occurred very nearly at this place, immediately before the general prayers for all men, while the address in our liturgy occurs immediately after them. Iŋ this exhortation they were informed of the principal events which they were assembled to commemorate, and thus were prepared to listen with more attention and devotion'. In the liturgy of Antioch, used for a great length of time by the Syrian monophysites, there is an address from the deacon to the people, which nearly corresponds in position with our exhortation. It is placed before the salutation of peace and the beginning of the solemn thanksgivings and prayers. It consists chiefly of praises and thanks to God, and prepares the minds of the faithful, by speaking of the body and blood of Christ, then shortly to be received. What may be the antiquity of this address I know not, but many reasons induce me to think that it is more recent than the separation of the monophysites and orthodox in A. D. 451. It appears, therefore, that the position of our exhortation is not by any means without parallel in ancient liturgies; and in the exhortation itself we recognise the very life and soul of primitive devotion and orthodox faith. SALUTATION OF PEACE. As we have now entered on a part of the liturgy which must be regarded as peculiarly preparatory, it may be well to remark, that the preparation of the people in ancient liturgies was generally of three kinds: first, the preparation of repentance; secondly, r Vol. i. p. 160. 174. 8 p. 29; see also of faith; thirdly, of charity. The English liturgy provides for the first in the confession and benediction, or absolution of penitents, which will be reviewed in the next section. The second is provided for by the repetition of the Constantinopolitan Creed. The third is accomplished by us in the exhortation to charity, which occurs in the middle of the address, which I consider in the present section. In the primitive church it was customary for the faithful to testify their charity by mutual salutations some time before the distribution of the sacrament. In early ages, the common salutation of friendship was a kiss; even within our own age such a custom has (I apprehend) existed in some foreign countries. In the eastern churches, the men sat at one side of the church, the women at the other; so that when the kiss of peace was given, according to the apostle Paul's directions, no sort of impropriety could occur ". In the west, whatever might have t Kai o diákovos ɛiñáτw пãσιν, ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ, καὶ ἀσπαζέσθωσav vi Toυ Kλýρoν Tòν Éπíσкоπον, οἱ λαϊκοὶ ἄνδρες τοὺς λαϊκοὺς, αἱ γυναῖκες τὰς γυναῖκας. Const. Apost. lib. viii. c. 11, p. 398, ed. Clerici. Εἶθ ̓ οὕτως τὴν εἰρήνην δίδοσθαι, καὶ μετὰ τὸ πρεσβυτέρους δοῦναι τῷ ἐπι σκόπῳ τὴν εἰρήνην, τότε τοὺς λαϊκοὺς τὴν εἰρήνην διδόναι. Concil. Laodicen. canon 19. Bevereg. Pandect. tom. i. p. 461. ̓Αλλήλους φιλήματι ἀσTаzóμela Tavoάμεvo Twν EVXv. Justin Martyr. Apolog. i. ed. Thirlby, p. 95. "Jejunantes habita oratione cum fratribus subtrahunt osculum pa been the original custom, certainly in after-ages men and women prayed indiscriminately in the churches. This circumstance, combined with the alteration of the habits of common life, and the decline of Christian sanctity in the great body of the faithful, rendered it no longer possible to continue the apostolic kiss of peace. But instead of substituting some other salutation, which would have at once suited the manners of the age, and fulfilled the apostolic injunction, an entirely different course was adopted. A relic or picture, entitled the osculatorium, was passed from one person to the other; and all that part of the congregation who kissed this memorial, thought only of venerating it. Thus the apostolical custom became extinct both in letter and spirit; and all that remained at the period of the English reformation was the name of the osculum pacis. If our reformers omitted a name, which had long been connected with a practice that led to superstition, and often to idolatry, they at least substituted in its place an exhortation, which was intended to promote that internal charity, which the apostolical salutation of peace was meant to express. The salutation occurred before the Anaphora or solemn prayers and consecration, in the patriarchates or exarchates of Antioch, Cæsarea, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Ephesus, and in Gaul and Spain". In the English liturgy, ▾ See Ducange, Glossar. vocibus osculatorium, osculum. He says of the salutation of peace in the west, "Abrogatus deinde osculorum pacis in ecclesia usus, inductusque alius, ut dum sacerdos verba hæc profert, Pax Domini sit sem per vobiscum,' diaconi vel subdiaconi imaginem quandam adstantibus clericis, et plebi, osculandum porrigant, quam vulgari vocabulo pacem appella mus." w See vol. i. p. 31. 65. 77. 98. 108, &c. 161. 174. the exhortation, which at present supplies the place of this salutation, occurs exactly in the same position as the salutation did in the ancient Gallican and Spanish liturgies, namely, after the commemoration of the living and dead, and before the form Sursum corda, "Lift up your hearts *." In the liturgies of Milan, Rome, and Africa, the salutation of peace followed the solemn prayers and consecration, and immediately preceded the actual communion. In most of the eastern liturgies, and in those of Gaul and Spain, a prayer for peace and charity followed or preceded the salutation. But it is more than doubtful whether such prayers were used in the most primitive times, though in some churches they may be traced back with a degree of probability to the fifth or fourth century. SECTION XII. THE ADDRESS, CONFESSION, AND ABSOLUTION. Independently of the self-examination and repentance which the primitive church required from the faithful, preparatory to the reception of the sacrament of Christ's body and blood; we find that in some churches there was a general confession of sins made by the people during the liturgy; after which, the bishop or priest pronounced a benediction or absolution of the penitents. I shall consider this more at large, by viewing separately the forms of confession and absolution which occur at this part of the English liturgy. * See vol. i. p. 161. 174. y Vol. i. p. 123. 128. 130. 135. THE ADDRESS. It was generally the office of the deacon, in the primitive church, to make proclamations in the assembly, to command silence, to invite to prayer or psalmody, and to direct the attitudes which befitted attention or reverence". However, if the deacon was not present, the priest himself might very properly fulfil this office. In the liturgy of the church of Jerusalem, the deacon addressed the people thus before communion: "Draw near with the fear of God, with faith and charity "." This address plainly resembles the commencement of our own, to which we have added an exhortation to the people to confess their sins. CONFESSION. It has been very anciently the custom in many churches for the priest or the people to confess their sins in the liturgy, either aloud or in silence. In the liturgies of Rome and Milan, in early times, the priest made a long confession of his sins in silence, after the catechumens had been dismissed, and the linen cloth laid; and at the same time the people also may have probably made a similar confession and prayer in secret. In the ancient western mis z See Bingham's Antiquities, book ii. chap. 20, sect. 10. 14. These various offices are all mentioned in the ancient liturgies. Isidor. Hispalens. de Eccl. Off. lib. ii. c. 8. "Ipsi enim (diaconi) clara voce in modum præconis admonent cunctos sive in orando, sive in flectendo genua, sive in psallendo, sive in lectionibus audiendo." 3 Ο διάκονος, μετὰ φόβου Θεοῦ καὶ πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης рoσéXOETE. Liturgia Jacobi. Assemani, Codex Liturgicus, tom. v. p. 58. b See vol. i. p. 122, note *. p. 129. |