lated by the council of Laodicea, of which I have

spoken already.

SECTION VIII.

THE CREED.

The creed occurred amongst the prayers of compline, according to the ancient English offices; and it appears to have occupied this position even in Anglo-Saxon times. It followed the song of Simeon, or Nunc dimittis, as it does at present". This creed is now placed before the prayers and collects, in order to preserve uniformity with the office of morning prayer.

SECTION IX.

THE PRAYERS.

These prayers, including the lesser litany, the Lord's Prayer, and the versicles and responses which follow, have long been used in the English and other western churches, at the end of the evening service. They occur not only in the offices of the churches of Salisbury, York, Hereford, &c. but in those of the Anglo-Saxon ages. Benedict, A.D. 530, speaks of the lesser litany and the Lord's Prayer as used at the end of evening prayer. The council of Girone, A.D. 517, appointed that every day after vespers the Lord's Prayer should be said by the priest d.

b Brev. Sar. Psalt. fol. 57. Brev. Eborac. fol. 3.

c

"Canticum de evangelio, litania, et oratio Dominica, et fiant missæ." Benedict. Regula, c. 17."

d Concil. Gerundense, canon x. "Placuit observari, ut omnibus diebus post matutinas et vesperas oratio Dominica a sacerdote proferatur."

Pater noster qui es in cœlis, sanctificetur &c.h

Then the priest standing up Erigat se Sacerdos solus sic

e Breviar. Sarisb. fol. 57. pletor. Offic. Anglo-Sax. ad

Answer. And bless thine inheritance.

Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord.

Answer. Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.

Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us.

Answer. And take not thy

holy Spirit from us.

Et benedic hæreditati tuam.

Da pacem Domine in diebus nostris.

Quia non est alius qui pugnet pro nobis nisi tu Deus noster".

Cor mundum crea in me Domine.

Et Spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me°.

SECTION X.

THE COLLECTS.

The collects are placed in the same position relatively to the prayers as they have always occupied in the offices of the English churches. The collects of the day, for peace, and for aid against perils, are also in the same order, in relation to each other, as in the ancient English offices. Here the collect of the day followed Magnificat at vespers, the collect for peace was recited after vespers, and the collect for aid against perils succeeded the prayers at the end of compline. Collects were repeated at the end of evening prayer according to the AngloSaxon offices P; and Amalarius, A.D. 820, refers to the same custom 9.

We find in the sacramentaries of Gregory, A.D. 590, and Gelasius, A. D. 494, collects appointed peculiarly to be said at evening prayer'; and the

m Brev. Sar. fol. 22, ad Vesperas.

to Hickes's Letters.

9 Amalar. de Eccl. Officiis,

" Brev. Ebor. fol. 264, p. ii. lib. iv. c. 7. Suffragia ad Vesperas.

• Brev. Sar. fol. 13.

P Offic. Anglo-Sax. ad Vesperas et in nocte. Appendix

VOL. I.

r

a

Gregorii Sacramentar. Menard. p. 209, 210. Gelasii Sacr. Muratori, tom. i. p. 745.

U

council of Agde, A. D. 517, ordained that the people should be dismissed with a benediction in the evening, after the prayer had been collected; that is, after the collect had been saids. The office of vespers, according to the eastern church in the third or fourth century, also terminated with a collect, and a benediction by the bishop, as we may perceive in the Apostolical Constitutions'; and the same order is visible in the most ancient monuments of the office of vespers, according to the rites used in the patriarchate of Constantinople".

THE COLLECT FOR PEACE.

This collect is found in all the ancient monuments of the English church, where it has been used for above twelve hundred years. It is, without any reasonable doubt, as old as the fifth century, since it occurs in the sacramentary of Gelasius, A.D 494.

THE COLLECT FOR AID AGAINST PERILS.

This collect is also found in the most ancient monuments of the English church, and likewise occurs in the sacramentaries of Gregory the Great and Gelasius. In this last it is expressly appointed to be used at evening service; so that this collect has been appropriated to evening prayer for nearly fourteen hundred years.

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord, and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Illumina, quæsumus Domine Deus, tenebras nostras; et totius hujus noctis insidias tu a nobis repelle propitius. Per Dominum &c. w

CONCLUDING COLLECTS AND BENEDICTION.

With regard to the collects for the king, royal family, clergy and people, and the prayer of S. Chrysostom, I have nothing to say, which has not already been said at the end of the remarks on morning prayer. It may, however, be observed, that there is nothing whatsoever inconsistent with the ancient practice of the English churches in placing these collects in the place they occupy; since they are to be regarded in the light of memoriæ, or commemorations, which were very common after the collects of the canonical hours.

I have also spoken of the benediction at the close

Ebor. fol. 264, Miss. Sar. Commune, fol. 19, MS. Leofric. fol. 27. Gregorii Sacramentar. a Menard. p. 216. Gelasii Sacr. Muratori Lit. Rom. Vet. tom. i. p. 690.

w Breviar. Sarisb. fol. 57, Brev. Ebor. fol. 3. Gregorii Sacr. a Menard. p. 210, Gelasii Sacram. Muratori, tom. i. p. 745, MS. Leofric. fol. 329.