The Absolution, or Remission of Sins, to be pronounced by the Priest alone, standing; the people still kneeling. Almighty God, the Father, &c. The people shall answer here, and at the end of all other prayers, Amen. Then the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer with an audible voice; the people also kneeling, and repeating it Then shall follow one or more of the Psalms appointed. And at the end of every Psalm throughout the year; and likewise at the end of Benedicite, Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc dimittis, shall be repeated, Glory be to the Father, &c. Then shall be read distinctly, with an audible voice, either the First Lesson taken out of the Old Testament as is appointed in the Calendar, or the Second Lesson taken out of the New Testament, except there be a Proper Lesson assigned for that day, in which case the Proper Lesson shall be read, and if there are two Proper Lessons each shall be read in its proper place; he that readeth so standing and turning himself as he may best be heard of all such as are present. Note that before every Lesson the Minister shall say, Here beginneth such a Chapter, or Verse of such a Chapter, of such a Book. And after every Lesson, Here endeth the Lesson, or the First or the Second Lesson. And after the Lesson, or between the First and Second Lessons, Or this Canticle, Benedicite, omnia opera. Or the Hymn following (except when that shall happen to be read in the Lesson for the day, or for the Gospel on Saint John Baptist's Day): Benedictus. St. Luke, i. 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, &c. Or this Psalm : Jubilate Deo. O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands, &c. Then shall be sung or said the Apostles' Creed by the Minister and the people standing. I believe in God the Father Almighty, &c. And after that, the people all devoutly kneeling, the Minister shall pronounce with a loud voice, The Lord be with you. Answer. And with thy spirit. Then shall follow three Collects. The first of the day, which O God, who art the Author of peace, &c. O Lord, our heavenly Father, &c. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. "THE SHORTENED ORDER FOR EVENING PRAYER DAILY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, EXCEPT ON SUNDAY, CHRISTMAS DAY, ASH WEDNESDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, AND ASCENSION DAY. At the beginning of Evening Prayer the Minister shall read with a loud voice some one or more of these sentences of the Scriptures that follow: When the wicked man, &c. A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all kneeling. Almighty and most merciful Father, &c. The Absolution, or Remission of Sins, to be pronounced by the Priest alone, standing; the people still kneeling. Almighty God, the Father, &c. Then the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer; the people also kneeling, and repeating it with him. Our Father, which art in heaven, &c, Then shall be said or sung one or more of the Psalms in order as they be appointed. Then either a Lesson of the Old Testament as is appointed, or a Lesson of the New Testament as it is appointed, except there be a proper Lesson assigned for that day, in which case the Proper Lesson shall be read, and if there are two Proper Lessons each shall be read in its proper place and after the Lesson, or between the First and Second Lessons, shall be said or sung in English one of the following: Either Magnificat, or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in English, as follows: Magnificat. St. Luke, i. My soul doth magnify the Lord, &c. Or this Psalm (except it be on the nineteenth day of the month, when it is read in the ordinary course of the Psalms) : Cantate Domino. Psalm xcviii. O sing unto the Lord a new song, &c. Or Nunc dimittis (or the Song of Simeon), as followeth : Lord, now lettest thou thy servant, &c. Or else this Psalm (except it be on the twelfth day of the month): Deus misereatur. Psalm lxvii. God be merciful unto us, and bless us, &c. Then shall be said or sung the Apostles' Creed by the Minister and the people, standing: I believe in God the Father Almighty, &c. And after that, the people all devoutly kneeling, the Minister shall pronounce with a loud voice, The Lord be with you. Answer. And with thy spirit. Then shall follow three Collects. The first of the day; the second for peace; the third for aid against all perils, as hereafter followeth; which two last Collects shall be daily said at Evening Prayer without alteration. The second Collect at Evening Prayer. O God, from whom all holy desires, &c. Here may follow an Anthem or Hymn. A Prayer of Saint Chrysostome. Almighty God, who hast given us grace, &c. 2 Corinthians, xiii. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. Here endeth the Shortened Order of Evening Prayer." SECT. 7.-Performance of Divine Service. The law of the Church of England, as has been said, requires Law as to the performance of daily service in the morning and evening. daily service. In this respect, as in others, there appears to be a discrepancy between the rubric and the canons. There still appears to be good reason for the opinion, notwithstanding the judgment of the Privy Council in Hebbert v. Purchas (f), that the former overrides the latter authority. By the preface to the Book of Common Prayer: "All priests and deacons are to say daily the morning and evening prayer, either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some other urgent cause." And the curate that ministreth in every parish church or chapel, being at home, and not being otherwise reasonably hindered, shall say the same in the parish church or chapel where he ministreth, and shall cause a bell to be tolled thereunto, a convenient time before he begin, that the people may come to hear God's word, and to pray with him. By the rubric before the Common Prayer Book of the 2 In what Edw. 6, it was ordered thus: "The priest being in the quire, part of the shall begin with a loud voice the Lord's Prayer, called the church to be Paternoster." In the Quire.]-That is, in his own seat there, as the way was all Edward the Sixth's time; and as is still done in some churches but in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, reading desks began to be set up in the body of the church, and divine service to be read there, by appointment of the ordinaries, according to the power vested in them by the rubric of the 5 & 6 Edw. 6 (g). Shall begin.]-All that now goes before, viz., the sentences, exhortation, confession, and absolution, were first inserted in the second book of Edward the Sixth. By the rubric before the present common prayer: "The morning and evening prayer shall be used in the accustomed place of the church, chapel, or chancel: except it shall be otherwise determined by the ordinary of the place." (f) Vide supra, pp. 707, 719. (g) Gibs. p. 297. performed. In what language. Canon 14. Common prayer to be used on holidays. Canon 15. Litany on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is declared by Art. 24 of the Thirty-nine Articles to be "plainly repugnant to the word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have public prayer in the church, or to minister the sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people." By 2 & 3 Edw. 6, c. 1, s. 6, any man that understands Greek, Latin, or Hebrew, "or other strange tongue," may say Mattins and Evensong in "Latin or any such other tongue." And in the chapels of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge "in their common and open prayer," "mattens, evensong, litany, and all other prayers, the Holy Communion commonly called the Mass excepted," may be used in Greek, Latin, or Hebrew. By 14 Car. 2, c. 4, s. 14, "the morning and evening prayer and all other prayers and service prescribed in and by the said book," may be used in the Chapels of Colleges and Halls in the two Universities, in the Colleges of Westminster, Winchester and Eton, and in the Convocations of the Clergy, in Latin. Queen Elizabeth issued letters patent authorizing a Latin translation of the Prayer Book (h). By 14 Car. 2, c. 4, s. 23, the Bishops of Hereford, St. David's, Asaph, Bangor and Llandaff, and their successors were to have the Prayer Book translated into Welsh, and wherever in these dioceses Welsh is the common language, service is to be had in the Welsh tongue (i). By Can. 14 of 1603, "The common prayer shall be said or sung distinctly and reverently upon such days as are appointed to be kept holy by the Book of Common Prayer, and their eves, and at convenient and usual times of those days, and in such places of every church, as the bishop of the diocese or ecclesiastical ordinary of the place shall think meet for the largeness or straitness of the same so as the people may be most edified. All ministers likewise shall observe the orders, rites, and ceremonies prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer, as well in reading the holy Scriptures and saying of prayers, as in administration of the sacraments, without either diminishing in regard of preaching, or in any other respect, or adding any thing in the matter or form thereof." By Can. 15, "The litany shall be said or sung when, and as is set down in the Book of Common Prayer, by the parsons, vicars, ministers or curates, in all cathedral, collegiate and parish churches and chapels, in some convenient place, according to the discretion of the bishop of the diocese, or ecclesiastical ordinary of the place; and that we may speak more particularly (h) See 1 Cardwell, Doc. Ann. p. 280. (i) Provision was made by 5 Eliz. c. 28, for translating the Bible into Welsh. As to, the provision of English services also in Welshspeaking parts of Wales, vide supra, p. 252. As to requiring a knowledge of Welsh of a Welsh incumbent, vide supra, p. 325. |