Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/399

Rh CHURCH.] ENGLAND 379 Trere probably suggested by the forms adopted by some of the Re formers. But the language of these also is care fully adopted from old liturgies. In place of the numerous short lections of the old services, which were sometimes taker from Scripture and sometimes from the legends of saints, two chapters of Scripture were appointed to be read svt each service, by whbh both the Old Testament and the New were read through in regular course. Several occasional prayers and thanksgivings have been added for use in the morning and evening services at the different reviews of the prayer-book. The litany provided to be used, in addition to the morning and evening service, on Sundays, Wednesdays; and Fridays, was a translation of a very ancient form of service, which had been said processionally in the church ever since the time of St Chrysustom. The English litany was translated by C ran- mer, at the desire of Henry VIII., in 1544. Cranmer cut out such of the old invocations as did not accord with his reforming views, and inserted several portions from the litany issued in 1543 by Hermann, archbishop of Cologne. The form now used in the English Church has been slightly altered from that put forth iu 15 i4. Communion Service. The service to which by far the greatest importance was attached in the ancient church was that for holy com munion, or the mass, as it came to be called from the last word of the Latin form. This is properly designated the liturgy or ths service par excellence. The ancient Galli- can liturgy had been adopted by the early British church, and was found in use in Britain when Augustine came from Rome. Augustine, by permission of Pope Gregory, grafted some particulars of it on the Roman use which he introduced, and thus created an English liturgy, which, however, was not uniform throughout the land, but varied in different districts. This English liturgy was revised avd reformed by Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, in 1087. The Sarum Use, thus created, was the ordinary eucharistic office for the English Church up to the time of the Refor mation, but there existed also other uses, as those of York, Hereford, Exeter, Lincoln, Bangor, Aberdeen. One of the earliest measures taken in the reign of Edward VI. was to issue a communion office, which, leaving un touched the ancient Latin service, added to it an English service, by which communion was to be minis tered to the people in both kinds (1548). This service was quickly superseded by the one contained in the prayer-book of 1549, which was put forth, not as an addition to, but as a substitute for, the ancient Latin service. It was principally a translation of the Latin service, but contained also some additions taken from Hermann s Consultation. In 1552 the English communion service was rearranged and considerably altered, the recital of the ten commandments with the kyrie eleison being introduced, the words of administration altered, and other chang-js made to give it a more Protestant character. At the review of the prayer book after the accession of Elizabeth, some changes were again made, and also at the last review in 1661. The English communion office as it stands at present is taken principally from the ancient liturgies, but also to a very considerable extent from reformed sources. The baptismal of/ices were compiled partly from the ani-ient forms, but chieily from the offices in Archbishop Hermann s Consultation. The office for adult baptism was added in 1GG1. The Catechism. This is altogether an office of the Reformation, no such form being found in the ancient service-books. The earlier part of the Catechism was originally inserted in the office for confirmation. The latter part, explaining the sacraments, wns added after the Hampton Court conference, in compliance with the desire of the Puritans, and is the composition of Dr Overall, then dean of St Paul s. Service /or Confirmation. This service was brought into its present form at 1661, being then separated from the Catechism, with the previous explanatory rubric turned into a preface. It is due, as most of the English prayer-book, partly to the ancient Sarum office and partly to the Consultation of Archbishop Hermann. Order of Mafrimony.Tbia service is taken almost entirely from the ancient office in the Sarum manual, as also is the office for the Visitation of the Sick. In 1552, when the practice of reserving the elements was forbidden, the service for the Communion of the Sick was added. The order for Burial of the Dead is a substitution for the mediaeval offices of com mendation, burial, mass for the dead, and office for the dead. It has bee&amp;gt;n much changed at the several revisions of the prayer book. The service for the Churching of Women is mainly derived from the mediaeval office. The Commination Service is made up of the address composed by the Refor mers, and the prayers and suffrages anciently used in the church on the first day of Lent. The Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea were composed by Bishop Sanderson in 1601. The Ordinal did not form a part of the prayer-book of 1549, but was composed under the authority of a special Act of Parliament, which empowered six bishops and six other divines to draw up a fitting ordinal. This was pre sented to the council, February 28, 1550, and authorized. It was reviewed on the formation of the second prayer book (1552), and considerably altered, and it was then appointed to form part of the prayer-book. The prayers are almost entirely new composition?, but the general arrangement of the services and the form and manner of conferring holy orders is the same that has been used for many centuries. The Doctrines of the English Church may be gathered to a great extent from the prayer-book, inasmuch as it was the custom of the Reformers, who compiled that book, to introduce into all the services some words of exhortation and teaching as to the nature of the service ; but it is more fully set forth and explained in the Articles and Homilies. The authority of these two books may be regarded as the same, inasmuch as the articles formally recognize and sanction the two books of homilies (art. 35). The first book of Homilies was set forth im mediately after the accession of Edward VI., and authorized by his injunctions to be read in all churches at the mass. It was distributed to the different parishes by the royal visitors, together with an English version of the paraphrase of Erasmus. These homilies were probably mainly the work of Cranmer. The second book of homilies was set out with the sanction of convocation in 1562, but was not sanctioned by the queen for nearly a year aftenvards. It was due, in part at least, to Bishop Cox, who wrote the pre face to the volume, and was designed not to supersede but to supplement the earlier volume The Articles, now in number 39, were originally 42. They were drawn up in the years 1551 and 1552 under the superintendence of Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley. These prelates made drafts of the articles proposed, and sent them to vari ous divines of eminence, both English and foreign, inviting their suggestions thereon. The foundation of these drafts was a paper of articles agreed upon between Archbishop Cranmer and certain Lutheran divines who were in England in 1538, with a view of inducing Henry VIII. to adopt the Augsburg Confession. These were drawn as nearly as possible iu the terms of the Augsburg Confession, and henco the resemblance between the articles of the Church of England and those of Augsburg. The 42 articles are sup posed to have been approved by convocation in 1553, and ordered to be offered to the clergy for subscription. They were originally published together with a Catechism drawn up by Bishop Poynet. On the accession of Elizabeth the bishops were anxious to republish the articles as a counter