Coelestinus of Rome, about the same time, speaks of prayers resembling those mentioned by Augustine ". The ancient Leonian sacramentary, used in the Roman church in the fifth century, contains several collects for each feast, sometimes four or five; and the Irish sacramentary, originally derived from the Roman, contained several collects for different estates of men, which did not vary". It is so difficult, however, to reconcile the idea of the invariableness of collects with the directions of the African church in the fourth and fifth centuries, which prohibited the use of collects, &c. that were not approved by competent authority, evidently permitting any new collects that should be so approved; and with the variety of collects seen in the most ancient sacramentaries of Rome, Milan, &c. that I am inclined to think the variation of collects has been customary in the west from a most remote period; and the words of Augustine and Cœlestinus probably relate to some peculiar offices.

I now proceed to consider the antiquity of those individual collects which are found in the English

m Cœlestinus in Epistola ad Galliar. episcopos de gratia Dei pro Prospero et Hilario, c. ii.

n See dissertation on Liturgies, section xi.

De precibus ad altare dicendis, canon ciii. "Placuit etiam hoc, ut preces quæ probatæ fuerint in concilio, sive præfationes, sive commendationes, seu manus impositiones, ab omnibus celebrentur, nec aliæ omnino contra fidem præferantur, sed quæcumque a prudentioribus fuerint collectæ dican

tur." Labbe, Concilia, tom. ii. p. 1117. See also Concil. African. can. 70. Labbe, tom. ii. p. 1662. "Preces" here mean collects, "præfationes" prefaces; "commendationes" refer to the part after “hanc igitur," in the canon of the ancient Roman liturgy, which was often varied on special occasions, Bona, Rer. Lit. p. 438. "Manus impositiones" signified the long benedictions before communion. See Bona, Rer. Lit. p. 465.

ritual. The majority of these occur in the Latin language, in the ancient missals of Salisbury, York, Hereford, &c. and they are also in the sacramentaries of the English church, written before the Norman Conquest. We meet them in all the ancient MSS. of Gregory's sacramentary, as used in the Roman, Italian, and other western churches, and thence shew that they formed part of that sacramentary when it was introduced into England by Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury; and in consequence, that they have been used by the church in this country for above twelve hundred years. Many of the collects, however, are much more ancient than the time of Gregory, A. D. 590; they occur in the sacramentary of Gelasius, patriarch of Rome A. D. 494, and some may be traced to the Leonian sacramentary, used in the Roman church about A. D. 483. In the following pages I have placed in parallel columns the English text of our collects, and the Latin, extracted from the ancient liturgical offices of the church of Salisbury, with which those of York and Hereford almost always agree. I have also cited a manuscript sacramentary of the Anglo-Saxon church, written probably about the ninth or tenth century, and given by Leofric, bishop of Exeter, to his church before the Norman Conquest. I have likewise referred to the sacramentary of Gregory, as published by Menard. When references to the above three monuments are appended to any collect, we may fairly consider it to have formed part of the sacramentary of Gregory

P For notices of these an- 9 Now in the Bodleian Licient English rites, see Disser- brary. tation, section xi.

A. D. 590, and may conclude that it has been used in the English church for above twelve hundred years. When to these references I have subjoined another to the sacramentary of Gelasius, the collect to which it is appended may be considered as old as the year 494. Those collects which I have traced to the sacramentary of Leo are much more ancient than the time of Gelasius, and may be referred to the end of the fourth, or the earlier part of the fifth century. I have also occasionally quoted the sacramentary or missal of Ambrose, or more properly of the church of Milan. This sacramentary has been different from that of Rome from a most remote period, and though the liturgy of Milan was originally derived from Rome, yet the latter church may afterwards have borrowed from the sacramentary of the former some of those collects which are found in both, and have been so long used in the church of England. I have also had occasion to refer to the sacramentaries of the ancient Gallican church, which were in use before the emperor Charlemagne introduced the Roman liturgy into France'.

THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS.

In another part of this work the reader will find some remarks on the antiquity of the custom of reading lessons from scripture in the Christian liturgy". I have there remarked on the custom of the English church, of continually reading the same portion of the Law, containing the Decalogue, be

r For an account of the sacramentaries of Gelasius and Leo, see Dissertation, section vi.

ix.

9 See Dissertation, sect. vii. * See Dissertation, section

u

Chap. iv. sect. ii. iv. V.

fore the other lessons". In addition to this lesson from the Law, two others are taken from the Prophets, the Epistles of Paul, the catholic Epistles, the Acts of the holy Apostles, and the Gospels. The first being frequently taken from St. Paul's Epistles, and the second always from the Gospels, they have long currently obtained the names of "the "Epistle and the Gospel."

Almost all our Epistles and Gospels have been appropriated to their present situations for a great length of time. They are appointed for the same occasions in the most ancient monuments of the English church. In the succeeding pages I have traced the Epistles and Gospels now used by the church of England to her ancient litnrgies. I have thought it sufficient to refer to the missal or sacramentary of the church of Sarum, because it generally agrees with those of Hereford and York, and was commonly used in England. I have traced these lessons to a period antecedent to the Norman Conquest, by means of the manuscript of Leofric before referred to": and, finally, by means of the ancient Lectionarium or Comes of the Roman church, published by Pamelius, I have shewn that they

Chapter iv. sect. ii.

The beginning words of each epistle and gospel are inserted in the margin of this manuscript by some later hand than that which wrote the text; but the character of these annotations is so ancient, that we are justified in referring them to a period long prior to the Norman Conquest.

* Pamelii Liturgicon, tom. ii. I have referred to this lec

tionary, which bears the name of "Comes Hieronymi" in the work of Pamelius, because it seems to be at least as old as any other ancient Roman lectionary that has been published.

Jerome is said to have arranged the lectionary of the Roman church; but as this only rests on the authority of writers of the eleventh or twelfth century, it is not worthy of attention.

were brought to this country by Augustine, archbishop of Canterbury, and consequently have been used in the church of England, as at present, for more than twelve hundred years.

Before I conclude these introductory remarks, I wish to explain the manner in which the Epistles and Gospels are referred to in the following pages. I have only thought it necessary to insert the chapter and verse which mark the commencement of those lessons in the English ritual, because any one may immediately refer to them in the Prayer Book. In like manner I have only extracted the title, and the beginning and concluding words of the corresponding passage in the ancient lectionaries, &c. because any one with a Latin Bible can easily find the original.