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ON THE

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

CHAPTER I.

Of the Ancient Liturgies, and the liturgical books in use at the time of the Reformation.

WHEN

HEN Cranmer and his colleagues undertook to frame a new manual of public devotion, they wisely abstained as much as possible from original composition, and preferred to make a compilation from the time-hallowed offices of the unreformed Church. Those offices stood greatly in need of revision; for every form of medieval superstition and misbelief had left its impress upon them. But to cast them altogether aside was neither expedient nor desirable; for independently of the claim which long usage had given them, they still contained much that was pure and excellent, the work of venerable Christian fathers and apostolic men. Not the least among the recommendations of the Book of Common Prayer is this, that a large portion of its contents is of high antiquity, and that it is thus a connecting link between the present and the past. Such being the origin of our excellent liturgy, its structure cannot be fully elucidated, without a frequent reference to the Service-books which it superseded. In order to render that reference more intelligible, I propose in the present chapter to give a brief account of the

B

First Century.

ancient liturgies, and to trace their history from the first ages to the time of the Reformation.

The scanty records of the primitive Church do not enable us to say for certain, that any form of public worship was instituted by the Apostles, or enjoined by them to their disciples. It is indeed expressly stated in the Book of the Acts, that the Church was no sooner established than it was united and held Acts ii. 42. together by common acts of devotion. 'They continued stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fel

1 Cor. xvi.

2.

21.

It

lowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.' It may also be gathered from some passages in the Acts xx. 7. Acts, and in the Epistles of St Paul, that special meetings of the believers were held on the first day of the week, and that the Lord's supper was cele1 Cor. xi. brated at the time of the common meal. This latter practice led to certain abuses in the Corinthian Church, which were censured by the Apostle. is not probable that the Apostles left the infant Churches without instructions as to the mode of conducting divine worship; and among the 'traditions' 1 Cor. xi. 2. (Tapadóσes) which St Paul gave to his disciples, there may have been directions, more or less definite, on this head. Liturgies are indeed extant, which bear the venerable names of St James and St Mark; but as they cannot be traced back to the first age, and at no period were universally accredited as the work of apostolic men, we are not justified in assigning to them, or to any part of them, such high antiquity and authority.

2 Thess. ii.

15.

Second

Century.

Descending to the age which immediately succeeded the Apostles, the commencement of the second century, we find reason to believe that fixed forms of public devotion were at that time in use. Justin Martyr, in his First Apology, written about 140 A.D., has given the following description of the

Communion-service, as it was celebrated in his time, and in his part of the Church, i.e. in Palestine. After describing the baptism of a catechumen, he thus proceeds:

'We offer up prayers in common for ourselves, for the baptized person, and for all men. After the prayers we kiss each other. Then there is brought to the presiding brother a loaf of bread, and a cup of water, and mixed wine: he takes it, and offers praise and glory to the Father of all, through the name of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and returns thanks to Him at great length for having vouchsafed to give us these things. When he has made an end both of the prayers and the thanksgiving, the people answer Amen, which in Hebrew signifies, So be it. Then those whom we call deacons give to each person present a portion of the bread, wine, and water, over which the thanksgiving has been said, and they also carry away to the absent. This food we call the Eucharist (evxapioría), which no one may receive, except those who believe in the truth of our doctrines, and who have also been baptized for the remission of sins, and who live according to the commandments of Christ.' Soon afterwards he speaks of 'the food over which thanks are given in the words of His prayer,' thus showing that the repetition of the Lord's Prayer was part of the eucharistic service, and a little further on he says: 'On Sunday, as the day is called, the inhabitants of town and country assemble together, and the memoirs of the apostles and writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. When the reader has finished, the presiding brother makes a discourse, exhorting us to the imitation of these worthies. Then we stand up and pray, and when the prayers are done, bread and wine are brought, as I have just de

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