Read Ebook: Ritual Conformity Interpretations of the Rubrics of the Prayer-Book Agreed Upon by a Conference Held at All Saints Margaret-street 1880-1881 by Compton Berdmore Contributor

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When the Name of the Lord JESUS is pronounced, the inclination of the head should not be neglected, nor superseded by any other gesture; it being the ancient English usage, directed by the 18th Canon to be continued as the accustomed form of due and lowly reverence to the Holy Name.

The mutual salutation is to be said, both Priest and people standing; the people kneeling down while the Priest says, 'Let us pray.'

The number of Collects is fixed at three, as a general rule, to which exceptions are made by other rubrics, as in Lent and Advent, &c. If the Minister uses the discretion of saying, after the Collects of Morning or Evening Prayer, one of the six Collects provided at the end of the Order of Holy Communion, it is proper to say it before the two invariable Collects.

A comparison of other rubrics in the Prayer-Book shews that the words 'all kneeling,' often apply to the congregation only, to the exclusion of the Minister; and as the universal rule up to 1662 was that the officiant, if a Priest, should stand for the Versicles and Collects, it is probable that such is the interpretation of this direction, especially as it is absent from the corresponding place at Evening Prayer.

The 'two last' of these prayers are not to be read at Morning Prayer on Litany days, inasmuch as they are then read the Litany, instead of at Morning Prayer.

THE ORDER FOR

EVENING PRAYER,

DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

See notes on the Rubrics of Morning Prayer for the corresponding Rubrics of Evening Prayer.

AT MORNING PRAYER.

The Athanasian Creed being a Psalm or Hymn, as well as a Confession of Faith, may properly be recited antiphonally as a Psalm, and turning eastward as a Creed.

THE LITANY.

There is no direction in this rubric, as to the place where the Litany is sung or said; but it is clear from the rubrics of the Commination Service, that it must be distinct from the 'Reading Pew,' or from the place usually occupied by the Minister during Morning and Evening Prayer. From the old Injunctions we learn that it was to be 'in the midst of the church;' in most churches below the chancel-steps. The Minister may exercise his discretion in using a special desk.

In the Injunctions of 1547 and 1559, and in the Communion Office of the Prayer-Book of 1549, the Litany was enjoined to be sung immediately before the Communion. Our present rubric does not insist upon the connexion with the Communion.

The liberty of using it as a separate service, and of combining it with a sermon, or with other services than Morning Prayer, is recognized and confirmed by the Convocations of Canterbury and York, in their report upon which the Act of Uniformity Amendment Act 1872 was framed, enacting the same.

Each of the four opening invocations should be separately sung or said by the people, after it has been completely sung or said by the person officiating. The same should be done with the concluding invocations, 'Son of God' &c., and with the lesser Litany preceding the Lord's Prayer.

PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS,

UPON SEVERAL OCCASIONS,

To be used before the two final Prayers of the Litany, or of Morning and Evening Prayer.

PRAYERS.

This prayer should ordinarily be reserved for occasions of a penitential character.

It seems most conformable to the rubric to mention the names of those who desire the prayers of the congregation, in substitution for the word 'those' in the parenthesis. But the names, especially when numerous, are commonly given out either before the five prayers at morning or evening prayer, or immediately before this prayer.

THANKSGIVINGS.

The use of the Thanksgivings in the Litany is permitted, when desirable, but is not enjoined.

The 'General Thanksgiving' for general use, as well as the occasional thanksgivings for occasional use, is to be said by the Minister alone.

It is observable that the words 'return praise,' in contrast with the words 'prayers of the congregation,' in the prayer for all conditions of men, implies the presence of those who desire to return thanks.

THE COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS

TO BE USED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

The Holy-days which have no vigil or eve, and therefore do not fall under this rule, are Ash-Wednesday and Good Friday. The Circumcision, Epiphany, Conversion of St. Paul, St. Mark, St. Philip and St. James, St. Barnabas, St. Michael, St. Luke, have no vigils, but having eves, the Collect is to be said the evening before.

St. Stephen, St. John the Evangelist, and Holy Innocents, have neither vigil nor eve, but the Collects are generally said the evening before, in addition to the proper collect for the day.

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

SAINT STEPHEN'S DAY.

THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST.

For the precedence of these Collects, see note on Rubric 6.

The first Day of Lent, commonly called ASH-WEDNESDAY.

EASTER-DAY.

See note on rubric 25, p. 16.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

If there be twenty-six Sundays after Trinity, the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, should be used on the twenty-fifth Sunday. If there be twenty-seven Sundays, the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany should be used on the twenty-fifth Sunday, and the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, on the Twenty-sixth Sunday.

THE ORDER OF THE

ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER,

HOLY COMMUNION.

The object of this rubric, when introduced in 1549, was to provide some corrective of the lax practice of the un-reformed Church in admission of unworthy persons to Communion. In this view, the Curate should be informed of the names of intending Communicants, in order that he may deal with the cases of scandal referred to in the second paragraph, and with the cases of enmity referred to in the third. The main reason of the Church's action herein is the danger of profanation of the Lord's Table by the presence of unworthy Communicants. A second reason is the danger of injury to the consciences of the congregation by wounding their sense of corporate responsibility for individual wrong-doing. A third is the spiritual interest of the offenders themselves, viz., in the words quoted with approval by Hooker , "not to strike them with the mortal wound of excommunication, but to stay them rather from running desperately headlong into their own harm, and not to sever from Holy Communion any but such as are either found culpable by their own confession, or have been convicted in some public Court." The mode of the Curate's action was intended by the rubric to be admonition previous and private. The first paragraph indicates the duty of the people, not of the Curate, giving him the opportunity of admonition, but throwing upon them the responsibility of the decision whether or no to present themselves.

The word 'fair,' applied to the white linen cloth in the fourth paragraph of this rubric, means 'beautiful,' and does not exclude adornment with embroidery.

The words 'upon it' require the cloth to lie upon the Mensa, or upper surface of the Table, but do not require the whole Table to be covered or enveloped therewith. The linen cloth is to be laid upon the covering described in Canon 82 as 'a carpet of silk or other decent stuff.'

Bishop Cosin states that "among the Ornaments of the Church that were then in use, the setting of two lights upon the Communion Table or Altar was one appointed by the King's Injunctions, set forth about that time, and mentioned or ratified by the Act of Parliament here named ." If it be contended that Bishop Cosin is wrong in his opinion that the Injunctions were obligatory, we are thrown back upon the universal custom of the Catholic Church, which undoubtedly required lights to be used on the Altar for the office of Holy Communion.

One Priest only is here spoken of as celebrating: there is no authority for a change of the celebrant in the course of the Service; and only extraordinary contingencies of the gravest kind were anciently regarded as sufficient cause for such a change. Special provision is made for exceptions to this principle, in the pronouncing the Absolution by the Bishop, if officially present, and for the making the General Confession 'by one of the Ministers.' The Epistle and Gospel are also permitted to be read by Assistant Ministers, in accordance with customary usage recognised in the 24th Canon. The assistance of other Clergy may also be required for administration of the Elements.

Lay Assistants are not mentioned in this rubric, but the principle of assistance to the 'principal Minister' being recognized in the twenty-fourth Canon, there can be no objection to the ancient practice of employing clerks or choristers for other purposes than singing.

The term 'north side,' whatever was its origin , acquired a meaning during the changes made in the substitution of Moveable Tables for fixed Altars about the year 1552, which determines its interpretation to exclude the north end. In those churches where the Table was placed with its long sides north and south, the Priest moved with the table, and stood at the same part of it as he had stood in the use of it as an altar, that is, at the centre of one of the long sides, though he no longer faced the same part of the Church, and now looked to the south instead of the east. But when Archbishop Laud pressed the restoration of the table to its ancient position,--a restoration which has become universal,--the question at once arose as to the position of the celebrant, and some of the High Church clergy placed themselves at the north end of the table placed 'altarwise,' alleging that they were in this manner conforming to the rubric. They were at once met with the reply that 'side' and 'end' were not convertible terms, and it was urged that the rubric could not be complied with at all, unless the table were set with its long sides north and south. It is thus clear that the use of the end was disputed from the first, and treated as an untenable innovation. Now that the altars are universally placed so that only one of the long sides is accessible, the rubric can only be literally complied with by the celebrant standing at the northern portion of that side.

It seems, however, absurd that when the altar is restored to its place, the Priest should not be restored to his. It is further to be noted that the regarding the word 'north' rather than the word 'side,' and the placing the Priest at the north end of the altar, has the disadvantage of making the practice of the English Church unlike that of all the rest of Christendom. For all the ancient historical Churches place the celebrant in front of the altar, while the Protestant sects, even those that seat the communicants round the table, place the Minister at the centre of a side, and not at one end.

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