Page:The Parson's Handbook - 2nd ed.djvu/149

 CHAPTER VI

The Lord’s Supper should be celebrated at least on every Sunday and holy day, whenever there is a special collect, epistle, and gospel provided in the Prayer Book. But few devout parsons will be content with this, even in small country parishes; and the Prayer Book provides for frequent celebrations by the rubric, ‘Note also that the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, appointed for the Sunday, shall serve all the week after, where it is not in this book otherwise ordered.’ For the Black-Letter days, however, it is very convenient that special collects, epistles, and gospels should be used; and most bishops would no doubt follow the present Primate’s example in allowing the little book drawn up by Canon T. T. Carter and published by Masters and Co., 78 New Bond Street. For Rogation and Embertide special collects have been drawn up by authority, and they are published by the S.P.C.K. These can be bound up with the Prayer Book. For requiems the last collect but one in the burial service, containing as it does a prayer for the departed, should be used. It is a most serious breach of Catholic order to use unauthorised missals.

Every effort must be made, both at sung and plain Celebrations, to obey the rubric which orders that there should be three communicants at least; and in most parishes it will be best to arrange with members of the congregation, so that there shall be 133