6] ST. LEONARD, Deacon and CONFESSOR.-This saint was in his youth a nobleman of high station in the court of Clovis I., King of France. Being converted by St. Remigius, he resolved to embrace the religious life, notwithstanding the earnest importunity of the King. After remaining some time in the monastery of Micy, near Orleans, he retreated to a hermitage in a forest near Limoges, converting many as he went along. He was not allowed to remain here in solitude; for many hearing of his fame flocked to him, and eventually a monastery arose on the spot, over which he presided, and which was endowed by the King with a great part of the surrounding forest. He always took a great interest in prisoners and captives; and it is said that King Clovis granted him the privilege of releasing all whom he deemed worthy. Hence he became the patron of prisoners. He died in peace A.D. 599, and became very famous both in France and in England. He is sometimes represented as a deacon, and sometimes as a Benedictine abbot, with pastoral staff and book. Often he has chains or fetters in his hands, or a prisoner chained near him. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. Ecclus. xxxix. 5-9. St. Luke xi. 33-36.]

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11] ST. MARTIN, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR.-St. Martin was the son of a Roman military tribune in Constantine's army, and was born in Hungary about A.D. 316. He became a catechumen while yet a child, and was compelled to enter the army in his fifteenth year, but nobly gave away in alms the whole of his pay except what he required for his subsistence. The well-known story of his dividing his military cloak with his sword, and giving half to a poor naked beggar at the gate of Amiens, is recorded by St. Sulpicius. It is said that he afterwards saw in a dream our Lord in the half of the cloak he had given to the poor man, and thought he heard Him say, "Martin, who is but a catechumen, hath covered Me with this garment." This dream at once determined him to receive holy Baptism, being about eighteen years old. Two years after this he sought his discharge, but being reproached with cowardice, he offered to face the enemy unarmed at the head of his troop, protected only by the sign of the Cross. Peace ensuing, he was released from further service. He then retired into solitude, from which he was withdrawn by St. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, who wished to ordain him deacon, but he would only consent at that time to be an exorcist. While on his way to visit his parents he was attacked by robbers, one of whom was converted on the spot. His mother and many of his countrymen were also converted, but his father remained a Pagan. He now met with great persecution from the Arians, who being at the height of their power, had succeeded in expelling St. Hilary from his bishopric, A.D. 356. St. Martin retired into solitude near Genoa, but about A.D. 360 rejoined St. Hilary, who had been restored to his see, and founded a monastery, said to have been the first in Gaul. The see of Tours becoming vacant, he was obliged against his will to accept it, but he determined to live a hermit's life notwithstanding. This, as in the case of St. Leonard, ended in his gathering around him a large number of recluses, which led to the establishment of one of the largest abbeys in France. St. Martin died November 8th, A.D. 397, and was buried at Cande, a monastery at the extremity of his diocese. [See July 4th.] St. Martin's cope (cappa) used to be carried into battle, and kept in a tent where Mass was said; hence the origin of the term capella, as applied to places for religious services other than parish churches. In process of time, a blue banner, divided to represent St. Martin's cloak, was carried instead, until it in turn was eclipsed by the famous Oriflamme, or banner of St. Denys. The ancient Gauls held St. Martin in such veneration that they even reckoned their years from the day of his death. "Martinmas" is still one of the four Cross-quarter days, coinciding with the Roman Vinalia; hence, perhaps, the origin of Martinmas festivities. There are no less than 160 churches dedicated to St. Martin in England alone, and he was still more popular in France. He is generally represented divid ing his cloak with the beggar. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17. 20, 21-23; xlv. 6, 7. 15, 16. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]

13] ST. BRITIUS, BISHOP.-St. Britius, or Brice, was an inmate of the religious house presided over by St. Martin, but gave much offence by his irregularities of conduct. St. Martin, however,

seeing in him the germ of good, ordained him deacon and priest, and foretold that he would one day succeed him in the see of Tours. Before the death of St. Martin a crisis came about in the spiritual life of Britius. Having been severely rebuked by his master, he reviled him in return, but soon repented, and bitterly lamented his former evil ways. On the death of St. Martin he was elected to succeed him, but his former sins were visited on him in this world, for he was grossly slandered, and banished from his see for seven years. He then returned, and remained in quiet possession for seven years more, after which he died, A.D. 444. He was buried near to St. Martin, in a chapel which he had himself built over the tomb of his spiritual father. He is represented as a Bishop with a child in his arms, or with burning coals in his hands or chasuble, in allusion to the belief that he was the first to undergo the Fiery Ordeal which afterwards became so general among Northern nations. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Wisd. x. 10-14. St. Luke xix. 12-28.]

15] ST. MACHUTUS, BISHOP.-This saint, known also as St. Malo, (a Welshman,) was baptized and educated by the Irish Abbot of a monastery in the valley of Llan Carvan, where he was born. During the civil commotions of the age he fled into Brittany, and there led an ascetic life in an island, whence he used to go and preach to the pagans on the mainland. About A.D. 541 he was appointed Bishop of Aleth, but was driven by persecution to take refuge in Aquitaine. In his old age he was enabled to visit his people again, and give them his blessing. He died A.D. 564, while on his way to visit St. Leontius, Archbishop of Saintes, who had befriended him in his exile. The town of St. Malo is named from his body having once rested there. He is represented as a Bishop, with a child at his feet. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17. 20-23; xlv. 6, 7. 15, 16. St. Luke xix. 12-28.] 17] Hugh, Bp. oF LINCOLN.-St. Hugh, or Hugh de Grenoble, was born of a noble Burgundian family, A.D. 1140. Ordained at the age of nineteen, he joined the Carthusians, or Reformed Benedictines, and about A.D. 1181 came to preside over the first Carthusian monastery in Britain, at Witham, in Somersetshire, at the request of its royal founder, Henry II. Five years after, the see of Lincoln having been long vacant, the King directed the dean and chapter to elect a new bishop, and to his great satisfaction they decided on the Prior of Witham. He reluctantly accepted his new office; but, once consecrated, discharged his episcopal duties in a most exemplary manner, yearly retiring, however, to his old monastery, and living as a brother, with no other distinction than the episcopal ring. He was overtaken by his last illness on his way back, after one of these visits, and died Nov. 17, A.D. 1200, as the clergy were singing the Compline Nunc Dimittis in his presence. He was solemnly buried in Lincoln Minster, a great part of which had been built under his direction; and two years afterwards his body was translated to the shrine behind the high altar. He is represented in the Carthusian habit, with cope,' mitre, and pastoral staff, and has the swan by his side, or three flowers in his hand, or is defended from lightning by an angel. It is a curious fact that in some Lincolnshire churchwardens' accounts, of the time of Queen Elizabeth, are frequent entries relative to ringing the bells on the 17th of November, the anniversary of her accession, but that it is almost always called St. Hugh's Day. In Clee Church is a venerable memorial of St. Hugh in the original dedication inscription: H ECCL'IA . DEDICATA E IN HONORE S'CE T'NITATIS ET S'CE MARIE V III°. N' MARTII A DNO⚫ HVGONE LINCOLNIE'SI EP'O ANNO AB. I'CARNACIONE. DNI. M CXCII°TE'PORE· RICARDI· REGIS. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xlv. 1-5. St. Mark xiii. 33-37.]

20] ST. EDMUND, KING AND MARTYR.-This Saxon saint was born A.D. 841, and was crowned King of East Anglia in the fourteenth year of his age. He lived a most saintly life; and restored the churches and monasteries that had been destroyed in the recent wars. About A.D. 870, the Danes made an incursion on our eastern shores, ravaging churches and monasteries wherever they came. Edmund gave them battle, but finding it a hopeless case, fled to a church, and earnestly prayed for constancy in the sufferings which he saw impending. The Danes dragged him

Her husband Valerian had been converted through her, and suffered martyrdom with her, A.D. 230, or, according to some, about fifty years earlier. A church was dedicated to her honour at Rome early in the sixth century, and still gives a title to a Cardinal. It appears pretty certain that her body was discovered there A.D. 1599. The "Acts of St. Cecilia" describe her as having been frequently employed in music, and accordingly she is represented singing, and playing on a small organ or other instrument. She is also figured as being scalded to death in a caldron, or holding a sword as well as a musical instrument. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44—52.] 23] ST. CLEMENT, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR.-We know very little about the early history of St. Clement, but he has

always been believed to be the "fellow-labourer" mentioned by St. Paul (Phil. iv. 3) as having his name "written in the Book of Life." From his having been contemporary with the Apostles, he is reckoned among the "Apostolical Fathers," and is called "Clemens Romanus," to distinguish him from Clement of Alexandria. In A.D. 91 he was made third Bishop of Rome, where he remained through the persecution of Domitian. About A.D. 96, the year of this tyrant's death, St. Clement wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians, which was publicly read in the Churches, and for a long time esteemed almost equally with the Canonical Epistles. He probably suffered under Trajan, about A.D. 100, being cast into the sea bound to an anchor, which is his distinguishing emblem, as may be seen in several parts of the church and parish of St. Clement Danes, in the Strand, London. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp. : Phil. iv. 1–3. St. Luke xix. 12—28.]

25] ST. KATHARINE, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.-There is very little reliable information respecting St. Katharine, but she has always been highly venerated in both East and West. She is said to have been royally descended, and of great learning and ability, so that she confuted even heathen philosophers, with whom she had to dispute before Maximin the Emperor, and was the means of their conversion. They, confessing Christ, were burnt to death, but the saintly woman was reserved for a further trial. Refusing to sacrifice her chastity to the lust of the tyrant, she was first torn on spiked wheels, and then slain with a sword. In the eighth century her body was translated to the monastery of Mount Sinai by holy monks, who in medieval legends were transformed into angels. St. Katharine is accounted the patron of secular, as St. Jerome is of theological, learning. She is represented crowned, with the martyr's palm, or a book, or sword, in her hand, and the spiked wheel by her side. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 1-8. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]

6] ST. NICOLAS, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR.-St. Nicolas was a native of Patara, in Asia Minor; and having grown up in the fear of God, was appointed abbot of the monastery of the Holy Zion. Some time after this he was made Bishop of Myra, in Lycia, and here acquired a great reputation for sanctity and deeds of charity. He died A.D. 342, and was buried in his church at Myra, whence his remains were carried off, in A.D. 1087, to Bari on the Adriatic, for fear they should be desecrated by the Mohammedans. This was done by some merchants, and St. Nicolas has hence been accounted the patron of merchants and seafaring men. Many of the churches dedicated to him are at seaport towns. He is also considered the patron of children and schoolboys, from his remarkable humility and simplicity, and because he took great interest in their instruction. He is represented as a Bishop, with three golden balls, the original significance of which is not known; also with children around him being raised to life from a tub, in which their murdered bodies had been concealed; also with an anchor or ship. The medieval ceremonies connected with the "Boy-bishop" began on St. Nicolas' day, and lasted till Childermas or Holy Innocents' day. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xliv. 17-23; xlv. 6, 7. 15, 16. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]

8] CONCEPTION OF THE B. V. M.-It appears probable that a belief in the "Immaculate Conception led to the original institution of this festival, though it may be regarded as celebrating the joyful dawn of the Incarnation of our Lord without any particular reference to the novel doctrine. Its observation began in the East in early times, but did not become general in the West till the fifteenth century. Its introduction into Britain has been ascribed, on doubtful grounds, to St. Anselm, long after whose time the observance of it was optional. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. xxiv. 17-22. St. Matt. i. 1—16.]

13] ST. LUCY, VIRGIN AND MARTYR.-St. Lucy was the daughter of a Christian lady in Syracuse, named Eutychia, and was born in the latter part of the third century. Being asked in marriage by a young nobleman of Syracuse, who was a pagan, she declined his suit, having made a private vow of celibacy long before. Her

mother was not aware of this, and wished her to marry the youth; but being restored from dangerous sickness at the prayers of her daughter, no longer opposed her resolution, of which, indeed, she now became aware for the first time. St. Lucy then sold all her goods to feed the poor, and openly professed her dedication to Christ. The young nobleman now hated her, and accused her before the Governor Paschasius, during the Dioclesian persecution. She boldly confessed Christ before her judges, and was condemned to what was far worse than death, but was delivered by God. After this she was tortured by fire, and her flesh torn with hot pincers, soon after which she died in prison, without having failed in her most severe trial, about A.D. 304. St. Lucy bears the martyr's palm, a lamp, in allusion to her name, and a book, or dish, on which are two eye-balls, while sometimes rays of light are emitted from a wound in her throat. She also has the pincers fastened on to her breast. The festival of St. Lucy regulates the Ember Days in December. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. li. 9-12. St. Matt. xiii. 44-52.]

16] O SAPIENTIA.-These words mark the first of the days on which the eight Greater Antiphons were sung. [See p. 76.]

31] ST. SILVESTer, Bp. of Rome, and Confessor.-St. Silvester was born at Rome in the latter part of the third century, and was ordained priest just before the Dioclesian persecution, during which he was well known among the faithful for his zeal and piety. He was made Bishop of Rome A.D. 314, and was summoned to attend the Councils of Arles and Nice, but was unable through weak health to be present in person. Having filled the see for nearly twenty-two years, he died, Dec. 31, A.D. 335, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Salarian Way, whence his remains were removed to a church dedicated in his name about the end of the seventh century. There is a tradition respecting him, that he restored an ox to life which had been killed by magic; and the ox is accordingly his distinguishing emblem. He is represented as a Bishop, holding the cross and book, or the portraits of St. Peter and St. Paul. [Sar. Ep. and Gosp.: Ecclus. 1. 1. 4, 5-12. 15. 21-23. St. Matt. xxv. 14-23.]

ΤΟ

THE ordinary daily Offices of the Christian Church were derived from the Jewish economy; the celebration of the Holy Eucharist being the distinctive devotional characteristic of Christianity. As David sang, "seven times a day do I praise Thee" [Ps. cxix. 164]; and as Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God" [Dan. vi. 10], so down to that period during which the old and the new economy overlapped each other, a constant habit of praise and prayer in connexion with the morning and evening sacrifice, and at other hours of the day, was maintained in the Temple at Jerusalem, and in the Synagogues elsewhere. The Apostles continued the practice of devout Jews, and are spoken of in the book of their Acts as being in the Temple at the hour of prayer, or as offering their prayers elsewhere at the same hour. It was while "they were all with one accord in one place” at “the third hour of the day" [Acts ii. 1. 15] that the Holy Ghost descended upon them: "Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the sixth hour" [Ibid. x. 9]: "Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour" [Ibid. iii. 1]: “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God" [Ibid. xvi. 25]: and in the early zeal of their first love all the believers "continued stedfastly in the prayers" [Tais πрoσevxaîs] "daily with one accord in the Temple" [Ibid. ii. 42. 46], as a regular part of the system of that fellowship into which they had been baptized.

....

When the habits of the Church began to be settled, it appears that the opening and the close of each day were appointed as the principal hours of prayer; and that the three intermediate times, the third, sixth, and ninth hour, were still recognized, and marked by public worship. Tertullian, after giving the Scriptural examples cited above, goes on to say that though these "stand simply without any precept for their observance, yet let it be thought good to establish any sort of presumption which may both render more strict the admonition to pray, and, as it were by a law, force us away sometimes from our business to this service, (even as was the custom of Daniel also, according no doubt to the rule of Israel,) that so we should pray at least not seldomer than three times a day, we who are debtors to the Three, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, exclusive, that is, of the regular prayers which are due, without any admonition, at the beginning of day and night." [Tert. de Orat. ix. 26.] In his treatise on fasting he also calls the third, sixth, and ninth hours, "Apostolic hours of prayer." St. Cyprian refers to the habits of Old Testament saints, and draws the rational conclusion that the events of the Gospel gave proof that there was a "sacrament," or mystery, in the ancient practice of

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righteous men offering prayers at these seasons, as if the spiritual instincts of good men were already moving in the light of the Cross. "But to us, dearest brethren," he says, "besides the hours of ancient time observed, both seasons and sacraments of prayer are increased in number. In the morning we must pray," not waiting, that is, for the third hour, "that the Resurrection of the Lord may be commemorated with an early worship. This of old the Holy Spirit set forth in the Psalms, saying, 'My King and My God, unto Thee will I cry: My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning; in the morning will I stand before Thee, and will look up.' [Ps. v. 2.] And again, by the prophet the Lord saith, 'Early in the morning shall they seek Me, saying, Come and let us return unto the Lord our God.' [Hosea vi. 1.] At sunsetting likewise, and the close of day, needful is it that we should again pray. For as Christ is the true Sun and the true Day, when at the going down of this world's sun and light we make prayer and petition that the day may again return unto us, we are petitioning for that coming of Christ, which will give to us the grace of the Light eternal." [Cyprian. de Orat. Dom. xxii.] In the Apostolical Constitutions the same habit of the Church is referred to in very distinct terms: "Ye shall make prayers.... In the morning giving thanks, because the Lord hath enlightened you, removing the night, and bringing the day: at the third hour, because the Lord at that time received sentence from Pilate; at the sixth hour, because in it He was crucified; at the ninth hour, because all things were shaken when the Lord was crucified, trembling at the audacity of the impious Jews, not enduring that their Lord should be insulted; at evening giving thanks, because He hath given the night for rest from our daily labours; at cock-crowing, because that hour gives the glad tidings that the day is dawning in which to work the works of light." [Apostol. Constit. viii. 34.]

No account has come down to us which tells exactly of what these Primitive daily Offices consisted; but St. Basil in the fourth century speaks of them as being made up of psalmody mingled with prayers, and specifies the nineteenth psalm as one which was invariably used at the sixth hour. The fifty-first psalm is also shown, from him and other writers, to have been constantly used in the night service; and the sixty-third was called the "Morning Psalm," being used at the beginning of the early service. The "Gloria in Excelsis" is also spoken of by St. Chrysostom as "the Morning Hymn [see note in Communion Service], and the repetition of the Kyrie Eleison many times seems to have formed another part of these ancient services.

دو

The daily Offices of the Eastern Church are of greater antiquity than those of the Western, and there is little doubt that

they represent, substantially, the form into which the Primitive Offices for the hours of Prayer eventually settled down'. Sufficient points of resemblance have been traced between these and the daily prayers used under the Jewish economy, to make it almost certain that the former were originally derived from the latter. But there are also many particulars in which the Western daily Offices, and especially those of the English Church 3, are analogous to those of the East, and although they cannot be traced higher, in their familiar form, than the Rule of St. Benedict [A.D. 530], it can hardly be doubted that men like SS. Benedict and Gregory would build upon the old foundations of Primitive Services, such as those now represented by the hours of the Eastern Church. In the Ancient Sacramentaries there are several series of Collects for daily use: one set of twenty-three in that of St. Gregory, being entitled "Orationes de Adventu Domini quotidianis diebus:" another, of twenty, apparently for Lent, being headed "Orationes pro peccatis:" a third of many more in number being called "Orationes quotidiana." There are also other sets in the same Sacramentary, "ad Matutinos lucescente die," "Orationes Matutinales," "Vespertinales," and "ad Completorium." What place such Collects occupied in the daily Offices is not quite clear, but they plainly show that the Primitive habit of the Church was kept up, and that daily prayers were continually being offered in the Western as well as in the Eastern Church. Lessons from Holy Scripture were only read in the Synagogue on the Sabbath day; in the Temple none at all (except the Decalogue) were ever read. This custom was continued throughout the Church even until the time of St. Gregory : Epistles and Gospels being read at the Holy Communion, but no Lessons at the hours of Prayer. St. Gregory established a system which afterwards developed into that of the Breviary Lessons, but in the Eastern Church the Primitive practice of reading Holy Scripture at the celebration of the Eucharist, and on Sunday only at other offices, is still maintained.

In Mediæval times the daily Offices were developed into a very beautiful, but a very complex form; being moulded exclusively to the capacities of clergy and laity living in communities, separated from the world especially for a work of prayer and praise, which was seldom interrupted by the calls of other avocations. Those used in England differed in several important respects from the Roman Breviary, and are supposed to have had the same origin as the Communion Office, the lineage of which is traced at p. 147 to the Church of Ephesus. Like those of the Eastern and Roman Churches, they consisted nominally of seven separate services or hours [see p. xxviii], but as in those churches

I They are given at length in Neale's Introd. Hist. of Eastern Church, vol. ii. qh. iv.

2 Archd. Freeman's Princ. Div. Serv. i. 65. 3 Ibid. 106. 4 Ibid. 246.

at the present day these seven hours are aggregated into three, or even two services, so it is probable was the case, to a great extent, in the Medieval Church of England, and the whole seven were only kept by a small number of the most strict among the Clergy and religious. The Reformers condensed the seven hours, instead of aggregating them, and thus gave us Mattins and Evensong, as in the manner shown by the Table at p. xxix. At the same time, the publication of Edward VI.'s and Queen Elizabeth's Primers showed that they by no means intended to hinder, but rather to encourage those who still wished to observe the ancient hours of Prayer: and the Devotions of Bishop Cosin, with other Manuals framed on the same model, have given many devout souls the opportunity of supplementing the public Mattins and Evensong with prayers at other hours that equally breathed the spirit of the ancient Church.

In making this change the Reformers were doubtless endeavouring to secure by a modification of the Services what the theory of the Church had always required, the attendance of the Laity as well as the Clergy at the Daily Offices of Praise and Prayer. From very early days the Church of England had enjoined the Laity to be present at them, as may be seen in the collection of Decrees and Canons on the subject printed by Maskell [Mon. Rit. Ang. II. xxv.-xxxi.]; but these injunctions appear to have been little obeyed, and their constant absence led the clergy to deal with the Breviary as if it was intended for their own use alone, its structure becoming so complex that none but those who had been long used to handle it could possibly follow the course of the services day by day. In forming out of these complex services such simple and intelligible ones as our present Morning and Evening Prayer, a new opportunity was offered to the Laity of uniting their hearts and voices with that of the Clergy in a constant service of daily praise and

prayer.

Churches without such an offering of Morning and Evening Prayer are clearly alien to the system and principles of the Book of Common Prayer; and to make the offering in the total absence of worshippers seems scarcely less so. But as every Church receives blessing from God in proportion as it renders to Him the honour due unto His Name, so it is much to be wished that increased knowledge of devotional principles may lead on to such increase of devotional practice as may make the omission of the daily Offices rare in the Churches of our land. Then indeed might the time come when the Church of England could say, Thou, O God, sentest a gracious rain upon Thine inheritance; and refreshedst it when it was weary." It might look for the development of a perennial vigour springing from that "third hour of the day" when the Apostles first went forth in the might of their supernatural endowments; and hope to meet with answers from on high, as sure as that which was given to Elijah "about the time of the Evening Sacrifice."

DAY BY DAY WE MAGNIFY THEE,