-shall, with the clergy and people present, sing or say the litany―

That it may please thee to bless these thy servants now to be admitted to the order of priests, and to pour thy grace upon them ; that they may duly execute their office, to the edifying of thy Church, and the glory of thy holy name.

Et post modicum intervallum mox incipiunt omnes Kyrie eleison cum Litania °.

Ὑπὲρ τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ δεῖνος, τοῦ νυνὶ προχειριζομένου πρεσβυτέρου, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτοῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου δεηθῶμεν Ρ.

The office of the holy communion then commences, and after a proper collect, epistle, and gospel, the bishop addresses the candidates for the priesthood in a discourse of some length, in which he reminds them of the great importance and responsibility of the office to which they are called, and explains some of the principal duties which are incumbent upon them. This address, in the most ancient times, seems to have been delivered to the candidates at their nomination, and before ordination; in fact, it was made when the ecclesiastical canons were read to the candidates for orders, which, according to the third council of Carthage, A. D. 397, took place some time before their ordination '; but in later ages we find some traces of it in the ordination service itself. A manuscript Pontifical, cited by Martene, and written more than six hundred years ago, contains a short formulary of the kind, which is placed, as ours is, in immediate connexion with some questions addressed to the candidates for ordination, and directly before the most solemn

• Pontificale Egberti, and Sacramentar. Gelasii, ut suprà. P Goar, Rit. Græc. p. 293. VOL. II.

q Martene, tom. ii. p. 304. I See Bingham's Antiquities, book iv. ch. 6.

X

address in our

part of the office. The questions which follow the ordinal seem to be in some degree peculiar to it. Probably no Church requires from her priests such solemn vows as our own. They seem to have been modelled, in a great degree, after the parallel formularies used in the ordination of bishops; and might perhaps have been introduced here (independently of their importance) to preserve greater uniformity in the offices. The last question is probably the most ancient of them all, and is found in manuscript ordinals written eight hundred years ago, where it is placed in exactly the position which it holds in our service, before ordination begins, and not at the end of the communion, as in the Roman Pontifical.

The Bishop.

Will you reverently obey your ordinary, and other chief ministers, unto whom is committed the charge and government over you; following with a glad mind and will their godly admonitions, and submitting yourself to their godly judgments?

Answer. I will do so, the Lord being my helper.

The Bishop. Almighty God, who hath given you this will to do all these things, grant also unto you strength and power to perform the same, &c.

Interrogat Episcopus— Vis episcopo tuo, ad cujus parochiam ordinandus es, obediens esse secundum justitiam et ministerium suum?

Respons. Volo.

Voluntatem tuam bonam et rectam ad perfectionem sibi beneplacitam Deus perducere dignetur t.

t Pontificale Salisburgens. Martene, tom. ii. p. 401.

The hymn Veni Creator, which immediately follows, has been already noticed in the ordination of bishops. We find it to have been used at the ordination of priests, in some churches of France, seven hundred years ago, as manuscripts of that date, which contain it, are still in existence ".

The prayers and rites by which the ordination is actually perfected, now come before our view; but it is not my design to enter on the interesting field of discussion which they open. The validity of these forms has been satisfactorily proved; and it is impossible to examine ancient rites, without coming to the conclusion of Martene, Morinus, and all the most learned and judicious divines, that the imposition of hands, and prayers or benedictions, are the only essentials of valid ordination. Other rites have been added by different churches in the course of ages; but every church is at liberty to act for itself in this respect, provided nothing is done inconsistently with edification and Christian piety.

The prayer of ordination is not, as far as I perceive, so immediately derived from ancient formularies as some other parts of the service. It does not resemble that which is found in the sacramentary of Gelasius, nor in that of Gregory; and the similarity between it and that of the church of Constantinople is not so striking as to induce me to copy the latter. Perhaps it bears more affinity to the prayers used on this occasion in the rituals of the Egyptian and Syrian churches"; yet it is not necessary to occupy space in transcribing them, for the

resemblance is not striking. In fact, every one of these formularies differs very much from the rest in ideas and expressions, though they are all intended for the same object.

The rubric directs those priests who are present to lay their hands, along with the bishop, upon the heads of those who receive ordination. This practice is peculiar to the western church, for in the east none but the bishop has ever laid hands on persons to be ordained. With us, however, the custom is ancient and canonical: for the fourth council of Carthage, which has been adopted generally in the west, gives particular directions on the point, which deserve comparison with our present rubric.

The rest of the service does not seem to require any particular notice; and I may refer the reader, for further information on the ordination of priests and deacons, to the Supplement of Nicholls's Commentary on the Common Prayer, where the similarity between our ordination service and the ancient rites and customs of the Church is traced with much learning.