv. cap. I. 
252 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE ORDINAL 

Order is heav n s first law. 

I oi K, Essay on Af&lt;ni. 

1. The Three/old Ministry. 

CIIHIST Himself ordained the first ministers of the 
Christian Church, choosing apostles to whom He gave 
the solemn commission, As the Father hath sent 
Me, even so send I you" 1 (S. John xx. ,1 ). After 
the death of Judas the apostles elected another to (ill 
the place of the traitor, thereby showing that they 
believed themselves to be in possession of the authority 
to send forth others as they had been sent themselves. 
When Matthias was chosen to succeed Judas, it was 
stated by S. Peter that a qualification for this office 
was a personal acquaintance with our Lord s ministry 
from His Baptism to His Ascension. S. Paul also 
reckons that among the qualifications of an apostle is 
to have seen the Lord. It was the duty of the apostles 
to preach to the unbelieving, to exercise a paternal 
discipline, and to impart traditions. This much would 
be admitted by all professing Christians who accept 
the New Testament ; but unfortunately there are many 
such persons who sincerely accept the New Testament 
but reject the present ministry of the Catholic Church. 
The Church maintains that there are three orders of 
the ministry which date from apostolic times, and exist 

263 



2.54 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

for the permanent life of the Church. The apostles 
first appointed deacons to minister to the needs of the 
Christians at Jerusalem. Then we learn how the 
Gospel spread from city to city, and officials named 
presbyters, whose title was an old title used in the 
synagogues, were appointed to labour for the salvation 
of souls in these cities. These presbyters were also 
known by the name of episkopoi, or overseers of the 
Church. Finally, when S. Paul saw that his end was 
apparently drawing near, he appointed S. Timothy 
and S. Titus to act as his delegates in Ephesus and 
Crete, with the power to ordain presbyters and deacons. 
S. Paul and some of the twelve apostles had exercised 
a wandering ministry, but it seems that S. James at 
Jerusalem, and afterwards S. John at Ephesus, settled 
down and directed the adjacent Churches from one 
centre only. We can be almost certain that other 
men were appointed in the same manner as S. Timothy 
and S. Titus. S. Irenasus relates how S. Peter and S. 
Paul appointed Linus to be the first Bishop of Rome ; 
and S. Ignatius of Antioch, who suffered martyrdom 
about A.D. 110, was undoubtedly Bishop of Antioch, 
and he seems to have been the second who occupied 
that position. Ignatius must have been of mature 
years before S. John died (about A.D. 98), and his 
predecessor may well have been appointed by an apostle. 
The seven letters of S. Ignatius show that he regards 
episcopacy as essential to the existence of a Church, 
and they show us that before the death of the writer 
the word ep wkopox had been appropriately transferred 
to the highest order of the ministry and taken from 
the presbyters. Inasmuch as these bishops succeeded 
to the office of guiding the presbyters, deacons, and 
laity, which had been formerly exercised by such men 
as S. Timothy and S. Titus, and originally by the 
apostles, the Church has scrupulously retained the 
teaching of S. Ignatius that no Church is a true Church 



THE ORDINAL 255 

unless it is governed by a bishop. Tbc episcopate is 
thus a golden chain, stretching link bv link between 
our modern bishops and the apostles of Jesus Christ. 
No ministers of religion can receive the power to act as 
the representatives of man to God and as 4 stewards of 
God s mysteries/ unless they receive the hiving on of 
hands from those whom the apostles and their repre 
sentatives ordained for that purpose. This is what is 
meant by the doctrine of Apostolic Succession. 

In maintaining the truth asserted in the preface of 
the present English Ordinal that from the Apostles 
time there have been these Orders of Ministers in 
Christ s Church ; Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, we do 
not ignore some difficulties which beset this truth. 
Some of S. Paul s Kpistles show us that in the earliest 
davs of Christianity there was a rich temporary out 
pouring of spiritual gifts, such as prophecy and speak 
ing with tongues, which existed side bv side with other 
gifts which God has been pleased to continue. Corre 
sponding with this difference in gifts, there was a 
considerable distinction between the ministers required 
for evangelisation and those required for pastoral 
charges. Moreover, the nomenclature of the Church 
was for many years in a fluid state ; final meanings had 
not yet been fixed to particular names. Thus, although 
the letters of S. Ignatius show us that the meanings 
were already fixed at Antioch, the Teaching of the 
Apoxtlc* and the Epistle of S. Clement, which are only 
a few years earlier in date, still call the presbyters 
cpixkopoi, and in the former book we find so-called 
"apostles over the local clergy; S. Paul. 1 S. Peter, 
and S. John seem to have called themselves 4 presbyters 
or elders ; and this vague use of the term appears to 
have lingered for a long time in some parts of Christen 
dom. But in spite of the difficulties occasioned by 

1 Sec I Tim. iv. 14, ami 2 Tim i. 6 ; 2 S. lolm I ; 3 S. John i; 
I S. 1 eter v. i. 



256 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

some variations in detail, the fact remains true that 
the three orders of the ministry date from the apostolic 
age ; and while it is wrong to condemn the fruits of 
the Spirit" when they are manifested among men who 
are without this ministry, it is also wrong to question 
the necessity of a system which has such a sacred 
sanction. 

2. The Ordination of Deacons and Priests. 

The present Ordinal of the Church of England was 
first drawn up in 1550, and it was prepared as a 
companion to the Prayer .book of 1549. 1 It was 
slightly modified to suit the Prayer Book of 1552, and 
was again revised by Convocation in 1661. The 
Ordinal only includes Offices for the Ordination of 
deacons, priests, and bishops, as the minor orders," 
viz. those of sub-deacon, acolyte, exorcist, reader, and 
doorkeeper were discontinued at the Reformation, 
having for some time previously become mere steps 
to the higher offices of the ministry, and having no 
essential importance in the ministry of the Church. 
All Ordinations, according to immemorial usage, must 
take place at a sung or said celebration of the 
Communion Service. A sermon having been delivered, 
the archdeacon presents to the bishop the candidates 
for the diaconate ; the bishop then inquires of the 
congregation whether any of them know of any 

1 The Anglican Ordinal was undoubtedly influenced by the * Ratio 
Ordinandi in Bucer s Scripta Anglicana. The interrogations in 
Bucer s form are the basis of those which are proposed to the candi 
dates of each order in the Edwardine Ordinal, and the Allocution to 
the candidates for the priesthood is taken from the same source. 
Bucer had no clear belief in the threefold ministry, but our Ordinal 
contains no part of Bucer s work which affects the validity of Anglican 
Ordinations. Cranmer, in spite of adopting suggestions from Bucer, 
deliberately kept a Catholic structure of the Ordinal. As in the case 
of the Mass, he felt constrained to satisfy the bishops of the old 
learning ; and all the bishops appear to have used the reformed Ordinal. 



THE OR DIN A I, 257 

impediment which would render auv candidate unfit 
for Ordination. If no impediment or notable crime" 
be alleged, the bishop asks for the prayers of the 
congregation on behalf of those to be- ordained, and 
then sings the litanv with a special suffrage for the 
candidates. The preliminary forms used in the case 
of the ordaining of priests are similar. 

At the Communion Service special collects are 
provided ; that on behalf of the deacons makes mention 
of * the first martyr S. Stephen" 1 as chosen into that 
order. Before the Gospel is read the bishop in.structs 
the candidates for the diaconate in the duties of that 
oflice, and afterwards lavs his hands upon every one 
with the words, Take thou authority to execute the 
office of a Deacon in the Church of God committed 
unto thec ; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of tlu 1 Holy Ghost. Amen/ He then delivers 
to every one a New Testament, saving, Take thou 
authority to read the Gospel in the Church of God, 
and to preach the same, if thou be thereto licensed by 
the Bishop himself/ One of the newly ordained 
deacons then reads the Gospel. 

At the Ordination of Priests the bishop addresses the 
candidates at some length after the Gospel. He then 
questions them as to their sense of a call to the 
order of priesthood, and asks them whether they will 
be faithful in their duties and doctrine, exemplary 
in life, and obedient to their ordinary and other chief 
ministers/ After a prayer for their assistance he sings 
the Vcm Creator, ami then prays that as Christ after 
His Ascension sent abroad His apostles, prophets, 
evangelists, doctors, and pastors, so those now called 
4 to the same office and ministry appointed for the 
salvation of mankind "* mav, with those over whom they 
shall be appointed, be the means of glorifying God s 
Name and enlarging His kingdom. Then the bishop 
with the priests present, lays his hands upon each 

R 



258 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

candidate saying, Receive the Holy Ghost [for the 
office and work of a Priest in the Church of God, now 
committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands. 1 ] 
Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and 
whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And 
be thou a faithful dispenser of the Word of God and 
of His holy Sacraments ; In the Name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and ol the Holy Ghost. Amen. 1 
Then, while they still kneel, he delivers to every one 
the Bible into his hand saying, Take thou authority 
to preach the Word of God, and to minister the holy 
Sacraments in the congregation, where thou shalt be 
lawfully appointed thereunto." 1 

The Nicene Creed is then sung or said, and the 
Communion Service is continued to the end with 
special collects before the blessing. 

Few rites have been the subject of greater contro 
versy than this form for the Ordination of Priests, and 
it is necessary to give some special consideration to 
its history. At the end of the Middle Ages the 
Ordination services, like that of the Roman Church at 
the present day, were of a picturesque but very com 
posite and confused character. The Old Roman form 
for the ordaining of priests had been of a very simple 
and intelligible form. One of the most learned of 
modern Roman Catholic writers says : The whole 
rite of the Ordination of deacons and priests, according 
to Roman usage, consisted in prayers, some being made 
in common by the whole assembly, some being recited 
by the Pope over the prostrate candidate/ 2 Shortly 
before the Gospel the archdeacon presented the candi 
dates for the order of deacon to the Pope. The Pope 
then asked the congregation to pray for these servants 
of God whom He condescends to call to the office of 

1 The words in brackets were not in the Edwardine form, but were 
inserted in 1661. 

2 Duchesne, Origines du Culte Chretien, p. 345. 



THE ORDINAL itf!) 

the diaconate. All knelt in prayer, and the choir 
sang the litany, after which the Pope laid his hands on 
each of the candidates and offered two prayers. The 
deacons are compared with the sons of Levi. and God 
is asked to send forth upon them His Holy Spirit * by 
\Yhoin they may he strengthened unto the work of 
faithfully executing their ministry through the seven 
fold gift of Thy grace/ The deacons then received an 
embrace from the Pope and took their place with the 
older deacons near the Pope s side. 

The candidates for the priesthood then came forward, 
and the Pope asked the faithful to pray that God * may 
multiply His heavenly gifts upon these His servants 
whom He has chosen for the office of the presbyterate." 
The collect or first prayer was this: Hear us, () 
God of our salvation, and pour forth upon these Thy 
servants the benediction of Thy Holy Spirit and the 
might of priestly [xacerdotali.*] grace, that Thou ma vest 
aid with the perpetual bounty of Thy favour those 
whom we present for consecration to the regard of Thy 
goodness. 1 In the second or Eucharistic prayer God is 
praised for instituting the priestly rank and the functions 
of Levites to assist the high priests. Thus in the 
desert He gave seventy men to help Moses to rule the 
multitudes, and gave to Klea/ar and Ithamar, the 1 sons 
of Aaron, the abundance of their father s fulness that 
the worth of the priests might avail for salutary offer 
ings and for the mysteries of a more frequent service." 
It is evidently meant that as the priests of the Old 
Dispensation assisted the high priest, so the priests of 
the New Dispensation are to assist the bishop. Then 
the prayer continues, By this providence, () Lord, 
Thou didst add teachers of the faith as companions of 
the apostles of Thy Son, by whom they filled the whole 
world with a second rank of preachers. Wherefore, 
we beseech Thee, () Lord, bestow these aids upon our 
weakness, who in proportion to our frailty need this 



260 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

enlarged number. Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty 
Father, the dignity of the presbyterate to these Thy 
servants ; renew within them the Spirit of holiness, that 
they may find accepted by Thee, O God, the office of the 
second rank, and by the example of their conversation 
may instil the correction of manners. May they be care 
ful workers together \vith our order ; may the form of all 
righteousness shine forth in them, that they may give 
a good account of the stewardship entrusted to them 
and attain the rewards of everlasting blessedness. 1 Here 
again we see that the duty of the presbyter is to aid 
the bishop as the teachers aided the apostles. The 
prayer as a whole implies, like some of the earliest 
Christian documents, that there is an analogy between 
the threefold Jewish ministry and the threefold Christian 
ministry, but it only suggests in a very vague manner 
that the Christian priest has other duties in addition 
to that of teaching. Moreover, in some places where 
the Roman rite was used, there was no mention of the 
conferring sacerdotal power, as the words priestly 
grace were replaced by spiritual grace. 1 In fact, the 
Old Roman rite is much less definite with regard to 
the duties of a priest than the present English Ordinal. 
The presbyters received the laying on of hands before 
this prayer, and after it were embraced. 

Such was the Roman service in the early days of 
English Christianity ; we must now show how the 
service became transformed. The transformation is 
one of the many instances in which the Erench love 
of ceremonial altered the character of Roman worship. 

The famous Missal of the Franks, now preserved in 
the Vatican, contains the old Gallican Ordination ser 
vices already mixed with Roman elements. The date 
of the book is about A.D. 800. The Ordination of the 
sub-deacon contains a ceremony which was destined to 
have a portentous influence in the history of Christen 
dom. Before the bishop blessed him and prayed that 



THE ORDINAL 2(51 

the spirit of wisdom and understanding might rest 
upon him, he handed to him an empty chalice and 
paten, and the archdeacon gave him a napkin, a cruet 
of water, and a vessel. This is the trud ttio hixtru- 
mentorum or handing of the vessels/ intended to 
remind the sub-deacon that he was entrusted with the 
humble hut useful task of keeping the altar linen 
clean, taking care of the vessels, and preparing the 
bread and wine for Mass. The same J//.V.SY// of the 
Frank* shows us a very simple form for the Ordination 
of a deacon. The bishop gave the candidate no 
vessels, but laid his hand upon him with a prayer 
that he might serve in purity in that order which the 
apostles had instituted, and which Blessed Stephen 
had led. 

The Gallican Ordination of a priest, like that of a 
deacon, included a short address from the bishop, 
asking the congregation to give their testimony as to 
the character of the candidate. The congregation, 
instead of giving consent to his Ordination by their 
silence, replied, lie is worthy." The bishop then 
said : Brethren, let us pray in common, that he who 
is elected to aid and promote your salvation may 
by the indulgence of the divine favour obtain the 
blessing of the presbyterate : that he may maintain 
the priestly \sacerdotalla\ gifts of the Holy Spirit by 
the prerogative of his virtues, lest he be discovered 
unequal to his place/ The bishop and all the priests 
then place their hands upon the candidate with the 
prayer that God may put forth the hand of His 
blessing upon this Ilis servant whom we dedicate to 
the honour of the presbyterate, that he may meditate 
in the Law of God day and night and believe what he 
has read, teach what he has believed, imitate what he 
has taught/ The prayer goes on to beg that he may 
keep the gift of God s ministry unstained, and by the 
offering of Thy people transform the Body and Blood 



262 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of Thy Son by an unstained consecration." 1 After 
this prayer the bishop anointed the hands of the 
newly ordained priest, with these words : 6 May these 
hands be consecrated and sanctified by this anointing 
and our blessing : that whatsoever they have blessed 
may be blessed, and whatsoever they have hallowed 
may be hallowed. This ceremony of anointing was 
suggested by the Old Testament. It is at least 
probable that it was first performed in Great Britain, 
and from thence spread to France and Spain. 

Although this old Gallican Ordination is more 
elaborate than the Roman, most of it is quite clear 
and intelligible. 2 The priest is ordained by the laying 
on of the bishop s hands, the bishop having shown the 
meaning of the rite which he performs by saying that 
it is the blessing of the presbyterate " which God is 
asked to give the candidate. His duties are defined as 
teaching, and consecrating the Eucharist. His hands 
are anointed as a symbol of God s ratification of the 
blessings which he is to bespeak. 

This ceremony of anointing occurs in the Leo/He 
Missal, which was used at Exeter by Bishop Leofric, 
who died in 1072. In this book we see the Old Roman 
service in process of change we can hardly yet say 
degeneration through an admixture of Northern 
ceremonies. It contains the two Old Roman prayers 
for the ordaining of a presbyter. 1 3 The second prayer, 
which mentions Eleazar and Ithamar and the teachers 
who assisted the apostles, has the prayer for the 

1 The Latin in this sentence is difficult to understand, but the strange 
words transform the Body are a usual Gallican phrase. 

2 The Gallican prayer was afterwards added to the Roman. The 
two occur together in the Gelasian Sacramentary, in which the Roman 
prayer is called Consecratio, and the Gallican prayer Benedict. 

3 The Leofric Missal does not contain the Gallican Ordination prayer, 
which was already repeated in some districts after the Roman prayer, 
but the later books, both English and Continental, contain both 
prayers, and thus the real degeneration of the rite began. 



THE ORDINAL 203 

anointing of the hands added to it, and it is headed 
4 Consecratio/ which plainly shows that the priest was 
considered to he consecrated when this prayer was 
concluded, or when the prayer and the anointing were 
concluded. There is no mention of the Kueharist. 
An additional feature, which did not exist in the Old 
Roman rite, is a prayer for blessing the stoles given 
to the deacons, and the chasubles given to the priest*. 
The chasuble, having long ceased to be worn hv 
laymen, and being seldom worn by the deacons, was 
now regarded as the peculiar normal ornament of a 
priest. We should particularly notice that the Leofric 
Missal, faithful to Old Roman usage, does not direct 
that any vessels should he given to the priest. Sacred 
vessels are given to the sub-deacon at his Ordination, 
because he docx not receive the /ttt/tn^ on of the /Kind. 
These are the words plainly set forth in the Leofric 
Missal. It is clear, therefore, that the ancient English 
and Roman bishops laid hands upon the candidates for 
the priesthood, the ceremony and the oflice both 
having the plain warrant of Scripture. In conferring 
the order of sub-deacon they were conferring u rank 
unknown in Scripture, and attached to it a ceremony 
unknown in Scripture, but perfectly appropriate. 

But in the eleventh century this principle began to be 
undermined. There was a growing desire to emphasise 
the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacra 
ment, on account of recent controversies concerning 
that Presence. Consequently there began the practice, 
which developed through several stages, of introducing 
ceremonies which called attention to the doctrine of 
the Real Presence. After the hands of the priest 
were anointed he was given a chalice and wafer with 
the words, Receive the power of offering sacrifice to 
God, and of celebrating Masses on behalf of both the 
quick and dead." These striking words, accompanied 
by so conspicuous a ceremony, soon produced their 



264 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

natural effect. They began to be considered the most 
important thing in the service; the words just quoted 
began to be considered as what is technically known 
as the Form of Ordination, i.e. the external words 
giving the rite an intelligible shape, and the handing 
of the vessels or instruments was considered as the 
Matter, or necessary outward sign. In A.D. 1439, 
Pope Eugenius IV. distinctly asserted that the handing 
of the instruments is the Matter of Ordination, 
and says nothing about the laying on of hands. The 
same view is apparently assumed in the present rubrics 
of the Roman service, for after the candidates have 
received the vessels they are described as ordained, 
whereas until they have received them they are de 
scribed as those about to be ordained. 1 Therefore 
the present Roman service, as it stands, seems to 
assume that the handing of the vessels is essential, an 
opinion which is in defiance of the opinion held by the 
Catholic Church for the first thousand years. 

But the story of the Ordination Service is not yet 
complete. It seems to have occurred to some thought 
ful minds in the Middle Ages that it was a misfortune 
that the laying on of hands should have become so 
completely overshadowed by more modern ceremonies. 
To make amends for this defect it was directed that, 
after the newly made priests had received Holy Com 
munion, the bishop should lay his hands upon them 
with the words, 6 Receive the Holy Ghost : whosesoever 
sins thou remittest they are remitted unto them : and 
whosesoever sins thou dost retain, they shall be 
retained. All the early books omit this formula. 
Then came the last stage in the corruption of the 
service. The first laying on of hands, which was the 
essential action in the Old Roman service, and was 

1 The Sarum Pontifical contains a true survival of the older belief, 
for in a prayer before the giving of the vessels, the candidates are cor 
rectly called Thy priests. 



THE ORDINAL 2(5/&gt; 

retained in the Sarum books, was omitted at Home as 
unnecessary, and now the Roman Catholic bishops 
inerelv extend their hands when they utter the prayer 
which was originally called the "Consecration, i.e. 
Ordination prayer. A comparison of the Sarum Pon 
tifical with the modern Roman Pontifical exposes the 
history of the service, a history which is thinly dis 
guised by the present rubrics of the Roman Pontifical. 

To sum up. At the time of the Reformation the 
Sarum Pontifical unmistakably included the following 
elements, which are also included in the modern Roman 
service : 

(1) A primitive Ordination by the laying on of the 
bishop s hands, and prayer; in the modern Roman rite 
an extension of tin- bishop s hands has been substituted. 

(.) A second Ordination according to the Gallican 
form, with a consecration by anointing a rite first 
used in England and France. 

({$) A third and mediaeval Ordination at the giving 
of the vessels or instruments/ 1 

(4) A fourth and later mediaeval Ordination, with 
the words used by our Lord, * Receive the Holy Ghost," 
etc. 

The English Reformers, although they did not enjoy 
the advantage of having copies of the Old Roman 
service, composed a service very similar to it, but in 
some respects more scriptural. They combined (1) 
with (4), omitted (2) entirely, and altered (!$) into a 
delivery of a copy of the Bible with the words, Take 
thou authority to preach the Word of (rod. and to 
minister the holy Sacraments in this congregation, 
where thou shall be so appointed/ 

It is difficult to perceive how any Christian instructed 

1 The form of 1550 directed that the newly ordained deacon who 
read the (lospel should first put on the tunicle. At the Ordination of a 
priest the bishop was directed to deliver the Bible to each priest in 
one hand, and the chalice or cup with the breatl, in the other 
hand. This was omitted in 1552. 



266 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

in the history of the services used in the Ordination 
of Priests, could possibly maintain that the English 
service is invalid. Yet this was done by Pope Leo XIII. 
in his Bull Apostolicae Curae of 1896. The Bull was 
produced under strong pressure from a party of 
English Roman Catholics who were afraid that any 
decision from the Pope which did not absolutely con 
demn Anglican Orders would strengthen the Church of 
England in her assertion of Catholic claims. The Bull 
therefore attempted to slide a decent dogmatic basis 
under the practice of the English Roman Catholics, 
who had circulated ridiculous legends about Anglican 
Ordinations and had re-ordained any Anglican priests 
who joined the Roman Communion. Leo XIII. put 
aside or ignored various legendary difficulties which 
had been raised against Anglican Orders, and confined 
himself to attacking them on the ground of insuf 
ficiency of Form and lack of Intention. The doctrine 
with regard to Intention varies much in Roman 
theologians. According to the doctrine as taught by 
Cardinal Bellarmine and some other eminent Roman 
theologians, it is necessary that a minister should have 
a general intention of doing what the Church docs, 
and he asserts that this is taught by the Councils of 
Florence (A.D. 1439) and Trent (A.D. 1545-1563). 
6 There is no need, he adds, to intend to do what the 
Roman Church does, but what the true Church does, 
whichever Church that may be, or what Christ insti 
tuted, or what Christians do ; for these all come to the 
same thing. 1 Now, the most convinced opponent of 
the Anglican Church cannot doubt that the English 
Reformers intended in ordaining to do what the true 
Church does, and what Christ instituted. For they 
intended, as the preface to the Ordination Service 
shows, to retain the same Holy Orders as existed in the 
English Church before the Reformation. It would 
therefore be an innovation in Roman doctrine to assert 



THE ORDINAL 2G7 

that the English service is rendered invalid by the defect 
of Intention which it exhibits. 

It is still more impossible to say that the service is 
invalid because the Form is insufficient. For this 
becomes a mere matter of historical investigation. 
The (juestion is settled directly it is proved that the 
Catholic Church has tolerated a Form of Ordination 
which is not of a particular kind alleged to be neces 
sary. Leo XIII. has defined as necessary for a valid 
form of Ordination to the priesthood that the form 
should contain either the name of presbyter or priest 
(.vrtrm/w), or a description of the chief part of his ofiice, 
vi/. to offer the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of 
Christ. The Anglican form is therefore condemned 
because it does not definitely express either 4 the sacred 
order of priesthood * (or did not definitely express it 
before 1(&gt;()^) or its grace and power." It is evident 
that in some parts of the English Ordination the office 
of priesthood has always been definitely expressed, but 
Leo XIII. made light of this fact, and insisted that the 
words following Receive the Holy Ghost" ought to 
have contained a definite reference to the priesthood. 

But a speedy retribution has followed the Pope s 
quibbling. Within less than three years of his asser 
tion there was published the recently discovered Pon 
tifical of Bishop Serapion of Thmuis in Egypt, of about 
A.D. 350. These prayers are unquestionably orthodox, 
and show us how priests were ordained in the time and 
country of Athanasius. Now Serapion s form for the 
Ordination of a presbyter was as follows: 

We stretch forth the hand, O Lord (iod of the heavens, 
Father of Thy Only-begotten, upon this man, and beseech Thee 
that the Spirit of truth may come upon him. (iive him the 
graces of prudence and knowledge, and a good heart. Let the 
divine Spirit come to him that he may he ahle to he a steward 
over Thy people and an Ambassador of Thy divine oracles, and 
to reconcile Thy people to Thee, the uncreated God. Thou 
Who didst give of the spirit of Moses, and put the Holy Spirit 



268 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

upon the chosen men, give a portion of the Holy Spirit also to 
this man, from the Spirit of Thy Only-begotten, for the grace 
of wisdom and knowledge, and right faith, that he may be able 
to serve Thee in a pure conscience, through Thy Only-begotten 
Jesus Christ, through VV r hom to Thee be the glory and the 
dominion in the Holy Ghost both now and for all the ages of 
the ages. Amen. 

The above prayer contains no reference to any sacra 
mental act except that of reconciliation, which is more 
definitely expressed in the Anglican form, and it only 
contains a most distant allusion to the presbyterate in 
mentioning the chosen men or elders who assisted 
Moses. 



3. The Consecration of an Archbishop or 
Bishop. 

The form for the Consecration of a bishop includes a 
special collect adapted from that for S. Peter s Day. 
The Epistle is 1 Timothy iii. 1-7. In 1661 an alterna 
tive lesson for the Epistle was introduced from Acts 
xx. 17-36. The Gospel is S. John xxi. 15-17. The 
alternative Gospels from S. John xx. 19-24 or S. 
Matthew xxviii. 18 ff. were provided in 1661 instead 
of S. John x. 1-17. After the Creed and Sermon two 
bishops present the bishop-elect to the archbishop of 
the province to be consecrated bishop. The rubric 
of 1661 directs that the bishop-elect shall wear his 
rochet, which is a shortened form of the alb. The 
royal mandate for the Consecration is then read, 
and the oath touching the acknowledgment of the 
royal supremacy is taken by the bishop-elect, who 
als*o promises all due reverence and obedience to 
the archbishop, to the metropolitical church of N. 
and to their successors. Before the Reformation 
the promise was made to obey the archbishop 
6 according to the decrees of the Roman pontiffs and 



THE ORDINAL 2(11) 

their laws." The archbishop then asks for the prayers 
of the congregation, with a reference to the Twelve 
Apostles, Paul, and Barnabas, showing that the 
bishop-elect is regarded as succeeding to an apostolic 
office. The Litany is then sung, with a .special 
petition for the bishop-elect. Similar petitions were 
inserted in the Litany before the Reformat ion, hut 
the Litany was preceded by a long examination of 
the prelate, both as to his moral character and his 
belief. lie was required to assent to a full statement 
with regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation, and to 
assert that the bread which is placed on the Lord s 
table" is changed " into the nature and substance of the 
Flesh of Christ/ The present examination is after the 
Litany, and contains no reference to the doctrine of 
the Kucharist. The examination, like the Litany, 
concludes with a prayer for the bishop-elect. 

The actual Consecration now begins. The bishop- 
elect is directed to put on fc the rest of the episcopal 
habit/ This should include alb, stole, maniple, tunic 
and dalmatic (or dalmatic only), and chasuble. If a 
cope be considered sufficient, it should not be placed 
immediately over the rochet, but over the more 
ancient and dignified alb. The bishop-elect being 
vested, kneels down while the archbishop and bishops 
sing the Vcm Creator. 

A long prayer is then offered resembling that which 
is said at the ordering of priests, but differing from it 
in the greater degree of authority " attributed to the 
person about to be consecrated. Then the archbishop 
and bishops lay their hands upon the head of the 
elected bishop with the words 

Receive the Holy (Jhost, for the office and work of a Bishop 
in the Church of (iod, now committed unto thee by the imposi 
tion of our hands l ; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, 

1 Until 1662 the form used was, Take the Holy Ghost, and 
remember that thou stir up the grace of God, which is in thee, by 



270 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir 
up the grace of God which is given thee by this imposition of 
our hands : For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of 
power^ and love^ and soberness. 

The archbishop then delivers to him the Bible with 
an admirable injunction to give heed unto the things 
contained in this Book, to be to the flock of Christ 
a shepherd, not a wolf ; feed them, devour them not. 
Hold up the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken, 
bring again the outcasts, seek the lost. At the 
mention of the flock of Christ the archbishop was 
directed by the rubric of 1549 to put into the bishop s 
hand the pastoral staff. The direction was omitted in 
1552, but it is implicitly restored by the Ornaments 
rubric. 1 

The Communion Service then proceeds as usual, 
with a special collect before the Benediction. 

imposition of hands : For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, 
but of power, and love, and of soberness. See above, p. 135. The 
reason why the word Bishop (and the corresponding word Priest in 
the Ordination of a priest) was not contained in the Edwardine sentence, 
was that the sentences themselves were thought to mark the respective 
orders, because they had been spoken to the primitive holders of those 
orders (see S. John xx. 22, 23 ; and 2 Tim. i. 6 ; cf. Erasmus Para 
phrase.} It is the same principle on which the words of Institution at 
the Eucharist are used by the Roman Church as the words of consecra 
tion, and yet Leo XIII. treated the Edwardine sentences as inadequate. 
1 It should be noticed that when the cope or chasuble is not worn an 
illegal use of certain episcopal ornaments has lately been introduced 
into certain Anglican dioceses : (a) the wearing of the hood of a Doctor 
of Divinity over the rochet and black chimere, an error said to have 
been introduced by Dr. Samuel Wilberforce ; (/;) the wearing of a 
purple cap, a modern ornament of continental origin ; (c] the wearing 
of a violet chimere, through confusion with the Italian mantellettum : 
the Italian chimere is black ; (d) the wearing of a purple scarf ! Both 
before and after the Reformation English bishops usually wore a black 
cap, a black chimere, and a scarf, otherwise called a tippet, of black 
material covered with sable for protection in cold weather. The 
English episcopal cassock may be black, scarlet, or purple ; the chimere 
must be black or scarlet. The hood must not be worn with the black 
chimere, but with the scarlet. See Transactions of S. PauFs Ecclesio- 
logical Society &gt; vol. iv. pp. 181-220. 



THE ORDINAL 271 

To this service Pope Leo XIII. made two objections 
similar to the objections made to the Anglican Ordina 
tion of Priests. He first called attention to the fact 
that the form used from 155, to Ib fWdid not mention 
the oHice of a bishop immediately after the words 
Receive the Holy Ghost/ Secondly, he said that, as 
the Anglican rite had eliminated the priesthood, it had 
necessarily eliminated with it the highest priesthood," 
as the ofiice of a bishop is sometimes called. 

The second objection assumes that the Church of 
England rejected the doctrine of the Eucharistic 
Sacrifice because it rejected a theory there was no 
clearly defined doctrine on the subject current in the 
sixteenth century. The first objection assumes that it 
is not enough for a valid Ordination that the rite as a 
whole should definitely signify the office of a bishop, 
but that it must be signified in the form " used in the 
actual Consecration. The Old Roman form does indeed 
include a mention of the highest priesthood and the 
episcopal chair/ This form is contained in the Leofric 
Missal ; another form of consecration being also pro 
vided in which the highest priesthood is mentioned, 
but in which the words bishop and episcopal " do not 
occur. The later mediaeval English pontificals had 
both these pravers, and at the end of the latter added 
a prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the 
bishop-elect. This was followed by the Gallican cere 
mony, gradually introduced in the Roman rite, of 
anointing the new bishop. 

Now the later mediaeval English method of conse 
crating a bishop, though it contains a confusing mix 
ture of Roman and Gallican rites, still leaves it possible 
for us to suppose that the Consecration was believed to 
take place at or immediately after one of the prayers 
mentioning the highest priesthood. 1 But the present 
Roman Consecration of a bishop is as corrupted as the 
present Roman Ordination of a priest. The Old 



272 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Roman prayer of consecration is still retained, preceded 
by the laying on of hands. This is followed by the 
Veni Creator and the anointing of the head of the 
bishop-elect. Then there is a prayer that whosesoever 
sins he remits they may be remitted, and that he may 
be given the episcopal chair. Then his hands are 
anointed, and not until then is he called consecrated/ 
The modern rubrics only call him elect even after the 
laying on of hands and the old consecration prayer. 
The consequence is that the present Roman service is 
involved in the same defect as the English service in 
the form which was used from 1552 to 1662. Both 
rites as a whole show that the candidate is unques 
tionably being consecrated to the episcopal order, but 
we could hardly say that in either of the two rites 
the laying on of hands with prayer would be sufficient 
unless the intention and purpose of the Consecration 
were made evident by other portions of the service. 

The fact is that Anglican Orders and Roman Orders 
stand on the same level, and this was recognised in the 
reign of Mary by Pope Paul IV. The Bull says, And 
all ecclesiastical persons, whether seculars or regulars of 
any order, who, under the pretended authority of the 
supremacy of the Anglican Church, have nulllter et 
de t facto obtained any requests, dispensations, grants, 
graces, or indults concerning as well orders as eccle 
siastical benefices and other matters spiritual, but who 
have returned to the bosom of the Church and have 
been restored to unity, we will indulgently receive in 
their orders and benefices either in our own proper 
person or by deputies by us appointed for that pur 
pose. 1 That is to say, Paul IV. treated as null and 
void the dispensations, etc., which were obtained from 
Edward VI. and not from the Pope, but expressly 
ratified the acceptance of Anglican Orders by his legate. 

That the Roman Church in the sixteenth century 
should have thus acknowledged the validity of Anglican 



THE ORDINAL 27^ 

Orders given according to the reformed rite is impor 
tant, but something approximating to an element of 
humour is to be found in the fact that the Roman 
Church also came very near to pronouncing orders 
administered in England before the Reformation to be 
invalid. Tin- later Roman mediaeval rite inserted, and 
still retains, before the ancient prayer of consecration 
the words, Receive the Holy Ghost/ And the Council 
of Trent, which is regarded as infallible bv Roman 
Christendom, snvs, If anv one shall have said that by 
Holy Ordination the Holy Ghost is not given ; and that 
consequently bishops say in vain Rcccrcc the Holy C/V/o.s/, 
let him be anathema." Morinus, 1 an important Roman 
authority, holds that this statement includes a reference 
to the Consecration of bishops, and it is certain that 
the Continental theologians of the later Middle .Ages 
regarded these words as the absolutely necessary form 
in the Consecration of a bishop. Hut unfortunately 
for Roman theology, none of the mediaeval English 
pontificals, except that of Exeter, contains the words 
at all ; and therefore, according to the standard of 
the Council of Trent, the modern Anglican form of 
consecrating a bishop is better than the form employed 
when the Anlican Church was in union with Rome. 



rdin., I ars iii. cxccrc. 2. c. ii. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE PllAYEll BOOK IN SCOTLAND, AMERICA, 
AND IRELAND 

God be thanked, this will do very well. Archbishop 
Laud to Bishop Wedderburne of Dunblane, A.D. 1036. 

I heheld four ploughs in the north-east which ploughed 
the whole island, and clear wellsprings came out of the 
furrows. I heheld four other ploughs in the north which 
ploughed the island athwart, and black streams came out 
of the furrows. Vision of S. Briyit. 

THE close intimacy of race and language which existed 
between the Gaels of Ireland and the Gaels of Scotland 
was manifested in their common use of Gallican rites, 
which gradually succumbed to Roman influences. The 
Saxons who colonised the south-east of Scotland natu 
rally inclined to the use of Rome, and as the royal house 
became more Anglicised, Celtic ecclesiastical customs 
gradually disappeared. Scottish Celts had played a 
most noble part in spreading the Gospel through 
Great Britain. And although it is incorrect to say 
that Aidan rather than Augustine was the apostle of 
England, it is true to say that the north of England 
mainly owes its faith to Aidan and the other sons of 
lona, and it is right to rejoice that the life of the 
Church of the Gaels was interwoven with that of 
the Church of the English. Gradually, however, the 
light of zeal began to fail in Scotland, and it was 

274 



THE PRAYER HOOK IN SCOTLAND 275 

then that England gave back what she had received. 
When Margaret, grand-niece of Edward the Confessor, 
became (^ueen of Scotland in 10()8, she found that 
monks were married, that Sunday was neglected, and 
that the Scots had even given up the habit of com 
municating at Easter. Margaret became the instru 
ment of a great revival which was afterwards carefully 
fostered by King David. Scotland became dotted 
with magnificent churches, its dioceses were carefully 
organised, energetic monastic orders replaced the 
degenerate Culdees, and the stately use of Sarum 
found a second home beyond the Tweed. 

Not until ;i few years before the Reformation was 
any attempt made to break this harmony of worship. 
The publication of a breviary at Aberdeen in 1510, 
one of the most benighted periods of the pre-Reforma- 
tion Scottish Church, was both a token of the culture 
which had risen around the new university of that citv 
and a sign of national exclusiveness. In 1507 King 
James I\ . actually prohibited the * bukis of Salusbury 
use" to be used after the appearance of the expected 
Aberdeen books. Hut the prohibition was not very 
widely regarded, and the Sarum use generally held its 
ground. When the Reformation came, it came with 
a violence proportionate to the vice of the great 
ecclesiastics against whose persons and riches it was 
mainlv directed. The English Reformation may be 
compared with a river troubled but yet unbroken in 
its passage. On the throne of Canterbury, Parker 
succeeded Pole as Pole had succeeded Cranmer. In 
Scotland the Reformation was like an earthquake. On 
the morning of August 25, 156*0, the episcopate was 
supreme, in the evening of the same day Calvinism 
was set up. One bishop, Roth well of Orkney, con 
tinued to act as a minister of religion, but on the 
mainland Calvin is tic doctrine was united with a type 
of government which became more and more rigorously 



276 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

Presbyterian. In this government there were for a 
time men who bore the title of bishops, but they did 
not receive episcopal consecration. John Knox, whose 
had been the guiding hand through most of the changes 
effected, was well acquainted with the English Prayer 
Books of the reign of Edward VI. The Second Book 
of Edward VI. was used for a time in Scotland, but 
was superseded by the Book of Common Order, 1 or 
Knox s Liturgy. Indications are not wanting to show 
that neither Knox nor his Liturgy was universally 
considered the best exponent of reformed Christianity, 
and the Book of Common Prayer found many purchasers 
in Scotland throughout the reign of James VI. 

In 1603 James VI. succeeded to the throne of Eng 
land, and soon manifested a desire for the restoration 
of ecclesiastical unity between England and Scotland. 
He began the policy, continued by his successors, of 
endeavouring to gradually insinuate an episcopate and 
a liturgy into the Presbyterian Establishment. The 
attempt was by no means so foolish as it has been 
frequently thought to be. The Scottish Presbyterians 
had not yet developed a dislike to set forms of prayer, 
and only a few years had elapsed since they had 
definitely excluded bishops from their Church (1592). 
James was quite justified in supposing that their 
moderate men would not object to a good liturgy and 
a genuine episcopate, and his hopes seemed near to 
realisation in 1610, when three prominent Presbyterian 
ministers, Spottiswoode, Lamb, and Hamilton, con 
sented to be consecrated bishops in London. He 
followed up this action by ordering in 1614 that all 
ministers should celebrate the Communion on Easter 
Day, and in 1618 secured by a large majority of votes 
in the Assembly of the Church of Scotland, held at 
Perth, assent to five articles directed against Puritan 
innovations in worship. The Articles of Perth upheld : 
(1) Kneeling at the Holy Communion ; (2) private 



THE PRAYER BOOK IN SCOTLAND 277 

Communion in cases of sickness; (3) private Baptism 
in similar cases; (4) Confirmation of children bv the 
bishop; (,5) religious observance of Christmas, Good 
Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, and Whitsunday. 

James was succeeded in KW5 bv his son Charles I., 
who was more tolerant than his father. He permitted 
the Scottish clergv who were ordained before 1618 to 
disregard the Perth Articles, and in IC- W placed the 
stipends of the Scottish clergy on a satisfactory footing 
for the first time since the Reformation. It was this 
very desire for justice which worked for his downfall, 
for it seems to be an undisputed fact that Charles 
roused the avaricious opposition of the Scottish land 
owners by his intention of restoring to the Church 
some of the propertv which thev had plundered. They 
were soon furnished with a pretext and with a battle- 
crv for their opposition. 

As early as I()i29 a liturgv which had been completed 
in the reign of James was sent to London by the 
Scottish bishops for the roval approval. Archbishop 
Laud urged that it would be better for the Scots to 
use the English rite. John Maxwell, then a lead 
ing clergyman of Edinburgh, discussed the subject 
with Laud, and verv properlv maintained that his 
countrymen would be better satisfied if they could use 
a liturgv framed by their own clergv. The difficulty 
lav in deciding, first, whether the English liturgy 
should be employed, or a Scottish liturgv; secondly, 
if it were Scottish, was it to be the liturgv of 1629? 
The latter is a clumsy performance. It is a mixture 
of the liturgy of Knox and the Hook of Common 
Prayer; it is written neither in good English nor in 
good Scots; and we cannot wonder that Laud pre 
ferred the English liturgv. Nevertheless, a series of 
compromises was made, and finally the Scots bishops 
prevailed upon the king to allow them to have a liturgv 
of their own. l^aud strongly disliked this concession 



278 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of the king s, and delayed to render them the help 
which the king commanded him to give. The book 
was virtually finished in April 1636, Laud and Bishop 
Wren having actively co-operated. But the popular 
fashion of calling the book Laud s liturgy, a title 
which has created a prejudice against it in Scotland, 
is scarcely just. Laud, so far from wishing the Scots 
to use a liturgy of his own making, wished them to 
use the English book pure and simple. And the fact 
that the tone of the Scottish book is so Catholic and 
approximates to the English book of 1549 is mainly 
due, not to any Englishman, but to Wedderburne, 
Bishop of Dunblane, a man of good Scottish family, 
gentle and learned, who was twice hunted out of 
Scotland by the Presbyterians, and died in England 
after many sorrows. 1 

This Scottish liturgy employs the word presbyter 
instead of priest, and omits quotations from the 
Apocrypha. In most places the order of the English 
services is followed, but the Eucharist contains an 
explicit direction to offer up and place the bread 
and wine . . . upon the Lord s Table, and the Prayer 
for the Church Militant contains a long and exceed 
ingly beautiful commemoration of the saints. The 
narrative of the Institution is preceded by the Invocation 
and followed by the Oblation and the Lord s Prayer. 
The prayer of humble access came immediately before 
the Communion, and only the first clause in the words 
of Administration was retained. This was directly 
due to Wedderburne, who wished to exclude anything 
suggestive of Zwinglianism. It was directed that the 
Lord s Table should stand at the east end of the 
church, and the presbyter at e the north side or end. 
The Calendar contained, in addition to the names in 

1 Among other excellent features of the work of Wedderburne is the 
fact that he suggested to Laud certain improvements upon the English 
translation of the Athanasian Creed. 



THE PRAYER BOOK IN SCOTLAND 279 

the English Calendar, those of several saints connected 
with North Britain. 

The royal proclamation authorising the Scottish 

Book of Common Proper was dated December ~0, 
16t36, and directed that every parish should procure 
at least, two copies before Pascll [/ .&lt;. Easier] next." 
It was first read in S. Giles" Cathedral, Edinburgh, on 
Sunday, July &3, 16- 1 37. A tale, still circulated with 
exultation in thousands of books, asserts that as soon 
as the dean began to read Morning Praver, a woman 
named Jenny Geddes, who kept a stall in the High 
Street, Hung her stool at his head, and thus began 
the revolution which destroyed episcopacy in Scotland. 
The modern Englishmen who have made a fine art of 
religious brawling would be hardly justified in con 
demning such an action on the part of an ignorant 
coster-woman. But as the story appears to be only a 
legend of the eighteenth century, the mythical Jenny 
Geddes requires neither our condemnation nor our 
applause. Let it suflice that a modern tablet has 
been erected to her memory by the Presbyterians of 
Edinburgh. 1 

It is impossible to give in this book any account of 
the persecution of the Scottish adherents of episcopacy 
from the outbreak of this revolt until the accession of 
Charles II. in Ib o O, or of the misguided policy of the 
government of Charles II., by which a large amount of 
semi-Presbvterianisin was tolerated within the Church 
of Scotland, and the more consistent Presbyterians 
outside the Church were cruelly harried. The Scottish 
bishops, being attached to the House of Stewart, refused 
to swear allegiance to William III., a refusal in which 
they were supported by eight English bishops and four 
hundred clergymen. The departure of the 4 Non- 
jurors," as they were called, did irretrievable injury to 
the Church of England, and in Scotland their action 
1 See Stephen, History of the Scottish Church, vol. ii. p. 255. 



280 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

was immediately followed by the establishment of 
Presbyterianism (A.D. 1690). From that day Scottish 
Presbyterianism has enjoyed the favour of the State, 
and is in fact allowed greater privileges than the 
Church of England is allowed in England. The dis 
established Episcopalians, as the adherents of the 
ancient order are called, began to suffer a persecu 
tion which reached its climax in the time of George 
II. and brought the Church to the verge of anni 
hilation. 

In the time of Anne the Episcopalians used either 
the English Prayer Book, many copies of which were 
sent to them by the University of Oxford, or the 
Scottish Book of 1637, which was reprinted in 1712. 
In 1718 the English Non-jurors published a liturgy 
called A Communion Office, taken partly from Primitive 
Liturgies. It revived the direction to mix water w r ith 
the wine, prayer for the dead, the invocation of the 
Holy Spirit to consecrate the elements, and the prayer 
of oblation. It made the order of the canon conform 
to that of the Syrian liturgies. The book was mainly 
the work of Bishops Jeremy Collier and Thomas Brett. 
The four distinctive revivals of this Communion Office 
were known as the usages," and they were upheld by 
an influential party among the Scottish ecclesiastics. 
There was much confusion and difference of opinion 
concerning them, and in 1731 the Scottish bishops 
simply agreed to use either the English liturgy or the 
Scottish liturgy of 1637. An edition of this book was 
published in 1735, in which the order of the prayers in 
the Eucharist was assimilated to that of the book of 
1549. The turning-point in the history of the Scottish 
liturgy was the publication of Bishop Rattray s Ancient 
Liturgy of the Church of Jerusalem in 1744. This re 
markable and laborious book, produced in an age when 
the majority of British Churchmen were in abysmal 
ignorance concerning the historical principles of divine 



THE I KAYKK HOOK IN SCOTLAND 281 

worship, led to the reconstruction of the Scottish 
Eucharist ic canon. In 1755 Bishop Falconar pub 
lished a hook in which the narrative of the Institution 
is followed by the Oblation and the Invocation of the 
Holv Spirit. Finally, in 1764, Bishop Falconar and 
Bishop R. Forbes published another edition in which 
these changes were embodied, and issued it with the 
authority of Falconar as Primus" of the Church of 
Scotland. This edition remains the standard text of 
the Scottish Communion Office, and is worthv of the 
affection and veneration with which it is regarded In- 
all who use it. Issued before the penal laws against 
the Church were yet removed, and read in lonely 
cottages by priests who were "unskilled in every art 
but the art of suffering for conscience sake, 1 it shares 
in the pathos of that primeval Christian worship which 
it reflects. 1 

The first translation of this Scottish Communion 
Office into Scottish Gaelic was printed at Edinburgh 
in 1797. It was edited by Bishop Macfarlane, and is 
called An Oifig chum ceart fhrithealadh an Comuin 
Naomh do reir Gnathachadh Kaglais na h Alba." 
I ntil the earlier part of the eighteenth centurv the 
literary language of the Highlands hardly differed from 
Irish Gaelic, and it is probable that the Irish 1 raver 
Book was used to some extent in the Highlands. 
Indeed, there are persons still living in Scotland who 
remember aged people who first learned to read the 
Bible in Irish Gaelic. 

The Scottish Communion Office connects the history 

1 In iSn the Scottish Office was declared by a Synod held at 
Aberdeen to be of primary authority in the Church. In 1863 it was 
ordered that the English Office should be used in all new congregations, 
unless a certain number of communicants declare their desire to use the 
Scottish Office. Thus, while the Queen and the Presbyterians were 
endeavouring to make the Episcopal Church of Scotland to be regarded 
as an exotic from England, Scottish Churchmen actually icstricted the 
use of their national liturgy in favour of a liturgy which is both English 
and inferior to their own ! 



282 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

of the Church in Scotland with the history of the 
Church in America, a connection which is of the utmost 
importance from a liturgical point of view. 

The first recorded Eucharist which was offered in 
the great country now known as the United States 
of America was offered by a priest of the Church of 
England, Francis Fletcher, a chaplain of Drake. The 
day was the first Sunday after Trinity A.D. 1579, and 
the place was a fayre and good baye," 1 which is supposed 
to be Drake s Bay, about thirty miles from San Fran 
cisco in California. This was some two hundred years 
before Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish Dominican 
friar, began his noble work of converting the Indians 
of California. It is probable, though not quite certain, 
that the first Indian who was baptized in the present 
United States was a converted chief, Manteo, who was 
baptized by another Anglican priest on the island of 
Roanoke in 1587. The Anglican Church was first 
organised at Jamestown, Virginia, A.D. 1607, and the 
first elective assembly of the new world met in James 
town church, A.D. 1619, and was opened with a collect 
said by a clergyman of the Church of England. The 
colonial Church was therefore planted before the Dutch 
Calvinists came to New York, and before the landing 
of the English Puritans in Massachusetts. The Church 
depended for its ministry upon recruits from England, 
and was nominally under the supervision of the Bishop 
of London. This supervision became a reality at the 
close of the seventeenth century, when Bishop Compton 
despatched Dr. Bray to investigate the state of the 
Church in the American colonies, and the untiring 
investigator brought to pass the foundation of The 
Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts 
in A.D . 1701. 

If the Church had only been sufficiently organised in 
America to meet the efforts of the Society, the whole 
religious history of North America would have been 



THE PRAYER BOOK IN AMERICA 283 

changed, and changed for the better. The work was 
completely frustrated by the English Government. 
The political motives which caused the Georges to 
destroy the Church in Scotland had a parallel in the 
political motives which caused them to strangle the 
American Church when she was scarcely horn. There 
were districts where the Dissenters were fanatically 
opposed to the Church and did not hesitate to tax 
and imprison the Anglicans who dwelt among them. 
In other places thev were inclined to be friendly, and 
even allowed the missionaries of the Church to preach 
in their places of worship. Hut the English Govern 
ment was afraid of the fanatics, and in order to please 1 
them refused to send a bishop to America, although in 
the reign of Anne a scheme had been adopted for four 
American bishoprics, and certain government lands were 
actually sold for their endowment. The ablest men in 
the English Church recommended the scheme, but the 
Government would listen to neither Berkeley, Butler, 
Sherlock, nor Seeker. The result was inevitable. In 
the Southern States, where the Church was established, 
the clergy, free from all ecclesiastical control, tended 
to sink to the moral level of the colonial planters, and 
were snubbed and despoiled bv the very man who had 
grown up under their influence. In the Northern 
States the Church was downtrodden. And yet it was 
healthier under insults than under patronage. The 
storv of the New England converts of ,\.n. 17^2- is a 
dramatic illustration of the spiritual power of the 
Book of Common Prayer. Seven professors of \ ale 
College, all of them Congregationalists or Presbyterians, 
had been accustomed to meet together and discuss the 
claims of Episcopacy. Their leader was the President 
of the college, Dr. Timothy Cutler. lie was a man 
who had learned to love the Prayer Book, and committed 
many of its prayers to memory, with the result that 
they coloured his own extempore" devotions, until he 



284 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

became celebrated for his gifts in prayer/ From the 
study of the Prayer Book he and his colleagues went 
on to the study of the great masters of Anglican 
theology. One of them has said that not a single path 
was left untrodden which seemed likely to lead to 
fresh sources of knowledge. Slowly the little band 
became convinced, and their convictions rested on the 
Church of England. The result was that on September 
13, 1722, they met the trustees of the college in the 
college library, and read a simple and honourable 
statement of their belief. AVoe and consternation 
smote the ranks of the Puritans ; nor was their anxiety 
lessened by a public disputation at which the converts 
unmasked the old sophistry which asserts that Epis 
copacy has no scriptural warrant because in the New 
Testament the name episkopos is applied to presbyters. 
Their opponents showed the honesty of their dismay 
by appointing a day of prayer and fasting to avert the 
wrath of the Almighty. 

Cutler went to England for ordination, and both he 
and his friends worked with such success that within a 
generation the Church had penetrated all the principal 
strongholds of Dissent in New England. While the 
religion of the Anglicans in the middle States tended 
to be traditional and slack, that in New England was 
inclined to be historical and devout. The former 
believed in the Church of the Georges, the latter 
preferred the Church of the Caroline theologians. The 
result was seen when the United States declared them 
selves independent of Great Britain in 1776. About 
two-thirds of the number of men who framed the 
constitution of the United States were Anglicans, and 
neither the American Government nor the English 
bishops would have been likely to oppose the giving of 
an episcopate to America after peace was made between 
the two countries in 1783. But before the end of the 
war had been officially proclaimed, the clergy of 



TIIK PRAYER HOOK IN AMERICA 28,5 

Connecticut elected Dr. Samuel Seahury, the son of a 
convert, to be their bishop, and directed him to seek 
consecration in England or, if it was refused him there, 
in Scotland. He had to fall back upon the latter 
alternative. A Concordat was made between the 
Catholic remainder of the ancient Church of Scotland 
and the now rising Church of Connecticut. 1 Dr. 
Seaburv was consecrated bv three Scottish bishops in 
the upper room of a house in Aberdeen on November 
11, 1784, and thus the Church which had been reduced 
to the shadow of a shade 1 gave life to a Church which 
is becoming a mother of nations. 

The difference between the two schools of thought 
in the American Church was very soon illustrated. 
On April 1, 17&gt;S(j, was published a book called The 
Hook of Common Prayer, as revised and proposed to 
the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church." It was 
the work of a committee entrusted with large powers 
by the General Convention of the Church, the most 
important member of the committee being the Rev. 
Dr. William Smith of Maryland. The book is a 
melancholy proof of the influence exercised in America 
by English Deistic and infidel writers, and it shows 
that readiness to depart from definite Christianity 
which fully revealed itself a generation later when 
Unitarianism made havoc of American Puritanism. 1 
The Nicene Creed and the Athanasian were entirely 
dropped; the clause He descended into hell" was 
omitted from the Apostles" Creed ; passages implying 
baptismal regeneration were omitted ; passages dealing 
with absolution were altered ; and the use of the Ghrin 

1 The great outbreak of American Unitarianism came in 1815. Of 
the 366 Unitarian congregations which existed in the United States in 
1882, at least 120 were descended from Puritan congregations, including 
the first church of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth. Many English 
Presbyterian and some Irish Presbyterian congregations have lx?come 
Unitarian. On the Continent the Calvinists have largely become 
Unitarian. 



286 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

with its praise of the Holy Trinity was reduced to a 
minimum. 

The proposed book was greeted with a chorus of 
protests, and these protests came in the most earnest 
form from the Northern States. Bishop Seabury not 
only spoke strongly to his clergy against some of the 
changes, but also issued a Communion Office almost 
identical with the Scottish Office of 1764. Certain 
English bishops also wrote to express their grief, and 
when it was unanimously determined in the Southern 
States to retain the Nicene Creed, they showed their 
satisfaction by consecrating two American bishops l for 
America at Lambeth Palace on February 4, 1787. 
In October 1789 the Church in the United States was 
united in one Convention, and a new version of the 
Book of Common Prayer was rapidly completed. With 
a few important later changes this book of 1789 
remains the Prayer Book of the Church of the United 
States. 

The American book is, on the whole, the monument 
of a conservative victory. In spite of opposition from 
New England, the Athanasian Creed was omitted, but 
the Communion Office is emphatically more primitive 
in tone than the English. Owing to the influence of 
Bishop Seabury, the Scottish Office was in a great 
measure taken as the basis for the American. Permis 
sion was given to say after the Commandments our 
Lord s summary of the Law ; the Gloria tibi was ordered 
to be said after the announcement of the Gospel ; the 
words here on earth were significantly omitted from 
the title of the Prayer for the Church Militant ; an 
alternative but thoroughly orthodox preface was pro 
vided for Trinity Sunday ; and the 6 Black Rubric" was 

1 These were Dr. White for Pennsylvania and Dr. Provoost for 
New York : Dr. Madison was afterwards consecrated in England for 
Virginia. They appear to have been bishops of the Georgian type, and 
greatly neglected their episcopal duties. 



TIIK rilAVKK HOOK IN AMERICA l&gt;87 

omitted. Tlu most important change in the whole 
book is the adoption, with onlv a slight modification, of 
the Scottish form of consecration. After the narrative 
of the Institution comes the Oblation of the fc gifts/ 
Then comes the Invocation of the Word and Holy 
Spirit to sanctify the bread and wine that we, re 
ceiving them according to Thy Son our Savour Jesus 
Christ s holv institution, in remembrance of His death 
and passion, may be partakers of His most blessed 
Bodv and Blood/ The praver for the acceptance 1 of 
this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving follows as in 
the Scottish Office. 

Upon the other services a less favourable verdict 
must be passed. We can onlv wonder at the curious 
niceness which changed the words in the 7V Dcnni 
Thou didst not abhor the Virgin s womb" into * Thou 
didst humble thyself to be born of a Virgin," at the 
reduction of the Benedict tuv to four verses, and at the 
omission of both the Gospel canticles from Evensong. 
Permission was given to use the words He went into 
the place of departed spirits instead of 4 He descended 
into hell in the Apostles" Creed, and permission was 
given to omit the sign of the cross in Baptism. It does 
not appear that anv dioceses availed themselves of this 
permission. Both at Morning and Evening Prayer 
permission was given to use the Nicene Creed instead 
of the Apostles , and the Gloria in r,m7.v/.v, originally a 
hymn for Mattins, was permitted to be used at the end 
of the portion of Psalms for the day. On one- point 
only can it be said that the Latitudinarian party 
succeeded in minimising the ancient doctrine of the 
Church. That is with regard to private confession. 
In the Visitation of the Sick the rubric as to a special 
confession and the special absolution were omitted, 
although the earlier form of reconciliation (the prayer 
beginning () most merciful God ) was retained. 
Similarly, in the exhortation in the Communion Service 



288 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

the mention of absolution is omitted, although the 
penitent is still bidden to open his grief. 1 Lastly, in 
the Ordinal published in 1792 an alternative form was 
provided in the laying on of hands in the Ordination of 
Priests, omitting the words Receive the Holy Ghost, 1 
etc., and also whose sins thou dost forgive, they are 
forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are 
retained. The old form is still given the place of 
dignity in the American book, and the new form is 
orthodox. But the adoption of the new form was a 
concession to popular prejudice, and as such was natu 
rally opposed by Bishop Scabury. It was probably no 
recommendation in Bishop Seabury s eyes that the new 
form was advocated by the notorious Bishop Provoost, 
who afterwards studied Tasso instead of tending his 
flock, and at a critical moment of Church life all but 
persisted in refusing to join in the consecration of a 
bishop, because the other bishops then present wore no 
wigs. 

The American Prayer Book was revised in 1886, 
1889, and 1892. Certain marked improvements have 
been made. The most important are the appointment 
of Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for the festival 
of the Transfiguration and for the first celebrations on 
Christmas Day and Easter Day ; the restoration of the 
complete Benedktua, the Magnificat, and the Nwic 
dimittis ; and a rule making the use of the Nicene 
Creed compulsory on the five greatest festivals of the 
year. 

It is necessary to add a few words concerning the 
modern history of the Book of Common Prayer in 
Ireland. We have already noticed the introduction of 
the English book and its translation into Irish Gaelic. 
The civil union of the two countries was followed by 
the complete union of the Churches in 1800 ; and 
the Book of Common Prayer was officially printed 
according to the use of the United Church of 



THE PRAYER BOOK IN IRELAND 289 

England and Ireland/ The Irish Church was dis- 
estahlished in 1869, the disestahlishment taking full 
effect January 1, 1871. The General Convention or 
Synod of the Church, instead of maintaining the 
closest possible union with the sister Church of 
England, revised the Prayer Book, and issued their 
revision in 1877. 

The changes in the actual hook itself are few. It 
should be noticed, however, that the Athanasian Creed 
is no longer directed to be used, though still printed. 
The absolution in the Visitation of the Sick is replaced 
by that in the Communion Service. Parents are 
allowed to be sponsors for their own children. In the 
l Y)rm of Solemnization of Matrimony the opening 
address is shortened. Marked improvements upon the 
English form are to be seen in the adoption of a second 
Epistle and Gospel for the Holy Communion on Easter 
Day, and also on Christmas l)av. With them are 
provided two exquisite collects from the First. Praver 
Hook of Edward VI. That for Christmas Day is the 
collect for the Mass of Christmas Eve in the Sarinn 
Missal ; that for Easter Day is the Sarum collect said 
before the Mattins of Easter Day. The Church of 
Ireland has also wisely introduced : (1) A Pmycr for 
Unity ; (2) For a Sick Person ; (3) On Jf oration Days , 
(4) On Neic Year** Day; (5) For Christian J//.V.Y/O//.V ,- 
(()) A Prayer for tlie General Synod of the Church of 
Ireland ; (7) A Prayer to be uxt d in College* and Schools^ 
based on a prayer composed by Erasmus ; (8) // Thankx- 
giring Jor Recovery from Sicknettx. A few additional 
services are provided, including a Form for the Conse 
cration of a Church. 

Any satisfaction which is afforded to devout minds 
by the above changes is unhappily outweighed by the 
new Preface to the Irish Prayer Book, and by certain 
canons drawn up in 1871 and 1877, and printed with 
the Prayer Book. If Roman theologians are justified 

T 



290 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

in accusing the French Breviaries of the eighteenth 
century of a Jansenist tendency, Anglican theologians 
are more than justified in accusing the Irish Prayer 
Book of a Calvinistic tendency. The canons mark a 
return to the English Prayer Book of 1552. The use 
of wafer bread, of the mixed chalice, of Eucharistic 
vestments, of altar lights, of incense, and of the cross on 
or near the Communion Table, is prohibited. More- 
ever, the rubric prefixed to the Holy Communion 
directing the celebrant to stand at the north side of 
the Table is interpreted in Canon 5 as synonymous 
with the north &lt; end, this inconvenient position being 
rendered compulsory in order to protest against 
ordinary Catholic usage. The Preface manifests the 
same Puritan temper. A passage on private confession 
is so worded as to depreciate the value set upon con 
fession and absolution by the original compilers of the 
Book of Common Prayer. The skilfully reticent and 
ambiguous passage on the Order of Baptism can have 
no real meaning attached to it unless it is understood 
as a permission to deny the truth of baptismal regenera 
tion. And with regard to the Eucharist the Preface 
says : As for the error of those who have taught that 
Christ has given Himself or His Body and Blood in 
this Sacrament, to be reserved, lifted up, carried about, 
or worshipped, under the veils of Bread and Wine, 1 we 
have already in the Canons prohibited such acts and 
gestures as might be grounded on it, or lead thereto." 
So that whereas the Church of Ireland retains the 
statement of the Catechism that the Body and Blood 
of Christ, which are the inward part * of the Lord^s 



1 The reader will observe what kind of use the authors of this 
Preface made of the 28th Article. The Article says that the Sacrament 
of the Lord s Supper was not by Christ s ordinance . . . worshipped ; 
in the Preface the word Sacrament is replaced by Himself or His 
Body and Blood in this Sacrament, and not worshipped by Christ s 
ordinance is practically replaced by not given to be worshipped. 



SCOTTISH AND AMERICAN OFFICES 291 

Supper, c are verily and indeed taken (and therefore 
given by Christ), it denies that the Uody and Blood of 
Christ ought therein to he adored. The whole passage, 
and also the passage on Baptism, if not openly here 
tical, speaks with an heretical brogue. 



SCOTTISH AND AMERICAN OFFICES 

Comparison of I he Canon of the Scottish Office (176*4-) rrifh 
liis/iop Seabury s (178()) and that of the American Office. 

SCOTTISH, 17&lt;&gt;4; Hi - SKAIJI HY, A.MKHICAN. 

1700. 

After the Preface, ending with the &anctus. 

Then shall the Priest, kneeling 
down at the Lord a TabU-, say 
in tlit 1 name of all thow rrbo 
shall reeeire t/ir ( onnnanioii , 
this Prayer following. 

We do not presume, etc. 

Then the Presbyter [Priest When the Priest, standing be- 
(17HG)], standing at sneh a part fore the Table, hatlt no ordrrrd 
of the holy table as he may leith the Bread and H ///r, tlmt he 
the most ease and decency use may with the mow readint-s\ 
both his hands, and decency brnik the liread be 

fore the people, mid take the &lt;"///&gt; 
into his hands, lie 
ahall say the Prayer of Consecration, asfollou eth. 

All fclory he to Tliee, Almighty (iod,our lieavenly Father, for 
that Thou of Thy tender mercy didst give Thine [Thy (17&lt;&gt;4 and 
17(i)] only Son Jesus Christ to suffer deatli upon the cross for 
our redemption ; 

Who (by His own oblation of Who made there (by His one ob- 
Himself once offered) made lation of Himself once offered) 

[A. and 17H&lt;&gt;.] 

a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, 
for the sins of the whole world ; and did institute, and in His 
holy iiospel command u* to continue a perpetual niemory 
[memorial (1704)] of that His precious death and sacrifice until 



292 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

SCOTTISH,, 1764; BP. SEABUHY, AMERICAN. 

1786. 

The His coming 1 again : For in the night that [in which A.] He was 

Institution, betrayed., He took bread,, etc. . . . 

Wherefore, O Lord., and heavenly Father, according to the 

The institution of Thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, 

Oblation. we fhy humble servants do celebrate and make here before Thy 

Divine Majesty with these Thy holy gifts, which we now offer 

unto Thee, the memorial Thy Son hath commanded us to make ; 

having in remembrance His blessed passion, and precious death, 

His mighty resurrection, and glorious ascension ; rendering unto 

Thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured 

unto us by the same. 

The And we most humbly beseech Thee, O merciful Father, to 

Invocation. } iear us ^ {llu i () f Thy almighty goodness vouchsafe to bless and 
sanctify with Thy Word and Holy Spirit, these Thy gifts and 
creatures of bread 

and wine, that they may become and wine; that we, receiving 
the Body and Blood of Thy most them according to Thy Son our 
dearly beloved Son. Saviour Jesus Christ s holy in 

stitution, in remembrance of 
His death and passion, may be 
partakers of His most blessed 
Body and Blood. 

And we earnestly desire Thy fatherly goodness, mercifully to 
accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, most humbly 
beseeching Thee to grant, that by the merits and death of Thy 
Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in His Blood, we, and all 
Thy whole Church, may obtain remission of our sins, and all 
other benefits of His passion. And here we [humbly (1764)] 
offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and 
bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and lively [living AJ] sacrifice 
unto Thee, [humbly (1786 and A.)~] beseeching Thee, that who 
soever [we and all others who (1786 and A.)] shall be partakers 
of this holy Communion, may worthily receive the most precious 
Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ, [and (1764)] be filled 
with Thy grace and heavenly benediction, and made one Body 
with Him, that He may dwell in them, and they in Him. And 
although we are unworthy, through our manifold sins, to offer 
unto Thee any sacrifice ; yet we beseech Thee to accept this our 
bounden duty and service, not weighing our merits, but pardon 
ing our offences, through Jesus [Jesus Christ (1786 and A.)] 
our Lord : by Whom, and with Whom, in the unity of the Holy 
Ghost, all honour and glory be unto Thee, O Father Almighty, 
world without end. Amen. 



SCOTTISH AND AMERICAN OFFICES 



293 



SCOTTISH, 17&lt;&gt;4 ; HP. SKAKI in . 
1786. 

lA t ntf pray for tin whole xtntc 
of Christ s Church. 

Almighty and everlivingCiod, (In the American Ollire, the 
who hy Thy holy Apostle hast Prayer for the whole state of 
taught us to make prayers and Christ s (hurch militant and 
supplications, and to givethanks the Lord s I rayer occupy the 
for all men ; We huinhly he- same places as in the English 
seech Thee most mercifully to rite. J 

accept our alms and oblations, and to receive these our prayers, 
which we offer unto Thy Divine Majesty; beseeching Thee 
to inspire continually the universal C hurch with the spirit of 
truth, unity, and concord; and grant that all they that [who 
(175&lt;)] do confess Thy holy Name, may agree in the truth of 
Thy holy Word, and live in unity and godly love. We beseech 
Thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings. Princes, and 
Governors, and especially Thy servant our 
King, th;it under him we may he godly 
and quietly governed : and grant unto 
his whole council, and to all who are put 
in authority under him, that they may 
truly and indifferently minister justice. 
to the punishment of wickedness and vice, 
and to the maintenance of Thy true re 
ligion and virtue, (iive grace. ( ) heavenly Father, to all IJishops. 
Priests, and Deacons, that they may both hy their life and 
doctrine set forth Thy true and" lively Word, and rightly and 
duly admini*ter Thy holy Sacraments : and to all Thy people give 
Thy heavenly grace, that with meek heart, and due reverence. 
they may hear and receive Thy holy Word, truly serving Thee in 
holiness and righteousness all the days of their life. And we 
commend esj&gt;ecially to Thy merciful goodness the congregation 
[which is (17&gt;4)] here assembled in Thy Name, to celebrate the 
commemoration of the most precious death and sacrifice of Thy 
Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And we m&lt;t humbly beseech 
Thee of Thy goodness, C) Lord, to comfort and succour all those 
who in this transitory life are in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, 
or any other adversity. And we also bless Thy holy Name for 
all Thy servants, who, having finished their 
course in faith, do now rest from their 
labours. And we yield unto Thee most high 
praise and hearty thanks, for the wonder- 
tul grace and virtue declared in all Thy 
saints, who have been the choice vessels 



Thc Inter- 



[ Governors ; and 
grant that they, and 
all who are in au 
thority, may truly 
and impartially min 
ister (/{p. Fenfmry, 
1786)] 



(labours : yielding 
unto Thee most 
high praise and 
hearty thanks for 
the wonderful good- 



294 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

SCOTTISH., 1764 ; BP. SEABURY, 
1786. 

of Thy grace,, and the lights of the world ness and virtue (Bp. 
in their several generations : most humbly Seabury, 1780)] 
beseeching Thee to give us grace to follow 

the example of their steadfastness in Thy faith, and obedience to 
Thy holy commandments,, that at the day of the general resur 
rection, we, and all they who are of the mystical Body of Thy 
Son, may be set on His right hand, and hear that His most joy 
ful voice, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom 
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Grant this, 
O Father, for Jesus Christ s sake, our only Mediator and 
Advocate. Amen. 

OnrFathcr, Then shall the Prvsbytcr say [omitted 1786] 

tmthPre- As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and taught us, we are 
f acc - bold to say, 

Our Father . . . For Thine is the kingdom . . . Amen. 



CHRONOLOGICAL T A HLK 

1408. First edition of the Saruin Missal printed in England. 

1500. Mozarahic Missal printed at Toledo. 

1. 500-1. 50:&gt;. Mozarahic Breviary printed at Toledo. 

1.502. The Hereford Missal printed at Rouen. 1 

1.501). Accession of HKNRY \ III. 

}~&gt; 2C&gt;. Tyndale s English New Testament. 

1.52H. Liturgy of S. ( hrysostom printed at Venice. 

1.5:_ M A Luther s revised Litany at \Vittenbenr. 

1.533. The York Mi&gt;sal printed at Paris. 
Church of England rejects Papal supremacy. 

Lutheran Kin-ht-n-Ordintiui of Brandenburg and Number::. 

1.534. First reformed English Primer. 
1.53.5. Marshall s Primer. 

Reformed Roman Breviary by Cardinal Quifiones. 

( overdale s Bihle. 
1.537. Matthew s Bil.le. 
l. r )3!&gt;. Bishop Ililsey s Prinn-r. 

The (ireat Bible. Taverner s Bihle. 
1 ")41. First reformed Sarum Breviary. 

l-^L*. Adoption of Sarum use throuirhout the provinre of Canter- 
bury. 

Bugenliagen s Lutheran service for Schleswitr-Holstein. 
Io43. Committee of Convocation to examine the Service Books. 

A chapter to he read after TV Dcnm and Magnificat every 
Sunday and holy day. 

The Consultation of Hermann von \Vied, Archbishop of 

Coin. 

1.544. The Litany sunir in English. 
154o. Kint; Henry s Primer. 

1 In the library of S. John s College, Oxford, is preserved a copy of 
the second edition of this Missal (1510). It contains a manuscript 
Latin prayer for Henry VIII. and his wife. The priest who used it 
erased the names of two of Henry s wives and then decided to leave a 
blank space. 

295 



296 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

1547. Jan. 28. Accession of EDWARD VI. 

July. The whole Bible in English, and the Paraphrase of 
Erasmus, ordered to be placed in churches. 

First Book of Homilies. 

Oct. Hermann s Consultation in English. 

Nov. Peter Martyr in England. 

Dec. Communion in both kinds approved by Convocation 
and by Parliament. 

1548. Jan. 28. Second year of Edward VI. begins. 

Revised English translation of Hermann s Consultation. 
March 8. The English Order of the Communion. 
May. The Augsburg Interim, a manifesto of the Emperor 

adverse to the reformers., causes continental Protestants 

to come to England. 

Among them was Pullain or Pollanus of Strassburg, 

whose liturgy has been thought to have suggested the 

use of the Decalogue in the Second Prayer Book. 
July. Cranmer s Catechism (Cranmer afterwards confessed 

that he had given up a belief in the Real Presence before 

this^was published). 
Oct. A Lasco the Zwinglian in England. 

Calvin writes to encourage the Protector Somerset. 
Nov. (?) Book of Common Prayer sanctioned by Convo 
cation. 
Dec. 14. Disputation on the Sacrament ; Cranmer defends 

the Receptionist doctrine. 

1549. Jan. 15. The First Act of Uniformity. 
Jan. 28. Second year of Edward VI. ends. 
April Bucer arrives in England. 

June 9. The First Prayer Book used. 

June 24. The Council, without the consent of the 

Church, issues letters and instructions to curtail the 

medieval ceremonial. 

1550. Feb. 28. The new Ordinal. 

1551. Jan. 5. Bucer delivers to the Bishop of Ely a censura or 

criticism of the Prayer Book, in which he objects to 
vestments, and thinks that a superstitious notion as to 
the effect of consecration is implied in the direction 
to place on the altar only so much bread and wine as is 
sufficient for the communicants. 

Latin version of Prayer Book by Ales. 
Peter Martyr objects to reservation of the Sacrament 
for the sick. 

Feb. 23. Pollanus publishes the Strassburg service, 
Liturgia Peregrinorum. 

Feb. 28. Death of Bucer. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLK 207 

15.51. Oct. 10. Somerset committed to the Tower of Ixmdon. 
1552. April. The Second Act of Uniformity declares that the 
Second Prayer Hook will explain the First. 

The Forty-two Articles circulated by Cranmer without 
the authority of the Church. 

Oct. *J7. Order of Council to add the Declaration nf&gt;otif 
kneeling at Communion (commonly called the Black 
Rubric). 

AV*r. The Second Prayer Book used. 
1.55. }. Mar. 25. Poynet s Catechism. 

The Second Prayer Book in French for the Channel 

Islands ; the First had also heen translated. 
July 0. Accession of MAKY. 
1 557. Last edition of the Sarum Missal. 
1.558. A or. 17. Accession of ELIZABETH. 

Mr. Two editions of the Litany published. 

A Committee of Divines at Sir T. Smith s house. 
1551). Jfin. 24. Convocation meets and asserts Papal supremacy 

and the doctrine of Transuhstantiation. 
155J). Mar. fll. A disputation at Westminster. 

An English Primer published. 

April 18. Parliament asserts supremacy of the Crown. 
April 28. The Third Act of Uniformity establishes the 

revised Prayer Book. 

June 24. The revised Prayer Book comes into use. 
1500. Haddon s Latin Prayer Book. 

The Irish Act of I niformity authorises the Prayer Book 

in Latin. 

The (irncra Bible. 
1563. The Thirty-nine Articles. 
Nowell s Catechism. 
The Second Hook of llomilicx. 

1.5(50. Parker s Adivrtisfments, enforcing a minimum of Church 
ornaments, etc. 

1.507. First translation of the Prayer Book in Welsh. 

1.508. The /fo/w/w Hihlc. 

The revised Roman Breviary. 
1570. Pope Pius V. excommunicates Elizabeth. 
1.571. The Thirty-nine Articles settled, and subscribed by Convo 
cation. 

A Latin version of the Prayer Book. 
1.577. English Romanists begin the use of the reformed Roman 

Missal. 

1.585. Death of Goldwell, the last of the Marian bishops. 
1588. Translation of the Bible in Welsh by Bishop Morgan. 
1592. Presbyterianism established in Scotland. 



298 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

1003. Accession of JAMES I. 

The Millenary Petition. 

Translation of the New Testament in Irish Gaelic hy 

Archbishop O Donnell. 
1(504. The Conference at Hampton Court. 

Changes in the Prayer Book ordered. 

1009. Translation of the Prayer Book in Irish Gaelic. 
The Douay Roman Catholic version of the Bible. 

1010. Translation of the Prayer Book in Manx Gaelic by Bishop 

Phillips. 

Restoration of Episcopacy in Scotland. 
1611. The present Authorised Version of the Bible printed. 
1010. French translation of the Prayer Book for the Channel 

Islands. 

1021. Second edition of the Prayer Book in Welsh. 
1025. Accession of CHARLKS I. 

1037. The Prayer Book for Scotland. 

1038. The General Assembly at Perth abolishes the Prayer Book 

and Episcopacy. 

1043. The Westminster Assembly of Presbyterian divines nomi 
nated by Parliament. 

1045. The Prayer Book suppressed by Parliament. 

The Westminster Assembly issues a Directory for Worship, 
a Confession of Faith, and a Larger and Shorter Catechism. 

1000. Restoration of CHARLES II. 

1001. The Savoy Conference. 

Commission to Convocation to revise the Prayer Book. 
Dec. 20. The revised Book subscribed by Convocation. 
Episcopacy again restored in Scotland. 

1002. Feb. 24. The revised Book approved by the King in 

f~i i 
Council. 

May 19. The Act of Uniformity received the Royal 
Assent. The Act directed that the Welsh Bishops, 
with the Bishop of Hereford,, should see that the 
revised Book be translated into the British or Welsh 
tongue. 

1007. Durel s edition of the French Prayer Book for the 
Channel Islands. 

1085. Accession of JAMES II. 

1088. Translation of the Old Testament in Irish Gaelic by 

Bishop Bedell. 

1089. Accession of WILLIAM and MARY. 
Episcopacy disestablished in Scotland. 

Futile attempt to alter the Prayer Book in the direction 
of Presbyterianism. 

1090. Presbyterianism established in Scotland. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 290 

1(51)1. Expulsion of the Nonjurors. 
1702. Accession of ANNK. 

1712. The Prayer Book printed in Irish Gaelic and Eiifrli&gt;h. 
1714. Accession of GEORGE 1. 
1717. Convocation suspended hy Government. 
718. The Liturgy of the Nonjurors. 
727. Accession of GKORGE II. 

744. Publication of Bishop Rattray s Litttryi/ of Jerusalem. 
740. Increased repression of Episcopal worship in Scotland. 
700. Accession of GKOK&lt;;K III. 
1704. The Scottish Communion Office completed. 
170.5. Second version of the Prayer Book in Manx (iaelic liy 

Manx clergy. 1 

1772. Complete translation of the Bihle in Manx (Jaelie. 
1784. Dr. Seahury consecrated at Aherdeen to he the first 

bishop in the United States. 
1780. Proposed Book (of I "nitarian tendencies) published for 

the American Church, and rejected. 

1787. Two bishops consecrated at Lambeth for America. 
1780. American revision of the Prayer Book; the Communion 

Office based on the Scottish! 
1707. First translation of Scottish Communion Office in Scottish 

Gaelic. 

1820. Accession of GF.OKGI: IV. 
IfWO. Accession of Wn. i. IA.M IV. 
I8.S7. Accession of VKTOIUA. 
18."i(). Convocation revived. 
IH70. The fjcrtionari/ revised. 
1H74. Public Worship Regulation Act. hy which Parliament 

attempted to mutilate the ceremonial of the Church. 
1877. Revision of the Prayer Book by the Church of Ireland. 
1880-18H!)-18!)2. Revision of the American Prayer Book. 
181) ~&gt;. Complete revised version of the Prayer Book in Scottish 
(iaelic. 

1 The two Manx versions of the Book of Common Prayer were 
printed side by side in two volumes at the Oxford University Press in 
1893 for the Manx Society. Manx Gaelic is now nearly extinct, 
and public worship is performed entirely in English. 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX A 



THE SAliUM CANON OF THE MASS AND THAT OF 
THE FIRST PRAYER BOOK 



Tin; S AH UM MISSAL. 



THE CANON. 

Tcigitur. Therefore, we humbly beg 
and beseech Thee,, O most mer 
ciful Father, through Jesus 
Christ Thy Son our Lord [here 
rising let him kiss the altar to 
the right of the sacrifice., saying,] 
to accept 

and bless 

these gifts, these presents,, these 
holy undefiled sacrifices, [after 
making little signs upon the 
chalice let him raise his hands 
while saying, ] which we offer to 
Thee especially 

for Thy holy Catholic Church 
which vouchsafe to keep in 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 
1549. 

Almighty and ever - living 
God, which by Thy holy Apostle 
hast taught us to make prayers 
and supplications, and to give 
thanks for all men : 



AVe humbly beseech Thee most 
mercifully to receive 



these our prayers, which we 
offer unto Thy divine Majesty, 
beseeching Thee to inspire con 
tinually the universal Church 
with the spirit of truth, unity, 



1 It should be noted that the Sarum rubrics, here printed in italics, 
are much later in date than the prayers, and not always consistent with 
them. 

300 



APPENDIX A 



THE SARU.M MISSAL. 

peace, to guard, unite, and 
govern throughout the world, 



together with Thy servant our 
Pope A ., and our Bishop A ., 
and our King A . 



TIIK HOOK OF COMMON PHAYEH, 
1541). 

and concord. And grant that 
all they that do confess Thy holy 
Name may agree in the truth of 
Thy holy word and live in unity 
and godly love. 

[All Bishops, Pastors and Cu 
rates.] 

Specially we heseech Thee to 
save and defend Thy servant 
Kdward our King, that under 
him we may be godly and quietly 
governed. And grant unto his 
whole council, and to all that 
he put in authority under him, 
that they may truly and in 
differently minister justice, to 
the punishment of wickedness 
and vice, and to the mainten 
ance of (iod s true religion and 
virtue, liive grace, ( ) heavenly 
Father, to all Bishops, Pastors, 
and ( unites, that they may both 
by their life and doctrine set 
forth Thy true and lively word, 
and rightly and duly administer 
Thy holy Sacraments ; 
and to all Thy people give Thy 
heavenly grace, that with meek 
heart and due reverence they 
may hear and receive Thy holy 
word, truly serving Thee in 
holiness and righteousness all 
the days of their life. 

And we most humbly beseech Mnncnlo. 
Thee of Thy goodness, () Lord, 
to comfort and succour all 
them, which in this transitory 
life be in trouble, sorrow, need, 
sickness, or any other adver 
sity. 

1 All passages in this column of Appendix A which are enclosed in 
square brackets have been transposed to facilitate comparison. 



and all orthodox professing the 
Catholic and Apostolic faith. 



Here (ft him pray for the firing. 

Remember, &lt; ) Ix&gt;rd, Thy 
servants and handmaidens, X. 
and A". 



302 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



Communi- 



THE SAROI MISSAL. 

and all those standing 
around,, whose faith and devo 
tion are known to Thee,, for 
whom we offer to Thee, or who 
offer unto Thee this sacrifice of 
praise, for themselves, and all 
that belong to them,, for the 
redemption of their souls, for 
the hope of their salvation 
and safety : and who pay their 
vows to Thee, the everlasting-, 
living, and true God. 

Communicating with, and 
venerating the memory 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 
1549. 

And especially we commend 
unto Thy merciful goodness this 
congregation which is here as 
sembled in Thy Name, to cele 
brate the commemoration of the 
most glorious death of Thy Son. 



And here we do give unto 
Thee most high praise, and 
hearty thanks, for the wonder 
ful grace and virtue, declared 
in all Thy Saints, from the be 
ginning of the world : 

in the first place of the glorious and chiefly in the glorious 
ever Virgin Mary, Mother of and most blessed Virgin Mary, 
our God and Lord Jesus Christ: Mother of Thy Son Jesu Christ 

our Lord and God, and in the 

as also of Thy blessed Apostles holy Patriarchs, Prophets, 
and Martyrs Peter, Paul, Apostles and Martyrs, 
Andrew, etc. etc., and all Thy 
Saints ; by whose merits and 
prayers mayest Thou grant, 
that in all things we may be de 
fended by the help of Thy pro 
tection. Through the same 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

whose examples, O Lord, and 
steadfastness in Thy faith, and 
keeping Thy holy" command 
ments, grant us to follow. 

[The commemoration of the dead 1 
follows here, but for the sake 

1 The revisers of our Liturgy placed this prayer here, putting it in 
connection with the commemoration of the living and of the saints in 
accordance with ordinary primitive usage. This is a distinct improve 
ment upon the Sarum Canon. 



APPENDIX A 303 

THK SAKVM MISSAL. THK BOOK OK COMMON PRAYER, 



f re let (In- I riest regard the 
host ti-ith ijrcat reiteration, 



This oblation therefore of 
our service, as also of Thy whole 
family, we beseech Thee, ( ) 
Lord, favourably [placatus] to 
accept, and t&lt;&gt; dispose our days 
in 1 hy peace, that we may be 
rescued from eternal damna 
tion, and be numbered in the 
flock of Thine elect. Through 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. [Here 
again let him look at the ho*f. 
saying :~\ Which oblation do 
Thou, Almighty God, we be 
seech Thee, in all things 
vouchsafe to make hies * sed, 
appro* ved, rati* tied, reason 
able, and acceptable, 



that it may 

become 

to us the Bo*dy and Blo*od 
of Thy most beloved Son, our 
Lord Jesus Christ, [here let the 
Priest raise and join hi a hands: 
and after cleanse his finger* 
and elevate the hoxt, toying:] 
Who the day before He suffered, 
took bread 



of brevity is transferred to the 
place corresponding with the 
Xarum Canon of the Mans.] 

O God, heavenly Father, 
which of Thy tender mercydidst 
give Thine only Son Jesu Christ 
to suffer death upon the cross 
for our redemption, Who made 
there (by His one oblation once H&lt;tnr 
offered) a full, perfect, and suf- i jitur 
ficient sacrifice, oblation, and 
satisfaction for the sins of the 
whole world ; and did institute, 
and in His holy Gospel command 
us to celebrate, a perpetual 
memory of that His precious 
death until His coming again : 



Hear us, () merciful Father, 
we beseech Thee, and with Thy 
Holy Spirit and word vouchsafe 
to b l^ess 1 



and sane 4* tify these Thy gifts 
and creatures of bread and wine 

that they may 

be 

unto us the Body and Blood of 
Thy most dearly-beloved Son 
Jesus Christ, 



Who, in the same night that He Qui pridir. 
was betrayed, took bread (here 



1 In the ancient Eastern liturgies, and in the Scottish and American 
liturgies, this prayer for the descent of the Holy Spirit and word is 
placed after the narrative of the Institution, corresponding with the 
position of the Suppliccs tc rogarnus (see p. 306). 



304 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



THE SARUM MISSAL. 



into His holy and venerable 
hands, and with eyes lifted up 
to heaven [here let him raise his 
own eyes], to Thee, O God, His 
Father Almighty, [here let him 
incline himself and afterward 
raise a little, saying:} giving 
thanks to Thee, He bles * sed, 
brake [here let him touch the 
host], and gave to His disciples 
saying, Take, and eat ye all 
of this 

[These are the words of Consecra 
tion]. 

For this is My Body. 



And these words ought to he 
brought out with one breath 
and at one utterance, no pause 
being introduced. After these 
words let the priest [bow to the 
host and] elevate it above his 
forehead that it may be seen 
by the people: and reverently 
replace it in front of the 
chalice, making with it the 
sign of the cross. And then 
let him uncover the chalice 
and hold it between his hands 
not disjoining his thumb from 
his forefinger, save when he 
is giving the blessings, saying 
thus : 

Likewise after supper, tak 
ing also this excellent cup into 

His holy and venerable hands 
[here he bows, saying:], also 
giving thanks to Thee, He 
blessed it, and gave it to His 
disciples, saying, 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 
1549. 

the Priest must take the bread 
into his hands), 



and when He had blessed, and 
given thanks, He brake it, and 
gave it to His disciples, saying, 
Take, eat, 



this is My Body, 
which is given for you : do this 
in remembrance of Me. 



Likewise after supper, He 
took the cup (here the Priest 
shall take the cup into his hands), 



and when He had given thanks, 
He gave it to them, saying, 



APPENDIX A 



:io/i 



THK SAKI M MISSAL. 

Take, and 

ilrink ye all of it ; (hen- let th&gt; 
I ricst elevate tin- elm/ire for a 
moment, snijiny thus] for this is 

the Cup of 
My Blood of the New and eternal 

Testament, 

the Mystery of Faith ; 

which for you, and for many, 

shall be shed for remission of 

sins. 

[Here /ft him elevate (lie chalice. 
Maying :"] 

As often as ye sliall do these 
things, ye shall do them 
in remembrance of Me. 

Here let him rejtlaec flu- dm/ice 
and raise his a mix in the 
fashion of a cross, his fingers 
being joined, until the worn 1 * 
Of thy trifts, MI y iiiy on tlii\ 



Tin: BOOK 01 ( OM.MON PHAYKH, 
1549. 

Drink e all of this ; f or this is 



My Blood of the New 
Testament, 

which is shod for you, and for 
many, for remission of sin&lt;: 



Do this, as oft as you shall 
drink it, 
in remembrance of Me. 

The words lie/ore rehearsed nrc 
to he said, turning still to the 
altar, without tun/ elevation, 
or showing the. Sacrament to 
the people. 



Wherefore, O Lord, 



we Thy servants 
and likewise Tliy holy people. 

do offer 

to Thy excellent Majesty 
of Thy ^ifts and bounties, a 
pure * host, a holy J host, a 
spotless * host, the holy * bread 
of eternal life, and the cup* 
of everlasting salvation ; having 
in remembrance as well the 
hlessed passion of the same 
Christ Thy Son our Lord (lod, 
as also His resurrection from 



\\"herefore, O Lord Vv&lt;lc ft 

and heavenly Father, according infinorn 
to the Institution of Thy dearly- 
beloved Son, our Saviour tFesu 
Christ, 
\ve Thy humble servants, 

do celebrate and make here 

before Thy divine Majesty. 
with these Thy holy Drifts, the 
memorial which Thy Son hnth 
willed us to make : 

having in remembrance His 
blessed passion, mighty resur- 
rection, and glorious ascension, 



,306 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



THE SARUM MISSAL. 

the dead, and likewise His 
glorious ascension into heaven. 
Supra quac. Upon which things (quae) 
vouchsafe to look with a propi 
tious and serene countenance ; 



and accept them 
as Thou didst vouchsafe to 
accept the presents of Thy just 
servant Abel, and the sacrifice 
of our patriarch Abraham, and 
that which Thy high priest Mel- 
chisedec offered to Thee, 
a holy sacrifice, a spotless 
host. 



Then let the PrieM with body 
bowed and hands folded (can- 
cellatis) say : 

Supplier tc We humbly beseech Thee, O 

rogamus. Almighty God, 

command these thing* (haec) to 
he carried by the hands of Thy 
holy Angel to Thine altar on 
high in the sight of Thy divine 
Majesty, 

that as many of us as shall 



THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 
1549. 



rendering unto Thee most hearty 
thanks, for the innumerable 
benefits procured unto us by 
the same, entirely desiring Thy 
fatherly goodness, mercifully 
to accept this 



our sacrifice of praise and 
thanksgiving : most humbly be 
seeching Thee to grant, that by 
the merits and death of Thy Son 
Jesus Christ, and through faith 
in His Blood, we and all Thy 
whole Church may obtain remis 
sion of our sins, and all other 
benefits of His passion. And 
here we offer and present unto 
Thee, O Lord, ourself, our souls 
and bodies, to be a reasonable, 
holy, and lively sacrifice unto 
Thee : 



humbly beseeching Thee, 

[command these our prayers 
and supplications, by the minis 
try of Thy holy Angels, to be 
brought up into Thy holy 
Tabernacle before the sight of 
Thy divine Majesty] ; 
that whosoever shall be 



APPENDIX A :&gt;n; 

Tin: SAIITM MISSAL. TJIK BOOK OK COMMON PHAYKII, 

1.540. 

[here mixing himself let him /r/.v.v 

the n/tnr on the right of the 

Mierifiee] by this participation partakers of this holy Coni- 

of the altar. munion, inav worthily 



receive receive 

the most, h&gt;ly Bo*dy and the most precious Body and 

Blo*od Blood 

of Thy S&lt;n, of Thy Son Jesus Christ. 

may he fulfilled with [here /ft ami he fulfilled with Thy ^ra - e 
him .vjV/// himself on the fare ] all and heavenly benediction, 
heavenly benediction and irraee, 
through the same Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 1 

and made one Body with Thy 
Son .lesu Christ, that lie may 
dwell in them, and they in Him. 
Here let him jirni/ for tin dead. 

Remember also, () Lord, the [NVe commend unto Thy 
souls of Thy servants and hand- mercy, () Lord, all other Thy 
maidens, .V. and X.. who have servants which are departed 
^one before us, hence from us, 

with the si^rn of faith, and rest with the siirn of faith, and now 
in the sleep of peace : do rest in the sleep of peace : 

\\ e beseech Thee to irrant (irant unto them, we beseech 
unto them, O Lord, Thee, 

and to all who rest in Christ, a 
place of refreshment, lii^ht, and 

Thy mercy and everlasting 
peace. peace, 

Through the same Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

and that, at the day of the 
general resurrection, we and 
all they which he of the mysti 
cal body of Thy Son, may al 
together be set on His riirht 

1 This is the prayer which, in primitive times, completed the con 
secration. It corresponds with the Creek Epiklesis. 



308 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



THE SAHUM MISSAL, 



THE BOOK OF COMMOX PRAYER, 
1549. 

hand, and hear that His most 
joyful voice : Come unto Me, 
O ye that be blessed of My 
Father, and possess the king 
dom, which is prepared for 
you from the beginning of the 
world ; grant this, O Father, 
for Jesus Christ s sake, our 
only Mediator and Advocate.] 1 



And although we be unworthy 
through our manifold sins 



Here let him strike Ida own 
breast once, saying : 

Nolris To us sinners also Thy servants,, 

quoquc. hoping in the multitude of Thy 

mercies, 

vouchsafe to grant some part 

and fellowship with Thy holy 

Apostles and Martyrs : with 

John, Stephen, etc., with all 

Thy Saints, into whose com 
pany do Thou, we beseech 

Thee, admit us, 

to offer unto Thee any Sacrifice; 
yet we beseech Thee to accept 
this our bounden duty and ser 
vice, and command these our 
prayers and supplications, by 
the ministry of Thy holyAngels, 
to be brought up into Thy holy 
Tabernacle before the sight of 
Thy divine Majesty ; 

not weighing our merit, but not weighing our merits, but 

bestowing Thy pardon, through pardoning our offences, through 

Christ our Lord. Christ our Lord : 

Per quern Through Whom, O Lord, 
haccomnia. Thou dost ever create [here- the 

Priest shall sign the cup thrice, 

saying :] sanctify, quicken, 

bless, and bestow upon us all 

these good things. 2 

1 Transposed from the place previously noted in p. 302, the words 
being used prior to the consecration. 

2 This was in primitive times a dedication of fruits of the earth. 



APPENDIX A 



THE SAHTM MISSAL. 

[Here let the. Priest uncover the 
chalice and make a little cross 
with tin- host , five times : first, 
orer the chalice on either side ; 
second, level with the chalice ; 
third , at its foot ; the fourth 
Iteiny like the first one ; (lie 
fifth, in front of it.] 

By * Him, and with * Him, 
and in P Him, in the unity ofthe 
Holy Ghost, all honour and 

ulory is unto Thee, O God the 
Father Almighty [here let tfte 
Priest cover the chalice, anil hold 
his hands on the altar until Pater 
noster is said, tuyiny :~\ world 
without end. Amen. 

Let us pray. Admonished hy 
salutary precepts, and directed 
hy divine instruction, we are 
bold to say, [here let the deacon 
receive the paten and hold it hiyh 
on the right of the priest, with 
outstretched arm, antil hestow 
peace. Here let the Priest raise 
his hands, sayiny :~\ 

Our Father, etc. 

(. hoir. Hut deliver us from 
evil. 

The Priest, privately, Amen. 
Deliver us, we heseech Thee. 
O Lord, from all evils, past, 
present, and to come ; and at 
the intercession of the hlessed 
and irlorious Mary, ever Virgin 
and Mother of God, and the 
hlessed Apostles Peter and 
Paul, and Andrew and all the 
Saints ; [here let the deacon yice 
the paten, to the Priest, kissing 
his hand: and the Priest shall 
kiss the paten : ajteru-ards put 



THK BOOK OK COMMON PRAYER, 
1541). 



hy Whom, and with Whom, 
in the unity ofthe Holy Ghost, 
all honour and ^lory he unto 
Thee, O Father Almighty, 



Let us pray. As our Saviour 
Christ hath commanded and 
taught us, we are hold to s;iy. 



Our Father, etc. J ottr 

The Answer. Hut deliver us nust(r 
from evil. 

Amen. 

Lil, tr&lt; 



310 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

THE SAIIUM MISSAL. TIIK BOOK OK (COMMON PRAYER, 

1549. 

it to his left eye, and then to 
his Tight! afterwards making a 
cross with the paten above kin 
head, and then replace it in UN 
own place, sayiny .] graciously 
bestow peace in our days ; that, 
assisted by the help of Thy 
mercy, we may be both ever 
free from sin, and secure from 
;dl disquiet. \Here let him un 
cover the chalice and, bowing, 
dike the Jiody, transferring it 
into the, hollow of the chalice and 
retaining it there between A/.v 
thumbs and forefingers, let him 
break it into three parts, while 
he says:} Through the same 
our Lord, Jesus Christ, Thy 
Son. [At the second breaking 
Who with Thee livetli and 
reigneth in the unity of the 
Spirit, Clod, world without 
end. Amen. 



APPENDIX H 

Till: ORNAMENTS RUBRIC AND THE SUPPOSED 
PROHIBITION OF ANCIENT CEREMONIES 

THE rubric, which is printed immediately before the Order for 
Morning Prayer, runs as follows : 

1 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 Authority of Parliament, in the second year 
of the reign of King Edward the Sixth. 

This is simply a more emphatic form of the Ornaments rubric 
inserted in 15.59, and again, in a slightly different shape, in 
1()04. It was deliberately kept in 1001 in spite of the objections 
raised against it by the Puritans. It has been disputed whether 
the ornaments in question are those actually in use in the 
second year of the reign of Edward VI. (January 28, 1548 



APPENDIX H 311 

January 27, 1549), or those prescribed in the First Prayer Hook 
annexed to the Act of Uniformity which passed the House of 
( ominous on January -1, 154J), and came into force on June 1), 
l. r )4 J. If the latter alternative is correct, tho ruhric. at least 
commands the use of the Mass vestments, the cope, the surplice 
and pastoral staff, and does not prohibit the use of cross, candle 
sticks, censer, and mitre. 

There are, however, very strong reasons for believing that 
tlio ruhric is meant to enforce the ornaments which were em 
ployed immediately before the First Prayer Hook came into 
use, that is, in the partially reformed services of l, r &gt;4H. For 
the First Prayer Hook was not in use in the second year of 
Edward VI., as it was not employed until Whitsunday, thine i), 
1.Y11). This was in the third year of Edward VI. Also it is of 
the utmost importance to notice that when the ( )rnaments rubric 
was inserted in the time of Elizabeth, Sandys, afterwards 
Archbishop of York, who was one of the committee which 
revised the Prayer Hook in 1.").~&gt;1), said, The last Hook of Service 
is gone through with a proviso to retain the ornaments which 
were used in the first and second year of King Edward VI. [j. t. 
1547-1548], until it please the Ojieen to take other order for 
them. Nothing could be clearer than this statement. It is 
contemporary evidence of the highest value, showing that it was 
intended to use the ornaments employed in the partially reformed 
services. And this evidence entirely agrees with the impor 
tant evidence which we have with regard to the Queen s wishes. 
It accorded neither with her conscience nor with her policy 
to drive old-fashioned members of the Church of England into 
the arms of Koine. 

It therefore seems reasonable that, tin 1 literal meaning of the 
rubric should be accepted as the only real meaning, and that no 
attempt need be made to suggest that the rubric only sanctions 
the ornaments expressly mentioned in the Prayer Hook of 
l, r )4!&gt;. Several Anglican bishops, including the present Hishop 
of London, who is acknowledged as one of the ablest of living 
historians, have practically decided that the rubric orders the 
ornaments of 1548 by adopting the use of the mitre an orna 
ment which is not directed to be worn in the First Prayer 
Hook. They have followed no less an example than that of 
Cranmer himself who, according to Strype (t ranmcr, ii. 
ch. xxiv.), wore a mitre on June -1), I .V&gt;0. The authority for 
using the censer is the same as that for using the mitre. The 
chief times of ministration at which the censer was employed 
ill 154 were at the reading of the (Jospel, at the Offertory, 
and at the Magnificat. 

It seems necessary to add, that even if the Ornaments rubric 



312 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

does refer to the Prayer Book of 1549, this is no proof that all 
the ornaments of 1548 are illegal except those mentioned in the 
Prayer Book of 1549. No one can have known the meaning of 
the "Ornaments rubric of 1559 better than Elizabeth, and in 
Elizabeth s chapel there were not only employed such ornaments 
as the cope, which is mentioned in the Prayer Book of 1549, 
but also the crucifix and houselling cloth, which are not. 

Exactly the same argument applies to ceremonies as that 
which applies to ornaments. It has lately been asserted 
that the Prayer Book and the Acts of Uniformity to which it 
was annexed, forbid all ceremonies which the Prayer Book 
does not direct, and even forbid the ceremonies connected with 
certain ornaments which are enjoined. The omission of a 
command to employ a ceremony is therefore interpreted as the 
prohibition of a ceremony. This theory reads into the Prayer 
Book an essentially modern notion of Roman origin, viz. that 
it is necessary or desirable for the clergy to have absolutely 
complete and minute directions printed for their guidance in 
celebrating divine worship. No ancient Service Book was 
printed on such a principle. It was assumed that clergymen 
learned the ceremonies from one another. 

It is, however, only necessary to quote the various editions 
of the Book of Common Prayer in order to prove that, until 
recently, it was not and could not be supposed that a cere 
mony is necessarily illegal if not explicitly enjoined. 

1. The Book of 1549 furnishes us with two notable examples. 
In the prayer of consecration, no direction is given for the 
Fraction or breaking of the host. But the Prayer Book, so far 
from regarding this omission as a prohibition of the Fraction of 
the hosts, expressly says at the end of the Mass that every one 
shall be divided in two pieces. It was therefore left to the 
priest to perform the Fraction during the Canon of the Mass, 
although the ceremony is not there commanded. 

Another instance, showing evidence of haste in the compila 
tion of the book, is to be found among the prefaces of the Mass. 
The preface for the Feast of Trinity says, That which we 
believe of the glory of the Father, the same we believe of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or in 
equality, Whom the Angels, etc. The middle of the preface is 
then omitted, and it was therefore impossible to continue it 
without having recourse to the mediaeval Missals which supply 
the missing portion, whom the Angels and the Archangels 
praise, the Cherubin also and the Seraphin, who cease not to 
cry, with one voice saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, etc. No one 
can reasonably pretend that English priests in 1549 were 
f prohibited from reciting the omitted words. 



APPENDIX ( M3 

2. The Prayer Book of 1552 in the Communion of the Sick 
contains no form whatever for the consecration of the Sacra 
ment. In the service of 154!) the Canon was mentioned hut 
not printed ; in 1552 it is neither mentioned nor printed. In 
spite of the spirit which marked the hook of 1552. it would he 
a hold thin^ indeed to affirm that the clergy were * prohibited 
from consecrating the elements given to the sick. 

. {. The Prayer Book of 1559 lias the same omission. 

4. The Prayer Book of 1G04 contains the same strange 
omission. It also contains no mention whatever of the sign of 
the cross at Confirmation. But the quotation from Bishop 
Montague, which we have printed on page 201), makes it plain 
that hishops of the time of Charles I. did not regard themselves 
as prohihited from using the sign of the cross in this particu 
larly open manner. 

5. The Prayer Book of 1(&gt;&lt;I1, while it remedies some of the 
above-mentioned defects, also contains omissions which show 
that traditional practices are sometimes presupposed. It is 
directed that the people shall stand during the Nicene Creed. 
They are not directed to kneel until the Confession. But it 
has been the traditional practice to kneel during the Prayer for 
the Church Militant ; and there is no reason to doubt that the 
revisers in KJOl intended that the people should do so. Again, 
it is well known that in our present Baptismal Service no 
direction is given to the priest as to when he should return the 
child to the godparents. The omission, instead of heing trivial, 
is one of some importance, for it is a difficult question to decide 
whether the sign of the cross should be made while the child is 
in the priest s arms or not. But the question is at once solved 
by a reference to the Sarum Manual, which shows that the 
child should be taken by the godparents immediately after the 
actual Baptism, and then signed with the cross. 



APPENDIX C 

THE MOZAKAHIC CANON OF THK MASS 

IT does not seem to have been sufficiently observed that the 
Roman Church, in still tolerating the existence of the Mozarabic 
rite at Toledo, has preserved the most convincing proof that the 
consecration of the Eucharist in the West as well as in the East 
did not originally take place at the words, Tin s is My Body 
This is Mv Blood. The narrative of the Institution is im- 



,314 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

mediately followed by a prayer called the Post-pridie, and on 
some of the older festivals this is simply a prayer for the 
consecration of the elements, although it is no longer under 
stood in that sense. In the Gallican rite the corresponding 
prayer is called the Post-secreta. After the Sanctus the 
Mozarabic Canon of the Mass runs as follows on Christmas Pay 
and Easter Day. 

CHRISTMAS DAY. EASTER DAY. 

Post-sanctus. Post-sanctum. 

Truly holy, truly blessed is Truly holy, truly blessed is 
our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son , our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son,, 
Who came from heaven, that Whom three days since we 
He might dwell upon earth : mourned as dead, and to-day 
was made flesh that He might we rejoice that by His own 
dwell in us,, Christ the Lord might He hath been raised 
and everlasting Redeemer. from hell. AVlio by His death 

hath overcome the devil not 
by might but by righteousness, 
and by the glory of His Resur 
rection hath made open to 
sinners the way of return to 
heaven, Christ the Lord and 
everlasting Redeemer. 

Let the presbyter bend himself before the altar. 

Be present, be present, Jesu the good High Priest, in the 
midst of us as Thou wast in the midst of Thy disciples and hallow 
this oblation that we may take the tilings sanctified by the 
hands of Thy holy angel, Holy Lord, and everlasting Redeemer. 
[These words are almost certainly an interpolation. They do 
not occur in the ancient Gallican forms, which immediately 
after the Post-sanctus continue Who the day before (pridie), etc. 
Moreover, the Mozarabic prayer after the narrative of Institu 
tion is still called the Post-pridie, although the word pridie no 
longer occurs. It therefore seems plain that the Mozarabic 
form was originally nearer to the Gallican.] 

Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed, 
took bread, and giving thanks, He blessed and brake it: and 
gave it to His disciples saying, Take, and eat. This is My Body 
which shall be given for you. As often as ye shall eat it, do 
this in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after He 
supped, saying, This is the cup of the New Testament in My 
Blood, which shall be shed for you and for many for the 



APPENDIX C 315 

remission (if sins. As often as ye shall drink it, do this in 
remembrance of Me. Choir. Amen. 

As often as ye shall eat this bread and drink this cup, ye shall 
show forth the Lord s death, until He come in brightness from 
heaven. Choir. Aincti. 



Post-pridiv, 

Keeping, &lt;) Lord, these Thy 
gifts and commandments, we 
set forth upon Thine altar the 
burnt offerings of bread and 
wine, beseeching the most 
abundant goodness of Thy 
mercy, that by the same Spirit, 
by Whom undetiled virginity 
conceived Thee in the flesh, 
the undivided Trinity may 
hallow these offerings, etc. 



Pottt-pridie. 

We pray Thee, Holy Lord, 
eternal Father, almighty (iod, 
that as our Lord Jesus Christ 
Thy Son by that ineffable 
giving of thanks offered Him 
self to Thee for us, and when 
about to take upon Him our 
death was heard, so now we 
also, who seek Him and II is 
life, by performing ministeri 
ally what He instituted may 
be heard, so that this bread 
offered to Thee with this cup, 
may by Thy benediction be 
enriched so as to become the 
Body and Blood of Thy Son, 
etc. " 



Thou granting it, Holy Lord, because Thou for us Thine un 
worthy .servants dost create all these right good things, dost 
hallow, quicken, bless, and bestow them upon us : that they 
may be blessed by Thee our (Jod for ever and ever. Choir. Aincn. 
[This final prayer wa*&gt; evidently not part of the original conse 
cration ; it is directly taken from the Roman 1 cr fjnctn. ] 

1 On Whitsunday the Post pridit contains these words: After the 
likeness of Whose Body and Blood we bring these presents, and entreat 
that by Thy deifying power they may obtain the fulness of the fitting 
sane tificat ion. This prayer is on lhat day offered to the Holy Ghost. 
The sentiment may be compared with that expressed in the Euclmistic 
prayer of Serapion, p. 13. 



HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



APPENDIX D 

THE ( BLACK RUBRIC " 

IT has been a traditional opinion in the Church of England that 
the Declaration on kneeling, popularly known as the Black 
Rubric/ was deliberately altered in 1061-62 so as to sanction the 
doctrine of the Real Presence. This traditional opinion has 
lately been vigorously attacked. Mr. Tomlinson in his Prayer 
Book Articles and Homilies, pp. 264-65, has asserted that the 
alterations then made are merely verbal/ and that the meaning 
of the Declaration of 1662 is the same as that of 1552, essen 
tially Protestant. He then naturally asks, Why did the 
revisers of 1662 substitute the word " corporal" for the words 
"real and essential/ seeing that they left the meaning of the 
clause the same as they found it? He replies, The reason 
clearly was, that men were no longer familiar with the language 
of the schools. The theological language of the sixteenth 
century was, Mr. Tomlinson thinks, unintelligible in the seven 
teenth, and so the phrase was changed into one which was up to 
date. He continues, The pivot sentence upon which the whole 
Declaration hung remains unchanged, viz. that the Body of 
Christ which "is" in heaven is "not HERE." That was, and is, 
absolutely fatal to any theory of "presence/ in the sense of 
residence within the elements. 

Fortunately for the Church of England, Mr. Tomlinson s 
statement can be refuted. 

Comparatively unnoticed among the better-known liturgical 
treasures in the library of $. John s College, Oxford, is a copy 
of the fourth edition of Wheatly s Rational Illustration of the 
nook of Common Prayer, which was bequeathed by the author 
himself to the library of his college. It had previously been 
illustrated with valuable notes by Robert Watts (d. 1726), 
another fellow of the college, who had bequeathed it to Wheatly 
(d. 1742). On p. 337 Wheatly points out that in 1662 f th*e 
words real and essential Presence were thought proper to be 
chang d for corporal Presence. For/ he adds, f a doctrine of 
the real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the 
Eucharist is what our Church frequently asserts/ Opposite 
the words e chang d for corporal Presence is the following note 
in manuscript, at y u instance of D. P. G. , viz. Dr. Peter 



APPENDIX I) .SIT 

Gunning 1 , as is said by Bp. Burnet in his Preface to his 3rd vol. 
of the 7//V. Rff. vol.".", 171-V 

Dr. Peter (iunning, afterwards Bishop of Ely, was a man of 
well-known Catholic principles, and was on the committee for 
the revision of the Prayer Book. Among other tilings he wished 
for a restoration of the Sacrament of I nction. He is especially 
signalised by the Puritan Baxter as a man of greater study 
and industry than any of the bishop*;. Even Burnet, in History 
of My (&gt;/// Time, says that (running wa&lt; a man of great reading, 
and very honest. 

On referring to the first, edition of Burnet s History &lt;&gt;/ tin- 
Information, it will be seen that the author indulges in a scornful 
criticism of some important person whose name he does not 
venture to mention. In the margin by the side of this criticism 
are printed the letters 1). P. (*. l*here seems to be no reason for 
doubting that these are meant to stand for Dr. Peter (iunning. 
But whoever the person may be, it is quite plain that Burnet 
knew that he was responsible for the change in the rubric, and 
also knew that he intended that the meaning of the rubric 
should be fundamentally altered. \Ve know, says Burnet, 
who was the author of that change, and who pretended that a 
Corporal Presence signified such a Presence as a body naturally 
has, which the assertors of Transubstantiation itself do not and 
cannot pretend is in this case, where they say the Body is not 
present, corporally, but spiritually, or as a spirit is present." 
&gt;Ve are not concerned with the extraordinary subtilty with 
which, Burnet says, the person in question supported his argu 
ment. The point is that this person asserted that the Body of 
Christ was both in heaven and in the elements. He believed 
in the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence, and the bishops 
only consented to the insertion of the Declaration when it had 
been corrected by this person. 

The following therefore seems to be the history of the Declara 
tion on kneeling in llKJl-ii- : 

1. The Puritans desired the restoration of it in its original 
form. Card well, History of Coherences, p. ;&gt;2L . 

The Bishops objected. I hid. p. . $.54. 

. &gt;. Bishop (jJamlen and the Earl of Southampton were desirous 
of making concessions to the Puritans in this matter. Burnet, 
Ilarleian MSS., Oo84, p. 158. 

4. In the meantime the Prayer Book was completed and 
Convocation dissolved. 

5. In February K&lt;&gt;2 the Privy Council, of which Southampton 
was a member, debated on the Prayer Book and directed four of 
the bishops to meet them. 

G. Dr. (iimning showed the Bishops how the Declaration 



318 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 

could be made consistent with the doctrine of the Real Pre 
sence. 

7. On February 24, the four Bishops showed the Prayer 
Book to the Board of the Privy Council. 

8. Sancroft, secretary of Convocation, added the Declaration 
in a handwriting different from that of the rest of the MS., and 
separated from it by a broad red line. 

The change was not regarded as favourable to the Roman 
doctrine of Transubstantiatioii, for Burnet says the papists 
were highly offended when they saw such an express declaration 
against the Real Presence. History of My Own Time, vol. i. p. 324 
(Oxford edit. 1897). Burnet here uses the words Real Presence 
as equivalent to Transubstantiation. His Hi story of the Reforma 
tion shows that he fully understood that Gunning would never 
have made a declaration against a doctrine of the Real Presence 
which is consistent with the reality of the elements. 



I N 1) K X 



AIIFRDF.F.N, hrcviary of. 275. 
Ablutions, or rinsings of the chalice, 

63. 

Absolution, in tho Daily Services, 
129, Ki2; 

in tlio Communion Office, SI, 

201 ; 
in the Visitation of the Sick, 

225. 
Advertisements, of Parker, 122. 



A&lt;/nus Dei, C,l, !i. 

Alb, the linen under- vestment 

reaching to the feet, worn by the 

clergy, and andentlv by the 

choir, 21, 10(5, 2C&gt;S. 
Ales or Alane, his Latin version of 

the Prayer Hook, 124. 
All conditions of men, prayer 

for, comj)osed in IGb l by Dr. 

Gunning. 
Alms, i:t5. 
Ainbo (&nP&lt;i)i&gt;), from avapaivfiv, to 

ascend, a pulpit, 23. 
American Prayer Book, 285. 
Amice, the linen cloth worn around 

the neck under the alb. 
Anaphora, the Canon of a (ireek 

liturgy, 11, 34. 
Andrewes (Bishop), 120, 131. 
Anointing, at Baptism, 87, 100, 

187 ff; 

at Confirmation. 87, 213; 
of the Sick, 87, 106, 227 ; 
at Ordination, 2&lt;&gt;2, - 71. 
Antiphon. 147. 
Anttphonarium, 67. 
A|K)crypha, 128. 
Apostolic Constitution*, 14, 31. 
Armenians, liturgy of, 16 ; 

their disuse of Extreme Unc 
tion, 228. 



Ash Wednesday, rites of, .MO. 
Augustine (S.), of Canterbury, on 

the liturgy, . &lt;*.). 
Augustine (S.), of Hippo, on the 

liturgy, 1). 

Jiaiit/or, Antiphoiutru nf, 3!(. 
Baptism, Public, 184 ff; 

sign of the Cross in, 128, 1 !)."&gt;, 

197. 

Ilaptism, in )rrii &lt;ttr houses. 19S : 
lay, disliked by the Puritans. 

128. 

Baptism nf Adult* (16T.1). 19!). 
| Basil (S.)," liturgy of, 1C,, 32. 
| Baxter, criticism on the Prayer 

Book, 133. 
Hede, on frequent communion, 

44. 

Bell, at the elevation in the Mass, 
58. 



I lirncdicite, 22, 161. 
Benediction, episcopal, at Mass, 
29 ; 

at end of Mass. 6.". ; 
at Marriage, 221 ; 
modern Roman service so 
called, 232. 

Betrothal, 21 S. 

, Bible, media val English version of, 
77 : 

later English versions of, 78, 

130 ; 
how read in the Divine Office. 

149, 153. 

, Bishops, consecration of, 268. 
! Bishops Book, the name commonly 
given to the Institution of a 
Christian Man (1537), 75. 
i Bonere and huxum, 220. 
319 



320 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



Book of Common Prayer, the First 
of Edward VI. (1549), 85 ; 

the Second of Edward VI. 

(1552), 106 ; 
the revision under Elizabeth 

(1559), 119 ; 

the revision after the Hampton 
Court Conference (1604), 
129; 
the revision for Scotland 

(1637), 131 ; 
the revision after the Savoy 

Conference (1661), 132 ; 
attempted Protestant revision 

(1689), 137 ; 
in Ireland, 125, 288 ; 
in Scotland, 131, 277 ; 
in America, 282. 
Bramhall (Archhp. ), on the Euchar- 

istic sacrifice, 52. 

Breviary, called Portiforimn, in 
England, 69, 151 ; 
of Quiiiones, 157 : 
of Pius v. (1568), 158. 
British Church, liturgy of, 18, 38. 
Bucer( Martin), his influence on the 

Prayer Book, 104, 256. 
Bullinger ( Henry ), Swiss Pro 
testant, corresponded frequently 
with English Reformers ; his ser 
mons were circulated among the 
English clergy in the time of 
Elizabeth. Apparently did not 
influence the Prayer Book 
directly. 

Burial of the Dead, the mediaeval 
service, 237 ; 

the service of 1549, 239 ; 
the service of 1552, 242. 
Byzantine rite, 16, 32. 

CALVIN (JOHN), his doctrine of the 
Eucharist, 90 ; 

his influence on the English 

Reformation, 91, 105, 112 ; 
his doctrines held by Puritans, 

122, 128. 

Canon of the Mass, the consecra 
tion and accompanying inter 
cessions in the Western liturgies, 
26, 35, 58, 96. 

Capitulum, two meanings of, 164. 
Catechising, in early times, 187 ff ; 

in mediaeval times, 193. 
Catechism, the, 130, 207. 



Catechumens, Missa of, 9, 32, 56. 

Chasuble, the last and most neces 
sary vestment of a priest celebrat 
ing the Eucharist. The ancient 
Greek chasuble or (pau&gt;tib\iov 
resembled in shape an English 
Gothic chasuble. The Greeks 
still use large chasubles of a 
somewhat similar pattern ; the 
Russians have much shortened 
the front of the chasuble. At 
the beginning of the sixteenth 
century chasubles were ordinarily 
of the same ample shape through 
out the West of Europe, but the 
orphreys or strips of embroidery 
differed. The Roman chasuble 
was, and is, adorned with one 
strip or pillar at the back, and 
with a cross in front. In England, 
France, and North Germany, 
chasubles were usually orna 
mented either with a cross in the 
shape of a Y both at the back and 
in front, or with a pillar in front 
and a Latin cross at the back. 
This l^atin cross was quite 
common in the later English 
vestments. During the seven 
teenth and eighteenth centuries 
both French and Italian chasubles 
were much reduced in size and 
beauty. 

Gallican form of, 21 ; 
worn by deacons, 21 : 
retained by the Church of 
England, 113, 120. 

Chimere, an episcopal vestment, in 
the form of a sleeveless coat, 
usually of black silk or satin, or 
of scarlet cloth. See 270. 

Chrism, 187, 213, 214. 

Chrismalia, linen bands placed on 
the foreheads of the newly con 
firmed. 

Chrisom (spelt Chrism in the 
First Prayer Book), 194, 196. 

Chrysostom (S.), 
liturgy of, 16 ; 
prayer of, 163. 

Church militant, prayer for, 28, 
107, 135, 278, 286. 

Churching of Women, 246. 

Clement vn. (Pope), initiated re 
form of Roman breviary, 157. 



INDEX 



321 



Collecta, or Collect io, meaning of, 

10. 
Collects, antiquit) of, 38; 

concluding phrases, 178. A 
full account of the collects in 
the Prayer Book will be 
found in the essay by Dr. 
Bright in the Prayer Book 
Commentary for Teachers 
and Students (S.P.C.K.). 
Commendation, Psalms of, 70 ; 

of the soul, 238. 
Commination, 249. 
Commixture (in Old English com- 

mixtion ), 01. 

Commune Sanctorum, 08, 152. 
Communio, antiphon at the Com 
munion, 29, 03. 
Communion : 

the Order of the Communion 

(15-18), 83 ; 

the Office of 1541), 87, 95 ; 
of 1552, 100 ; 
of 155 .), 120 ; 
at a Marriage, 222 ; 
of the Sick, 229 ; 
with the Reserved Sacrament, 

230; 

at a Burial, 241. 

Comparative table, of liturgies, 32 ; 
of Morning and Evening Prayer, 

101, 100. 

Compctentcs, 188. 
Compline, 148, 153, 107. 
Confession, private, retained bv 
the Church of England, 201. See 
also Absolution. 

Confirmation, in early times, 187 ; 
in the Eastern Churches, 188 ; 
in media-val times, 212; 
the reformed services, 214 ; 
sign of the cross at, retained in 
Scotland, where it is still per 
mitted, 214. 

Consecration of the Blessed Sacra 
ment, 

early Roman form of, 27 ; 
mediaeval misunderstanding of, 

97; 

in First Prayer Book, 97 ; 
in Second Praver Book, 108, 

118; 
in Mozarabic Missal, Appendix 

C. 
Consubstantiation, 89. 



Consuetudinary and Customary, 

of Sarum, 42. 

Cope, u cloak used chiefly in pro 
cessions, the most sumptuous of 
ecclesiastical vestments. Its use 
made alternative with the chas 
uble in 1541), 94. 

Corporal or Corporas, the linen 
cloth on which the Sacrament is 
placed, or by which it is covered, 
called fair linen cloth in the 
Prayer Book, 03. 

Cosin (Bishop), on Confession, 201. 
He apparently suggested the 
addition of the five prayers after 
the third collect in 1001. 
Covcrdale, translation of the Bible, 
79 ; of the antiphon In the midst 
of life, 240. 
Creed, 

the Nicene, when first used at 

Mass, 23 ; 
originally used at Baptisms, 

187; 
the Aj)ostles , in the Divine 

Office, 153, 101 ; 
the Athanasiau, 102, 100. 
Cross, or crucifix, usually placed on 
or over the holy table. Used in 
Elizabeth s chapel, 123. 
Cutler (Timothy), of Yale College, 
283. 

DAILY PRAYERS, in primitive times, 
141; 
origin of the English forms, 

159. 

Dalmatic, a silk tunic, originally 
with large sleeves, afterwards 
reduced in size ; worn by the 
deacon at solemn Eucharists : 
except (i) in Advent, from 
Septuagesima to Maundy Thurs 
day, when a folded chasuble is 
wo rn, and (ii) Good Friday, 
Vigils, lesser Masses of the dead, 
and Ember Days (not those in 
Whitsuntide), when only the alb, 
amice, stole and maniple are 
worn. 

! Deacons, ordination of, 250. 
Dead, prayers for the, 

in primitive worship, 237 ; 
in medieval worship, 238 ; 
in reformed worship, 240. 



322 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



Declaration about kneeling at Com 
munion, otherwise called the 
Black Rubric, inserted by Privy 
Council in 1552, 108 ; expunged 
in 1559, 120; modified by Dr. 
Gunning so as to sanction the 
doctrine of the Real Presence, 
and then inserted again in 1662, 
Appendix D. 

Deer, Book of, 39. 

Deprecations of the Litany, 180. 

Didachc, or Teaching of the Twelve 
Apostles, 2, 184. 

Dimma, Book of, 39. 

Diptychs, tablets on which were 
inscribed the names of the living 
and the dead commemorated in 
the liturgy, 26, 28, 32, 33. 

Directory, the, established by 
Parliament (1645), 132. 

Dirge or Dirige, 71. 

Dismissals, of those not qualified, 
24, 57 ; 

of the faithful, 30, 63. 

Divine Office, the daily service at 
the canonical hours, 69, 148. 

Double, or Duplex, a festival on 
which the Divine Office was origi 
nally recited twice, 150. 

Dowden, Dr. (Bishop of Edin 
burgh), on the antiphon In the 
midst of life, 240. 

Durel, his version of the Prayer 
Book, 298. 

EDWARD VI. , Reformation under, 81. 
Elevation of the Host, before 
Communion, 11, 29 ; 
immediately after consecra 
tion, 59, 95, 113 ; 

Elizabeth, uses First Prayer Book 
in her own chapel, 113 ; 

wishes to restore it universally, 

114; 
alterations made in the Prayer 

Book, 119 ; 
Advertisements under (1566), 

122; 
ceremonial of her chapel, 113, 

123. 

Ember Days (in German Quatcm- 
Lcr), a corruption of the Latin 
Quatuor Tempora, the fasts of 
the four seasons, the Wednes 
day, Friday and Saturday after i 



the first Sunday in Lent, after 
the feast of Pentecost, after 
September 14, and after Decem 
ber 13. 

Embolismos, 28, 34, 35, 60. 
Epiklesis, the prayer for the 
descent of the Holy Ghost in the 
Eastern liturgies, 34, 303 ; 
the Western forms of, 27, 35, 

97, 280, 307, Appendix C. 
Espousals, anciently preceded mar 
riage, 218. 

Eucharist, before S. Augustine, 1 ; 
from S. Augustine to the 

Reformation, 36. 

Evening Prayer, formed from the 
German service of Schleswig- 
Holstein, based on Vespers and 
Compline, 161. 

Exorcism, in old baptismal offices, 
187, 193 ; 

in the First Prayer Book, 195. 
Extreme Unction, ancient rites of, 
226; 

retained in Prayer Book of 

1549, 227 ; 
dropped by Armenian Uniates, 

228; 

retained by Scottish Episco 
palians, 228. 

FABSED (i.e. interpolated) chants, 
55, 68. 

Feria, an ordinary week-day, as 
distinguished from a feast-day. 

Ferial prayers, 164. 

Festival or Feast : according to 
Sarum use there are two ranks 
of festivals called respectively 
double and simple, the 
former being divided into four 
classes. The festivals which now 
are to be observed in the Church 
of England are all doubles, and 
unlike most of the black letter 
holy days, they are days on 
which an attendance at the 
Eucharist was regarded as a 
necessary duty. 

Fraction, the ceremonial breaking 
of the bread, 29, 61, 135, 312. 

Frankfurt, troubles at, in reference 
to Prayer Book, 112. 

French translations of the Prayer 
Book, 297, 298. 



INDEX 



323 



GALLICAN RITE, 18, 21, 33 : 

its influence on the Roman, IS, 

30, 169, 262. 

Gelasius (Po{&gt;e), his Sacramentary 
so-called, 37 : 

Otlice for Catechumens, 190 ; 
for Baptism, 191 ; 
for Confirmation, lite ; 
for Penitents, 249 ; 
for Ordination, 258. 
Gifts, the oblations of bread and I 

wine, 97, !tt), 287, 292. 
Girdle, a cord employed to secure 
the alb : formerly the girdle was 
often in the form of a long narrow 
band. 
Gloria in cjccilsis, 21, 55 ; 

in the First Prayer Hook, 95 ; 
in the American Prayer Book, 

287. 

Good Friday, the ancient service 
for this day was one of instruc- I 
tion and prayer, resembling a 
Mass of the Catechumens. The 
service at Milan is still of this , 
tvpc. Afterwards was added | 
the Adoration or Veneration , 
of the Cross and the Mass of the 
Presanctified. The Roman ser 
vice in the eighth century was of 
severe simplicity. The reserved i 
Sacrament in both kinds was 
brought from the sacristy to the ! 
altar by the deacons, and priest ] 
and people communicated, each j 
adoring and kissing the cross 
before so doing. The service was 
afterwards changed by the intro- ; 
duction of a more ornate proces- 
sion and Adoration of the 
Cross, and by the gradual alwin- 
donment of a general communion. 
&lt;!radfit&lt;- or Grudnalc, 22, 56, 68. 
Gradual Psalms, 70. 
Gregory (Pope), the Great, 

his Sacramentary so-called, 37 ; l 
his advice to S. Augustine, i?!). 
Guest, appointed to revise the i 

Praver Book (1559), 114. 
Gunning (Bishop), alters the Black 
Rubric, Appendix D. 

HAPDON (WALTER), 

his Latin version of the Prayer 
Book (1560), 124; 



retains reservation of the 

Sacrament, 124, 235. 
Hampton Court, Conference at 

(1661). 129. 

Henry VIII., Reformation under, 66; 

the. King s Primer, 75 ; a 

Necessary Doctrine and 

Erudition, the Kiny s Jluok, 

7&gt;. 

Hereford use, 66, 295. 
Hermann (von Wied), Archbishop 
of Coin, 

his Consultation, 83, 177, 1%, 

222, 240. 

High Mass, the old English name 
of a solemn celebration of the 
Eucharist, celebrated with deacon, 
sub-deacon and choir, and usually 
with incense. There is a corre 
sponding name in Flemish, but 
the German is Hodutmt or High 
service. .SVf 55. 

Hilsey (Bishop), Primer of, 74, 177. 
Hooper (Bishop), and the First 

Prayer Book, H&gt;5. 
Host or Hnxtin, offering, i.e. the 
broad, whether consecrated or un- 
consecrated.used in theEucharist, 
99, 124. 

Hours, the Canonical, of the Divine 
Ollice, 70. 148, 152; 

of the Blessed Virgin, 70 ; 
the Lesser (sometimes called 
simply the Hours ), are 
Prime. Terce, Sext, None. 
Housel, the Blessed Sacrament, an 
old English word derived from 
a Saxon word signifying oblation 
or sacrifice. 

Houselling cloth, a linen cloth 
spread before communicants ; 
still used at S. Mary s Church. 
Oxford : used in Elizabeth s 
chapel, 123. 

Il/atio, the proper Preface in the 

Mozarahic liturgy. 
Immersion in Baptism, 184, 192, 

200. 

Incense, Old Roman use of, 23 ; 
later use of, 36, 311 ; 
after the Reformation, 120. 
Intercession, the great, the prayer 

for the Church, recited in the 

Anaphora, 11, 14, 27, 34, 293. 



324 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



Intercessions of the Litany, 180. 

Interim, of Leipsig, p. ix. ; of 
Augsburg, 296. 

Introit. See Officium. 

Invitatory, the refrain to Venitc at 
Mattins, e.g. on Easter Day 
Alleluya, Alleluya: Christ has 
risen to-day ; Alleluya, Alleluya ; 
on Ascension Day Alleluya: 
Christ ascending into heaven, 
come, let us worship ; Alleluya. 

Invocation of the Holy Spirit. See 
Epiklesis. 

Invocation of saints, two meanings 
of the term, 76 ; 
in the Litany, 175. 

Ireland, Gallican rite in, 18, 39 ; 
Sarum rite in, 41 ; 
Prayer Book in, 125, 288. 

Irish Gaelic, Bible in, 126 ; 
Prayer Book in, 126. 

JAMES (S.), the liturgy of, 14. 

James I., revision of Prayer Book 
under, 128 ; 

his relation to the Church in 
Scotland, 276. 

Journal, or Diurnalc, the book con 
taining the offices of the day 
hours only : Diurnale of Qui- 
fiones, 158. 

Jumieges, Robert of, his Missal, 40. 

Justin Martyr, his account of the 
Eucharist, 4 ; of Baptism, 185. 

Kalendarium, Sarum, 152. 

Kiss of peace, 5, 10, 26, 32, 35, 60. 

Kneeling at Communion, 108, 128. 

See Appendix D. 
Knox (John), his connection with 

the Marian exiles, 112 ; with the 

Scottish Reformation, 276. 
Kyric cleison, in the Eucharist, 21, 

55; 

in the Divine Office, 166, 167 ; 
in the Litany, 175. 

LASKI, or A Lasco (John), Polish 
Zwinglian, stays with Cranmer, 
105. 

Latin Prayer Book, translated by 
Ales, 124 ; 

by Haddon, 124 ; 
used in Ireland, 125 ; 
translated by Durel (1670). 



Laud, assists in preparing Prayer 

Book for Scotland, 131, 277. 
Lauds, the service of, 144, 149, 153, 

166. 

Lay Folk s Mass Book, 64. 
Lections, in Old Roman Office, 149 ; 
corrupted, 154 ; 
improved by Quinones, 158. 
Lent, origin of, 249. 
Leofric, Missal of, 40, 262, 271. 
Lessons, in English, 80 ; influenced 

by Quinones, 162. 
Lights, on the altar, usually two in 
number, illegally prohibited in 
1549, 88; at the Gospel, 23, 
56. 
Lincoln use, based on that of Sarum, 

described, 56. 
Litany, the, 168. 

Liturgy, the celebration of the 
Eucharist, or the formula em 
ployed in such celebration, 1, 8, 
20, 32. 

Lord s Supper, Cocna Domini, a 
mediseval term for the Eucharist 
retained by the English reformers, 
53, 87. 

Lord s table, 53, 269. 
Low Mass, late origin of, 53. 
Lutheran influence on the Prayer 
Book, 

on Communion service, 83, 108 ; 

on Mattins and Evensong, 160 ; 

on the Litany, 176 ; 

on Baptismal Office, 196 ; 

on Marriage Office, 222 ; 

on Ordinations, 256. 

MAMEBTUS, Bishop of Vienne, 169. 

Maniple, a band of silk resembling 

a very small stole, worn on the 

left arm of the celebrant, deacon, 

and sub-deacon. 

Manualc, the Book of the Occa 
sional Offices, 69. 
Mark (S.), the liturgy of, 17 ; 

litany on the day of, April 25, 

169. 

Marshall s Primer, 74, 177. 
Martyr (Peter), his influence in 

England, 104. 
Mass, origin of the term, 9 ; 

the mediaeval English Mass 
described, 53 ; Cranmer on, 
88. 



INDEX 



325 



Matrimony, solemnization of, 217. 

MattiiiH, "originally a name for 
Lands, but afterwards given to 
the Nocturnal Office, 139. 

Maundy Thursday, the Thursday 
before Easter, 

called in Latin Cociui Domini. 
The English name is from 
the Latin antiphon KI&lt;in- 
datiun notion, do roliis. The 
washing of the feet of the 
jK&gt;or on this day was con 
tinued by Elizabeth, 123; 
and some of the ceremonies 
are still retained in the royal 
chapel at Whitehall. 

Mnydestone (Clement), his Dinc- 
torinm, 155. 

Mcinoria or Memorial, consisting 
of Antiphon, Versicle, Response 
with collect, said at the close of 
Evensong anil Lauds. 

Milk and honev, given to the newly 
baptized, 18&lt;"j, 192. 

Millenary Petition (1003), .supposed 
to contain a thousand signatures, 
128. 

Af iiwi, 9. 

Mi*&lt;t Nnuticn, 252. 

Miffn Praesanctificatorwn, or Mass 
of the Presanctified, 1(5. In the 
East is sung on Wednesdays and 
Fridays in Lent, in the West 
only on Good Friday. &lt;SVr Good 
Friday. 

Mitre, worn by Cranmer after the 
introduction of the English ser 
vices at the consecration of Bishop 
Toy net, 311. 

Mixed chalice, the practice of mix 
ing water with the wine used at 
the Eucharist appears to date 
from aixistolic times ; is men 
tioned by Justin Martyr, 4 ; is 
retained in all Eastern liturgies 
except the Armenian : in ancient 
Western rites, 25, 20, 56* ; directed 
to be performed at the Offertory 
in the First Prayer Book, 87, and 
also in Seabury s liturgy : not 
directed in the present English 
and Scottish books, but has been 
frequently performed in Eng 
land since the Reformation ; was 
almost universal in the North 



of Scotland in the seventeenth 
century. 

Morning Prayer, the order of, 139. 

Mozaraoic liturgy. The ancient 
Gallican liturgy of Spain. The 
word is derived from an Arabic 
word which means those who 
assume the manners of Arabs, 
and the name Mozarabic was 
given to those Christians who 
lived under Arab rule in Spain. 
.SVf 19, 195, and Appendix C. 

Nocrt RN, 149, 153. 

Nocturnal Office, afterwards called 

Mattins, 144 tf. 
Nonjurors, Communion Office of, 

280. 
Niirnberg Lutheran service, 109, 

295. 

O, Antiphonac majorcs dc ; the 
Antiphons to Magnificat, sung 
on the nine days before Christ 
mas, each beginning with (). Tin- 
beginning of the first, O.SV/;mn- 
tin, remains in the English 
Kalendar. 

Oath of Supremacy, 118, 2(58. 

Oblations. The name oblation was 
in ancient times a title of the 
Eucharist. Later it was usually 
applied to the bread and wine 
offered before consecration. The 
word was inserted in the Prayer 
for the Church Militant in IDOL 
It may mean money as offered 
to God, as in the Scottish Office of 
1(537, but the phrase ah/in or ohln- 
tions in the rubric suggests that 
the oblations are not the alms. 

Obsecrations of the litany, 180. 

Offcrtorium, the antiphon (origi 
nally with a psalm), sung at the 
oblation of the elements. 

Office, the Divine, 09 ; 

of the Blessed Virgin, 71 ; 
of the Dead, 71 ; 
the modern, 151. 

Officinm or Introit, the antiphon 
and psalm at the beginning of 
Mass, 21, 55, 95. 

Order of the Communion (1548), 
82. 

Ordinal, the English, 253. 



326 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



Ordinale or Ordinal, of Sarum, 42, 
155. 

Ordinations, early Roman, 258, 
271; 

Gallican, 261, 271 ; 

late mediaeval, 263, 271 ; 

reformed, 265, 268. 
Ornaments rubric, in 1559, 120 ; in 
1661, 134. See also Appendix B. 

The chief Ornaments rubrics of 
1549 were as follows : 

(i) before the Mass Upon the 
day, and at the time ap 
pointed for the ministration 
of the holy Communion, the 
Priest that shall execute the 
holy ministry, shall put upon 
him the vesture appointed for 
that ministration, that is to 
say, a ivhitc Albc plain, ivith 
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 required: And shall 
have upon them likewise the 
vestures appointed, for their 
ministry, that is to say, Albes 
with tunicles. 

(ii) at the end of the book 
And whensoever the Bishop 
shall celebrate the holy Com 
munion in the church, or 
execute any other public 
ministration: he shall have 
upon him, beside his rochctte, 
a Surplice or albe, and a cope 
or vestment, and also his 
pastoral staff in his hand, or 
else borne or holden by his 
chaplain. 

Osmund (S.), his relation to the 
Sarum use, 41. 

Palla or Pall, the linen cloth used 
to cover the chalice, 63: the 
cloth used to cover a coffin is also 
so called. 

Parliament, prayer for High Court 
of, probably composed by Arch 
bishop Laud in 1625. 

Penance, 202, 249. 

Perambulation of parishes, 173. 

Pica or Pie, 155. 



Placebo, 71. 

Pontificate or Pontifical, 69, 265. 

Portiforium, English Latin name of 
the Breviary, 69, 152. 

Post-communion collect, 30, 35, 63, 
96. 

Prcces feriales, 164. 

Preface to the Prayer Book of 1549, 
from Quinones ; the present Pre 
face prefixed to it was written in 
1661. 

Presbyterians, 276. See also Puri 
tans. 

Priests, Ordination of, 256. 

Prime, the service of, 148, 152. 

Primer, 70 ; reformed, 71, 74, 80. 

Procession, 168, 170. 

Proper Prefaces. These were once 
very numerous, and are still in 
the Mozarabic rite. The Roman 
and mediaeval English rites have 
ten. The English rite now has 
five, three of great antiquity, and 
two (those for Christmas and 
Whitsunday) composed in 1549. 

Proprium Sanctorum, 152. 

Psalms, the vii. Penitential, 70 ; 
the xv. Gradual, 70 ; 
all originally said weeklv, 
149. 

Puritans, their objections to the 
Prayer Book, 128, 133. 

Pyxis or Pyx, the usual name in 
England for the vessel in which 
the Sacrament is reserved for the 
Communion of the Sick, though 
in modern times such a vessel is 
often called the ciborium. Some 
of the oldest pyxes were con 
structed for the reservation of 
the Sacrament in both kinds. See 
230. 

Quicunque milt, the Psalm, other 
wise called the Athanasian Creed, 
was probably composed in Gaul 
in Latin about A.I&gt;. 430. The 
reformers, believing the original 
to have been in Greek, used a 
Greek text as well as a Latin text 
in making their translation. For 
its use in England sec 162, 166. 

Quinones (Cardinal), compiles a re 
formed Roman breviary used by 
Cranmer, 157, 166, 167. 



INDEX 



327 



RATTRAY ( BISHOP), influence on 

Scottish liturgy, 280. 
Readers, order o f, appointed to re 
cite the lessons and responsory 
psalms, I), 147. 
Redditio symboli, 189, 191. 
Regeneration, bai)tismal, 1ft? ; 
Puritan objection to, 133. 
Requiem, the Mass for the dead, so 
named from the first word of the 
Introit : 

instance of, after the Reforma 
tion, 121. 

Reservation of the Blessed Sacra 
ment for the Communion of the 
Sick (1549), 95, 230; 

retained in Haddon s Latin 
Prayer Book (KM), 124, 
235; 

regarded as lawful in the seven 
teenth century, 235 ; 
retained by Scots Episco 
palians, 234. 

Respond or Respontorium, 149. 
Ridley (Bishop), his statements on 

the Eucharist, 93, 94. 
Ring, in Marriage, 222. 
Rochet, a shortened form of the 
alb. It is worn by bishops, and 
was anciently in England some 
times worn by canons and by 
boys. The episcopal rochet had 
sleeves rather larger than those of 
the alb, but much smaller than 
the hideous puffed sleeves worn 
by bishops in the eighteenth 
centurv. 
Rogation Days, 109. 



Sea, Form of Prayer for use at, 252. 

Seabury (Bishop), 285 ; 
his liturgy, 291. 

Second Prayer Book of Edward VI., 
IOC. 

Stcretu, 57. 

Xcqucntia or Sequence, 68. 

Serapion (Bishop of Thmuis), his 
book of prayers, 12, 227, 2G7. 

Service Books, names of medieval, 
07. 

Sick, Order for the Visitation of, 
j 224. 
i Spousage, tokens of, 220. 

Stole, a long narrow band of silk, 
worn over the alb or surplice : 
with the alb priests (twt bishops) 
cross it over the breast : deacons 
wear it over the left shoulder. 

Suffrages, petitions in the Litanv, 
171, 172, 257. 

Surplice, the ordinary dress of the 
clergy in choir. It is a .some 
what late media-val form of the 
alb, made with large sleeves in 
order to cover a thick dress of 
furs (supcr-pclliccnm). The old 
Italian surplice or cotta (the 
Italian name is simply our coat ) 
was very ample: the small cotta 
sometimes seen in England is 
the debased shape used in the 
eighteenth century, and is 
peculiarly incongruous when 
worn sid e by side with Gothic 
Eucharistic vestments. 

Sttrsum Cordti, first known use 
of, (J ; later use of, 34, 35. 



SACRAMENTARIES, heretics who re 
presented the Sacraments as men- 
symbols, 88. 

Sacramcntarium or Sacramentary, | 
an ancient service book, 07. 

Sacrifice, Eucharistic, 49 : 

in the First Prayer Book, 98. 

Saints, invocation of, 74, 70. 

Sancroft, 318. 

Sarum, use of, 41, 150. 

Savoy, Conference at the, 132. 

Scarf. 270. 

Scotland, the Prayer Book for 
(1637), 131, 277. 

Scottish Communion Office (1764), 
281, 291. 



Tc Dnnn. This hymn wascomixjsed 
about A. P. 400. It probably 
originally ended at the words 
glory everlasting, the remain 
ing verses having been an appen 
dage to the Greek morning hymn, 
the Gloria in rxcdsix. At Rome 
it was first used at the Nocturnal 
Office of the festivals of Popes ; 
in the use of Sarum it was sung 
at Mattins on Sundays and most 
feasts except in Advent and Lent. 

Tcnfbrar, the Mattins and Lauds 
of Thursday, Friday and Satur 
day before Easter. They were 
originally sung immediately after 



328 HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 



midnight. The present cere 
monies are French. 

Thanksgiving, general, in the daily 
service, was composed by Ed 
mund Reynolds, Bishop of Nor 
wich, in 1661. 

Tractus or Tract, 22, 33. 

Trisagion, 21, 33. 

Troper, 68. 

Tropus or Trope, 68. 

Tunica or Tunicle, a silk tunic re 
sembling the dalmatic, but in 
England sometimes plainer than 
the dalmatic ; worn by the sub- 
deacon at solemn Eucharists ; on 
occasions when the deacon wears 
no dalmatic, the sub-deacon wears 
either the folded chasuble or 
only the alb, amice and maniple. 

UNCTION, in Baptism, 185, 187, 194, 
196; 

in Confirmation, 213, 214 ; 
of the Sick, 226, retained in 

Scotland, 228 ; 
at Ordination, 262, 265, 271. 
Uniformity, the Acts of, 

Edward VI., 85; Second of, 

105; 
Elizabeth, 118 ; relation of the 

Church to, 123, 137 ; 
Charles II., 137. 
Unitarianism, in America, 285. 
Usages, the (nonjuror), 280. 

Veni Creator Spiritus, the hymn 
Come, Holy Ghost, composed 
in the ninth century, and after 
wards put in the Ordinal. The 
translation made by Cranmer for 
the Ordinal of 1550 is now placed 
second in our Ordinal. The first 
translation was inserted in 1661 
and is probably by Cosin. 

Vcnite, 149, 153, 161, 166. 

Versicles, 150, 166. 



Versions of the Prayer Book, 

in Latin, 124, 125, 235, 296, 

297; 

in Irish Gaelic, 126, 298 ; 
in Welsh, 126, 298 ; 
in Manx Gaelic, 246, 298, 299 ; 
in Scottish Gaelic, 281, 299 ; 
in French, 297, 298. 
Vespers, or Evensong, 146, 149, 

153, 161, 167. 

Vestment. This word ordinarily 
means the chasuble, or the 
chasuble with stole and maniple. 
Viaticum, or provision for the 
journey, the Holy Eucharist 
when administered to the dying, 
231. 

Vigil, 142, 146, 191. 
Visitation of the Sick, 224. 

WAFER BREAD, retained at the 
Reformation, 84, 122 ; 
in the seventeenth century, 

234. 
Wedderburne (Bishop), and the 

Scottish liturgy, 278. 
Westminster Confession, Presby 
terian, p. xiii., 298 ; 
denies the intermediate state, 

242. 
Whitsuntide, a solemn time for 

Baptism, 190. 
William III., commission to revise 

the Prayer Book, 137. 
Women, the Churching of, 246. 
Worship, meaning of, in the 

Marriage service, 220. 
Wren (Bishop), on the carrying of 
the Sacrament out of church, 
234; 

aids the Scottish liturgy, 278. 
Wyclif, his Bible, 78 ; 

upholds the Mass and criticises 
Mattins and Evensong, 156. 

YORK, the use of, 41. 



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MADAME LOUISE DK FRANCE, 
Daughter of Louis xv., known 



of the Order of St. Dominic. 

HENRI PERREYVK. By P&RE 
GRATRY. 

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES, Bishop and 
Prince of Geneva. 



THE REVIVAL OF PRIESTLY LIFE 
IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 



also as the Mother Terese de ,=. 

St. Augustin. 

A CHRISTIAN PAINTER OP THE 

A DOMINICAN ARTIST : a Sketch of VINFTKKNTH CKSTUKT 

the Life of the Rev. Pere Besson, h Y 



BOSSUET AND HIS CONTEMPORA 
RIES. 

FKNELON, ARCHBISHOP OP CAM- 

BRAI. 

HENRI DOMINIQUE LACORDAIRE. 
\continued. 



12 A SELECTION OF WORKS 



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[continued. 



IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 13 

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IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 15 



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V ^ Complttt List of Cardinal Newman * Works can be had on Application. 



16 A SELECTION OF WORKS 



Osborne. Works by EDWARD OSBORNE, Mission Priest of the 
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THE CHILDREN S SAVIOUR. Instructions to Children on the Life 
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THE SAVIOUR KING. Instructions to Children on Old Testament 
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THE CHILDREN S FAITH. Instructions to Children on the Apostles 
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Ottley. ASPECTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: being the 
Bampton Lectures for 1897. By ROBERT LAWRENCE OTTLEY, M.A., 
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Pusey House. 8vo. js. 6d. 

Ube foi fc Xibran? of practical ZEbeologg* 

PRODUCED UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF 

The Rev. W. C. E. NEWBOLT, M.A., Canon and Chancellor of 
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of the Pusey House, Oxford. 
The Price of each Volume will be Five Shillings, 

The following is a list of Volumes as at present proposed : 

RELIGION. By the Rev. W. C. E. NEWBOLT, M.A., Canon and 
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HOLY BAPTISM. By the Rev. DARWELL STONE, M.A., Principal 
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CONFIRMATION. By the Right Rev. A. C. A. HALL, D.D., 
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THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, By 

the Rev. LEIGHTON PULLAN, M.A., Fellow of St. John Baptist s 

College, Oxford. 
HOLY MATRIMONY. By the Rev. W. J. KNOX LITTLE, M.A., 

Canon of Worcester. 
THE HOLY COMMUNION. By the Rev. F. W. PULLER, M.A., 

Mission Priest of St. John Evangelist, Cowley. 

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIAL. By the Rev. F. E. BRIGHTMAN, 

M.A., Librarian of the Pusey House, Oxford. 

PRAYER. By the Rev. A. J. WORLLEDGE, M.A., Canon of Truro. 
VISITATION OF THE SICK. By the Rev. E. F. RUSSELL, M.A., 

St. Alban s, Holborn. 



CONFESSION and ABSOLUTION. 
FASTING and ALMSGIVING. 



DEVOTIONAL BOOKS and READING. 
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RETREATS, MISSIONS, ETC. I FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
CHURCH WORK. I THE BIBLE. 



IN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 17 



Outlines of Church Teaching: a Series of Instructions for 

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Use of Teachers. By C. C. G. With Preface by the Very Rev. 
FRANCIS FACET, D.D., Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Crown 8vo. 
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Oxenham. THE VALIDITY OF PAPAL CLAIMS: Lectuies 
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YORK. Crown 8zv. 2.f. 6&gt;f. 

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PercivaL THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS. Treated Theo 
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Pocket Manual of Prayers for the Hours, Etc. With the 

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Powell. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE INCARNATION. 

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POWELL, M.A. of Oriel College, Oxford ; Rector of Wylye and Pre 
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1 8 A SELECTION OF WORKS 



Pulian. Works by the Rev. LEIGHTON PULLAN, M.A., Fellow 

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THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF CpMMON PRAYER. Crown 
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SPIRITUAL LETTERS OF EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, 
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THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF DR. PUSEY. By the Author 

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THE THRESHOLD OF THE SANCTUARY: being Short Chapters 
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Rede THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: A Lost Link in the 
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Robinson. STUDIES IN THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST. 
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Reader in Hausa in the University of Cambridge. 

Romanes. THOUGHTS ON THE COLLECTS FOR THE 
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Rev. the BISHOP OF STEPNEY. i8mo. 2s. 6d ; gilt edges. 35. 6d. 

Sanday. Works by W. SANDAY, D.D., Margaret Professor of 
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THE CONCEPTION OF PRIESTHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 
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INSPIRATION : Eight Lectures on the Early History and Origin of 
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JN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 19 



Scudamore. STEPS TO THE ALTAR: a Manual of Devotion 
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Strange. INSTRUCTIONS ON THE REVELATION OF 

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Strong. Works by THOMAS B. STRONC., B.D., Student of Christ 
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Williams. Works by the Rev. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D. 

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A HARMONY OF THE FOUR EVAN 
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OUR LORD S MINISTRY (Third Year). 

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