| The Book of Common Prayer | |||||||
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CHAPTER XII. THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. SECT. I.—Primitive Liturgies. |
Previous chapter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| THE traces
of the form of worship used by the Christian converts, which we find in
the New Testament, refer to the Eucharist, as being emphatically the Christian
Service. Attendance at the 'breaking of the bread' was' from the first
a principal feature of the Christian Church,1 and
the due performance of the service forms one of the main topics of one
of S. Paul's Epistles.2 It
clearly was designed to be a close reproduction of our Lord's action in
instituting the Eucharist at the last Passover, and this has in fact determined
the whole course and method of Eucharistic worship from the very first.
It led in very early days to the combining of the Eucharist with the Christian
meal of the Agape — a
combination which was natural enough, until it led, as it clearly did at
Corinth, to a false conception of the meaning and scope of the Eucharist:
and then S. Paul's intervention, and the teaching which he gave in his
epistle on the subject, mark the first step in a process of change: the
Eucharist was separated from the Agape, and placed in the position,
in which it is found at the opening of the IInd century, when evidence
on the point is next forthcoming, viz., as an early morning service. It
is significant that the Church at once interpreted literally the command ‘Do
this in remembrance of me' as an instruction to continue the Eucharist
as a perpetual service, in quite a different sense from that which it gave
to the apparently similar command to 'wash one another's feet'; just as
it gave a quite different interpretation to the statement, 'This is my
body' from that which it gave to such parallel statements as ‘I am
the vine,' or, 'I am the resurrection.' Thus from the first the Eucharist
stood out in a unique position as the distinctive Christian service, and
attendance at it as a primary Christian duty. |
Traces of the Christian Service in the New Testament.
Relation to the Agape.
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Interpretation of our Lord's command.
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| Hence naturally arose the ecclesiastical
use of the word Liturgy,3 to designate
the form employed by the Church in performing that duty. Other titles bring
out other aspects of the same service, which was called the Mass by the
First Prayer Book, as was usual in the mediæval and the Latin Church,
but which in the later Prayer Books is called The Lord's Supper and The
Holy Communion.4 |
Titles of the rite. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Outside the New Testament the
earliest descriptions of the service extant are those of Pliny (circa 112)
and of Justin Martyr (c. 148): both these belong to a period when there
were still no fixed forms of service and no written Service-books5:
but though these are only general descriptions, as being intended for heathen
readers, and, in the case of Pliny,6 written
by a heathen pro-prætor
who had evidently little understanding of what he described, it is clear
from them that the service followed a fixed outline and was on the way to
be stereotyped into fixed liturgical forms.7 |
Early documents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pliny's letter suggests that
the Eucharist took place early on Sunday morning, and that the Agape or
Love-feast, which had accompanied it in the days when S. Paul dealt with
the matter at Corinth, was now separated and put after it.8 |
Pliny. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justin Martyr speaks also of the Sunday gathering and specifies (i) the reading of Scripture, and (ii) a sermon based on it; (iii) the prayers for all classes of men; (iv) the kiss of peace; (v) the oblation of bread and the cup of wine and water; (vi) the long exercise of praise, prayer and thanksgiving offered by the president at his discretion, and responded to by the people with (vii) Amen; (viii) the administration to those present and by the deacons to the absent; (ix) the almsgiving. He touches further on the doctrine of the communion and on the discipline by which the sanctity of the Sacrament was safeguarded. All this implies that in the middle of the second century the features
familiar in later times were already present in an organized shape.9 |
Justin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As to the fixity of liturgical
forms there was probably much variety of habit. Prayer on a given theme
very soon falls into regular phrases out of which formulas grow. Such phrases
and formulas were no doubt in use in quite early times, but the officiant
was not at first bound to them.10 As time
went on, the liberty of using extempore forms was curtailed, till it was
restricted to special orders of the ministry, such as the' prophets' or the
episcopate; and finally to all intents and purposes it disappeared. But meanwhile
for a considerable period the use of fixed forms and the liberty to extemporize
went on side by side, and the earliest extant Liturgy, that in the Sacramentary
of Serapion of Thmuis, seems to be, not a common form in general use, but
the particular form drawn up by Serapion for his own peculiar use, in virtue
of the right of liturgical independence which belonged to him as a bishop. |
The beginning of liturgical forms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Passing thus from the early period,
in which almost the only evidence available is that of various descriptions
of the service such as those of S. Justin or S. Cyril, to the later period
at which actual forms of service and Service-books are forthcoming, the
first impression is one of great multiplicity of rite and use: but on further
study it becomes clear, not only (i) that these many individual forms can
be classified in various families belonging to certain localities and centres
of Church life, but also that (ii) there is underlying these families a
primitive and universal scheme of Eucharistic service, on which all have
been modelled, and that (iii) the scheme agrees with that which has been
noticed in the early descriptions of the Eucharist. Round this primitive
nucleus much has been gathered, and out of it much has been developed,
in different ways and at different places and times; but dimly discernible
in the background of the whole elaborate picture there is the early Christian
form of Eucharistic service. Thus by working backwards from these later
liturgical documents the same conclusions are to be reached which have
already been suggested by the earlier descriptive documents. |
The primitive liturgy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
There existed at first, as has been shown, no more than a mere outline, to be followed out in general by all who celebrated, but to be filled in in detail at the discretion of the individual celebrant: S. Paul speaks of the congregational Amen at the end of the Eucharistic prayer,11 and this implies that the congregation followed the prayer and knew their cue for responding. Similarly at a later date it is clear that at intervals through the service there were fixed cues, to which the celebrant was expected to return, though he were following a line of his own and perhaps even extemporizing, and which the congregation was prepared to recognise and even respond to.12 The Sursum corda,13 the Sanctus, the words of Institution, the Lord's Prayer, are cases in point. They are elements common to most early liturgies and are attested by early writers as prominent points in the service. They were principal parts of the structural skeleton of the early days, which later became variously clothed with differing features, just as they are still the main joints on which the Liturgy articulates. No definite records of early days prescribe formally this skeleton or
outline of service, but, since the two main lines of argument already
mentioned, viz. patristic witness and comparative liturgiology, both
converge and lead to the same results, it may fairly be claimed that
the results acquired are trustworthy. They may be summarized as follows. |
Its structural outline. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First with regard to the main
structure of the Liturgy. It has always consisted of two parts, (i) a preliminary
service of lessons, chants, preaching, and prayers, which possibly is not
unconnected with the worship of the
synagogue. It was to this only that Catechumens were admitted, and it
therefore is called the Catechumens' service. (ii) The second part of
the Liturgy only began when all except the 'Faithful' had left;14 it
therefore is called the service of the Faithful. It followed the analogy
of our Lord's institution of the Eucharist in being the definitely Christian
rite annexed to the Jewish service.
It will be best at once to get a clear idea of the main contents of these two parts of the primitive outline of the Liturgy. I. (a) Lessons, more or fewer in number, from various parts of scripture,
such as Law, Prophecy, Epistle, Gospel. |
The liturgy of the catechumens |
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The service of the faithful itself falls into two parts, (A) the first preparatory to the offering of the Eucharist, (B) the second the offering itself, called technically the ‘Anaphora.' II. A (a) The Prayers of the Faithful. B (d) The Salutation, Sursum
corda, &c. |
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| From another point of view, already
mentioned above, the Anaphora may be said to develop round five cardinal
points: these are (i) the Sanctus, (ii) the Recitation of the
institution of the Eucharist, (iii) the Invocation of the Holy Spirit,
(iv) the Fraction, and (v) the Lord's Prayer. They are fixed points, in
which every early Anaphora, whether improvised by the celebrant in early
days or written down at a later date, may be expected to coincide. The
second was at first probably only an incident in the historical summary
of the work of redemption, which formed the central section of the action;
while the third naturally became attached to the historical summary in
the position which its connexion with Pentecost obviously marked out for
it; but these two features gradually acquired special and rival prominence:
in the West stress was laid on the former, and in the East on the
latter, with the result that the centre of gravity of the action became
in the West the Words of Institution, and in the East the Epiclesis or
Invocation.
That some such outline or scheme underlies all existing Liturgies may
easily be deduced from a comparison of the earliest extant Liturgies
and from the patristic writings bearing on the subject.19 |
The uniformity of outline. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| But one very early cause of dislocation
and change needs special notice here. The Intercessions, including the
Diptychs, or two lists of the Living and the Departed respectively who
were to be prayed for, had originally preceded the Anaphora: but at an
early date these were in most cases inserted into it, in one or another
position and in greater or lesser degree: they were thus brought in closer
relation to the central action of the liturgy, and in some instances they
were inserted there more or less in duplicate, i.
e., without being altogether
displaced from their original position. This seems to be the one clear
exception to the uniformity of outline which underlies the Liturgies in
their earliest recoverable forms.20 |
with one main exception. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the East this outline has
been very faithfully preserved: additions have been made to the Anaphora,
such as the above mentioned addition of the intercession: some other parts,
such as the 'Great Entrance' or solemn ceremonial of the offertory, have
been developed; and in particular the preparation for the liturgy has grown
in the course of time to considerable proportions:21 but
the changes have left the old structure undisturbed and recognizable, while
the variations in the position of the Intercession serve to differentiate
the various Anaphoras into four different families — the West-Syrian,
which has Antioch for its centre, the East-Syrian or Nestorian, the Byzantine,
and the Egyptian. |
In the East. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the West there has been much
more change, and even upheaval: but still there is evidence enough to shew
that the same structure underlies the Western Liturgies, though it is far
less recognizable here than in the Eastern liturgies. There is little change
as to the general outline of the service as a whole, but as to the form
of the Anaphora there is great change visible. As the liberty in extemporizing
prayer was curtailed and the crystallization into fixed forms gradually
came about, a result was obtained in the West different from that reached
in the East. In the East the result was the creation of a number of Anaphoras,
each of them generally associated with some great name: these afforded
considerable scope for change and choice, but each Anaphora itself was
fixed and subject to no variation from day to day or from one season to
another. In the West the variations were connected not with the various
names of great Bishops or churches, but with the changing seasons and occasions
of the year: moreover the mode of variation was different; for here, some
parts of the anaphoral division of the service remained fixed and invariable,
while other parts varied frequently or even daily. Thus the Latin Church
instead of having a number of alternative Anaphoras, each of which was
one long continuous and unchanging prayer, had for the anaphoral division
of the service a series of short prayers, some invariable and some variable;
or in other words, a fixed framework with a number of alternative 'masses
'.22 |
contrasted with the West, in general outline, in the Anaphora. |
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| Rome was unlike the bulk of Western
Christendom, for there the church was originally Greek-speaking, and it
seems clear that the original Greek Liturgy of the church of the City of
Rome was maintained down at least to the end of the IIIrd or even to the
middle of the IVth century.23 At some
such time the great change was made of adopting a Latin Liturgy: probably
there had been for a long time two liturgies in use side by side:- one
of the Greek pattern (and probably akin to that of Alexandria), with an
invariable Anaphora, into which it is probable that the Intercession had
already been inserted: the other of the Latin pattern, comprising fixed
elements alternating with variable prayers: here the Intercession was still
in its old place before the Anaphora. |
The Liturgy in Rome. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Roman 'Canon' seems to be
the result of a compromise between the two. It will be best to deal first
with this, the central section and nucleus of the Liturgy, and to come
later to the history of the less central parts. |
The Canon; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It will be shown to have combined
something of the variableness of the Latin model with much of the fixity
of the Greek model. The position of the Intercession seems to have been
a concession to the Greek view, while in other respects the Canon is markedly
Latin: the western plan of providing variants in the Anaphora is adopted,
but considerably restricted. This fusion was
apparently completed by the end of the IVth century, and since that
event the Roman Canon has been very little altered: only the amount of
variation was still further and steadily curtailed, while slight additions
were made to the fixed text by S. Leo and by S. Gregory, and the Lord's
Prayer was transferred so as to come before the fraction instead of after
it.24
SECT. II. The Roman Canon. The Canon as brought to England by S. Augustine is therefore practically
identical with that of the later Latin Service-books of the English Church.
It will be best therefore to give it here from the Sarum Missal25 as
a starting point from which both to work backwards in describing its
history and significance, and also to work forwards, in describing the
process by which the consecration prayer of the English Prayer Book came
out of it. |
a forecast of its history.
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Dominus vobiscum. Vere dignum et justum est, æquum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, æterne Deus: |
1. The Anaphora begins. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2. PREFACE variable,
with two alternative fixed endings in ordinary use. |
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| Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus
Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt cœli et terra gloria tua: Osanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini: Osanna in excelsis. |
3. SANCTUS. Sung
by the choir. |
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Te igitur, clementissime Pater, per Jesum Christum Filium tuum Dominum nostrum, supplices rogamus ac petimus, uti accepta habeas et benedicas hæc+dona, hæc+munera, hæc+sancta sacrificia illibata, imprimis quæ tibi offerimus pro Ecclesia tua sancta Catholica, quam pacificare, custodire, adunare, et regere digneris toto orbe terrarum, una cum famulo tuo Papa nostro N. et Antistite nostro N. et Rege nostro N. et omnibus orthodoxis atque catholicæ et apostolicæ fidei cultoribus. Memento, Domine, famulorum famularumque tuarum N. et N. et omnium circumstantium,
quorum tibi fides cognita est et nota devotio: [pro quibus tibi offerimus,
vel]27 qui tibi offerunt hoc sacrificium
laudis, pro se suisque omnibus, pro redemptione animarum suarum pro spe
salutis et incolumitatis suæ,
tibique reddunt vota sua æterno Deo vivo et vero. |
THE
CANON.26 |
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| Communicantes et memoriam venerantes,
imprimis gloriosæ semperque virginis Mariæ, genetricis Dei
et Domini nostri Jesu Christi, sed et beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum
tuorum, Petri, Pauli, Andreæ, Jacobi, Johannis, Thomæ, Jacobi,
Philippi, Bartholomæi, Matthæi, Simonis, et Thaddæi,
Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Sixti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni,
Johannis et Pauli, Cosmæ et Damiani et omnium sanctorum tuorum; quorum
meritis precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuæ muniamur
auxilio. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. |
Commemo-ration of the Saints
or of the Festival Variable. |
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| Hanc igitur oblationem servitutis
nostræ, sed et cunctæ familæ tuæ, quæsumus,
Domine, ut placatus accipias, diesque nostros in tua pace disponas, atque
ab æterna damnatione nos eripi, et in electorum tuorum jubeas grege
numerari.28 Per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen. |
5. (a) Oblation
of the gifts. Variable. |
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| Quam oblationem tu, Deus omnipotens,
in omnibus, quæsumus, bene+dictam, adscrip+tam, ra+tam, rationabilem,
acceptabilemque facere digneris, ut nobis Cor+pus et San+guis fiat dilectissimi
Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi. |
(b) With fixed ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Qui pridie quam pateretur, accepit
panem in sanctas et venerabiles manus suas, et, elevatis oculis in cœlum
ad te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem, tibi gratias agens, bene+dixit, fregit,
deditque discipulis suis, dicens : Accipite et manducate ex hoc omnes.
Hoc est enim Corpus meum. Simili modo posteaquam cœnatum est, accipiens
et hunc præclarum calicem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas, item
tibi gratias agens, bene+dixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite,
et bibite ex eo omnes. Hic est enim calix Sanguinis mei novi et æterni
testamenti, mysterium fidei, qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in
remissionem peccatorum. Hæc quotiescunque feceritis, in mei memoriam
facietis. |
6. Commemo-ration
of the Institution. |
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(a) Unde et memores, Domine, nos servi tui sed et plebs tua sancta, ejusdem Christi Filii tui Domini Dei nostri tam beatse passionis, necnon et ab inferis resurrectionis, sed et in cœlos gloriosæ ascensionis, offerimus præclaræ majestati tuæ de tuis donis ac datis, hostiam pu+ram, hostiam sanc+tam, hostiam imma+culatam, panem sanc+tum vitæ æternæ, et ca+licem salutis perpetuæ. (b) Supra quæ propitio ac sereno vultu respicere digneris, et
accepta habere, sicut accepta habere dignatus es munera pueri tui justi
Abel, et sacrificium Patriarchæ nostri Abrahæ, et quod tibi
obtulit summus sacerdos tuus Melchisedech, sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam
hostiam.29 |
7. and of Redemption. Oblation of the elements. |
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| (c) Supplices te rogamus, omnipotens
Deus, jube hæc perferri per manus sancti angeli tui in sublime altare
tuum, in conspectu divinæ majestatis tuæ, ut quotquot ex hac
altaris participatione sacrosanctum Filii tui Cor+pus, et San+guinem sumpserimus,
omni bene+dictione cœlesti et gratia repleamur, per eundem Christum
Dominum nostrum. Amen. |
and the equivalent of the Invocation. |
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| Memento etiam, Domine, animarum
famulorum famularumque tuarum N. et N. qui nos præcesserunt cum signa
fidei, et dormiunt in somno pacis. Ipsis, Domine, et omnibus in Christo
quiescentibus locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis, ut indulgeas deprecamur.
Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. |
8. The Prayer of the Departed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nobis quoque peccatoribus famulis
tuis de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et
societatem don are digneris cum tuis sanctis apostolis et martyribus: cum
Johanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro,
Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Cæcilia, Anastasia,
et cum omnibus sanctis tuis: intra quorum nos consortium, non æstimator
meriti, sed veniæ, quæsumus, largitor admitte. Per Christum
Dominum nostrum. |
Duplicate commemo-ration. of
the Saints. |
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(a) Per quem hæc omnia, Domine, semper bona creas, sancti+ficas, vivi+ficas, bene+dicis, et præstas nobis. (b) Per ip+sum, et cum ip+so, et in ip+so, est tibi Deo Patri omni+potenti in unitate Spiritus + Sancti omnis honor et gloria, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Oremus. |
9. Two duplicate Doxologies, with Amen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Præceptis salutaribus
moniti, et divina institutione formati audemus dicere, Pater noster, &c.30 |
10.
Prelude to the Lord's Prayer. |
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| Libera nos, quæsumus,
Domine, ab omnibus malis, præteritis, præsentibus, et futuris:
et intercedente beata et gloriosa semperque virgine Dei genetrice Maria,
et beatis apostolis tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, cum omnibus sanctis,
da propitius pacem in diebus nostris: ut, ope misericordiæ tuæ adjuti,
et a peccato simus semper liberi et ab omni perturbatione securi. Per eundem
Dominum nostrum Jesus Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in
unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.31 |
11. Conclusion appended to it. |
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12. Fraction into three parts. |
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Pax Do+mini sit sem+per vobiscum.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi: miserere nobis. |
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Hæc sacro+sancta commixtio
Corporis et Sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Christi fiat mihi omnibusque
sumentibus salus mentis et corporis, et ad vitam æternam promerendam
et capescendam præparatio salutaris. Per eundem Christum Dominum
nostrum. Amen. Antequam pax32 detur,
dicat sacerdos :
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The Commixture. The third part of the Host is placed in the chalice.
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The kiss of peace.
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| If the Roman Anaphora
is compared with the primitive outline given on p. 437, which is still
closely followed by Eastern Liturgies, it will be seen that it follows
the whole scheme though much modified. The Intercession has been inserted
in two places (i) after the Sanctus, and (ii) after the section corresponding
to the Invocation. Hardly anything has survived of the Commemoration of
the Work of Redemption except the commemoration of the Institution, while
the Invocation has been greatly obscured and can hardly be said to be directly
made. The result of this is that while the outline remains the same, the
centre of gravity has settled itself at a different point here from that
which it has occupied in the East (as has been already stated above),33 and
it has become customary in the West to connect the consecration not with
the Invocation but with the recital of the words of Institution. This identification
was more and more narrowly emphasised as time went on: conformably with it
in later mediaeval times the method of writing and saying the Canon was
altered and the ceremonial was adapted to match: but there still remains
enough of the old in the prayer to witness to the fact that originally
this narrow identification was not so made; for the elements are spoken
of as panem (bread) and calicem (cup) until the point
of the Invocation has been reached, a sacrifice analogous to those of Abel,
Abraham and Melchizedek; but after that point they are corpus (Body)
and sanguis (Blood).34 |
The Eastern and Western type
of Anaphora. |
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Their bearing on the doctrine
of consecration.
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| The fact is that the liturgies
themselves do not encourage the fixing of a precise moment of consecration.
The non-Roman service of the West has sometimes a very explicit Invocation
and sometimes is as vague as the Roman Canon, and often contains phraseology
which by its lack of precision militates quite as much as the Roman Canon
against a narrow identification of the act of consecration with particular
words. |
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We must now leave comparisons of East with West and try to get at the history of the Roman Canon. It clearly is a document which has suffered much from changes and modifications: clearly it is also closely connected in outline as well as phraseology with non-Roman or Gallican forms. Comparing the Roman Anaphora now with the ancient Latin non-Roman Anaphora
we obtain the following table: |
The Roman and the Non-Roman
Anaphora. |
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In the Roman scheme §§ 4
and 8 represent the interpolation of the Intercession and Diptychs into
the Canon, which had not taken place in the non-Roman scheme: setting
these aside, the parallelism of the two schemes is complete:36 the Sanctus,
Qui pridie and Pater Noster are the three cardinal points
on which each turns: the only difference is in the amount of variants.
The Gallican scheme has variation normally at five points: in the Roman
prayer the variation has been retained as a normal thing only at the
Preface: at the Commemoration of the Saints, &c. (4 b), and the first
oblation (5) it occurs as an exceptional thing, but nowhere else in the
Roman Anaphora. The Roman variants have all a fixed opening, two have
also fixed endings, while the Preface has almost always one of two alternative
endings: so that the whole variation amounts to little more than an occasional
intercalation into a fixed form. Moreover, the number of variations prescribed
in each case steadily diminished, and except in the case of the Preface
soon became inconsiderable.37 |
The two Schemes are parallel, but differ in the amount of variation. |
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It will be enough then for the present purpose to have arrived at this point, and, setting aside minuter questions, to be able to say, without risking much in the conjecture, that the Roman Canon is a prayer which assumed its present form (details apart) about the beginning of the fourth century in Rome: it certainly represents a reaction against the excessive variation which was then common in the liturgical formulas of the West, and it seems possible that the reform was not unconnected with the transition, which took place within the Roman Church, from a Greek to a Latin Liturgy. It is also worth while to notice that, though the Canon itself is greatly open to criticism from several points of view, and can hardly be called a satisfactory composition.38 yet the reform in the direction of fixity, to which it owed its origin, and probably its name, has been an entire success. A period of compromise between the Roman and Gallican rites ensued, but the Roman reform won its way everywhere,39 and even here in Great Britain, as elsewhere, the older Latin type of service gave way before it, in spite of Celtic tenacity and insular conservatism. |
Origin of the Roman Canon. |
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SECT. III. The English Canon of 1549. The translators of the Prayer Book in dealing with the Mass were confronted with this venerable document, the Roman Canon, with which the English Church had been familiar ever since the coming of S. Augustine.40 They knew it as it was being used, that is to say, set in surroundings and encompassed by interpretations which were alien and even contrary to its original meaning and history. They had not the opportunity to see it in any other light, and not unnaturally they connected it with the abuses of Eucharistic doctrine, which were then current and against which they were raising their protest. Even if the learned could have disabused themselves of the associations which clung to it, this could not have been expected of the multitude. It was therefore inevitable then that the old Roman Canon should be laid aside; indeed at the time it was the object of such hatred and abuse, as it is difficult now to understand; and there was little regret but rather great eagerness expressed on the part of the Reformers to be rid of it. To take its place a new English Canon41 of
the Mass was provided for the First Prayer Book: the nature of this will
best be seen by a comparison of it with the Latin. The two are here printed
in parallel columns and the passages which are common to both are printed
in italic type. |
The problem of revision. |
THE LATIN MASS.42 1. The Lord be with you. |
THE ENGLISH MASS OF 1549. The Lord be with you. |
1. Dominus vobiscum. |
|
| 2. It
is very meet, right, fitting and profitable that we should at all
times and in all places give thanks· unto thee, O holy Lord, almighty
Father, everlasting God: And therefore with angels
and archangels, with thrones
and dominions and with every company of the heavenly
host we sing the hymn
of thy glory, saying evermore; |
It
is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we should at all
times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, Holy Father, almighty
everlasting God: therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the holy company of heaven we laud and magnify Thy glorious name evermore praising Thee and saying ; |
2 Vere dignum. | |
3. Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God of hosts, |
Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God of hosts, |
3. Sanctus. | |
4. Therefore most
merciful Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord, we humbly pray and beseech Thee to receive these gifts, these
offerings, these holy undefiled sacrifices which first
of all we offer to Thee for Thy holy Catholic
Church, which do Thou vouchsafe to keep in peace, to watch over, to unite
and govern throughout the whole world, together with Thy
servant our Pope and our Bishop N., |
PRIEST.
Almighty and everliving God which by Thy holy Apostle hast taught us
to make prayers and supplications and to give thanks for all men, |
4. Te igitur. | |
| and all right believers and
maintainers of the Catholic and Apostolic faith. |
|||
| Remember O
Lord; Thy servants and handmaidens, N. and N, |
And
to all Thy people give Thy heavenly grace that with meek heart and due reverence
they may hear and receive Thy holy word, truly serving Thee in holiness
and righteousness all the days of their life. |
Memento. | |
| and all here standing around, whose faith is known and devotion noted by Thee; for whom we offer unto Thee, or who are offering unto Thee, this sacrifice of praise for themselves and all theirs, for the redemption of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and safety, and who unto Thee are paying their vows, O everlasting God, living and true. | And especially
we commend unto Thy merciful goodness this congregation which is here
assembled in Thy
name, to celebrate the commemoration of the most glorious death of Thy
Son. |
||
| In communion with and venerating the memory firstly of the glorious and ever-virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ our God and Lord; and also of Thy blessed Apostles and Martyrs Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of call Thy saints; by whose merits and prayers grant that we may in all things be defended by the help of Thy protection, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. | And here we do give
unto Thee most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace
and virtue declared in all Thy saints from the beginning of the world:
and chiefly in the glorious and most blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Thy
Son Jesu
Christ our Lord and God, and in the Holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles
and Martyrs; |
Communi-cantes. |
|
| whose examples (O Lord) and
stedfastness in Thy faith and keeping Thy holy commandments grant us to
follow. |
|||
| We commend unto Thy mercy (O Lord) all other Thy servants which are departed hence from us, with ·the sign of faith, and now do rest in the sleep of peace. Grant unto them, we beseech Thee, Thy mercy and everlasting peace, and that at the day of the general resurrection, we and all they which be of the mystical body of Thy Son, may altogether be set on His right hand, and hear that His most joyful voice: Come unto Me, O ye that be blessed of My Father, and possess the kingdom, which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world: Grant this, O Father, for Jesus Christ's sake, our only mediator and advocate. | (8.) | ||
| 5. (a) This oblation therefore of our service, as also of Thy whole household, we beseech Thee, favourably to accept, O Lord, and to order our days in Thy peace, and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation, and numbered with the flock of thine elect; through Christ our Lord. Amen. | O God Heavenly Father, which of Thy tender mercy didst give Thine only Son Jesu Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who made there by His one oblation once offered a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and did institute and in His Holy Gospel command us to celebrate a perpetual memory of that His precious death until His coming again: | 5. (a) Hanc igitur oblationem. | |
| (b) Which oblation,
we beseech Thee, Almighty God, do Thou vouchsafe altogether to render blessed,
approved, ratified, reasonable and acceptable, that it may be made
unto us the Bo+dy and Bl+ood of Thy most dearly beloved Son our Lord Jesus
Christ. |
Hear us (O merciful
Father) we beseech Thee, and with Thy Holy Spirit and word vouchsafe to
bl+ess and sanc+tify these Thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, that
they may be unto us the Body and Blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus
Christ. |
(b) Quam oblationem. | |
| 6. Who on
the day before He suffered took bread into His holy and venerable
hands, and with His eyes uplifted towards heaven, unto Thee 0 God His Almighty
Father, giving thanks to Thee, He bless+ed, brake,
and gave to His disciples, saying; Take and eat ye all of this,
for this is My Body.
|
Who in the same night that He was betrayed, took bread, | 6. Qui pridie. | |
| and when He had blessed and given thanks, He brake it and gave it to His disciples saying,' Take, eat, this is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. | |||
| Likewise
after supper, taking also this excellent cup into His holy and venerable
hands, again giving thanks unto Thee, He bless+ed,
and gave
to His disciples, saying; Take and drink ye all
of this, for this is the cup of My Blood of the
new and everlasting Testament, the mystery
of faith, which shall be shed for you and for many for remission of sins.
As often as ye do these things, ye shall do them in remembrance of me. |
Likewise after supper He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying; Drink ye all of this, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which |
||
| is shed for you and for many, for remission of sins. Do this as oft as you shall drink it in remembrance of Me. | |||
| 7. Wherefore also, O Lord, we Thy servants, but also Thy holy people, having in remembrance the so blessed passion of the same Thy Son Christ our Lord, as also His resurrection from the dead and eke His glorious ascension into the heavens, do offer unto Thy excellent Majesty of Thine gifts and bounties a pure + offering, a holy + offering, an undefiled + offering, the holy + bread of eternal life and the cup + of everlasting salvation: upon which do Thou vouchsafe to look with favourable and gracious countenance, and hold them accepted, as Thou didst vouchsafe to hold accepted the presents of Thy righteous servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our forefather Abraham, and that holy sacrifice the pure offering, which Thy high priest Melchisedek did offer unto Thee. | Wherefore O Lord and Heavenly Father, according to the institution of Thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesu Christ, we Thy humble servants do celebrate and make here before Thy divine Majesty with these Thy holy gifts the memorial which Thy Son hath willed us to make: having in remembrance His blessed passion, mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; | 7. (a) Unde et memores.
(b) Supra qua. |
|
| rendering unto Thee most hearty
thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same, entirely
desiring Thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this
our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving: most humbly beseeching Thee
to grant that by the merits and death of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and through
faith in His Blood, we and all Thy whole church may obtain remission of our
sins and all other benefits of His passion. And here we offer and present
unto Thee (O Lord) ourself, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy
and lively sacrifice unto Thee; |
|||
| We humbly beseech thee, Almighty God, command these things to be brought up by the hands of Thy Holy Angel to Thy altar on High before the sight of Thy divine Majesty; that as many of us, as by this partaking of the altar shall have received the most sacred Bo+dy and Blo+od of Thy Son, may be fulfilled with all heavenly benediction and grace; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. | humbly beseeching Thee that whosoever shall be partakers of this Holy Communion may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Chris: and be fulfilled with Thy grace and heavenly benediction and made one body with Thy Son Jesus Christ, that He may dwell in them and they in Him. And although we be unworthy through our manifold sins to offer unto Thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech Thee to accept this our bound en duty and service: and command these our prayers and supplications by the ministry of Thy Holy Angels to be brought up into Thy Holy Tabernacle before the sight of Thy Divine Majesty; | (c) Supplices Te. | |
| 8. Remember
also O Lord the souls of Thy servants and handmaidens, N. & N., who
have gone before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of
peace; grant unto them, we beseech thee, O Lord, and to all that rest
in Chris: a place of refreshment, light and peace; through the same
Christ our Lord. Amen. |
(See p. 453.) |
8. Memento | |
Unto us sinners also, Thy
servants that hope in the multitude of Thy mercies, vouchsafe to grant
some part and fellowship with Thy holy Apostles and Martyrs, with John,
Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter,
Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cicely, Anastasia, and with
all Thy saints; unto whose company do Thou admit us, not weighing our
merits, but bestowing pardon, we beseech Thee, through Christ our Lord. |
not weighing our merits but
pardoning our offences, through Christ our Lord; |
Nobis quoque. | |
Through whom,
O Lord, all these good gifts Thou dost ever create, sancti+fy, quicken
+ bless + and. bestow upon us. Let us pray. |
By whom and with whom in the unity of the Holy Ghost all honour and glory be unto Thee, O Father Almighty, world without end. Amen: Let us pray. |
Per quem. | |
10. Admonished
by salutary
commands and directed by divine teaching,
we are bold to say; Our Father, &c. |
As our Saviour
Christ hath commanded and taught us, we are bold
to say; Our Father, &c. |
10. Preceptis salutaribus. | |
| 11. Deliver us,
we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and future, and
at the intercession of Mary the blessed, glorious and ever-virgin Mother
of God and Thy blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and Andrew with all Saints
graciously give peace in our time; that aided by the succour of Thy mercy
we may be both free evermore from sin and secure from all alarm; through
the same Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. |
Libera nos. | ||
The peace of
the + Lord be alway with you. [The Agnus Dei, Commixture and Kiss of Peace follow.] |
PRIEST. The
peace of the Lord be alway with you.
|
| The point which stands out most clearly from
this comparative table is the close similarity of the new to the old: the
general outline is exactly the same, except that the Prayer of the Departed
is placed immediately after the Prayer of the Living. There are signs of
a wish to revert more closely to biblical models: for example § 4
opens with a reference to 1 Tim. ii. 1; the prayer for the King is put
before that for the Bishop probably because this order was held to be more
in accordance with the same passage; while the commemoration of the institution
follows very closely S. Paul's narrative in 1 Cor. XI.43 |
The Latin and the English Canon. Influence of the Bible, |
| Other changes were due to different
motives; the effect of the perverted views of the Eucharistic sacrifice
then current was to make the Revisers very reserved on the subject: therefore
at the beginning of § 4 the offering is one of 'prayers' in place
of 'gifts, offerings and holy undefiled sacrifices.' Again in § 5
the term oblation is applied, not to the Eucharistic oblations, but to
our Lord's sacrifice of Himself, and words are heaped up to emphasize the
fact that that sacrifice was all-sufficient and could not be repeated,
but only re-presented.44 When
in § 7 the gifts are offered, it is carefully explained that this
is the 'memorial' which Christ ordered, and the phrase, 'sacrifice of praise,'
the biblical term for the Eucharistic sacrifice45 is
transferred here from the first Memento (§ 4). The commemoration
of the Saints is analogous to that in the Litany, since the long lists
are omitted, but a brief commemoration is retained. The order of thought
and the phraseology are influenced by the Antididagma: In many
places the prayer is amplified and made less jejune, especially in the
intercessions § 4
and § 8 and the invocation
and commemoration in § 5. |
of doctrinal considerations |
amplifications
|
|
| The allusions to Abel, Abraham, and Melchizedek,46 on
the other hand are omitted, and it is curious to notice that in § 7
(c) the Angels are mentioned in the plural,47 The
eleventh section is omitted altogether, probably because it was not thought
wise to retain the ceremonial Fraction which took place meanwhile: similarly
the Commixture which followed was also omitted, together with the Kiss of
peace, while the Agnus
dei was
set for the clerks to sing later 'in the Communion time.' Its place here
was somewhat filled by the brief exhortation provided for the, priest to
say or the choir to sing.48 |
and omissions. |
The elevation of the host was
expressly forbidden by rubric. It was a comparatively recent addition
to the ceremonial, and was evidently only becoming general in England
at the beginning of the XIIIth century:49 but
its significance was exaggerated out of all due proportion to the doctrine
of antiquity, and it was then commonly associated with the most debased
forms of Eucharistic doctrine: the prohibition was thus characteristic
of the reformation.50 |
Ceremonial change. |
|
|
1 See the description of the earliest converts, Acts ii. 42, ησαν δε προσκαρτερουντες τη διδαχη των αποστολων, και τη κοινωνια, και τη κλαδει του αρτου και ταις προσευχαις, and compare 46, and xx. 7. 2 See 1 Cor. xi. 13 and ff. Compare also 1 Cor. x. 16 and If. referring
to the consecration of the bread and wine and the meaning of reception;
1 Cor. xiv. 16, to the use of the word Amen by the people after the Eucharistical
prayer offered by the minister; 1 Cor. xvi. 2, to the weekly almsgiving. |
Notes |
3 In classical Greek λειτουργια denotes any public service, religious or secular. In the LXX. translation it is used especially in Numbers and Chronicles for the ministry of the Levites (e. g. 1 Chron. xxvi. 30, εις πασαν λ. Κυριου); in the New Testament, among other things, for the ministry of prophets and teachers (Acts xiii. 2, where see Wordsworth's note; cp. Trench, Synonyms of the New Test. I § xxxv.); and in ecclesiastical writers, for any sacred function, and later, in an especial and strict sense, for the Eucharistic Office. See Bingham, Antiq. XIII. 1. The term has been at times extended to cover other services besides the Eucharist, just as the term' Divine Service' has been similarly misused and extended: but it is far best to keep each to its own proper place. See above, p. 307. 4 The following are the principal early titles of the service:— Breaking of Bread, Acts ii, 42, 46, xx. 7: Communion, κοινωνια, from S. Paul's account of the effect of the service, which is the communion of the body and blood of Christ, 1 Cor. i x. 16: Eucharist, ευχαριστια, S. Paul uses the word, 1 Cor. xiv, 16, but probably not in the technical sense: this, however, is clear in Ignatius, Smyrn. c. 6, 8; Philadelph. c. 4, and probably in the Didache, § 9. The use of ευχαριστειν in Clement, § 41, is intermediate. Lord's Supper, Κυριακον δειπνον, because instituted by our Lord at supper, and succeeding the Jewish Paschal supper; it does not appear, however, that the text (1 Cor. xi. 20) was interpreted absolutely of the Eucharist before the end of the fourth century; and at the end of the seventh century Lord s Supper had not become a familiar name for the Eucharist, but rather denoted the supper, or love-feast, Agape, which accompanied it, or our Lord's own supper with His disciples, or the supper which preceded the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday; in the Middle Ages, however, it was a very common name for the Eucharist: Oblation, προσφορα (circa 96) Clem. Rom. c. 40. Sacrament; sacramentum (112), Pliny, Epist. x, 96: the word was probably misunderstood by Pliny, and may have been technically employed, as it certainly was in Tertullian's day: Sacrifice, θυσια (150), Just. M. Dial. c. 41, 117: Commemoration, Memorial, αωαμνησις, μνημη) (150), ibid. c. 117: Office, officium (200), Tert. De orat, 14: The Lord's Service, dominicum (250), Cyprian De opere et el. 15; Epist. lxiii. 16: Mass, Missa (385), from the usual form of dismission, Ite, missa est; Ambros, Epist. 1. 20, ad Marcellinum, § 4. See Probst, Liturgie der Ersten Chr. Jahrh. I and ff. 5 These are printed below (see additional note 1, p. 506) together with passages from the Διδαχη, which gives two forms of thanksgiving after reception and a general Eucharistic thanksgiving to follow. The prophet with his gift of extempore prayer was allowed liberty in celebrating, while at the same period other celebrants were being restricted to fixed forms. But the forms very possibly refer only to the Agape. Bp. J. Wordsworth, The Holy Communion, 46. 6 See Lightfoot, Ignatius, i. pp. 50 and ff. Keating, Agape and Εuch. pp. 54 and ff. 7 See a general description in Wordsworth, pp. 41 & ff. |
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8 Ibid. 57. Pullan, pp. 3, 7. 9 For further descriptions of the Liturgy in later times see the references given above on pp. 4, 5. And Pullan, History of B. C. P. c. 1. 10 It is probable that even as early as the Epistle of S. Clement, if
not in N. T. times, a liturgical language I had been formed, phrases
had been coined and were in recognised use, and some formulas possibly
had been generally adopted. See 1 Clem. 59-61; Warren, Liturgy
of Ante-Nicene Church, 168-170; and for Biblical passages, 1 Tim. iii. 16, Eph. v, 14,
and Warren, 34-36. |
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11 1 Cor. xvi, 16. 12 This is especially clear from the Sacramentary of Serapion. See p. 5. 13 This is attested by the Hippolytean Canons in the middle of the
third century. Ed. Achelis, § 21, or Duchesne, p. 506. |
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14 Baptized Christians in the East undergoing penitential discipline in one or other stage of excommunication were also excluded. See Marshall, Penitential Discipline, Angl. Cath. Lib. Rev. d'Histoire, VII. 1. 15 This last feature certainly goes back to very early times, if not to the earliest. All these four divisions are mentioned by S. Justin Martyr (Apol. i. 65-67), except the second, which is mentioned by Pliny (Ep. ad Traj. x. 96). See Additional Note 1. 16 These at one time were very various, but were in time restricted
to offerings of liturgical use. The third of the Apostolic canons restricted
them to oil and incense. Bruns, Canones, i. 1. |
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17 The order of the closing items varies. 18 The outline is only conjectural, but it is borne out in the main
by the Liturgies and the early writings, though some points, such as
the universality of the Sanctus and the position of the Lord's Prayer,
are disputable. |
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19 These are best studied in Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western. 20 Possibly the use of the Lord's Prayer at the end of the Anaphora is not primitive: its position is variable, but there is testimony to its almost universal use in this position in S. Augustine's time. Epistle, 59 (149), 16, ad Paulinum. It was said by all present according to Oriental and Gallican Use, but by the celebrant only in the Roman Use. See below, p. 496. 21 Brightman, L. E. W., Appendix L. |
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| 22 This distinction between East and West
is for practical purposes worth noticing, though, strictly speaking, it
is more apparent than real, and more a matter of form and method than of
principle. Each
Eastern Anaphora (or, to be more accurate, not only the Anaphora but
the whole Missa Fidelium) is made up of a combination of variables and
constant elements; while each Western Missa, if the variable and the
constant elements were combined in one, would be seen to be the equivalent
of an Anaphora. The difference is mainly one of arrangement; Western
custom separated off variables from constants, while Eastern custom kept
them together.
23 Duchesne gives the former date, Revue d'Histoire, v, 45; Burbidge
the latter, quoting passages from Victorinus Afer (c. 365), Adv.
Arium,
i. 30, ii. 7 (Migne, P. L. VIII. 1063, 1094), which seem references to
a Greek Liturgy. Guardian, March 24, 1897. But as the Latin Canon was
apparently already in use (see below p. 459, note 3), the two must in
that case have been going on side by side; this is not at all improbable. |
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24 See Ebner, Quellen, 394-429, and footnotes on pp. 442 and 443. 25 The Sarum arrangement is given above, p. 282: this is rearranged. |
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26 According to the later mediæval use the Canon is the portion commencing 'Te igitur,' and ending before the Lord's Prayer. Ebner, 395. From the eighth century onward the celebrant said it secreto, or submissa voce: 'ita ut ipsemet se audiat, et a circumstantibus non audiatur.' There are many constitutions of the English Church about the mode of utterance: e.g., Can. VI. of a Council at Oxford (1222), 'Verba vero Canonis, præsertim in consecratione Corporis Christi, plene et integre proferuntur.' Wilkins, I. 505. See Bingham, Antiq. xv. iii. § 34. Scudamore, Notitia Eucharistica, VI. iii. 27 This is a later insertion. Ebner, 404. 28 This passage, 'diesque nostros ... numerari,' was permanently
added to the Canon by S. Gregory: Lib. Pont. i. 312, s.u. Beda, Hist. II. 1. |
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29 These words, 'sanctum sacrificium, immaculatam hostiam,' were added to the Canon by Leo the Great: Liber Pont. i. 238, s. v. 30 Gregory the Great joined the Lord's Prayer to the Canon, from which
it had previously been separated by the fraction: 'orationem vera Dominicam
idcirco mox post precem dicimus, quia mos apostolorum fuit, ut ad ipsam
solummodo orationem oblation is hostiam consecrarent.' Greg. M. Ep. ix.
12 (26) ad Johan. Syracus, Migne P. L., LXXVII. 956. Duchesne, Origines,
176. |
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31 Here special prayers were inserted. Thus, by an indenture between King Henry VII. and the Abbat of Westminster, it was directed that at every mass in the chapter, after the fraction of the Holy Sacrament, and before the holy prayer of Agnus Dei, Special Psalms, Orations, and Prayers for the said King should be said. Dugdale, Monast. Anglic. I. 279, cited in Maskell, Anc. Lit. p. 110 [162]. Here also the episcopal benediction was given. See Maskell, ibid. p. 198 [270]. Above, p. 291. 32 'Pax: instrumentum quod inter missarum solemnia populo osculandum
præbetur.'
Du Cange. The introduction of the Pax instead of the old practice of mutual
salutation was not until ahout the 13th century. Maskell, p. 116 [170] note. |
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|
34 In § 9. a they are also called simply bona. For the interpretation
of this passage see below, p. 448. |
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35 This was clearly the opening of the Gallican prayer originally as well as of the .Roman since the variable prayers following are described as 'Post-pridie' prayers: but in the Mozarabic rite this prayer has been altered and now begins quite otherwise: Adesto, &c. See Paléog. Mus., v. 54 and ff. 36 The § 5 of the Roman Canon seems to correspond to two Gallican
Post-Sanctus prayers, and § 7 with three or more Post-pridie prayers.
In § 9 the dual ending is clearer still. For the whole of this see
the Guardian of March 24. 1897, and Paléographie
Musicale, vol.
v. pp. 76-96. |
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37 The Sarum Liturgy retained only six Communicantes variants and three Hanc igitur variants, and after 1175 confined itself to ten Prefaces, which were all that the Roman Liturgy had then retained. See below, p. 489. 38 The obscure passage in § 5 becomes intelligible if it is really the fusion of two Post-Sanctus prayers as has been already indicated. Another of the chief obscurities is explained when § 8 is recognised to be a later interpolation, for then § 9 (a) follows naturally as the true close of § 7 (c) omitting the Amen which figures there; and there is no need to suppose, as some have done, a reference to the blessing at this point of fruits of} the earth. Duchesne, p. 174. The other chief obscurities are due, not so much to the prayer itself, as to the theory of consecration which has been developed in the face of it. See above, p. 446. But, apart from all obscurities or theories, the whole is meagre and miserably jejune judged by the primitive or Eastern model. 39 In 415, when Innocent wrote his famous .letter to Decentius, No.
xx. (Migne, P. L. xx. 551-561), it was supposed already, at
any rate in Rome, that the Roman Canon had come from S. Peter, and that
the Gallican usages were unlawful innovations. Decentius, however, was
clearly asking in simple good faith for more information as to the Roman
customs which he had witnessed in Rome, but which were to him, as Bishop
of the Umbrian diocese of Gubbio, unfamiliar and novel. It is equally
clear that the practice of his Church was the ordinary non-Roman or Gallican
practice as to the position of the Pax and the intercession in the Liturgy,
besides other matters of baptism, confirmation, the observance of Saturday, &c.
A century later Pope Vigilius dealt more reasonably with Profuturus of
Braga in writing to inform him about the Roman rite in 538: he clearly
explained the difference in principle between the Gallican rite of Spain,
with its many variants, and the fixed Canon of the Roman rite, with its
few variants; and sent him the Roman Canon, with the variants of Easter
Day as a specimen, to serve as a model for the Spanish Church. Vigilius.
Ep. ad Profuturum (Eutherium), § 5. Migne, P.
L. LXIX. 19. The Roman,
model was consequently adopted by the Council of Braga in 563. Harduin,
Cone. ii. 1432: iii. 350, and Hefele, History of
Councils, E. T. iii,
381 and ff. |
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40 For the Celtic Liturgy, see Warren, Liturgy of the Celtic Church and Bangor Antiphoner. The latter is a purely Gallican and Celtic fragment: the earliest extant book which represents the later usage, the Stowe Missal, has already adopted the Roman Canon, though it exhibits peculiarities. 41 The title 'Canon' was expressly given to the new prayer in the rubric at the end of 'The Celebration of the Holy Communion for the Sick,' in the First Prayer Book. 42 Compare p. 287. |
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| 43 This represents a change from the Latin
Services which everywhere had followed the Synoptists, except that the
Mozarabic Liturgy at some
unknown date made the same change as the P. B. made. The Lutheran formulas
had done the same. See for example the Kirchenordnung of Brandenburg-Nürnberg.
Richter, i. 207. See Burbidge, 209, n. The Eastern liturgies follow S.
Paul. Cp. Pal. Musicale, v. 54 and ff.
44 This was a protest especially against the mediæval error that while the Sacrifice of the Cross availed for original sin, the satisfaction for actual sin was through the Sacrifice of the Mass. Kidd, Eucharistic Sacrifice (C. H. S. Tract XLVI.), pp. 73 and ff. 45 See Respunsio Archiepp. Angliæ De ordinationibus Anglicanis, § XI. It was at the time recognised by the 'old learning' as the technical term for 'the oblation and action' of the priest in the Mass. See the articles signed by Shaxton, Bp. of Salisbury, to prove his orthodoxy in 1546. Burnet, I. iii. record xxix, (vol. iv, p. 531). 46 References such as these are found in several Gallican prayers in
the like position, and the mention made of Melchizedek was criticised
by a writer as early as the time of Damasus (366-388). Duchesne, Origines,
168; Pal. Mus. v. 88. |
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47 The same is the case in' the Pseudo-Ambrosian De Sacramentis, iv, 27. The original reference was probably to the angel who appeared to Manoah (Judges xiii.). See Pal. Mus. l. c. 48 Journ. Theol. Stud. i. 235. 49 It is constantly mentioned in documents of that period; e.g., Bp.
Poore's constitutions for Salisbury, No. LVI. or XXXVIII., (Sarum
Charters,
R. S. p. 147); Harduin, (Conc. VII. 100), and for Durham, (Wilkins, Conc.
i. 579); or the Canons of the Council of Oxford in 1222. (Ibid. 594.)
50 It became a test question again in 1559. See above, p.
97. |
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Rest of Chapter 12
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