and it will be difficult to adduce any reason for thinking, that the same had not prevailed for a very great length of time before. I am not aware that any one has yet attempted to give a correct edition of Gergory's sacramentary, on the principle of comparing manuscripts of various countries. It seems to me that such a course would afford the best prospect of attaining a correct text. Much, at all events, might thus be fixed, though a portion would still remain uncertain. English manuscripts particularly should be collated with Italian, because Gregory's sacramentary was sooner used in England than in any other country beyond the Roman patriarchate. German manuscripts should come next, and the Gallican sacramentaries, used before the Roman rite was introduced, would furnish some illustrations. With regard to the ancient Roman liturgy, or the order of prayers and canon, there is neither doubt nor difficulty, as I have already shewn. The Roman liturgy was illustrated with much learning by John Bona, presbyter cardinal of the Roman church; and the works of Menard', Gavanti, Martene1, and Le Brun', may be consulted by those who wish to acquire further information on the subject. e In his work, entitled Rerum Liturgicarum libri duo. Paris, 1672. f Divi Gregorii Liber Sacramentorum. Paris, 1642. cum notis Merati. Augustæ Vindel. 1763. h De Antiquis Ecclesiæ Ritibus, libri iv. Rothomag. 1725. g Commentaria in Rubricas Missalis et Breviarii Romani, &c. i Explication de la Messe, SECTION VII. LITURGY OF THE EXARCHATE OF MILAN. THE liturgy of the church of Milan bearing the venerable name of Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, and primate or exarch of the Italic diocese in the fourth century, has long been celebrated. Several attempts have been made at different times to introduce the Roman liturgy in its place, but the attachment of the clergy and people of Milan to their ancient rites has prevailed against the zeal of rash and prejudiced innovators. The Ambrosian liturgy certainly differs in several respects from that of Rome; but it will be seen, in the sequel, that this difference was originally less than might at first sight appear. The earliest ecclesiastical writer who has been cited as speaking of the Ambrosian rite is Walafridus Strabo, who died A. D. 849, and who wrote thus: "Ambrose, bishop of Milan, appointed for his "own church, and for the rest of Liguria, the ar'rangements of the liturgy and other offices, which "are preserved even to this day in the church of 66 "Milan"." An anonymous Irish writer, of about the year 700, speaks of Ambrose as the author of some offices, in which he may perhaps allude to the liturgy. The Ambrosian liturgy, that is, the order of variable prayers, and the text of the canon, can be ascertained by means of ancient MSS., of which two, still extant at Milan, are as old as the ninth or tenth century. The testimony of Walafridus, and the tradition of the church of Milan, at a distance of four hundred years after the death of Ambrose, are not sufficient proofs that he composed missæ for the use of his church; but it is by no means improbable that he may have done so; and this would partly account for the sacramentary, or collection of missæ used at Milan being called by his name; although the substance of the canon and the order of the variable prayers are probably much more ancient than his time. The first thing to be remarked of this liturgy is, that it has been different from the Roman ever since the time of Gregory the Great, A.D. 594. This patriarch probably first placed the Lord's Prayer immediately after the Roman canon, or before the breaking of bread. The Milan liturgy, which agrees in almost every other respect with the ancient Roman, differs from it in placing the breaking of bread between the canon and the Lord's Prayer, as was the case at Rome until the time of a Walafridus Strabo, de Reb. Eccl. c. 22. Spelman, Concilia, tom. i. p. 177. C Muratori, Liturg. Rom. vet. tom. i. p. 130, &c. d Epist. xii. ad Jo. Syracus. lib. ix. edit. Benedict. e Miss. Ambros. ap. Pamelii Liturgic. tom. i. p. 303, 304. Bona, Rer. Lit. lib. i. cap. x. $ 2. Gregory. The Milan liturgy is therefore more ancient than the time of Gregory the Great. Another difference between the liturgy of Milan and the Roman, seems to carry back the former to a period of much greater antiquity. In the ancient canon of Milan it appears that the second oblation of the elements, which occurs in the Roman canon after the words of institution, is wanting. Two MSS. of the ninth or tenth century, the oldest monuments of the Milan rite now existing, concur in excluding the second oblation from the canon. This seems to me a proof that the Milan liturgy has been distinct from the Roman, at least since the fifth century, as it appears that this oblation is extant in the sacramentary of Gelasius; and Leo is said to have added some words to it. With these two exceptions, we shall find that the liturgy of Milan was essentially the same as the Roman in the time of Gregory the Great. On examination, the liturgy of Milan is found to consist of the following parts, omitting those which have been introduced into it since the time of Gregory. The anthem called "Ingressa ""-"Kyrie eleësoni" -"Gloria in excelsis"--the Collect-the Prophet f Muratori, Liturg. Rom. vet. Lent. See Miss. Ambros. fol. p. 133, tom. i. 60. 66; Bona, p. 67. g See sect. vi. note P, p. 118. h Missale Ambros. A.D. 1522, fol. 127. Pamelii Liturg. tom. i. p. 293. Bona, p. 66. All the preceding matter in the Ambrosian liturgy is modern. i "Kyrie eleëson is only repeated in this place during "Audistis filii librum Job hodie legi qui solemni munere est decursus et tempore." Ambros. Epist. xx. ad Marcellinam. Hæc de prophetica lectione libata sint: Evangelii quoque lectio quid habeat consideremus." Epist. xlii. ad Marcellin. k 66 -the Psalm - Epistle'- Alleluia - Gospel and Sermon "-Prayer " Super sindonem❞—oblations of the people "—Prayer "Super oblata"-Preface and Canon, which agrees in almost every respect with the Roman canon of the fifth century, except in omitting the second oblation °-breaking of breadLord's Prayer-kiss of peace-communion-Prayer "Post communionem." k "Quantum laboratur in ecclesia ut fiat silentium cum lectiones leguntur. Si unus loquatur, obstrepunt universi: cum psalmus legitur ipse sibi est effector silentii. Omnes loquuntur, et nullus obstrepit." Ambros. Præfat. in Psal. i. p. 741, tom. i. ed. Benedict. 1 "Factum est ut illâ Dominicâ, propheticâ lectione jam lectâ, ante altarium staret qui lectionem B. Pauli proferret." Greg. Turon. de Mir. S. Martini, lib. i. c. 5. m "Post lectiones atque tractatum dimissis catechume nis," &c. Ambr. Ep. xx. ad used in the consecration of the |