Another prayer follows, which contains petitions for the sovereign. It may be added, that this form is not always strictly attended to. The bishop of Winchester (Dr. Sumner) recently consecrated banners in his diocese with prayers somewhat differing from those of the above formulary.

bOrdo Romanus, apud Hit- Ecclesiæ Ritibus, lib. ii. cap. torp. De Officiis Divinis, p. xii.

CHAPTER XX.

CEREMONIES ON HOLY THURSDAY.

THE ancient rites of the "mandatum" or "maundy," on Holy Thursday, or "Coena Domini," were in remembrance of the humility of our blessed Lord, who on the night that he was betrayed, washed the feet of his disciples. Hence it was customary in many churches to wash the feet of the poor. Ambrose and Bernard speak of this rite as a sort of sacrament; but it was not originally in use in the Roman church. It was practised on Holy Thursday in the eighth century, as Alcuin, in his book of offices, gives the form of celebrating the rite. It also appears in the ancient Ordo Romanus; in the sacramentary of Gregory, published by Pamelius; and in an ancient MS. Pontifical of the English Church, of the tenth century. This rite,

a Ambros. de Sacramentis, lib. iii. cap. 1; Liber de Mysteriis, cap. vi.; Bernardus, Sermo in Coena Domini, cui titulus est De Baptismo Sacramenti Altaris, et Ablutione pedum, tom. i. p. 890-892. See also Gavanti, Thesaurus à Merati, t. i. p. 429, 430; Du Cange, Glossarium, voce Mandatum. b Ambros. ubi supra.

Alcuin. De Officiis, apud Hittorp. p. 248.

d Ordo Romanus, apud Hittorp. p. 68.

e Pamelii Liturg. Latin. t. iii. p. 549.

f In the British Museum, Tiberius, c. i., Bede mentions the ablution of feet on Holy Thursday. Vita S. Cuthberti, c. 18.

called mandatum or lavipedium, is also practised in the eastern Church. During the middle ages it was not only customary in monasteries, but with bishops, nobles, and even sovereigns. In England, the rite of the maundy continued to be performed by our sovereigns till the time of James II., who is said to have been the last sovereign who celebrated this

rite in person. Afterwards it was performed in the palace of Whitehall, by the archbishops of York as lord almoners till A. D. 1731 at least; but it has since been disused", though several of the minor parts of the office are still retained.

In 1572 queen Elizabeth being thirty-nine years old, the feet of thirty-nine poor persons were washed on Maundy Thursday, at the palace of Greenwich, first by the yeomen of the guard, next by the subalmoner, and afterwards by the queen kneeling; and certain prayers having been said, clothes, provisions, and money were then distributed to the poor.

According to the ancient rites of the English Church, after vespers or evening prayer was finished, the bishop proceeded to the place where the mandatum was to be performed, and the gospel was read from John xiii. “And supper being now ended," &c., comprising the narrative of our Lord's washing his disciples' feet. After a collect, the bishop laid aside his garment, and being girded with a linen cloth,

Hone's Every Day Book, vol. i. p. 400; Gentleman's Magazine, vol. i. p. 172.

h The archives of the Almonry office having been consumed by fire, I have not been able to ascertain the exact period at which this rite ceased to be practised. The Gentleman's

Magazine for 1754 (p. 188) represents the sub-almoner as distributing alms on Maundy Thursday; but there is no allusion to the washing of feet.

i From an account preserved by Lambarde, and printed in the Archæologia, vol. i. p. 7.

washed the feet of his attendants, while certain anthems were sung. The office concluded with appropriate collects. In later ages it became customary to distribute provisions and money to the poor after the ablution of feet'.

The form of maundy at present observed is as follows" :-Evening prayer is commenced, in which the proper psalm is Ps. xli. The first lesson is from John xiii., being the gospel of the ancient form. Certain anthems are then sung, during which clothes and money are distributed to the poor; the almoner and his attendants being girded with linen cloths, which were formerly used in the ablution of feet. The second lesson (Matt. xxv. 14-21), and prayers for the sovereign", succeed; and the remainder of the evening prayer is read in conclusion.

"Ad Vesperas in Coena Domini non dicatur Deus in adjutorium &c. ... Expletis omnibus procedit Dominus episcopus cum omni alacritate cum presbyteris et clero si vult ante cibum, vel post cibum, ad locum ubi mandatum perficere vult... et diaconus imponat evangelium Ante diem festum Paschæ, sic ad missam. Lecto evangelio dicit episcopus hanc orationem Deus, cujus cœnam sacratissimam veneramur, ut ea digni inveniamur munda nos quæsumus à sordibus peccatorum, qui ad insinuandum humilitatis nobis exemplum, pedes tuorum dignatus es hodie lavare discipulorum. Qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis.' ... Data oratione episcopus

CHAPTER XXI.

PERAMBULATIONS ON THE ROGATION DAY S.

I HAVE already (vol. i. chap. ii.) spoken of the ancient litanies or supplications in general, and of the rogations in particular, which were instituted by Mamertus of Vienne, a. D. 450, and from which the three days before Ascension day are called Rogation days. The English Church received this custom at an early period, as the second council of Cloveshoe recognizes its antiquity". The service in these perambulations or processions originally consisted of psalmody, after which certain lessons and collects were read in the church. In later times the litanies, comprising invocations of the saints, were also sung in the procession. In the reigns of king Edward VI. and queen Elizabeth, when all other processions were forbidden, the perambulations on Rogation days were allowed to continue, during which Ps. ciii., beginning Benedic anima mea, &c., was to be said “,

a Concil. Cloveshoviense, II. can. 16.

b See vol. i. p. 303–305. cAs in the Processionale ad usum Ecclesiæ Sarum. fol. 103. d According to the injunc

VOL. II.

tions of Edmond Grindall, archbishop of York, A.D. 1571, Psalm civ., as well as ciii., was to be said in the perambulation. Wilkins, iv. p. 270.

B b