public ministration. And here we may note the remarkable difference between the obligation of the Daily, and the Sunday and Festival and Litany, services upon the laity, that whereas the latter were designed to be attended by all the members of the flock, the former are evidently distinguished as a priestly service binding upon "The Curate," by the direction that when they are offered he shall cause a bell to be tolled, not that there may be a congregation without which there should be no service, but that the people who had opportunity might have the privilege of coming to pray with him. He, it would seem, is still to say the prayers in the church where he ministereth, whether any come or not to pray with him.

Now let us consider how this duty is performed among us. And in so doing, I wish to bring the subject before myself and my brethren, that we may be led to consider its importance, and by that consideration be led to desire and endeavour, as opportunity offers, the restoration of a privilege so blessed, of a duty still binding upon us.

With but few exceptions our churches, the Houses of Prayer, remain closed from Sunday to Sunday. No festival of Apostle or Martyr calls us by its solemn services, to the memory of our great examples and instructors in the faith. No daily services of prayer and praise, ascend publicly to assure us of the Communion of Saints, our fellowship in one Holy Catholic Church, or remind us that amid what is seen and temporal, we belong to that which is unseen and eternal. No observance of solemn times of mortification and self-denial, that we may afflict our souls and chasten our bodies, and be reminded that the life of a Christian requires continual exercise of repentance and humilia

And

tion. Wednesday and Friday pass by without their solemn litanies, to remind us of our LORD's Betrayal, and His precious Death upon the Cross, for us. Sunday returns, and calls us to our solitary service; but it brings not with it the joy of an ever-returning Resurrection Festival, for we have not had the previous preparation of the weekly Crucifixion Fast. Sunday comes with its one service, into which the public devotions of a week must be gathered; but there is no Eucharist to gladden the souls of the faithful, to strengthen and recruit their spiritual energies, by the food which nourisheth unto eternal life.

Is this as it should be? Is this a picture of a healthy body? Is this that public recognition of GoD, that continual public service, which He looks for at our hands; and in which we while on earth may in degree be likened to, and have fellowship with the blessed in heaven? No wonder that our devotions are imperfectly offered. No wonder that our own spiritual affections are too often so cold and dead. No wonder that many should be led to doubt the reality of our commission, and separate from our communion, as being unable to supply that which their souls long for. Many of you, my brethren, may doubtless have heard with sorrow, as I have often done, the charge that the Church starves her children, by withholding from them their due supply of spiritual food. And can we be fulfilling our part, when we lay ourselves open to such a charge? Wherever we are entrusted with the charge of souls, be they many or be they few, those souls are to be saved, and to be provided with an adequate supply of the means of salvation. And if but few would accept them, if but one or two, yet for them we are bound to supply them; and the means of Grace which

are essential for the multitude, are no less essential, no less constantly necessary, for the two or three among whom CHRIST promises His Presence. There is too much reason to fear, that among the poor and ignorant, not less than among the affluent and instructed, many earnest-minded and devotional souls have been led to commit the awful sin of schism, and under the misguiding influence of an impatient spirit, unite themselves to sects whether Romish or Protestant, in the vain hope of finding therein, those media for the exercise of their devotional feelings and affections, which they have in vain sought for from their own spiritual Mother; but which she possesses as part of her Catholic inheritance, in measure sufficient to satisfy the humble, teachable, and faithful mind, did she but practically use the holy gifts with which she is entrusted.

And here I may notice a remarkable feature in our offices, which seems especially calculated to provide against the feeling of loneliness and isolation, which is so painfully apt to accompany us in almost solitary ministrations. The Church by the very language she puts in our mouths, turns us away from our solitude, and throws us into the communion of all the faithful, by making us in word as well as spirit, intercessors for the whole Church. With the exception of particular individuals, for whom, according to St. Paul's instruction, we are obliged to pray, all our petitions are of a general character, not limited to or directed to the condition of any particular Church as such. We may notice this in the versicles preceding the Collects of Morning and Evening Prayer. Again, without specifying any particular Church, we pray for our Bishops and Curates, and all congregations committed

to their charge. In the Litany, we petition for the Holy Church Universal, that it may be ruled and governed in the right way again, we pray, "illuminate all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding": again, "more especially we pray for the good estate of the Catholic Church": again, in the Communion office, "have mercy upon the whole Church,--inspire continually the universal Church with the spirit of truth, unity, and concord": again, in the Post Communion, "that we and all Thy whole Church may obtain remission of our sins" and again, we give thanks for that "we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of Thy SON, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; " and we pray, "that we may continue in that holy fellowship." These instances may be sufficient to show my meaning, and guide any one in examining how deeply the spirit of communion pervades all our services, and what a high privilege and support we have in offering them, and following that example of our LORD, of whom it is said, "HE ever liveth to make intercession."

I am well aware that the peculiarly unfortunate temporal condition of the Church in many places, and especially perhaps in many parts of this diocese, where so many of us are necessarily non-resident, where so many have the charge of two or more parishes upon their hands, offers great hindrances to the general discharge of this duty.

But it is not the less needful that we should be aware of its importance, and that our minds should be directed to the desirableness of performing it, whenever and wherever practicable. Probably, however, there are but few of us who might not make an approxima

tion to it, by offering the service on Saints' days, and all the great Festivals of the Church.

In the absence of this even, it would be something gained both to ourselves and those committed to our charge, did we regularly attend to the directions of the Prayer Book, to give public notice of the Fasts and Festivals. It would be some witness to the reality and truth of our system.

But wherever we may be resident upon our cures, there we have peculiar facilities for the performance of our functions, as public intercessors for the Church.

With comparatively but few other ministerial duties to perform, we are the more bound to give ourselves to the Word of GOD, and to Prayer.

The Church calls for all our energies and services. We are pledged to her as stewards of the mysteries of GOD. These especially, are times when it behoves us to make full proof of our ministry: Not to be content with a bare minimum of duty, but to throw ourselves heart and soul into the spirit of that holy society, of which we are the teachers and the guardians. These are times in which our holy religion is exposed to peculiar trials-trials from within, opposition and persecution from without. But as they are times of trial, so are they times of blessing. For it is our great office and privilege, to be witnesses for CHRIST in the day of adversity. It is not in times of prosperity, and when all men speak well of her, that the Church is in the most healthy state. No! then she has cause to fear for her gifts, because they are not of the world, and she is to be a witness against the world.

Rather it is when the world forsakes her, when a nation professedly Christian looks coldly upon her,— when her own children, who should be her protectors,